PNS n NEW DELHI

The nationwide tally of confirmedCOVID-19 cases crossed 5,000 onTuesday amid hectic discussionsfor a possible extension of the 21-day lockdown beyond April 14 asseveral states announced plans toramp up their testing infrastructureand put in place strong 'cluster con-tainment' plans in areas identifiedas hotspots of the outbreak.

There were also indicationsabout possible relaxations from acomplete lockdown for some sec-tors, including agriculture andunorganised labour sector, at leastin some states, while there werealso talks about even strongerarea-specific restrictions in someplaces.

The Union Health Ministry'sevening update, however, showed4,789 confirmed cases and 124deaths. More than 400 have so farbeen cured and discharged, whilenearly 1.1 lakh tests have been con-ducted so far in the country, as perofficial announcements.

Officials said that the lockdown

and social distancing measureshave helped contain the pandem-ic in a big way in India. Citing anICMR study, the Health Ministrysaid just one COVID-19 patientcan infect as many as 406 people

in 30 days in the absenceof preventive measuressuch as social distancingand the lockdown.

A lot of stategovernments as

well as experts arerequesting Central

Government to extendthe lockdown. The Centralgovernment is thinking in

this direction

CENTRE MULLS EXTENDING

157

Confirmed Cases

Deaths

445Recovered

CORONAOUTBREAK

IN INDIA

5337

NEW DELHI: A Group of Ministers onCOVID19 on Tuesday recommendedextension of closure of all educationalinstitutions and restricting all religiousactivities having public participationtill May 15 irrespective of whether thegovernment extends the 21-daylockdown or not, official sources said.

A meeting of the GoM chaired byDefence Minister Rajnath Singh andparticipated by Home Minister AmitShah and Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman concluded that religiouscentres, shopping malls andeducational institutions must not beallowed to resume normal functioning

at least for four weeks from April14 when the current lockdownends.The thinking in thegovernment is that schools andcolleges will more less remainshut till end of June as thesummer vacation will startfrom middle of May.

The GoM recommendedthat activities of all religiousorganisations should not beallowed till May 15 as aprecautionary measure tocheck spread of coronavirusinfection, the sources added.

LOCKDOWN‘Continue closure of educational,religious institutions till May 15’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment is fully geared up withmedical, paramedical supportstaff, equipment and infrastruc-ture besides mapping suspect-ed cases of COVID-19 infectionin a ratio higher than thenational level.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, who held areview meeting here on Tuesdaywith officials concerned, tooknote of the situation and direct-ed them to carry out the preven-tive and curative measures effec-tively. Later speaking to themedia, I&PR Minister PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) andSpecial Chief Secretary, Medicaland Health, Jawahar Reddysaid that to check the infectionlevels across the state, the healthdepartment is conducting rapidtests. For this, orders has beenplaced for three lakh rapid test-ing kits and the ICMR is alsolikely to provide some kits. The

goal is to conduct the maximumnumber of rapid tests every dayto check the level of infection inthe state and the hotspots foraccurate community-level sur-veillance, Jawahar Reddy said.

In a major relief, the ICMRhas approved that TruNatmachines used for TB testingwhich can also be used forCOVID-19. About 240 TruNatcentres are available across thestate which can conduct 3,000

tests per day, Jawahar Reddyrevealed.

As of now, seven labs arefunctional and the number oftests per day has been increasedfrom 90 in February to 1,170tests per day now. Currently,12,000 PPEs are available. Anorder was placed for 20 lakhPPEs where 30,000 PPEs will bedelivered every week.

GOING VIRAL

A COVID-19 patient can infect 406 in 30 daysPNS n NEW DELHI

An ICMR study has found thata COVID-19 patient can infect406 people in 30 days if pre-ventive measures such as lock-down and social distancing arenot implemented, the Unionhealth ministry said onTuesday.

With preventive measures inplace, the possibility of theinfection can be reduced to an

average of just two-and-a-halfpersons per patient in thesame period, JointSecretary in theMinistry of HealthLav Agarwal said.

Citing theIndian Council ofMedical Research(ICMR) study,Agarwal said that thecurrent 'R0' or R naughtfor the coronavirus infection is

somewhere between 1.5 and 4.'R0' is a mathemati-cal term that indi-

cates how conta-gious an infec-tious disease is. Ittells the averagenumber of peoplewho will catch a

disease from oneinfected person.

"If we take the 'R0' tobe 2.5 then one positive person

can infect 406 people in 30days, if the lockdown andsocial distancing measures arenot in place, but if social expo-sure is reduced by 75 per centthen that one sick person willonly be able to infect only 2.5persons," Agarwal said, high-lighting the importance of theongoing 21-day lockdown andsocial distancing.

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8‘INDIA'S RENEWABLES INSTALLATION

COULD FALL DUE TO LOCKDOWN’

ANALYSIS 7DON’T DEMONISE

A COMMUNITY

SPORTS 11BHAJJI FINE WITH IPL IN EMPTY STADIUMS

VIJAYAWADA, WEDNESDAY APRIL 8, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

}LOCKDOWN DIARIES:SOBHITA IS READING,

WATCHING WEBSERIES AND COOKING

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*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 156*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

{

Gehlot demandsinquiry by SCjudge intoDelhi's TablighiJamaat event

5

Spot gold marketsremain shut due tolockdown: HDFCSecurities

8

UP increasingtesting centresfor COVID-19:Adityanath

4

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated April 06, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Chaitra & Shukla PakshaPanchangam:Tithi: Purnima: 08:03 am, Pratipada: 04:12 am (Next Day)Nakshatram: Chitra: 03:02 am (Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 12:17 pm – 01:50 pmYamagandam: 07:40 am – 09:13 amVarjyam: 01:05 pm – 02:29 pmGulika: 10:45 am - 12:17 pmGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 09:27 pm – 10:51 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: NIL

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Partly cloudyTemp: 39/26Humidity: 51%Sunrise: 06:05 amSunset: 06:30 pm

3

3

3

3

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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A 45-year old man died ofCoronavirus in Kurnool dis-trict of Andhra Pradesh, tak-ing the death toll in the stateto four even as 11 more casesof COVID-19 were reportedovernight.

The total number ofCoronavirus cases in the statehas now touched 314 while theactive cases remained at 294,according to the bulletin issuedby the Medical and HealthDepartment on Tuesday.

The 45-year old person inKurnool did not have any

travel history but was admittedto the government hospitalwith symptoms of COVID-19on April 1. The deceasedbreathed his last on April 3 andthe authorities announced it onTuesday. He was said to be suf-fering from Type-2 diabetesand died on April 3, according

to the state nodal officer ArjaSrikanth. The deceased testedpositive for coronavirus, theofficial said.

In all, six patients haverecovered from the diseaseand been discharged fromhospitals.

State to contain COVID-19spread by ramping up testing

Maha cops book 7 for notinforming about AP residents l Eight had tested positive for Coronavirus laterPNS n LATUR

Seven peoplehave beenbooked inLatur inMaharashtrafor not inform-ing authoritiesabout 12 AndhraPradesh residentswho travelled from Haryanaand took shelter in a mosquein Nilanga here during thelockdown, eight of whom latertested positive for NovelCoronavirus, police said onTuesday.

The 12, hailing fromKurnool in AP, had attendeda religious gathering in

Ferozepur Jhirka and thenarrived by a private

vehicle in Nilanga,and were appre-hended by policeon Friday, officialssaid said. Eight ofthem tested positive

for the virus next dayand are undergoing

treatment, they added."Even if they stayed just for

the night, the people manag-ing the religious place shouldhave informed authorities.Since they did not, a case hasbeen registered against sevenpeople at Nilanga police sta-tion," Inspector Anil Chomale.

He said the seven are quar-antined in Nilanga.

KGH virologylab startsCovid-19testing

No objection to samplecollection bystates: ICMRPNS n NEW DELHI

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) on Tuesday said ithas no objection to stategovernments setting up convenient sample collection sites.

However, the apex healthresearch body said its guide-lines should be followed andthe sample collection shouldbe done using recommend-ed Personal ProtectiveEquipment (PPE).

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The virology lab of the KingGeorge Hospital started test-ing of swabs of suspectedCoronavirus cases fromMonday night onwards.

Technicians and doctors atthe inaugural shift tested 11samples and all of them camenegative. The results were ver-ified by the Tirupati lab, saidAndhra Medical College prin-cipal Dr PV Sudhakar.

“We have obtained all thenecessary permissions andwill start testing the swabs infull swing in another week’stime,’’ Dr Sudhakar said.

In the initial stages, 15 to 20samples would be tested anda maximum of 120 swabswould be tested in three shiftsper day. Around 60 personnel,including technicians andmedical officers have beendeployed at the lab in threeshifts, Dr Sudhalkar said.

Sensex zooms 2,476pts to reclaim 30KPNS n MUMBAI

The BSE gauge Sensex onTuesday went past the key30,000-level by surging over2,476 points, the biggest sin-gle-day gains in absoluteterms, amid a broad-basedrally in global equities.

After soaring 2,567 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareBSE barometer ended 2,476.26points or 8.97 per cent high-

er at 30,067.21. In percentageterms, the Sensex rise was thebiggest since May 2009.

COVID-19 claims 1 more lifein AP, infections rise to 314

3

The total number of Coronavirus cases in the state hasnow touched 314 while the active cases remained at294, according to the bulletin issued by the Medicaland Health Department on Tuesday

SC says noblanket orderon prisoners PNSn NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Tuesdayrefused to pass any blanketorder directing the Centre andstates to consider grantingparole or interim bail to pris-oners above 50 years of age asalso to those suffering from dia-betes, high blood pressure, res-piratory problem and other lifethreatening diseases in view ofcoronavirus pandemic.

JAPAN ENDS OLYMPIC FLAME DISPLAY DUE TO VIRUS

The coronavirus pandemic has killed morethan 75,000 people people worldwide, the

majority of them in Europe, since itemerged in China in December, according toa tally compiled by AFP from officialsources at 0945 GMT Tuesday. A total of75,538 deaths have been recorded,including 53,928 in Europe, the continentworst hit by the virus. The official talliesprobably reflect only a fraction of the actualnumber of cases.

TRUMP TALKS “RETALIATION” IFINDIA REJECTS EXPORT OF KEY DRUGUS President Donald Trump has said "there may be retaliation" if India

does not agree to export hydroxychloroquine, a key anti-malaria drugbelieved by many to be effective in the treatment of coronavirus. Hisremarks come nearly two weeks after the government bannedexport of the drug as experts test its efficacy in helping treatCOVID-19 patients."I would be surprised if he (Prime MinisterNarendra Modi) would, you know, because India does verywell with the United States," Mr Trump said at a White Housepress briefing on Monday, when a reporter askedwhether he was worried about "retaliation to the USban on export of medical goods" from India.

Two people, who earlier did not show any symptoms of the novelcoronavirus or COVID-19, have tested positive in Kerala's Pathanamthitta

district, about 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram, officials have said. One ofthem is a 60-year-old man who had traveled from Dubai to Pathanamthitta;another is a 19-year-old student who had travelled fromDelhi. The state has swung into action after the casescame to the fore."This is a warning sign. Thousands ofinnocent, unknown people might also have come incontact with these asymptomatic carriers. The factthat they passed their 14-day quarantine period,without showing any symptoms, is further alarming.

KERALA TEEN, MAN WITH NO COVID-19 SYMPTOMS TEST POSITIVE

GLOBAL DEATH TOLL FROMCORONAVIRUS TOPS 75,000

The Olympic flame will be removed from display in Japan, officials saidTuesday, as the country braces for a state of emergency due to the

coronavirus that also forced the historic postponement of Tokyo 2020. Ithad been on public display in the northeasternFukushima region since last week, but JapaneseOlympic organisers decided to shelve it ascoronavirus cases climb in the country. The ill-fatedflame, lit in Greece, arrived in Japan on March 20for a torch relay originally scheduled to start sixdays later and climax at the Olympics openingceremony on July 24.

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VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020 vijayawada 02

As April 14, 2020, the daythe 21-day lockdownannounced to break the

chain of COVID-19 nears, thequestion uppermost inthe minds of the peo-ple is whether therestrictions will belifted by this date.

Has the lock-down, part of the“war againstCoronavirus” beenenough to gain control over thevirus? Has the goal of aCorona-free country beenmet? Or is there anything thatwe could learn from thosecountries that have been thusfar remained untouched by thisextremely infectious conta-gion? The answer to suchquestions may differ, depend-ing on your political leanings.

The fact, however, remainsthat the Central governmentwill find it extremely tough totake a decision on lifting thelockdown, as the country facesthe possibility of communityspread — Stage-3 — of theCoronavirus.

Even as the entireworld is united in its strug-

gle to defeat COVID-19,India’s political leadership isshockingly least bothered

about the people.Criticism and counter-

criticism is on expected lines,thanks to the political ‘wisdom’our leaders.

No doubt that this possibil-ity has increased with the sud-den rise of Covid-19 casesdue to three-day TablighiJamaat congregation held inDehi in mid-March, just aheadof the Janata Curfew. Hundredsof participants of that congre-gation returned to their homesacross 18 States in the countryand infected at least their closecontacts. The situation was byand large believed to havebeen under control till then.

However, once those whoparticipated in the TablighiJamaat congregation were test-ed, the number of people test-

ing positive for the virus shotby by 30 per cent. As this newsbroke, the country naturallystarted worrying about thepossible spread of the virus.

What was even more worri-some was that the ‘religiousangle’ came handy for princi-pal political players of thecountry to take on their rivals.

Despite providing strongpolitical leadership, PrimeMinister Narendra Modisilently opened the door for hismen to unleash a war of words,and allowing them to give areligious colour to the spread

of the pandemic. His support-ers went to town, attributingthe steep rise in the number ofCoronavirus cases to theTablighi Jamaat congregation.

Though Modi hasn’t direct-ly involved himself in thisepisode, no one believes that hewould ignore an opportunity togain political mileage out of thepresent episode.

However, it must be men-tioned here that many politi-cians have gone on record say-ing that it would not be fair onanybody's part to blame onereligion for the rapid spread of

the lethal virus. While it’s stillto be seen whether the politicsover the Tablighi Jamaatepisode will help the countryovercome the pandemic.

The reality is that at present,the only option that makessense is continuing with thesocial distancing theory. Thisis considered to be the best wayto break the chain of commu-

nity spread. Owners and edi-tors of media houses, during aninteraction with the PrimeMinister, suggested that Indiashould learn lessons from thecountries badly effected byCOVID-19 and these nationsconsulted.

Countries have adopted dif-ferent tactics to deal with thevirus, a very few like SouthKorea have implemented cer-tain restrictions but not com-plete lockdown. This approachcould work in a society that ishighly disciplined — SouthKorea’s track record of hostingthe Olympics and AsianGames proves this.

South Korea implementedits 3T policy — Trace, Test &Treat that yielded good results.The South Korean examplecould be replicated in anycountry, but only with thehelp and cooperation of its dis-ciplined society.

India stands at a crucial

crossroads — extending thelockdown might have graveeconomic impact, but lifting itmay result in a situation priorto implementing it.

The Centre must considerevery eventuality before takinga decision.

Telangana Chief MinisterK. Chandrasekhar Rao hasalready appealed to Modi toextend the lockdown for atleast two more weeks. Nobodyknows how Modi would reactto KCR’s remarks that he wouldimplement the lockdown in hisstate for two more weeks evenif the Centre lifted it.

Meanwhile, a political con-troversy brewed in AndhraPradesh, with the ruling YSRCongress Party cadres active-ly involved in disbursingRs1,000 assistance given tothe BPL families to meet theirneeds during the lockdown.

They, along with the candi-dates for local bodies' polls

accompanied village volun-teers who are supposed tohand over those amount tobeneficiaries. This led to accu-sations that the YSRCP wasdistributing the money forelection purpose. Enraged, theOpposition lodged complaintswith the Governor and theState Election Commissioner.This controversy might contin-ue till polling day, especially ifany ‘concrete evidence’ that theYSCRP was ‘bribing’ voters, isfound.

The TDP at the moment is‘leaderless’ as its supremo NChandrababu Naidu has liter-ally been stranded inHyderabad following the lock-down. Though Naidu has beenmonitoring the situation in APand guiding TDP cadresthrough teleconferences, hisphysical presence would haveundoubtedly made a differenceto the party, and also fetchedhim political dividends.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

Owners and editors of media houses,during an interaction with the PrimeMinister, suggested that India shouldlearn lessons from the countriesbadly effected by COVID-19 andthese nations consulted

Virus or lockdown, leaders unwilling to stop doing politics

PINPOINT

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Kalamkari productsface bleak futurePNS n MACHILIPATNAM

The future is bleak forKalamkari industry as it hasbeen thrown out of gear asdyed textiles worth Rs 10 croreare ready for exports but thereare no takers following impos-ing of lockdown in the wake ofthe COVID-19 threat.

Several marketing agenciesused to place bulk orders withthe Kalamkari dyeing unitshere to export them to the USand to Europe. Of late, bigshopping malls like Reliance,Walmart and online marketingcompanies like Amazon andFlipkart also sell them to con-sumers because these productsenjoy a lot of consumer sup-port.

Wholesale traders in Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangaluru,Chennai and Ahmedabad pur-chase them and in turn sellthem to retailers. Because ofthe lockdown, transactionshave been paralysed. Normally,the Kalamkari units receivebulk orders from January toJune annually.

For want of transport facil-ity, products worth Rs 10 croreremained with the dyeingunits. The industry is depen-dent on exports to other Statesand other countries will take atleast six months to revive afterlifting of the lockdown.

The units manufacture bed-sheets, saris, dress material,furnishings and other prod-ucts. In all, 5,000 deriveemployment both directly andindirectly from these units.Because of the lockdown, the

units remainedshut and the pro-duction has beenparalysed totally.

Kondru Gangadhar ofPedana, national award win-ning artist, sees very bleakfuture for the industry since itwill take at least six months torevive the units once the lock-down is lifted. Unless the Stateand Central governments

come to the rescue ofthe Kalamkari units,the industry restoring

past glory is almostruled out.

He urges the government toextend various incentives andsubsidies to the dyeing unitsand take steps to sell theKalamkari products throughLepakshi and other handi-crafts showrooms.

l Kondru Gangadhar of Pedana, national award winningartist, sees very bleak future for the industry since it willtake at least six months to revive the units once thelockdown is lifted. Unless the State and Centralgovernments come to the rescue of the Kalamkari units,the industry restoring past glory is almost ruled out

l For want of transportfacility, products worth Rs

10 crore remained with thedyeing units. The industry

is dependent on exports toother States and countriesand it will take at least six

months to revive afterlifting of the

lockdown

l The units manufacture bed-sheets, saris, dress material,furnishings and otherproducts. In all, 5,000 deriveemployment both directly andindirectly from these units.Because of the lockdown, the

units remained shut andthe production hasbeen paralysed totally

Waltair Dvn introduces dronesfor railway assets monitoring PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Since it is not practically pos-sible to guard physically thehuge assets and open railwaytracks widespread all over dur-ing the lockdown time, theconcept of security patrollingthrough drones has been intro-duced in Waltair Division ofEast Coast Railway.

Due to the COVID-19 cri-sis across the world, most ofthe nations have resorted to thelockdown strategy to combat-ing the widespread ofCoronavirus. In view ofnational crisis, the IndianRailways also stopped themovement of passenger trainservices. However, the goodstrains are being plied to trans-port the essential commoditiesto ensure uninterrupted supplyacross the nation.

Due to the lockdown, thereare some sections, which havegot no movement, or very lessmovement of the railway secu-rity personnel.

Hence, the security of unat-tended railway property andvital installations becomes veryimportant. Similarly, due tothis lockdown, it is also neces-sary to ensure that no unau-thorised movement of the peo-ple takes place through railwaytracks. Drone cameras will beoperating with the permis-sion of the Naval and airportauthorities so that the move-

ment is fully monitored. Theywill capture the images of thetrack from the maximum suit-able heights, communicationlinks of two km approximate-ly initially so that the imageand video reached up to theoperator are clear to take fol-low up action. Besides thereal time monitoring, the datawill be stored to create videolibrary for future references. Atthe same time with the use of

motor or push trolley, theoperator with RPF can moveinside the section and coverthe area, if required. In anemergency, message can besend to the Control Room forimmediate action and infor-mation can be passed on to thelocal police. The same projectwill be soon become opera-tional on the Khurda Road,Bhubaneswar and Puri as perrequirement.

l Due to thelockdown, there are

some sections,which have got no

movement, or veryless movement of

the railway securitypersonnel

l Hence, the security of unattendedrailway property and vitalinstallations becomes veryimportant. Similarly, due to thislockdown, it is also necessary toensure that no unauthorisedmovement of the people takes placethrough railway tracks

For these cops, duty comes beforeattending last rites of their kinPNSn HYDERABAD

Death of mother in the family ispainful, but this constable tookpains to discharge his duty ratherthan attending funeral inVizianagaram district, as it is notfeasible under the prevailinglockdown conditions.

