JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

`̀ 63 per kilo

`̀ 91 per kilo

`̀ 110 per kilo

`̀ 54 per Dozen

INSIDE

352NEWCASES INMAHARASHTRA,MUMBAI TOLLCROSSES 100STAYWHEREYOUARE, SC TELLSINDIANSSTRANDEDABROADDRAINEDBYCOVID,STATESWANTCENTRE TOSTEP INPAGES3,4,5,6, 7, 10

IRAMSIDDIQUECHANDRAPUR,APRIL 13

WHILE MAHARASHTRA ac-counts for almost half the totalCOVID-19deathsinthecountry,Chandrapur district, whichsharesaborderwithNagpur(29cases)inthenorthandYavatmal(4 cases) in the west, has re-portednocases so far.And to keep it that way, the

districtadministrationhasintro-duced a unique pass system,whichseekstoenforcesocialdis-tancing by assigning dates onwhich onemember of a familycanstepout.

Forinstance,the22,000fam-ilies inBallarpurmunicipal cor-poration — the second largestcity in the district — have beendivided into five groups. Eachgroup has been assigned acolour-codedpass—pink, blue,white,yellowandgreen—whichspecifies thedatesonwhichthe

pass-holder can go out to buygroceries and other essentialitems.Kapil Dhale, a 23-year-old

resident of Ballarpur, has awhite-coloured pass, which al-lows him to go out on the 5th,10th, 15th, 20th, 25th and 30thof the month. His neighbour,Manda Bhagat (61), has a blue-coloured pass, with the follow-ingdates—2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th,22ndand27th.Similarly,UmakantDas(53),

employed with the CentralRailways, has a yellow pass,whichallowshimtostepoutonthe1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st and26th. Forpinkpass-holders, the

assigneddatesare3rd,8th,13th,18th, 23rd and 28th; and forgreenpass-holders,thedatesare4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and29th.InChandrapurcity,whichhas

about 85,000 households, thepassesarenotcolourcoded(theyare allwhite), but the idea is thesame: the population has beendividedintosixgroups,thepassesspecifythedatesforeachgroup.Thepass isvalid foronlyone

memberofafamily(whosepho-tographisonthepass),andonlybetween11:30amand4:30pm.Eachpass,withthestampof thechiefexecutiveofficerofthemu-nicipal council, has the nameof

the local ward, and residentshave been told to limit theirmovement to theirownwards.Theneedforsuchpasseswas

felt after officials realised thattwoweeksintothe21-daylock-down, there was an increasingnumber of people stepping outbetween7amand2pm,whichwas theallocated timefor themtobuysupplies.Thisledtoarushatgrocerystoresandmainmar-ketareas.Chandrapur Collector Kunal

Khemkar said the idea cameupatameetingwithofficialsofEcoPro, an organisation thatworksfor wildlife conservation in thedistrict. “It is not a foolproof

methodasthoseinneedofmed-icines can stepout regardless oftheir allotted dates, but thepasses will certainly restrainpeople,” saidKhemkar.All the 15 blocks in the dis-

trict,withatotalpopulationof26lakh,havebeenorderedtoimple-ment this system,andto rope inASHA (Accredited Social HealthActivist)workers toenforce it.In Ballarpur, a fine of Rs 500

can be imposed for not main-taining social distancing, Overthepastweek,officialshavecol-lectedaboutRs47,000.“Withthissystem,wearere-

ducing thenumberof peopleCONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

Afamily inBalajiWard,Ballarpur,Maharashtra,getsapasstogoout tobuygroceries. Express

TESTREP RTSFROMTHE

FIELDTRACKINGTHEVIRUS,

LOCKDOWN

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JAIPUR,NEWDELHI,APRIL 13

AT LEAST two stateswith a highnumberofcasesarerecommend-inghydroxychloroquine(HCQ)asa preventive measure againstcoronavirus to its police person-nel. While theMumbai Policestarted lastweek, Rajasthan an-nounced on Saturday that theanti-malarial drug, whose effi-cacy against COVID-19 is con-tested,wouldbegiventopolice-mendeployedinhotzones.The Maharashtra govern-

ment has also decided to beginoffering HCQ to around a lakhslumdwellers in the settlementof Dharavi, Mumbai, that hasemerged as a hotspot with 49cases and five deaths, aswell asto people living in other areasthat have seen a serious out-break, such as Worli-Prabhadevi-Lower Parel, who

must be over the age of 15.NationalHealthMissionDirectorAnup Kumar Yadav said themedicationwouldbeexpandedtootherhotspotsgradually.Thedrugiscurrentlyrecom-

mended as a prophylactic (pre-ventivemedication) for health-care workers exposed to

coronavirus patients or familymembers of positive cases tak-ingcareof them.WhiletakingHCQwillnotbe

mandatoryforDharaviresidents,officialssaidtheywouldbecoun-selledontheneedtotakeit. Thesettlementholds8.5lakhpeople.

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Virus can passfrom motherto foetus, saysICMR, floatsguidelinesABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL 13

IT IS possible for a pregnantwoman who is positive forCOVID-19topassonthevirustoherchild,theICMRhassaid, lay-ing down norms both for thecareof themotherandthechildinsuchinstances.Theguidelinesalso call for the use of personalprotectiveequipmentforhospi-tal staff, especiallyat thetimeofdelivery.The Guidance for

Management of PregnantWomeninCOVID-19Pandemic,released by ICMR onMonday,says, “With regard to verticaltransmission(transmissionfrommother tobabyantenatally [be-fore birth] or intrapartum [dur-inglabour]),emergingevidencenowsuggeststhatverticaltrans-mission is probable, althoughtheproportionofpregnanciesaf-fectedandthesignificancetotheneonate(newborn)hasyettobedetermined.”While the science on

whether a pregnant womanwith COVID-19 can pass on thevirus to her child, is still emerg-ing,withonlysmallstudiesdoneona limitednumberof cases sofar,thereisevidenceinCOVIDlit-erature both of such transmis-sion having taken place and ofinstances when an infectedmotherhasgivenbirth toaper-fectlyhealthychild.Dr Vinod Paul, Member

(Health),NITIAayog,whoisalsochairman of the empoweredgroup of medical emergencymanagementplanforCOVID-19,said,“Pregnancyisaveryspecialperiodin lifewhereaninfectionwhich potentially could be se-vere could have significant ad-verseeffects.Therefore,wemustmakeall efforts to lookafter themotherandchildoptimally.This

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ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL 13

ASTHEgovernment revealed initsdailybriefingMondaythat25coronavirus-affected districtsacross the country had seen nocases in the past 14 days, thestrategy after the 21-day lock-downendsislikelytobeunveiledin an address by PrimeMinisterNarendraModiat10amTuesday.A day ahead, two of the

worst-affected states,Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu,joinedOdisha, Haryana, Punjaband Telangana in announcingextensionof the lockdownend-ingApril14midnighttillApril30.In the past 24 hours, there

have been 51deaths and 905cases — the highest single-daytollforthecountry.Thistakesthetally to 9,352 cases and 324deaths. However, the HealthMinistry said, “the results of itsefforts were showing” as therehadbeennocases for14days in25 districts spread across 15states. Coronavirus is known tohave an average incubation pe-riodof 14days.The districts includeGondia

(Maharashtra); Rajnandgaon,Durg, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh);Davangiri, Kodagu, Tumkuru,

Udupi (Karnataka); South Goa(Goa); Wayanad, Kottayam(Kerala); West Imphal(Manipur);Rajouri(J&K);AizawlWest (Mizoram); Mahe(Puducherry); SBS Nagar(Punjab); Patna, Nalanda,Munger (Bihar); Pratapgarh(Rajasthan); Panipat, Rohtak,Sirsa (Haryana); Pauri Garhwal(Uttarakhand); andBhadradari,Kothagudem(Telangana).LavAgarwal, Joint Secretary,

MinistryofHealth,said,“Tillnow857 people have recovered. Injust one day, 141 people recov-ered... The results of our effortsandourdistrictadministrations’stellar roleareshowing.”The ICMR (Indian Council of

Medical Research) onMondayissuedanadvisory forpool test-ing in areaswhich have a posi-tivityrateof lessthan5%ofsam-plestested,withtheprovisothat

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MODIADDRESSAT10AMTODAY;CASESMOUNTING,MAHARASHTRA, TAMILNADUSHUTTILLAPRIL30

Morestates lockdown,word fromPMtoday

Migrant labourers fromBiharatasheltercampinLucknowMonday.The109workerswerereturningfromAligarhwhendetainedSaturday.Vishal Srivastav

SRINATHRAO,SADAFMODAK,KAMAALSAIYED,JANANDMOHAN&ASADREHMANMUMBAI, SURAT,NEWDELHI,LUCKNOW,APRIL 13

AS IT looks increasingly certainthe lockdownwill be extendedby another fortnight, a numberofstatesincludingMaharashtra,GujaratandDelhi arebracing todealwith thousands of anxiousand restlessmigrants, strandedin shelterhomesandmakeshifthomes without much moneyandration.More than anyone else, the

migrantsareeagerlywaitingforthe Prime Minister’s addressTuesdaymorning,policeofficers

inMaharashtraandGujarattoldThe Indian Express. Many feelabandoned by their employers,andwant to return to their na-

tive places, and be with theirfamilies.Maharashtrahassetup4,573

reliefcampssheltering5,60,450migrant workers, and providesfoodtoover seven lakhworkersand homeless, Chief MinisterUddhavThackeraysaidMonday.But migrants complain aboutlessornoration,dwindlingsav-ings, commontoilets, andbeingforced to livewith large groupsinsmall spaces.“In the last fewweeksallwe

havebeendoingiskeepingthemoccupiedanddeflectingtheirat-tention from the fact that theyare stuck far away from theirhomes,” said a SuperintendentofPolice,whodidnotwishtobenamed. In Osmanabad, locals

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

At 51, highest 24-hrtoll, but no cases in14 days in 25 dists

Big worry as states brace for newcurbs: stranded, restless migrants

VISHWASWAGHMODEMUMBAI, APRIL 13

EVENAS the state governmentissued an order onMonday ex-tending the lockdown inMaharashtra until April 30, it isalsoconsideringallowingindus-triestoresumeoperationsexceptin the Mumbai MetropolitanRegion (MMR) and Pune— thetwo places with the highestCOVID-19cases inthestate.The lockdownextension or-

der, signed by Chief SecretaryAjoyMehta,doesnotrefertore-laxation for industries, statingonly that orders passed onMarch 25 “shall now be

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GEORGEMATHEW&ANILSASIMUMBAI,NEWDELHI, APRIL 13

THEPOSSIBILITYof loandefaultsspillingover fromthecorporatesectortotheretailsegment,akeygrowthareaforlendersinrecentyears, has been flagged as agrowingconcernbybankersatarecent reviewmeeting.The extended lockdown

across themanufacturing andservicessectors,theresultantjoblosses along with the wave ofsalarycutsareprojectedtostartimpactingtherepaymentcapac-ityof retail borrowers.Atameeting lastweekcoor-

dinatedbytheFinanceMinistry,with representatives from theReserve Bank of India listeningin,bankers flaggedthis loomingworry over retail loan defaults.This comes on top of the ex-

pectedrise indefaultsbycorpo-rates and micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs)thataredirectlyimpactedbythelockdown.In response to themounting

NPAs of the industrial sectorsince 2012-13, banks, both pri-vateandpublic,diversifiedtheirportfolios towards services andretail loans as corporate creditoff-takeslowedsharply.Thelockdown’seffectonde-

struction of demand and slow-down in private consumption,alongwith the stress in the or-ganised segments of both serv-icesandmanufacturingsectors,increases the possibility of de-faults among retail segments,bankshavewarned.Whilehomeloansconstitute

thebiggestchunkofretail loans,themainsourceofworry,atleastin the first phase, is the riskier

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Banks red-flag loomingretail loan default, pushfor 6-month moratorium

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, APRIL 13

MODIFYING ITS April 8 orderwhichmade COVID-19 testingfree in all private laboratories,theSupremeCourtMondaysaidthatthebenefitwillbeavailableonly to thosecoveredunder thePradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PMJAY), also known asAyushmanBharatYojana,andtoothereconomicallyweakersec-tions asmay be notified by thegovernment.A bench of Justices Ashok

Bhushan and S Ravindra BhatalsoaskedtheMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare to “consideras to whether any other cate-gories of theweaker sections ofthe society e.g.workers belong-ing to low incomegroups in theinformalsectors,beneficiariesofDirectBenefitTransfer,etc.apartfrom those covered under

Ayushman Bharat PradhanMantriJanArogyaYojanaarealsoeligibleforthebenefitoffreetest-ingandissueappropriateguide-linesintheaboveregardwithinaperiodofoneweek”.It said the “private labs can

continuetochargethepaymentfortestingofCOVID-19fromper-sonswhoare able tomakepay-ment of testing fee as fixed byICMR(IndianCouncilofMedicalResearch)”.The court asked the govern-

mentto“issuenecessaryguide-lines for reimbursement of costof free testing of COVID-19 un-dertakenbyprivatelabsandnec-essarymechanismtodefrayex-penses and reimbursement totheprivate labs”.The bench directions came

after it heard a plea by Delhi-based doctor Kaushal KantMishrawho urged the court tomodify its April 8 order. He said

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AtNorthBlockMonday,asministers,officials returnedtooffices.Theyhavebeenworkingfromhome.PraveenKhanna

SC modifies its order: Freetests at pvt labs only forEWS, PMJAY beneficiaries

CORONACOUNT

9352CASES

324DEATHS

980RECOVERED

2,17,554sampleshavebeentestedasonApril13

ALOCKDOWNwasimportant to contain thespreadof coronavirus,but it resulted in a sharpdip in theirMarchrevenues. Coming as itdoes on topof lowerdevolution, restartingeconomic activities iscritical for them, not justto raise resources, butalso tomitigate overalldistress due to loss oflivelihood.

InfavouroflivelihoodE●EX

PLAINED

Asanitisationchamber forpolicenearDharavi. Thegovt isset torecommendHCQforslumresidents too. PrashantNadkar

Mumbai, Rajasthan advise HCQfor police, doubts over it persist

Maharashtra may allowindustries to resume workexcept in MMR, Pune

Colour-coded passes, fixed dates: How a district is still corona zero

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

SC on pvt labsthecourtmustallowprivatelabstoconductthetestattheratefixedbyICMRwhilemakinganexcep-tiontoprovidefreetestingfortheEWS, the expenses of whichshouldbereimbursedbythegov-ernment.Appearingforsomepri-vatelabs,SeniorAdvocateMukulRohatgitoldthebenchthatICMRhadfixedRs4,500onamoderateside tocover theexpensesof thelabs. The kits utilised in the test,hesaid,areimportedandinvolvesubstantialexpenses.Appearing for the Centre,

Solicitor General TusharMehtapointed out that under PMJAY,health coverage is provided toaround10.74crorepoorandvul-nerable“families”.TheCentrestatedthatapprox-

imately87.28percent testingtillnowhad takenplace in govern-mentlaboratoriesandonly12.72percenthastakenplaceinprivatelaboratories.OnthoseunderPM-JAY,theICMRsaidtheywouldgetcashlesstestinginprivatelabsonproductionof thecards.TheICMRalsoclarifiedonthe

Rs4,500 cap fixed for COVID-19testsinprivatelabs.Itsaid“privatelabsarenot ‘permitted’tochargeRs4500bythegovernment.Thesaid figure ismandated by thegovernment to ensure that theydonotchargemore.ProvisionforRs1500forscreeningandRs3000forconfirmativetests,ifnecessary,isbywayofamandatory‘capping’providedbythegovernmentsoastoensurethatprivatelaboratoriesdonotchargemore”.

Banks red-flagsegments of the retail segment:creditcards,personalloans,loansfor consumer durables, loansagainst property and vehicleloans.WhileRBIhasallowedbanks

to offer a three-monthmorato-riumfromMarchtoMayonloanrepayments, a growing viewwithin thebankingsector is thatthis reliefmaynot be enough toavertdefaultsandanextensionofthemoratoriummayberequired.Evenafter that, thepossibility ofa quick resumptionof industrialactivity and service establish-ments such as eateries, malls,moviehalls,appearsbleak,anof-ficialsaid.Thetotaloutstandingofretail

personal loans (includinghous-ing,auto,educationloansandad-vancesagainstFDs)amountedtoRs24.97 lakh crore asof January2020.State Bank of India, India’s

largestbank,reportedthat37percent(Rs719,766crore)ofdomes-ticadvanceswereintheretailseg-ment as of December 2019 asagainst33percentayearago.Theretail sectorwitnessed thehigh-estgrowthrateincreditat17percentduringthisfinancialyear(uptoFebruary2020),marginallyupascomparedwithpreviousyear’sgrowth.Atthesametime,overallbank

credit growthwas sluggish at 6per cent, according to data re-leasedbytheRBIlastweek.When contacted, many

bankers argued for anextensionof moratorium. “The three-monthmoratoriumisnotenoughfor retail borrowers, it shouldbeextended to sixmonths as an-nouncedbycentralbanksofvar-iouscountries. Itwasunwisenotto extend the moratorium toNBFCs andmicrofinance firmswhich are struggling in variousstatesascollectionshavestopped.Bad loans are slated to rise afterMay-June,”saidaseniorofficialofaleadingpublicsectorbank.QueriessenttotheRBIonthis

issuedidnotelicitaresponse.

Thebigworryisregardingthesituation after May, when themoratorium ends. “For threemonths,we are not raising anydemandsintermsofinstalments.Webelievethatas longaswere-turn to normalcy within thethree-month periodwhichweanticipate as of now, thesepres-sures shouldbe less, particularlyonindividuals.Whenitcomestocorporates,therearedifferentsec-tors which are likely to be im-pacted. I think an assessment ofwhattheimpactislikelytobeandwhatsector-specificsolutionmaybe required,” said the CEO of astate-ownedbank.TheRBIhad,inlateDecember

2019, cautioned banks thatlenders havebeen shifting theirfocus away from large industrialloanstowardsretailloans,asNPAratiosofthelatterhavetradition-allybeenlow.“Thisdiversificationstrategy...hasitsownlimitations:the slowdown in consumptionand overall economic growthmay affect the demand for andthe quality of retail loans,” thecentralbanksaid.Housing loanshada52.5per

centshareintotalretail/personalloans during April 2019 andFebruary2020.Thegrowthinre-tail sector isdrivenbyconsumerdurables (43.4 per cent), creditcardoutstanding (33.0per cent)andvehicle loans(10.3percent).Thegrowthinconsumerdurablesandcredit cardoutstanding seg-mentscanbeattributedtostrongconsumer demand during thefestiveseason.

HCQ useMaharashtrahasastockofabout35lakhHCQtablets,providedbytheCentralgovernment.Stateof-ficialssaidtheexerciseofadmin-isteringthedrugwillbeginintwodays.A technical committee, com-

prisingAIIMSdoctors,NITIAayogexperts, officials from theMaharashtraUniversityofHealthSciencesandthepublichealthde-partment,metonMondayonthematter. It was decided that theDharaviresidentstakingthedrugwouldbedividedintotwogroups—onewouldbegivenHCQalongwith vitamin C tablets, and thesecond, HCQwith zinc tablets.ThedosagesofHCQwillbegivenoneweekapart.“Wewill assess theoutcome

of eachgrouptoseewhichcom-bination works better,” DrSubhash Salunkheof the publichealthdepartment,who framedthepolicyonitsuse,said.Withso-cial distancingdifficult in slumsand the virus transmitting fast,HCQhasbecomeanecessary in-tervention,hesaid.RajasthanadvisedHCQforpo-

licemen inhot zonesonApril 10afteraconstabletestedpositiveinJaipur,withChiefMinisterAshokGehlot giving the go-ahead.AdditionalChiefSecretary,Health,Rohit Kumar Singh said policepersonnelareatriskinsuchareasand, “keeping inmind that theycanbeinfectedtoo,itwasdecidedtoadministerthemadoseundermedicalsupervision”.SinghsaidRajasthanhasover

10lakhtablets,asufficientquan-tity. The Jaipurpolicehas soughtat least 1,000doses. TheHealthDepartment said district chiefmedical andhealthofficershavebeeninstructedtoprovideHCQifrequiredbypoliceofficials.The constablewhohas coro-

naviruswas escorting amedicalteam conducting door-to-doorsurvey in Jaipur’s hot spotRamganj. Afterhis infectionwasconfirmed, 14 policemenweresent to quarantine. Next day, ahead constable of the Ramganjpolicestationalsotestedpositive.

TheMumbaiPolicehastolditspersonnel to firstconsultamed-ical officer and get an ECGdonebeforetakingtwotabletsofHCQIP200mgondayone,followedbyatabletof IP400mgperweekforthenext eightweeks. Anofficersaid,“Oneoftheinstructionswastohave aRabeprazole orRazoDtabletalongsidetoavoidacidity.”The drug is known to cause

gastrointestinalandlivercompli-cationsandiscontraindicatedforpeople suffering fromheart dis-easeorfromglucose6phosphatedeficiency.SevenMumbaiPoliceperson-

nel, including twoofficers, havetestedpositivesofar.Forty-sevenarequarantined.“Wearewaitingforprotocols

andmedicaladvicefromthestategovernment on the use of thisdrug,” said Ramesh Pawar,DeputyMunicipalCommissioner,BMC.Anoralprescriptiondrugpri-

marilyusedtotreatmalaria,HCQisalsoprescribedforarthritis, lu-pusandinflammatoryconditions.While it has shown anti-viralproperties,clinicaltrialsonitsef-ficacy against COVID-19 are stillonandexpertsaresplitonit.TheUSandFranceareadministeringitagainstcoronavirus.Over 10 days ago, the ICMR

held a “very heated discussion”onthematter,butanoptiontoad-ministerthedrug“atapopulationlevel”was “not taken forward”,sources told The IndianExpress.This was before the US and 12other countries officially soughtthetabletsfromIndia,whichistheworld’slargestproducerofHCQ.A source said, “Theoptionof

using the drug as a population-levelprophylacticwasmootedbya very senior doctor. However,questionswere raised about theevidenceavailableon its efficacyand side-effects. It was a veryheateddiscussion,mostlyamongdoctors, afterwhich thematterwas not taken forward... But itwould not be correct to say theoptionhasbeenjunkedforgood.Wemay still look at it for somecategories.”.-- INPUTS BY TABASSUM

BARNAGARWALA, SAGARRAJPUT, HAMZA KHAN,ABANTIKAGHOSH

Virus can passisanewvirus,whosewayswearestill understandingbut there areindicationsthatverticaltransmis-sion is possible. Butwe are stilllearning.However,itisimportantthat duringpregnancy anddur-inglabour,healthworkersandthebabywho come in contactwiththemother’sbodyfluidstakespe-cial precautions. Isolationof thebabytooisimportant.”On March 26, Chinese re-

searchersreportedintheJournalof the American MedicalAssociationof a case involving awomanwithCOVID-19whode-liveredababygirlonFebruary22atRenminHospital,Wuhan.Thebabywasfoundpositivebothforthevirusandantibodiesagainstitsoonafter birth. Itwas thepres-ence of the latter that led re-searchers to believe that the in-fection happened at the foetalstage.However, before this case,a study done on nine pregnantwomen found no evidence ofmother-childtransmission.“The elevated IgMantibody

level suggests that the neonatewas infected in utero. IgManti-bodies arenot transferred to thefoetusviatheplacenta.Theinfantpotentially could have been ex-posed for 23days fromthe timeof the mother’s diagnosis ofCOVID-19todelivery.Thelabora-toryresultsdisplayinginflamma-tion and liver injury indirectly

supportthepossibilityofverticaltransmission,”theresearchersre-ported. In London lastmonth, ababy born to a COVID-positivemother had tested positive im-mediately after birth.Doctors attheNorthMiddlesexhospital inEnfieldhadsaid itwasnotpossi-ble tomake an assessment onwhethertheinfectionhappenedinthewomb.However, theNHSnowsays,

“Asthisisaverynewvirus,wearejust beginning to learn about it.Thereisnoevidencetosuggestanincreased risk of miscarriage.Withregardtoverticaltransmis-sion (transmission frommother

to baby), the evidencenowsug-gest that transmission is proba-ble,althoughtherehasonlybeenasinglecasereported.Thesignif-icance to the neonate is not yetknownandwewill continue toassessandmonitor thesituationforwomenandbabies.”The US Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention says,“Mother-to-childtransmissionofcoronavirusduringpregnancy isunlikely, but after birth, a new-born is susceptible toperson-to-personspread.Averysmallnum-berofbabieshavetestedpositivefor the virus shortly after birth.However, it is unknown if these

babies got thevirusbeforeor af-ter birth. The virus hasnot beendetectedinamnioticfluid,breast-milk,orothermaternalsamples.”There are scientific guidance

documents that prescribe sepa-rationof themotherandchild insuch cases immediately afterbirth. The ICMRdocument toosays, “It is unknown whethernew-bornswithCOVID-19areatincreasedrisk for severecompli-cations. Transmissionafter birthviacontactwithinfectiousrespi-ratory secretions is a concern.Facilities should consider tem-porarilyseparating (e.g. separaterooms)themotherwhohascon-

firmedCOVID-19orisaPUI(per-sonunderinvestigation)fromherbabyuntilthemother’stransmis-sion-basedprecautions are dis-continued.”

Colour-codedwhocanstepouttoonememberof one-fifth of the population,”said Vipin Muddha, ChiefExecutive Officer, BallarpurMunicipalCorporation.Whilethepasses have beendistributed to15,000 families in the city so far,therestareexpectedtogetthemsoon.In Chandrapur city, ASHA

workers were handed survey

forms,which sought details likethenameofthepersontowhomthepass shouldbe issued, an al-ternate familymember’s name,rationcardnumber,andwhetherfoodpacketsneedtobedelivered.The survey found that about

3,000families—mostlymigrantworkers from Chhattisgarh,Telangana, Rajasthan andUttarPradesh— did not have rationcards.Theywillnowbegivenfoodpackets.“Noonewillsaynotoget-ting a food packet, sowe askedASHAworkers to visit the fami-lies,”saidBanduDhotreofEcoPro.So far, 17,000 people, who re-turned to the district have beenputunder14daysofhomequar-antine.

