JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

` 110 per kilo

` 138 per kilo

` 171 per kilo

Inadequacies, lapses: SCseeks answers fromGovt, states on migrants

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY26

TAKING SUOmotu cognizanceof“problemsandmiseriesofmi-grantlabourers”strandedindif-ferent parts of the country and“inadequacies and certainlapses” in efforts by the Centreand States, the Supreme CourtTuesdaysoughttheirresponses,saying it will hear the matteragainThursday.The bench of Justices Ashok

Bhushan, SKKaul andMRShahsaiditwas“oftheviewthateffec-tive concentrated efforts are re-quiredtoredeemthesituation”.

“We, thus, issuenotice to theUnionofIndiaandallStates/UnionTerritories to submit their re-sponseslookingintotheurgencyof thematter.Wedirect the suomotupetitiontobetakenupday-after-tomorrowandwe requestthelearnedSolicitorGeneraltoas-sisttheCourtandbythenextdateof hearing bring in the notice oftheCourt allmeasures and stepstakenbytheGovernmentofIndiaandtobetakeninthisregard,”thebenchsaid.Pointing out that “the crises

ofmigrantlabourersisevencon-tinuingtodaywithlargesectionsstill stranded on roads,

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SHUBHANGIKHAPREMUMBAI,MAY26

ALLEGINGTHATthereisnotruthin the statement that BJP isworking to destabilise theUddhavThackeraygovernment,formerchiefministerDevendraFadnavis on Tuesday said thethree-partycoalitionwill fallonitsownduetosharpinternaldif-ferences between allies ShivSena,NCPandCongress.“EvenCongressleaderRahul

Gandhi has admitted thatthough his party was a part ofthe government, it was not in-volved inmajor decisionmak-ing...Thackeray'slackofassertiveleadership and inability to takebolddecisionshas adversely af-fectedMaharashtra,”hetoldme-diapersons.

Almost24hoursafterseniorBJP MP Narayan Rane metGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari,demandingthatPresident'sRulebe imposed in thestate,BJPdis-tanced itself from the develop-ment. "Rane is a senior leaderand everybody is well versedwith his blunt speak. His angeragainstthegovernment'sfailuretotackleCovid-19ledhimtode-mand President's Rule. The BJPdoes not support his demand.Politics isnotourpriority."

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TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY26

MAHARASHTRA REPORTED 97deaths due to Covid-19 onTuesday–thehighestsingle-daytoll so far since the state regis-teredits firstdeathonMarch17.The previous highest toll wasrecorded onMay 19, when 76peoplehadsuccumbedtothein-fection.Thedayalsowitnessed2,091

new infections being reported,takingthetotalnumberofcasesinMaharashtrato54,578.Across

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At 97, highest single-daytoll in state; Mumbai to geta lakh beds by mid-June

SANJANABHALERAO&LAXMANSINGHMUMBAI,MAY26

IN A bid to reduce the responsetime taken by ambulances toreachCovid-19patientsandoth-ers in Mumbai, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has tied upwithaninternationalapp-basedcab service to track themove-mentof456ambulancesinreal-timeanddispatch themquicklywhereneeded.The operator of the app-

based cabs has provided BMCwithitssoftware,throughwhichthe location of the ambulancesspread across the city will beavailableinthecivicbody’sCovidwar room. MunicipalCommissioner I S Chahal, at ajointpressconferencewithChiefSecretaryAjoyMehtaandHealthSecretaryDrPradeepVyas,madethe announcement onTuesday.“456ambulanceshavebeende-ployed in the city. Wewill usethe software tomonitor the lo-cationofambulancesanddivertthenearestonestoattendtopa-tients,” saidChahal.

Ananalysisof thecalldataonits Covid-19 helpline (1916) byBMC has shown that amid theoutbreak, people havemade alargenumberofdistresscallsovernon-availability of ambulanceservices across the city. Thehelpline receives about 2,400calls daily from those in need ofambulances for ferrying eithersuspectedorconfirmedCovid-19patientstohospitals fromhome.Chahaladmittedthatthereis

a shortage of telephone lines tothewarroomandBMCiswork-ing to increase them. "We have

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BMC ties up with app-based cabservice to track ambulances

MUMBAI AIRPORTOPERATES41FLIGHTSONDAY2PAGES3,4,5

MAHARASHTRA

BJP not in hurry, govt willfall on its own: Fadnavis

DevendraFadnavis

Numberofdeaths 1,792

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 16,954

Numberofpeople tested3.90 lakh

Totalnumberquarantined35,200

Numberofnewcases 2,091

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

54,758

MILINDGHATWAIBURHANPUR(MP),MAY26

ON APRIL 22, when the firstCovid case was reported fromBurhanpur, near MadhyaPradesh’s border withMaharashtra, thedistricthospi-tal had one ventilator, a severeshortageofdoctors,andtwoam-bulanceswith emergency sup-port systems and two hired ve-hicleswithbasicequipment.Onemonth,293casesand13

Coviddeathslater,themaingov-ernment healthcare facility hasgotmore beds, but is still shortof keyequipmentanddoctors.

The Indian Express visitedBurhanpur on its countrywidejourney to track hospital inven-tory in Covid-care facilities farfromurbanareas -- and foundadistrictthatisscramblingtocon-tain theoutbreak.There have been upgrades

sincethefirstcasewasreported,sayofficials.The ANM training centre,

near the main building of the200-bed district hospital, hasbeen converted into a 60-bedLevel-2 facility for moderatecases.ThreeBiPapmachines, fornon-invasive ventilation, havebeenshifted fromthehospital.Anewbuildingblockbehind

thecentreisbeingusedtoquar-antine asymptomatic patients,the first Level-1 Covid CareCentre (CCC) in thedistrict.And, a part of the govern-

ment Ayurveda College andHospital, located a few kilome-tresaway,was “acquired” in thefirstweekofMaytoserveas thesecond CCC, which can accom-modatenearly100cases.But there are still someglar-

inggaps.AttheANMfacility,where60

patients are undergoing treat-ment, not all nineoxygen cylin-ders earmarked for Covid casesareavailabletogether. “Wehaveaseriousshortageofdoctors,too.

OnlyfourMBBSdoctorsandtwoMDs, who work in 12-hourshifts, attend to Covid patients.You can imagine the conse-quences.Wetreatpatientstothebest of our understanding. Orelse, we refer them to M YHospital in Indore, which isabout 175 km away,” said DrPrateek Navlakhe, one of thedoctorsonduty.Withonlyasmallboardthat

reads‘InfectionDiseaseControl’,it isdifficulttoidentifytheisola-tionareainthesamecompound.“It’s not uncommon for non-Covidpatientsandtheirrelativesto enter bymistake. The wardboys and sweepers don’t report

for work out of fear,” said an-other doctor, who did notwishtobe identified.At the Ayurveda facility,

where 61 patients are beingmonitored, there are only threeprivateAyush(Unani)practition-ers, hired on ad hoc basis on asalary of Rs 25,000 each, andthreesupportstaff.“Wemanagethe showhere.NoMBBSdoctorhas come here to check on pa-tients.Wehavetodoeverythingon our own. We need para-medics. The support staff pro-videsonly foodandtea,’’ saidDrIrfan Shaikh, one of the Unanipractitioners.

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Insidethe isolationfacilityat theANMinstitutenear thedistricthospital inBurhanpur,MP.MilindGhatwai

Migrantworkers fromUttarPradeshandBiharwait inseparate lines forbuses totakethemtotherailwaystation, inDharaviinMumbaionTuesday.GaneshShirsekar

India underlinesfaith in HCQ,says benefitsoutweigh risksSeveralprivatehospitalsinMumbaistop

givingitafternoticingirregularheartbeats

ABANTIKAGHOSH,TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA&ANURADHAMASCARENHASNEWDELHI,MUMBAI, PUNE,MAY26

A DAY after the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) suspendedthe allocation of patients in thehydroxychloroquine (HCQ) armof its multi-country SolidarityTrialtofindaneffectivetreatmentfor Covid-19, India reiterated itsfaithinthecontinuedprophylac-ticuseoftheanti-malariadrugforthenovelcoronavirusdisease.Thereisenoughexperiencein

the country of using HCQ, andsufficientdatafromobservationaland case control studies towar-rantitsuse,thegovernmentsaid.HCQ also continues to be

used for treatment of Covid-19,along with the antibioticazithromycin. “Wewill reviewit,” Dr Balram Bhargava, DG,Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and Secretary,DepartmentofHealthResearch,saidonTuesday.

Dr Vinod Paul, Member(Health)atNITIAayog,andchair-man of the Empowered Groupon the government’s medicalemergencymanagement plan,said:“Wehaveusedchloroquineforyears...HCQisevenmoresafebecause it is used continuouslyinrheumatoidarthritis.

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AS ICMR’sDrBalramBhargavasays,wedon’tknowfor surewhatdrugisworkingandwhat is-n’t in the fightagainstthenovel coronavirus.Chloroquinehasbeen inuse foracentury, andHCQisconsideredasafedrug.TheWHOhassaidthatacall onHCQwouldbe takenaftera reviewof theexistingevidence,sometime in themiddleof nextmonth.

Jury isstillout

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, CHENNAI,MAY26

A 24-YEAR-OLD passenger onboard IndiGo’s Monday flightfrom Chennai to Coimbatoretestedpositive forCovid19uponarrival at Coimbatore, followingwhichtheairline’soperatingcrewhasbeenquarantinedfor14days.According to health officials,

he was asymptomatic beforeboarding andwas tested along

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IndiGo flyertests positiveafter landingin Coimbatore

SANDEEPASHAR,VISHWASWAGHMODE&LIZMATHEWMUMBAI,NEWDELHI,MAY26

A90-MINUTEmeetingbetweenChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayand Sharad Pawar onMondayevening, hours after the NCPchiefmetGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari, triggered speculationabout the stability of theMahaVikas Aghadi coalition govern-ment, which is set to completesixmonthsonThursday.However,onTuesdaymorn-

ing,Pawar,seenasthegluehold-ing the three-party coalition oftheShivSena,NCPandCongresstogether,scotchedtalkofapolit-icalrealignmentinthestate,andsaidtherewas“nothreat”tothegovernment.Pawar’s meeting with the

chiefminister,heldatThackeray’sresidenceMatoshree,cameasthemainoppositionBJPhassteppedup its criticismof the Thackeraygovernment’s allegedmishan-dling of the Covid-19 crisis inMaharashtra.Over the past few days, sev-

eralseniorBJPleadershavegonetoRajBhavantocomplainabout

the government. Narayan Ranemet Koshyari on Monday andcalledforPresident’sRule.Therehas been talk thatMLAs of thethree ruling partieswere beingapproachedwithoffers to jumpship.But on Tuesday, Pawar told

NDTV:“There isnothreat to theMaharashtra government. AllMLAsarewithus,anyattempttobreak them at this timewill re-sult in thepublicbeatingus.”The meeting at Matoshree

followed what is said to havebeen Pawar’s first visit to the

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

LOCKDOWNDAY

63

CONCERN

ASSAM:Bihar-likesituation unfolding,five-fold rise in

cases in one week,to over 520

CAUTION

UTTARAKHAND:Another statewith

rapidly risingnumbers, thoughstill small overall

A GLIMMER

HARYANA:For twoweeks now,growth rate belownational average.

Total just over 1200

KEYSTATESTOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Gujarat

■Delhi

■TamilNadu

■Bihar

■WestBengal

TOTALCASES

52,667

14,468

14,465

17,082

2,737

3,816

DOUBLINGRATE**

12.03

23.82

15.63

13.14

7.35

16.40

SURGEIN24HRS

2,436

405

412

805

163

149

7-DAYAVG.

GROWTH*

5.99%

3.02%

4.61%

5.48%

9.79%

4.39%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:145,380

RECOVERED:60,490 |DEATHS:4,167

TESTS:3,126,119 |DOUBLINGRATE: 13.53**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

Bhopal

BURHANPUR

MADHYAPRADESH

UPRAJASTHAN

TEST

REP RTS

FROMTHE

FIELD

TRACKINGTHEVIRUS,LOCKDOWN

NSA,CDSALSOPRESENT

No change in Ladakh ground situation,military brass brief PMandRajnathCommandersconferencestarts today,Armysayswillbrainstormonsecuritychallenges

SUSHANTSINGH&KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MAY26

AMID TENSIONS with ChinaalongtheLineofActualControlinLadakh,PrimeMinisterNarendraModi held ameeting Tuesdaywith National Security AdvisorAjit Doval, Chief of Defence StaffGeneralBipinRawatandchiefsofthethreeservices.Earlier, General Rawat and

the three chiefs met Defence

Minister Rajnath Singh andbriefedhimon theground situ-ation in Ladakh, deployment ofarmed forces and the state ofpreparednessontheLAC.Themilitarybrassislearntto

have apprised the PrimeMinisterabouttheevolvingsitu-ation in eastern Ladakh thoughofficials maintained that themeetingwaspre-scheduledandreformsinthearmedforceswasontheagenda.Themeetings cameaheadof

thethree-dayconferenceofArmy

commanders starting in DelhiWednesday.ItwillbeattendedbyNorthern Army Commander LtGenYKJoshiwhosecommandisresponsible for eastern Ladakh.He iswell versedwith the area,having been the XIV CorpsCommander before taking overas Northern ArmyCommanderearlierthisyear.The conference was origi-

nally scheduled for April 13-18,but was postponed due to thepandemic. Itwillnowbeheldintwophases, thefirstphasefrom

May 27-29, and the second inJune-end.“Theapex level leadershipof

IndianArmywill brainstormoncurrent emerging security andadministrative challenges andchartthefuturecourseforIndianArmy,” theArmy said in a state-ment.Meanwhile,therehasbeenno

scaling downof tensions on theLACineasternLadakhwithIndiamatchingtheChinesewithitsde-ploymentofmanandmaterial.

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MP district scrambles to cope: More beds ready, need doctors

After meetingUddhav, Pawarsays no threat togovt in Maharashtra

DIPLOMACYSTARTSNewDelhi: IndiaandChinaare learnt tohaveactivatedthe“workingmechanism”at thediplomatic level.NaveenSrivastava intheMEAleadsthe Indiansidewhile theChineseside isledbyHongLiangof theChineseMinistryofForeignAffairs.

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

SC on migrantshighways, railwaystationsandState borders,” the judges said“adequate transport arrange-ment, foodandsheltersare im-mediatelytobeprovidedbytheCentre and StateGovernmentsfree of cost”.The bench observed that

“newspaper reports and themedia reports have been con-tinuouslyshowingtheunfortu-nate andmiserable conditionsof migrant labourers walkingon foot and cycles from longdistances”.The migrants “have also

been complaining of not beingprovidedfoodandwaterbytheadministrationatplaceswherethey were stranded or in theway i.e. highways fromwhichtheyproceededon-foot, cyclesor other modes of transport”,the bench said.It said “in thepresent situa-

tion of lockdown in the entirecountry, this section of the so-cietyneedssuccourandhelpbytheconcernedGovernments…steps need to be taken by theGovernment of India, StateGovernments/UnionTerritoriesin this difficult situation”.The bench said it “has also

receivedseveral lettersandrep-resentationsfromdifferentsec-tionsof society,highlightingtheproblemofmigrant labourers”.The bench asked the SC

Registry to serve a copy of theordertotheSolicitorGeneralaswell as the States and UnionTerritories throughtheirstand-ingcounsel “today itself sothatappropriate responses bebroughtbefore theCourtat theearliest”.

Faith in HCQThere is valid biological

plausibility for its use. It isknowntoincreasethepHof thecell andmake italkaline.Alongwith zinc it blocks the entry ofthe virus into the cell.Admittedly this is a new viruswhose behaviour we are stilllearning about, but it (HCQ) isknown towork inother coron-aviruses. We have taken a callbasedonbiologicalplausibilityand availability of thedrug.”Dr Paul said that the evi-

dence had been examined“verythoroughly, includingbe-foremaking theexpanded rec-ommendation [for prophylac-tic useofHCQ] lastweek for allfrontline workers”, includingthosenot inhealthcare.“Collectively the academic

andresearch fraternityof Indiahas put its faith in the drug.Prima facie there is a case foruseof thedrug.Wewillmodifyand expand the protocol aswegoalong,use itbothfor therapyandprophylaxis.Therearemin-imal and tolerable side effectsof HCQ including abnormalECGandarrhythmias.Howeverfor the purposes for which weare recommending it, the ben-efits faroutweightherisks,”DrPaul said.DrBhargavaagreedwithDr

Paul. “This is a new virus. Wedon’tknowwhatdrug iswork-ing or what is not. There are alot of drugs being repurposedfor treatment or prophylaxis.Chloroquine is in use for 100years. HCQ is even safer,” hesaid.“The biological plausibility

showed it could be an antiviraldrug.Therewasdatapublishedin[the journal]Natureetc., thatit showedantiviral activity.Wefound similar properties invitro. American governmentstarted using it, got fast-trackapproval. We had thought itmay be a useful drug for pro-phylaxisbasedon invitrodata,bioplausibility andavailabilityand safety of the drug.We hadrecommended it for empiricuse under strict supervisionsome time back. During thesesix weekswe got some data inIndiaandtheyweremainlyob-

servational studies, somewerecase control studies at AIIMSandICMRandthreepublichos-pitals inDelhi. Itwasdifficult todoRCT[randomisedcontrolledtrial] of something thatwe say“may benefit”. We looked atdata frombothkindsof studiesandfoundthat itmaybework-ing,”Dr Bhargava said.Several private hospitals in

Mumbai have, however,stoppedusingHCQ to treat pa-tients of Covid-19.Doctors in these hospitals

saidtheyhadobservedadversereactions ina fewpatientswhowere being given a combina-tionof HCQandazithromycin.Government hospitals in

Mumbai, however, continue tousethedrugforpatientsshow-ing mild to moderate symp-toms.ThenumberofcasesinIndia

reached 1,45,380 on Tuesday,with6,535newcasesbeing re-portedinthelast24hours.Ato-tal4,167peoplehavediedfromthe disease – however, ananalysis of case mortalityshowsthat Indiahashadabout0.3deathsper lakhpopulation,which isamongst the lowest intheworld.Globally, themortal-ity rate is 4.4 deaths per lakhpopulation.Pulmonologist Dr Jalil

Parkar, who has been treatingseverely illCovid-19patients inLilavati Hospital, said: “A fewpatients showed QT prolonga-tion.Wedecided to change theregimenbecausethisdrugwasnot foundeffective.”QT prolongation refers to

chaoticheartbeats,whichshowup in a patient's electrocardio-gram. Dr Parkar said he hadstoppedusingHCQevenbeforethe WHO suspended its trial,andhadswitched toa regimenof ivermectin and doxycyclineinstead.Dr Gunjan Chanchalani,

chief intensivist at BhatiaHospital, said, “We have notseen adverse reaction yet, butwe reduced its (HCQ) use toveryfewpatientsaftersomanynegative reports. NowweplantocompletelystopusingHCQ.”In Nanavati Hospital, Dr

RahulTambesaidtheywerenotusingHCQforhypertensive,di-abetic,andcardiacpatients,andelderly patients. “It is beingused foravery limitednumberof patients.We still needmoredata on it.”Dr Balkrishna Adsul, in-

charge of Seven Hills Hospital,said they had noticed adversereaction in a fewpatientswithrenal complications. “But wewill continuetoadminister thedrug until the ICMRguidelineschange. Every drug has someside effects,”DrAdsul said.Thecurrentprotocolathos-

pitals run by theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) is based onICMRguidelines,whichrecom-mend HCQ for mildly or mod-eratelyillpatients,aswellaspa-tients with pneumonia,respiratory failure, and organdysfunction for at least ninedays.Thedosesaresmall, rang-ingfrom200mgto400mg,andare being given mainly to pa-tients betweenages 15 and40.DrSubhashSalunke, techni-

cal advisor to the state govern-ment, said that since theWHOhas only paused – and notstopped – the HCQ trial,Maharashtra would for nowcontinuetoadministerthedrugtopatients.“We should not jump to

conclusions. We need to takeECG, and observe patientscloselyfortheeffectof thedrug.It should not trigger panic,” DrSalunke said.HealthSecretaryDrPradeep

Awate said: “ICMR releaseddata which has shown onlythree serious side effects ofHCQ as a prophylactic till now.WHO’s Solidarity Trial useddouble the dosage that ICMRprescribes for itspatients.Since

our dosage is small, we are notconcerned about side effects,”OnMonday, theWHO said

that a call on HCQ would betaken after a review of the ex-isting evidence, some time inthemiddle of nextmonth.WHO Chief Scientist Dr

SoumyaSwaminathantoldTheIndianExpressonTuesdaythatthis was a temporary step,which will be reviewed basedon evidence emerging fromvarious trials worldwide, aswell as published research.“There is no need for panic,

but randomised trials need tobe conducted on theuse of thedrug for prophylaxis,” DrSwaminathan said. “The safetyprofile of the drug needs to bestudied in both cases – drugsgiven to hospitalised patientsand to healthy individuals ex-posed toCovid-19.”

IndiGo flightwith all passengers at the air-port upon arrival on Mondayevening.“He alone was tested posi-

tive intheflight.Allothershavegone for mandatory homequarantine and they will betracked for symptoms in com-ing days,” said a state govern-ment official. The passengerwasworkingasanassistant inaChennai-basedbar hotel.Monday marked the first

day of domestic flights after agap of twomonths following acountrywide lockdown an-nounced onMarch 24. Prior tothe resumption of domesticflight operations, a number ofstateshadexpressedcautionattheprospectof suddeninfluxofpeople into their state bordersas they aimed to contain theoutbreak.“We received confirmation

from the Coimbatore airportdoctor that a passenger whotravelled on 6E-381 fromChennai toCoimbatoreon25thMay evening, has tested posi-tiveforCovid-19.Heiscurrentlyquarantined at ESI state med-ical facility at Coimbatore,”IndiGo said in a statement.Thestatement said thepas-

sengerwasseatedon-boardtheaircraft with all precautionarymeasures including facemark,face-shield andgloves.“Additionally, no one else

was seated in his vicinity, sig-nificantlyreducingthepossibil-ity of transmission... The oper-ating crew has been homequarantinedfor14daysandweare in the process of notifyingother passengers as per thegovernment guidelines, to en-sure safety of our passengersand staff,” the airline said.On Monday, around 500

flights operated across thecountry and on Tuesday till 5pm, 325 departures wererecorded carrying 41,673 pas-sengers.

MaharashtraThackeray family home since2012.“The Maha Vikas Aghadi

government will complete itsfive-yeartermandwewill fighttheelectionstogetherafter fiveyears,” Shiv Sena MP SanjayRaut, who attended themeet-ing, said.Asked what had brought

Pawar toMatoshree, Raut saiditwastodiscuss theCovidsitu-ation.“Thereisnothingsurpris-ing in Pawar coming toMatoshree. We sought guid-ance from him on the govern-ment’s future and on the han-dlingof theCovid-19situation.There isnothingwronginseek-ing guidance from him; PrimeMinister Narendra Modi alsoseeks guidance from Pawar,”Raut said.It is,however,nosecret that

the three parties differ overThackeray's strategy for easingthe lockdown. There has alsobeenresentment inthecabinetoverThackeray'srelianceonthebureaucracy, who have beengiven a lot of power to decideon the state’s Covid strategy.There have been complaintsthat officials are keepingmin-isters in thedark.Sources intheSenasaidthat

while Pawar is keen on grant-ingsomerelaxations toput thestate on the path to normalcy,

thechiefminister is in favourofretaining the restrictions tocontain the outbreak and savelives. Themeeting focussed onthe strategy to exit the lock-down in Mumbai, Pune, andother Covid hotspots, thesources said.Thackeray is learnt to have

asked officials after the meet-ing to decide on a phased exitstrategy fromMay31onwards,with the aim to resume mosteconomic activities by June15.In Delhi, BJP leaders said

thatwhileThackerayhadfailedto contain the spread of thecoronavirusdisease, thecentralleadership of the party did notwanttotopplethegovernmentat this time.Instead, the BJP would pre-

fer to “mount pressure on theThackeraygovernment,and letit crumble on its own,” at leastfour leaders of the party toldThe Indian Express. The BJPwould intensify its campaignforPresident'sRulebecausetheMaha Vikas Aghadi govern-menthad“utterly failedtocon-tain the coronavirus situation”and“tomanagethe issueof ex-odus of migrant labourers”,these leaders said.Leader of Opposition in

Maharashtra DevendraFadnavis told reporters onTuesdaythattheBJPwasnot in-terested in pulling down thegovernment, but it “will fall ofits ownburden”.The BJP's national leader-

ship has had several rounds ofmeetingswiththestate leader-ship.While party president J PNadda had ameetingwith theBJP core group of the state onMonday,anothermeetingwithcore group leaders and the na-tional leaders took place onTuesday.Sources said the national

leadership wanted Fadnavisand the party to attack on theentire government instead offocussing justonthechiefmin-ister. “The national leadershipwants thestateunit tokeepthepressureon, butdoesnotwantit to take theblameof topplingit, which could create sympa-thy for Thackeray. Even if the

governmentfallsonitsown,theBJPmaynotstakeclaimimme-diately. The party prefers thestate to be under central rulewhich would be the best, be-cause the Covid situation hasgone out of control already,”said aparty leader.

BMC ties upreceivedcomplaints thatwhencitizensarecallingthehelplinenumbers, thelinesarebusy.Weare increasing the telephonelines connected to thehelplinenumber and soon the waitingperiod will go down," addedChahal. The civic body had, onApril 24, launched thehelpline1916toaddressqueries relatedtoCovid-19.A shortage of ambulances

coupledwithadelay inavailinghospital beds has led to hoursof waiting in some cases. BMConMondayalso launchedalivedashboard to track the real-timeavailability of beds acrossgovernmentandprivatehospi-tals inthecity. "Thedatawillbeupdated every 30minutes andliveinformationavailable inourcontrol room," said Chahal. Headded, "We have asked hospi-tals to not refuse patients ad-mission in case of non-avail-ability of beds. Instead theyneed to stabilise the patient,contact the control room, andtransfer the patient to the hos-pitalwherebedsareavailable."To deal with hospital bed

andambulance issuesBMChasnowchangedthesystemonin-forming patients about theirCovid-19testresults.Civicbodywillnowinformpatientsabouttheirresults inthemorningandat the same time it will be up-dated in civic body's system.This will help them inmanag-ing bed and ambulances inshiftingthepositivepatients tocivic facilities. The civic chiefhadameetingwithprivate labsandtoldthemtoinformBMCatthe end of the day. All resultsand data will be doublechecked and accordinglyarrangement of beds and am-bulanceswill bemade."Currently patients get to

know about their results byevening and then they startcallingBMChospitalsandotherpersons concerned. However,the data from private labs issubmitted to BMC after that.We start getting distress callsfrom patients same day latenightandby that timeourstaffare also tired. So help to manypatients gets delayed. Now allthe data will be given to BMCfirst and checked properly andthennextmorning itwillbere-leased,” saidChahal.For the last few days,

Mumbai is recording about1,500Covid-19 cases daily.Chief Secretary Mehta said

lifting the lockdown isgoing tobeverygradual andcalibrated.“The lockdown cannot be re-movedinonego. Itdoesn’thap-pen suddenly,” saidMehta.Mehta said the administra-

tionhastwofundamentalprin-ciples before themwhen it isstrategising on removing thelockdown.“Thefirstprinciple istheextentandtheaccelerationof infection inaparticulararea.The second is that the minuteyou remove or relax the lock-down, therewillbedefinitelyasurge in thecasesandwhetherwe have the health infrastruc-ture to look after the people.Thesurge isgoing tobe limitedwith people more aware andcautiousnow.But let usnot re-main in fool’s paradise thatthere will not be a surge,” headded.He further said that the

lockdownperiod is being usedto increasebedavailability, ICUbedsandothers. “Wewill keepthis in mind and will decidewhat has to be relaxed. Now,wewillhaveto lookatthosear-eas that have been marked asred zone. We are looking atopeningthosethingswhichareneeded andwhere peoplewillnotwalkout just for thesakeofit. Thenwewill move onwhatis called moving on out ofchoice.So, inanyeasingof lock-down,necessity is the first thatyou do and the choice, electiveinnature, is thenext,”headded.

Single-day tollthe state, 1,792 people havedied so far. Mumbai has re-ported 32,974 cases and 1,065deaths.Officials said of the 97

deaths, 35 people had died inthe last twodays,while62diedbetween April 17 andMay 23.All the deathswere verified onTuesday. While 39 died inMumbai,15diedinThane,10inKalyan-Dombivali, eight inPune,seveninSolapur, fiveeachin Aurangabad and Mira-Bhayandar, three each inMalegaon and Ulhasnagar andone each in Nagpur andRatnagiri.While thereareover36,000

activecases in thestate,HealthSecretaryDrPradeepVyas saidthatbasedonthecurrenttrend,60,000 to 70,000 active andsymptomatic cases are ex-pected by June end. “These60,000 to 70,000 cases will beafterwededuct asymptomaticcases, recoveries and deaths.Wehavepreparedenoughbedsbased on this prediction,” headded.OnTuesday,Brihanmumbai

Municipal Corporation (BMC)Commissioner Iqbal SinghChahal said thatMumbai is go-ing to scaleup toone lakhbedsbymid-June and up to 1.5 lakhbeds by June end to treat mildtoseverelyillpatients.Mumbai,Chahal added, has 44,000bedsfor severely ill tomoderately illpatients andmildly ill patients,including 644 intensive careunits and359ventilators.Chahal has instructed that

for every patient, BMC mustidentify at least 15 high-riskcontacts. Earlier, the BMC hadincreasedthenumber to10perpatient. "Ihaveinstructedwardofficerstoincreasecontacttrac-

ing ratio up to 15. In slums, if apositive case is found, then 15high-riskcontactsof thepatientwill be put up in institutionalquarantine. If any symptomsdevelop, theywill be tested onthe 10th day of quarantine,"Chahalsaid ina jointpresscon-ference with Chief SecretaryAjoy Mehta and HealthSecretaryPradipVyas."WhenIhadjoined,thecon-

tact tracing ratiowas 1:3. Now,ithasreachedaboutfivebutwehave to improve it further," headded.Chahal said that it has been

noticedthatahighfatalityrateisbeing reportedamongpatientssufferingfromrenalailments,astheyareunabletogetdialysisontime. “In a first-of-its-kind ini-tiative,wehave starteddialysisfacilitationforpatientsthroughonlineportal,” he said.The portal, covidialysis.in,

canbemanagedbydialysiscen-tres to book positive patients aslot for dialysis in designatedcentres. Chahal said 84 dialysismachines have been assignedfor this purpose and in the lasttwo days, 30 Covid-19 patientshaveundergonedialysis.BMC has roped in 570 doc-

torsandnursesfromtheprivatesector and other districts. Tillnow, Mumbai has tested 1.75lakh people, and is testing13,400permillionpopulation.