Because of the lockdownclamped on the State, a policeconstable, Gouri Nauru ofMettapalli village ofCheepurupalli mandal, who isbusy enforcing the lockdown,could not go to Vizianagaram dis-trict to perform the last rites ofhis mother.

He was posted in Medipally

Police Station here. His motherYellamma (48), who was a par-alytic died on Saturday. In spiteof information about the death ofhis mother, Gouri Naidu couldnot be able to do anything.

As inter-state borders betweenTelugu States remained sealed onaccount of the lockdown.Moreover, there are no trans-portation facilities. As a result,Gowri Naidu could not see hismother for the last time. Comingto terms with the situation, hedischarged his duty on Sundayhere while the last rites werebeing performed there in hisnative village.

His colleagues CIs Anji Reddy

and Y Jani, SI Raghuram and oth-ers condoled death of his moth-er consoled Gowri Naidu.

SI Santaram who was postedas SI in Vijayawada went throughthe same ordeal last week. Hismother also passed away inVizianagaram district recently.

But, he could not attend thelast rites and asked his brother tocarry out the formalities.

He stayed in Vijayawada per-forming duty as he has to crossfour districts and 40 check poststo reach his native place.

Therefore, he asked hisyounger brother to perform thelast rites. However, he said, hehad seen a video of the last rites.

SALE OF LIQUOR IN PRODDATUR

MLA vents ire at excise officialsPNS n PRODDATUR

Owners of some bars havebeen selling liquor, violatingthe government orders, inthe current lockdown periodand a bar owner earned Rs 10lakh during the lock downperiod, says YSRCP MLARachamallu SivaprasadaReddy.

In a meeting with exciseofficials held here on Tuesdayat the municipal office, theMLA questioned them howcan the bar owners make afast buck selling liquor in thecurrent lockdown period.

Unmindful of the adverseimpact it would have, the

government stopped sale ofliquor in the State. Excise offi-cials are not paying attentionto bar owners selling liquor inviolation of governmentorders is atrocious, he felt.

Furthermore, he said thatin Kogatam illict liquor isbeing brewed and sold, hesaid pointing out that atRameswaram village peopleare congregating daily.

He threatened the exciseofficials to put an end to it ina day or two, otherwise hewould be forced to lodge acomplaint with police. Later,the MLA distributed sanitis-ers among the sanitationworkers.

JK Rowling shares tips to recover from Covid-19PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid the rapid spread of thedeadly Coronavirus, acclaimedauthor JK Rowling has shared apost on her Twitter account,showing techniques she used toovercome the symptoms ofCovid-19 after two weeks of ill-ness.

The Harry Potter authorshared the video with the cap-tion: "Please watch this docfrom Queens Hospital explainhow to relieve respiratory symp-toms. For last two weeks, I'vehad all symptoms of C19 (thohaven't been tested) & did thison doc husband's advice. I'vefully recovered & techniquehelped a lot."

"I really, completely recoveredand wanted to share a techniquethat's recommended by doctors,

costs nothing, has no nasty sideeffects but could help you/yourloved ones a lot, as it did me.Stay safe, everyone," she added.

In the video posted byRowling, a UK hospital doctor

named Sarfaraz Munshidescribes a vital breathing tech-nique for Covid-19 sufferers thatcould prevent the patients fromcontracting secondary pneu-monia, which could prove dan-

gerous to health.The doctor said that his col-

league Sue Elliot relies on thetechnique every day in intensivecare. The video features abreathing technique thatinvolves inhaling and exhaling,and holding breaths and a 'bigcough'.

About the breathing tech-niques recommended in thevideo, Vivek Nangia, Directorand HoD, Pulmonology, FortisHospital in Vasant Kunj, said:"There are two parts of the video,the first part is deep breathingand coughing. While deepbreathing is good to do (just likepranayama), one will never aska Covid-19 patient to cough, asthere is high risk of transmissionof the disease to the others."

"It is always advised to neverever ask a Covid-19 patient to

cough. On the contrary, thepatients are always given amask to cover their faces so thatthe chances of spreading theinfection through droplets canbe minimised," said Nangia.

The other part of the videofocuses on lying on front, andthat is supposed to prevent thedevelopment of secondaryinfection and basal atelectasis(i.e; collapse of the basal por-tions of the lungs).

"Lying on the front is referredto as prone positioning, and isbasically done by patients, whohave involvement of lungs byCovid-19, or any other similarinfection and it helps inimproving the oxygen levelsand also in preventing a basalatelectasis (collapse of the basalsegments of the lungs)," Nangiasaid.

‘Mutyala talambralu’ offeredto Kodanda Rama Swamy PNS n VONTIMITTA

In view of the celestial weddingof Sri Sita Rama Swamy at thefamous shrine of Sri KodandaRama Swamy temple inVontimitta of YSR Kadapadistrict, ‘mutyala talambraluand silk clothes were offered to

the priests on Tuesday.Assistant commissioner ofEndowments department ofKadapa Shankar Balaji, onbehalf of the governmentoffered the sacred gifts, whichwere received by deputy exec-utive officer Lokanatham andchief priest Rajesh Bhattar.

The Harry Potter authorshared the video withthe caption: “Pleasewatch this doc fromQueens Hospital explainhow to relieverespiratory symptoms.For last two weeks, I'vehad all symptoms of C19(tho haven't been tested)& did this on dochusband's advice. I'vefully recovered &technique helped a lot”

SCR plying Spl Parceltrains for uninterruptedsupply of essentialsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In the wake of the lockdown, theSouth Central Railway has start-ed running Special ParcelExpress trains to ensure unin-terrupted supply of essentialcommodities to other parts ofthe country. As part of this, aSpecial Parcel Express train wasstarted on April 2 fromSecunderabad to Howrah enroute stoppages in Vijayawada,Rajahmundry, Eluru andAnakapalle in the jurisdiction ofSouth Central Railway.

In addition to this Special,many more Special ParcelExpress trains to New Delhi andHowrah were loaded withessential commodities inVijayawada, Rajahmundry,Eluru, Gudur and Anakapalleduring the lockdown.

Over 45.4 tonnes of com-modities like lime, fish, eggs,ghee tins, mangoes and otheressentials were loaded in theSpecial Parcel trains till date toother parts of the country. Dueto the concerted efforts of divi-sional officers and staff, addi-tional stoppages were providedto the Special Parcel Express asper the request of merchantsand aggregators.

Care was also taken to ensurethat the parcel vans are proper-ly sanitised before the com-

mencement of loading.Furthermore, during the load-ing process, necessary precau-tionary measures were alsoadopted in terms of properphysical distancing by the staffdeployed in the loading of thecommodities into parcel vans.

Staff from commercial andoperating played a vital role andcoordinated with different cargoaggregators, merchants, majormaterial distributors and stake-holders for mobilisation ofessential commodities for offer-ing loading through widespreadpublicity and advertisements.Many more such Parcel Expresstrains are being planned enroute Vijayawada Division tomeet the demand for essentialcommodities at various impor-tant destinations like Howrah,New Delhi, Patna, Chennai,Yeshwantpur and Gorakhpurduring the lockdown.

LVPEI developsprotectivegear for Rs 50PNS n HYDERABAD

At a time when there aremany reports on shortage ofpersonal protective equip-ment, the LV Prasad EyeInstitute's Centre forInnovation (LVPEI) onTuesday said it has developeda low-cost, easy to manufac-ture, indigenous 'Open SourceVisor' (Full-face protectivegear) at Rs 50 for their clini-cians and frontline staff.

The full-face protective gearis a transparent visor that isworn over the surgical mask toprotect the entire face. Theteam led by Sandeep Vempati,Project Head at LVPEI Centrefor Innovation, created a pro-totype in four hours, made amanufacturable version of itthe same day, and contactedvendors the next day. Barely 48hours later, the design of theproduct that has a productioncost of approximately Rs 50was ready for use.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020 vijayawada 03GOVT PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION TO MIGRANT WORKERS

AP a role model for otherStates, says Nodal OfficerPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In all, 393 camps were set upacross the State as per thedirective of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy to providefood and accommodation tomigrant workers.

Over 21,025 are staying inthe camps set up at variousplaces, while 95 NGOs hadcome forward to extend theirservices, said Nodal OfficerPiyush Kumar. He spoke to themigrant workers at the campson Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that out of 21,025 migrantworkers at various camps,12,820 belong to AndhraPradesh and 8,205 are fromother States.

He said that the State is a rolemodel to other States in provid-ing food and accommodationto migrant labourers, who losttheir daily bread due to Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown.

The Chief Minister has been

reviewing the arrangementsfor migrant workers in thecamps from time to time.Officials have been instructedto provide quality meals andbetter accommodation to thosein the camps, he said.

In all, 1,334 are fromMaharashtra, 1,198 from TamilNadu, 918 from Jharkhand and735 from Bihar. Tamil NaduChief Minister Palaniswamyhas already congratulated YS

Jaganmohan Reddy on Twitter,expressing his delight at thearrangements made for theTamil Nadu people in the State,said nodal officer PiyushKumar.

A total of 393 camps havebeen set up across the State, ofwhich only 106 have been setup in Krishna district with7,061 inmates. Four campshave been set up in YSR Kadapadistrict.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation (VMC) has beenestablishing COVID-19 disin-fectant tunnels at RythuBazaars and other public placesacross the city. The first disin-fectant tunnel was set up andinaugurated with the supportof a donor at the Indira GandhiMunicipal Stadium RythuBazaar here recently.

The tunnel was fixed with amotor, tanker and pipes tosprinkle the disinfectant onpeople, who pass through thetunnel. All the consumers haveto walk 10 to 12 feet through thetunnel, while the disinfectant issprayed on them. The disinfec-tant is used across the countryto check the spread ofCoronavirus. The VMC hasarranged another disinfectanttunnel at the Rythu Bazaararranged at the MunicipalCorporation Stadium in AjithSingh Nagar and that will beinaugurated on Wednesday.

The Corporation is also plan-ning to set up more disinfectanttunnels in other public places inthe city as the number ofCOVID-19 positive cases areincreasing in the city for the pastfew days. It is taking measuresto maintain social distancing andshifted the Rythu Bazaars toopen stadiums and grounds in

the city. The civic body enteredinto an MoU with a private com-pany for manufacturing andsetting up of the disinfectant tun-nels. The Corporation is alsospraying sodium hypochloritewith drones. The VMC is thefirst in the State to use drones tospray the sodium hypochloritein the red zone areas.

Disinfectant tunnels set up to combating Covid-19

n A team of six persons consisting of representatives fromthe fishermen community, village revenue officers, drivers,who left on April 4 from here, reportedly reached thedestination on Tuesday.

n An amount of Rs 2 lakh has been immediately transferredto the accounts of representatives of fishermen to facilitatetheir urgent needs. Moreover, the team has been given anadvance of Rs 10 Lakh with the mandate to ensure thatthe stranded fishermen in Veraval are provided suitableaccommodation during their stay. Money will be used toestablish a kitchen and serve three meals and cleandrinking water

Cosnumers come out of disinfectant tunnel set up at the entrance of the IndiraGandhi Municipal Stadium Rythu Bazaar in Vijayawada on Tuesday

n The VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation isalso planning to set upmore disinfectanttunnels in other publicplaces in the city as thenumber of COVID-19positive cases areincreasing in the city forthe past few days

n It is taking measures tomaintain socialdistancing and shiftedthe Rythu Bazaars toopen stadiums andgrounds in the city

n The VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation isspraying sodiumhypochlorite with drones

n The Corporation is thefirst in the State to usedrones to spray thesodium hypochlorite inthe red zone areas

Maohan Babu,son adopt 8villages inChittoor distPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Veteran actor Manchu MohanBabu adopted eight villages inChandragiri Assembly con-stituency of Chittoor district,along with his eldest sonManchu Vishnu.

He supplies food to peopleof eight villages twice a day andwill continue with the gesturetill the lockdown gets over.

He is also supplying eighttonnes of vegetables to peopleof eight villages free of cost.Besides, Mohan Babu family isalso supplying masks and sani-tisers to the villagers.

It may be recalled thatMohanbabu was born inModugulapalem in Yerpedumandal of Chittoor district. Heis running educational institu-tions in the name of Sri VidyaNiketan near Rangampet.

Governor nods for 30%cut in salary for 1 yearPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a letter addressed toPresident Ram Nath Kovindon Tuesday, Governor BiswaBushan Harichandan has con-veyed his decision of voluntarydeduction of 30 per cent fromhis salary every month fromApril this year for a period ofone year.

The Governor informed thePresident that he has taken thedecision in response to the callgiven by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for the generouscontribution to the PM CARESFund to strengthen the govern-ment in the fight against theunprecedented crisis created bythe COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the instructions ofthe Governor, Mukesh KumarMeena, Secretary to theGovernor, in a letter addressedto the Chief Secretary con-veyed the decision of theGovernor, for voluntary

deduction of 30 per cent fromhis salary every month witheffect from April this year, fora period of one year. In the let-ter, the Chief Secretary hasbeen informed that theGovernor has taken the deci-sion as part of his socialresponsibility and makes theamount available to the gov-ernment to effectively dealwith the medical and eco-nomic crisis created by theCOVID-19.

The Governor has expressedthe hope that the amount con-tributed by him, would beutilised by the authorities foressential purposes to deal withthe unforeseen calamity posedby COVID-19.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State government is tak-ing measures to help thestranded fishermen of AndhraPradesh in Gujarat and dis-patched food packets, soaps,brushes, towels and othermaterial used in day to daylife. Nearly, 5,000 fishermenfrom the north coastal dis-tricts of Srikakulam,Vizianagaram andVisakhapatnam were strandedin Veraval in Gujarat and theyhave been deprived of foodand accommodation since thelockdown.

Responding to the repeatedpleas of the fishermen, the Stategovernment has dispatchednecessary material three daysago and they reached the fish-ermen on Tuesday. Srikakulamdistrict administration is medi-ating with the State govern-ment and fishermen and try-ing to find out a solution.

Chief Minister YS

Jaganmohan Reddy hasinstructed officials to send aspecial team to help the strand-ed fishermen. He furtherinstructed to help them to getback to the Sate and ensure thesupply of basic needs as long asthey stay there.

A response and welfare teamhas been sent to Veraval inGujarat to provide facilities tothe stranded fishermen. Ateam of six persons consistingof representatives from thefishermen community, village

revenue officers, drivers, wholeft on April 4 from here,reportedly reached the destina-tion on Tuesday.

An amount of Rs 2 lakh hasbeen immediately transferredto the accounts of represen-tatives of fishermen to facil-itate their urgent needs by thegovernment. Moreover, theteam has been given anadvance of Rs 10 lakh withthe mandate to ensure thatthe stranded fishermen inVeraval are provided suit-

able accommodation duringtheir stay. Money will be usedto establish a kitchen andserve three meals and cleandrinking water.

n Nearly, 5,000 fishermenfrom the north coastaldistricts of Srikakulam,Vizianagaram andVisakhapatnam werestranded in Veraval inGujarat and they havebeen deprived of foodand accommodationsince the lockdown

n A team of six personsconsisting ofrepresentatives from thefishermen community,village revenue officers,drivers deputed by thegovernment reachedVeraval in Gujarat onTuesday

Cases registered againsttwo for violating homequarantine rulesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

DIG Rajasekhar Babu onTuesday said that cases wereregistered against two per-sons, who tried to run awayfrom quarantine facility.

Speaking to a TV channel,he said that the AP policedepartment got a mobile appli-cation devised to monitorthose who are in the housequarantine facility and hedescribed it as unprecedentedin the country.

The mobile applicationlinked those who are underhouse quarantine with anonline register. With the helpof geo- fencing technologythose who are in the homequarantine are being moni-tored from time to time.

If anyone tries to go out ofthe quarantine facility, themobile app will sent signals tothe Command Control Centre.So far, 20,625, who returned tothe State from overseas havebeen linked with the applica-tion. Of them, 11,234 complet-ed their house quarantine peri-od. However, over 2,896 per-sons violated the house quar-antine rules. If they commit themistake again, cases would beregistered against them underSection 188.

All those, who returned tothe State after attending reli-gious congregation in Delhi,would be brought under thepurview of the mobile appli-cation. The mobile applicationwill be monitored round-the-clock.

Govt to the rescue offisherfolk stranded in Guj

PNS n ANANTAPUR

A pregnant woman died,along with the baby in herwomb for want of blood,and the husband’s attempts tosave his wife and the babyproved futile as she could notget blood for transfusion,reports said on Tuesday.

She was identified asPadmavati, 23. She has beensuffering from anaemia. Sheis in an advanced stage ofpregnancy. As her conditionis worsening, he took her tothe district headquarters gov-ernment hospital, where doc-tors prescribed transfusion ofblood. Her condition startedeven deteriorating as theblood bank has no stock ofher group of blood. She diedfor want of blood transfusionat the right time.

Pregnant womandies for want of blood

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Government of AndhraPradesh has extended the sus-pension of additional DGP ABVenkateswara Rao till August5. Chief Secretary NilamSawhney on Tuesday nightissued orders extending thesuspension period.

Venkateswara Rao wasplaced under suspension onthe grounds of serious miscon-duct in the process of procure-ment of security equipment,while he was working asAdditional Director General ofPolice (intelligence). TheMinistry of Home Affairs hadconfirmed the suspension. Thegovernment constituted areview committee thatreviewed the suspension ofVenkateswara Rao on Tuesdayand recommended extendingit till August 5.

The Chief Secretary, in herorders, stated that the recom-mendation of the review com-mittee has been accepted by thecompetent authority anddirected necessary action.

ABV’s suspensionextendedtill August 5

Centre mulls extending lockdownContinued from Page 1

With the preventive mea-sures, the possibility of the infec-tion can be reduced to an aver-age of just two-and-a-half per-sons per patient in the same peri-od, Health Ministry JointSecretary Lav Agarwal said in thecentral government's daily brief-ing on COVID-19.

He said social distancingworks like a "social vaccine" inmanagement of COVID-19, butrefrained from commenting onwhether the ongoing nation-wide lockdown would be extend-ed or lifted after April 14.

"Whenever a decision is taken,it will be informed. Till a deci-sion is officially communicated,please refrain from speculation,"he said.

Government sources, howev-er, said many state governmentsand experts are requesting theCentre to extend the lockdownand the central government isthinking in that direction.

There has been a nationwidelockdown since March 25,though some states had initiat-ed such measures a few days ear-lier, to check the pandemic thathas claimed more than 75,000lives worldwide since its emer-gence in China last December.Over 13 lakh people have testedpositive for the virus across the

world so far. Some states, how-ever, indicated that the lockdownconditions could be relaxed forsome segments.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said somerelaxation on work front forunorganised sector workers wason anvil. She, however, made itclear that all must practice socialdistancing. The state government

has identified seven COVID-19hotspots in West Bengal.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,however, said his governmentwill extend the lockdown ifneeded, while his counterpart inRajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, said thestate cannot withdraw the lock-down immediately and it has tobe done in a phased manner.

No objection to sample collectionby states: ICMR

Continued from Page 1

"The ICMR has no objection onadoption of establishing convenientsample collection sites (drive throughcenters for sample collection etc.) by therespective state governments," the ICMRsaid in an advisory. These sites should bedisinfected regularly as per recom-mended procedures and all biosafety andbiosecurity precautions should be imple-mented, the advisory said. Transpor-tation of samples to the nearest COVID-19 testing laboratory should be ensuredunder proper cold-chain conditionsand with triple layered packing, it said.

State to contain COVID-19 spread...Continued from Page 1

Also, an order has placed fordelivery of 14 lakh N-95 masksbesides 1,500 ventilators and20,000 masks will be suppliedevery week.

Jawahar Reddy said fourhospitals exclusively forCOVOD-19 patients are func-tional in the state in whichstaff are working in threeshifts and three batches wereemployed.

One batch goes for 14-dayquarantine after one week ser-vice and the second batchtakes charge and this patternis followed by the third batchin the third week. By the timethe third batch completes theweek, the first batch will beback from quarantine to takecharge. This is to ensure the

safety of the medical staff.Moreover, frontline workershave been given with prophy-lactic dose to protect themfrom Coronavirus infection.About 20 lakh tablets ofhydroxychloroquine and 14lakh tablets of Azithromycinare available in the state.

As many as 640 specialistdoctors, 792 house surgeons,1,152 nursing and paramedicalstaff were employed at the fourCOVID-19 hospitals. 546 spe-cialist doctors, 546 PGs, 273house surgeons, and 546 nurs-ing staff across the COVID-19hospitals in districts, saidJawahar Reddy and assuredthat the state health depart-ment is fully equipped to fightagainst COVID-19.

Jawahar Reddy said that asymptomatic survey is being

conducted on people aged 60years and above, health work-ers, and high-risk patients.Medical officers have suggest-ed tests on 1,800 to 2,000 ofthese identified sections andthis would be done onWednesday, he said.

Moreover, 6,170 personswho were identified as suffer-ing from fever during the sur-vey conducted across the statehave been kept under homeisolation and treated.

