english news paper | breaking news | latest today news in … · 2020-03-21 · restaurants and...

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A mid India preparing for lockdown and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for “Janata Curfew” on Sunday against the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic and sus- pension of all passenger trains, massive crowds of passengers surged at railway stations across the country to leave for their respective States of UP, Bihar and West Bengal. Several States, including Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Karnataka, have declared lockdown on Sunday and shutting down bus services, restaurants and banquet halls across the State till March 31 to prevent the spread of coron- avirus. As coronavirus cases in India rose to 283 on Saturday, from 249 on Friday, in various parts of the country, the Government has decided to change testing criteria for COVID-19 to include all pneu- monia cases, regardless of trav- el or contact history. Several States also reported fresh cases though these numbers were not immediately taken into account by the Health Ministry. Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal on Saturday said guidelines for coronavirus tests have been revised, directing that asympto- matic direct, high-risk contacts of confirmed cases should be tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in contact with an infected person. Earlier, test- ing was limited to symptomatic patients with travel or contact history, and symptomatic health workers with contact history. Cutting across party lines, Chief Ministers and other lead- ers urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew from 7 am to 9 pm, noting that “social dis- tancing” was key to breaking the chain of infection. No passenger train will originate from any rail- way station in the country from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train services will be reduced to a bare mini- mum as well. Metro services, including in Delhi, will remain suspended for the day. Air car- riers like GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara have announced that they will be curtailing domestic operations on Sunday. Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has announced they will keep their establish- ments shut across the country on Sunday. From suspending regu- lar prayers in shrines of various faiths, including Sunday mass, to disallowing jail inmates from meeting their families on the day, organisations and institutions in every sphere have announced restrictions for Sunday. In some good news, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh, Vasundhara Raje and Dushyant Singh who had attended a party with Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor in Lucknow days before she tested positive for coronavirus, tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday. Thousands of passengers surged at railway stations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai on Saturday after the Railways announced it would stop its services across the country from 7 am to 9 pm on during the Janata Curfew.

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Page 1: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-21 · restaurants and banquet halls ... New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, ... their three ‘best’ moves

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Amid India preparing forlockdown and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’sappeal for “Janata Curfew” onSunday against the backdrop ofcoronavirus pandemic and sus-pension of all passenger trains,massive crowds of passengerssurged at railway stations acrossthe country to leave for theirrespective States of UP, Biharand West Bengal.

Several States, includingBihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, WestBengal and Karnataka, havedeclared lockdown on Sundayand shutting down bus services,restaurants and banquet hallsacross the State till March 31 toprevent the spread of coron-avirus.

As coronavirus cases inIndia rose to 283 on Saturday,from 249 on Friday, in variousparts of the country, theGovernment has decided tochange testing criteria forCOVID-19 to include all pneu-monia cases, regardless of trav-el or contact history. Several

States also reported fresh casesthough these numbers were notimmediately taken into accountby the Health Ministry.

Health Ministry JointSecretary Lav Agarwal onSaturday said guidelines forcoronavirus tests have beenrevised, directing that asympto-matic direct, high-risk contactsof confirmed cases should betested once between day 5 andday 14 of coming in contact withan infected person. Earlier, test-ing was limited to symptomaticpatients with travel or contacthistory, and symptomatic health

workers with contact history. Cutting across party lines,

Chief Ministers and other lead-ers urged the people to follow theself-imposed curfew from 7 amto 9 pm, noting that “social dis-tancing” was key to breaking thechain of infection. No passengertrain will originate from any rail-way station in the country frommidnight to 10 pm on Sundaywhile all suburban train serviceswill be reduced to a bare mini-mum as well. Metro services,including in Delhi, will remainsuspended for the day. Air car-riers like GoAir, IndiGo and

Vistara have announced thatthey will be curtailing domesticoperations on Sunday. Traders’body Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT) has announcedthey will keep their establish-ments shut across the country onSunday. From suspending regu-lar prayers in shrines of variousfaiths, including Sunday mass, todisallowing jail inmates frommeeting their families on the day,organisations and institutions inevery sphere have announcedrestrictions for Sunday.

In some good news, UttarPradesh Health Minister Jai

Pratap Singh, Vasundhara Rajeand Dushyant Singh who hadattended a party with Bollywoodsinger Kanika Kapoor inLucknow days before she testedpositive for coronavirus, testednegative for COVID-19 onSaturday.

Thousands of passengerssurged at railway stations inNew Delhi, Mumbai, Pune,Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennaion Saturday after the Railwaysannounced it would stop itsservices across the country from7 am to 9 pm on during theJanata Curfew.

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Page 2: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-21 · restaurants and banquet halls ... New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, ... their three ‘best’ moves

�How did your acting career begin?I am from Varanasi but my home is in

Delhi. I was in the Capital but the shoot gotcancelled. At present, I am in self-quarantine. My acting career began inschool. I used to be part of all school andcollege extra-curricular activities. I alwayswanted to take up acting professionally butdidn’t know how to proceed. I graduatedfrom NIFT and started working inBengaluru. Then I got transferred toMumbai and shared with an apartment withmy acting friends. I would go with them onshoot and was fascinated with the industry.I auditioned and got my first show on TV.That is when things got hectic. I learnt actingand trained under Neeraj Kabi.�How did you come on board for Kaavya,the web horror film?

I had not auditioned for the leadcharacter but then the director liked my faceand re-auditioned for the lead. This film isunique — for the first time a film has beenshot on an iPhone. A lot of Hollywooddirectors have done this, but in India, we aredoing for the first time. It as a bit of achallenge as we are used to facing thecamera. The crew also had to get trained.We did workshop for a month and shot thefilm in two weeks. But it was fun and crazyexperience.�You have a mixed bag of work. Has thatbeen a conscious decision?

I love to challenge myself and try torepeat my characters so I can avoid beingstereotyped. I did comedy; I did a web series— Bhaukaal — based on a real-life cop. Itravelled to the place where he was postedand learnt body-language and other nuancesof a real-time cop. Then I too up the horrorproject. I love to experiment with genres.�You have worked on TV, films and webseries. Does that mean that you like toexperiment with platforms as well?

What matters to me the most is thecharacter and content that I am offered.Platforms don’t matter as much. It was much

an honor to work with R Balki and HarmanBaweja’s production for the web series. I haveloved to be part of each and every projectthat has come my way as it has beendifferent.�What is the attraction of taking up aproject for a digital space?

The content that one sees here is so bold.There is so much more than one can dohere. There are no restrictions, I don’t meanthere is vulgarity but the boldness of thesubject, there is no fear to experiment witha subject. We have the freedom to expressourselves. In TV, one is restricted by thechannel and other guidelines. Even infilms the Censor Board will cut a scene thatthey think is inappropriate.�How has the journey been so far?

It has been really good. I have had theopportunity to work with some of the bestpeople in the industry. I am at a very goodplace as far as my career is concerned. Myacting career is just starting.�What was your parents’ reaction whenyou quit your job?

I didn’t tell them for the longest time.I had quit my job to shoot for the show forthree months. I never told them that I wasbusy shooting. It was only when the day toair the show was announced that I called upthe family and told them and asked themto watch the show. It was a pleasant surprisethat they fully supported me. I am theyoungest in the family, maybe that was thereason. Now, my mother calls me everydayto know about my day.�What next?

There is Kaavya of course. There is aweb series as well in which I play the lead.There is another project that I am workingon; I can’t talk about it but I can let you knowabout my look in it. I have had to shave myhair and grow a beard. It took me time tosee whether I wanted to take it up or notsince I won’t be able to do anything else dueto the look. It was a daring decision but Iam glad I took it up.

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Dance can never go out of trend. Thiscan be one reason why makers arenot ready to give up on the format

of dance reality shows anytime soon.While these shows is not new for theaudience, but what makes them worth awatch is the talent from across the country.

Raising the bar is Sony EntertainmentTelevision’s latest offering India’s BestDancer. Adding to the charm of the showare the judges — Malaika Arora, TerrenceLewis and everyone’s favourite GeetaKapoor.

Tagged as the toughtest dance realityshow on TV, what sets it apart is the 90seconds format. “The contestants will getonly 90 seconds to give their best shot infront of the judges, to prove their talent.The contestant will have to impress us withtheir three ‘best’ moves in order to get theirticket to move to the mega auditions. Froma large number of talented contestants, wewill pick the ‘best barah’ ! Also, this showis different from any other dance realityshow because we are not going to judgethem only basis the number of flips,stunts and tricks in their acts, it’s beyondall of that,” Arora tells you.

All the three judges are expecting talentwho will surprise them with their range asa performer. “We are glad that thecontestants on the show are uniquelydifferent from each other. The audiencewon’t see any similarity between twocontestants. Each contestant bringsuniqueness and variety on stage. And we,as judges, will ensure that we review themobjectively as well as encourage them torealise and tap into their infinite potential.So far, the contestants have managed tointrigue us with their acts and only set thebar higher for themselves. We are waitingto be blown off by their power-packedperformances,” she says.

Arora will be on a lookout forentertainment quotient in theperformances this time. “We will bejudging contestants based on three mainelements, which is entertainment, newnessand technique. Therefore, we are callingourselves the ENT specialists. While Geetawill be evaluating them on the noveltyfactor, Terence will scrutinise their dancetechniques, and I will be assessing theentertainment quotient in theirperformances. Lastly, we are looking atoriginality in their performances,” shetells you.

Kapur tells you that the reason she saidyes to the show is that it stands out fromother dance reality shows is that it is notharbouring duets, crews, groups or trios.“After a long time, a show is only going toshowcase solo dancers, which hasn’thappened in many years now. It was high

time that someone came up with thisconcept, and now here it is. Such a conceptwas much needed,” she says.

Internet has become a go to option forpeople who would want learn dance. But,Kapur believes that physical training is amust. “It is great that people are takinginterest in learning dance and in case theycan’t reach out to a formal guide or guruthey are turning to internet. But I wouldrecommend that there should always besomeone who can guide you with techniquebecause you can learn dance on theinternet, but you may not know orunderstand the technique. Personal traininghas always helped me. There should besomeone to keep an eye on you and trainyou with care,” she says.

Kapur is one of the most loved judgeson reality shows. What makes her everyone’sfavourite is the aura that she possess andthe love that she showers upon everyone on

the show. She says that she was fortunateenough to have been in the industry for solong.

“Every person has a story to tell, and Ihave been a part of this industry for quitesome time now and I have a long story totell. But to cut it short, all I can say is thatit has been very fruitful. I have been trainedby the best, worked with the best and thathas helped me foresee the future of dance,and the creation and evolution of dance. Ihave had a blessed journey. I have neverlooked at my journey as a struggle; it hasonly been a learning experience,” sherecalls.

Kapur admires a lot of people in theindustry to name a few they are GopiKrishnanji and Birju Maharajji. “Theydance beautifully, and I don’t think there isanyone who can compete with them. Also,Farah Khan and Michael Jackson continuesto inspire me till now,” she tells you.