Fadnavis"Whether it is BJP's central

or state leadership, the focus isto fight Covid-19.Wearenot inahurrytoformthegovernmentinMaharashtra," headded."The inherent differences,

which were voiced clearly byRahul Gandhi, has exposed thecracks within the coalition...RahulGandhi's confession thatCongress is in the governmentbutisnotamajordecision-mak-ing partner is both surprisingandshocking. It isaclearpointertoCongress'doublestandards–on one hand, it participates inthe government but on theother, it has distanced itselffrom owning up for the coali-tion's failure in handling theCovid-19crisis," said Fadnavis.Alleging that Congress and

NCP are working against theCM, he added: “Thackeray hashad to backtrack from severalpolicy decisions due to NCP'supmanship... There is a lack ofcoordinationwithinthegovern-ment."Fadnavis claimed that the

theory of BJP trying to dislodgethe government was a ploy todivert people's attention fromserious issues. “The purpose isto mislead and hide their ownshortcomings,” he said.As per the former CM's cal-

culation, Maharashtra's shareunder various direct and indi-rect financial Covid-19welfareschemes translates to Rs 2.7lakh crore, which, he said, thestate didnot have thepotentialto encash."Fromprovidingforrationto

cookinggas,agriculturetomed-ical and migrants travel, theCentre has made huge alloca-tions. It is unfortunate if thestate government fails to capi-talisethefunds.Thefiscalspaceof Rs 1.6 lakh crore with ex-tended period of loan repay-mentsprovidesthestateanop-portunity to initiateboldpolicydecisionandhelpcriticalsectorstorevive.Thestate'ssharefromCentre in MSME is Rs 3,500crore.Using this amount, it caninfuse fresh lease of life in 50lakh MSMEs, employing 1.5crorepeople," Fadnavis said.He claimed that of the Rs

70,000 crore provided for thehousing sector by the Centre,the state would get Rs 15,000crore. “The moot question iswhether the state is willing toutilise its share for developingcriticalsectorsandhelpingpeo-ple who are going throughhardships," Fadnavis said.

FROMPAGEONE

Military brass brief PM, Rajnath on LadakhSources said theArmyhad

increased its presence on theboundarywithChinainNorthSikkim, Uttarakhand,ArunachalPradesh,alongwithLadakh.Thiswasbasedontheunderstanding that India“wouldnotbescalingdownitsdeployment in face of aggres-

sive military posturing” byChina, sources said.In Ladakh, at least six

roundsof talkshavebeenheldbetween Indian and Chinesemilitary commanders on theground but have failed toachieve a breakthrough.Sourcessaid theChinese,who

crossedtheLACatthreeplaces,have refused to move out ofIndian territoryorde-escalatethe tensions.In Galwan valley, the

Chinese havemassed troopsontheir sideof theLAC.India’skey“strategicasset”

in the area is the 255-km

Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie(DSDBO)roadwhichwascompletedlastyear.Itprovidesaccess to Daulat Beg Oldiewhere the IAF re-activated anAdvanced Landing Ground(ALG)in2008.Galwanvalleyisclosest to the road from theLAC.

Besides, it takes a mini-mumof threedays toget thetest results fromIndore.Andyet,with100patients

havingbeendischargedsofar,officialssayBurhanpur--thedistrict was created just 17yearsago-- isontracktofacethecrisis.Theadministrationisgiv-

ingfinaltouchestoaseparate60-bed isolation facility onthe first floor of the districthospitalwithoxygenfacilities-- 13patients fromtheexist-ing isolation area have al-readybeenshifted.“The administration is

preparedforanyeventuality,Wearenotworriedaboutthenumbers going up. TheDistrict Institute forEducationandTrainingoutsidethe city has been readied tohouse150patients.Atribalde-partment building atNepanagar,atownnearby,willbe used to house 500 cases, ifneeded.Wecanstart these fa-cilities with just 12-hour no-tice,’’ said District CollectorPravinSingh,whotookcharge

onMay2.“The government has also

purchasedfiveoxygenconcen-trators (that provide enrichedair).Wedon’twait forpatientsto come to us in an advancedstage of infection. So we aretrackingallwards andmohal-las,’’ he said.“The administration has

also involved governmentteachersandemployeesofdif-ferent communities to buildconfidence andmake peoplereport illness and undergotests. At 2,500 samples for apopulation of 2.5 lakh in thetown,theaverageismorethanthestate’saverageof1,144testsper10 lakh,”Singhsaid.Officials say that by keep-

ingatabongraveyardsandthecrematorium, theadministra-tion has also tried to ensurethatnodeathgoesunreported.“Irrespective of whether thedeathisduetoCovidornot,wemonitor familymembers, or-der tests, andask those show-ingsymptomstogo intoquar-antine,” a seniorofficial said.But yes, top district health

officials admit, there's stillsomewaytogo.“It’sdifficulttomanagethe

districthospitalwith less than20doctors.Weneedatleast60.Butwewill continueworking,whether we get doctors ornot,’’ said Civil Surgeon DrShakeelKhan.Chief Medical and Health

Officer Dr O P Garg is moreforthright.“Therearelessthan10doctors.Andhavingjustoneventilator has made it reallydifficult. We have sought 10oxygen concentrators, moreBiPapmachinesandaportablex-raymachine,’’hesaid.“TherearePPEkitsandmasksinsuffi-cientquantity.”Theadministrationhasalso

drafted All IsWell, a 350-bedhospital that is among thelargest private facilities in thestate,asaLevel-3facilityforse-vere cases -- a respiratory ICUhas been created and 15-20rooms earmarked for sus-pected cases. Officials said 13Covid patients are currentlyundergoing treatmenthere.“WhenCovidhit the town,

private practitioners werescared. People suffering fromother respiratory illnesseswere scared, too, and did notwant to go to the governmenthospital. The system strug-gled,’’ said MedicalSuperintendent Dr SubodhBorle. “But things are in placenow”.

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STATUSREPORT

INPLACE:350-bedLevel-3,200-bedLevel-2,2Level-1 facilities,1isolationarea.

WISHLIST:10ventilators,10BiPapmachines,1000PPE,1,000VRT(ViralTransportMedium)kits.

CASES:293,100discharged,13deaths.

DISTRICT:Municipallimits inredzone, restingreen.

MP district: More beds ready, need doctors

SRINATHRAOMUMBAI,MAY26

IN THE space of two months,over1,000residentsofMumbaihave fallen to Covid-19. Theywereordinarymenandwomen,who are now part of India'sgrowingnumberofcoronavirusvictims.Totheirfamilymembersthough, theyaremore than justa statistic. Having said theirgoodbyes from afar, nine fami-lies recall the frighteningmo-mentoftestingpositiveandhowthey choose to remember theirlost parents, spouses, siblings,childrenand friends.

SULABHAAMBETKAR (64),

SELF-TAUGHTSINGERWHO

TOUREDTHEWORLD.

HerperformanceoftheAshaBhosle classic "Dum MaaroDum"wassoconvincingthatheraudienceoftenbelievedtheleg-endaryplaybacksingerwasher-selfonstage."ThewaySulabhajipresented herself and carriedherselfonstageitwasasthoughAshajiwassinging,"saidChetanRana, colleague and fellowper-former. Along with her saxo-phonist husband NandakumarAmbetkar, Sulabhawas amongthe most respected singers inMumbai's liveperformance cir-cuits.A diabetic, Sulabha tested

positive after developing a uri-narytractinfectionandfeverde-spite staying at home. Shepassed away at Seven HillsHospital inMarolonMay7afterher breathing rapidly deterio-rated, said her son-in-lawShailendra Pednekar, a percus-sionist. He remains confidentthat Nandakumar, who testedpositive too,willmake a full re-covery, "My father-in-law alsotestedpositivearoundthesametimeashiswife.Buthislungsareverystrongbecausehehasbeenplayingthesaxophoneformanyyears,"hesaid.Rana remembersher forher

willingness to mentor youngsingers, her warmth and hercomposed performances. "Istartedperforming23yearsagowhenSulabhajiwas at thepeakof her career. I learned a lot bysimply observing her perform.The last time I performedwithherentire familyshetoldmeaf-terwards that she was gettingtooold for this,"hesaid.

PRAKASHHANDE (63),

RETIREDCIVILIANSUPERVISOR IN

THE INDIANNAVY,WHOLOVEDTO

SPOILHISGRANDSON.

One moment from his fa-ther's three-decade-longcareeras a civilian supervisor in theNavy'sMaterial Organisation inMumbai will always stand outforhissonAmit."IwasinClass9when theKargilWarwas beingfought. My father would comehome very late every night.When I asked himwhy, he saidheneededtostaybacktoinspect

consignments of rations andclear themfor transportation tothe soldiers. My father's bosswould keep telling him to gohome and finishwork the nextday. Butmy fatherwould say, 'Icannotdelaysendingfoodtooursoldiers. If they do not eat ontime, they cannot fight'," saidAmit.After retiring, Prakash de-

votedallhistimetohisgrandsonAnuj. "AfterAnujbegankinder-garten, not a day would go bywhenmy father wouldn't buyhimchocolateor chipsor a colddrink on the way home. Wewould only find out wheneverAnuj had a runny nose. I wouldscoldmyfatherforspoilingAnujbut that never stopped him,"saidAmit.

PRAKASHDHAWALI (56),SELF-MADEGARAGEOWNERAND

AMATEURCRICKETER.

Prakash's nephew Abhijeetbelieves unceasing worry andrestlessnessgot tohim."Hewasnot the sort to sit at home. Hewould go to work six days aweek andwent out of MumbaieverySundaytoplaycricket.Hewas very fit," said Abhijeet. Butin less than threeweeks of thelockdown, Prakash developedacidityandeventuallycoughandhigh fever."He had risen from nothing

to become an apprentice to amechanic after dropping out ofschool and had saved enoughmoneytobuyhisowngarage inAndheriWest a few years ago,"

saidAbhijeet. Thedreamwouldnot last. Six months ago, thegaragewasrazedbytheBMCfora road-widening project. "Myunclewassupposedtoselectanalternate site but then the lock-downwasannounced.Athome,hebecameincreasinglyworriedabouthowhewouldprovideforhis two daughters," saidAbhijeet.

SIDDHARAMGAIKWAD (52),

AMBEDKARITEANDVANCHIT

BAHUJANAGHADI PARTYWORKER.

Siddharam'syoungerbrotherUttamsaidhadhediedof natu-ral causes, at least a lakhpeoplein Saki Naka would have at-tended his funeral. "As a socialworker, he had helped manypeopleinthelocality,"hesaid.Abuilding construction painter,Siddharam began his morningreadingtheMarathinewspaperSamrat."Itpublishesalotofarti-cles about Dr BabasahebAmbedkar.Itwastheonlynews-papermybrotherread,"hesaid.Havingnever once gone to a

doctor,Siddharamwasneverthesame after seeing bodies lyingunattended at BhabhaHospitalin Kurla in late April. "He hadbeen suffering acidity for sometimebutseeingthosebodiesre-allyscaredhim.Hishealthbegantoworsen and he passed awayonApril 24," saidUttam.

KISANMALI (60),MEMBEROFSANTNIRANKARI

MISSION.

Soonafterthelockdownwasenforced, Mali made sure hisneighbours in a Goregaon Eastslumdidnotgohungry. "My fa-ther had organised food dona-tiondrivesat theSantNirankariMissionofficeinGoregaon,"saidhis son Ramesh. His Facebookpage is floodedwithmessagesmourning the loss of a "beauti-fulperson".Malipassedawayatthe Trauma Care Centre inJogeshwariEastonMay13aftershortnessof breath.

AHSANKHAN (75),

A CHAIN-SMOKERWITHA

PATHAN'SSTUBBORNNESS.

For more than six decades,Ahsan smoked three packets ofbidis a day. "His doctor had toldhimthat40percentofhis lungshad wasted away and that hehadnochanceof living if hedidnot give up," recalled his sonTahir. After episodes of quittingandquicklyfallingoff thewagon,Ahsan finally stopped smokinglast year. "But the damagewasdone," added Tahir. Tahir re-membershis father forwhathedid for his family -- an unedu-catedman from Prayagraj whoworked as a supervisor at theMetalBoxIndiaLtdinWorliandhad pleadedwith the principalofFatherAgnelSchoolatBandraReclamationtoadmithissons. Itis due to that persistence thattwo of his sons are nowprofes-sors and the third a business-man."We tried a lot to stop his

smoking, but he could nevertolerate us hiding his bidis. Hewouldsaytous, 'Mainapnika-maai ki peeta hoon'. Woh di-maag se Pathan they," saidTahir.

HAJIGHULAMABBASSHAIKH (67),

MEDICALSOCIALWORKER.

TherewasnotasoulatNairHospital who did not knowGhulam bhai. "He had friendsateveryhospital incentralandsouthMumbai.Whenever hecame across someone whoneededurgentmedicalhelp,he

would personally take them tothehospital,bankingonhisgoodrelationswith hospital authori-ties," said his brother SharvarShaikh. Despite overcomingasthma 18 years ago, Ghulam'sbreathing grew increasinglylabouredhalf-way into theholymonth of Ramzan.His 13th fastwould be his last. He passedaway at JJ Hospital in the earlyhoursofMay11."My brother took the lock-

down seriously. But since hecouldnot leavehome,hewouldfeelbadatnotbeingabletohelpanyone. He knew that ordinarypeoplewouldnot knowwho toturnto forhelp,"addedSharvar.

RASHIDASHAIKH (30),

MEHENDI CONEMAKER.

Herdevastated family is stilltrying to comprehend how abright young woman fell to avirus they believed claims onlytheoldor infirm. She leaves be-hind a young sister and father.Rashida's uncle Khaleel Shaikhsaid she ran her homewith hermehendi cone machine, evenduring the lockdownwhen sheinsisted that mehendi artistsvisithertocollectfinishedcones."She was careful not to leavehomemuch," saidKhaleel.At the end of April, Rashida

got tested after failing to shakeoffapersistentfever.Shewasthefirstpersontotestpositiveinthenarrow lanes snaking beneathGilbert Hill in Andheri West.SoonafterbeingadmittedtotheTrauma Care Centre in

Jogeshwari, shepassedaway.ThefamilydescribedRashida

as an intelligent woman whonever changed her mind onceshe hadmade a decision. "Shehadmarried aman seven yearsago but left him within twomonthsafterdiscoveringthathedrank toomuch andwas abu-sive. She had decided never tomarryagain," saidKhaleel.

AMEENABI (83),A PASSIONATECOOKWITHAGE-

DEFYINGENERGY.

It is only now that her sonRizwanUmarcantrulycompre-hend just how old his motherwas. "I always thought shelookednoolderthan75.Shehadthe energy of a much youngerperson," he said. Until the timethat typhoid laid her low in thelast week of April, Ameena Bicommandeeredherkitchenandinstructedherdaughter-in-lawto lay out a scrumptious Iftaar."Her knees had gone and shecouldn'twalkwithoutsupport.She had high blood pressureand diabetes but she truly en-joyedcookingandcouldneverstay still. Evenwhile sitting onthesofa,shewouldpeelgarlic,"hesaid.Ofallhismother'scook-ing, Rizwanwill miss her daalgosht themost.

(For this report, The IndianExpressapproachedseveralfam-ilieswhohadlostadearone,anditincludesonlythosewhoagreedto speakabout their loss)

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheCity

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CORRIGENDUM

Advt.No.03-R/IMSc/2020 Date: 26.05.2020

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As Mumbai deaths cross 1,000, familiesremember the loss of a loved one

(Above)AmeenaBi (83)enjoyedcooking.Evenwhilesittingonthesofa, shewouldpeelgarlic; (right)AhsanKhan(75).

SulabhaAmbetkar (64)wasamongthemostrespectedsingers inMumbai’s liveperformancecircuits.

People dialling for home deliveryof liquor duped by online cheatsMOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY26

TWO DAYS after theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) allowedon-line sales and home delivery ofalcohol in thecity, a21-year-oldcollege student in Bhandup onMay 24 received amessage onWhatsApp about a wine shopthat was offering the service inthearea.Ashehadpurchasedal-cohol from the shop earlier, theyouthcheckedGooglelistingstoascertain if the number be-longed to the shop, and subse-quently called on it and placedanorder.Thecallrecipient,how-ever, informed him that therewas a problemwith the debitcard and asked him to sharephotographsof itsfrontandbacksides and the one-time pass-word (OTP) for the transaction.A fewminutes later, Rs 1.5 lakhwaswithdrawn from the bankaccount linkedwith thecard.According to police several

such fraud caseswere reportedfrom across the city in the lastfew days. With a spike in de-

mand for alcohol after a dry-spellduetothelockdown,onlinefraudsters,policesaid,weretap-ping potential buyers throughWhatsAppmessages.Whilethewine shops and their addressesareauthentic,thescammersjusttamperwith their phone num-bers listedonline, theysaid.With such cases on the rise,

severalpeoplehavetakentoso-cialmediatowarnothers. Inonesuch post on Twitter, the user,who goes by the name Kritika,has tagged theMumbai Policeandsaidamessagehasbeencir-culatingunderthename“King'sWine” in Powai. The ‘shop’ wastakingordersbutnotdeliveringalcohol despite payment, theuserclaimed.Another, Jinali Shahtweeted

she had paid Rs 2,500 to“MukeshWines” in Borivali foralcohol through Paytm, but thedelivery was not made. DevenSharma, another Twitter userwho has also tagged theMumbai Police on his post,claimedhehadpaidRs3,060 toanonlineliquordeliveryshopinAarey, but did not get the prod-uct.SaikatMitra,directorofTrust

andSafety atGoogle India, said,“Millionsofbusinessesregularlymake edits to their addresses,hoursofoperation,andmore,sowe rely heavily on the commu-nity to help keep listings up-to-date and flag issues. We workhard to fight against spammerswho try to wrongly leveragethese listings. When we en-counterorarealertedaboutfakeinformation, we remove it.Wecontinuallyworktoidentifyandremovecontentthatviolatesourpolicies, and encourage peopleto flag any such content so wecanreviewandtakeaction.”Interestingly,evenbeforethe

BMC had allowed online deliv-eryof alcohol in thecity, severaladvertisementswere doing the

roundsonFacebook,claimingtosupplyalcohol.A Facebook spokesperson

said,“...Wehaveaclearpolicyonfraudanddeceptioninourcom-munity standards, and we re-moveanycontentweidentify isaimed at deliberately deceivingpeople to gain an unfair advan-tage. Our advertising policiesalso prohibit advertisementsthat are misleading or false. Ifpeople encounter this kind ofcontent on Facebook, theyshouldreport it immediately,sowecantakeaction.”Mumbai-basedcyberexpert

Shubham Singh said, “A lot ofliquorshopsareputtinguptheirnumbers outside their shops.Thesafestwaytoensure,youarenotduped is tocall on thenum-ber displayed by the shop andfollowbasiconlinesecurity, likenotsharingOTPwithanyoneonthephone.”JointCommissionerofPolice

(Crime) Santosh Rastogi saidtheyhad compiled a list and re-leased 186 fraudulent numbersthatwerebeingcirculatedonlineas helpline numbers to cheatpeople.

Withaspike in

demand,online

fraudstersaretapping

buyers through

WhatsAppmessages,

policesaid

SANDEEPASHARMUMBAI,MAY26

FACED WITH heavy losses,trades' bodies in Mumbai arenow lobbying aggressively forresumption of economic activi-ties. Citing that thousands oftraders were struggling to stayafloat, the Federation ofAssociations of Maharashtra(FAM), an umbrella body of781 registered trade associa-tions, has approached ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray forpermitting both retail andwholesale traders to resumeactivities even in theMumbaiMetropolitanRegion."Let'sopenasmuchaspossi-

ble. Let's open as safely as possi-ble," said VineshMehta, presi-dent,FAM,whichrepresentsover20 lakh traders across the state,mostofwhicharelocatedwithinthe MMR. In his letter toThackeray, Mehta wrote, "We(theassociation)havereceivedanumberofappealsfromretailers,semiwholesale andwholesaleassociationsseekingtheeasingofcurbsfromJune1onwards."The letter, also marked to

state's Finance Minister AjitPawar, makes a desperate pleaforreopening."Wearewillingtoopen for curtailed hours, on al-ternate days, or even on selectdaysoftheweek.WewilladheretoalltheCovid-19precautionarymeasures listed by the govern-ment and theMumbaimunici-pality.But letusopen," it states.MehtatoldTheIndianExpress

that the trade businesses, both

in the retail andwholesale sec-tor,hadsustainedmassivelossesowing to the supply chain dis-ruptionsandtheunprecedentedmass closures. "We understandthe difficulties and the groundrealities faced by the govern-ment.Butbusinessesarebleed-ingheavily;payingsalariestothestaff is becomingachallengebythe day. The government(Centre) has permitted e-com-merce operators to delivergoods, but retail andwholesaletraders haven't got any relief orassistance," saidMehta.His colleague, Jitendra Shah,

SrVicePresident,FAM,said,"It'snotjustaboutallowingthebusi-nesses to open; it's also aboutourcustomers.Traderswill loseclientsif theydonotservicetheirrequirements.Otherstateshaveallowed traders to resume. Thestateisalsolosingoutontaxrev-enue."Headded, "Ourplea is toresume as much as possible.Even opening our shops forsome days and hours of theweek will be helpful at thisstage." The FAM has also ap-proachedSouthMumbaielectedrepresentatives including ShivSena MP Arvind Sawant,CongressMLA Amin Patel, andBJPMLAMangal Prabhat Lodhato raise their cause.

TheFederationof

Associationsof

Maharashtrahas

approachedCM

UddhavThackeray

Allowus toopen, tradebodies to govt

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SADAFMODAKANDSAGARRAJPUTMUMBAI,MAY26

INTHEfirstcaseofCovid-19atachildren's institution in the city,two children and a stafferwereinfectedattheDongrihomethismonth.Whiletwopatientshavesince recovered and been dis-charged,a15-year-oldgirl isun-dergoing treatment at StGeorge'sHospital.A 17-year-old boy, appre-

hendedby thepolice ina sexualassaultcase,wasthefirstpersonto be detected positive for thevirusatthecentre.Senttotheob-servationcentrefollowingtheor-dersoftheJuvenileJusticeBoardonMay6,theboyhadfirstdevel-opedafeverandcough,andsub-sequentlymadetoundergotests.“He was kept in a separate

room till the reports, receivedtwodayslater,confirmedthathewas positive for Covid-19. Hewas then shifted to a govern-menthospital,” anofficial said.The Dongri institution has

separatewingsforboysandgirlswhoareinneedofcareandpro-tection,andanobservationcen-tre for children in conflict withlaw. Since the lockdown, newadmissionswereallowedonlyatthe observation centre, whilechildreninneedofcareandpro-tection, includingthoserescuedfromstreets,werebeing sent toother institutions in thecity.The institute currently has

136 children. It also has 25

staffers,wholiveonitspremises,and15otherswhovisit thecen-treasperduty.Within a week of the first

case, a 37-year-old nursingstaffer, on duty for conductingregular checks across the insti-tution,alsotestedpositive.Anof-ficialfromtheDongrihomesaidthat after the staffer testedpos-itive, all thosewhohad come incontactwithherweretested.Asmany as eight children weretested among whom only the15-year-oldgirl testedpositive.Shewas shifted toahospital

and is currently undergoingtreatment, the official said,addingthatthegirlwasreportedmissing, and sent to the homeonly twomonths ago after shewas found. “Her parents havebeen traced and once she is de-claredfit fordischarge, thedeci-sionregardinghandingoverhercustody to them will be fi-nalised,” theofficial said.“Wehavebeentakingallpre-

cautions, including social dis-tancingandhavemadearrange-ments for segregation aswell,”Rahul Kanthikar, Dongri homesuperintendent, said.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26

STAFFERS AT the KEMHospitalstagedaprotest Tuesdayafter a45-year-old class III employee,with suspected coronavirussymptoms, died. So far,18health workers belonging toclasses III and IV have died duetothevirus,MunicipalMazdoorUnion said.The protest began at 7 am

andcontinuedtillnoonuntilthehospital dean held a meetingwith protesting staffers and as-suredthemaccommodationandtreatment if they fell ill. The45-year-old’sbodywashandedovertohis familyTuesdayevening.According to the Mazdoor

Union, the Class III stafferwas acontractual employee andcleaned wards at the hospitalsince2010.Forthelastfewdays,hewas posted on duty at ward20, which was assigned forCovid-19patients. “He fell ill onMay20andrequested for leave.But he was neither tested forCovid-19 nor given leave. Hecontinued towork in thehospi-tal with fever and body pain,”Pradeep Narkar of MunicipalMazdoorUnionsaid.OnMay24,whenhis condi-

tiondeterioratedandhebecamecomplained of breathlessness,hisfamilyrushedhimfromtheirThane home to KEM hospital,buthediedenroute.“Hewassufferingfromhigh-

grade fever, loss of taste, andbody pain,” Narkar said.Whilestaffersaresupposedtobetestedwhen they develop symptoms,

hewas not tested for four days,headded.Despite being a suspected

Covid-19 patient, the staffer’sbodywaskept inKEMmortuaryfor nearly two days, protesterssaid. Municipal CommissionerIqbal Chahal had earlier in-structed all hospitals to seal anddisposeof abody in30minutes.“WehaveappointedclassIVem-ployees,whosejobistoonlysealand pack bodies of Covid-19 orsuspectedpatients,”hesaid.Meanwhile, KEM Hospital

dean, Dr Hemant Deshmukh,held ameetingwith the repre-sentativesof theworkers’unionTuesdayandassuredtoprovidetreatment at nearbyMahatmaGandhi hospital if any ofthemfell ill.A class IV employee, posted

at the hospital’s operation the-atre,meanwhile, said therewasfear among the staffers in han-dling Covid-19 cases because ofincreasingnumbersof infectionsamonghealthworkers.The union estimates over

300classes IIIandIVemployeeshavebeen infectedby thevirus,themaximumnumber of casesfromSionhospital. InKEMhos-pital, eightworkers in themor-tuaryhave,sofar,testedpositivefor coronavirus. “Those whoworkinCovid-19wards,gobackhome and put their families atrisk.Wehavedemandedthatwemust be allowed to live on thecampus,” the staffer said. Headdedthat there isashortageofstaffers since those above 55yearsofagehavebeenpostedtosafer locations and several oth-erswereunderquarantine.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26

THEWARofwordsbetween theMaharashtra government andUnionRailwayMinister PiyushGoyaloverShramikspecial trainscontinuedTuesday,withthelatterclaimingthatonlyafractionofthe145 trains scheduled fromMaharashtracoulddepartbecauseofthestate’slackofpreparedness.ThestategovernmentMonday

eveninghadsubmittedarequire-mentof145trainstotheRailways,includingthedetailsofpassengerand their destinations. Basedonthelist,theRailwayshadscheduledasmany trains to leaveTuesdayfromacrossMaharashtra.Ofthese145 trains, 120 trainswere fromMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR)alone.“On request ofMaharashtra

govt,we arranged145 ShramikSpecial trains today. These trainsarereadysincemorning.(Atleast)50trainsweretoleavetill3pm,butonly13trainshave(left)duetolackofpassengers,”Goyaltweeted.A press note issued by the

CentralRailwaystatedthat till 12pmonMay26,a totalof 18trainswereplanned tooriginate fromMaharashtra,butnonecouldde-part due to lack of passengers.BoardingofthefirsttraincouldonlycommenceatCSMTat12.30pm,thepressstatementsaid.Ofthe145scheduled trains scheduled forTuesday,68wereforUttarPradesh,

41forWestBengal,27forBihar,twoeachforOrissaandTamilNadu,andone each for Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan,Jharkhand,UttarakhandandKerala.TheCRstatementalsosaidthat

onMay25therailwayshadofferedtorun125trains,butthestategov-ernmentcouldprovidelistofonly41trainstill2am.Ofthese41trains,only39 could runaspassengerscouldnotbebroughtinbythelocalauthorities.Thetwoothertrains,itsaid,hadtobecancelled.TakingadigatGoyal forplay-

ing thevictimcardandnotifyingtheschedulefor145trainsat2.30am Tuesday, MaharashtraTransportMinisterAnilParabsaid,“ThepoliceafteralongbandobastduringEidwentbackhomeand

sawthescheduleonlyby8am.Thefirsttrainwastodepartatnoonandtheyhadtoprepareforit,”hesaid.Parab also pulled up the

Railways for schedulingover 40trains forWestBengalonasingleday. “This is despite the fact thatWestBengalhadrequestedtonotsendmore than two trains adayandMaharashtrahadagreedto itas theywere badly hitwith the(Amphan)cyclone.Despiteknow-ingtherequest,theRailwaysdelib-erately scheduled these trains,”Parabsaid.Meanwhile, therewas huge

chaosoutsiderailwaysstations,in-cludingCSMT,asaround7,000to10,000migrantworkers report-edly assembled to board theShramikspecialtrains.Thecrowd

swelled in the evening hours,blockingtheentirePD’MelloRoadoutsideCSMTstation.Sourcessaid,scoresofstrandedworkerskeptar-rivingat thestation,evenashun-dredswaited toboard the trains,scheduledtill3am.Blaming the central govern-

mentandGoyalforplayingpoliticsandrefusingtorunallthe49trainsthatwerescheduledtodepartfromLokmanyaTilakTerminus (LTT),seniorNCP leaderNawabMaliksaid: “Even thoughPiyushGoyalsaidhe'lloperate49trainsfromLTT,the divisional railwaymanager(DRM)maintainedthatnotmorethan16trainscan leave fromLTTeven though thousands ofpassengerswerewaitingtoboardthetrains.”

NEERAJTIWARIMUMBAI,MAY26

THE THANE MunicipalCorporation(TMC)onTuesdayor-dered a complete lockdown ofMumbra fromMay27, allowingonlymilkandmedicalshopstore-mainopen.Theareahasreported298Covid-19casessofar.“Therehasbeenasubstantial

increase inthenumberofCovid-19casesinMumbra.Inspiteofthelockdown,peoplearecrowdingatshops and vegetable markets.Social distancing norms are notbeing followed...,” the circular is-suedbyTMCsaid.Official said no shop, barring

milk andmedical stores,will beallowed to remain open.Whilemilkshopswillbeopenfrom7amto 9 am,medical stores can beopenonlyafteradheringtosocialdistancingnorms.Deputy Municipal

Commissioner Maneesh Joshisaid thatno individualwill beal-lowedtostepout.“Peoplewillbeallowed tomoveout only in ex-tremeemergencies,”headded.TMC has set up a patrolling

units to enforce the lockdown.“We have decided to barricademajorjunctions.Wearealsoseek-ing extra police deployment inMumbra,” Joshi said. He addedthat arrangements have beenmadetoensurehomedeliveryofmeat, fish and vegetables. “If intwoor inthreedays, thenumberof cases godown, then the lock-downwillberelaxed,”Joshisaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, PUNE,MAY26

THE BIHAR government onTuesday said its Maharashtracounterpart can send asmanyShramik special trains to Biharas itwants. Allmigrantworkersand natives of the state whowish to returnwould be takenback.Chief Secretary of Bihar,

DeepakKumar,said,“Itisthede-cisionof thegovernmentthatallpeopleof thestatewilling to re-turnwill bebroughtback to thestate.”He added that so far, 130trainsfromMaharashtrahaveal-ready come to Bihar, carryingmorethan1.93lakhpassengers.Another38trainsarescheduledto depart from various cities ofMaharashtra tillMay28.Kumar added that

Maharashtrahad,onTuesday,in-formed the Bihar governmentabout itsdecisiontorun24addi-tionaltrains.“IfMaharashtrawantstosend

more trains toBihar, it cando so.Wedonothaveanyproblem.Wearefullyprepared,”Kumarsaidinastatement.

Mumbai:A56-year-old firemanfromMumbai Fire Brigade suc-cumbedtoCovid-19onSunday.This is first suchdeath reportedfrom the fire brigade. So far, 35fire brigade staffers have testedpositive for coronavirus acrossthecity.The deceased, whowas be-

ing treated for typhoid anddysentery, was posted atGowalia Tank Fire station onGrantRoadandwas involved infumigation and disinfection ac-tivities. He had been on leavesinceMay16due tohis illness.OnMay23,whenhis condi-

tionworsened,hewasrushedtoJJHospital butwas allegedly re-fused admission. The next day,hewasagaintakentothehospi-tal, where he died during treat-ment. He tested positive forCovid-19 on Tuesday. It is yet tobe ascertained how he con-tractedtheinfection.Threefam-ily members of deceased havebeenputinquarantineandtheirtest resultsareawaited.Till Tuesday, of the 35 fire

brigadestaffers testingpositive,four are in ICU. Four familymembers of infected staffershavealso testedpositive.Following the rise in cases,

thefirebrigadehasstarteda30-bed Covid care centre facility atByculla Command Centre forstaffers. Chief Fire Officer P SRahangdale said, “We havestarted the facility in Byculla. Itwas made ready in only fourdays.If required,wewillstartan-other30-bedfacilityinBorivali.”

ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26

THE FAMILY and lawyers of ac-tivist GautamNavlakha, bookedin the Elgaar Parishad case, onTuesday claimed the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)brought him to Mumbai fromTiharjailinDelhiwithoutinform-ingthem.TheNIAprosecutor said that

Navlakhawasproducedbeforeacourt inMumbai and has beensent to judicial custody at theTalojajailtill June22.Navlakha and academician

AnandTeltumde–bothaccused

of conspiring to organise theElgaar Parishad in Pune – hadsurrendered before the NIA onApril 14 following SupremeCourtorders.Due to the lockdown,while

Navlakhahadsurrenderedbeforethe NIA headquaters in Delhi,Teltumbde had surrendered inMumbai.Followingthis,Navlakha

continued to remain inNIA cus-todyinDelhi.OnSaturday,aDelhicourthad

directedNavlakhatoremaininju-dicial custody till June22.His in-terimbailapplicationonmedicalgroundscitingtheCovid-19pan-demicisslatedtobeheardbytheDelhiHighCourtonWednesday.Hispartner,SahbaHusain,said

thatafterhewassenttoTiharjailonSaturday,shewasinformedthenextdaythathewasbeinggivenaseparatecell,asheisaseniorcit-izen. “Thereafter, I receiveda callfromhimonly after hewaspro-ducedbefore theMumbai court.Hetoldmethathewasgivenlessthanfiveminutestogatherhisbe-

longings and then taken toMumbaionanovernighttrain.Herequestedtobeallowedtocallhislawyersorfamilymembersbuttonoavail,”Husainsaid,addingthathewasonlyallowedtomakeacallafterhetookpermissionfromthespecialcourtinMumbaiwherehewasproduced.Special Public Prosecutor

PrakashShetty said theMumbaicourt had issued a productionwarrant againstNavlakha, basedonwhichhewastransferredfromDelhi. “Hewas shifted since thecase is pending here,” Shettyadded.Navlakha’s lawyers,how-ever, said that they should havebeen informedandgivenanop-

portunitytobeheardbeforeshift-ing him, especially since his in-terimbail pleawill be heard onWednesdaybytheDelhiHC.“The situation inMumbai is

worrisome given the Covid-19pandemic.Wedonotunderstandwhatwastheneedtotakehimtothe city... without giving hislawyersorfamilyanopportunitytospeakwithhim.Hehasalwayscooperatedwiththeinvestigatingagencies,”Husainsaid.“Ontheonehand,youwantto

decongest jails asMumbai hasemerged as the epicentre of theCovid-19 pandemic and on theother,youareexposinghimtothiskindofrisk,”sheadded.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26

ON THE second day afterMumbai airport resumed re-stricted operations of domesticflights, 41 flightswere operatedbysixairlines to13 locations.Ofthis, 22 departed from the cityand19arrived,ferryingatotalof4,224 passengers comprising3,114 departing and 1,110 arriv-ing fliers. Most passenger loadcontinued to be for departurestoDelhi.The first flight departed to

Ranchiat6.30amwhilethefirstflight arrived at 8.20 am fromLucknow. Both the flights wereoperatedby IndiGo.Evenasthestatehasallowed

theairporttooperate50flightsaday combining arrivals and de-partures, some flights are beingcancelledbytheairlinesover is-sueswithslottimings,routede-mandsandstatepolicieswithre-gard to operations. On Tuesday,IndiGo cancelled three flightsscheduled to arrive fromDehradun, Ranchi andGuwahati.The three cancelled flights

wereoperated later in theday.Sources at the airport said

thatwith slots being given, it istheprerogativeofairlinesregard-ingdecisionstofly.Slotsareallot-

ted based on the size of the air-line,amongotherconsiderations.Anofficialassociatedwithan

airline told The Indian Express,“Routing flights has been diffi-cultwithdifferentstateshavingdifferentpoliciesforflights.Itde-pendsonwhatworksfortheair-line based on slot timings, pas-sengerdemands,permissionstofly between locations, etc. Theairlines don’t want to fly whentherearealreadyotherswhoop-erateinthesamerouteandtim-ingbecauseanywaythenumberof passengers flying is low.”Recently, GoAir highlighted

lackofclarityonthereadinessofstatesandtheirairportswithre-gard to acceptance of flights, ortheconditionsapplicabletopas-sengers entering the respectivestates.Theairlinehasannounced it

will flyonlyfromJune1onward.

Maharashtrafree to sendmore Shramiktrains: Bihar

A17-year-oldboy,

apprehendedbythe

police inasexual

assaultcase,wasthe

first tobedetected

positive for thevirus

3CovidcasesatDongrichildren’shome,2recover

KEM Hospital staffersprotest after worker withCovid symptoms dies

ELGAARPARISHADCASE

Navlakha shifted to Mumbai jail, family says not informedNavlakha’s interimbail

applicationonmedical

grounds isslatedtobe

heardbytheDelhiHigh

CourtonWednesday

Mumbai airportoperates 41flights on Day 2

Mostwerepassengers flyingtoDelhi. File

MigrantworkersgatheratThanestationTuesdayafternoon toboardShramikspecial trainstoLucknow.Deepak Joshi

MASSIVERUSHATMUMBAISTATIONSASCENTRE,STATEWAROFWORDSCONTINUE

Goyal says 145 Shramik trains planned onTuesday, only a fraction ran; Parab hits back

Completelockdown inMumbrafrom today

1st fireman dies ofCovid in Mumbai

Mumbai:A58-year-oldwomandied on Tuesdaywhile waitingfor her turn to board a Shramikspecial train to Jaunpur inUttarPradesh fromVasai railway sta-tion. She, along with her fourfamilymembers, werewaitingin a queue at Suncity groundin Vasai, when she collapsedanddied.Officials said the deceased,

VidhotmaSurendraShukla,wasahomemaker.Thefamilyof five,including thedeceased, are res-identsofNalasopara.On Tuesday, the family

walked from their NalasopararesidencetotheSuncitygroundandhad stood in a queue in theheat. According to the rail offi-cials, six Shramik special trainswerescheduledtoleaveforUttarPradesh–threeforJaunpur,twoforBadoiandoneforGorakhpur– due to which hundreds hadgatheredat theground.Thepolicehaveregisteredan

accidentaldeath report. ENS

Candidatesqueueuptosubmit formsfornursingpositionsatThaneMunicipalCorporationonTuesday.Deepak Joshi

Woman dies whilewaiting to boardShramik train to UP

ThousandofmigrantworkersqueueuptoboardShramikspecial trainsoutsideCSMTinMumbaionTuesday.GaneshShirsekar

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

MAHARASHTRA

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

COVID CARE CENTRE

TheparkingspaceofMahalaxmiRacecourse inMumbaihasbeenconverted intoaquarantineandhospital facility for treatingcoronaviruspatients. GaneshShirsekar

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY26

THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday sought to know fromthe state governmentwhetherCovid-19 testing facilities areavailable in each district ofMaharashtraandinquiredifmo-bile clinics canbestartedacrossthestate.A division bench of Chief

Justice Dipankar Datta andJustice K K Tatedwas hearing apleafiledbyafishermanseekingproper testing facilities inRatnagiri,anon-redzone, inthelight of thousands of strandedmigrant workers returninghome in the district from redzonessuchasMumbaiandPune.OnMay 22, the HC had di-

rected Government PleaderPriyabhushan Kakade to re-spond to the petition. The stateon Tuesday submitted that duemeasuresarebeingtakentotestsuspected persons and soughttwo days' time to take instruc-tions fromtheauthorities to filea reply.Inhispetition,KhalilAhmad

HasanmiyaWasta,a58-year-oldfisherman, has claimed that ifmigrants, returning from redzone areas like Mumbai andPune to Ratnagiri, were nottested due to lack of facilities, itwould endanger the lives of lo-cal residents inRatnagiri.Appearing forWasta, advo-

cate Rakesh Bhatkar said thatsince the Covid-19 outbreak,Ratnagiri had initially reportedonly seven cases, including twodeaths.TillMay,all infectedper-sonswerecured.However,withmigrants entering the district,nearly 108 cases have been re-ported inRatnagiri, thepetitionclaimed.

“... state authorities issuedpasses tomigrants and 44,531were allowed toenterRatnagiriand nearly 30,000 people en-teredwithoutofficial passes.Asper government data, 29,259peopleareunderhomequaran-tine. A district having a popula-tion of 16.15 lakh has six func-tioning hospitals, of which twohospitalsarereservedforCovid-19 treatment,” thepetitionsaid.It added that swab samples

fromRatnagiri are sent to a lab-oratory in Sangli, which is 237kmaway.“Thisresults inadelayin receiving reports...theMirajHospital in Sangli, which is alsooverburdened with samplesfromnearby districts, is unableto provide reports within thestipulated time.”Followingthis,thecourtsaid:

“Although the grievance in thisPILisconfinedtonon-availabilityof testing centre for Covid-19cases in Ratnagiri district, wewould like to be enlightened bythestatewhethertestingfacilitiesfordetectionofcasesareavailableineachdistrictofMaharashtra.”The court posted thematter

for furtherhearingonMay29.

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY26

THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday said that trial courtsmust not unnecessarily keeppending temporary bail pleasseeking release of prisoners, fol-lowingSupremeCourtguidelinesto decongest jails, after a rights'group argued that over 14,000such pleas are yet to be decidedbycourtsacrossthestate.A division bench of Chief

Justice Dipankar Datta and jus-tice K K Tated was hearing thestate’s response on grantingtemporarybailpleasraisingcon-cerns over several inmates andjail staffers testing positive forCovid-19.ThePeople’sUnionforCivil Liberties (PUCL), and an-other petitioner, ArchanaRupawate, had moved the HCseekingrelief forprisoners.Senior CounselMihir Desai,

appearingforPUCL,saidthatal-thoughthestatehastakenstepstobringdownthenumberof in-mates,over14,000bailpleasare

pending before different courtsandsoughtthattheybedecidedina time-boundmanner.The court observed, “As per

guidelines, the relevant courts,tothebestof itsabilityandwiththeresourcesavailableatitsdis-posal, have seen striving to takeappropriate steps to dispose ofas many bail pleas and in thelightof theguidelines, nodirec-tion as such is required to bemade, sincewe hope and trustthatnoapplication forbail shallbekeptpendingunnecessarily.”Thestate, in its reply, said23

temporary jails have been setup in different districts fornewly arrested inmates. Itadded thatwhileMaharashtraprisons can accommodate24,000 inmates, the currentpopulation in jailsasonMay10was34,000. The state said thatto maintain social distancingnorms, thecapacityof barrackswill be reduced by two-third.Directingthegovernmentto

respond to the plea, the courtposted the matter for furtherhearingon June9.

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY26

PHARMACEUTICAL companyGlenmark is set to commence aphase-3clinical trial to study theefficacy of a combination ofFavipiravirandUmifenovirdrugstotreatCovid-19.Thetrial,whichwillinvolve158Indianpatients,isthe second trial to start in thecountryusingFavipiravir.Thecombinationofthedrugs

willbeusedtocheckwhetherdu-ration of viral shedding can beshortened.Viralshedding,whichusuallyoccursbeforeorattheon-setofsymptoms,meansthevirusisexpelledfromthebodyandcan

potentiallyinfectothers.The trial, called Faith, has re-

ceivedapproval fromregulators.Favipiravir andUmifenovir areboth anti-virals. Favipiravir isgivenorallyandexpectedtopre-ventviralduplicationinthebodyby inhibiting the enzyme thatdrives the replication. It is com-monlyused as an anti-influenzadrug in Japan and China.Umifenovirisalsousedtotreatin-fluenzaAandB.However,astudypublishedinClinicalMicrobiologyand Infection onApril 25 foundUmifenovir didnothelp in fasterrecovery of Covid-19 patients.Thoseadministeredthedrugtook18daystotestnegativeforcoron-avirusasopposedto16daysthatpatientswhowerenot given the

drugtooktotestnegative.The study observed,

“Umifenovirmight not improvetheprognosisoraccelerateSARS-CoV-2 clearance in non-ICUpa-tients.Arandomizedcontrolclin-ical trial is needed to assess theefficacyofumifenovir.”The latest studywill assess

whether a combination of bothdrugsworks better onmoder-ately-illpatientswhentheyhavehighviral loadandearly onset ofsymptoms. “Combiningantiviralagentsthathaveagoodsafetypro-file andact ondifferent stages ofvirallife-cycleisaneffectivetreat-ment approach to rapidly sup-press initial high viral load andlead to overall improvement inclinical parameters,” Glenmark

vice-presidentMonika Tandonsaidinapressstatement.The company is involved in

anothertrialusingFavipiravirandinvolving 150patients -- 30 pa-tientshavebeenenrolledtillnow.InMumbai,BMCofficialssaid

hospitalshavebeenshortlistedforthe Favipiravir trial buthospitalsare yet to get shortlisted for thecombinationdrugs.DrOmSriva-stava,anexpertoninfectiousdis-eases,saidRemdesivirandFavip-iravir have shownencouragingresults so far, but it has beenad-ministeredtoveryfewpatientsinMumbai. InMumbai,Umifenovirisyet tobeusedonpatients. “Wehavenot used this combinationyet, we have only used Favipir-avir,”saidaLilavatihospitalofficial.

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,MAY26

THE MAHARASHTRA govern-ment has directed GadchiroliCollectorDeepakSinglatoimme-diately de-freeze the bank ac-countsof19Gadchiroligramsab-has,sayingthatnoirregularityhadbeencitedbyhimtothestategov-ernmenttojustifyhisaction.In a letter issued byDeputy

SecretaryofTribalDevelopment,L GDhoke, to Singla onMay26,the government said, "No viola-tionof ForestRightsAct,2006,itsrulesof2008andamendedrulesof 2012was cited in the letter is-sued to the bankor in anyotherdocumentsmade available byCollector's office. Similarly, youhavealso statedduringyourdis-cussionwithPrincipal Secretary,

TribalDevelopment,thatnospe-cificcomplainthadbeenreceivedbyyouregardinganyirregularityintheoperationofbackaccount.""You froze the accounts on

March18withoutgivinganypriornotice. Youcalledthegramsabhaauthoritiesamonthlaterwithoutconductinganyinquiry inthe in-tervening period that coincidedwith the lockdown period, forwhichtheyhadtotravel150km.Thiswasagainstprinciplesofnat-ural justice,"theletterstated."Inthetimesofcorona,thevil-

lagershaveno jobopportunities.Currently, they are collectingtendu leaves. In that respect, thecommunityforestrightscommu-nities(CFRCs)needtodofinancialtransactions under the supervi-sion of gram sabhas. Hence, topreventasituationofhunger,theirgramsabha accounts should be

de-frozen,"readtheletter.TheIndianExpresshadreported

theissuelastweek.Singlahadtakentheaction,statingthatgramsabhashaderred indepositing thecom-pensationamountofaboutRs65-70 lakhtheyhadreceivedagainsterectionofpowergridtransmissiontowersintheaccountbybypassingthegramsevak,whoistheex-offi-ciosecretaryofthegramsabhaandagovernmentrepresentative.The Collector had also insti-

tutedaprobeintothematter.The letter also directed the

Collectortotakeactionasperthefindingsof theprobe, if anythinguntowardwas found. The letter,however, stated that the gramsabhaswereperfectlywithintheirrightsconferredbyFRAtoconductthe bank accounts through theCFRCs and therewasnothing ir-regularaboutit.

Trial courts should notkeep temporary bail pleaspending unnecessarily: HC

Are Covid testing facilities availablein each district, HC asks state govt

Glenmark set for trial to study role ofanti-viral combination in treating Covid

Nochangein

RRratestill

furtherorders

Mumbai: The InspectorGeneral of Registration(IGR) on Tuesday saidthat theReadyReckoner(RR) rates for propertiesin Maharashtra will re-mainunchangedtill fur-therorders. TheRRratesare annual market val-ues for properties as de-terminedbythegovern-ment.While theRRratesfor 2020-21 were origi-nallyscheduledtobean-nounced on April 1, thegovernmenthadfirstde-ferred it till May 31 ow-ing to the lockdown.Butwith Mumbai and 18other cities in the statestill in the red zone, IGROmprakash Deshmukhhassaidthat theRRratesfor 2019-20 will con-tinue to prevail till fur-ther orders.

14from

Pune-based

SRPFunit

testpositivePune: Fourteen person-nel fromthePune-basedunit of theStateReservePolice Force (SRPF)testedpositive forCovid-19 on Tuesday, takingthe total number ofcases intheMaharashtraSRPF above 520. Twocompanies of the Pune-headquartered 'Group2'of the SRPF -- compris-ing around 100 person-nel each -- hadbeende-ployed inMumbai. Theyreturned to their base inPune on May 21. Whileall of themwere kept inquarantine as a precau-tionary measure afterarrival, their swab testswere also conducted. MRamkumar, Group 2Commandant, told TheIndian Express, "Resultsof swab tests came backon Tuesday... 14 of theconstables have testedpositive." The 14 addi-tional cases take the to-tal number of positivecases in 'Group 2' to 70,over 40 of whom havealready recovered. Testresults of some peoplewere awaited, said offi-cials . ENS

BRIEFLY

Govt asks Gadchiroli collector todefreeze accounts of 19 gram sabhas

Adivisionbenchof

Chief JusticeDipankar

DattaandJusticeKK

Tatedwashearingaplea

filedbyafisherman

seekingpropertesting

facilitiesinRatnagiri,a

non-redzone

MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY26

THE ABETMENT to suicide caseregistered against ArnabGoswami and two others in2018 that had been closed byRaigadpolice last yearwill nowbe re-investigated by the stateCID, the Maharashtra govern-mentannouncedonTuesday.State Home Minister Anil

Deshmukh said the CIDwill re-investigate the case based on arequestbythedaughterofAnvayNaik,whoalongwithhismotherKumudNaikwerefounddeadattheir bungalow in Alibaug, inRaigaddistrict nearMumbai, inMay2018.The local police had closed

the case last year stating thatenoughevidencewasnotfoundagainstGoswami,editor-in-chiefof Republic TV news channel,and two others to chargesheetthemin thecase.Anvaywasmanaging direc-

tor of Concorde Designs, aMumbai-based architecturaland interior designing firm, hismotherwason the firm's boardof directors.Republic TV had earlier

statedthatithadclearedallpay-mentsduetoConcordeDesigns.On Tuesday, Deshmukh

tweeted, “AdnyaNaikhadcom-plainedtomethatAlibaugPolicehad not investigated non-pay-ment of dues from ArnabGoswami’s Republic, whichdrove her entrepreneur fatherand grandma to suicide inMay2018.I’veorderedaCIDre-inves-tigationof thecase.”Adnya,Anvay'sdaughter,had

also alleged that the police hadnot investigated the angle of Rs83 lakh that Goswami had not

paidherfather,whichdrovehimtocommit suicide.Raigad Superintendent of

PoliceAnilParaskarsaid,“Wehadregistered a case of abetment tosuicide against three personswhen the body was foundbased.... However, last April wesubmittedasummaryreportbe-foreacourtstatingthattherewasnot enough evidence to file achargesheetagainsttheaccused.”Anofficersaidithadcometo

lightthatwhileAnvayhadcom-mittedsuicide, thepostmortemreport indicated Kumud hadbeen strangulated. Followingthat, thepolice also registeredacaseofmurder.The police suspect Anvay

mayhavekilledhismother andthen committed suicide.WhileKumud’sbodywasfoundontheground-floor sofa, Anvay wasfound hanging on the first floorby thebungalow's caretaker.The police had found a sui-

cide note in Englishwhich pur-portedly stated said Anvay andhismother decided to take theextreme step since paymentsdue to themwerebeingclearedbyownersof three companies --- Republic TV, Feroz Shaikh ofIcastX/Skimedia, and NiteishSardaof Smartworks.The three firms owed

ConcordeDesignsRs83lakh,Rs4 crore and Rs 55 lakh, respec-tively, thenotehadstated.Anofficersaidthatduringin-

vestigation they found Anvaywas in heavy debt and wasstruggling to repay money tocontractors. Raigad police alsofoundthatNaikhadanNC(non-cognizable case) registeredagainst a contractor inMumbaiafter the latter had threatenedhim to repay themoneyhehadtaken.

Govt asks CID tore-probe suicideabetment caseagainst Arnab

‘Highly destructive’ locustswarms in parts of Vidarbha,seen first time since 1990s

PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,MAY26

ANUNPRECEDENTED attack ofdesert locust is underway inpartsofVidarbha,whichisama-jorthreattotheorangeorchardsin the area. Officers of the agri-culturedepartmentsaidthiswillbe the first timesince the1990sthat the statehas reported suchanattack.Since early April, parts of

Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjabhave reported sightings of themigratoryandhighlydestructivedesert locust, Schistocerca gre-garia. This early sighting -- thepest is normally sighted alongtheIndo-PakistanborderinJuly-October -- has alerted the au-thorities of the dangers that lieahead in this season. Theseshort-horned grasshoppers areinnocuous when solitary, buthighlydestructivewhenthey ina swarm, and canmigrate largedistances in a short frame oftime.Beingpolyphagous(abletofeed on different kinds of food)

innature,thepestsdestroyeverysingle bit of greenery on theirway. A square kilometre of anareacanaccommodate40to80millionof them.In the absence of any stand-

ingcrop,thedesertlocustisfeed-ingonthegreencoverofthearea.Atthreataretheorangeorchardsinthearea,whichhavenotfacedsuchacrisis ina longtime.SridharThakare,executivedi-

rector of Mahaorange, which istheorangegrowers’cooperativein the area, said itmust be after60yearssuchattackhadbeende-tected.“Controloperationsareonbut if the swarm continues togrow, more than 1.51 lakhhectares of orange orchardscouldgetdestroyed,”hesaid.SinceitsfirstsightinginApril,

thelocustwarningorganisation(LWO) has treated over 21,675hectaresofaffectedarea,mainlyinPunjab,GujaratandRajasthan.However,swarmshavebeenre-ported in the recent days fromMadhyaPradeshandnow,sincelast Sunday, Maharashtra hasalsoreportedthepresenceofthepest.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY26

AS THE Pune MunicipalCorporation (PMC) reported arecord399newcoronaviruscasesonMonday,authoritiestriedtoas-surelocalresidentsthattherewas

noneedtopanicoverthespike,asthehighernumberofpositivecaseswasbecauseofdelayedtestingofseveral samples, the results ofwhichhadcomeonMonday.ThePMCfirstsawaspikeofover300cases in a day on May 22, andthefigureroseto399onMay25.“Whilethecollectionofswab

sampleshas increased, therearelimitationsonthenumberofteststhatcanbecarriedout.Thelabo-ratory report of the test shouldcomein12hoursbut it isgettingdelayed by up to 36 hours. Thetest results received onMondaywere of samples collected inthe last fewdays. The pendency

for tests is increasing,” saidPuneDivisional CommissionerDeepakMhaisekar.Hesaidtherewasaneedtoin-

creasetesting,andhehastakenupthe issuewith the agencies con-cerned. “I have spoken to repre-sentatives of NARI, NCCS andB JMedical College to scale up the

testingcapacity,”saidMhaisekar.Meanwhile, the administra-

tion is planning toputupanon-line dashboard to provide latestupdates on thepandemic situa-tion to local residents. “ThePMChas also increased screenings incontainment zones,” said a civicofficial.

PMC says spike due to results of tests arriving late

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY 27,20206

DIPR/1900/Tender/2020

tAMiLnAdU neWSPrint And PAPerS LiMited

Unit-1 : KAGITHAPURAM - 639 136, KARUR DIST. TAMIL NADU

Phone: 04324-277 001 (10 LINES)

Unit-2: Mondipai - 621306, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu

Ph:04332-265102

NOTICE INVITING TENDERs

Tender No. Descripion Due date

202113000708

Optical Brightening Agent on cost per kg basisfor Paper M/c No.1,2&3a) Wet End OBAb) Surface OBA

10.06.2020

202113000667

DAF Chemicals De-inking PlantA. Flocculant Anionicb. Flocculant Cationicc. Coagulant Strong Cationic

09.06.2020

SI. No 1Manufacture and Supply of Stainless Steel (SS)Pipes for Hardwood Cooking area at TNPL Unit-II MEP

10.06.2020

SI. No 2Manufacture and Supply of Stainless Steel (SS)Pipe Fittings for Hardwood Cooking area at TNPLUnit-II MEP

10.06.2020

202123000203

Liquid non ferric alum for TNPL Unit-II 10.06.2020

Email

202113000708 & 202113000667 - purchase.rawmatI@tnpl.co.in

S.No: 1&2- pmd5@tnpl.co.in

202123000203 - purchaserm.u2@tnpl.co.in

Terms& condition, Specifications, Qty., Tender Fee, EMDare availablein Tender document at our websites: www.tenders.tn.gov.in &www.tnpl.com

TNPL - Maker of bagasse based eco-friendly Paper

CENTRAL ORGANISATION FOR

RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATIONA B R /1, N WA YUSUF OAD, CIVIL LINES Prayagraj-211001

X . 0 w . ays.FA No : 0532-240715 w w core.indianrailw gov.in

r o ELCO E-OHE-ETende N . R PC-04-Mod-

( e eRe Op nTend r)

f o kName o W r : E E DER: u fo P op l F r e i ti nPC T N Req est r r osa o El ctrif ca o

i w s of t e o m /An - u e o ra dof Ra l ay Line h secti n Man ad kai M dkh d-Man ha ba

n u Ja m e ha a M h bn a h e uthi cl ding nka p t-Bod n nd a bu ag r-D on of So

ntr i w To /T 9 1 0 .1 O n in gCe al Ra l ay tal RKM KM 76 . 0/1 46 1 n E g eerin ,

o u e n o s u t n( C d [ / c eN .EP 0 ( d ]Pr c r me t&C n tr c io EP )Mo e. Bid Pa kag o C- 4 Mo ) .

m Modi i dIte s f e

I H derN T ea

O RI UC R GEND M-5

Fie d N ml a e

Tender Clo ings

Dat mee Ti

id i g rt a eB d n Sta D t

i g VExist n alue

05.06.2020

15.00

22.05.2020

Mo fi d Valuedi e

9.0 . 0 01 6 2 2

1 . 05 0

5.0 . 0 00 6 2 2

ClosingDate/Time

19.06.202015.00

"Serving Customers with a Smile” www.ireps.gov.inPR/370/2020 ADK

Corrigendum Details Publish Date: 20.05.2020, 14.52

Tender Details

TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS

BUSINESS

POULTRY

VENCOBB Ex-Farm

Yesterday’s price in

Pune Rs. 120/-.

Suggested Retail Price

is Rs. 138/-

0070701559

Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it is not possible toverify its contents. The IndianExpress (P.) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurred as a resultof transactions withcompanies, associations orindividuals advertising in itsnewspapers or Publications.We therefore recommendthat readers make necessaryinquiries before sending anymonies or entering into anyagreements with advertisersor otherwise acting on anadvertisement in any mannerwhatsoever.

''IMPORTANT''

E-Tender Notice No.: BSL/ELW/

Tender/ 2020-21/011) Name of Work:- "MS pneumatic

Repiping of conventional locomotive

(WCAM-3, WCAG-1 or equivalent ) as

per technical specifications at

ELW/BSL.” 2) Estimated Cost:-

Rs.1,38,43,536/-( Rupees one crore

thirty eight lakh forty three thousand

five hundred thirty six only) 3) Earnest

Money Deposit :- Rs 2,19,200/-

(Rupees two lakh nineteen thousand

two hundred only) 4) Completion

period:- 12 Months 5) Last Date &

time for closing of uploading of

tender:- 22.06.2020 at 15:00 Hours,

6 ) W e b s i t e p a r t i c u l a r s : -

http://ireps.gov.in 7) Notice Board

location & Address:- (Where

complete details of tender can be

seen) : Office of the Chief Workshop

Manager, Electr ic Locomot ive

Workshop, Bhusaval, Central Railway,

Old Varangaon Road, Bhusaval,

PINCode:425201.

CCEENNTTRRAALL RRAAIILLWWAAYY

BHUSAVAL DIVISION

All India Passenger Helpline 138

SSAALLUUTTEE TTHHEE SSOOLLDDIIEERR9419439P LNK RAM KUMAR PRADHAN 26 MAY

On this day 9419439P Lnk Ram Kumar Pradhan of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles

(BATALIK) made the supreme sacrifice during 'OP VIJAY' (Kargil) in

May 1999 in a true act of valour. The brave soldier will always be

remembered for his enthusiasm. To this braveheart we pledge that we

shall always be guided by his immortal spirit and make his name

proud.

CO AND ALL RANKS, 1/11 GORKHA RIFLES

(BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE) (BATALIK)

Regional Office: 4, Nehru Place,Tonk Road,Jaipur-15 (Rajasthan)

E-Tender Notice

An e-tender notice is invited, under two-bid system for appointment of Vendors for the periodof one year for providing services of Vehicle Tracking System for the vehicles used by FCIRoad Transport Contractors for transporation of foodgrain from various dispatching centers to

Under e-tender notice ROJ/CONTRACT/VTS/02/2020, the bids shall be accepted ONLINEfrom 27.05.2020, 02.00 PM to 16.06.2020, 02.00 PM. All the Terms & Conditions andother details are available on CPP Portal’s website https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app andCorporation’s website www.fci.gov.in. General Manager (Region)

various receiving centers of Rajasthan region.

NOTICE

All the tenders* issued by Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL)for procurement of Goods, Works and Services are available onwebsite of BCCL www.bcclweb.in, Coal India Limited (CIL)e-procurement portal https://coalindiatenders.nic.in andCentral Public Procurement portal https://eprocure.gov.in. Inaddition, procurement is also done through GeM portal https://gem.gov.in.

*This is applicable to all Open (Domestic/Global) Tendersissued through e-procurement portal of CIL.

BHARAT COKING COAL LIMITED‘A Mini Ratna Company’

(A Subsidiary of Coal India Limited)

notice inviting tender

cHennAi MetroPoLitAn WAter SUPPLY And SeWerAge BoArd

DIPR/1907/Tender/2020 PURCHAsE MANAGER

1. NATURE : Sealed tenders are invited in the prescribed form.

2. ADDREss : PURCHASEMANAGER,Materials Department, No.1, Pumping Staion Road,

Chintadripet, Chennai-2. Telephone No: 044 28451300, Extn:272

E-Mail: pmcmwssb@gmail.com

Tender schedule can be downloaded from websites: www.chennaimetrowater.tn.nic.in &

www.tenders.tn.gov.in

3. DETAILs OF TENDER :

sl.No.

Tender No.and date

DescripionEMD Amount

in Rs.

1.MAT/

OT/010/2020

Hiring of Water Tanker Lorries of 16000litres, 9000 litres and 6000 litres capacityon contract basis for three years 2020-2023

10,000/-per Vehicle

Availability of Tender Schedule : From28.05.2020 to30.06.2020upto3.00P.M.

Due Date & Time for receipt of Tender : 01.07.2020 upto 3.00 P.M.

Due Date & Time of opening of Tender : 01.07.2020 ater 3.00 P.M.

Beejay Ads,Opera HousePhone : 23692926 / 56051035.

Color Spot,Byculla (E),Phone : 23748048 / 23714748.

FCA Communications,Nariman Point,Phone : 40020550 / 51.

Fulrani Advtg. & Mktg.Antop HillPhone: 24159061Mobile: 9769238274/9969408835

Ganesh Advertising,Abdul Rehman Street,Phone : 2342 9163 / 2341 4596.

J.K. Advertisers,Hornimal Circle, Fort.Phone : 22663742.

Mani’s Agencies,Opp.G.P.O., Fort.Phone : 2263 00232.Mobile : 9892091257.

Manjyot Ads,Currey Road (E)Phone : 24700338.Mobile : 9820460262.