A containment strategy isbeing implemented at clusterswhere positive cases werereported across the state, hesaid. About 1,000 sampleswere collected from these clus-ters and there are chances ofsome positive cases beingreported from these samples,he said.

COVID-19 claims 1more life in AP...

Continued from Page 1

The fresh coronavirus casewas reported from Guntur dis-trict, which now has 33 cases.

The latest case was also relat-ed to the Tablighi Jamaat.

With 74 cases, Kurnool dis-trict topped the chart in the statefollowed by SPS Nellore districtwith 43 and Guntur with 41.

As many as 29 persons havetested positive for COVID-19 inKrishna district, 28 in YSRKadapa, 24 persons inPrakasam district, 21 in WestGodavari district, 20 inVisakhapatnam, 17 in Chittoor,11 in East Godavari 11 and sixin Anantapur.

The two north coastal dis-

tricts of Srikakulam andVizianagaram have remainedunaffected by the pandemic sofar, with zero cases.

Another six patients havebeen discharged after testingnegative for COVID-19 virus.These six patients — two fromKrishna district and one eachfrom SPS Nellore, Prakasam,Visakhapatnam and EastGodavari districts — hadundergone treatment in varioushospitals across the state.

Meanwhile, Nodal OfficerDr A Srikanth said that the StateGovernment is making allarrangements to provide venti-lator for COVID-19 patients inemergency cases at state/districtlevel hospitals in the state.

Continued from Page 1

A bench of ChiefJustice S A Bobde andJustices L NageswaraRao said it doesn't knowwhat the governmentthinks about the issuebut in the court's view itshould be case by case.

We will not pass anyblanket order. You makean individual represen-tation before the govern-ment about your case,the bench said.

The top court said itwas allowing the peti-tioner in-person advo-cate Amit Sahni to with-draw the petition withliberty to advise the indi-vidual prisoners, whoare suffering from anydiseases to make a rep-resentation to theauthorities for theirrelease.

We see no justifica-tion in passing a gener-al order. the bench said.

Sahni said in the pleathat as per World HealthOrganisation (WHO),older persons and thosesuffering from pre-exist-

ing medical conditionslike high blood pres-sure, diabetes, heart andlung diseases can beseriously affected by thevirus, also called Covid-19.

The plea said the apexcourt has already takencognisance on its ownabout overcrowding injails following the virusoutbreak but the issue ofvulnerability of certaincategory of personsincluding those above 50years was not brought toits notice earlier.

On March 23, thetop court had directedall the states and UnionTerritories to consti-tute high-level commit-tees to consider releas-ing on parole or inter-im bail prisoners andundertrials for offencesentailing up to seven-year jail term to decon-gest prisons in the wakeof coronavirus pan-demic.

Sahni, in his plea,has said that personsover 50 years of age are"at more risk" if affect-ed with coronavirus.

SC says no blanketorder on prisoners...

A COVID-19patient can infect406 in 30 days

Continued from Page 1

He appealed to the people to adoptsocial distancing and follow the lock-down order, saying this is a veryimportant intervention in terms ofmanagement of COVID-19.

The death toll due to novel coron-avirus rose to 114 and the number ofcases in the country climbed to 4,421on Tuesday, according to the UnionHealth Ministry.

Continued from Page 1

Similarly, the NSE Nifty soared708.40 points, or 8.76 per cent, to8,792.20 — the best session of alltime for the index in absoluteterms and the best since May2009 in percentage terms.

All Sensex components endedon a positive note with IndusIndBank was the top gainer surgingover 22 per cent, followed by AxisBank, Mahindra and Mahindra,ICICI Bank, HUL, Maruti, HCLTech and Hero MotoCorp.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices rallied up to 5.40per cent.

"Indian markets opened on apositive note following upbeatglobal cues in Asian markets asthere was some decline wit-nessed in new COVID-19 casesglobally and hopes of the pan-demic peaking out gatheredpace," said Narendra Solanki,Head- Equity Research(Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon session,market further gained tractionamid reports that the FinanceMinistry is working on a secondrelief package for the Indianeconomy to mitigate negativeimpact due to COVID-19, headded.

‘Continue closure...Continued from Page 1

The GoM has been tasked withmonitoring the overall situation inthe country arising out of thecoronavirus pandemic and makerecommendations to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi. TheGoM also briefly discussedpossible scenarios after end ofthe current spell of the lockdown.It recommended that the inputsof the states are crucial in takingspecific decisions on measuresto contain the pandemic. TheGoM also recommendedmeasures to enhance testingfacilities for coronavirus infectionin medical laboratories, thesources said.

Opposition leaders as well asleading healthcare experts havebeen pressing the government to

ramp up infrastructure toincrease coronavirus tests acrossthe country to have a realisticassessment of the situationarising out of the pandemic inIndia.

The meeting was also attendedby several key members of theUnion Cabinet including FoodMinister Ram Vilas Paswan,Railways Minister Piyush Goyaland Petroleum MinisterDharmendra Pradhan, RuralDevelopment Minister NarendraSingh Tomar and HRD MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal Nishank.Chemicals and Fertilisers MinisterD V Sadananda Gowda, Womenand Child Development MinisterSmriti Zubin Irani and Jal ShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat were also amongthose who attended the meeting.

KGH virology labstarts Covid-19testing

Continued from Page 1

He added that district wasfully equipped with instru-ments, personnel, isolationwards and beds ready to testand treat a large number ofCoronavirus suspects andpatients.

The district has 12,000PPEs and 50 ventilators andthey are being sparingly used.On an average, 15 PPE werebeing used by the doctors andparamedical staff directlycoming in contact with theCoronavirus positive patientsundergoing treatment as pergovernment norms.

Reacting to a commentmade by a former MLA onshortage of ventilators andpersonnel handling them, DrSudhakar said 80 per cent ofthe patients were being givensimple treatment, 15 percentfull medication and only 5percent of the patients whohave crossed 60 years of ageand suffering from other ail-ments need ventilators.

Referring to the claims thatdoctors were overstretched,Dr Sudhakar said sufficientrest was also being given to themedical professionals.

Sensex zooms2,476 pts toreclaim 30K

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020 nation 04SHORT READS

Kerara CM writes toDelhi, Maharashtra on plight of nursesTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan has shot off letters tochief ministers of Delhi andMaharashtra to ensure thesafety of nurses from the stateworking in those statesfollowing reports of para-medical staff being affectedwith Covid-19. At a press meeton Monday after the evaluationmeet on Covid-19, Vijayan hadsaid 46 nurses from Kerala inMumbai have been infected bythe virus and more than 150nurses were under observationthere. He had also said that fivenurses in Delhi's prestigiousCancer Institute have beenconfirmed with coronavirus andthere were complaintsregarding lack of PPEs acrossthe country. "We are receivingfrantic telephone calls fromthem (nurses). Many of themare informing us that there islack of adequate precaution toprevent the contagion of thedisease," Vijayan said in lettersto his counterparts ArvindKejriwal of Delhi and UddhavThackeray of Maharashtra.

COVID-19: OrdnanceFactory Board comesup with isolation tentsKOLKATA: As the country isscrambling to increase infra-structure for isolation and qua-rantine facilities to contain thespread of coronavirus, the Ord-nance Factory Board (OFB) hascome up with a two-bed tentwith necessary medical facilitiesthat can be set up in any place,an official said here on Tuesday.The OFB has developed theseisolation tents within four or fivedays of research, its chairmanHari Mohan said.

Separate doctors, hospitalsfor COVID-19 suspects: OdishaPNS n BHUBANESWAR

The Odisha government onTuesday said it has separatednovel coronavirus patientsfrom other sick persons in thestate-run medical facilities.

The state government madeit clear as people fear that theymay get coronavirus infection ifthey visit hospitals.

The government also saidthat doctors, nurses and otherpara-medical staff engaged totreat COVID-19 patients willnot handle other patients.

"I assure people that there isno COVID-19 patient in any ofthe state-run medical collegesincluding SCB Medical Collegeand Hospital in Cuttack andother district headquarters hos-pitals. Therefore, people canfreely visit government and pri-vate hospitals without fear," saidHealth and Family Welfare sec-retary N B Dhal.

He said there is no COVIDpatient in SCB Medical CollegeHospital in Cuttack or in anyother medical college in the

state. Though there is oneCOVID-19 negative personadmitted at Capital Hospitalhere, he will be dischargedsoon, Dhal said.

People should now feel safe ingeneral hospitals, both govern-ment and private, the healthsecretary said, adding the privatehospitals have been instructed notto admit any COVID-19 patientand to refer all with flu symptomsto the special hospitals.

Indicating that the number ofCOVID-19 patients swelled in

rich countries because they didnot segregate novel coronaviruspatients from others, Dhal said:"Odisha government is extreme-ly careful in this regard asCOVID-19 is a highly infectiousdisease."

He said the state has, mean-while, developed seven specialCOVID-19 hospitals whereconfirmed and suspectedpatients are being treated.Therefore, people should not beafraid that they will get coronainfection if they visit hospitals.

Dhal, however, suggestedpeople to use TelemedicineHelpline and daily 104 controlroom where doctors are presentround the clock to guide. Thepeople should not get panic overthe pandemic.

Director of Medical Educationand Training (DMET) Prof CBKMohanty said private hospitalshave been asked to create sepa-rate COVID corner for screen-ing of the patients. If they suspectCOVID in any one, they willrefer it to COVID hospital.

Shortage of PPEs promptshospital to set up tailoring unitPNS n KOLKATA

A private hospital in the cityhas set up a tailoring unit onits premises to stitch personalprotective equipment (PPEs)for its doctors, nurses andsupport staff, amid a shortagein supply of masks, gloves andfull body suits.

The four-member tailoringunit at Charnock Hospital inNew Town area has sewedmore than hundred protectivesuits from cotton sheets - pri-marily used for making surgi-cal gowns.

"The decision to make PPEson our own was taken after wefound that private supplierswere having difficulties indelivering them on time. Wedidn't want to put pressure onthe government by asking forprotective gears," hospitalmanaging director PrashantSharma said.

The suits — custom-madefor the users - are soft, inex-pensive and non-absorbent,he said.

"We have already distributedone pair of three-ply masks

among the doctors and othermedical staff. We are prepar-ing the gears at least seven daysin advance. Given the heat andhumidity, each suit is madekeeping the comfort factor inmind," Sharma explained.

The protective suits are re-useable, but we dispose themoff after single use, he added.

Heaping praise on the tai-lors, a senior consultant at thehospital said, "The PPEs aredurable and provide full bodyprotection. I feel safe wearingthem."

Another private hospital inthe city — earmarked forCOVID-19 patients however,said it had been assured of asteady supply of protectivegears by the government.

"We need 120 PPEs everyday, along with N95 masks.We are sourcing some fromour vendors, and the stategovernment is also support-ing us with suits and masks.We have been assured of asteady supply," a senior offi-cial at AMRI in Salt Lakesaid.

IIT team develops LED-based disinfectionmachine for sanitising floors of hospitals, busesPNS n NEW DELHI

A team at the Indian Instituteof Technology (IIT) has devel-oped a low-cost LED-basedmachine which can be used fordisinfection of floors at hospi-tals as well as buses and trainsto aid the fight againstCOVID-19 in the country.

IIT Guwahati is also filing apatent for the machine, whichwhen commercialised, will beavailable at a cost of Rs 1000. Thecurrent prototype of themachine, requires to be manu-ally manned, however, the teamis working on making it a robotmanned machine which requires

limited human intervention.The machine developed at a

request from the Karantaka gov-ernment, to be used in its hos-pitals and buses, will now bepitched to other governments forcommercial usage.

"Sanitisation of public places isgoing to be very very crucial incoming months when move-ments will not be restricted butdue precautions will need to betaken to prevent the spread ofvirus. As of now, the disinfection

measures are only being taken onsurfaces, walls and open areas andthere is no system yet for saniti-sation of floors unless someonedecides to manually mop the floorusing an alcohol-based cleaner,"Senthilmurugan Subbiah,Associate Professor at the insti-tute's Department of ChemicalEngineering, told. "UVC systemis a proven technology to sanitizethe microorganism infected non-porous surface. 90 per cent killingrate can be achieved by UVC forone of the highly stable virus MS-2 Coliphase with 186 J dose,whereas 36 J dose is needed forInfluenza virus which is similar toCOVID-19.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Tuesdaysaid the government is ramp-ing up the number of COVID-19 testing centres in the state,including at the district level,as the coronavirus cases haveincreased rapidly over the pastfew days.

He said 308 COVID-19cases have been found in thestate “as of now”, of which 168are linked to the TablighiJamaat gathering in Delhi lastmonth.

The cases are spread overseveral districts such as

Lucknow, Agra, Mathura,Kanpur and Allahabad,according to a bulletin releasedby the government.

“In Uttar Pradesh, for the

past 4-5 days, there has been arise in the number of cases...Every step is being taken by thestate government in associa-tion with the Centre to stop thespread of the infectious dis-ease,” Adityanath assured.

When the first coronaviruscase was first reported in thestate, he said, there was not asingle testing laboratory inUP. "Today with the help of theCentre, 10 testing laboratoriesare successfully working."

There has been a demandfor expanding the number oftesting centres from variousquarters, including oppositionleaders.

UP increasing testing centresfor COVID-19: Adityanath

The governmentalso said thatdoctors, nursesand other para-medical staffengaged to treatCOVID-19patients will nothandle otherpatients

At atimewhen 133

crore Indian arelocked inside, the one ministryapart from health that becomesextremely vital is that of foodand public distribution. Paswanalso heads the Consumer AffairsMinistry and has to ensureessential food items like rice,wheat, pulses are availableaplenty and reaches each Indian,not hoarders. Paswan has notbeen entirely functioning throughhome. He has been visiting hisministry regularly, and attendingGoMs. Sources say, one of thereasons for the Minister toincreasingly step out, even for ashort while, off late is becausePMO is believed to have directedthat quality of videotransmission with PM NarendraModi cannot be compromised.In other words, Skype or Zoomare not options.Hence they arevisiting theirministries forbetter videoconferencefacilities.

How Modi governmentis running the country from Raj-

nathSingh, who hasbeen chairing theGoM on Covid-19, has

been one of thesincerest followersof work from home.One of his aides says: "Hecan go to South Block. Butthat will mean coming in contact

with at least a dozen people everyday, atthe bare minimum. When you have the

technology available to avoid that, why notuse it?" He is known to be a wide user of Zoomvideo. However all government interactions takeplace through secured video transmission lines. On aheavy work day, le holds nine to ten video conferences aday, while on a lean day that can be one. For instance, therehasn't been any such interaction at all this Sunday.Even whilemeeting his ministerial colleagues like when he had to

chair the GoM on Tuesday, he instructed hisstaff to use a bigger room so that each

chair can be placed a safe distance of one metre.

Numbertwo inthe

government andconsidered the most trusted

person of the Prime Minister in theUnion Cabinet, Shah's core team has

been significantly slashed. In normal time,he has a core team of around 40-42 officersworking for him at the North Block. But now,he has limited his visits to the

ministry and retained less thanone fourth of his workforce.

Since the lockdown, his Krishna Menon Margresidence which previously was late Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vajpayee's house has been turned into a temporaryoffice. All real time updates from concerned departments are sent

to this office. Shah has visited the Home Ministry four to five timessince the nationwide shutdown was imposed. Whenever he visits North

Block, he ensures only the bare minimum staff, whose presenceis absolutely unavoidable, is present, say sources.Cabinet

Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Home Secretary Ajay Bhallabrief Shah on a regular basis about the steps beingneeded to adopt to contain the spread of Covid-19.Most of Shah's coordination happens throughphone, while at home, say sources.

AMITSHAH,

HomeMinister

RAJNATHSINGHDefenceMinister

The government has been advocating strict social distancingnorms and work for home, for a month now in wake of the

coronavirus outbreak. As of Tuesday, India hassurpassed 4,400 coronavirus cases with 114 deaths

at least. While 133 crore Indians remain lockeddown inside and most of the urban

workforce working from home, howis the government of India and

its top ministers runningthe show from their

home,themselves?HOME

Javadekar has been one of the busiest ministers ever since the shutdown wasenforced, having to take decisions of three key ministries that come under hispurview -Information & Broadcasting; Environment, Forest & Climate Change; &

Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises. He is also tasked to brief the media on cabinetdecisions like the one that suspended MPLADS for two years on Monday.

However, he steps into the National Media Center for such briefings.Being the I&B Minister makes him the point person to ensure fakenews regarding COVID-19 is curbed for which a small team workingfrom him liaisons with the ministry and keeps him informed. Fakenews from passing on old fire as a result of

candle burning at the call of PM Modi thisSunday to attaching communal undertones

to the Tablighi Jamaat controversy in Delhi'sNizamuddin, Javadekar has to ensure they are curbedand do it from his home. For most of his ministerialworks, Javadekar prefers to call up and talk withhis Secretaries and Joint Secretaries thangoing into a video conference. TheMaharashtra leader' work doesn't end there.

He also is being given partyassignments that canbe done from home in

the last three weeks. Forinstance, every BJPmember needs toencourage 40 others todonate to PM-CARES.

Ministers too are expectedto do that. A source said that

Javadekar starts his daywith yoga to stay

focussed amidjuggling manyroles.

PRAKASHJAVEDEKAR,

I&B Minister

NARENDRATOMAR,Agri Minister

RAMVILAS

PASWANFood Minister

With 70 per cent of its rural households still dependentprimarily on agriculture for their livelihood and about 83.3crore people living in rural areas, Tomar's role as Agriculture

Minister becomes extremely crucial when the farmers are confinedin their homes while their harvest is left unattended in fields.What makes Tomar's job tougher is it is the beginning of the Rabiharvest season. There have also been spells of unseasonal rainsdestroying a certain part of the wheat, mustard and chana crops.Tomar has been one of the very few ministers who have beenrelatively regular in going to his ministry even in this time of totalshutdown. Tomar was there in his ministry on Monday, and

Tuesday too. Sources say, he has anothermeeting through a video conference withdifferent states planned for Wednesday,which will go live from his ministry.However, he has ensured the staff presentat his ministry during the shutdown

remains minimum. He is also the RuralDevelopment and Panchayat Raj Minister -

ministries that affect millions. Tomar prefersto be in touch with his officials through text

services and sometimes callsas well. His day ends at 1

a.m. on an averageeveryday, said a source.It is not just the urbansalaried class or thecorporate honchos whowake up, eat breakfastand start working fromtheir home, switching on

their laptop webcams -Narendra Modi's

cabinet is pretty muchdoing the same.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Gehlot demandsinquiry by SC judgeinto Delhi's TablighiJamaat eventJAIPUR: Rajasthan ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot onTuesday demanded an inquiryby a sitting or retired SupremeCourt judge to fix responsibilityfor the Delhi congregation ofTablighi Jamaat. He saidquestions should not be raisedon the ground of religionbecause any person from anycaste or community cancommit a mistake and onlythose at fault should bepunished. "An inquiry by asitting or retired Supreme Courtjudge should be conducted inthe Nizamuddin episode tomake clear who all areresponsible. Those who are atfault should be booked andpunished. It will also makeclear whether there was anymistake on part of theadministration," Gehlot said.

NCW forms task forceto help elderly duringlockdown

13 people arrested forviolating lockdownorders in UP's AmethiAMETHI: The police havearrested 13 people for violatingthe lockdown orders in UttarPradesh's Amethi district, asenior official said on Tuesday.Superintendent of Police KhyatiGarg said the 13 people hadgathered at a vegetable marketunder the Gauriganj policestation area, violating thelockdown orders. Cases hasbeen registered against themunder various sections of theIPC, she said.

MP CM hints atextendinglockdown periodBHOPAL: The ongoinglockdown, which is in place inview of coronavirus outbreak,might be extended in MadhyaPradesh if needed, ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhansaid here on Tuesday. "We willtake a decision after seeing thecircumstances. Lives of peopleare more important. We cantolerate lockdown. We canresurrect the economy later onbut can't be able to bring backlives of people," Chouhan saidin a video statement.

NEW DELHI: A task force hasbeen constituted by the NCW tohelp the elderly or those inneed of support during theongoing lockdown imposed inview of the coronavirusoutbreak. The NationalCommission for Women(NCW), on Twitter, shared anemail address mail to:helpatncw@gmail.com"helpatncw@gmail.com which can beused for assistance in case ofmedical emergency or doctorvisit, medicine and groceriespurchase. India is currentlyunder the biggest lockdownwith around 1.3 billion peopleasked to stay home in view ofthe coronavirus outbreak,which has claimed over 100lives and infected more than4000 people in the country.

Allow liquor sale; illicit tradeburden on exchequer: CIABCPNS n NEW DELHI

The Confederation of IndianAlcoholic Beverage Companies(CIABC) has urged 10 states toallow sale of alcoholic beveragessaying that a blanket ban duringthe lockdown to contain coron-avirus has resulted in sale of illic-it and spurious liquor whilecausing burden on exchequer.

The body noted that thenationwide lockdown has result-ed in the shutdown of all whole-sale and retail shops selling alco-holic beverages.

