ˆ...2 days ago · ˘ ˇ ˆ˙˝˘ ˇ˙˛ ˚ ˜ ! "#"# T hree years ago, when Captain Amarinder...
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I ndia saw the biggest single day spike in the number of novel coronavirus cases when 23 persons reported positive during the last 24 hours on Sunday. The number swelled to 107 from 84 with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of positive cases followed by Kerala. Meanwhile over 450 stranded Indians were flown back from Italy and Iran and quarantined. A Health Ministry official said over 4,000 people who had come in contact with 93 posi- tive cases have been identified through contact and were being tracked while 42,000 people across the country are under community surveillance. More States on Sunday closed schools, colleges cinema halls, and also imposed Section 144 of the CrPC to prevent gathering of more than four persons in order to check the spread of the disease. While the number of pos- itive cases in Maharashtra shot up to 33, the Health Ministry has clarified that the 71-year- old man from Buldhana, who died during treatment on Saturday in a hospital, had tested negative for coronavirus infection. He had returned from Saudi Arabia recently and had diabetes and high blood pressure. The Mumbai Police on Sunday clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC to stop tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31. Maharashtra has already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 that gives wide-rang- ing powers to officials to enforce measures, including that of lockdown and quaran- tine, required to tackle an out- break. Shopping malls, schools and colleges have been closed in the State till March 31. The Government has also placed curbs on the move- ment of all types of passengers to Pakistan through interna- tional border points. Earlier, the Government had announced suspension of all types of passenger move- ment from 00:00 hours on March 15 through the Indo- Bangla, Indo-Nepal, Indo- Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar borders barring a few specified border checkposts. The total number of cases in the country includes the two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka and 17 for- eigners. Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases, Kerala 22 and Uttar Pradesh 11. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Ladakh three and Jammu & Kashmir two. Telangana reported three cases. Rajasthan reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. In Kerala, 20 Dubai-bound passengers were detained at the Kochi airport after a UK national, who was under sur- veillance sneaked out and joined the group, tested posi- tive for novel coronavirus, offi- cial sources said. Meanwhile, the over 280 passengers of the Dubai-bound Emirates flight, which the group had taken, were offloaded at the airport. The flight left for Dubai in the after- noon after the 20 passengers were detained. The UK national has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby Government hospital, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said. Kerala has launched an inten- sified medical check-up in inter-State border areas for people entering the State by rail and road. As many as 302 people are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the State. Elections to rural and urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh have been put off for six weeks by the State Election Commission in view of spread of coronavirus, according to State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar. The elections were originally scheduled for March 21. Continued on Page 7 Related reports on P6, P12 U ncertainly prevails over the floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly as Speaker NP Prajapati has not given clear instructions for it despite Governor Lalji Tandon on Saturday night asking Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote soon after the Governor address on Monday. With the BJP seeking an early confidence vote, it seems the political drama has shifted to the Assembly after the Speaker on Sunday ignored the Governor’s advice and rather said he will decide on floor test on Monday. On being asked whether he will respect the Governor’s direction to the CM for the floor test on Monday, the Speaker remained noncom- mittal and said, “This will be known tomorrow... I will read out my ruling tomorrow.” As the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia threatened the survival of its Government, the Congress appeared keen on putting off the trust vote and asserted that it is the Speaker’s prerogative to decide about the proceedings of the House, but a buoyed BJP maintained that he was bound by the Governor’s direction. BJP leg- islative party sources said it will vociferously demand for the trust vote after the Governor’s address. However, Law and Legal Affairs Minister PC Sharma said, “What all will be done in the House, the Speaker decides.” Another Congress MLA said the floor test “might not take place on Monday” and the issue could even go to court. After the Speaker accepted the resignation of six Congress MLAs on Saturday, the party now has 108 legislators. These include 16 rebel legislators who have also put in their papers but their resignations are yet to be accepted. The BJP has 107 seats in the House which now has an effective strength of 222, with the majority mark being 112. To add to the ruling Congress’ woes, it is yet uncer- tain whether it will continue getting the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one MLA from the SP. Referring to resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, the Governor wrote in his letter to the CM: “Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your Government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority. This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional pro- visions and for protecting the democratic values, it is neces- sary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly.” While the Congress MLAs returned on Sunday from Jaipur, the BJP too was bring- ing back its legislators from Haryana to attend the first day of the session on Monday. Both the parties have issued whips to their MLAs. Continued on Page 7 F our Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26, prompting the Opposition party to shift at least 24 MLAs to Jaipur on Sunday. I n an interesting twist to Dalit vote bank politics in the coun- try, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan on Sunday launched his political party — the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) — marking the birth anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram. The date of the party’s launch is seen as a direct challenge to BSP supremo Mayawati whose party has so far been the sole claimant of the Dalit votes in Uttar Pradesh and a few other States. As many as 28 ex-MLAs and six former MPs attended the event in neighbouring Noida prompting two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh — Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav — to react on the new outfit, saying these are parties with vested interest and would have no polit- ical impact. Chandrashekhar took to social media depicting Dalit leader late Kanshi Ram’s image as his profile status, to officially announce his new political party. Continued on Page 7 S AARC nation on Sunday supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal of setting up COVID-19 Emergency Fund to jointly combat the pandemic. During video conference with his counterparts, the PM com- mitted 10 million dollars as initial investment for the fund. Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza partici- pated in the video conference. The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the pan- demic, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir, with Mirza calling for the “lockdown” to be eased in Jammu & Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat. Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together to combat the coro- navirus spread, and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by “coming together, not growing apart”. Continued on Page 7 New Delhi: Pilgrimage and regis- tration for the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan has been sus- pended from Sunday midnight in view of coronavirus outbreak, the Home Ministry said. The Government has also suspended movement of all types of passengers through International border points with Pakistan from 00:00 hours of March 16. Washington: US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the White House physician said, hours after his administration declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency on Friday. Trump, 73, had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours. Trump had resisted being tested for the virus that has killed at least 51 Americans and infected over 2,500 others. New Delhi: In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Indian Railways has issued orders to all its zones to with- draw blankets and curtains from AC coaches as they are not washed every day. Other items in the bed roll are washed every day, it said. The railway board has also instructed that the minimum temperature in the coaches be set at 24-25 degrees Celsius. See P6 Lucknow: The district admin- istration on Sunday ordered closure of cinema halls, multi- plexes, swimming pools, discos, clubs and gyms till March 31 with immediate effect. District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash warned of action against insti- tutes for non-compliance of the order. All coaching institutes will remain closed till March 22. Details on Page 5
Transcript of ˆ...2 days ago · ˘ ˇ ˆ˙˝˘ ˇ˙˛ ˚ ˜ ! "#"# T hree years ago, when Captain Amarinder...
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India saw the biggest singleday spike in the number of
novel coronavirus cases when23 persons reported positiveduring the last 24 hours onSunday. The number swelled to107 from 84 with Maharashtrareporting the highest numberof positive cases followed byKerala. Meanwhile over 450stranded Indians were flownback from Italy and Iran andquarantined.
A Health Ministry officialsaid over 4,000 people who hadcome in contact with 93 posi-tive cases have been identifiedthrough contact and were beingtracked while 42,000 peopleacross the country are undercommunity surveillance.
More States on Sundayclosed schools, colleges cinemahalls, and also imposed Section144 of the CrPC to preventgathering of more than fourpersons in order to check thespread of the disease.
While the number of pos-itive cases in Maharashtra shotup to 33, the Health Ministryhas clarified that the 71-year-old man from Buldhana, whodied during treatment onSaturday in a hospital, hadtested negative for coronavirusinfection. He had returnedfrom Saudi Arabia recentlyand had diabetes and highblood pressure.
The Mumbai Police onSunday clamped prohibitoryorders under Section 144 of theCrPC to stop tour operatorsfrom conducting any kind ofgroup tours to foreign ordomestic destinations tillMarch 31.
Maharashtra has alreadyinvoked the Epidemic DiseasesAct 1897 that gives wide-rang-ing powers to officials toenforce measures, includingthat of lockdown and quaran-tine, required to tackle an out-
break. Shopping malls, schoolsand colleges have been closedin the State till March 31.
The Government has alsoplaced curbs on the move-ment of all types of passengersto Pakistan through interna-tional border points.
Earlier, the Governmenthad announced suspension ofall types of passenger move-ment from 00:00 hours onMarch 15 through the Indo-Bangla, Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Myanmarborders barring a few specifiedborder checkposts.
The total number of casesin the country includes the twopersons who died in Delhiand Karnataka and 17 for-eigners.
Delhi has so far reportedseven positive cases, Kerala 22and Uttar Pradesh 11.Karnataka has six coronaviruspatients while Ladakh threeand Jammu & Kashmir two.Telangana reported three cases.Rajasthan reported two cases.Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradeshand Punjab have reported onecase each.
In Kerala, 20 Dubai-boundpassengers were detained at theKochi airport after a UKnational, who was under sur-veillance sneaked out andjoined the group, tested posi-tive for novel coronavirus, offi-cial sources said.
Meanwhile, the over 280passengers of the Dubai-boundEmirates flight, which thegroup had taken, wereoffloaded at the airport. Theflight left for Dubai in the after-noon after the 20 passengerswere detained.
The UK national has beentaken to an isolation facility ata nearby Government hospital,a Cochin International AirportLimited spokesman said.Kerala has launched an inten-
sified medical check-up ininter-State border areas forpeople entering the State by railand road. As many as 302people are in isolation wards ofvarious hospitals across theState.
Elections to rural andurban local bodies in AndhraPradesh have been put off forsix weeks by the State ElectionCommission in view of spreadof coronavirus, according toState Election Commissioner NRamesh Kumar. The electionswere originally scheduled forMarch 21.
Continued on Page 7Related reports on P6, P12
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Uncertainly prevails overthe f loor test in the
Madhya Pradesh Assembly asSpeaker NP Prajapati has notgiven clear instructions for itdespite Governor Lalji Tandonon Saturday night asking ChiefMinister Kamal Nath to seek atrust vote soon after theGovernor address on Monday.
With the BJP seeking anearly confidence vote, it seemsthe political drama has shiftedto the Assembly after theSpeaker on Sunday ignoredthe Governor’s advice andrather said he will decide onfloor test on Monday.
On being asked whether hewill respect the Governor’sdirection to the CM for thefloor test on Monday, theSpeaker remained noncom-mittal and said, “This will beknown tomorrow... I will readout my ruling tomorrow.”
As the rebellion led byJyotiraditya Scindia threatenedthe survival of its Government,the Congress appeared keen onputting off the trust vote andasserted that it is the Speaker’s
prerogative to decide aboutthe proceedings of the House,but a buoyed BJP maintainedthat he was bound by theGovernor’s direction. BJP leg-islative party sources said it willvociferously demand for thetrust vote after the Governor’saddress.
However, Law and LegalAffairs Minister PC Sharmasaid, “What all will be done inthe House, the Speakerdecides.”
Another Congress MLAsaid the floor test “might nottake place on Monday” and theissue could even go to court.
After the Speaker acceptedthe resignation of six CongressMLAs on Saturday, the partynow has 108 legislators. Theseinclude 16 rebel legislators whohave also put in their papersbut their resignations are yet tobe accepted.
The BJP has 107 seats inthe House which now has an
effective strength of 222, withthe majority mark being 112.
To add to the rulingCongress’ woes, it is yet uncer-tain whether it will continuegetting the support of fourIndependents, two BSP MLAsand one MLA from the SP.
Referring to resignations of22 Congress MLAs, theGovernor wrote in his letter tothe CM: “Based on the abovefacts, prima facie, I believethat your Government has lostthe confidence of the Houseand it is in minority. This is avery serious issue and thereforeas per the constitutional pro-visions and for protecting thedemocratic values, it is neces-sary that on March 16, soonafter my address, you seek thetrust vote in the Assembly.”
While the Congress MLAsreturned on Sunday fromJaipur, the BJP too was bring-ing back its legislators fromHaryana to attend the firstday of the session on Monday.
Both the parties haveissued whips to their MLAs.
Continued on Page 7
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Four Congress MLAs inGujarat have tendered their
resignation to AssemblySpeaker Rajendra Trivediahead of the election to thefour Rajya Sabha seats in thestate to be held on March 26,prompting the Oppositionparty to shift at least 24 MLAsto Jaipur on Sunday.
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In an interesting twist to Dalitvote bank politics in the coun-
try, Bhim Army chiefChandrashekhar Azad Ravan onSunday launched his politicalparty — the Azad Samaj Party(ASP) — marking the birthanniversary of Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.
The date of the party’s launchis seen as a direct challenge toBSP supremo Mayawati whoseparty has so far been the soleclaimant of the Dalit votes inUttar Pradesh and a few otherStates. As many as 28 ex-MLAsand six former MPs attended theevent in neighbouring Noidaprompting two former ChiefMinisters of Uttar Pradesh —Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav —to react on the new outfit, sayingthese are parties with vested
interest and would have no polit-ical impact.
Chandrashekhar took tosocial media depicting Dalitleader late Kanshi Ram’s image ashis profile status, to officiallyannounce his new political party.
Continued on Page 7
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SAARC nation on Sundaysupported Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s proposal ofsetting up COVID-19Emergency Fund to jointlycombat the pandemic. Duringvideo conference with hiscounterparts, the PM com-mitted 10 million dollars asinitial investment for the fund.
Apart from Modi, SriLankan President GotabayaRajapaksa, Maldivian
President Ibrahim MohamedSolih, Nepalese PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli,Bhutanese premier LotayTshering, Bangladeshi PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina,Afghan President AshrafGhani and Special Assistant toPakistani Prime Minister onHealth Zafar Mirza partici-pated in the video conference.
The underlying messageof the video conference wasunitedly taking on the pan-demic, but Pakistan used the
occasion to raise Kashmir,with Mirza calling for the“lockdown” to be eased inJammu & Kashmir to dealwith the coronavirus threat.
Modi asserted that it wasimportant for the SAARCmember countries to worktogether to combat the coro-navirus spread, and said theregion can best respond to thecoronavirus pandemic by “coming together, not growingapart”.
Continued on Page 7
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New Delhi: Pilgrimage and regis-tration for the Kartarpur SahibGurdwara in Pakistan has been sus-pended from Sunday midnight inview of coronavirus outbreak, theHome Ministry said. TheGovernment has also suspendedmovement of all types of passengersthrough International border pointswith Pakistan from 00:00 hours ofMarch 16.
Washington: US President DonaldTrump has tested negative for thenovel coronavirus, the WhiteHouse physician said, hours afterhis administration declared theCOVID-19 pandemic a nationalemergency on Friday. Trump, 73,had taken the coronavirus test onFriday night. The results came outin less than 24 hours. Trump hadresisted being tested for the virusthat has killed at least 51 Americansand infected over 2,500 others.
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Three years ago, whenCaptain AmarinderSingh took over as Chief
Minister, Punjab was caughtin a morass. The law andorder situation was virtually inthe doldrums, the rampantabuse of narcotics was eatinginto a generation of Punjab'syouth and the State was sink-ing deeper into a financialtrough with a slackening agri-cultural and industrial growth.But challenges bring out thebest in him as he went aboutgiving hope and restoringtrust among his people. He setup a Special Task Force (STF)to arrest the drug nuisance inthe State, gave a systemicpush to the growth of the agri-culture sector, ensured a state-wide crackdown on criminalgangs, busted terror modules,reformed the power sector,spurred industrial growth andtook public services to thedoorstep of residents. And inthese three years, the transfor-mation is visible with elimina-tion of drugs from the state,law and order back to itsstrict efficiencies, the GharGhar Rozgar raising thepotential of human capital inthe State, the debt-waiverscheme easing farmers' woesand policies encouraginginvestment. Besides, he has ensured an overall compli-ance of the traditional sloganof Bijli, Paani and SafaiSuraksha.
Right from the beginning,Capt Amarinder had a visionembodied in the slogan,'Nawen Naroye Punjab LayeeCaptain De Naun Nukte'(Captain's nine-points forrejuvenated Punjab). Threeyears down the line, he haskept his promises to not onlypull back Punjab from theprecipice but catapult it as thecountry's most vibrant andsought after destination.
��������������Fighting the slur of drug
menace, Captain AmarinderSingh's Government succeed-ed in breaking the backboneof the drugs mafia and chok-ing the supply chain. To fur-ther intensify its efforts, theGovernment now intends tobring in the State DrugControl Legislation. Whatworked was the ChiefMinister's decision to set up aSpecial Task Force to rein inthe deadly scourge and ensur-ing "free-hand" in its working.He also ensured that there adirect interaction between hisoffice and the task force offi-cers to build accountabilityand quick action.
Believing in not just treat-ing the symptoms but curingthe condition, CaptAmarinder also involved thepeople, from the commonman to the notables. The gov-ernment rolled out an ambi-tious Buddy Programme-
forming groups of schoolsand college students to edu-cate and motivate childrenabout ill-effects of drugs. Helaunched the Drug AbusePrevention Officers (DAPO)programme, where dedicatedvolunteers work in their local-ities in coordination with thelocal administration, policeand the STF to ensure com-munity-level penetration ofthe campaign. Besides seekingsupport of the people ofPunjab-right from the com-mon man to the students tocelebrities as part of his#NasheToAzaadi (freedomfrom drugs) campaign ---Capt Amarinder also reachedout to the makers of the vir-tual world - Google CEOSunder Pichai and FacebookCEO Mark Zuckerberg "toextend and provide technolo-gy support in fighting thismenace."
Figures speak for them-selves. A total of 36418 NDPScases have been registeredwith the arrest of 45445 per-sons. In addition, 1305 kg ofheroin has been recoveredbesides other contraband sub-stances vis 380 kg of smackand charas, 1500 kg of opium,1.30 lakh kg of poppy huskhave also been seized duringdifferent operations with theState witnessing a steadyincrease in narcotics seizuressince March 2017. More than180 'big fish' (major drugsmugglers) have been arrest-ed and property worth Rs 67crore has been forfeited in thelast three years. Drug-relateddeaths have fallen from 114 in2018 to 47 in 2019.
Fortifying the efforts oflaw enforcement agencies, theGovernment launchedOutdoor Opioid AssistedTreatment (OOAT) clinics,improved the infrastructure ofdrug de-addiction and reha-bilitation centres. Of the over3.5 lakh people treated, 2.15lakh were treated at de-addic-tion centres, 29,156 at rehabil-itation centres while 1.04 lakhwere healed at OOAT centres.
Turning a new leaf in pre-vention of drug abuse, theState Government has decidedto incorporate a chapter on themenace in the school syllabusso as to educate the studentsabout the ill-effects drugs.
While societally there is anew awareness, unfortunate-ly, Punjab, along with Delhi,had over the years emerged asa lucrative market for drugs,encouraging smugglers fromother States and narco-terror-ists from Pakistan to spreadthe venom here. So the StateGovernment is now workingclosely with other northernstates, sharing regular infor-mation, forming a commonmechanism and monthlymeetings of the state policechiefs. The cross-border threatis now more severe as trouble-makers in Pakistan are using
drones, in recent months, tosmuggle weapons and drugsinto Punjab. Flagging the"serious" issue, the ChiefMinister had written to thePrime Minister and UnionHome Minister demandinganti-drone devices and sur-veillance to tackle the prob-
lem. Since August 2019,Punjab has had three docu-mented cases of drones drop-ping supplies of weapons andnarcotics.
Joining hands with theneighbouring states, CaptainAmarinder Singh had moot-ed joint operations on the
inter-state borders, as part ofa series of collaborative mea-sures to tackle the drugs men-ace during the '2nd RegionalConference on Drug Menace- Challenges & Strategies' heldat Chandigarh in July 2019,attended by Haryana ChiefMinister ML Khattar,
Himachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur,Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, UttarakhandChief Minister TrivendraSingh Rawat, besides seniorofficials representing Jammuand Kashmir, Delhi andChandigarh.
Pointing out that drugtraffickers were not confinedby national or state bound-aries, Captain Amarinderpleaded for a National DrugsPolicy to combat the menacesince it was not possiblefor any state to tackle it alone.
������������ ����������
� ����� ���Working with the sole
aim of ensuring greater andhassle-free engagementbetween the StateGovernment and its citizens,the State machinery haslogged into technology tobring in a slew of governancereforms to improve its func-tioning by virtually providingcitizen-centric services at thedoorstep through online webportals, mobile applicationsand Sewa Kendras.
Implementing the"Digital Punjab" initiative,the Government is providingGovernment to Citizen(G2C) and Government toBusiness (G2B) services24X7, 365 days a year, in a
time-bound manner by car-rying out complete back-endcomputerisation of al lGovernment departments,integrating electronic pay-ments, redressing grievancesthrough an online and trans-parent system, implementinge-office application in alladministrative departmentsand Deputy Commissioner'soffices, among others.
This is not all. TheGovernment has ensurednecessary transparency andaccountability in the deliveryof public services by formu-lating Transparency andAccountability Act, 2018,launching several digital plat-forms l ike mSewa,Digilocker, Sewa Kendras,
GeM or e-Procurement toprovide all public services atcitizens' fingertips.
Keeping pace with thetime and considering thestate having the highest tele-density, the Governmentdecided to promote mobilegovernance by taking mobileas the first option for deliv-ery of government services.People can now stay in thecomfort of their home toavail all services with a tap orclick. And for the services,which cannot be made avail-able through online modes orrequire the personal presenceof the citizen, the govern-ment is strengthening andrationalising its network ofSewa Kendras.
Unlike the previousSAD-BJP government,Captain Amarinder Singh'sGovernment is operatingSewa Kendras on a self-sus-taining model, without anyburden on the State, which iscovering 271 services on anaverage of 35,000-40,000transactions per day in 516fully operationalized SewaKendras. The StateGovernment is in the processof harmonisation of FardKendras and Saanjh Kendraswith Sewa Kendras so that allGovernment to Citizen ser-vices can be delivered in aunified manner.
To effectively executevarious projects underDigital India and national e-
governance programmes, thePunjab Government has cre-ated a state-level IT Cadrewhich would help depart-ments in the integration ofvarious departmental ser-vices on digital platforms.The newly-recruited officialsunder IT cadre will play avital role in executing processre-engineering of variousState GovernmentDepartments and PSUs.
To ensure transparency ingovernance and accountabil-ity in public services, the StateCabinet led by CaptainAmarinder Singh has alsogiven its go ahead to enact anew Lokpal legislation cover-ing all officials, right from theChief Minister till downwards.
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Placing emphasis onschool education, theGovernment has adopted thepolicy of catching studentsyoung, sharpening their skillsand grooming them into pro-fessionals. From making edu-cation accessible to buildingsmart schools, theGovernment has opened newchapters in the state's acade-mic history.
In a major initiative, theGovernment has made educa-tion free for all students, upto Class XII. Earlier, the boyswere getting free education upto Class VIII and girls up toClass XII.
Already notifying theSmart School Policy, the StateGovernment has transformedas many 5992 primary, middleand high schools into "smartschools" with the help ofCorporate SocialResponsibility (CSR), NGO's,NRIs, charitable institutions orindividual contributions andso on. The Government hasalso planned to convert allclassrooms of high schools andsenior secondary schools into"smart classrooms" by provid-ing digital teaching aids likeLCDs, projectors etc.
Indicating the improvinglevel of education,Government schools haveoutperformed the privateschools in Class X and XIIPunjab School Education
Board results by securing88.21 percent and 88.14 per-cent respectively, against79.51 percent and 83.69 per-cent in private schools.
The State Government's
learning enhancement pro-gramme, "Padho PunjabPadhao Punjab", has achievedencouraging results achieving79 per cent of the prescribedlearning level targets as
against less than 30 percent inAugust 2017.
In the budget for 2020-21, the Government has allo-cated Rs 12,488 crore forpromotion of school andhigher education, includingRs 100 crore dedicated for theconstruction of 4,150 addi-tional classrooms and Rs 75crore for the maintenance ofschool buildings. The StateGovernment has alsoplanned to install 10 KWSolar plants in a total of 259Government senior sec-ondary smart schools in thefirst phase and in another 621senior secondary schools inthe second.
Besides, the Governmenthas rolled out an ambitiousprogramme to provide karatetraining to all girls in govern-ment schools this year forwhich all female teachers,below the age of 50 years,have undergone trainingthrough expert karate train-ers. Also, sanitary napkins arebeing provided to girl stu-dents in all governmentschools. The Government hasalso set aside requisite bud-getary provisions to providefacility of free transport tostudents of primary classesacross the state.
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Maintaining law and orderhas always been the primefocus of the CaptainAmarinder government, andthe State has witnessed a "per-ceptible decrease in crime".Since 2017, Punjab Police hasneutralised 2411 gangstersincluding 15 of 'A-category',seized 1,380 illegal weapons,recovered 614 snatched vehi-cles, and busted 32 terror mod-ules in the State arresting 155terrorists.
With the Chief Ministerensuring "no political interfer-ence" and giving free-hand to
the police force, the PunjabPolice has waged a war againstorganised gangs and crimi-nals, operating not only in theState, but also from outside. Infact, the State police, by team-ing up with the security forcesof other states and also othercountries, have managed tochase down the gangsterswho have fled to foreigncountries and bring themback for further investigationsand links.
In this effort, the specialwing of the Punjab Police,Organized Crime Control Unit(OCCU), is working with thecooperation of other statesand even liaisoning with the
Interpol, and police forces ofother countries. In the wake ofabout two dozen cases, whereforeign handlers, especiallyfrom Pakistan, were involvedin conspiring to disturbPunjab's peace and harmony,a special operation group(SOG) has been created on thelines of national securityguards (NSG) to deal with anyexigencies like fidayeen orterror attack, hostage situation,armed infiltration attempts,among others. Besides, a sep-arate internal security wing hasalso been created to specifical-ly focus on anti-terrorism andanti-internal insurgency oper-ations.
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��� ��������������The Government believes
that the State's prisons shouldnot just be about punishmentbut a true correctional facili-ty where inmates developskills to build self-worth anda sense of purpose. Punjab isall set to reform its prisonerswith the enactment of ThePunjab Prisons DevelopmentBoard Act, 2020. With this,the Punjab PrisonsDevelopment Board, on thelines of Telengana, will beconstituted to engage the pris-oners in economic activity,reducing crimes in prisons,helping them contribute tosociety and transformingcriminals.
The Board, to be headedby the Chief Minister withJails Minister as senior vicechairperson would furtherstrengthen prison and correc-tional administration, partic-ularly correctional interven-tions, welfare of prisonersand prisons' staff and expan-sion of prison industries. Theprimary purpose of the Boardis to boost defunct prisonindustries and other com-mercial activities for genera-tion of revenue. TheGovernment has also decidedto create a separate prisonintelligence wing to keep a tabon the activities of not just theinmates but employees as well.
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From bailing out the dis-tressed cultivators, extricatingthem from a debt trap to giv-ing a much-needed push todiversification, the StateGovernment has emerged asa farmer-friendly regime withits slew of decisions benefitingthe already beleaguered com-munity of this agrarian state.
During his previous stintas the Chief Minister, CaptAmarinder took several initia-tives in the agriculture sector,with special focus on organiccrops. This time, his mainfocus is lending the farmersand farm labourers a helpinghand and boosting crop diver-sification. The Governmenthas already waived off Rs 4,624crore of debt of 5.64 lakh smalland marginal famers indebtedto cooperative and commercialbanks. It has furtherannounced providing debtrelief to farm labourers andlandless farmers. In the 2020-21 budget, a total of Rs 2,000crore has been allocated for thenext phase, "including Rs 520crore specifically for waivingoff the loans of 2.85 lakh land-less and farm workers during2020-21."
Laying thrust on diversi-fication by breaking thevicious wheat-paddy cycle,the Government has assistedin diversifying 10 per centarea from growing the con-ventional paddy crop to try-ing out cycles of cotton, maize,basmati and experiment withhorticulture.
For agriculture diversifi-cation, an allocation of Rs 200crore has been made withspecial focus on maize. Atotal allocation of Rs 12,526crore has been made for agri-culture and allied sectors inthe budget, constituting amajor share of Rs 8,275 crorefor power subsidy.