OM Sai Ram Advtg.,Currery RoadMobile: 9967375573

Pinto Advertising,Mazagaon,Phone : 23701070.Mobile : 9869040181.

Premier AdvertisersMumbai CentralMobile: 9819891116

Sarjan Advertising,Tardeo,Phone : 66626983

Sanjeet CommunicationFort.Phone : 40024682/ 40792205.

S. Arts Advtg.MasjidPhone: 23415111

Taj Publicity Services,Byculla (W),Phone : 2305 4894.Mobile : 9892011371.

Yugarambha Advertising,Girgaon,Phone : 2386 8065.Mobile : 9869074144.

Aaryan PublicityDadar (E),Phone: 022-65881876Mobile: 9320111876

B. Y. Padhye Publicity Services,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 9241/2422 0445.

DATEY Advertising,Datey Bhavan, Dadar (W)Mobole : 8452846979/9930949817

Hook AdvertainmentDadarMobile : 8691800888

Central Advertising Agency,Mahim (W),Phone : 24468656 / 24465555

Charudatta Advertising,Mahim (W),Phone : 24221461

Jay Publicity,Dadar (E),Phone : 24124640

Pallavi Advtg.Dadar (W),Mobile: 9869109765

Shree Swami SamarthAdvertising,Dadar (W),Phone : 24440631Mobile : 9869131962

Stylus Arts,Dadar (W),Phone : 24304897

Time Advertising,Matunga (W),Phone : 2446 6191

Vijaya Agencies,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 5672.Mobile : 9920640689

Media Junction,Matunga (W),Phone: 022-66393184/

022-66332340Mobile: 9820295353/ 9821656198

Achievers MediaBandra (W.),Phone : 22691584

NACBandra (W),Mobile : 9664132358

ReckonBandra (W.),Mobile : 9867445557

Space Age Advertising,Bandra (E)Phone : 26552207Mobile : 9869666222/9869998877

Kirti Agencies,Khar (W),Phone : 26047542.

Hindustan AdvertisingVile Parle (W),Phone : 26146229

PromserveVile Parle (W),Mobile : 9167778766

VentureAndheri (E)Phone : 61226000

Anuja MediaAndheri (W),Mobile : 9152895703

Bombay PublicityAndheri (W)Mobile : 9870703542

Carl Advertising,Andheri (W),Phone : 6696 3441 / 42.

Gauri Press Communication,Andheri (E),Mobile: 9820069565/ 9820069568

CCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDD CCEENNTTRREESS IINN MMUUMMBBAAII

DIPR/ 1923 /TENDER/2020

TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD

SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTS

DIPR/ 1922 /TENDER/2020 Chief Engineer (i/c),TWAD Board, Madurai

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, TWAD BOARD, MADURAI.

ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUM

TENDER EXTENSION NOTICE No.1 /DATED : 20.05.2020

Ref : T.O. IFB No.F.Kadamalaikundu CWSS /SDO I/ CW /2020 /Dt : 17.04.2020

The period of sale of tender documents and receipt & opening oftenders called for in the reference is extended as below.

Name of

work

: Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 250 Rural

Habitations in Kadamalaikundu - Mayiladumparai, Andipatty

and Theni Unions in Theni District including maintenance for a

period of 5 years. (Period of completion - 18months)

Period of sale of bid documents Upto 5.45 P.M on 03.06.2020

Last date for receipt of tenders Upto 3.00 P.M on 05.06.2020

Opening of tenders At 3.30 P.M on 05.06.2020

All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered.

CORRIGENDUM No. 6 (EXTENTION IN BID SUBMISSION)Name of Project: Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP)

All prospective bidders are hereby informed that the bid Submission dates for the

packages mentioned below has already been extended thrice due to the

unprecedented conditions prevailing in the country. Due to the numerous

representation received from the prospective bidders requesting for extension, the

last date of submission of the technical bid is further extended as per the table below.

It is further informed that this may be treated as the last and final extension and no

further date extension shall be done. All prospective bidders are informed to work

actively to ensure the timely bid submission.Further as per the above table, a

window of additional seven(7) days is being provided for hardcopy submission of

documents, failing which the bid will not be admitted.

The rest of the terms and conditions shall remain unchanged.

Note: This corrigendum will be uploaded on websiteswww.uktenders.gov.in and

www.uksdm.org.

Project Director

State Project Implementation Unit, Uttarakhand(A Unit for Implementing World Bank Funded Project-UKWDP)

Government Industrial Training Institute (Women) Campus

26-EC Road, Dehradun – 248001.

Email- spiuukwdp@gmail.comGovt. of Uttarakhand

Bid Ref No. Bid submission date Bid

opening

date

Bid submission date Bid

opening

date

As per Corrigendum No 4

For Fitter

Trade IN-

SPIUUKWFDP

- 154891-

GO-RFB- 01

29th May 2020,11am uploading

on www.uktenders.gov.in

29th May 2020, 2pm Physical

submission at SPIU office

29th May

2020,

4pm

16th June 2020,11am

uploading on

www.uktenders.gov.in 23rd

June 2020, 2pm Physical

submission at SPIU office

23rd June

2020,

4pm

For

Electrician

Trade

Ref.no. IN-

SPIU-

UKWFDP-

154891-GO-

RFB-02

30th May 2020,11am uploading

on www.uktenders.gov.in

30th May 2020, 2pm Physical

submission at SPIU office.

30th May

2020,

4 pm

17th June 2020,11am

uploading on

www.uktenders.gov.in

24th June 2020, 2 pm

Physical submission at SPIU

office.

24th June

2020,

4pm

TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD

SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTSDIPR/ 1921 /TENDER/2020 Chief Engineer (i/c), TWAD Board, Thanjavur

ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUMExtension of Tender Notice

No.1-3-2 /F. CWSS /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt : 22.05.2020Sub : 1. Creation of an additional source with pump house to Combined Water Supply Scheme to 893

habitations in Nagapattinam District.2. Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 134 Rural Habitations in Kumbakonam Union of

Thanjavur District .3. Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 73 rural habitations in Veppur union of Perambalur –

Extension of tender Notice – reg.Ref : 1. This office I.F.B.No:- 02 / F. CWSS to 893 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt : 17.04.2020 (Sl.No.1)

2. This Office Extension of Tender Notice No. 11-2 / F. CWSS to 134 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/dt.08.05.2020 (Sl.No.2)

3. This office Extension of Tender Notice No. 1-1 / F. CWSS to 73 / 2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.08.05.2020(Sl.No.3)

The sale period, Last date of receipt and opening of tenders in the references cited for the above worksis here by extended as below in continuation of the Govt. announcement of 144 extension due to prevailingCOVID-19 Virus spreading precautionary measures.

Sl. No Description Extended up to

1 The last date for Sale of Tender 03.06.2020 upto 5.45 P.M

2 The last date for receipt of Tender 05.06.2020 upto 3.00 P.M

3 Date & Time of opening of Tender 05.06.2020 at 3.30 P.M

All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered.

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

THEOUTBREAK MigrantsOnTheRoad

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Agroupofmigrantsat theDelhi-GhaziabadbordernearGhazipurMandionTuesday. PremNathPandey

Migrants fromBiharwaitingfor trainticketsat thePMPMLbusstandonTuesday.ArulHorizon

WAITING FOR TICKET HOME

Arjun,whohails fromFatehpur, returns fromGuruNanakDevStadiumwithhis familyafterbeingtoldnotrainsaredepartingonTuesdayforUttarPradesh.Asawasherman,heusedtomakearoundRs7,000permonthbeforethelockdown.Hehadfirst registeredforatrainonMay2 ,andisstillwaiting foraridehome.GurmeetSingh

PUNE:5:15PM

AgroupwaitsoutsideKalupurrailwaystation.Theysaytheyhavenotgota train for the last20days. JavedRaja

AsocialworkerdistributeswaterbottlestomigrantswaitingforaSpecialShramiktrainonTuesday.HarmeetSodhi

PATIALA:2:15PM

AHMEDABAD:9:48AM

LUDHIANA:1:36PM

DELHI-UPBORDER:9:00AM

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY26

WITHTHEincreaseininter-statemovement of people, the num-ber of Covid-19 cases that are“unassigned” to any state hasquadrupled over the pastweekto2,970.Onlyninestates inthecoun-

tryhaveacaseloadthatishigherthan thatnumber.Cases in theunassigned cat-

egorymakeup2per centof thecountry's1,45,380casesofcoro-navirus infection as of Tuesday,and could potentially skew thecasecurvesof several states.Thecategory“Casesbeingre-

assigned to states” was intro-ducedinmid-May.Numbersun-der thatheadgrewfrom230onMay 16 to 1,403 onMay 21, to2,970 cases onMay26. The cat-egoryhasno informationonre-covery or deaths within thisgroup,unliketheotherstatecat-egories.Government officials said

that the category captures thecaseswherediscrepancies existbetween the person’s homestateandcurrent state.A senior official of the

Integrated Disease SurveillanceProgramme (IDSP) told The

Indian Express that the unas-signedcategoryhasbeengrow-ingbecauseof the increased in-ter-state travel in the country—a sign of how countrywidemovementcould impact theef-forts to track theepidemic.“Those are the cases where

we need to reassign becausewhere they are admitted orwhere they are being quaran-tined still needs to be deter-

mined. For example, truckdriv-ers.Theyhavegonesomewhere,theybecomesymptomatic, andthey get tested. A state nowneeds to own them. Once theirtest ispositive, it comes into thesystem. But the system doesn’tknowinwhichstatethispersonhastobeputin,”theofficialsaid.An official from the Indian

Council of Medical Research(ICMR) said: “The ruleweuse is

thatwhereversomeoneistestedis the automatic location in-putted.If, forexample,someonefrom UP is tested in Delhi, thetesting samplewill be assignedtoDelhi.Butwhatifduringsam-ple collection, the person saidthey are fromUP? Then, once apositivesamplecomesback,weneedtodetermineexactlywhichlocation is thispatient innow—for hospitalisation, quarantine,etc.Soeveryday,wehavetoshiftthe locations once the informa-tion is found.”Theunassignedcategoryhas

been growing within states aswell. In Andhra Pradesh for ex-ample, there are now312 cases–more than 10 per cent of thestate's 2,719 confirmed cases –with no district-level assign-ment. In Tamil Nadu, the unas-signedcategoryhasgrownfrom40onMay21 to 92 on Tuesday.InGujarat, it grewfrom26to43in that sametime.BetweenMay1andMay15,

two-thirdsof the1,000ShramikSpecial trainscarryingmigrantshome took 8 lakh passengersfrom Red Zones to Green orOrange Zones. Domestic flightsresumed onMonday, and overthe past few weeks, vehiclemovement between states toohaspickedup.

SHAJUPHILIP&VISHNUVARMATHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,KOCHI,MAY26

SOCIAL DISTANCING, thermalscreening,handsanitisers,only20 students in a hall, and strictinstructions against childrenhuddling together.Keralahadall theguidelines

in place when it became thefirst state in the country to re-sume the school board examsthatwere stalled bymore thantwomonthsduetotheongoingCovid lockdown.But itwasachallengingtask

for officials to ensure that theguidelines were adhered to as4.25 lakh students reached2,945 centres for the class 10state board exams, and 29,458students turnedup at 389 cen-tres for the vocational highersecondarytestsacross thestateonTuesday.The Class 12 state board ex-

ams will resumeWednesday,with 3,79,519 students ex-pected at 2,032 centres. Theschool exams are scheduled tocontinue till themonth-end.“Wearenotapproachingthe

examswith fear, butwith vigil.All students have been givenmasksandpamphletsonCovid-

19 guidelines. Students havebeen told to ensure social dis-tancing, right from the time

they step out of their homes,’’said Director of PublicInstruction JeevanBabu.

Officials said that about5,000 thermal screening de-viceswerepurchased,andoverthelast fewdays,allcentresdis-infected by fire and rescueteams. After the first session,the halls, benches and deskswere disinfected again for theafternoon.And with public transport

services still not available inmany districts, schoolsarranged conveyance for stu-dentsusingPTAfunds. Inmanycases, officials said, parentsdropped their children at thecentres.“Students who could not

clear the thermal screening,

were inquarantine,orhadfam-ilymembersunderhomequar-antine, were allotted specialrooms. Theywere asked to nothand over answer sheets toteachers, but deposit them inspecial bags,” said Babu.Fortheteachersdeployedas

invigilators, gloveswill be pro-vided every day, and kept incolour-coded packets for dis-posal.“Stepshavealsotakentoen-

sure minimum contact be-tweenstudentsandteachersatschools. The attendance sheetswere not passed from one stu-dent to another for signing, in-stead the invigilators took the

count. The practice of teacherssigning the answer sheets andaffixingsealsattheendwasalsodone awaywith,” Babu said.On the ground,meanwhile,

many schools witnessed offi-cials andparents joininghandstoensurethat theexamsstayedon track— somePTAmembersevenhelped in disinfecting thecentres under the guidance oflocal healthworkers.For instance, in Kochi’s

Edappally Government HigherSecondary School in Kochi, thePTA sent details of seatingarrangements directly to stu-dents through WhatsApp toavoid crowding.

In addition, students wereadvised to not share stationeryorwaterbottles.Andassoonastheexamswereover, theyweredirected to head straight homewithout interactingwith otherstudents.Therewasaminorproblem,

though.“Around two dozen stu-

dents did not have any com-muting options fromMulavukad, which is 12 kmfrom the school. We asked thelocal MLA, P T Thomas, if hecould help. A buswas immedi-ately arranged,” saidSankaranarayanan, the schoolprincipal.

Socialdistancing inplace forexam.NitinRK

CLASS 12 STATE BOARD EXAMS TO RESUME TODAY

Kerala takes first step back to school with exams: 20 students to a hall

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI,MAY26

WITH DIVERSION of ShramikSpecial trains to navigate net-work congestion blowing upinto a controversy, even as de-layed running of these trainsandshortageof foodandwateronboardcontinuetoplaguetheRailways, the national trans-porterhasofficiallynotifiedthealternative or diverted pathsand called it route “rationalisa-tion”.The diversions have been

done so that trains arenotheldup at one place for hourswith-out water and food, a seniorRailwaysofficial toldTheIndianExpress.A train, this officer empha-

sised to reject the criticism,“never gets lost”.According to Railways offi-

cials, therearemultiplewaysfora train to reach a destinationfroma“source”–ororiginating– station, and a “rationalisedroute” is one that may not bethe usual route during normaltimes. But since the new routeis notified, and is scheduledwithin the system, it cannot betechnicallycalledadiversion,anofficial explained.Officials said this helps bet-

ter planning of meals and wa-tering of trains en route, andalso cuts down the element ofsurpriseforrailwaydivisionsontheway.Shramik Special trains

bound for Bihar and further onwere earlier delayed by an av-erage 24 hours, which officialssaid have come down to underfive hours in the last couple ofdays. “No diversions now. Alltrainsoriginatingduringthelastthreedays are runningon theirpre-scheduled rationalisedroutes,” a ministry spokesper-son said.Officials said Manikpur

Junction of North CentralRailway, which normally fallson routeofmostof these trainsfromwestern India to destina-tionsinUttarPradeshandBihar,was a major source of conges-tion until a couple of days ago,as trains from Central Railwayand Western Railway con-vergedthere.Whilenormally ittook a train around90minutestocrossthissection, trainsweretakinguptofourhoursorsodue

to congestion.But the “rationalised route

plan”hasassignedotherroutesthrough Northern Railway,West-Central Railway andNorthWestern Railway to de-congest Manikpur, and othersuchcrossings,andgivendesti-nation stationsabreather, theymaintained.Given capacity constraints,

some railway zones have de-creasedandevenstoppedload-ingof goodstrains tomakewayfor Shramik Specials.Officialssaidwhilebusysec-

tionssuchasAllahabadthatseeoff around 300 trains one wayevery day in normal times arehandling fewer – around 250 –ShramikSpecialsperday, thesetrains are not running as per aset timetable.FieldofficialstoldTheIndian

Expressthatpoliticisationof theShramik Specials have led to“indiscriminate” introductionof these trainswithout lookingatnetworkandhandlingcapac-ity.“At the source station,

boarding is taking a long timeafter concludingall healthpro-tocol. So if a train misses itsscheduledpath set by us, it hasto eat into or share anothertrain’s path,” a senior officialsaid. “Places like Gorakhpur,whichdonothave terminal ca-pacity toreceivesomanytrainsin quick succession, takes timetoreleaseplatforms.Thisresultsin pilingupof trains.”Withavailabilityofmeals in

diverted trains proving to be amajor pain point, the Railwayshas amended its GeneralFinancialRules toenableadivi-sional railway manager tospend up to Rs 1 lakh for eachtrain to arrange for food,water,etc. Officials in IRCTC said thePSU has so far supplied at least74 lakh meals on board theShramik Specials, but deliver-ing to the diverted, unsched-uledtrainshasbeenachallenge.To make up for this, divi-

sional officers in places such asUP and Bihar, among others,have made use of the new fi-nancial powers to arrange forfoodatremotelocations,asalsoto load precooked food ontrains.On Tuesday, Railways

planned to run 315 ShramikSpecial trains, a majority ofwhich were scheduled fromMaharashtra. However,RailwaysMinisterPiyushGoyalstatedthatonly27couldberun.He tweeted: “Eight five of 145trains arranged fromMaharashtraweresupposedtorun today. But since the stategovernment could not arrangepassengers, we could run only27by6PM...”Until Monday, 3,274

Shramik Specials were run totransport more than 44 lakhpassengers; over 1 crorewaterbottles and 74 lakh free mealswere distributed, the Railwayssaid in a statement.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com SHAJUPHILIP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY26

KERALACHIEFMinisterPinarayiVijayan on Tuesday said theRailwayssendingtrainstoKeralawithoutpriorinformationwouldunderminemeasures taken bythestatetocontainthespreadofCovid-19. He said the issue hadbeen brought to the notice ofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.Lastweek, after theRailways

sent a train to Kerala fromMumbaiwithout informing thestate government about its stopinKannur,theChiefMinisterhadwritten to Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal saying the statemust be informed in advanceabout such trains. “Hewas toldthat such a stepwould dent thestepsbeingtakenbythegovern-

ment to spread the disease. But,even after that, theRailwaysde-cided to send a train to KeralafromMumbai. So this issue hasbeenbrought to the attentionofthePrimeMinister. It is amatterundermining our precautions,’’hesaid.TheCMsaid thegovernment

isoftheviewthatpeoplefromallareas should come back to thestate but at the same time, strict

rulesmustbeadoptedtopreventthespreadof thedisease.“Trains are coming to Kerala

fromallpartsof thecountryandtherearenorestrictions.Ouronlycondition is that thereshouldbeprior intimation from theRailways.Theyshouldgiveusthelist of passengers who havebookedtickets.Inthesameway,itis importantandcompulsoryforpassengers to register on theCovid Jagratha portal before thejourney.Wewill be prepared toreceive the passengers. Thosewho arrive here are screened atthe railway station and sent tohomequarantine.Butweneedtohavethelistinadvancesothatwecanensurethereisaproperfacil-ityforhomequarantine.Anyfail-uretodosowouldunderminethemeasures taken by the govern-ment... thereby prevent thespreadof thedisease,’’hesaid.

Thiruvananthapuram:Keralagovernment has decided tostep up daily testing asCovid-19 number has seenan upward swing with thearrivalofpeoplefromabroadand hotspot states. Till twoweeks ago, Kerala has beentesting 700-800 samples aday.ThestateonTuesdayre-ported 67 new cases, thelargest single-day rise so far,taking the total to 963. Thenumber of active cases roseto415onTuesdayfrom16onMay8,adayafterevacuationflights began landing inKerala.Sincethen,theCovid-19 curve in Kerala has beengoingup. ENS

KERALAGOVT TORAMPUP TESTING

Pinarayi slams Rlys for sending trains ‘without notice’

PinarayiVijayanEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEDEHRADUN,MAY26

THREEGOVERNMENTemploy-ees have been booked after asnakebite killed a7-year-old girlquarantinedalongwithherfam-ily at a school in Nainital onMonday.The girl, identified as Anjali,

and fourmembers of her familyhad come fromDelhi, andwerescheduledtoleavefortheirhomefromthequarantineonTuesday.

Anjali's uncleKhimSinghal-legedhehad toldquarantine in-charge and revenue sub-inspec-tor Rajpal Singh that he fearedsnake attack as the campuswassurroundedbyathicketofbushes.RajpalSinghdidn’treceivethe

callwhenthegirl’suncle triedtoinform that his niecewas bittenby a snake earlymorning, saidsub-divisionalmagistrate(SDM)RichaSingh.Thegirlwastakentoa Community Health Centrewheredoctorsdeclaredherdeadat1:30pm,saidtheSDM.

Rajpal allegedly neitherpicked the call nor informedhisseniors about the incident. SDMsaidRajpalSingh,villagedevelop-mentofficerUmeshJoshiandas-sistantteacherKaranSinghwerefoundnegligentinaddressingthecomplaints and responding.Umesh andKaranwere also un-aware about the incident till af-ternoon.The SDMsaid the three have

been charged under various IPCsections, including 304A (caus-ingdeathbynegligence).

Girl in Nainital quarantine diesof snakebite, 3 officials booked

UP to open uppublic parksLucknow: The UP governmentTuesday directed all districts toopen uppublic parks formorn-ing walks and set timings fortheir functioning, the state'schief secretary, AwanishKumarAwasthi, said.Headded that lo-calauthoritieswouldhavetoen-sure proper patrolling in theparkstoensuresocialdistancingandsecurity.Also, the government has

asked all the state's divisions tocomeupwithaplantoestablishan integratedoffice so that sub-divisional offices can all bebroughtunderoneroof. ENS

DELAYSCUT, TRAINSNEVERGETLOST,SAYSRAILWAYSOFFICER

As Shramik Spls ‘stray’, Rlys notifies ‘routerationalisation’ to explain diversions

UTTARPRADESH

4,966 229 62Foreignentrants:None

TAMILNADU

10,289 646 49Foreignerentrants:5

RAJASTHAN

9,323 236 167Foreignentrants:NA

KERALA

1026 67 33Foreignentrants:27

ANDHRAPRADESH

8148 49 NoneForeignentrants:49

PUNJAB

1500 26 1Foreignentrants:None

HARYANA

2031 94 NoneForeignentrants:None

■Samplestested

■Positivecases

■ Migrants

A look at howCovid-19 case counts in states

are changing asmigrants return home

CASECOUNT: THECHANGINGPICTURE

*States’ data for last 24hours, updatedup to 9pmonMay26

‘Unassigned’ cases near 3,000,rise as curbs onmovement lifted

AccordingtoRailways

officials, thereare

multiplewaysfora

traintoreacha

destinationfroma

‘source’–or

originating–station,

anda ‘rationalised

route’ isonethatmay

notbetheusualroute

duringnormaltimes

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY26

THESUPREMECourt issuedno-tice Tuesday to the Centre andReserve Bankof India (RBI) on aplea challenging the decision tolevy interestonloansdespite themoratorium on repayment inview of the extended nationallockdown.A bench of Justices Ashok

Bhushan, SKKaul andBRGavaiissued notice on the plea byGajendraSharma,ownerofanop-tical shop inAgra,who said “thisaction of imposition of interestduring themoratoriumperiod iscompletely devastating,wrong”andhas caused “hindrance” andobstructedhis“righttolife”guar-anteedbyArticle21of theConstitution.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta said hewill take instruc-tionsonthematter.Itwillbeheardagainaftertwoweeks.Thepetitionerurgedthecourt

to declare ultra vires that part oftheRBI’sMarch27notificationonthe charging of interest since it“creates hardship in thepresentscenario of complete nationallockdownbeing extended fromtime totime due to the Covid-19 out-break”.Sharma pointed out that

thoughRBI, bywayof thenotifi-cation, permitted all banks togrant a moratorium of threemonthsonpaymentof all instal-mentsduebetweenMarch1andMay31, it“madeclearthat inter-estshallcontinuetoaccrueontheoutstandingportion of the termloansduringthemoratoriumpe-riod”.Sharma saidhewas running

anopticalshopinAgraandhadagross total income of about Rs.6.57 lakh per annum. He hadavailedahomeloanandhadbeenpayingtheEMIswithoutdefault-ing.The extended lockdown, he

said,hadcreated“immensebur-den”onhis“budgetasapartfrompayingEMIonhomeloan”,hehadto “payhis employees... and alsomanage financial aspects of hishomeandfamily”.“Inthepresentscenario,when

all themeans of livelihood hasbeen curtailed by theGovernment of India by imposi-tionofacompletelockdownpan-India…thePetitioner,beingacit-izen of India, has no way tocontinuehisworkandearnliveli-hood… imposition of interestduring themoratoriumwill de-feat the purpose of permittingmoratoriumonloans,”hesaid.

Loan interest during moratorium:Supreme Court notice to Govt, RBI

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26

EVENASprivatediagnostic labo-ratoriescitetheRs4,500pricecapasoneof thepainpoints fortheircoronavirustestingnumbersstag-nating at less than20per cent ofdailytestsdoneinthecountry,theCentrewants the price to be re-ducedfurther.This is inthelightofavailabil-

ity of indigenous testingkits andother supplies, unlike inMarch,whenallthesehadtobeimportedamidtoughglobalcompetition.Ina letter to statesandUnion

TerritoriesonMonday,DrBalramBhargava,Secretary,Department

ofHealthResearch,wrote:“Now,testing supplies are also stabiliz-ingandmanyofyouhavestartedprocuring such kits from localmarket. Due to variedoptions oftestingmaterials/ kits, includingindigenous ones, prices are be-coming competitive andareun-dergoing reduction.... ICMRcon-tinuously advocates aggressivetesting of lLl symptomatic per-sons,forwhichRT-PCRtestiscon-sidered as Gold Standard.” Hewrote,“lnthisbackdrop,andkeep-ing inviewtheevolvingpricesoftesting commodities, the earliersuggested upper ceiling of INR4,500videletterdated17/3/2020maynotbeapplicablenow”.Therefore,Bhargavastated,all

stategovernmentsandUTadmin-istrations are “advised tonegoti-atewithprivatelabsandfixmutu-ally agreeableprices for samplesbeingsentbythegovernmentandalsoforprivateindividuals...”Bhargavanoted,“Atthebegin-

ningofCOVID19pandemic,therewas a global crisis of testing kitsandreagentsasIndiawasheavilyreliant on importedproducts formoleculardetectionofviruses.Assuch, inmid-March, no rates forRT-PCR test for Coronaviruswasavailableforreferenceinthecoun-try.Keepinginviewthecostofim-portedkitsandeffortsinvolvedincarrying out the test, ICMR sug-gested theupper limitof a singletestaslNR4,500...”

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26

POLICE PERSONNEL at checkpoints,buildingsecurityguards,airportstaff,busdriversandstaff,vegetablevendorsandpharma-cists have been identified byIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) as “frontlineworkers”whoneedtobetestedforCovid-19if theyshowflu-likesymptoms.This is inaddition tohealthcareworkers,paramedicsandreturningmigrants.Asper therevisionof testing

strategyonMay18,“allsympto-matic(ILIsymptoms)healthcareworkers /frontline workers in-volved incontainmentandmit-igation of COVID19” need to betestedfortheNovelCoronavirus(SARS-CoV2). ILI or influenza-like symptoms are the symp-tomsassociatedwithflusuchasfever, sore throat, bodyache.Symptomatic healthcare

workerswereeligiblefortestingfromtheverystart,butinclusionof other frontlineworkers wasthebigtakeawayof the last test-ingstrategyrevision.However,adocumentdrawnupbytheICMRon the general way forward ontesting shows howwidespreadthatdefinition isset tobecome.Apart from paramedics and

healthcareworkers, the full listincludes:“Securitystaffatbuild-ingsbothprivateandGovt,Policepersonnel manning check-points/ roads (In certain indus-trial areas/ business establish-ments), airport staff, Air Indiateaminvolvedintheevacuation,migrant labourers returning toStates,busdriverandassociatedstaff, Certain category of shopslike–pharmacist,vegetableven-

dors, banks, etc.” The last threeareparticularly incongestedar-eas of cities and high-incidence/containmentzones.The Covid-19 outbreak in

India is currently concentratedin cities, with 70% cases anddeaths in10cities.However, sources said, the

ICMR’s list has been drawn upwith an eye also on identifyingemerginghotspots. “Wehavetograduallymovetotesting‘front-line’ workers as per the ex-panded definition. This is thewayforward.Thisdocumenthasbeendrawnupalsowithspecialfocus on the eastern regionwhere testing facilities are lim-itedandauthoritiesarestill get-ting used to the containmentand contact tracing drill,” said asource. Thedocument also reit-erated the general testing prin-ciples such as RT-PCR being thegoldstandardandantibodytestsbeinggood for surveillance.It is also partlywith this ex-

panded definition inmind thatICMR is looking at ramping uptestingcapacityto2lakhaday.Alotofthefreshtestingisexpectedto be from the eastern stateswhere infrastructure is scarce.Seventeen testing laboratorieseacharebeingsetupinBiharandOdisha, 27 inUttar Pradesh and36inWestBengal.The Ministry of Health on

Tuesday held a meeting withChhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar,UP andMP, asking for states totake care of the immediatehealthneedsofmigrantworkersby activating existing health in-frastructure such as AyushmanBharathealthandwellnesscen-tresandcompleteenumerationatthevillagelevelofcomorbidi-ties if any.