It said the need to close on-shops (bars) is well understoodin light of social distancing.

The CIABC, which is theapex body of the Indian alcoholicbeverage industry, has sent letterson Monday to chief ministers of10 states -- Delhi, Haryana,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan,Telangana, Uttar Pradesh andWest Bengal.

CIABC Director GeneralVinod Giri stated in the letter that

there are growing reports ofsale of illicit and spurious liquorin the state which can potential-ly lead to serious health hazardsfor people as well as createadverse law and order situation.

It has also requested all stategovernments to extend all liquorlicences and approvals till April30 or one additional month postlockdown, whichever is later.

Giri said alcohol is one of themost important sources of rev-

enue for state governments andby shutting down retail shops,states are depriving themselves ofthe tax revenues that are so vital-ly required in fighting the coro-navirus pandemic.

He also said some peopleneed alcohol on medical groundsthat should also be considered.

The CIABC, which includesmost major Indian companiesthat manufacture and markettheir product range in India

and abroad, pleaded for permit-ting sale of alcoholic beveragesfrom off-shops (retail outlets) inthe state during the lockdownperiod.

It suggested that the state gov-ernments may do so by placingreasonable control measures suchas curtailed shop timings, anddirecting outlets to strictly followsocial distancing norms.

‘Be infected with corona,' lawyercurses judge for unfavourable verdictPNS n KOLKATA

In an "abominable" act of mis-conduct after failing to get afavourable order, a lawyercursed a Calcutta High Courtjudge, swearing he be infectedwith coronavirus, provokingthe judge to recommend con-tempt action against him.

Justice Dipankar Dattaadmonished the lawyer, BijoyAdhikary, for failing to upholdthe dignity of the court andacting in a manner "not behov-ing a member of the noble pro-fession," while directing him toreply to the contempt rulewithin a fortnight from thedate on which it is served uponhim.

Justice Datta also directedthat the matter be heard by anappropriate division benchhaving the mandate to hearcriminal contempt mattersupon reopening of the courtafter summer vacation.

The Calcutta High Courthas been hearing only veryurgent matters since March 15owing to the coronavirus out-break, and from March 25, itis taking up such matters only

through video conferencing.Claiming urgency, Adhikary

had moved the court of JusticeDatta seeking a stay on theauction of a bus of his client bya nationalised bank for defaultin loan repayment.

Noting that the bus hadbeen seized by the bank onJanuary 15, the court refusedto grant an urgent hearing.

As the judge began dictatingthe order, a furious Adhikaryrepeatedly tried to interrupthim, thumped a table andbanged the microphone on it.

"Adhikary was warned to

behave but instead of heedingto such warning, he was heardto say that my future shall bedoomed by him and for suchpurpose, he cursed that I beinfected by the coronavirus,"Justice Datta noted in theorder.

"Adhikary was curtly toldthat neither do I fear doomingof my future nor being infect-ed by the virus; the majesty ofthe Court is what is paramountin my mind and to uphold thata rule for contempt could beissued against him," the judgewrote.

SHGs making masks in TripuraPNS n AGARTALA

Alaka Debnath is busy mak-ing double-layered cottonmasks in her small bamboohut at Indranagar in the out-skirts of the capital as thereis a shortage of masks to fightthe spread of COVID-19pandemic.

Debnath is the secretary ofKhumpui self-help group,which along with seven otherself-help groups in the townhave recently received order-from the Agartala MunicipalCorporation (AMC) to manu-facture 10,000 face masks tofight the spread of coronavirusin Tripura.

AMC commissioner DrShailesh Kumar Yadav saidmasks would be distributedamong the frontline workersincluding the health, police andother departments.

A total of 7 self-help groupswith over 100 members aremaking masks for the munic-ipal corporation so that thedemand of 10,000 masks canbe met at the earliest.

Debnath said, "We are work-ing from our houses. The workhas been distributed to individ-ual members and they aremanufacturing the masks asper the guidelines laid down bythe municipal corporation."

Gouri Sinha, president ofEkata-SHG said that they have15 members in the group, whoare working day and night tomake masks from their hous-es.

"We have been asked to pre-

pare the masks as per specifi-cations. After showing a pieceof mask we received order formaking these masks for theAMC," Sinha said.

She also said that thesemasks have been approved bythe AMC with specific criteriaof having 100 per cent cottoncloth with 8 inch length, 9 inchwidth which can be folded inthree parts having double layerof cotton cloth.

Yadav said that the AMC has

decided to make 10,000 cottoncloth double layer face masksfollowing guidelines of thegovernment of India with thehelp of SHG members.

At present there are 7 SHGsmaking these masks. The cor-poration will pay Rs 10 for eachmask as stitching cost. Clothesare being supplied by the cor-poration.

Yadav said, "there is shortageof masks, so we are searchingfor more SHGs, who can makemasks," he said.

PNS n PUNE

In wake of the Central ZooAuthority's (CZA) directivesamid the coronavirus outbreak,the Rajiv Gandhi ZoologicalPark in Pune started sanitisinganimal enclosures and screen-ing its staff. The CZA onMonday asked zoos across thecountry to remain on highalert, after a tiger tested posi-tive for COVID-19 in theUnited States.

Currently, the zoo housesnine tigers, two lions, threeleopards, a bear, among otheranimals. "As per the CZA'sdirectives, vehicles transportingmeat for animals are being dis-infected and animal enclo-sures are being sanitised," zoodirector Rajkumar Jadhav said.

The zoo has also startedscreening its staff and they havebeen asked to wear caps, masksand gloves and take proper pre-cautions while dealing with ani-mals, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The job losses and pay cuts are"bitter pills" to swallow butcommon man still needs to fig-ure out ways to stay physicallyand mentally fit even asCOVID-19 pandemic wreakshavoc, feels chief national bad-minton coach PullelaGopichand.

The COVID-19 pandemic,which has killed more than 120people in India and over 80,000globally, has brought the wholeworld into a standstill as coun-tries went into lockdown tocontain the deadly disease,leaving a big dent on the econ-

omy. Gopichand, who recent-ly completed his three-weekisolation after coming fromAll England Championshipsin UK, said sports will be a partof this global meltdown buturged people to fight it withpositivity.

Take this break as a bitter pill,find ways to stay physically,mentally fit: Gopichand

PNS n KOHIMA

Churches in Christian-major-ity Nagaland have decided toforego Easter celebration, thatfalls on April 12 during theongoing lockdown, for thefirst time since the formationof the state in 1963.

Nagaland Baptist ChurchCouncil (NBCC), the largestchurch body in the state, hasinformed its associate bodiesthat there would be no sunriseservice on Easter Sunday toprevent mass gathering ofpeople amid the coronavirus

outbreak."Though we will not be

able to congregate to conductpublic sunrise service, we callupon every family to come outof their homes from 4.45 amto 5.40 am to conduct familysunrise service in the com-pound of their houses," astatement issued by NBCCgeneral secretary ZelhouKeyho on Wednesday said.

He said family sunrise ser-vice can be conducted in theporch, yard, terrace, garden orany place outside the housebut within the compound.

Nagaland not tocelebrate Easter

NCR makes masks, sanitizersfor its personnel & familiesPNS n LUCKNOW

In a bid to save its personneland their families from thedeadly coronavirus disease,the North Central Railwayhere is making protectivemasks and sanitizers at itsworkshops, and distributingthem free of cost.

North Central Railway PROAmit Malviya said on Tuesday,"So far, 61,400 masks and4,762 litres of sanitizers havebeen made. These are beingdistributed to railway person-nel and their families free ofcost. Protective masks arebeing made every day."

He said railway personnel atAllahabad, Jhansi and Agra areengaged in making thesemasks and sanitizers.

Apart from this, the NorthCentral Railway (NCR) hasdistributed over 23,000 foodpackets to needy people livingin the vicinity of railway sta-

tions.Malviya also said that social

distancing is being strictlyadhered to by the personnelwhile discharging their duties.

"At Agra Railway Hospital,a provision of talk back hasbeen made at the reception-cum-enquiry centre. Underthis system, communication

between two persons who areseparated by a glass partition,is done using a speaker andmicrophone. Thus, social dis-tancing is being maintainedthrough this system," the pub-lic relations officer said. Headded that this system will beinstalled in other railway hos-pitals as well.

Major air pollutants PM2.5, PM10 andNOx down by at least 50 per cent in DelhiPNS n NEW DELHI

With vehicles off the road andindustries shut due to the ongo-ing lockdown imposed to com-bat the coronavirus outbreak,the presence of major pollutantsin the air — PM2.5, PM10 andNOx — has reduced by at least50 per cent in Delhi.

The three pollutants — PM2.5(atmospheric particulate matterthat have a diameter of less than2.5 micrometers), PM10 (atmos-pheric particulate matter thathave a diameter of less than 10micrometers) and NOx (nitrogenoxide released in traffic emis-sions) — are some of the mostdangerous pollutants and pro-longed exposure to these can leadto serious respiratory disorders.

According to an analysis bythe central government-runSystem of Air Quality andWeather Forecasting andResearch (SAFAR), the highestreduction in these three pollu-tants have been seen in Delhi.

The other cities where a sim-

ilar analysis was done by SAFARwas Mumbai, Pune andAhmedabad.

India is currently under thebiggest lockdown with around1.3 billion people asked to stayhome in view of the coronavirusoutbreak, which has claimedover 100 lives and infectedmore than 4,000 people in thecountry. Under the lockdown,industries have been shut andpeople have been urged to avoidunnecessary travelling, signifi-

cantly reducing the traffic move-ment across the country.

In Delhi, the comparisonmade from the second week ofMarch (before lockdown) to firstweek of April (April 6), reduc-tion in PM2.5 was found to beby 62 per cent, PM10 by 57 percent and NOx by 50 per cent,the latest SAFAR data accessedby PTI showed.

In Mumbai, the comparisonin the same period showed areduction in PM2.5 by 45 per

cent, PM10 by 51 per cent andNOx by 60 per cent, the datashowed.

In Pune, a reduction inPM2.5 by 31 per cent, PM10 by32 per cent and NOx by 62 percent, according to the data.

In Ahmedabad, a reductionin PM2.5 by 57 per cent, PM10by 47 per cent and NOx by 32per cent, according to the data.

PNS n NEW DELHI

To help health workers fight-ing the COVID-19 pandem-ic, senior advocate RakeshDwivedi has donated 15,000N95 masks to the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) here.

He had earlier donated Rs1 crore to the PrimeMinister's Citizens Assistanceand Relief in EmergencySituation (PM-CARES) Fundto aid the fight against thenovel coronavirus that hasclaimed 114 lives and infect-ed 4,421 people across thecountry.

“I have ordered supply of15,000 N95 masks to AIIMSfor 25 lakh for protectiveuse by doctors and the sup-port staff today. Supply wouldbe made in four to five daysto AIIMS,” Dwivedi said onTuesday. The step has beentaken in consultation withAIIMS.

Lawyer donates15,000 N95masks to AIIMS

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh ShiaCentral Waqf Board has decid-ed to close down all ‘Kabristan'(graveyards) on the forthcom-ing occasion of Shab-e-Baratin view of the lockdownimposed due to coronavirusoutbreak in the country.

Shab-e-Barat is marked byMuslims congregating inmosques and visiting graves.

"In view of the lockdown,the board had earlier closeddown its mosques for ‘namaaz'.We have directed all the con-cerned to ensure that Kabristan

should not be open for com-mon people on Shab-e-Baranton April 9," Board chairmanSyed Wasim Rizvi said.

He said employees residinginside the Kabristan premiseshave been asked to cleangraves and light a lamp atevery grave on the day.

Rizvi also urged the peopleto remain at home and pray fortheir loved ones. Shab-e-Barat, in Islamic faith, meansthe Night of Forgiveness or theDay of Atonement. It is consid-ered to be an occasion whenthe Almighty forgives sinnersif they pray.

UP Shia Waqf Boardshuts graveyardsahead of Shab-e-Barat

Don't step out for 'HanumanJayanti', ‘Shab-e-Barat': AjitPNS n MUMBAI

Citing a popular event fromthe epic Ramayan a day aheadof 'Hanuman Jayanti',Maharashtra deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar onTuesday asked people to notstep out like the revered devo-tee of Lord Ram to "lift hill",but stay indoors to avoid thecoronavirus spread.

Pawar also appealed tomembers of the Muslim com-munity to observe 'Shab-e-Barat', when they visit grave-yards to remember the dead,by offering prayers at theirhomes on Wednesday.

"Today, to protect the peo-ple from coronavirus, none

needs to (step out of homeand) lift hills. Instead, theyshould stay inside their homeson the occasion of HanumanJayanti (to contain the spreadof the viral disease)," an offi-cial statement quoted Pawar assaying.

According to the epicRamayan, when Lord Ram'sbrother Laxman lay motionlessafter being hit by an arrowfrom demon Ravana's sonMeghnad, Lord Hanuman wasasked to bring a herb 'Sanjivani'(a kind of panacea) to restorethe life in the woundedLaxman from the Dronagirimountain.

Unable to locate the'Sanjivani', Lord Hanuman lift-ed the entire mountain andflew back.

Wishing people on the occa-sion of the World Health Day,Pawar said that people shouldcelebrate their festivals by stay-ing inside their homes untilfurther notice.

Staff screened;enclosuressanitised atPune zoo

CIABC DirectorGeneral Vinod Giristated in the letterthat there aregrowing reports ofsale of illicit andspurious liquor inthe state whichcan potentially leadto serious healthhazards for peopleas well as createadverse law andorder situation

India is currentlyunder the biggestlockdown witharound 1.3 billionpeople asked tostay home in viewof the coronavirusoutbreak, whichhas claimed over100 lives andinfected morethan 4,000 peoplein the country

A total of 7 self-help groups withover 100members aremaking masks forthe municipalcorporation sothat the demandof 10,000 maskscan be met at theearliest

For Prime Minister NarendraModi, the use of surgical strikeshas become the new-normal inresolving intractable problemslike cross-border terrorism, black

money and Jammu & Kashmir. AfterBalakot, the airstrikes appear to haveturned the page in terrorism but in realterms, little has changed. Black money hasaltered the “colour” and “terrorism” is juston “pause.” The new invisible enemy isCOVID-19. Not even a nuclear strike willconquer this pandemic, which only time,more human lives and a vaccine can cure.Preliminary studies are showing howCoronavirus will change the way we liveand cohabit. One can only hope that ourexistential difficulties with Pakistan willease and end.

The Government and the Indian AirForce (IAF) celebrated February 26 as thefirst anniversary of Balakot. Exaggeratedclaims were made to perpetuate the onesmade last year without new evidence andfactoring the Pakistani perspective. It is tooearly to begin rewriting the doctrine andcall the airstrikes as “game-changer.”Claims on behalf of the IAF have beenmade mainly by former Chief of Air Staff,Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, throughinterviews and parts of an internal IAFreport that were leaked to the media. Hissuccessor, Air Chief Marshal RKSBhadauria, simply reinforced Dhanoa’sclaims through the same medium at a pub-lic event titled, ‘Air Power in No War NoPeace Scenario,’ organised by the Centrefor Air Power Studies, which was presidedby Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF)’s per-spective came from a conference held atthe University of Lahore, which wasjointly organised by the Centre forSecurity Strategy and Policy Research andthe Centre for Aerospace and SecurityStudies (CASS). The event was attendedby former PAF Chief of Air Staff, Air ChiefMarshal Kaleem Saadat. A report was pub-lished in the British Air Force magazineby Alan Warnes through his interviewswith retired PAF officers. The PAF’sresponse to the IAF air strikes was called“Operation Swift Retort.”

On the most provocative, emotionaland in India even anti-national questionof hitting the target, the IAF has stuck toits claim that it hit the target, though theCrystal Maze 142M missile, which was toproduce battle damage assessment, couldnot be fired. Last year, among others whoexpressed doubts whether the IAF missileswere on target, was Ashley Tellis of the US’sCarnegie Endowment and Christine Fairof Johns Hopkins University. The Air Forcemagazine was more direct: Bombs aimedat a religious boarding school atBalakot…hit wooded area a few hundredmetres away…all bombs overshot their tar-gets. The CASS report refers to the mishit

as “tactical error and technicalinadequacy.” Even so, this wasthe first time after the 1971 warthat the IAF bombed Pakistanat Balakot. Perhaps carriedaway, Bhadauria described thebombings as “the most signif-icant air action of the IAF inover four decades.” That was abit unkind to the IAF veterans,who took part supporting theIndian Peace Keeping Force(IPKF) in Sri Lanka for 22months, and the sterling pre-cision IAF bombings at Kargilfor over three months.

Bhadauria further said thatBalakot has shown that youcan use the IAF and still have“escalation control.” He wasbacked by Army Chief, GenMM Naravane, who said: “Foryears we were told that if andwhen air (force) crosses theInternational Border (IB), itwould escalate to a full-fledgedwar. Balakot demonstrated thatif you play the escalatory gamewith skill, military ascendan-cy can be established in shortcycles of conflict that do notnecessarily lead to war.”Elementary, my dear Watson?

In his paper on air escala-tion control circulated by theUS’ Stimson Centre in 2003after Operation Parakram,IAF’s Air Commode, Ramesh

Phadke, argued that limited airoperations against Pakistan inPakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK) were possible with min-imal escalation. Reason: IAF toPAF air balance ratio at thattime was nearly 2.5 to 1. Today,that ratio has declined to lessthan 1.3 to 1 (IAF 28squadrons versus PAF 21squadrons). The CASS reportfurther says that the probabil-ity of crisis recurrencebetween India and Pakistan ishigh and during a crisis, nei-ther side will be able to guar-antee controlling or domi-nating the escalation ladder.

PAF Air Chief MarshalMujahid Anwar Khan told theAir Force magazine that one les-son for India is not to use airpower “flippantly.” He saidOperation Swift Retort wasinevitable to demonstrate boththe resolve and restraint and wasdesigned to de-escalate. Pakistanhas found wriggle room inexplaining its nuclear bluff beingcalled. The CASS report titled,“Deconstructing Balakot” reads:“Pakistan’s carefully calibratedresponse strategy served well indampening the fears in policyanalysis that portray that anyattack inside Pakistan’s territo-ry would invoke Pakistan’snuclear threshold. However,

Pakistan, through its retaliation,Operation Swift Retort afterIndian strikes in Balakot,demonstrated that it has validconventional means of deter-rence to raise the cost of aggres-sion.”

As someone who has stud-ied Pakistan’s military andstrategic thought, I do notrecall Pakistan seriously threat-ening the use of nuclearweapons against an enemyairstrike. The four conditionsfor that were clearly codified byLt Gen Khalid Kidwai, theintellectual custodian ofPakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Hehad said — and that has notchanged till date — thatPakistan would use its nuclearweapons as weapons of ulti-mate resort in four eventuali-ties: Loss of large territory,especially in Punjab; cripplingmilitary attrition; economicblockade; and largescale polit-ical destabilisation. None ofthese conditions was violatedby the Balakot airstrikes.

One year on, AFM has saidthat PAF will be outnumberedbut will innovate to outma-noeuvre the IAF. It does notmatter what technology theIAF gets, the PAF will have thecapacity to defeat it. CASShas said that for the foreseeable

future, it will be in retaliatorymode but the threat of the useof force is essential whenPakistan’s support for Kashmirwill go beyond political, diplo-matic and moral paradigm.Kashmir has been made cen-tral to crisis and conflict.

Balakot airstrikes had thepotential to escalate and spinout of control. One single fac-tor that enabled the daring andrisky operation was a strategicsurprise. This is not likely to bereplicated. Airstrikes are notthe new-normal but a one-offlike the ground surgical strikes.Surgical strikes after Uri and atBalakot have not ended terror-ism. Infiltration has increaseddespite lockdown and unprece-dented troop density in Jammu& Kashmir.

Pakistan’s support forKashmir will not cease anddespite the internal constitu-tional changes in Jammu &Kashmir, the dispute will ulti-mately have to be resolvedpolitically. The post-COVID-19 environment may provide awindow to restart the process.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the DefencePlanning Staff, currently theIntegrated Defence Staff.)At the start of the spread of the COVID-

19 pandemic, several Indian companieswere extremely concerned as factories

began to shut down across swathes of China’sindustrial heartland and Indian imports fromChinese companies were growing at a fastpace. Indian imports included not just smart-phones or consumer electronics, as most sus-pect, but everything — from toys to batteriesand even fuel-injectors, needed to meet the newstricter BS-VI emission norms for vehicles.Then, of course, there was the worry surround-

ing the pharmaceutical industry as most of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients(APIs), required for key drugs, came from China. Indian drug-makers import around70 per cent of their total bulk drug requirements from China. As supply chainsbroke, Indian companies began to worry. So even those firms, which until nowmade ‘Make in India’ a huge success with their export-orientation, were left depen-dent on Chinese parts, ones that might be small in size and value but were crit-ical. The aftermath of the pandemic will force large economies across the worldto realise the fact that while such dependence is a result of a globalised world,so much reliance on China may not be a good thing. Ergo, the US asking Indiafor supply of hydroxychloroquine instead of China is a result of just that. CanIndian policy-makers and diplomats leverage India’s position as a reliable anddemocratic nation to promote ‘Make in India’ once the world recovers from thepandemic? One certainly hopes so.

