C M Y K

“The only way to shut everyone up is to WIN!”

Vol. 12 No: 144 | JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 | Pages: 12 | Price: R 3.00 | Air surcharge 50 paisa for Leh

VLCs emerge asfocal point in

Covid awarenessin Poonch

4 corona vaccinesmay soon enter

clinical trial stagein India: Harsh

Track and fieldathletes to

start outdoortraining today

A COSMICCROSSROAD

JAMMUMAX : 41.0 °CMIN : 25.0 °CSUNSET : 7:26 pm TodaySUNRISE : 5:28 am TomorrowSRINAGARMAX : 26.0 °CMIN : 13.0 °CLEHMAX : 11.0 °CMIN : 4.0 °C

Govt extends validityof vehicle documentstill July 31NEW DELHI: TheGovernment on Sundaysaid it has extended thevalidity of various motorvehicles related docu-ments till July 31. Noadditional or late fee willbe charged for delays invalidation of documentspending from February 1,it said. "In order to facili-tate citizens duringCOVID-19, Ministry of

Contd. on P-4 Col 4

LeT militants' 4associates arrestedin BudgamBUDGAM: Securityforces on Sunday arrestedfour associates ofLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)militants in Budgam dis-trict of Jammu andKashmir, an official said."Police in Budgam alongwith security forces havearrested four terroristassociates including topterror associate of pro-scribed terror outfit LeT

Contd. on P-4 Col 4

BSF seizes 2 bottlesfilled with 1 kg heroineach from PunjabborderJALANDHAR: BorderSecurity Force thwartedthe evil designs ofPakistani smugglers onSunday once again whenit seized two plastic bot-tles filled with contra-band suspected to beheroin. It is doubted thatthe heroin weighing onekg each in both the bot-tles was seized by 136

Contd. on P-4 Col 4

2 persons injured inhouse collapse atencounter site succumbSRINAGAR: Two per-sons, including a 55-year-old man and 35-year-oldman, who were injuredwhen a house collapsedat an encounter site inSrinagar on Tuesday, suc-cumbed in a hospital,official sources said hereon Sunday. With this,three persons have losttheir lives in the housecollapse incident since

Contd. on P-4 Col 4

IN BRIEF

SPREAD ACROSS AT LEAST 170 COUNTRIESWORLD : 53,10,362 confirmed, 3,42,097 deathsINDIA : Over 1,31,868 confirmed, 3,867 deaths

J&K: 1,32,594 : Travellers, Persons in contact with suspected cases

31,816 : Home quarantine71 : Hospital quarantine

1,28,812 : Tested Negative1,621 : Positive

21 : Deaths

LADAKH: 9 : Active positive5 : Fresh positive cases

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: TheGovernment on Sundayinformed that 52 new posi-tive cases of novelCoronavirus (COVID-19),22 from Jammu divisionand 30 from Kashmir divi-sion, have been reportedtoday thus taking the totalnumber of positive cases inJammu and Kashmir to1621.

According to the dailyMedia Bulletin on novelCoronavirus (Covid-19),out of 1621 positive cases,791 are Active Positive,809 have recovered and 21have died; 02 in Jammudivision and 19 in Kashmirdivision.

Moreover, 35 moreCOVID-19 patients haverecovered and dischargedfrom various hospitals, 03from Jammu division and32 from Kashmir Division.

The Bulletin further saidthat out of 130433 testresults available, 128812samples have been tested asnegative till May 24, 2020.

Additionally, till date132594 travellers and per-

sons in contact with sus-pected cases have beenenlisted for surveillancewhich included 31816 per-sons in home quarantineincluding facilities operatedby government, 71 inHospital Quarantine, 791 inhospital isolation and28600 under home surveil-

lance. Besides, 71295 per-sons have completed theirsurveillance period.

Providing district-wisebreakup, the Bulletin saidthat Bandipora has 139 pos-itive cases with 09 ActivePositive, 129 recovered, 01death; Srinagar has 179positive cases with 48

Active Positive, 125 recov-ered (including 06 casesrecovered today), 06deaths; Anantnag districthas 273 positive cases(including 01 case reportedtoday), with 160 ActivePositive, 109 recovered, 04deaths; Baramulla has 137positive cases (including 01

case reported today) with35 Active Positive, 98recovered, 04 deaths;Shopian has 128 positivecases (including 01 casereported today) with 21Active Positive, 107 recov-ered (including 01 caserecovered today); Kupwara

Contd. on P-4 Col 1

J&K reports 52 fresh positive cases, tallyreaches 1621 with 809 having recovered

GJ REPORTNEW DELHI, MAY 24: Lashing out atthe opposition political parties, UnionMinister Dr Jitendra Singh said here todaythat the opposition is raising the bogey ofJammu & Kashmir "demography" for votebank because it is apprehensive that thenew Domicile Rules Notification will notenable it to continue thriving on limitedpockets of vote bank by exclusion, as theyhad been doing in the past.

In an exclusion interview to nationalchannel Republic TV on the new DomicileLaw for Jammu & Kashmir, Dr JitendraSingh said, few families had succeeded inmaintaining their hegemony in Jammu &Kashmir, generation after generation, byincluding in the voter list only those whosevote bank they were capable of manipulat-ing, and excluded those who they thoughtwould not be vulnerable to their tactics, andcould vote with free will. He said, this con-spiracy went on to the extent that they notonly deprived anybody from outside fromobtaining citizenship or voter rights butalso did not allow voting rights to largesection of people which had settled inJammu & Kashmir since 1947 , and put upa self-righteous argument that these peoplewere not entitled for citizenship or votingrights because they were refugees from the

then West Pakistan. In a hard-hitting rejoinder to the votaries

of socalled "Demography", Dr JitendraSingh asked what moral authority they hadto talk of demography when they had them-selves committed the greatest assault ondemography by remaining silent witness tothe mass exodus of the entire KashmiriPandit community from Kashmir Valley.Ironically, he said, those who swear bycomposite culture of Kashmir are them-selves guilty of having committed the

Contd. on P-4 Col 1

Opposition raising bogey of J&K 'demography'

for vote bank: Jitendra

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: TheJammu and Kashmir dis-trict administrations havereceived 28 COVID specialtrains from different statesand UTs, so far, with about23,097 stranded passengers

while about 66024 personshave been evacuated by thegovernment throughLakhanpur till date.

Meanwhile, about652 passengers includingstudents have reached at

Contd. on P-4 Col 2

JAMMU/SRINAGAR,MAY 24: Eid-ul-Fitr, mark-ing the culmination of theHoly fasting month ofRamadan, was celebratedon Sunday amid lockdownin Jammu and Kashmirprovinces of the UnionTerritory here today amidstCovid-19 lockdownrestrictions.

Due to restrictions andappeals made by MuslimUlemas and other religiousscholars no major congre-gational Eid prayers wereorganized in Jammu as wellas in the valley.

Contd. on P-4 Col 2

Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated across J&K UT,no major congregational prayers

Govt evacuates 89,773 stranded J&Kresidents in special trains, flights, buses

National COVID tally jumps past 1.3 lakhNEW DELHI: With the third consecutive tallest single-day spikeof infections, India's COVID tally jumped to 1,31,868 as 6767fresh cases were reported in past 24 hours, the Health Ministryupdate said on Sunday. According to the government update,after 147 patients losing their fight against the lethal infection inthe past one day, death toll across the nation now stands at3867. The cases under active medical supervision haveincreased to 73,560 while there has been improvement on therecovery front, as 2657 people have been cured and dis-charged in the past 24 hours, taking the total survivors to54,440 pan India so far.

Govt deploysofficers to assist

Corona Virusmitigation effortsJAMMU: The governmentof Jammu and Kashmir, inan effort to ensure effectiveCOVID-19 mitigation me-asures in view of resump-tion of air services in thecountry, has deployedCommissioner Jammu Mu-nicipal Corporation, AvnyLavasa and Vice ChairmanJammu Development Aut-hority, Babila Rakwal forassisting Deputy Commis-sioner Jammu in makingarrangements and handlingof returning passengers.

As per the order issuedin this regard by theGeneral AdministrationDepartment, Director Ind-ustries and Commerce,Kashmir, Mahmood Shahand Vice Chairman Lakesand Waterways Develop-ment Authority, Tufail

Contd. on P-4 Col 1

Let's resist temptation to congregate; wecan celebrate Eid in July or August: Omar

Urging people to resist thetemptation to congregateor violate social distancing

so that we can defeat COVID-19, for-mer Jammu and Kashmir ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah on Sundaysaid let us celebrate Eid-ul-Azha laterin July/August the way it means tobe celebrated.

However, while taking a dig atCentre, he said that last year Eid-ul-

Azha (Bakr Eid) was celebrated midst of 'draconian lock-down' imposed after centre scrapped the Article 370 anddivided the state into two Union Territories (UTs) onAugust 5. Contd. on P-4 Col 2

R.M. ZUTSHIJAMMU, MAY 24:

As the domestic flightoperations resume inJammu and Kashmir

Union Territory on Monday the14 day quarantine required to beundergone by all the passengersat Jammu and Srinagar respec-tively has come under fire fromvarious quarters especially theintending travellers and theirfamilies awaiting their arrival at

home. The aforesaid quarantinehas become necessary in view ofthe directions of the governmentin this regard. Going through var-ious directions and observationsby those who matter, there seemsto be no clarity on the quarantineissue even across the nation.

The Union Minister for CivilAviation Hardeep Singh Puri onSaturday had said he does notunderstand the need to quarantinedomestic air passengers once

Contd. on P-4 Col 3

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Denying the reports ofdetention of Indian troop byChinese Army, IndianArmy on Sunday issued aformal denial on the issue.

On Saturday, the Armyhad termed the mediareports about detention ofan Indian troop as "inaccu-rate".

Amid tensions simmer-ing in Ladakh at four placesat the Line of ActualControl (LAC), an IndianArmy Spokesperson said,"There has been no deten-tion of Indian soldiers at theborders. We categorically

deny this. It only hurtsnational interests whenmedia outlets publishunsubstantiated news."

This comes after it wasreported that Indian troopswere held back briefly withweapons seized by theChinese in Pangong Tso, alake in the eastern Ladakhregion at the Line of ActualControl where a scuffletook place on May 5 and 6.

The area has been tensesince then with Chinaenhancing its patrol boatsin the lake that is under dis-pute.

Contd. on P-4 Col 2

Army denies detention ofIndian soldiers by China

Lack of clarity over quarantine requirements bothers travellers asflight operations resume at Jammu, Srinagar airports today

JAMMU: As many as five air-lines will begin their operation,following all Standard operatingprocedures (SOPs) put in placeat Jammu Airport, sources saidon Sunday.

However, the DirectorGeneral Civil Aviation (DGCA)has also allotted the slot ofarrivals and departures for theairlines operating from Jammu

from Monday onwards.Nearly 8 flights will arrive

and similar number of flightswill depart from the CivilAirport here.

Official sources at the JammuAirport here told UNI, "the slothas been allotted and the oper-ation will resume from tomor-row nearly after 50 days of

Contd. on P-4 Col 3

5 airlines begin flights to and fro Jammu

C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ INFO/ENTERTAINMENT2

CMYK

Monday 7.30 A.M to 9.00 A.MTuesday 3.00 P.M to 4.30 P.M

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

Rahu Kaal

Samvat: 2077 (Shaka Samvat 1942)Paksha: Krishna Paksha Tithi: Tritiiya 25:18:29+Nakshtra: Mrigashirsha [Mandaksha] 06:10:04Moon Zodiac: Mithuna*Time is after midnight but before sunrise of next day

TITHI/NAKSHTRA

PP ANC

HANG

ANCH

ANG

Jestha 14 May to 15 JuneHarh 15 June to 16 July

INDIAN MONTHS ENGLISH MONTHS

Pt. Kamal Shastri

su do ku

SU D

O K

U -

985

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

SU DO KU (984) SOLUTION

240 BC - First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1935 - Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three

world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Trackand Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1953 - Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, theUnited States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.

1953 - The first public television station in the United Statesofficially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of theUniversity of Houston.

1955 - First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third-highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition led byCharles Evans. Joe Brown and George Band reached thesummit on May 25, followed by Norman Hardie and TonyStreather the next day.

s1963 - In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of AfricanUnity is established.

1977 - Chinese government removes a decade old ban onWilliam Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the CulturalRevolution started in 1966.

1981 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is createdbetween Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates.

2001 - Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person toreach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr.Sherman Bull.[8]

2011 - Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty-five-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

2013 - Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people andinjure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian NationalCongress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.

2018 - The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)becomes enforceable.

2018 - Ireland votes to repeal the Eight Amendment of theConstitution of Ireland, prohibiting abortion in all but a fewcases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-Sixth Amendmentof the Constitution of Ireland.

HISTORY TODAY

CHICKPEA SALADINGREDIENTS

FOR THE SALAD 2 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 medium cucumber, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 c. chopped olives 1/2 c. crumbled feta Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE LEMON-PARSLEY VINAIGRETTE 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 c. white wine vinegar 1 tbsp. lemon juice 1 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper This ingredient shopping module is created and main-

tained by a third party, and imported onto this page.You may be able to find more information about thisand similar content on their web site.

DIRECTIONS

Make salad: In a large bowl, toss together chickpeas,cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta.Season with salt and pepper.

Make vinaigrette: In a jar fitted with a lid, combineolive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, and red pepperflakes. Close the jar and shake until emulsified, thenseason with salt and pepper.

Dress salad with vinaigrette just before serving.

HAPPENING TODAY

India will have to play key role as producer of COVID-19 vaccine: France

India will have an importantrole to play in the mass pro-duction of medicines andvaccines for coronavirusinfection once the treatmentfor the deadly disease isfound, French AmbassadorEmmanuel Lenain has said.Dozens of researchersacross the globe are racingagainst time to come out

with a vaccine for coronavirus that has infected nearly five million peo-ple and killed over 3,30,000 globally. "It is very important for states tocoordinate if we want the COVID-19 vaccine and/or medicines to beproduced and distributed equitably worldwide. India will have animportant role to play as a producer of medicines and vaccines,"French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said. India is a leading man-ufacturer of vaccines and generic drugs globally. Several researchinstitutes in India are also working on separate programmes to find avaccine for the coronavirus.

IMD predicts heatwave, issues redalert for several parts of north India

With temperatures surpass-ing the 45 degrees Celsius-mark across several parts innorth India, the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) on Sunday issued a“red” warning for Delhi,Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarhand Rajasthan for the nexttwo days. The IMD has also issued an orange warning for heat-wave for east Uttar Pradesh, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the headof IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre. He cautioned that tem-peratures could soar up to 47 degrees Celsius in some parts overthe next 2-3 days. This is also for the first time this summer sea-son that a red warning has been issued for heatwave, Srivastavasaid. This season, the temperatures did not rise the way it usual-ly does in north and central India because of significant rainfallactivity during April that continued till mid-May.

Hitler’s rumoured alligatordies in Moscow

An alligator thatmany people believeonce belonged toAdolf Hitler has diedin the Moscow Zoo.The zoo said the alli-gator, named Saturn,was about 84 yearsold when it died.According to the zoo,

Saturn was born in the United States and later sent to the BerlinZoo, from which he escaped when the zoo was bombed in 1943.His whereabouts were unknown until 1946, when British soldiersfound him and gave him to the Soviet Union, the zoo said.“Almost immediately, the myth was born that he was allegedly inthe collection of Hitler and not in the Berlin Zoo,” the zoo said ina statement. But, it noted, “animals are not involved in war andpolitics and it is absurd to blame them for human sins.”

Will build ‘Modi temple’ with PM’s idol, saysBJP MLA who launched ‘Modiji ki Aarti’

Uttarakhand BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi, who launched ‘Shri ModijiKi Aarti’ recently, announced that he will soon build a ‘Modi tem-ple’ dedicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his idol in itafter the lockdown ends. Joshi who is a ruling party legislatorfrom Mussoorie constituency had earlier launched ‘Modi aarti’(prayer dedicated to Modi) at a function organised by him tofelicitate Covid-19 warriors. Joshi said he launched the aartipenned down by a Modi supporter Dr Renu Pant in presence ofstate higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat. Followingthe development, he and BJP came under attack fromOpposition party Congress which has called it a prime exampleof ‘sycophancy’. However, Joshi refused to budge and onSunday announced that he will soon build a temple dedicated toPM Modi.

RECIPE TODAY“SUMMER”

'You meet Shiva at the crossroad' say the ancientsages to earnest seekers, indicating subtly that atime of distress may actually be when we get tomeet Shiva.

This is because when we are stripped of every-thing we thought we are, or own, the individualego is cast aside and it becomes easier to 'See'the Universal.

This can happen when you lose a lifelong job,or fall out with someone you loved,or if you getcastigated publicly for something you did, or didnot do, and so on.

You know those situations which we dread.Themystics say, these too can be for your own good,if you use them, to evolve.

And once in a while ( a long while actually) Weget a man like Siddhartha Gautam, who, when heconfronts a reality that shakes him from his com-fort zone, embarks on a quest for a reality that willnot change it's zone, ever.

Even being a prince, he dares to jettison every-thing in search of this unchanging reality. He hasalready noted the transience of the palace wealth,be it adornment or jewelry, food or attendants, oranything. And he goes on, to become the Buddha-He, who has awakened unto His real Self. But theproblem still remains about the ' others '. Howdoes the Buddha's enlightenment help the others?Thousands of Buddhas have come, thousandshave tried to share their light with the world, butmillions have remained as unawakened as theyalways were. It seems, for all of humanity to get

enlightened, or evolve to the next step from manto supraman, we collectively have to cross abridge from the unenlightened past to a luminousfuture:

We need to meet Shiva collectively at thecrossroad.

A pandemic of the size we are witnessing, issomething we haven't confronted for hundreds ofyears. Maybe it is Shiva at the collective cross-road?

What have the past few days made us realise?We have realised that life is precious, and we

can't take it for granted, very literally, we cannoteven be assured of the breath we inhale. Oh dearGod, we all want to get back to our old life, we allwant to get back to 'Normal',once again.

But guess what, like i read somewhere, ' Theold normal won't do. The old normal failed'.Haven't we learnt that?

The pandemic has given us a clear sky, has itgiven us a clear vision? Take a good look aroundyou, take a look at the birds and the animals, andhow they live totally in harmony with the ways ofMother Nature, Prakriti. Very clearly what hashappened is a remonstration to mankind from thatMother. We are suffering today because one wayor the other , we had exercised unwarranteddominion over all others. We took the controlfreaking actually to a point where we lost control.

And the rest, is becoming history right underour very nose.

And brave as they are, salute them as we do,it's not ' A' leader or ' A' authority, temporal, reli-gious or any other, who can give a solution,because Prakriti Shakti is very clear about that:Mankind collectively can find a bridge for thishuge problem.

I still feel that everyone deserves a secondchance. The question is IF we get that chance arewe going to transform? How?

First, register the call of our mystics and don'tbe in denial: We are at the crossroad.

The crossroad can be a point of our defeat as acivilization, or it can be a point where we indicateour willingness to change our ways, indicate a will-ingness to evolve.

Didn't the elders of our tribes send signals toGod? We don't have to do it through smoke cloudsand all that. We need to to start planning how wewill learn to co-inhabit this world with all the oth-ers, the animals, the birds, and of course otherlesser privileged humans.We need to show evenin these times of distress that we can resort to ourfiner qualities of love and compassion.We can useour technologies and ' artificial intelligence' toassist in plans of that compassionate and harmo-nious future. And in the longer run, we need toanalyze how we can live in a better World Orderthan just an economically driven policy.This iswhat i feel. Tell me what you think.

Aum Namah Shivaye.Shail Gulhati is the author of the book

SHIVAThe Ultimate Time Traveller.

Older adults and people who have severe chronicmedical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney dis-ease at higher risk for more serious COVID-19.

As this virus is here to stay , it is important to take careof them This is important because as peopleage, their immune systems change, makingit harder for their body to fight off diseasesand infection, and because many older adultsare also more likely to have underlying health conditionsthat make it harder to cope with and recover from. Ageincreases the risk that the respiratory system or lungs willshut down when an older person has COVID-19 dis-ease.That's why the people at higher risk take the follow-ing actions and we should fecilitate them….. Stock up on supplies. Take everyday precautions to keep space between

yourself and others. When you go out in public, keep away from others

who are sick, limit close contact, and wash your handsoften.

Avoid crowds as much as possible. Avoid travel and non-essential air travel. During a COVID-19 outbreak, stay home as much as

possible to further reduce your risk of being exposed.Urge them to take following precautions to keep safe….

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom;before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing,or sneezing.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth withunwashed hands.

Stay home when you are sick. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw

the tissue in the trash. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces every

day.People of all ages can support older adults during this

time. Many older adults depend on services and supportsprovided in their homes or in the community to maintaintheir health and independence.

Know what medications your loved one is taking andsee if you can help them have extra on hand.

Monitor food and other medical supplies (oxygen,incontinence, dialysis, wound care) needed and create aback-up plan.

Stock up on non-perishable food items to have onhand in your home to minimize trips to stores.

If you care for a loved one living in a care facility,monitor the situation, ask about the health of the otherresidents frequently, and know the protocol if there is anoutbreak.

Help with disinfecting frequently touched surfaces.

COVID 19- SUPPORTING YOUR OLDER ADULTS

Wellness

Aries : LilacTaurus : Bright red Gemini : BlueCancer : Hot pinkLeo : RoseVirgo : Purple

Libra : BlackScorpio : PinkSagittarius : RedCapricorn : SilverAquarius : OrangePisces : Baby blue

COLOUR FOR THE DAY

Things are apt to get intensefor you today, Pisces. There will be alot of information coming your way,but all of it won't necessarily be great.Someone appears to be putting aroadblock in your path, making it diffi-cult for you to pass. Don't let this stopyou. Use your creative ability and res-olute nature to find ways around anyobstacles. Experiences like this willonly make you stronger.

STARS TODAYSTARS TODAY

Your head may be buzzingwith activity, Aries. It seems like thespotlight suddenly has been turned on.Your mind is on stage and your brain-power is being tested. Are you pre-pared for the challenge? Ready or not,here it is. Remember the importance ofindividuality. Don't become another typ-ical cookie from the same old cookiecutter. Be your own person and thinkfor yourself.

You might find that wordsaren't the best way to communicatetoday, Aquarius. Body language andthe sense of touch and taste are muchmore effective, which is a shamebecause other than the people in yourhouse, you're stuck with video chatthese days. With your heightenedsenses, see which of your favoriterestaurants is doing takeout thesedays. At least you can treat yourself toa wonderful meal.

Your mind is crystal cleartoday, and communication goesextremely well for you, Leo. You'llfind that you'll need very few wordsto get your point across. You'll con-nect to people on many levels.Realize that you have importantinformation to share with thosearound you. Your critical, practical,grounded opinion plays a key rolein the day's activities.

Your brain feels like it'schugging along in the slow lanetoday, Capricorn. It could even begradually creeping over to the break-down lane! Maybe that's why you'restruggling to come up with your quick,witty rebuttals in conversations. Takeyour time and choose your wordsever so carefully. Communicating withothers might be a bit like pulling teethtoday.