Guards, vegetable vendors in ICMR listof frontlineworkerswhoneed testing

ApoliceofficerhelpsanelderlymigrantputonamaskafterhisarrivalatBikaner’sLalgarhjunctiontoboardaspecial traintohisnativeplaceMotihari inBiharonTuesday. PTI

Centre asks states, UTs to negotiatewith pvt labs, bring down test price

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY26

ATAtimewhen“socialdistancing”and “work fromhome”havebe-come the norm, South Block ismakingeffortstoconduct“virtual”diplomacyintheabsenceof“face-to-face”meetings.Besides virtual summits and

phone calls, demarche, consularaccess andevenpresentationofcredentialshavemovedtoonlineplatforms.InearlyApril, in themiddleof

thenationwide lockdown,whenthegovernmentrealisedthathun-dreds of foreigners had beenrounded up for attending theTablighi Jamaat congregation inDelhi inMarch,manyembassiesreached out to the Ministry ofExternalAffairs for “consular ac-

cess”(ameetingbetweenadiplo-matand the foreignnational fac-ingcharges).TheMEAdecidedtograntvirtual“consularaccess”viavideoconference.Again,inmid-April,whenSou-

thBlockwantedtolodgeastrongprotestwithPakistanoverwhatitcalledunprovoked firing that re-sultedinthekillingofciviliansneartheLineofControl, a “demarche”(diplomaticnote)wasissuedoverthe phone to the PakistanHighCommissioninNewDelhi.“Astrongdemarchewasmade

to thePakistansideon thekillingof three innocent Indiancivilianswithaphonecall,whichwas fol-lowedbyanemail,”asourcesaid.At least two Indianambassa-

dorswhotookchargerecentlypre-sentedtheircredentials“virtually”.India’s newly appointed HighCommissionertoSriLankaGopal

Baglay,whowent toColombo inan IndianAir Forceaircraft alongwith themedical supplies, pre-sentedhiscredentialstoSriLankanPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksathroughavideoconference.India’snewPermanentRepr-

esentativetotheUnitedNationsTS Tirumurti, whowent to NewYork in oneof theVandeBharatevacuationflights,alsopresentedhis credentials to UN SecretaryGeneralAntonioGuterresthroughavideoconference.President RamNath Kovind

also accepted credentials fromAmbassadorsandHighCommis-sionersofAustralia,NorthKorea,Senegal, Trinidad & Tobago,Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire andRwandathroughavideoconfer-encelastweek.“Thiswas the first time in the

historyofRashtrapatiBhavanthat

credentials were presentedthrough the digitalmedium,” astatementsaid.SouthBlock alsousedonline

platformstoconduct substantivediplomaticconversationsaswell.External Affairs Minister SJaishankarheldthefirst-ever“vir-

tual” & 3rd Joint CommissionMeeting between India andDenmark onMay 12, the MEAsaid. Flanked by officials,JaishankarandDanishMinisterofForeignAffairs JeppeKofoddis-cussed India-Denmark ties andstrengtheningofbilateralrelations.PrimeMinisterNarendraModi

alsoparticipated inonline sum-mits, fromtheSAARCsummit toG-20summit,andaddressedInd-ianambassadorsallovertheworldthroughvideo-conferencing.“With foreign travelbeing re-

strictedinthesetimes,onlinesum-mitsorvirtualsummitswillbethenew normal in the months tocome,”saidanofficial.Plansarebeingchalkedoutfor

avirtual summitwithAustralianPrimeMinister ScottMorrison inJune, possibly June 4, as well.Morrison, whowas set to visit

India in January this year, had tocancelbecauseofthebushfires.WhiletheIndiangovernment

hasused theNICvideoplatform,differentcountrieshaveuseddif-ferentplatforms toconnect. “Thevirtual platformused isdifferentforeverysummit,anddependsonthehost. Saudis used adifferentvirtualplatformfortheG-20sum-mit,RussiansusedanotherfortheSCOforeignministersmeeting,”asourcesaid.Whilevideoconferencesand

summits are usually plannedahead and take time,more sub-stantiveconversationshavetakenplaceduringphonecallsbetweenModi, Jaishankarand their coun-terparts.ModiandJaishankarhavetogetherclockedabout100phonecallssinceMarchwiththeircoun-terparts.WhileModi held at least 53

phoneconversationswithworldleaders, includingUS PresidentDonaldTrump,Jaishankarheldatleast44phoneconversationswithhis counterparts. “Someof thesephone calls also took placethrough video conference,” asourcesaid.While India has adapted to

virtual diplomacy in less thantwo months, China has alsomoved ahead on this and hascoined a term— “cloud diplo-macy”. On Sunday, ChineseForeignMinisterWang Yi saidthatwhile lifemayhavepausedduetoCovid-19,diplomacyhas-n’t paused.He said that ChinesePresident Xi Jinping has heldabout 50 phone conversationswithworld leaders and has at-tendedvirtual summits, includ-ing of G-20 countries and theWorldHealthAssembly.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY26

THE BJP on Tuesday hit back atCongress leader Rahul Gandhifor slamming the Centre's lock-downstrategy.Union Minister Prakash

Javadekar said, “Rahul Gandhigave awrong statement. I wantto tell him,when the lockdownwas imposed, doubling rate ofinfection was three days. Nowthe infection takes 13 days todouble. This is India's success,andeveryone's success.”He said the “wholeworld is

praising India” for imposing thelockdown“at the right time”.Javadekaradded,“Whenthe

lockdown was imposed, theCongresswas upsetwhy it wasimposed across the country;(they said) the economywill bedestroyed.Theyopposedtheim-position of the lockdown andnowareopposingtherelaxation.This is their doublespeak.Compared to the loss faced bythE US, France, Britain, Spain,Italy,Iran,Brazil,andChina,Indiahasbeenrelativelylessaffected.”

MANOJCGNEWDELHI,MAY26

CONGRESSLEADERRahulGandhionTuesdaysaidtheaimandpur-poseofthenationwidelockdownhas“failed”andaskedtheCentretospelloutitsstrategynowtocon-tainthespreadofcoronavirus.Rahul also said “haphazard”

lifting of the lockdowncould re-sult inasecondwaveof thepan-demicinIndia—onewhichcouldbe“extremelydevastating.”Addressing an online press

conference,theCongressMPsaidPrimeMinister NarendraModihadtoldthecountrythatIndiawilldefeat the virus in 21 days, andpointedoutthatthelockdownhasnotproducedtheresultModihadin mind. “Clearly, the PrimeMinisterandhisadvisershadun-derestimatedthescaleofthebat-tle India had to launch to defeatcoronavirus,”hesaid.Using cricket terminology,

RahulsaidthePrimeMinisterwasquick to take centrestage in theearlystagesbuthassteppedbackand “gone on the back foot” at atimewhenhisleadershipismostneeded.Hesaid:“He(Modi)playedon

the front foot initially. Nowhe isnot to be seen. But the countrywants to see thePrimeMinister.Hewill have to tell the countryhowtogoforward.Hewillhavetocomeon the front foot again, ag-gressively—hehas gone on theback foot. I am from theOppositionbutIamtellinghimtocomeonthefrontfootagain.”Rahulsaidstategovernments

arenotgettingadequate supportfromtheCentreandfeeling“ham-strung” as a result. He said chiefministers of Congress-governedstateshavetoldhimthattheyare“fightinga lonelybattle”withoutadequatesupportfromtheCentre.

“Whatwearefacingrightnowis a failed lockdownbecause thegoalofthelockdown,asstatedbythePrimeMinisteronnationaltel-evision,was thatwewill defeatthedisease in 21day... These arenotmywords;thesearethePM'swords...nowwearecomingtotheendof the fourth lockdownandthe disease profile is not reduc-ing.”He added, “Sowhatweex-pectedfromthelockdownhasnotoccurred.Diseaseprofileisshoot-ingup.”First imposed onMarch 25

and extended thrice, the lock-downendsonMay31.TheformerCongresspresident

said India is the only country“where thevirus isexponentiallyrising andwe are removing thelockdown”.He said there shouldbeastrategytoensurethatthedis-easedoesnot“runamok”oncethelockdown is lifted. “I amworriedthatinanon-lockdownsituation,inahaphazardopeningup,wewillget a secondwaveof corona thatwillbeextremelydevastating.”“It is pretty clear that theaim

andpurposeof thelockdownhasfailed.What India is facingnow,whatisinfrontofus,istheresultofafailedlockdown.Whatwewanttounderstandis,thegovernment’sview (of it)…going forward.Wewant to understandwhat theirstrategyis.Itisprettyclearthatthefour stagesof lockdownhavenotproducedtheresultthatthePrimeMinisterexpected,”hesaid.

Aim of lockdown ‘failed’,Rahul asks govt about plan B

RahulGandhi PrakashJavadekar

BJP hits back:Doubling rate upfrom 3 to 13 daysunder lockdown

SouthBlockhasusedonlineplatformstoconductsubstantivediplomaticconversations. File

Cloud diplomacy: Consular access, demarche move online

SOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD,MAY26

ITWAStooearlytogiveacertifi-catetothestategovernment,theGujarat High Court said duringan urgent hearing on a civil ap-plication the governmentmovedonMondayseekingclar-ifications on the court’sMay 22orderwhilerebuttingcertainob-servationsby thecourt.The civil application sought

to clarify its position on somescathing observationsmade bythe court regarding the condi-tion of the Ahmedabad CivilHospital, comparing it to “dun-geonsorworse".Tothestate’sobjectiononthe

court taking cognizance of ananonymous letter written by aresident doctor, the court saidthatwhile the government dis-misseditas"rubbish",noresidentdoctor “would muster the cou-rage of coming forward disclos-inghisidentityforthepurposeofredressingsuchgrievances".Defending itself against the

court's criticism on the highermortality rate at the civil hospi-tal, thegovernmentsaiditcouldnotbecomparedtoAhmedabadMunicipal Corporation-runSardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospi-tal because it was takingmorecritical patients. The bench saidthe courtwill visit the civil hos-pital"onefinemorning"andendall controversy.

HC: Too early to giveGujarat govt certificate

Situation inAhmedabadbetter than Italy,France: govtAhmedabad:Defending itself inacivilapplicationseekingclarifi-cation on the Gujarat HighCourt’s May 22 order that saidthe Ahmedabad civil hospitalwas “as good as a dungeon orworse”,theGujaratgovernment,saidits(Ahmedabad's)Covid-19situation was better than Italyand France, which had compa-rablepopulations.According to the state gov-

ernment, “...the rise in numberof Covid-19caseshasbeensub-stantially slow in the state ascomparedtothesaidcountries”despite the latter having supe-riormedicalfacilities.“Similarly,the number of deaths has beensubstantially less in Gujarat ascompared to Italy and France,”the application before the HCsaid.The application moved by

the government prayed beforethecourtthatitbe“kindenoughtoclarifythatthe...observations”ofHC,whichwerebasedon“theanonymous letter of theResidentDoctorandtheanony-mous report of the MedicalOfficer of the Civil Hospital, donotreflectthetruepictureof thegroundrealities.”ENS

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY26

INDIA AND China are learnt tohave activated the “workingmechanism” at the diplomaticlevel, establishedduring formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh’stenurein2012andsignedby then Indian ambassador toBeijingSJaishankar.Thishasbeenactivatedalong-

sidethemilitary-to-militarycon-versationtakingplaceatthefieldlevel to “dis-engage”and“de-es-calate”thesituation.The“WorkingMechanismfor

Consultation&Coordination onIndia-China Border Affairs”wasestablished in January2012afterborder talks between thenNSAShivshankar Menon and hisChinesecounterpartDaiBingguo,and isheadedby joint secretary-level officials from both sides.They are entrusted to help thespecialrepresentativeforbound-arytalks,apositioncurrentlyheldbyNSAAjitDoval.Whilejointsec-retary (EastAsia) in theMinistryofExternalAffairs(MEA),NaveenSrivastava, leads the Indian side,the Chinese side is led byHongLiang, Director General,Department of Boundary andOceanicAffairs,ChineseMinistryofForeignAffairs.In the lastmeeting, in accor-

dancewiththeimportanceplacedbyleadersofbothcountriesforef-fective bordermanagement, the

twosideshadreviewedthesitua-tioninborderareas.Inthisregard,theyhadalsotakennoteof regu-lar exchanges at the troops anddiplomaticlevels,includingundertheWMCCframework,formain-tainingpeaceandtranquility.In the current situation,

Srivastavaissaidtobeleadingtheconversation at the diplomaticlevel, since themandate of themechanism is clear: “aim fortimely communication of infor-mation on theborder situation”and “for appropriately handlingborderincidents”.India's assessment is that the

Chinese are involved inwhat isknown inmilitary parlance as“holding the line”.While there isno agreed Lineof Actual Control(LAC), both Chinese and Indiantroops patrol up to their “claimlines”andthenreturn.Inthecur-rent situation, it appears theChinesecrossedtheirperception

of LAC and are now camping atthespotinabidto“holdtheline”.This“holdingtheline”tacticis

backed by a large number ofChinese troops — much morethanordinarypatrols.Sourcessaidthere have beenmultiplemeet-ingswithin the government—bothonlineandsomephysical—and a call is yet to be taken onwhetherapolitical-leveldialogueistobeopened,andatwhatlevel.Although the effort is to resolvethe situation “locally”, wheretroopsmovebacktotheiroriginalpositionsinthenext“7to10days”,NewDelhi’s position is that the“Chinesetroopswhohavecrossedover” and the “Indian troops areontheIndiasideof theLAC”. Butthe efforts are to not dial up therhetoric.While theMEAhas is-suedtwomeasuredandnuancedstatementssofaronthesituationonLAC, theChinese foreignmin-istryhasalsoissuedstatements.

NewDelhi:Asborderten-sion rises between India andChina, Congress leaderRahulGandhionTuesdayaskedtheCentre to be transparent andsharewiththecountrythesit-uationinLadakhandtherea-sonsforescalationintension.“What we would like to

see is some more trans-

parencyonwhatisgoingon,”he told reporters.Rahulalsosaiditisuptothe

government to resolve the is-sue. “As far as India andChina(border skirmishes issue) isconcerned,itisaliveissuenow.Idon’twant tosaymore. Iwillleave it to thewisdomof thegovernment... ENS

As LAC heats up, India & Chinaactivate border mechanism talks

Govt must tell nation what’s onin border areas, says Rahul

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI,MAY26

The Assam government onTuesday directed deputy com-missionerstoensureadequatere-lief material and repair of em-bankmentsasthestatebracedforfloods,with seven districts andnearly 2 lakhpeople already af-fected. Heavy rain continued to

lashlargepartsofthestate,includ-ingcapitalGuwahati,evenasthenumberofCovidcasesincreased.According to the RegionalMeteorological Centre inGuwahati, heavy rainfall is pre-dictedintheregionoverthenextfive days. After ameeting, stateParliamentary AffairsMinisterChandraMohan Patowary saidministers in charge of differentdistricts for the supervision of

Covidwilloverseefloodmanage-mentandrelief.

3killed in landslides

Guwahati:A landslide triggeredby rain in Arunachal Pradesh’sDibangValleydistrict onMondaynightledtothedeathofafamilyofthree.Afterthebodieswererecov-ered on Tuesday evening, ChiefMinisterPemaKhandusaidreliefwillbeextendedtothenextofkin.

2 lakh affected in Assam floods

A NEW study has found a link be-tween the severity of Covid-19andagene linked to dementia. Having afaulty gene linked to dementia dou-bles the risk of developing severeCOVID-19, according to the large-scalestudy,publishedininthe JournalofGerontology:Medical Sciences.ThegeneiscalledAPOE,andexists

in a different forms, one of which istermed e4e4.Researchers at theUniversity of ExeterMedicalSchoolandtheUniversity ofConnecticut School ofMedicineanalyseddatafrom the UK Biobank,which collects healthand genetic data on500,000 people. Theyfound high risk of se-vereCovid-19infectionamong European an-cestry participants who carry twofaulty copies of this gene. One in 36peopleofEuropeanancestryhavetwofaulty copies of this gene, and this isknowntoincreaserisksofAlzheimer’sdiseaseupto14-foldandalsoincreasesrisksofheartdisease,theUniversityofExetersaidinastatement.Now,theresearchteamhasfound

that carrying these genemutationsdoublestherisksofCovid-19—eveninpeoplewhohadnotdeveloped these

diseases. The same team has previ-ouslyfoundthatpeoplewithdemen-tia are three timesmore likely to getsevereCovid-19, theUniversitysaid.It said part of the increased risk

mayhavebeenduetoexposuretothehigh prevalence of the virus in carehomes. However,thenewstudysug-gests that a genetic componentmayalso be at play. The team found that

people with the APOEe4e4genotypewereatdouble the risk of de-velopingsevereCovid-19, compared to thosewiththecommone3e3formoftheAPOEgene.In this analysis,

2.36% (9,022) of 3.82lakh participantswithEuropean ancestrieshad the APOE e4e4faulty gene, but 5.13%(37) of 721who tested

positive for Covid-19 had this genevariant,suggestingtheriskisdoubledcompared to e3e3 (410 per 100,000versus179per100,000).Co-authorDrChia-LingKuo,ofthe

UConnSchoolofMedicine,saidintheUniversity of Exeter statement: “…Wemight now be able to pinpointhowthis faulty gene causes vulnera-bility toCOVID-19. This could lead tonewideas for treatments.”

Source:Universityof Exeter

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

In gene linked to dementia, acorrelation with severe Covid

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 145,380 (4,167 DEATHS)

52,667Maharashtra

17,082Tamil Nadu

7,300Rajasthan

6,859MP

6,532 UP

14,053 Delhi

14,460Gujarat

3,816West Bengal

2,730Bihar

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

3,110Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May26.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.

60,491PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 2Assam 526Chandigarh 238Chhattisgarh 291DadarNagarHaveli 2Goa 67Haryana 1184HimachalPradesh 223JammuandKashmir 1668Jharkhand 377Karnataka 2182Kerala 896Ladakh 52Manipur 39Meghalaya 14Mizoram 1Nagaland 3Odisha 1438Puducherry 41Punjab 2060Sikkim 1Telangana 1920Tripura 194Uttarakhand 349

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

149,822India

230,158Italy

180,802Germany

266,590United Kingdom

183,067France

236,259Spain

1,667,154US

374,898Brazil

157,814Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 5,534,728 DEATHCOUNT:347,587Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay26. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

362,342Russia

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26

LATEONMondaynightIndiatime,theWorldHealth Organization (WHO) announced itwould no longer assign patients to the hy-droxychloroquine (HCQ) arm of themulti-country Solidarity Trial on possible treat-ments for Covid-19. The announcementraisesseveralquestions,particularlyinIndiawhich is amajormanufacturer/exporter ofthedrug andhas also reposed implicit faithin its therapeutic and prophylactic role forhealthworkersexposed toCovid-19cases.

What is theSolidarityTrial?

“Solidarity” is an international initiativeforclinicaltrialslaunchedbytheWHO,alongwithpartners,tohelpfindaneffectivetreat-mentforCovid-19.Itwasoriginallysupposedto look at four drugs or drug combinations:remdesivir, HCQ, ritonavir/lopinavir andlopinavir/ritonavir/interferon beta 1a. NowwithHCQtrial enrolmentstalled forat leastthe next fewweeks, the Solidarity trial willproceed with the other three arms. SomedataonHCQwill still begenerated, though.AccordingtoWHO:“Byenrollingpatients

in multiple countries, the Solidarity Trialaims to rapidlydiscoverwhether anyof thedrugs slow disease progression or improvesurvival.Otherdrugscanbeaddedbasedonemerging evidence... Over 400 hospitals in35countries areactively recruitingpatientsandnearly3,500patientshavebeenenrolledfrom 17 countries. Overall, over 100 coun-trieshave joinedorexpressedan interest injoining the trial, andWHO is actively sup-porting60of them.”India is among the countrieswhere the

SolidarityTrial isbeingcarriedout.Fourhos-pitals in Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai andBhopal have received regulatory approvals,andmorewill follow. Inall,patients in20-35hospitalsinthecountrywillbepartofthetrial.

Haveanyof thearmsmadeparticularly

goodprogress?

Sofar,remdesiviriswidelybeingdescribedasthemostpromising,althoughresultsofvar-ious trialshavesometimesbeingconflicting.DevelopedbyGileadSciencesInc,remdesivirisabroad-spectrumantiviralwhichwaspre-viouslytestedinhumanswithEbolavirusdis-ease,andwhichhasalsoshownpromiseasadrug againstMERS and SARS, both ofwhich

arecausedbycoronaviruses.AtrialfundedbytheUSNationalInstitute

ofAllergyand InfectiousDiseaseshas found,inthepreliminaryresults,significantpositivesto theuseof remdesivir inpatients requiringoxygentherapy.Thedrugwasfoundtospeeduprecoveryduringatrialandtheresultswereencouraging enough towarrant publicationof theresultsevenwhilethetrialwasstillon.However, In an earlier, truncated study re-portedinTheLancet,Chineseresearchershadconcluded they could not find any “statisti-callysignificantclinicalbenefits”of thedrug.

WhatresultswasHCQshowingintrials,

andwhat ledtothesuspension?

Hydroxychloroquineisadrugusedinthetreatment of autoimmune diseases such asrheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and also asa malaria treatment and preventive. In asense, itremainspartof thetrialbecausepa-tientswho had been earlier randomised toget thedrugwill continue todo sountil thetreatment is completed. TheWHO is ex-pected to take a call on its future inside the

trialbymid-June.On Monday WHO Director General

TedrosAdhanomsaid:“OnFriday,TheLancetpublishedanobservationalstudyonhydrox-ycholoroquine&chloroquine&itseffectsonCOVID-19 patients that have been hospi-talised.Theauthorsreportedthatamongpa-tients receiving the drug, when used aloneorwithamacrolide,theyestimatedahighermortality rate. The Executive Group of theSolidarity Trial, representing 10 of the par-ticipatingcountries,metonSaturdayandhasagreed to review a comprehensive analysisandcriticalappraisalofallevidenceavailableglobally. The reviewwill consider data col-lectedsofarintheSolidarityTrialand,inpar-ticular robust randomisedavailabledata, toadequately evaluate the potential benefitsandharmsfromthisdrug. Iwishtoreiteratethat these drugs are accepted as generallysafeforuseinpatientswithautoimmunedis-eases ormalaria. The Executive Group hasimplemented a temporarypause of thehy-droxychloroquinearmwithintheSolidarityTrialwhile thedata is reviewedby theData

SafetyMonitoringBoard.”The study ledbyBrighamandWomen’s

Hospital had concluded: “Wewere unableto confirmabenefit of hydroxychloroquineor chloroquine, when used alone orwith amacrolide, on in-hospital outcomes forCOVID-19.Eachof thesedrugregimenswasassociatedwith decreased in-hospital sur-vivalandan increasedfrequencyof ventric-ular arrhythmiaswhen used for treatmentof COVID-19.”Macrolides are a class of an-tibiotics that include the antibioticazithromycin.

Whataretheotherarmsof Solidarity?

Bothofthesearewithacombinationofthedrugsritonavirandlopinavir,withonearmtri-allingthecombinationtogetherwithanaddi-tional substance. Ritonavir and liponavir aresecond-lineHIVdrugs,knownasHIVproteaseinhibitors,thathavebeeninuseforsometime.Theybolster the immune system,which re-ducesthechancesofaHIV-positivepersonde-velopingcomplicationssuchastuberculosis.Theiruse in India forHIV, though, isvery

limited— 70% Indian patients are on first-linedrugs.ThesedrugsaremanufacturedinIndia mainly for export mostly to Africancountries.FollowingearlyreportsfromChinaon successful use of the drug combination,India in February had obtained regulatoryclearancefortheiruseinCovid-19.Thedrugswere used in a handful of patients beforeIndia began to focus on HQL andazithromycinby theendofMarch.India’schangeofstancecamefollowinga

199-subject trial in China on the efficacy ofritonavir/lopinavir.Thestudyreportedthatat22.1%,themortalityreportedinthetrialwassubstantially higher than the 11% to 14.5%mortality reported in initial studies of pa-tients hospitalisedwithCovid-19. Howeverthedrugshavenotbeenwrittenoffascandi-dates in thehunt forCovid-19 treatments.

What is theotherarmthat includes

ritonavir/lopinavir?

It involvesthetwodrugs incombinationwith interferonbeta 1a—whichbelongs toaclassofsubstancesknownascytokinesthataresecretedbyimmunecellstosignalothercells toactagainstan imminentoracute in-fection. It isusedtotreatdiseaseslikemulti-plesclerosis. Somestudieshaveshownthatif interferonbeta1aisaddedtoritonavirandlopinavir,therearebetterresults thanwhentheantivirals aloneareused.

9

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,MAY26

OVERTHElast fewdays, swarmsof locustshave been sighted in urban areas ofRajasthan,which isunusual. Swarmshavealso been reported from parts of MadhyaPradesh and Vidharbha region ofMaharashtra.ThefirstswarmsweresightedalongtheIndia-PakistanborderonApril11,monthsaheadof theusual timeof arrival.

Whatare locustsandwhenaretheyare

sightedinIndia?

Thedesert locust(Schistocercagregaria)is a short-horned grasshopper. Innocuouswhen solitary, locusts undergo a behav-iouralchangewhentheirpopulationbuildsuprapidly.Theyenterthe‘gregariousphase’byforminghugeswarmsthatcantravelupto 150 km per day, eating up every bit ofgreenery on their way. These insects feedonalargevarietyofcrops. Ifnotcontrolled,locust swarmscan threaten the foodsecu-rityofacountry.AtpresentcountriesintheHornofAfricasuchasEthiopiaandSomalia

arewitnessingoneof theworst locusts at-tacks in the last25years.In India, locusts are normally sighted

duringJuly-OctoberalongthePakistanbor-der. Last year, parts of Western RajasthanandNorthernGujaratreportedswarmsthatcauseddamagetogrowingrabicrops.Thesewere the first swarms reported in Indiasince 1997. This year, the first sightings ofsmallgroupswerereportedearly—onApril11 — by scientists of the AgricultureMinistry’s LocustWarning Organization(LWO), fromSriGanganagarand Jaisalmerdistrictsof Rajasthan.

Whyare locustsbeingseeninurban

areas?

Locustsarebeingseeninareasnothistor-icallyassociatedwithsuchsightings—Jaipur,MP’sGwalior,MorenaandSheopur, and re-cently stray swarms in Maharashtra’sAmravati,NagpurandWardha.K LGurjar,DeputyDirector of LWO, said

therebeingnocropsinthefields,thelocustshavemovedacrossstatesattractedbygreencover.“Theswarmswereaidedbyhigh-speedwindandthustheymadetheirwaytoJaipur,”

he said. At present there are three to fourswarmsinRajasthan,anothertwoorthreeinMadhyaPradesh, fromwhereasmallgroup

hasmigrated toMaharashtra,whichGurjarsaidwouldnotbeverydifficulttocontrol.KeithCressman,seniorlocustforecaster

of the UN Food and AgricultureOrganization said the locusts have startedmoving in search of food. “Spring-bredswarms from Pakistan started arriving inRajasthan earlier thismonth. As this is be-forethemonsoonrains,theyfounddrycon-ditions so they continued tomove east inRajasthan looking for green vegetation forfood and shelter where theywill matureand then lay eggs with the onset of themonsoon inabout fiveweeks,”hesaid.

What ledtotheirearlyarrival?

This can be traced back to the cyclonicstormsMekunuandLubanthathadstruckOman and Yemen respectively in 2018.Theseturnedlargedesertstractsintolakes,facilitating locust breeding that continuedthrough 2019. Swarms attacking crops inEastAfrica reachedpeakpopulations fromNovember, and built up in southern Iranand Pakistan since the beginning of 2020,with heavy rains in East Africa inMarch-April enabling furtherbreeding.

Whatcanitmeantocrops inIndia?

Atpresent, chancesof cropdamageare

low given that farmers have already har-vested their rabi crop. Orange growers inMaharashtra have expressed concern butas Gurjar said, the swarm inMaharashtrawouldbeeasy tocontrol.Thebiggerproblemwill comeoncethe

presentswarmsbreed.Anadult female lo-cust lays 80-90 eggs thrice in her three-month life cycle. If left uncontrolled, aswarm can grow exponentially to 40-80millionlocustspersquarekilometre,Gurjarandothersestimatee.Thelocustswill startlaying eggs after themonsoon starts andcontinue breeding for twomoremonths,with newer generations rising during thegrowthphaseof thekharif crop.Earlier thismonth, Union Agriculture

Minister Narendra Singh Tomar chaired ameetingtotakestockofthesituation.Controlinvolvessprayinginsecticideonlocusts’nightrestingplacesliketrees.Tilldate,theLWOhascarriedout sprayingover21,675hectares inRajasthan. Indiahas alsoput anorder of 60specialisedinsecticidesprayerswiththeUK.Gurjar said the country alreadyhas50 suchmachines.“Also,droneswillbeusedtospraytherestingplaces,”hesaid.

Solidarity Trial progress so farSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Inthehunt forpossibleCovid-19treatments,WHOhashaltedenrolmentforthehydroxychloroquinearmof trials.What ledtothemove,andwhatprogresshasbeenmadewiththeotherarmsofSolidaritysofar?

ANURADHAMASCARENHASPUNE,MAY26

THEDECISION to temporarily suspend en-rolment in the Solidarity Trial’s hydroxy-chloroquine arm, one of four options beingstudied for Covid-19 treatment, was takenby the Solidarity Trial executive committeebecausethedatasafetymonitoringboardfeltit prudent to gathermore evidence on thesafetyandefficacyof thedrug,WorldHealthOrganization (WHO) chief scientist DrSoumyaSwaminathansaidonTuesday.Dr Swaminathan told The Indian Express

that the trial is ongoing. Thiswas a tempo-rarymeasure and a reviewwill be done ofthe emerging evidence from various trialsworldwide, aswell as the published litera-ture. Dr Swaminathan said the interim trialanalyses aremonitored by the global dataand safetymonitoring committee,which isan independentgroupof experts.A recent study in The Lancet had cau-

tioned that theuse of a regimen containing

hydroxychloroquineorchloroquine(withorwithoutamacrolide)wasassociatedwithnoevidence of benefit. Instead the use waslinked to increased rates of mortality andheart arrhythmias amonghospital patientswith Covid-19. However, Dr Swaminathanmentionedthatthiswasobservationaldata,subjecttobias,andthesefindingsneedtobeconfirmedbywellconductedRCTs(randomcontrolled trials).Asked about the use of hydroxychloro-

quine as a preventive drug to be taken byfrontline healthworkers treating COVID 19patients, Dr Swaminathan said the safetyprofileislikelytobeverydifferentinsickpa-tients compared to healthy individuals.“There isnoneedforpanic,butrandomizedtrialsneedtobeconductedontheuseof thedrug as a prophylaxis. The safety profile ofthedrugneedstobestudiedinbothcases—drugs given to hospitalised patients and tohealthy individuals exposed to COVID-19,”she said. She reiterated that data emergingfromvariousstudiesisbeingreviewedcare-fullybeforeWHOcan takeapolicydecisionontheuseofHCQ.In India, Pune-based Indian Council of

Medical Research -National AIDS ResearchInstitute(ICMR-NARI)isthenodalcentreforcoordinating the Solidarity Trial. Dr SheelaGodbole, Head, Division of Epidemiology,ICMR-NARI andnational coordinator of theSolidarity Trial, said the trial continues andthey have been engaged in the process ofrandomising patients. “There has been evi-dencefromobservationalstudiesaboutHCQ

and it is often a standard practice to tem-porarily stop the randomisationof thedrugin the trialwhile adata safetymanagementboardreviewisongoing,”DrGodbole said.“However there are three other drugs

whicharebeingassessedandthetrialcontin-ues.Wehaveregisteredmorethan15clinicalsitesforthetrialandhopetoregisteratleast30andenrol1,500participants,”shesaid.DrSamiranPanda,Director, ICMR-NARI,

saidthetrialstartedwithafewpatientsacou-ple of weeks ago and theywill have towaitandseewhathappensasothercountrieshavealsoprogressedintheirtrialefforts.“Thetrialhasanadaptivedesignthatallowsforadverseeventsandhenceitisstandardpracticetohaltthedrugtemporarily,”DrPandasaid“TheSolidarityTrialisahugeeffortandwe

were due to start nextweek," said Dr ZarirUdwadia, one of the members ofMaharashtra's Covid-19 task force. After theWHOdirective, the other three armswill bestudied,hesaid.Healsosaidseveral trialsex-ploring theuseof CQorHCQ forprophylaxisofCovid-19inhealthcareworkersisunderway.

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you

would like explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

Why locusts are being sighted in urban areas, what it canmean for crops

Aswarmofdesert locusts in JaipuronMonday.Rohit JainParas

Remdesivir,oftendescribedasthemostpromisingof theoptions.ReutersFile

What next for HCQ after enrolment freeze?

Movetemporary,says DrSwaminathan

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TACKLING THE SURGEHospitalsneedtolookforcreativesolutionstodealwithpatient

influx,whileensuringsafetyofhealthcareworkers

WITHLESSTHANaweekforLockdown4toend,India’sCOVID-19case-

loadhassurgedpast1,40,000.Therelaxationofrestrictionsfromthe

third phase of the lockdown onwards has added to the challenges

faced by the country’s already overburdened healthcare system.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, the positivity rate (share of tests

thatyieldpositiveresults)hasgoneupto7percentinthethreeweeksofLockdown3and

4— itwas around3per cent at the endof Lockdown2. Themortality rate, reassuringly,

has remainedstaticatabout3percent.Moreover,more than80percentof the infected

do not require hospitalisation. Even then, the sheer scale of the pandemic seems to be

taxing the resources of hospitals inmost parts of the country and taking a toll on the

health of medical professionals. The death, on Sunday, of a COVID-positive nurse em-

ployedataprivatehospital inDelhi,whowasallegedlymadetowearusedPPEs, frames

thedifficultiesof thoseat the frontlinesof thebattleagainst thevirus.