However, initially, the Chinese problem for Indian industry might become worse.As factories in China reopen while Indian manufacturing hubs remain closed,there is a lurking fear that once our country reopens, Chinese manufacturers willdump their products on us. It will take weeks, possibly months, for Indian man-ufacturers to get back their speed even with the reduced demand in the after-math of the pandemic. Protecting Indian manufacturers from dumping has tobe the Commerce Ministry’s number one priority. It must then use this as a pivotto boost manufacturing in India for the rest of the world. India should use itsleverage with the White House, no matter what US President Donald Trump said,to get more preferential access to American markets and crucially attract moremanufacturing. India should sell itself more aggressively to the rest of the worldas well and also ease not just land acquisition but also permissions to establishmanufacturing units. The entire global economy has taken a hit over the pastthree months and 2020 might be a “lost year” economically. But Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is right, India must look at this as an opportunity rather than aneconomic disaster. The entire world will be in a state of flux for the next few quar-ters. India will suffer as well but we are to emerge stronger and more powerful.We can do that only if we take the right steps first.

As if the human dimension of the crisiswas not enough, turns out the zoonot-ic Coronavirus is now affecting the ani-

mal world and is jumping from its human host.Sometime ago, Hong Kong had reported thecase of a dog owner passing on the virus tohis pet which died. But reports were contra-dictory, claiming that the dog could have alsodied of old age. Be that as it may, the virusstrain, which has been traced genetically toa pangolin at a wildlife market in China, is nowjumping from humans to other animals.

Following reports that a tiger at Bronx Zoo in New York tested COVID-19 posi-tive because of his asymptomatic handler, India, too, has kept its zoos, nation-al parks, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves on the “highest” alert, askingauthorities to watch the big cats on a 24x7 basis for any abnormal behaviourand take “immediate preventive measures to stop transmission and spread ofthe virus from human to animals and vice versa.” With 2,967 tigers, India iscurrently home to 75 per cent of the global tiger population. Of course, the nation-al lockdown has meant that there is no tourist traffic at our sanctuaries but for-est and zoo staff would have to be particularly careful about not spreading thevirus in case one among them is remotely affected. Just two days ago, therewere reports of how inmates of the Delhi zoo were feeling spirited and free with-out human spectators. Reports have come in of how penguins had been let looseto meet their other aquatic friends at a US water park. Perhaps, this is a reminderfor us that we need to leave the animals in the wild as our proximity to themnow is threatening their existence. In fact, the rapid inter-species jump of thevirus in such a short time indicates how lethal it can become in threatening exis-tence as we knew it.

This news has predictably sent alarm bells ringing across the globe, espe-cially among pet owners, wondering if they should stay away from their furryfriends in case of an infection. The standard distancing protocols hold good foranimals as well. But then there is another fear of pets getting infected some-how externally and transmitting the virus to their owners, which has already result-ed in a lot of pet abandonment in the US. The Bronx zoo went so far as to saythat there is “no evidence that animals play a role in the transmission of COVID-19 to people other than the initial event in the Wuhan market, and no evidencethat any person has been infected with COVID-19 in the US by animals, includ-ing by pet dogs or cats.” The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention hasalso claimed that there is no evidence of a pet anywhere in the world transmit-ting COVID-19 to a person, a fact corroborated by the World Health Organisation(WHO), too. The outbreaks happening now are the result of people passing thevirus to one another. Also, various pets have reacted differently to an infectionof their owners. Turns out it was in Hong Kong again that one pet was infectedby his owner but another dog living in the same home didn’t. More pet cats havebeen affected though. In fact, they might be more susceptible to COVID-19 thandogs, according to one study conducted in China. As part of experiments,researchers placed infected domestic cats next to cats that were not infected.The researchers later found that one of the previously healthy cats caught thevirus after being near the infected felines, most likely through respiratory droplets.Dogs in the study, on the other hand, seemed to be more resistant to the virusand did not pass it to one another. There was no evidence that the cats shedenough of the virus to give it to people. But the study has not been reviewedand had a very limited sample size. Besides, they were given high doses of thevirus and all the human-transmitted cases of pets have shown a weakened strain.These are not real life scenarios, according to virologists. At the moment, it isonly us who are posing a threat to the animal world. Looks like the animals weclaimed and confined on our terms need to be freed from ourselves.

Tiger gets it

Be self-sufficient

Sir — The spread of Coronaviruspandemic has brought to thefore the intricate interdependen-cies that exist within the interna-tional pharmaceutical market. Itis known that China is the largestsupplier of active pharmaceuticalingredients all over the world.India, the leading exporter ofgeneric drugs across the world, isdependent on China for morethan two-thirds of its bulk drugneeds. The spread of Coronavirushas stressed on the need to homeproduce such drugs. We must,therefore, embrace economies ofscale and increase their produc-tion to be self-sufficient.

Rati AgrawalVia email

Focus on real issues

Sir — The Prime Minister’s appealto the people to switch off lightson April 5 was criticised by sever-al Opposition leaders. They right-ly urged the Government to focuson helping the poor amid theCoronavirus pandemic, many ofwhom do not have a roof abovetheir heads nor the money to feed

themselves and their families.Prime Minister Modi had askedpeople to stay inside their homesduring this exercise. But did hethink about those who have been

rendered homeless by this crisisand those who can no longer sparethe money to buy a candle?

Asim SuhailWest Mumbai

Extend lockdown

Sir — Some people are eagerlywaiting for April 14 to come, hop-

ing that the lockdown would bephased out. But the present situ-ation has seen an increasingnumber of infected cases anddeaths. The lockdown has notbeen a total success. Cooperationon the part of the people has beenfound wanting to combat theCoronavirus effectively. The com-pletion of 21 days is no case towithdraw the lockdown.

Despite the lockdown, thenumber of cases and deaths is onthe rise. Phasing out the curfewwould give a fillip to the virus toplay a more destructive role thannow. More infected cases anddeaths can be expected. India maysoon join the likes of the US,Spain, Italy, Iran and Germany,which have seen a large numberof deaths and infected cases. It isnot wise to end the lockdown tilldetections pace down.

Stricter steps are needed tocombat the spread of the virusnot only at the national level butglobally where it has made hugeinroads. Zero number of cases allover the world only matters.Nothing else.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionVIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020

06

Diplomacy is the key

ASHOK K MEHTA

Surgical strikes after Uri and at Balakot have not ended terrorism and infiltration has increaseddespite lockdown. The post-COVID-19 environment may provide a window to restart process

India has been proactive andcomprehensive in its approachto fighting the outbreak.Citizens must take a series ofmeasures to secure them-selves and help the vulnerable.

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

Human contact is limited,we’re not being able to meetour friends. We might feelsad, isolated, these are diffi-cult times, but it’s importantto keep your spirits up.

Actor—Adil Hussain

We are more grateful than everto all of our health workersfighting the #COVID19 pan-demic. You make us proud andyou inspire us. We stand withyou and we count on you.

UN Secretary-General—António Guterres

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Worsening rich-poor divide amid Corona scare

Surprise proclamations, mostly after dark, havebrought untold troubles to the poor and the disad-vantaged in the past, too. Faced with a pandemic

lurking around at the doorstep, it was inevitable for thecountry to shut itself down to block the reach of the virus.However, the developments that ensued confirmed theinadequacy of the preparations undertaken by theGovernment. It hit the migrant labourers like a thunder-bolt. Thrown out of their homes and with hunger loom-ing large, migrant workers set out on foot to their homes.Nothing — the scorching sun or difficult terrains andinhuman borders — seemed to deter them. Meanwhile,the rich shifted their wards and loved ones from foreignsoil, spending huge sums on private jets.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declaredCOVID-19 a public health emergency of international con-cern on January 30. The next day, Air India evacuatedthe first batch of Indians trapped in Wuhan in a specialflight and the evacuations from other countries, too, com-menced. An Indian student from the Wuhan universityflew into Kerala in that flight and tested positive. The WHOrecognised it as a pandemic on March 11. Drastic mea-sures were imminent to prevent the march of Corona.Nevertheless, the migrant workers seemed to know lit-tle about the enemy waiting to ambush. They were notalerted about the extreme steps likely as well. For some

time, the Government’s focus remained on the Kashmirissue, the implementation of the Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), theNational Population Register (NPR), Ram temple and onOpposition parties, their leaders and Muslims. When theperils of the lockdown sunk in, the “guest workers,” clue-less, homeless and penniless, flocked to the streets tobegin long and arduous journeys on foot. The sight ofthese less cautious people walking in hordes, some trav-elling in jam-packed buses, were disturbing. Luckily, thesepoor souls are not from the elite class, the global trav-ellers, who infected fellow citizens through handshakes.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The lion must roar

Friendship isn’t about retalia-tion. India must help all nationsin their hour of need but life-saving medicines should be made available to Indians in ample quantities first.

Congress leader—Rahul Gandhi

Wildlife parks across India have been told to keep a closewatch on tiger clusters and report any abnormal behaviour

Until now, the flagship ‘Make in India’ programme has beena great marketing slogan but will the virus change that?

Don’t demonise a community

THE PRESIDENT, PM, MINISTERS AND GOVERNORSWILL TAKE A 30 PER CENT SALARY CUT. THE MONEY

WILL GO TO THE CONSOLIDATED FUND OF INDIA. —UNION MINISTERPRAKASH JAVADEKAR

PUTTING MONEY IN CONSOLIDATED FUND INSTEAD OFDIRECTING IT TOWARDS FIGHTING COVID IS A BID TODEAL WITH ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF SIX YEARS.—CPI-M GENERAL SECRETARYSITARAM YECHURY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Arather disconcerting communal atmosphereseems to have enveloped the entire countryat a critical juncture when we all should be

displaying common sense, unity and the resolve tocontain the spread of the deadly COVID-19. We wereon top of things till a week or two ago but now thevirus seems to be spreading at a faster pace. Till nowwe have 4,858 confirmed cases and the deaths havespiked to 136. However, we still seem to be doingbetter than the developed nations with betterhealthcare infrastructure than us. For instance, theUS has 3,67,650 cases and nearly 10,000 fatalitieswhile Spain has 1,36,675 cases and 13,341 deaths andItaly is battling with 1,32,547 cases and has seen16,523 deaths so far.

If we were to compare ourselves to all thesenations, their population density to ours and thenumber of cases they have, we would realise that tillnow we have not done so badly.

Yet, switch on the television and all you will hearare alarming reports about the exponential rise inthe number of positive cases in the last two weeks.Worryingly, these are being linked to the congrega-tion at the Markaz Tablighi Jamaat at HazratNizamuddin.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, is cer-tain that criminal proceedings must be initiatedagainst the maulana of the Markaz. The discoursehas become so distorted and warped that it has nowassumed a communal hue. The hawkish rhetoricdirected against the minority community continuesunabated. Compounding this trend are newsreports that there have been instances of stone pelt-ing by the community in question against the health-care professionals and the law enforcement author-ities who were urging citizens to get tested. Manyvideos of these alleged incidents are also doing therounds on social media. This only galvanises the sit-uation and the social context.

A closer look at the chronology of events por-trays a different picture. Were events of this kind heldacross the country in the days that followed the fate-ful gathering? The answer is an unequivocal “yes.”On March 16, the Hindu Mahasabha conducted agau mutra (cow urine) party to “cure” Coronavirusin which thousands of people assembled. The reveredtown of Tirupati hosted close to 40,000 people onMarch 18. It closed only the following day. Whenthe “Janta (people’s) curfew” was announced onMarch 22, we all saw the throng of humanity erupt-ing in ebullient cheers minutes after it ended andthronging the streets. The instructions were clear-ly articulated earlier. Stand on your respective bal-conies and praise the diligence of healthcare profes-sionals, the media, the armed forces, police force,essential commodity providers, the sanitation work-ers and so on, who are on the frontline battling theCoronavirus by going above and beyond their callof duty in these trying times. What did people doinstead? They gathered in disturbing numbers,banged plates and distributed sweets. They prancedaround the streets in different parts of India. Whenthe people were given a four-hour notice by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi before the country wentinto a 21-day lockdown, millions desperately tookto the streets to procure vital rations and groceries.The norms of social distancing were convenientlyforgotten.

The following day, amid the nationwide lock-down, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathconducted the Ram Lalla movement event. It didreceive a lot of flak by the Opposition, the media and

on social media and other platforms butthe story slowly fell into oblivion and isnow far removed from public conscious-ness.

Migrants who are scattered across thecountry embarked on an arduous journeyhome; in large numbers. Could the lock-down have been better planned? Perhapsyes. Was there an acute failure in imple-menting public policy? Most certainly.Why could not the Centre have foreseenthe situation arising and the States not havebeen cautioned that such a mass migra-tion would take place. The UnionGovernment and the States should haveworked together to prevent the humani-tarian crisis that eventually unfolded andalso increased the risk of a spike inCoronavirus cases across the country. TheCentre and States should have planned tohave the necessary infrastructure, trans-port and medical equipment in place tofacilitate a smooth transition instead of thechaos which ensued? We are a nationwhere rural-urban migration is a realityand has been the subject of numerousstudies. So could this not have been fore-seen?

So is Arvind Kejriwal correct in hisassessment in implementing criminalproceedings against the maulana of thecentre? After all, the assembly was a fla-grant violation of the norms. Should thedebate assume a communal context? No.This debate is not about which commu-nity conducted a gathering and which con-formed to the norms of “social distancing”which mind you was emphasised onlyrecently after the Prime Ministerannounced the first nationwide lockdownon March 22. The gathering had a num-ber of international visitors which can par-tially explain the spread of the virus.

But what is disquieting is the lopsidednature of the debate. It is immoral andunfair to attribute the exponential rise inthe number of detected cases to one com-munity. This is because there were otherleakages in the system and with time wewill begin to understand and identify thecausations and patterns. We all need totake collective responsibility because thevirus, as stated innumerable times, doesnot discriminate. You could be PrinceCharles or Boris Johnson. It will not seeyour lineage or blue blood before strikingyou. The Nizamuddin event was a mat-ter of chance with things taking a deadlyturn. The debate needs to be more real-istic and balanced. However, that said, itis also incumbent upon the communityin question to ask its people to behave ina more respectful and cooperative man-ner with those who are looking after themin quarantine. Reports of roaming aroundin the nude to harass the women health-care workers and spitting on people willembarrass and silence even the most neu-tral of observers.

As it is, there have been so many mis-conceptions about the virus that even theso-called “educated” people in society havebecome susceptible to rumours. When mysister-in-law returned from the UnitedKingdom (UK) on March 9, the ResidentWelfare Association (RWA) membersdemanded to see her travel documents.They did not heed the fact that testing wasbeing conducted at airports and she wasanyways adhering to self-quarantinenorms. Much to her consternation, the sit-uation was only defused after the interven-tion of relevant authorities.

There is another unnerving trendwhich seems to be gripping India. TheNizamuddin episode seems to have

polarised the country. At home we havea large live-in staff. At night, post dinner,they all sit upstairs in their bedroom andwatch television. Every day the conversa-tions are invariably about how India willdescend into chaos and anarchy andMuslims are the ones to be blamed for thismayhem. I try to reason with them andapprise them about similar developmentsaround the country but they appearobstinate and are determined to pursue achain of thought. I wonder what thebroader ramifications of such a thoughtprocess will be for the entire nation. Whatif we have more illiterate people who arebeing brainwashed and subscribe to thissame propaganda? It could have a cascad-ing effect, which could arrest the harmo-nious progress of a pluralistic nation likeours. After all, this is a once in a lifetimeoccurrence for many of us and if a certaincommunity is portrayed in poor light thenit will take a lot to erase the scars and thepervasive prejudice.

In such uncertain times, when a lotof negative publicity is being hurled at us,it is vitally important that we are circum-spect and unbiased in our appraisal of thesituation on the ground. Let’s not make thisglobal calamity about a community andisolate them. This is a time to shed grudgesand imagine a new world; a world wherewe all can take a common stand and treada path together. And hopefully we will beable to surmount this malaise which affect-ed one and all, so that we can once againsee each other as human beings who sharethe same needs and have the same vulner-abilities. The boundaries of caste and creedare only imagined because when tragedystrikes it knows no distinctions.

(The writer is a socio-economic commentator)

Switch on the TV and all you will hear are reports about the spike in the number ofCoronavirus cases. These are being linked to the congregation in Nizamuddin

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Need infectiousdisease hospitals

KARAN THAKUR

Given the advances in design and architecture, itis possible to create a hospital within a hospital

that can be used during outbreaks

ISHAAN SAXENA

A CLOSER LOOK ATTHE CHRONOLOGY

OF EVENTSPORTRAYS A

DIFFERENTPICTURE. WEREEVENTS OF THIS

KIND HELD ACROSSTHE COUNTRY IN

THE DAYS THATFOLLOWED THE

FATEFULGATHERING? THE

ANSWER IS ANUNEQUIVOCAL ‘YES.’

ON MARCH 16, THEHINDU MAHASABHA

CONDUCTED A GAU MUTRA (COWURINE) PARTY TO

‘CURE’CORONAVIRUS IN

WHICH THOUSANDSOF PEOPLE

ASSEMBLED. THEREVERED TOWN OFTIRUPATI HOSTED

CLOSE TO 40,000PEOPLE ON MARCH18. IT CLOSED ONLY

THE FOLLOWINGDAY. WHEN THE

‘JANTA (PEOPLE’S)CURFEW’ WAS

ANNOUNCED ONMARCH 22, WE ALLSAW THE THRONG

OF HUMANITYERUPTING IN

EBULLIENT CHEERSMINUTES AFTER IT

ENDED ANDTHRONGING THE

STREETS

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of multi-ple global strategies on prevention, containment and man-agement of the disease. Tactical and strategic systemic

approaches that nations have evolved include testing, strict lock-downs and contact tracing with a majority adopting a hybrid modelof all of these approaches.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been espousingidentification, isolation, testing, tracking and treatment as its strat-agem for effective handling of national and cross-border outbreakssince the beginning of the crisis. While most nations adopt thisapproach, a critical unsettled debate revolves around hospital allo-cation and infrastructure division for COVID versus non-COVIDpatients.

Given the precipitous spread across borders, most nationalhealth systems were coming to grips with the pandemic by util-ising all available resources to control the outbreak. Hospitals wereasked to prepare COVID-19 wards, train staff and buffer up inven-tories. As in any disaster management protocol, it was importantto use all levers to manage the crisis given the geographic spreadof the disease. However, a critical differentiator between other dis-asters and this infectious disease variant was the risk posed tostaff and “normal” patients.

The influx in most disaster management cases does not posea direct and significant threat to the well-being of others in the phys-ical proximity of the relief site. Infectious diseases turn that logicon its head. Not only does the disease hold catastrophic poten-tial for a section of those infected, it also poses consequential risksfor others. This has been tragically witnessed in the current out-break with a large number of health workers having contractedthe disease in the line of their work.

The use of personal protective equipment, preventive proce-dures and physical segregation are foremost in our defence againstinfectious diseases but they do have their limitations. Additionally,the exposure to positive cases necessitated the protective quar-antine of a large number of health workers, just as they were requiredto be rendering care in the face of the rising numbers.

Second, the risk posed to those seeking care for other ailmentsposes moral and ethical questions. Already at a higher degree ofrisk because of their underlying condition, the potential exposurein hospitals treating both COVID and non-COVID patients can becatastrophic. This risk is further complicated by the fact that lock-downs and the unavailability of hospital beds for non-COVID patientsbecome a compromised reality in a pandemic. The need to pro-tect these patients and ensure that an adequate number of pre-cious health workers are available make the case for dedicatedCOVID/infectious disease hospitals stronger.

One approach to circumvent the problem above has been totake any patient at the hospital as a potential COVID-positive case.This has an enormous cost attached towards it, in both clinicaland monetary terms. Given that global supply lines, even of invalu-able medical stock and equipment, remain stressed, the judicioususe of preventive goods cannot be adequately underlined.

Given these multitudinous complexities that health systemsare only just coming to terms with, there is a major need to findsolutions for this and future pandemics. The need for dedicatedinfectious disease blocks within hospitals and dedicated hospi-tals themselves is a possible way forward.

Given the advances in hospital design and architecture, it ispossible to create modular health infrastructure — a hospital inhospital model — that can be efficiently “turned on” in times ofoutbreaks. This will help safeguard health resources — manpow-er, material and beds — and enable better allocation on the basisof the burden of the outbreak and peacetime healthcare needs.

Second, the creation of dedicated hospitals that are used totreat infectious diseases needs to be part of the health systemspolicy. These institutions would need specialised manpower, equip-ment and hard infrastructure to adequately manage future outbreaks.The risk pooling of infectious disease loads will help in ensuringthat during outbreaks the entire health system machinery is notthrown into existential peril. In peace times, these institutions coulddouble up as research institutes and also carry out outpatients orambulatory care, which can be relocated in times of acute need.