Crop diversification andweaning the state's farmersaway from wheat-paddy cul-tivation is the need of the hourconsidering the decliningground water levels. Punjab
uses over 65 billion cubicmeters of water annually andthe major portion is used forproducing paddy. As per thelatest report, the ground waterlevel is depleting at the rate of49 centimetre per year. Out ofthe total 138 blocks in Punjab,109 are over-exploited interms of ground water usage,two are critical and anotherfive fall in the semi-criticalcategory.
To address the problem ofdeclining ground water effec-tively, Captain Amarinder'sGovernment has taken a pathbreaking initiative to setup thePunjab Water Regulation andDevelopment Authority,which will be empowered toissue directions on waterextraction but will not beauthorised to impose anyrestrictions or tariff on extrac-tion of water for drinking,domestic and agriculture pur-poses. The Punjab WaterResources (Management andRegulation) Act 2019, in thisregard, is aimed at develop-ment, management and regu-lation of water resources of theState for ensuring its judi-cious, equitable and sustain-able utilization and manage-ment. Further, the Authoritywould have the right toimpose financial penaltiesupon non-compliance of itsorders or directions. It hasbeen vested with the powersof a Civil Court, and wouldalso be required to present anannual report which would belaid on the floor of the Houseby the Government.
Water draft through tube-wells for many districts isvery high - Sangrur (260 percent), Patiala (217 per cent),Jalandhar (239 per cent) andKapurthala (224 per cent). Inanother alarming finding, thelatest survey report of theCentral Ground WaterAuthority says that the extrac-tion of groundwater is 165 percent of recharge in Punjab,resulting in various environ-mental concerns like overexploitation of groundwater,depleting soil productivity,excess use of fertilizers, amongothers.
However, with theGovernment's efforts, 6.29lakh hectare of basmati hasbeen sown during 2019-20. Amassive campaign has alsobeen launched for producingresidue-free Basmati and todiscourage or reduce the useof pesticides during the kharifseason, leading to an increasein export potential of Basmatifrom Punjab.
In addition, 18,000hectares in critical blockshave been brought undermaize crop. Besides, the areafor growing cotton has alsoincreased to 3.92 lakh hectarewhereas the area under veg-etables is increasing consis-tently during the past twoyears at the rate of 4.95-5.42per cent. Also, kinnow acreagehas increased to 53,000hectare and that of guava toabout 9,000 hectares.
To give further impetusto its diversification efforts,the Government will soonnotify an appropriate incen-tive scheme for encouragingthe farmers to grow alterna-tive crops, especially maize.
The State Government islaying a special emphasis onhorticulture, marketing ofproduce and food processingto ensure a sustainable successof this effort. Notably, the hor-ticulture crops are contribut-
ing 12.43 percent value to thestate's agriculture GDP fromonly 4.83 percent share ofgross cropped area. In this
direction, the Government isplanning to diversify citruscultivation by introducingnew sweet orange and man-
darin varieties in the State incoordination with PunjabAgriculture University (PAU),Ludhiana. Besides, four new
Horticulture Estates - Pear inVerka (Amritsar), litchi inSujanpur (Pathankot), guavain Wajidpur (Patiala) and hor-
ticulture in Kotkapura(Faridkot) - will also be set up.
In addition, to standard-ise and demonstrate the latestfloriculture technologies suit-able to Punjab's conditions,the work for establishing aCentre of Excellence ofFloriculture under Indo-Dutch Work plan is inprogress at Doraha, Ludhiana.
In another pro-farmerdecision, the government hasslashed 'mandi fee' - levied onthe sale and purchase of agri-culture produce - on fruitsand vegetables from four to oneper cent to check irregularand unauthorised activities.
The Government isencouraging organic farmingand planning to shift onelakh acres of farm land fordedicated use even though12,000 acres have already beenbrought under it. UnderTandrust Punjab Mission, theState has witnessed a fall inurea consumption by 4.48lakh metric tonnes and DAPconsumption by 1.83 lakhmetric tonnes, saving Rs704.51 crore as farmers' inputcost.
Moreover, the timely andactive intervention of the StateAgriculture Departmenthelped in neutralising thethreat of crop loss due tolocust attack in Bareka andRoopnagar villages of Fazilka,situated near Rajasthan andPakistan borders. TheAgriculture Department con-ducted a 13-hour-long oper-
ation to control the pest byinvolving officials from thePunjab AgriculturalUniversity (PAU), BorderSecurity Force (BSF), firedepartment, police, civiladministration, horticultureand farmers. This was a multi-department operation like noother.
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In a pro-poor initiative ofCaptain Amarinder's govern-ment, nearly 60,000 slumdwellers living in 89 slums in29 cities will get the much-needed basic amenities, alongwith proprietary rights, fol-lowing the enactment of "ThePunjab Slum Dwellers(Proprietary Rights) Act,2020". The legislation, passedin the Vidhan Sabha recently,will transform the urban slumareas, thus promoting sus-tainable growth of the cities.The move would go a longway in ensuring inclusivegrowth of the slum dwellersbesides upgrading the infra-structure in the urban areas.The new law would entitle theslum dwellers occupying landin a slum in any urban area tobeing settled in the land occu-pied by him. If it was not pos-sible to ensure his/her settle-ment on the same piece ofland, the slum dweller wouldbe settled on alternate land, asidentified by the state govern-ment.
��� �������� ���Captain Amarinder's
Government, committed toensure equal status andopportunities to the women,has implemented 50 percentreservation for women in allcivic bodies, includingPanchayati Raj Institutionsand Urban Local Bodies bymaking amendments in therespective Acts of 1994, 1911,and 1976.
For the purpose, thegovernment did not place thematter in the domain ofdebate for a long duration. Itwas, rather, among the firstdecisions taken by the govern-ment pursuant to the promis-es it made to the voter duringthe run up to the assemblypolls.
Providing for the first timeequal status to the women inall municipalities, the StateGovernment gave the women-folk equal chances of beingdirectly elected as members ofgram panchayats, zilaparishads, and other similarbodies.
Punjab was among thefirst few states that brought in50 per cent reservation forwomen in local bodies muchbefore the constitutionalamendment demanded it to beimplemented in the wholecountry. Earlier, 33 percentseats were reserved for thewomen in Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs) and UrbanLocal Bodies (ULBs).
The amendment hasempowered women, especial-ly in rural areas, and helpedthem lead from the front. Thefact that no less than 6612women sarpanches, 35,310women panches, 1410 mem-bers in panchayat samities,and 168 in Zila parishads,have been elected is testimonyto the success of the
Government's women empow-erment scheme.
For further empoweringthe women, the StateGovernment has announcedtwo new schemes - KasturbaGandhi Mahila Yojana andMata Tripta Mahila Yojana - in2020-21 budget. WhileKasturba Gandhi, an umbrel-la scheme, would convergebenefits under all existingwomen-centric governmentschemes being run by variousdepartments, Mata TriptaMahila scheme would takenew initiatives or programmes
to cover aspects which havehitherto remained uncoveredor were partially covered underany existing Centrally or State-sponsored women or girlchild-oriented schemes.
Besides, the ChiefMinister has also announced50 per cent concession in busfares to women travelling ingovernment and PRTC buses.Complementing its efforts ofproviding equal rights andopportunities, the StateGovernment has also provid-ed free pick-up and drop facil-ity considering women's safe-
ty while working night shifts.Any woman, anywhere in
the State, can call the police on100 or other helpline numbers- 181, 112, and 1091 - any timeof the day for safe transporta-tion back home or to work-place. The all-women PCRshave been deployed for the jobwhich would rush to helpstranded women.
Captain Amarinder, tofurther scale up the policepick-drop facility for women,has ordered all-women PCRvans to be mobilized in majorfive cities of Punjab, Mohali,Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhianaand Jalandhar, to provide safetransport in response to suchcalls.
Further facilitating thewomenfolk, the StateGovernment has establishedone stop centres in all 22 dis-tricts of the state, under 'Sakhi'project, to provide medicaland legal aid besides policehelp and counseling servicesunder a single roof to womenin distress.
These 24 X 7 Centres,providing all required servicesto the victims of violenceagainst women, will have onelady constable each. The 'Sakhi:One Stop Centre' provides atemporary shelter to the vic-tims and their children.
The State-level 181helpline number has been ded-icated to the women for report-ing domestic violence, sexualharassment, eve teasing, sexu-al assault and other crimesagainst women. At the sametime, the Government is work-ing on establishing theStandard OperatingProcedures and protocols foran effective and efficient collab-oration between the 181helpline and the "One StopCentres."
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With the power genera-tion and distribution
taking the centre stage inPunjab politics, the ChiefMinister will revisit the 'con-troversial' power purchaseagreements (PPAs) signedwith private thermal plants,thereby honouring one of theCongress party's key pollpromises.
In a first step towards thesame, a draft white paper onthe PPAs signed by the previ-ous government has alreadybeen prepared. After it isfinalised, it will be distributedamong legislators, givingthem ample t ime to gothrough it before taking upthe matter for discussion dur-ing the monsoon session ofthe Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
With the governmentstrengthening its power infra-structure on one hand, it isalso fulfilling its commitmentto provide free, high-quality,uninterrupted power to itsconsumers, especially thefarmers and industry.
For approximately 14lakh tube-well connectionsacross the State, an allocationof Rs 8,275 crore has beenmade in 2020-21 budget pro-posals on account of power
subsidy against the previousyear's Rs 6,060 crore. For theindustrial sector, theGovernment is providing sub-sidised power with variablecost of Rs 5 per unit to theindustry - a move that hasresulted in 16.92 percentincrease in industrial con-sumption over 2016-17. Anallocation of Rs 2,267 crorehas been provided for indus-trial power subsidy during2020-21.
Besides, 200 free units ofpower (per billing cycle) arealso provided to the SC, BPLand BC category consumershaving sanctioned load ofless than one kilowatt. Thegovernment extended thefacility to the freedom fight-ers, taking the cumulativefigure of the subsidy borne bythe State to Rs 1,623 crore for2019-20.
Under the government'spilot project of 'Pani Bachao,Paisa Kamao' for direct ben-efit transfer for electricity(DBTE) to the agricultureconsumers in the state and forincentivizing the farmers tosave water and earn money byconsuming lesser groundwa-ter, as many as 2,196 farmershave enrolled and about Rs 16lakhs have been disbursed.
The project, under whichagriculture consumers aregiven a fixed electricity enti-tlement for every month of
the year with no bills areissued, will be expanded dur-ing 2020-21 covering 244feeders, and setting up of
demo farms for motivatingfarmers to adopt the scheme.
Another Voluntar yDisclosure Scheme (VDS) has
been introduced for agricul-ture consumers by allowingthem to regularise their addi-tional load without any penal-
ty at discounted service con-nection charges of Rs 2,500per BHP instead of Rs 4500per BHP. As many 95,000farmers received benefits ofRs 109 crore.
Contrar y to theOpposition's claims, the statepower utility has managed torestrict the tariff hike to 13.28percent (2017-18 to 2019-20) despite hike in coal tariffand Railway freight charges,against the tariff hike of 23.88percent during the previousgovernment (2012-13 to2016-17).
The Chief Minister is onrecord saying that the StatePower Department and thePunjab State PowerCorporation have been direct-ed to explore every possibleoption to make the electrici-ty tariff for the domestic con-sumers comparable, if notless, with the neighbouringStates.
He had also declared thatthe Government "remainedunequivocally committed tosupplying quality power to alldomestic consumers ataffordable prices and will dowhatever possible to achievethis, even if it amounts torenegotiation of PPAs signedby the previous government
with private power generatingcompanies."
Keeping pace with thetechnology and to ensuretransparency, the PSPCL hasintroduced various digitalmodes for bill payments. It hasalso started an online portal forgrant of approval and execu-tion of rooftop solar projects topropagate the solar power.
In a bid to augment hydropower generation in the state,Captain Amarinder rededi-cated to the people the vitalShahpur Kandi Dam projectat a cost of Rs 2073 crore onMarch 8, 2019, setting threeyears deadline for its comple-tion. The project has beenrevived with CaptainAmarinder's personal effortsto resolve all pending issueswith the Jammu & Kashmirgovernment.
The Dam would result inenhanced irrigation potentialof 5000 hectares across thestate. Apart from generatingclean power, the projectwould also improve irrigationpotential of 1.18 lakh hectaresof Upper Bari Doab Canal(UBDC). The project wouldreduce the water flowing intoPakistan drastically andwould help save the criticalwater resources of the state.
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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)constituted its frontal
youth organisation, ChhatraYuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS),on Sunday.
Disclosing this, AAP statepresident Sabhajeet Singh saidRishyant Katiyar had beenappointed CYSS district pres-ident and Shubham Maurya itssocial media cell incharge.
Singh said the names of theoffice-bearers were decided bya committee comprising seniorAAP leaders.
“We are working hard andcarrying on a membershipdrive in UP to enrol members.Our leaders are constantlytouring different districts of UPfor this,” he said.
Singh said AAP aimed toemerge as a formidable politi-cal entity in the political spec-trum of Uttar Pradesh.
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In a veiled attack on Bhim army chiefChandrasekhar Azad Ravan, Bahujan
Samaj Party supremo Mayawati onSunday said people with vested inter-ests were playing into the hands of rivalpolitical parties and claimed that theyhad nothing to do with Dr BRAmbedkar, his legacy and his move-ment.
“Even now, people with vestedinterests are playing into the hands ofrival political parties. They have noth-ing to do with Babasaheb Ambedkarand his movement. Nor they have any-thing to do with Manyavar Kanshi
Ram’s sacrifice and austerity,” Mayawatisaid without naming the Bhim Armychief.
“The truth is that these people areonly using the names of the Dalit icons(Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram) to realisetheir vested interests,” she said in a state-ment on Sunday.
Mayawati’s statement assumes sig-nificance as it comes on the birthanniversary of BSP founder and hermentor Kanshi Ram and amid reportsof Azad floating a new political party.
Sharpening her attack, Mayawatisaid, “Kanshi Ram had written a bookChamcha Yug to alert the gullibleDalits, tribals, people from backward
castes and from other oppressed sec-tions from selfish and bikaau (saleable)people like these.”
Mayawati also said, “Formation ofnew parties or organisations will notbenefit these people, but it will lead tosuccess of the policy of divide and ruleof the casteist parties and people oppos-ing these sections, thereby makingthese people helpless, and then they willnever be able to stand on their feet.”
The BSP chief urged all the follow-ers of Kanshi Ram to work hard to ful-fill the dreams of Ambedkar, the state-ment said, adding the birth anniversaryof the party founder was celebrated ina simple manner.
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If the Bharatiya Janata Partycan win over 300 seats in
Uttar Pradesh by “spreadinglies”, then with honest hardwork, truth and by bringingpeople together, “we can win351 seats” in 2022, SamajwadiParty president Akhilesh Yadavsaid on Sunday.
Pointing out that a palmreader had recently predictedthat he would win 350 of the403 seats in the 2022 UttarPradesh assembly elections,Yadav said if the SP was votedto power, his governmentwould hold a caste-wise cen-sus.
Addressing the media aday after his party’s nationalexecutive meeting here, Yadavsaid his party colleagues hadvowed to win 351 of the 403seats in UP assembly. He saidthat in the 2022 UP assemblypolls, his party would have noalliance but could go for someseat adjustments with like-minded parties.
“In the 2022 assemblypolls, the SP will not have pre-roll alliance like the past elec-tions but will have some seatadjustments with like-mindedparties,” he said, refusing toname any party saying it wastoo early.
“Our target is big. I havequoted a number that nobodycan imagine. Even we had notimagined that the BJP wouldwin more than 300 seats,”Yadav said.
In the 2017 UP assemblypolls, the BJP and its allies hadwon 325 seats propelling YogiAdityanath to the chief minis-ter’s seat. The SP, which was inpower, managed only 47 seatswhile the BSP and the Congress
trailed even further.On Sunday, several for-
mer leaders of the BahujanSamaj Party and BharatiyaJanta Party joined theSamajwadi Party.
Yadav said that with thesupport of his new colleagues,“we won’t fall into any net”woven by the BJP.
Rejecting the BJP’s sloganof Sabka Saath Sabka VikasSabka Vishwas’ as fake, the for-mer chief minister said the SPslogan would be real as it wastaking people together.
Asked about YogiAdityanath government’s deci-sion to bring an ordinance forrecovery of damages to publicand private property duringprotests, Yadav said in the
backdrop of the observationsmade by the Allahabad HighCourt and the Supreme Court,the government’s move wasan admission that it was doingillegal acts.
“Even the High Court andthe Supreme Court have cen-sured the state government,terming the act of putting uphoarding of anti-CAA protest-ers as illegal but this govern-ment was acting like a dictator,”he said.
“The government is doingan illegal act, the cabinet deci-sion has proven this. This gov-ernment does not care aboutthe High Court or the SupremeCourt,” he said.
“Why does the govern-ment forget that so many peo-
ple sitting in government haveinstigated riots. You tell me, inthe history of UP, has anychief minister withdrawn riotcases against himself?” heasked, targeting YogiAdityanath, who as head of thestate has withdrawn caseslodged against him.
The SP chief alsoannounced that his partywould not contest the Biharassembly polls and party MLAswould support the Congressgovernment in MadhyaPradesh,
Meanwhile, several seniorleaders of BSP, including for-mer parliamentarians and leg-islators from Azamgarh andBundelkhand region, joinedthe Samajwadi Party.
Lucknow (PTI): Two personshave been arrested for reported-ly putting up ‘indecent’ posterspertaining to Uttar Pradeshchief minister and his deputy,police said on Sunday. “An FIRwas registered against three per-sons for putting up indecentposters against Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath and DeputyChief Minister Keshav Prasad
Maurya. Of these, two —Sudhanshu and Ashwani —have been arrested, while a huntis on for the third person, Lalu.”Police said the posters were putup late on Friday night, but wereremoved on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the oppositionCongress demanded the imme-diate release of the arrested. Theparty also held a protest against
the arrests at Gandhi Pratimaarea in the state capital onSunday. UP Congress chief AjayKumar Lallu said, “The way inwhich the BJP wants to suppressthe voice of people... if there isso much of anger (due to suchposters), imagine what will hap-pen when their unlawful activ-ities will be unmasked before thepublic.”
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The Yogi Adityanath govern-ment has shelved the pro-
posal to celebrate its thirdanniversary in office in a grandstyle because of coronovirusthreat. Now the anniversarywill be a subdued event,reduced to a press conferenceof Chief Minister YogiAdityanath.
The Yogi government com-pletes three years in office onMarch 19.
A senior official told ThePioneer here on Sunday that onMarch 19, the chief ministerwould hold a press conferenceand also distribute a booklethighlighting achievements ofhis government.
In 2018, the Yogi govern-ment had celebrated its firstanniversary in a grand style byshowcasing the cultural diver-sity of the state. In 2019, the cel-ebrations were cancelledbecause of imposition of modelcode of conduct in view of theLok Sabha election. That time,the chief minister had held apress conference at party office.
“This year, the chief min-ister will address the media athis 5, Kalidas Marg residenceor at Lok Bhawan,” the officialsaid.
Earlier in the day, the chiefminister held a meeting withstate ministers and informationofficers and gave them guide-lines on spreading the messageof good governance down tothe village level.
Meanwhile, a senior leaderof the Bharatiya Janata Partysaid that party national presi-dent JP Nadda had asked all thestate units to cancel organisa-tional programmes in view ofcoronavirus scare.
Party’s general secretaryVidya Sagar Sonkar said that aproposed meeting on cane,dairy and cooperative sector tobe held at the state BJP stateheadquarters on Monday stoodcancelled.
The BJP has proposed amass contact programme fromMarch 19 to 26 to make peo-ple aware of the achievementsof the state government. It wasnot clear whether the party hascancelled that contact pro-gramme also.
“We are waiting for direc-tives from state leadership,” aBJP leader said.
Lucknow (PTI): UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Sundaystressed for making peopleaware of preventive and pre-cautionary steps to curb thespread of coronavirus and toupgrade the treatment facili-ties for it in the state.
In a meeting with hisministerial colleagues at hisofficial residence, the chiefminister also asked ministersto assess the damage to farm-ers’ corps in recent rains andhailstorm in the state.
“People should be madeaware about coronavirus.Prevention is its cure and byexercising precautions, we cansave ourselves from this dis-ease. Corona awarenessshould be done throughMukhayamantri AarogyaMela,” an official statementquoted Chief Minister YogiAdityanath as telling his min-isters in the meeting.
“Posters pertaining tocoronavirus should be put upat centres which come underbasic education, secondaryeducation, higher education,vocational education and skilldevelopment,” the chief min-ister said.
The statement said theministers were also told by thechief minister to review thepreventive steps and treat-ment facilities of corona,besides assessing the loss dueto the excessive rains andhailstorm and relief distribu-tion in their respective dis-tricts of which they have beenmade in-charge.
Yogi Adityanath also saidthe affected farmers should begiven compensation.
Lucknow (PTI): Two persons,including a 25-year-old woman,were allegedly shot dead inAuraiya on Sunday by aides ofSamajwadi Party legislatorKamlesh Pathak and his broth-er over a land dispute, policesaid. Six persons, including SPMLC Kamlesh Pathak, havebeen arrested for their allegedroles in the killings, Kanpurzone’s Additional DirectorGeneral Jai Narayan Singh said.
District Superintendent ofPolice Suniti said the incidenttook place on Sunday afternoonin Narayanpur area of the city,when advocate Manjul
Chaubey, 37 and his sisterSudha Chaubey were fired at byaides of SP MLC Pathak and hisbrother. Sudha died on thespot, while Manjul succumbedto his injuries in a hospital, SPSuniti said.
A case has been registeredagainst six persons including theSP MLC, she added.
Kanpur zone’s ADG Singhsaid, “Six persons including SPMLC Kamlesh Pathak havebeen arrested. The land disputewas in connection with a reli-gious site. “The Gangster Actand NSA will be slapped on theaccused persons, and their arms
licence will be cancelled.”Meanwhile, three youth diedwhen the motorcycle that theywere travelling on was hit by anunknown vehicle on theLucknow-Bahraich highwayinBahraich.
According to DeputySuperintendent of Police JangBahadur Yadav, the accidenttook place on Saturday at 7:30pm when Vinod Pal (32), BhaiLal (30) and Rinku Pal (28) weregoing to Kaisarganj on a motor-cycle. Near Paramhans DegreeCollege, an unknown vehicle hitthe motorcycle and the threedied on the spot, he added.
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Uttar Pradesh GovernorAnandiben Patel on
Sunday promulgated the UPPublic and Private PropertyDamages Recovery Ordinance,2020, giving her assent to thepunitive law.
The ordinance providesfor recovery of damage to pub-lic and private properties frommiscreants during strike,bandh, civil commotion and inany violent protest or demon-stration.
The ordinance also pro-vides for setting up of theclaims tribunal to be headedby a retired district judge andtwo retired officers of not lessthan the rank of additionalcommissioners.
The recovery claims by thesufferers from the violenceand damage to their propertywould be filed before the tri-bunal, which will adjudicate inthe matter.
The draft ordinance wasapproved by the UP cabinet inits meeting held on March 13,a day after a vacation bench ofthe apex court comprisingJustices UU Lalit andAniruddha Bose refused tostay the Allahabad HighCourt’s order for removal ofthe government’s anti-CAAstir, name-and-shame posters.
“The cabinet has approvedthe UP Recovery of Damage toPublic Properties Ordinance,2020 for recovery of losses ofthe government and privateproperties during political
processions, illegal agitations,”UP Minister Suresh KumarKhanna had told reportersafter the cabinet meeting onFriday.
“As per the Supreme Courtdecision to constitute a recov-ery tribunal to recover lossesto government and privateproperties in political and ille-gal agitations in the country,the resolution to bring theordinance has been passed inthe cabinet,” he had said.
The Lucknow districtadministration and the policecommissioner had jointly onMarch 7 put up roadside ban-ners with photographs of anti-CAA protesters and they wereasked to pay compensation fordamage to public propertyduring the violent protestsagainst the new citizenshiplaw.
The move had triggeredoutrage among those beingnamed and shamed. The ban-ners came up at major roadcrossings in Lucknow.
The posters bear the pho-tographs, names and address-es of those accused of vandal-ism during protests onDecember 19 against theCitizenship (Amendment)Act. The anti-CAA protestersho were booked for the violentprotest against the citizenshiplaw on December 19 last year.
The Allahabad HighCourt taking suo motu cogni-sance of the matter on March9 had directed the UP govern-ment not to install suchposters “without having the
authority of law”. The bench of Chief Justice
Govind Mathur and JusticeRamesh Sinha also directedthe district magistrate and theLucknow police commission-er to submit a compliancereport in this regard on orbefore March 16.
The UP government hadchallenged the High Courtorder in Supreme Court. TheSC, while hearing this matter,asked the government underwhich law the hoardings havebeen placed and referred thiscase to a larger bench.
UP governmentspokesman and cabinet min-ister Siddharth Nath Singhsaid, “Supreme Court in 2011said that if a government orprivate property is damaged inany demonstration or protest,stringent law should be madefor its prevention. Our govern-ment earlier issued an orderbut the Supreme Court, whilehearing the anti-CAA hoard-ings matter, asked us underwhich law such action hasbeen taken. Based on that wehave brought an ordinancewhich will subsequently beconverted into a law.”
Samajwadi Party presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav had crit-icised the ordinance saying“This government is actinglike a dictator and is violatingthe order issued by the court.The ordinance brought by thegovernment is anti-people andthis has been cleared just tofulfil the ego of the presentregime.”
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With tobacco cultivationon the decline, farmers in
Uttar Pradesh are willing toshift to alternative crops ifsuitable institutional support isavailable to them.
Tobacco cultivation inUttar Pradesh has declinedfrom 1,15,000 hectares in 2000-01 to 23,000 hectares in 2017-18, said Giri Institute ofDevelopment Studies (GIDS),Lucknow, in its study‘Economics of TobaccoFarming in India’, conducted incollaboration with Centre forMulti Disciplinary Research(CMDR), Dharwad(Karnataka).
This report is based on keystudies carried out in 10 majorstates growing tobacco, includ-ing Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,Gujarat, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Odisha, TamilNadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradeshand West Bengal.
The report says that tobac-
co farmers are willing to shift toother crop if suitable alterna-tives are made available. Theirwillingness to shift is condition-al in most of the states, subjectto institutional support in termsof subsidised inputs, technicalknow-how on alternate cropsand guaranteed crop loan.
According to ProfFahimuddin S of GIDS,Lucknow, tobacco cultivationhas declined in UP due to lowprice of tobacco, tobacco cropdisease and awareness of healthhazards of tobacco use. Theprices have been quite low andfarmers are forced to sell tobac-co at 50 per cent less price dueto low demand, thus leading tolow net returns from tobaccocultivation.
“Many farmers in UttarPradesh, who were growingchewing and hookah tobacco,have shifted to growing mus-tard, cotton, cauliflower, toma-to, pea, potato and maize. Otherfarmers are also willing to leavetobacco cultivation if support
for alternative cash crop ismade available to them,” he said.
Dr AK Mishra, district pro-gramme coordinator, (Etah)diversified agricultural supportproject, said that farmers wereeager to grow medicinal plantsand flowers but needed govern-ment support.
Lessons can be learnt fromstates like Kerala, Assam,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Punjab and North Eastern,where tobacco cultivation hasreduced or stopped complete-ly. Diversification of crops intobacco growing fields ofKarnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Uttar Pradesh andGujarat needs to be closelyobserved and analysed, thereport said.
The officials in UttarPradesh, UP DiversifiedAgricultural Support Project(UPDASP) say if the success ofthe programme is sustained,cultivation of tobacco can betotally replaced with alternatecrops within next five years.
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With an eye on the 2022UP assembly polls, the
Bharatiya Janata Party stateunit plans to focus on thecoming panchayat elections tostrengthen its base in ruralareas.
The panchayat polls willbe held in November-December 2020 and it is notcertain whether the BJP willcontest it on party lines or not.However, the leadership hasstarted gearing up to contestthese polls in a big way andhas started preparations atthe micro level.
“By preparing for the pan-chayat polls, the party willstrengthen its organisation atthe ground level in rural areasand it will certainly give us anedge in the 2022 assemblypolls, which are just about twoyears away from now,” saidBJP state general secretaryand party in-charge of pan-chayat polls, Vijay BahadurPathak, here on Sunday.