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In view of the forced leaves inthe schools of the State on

account of the threat posed bythe novel Coronavirus(COVID-19), the educationdepartment of Uttarakhand

has decided to transfer themoney of the Mid Day Meal(MDM) into the bank accountsof the children.

The department wouldtransfer an amount of �5 Crorein the bank accounts of 6.89lakh students of Governmentschools of the State. Thisamount is being transferred forthe MDM of 14 days of theleaves.

The schools of the State areclosed till March 31 due to thethreat of COVID-19.Confirming the measure, the

Joint Director MDM, P K Bishttold The Pioneer that theobjective of the decision is toensure that there is no financialrestraint on the parents of thechildren to provide nutritiousmeal to them during thesedays of forced holidays.

He said that an amount of�4.48 per day is spent on theMDM of a primary studentwhile � 6.71 is spent on thestudents of middle classes.

The mid-day meals schemeis a crucial intervention in theeducation system which

ensures that children areretained in school and that theyare able to make better use ofthe benefits afforded by theGovernment schools forfurthering their education.

In Uttarakhand, the uniongovernment bears 90 percent ofthe total cost of MDM whilethe State Government has toshell out 10 percent of the cost.The annual budget of MDM inUttarakhand is �194 Crore.

The schools are providedfood grains (rice and wheat)while they had to manage

other food items on their own from the budget provided.

The teachers are givenresponsibility for managingMDM in their schools. BhojanMatas are employed in theschools to prepare the meal forthe students.

In addition to routine dietthe students are also providedspecial diets like Kheer andChole Puri on occasions likeIndependence Day, RepublicDay, Teacher’s Day, Children’sDay and others to the studentsin the same Budget.

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The Chief Minister ofUttarakhand Trivendra

Singh Rawat has made anappeal to the people of theState to cooperate in theJanata curfew on Sunday. ThePrime Minister NarendraModi has given a call to thecountrymen to remain athome on March 22, from 7am to 9 pm.

In his message, CM Rawathas said that the Governmentis prepared to meet thechallenge of COVID-19 andthere is no need of any fear.He said that the publiccooperation is very importantin combating the threat ofinfection and people shouldcooperate in the call of JanataCurfew given by PM Modi.The CM said that the suppliesof al l essential

commodities are normal andwould be maintained.

The tourism and culture Minister SatpalMaharaj has also appealed tothe people to remain united inthe f ight against the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

He said that peopleshould observe self imposedcurfew on Sunday, March 22on the appeal made by Prime Minister NarendraModi. Maharaj said that totalobser vat ion of Janata

curfew is needed to break theinfection cycle of the

Coronavirus. He said that children

below the age of ten years andpeople with more than 65

years of age should remaininside their homes for somedays because they have lowimmunity and are susceptible for infection.

The Member of

Parl iament (MP) fromNainital- Udham Singh Nagarparliamentary constituency,Ajay Bhatt said that the JantaCurfew is the most efficienttool to fight an epidemic like

Coronavirus. He said that the dreaded

disease would remain incontrol by preventing thespread of infection of virus.

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The chief secretary UtpalKumar Singh took a

meeting with all the districtmagistrates (DMs) and chiefmedical officers (CMOs) ofstate via video conferencing onSaturday. In the meeting, theCS directed that the touristscoming from other statesshould be earmarked andinformation about themshould remain updated. Hedirected the officers to remain

prepared for real time situationso that problems in handlingthe situation are minimised.On a terse note, the CS saidthat spread of rumours onsocial media sites should bechecked and strict actionshould be taken against thosewho are spreading rumours.He told the DMs that theyshould request all leadersincluding the Ministers andMLAs to cancel their JantaMilan programmes.

The secretary, health

services, Nitesh Jha said thatthe district officers shouldmake a list of the retired paramedics and those who haveworked in medical services ofarmy so that a plan to taketheir services in the time ofneed can be made. In view ofless number of patients in thehospitals of the state duringJanta Curfew on Sunday, thehealth secretary said that mockdrills in the hospitals should beconducted to check theirpreparedness.

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The city buses will not beoperate in Dehradun on

Sunday in view of theproposed Janata Curfew from7 am to 9 pm. The presidentof Dehradun Mahanagar CityBus Seva Mahasangh, VijayVardhan Dandriyal said that

the decision is being taken inview call of Janta curfew givenby Prime Minister NarendraModi.

“The day of Janta curfewis very important due to thethreat posed by novelCoronavirus (COVID-19). Weappreciate this move by thePM Narendra Modi, therefore,

we have decided not to operatethe city buses on Sunday.” However, Dandriyalalso added that all the citybuses are being properlysanitised and the passengersdo not need to be scaredwhile travelling through thecity buses during other days.

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The ongoing examinations ofthe Uttarakhand board

have been suspended due to thethreat posed by the novelCoronavirus (COVID-19). Thesecretary school education, RMeenakshi Sundaram said thatthe remaining examinationsof Uttarakhand VidhyalayiShiksha Parishad (UVSP)would remain suspended tillfurther orders. Theexaminations of class X andclass XII of UVSP scheduledfor March 23, 24 and 25 wouldremain suspended due to thethreat of Coronavirus.

Questions were beingraised on the propriety ofcontinuing the examination ofUttarakhand board even asthe examinations of otherboards like Central Board ofSecondary Examination(CBSE) and ICSE weresuspended due to the threatposed by the dreaded COVID-19. It is learnt that the seniorofficers of the departmentwanted to continue holding the

examinations on the plea thatthe examination was on its lastphase. However on Saturday,the education minister ArvindPandey evaluated the situationand ordered suspension of theremaining examinations.

The examinations of UVSPpopularly called Uttarakhandboard started on March 2. Theexaminations of both the classX and XII were being held insingle shift from 10 am to 1 pm.

A total of 150279candidates were enrolled forclass X while 121126 studentswere registered in class XIIexamination this year. The

board had set up 1324examination centres out ofwhich 225 were declaredsensitive while 27 were hypersensitive.

Meanwhile, the process ofthe evaluations of the answersheets of the boardexaminations too has beensuspended. As per the originalschedule, the process ofevaluations was to start onApril 1 and end on April 15.

The UVSP has alsosuspended its Diploma inElementary Education (DElEd)examination slated on March30.

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Political activity inUttarakhand has almost

ceased due to threat created bythe novel Coronavirus(COVID-19). On Saturday, theRajiv Bhawan, the head officeof Uttarakhand Congress partyremained closed due to thethreat posed by the virus.

The state unit of the partyhas decided to keep the officeclosed on Sunday as well.

The state headquarters ofthe BJP also wore a deserted

look on Saturday.The vice president of

Uttarakhand Congress, SuryaKant Dhasmana said that the party office was closed onSaturday on the orders of thePradesh Congress Committee(PCC) chief Pritam Singh.He said that the party hasdecided to support the stepstaken by union and stateGovernment to combat Coronavirus.Dhasmana said that PCCpresident has also cancelledall programmes of the party

in the state where people areexpected to gather.

The PCC president hasalso made an appeal to allparty leaders to protectthemselves from the infection

of the virus and alsoask others to taken e c e s s a r yp r e c a u t i o n s .Dhasmana addedthe Rajiv Bhawan wouldremain closed onMarch 22 also onaccount of Janta

Curfew and the decision onopening the office would betaken after review of thesituation.

The head office of thestate unit of the BJP located

on Balbir road also remaineddeserted on Saturday.

The Vice President of theparty, Devendra Bhasin saidthat only very necessaryworks would be disposed offin the office.

He said that the step oflimiting entry of people inparty office is taken in syncwith the cal l of socialdistancing given by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

The Mahanagar office ofthe party also remainedclosed on the day

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Ateam of districtadministration of

Dehradun imposed penaltieson four medical shop ownersfor selling over priced masksand sanitisers on Saturday. Onthe orders given by districtmagistrate (DM) of Dehradun,Ashish Kumar Srivastava, ateam of district supply officer,drug inspector and weightsand measurements inspectormade surprise inspection of 20medical stores located at TehsilChowk and Chakrata roadareas of the city. The teamdirected the shopkeepers to sellthe sanitisers and the masks atthe rates prescribed under theessential commodities act. Onfinding overrating, the teampenalised four medical storeson the spot.

The team also inspected 15grain shops located in Aaratbazaar and Mandi complex.Apart from Dehradun, theteams of administration alsoinspected 25 chemist shops inKalsi, 14 in Mussoorie, 15 inDoiwala, 64 in Vikasnagar and16 in Rishikesh on the day.

On the demand of ForestResearch Institute (FRI), thedistrict administration

provided 200 kg rice, 240 kgwheat flour, 90 kg pulses, 50 kgsugar, 100 litre of edible oil,milk, vegetables and otherthings. It is pertinent tomention here that the FRIcomplex which houses about1500 people has been lockeddown after three IFS traineeswere found positive for theCOVID-19.

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Page 4: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-21 · restaurants and banquet halls ... New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, ... their three ‘best’ moves

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Saturday said that during ‘JantaCurfew’ on Sunday, essentialcommodities including Groceryshops, petrol pumps andChemists will remain open.

Urging the people of theState not to fear and panic ratherstrongly adhere to the appeal of‘Janta Curfew’ on Sunday, madeby Prime Minister NarendraModi, Khattar said that in thishour, people associated with alltypes of business located in theState should take special care oftheir employees who are onleave in this period and treatthem as their families by fol-lowing a humanitarian approachby not deducting their salary andproviding them full support.

The Chief Minister gavethese directions while presidingover a review meeting with allDeputy Commissioners, DistrictFood and Supplies Controllersand grocery wholesalers, retail-ers and vendors through videoconferencing. During the meet-ing, the Chief Minister issuedvarious directions in view of theneed to meet the potential chal-lenges posed by the Coronavirus.

Khattar directed that theDeputy Commissioners willensure in their respective districtsthat there is no shortage of anyessential commodities and thereis no unnecessary increase inwholesale and grocery rates ofessential commodities and allnecessary steps should be takento stop profiteering and hoard-

ing. Apart from this, if necessary,all the Deputy Commissionerscan take necessary action in theirdistricts to close such establish-ments which are not connectedwith essential goods and services.

He said that as Rabi pro-curement-2020 is now going tostart from April 1, therefore inorder to prevent the mass gath-ering of people in the grain mar-kets, a staggering arrangementfor the arrival of wheat shouldalso be considered.

The Chief Minister said thatall the Deputy Commissionersshould also discourage ‘Panicbuying’ in their respective areasso that people do not buy excessgoods and apart from this, theyshould also make the publicaware that the normal supply ofessential goods will continue.

PUBLIC DEALING IN GOVTOFFICES RESTRICTED

To prevent the spread ofnovel Corona Virus in the State,Haryana Government onSaturday decided to restrict pub-lic dealing in Government offices.