MMR, Puneextendedup to and inclusive of30thApril,2020”.But Industries Minister

SubhashDesai,whotookareviewmeetingonthestateofindustriesinMaharashtraonMonday,askedindustry department officials toprepareaproposalonhowthisre-sumption should take place.Permissionforresumptionwillbegivenwiththecaveatthatthein-dustrialunitsmakearrangementsforhousingworkersontheprem-ises or in the sameor adjoiningvillages.Aseniorofficial said thestate

governmentisalsowaitingfordi-rection from theUnion govern-mentonallowingindustriestore-open. “The Department ofPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT) has sug-gestedacomprehensivelistofin-dustriestoallowtheiroperationstotheMinistryofHomeAffairs.Ifwereceivetheguidelineswiththelist,wewill justreplicate it inthestate,”saidthebureaucrat.In a statement, Desai saidhe

hadaskedofficialstopreparetheproposal“[e]xcludingtheareasofMumbai and Punewhich havehighest number of coronaposi-tivecases...forallowingtheindus-triestostarttheiroperationswithsomerestrictionsintherestofthedistrictsof thestate”.The industriesminister has

further asked thedepartment togive priority to food processingunits,whichwouldhelpfarmerssell their produce. Theunits thatresume functioning should beable toprovide employment in-cludingtocontractworkers, saidDesai,addingthatall theseplanswould be put before ChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayforfi-nalapproval.Governmentsourcessaidthat

allessentialandnon-essentialin-dustriesmaybeallowedtooper-atewithrestrictions.“Someoftherestrictionson industrieswill in-cludemaintainingsocialdistanc-ingmeasuresandhousingwork-ers in industrial areas or in thesameornearbyvillagesoftheunitas a precautionarymeasure topreventthespreadingofthecoro-navirus,”saidanofficial.“Thegovernmentislookingat

districtswithzerocases,orthosethat have one case, for allowingresumption of industrial opera-tions.Indistrictsthathavecoronapositive caseswithinmunicipallimits,weplan to lockdown thatparticularareaandmayallowin-dustrial operations in the rest ofthe district,” added the bureau-crat.Thesourcesalsosaidthein-dustrial operationsmay be al-lowed without putting anyrestrictions on the capacity ofmanpower to beused in the in-dustrialunits. “There isalreadyashortageofindustriallabour.Ifweputrestrictionsonthesizeof themanpower, itwill createdifficul-ties for the industries,” said an-otherofficial. FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

At 51, highest 24-hour toll

Big worry as states brace for new curbs

more than five samples shouldnotbepooledexceptinresearchsettings.The Northeast states of

ArunachalPradesh,Meghalayaand Mizoram, as well asPuducherry too extended thelockdown till April 30, withsome relaxations. WhileArunachal andMizoramhaveone cash each,Meghalaya hasnone while Puducherry hassevencases.Speaking at a webinar

Monday,DrVKPaul,whoheadsoneof the11groupsof officersconstitutedtohandleCOVID-19,said its spreadwas “very lim-ited” considering the size ofIndia, andthat thecountryhadtobepreparedtohandle1.5lakhnewcasesperday.“Wecanraiseourpreparedness.Wearework-ingwith thatnumber,”hesaid,addingthatthisfigureissimilartowhat Italy experiencedat itspeak.Welcomingthelockdownas

“thebiggestpublichealthdeci-sion”,DrPaulsaid,“Weareintheearly phase. We have to beready...Lockdownhasflattened

thecurve.Wehavechangedthebehaviourofpeople.”OnSaturday, thePMheld a

video-conferencewith chiefministers,where a consensusemergedover extensionof thelockdown for additional twoweeks,withmodified restric-tions to start limitedeconomicactivity.HisaddressonTuesdayis expected to give details re-gardingthis.Telangana, thatwasamong

the states to seek extension ofthelockdownatthevideo-con-ference, announced the samehours later. There are243 con-tainment areas in the state—123 in Greater HyderabadMunicipalCorporationalone.Ithas531cases,with16deaths,11of theminHyderabad.TamilNaduhas 1,173 cases

(the third highest in the coun-try) and 11 deaths, the highnumbers explaining the state’sdecisiontoextendthelockdowntillApril30.Maharashtra,whichleads the countrywith 1,985cases,hasalsoseenthehighestnumberofdeaths(149).At the briefing, the Joint

Secretaryshowcasedtheuseoftechnologyintrackingandtrac-ingcasesinKarnataka,whichre-portedthefirstCOVID-19deathinIndia.Healsourgedpeopletodownload theArogya Setu ap-plicationthatsendsoutanalertifoneisthevicinityofacase.ICMRepidemiologistDrRR

Gangakhedkar said India cur-rently has enough reagents toconducttestsforsixweeks.“Tillyesterdaywedid2,06,212tests,of which 14,855were done inthelast24hoursin156govern-ment labs and1,913 tests in69privatelabs.”He also said that the first

consignmentoftestingkitsfromChina is expected onApril 15,thoughrefusingtocommentonpossible diversion to anothercountry. Government sourcessaid the kits fromChina havebeen delayed after additionallayersofqualitycheckingintro-duced by China. “Some of thekitsfailedqualitycontrolchecks.The Chinese government hasalso circulated a list of compa-nies with quality-approvedproducts,”aseniorofficialsaid.

DrGangakhedkar rejectedreports of the Centers forDisease Control (CDC), US, ad-vising disinfection of shoeswhile in personal protectivegear. “When we look at thestrengthofevidenceinthis,Iamnotreadytoacceptit,”hesaid.Replying to a question,

Agarwal said that theministryhadnotputupthelistofCOVID-19 hospitals on itswebsite sothat “peopledonot flood theseinpanic”.NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh

Kant,whoparticipated in thewebinaralongwithPaul,saidinresponsetoaquestion,“ThewaragainstCOVID-19outbreakwillbe technology-driven. TheAarogyaSetuapp,withalmost4croredownloads, is apowerfultool andwehave toencourageeverycitizentodownloadit.”Answering another ques-

tion,Kantadmittedthatthesud-den lockdown did not givemuch time for preparation.However, he added, “First daywehadproblemsofsupply,butafter that, the entire supplychainhasbeensmooth.”

have been volunteering tocounsel migrant workers,while others conduct yogaclasses everymorning. “Localorganisations have also pro-videdtoystochildrenofmigrantworkers,”saidaseniorpoliceof-ficerinOsmanabad.But police is worried.

“Everythingdepends onwhatannouncements aremade onTuesday.Wearepreparing forthe possibility that migrantworkersmayhavetostayinoneplace formuch longer,” said aseniorpoliceofficer.Workers have been calling

theirstatehelplinesaskingifandwhen they can leave. “Officialstold that even if we leave andmanage to reachour statebor-ders, there is a possibilitywemaynotbeallowedtoenter.Weare hoping the PrimeMinistergives some relief,” said LaljiGeruhai,aworkerfromMadhyaPradesh, whomakesmats inJalgaon. “It feels likewe havebeen abandoned. There has tobesomewayoutofthis,”hesaid.The Gujarat police has al-

readyfacedthebruntoftherest-lessmigrant. OnSundaynight,over 700 textileworkers fromPalsana taluka in Surat districtcame out on the roads com-plainingof foodshortage. TheywantedtoreturntotheirnativeplaceinOdisha.Suratdistrictpo-licecontrolledthesituationandstarted food suppliesMondayafternoon.A large number of textile

labourersworking in power-loom factories anddyeing andprintingmills inMangalMurtiindustrial estate at Jolva villageGIDCtoocameoutonthemainroads.When informed aboutsuchcongregationoflabourers,the Palsanapolice station staffcalledforadditionalpoliceforcefromneighbouringstations.Thetextile labourers here too saidthey had no food and de-manded transport to return totheirhomes.Justtwodaysback,onFriday

night, thousands of textile fac-torieslabourerscameoutontheroads in Laskana area in Suratsuburbs, carriedwooden logsfromnearby timber shops andset them afire. They blockedroads, pelted stoneson thepo-lice and NGOswho suppliedfoodtothem.TheSuratcitypo-liceintervened,arrested81tex-tilelabourers,butreleasedthemonbailSaturdayafternoon.SubhamPradhan, nativeof

Ganjamdistrict inOdisha,whoworks in Jolva, said, “Wehavecome to know the lock downwill be extended for 15moredays.Since19dayswehavebeensharing a roomwith five to sixpeople.We are staying in pa-thetic conditionsandunable tostepout.Wearefacingshortageof food and are leftwith littlemoney.Wehavetosendmoneytoourparents aswell.We justwanttogoback,andreturnoncethesituationisnormal.”Palsanapolicesubinspector

H M Gohil said, “Majority oflabourersarefromOdishawhileothers fromUP andBihar.Wehave controlled the situationand assured all possible help.Wehave deployedpolice staffoutside labourcolonies, so thatwe can reach a spot early ifsomething goes wrong. Wehave also kept police forces onstandbyshouldaneedarise.”InthenationalcapitalDelhi

too, the lockdownhas had anadverseimpactonworkers.Thesoundof a loneenginewithnocoaches chugging by inBhorgarh village innorthwestDelhi’s Narela Industrial Areagavefalsehopetoworkers.Mostworkers The Indian ExpressspoketoMondaysaidtheywereundertheimpressionthattrainserviceswould resumewhenthe lockdownended, and theywould finally get to return totheir families. Fewanticipatedtwomoreweeksof this.Among themwas Satnam

Bai, 42,whoused towork at afan making unit earning Rs6,000amonth.Asinglemotherof threechildren,heronlycon-nectionwithhervillagewashermobile phone,whichhasnowstoppedworking.“Wecan’tstayhere any longer;my childrenwillstarve,”Baisaid.Thosewhostayedbackwish

they,too,hadleftonfoottotheirvillages in UP, Bihar andJharkhand. TillMonday,manystill held on to hope that thePrime Minister would allow

them to leave. After the lock-down was announced lastmonth,many labourershad toleavetheirrentedaccommoda-tionsaslandlordskeptaskingforrent. Owners of the industrialunitsthenprovidedthemsmallroomsinthearea,wheredozensnow stay cramped in smallspaces.Every small building has a

similar story - labourers fromseveralstatesworkinginslipper,fan and shoe making unitscramped into tinyrooms.MostwouldearnanywherebetweenRs 6,000 and Rs 12,000 permonth.Withmoney fast run-ningout,theyaremakingdoona steady diet of rice, dal andkhichdi, which they get afterstanding for hours near a localschooltwiceaday.In Uttar Pradesh, the state

has setup5,241 shelters indif-ferentdistrictsfor1,25,989peo-ple, buthas alsodeployedade-quatepoliceforce.Somedistrictshope migrant workers fromother statesmay stay onwiththe commencement of eco-nomic activity. Nitin Bansal,DistrictMagistrate,Gonda,said,“Around50percentofthepeo-plestayinginshelters inGondaare from other states, likeRajasthan, Bihar, MadhyaPradesh,andmostlyinvolvedinconstructionwork. If the gov-ernment restarts constructionworkonbigprojects, thentheywill get their jobs back andwouldnotwanttogoback.”

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Indiahas theworld’s largestpopulationofwildAsianelephants. Italsohasacolossalhuman-animalconflictproblem.Indiahastheworld’s largestpopulationofwildAsianelephants. Italsohasacolossal.

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Stay whereyou are: SCto Indiansabroad

NewDelhi:TheSupremeCourtonMondaydeclinedtopassinterimdirections on petitions whichurgedittoasktheCentretobringbackIndians“stranded”abroad.A bench headed by Chief

Justice of India SABobde,whichheard abatchof petitions in this

regard,wonderedwhether suchadirectionwouldnotweakenthetravelbanimposedbytheCentretopreventCOVID-19transmissionandaskedthoseinothercountriesto“staywheretheyare”.Appearing for the govern-

ment, Solicitor General Tushar

Mehtasaid it is asnotpossible tobring themback right nowandthat they are being looked afterwherever they are. He said thatacross theworld, people are get-tingvisaextensiononaccountoftheunprecedented situation re-sultingfromthepandemic.

The bench, also comprisingJustice L Nageswara Rao andMohanMShantanagoudar, ad-journedhearingontheepetitionswhich highlighted cases ofIndiansinIraq,theGulfcountries,theUSandtheUKbyfourweeks.TheCentre also explained its

stand inanaffidavit filed in replyto thepetition seeking return ofstudents from the UK. It said,“given the present situation ofcoronavirusinIndiaandtheavail-ablelimitedresources,itisnotfea-sibletoselectivelyevacuateIndiancitizensfromabroadwhenalarge

numberof themfromanumberofcountrieswanttoreturnduetovarious reasons. The severe riskposedbyarrivalsfromanincreas-ingnumberof countriesaffectedbyCOVID-19issomethingthatthegovernment is seeking tomin-imise. The approach of the gov-

ernment has, therefore, been toadvisetheIndiannationalstostayputwhere they are in linewithgovernment’s approach to con-tainthefurtherspreadoftheviruswithin Indiaandallowinghealthmachinery to focus ondomesticcontainmenteffectively.”ENS

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

THEOUTBREAK Mumbai

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SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,APRIL13

TWODOCTORS and four nursesof Dadar-based ShushrushaHospital have testedpositive forCOVID-19 Sunday. So far, eightstaffersof thehospitalhavebeenafflictedbytheinfection.After two nurses from the

hospital tested positive onApril10,theBMChaddirectedthehos-pital to stopnewadmission andput 28 other nurses on quaran-tine and sent their samplesfortests.On Sunday, the BMC shifted

100hospitalstafferstoacivic-runquarantinecentreatDharavianditsdoctors toMahim’sSaihospi-tal.However, after complaintsofinadequate facilities all staffersanddoctorwereshiftedtoaquar-antine centre at Ruparel Collegehostelwhere they are set to un-dergotestsforthevirus.Currently,the hospital has closed its OPDandstoppednewadmissions.Over90healthprofessionalin

Mumbaihavecontracted the in-fectionsofar.

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,APRIL13

SIXNEWcoronavirus cases, in-cludingonedeath,werereportedfromDharavionMonday, takingthetotalnumberofsuchcasesinthecity’sbiggestslumto49.Withthis,thetotalnumberofdeathsinDharavihasgoneuptofive.Samples of the 60-year-old

man, who succumbed at SionHospital,testedpositiveforcoro-navirusMonday, civic officialssaid. The five new patients in-cludethreemen,aged21,51and60 years, and twowomen, aged34and50years.The21-year-oldmanworksas

awardboyatBreachCandyhos-pital, while the 34-year-oldwoman is a nurse at Sushrushahospital inDadar.OnApril 7, theBreach CandyHospital authori-tieshadinitiatedtestingforallitsstaffers after a nurse and a tech-nician had tested positive forcoronavirus.Twonurses,aged27and42,oftheSushrushahospitalhad tested positive for the virus

onApril10.Withtherecentdeathandfive

new cases, all from separatechawls, the number of contain-ment zones inDharavi has goneup to 16. The BrihanmumbaiMunicipalCorporation(BMC)hassanitisedtheresidentialpremisesof all the patients and has re-strictedentryandexitfromtheseareas. The civic body has alsostarted the process of contact-tracinginallcases.

Asapartof itsmassiveongo-ing contact-tracing exercise, theBMC has already traced 1,381high-riskcontactsand3,450low-risk contacts of 74COVID-19pa-tientsintheG-Northward,com-prising Dharavi, Dadar andMahim. Of these 74 cases, thehighestnumberofcasesarefromDharaviat49.AsofMonday,BMChas put 2,184 citizens to homequarantinefromtheward,whichhas 29 containment zones. “Ofthe 74 COVID-19 positive cases,31or42percentwerealreadyininstitutional quarantine.Whichmeans we are able to stop thespreadin42percentcases,”KiranDighavkar, AssistantMunicipalCommissioner, G-Northward,under which Dharavi islocated,said.Meanwhile, the ongoing

process to screen around sevenlakh residents of the slum is ex-pected to be completed in thenext twoweeks, BMC officialssaid.TillMonday, 13,224 persons

have been surveyed, 113 sus-pected cases have been referred

fortests,and85swabshavebeencollectedfromDharavi.“The door-to-door screening

is being done by a team of 150doctors from MaharashtraMedical Association alongwithBMCworkers.We have formed10teamstoscreenallresidentsinDharavi.Weareusing500setsofpersonal protection equipment(PPE), 2,000masks and18 ther-mal scanners for the purpose,”Dighavkarsaid.Around 225 public or com-

munitytoiletsintheslumarealsobeingdisinfecteddailywithaspe-cial treatment solution andma-chine that has been importedfromNewZealand,officialssaid.The civic body has already

planneda1,000-bedquarantinefacility atDharavi—300beds atRajivGandhiDistrictSportsCluband the remaining 700 at theDharavi transit campmunicipalschool.Half of thebedsatSportsClubareoccupied,while70bedsat Ruparel College hostel and30atSaihospital inMahimarealsobeingusedas institutionalquar-antinefacilities.

Mumbai:ThewholesalemarketswithinAPMC,Vashi,will reopenfromWednesdaywithcertainre-strictions,includingnoentrytore-tailbuyers.Anil Chavan, secretary of

APMC,saidthedecisiontoreopentwoofthewholesalemarketswastakenafterameetingwiththepo-licecommissionerMondayandadiscussionwithtraders,mathadiworkersandgoodstransporters.“Therewillberestrictions, in-

cluding allowing only 100 vehi-clesattheonionandpotatomar-kets and 300 vehicles at thevegetablemarketfrom12amto8amevery day,” Chavan said. Hesaidthemarketwillrequiremin-

imumbuyingof250kgofonion,potatoes and100bunches or 10kgofvegetables.The onion, potato, vegetable

and fruitmarkets inAPMChavebeen shut since April 11 after ashopkeeper tested positive forcoronavirus.Whilethespicemar-ket remained open, grainsmar-ket,too,islikelytobereopened.Adecisionon the fruitmarketwillbetakenlater.Themeasures taken by the

APMCtoensuresocialdistancinginclude allowing entry only tothosehavingvalid identity cardsissuedbyVashipolicestationandcompulsory sanitisationof vehi-clesenteringthemarket. ENS

NEERAJTIWARIZAI,APRIL13

PALGHAR POLICE bookedSunday a Gujarat-based boatowner and his assistant andseized their boat after it arrivedwith over 100 fishermen fromMaharashtra, who werestrandedoff theGujaratcoast,atZai village in Talasari taluka forviolating lockdownrules.More than 2,000 fishermen

fromMaharashtra are stuck offtheGujarat coast nearVeraval in40boats,unabletoreturn.Palghar SPGaurav Singh ac-

knowledged that a boat wasseizedandthe100-oddfishermenmovedtoaquarantinefacility.OnSundayevening, theboat

arrived inZai village.When theygot information, the localGholewad police immediatelyfiledacaseagainsttheboatownerand seized the vessel. The boatowner,KarsanVasramBamaniya,who is from Gujarat, said, “Ihelped the fishermen as theywere suffering but the policeseized the boat and put me inquarantineinZaischool.”Two fishermenunions of Zai

village,ZaiMacchimarSocietyandZaiMangelaSociety, fearthattheincidentwillunnecessarilycreatea rift between fishermen of thetwostates.“Fishing is our only source of

livelihood.We usually ventureintotheseasoffGujaratforagoodcatch. If fishermen fromGujarat

don’tcooperatewithus,itwillcre-atedifficultiesforus,”saidYogeshMacchi,chairman,ZaiMacchimarSociety.Families of fishermen from

KarajGaun,alsoinTalasaritaluka,met sarpanch Louis Kakad andasked him when their familymemberswillreturn.HoliyaKailanger (53),whose

husband Devala and two sonswent toVeraval, areyet to return.SheaskedKakadwhenshewillseehersonsagain.Sheaddedherhus-bandcalledherand“wasveryup-sethe couldn’t return thoughhewasnotveryfarawayfromhome”.Kakadsaid,“Iamtryingmybesttobringbackthefishermen.”Former CM Devendra

Fadnavissaid,“I’mgoingtospeakto both the Gujarat andMaharashtragovernmentsabouttherescueof thefishermen.”OnApril4,theGujaratgovern-

mentdeboarded600 fishermenfromGujarat and sent them tohomequarantine,butdidn’tallowMaharashtra fishermen to getdownatNargol.

60-year-oldmanbecomesfifthtosuccumbtothevirusfromcity’sbiggestslum

5newcases, one death inDharavi, tally reaches49

CentralRailwaystaff cleanrailwaytracksnearDharaviMonday. PrashantNadkar

Mumbai: MunicipalCommissioner PraveenPardeshiMondayorderedassistantmunic-ipal commissioners of 24wardsto find temporary placeswherefruit and vegetable vendors cansetupshopandensuresocialdis-tancingismaintained.Accordingtoofficials,newcentreswillcomeup in spacious locationswhere adistance of 20 feet canbemain-tainedbetweeneachvendorandbuyerscankeepaminimumdis-tance of 3.5 feet. “Localwardof-ficeswillsooncomeupwithalistofplaceswherethesenewshopscanbesetup,”acivicofficialsaid.Therewillbeatimerestrictionatthesenewcentres.ENS

Wholesale markets at VashiAPMC to reopen tomorrow

6 more staffersat SushrushaHospitaltest positive

BMC to allow morefruit, vegetablevendors across city

APMCvegetableandgrainmarkets inVashiwearadeserted

lookMonday.NarendraVaskar

Owner booked after boatarrives from Gujaratwith stranded fishermen

Relativesof fishermenatsarpanch’shouse.Deepak Joshi

STATEHOUSINGMINISTERQUARANTINES SELFMumbai: StateHousingMinister JitendraAwhad saidMondayhewould stayonhomequarantine for14daysafterhe report-edlycameincontactwithapersonwhotestedpositiveforcoro-navirus recently. “I have testedmyself (for the virus) and thetests are negative. However, as part of themedical protocol, Ihave decided to home quarantinemyself,” theminister said.Awhad represents Thane district’s Kalwa-Mumbra Assemblyconstituencyandisthefirststateministertoquarantinehimself.

PAREL BUILDING SEALED ASCOP TESTS POSITIVEMumbai:TheBMCofficialssealedMondayabuildingatNaigaonpo-licecolonyinParelafteraconstabletestedpositiveforcoronavirus.Theconstable,whoispostedatapolicestationinthenorthernsub-urbsofMumbai,wasadmittedtoKEMhospitalwherehetestedpos-itive.Policesaidtwoofficersandfourconstableshavebeenstationedatthegateof thebuildingtoprovideresidentsessentialcommodi-ties.“Residentsarenotallowedtostepoutandincasesofemergen-cies,theyhavetocontacttheofficials,”saidaseniorpolice.

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

1,595 (40,242)CasesregisteredunderSection188(Violatinganorderissuedbyapublic servant)of the IndianPenalCode

Personswhoviolatedquarantine 12(509)

Phonecallsmadeto100pertainingtoCOVID-19 1,717(65,546)

Numberof infectedpolice personnel 4 (7)

Casesof illegal transport 168(988)

Arrests 127(3,095)

Vehiclesseized (2,920)26,474

Fines imposed Rs8.66 lakh(Rs1.43crore)

*Total figures forall categories inbrackets

Figures forApril13releasedbytheMaharashtraPolice

NUMBERWATCH

PARTHASARATHIBISWAS&KAVITHAIYERPUNE,MUMBAI, APRIL 13

WITHNEARLY1.5lakhsugarcaneharvest labourers,mainly fromBeed and a few other districts,strandedatsugarmillsinwesternMaharashtra and parts ofKarnataka,theMaharashtragov-ernment onMonday discussedthepossibilityof providing themreliefbyenablingtheirjourneytotheir home districts followingmedicalcheck-ups.Deputy Chief Minister Ajit

Pawar discussed the possibilitywithofficialsafterBeedGuardianMinister andMinister for SocialJusticeDhananjayMundewroteto Chief Minister UddhavThackeray onMonday seekingthat theseworkersbeallowedtoreturnhomewhere theywouldhave toundergoamandatedpe-riodofquarantine.Fortheworkerswhoarenow

facingtheprospectofwaitingun-tilApril30beforetheycanreturnhome,thelongerlockdowncouldmean costly delays in fieldpreparatoryworks ahead of thekharif seasonon their own farmland.Through Sunday evening,

multiple leaders raised the issuewith the state government. “TheMaharashtraOos Todni KamgarSanghatanacaneworkers’ unionwrote to the chiefminister, andtopunion leaders reachedout toNCP chief Sharad Pawar andDhananjayMunde.Wearehope-ful that an early decisionwill betakensothatthelabourers’kharifpreparations are not affected,”said Mohan Jadhav of theSanghatana.Data collated by the

Maharashtrasugarcommission-erate shows that 1.36 lakh har-vestersarestillwaitingat36millsin nine districts of the state,mostlyinPune,Satara,SangliandKolhapur. Asmany as 96,017 oftheselabourersarehousedinthefieldswithin the commandareaof the mills while 35,415are housedwithin the premises

of themills.The lockdownhadbeen im-

posedcamewhenthe2019-2020cane crushing seasonwas in itslastleginMaharashtra.Ofthe142mills crushing cane this season,only about 16were operationalandcontinuedtooperateassugaris listed among essential com-modities.For themigrantworkers, the

lockdownandbanon travellingcreatedasituationnonehadseenbefore,fearfulofthespreadofthedisease, far away fromtheir chil-drenorparentsandalsounabletoreturn homeas the district bor-dersweresealed.“Theseworkers have either

been kept in isolation near thesugarmillsorhavebeenstoppedat district borders and quaran-tined,”MundesaidinhislettertoUddhav. The labourers’ bullocksand other animals are alsowiththem,with fodder supply for theanimalsbecomingachallenge inmanyparts.A cooperative sugar miller

fromKolhapursaidthatonanav-erage, theyareprovidingaround50 tonnes of fodder for the ani-mals housedwithin their area.Fieldofficershavebeenappointedtolookafterthebasicneedsofthelabourers.“Thelabourershadex-pressed their desire to gohome,butwehaveexplainedthesitua-tiontothem,”themillersaid.Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar,

chairman of the MaharashtraStateCooperativeSugarFactoriesFederation, said adelay in khariflandpreparationswouldpile onfurther anxiety for the commu-nity. “Mills are looking after thelabourersbuttheywanttogobackhome,”headded.Officialssaidtheissueisunder

consideration and a decisioncouldcomeshortly.TheNovember-Aprilcrushing

seasonends just before the startof field preparations for kharif.“Not even a single caneworkerhas testedpositive, and their 14-dayisolationperiodisover,sotheyshould be allowed to resumeother normal agricultural activi-ties,”saidJadhav.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL 13

FORTY-FOUR evacuees airliftedfrom Iranwere onSunday repa-triatedtoKashmirfromtheIndianNavy Quarantine Facility atMaterial Organisation in Ghat-koparaftertheyspentamonthinMumbai and testednegative forCOVID-19onMarch28.In a statement issued on

Monday, the Navy said it had“silently and successfully” com-pletedthetaskofquarantiningthe44 individuals, including 24women. While the youngestmember of the groupof 44was

aged19, the groupalso includedseptuagenarians.The44wereamongover200

pilgrimsstuckinIran,acountryse-verelyhitbythepandemic.Thepil-grims,whohadtestednegativeforthevirus,hadflownintoMumbaionan IranAir flightonMarch13.Sincetheyhadcomefromahigh-risk zone, theywere kept at thenavalquarantinefacilityinsubur-banGhatkopar,aNavyspokesper-son said.While their quarantineperiodwasuponMarch28, theirstaywasextendedonaccountofthenationwidelockdown.“The evacuees' staywas ex-

tended, as theyhadnomeansoftravelling to their homes in

Srinagar and Ladakh. Conse-quently,arrangementswerema-detoairliftthemusingIAFaircraftandon12April2020,aC-130air-craft has flown these individualsbacktoSrinagar,”theNavysaid.It said a dedicated team of

medicalstafffromtheNavymon-itoredthehealthof theevacuees.Theyweresupportedbyateamofconservancypersonnelandotherstafftomaintainthecleanlinessofthefacilityandprovidefoodtotheevacuees. “The evacueesweremade comfortable in the facilitywith provision of a library, a TVroomindoorgames,asmallgym-nasiumandeven limited cricketgear,”theNavy’sstatementread.