Inthepasttwomonths,stateshavetriedtomobilisepublicresources, rampupmed-

ical centres, andshoreupquarantine facilities. Inmostpartsof thecountry, suchefforts

have, at best, producedmixed results. In Delhi, more than 75 per cent of the beds ear-

marked for COVID-positive patients in private hospitals are already occupied. Though

theDelhigovernmentclaimsthatthesituationisundercontrol, itneedstobeonhighalert

becausethecityhasbeenaddingmorethan400COVIDcasesdailyformorethanaweek

now. InMumbai, asa report in thispaper showed lastweek, thesituation ismuchmore

critical: There is an acute shortage of Dedicated CovidHospitals,which admit critically

illpatients likethosewhorequire ICUorventilatorsupport.Withthereturnofmigrants

from hotspots, districts and small towns in the country will have their task cut out.

Khagaria district in Bihar, for instance, expects about 50,000migrants to return in the

comingweeks,buthasonlytwoventilators,both inprivatehospitals.Only37of the135

postsof governmentdoctors in thedistricthavebeen filled.

Overwhelmedbythepandemic,somemedicalfacilitieshaveturnedupthepressureon

medical professionals, particularly junior doctors andnurses. Lastweek, theGujaratHigh

Courtpulledupthestate’shealthministerandchief secretary forneglecting theproblems

facedbypatientsandstaff at theAhmedabadCivilHospital.Responding toananonymous

letterdetailingtheproblemsofthegovernmenthospital’sjuniorstaff,thecourtdescribedthe

healthcarefacilityasa“dungeon”.Asthecountry’sCOVID-19caseloadincreases,policymak-

ersandhospitalauthoritiesneedtoworkatcreativesolutionstodealwiththepatientinflux.

Asafirststep,theymusttreathealthcareworkersinahumanemanner,ensuretheirsafety.

UNLOCKING JUSTICEThata19-year-oldisstill injail,accusedofsedition,because

courtseesnourgencyinhermatterisatragedyandtravesty

INDIVIDUALSAGAINSTWHOMcasesofseditionhavebeenfiledinrecentmonths,

for protests against theCitizenshipAmendmentAct and theproposedNational

Register of Citizens in particular,may be facing a double injustice, in the justice

process.Asareport inthispaperhasbroughttolight,amidapublichealthemer-

gency inwhichcourts arehearingonly “urgent” cases throughvideo-conferencing, bail

pleas filed in these cases are not being defined as such. That these people, like 19-year-

oldAmulyaLeona,arrestedinFebruarybyBengalurupoliceunderSection124of theIPC

for raising “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans at an anti-CAA rally, are languishing in custody,

theirbail pleasunheard, is thesecond injustice. The first, asanother report in thispaper

underlined in February, predates the pandemic: It is the fact that inmany of these ar-

rests, theremandordersbymagistratesneitheraskednoransweredbasicquestionslaid

down by the Supreme Court to satisfy themselves that the serious sedition charge is

founded.A scrutinyof 25-oddarrestsmadeonchargesof sedition inUP,Karnatakaand

Assamsince theanti-CAAprotestsbegan, threwupasoberingpatternofpolicecustody

granted by courts, no questions asked, no reasons given, or after themost perfunctory

hearings.While the SupremeCourt hasupheld the colonial-era sedition law, it has also

readtheprovisionrestrictively,sayingonlyseditious“speechtendedtoincitepublicdis-

order”waspunishable.Theapexcourthasemphasisedthatclearandimmediateincite-

ment toviolence isnecessary formaking theoffenceof sedition.

The apparent languor of the courts, the evident lack of rigour or urgency, in cases

where itwould appear that the government is criminalising acts of protest by slapping

serious charges on them, is troubling. It is disquieting if thepandemic becomes a cover

todelayordenytheweakandthevulnerable theirday incourt, their fundamental right

tobail.Eversincepeople’sprotestsbeganacrossthecountryagainsttheCAAandthepro-

posedNRC—theywereseentobe introducingreligionasacriterionforcitizenship,and

discriminatingagainsttheMuslimminority—theBJP-ledgovernmentattheCentrehas,

deservedly, invited accusations of intolerance of viewsdifferent from its own. The gov-

ernmentdidnot just turnadeaf ear to theprotesters, it alsoattempted tosubdue them,

includingbywieldingtheseditionlaw.Thishascastagreaterresponsibilityonthecourt.

Thecourtsarethetime-testedrecourseforupholdingandsafeguardingconstitutionalpro-

tectionsforthecitizens’freedomofexpression,includingandespeciallythelibertytodissent.

Theymustnotshow,norbeseentoshow,alackofalacrityinperformingtheirvitalrole.

WATCH THE BIRDIEThegoldenageof kabootarbaazi inPakistan isn’tover—

anothermission fromthe far side isontheradar

TWICE EVERYDECADE, on average, intelligence officers on the borderwith

Pakistan interrogate a flighty suspect and try tomake it sing. But it canonly

coo,becauseitisahomingpigeon.ThelasttimeaPakistanipigeonwascaught

in the Indiandragnetwas in2015,whenabirdwithnashtaliqmarkingswas

apprehended. Thewriting referred to adistrict and town inPakistan, andwasprobably

thepre-modernequivalentof thecouriercompany’sstandardmessage:“Ifundelivered,

pleasereturntosender.”However,amidrampantattemptsbysomecustodiansof Indian

culture topurge it of Urdu, the letteringwas found tobe suspicious and thepigeonwas

interrogatedmercilessly.Thecontentsof itsdebriefingwereneverrevealed.Presumably,

thebirdhadcooedsoothingly.

Butithadlied.Allisnotwell.Thenashtaliqpigeon’ssuccessorintheservicehasbeenap-

prehended inKathua, theborderdistrict in Jammu&Kashmir, as it flew in fromPakistani

airspace,undertheradar.Thismiscreant is inscrutable,butfeaturesradicalheraldry. Its left

wingismarkedbrightred,andsoisaringfixedtoitsleg,whichbearsastringofcode.Adated

signalfromthecommunistmovement,whichhasalargelyforgottenhistoryinPakistan?

Having left behind that history, no one has the key to read thatmessage anymore.

Andanyway,theonlyapparentgroundforsuspectingthepigeonisitsnationality.Maybe

the“code”isjustthebird’smembershipnumberinapigeonracingclubinSialkot.Maybe

it is theSwissbankaccountnumberof itsowner,which is the internalaffairof Pakistan.

Maybe it’s a stringof gibberishdesigned tokeep theNational SecurityAdvisor onedge.

Maybewe shouldwait five years for the next Pakistani pigeon to violate our airspace,

bearingamoresensiblemessage.

The importance of campus

SatishDeshpande

Varad Pande and Subhashish Bhadra

Pandemicisbeingusedtopushonlineeducation—butitmustsupplement,notreplace,physicalsitesof learning

A PORTABLE WELFAREExperiencewithGSTholdsvaluable lessons forOneNationOneRationCard

THE CURRENT CRAZE for online education(OE)remindsmeof thewallgraffitiadvertis-ing sex clinics that are visible across urbannorth India. These ads promise guaranteedcures—shartiyailaj—forallkindsofailmentsandafflictions.Today,OEisbeingforce-fedtoIndianeducationasamiraclecure—atalllev-els(school,college,university)andforalltasks(lectures, exams, admissions)—not only forpandemicconditionsbutforthefuture.Readersmayhave alreadydecided that I

cometoburyOE,nottopraiseit.Theyarehalfright.Ibelievethattheincrediblesynergyun-leashedbyinformationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT)isthebestthingtohavehap-pened to education since the printingpress.Indeed,highereducationtodayisunthinkablewithoutsomeformofthecomputerandsomemodeofdigitiseddatatransmission.Asprod-ucts of this revolution, onlinemethods ofteaching and learning deserve our highestpraise—but onlywhen cast in their properrole,whichistosupplement,supportandam-plifythetechniquesofface-to-faceeducation.Themoment they are proposed as a substi-tuteforthephysicalsitesof learningwehavelongknown—brick-and-cementschools,col-leges, anduniversities—onlinemodesmustberesolutelyresisted.ResistancetoOEisoftendismissedasthe

self-servingresponseof vested interests,no-tablyobstructive,technophobicteachersun-willing to upgrade their skills. But these arenot the only vested interests involved.Authoritarianadministratorsareattractedbythecentralisedcontrolandscaling-at-willthatOE offers. Educational entrepreneurs havebeen trying to harvest the billions promisedbymassive openonline courses (MOOCs)—thinkofUdacity,Coursera,orEdX.Punditsarenowpredicting post-pandemic tie-ups be-tweenICTgiantslikeGoogleandAmazonandpremiumeducationbrandslikeHarvardandOxfordthatwilllaunchaneweraofvertically-integratedhybridOEplatforms.Whateverthevestedinterests,ultimately

itistheperspectiveofstudentsthatshouldbedecisive.IsOEaviablealternativetotraditionaleducational institutions (TEI) for the typical

Indianstudent?Proponents of OE offer misleading an-

swers to this question by making biasedcomparisons.Sincenoonewithaccesstoanelite TEI chooses OE instead,we know thatOE always loses in best-to-best compar-isons.Favourable impressionsaboutOEarecreatedmostlybycomparingthebestofOEwithaverageorworseTEIs.Butis it truethatthe best OE is better than the average col-legeoruniversity?To answer this question,wemust exam-

ine the implicit claim at the heart of theOEproject, namely, that the goals of TEIs areachievablewithout the latter’sphysical loca-tion or forms of interaction. In otherwords,OEclaimsthatneitherthecampusnorface-to-faceinteractionareintegraltoeducation.Sincethe comparative evaluationof virtual versusface-to-facepedagogicinteractionneedsmorespace,thecampusquestionisconsideredhere.How does the typical student’s home

(wheremostwouldaccessOE)comparewithatypicalTEIcampus?Census2011tellsusthat71percentofhouseholdswiththreeormoremembershavedwellingswithtworoomsorless(74percentinruraland64percentinur-ban areas). According to National SampleSurvey data for 2017-18, only 42 per cent ofurbanand15percentofruralhouseholdshadinternetaccess,andonly34percentofurbanand11percentof ruralpersonshadusedtheinternetinthepast30days.ItistruethatmanyTEIs (bothpublic andprivate) have substan-dardinfrastructure.Butthesedatasuggestthatthemajority(roughlytwo-thirds)ofstudentsarelikelytobeworseoffathomecomparedtoanycampus.Theimpactofsmartphonecapa-bilitiesandstabilityofnetconnectivityonOEpedagogyalsoneedstobeexamined.But it is as a social rather than physical

space that the college or university campusplaysacriticalrole.Wehavelongignoredthevital rolepubliceducational institutionsplayasexemplarysitesofsocial inclusionandrel-ativeequality.InIndianconditions,thisroleisarguably even more important than thescholasticrole.Thoughmanyuglyblemishesremain, the public educational institution is

still the only spacewhere people of all gen-ders, classes, castes, and communities canmeetwithoutonegroupbeingforcedtobowtoothers.Whateveritsimpactonacademics,this is critical learning for life.Women stu-dents, inparticular,will bemuchworseoff ifconfinedtotheirhomesbyOE.Itsunacceptabilityasasubstitutedoesnot

diminish the indispensable part thatOE canplayas a supplement toon-site education. Itcanusecontentandmethodsthatarehardtoinclude in thenormal curriculum. It canputpressure on lazy or incompetent teachers. Itcan provide hands-on experience inmanytechnical fieldswheresimulationsarepossi-ble.Anditcan,ofcourse,beapowerfulacces-soryforaffluentstudentsabletoaffordexpen-siveaids.ButitisfraudulenttosuggestthatOEcan replace public education, the only kindthatthemajoritycanaccess.Suchbluntnessmayseemunseemly. It is

necessary todaywhengovernments are us-ing the cover of the COVID-19 emergency topushthroughregressive“reforms”—suchasanti-worker amendments to labour laws—thatwould face vocal opposition in normaltimes. In this context, there is a real dangerthat OE is being groomed to play the roleplayedbythe“cashlesseconomy”duringthedemonetisationcrisis,butinreverse.Themi-rage of a cashless economywas a retrospec-tivelyinventedjustificationforacatastrophicautocraticdecision.OEcouldbetheproactivetrojan horse smuggled in under pandemicconditions to abrogate the state’s commit-ments inpubliceducation.Thebestlast-ditchargumentforreplacing

TEIswithOEistofirstunderminetheformerto thepoint of collapse, and then innocentlypointoutthat,afterall,OEisbetterthannoth-ing. This cynical argumentworks only if wearesomehowpersuadedtobecomplicitinthedestructionofpubliceducation.Unlesswere-sist such persuasion today, OE is exactly thekindof“shartiyailaj”thatwemaybecoercedintobuyingtomorrow.

Thewriter teaches sociologyatDelhiUniversity

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS precipitated byCOVID-19 has focussed the country’s atten-tion on inter-state migrants. Millions ofIndians in this diverse, complex grouphavecrossedstateborders insearchof bettereco-nomicopportunities.Thecrisis,however,hashighlightedtheirprecarioussocio-economiccondition.Historically,governmentshavemadesev-

eral attempts tobridge thegap.Akeypartofthat roadmap is the idea of portablewelfarebenefits,thatis,acitizenshouldbeabletoac-cesswelfarebenefitsirrespectiveofwheresheis in the country. In the case of food rations,theideawasfirstmootedundertheUPAgov-ernmentbyaNandanNilekani-ledtaskforcein2011.Thecurrentgovernmenthadcommit-ted to a national rollout of OneNation, OneRationCard(ON-ORC)byJune2020,andhadinitiatedpilots in12 states.While intra-stateportabilityofbenefitshasseengoodinitialup-take,inter-stateportabilityhaslagged.Thefi-nanceministerhasnowannouncedthedead-lineofMarch2021torolloutON-ORC.Toensureasmoothrollout,wewouldben-

efit from reviewing the challenges thus far.First, the fiscal implications:ON-ORCwill af-fect how the financial burden is shared be-tweenstates.Second,thelargerissuesof fed-eralism and inter-state coordination:Manystatesarenotconvincedabouta“onesizefitsall”regimebecausetheyhavecustomisedthePDSthroughhighersubsidies,higherentitle-ment limits, and supply of additional items.Third, the technology aspect: ON-ORC re-quires a complex technology backbone thatbringsover750millionbeneficiaries,5,33,000

ration shops and 54million tonnes of food-grainannuallyonasingleplatform.Thesebarriersmight seemdaunting, but

the country has previously dealt with anequally complex situationwhile rolling outtheGST,whichwaswidelytoutedas“onena-tion,onetax”.JustlikewithON-ORC,fiscalconcernshad

troubledGST fromthe start. States likeTamilNaduandGujaratthatare“netexporters”wereconcernedtheywouldloseoutontaxrevenuesto “net consumer” states likeUP and Bihar.Finally, theCentrehad to step in andprovideguaranteedcompensationforlosttaxrevenuesfor the first five years. TheCentre couldpro-vide a similar assurance to “net inboundmi-gration”statessuchasMaharashtraandKeralathat any additional costs on account ofmi-grantswillbecoveredbyitforthefiveyears.GST also saw similar challenges with

broaderissuesofinter-statecoordination.Inanoteworthyexampleof cooperative federal-ism, the central government created a GSTcouncil consistingof the financeministersofthecentralandstategovernmentstoaddresstheseissues.Thegovernmentcouldconsidera similar national council forON-ORC. To beeffective, this council shouldmeet regularly,havespecificdecision-makingauthority,andshould operate in a problem-solvingmodebasedonconsensusbuilding.Finally,GSTissupportedbyasophisticated

tech backbone, housed by theGSTNetwork(GSTN),anentityjointlyownedbytheCentreandstates.AsimilarsystemwouldbeneededforON-ORC. TheNilekani-led task force rec-ommended setting up of a PDS network

(PDSN)totrackmovementofrations,registerbeneficiaries,issuerationcards,handlegriev-ances and generate analytics. Since food ra-tions are a crucial lifeline formillions, such aplatformshould incorporate principles suchas inclusion, privacy, security, transparency,and accountability. The IM-PDS portal pro-videsagoodstartingpoint.At the same time,we should learn from

the shortcomings and challenges of theGSTrollout.Forexample,delayinGSTrefundsledto cash-flow issues. Similar delays in receiv-ing food rations could be catastrophic.Therefore,ON-ORCshouldcreate,publishandadheretotime-boundprocesses, likerighttopublic services legislation that have beenadoptedby15states,andrapidgrievancere-dressmechanisms.MSMEs also complained about the in-

crease in compliance burden especially forthosewhohad to digitise overnight. SimilarchallengescouldariseinON-ORC.PDSdealerswillneedtobebroughtonboard,andnotas-sumedtobecompliant.Citizenswillneedtobe shielded from the inevitable teething is-suesbykeepingthesystemlenientatfirst,pro-vidingdifferentways of authenticating one-self,andpublicisingahelplinewidely.Ifdonewell,ON-ORCcouldlaythefounda-

tionof a trulynational andportablebenefitssystem that includes other welfare pro-grammes like LPG subsidy and social pen-sions.Itisanopportunitytoprovideareliablesocialprotectionbackbonetomigrants,whoarethebackboneofoureconomy.

ThewritersworkatOmidyarNetwork India

We have long ignored the vital

role public educational

institutions play as exemplary

sites of social inclusion and

relative equality. In Indian

conditions, this role is

arguably even more

important than the scholastic

role. Though many ugly

blemishes remain, the public

educational institution is still

the only space where people of

all genders, classes, castes, and

communities can meet

without one group being

forced to bow to others.

Whatever its impact on

academics, this is critical

learning for life. Women

students, in particular, will be

much worse off if confined to

their homes by OE.

In a noteworthy example of

cooperative federalism, the

central government created a

GST council consisting of

the finance ministers of the

central and state

governments to address

these issues. The

government could consider a

similar national council for

ON-ORC. To be effective,

this council should meet

regularly, have specific

decision-making authority,

and should operate in a

problem-solving mode based

on consensus building.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

WORDLYWISE

If you bureaucratise popular justice then

you give it the formof a court. — MICHEL FOUCAULTTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM VIOLENCEFourpersonswerekilledwhenpoliceopenedfireonclashingmobsof rivalstudentgroupsin at least two Assam towns thismorning.More than 400 persons, including a dozenpolicemen, were injured. Scores of houseswereburntdown,shopslootedandinnumer-able casesof assaultswere reported fromasmany as 24 places in lower Assam. Three ofthe casualtieswere at Bijni andoneof themwas at Abhoypuri. One person has beenstabbedtodeathatBarpetaroad lastnight.

OPPOSITION VIEWSTWENTYLEADERSFROMvariousoppositionparties and groups in Parliament have been

invited by PrimeMinister IndiraGandhi, fordiscussionsontheAssamproblemonMay31.Membersof thecabinetcommitteeonpolit-icalaffairswillattendtheall-partymeet.MrsGandhi had convened themeeting tomakeanotherbidtoevolveanacceptablesolutiontotheproblemofforeignnationalsinAssam.MrsGandhiislikelytoseektheopposition'sviewson thevarious suggestionswhichhavebeenmadeaboutthebaseyearfordeportationandsettlement of those identified as foreigners.Since the earlier all-partymeeting had en-dorsedthegovernment’smovetofix1971asthe base year for identifying and deportingforeigners,itisfeltthattheoppositionshouldbeconsultedif anychangeistobemade.

KWANGJU CRISISTHE BATTERED SOUTH Korean city ofKwangju remained in the hands of anti-government rebels. The student leadersof the insurrection said that they wantedthe United States as a “firm ally”to helpmediate a solution to the crisis. “TheUSshouldexercise influenceonthegovern-ment,” the militants told reporters asthe stalemate between them andmartiallaw authorities continued for the fourthday.Student leadersalsoannouncedanewdeath toll from the three days of riotinglast week, saying that they had collecteda total of 261 bodies, of which 100 remainunidentified.

MAY 27, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“What is now at stake is bigger than the future of Hong Kong, as important as

that is. Other nations should ask themselves whether they want China to

believe that it can trample on its pledges and renege on international treaties

with impunity.” — THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Admittedly, the response to

HIV was disease-centric,

strengthened with large

sums of financing and

human resources.

Unfortunately, it failed to

transform health systems

more broadly, which should

have been another positive

outcome of such a resource-

intensive effort. And

undoubtedly, COVID-19

and HIV are different in

their pathologies, causes,

manifestations and impacts.

Still, like the Basic Structure

of India’s Constitution, there

are some fundamentals

which are true and work

regardless of the nature of

things.

HIV lessons forCovid-19

When faithis shaken

ON JUNE 8, 2017, then External AffairsMinister of India, the late Sushma Swaraj,tweeted: “Even if you are stuck onMars,the Indian Embassywill be there to helpyou.”Thisconfidence-ladendeclarationtohelp Indians on foreign soil during crisesstemmedfromtwofactors.First, theglori-oustrackrecordof30-plussuccessfulover-seasevacuationsbythegovernmentsinceIndependence, includingtheKuwaitAirliftand Operation Safe Homecoming. These,despitebeingheldduringwartimecondi-tions, were characterised by a quick gov-ernmentalwill and intent toshield thedi-aspora. Second, from the assurance givento every citizen on the first page of theIndian passport which reads “...Allow thebearertopassfreely…andtoaffirmhimorher, every assistance and protection ofwhichheor shemaystand inneed”.COVID-19 has not only tested the re-

silience of themedical and safety infra-structureof thecountrybuthasalsoputtothetesttheseriousnessof thepledgeofas-sistance and protection made to everyIndiantravellingorstudyingabroad.Whilethe reversemigrationof labourershasex-posed faultlines in thewelfare apparatus,the commercialised, chargeable interna-tional missions — “Vande Bharat” and“Operation Samudra Setu” — expose thearbitrary and slow-footed responseof thecurrent central government towards therepatriationof Indians stuckabroad.The government shut down Indian

skies to all inbound traffic onMarch 22,which left a large number of Indiansstrandedinvariouscountries. Indiansma-roonedabroadstaredatthebleakpossibil-ity of not returning home, faced evictionsfromhostelsandhotelsincertaincasesduetosafetymeasuresaswellasfinancialcon-straints. The sequence of events that fol-lowed, rather than reassuring them, gavetheimpressionthattheadministrationhasadiscriminatoryandwhimsical approachtowards its citizens in need overseas. Thedecision to sign a contract whereby AirIndia would return safely the citizens offourcountries—Germany,Canada,FranceandIreland—andoptingtoflybackemptyinsteadofferryingbackIndians(desirousofreturning)lefteveryonewithasenseofbe-trayal. TheMinistry of External Affairs in-dulged in self-congratulation in one of itspressbriefings,forassisting20,000foreignnationals in exiting India. But it failed toshare a blueprint or even give a commit-ment about the return of Indian citizensabroad, highlighting the “out of sight-outofmind”mindsetof thedecision-makers.

When the central government finallydecidedtoofferahelpinghand, itopted tolaunch a paid repatriationmission ratherthan an evacuationmission (which is freeof cost for the evacuee). Is this the time toextractapoundoffleshfromdisheartened,disappointed and fatigued Indians? TheVandeBharatMissionalongwithOperationSamudraSetuhascreatedhistorybybeingthelargestpaidrepatriationexercise.Ithasalso createdhistorybybeing themost de-layedandcommercialisedrepatriationtheworldhasseeninrecent times.Moreoftenthannot,whenevertheex-

ecutivefails,thejudiciarycomestotheres-cue.Unfortunately, in thecaseof strandedIndians, even the Supreme Court of IndiaonApril13said,“staywhereyouare”inanobservationwhile dealingwith the pleaseeking directions to the government toinitiate evacuationmissions. The lacunaand unpredictability of the government’sresponsebring to the forefront theurgentneedforIndiatohaveawell-structuredandinstitutionalisedrights-based“citizenevac-uationpolicy”withthepotential tobe ini-tiated and implemented without beingheld hostage to unpredictable politicaltemperamentsandthebureaucraticmaze.The fact that suchapolicy is critical for

beingwell-preparedforanotherCOVID-19likeexigencyisaforegoneconclusion.Also,keeping inmind the increasing traffic ofoutbound students, businessmen, tourists(the United Nations World TourismOrganisationestimated thatmore than50millionIndianswilltravelabroadtill2022),researchersandjob-seekers,Indianeedstorevisit its overseas evacuation strategy. Assuggested by a research paper on January4, 2017,“India’s Expatriate EvacuationOperations:BringingtheDiasporaHome”,publishedbyCarnegieIndia,legislatorsandpolicy experts need to frame a set of stan-dardoperatingprocedures.Thesemustnotbe based on convenience but on the re-quirement to strengthen the responsemechanismofIndianembassiesworldwide(amongstotherthings)sothateveryIndianonforeignsoilisawareofthelaw,timelines,communicationchannels,individualrightsbeyondthe“11linepromise”printedonthefirstpageofthepassport.Atthesametime,theofficialsattheMEAneedtoanswerwhytherewasadeparturefromtheswift,non-commercialised approach adopted in thepast, creating a trust deficit amongst thehelp-seekingcitizens.The PrimeMinister of India, in a tele-

vised interview on January 21, 2018,claimedthatthe“Indianpassportnowhasdifferent respect and strength”. Now, justas the faith of migrant workers has beenshakenanddemolishedbythesystem,thefaithofstudentsandtouristsabroadstandsscarred. To reinstall the trust of the dias-porainthegovernmentasaneffectiveres-cuer, a Citizen Evacuation Policymust betabledat theearliest.

Thewriter isaSupremeCourt lawyerandnational spokesperson,IndianNationalCongress

A DECADE AGO, India demonstrated ahealth-relatedresponsethatwasacclaimedas a blueprint for how public health chal-lengescanbesuccessfullytackled.Weseemto have forgotten (or dismissed) the funda-mentalsof that successalready.The decades-long response toHIV/AIDS

fronted the followingprinciples. First, deal-ingwithepidemicsrequiresplacingthemostmarginalisedandvulnerableattheforefrontof any strategy. If their needs are met —whetherintheformofaccesstoinformationand services, or respect for their bodily, so-cial and economic integrity — not only aretheir healthoutcomesmorepromising, butinall likelihood,theneedsandhealthofoth-ers who are higher in the socio-economicladder will also be met through such athoughtful approach.Shaping inclusive and nurturing health

systemsandsocialenvironmentsmeansthatthosedeliveringhealthareattunedtothere-alities of the vulnerable andmarginalised,and can better serve their needs. It meansfosteringanenvironmentofhealthandgov-ernance that those at themargins feel en-couragedandsafetoengagewith.AsaqueermanwhowasvulnerabletoHIV,Iknowhowvery distant a health system that shunnedme andmy ilk felt like in the 1990s. As alawyerwho has longworked on issues re-lated to health, I sawhow transformative itwas toworkwith governmentbureaucrats,physicians, nurses, police, employers, andNGOs, whowere open to conversations onsex,sexuality, illnessandlaw,andhow,overtime, these dialogues fostered an enablingenvironmentinthehealthsector,whichbe-gantoreflect inpolicy, and inwidersocietalefforts tocounterHIV.InthecaseofHIV,fosteringsuchanenvi-

ronmentmeant sexworkers, hijras, peoplelivingwith HIV, drug users, menwho havesex with other men were at the heart ofhealth and public policy efforts. In the con-text of COVID-19, itmeans centering front-line personnel such as healthcareworkers,sanitationworkers, and the police, peoplewith co-morbidities, senior citizens, andthosewhoselivesareturnedchaoticbyharshmeasures such as lockdowns— dailywageandmigrant labourers, women and the ur-banpoor.Second,makethemarginalisedandvul-

nerablealliesinthisjourneythroughacollec-tiveapproachthat listenstotheirneedsandoffers appropriate solutions. Do not treatthemassubjectstoberegimented,butpart-nerstobeempowered—bottom-up,nottop-down.Strengthenthemwithreliable, relat-able, destigmatising and evidence-basedinformation and services, the rights to availthese, and a health and social system thatdoesnot castigatebutwelcomes.This requires humility, a consciousness

to know that whatever our expertise, we

don’t have the solutions to health issuesthatareentwinedwithcomplexhumanre-alities.Andthatalthoughthose inthemostserious predicaments may be lower in allthekindsof ill-conceivedwaysbywhichwemeasure social and human worth, theyprobablyhaveinsightsthat leadustogetherto solutions.Third, leaveone’s personalmorality and

the all-too-common human tendency toblameandvilifybehind.This entailsunder-standing how a disease transmits, but notfaultingthosewhohaveit.LikewithCOVID-19, inHIV too anoverwhelmingmajority ofpeoplehaveno idea that theyarecarriers.Doing this in relation toHIV led to some

extraordinaryprogress,includingthematur-ingofahealthbureaucracyforwhomissuesofhumansexualityandsexualbehaviourbe-cameroutinelycomfortable,onewhichwashonest and empathetic about such issues,regularly at ease sittingwith hijras and sexworkers to listen and learn from them, andlet such voices shape policy and practice,which became somuchmore reflective ofground realities, and therefore,more effec-tive. Indeed, it was heartening to note thatsomeof thosewhoservedingovernmentatthe peak of the HIV response are part ofICMR’shigh-leveltechnicalcommitteeofex-pertsonCOVID-19.Theywillhavelessonstoshare from HIV. That advice should beheeded.HIVwas thwarted from ravaging India

notbyan intimidating top-downapproach.Itwas containedbecauseof anempoweredcommunity of affected citizens who de-mandedtheirhealthandrelatedrights, andaplace at the table as responsible solvers ofthechallenge,notdocile recipientsof direc-tives.Itwasacommunitythatdemandedac-

cess to antiretroviralmedication thatmadethe government roll out and scale up a freeprogramme that has saved and enhancedmillionsof lives. Itwasanactiveanddiversequeercommunitythatdemandedanendtolawslikesection377whichmadethemvul-nerable to violence, unjust criminality andHIVthatcausedthelawtobestruckdown.ItwasavastswatheofcitizensthatworkedonandobtainedIndia’sfirstanti-discriminationlaw—theHIV/AIDSAct. It isthiscommunitywhich challenges illegitimate monopolyclaims by big pharma to patent life-savingdrugsthatthreatentomakemedicationun-affordable.Admittedly,theresponsetoHIVwasdis-

ease-centric, strengthenedwith large sumsof financing and human resources.Unfortunately, it failed to transformhealthsystemsmore broadly, which should havebeenanotherpositiveoutcomeof suchare-source-intensive effort. And undoubtedly,COVID-19 and HIV are different in theirpathologies,causes,manifestationsandim-pacts. Still, like theBasic Structureof India’sConstitution, there are some fundamentalswhich are true andwork regardless of thenatureof things.Although the challenges of COVID-19

shouldnotbedealtwithinadisease-specificmanner, this crisis is a ripe opportunity tostrengthen the public health and social se-curitysystemmorefully, fortifiedbythehu-maneandinclusiveapproachesthatHIVhasshownus. It is not yet too late for India’s re-sponse to COVID-19 to recalibrate so that itserves community health and the publicgood in just thismanner.

Thewriterheads theCentre forHealthEquity, Law&Policyat ILSPune

VivekDivan

LEARN NOW

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Thinksmarter' (IE,May26). Therehas tobeacourse correction in our Smart CitiesMission. How little health figures insmartcityprojectsisridiculous.Perhaps,if our infrastructure had not been sowoefully inadequate,wemaynothavebeenpushedbehindcloseddoorsforsolong. The lack of means to deal withCOVID-19 has led to indescribable suf-fering. Ahealthypopulation is an assetfor anation. It’s time to realise this andlearnour lessons fromthepandemic.

VijaiPant,Hempur

FEAR MONGERS

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Theconta-gionof fear’ (IE,May26). The fearof anunknowndisease,acontagionthathasaffected all aspects of life, is under-standable.InIndia,though,thereactionto thedisease isn’t just about anaturalfear.Thepoliticalclass,particularlytherulingparty,hasmade the issueoneofdemonisingminorities.It’sownant-sci-ence bias — as the author points outthroughexamples—encouragesexclu-sionandobscurantism.

BiswadeepChatterjee,Delhi

UNEQUAL CITIZENS

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Migration:Our’sandtheirs’(IE,May26).Thewriterpoignantlycapturestheunequaltreat-mentmeted out to the interstate andintra-state migrants, based on theircaste and class. Inequality — amarkerof capitalism— is today a way of life.