An official spokesman saidthat as per the orders, publicaccess to important governmentofficers such as District andState Secretaries shall be restrict-ed by all Department andOffices. in exceptional circum-stances, controlled and regulat-ed access shall be permitted.Apart from this, departmentsshall provide a telephone num-ber for the general public so thatthey can seek any informationand seek any service duringoffice hours. All AdministrativeSecretaries, Head ofDepartments andCommissioners of all divisions,Managing Directors, ChiefAdministrators of Boards,Corporations, Registrar, Punjaband Haryana High Court andDeputy Commissioners,Registrar of all Universities of thestate have been directed to ensurethe directions and guidelines in

letter and spirit.

ONLINE STUDY MATERIALFOR STUDENTS

To ensure that the studies ofthe students studying in theschools, universities and insti-tutions which are closed to pre-vent the spread of Corona virus,do not suffer, HaryanaGovernment has decided toensure availability of online edu-cational material for students.An official Spokesman said thatall the Principal Secretary, SchoolEducation Department,Principal Secretary, HigherEducation, Principal Secretary,Technical Education, Director-General, School Education,Director-General, HigherEducation, Director-GeneralTechnical Education have beendirected to work out a mecha-nism to ensure availability ofonline education materials fortheir students through their offi-cial web-portals and other onlinechannels. Departments,Institutions and Universities mayget the video, audio, lessons andtutorials prepared from theirown faculty.

KHATTAR DIRECTS DCs TOMAINTAIN SUPPLY OFHAND SANITIZERS ANDMASKS

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar also helda meeting with all the DeputyCommissioners and drug deal-ers' organizations through videoconference and requested theChemists to maintain adequatesupply of all types of medicines,masks, and sanitizers. In themeeting, it was informed that theGovernment of India has fixed�8 for 2 ply masks and �10 for 3ply masks and �100 for a 200 mlbottle of sanitizer under theEssential Commodities Act,therefore, all sellers should notsell these items above the fixed-rate and also do not indulge inblack marketing.

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The Punjab Police onSaturday warned of strict

action against those indulgingin spreading unsubstantiatedclaims and fake news aboutcoronavirus.

Punjab DGP Dinkar Guptasaid those found guilty ofindulging in such acts will bepenalized and dealt with underthe relevant provisions of law.In an advisory issued here, theDGP warned people againstspreading baseless rumoursand falsehood.

He also issued a series of''dos and don''ts'' against usingmobile phones and socialmedia platforms to spread mis-chievous and unsubstantiatedinformation, which can createunnecessary panic and hard-ship to the people.

These are tools that helpkeep everyone connected andinformed, Gupta said, warningpeople against sendingWhatsApp forwards, or postingand spreading fake news on thedeadly disease. Gupta request-ed the general public not to cre-ate panic or unrest throughmalicious forwards and socialmedia posts.

The number of coronaviruspatients in Punjab surged to 13on Saturday. A media bulletinissued by the PunjabGovernment said the numberof COVID-19 positive patientswent up to 13 in the State. Asof now, testing of 181 sampleshas been conducted and out ofwhich, reports of 141 personscame negative, it said.Thereports of 23 persons with sus-pected coronavirus are await-ed, the bulletin said.

PUNJAB PERMITS DISTIL-LERIES TO MANUFAC-TURE HAND SANITIZERS

To meet the growingdemand of hand sanitizers inview of health emergency,

Punjab Drug AdministrationCommissionerate has grantedpermission to distilleries reg-istered with Excise andTaxation Department to man-ufacture and supply sanitizersas per the formulation given byWHO, KS Pannu,Commissioner Food & DrugAdministration Punjab saidon Saturday.

The orders State that thepermission is granted purely ontemporary basis for a period of10 days, keeping in view theemergency conditions due tospread of Corona virus.Moreover, the producer willmake the supply toGovernment Institutions inPunjab only and no part of itwill be supplied outside thestate.

The producer is expectedto use the standardized mate-rials only and shall supply thematerial at price which shallnot be more than the pricefixed by GOI or Govt ofPunjab.

Pannu informed that theDrug control officers of thearea shall inspect the manu-facturing units on daily basis totake stock of quality, and quan-tity of production and its sup-ply and the units have beenasked to maintain properrecord of the manufacturingand supply of the material.

PSPCL TO PROVIDEUNINTERRUPTED POWERSUPPLY TO HOSPITALS

Due to Covid-19, A.VenuPrasad, Principal Secretary,

Power, Punjab Govt. onSaturday asked Punjab StatePower Corporation Limited toprovide uninterrupted 24x7power supply to all HealthCare Institutions such asMedical Colleges, Hospitals,Dispensaries, other MedicalEstablishments, Public HealthLaboratories for testing thevirus that causes COVID-19and Quarantine Centres acrossthe States. In a communicationaddressed to Baldev SinghSran, CMD PSPCL, PrincipalSecretary Power also directedthat PSPCL should also workproactively because these placesare the first contact point incase of medical emergency.Accordingly, instructions havebeen imparted to the fieldoffices for ensuring uninter-rupted 24x7 power supply to allsuch Health Care Institutionsand Quarantine Centres in thestate.

FARIDKOT ADMN DENIESPERMISSION FOR MELA

The Faridkot administra-tion in Punjab on Saturdaydenied permission for holdingan annual event, ''Baba KalaMehar mela'', at Kotkapura inwake of the coronavirus pan-demic. Faridkot DeputyCommissioner Kumar SaurabhRaj said the proposed March 25event at Bir Sikhanwala villagein Kotkapura would not beheld. "The next date for hold-ing the mela will be announcedlater," he said. The decision hasbeen taken after the state gov-ernment issued directions thatpublic gathering of more than20 people at one place will notbe allowed. The mela' is organ-ised every year at BirSikhanwala village by theSandhu clan to pay respect totheir elders. Thousands of peo-ple belonging to the Sandhuclan from several parts ofPunjab, Haryana and Rajasthanattend the ''mela''.

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Urging the leaders of allpolitical parties to give

wholehearted support to theGovernment to check the coro-navirus spread, HimachalPradesh Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Saturdayassured that there was ade-quate stock of essential com-modities and the Governmentwould deal the cases of hoard-ings and profiteering of essen-tial commodities sternly.

Chairing an all-party meet-ing here, he said theGovernment has decided topostpone the date of paymentof various public utility bills likeelectricity and water withoutany extra charges.

Thakur said the Statewould take strict action againstthe suspected persons whorefrain from quarantine. TheState has asked five manufac-turers in the state for bulk man-ufacturing of sanitisers. All theteachers have been exemptedfrom coming to school tillMarch 31. He said only in caseof any emergency the DeputyCommissioners can requisitethe services of teachers.

He said there was ade-quate stock of essential com-modities in the State. He saidadequate sanitation kits werebeing made available to thedoctors, paramedical staff,police personnel and sanitaryworkers.

Himachal Pradesh was thefirst State in the country tonotify the Himachal PradeshEpidemic Disease (COVID-19) Regulation of 2020 onMarch 14 to tackle the menaceof coronavirus effectively.

The Chief Minister saidtwo suspected cases of coron-avirus were reported fromKangra district on Friday,which was a matter of concern.He said samples of both the

patients have been sent toPune for further investigationsand verification.

The State has closed alleducational institutions tillMarch 31 as a preventive mea-sure besides closing all majortemples. The State has alsobanned entry of tourists. Thehotelier associations have alsoextended wholehearted supportto the state in this regard.

He said a complete ban hasbeen imposed on organising ofany religious, cultural, politicaland social functions and gath-erings in the State.

Thakur said the prices ofmasks and sanitizer have beenfixed and hoarding of theseessential commodities wouldbe dealt sternly. The ChiefMinister said a mechanismwould be developed soon tobring down the attendance ofemployees in major offices soas to avoid overcrowding.

Thakur also urged theopposition parties to give theirsupport to ensure the success of'Janta Curfew' in the State tomotivate the people to remainindoor on March 22. He saidkeeping in view 'Janta Curfew',2,020 plying of buses has beensuspended and all the inter-state contract carriage has beensuspended from midnight ofMarch 21 till further orders.

The Chief Minister said theGovernment reduced plyingof interstate HRTC bus servicesto only 10 per cent. Theintrastate bus services of HRTCand private buses would bereduced by 50 per cent.

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No new positive case ofCOVID-19 (Coronavirus)

was reported in Chandigarh onSaturday. The number of positivecases stood at five in the city.

The number of people put inhome quarantine stood at 370.Out of total 434 passengersreported here, 370 passengers areunder home quarantine and 64have completed home quaran-tine or migrated to other states.

The mother, brother andcook of the first positive case of23 years old woman resident ofcity, were tested positive onFriday and under treatment inGMCH-32. Three more contacts(neighbors) residents ofChandigarh admitted atGMCH-32 were turned out to benegative for COVID-19 andhave been home quarantined.

The fifth positive casereported from the city was of 26years old woman, who hadreturned from London.

Meanwhile, in view of JantaCurfew call given by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, thehotels, restaurants and othereating places will remain closedin the city on Sunday.

Red Cross SocietyChandigarh mobile vans withpacked foods will be available atdesignated place for public in thecity. The Administration hasalso decided to prepare a pro-posal for advance payment ofration money for a few monthsto cater to the BPL families ofChandigarh so that they haveliquidity which will enable themto make purchases of essentialsfrom the market.

To tackle the rumors beingspread on social media regard-ing Coronavirus, theAdministration will launch itswebsite dedicated exclusively forproviding information on thedisease. The information of tric-ity would be uploaded on thewebsite as local authorities inMohali and Panchkula wouldalso provide information regard-ing reported COVID-19 cases toAdministration.

These decisions were takenduring a meeting of PunjabGovernor and UT AdministratorVP Singh Badnore on Saturdaywith the senior officials ofChandigarh Administration,Governments of Punjab andHaryana to review the prepara-tory measures being taken in tri-ciry to combat the spread ofCOVID-19. Punjab ChiefSecretary Karan Avtar Singhwas present at the meeting.

The Administrator reviewedthe availability of medical or safe-ty equipment with all theGovernment Hospitals. It wasdecided that order for procuringadditional medical equipment tobe used by the doctors and paramedical staff will be made andthe same will be procured on pri-ority. The Governor will reviewthe situation everyday throughvideo conference.

Among other issues, PunjabChief Secretary informed that inPunjab the wholesale vegetablemarkets are open and only retailApni Mandis have been closeddue to congestion.

UT Adviser Manoj Paridaapprised that in Chandigarhboth the wholesale and retail veg-etable markets are open as if thesame is not done then peoplewould overcrowd the Sector 26market which will unnecessari-ly cause congestion and mayspread infection.

It was suggested that atleastin Mohali and Panchkula, therespective State Governmentscan keep the Apni Mandis andvegetable shops open as afterensuring necessary protocolsand instructions as given byGovernment. It will reduce theunnecessary crowding of peoplefrom Mohali and Panchkula inChandigarh.