Today is an excellent day forsaying exactly how you feel,Sagittarius. Your thinking is sharp andclear. And once you start talking, youmay never stop. The good news isthat people will listen extra carefully toyour words. You have a great deal ofinfluence on others. If you can accepthow much impact you have on thepeople around you, you'll be able toaccomplish a great deal today.

Motivation must come fromwithin, Cancer. The only thing pullingyou out of bed is your inner drive anddetermination. Too much partying canleave you drained and immobilized.Remember moderation. Be good toyour body. Go outside and let yourthoughts radiate outward like rays ofsunshine. Feel the ground beneathyour feet. And leave those party sup-plies off the list next time you go shop-ping for essentials.

Your thinking is steady andreserved today, Scorpio. Your mind isin perfect sync with your ego, andyou'll be able to accurately verbalizewhat's going on inside. Of course, youmight feel guarded about how muchyou want to reveal to other people. Itcould be that they're holding backinformation from you, as well. Proceedwith caution yet be completely honestin all your dealings.

Feel free to take the lazyroute today, Libra. Don't lift a finger ifyou don't really have to. It may behard to get others moving as well.You can prod all you want, but, ulti-mately, if people don't want to go,they just won't. Your flexible naturemight be put to the test. More thanlikely, you'll find that you need toadapt to the whims of others ratherthan the other way around.

Stronger forces are demand-ing that you to stand up a littlestraighter than usual, Virgo. Keepyour shoulders back and be proud.Don't think of yourself as any less of aperson just because you're in a dis-agreement with your household or co-workers. Maintain respect for yourselfand your opinions. Say things withconfidence. Don't back down, and beprepared to fight if you must.

Focus on your creative mind,Gemini. This is a fertile time for plant-ing hearty seeds that will be sure togrow up healthy and strong. You havethe ability to prosper wildly, but it cer-tainly won't come easily. The key foryou is maintaining your cool. Don'toverreact to the little annoyances thatcome your way. You're above pettysquabbles, so don't waste your timeon them.

Focus on the simple pleas-ures today, Taurus. Under normal cir-cumstances, you'd be tempted toseek happiness and peace in far-offlands or through expensive recre-ational activities. Realize that every-thing you need is already inside you.Find your delight in nature. Smile atthe sun, the moon, and the trees.Realize that beauty resides all aroundyou, rather than whatever you mightload into an online shopping cart.

ARIES TAURUS

GEMINI CANCER

LEO VIRGO

AQUARIUS PISCES

LIBRA SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN

March 21-April 19

September 23-October 22

April 20-May 20

October 23 - November 21

May 21-June 21 June 22-July 22

July 23-August 22

January 20-February 18

August 23-September 22

February 19-March 20

December 22-January 19November 22-December 21

SOUL SPEAK WITH SHAIL

A COSMIC CROSSROAD

C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ STATE3

CMYK

GJ REPORTREASI, MAY 24: Inwake of the current situa-tion emerged due to novelCOVID-19, Districtadministration Reasi hastaken various possiblesteps to mitigate the suf-ferings of economicalweaker section of thesociety. In the sequel ofsignificant measurestaken earlier for provid-ing financial assistance tothe registered construc-tion workers, DeputyCommissioner Reasi,Indu Kanwal Chib againdisbursed an amount ofRs 5,65,000 as 3rdinstallment among thebeneficiaries throughDBT mode underBuilding and OtherConstruction WorkersWelfare scheme ofLabour department.

It is pertinent to men-tion here that two install-ments of COVID reliefworth Rs 5,80,000 and Rs5,65,000 had alreadybeen released earlier intothe accounts of benefici-aries in the month ofMarch and April respec-

tively for the purchase ofration and other essentialcommodities and all thatdone when helplessworkers have lost theirlivelihood and there wasno ray of hope amid ofthis pandemic. All thesemeasures have been takenby Labour departmentunder extraordinary andadverse circumstances inorder to provide a sigh ofrelief to the constructionworkers.

In addition to it,Labour Department Reasihas also distributed 2600number of masks toneedy and poor peopleand in coordination withEmployment Departmenthas also done counselingof 957 workers who areemerged with insane ten-dencies due to helpless-ness and so far Labourdepartment has disburseda total assistance of Rs.28,00,000/- under differ-ent components to theconstruction workers.

Deputy Commissionerappreciated the workingof Labour departmentReasi headed by

Assistant LabourCommissioner, PradyotGupta for its proactiveefforts in giving financialassistance to poor labour-ers at this crucial juncturein the midst of the worstglobal pandemic COVID-19. The main objective ofreleasing 3rd installmentin favour of registeredconstruction workers andthat even too in a veryshort span of time is toonly bring out the poorand needy workers fromdistress. Keeping in viewthe most pious month,financial assistance hasbeen released well aheadof the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Being a stakeholder tosafeguard the rights oflabourer class, it is a sortof effort on humanitariangrounds to render servic-es to the needy workers.Labour department Reasiunder the proper guid-ance of higher authoritiesalso playing a tremen-dous role as frontline res-cuer for Inter-statemigrant workers for theirmovement to their nativeplaces.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Former Deputy ChiefMinister today said thateffective planning by theModi government has ledto control spread ofCOVID-19 in the country.

Gupta visited quaran-tine centers to meet thepersons who are beingbrought to J&K using roador rail means. SecretaryBJP Arvind Gupta, Districtpresident Vinay Gupta,Varinderjeet Singh, NareshSingh, Ankush Gupta,Tilak Raj and Lucky Purialso accompanied him.

Gupta said that theGovernment is awareabout its responsibilitiestowards its citizens. Aftertwo months of lockdownin country amid COVID-19, certain relaxationswere given to citizens andtransportation permissionsallowed to the nativeplaces to stranded persons,may it be interstate, intrastate or inter countries.Increasing number of theinbound persons isincreasing and the Govtmachinery working round-

the-clock to facilitate toaccommodate all such per-sons in the quarantine cen-ters to tackle the spread ofCOVID-19. He said thatnatural calamities andCOVID-19 like epidemiccan come but Govt will notallow people to sufferbecause of that. "Under theleadership, effective poli-cy and planning by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,we have been successful tocontrol the spread ofCOVID-19 unlike otheradvanced countries. Indiabeing 2nd most populated

Country across Globe andstill categorized in'Developing Country' has18 cases/million of popu-lation as compared to skytouching graph of devel-oped countries besides thefact that they have contin-gency management plansand effective healthcaresystem, whereby they stillare not able to control thespread of Epidemic effec-tively," Gupta said adding ,"We Indian should behavesensibly and follow thepreventive measures asnotified by the Union

Government or the respec-tive State Governments."

Persons in the centersbrought some problems tothe notice of KavinderGupta. Gupta wasinformed about the delayin the receipt of the testreports, lack of hygienicwashrooms and quality offood served at someplaces. Every inmate waseager to go to their respec-tive homes. Gupta listenedto the inmates of the quar-antine centers and said thatall problems shall be dis-cussed at the highest level

in administration and shallbe resolved at the earliest.Gupta plead to theinmates, "Don't panic overthe Coronavirus and stayconfident. Don't think thatall of you are patients. Thegovernment as a precau-tionary measure put youhere. Within a few days,you will be sent to yourhome with full of health.But the persons at thesecenters should maintaindiscipline and social dis-tance with others. Personalhygiene is very importantand all of you shouldcooperate with the medicaland health staff. If any-body finds any symptomslike sneezing, cough orfever please don't hidethem and inform the doc-tors immediately for bettermedical assistance and itwould be a preventivemeasure from spreading toothers also," Gupta saidand appealed to all to stickon to the medical protocolslaid down by the govern-ment and those violatingby running prematurelyfrom quarantine period arepunishable.

Labour Deptt Reasi provides financial assistance to construction workers

DC disburses 3rd installment of RR 565000 Effective planning of Modi Government lead to control

spread of COVID-19 in the country: Kavinder

Former Dy CM Kavinder Gupta during his visit to a quarantine center on Sunday.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Former Minister and seniorCongress leader RamanBhalla on Sunday said thatunorganised workers havebeen hit hard due to lock-down and need direct pay-ments. He stressed uponthe people to look into andtake their responsibilitieswith regard to lessen therisks and chances ofspreading Coronavirus andtake healthy benefit fromthe relaxation given by thegovernment. They mustwash their hands and sani-tize them before going out,wear a face mask and plas-tic hand gloves, avoidmaking the crowd and keepa safe distance from othersto ensure safety. He alsoadvised the traders not toentertain those customerswho do not take care ofpreventive measures. Healso advised the people togive and take currencynotes with great care asthese notes can be mostdangerous for spreadingthe virus. If people do notobserve safety measure,

the virus could be spreadand the there will have nooption but to enforce lock-down again, he stated.

Bhalla said that Govtshould utilize present timeto create a massive testinginfrastructure, so that evenasymptomatic people couldbe tested and quarantined.That's the only way tomanage the Coronaviruspandemic until people getdrugs and vaccines toadminister enmasse. Govtis doing little to addressthis concern about India

not taking the mass-testingapproach. People need awell laid out mechanism toquarantine a person themoment he is found posi-tive, without letting theminfect others, includingmedical staff and familymembers.

Bhalla reiterated that itis time to stand by the gov-ernment. But when thesheer ineptitude and stub-bornness of the govern-ment endangers the safetyof people, it becomesimportant to seek account-

ability. Asking questions isa responsibility, said for-mer Minister while accus-ing govt to read the gravityof impact of COVID-19and each and every sectionof society. LGAdministration's inabilityto get its act together evenafter more than two monthshas put the people of J&Kat grave risk wanderingwhat to do, where to go todeal with current situation.There is overwhelmingevidence that more andmore people have run out

of cash and are forced tostand in lines to collect freecooked food. He askedwhy cannot governmentsave them from hunger andprotect their dignity bytransferring cash to everypoor family, why can't gov-ernment distribute, free ofcost, a small part of the 77million tonnes of grainwith FCI to families whoneed the grain to feedthemselves.

Meanwhile Bhalla dis-tributed ration item atBathindi ward -74,Mohalla Satellite Colony,Mohalla Palliya HillColony, MohallaZuberabad and MohallaShamsdin.

Prominent among thosewho accompanied Bhallaincludes Councillor SobatAli, Ch Putto, SarpanchHafeez Hulla, BittuSharma, Aman Bawa, JatinVashisht, Iqbal Singh,Faryad Ali, Ayub khan,Jatinder Singh, ParamjeetSingh, Parveen Kumari,Shed Mohd, Naseem Ali,Majeed, Bhardar Ali,Gagan Bral and G S Sodhi.

Unorganised workers have been hit hard, need direct payments: Bhalla

Senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla distributing ration on Sunday.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Founder of J&K NationalPanthers Party and SeniorAdvocate of SupremeCourt Prof Bhim Singh, haschallenged the latest lawinducted forcibly in J&Kby the Union of India tobypass permanent residentsrules in J&K and deprivingthe permanent residents ofJ&K of their jobs and workin the government officeseven in Class-IV, Class-IIIand Class-II jobs in thegovernment in J&K.

Prof Bhim Singh regret-ted that BJP government inthe Centre has been actingin violation in letter andspirit by violating/infring-ing the spirit and the com-mand of the Constitution ofIndia which was declaredon 26th January, 1950.

That Article 370 (1)which has been retained bythe present rulers is veryclear that the Parliament ofIndia has not implementedthe Accession of the Stateof Jammu & Kashmir by

accepting the Instrument ofAccession on 5th March,2020 neither Parliamenthas amended theConstitution to accept the

Instrument of Accessionsigned by Maharaja HariSingh on 26th October,1947. The Parliament hasnot taken over Defence,Foreign Affairs &Communications withAllied Matters which wereretained with the Executivepower of J&K by theMaharaja. UnlessParliament of Indiaacquires entire State ofJammu & Kashmir by itsParliamentary decision thatthree subjects retained bythe Maharaja with him,

shall also be given to theauthority of the Parliamentof India the Instrument ofAccession remains intact.The present BJP govern-ment has not acted inaccordance to theInternational Law nor inaccordance with theConstitution of India whiledeclaring J&K as twoUnion Territories by split-ting Jammu and Kashmir.

This matter should beunderstood in the rulers ofIndia who are dictating proBJP laws in J&K in viola-tion of the Constitution ofIndia as well asInternational Law.

Prof Bhim Singh urgedthe President of India toconvene an urgent meetingof all representatives ofJammu & Kashmir recog-nized political parties andthose which are function-ing in Jammu & Kashmir.This matter deserves earli-est attention of thePresident lest IntentionalCourt of Justice interven-tion comes into play.

Bhim Singh challenges Domicile Law inJ&K for inducting non residents in jobs

GJ REPORTPOONCH, MAY 24: Withan aim to ensure the safetyof the rural population,Village Level Committees(VLCs) have been consti-tuted in Poonch district tocontain the spread of thevirus infection and manage-ment of COVID19. Thesecommittees were assigned

the responsibility of sensi-tizing the common massesabout the Coronavirusinfection, ways to prevent itand to get informationabout the travel history ofthe villagers

These Village level com-mittees have metamor-phosed into super aware-ness spreader by going door

to door covering all the vil-lages in Poonch. They inter-act with the people in theirlocal language and are help-ing to dispel fear amongthem about COVID-19.

VLCs comprise of localeducated members of thevillage who dedicatedly tra-verse the difficult terrain ofthe district to ensure that

their message of precau-tionary measures to beadopted to keep the spreadof Coronavirus away reach-es far flung areas. Theircontribution is all the morevital as the district has asizeable population ofnomadic migratory commu-nity residing in the far offreaches. These people byvirtue of their migratoryhabits are more susceptibleto contracting the disease.The only manner in whichit can be prevented is bysensitising these communi-ties about the precautionarymeasures needed to checkCOVID-19. VLC membersbeing part of the communi-ty are able to keep a closeliaison with these nomadicpeople. These committeeshave therefore emerged asthe focal point in theresponse against COVID-19, which is a positive thingfor the district.

VLCs emerge as focal point in Covid awareness in Poonch

VLC members during a meeting to contain spread of Coronavirus infection in Poonch

GJ REPORTKISHTWAR, MAY 24: On the direc-tions of District DevelopmentCommissioner Rajinder Singh Tara,District level Centre for Women,Mahila Shakti Kendra Kishtwar todaystarted an initiative of providing doorto door awareness regarding WomenHelpline 181 for women in distress.

The purpose of this campaign wasto make people aware, regarding thevarious services provided by theHelpline 181 especially during thisCovid-19 pandemic.

While talking about the WomenHelpline Service, Women WelfareOfficer, Roohie Shamma said that it isan initiative of the Government to pro-vide 24 hour-immediate response towomen affected by any kind of vio-lence. She also provided informationabout support services, governmentschemes and programs available to thewomen affected by violence. Medicalaid, legal aid and Temporary shelter isalso provided to the deserving persons.

District Coordinators Hina Jan andShanu Rana also awared the womenabout other women welfare schemeslike BBBP, Ladli Beti, SukanyaSmaridhi Yojna, PMMY , JSY. Theystressed the people to avail the benefits

of these schemes.During this awareness campaign all

the SOPs and the protocol of lock-down like maintenance of social dis-tancing and compulsory usage of maskwere followed.

MSK Kishtwar conducts awareness campaignregarding women helpline 181

Officials of MSK Kishtwar conducting door-to-door awareness campaign on Sunday.

GJ REPORTNEW DELHI, MAY 24:All India CongressCommittee (AICC) presi-dent Sonia Gandhi todayextended greetings on theoccasion of Eid-Ul-Fitr,hoping that the occasionbecomes the harbinger ofgood health and prosperityof the people of Jammu andKashmir.

AICC president hasextended greetings to peo-

ple of J&K on the occasionof Eid-Ul-Fitr, wishingthem good health, prosperi-ty and long life.

"Festivals will continueto provide us opportunitiesto intermingle andexchange ideas with eachother, reflecting the diversi-ty, age old tradition andcommunal harmony in thecountry, besides leading atthe path of friendship andtogetherness", AICC presi-

dent said."I send my best wishes

to people of Jammu andKashmir on this auspiciousoccasion and pray thatAlmighty save everyonefrom the fatal COVID 19virus", she "said adding,"Ihope that this auspiciousoccasion will bringing all ofus out of the current hostilesituation and fear attribut-ing to the deadly PandemicCOVID 19."

Sonia Gandhi prays for safetyand wellbeing of J&K people

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: Continuing theirefforts to serve the needy in everyway possible, Jammu and Kashmirunit of Brahmkumaris providedration to hundreds of needy familiesin Jammu West Assembly segment.Former State President BJP and ExMLA Sat Sharma distributed rationwith the team of Brahmkumaris.Sudershan Didi (Director,Brahmkumaris J&K), District presi-dent Munish Khajuria, CorporatorWard 8 Dr Akshay Sharma, DistrictGeneral Secretaries Adv RajeshGupta and Adv Karan Sharma,Mandal president Keshav Chopra,BK Ravinder Kumar, BK RaviBakshi were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Sat

Sharma appreciated the efforts ofBrahmkumaris team and said thatthey have been serving the societyfrom nearly a century now and during

this pandemic situation when thewhole world is facing crisis in thesetough times. The Brahmkumarispledged to serve the needy so that no

one sleeps hungry, he added. He stat-ed that though their main work is totransform the life of people throughRajyoga Meditation but they arealways ready to help society.

Sudershan Didi said, "This worldis like a huge drama in which we getthe role according to our Karmas.Alongwith knowledge meditation, wehelp people according to their needsbecause society belongs to us and webelong to society." Munish and DrAkshay said that special attention isbeing given to social Distancing andobeying the guidelines laid by theGovernment of India. They also stat-ed that with the help of Former MLAnearly 20000 needy families inJammu West were provided withessential services.

Brahmkumaris playing vital role in serving the needy: Sat

Ex MLA Sat Sharma alongwith Sudershan Didi (Director, BrahmkumarisJ&K), during distribution of ration.

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ STATE4

CMYK

J&K reports 52...has 164 positive cases (including 01 case reported today) with94 Active Positive, 70 recovered; Budgam has 64 positive cases,with 15 Active Positive and 47 recovered cases (including 12cases recovered today) and 02 deaths; Ganderbal has 27 posi-tive cases with 3 Active cases and 24 recoveries (including 09cases recovered today); Kulgam has 224 positive cases (includ-ing 26 reported today), with 207 Active Positive and 15 recover-ies (including 03 recoveries today) and 02 deaths and Pulwamareported 25 positive cases with 15 active positive, 10 recovered(including 01 case recovered today).

Similarly, Jammu has 78 positive cases (including 06 casesreported today) with 43 active positive cases and 34 recoveries(including 03 cases recovered today) and 01 death; Udhampurhas 35 positive cases (including 02 cases reported today) with 13active positive case, 21 recovered and 01 death; Samba has 27positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 20 ActivePositive and 07 recoveries; Rajouri has 13 positive cases (includ-ing 03 cases reported today) with 09 active positive cases and 04recovered; Kathua has 45 positive cases (including 04 casesreported today) with 39 Active positive and 06 recovered;Kishtwar has 08 positive case with 07 active positive cases and01 recovered; Ramban has 44 positive cases with 43 active pos-itive and 01 recovered; Reasi has 04 positive cases with 03active positive and 01 recovered, Poonch has 06 active positivecases while Doda has 01 active positive case.

The Bulletin said that the breakup represents districts fromwhich the patients have been traced or are ordinarily residing.

The advisory has informed the public to maintain physicaldistance of at least 2 metre from others, frequently cleaninghands with an alcohol based hand sanitizer or washing them withsoap and water besides following good respiratory etiquettes andhygiene which is the best way to protect them from COVID-19.

"People are strongly advised to avoid going to crowdedplaces, as they are more likely to come into close contact withsomeone who has COVID-19 and it is more difficult to maintainphysical distance with others at these places", as per the bulletin.As a measure for social distancing in public places and work-places wearing a face cover is compulsory.

The bulletin again explained that early detection of COVID-19can prevent the spread of disease so we need to be responsiblefor the well-being of ourselves and everyone around us. "Not dis-closing symptoms could put life of individuals and their families atrisk. In case of symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty inbreathing report early. Do not fear, call COVID-19 helpline num-bers and seek medical advice".

Advisory has further exhorted upon the people not to step outof home, unless absolutely necessary. "If you have to move outfor unavoidable reasons, ensure that you wear a mask and prac-tice social distancing, personal hygiene and frequent handwash-ing with soap and water."

In case of any emergency people can avail free ambulanceservices 24x7 at their doorsteps by calling on toll-free number108 while as pregnant women and sick infants can avail freeambulance services by dialling toll-free number 102.

People can also call on toll-free national helpline number1075; J&K COVID-19 Helpline Numbers 0191- 2549676 (UTlevel Cell), 0191-2520982, 0191-2674444, 0191-2674115 (ForJammu Division), 0194-2440283 & 0194-2430581 (For KashmirDivision) for support, guidance, and response to health-relatedqueries on Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

Public is advised to strictly follow the advisories issued by thegovernment from time to time and rely only on the informationreleased by the government through the daily media bulletin toprint and electronic media.

People are also advised to refrain from spreading rumoursand pay no heed to them at the same time.

Govt deploys officers...Mattoo have also been deployed to assist Principal SecretaryHousing and Urban Development (Nodal Officer, SrinagarAirport) in this regard.

Pertinently, the officers have been deployed in addition totheir own duties.

Opposition raising bogey...murder of the composite culture, which was sustained only by thepresence of Kashmiri Pandit community in the valley.

Dr Jitendra Singh predicted that the opposition leaders maybe opposed to the new Domicile law, but their children in heart ofhearts support this change and would feel blessed in the longrun. History will vindicate us , he said.

Referring to the various merits of the decision taken in theUnion Cabinet meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it was not onlyinhuman but also against the constitutional propriety and princi-ple of equality that the All India Service officials who put in theprime of 30 to 35 years of their life serving the people of Jammu& Kashmir were, after superannuation, ruthlessly asked to packup and, go and find a place to live anywhere in the country butnot in Jammu & Kashmir.

Ironically, this was happening at a time when some of theStates in India not only facilitated residential settlement of theseofficials but also provided them plots of land at discounted rates,he added. Even worse was the plight of the children who wereborn, brought up and did schooling in Jammu & Kashmir butwere later not eligible to apply for higher education institutions,which left them nowhere to go.

Describing the Union Cabinet decision and the DemographicNotification historic, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this was a miscar-riage and anomaly which waited for 70 years to be corrected.May be it was God's will that only Narendra Modi as PrimeMinister should perform this act of redemption.

Govt evacuates 89,773...Srinagar International Airport under Vande Bharat Missionthrough COVID special flights.

Nearly, 89,773 J&K residents, stranded outside UT due tolockdown imposed in the wake of global pandemic, have beenbrought back to the UT by the Jammu and Kashmir governmentthrough 28 COVID special trains, 4 flights besides scores ofbuses after strictly observing all necessary preventive measuresregarding the Virus.

As per the detailed break up about the figures, the govern-ment has evacuated 66024 residents of J&K, stranded in variousother states and UTs, through Lakhanpur besides bringing backhome about 23,097 people through 28 special trains at Jammuand Udhampur railway stations.