Mohammed Ibrahim Sofi,wholedthegroupof44thattrav-eled fromSrinagar to TehranviaDelhi onFebruary3, saidhewashappy to be back home inSrinagar. “Wewere supposed toreturn onMarch 3. But at thattime, when COVID-19 hit, wewere in Tehran. The IndianEmbassy in Tehranwas very co-operative andunder their guid-ance we stayed in Tehran. OnMarch 9, we were tested andthose of uswho testednegative,were evacuated and brought toMumbaionMarch13,”headded.“Weareextremelygratefulto

theNavyofficersinMumbaiwholookedafterussowell.Theymade

us feel completely at home.Wewere touched by their concernand dedication towards us.Kashmirwouldhavebeendiffer-ent if wehad seen such officershere.Theseofficershavechangedourviewofthearmedforces,”saidSofi,whohadtraveledtoIranwithfourotherfamilymembers.The 44 evacueeswere given

packed food andmasks hand-stitchedbyNavyWivesWelfareAssociation (NWWA),WesternRegionforthereturnjourney.TheNWWAhas also stitched 1,500facemasksanddistributedthemtonavalpersonnelandfamiliesinresidential areas in Colaba, tosailorsatINSAngreandtopolice.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL 13

IN LESS than amonth since thefirst infection of COVID-19wasreported at the small town ofIslampurinSanglidistrict,all25infected persons have testednegative for the virus byMonday.Allof themwillbekeptininstitutionalquarantinefor14days before they can returnhome.Withthis,Sanglihaszeropositivecasesatpresent.Onlyanothergroupof24peo-

pleremainunderquarantine,aftera Sangli native testedpositive inNaviMumbai’sApollohospitalonApril 11. Themanwas living inSanglibeforehishealthworseneddue to liver cirrhosis. Doctorsmovedhim toNaviMumbai fortreatmentwherehe testedposi-tive.Swabsofhis24closecontactswere collected Sunday in Sangli.Theyhavealltestednegative.InMarch, thedistrict had re-

ported third largest number ofcases in the state afterMumbaiandPune.Although25 is a smallnumbertocompare,butSangli isnow the only district inMaharashtratohavezerofatalityand100per cent recovery rates.While the oldest COVID-19 pa-tientinthedistrictwasa63-year-olddiabetic,theyoungestwastwoyearsold.“What helped our casewas

swift enforcement of lockdownandisolationandtestingofallsus-pectedtohavebeeninfected,”saiddistrict health officerDr BhupalShrirangGirigosav.Thenumberofcasesrosefrom

fourto25betweenMarch23andMarch28.Withinaweek,315-bedMiraj Government MedicalCollege was converted into aCOVID-19hospital. IthaditsownECHOmachine,facilityforCTscan,X-rayandMRI.The diabetic patient’s blood

pressure and sugar levelsweremonitored eachday. Swab sam-pleswereinitiallysenttoNationalInstituteofVirology,Pune.Atest-ing facility was also started inSanglitocutdownontransporta-tion delay. “We decided to askeachnursetoworkforfourhoursevery day for aweek. Then theyweregivenabreakof14daysandaccommodatedwithinthehospi-talpremises. Itwaslikeaquaran-tineperiodtoseeifanynursede-velopedsymptoms.Nobodydid,”saidDrPallaviSaple,deaninJJhos-

pitalinMumbai,whowassentondeputationtoSangli.The first four to test positive

hadreturnedfromapilgrimagetoSaudi Arabia on March 13. ByMarch 23, they tested positive.Nineteenmembersintheirfamilyalso tested positive, including aKolhapurrelative.Further,twodo-mestic helps working in theirhousetestedpositive.More than 493 people, sus-

pected to be low-risk contacts,were kept under a strict housequarantine. Their hands werestampedwithhomequarantinemark.Rationandvegetableswerehomedeliveredtothembypoliceandlocalvolunteers.OnMarch23,thedistrictcame

under a brutal lockdown— allpharmacies and grocery shopswere shut and an area of 700maround thehouseof the infectedwassealed.Around50healthcareworkersbeganthearduousexer-ciseofdoor-to-doorvisitsto1,100houses to look for people show-ing symptoms. The local policesaiditsonlyjobwastoensurepeo-pleremainathome.Phonenum-bersweresharedfreelysotheres-identscouldcall forhelp.A hostel building was con-

vertedintoaquarantinefacilityontheoutskirts of the town. The25people discharged fromMirajhospitalwill be kept there for 14days before they can go home.“Weare gladnobodyelse testedpositive in our neighbourhood.Thehealthofficialshelpedusalot,satwithusforalongtimetomakealistofallthepeoplewemet,”saida31-year-old,whotestedpositive.Sangli Guardian Minister

Jayant Patil, also thewater re-sourceminister,praisedtheSangliadministrationlastweekforcon-taining the virus spread. Patilcalled the three-pronged ap-proach -- isolate, identify clusterandstrictlyenforcesocialdistanc-ingasthe"Islampurmodel".DrSaketPatil,talukahealthof-

ficerinIslampur,saidheisstillre-maining vigilant. “The 493 low-risk contacts have finished their14-day homequarantine. Nonedeveloped symptoms. We arenowafraidofpeoplewhowillre-turnfromMumbaitoSanglioncethelockdownlifts,”headded.Hehasalistof144peoplewho

have travelled from Mumbai,Pune, Kolkata andother cities toSangliinthelastoneweek.“Theyareunder homequarantine andwearemonitoringthem,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,APRIL13

ADAYbeforeheistosurrenderbe-foreaspecialcourtinMumbai,ac-tivist Anand Teltumbde onMondaywrote anopen letter tothepeopleofIndia,statingthatthe“jingoist nationandnationalismhavebeenweaponisedbythepo-litical class todestroydissentandpolarisepeople”.Teltumbdehasbeennamedas

anaccusedintheElgaarParishadcase, which the NationalInvestigationAgency(NIA)hasre-cently takenover fromthePunePolice.Hehadsoughtmore timefromtheSC for surrendering cit-ing the COVID-19 pandemic.GoingtojailatthetimeofCOVID-19 is “virtuallyadeathsentence”,thepleahadsaid.“The jingoist nation andna-

tionalismhavebeenweaponisedbythepoliticalclasstodestroydis-sentandpolarisepeople...AsIseemyIndiabeingruined, it iswithafeeblehope that Iwrite toyouatsuchagrimmoment.Well,IamofftoNIAcustodyanddonotknowwhenIshallbeabletotalktoyouagain.However, I earnestlyhope

thatyouwillspeakoutbeforeyourturncomes,”theletterstated.Headded thathehasan“un-

blemished record of service fornearly fivedecades to this coun-try” invarious roles, including inthecorporateworld, asa teacher,a civil rights activist andapublicintellectual.Apetitionbyhimandactivist

GautamNavlakha,seekingexten-sion of time granted to them tosurrenderbefore thecourt, citingCOVID-19pandemic,wasearlierrejected by the SupremeCourt,whichdirectedthemtosurrenderinaweek.TheSChadalsoearlierrejectedtheiranticipatorybailap-plications.Teltumbdeallegedthathewas

illegallyarrestedbythePunePolicewhilehewasstillunderSCprotec-tion andhis house in the facultyhousingcomplexofGoaInstituteof Management was raided inAugust2018,whileheandhiswife

wereinMumbai.“Theydidopenourhousetoo,

forcibly getting a duplicate keyfromthe security guard, but justvideo-graphed it and locked itback.Ourordealbeganrightthere.At the advice of our lawyers,mywifetookthenextavailable flighttoGoa, and lodged a complaintwithBicholimpolice station thatthepolicehadopenedourhouseinourabsenceandthatwewouldnot be responsible if they hadplanted anything,” the letterstated. It added that the PunePolicehadheldpressconferencesclaiming he had a link to theMaoists. “OnAugust 31, 2018, inone suchpress conference, apo-lice officer readout a letter pur-portedlyrecoveredfromthecom-puterof previous arrestees as anevidence againstme. The letterwasclumsilyconstructedwiththeinformationontheacademiccon-ferenceIhadattended,whichwaseasily availableon thewebsiteofAmericanUniversityofParis,”thelettersaid.Teltumbde further said that

“draconian legislations” like theUAPA, underwhichhehasbeenbooked,“denudeinnocentpeopleoftheirliberties”.

Womencollectwater fromapublicborewellata tribal settlement inAheriTaluka,Gadchiroli.NirmalHarindran

How Sangliturned the tide:From 25 to zerocases in a month

LOCKDOWNEXTENDEDTILLAPRIL30

Sugarcane farmersworry aboutdelayed kharif work

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL 13

FOURMORE police personneltested positive for COVID-19 onMonday, taking the tally of in-fected policemen in the state toseven. A total of 47 personnel,who had come in close contactwith the infected, are currentlyinhomequarantine.The two officers – a sub-in-

spectorandasenior inspector–who have tested positive areposted in Mumbai and Thanecity,respectively.Thefiveothers,whoareconstables, serve in theMumbaiPoliceandtheMumbaiRailwayPolice.A seniorMumbai Policeoffi-

cersaidthataconstable livinginthe police headquarters atNaigaon, Dadar, tested positiveonMondaynight."At leastthreepolicemenwere on sick leavewhenthey testedpositivewhiletheseniorinspectorinThanecitywasonactiveduty. Thepossiblesource of infection of the otherthree personnel is being deter-mined,"saidastatepoliceofficer.Accordingtofiguresreleased

by the state police onMonday,fiveofficersand42constablesinMumbai and Thane, who hadcomeintoclosecontactwiththeinfected personnel, have beenplacedunderhomequarantine.However, a seniorMumbai

Police officer claimed that thenumber of these personnelwas

likelytobemuchhigher."Wehavequarantinedanentirefour-storeybuildingintheWorliPoliceCampand at least 80 constables inNaigaonfollowingaftertheposi-tivecasewasdetectedonMonday.Thenumberofthoseunderhomequarantine inMumbai is at least200,"theofficeradded.Thestatepolicehasequipped

personnelpolicingcontainmentareaswith face shields, in addi-tion to deploying sanitisationvans and installing sanitisationcorridors in several police sta-tions. "We have asked ourmenandwomenonthe field tokeepwashingtheirhands frequently.If that isn't possible, hand sani-tisersareavailable,"saidthestatepoliceofficer.

FROM A DISTANCE

4 more cops test positive, state tally 7

TELTUMBDE INOPENLETTER

‘Nationalism weaponised by politicalclass to destroy dissent, polarise people’

AnandTeltumbde

44 people evacuated from Iran return to Kashmirafter being quarantined at naval facility in Mumbai

Committee to analyse each deathEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL 13

AFIVE-MEMBERcommitteecon-stitutedbythestategovernmentmet onMonday to frameproce-dureandguidelinesforanalysingeach COVID-19 death inMaharashtra. The state’s deathratestandsat6.8percent,amongtheworst-hitinIndia.InMumbai,whichaccountsfor60percentofdeaths in the state, a separatenine-member committee hasbeensetupto frameatreatmentprotocol for critical patients in abidtosavemorelives.DrArchanaPatil, chairmanof

the state committee, said, “WewillbeanalysingeachdeathinthestateexceptforthoseoccurringinMumbai.ForMumbai,aseparatedeath audit team has beenformed.”Thefive-membercom-mitteemetinPunetodecidehowaCOVID-19deathwouldbecerti-fied,underlyingfactorsleadingtodeath andhowcriticalmanage-mentcanimprove.Astateofficial saidanalysisof

eachdeathwill help improve fu-turetreatmentofcriticalpatients.Thestaterecorded160deaths,thehighestinIndia,tillMondaynight.

A discussion onMaharashtra’shighdeath tollwas also broughtupduringthevideo-conferencingbetween Prime MinisterNarendraModiandallstatechiefministers.InMumbai,where110deaths

havebeenrecorded,ataskforceofninemembers underDr SanjayOak, former KEM dean, wasformedonMonday.Thetaskforcewill establish apatientmanage-mentprotocol for seriously illpa-tients. It is supposed toadviseonneed for specialist doctors inCOVID-19hospitalsandthekindofstaff training needed to handlethem.Thetaskforcealsohastoad-viseondrugprotocoltotreatsuchpatients.Currentlythereisnotreat-ment for coronavirus. Rito-navirandLopinaviraretheonlytwoanti-viralsapprovedandbeingusedtomanagecriticalpatients.Thetaskforcewillalsodecide

onneedtotransferapatienttoan-other hospital for intensive careunitsupport.Mumbaihassixdes-ignated hospitals — Nanavati,Saifee, St George, Wockhardt,Seven Hills, and JogeshwariTraumahospital—totreatcriticalpatients.Dr OmSrivastava, infectious

disease expert in Jaslok hospital

who is part of Mumbai’s deathaudit committee, said, “It is alsothe immune response that iskilling patients.We are not see-ing a uniformpattern in deaths.There are people of same agegroupwith same co-morbiditywhoarereactingdifferentlytothevirus,”hesaid.Aftersettingupthetaskforce

of renownedandexpert doctorsfrom Mumbai, Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray interactedwith the doctors on Mondaythrough video-conferencing.“Thereareover2,000coronapos-itivecasesinMaharashtraandthedeath toll is 150.While themor-tality rate is 6-7per cent, almost80 per cent of the patients hadother ailments such as kidney,highbloodpressurewithothers.The risingmortality rate is causeof concern and it should be re-ducedandbroughtdowntozero,”saidThackeray.Officials from the CMO said

thetaskforcewillguidethestategovernmentaboutmedicaltreat-ment. “Itwill alsobe available todoctorsfromacrossthestateonahotline to guide andassist them.The team will be tasked withstartingdedicatedCOVID-19hos-pitals...”saidanofficial.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MUMBAI,NAGPUR,APRIL 13

ANOTHER 352 people testedpositive for COVID-19 onMonday,takingthetallyto2,334across the state. With 11 newdeaths being reported, theMaharashtra toll rose to 160. Ofthe 11 dead, nine were fromMumbai, which has recorded101 deaths till now. Two otherdeathswerereportedfromMiraBhayandar and Pimpri-Chinchwad.WhileMumbai re-ported 242 cases on Monday,Pune recorded 41— its highestsingle-day jumpso far.Of the 11 deaths, four were

men and sevenwomen.Whilesixofthemwereover60yearsof

age,fivewerefromtheagegroup40to60years.Eight(73percent)of the patients suffered from

high-risk comorbidities like di-abetes, hypertension, asthmaandheartdisease.As onMonday,Mumbai has

recorded 1,504 cases. WhileMira-Bhayandar haswitnessed49 cases, with two deaths,Kalyan-Dombivali has reported50 cases and twodeaths. Thanehas witnessed 53 cases andthreedeathswhileNaviMumbaihas reported46cases and threedeaths.Vasai-Virarhasrecorded26casesandthreedeaths.Withsix new cases in Nagpur, thecounthasreached47inthecity.InNashikdivision,Malegaon

has reported 41 cases and twodeaths.WhileKolhapurdivisionhas reported 38 cases and onedeath, Pune division has re-ported344casesand35deaths.Aurangabad division has re-

ported 29 caseswith one deathwhileLaturdivisionhasatotalof13 cases. Akola division has 44caseswith twodeaths.Statehealthofficialssaidthata

thoroughsearchofresidentswhohadattended the religious gath-ering at Tablighi Jamaat event atNizamuddin in Delhi in earlyMarch is underway.While 755peoplehavebeentested,50havebeen found to infected. Of these50, eight are fromLatur, seven inYavatmal, six in Buldhana, 14 inMumbai, two each in Pune,Pimpri-Chinchwad,Nagpur andAhmednagar, and one each inRatnagiri,Nagpur,Hingoli,Jalgaon,Osmanabad, Kolhapur andWashim.Additionally,sixcontactsoftheseinfectedpeoplehavepos-itive inAhmednagar and one inPimpri-Chinchwad.

Numberofdeaths 160

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 229

Numberofpeople tested41,423

TotalnumberquarantinedNOTAVAILABLE

Numberofnewcases 352

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

2,334

352newcases across state,Mumbai toll crosses 100

EXPRESSNETWORK 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

GARGIVERMA&GOPALKATESHIYA&ABHISHEKSAHAJAGDALPUR,RAJKOT,GUWAHATI, APRIL 12

Jagdalpur,ChhattisgarhThe administration has set

up two sanitisation tunnels —one outside SanjayMarket andtheotheroutside theprison.“SanjayMarketisfrequented

by many people. To manuallyensure theywash hands is notpossible,”saidBaliramBhagat,apoliceconstableondutyatagateof the market, which has veg-etable vendors and generalstores.The tunnel has plastic cur-

tainsandtarpaulinwallsandsixfoggers arranged on the ceiling.Inthe30secondsittakestowalkthrough, one can see a layer ofbleachwateronsurfaces.The other tunnel is outside

Jagdalpur jail, also aworry spotfordistrict authorities.“After some reading up, we

decided to work on it.Everything, from conceptualis-ing to testing out how muchbleach can be used safely, tookus one day,” said VikasMishra,deputydirector (agriculturede-partment), Jagdalpur. “The fog-gersdispersedilutedbleachwa-ter, which ensures therewouldbelessmicrobesontheperson,”hesaid.Mishraandhisteamhasalso

come up with a sanitiser dis-pensingcontraptionthatcanbeoperated with feet. “We saw avideo where a BSF personnelwaswashinghishandwhileop-

erating thewater flowwith hisfeetandtriedtocopythedevice,”Mishra said.“Wenowhavetestingkiosks,

whicharebeingusedforsamplecollection.We have a shieldedcabinforhealthworkers,wherepeople can comeandget testedif they show symptoms. Thesekiosks are going to be placed atdistrictborders,”CollectorAyyajTamboli said.The kiosks have a glasswall

with two gloved holes throughwhich the health worker cantakethesamplefromthepersonoutsidewhilemaintaining leastcontact.

Amreli,GujaratAmreli,whichhas a popula-

tion of more than 15 lakh, hasnotrecordedanyCOVID-19caseyet. Collector Ayush Oak attrib-utes this to the health depart-ment screening people and thepoliceenforcing the lockdown.Oak says 80,000 people re-

turnedto theirhomes inAmrelifrom other cities as the lock-downwas announced. This, hesaid, included 215 people whoreturned after travelling over-seas.He said the health depart-

ment launched a door-to-doorsurvey and found that 3,665 ofthemhad symptoms of flu andtheywereputunderquarantine.“Police and health teams

were rigorous inkeepingwatchover these people. Neighbourswerealsovigilant.Peoplemostlycomplied with quarantine re-quirementsandfourorfivewhodefied orderswere booked andshifted to a facility quarantine,”

thecollector said.The collector added that the

health department has com-pleted two rounds of door-to-door survey and the third is inprogress.Topreventcrowdinginmar-

kets, the district administrationhas laid down some rules.Provision stores can remainopen from 10 am to 2 pm andvegetablescanbesoldfrom7amto10amand5pmto7pm.

Bongaigaon & Barpeta,AssamBongaigaon and Barpeta in

westernAssamareadjacentdis-tricts with no COVID-19 casesyet.Bongaigaon administration

has sealed three villages, com-prising over 500 households,which lie adjacent to Chapartown of Dhubri, which has re-ported threecases so far.One month’s ration in ad-

vance was made available tothese sealed villages, DeputyCommissioner M S LakshmiPriya said. Priya said officialswere keeping awatch on thosequarantined so that anyoneshowingsymptoms.Barpeta saw a large number

of migrantworkers return hur-riedly before the lockdownwasannounced. S Kashyap,Additional DeputyCommissioner, said a little over2,100peoplewereinquarantineasonFridayevening.He said that after they com-

plete twoweeks in quarantine,theywill be under passive sur-veillance and advised isolationfor twomoreweeks.

Sanitisation tunnels to markettimings: 4 districts avoid virus

NewDelhi: The Supreme CourtMondayupheldMadhyaPradeshGovernor Lalji Tandon's decisionto ask formerCMKamalNath toprovehis government'smajorityontheflooroftheHouse.Abenchof JusticesDYChandrachudandAjayRastogi recalled factswhichled tocall for a floor test andsaidthat “basedon the resignationofsixministers of the incumbent

government (accepted by theSpeaker), thepurported resigna-tionof16moreMembersbelong-ing to the INC, and the refusal ofthe Chief Minister to conduct afloor test despite theHousehav-ingbeenconvenedonMarch16,the exercise of power by theGovernor to convene a floor testcannot be regarded as constitu-tionallyimproper”. ENS

2 killed in blast atsanitiser factoryMumbai: Two workers werekilled and another injured in ablastatGalaxySurfactantLTDfac-toryinTarapur,Palghar,Monday.Thefactorymanufacturessanitis-ers.Thedeceasedwereidentifiedas Vijay Pandurang Sakharam(44) and Sameer SadaruddinKhoja(48).RunalRautsustainedcritical injuries in the blast andhas been admitted at aMaladhospital. —NEERAJTIWARI

ADILAKHZERKUPWARA,APRIL13

ONSUNDAYafternoon, as shellsstarted landingnearby, 40-year-oldShameemainReddivillageofKupwara locked her house andran out, fearing for her life. Justthen,ashellexploded,killingheronthespot.Shameemawasamongthree

civilianskilledinNorthKashmir’sKupwara Sunday. “Shells landedsofastthatwedidn’thavetimetoescape to safety,” Shameema’shusbandGMHajamsaid.Reddiis25kmfromKupwara

town.With tension on the LoCescalating in the last few days,mortars fired by Pakistan armyhavestartedlandingdeepinsideKupwara. Sunday’s shellingwasthesecondsuchinstanceinthreedays. “We can’t even run forsafety because of the coron-avirus.We cannot gather at oneplace. At the same time,we arecaught between two armies,”said Janta Begum, a resident ofReddi,avillager.“Manyfamiliesleftthevillage

because there is a rumour thatshelling may happen again.Othersarelivinginfear,”saidalo-cal resident. A fewhundredme-tres fromShameema’s house istheresidenceof17-year-oldJavidAhmadKhan,whowasalsokilledinSunday’sshelling.Hehadgoneouttobuyvegetables.“The world is fighting the

coronavirus. See how India andPakistanareengagedinmindlessviolence,” saidGMKhan, Javid’s

relative. Firdous Ahmad, Javid’sbrother,agreed,“Wehavetofighttwoproblems. If we go outside,there is coronavirus scare, and ifwestayhome, shells landonourhouses.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

‘Fighting 2 problems:corona and shelling’

3KILLED INSHELLINGALONGLoC Supreme Court upholds MPGovernor’s floor test decision

APTS invites bids from eligible bidders for "Selection of System Integrator for O&M of AP

eProcurement Platform (Application) of ITE&C Department, GoAP."

Important dates and contacts

Sd/- Managing Director, A.P. Technology Services Ltd.