Adviser Manoj Parida saidthat, if required, there is a planto permit community halls to beused for sale of vegetables. Themobile carts etc would beallowed to sell vegetables fromhouse to house. Mobile vanscould also used for the purpose.

The decision of ChandigarhAdministration to paste postersoutside the houses of suspectedCoronavirus cases so as to reducethe risk of other people gettinginfected was appreciated.

A day before, theAdministration had banned agathering of more than 50 per-sons in Chandigarh. The orderof allowing a gathering of 100people at wedding and pubsserving food was also with-drawn.

The Administrator hasappealed residents to stay athome on Sunday and make theJanta Curfew successful asannounced by the PrimeMinister. He has urged all thebusiness establishments andindustries to voluntarily closedown their operations and stayat home so that chain of infec-tion is broken.

In view of Janta Curfew, var-ious market associations inChandigarh have announced

partial shutdown on Sunday.The Governor also said that

the people should restrain fromrelying on rumours. He statedthat adequate number of bedsand medicines are available inChandigarh. The officials werealso directed not to allow hoard-ing of masks and other safetyequipment and take strongaction against those creatingartificial scarcity of materials.

50 teams of MCC sanitizespublic places throughout city

In order to prevent spread ofCoronavirus, the MunicipalCorporation of Chandigarh onSaturday sanitized public placesincluding benches in parks, openair gyms, grills, door handles ofATMs, table counters of differ-ent offices and shops, ramps incorridors of markets.

In addition to that, the teamsof MCC sanitized the publictransport including CTU busesand Auto rickshaws and publictoilets throughout city.

Giving details, KK Yadav,Commissioner, MunicipalCorporation said that total 50teams have been deployedthroughout city to sanitize thepublic places. All the governmentoffices, institutions, buildingswere sanitized besides hospitals,dispensaries, religious placesand markets. Private places havealso been covered during the dayon call basis, he said.

Petrol pumps, motor mar-kets, bus stops, bus terminals,police stations, e-sampark cen-tres, vending zones, Sehaj SafaiKendras, housing societies, EWShouses, Taxi stands, auto rikshawstands, police beat boxes,Dharmshalas, CommunityCentres, Aangnwari kendras,schools, mini markets, streets invillages and colonies were alsosanitized, he added.

Yadav said that apart fromsanitizing the public places, theteams of Municipal Corporationhave created awareness amongthe residents by distributingpamphlets and public addresssystem.

He further said that theteams will continue their job tillfurther orders and sanitizationwill be enhanced as per therequirement and circumstances.

PU to remain closed till March31

The Panjab University willremain closed till March 31. Thestaff including teaching andnon-teaching should would fromhome to the extent possible andshould remain available on

phone and any other means ofcommunications, said an officialspokesperson. They shouldattend the office, if called for anyexigency of work.Emergency/essential servicesshall remain operational.Ongoing examinations and eval-uation work shall be re-sched-uled after March 31, thespokesperson said.

All chairpersons/direc-tors/coordinators/wardens(including the Regional/RuralCentres & Constituent Colleges)and Heads of all Non-TeachingDepartments/Branches/Offices,Principals of Affiliated Collegesof the University shall also followthe above necessary compli-ance, he added.

Centre directions will befollowed: Chd Admn

The Central Governmenthas passed an order, to regulatethe prices of masks (2ply and3ply), the melt blown non-woven fabric used as raw mate-rial in production of masks,and hand sanitizers for prevent-ing infections due to COVID-19. The retail prices of Meit Blownnon - Woven Fabric used inmanufacturing masks (2ply &3ply), shall not be more than theprices prevailing on the day onemonth prior to March 13 i.e. theprices prevailing on 12.02.2020.The retail prices of masks (3plysurgical mask), shall not bemore than the prices prevailingon the day one month prior toMarch 13 as on 12.02.2020 or notmore than �10 per piecewhichever is lower and that ofmask (2ply) shall not be morethan �8 per piece, said an offi-cial spokesman of ChandigarhAdministration.

The retail prices of hand san-itizer shall not be more than �100per bottle of 200ml the prices ofother quantities of hand sanitiz-ers shall be fixed in the propor-tion of these prices. Theseorders shall remain in force fora period upto June 30.

The spokesman said that theAdministration is already con-ducting checking in the marketsof Chandigarh to enforce theorders of the government. Theshopkeepers and chemists arealso informed to strictly followthese orders in letter and spirit.The general public can alsoreport the cases of overpricingand non availability of theseitems in the shops or chemiststores on the toll free number ofthe Department:1800-180-2068or at 0172-2703956 or via emailat [email protected].

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As many as ten birds havedied at the Bhagwan Birsa

Zoological Park recently. Thebirds included three lesseradjutant stork, two white ibisand five grass owls. As per thepost mortem repots, the birdsdied due to a severe case ofbird flu.

“Init ial ly it was notknown but later on it was con-f irmed to be bird f lu.Suspecting it to be an acutevirus all necessary precau-tions have been taken as perthe protocol and guidelines.There have been no furtherdeaths since February 25,”said Director of BirsaZoological Park, DVenkateshwarlu.

The f irst incidentoccurred on February 23where seven birds died and

the second one on February25 when there were threemore casualties of those birdswhich were segregated fromthe lot.

“The first incident tookplace on February 23 when allof a sudden seven birds died.The birds had not been show-ing any signs or symptoms ofany disease. As per the initialpost mortem report per acutetype of viral infection wasfound,” said Dr Ajay Kumar,a veterinary doctor at thezoo.

The samples of the birdswere sent to Regional DiseaseDiagnostic Laborator y,Kolkata and later on also toNational Institute of HighSecurity Animal Diseases,Bhopal. The latter confirmedthat the birds died due toavian influenza.

“The reports were sent by

the institute to theGovernment of India whichfurther issued directives offollowing the action plan forthe prevention, cure and con-tainment of the disease. Aninspection team also visitedthe premises to enquire aboutthe health of the personsinteracting with the aviariesand to also know about thehealth status of the people inand around the zoo.

The team has given vari-ous instructions to remainvigilant, monitor any unusu-al deaths of birds and identi-fy any symptoms in humans so that they can betreated immediately,” addedthe Director.

Venkateshwarlu furtherstated that since then therehas no further death whichmeans that the spread of thevirus is under control. “More

samples of live birds willagain be sent to the laborato-ries to check the presence ofany disease. If not detected, itcan be safely assumed that thebird flu has been controlled,”he said.

The zoo authorities aretaking all the necessary pre-cautions to curtail its spreadamongst other species andhumans.

Preventive measures likeapplication of lime disinfec-tant on the ground have beendone. Cages and barriers havebeen sprayed with anti viralsprays.

The zoo staff has beenbriefed about the necessarysanitization methods whichneed to be followed. Theyhave also been provided withgloves, gum boots and otherpersonnel protective equip-ment.

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The State has directed grade3 and 4 employees of

Government offices to workfrom home on alternate weeksin the wake of Coronavirus,

which has already infectedmore than 300 people acrossIndia, officials from theDepartment of Personnel andAdministrative Reforms saidon Saturday.

A directive issued by the

aforementioned departmenton Friday said that 50 per centof non-gazetted employeesworking at variousGovernment offices will workfrom home while the remain-ing 50 per cent will come to

work in the first week startingMonday. The employees whowork from home in the firstweek since the implementationof this arrangement will have toattend office in the next week,it said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday thanked

Maldives for contributing to theCOVID-19 emergency fundsand praised South Asian coun-tries’ unified bid to cope with thecoronavirus pandemic in theregion. On Friday, he hadthanked Bhutan and Nepal fortheir contributions to the fund.

Addressing the SAARCleaders and representatives viavideo conferencing on March 15Modi had proposed the emer-gency fund with an initial offerof $10 million from India for thepurpose.

"Deeply appreciate contri-bution of $200,000 byGovernment of Maldives to theCOVID-19 Emergency Fund. Itstrengthens our resolve in thiscollective fight against the pan-demic," he wrote on Twitter.

On Friday, he had expressedgratitude to Bhutan PrimeMinister Lotay Tshering for hisdecision to contribute $100,000 tothe COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

Modi said it is wonderful tosee SAARC leaders taking ini-tiatives that are adding strengthto the collective fight againstcoronavirus.

"Deeply appreciate PM@kpsharmaoli's announcementof contribution of NPR 10 croresto the COVID-19 Emergency

Fund. It reflects Oli Ji's com-mitment and support to thecollective fight of SAARC coun-tries against the pandemic," hehad said.

On Saturday, the primeminister also thanked variousorganisations and business bod-ies for their efforts to contain thespread of coronavirus. "Neverforget -- precautions not panic!,"he said adding that it is not onlyimportant to be home but alsoremain in the town/ city whereyou are. "

"Unnecessary travels willnot help you or others. In thesetimes, every small effort on ourpart will leave a big impact,"Modi said reacting to tweets bypeople on the virus. This is thetime we should all listen to theadvice given by doctors andauthorities, he said.

"All those who have beentold to stay in home quarantine,I urge you to please follow theinstructions. This will protectyou as well as your friends andfamily," he said. The prime min-ister also shared a video whichshowed how virus spreads andways to check its outbreak tak-ing small precautions.

The spread of Coronavirus isgraduated across the globe andabout to cross the third-stage inIndia where the possibility of theinfection multiplying or growingcommunity-wise would be high.

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Describing Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's call for a

‘Janata’ Curfew on Sunday asthe need of the hour, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah hasasked everyone in the countryto support it and encourageothers to join the movement toprevent the spread of coron-avirus. Meanwhile, HomeSecretary Ajay Bhalla onSaturday asked chief secre-taries of all States to ensure thatthe 'Janta Curfew' called byPrime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday is observed proper-ly in the wake of coronavirusoutbreak.

In a series of tweets, Shahalso asked all citizens to expressgratitude to those who areworking round the clock tokeep the country safe andhealthy amid the pandemic."Prime Minister @naren-dramodi ji's appeal for a JantaCurfew is need of the hour. As#IndiaFightsCorona, let us doour bit to defeat COVID-19.Stay indoors on 22 March from7am to 9pm. Encourage yourfriends and relatives too. Thisis our movement, we will win,together!," he said.

Shah also said no oneshould forget to show supportand gratitude on Sunday at 5pm for the people who have

been constantly working tokeep the country safe andhealthy. "Come out in your bal-conies with your family andcheer for them! Your applausecan make a big difference!," hesaid.

Meanwhile, the home sec-retary also told the top bureau-crats of all states to see thatlocal bodies, fire services, policeand civil defence blow sirens orring bells on Sunday evening toexpress gratitude towards thoseinvolved in tackling the disease."As you are aware, Hon'blePrime Minister, during hisAddress to the Nation onMarch 19, on combatingCOVID-19, requested all citi-zens to observe 'Janta' curfew(a curfew imposed for the peo-ple, by the people, on the peo-ple themselves) from 7 AMuntil 9 PM on this Sunday, the22nd March 2020.