A review meeting on thepanchayat polls was held inthe state capital on Thursdayin which the leadershipformed committees of minis-ters and senior leaders at thedivisional level to monitorthe preparation.
Pathak said that the BJPwas committed to takingevery elections seriously andthe panchayat polls wouldnot be different as the partycadre would engage them-selves at the panchayat andbooth level.
He said that only after theorganisational structure forpanchayat elections was con-stituted, the party would holdmeetings at the divisional,district and block levels tochalk out the poll strategy.
Pathak said that the partydoes not want to give opposi-tion any opportunity to resur-rect itself at the grassrootslevel ahead of the 2022 elec-tions.
“We will go to the pan-chayat elections with the slo-gan of Sabka Saath, SabkaVikas and developmentwhereas in the past theSamajwadi Party and theBahujan Samaj Party hadalways misused the powerand money to win the polls,”he said.
Lucknow (PNS): The UttarPradesh unit of CommunistParty of India (CPI) demand-ed that the Yogi Adityanathgovernment repeal to UPRecovery for Damage toPublic/Private PropertyOrdinance, saying it wouldprove deadly for the public andfor the judicial system of thecountry.
CPI secretariat board in astatement said the BharatiyaJanata Party was in the habit oftampering with theConstitution and the judicialsystem to implement its heiragenda.
“The Bharatiya JanataParty supports any verdictwhich is in its interest and turnsdown one which is against itsagenda. In the Babri Masjiddemolition case, the BJP com-pletely violated the directionsof National Integration Boardand Supreme Court,” the state-ment read.
CPI leader Girish said theBJP refused to comply with theHigh Court order on posters ofthose involved in alleged vio-lent protest against the new cit-izenship law in Lucknow andpetitioned in the SupremeCourt for relief.
“In the Supreme Court,the BJP fell flat and after this itsgovernment in UP broughtthe ordinance on the issue,” theCPI leader pointed out.
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The total number of thecoronavirus patients in the
state has gone up to 13 with awoman from Agra who hadtravelled from Bengaluru toAgra having tested positive onSunday. KGMU authoritiesconfirmed that the womantested positive for coronavirus.
State surveillance officerVikasendu Aggarwal said thetotal count includes eight fromAgra, two each fromGhaziabad and Lucknow, andone from Noida. The healthauthorities have started exten-sive surveillance in two areas ofAgra after the girl who hadmoved from Bengaluru to Agratested positive.
Agra District MagistratePN Singh said the woman hadarrived in Agra on March 9 andher husband tested positivefor coronavirus on March 10 inBengaluru. We were informedby the authorities in Bengaluruabout her husband having test-ed positive. The family (com-prising six sisters) and a servantwere repeatedly told to exercisecaution and the movements ofall the family members werechecked and their samplessent for testing,” he said.
Her father has beenbooked by Agra police formisleading authorities aboutthe whereabouts of his daugh-ter. An FIR was registered at theSadar police station on a com-plaint by the health departmentunder sections 269 (unlawful-ly or negligently doing any actwhich is, and which he knowsis likely to spread the infection
of any disease dangerous to life)and 270 (malignant act likely tospread infection of diseasedangerous to life) of the IndianPenal Code (IPC), districtadministration officials said.
The Agra DM said that onMarch 13, he was told by herfather that she had left forBangaluru and hence they car-ried out an extensive search.
“When we could not locate thewoman, we put up a police sur-veillance and found that thewoman was at her home. It wasa complete misinformation andthe CMO then visited herhouse,” he said.
He added that the newly-wed couple had gone to Greece,Switzerland and Paris afterwhich they landed in Mumbai
and stayed there for 2-3 daysbefore going to Bengaluru. Hesaid they tracked the passen-gers travelling in the adjacentbogies and also informed theairlines by which she had travelled.
The state surveillance offi-cer said they tracked the casewhen they got a communica-tion from the Karnataka gov-
ernment that the husband ofthe woman had tested positivefor coronavirus.
“She has tested positive inthe preliminary stages but fur-ther reports came out onSunday. It took a lot of con-vincing on the part of thehealth authorities to shift her tothe Agra district hospitalrecently,” he said.
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The condition of the 22-year-old patient, who test-
ed positive for coronavirus onFriday night, is said to be sta-ble and asymptomatic in theisolation ward of KGMU.Incharge of Infectious DiseasesCentre (KGMU) Dr DHimanshu said they were keep-ing a watch on the patient sincethe infection might be at theincubation period and symp-toms would take time to man-ifest.
Currently, there are twoconfirmed cases and suspectadmitted in the KGMU.
Dr Himanshu said theyouth was preparing for someentrance exam for which he hasto appear in coming months.He said in case of asympto-
matic patients, it is necessary tokeep a watch because even ifthey do not have full-blownsymptoms, they can transmitthe infection to others.
“It is possible that patientsdon’t show symptoms becausetheir immunity is strong butthey can still pass on the infec-tion to others with weakerimmunity,” he said, adding thatthe first patient (a doctor fromCanada) is also doing fine.“She is an internal medicinedoctor and she is coordinatingwith her hospital in Canadaand helping us collate infor-mation on the disease,” he said.
He pointed out that twosuspected (a couple in their60’s) admitted to KGMU test-ed negative for coronavirus.
“It has come to our knowl-edge that messages are being
circulated asking people toabstain from visiting the areaswhere patients have been test-ed positive for coronavirus.The virus can be a threat onlyup to a distance of two metresand hence there is no point incirculating these messages,” DrHimanshu said.
He added that as a precau-tionary measure, it is necessaryfor people to stop exchangingor sharing phones since infec-tion spreads by droplets andsuch an exchange can be harm-ful. “People have got this habitof checking out each other’sphones, but one should nottake another person’s phoneand keep cleaning one’s ownphone as well,” he added.
Dr Himanshu said the bestprevention is to stay indoorsand even avoid going to places
of worship because these areareas of mass gathering. “Oneshould rather pray at home.Even prominent temples ofthe country have restricted theentry of devotees,” he said.
“People should understandthat as doctors, we are meetingthe patients regularly and stillnot catching the infectionbecause we are following therule of keeping a distance. Weare dealing with the patientsfrom a distance and keepingourselves safe from infection,”he added
The doctor said they arestudying the case and will sooncome out with a paper onthese two patients. “We arewatching them and the wholecourse of the virus as it takesand then we will take out amedical paper,” he said.
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The district administrationon Sunday ordered closure
of cinema halls, multiplexes,swimming pools, discos, clubsand gyms till March 31 withimmediate effect. DistrictMagistrate Abhishek Prakashwarned of action against insti-tutes for non-compliance of theorder. Besides, all coachinginstitutes in the state capital willremain closed till March 22 inview of the novel coronavirusoutbreak.
“The owners, managersand coordinators of all thecoaching institutes in the dis-trict have been directed tokeep them closed till March 22.The closure will come intoimmediate effect,” Prakash saidin the official order.
Action will be initiatedagainst those found flouting theorder, he said. The order comesa day after the Uttar Pradeshgovernment closed all schoolsand colleges in the state whereexams are not going on tillMarch 22. In an office memo-randum issued on Saturday, theLucknow University asked stu-dents to maintain distancefrom each other in exam halls.
“At least one metre distancemust be maintained betweentwo examinees,” Controller ofExaminations (University ofLucknow) Lt Colonel (retd) AKMishra said in the memoran-dum. Symptomatic candidateswill be made to sit in isolationrooms, the memorandum said.
Lucknow University exams areto start on Monday. The num-ber of coronavirus cases in thecountry rose to 107 on Sunday,the Union Health Ministrysaid. Meanwhile, Amity
University has also been closedtill March 31. The universitywill arrange online classes fromMarch 16 for students so thatstudents continue their studiesduring this period.
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The Food Safety and DrugAdministration (FSDA) has
directed all hotels & restaurantsand bakeries to maintainhygiene and cleanliness in viewof the coronavirus scare. Asenior FSDA official said thereare specific instructions forcleanliness and hygiene ofcooks at all the eateries. “Theeateries have also been instruct-ed to keep medical grade sani-tisers and soaps at the work-place for employees,” he said.
“All the eateries should usedisinfectant to clean the win-dows, doors, floors and walls.We have also asked for the useof gloves which should beproperly disposed. It also has tobe ensured that people usemasks, sanitisers as they work,”
he added. The official said if theeateries do not follow theorders, action will be taken and
their licences will be suspend-ed. Meanwhile, Commissionerof Police Sujeet Pandey held a
meeting with senior officials onSaturday night to handle thesituation in view of coron-avirus. He asked the officials towork as first responders to sit-uation in any case. Accordingly,14 teams consisting of tenpolicemen each were formed.The teams will work under thesupervision of officials of theranks of JCP, DCP and others.
On the other hand, a hugepolice team, led by ACP(Bazaarkhala) Anil KumarYadav, along with the districtadministration officials, con-ducted checking of differentmedical stores in Talkatora,Bazaarkhala and other locali-ties. The shop owners wereasked not sell masks and sani-tisers at exorbitant price andwere warned of stern action iffound guilty.
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Ayouth, accused of luring aminor girl into eloping
with him and later raping heron the promise of marriage onSaturday, was arrested by thepolice in PGI police stationarea on Sunday. The police saidthe case was being investigat-ed by sub-inspector ArunKumar Yadav. As per reports,the parents alleged thatSandeep of Azamgarh luredtheir 17-year-old daughter intorunning away from house andlater raped her. During inves-tigation, the police recoveredthe girl and sent her for med-ical test which confirmed sex-ual assault. The police thenstarted searching for Sandeepand nabbed him from near ashopping complex atHaiwatmau Mawaiyya crossingin the area. The accusedreportedly owned up his crimeduring interrogation.
It surfaced that Sandeepcame in contact with the girlduring his stay in the locality.In due course of time, he suc-ceeded in luring the girl intoeloping with him. A policespokesman said a case under
sections 363/366/ 376 was reg-istered against the accused,who was also booked underPOCSO Act.
�����Thieves made off with Rs
7,000 in cash and ornamentsworth lakhs of rupees from ahouse in Chinhat when thehouse owner and his familymembers were in their nativedistrict , Shahjahanpur.Pradeep Singh of Him Estatein Naubasta Kalan in Chinhattold the police that they leftfor their native house to cel-ebrate Holi on March 8 andreturned on March 12. “Whenwe returned, we found themain gate’s lock broken andarticles lying strewn across thefloor,” he told the police.
Meanwhile, the PGI policearrested a youth, identified asPankaj Kumar (20) ofVrindavan Colony, on thecharges of raping a 17-year-old Dalit girl. The police alsobooked him under POCSOAct and SC/ST Act. He wasaccused of forcing himselfupon the girl after finding heralone in the locality on March 13.
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Afire broke out in a house atAliganj and kept the fire-
men and local police busy forover two hours on Sunday. Apolice spokesman said no casu-alty was reported in the incidentwhile losses were being esti-mated. The fire broke out in thehouse of Munna Lal of MehndiTola locality in the area due toleakage in LPG cylinder. Theflames leapt high and soon, theentire kitchen was on fire. Thecylinder exploded following
which neighbours ran to safe-ty. A police team and firemenreached the scene after beinginformed. The police cordonedoff the area to help the firemencarry out rescue operation.Those trapped inside the housewere rescued first and later thefire was doused.
However, the policespokesman said the incidentwas reported between 2 pm and2.30 pm and the fire was wascontained within an hour. Herubbished reports that firemensuffered burns.
Earlier, a fire broke out ina private factory manufacturingpaper cups in Kakori on theintervening night of Saturdayand Sunday. The firemen had tostruggle for five hours to dousethe flames. Reports said the fac-tory, owned by Rajesh Agarwalof Thakurganj, has been set upin Sikrauli village in Kakori.Around 2.30 am on Sunday, thefire broke out and the flameswere spotted by a local resident,Brijesh. It was suspected thatthe fire broke out due to short-circuiting.
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Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) has
planned to build an old agehome and a hostel for the dif-ferently-abled in the premis-es of the primary school inGhasiyari Mandi(Qaiserbagh). The plan hasbeen sent to the state gov-ernment for approval. Thegovernment is expected togive a go-ahead to the projectswithin a fortnight.
The estimated cost of theold age home and hostel isaround Rs 5 crore and theprojects would be completedwithin a year. The LDA
administration had conceivedthe idea in 2016 but the pro-ject was shelved due to someunknown reasons. However,the plan was revived follow-ing the inter vention ofDivisional CommissionerMukesh Meshram last month.
He issued directives toLDA Vice-Chairman SKDwivedi after his attentionwas drawn to the project dur-ing a review meeting. Chiefengineer IS Singh said theLDA administration swunginto action soon after thedirectives. There was no issueof land as it had been identi-fied four years ago.
LDA secretary MP Singhsaid the land was selected asit is in the heart of the city andwould be convenient forsenior citizens and the dif-ferently-abled to move outand come back.
Stress will be on mainte-nance of hygiene and round-the-clock security arrange-ments. There will be a sophis-ticated kitchen serving freshfood prepared in properhygienic conditions. Therewill also be a canteen for thedifferently-abled. It will beserving vegetarian snacks andmeals apart from tea & coffee,juices, health drinks and softdrinks.
Lucknow (PNS): An advocatereceived a letter in which themiscreants threatened todefame his daughters and killhim if he did not cough up money.
As per reports, the lawyer,DS Yadav of ShekhupuraColony in Vikasnagar, got theletter around 1 pm on March13. The miscreants haddemanded money from Yadavand threatened to kill him anddefame his daughters. Yadavimmediately contacted theVikas Nagar police for help.
Meanwhile, the Gudambapolice registered a case of fraudagainst the owner of a show-room dealing in furniture/ sofasand cushions on Saturday night.Inspector Ritendra Prapat Singhsaid the case was registeredagainst the owner, Shoeb Khan,after a probe into the complaintconcluded on Saturday. Shoebwas accused of possessing twoPAN cards and having embez-zled government revenue. Theprobe was carried out by DCPDeepak Singh and the allega-tions were found to be true.
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Director of Central Institutefor Subtropical
Horticulture Shailendra Rajansaid that the national mangodatabase created by them hasreceived over 27 lakh hits,including 5 lakh from the USA.
“The growing interest ofAmericans in the Indian nation-al mango database shows itsutility for them. Other countriesthat had more visits are RussianFederation, Australia andChina. More than one-and-a-half lakh hits are from the restof the world,” he added.
He said that the analysis ofthe website visitors is one of theimportant tools to understandthe growing demand of theconsumers as well as increasinginterest in mangoes.
“Researchers topped thelist in visiting the site by exceed-ing more than 7 lakh and inter-estingly, people are equallyinterested in intellectual prop-erty rights (IPR) on mango.International mango pulp tradeis important for Indian proces-sor’s point of view. Contributionof Indian mango pulp exportersis remarkable. Hits numbering
28,000 show how traders aregathering information aboutthe pulp export trade of India,”the CISH director said.
He said that mangoes vari-eties are still in demand. “Peoplelike to taste these all tradition-al mangoes which are con-served by the custodian farm-ers. Website hosts data onmore than 450 custodian farm-ers of India who are known toconserve mango varietal her-itage for several decades. Use ofmangoes in different recopies isincreasing. Visitors interested incooking can get hundreds ofrecipes for making differentproducts and more than 18,000hits show growing interest inthis direction,” he added.
CISH developed the nation-al mango database under the
project funded by theDepartment of Biotechnology,New Delhi. Initially, 10 partnersfrom different mango growingareas of the country worked forcollating information on 393major mango growing districtsof the country. Later on, CISHdeveloped the database basedon information provided bythe partners. “The database is acompanion for farmers andextension workers duringchanging weather condition. Itprovides online weekly agroadvisory on mango along withother information. The weeklymango agro advisory coversinformation like weather fore-casts, management of mangodiseases and pests, weed control,use of manures and fertilisers,intercropping etc,” he added.
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New Delhi: In the wake of the coronavirus out-break, the Indian Railways has issued orders to allits zones to withdraw blankets and curtains fromAC coaches as they are not washed every day. Otheritems in the bed roll, including bedsheets, towelsand pillow covers, are washed every day, it said.
The railway board has also instructed that theminimum temperature in the coaches be set at24-25 degrees Celsius. “Adequate publicity shouldbe given regarding this precautionary measure sothat passengers are suitability prepared,” it said.“All curtains and spare blankets to be washed,dried and stored in clean and dry storage facili-ty. 100 per cent fresh washed linen to be providedin sealed packets as per existing instructions,” itsaid. The railways will ask passengers to bringtheir own blankets through SMS and IVRS.
It has also instructed its personnel to inten-sively clean coach fittings such as grab handles,window grill, bottle holders and charge points asthey are touched by thousands of passengers everyday. Officials said liquid soap, napkin rolls and dis-infectant chemical will be provided to passengersby the housekeeping staff on board. PTI
Jaipur: All three old cases ofcoronavirus-hit patients inRajasthan have now been test-ed negative for infection andcured, while a 24-year-oldyouth found having the afflic-tion is undergoing treatment atSMS Hospital here, a seniorofficial said on Sunday.
Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot complimentedthe SMS Hospital doctors andstaffers for successfully treatingthe three. The three who havebeen declared corona-negativefollowing repeat tests includean Italian couple and a Dubai-returned, 85-year-old
Jaipur native.“Sixty-nine-year-old Italian
man and an 85-year-old Jaipurnative have now been tested neg-ative twice. Both are now coro-navirus-free,” said AdditionalChief Secretary (Medical &Health) Rohit Kumar Singh.Italian’s man wife too was test-ed negative for coronavirusaffliction earlier.
Singh said total of threepatients, including corona-pos-itive, 70-year-old wife of theItalian man, have turned coro-navirus-free after treatment atthe state-run Sawai Man SinghHospital, Jaipur. PTI
Panaji: Union AYUSHMinister Shripad Naik onSunday said his Ministry hasnot claimed that Ayurveda,Unani and Homeopathy havecures for novel coronavirus asthese lines of treatment are yetto be scientifically validated.
The Minister said treat-ments prescribed in the three systems of alternativemedicine are meant for the res-piratory system and help boostimmunity.
He, however, added thatsome of these medicines can beused to “lessen the impact ofthe coronavirus”. “We havefirmly said that though ourmedicine is not validated sci-entifically, it has been provedthat Ayurveda, Homeopathyand Unani can be used as pro-motive medicines,” he told PTIon Sunday.
Promotive medicines lookat boosting health and immu-nity as a bulwark against dis-eases rather than a direct curefrom the pathogen.
“It can be used by thosewho are already infected so thatthey can get relief,” he said.
Naik said some medicinesprescribed in Ayurveda,Homeopathy and Unani havebeen validated by his ministryat “our level” but overall vali-dation is a “lengthy process”. PTI.
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Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan has sought the intervention
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi torestore the beneficial clauses in the StateDisaster Respond Fund (SDRF) forproviding relief to Covid-19 patients.
The Union Ministry of Homeaffairs had on March 14 issued an orderpermitting the utilisation of SDRF for “responding appropriately toCovid-19”, but later made some mod-ifications to it.
As per the initial order the fundcould have been used to provide com-pensation in case of any death relatedto Covid-19 as well as utilisation of thefund for treatment of patients.
While terming the order as a “wel-come step”, the Chief Minister point-ed out that a “partial modification” ofthe order the same day that took away
the beneficial provisions.“...The Ministry has deleted the
beneficial provisions. By deleting theseclauses,the spirit behind relief/ assis-tance intended by the State DisasterResponse Fund is defeated,” Vijayansaid in a letter sent on Saturday night.
The order will have equipped theState Government to give �four lakh incase of any Covid-19 deaths and alsoprovided permission to use the SDRFfor the treatment of Covid-19 positivecases.
Vijayan urged the Prime Ministerto restore the beneficial clauses. “Thedeleted two clauses being those thatdirectly benefited and provided reliefto the Covid-19 affected families needto be restored. I request you to recon-sider the partial modification andrestore the earlier one in its entirety,”Vijayan said.
Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram:A UK national tested positivefor coronavirus in Kerala onSunday and was stopped alongwith 18 others of his touristgroup at the Kochi airportfrom flying to Dubai after heallegedly jumped quarantine inthe hill resort town of Munnar,officials said.
The foreigner who testedpositive and his wife have beenadmitted to an isolation facil-ity at a nearby Governmenthospital while the 17 were sentto a hotel for quarantine afterbeing offloaded from the flight,Kerala Agriculture MinisterVS Sunil Kumar told reportersat the airport.
Another passenger, aKeralite also booked on theEmirates flight scheduled fordeparture at 9.20 am, volun-tarily opted not to travel andhas been advised home quar-antine, officials said.
The flight carrying 270 pas-sengers left for Dubai at 12.47pm after the 20 passengers wereoffloaded, airport spokesmansaid. With the UK nationaltesting positive, the total num-ber of confirmed COVID-19cases under treatment in Keralahas risen to 20 and over 300under are in isolation wards ofvarious hospitals.
The resort has been closed,its employees quarantined and
steps taken to identify those whocame in contact with the touristsin the State, officials said.
Talking to reporters inThiruvananthapuram, StateHealth Minister KK Shailajaalleged the tourists had left theresort without informing healthofficials and added theGovernment would probe thematter. “As soon as we got thepositive result, officials went totake the couple to isolationward but came to know they leftfor airport. The resort authori-ties should have been more vig-ilant as the Government hadgiven strict direction not toallow the foreigners to leave theresorts,” she said. PTI
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Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singhon Sunday said around 700 doctors appoint-
ed in Government hospitals have not reported forduty and will be dismissed soon.
Singh, who was here to inspect MukhayamantriJan Aarogya Mela at a community health centre,said nearly 700 doctors appointed in Governmenthospitals have gone to other places or have start-ed pursuing higher education without informingthe department. He said, “The process for dismissalof these doctors has started, and their services willbe terminated in one to one-and-a-half months.”
On the coronavirus outbreak, the HealthMinister said, “There is no need to feel afraid. Thisvirus can be tackled through proper prevention.India is ready to combat it.”
Kolkata: India-Bangladeshpassenger train servicesbetween Kolkata and cities inthe neighbouring country havebeen suspended from Sundayas a precaution against thespread of COVID-19, on a Union Government directive, an Eastern Railwayofficial said.
The Eastern Railway saidservices of Maitree andBandhan Express trains willremain suspended from March15 to April 15 or till furtherorders, whichever is earlier.
The services of the twotrains have been suspended as
precautions being taken to pre-vent the spread of novel coro-navirus, the ER official said.
While Maitree Expressconnects Kolkata with theBangladesh capital Dhaka,Bandhan Express runs betweenKolkata and Khulna city of theneighbouring country.
The city-headquarteredzonal railway has also under-taken programmes at its dif-ferent divisions, includingSealdah, Howrah and Asansol,to spread awareness amongpassengers and staff on cleanliness and safe practicessuch as washing hands, cough
etiquette and self-quarantineduring fever.
It has also set up isolationwards at its headquarter hos-pital at Sealdah and other divi-sional railway hospitals atHowrah, Asansol, Malda andrailway workshop hospitals atLiluah, Kanchrapara and sub-divisional hospital at Andal, theofficial said.
Sanitisation of areas withhigh contact points such asentrance handrail of coachesand toilet door handles arebeing done at Asansol divisionas a precautionary measure, hesaid. PTI
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The Manipur Government haswarned all licensed pharmacies
and drug stores of stringent actionfor hoarding and jacking up pricesof masks and hand sanitisers,amid growing demand for theitems in the wake of the novelcoronavirus outbreak.
A notification issued by theDirectorate of Health Services hasalso asked the medical shops toensure steady supply of essentialitems to people.
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Atotal of 117 people withnovel coronavirus-like
symptoms have been put inhome isolation in Mizoram,a senior health official said on Sunday.
Though Mizoram has notyet reported any positive caseof coronavirus, 117 peoplehave been home quarantinedas a precautionary measure,Health department principaldirector F Lallianhlira.
“Even though no positivecase has been reported, wehave to remain alert,” he said.
Lallianhlira said all sec-tions of the society mustmake efforts to prevent thespread of the disease in theState. The State healthdepartment on Saturday con-ducted an awareness drive onprecautions that are needed tobe taken to prevent the spreadof COVID-19.
The State Governmenthas clamped Section 144 ofthe CrPC along the State’sinternational borders with Myanmar andBangladesh to prevent theentry of people from theneighbouring countries.
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With coronavirus scaregripping the State, West
Bengal State ElectionCommission has called an all-party meeting on Monday todiscuss the future of upcomingStatewide municipal electionswhich were scheduled to takeplace sometime in mid-April.
According to sources, theruling Trinamool Congress islikely to suggest a postpone-ment of the elections till situ-ations improved. The BJP toohas expressed its viewpoint on
the issue with the State partypresident Dilip Ghosh saying“when there is a national emer-gency like this the party willalways stand by the SEC deci-sion if it decides to push backthe election date.”
Sources said the TMC willcarry a message from the StateGovernment to the SEC advis-ing a adjournment of the pollprocess “since it will involve alot of risk as the workers andleaders will go around to meetpeople leading to randomphysical contacts,” said a seniorTMC leader and a Ministeradding “the rest will dependupon the Commission.
CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabartysaid his party would join the
Monday’s meeting and take adecision only after hearing theproposal adding however that“public health is the first andforemost priority.”
Bengal has come to a nearstandstill following a StateGovernment advisory to shutdown educational and otherinstitutions in anticipation ofCOVID-19 proliferation. EvenCalcutta High Court put amoratorium on daily proceed-ings (save urgent hearings) tillMarch 20.
All educational institu-tions, including schools andcolleges, both public and pri-vate have declared a close-down from Monday followingState-Government directive.
All university examinationshave been postponed exceptthe ongoing Class XII Boardexaminations which started onMarch 13.
The shutdown will contin-ue till March 31 when theGovernment would take fur-ther decision considering thestatus of corona virus infectionsin the country.
Other institutions like theIndian Museum, the museumVictoria Memorial have alsobeen shut down, sources said.
The Ramakrishna Missionheadquarters at Belur Mathhave also announced a partial ban on mass congre-gation inside the sanctum sanc-torum of the Math building,
sources said.Apart from issuing shut-
down notices the StateGovernment has made elabo-rate arrangements for treat-ment of any COVID-19 infected patients.
“Quarantine wards havebeen created besides theBeleghata ID Hospital andSSKM Hospital at the newlyconstructed ChittaranjanCancer Institute at New Town,” a Health Departmentofficial said, adding all the dis-trict hospitals have been askedto keep ready their quarantinewards. At least eight patientshave been kept in quarantine atthe Beleghata ID Hospital,sources said.
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Film and television serialmakers and producers on
Sunday decided to stop shoot-ings from March 19 to March31 and the Mumbai Policeclamped prohibitory ordersbanning assembly of five ormore persons, even as thenumber of positive coronaviruscases mounted to 33 inMaharashtra.
In another precautionarymeasure taken by it in view ofcoronavirus outbreak, theMaharashtra Government —invoking the provisions of theEpidemic Diseases Act of 1897— suspended the MaharashtraPublic Service Commission(MPSC) examination tillMarch 31, 2020.
“The State Govt in exerciseof the Epidemic Act,1897 haspostponed all exams of MPSCscheduled to happen in
Maharashtra until 31st March2020 or until further orders asprecautionary measures againstcorona,” State Tourism MinisterAditya Thackeray tweeted.
With two more fresh pos-itive cases — one each fromAurangbad and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the total numberof positive COVID-19 rose to33 in the State. While Pune andthe neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad accounted for amaximum of 16 cases, thebreak-up of positive coron-avirus cases elsewhere in theState was: Mumbai-5, Nagpur-4, Yavatmal-2, Panvel-1,Kalyan-1, Navi Mumbai-1,Thane-1, Ahmednagar-1 andAurangabad-1.
In an effort to reducecrowds in public places in thecountry’s commercial capital,the Mumbai Police hasclamped prohibitory ordersunder Section 144 banning
assembly of five or more per-sons in the city till March 31.
Divisional CommissionerDeepak Mhaisekar said theadministration was contem-plating similar prohibitoryorders in Pune. “As a precau-tionary measure, we havedecided to close down parks.Though the State Governmenthas decided to close downmalls, a small relaxation hasbeen made in the case of ven-dors in malls selling medicine,vegetables and groceries.Besides these, no shoppingunits will remain open tillMarch 30,” Dr Mhaisekar said.