ANDHRA PRADESH TECHNOLOGY SERVICES LTD

For further details regarding detailed Tender Document, please visit https://

www.apts.gov.in and https://tender.apeprocurement.gov.in

1. Bid Calling Date 14-04-2020

2. Pre bid Meeting date No Pre bid meeting

3. Last date for receipt of Clarifications on the RFP 21-04-2020, 5.00 PM through mail

4. Issue of clarifications on the RFP 25-04-2020

5. Last date for submission of bids 30-04-2020, 3.00 PM

6. APTS contact person P. Venkateswara Reddy, Mobile : 9963029410

Email : venkateswarareddy.p@gov.in

7. Ref No. ITC51-20021/24/2019-E PROC-APTS

6THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

THEOUTBREAK Nation

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,APRIL13

FOURHOSPITALS and twonurs-inghomesinKolkataandadjacentHowrah are either partially orcompletelyshutafterpatientsanddoctorstestedpositiveforCOVID-19.More than 300 people fromtheseestablishments—includingdoctors,nurses,staffandpatients—havebeenquarantined.Meanwhile, in the last 24

hours,15morepeopletestedpos-itiveinWestBengal,takingtheto-talactivecasesto110onMonday.Park Circus S S Chatterjee

Heart Clinic, a private nursinghome inKolkata,was closed onMonday after oneof its patientstestedpositiveforCOVID-19.Thiscomes a day after CharnockHospital,anotherprivatenursinghomehere,wasclosedasfivepa-tientswho underwent dialysistested positive. Patients atHowrahGeneralHospital, NR SMedicalCollegeandHospital,RGKarMedicalCollegeHospitalandCalcutta Medical College alsotestedpositiverecently,leadingtothequarantineofalargenumberofstaffandpatients.Health department officials

saidtheywereconsideringtakingmoreprecautionstoprotecthos-pitalsfromcoronavirusinfection.A senior health department

officialsaid,“Weareveryworried.Thereisalreadyascarcityofdoc-tors, nurses andhospitals in thestate.Ifthissituationcontinues,itwillbeverydifficult togivesuffi-cienttreatmenttocoronapatientsandnon-coronapatients.”Regarding the closure of

CharnockHospital,healthdepart-ment sources said that adialysispatientwhowas treated theretwoweeksagodiedrecentlyandthentestedpositiveforCOVID-19.Thenursinghomeadministrationthen learnt that four other pa-tientswhounderwentdialysisatthesametimealso testedcoron-aviruspositive.Thenursinghomewas closed and all employeeswerequarantined.HowrahGeneralHospitalwas

thefirstof thesixestablishmentstobeaffected. In the lastweekofMarch,a48-year-oldwomandiedin the hospital, and later turnedouttobecoronaviruspositive.Thegovernment announced closureof the hospital. Soon after, twodoctors, a superintendent and asweeper tested positive. Morethan200 staff andpatientswerequarantined, andpatientswereshiftedtoothershospitals.Manas Gumta, General

Secretary, Association of HealthServiceDoctors, said, “The stategovernment has not preparedproper treatmentandadmissionguidelines for suspectedCOVID-19patients.Hospitalsarealsonotseparatingorisolatingsuspectedpatients. If so many doctors,nursesandpatientsgetinfected...the situationwill bedangerous...Wearerepeatedlyconveyingthistostategovernmentofficials,buttheyarenotreadytoacceptit.”

Six Bengal hospitalsshut after patients,doctors test positive

15morepeopletestedpositive inthestate,takingthetotalactivecases to110onMonday

APURVAVISHWANATHNEWDELHI,APRIL13

FORMERATTORNEYGeneral ofIndia and senior advocateAshokDesaidiedinMumbaionTuesdayafterabrief illness.Hewas77.Fondly knownasAshokbhai

in legal circles, Desai began hispractice in 1956 in the BombayHighCourt.HemovedtoDelhiaf-ter being appointed SolicitorGeneral of India, a post he heldfrom December 1989 toDecember1990.Apublicinterestand constitutional lawyer, heservedasAttorneyGeneral ofIndia from July 1996 toMay1998.In2001,hewasawardedthe PadmaBhushan and theLawLuminaryAward.Desai dealt with several

landmark cases includingde-criminalisationof homosexu-ality, Narmada dam, IllegalMigrants (Determination byTribunal)ActinAssam,andtheVineetNarain caseon investi-gation into corruptionallega-tionsagainsttoppublicofficials.A London School of

Economics graduate, DesaistudiedlawattheGovernmentLawCollege inMumbaialongwith FaliNariman,AnilDivanandSoli Sorabjee,whowouldlater be his peers as India’sfinestconstitutionallawyers.

Desai’sfirstbigcasewaswhenhe appeared against formerMaharashtra chiefminister A RAntulayinthequid-pro-quocor-ruptionmatter. Desai won thecase,leadingtooneofthefirstin-stanceswhen aminister had todemit officebecauseof court or-ders.HetookontheMaharashtragovernmentagainintheBackbayReclamation case, inwhich hesuccessfullyarguedthatthegov-ernmentcanonlyauctionlandatmarketpriceandnotarbitrarily.In 1972, when Vijay

Tendulkar’s ‘SakharamBinder’faced a ban, it was Desai whocame tohis rescue.Desaiwas animportantfigureinBombaylegalcircles during the Emergency tomobilise lawyers in fightingpre-ventive detention cases. He alsofought the Salwa Judumcase inthe Supreme Court against theChhattisgarhgovernment.Lawyers andpolitical leaders

includingNCPchiefSharadPawar,Congressleaderandsenioradvo-cate Kapil Sibal, BJP leader andlawyer Gaurav Bhatia andSupreme Court lawyer KarunaNandy expressed condolencesand paid rich tributestoDesai.“Saddened tohear about the

demise of Senior Advocate andFormerAttorneyGeneralofIndia,ShriAshokDesai,abrilliantlawyerandPadmaBhushanawardee.Mysincere condolences to the fam-ily,”Pawartweeted.

WITHINPUTSFROMENSMUMBAI

FORMERATTORNEYGENERALDIESAT77Stung by virus, lockdown, states want Centre to step in

LIZMATHEW&MANOJCGNEWDELHI,APRIL13

WITHTHElockdownhurtingrev-enue collection and the fightagainst COVID-19 costingdearly,states have asked the Centre totake immediatemeasures inthisregard.A key demand the states are

making isanincrease inborrow-ing capacity. States like Keralawant special bonds so that theycanborrowoutsidenormal bor-rowingandthatthisisdonebyRBIdirectly andnot throughbanks.Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayanhasdemandedthatPrimeMinister NarendraModimustpermitstates to issue“pandemicreliefbonds”whichRBImaybere-quested to buy at a rate below5

percent.Sources

said the

FinanceMinistry isworking onthe requests and the Centre islikely to come up with “freshplans” soon. “With anumber ofstatesdemandingthatborrowingcapacity be raised, the Centre islikely to consider it. After assess-ing the cash balance position ofstates,theCentrewilldecide,”saida source and hinted that theCentrecouldmakeit3.5percentof GDP. Under FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM)Act, statesaremandated to keep the fiscaldeficitat3percentofGDP.Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP

spokesperson(EconomicAffairs),said,“Withinflationundercontroland lower oil prices, the Centremayhavetousespecialprovisionsfor a one-timeoff balance sheetborrowingwithadeclaredtime-line. The borrowing limits ofstates under the FRBMActmayalso have to be relaxed for the

time-beingas there is a resourcecrunch.”“Situation ismoreor less the

same for almost every state.Wedon’t have any revenue,” KeralaFinanceMinister Thomas Isaacsaid. “WewantGST compensa-tion immediately and morehealthfunds.”BiharFinanceMinisterSushil

KumarModi suggested that theCentre should allow states toutilise sinking funds lyingunutilised. “For example, BiharhasRs7,000croreassinkingfundandweshouldbeallowedtouseit to repay the loans. The Centrecanpaveway for it byamendingthelaw,”hesaid.Modialsosoughttheearlyre-

leaseoffundstobereceivedbythestate as per the 15th FinanceCommission recommendations.“It shouldbereleasedbefore JulysothatthestateslikeBihar,wherethe elections are going to be in

September-October, canutilise itproperly. Biharwill also face themonsoon and its impact fromJuly,”hepointedout.Punjab Finance Minister

Manpreet SinghBadalwants theCentretosetupaseparateCOVID-19budget. “Wecouldhavesomeextra taxation...Andwe shouldproposecuts.ThegovernmentofIndiamust take the initiative forsomekindofconsensustocutcer-tain expenditurepermanently. Itwouldmeansalarycuts, if possi-ble...”hesaid.Pointing out that the state

doesnothaveanyrevenue,Badalsaid, “As FinanceMinister, I amworried,howdoIrunthestate?”Assam Finance Minister

HimantaBiswaSarmasaid,“Ihavefull confidence that PrimeMinisterModiwill takeintocon-siderationthestates’financialpo-sitions and take appropriatemeasures.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

PolicestandguardatAjmeriGate,whichisanentrancetoJaipur'sWalledCityarea.RohitJainParas

DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR,APRIL13

WHILEITS“Bhilwaramodel”isbe-ing replicated elsewhere in thecountry,theRajasthangovernmentisfacingamajorchallengeinJaipur,where thenumberof COVID-19caseshasmorethandoubledinthelastfewdays—from168onApril9to370onMonday.Jaipurnowaccountsforabout

42percentofthetotal897casesinthe state. While 39 new caseswerereportedinthecityonApril9, the numberwent up to 53onApril 10, and 80 onApril 11. Thelasttwodayshaveshownaslightdip:40newcasesonApril12,and29onApril13.According to Chief Medical

andHealthOfficer(CMHO),Jaipur,Narottam Sharma, of the totalcasesinthecity,at least285havebeenreportedfromRamganj, in-side theWalled City,where thefirst casewas reportedonMarch

26,whena45-year-oldmanwhohad returned from Oman onMarch12,testedpositive.The administration is relying

oncontainmentmeasuresinclud-ing amassive drive for randomsample collection after identify-ing clusters and strict curfew in-side theWalledCity,where twodeathswere reported in the lastfivedays.StateHealthMinister Raghu

SharmasaidthedensepopulationinRamganjwasamajorchallengein implementing the “Bhilwaramodel”.Healsopointedtolackofpublic participation in followingtheadministration’sorders.“The nature of the spread of

population is differentwhen itcomestoBhilwaraandRamganj.Ramganj is a densely-populatedarea and, in someplaces, 10-15families reside in one building.Moreover, inBhilwara, our strat-egyof ruthless containmentwassuccessful becauseof exemplarypublicparticipation,withall citi-

zens following theorders to stayindoors. We have appealed toeveryone inRamganj to exercisesocial distancing but we needcomplete support of thepublic,”saidtheminister.“Our strategy to tackle the

outbreakinRamganj isbasedontwopoints—contacttracingandcluster-wise sampling.Wehavedivided theentire area intovari-ous clusters, based on the num-berof affectedpersons.Randomsamplesarebeingcollectedfrompeople livingnear all these clus-ters.Itisgoodthatmorecasesarecomingoutasweareconductingmoretests.Thiswillbenefitusinthelongrun...”hesaid.“Wehave divided the entire

affectedareainto30clusters...Weare also going door-to-door... Sofar,4,047sampleshavebeencol-lected since April 8, when thedrive started.We are taking thehelpof thepolice, butpeoplearestill comingout of their houses,”saidtheCMHO.

Over 250 cases, CMwants Hyderabaddivided into 17 unitsSREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,APRIL13

WITHMOREthan250COVID-19cases reported fromHyderabad,andatleast11of16deathsalsore-ported from the city, TelanganaChiefMinisterKChandrashekharRao onMonday instructed offi-cialstodividethestatecapitalinto17differentzonesorunits,andgetaspecialofficertomonitorthesit-uationineachzone.On Monday, he appealed

again to thepeople against leav-ing their homes, and tobemorecautious.“InHyderabad(givenitsdensity of population), there aremorechancesofpeoplewithpos-itivecasesquickly spreading it toothers, so there shouldbe a spe-cial strategy forHyderabad,”Raotold Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation (GHMC)andHealthDepartmentofficials.He suggested: “Divide the17

circles in the city into 17 units.Each unit must have a special

medicalofficer,municipalofficer,policeofficer,andrevenueofficerto spearhead the containmentstrategy.Theentiremunicipalad-ministrationdepartment shouldbeinvolvedinpreventionofcoro-navirusprogramme.”Withonlyonedistrictmedical

andhealthofficerinHyderabadasondate,theCMdirectedGHMCtoappointseniormedicalofficerstoall17circles.BasedonareaswhereCOVID-

19positivecaseshavebeenfoundthe government has earmarked246 containment centres acrossthe state. There are 126 contain-mentcentresinHyderabadalone.Raosaid:“Managethesecen-

tresmoreeffectively.Donotallowpeoplefromcontainmentareastogoout;don’tallowotherstoenterthese centres; appoint a specialnodalofficerandpoliceofficeratthe centres.Under their supervi-sionmaintain a strict vigil. Thegovernmentmachinery shouldsupplytheessentialcommoditiestothepeopleintheseCentres.”

North to south, case count still rising

AVANEESHMISHRALUCKNOW,APRIL 13

ATAtimewhenthecoronaviruscontainment model of Agra —thefirstvirusclusterinthecoun-try—isbeingdiscussedandap-plauded,thenumberofpositivecases in the district rose to 139onMondaywith35newcases.The state alsowitnessed the

highestsingledayjumpwith75fresh cases in last 24hours, tak-ing the total number of con-

firmed cases in the state to 558.Besides 35 from Agra, 11 newcases were reported fromSaharanpur, fiveeachfromBastiand Meerut, four each fromLucknow, Noida and Firozabad,three from Kasganj, two fromAzamgarh and one each fromEtawahandMathura.Of the75cases,35arelinked

to Tablighi Jamaat’s Delhi con-gregation, takingthetotalnum-ber of such patients to at least307inthestate,thestategovern-mentsaid.

MAULSHREESETH&ABANTIKAGHOSHLUCKNOW,NEWDELHI,APRIL13

AS THE number of coronaviruscasesinthestatecrossed550onMonday, theUttarPradeshgov-ernment said pool testing ofcoronavirus suspectswill beginfrom Tuesday following a nodfrom the Indian Council ofMedicalResearch (ICMR).Under pooled testing, sam-

ples from several people arepooled or combined at a timeand subsequently tested usingthe PCR/NAT test. In case of anegativeresult,allincludedsam-plesaretermednegativeandtheincludedpeoplecleared. Incaseofapositivepoolresult, individ-ualtestingiscarriedoutinprevi-ously reservedsamples.Theexpandedtestinginlarge

populationgroupsthroughpooltesting is helpful in saving re-sources given the limited avail-abilityof testkits.Principal Secretary (Health)

AmitMohanPrasadsaidthatUPwillbethefirststateinthecoun-trytostartpooltesting.“Fromto-morrow(Tuesday),wewillstartpooltesting.ICMRhasgivenper-missiontoUttarPradeshtostartpooltestingofsuspectedcases,”Prasadsaid.TheHealthSecretarydid not elaborate on the proto-col and themethod of testing.“Wearestilldecidingonthepro-tocol,”Prasadsaid.Meanwhile, theICMRissued

an advisory on pooled testingbasedonafeasibilitystudycon-ducted by it at King George’sMedical University, Lucknow.The advisory, that does not al-lowmore than five samples tobe pooled unless for the pur-poses of research, says:“Positivity rate in cases is stilllow. Hence, it may help to usethe pooled samples for screen-ing... Pooling of sample is notrecommendedinareasorpopu-lation with positivity rates of>5% forCOVID-19.”

Rajasthan finds ‘Bhilwara model’difficult in Jaipur as cases rise

UP to beginpool testingfrom today

Surge in Agra cases, UPcount increases to 558

ASHOK DESAI

1942-2020

From Narmadato Section 377,many landmarksin six decades

KABIRFIRAQUENEWDELHI, APRIL 13

INTHE search for a treatment forCOVID-19disease,researchershavebeentargetingspe-cific behaviours of the novel coronavirus(SARS-CoV2) that causes thedisease.Whilethevirusitself isstillbeingstudied,thehuntforatreatmentisbasedonwhatisknownsofarabout theway it infectshumans.

So,howdoes it infectsomeone?Itbeginswiththe“spike”thatgivescoro-

naviruses their name. A coronavirus is sur-rounded by a fatty outer layer (“envelope”)andonthesurfaceofthislayeristhe“corona”(crown)of spikesmadeof protein.On the surface of human cells is an en-

zymecalledACE2,whichactsasthereceptorthatenablesSARS-CoV2tolaunchitsattack.Thevirus’s spikeproteinbinds to therecep-tor, then fuseswith the cell surface, and re-leases its geneticmaterial (RNA in the caseofSARS-CoV2)intothecell.Thecoronavirusthat causesSARS, calledSARS-CoV,uses thesameACE2receptor to invadeacell.Once inside, thevirus replicates itself by

using the cell’s molecular mechanism. Allthesestagesinvolvevariousinteractionsbe-tween virus proteins and human proteins.Any treatment being developed or re-searchedwill look to inhibit these activitiesatonestageor theother.

Whichtreatmentspecifically tries toinhibitwhichactivity?The Solidarity trials, a World Health

Organization(WHO)initiativethatincludesIndia, are investigating four lines of treat-ment using existing drugs. Separately, vari-ous research institutions are studying thevirus’s functioning in the hope that theknowledgewill leadtorepurposingofexist-ingdrugsordevelopmentof newones.The Solidarity experiments are trying to

findout if virusactivitycanbe inhibited:ATRECEPTION STAGE: This is the tar-

get of trials with a combination of anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxy-chloroquine. Part of the hope comes froma2005studyintheVirology Journal thatstud-

iedchloroquine’sroleagainsttheSARSvirus.It found chloroquine prevented that virus’sability toattach itself to theACE2receptors.However,becausechloroquinecausesseveresideeffects, thecurrenttrialsarebeingdonewithacombinationwithits lesstoxicderiv-ativehydroxychloroquine.The effect of these two drugs on SARS-

CoV2isstillbeingstudiedaroundtheworld.AT CELL ENTRY STAGE: The chloro-

quine-hydroxychloroquine combinationcomes into play again.Many viruses enter acell by acidifying compartmentswithin themembrane at the cell surface, and thenbreachingthemembraneitself.Whenchloro-quineandhydroxychloroquineenterthecom-partment,itlosespartofitsacidity;theaimofthetrials is tohinderthevirusatthisstage.ATREPLICATIONSTAGE:Anumber of

trialsarelookingatobstructingreplicationata key step duringwhich the virus uses en-zymes to break downproteins, leading to achainof newviruses. Thedrug lopinavir, forexample, has beenknown to inhibit the en-zyme used byHIV to split proteins, but be-cause lopinavir itself tends tobreakdowninthe human body, it is used in combinationwith ritonavir,whichallows it to last longer.

One set of Solidarity trials is looking at thiscombinationof anti-HIVdrugs, andanotherisinvestigatinglopinavir-ritonavircombinedwith interferon-beta, amolecule that regu-lates inflammation inthebody.TheSolidaritytrialswiththedrugremde-

sivir, originally created to fight the Ebolavirus, will seek to inhibit the novel coron-avirus by targeting the action of a key en-zymethatfacilitatesitsreplication.Previousstudieshadshowniteffectiveinanimals in-fectedwith SARS andMERS coronaviruses.This year, a study published in Cell Researchreported thatacombinationof chloroquineand remdesivir can hinder replication ofSARS-CoV2 inculturedcells.

Whatareotherstudies lookingat?Somestudiesarelookingatthestructure

ofthevirus,whileothersareinvestigatingitsbehaviour as a potential target for futuredrugs. Forexample:STRUCTURE:AttheMaxPlanckInstitute

inGermany, researchers identifiedthespikeprotein as not only the sharpestweapon ofthevirusbutalsoitsAchilles’heel.Antibodiescanrecognisethespikeprotein,bindtoit,andmarkitasatargetforimmunecells.However,

thevirusalsohasasugarcoatthathidespartsof its spikeproteins fromthe immunecells.Therefore, the researchers are analysing

thesugarshield,andtryingtocalculatehowthespikeproteinsmoveonthesurfaceofthevirusandhowtheychangetheirshape.Usingsupercomputers, the researchers hope toidentifybindingsitesforantibodies,andplanto compare thesewith the binding proper-ties of existing drugs, and thus identify in-gredients that can block the spike protein.“Of course, repurposing drugs that are al-readyonthemarketismuchfasterthanfind-ingnewactiveingredientsandtestingthemin lengthyclinical trials,”GerhardHummer,Director at the Max Planck Institute ofBiophysics, said inastatement.BEHAVIOUR: Inastudy lastweekinthe

JournalofClinicalMedicine, researchers fromthe Universities of Bologna and Catanzaro(Italy)mappedtheinteractionsbetweenvirusproteinsandhumanproteins.Whenthevirusattacks,thebodyrespondsbyactivatingcer-tainproteinsanddeactivatingothers tohin-der it. At the same time, the body has othermechanisms that the virus exploits. Thesewerewhat the researchersmapped, identi-fyingspecificproteins.“This valuable information about the ef-

fectsof thenewcoronaviruson theproteinsof human cellsmay prove to be fundamen-tal in redirecting the development of drugtherapies,sincecommonantiviraltreatmentsseem to be unsuccessful,” lead authorFedericoMGiorgioftheUniversityofBolognasaid inastatement.

BeyondtheSolidarity trials, aretherestudiesonspecificdrugs?Reports are emerging from time to time.

InNature lastweek,aninternationalcollabo-ration led by researchers at ShanghaiTechUniversity reported six possible drug candi-dates,whichtheyidentifiedaftertestingmorethan10,000compounds.TheprojecttargetedSARS-CoV2’smainenzyme for splittingpro-teins,Mpro,whichplaysakeyroleinmediat-ingviralreplication.Researchersaddeddrugsdirectlytotheenzymeortocellculturesgrow-ing the virus, assessing howmuch of eachcompoundisrequiredtostoptheenzyme.Sixdrugsappearedtobeeffective,theyreported.

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

NAVJEEVANGOPALCHANDIGARH,APRIL 13

THE PATIALA incident inwhich a group ofNihangsattackedaPunjabpolicepartyandchoppedoffthehandofanassistantsub-in-spectorwhenstoppedforacurfewpass,andthesubsequentseizureofweaponsandnar-cotics,hasputthespotlightontheNihangs.

WhoisaNihang?NihangisanorderofSikhwarriors,char-

acterised by blue robes, antiquated armssuch as swords and spears, and decoratedturbans surmounted by steel quoits. Sikhhistorian Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon said,“Etymologicallythewordnihang inPersianmeans an alligator, sword and pen but thecharacteristics of Nihangs seem to stemmore from the Sanskrit word nihshankwhichmeanswithout fear, unblemished,pure, carefree and indifferent to worldlygainsandcomfort.”The19thcenturyhisto-rianRattanSinghBhangudescribedNihangsas“unaffectedbypainorcomfort”,“giventomeditation,penanceandcharity”and“com-pletewarriors”.

Whenwastheorder formed?Dhillon said this can be traced back to

the creation of theKhalsa byGuruGobindSinghin1699.Thewordnihang,hesays,alsooccursinahymnintheGuruGranthSahib,where it alludes to a fearless and unre-strainedperson. “However, therearesomesources which trace their origin to GuruGobind Singh’s younger son, Fateh Singh(1699-1705), who once appeared in theGuru’s presence dressed in a blue chola...and blue turban with a dumala (piece ofcloth forming a plume). On seeing his sonlooksomajestic, theGururemarkedthat itshall be the dress of Nihangs, the recklesssoldiersof theKhalsa,”Dhillonsaid.

HowwereNihangsdifferent fromotherSikhs,andotherSikhwarriors?As per an account by the East India

Company’s Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841), Khalsa Sikhswere divided into twogroups: “Those who put on blue attirewhichGuruGobind Singh used towear atthe time of battle” and thosewho “do notfollowanyrestrictionsonthecolouroftheirdress”thoughbothofthem“followthepro-fession of soldiery and are bravewithout

peer in theartofmusketryandchakarbazi,andtheuseofquoits”.DhillonsaidNihangsobserve the Khalsa code of conduct in itsstrictestsense.“Theydonotprofessanyal-legiance to an earthlymaster... Instead ofsaffrontheyhoistablueNishanSahib(flag)atop their shrines,” saidDrDhillon.Nihangsusetheslogans‘chhardikala’(for-

everinhighspirits)and‘tiarbartiar’ (stateofever preparedness) for unforeseen events.“The Nihangs are fond of a popular drinkcalled shardai or sharbati degh (sacramentdrink)which contains grounded almonds,cardamomseeds,poppyseeds,blackpepper,rosepetals andmelon seeds.Whena smallmeasureofcannabisisaddedtoit,itistermedsukhnidhan (treasure of comfort). A higherdoseofcannabisinitwasknownasshaheedideg, sacrament ofmartyrdom. Itwas taken(while)battlingenemies,”saidDrDhillon.

What is theirrole inSikhhistory?Nihangs had amajor role in defending

the Sikhpanth after the fall of the first Sikhrule(1710-15)whenMughalgovernorswerekilling Sikhs, and during the onslaught ofAfghaninvaderAhmedShahDurrani(1748-65).WhentheKhalsaarmywasdividedinto

five battalions in 1734, oneNihang orAkalibattalionwasledbyBabaDeepSinghShahid.Nihangsalsotookcontrolofthereligious

affairsoftheSikhsatAkalBunga(nowknownasAkalTakht) inAmritsar.Theydidnotcon-sider themselves subordinate to any Sikhchiefandthusmaintainedtheirindependentexistence.AtAkalTakht,theyheldthegrandcouncil (Sarbat Khalsa) of Sikhs and pro-

nouncedtheresolution(Gurmata)passed.Their clout cametoanendafter the fall

ofSikhEmpirein1849whentheBritishau-thorities of Punjab appointed amanager(sarbrah) for the administration of theGoldenTemplein1859.“Intherecentpast,the Nihang chief, Baba Santa Singh, at theinstance of Indian Government had fallenafoul of themainstream Sikhs as hewentontorebuild theAkalTakht thatwasdam-aged during Operation Bluestar in June1984. Some Nihangs, namely Ajit SinghPoohla,collaboratedwiththePunjabpolicetoeliminateSikhmilitants,”saidDrDhillon.