"During this curfew, no

one apart from those involvedwith essential services is sup-posed to venture out of home,"Bhalla said in his letter. Thehome secretary said the primeminister had also mentionedthat there are many brave peo-ple who are at the forefront offighting the COVID-19 pan-demic like medical staff, police,government servants, airlinestaff, media persons,bus/train/auto operators andthose involved in providinghome delivery.

To show gratitude to theirselfless service to the nationduring such trying times, theprime minister had expressedhis desire that at 5 pm onMarch 22 all citizens acknowl-edge and salute their efforts bystanding in balconies or at thedoors of their houses and clapor ring bells for five minutes, headded. "All States and UnionTerritories are, therefore,requested to widely dissemi-nate the message of the Hon'blePrime Minister to the com-munity at large," Bhalla said.

"Further, Urban LocalBodies, Panchayati RajInstitutions, Fire Services,Police Services, Civil Defenceand Industrial Establishmentsetc., should be advised to ringa siren at 5.00 pm on March 22for intimation of all citizens,"he said.

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The Supreme Court onMonday will hear fresh

petition for "immediate"removal of the Shaheen Baghprotesters in the light of coro-navirus spread across the coun-try. The three-judge Benchwill also hear an earlier petitionfiled before the apex court inrelation to the case.

Judges Sanjay Kishan Kaul,KM Joseph and Sanjiv Khannawill take up the fresh petitionfor vacating protesters fromShaheen Bagh in the North-East Delhi on March 23 on aplea which has drawn attentionof the apex court to the diseasewhich has been earlier declaredpandemic by World HealthOrganisation. Around 283have been, to date , infected bythe virus in the country.

A fresh petition was filedby Advocate Ashutosh Dubeyand BJP leader and advocateNand Kishor Garg pleadingdirections for immediateremoval or dispersal of massgathering at Shaheen Baghhealth hazard posed by thecoronavirus which first origi-nated from China and subse-quently rapidly spread to othercountries, causing large-scalecasualties. The fresh petitionsays coronavirus is a highlycommunicable, engulfingunder its sweep all crowdedpublic places. A committee of

interlocutors who were deput-ed by the Supreme Court tonegotiate with the protestorshad earlier filed its report withthe apex court.

Meanwhile, the SupremeCourt's lawyers bodies -SCBA and SCAORA - havedecided to recommend to theChief Justice of India S ABobde to prepone the summervacation in the top court bydeclaring holidays for two tofour weeks in view of the coro-navirus pandemic.

In an executive committeemeeting of the Supreme CourtBar Association (SCBA) heldon Saturday, it was resolved thatthe summer vacation of the topcourt should be preponed andholidays declared from March23 onwards for four weeks.

"Considering the varioussuggestions made by distin-guished members of the EC(executive council), it has beenresolved that Chief Justice andJustices of the Supreme Courtmay consider the feelings andwell being of all stake holders,declare vacation in the SupremeCourt for four weeks beginningfrom Monday, March 23," acopy of the resolution sent tothe media by SCBA said.

It said the executive coun-cil has resolved that furtheraction in this regard should betaken after three weeks byanalysing the situation.

"The EC also requests the

court to adjust the lost days inthe forthcoming summer vaca-tion accordingly. The EC alsoresolves to inform the court ofits readiness to help the insti-tution at any point of time," theresolution said.

Similarly, another lawyers'body -- Supreme CourtAdvocate on RecordAssociation (SCAORA) -- alsoheld a meeting and passed aresolution saying "consideringthe seriousness/severity of thepresent situation and to curtailthe outbreak of the pandemiccoronavirus (Covid-19) andwith a view to safeguard andprotect the members of the Bar,the Court, office staff and alsothe registry staff, it is resolvedto unequivocally recommendto the honourable CJI to closethe Supreme Court for a peri-od of at least two weeks".

The Supreme Court isscheduled to go on summervacation from May 18 till July5 during which vacation bench-es usually take up urgent mat-ters.

The resolution of theSCAORA also made some sug-gestions in case the proposal fordeclaring holidays for at leasttwo weeks is not accepted.

The lawyers' body sug-gested that filing of matters becompletely stopped except forurgent matters pertaining todeath warrants, bail or custodyand habeas corpus petitions.

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After declaring face surgicalmasks and hand sanitisers

as essential commodities, theMinistry of Food andConsumer Affairs has fixed theretail prices of hand sanitisersat �100 per bottle of 200 ml.and retail prices of surgicalmask (3 ply) shall not be morethan �10 and that of mask (2ply) shall not be more than �8per piece. In its notification,the Ministry said Melt Blownnon-Woven Fabric used inmanufacturing face masks (2ply and 3ply) have also beencapped at the prices prevailinga month ago, as on February12, 2020.

Consumer Affairs MinisterRam Vilas Paswan in a tweeton Saturday said the price of200ml bottle of hand sanitisercannot be sold for more than

�100 and face masks cannot besold for more than �10 perpiece. In another tweet, Paswan

said since the outbreak of thehighly contagious coronavirus(COVID-19), there has been a

huge increase in the prices ofvarious face masks and mate-rial used in its manufacturing

and hand sanitisers.Secretary, Food and

Consumer Affairs, PawanAgarwal said notification tothis effect has been issued. Hesaid distilleries have been askedto ramp production of EthylAlcohol and provide them tomanufacturers of deodorantsprays so that there is no short-age of hand sanitisers.

The Government has ear-lier put masks and hand sani-tisers under EssentialCommodities Act (ECA) uptoJune 30, 2020 to ensure prop-er availability these items inmarket at correct price in viewof the outbreak of CoronaVirus. The decision hasempower the states to regulateproduction, quality and dis-tribution of masks and handsanitisers. Over the past fewweeks, there have been cases ofnon availability of surgical

masks and N95 masks due toincrease in demand and blackmarketing. There have alsobeen cases of traders chargingexorbitantly for hand sanitis-ers.

Agarwal also made it clearthat there is no shortage ofEssential Commodities such asfoodgrains and appealed thecommon people not to go forpanic buying. He saidStates/UTs have been advisedthat transport of essential sup-plies including food andhygiene products must bemaintained. Necessary direc-tions have been issued toensure that couriers of ecom-merce platforms are allowed tosupply essential items withouthassle. Besides, the States andConsumers can also avail ofConsumer Helpline to actswiftly against hoarding, short-ages and other malpractices.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi has urged India to

fight the coronavirus outbreakstrongly by observing the'Janata Curfew ' on March 22 bygiving the example of YuvrajSingh and Mohammad Kaifwho shared a memorable part-nership in the 2002 NatwestSeries which India won.

After the Prime Minister'sappeal, Kaif took to Twitterand requested the same topeople in order to prevent thespread of the virus. PM Modiresponded to Kaif 's tweet andsaid, "It is time for anotherpartnership."

Replying to Kaif 's tweet,PM Modi tweeted, "Here are 2excellent cricketers whose part-nership we will remember for-ever. Now, as they have said, itis time for another partnership.This time, all of India will bepartners in the fight againstCoronavirus."

Kaif and Yuvraj joinedhands for a 121-run stand todrag Sourav Ganguly-led Indiaout of a hole and guide them toa two-wicket victory againstEngland at Lord's in July 2002.

PM Modi has urged peopleto opt for a 'Janata Curfew' onSunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.and all the sports personalitieshave endorsed the idea.

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The Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD)

Ministry on Saturday advised alleducational institutions to letstudents who are still in hostelsto stay put and take necessaryprecautions in view of the coro-navirus outbreak. "Students whoare still in hostels, particularlyforeign students, should beallowed to continue in their hos-tels and advised to take all nec-essary safe precaution,” HRDSecretary Amit Khare said in aletter to the institutions.

The universities and col-leges have been issuing advi-sories to students to leave forhomes and not stay in hostels asclasses have already been sus-pended in wake of the coron-avirus pandemic.

Last week, the HRDMinistry had directed that allexams in schools and colleges bepostponed till March 31 andevaluation work be suspended.The letter which has been sent

to the University GrantsCommission (UGC), All IndiaCouncil of Technical Education(AICTE), Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE),National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) and otherautonomous bodies under theministry, also said that facultymembers, researchers and non-teaching staff be permitted towork from home.

"The faculty membersshould utilise this period foracademic activities such asdevelopment of online content,online teaching and online eval-uation. Preparing lesson planand developing instructionalmaterial for the courses to be

offered during next year orsemester, writing articles andpapers and preparing questionbanks, are among the activitieswhich can be pursued duringthe period," Khare said.

While the teaching andnon-teaching staff is required tobe available on phone and email,the institutions have beendirected to count the period asbeing on duty.

The HRD Ministry has alsoasked students to continue theirlearning by making full use ofthe available digital e-Learningplatforms during the periodthe educational institutions areclosed as a precautionary mea-sure against COVID-19.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Saturday urged

people not to panic in view ofthe coronavirus outbreak andsaid the country will not bowdown to this painful crisis.

She suggested a host ofmeasures to help those affect-ed due to the coronavirus andsaid a comprehensive, sector-wise relief package was requiredto be announced by theGovernment to support thosehit by its economic fallout.

“COVID-19 has alsoimpacted the biggest employ-

ment generator - the agricul-ture sector. Our farmers, culti-vators and farm labourers arebearing the brunt. To top it, theunseasonal rains and hail-storms across India have addedto their woes. Governmentmust consider a special reliefpackage for the agriculturesector also," Sonia said.

In a statement, Gandhiurged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and theGovernment to increase thenumber of testing facilitiesacross the country and makepublic the details of hospitalsand medical facilities through

a dedicated portal.She also pitched for a spe-

cial budgetary allocation forenhancing the facilities to com-bat the virus.

"Extraordinary times callfor extraordinary measures. Acomprehensive, sector-wiserelief package needs to beannounced forthwith by the government, including necessary tax breaks, interestsubvention and deferment of liabilities. For the salariedclass, the Government and the RBI must consider a defer-ment of EMIs," the Congresschief said.

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With fears around coron-avirus fuelling rumours

and misinformation on socialmedia, the Government haslaunched a chatbot on mes-saging platform WhatsApp toaddress user queries around thepandemic, and offer verifiedinformation and official advi-sories to the public.

'MyGov Corona Helpdesk'can be accessed by sending aWhatsapp message to +919013151515, and is equipped toaddress various FAQs pertain-ing to coronavirus such as itssymptoms, precautionary mea-sures that need to be under-taken, helpline numbers, affect-ed cases in the region, govern-ment advisories (includingtravel), among others.

Sources said the chatbothas been developed and imple-mented by Jio HaptikTechnologies, a conversation-al AI platform and a sub-sidiary of Reliance Industries.

Misinformation and fakenews circulating on socialmedia is fuelling public fearsaround coronavirus, and thetendency of mass-forwardingmessages without verifyingcontent has triggerred rumour-mongering and, at times, panic.