Nearly, 650 stranded passengers have entered throughLakhanpur from May 23 to May 24 morning while 767 passen-gers have reached today in the 11th Delhi COVID special train atJammu and about 408 passengers have reached at Udhampurrailway stations from Thane. So far, 11 trains have reachedJammu with a total of 9634 stranded passengers belonging todifferent districts while 13,463 passengers have reachedUdhampur in 17 special trains, so far.

As per the official communiqué, of 66024 returnees evacuat-ed through Lakhanpur till May 24, 2020 (morning) included15491 from Punjab; 20344 from Himachal Pardesh, 21 fromAndhra Pardesh, 6479 from Delhi, 1348 from Gujrat, 2688 fromRajasthan, 3784 from Haryana, 149 from Chattisgarh, 3351 fromUttarakhand, 1007 from Maharashtra, 4269 from Uttar Pradesh,63 from Odisha, 252 from Assam and 982 from Madhya Pradesh,88 from Dehradun, 1104 from Chandigarh, 682 from Telengana,106 from Karnataka, 13 from Tamilnadu, 52 from Chennai, 296from Bihar, 155 from West Bengal, 26 from Jharkhand, 3 fromNepal and 3271 from other states and UTs.

Pertinently, the district administrations of Jammu, Udhampur,Kathua and Srinagar have put in place elaborate arrangementsand facilities for safe and successful boarding and de-boarding ofreturnees at the Railway stations and airport and their journeytowards their home districts. Besides, 100 per cent sampling ofreturnees is being done at the kiosks established at the stationsand it is ensured that the people in the administrative quarantinego home only after they are tested negative for Corona virus. Theadministrations are strictly adherening to the guidelines issuedby MHA and MoFHW regarding COVID-19. It is being ensuredthat during the boarding and de-boarding process the passen-gers observe social distancing and wear masks. Besides, com-plete protection of the administrative staff and others on duty isbeing ensured.

Principal Secretary PDD, Rohit Kansal; CommissionerSecretary, Industries and Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi andChief Electoral Officer, Hirdesh Kumar, who are the NodalOfficers for management of return of stranded people at Jammu,Udhampur and Kathua respectively, are personally monitoringthe facilities being extended to the passengers during their de-boarding and movement to their home districts.

Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated...However, in the interior areas in summer capital, Srinagar, includ-ing in uptown, down town and civil lines, people defied therestrictions and offered congregational prayers in their respectiveMohalla mosques from 0545 hrs to 0700 hrs before police andsecurity forces were deployed. Security forces and police per-sonnel prevented similar congregational prayers in most of thearea in the city.

Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Nasir Ul Islam lateSaturday announced that Shawwal moon was sight therefore theEid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Sunday. Immediately after theannouncement, people were seen outside meat and chickenshops till mid-night.

People celebrated the festival with religious gaiety and fer-vour in the valley, where authorities had imposed restrictions andasked people to remain indoor to prevent spread of coronaviruspandemic.

There was no major congregational prayers at Asaar-e-Sharief Hazratbal shrine, which houses the Holy Relic of ProphetMuhammad, historic Jamia masjid, Eidgah, shrine of HazratSheikh Nooruddin Wali, Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Mukhdoom andother shrines and religious places.

However, reports received here said people violating the lock-down, offered prayers in local mosques in the interior parts of thecity. Reports said that in some areas people maintained socialdistance and were wearing masks while in over a dozenmosques there was no social distancing. In the Dalgate andother areas people jointly offered prayers in lawns.

Let's resist temptation...All senior leaders of political parties, including three former ChiefMinisters-Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and MehboobaMufti were taken into custody then.

Taking to micro blogging site twitter the vice president of theNational Conference (NC) Omar said "This #EidUlFitr let's resistthe temptation to congregate or violate #SocialDistancing so thatwe can defeat #COVID?19. That way we can all celebrate Eid inJuly/August the way it's meant to be celebrated".

"We marked Eid-al-Adah/Bakr Eid in August last year in themidst of a draconian lockdown & we got through it" he said inanother tweet.

He further said " May Allah have mercy on us, on the oneswho can't spend Eid with their families, on those who are unableto spend it with their families, on those who await their families,on those who are blessed with their families. To the entireKashmir, and the world out their #Eid Mubarak".

Army denies detention...Other than Pangong Tso, there are three other spots where theChinese have done a troop build up, pitched tents, brought inheavy vehicles and machinery to enhance their fortificationsacross the Galwan valley in the Akshai Chin region.

Other than Pangong Tso, that is extremely sensitive, the otherplaces that are volatile in wake of the recent escalation are TrigHeights, Demchok and Chumar in Ladakh which forms westernsector of the India-China frontier.

While the disengagement took place in Eastern Ladakh aftertroops came to blows on May 5 and were involved in a faceoff tillthe morning of May 6 when troops from both sides clashed leav-ing several injured.

A close watch is being maintained in Pangong Tso and theGalwan Valley region where the Chinese have enhanced deploy-ment and have been involved in aggressive posturing. The face-offs were triggered by road construction activities and infrastruc-ture development by the Indian side, which the Chinese-side hadobjected to.

This was a connecting track to the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie road built last year, which is considered critical for Indiantroop mobilization. India has also brought in reinforcements andenhanced defences close to the areas of standoff.

There have been several rounds of talks between militarycommanders on the ground but there has been no breakthrough.Indian Army Chief General M M Naravane visited Leh amid thegrowing tension in eastern Ladakh after frequent confrontationsbetween Indian and Chinese since May 5.

Gen Naravane made an instant visit to Leh on Friday and wasback the same day after meeting top commanders and reviewingthe situation. The army chief's visit came a day after the Ministryof External Affairs (MEA) responded to China's allegation of

Indian troops entering their territory stating that it was theChinese-side who were blocking Indian patrols. (Agencies)

Lack of clarity...flight operations start from next week if they have downloadedthe government's contract-tracing ar. Aarogya Setu and the sta-tus on it shows green (negative).

"If you have taken a test and your test report is negative, fol-lowing which you don't have any symptoms, I believe thereshould be no need for quarantine. The Aarogya Setu app is likea passport, if your status on the app is green. Why should any-one want any quarantine?" he asked.

According to Government Order No: 56-JK (DMRRR) of 2020Dated: 24.05.2020, there are instructions mandating 100%administrative/ institutional quarantine of all passengers for 14days or till their test results are reported negative, in which casethey shall be released for Home Quarantine, or if positive, inwhich case they shall be sent to a COVID hospital for recoveryand treatment. The order states that the categories of passen-gers namely ( i) Pregnant women in the last trimester, with aDoctor's certificate of pregnancy;(ii) Cancer patients onchemotherapy; (iii) Chronically ill patients, discharged from ahospital after a surgical procedure; (iv) Dialysis patients with adoctor's certificate of being on dialysis; (v) Mothers with infantsbelow 1 year; (vi) Children below 10 years traveling alone with-out a family member, (vii) Government of India personnel onbona fide government duty; and (viii) Passengers travelers withan RTPCR TEST Negative Certificate from an ICMR approvedlaboratory/ testing facility, not older than 2 days (48 hours) beforethe arrival date, and arriving by air, rail or any other means fromoutside the UT into the UT of Jammu & Kashmir will have a mod-ified quarantine procedure, whereby they will be sampled onarrival for RTPCR testing and sent to Home Quarantine for 14days: and, if their test result is positive, they will be brought to aCOVID hospital for recovery and treatment. It further states thatthe testing and quarantine procedures prescribed in the Orders

in Paragraph 1 will be applicable to all air travelers from a Reddistrict to an Orange District within the UT of Jammu & Kashmirand any violation of these instructions will attract penalties underthe Disaster Management Act, 2005 and other provisions of law.

Now the question arises that when the passengers havealready undergone testing before departure from the takeoff ter-ritory, why should the need arise for quarantine at the location oflanding or arrival, especially when those already in quarantine indifferent govt. and other paid accommodations are crying hoarseover the lack of facilities at the quarantine centres besides thepaid facilities in some designated hotels for the purpose beinghighly expensive. Last but not the least the testing speed is sosluggish that waiting for the reports in the quarantine centresleads to depression and mental illness of the inmates due towhich some centres witnessed chaos amid the inmates agitatingagainst poor facilities. Moreover, the Union Minister for CivilAviation Hardeep Singh Puri having stated that those getting agreen signal while using Arogya Setu would not need quarantine,seems to have not found place in the order of the UT administra-tion. It is pertinent to mention here that not only those travellingby air but even the pilots have alleged that there is no clarity onquarantine procedures and rules. Even 6 States across thenation differ on the quarantine issue.

Undoubtedly the quarantine procedure is the much neededprecaution to play safe for the health of the travellers but it shouldnot in any way become a cause of avoidable inconvenience tothem due to implementation flaws which seems evident from theground situation. It is hoped that the government will use rapidtesting equipments to deliver COVID 19 test reports within hoursor at the most within 24 hours so that those travelling to theirhomes do not undergo the unnecessary agony at the quarantinecentres after having been already stranded for over two monthsduring lockdown to be followed by yet more agony due to longwaiting for their reports, besides saving unnecessary shelling outof bucks at the paid facilities in hotels, where the rates chargedcan by no means be termed as reasonable.

5 airlines begin...suspension due to countrywide lockdown in view ofCoronavirus." He said that five airlines will start its operation fromMonday.

Three Air India flights will arrive from Srinagar, one from Delhi,three SpiceJet flights will arrive, one Vistara and one Indigo fromDelhi but still clouds over Indigo and GoAir flights arriving fromMumbai and no confirmation yet received.

Sources further said that for departure, Air India (2 flights) willbe departing for Srinagar and Delhi, SpiceJet (3 flights) forSrinagar, Gwalior and Delhi, Indigo (2 flights) Srinagar and Delhi,Vistara to Srinagar and GoAir to Srinagar.

Meanwhile, with partial resumption of air travel and nineflights expected to arrive at the Srinagar Airport on Monday 25thMay, Principal Secretary to Government Dheeraj Gupta, who hasbeen nominated as Nodal Officer to oversee arrangements atSrinagar Airport, today reviewed the facilities at Srinagar airportand finalized the standard operating procedure (SOP) for receiv-ing and facilitating the passengers at the Airport.

Among other officers, the meeting was attended by DivisionalCommissioner Kashmir P.K Pole, Secretary Tourism ZubairAhmad, Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar and Budgam,Director Srinagar Airport, Commissioner SMC, Director HealthService Kashmir, Director Industries, officers from Army &

Paramilitary forces and senior police officers.It was stated in the meeting that as per the protocol being fol-

lowed in UT of J&K under the Disaster Management Act, all pas-sengers coming to J&K by air shall be kept in Institutional quar-antine for 14 days and tested for Covid 19. Their sampling shallbe done at the Srinagar Airport and transport arrangement totheir respective districts has been put in place. The test samplesshall be sent to the SKIMS and those passengers who test neg-ative shall be sent home and if positive sent to hospital.

The passengers shall be lodged in various accommodationsarranged by the concerned District Administration. Besides, paidquarantine facility has also been made available for the passen-gers for their convenience.

Giving details, the meeting was informed that the passengersafter disembarking at Srinagar Airport shall have to fill up theirparticulars in a form devised by the Indian Council of MedicalResearch. After capturing their information at the Help Desks,their samples for covid-19 test shall be taken for which 30 TestingKiosks have been set up at the Airport. The passengers shall betaken to the Administrative Quarantine facilities for which ade-quate transport is being provided by State Road TransportCorporation. The officials at the Airport would also check the sta-tus of Aarogya Setu application on mobile devices, carry out ther-mal screening at the departure point of airports and passengersshowing some symptoms would not be allowed to board theflight.

Besides, officials from the Army and Para-military Forcesshall identify their passengers returning for duty and they shall betaken to the Quarantine facilities set up by the Army & CAPF sep-arately where their sampling shall also be taken for testing.

Several decisions were taken on the occasion with regard todevising of roster for health and administrative staff to work inshifts, computerization of data, accommodation of staff at nearbylocation, conveyance facilities for staff and making available foodand refreshment at Srinagar Airport.

Srinagar Municipal Corporation has also made appropriatearrangements for sanitisation and set up disinfectant tunnels atSrinagar Airport. The Terminal building and vehicles pressed intoservice shall also be fumigated by the SMC on daily basis.

The officers took a round of the entire Airport terminal to seethe arrangements. Instructions were given to Health workers andAdministrative staff to carry out demos so that operations runsmoothly and passengers feel comfortable on their arrival.

Govt extends validity...Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has issued a statutoryorder prescribing that the fees paid on or after February 1, 2020for the activity(s) including renewal (of documents) and in casesuch activity(s) is not completed due to conditions for preventionof COVID-19 pandemic, the fees paid shall continue to remainvalid.

"And If there is delay in paying the fees from 1st of Feb, 2020till the period of lockdown there would not be any additional orlate fee to be charged for such delays till 31st July 2020," an offi-cial statement said. (Agencies)

LeT militants' 4...and recovered arms and ammunition from their possession," apolice spokesperson said.

The arrested persons have been identified as WaseemGanie, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Mohammad Yasin and Azharudin Mir,he said.

The spokesperson said incriminating material including armsand ammunition was recovered from their possession.

As per the police records, the arrested persons were involvedin providing logistical support and shelter to active terrorists ofLeT operating in the area. The police spokesperson added that acase FIR No. 126/2020 under relevant sections of law has beenregistered in Police Station Beerwah and further investigation inthe matter is in progress. (Agencies)

BSF seizes 2...Battalion of BSF in the Ferozepur sector.

A spokesperson of the Punjab Frontier's Head Quarter heresaid Sunday the contraband was attempted to be pushedthrough water channel with the help of water Hyacinth(Jalkumbhi). Value of the heroin seized is said to be R 10 crore inthe international market.

This is the second such attempt by the Pakistani smugglerswithin 48 hours to push drugs into the Indian Territory. The BSFhad seized 1.900 kg of heroin that too in two plastic bottles onMay 22 from the area of responsibility of 116 Bn in Ferozepur.

The BSF has seized 170.593 kg of heroin from the Punjabborder during the current calendar year till now valuing aroundRs. 853 crore.

2 persons injured...Wednesday at Nawakadal, where Junaid Sehrai, son of sepa-ratist conglomerate Tehreek-e-Hurriyat's chairman Ashraf Sehrai,was among two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants killed in thegunfight on Tuesday.

Official sources said a person identified Faya Ahmad Bhat, aresident of Nawakadal, died at SHMS hospital after battling forhis life for about five days.

Earlier in the day, the 55-year-old man, identified as ManzoorAhmad Khan, a resident of Hawal in downtown Srinagar, died atSHMS hospital. ''Both the deceased had suffered severe burninjuries,'' they said.

They said that as the people were clearing the debris of oneof the houses destroyed in the encounter, a wall of an adjacentresidence collapsed. ''Khan and Bhat were among four people,including the 12-year-old boy, who were injured in the incident,''they said.

On Wednesday, the minor boy, identified as Basim Aijaz, aresident of Chota Bazar, Karan Nagar in Srinagar, succumbed atSKIMS after battling for his life for over 24 hours.

DISTRICT WISE POSITIVE CASES AS ON 24.05.2020

Note: District wise breakup represents districts from which the patientshave been traced or are ordinarily residing.

S.No. District PositiveCases

Active Recovered Deaths

1. ANANTNAG 273 160 109 42. KULGAM 224 207 15 23. SRINAGAR 179 48 125 64. BANDIPORA 139 9 129 15. BARAMULLA 137 35 98 46. SHOPIAN 128 21 107 07. KUPWARA 164 94 70 08. BUDGAM 64 15 47 29. GANDERBAL 27 3 24 0

10. PULWAMA 25 15 10 011. JAMMU 78 43 34 112. KATHUA 45 39 6 013. UDHAMPUR 35 13 21 114. RAMBAN 44 43 1 015. SAMBA 27 20 7 016. RAJOURI 13 9 4 017. KISHTWAR 8 7 1 018. POONCH 6 6 0 019. REASI 4 3 1 020. DODA 1 1 0 0

Total 1621 791 809 21

ARRIVAL AT JAMMU AIRPORT (w.e.f. 25 May, 2020)

Sr. Call Sign Operator Arrival Arrival FrequencyFrom Time

1 AI 821 Air India DEL 850 Daily2 SG 8160 Spicejet DEL 940 Daily3 SG 3735 Spicejet GWL 1040 Daily4 6E 559 Indigo BOM 1120 Mon, Wed,

Fri & Sun5 AI 3827 Air India SXR 1200 Saturday6 AI 3829 Air India SXR 1200 Tue, Thu

& Sun7 SG 8161 Spicejet SXR 1245 Daily8 UK 611 Vistara SXR 1325 Daily9 G8 287 GowAir BOM 1400 Daily10 AI 822 Air India SXR 1430 Daily11 6E 955 Indigo DEL 1535 Daily

DEPARTURE FROM JAMMU AIRPORT (w.e.f. 25 May 2020)

Sr. Call Sign Operator Dep To Dep Time Frequency1 AI 821 Air India SXR 0940 Daily2 SG 8160 Spicejet SXR 1030 Daily3 SG 3732 Spicejet GWL 1120 Daily4 6E 559 Indigo SXR 1200 Mon, Wed,

Fri & Sun5 AI 3828 Air India SXR 1240 Saturday6 AI 3830 Air India SXR 1240 Tue, Thu

& Sun7 SG 8161 Spicejet DEL 1325 Daily8 UK 612 Vistara SXR 1410 Daily9 G8 287 GowAir SXR 1500 Daily10 AI 822 Air India DEL 1530 Daily11 6E 535 Indigo DEL 1610 Daily

From Page-1...

610 kg poppy strawseized, 4 arrested

JAMMU, MAY 24: Four persons were arrested with contrabandof poppy straw in Udhampur and Kathua districts on Sunday.

Police spokesman here said that two persons were arrestedalong with vehicle in which they were carrying 550 Kg of poppystraw packed and hidden in apple boxes.

Police team from Rajbagh in Kathua, during routine check-ing, signalled a vehicle to stop for checking which was comingfrom Jammu towards Lakhanpur.

During the checking, 277 Apple boxes were found loaded init, out of which 55 cardboard boxes (Apple boxes) were foundcontaining Poppy straw @ 10 kg each, amounting to total 5 quin-tals and 50 kg poppy straw which were illegally and stealthilyhidden in the apple boxes were recovered.

Police arrested the accused driver namely Balram and hisassociate namely Dinesh Kumar, both residents of Silla KehriTehsil Safdion District Jind (Harayan).

Further investigation of the case is going on.In another operation, police sized 60-kg poppy straw and

arrested two persons during checking of vehicle.Accused driver namely Mohammad Dilshad of Molalla,

Jamalpur alongwith Mohd Rafiq of MalerKotla, Punjab werearrested on spot and recovered poppy straw was also seized.

Police have registered cases and investigations started.

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad and untimelydemise of my beloved father Late Sh. Sardari Lal Gupta S/o LateSh. Nanak Chand Gupta R/o H.No. 33 Lane No. 17 Pacca GharatTalab Tillo. Kriya will be performed on 26-05-2020 at our residence. Uthala willbe performed on 27-05-2020 at 3 pm onwards at our residence.

GRIEF STRICKENSons & Daughters-in-LawRajinder Gupta & Veena GuptaRanjeet Gupta (Raju) & Rashi GuptaRahul Gupta & Shilpa GuptaDaughters & Sons-in-LawLalita Gupta & Vijay GuptaShashi Gupta & Late Sh. Inderjeet GuptaRenu Gupta & Suresh GuptaNeena Gupta & Rakesh GuptaPriyanka Gupta & Rajesh GuptaVikrant Gupta & Richa Gupta- Grand Son & Grand Daughter-in-LawGrand Daughter & Grand Son: Radhika Gupta, Akshita Gupta, Aadhya GuptaPh. Nos.: 9419118298, 6006016151, 7006223123, 7006153328, 7006153321

KRIYA/UTHALA

Late Sh. Sardari Lal Gupta

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the saddemise of our beloved Late Sh. Ram Lal Verma S/o LateSh. Bhagat Ram Verma R/o H.No.31-A, Pvt. Opp.Church Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, who expired on12 May, 2020.Uthala will be performed on 25 May, Monday at our res-idence at 4.00 PM.

GRIEF STRICKENSmt. Nirmal & Late Sh. S.K. AbrolSmt. Neelam & Late Sh. B.B. VermaSmt. Parveen & Late Sh. Subash VermaSh. Vijay Verma & Smt. Vijay VermaSh. Tilak Raj Verma & Smt. Kamala VermaSh. Virender Verma & Smt. Asha VermaH.No. 31-A, Pvt. Opp Church Gandhi Nagar, Jammu 9906060818

UTHALA

LATE SH. RAM LALVERMA

With profound grief and sorrow, we regret to inform thesad demise of our beloved mother Smt. Usha Raina W/oSh. Omkar Nath Raina originally resident of 193,Kharyar, Habbakadal, Srinagar at present H.No 577,Sector 14, Faridabad on 17-5-2020. Tenth Day Kriya willbe performed at Palla Ghat near Sarai Khawaja, BypassRoad, Faridabad on 26-05-2020 at 8 am.GRIEF STRICKENSh. Omkar Nath Raina - Husband(Brother-in-law & Sister-in-Law)Smt. & Sh. Amar Nath RainaSons & Daughters-in-LawMr Kulbhushan Raina & Mrs Anjali Raina (Mobile: 9810015430)Mr Shakti Raina & Mrs Kiran Raina (Mobile: 9811466142)Grand Children and Great Grand ChildrenAbhay & KamakshiKaran & MonicaShweta, Kashish & Aarvi

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Smt. Usha Raina

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad demise of SmtMohan Rani (Shanta Koul) W/o Lt Sh Mohan Lal Koul R/oUttersoo Anantnag at present H.No 33/34 Swaran Vihar PoliceColoney Bantalab Jammu near Shiv Temple on 19.05.2020.Tenth Day Kriya will be performed at Muthi Ghat (NearDirectorate of School Education, Jammu) on 28th May(Thursday) at 8.30 am.

GRIEF STRICKENSons & Daughter in LawsSh Pran Nath Koul & Smt Shanta KoulSmt Saitha Koul W/o Lt Sh Ravi Jee KoulSh Vijay Koul & Smt Ranu KoulDaughters & Son in lawsSmt Suman Bhat W/o Sh Jatinder BhatSmt Sweety Tickoo W/o Sh Tej Krishen TickooGrand Daughter & Grand Son in LawSmt Archana Koul & Sh Rahul PanditaGrand Children: Karishma,Vansh Deep, Sahil , Sunaina & KamiyaMobile No : 9419101531, 9419439042, 7889750019

OBITUARY/TENTH DAY KRIYA

Smt Mohan Rani(Shanta Koul)

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad demise ofour beloved Father Shri Radha Krishen Koul S/o Lt. Sh. NanaKoul originally resident of Khah Bazar, Anantnag Kashmirpresently at H.No. 49-P Sector - 8 (Eight) Roop Nagar Colony,Jammu on 19-5-2020. Tenth Day Kriya on 27-05-2020 at 9 amwill be performed at Muthi Ghat near Director School EducationOffice Jammu.GRIEF STRICKENSmt. Laxmishori -WifeSh. Autar Krishan Koul & Ghouri - Brother & BhabiSmt. Bimla Koul W/o Late Jawahar Lal Koul - BhabiSh. Hari Krishan Koul & Suneeta Raina - Son & Daughter-in-lawSh. Sanjay Koul & Shanu Koul - Son & Daughter-in-lawSh. Pran Nath Bhat & Sudesh Bhat -Daughter & Son-in-lawSh. Raj Nath Pandita & Santosh Koul - Daughter & Son-in-lawGrand Sons & Grand DaughtersAshish Koul, Hemanshi, Vivek Pandita, Kanik Pandita, Shivam & Eshan KoulSh. Vivek Koul & Anshu - Grand Son-in-law & Grand DaughterContact No: 7780868893, 9419614823, 9419190790, 9419190436

10TH DAY KRIYA

Shri Radha KrishenKoul

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad demise ofSmt Jai Kishori W/o Sh Niranjan Nath Pandita R/o Sattani,Dhar Road Udhampur erstwhile of Check Vessu Anantnag.The 10th Day will be solemnised on 27-05-2020 at 8 AM atDevika Ghat Udhampur.