What is theircurrentstatus?DrDhillon said theNihangs today con-

stitute a small community. About a dozenbands, each headed by a jathedar (leader),are still carryingonwith the traditionalor-der.ProminentamongtheseareBudhaDal,TarunaDalandtheirfactions.Intheabsenceof acentralisedcommand, theNihangsareloosely organised. For thewhole year theyremain stationed at their respective deras(centres)butsetoutontheirannualpilgrim-age of Anandpur Sahib, Damdama SahibTalwandiSaboandAmritsar,takepartinre-

ligiouseventsandexhibittheirmartialskillsandhorsemanship.AsperDrGurmeetSinghSidhu, professor-in-charge Guru GobindSingh Chair at Punjabi University, Patiala,“Withtheadventofmodernity,thebalancebetweenBani(GuruGranthSahib)andBana(outerform)brokedown,resultinginprob-lemsandunethicalactions.Earlier,Nihangswouldneverattackanunarmedperson.”

WhocanbecomeaNihang?AccordingtoBudhaDalchiefBabaBalbir

Singh,anypersonirrespectiveofcaste,creedor religioncanbe includedprovidedhehasunshornhairaspertheSikhtraditionsatthetimeofenteringthesect.“Thatpersonshouldalso remember the five banis, shouldwakeupat1amfordailyablutions, shoulddohisprayersinthemorningandevening.Anyonewho fulfils these conditions is initiated as abaptisedSikhinanAmritSancharceremony,followingwhich he is given a newname,robes andweapons similar to theones car-riedbyGuruGobindSinghwhenhefoundedtheKhalsa,”saidBalbirSingh,whoassertedthattheattackersofpolicemeninPatialaarenot associatedwith BudhaDal. “ANihangdoesnotattackanunarmedperson.”

“HIDE YOUR grandpas and grandmas,”Israel’sPrimeMinisterBenjaminNetanyahusaid in his initial response to the COVID-19threat in his country — an elegant phrase,born out of common sense and cannywis-dom.Truerwordscannotbesaid in thecur-rent pandemic, nor can they be put acrossmore effectively and succinctly to all coun-trymenat risk.Why are these words of wisdom?

Conventionallyinanepidemicofcontagiousdisease, theapproachis toquarantinethose

who are infected in order to protect thosewho arewell, so that the latter could carryonwithnormal life.But the COVID pandemic is different in

somecriticalways.Mortalitygraphsworld-wide show that case fatality rates are heav-ily influenced by age and by pre-existingchronicnon-communicablediseases.Mortality tends to increase from about

age 55, and rapidly so as age advances.Therefore, most COVID-19 deaths occur intheelderlyorthosewith ‘co-morbid’condi-tionssuchashypertension,chronicheartdis-ease, diabetes, and chronic lung disease.Mortalityisquitehighwhentheelderlyhavechronicdiseases.Wemust anticipate that 50%-70%of the

populationwill acquire immunity by actu-ally having asymptomatic or symptomaticinfectionbeforethisepidemicisover.Thatisthe natural history of any epidemic of con-tagiousdisease.Themajority of such immune individu-

alswill be youngsters. Among children and

young adults, themajority would have nodiseasesymptomsoronlyamild,self-limit-ing respiratory illness from which theywouldrecover inaweekor two.However,theproblemisthattheyarelikely

topassontheinfectiontotheoldandvulner-ableindividualsintheirhouseholds,placesofwork,oratsocialandreligiousgatherings,evenif thegroupisassmallasfourorfive.Remember, theelderly and thevulnera-

ble (due to chronic diseases) have a risk ofabout10%-15%fataloutcomeif infectedwithSARS-CoV-2.If theelderlyandthevulnerableare isolated from others during the time oftheepidemic,theyhaveagoodchanceofes-caping infection altogether. Such isolation,fortheirsafety, is ‘reversequarantine’or ‘co-cooning’.How then dowe practise cocooning of

the elderly/vulnerable?What are the do’sanddon’ts? It is really simple.All thosestepsyouwantaCOVID-19pa-

tient or coronavirus infectedperson to takein order to prevent spreading the infection,

you ask the elderly and vulnerable house-holdmembers to practise in order to avoidgetting infected!Theyshouldstrictly stayathomefor the

nextseveralmonthsuntilaftertheepidemicis over. Government pension, rations, freemedicationetc.,shouldbedeliveredathome.All their physical and emotional needs

must be met by the family members.Healthcareneedsmustbemetbytelephoneconsultations.Theyshouldneithervisitsickpeople nor entertain anyonewith a febrileillness.Theyshouldwearamaskandspecta-clesif theyhavethem,allthetimewhentalk-ing even to other family members andhouseholdhelp.They should certainly avoid getting to-

gether in groups to socialise, but remain so-ciallyconnectedthroughtelephoneandsocialmedia.Homeentertainment,playingindoorgames, practising hobbies such as reading,painting, gardening, playingmusical instru-mentsetc.,willbeveryworthwhilepastimes.They can and should interact with chil-

dreninthefamily,buttheyshouldmaintainthe critical physical distance (minimum 2metres), as school-going children are likelyto bring infection home. Everyone shouldwearamaskwhenso interacting.Allshouldpractisefrequentandthorough

handwashing,particularlyaftertouchingpo-tentiallycontaminatedsurfacessuchaswashbasins, taps, doorknobs, buttons in lifts, etc.Whenhands arewashedwith soap, the tapmustalsobewashedandrinsed.Preferably,eldersandvulnerablepeople

should use a napkin/clean handkerchiefwhen they need to open a door or press abutton. They should not share a mobilephonewithanyfamilymember.Theyshouldkeep their toilet articles separate, and theirrooms and bathrooms should be sanitisedperiodicallywithsodiumhypochloritesolu-tionorsoapywater.Theyshoulduseasepa-ratebathroom/toilet,ifoneisavailable.If theydoneed toshare, the floorandsurfaces thatanyonemay touch should be cleanedwithsoapandwater, beforeandafteruse.

Manyelderlypeople livebythemselves;theywill need a caretaker fromwithin thefamilyorfromoutside,preferablyonewhoisless than40years old. The caretaker shouldwear amask, andwash hands thoroughlybeforeandafterphysicallyhelping them.The caretaker should not come towork

forfourweeksintheeventofafebrileillness— even in any of his/her familymembers.Time is counted from the day of recovery.During this time, a young relative or familyfriendcould takecharge.“Protect the elderly and vulnerable” is a

culturallyappropriatesloganandapracticalstrategy to curtail COVID-19mortality, dur-ing thecurrentpublichealthemergency.

DrMSSeshadri is retiredProfessor&HeadofEndocrinology&Medicine,ChristianMedicalCollege,Vellore, andcurrentlyMedicalDirectoratThirumalaiMissionHospital, Ranipet, TamilNadu.DrT JacobJohn is retiredProfessor&HeadofClinicalVirology,ChristianMedicalCollege,Vellore.

How virus attacks, step by stepSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

It isstilla ‘novel’ coronavirusthatcausesCOVID-19,buttheemergingpicturehasgivenresearcherscluesabouthowtotarget it.A lookat itsstructure,howit infects,andthebehavioursscientistshopetoblock

EXPERTSEXPLAIN

Why it is critical to cocoon the elderly and the vulnerable

The Nihangs: once valiantwarriors, now a fragmented community

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED TheOutbreak

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 9352 (324 DEATHS)

1985Maharashtra

1075 Tamil Nadu

812 Rajasthan

562Telangana

604MP

483 UP

1154 Delhi

539 Gujarat

376 Kerala

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands11ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 31Bihar 64Chandigarh 21Chhattisgarh 31Goa 7Haryana 185HimachalPradesh 32JammuandKashmir 245Jharkhand 19Karnataka 247Ladakh 15Manipur 2Mizoram 1Nagaland 1Odisha 54Puducherry 7Punjab 167Tripura 2Uttarakhand 35WestBengal 152

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,April13.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates

withthemostcasesarelistedabove.980PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN26STATESACROSSTHECOUNTRY

432 Andhra Pradesh

CORONAVIRUSOUTBREAKDAILYWORLDAND INDIACOUNTS

73,303Iran

156,363Italy

127,916Germany

89,554United Kingdom

133,685France

169,496Spain

30,589Belgium

558,999US

83,213China

56,956Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 1,872,073 DEATHCOUNT: 116,098Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11:00pmonApril 13

Surfaceof SARS-CoV2,withaspikeproteinmoleculeemphasised.MaxPlanck Institute

AyoungNihang intraditionalcostume. GurmeetSingh

MSSeshadri& T Jacob John

8WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EASE THE PAINGovernmentandRBIhavetakensteps toaddresseconomicfalloutof coronaviruscrisis.Moreneeds tobedone

It isdifficult at thismoment toaccuratelygauge theextentof theeconomichurtcausedby the lockdowntoprevent thespreadof thecoronavirus in India. Thesharpdivergence in thevariousgrowthprojections thathavebeenputoutun-derline this stateof uncertainty. For instance, theWorldBankexpects the Indian

economytogrowbetween1.5-2.8percent in2020-21.Nomuraexpects theeconomytocontractby0.5percent,whileMoody’s InvestorsServicehaspeggedgrowthat2.5percent for this calendaryear. In largepart, howdeeptheslowdowniswill dependnotonlyonhowandwhenthe lockdownis lifted,butalsoonhowquicklynormalcy is re-storedafter that. The informal sector is likely tobear thebrunt.Butas theGDPnum-bersdonot fully capture the informaleconomy, theyareunlikely toaccurately reflecttheeffectof the lockdownonthe informal sectorwhich isnowfacing its thirdshockaf-terdemonetisationandtheGST.Regardless, theheadlineeconomicgrowth for the fullyearwill bewell shyof the10percentnominalgrowthassumed in theUnionbudget.Extendingthelockdownmightwellbedeemednecessaryinthefightagainstthevirus,

but itwillmeanafurther lossof output.Agradualopeningupwillmeanthatrecovery inlargepartsofthecountrywillbeaprotractedprocess.Duringthisperiod,asfirms’cashflowsremainconstrained,andasbalancesheetstressintensifies,someofthemwillbeforcedtoretrenchtheirlabourforce—thiswillhaveimplicationsforthelabourmarketanddomes-tic demand—while somewill not be in aposition to repay their loanobligations,whichwill have implications for the financial system. Thus, policy interventions should be de-signedtoensurethat thesedisruptionsareminimisedtotheextentpossible.While the government and the RBI have taken several steps so far to deal with the

economic fallout,moreneeds tobedone. Tobeginwith, cash transfers to themorevul-nerablecanberampeduptoeaseliquidityconstraints.Next,allgovernmentdues,espe-ciallytomicro,smallandmediumenterprises(MSMEs),shouldbeclearedimmediately.CreditguaranteefundscanbesetuptoencouragebanklendingtoMSMEs,andthebroadereconomy,not just to investmentgrade firms. Further, the timelines for classifying loansasNPAscanberelaxed.Andasthefinanceministerhaspreviouslystated,sections7,9and10of the IBC,whichdealwith initiationof bankruptcyproceedings, canbe temporarilysuspended.Thecurrent situationcalls forboldstepsbyboth thegovernmentandRBI tolimit theeconomicstress.Evenafter the lockdownis fully lifted, coordinatedactionwillbe required tonurse theeconomyback tohealth.

HOME AND UNSAFELockdownstrategiesmustnotbegenderblind—must reachout towomencaught inabusiveandviolent situations

BILLIONSOFPEOPLE across theworld are under lockdowns in the attempt toflattenthespikingcurveofnovelcoronavirus infections.Butastheunfoldingcrisis has also revealed, formillionsofwomen, stayinghomedoesnot equaltostayingsafe.Homeisnotasanctuarybutabattlefront,wheremanywomen

have little defence against violence from intimate partners and familymembers. TheUnitedNationshaswarnedagainsta“shadowpandemic”—aspike inphysicalandsex-ualviolenceagainstwomenandgirls,asfamilies,facingthepressuresof joblosses,hungerand illness, turn on the vulnerable amid them. In France, Argentina, Singapore, the USandtheUK,distress calls tohelplinesareup, asare reportsof domesticviolence.In India, theNationalCommission forWomenhas flaggedarise incomplaintsofdo-

mesticabuseandviolence,withseveralwomenemailingthecommissionforprotectionagainst abusive husbands and in-laws— the lockdownmeans that they are effectivelyshut inwith their abusers.Manyhelplines are also reporting adip indistress calls— in-creasedsurveillancefromfamilymembersmightbestoppingwomenfromreachingoutfor help. The lockdown has sharpened the edge of inequality for otherminorities andmarginalised, from queer people locked inwith hostile families to childrenwho faceabuseat thehandsof theirparents.At the same time, in a sense, the lockdown is also a familiar reality for far toomany

womeninIndia.Thehomeandthe lakshmanrekhadrawnarounditstymiesthechoices,freedomsandrightsof severalwomen, forwhomtheworldoutsidecouldbeanallyandanopportunity.Asthislockdownshutsdownthatvitalbreathingspace,thegovernmentcannot staygender-blind in their emergency response.Much like theyhave scrambled,if belatedly, to respond to the needs of migrant workers, a gender-sensitive responseneedstobethoughtthrough,poolingintheresourcesofcommunityhealthworkersandactivists, to reach out towomen caught in potentially violent situations. Shelters andhelplinesforwomenmustbeupandrunning.TheUN,forinstance,hasadvisedcountriesto send out a strongmessage against domestic violence via lawenforcement agencies;this is the time for police officers across the country, too, to exhibit zero tolerance forabusers.Theweightof theunfoldingeconomiccrisiswillalso,mostlikely, falldispropor-tionatelyonwomenandgirls—fromlossof jobs tohungerandtheshrinkingof school-ing opportunities. As the lockdown stretches on, urgentmeasuresmight be needed tokeep India’swomenandchildrennotonlyhome—butalsosafe.

WORD OF THE YEARNocontest, it’s infodemic—theneologismisactually10yearsold,butTedrosAdhanomGhebreyesushasgiven itnewlife

THE INTERNETGIANTS of Silicon Valleymust fear that the horsemen of theApocalypseareabouttostepontheirtails.Nothinglesswouldhavepersuadedtheeyeball-collectorstosetasidethemaximisationmathandleadusersdirectlytoverified information,without trying todetain themwith theclaimsof ad-

vertisersandcharlatans.WhenheannouncedthatCOVID-19hadbeenelevatedtothesta-tusofapandemic, thedirectorgeneralof theWorldHealthOrganisationhadsaidthatonanother front, theworldwas fighting an “infodemic”. AndrewPattison, digital solutionsmanagerofWHO,had travelled to SiliconValley topleadwith tech firmsabout the falseinformationandcharlatans’ cures,whichwerespreadingfaster thanthevirus itself.“Infodemic”doesnot appear in thedictionaries, but seems tohavebeen inuse from

2010, todescribea situationwhere the search for a solution is complicatedbyabarrageofdubiousdataonthesubject.Theword“infodemiology”isslightlyolder,anddescribestheuseof internetdatatotracktheprogressofoutbreaks. It is legitimateresearch,whileinfodemicsare threats toourcivilisation.Theinternet isagreatequaliser, reluctanttodiscriminatebetweencredible informa-

tionandfringeopinions,andbetweenprinceandpauper. Initsearlyyears, thiswasseenasademocratisingvirtue.Aftertheadventofbloggingandsocialmedia, itbecamemon-strous, as dubious sources elbowed aside hitherto trusted information, and the omi-nously-named “influencers” swung into action. During the COVID-19 pandemic, fakeclaims and conspiracy theories about the origin and treatment of the contagion havefloatedup fromthemost disreputableneighbourhoodsof cyberspace andwere ampli-fiedbyprominentpersonalities andworld leaders. Fakenewsalreadyposeda threat tothesocialhealthof communities.Now, it is adirect threat topublichealth.

It will take a cillage

Anil Kakodkar

CUday Bhaskar

Covidcrisis canhelpusreworkrelationshipbetweencityandvillage

THE SHADOW OF TERROR2019EasterSundaybombings showedhowIS regroupsbyco-opting localaffiliates

WITNESSINGTHEREVERSEmigrationofdailywage earners in large numbers despite thelockdowntocontainthecoronavirushasbeendistressing.Many even resorted towalkingback to their hometowns, hundreds of kilo-metres away, as their survival in cities,withno jobs in hand, becameuntenable. In con-trast,someintunewithknowledge-eratech-nologieshavebeenabletocontinueworking,manyfromtheirhomes.Whilethelockdownnecessarilymeans a livelihood crisis of un-precedentedmagnitude,particularlyfordailywageearners, it’s timetothinkwhetherare-turn tonormalcy shouldmeanback to busi-nessasusualortoseekanewnormal.The tendency tomigrate to urban areas

hasbeenanaturalconsequenceofbetterop-portunities that got created there— in con-trast to life in rural areasbecoming increas-ingly unsustainable. While there may beseveral drivers of this situation, the indus-trial-eradynamics that led tocentralisationin support of mass production ormassivescaleupwasclearlyamajorone.This,inturn,also led to concentration of higher educa-tion/capacity building processes to urbancentreswhere therewas job growth, quitetothedetrimentof themuchlargerruraldo-main where significant wisdom did exist.Theeducationandtrainingenvironmentbe-camemyopic,essentiallymeetingtheman-ningrequirementstorunsystemscreatedbyothers —with little confidence in creatingone’s own systems to address needs inde-pendentof others.Whilemanycountrieswhichcreatednew

systemsandtechnologiesintheindustrialeraclimbedup thepower ladder, India’s impor-tance grewprimarily because of her demo-graphic dividend and the largemarket thather people constituted. Rural India sufferedsevereneglectintheprocess,probablyasare-sultofpoor jobopportunitiesthereandedu-cationhaving lost its role as anenablerof lo-caldevelopment.TheAnanddairyrevolutionand sugar co-operatives were exceptionsdrivenby a fewvisionarieswhere livelihoodenhancement needs inspired development,whichinturnpulledineducation—inwhat-ever formitcouldbe leveraged—toruralar-eas. Slowly, the country is learning to createsystems and technologies to address herneeds.However, theexercise is,byandlarge,urban-centric.

We are now in the knowledge era. Andknowledge-eratechnologies,incontrasttoin-dustrial-eratechnologies,promotedemocra-tisation(socialmedia,forexample)andfacil-itate decentralisation (work fromhome). Itshouldthusbepossibleforanadequatelyed-ucated and trained youth residing in a ruraldomain to support a significant part of themanufacturingandserviceneedsofurbanar-eas, justasanurbanyouthcansupportasig-nificant part of the knowledge and applica-tion needs in rural areas.With technologieslikeadditivemanufacture, internetof things,andartificialintelligence,well-trainedpeoplecanaddressneedsinbothurbanandruralar-easfromwherevertheyare. IamawareofanIndiangroupaddressingthetroubleshooting,plantmodification and technical documen-tationneedsofplantsabroad,sittinginIndia.Thus, theknowledgeerashould, inprinciple,becomeasignificantincomelevellerbetweentheurbanandruraldomains,withalargeriseintheoverallnationalincome.Asweembracethe knowledge era and focus on capacitybuilding of rural youth, the opportunities inruralareasshould,inprinciple,becomehigherthanthoseinurbanareassincetheruralseg-mentcannowbenefitfromallthree(agricul-ture,manufacturing and services) sectors oftheeconomy.In the knowledge era,with emphasis on

capabilityandcapacitybuildingofruralyouthin terms of holistic education, appropriatetechnologyandenhancedlivelihood,thereisapossibilityforamorebalanceddistributionof incomeaswell aspopulation. Thiswould,however,needknowledgebridgestobebuiltbetweencitiesandvillages,andthecreationofanecosystemwhichhasbeenconceptualisedas a “cillage”—a synergistic combination ofcity and village. One can safely surmise thatbridging the knowledge gap between a cityand a villagewould also bridge the incomegap between the two, and lead to a fasterbridgingofthegapbetweentheaverageindi-vidualincomeinIndiaandthatinindustriallyadvanced countries. Democratisation pro-motedbyknowledgetechnologies,ifproperlyleveraged,caninprinciplereducedisparities,which,unfortunately,areontherisetoday.Realising this dreamwould naturally re-

quirealotofpreparationandtime.Developinga“cillage”ecosystemwouldneedarootedandintegratedapproachtoholisticeducationand

research,technologydevelopmentandman-agement,aswellastechnology-enabledrurallivelihoodenhancement.Itwouldtakeawhilefor the rural youth to become empoweredenoughtoconvertthechallengesintooppor-tunities in rural areas. The emergence of anew-agesocietyisaninevitability.Howsoontheruraldomaincanembraceitandhowcon-currently,comprehensivelythatcanhappen,istherealchallenge:ThatwilldecidewhetherIndiawill gain in theknowledgeeraor lagasitdidintheindustrialera.Can themigration of dailywage earners

fromcities tovillagesdue to theCOVIDcrisishastenthistransition?Theprocesscouldalsobeseenasthemigrationofasetofexperiencesand skills to villages. Canwe look at this as apotential two-waybridgeforanewrelation-shipbetweencitiesandvillages inwhichnotallneedtoreturntocities,butcanrathermeetthe needs of cities aswell as villages by re-maininginvillages.Several initiativeswillbeneededtorealisesuchapossibility.Facilitating a number of newskills, tech-

nologiesandsupportsystemsthatcanfurtherleverage current capabilities of these peopleforstartinganewenterprisewouldbeimpor-tant. Immediate arrangements to facilitatetheir livelihood,and leveragingtheirpresentcapabilitiescouldhelpretainat leastsomeofthesepeopleinvillages.Itcouldtriggerafastermovement towards an inevitable long-termequilibrium.Going forward,we should takeknowledgeactivities toahigher level so thatthe products and services created by thesepeoplebecomemorecompetitive.Lookingatdisruptivetechnologiesforexploitinglocalop-portunitiesshouldfollow.The disruption caused by the COVID-19

crisis, particularly in the context of loss oflivelihoodsatthebaseofthesocio-economicpyramid, is bound to have a deep impact. Itwill need every effort to return to normal.Given that the new normal would, in anycase, be quite different, the right coursewouldbetochannelise thestimuluscausedby this crisis towards accelerating the shiftto a new normal. This will not only help amoredispersedpopulation,butwillalsore-ducedisparitiesandleadto fastergrowthoftheeconomy.

Thewriter is formerchairmanoftheDepartmentofAtomicEnergy

LASTYEAR,ONEasterSunday, Sri Lankawassubjectedtoaviciousterrorattackbysuicidebombers.Thedeathtollexceeded250people,including foreigners. A local group, theNationalThoweedJamaat(NTJ)anditsleader,ZahranHashim,wereidentifiedastheperpe-trators. The IslamicState (IS) swiftly claimedresponsibility anddescribed thebombersas“IslamicStatefighters”.ForIndia,thepresenceofsleepercellsand

modules in the country that have linkswithIslamicjihadgroupsisanabidinginternalse-curitychallenge.Intheimmediateaftermathof 9/11, therewas speculation about the de-greetowhichalQaedahadbeenabletomakeinroadsinIndia.Inrecentyears,thefocushasshiftedtothe

IS. The creation of an IS-Khorasan (IS-K) inearly 2015 with a visible presence inAfghanistan-Pakistan,seemedtosuggestthatthe group is now targeting South Asia. ThepropagandadisseminatedbytheIShasmadeextravagant claims about its agenda and thegroupisnowontheregionalsecurityradar.Therecent terrorattackonagurdwara in

Kabul (March25)wasalsoclaimedbythe IS.TheISreleasedaphotographofoneoftheper-petratorsbrandishinganassaultrifleandiden-tifiedhimasAbuKhalidal-Hindi—thesuffixindicating that he was from India.InvestigationsindicatedthatthisterroristwasMohammed Muhsin (28), a resident of

Kasargod inKerala,whowent to theGulf in2018fromwhereheisbelievedtohavejoinedtheranksof theIS inAfghanistan.HowseriousistheISasasecuritythreatto

IndiaandtheSouthAsianregion?Accordingto India’s leading terrorism think-tank SATP(SouthAsiaTerrorismPortal),99personsfromIndiawereconfirmedtohavejoinedtheIS inIraq, Syria andAfghanistan. Of these, 48 arealreadydeadand35havesincereturned.LastOctober,theNIAdisclosedthatithad

arrested127ISsympathisersfromacrossIndiasince2014,andthehighestnumberof33werefromTamilNadu.Nineteenpersonswerear-restedfromUP,followedby17fromKerala,14fromTelangana, 12 fromMaharashtra, eightfromKarnataka, seven fromDelhi, four eachfromUttarakhand andWest Bengal, threefromtheerstwhileJ&K,andtwopersonseachfromRajasthanandGujaratandoneeachfromBihar andMadhya Pradesh. This degree ofgranularityistestimonytotheclosewatchtheIndiansecurityagenciesaremaintainingcon-cerning the IS and onemay conjecture thatcloseintelligencecooperationhasbeenestab-lishedwithinandbeyondSouthAsia.Thepatternthatnowobtainsisthatcoun-

tries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh andAfghanistanhave their own internal surveil-lance inplace tomonitor theactivitiesof theIS-K. One characteristic thatmerits notice istheinverserelationshipbetweentheexagger-

atedclaimsmadebytheIS-Kaboutitsprofileandreach,andtheefficacyofthegroupbywayofhumanandmaterialresources.Initsmostvirulentphase(2016-17),theIS

projecteditselfasade-factostateinWestAsia.IthassincebeenmilitarilydecimatedanditsleaderAbuBakral-Baghdadineutralised.The IS has demonstrated a proclivity to

re-groupbyco-optingormergingwithcred-ible domestic affiliates, even if they are lit-tle-known. The Sri Lankan NTJ is case inpoint. InAfghanistan, the IS-Khassought topositionitself favourablyinthefactionaltus-sle,andtheKabulgurdwaraattackisseenaspartof thismurderous strategy. Islamic ter-ror groups in theAf-Pak region aredeemedtobeascredibleas thesupport that theyre-ceive from the deep-state in Pakistan. It ispertinentthatthemainaccusedintheKabulgurdwara attack is AslamFaroqi, a Pakistannationalbased.Afghanistan Vice-President Amrullah

Saleh, aformerintelligencechief,hadpercep-tivelynotedthattheIS-KhorasanpresenceinAfghanistan is “an intelligence gameplayedby some of our neighbours”. India and theotheraffectednationswillhavetostriveindi-viduallyandcollectivelytofoilsuchnefariousdesigns.