This approach, though capital intensive, is a dawning realitythat systems across the world need to assess, engender and adoptin order to do equitable justice to those who acquire an infectiousdisease and those who do not, but remain vulnerable due to thestate of their health.

(The writer is a doctor and administrator, Apollo HospitalsGroup)

What is the impact ofCoronavirus on religion?As the well-known German

philosopher and economist KarlMarx said, “Religion is the opium ofthe people.” For believers, worldover it provides psychological, emo-tional as well as moral support.However, the Novel Coronavirus is apandemic, which threatens believersand atheists alike. And it respects noreligion.

But the fact remains thatCoronavirus or no Coronavirus,worldwide religious leaders have amajor moral hold over millions ofbelievers. And irrespective of the faith

they belong to, almost all of themhave risen to the occasion to containthe Coronavirus pandemic. FromMecca to the Vatican, the doors areshut to the public.

This is quite a commendableachievement for the Church in par-ticular, as Christians are observing theHoly month of Lent that ends on theeve of Good Friday. The number ofChristians attending services aroundthe world swells exponentially dur-ing this time. But now all services andprayer meetings during the Lentenseason are being held online, livestreamed or pre-recorded to keep thefaithful confined to their homes andhelp stop the spread of the contagion.Even the Church of Nativity inBethlehem was closed after aCoronavirus case was confirmed inthe area.

However, Pope Francis has urgedthe priests to “have the courage to getout. Going to the sick to bring themthe comfort of God,” after taking dueprecautions and support the health-care workers, too. Many countries like

Japan, Israel, South Korea and Iranhave also shut their religious institu-tions. In an unprecedented move,Saudi Arabia has temporarily sus-pended Umrah (the non-mandatorylesser pilgrimage made by Muslimsto Mecca). Riyadh also briefly shut theGreat Mosque in Mecca and theProphet’s Mosque in Medina.

India, which believes in reli-gion, spirituality, gurus and godmen,has also followed suit. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi called upon the reli-gious leaders in the country to takethe lead and ask their communitiesto adhere to the Government’s guide-lines to contain the pandemic. Ropingin Chief Ministers, too, Modi askedthem to convene a meeting of reli-gious leaders across all faiths and urgethem to convince their people toadhere to social distancing guidelines.

Significantly, Modi’s appeal camein the wake of the recent religiousgathering in Nizamuddin in violationof Government guidelines, which hadturned into a major hotspot forspreading the Coronavirus. Nearly

2,100 people were evacuated fromMarkaz Nizamuddin, the Delhi head-quarters of the Tablighi Jamaat groupand over 1,100 are now quarantinedin different parts of the city near thereligious centre.

Prior to that, at least 15,000people might have caught the virusfrom a Sikh spiritual guru who hadreturned from Europe and wentabout preaching in more than a dozenvillages in Punjab. He later died of theCOVID-19. All the 15,000 attendeesare now under quarantine. It wasindeed fortunate that communalclashes did not follow this event.

So, how have the religious lead-ers and institutions responded toModi’s appeal? For many religiousleaders, the decision to shut thedoors of their institutions was diffi-cult but they had realised the sever-ity of the pandemic had respondedpositively. The Christian communi-ty in India closed all churches andeven held its services on Palm Sunday,which herald the beginning of theHoly Week leading up to Good

Friday, services online in keeping withthe Prime Minister’s plea for socialdistancing.

This was a significant move, aswith Good Friday, Easter, Ramzanand other festivals approaching it isimperative that communities recog-nise the need for preventing largegatherings, even after the lockdownis lifted. Thus, despite the beliefacross all faiths in the country thatpeople need God more in times oftrouble, the religious leaders haveheeded Modi’s call.

In an unprecedented manner,several temples in India have alsoclosed darshan (viewing) for thedevotees. These include the SiddiVinayakswamy temple, Kamakhyatemple, Tirupathi Balaji temple andPuri Jagannath temple among others.Even the Ganga aarti (worship) at theghats of Varanasi and theGarbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) ofKashi Vishwanath temple have been made off-limits to the pub-lic.

Setting aside their differences and

responding to the Kerala ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan’s appeal, thereligious leaders in the State, includ-ing Cardinals, Bishops, Muslim reli-gious leaders and leaders of Hinducommunities issued a joint statementon March 20, asking the people to“stand together with determinationand to overcome the trauma causedby the outbreak of the NovelCoronavirus.”

Hundreds of people from variousreligions came together in Patna tooffer an all-religion prayer, to stop theoutbreak of COVID-19. They offeredprayers in their own ways on March17 to seek divine intervention.

Spiritual gurus and godmen,who depend on huge political sup-port, are also not lagging behind intheir efforts to do the Government’sbidding. Spiritual leaders includingAmritanandamayi, Jaggi Vasudevand Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have shuttheir ashrams and asked their follow-ers not to congregate until the pan-demic is over.

“The virus knows no caste, creed

or religion. Let us beat the virus,” istheir dictum to their followers.

They also offer remedies likeyoga and meditation to their follow-ers. They are gurus of the rich and thepoor, alike. Many of them commandhuge following at home and abroad.Their followers include politicians,actors, sportsmen and bureaucrats.Many like the Baba Ramdev are alsosuccessful entrepreneurs and runmassive business empires.

Hence, the role that spiritual lead-ers can play in getting the word outabout public health measures is con-siderable.

In India, where religion plays amajor role, even in politics, the wordof a religious leader will go a long wayto help contain the pandemic. It is awelcome measure that they havejoined the fight against the virus alongwith their followers.

After all India is home to innu-merable gurus and god-men — bothgenuine and fake.

(The writer is a seniorjournalist)

Religious leaders have a vital role in COVID warIn India, where religion plays a major role, even in politics, the word of a religious leader will go a long way to help contain the pandemic.

It is a welcome measure that they have joined the fight against the virus along with their followers

KALYANI SHANKAR

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading stock exchange BSEhas revised cut-off timings forsubscription and redemptionof liquid, overnight and otherschemes on its mutual funddistribution platform - StARMF. This revised “timings shallbe applicable with effect fromApril 7, 2020,” BSE said in acircular.

In case of subscription of liq-uid and overnight schemes,BSE said new timing for L0transactions on the StAR MFplatform will be 12 noon and1 pm for normal transactions(for both subscription andredemption).

For subscription of otherschemes, BSE said it hasrevised the timing for L1transactions on the platform to12.30 pm. Earlier, L1 transac-tions were accepted till 2:30pm. With respect to redemp-tion and subscription for othermutual fund schemes, timinghas been revised to 1 pm fornormal transactions. Earlier,the timing was 3 pm.

The purchase transactionsare classified under three dif-ferent categories — normal, L0and L1.

L0 transactions are placed topurchase units of liquid MFschemes by selecting L0 as a

suffix to the scheme type. L1transactions are placed to pur-chase units of non-liquid MFschemes and have a value of Rs2 lakh and above.

Normal transactions areplaced to purchase units ofnon-liquid MF schemes andhave a value of less than Rs 2lakh. Any Liquid transaction,which is not placed by suffix-ing L0 in the scheme type isalso called normal transac-

tion.With respect to normal

orders, the exchange said cut-off time for receipt of funds byIndian Clearing Corporationin their account for ordersrouted by distributors to getthe historic day net asset value(NAV) in case of liquid trans-actions and same day's NAV incase of L0 transactions is 11:30am and L1 transactions 12:00noon.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Cargo volume at 12 major portsmarginally up at643 MT in Apr-Feb

Zydus Cadila getsUSFDA nod to marketgeneric schizophreni

Spot gold marketsremain shut due tolockdown: HDFCSecuritiesNew Delhi: Spot gold marketsin India remained shut onTuesday amid countrywidelockdown to prevent spreadingof COVID-19, according toHDFC Securities. Meanwhile, inthe international market bothgold and silver were quotingflat at USD 1,653 per ounceand USD 15.14 per ounce,respectively. "Gold pricestraded steady with spotinternational gold priceskeeping the upper tradingrange near USD 1,653 perounce after gaining onMonday," it said.

New Delhi: Drug firm ZydusCadila on Tuesday said it hasreceived final nod from the UShealth regulator to marketgeneric Perphenazine tabletsused for treatment ofschizophrenia. The companyhas received final approvalfrom the United States Foodand Drug Administration(USFDA) to marketPerphenazine tablets USP inthe strengths of 2 mg, 4 mg, 8mg and 16 mg, Zydus Cadilasaid in a statement. "The drugwill be manufactured at thegroup's formulationmanufacturing facility at Baddi.

New Delhi: The country's 12major ports recorded amarginal 1.42 per centgrowth in cargo volumes at642.95 million tonne (MT)during April-February of thejust-concluded fiscal,according to Indian PortsAssociation. The ports hadhandled 633.93 MT of cargo inthe same period of 2018-19.India has 12 major ports --Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla),Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao,New Mangalore, Cochin,Chennai, Kamarajar (earlierEnnore), V O Chidambaranar,Visakhapatnam, Paradip andKolkata (including Haldia).While the handling of iron oresaw 43.11 per cent jump to49.98 MT during the period,thermal coal shipmentsdeclined 14 per cent to 82.47MT, the IPA data showed. The12 ports had handled 34.92MT of iron ore and 95.97 MTof coal during April-Februaryperiod of 2018-19. Handling ofcoking and other coal rose2.49 per cent to 51.87 MTduring the eleven months ascompared to 50.61 MT in theyear-ago period. Finishedfertiliser volumes jumped19.49 per cent but rawfertiliser dipped 0.68 per cent.Containers recorded a growthof 2.45 per cent in terms ofTEUs (twenty-foot equivalentunits).

‘India's renewables installationcould fall due to lockdown’PNS n NEW DELHI

India could face over 21.6 percent of 3 gigawatts (GW) ofsolar power and wind energyprojects being delayed due tothe nationwide lockdownimposed to check the spread ofcoronavirus, Wood Mackenziesaid in a report.

While wind projects wouldbe hit by supply and labour dis-ruptions in the peak season,solar photovoltaic (PV) instal-lations are expected to be hithard as the industry is heavilydependent on Chinese PVmodule imports, which havebeen disrupted due to coron-avirus.

"Wood Mackenzie projectsthat India could face over 21.6per cent or 3 gigawatts (GW)of solar photovoltaic (PV) andwind installations beingdelayed as a result of the coun-try's lockdown," it said in thereport.

Wood Mackenzie principalanalyst Robert Liew said: "Thetiming of the lockdown isunfortunate as Q1 is typicallyone of the busiest periods forwind project installations. Thelockdown will delay some pro-jects until summer, and if thelockdown is extended past

April, wind farm construc-tion could be further delayedinto the monsoon season,where wind installations aretypically at their lowest".

With over 3 GW of windprojects under constructionscheduled for 2020 completion,supply and labour disruptionsfrom the current lockdowncould delay 400 megawatts(MW) into 2021, equating to adowngrade of 11 per cent for2020.

Similar to the wind sector,India's solar PV installations isexpected to be hit hard as theindustry is heavily dependenton Chinese PV moduleimports (80 per cent of totalvolume) which has been dis-rupted due to the coronavirus.

"Current supply and labour

dis-r u p -t i o n swill havean outsizednegative impact on 2020installations. Q1 is expect-ed to be stronglyimpacted with a poten-tial 60 per cent year-on-yearquarterly downgrade, or 1.2GW, down from about 3 GWin Q1 2019.

"We remain cautious on theoutlook for the second half ofthe year as supply and logis-t ics bott lenecks l inger.Consequently, our full-yeardowngrade stands at 2.9 GW,a 24.8 per cent reductionresulting in a revised 2020outlook of 8.9 GW of solarPV installations," Senior ana-

lyst Rishab Shrestha said.States with the highest

coronavirus infection ratesalso correspond with the

areas that arefavourable to the windand solar develop-ment.

Gujarat delivered58 per cent or 1.4 GWof newly added windcapacity in India in2019 and is one of thetop ten worst-hit

states in terms of coronavirusinfections.

On the solar f ront,Karnataka (2.0 GW), TamilNadu (1.6 GW) andRajasthan (1.7 GW) were thetop three states accountingfor 55 per cent of solar PVinstallations in 2019. All ofwhich are in the top tenworst-hit states.

Wood Mackenzieprojects that Indiacould face over21.6 per cent or 3gigawatts (GW) ofsolar photovoltaic(PV)

For subscription of other schemes,BSE said it has revised the timing forL1 transactions on the platform to12.30 pm

BSE revises cut-off timings forMF subscription, redemption

Ensuring smooth shipping ops: Ministry of ShippingPNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Tuesdaysaid it is committed to main-taining smooth operationsacross its shipping ports andhas initiated a number ofsteps, including waivingrentals and thermal scanningof 46,000 crew and passen-gers, in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

Total traffic handling atmajor ports has also increasedmarginally by 0.82 per cent to705 million tonnes (MT) dur-ing the last fiscal.

"In the wake of unprece-dented crisis due to Covid-19,the Ministry of Shipping hasbeen taking pro-active steps toensure smooth running ofshipping and port operations,ease the hardships, and at thesame time, following therestrictions imposed during

the lockdown," the Ministry ofShipping said in a statement.

A total of 46,202 passengershave been scanned betweenJanuary 27 and February 4using thermal scanners atIndian ports, including 39,225people scanned at majorports.

Elaborating the steps taken

to ensure smooth shippingoperations, the governmentsaid it has asked each majorport to ensure that no penal-ties, demurrage, charges, fee,rentals are levied on any portuser (traders, shipping lines,concessionaires, licensees etc.)for any delay in berthing orloading/unloading operations

or evacuation of cargo causedby the reasons attributable tolockdown measures fromMarch 22 to April 14, 2020.

It said each major port shallexempt or remit demurrage,ground rent over and abovethe free period, penal anchor-age/berth hire charges and anyother performance-related

penalties that may be leviedon port-related activitiesincluding minimum perfor-mance guarantee, whereverapplicable. Besides for existingand operational PPP projects,the major ports can permitwaiver of all penal conse-quences on a case-to-casebasis along with deferment ofcertain performance obliga-tions. On preparedness ofhospitals across the majorport trusts, it said these havebeen supplied with the per-sonal protective equipment(PPEs) and the arrangementof sufficient staff round theclock has been made.

"In some port hospitals, a

part of the hospital can be ear-marked for Covid-19 withseparate entry and exit," it said.

Ports and PSUs under theMinistry of Shipping havecontributed more than Rs 52crore from the CSR fundstowards PM CARES Fund.About EXIM trade, the state-ment said in order to ensurethat the EXIM trade does notsuffer due to certain unavoid-able delays in loading anddischarge of cargo due to thelockdown, the shipping lineshave been advised to notimpose any container deten-tion charge on export andimport shipments of con-tainerised cargo till April 14.

Total traffic handling at major ports hasalso increased marginally by 0.82 percent to 705 MT during the last fiscal

MSF supports Bihar govtin fight against COVID-19PNS n NEW DELHI

The international medicalhumanitarian organisationDoctors Without Borders(MSF) has said it is support-ing the Bihar government byproviding crucially neededpersonal protective equipmentfor frontline healthcare work-ers in fight against COVID-19pandemic.

The list of equipmentincludes N-95 masks, eye/faceprotection, gloves and highquality body protection. Inaddition, viral transport medi-ums used in the testing ofCOVID-19 patients are beingprovided, MSF said in a state-ment. The total value of thedonation is valued at over Rs1.1 crore, it added.

The equipment will be used

by medical staff at NalandaMedical College and Hospital,and other facilities in Bihar toensure their safety, the MSFsaid.

"It is critical to reinforce andprotect healthcare personnelwho are the first line ofresponse against the disease.Responding to epidemics andassisting vulnerable popula-tions in crises is something theMSF has done over manydecades globally," DoctorsWithout Borders, IndiaCountry Director PrinceMathew said.

In the next few weeks, theMSF will also potentially sup-port the Bihar state healthauthorities in the direct man-agement of patients throughfacility decongestion prepared-ness, he added.

Wind turbine maker Senvionsigns pact to sell Indian entityPNS n MUMBAI

Wind turbine manufacturerSenvion on Tuesday said it hasentered into a binding agree-ment to sell and transfer itsfully operational Indian enti-ty to a strategic investor.

Last year, the Germany-based company hadannounced its decision to spinoff Indian operations into astandalone and separate enti-ty after it filed for insolvencyin a German court.

"Senvion has entered into abinding agreement with astrategic investor to sell andtransfer its fully operationalIndian entity. This is further toour announcement last yearwhere Senvion India was madean independent entity to man-ufacture, supply and operatethe turbines," the companysaid in a statement.

The company, however, didnot provide any financialdetails of the deal.

It further said the partieshave now entered in the finalclosure stage where legal doc-

umentations and agreementsare being discussed andexpects the transaction to closebefore June 2020, after regula-tory approvals.

"This is a positive outcomefor our Indian entity to finda safe harbour and continueto serve one of the largestrenewable energy markets.We have started workingtowards an earliest closureand transfer of the Indian

business to the new share-holders," Thorsten Bieg,Partner at GÖRG who joinedthe Management Board ofSenvion as a restructuringexpert, said.

He further said the compa-ny has also signed legallybinding agreements to trans-fer the relevant intellectualproperty and knowhow toSenvion India, which will beeffective upon the closure.

Total's arm invests Rs 3.7K crto form JV with Adani GroupPNS n NEW DELHI

French energy firm Total SA onTuesday said it has invested Rs3,707 crore to set up 50:50 jointventure with Adani GreenEnergy Ltd (AGEL) through itsstep-down subsidiary.

The JV houses 2.148 GWoperating solar projects across11 states in India, the companysaid in a statement.

The portfolio includes theRestricted Group 1 & 2 projects,which had recently raised USD

862.5 million from the interna-tional bond markets, the state-ment said. Restricted Group 2was the first Investment Graderated issuance (rated BBB-/Baa3/BBB-) by a renewablebusiness in India and was wide-

ly recognized by global capitalmarkets and international pub-lications, it added. Through theestablishment of the joint ven-ture, both partners aim to adhereto highest standards of gover-nance and strengthen the foun-dation of the partnershipbetween the two groups. Theclosing of the transaction in thecurrent environment reinforcesthe strength of the relationshipbetween the partners and fur-ther underscores robust climatecommitment of both partners.

Last year, the company had announcedits decision to spin off Indian operationsinto a standalone and separate entity

Bank of Baroda to providesupport to SHGs, FPOsPNS n MUMBAI

State-run Bank of Baroda onTuesday said it will providefinancial assistance of up to Rs1 lakh to women self-helpgroups (SHGs) to help meettheir funding demand amidthe COVID-19 crisis.

The bank has also announcedan emergency credit line forfarmers producer organisations(FPO/FPC) to deal with any liq-uidity mismatches.

Under the AdditionalAssurance to SHGs-COVID19scheme, the bank will providesupport to existing SHGs' facil-ities in the form of cash creditor overdraft or term loans.

"The minimum loan amount

is Rs 30,000 per SHG and max-imum loan amount grantedunder the scheme is Rs one lakhper member, repayable in 24months," the bank said in astatement.

The repayment for thisscheme would be on a month-ly or quarterly basis and themoratorium will be for a peri-od of six months from the dateof disbursement.

For FPO/FPC, a limit of 10per cent of the combined lim-its will be sanctioned with max-imum amount of Rs 5 lakh withthe tenor of 36 months. Themoratorium period is for amaximum of six months. Forborrowers in dairy and fisheriessegment, the lender will provideinstant credit to farming com-munity to meet emergent fundsrequirement for farm mainte-nance and other farm relatedactivities due to COVID-19.

"The limit stands at 10 percent of other agriculture sanc-tion limit (i.e. minimum Rs10,000) and maximum Rs50,000 for existing regularinvestment credit agricultureaccounts," it said.

RBI relaxesoverdraftfacility normsfor statesPNS n NEW DELHI

The Reserve Bank on Tuesdayrelaxed norms for state govern-ments to avail overdraft facil-ities for a longer period untilSeptember 30 as they are fac-ing cashflow mismatches amidcoronavirus outbreak leadingto countrywide lockdown.

In a circular, the centralbank said it has permitted"greater space" to state govern-ments/ Union Territories foravailing overdraft facilities. Inorder to provide greater flexi-bility to the state governmentsto tide over their cashflowmismatches, the RBI hasincreased the number of daysfor which a state can be in over-draft.

The number of days forwhich a State/ UT can be inoverdraft continuously hasbeen increased to 21 workingdays from the current stipula-tion of 14 working days.

Most mutualfundsunderperformedbenchmarksPNS n MUMBAI

Even before the COVID-19worries-led market rout dent-ed the value of mutual fundinvestments, there arechances that the fund wasanyways underperformingfrom a long-term perspective.

According to a study byS&P Indices Versus Active(SPIVA), for the five yearsending December 2019, amajority of funds wereunderperforming. Typically,asset management companiessay one must invest in mutu-al funds for the medium tolong-term and see throughnear-term volatilities.