GRIEF STRICKENRakesh Pandit & RakhiJetender Pandit & KiranAshwani Pandit & ArchanaBanti Ji & Sunil PanditaSmt Jagat Mohini PanditaRattan Lal Pandita & Bitta JiRoop Krishan Pandita & Kiran JiSmt Shanta KoulSh Ram Ji Pandita& Grand ChildrenPhone: 9622040549

10TH DAY KRIYA

Smt Jai Kishori

With profound grief and sorrow, we regret to inform the suddenand sad demise of our beloved Sh. Triloki Nath Pandita S/oLate Sh. Samsar Chand Pandita, original residence NunerGanderbal A/p H.No. 10 near Police Post Chinore BantalabJammu on 17-05-2020.Tenth Day Kriya will be performed on 26-05-2020 at 8.30 am atMuthi Ghat Jammu.GRIEF STRICKENDaughter-in-LawNancy Pandita W/o Lt. Sh. Nana Ji PanditaRajnath Pandita- SonVishal Pandita- Grand SonDaughters & Son-in-LawsBimla Bhat W/o M.K. BhatAnjli Pandita W/o Ramesh PanditaGrand Daughter & Grand Son-in-LawDiksha Pandita W/o Ashwin PanditaGrand Children: Ashu, Luckey, Vickey, RudranshMob. No. 9796252744, 9018983578

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Sh. Triloki NathPandita

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad demise of ourbeloved Late Sh. Kripal Singh S/o Late Sh. Jagat Singh R/o H. No.26/A Small Plots Gandhi Nagar, Jammu who expired on 13 May 20.KRIYA will be performed on 25 May 2020 (Monday) at our residenceat 11.00 A.M.UTHALA will be performed on 25 May 2020 (Monday) at our resi-dence at 2.00 P.M.

GRIEF STRICKENSons & Daughter-in-lawsDurga Singh & Lata DeviMohan Singh & SujataMohinder Singh Jasrotia (DySP) (JK Police) & Pawan JasrotiaDaughters & Sons-in-lawKuldeep Singh Charak & AnitaRomesh Singh Bhau & Rekha DeviGrand Children’s:Arun, Vishu, Ranvijay, Abhay, Ajay, Naina, Sonali, Taniya, AsviMob No: 9419203056, 9796888439

KRIYA/UTHALA

LATE SH. KRIPAL SINGH

With profound grief and sorrow we inform the sad demise ofour beloved father Late Sh. RS Makhnotra (Rtd DCF R/o 49Patel Nagar Akhnoor Road Jammu on 15-05-2020 (Friday). Kriya and Uthala will be performed on 25-05-2020 (Monday)at our residence.GRIEF STRICKENSons and Daughter-in-law'sSh. Vidya Rattan & Smt Vindo MakhnotraSh. Vidya Sagar & Smt Padmata MakhnotraSh. Vidya Bhushan & Smt Upma Sharma Sh. Vidya Baskar &Smt Ritu SharmaDaughter & Son-in-LawsSmt Kamni & Sh. M.L KhajuriaSmt Jayoti & Sh. Ashok SharmaBrothers & Bhabi'sSh. Ramdev & Smt Usha SharmaSh. Jai dev & Smt Sushila SharmaSh. Rajinder & Smt Tripta SharmaSister & Brother-in-LawSmt Bimla & Sh. B.D SharmaGrand ChildrenVishal, SAmiti, Viaks, Radhika, Milan, Mohit, Alok, Prothu, akanksha, Anuj, Anamika, Aditya,Akhilesh, Swapnil, Divita, Tavishi, NityamGreat Grand ChildrenSnigdha, Krishav, Ditvi, Tapas, Gauri, Atharv, Abhinandan, RayanshContacts:- 9419309471, 9419149768, 9419189963, 0191-2505533.

KRIYA/UTHALA

Sh. R S Makhnotra

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:The doubling rate of Covid-19 cases in the country iscurrently at above 13 days,which is a significantimprovement compared tothe 3.4 days, which existedin the pre-lockdown phase,according to Union healthminister Harsh Vardhan.

"If the doubling rate inIndia before the lockdownwas between 3.4 days,today the doubling rate ismore than 13-days.Lockdown and all its guide-lines have acted as a potentsocial vaccine," HarshVardhan said.

The Union minister saidthat the nationwide lock-down was imposed in thecountry at the opportunemoment as compared toother countries where itwas imposed either late or

partially."Lockdown was

imposed in India at theright time. Other developedcountries wasted manydays to take this decision.In some countries when thesituation went out of con-trol they took the decisionof lockdown and in mostplaces it was partial lock-down," he said.

India witnessed thebiggest ever spike of 6,767positive cases in the last 24hours, taking the total num-ber of Covid-19 cases to1,31,868, according to theUnion ministry of healthand family welfare.

As many as 147 deathshave been reported in thelast 24 hours, taking thedeath toll to 3,867. Out ofthe total number of cases,73,560 are active and54,440 have been cured/dis-charged and one migrated.

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ NATIONAL5

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Bipin Rawat hasstarted donating R 50,000from his monthly salary tothe PM-CARES fund, newsagency ANI reported onSunday. The amount will bededucted from his salaryand deposited in theCentre’s COVID-19 relieffund for the next twelvemonths, defence sourcessaid.

The former Army Chiefwrote a letter in Marchrequesting the concernedauthorities to transfer theamount from his monthlysalary, as per reports. Thefirst deduction of R 50,000was made in April, agenciesreported.

Earlier, the CDS hadreportedly joined ArmedForces personnel and

employees from theDefence Ministry whodonated a day’s salary tothe PM-CARES relief fund.In March, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh had alsoannounced that he would bedonating a month’s salaryto the fund.

The CDS’ decision todonate R 50,000 everymonth is likely to encour-age other senior officials tocontribute towards India’sfight against COVID-19,defence sources said.

National DisasterManagement Authoritymember and former CoastGuard Chief RajendraSingh has also donated 30per cent of his salary to thePM-CARES fund.(Agencies)

CDS Bipin Rawat to donateR 50,000 every month for 1 year to PM-CARES fund

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

Centre issues uniformguidelines for all modes of

travel within countryNEW DELHI, MAY 24: The central govern-ment has issued uniform guidelines for travel-ling within the country.

The guidelines issued by the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare Ministry applies forall modes of transport and stipulates quarantineprotocols, including home stay for asympto-matic travellers.

Asymptomatic passengers and who test neg-ative may be allowed to stay in self-quaran-tine/isolation for seven days and contacthelpline if they develop symptoms.

The development comes after the centralgovernment’s decision to not have a mandatoryquarantine period for air travellers brought oncriticism of their policy being discriminatoryagainst migrants travelling by Shramik trainswho have to undergo compulsory quarantineafter they travel home.

The guidelines allow states to develop quar-antine protocols depending on their assessmentand also allow them to have any additionalmeasures. (Agencies)

MAHARASHTRA, MAY 24:Hinting at a possible extensionof the ongoing lockdown in hisstate, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav ThackeraySunday said that the “comingtime is crucial” and that he can-not say whether the lockdownwill be over by May 31. He alsoobserved that it was wrong toimpose the lockdown suddenlyand that it cannot be lifted nowall at once.

“We can’t say that the lock-down will be over by May 31.We will have to see how we willgo forward. The coming time iscrucial as the multiplication ofvirus is picking up,” Thackeraysaid in a video address.

“It was wrong to impose thelockdown suddenly. It will beequally wrong to lift it in onego. It will be a double whammy

for our own people,” he added.Stating that the fight against

Covid-19 is going to be“tougher”, the Chief Ministerasked people to not panic as thestate is “prepared with extrahealth facilities”. He alsoadvised residents to take extraprecautions keeping in mind theupcoming monsoon season.

Maharashtra continues toremain the epicentre of Covid-19 in the country with over47,000 cases and 1,577 deaths,the highest in the country.

On the resumption of domes-tic flights from Monday,Thackeray said he had spokento Union Civil Aviation ministerHardeep Singh Puri and that hehad requested him to give sometime to do preparations beforeresuming domestic air travel.(Agencies)

Sudden lockdown was wrong, will beequally wrong to lift it in one go: Uddhav

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:There will be no delay indelivery of 36 Rafale jets toIndia as the timeline finalisedfor the supply of the fighterjets will be strictly respected,French AmbassadorEmmanuel Lenain has said.

India had signed an inter-governmental agreementwith France in September2016 for the procurement of36 Rafale fighter jets at a costof around R 58,000 crore.“The contractual deliveryschedule of the Rafale jetshas been perfectly respectedtill now, and, in fact, a newaircraft was handed over tothe Indian Air Force in end-April in France, in keepingwith the contract,” Lenaintold PTI.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh received the first

Rafale jet at an airbase inFrance on October 8.

“We are helping theIndian Air Force in arrangingfor the ferry flight of theirfirst four Rafales fromFrance to India as soon aspossible. So there’s no reasontoday to speculate that theschedule will not be main-tained,” the envoy said.

France is reeling underswelling cases of coronavirusand has emerged as one ofthe worst-hit in Europe. Over1,45,000 people were infect-ed by the virus while thedeath toll stood at 28,330.

There were apprehensionsthat the delivery of Rafalejets could be delayed due tothe pandemic.

However, Lenain assertedthat the original timeline fordelivery of the jets will be

adhered to.The aircraft is capable of

carrying a range of potentweapons. European missilemaker MBDA’s Meteorbeyond visual range air-to-airmissile and Scalp cruise mis-sile will be the mainstay ofthe weapons package of theRafale jets.

Meteor is the next genera-tion of BVR air-to-air missile(BVRAAM) designed to rev-olutionise air-to-air combat.The weapon has been devel-oped by MBDA to combatcommon threats facing theUK, Germany, Italy, France,Spain and Sweden.

The IAF has already com-pleted preparations, includ-ing readying required infra-structure and training ofpilots, to welcome the fighteraircraft. (Agencies)

There will be no delay in supplyof Rafale jets to India: France

Doubling rate of Covid-19 casescurrently over 13 days

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan on Sundaysaid that at least four of the14 candidate vaccines fornovel coronavirus in thecountry may enter the clini-cal trial stage very soon.

In a social media interac-tion with BJP leader G.V.L.Narasimha Rao, theMinister said within fivemonths, four of the vaccinecandidates in the countrymay enter the clinical trialstage.

Rao asked the HealthMinister about the status ofthe development of the vac-cines in the country. TheMinister said, "The wholeworld is trying to develop avaccine for COVID-19.There are over 100 candi-date vaccines which are atdifferent levels of develop-ment. The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) iscoordinating the efforts.India is also actively con-tributing in it. There are 14candidates in India alsowhich are at different lev-els..." Vardhan said.

He said the Departmentof Biotechnology of theMinistry of Science andTechnology is helping theacademic world and indus-try in all manners such asgiving regulatory clear-

ances, grants or financialsupport, among other things."As far as I know, four ofour fourteen vaccines willsoon be in the clinical trialstage, within 4 to 5 months.All the 14 are right now atthe pre-clinical trial stage."

However, the Ministercautioned that it is too earlyto expect any vaccineagainst the disease becausethere is a long due procedureinvolved in its development."It will take minimum oneyear for the development ofany vaccine even if it isdeveloped earliest.

Therefore use social dis-tancing, masks and followhand and physical hygiene --the biggest safeguard againstthe disease till any vaccineor cure is found," said theMinister. (Agencies)

4 corona vaccines may soon enterclinical trial stage in India: Harsh HYDERABAD, MAY 24: What

started as a social cause toinvolve others in helping theneedy during the time of lock-down and fight against coron-avirus has turned out to be thebest thing that could happen to aTelangana family.

A TikTok video shot inPunjab’s Ludhiana by the policeduring a relief operation hasunited a hearing- and speech-impaired Telangana man withhis family after two years.

Roddam Venkateshwarlu, aresident of BhadradriKothagudem district, who hadgone missing in 2018, was spot-ted by his family in one of thevideos that was circulatingonline.

In one of the videos showingfood distribution among theneedy during the lockdown inPunjab, the children ofVenkateshwarlu saw their fatherwho they had lost two years ago.

“We had lost all hope till wesuddenly saw this video andspotted our father unmistak-ably,” says R. Peddiraju, one ofthe sons said.

“My other siblings — twoother brothers and two sisterscould not believe their eyeswhen they saw our missingfather in a TikTok video ofPunjab’s Ludhiana Police.”

The children saw two menhand over a food packet toVenkateshwarlu, who was seenwalking with the help of a walker.

In the video, a Punjab PoliceHead Constable as part of thesocial service helped the needyduring the cronavirus pandemic,especially the beggars and peo-ple living on the streets. Thechildren saw that their fatherwas trying to communicate in asign language and pointed outthat he could not hear or speak.They became sure that this wastheir father. (Agencies)

Punjab police food distribution videohelps unite Telangana man with family

Dear Editor,

Through the medium of youresteemed newspaper I would liketo express that it is most unfortu-

nate that a government advertisementreferred to Sikkim as a separate nationand this has provoked uproar across thenation. The BJP and Aam Aadmi Partystarted trading insults since the fauxpas. Meanwhile, the Sikkim govern-ment on Saturday took exception to theadvertisement of the Delhi governmentthat clubbed the hill state with Nepaland Bhutan, saying it was immenselyhurtful. The advertisement for recruit-ment of Civil Defence volunteers pub-lished in newspapers on Saturday men-tioned under the eligibility criteria, 'cit-izen of India or a subject of Sikkim orof Bhutan or of Nepal and a resident ofDelhi.' A government official said,"The official in-charge for the adver-tisement, without applying mind copy-pasted the eligibility criterion from theCivil Defence Regulations 1968(amended in 1971 and 1973) issued bythe ministry of home affairs, forrecruitment to the Civil Defense Corps.The official has been suspended for theerror." The Sikkim government isresentful at having been categorized asseparate nation. Sikkim Chief Minister

Prem Singh Tamang said, "This isimmensely hurtful to the people ofSikkim who take pride in being the cit-izens of our great country ever since itbecame the 22nd state of Indian Unionin 1975." How callous the Delhi gov-ernment is? When the advertisementlike this is prepared, utmost care shouldhave been taken and the officialsemployed to prepare this ad shouldhave been competent enough to draft it.Casual and haphazard manner the adhad been prepared and published, andso this great blunder has been commit-ted. The only option not to repeat suchblunder in future is to entrust this kindof sensitive matters to a highly respon-sible team of officials, who will checkand cross-check the materials for publi-cation. Since the advertisement forrecruitment of Civil Defence volun-teers is a fait accompli, further protestwould be unwarranted and if anybodydeliberately makes a mountain out ofthis molehill, it will spread like wildfirearound the world further and it willonly bring more shame to India. It isbetter for the government to hush upthe faux pas.

T. K. Nandanan,Perumanur, Thevara,

Kochi.

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020||GJ EDIT/OP-ED PAGE6

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Greater Jammu

As of today not only the common people but eventhe legal experts are debating whether theSupreme Court failed to act as per its constitu-

tional role to protect the basic rights of the citizens ofthe country during the COVID-19 lockdown, especiallyso far as the Apex Court's response to the migrantlabourers' crisis is concerned. With due regards andsanctity of the Indian Judiciary including the SupremeCourt, even the experts feel that the Apex Court choseto believe the claims of the executive and refrainedfrom making any meaningful interventions. It was inthis context that during a recent webinar, SeniorAdvocate Dushyant Dave observed that Judges can-not sit in ivory tower and be blindfolded to the miseriesof the citizens of India. Dave was expressing disap-pointment over Supreme Court's closing of a case formigrants' welfare by observing "How can we stop themfrom walking?" Dave's emotionally surcharged state-ment at the seminar "If the judges had seen theirgrandchild walking on the road, and suddenly see acar rushing from the other side, would they not havetried to save the child? Every citizen of India is agrandchild of the SC of India. I really do not know whatis it that prevents judges from acting as per their con-stitutional oath," craves due attention of the stakehold-ers. It needs to be realized is a fact that theConstitutional framers wanted judiciary to superviseand control both the executive's action and inactions.Article 32 of the Constitution, which enables a citizento directly move the SC for enforcement of fundamen-tal rights, was described as the 'soul of theConstitution' even by Dr. B R Ambedkar. Though itdoes not mean that the judiciary should interfere in theday to day functioning of the executive yet one thing isquite clear that with the Constitution having demarcat-ed the boundaries of each segment of the State, whenthe executive is failing in its duties or when citizens'rights are taken away in an arbitrary manner, the judi-ciary has to step in. In the instant case the legalexperts opine "All that judges needed to do was to tellthe executive that 'we are watching you. Your actionsand inactions are hurting the nation, hurting millions ofpeople. We will not allow this." Undoubtedly, had thejudiciary told the executive in strong terms that it willnot let a single migrant worker suffer, the executivewould have taken immediate measures to ensure theirwelfare. After all, it was a matter of crucial issue oflockdown crisis in which people feel that the apexCourt impliedly chose not to act. It is pertinent to men-tion here that the Supreme Court has not only powers,but has also duties to protect the fundamental rights ofthe citizens as in absence of remedies, the constitu-tional guarantee of rights would be meaningless.Acknowledging the fact that Indian Judiciary has main-tained its integrity and continues to be held in highesteem across the world, but in an unprecedented sit-uation arising on account of COVID- 19, some of thedecisions of the Apex Court will continue to be debat-ed post COVID-19. However, this is undoubtedly apositive sign as every Indian has full respect for judici-ary and wants it to be the best in the world!

MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020

PROTECTING BASIC RIGHTS…?JAIBANS SINGH

Eid-ul-fitr has a special significance asa befitting celebration and thanksgiv-ing to mark the culmination of the

holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is amonth-long fast observed by Muslimsacross the world. The activity is regarded asone of the five pillars of Islam. The holy fastor Roza is observed from sunrise to sunset.During this month, Muslims are decreed byAllah to adhere to acts of "Deen" (religion)rather than worldly matters. Ramadan is notonly about fasting; it is also about beinghumble, modest and above all, free of allanimosities; it is about discipline, self con-trol, self reflection and reformation. AfterRamadan, Eid is celebrated on the first dayof Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamiclunar calendar.

This year, in Jammu and Kashmir , Eid-ul-Fitr is being celebrated on 24, May. Therestrictions and precautions imposed due tothe spread of Corona Virus have not damp-ened the spirit of the people. The inability tomeet has been replaced by passing of mes-sages in social media and communicationon mobile with video calls etc. By all means,the brotherhood and love which marks theEid celebration is visible in ample measure.When markets were opened in a phasedmanner, several people stepped out of theirhouses to buy food items but were seenabiding by the social distancing norm as aprecautionary measure to halt the spread ofthe virus.

While the Jammu region has, till now, wit-nessed limited impact of the Corona pan-demic, it rapid spread in Kashmir has beena cause of worry. Kashmiri people havedealt with the crisis with exemplaryresilience and patience; they have respond-ed to a call by the Government to maintainprecautions with great discipline and havefollowed all directions in letter and spirit.Officials and doctors have been workingtirelessly, to overcome the challenge, evenduring Ramadan. Volunteers, mostly stu-dents, are at the forefront of relief meas-ures, distributing food to the needy duringRamadan.

Under normal circumstances in Jammuand Kashmir, thousands of people attendcongregational Eid prayers in Eidgahs,Masjids on a daily basis. The biggest gath-ering of devotees is at Jamia Masjid inSrinagar and at the Hazratbal Shrine. Thisyear, the people have voluntarily chosenrestraint. They are praying mostly at home;smaller congregations at Mosques are con-ducted as per a pre-set schedule with strictobservance of all precautions.

Kashmir's Grand Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam,while felicitating the people of Jammu andKashmir on the auspicious occasion ofJumat-ul-Vida (last Friday of Ramadan) andLaitul-Qadr the night of blessings, extolled

them to offer prayers in their homes. "On theeve of Shab-e-Qadr, people must offer nightlong prayers and prayers for repentance attheir respective homes. Same should be fol-lowed on Jumat-ul-Vida-instead of twoFardh Rakahs, people should offer Zuhrprayers as has been the practice in the fast-ing month due to the pandemic," he said. He

added that people should refrain fromunnecessary spending and instead cele-brate Eid in a very austere manner. Thepractical directive from the highest religiousauthority had its impact and the celebration,though conducted, were of a nature that didnot cause any increase in the virus spread.

The end result of the patience shown isthat the deadly virus, that started spreadingvery fast in Kashmir has been contained ina manner that could set an example for therest of the country and the world. Broadlyspeaking there have been about 1300cases reported in Kashmir of which almosthalf have already recovered. A little morethan 21 people have died due to the infec-tion in the Union Territory. While the unfortu-nate deaths are deeply mourned, it is nec-essary to admit that the numbers haveremained very les as compared to thenational and international average. It is somainly due to the efforts put in by the admin-istration, the medical fraternity and the peo-ple. Timely quarantine contained thespread; those who did get infected receivedexcellent medical treatment.

In adherence to the sacred values, whatthe Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir couldnot do in the form of celebration they aredoing in the form of charity. "We want to givethe most to charity and focus on prayersthat will resist us from wrongdoings. We allare hoping and praying for the best," said

Farooq Ahmed, chairman for an Islamicseminary in Baramulla. People are lavishlycontributing to charitable trusts and even atthe individual level helping all to celebrateEid a joyous manner.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant GovernorGirish Chandra Murmu, while felicitating thepeople of the Union Territory on the auspi-

cious occasion of 'Eid-ul-Fitr has said, "Thefestival is one of many examples of India'smulti-dimensional culture. May this festivalpromote and maintain inter-religious under-standing and co-existence and instill thespirit of brotherhood, harmony, and amityamong the people of all faiths."

Lt. Gen. YK Joshi, Army Commander,Northern Command has also extendedwarm greetings on this auspicious occasionto the "Awaam of Jammu and Kashmir andLadakh." Similar greetings to the peoplehave also emanated from the Srinagarbased Chinar Corps.

There is a prayer on all lips that this aus-picious occasion becomes the harbinger ofpeace, progress, prosperity and happinessand strengthens the bonds of communalharmony, brotherhood and amity, which arethe hallmarks of the glorious pluralistic tradi-tions of Jammu and Kashmir.