Thewriter isdirector,SocietyforPolicyStudies,NewDelhi

In the knowledge era, withemphasis on capability andcapacity building of ruralyouth in terms of holisticeducation, appropriatetechnology and enhancedlivelihood, there is thus apossibility for a morebalanced distribution ofincome as well aspopulation. This would,however, need knowledgebridges to be built betweencities and villages, and createan ecosystem which has beenconceptualised as a “cillage”

The pattern that nowobtains is that countries likeSri Lanka, Bangladesh andAfghanistan have their owninternal surveillance in placeto monitor the activities ofthe IS-Khorasan (IS-K). Onecharacteristic that meritsnotice is the inverserelationship between theexaggerated claims made bythe IS-K about its profileand reach, and the efficacy ofthe group by way of humanand material resources.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020 WORDLYWISEI have a choice— I can eitherwatch all thedailies, or I can follow the social media. I

can’t do both. — STEVEN SPIELBERGTHEEDITORIALPAGE

SADHUS ARRESTEDOVER 700 SADHUS of the Ram Dal sectwere arrested in Ujjain on the second dayof the ceremonious Kumbha bath for al-legedviolationofprohibitoryordersinforceover a wide area around the Kshiprabathing ghats. They were released later.Assertingasanexclusive right tobathebe-foreanyoneelsetouchedtheholywatersofthe Kshipra, the sadhus had engaged offi-cials inanangryseven-hourdebate,buttheauthorities refusedtoconcedetothemanyspecial rights. The sadhus had gathered inlargenumberscarryingtheirparaphernaliaincontraventionof theSection144CrPCor-derenforcedlastnight.Thearrests followed

thedefiance of the ban

INDO-PAK TALKSTHEHIGH-LEVELTALKSbetween IndiaandPakistan on the “new security problems inSouthAsia”endedinIslamabadwithmutualunderstandingofeachother’spointofview,although their perceptions of the strategicenvironment were not identical. After histalks with Swaran Singh, special envoy ofPrimeMinister Indira Gandhi, Pakistan for-eign affairs adviser Aga Shahi said: “We areconfident that our discussions with MrSwaran Singhwill greatly contribute to thecreation of a political climate conducive tothebuildingofmutual confidence”.

US OLYMPICS BOYCOTTTHE US OLYMPIC committee voted atColorado Springs (1,604 to 797) not to par-ticipate in theMoscowOlympics. The com-mitteeacted inresponsetoastirringappealbyVicePresidentMondaleandthepromiseof $19million over the next five years if thecommittee supported Jimmy Carter andCongress. Mondale said: “History holds itsbreath,forwhatisatstakeisnolessthanthefuture security of the civilised world.” Hedrew a parallel between post-AfghanistanMoscowandHitler’sBerlin,andsaidthatde-spite athlete JesseOwens’magnificent per-sonaltriumphinthe1936Olympics, itwasacoup forHitler.

APRIL 14, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“Taiwan is the only one behind Washington to attack Ghebreyesus. The TsaiIng-wen authorities don’t have any dignity as the island is not a country.”

— GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

INDIA IS PASSING through a difficult time.The coronavirus outbreak has turned into apandemic that threatens people’s lives allover the world. The virus has no antidote,doesnotseemtodiscriminatebetweenrichandpooranddoesnotrecogniseraceandre-ligion.Confrontingit,therefore,requiresade-termined effort fromall of us. But this chal-lengeisalsoanopportunity.Atthismoment,wemust reaffirm our commitment to thevaluesenshrinedinourConstitution,whosearchitect,BabasahebAmbedkar,wasbornonApril 14. A great social reformer, Ambedkardescribed theConstitution as a social docu-ment,whichemphasises the significanceofrights and obligations and also underlinesthe importance of social inclusion and em-powerment of people in themarch of freeIndia.It’s India’sgreattraditionthattheresolve

of its people is strengthenedwhenever thecountry faces a crisis. In the 1960s, whenIndiafacedafoodcrisis, thethenprimemin-ister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, appealed to thepeopleof thecountrytoskiponemealeveryday.Theentirecountryrespondedtohiscall.Showingcommitmenttothenationalcauseduringtimesofwar is,of course,quitenatu-ral, but the people of India have risen to theoccasion duringmoments of national diffi-culties aswell, provided the leadershipwascapableof inspiring them.PrimeMinister NarendraModi has, on

several occasions, appealed to thepeopleofIndia and they have never let him down.When he asked those who could pay themarket price for an LPG cylinder to give uptheir subsidy, croresof people responded to

his call. As a result,women frompoor fami-liesweregivencookinggasconnectionsun-der the Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana. When he launched the SwachhBharat Mission, PM Modi asked thepeople of India to voluntarily participatein the construction of rural toilets.Swachh Bharat has become amassmove-ment in the last five-and-a-half years andlargepartsof thecountryhavebecomeopendefecation free. People respondedwith en-thusiasm to PMModi’s inspiring call to be-comeswachhagrahis—theybelieved itwastheirdutytoacceptCleanIndiaasanationalmission.Lastmonth, the PM appealed to people

of India to observe a janata curfew. He alsoasked them to clap for all the doctors, para-medical staff and others who have beenworkingamongstCOVID-19patientsatgreatrisk to their lives.He took the extraordinarymeasure todeclarea lockdownin theentirecountryfor21days.Thepeopleof Indiatookit as a duty to pay heed to hismessage andremained confined to their homes, sincemaintainingsocialdistancingwasimportantto contain the contagious virus. The entirecountry also responded to his call to lightlampstoshowunityandresolveduringthesechallenging times.Rightsanddutiesare integral toourcon-

stitutional architecture, even though fun-damental duties were incorporated in theConstitutionmuch later. For instance, citi-zensof thecountryhavefreedomofspeech,assembly,movement and residence underArticle19of theConstitution.But the sameArticle also talks of a duty: Article 19(2)notes that the freedoms provided underArticle 19have tobe exercised in amannerthatdoesnotadverselyaffect theunityandintegrity of India, the security of the state,andpublicorderandmorality. It talksof rea-sonablerestrictions.Article17abolishesun-touchability in any form and its practice isforbidden - not to practice untouchability,thus, is a duty for every Indian. Article 39states, “Ownership and control ofmaterialresources of the community are so distrib-

utedasbesttosubservethecommongood”.Thedutyof every Indiantowardsthe fulfil-mentof thecommongoodthus isaconsti-tutional obligation. Article 49 enjoins thegovernmenttoprotecteverymonumentorplace of artistic or historical importance.At the same time, this Article also imposesa duty on us to protect these historicalmonuments.Article 51A, added later, contains the

chapter on Fundamental Duties. Importantamong these is showing respect to the na-tional flag and national anthem, upholdingandprotectingthesovereignty,unityandin-tegrityof Indiaandprotectingandimprovingthenaturalenvironment.AnimportantdutyhasbeenenshrinedbyArticle55A(j),whichasks “every citizen to strive towards excel-lence inall spheresof individualandcollec-tive activity so that the nation constantlyrises to higher levels of endeavour andachievement”.It would be a great achievement for the

nation if the people of the country respondtothechallengeposedbythecoronavirusbyexercisingtheircollectivewillandperform-ingtheirduties.ManyinitiativesofPMModiand some state governments are being ap-preciatedglobally.Today, every Indian must remember

not to ask what the country can givethem but also reflect as to what they cangive to the country. Even the SupremeCourt, in its 2012 verdict in theRamlila Maidan incident case, observedthat there has to be a balance betweenrightsandrestrictionsonthestateontheonehand and rights and duties on the other. Itwill createan imbalance if undueordispro-portionateemphasis isgiventotherightsofa citizen without considering the signifi-cance of duties. The true source of a right isduty. I am sure during these trying timesevery Indianwill remember this. Surely,weshall overcome.

Thewriter is theUnionMinisterofCommunication, Law&Justiceand

Electronics& InformationTechnology

AS THE US presidential poll due in earlyNovember became a two-horse racewiththewithdrawal of Bernie Sanders, DonaldTrump’s reelection campaign greeted thepresumptive Democratic nominee, JoeBiden, with an attack ad accusing him ofstandingupforChina.WhileTrumpisputtingAmericaandits

working people first, the narrative goes,Biden,formersenatorandvicepresidentun-der BarackObama, is shilling forAmericancorporateswhohaveoutsourcedmanufac-turing to China. More immediately, theTrumpcampaignarguesthatBidenisshield-ingaChina,whichkepttheworldinthedarkaboutthecoronavirus.Too simplistic? Perhaps. Many have

called theattackadmisleading.Butnoonedoes nuance in the election season. Themore interesting question iswhether thechargeagainstBidenwillstick.AstheUSbe-comesthelargestvictimof thecoronavirus— over 22,000 dead and counting — thequestionofChina’sroleintriggeringthepan-demic has inevitably become amajor do-mesticpolitical issue,whichcutsacrossthedividebetweenRepublicansandDemocrats.TheAmerican argument over China in

an election year — Trump has alreadybrandedBidenas “China Joe”—comesat atime when the relations betweenWashingtonandBeijinghavebeenheadingdownhill for awhile. By the time the elec-tionsareover,thestagemightwellbesetfora profound rearrangement of the relationsbetweentheUSandChina.But first to the “foreign hand”. In India,

theroleof the“foreignhand”anditspowerto generate political emotion endures. Lastweek,wesawhowquicklytheoutragewasbuiltupovertheclaimthatIndiadecidedtoexportHydroxychloroquinetotheUSunderthe presumed threat of retaliation fromPresidentTrump.Thanks to the bitter legacy of Partition

andtheaccumulatedgrievancessincethen,India and Pakistan are forever the “foreignhands” in each other’s domestic politics.Thosewho dealwith India’s other neigh-boursknowhowthe“foreignhand”ofIndiaisalwaysthefirstfactortoexplainanyinter-naldevelopment.Until recently, itwas assumed that the

problemofthe“foreignhand”wasafeatureofweakdevelopingcountriesandtheirinse-curepoliticalelites.Butinthelastfewyears,wehaveseen thepoliticsof “foreignhand”infectmostdevelopedstates.TheconcernsofthesmallerEuropeancountriesinCentralEurope living under the shadowof a largeRussiaareperhapsunderstandable.But,whyaretherichandmightyWesternEuropeandtheUSsoanxious?Russianinterferenceinthedomesticpol-

itics of theWest, it is argued, is born out ofRussian political resentments being chan-nelledbyPresidentVladimirPutin.Andthat

his investment in the dark arts of disinfor-mationandsocialmediamanipulationhascomeinhandy.Moscowcertainlyhadapo-litical incentive to poke into the domesticpolitics of theWesternworld. After all, theObama Administration was touting thevirtues of the internet in forcing openRussianpoliticsdominatedbyPutin.Whatgoesaroundsurelycomesback.The problem was not the extent of

Russianinvolvementorthenatureofitsim-pactontheoutcomeofthe2016elections.Itwasfindingsomethingto(politically)hangTrumpwith.AsTrumpgainedgroundinthebattlefortheRepublicanpresidentialnom-ination, Democrats inevitably began to digfordirtonhim.(Bothpartiesdothis.)ButitwasonlyafterTrump’sunexpected

victory that theRussia story acquired a lifeof its own. Democrats refused to come totermswith Trump, whom they saw as a“pretender” in the White House. And“Russiancollusion”becametheweapon tobeat himwith. The intense polarisation ofUSpolitics around theRussia questionhashadapowerful impactonforeignpolicy.Tothenakedeye,itwouldseemRussiawithitsGDPof $1.6 trillion canhardly pose a chal-lengetotheUSthatstandsat$22trillion.Yet,theUSpolitical debatewas obsessedwiththe “Russian threat” and it preventedWashingtonfromevenlimitedcooperationwithMoscowbasedonself-interest.RussiaalsocloudedtheUSestablishmentthinkingon the nature of external challenges con-frontingit.As the virus andChinamove to the top

of theUSdomesticagenda, their impactonWashington’srelationswithBeijingisboundtobesignificant.AndunlikeRussia,Chinaisfarmore central to theUS economy and apowerful political challenger to America’sglobal leadership.Whenhelaunchedhispresidentialcam-

paign lastyear,Bidendownplayedtheeco-nomicthreatfromChinaandunderlinedtheimportanceof continuingpoliticalengage-mentwith Beijing. But Bidenwas at oddswithmanyintheDemocraticParty, includ-ing Sanders and his socialist supporters.They back calls for ameasure of economicdecouplingfromChina.Powerful interests— inWall Street and

SiliconValley—certainlycautionagainstanAmericanbreakupwithChina.Meanwhile,the security establishment has beenmov-ing towards a strategy of balancing China,especially in the Indo-Pacific.Many in theDemocratic Party that support human-rightscentredforeignpolicyareequallyea-gertochallengethe“authoritarianChina”.While Trump tries to tar Biden as the

“Manchurian candidate”, Beijing is said tobe betting on the former vice president asthemanwhomightyetsavethebilateralre-lationship.Underpressure toproveTrumpwrong,Biden is very likely toadoptamorecriticalstance,atleastforthesakeofappear-ances,againstBeijing.When domestic contestation over-

whelmsforeignpolicydiscourse,thereisnoknowingwhere itmight lead to.WhatwedoknowisthatChinahasreplacedRussiaas“theforeignhand”inAmericanpolitics.

Thewriter isdirector, Instituteof SouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandcontributingeditoron

internationalaffairs forThe IndianExpress

It’s India’s great traditionthat the resolve of its peopleis strengthened whenever thecountry faces a crisis. In the1960s, when India faced afood crisis, the then primeminister, Lal BahadurShastri, appealed to thepeople of the country to skipone meal every day. Theentire country responded tohis call. Showingcommitment to the nationalcause during times of war is,of course, quite natural, butthe people of India have risento the occasion duringmoments of nationaldifficulties as well, providedthe leadership was capable ofinspiring them.

Trump versus‘China Joe’

ChinahasreplacedRussiaas‘theforeignhand’inAmericanpolitics

CR Sasikumar

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

COME TOGETHERTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘UNSCand COVID’ (IE, April 13). During theSecondItalo-AbyssinianWar,whentheLeague of Nations accused Italian sol-diers of targeting Red Cross medicaltents,BenitoMussolinirespondedthat“theLeagueisverywellwhensparrowsshout, but no good at all when eaglesfall out”. Unlike the League,which theUSdidnotjoin, itwouldbeintheglobalinterest if,keepingasidetheiregos, thefive PermanentMembers of SecurityCouncil come together to discussthreadbarethecausesandworkoutso-lutions for thepandemic.

KrishanKumarChug,Delhi

BETTER MANDISTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Afterthe fire-fighting’, (IE, April 13). As thecountry isheadingtowardsthesecondphase of the nationwide lockdown,which could be more stringent insome pockets, the agri-marketingsystem for perishable commoditiescanberemodelledtogiveabetterdealto both producers and consumers,while keeping the spirit of thelockdown intact. The marketplace-basedmodel for locallygrownagricul-tural commodities can be achievedthrough a tie-upwith the online gro-cerystores.Thevillage-basedfarmers’collective can be given visible slots,withpricing, grading, and listing sup-port that can be provided by the on-

line grocers to make the model sus-tainable.

SudipKumarDey,Kolkata

FEAR HURTSTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Destitutionor disease’ (IE, April 12). The fear andstigmaassociatedwiththecoronaviruspandemic are growing constantly duetomisinformationandrumours.Peoplefeel unsafe, uneasy, andanxiouswhentheirenvironmentissuddenlychangedand thecauseof thedisease isunclear.This is the time for facts and solidarityinstead of fear and stigma, which canbemoreharmfulthanthediseaseitself.

HargunpreetSingh,Patiala

LETTER OF THEWEEKAWARD

To encourage quality readerintervention, The IndianExpress offers the Letter oftheWeek award. The letteradjudged the best for theweek is published everySaturday. Lettersmay be

e-mailed toeditpage@expressindia.comor sent to The IndianExpress, B-1/B, Sector 10,Noida-UP 201301.

Ravi Shankar Prasad

Inmemoriam:AshokDesaiworkedtoprotectConstitutional freedoms

IWAS20yearsold,a final-year lawstudent,when I firstwent to intern for theAttorneyGeneral for India. I showedup so early thatthe office had not opened yet, andwas toonervous to contemplate switching on anylights. Isatinacornerinthedark.Afewmin-utes later, someone bounded down thesteps, looked at me, and said, “It’s alwaysbetter to be a lawyer working in the lightthaninthedark”.AshokHaribhaiDesaihadarrived at his office. It took me anothermonthtomusterupthecouragetoaskforapositionas a junior.Ashok Desai grew up in the city called

Bombay, graduated with a degree in lawfrom Government Law College, and thenstudied further at the London School ofEconomics.AtGovernmentLawCollege,hisseniors included his old friend Fali SNariman. He was called to the Bar fromLincoln’s Inn inLondon in1956.He often reminisced about his time in

England,wherehereadvoraciouslyandex-plored the city. His romancewith thewrit-tenword,whetherpoetryorliteratureorpo-litical philosophy, started early. From T SElliot’spoetrytoKarlMarx’sDasKapitaloraShakespeareanplay,Desaienjoyedimmers-ing himself in the other worlds that books

openup to their readers.Earlyon inhis legal career,Desaiwould

teach at his almamater and alsowork as alegal correspondent for the Times of India.HereturnedtotheBombayHighCourtsoonafter andbeganwhatwould becomean il-lustrious and much-storied law practice.Believing in the freedomof speechandex-pression, the young counsel Ashok Desaiwould fight off an obscenity ban on VijayTendulkar’splay—SakharamBinder, aboutpatriarchy — that debuted in 1974 on thestage inMarathi. A fewyears later, in 1977,Desai would be designated a senior advo-cate, inrecognitionofhiscraftandintegrityasa lawyer.That integritywouldmovehimto contest many a law and detention dur-ing the Emergency years. He recognisedthat the Constitution demanded the pro-tection of her freedoms. This spirit of civilliberties would stay with him throughouthis life.As is customary in the legal profession,

the senior counsel from Bombay soonmoved toDelhi. He firstmoved to the cap-ital to assume the position of SolicitorGeneral of India in 1989, and later estab-lished a private practice. But, his profes-sional legacy would be firmly established

when hewas appointed Attorney Generalfor India in July1996.Therehewouldarguea wide array of cases representing the in-terests of the Union successfully. His arrayof dramaticwins as a lawyerdidn’t changehis world, for as he told us his juniors, “ifyou over-celebrate the wins, youwill have to over-mourn the losses”.It is a good philosophy for all lawyers tolive by.An instance of Desai’s remarkable craft

wasmadeclear incases likeNandiniSundarvUnionof India,whichhelitigatedprobonofor 12 years. Hewas confrontedwith a re-port prepared by 15 police officers thatwas deeply unsympathetic to the peti-tioner’s case —which challenged the ap-pointment and use of private vigilantegroups like the marauding Salwa Judum.Desai studied thereport carefully, andthenpicked and chose every small instance andpresenteditasanoverwhelmingcasetotheSupremeCourt.Hewouldberesponsibleforensuring that Salwa Judumwas found un-constitutional.His equanimity came from Buddhism,

which he lived by. His sense of joy camefromhiswifeandpartnerofmanydecades,Suverna,whohemet, fell in lovewith and

married, as a youngman. The rich textureofhis lifeandthe legacyhe leavesbehind isnot just that of his deep craft as a lawyer,but the success of his personal life — of apartnership built on mutual respect.An evening at their home would have atthe dinner table, writers, artists, scholarsand dissidents. His three children Jai, Amiand Harsh, over whom he doted, com-pleted the well-rounded life that AshokDesai lived.I amoften askedbyyoung lawyerswho

nevermetmyseniorwhathewas like. I sayto them, Ashok Desai was like a flowingsteady river on a beautiful sunny day.If you sat by that stream, and let the sun-shine fall on you, as it reflected on thewater, you could experience a largerworld, of knowledge and light. Like hetold me many decades ago, it is betterfor all of us to work in the light andmoveaway fromdarkness. In these constitution-ally challenging times, Ashok Desaiwould tell us, move towards the light, anddefend the sunshine that the Constitutionguarantees.

Thewriter a senior advocateat theSupremeCourt of India

Defender of the sunshineMenakaGuruswamy

Indianpeoplehavealwayssteppeduptoacrisis,reaffirmedcommitmenttosharedconstitutionalvalues

On Ambedkar Jayanti, a reminder

9

RAJA MANDALA

by CRajaMohan

REUTERSMADRID,APRIL 13

SPAIN, ONE of the countriesworst hit by the global coron-avirus epidemic, on Mondaystarted to ease tough lockdownrestrictions that have kept peo-ple confined to their homes formore than a month and put abrakeoneconomicactivity.Spain’scumulativedeathtoll

from the coronavirus rose to17,489 onMonday, up 517 from16,972 on Sunday, the HealthMinistry said. Confirmed casestotalled 169,496, up from166,019 thepreviousday.However,thiswasthesmall-

estproportionaldailyincreaseinthe number of deaths and newinfections.Withsignsindicatingthesit-

uation was taking a tentativeturn for the better, some busi-nesses, including constructionand manufacturing, were al-lowedto reopen.But most of the population

were still confined to theirhomes,andshops,barsandpub-licspaceswillremainclosedun-til at leastApril 26.People at main transport

hubswerehandedfacemasksbypolice as theywent towork onMondaymorning.“Thehealthofworkersmust

be guaranteed. If this is mini-mally affected, the activity can-

not restart,” Interior MinisterFernandoGrande-MarlaskatoldCadenaSer radiostation.Lockdown restrictions have

helped slow a spiralling deathratethatreacheditspeakinearlyApril,buttheyhavetestedthere-solveofpeoplecoopedupinsidetheirhomes.“Youfinallyconvinceyourself

that we are at home for a goodcause,”saidBenitoGuerrero,28-year-old communication con-sultant still locked at home inMadrid. “I wouldn’t want to goback to work again until it isstrictly necessary since thatwouldputmyhealthandothersat risk.”Onlyafewcommuterscame

in and out of Madrid’s usually

bustling Atocha train station onMondaymorning. Road trafficwaslighttoo,withmainlypublicbuseson thestreets.Spanish Prime Minister

Pedro Sanchez said on Sundaythedecisiontorestartsomesec-torswastakenafterconsultingacommittee of experts. Any fur-ther winding downwould de-pendongainsmadeagainst thevirus,hesaid.“Wearestill far fromvictory,

fromthemomentwhenwecanpick up our normal lives again,butwehavemadethefirstdeci-sive steps in the path towardsvictory,” Sanchezsaid.However,someregionallead-

ers criticised themoves, fearingaresurgenceof theoutbreak.

Spain eases lockdown aspace of death toll slows

Commuterswearing facemasksat theplatformofAtochatrainstation inMadridonMonday.AP

RUSSIA

Putin:Situationworsening,armycouldbecalledinMoscow: PresidentVladimir Putin said onMonday Russia mightneedtocall inthearmytohelp tackle the coron-avirus crisis andwarnedthecontagionwasgettingworse after the numberof confirmed cases rosebyarecorddailyamount.Russia reported 2,558new cases on Monday,bringing the overall na-tionwide tally to 18,328.Eighteen people diag-nosedwiththevirusdiedovernight, pushing thedeath toll to 148. Putintoldofficialsatatelevisedmeeting held by videolinktoconsiderusingthearmy to help tackle thecrisis, noting how it hadsentdoctorsandmedicalequipment to Italy andSerbia in recentweeks tohelp. REUTERS

VladimirPutin.AP File

PANDEMICWATCH

IRAN

111newdeaths,total risesto4,585Tehran: Iran’s healthmin-istryonMondayreportedanother 111 deaths fromthecoronavirus,takingtheoveralltollintheworst-hitMiddle East country to4,585.Ministry spokes-manKianoush Jahanpoursaid 1,617new infectionstook the total number ofcasesinthecountry’sout-break to73,303, ofwhom45,983 had recovered.“Thetrendofrelativelysta-ble and decreasing newcases of contamination,whichhasbeenobservedin recent days, has alsocontinuedoverthepast24hours,”hesaid. AFP.