Mumbai’s DeputyCommissioner of Police PranayAshok said that all tours —organised through privateoperators or through profes-sional organisations — hadbeen banned in Mumbai tillMarch 31.
At a joint meeting held
here on Sunday the IndianMotion Picture Producers’Association (IMPPA), WesternIndia Film Producers’Association (WIPFA), IndianFilm and Television ProducersCouncil (IFTPC), Indian Film& Television Directors’Association(IFTDA) andFederation of Western IndiaCine Employees (FWICE) stopshootings of films, televisionserials, web series and otherentertainment programmesfrom March 19 to March 31 inview of the spread ofCoronavirus across the world.
“A decision about re-startingthe shootings will be taken onMarch 30 after considering theprevailing situation at that time,”an IMPPA spokesperson said.
Talking to mediapersons,State Health Minister RajeshTope that in an effort toenhance the COVID-19 testingfacilities in Maharashtra, the
State Government would set upa new laboratory in Pune in 15to 20 days. “We shall get newmachines, for testing bloodsamples to quicken up theprocess of getting the testsreports. We are also planningto set up new testing labs inMiraj, Dhule, Solapur andAurangabad,” Tope said.
Tope said the bed capacityin Kasturba Hospital, which iscurrently handling coronaviruscases in Mumbai, will beincreased fromthe 100 to 1000in the next two to three days.
In a related development,three patients with coronavirussymptoms, who had fled fromthe isolation ward inAhmednagar Civil Hospital onSaturday, returned to the facil-ity early on Sunday.
Following the decisiontaken by the State Government,all schools, colleges, cinemahalls, auditoriums, malls,
swimming pools, gymns, pub-lic places have been shut downin urban areas of Maharashtra,while a ban has been imposedon all political, cultural, sportsevents, taking out of religiousprocessions tlll March 31 as a
precaution. DeputyCommissioner of Police PranayAshok said all tours — privateor through professional organ-isations — has been banned inthe city with immediate effecttill March 31.
However, the MaharashtraGovernment has spared thesuburban trains and BESTbuses, which are lifelines forMumbaikars — from the shut-down it has imposed during thepast two days.
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Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modispoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray to discuss the State’s preparednessto tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The telephonic conversation, which tookplace at 11 pm on Saturday, was centred on theefforts by the state and the Centre to tackle the situation.
Thackeray informed the PM about the mea-sures taken by his Government, sources said.
Maharashtra, which has 32 Covid-19 casesas on Sunday morning, has already invoked theEpidemic Diseases Act, 1897 that gives wide-ranging powers to officials to enforce measures,including that of lockdown and quarantine,
required to tackle an outbreak.The State Government has ordered the clo-
sure of educational institutions, theatres, malls,parks, swimming pools, gymnasiums etc to stopthe spread of coronavirus. PTI
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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Sunday assured
the delegation of newly formedApni Party leaders that that theremaining political prisoners inJammu & Kashmir would bereleased “very soon”. Talking tomedia after the meeting, ApniParty’s president Altaf Bukharisaid that the Home Ministerhad also assured a detaileddevelopment packages for theState. The 24-member delega-tion also met Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturday.
“Yes, we did discuss aboutthe detention of remainingpolitical leaders and others, andthe Home Minister said it is aprocess and we will be releas-ing them very soon,” Bukharisaid. Many political leaders,including former chief minis-ters Omar Abdullah andMehbooba Mufti, weredetained by the Governmentafter the abrogation of specialstatus of the erstwhile state ofJammu & Kashmir on August5.
According to a HomeMinistry statement, Shahallayed the apprehensions of
the delegation on restrictionsand said all decisions on relax-ations are based on groundrealities and not due to anypressure.
Shah also assured the del-
egation of restoration of Jammu& Kashmir’s statehood at an“early opportunity” and nochange in the demography ofthe region.
“Shah after engaging with
the delegation on about 40odd issues raised by thememphasised that there is nointention of the Governmentfor demographic change in theregion and all such talks have
no basis at all. He said that theGovernment will work with allsections of the society to real-ize the hopes of statehood forJammu & Kashmir at an earlyopportunity,” said the statement
issued by the Home Ministry.The Home Minister
assured the delegation thatJammu & Kashmir will have abetter domicile policy thanother States in the countryand that a reasonable eco-nomic development policy willbe drafted soon after wide-spread consultation.
On the issue of reserva-tion, the Home Minister saidthat a commission will be setup soon and reiterated that noinjustice will be done toGujjars, nomads and othercommunities. On the issuesconcerning JK Bank, he assuredthe delegation of personalintervention in the matter.
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Taking a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,
Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Sunday said he had askedthe PM to pass on the benefitof the global oil price crash toIndian consumers, but instead“our genius” hiked excise dutyon fuel.
His jibe at the PrimeMinister came a day after theGovernment hiked excise dutyon petrol and diesel by a steep�3 per litre each to garnerabout �39,000 crore addition-al revenue.
“Just 3 days ago I hadrequested @PMOIndia to passon the benefit of the global oil
price crash to Indian con-sumers, by slashing the pricesof petrol & diesel in India.Instead of heeding this advice,our genius has gone and hiked#exciseduty on fuel!” Rahultweeted.
He alsotagged a video ofa press confer-ence in whichFinance MinisterN i r m a l aSitharaman pur-portedly avoidsanswering aquestion on whyGovernment hasnot passed on thebenefits of theglobal oil crash to
the people.The former Congress pres-
ident on Wednesday hadaccused Prime Minister Modiof being too busy “destabilisingan elected Government” tonotice a crash in global oil
prices this week. “Hey@PMOIndia, while you werebusy destabilising an electedCongress Govt, you may havemissed noticing the 35 percent crash in global oil prices.
“Could you please pass onthe benefit to Indians by slash-ing #petrol prices to under 60?per litre? Will help boost thestalled economy,” the formerCongress chief had said ontwitter.
The Congress on Saturdayhad hit out at the Governmentover the hike in excise duty onpetrol and diesel, demandingthat the benefit of reducedinternational crude oil pricesshould be passed on to the peo-ple.
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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) probe into
the 2019 Pulwama attack hasrevealed that Pakistan-basedterror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) wererecruiting gullible youth inKashmir for making onlinepurchases of chemicals used formanufacturing explosives tofabricate IEDs.
The investigation into theterror attack that killed 40CRPF personnel on February14 last recently led to the arrestof two persons, including 19-year-old Wazir, who during hisinterrogation gave the officialsan insight into the radicalisa-tion process of JeM.
Wazir is alleged to haveprocured online aluminumpowder, high altitude jackets,mobile battery banks andtrekking shoes. Aluminumpowder is a highly flammablematerial and used as an ingre-dient in blasting agents used incommercial mining, they said.
Wazir handed over thealuminium powder to JeMover-ground workers and it wasused by terrorists in theFebruary 14 suicide attackwhen an explosive-laden car hit
New Delhi: The Army, whichis running coronavirus quar-antine facilities, has told a par-liamentary panel that all nec-essary steps are being taken tosafeguard the troops from theinfection, including examiningall meat products supplied tothem. In its response to theStanding Committee onDefence, the Army said most ofthe meat products used by thetroops were frozen.
It also told the panel aboutsteps such as setting up quar-antine facilities in Manesarand Jaisalmer for civilians tocontain the spread of the virus.
So far, the Army has estab-lished such facilities inSuratgadh, Deolali, Jodhpur,Kolkata and Chennai. Most ofthe Indians brought back fromcoronavirus-hit countries arekept at the quarantine facilitiesmaintained by the Army.
“We are inspecting all meatproducts but we have not comeacross any such case,” the Armytold the panel, adding that itwas holding regular meetingswith officials of the healthministry. The panel submittedits report to the Lok Sabha onFriday. “The frozen meat prod-ucts and whatever rations thathave to be sent to the borderposts have already beenstocked,” the Army told thepanel. PTI
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Ajoint group of fourLashkar-e-Taayiba (LeT)
and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)terrorists were eliminated bythe alert security forces in DarMohalla Watarigam area ofDialgam in Anantnag onSunday.
Since January 2020, aroundthree dozen terrorists havebeen eliminated by the securi-ty forces in different operations.
According to police, “threelocal Lashkar-e-Taayiba ter-rorists including district com-mander and one HizbulMujahideen commander wereeliminated in the operationwithout suffering any collater-al damage”.
Police spokesman said, “thejoint operation was launched inthe area after receiving a tip offabout the presence of group ofterrorists in the area. Duringthe cordon and search opera-tion, the hiding terrorists firedupon the joint search party. Thefire was retaliated leading to anencounter in which four ter-rorists were eliminated”.
According to police, “thekilled terrorists have been iden-tified as Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat(District commander of pro-scribed terror outfit LeT) sonof Mohammad Amin Bhat,Omar Ameen Bhat (affiliatedwith proscribed terror outfitLeT) son of Mohd AmeenBhat, both residents of Sopat
Tangpora, Kulgam, SajadAhmed Bhat (affiliated withproscribed terror outfit LeT)son of Mohd Subhan residentof Tengbal Frisal and GulzarAhmed Bhat (affiliated withproscribed terror outfit HM)son of Abdul Salam Bhat resi-dent of Hirpora Tarigam,Kulgam”.
Two AK 47 rifles, two pis-tols, ammunition and otherincriminating materials havebeen recovered from the site ofencounter.
As per police records, ter-rorist Muzzafar had a history ofterror crime cases since 2017.He was involved in 7 differentcases U/S 7/25 Arms Act, 302IPC, 18, 19, 20, 39 ULAP Act.Terrorist Gulzar Ahmad Bhatwas involved in a case U/S 13,18, 38, 39 ULAP Act of PSKulgam. Terrorist SajadAhmad was also involved in acase U/S 13, 20 ULAP Act.Similarly, terrorist Omar wasinvolved in 3 FIR’s U/S 13,16,18, 20, 39 ULAP Act.
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a CRPF convoy killing 40 per-sonnel. His interrogation alsorevealed that the JeM over-ground workers were brain-washing young boys andpreparing them to indulge interror activities, they furthersaid.
The probe into thePulwama incident got a freshimpetus after the NIA identi-fied the house where AdilAhmed Dar, the terrorist whowas driving the explosive-ladencar, had shot his last propa-ganda video that was subse-
quently released by the terrorgroup from Pakistan.
On February 28, the NIAgot a major breakthrough inthe case when it arrested 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey,a furniture shop owner and res-ident of Hajibal in Pulwama’sKakapora.
Magrey had provided shel-ter and other logistical assis-tance to suicide bomber Adil.He was introduced to Adil inmid-2018 by Pakistani terror-ist Mohammad Umar Farooqand he became a full-timeoverground worker of the JeM. This month, the NIA hasarrested four persons-- TariqAhmed Shah, his daughterInsha Jan, Wazir-ul-Islam andMohammad Abbass Rather.The number of people arrest-ed in this case has now gone upto five. The key conspiratorshave since been killed by thesecurity forces during encounters.
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From Page 1More States ordered closure
of schools and public places likecinema halls and malls wherepeople gather in large numbers.The Tamil Nadu governmentdirected closure of all kinder-garten and primary schools tillMarch 31.
Chief Minister KPalaniswami also issued ordersfor closure of cinema halls andmalls till the month end in 16districts bordering Kerala andKarnataka, where the number ofCOVID-19 cases is on the rise,an official release said.
The Assam Governmenttoo ordered shutting down ofeducational institutions, gym-nasiums, swimming pools andcinema halls with immediateeffect till March 29 in the wakeof novel coronavirus outbreak.
Uttarakhand governmenthas declared novel coronavirusan epidemic and shut all mul-tiplexes, cinema halls, degreecolleges and technical institutesacross the state till March 31,official sources said.
However, the Central gov-ernment has asked people notto panic, saying no communi-ty transmission of the virus hasbeen observed and there hasonly been a few cases of localtransmission so far and that itis “not a health emergency” inIndia at present.
Meanwhile, theGovernment continued to evac-uate Indians stranded in coro-navirus-hit Iran and Italy. Atotal of 218 Indians, mostly stu-dents, from Milan landed ataround 9.45 AM at the Indira
Gandhi International Airport(IGIA) in Delhi and were takento an ITBP quarantine facility insouth-west Delhi’s Chhawlaarea. More than 230 Indiansbrought back from Iran reachedNew Delhi at about 3:15 AMand were quarantined at theIndian Army Wellness Centre inJaisalmer, the third batch to beevacuated from that country.They had arrived in Delhi on aMahan Air flight from Tehranand were ferried by two AirIndia flights to Jaisalmer, IGIairport officials said.
The first batch of 58 Indianpilgrims were brought backfrom Iran on Tuesday and thesecond group of 44 Indian pil-grims had arrived from there onFriday. Italy is the second mostaffected country after Chinawith over 1,400 deaths and21,000 cases of coronavirus. Itis followed by Iran where over700 people have died and near-ly 14,000 cases have been detect-ed. Minister of State for HomeG Kishan Reddy said all para-military forces, including theCRPF, the ITBP, and the BSF,have been advised to keep readyquarantine camps for COVID-19 suspects as a preparatorymeasure.
He said all essential facili-ties like community surveil-lance, quarantine, isolationwards, adequate personal pro-tective equipment (PPEs),trained manpower, rapidresponse teams are beingstrengthened further in all statesand union territories.
The minstry also said thatit has placed an order for theprocurement of an additionalover 80,50,000 N95 masks andpersonal protective equipmentfor healthcare workers.
From Page 1Prime Minister urged to
his counterparts that it wasimportant to focus on collab-oration, not confusion, andpreparation, not panic. Mirza,in his remarks, also hailedChina for its efforts to dealwith the coronavirus and urgedother SAARC nations to learnbest practices from it.
After initial remarks by theleaders, Prime Minister Modimade a series of suggestionswhich were hailed by theSAARC leaders and represen-tatives. “I propose we create aCOVID-19 Emergency Fund.This could be based on volun-tary contributions from all ofus. India can start with an ini-tial offer of 10 million US dol-lars for this fund,” Modi said.
“We are assembling aRapid Response Team of doc-tors and specialists in India,along with testing kits andother equipment. They will beon stand-by, to be placed atyour disposal, if required,”Modi told the SAARC leaders.India had set up an IntegratedDisease Surveillance Portal tobetter trace possible virus car-riers and the people they con-tacted and it could share thisdisease surveillance softwarewith SAARC partners, Modisaid.
“Looking ahead, we couldcreate a common researchplatform, to coordinateresearch on controlling epi-demic diseases within ourSouth Asian region. TheIndian Council of Medical
Research can offer help coor-dinating such an exercise,” hesaid.
In his opening address,Modi said the South Asianregion has reported less than150 coronavirus cases, but “weneed to remain vigilant”.
“Prepare, but don’t panic”has been India’s guidingmantra in dealing with coron-avirus outbreak, he said. “Westarted screening people enter-ing India from mid-Januaryitself, while gradually increas-ing restrictions on travel,”Modi said, citing the evacua-tion of more 1400 people fromabroad.
Maldivian President Solihbacked coordinated approachto deal with COVID-19, assert-ing that no country can deal
with the situation alone.Lankan President Rajapaksasaid SAARC leaders shouldformulate mechanism to helpthe economies of the region totide over problems posed bycoronavirus. He also pro-posed setting up a SAARCministerial-level group to dealwith issues related to coron-avirus. Hasina hailed PMModi’s suggestions to deal withthe pandemic and called fortaking the initiative forward bymore such video conferences,including one with health min-isters of SAARC nations par-ticipating. “Our collectiveefforts will help us devise asound and robust strategy forSAARC region to fight coron-avirus,” Nepal PM Oli said.Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering
said that it was mportant for allcountries of the region to be onsame page to combat coron-avirus. Mirza, in his initialremarks, said no nation canafford to be unresponsive tosituation in wake of coron-avirus outbreak. “We sharecommon regional concerns onCOVID-19. While hoping forbest, we have to prepare forworst,” the Pakistan PM’sSpecial Assistant on Healthsaid.
Modi on Friday had pro-posed formulation of a jointstrategy by the SAARC nationsto fight coronavirus, a sugges-tion that was backed by all themember states. Calling on theSAARC nations to set anexample for the world, Modihad reached out to the eight-
member regional groupingand pitched for a video-con-ference among its leaders tochalk out a strong strategy tofight coronavirus, which haskilled more than 5,000 peopleglobally. His appeal got aprompt response from SriLankan President Rajapaksa,Maldivian President Solih,Nepalese Prime Minister Oli,Bhutanese premier Tshering,Bangladeshi Prime MinisterHasina and the Afghan gov-ernment, all of whom wel-comed the proposal. Pakistan’sresponse to the proposal camein after the rest, with the coun-try’s Foreign OfficeSpokesperson Aisha Farooquisaying Mirza will be availableto participate in the video-con-ference.
From Page 1The Azad Samaj Party will
make the Uttar Pradesh 2022Assembly elections interestingas the ruling BJP, theSamajwadi Party (SP), the BSPand the Congress will fight toform their Government.
As many as 98 leaders ofthe SP, the BSP, the Congressand the Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD) joined the newlylaunched party.
In the 2017 Assembly polls,the BJP-led NDA won 325seats with 48.7 per cent votes,the SP won 47 seats with 21.8per cent votes and the BSP won19 seats with 22.2 per centvotes. On the occasion, Azadsaid the Bhim Army will runparallel to the party and con-tinue to fight for Dalit rightsand enroll new members.
The launch ceremony ofASP, however, courted somecontroversy since the banquethall manager had shut downthe hall before the event asadministration has bannedlarge gatherings owing toCOVID-19 but on insistencethe event was organised outsidethe hall.
Mayawati said people withvested interests are playinginto the hands of rival politicalparties and claimed they havenothing to do with BRAmbedkar and his movement.
“Even now, people withvested interests are playinginto the hands of rival politicalparties. They have nothing todo with Babasaheb Ambedkarand his movement. Nor theyhave anything to do withManyavar Kanshi Ram’s sacri-fice and austerity,” Mayawatisaid without naming the BhimArmy chief.
On the other hand, anoth-er former UP Chief Ministerand head of Samajwadi PartyAkhilesh Yadav exuded confi-dence and rejected the idea ofnew political outfits and said asper a palmist SP will win 350seats in 2022 UP StateAssembly elections.
“I have decided that we willwin one seat more than 350...Together we will win 351 seatsin the 2022 Assembly elec-tions,” Akhilesh said in hisLucknow party office. Yadavadded if the Centre does not gofor caste-wise census, then theSP will conduct it in UttarPradesh after winning the 2022Assembly polls.
Azad, who rose to promi-nence during clashes betweenThakurs and Dalits in UttarPradesh’s Saharanpur in May2017, had filed nominationagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi from Varanasiduring the 2019 general elec-tions, but withdrew later.
From Page 1BJP vice-president Vinay
Sahasrabuddhe said ChiefMinister Kamal Nath shouldstep down as the CongressGovernment has become“lame-duck” after the resigna-tion of the 22 MLAs. BJP leg-islative party sources said thatit will vociferously press for thetrust vote after the Governor’saddress. The opposition partyclaims that the political crisis inthe State is due to internal fight-ing in the Congress and it hasnothing to do with it.
The 19 rebel Congress
MLAs are likely to return byMonday morning, a sourceclose to Jyotiraditya Scindia,who has joined the BJP, said.Amid the political slugfest,state public relations ministerPC Sharma on Sundaydemanded that all the MLAs bescreened for coronavirus.
“The MLAs who havereturned from Jaipur and alsothose who have gone toHaryana and Benguluru shouldundergo coronavirus tests. It isimportant as the virus hasspread in Jaipur and Haryana,”he said.
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Following an infructuous spell oflooking east, India’s Act EastPolicy (AEP) is hobbled by snagsin connectivity, continuing insur-gencies, agitations, blockades
and extortion in the North-east andreplication of some of these very problems,especially insurgencies and snarls, indecision-making in Myanmar, the launch-pad and fulcrum of AEP. Last month, thevisit of Myanmar President, U WinMyint, to India reminded us of AEP anew.
The open-door policy is intended tousher in development in the North-east,which could in turn facilitate the closureof insurgencies. For the Look East Policyto work, it was necessary to press the“pause” button on democracy and,instead, support the ruling militaryjunta. Reversion to democracy, albeit par-tial, has been achieved as I discovered lastmonth in Yangon through a joint civilmilitary leadership, with the Army hav-ing the last word.
At the core of AEP is connectivity —by road, rail, sea, inland waterways and air.The strategic geography in the North-eastchannelises this outreach through the nar-row and sensitive Siliguri corridor, the vul-nerable chicken’s neck of the region.Choices for bypassing the Siliguri constric-tion were to transit through Bangladeshand/or use the sea route to reach insur-gency-free Mizoram on the Myanmar bor-der — from Kolkata to Sittwe Port inMyanmar and upto Mizoram.
Earlier, Bangladesh had rejectedIndian requests to connect Myanmarthrough the Port of Chittagong uptoAgartala and thence to the Myanmar bor-der. What is being operationalised now isthe costly and delayed Kaladan multi-modal access from Sittwe toMyanmar/Mizoram through Rakhineand Chin States, currently beset with insur-gencies by the Arakam Army. Therefore,instead of working this project south-north, it has been reversed, starting fromMizoram to Sittwe, which will have a 1,000km special economic zone (SEZ) and agas land pipeline from its gasfields to Gayain Bihar. A number of roads to andthrough Myanmar to the east are underconstruction and completion, thusenhancing the AEP connectivity grid.
Unique to Myanmar is the civil-Armyjoint leadership arrangement under anArmy-dictated constitution of 2011, whichensures that 25 per cent of the elected seatsin Parliament is reserved for the Army. Asthe Constitution forbids Myanmar’s pop-ular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of theNational League of Democracy (NLD)from holding office, she is a StateCouncillor in the improvised system,which allows her the number three posi-tion in the State hierarchy after thePresident and Vice President; whereas the“C” in C Senior General Aung Hlaing, who
calls the shots, is at number five.The Constitution reserves theposts of defence, home and bor-der affairs Ministers for theArmy.
The NLD wants to changethe Constitution, which requiresan unachievable two-thirdsmajority in Parliament. Lastweek, State Counsellor Aung SanSuu Kyi unsuccessfully tried topass the Constitutional amend-ment. Senior General Min AungHlaing is in his second term,which will end in April 2021, andefforts are on to accommodatehim as the Vice President. Thismay introduce a modicum ofcivilian control over the military.While the Army is popular in thecountryside, it is disliked by theurban elite. It disapproves of theoverwhelming Chinese pres-ence and meddling inMyanmar’s internal affairs. Butothers don’t mind them as theyhave the money to invest anddevelop the country.
Another historical challengefacing Myanmar is its myriadinsurgencies, which like the clus-ter on the Indian side, is a hur-dle for AEP. At the time of inde-pendence, many States in theerstwhile Burma had soughtself-determination and separa-tion but the PanglongAgreement of 1947 promised tosettle Centre-State relations even
as the Communists and Karensfavoured independence. Today,there are more than two dozenactive and dormant insurgencies,the active ones in border Stateslike Shan, Kachin, Chin andRakhine. The world’s most com-plex but elaborate peace processis in Myanmar and it consists ofunilateral, bilateral and a nation-wide cease fire agreements,prone to violations and formaland informal dialogues backedby the international communi-ty, prominently by China.
The year 2019 was bad forthe peace process. The 21st cen-tury Panglong Union PeaceConference with 10 nation-wideceasefire signatories and thehigh-level Joint ImplementationCoordination Meeting couldnot be held, though the UnionPeace Dialogue took place in July.Both the failed meetings are like-ly to be held after the nationalelections later this year, which theLady — reference to NLD leaderDaw Suu Kyi — is expected towin but with a reduced majori-ty. For various reasons, her pop-ularity has waned but there is noalternative leader.
Chinese President Xi Jinpingvisited Myanmar this Januaryand signed 33 agreements, ofwhich the China-MyanmarEconomic Corridor (like theeconomic corridors with
Pakistan and Nepal) was the cen-tre piece. All three strategic cor-ridors seek access to markets buttwo have an eye on warm watersof the Indian Ocean. SurpassingIndia’s port potential at Sittwe isKyakpyu, the deep-water portcoupled with SEZ and ultimate-ly road, rail, oil and gas pipelinesradiating through Myanmarnorth of China’s Yunnanprovince. China’s footprint isenormous: There are hordes ofChinese in the north. Thoughthe controversial $3.6 billionhydel dam at Myitsone has beenput on hold, bilateral tradestands at $17 billion and Chinaholds 40 per cent of Myanmar’sforeign debt of $5 billion. Xisigned separate agreements withthe Senior General and StateCouncillor while hailing thenew blueprint for comprehensivestrategic cooperation and thenew 2+2 strategic dialogue,Myanmar’s first with any coun-try.
India, though with goodintentions and now sizeable civiland defence cooperation, is nomatch for China’s deep pocketsand outreach to play the role ofa regional equaliser. Still, itsimpressive infrastructure andcapacity-building programmeshave been appreciated. Japan willteam up in improving qualityand quick delivery of projects.
While the two million, mostlyIndian Tamil, diaspora is noasset, the Buddhism connecthas not been tested even asIndian tourists are throngingMyanmar. India has transferreda Russian kilo-class diesel-elec-tric attack submarine and maysoon sell Brahmos missilesagainst the $1.5 billion line ofcredit, of which $300 million isleft. Border trade — within 16km — is a paltry $25 million,though overall trade is around$2.5 billion, far below potential.
The flowering of bilateralrelations is stalled in part by thecomplexity of joint leadershipand the unstoppable rise ofChina. While Beijing has cast astring of pearls along India’speriphery, it has placed inMyanmar, an arrestor wire sys-tem of an aircraft carrier to bluntthe take-off of AEP towardsAsean, where China is also thedominant influencer. Myanmar’sfull transition to democracydepends on progress in ethnicreconciliation and resolving civil-military tensions throughConstitutional reform. Till then,AEP will remain constrained.
(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff.)
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Sir — Nature has its own way oftesting humans. The spread of onevirus has brought the entire worldto its knees. The novel Coronaviruspandemic, which began in Chinain late December, has since sick-ened more than 11,0000 and killedmore than 5,000 people worldwide.Its spread has not only renderednations vulnerable but has servedas a warning to those who possessor are developing biologicalweapons. One can only imaginehow dangerous the situation wouldbe in case any nation resorts togerm warfare.
Some of the affluent coun-tries, like Italy, are experiencingscarcity of essential items. Thereare reports that supermarketsthere have run out of goodsbecause COVID-19 has crippledsome Chinese manufacturingplants, which produce those com-modities. Panic buying, too, hascontributed to the present situa-tion. But the worst is yet to come.
Compounding woes, stockmarkets have crashed. The glob-al economy has already suffereda loss of $2 trillion. Airlinesaround the globe are suffering set-backs and economies dependent
on tourism stand devastated.Many industries dependent onChinese imports are facing grimlosses. India is no exception tothis. The crippling of the Chinesefactories is bound to sound thedeath knell for many industries.
KS Jayatheertha Bengaluru
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Sir — The prompt bailout propos-al for Yes Bank, with the State Bankof India (SBI) and other privatebanks such as HDFC and AxisBank chipping in their bit to pro-vide financial aid, has averted the
tragedy for the moment. Further,the Cabinet, too, has approved thereconstruction of the crisis-hitYes Bank as per the scheme pro-posed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). But pro-active measures areonly temporary in nature.
The fact of the matter is thatthe Central bank could have
nipped the problem in the budhad it taken lessons from earliersuch episodes of banks coveringup their solvency. But in India, wewake up only with whistle-blow-ing and end up with a late reali-sation. India’s financial sector isin dire need of reforms.
T Ridhi SreelekhaSecunderabad
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Sir — The spread of Coronavirushas remined us of the good oldways. Once again, emphasis isbeing laid on Ayurveda, other tra-ditional medicines like Unaniand homoeopathic medicine sys-tems. Besides, the Indian traditionof namaste has gone global withthe likes of US President DonaldTrump, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron and evenPrince Charles saying no to helloand yes to folded hands. Insteadof using tissue papers, people arenow getting accustomed to wash-ing hands. It is better to follow ahealthy and systematic lifestyle.