The spirit behind the observance of Eid-ul-Fitr, is to express our thanks to AlmightyAllah for giving us courage to observe fast inthe month of Ramadan and rededicate our-selves to truthfulness, sincerity, self-control,and patience showing complete obedienceto Allah. On the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, our fervent prayer to the Almighty isto come to the aid of the humanity and com-pletely eradicate the menace of Corona.

(Jaibans Singh is a social worker,columnist and author)

EID-UL-FITR: KASHMIR SHOWS THE WAY WITHRESTRAINED YET SPIRITED CELEBRATIONS

Ra m a d h a nKareem hasbeen a

month of blessingsfor the mankind. Ithas given us suffi-cient lessons tolearn patience. Ithas taught us thatwe must be good toeveryone irrespec-tive of religion,caste, creed, andcolor etc. It is impor-

tant to deeply learn and apply the vital teach-ings of the holy month of Ramadhan. Thevalues of Ramadan are the ones that wemust not easily forget; the importance ofpatience, empathy and service to others.This holy month of Ramadhan Kareem hasshown us how these values can be best putinto practice into our day to day life. We mustnot allow grudges and grievances to add toour burden in our life.

It's Eid-ul-Fitr now that will follow themonth of Ramdhan Kareem. Eid ul-Fitr is anauspicious festival celebrated around theworld. Usually on Eid- ul- Fitr, people gatherin open spaces or mosques for Eid prayersor Salat-al-Eid. Muslims wear fresh clotheson this occasion and gifts in cash and kindare exchanged among friends and familymembers on Eid. Food and variety of dishesperform an important role in the Eid-ul-Fitrcelebrations. In India, variety of vegetarianand non vegetarian dishes and Sewaiyanfind prominence in celebratory feasts on Eid.Everyone tries to find some novel means tocelebrate Eid. There is excitement and joysunlimited with the children on the occasion ofEid.

But it is important to remember that thisyear's Eid-ul-Fitr will be a different one dueto the ongoing crisis of Coronavirus. Wedon't have to do what we have been doingpreviously on the occasion of Eid. The Virushas given a setback to the society and keptalmost everyone under dark conditions. Theworld looks like to have stopped for a while.

There is ever increasing rise in the numberof cases being affected by this virus.Nevertheless efforts are appreciable by thesociety as a whole to keep this pandemicunder control.

It is a harsh reality but we have to accept

it that there is a new order to be followed inthe world. We must act as rational beingsand think and act wisely. Our prime respon-sibility is to not let this pandemic go out ofour control. We must keep following thesafety norms and the social distance guide-lines against the Coronavirus on this bigoccasion of Eid.

It is our responsibility to observe thisyear's Eid with more simplicity. Muslimsshould offer prayers at home and refrainfrom making large groups which can proverisky. On this Eid it is not possible to physi-cally reach and meet and greet our near anddear ones. We have found some technolog-ical solutions for many urgent works in ourday to day life. There are also options onlinevia Whatsapp/ Skype/Google Meet/etc tomeet and greet online and enlighten ourhearts. It is our good feelings that matter

most and our dear ones will also love it. It'sthe poor section of the society who are badlyhit by this crisis. It is our responsibility to helpthem and bring some smile on their faces. Itwill give a lot of satisfaction and prove confi-dence building measure in our society. We

must try to resist from unnecessary purchas-ing on this Eid.

We must also continue our efforts bywearing a mask, using sanitiser and ensur-ing proper social distancing measures. It'srequired without fail for our own health ben-efit and the society as a whole. When we arealive and in good health, will be able to cele-brate more big festivals in the near future.We should stay positive and hope for thebest to revisit us soon. We should pray toAllah to get us out of this big crisis.

Eid-ul- Fitr Mubarak……….

(Dr. Shahid Amin Trali is AssistantProfessor, School of Management, ITMUniversity Gwalior, Youth Ambassador,

IYS, and a Regular Columnist. He can bereached at-

dr.shahidamin15@gmail.com)

CELEBRATE THIS EID WITH SIMPLICITY!(It is a harsh reality but we have to accept it that there is a new order to be followed in the world. We must act as

rational beings and think and act wisely. Our prime responsibility is to not let this pandemic go out of our control. We mustkeep following the safety norms and the social distance guidelines against the Coronavirus on this big occasion of Eid)

DR. SHAHID AMINTRALI

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ INTERNATIONAL7

A baby with a face shield waits to board a plane at an airport in Wuhan, central China'sHubei Province.

Wuhan lab head calls virusleak claims 'pure fabrication'

NEW YORK: Claims promoted by the Trump adminis-tration that the global coronavirus pandemic originated atthe Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese cityare a pure fabrication," the institute's director said. WangYanyi was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying theinstitute did not have any knowledge before that nor hadwe ever met, researched or kept the virus...We didn't evenknow about the existence of the virus, so how could it beleaked from our lab when we didn't have it? PresidentDonald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo haverepeatedly said they suspect the virus that was first detect-ed in Wuhan was somehow released from the laboratory.Most scientists say the pathogen that has infected 5.3 mil-lion and killed more than 342,000, according to a tally byJohns Hopkins University, was passed from bats tohumans via an intermediary species likely sold at a wetmarket in Wuhan late last year. The virus' toll continuedto ebb in Asia and other parts of the world, with China onSunday reporting three new confirmed cases and just 79people remaining in treatment for COVID-19. Agencies

South Korea reports 25 new viruscases as small outbreaks continue

SEOUIL: South Korea has reported 25 additional casesof the coronavirus over a 24-hour period, amid a continu-ation of small-scale outbreaks in the country. The KoreaCentres for Disease Control and Prevention says the addi-tional figures released on Sunday took the country's totalto 11,190 with 266 deaths. The agency says 10,213 ofthem have recovered and been released from quarantine.It says 17 of the 25 new patients were locally infectedwhile the rest eight came from overseas. South Koreaeased much of its strict social distancing rules in earlyMay before it saw a sudden uptick in the number of casesassociated with nightclubs in Seoul's Itaewon entertain-ment district. Health authorities say they've confirmed atotal of 225 cases linked to Itaewon cubs as of Sundaynoon. Agencies

'Preliminary report of PIA planecrash raises new questions'

KARACHI: A preliminary report on the PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA) plane crash, in which 97 peo-ple were killed, has raised serious questions about thepilot's handling of the aircraft and what prevented thecrew in the cockpit from informing the air traffic con-trollers about the troubles. Pakistani investigators are try-ing to find out if the crash of the national flag carrier'sflight PK-8303 is attributable to a pilot error or a techni-cal glitch, with new leads raising fresh questions over thecircumstances of the incident, Geo News reported.According to the report, prepared by the country's CivilAviation Authority (CAA), the Airbus A-320's engineshad scraped the runway thrice on the pilot's first attemptto land, causing friction and sparks recorded by theexperts. Agencies

4 Canadian political parties claim Covid-19federal wage subsidy to keep afloat

TORONTO: Canada’s political parties, including PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberals, are taking advan-tage of a historic wage subsidy package that is meant to keepbusinesses afloat during the economic downturn caused bythe Covid-19 pandemic. The Canada Emergency WageSubsidy or CEWS was announced by Trudeau and costs theexchequer $ 73 billion Canadian dollars (CA). It offers eligi-ble outfits, mainly companies, nearly CA$ 3,400 per employ-ee per four-week period and was recently extended tillAugust. It has now emerged that most of Canada’s majornational parties are using the subsidy to keep their politicaloperations going. A spokesperson for the ruling Liberal Partyconfirmed it had been approved for the wage subsidy, notingin a statement that it “has met the eligibility criteria for theCanada Emergency Wage Subsidy in recent weeks andreceived that support.” The media outlet CBC quoted a partyspokesperson as saying that this was necessitated by the dropoff in in-person fund-raising due to the restrictions that cameinto place in March to combat the coronavirus crisis.Agencies

Cyclone Amphan: UN chief commendsIndia, Bangladesh for life-saving work

BANGLADESH: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterreshas expressed sadness over the loss of lives and destructionin India and Bangladesh by Cyclone Amphan and commend-ed the governments, first responders and communities fortheir “pre-emptive” work to help people and ensure theirsafety. “The Secretary-General is saddened by the loss oflives and destruction as a result of Cyclone Amphan in Indiaand Bangladesh. He extends his deep condolences to thosewho have lost their loved ones and wishes those injured andaffected by the disaster a speedy recovery,” UNSpokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Sunday.Guterres commended the governments, first responders andcommunities for their “pre-emptive work to make peoplesafe ahead of the storm and to meet their immediate needsafterwards”, saying the UN stands ready to support theseefforts. The Secretary-General expressed solidarity with thepeople of India and Bangladesh as they face the impact of adevastating cyclone while also responding to the impacts ofthe COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said. Agencies

IN BRIEF

JERUSALEM, MAY 24:Muslims around the world onSunday began celebratingEid al-Fitr, a normally festiveholiday marking the end ofthe fasting month of Ramzan,with millions under strictstay-at-home orders andmany fearing renewed coron-avirus outbreaks.

The three-day holiday isusually a time of travel, fam-ily get-togethers and lavishdaytime feasts after weeks ofdawn-to-dusk fasting. Butthis year many of the world’s1.8 billion Muslims will haveto pray at home and makedue with video calls.

Some countries, includingTurkey, Iraq and Jordan,have imposed round-the-clock holiday curfews. Buteven where many restrictionshave been lifted, celebrationswill be subdued because offears of the pandemic and itseconomic fallout.

Saudi Arabia, home to the

holy cities of Mecca andMedina, is under a completelockdown, with residentsonly permitted to leave theirhomes to purchase food andmedicine.

In Jerusalem, Israelipolice said they broke up an“illegal demonstration” andarrested two people outsidethe Al-Aqsa mosque, whichMuslim authorities haveclosed for prayers since mid-March and will not reopenuntil after the holiday.Worshippers who tried toenter the compound scuffledwith the police.

Al-Aqsa is the third holi-est site in Islam and wouldordinarily welcome tens ofthousands of worshippersduring the Eid. The hilltopcompound is also the holiestsite for Jews, who know it asthe Temple Mount. The sitehas long been a flashpoint inthe Israeli-Palestinian con-flict. Agencies

Hong Kong policefire volleys of teargas at protesters

HONG KONG, MAY 24:Hong Kong police firedvolleys of tear gas in a pop-ular shopping district ashundreds took to the streetsSunday to march againstChina's proposed toughnational security legislationfor the city.

Pro-democracy support-ers in Hong Kong havesharply criticized China'sproposal to enact a nationalsecurity law that would bansecessionist and subversiveactivity, as well as foreigninterference and terrorismin the semi-autonomousterritory.

Critics say it goesagainst the one country,two systems frameworkthat promises the city free-doms not found on themainland.

On Sunday afternoon,crowds of protestersdressed in black gatheredin Causeway Bay, a popu-lar shopping district, toprotest the proposed legis-lation.

Protesters chanted slo-gans Stand with HongKong," Liberate HongKong and Revolution ofour times. Agencies

KABUL, MAY 24: TheTaliban announced a three-day ceasefire during the Eidal-Fitr holiday startingSunday in a surprise movefollowing months of bloodyfighting with Afghan forcesafter the group signed a land-mark agreement with theUnited States.

President Ashraf Ghaniswiftly welcomed the insur-gents' offer and ordered hisforces to also comply, whilethe US envoy to Afghanistanhailed the deal as a "momen-tous opportunity." Talibanspokesman ZabihullahMujahid said in a statementposted on social media thatthe group's "leadershipinstructs all the mujahideenof the Islamic Emirate to takespecial measures for securityof the countrymen, and con-duct no offensive operation

against the enemy any-where." The statement,which announced a halt tohostilities "during the threedays of Eid," instructedTaliban fighters to refrainfrom entering governmentareas and also said that Kabulforces were not allowed toenter territories under theircontrol.

Since the US invasion in2001 there has only been oneother pause in the fighting --a surprise three-day ceasefirebetween the Taliban andKabul marking the religiousfestival of Eid in 2018.

That ceasefire call wasgiven by Ghani, which theinsurgents had accepted.

During the brief lull infighting at that time, Afghansresponded joyfully, withTaliban fighters, securityforces and civilians hugging,

sharing ice creams and pos-ing for selfies in previouslyunimaginable scenes. Ghaniwas quick to accept theTaliban ceasefire offerSaturday. "I welcome theceasefire announcement bythe Taliban," he said onTwitter.\ "As commander-in-chief I have instructedANDSF (Afghan NationalDefence Security Force) tocomply with the three-daytruce and to defend only ifattacked." The announce-ment comes just days afterthe Taliban's leaderHaibatullah Akhundzadaurged Washington "not towaste" the opportunityoffered by the deal the mili-tants signed with the UnitedStates in February that set thestage for the withdrawal offoreign troops from the coun-try. Agencies

Taliban, Ghani declare three-dayceasefire for Eid holiday

Muslims celebrate major holidayamid curfews, coronavirus fears

LONDON, MAY 24:“Healing will take a verylong time because we all aregrieving in isolation. Wewere unable to say good-byes and could not attendthe funeral. Memories ofplaying golf and walkingdogs with him, our child-hood together, keep flashingbefore my eyes.”

That was Dr SukhbirSingh Rayat, grieving forcousin Dr Manjeet SinghRiyat, the first Sikh consult-ant for accident and emer-gency (A&E) at the RoyalDerby Hospital, who diedof Covid-19 on April 20.Like 52-year-old Riyat,hundreds of Black, Asian,Minority Ethnic (BAME)staff of the National HealthService (NHS) have been inthe frontline of Britain’sbattle against the pandemic.

Indians constitute 43.3per cent of the NHS work-

force of 150,000 doctors.And though the risks thistime are enormous, theyhave soldiered on. A newanalysis of NHS data ofCovid deaths from March 1to April 21 — authored byDr Robert Aldridge of theUCL Institute of HealthInformatics and Dr DelanDevakumar of the UCLInstitute for Global Health,it was published inWellcome Open Research— found that the likelihoodof death from Covid-19 is“significantly higher”among BAME groups thanthe general population. Theanalysis factored data onage, region, ethnicity.

Of the deaths in minorityethnic groups, the analysisfound that the largest num-bers were among Indian(492 deaths) and BlackCaribbean (460 deaths)groups.Agencies

Donald Trump plays golfas coronavirus deaths inch

closer to 1 lakh in USSTERLING, MAY 24: US President Donald Trump onSaturday went on his first golf outing since the White Housedeclared a national emergency over the coronavirus in March,visiting his club in the Washington suburbs in a purposefuldisplay of normalcy. On a sunny spring day, Trump`s motor-cade took him from the White House to Trump National GolfClub, and he was spotted wearing a white cap and white poloshirt. It was his first time at a golf property since March 8,when he visited his club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thatwas the same weekend when he met at his Mar-a-Lago retreatwith Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose press secretarylater tested positive for the virus. Some White House stafferswho had been in contact with the press aide went into quaran-tine afterward but none tested positive. On March 13, Trumpissued a proclamation declaring the COVID-19 pandemic a"national emergency." The deadly virus has so far infected1,622,605 Americans and killed 97,087 others.The U.S. diag-nosed its first cases of the coronavirus in Washington state onJan. 20. Trump is eager to promote the idea that the UnitedStates is returning to normal, although the death toll from thecoronavirus outbreak continues to rise and is expected to sur-pass 100,000 in the coming days. Trump`s coronavirus taskforce coordinator, Deborah Birx, told a White House briefingon Friday that Americans over this Memorial Day weekendshould "be outside, play golf, play tennis with marked balls,go to the beach - but stay six feet apart!" Agencies

Soaring infections dampen Eidfestivities in Southeast Asia

JAKARTA, MAY 24: Millions of Muslims in Indonesia aremarking a muted and gloomy holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end ofthe fasting month of Ramzan a usually joyous three-day cele-bration that has been significantly toned down as coronaviruscases soar.

The world's largest Muslim-majority nation, with morethan 240 million people, has reported nearly 22,000 infectionsand 1,350 fatalities, the most in Southeast Asia. It means nocongregational prayers at mosques and open fields, no familyreunions, no relatives bearing gifts for children. This outbreakis not just dampening spirits of Eid, but also has made the tra-dition entirely different, said Andieka Rabbani, a universitystudent in Jakarta.

This year, like other Indonesians, he can only greet hiscousins and friends through video calls. In deeply conserva-tive Aceh, Indonesia's only province enforcing Islamic sharialaw, public Eid prayers can still be performed at mosques andfields, but without shaking hands and with limited sermons.The iconic public parade of decorated vehicles with loud-speakers invoking God's name was scrapped this year. It's toosad ... the whole week used to be one long festival, but not thistime, said Muchtar Yusuf, a resident of Aceh's Lhokseumawecity. The province has reported zero coronavirus cases in thepast weeks and has had only one death and 19 confirmedinfections. Unlike Aceh, mosques and fields in Jakarta, whichare usually always crowded with Eid worshippers, stoodempty after authorities extended the restrictions to June 4, sus-pended communal gatherings and banned private cars fromleaving the capital. Agencies

PYONGYANG, MAY 24:North Korean leader KimJong-un made a publicappearance for the firsttime since May 1 andpresided over a CentralMilitary Commission meet-ing during which he dis-cussed "new policies forfurther increasing thenuclear war deterrence ofthe country."

According toPyongyang`s KoreanCentral News Agency(KCNA), during theenlarged meeting of theCentral MilitaryCommission of the rulingWorkers` Party wereimportant military stepsand organizational andpolitical measures to fur-ther bolster up the overallarmed forces,

"Set forth at the meetingwere new policies for fur-ther increasing the nuclearwar deterrence of the coun-try and putting the strategicarmed forces on a high alertoperation in line with thegeneral requirements forthe building and develop-

ment of the armed forces ofthe country," the KCNAwas quoted as saying by theYonhap News Agency.

However, it did not elab-orate what the "new poli-cies" for nuclear deterrencewere.

"During the meeting,several crucial measureswere discussed for consid-erably increasing the fire-power strike ability of theartillery pieces of theKorean People`s Army," itadded.

Kim signed seven"orders" related to militarymeasures discussed duringthe meeting.

The KCNA did not saywhen the meeting was held,but state media usuallyreport Kim`s activity a dayafter it happens, said theYonhap News Agency. Themeeting marked Kim`s firstpublic event since he visit-ed a local fertilizer plant onMay 1 after ending a 20-day absence from publicview that sparked a slew ofspeculation over his health.Agencies

BEIJING, MAY 24:Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi on Sundaydefended Beijing’s moveto bring about a controver-sial new security law tofirm up its control overHong Kong and said thatthe excessive unlawful“foreign meddling” in theformer British colony hasplaced China’s nationalsecurity in serious jeop-ardy.

Warning against anyforeign interference inHong Kong amid strongstatement by US Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo whocalled the new law “a deathknell” to city’s freedom,Wang said Hong Kongaffairs are China’s internalmatter , and “no externalinterference will be tolerat-ed.” Noting that excessiveunlawful foreign meddling

in Hong Kong affairs hasplaced China’s nationalsecurity in serious jeop-ardy, Wang said that estab-lishing and improving thelegal system and enforce-ment mechanisms for theHong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region(HKSAR) to safeguardnational security hasbecome a pressing priority,and must be done withoutthe slightest delay.

A draft bill on establish-ing and improving thelegal system and enforce-ment mechanisms for theHKSAR to safeguardnational security wastabled in the NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC)on Friday. It is expected tobe passed on May 28.

The bill is regarded as apolitical bombshell for theformer British colony as

China has decided tobypass the localLegislative Council tobring about a new nationalsecurity law tailor-made totake control of Hong Kongwhich has been witnessingmass protests by pro-democracy groups sincelast year demanding auton-omy and freedom fromBeijing. As Wangaddressed his annual pressconference in Beijing,protests gripped HongKong on Sunday. HongKong police fired multiplerounds of tear gas and useda water cannon in theCauseway Bay shoppingdistrict on Sunday as thou-sands took to the streets toprotest against China’splanned national securitylaw, Hong Kong-basedSouth China Morning Postreported. Agencies

China’s Wang Yi warns against foreign interference in Hong Kong

Indian docs spearhead UK’sCovid battle despite losses

BEIJING, MAY 24: TheUnited States is pushingrelations with China to "thebrink of a new Cold War",the Chinese foreign minis-ter said on Sunday, withtensions soaring over coro-navirus, Hong Kong's sta-tus and other issues.

"It has come to ourattention that some politi-cal forces in the US are tak-ing China-US relationshostage and pushing ourtwo countries to the brinkof a new Cold War," for-eign minister Wang Yi told

reporters. Longstandingfriction between the twopowers over trade, humanrights and other issues havebeen pushed to new heightssince the COVID-19 out-break.

Wang did not identifywhat "forces" he was refer-ring to, but US PresidentDonald Trump has ledworld criticism of China'sinitial response to the pan-demic, which has causedmore than 330,000 deathsand economic carnageworldwide.

The introduction inChina's legislature onFriday of a proposal toimpose a security law inHong Kong to suppress thesemi-autonomous city'spro-democracy movementhas further raised the tem-perature, drawing US andworld condemnation.

But Wang hit back atWashington, accusing it ofseeking to repeatedly"attack and smear" China."Aside from the devasta-tion caused by the novelcoronavirus, there is also apolitical virus spreadingthrough the US," Wangsaid at a press conferenceon the side of the annuallegislative meeting.

"This political virus isthe use of every opportuni-ty to attack and smearChina. Some politicianscompletely disregard basicfacts and have fabricatedtoo many lies targetingChina, and plotted toomany conspiracies."Agencies

"Brink of new cold war": China on USties amid virus, Hong Kong tensions

JERUSALEM, MAY 24:Israel’s longest servingPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu faces theignominy of becoming thefirst sitting premier of thecountry to go on trial for cor-ruption on Sunday, days afterhe returned to power follow-ing months of political dead-lock. Netanyahu, who is setto appear at the openinghearing at a Jerusalem court,is accused of fraud, breach oftrust and accepting bribes inthree different cases, dubbedCase 1000 (fraud and breachof trust), Case 2000 (fraudand breach of trust) and Case4000 (bribery, fraud andbreach of trust).

He has denied all thecharges, claiming that he isthe victim of an “attemptedcoup by overaggressivepolice, biased prosecutorsand a hostile media”. Athree-judge panel on

Wednesday rejected arequest for exemption anddirected him to appear inperson during the reading ofthe chargesheet.