BELARUS

Nobodywilldiefromvirus,sayspresidentMinsk: Belarus PresidentAlexander Lukashenkosaid onMonday nobodywoulddie fromthe coro-navirusinhiscountryandagain rejected any needforstrictlockdownmeas-ures. It was the latestshow of defiance by thestrongman leader, whohas dismissed worriesabout the disease as a“psychosis”andvariouslysuggesteddrinkingvodka,going to saunasanddriv-ing tractors to fight thevirus.Thehealthministryhasreported29deathsinBelarus. But Lukashenkosaidthefatalitiesweretheresult of underlyinghealth conditions in thepatients. REUTERS

SCARE TACTICSTwovolunteersplaytheroleof a 'pocong',or 'shroudghost' tomakepeoplestayathomeamidthespreadof thecoronavirusatKepuhvillage in Indonesia'sCentral Javaprovince.Thevillagehasdeployedacastof "ghosts" topatrol thestreets,hopingthatage-oldsuperstitionwillkeeppeople indoorsandsafelyawayfromthecoronavirus.Reuters

Pakistan SCquestions tophealth advisor’sintegrity ontackling crisis

SAJJADHUSSAINISLAMABAD,APRIL 13

EXPRESSINGDISSATISFACTIONover theperformanceof SpecialAssistant to the PrimeMinisteronHealth in tackling thecoron-avirus crisis in Pakistan, theSupreme Court onMonday di-rected the government to re-movehimfromhispost.During a hearing on a suo

motucaseonthecoronaviruscri-sis in Pakistan, a five-memberbench of the apex court led byChiefJusticeGulzarAhmedques-tioned the integrity of ZafarMirza, Special Assistant to thePrimeMinisteronHealth,intack-ling the COVID-19 crisis and thetransparencyofhisworkdone.“There is an army of minis-

tersandadvisors inplacebutnowork is being done,” the ChiefJusticesaid,addingthat“corruptpeople”havebeenkeptasadvi-sors in thegovernment.“Theprimeminister’sCabinet

has become ineffective...All theprovinces are doing whatevertheydesire,”heremarkedanddi-rected the government to re-moveMirza fromhispost.Mirza enjoys the status of a

stateminister.HewasappointedSpecial Assistant to the PrimeMinister onHealth last year af-ter the then Health MinisterAmirKayaniwasremovedfromhis post for failing to check spi-rallingdrugprices. PTI

REUTERSVATICANCITY,APRIL 13

POPE FRANCIS said onMondaysociety had to stand behindwomen victims of domestic vi-olence, as abuse increasedaroundtheworldduringcoron-avirus lockdowns.Francis praised women in

frontlinerolesinhelpingsocietyweather the crisis, mentioningdoctors, nurses, police officers,

prison guards and sales staff instores sellingessential goods.But,speakingfromhisofficial

library rather than from awin-dow overlooking St Peter’sSquare,Francissaid:“Sometimesthey(women)riskbeingvictimsofviolenceinacohabitationthattheybearlikeaweightthatisfartooheavy.”“Let us pray for them, so the

Lord grants them strength andthat our communities supportthemalongwiththeir families,”

hesaid.Domestic violence has risen

as many countries imposedtougher restrictions on peopleleaving their homes to halt thespreadof thecoronavirus.Domesticviolenceprograms

across the United States havecitedincreasesincallsforhelp.InSpain, calls to a helpline for vic-timsofviolenceincreasedby12.4percentinthefirsttwoweeksofthe lockdown compared to thesamefortnight lastyear.

Protect women from domesticviolence during lockdown: Pope

OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES

AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSESEOUL,APRIL 13

NORTH KOREAN leader KimJongUnhas carried out amajorreshuffle of his State AffairsCommission, official media re-portedMonday, replacingmorethana thirdof itsmembers.Kim has established an iron

gripontheleversofauthority inhisnuclear-armedcountrysinceinheritingpower in2011.He is chairman of the SAC -

the North’s highest decision-making body - and five of its 13othermemberswerereplacedat

ameeting of the country’s rub-ber-stamp Supreme People’sAssembly (SPA) parliament onSunday, the state KCNA newsagencyreported.“This isarather largescaleof

SACmembership shuffle,” saidformer US government NorthKoreaanalystRachel Lee.Pictures carried by the offi-

cialRodongSinmunnewspapershowedhundredsof lawmakerssittingincloseproximitytoeachother without wearing protec-tivemasks.A cabinet report reiterated

the North’s insistence that “notasinglecase”of thecoronavirus

pandemic that has swept theworld since emerging in neigh-bouringChinahasbeenreportedin thecountry.Pyongyangput thousandsof

its ownpeople andhundreds offoreigners—includingdiplomats— into isolation andmounteddisinfectiondrivesasitsoughttoprevent an outbreak,which ex-perts say could be devastatinggiven itsweakhealthsectorandwidespreadmalnutrition.“State emergency anti-epi-

demiccampaignwillcontinuetobe intensified to prevent thespreadofCOVID-19,”thecabinetreport said.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Unreshuffles top governing body

REUTERSWASHINGTON,APRIL 13

THE CHIEF US negotiator of adeal with the Taliban for a UStroop withdrawal fromAfghanistanwastoholdtalksonMondaywithinsurgentofficialsinDohaon“currentchallenges”to theUS-ledpeaceprocess, theStateDepartmentannounced.ThetalksbetweenUSSpecial

RepresentativeZalmayKhalilzadandhisTalibancounterpartsfol-lowtheKabulgovernment’sfree-ing of some 300 insurgent pris-onersandthefirstreleasebythe

insurgents of government de-tainees.A dispute over prisoner re-

leases, an increase inTalibanvi-olence and other issues havestalled the US-led effort to endAmerica’s longest war anddecadesof strife inAfghanistan.A State Department state-

ment issued on Monday saidthatKhalilzaddepartedforDohaon Sunday. He was tomeet onMondaywithTaliban represen-tatives “to discuss current chal-lenges in implementing theUS-TalibanAgreement,” it said.The February 29 deal for a

phased US troop withdrawal

called for the freeing of up to5,000Talibandetaineesandupto1,000governmentprisonersasapreludetoaMarch10openingofpeace negotiations between theTalibanandanAfghandelegationthat includedKabulofficials.The Taliban, however, de-

mandedKabul release all 5,000detainees at once before theywouldattendthetalks,ademandrejected by Afghan PresidentAshrafGhani,whosegovernmentwasnotapartytothedeal.Ghani ordered a phased re-

leaseof 1,500Talibanprisoners,of whom some 300 have beenfreedsinceWednesday.

US special representative tomeet Taliban negotiators

REUTERSKIEV,MOSCOW,APRIL 13

A HUGE forest fire in Ukrainethat has been raging for morethanaweekisnowjustonekilo-metre from the defunctChernobyl nuclear power plantand poses a radiation risk,Greenpeace Russia warned onMonday, citingsatellite images.Ukraine’s Emergency

SituationsServicesaiditwasstillfightingthefires,butthatthesit-uationwasundercontrol.Aerial images of the 30 km

exclusionzonearoundtheplant,siteof theworld’sworstnuclearaccident in 1986, showed

scorched, blackened earth andthe charred stumps of stillsmouldering trees.“According to satellite im-

ages takenonMonday, the areaof the largest fire has reached34,400 hectares,” Greenpeacesaid, adding that a second fire,stretching across 12,600hectares,wasjustonekilometreaway fromthedefunctplant.Ukrainian officials did not

immediately respond to a re-quest for comment.The fires began onApril 3 in

thewesternpartoftheexclusionzone and spread to nearbyforests. Police identified a localresidentwhotheyaccuseof de-liberately starting theblaze.

REUTERSNEWYORK,APRIL 13

NEWYORK Governor AndrewCuomo on Monday said “theworst is over” for the state hithardest by the novel coron-avirus, as hospitalizations ap-peared to be reaching a plateauanddeathsincreasedby671,thelowestdaily total inaweek.Cuomo,whohasbeenwork-

ingcloselywiththegovernorsofNew Jersey and Connecticut inresponse to the pandemic, alsoindicated that he would an-nounce a coordinated regionalplan on reopening businessesandschools lateronMonday.Cuomotoldabriefingthatan

additional 671 New York resi-dents died on Sunday, downfrom 758 a day earlier and thelowest daily total since April 5.He alsopointed to the apparentplateauingofhospitalizationsasapositive sign.But he hedged his declara-

tion that New York had passedthedeadlieststagewithawarn-ing that all the gains achievedthrough social distancing couldbeundone if “wedo somethingstupid” and relax those restric-tions tooquickly.“We can control the spread.

Feel good about that,” Cuomosaid. “The worst is over, if wecontinue to be smart going for-ward.”The United States, with the

world'sthird-largestpopulation,has recorded more fatalitiesfrom COVID-19 than any othercountry,withmorethan22,800deaths as of Mondaymorning,according toaReuters tally.

New York, the epicenter ofthe outbreak in the UnitedStates,hasnowrecorded10,056deaths—nearlyhalf of the totalacross theUS.Whilehedidnotprovidede-

tails on the reopening plan,Cuomo has said that it makessense to work closely with theneighboring states ofConnecticut and New Jersey,giventheinterconnectednessofbusinesses andworkers in theregion.Cuomo said the reopening

would be in incremental stepsandthathebelievedthosestepsshould be informedmainly bypublic health experts and notpoliticians.In reopening the economy,

Cuomo said the focuswould beon“re-calibratingwhatisessen-tial” andwould at first involvemore“central”workers.Hesaidmore testingwould be neededtocollectinformationaboutwhoshouldbegoing towork.

“You’llstarttoopenthatvalveon the economic activity, andyou’ll turn that valve veryslowly,” he said. “Do it carefully.Do it slowly and do it intelli-gently -more testing, andmoreprecautions.”

Trump: It ismydecisionwhen toreopen economy

Washington: President DonaldTrumpsaidonMondayitwashisdecisionwhentoreopentheUSeconomy, not that of state gov-ernors.“It is the decision of the

President, and for many goodreasons. With that being said,the Administration and I areworking closely with theGovernors, and this will con-tinue. A decision byme, in con-junctionwiththeGovernorsandinput fromothers,will bemadeshortly!”Trumptweeted.

Aworker inthehealthcare industrygreetshisdaughterthroughacloseddoor inNewRochelle,NewYork. Reuters

■NewYorkCityisindangerof running out of swabs forCOVID-19 tests and shouldonly test hospitalised pa-tients,thecityhealthdepart-ment said in a memo tohealthcareproviders.“Astheswab supply continues todecline, there isarealpossi-bility hospitals will com-pletelyrunout,”theApril11healthalertsaid.

■ Aneffort torushfreshas-sistance to US small busi-nessesstrugglingagainstthecoronavirusoutbreakstalledin Congress onMonday, asthehealthemergencyfailedtoovercomedifferencesbe-tween Republicans andDemocrats. SenateRepubli-cans,whoarepressing law-makers toagree to$250bil-lion in additional smallbusiness aid, chose not tobring themeasure forwardduringabriefSenatesession.

■ The US Supreme CourtsaidMonday itwill hold ar-guments by teleconferenceinMay in key cases, includ-ing President DonaldTrump'sbid toshieldhis taxandother financial records.The courtwillmake live au-dio of the arguments avail-able for the first time. It hadpreviouslypostponedcourt-roomarguments forMarchand April because of thecoronavirus.

MEANWHILE

NewYork governor says ‘worstis over’; toll crosses 10,000

REUTERSLONDON,APRIL 13

THEDEATH toll fromCOVID-19inBritishhospitalsroseto11,329onMondayasthegovernment-without its recuperating leaderBoris Johnson - faced questionsoveritshandlingoftheoutbreakandtheimpactontheeconomy.FinanceministerRishiSunak

has told colleagues GrossDomestic Product could shrinkbyupto30%thisquarterbecauseof the coronavirus lockdown,TheTimesnewspaperreported,andtherewaslittlehoperestric-

tionswouldsoonbe lifted.TheBritishdeathtollisthefifth

highest globally anda senior sci-entificadvisertothegovernmenthassaidthecountryrisksbecom-ingtheworst-hit inEurope.Johnson left London’s St

Thomas’HospitalonSundayaf-ter spending a week there, in-cludingthreenightsinintensivecare, being treated for the dis-ease.Hesaid“thingscouldhavegone eitherway” for himwhilehewashospitalised.The government has had to

defend its response to the out-break,withcomplaintsof insuf-ficienttesting,adearthofprotec-

tivekitformedicsandquestionsaboutwhether Johnsonwastooslowto imposea lockdown.Johnsonisnowconvalescing

at Chequers, his official countryresidence, with his pregnant fi-ancee Carrie Symonds. Hisspokesman said onMonday hehad spoken over the weekendwithForeignSecretaryDominicRaab,whoisdeputisingforhim.It was not known when

Johnsonwould return towork.“Any decisions which he

makes inrelationtowhenhere-turnstogovernmentworkwillbefollowing theadviceof hismed-ical team,”thespokesmansaid.

Britain’s coronavirus deathtoll rises above 11,000

Forest fire near Chernobylposes radiation risk: activists

Italy’s daily viruscases decline,death tollcrosses 20,000

REUTERSROME,APRIL 13

DEATHS FROM the COVID-19epidemic in Italy roseby566onMonday,upfrom431thedaybe-fore, but the number of newcasesslowedto3,153fromapre-vious4,092.The number of new cases

was the lowest sinceApril 7.The total death toll since the

outbreakcametolightonFeb.21rose to 20,465, the CivilProtectionAgency said, the sec-ond highest in the world afterthatof theUnitedStates.Thenumberofofficiallycon-

firmedcasesclimbedto159,516,thethirdhighestglobal tallybe-hind those of the United StatesandSpain.Therewere 3,260 people in

intensive care on Mondayagainst3,343onSunday-atenthconsecutivedailydecline.

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

REUTERSGENEVA,ZURICH,APRIL 13

THEHEAD of theWorld HealthOrganization(WHO)voicedcon-fidence on Monday that theUnited States would continuefunding his agency, despitePresidentDonald Trump’s criti-cism ofWHO’s handling of theCOVID-19pandemic.The US is the biggest overall

donor to WHO, contributingmorethan$400millionin2019,roughly15percent of itsbudget.US Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo said lastweek that theTrump administrationwas re-evaluatingUSfundingtothebody,sayinginternationalorganisationsutilising US taxpayer moneyneededtodeliverontheirgoals.Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general,askedaboutreportsthatTrumpmight “cut off” fundingthis week, said he had spokenwithhimtwoweeksago.“What I know is that he is

supportive and I hope that thefunding toWHOwill continue.Therelationshipwehaveisverygoodandwehope that thiswillcontinue,”Tedros said.He said countries in Europe

consideringliftingrestrictionsasthe number of new cases sta-bilises or dropsmust be guidedby the need to protect humanhealth.“WhileCOVIDacceleratesvery fast, it decelerates muchmore slowly. In otherwords theway down ismuch slower thanthe way up. Control measuresmustbe liftedslowly...,”hesaid.

WHOchief TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus

WHO chief: ConfidentUS funding will continue

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AASHISHARYAN&PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,APRIL13

THEAAROGYASetuapplaunchedby theCentre earlier thismonth,whichhas clockedover 1.5 croredownloadswithin twoweeksofgoing live,might soon bemadeinto an e-pass formovement ofcitizens. Government officialspointedoutthatafunctionalityforthe app has been suggestedwherein it can approve people,whoareclearofanythreatofcon-tracting or spreading COVID-19disease, formovement.“Therehavebeensuggestions

tobuildinthisfunctionalityintheAarogyaSetuApp;theideaisgoodand technical feasibility of thesame is being worked out,” aspokesperson for Ministry ofElectronicsandInformationTech-nologysaid,addingthatafinalcallwill be takenby an empoweredgroupconstitutedforlogistics.Apotentialmoveby thegov-

ernment to use the app for con-trollingthemovementofcitizenstocontainthespreadofCOVID-19in the countrynotwithstanding,cybersecurity and legal expertshaveraisedanumberofprivacy-relatedconcernswiththeapp.Theapptracksitsusers’“inter-

actionwithothers”,andalertsau-

thoritiesiftherewasanysuspicionoftheuserhavingbeenincontactwithanyinfectedperson.Oncein-stalled in a smartphone, the appdetects other devices withAarogyaSetuinstalledthatcomein the proximity of that phone.Theappcanthencalculatetheriskof infectionbasedon several pa-rameters if anyof these contactsistestedpositive.Cybersecurity experts have

said thatwhile there is littleclar-ity onhow theCentrewill trackthese interactions, the app’s effi-cacy alsodependsonhowmanyCOVID-19 positive users haddownloaded it. “For the app toworkefficiently,threeconditionsare tobe fulfilled. The first one is

thatagoodnumberof testshavebeenperformedacrossthecoun-try. And these patients ought tohaveasmartphonewiththeapp,onlythencanaclusterbeformedfor bigger inter-mobile commu-nication,”aChennai-basedindep-endentcybersecurityexpertsaid.Anotherfactorthatmighthin-

dertheworkingof theappisthatit requires Bluetooth andGPS tobealwaysfunctional.“There is a technical concern

too, called ‘signal interference’.Bluetoothoperatesonthe2.4GHzband.Whenyouhave toomanyBluetoothenableddeviceswork-ing in close proximitywith de-vicessuchasWiFirouters,whichalsoworkonthesamefrequency,itmight cause interference. This,inturn,willagainhampertheef-ficiency of the app,” the expertsaid,askingnottobenamed.Eversinceits launch,Aarogya

Setuhasraisedprivacyconcerns,whichhadledtoasmanyasnineorganisationsandatleast11indi-vidualswritingtotheCentreflag-gingtheusageofand“processingofpersonaldataof individuals”.On similar lines, lawyers and

legalexpertshaveraisedconcernsofproportionality,askingwhethercompelling theapponcitizens isproportional to benefits it pro-vides.TheSoftwareFreedomLawCentre(SFLC),whichwasamong

thesignatoriesinthelettersenttothe Centre, said that it hadanalysedtheappandfoundmanyproblematicissues.Among them, the group said

inapublication,wasaclauseintheapp’s privacy policy which al-lowed the government to “toshare personal information up-loaded to the cloud with suchothernecessaryandrelevantper-sons in order to carry outneces-sarymedical andadministrativeinterventions”.“This is problematic as the

clause is broadlyworded, allow-ing the data to be sharedwithpractically anyone that the gov-ernmentwants. India does nothavea lawdealingwithpersonaldataprotectionwhich shouldbelimitingdata collection andpro-cessing,”theSFLCpublicationsaid.Another area of concern, ex-

pertspointedout,wasthelimitedliability clauseof the app,whichsays that thegovernmentwouldnotberesponsibleifinaccuratein-formationwasfed.“Whileitexemptsthegovern-

mentfrombeingblamedifthein-formation is not correct, it alsomeans that no liability can befixedon the government even ifthe personal information of theusers so collected and stored isleakedinthefuture,”anotherex-pertsaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL13

THEMONETARYPolicy Comm-ittee(MPC)oftheRBIhassaidthatarrestingriskstothegrowthout-lookandpreservingfinancialsta-bility should receive thehighestpriorityata timewhenthecoro-navirus’ “dansemacabre” is tak-ing a catastrophic toll onhumanlives, economicdislocation is se-vere andmarkets are in turmoil,according tominutesof theMPCmeetingreleasedMonday.“Evenasitfightsthecorrosive

impactofCOVID-19onmacroeco-nomic and financial conditions,monetary policy has to provideconfidence and assuage fear,”MPCsaidinitsmeetingonMarch27.Inthesechallengingcircumsta-nces,monetarypolicy has to as-sumeanavantgarderole.“Thisin-volveseasingfinancingconditionsforpeopleandinstitutions,keep-ingfinanceflowingtoallagentsintheeconomy,ensuringthatmar-kets donot freeze up, providingtheassurancethattheRBIisattheforefront in the war againstCOVID-19,”theCommitteesaid.OnMarch27,theReserveBank

of India(RBI)announcedathree-monthmoratoriumon loan andcard repayments and slashed itsmainpolicyrate—reporate—bya larger-than-expected 75basispoints(bps)andmandatorycashreserve ratio (CRR) of banks by100 bps, releasing Rs 1,37,000croreintothebankingsystem.TheMPC is of the view that

macroeconomicrisks,bothonthedemand and supply sides,brought on by the pandemiccouldbe severe. Theneedof thehour is to dowhatever is neces-sarytoshieldthedomesticecon-omyfromthepandemic.RBIGovernorShaktikantaDas

saidgrowthimpulsesfacestrongheadwinds fromsluggish aggre-gate demandanddisruptions insupply of labour andkey inputs,includingimports.“Theerosionofconsumerconfidenceandinvest-mentsentimentcanoperateinan

adversefeedbacklooptoworsenthegrowthoutlookevenfurther.”“COVID-19isaglobaldanger;

our defencemust be collectiveandcoordinatedevenwithsocialdistancing,”RBIDeputyGovernorMichaelPatrasaid.MPCmemberChetanGhate said themonetarypolicy onlyhelps tomitigate theworse effects of shocks, andspeedsuptherecovery.“AsnotedrecentlybyformerFedChairmanBenBernanke in anAER article,monetarypolicyhasneverprovedabletoreverselargeshocks.”Das said the situation cur-

rently facing the country is un-precedented.“Itbecomesimper-ative tomake all-out efforts toprotect the domestic economyfrom the adverse impact of thepandemic.”“The outlook is nowheavily

contingent upon the intensity,spread andduration of the pan-demic.Thereisarisingprobabilitythatlargepartsoftheglobalecon-omywill slip into recession,” theMPCmemberssaid.

APPHASCLOCKEDOVER1.5CRDOWNLOADSWITHIN2WEEKS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

ASTHEcountryenteredintoalockdown in the lastweekofMarchonaccountofspreadofcoronavirus and leadingpas-sengervehicle(PV)manufac-turersclosedproductionfromMarch 22, the auto industrywitnessed its biggest dip insalesinatleasttwodecades.Ifdomestic PV sales fell 51 percentinMarch,thecommercialvehicle (CV) sales fell sharplyby88percent.Industryinsiders,however,

saythatAprilwillbeworsefortheindustryastherehasbeenzero sale thismonth till date,andevenifproductionweretostart onaccountof any relax-ationinthelockdownnorms,“we don’t know if vehiclescould be transported andshowroomswouldopen,”saidaseniorofficialwithaleadingautomobilemanufacturer.Accordingtodatareleased

bytheSocietyof IndianAuto-mobileManufacturers(SIAM),PV sales last month fell to1,43,014 units compared to2,91,861units inMarch2019.Similarly,theCVsalesstoodat13,027unitsinMarchasagai-nst1,09,022unitsinthecorre-spondingperiodlastyear.While two-wheeler sales

fell 39.8 per cent inMarch to8,66,849units, salesof three-wheelers alsodeclinedby58percentto27,608units.Total sales across all cate-

gories declined by44.95 percent lastmonth to 10,50,367units as against 19,08,097unitsinMarch2019.“...March2020wasoneof

themostchallengingmonthsfor the auto sector as the 21-day lockdown resulted inbringing the production andsalesofvehiclestoastandstillin the lastweek,”SIAMpresi-dentRajanWadherasaid.As revenues took severe

hit, original equipmentman-

ufacturers (OEMs) struggledtomeet fixed cost andwork-ing capital requirements, headded. “Asperourestimates,the auto industry is losingRs2,300 crore in productionturnover for everydayof clo-sure,”Wadherasaid.HeaddedthattheindustryisengagedinadialoguewiththeCentreonpolicymeasures that couldminimise the impact ofCOVID-19ontheIndianecon-omy and especially the do-mesticautomobileindustry.“There would be chal-

lengesonthesupplyside,de-mandsideandalsoon the is-sue of availability of finance,whichwouldallneedtobead-dressed tobringbackgrowthinthesector,”Wadheranoted.In the last financial year

(April1,2019-March31,2020),PVsalessawadeclineof17.82per cent to27,75,679units ascompared with 33,77,389unitsintheprecedingfiscal.Similarly,CVsalesdeclined

by 28.75 per cent to 7,17,688unitsin2019-20comparedto10,07,311unitsinFY19.Two-wheelersalesalsofell

by17.76percentto1,74,17,616units in last fiscal as against2,11,79,847unitsin2018-19.Total sales across cate-

gories last fiscal declined by17.96per cent to 2,15,48,494units as against 2,62,66,179unitsintheprecedingfiscal.

COVID-19 EFFECTAUTO SECTOR

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

THE MINISTRY of CorporateAffairs(MCA)haspreparedapro-posal to suspendthe initiationofcorporate insolvency againstcompanies for a period of sixmonths to prevent companiesfrombeing dragged into insol-vency,duetotheimpactofthena-tionwide lockdown amid theCOVID-19outbreak.TheproposalissettobeplacedbeforetheUnionCabinetsoon,accordingtosourcesawareof thedevelopment.Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman had earlier an-nounced that the government

wouldconsidersuspendingSect-ions7,9 and10of the InsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC).Sections7and9oftheIBCpro-

vide for lenders andoperationalcreditors, respectively, to initiatecorporate insolvency resolutionprocess(CIRP)againstacorporatedebtor,whileSection10oftheIBCallowsacompanytoinitiateinsol-vencyproceedingsagainstitself.TheMCAhad,inMarch,raised

thedefaultthresholdfortheiniti-ation of insolvencyproceedingsfromRs1lakhtoRs1croretopre-ventmicro, small andmediumenterprises (MSMEs) affectedbytheoutbreakandlockdown.Experts said thegovernment

mayneed to extend the suspen-

sionintheproposedordinanceto12months as the impact of thelockdownmayonly showupaf-terthemoratoriumonloanrepay-mentsannouncedbytheReserveBankof IndiaendedonMay31.“The real impact of this lock-

downwill be felt oncemorato-rium is givenby theRBI on termloans and working capital.Paymentswill begin to fall dueandcompaniesmaydefault,”saidManojKumar,partneratlawfirmCorporateProfessionals.TheReserveBankofIndiahad

allowedallbanksandNBFCstoal-low borrowers a three-monthmoratoriumon payment of in-stallments of all term loans out-standingasofMarch1.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

FOLLOWING ITSnotification lastweek thatallowedcompanies toholdextraordinarygeneralmeet-ings(EGMs)viavideoconferenceand pass resolutions requiringshareholderstovotethroughelec-tronic voting, the Ministry ofCorporateAffairs(MCA)Mondayclarifiedmeasures that compa-niesmusttaketoallowsharehold-ers to participatewhen availingtheabovetwooptions.TheMCA,inacircular,clarified

thatcompaniesusingthisoptionwould, through a public notice,announce howall shareholdersincluding thoseholdingphysicalsharesandthosewhohadnotreg-isteredtheiremailaddresseswiththe company could take part inandvoteinthemeeting.