Nitesh KumarJharkhand
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While the share of agriculture in India’s econ-omy has progressively declined, eventoday the sector directly and indirectly
occupies over 50 per cent of the country’s workforceand contributes to over 17 per cent of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP). However, the farm sec-tor’s importance in our economic and social fabricgoes well beyond these indicators as the majority ofIndia’s poor live in rural areas where farming is theprimary source of livelihood. Additionally, with agrowing population and rising incomes in the cities,farmers face the burden of increasing yields andimproving the quality of their produce. But, for manyyears now we have been beset with an agrarian cri-sis for a variety of reasons. The Government’s strat-egy, over the years, primarily focussed on raising agri-cultural output, improving food security and pro-viding subsidies and waivers rather than recognis-ing the need to raise farmers’ income. While theseprove helpful in the short run, they are not effec-tive measures for the long haul as farmers contin-ue to face the same issues that got them into a cat-astrophic situation in the first place.
Instead of handing out loan waivers, theGovernment could help farmers by providingaccess to exploitation-free credit. This has beenattempted but both vision and implementation havebeen lacking. If easy credit is available, farmers willhave improved access to seeds, pesticides, irrigationfacilities and even mechanisation. Since farmers typ-ically procure all these materials via an open mar-ket as there is no State support, higher income oreasy credit will enable them to produce more/bet-ter. As farm incomes reduce or stagnate over time,conversion of farmlands for alternate uses to gen-erate money has gone up significantly in the pastdecade as land prices have seen a considerable uptick.After putting in all the hard work, farmers do notreceive fair wages for their labours. This has tradi-tionally been due to unfair exploitative practices atthe mandis (wholesale food markets) and the largenumber of middlemen across the supply chain, rightfrom production to consumption. In addition, foryears now, low global prices have hurt exports andencouraged cheaper imports, that further hit farmerincomes. A highly-fragmented supply chain andpoor farm infrastructure is a contributing factor tothe farm crisis as more than 50 per cent of the pro-duce is wasted in distribution alone. At the front end,there is very little demand insight for various cropsand virtually no marketing infrastructure and at thefarmers’ end there are non-existent or poor storagefacilities and additional transport and manpowercosts. Due to all the contributing factors above, farm-ers’ incomes have either stagnated or been lowerwhile the cost of production and support servicesis perpetually increasing. The farmers, despite highinterest rates, take the risk and cultivate only to bedisheartened when their produce does not fetch suit-able prices that cover their costs and leave somethingover as profit. Only a small portion of the farm pro-duce gets the Minimum Support Price (MSP) andmore than 90 per cent of farmers are at the mercyof the traders who set the market price. As incomesbecome insufficient, more and more farmers facepoverty. This situation discourages the current cropof farmers but more so the next generation whichgravitates towards the city for better opportunities.This leads to a shortage of hands for farm activitiesand is a very prevalent problem in an agri-rich Statelike Maharashtra where a lot of the farm help and
labour is being brought from other States.The lack of fair return on both financialand effort investment by farmers has ledto a marked increase in farmer suicides.
To solve this crisis all controllable,supporting factors (Government policy,spending, initiatives, incentives amongothers) have to singly focus on helping thefarmer be self-sustainable. On an averagethe farmers’ income today is only �20,000a year in 17 States or about half the coun-try. That means that the monthly incomeof a farming family — with an average offive members — is less than �1,700. It ishard to imagine how farmers are surviv-ing today with these incomes which haveto suffice for supporting their families andcontinuing with their farm productionactivities. With 50 per cent of our popu-lation working in the agri sector, it isimperative to help generate more incomefor them both for their betterment and forthe economy to keep ticking.
Thankfully, the Centre has set a tar-get to double farmers’ income by 2022.While this is a good first step towardsenabling farmer self-sustainability, theincome has to go up significantly morethan double at the current levels for it tobe truly transformational. The broaderstrategy and framework outlined by theGovernment is based on good principles.However, implementation on the groundand ensuring effective and timely impactfor the farmer will make the difference.Some of the key factors to ensure that theoutcome is favorable are given below:
Productivity of farmland holdingshas to be prioritised and improved: Mostimportantly, reducing dependence whol-ly on rainwater through better irrigationmechanisms and better planning ofgroundwater, is important. Enabling bet-ter support services such as easy access tocredit on fair terms, availability andaccess to high-quality seeds, fertilisers, pes-ticides and technology-driven enhance-
ments would be extremely beneficial. Helping farmers align their produc-
tion with seasons and market demands:As phone and internet penetration growexponentially, providing farmers educa-tion, information on weather, marketrequirements, pricing, Governmentschemes and subsidies would be useful.
Crop diversification for betterincome: A lot of companies, especiallystart-ups are taking up the important taskof educating and advising farmers how tonot only improve farm yield but also todiversify their produce to increaseincomes. This farmer education andawareness, at a larger scale, would not onlyhelp increase farm income but also helpmeet the demands of a growing popula-tion.
Better access to markets and pricing:Currently, the control of pricing or whatthe farmers receive for their hard work isin the hands of a few traders in mandis.Traditionally, this has been the area ofmost severe exploitation of farmers.Ensuring transparency in buying and sell-ing of agri goods at the mandis and ensur-ing MSP is an immediate impact solution.In the last few years, with the rise in over-seas Fast-Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) companies coming to Indiaand recently minted and existing compa-nies working in agriculture, farmers havebeen given an alternative to selling in man-dis. Here, for production to certain spec-ifications and quality standards, farmersearn more than what they would at man-dis and have some demand guarantees aswell. Companies such as Big Basket,More, Godrej, Reliance and so on all havecenters where farmers can sell their pro-duce directly with transparent pricing.However, this is limited to areas that arecloser to urban centres and has not yetpenetrated the deeper rural areas where-in there is a larger number of severely-impacted farmers.
Improved agri-infrastructure andsupply chain: A lot of the produce, be itvegetables, milk, grains and so on, is lostin distribution across the supply chain. Allstakeholders suffer additional costs due tothese losses. Farmers suffer the most dueto loss or quality deterioration and it alsodiscourages them from diversifying theircrops to fruits and vegetables. Enablingefficient, low-cost storage options atfarmer locations, improving access totransport or credit facilities for the same,subsidies on cold storage, use of technol-ogy to predict demand and so on wouldhelp eradicate some age-old problems andpositively impact farmer incomes.
Cooperative farming/cluster farm-ing/Farmer Producer Organisations:Most farmers across India have margin-al land holdings and this reduces their abil-ity to generate higher incomes individu-ally. Consolidation of land holdingsbecomes an important strategy to raisefarmer incomes. They can voluntarilycome together and pool land to gain thebenefits of size. Through consolidation,farmers can reap the benefits of economiesof scale both in input procurement andoutput marketing.
Focussing on these areas and imple-menting programmes with a single, uni-fied vision will be a huge step in the direc-tion of reviving India’s agriculture sector.Improving purchasing power in ruralareas, especially that of farmers, will alsohelp accelerate overall economic growth.Poor policy, high price volatility, climaterisk and indebtedness plague India’s farmsector. A majority of farmers — 85 per cent— include small and marginal ones, withdeclining and increasingly fragmentinglandholdings, where these external factorsand uncertainty make them even morevulnerable.
(The writer is Director, Farmpal,which helps farmers to connect with busi-nesses)
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The National Programme forHealth Care of the Elderly(NPHCE) was launched by the
Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare in 2010 to provide accessibleand affordable healthcare for theelderly and the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) declared 2020-2030 as the ‘Decade of HealthyAgeing.’ This is very relevant for Indiaas according to census data, there areover 104 million senior citizens in thecountry. Out of this, more than halfof the elderly are women.
Approximately 71 per cent of thecountry’s elderly reside in areas withlimited access to healthcare. It goeswithout saying that the incidence ofhospitalisation is much higher in the
elderly as compared to the total pop-ulation.
A major cause for concern is thefact that 27 per cent of people abovethe age of 80 were found to be home-bound or immobile.
Despite the fact that the situationis grave, States have not managed touse more than seven per cent of thefunds disbursed by the Centre for thehealthcare needs of the elderly andonly five per cent of the fundsreleased for the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) havebeen put to use.
This is particularly pathetic con-sidering the fact that the NPHCE ispart of the NCD flexi pool which isone of the major components of theNational Health Mission (NHM).
Providing access to quality health-care is the responsibility of the CentralGovernment as well as States and theyneed to put central funds to good useand ensure that healthcare schemesfor the elderly are implemented in alldistricts.
At present, the implementation islackadaisical and is marred by
unwieldy cost overruns. StateGovernments are already over-whelmed by their existing healthcareprogrammes and it is not unreason-able for them to expect a certainamount of flexibility in operations.However, the failure to produce tan-gible results points towards a lack ofplanning and organisation. Unlessthere is a strict oversight mechanism,course correction is difficult and theelderly of the nation will continue tosuffer the result of this indifference atthe State Government and bureaucrat-ic level.
Where do we stand?: At present,the facilities that are dedicated forgeriatric care are sub-standard. Inrural and remote areas, where a sub-stantial percentage of the elderlyreside, you would be hard-pressed tofind a functional facility, let alone awell-equipped one.
State Governments are not verykeen on spending money on pro-grammes like the NPHCE as they usethe funds for more immediaterequirements like skill training, salaryand infrastructure development, all of
which are crucial areas that are for-ever cash-strapped.
Even though the NPHCE isunder the NCD flexi pool, there aretwo main reasons behind the under-utilisation of funds. First, we suffer ashortage of medical professionalswho are trained in geriatric care.Second, State Treasuries take a lot oftime to release funds to the respectivedistrict administration.
Both of these factors lead to anunderutilisation of capital, preventingthe programme from taking flight.Also, depending on the economiccondition, a number of StateGovernments cut back on expendi-tures to trim the fiscal deficits.
Time to address the skill gap:Since the core of the programmefocusses on clinical care, it is not pos-sible to ensure effective implementa-tion, unless we train our healthcareprofessionals. Only a handful of med-ical colleges in India have postgrad-uate programmes to train undergrad-uate students in geriatric care, owingto the strict guidelines laid down bythe Medical Council of India (MCI).
Unless medical colleges get thetechnical and the bureaucratic supportthey need, it is unrealistic to expectthe current state of affairs to improve.Thankfully, the Government haswoken up to this reality and is nowsupporting two National Centres forAgeing (NCAs) that are dedicated totrain professionals, conduct research,and provide healthcare for the elder-ly. We also have regional geriatric cen-ters (RGCs) that aim to provide ter-tiary care through outpatient depart-ments for seniors in addition to pro-viding postgraduate medical coursesfor students who want to specialise ingeriatric medicine. If we open moreRGCs and NCAs, particularly inrural and remote areas, it will helpimprove health outcomes for theelderly.
The need for a multifacetedapproach: We also need a shift insocietal attitudes towards the elderlyif we want better results. Preventingand treating health problems in theelderly requires a multiprongedapproach that incorporates the activeinvolvement of the healthcare ecosys-
tem, urban/rural development, socialwelfare and legal sectors. We need toexpand our current geriatric care pro-gramme to include non-medicaldeterminants as well.
Unless we have an unwaveringpolitical commitment coupled withsocial action, it is difficult to imple-ment customised policies at the grass-root level. Seniors must be educatedabout potential risk factors so thatthey are empowered to take controlof their health. Children must volun-teer to look after their ageing parentsand we need customised health insur-ance schemes to take care of the needsof our senior citizens.
The Government must establishmore gerontology units to train med-ical and paramedical professionals onthe healthcare needs of the elderly. Tosum it up, a joint approach can helpaddress the challenges in geriatric carein the country. Failing to do so willdevelop into a costly proposition inthe future.
(The writer is Director andCreative Strategist at CHAI Kreativeand Return of Million Smiles)
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Scheme NAV 1Yr %Sundaram Select Small Cap 15.78 13.73Series-III-Reg(G)SBI Tax Advantage Fund-III-Reg(G) 26.52 13.30DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 2-Reg(G) 10.83 10.92SBI Tax advantage Fund-II(G) 37.69 9.23Sundaram Select Small Cap 15.16 9.07Series-IV-Reg(G)DSP Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 11.09 8.55BNP Paribas India Consumption 11.98 7.69Fund-Reg(G)Axis Bluechip Fund-Reg(G) 29.40 6.25Axis Multicap Fund-Reg(G) 11.72 5.68Sundaram TOP 100-Sr VII-Reg(G) 12.65 5.60Mirae Asset Healthcare 10.94 4.86Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage Fund-IV-Reg(G) 13.04 4.67Axis Focused 25 Fund-Reg(G) 28.03 4.55Axis Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 37.39 4.18IDBI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 10.41 4.00Nippon India US Equity Opp 15.46 3.99Fund(G)Axis Long Term Equity 44.90 3.60Fund-Reg(G)Tata India Pharma & Healthcare 9.08 3.15Fund-Reg(G)SBI Focused Equity Fund-Reg(G) 139.96 2.95DSP Equity Fund-Reg(G) 39.14 2.55Sundaram Multi Cap Fund-Sr 10.14 2.27I-Reg(G)Sundaram Multi Cap Fund-Sr 10.12 2.27II-Reg(G)Sundaram Services Fund-Reg(G) 11.06 2.18DSP 3Y Close Ended Equity 15.06 2.07Fund-Reg(G)DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 1-Reg(G) 10.01 1.81DSP World Gold Fund-Reg(G) 11.83 1.57JM Multicap Fund(G) 31.13 1.30Sundaram Fin Serv Opp Fund(G) 40.22 1.28Invesco India PSU Equity Fund(G) 17.16 1.18Franklin India Feeder - Franklin 30.00 1.02U.S. Opportunities Fund(G)Tata Banking & Financial Services 18.11 0.88Fund-Reg(G)DSP Global Allocation 12.12 0.67Fund-Reg(G)Motilal Oswal Midcap 30 24.84 0.54Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Bluechip Equity 24.31 0.45Fund-Reg(G)Axis Emerging Opp Fund-1-Reg(G) 12.07 -0.08Motilal Oswal Focused 25 21.04 -0.19Fund-Reg(G)SBI Healthcare Opp Fund-Reg(G) 117.22 -0.24PGIM India Global Equity Opp 17.84 -0.28Fund(G)Canara Rob Consumer Trends 38.53 -0.28Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL India GenNext 80.57 -0.52Fund(G)BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund(G) 84.75 -0.73Axis Emerging Opp Fund-2-Reg(G) 11.55 -0.77Franklin Asian Equity Fund(G) 21.39 -0.86Principal Focused Multicap Fund(G)62.11 -0.91Invesco India Midcap Fund(G) 47.90 -0.97JM Tax Gain Fund(G) 16.39 -1.12BNP Paribas Long Term Equity 36.61 -1.26Fund(G)Nippon India Pharma Fund(G) 147.33 -1.47Sundaram Select Small Cap 9.16 -1.49Series-VI-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Small Cap 9.40 -1.60Series-V-Reg(G)Axis Capital Builder Fund-4-Reg(G) 10.18 -1.64DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 52.75 -1.86UTI Equity Fund-Reg(G) 137.67 -1.99ICICI Pru US Bluechip Equity 26.15 -2.02Fund(G)SBI Banking & Financial Services 17.07 -2.02Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Equity Opportunity-6-Reg(G) 9.63 -2.03UTI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 82.48 -2.04Baroda Banking & Fin Serv Fund(G)21.76 -2.07Axis Capital Builder Fund-1-Reg(G) 9.80 -2.29UTI India Consumer Fund-Reg(G) 24.77 -2.40Canara Rob Equity Diver 128.89 -2.42Fund-Reg(G)Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 7(G) 9.91 -2.50Invesco India Financial Services 53.68 -2.52Fund(G)Canara Rob Equity Tax Saver 62.27 -2.57Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL MNC Fund-Reg(G) 732.34 -2.59Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity 16.52 -2.60Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Smallcap Fund-Reg(G)10.23 -2.66IDBI Equity Advantage Fund-Reg(G)25.14 -2.97Invesco India Infrastructure Fund(G)16.33 -3.09Edelweiss Emerging Markets Opp Eq. 12.00 -3.25Offshore Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-16(G) 10.20 -3.32SBI LT Advantage Fund-V-Reg(G) 9.49 -3.32JM Large Cap Fund(G) 63.48 -3.32Nippon India Growth Fund(G) 1054.08 -3.37SBI LT Advantage Fund-VI-Reg(G) 9.84 -3.81SBI Magnum Global Fund-Reg(G) 161.04 -4.09Sundaram Select Focus(G) 166.94 -4.11L&T Focused Equity Fund-Reg(G) 10.05 -4.16Canara Rob Emerg Equities 88.72 -4.23Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap 29.24 -4.29Fund-Reg(G)Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G) 188.84 -4.39Sundaram Emerging Small 10.07 -4.43Cap-Sr-VII-Reg(G)IDFC Focused Equity Fund-Reg(G) 34.54 -4.45Kotak Emerging Equity Fund(G) 36.41 -4.61Mirae Asset Emerging 49.64 -4.72Bluechip-Reg(G)IDBI India Top 100 Equity Fund(G) 22.31 -4.74
ICICI Pru Global Stable Equity 14.17 -4.84Fund(FOF)(G)SBI Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 49.05 -4.87Invesco India Tax Plan(G) 47.80 -4.88PGIM India Midcap Opp 17.15 -4.88Fund-Reg(G)DSP Focus Fund-Reg(G) 21.60 -4.96BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G) 29.62 -5.00Nippon India Consumption 61.04 -5.05Fund(G)Sundaram Large and Mid Cap 32.03 -5.05Fund(G)Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G) 130.47 -5.11IDBI Dividend Yield Fund-Reg(G) 9.60 -5.14Principal Emerging Bluechip 97.15 -5.16Fund(G)Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G) 111.61 -5.36Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 8.94 -5.40Fund-5-Reg(G)UTI Focussed Equity Fund-I(G) 12.58 -5.56UTI Focussed Equity Fund-IV(G) 9.05 -5.76ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.30 -5.78Fund-4-(G)UTI LT Equity Fund (Tax 80.93 -5.80Saving)-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Emerging 11.72 -5.93Opp Fund(G)Invesco India Growth Opp Fund(G) 31.62 -5.95
ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.91 -5.98Fund-5-(G)SBI Magnum Equity ESG 95.89 -6.02Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Multi Cap Fund-Reg(G) 85.63 -6.11SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr I-Reg(G) 14.59 -6.12BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund(G) 42.75 -6.20Invesco India Multicap Fund(G) 43.63 -6.29Edelweiss Large Cap Fund(G) 32.34 -6.32UTI Focussed Equity Fund-VI(G) 9.18 -6.34ICICI Pru Growth Fund-2(DP) 10.92 -6.35Parag Parikh Long Term Equity 23.24 -6.35Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Focused 25 Equity 8.76 -6.41Fund-Reg(G)JM Value Fund(G) 29.32 -6.47Kotak Tax Saver Fund(G) 40.34 -6.48Aditya Birla SL Equity Advantage 370.95 -6.49Fund(G)UTI Focussed Equity Fund-V(G) 8.75 -6.53Nippon India Japan Equity Fund(G) 11.42 -6.57Edelweiss Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 10.22 -6.59ICICI Pru Value Fund-18(G) 10.40 -6.81IDBI Diversified Equity Fund(G) 19.38 -6.83Aditya Birla SL Focused Equity 54.08 -6.85Fund(G)Mirae Asset Great Consumer 32.26 -6.90Fund-Reg(G)Tata Ethical Fund-Reg(G) 145.96 -6.91Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief '96(ELSS 28.99 -6.93U/S 80C of IT ACT)(G)Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief '96(G) 28.99 -6.93L&T India Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 24.60 -6.98IDBI Banking & Financial Services 9.49 -7.05Fund-Reg(G)Baroda Large Cap Fund(G) 13.18 -7.05DSP Equity Opportunities 201.87 -7.07Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Small Cap Fund(G) 65.82 -7.18Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 24.35 -7.19Sundaram Rural and Consumption 38.50 -7.23Fund(G)DSP Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 43.57 -7.31SBI Technology Opp Fund-Reg(G) 59.20 -7.35Aditya Birla SL Digital India Fund(G)49.04 -7.40PGIM India Diversified Equity 12.13 -7.40Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 29.55 -7.42UTI Mastershare-Reg(G) 111.17 -7.50PGIM India Large Cap Fund(G) 150.68 -7.51DSP Top 100 Equity Fund-Reg(G) 186.96 -7.52SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G) 13.75 -7.54Invesco India Largecap Fund(G) 26.10 -7.58Tata Value Fund-Sr-2-Reg(G) 8.63 -7.67SBI Large & Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 201.91 -7.71UTI Value Opp Fund-Reg(G) 55.73 -7.71Baroda Multi Cap Fund(G) 88.41 -7.76L&T Emerging Opp Fund-II-Reg(D) 9.10 -7.77Edelweiss Long Term Equity Fund 42.03 -7.79(Tax Savings)-Reg(G)Tata Resources & Energy Fund-Reg(G)12.93 -7.83UTI MNC Fund-Reg(G) 179.66 -7.84Kotak Bluechip Fund(G) 211.54 -7.90Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 15.90 -7.90Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 9.04 -7.94Fund-4-Reg(G)DSP US Flexible Equity Fund-Reg(G)22.50 -7.97SBI Magnum Multicap Fund-Reg(G)43.83 -8.04Tata India Tax Savings Fund-Reg(G)16.31 -8.13SBI LT Advantage Fund-II-Reg(G) 12.38 -8.18UTI Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 91.83 -8.20SBI LT Advantage Fund-III-Reg(G) 12.03 -8.21
L&T Large and Midcap Fund-Reg(G)42.26 -8.25Tata Value Fund-Sr-1-Reg(G) 8.86 -8.27JM Core 11 Fund(G) 8.34 -8.29Tata India Consumer Fund-Reg(G) 15.85 -8.31Kotak Standard Multicap Fund(G) 31.68 -8.33L&T Business Cycle Fund-Reg(G) 13.72 -8.39Baroda Mid-cap Fund(G) 8.20 -8.48Aditya Birla SL Sensex ETF 319.69 -8.53IDFC Sensex ETF 353.38 -8.55Tata Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 9.58 -8.57Motilal Oswal Multicap 35 23.42 -8.61Fund-Reg(G)PGIM India Large Cap 11.27 -8.63Fund-2-Reg(G)HDFC Sensex ETF 3593.36 -8.68Aditya Birla SL Equity Fund(G) 652.59 -8.69ICICI Pru Value Fund-14(G) 9.35 -8.69Tata Index Fund-Sensex Plan(G) 84.52 -8.78Edelweiss Multi-Cap Fund-Reg(G) 13.06 -8.86ICICI Pru Smallcap Fund(G) 22.39 -8.98Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 18.70 -9.04Fund-A(G)HDFC Index Fund-Sensex(G) 303.23 -9.10Tata Large Cap Fund(G) 194.09 -9.21L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 119.57 -9.22Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 4(G) 8.51 -9.24ICICI Pru Sensex Index Fund(G) 10.60 -9.26Nippon India Quant Fund(G) 22.97 -9.26
Franklin India Technology Fund(G)145.93 -9.33Nippon India Index Fund - Sensex 16.81 -9.35Plan(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 8.74 -9.46Fund-IV-A(G)Nippon India Vision Fund(G) 461.57 -9.49Kotak India EQ Contra Fund(G) 46.67 -9.55SBI BlueChip Fund-Reg(G) 34.60 -9.57Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund-Reg(G)45.28 -9.57ICICI Pru LT Wealth Enhancement 9.56 -9.73Fund(G)SBI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 13.38 -9.79ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.21 -9.88Fund-1-(G)L&T Emerging Opp Fund-I-Reg(D) 8.49 -9.94Principal Dividend Yield Fund(G) 47.29 -9.99Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 10.69 -10.09Fund-2-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.25 -10.19Fund-3-(G)Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 5(G) 8.60 -10.20Invesco India Contra Fund(G) 42.84 -10.23SBI Magnum Comma Fund-Reg(G) 31.57 -10.30Tata Digital India Fund-Reg(G) 13.24 -10.56IDBI Focused 30 Equity Fund-Reg(G)8.77 -10.69Sundaram Value Fund-III-Reg(G) 14.72 -10.74Sundaram Mid Cap Fund(G) 413.26 -10.76Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 12.92 -10.80II-Reg(G)Baroda ELSS 96(G) 38.85 -10.89SBI LT Advantage Fund-I-Reg(G) 11.68 -10.90ICICI Pru Exports & Services 49.81 -10.94Fund(G)Mirae Asset Nifty 50 ETF 101.14 -10.94IDFC Nifty ETF 103.43 -10.97ICICI Pru Nifty Low Vol 30 ETF 78.95 -11.03IDFC Equity Opportunity-5-Reg(G) 8.79 -11.03Tata Nifty ETF 100.98 -11.05ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G) 213.00 -11.07Axis Nifty ETF 1028.47 -11.10Aditya Birla SL Banking & 25.11 -11.15Financial Services Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Nifty 50 ETF 1046.22 -11.18Franklin India Prima Fund(G) 846.55 -11.18DSP NIFTY 50 Index Fund-Reg(G) 9.32 -11.26Tata Index Fund-Nifty Plan(G) 60.61 -11.26DSP World Agriculture Fund-Reg(G)14.14 -11.31UTI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 65.41 -11.31Sundaram Global Brand Fund(G) 14.76 -11.31IDFC Nifty Fund-Reg(G) 20.71 -11.34Principal Multi Cap Growth 124.61 -11.36Fund(G)Canara Rob Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 9.16 -11.41HDFC Index Fund-NIFTY 50 91.10 -11.42Plan(G)Aditya Birla SL Index Fund-Reg(G) 98.26 -11.45SBI Magnum Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 64.74 -11.54UTI MEPUS 94.56 -11.58L&T Tax Advt Fund-Reg(G) 46.61 -11.61ICICI Pru Nifty Index Fund(G) 96.54 -11.61ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 8.76 -11.69Fund-2-(G)IDBI Long Term Value Fund-Reg(G)9.12 -11.71IDFC Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 39.20 -11.77HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities 47.82 -11.82Fund(G)Franklin India Index Fund-NSE 79.05 -11.82Nifty(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Real Estate 17.10 -11.86Fund(G)ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G) 36.53 -11.87SBI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 85.58 -11.92
Sundaram Smart NIFTY 100 Eq 9.59 -18.84Weight Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Manufacture in India 8.34 -18.87Fund(G)Nippon India India Opp 8.67 -19.12Fund-Sr-A(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 6.20 -19.24Fund-IV-B(G)HDFC Equity Fund(G) 527.24 -19.41Sundaram Value Fund-VIII-Reg(G) 8.91 -19.65UTI LT Adv Fund-VII(G) 7.37 -19.70DSP Equal Nifty 50 Fund-Reg(G) 7.96 -19.78Franklin Build India Fund(G) 33.22 -19.83HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G) 61.24 -19.88L&T Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 12.72 -19.90Invesco India Feeder - Invesco Pan 8.36 -19.95European Equity Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 6.75 -20.02Fund-7-Reg(G)Sundaram Small Cap Fund(G) 66.72 -20.15UTI S&P BSE Sensex Next 50 ETF 265.94 -20.26SBI-ETF Sensex Next 50 266.31 -20.30SBI Contra Fund-Reg(G) 86.68 -20.32UTI LT Adv Fund-IV(G) 8.41 -20.33UTI LT Adv Fund-V(G) 7.74 -20.35HDFC TaxSaver(G) 408.73 -20.37UTI LT Adv Fund-III(G) 11.05 -20.40Nippon India Power & Infra 77.83 -20.42Fund(G)ICICI Pru India Opp Fund(G) 8.25 -20.90Nippon India Tax Saver (ELSS) 43.31 -20.92Fund(G)DSP World Mining Fund-Reg(G) 6.62 -21.15Franklin India Smaller Cos Fund(G)42.59 -21.17Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 7.94 -21.20IV-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-VI(G) 7.03 -21.21Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 6.79 -22.16III-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure Fund(G)24.74 -22.49HDFC Capital Builder Value Fund(G)227.52 -22.58IDFC Sterling Value Fund-Reg(G) 39.55 -22.99ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund(G) 38.54 -23.18ICICI Pru Dividend Yield Equity 12.52 -23.24Fund(G)L&T Emerging Businesses 18.99 -23.44Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL CEF-Global 16.98 -24.20Agri-Reg(G)Templeton India Value Fund(G) 191.63 -24.38Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 10.57 -24.59VIII-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 10.50 -24.77IX-Reg(G)IDFC Equity Opportunity-4-Reg(G) 5.89 -25.25Sundaram Value Fund-VII-Reg(G) 6.70 -25.31Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 6.91 -25.32XIV-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 7.76 -26.07XI-Reg(G)IDFC Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 11.07 -26.20
Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 7.47 -26.21XII-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 10.21 -26.26X-Reg(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 6.01 -26.27Fund-IV-D(G)Aditya Birla SL Small Cap Fund(G) 25.92 -26.49HDFC Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 32.36 -26.54UTI Transportation & Logistics 72.16 -26.71Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 6.28 -26.73XVI-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 6.64 -27.12XV-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Pure Value Fund(G) 37.52 -27.66Sundaram Select Micro Cap-Series 5.89 -27.67XVII-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax Adv 6.49 -27.70Fund-Sr V-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax Adv 6.64 -27.73Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 5.76 -28.01Fund-IV-C(G)DSP Natural Res & New Energy 22.84 -28.70Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax Adv 7.73 -28.77Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax Adv 5.99 -28.86Fund-Sr VI-Reg(G)DSP World Energy Fund-Reg(G) 8.96 -30.95HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G) 11.14 -33.97
Aditya Birla SL Frontline Equity 194.52 -11.95Fund(G)Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 10.87 -11.99Global Equity Income Fund(G)IDBI Nifty Index Fund(G) 18.37 -12.01Nippon India Index Fund - Nifty Plan(G) 16.66-12.06UTI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 46.09 -12.15ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap 278.21 -12.18Fund(G)Principal Global Opportunities 24.39 -12.33Fund(G)Edelweiss ETF - Nifty Bank 2564.21 -12.46Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 11.78 -12.49I-Reg(G)ICICI Pru S&P BSE 500 ETF 132.28 -12.50Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity 11.33 -12.51Fund-Reg(G)Nippon India ETF Nifty Midcap 15055.17 -12.63PGIM India LT Equity 12.26 -12.68Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Infrastructure 38.88 -12.77Fund-Reg(G)DSP Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 48.33 -12.77ICICI Pru Value Fund-8(D) 9.07 -12.79Sundaram Diversified Equity(G) 86.75 -12.84ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund (Tax 320.57 -12.84Saving)(G)L&T Equity Fund-Reg(G) 70.20 -13.06L&T India Value Fund-Reg(G) 30.60 -13.08Edelweiss ETF - Nifty 100 Quality 30244.98 -13.12SBI Consumption Opp 102.33 -13.14Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-1(DP) 9.59 -13.21ICICI Pru Banking & Fin Serv 54.89 -13.23Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-17(G) 9.04 -13.24Nippon India Value Fund(G) 63.02 -13.43Franklin India Focused Equity 34.82 -13.45Fund(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-3(DP) 8.95 -13.53Tata Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 47.33 -13.57Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 10.16 -13.75Fund-3-Reg(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 9.50 -13.79Cap-Sr-VI-Reg(G)IDBI Midcap Fund(G) 9.39 -14.25ICICI Pru Value Fund-13(D) 8.82 -14.29PGIM India Euro Equity Fund(G) 11.14 -14.31Tata Equity P/E Fund(G) 114.22 -14.34ICICI Pru Technology Fund(G) 50.07 -14.38Principal Tax Savings Fund 176.01 -14.41Franklin India Bluechip Fund(G) 394.22 -14.43Edelweiss Eur Dynamic 9.04 -14.46Equity Off-shr Fund-Reg(G)SBI Long Term Equity Fund-Reg(G)121.33 -14.51HDFC Equity Opp Fund-Sr 8.94 -14.612-1126D-May 2017(1)-Reg(G)UTI Dividend Yield Fund-Reg(G) 55.24 -14.63Principal Personal Tax saver Fund 163.96 -14.96Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 15.54 -15.11Fund-B(G)UTI-Nifty Next 50 ETF 241.68 -15.15ICICI Pru Focused Equity Fund(G) 24.94 -15.23Sundaram Value Fund-IX-Reg(G) 7.97 -15.24Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G) 242.91 -15.31Sundaram Value Fund-X-Reg(G) 7.92 -15.38Franklin India Taxshield(G) 474.18 -15.41Aditya Birla SL Nifty Next 50 ETF 236.83 -15.44Nippon India Small Cap Fund(G) 33.87 -15.47Franklin India Opportunities 61.90 -15.47Fund(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 8.30 -15.53Cap-Sr-IV-Reg(G)ICICI Pru NV20 ETF 47.30 -15.58Franklin India Equity Fund(G) 497.50 -15.63Aditya Birla SL Dividend Yield 134.04 -15.71Fund(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 ETF 23.70 -15.81ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G) 242.57 -15.81UTI Nifty Next 50 Index 8.36 -15.90Fund-Reg(G)DSP NIFTY Next 50 Index 9.07 -16.07Fund-Reg(G)IDBI Small Cap Fund(G) 7.97 -16.11HDFC Growth Opp Fund-Reg(G) 93.58 -16.18ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 Index 20.78 -16.23Fund(G)ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G) 79.52 -16.23IDBI Nifty Junior Index Fund(G) 17.71 -16.24Kotak Infra & Eco Reform Fund(G) 16.62 -16.36Franklin India Equity Advantage 66.14 -16.62Fund(G)Sundaram Infra Advantage Fund(G)26.94 -16.75ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund(G)118.42 -16.75DSP India T.I.G.E.R Fund-Reg(G) 74.77 -16.84Sundaram Emerging Small 7.92 -16.89Cap-Sr-III-Reg(G)SBI PSU Fund-Reg(G) 8.27 -16.90Nippon India Large Cap Fund(G) 28.67 -16.90Nippon India Focused Equity 38.50 -17.04Fund(G)Nippon India Banking Fund(G) 226.63 -17.09Templeton India Equity Income 38.53 -17.22Fund(G)IDFC Tax Advt(ELSS) Fund-Reg(G) 46.00 -17.22Sundaram Emerging Small 8.32 -17.55Cap-Sr-V-Reg(G)UTI Banking and Financial Services 80.24 -17.68Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 7.09 -17.69Cap-Sr-I-Reg(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 7.25 -18.07Cap-Sr-II-Reg(G)UTI Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 50.32 -18.12Principal Nifty 100 Equal Weight 58.39 -18.32Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-15(G) 8.72 -18.35Nippon India Multi Cap Fund(G) 79.77 -18.56HDFC Top 100 Fund(G) 393.08 -18.76
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Equity markets are likely tosee more volatility this week
and may also witness a reliefrally after suffering a massivedrubbing recently due to thecoronavirus pandemic, ana-lysts said.