"The government alongwith Haptik is looking to curbsuch misinterpretations byintroducing the 'MyGovCorona Helpdesk'. With theWhatsapp user base in Indiacrossing over 400 million, thisis an ideal medium to routebasic hygiene practices aroundthe virus," sources said.

The move is aimed at curb-ing circulation of false infor-mation that can cause masshysteria, while at the sametime educating the populationabout the present scenario andpromoting awareness.

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The Central Association ofPrivate Security Industry

(CAPSI) has sought PrimeMinister intervention to savethe livelihood of lakhs ofPrivate Securiry guards whoare being removed from ser-vice by the Service Takers panIndia. The Closure of Malls,Show Rooms, Theatres, Hotelsetc. have led to a situationwherein the clients are askingto remove all Security Guardsfrom their locations leavingonly one guard at these sitesand they have also made itclear that they will only pay forthe drastically reducedstrength. Now what happensto the Others ? Where do theother guards Go? Who Paysthem their Salaries for thisperiod.

Kunwar Vikram Singh,Chairman of CAPSI wrote tothe Prime Minister and

explained the prevailing situ-ation which may turn ugly ifremedial measures are nottaken immediately.

He did that corporateshave issued letters of drasticreduction of service strengthfrom their establishments.They have also refused to paywages for the period of layoff. This situations will havedeep impact on the life ofsecurity guards and their fam-ilies.

Singh said that under thepresent condition of CoronaChallenges, the SecuriryGuards are working day &night without caring for theirown health challenges. Hesaid that if immediate decisionis not taken that entire PSI willcollapse causing huge unrestamong the security guardsand closure of thousand ofPrivate Security Agencieswhich are already sufferingdue to GST.

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In the wake of coronavirusoutbreak and possibility of it

graduating to its third stage,Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Saturday called for imme-diate steps to revive the coun-try's economy on Saturday say-ing there was a need for a bigfinancial package.

Stating that the onset ofcoronavirus was a seriousattack on country's fragileeconomy, the former Congresspresident took potshots atPrime Minister NarendraModi's call for beating of"thalis" in the honour of thoseworking to contain the spreadof the virus.

Congress leader said clap-ping would not help the dailywage workers and small andmedium entrepreneurs. "Thecoronavirus is a big attack onour fragile economy. Small andmedium entrepreneurs andour daily wage workers are themost affected.

"Clapping will not helpthem. Today there is a need forcash relief and tax sops, besidesrelief in repayment of loans aspart of a big economic package.Take immediate steps," the for-mer Congress chief said in atweet in Hindi.

Congress on Saturdaysought the government to pro-vide immediate financial assis-tance to daily wagers, autodrivers, security guards andsmall vendors. The party alsoasked the Modi-government tomake advance payment ofwages to those linked toMGNREGA.

Number of those infectedby Coronaviros to a majorjump on Friday taking thetotal number to 283 acrossIndia.

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Africa's cases of the coronavirus rose above1,000 on Saturday while two heads of state

appeared to defy their own travel restrictions toattend another president's inauguration.

Angola announced its first cases, meaningat least 40 of Africa's 54 countries are now affect-ed. Congo reported its first death; Burkina Fasoreported two new ones. Somalia said it's liftingits ban on international flights for two days sostranded citizens can come home. And Ethiopia'selectoral authorities discussed the virus' effect ona major national election later this year.

Angola closed its air, land and sea bordersthis week, but Namibian media showed PresidentJoao Lourenco at the inauguration of NamibianPresident Hage Geingob. Also in attendance wasPresident Mokgweetsi Masisi of neighboringBotswana, which this week suspended interna-tional travel by all Government employees.

New York: New York CityMayor Bill de Blasio has saidthat the metropolitan city is the“epicentre” of the coronaviruscrisis in the United States, asGovernment officialsannounced some of the moststringent measures to slow thespread of the pandemic that hasclaimed over 200 lives in thecountry.

The Mayor on Friday saidthat there were 5,151 con-firmed cases of coronavirus inthe city. “And to give you per-spective that is now about one-third of all the coronaviruscases in the United States ofAmerica. It is about two-thirdsof the cases in the state of NewYork. I hate to say this, but it'strue we are now the epicentreof this crisis right here in thenation's largest city,” the Mayorsaid. However, the num-ber of cases and deaths con-tinue to rise at an alarming ratein the city and across thenation.

Late Friday, officialsreported 5,683 confirmed coro-

navirus cases in New York Cityand 43 deaths. This grew fromthe 5,151 cases 29 deaths earlyFriday. New York State hasclose to 7000 cases and with 6percent of the U.S. Population,the state accounts for over one-third of all confirmedCOVID19 cases in the country.

States across the nation areimplementing strict measuresthat would keep millions of cit-izens in-doors beginning thisweekend. The states of NewYork, New Jersey, Connecticutand Illinois ordered its residentsto stay mostly indoors, in effectmeaning that one in fiveAmericans will soon berequired to stay indoors.

New York State GovernorAndrew Cuomo announcedsome of the strictest measuresas the number of coronaviruscases continued to skyrocket inthe State.

Cuomo announced that heis signing the “New York Stateon PAUSE” executive order, a10-point policy to assure safe-ty for everyone. PTI

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Athens: A plane from Chinacarrying 500,000 masks to helpGreece combat the coronavirusoutbreak landed at AthensInternational Airport onSaturday.

Health Minister VassilisKikilias was among those at theairport to receive the loadwhich was donated by theChinese public electricity com-pany State Grid and Greekelectricity supplier Admie, in

which the Chinese firm holdsa 25 percent stake.

The load consisted mainlyof FFP2 masks which will bedistributed principally to hos-pitals, airport officials said.

Beijing and Athens havebeen building important com-mercial relationships for over adecade, especially after the saleof most of the terminals in theport of Piraeus (near Athens)to the Chinese shipping giant

Cosco.With its health system suf-

fering from chronic problemsand its economy still creakingafter a long-running debt cri-sis, Greece is facing a shortageof medical equipment, espe-cially masks.

Covid-19 has killed tenpeople in the country in thepast nine days while 495 caseshave been recorded, withscreening tests being mainly

carried out on those suspectedof carrying the virus.

After the first death, onMarch 12, the governmentadopted strict measures tolimit unnecessary movement,ranging from the closure ofeducational establishments,parks and entertainment facil-ities to the banning of gather-ings of more than 10 people. AFP

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Thessaloniki (Greece): Almost 600 migrantsarrested while crossing to three Greek islandsfrom the Turkish coast opposite have arrived ata facility in northern Greece where they arerequired to remain pending deportation, author-ities say. The 598 migrants were sent by boatto the northern port of Kavala and by bus to thefacility, northeast of the city of Thessaloniki andnear the border with Bulgaria.

The migrants will stay in tents and will notbe able to leave the camp.

Red Cross doctors took each arrival's tem-perature and asked them about recent bouts ofthe flu. There has been no information as to theirhealth status.

The migrants are from a wide array of coun-tries in Asia and Africa. Authorities would notprovide a breakdown, but officials said on con-dition of anonymity that the arrivals did notinclude Iraqis or Syrians. Greece has tightenedborder controls and has suspended asylumapplications since early March, days afterTurkey announced that it was opening its bor-ders to migrants and refugees and encouragedthem to cross into Greece. AP

Beijing: China has not report-ed any local coronavirus casesfor the third consecutive daybut the country is facing asharp increase of COVID-19cases from abroad, a healthofficial said on Saturday.

Seven more fatalitiesreported from the virus' epi-centre of Hubei province, tak-ing the death toll in the coun-try to 3,255, China's NationalHealth Commission (NHC)said on Saturday.

The coronavirus death tollhas gone up to 11,397 withmore than 275,427 casesreported in over 160 countriesand territories, according todata from Johns HopkinsUniversity.

Italy has overtaken Chinaas the worst-hit with over over4,000 deaths reported so far.

The NHC said on Saturdaythat no new domestically trans-mitted cases of COVID-19were reported on the Chinesemainland for the third day ina row on Friday.

On Friday, seven deathsand 36 new suspected cases

were reported on the mainland,with all the deaths reportedfrom the virus' epicentre

Hubei province and itscapital Wuhan, it said.

The overall confirmedcases on the mainland havereached 81,008 by the end ofFriday, which included 3,255deaths, 6,013 patients stillundergoing treatment, 71,740patients who have been dis-charged after recovery, theNHC said.

Facing a sharp increase ofCOVID-19 cases from abroad,China will take strict measuresto prevent imported cases,spokesman of the NHC MiFeng told media here onSaturday. He said the totalnumber of imported cases tothe Chinese mainlandincreased by 216 per cent to269 from March 11 to 20.

He also noted that themainland reported no newdomestically transmittedCOVID-19 cases for the thirdday in a row on Friday, andprovincial-level regions exceptthe hard-hit Hubei province

had been clear of indigenouscases for nine days.

He called for unswervingefforts in preventing theCOVID-19 epidemic fromrebounding.

The NHC said 41 newconfirmed COVID-19 caseswere reported on the Chinesemainland on Friday from thepeople arriving from abroad,taking the total number ofimported cases to 269.

While reporting about asteady increase in importedcases, the NHC did not speci-fy whether the infected personswere foreigners or Chinesenationals returning fromabroad. China has imposedstrict quarantine measures forall those returning from othercountries.

Hong Kong reported 17additional confirmed cases ofCOVID-19 and 20 prelimi-nary positive cases on Saturday.With the 17 newly confirmedcases, the total number of con-firmed COVID-19 cases inHong Kong has risen to 273. PTI

Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday sus-pended all international flights for twoweeks and curtailed train services as thecoronavirus cases surged to 666 in thecountry after more pilgrims whoreturned from Iran tested positive for thedeadly virus, which has turned into amajor global crisis.

The Government in a statement saidall international flights are being sus-pended for two weeks to curb thespread of the virus. From 8 pm tonight,“all incoming international flights arebeing suspended for two weeks,” astatement issued read.

National flag-carrier PIA howeverwill be allowed to bring back its planes.Cargo flights will also be allowed.Earlier today, PIA had said all interna-tional departures were being suspend-ed till March 28. Railway MinisterSheikh Rashid Ahmad ordered to reducethe number of trains running in thecountry from March 25 until the mid-dle holy month of Ramadan, whichwould start around April 25.

“We have decided to suspend 34

trains out of total 142 running in thecountry while another eigh trains will besuspended from April 1,” he said. TheGovernment announced the measuresas the number of confirmed cases in thecountry jumped to 666 on Saturday.

The worst-affected Sindh provincereported 90 new coronavirus cases,taking the provincial tally to 357. Thenew cases have been detected in pilgrimswho returned from Iran and have beenquarantined in Sukkur, according to aspokesperson for the Sindh healthdepartment.