EGMs throughvideo, e-voting:MCA issuescircular for cos

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

Employeeswill have to informtheiremployersabouttheirinten-tiontooptforthenewoptionaltaxregime to enable the latter todeductTDSwhilepayingsalaries,the IncomeTaxDepartmentsaidinacircularonMonday.Thenew income tax regime,

announced in the Budget, pro-videsanoptiontoindividualsandHUFstobetaxedat lowerrates iftheydonotavailspecifiedexemp-tions anddeductions, likehouserentallowance, interestonhomeloan, investmentsmade underSections80C,80Dand80CCD.TheCBDTsaidanemployeeintendingtooptforconcessionalratesofin-cometaxasprovidedintheBud-getmayintimatethedeductororhisemployerofsuchintention.

Staff opting fornew tax regimemust informemployers

■AsmanufacturersclosedproductionfromMarch22,domesticpassengervehiclesalesfell51%lastmonth,fromayearago

■Commercialvehiclesales,meanwhile,fellsharplyby88%

PRODUCTIONSHUTONMAR22

THERBI’Spolicypanelsaysthatbanksandfina-ncial institutionsshoulddoalltheycantokeepcreditflowingtoecono-micagentsfacingfinan-cialstressonaccountoftheisolationthevirushasimposed.However, itre-mainstobeseenhowthiswillbedoneatatimewhencreditofftakeisflounderingat6percent,badloansaresettoriseandsmallunitsaredowningshutters.

Steppingupcredit flowachallenge

GOLD`41,705

RUPEE`76.27

OIL$26.15

SILVER`38,100

*Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

Note:Spotgoldmarketsshutdueto lockdowninmajorstates. *IndianbasketasonMarch19,2020

‘Auto industry needs lowcost products, localisation’India’s automotive industry will have adopt variousmeasures to stabilise business in the post COVID-19situation, a report by Nomura said

● 50%: Share of automotiveindustry in India’s industrialGDP; the industry is one ofthe biggest employers, boththrough direct and indirectemployment

● DEMAND SLUMP BEFOREVIRUS: The industry wasalready facing demandslump for over18 monthsbefore novel coronavirus hitthe world

Stepsthatindustryshouldadoptpostlockdown:■Lowcostproducts■ Increased localisation■ Investment indigitisation■Automation■ In-plantstayof labour■Enhancedhealthandsafetypractices

MeasuresforstabilisingbusinessintheCOVID-19phase:■Adoptionofcosmeticdesignchangestofacilitateeaseofsurfacedisinfecting

■Productdevelopmentmeasuresaimedattrimmingcoststomarket fornewproducts■Continuedfocusonexistingcleanmobilitysolutions

Challengesfacedbyindustryateachstageofvaluechain:■Productdevelopment■Procurement■Manufacturing■Finance■Logistics■Sales,marketing&aftersales

Source: Nomura/PTI

MPC minutes: Outlookheavily contingentupon intensity, spread,duration of pandemic

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

RETAILINFLATIONeasedtoafour-month low of 5.91 per cent inMarch from 6.58 per cent inFebruary,with the food inflationmoderatingto8.76percentfrom10.81per cent amonthago, datareleasedbytheNationalStatisticalOffice(NSO)Mondayshowed.The retail inflation ratewas

basedon66percentof theusualprice quotations as the nation-widelockdowntocounterCOVID-19pandemichadledtosuspensi-onoffieldworkforpricecollectionafterMarch19,while the rest ofthedatawas generated throughsimulations,detailsofwhichwerenotprovidedintherelease.TheinflationrateinMarchre-

mainedwithin theReserveBankof India’s (RBI’s)medium-termtarget of 4±2 per cent forConsumerPriceIndex(CPI)infla-tion,due tosuppresseddemand,especiallyfornon-essentialitems,asthelockdownwasimposedto-wardstheendof themonth.Going ahead, economists ex-

pectinflationtobeweigheddownbylowenergypricesandsubduedeconomic activity, even as somerisemaybeseenonthefoodsideduetosupply-sidedisruptions.“Thenumberdoesgiveasense

of improvement in inflation,whichismisplacedgiventhatthereal impact of the lockdownwillbefeltsharplyinAprilaspricesof

food itemshave increasedquitesharply.Thefoodpriceinflationof8.7percentwill tendto increase.Also, the food price inflation ofvarious items like vegetables,spices, pulses continue to be indoubledigitsandwiththeshort-ageswitnessed in different cen-treswithmandiarrivalsbeingaf-fected,thepressurewillbethere,”MadanSabnavis,chiefeconomist,CARERatingssaid.Among the food and bever-

ages segment, inflation rate forvegetableseasedto18.63percentinMarch from31.61 per cent inFebruary.Inflationrateforcerealsandproductswasrecordedat5.30per cent forMarch against 5.23per cent amonthago,while thatfor pulses and productswas at15.85 per cent inMarch against16.61 per cent in February.Inflationforthefuelandlightseg-ment rose to 6.59 per cent from6.36percentinFebruary.Economists expect theRBI to

undertake further rate cuts,thoughinflationmaynotremainthe primary deciding factor inviewof the other economic im-pact due to COVID-19. “Minutesfrom theMarchmeetingunder-scoretheRBI’s readiness toact todefend against risks to financialstabilityandgrowthoutlook. Forone,more rate cutsof around50bps are likely afterMarch’s sub-duedinflationandincreasinglike-lihoodofanextensioninthelock-down,” RadhikaRao, economist,DBSIndia,said.

LOCKDOWN IMPACTSDATACOLLECTION

March retail inflationeases to 5.91% on muteddemand, low food prices

REUTERSLONDON,APRIL13

OIL PRICES gained2per cent onMonday,afterarecorddealamo-ngoil producers to cut the rapidriseinsupply,amutedimpactonthemarket as the coronaviruspandemichammersdemand.The Organization of the

PetroleumExporting Countries,alongwithRussiaandothercoun-tries—knownasOPEC+—agreedat theweekend to cut output by9.7millionbarrels per day (bpd)inMay and June, representingabout10percentofglobalsupply.In addition, several other

countrieswill reduce output as

well, in an estimated total cut ofabout19.5millionbpd.Brentfuturesrose63cents,or

2.0per cent, to $32.11abarrel by12:36p.m.EDT(1636GMT),whileUS West Texas Intermediate(WTI) crude rose42 cents, or 1.9per cent, to $23.18.Worldwidefuel consumption is down roug-hly 30per cent due toCOVID-19pandemic that has killed over100,000peopleworldwide andkeptentirenationsonlockdown.Thatisexpectedtoproducean

overhangofsupplyformonthsoryears evenwith the productioncuts. That may limit oil-pricegains, evenafter theOPEC+deal,whichtookseveraldaysofnego-tiationstocomplete.

Oil rises 2% after output cut,but demand worries weigh

BRIEFLYSensexslides470pointsMumbai: The SensexMonday tumbled about469.60points to30,690.02,while thebroaderNifty fellby118.05toendat8,993.85.The rupee ended at 76.27againstthedollar. PTI

Paytmoffersfreee-paperNewDelhi:Readers of TheIndianExpresscannowreadtheelectronicversionofthedaily newspaper on thePaytm app free of cost, aninitiative by the paymentsapp to provide news amidthe lockdown forced theCOVID-19outbreak.

AssochamseeksstimulusNewDelhi: Industry bodyAssochamhas approachedthe government for an im-mediate and an impactfulstimulus package,withoutgettingweighed in by anypossible downgrade byglobal ratingagencies,withthe three-week lockdownhavingimpacttradeandthebroadereconomy.

TataAIAoffersincentivesMumbai:TataAIALifeInsur-ancehas said that, till June30,itsindividualpolicyhold-erswillgetCOVID-19relatedadditionalbenefituptoRs5lakh at no additional cost,while its ‘active’ agents andtheir spouse and childrenwillbereimburseduptoRs25,000 in case of hospitali-sationduetoCOVID-19.ENS

Govt likely to table new clause topause initiation of CIRP for 6 months

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL13

PHARMACEUTICALANDmedicaldevicecompanieshaveaskedthegovernment to declare courierservices as “essential” andallow“all” ancillary services andprod-ucts inpharmaproductiongiventheir importance in the industryduringthenationwidelockdown.“Theyput forwardsomesug-

gestions such as theneed tode-clarecourierservicesasessentialservicesgiventheirimportantroleindeliveryofmedicinesincludingthoseofdiabetes,anti-cancerandotherhighvaluedrugs.Theneedtoallowallancillaryservicesandproductsrequiredforsmoothrun-ningofthepharmaceuticalindus-trywas stressedupon,” stated arelease by the Department ofPharmaceuticals(DoP)followingavideoconferencebetweenDoPSecretaryPDVaghelaandvariousindustrybodiesonMonday.

“TheproblemofcongestionofJNPT port andMumbai airportwas also specificallymentioned.DrVaghelaexhortedeveryonetodotheirbestsothatuninterruptedsupplyofmedicinesandmedicaldevicesinallpartsof thecountryisensured.“AIOCDwas asked to ensure

thatmedicineswhichrequirepre-scriptionbylawshouldnotbedis-pensedby any chemistwithoutprescription,”thereleasestated.Vaghelaassured“fullsupport”

fromthegovernmentinaddress-ingtheirgenuinedifficulties.Theindustryalsogaveitsfeedbackonissues faced at Baddi (HimachalPradesh), Zirakpur (Punjab),Daman and Silvassa, and in the

Northeast. Zirakpur is themaindistribution centre fromwheremedicines are supplied to thewhole of Punjab, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh. Similarly,Baddi,DamanandSilvassaareim-portant centres of pharmaceuti-calproduction.Thepharmaceuticalsindustry

isproducingenoughstocksofes-sentialmedicines,particularlyhy-droxychloroquine, tomeet bothdomesticdemandandexportob-ligations.“The production and trans-

portation is being ensuredthroughout the country by theDepartmentwithhelpofState/UTadministrations,”statedtheDoP.

“Theyputforwardsomesuggestionssuchastheneedtodeclarecourierservicesasessentialservicesgiventheirimportantrole indeliveryofmedicines includingthoseofdiabetes,anti-cancerandotherhighvaluedrugs”

DEPARTMENTOFPHARMACEUTICALS

Pharma, medical devices industriesseek ‘essential’ tag for courier services

PV sales fall by over50% in March amidlockdown; bleakoutlook for April too

FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharaman,wearingahome-madeprotectivemask,arrives toresumeoffice, inNewDelhi,Monday. PTI

■Eversince its launch,AarogyaSetuhasraisedprivacyconcerns

■asmanyasnineorganisationsandatleast11 individualswritingtotheCentreflaggingtheusageofand“processingofpersonaldataofindividuals”

CONCERNSRAISEDONPRIVACYTOO

AarogyaSetumaybeusedase-passforcitizens;expertsdoubtefficacy

Vol. LXIVNo. 87 Printed for the proprietors, The Indian Express (P) Ltd byMs Vaidehi Thakar at The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area,Mahape, NaviMumbai - 400710 and published from 1st floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. Editorial & Administrative Offices: ExpressTowers, Nariman Point,Mumbai - 400021. Phone: 22022627/67440000. Fax: 022-22835726. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Mumbai): Nirupama Subramanian.* (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Additional air surcharge of `1

.00 - Goa. Copyright: The Indian Express (P) Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner, electronic or otherwise, inwhole or in part, without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 14,2020

SPORT12ZLATANSHRUGSOFFCOUGHINGFIT

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic trained with Swedish clubHammarby as the global football shutdown caused by the coronaviruspandemic continues, and a brief bout of coughing didn't appear totrouble him as he practised his shooting.

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,APRIL 13

GOLFERSONthegreenswereaskedtomain-tain a six-feet distance. They were not al-lowedto talk toeachother, as strictno-con-tact policywas inplace. Everyplayer got anexclusive golf cart that was washed andbleachedaftereachroundeveryday.Thetincupsatallholeswerefilledwithfoamsothatthe golfers didn't have todip their hand toodeep to take out the ball after a putt. Thewashroom doors at the venuewere nevershutandeverycartonthecoursewasstuffedwithdisinfectantwipesandsanitisers.Noida girl Anika Varma, 15, got a feel of

golfduringthecoronaviruspandemicwhensheparticipatedinaCactusTourevent-ase-ries of tournaments for professionals andamateurplayers-atPhoenix,Arizona, intheUnitedStates.“OnceIstartplayingthegame,Iamentirelyfocusedongolf.Theprecautionsof no-contact policy and sanitisingwere atfirst a bit abnormal but vital to prevent thespreadofthevirusandalsotocontinueplay-ing thesport,” saysAnika.Arizona takes itsgolf seriously.Whileall

big golfing tournaments around theworld,including the US Open, were cancelled orpostponed,Arizonahasn'tyetshutitsgreens.Sincethecoronaoutbreak,thesporthasbeenbannedin14Americanstates,adecisionthatclosed 40 percent of the total 16,000 golfcourses. However, last month, ArizonaGovernorDougDucey,whileannouncingre-strictionslistedtheexceptionsthatincludedhiking, biking, and activities at the 300 golfcourses in thestate.On Monday, the Arizona State Health

Department put the number of COVID-19positive cases there at 3,539 and the deathcountat115.Thecorrespondingoverallnum-bers for the US have reached 5.5 lakh and20,000 respectively. Despite this semi golf-lockdownin theUS,Anika isbusy.After fin-ishinga creditable fifth lastweekatApacheCreekGolfCourse,shehasnowmovedtoSunCity inArizonawhere shewill takepart inatoureventatUnionHillsGolf Course.For the young Indian golfer, the journey

fromNoida toArizonahasbeen long. ItwastofacilitatetheeducationofAnika'seldersis-

ter Akaansha that the Varmas moved toCalifornia last year in June. Once in the US,AnikaenrolledatGraniteBayHighSchoolatRoseville, California and started workingwith coach NoahMontgomery, who trainsnine-time Asian Tour winner GaganjeetBhullar.Lastyear,Anikagotthebestamateurtrophywithafifth-place finish inthe Indian

Open at Gurgaon. It was onMontgomery'sadvice that theparents tooka13-hour roadtrip toArizona.Mother Sonal speaks about the impor-

tanceofgolf tothefamilyandhowthevirusoutbreakhadmadethingsdifficultforthem.“I havebeen inUSAwithmytwodaughterssincelastJune.ThesituationinCaliforniawasunder controlwhenwe left.Wemade surethatwehaddisinfectantwipesandsanitiserswith us. As an amateur, Anika does not gettoomuchof professionalgolf, so thisoutingwas important.Wehad a family discussionandafter that bookedanAirbnb inArizona.We undertook a 13-hour car trip after con-sultationsandfollowedallsafetymeasures,”shesays.Montgomery, a former police officer, is

also accompanying Anika. His 16-year-olddaughter Hanna is also a participant in thetournament. He too underplays the risk of

playinggolf duringapandemic.“TheCactusTour is a developmental tour, so we don’thave any spectators walking, which con-tributes towards social distancing. Everystateandcounty(districts) followtheirownset of rules and guidelines. At present, I canonlyspeakaboutArizona,wheregolfcoursesareopentoplaywiththesafetymeasuresinplace.PlayingagainstsomeLPGAgolfershasaddedtoAnika’sconfidence.Asacoach,Iaimtoprovidemystudentswithawell-roundedtraining and that’s what this tour providesus,” saysMontgomery.Anika says itwasbecauseof herparents

thatshecouldthinkoftravellingtothistour-nament.“Myparentsweresupportiveofmydecisiontoplaygolf inArizona.Adjustmentslike theuseof foamandother thingsarees-sentialprecautionstomaintainhealthsafetyfor theplayers.Thetourcommitteehasalsomade sure that the carts are washedwithbleachandwatereveryday.Mycoachhelpedmeadjusttothisnewwayof trainingduringthis outbreak. He helped me realise thateveryone is fighting the outbreak in theirownway,” the teenager shares.Withthecoronagraphrefusingtoflatten

intheUS,thenumberofgolfersparticipatingin every event on the Cactus Tour has gonedownfrom40’stolessthan20.MotherSonalis keeping a closewatchon the state guide-lines and latest COVID-19 developments.“Whenwedecided to travel toArizona, ourrelativesinIndiawereworried.Buttheyun-derstoodourdecision.Weareassafehereasin any other place. I would saywe are saferthanmyelderdaughter,whoattendsuniver-sity,worksather labsandgoes forgroceriesinCalifornia. If somethingwasnotright,asaparent,IwouldnotletAnikaplay,”saysSonal.While Sonal ensures that Anika attends

allheronlineclasseswhiletravellingforgolf,fatherSoneldrivesAnika’scartonthecourse.“Withnocrowdat the courses, her father istakingcareofdrivinghercartandI followinanother one. I can see themdiscussing golf.Wewill take it week by week and decidewhetherornottocontinue,”saysthemother.Is thereanything thatAnikamissesdur-

ing these restrictive times?“Anika isa talkativeplayeronthecourse

and that’s what she ismissing these days,”addsSonal.

In Arizona, golf in times of pandemicBleachedcarts, tincupswith foam,six-feetdistance:NoidagirlAnika’sunusualoutingonthegreens

DEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI, APRIL 13

FORMER INDIA pacerMunaf Patel is busyspreading themessage of social distancingafter fourpersons testedpositive for Covid-19 inGujarat’sBharuchdistrict lastweek.Patel ispartof a committee inhisvillage

Ikharthathelpspeopleinthevicinitytodealwith thevirus.OnApril10, four individuals testedposi-

tive in the district which had hitherto notseenanycases.ThefourcasesweredetectedamongmembersofaMajilis-e-SooraJamaattravelling from Tamil Nadu and put up at amosqueontheoutskirtsof thevillage.AWorld Cupwinner and an influential

figure in the region, Patel was asked by thelocaladministrationtospreadthemessageofsocialdistancing. Thepopular cricketerwasmorethanwillingandtooktotheroadonhisbiketobeatthevillagemarketandaddressesthepeople there.“Thingswerenormaltill lastweekwhen

four positive cases were found. Thewholevillage has been sealed andwe are underlockdownnow.Thepanchayatandthecom-mitteewhichI'mpartofhasensuredthates-sentialcommoditiesreachhomes,”PateltoldThe IndianExpress.Hebelievessocialdistancingismucheas-

iertopractiseinvillagesashousesinhisareaare not clustered. After he retired from thegame,Patelchosetoliveinhisvillagewherehe is still called 'Munna'.“Barring a few places, most houses are

spread out. It’s not like a city where oneshareswalls withneighbours. So social dis-tancing is easy to follow invillages. It's sim-ple: Don’t stay in groups, wash your handsfrequently,”Patel advises.“The other day, the local administration

wantedme to request people to follow so-cialdistancing;theytookmetoanearbydis-trictandasmallvillage.Iwentandrequestedthe people to followwhat has been told. Idon't want the virus to enter and createhavoc inmyvillage,”hesaid.

Thorough planningEven before the positive caseswere de-

tected,Patelandhiscommitteehadplannedhowtogodealwiththepotentialproblem.It

wasdecidedthatpoorfamilieswillbegivenpriority;thatrationwillbesenttothemfirst.The local authorities were requested to al-lowthefarmers towork inthe fieldssince itwas harvest time. The administrationagreedbutputinplaceabasicprotocolofso-cial distancing. The next task for Patel andhis committee is handling the Ramzan pe-riodwhichstartsonApril 24.“We areworking towards Ramzannow.

Wehaverequestedthevendorstostorefruitsand all other essential commodities. Thepanchayatandthecommitteehaveplannedto cook food and distribute it door to doorduring Ramzan. Things are back to normalhere. Thosewhowere positivewere takenfor treatment and thosewhowere in touchwith themwere sent for quarantine,” headded.

In his village, Munaf spreadssocial distancing message

CROSSWORD4091

CROSS

1 Bowedoldsoldiers (7)

4 Wheredriversstop(5)

7 Evenwell-donesteaksmaybenowadays (4)

8 Itspopulationwas literallyverysmall (8)

10 It’susedonwatch(6,4)

12 Bebold,perhaps, andaimedhigh(6)

13 All thedifferencebetweenlifeanddeath?(6)

15 Inchargeat thezoo,he’snotthemantopanic (4,6)

18 Idleness inbattle (8)

19 Fastener fora jumper (4)

20 Agreedto loseaselfishcharacteristic (5)

21 Wrongterrain foracoach(7)

Down

1 Cares forsomeland(5)

2 Theymaybesmokedandeatenwithbutter (4,4)

3 Small -andthat’showit’smeant tomakeone feel (6)

4 Hestayswellawayfromwork(10)

5 Theytaketurnsonandoff (4)

6 Tearall topiecessideways (7)

9 Thoughconcerned,possiblyresented it (10)

11 Doesshepreachnoinvolvement? (8)

12 Badlyalignedat the front (7)

14 Dexterous,but foradoctorthere’snothingto it (6)

16 Understoodhemaybejolly(5)

17 Ithingesonthenumberofspectatorsattending(4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Onesetof planetarypatterns is reckless,another isoptimistic.Theendresult could

be interesting tosaythe least! Ifyou feel like takingamoderaterisk thengoahead,as longasyour timing is rightandyou’veconsultedall theexperts.Afterall, sometimes life is just tooshort tostay inoneplace.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)ChallengingrelationshipsbetweenMercuryandanumberof

otherplanetsmeanthatyoumaybeforcedtoshiftyourpositionalittle thisweek. In fact,youmayaswellgiveamileasaninch,andresolvea long-termdifficultywhileyou’reabout it.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Everythingrevolvesaroundyourattitudesandopinions.Thebig

question is, areyoupreparedtobemore flexible? If not,youmayfindthatyou lose theadvantageandperhapssacrificea friendship.The last thingyouwant todonowisdrift apartfromsomebodywhohasbeensospecial.

CANCER(June22- July23)Jealousy isnotapleasantemotion,butyoudofind it fartooeasy tobecome

enviousof others’ apparentlymarvelloussituations.Stop foramomentandthinkabout justexactlyhowmuchyouhavegoing foryou.Perhaps,youmightdiscover, theythink it’syouwhohasgot itmade.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Youmaybeontenterhooksasgenerous Jupiterapproachesa freshrelationshipwith

yourchart.You’reona long-termcycleof emotionalexplorationand it’spossiblethatyou’realready lookingforwardtoanengagementthat’snotscheduledto takeplaceuntilnextyear.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Youcanpayabitmoreattentionthanusual toprofessionalqualmsandqueries.

You’reboundto feela littleemotionalaboutyourplace intheworld,butnothingwillsufficeexceptcommonsenseandanappreciationof reality.Justbecauseotherpeoplehavetheirheads in theclouds, thatdoesn’tmeanthatyoushouldjoin them.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Surprisesawait. Icannotpromise thateverythingwillbeeasy,but I canassure

youthat inamongst the thorns,roseswillbloom.Bepatientandwaituntilnextweekfor therealmagic, though.But, then,at theriskof soundingtrite,magic isall aroundyou-allyouhavetodo is look.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)MayI remindyouthatpride isoneofthesevendeadlysins? I’mpointing

thisoutnowbecauseyou’recurrentlyquitepreparedtolistentootherpeople,but Ihopeyou’ll rememberthispieceof advice inaboutamonth’s timewhenyou’llbeconvincedyou’renumberone.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Youarehavingtodoatricky jugglingact,and it seemsas if youhavetakenonone

commitment toomany.Youmustdecidewhat is togoandwhat is tostay. If youdon’tmakeupyourmindthenthechoicemaybemadeforyou.And if thathappens thenyoumaynotbeable to influencetheoutcome.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)I knowthatwheneventsmovefast itmayallbea littlescary,buteverything

inastrologycomes inphases. Ifyoudealwellwithcurrenttensionthenyou’llbe inan idealpositiontoenjoyrelaxedconditionsnextmonth.Youmayalsobe feelingsomewhatmoreaffluent.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)As things arestarting togo rightinonearea, youmayimagine that they

are starting to runoff course inanother. Perhapsyou’vebeendoing somethingwrong: it’simportantnot tobend therules at this stage, at leastnotuntil you can see the lie ofthe land.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Oneparticulardisagreementdoesnotwant togoaway,howevermuchyouwish itwould! It’s

not inyournature togrityourteethandcarryon, sodowhatyoucantomakesure thateveryonesees thatpeaceandharmonyare thefundamental conditions forahappyworld.

SUDOKU4179

DifficultyLevel1sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4178

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Thetimenottobecomeafatheris______beforeawar-EBWhite(8,5)

SOLUTION:EERIE,ARISE/RAISE,SNITCH,HUNGRYAnswer:Thetimenottobecomeafatheriseighteenyearsbeforeawar-EBWhite

IREEE CHINST

SERAI NRUGHY

SolutionsCrossword4090:Across:11Cardiograph,9Account,10Louse,11Hits,12Cannibal,14Landed,16Hebrew,18Gorgeous,19Acre,22Spilt,23Eclipse,24Uglyrumours.Down:2Ascot,3Drum,4Outlaw,5Relented,6Plumber,7Pathologist,8Yellowfever,13Recently,15Nursing,17Bureau,20Caper,21Alto.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

After finishingacreditable fifth lastweek,AnikaVarmahasnowmovedtoSunCity inArizonawhereshewillbe inactionat theUnionHillsGolf Course.PaigeLee

Once I start playing thegame, Iamentirely focusedongolf.Theprecautions of no-contactpolicy and sanitisingwere atfirst a bit abnormal but vital toprevent the spreadof the virusandalso to continueplayingthe sport.”

ANIKAVARMA

Localadministrationwantedmetorequestpeopletofollowsocialdistancing,theytookmetoanearbydistrictandasmallvillage. Iwentandrequestedthepeopletofollowwhathasbeentold. Idon'twantvirustoenterandcreatehavocinmyvillage.”

MUNAFPATELFORMER INDIA INTERNATIONAL