In a nerve-wracking weekfor the markets, the BSE Sensexplummeted 3,473.14 points or9.24 per cent while the NSENifty lost 1,034.25 points or9.41 per cent, largely in tandemwith global equities which suc-cumbed to panic selling trig-gered by the coronavirus out-break.
Domestic markets wit-nessed a roller-coaster sessionon Friday, with trading beinghalted for the first time in 12years as benchmarks plungedover 10 per cent in openingtrade, before staging a record-shattering comeback.
Analysts said participantswould keep an eye on the
spread of the coronavirus, aswell as further stimulus mea-sures by global central banksand governments. The USFederal Reserve is also sched-uled to announce its rate deci-sion this week.
“Markets would take awhile to recover from this sig-nificant price damage. Whilevolatility may continue in com-ing days, we could see inter-mittent relief rallies, howeverthese are likely to be short-lived. In such times of globalvolatility, retail investors shouldkeep calm and not panic,” saidSiddhartha Khemka, Head -Retail Research, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.
The number of novel coro-navirus cases in the countryrose to 107 on Sunday, with 12fresh cases in Maharashtra,the Union Health Ministrysaid. The virus has infectedmore than 150,000 peopleworldwide and killed over5,600.
On the macroeconomicfront, WPI inflation data will beannounced on Monday.
“Temporary relief was seenin the global markets based on
stimulus hopes. Investors arestill advised to be alert since thevolatility, as measured by thevolatility index has reachedall-time highs. Sentiments
around the spread of the viruswill continue to drive the mar-kets and any signs of the rate ofinfections falling will be a pos-itive,” said Vinod Nair, Head of
Research, Geojit FinancialServices.
“In the near term, weexpect volatility to remain highand maintain cautious stance,”Ajit Mishra, VP - Research,Religare Broking Ltd said.
According to IndiaNivesh,Head - Institutional Equities,Vinay Pandit, “Markets haveseen a lower circuit for the firsttime after 2008. But equatingthis situation with2008 isunfair. 2008 was a global finan-cial meltdown whereas the2020 correction due to con-cerns on account of coron-avirus are overdone. Goodquality stocks have taken anundue beating and I am expect-ing a sharp bounce back.”
The Indian benchmarksposted their biggest ever one-day falls in two sessions thisweek (March 9 and 12).
Investor wealth wortharound �15 lakh crore hasbeen wiped off in the past foursessions.
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Yes Bank expects pressuresfrom sour loans, which led
it to declare the highest loss forany private sector lender at Rs18,654 crore for the Decemberquarter, to continue even inFY21, but CEO-designatePrashant Kumar is confident ofits survival after a Rs 10,000-crore capital infusion.
The bank witnessed with-drawals of over Rs 72,000 croreof deposits in the last sixmonths to Rs 1.37 lakh crore,but the Rs 10,000 crore capitalinfusion, coupled with over1,000 branches and a strongcustomer base makes Kumarconfident of Yes Bank contin-uing to be a “going concern”.
“The proposed capitalinfusion and the bank’s strongcustomer base and branch net-work will enable the Bank tocontinue its business for theforeseeable future, so as to beable to realise its assets and dis-charge its liabilities in its nor-mal course of business,” thebank said, quoting Kumar’sassessment.
Kumar is at present thebank’s RBI-appointed admin-istrator and will be taking overas CEO on Wednesday eveningonce the bank comes out ofmoratorium.
The heavy reverses on cor-porate lending -- nearly a thirdof the overall loans have turnedsour -- have probably led thenew management led byKumar to earmark focus onretail and small business loansas a priority going forward,according to its investor pre-sentation.
The bank has also made itclear that additional-tier 1
bonds of over Rs 8,500 crorewill have to be written-downcompletely for the reconstruc-tion to begin, setting the stagefor a legal battle.
Kumar had to be installedas the administrator of thebank on March 5 by the RBI,after the government super-seded its board due to aninability to raise much-neededcapital.
Much of the troubles at thebank are attributed to thealleged mishandling by its co-founder and former chief exec-utive Rana Kapoor, whose termwas cut short by the RBI due togovernance lapses.
Under Kapoor’s successorRavneet Gill, it began an accel-erated recognition of the stresshidden in the balance sheet,which started with reporting itsmaiden quarterly loss in March2019. Kumar has continued thewidely prevalent practice of anincoming head cleaning upthe books and preferring tostart with a clean slate.
However, in its investorpresentation, Yes Bank saidslippages, which went up to Rs24,587 crore in the Decemberquarter, will normalise only inFY22.
The bank told investorsthat it expects slippages to beat 5 per cent of the assets inFY21. The assets decreased by22 per cent to Rs 2.90 lakh
crore at the end of December2019, as compared to the year-ago period.
Compared to the precedingquarter, advances overdue for31 to 90 days (levels before theyget tagged as NPAs), declined43 per cent to Rs 13,911 crore.
The higher slippages and areduction in loan book werekey reasons for the 60 per centdecline in the core net interestincome at Rs 1,065 crore, andalso narrowing of the net inter-est margin to 1.4 per centfrom 3.3 per cent a year ago.
Deposit mobilisation,accelerating resolution of thestressed assets and cost opti-misation have been marked asthe key focus areas, along witha shift to low-value loans byKumar.
In the high-value loanssegment, the strategy is toreduce exposure to commercialrealty, non-bank lenders, hous-ing finance companies, infra-structure and electricity sectors,it said.
Meanwhile, the bank’sreconstruction has been set-offwith the issue of Rs 10,000crore of shares to the consor-tium led by SBI, which alsoincludes IDFC First Bank,Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank,ICICI Bank, HDFC, KotakMahindra Bank and Axis Bank,the bank informed theexchanges.
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Petrol price was on Sundaycut by 12 paise a litre and
diesel rates by 14 paise as oilcompanies moderated ratereduction amid the fall in glob-al prices to absorb the hike inexcise duty on fuel by theGovernment.
Petrol in Delhi now costs�69.75 per litre, while diesel ispriced at �62.44, according toa price notification of state-owned oil firms.
Delhi has the lowest fuelprices among metros becauseof lower state taxes.
Industry sources said thereduction in rates would havebeen higher but for the �3 perlitre increase in excise dutyeffected on Saturday.
Oil companies, they said,had been moderating reductionwarranted in retail prices inanticipation of an excise dutyhike. The gains they thus accu-mulated were adjusted againstthe price hike that would havebeen necessary because of theincrease in excise duty. Somemoderation in passing on thedecline in international pricesin the near future to domesticconsumers will continue till allof the excise duty impact isrecovered, the sources added.
The Government had onSaturday hiked excise duty onpetrol and diesel by a steep �3per litre each to garner about�39,000 crore additional rev-enue as it repeated its 2014-15act of not passing on gains aris-ing from the slump in interna-tional oil prices.
According to a notificationissued by the Central Board ofIndirect Taxes & Customs, spe-cial excise duty on petrol washiked by �2 to �8 per litre andto �4 a litre from �2 in case ofdiesel. Additionally, road cesswas raised by �1 per litre eachon petrol and diesel to �10.
With this, the total inci-dence of excise duty on petrolhas risen to �22.98 per litre andthat on diesel to �18.83.
The tax on petrol was �9.48
per litre when the Modi gov-ernment took office in 2014and that on diesel was �3.56 alitre.
The Government hadbetween November 2014 andJanuary 2016 raised excise dutyon petrol and diesel on nineoccasions to take away gainsarising from plummeting glob-al oil prices.
In all, duty on petrol ratewas hiked by �11.77 per litreand that on diesel by 13.47 alitre in those 15 months thathelped Government’s excisemop up more than double to�2,42,000 crore in 2016-17from �99,000 crore in 2014-15.
It cut excise duty by �2 inOctober 2017 and by �1.50 ayear later. But it raised exciseduty by �2 per litre in July 2019.
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Saudi Aramco on Sundayreported a 20.6 per cent
drop in its net profit for 2019due to low oil prices and pro-duction levels, the companysaid in a statement.
These are the first annualresults to be announced by theenergy giant after its historical$29.4 billion initial public offer-ing and listing on the SaudiTadawul market last December.
Aramco posted net profitsof $88.2 billion last year com-pared to $111.1 billion in 2018,Monday’s statement said.
“The decrease was pri-marily due to lower crude oilprices and production vol-umes, coupled with decliningrefining and chemical mar-gins,” it said.
The company also made$1.6 billion of impairment pro-visions for losses associated withSadara Chemical Company, anAramco subsidiary.
“2019 was an exceptionalyear for Saudi Aramco. Througha variety of circumstances —some planned and some not —the world was offered unprece-dented insight into SaudiAramco’s agility and resilience,”CEO Amin Nasser said.
“Our unique scale, lowcosts, and resilience came
together to deliver both growthand world-leading returns,while also maintaining ourposition as one of the world’smost reliable energy compa-nies,” Nasser said.
The earnings for last yearare not affected by the coron-avirus outbreak or the ongoingprice war between Saudi Arabiaand Russia that has sent oilprices crashing.
Aramco said it will dis-tribute dividends worth $73.2billion for 2019 but based on itscommitments under the IPO,its dividends for the next fiveyears starting this year will beat least $75 billion.
It said its capital spendinglast year dropped to $32.8 bil-lion from $35.1 billion in 2018.
The company expects cap-ital spending, which is expen-diture on projects, to bebetween $25 billion and $30 bil-lion this year “in light of currentmarket conditions and recentcommodity price volatility.”
But it said that capitalexpenditure for 2021 andbeyond is currently underreview. The results wereannounced amid a price warbetween Saudi Arabia andRussia after they failed to agreeon additional output cuts tosupport prices dented by theoutbreak of the coronavirus
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Increasing GST on mobilephones to 18 per cent from
12 per cent at the time of eco-nomic slowdown coupled withcoronavirus outbreak willderail the industry and lead tojob losses, industry body ICEAsaid on Sunday.
The India Cellular andElectronics Association saidthe decision will put a burdenof �15,000 crore on commonman and adversely impact over100 crore Indian consumers.
“When coronavirus isspreading panic, economicslowdown is at its peak, con-sumer sentiment is batteredand stock markets are in free-fall, increasing GST is bothcounter-intuitive and insensi-tive. This will lead to immedi-ate job losses and severelydampen future investments inmanufacturing,” ICEAChairman Pankaj Mohindroosaid in a statement.
He said that till June 2017consumers were paying 4-5per cent value added tax and 1per cent on excise duty andlater they were burdened with12 per cent GST which hasbeen further increased to 18per cent.
“The 18 per cent GST hikewill also bring back the bad olddays of early 2000s when thegrey market in mobile phoneswas rampant at 90 per cent. Itreverses years of painstakingefforts by governments andindustry to increase mobilemanufacturing and penetrationby sensible policy interventionsand tax rationalisation,”Mohindroo said.
He said this move will alsoprove to be disastrous for thealready fragile retailer com-munity wherein lakhs of smalland mid-sized retailers surviveby selling mobile phones.
A top official of the coun-try’s leading smartphone sell-
er Xiaomi had said on Saturdaythat smartphone makers will beforced to increase handsetprices with this hike in GST.
“As a result of this GSTincrease, all smartphone mak-ers will be forced to increaseprices. This can weaken thedemand and mobile industry’sMake in India programme.This could also have long last-ing impact on internet pene-tration and digital India pro-gram as majority of Indiansaccess the internet on smart-phones,” Xiaomi IndiaManaging Director Manu Jainsaid.
ICEA said that the GSThike is contrary to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’svision to make India the worldleader in mobile phone manu-facturing.
Mohindroo said that withhike in GST, it will be difficultto achieve even half the targetof $80 billion domestic pro-duction of mobile phones inthe country by 2025 set underNational Policy on Electronics2019.
Mobile manufacturing pro-duction in the countryincreased five-folds and rev-enues 10-folds from 58 millionunits valued at �18,900 crore in2014-15 to 290 million unitsvalued at �1,81,200 crore in2018-19.
“The government revenuespost GST had doubled from�10,900 crore to �20,700 crorewithin two years. To strike thesector with a higher GST at thisstage is the equivalent of killingthe goose that lays the goldenegg. Not a savvy move by anystretch,” Mohindroo said.
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The Apparel ExportPromotion Council
(AEPC) has advised its mem-bers to explore more marketsfor buying intermediates orraw materials to reduce depen-dency on China due to coron-avirus outbreak.
In a letter to its members,AEPC Chairman A Sakthivelsaid that he has approached thegovernment to direct Indianembassies abroad to identifyalternate sources of input sup-pliers.
“We have advised ourmembers to diversify theirsourcing base given that thesupply chain from China is dis-rupted,” he said.
He also said that the coun-cil has identified top 10 appar-el product lines or items eachin the US, the EU, Japan andSouth Korea which are show-ing significant decline inimports from China.
“These items can work asnew opportunities for localapparel exporters who have thepotential to fill the gap,” he said.
Sakthivel also urged mem-bers to spread health awarenessabout coronavirus among itsworkforce at their factories.
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India’s coal imports regis-tered a decline of 14.1 per
cent to 17.01 million tonnes(MT) in February in the wakeof the coronavirus outbreak, asper industry data.
The country’s coal importsin February last year stood at19.82 MT, according to a pro-visional compilation by mjunc-tion services, based on moni-toring of vessels’ positions anddata received from shippingcompanies.
Mjunction — a joint ven-ture between Tata Steel andSAIL — is a B2B e-commercecompany which also publishesresearch reports on coal andsteel verticals.
“In line with expectations,coal import volumes staged adecline during the month ofFebruary due to increaseddomestic availability, volatilityin non-coking coal prices aswell as uncertainty arisingfrom...Coronavirus epidemic,”mjunction MD and CEOVinaya Varma said.
“Going forward, pricesmay see a downward bias,while demand for import mayremain subdued, for much the same reason,” Varmaadded.
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Construction, transport andchemical manufacturing
sectors are likely to be theworst-affected by the coron-avirus pandemic in China, saysa report. However, India’s topimports — crude oil and gemsand jewellery — which collec-tively account for 46 per cent oftotal imports are relatively insu-lated from the public health cri-sis in China, according to thereport by ICICI Securities.
The novel coronaviruswhich originated in China’sWuhan city towards the end of2019 has so far claimed over5,000 lives and infected morethan 1 lakh people globally.Daily death toll due to the virusis still very high and given thenumber of infected people, thebattle with the virus is farfrom over, it said.
Since the severity of thevirus became known, globalfinancial markets have been onthe edge. Although most ofdeaths are in China, the virushas reportedly spread to about100 countries and has beendeclared a pandemic by theWHO. Out of India’s totalimports of $507 billion in
FY19, 26 per cent of the basket,which comprises iron and steeland inorganic chemicals, islikely to be affected modestly.
“We expect the impact oniron and steel to be moderatebecause India imports 11 percent of its iron and steel fromChina. Also, India’s biggestimport source country for ironand steel, South Korea imports20 per cent of its requirementfrom China.
“Similarly, we expect theimpact on inorganic chemicalto be moderate as well sinceIndia imports almost 15 percent of its inorganic chemicalsfrom China,” the report noted.
Further, there are fiveimport items that heavilydepend on China. They are —electrical machinery, machin-ery and mechanical appliances,organic chemicals, plastics andoptical and surgical instru-ments. These items collective-ly account for 28 per cent ofIndia’s import basket.
“The sectors likely to beworst-affected by the possibleshutdown in China are con-struction, transport manufac-turing, chemical manufactur-ing and machinery manufac-turing,” it added.
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Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) have withdrawn a
whopping �37,976 crore on anet basis from the Indian mar-kets in March so far amid thecoronavirus pandemic triggering fears of a globalrecession.
Overseas investors pulledout a net sum of �24,776.36crore from equities and�13,199.54 crore from the debtsegment between March 2-13, depositories datashowed.
This translates into a totalnet outflow of �37,975.90 croreduring the period underreview.
Prior to this, foreigninvestors were net buyers for sixconsecutive months sinceSeptember 2019.
“The spread of coronavirusoutbreak, which has now beendeclared a pandemic, and con-tinued slowdown in the glob-al economy, has created avicious cycle which is con-suming investors worldwide,”said Himanshu Srivastava,senior analyst managerresearch, MorningstarInvestment Adviser India.
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea Ltd, whose self-assessed dues to theGovernment are less than halfof what the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT)estimates, must disclose work-ings highlighting areas of dif-ference as minority sharehold-ers deserve to know, an analystreport said.
While Bharti Airtel haspegged its dues arising from aSupreme Court ruling thatasked for non-telecom rev-enues to be included in calcu-lating spectrum charges andlicence fee at �13,004 crore, theDoT puts the estimate at�35,000 crore. In case ofVodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), theDoT is seeking over �53,000crore, while the company esti-mates its dues are �21,533 crore.
“While we appreciate thematter is still sub judice, oncethe legal chapter is over, Bhartiand VIL could (and should)disclose their self-assessmentworkings highlighting the areasof difference versus the DOTmath. Even as this isn’t a statu-torily mandated disclosure, webelieve the minority share-holders deserve to know,”Kotak Institutional Equitiessaid in a March 9 report. PTI
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Traders’ body CAIT hasappealed to Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharamanto direct regulator IRDAI tomandate insurance firms tointroduce coverage for disrup-tions to businesses on account of the coronavirusoutbreak.
In a letter to Sitharaman,CAIT suggested that insur-
ance companies may be man-dated to introduce ‘disruptionsdue to coronavirus’ as an addi-tional cover to fire and mate-rials damage policies, and theexisting policyholders may be offered an option to add the additionalcover.
Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT) SecretaryGeneral Praveen Khandelwalhighlighted the need for insur-
ers to come up with need-basedpolicies like cover against mos-quito-borne diseases and vec-tor-borne diseases, which cancover hospitalisation expensesdue to coronavirus or fixed benefits upon its diag-nosis.
CAIT has also sent a sim-ilar representation toCommerce Minister PiyushGoyal to take up the matterwith Finance Ministry.
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An Israeli court on Sundaypostponed Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s grafttrial over coronavirus, as thepremier relaunched his appealfor an emergency unity gov-ernment to tackle the crisis.
Netanyahu, the first Israeliprime minister ever indicted inoffice, had been scheduled tostand trial from Tuesday overalleged bribery, fraud andbreach of trust — chargeswhich he denies.
Jerusalem’s District Courtsaid in a statement that, giventhe coronavirus pandemic, ithad been instructed to hear“only urgent matters”.
In Netanyahu’s trial, “wehave decided to postpone thefirst hearing until May 24,” thecourt said.
Israel has 200 confirmedcases of the virus, and tens ofthousands of people in homequarantine.
Netanyahu has beencharged with a range ofoffences including receivingimproper gifts and offering amedia mogul lucrative regula-tory changes in exchange for
favourable coverage. Despite the indictments,
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likudparty won the most seats inMarch 2 elections and he isaiming to form a new govern-ment. But Likud and its alliesfell short of the 61 seats need-ed for a majority in the Knesset,or parliament. It was Israel’sthird inconclusive vote in lessthan a year.
Netanyahu, ahead of a cab-inet meeting on Sunday, to beheld by teleconference inresponse to the virus, reissuedhis appeal to form a unitygovernment with main chal-lenger Benny Gantz, who headsthe centrist Blue and WhiteParty. He urged Gantz to joina six-month alliance, whichNetanyahu would lead.
“We must unite forces andform a strong and stable gov-ernment that will be able topass a budget and make toughdecisions,” Netanyahu said.
Ministerial posts would besplit evenly betweenNetanyahu’s right-wing blocand the centre-left faction thatbacks Gantz, the prime minis-ter said.
When the six months
expire, “we will return to thecurrently existing situation,”Netanyahu added, presumablyreferring to a divided parlia-ment with neither camp hold-ing a majority.
Gantz, a former militarychief, had following Septemberelections ruled out serving in agovernment led by a premierfacing corruption allegations.
Gantz on Thursday said,however, that he was open todiscussing a unity governmentnow, given the global COVID-19 emergency.
But on Sunday he criticisedthe manner in whichNetanyahu delivered his offer.
“Someone who wants unitydoes not ... send his ‘emergencyplan’ to the press, but sends
negotiators to meet,” Gantztweeted. “Unlike you, I’ll con-tinue to back any correct gov-ernment action without anypolitical considerations,” headded. “When you’re serious,we’ll talk.”
Negotiations on the newgovernment were howeverexpected to ramp up behindclosed doors on Sunday.
Gantz was due to meetPresident Reuven Rivlin, alargely ceremonial figure taskedwith mediating the politicaltalks.
Netanyahu also floated aproposal to rotate the pre-mier’s job between him andGantz — an offer similar to onehe made following Septemberelections.
“I would serve as primeminister for the next two years,and during this period BennyGantz would be deputy primeminister,” Netanyahu said.
“In two years, Gantz wouldtake up the post of prime min-ister and the governmentwould exist for four years,” headded.
There was no indication asto whether Gantz would con-sider that arrangement.
Paris (AFP): France went to the polls innationwide local elections on Sunday, defy-ing a mounting health crisis caused by thecoronavirus outbreak that still risks keep-ing many voters at home.
President Emmanuel Macron, for whomthe two-round election is a crucial mid-termtest, has insisted the polls to choose mayorsand municipal councils go ahead to assuredemocratic continuity in the country.
Despite fresh restrictions announcedSaturday evening — including the closure ofnon-essential public places such as cafes,restaurants, cinemas and gyms — polling sta-tions across the country opened at 8:00 am(0700 GMT). Officials have insisted that vot-ing will take place under the tightest sanitaryconditions, despite widespread fear thatpolling stations are ideal germ-spreadingvenues and a particular risk for older people.
Macron said on Thursday that scientists hadassured him “there is nothing to prevent theFrench, even the most vulnerable, from goingto the ballot box”, provided everyone observesbasic infection-prevention rules.Municipalities announced various measuresto try to keep voters infection-free, includingregular disinfection of voting booths, ensur-ing a safe distance between voters waiting inline, and providing sanitising hand gels.