The panel ruled that thereasoning behindNetanyahu’s request forexemption from personalappearance “did not justifysuch a deviation from thenorm”, which requires thepresence of the accused atthe opening of his or hertrial. “This is how it is inevery criminal proceeding,and this is how it will be incurrent criminal proceed-ings,” the judges wrote intheir ruling. Netanyahu onTuesday requested exemp-tion on the ground that hisand his bodyguards’ pres-ence would violate HealthMinistry’s coronavirusrestrictions. In Case 1000,Netanyahu is accused of

fraud and breach of trustover gifts he allegedlyreceived from Hollywoodmogul Arnon Milchan andbillionaire James Packer.According to the indictment,Netanyahu received cigarsand champagne from the twoover the course of severalyears. His family members,the indictment states, alsodemanded and received giftsfrom the businessmen, andthat the prime minister wasaware of this fact. Milchanand Packer’s gifts to theNetanyahus, including thePrime Minister’s wife, Sara,are estimated to haveamounted to over 1 millionshekels (about USD280,000), according to policeinvestigations. Netanyahuhas not denied that such giftswere given but has arguedthat they were “tokens offriendship”. Agencies

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’scorruption trial set to open

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un appearsin public for first time since May 1

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: Ameeting of Sikh UnitedFront J&K, an amalgam ofvarious Sikh OrganizationJ&K, held telephonicinteraction and appealedthe Lt Governor of UTJ&K Girish ChandraMurmu to intervene andask the administration toprovide proper attentiontoward the quarantine cen-ters made for those whorepatriated to J&K. Thestudents and other kept inisolation centers are not fitto maintain physical dis-tancing and there are com-plaints as electronic mediashowed evidences thatproper diet is not providedand their immunity may beweakened such conditionsare more disastrous andthe life of persons kept inquarantine is in risk. It isbetter to keep them inhome quarantine. It is alsoapprised that labourers inthousands are locked inJ&K during lockdown and

now out of pocket thatthey may please be provid-ed transport to reach theirhomes in various states ofcountry. People were putin good numbers in a hallwith common bathroomwhich is not in the bestinterest of the health insuch a state of crisis. Alsothe food quality is notgood and in most of thecases it was found that thereports of the samplestaken by authorities havemisplaced and thereafteragain they forced peopleto give samples for the testwith the result there is agreat harassment and delayin the reports which is amatter of great concern.The govt should simplifythe procedure and makearrangement of tests in thesame centers by deputingteam so that there will beno delay.

It is pertinent to men-tion here that the religiousplaces are prohibited toattend and wine shops are

opened. The pandemic dis-ease COVID-19 has notreatment except strength-ened immunity hence thewine shops be closed andplaces of worships opened,then members said.

It was also demandedthat working class whodepend on rikshawpulling, driving, plumber-ing, electric workers, cob-blers, washer man shouldbe given one time compen-sation as they are affecteddue to lockdown. The meeting was heldunder the chairmanship ofSudhershan Singh Wazir,Chairman Sikh Unitedfront J&K.

Dayal Singh Wazir,Chairman ShiromaniAkali Dal J&K; H SRaina, Ex-GeneralSecretary DGPC Jammu;Mohinder Singh, ChiefOrganizer Bhai KaniyaNishkam Sewa SocietyJ&K; Darbinder Singh,president Shiromani AkaliDal J&K and Kulwant

Singh Khajuria. JointSecretary ShiromaniAkali Dal J&K were alsopresent. Others whoattended the telephonicconversation includes.Gajan Singh, SurinderSingh Kala, Prof YudhvirSingh, Parmjeet SinghRaina, Raja Singh,Charanjeet Singh,Rajinder Singh, HarpreetSingh Chottu, SurjeetSingh Kukoo, RavinderSingh, Kuldeep Kour,Gurmeet Kour, HarpeetSingh Lucky, ManmohanSingh, Rasbir Singh,Kuldeep Singh Malik,Kulwant Singh, KultarSingh and Tejpal Singh.

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ MISCELLANEOUS8

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

Printed at JK Printing and Publications, near Matador Stand Sunjwan, Jammu and Published from Greater Jammu, Hall No. 7&8, 2nd floor Auqaf Complex, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu-180004. Ph. No(s)- 0191-2435305-09, 0191-2439705 Fax:- 0191-2431799.Email: editorgreaterjammu@gmail.com RNI No. JKENG/2009/29765. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums at Jammu. The views expressed by authors and writers are their personal and publication is not responsible for any comment.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: J&KBJP Vice presidentYudhvir Sethi today dis-tributed BP machinesamong the party workersto help needy people incase of any emergencyduring lockdown.

The BP machines weredistributed in the secondphase among Corporatorsand party workers in pres-ence of Purnima Sharma,Deputy Mayor; KuldeepKhandari, District GeneralSecretary; CorporatorsAnil Massom andNarottam Sharma; ParveenKerni president, BJPJammu East Mandal;Nitish Mahajan ExecutiveMember J&K BJP and VPBJYM J&K, Hari Om.

Deputy Mayor appreci-ated the efforts of YudhvirSethi for providing BPmachines so that the needypeople may not feel anyinconvenience amidstlockdown. She said thatBJP is at forefront in tack-ing COVID-19 crisis in the

Jammu and Kashmir andstated party is doing greatservice in serving the peo-ple of the Union Territoryduring the COVID-19 cri-sis. She appealed the peo-ple to cooperate with theadministration and not tocome out of their homes astogether we can achievethe desired results andmaking nation free fromCOVID-19. He also hailedthe measures taken by thegovernment with regard to

the fight against the deadlyCOVID- 19.

Yudhvir Sethi said thatBJP follows teachings ofSwami Vivekananda, whogave the mantra of 'NarSeva Narayan Seva' andBJP strictly adheres to thisprinciple. "Those whoserve the needy are truephilanthropists. All live forthemselves but those whocome forward to help oth-ers are true humanbeings," he added. He said

that the BP machines wereprovided to Corporatorsand party workers of dif-ferent wards of Jammucity so that during anemergency amidst lock-down they can providenecessary support to thepeople of their respectivewards. He reiterated thatBJP is providing all neces-sary assistance to needypeople in the hour of cri-sis."

Sethi said that BJP is

the party of people and isalways stand with the peo-ple even the hour of crisis.He mentioned that "TheParty is providing freeration, food, masks, sani-tizers and other essentialcommodities to needy tomitigate the sufferings ofpoor people who gotaffected due to lockdownin view of COVID-19". Hethat the entire country isfighting against theCoronavirus pandemic andthat they need to supportthe initiatives taken by thePrime Minister and askedpeople to come forwardand make donationswholeheartedly so that thegovernment can help thepeople to overcome thecrisis.

Parveen Kerni said thatthe way the people of thecountry have supported tothe Prime MinisterNarendra Modi presentinga new hope for the nationin its fight against theglobal crisis ofCoronavirus.

Sethi provides BP machines to BJP workers to help needy people

J&K BJP Vice president Yudhvir Sethi posing with party workers.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Deputy Mayor AdvocatePurnima Sharma todaydistributed ration itemsto the needy families ofWard number 1.Purnima Sharma dis-tributed ration itemsincluding rice, flour andother essentials amongthe needy families ofBooth number 8 ofWard 1. A total of 60families of ChouganSalathia area were pro-vided with essentialfood supplies. DeputyMayor assured the peo-ple of Ward 1 that dis-tribution of ration willcontinue among theneedy people in theward, She appealed tothe locals to stayindoors and cooperatewith the efforts ofGovernment and Policethat are trying their bestto stop the further

spread of the pandemic.Gopa l Sano t ra(Manda l Off i ceSec re t a ry ) , Vi j ayKumar Sharma (Boothpres ident) , HarcharanS ingh (Boo th p res i -den t ) , Akshay Saga r(Boo th p res iden t ) ,Vandana Trehan (StateExecu t ive Member

MM), Shubh La taSharma (Genera lSec re t a ry MM BJP) ,Ta r seem, Gopa lMago t ra , Ra je shSharma , Raman ,Suder shan S ingh ,Vi rende r Verma , andother prominent mem-bers of the ward werealso present .

Deputy Mayor Purnima Sharma, distributing ration inChougan Salathia on Sunday.

Dy Mayor distributes ration

BJP IT & SMannounces

office bearersGJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Bharatiya Janata PartyInformation Technologyand Social MediaDepartment J&K InchargeJaidev Rajwal, after con-sultation with BJP J&Kpresident Ravinder Rainaand BJP J&K GeneralSecretary (Org) AshokKoul, announced J&K UTState Executive Membersand District Incharges forleft over districts ofJammu Province in pres-ence of Co-InchargeAdvocate Ishant Gupta.

While announcing,Rajwal said that AjayAnand, Rohit Sharma,Advocate Varun Gupta,Lovekesh Gondi, M KRazdan, Yudhvir Singh,Jagbir Singh Pal, SahilKoul, Sumit Malhotra,Susheel Tandon, AjayKumar, Mir ChandSumbria, Rajinder Mehta,Ashwani Sharma, NeerajGupta, Parkash SinghJamwal, Kali Dass &Davinder Sharma werenominated as BJP J&K UTState Executive Members,IT & Social MediaDepartment whereasManjeet Singh JasrotiaKathua District Inchargegot additional responsibili-ty as Parbhari Udhampur -Doda ParliamentaryConstituency, RomeshPella as RS Pura DistrictIncharge, ParshotamGupta as NowsheraDistrict Incharge, PintuKumar Sharma as BasohliDistrict Incharge, & SatishJandyal as UdhampurDistrict Incharge. He saidParty will later announceDistrict Incharges forKashmir Province. Hecongratulated all the newlynominated office bearersand hope that they willdefinitely prove to be anasset for strengthening theparty.

Advocate Ishant Guptaalso extended his warmwishes to all the newlyappointed office bearersand appealed them to workhard with full dedicationand commitment.

J&K Freedom Fighter Associationgreets people on Eid-ul-Fitr

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: J&K Freedom Fighter Association extendedwarm greetings to the people on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. Urging the people to celebrate Eid with simplicity, VedGandotra, Chairman JKFAA said that the festival of Eid is a cele-bration of the spirit of sharing and brotherhood while praying forthe peace, progress, prosperity and happiness of the J&K and itspeople. "I urge people to take extra care in view of the COVID 19pandemic. The problem is surmountable provided all of us are unit-ed in our resolve to fight it out at all fronts," he said.

Rajiv Mahajan, Vice Chairman, while extending warm wishes tothe people on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr extended warmwishes to the people on the auspicious eve with a view that needsof the people at need are taken care of by the affluent ones. "Maythe auspicious day increase the prospects of peace, prosperity, andbrotherhood in J&K," he added.

"One of the most significant festivals that is celebrated by theMuslim community around the world, Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end ofthe holy month of Ramadan, especially the month-long fastingfrom sunrise to sunset," he said. He appealed to people to take pre-cautions and maintain social distancing. "We should stay awayfrom shaking hands and hugging. We should follow government'sguidelines," Mahajan said.

RC Puri, president of the Association extended greetings andgood wishes to the people of Muslim community and front lineworkers who have been working tirelessly day in, day out to com-bat the worst ever public health nightmare. He urged the affluentclass in the society to help those who do not have any resource tocelebrate the Eid.

Karnail Chand General Secretary, also extended warm wishes topeople on Eid Ul Fitr.

'Transfer Masters who have completetenure in far flung areas'

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: A meeting of J&K Govt Teachers /LecturersForum was held under the presidentship of Vijay Kumar to discussthe various issues regarding the welfare of the students. The Forumappealed to the DSEJ to transfer the Masters who have completetenure in far flung areas in Jammu district and adjust them neartheir residences. They also demanded adjustment of SSA HeadTeachers of Jammu district.

The Forum appreciated the efforts of Director School EducationJammu for taking various steps for the benefit of students such asconducting online classes and sending the books of all the classesdoor to door in Jammu province and also providing the MDM attheir doorstep.

DSEJ worked out the best way to help the students and notwaste the time as well as their studies. DSEJ has been putting thebest efforts to help the students during lockdown period. They alsohailed the adjustment of 2000 lecturers.

Other members who attended the meeting included NiranjanSharma, Mohd Yousaf, Zorawar Singh, Ram Dayal, ArifChowdhary, Subash Chander, Kewal Kumar, Rajeev Sharma,Ashwani Kumar, Romneek Singh, Mohd Hussain, Mubrak, AjayChoudhary, Satish Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Amarjeet.

NEW DELHI, MAY 24: The Times ofIndia Group's Bennett University is organ-izing a global webinar on Monday (May25) 4pm onwards on how ArtificialIntelligence (AI) is enabling solutions tothe Covid-19 pandemic which has devas-tated lives and livelihoods across theworld. Chief guest Union minister for elec-tronics and information technology, com-munications and law and justice, RaviShankar Prasad, will deliver the keynoteaddress. The valedictory address will bedelivered by Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe,Chairman, AICTE.

Here's the complete schedule: Date:25th May, 2020 (Monday) 4.00 PM to 8.00PM

Session-1: Inaugural Session4.00 PM - Moderator: Chandra

Ranganathan/ET NOW4.03 PM - Welcome Address by Prof. R.

K. Shevgaonkar, Vice Chancellor, BennettUniversity

4.10 PM - Keynote Address: Mr RaviShankar Prasad, Union Minister forElectronics and Information Technology,Communications and Law and Justice.

4.30 PM - Special Guest: Mr. SandipPatel, General Manager, IBM India/South

Asia4.40 PM - Special Guest: Dr. Manish

Gupta, Director, Google Research, India4.50 PM - Special Guest: Mr. Vishal

Dhupar, MD, NVIDIA, South AsiaSession-2: Challenges for Deploying

AI and Data Science Solutions for Covid5.00 PM: Moderator: Dr. Anurag

Goswami, Bennett University5.01 PM: Prof. Anant Agarwal, CEO,

edX5.11 PM Q&A5.16 PM: Dr. Rohini Srivathsa, National

Technology Officer, Microsoft, India5.26 PM : Q&A5.31 PM : Sanket Baralay,

Founder/Chairman, DIGISHIELD at5.31pm

5.41 PM: Q&ASession-3: Start-up Ecosystem for AI

and Data Science6.00 PM: Moderator: Dr. Suneet Gupta,

Bennett University6.01 PM: Mr. Vinish Kathuria, Founder,

SenseAI6.11 PM: Mr. Jaydeep Singh, Founder,

Empass6.21 PM: Mr. Adarsh Natarajan,

Founder, Aindra

6.31 PM: Mr Amardeep Sibia, Founder,Drishya.ai

6.41 PM : Q&ASession-4: AI and Data Science use

cases for Covid-196.50 PM Moderator Dr. Tapas Badal,

Bennett University6.51 PM Prof. Sanjay Madria, Missouri

University of Science and Technology,USA

7.01 PM Dr. Rajeev Agrawal, U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers, USA

7.11 PM Prof. Bharat Bhargava, PurdueUniversity, USA

7.20 PM Valedictory Address by Prof.Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE

7.45 PM Vote of Thanks : Prof. ShivaniGoel, Bennett University

The Zoom webinar titled, " AI Solutionsfor Covid", is being organized by BennettUniversity's Department of ComputerScience Engineering and will bring togeth-er eminent policymakers, scientists andindustry leaders on one platform to sharetheir vision and strategies on how tourgently accelerate AI and Data Scienceadoption for finding solutions for lock-down exit and to help bring back the pre-Covid-19 economy.

Bennett University to organize global webinar on AIsolutions for Covid on May 25: Complete schedule

MHA issues SOP for strandedIndians who wish to return

NEW DELHI, MAY 24: The government on Sunday issued a fresh StandardOperating Protocol (SOP) for the return of Indians stranded abroad due to theCoronavirus lockdown, saying it will be a paid service and preference will begiven to people in distress including those who have lost their jobs and pregnantwomen.

A similar SOP was also issued by the government for those who are strand-ed in India and desire to travel abroad.

As per the latest SOP, all travellers will have to give an undertaking that theywould undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days. It will be a seven-day paidinstitutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by seven days of isolation athome with self-monitoring of health.

Only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human dis-tress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) accompanied bychildren below 10 years, as assessed by the receiving states, home quarantinemay be permitted for 14 days and use of ''Aarogya Setu'' app shall be mandato-ry in such cases, it said.

According to the SOP issued earlier by the home ministry on May 5, theinstitutional quarantine period was 14 days and another 14 days was for homequarantine while ''Aarogya Setu'' app was mandatory for all internationalarrivals.

AirAsia India opens bookingsfor travel from today onward

KOLKATA, MAY 24: With domestic airline operationsset to resume from tomorrow, AirAsia India has announcedopening of bookings for travel to 21 destinations across itsnetwork, even as West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee insisted that aviation passengers services beresumed at end of this month in wake of COVID-19 pan-demic. Bengaleru based AirAsia in a statement said it willstrictly follow the SOPs and guidelines laid out by the reg-ulatory bodies to enable safe travel in view of pandemicthreat. Earlier GoAir said it would start flying aircraft fordomestic passengers from May 25 onward as it receivedapproval for its modified schedule which is based on onethird of its pre-covid approved summer 2020 network.

" GoAir is ready and prepared to resume safe operationsafter the two month lockdown," a statement said.

AirAsia India MD and CEO Sunil Bhaskaran said "Weare appreciative of the government working collaborative-ly with all stakeholders to define the new protocols to helpopen up domestic flying in a calibrated manner keeping thehealth and safety of passengers and the airline crew infocus."

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Women Wing of JKNPPcelebrated 83rd birthanniversary of MaharaniYasho Rajya Lakshmi latewife of Dr Karan Singh,former Maharaja ofJammu & Kashmir thisafternoon.

The programmepresided over by AnitaThakur, General SecretaryJKNPP, was attended byseveral women activistsand others who describedthe late Maharani YashoRajya Lakshmi as a greatchampion of the cause ofthe women of J&K in hercapacity for severaldecades in J&K. AnitaThakur presented a notewhich was circulated byInternational DograSociety which said that

Maharani Yasho RajyaLakshmi was born on 24thMay, 1937 in Nepal in thefamily of the last RanaMohan Shamser JungBhadur. She marriedKaran Singh in 1950.Karan Singh, the then heirto Maharaja Hari Singhwho was forced to leaveJ&K in 1948 by CongressGovt in Delhi and wasresiding in Bombay whenDr Karan Singh marriedYasho Rajya Lakshmi. Fora period of more than 17years after her marriage,Maharani Yasho RajyaLakshmi happily under-took the responsibilities ofbeing the wife of the Headof State ( Sadar e Riyasat).

Some people in Jammuand Srinagar still remem-ber the dedication and zealwith which she did relief

work at Jammu as well asSrinagar during the 1962and 1965 wars.

She was a kind andcompassionate womanwho did a lot of Socialwork. Her major contribu-tion was the creation of"Delhi Society for theWelfare of MentallyRetarded Children." As aresult of her initiative, alarge plot of land wasacquired by the society atOkhla. Through her dedi-cated fund raising effortswhich essentially includeda substantial personal con-tribution, a grand institu-tion was been set up. Thisinstitution now caters toover 300 mentally retardedchildren. This institutionhas also a sheltered work-shop, a vocational trainingcentre, a diagnostic clinic

and several other rehabili-tation facilities. It is nowrecognised as one of thepremier institutions of itskind in the country.

The several educationaland social institutions inJammu and Kashmir, par-ticularly in Jammu werenamed after her nameincluding present WomenCollege of Jammu andParade Ground. Sheremained among thosewho had made several con-tributions towards upgrad-ing social life of the underprivileged in J&K.Panthers Party announcedto set up a women socialand education centre inUdhampur District in thename of Maharani YashoRajya Lakshmi. A womencommittee shall also be setup.

JKNPP celebrates 83rd Birth Anniversaryof Maharani Yasho Rajya Lakshmi

Sikh Organizations seek proper attention for quarantine centers

C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2020 ||GJ LEGAL/BUSINESS 9

CMYK

MUMBAI, MAY 24: TheBombay High Court heard viavideo conferencing a writ peti-tion filed by a pilot from AirIndia who alleged that thenational carrier violated guide-lines issued by the Governmentof India in wake of the Covid-19pandemic, specifically the con-dition which provides that seatallocation at the time of check-inis to be done in a manner toensure that the seat between twopassengers is kept empty.

A Division bench of JusticesRD Dhanuka and Abhay Ahujaheard the petition filed byCommander Deven Y Kananiwho relied upon circular issuedby the Government of Indiadated March 23, 2020 andalleged that Air India violatedthe said circular by failing to fol-low the rule of keeping the mid-dle seat empty during evacua-tion of stranded passengers fromUSA as part of the Vande BharatMission.

Appearing on behalf of AirIndia, Dr. Abhinav Chandrachudsubmitted that the circular datedMarch 23, 2020 issued by the

Government of India does notapply to non-scheduled com-mercial flights but would onlyapply to scheduled domesticflights. He said that all precau-tions required to be taken so asto prevent the spread of Covid-19 are taken while lifting thepassengers from abroad and tobring these stranded passengersin India.

Moreover, Chandrachudargued that even in the subse-quent guidelines issued by theGovernment of India, there is nosuch condition prescribed forkeeping one seat vacant betweentwo passengers.

He submitted that even if oneseat is kept vacant between twoseats, even then criteria of socialdistancing prescribed by theGovernment of India would notbe satisfied.

Petitioner's lawyer AbhilashPanickar submitted that if theargument of Air India Limitedare accepted, there would be nopreventive measures required tobe taken to prevent the spread ofCovid-19.

Thus, Court noted that prima

facie government's circular wasviolated by Air India. "Primafacie it appears that the objectbehind the Circular dated 23rdMarch 2020 issued by theGovernment of India is for thesafety of the passengers and forprotection of their health in thisemergency situation created bythe Covid-19 Pandemic.

In these circumstances, theCircular cannot be interpreted toapply differently to the passen-gers who are travelling fromabroad and the domestic passen-gers. Paramount consideration isthe health and safety of thesepassengers and to achieve theobjective that they are notinfected by Corona virus whenthey undertake any such travel.

However, later Dr.Chandrachud informed thebench that a fresh circular hasbeen issued by the DGCA datedMay 22 which supersedes theprevious circular dated March23. The new circular is applica-ble only on domestic flights andnot international flights. Thismatter will now be heard onJune 2.

MUMBAI, MAY 24: TheBombay High Court onFriday dismissed an interimapplication filed by oneSameer Wadekar who allegedthat one of his scripts regis-tered in 2015 with the ScreenWriters Association with thetitle 'Vetaal' was copied bythe makers of the upcomingNetflix series 'Betaal' andsought a stay on the release ofthe series.

Justice KR Shriram heardthe interim application filedby Wadekar and prima facieobserved that the claim forcopyright infringement wasnot made out.

Advocate Viraj Kadamappeared on behalf of theplaintiff, Senior AdvocateSharan Jagtiani for Netflixand writer of the NetflixSeries 'Betaal' and AdvocateHiren Kamod for the produc-er and director of 'Betaal'.

According to the plaintiff,he watched the trailer of'Betaal' on Youtube which

convinced him that it was acopy of the plaintiff's copy-right. This Youtube video wassent to the plaintiff by a friendon May 7, 2020 and which isthe date on which trailer wasalso released by Netflix.

Plaintiff contended that inthe 146 seconds of the videotrailer, there were at least 13similarities with the copy-right work of plaintiff.Advocate Kadam submittedthat since Netflix hasinfringed his client's regis-tered copyright work 'Vetaal',they should be restrained byan ad-interim order fromgoing ahead with the releaseon May 24.

The story 'Vetaal' was anoriginal script of plaintiffwhich was based on a fiction-al story created with theimagination of plaintiff whichincluded characters, loca-tions, props etc.

Finally, after hearing thesubmissions of all parties,Justice Shriram observed,

"The emails do not show anylink between Wilson Louisand Netflix. Except for plain-tiff saying that Wilson Louistold plaintiff no.1 that he hassome contacts in Netflix,there is nothing else to showany link with the defendant.Therefore, I find it difficult tobelieve that the so-calledoriginal story written by theplaintiff, can be copied bysomebody else. This is onepoint which is against theplaintiff getting any ad-inter-im relief as prayed for."