Rupee spurts49 paise to75.64 againstUS dollarPNS n MUMBAI

The Indian rupee surged by49 paise to 75.64 (provision-al) against the US dollar onTuesday, taking cues frompositive equity market senti-ment. At the interbank for-eign exchange, the rupeeopened at 75.92 and gainedfurther ground to touch theday's high of 75.60. TheIndian unit finally settled forthe day at 75.64, registering arise of 49 paise over its pre-vious close.

On Friday, the rupee hadsettled at 76.13 against the USdollar.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has reduced the timingof market hours for callmoney market, governmentsecurities market, currencymarket from April 7 to April17 (from 10 am to 2 pm) fol-lowing the unprecedentedsituation that has emergeddue to the spread of coron-avirus.

IIL ties up with Ozuniversity forCOVID-19 vaccinePNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian ImmunologicalsLimited (IIL), a leading vac-cines-manufacturing company,is going to commence researchfor developing avaccine forcoronavirus which has infectedover a million and killed about55,000 people across the worldso far.

The IIL joined hands withGriffith University of Australiaby entering into an agreementfor research collaboration toconduct exploratory research todevelop a lead vaccine candidatefor coronavirus, a press releasesaid. As part of the collabora-tion, scientists from the city-

based vaccine maker and theuniversity would develop a LiveAttenuated SARS CoV-2 vac-cine orCOVID- 19 vaccineusingthe latestcodon de-optimisa-tion technology, the releasesaid.

The technology lookspromising for developing a vac-cine for prophylactic, active, sin-gle dose immunisation againstcoronavirus in humans, with anenhanced safety profile. Thevaccine is expected to provide-long-lasting protection with asingle dose administrationwithan anticipated safety profilesimilar to other licensed vac-cines for active immunisation,it said.

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

hildren of all ageslove playing withtoys. All of us havesome or the othermemory of toys weloved playing with,

during our childhood. The sight of building blocks or

a toy train or a motorcar in a toyshop makes a child throwtantrums to make their parentsbuy them. And the advent oftoys like the Beyblade, Yo-yos,Hotwheels, Power Rangers, etc.,makes the child want to buy thelatest ones to stay updated withwhatever toys are the currenttrend.

Buying toys for a toddler isnecessary, since it sparks achild’s imagination, which is saidto be the highest at this stage.But what and how much to buyis a concern for most parents.We’ve all seen how a childbehaves when in a toy store.Most of us too, have been there.

Some of us have put our footdown and few others have goneto the extent of rolling on thefloor to coerce our parents tobuy what we ask for. And thissort of behaviour has, many atime, left parents of toddlers red-faced in public. Most parents areworried about their child'sbehaviour and wonder if theiradamant child could turnaggressive too.

Explaining this behaviour,Dr Haseeb Jafferi, a child psy-chologist, tells us that such areaction is result of a phenom-enon in a child’s brain called‘theta’. “When children arebetween the ages 2-8 years,they live in a state of ‘theta’, animaginary land which is beyondreality. When they connect witha toy they want their ‘Theta land’to be satisfied,” he explains.

“It is difficult for an adult tocomprehend what a child hap-pens in a child’s mind whenhe/she demands that a particu-lar toy be bought. When ayoung boy wants a remote con-trolled car, the child imagineshimself to be the hero who is

driving the car and saving thehuman race,” he adds.

To tackle this, Dr Haseeb sug-gest parents to try the newconcept of activity boxes forchildren of all age groups.These activities, he says, area smart way to keep the kidsengaged. The activitiesare aimed at keeping thechildren and theirminds busy and enter-tained. He howeversays that once theseactivities are done,boredom will creepin. “These activi-ties are just a wayto keep themengaged. Aphysical toy isany day the bestway to spark cre-ativity and imagina-tion in a child,” he adds.

Dr Haseeb sees videogames as a major threat to achild’s mind, during his/herformative years. ‘Videogames kill creativity in achild,” he says. Anotherproblem that a parent facesis when their child, duringthe course of watching avideo on YouTube andelsewhere, goes throughan advertisement of a toyand pesters the parent tobuy it. "Ultimately, it's leftto the parents on how theyfacilitate the child's needs,with toys that matter andare enough," he concludes.

ailing from Kolar GoldFields of Karnataka,television actressPooja Murthy hasnow become ahousehold name

among the Telugu audience.The actress has wowed audi-ence with her acting skills in theserial Gundamma Katha. Beforeproving her mettle in the Teluguindustry, Pooja had a brief stintin the Kannada industry too.

STARTED AS A CHILD ARTIST

Pooja started her career as a childartist in various Kannada serials.She acted in serials since herkindergarten days. “I played vari-ous roles in serials as a child artist.Later, my parents realised that Ineed to focus on higher studies.After my graduation, I went to meetone of my friends who was from theindustry. There, one managerrecognised me and advised me totake up acting again. I did, andreceived great response from theKannada audience,” she reminisces.

ENTRY INTO TELUGUINDUSTRY

Her entry into Telugu indus-try came knocking at her door.“I got a call from theGundamma Katha team andthey asked me to attend ascreen test. After auditioningfor the role, I was roped into play Geetha,” she recalls.Speaking about her charac-ter in the serial she says, “Iplay the role of Geethawho is homely andalways places the interestof others above her own.She is also on the heav-ier side, so the serial

revolves around howGeetha battles life and body

shaming among other issues. Thecharacter has been well received,”she says.

‘HEY GUNDAMMA'Pooja’s role is so loved that

when she is out and not shoot-ing, people recognise her andcall her ‘Gundamma’.

“Whenever I meet peopleoutside, most of them call meby my character’s name —Gundamma and Geetha. Theylove the role so much and areworried about what might hap-pen next,” she says.

FLUENT IN TELUGU Despite hailing from Karnataka,

the actress is fluent with the locallanguage. On how she picked upthe language, Pooja says, “My grandmother would speak alot of Telugu and that’s how I learntit. I gained fluency and perfectionin Telugu language in two years.”

LOVE PLAYINGCHALLENGING ROLES

Asked if she has any dream roleshe’d like to play, she replies in thenegative. “I’ve no dream role but Ilove to play challenging roles thatpush me beyond my boundaries. Iam looking for roles like those,”informs Pooja, who loves horrorfilms and is a fan of Tollywoodactor Vijay Deverakonda’sTelanagana slang.

GRATEFUL FOR LOVEFROM BOTH INDUSTRIES

Asked if she has a favoritebetween the two industries, shesays, “Both the industries treat mewell. People in villages have alwayswelcomed us warmly, some cele-brated our presence like a festival.I’m forever grateful for the loveboth industries have given me.”

DON’T TAKE SERIALSSERIOUSLY

On OTT platforms’ impact onserials, Pooja adds, “Some likecinema, some like serials and somelike web series. It’s all up to themnow, to choose what they want towatch. Cinema and web seriesend after a particular time but seri-als continue for a long period oftime. Once connected, they travelwith us for years.” Pooja also urgedpeople not to take serials serious-ly but only as entertainment.

On a concluding note, she saysthat she hopes to also work for aTelugu film some day.

Hotel hoteleverywhere, not aplace to hang out,seems to be thegrouch thatHyderabadis have asthey crave for foodfrom hotels. Thelockdown may haveplayed spoilsport,but as always, thereis someone whocomes to the rescue.Case in point beingthe star hotels in thecity as K RAMYASREE finds out

H

C

out of the

BOX

eople in Hyderabad being food loversis a renowned known fact. The innu-merable biryani joints and dhabasstand testament to that. However, asthe whole nation is on lockdown tocontain the spread of Coronavirus

(Covid-19), the food and beverages industry isthe worst hit. Everyone from small to 5-starhotels are bearing the brunt. Adding to their

woes is the rumour doing the rounds that non-vegetarian food or food cooked outside is

not safe.However, as the NHRAI (NationalHotels and Restaurants Association

of India) lobbies with the govern-ment for relief measures aimed

at reviving the industry, restau-rants in Hyderabad have

taken matters into theirhands to cut losses byundertaking orders forhome delivery and alsosatisfying the taste budsof its customers.

The Hyatt Place, TajKrishna, The ParkHyderabad, Marigoldand Roastery CoffeeHouse, to name a few,are among the hotels

that have started onlinedeliveries with dishes

cooked in hygienic condi-tions, packaged efficiently

and delivered smoking hot. Beit Hyderabadi Biryani or Kathi

Rolls from The Park Hyderabad,combo lunch boxes, paranthas to

pancakes or lip smacking Italiancuisines from The Hyatt Place, or some-

thing as basic as coffee beans from TheRoastery Coffee House, all items are delivered

at your door step. While some have partneredwith popular food delivery apps, others aredepending on their hotel staff itself to makedeliveries.

The Park Hyderabad hasstarted ‘Love Aj Kal’, an initia-tive to deliver food to its cus-tomers. “We have not yetenrolled on any food deliveryapps and our staff is delivering thedish at the customer’s desired locationwithin a 5-km radius,” said Kamalika GuhaThakurata of The Park Hyderabad.

“Due to the lockdown, our operations havebeen badly affected. Many customers have saidthat they are missing our dishes. This made usstart Love Aj Kal so that people can enjoy home-cooked food without having to cook at home,”she added.

Despite having a spread of over 16 dishes,Biryani and Chicken 65 remain the mostordered dishes at The Park Hyderabad.

“We have quarantined ourselves for 14 daysand have started cooking and delivering foodonly after ensuring that our staff is not infect-ed,” said Nishaath Sinha of Roastery CoffeeHouse.

Among all dishes, the coffee beans of Roasteryare in high demand. They make a minimum of10 deliveries just for coffee beans every day.There are many such star hotels and restaurantsthat are trying to ensure that their customer basedoes not feel deprived. This being said, a fewhotels are also sharing their recipes so that peo-ple can cook at home and enjoy the same taste.

“Many people might be living alone who can-not cook and are dependent on hotels and restau-rants. And then there are people who care aboutwhere the food is coming from. So we thoughtthat we should reach out to such people to givethem the food they love and not deprive anyoneof what they love,” said a spokesperson from TheHyatt Place, Banjara Hills.

They have started combo packs that are beingwell received by customers. Italian cuisines,Burgers, Pastas, Noodles and Fried Rice are themost ordered dishes from The Hyatt Place.

(To place your order, one can make a call to the hotel’s number listed on their website or

through food delivery apps)

P

Speaking to V SATEESH

REDDY, televisionactress Pooja

Murthy talks abouther entry into

television industry,learning Telugu

language, playingchallenging roles,OTT platforms,

love for cinema andmore

From child artistto lead actress

To buy or not to buy

Crave to eat out? Hotelsare here to your rescue

Buying toys for atoddler is necessary,

since it sparks achild’s imagination.But what and how

much to buy is aconcern for most

parents. To tacklethis, Dr Haseeb

Jafferi, childpsychologist, suggest

parents to try the newconcept of activity

boxes for children ofall age groups

WednesdayApril 8, 2020

ctress TaapseePannu says she wasan extremely brightstudent in schooland, for her excel-lence, she was even

chosen head girl of her school.Taapsee took to social media

on Tuesday to go down thememory lane and shared athrowback picture from herschool days. In the image, sheis seen taking an oath.

“Throwback which makesme partly proud and partlyembarrassed. Since the time Iknew what being a prefect inschool is I had dreamt to be theHead Girl of my school and thiswas the day that dream cametrue.”

“One of those rare things inlife I planned and it actually

happened (considering all myother plans for life have failedbut probably for good) standingthere taking oath I am probablyjust lost in thought of howwhen u wish for something sobad it can actually come true nthat’s y probably I am (embar-rassingly) not looking ahead!Which I should!”

“Considering the Head boy ismore interested to look into mycamera, I don’t think I shouldbe the only one embarrassed ofthis picture,” she quipped.

Taapsee was accompaniedby her father and mother for theoath taking ceremony.

On the film front, Taapsee will be seen in HaseenDillruba, Rashmi Rocket andShabaash Mithu in the comingmonths.

10

Vijayawada Wednesday April 8, 2020

ollywood actors Shah Rukh Khanand Priyanka Chopra Jonas alongwith names like Billie Eilish andPaul McCartney have united forpop star Lady Gaga’s One World:Together At Home, a mega live-

streamed and televised benefit concert in sup-port of the World Health Organization’s

(WHO) Covid-19 solidarityresponse fund and in celebrationof health workers around theworld.

The lineup also includesnames like Chris Martin of

Coldplay, Eddie Vedder of PearlJam, Elton John, John Legend,Lizzo, J Balvin, Stevie Wonder,Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day,Alanis Morissette, Burna Boy,Andrea Bocelli, Kacey Musgraves,Keith Urban and Lang Lang, reportstheguardian.com.

SRK and Priyanka are among several celebritiesexpected atthe event, along with DavidBeckham, Idris and Sabrina Elba, KerryWashington, and Sesame Street cast members.

Popular US talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon,Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert will hostthe event, which broadcasts live across the UStelevision networks ABC, CBS and NBC, aswell as being streamed online on April 18.

BBC One will show an adapted version ofthe concert on April 19, including exclusiveperformances from UK artists and interviews

with frontline health workers.The details of the broadcast are yet to be

announced.The WHO and the social action platform

Global Citizen have partnered to produce theevent.

The latter’s Together at Home series,launched last month, has featured per-formances from artists in isolationincluding Shawn Mendes, CamilaCabello and Rufus Wainwright.

In a WHO press conference,Lady Gaga said she had helpedto raise $35m for Global Citizenin the past week.

She said that One World wasnot a fundraising telethonand would focus on enter-tainment and messages ofsolidarity, with philan-thropists and businessesurged to donate to theCovid-19 solidarityresponse fund ahead of theevent.

“We may have to beapart physically for a littlewhile, but we can still cometogether virtually to enjoygreat music. The One World: Together atHome concert represents a powerful showof solidarity against a common threat,”WHO’s general director, Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus, said.

ctor Jay Benedict, best known for his rolesin film Aliens and TV show Emmerdale,has passed away due to complicationsarising from the coronavirus. He was 68.The actor died on April 4, a week beforehis 69th birthday, following a battle with

the COVID-19 virus.In a statement shared on Twitter, Benedict’s man-

agement team said, “It is with profound sorrow thatwe must announce Jay’s death on the 4th of Aprildue to complications arising from a Covid-19 infec-tion.” The American actor was best known for play-ing Russ Jordan in James Cameron’s 1986 sci-fi epicAliens, also featuring Sigourney Weaver and BillPaxton.

Born in California, Benedict’s family left the USfor Europe when he was a child. He also starred inBritish soap opera Emmerdale in 1997, in which heplayed businessman Doug Hamilton.

In a career spanning four decades, Benedict alsoappeared in The Dark Knight Rises and playedthe role of John Kieffer, the US Army officerand friend of detective Christopher Foyle inBritish period drama Foyle’s War.

He also has UK shows such as The Bill,Jonathan Creek, and Casualty to his credit.

Benedict is survived by his actor-wifePhoebe Scholfield and their two sonsLeopold and Freddie. The actor also hadanother daughter from a previous relation-ship.

Actor Jay Benedict,known for Aliens andThe Dark Knight Rises,dies due to Covid-19

A

A

BENEDICT IS SURVIVED BYHIS ACTOR-WIFE PHOEBESCHOLFIELD AND THEIR TWOSONS LEOPOLD ANDFREDDIE AND ANOTHERDAUGHTER FROM HISPREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP

SRK, Priyanka for Lady GaGa'smega COVID-19 fundraiser concert

B

what’s brewing

Taapsee recalls ‘proud'moment of becomingschool's head girl

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2020

NEYMAR HHAS TTO BBE MMORE PPROFESSIONAL: ZICORio: Brazil legend Zico said that the one thingseparating Neymar from Lionel Messi & CristianoRonaldo is professionalism. Long touted as thesuccessor to the crown of best player in the world afterRonaldo and Messi wind down, Neymar has not hit theheights that were expected of him when he made theworld record switch to PSG from Barcelona in 2017. “Ireally like Ney, his way of playing is incredible. But hehas to be more professional like Ronaldo and Messi,who live for football,” Zico told Gazzetta Dello Sport.“Ney has too many thoughts that distract him. I spoketo him recently and asked him to be more professional.He is 28 years old now and there is a good team at PSG.They can win the Champions League.”

UNCERTAINTY GGROW OOVER TTHOMAS && UUBER CCUPNew Delhi: The already rescheduled Thomas and UberCup on Tuesday came under fresh doubts following theDanish govt decision to extend a ban on “largergatherings” in the country until the end of August. Thebadminton tournament was rescheduled to be heldbetween August 15-23 in Denmark but BWF andBadminton Denmark are now seeking clarification fromDanish authorities on the definition of “largergatherings”. “....And how this might affect the ability tostage the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2020 on therescheduled dates of 15-23 August,” the BWF said.

JAPAN EEND OOLYMPIC FFLAME DDISPLAYTokyo: The Olympic flame will be removed fromdisplay in Japan, officials said on Tuesday, as thecountry braces for a state of emergency due to thecoronavirus. It had been on public display in thenortheastern Fukushima region since last week, butJapanese Olympic organisers decided to shelve it ascoronavirus cases climb in the country. “Originally wewanted to hold the public display until the end of April.But considering recent developments, we decided tostop,” said organising committee spokesman.

NEW DDATES AANNOUNCED FFOR IITTF WWORLDSLausanne: The world championships of table tennis,originally scheduled for March 2020, will now he heldfrom September 27 to October 4. “On 29 March 2020,the ITTF Executive Committee held a follow-up meetingto confirm that new dates would be announced for the2020 World Team Table Tennis C’ships, in light of thefact that all currently planned ITTF events and activitiesare suspended until 30 June 2020,” ITTF said in astatement. “Now with new provisional dates proposedfor 27 September - 4 October 2020, the ITTF and KTTA(Korean TT body) continue to monitor the situation, withthe priority being placed on the health and safety.”

NO IINT’L HHOCKEY EEVENTS FFOR IINDIA TTILL JJUNENew Delhi: Two FIH Pro League ties involving thesenior men's team, junior men's Asia Cup and seniorwomen's Asian Champions Trophy are among a host ofinternational hockey events, where India was scheduledto take part, that have been postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to TOPS CEO RajeshRajagopalan, Hockey India informed about thepostponement of the events which were a part of itsAnnual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC).

UWW SSUSPEND AALL EEVENTS TTILL JJUNE 330New Delhi: National wrestling federation, WFI, onTuesday cancelled the upcoming Under-15 nationalc’ship after world governing body UWW directed allmembers to cancel domestic events and alsoannounced cancellation of all international tourneysplanned until June 30. UWW also announced that theremaining Tokyo Games qualifiers shall be organised in2021 in the same period as in 2020 but there could beminor adjustments to the exact dates. AGENCIES

SINGLES

AFP n LIVERPOOL

UEFA president AleksanderCeferin said on Monday

that there is “no way” Liverpoolshould finish the season without thePremier League title, even if the campaignis cancelled due to the coronavirus pan-demic.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool appeared setto secure a first English top-flight title in30 years when the season was suspended,sitting 25 points clear of second-placedManchester City.

“There is no way Liverpool could endwithout the title. If the matches are played,then they will almost certainly win it — the-oretically, they still haven’t earned the titlebut they almost certainly will,” Ceferin toldSlovenian sports daily Ekipa.

“In case the matches cannot be played,we will need to find a way...

“And, once again, I see no scenarioaccording to which Liverpool would not bethe winners. I realise fans might be disap-pointed if the match is played in an emptystadium or even if it is resolved around atable, but I believe that one way or anoth-er they will win the title.”

When asked if Ceferin thought gamescould played this summer, he said he was“optimistic”.

PTI n NEW DELHI

His unorthodox batting stance has left manybefuddled but Australian run-machine Steve

Smith says though it depends on number of fac-tors, he generally positions himself outside the off-stump to limit ways in which he can be dismissed.

Smith, the world number 1 Test batsman, hasamassed 7227 runs in 73 Tests and 4162 runs inODIs with an unconventional technique, whichmost have failed to decode.

During a podcast organised by inaugural IPLchampions Rajasthan Royals, Smith opened upabout his unusual technique to New Zealand spin-ner Ish Sodhi.

Talking about his open batting stance, Smith,the former Rajasthan Royals captain, said: “Itdepends on who’s bowling, how is the wicket play-ing, how I gonna score and stuff like that or howpeople are trying to get me out, probably that deter-mines how open I am or otherwise how closed Iam.

“But my general stance where my back foot isgoing to almost off stump, or may be even outsideat stages, I know that anything outside my eyelineisn’t hitting the stumps,” he said.

“For me, you shouldn’t get out if the ball is nothitting the stumps, so that is just a trick from mewhen I first started doing it, just limiting the waysI get out,” he explained.

The 30-year-old said his off-stump stance helpshim to leave the ball which are outside his line ofsight.

“Sometimes, I get trapped in front but I’m okaywith that at stages, knowing that if it is outside myeyeline, I don’t need to try and play the ball, I canjust leave that,” he said.