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Authorities around theworld turned to increas-
ingly drastic measures to try toslow the spread of the newcoronavirus on Sunday, withlockdowns, curfews and trav-el restrictions spreading.
Soldiers and police sealedthe densely populatedPhilippine capital from mostdomestic travellers in one ofSoutheast Asia’s most drasticcontainment moves. The movemirrored a lockdown Spainannounced just hours earlierfor its 46 million citizens.
President Donald Trumpannounced that the US, whichdays ago barred travellers frommost of Europe, would extendthe ban to Britain and Ireland.And more cities in the US putin place curbs on gatherings ofmore than a few hundred peo-ple, with one New Jersey cityeven announcing an overnightcurfew.
The new travel restrictionwill come into force onMonday night, Vice PresidentMike Pence told reporters onSaturday after a meeting of theWhite House Task Force onCoronavirus.
In China, where the viruswas first detected in December,those arriving on overseasflights were routed to a con-verted exhibition centre forinitial checks before being shut-tled off to their homes or otherquarantine locations.
With the increase inimported cases, Beijing localgovernment announced tosend all international arrivalsinto the city to quarantinefacilities starting Monday aspart of stepped-up measuresagainst COVID-19 cases fromabroad.
People arriving fromabroad had previously beenallowed to undergo the manda-tory two-week quarantine athome, but now only those in“special circumstances” wouldbe exempted from being sent tofacilities where they must payfor their stay, state-run BeijingDaily reported on Sunday.
Iran, where the outbreak isone of the deadliest outside ofChina, on Sunday urged its cit-izens to stick to guidelines andstay at home to stop the newcoronavirus spreading.
People “should cancel alltravel and stay at home so thatwe may see the situationimproving in the coming days,”health ministry spokesmanKianoush Jahanpour said in atelevised news conference.
Australia on Sunday also
announced that anyone arriv-ing into the country would facemandatory 14-day self-isola-tion, in a bid to slow the spreadof the coronavirus.
“We are going to have toget used to some changes in theway we live our lives,” PrimeMinister Scott Morrison said.
In a nationally televisedaddress on Saturday, SpanishPrime Minister Pedro Sanchezdetailed the battery of excep-tional measures put in place aspart of a two-week state ofemergency to fight the sharprise in infections.
In a lockdown similar tothe one already imposed inItaly, people will be allowed toleave their homes only to buyfood and medicine, commute towork, go to hospitals and banks,or take trips related to the careof the young and the elderly. Allschools and universities wereclosed, along with restaurants,bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.
In the Philippines, newrestrictions for metropolitanManila — home to more than12 million people — that wentinto effect on Sunday mean thesuspension of domestic travelby land, air and sea to and fromthe capital region.
Large gatherings like con-certs, movies and cockfightingare prohibited and most gov-ernment work in executivedepartment offices will be sus-pended in the metropolis for amonth. School closures at alllevels were extended and cur-few was also announced.
Countries around theworld have been moving toprevent their health systemsfrom collapsing under the load
of all the virus cases.France will progressively
reduce long-distance train, busand plane travel on its territo-ry over the coming days in abid to limit the spread of thecoronavirus, the ecology min-ister said on Sunday.
The country, which hasalready shut cafes, restaurants,schools and universities andurged people to limit theirmovements, will now seek tolimit long-distance travel “tothe strictly necessary” ministerElisabeth Borne told journalistsin Paris.
Many Italian cities, includ-ing Rome and Milan, decidedto close playgrounds and parks,too.
The Vatican said onSunday that its traditionalEaster week celebrations wouldbe held this year without wor-shippers due to the coron-avirus. “Because of the currentglobal public health emer-gency, all the liturgical cele-brations of Holy Week will takeplace without the physical pres-ence of the faithful,” thePrefecture of the PontificalHousehold said in a statement.
European countries tooksteps to isolate themselves fromtheir neighbours.
Denmark closed its bordersand halted passenger traffic toand from the country.Travellers will be turned awayat the border if they are unableto show that they have “a legit-imate reason” to enter — forexample, if they are Danish cit-izens or residents.
Poland planned to close isborders at midnight and denyall foreigners entry unless theylived in Poland or had person-
al ties there. The CzechRepublic and Slovakia tooksimilar action. Lithuania said itwas introducing border checksat the frontiers with Poland andLatvia.
Russia said its borders withNorway and Poland will beclosed to most foreignersbeginning Sunday.
In the Middle East, Iran’sdeath toll reached 611, withnearly 13,000 infections,including senior officials.
El Salvador’s congressdeclared a state of emergencyand approved a partial sus-pension of the country’s con-stitution to tackle the coron-avirus epidemic.
The measures include arestriction on free movementand assembly for a period of 30days, allowing health officialsto ban public gatherings.
The president ofKazakhstan on Sundaydeclared a nationwide state ofemergency to stem the spreadof new coronavirus infections,further limiting travel andcommerce.
The Central Asian country,which currently has only eightcases of COVID-19, will abideto new measures startingMonday for one month,according to a decree publishedon the website of PresidentKassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The state of emergencyexpands on measuresannounced on Thursday toban public events, also intro-ducing “limits on functioningof large retail centres” and“limits” on entry and exit fromthe country, without explainingwho would be banned fromcrossing the border.
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Iran announced on Sundaythat the new coronavirus
had killed 113 more people, thehighest single-day death toll yetin one of the world’s worst-affected countries.
The latest death tollannounced by the health min-istry took to 724 the officialnumber of people to have beenkilled by the disease since lastmonth.
Health ministry spokesmanKianoush Jahanpour alsoreported 1,209 new confirmedcases of COVID-19 infection,raising the total to 13,938. “Thegood news is that more than4,590 of the overall confirmedcases have recovered” and thepatients have been dischargedfrom hospitals, he added.
Tehran province had thehighest number of new infec-tions with 251 fresh cases.
Khorasan Razavi province,home to the holy Shiite city ofMashhad, followed with 143cases. The outbreak in Iran isone of the deadliest outside ofChina, where the disease orig-inated.
China on Sunday reported10 more fatalities due to thenovel coronavirus, taking thedeath toll to 3,199, while theimported cases rose to 111.
China’s National HealthCommissions (NHC) said 20new confirmed cases of thenovel coronavirus infectionand 10 deaths were reportedfrom all over the country onSaturday.
Sixteen imported cases werereported on the mainland onSaturday. Among them, fivewere reported in Beijing, four inZhejiang Province, three in bothShanghai and Gansu Province,as well as one in GuangdongProvince. By the end of Saturday,111 imported cases had beenreported, NHC said.
Only four new domesticcases were detected, all in Hubeiprovince’s capital Wuhan, thecity where the virus firstemerged in December beforegrowing into a national crisisand a pandemic.
All the 10 deaths were inWuhan, bringing the nationaltoll from the disease in main-land China to 3,199.
The overall confirmedcases on the mainland reached80,778 by the end of Saturday,including 3,199 people whodied of the disease in the lastthree months, 10,734 patientsstill undergoing treatment and66,911 patients discharged afterrecovery, it said.
By the end of Saturday, 141
confirmed cases including fourdeaths had been reported inHong Kong Special, 10 con-firmed cases in the Macao and53 in Taiwan including onedeath.
In Italy, the worst-hitEuropean country, the numberof deaths climbed past 1,400and infections surged roughly20 per cent overnight to morethan 21,000 because of whatauthorities characterised asirresponsible behavior by peo-ple still socialising despite thenationwide lockdown.
Spanish authorities saidthe number of coronavirusinfections had climbed past5,700, half of them in the cap-ital, Madrid. That represents anational increase of over 1,500in 24 hours. The country had136 deaths, up from 120. Spainhas the fifth-highest number ofcases, behind China, Italy, Iranand South Korea.
Spain’s government saidon Saturday that PrimeMinister Pedro wife had testedpositive for coronavirus.Begona Gomez and the primeminister are in good health, thegovernment said.
Two ministers of Sanchez’sCabinet, the minister of equal-ity and the minister of region-al affairs, had already testedpositive earlier this week. Theothers member of the Cabinethave tested negative.
In Britain, the death toll near-ly doubled from the day before to21, and the number of peopleinfected rose to over 1,100. Irelandhad 90 confirmed cases and onedeath as of Friday. Greece’s infec-tion total approached 230 with threedeaths.
The US has seen 60 deathsand more than 2,100 cases. Inhard-hit Washington state,where 40 have died and andmore than 550 have beeninfected, officials said the dis-ease was straining the supply ofprotective gear available tomedical providers despite ship-ments from the federal gov-ernment.
A new confirmed case ofthe novel coronavirus surfacedearly Sunday in Islamabad,bringing Pakistan’s total num-ber of cases to 34, according toa media report.
The new victim is the hus-band of a woman who recent-ly travelled to Pakistan from theUnited States and tested posi-tive on Saturday, the ExpressTribune newspaper reported.
The lady is currently incritical condition, receivingtreatment at the isolation wardin the Pakistan Institute ofMedical Sciences (PIMS), thepaper said, adding that thereare now four COVID-19patients at the isolation ward inPIMS.
Pakistan reported fivecoronavirus cases on Saturday— two in Balochistan, two inSindh and one in Islamabad.
Balochistan now has a totalof 10 confirmed cases whileIslamabad has four and GilgitBaltistan three. Sindh saw itssecond locally transmitted casebring the tally to 17. Pakistansaw a sudden increase in coro-navirus infections on Tuesdaywhen a dozen new cases werereported across the country.
Chile has quarantinedmore than 1,300 people aboardtwo cruise ships after an elder-ly Briton aboard tested positivefor the coronavirus, the healthministry announced Saturday.Both ships are cruising theChilean fjords in Patagonia.
The 85-year-old manshowed symptoms of the virusafter getting off the SilverExplorer ship in the far south-ern port of Caleta Tortel, 2,400kilometers (1,500 miles) fromSantiago. The man was latertransferred to a hospital in thecity of Coyhaique where hetested positive for the virus.
The other ship, the AzmaraPursuit — with 665 passengersand nearly 400 crew — had ear-lier crossed into Chilean watersfrom the southern Argentineport of Ushuaia.
The Seychelles confirmedits first two cases of coron-avirus, which has now hit 25countries in Africa, largelyspared by the pandemic untilrecently. Public HealthCommissioner Jude Gedeonannounced late on Saturdaythat two citizens returningfrom Italy on March 11 hadtested positive for the virus.
An Indian national, whoreturned to the UAE after a hol-iday abroad, has tested positivefor the novel coronavirus,according to media reports.The country so far has 85 con-firmed COVID-19 cases.
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US President Donald Trumphas tested negative for the
novel coronavirus, the WhiteHouse physician said, hoursafter his administrationdeclared the COVID-19 pan-demic a national emergency onFriday.
Trump, 73, had taken thecoronavirus test on Friday night.The results came out in less than24 hours. “Last night, after an in-depth discussion with thePresident regarding the COVID-19 test, he elected to proceed.This evening, I received confir-mation that the test is negative,”Dr Sean Conley, the presidentialphysician, said in a memoran-dum to White House PressSecretary Stephanie Grishamon Saturday.
“One week after having din-ner with the Brazilian delegationin Mar-a-Lago, the Presidentremains symptom-free,” he said.“I have been in the daily contactwith the CDC (Center forDisease Control) and the WhiteHouse Task Force, and we areencouraging the implementationof all their best practices forexposure reduction and trans-mission mitigation,” Conleyadded.
Trump had resisted beingtested for the virus that has killedat least 51 Americans and infect-ed over 2,500 others.
Trump considered to be agermophobic and not a goodsupporter of shaking hands overthe past few days has been seenshaking hands with people.“Why are you shaking hands,sir?” a reporter asked Trumpduring a White House newsconference Saturday afternoon.
President Trump defendedhis habit of shaking hands, say-ing this is a cultural habit that istough to be done away with.
“Because it almost becomesa habit, and you get out of thathabit. And, frankly, I was a non-hand-shaker, for the most part.I’ve never believed that shakinghands — once you become apolitician. And I notice it too:Political people walk up to me,they want to shake my hand. Isaid, ‘Well, you know’,” heexplained.
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Queen Elizabeth II has beenshifted out of Buckingham
Palace in London to WindsorCastle as the UK plans for iso-lation measures for people over70 amid the country’s death tollfrom COVID-19 hitting 21,nearly doubling from 11 with-in a day.
The 93-year-old monarchand her 98-year-old husband,Prince Philip, are likely to beplaced in quarantine at theroyal Sandringham Estate inNorfolk in the coming weeks astougher measures are put inplace to fight the coronavirusoutbreak in the UK affectingover 1,140 people.
The deadly virus hasclaimed over 5,300 lives andinfected more than 142,000people across 135 countries andterritories, with the WorldHealth Organisation describingthe outbreak a pandemic onWednesday.
“Other events will bereviewed on an ongoing basisin line with the appropriateadvice,” a Buckingham Palacestatement said as it announceddiary cancellations for themonarch.
Some reports indicate thather move from the palace in theheart of London, which has alarge staff and frequent visitors,was part of a regular weekendgetaway for the Queen toWindsor on Thursday.However, other reports indicatethat the situation will be keptunder constant review beforeshe is brought back to Londonand may instead be shifted toSandringham, with a muchsmaller level of staff.
“She is in good health butit was thought best to moveher,” a royal source was quot-
ed by The Sun as saying.“The Palace hosts a con-
stant stream of visitors, includ-ing politicians and dignitariesfrom around the world. TheQueen has met a lot of peoplethere until recently. But she isweeks away from her 94thbirthday and advisers believe itis best to get her out of harm’sway,” the source said.
Meanwhile, UK health sec-retary Matt Hancock con-firmed the government’s plansto put the elderly and vulner-able into complete isolationwithin weeks.
The heightened measure,in response to all the deathsfrom COVID-19 so far beingamong over-60s, would meanolder people being asked toremain at home without visi-tors and with vital suppliesdropped off for them on theirdoorsteps.
“The coronavirus outbreakis the biggest public healthemergency in a generation. Itcalls for dramatic action, athome and abroad, of the kindnot normally seen in peace-time,” he wrote in ‘The SundayTelegraph’ as he called for asimilar spirit as the previousgeneration which faced WorldWar II in the 20th century.
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Meanwhile, the Islamicendowment overseeing the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, thethird holiest site in Islam, saidthe mosque itself and otherbuildings would be closed overconcerns about the new coro-navirus. Sheikh Omar Kiswani,the director of the mosque, saidon Sunday that prayers wouldcontinue to be held outdoors.
The closure is to continueindefinitely.
Iran’s official leading thecountry’s response to the worstcoronavirus outbreak in theMiddle East on Sundayacknowledged that the pan-demic could overwhelm healthfacilities in the country, whichis under severe U.S. sanctions.
Iran is battling one of theworst outbreaks outside China,with nearly 13,000 confirmedcases and more than 600 fatal-ities. The real number of infec-tions could be even higher, asquestions have been raisedabout the government’s trans-parency.
“If the trend continues, therewill not be enough capacity,” AliReza Zali, who is leading thecampaign against the outbreak,was quoted as saying by thestate-run IRNA news agency.
Iran is believed to havearound 110,000 hospital beds,including 30,000 in the capital,Tehran. Authorities havepledged to set up mobile clin-ics as needed.
Zali also acknowledgedthat “many” of those who havedied from the COVID-19 ill-ness caused by the virus wereotherwise healthy, a rare admis-sion by local authorities that thevirus does not only prey on thesick and elderly.
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After months of intensedebate, an American state
legislature has voted to lift thedecades-old ban on yoga,reflecting on the increasingacceptance and popularity ofthe age-old Indian practice, butprohibited the use of namasteat a time when world leadersare adopting this way of greet-ing amid fears of the spread ofcoronavirus.
Pushed by conservativegroups, the Alabama Board ofEducation in 1993 had voted toprohibit yoga, along with hyp-nosis and meditation in publicschools in the state.
Moved by state legislatorJeremy Gray from theDemocratic Party, AlabamaHouse of Representatives onTuesday voted 84-17 to pass the“Yoga Bill.”
The Alabama House ofRepresentatives while liftingthe ban on yoga prohibited theuse of namaste.
This comes particularly ata time when world leaders,including US President DonaldTrump, are adopting this aspopular medium of greeting toprevent the spread of coron-avirus.
The bill now moves to thestate Senate and if approvedand signed by Governor KayIvey, it would become a law andend a 27-year ban in K-12schools.
According to the legisla-tion, each local board of edu-cation may offer instruction inyoga to students in grades K to12 with conditions that instruc-tion in yoga shall be an electiveactivity. Students shall have theoption to opt out in favour ofalternative activities, whichshall be made available, it said.
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Over the past century, the world has changedmanifold and with it, the landscape of devel-
opment. Today, newer countries have emerged andour planet is now home to more than seven billionpeople where one in every four of them is a youngperson. The geopolitical scenario has also changed,with developing countries emerging as major eco-nomic forces and political powers. The coming cen-tury certainly belongs to India which is almost thesize of a subcontinent and has an abundance of nat-ural and human resources.
We all know that our country is home to about100 million hectares of forest area with a rich
variety of flora and fauna. There are thousands ofgardens, big and small, and a great mass of cultivableland that can yield good crops of grains, pulses, veg-etables, fruits, flowers and valuable herbs. It has vastareas of land which are lying barren or water-loggedbut can be reclaimed and cultivated. It has immensemineral and oceanic wealth which if properly usedin the light of modern science and technology canbe the source of great pros-perity. But inspite of allthese natural, mineral andhuman resources, thecountry is steeped in pover-ty. Why?
There is a lot of dirt,disease, illiteracy and inhu-manity all around. Thereare millions of people in thequeue, applying for jobsand unable to find a decentone. There is immensedeforestation due to whichthe soil is unable to hold water. The run-off watercauses siltation of rivers and dams and eventually,floods. We can blame this state of affairs on the mis-management of resources or lack of proper harness-ing of the available resources. There are millions ofable-bodied youth but they do not play any construc-tive national role. They remain ignorant of theirduties towards the society, be it in terms of main-taining cleanliness, following traffic rules or takingnecessary measures to save the environment. Thereis no sense of national pride among them. They lackthe strong drive to pull the country out of destitu-tion. Lakh of people, whose time and energy couldbe put to constructive use by giving them some train-ing and gainful employment, are roaming around,wasting their precious time in idle pursuits.
All this is happening because there is no planthat can enthuse them and stir them to purposefulactivities. There are no leaders who inspire them,raise their spirits and organise them to do somethingfor the task of building a strong nation. The bureau-cracy is too narrow-minded to facilitate the socialand economic change and to wipe the tears of thebackward classes or the weaker sections of society.The businessmen and industrialists are engrossedin making money. Their sensitivities have becomehardened to even notice their deprived brethren whoare dying because they cannot stand the rigours ofthe climate or the pain of hunger.
History is evidence to how planning, determi-nation and direction in earlier times brought up twomajor transformations by the ‘Green Revolution’and ‘Operation Flood.’ The scientific method of cul-tivation had helped not only to fight the ravages offlood and drought but also offered food to the lessfortunate neighbouring countries in Asia and Africa.Proper pooling and management of scientific know-how and funds had extricated the country from thestate of begging bowl to the state of philanthropy.But today, the situation has changed. Why?
The answer is mismanagement of resources andpower. India’s burgeoning population and leadersthat are unable to manage themselves are to blame.This is where the ‘art of self-management’ comesto fore. And that is possible only if one complete-ly understands the self and learns to be the rulerof one’s own mind. Leaders from around the worldshould change their outlook, lifestyle and work cul-ture through a system of values and meditation.If the people in authority initiate change, it willbring about a transformation among the commonpublic too.
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In June 2018 the Indian gov-ernment announced that itwas mandatory to eliminate
single-use plastics by 2022. Lastyear, there were speculationsthat the first big step in the fightagainst disposable plastic wouldbe taken on October 2,Mahatma Gandhi’s 150thanniversary. However, the gov-ernment shelved the plan to out-law single-use plastics on theoccasion saying that it “wouldhave been disruptive for theindustry at a time when it is cop-ing with an economic slow-down and job losses.” As a partof the campaign, 18 states haveimposed a complete ban onplastic carry-bags, while fiveothers have a partial prohibitionat religious and historical placesin place according to the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB).
Considering that India gen-erates about 2,600 truckloads ofplastic every day, this is a posi-tive step for the protection of theenvironment. As all the statesare now looking for alternativesto plastic bags, this ban has cre-ated job opportunities in new,largely informal sectors, espe-cially in the rural belts.
In the small town ofKishangarh (also known asMadanganj) in Ajmer district,Rajasthan, the ban on plasticbags has enabled women to befinancially empower them-selves. The ones residingin the Dungri Mohallaof Kishangarh, work asdaily wage labourers insome of the toughest con-ditions in the informalsector. After toiling foreight hours, theywere gett ing ameagre amount of�250. Tired, theywould returnhome, to cook foodand take care oftheir families. Nextday, they would goin search of workagain.
In 2010,Rajasthan govern-ment had declaredthe state to be plastic free. The
strict instructions, in recentyears, by the Green Tribunal andthe Rajasthan High Court, haveensured that people across bothformal and informal sectorshave given up the use of plasticbags. This, over the years, hasled to an increase in the demandof bags made out of cloth pro-
viding job opportunities tomany women.
In the last four to five years,women in the KishangarhMohalla have been sewing clothbags to fulfill this demand. Thebusinesspersons get rags andwaste cloth from Surat textileindustries in Gujarat and out-
source the work to these womento sew bags. Offered �15 for onekilo of cloth bags, these womencan earn a maximum �200 a day.This alternative source ofincome also allows them towork from home and look aftertheir families. Though the rateis low as compared to what they
got work they did earlier butworking from home compen-sates for it.
“During the winter season,we get a lot of home-basedwork like tailoring, embroider-ing, peeling garlic and peas,chopping vegetables and pack-ing. But sewing of cloth bagscomes to us regularly irrespec-tive of the season,” shared a 35-year-old Manju Regar who earns�100 on an average per daywhile working at her own con-venience from her house.
Women find this work notonly convenient but also digni-fied as compared to the workthey did as daily wage labourersand domestic helps. Throughthis they are able to supporttheir families financially withoutcompromising on their healthand self-respect. They alsobelieve that since the future hasto be plastic-free, the demandfor cloth bags will definitelyincrease, which in turn wouldincrease their chance of gettingpermanent employment. AchukiBai, who is 65-years-old, hasworked hard for her entire lifebut has never been rewarded.Sewing cloth bags has enabledher to make money which sat-isfies her.
Another woman, GeetaManoharpuriya, works with anon-government organisation.Her other women family mem-bers are involved in sewingcloth bags. She shares that theyenjoy this work because of thefreedom it offers, without anyinterruption, deadline and anynegative impact on their health.They don’t even require any spe-cial training for it.
The ban on plastic bags hascertainly created new workopportunities for women. Sinceit will take some time to ban sin-gle-use plastic all across thecountry, this time can be utilisedto build skills of such women sothat they can become more effi-cient. This will not only showour preparedness to effectivelyreplace plastic with environ-ment-friendly options but alsostrengthen the role of women inthe informal sector.
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Melania Trump urged parents andteachers Tuesday to teach children
how to interact in positive ways and alsoto prepare them for the negativity thatcomes with living in a digital age, callingthem the “front line” against irresponsi-ble behavior online.
The first lady focused on cyberbul-lying in remarks to the National PTALegislative Conference and did not men-tion the coronavirus, an issue on theminds of educators and parents nation-wide.
She also shared an extended hand-shake with PTA President Leslie Boggs ata time when federal health officials are dis-couraging people from engaging in suchtouching when they meet.
For most people, the new coronaviruscauses only mild or moderate symptoms,such as fever and cough. But for some,especially older adults and people withexisting health problems, it can causemore severe illness, including pneumo-nia.
The vast majority of people recoverfrom the new virus. According to the
World Health Organization, people withmild illness recover in about two weeks,while those with more severe illness maytake three to six weeks to recover. In main-land China, where the virus first explod-ed, more than 80,000 people have beendiagnosed and more than 58,000 have sofar recovered.
In her remarks, Mrs. Trump said theinternet can be a “tool for good” by help-ing people share important life updatesand stay informed but can be “destruc-tive and dangerous,” even deadly, whenmisused.
The first lady spoke about a 16-year-old Tennessee high school junior whotook his life last September after discov-ering that his intimate messages with aboy had been put on social media by class-mates. The teen had not been public abouthis sexuality.
She said parents and teachers are the“front line” against such irresponsibleonline behavior.
“As parents, adults, educators, andcommunity leaders, it is our responsibil-ity to ensure our children are being taught
the importance of positive ways to inter-act with each other and prepare them forattacks and negativity they could receivein this new digital age,” she said.
“With your help, we can break downthe harmful barriers that internet abuseposes to our children and society,” shesaid, adding that she was “thrilled” to learnabout steps by PTAs across the countryto teach students, parents and teachershow to use technology responsibly.
Cyberbullying is one aspect of a youthinitiative named “Be Best” that Mrs.Trump launched in 2018 that also focus-es on their overall well-being and com-bating opioid addiction.
Her focus on cyberbullying comes asher husband, President Donald Trump,uses his Twitter account to belittle oth-ers and behave in ways that contradict herguidance to children. On Tuesday, thepresident tweeted that the independentFederal Reserve was “pathetic” for not cut-ting interest rates as low as he would like.
Mrs. Trump has said in the past thather husband’s antics won’t deter her fromhelping children. E��
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Earth's great ice sheets, Greenland andAntarctica, were now losing mass six
times faster than they were in the 1990sdue to warming conditions, the mediareported on Thursday citing scientists assaying.
A comprehensive review of satellitedata acquired at both poles was unequiv-ocal in its assessment of acceleratingtrends, the BBC quoted the scientists assaying. Between them, Greenland andAntarctica lost 6.4 trillion tonnes of icein the period from 1992 to 2017.
This was sufficient to push up glob-al sea-levels up by 17.8 mm, the scien-tists added.
"That's not a good news story," saidProfessor Andrew Shepherd from theUniversity of Leeds.
"Today, the ice sheets contributeabout a third of all sea-level rise, where-as in the 1990s, their contribution wasactually pretty small at about 5 per cent.This has important implications for the
future, for coastal flooding and erosion,"he told BBC News.
The researcher co-leads a projectcalled the Ice Sheet Mass BalanceIntercomparison Exercise, or Imbie,which is a team of experts who havereviewed polar measurements acquiredby observational spacecraft over nearlythree decades.
The Imbie team's studies haverevealed that ice losses from Antarcticaand Greenland were actually heading tomuch more pessimistic outcomes, andwill likely add another 17 cm to thoseend-of-century forecasts. "If that holdstrue it would put 400 million people atrisk of annual coastal flooding by 2100,"Professor Shepherd told the BBC.
The combined rate of ice loss forGreenland and Antarctica was runningat about 81 billion tonnes per year in the1990s. By the 2010s, it had climbed to475 billion tonnes per year.
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As night falls in London,Georgina Rowlands and Anna
Hart start applying makeup. Insteadof lipstick and eyeliner, they’recovering their faces with geomet-ric shapes.
Rowlands has long narrow bluetriangles and thin white rectanglescriss-crossing her face. Hart has acollection of red, orange and whiteangular shapes on hers.
They’re two of the fourfounders of the Dazzle Club, agroup of artists set up last year toprovoke discussion about the grow-ing using of facial recognition tech-nology. The group holds monthlysilent walks through different partsof London to raise awareness aboutthe technology, which they say isbeing used for “rampant surveil-lance.” Other concerns include itslack of regulation, inaccuracy andhow it affects public spaces.
Some 19 people attended themost recent event in the EastLondon neighbourhood ofShoreditch and anyone can takepart in the walks, in which partic-ipants have to paint their faces ina style called CV Dazzle.
The technique, developed byartist and researcher Adam Harvey,is aimed at camouflaging againstfacial detection systems, whichturn images of faces into mathemat-ical formulas that can be analysedby algorithms. CV Dazzle — whereCV is short for computer vision —uses cubist-inspired designs tothwart the computer, saidRowlands.