Secondly, the Court alsopointed out at the delay andlatches in this case.

The Court observed thatthe 3rd point which is not infavour of the plaintiff forgranting an ad-interim reliefas prayed for is that the word`Betaal' originates from`Vetalam' relevant in HinduMythology. Thus, the interimapplication was dismissed.

In view of the lockdown, aperiod of 8 weeks was grant-ed to file amended writtenstatements.

NEW DELHI, MAY 24: Indian skieswill open up for domestic passengerflights from Monday after a gap of twomonths but there was confusion fol-lowing imposition of own set of condi-tions and rules by several states whichare at odds with each other.

Many states like Maharashtra, WestBengal and Tamil Nadu were opposedto opening up of their airports in viewof rising cases of the coronavirusinfection, making it difficult for theairlines as well as the civil aviationauthorities to resume services.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and WestBengal are home to some of thebusiest airports in terms of passengertraffic.

Maharashtra Home Minister AnilDeshmukh said on Twitter on Sundaythat it is “extremely ill-advised” toreopen airports in red zones.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said she will urgethe Centre to postpone resumption of

domestic flight services at Kolkata andBagdogra airports by a few days.

On Sunday afternoon, AirAsiaIndia said on Twitter that all passen-gers must read the health protocols ofthe destination states and it would “notbe responsible for repatriating or bear-ing any quarantine or related costs ofany guests”.

In the midst of uncertainty and con-fusion, representatives of airline andseveral states held multiple meetingswith top officials of the Civil AviationMinistry on Sunday covering a rangeof contentious issues like quarantinerules for flyers and standard operatingprocedures for leading airports, offi-cials said.

The focus of the deliberations wasto have uniform quarantine rules fol-lowing announcement of separate con-ditions by various state governments.However, it is not immediately clearwhether uniform quarantine rules asenvisaged could be finalised in the

meetings.The government last week

announced resumption of the domesticflight services from May under specif-ic rules and guidelines like cap on tick-et pricing, wearing of face masks bypassengers, no food served on boardplanes and making available details ofmedical conditions by travellersthrough Aarogya Setu app or by fillingup of a self-declaration form.

The government’s decision came asthe aviation sector was reeling undersevere stress triggered by the coron-avirus lockdown that began on March25. (PTI)

Bombay HC refuses to stay streaming ofNetflix series "Betaal" on copyright issue

DGCA circular supersedes directionto keep middle seats empty in flights

HYDERABAD, MAY 24:The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt has ordered the StateGovernment to seize thecompany premises of theLG Polymers chemicalplant at Vishakhapatnam,from where the leakage ofthe Styrene chemicaloccurred during the weehours of May 7, leavingmany persons dead andinjured.

The Court alsorestrained the Directors ofthe Company from leavingthe country without theleave of the court.

The Bench of ChiefJustice J K Maheshwari andJustice Lalitha Kannegantiobserved, "The premises ofthe company shall be com-pletely seized; No oneshould be allowed to enterinto the premises including

the Directors of the compa-ny; Committee if anyappointed wants to inspectthe premises, they are atliberty to. However, theyshall put a note on theRegister maintained at thegate of the Companyregarding the said inspec-tion and while returning, anote regarding the act downon the premises should alsobe noted; None of theassets, movable or immov-able, fixture, machinery andcontents shall be allowed tobe shifted without the leaveof the Court; The surren-dered passports of theCompany Directors shouldnot be released without theleave of the Court." Besidesthese many more directionswere issued by the Court.

The Court also direct theAP Government to apprise

the Court on the followingadditional issues, i.e. Whatis the net worth of LGPolymers Pvt. Ltd. as perthe provisions of theCompanies Act, but not asper the book value?; Whywas styrene monomer per-mitted to be transported toSouth Korea and who is theperson responsible for thesame, when no Court per-mission was granted for thesame and when no investi-gation/ inspection team wasappointed and noMagisterial enquiry wasmade, despite these being arequirement after the regis-tration of the crime?

The Court passed thedirections in a suo motocase taken by it followingthe deadly gas leak.

MUMBAI, MAY 24: TheBombay High Court onFriday passed an ex-parteinterim order directing theState government to block avideo clip uploaded onsocial media by AIMIMleader Abu Faizal immedi-ately, observing that it wasprima facie inflammatory.ADivision bench of JusticeRD Dhanuka and JusticeAbhay Ahuja passed theorder in a petition filed byone Imran Khan, who soughtdirections to the State andpolice machinery to takepreventive action under sec-tions 149, 151,110 of CrPCagainst Abu Faizal for his"incriminating hate speechvideo" on social media.

Khan also sought direc-tions to permanently blockthe access of Abu Faizal tosocial media viz YouTube,Google and Facebook.

While Advocate VivekShukla appeared for the peti-tioner, none appeared onbehalf of the State or otherrespondents.

According to the petition-er, AIMIM's Abu Faizalalleged in the said video thatthe media has been directedto target Muslims anddefame Islam under the garbof Corona virus pandemic.The said video was uploadedon Faizal's social mediaincluding Facebook and itwill create hatred betweenHindus and Muslims in thecommunity. Yet no actionhas been taken by the policeeven though a complaint wasmade by the petitioner in thatregard, the petitioner con-tended.

The bench noted, "Aperusal of the petition, primafacie indicates that there areserious allegations made by

the Petitioner, against thesaid AIMIM Abu Faizalabout inflammatory speechfor creating hatred betweenHindu and Muslim commu-nity and against the policefor inaction. TheRespondents are accordinglydirected to look into the alle-gations and also to view thesaid video clip on You-tube,Google, Facebook and to filean Affidavit in Reply beforethis Court."

State was also directed toundertake an investigationagainst Abu Faizal in orderto find out if there is any sub-stance in the allegationsmade by the petitioner.

Meanwhile, the respon-dents were directed to blockthe said video clip uploadedon social media and moreparticularly, the videouploaded on Abu Faizal'ssocial media immediately.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: All IndiaLawyers Union (J&K Unit) hasexpressed strong resentmentover the decision of the ChiefJustice of J&K High Courtwhereby 92 years old practiceof courts timings during sum-mers in summer zone ofJammu Province, has beengiven up. After holding tele-phonic meeting of the StateCommittee of AILU, its presi-dent Hari Chand Jalmeriaadvocate has termed the deci-sion as arbitrary.

The Jammu and Kashmirhas some peculiarities andculture of hundreds of yearsbased on geographical, climat-ic, social and economic fac-tors. Any modifications orchange needs serious deliber-ations and consensus there-after. During seventies also

effort was made to disturb thisarrangement, when lawyerssupported by public had to agi-tate.

Already much disturbancehas been caused to lawyersduring the recent past whenHigh Court's present locationat Jammu was proposed to beshifted, Registration of docu-ments was shifted to Revenueofficers, and Service mattershave been shifted to CAT situ-ated at Chandigarh and nowanother blow to the lawyersand the connected publicwhen court timings are beingchanged. Why all this, AILUquestioned.

Jalmeria has asked theChief Justice to reconsider thedecision and not cause anoth-er inconvenience to thelawyers and the public on thiscount.

Changing Court timings a historical litigant

friendly decision: DSSGJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: in a brief tele-meetingthe core group of the dogra sadar sabha (dss)welcomed the high court order to do awaywith the 92 year old practice of varied courttimings. calling the order a "much needed lit-igant friendly" decision, th. gulchain singhsaid that the order will go a long way in reduc-ing the suffering of litigants, reduce the timeand quantum of pendency cases. it brings j&kunion territory one more step closer to rest ofthe nation obliterating the 'special status syn-drome'.

there has been enormous increase in num-ber of litigations and pendency over the cen-tury and the variance of timings was harshand impractical. it is a welcome reform andshould be followed by removing the britishlegacy of the holiday pattern of the courtswhich must function on the same calendar &clock with all government offices. membersof the dss urged the hon'ble high court chiefjustice to take lead in this direction also tobring about this change in the whole country.such a move will give relief to millions ofnationwide litigants stuck with cases pendingin various courts throughout the country.

Bombay HC directs blocking inflammatory videouploaded by AIMIM's Abu Faizal on social media

AP HC directs seizure of LG Polymers premises; restrains directors from leaving India

All India Lawyers' Unionresents CJ's decision onaltering "age old practice"

GJ REPORTKISHTWAR, MAY 24: Inorder to ensure the mini-mum subsistence to all theinterstate migrants andneedy families during lock-down 4.0 and on the direc-tion of District Develop-ment CommissionerRajinder Singh Tara,Tehsildar Kishtwar Pramod

Kumar today started distrib-uting ration coupons to iden-tified beneficiaries/ migrantworkers under AtmaNirbhar Bharat WorkersCoupon Scheme. 10 kg riceper soul and 2 kg pulse perfamily for the month of Mayand June 2020 will be givento all the beneficiaries underthe scheme.

The Tehsildar said that"Atma Nirbhar BharatWorkers Coupon Scheme isa scheme which has beenstarted by the governmentof India and under whichwe have to distribute rationcoupons to identifiedstranded migrants andneedy ones who are withoutration cards to get free foodgrains and pulses in districtKishtwar".

Meanwhile, TehsildarKishtwar alongwith TSOKishtwar Suresh Kumarand FSO Rajni Bhagat,Inspector Legal Metrologyand Municipal committee& police party conductedmarket checking inKishtwar town fromDistrict Court Complex toDak Bungalow, Hidyal andGudhali Chowk. During theinspection he realized fineof R 5000 from 18 erringshopkeepers.

Tehsildar realizes fine of R 5000from 18 erring shopkeepers

Tehsildar Pramod Kumar distributing ration couponsamong the beneficiaries in Kishtwar on Sunday.

CHANDIGARH, MAY 24:The Punjab And Haryana HighCourt said the imposition ofrestrictions on religious placesis in larger public interest andsuch restrictions and those onholding of religious congrega-tions cannot be ordered to berelaxed on the analogy of open-ing of business establishments.

“The freedom to religion issubject to public order, moralityand public health. It is anextraordinary situation. In orderto safeguard the health of thesociety, restrictions have beenimposed by closing down allthe places of worship for thepublic, including holding ofreligious congregations/gather-ings,” said the division bench ofJustices Rajiv Sharma and AjayTiwari while dismissing a peti-tion seeking relaxations in lock-down for the places of worship.

The court further said therestrictions do not amount tointerference in the religious

affairs of any community andthat the restrictions have beenimposed on religious places ofall the religions. “The closureof religious places of worshipduring the period of spread ofcoronavirus, that too as a tem-porary measure, is a regulationand not prohibition. The restric-tions imposed by the Ministryof Home Affairs do not violateany fundamental or legal rightof the petitioner or the similarlysituated persons. The endeavorof the MHA is to break thecycle by maintaining social dis-tancing,” the order reads.

Observing that the right ofthe state to impose restrictions“as are required or found neces-sary on the ground of publicorder, health and morality” is inbuilt under Articles 25 and 26of the Constitution of India, thedivision bench said the imposi-tion of restrictions constitutes“paternalistic act” and that theyare in collective interest of the

society at large.“Merely that in certain areas,

restrictions have been relaxedcannot be a ground to relax thesame qua religious places ofworship. The discretion not topermit opening of all the placesof worship for public and pro-hibiting holding of religiouscongregations/gatherings hasbeen exercised judiciously,” thecourt said further.

The High Court on Fridayhad heard the PIL seekingdirections that all the religiousworship places like mosques,gurdwaras and temples beopened on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitrand martyrdom anniversary ofGuru Arjun Dev Ji. The PILfiled by Mubeen Farooqithrough advocate RajvinderSingh Bains also had prayedthat the restrictions placed uponthe right of citizens to worshipand pray at the places of wor-ship be declared as unconstitu-tional. (Agencies)

Restrictions on religious places do notviolate any fundamental rights, says HC

MUMBAI, MAY 24: Formerbillionaire Anil Ambani wasordered by a London judge topay more than $700 million toa trio of Chinese banks follow-ing a dispute over defaultedloans.

Ambani offered a personalguarantee on the banks’ loansto his RelianceCommunications Ltd. in 2012,Judge Nigel Teare said in aruling Friday. The tycoon, whohas said his net worth is“zero,” has 21 days to makethe payment.

Ambani had always con-tested that he had made apersonal guarantee somethinghe’d dismissed as an “extraor-dinary potential personal liabil-ity” but the summary judgmentruling means a full trial will nolonger go ahead.

A spokesman for Ambanisaid that other Reliance groupoperations will not be affected

by the ruling. RelianceCommunications filed forbankruptcy last year.

The Chinese banks “madetheir claim based on analleged guarantee that wasnever signed by Mr. Ambaniand he has consistentlydenied having authorized any-one to execute any guaranteeon his behalf,” the spokesmansaid. “The amount ordered tobe paid based on an allegedguarantee, will in any casereduce substantially upon theimminent resolution of”Reliance Communication’sdebt.

The 60-year-old is theyounger brother of MukeshAmbani, the wealthiest man inAsia. Mukesh has bailed hisbrother out in the past, makinga last-minute payment in anIndian case that could haveseen Anil imprisoned.(Agencies)

MUMBAI, MAY 24: totalof 3.82 lakh workers, thehighest in the state, haveenrolled under the MahatmaGandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA) in the back-ward Vidarbha region tillthe third week of May, dataobtained from the state gov-ernment stated. Thoughdemand for job among therural poor in the region ismuch higher, Vidarbha hasfared better thanMarathwada, also a back-ward region, where 71,322workers have got jobs underthe employment guaranteescheme.

A total of 6.01 lakhworkers have been regis-tered under MGNREGA inthe state till mid-May, thedata stated.

While enrollment underMGNREGA betweenMarch and June, the pre-

monsoon period, is general-ly higher across the state,absence of drought and anextended lockdown hadmeant a poor response forthe scheme till mid-April.On April 4, there were19,409 workers and 3,393shortlisted works under thescheme. The numbers, how-ever, soared to 1.40 lakhworkers and 23,026 jobsacross the state by April 23.

“Covid-19 had its impacton the employment guaran-tee scheme (EGS) in Marchand April. The local grampanchayats and rural admin-istration were busy with thepandemic and the necessaryinitiative to mobilise peoplefor work under MGNREGAwork only started mid-April,” a source in the EGSsaid. Officials have attrib-uted the increase in enroll-ment to the reverse migra-tion from cities. (Agencies)

Enrollment under NREGA picks upamid reverse migration, lockdown

Domestic flights to resume today amidconfusion as several states set own rules

Anil Ambani ordered to pay $700 million in dispute with Chinese banks

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NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Track and field athletes willreturn to outdoor trainingon Monday after twomonths of being confined totheir rooms due to the coro-navirus-forced lockdownbut the early focus will beentirely on their fitness reg-imens to avoid injury.Athletics Federation ofIndia President AdilleSumariwalla told PTI thatall the athletes based atNIS-Patiala, SAI Centre inBengaluru and Ooty willstart “outdoor fitness” train-ing from Monday.

On May 17, the govern-ment permitted the use ofstadia and sports complexeswithout spectators andunder strict guidelineswhich allowed the athletesto return to outdoor train-ing. “Yes, the athletes inPatiala, Bengaluru andOoty will start outdoor fit-ness training from Monday.It will be fitness (training)on track,” Sumariwallasaid. “They will not havespecific training as they

were in their rooms foreight weeks.”

Asked when the athleteswill start specific training,such as running on track orthrowing inside the throw-ing area, he said, “Ofcourse, they will do thatwhen their specific fitnesscomes to a certain level.”

Star javelin throwerNeeraj Chopra, who hasqualified for the now post-poned Tokyo Olympics, iselated that outdoor trainingwill start from Monday. “Iam feeling happy. At leastsomething is starting eventhough it will be a slow

beginning,” he said fromNIS-Patiala where he hasbeen confined to his roomsince March 18.

While the throwers andtrack runners, includingstart sprinter Hima Das, arebased at NIS-Patiala, therace walkers have been atthe Sports Authority ofIndia Centre in Bengaluru.The long-distance runnersare based at high altitudecentre in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.Top sprinter Dutee Chandhas already started outdoortraining at the KalingaStadium in Bhubaneswarafter the Odisha state gov-

ernment relaxed the lock-down guidelines.

On May 19, the AFI hadissued its own StandardOperating Procedures foroutdoor training of thecampers, which includedbar on handshakes, hug-ging, spitting and visits tosalons. The athletes havebeen told to train understrict social distancingguidelines.

According to the SOP,the athletes are prohibitedfrom training if they haveflu-like symptoms such assneezing, coughing, diffi-culty in breathing, fatigue,or if they have been in closecontact with someone whoshowed such symptoms.The campers were also toldnot to exercise/train/walk ingroups and they shouldmaintain a safe distance ofat least 2 metres from oth-ers during training as wellas other times.

They have been asked tocarry their own water bot-tle, energy drinks as well ashand sanitisers and towels.

Track and field athletes tostart outdoor training today BUNDESLIGA, MAY 24: Bayern

Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 onSaturday, surviving a brief second-halfcomeback scare to stay four pointsclear of Borussia Dortmund at the topof the Bundesliga with seven gamesleft to play.

Bayern, chasing a record-extendingeighth straight league crown, next faceDortmund in the league’s big game onTuesday and victory there would sendthem seven points clear.

The Bavarians thought they had thematch wrapped up after efforts fromLeon Goretzka, Thomas Mueller andRobert Lewandowski had given them a3-0 lead in the empty Allianz Arena.

Eintracht defender MartinHinteregger caught the Bayern defencenapping to strike twice in three minutesand inject new life into the encounter.

Yet the visitors quickly gave awaytwo goals — with Alphonso Daviespouncing on a defensive error on thehour and Hinteregger scoring an owngoal in the 74th minute.

Bayern, who had club great FranzBeckenbauer watching from the standsin a rare public appearance, are on 61points with Dortmund on 57 followingtheir 2-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg.

“I was happy with the first half. Wewanted to dominate and we did that,”Bayern coach Hansi Flick said. “At 3-0 maybe we were mentally alreadydone with the game. Against

Dortmund we want to keep a cleansheet.”

The Bundesliga resumed last week,with no fans in attendance, after beingsuspended for more than two monthsdue to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the first match to be playedwithout fans at Bayern’s home groundbut the champions looked unaffectedas Mueller set up their first goal withhis 17th assist of the season andgrabbed the second himself.

Poland striker Lewandowski, chas-ing Gerd Mueller’s 40-goal recordhaul from the 1971/72 season, headedin his 27th of the campaign a minuteafter the restart before Hinteregger’s

two-goal scare.But Bayern kept their cool for their

12th win in their last 13 games thatkept them favourites for the title.

Dortmund were far from their bestin their 2-0 win at Wolfsburg and arehoping defender Mats Hummels canrecover from a heel injury, that forcedhim out at halftime, for Tuesday’sgame.

Kai Havertz scored a brace for thesecond match in the row to lead BayerLeverkusen to a 3-1 win at BorussiaMoenchengladbach as they leap-frogged their opponents to go third on53 and take the upper hand in the bat-tle for a Champions League spot.

Bayern Munich cruise past Frankfurt 5-2 to stay on title track

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Bihar school girl JyotiKumari, who cycled 1200km with her injured fatherfrom New Delhi toDarbhanga, will appear forCycling Federation of Indiatrials once the lockdownends even though finishingmatriculation is her primaryaim.

“We will surely send herfor the trials after the lock-down is lifted. She gotenrolled in class nine yes-terday. At the moment, wewant her to complete hermatriculation,” fatherMohan Paswan told PTIfrom Sirhulli.

Rendered jobless andpenniless because of theextended COVID-19 lock-down, the 15-year-old wasforced to ferry her fatherwho was unable to walkproperly after a surgery tohis left knee following anaccident. As the story went

viral, the CFI duly tooknote of Jyoti’s incrediblefeat of cycling more than1200-kilometres spanningover a week.

“Yes, we received thecall from New Delhi(Cycling Federation ofIndia). We said she needsrest now may be after two-three months we will see,”Paswan, who fractured hisleg in an accident whiledriving his auto-rickshawin January, said.

Jyoti later went to tendto her father as the COVID-19 pandemic followed withthe nationwide lockdown.In her village, Jyoti used toregularly cycle 5 kms toreach her school.

“We saw many of thefellow migrant workerswalking home. But I couldbarely walk so we bought asecond-hand bicycle andstarted our journey on May7,” Paswan recalled. “Jyoticycled for long hours evenduring the night and wemanaged to hitch rides ontrucks and tractors forstretches across UttarPradesh.”

The District Magistrateof Darbhanga has alsoreached out to Jyoti andenrolled her in class nine atthe Pindaruch High School.She has also been given anew bicycle, school uni-form and shoes for highereducation.

Jyoti Kumari puts cycling trialson hold as exams take priority

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Hana Kimura, a Japanesepro-wrestler who appearedin the latest series of the pop-ular reality show “TerraceHouse,” has died. She was22. Her organizationStardom Wrestling con-firmed Kimura’s death onSaturday. It said details arestill largely unknown and thegroup was cooperating in aninvestigation, and asked herfans to be respectful.

“We are very sorry toreport that our Hana Kimurahas passed away,” the organ-ization said in a statement.

Kimura became the targetof massive bullying onsocial media over her role onthe “Terrace House” showon Netflix, which involvesthree men and three womentemporarily living togetherat a shared house in Tokyo.The show was temporarilysuspended due to the coron-avirus.

In her latest Instagramposting Friday, she pub-lished a photo of herself andher cat, with a message say-ing “Goodbye.” Anotherposting carried a message “Ilove you, live long andhappy. I’m sorry.”

Her death has triggered awave of messages on socialmedia against anonymousbullying and hateful mes-sages. Kimura, whose moth-er Kyoko was also a famouspro-wrestler, performed at asold-out Madison SquareGarden event by Japan Pro-Wrestling and U.S. Ring ofHonor.

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:Bangladesh’s Mahmudullahhas spoken about his admira-tion towards MS Dhoni andhopes to successfully emulatethe former India captain’sability to anchor games. TheBangladesh allrounderrevealed he spends his timewatching clips of Dhoni, hop-ing to pick up nuances of hisbatting.

“I’m a huge fan of MSDhoni, the way he controlshimself. He also batted atfive-six for the India teamand whenever I sit idle, I tryto watch his innings, evenwatch live games of his. Andtry to learn how he composeshimself in the game,” the 34-year-old said during a live FBchat on Cricfrenzy.com.

Like Dhoni,Mahmudullah has playedinnings where he’s success-fully finished off chases.Being a middle-order bats-man himself, Mahmudullah

realises the need to absorbpressure to pull off chases,and he can think of no onebetter than Dhoni, who’smade a career out of finishingmatches for India.

“It is not easy having 50plus average in ODI cricketfor so many matches andhaving a strike rate of 90plus, it’s amazing and theway he controls the game tillthe last, similarly I also haveto bat at five-six so I try tolearn these things from him.He’s been a great influence inmy cricket arena,” he added.

Mahmudullah makes it apoint to look up to Dhoni’sleadership as well. He suc-ceeded Shakib Al Hasan asBangladesh’s T20I captainafter the allrounder wasbanned for two years – withone year of the sentence sus-pended – for failing to reportcorrupt bookie approaches,and even led the team to itsfirst ever T20I win againstIndia last year. As a matter offact, former India allrounderIrfan Pathan had noticedshades of Dhoni inMahmudullah’s captaincy.