The number of COVID-19 patientsin Balochistan rose to 104; 96 in Punjab;27 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; 21 inGilgit-Baltistan; 10 in Islamabad; andone in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

So far three patients have died inPakistan while five have recovered.Pakistan reported the third casualty fromthe virus in Karachi on Friday, two daysafter two men – both pilgrims return-ing from Iran and Saudi Arabia – diedof the coronavirus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. PTI

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Afghanistan and Maldiveson Saturday pledged to

contribute USD 1.2 million tothe SAARC CoronaEmergency Fund proposed byPrime Minister Narendra Modiwith an initial offer of USD 10million from India to helpcombat the fast-spreadingCOVID-19 pandemic in theregion.

Spokesperson for thePresident of Afghanistan SediqSediqqi said the Afghan gov-ernment believed in joint col-laboration and strengtheningpartnership to fight the rapid-ly-spreading coronavirus pan-demic.

“The Afghan Governmenthas just approved a contribu-tion of One Million USD to theCOVID-19 Emergency Fundas per the discussions inSAARC heads of nations VTC,believing in joint collaboration,and strengthening partnership to fight this pan-demic, “ Sediqqi said in atweet.

Earlier while welcoming

Prime Minister Modi for cre-ating the emergency and relieffund, Maldives ForeignMinister Abdulla Shahid saidthe country will join the ini-tiative to tackle the challengesposed by the coronavirus pan-demic.

“We welcome PM@narendramodi's initiative tocreate an COVID-19Emergency Relief Fund and itspledge of USD 10million.Government of Maldives joinsthe initiative and pledge USD200,000 to address issues ema-nating from COVID-19,”Shahid said in a tweet. Nepaland Bhutan on Friday pledgednearly USD one million andUSD 100,000 respectively tothe SAARC CoronaEmergency Fund.

Modi, later, took to Twitterto thank leaders of the twocountries for their contribution.

“Gratitude to @PMBhutanDr Lotay Tshering for his deci-sion to contribute $100,000 tothe COVID-19 EmergencyFund on behalf of theBhutanese Government.” he

Rome: Hundreds of millions ofpeople worldwide kicked offthe weekend under a coron-avirus lockdown, as the globaldeath toll accelerated sharplyand the World HealthOrganization warned theyoung they were “not invinci-ble”.

The pandemic has com-pletely upended lives across theplanet, sharply restricting themovement of huge popula-tions, shutting down schoolsand businesses, and forcingmillions to work from home -- while many have lost theirlivelihoods entirely.

While President DonaldTrump insisted the UnitedStates was “winning” the waragainst the virus, individualstates dramatically ramped uprestrictions, with New Yorkand Illinois joining Californiain ordering residents to stayhome.

The virus death toll surgedpast 11,000 worldwide, with4,000 alone in worst-hit Italywhere the daily number offatalities has shot up relentlesslyover the past week.

While the elderly and thosewith pre-existing medical con-ditions are the hardest hit bythe virus, WHO chief TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus warnedthat young people were alsovulnerable. “Today I have amessage for young people: youare not invincible. This viruscould put you in hospital forweeks -- or even kill you,”Tedros said.

“Even if you don't get sick,the choices you make aboutwhere you go could be the dif-ference between life and deathfor someone else.”

China on Saturday report-ed no new local infections fora third straight day, and theWHO said the central Chinesecity of Wuhan, where the virusemerged late last year, offereda glimmer of “hope for the restof the world”. AFP

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump has said hegreatly respects China andshares a “very good” rela-tionship with his Chinesecounterpart Xi Jinping, buttermed it “unfortunate” thatthe coronavirus began inthe Communist nation andgot out of control.

Speaking at a press brief-ing on Friday, Trump said heconsidered Xi as a friend andand asserted that the ChinesePresident respects the US.

“I have a very good rela-tionship with China and withPresident Xi. I have greatrespect for President Xi. I con-sider him to be a friend ofmine. It is unfortunate that thisgot out of control,” he said.

Trump reiterated thatcoronavirus originated fromChina. “They (coronavirus)came from China, it got out ofcontrol. Some people are upset.I know - I know President Xi.He loves China. He respects theUnited States and I have to say

I respect China greatly and Irespect President Xi,” he said.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo told the same pressbriefing that China's delay insharing information about thevirus had created risks to peo-ple worldwide.

“We need to know imme-diately. The world is entitled toknow. The ChineseGovernment was the first toknow of this risk to the world,and that puts a special obliga-tion to make sure that data getsto our scientists, our profes-sionals,” Pompeo told reportersat a White House news con-ference on Friday.

“When you see a delayin information flowing fromthe Chinese CommunistParty to the technical peoplewho we wanted to get intoChina immediately to assistin this, every moment ofdelay connected to beingable to identify this risk vec-tors creates risk to the peo-

ple all around the world,” hesaid. Pompeo, a known critic ofChina, said he was not blam-ing Beijing, but the Chinesegovernment was the first toknow about the risk the viruspresented.

“This is about movingforward to make sure that wecontinue to have the informa-tion we need to do our jobs,” hesaid. “We need to make surethat even today the data setsthat are available to everycountry, including data sets thatare available to the ChineseCommunist Party, or madeavailable to the whole world. It'san imperative to keep peoplesafe,” Pompeo said. PTI

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Washington: A staffer in theteam of US Vice PresidentMike Pence has tested positivefor the coronavirus, makinghim the first White Housepersonnel to have been infect-ed by the deadly disease thathas so far claimed the lives of230 people in the country.

“This evening we werenotified that a member of theoffice of the Vice President test-ed positive for the coronavirus,”Katie Miller, Press Secretary toVice President, said in a state-ment.

Neither President DonaldTrump nor Vice PresidentPence had close contact withthe individual, she said.

“Further contact tracing isbeing conducted in accordancewith CDC guidelines,” Millersaid.

This is the first case of aWhite House staffer being test-ed positive for the deadly virus.Last week, Trump had testedfor the coronavirus but theresult was negative. PTI

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Atlanta: US elections havebeen upended by the coron-avirus pandemic.

At least 13 states havepostponed voting and moredelays are possible as healthofficials warn that social dis-tancing and other measures tocontain the virus might be inplace for weeks, if not months.

The states that have yet tohold their primaries find them-selves in a seemingly impossi-ble situation as they look to bal-ance public health concernswith the need to hold elections.

While election officialsroutinely prepare for naturaldisasters such as hurricanes andwildfires, the virus outbreakposes a unique challenge.“Usually when we are dealingwith a crisis in elections, it'ssomething that happens and

then it's done,” said ChrisHarvey, Georgia's director ofelections. “The difference nowis that it's a spreading threat, afast-growing threat. We don'tknow where, when or how it isgoing to end.”

Primaries scheduled forGeorgia, Ohio, Maryland,Indiana, Louisiana,Connecticut and Kentuckyhave all been postponed to Mayor June. The Rhode IslandBoard of Elections has recom-mended the primary bedelayed to June, while officialsin Wisconsin are debating whatto do. Wisconsin Gov. TonyEvers has insisted the April 7primary be held as scheduled,but a state elections commis-sioner said this past week thatdoing so would put people atrisk.

The state's chief electionsofficial cited a host of problemsWisconsin could face if itmoved forward with the elec-tion: a poll worker shortage,lack of polling places andpotential disruption of absen-tee voting if mail service in theU.S. Were to shut down.

All this comes at the worstpossible time for election offi-cials, in the middle of a majorelection year.

The virus outbreak erupt-ed halfway through the presi-dential primary season. Votersin 23 states have yet to cast theirballots. While Arizona, Floridaand Illinois held their electionsas scheduled last Tuesday, Ohiohalted voting over public healthconcerns after federal officialsencouraged people over age 65to stay home. AP

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.����0����#���6�)))�������������������������#� Tehran: Iran said Saturday that 123 more peo-

ple had died from coronavirus, raising the offi-cial death toll to 1,556 in the Islamic repub-lic, one of the world's worst affected countries.

Health ministry spokesman KianoushJahanpour said 966 more cases had been con-firmed over the past 24 hours and 20,610 peo-ple were now known to have been infected inIran.

A total of 7,635 people have recovered fromthe disease, he told a televised news conference.

The Islamic republic is among the threecountries hardest hit by the virus with an offi-cial death toll behind only Italy and China.

The authorities have asked people toavoid all travel during the Persian New Yearholidays, which usually sees almost all citizenstake to the roads. But the pleas have beenignored by many.

According to the Iranian Red Crescent,around three million people have left the 13most virus-affected provinces by road sinceMarch 17. AFP

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The Union Cabinet hascleared three schemes

involving a total incentive ofaround Rs 48,000 crore toboost electronics manufactur-ing in the country, Telecom andIT Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said on Saturday.

The government is expect-ing to generate manufacturingrevenue potential of Rs 10 lakhcrore and create direct andindirect jobs for 20 lakh peo-ple by 2025 through theseschemes, he said.

Besides this, the Cabinet inits meeting held on Friday alsoapproved incentives for med-ical devices to reduce depen-dency on import of electronicproducts for medical care in thecountry.

"Two long-term policydecisions have been taken tomake India a big hub of man-ufacturing. First in case ofelectronics, second in case ofpharma and also medicaldevices. Cabinet has approvedproduction linked-incentivefor electronics companies. Wewill give Rs 40,995 crore in thecoming five years for produc-tion linked-incentive," Prasadsaid.

Under the scheme, elec-tronic manufacturing compa-nies will get an incentive of 4to 6 per cent on incrementalsales (over base year) of goodsmanufactured in India andcovered under target segments,to eligible companies over aperiod of next 5 years.

Industry body IndiaCellular and ElectronicsAssociation said that the PLI

scheme is of global scale whichnot only spur manufacturingbut more importantly exportsof mobile handsets at a globalscale.

"The National Policy forElectronics 2019 envisionsIndia to reach a mobile phoneproduction of USD 190 billionby 2025, of which USD 110 bil-lion would be exported. PLI isthe policy intervention to sup-port the ambition to build theelectronics sector, where themain focus remains on manu-facturing of mobile phonesand components," ICEAChairman Pankaj Mohindroosaid.

The Cabinet approvedscheme for promotion of man-ufacturing of electronics com-ponents and semiconductorswith a budget outlay of Rs 3,285crore spread over a period of 8years. It also approved revisedversion for electronics manu-facturing clusters with a totalincentive outlay of Rs 3,762.25crore spread over a period of 8years with an objective to cre-ate 10 lakh direct and indirectjobs under the scheme.

"Because of these threeschemes, we hope to generatemanufacturing revenue poten-tial of Rs 10 lakh crore by 2025and generate direct and indirectjobs for 20 lakh people," Prasadsaid.

The government estimatesthat PLI scheme, domesticvalue addition for mobilephones is expected to rise to35-40 per cent by 2025 fromthe current level of 20-25 percent and generate additional 8lakh jobs, both direct and indi-rect.

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The world's largest diamondcutting and polishing hub,

Surat in Gujarat, will shutdown for a week from Tuesdaydue to the novel coronavirusoutbreak, the Gem andJewellery Export PromotionCouncil and Surat DiamondAssociation said in a jointstatement on Saturday.