“You’re trying to kind of scram-ble that by applying these kind ofrandom colours and patterns,” shesaid. “The most important is hav-ing light and dark colours. So weoften go for blacks and whites, verycontrasting colours, because you’retrying to mess with the shadowsand highlights of your face.”
A similar technique was usedextensively in World War I to cam-ouflage British naval ships andconfuse opponents about the actu-al heading or location of the ships.To test that their designs work, theyuse the simple face detection featureon their smartphone cameras. “Ican see that I’m hidden, it’s notdetecting me,” Rowlands said,checking her phone to see her face
doesn’t have a square around it. Therise of facial recognition technolo-gy is being tested and spreading indeveloped democracies afteraggressive use in some moreauthoritarian countries like China.
Britain has long been used tosurveillance cameras in publicspaces to counter security threatsand London is ranked as having oneof the world’s highest concentra-tions of closed-circuit televisioncameras. But that acceptance isbeing tested as authorities and cor-porations increasingly seek todeploy a new generation of cameraswith facial recognition technologywhile activists, lawmakers andindependent experts raise con-cerns about mass surveillance, pri-vacy, and accuracy.
Opposition to algorithmic sur-veillance is not limited to Britain.Russia activists were reportedly
arrested last month for holding asimilar face paint protest overMoscow’s facial recognition cam-eras. Hong Kong pro-democracyactivists routinely use face masks instreet protests to hide their identi-ties. Rights groups in Serbia andUganda have opposed governmentprojects to install Chinese-sup-plied cameras.
Other designers have come upwith counter measures like sun-glasses that reflect infrared light toblind cameras. “There is a move-ment of resistance against facialrecognition that we are actively par-ticipating in and we want to kindof further initiate,” said Rowlands.
Rowlands, Hart and two otherartists founded the Dazzle Club inAugust, following news thatLondon’s King’s Cross district — abusy transport hub where many bigoffices are being built rapidly — had
quietly experimented with livefacial recognition cameras withoutpublic knowledge or consent,sparking a backlash.
London police recently startedusing live facial recognition camerason operational deployments. Lastweek officers arrested a womanwanted for assault after the cameraspicked her out of a street crowd ona busy shopping street. Police saynew technology is needed to keepthe public safe and images of inno-cent people are deleted immediate-ly.
Public attitudes to facial recog-nition technology in Britain appearto be mixed, according to one sur-vey last year, which found mostpeople said they don’t know enoughabout it but nearly half said theyshould be able to opt out.
The Dazzle Club’s founderssay they’re worried about the effectthat the technology has on peoplein public if cameras are collectingtheir biometric data — facial images— without clearly explaining what’sbeing done with it.
“We’re having to adjust ourbehaviour in public space in a waythat I think is problematic,” saidHart.
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Now that coronavirus is a pandem-ic and schools and colleges are shutacross the country, how will chil-
dren make up for syllabus gaps and pre-pare for crucial exams that will take themto the next level? The answer clearly liesin online tutorials, exams and assessmentsthat can maintain a continuity of thelearning process without bothering aboutphysical attendance. If there is any silverlining to Covid-19, it is that all schoolsevolve a digital learning plan and put toolsin place to enable a quick pivot to remote
learning if needed. It is also a good timeto take stock of developing digital infra-structure and access that is affordable anduniform. For the world will bump intofrom one crisis to the next but knowledgeand wisdom are needed to tackle them.Says Pankaj Kumar Singh, MD ofCambridge Montessori pre schools, “It’sthe worst time for an epidemic as boardexams are still on. The closures can be aserious threat to children’s academicprogress, safety and social lives. This willhave an impact on the next academic ses-
sion too.”Is virtual learning the way out? In a
country like India, socio-economic equi-ty is the biggest obstacle in preparing foronline learning. There is a problem ofover-served and underserved areas. Thechallenge for us is to ensure the strengthof affordable devices and bandwidth inrural areas to universalise digital class-rooms. Schools that have digital learningmodules are already ahead and, therefore,should not make technology appear elit-ist. District administrations must figure
out how to buy or rent Wi-Fi hotspots andthen have a community plan for distrib-uting both devices and hotspots.
During a school shutdown such asnow, parents may also be working fromhome, meaning several people could becompeting for one or two computers.Therefore, we must ensure smartphone-friendly apps so that there is no stress onaccess. An ill-conceived digital modulecan adversely affect low-income studentsand kids with special needs. “It’s a greatoption but now is a good time to start theresearch required for developing certainskills and equipment. Not all studentsmight have the equipment or the rightmachinery in their household to learn thedesigning techniques,” says Akshara Dalal,Director of the JD Institute of FashionTechnology.
She argues that the popularity ofonline education modules would help stu-dents develop more than just academicskills. “Virtual learning is a great way todevelop rounded perspectives because itpromotes critical thinking and applicationbeyond what academic sessions deliver. Itcan be more of a practical work, wherestudents can self-explore. I believe thatsometimes when students keep coming toclasses regularly, they get limited to anextent by the teachers’ interpretation orthey might get influenced by their class-mates. So it can be an interesting turn.”
For Dharini Upadhyaya, co-founderand co-CEO of FSM and Pankaj, e-learn-ing is the future as institutions have noother way out at the moment to keepthings under control. “We must find inter-esting topics for engagement. Educationis not just confined to conventionalmainstream subjects. It’s also learningabout allied subjects. Various media will,in fact, increase the curiosity of kids.Parents should look at alternatives suchas online education, covering interestingconcepts. One of the subjects can be arts,”says he. He also emphasises the need foreducating both teachers and students ononline protocols as to time slots, parkingand uploading lessons in cloud data andstick to check-in and check-out times.Above all, educators must include virtu-al meetings, live chats or video tutorialsto maintain a human connection. Thisneed was felt after schools closed for a longtime in Wuhan.
After weeks of largely being confinedto their apartments, teachers began call-ing each other and leaving the lines open,even if they weren’t talking. They simplywanted the comfort of being able to speakup and have someone hear their voices.Teachers and students do miss eachother.
Also, Indian institutions can followthe example of Coursera, a US online edu-cation company that recently announcedit would provide any impacted universi-ty in the world with free access to its 3,800courses online. Open online courseswere originally born a decade ago todemocratise access to higher education.Students and teachers around the globeat first became very attracted to the world’slargest ed-tech experiment. However,institutions later grew disappointed as thereachability and affordability came intoquestion. Hence, the need of the hour isnot to develop concessional but function-al, scalable and viable models. This effortcertainly won’t go waste.
�����������Stand-up comic Mae Martin navigates a passionate
new relationship with her formerly straight girlfriendwhile dealing with the challenges of sobriety. StarringMae Martin, Charlotte Ritchie and Lisa Kudrow, season1 releases on March 20 on Netflix.
������Relationships topple and loyalties flip when an icy
new cheerleading coach takes over the high school squadruled by Beth and her devoted BFF, Addy. Season 1releases on March 20 on Netflix.
� ��An undercover assignment to expose a drug ring
becomes a timid Mumbai constable’s road to empowermentas she realises her dormant sexuality’s potential. StarringAaditi Pohankar, Vijay Varma and Vishwas Kini, season 1releases on March 20 on Netflix. It is directed by Imtiaz Ali.
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Australia’s white-ball captainAaron Finch has revealed heHad nightmares during India’s
2018 tour when pacersBhuvneshwar Kumar and JaspritBumrah were taking his wicket“for fun”.
Opening the innings, theAustralian captain struggled acrossall three formats during the Indiaseries, specially while trying tonavigate Bhuvneshwar's inswingingdeliveries.
“I’d wake up in a cold sweat, he’s(Bhuvneshwar) got me out a lotwith the ball moving back in,”Finch said in Amazon’s recentlyreleased docu-series titled 'TheTest'.
The Indian seamer had scalpedFinch’s wicket four times, includingduring all three ODIs and oneT20I, in the six-match limited oversseries.
Finch also said that he wouldwake up at night just thinkingabout facing Bumrah the nextday.
“There were times that I’d wakeup in the night thinking about get-ting out. Thinking I’m facingBumrah again tomorrow, he’s get-ting me out for fun,” Finch said.
India enjoyed an unprecedent-ed summer, winning the BorderGavaskar Trophy 3-1, their first-ever Test series win on theAustralian soil. It was followed bya 2-1 victory in the ODIs, while theT20 series ended in a 1-1 draw.
Bumrah was instrumental inIndia's historic Test victory. Theright-arm pacer emerged as thejoint highest wicket-taker in thefour-match series, claiming 21wickets.
The Test, which is an eight-partseries, shows the Australian crick-et team’s journey of redemptionfrom the 2018 ball-tampering scan-dal to a successful defence of theAshes.
The series also features behind-the-scenes footage of Australia'sfirst-ever Test series loss to India onhome soil and the World Cupsemifinal exit.
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Dropped from the BCCI commen-tary panel for the South Africa ODI
series, former India batsman SanjayManjrekar on Sunday said he alwaysconsidered commentating a privilegeand accepted the decision as a profes-sional.
One of the most accomplishedvoices among Indian experts, Manjrekar,who got embroiled in controversies inrecent years for some of his views on air,was axed from the BCCI’s commentarypanel for the South Africa series recent-ly. “I have always considered commen-tary as a great privilege, but never anentitlement,” the 54-year-old wrote onhis twitter handle.
“It is up to my employers whetherthey choose to have me or not & I will
always respect that. Maybe BCCI hasnot been happy with my performanceof late. I accept that as a professional.”
Manjrekar, who played 37 Tests and74 ODIs for India, had courted contro-versy during last year’s World Cup whenhe termed Ravindra Jadeja a “bits andpieces cricketer”, something that didn'tgo well with the Saurashtra all-rounder,who questioned the Mumbaikar’s crick-eting credentials.
Manjrekar later admitted that hewas off the mark with his unsavouryanalysis of Jadeja's cricketing prowess.
He was also panned on socialmedia for his on-air comment about fel-low commentator Harsha Bhogle dur-ing the ‘Pink Test’ when he questionedthe latter’s credibility since he hasn’tplayed at the highest level. Manjrekarhad to apologise for that also.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday left theChennai Super Kings training camp here fol-
lowing the suspension of the 13th edition of IPLtill April 15 in the wake of COVID-19 pandem-ic.
Dhoni, who had arrived in Chennai for CSK’spreparatory camp early this month, left the basein front of his cheering fans.
“It has become your home, sir!' Keepwhistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to#AnbuDen,” Chennai Super Kings wrote on itstwitter handle along with a short video.
The video showed fans lining up to catch a
glimpse of Dhoni as he signed autographs andinteracted with the fans.
The BCCI on Friday postponed the start ofthis year's IPL from March 29 to April 15 in wakeof the pandemic, which has caused massiveupheaval across the globe.
On Saturday, the BCCI and the eight IPL teamowners met in Mumbai to discuss the variousoptions after government-imposed travel restric-tions and refusal of three states to host any match-es forced the postponement of the cash-rich T20tournament.
Dhoni hasn’t played any form of cricket sincefeaturing in India’s semifinal loss to NZ at the 50-over World Cup in England last year.
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Cricketing great Ian Chappell feelsa sportsman “doesn’t necessarily”
need a crowd to be “spurred on” buthe acknowledges the eeriness ofempty stands at SCG where Australiathrashed New Zealand in Friday’sODI.
“I’m one who believes you don’tnecessarily need a crowd to be spurredon as a sportsman; it’s the thrill of aclose contest that gets the juices flow-ing,” Chappell wrote in ESPNcricinfo.
“Nevertheless it was a strangesilence that accompanied scintillatingboundaries and landmark scores at theSCG.”
The astute former Australia cap-tain also spoke about the positive sideof watching a cricket match withoutcheering fans.
“The upside was the absence ofmindless chatter over the PA system;it was good to enjoy a game of crick-et where you could hear yourselfthink.” Aware of the enormity of thesituation, the unprecedented develop-ments of the past couple of days tookChappell to the days of the twoworld wars.
“The cancelling of major cricketmatches is a rare occurrence and caststhe sport back to the dark days of thetwo world wars.
“Test matches were suspended inearly 1914 and didn't resume until late1920 because of the First World War.The gap in competition was slightlylonger during the Second World War,stretching from August 1939 untilMarch 1946.”
He also shared an anecdote froma game held at a time when the sec-ond world war was at its peak.
“Jack Robertson, a successfulopening batsman for Middlesex andEngland, was batting at Lord’s in 1944when the air-raid sirens erupted. Theplayers and umpires all lay flat on theground as they had been trained to dountil the danger passed.
“On resumption, Robertson casu-ally lifted the first delivery over theboundary for six,” Chappell wrote.
On Friday, in keeping with theguidelines issued by the higher ups,the cricketers from both sides main-tained safe distance, something thatdid not escape Chappell's attention.
“The finish provided anotherunusual sight: the opponents didn'tshake hands or hug but acknowledgedeach other in a variety of differentways from the recommended safe dis-tance of a couple of metres.
“These are indeed strange and dif-ficult times but the main priority is tostay healthy — a worthwhile objec-tive,” he concluded.
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Ranji Trophy great Wassim Jaffer feels that themodern day cricketer needs to be good at all
formats of the game to truly earn respect of thecricketing community. Jaffer recently called timeon his 24-year professional career in which hescored nearly 19,500 first class runs.
Jaffer feels that players like him and the likesof Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman from his dayswith the Indian team are under appreciated.
“I think the time has changed. Even in mytime I feel a lot of players like Rahul Dravid orVVS Laxman, I don't think they got their value,”Jaffer told cricket.com.
“A player playing with them in a Test matchknows how important those players are. But youknow we have to go with the time. A lot of impor-tance is given to T20 cricket.
“The people who are in marketing businessor advertising business want somebody who isseen more on the TV, somebody who is glamorousor someone who plays the brand of cricket thecrowd likes.
“But you can’t devalue someone who playsT20 cricket because that's the demand of the gamenowadays. What I feel is, in today's age and day,the cricketer needs to adapt himself to all threeformats. You can’t just play Test cricket or you can'tjust play T20 cricket.
“You will be recognised and respected onlyif you fit in all three formats. I am not sayingPujara is not respected, but then obviously he isgoing to play only Test cricket and no other for-mat.”
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Ace Indian paddlerAchanta Sharath Kamalproduced a sensational
performance to clinch the 2020ITTF Challenger Plus OmanOpen men's singles title here onSunday.
Despite being a gamedown, seasoned campaignerSharath recovered well to out-class top seeded Marcos Freitasof Portugal 6-11, 11-8, 12-10,11-9, 3-11, 17-15 in the final.
With Oman Open crown,the 37-year-old veteran also
ended his decade long wait forthe title at ITTF event. It wasin 2010, Sharath bagged a titlelast time when he won EgyptOpen. Since then he made twosemi-final appearances(Morocco Open in 2011 andIndia Open in 2017) but could-n't manage to get through it.
Earlier in the semi-finals,Sharath pulled off a stunningcome-from-behind victoryagainst Russia's Kirill Skachkov.Fourth-seeded Sharath made asensational comeback afterbeing two games down to reg-ister 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9,
13-11, 8-11, 11-7 win in athrilling seven-set semi-finalthat lasted for one hour andeight minutes.
Freitas entered final with a5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-3 win over HarmeetDesai. India paddler Desai pro-duced a gritty performanceand was seen dominating thematch at the initial stage.However, World No. 26Freitas fought back well afterbeing 3-1 down and went on towin the next three successivegames to make his way into thefinal.
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The first head coach towin the Indian SuperLeague trophy twice,
Antonio Habas of ATK feelsthat the league has becomemore professional over theyears with the coming in ofbetter players and supportstaff.
He also said the latest titleATK won on Saturday afterdefeating Chennaiyin FC 3-1in the final here, though it wasplayed without spectators dueto COVID-19 pandemic, wasmore important than the clubwon in the inaugural seasonunder him in 2014.
“It’s different because inthe first season, the Hero ISLwas not the same competition.Now it is much more profes-sional. There are better coach-es, better players, more teams,more time in the competition,”he said when asked to comparehis success in the first ISL tothe latest one.
“This title is more impor-tant than the first, but the firstwas also important because itwas the first title,” Habasadded.
ATK have now becomethe first ISL team to win thetitle thrice in the league's sixyear history, having also wonthe trophy in 2016. ChennaiyinFC, who lost 1-2 in the sum-mit clash on Saturday, had wonthe title twice (2015 and 2017-18).
Habas credited the collec-tive effort of the team as thereason behind their latest titleafter injuries to key playersearly in the season createdproblems.
“We are a group always,inside and outside of the pitch.This is important. We had bigproblems with injuries to CarlMcHugh, then Agus (Iniguez)and in the final, the problem to(Krishna) Roy. But the strengthof the team was the collective
effort,” he said.“His (Carl McHugh) injury
was a big miss. With the prob-lem with Agus, the team was ina problem for two, three
matches. But the strength ofthe group salvaged the situa-tion. When you have individ-ual problems, the only solutionis the team, the collective. The
mix between Indian and for-eign players was fantastic thisseason.”
The 62-year-old Spaniardadmitted his side did not play
well in the second half of thesummit clash againstChennaiyin FC and his playerswere nervous.
“I think the match had twodifferent parts. In the first halfafter the initial few minutes, wewere better than Chennaiyin.And after that in the secondhalf, with the injury to Roy(Krishna), the team was ner-vous.
“We could not find thenecessary personnel to keepscoring and kill the match off.In the second half, the teamdid not play well. Even thoughwe did not play well, we hadfantastic character. In somematches, you can win with theheart,” he said.
Asked about the secretbehind his success with ATK,Habas said,” “ATK has peoplethat love me, like I love ATK.
I have a special connect withATK since the first seasonand it continues. We are a fam-ily. This is amazing. This is thesecret.”
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Former Manchester United star WayneRooney claims the British government
and football authorities have treated playerslike “guinea pigs” during the coronavirus cri-sis.
While the rest of European football wasshutting down due to the growing threat of theglobal pandemic, Rooney is angry it took sev-eral days for the Premier League and FootballLeague to postpone their matches until April3.
It was only when Arsenal manager MikelArteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for the virus on Friday thatfootball’s UK governing bodies called a tem-porary halt to the season.
Rooney, currently playing for second tierDerby, felt they should have acted quicker andthe former England captain said he would“never forgive” the authorities if his family fellill as a result.
“Why did we wait until Friday? Why didit take Mikel Arteta to get ill for the game inEngland to do the right thing?” Rooney wrotein the Sunday Times.
“For players, staff and their families it hasbeen a worrying week - one in which you felta lack of leadership from the government andfrom the FA and Premier League.
“After the emergency meeting, at last theright decision was made - until then it almostfelt like footballers in England were being treat-ed like guinea pigs.
“I know how I feel. If any of my family getinfected through me because I’ve had to playwhen it’s not safe, and they get seriously ill, I’dhave to think hard about ever playing again.I would never forgive the authorities.”
Many matches at non-league level weregoing ahead as scheduled in Britain thisweekend and Rooney believes Prime MinisterBoris Johnson “dodged” the issue by lettingfootball make its own decision about playingon. The 34-year-old claimed money was keyto the authorities' reluctance to cancel games.
“The rest of sport - tennis, Formula One,rugby, golf, football in other countries - wasclosing down and we were being told to carryon,” Rooney said.
“I think a lot of footballers were wonder-ing, ‘Is it something to do with money beinginvolved in this?'”
Once the virus is under control, Rooneywants a radical schedule shake-up whichcould see the current season being conclud-ed as late as September, and the next two kick-ing off in winter-time as a result.
“We’re happy to play until September if theseason extends to then, if that’s how it has tobe. That’s our job. As long as we know we’resafe to play and it's a safe environment for spec-tators, we’ll play,” Rooney said.
“The next World Cup is in November andDecember 2022, so you could actually use thissituation as an opportunity and say we're goingto finish the 2019-20 season later this year, thenprepare for 2022 by having the next two sea-sons starting in winter.”
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Valencia confirmed on Sunday five ofthe club's players and staff have test-
ed positive for coronavirus, includingArgentinian defender Ezequiel Garay.
Valencia said all those affected were"now at home, in good health and obey-ing self-isolation measures."
Garay, who was set to miss the rest ofthe season with a knee injury, became thefirst player in La Liga to confirm a posi-tive test earlier on Sunday.
"Clearly I've got off on the wrong footin 2020," Garay wrote on social media. "I'vetested positive for the coronavirus, I'm fineand now just listening to the healthauthorities, at the moment in isolation."
Valencia confirmed more cases short-ly after Garay's announcement. "ValenciaCF confirm five positive cases of theCOVID-19 coronavirus have been detect-ed amongst first team staff and players.
“All of these persons are now at home,in good health and obeying self-isolationmeasures.”
Valencia played behind closed doorson Tuesday in the Champions Leagueagainst Atalanta, the Serie A team basedin Lombardy, one of Italy's worst-hitregions by the virus.
The club announced on February 28
they would be suspending all non-sport-ing activity with the first-team after a jour-nalist attending the opening game againstAtalanta was confirmed to have tested pos-itive. All engagement with the mediabefore and after subsequent matchesagainst Real Betis on February 29 andAlaves on Friday was cancelled, while atribute to the club's former player DavidVilla was also called off.
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The visit of a high-powered delegationcomprising Sports Minister Kiren
Rijiju and top IOA officials to Tokyo laterthis month to look into India's logisticalpreparedness for the Olympics has been puton hold in view of the COVID-19 pandem-ic.
The visit was scheduled for March 25to 29 but will now happen at a later datewhich is yet to be decided.
Besides Rijiju, the other members of thedelegation included Indian OlympicAssociation president Narinder Batra, sec-retary-general Rajeev Mehta, BoxingFederation of India president Ajay Singh,sports secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya andSports Authority of India director generalSandip Pradhan.
"The proposed visit of High LevelIndian Delegation to Tokyo consisting ofGovt Officials and Indian OlympicAssociation to review India's #Tokyo2020preparation on 25th March is temporarilypostponed," Rijiju tweeted.
Mehta told PTI, "In view of the risingthreat of this COVID-19 pandemic, the visithas been put on hold. As of now, we havenot decided when the delegation will visitTokyo. It will happen at a later date depend-ing on the situation."
India will have its first-ever OlympicHospitality House in Tokyo during theSummer Games, scheduled to be heldfrom July 24 to August 9. It will be built byJSW on a piece of land of 2,200 square metrearea and in close proximity to the GamesVillage and multiple venues in the Ariakeregion of the Japanese capital.
It will offer a range of activities andexperiences for travelling fans andsupporters who will be in Tokyo for theOlympics.
Running through the duration of theGames, the India House will host watch par-ties, medal celebrations and meet-and-greet opportunities with the Indian athletes.The visitors will also get a taste of varietyof Indian cuisine.
There will be a dedicated AthleteLounge for Indian Olympians and access tomedical facilities and food will be availableon site.
A media centre to host travelling Indianmedia personnel has also been planned inthe area. Several Indian and internationalbrands will also have their stalls to displayand sell their products.
More than 70 Indian athletes have so farqualified for the Tokyo Olympics and theIOA is expecting the number to touch atleast 125 before the Games.
The coronavirus outbreak has led tospeculation over the fate of the Olympicsthis year. The International OlympicCommittee (IOC), however, has insisted thatthe Games will be held as scheduled in July-August.
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The way things played outafter he reported a sore
throat, leading to COVID-19tests and isolation in his hotelroom, were a “bit over-exagger-ated”, feels New Zealand pacerLockie Ferguson.
The 28-year-old pacer wasplaced in isolation immediate-ly after Friday's first ODI againstAustralia at the Sydney CricketGround following complaints ofa sore throat. He underwenttests on Saturday whichreturned negative, clearing thepacer.
Back with his family,Ferguson thinks it was blownout of proportion.
“No. Probably a bit over-exaggerated as to how I was,” hetold reporters at the Auckland
airport.“I just sort of had very, very
mild cold symptoms and theprocedures were as they wereand followed by Tommy(Simsek, physio) and the sup-port staff. Completely under-standable. So yeah, kinda had aday in the hotel room by myself.”
The pandemic has alsowreaked havoc on the sporting
calendar, leading to either can-cellation or postponement ofevents in the Olympic year.Like other sports, cricket alsosuffered.
Ferguson returned homefollowing the postponement ofthe ODI series against Australia.The first match was played infront of empty stands.
The Black Cap said, "It wasstrange certainly playing thegame under the circumstancesand with an empty crowd. Forsure, that was an odd experi-ence.
“At the same time, we werea little bit disappointed with howthe game ended up. And yeah,that night I was sort of taken toget swabs and talked to the doc-tor there and fortunately all wasgood and yeah happy to behome.”
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Australia’s top first class league SheffieldShield could be declared vacant for the
first time since the second World War afterthe cricket board cancelled the final roundof the competition due to the rising threatof COVID-19 pandemic, according to areport.
Cricket Australia, however, deferred adecision on the final, scheduled to beplayed from March 27, given the rapidlyevolving COVID-19 pandemic situation,according to cricket.Com.Au.
CA chief executive Kevin Robertssaid the Shield final round had been can-celled “in an effort to reduce travel" and hehoped it would “contribute to the globaleffort to slow, and eventually stop, thespread of coronavirus”.
“At times like this, cricket must take aback seat for the greater good,” he said.
“We have been in consultation with rel-evant government agencies, our own med-ical team and an infectious diseases expertfor quite some time now, and we have takenall their advice into account in makingthese decisions.”
The CA chief added: "The decisions arenot something we are accustomed to incricket ... It has become evident that wemust play our part in helping limit thespread of the virus by reducing person-to-person contact wherever possible. Thesemeasures reflect that.”
Spectators had already been bannedfrom the three matches due to be playedthis week at the WACA in Perth, KarenRolton Oval in Adelaide and Melbourne’sJunction Oval.
In the final round matches, due tobegin Tuesday, South Australia were to hostQueensland while NSW were to travel toplay Western Australia in Perth. Victoriawere set to host Tasmania from Thursday.
One option being considered by CA isawarding the NSW Blues, the currentleague leaders, the title if the final cannotbe played.
If that happens, it would be the state’s47th Shield title, and first since the 2013-14 summer.
If the public health situation improvesin the next week, the final may proceed asplanned with Victoria likely to be the Blues’opponents.
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Chennaiyin FC head coach OwenCoyle rued his side’s missed chances
in their 1-3 defeat against ATK in theIndian Super League summit clash thatcost them a third title.
Chennaiyin failed to give their mag-ical turnaround in this ISL the desiredfairytale ending, and Coyle minced nowords that his side played better thanATK in the final held here without spec-tators on Saturday due to COVID-19 pan-demic. “Goals change games. We had afew easy chances in initial phase but couldnot take them. No one should tell me they(ATK) were the better team. My disap-pointment is for how much my team putinto the game. But ultimately if you don’ttake your chances, you give away softgoals,” he said.
“We were the team that played all thefootball. To be fair to them they stuck to
their task. They made it tough for us bybanging the ball forward. The spoils wentto ATK so all the very best to them. Wewere the team who kept pushing on, butthey were clinical and we were not,” Coyleadded. The 53-year-old Irish coach saidATK must be relieved to have won thefinal and the title given that Chhenaiyinhad more possession and goal-scoringchances.
“We had almost 70% possession butultimately if you don't take your chances,it will come back to haunt you. There weretwo things from our perspective. One, wewere not clinical enough with our chancesand second, I felt ATK’s last two goalswere certainly avoidable,” he said.
“I think ATK will be very relieved toget away with the trophy given what webrought to the game. But that is how foot-ball is at the highest level.”
Coyle praised ATK goalkeeperArindam Bhattacharja despite he was
being the thorn in Chennaiyin’s flesh bysaving some crucial saves.
“However, I have to say ATK’s goal inthe first half was a wonderful finish andcredit to them. The man of the match forme was their goalkeeper ArindamBhattacharja. He was truly outstanding.I have to give credit to ATK for winning,”he said. Despite the disappointing stum-ble in the final hurdle, it has been a sea-son to remember for the Marina Machanswho made it to the summit clash after lan-guishing near the bottom of the table mid-way into the season.
“My feelings go out to my group ofplayers, because those players, particular-ly the young players, they have done somuch. They have been a joy to watch. Ireally feel for them. They love their club.I feel disappointed for them. It is a toughnight to lose and it is important to rec-ognize the players who have done verywell.”
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