PTI n MELBOURNE

Australian cricketers were sokeen on protecting their

lucrative IPL deals that they felt“scared” of sledging India cap-tain Virat Kohli and his team-mates during a particular peri-od and instead “sucked up” tothem, former skipper MichaelClarke has claimed.

India and Australia havehad some memorable bilateralduels but Clarke felt that when-ever the Australians would faceIndia, their eyes would betrained on the cash-rich leaguewhich is played in April-Mayevery year.

“Everybody knows howpowerful India are in regards tothe financial part of the game,internationally or domesticallywith the IPL,” Clarke told BigSports Breakfast.

“I feel that Australian crick-et, and probably every otherteam over a little period, wentthe opposite and actually suckedup to India. They were tooscared to sledge Kohli or theother Indian players becausethey had to play with them inApril,” the World Cup winning

Australian skipper said drop-ping a bombshell.

Clarke believes that some ofAustralia’s ruthless on-fieldcharacter got compromisedbecause the top-10 draws at theIPL auctions gave an impressionthat they would never sledgeKohli.

“Name a list of ten playersand they are bidding for theseAustralian players to get intotheir IPL team,” he said.

“The players were like: ‘I’mnot going to sledge Kohli, I wanthim to pick me for Bangalore soI can make my $1 million formy six weeks’.

“I feel like that’s whereAustralia went through that lit-tle phase where our cricketbecome a little bit softer or notas hard as we’re accustomed toseeing,” Clarke said about thetime after the ball-tamperingscandal when terms like Elitehonesty were propagated.

India and Australia havealways enjoyed a fiery on-fieldchemistry with the two teamsengaging in many verbal wars inthe past, which include thetours of Down Under in 2007-08 and 2018.

PTI n LONDON

IPL is “massive” in terms of stature andit is a “big shame” that it cannot be

held at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said star England batsmanJos Buttler, who is expecting the cash-rich event to be slotted later in the year.

Buttler, who plays for RajasthanRoyals, underlined the importance of a

tournament like IPL.“I don’t know any more than you

know about when IPL would be playedor people talking about whether it canbe pushed back. At the moment, every-thing is quite indefinite as no one knowshow long it will last. So it can’t be decid-ed at the moment when it could or couldnot happen,” Buttler was quoted as say-ing by ESPNcricinfo.

Buttler, who made massive stridesas a white ball player after a few seasonsof IPL, spoke about the impact of nothaving an IPL and the effect it couldhave on revenue.

“As for the stature of the tourna-ment, it’s a massive, massive tournament.Revenue that is involved in IPL is mas-sive. It is a very important competitionto cricket and it’s a big shame that it’s notgoing ahead or whether it does have theway to push it in the schedule and allowit,” he said.

PTI n MUMBAI

Veteran off-spinner HarbhajanSingh says he won’t mind an IPL

played in empty stadiums but theevent should go ahead when theCOVID-19 pandemic is broughtunder control as several liveli-hoods are dependent on the it.

“Spectators are impor-tant, but if the situationarises, I don’t mind playingwithout them. Yes, as aplayer I won’t get the vibe,but this will ensure thatevery fan will get to watch IPLon their TV,” Harbhajan, whoplays for Chennai Super Kings,told Star Sports CricketConnected.

“We will have to be cautious

about everything and should priori-tise players’ safety by ensuring that

the match venues, team hotels,flights are properly sanitized. Alot of lives are on line so weshould organise IPL when

everything is fine,” he added.“I miss matches the

most, was hoping that Iwould get to play 17matches (includingfinals) after a year’sgap,” Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan said heis keeping himself fit for

the league as and when ithappens.

“I hope that IPL happenssoon, till then I will keepmyself fit,” quipped the 39-year-old veteran of 103 Tests.

NEW DELHI: Out of the Indianteam since 2015, dashingKarnataka batsman RobinUthappa is eying a comeback inthe T20 format as a finisher andbelieves he still has another“World Cup left” in him.

Uthappa, who was a mem-ber of the 2007 ODI World Cupteam and the inaugural T20World Cup-winning squad, lastplayed for senior team in July2015 during Zimbabwe tour.

The 34-year-old batsmanhas featured in just eight ODIsand four T20 matches sinceOctober 2011.

“Right now I want to becompetitive. I still have that fireburning in me, I really want tocompete and do well. I honest-ly believe I have a World Cup leftin me, so I’m pursuing that,especially the shortest format,”

Uthappa was quoted as sayingby ESPNcricinfo.com.

He, however, understandsthat for that to happen, heneeds a bit of luck as well.

“The blessings of LadyLuck or God or whatever youcall it, plays a massive factor.Especially in India, itbecomes so much moreevident. I don’t think it isas evident when you’replaying cricket outsideof India,” Uthappa said.

“But in the subcon-tinent and India espe-cially, with the amountof talent that we dohave in our coun-try, all of thosea s p e c t sbecomeevident.”

Insisting that he has not yetgiven up hope, Uthappa said he

won’t hang up hisboots till he realis-

es his dreams.“You can

never write yourselfoff. You would beunfair to yourself if

you write yourself off.Especially if you believe

you have the ability andyou know that there is

an outside chance.So I still believe inthat outsidechance.

“I still believethat things can go

my way and I proba-bly can be a part of a

World Cup-winningteam and play anintegral role in that

as well. Those dreams are stillalive and I think I’ll keep play-ing cricket till that is alive,” hesaid.

Even though he prefers tobat up the order, Uthappa saidhe is now eyeing the role of a fin-isher in the Indian team and hasalready stated his training athome.

“What I’ve been trying to dois to make sure that I’m well pre-pared. Opening the batting issomething I can do at any pointof time. I’m trying to make sureI’m well equipped to bat in themiddle order as well,” he said.

“One of the things that weneed today in Indian cricket isa good finisher, and that’s some-thing that I’m pursuing andworking hard on. It’s somethingI’m looking forward to improv-ing on a day to day basis.” PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI

There are not many rolemodels in the currentIndian cricket set up other

than Virat Kohli and RohitSharma and the seniors do notcommand much respect fromthe youngsters, feels formerflamboyant all-rounder YuvrajSingh.

In a live Instagram Livequestion and answer session,deputy skipper Rohit askedYuvraj about the differencebetween the current team andthe players who played along-side the left-hander.

“When I came into the teamor when you (Rohit) came intothe team, our seniors were verydisciplined. Obviously therewas no social media so therewere no distractions,” saidYuvraj.

“There was a certain behav-iour that we boys had to carry,how they talk to people, how

they talk to media. Becausethey were the ambassadors ofthe game and India.”

But it is not the same any-more, feels Yuvraj.

“So that is what I had toldyou guys. After playing forIndia, you have to be more care-ful about your image. But I feelthe third generation. There areonly you two seniors, Virat andyou, who are playing all the for-mats, rest of the guys are com-ing and going.

“I just feel there are veryfewer guys to look up to and Ifeel that a sense of respecttowards seniors, that hasbecome a thin line now. Koibhee kisiko kuch bhee keh detahain (anyone can say anythingto anyone,” said Yuvraj.

Yuvraj, one of the best crick-eters the world cricket has seen,said the players during his timewere conscious of whatever theydid.

“I think juniors, because of

social media, party scenes, thesethings, we could not even thinkabout that in our time. Becausewe had that fear that if we dosome mistake our senior will tellus that do not do this, this is notright,” he said.

Commenting the infamousincident involving HardikPandya and K L Rahul, whowere suspended for their loosetalk on women on a chat show,Yuvraj added: “That incidentcould not have happened in ourtime.”

Rohit on his part said theatmosphere in the team is “verylight” at the moment.

“When I came into theteam, there were so manyseniors. I think I was the onlyyoungster alongside PiyushChawla and Suresh Raina. Theatmosphere is light now. I keeptalking to the youngsters, thefive-six of them.

“I speak to Rishabh a lot.There was so much scrutiny on

him and he got worked up.Media should also think beforewriting about him. But scruti-ny will be there as long as youare playing for India.”

On the mindset of theyounger generation, Yuvraj saidmost of them only want to playlimited overs cricket.

“Sachin paaji told me once‘if you perform on field, every-thing else will follow’. I was atNational Cricket Acadmey(NCA) once and I interactedwith the younger lot. I felt mostof them did not want to playTest cricket which is real crick-et. They are happy playing one-day cricket.

“I feel even the players whohave already played for Indiashould play domestic cricketwhen they are not nationalduty. It would give them valu-able experience of playing ondifferent surfaces around thecountry,” the former Indian all-rounder added.

AFP n MADRID

La Liga could return to actionas early as next month, its

president Javier Tebas said onTuesday, as the league awaits achance to restart following thecoronavirus shutdown.

Tebas also warned Spanishclubs could lose as much as onebillion euros ($1.1 billion) if theseason is not completed, pushingfootball bosses in the country tosearch for a late finish to the cur-rent campaign.

“The different scenarios wehave been looking at with UEFAto go back to competing are mostprobably starting on the May 28-29, June 6-7 or June 28-29,” Tebassaid.

“We’re not just looking atwhat happens in Spain... the jobis to get all our calendars (inEurope) in line so all the compe-titions are able to finish together.”

But Tebas said no teamtraining could take placeuntil after the state ofemergency ends in Spain— currently set until April26. Should that end date bepushed back the chances ofrestarting in May wouldlikely vanish.

Tebas said “it is not anoption” to cancel the seasongiven the massive hit to revenueSpain’s top clubs would have toabsorb, with 150 million eurosgone even if La Liga finishes theseason with fans at matches.

“We are not considering atall that we will not get back to

playing matches,” he said.“It is not just league rev-

enues, it is league revenues plusall the other revenue fromthe Champions Leaguethat teams wouldn’treceive.

“We are talking aboutone billion euros if wedon’t get back to playing,

300 million euros if we playbehind closed doors and 150million euros if we do to get backto playing with fans.”

Fixtures are expected to beheld behind closed doors, at leastat first, with some Spanish clubsfacing the prospect of playingaway from their own groundsdue to scheduled building work.

MUNICH: Thomas Mueller looksset to spend his entire career atBayern Munich, who hedescribes as his ‘passion’, after

signing a contract extensionuntil 2023, the reigningBundesliga championsannounced on Tuesday.

The 30-year-oldjoined the club as aschoolboy in 2000,making his debut forthe Bavarians eightyears later and has sinceracked up more than 500appearances.

“I am really pleased that Ihave extended with BayernMunich... and will continue togive everything for my club,” the2014 World Cup winner said onTwitter.

“Because this club is not justan employer for me — it is a pas-sion.”

Having risen up through theyouth ranks, Mueller is a

club icon who has woneight league titles, fiveGerman Cups and the 2013Champions League.

“I’m happy that we’vereached agreement withThomas. Thomas is a specialplayer for us, a figurehead for theclub and our fans, a leader whoshows the way on the pitch andhas achieved a lot with FCBayern,” sporting director HasanSalihamidzic said. AFP

IANS n BRISBANE

Spin legend Shane Warnefeels one day internation-

als (ODIs) are losing rele-vance far too often and thereshould be something done onthe lines of ICC TestChampionship to revive the50-over format.

In February, after Indiawere blanked by hosts NewZealand 0-3 in the ODIs,India skipper Virat Kohli hadsaid this format is not muchrelevant this year, referring tothe T20 World Cup and theengrossing fight for WorldTest Championship.

“I like the concept (TestChampionship) and I wishthere was something like thisin ODIs too,” Warne said dur-ing an Instagram Live.

“Then ODIs have contextleading up to the World Cup.Maybe points or something Idon’t know. But there are toomany meaningless ODIs,”said the legendary Australianleg-spinner, regarded as thebest the game has ever seen.

Warne also put hisweight behind three-matchODI series and not five. “Ithink three matches are justfine in 50-over contests. Fiveis too much.”

ROME: Italian top-flightfootball clubs have unan-imously reached agree-ment to cut the salaries ofplayers, coaches and staffas a result of the coronavirus crisis,the Lega Serie A announced.

Players’ salaries will be reducedby a third of their gross annual earn-ings if the season should be cancelled,and a sixth if it resumes.

The decision was unanimouslyapproved by Serie A clubs, with theexception of Juventus, which hadalready hammered out a deal with itsown players, said Lega Serie A.

Individual agreements must stillbe signed between the clubs and play-ers, who will waive between two andfour months salary. AFP

Indian skipper Virat Kohli chats with Rohit Sharma during second Test against Proteas PTI

Not enough role models incurrent India team: Yuvraj

Unsual batting stance is methodto limit ways of getting out: Smith

Aussies didn’t sledge Kohli & Co to protect IPL deals: Clarke

Indian players wait for third umpire’s decision during third Test AP/File Picture

Bhajji fine with IPLin empty stadiums

Buttler hopes there is way toschedule IPL later in the year

R Ashwin mankads Jos Buttler in IPL 2019 game

Uthappa eyeing India return as finisher

Liverpool should be awardedPL title: UEFA Prez

ODIs need Test C’shiplike revamp: Warne

Italian top-flight clubsagree players’ pay cuts

Mueller extends Bayern stay

Thomas Mueller poses for photo afteragreeing new Bayern deal FCB/Twitter

La Liga look for May return

Lionel Messi prepares to take spot kick

Liverpool is 25 points ahead of Man City in PL table

Steve Smith bats during Australia’s nets session PTI/File Picture

oining his colleagues from theindustry in doing his bit topeople who’ve been affected byCovid-19, actor Gopichanddonated essentials of onemonth to 1,000 needy people.

He also appealed to people to stay homeand stay safe. Writer-actor Posani KrishnaMurali too donated essentials of onemonth to 50 poor people.

On the other hand, the TelanganaChief Minister’s Relief Fund continued toreceive more donations from film indus-

try. Aditya Music, the leading musiccompany of South India, has donated Rs31 lakh to the CMRF to continue their bat-tle against Covid-19. The music label'schief decision makers, Umesh Gupta,Dinesh Gupta, Subhash Gupta and AdityaGupta met IT minister KTR in Hyderabadon Monday and handed over the cheque.

Umesh, MD of Aditya Music, said, “Asa nation we need to abide by the rules andwe urge one and all to stay home and pre-vent the spread of this virus.”

Disco Raja producer Ram Talluri, onbehalf of his firms Lead IT India PVT Ltd& Skyzone India, has pledged to contributeRs 5 lakh to CMRF of Telangana State.

Meanwhile, some unconfirmed reportsindicate that Mohan Babu along with hisson Vishnu have adopted eight villages inChandragiri constituency, AP and help-ing the residents of villages with food twicedaily. They want to continue the gesture

until the lock-down is lift-

ed.

V Creations was at the receiving endof Prabhas’ fans fury once again. Theproduction house which last monthannounced that the first look oftheir next with the actor will be

unveiled soon, failed to honour their promise,leaving the fans a frustrated lot. Peeved, theytook to social media to vent their anger fora good part on Monday evening, where theytweeted with #BanUVCreations. The hash-tag even trended on nation-wide trends.Some of the fans noted that the film’s title hasnot been revealed yet despite it going to floorsmore than a year ago, while some claimed theproduction house is not doing justice tothe stardom of Prabhas by not disclos-ing regular updates which satiatethem. The fans even didn’t spareUV’s PR team. What compound-

ed to their problem isother production

house MythriMovie Makers

u p d a t eabout their

next withA l l uA r j u non hisbirth-d a y

Wednesday. The fans were of the opinion thatArjun is yet to begin the shoot of the film, stillMythri were ready with the updates, unlike UV.

UV tried to easy fans nerves with a statementon Tuesday. Stating that the current situ-

ation led them to differ some of theirpromotional plans, the production

house wrote on Twitter, “We areamidst a global pandemic andmany lives are at stake due to thecurrent situation. Owing to thecurrent situation, we have paused

all our activities. After all this isover, we promise to come

up with many moreupdates. We urgeeveryone to stayhome & stay safe!#Prabhas20 (sic).”

The untitledfilm, directed byJil fame RadhaKrishna, is apure romanticdrama set inEurope. PoojaHegde is castopposite Prabhas.

— NG

ctor Vijay Deverakonda hasurged fans to use homemademasks and continue to remainsafe at home.

“My loves, hope you are allstaying safe. Cloth face cover-

ing will help slow disease spread. Leave themedical masks for doctors and instead, usehandkerchief, use a scarf of your mom’s

chunni. Cover your face, stay safe.#MaskIndia,” the actor wrote in his new

Instagram post.Vijay Deverakonda’s view comes

at a time when medical profession-als are taking to social media,

complaining about the lack of PPEsand masks.

Deverakonda isn’t the only star torequest fans to stay at home. FromChiranjeevi to Mahesh Babu, thebiggest Tollywood stars are postingmessages and videos asking fans tofollow safety. Chiranjeevi evenappeared in a video featuringAmitabh Bachchan, RanbirKapoor, Mohanlal, Sivarajkumarand Mammootty which wasshot separately in their respec-tive homes. It gave the messageto stay home and stay safe.

espite belting out chartbuster albums likeBhale Bhale Magadivoy, Ninnu Kori andGeetha Govindam among others over hisfive-year Tollywood career, projects of bigTelugu superstars have eluded Malayalamcomposer Gopi Sundar. But that is going to

change with his next assignment if our sources areanything to go by. We have reliably learnt that hehas been picked by Parasuram to compose musicfor his next with superstar Mahesh Babu.

A source close to the film’s unit tells us, “Likewith his earlier music directors, Parasuram hasforged a great working relation with Gopiwhen he worked with him for GeethaGovindam. Everybody knows the impactGeetha Govindam soundtrack had on thefilm’s opening. So when Parasuram landeda chance to direct Mahesh up next, the firstname that crossed his mind for music wasGopi. When he broached the topic toMahesh, the actor had no issues in giv-ing his consent, as he was looking for afresh soundtrack, having mostly workedwith Devi Sri Prasad in the recentpast.”

The source further adds the musicsessions of the project will start afterthe lockdown is lifted. “With the filmset to go to floors in June, Parasuramhas ample time to sit on the music.Gopi is keen on delivering an albumthat he will be remembered for along time. He has taken it as achallenge upon himself. He isalso happy to work withParasuram again who hebelieves has a great taste forgood music,” the source con-cludes.

The untitled film, a jointproduction venture betweenMythri Movie Makers, 14Reels Plus, and GMBEntertainment, is a lovestory laced with familyemotions, plenty ofhumour and action. Anofficial announcementabout the project isaround thecorner.

D

12

tollywoodVijayawada Wednesday April 8, 2020

Gopi bags hisfirst biggie!

The composerhas been pickedby Parasuram tocompose music

for his next withsuperstar

Mahesh Babu,finds NAGARAJ

GOUD

Trivikram settles his duewith Mythri

financial issue between Trivikram Srinivas andMythri Movie Makers, which has been pend-ing for a long while, has been cleared. The pre-mier production house, according to reports,paid the director Rs 4 crore as an advanceamount some four-five years ago to do a film

for them. Pawan Kalyan was attached to star in the pro-ject. However, with the director choosing to make filmsonly for Haarika & Hassine Creations since S/OSatyamurthy, Mythri’s constant requests went in vain. Theywere hoping that the director would oblige one day butas it never came by, they put in a request that he returns

their advance fee back with theinterests combined. While thebuzz states that the director hasreturned Rs 11 crore, our sourceclose to the director — withoutdivulging the figure — did con-firm the matter has beenresolved for once and all.

Trivikram, who is on a highpost the record-breaking successof Ala Vaikunthapuramlo, will bedirecting NTR up next forHaarika & Hassine Creations.Kalyanram’s NTR Arts is a jointproducer on the project, whichmoves to sets once NTR wrapsup RRR.

— NG

A

oodachari girl Sobhita Dhulipala, who hadthree films on floor when lockdown stoppedall shooting activity in the film industry, saysshe is trying to keep her body and mindhealthy instead of feeling anxious about notbeing “productive” in these times of isolation.

In fact, the actress was shooting for the Telugu-Hindibilingual Major with Adivi Sesh when the lockdown wasannounced.

“So initially, I was feeling restless over what had hap-pened so suddenly. I had planned everything, I had a flow-chart and I had prepared myself as an actor. Now whatshould I do? Of course, we are artiste and things affectus emotionally. But now I am not fighting it anymore. Iknow this too shall pass. I am not anxious about thefuture, that is not productive,” mentioned theactress, who is also a part of Mani Ratnam’speriod drama Ponniyin Selvan and RSVP’sSitara.

So how is she dealing with the lockdowntime? “Now I am taking care of my bodyand mind. I am evaluating my decisionsand putting things in retrospect. I amwatching web series, films and I amalso reading books. I remember asa child I was such a geek, lovedreading books. In the last fewyears, things have been dif-ferent. I am finishingsome books that I sowanted to read for long.And also, I started cook-ing again after three years.So my days are packed,”Sobhita signed off.

GU

J

A

Lockdown diaries:Sobhita is reading,watching webseries and cooking

Ban UV Creations trends; banner responds

Donationsgalore!

While the buzzstates that thedirector has retur-ned Rs 11 crore,our source closeto the director —without divulgingthe figure —confirm thematter has beenresolved for onceand all

Deverakonda's piece of advice