Japanese pro-wrestler in popularreality show dies at 22

‘Watch his innings, try and learn from him,’Bangladesh allrounder looks up to MS Dhoni

PARIS, MAY 24: Whilethe governing bodies oftennis are leaving no stoneunturned to find a way torestart proceedings, RogerFederer has come out andvoiced his opinion aboutthe idea of playing behindclosed doors.

After two months of theglobal lockdown caused bythe pandemic, sports areresuming in theirrestrained capacities —Bundesliga returned withempty stadiums and newhealth protocols last week,and even cricket resumedin the Caribbean through afanless Vincy PremierLeague.

Although theWimbledon was cancelledin April because of thecoronavirus outbreak, theFrench Open and the USOpen are still on schedulelater this year. Earlier,

Novak Djokovic andRafael Nadal had evenindicated that they wereopen to the idea of playingwithout fans.

But, the 20-time GrandSlam winner is in opposi-tion to the possibility oftennis without fans. “Ican’t imagine competing inan empty stadium, I don’tsucceed and I hope it willnever happen. Althoughwhen we train there are nopeople, competing is verydifferent,” said Federer.

“It is clear that the pos-sibility is feasible, but Ithink we could wait for theappropriate moment toreturn in the best condi-tions, with at least a thirdof the stadium full. Itwould be very difficult forme to play major tourna-ments behind closeddoors,” added the 38-year-old.

KARACHI, MAY 24:Taufeeq Umar, the Pakistanopener of the mid-2000s,has tested positive forCovid-19, becoming thesecond cricketer from thecountry to have contractedthe virus. After deciding toget himself checked aftercomplaining of symptomsassociated with theCoronavirus, the resultscame out positive and Umarhas since kept himself iso-lated.

Umar is the secondcricketer from Pakistan,after former First-Classcricketer Zafar Sarfaraz tohave tested positive forCovid-19. Sarfaraz unfortu-nately could not recoverfrom the virus and died lastmonth.

“I got myself tested lastnight after feeling a littlesick last night, and theresult came positive. Mysymptoms are not at all

severe. I have isolatedmyself at home. I appeal toeveryone to pray for myswift recovery,” Umar toldGeo News.

Umar, who representedPakistan in 44 Tests and 22ODIs, last played for thecountry in November 2014– against New Zealand in aTest match in Dubai. Hemade his Test debut with acentury againstBangladesh, becoming theeighth Pakistan batsman todo so. In October 2011,Umar peeled off his maidenTest double-century against

Sri Lanka, which made himthe seventh batsman fromPakistan to score a Testdouble.

After a semi-impressivefirst run between 2001 and2006, Umar was recalledinto the side after nearlyfour years for a Test seriesagainst South Africa in2010 and scored 137 runsfrom two matches. In thesubsequent series, Umarmanaged 136 runs in twoTests against New Zealandand 165 runs against WestIndies, also a two-Testaffair. Against Sri Lanka,Umar scored 324 runs in athree Test series including acentury, which Pakistanwon 1-0.

However, following astring of low scores, he wasdropped from the squadafter Pakistan’s three Testseries in Sri Lanka in Juneof 2012. He has sinceplayed just one more Test.

Pakistan cricketer Taufeeq Umar tests positive for Covid-19

LONDON, MAY 24: Two peoplefrom two Premier League clubshave tested positive for thecoronavirus after a secondbatch of testing, the PremierLeague said on Saturday. Sincethe players returned to limitedgroup training on Tuesday, eightpositive tests for the virus havebeen confirmed from England’stop-flight clubs. “The PremierLeague can today confirm thaton Tuesday 19 May, Thursday21 May and Friday 22 May, 996players and club staff were test-ed for Covid-19. Of these, twohave tested positive from twoclubs,” the statement said.

“The Premier League is pro-viding this aggregated informa-tion for the purposes of compe-tition integrity and transparen-cy. “Players or club staff whohave tested positive will nowself-isolate for a period of

seven days.”The Premier League said it

would not be providing detailsof the identities of the two newpositive tests. A total of 748tests of players and club staffmade up the initial round oftesting on May 17-18. Watford’sAdrian Mariappa and two mem-bers of the club’s non-playingstaff and Burnley assistantmanager Ian Woan wereamong six positive tests.

They are all still in theirseven-day isolation period. Twoother Watford players are alsoself-isolating after coming intoclose contact with people whotested positive, according tomanager Nigel Pearson.

No matches have beenplayed in the Premier Leaguesince March, but the govern-ment has given the green lightfor elite sport to resume from

June 1, including the top-flightfootball. The Premier League’s“Project Restart” hopes toresume action in June,although no date has beenfixed.

Another round of tests arescheduled to take place onMonday and Tuesday. All 20clubs will hold a meeting onWednesday to decide whetherthey can move to phase two ofthe restart and allow full-contacttraining. Chief executiveRichard Masters said on Fridaythe Premier League is “as con-fident as we can be” about aresumption of the top flight andthat the remaining 92 gameswould be completed.

“We wouldn’t have taken thefirst step to get back to trainingif we weren’t convinced we hadcreated a very safe environ-ment for our players,” he said.

Two more positive coronavirustests in Premier League

NEW DELHI, MAY 24:The Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) on Sunday saidthat it has deposited Rs30,000 each as out of pock-et allowance in accounts of2749 Khelo India athletes,adding up to Rs 8.25 crorein all.

“The money has beentransferred to the bankaccounts of the athletes onMay 22, 2020. A total of2893 athletes will be giventhe OPA for the period,with the funds to theremaining 144 athletes tobe transferred by the end ofMay 2020,” a press releasefrom SAI said. Theallowance is for the firstquarter of 2020-21.The

allowance includes expens-es towards travel to home-town, diet charges while athome and other miscella-neous expenses incurred bythe athletes.

The release further saidthat athletes from 35 statesand union territories havebeen given the OPA in 21sporting disciplines withthe maximum number ofthem from Maharashtra(386), Haryana (381), Delhi(225), Punjab (202) andTamil Nadu (165).The OPAis Rs 1.20 lakh annuallyand is a part of the KheloIndia scholarship of Rs 6.28lakh that is given to eachathlete selected under thescheme, annually.

2749 Khelo India athletesgiven R 30,000 each: SAI

‘It would be difficult for me to playbehind closed doors’: Roger Federer

NEW DELHI: FormerIndia pacer Irfan Pathanreckons that the ban onusing saliva for shiningthe ball is a significantblow to bowlers andauthorities should ensurepreparation of bowling-friendly Test wickets toprevent complete domina-tion of the game by thebatsmen.

The ICC cricket com-mittee, led by formerIndia captain AnilKumble, has recommend-ed a ban on use of salivaas an interim measure tocombat the coronavirusthreat. Pathan feels theban could even stretch upto two years and will giveundue advantage to bats-men.

"You will have to makesure that pitches are moresuitable to the bowlersthan batsmen to negate theadvantage (of not beingable to use saliva). If youare not able to shine theball properly, you will notbe able to cut the airbecause of scientific rea-sons. "And if you are notable to swing it, the bats-man will have it easybecause nobody fears justpace, it is the combinationof pace and swing thattroubles them," Pathan,one of the best exponentsof swing bowling inIndian cricket, said onSunday.

"It (ban) will affectbowlers a lot in Testmatches. It won't be an

issue in white-ball cricketas the bowlers anywaydon't shine the ball afterthe first few overs, theywant to make it soft (tomake strokeplay tougherfor the batsman).

"But in red-ball cricket,whether you are a fastbowler or spinner, youneed to shine the ball.Spinner relies on shine todrift the ball. That will bea big advantage for bats-men. The game willbecome even more bats-men friendly," said thefirst Indian pacer to take aTest hat-trick.

More than grass on thepitch, Pathan would prefermoisture beneath it.

"If you look at Englandand Australia, there is not

much grass but there ismoisture and it helpsbowlers.

"You need to make surethat something happens

for the bowler. If notthrough the ball, thenthrough the conditions. Ifthe conditions are helpfulfor bowlers they don't

look for reverse swing,they go for conventionalswing," said the 35-year-old.

Pathan said reverseswing only works withextreme pace, whichaccording to him is rare inmodern-day cricket.

"For reverse swing, ifyou can't hide the ball,then the batsman knowswhich way the ball wouldcome unless you are bowl-ing 150 kmph plus andthere are very few bowlerscurrently who generatethat kind of pace.

"You can still applysome sweat and swing theball normally but the banwould more or less takereverse swing out of thegame," Pathan added.

Saliva ban major handicap for pacers, ICC must ensure bowling-friendly pitches in Tests: Irfan Pathan

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COVID-19: Preventive measures; Administration, NGOs, Volunteers in fight against Corona WWWWEEEE CCCCAAAARRRREEEE FFFFOOOORRRR YYYYOOOOUUUU

People purchasing essentials at a shop on Sunday. Abhishek A couple on way to their destination during lockdown. Abhishek

A view of Non-Essential shops in Upper Gummat and Shalamar Chowk area in Jammu on Sunday. Abhishek

A Policeman maintaining vigil during lockdown 4.0 on Sunday. A milkman on way to his destination after delivering milk in Jammu. Abhishek

A labourer carrying cardboard scrap for disposal on Sunday. Abhishek A Policeman monitoring the lockdown guidelines at Jammu. Abhishek

Cutomers buying products at an Electronics shop in Lower GummatBazar Jammu. Abhishek

J&K BJP Kissan Morcha president Omi Khajuria felicitating Corona warriors of a Govt.hospital for their exemplary services. Abhishek

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YEH HAI LEH

A view of stones carved with "Om Mani Padme Hung", the mantra of Chenrezig, Buddhaof Compassion. Jigmet Janspal Shey

GJ REPORTLEH, MAY 24: Chairman/Chief Executive CouncillorLAHDC, Leh Gyal PWangyal and ExecutiveMembers of Hill CouncilLeh congratulated allLadakhi Police personnelserving in different wingsof J&K Police earlier andtheir family members forformation of "LadakhPolice" separating it fromJammu and Kashmir Policewith new symbols, flag andidentity. CEC Wangyal saidthat it is a very happymovement for everyLadakhi especially for thePolice personnel of Ladakhand their family members toget their long and genuinedemand fulfilled. It is also a

tribute to the LadakhiPolice personnel who strug-gled and sacrificed theirlives in Kashmir valleycountering different chal-lenges for many decades, headded. CEC expressed hisgratitude to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, HomeMinister Amit Shah and LGUT Ladakh R K Mathur foraccording approval to theformation of "LadakhPolice". Extending bestwishes to "Ladakh Police"in their new journey headedby IGP Ladakh S SKhandare, CEC hoped thatLadakh Police will touchnew heights and emerge asa role model in providingbetter policing in comingdays and years.

LG Mathurgreets peopleon Eid-ul-Fitr

GJ REPORTLEH, MAY 24: LieutenantGovernor of Ladakh, R KMathur has extended greet-ings to the people ofLadakh on the auspiciousoccasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

In his message, the LtGovernor hoped, "Prayersof people get accepted andsoon we win over the pan-demic crisis of COVID-19.

The Lt Governorthanked the frontline war-riors for their courage, ded-ication and commitment tocombat COVID-19. Heappealed to the people tostay home safely and to fol-low the social distancingprotocol. He asserted that itis the best way to support.

CEC, ECs hail formationof "Ladakh Police"

JIGMET JANSPAL KHUNGRULEH, MAY 24: People celebrated theEid-ul-Fitr festival with religious gai-ety and fervour in the Ladakh, whileremaining indoor to prevent spread ofCoronavirus pandemic.

While Sunni sect in Leh region cel-ebrated Eid-ul-Fitr today, Shia follow-ers celebrated the other day at theirhomes with families.

Since the entire world is battlingagainst Coronavirus, the religiousgatherings have been banned to con-trol the risk of COVID-19. Religiousheads had urged people to celebratethe festival at home with their fami-lies.

After a month long fasting, the cul-mination of Ramadan comes in theform of Eid-ul-Fitr with grand feast

and celebration. Earlier, Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated with

great enthusiasm by Shia communityat Pologround Leh by AnjumanImamia and Sunni followers at Eidgahby Anjuman-Moin-ul-Islam in whichlarge number of people joined the Eidprayers in colourful dresses.

While interacting with GreaterJammu, Ashraf Ali, president AnjumanImamia Leh and Dr Abdul Qayoom,president Anjuman Mouil Ul Islamgreeted people on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and appealed for celebratingthe festival at homes with own fami-lies. They thanked and dedicated thisEid to all the health workers and otherofficials who are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontline andprayed for Corona-free India.

Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated, peoplepray for Corona-free India

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: BJP organized aprogramme today in Jammu West areaunder the "Nar Seva-Narayan Seva"Humanitarian Aid Programme.

Ashok Kaul, BJP GeneralSecretary (Org), J&K was the chiefguest in the concluding function ofmass distribution of Ration kitsamong the needy and deserving peo-ple.

The programme was presided overby Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, SeniorBJP & KP leader while Prabhat SinghJamwal, Treasurer, BJP J&K wasGuest of Honour.

Vijay Raina, Sarpanch, Chowgam;Rakesh Kaul, Municipal CouncilMember, Mattan; Sanjay Bhat,Sarpanch, Rajpura, Pulwama;Virender Raina, president-PanunKashmir; Arun Chaudhary, president,J&K Arya Pratinidhi Sabha; VimlaChrungoo, Secretary DoPK; P KTikoo, Deepak Khanna, VishalFotedar and Sandeep Kisroo were alsopresent. On the occasion, the organiz-ers honoured the Corona Warriors andpresented them mementos in recogni-tion of their consistent contributiondespite the pandemic dangersinvolved in the social service. VijayRaina presented the welcome addresswhile Sandeep Kisroo conducted theproceedings of the programme.Rakesh Kaul, presented Vote of

Thanks. Ashok Kaul, in his address,emphasized on the implementation ofthe concept of support to the targetedneedy population, henceforth. He saidthat the mass distribution drive ofration and face masks has achieved it'sset goals of reaching to all and sundry.The people's support and the positiveattitude of the society during this cri-sis situation has been enormous andoverwhelming. The special involve-ment of youth and women in this clas-sic social mission has been inspiringfor our future work. He congratulatedthe whole team of organisers and vol-unteers on the occasion.

Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo saidthat a minimum of 1,500 Ration kitsand 20,000 face-masks besides cashassistance were distributed among themigrant labourer families over the last

two months. Overall 20 phases wereorganised for the project and now thefocus has shifted to the targeted needypopulace of the society who are still inneed of help and support. Nepals'immigrant worker families were alsoprovided support. The whole drivecomprising ration kits, face masks andcash assistance amounting to a mini-mum of Rs 20 lakh was successfullyconducted with an overwhelming sup-port of donors, sponsors and volun-teers. He said that during the lock-down period, a successful campaignregarding the Domicile issue alsoachieved the set results. He appealedto the youth to contribute to peace,progress and prosperity of the UT ofJ&K and prepare for the ensuing com-petitive examinations for recruitmentin the UT.

GJ REPORTLEH, MAY 24: Three more cases ofCOVID-19 sample tested positive inLadakh. The Health Department Lehreceived three positive reports of Kargildistrict the other day. This is reported inthe media bulletin released by theDirectorate of Health Service Ladakhtoday.

With this, Ladakh now has nine activecases of COVID-19 with one in Leh andeight in Kargil district.

The Health Department Leh received339 sample reports the other day, out of

these, three sample reports positive forCOVID-19, and 91 negative samplereports are of Kargil district and 145 nega-tive samples reports are of Leh district.

The media bulletin further reported that433 passengers reached Khaltsi yesterdayin 16 buses and tempo traveller. Eight oiltankers and 43 passengers reached Lehyesterday in four private vehicles at Upshicheck-post. All the drivers and passengerswere screened and vehicles were sanitised.

Fumigation / disinfection of quarantinecentre Sankoo was conducted by BlockMedical Officer Sankoo.

BJP General Secretary (Org), J&K Ashok Kaul, speaking at a function on Sunday.

Focus should be on support to targetedneedy population: Ashok Kaul

3 more cases of COVID-19 in Ladakh

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Jammu and Kashmir BJP,while commenting on therecent announcement ofJ&K UT clearing 10,000jobs with just and fair rep-resentation to widows,destitutes, divorcedwomen and single mothersin recruitment to Class IIIand IV vacancies, said thatsocio economic empower-ment of women has beentaken care to such anextent for the first time inJammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issuedhere today, Secretary BJPRekha Mahajan appreciat-ed the decision by termingit as a humanitarianapproach aimed at provid-ing opportunities towomen to prove their abil-ities and capabilities andturn them into own eco-nomic and social strengthto become self dependentand also support families.

She said that financialindependence influencesthe quality of woman'slife, which liberates her ofdependency and allowsself earned money to bespent as she likes. This isvery important for her selfconfidence and selfesteem. Working womenare always appreciated

and respected by theirfamilies and society. Shebecomes more confidentand updated about outsideworld and it is proven factthat whenever a womangot a chance or an oppor-tunity, she has alwaysdone her best.

BJP leader said thatsince the UT administra-tion directly comes underthe Union government andthe approach of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modiled dispensation at thecentre has always stressedon social and economicupliftment of the women-folk in the country. Hence,the particular care of

women in the said govern-ment jobs for UT, asannounced recently, clearsthat women are going tobe provided better oppor-tunities to march aheadtowards a better future. Itis a matter of even morepride that the Modi gov-ernment is leading theway, not only in makingwomen-centric policies afocal point of governancebut also in ensuring betterrepresentation in jobs andpositions of power.

"There are so manypolicies and programmesto boost women empower-ment, such as UjjwalaYojna, that gives womensmoke free lives, toiletshave been built underSwachh Bharat Abhiyan tomake sanitation safer andmore accessible directlyimpacting the health anddignity of women. Mudraand Jan Dhan schemeshave brought financialinclusion and entrepre-neurial opportunities tocrores of women. NewIndia is the concept whereshe stands an equal chanceto lead the nation, as muchas anyone else", Rekhasaid and added that theseschemes have also benefit-ted the women of Jammuand Kashmir.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24: Withthe number of COVID-19cases rising in J&K, theGandhi Global Family(GGF) in collaborationwith Indian Systems ofMedicines- AYUSH hasdistributed immunitybooster medicines to fightCoronavirus among localsof Amphalla.

ISM-AYUSH is supply-ing the medicines and it isbeing distributed for freeamong the locals byGandhi Global Family. 110patients were examined byan expert team of doctorsdeputed by ADMO JammuDr Suresh Sharma. Earlierthe locals were also sensi-tised by Dr Taran Singh(Former MedicalSuperintendent AyurvedicHospital Jammu) aboutCOVID 19 and its preven-tive measures.

In his message, DrMohan Singh, DirectorISM highlighted theimportance of immunitybooster medicines in thebattle against COVID19pandemic. Dr Varma

expressed his gratitudetowards Indian Systems ofMedicines AYUSH &especially Director DrMohan Singh for the col-laboration where largenumber of local needyfamilies will be benefittedin this time of global pan-demic crisis.

Dr Shalini Sharma, DrGarima Sharma, DrSukhpreet Kaur andNishad Khajuria represent-ed ISM Jammu, while DrPrem Sharma, JaswinderSingh Kuku, SanjeevKohli, Dr Vishal PratapSingh, Amit Varma,Raghav Changotra andAnkush Varma representedthe Gandhi Global FamilyJ&K. Tariq Nath was theGGF local organiser whohas made arrangementinside Church at OldRehari, Amphalla whilethe camp was inauguratedby Sumit NayyarAdvocate High CourtJammu. The COVID19Medical Camp was dedi-cated to local freedomfighter & Ayurdeva expertCamrade Dhanvantri.

Modi govt concerned for empowerment of J&K women: BJP

ISM doctors distributing medicines among locals duringan Immunity boosting camp on Sunday.

ISM AYUSH, GGF organiseImmunity boosting camp

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAY 24:Keeping in tune with the cri-sis of COVID-19 Pandemic,an online International ArtExhibition dedicated toCoronavirus Warriors wouldbe organized on 5th June byJammu and Kashmir Centrefor Creative Arts (JKCCA).The art works of eightyartists from India and abroadwould be displayed in theexhibition.

Curator of the exhibition& Director JKCCA, O PSharma, said that the normallife has been restricted dueto Coronavirus spread allover the world. It is not pos-sible to face the crisis direct-ly but there is alternative forevery obstacle. He said thatthe artists and other creativepeople have been busy intheir creative processeswhile staying at homes dueto lockdown throughout theworld.

The crisis has made peo-ple think of new and innova-tive ideas to sort out thethings and new associationsin relationships and behaviorpatterns are coming out.Working from home place isalso becoming the need ofthe hour. It is rightly saidthat we will have to live withthe crisis for a period.

The prominent artists ofthe country whose works arebeing put on show include VS Rahi, N D Jamwal, GokelDembi, T S Batra, Jang SVerman, Prabhinder Lall, KS Gill, Dr A K Dixit, O PSharma, DharminderSharma and others.

It may be mentioned herethat artists from fifteenstates of India are represent-ing the country in this inter-

national art event. The otherartists who are participatingin the show are SushilaBodade, Rupali Soni fromMadhya Pradesh; AshokMehra, Kamalnain Bhan,Ganesh Kumar Sharma,Mohd Akram Khan, SubashAnand, Aslam Naqishbandi,Humayun Qaisar, RoufQyasi, Tariq Saifi, KaunainZubair, Deepa Soni, MohdSayeed Telli, Payal Chadhaand Megha Khajuria fromJammu & Kashmir; ShakshiBajaj, Sada Ram Sharma,Aanchal, Rashni Saxena,Sireesha Srinavas from NewDelhi; Ramesh Bhosale,Jayanti Patil, Neena Singh,Shubhada Bhosale, RameshBhosale from Maharashtra;Premila Singh, Sunita DharaPanchal, Preetika Vermafrom Haryana; Raj Balrajfrom Kerala; Dr AlkaChadha Harpalani, ChamanSharma from Karnataka;Gaytri, Nisha, Deepika,Babita Hundal, Atul Mattu,Sahil Sodhi, Bhomika

Mahajan, Dr Suneet Madanfrom Punjab; Dr RekhaRani Sharma, Dr RashmiSaxena, Dr Neelam Kant,Dr Leena Mishra, Dr SwetaVerma, Kamna Chouhan,Ashutosh Nigam, PratimaSingh, Satyendra Baoni, DrArchna Rani, Dr SunilSexena, Dr Disha Dinesh,Dr Sharda Singh Shalu,Shakil, Swati Prajapati fromUtter Pradesh; SubhashShorey, Shveta Kansal fromChandigarh; Hitesh Pankarfrom Goa and Freha Zebafrom Dhaka, Bangladeshand Keyla Hannani MoreSalgado, Yeimi Chirinos,Ninoska Velasquez fromHonduras, Central America.

The Exhibition has beenconceived and curated by OP Sharma, Eminent Artist &Director Jammu & KashmirCentre for Creative Arts,Jammu who is founderdirector of the centre and hasbeen working for the last 20years in the field of Art andCulture.

JKCCA to organize OnlineInternational Art Exhibition