With values like empathy, solicitudeandrespectmissinginpubliclife,alargechunk of the population is reduced tosecond-rate citizens. This betrays ourcollective conscience and the humanspirit. A bit of conscientiousness anddueregardwill goa longway.

AnirudhParashar,Solan

DON’T SUCCUMB

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Unquietfront’ ( IE, May 25). The stand-off be-tween India and China on the borderappears to be a pressure tactic by theChinese to force India toplaya lowkeyinthepandemicoriginprobe.Indiaget-ting close to the US has also irked theChinese. So, the latter has even pro-vokedNepaltoraiseaborderdisputeinSikkim. Indiamust stand its guardandnot succumbtoBeijing’sbully tactics.

RDSingh,Ambala

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

WEARESTILLinthemiddleof theCOVID-19pandemic and, therefore, a more detailedanalysisof all the factorsatplay inreal-timemayhave towait. However, several aspectsof thispandemic—whatitwillmeanfortheworld—arealreadyvisible.At the global scale, the systemof gover-

nanceisitselfattest.Thisisnotaminorhap-penstance,ashistoryshowsthatsuchglobalcrises have often led tomajor upheavals inthegloballyacceptedformsofgovernments.In the present context, the question beingposed is this: Is the autocratic model ofChina, which claims to have stopped thevirus in its tracks, better? Or is the demo-cratic model better? Considering the waythe virus has been handled in some largedemocracies,anenterprisingpartisancouldmakeacasefortheChinesemodel.Thepar-tisan could argue that South Korea orSingapore are not reallymodels since theyare very small states, and in terms of scale,ChinahasfaredbetterthantheUSorBritainin first managing the pandemic, and thenlater, in restarting theeconomy. India is theonlyspoilsport in thisnarrative. It isa large,chaoticanddiversedemocracy.Yet, fromen-forcingstrictandearlylockdownstoprovid-ing economic relief to almost half a billionpeople, and then to a gradual opening up,

India — under the leadership of PrimeMinisterNarendraModi—standsasashin-ingdemocraticcounter totheartificialglitzof theautocraticChinesemodel.Closer home, an unstated contest be-

tween the various states is also playing out.Whichstateleadershiphasproveditsmettlein this time of unprecedented crisis?Whileananswertothisquestionmayhavemultipleviews,whatcannotbecontestedistheemer-gence of Yogi Adityanath as the state leaderwith themost enhanced stature. He had al-ready built a reputation for administrativedexterity by the simultaneous and flawlessexecutionofthemega-scalePravasiBharatiyaDivas and the 2019 Prayagraj KumbhMela.But in a sense, theywereminor challenges.The realmettle is testedwhenoneneeds toreacttounforeseenchallenges—likeCOVID-19—AdityanathandhisCOVID-19“Team11”managementteamhave,sofar,performedina stellar fashion inmanaging all the dimen-sionsof thischallenge.First, in establishing a protocol for con-

tact tracing, testing andquarantining, UttarPradeshhassetagoodexample.Thesuccess-ful Agra cluster containmentmodel, for ex-ample, has already attracted a lot of atten-tion. In dealing with the violators ofguidelines, be it the Tablighis or others, the

state has displayed requisite tact and firm-ness. So far, more than 2.52 crore people inover 50 lakh homes have been reached byover60,000surveillance teams.Second, health infrastructure has been

scaledupinrecordtime.Seventy-eighthos-pitalsofLevel-1,64governmenthospitalsofLevel-2andsixhospitalsofLevel-3—withacombined bed capacity of 52,000 — havebeen set up, covering every district of thestate. Fifty-threeunitsmanufacturingPPEs,99 units making sanitisers and 412 unitsmakingmedical equipment andmedicineshavebeenmadefunctionalinthestateinthelast twomonths.Third,Adityanath is theonlystate leader

to have understood the importance of pro-viding early economic relief. Itwas the firststate government to provide Rs 1,000 eachto5.97 lakhconstructionworkersonMarch24. Since then, in April, Rs, 1,000 eachwastransferred to an additional almost 30 lakhworkers,andRs611crorewastransferredtoover27 lakhMGNREGAworkers.OnMay1,labourday,over30lakhworkerswereagaingivenRs1,000each.Allthisisoverandabovethecentral government relief packages.Fourth, the state has been themost hu-

mane and proactive in managing themi-grants' movement. Apart from immediate

travel, foodandfinancialassistance,thestatehasalsostartedpreparingforthefuture.Theunskilled labour that once left the state isnowreturningasaskilledandtrainedwork-force. Utilising the opportunity, aMigrantsCommission is being set upwhich, amongotherthings,willprepareadistrict-wisehu-man-skillsmapforusebyindustriesinabidto retain talent.Fifth, realising the inherent opportunity

in the crisis, aggressive reforms carried outat the state level—especially in labour laws— have already attracted global attention.Coupledwith an alreadymassive push to-wards creating connectivity, easier land ac-quisitionprocessesandresponsivestatema-chinery, the state is putting its best footforward. VonWellx became the first com-pany to shift itsmanufacturing fromChinato India post the COVID-19 crisis.Coincidentally, it choseUPas itsbase.It will be fascinating to watch howUP

fares in general, and Adityanath in particu-lar, in the comingmonths and years. If theresponsetotheCOVID-19crisisisanybarom-eter,weare in forexciting times.

Thewriter isCEO,BluekraftDigitalFoundationandwasearlierdirector

(content)MyGov

UttarPradeshissettinganexample,dealingwithpandemicwithefficiency,firmness

Crisis and leadership

AkhileshMishra

IDEAS

ONLINE

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Jaiveer Shergill

Toreinstall trustof diaspora ingovernmentaseffectiverescuer, aCitizenEvacuation

Policy isneeded

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HIV/AIDSwasthwartedbyabottom-upapproach, inwhichthemarginalisedandvulnerablewereseenaspartners,notsubjects

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GERMANY

Socialdistancing

tobeextended

untilJune29

Berlin:Germanyplans toextend social distancinguntil June 29, newspaperBildcitedadraftdocumentthat still needs to be ap-proved by the federalstates as saying. Askedabout the report, aspokesman for theGermangovernmentsaidtalkswere ongoing. Bildsaid meetings in publicplaceswouldbelimitedtoamaximumof 10peopleormembersoftwohouse-holds. It said therewouldbeno limits on the num-ber of visitors allowed tovisit people in their ownhomesbut theymust en-sure that there is enoughspaceforeveryonetokeeptheirdistance. REUTERS

Astudent inCologne,Germany.AP

PANDEMICWATCH

SAUDIARABIA

Curfewends

June21,except

inMecca

Cairo: Saudi Arabia willbegin easing restrictionsonmovement and travelthisweek,morethantwomonths after they wereintroduced. Restrictionswill be lifted in threephases, culminating inthe curfew completelyending -with the excep-tion of the holy city ofMecca- fromJune21, thestate news agency re-ported in a statementearlyonTuesday.TheHajjandUmrahpilgrimmages—which attractmillionsof travelers from aroundtheworld —will remainsuspended until furthernotice. REUTERS

RUSSIA

174newdeaths,

casenumbers

cross360,000

Moscow:TheRussiangov-ernment reported arecord daily spike of 174deaths Tuesday, whichbrought the country'sdeath toll to 3,807.Russia'scoronaviruscase-load surpassed 360,000on Tuesday,with almost9,000newinfectionsreg-istered in the past 24hours. AP

OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES

REUTERSSÃOPAULO,RIODEJANEIRO,MAY26

IN MID-MARCH, Brazil tookwhat seemed to be a forcefulearly strike against the coron-aviruspandemic.AlthoughBrazilhadyet tore-

portasingledeathfromCovid-19,publichealthofficialsappearedtobegettingoutinfrontofthevirus.TheyactedonMarch13, justtwodays after the World HealthOrganizationcalled thediseaseapandemic.Less than 24 hours later, the

ministrywatereddown its ownadvice,citing"criticismandsug-gestions"ithadreceivedfromlo-cal communities.In fact, four people familiar

with the incident told Reuters,thechangecameafter interven-tion from the chief of staff's of-

fice for Brazil's President JairBolsonaro. “Thatcorrectionwasduetopressure,"saidJulioCroda,anepidemiologistwhowasthentheheadoftheHealthMinistry'sdepartment of immunizationandtransmissiblediseases.The about-face, given scant

attention at the time,marked aturningpoint inthefederalgov-ernment'shandlingof thecrisis,according to the four people.

Behind the scenes, they said,power was shifting from theHealthMinistry, the traditionalleaderonpublichealthmatters,to the office of the president'schiefofstaff,knownasCasaCivil,ledbyWalterSouzaBragaNetto,anArmygeneral.Brazilhaslosttwohealthmin-

istersinthepastsixweeks—onewasfired,theotherresigned—af-ter they disagreedpubliclywithBolsonarooverhowbesttocom-bat the virus. The interim leadernow in charge of the HealthMinistryisanotherArmygeneral.More importantly, the revi-

sionsunderlinedthehardeningof Bolsonaro's view that keep-ing Brazil's economy runningwas paramount, the peoplesaid. Bolsonaro, a far-right for-mer Army captain, has neverwaveredon that stance formu-lated during a crucial few daysin mid-March, despite domes-

ticandinternationalcriticismofhis handling of the crisis, and asnowballing death toll.Brazil now has the world's

second-worst outbreak behindthe United States, with morethan 374,000 confirmed cases.More than 23,000 Brazilianshavedied fromCovid-19.“So what?” Bolsonaro said

recently when asked by re-portersaboutBrazil'smountingfatalities.“Whatdoyouwantmetodo?”Some experts said Brazil's

stumblesareallthemoreshock-ing because of its previous suc-cesscontainingmalaria,ZikaandHIV. "One thing that has been ashining light in Brazil has beentheirpublichealthsystem,"saidAlbertKo,aprofessorattheYaleSchoolofPublicHealthwhohasdecades of experience in Brazil."To see that all disintegrate soquickly, it's justbeenverysad.”

REUTERSGENEVA,ZURICH,MAY26

Countrieswherecoronavirusinfectionsaredecliningcouldstill facean"immediate secondpeak" if they letup toosoononmeasures tohalt theoutbreak,theWorldHealthOrganizationsaidonMonday.Theworld is still in themid-

dleofthefirstwaveofthecoron-avirusoutbreak,WHOemergen-cies head DrMike Ryan told anonlinebriefing,notingthatwhilecases are declining in manycountriestheyarestillincreasingin Central and South America,SouthAsiaaswellasAfrica.Ryan said epidemics often

come in waves, which meansthatoutbreakscouldcomebacklaterthisyearinplaceswherethefirst wave has subsided. Therewas also a chance that infectionrates could rise again morequickly if measures to halt thefirstwavewere liftedtoosoon."Whenwespeakaboutasec-

ondwaveclassicallywhatweof-tenmean is therewill be a firstwaveof thediseasebyitself,andthen it recursmonths later.Andthat may be a reality for manycountries in a number ofmonths' time,"Ryansaid."Butweneedalso tobe cog-

nizantofthefactthatthediseasecan jump up at any time. Wecannotmake assumptions thatjustbecausethediseaseisontheway down now it is going tokeepgoingdown... Wemaygetasecondpeak in thiswave."He said countries in Europe

andNorthAmericashould"con-tinue to put in place the publichealth and socialmeasures, thesurveillancemeasures, the test-ingmeasuresandacomprehen-sive strategy to ensure that wecontinueonadownwardstrajec-toryandwedon'thaveanimme-diate secondpeak."

HCQsafety findingsexpectedbymid-JuneWHOsaidonTuesday that a

safety teamwould review dataon hydroxychloroquine by nextmonth,adayafterofficialscitedsafety concerns that promptedthem to suspend use of themalaria drug in a global trial inCovid-19patients.TheWHOcalled timeonus-

ingthedruginitsmulti-countrytrial, called Solidarity, after astudypublished inBritishmed-ical journalTheLancet foundpa-tientsrandomisedtogethydrox-ychloroquine (HCQ) hadincreased mortality rates andhigher frequency of irregularheartbeats.

WHO warns of‘second peak’ inareas wherecases declining

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,MAY26

AS TOP officials revisit their re-sponsetotheconstantlyshiftingcoronavirus pandemic, they arecomingunderincreasingscrutinynot just for their broader policyapproachesbutfortheirpersonalwillingness—ornot—toabidebytherestrictionsthey'veimposed.In Britain, the apparent

breach of lockdown rules byDominic Cummings, a top aide

toPrimeMinisterBorisJohnson,has ignited apolitical firestorm.Mr.Cummingsheldanewscon-ference onMonday to confirmreports he traveledmore than250milesfromhishomeduringthe lockdown, but he pointedlydeclined to apologize. Mr.Johnsonhasdefendedhim.Theissuehasopenedarift in

the governing ConservativeParty, with at least 20 lawmak-ers from the party condemningMr.Cummingsandajuniorgov-ernmentminister resigning his

postonTuesday inprotest.The Polish government had

to apologize last week afterPrime Minister MateuszMorawiecki tweeted photos ofhimselfsittingdownamealwiththreecolleaguesatarecentlyre-opened restaurant and encour-aged others to visit local estab-lishments.LeoVaradkar, Ireland's care-

taker primeminister, was tar-getedbysometabloidsandcrit-ics on socialmedia andaccusedof violating his country's lock-

down ruleswhen he picnickedin aDublin park over theweek-endwithhispartnerandfriends.In the US, the prospective

DemocraticpresidentialnomineeJoeBidensteppedoutforhisfirstpublicappearance inmonthsonMonday, donning a facemask.ThatwasinastarkvisualcontrasttoPresidentDonaldTrump,whoattendedMemorial Day com-memorationswithout one.Mr.Biden, 77, and his advisers havesaid they intend to abide by thepublicsafetyrecommendations.

AposterdepictingDonaldTrumpinWashington.AP

JairBolsonaro

THENEWYORKTIMESHONGKONG,MAY26

THE COMMANDER of China'smilitary garrison in Hong Kongsaid in an interview postedTuesday that forces stationedtherewould"resolutely"protectthe country's national securityinterests, a pointed reminder ofBeijing's ultimate power to en-force its rule over the semiau-tonomous territory.The commander's remarks

cameasHongKong'sembattledleader,CarrieLam,defendedthecentral government's plan todraftnewnationalsecuritylawstopunishactsof dissentor sub-version,eventhoughtheprocesssidestepped the territory's ownlegislativeprocess."Rightsandfreedomsarenot

absolute," Mrs. Lam said at herregularweeklynewsconferenceinHongKong.

"If a minority of people, in-deed a very small minority ofpeople, are going to breach thelaw to organize and participatein terrorist activities to subvertthe state power, then of coursetheyhave to beboundedby theneeded legislation," shesaid.The garrison commander,

Maj. Gen. Chen Daoxiang, ad-

dressed the situation in HongKonginaninterviewontheside-lines of the National People'sCongress inBeijing.General Chen said the new

legislationwoulddeter"allkindsof separatist forcesandexternalinterventionforces,"echoingtheview of Mrs. Lam and others inChina's political leadership that

the protests have internationalsupport intendedtounderminetheCommunistParty'sruleoverthecity."Garrison officers and sol-

diersaredetermined,confident,andcapableof safeguardingna-tional sovereignty, security anddevelopment interests andmaintainingthelong-termpros-perity and stability of HongKong," General Chen said in in-terviewwith China's state tele-visionnetwork,CCTV.The video of the interview

was accompanied by scenes ofpreviousmilitary training exer-cises, including drills against ri-oters andmarine operations inHong Kong's Victoria Harbor.Someoftheclipsappearedtobefromoperations last year,whenthe protests overwhelmed thecity and the People's LiberationArmy and the People's ArmedPolicesentasurgeofnewtroopsintoandnearHongKong.

Riotpoliceafter theydispersedprotestersonSunday.Reuters

China’s military vows to defendcountry’s interests in Hong Kong

Sweden steadfastin strategy asvirus tollcontinues to rise

Stockholm: Sweden’s govern-ment defended its response tothe Covid-19 global pandemicon Tuesday despite theScandinavian country now re-portingoneof thehighestmor-tality rates in the world with4,125 fatalities, or about 40deathsper100,000people.“Transmission is slowing

down,thetreatmentofCovid-19patients in intensive care is de-creasing significantly, and therising death toll curve has beenflattened,”ForeignMinisterAnnLindesaid.Swedentookarelativelysoft

approach to fighting the coron-avirus — large gatherings werebanned, but restaurants andschools for younger childrenhave stayed open. The govern-ment has urged social distanc-ing, and Swedes have largelycomplied. AP

ASSOCIATEDPRESSKABUL,MAY26

THE AFGHAN government an-nounced itwould free900pris-oners on Tuesday, its singlelargestprisonerreleasesincetheUS and the Taliban signed apeace deal earlier this year thatspells out an exchange of de-tainees between the warringsides.Theannouncement cameas

a three-day cease-fire with theinsurgentsdraws toanend.TheTaliban had called for the truceduringtheMuslimholidayofEidal-Fitr thatmarks theendof theIslamicholymonthofRamadan.There are expectations that

the prisoner release could leadto new reductions in violence,andTalibanofficialssaytheyareconsidering an extension of thecease-fire.A senior Taliban figure con-

firmed this to The Associated

Press. “If these developments,like the announcement of pris-onerreleasecontinues, it ispos-sible tomove forwardwith de-cisions like extending the briefcease-fire and tomove inapos-itivedirectionwithsomeminorissues,” theTalibanofficial said.Theprisonerswerebeingre-

leased from Bagram prison,where the US still maintains amajor military base, north of

Kabul, as well as from the infa-mous Pul-e-Charkhi prison onthe eastern edge of the Afghancapital.Bylateafternoon,theAPwit-

nessed scores of men pouringout of the Bagram compound -presumablythereleasedprison-ers. Itwasnot immediatelypos-sible to verify their numbers orwhether they were all Talibanmembers.Theprisonerreleaseispartof

the US deal with the Taliban,signed on February 29 to allowfor the eventual withdrawal ofUS and NATO troops fromAfghanistan, bringing to an endthecountry'sprotractedwarandAmerica's longest military in-volvement.Underthedeal,Kabulistore-

lease 5,000 Taliban prisonerswhile the insurgents are to free1,000captivestheyhold,mostlygovernmentofficialsandAfghanforces, before intra-Afghan ne-gotiationscanbegin.

Securitypersonnelatacheckpoint inKabulonMay23.Reuters

Afghan govt to free 900 prisoners;Taliban may extend Eid truce

US military saysRussia deployedits fighter jetsto Libya

Cairo: The USmilitary Tuesdayaccused Russia of deployingfighterplanestoconflict-strickenLibyatosupportRussianmerce-naries aiding east-based forcesin their offensive on the capital,Tripoli.In a strongly worded state-

ment, the US Africa CommandsaidtheRussianmilitaryaircraftarrivedinLibyarecentlyfromanairbaseinRussiaviaSyria,wheretheywererepaintedtohidetheirRussianorigin.There was no immediate

comment fromMoscow.Libya is nowsplit between a

government in the east alliedwithHifterandoneinTripoli, inthe west, supported by theUnitedNations.Hifter is backed by The

UnitedArabEmirates,EgyptandRussia, while the Tripoli-alliedmilitias are aided by Turkey,Qatarand Italy. AP

KJMVARMABEIJING,MAY26

CHINESEPRESIDENTXiJinpingonTuesday ordered themilitary toscaleupthebattlepreparedness,visualisingtheworst-casescenar-ios andasked themto resolutelydefendthecountry'ssovereignty.Xi,66whoisalsotheGeneral

Secretary of the rulingCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)and head of the two-million-strongmilitarywithprospectsoflifelong tenure in power,madethe remarkswhile attending aplenarymeetingofthedelegationof the People's LiberationArmy(PLA)andPeople'sArmedPoliceForce during the current parlia-mentsessionbeingheldhere.Xi ordered the military to

thinkaboutworst-casescenarios,scale up training andbattle pre-paredness, promptly and effec-tively dealwith all sorts of com-plex situations and resolutelysafeguard national sovereignty,securityanddevelopment inter-ests, state-run Xinhua newsagency reported,withoutmen-tioning any specific issues thatposedathreattothecountry.His comments came in the

backdrop of the continuingstandoff between themilitariesof India andChina at the LineofActualControl (LAC).Several areas along the LAC

inLadakhandNorthSikkimhavewitnessedmajormilitarybuild-up by both the Indian andChinese armies recently, in aclearsignalofescalatingtensionandhardeningof respectivepo-sitionsbythetwosideseventwo

weeks after theywere engagedin twoseparate face-offs.The nearly 3,500-km-long

LAC is the de-facto border be-tweenthe twocountries.OnMay 22, China, the sec-

ond-largestmilitaryspenderaf-

ter the US, hiked its defencebudget by 6.6 per cent to USD179 billion, nearly three timesthat of India, the lowest incre-ment in recentyearsamidst themassivedisruptioncausedtothecommunist giant's economyby

theCOVID-19pandemic.In his meeting with a PLA

delegation on Tuesday, Xistressedonachievingthetargetsandmissions of strengtheningthenationaldefenceandarmedforcesfor2020,whilemaintain-

ingeffectiveepidemiccontrolona regularbasis.He listened to speeches by

themilitary deputies on fulfill-ing epidemic control tasks,strengtheningtrainingamidtheepidemic, and accelerating ca-pacity building on biosecuritydefence, amongothers.Commending their role in

battling Covid-19, Xi said thepeople'sarmedforceshaveonceagain proven themselves to beheroic forces that can be fullytrustedbytheCommunistPartyandthepeople.Xi said the epidemic has

brought a profound impact onthe global landscape and onChina's security and develop-mentaswell.Xi demanded reformand in-

novation to address new situa-tions and problems exposed intheepidemicandorderedaccel-eratingtheresearchanddevelop-mentonCovid-19drugsandvac-cines by tapping the advantagesofmilitarymedicalresearch.Noting that this yearmarks

theendofthe13thfive-yearplanformilitarydevelopment,Xisaidextraordinarymeasuresmustbetakentoovercometheimpactofthe epidemic to ensure majortasksonthemilitarybuildingareachieved.Meanwhile,aChineseexpert

commentedthatunlikethepre-vious standoffs between the

Chinese and Indian armies, thelatest border friction was notcaused by accident, but was aplannedmoveofNewDelhi."India has been crossing the

boundary line into the GalwanValley region and enteringChineseterritory.Indiansoldiershavealsodeliberatelyinstigatedconflicts with their Chinesecounterparts. If India failed tostop such provocations as soonas possible, it will impact onBeijing-NewDelhities-andmayevenexceedthesortof intensityoftheDoklamstandoff,anarticlein the state-run Global TimeswrittenbyLongXingchun,pres-ident of Chengdu Institute ofWorldAffairs, said.TheMinistryofExternalAffairs

saidall Indianactivitieswerecar-riedouton its sideof theborder,asserting that India has alwaystakenaveryresponsibleapproachtowardsbordermanagement.Atthe same time, it said, Indiawasdeeply committed toprotect itssovereigntyandsecurity."Any suggestion that Indian

troops had undertaken activityacross the LAC in theWesternsectorortheSikkimsectorisnotaccurate. Indian troops are fullyfamiliar with the alignment ofthe Lineof Actual Control in theIndia-China border areas andabide by it scrupulously," MEAspokespersonAnuragSrivastavasaidatabriefing lastweek. PTI

Scale up battle preparedness: Xi tomilitary

ChinesePresidentXi Jinpingtalks toWangYang, thechairmanof theChinesePeople'sPoliticalConsultativeConference,duringthesecondplenarysessionofChina'sNationalPeople'sCongress inBeijingonMonday.AP

Bolsonaro brought in generals tofight virus, but Brazil is losing battle

Leaders face scrutiny over adherence to lockdown rules

13SENSEX: 30,609.30 ▼ 63.29 NIFTY: 9,029.05 ▼ 10.20 NIKKEI: 21,271.17 ▲ 529.52 HANG SENG: 23,384.66 ▲ 432.42 FTSE: 6,057.80▼ 64.52 DAX: 11,477.98 ▲ 86.70

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020

ECONOMY

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AASHISHARYAN&KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY26

INAdeparture from its previousstance,theCentreonTuesdayre-leasedthesourcecodeof itscon-tacttracingappAarogyaSetuandannounced cashprizes for thosewhofindabugorvulnerabilityinit. Governmentofficials oversee-ingthemobileapplicationdevel-opment also told The IndianExpressthattheywillsoonprovideanonymiseddata to researchersto conduct their ownanalysis onCOVID-19trendsinthecountry.Thereleaseoftheapp’sAndr-

oid source code (which 98 percent of the 115million AarogyaSetuusersuse)comesnearlytwomonthsaftertheappwasreleasedonApril2.Whenaskedaboutthedelay in releasing the code aftersignificant calls from India’s de-veloper community, IT SecretaryAjay Prakash Sawhney told TheIndianExpress:“Eventhebestde-velopers don’t document theircodewhen they are rushing tomakeitfunctional.Now,theyhaveproperly cleaned the code.Weevenplan to release the code forthe server function so that othercountries canpick it up andusethisappintheircountryaswell.”National Informatics Center

Director General Neeta Vermasaidthegovernment’sinternalas-sessmentfoundpotentialvulner-

abilities intheapp,callingforde-velopers to attempt to solve theconcerns in a detailed technicaldocument.TheCentre’sfirst-everbugbountyprogrammewillgiveuptoRs3lakhfortworewardcat-egories— security vulnerabilityreportingandsuggestionsforim-provementinthesourcecode.Although the IT Ministry’s

ownpolicy from2016states thatall softwareusedby the govern-mentwillbeopensourceasfaraspossible,theMinistryhadbarredindividuals from reverse engi-neeringthecodeofAarogyaSetu.Reverseengineeringallowsin-

dividualsandfirmstodeconstructtheworking of a software or ahardware by tracing back stepsfromthefinalproduct,oftentoen-hance theworkingof the sourcecodeorfindabuginthesystem.

Sawhney told The IndianExpresstheCentresharesAarogyaSetu data in three buckets.“Personal data is shared tomed-ical officials in order to fight thepandemic. Anonymised, aggre-gatedataissharedwithsupport-ingdepartmentsliketheplanningdevelopmenttoassesstheinven-tory required. Andwewill beginto share ‘hard anonymised’ datawithresearchinstitutionswhore-questsuchdataandareclearedbyacommitteesoontobesetupbythePrincipalScientificAdvisor.”Till date, 1,264 emerging

hotspots have been identifiedacrossIndiathroughtheapp.“Transparency,privacyandse-

curityhavebeen the coredesignprinciples of Aarogya Setu sinceits inception and opening thesource codeup to thedeveloper

communitysignifies thegovern-ment of India’s continuing com-mitmenttotheseprinciples,”NitiAayog CEOAmitabh Kant said,while announcing the release ofthesourcecode.Hesaidthatif70-80per cent of a community hasthe app downloaded, they canachieve“digital immunity.”Theopeningupof the source

code fulfills a long pending de-mandof cyberlawexperts fromacrossthecountryandtheworld.“Aarogya Setu should always

havebeenopensource,rightfromthegetgo.Everythingdevelopedbythegovernmentshouldalwaysbe open source as that uses tax-payersmoney.Work to ensurethat the appdoesn’tmutate intoanyothervehicle thatplayswithsensitive information of such alarge population should contin-ue,”MishiChoudhary,technologylawyerandfounder,SFLC.insaid.Earlier thisweek, thegovern-

mentupdatedthetermsofusageof the app, removing the restric-tionson tamperingwith its codeandallowingreverseengineeringofthesame.Intheupdatedtermsof use, the Centre also specifiedthatanindividual’sfailuretocom-plywiththetermsofusageoftheappwillnolongerleadtothesus-pensionof theiraccount.Aarogya Setu has become

mandatory for central govern-mentemployeesandfortravelerscrossing several borders acrosspartsof thenation.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY26

INDIA’SGDPgrowthislikelytobeat 1.2 per cent in the January-Marchquarter (Q4)of theprevi-ousfiscal(2019-20),aseconomicactivitycametoastandstillinthelastweekofMarchduetothena-tionwidelockdowntocontainthespreadofCOVID-19,aStateBankof Indiareporthassaid.AccordingtotheSBI’sresearch

report ‘Ecowrap’,grossdomesticproduct(GDP)growthislikelytobe4.2percent forthefullyearofFY20.Itisexpectedtocontractby(-) 6.8 per cent for the ongoingFY21. TheQ4GDPgrowthnum-ber for FY20will be announcedby theNational Statistical Office(NSO)onMay29.“WenowbelievethatQ1GDP

FY21losswillbehumongousandcould even exceed 40per cent,”the SBI report said.When Indiahad first imposed a lockdown,GDP estimatewas 2.6 per centand since then it has been pro-gressively reduced to a negative4.7 per cent,with nominal GDPwitnessingacontraction, itsaid.“However, given that the

Statesarenowtakingastaggeredapproachintermsofactivities inred, greenandorange zones,webelieve that abottom-upappro-ach estimation to growth couldbemoreappropriatethananear-liertopdownapproach,”itadded.Subsequently, SBI estimated

thedistrict-wise, zone-wise lossinGSDPforeachstateandfoundthat total GSDP (gross state do-mestic product) loss due toCOVID-19 for states stands at Rs30.3 lakhcrore,whichis13.5percent of total GSDP. The loss ismaximum(around50per cent)inredzonesandwherealmostallthe big districts of India are lo-cated. The combined loss of or-ange and red zone is around 90percentof total loss. “The loss ingreen zone is the least as 80 percentofpopulation in thiszone islocated in rural areaswhich arealmost open for all activities,” itsaid.The Ecowrap said state-wise

analysis indicates that top 10states accounted for 75per centof total GDP loss, withMaharashtra contributing 15.6percentof total loss, followedbyTamil Nadu (9.4 per cent) andGujarat(8.6percent).Thesethreestatesalsohavethelargestnum-berofconfirmedCOVID-19casesinIndia, itsaid.AccordingtoSBI,oneinterest-

ingaspectofdataisthedifferencebetween GDP and GVA (grossvalue added). Normally the dif-ference betweenGDP andGVA

growth rate is not large, but thistimeduetohugelossesinnetin-directtaxesthedifferencewillbequitebig. “Weestimate realGVAgrowthcouldbeat -3.1per centinFY21andrealGDPgrowthat-6.8percent inFY21,” itsaid.SBI saidGDPnumbers forQ2

of2020-21couldwitnessasmartrecoveryandclock7.1percent, ifthecountry isable tosustain thedemand. “Q3 and Q4 growthnumbers could also lookmuchbetter, with an average of 6 percent, but the Q2 bump couldcomedownwiththeimmediatebust in pent up demand in Q2subsidingsubsequently,” itsaid.However,thingscouldrapidly

changeastheincomeandjoblosscouldagainpropelthecountryto-wards a lower equilibriumaftertheinitialbumpup.“Wethusbelievethegovern-

mentmightbelookingatthedatamorecloselytopreventsuchlossinmomentuminQ3andQ4andeven comeupwith another tar-geted package later in the year,”thereportsaid.

AMIDPRIVACYCONCERNSRAISEDBYCYBERLAWEXPERTS

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,MAY26

SNRAJESWARI,GeneralManager,New India Assurance (NIA), hasbeenselectedbytheBanksBoardBureau(BBB)astheChairmanandMDof theDelhi-basedOrientalInsuranceCompany(OIC)afteranonlinevideointerviewprocessinthewakeof thelockdown.With this move, there are

clearindicationsthattheCentreisnotinahurrytoimplementthe2-yearoldproposal tomerge threePSUgeneral insurers,OIC,Natio-nalInsuranceCompany(NIC)andUnited India Insurance, analystssaid.TheBBBhadconductedvir-tualinterviewsoffiveseniorgen-eralmanagersofthepublicsectorgeneralinsuranceindustry—withtwoyears of residual services tillMay2022— to select a CMD forOIConTuesday.AVGirijaKumar,CMD,OIC, is retiring thismonthendonreaching60.For the first time, the inter-

views for selecting a CMDweredonethroughvideoconferencing,with thenationunder lockdowntocheckthespreadofCOVID-19.Currently,BPSharmaheadsa

seven-member panel to selectCMDsof PSU insurance compa-niesandbanks. Inauniqueprac-tice,BBBhaspreferred,forthesec-ond time, toannounce the resultof theinterviewonthesameday.Earlier,resultsofinterviewsfor

selecting CMDs of GIC Re andAgriculture InsuranceCompanywereannouncedthesameday.TheFinanceMinistrywillnow

start the process of appointingRajeswariastheCMDofOIC.AfterFinanceMinisterNirmala Sitha-raman’s nod, the official papers

would be sent toAppointmentsCommitteeoftheCabinetandthePrimeMinister’s Office for theirapprovals. “Going by the earlierexperience, thewhole processmay takearound twomonths tonotifythenameofRajeswari,’’saidsourcesattheMinistry.Othergeneralmanagerswho

appeared for the interviewwereDinesh Waghela (OIC), SobhaReddy (NIC), Deepak Godbole(GICRe) andMadhulikaBhaskar(GICRe).Rajeswari,acharteredac-countant, is currently thesecondseniormostGMofthepublicsec-torgeneralinsuranceindustryandwillretireinMay2022.Meanwhile, theMinistryhas

indicated that itwould start theofficialexercisestoappointdirec-tors of PSU general insurancecompanies. It had completelystopped appointing directors inthe four PSUgeneral insurers foralmost twoyears and as a resultmajorityposts of directors—outof eight—are currently lyingva-cantinthosefourPSUcompanies.

BBB selects SN Rajeswari as CMD ofOriental Insurance via video interview

REUTERSSANFRANCISCO,MAY26

APPLEINCplanstoreopenabout100USstores,mostlywith curb-sidepickupbutsomewithwalk-in service, the company said onTuesday. Apple shuttered storesworldwide as the novel coron-avirus pandemic spreadbut hasslowlyopenedthembasedonlo-calhealthdata.Earlierthismonth,

thecompanyreopenedahandfulof stores in Alaska, Idaho andAlabama.Under Apple’s new proce-

dures,storeswithwalk-inservicewill require customers and em-ployees toundergo temperaturechecksandwearmasksbeforeen-tering. Applewill providemasksto customers who have none.Social distancing ruleswill limitthenumberofpeopleinthestoreatonetime.

Apple to reopen about 100 USstores, most with pickup option

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY26

SEBIONTuesday issueduniformguidelinestobefollowedbystockexchangeswhile identifying andselecting a location as adeliverycentreforcommodityderivativescontracts. The move by theSecuritiesandExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)hasbeentakenbasedon the recommendations ofCommodityDerivativesAdvisoryCommittee(CDAC)andinconsul-tationwithbourses.A particular location can be

identifiedandselectedasadeliv-ery centre by a stock exchangebasedondemand-supply dyna-mics, liquidity of the contract,value chain participants, infra-structuresupportandtradefeed-back,theregulatorsaidinacircu-lar.Theregulatorsaidthatdeliverycentre, whether basis or addi-

tional, plays an important role inthepricingandsettlementof thephysically delivered commodityderivativescontract.

New norms for deliverycentre for commodityderivatives contract

REUTERSBENGALURU,MAY26

LATAMAIRLINESGroupSA filedforUSbankruptcyprotectiononTuesday, becoming the largestcarrier to seek anemergency re-organization amid the coron-aviruscrisis.LatinAmerica’s largestairline

follows rivalAviancaHoldingsofColombia in seeking US bank-ruptcyprotection.But unlike Avianca, Chile’s

LATAMpostedprofitsforfourcon-secutiveyearstotalingmorethan$700million. It had recently ap-provedadividendpayment.LATAMlaidoff1,800employ-

eesoutofover40,000inthelead-uptoitsbankruptcyfiling.“Wehave implementeda se-

riesof difficultmeasures tomiti-gate the impact of this unprece-dented industry disruption, butultimatelythispathrepresentsthebest option,” CEORoberto Alvosaid inastatementregardingthefiling.LATAM is an instantly recog-

nizable brand for SouthAmericans, dominating interna-tional air travel in the region, aswell as a leadingdomestic flightoperatorinBrazil,Colombia,Chile,Argentina,PeruandEcuador.CarriersinLatinAmericahave

soughtbailouts tonoavail so far,unlike rivals in theUnited StatesandEurope.LATAMwillcontinuetoflywhileitisinbankruptcypro-tection. Its affiliates inArgentina,Brazil andParaguaywerenot in-cludedintheChapter11filing.

Chile’s LATAMlargest airlineto file forbankruptcy

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY26

PROMOTERFIRMBhartiTelecomhas sold 2.75 per cent stake inAirtel to institutional investors inthesecondarymarket,raisingoverRs8,433crore, thecompanysaidonTuesday.Thesaleproceedswillbe fully utilised to repay debt atBhartiTelecomandwillmakethepromoterholdingfirma‘debtfreecompany’, itsaid.BhartiGroupandSingtelwill

continuetoholdamajoritystakeinBharti Airtel at 56.23per centafterthetransaction,thetelcosaid.However, shares of Bharti

Airtel fell nearly 6 per cent afterthe sale of stake. It dropped5.71per cent to close at Rs 559.15 ontheBSE.Intra-day,ittumbled5.96percenttoRs557.65.OntheNSE,sharesofthecompanyfell5.72percenttocloseatRs559.25.

Bharti Telecomsells 2.75%stake in Airtelfor `8,433 crore

REUTERSNEWYORK,MAY26

OILPRICESroseonTuesday,sup-ported by growing confidencethat producers are followingthroughoncommitments to cutsuppliesandasfueldemandpicksupwith coronavirus restrictionseasing.Brent crude futureswere up

45cents,or1.3percent,at$35.98a barrel by 1709GMT. USWest

TexasIntermediatecrudefuturesgained89cents,or2.7percent,to$34.14.The Organization of the

PetroleumExporting Countriesandotherleadingoilproducersin-cludingRussia,agroupknownasOPEC+, agreed lastmonth to cuttheircombinedoutputbyalmost10millionbarrelsperdayinMay-June to shore up prices and de-mand,whichhasbeenhitby thecoronaviruspandemic.Meanwhile,USstocksjumped

and the S&P 500 crossed 3,000points on Tuesday as optimismaboutapotentialcoronavirusvac-cineanda revival inbusiness ac-tivity helped investors overlooksimmeringSino-UStensions.During intra-day trade, the

DowJonesIndustrialAveragewasup593.68points,or2.43percent,at25,058.84,theS&P500wasup50.88points, or 1.72per cent, at3,006.33.TheNasdaqCompositewas up81.78 points, or 0.88 percent,at9,406.37.

Mayhelp assuageconcerns overprivacy, security

WITHTHEopeningupofthesourcecodefordevelopersaswellastheannouncementofabountyschemeforfindingbugsintheAarogyaSetuapp,thegovernmenthasopeneditself toscrutinyofcodersacrosstheworld.Thiswill,however,restoresomefaithinskepticalminds

astheycannowreadandunderstandthecodeforthemselves.Itwillalsohelpinassuagingthedataprivacyandsecurityconcernssurroundingtheapp.

BRIEFLYOlaFinServices

raises`205crNew Delhi: Ola FinancialServices(OFS),whichoper-atesOlaMoney, has raisedaboutRs205crore in fund-ing fromMatrix Partnersandothers,asperregulatorydocuments.

KotakMahindra

BankQIPMumbai:KotakMahindraBank Tuesday launched itsoverRs7,000-crorequalifiedinstitutionalplacement.PTI

MoerstobeAston

MartinCEOLondon: AstonMartin con-firmed on Tuesday TobiasMoers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG,would becomeCEOonAugust1,replacingAndyPalmer.REUTERS

Vedantaseeks

nodfordelistingNewDelhi:Vedanta Ltd onTuesdaybegan theprocessofseekingshareholdersnodfordelistingthecompany.

TorrentPharma

netat`314crNewDelhi:DrugfirmTorrentPharmaceuticalsonTuesdayreportedaconsolidatednetprofitofRs314croreforthequarterendedMarch31.PTI

Centreshiftsstance, releasessourcecode forAarogyaSetuapp

NewDelhi:Sebisaidithasnotimposed any restriction ontheuseofPowerofAttorney(PoA)betweena clientandabrokerintheequitymarkets.It said systems are in

place where broker usingPoAtransfersclientsecuritiesasmarginintohisclient’scol-lateral account and thenplace these securitieswithclearingcorporation(CC)bywayoftransferorcreationofpledgetowardsmargin. PTI

No restrictionon use of PoAby broker: Sebi

Mumbai:Therupeeappreci-ated by 29 paise to close at75.66 against theUSdollaronTuesday.IntheIndianeq-uitymarket, theBSESensexfell 63.29points, or 0.21percent, to end at 30,609.30,while theNSENifty ended10.20points,or0.11percent,downat9,029.05. PTI

Rupee gains 29p

Oil prices rise as faith in supply cuts grows

‘States’ fiscal deficit seenrising to 4.5% of GDP’Despite the relaxation in COVID-19-related restrictions,the revenue balance of states in FY21 is set to worsen,India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said in a report

4.5%OF THE GDP: EXPECTEDAGGREGATE FISCAL DEFICITFOR THE STATES IN FY21,HIGHER FROM EARLIERFORECAST OF 3%

0.9%EXPECTED NOMINAL GDPGROWTH RATE FOR FY21 ASNATIONWIDE LOCKDOWNWOULD EXACERBATEECONOMIC DOWNTURN

2.8%OFGDPExpectedaggregaterevenuedeficit

forstatesasagainstearlierforecast

of0.4%,withstates

likelytofacesignificantslippages

fromtheirbudgettargetsforFY21

`8.25TRILLIONEstimateofgrossmarket

borrowingsofstatesinFY21,revised

upwardfromearlierestimateof`

6.09trillion

■Aggregaterevenuereceiptsof20

states(constitutingnearly86%of

thebudgetedtarget)camein4.2%

lowerthanbudgetedat`24.79

trillioninFY20,primarilyledbya

16.2%reductioninthedevolutionof

centraltaxes

■States’owntaxrevenue

receiptswerelowerby2.2%in

revisedestimatesforFY20than

budgeted`12.04trillion

■Revenueandfiscaldeficitsare

budgetedat0.02%and2.5%of

GSDPinFY21

Ind-Raexpectsstatestoresortto

highermarketborrowingstofund

thefiscaldeficit.Thepressureon

stategovernmentstoprovide

supporttohouseholdsand

businessesthroughfiscalstimulus

measuresissettoincrease

Source:IndiaRatingsandResearch/PTI

Internationalmarketdata till1900IST

RUPEE

`75.66

OIL

$35.98Brentcrudeasof2300IST

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY26

FIVELARGEcompaniesintheconsumer internet space inIndiahaveannouncedreduc-tionofover4,000jobsoverthelastonemonth,onaccountofcontractioninbusinessduetoCOVID-19-led lockdownandthesubsequentfallindemand.OnTuesday,US-basedcab-

aggregatorUberannounceditwill lay off around 600 fulltimeemployees in the India-SouthAsia region, amajorityofwhich are located in India,due to the “impactof COVID-19and theunpredictablena-tureof therecovery”.In total, five companies—

UberIndiaandSouthAsia,Ola,Zomato,SwiggyandCure.fit—havetogetherannouncedthereductionofaround4,441jobsinthelastonemonth.“Theim-pactofCOVID-19andtheun-predictable nature of the re-coveryhas leftUber India SAwithno choice but to reducethesizeofitsworkforce.Arou-nd600fulltimepositionsacr-ossdriverandridersupport,aswellasotherfunctions,arebe-ing impacted. These reduc-tionsarepartofpreviouslyan-nounced global job cuts thismonth,”saidPradeepParam-eswaran,president,UberIndiaandSouthAsia.Thenumberoflaidoff staff comprisedabouta fourth of Uber India andSouthAsia’semployeebase.The taxi-hailingcompany

said the layoffswere part ofpreviously announcedglobaljobcuts. Lastweek, the firm’sparent company—US-basedUber Technologies — an-nounceda23percentreduc-tioninitsworkforce.Uber’s Indian rival Ola,

which saw its revenue fall by95per cent over the last twomonths,lastweekannouncedthat it will be letting go off1,400employees.“...theprog-nosisaheadforourbusinessisveryunclearanduncertain. Itisgoingtotakealongtimeforpeopletogooutandaboutlikebefore.Withmorecompaniespreferring to have a largenumber of employeesworkfromhome, air travel limited

toessentialtripsandvacationsbeingputoff forbetter times,theimpactof thiscrisis isdef-initelygoingtobelong-drawnforus,”OlaCEOBhavishAgga-rwalwroteinane-mailtoem-ployees,addingthatthecrisishasaffectedlivelihoodofmil-lionsofthecompany’sdrivers.Priortothis,thetwolargest

food-techcompanies in India—Swiggy andZomato—an-nounced, inquicksuccession,the plan to prune their em-ployee base. Exhorting thatthenumberrestaurantsisex-pectedtoshrinkby25-40percent over the next 6-12months, Zomato CEODeep-inderGoyalwrotetothecom-pany’sstaffersthataround14per centof them,or541peo-ple, have been asked to lookfor new jobs. Swiggy CEOSriharshaMajetytoldtheem-ployeesthatthecorefoodde-livery business had been se-verelyhitandwaslikelytostayimpactedovertheshortterm.To this effect, he announcedlettinggooff1,100employees.Similarly, health and fit-

ness startupCure.fit had alsolaidoff around800people, inanefforttoreducecosts.In addition to the layoffs,

someofthesecompanieshavealsoannouncedsalarycutsfora chunk of their employees.Zomato said its staff will un-dergo a temporary salary re-duction of up to 50per cent,withsomeoftheseniormem-berstakingavoluntarypaycutof 100per cent. Similarly,Olasaid thatover thepastcoupleofmonths, allmembersof itsextendedleadershipteamhadtaken“significantsalarycuts”.

COVID-19 IMPACT

CONSUMER INTERNETCOS

Over 4.4K jobs cut by5 major Indian cos in1 month; Uber lays offnearly 600 people

■UberIndiaandSouthAsia,Ola,Zomato,SwiggyandCure.fithavetogethercutaround4,441jobsinthelastonemonth

■ The600peoplethatUberplanstolayoffarefull-timeemployees

UBERTOLAYOFFFULL-TIMESTAFF

Rajeswari,General

ManagerofNewIndia

Assurance,issetto

replaceAVGirijaKumar,

whoretiresthismonth

NewDelhi: India’s fourth re-cessionsinceIndependence,the first since liberalisationand perhaps the worst todate,ishere,CrisilsaidTues-dayasitpredictedtheecon-omy to shrinkby5per centinthecurrentfiscal.“Thefirstquarter(Aprilto

June2020)willsufferastag-gering 25per cent contrac-tion,”itsaidinitsassessmentofIndia’sGDP.“About10%ofGDP in real terms could bepermanentlylost.” PTI

India facingworst recessionin FY21: Crisil

NewDelhi: FitchRatings onTuesdayforecasta5percentcontraction of Indian econ-omyin thecurrent fiscal, onaccount of slump in eco-nomic activities and verystringentlockdownpolicy.This is substantially lowerthan0.8percentgrowthfor2020-21 fiscal projected inApril.Fitchsaidithasmadefur-

thercutstoworldGDPfore-casts in its latestGlobalEco-nomicOutlookforMay.PTI

Fitch projectseconomy tocontract 5%

‘Q4FY20 GDP growthlikely to be 1.2%, maycontract 6.8% in FY21’

Vol. LXIVNo.124Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208, TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&Administrative

Offices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)

Additional air surchargeof `1 .00 -Goa.Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Ltd.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

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14

Chennai’sKutti,winnerof eRacingseriesheldduring lockdown, to trainatKarthikeyan’sacademy&withVolkswagen inrealworld

Teenaged gamer gets the realwheelNIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI,MAY26

VIRTUAL RACING series started by promi-nentIndianracedriversduringthelockdownhavegivenateenagedgamerhisbigbreak—amoveto real-world racing.AmithKutti,a16-year-oldfromChennai,

sat on a plastic chair while driving with agaming racingwheel in front of a PC screenat homewhen eRacing against someof thebestdriversinthecountry.Kuttiwentwheel-to-wheelwithNarainKarthikeyan-thefirstIndian to drive in Formula One - and ArjunMaini, a European LeMans Series driver, inUltimate E’s all-star race, an online serieshostedonweekendsduring the lockdown.Earlier thismonth, Kutti beat 31 racers

from15 cities towin the third season of theIndianSimRacingLeague(ISRL),avirtualrac-ing series that began in April. Consistentpodium finishes inUltimateEenhancedhisreputation.Hisreward:admissiontothekart-ingprogrammeatKarthikeyan’sracingacad-emy and a training stint and test withVolkswagenMotorsport India. Hewill nowgettodriverealcarsandkartsonracingtracks.“Now especially during the lockdown,

there have been new virtual competitionspaving theway for virtual drivers in India. Ihaven’t been offered anything (in the realworld) before. This is the first time I havebeen offered a chance to train at the NKRacing Academy. VolkswagenMotorsporttraining is the prize forwinning the IndianSimRacingLeagueseason,”Kutti says.Karthikeyancalledhimthe ‘fastestgamer

in India’whenhe announced the tie-upbe-tweenhisacademyandUltimateE. “ERacinghasbecomemorerelevantwiththeCovid-19situation. In the firsteditionof thiscollabora-tion,wehavedecidedtosignupAmithKutti,whohasexcelled inmultipleeSports leaguesandhaseasilycomeontopasthefastestgamerin India,”Karthikeyansays. Theobjective, ac-cordingtohim,istogetKuttiaseatintheRotaxMax(karting)nationalchampionships.Home-grownvirtualracingcompetitions,

opentoanyonewithaccess toasimulatororaconsoleathome,were launchedbyprofes-sionaldriverswhenracetracksbecameinac-cessible because of the countrywide lock-

down fromMarch 25. ISRL is promoted bymultiple-time national karting championRayomand Banajeewhile Formula 2 racerArmaanEbrahimandAdityaPatel,whodrivesforAudiMotorsport,havecreatedUltimateE.Both virtual racing championships held

theirinauguralseasonsduringthelockdownto keepmotorsport addicts engaged. Thedrivingexperiencemirrorsreal-worldracingwithpracticeandqualifyingsessionsforeachrace,officialswatchingeverylap,driversbe-ingpenalisedandhavingtoenterthepitlanetorepairdamageandlosingoutontime.When the coronaviruspandemic forced

thecancellationoftraditionalraces,FormulaOne, Formula E andMoto GP launched vir-tual competitions but theywere restrictedto professional drivers and teams. FormulaOneEsportsseries,whichbeganin2017,pitseSport drivers signed to F1 teams againsteachother.TheNissanGTAcademyisoneofthemostpopular virtual-racing talenthuntprogrammes in the world and enablesgamers tomakea transitiononto the track.ISRLandUltimateEwanttoprovideIndian

driverswithasimilarnon-traditionalroute.Kuttiisconfidentofmakingtheswitchfrom

thesimulatortotheroad.“Inthesimulator,youfeel(thephysicalforce)throughyourarmandintherealcar,youfeelitthroughyourbody,es-peciallywhenyoubrake,”Kuttiexplains.Hegotafirst-handexperienceofaracingcar-hisonlyone -whenhedroveanentry-level FormulaLGB4 in Chennai in February. “When I firstdrove it, Iwasscared that Iwasgoing too fast.ButIamcomfortablenow,”Kuttisays.The teenager’s initiation into gamingbe-

ganwhen a friend convinced him to buy aFormula One game for the Xbox. A fewmonthsearlier,hisfather,abusinessman,hadtaken him towatch the 2012 Formula OneIndianGrandPrixinGreaterNoida.Herecallsbeingfascinatedwatchingthecarsspeedpast.

Transition challengeSittingbehind thewheel of a vehicle, be

it a kart or amodified car, will be challeng-ing fora rookie likeKutti, experts reckon.Banajee,founderofIReSports,whichruns

ISRL, will train Kutti in a VolkswagenMotorsportcar.Theexperienceddrivertalksabout‘speed’and‘braking’beingawholenewexperience.“Speedatwhichyouaregoingon

the computer does not scare you but itwillscareyouintherealworld.Gettingyourbrak-ingrighttoo(willbekey)becausethereisnoreal-world feel when you are racing here(simulator).Abroad,someeSportsracershave

done exceedingly well on the actual racetrack. In India, I think gamerswho are tal-entedneed tobegivenenoughof anoppor-tunity.Youcan’t takethebestgamerandtellhimthisisyouronechanceontrack.Wehave

tobepatient,”Banajeesays.Sim racing, however, can help in the

switch from a gamingwheel to a steeringwheel. “Forexample, if youaregettinga lotofundersteer,howareyouaregoingtotackleit with the steering. The process is going tobe thesame,”Banajeeadds.Twenty-year-old Sai Prithvi, thewinner

of the second season of ISRL, will also testdrivewith VolkswagenMotorsport. Prithvicomeswiththeexperienceof racinginbothworlds.Hehasanumberoftrackracesunderhis belt, including podium finishes in theFormula Junior Rookie Series and Red BullandECRkartingchallenges.“The first thing I realisedwhen I started

Simracingishowsimilar itwasandhowfarit has come (technology). I have been play-ing racing games since I was young and toseeitevolvetowhatit istodaywasastonish-ingintermsofhowaccurateitcanbe.Exceptfor simulating the physical forces on thebody,everythingelse,goingfromsettingupyourcar,tyredegradationorweightbalanceisalmostperfect,”Prithvi,whomadehisvir-tual competitiondebut in the ISRL, says.Ebrahimtooacknowledgestheadvances

invirtual-racingtechnology.“Youcan’tevencall these games, games anymore. They areso realistic inasimulator,”hesays.Kutti would have had towait longer for

someone to give him a break but the lock-downopenedthedoorof opportunity.Ebrahimsaysthepandemichastenedthe

startofvirtualleaguesinthecountry.“Ithinkwe in India woke up a little late to the po-tential of virtual racing andhow it can be aplatform to identify talented drivers,” hesays. Towards theendof last year, aspartofthe promotion for the X1 Racing League(custom-built cars on track), Ebrahim tooksimulators to six different cities to testwa-ters. “We realised the appetite for eSportslastyear.TheCovidsituationacceleratedtheprogressandwestartedhostingraceseveryweekend on different platforms as part ofUltimate E, which people can play fromhome.Theaimistoputdriversfromthevir-tual track to the real track,” Ebrahimadds.Kutti iscurrentlybrushinguphisphysics

lessons as he starts Class XII, a crucial year,onewhichwill also see him graduating totheracetrackwithKarthikeyanguidinghim.

AmithKuttihasbeenvirtual racingfromhomeduringthe lockdown. Express

CROSSWORD4128

ACROSS

1 Felt shopscontributedtohighliving (9)

8 Thegodofunions (5)9 Musicianhavingearmostdeveloped(7)

10 Anewangle foragirl(6)

11 Iaminpursuit inacarriage(6)

12 His relationsmaketheheadlines (8)

15 Whatonerequires tocomplete thescore(8)

18 Lowersoneself? (6)20 Threetimesthey initiallyfacednewperil (6)

21 Letter I’vegivento thegirl(7)

22 Aquestionofplace(5)

23 Crosswordaddicts shouldbeusedtosuchsetbacks(9)

DOWN

2 Onemaybeattachedtoadogbecauseof it(5)

3 Is inahide toseeabird(6)

4 Gothroughpoetry,beingunreasonable (8)

5 Nothis sortof religion(6)6Granted, it couldsetmanyfree(7)

7 Startingpoint forapersonontheotherside (3,6)

11 Easternquarter inDresden?(9)

13 Ancientwritersmadetheirpointwith it (8)

14 Hedoesn’tbelieve in fieldmanagement (7)

16 Doeshe issuebankstatements? (6)

17 IsagainstusingLatin(6)

19 Upordownit isneither(5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)

Someoneathomeneedsagoodtalkingto, and if youdon’tdo it,nobodyelse

will. This is,by theway,agooddaytocheckuponall travelarrangements,mainlybecauseyour intentionsmayhavemovedon.Theremightalsobesomethingyouhaveoverlooked,perhapssomethingquite important.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)

Youmayhavegoodreasontoquestionotherpeople’spriorities, especially

if you feel theirethical stanceleavessomethingtobedesired.Youmayalsoget in touchwithfamilymemberswhoare faraway,orengineerareunionbetweenfriendswhomayhavefallenout.

GEMINI (May22- June21)

This isanextremelyusefulmoment tosortoutall financialplans, although I

hopeyoudon’t slipback intotheconfusionof thepast.Youhaveabout threedays inwhichyoumaytakeveryvaluablesteps toboostyourmaterialsecurity, afterwhichyou’llhavea freshchance inanothermonth.

CANCER(June22- July23)

Onthepsychologicalleveleverythinghingesaroundhowmuchyouvalue

yourself, andwhereyouseeyour trueworth.Sort thisoutandyou’ll get ridof severalbadhabitswhichhavebeendistortingyourability todealwithmoneyreasonablyandrationally.

LEO(July24-Aug23)

Theoverall emphasisremainshighlypleasurable,butthat’sprobably

becauseyoucanenjoyactivitiesandexperienceswhich leavelesserpeople feelingwornoutandweary.Unlikemanypeople,youhaveahigher regard for thevirtuesofhardwork.Keepyourself busy.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)

If yousettleoutstanding issuesathomeonceandforall, youshouldthen

findthatmorepleasurablepossibilitiesareopenedup.Aculturaloutingseemsappropriate,butanyactivitywhichbroadensyourhorizonsandadds to thesumtotalofhumanhappinesswillbeworthwhile.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)

It’s important thatyouopenadialogue.If youhaveaninterviewtoattend

ormustputoveryourpointofviewinanyotherway, theplanetsareonyourside. Justdon’t letdifferencesovermoneycloudthereal issues.Anddo listento friendswhoknowyoubetter thanyouknowyourself.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)

For once in your lifeit is very hopefulthat yourprofessional

achievements andworldlyambitionswill be properlyrewarded. This is nomore thanyoudeserve, andmanyof youhavewaited an extremely longtime. If there is a further delay,don’t despair, but keep yourhopes up.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)

You still have thepower to controland influenceeverything that

happens at home, so don’tsquander this valuableopportunity. Other people areverymuchof onemind, and soyou’ll need tohave yourwitsabout you, finding awayforwardwhich fulfilseverybody’swishes.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)

Youmaybe in ahaze today, but nomatter. By thisevening you should

once again have your finger onthepulse, andnobodywill beable to pull thewool over youreyes again, at least not foranotherweek.Make apoint of talking to peoplewhose opinions areusually ignored.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)

Thiscouldbeasociableday,onewhenyoumayeasilymakethemostof

friendlyadvances.Therearefurther indications thatyou’llneedtospendsometimealone.Someof youwill evenshutyourselvesaway, tendingyoursensitiveemotionsandoh-so-vulnerable feelings.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)

There is somethingtobeadmiredaboutthewayyouinstinctivelyseemto

knowwhatotherpeoplearefeeling.Colleagueswillbe inneedof yoursympathytoday,even if firstappearances tellyouotherwise.Youmaystop, listen,andofferyourwisestadvice.

SUDOKU4121

DifficultyLevel1s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4120

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Therearethreefaithfulfriends-anoldwife,anolddog,and______.-BenjaminFranklin(5,5)

SOLUTION:PEACE,ROBIN,ADMIRE,YEARLYAnswer:Therearethreefaithfulfriends-anoldwife,anolddog,andreadymoney.-BenjaminFranklin

CPAEE AEIRDM

BINOR AELRYY

SolutionsCrossword4127:Across: 1Declaim,4About,7Aims,8Crackers,10Followsuit,12Railed,13Refuge,15Fatalerror,18Clean-cut,19Serf,20Noted,21

Riposte.Down:1Dwarf,2Complain,3Morose,4Archimedes,5Open,6Testate,9Forewarned,11Quarters,12Rubicon,14Valuer,16Rifle,17Lent.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

WI RESUME TRAINING

Gearing up for a proposed tour of

England in July, some West Indies

players, led by skipper Jason Holder,

returned to training in small groups

following a coronavirus-forced hiatus.

A skilled gamermay best LeBron James and LionelMessi on NBA 2KandFIFAvideogamesbutstandsnochanceontherealturf.VirtualracerEnzoBonito,however,alreadygrabbedthebraggingrightsforhiscom-

munitywhenhebeatLucasdiGrassi, aFormulaEandex-Formula1driver, inareal-world race last January. TheG-force-driven, high-riskworldof real racingdemandsenormousskillandbravery,butsimulatedracing isstill incrediblyrealisticanddiffi-cult. It is theonlyesport thathasparallelswith therealworld; the reasonwhy ithasconnectedwithprofessionaldrivers. Itstartswiththegear.There'snojoystickorkey-board +mouse setup. Professional virtual racers train with wheels and pedals.Advancedsimulatorsgoevenfurther, implementingcutting-edgeaerodynamicandsuspensionresearchaswell as real-world3dtechnology."There ismassiveoverlapandparallelsbetweenour real lifeandvirtualworlds.

Thesamecannotbesaidaboutmanyother sports," JulianTan,headof Formula1'sesportsdivision, told thispaper.RedBulldriverMaxVerstappenhasbeenthe inter-mediarybetweenthe twoworldsandusesvirtual racing tosharpenhis skills. Ingaming too, the22-year-old remainsmilliseconds faster, focussingonreal-lifede-tails suchassteeringangle, slipangleof thecar, trail brakingordownshifting. It’snota1:1experience,but theprocessof tailoring thecar tospecificneedsandusingtelemetryonpainstakingly recreatedcircuits is avalid formof training forprofes-sionaldrivers, andagreat jumping-off point forgamers looking to transition.

Whye-racingconnectswithprodrivers

E●EXPLAIN

ED

Paklegendsmourn

Balbir’sdeath

Balbir Singh Sr's death evoked emo-tionaltributesfromPakistan'shockeycommunity,whichdescribedtheleg-endarycentre-forward'sdemiseasabiglosstothesportingeneralandthesubcontinent in particular. The 96-year-old three-time Olympic gold-medallist, consideredoneof thebestcentre-forwards of all time, died onMondayinMohali. "Hehadamazingflexibility, speed and litheness in hisgame. His sprints were a treat towatch," former Pakistan captainSamiullahsaid.TheSecretaryGeneralof the Pakistan Hockey FederationAsif Bajwaalso condoled thedeath.

JLN,National

StadiumreopenedTheSportsAuthority of India (SAI) onTuesdaystartedactivities intwooutofits fivestadiumsinthenationalcapitalafter the central government greenlightedresumptionofoutdoorsportsina phasedmanner. According to a SAIstatement, sportingactivitieshave re-sumedattheJawaharlalNehruStadium,MajorDhyanChandNational StadiumfromTuesdayafternooninslotsofonehourwhichneedstobepre-bookedon-line.However,activitiesinIndiraGandhiStadium and Karni Singh ShootingRangeareexpectedtostart inaweek'stimeaslogisticsarebeingworkedout.

Holyfield-Tyson

rematchoncards?Former heavyweight championEvanderHolyfieldhassaidheisopentofacingone-timerivalMikeTysoninatrilogyfightforcharityonthecondi-tionthatTysonasksforthebouttobeset up.Tyson, 53, fought two epicboutswithHolyfield,57,during theirprofessional careers, including theircontroversial 1997 encounter inwhich Tyson bit off a chunk ofHolyfield's ear.

PTI/REUTERS

BRIEFLY