Diamond cutting and pol-ishing units in other parts ofthe state like Bhavnagar andBotad will also remain closed,Gujarat regional chairman ofGJEPC Dinesh Navadiya said.

"The industry has alreadywitnessed $846 million fall inexports in February 2020 com-pared to the same month lastyear, and the crisis is deepen-ingfurther and could get worsethan what was witnessed dur-ing the 2008 financial reces-sion," he said.

Navadiya said the export-oriented diamond industry wasfacing a massive crisis, withthree countries accounting for80 per cent of the exports,namely USA, Hong Kong, andChina, being among the worsthit due to the outbreak.

"USA accounts for 39 percent of exports, followed byHong Kong at 37 per cent, andChinaat 4 per cent. They areamong the countries that areworst affected by coronavirus.We are facing a situation thatcan get worse than what wewitnessed during the 2008recession," Navadiya said.

In another development

related to coronavirus, SuratMunicipal Corporation onSaturday launched an onlinevoluntary self-reporting forcitizens with history of visitsabroad or other states withinthe country, and said non-reg-istration will invite a penalty ofup to Rs 25,000.

"SMC starts voluntary selfreporting of corona affectedCitizens, if someone has comefrom other countries or otherdomestic localities with sus-pected cases. Non Registrationinvites penalty up to 25000/-,"Municipal CommissionerBanchha Nidhi Pani tweeted.

People who have recentlyreturned to Surat from visitsabroador other states within thecountry will have to providetravel details, as well as healthinformation like whether theyare suffering from fever, cough,or having difficulty breathing,etc.

The online form link isavailable on the SuratMunicipal Corporation web-site.

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The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Saturday extend-

ed the six-month regulatoryrestriction on crisis-riddenPunjab and MaharashtraCooperative Bank for threemonths till June 22, 2020, as itis still working on the revival ofthe bank.

The RBI had placed regu-latory curbs on the multi-stateurban cooperative bank onSeptember 23, 2019, after find-ing out certain financial irreg-ularities, hiding and misre-porting of loans given to realestate developer HDIL.

"It is hereby notified for theinformation of the public thatthe validity of the directivedated September 23, 2019, asmodified from time to time,has been extended for a furtherperiod of three months fromMarch 23, 2020 to June 22,

2020," the RBI said in a releaseon Saturday.

The restrictions on thebank included barring the bankfrom giving fresh loans andacceptance of fresh deposits.Depositors were also notallowed to withdraw more thanRs 1,000 initially from theiraccounts but the limit waslater relaxed to Rs 50,000, help-ing 78 per cent of the deposi-tors to withdraw their entireaccount balance.

The RBI said it has beenclosely monitoring the situationat the bank and has been hold-ing regular meetings with theadministrator and the adviso-ry committee of the bank.

“In the interest of thedepositors and the stability ofthe cooperative banking sector,the RBI, in consultation withvarious stakeholders andauthorities, is trying to workout a scheme for revival of the

bank,” it said. The central banksuperseded the board of PMCBank and had appointed J BBhoria, an ex-RBI official, as itsadministrator.

The RBI further said unlikein the case of commercialbanks, it as no powers to drawup an enforceable scheme ofreconstruction of a cooperativebank. The statement comes ata time when the RB, in matterof 13 days, came out with a res-cue plan for private lender YesBank. The central bank hadimposed a moratorium on YesBank on March 5 but lifted iton March 18.

The RBI further said it isdiscussing with various author-ities on expeditious sale ofsecurities and recoveries ofloans of PMC Bank.

“Due to various factorsincluding legal processes, tan-gible outcomes are taking sometime,” it said.

New Delhi: To ensure that thebasic services provided by localbodies are not affected amidcoronavirus scare, the Centrehas released �5,140.15 crorepending instalment of thegrants to six states under the14th Finance Commission thathad been withheld pending

local bodies elections."Due to #COVID2019, the

local bodies have to especiallyfocus on providing basic civicservices and ensure cleanli-ness. The amounts to AndhraPradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha,Tamil Nadu have been released

for urban and rural local bod-ies wherever applicable,"Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said in a tweet.

"The amount releasedtotals �2,570.0813 crore, with�940.8063 crore for rural localbodies and �1,629.275 crore forurban local bodies. PTI

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State-run telecom firmMTNL will offer double

data in all broadband plans oflandline and mobile for amonth to encourage work fromhome for people in the wake ofrising cases of coronavirus inthe country.

"MTNL has doubled freedata in all the broadband plansof landline as well as mobile forone month will effect fromtoday so that people areencouraged to work fromhome," MTNL Chairman andManaging Director SunilKumar told PTI. The newscheme will be provided to cus-tomers in Delhi and Mumbaiwhere the company operates.

On Friday, it announced

free broadband service for itslandline and new customers fora month to support 'work fromhome' allowed by most organ-isations amid the coronavirusoutbreak. New customers opt-ing for copper cable basedconnection will not have to payeven installation charges butwill need to buy modem for theservice, BSNL officials said.

Public sector companiesare the first one to come upwith schemes to support workfrom home.

On Thursday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi askedpeople to stay indoors andwork from home as much aspossible while underscoringthe dangers of coronavirus,saying the world has neverseen a crisis as grave as this.

New Delhi: With the coron-avirus outbreak hitting busi-nesses hard, industry bodyAssocham on Saturday said ithas sought form the governmenta slew of measures to tide overthis difficult economic situation.

In a letter to FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,it has suggested moratorium fora period of one year on debtrepayments both for corpo-rates and individuals. It has alsourged the ministry for an urgentinfusion of liquidity by the LifeInsurance Corporation of India(LIC) into the Non BankingFinancial Companies (NBFCs)in a quasi-equity format.

"Assocham has sought ablanket year-long moratoriumby banks on debt repaymentboth for corporates and indi-viduals as also urgent infusionof liquidity by the LifeInsurance Corporation of Indiainto the NBFCs in a quasi-equi-ty format," Assocham said in astatement. PTI

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The Indian PharmaceuticalAlliance (IPA) on Saturday

said it along with its membercompanies is working with thegovernment, various pharmaindustry associations in Indiaand other key stakeholders inthe pharmaceutical supplychain to ensure that patients inIndia and the world continue tohave access to medicines.

The member companiesare closely monitoring ordersand inventories of medicines, itsaid. "With an adequate stock ofActive PharmaceuticalIngredients (APIs), finishedproduct formulations and chan-nel availability, we would be ableto sustain the supply of medi-cines for the coming months,the IPA said in a statement. The

pharma industry body also saidthat it is not aware of any med-icines shortage, to date.

"We are working closelywith the International Genericand Biosimilar MedicinesAssociation (IGPA), WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)headquarters in Switzerlandand its India office, Associationof Affordable Medicines (AAM)USA, Medicines for Europeand several other country asso-ciations to assess internationaldevelopments and any potentialimpact on supply of medicinesglobally," the IPA said.

The IPA and its companiesare aligned to government ini-tiatives of containment measuresand social distancing whilemeeting supply commitments inthe essential services for avail-ability of medicines, it added.

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State-run life insurer LIC ishopeful of crossing its fiscal

target of selling over 2.5 croreindividual policies and a pre-mium collection of more than�55,000 crore before March 31,2020.

This is 17 per cent growthin terms of number of indi-vidual policies sold comparedto the number of policies soldin FY19.

"We have created a newrecord by selling 2,17,00,000individual policies and a pre-mium collection of �50,500crore as on March 21, 2020,"the Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) said.

The life insurer said it isconfident of crossingits target of 2.5 crore individ-

ual policies well before March-end.

In the previous fiscal, thecorporation had sold 2,14,03,905 individualpolicies.

Typically, March is con-sidered an important month forinsurance companies whenthey witness maximum sale ofpolicies.

In the group insurancepolicies, LIC has collected apremium of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, so far, againsta target of Rs 60,000 crore ithad set in the beginning of theyear.

As of end February 2020,the new business performanceof LIC showed an impressivegrowth of 12.85 per cent in itsfirst-year premium income and21.84 per cent in number ofpolicies.

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Jet Airways founder NareshGoyal on Saturday appeared

before the EnforcementDirectorate in connection witha money laundering probeagainst Yes Bank promoterRana Kapoor and his familymembers, officials said.

They said Goyal's state-ment will be recorded by theinvestigating officer of the caseunder the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) at itsoffice in Ballard Estate here.

Jet Airways' loan exposureto the crisis-ridden Yes Bank isabout �550 crore. Goyal was firstsummoned by the central probeagency on March 18 but he citedthe reason of tending to an ill rel-ative for skipping the summons.

He was given a fresh timeand deposed Saturday, theysaid. The agency initiated actionagainst Kapoor and his familymembers and raided him soonafter the Reserve Bank imposeda moratorium on the "stressed"Yes Bank earlier this month.Normal banking operations forYes Bank customers were re-started on Wednesday.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested bythe ED in Mumbai on March8 and at present he is in judi-cial custody. The ED has grilledReliance Group Chairman AnilAmbani and Peter Kerkar ofCox & Kings company.

The probe agency hasaccused Kapoor, his familymembers and others of launder-ing "proceeds of crime" amount-ing to Rs 4,300 crore by receiv-ing alleged kickbacks in lieu ofextending big loans throughtheir bank that later allegedlybecame a non-performing asset.

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Flipkart on Saturday saidthat e-commerce worldover

has been the lifeblood for citiesunder shutdown to fightagainst coronavirus while laud-ing the government move toexempt e-tailers from any orderthat restrict supply throughthem.

"We see that world over, e-commerce, powered by tech-nology, has played a key role asa partner with the publicauthorities and has been thelifeblood for cities under shut-down to fight Covid-19,"Flipkart spokesperson said in astatement. To ensure there isno disruption of supply ofessential commodities, theministry of consumer affairshas advised state governmentsand local administration toexempt e-commerce opera-tions (warehouse and logisticsfacilities and services).

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The Badminton World Federation(BWF) has postponed the Thomas

and Uber Cup, the premier global men’sand and women’s team championship, tobe held in Denmark for three monthsfrom earlier scheduled date in May inview of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BWF took the decision after“consultation and consensus” with tour-nament hosts Badminton Denmark.The tournament is now scheduled forAugust 15-23 in Aarhus, Denmark.

“... It has come to the conclusion thatdue to extraordinary circumstancesrelated to the severe escalation of theCOVID-19 outbreak globally, the tour-nament could not take place on its orig-inally scheduled dates,” a BWF statementsaid.

“The BWF can confirm that theTOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber CupFinals 2020 to be staged in Aarhus,Denmark, from 16-24 May has beenpostponed until 15-23 August 2020.”

The postponement of Thomas andUber Cup came after the BWF suspend-ed five more tournaments on Friday,including three continental champi-onships crucial for Tokyo Olympicsqualification but stripped of that signif-icance now.

BWF Secretary General ThomasLund also said while the BWF look for-ward to staging this tournament at a laterdate, the world body’s thoughts were firstand foremost with everyone affected bythis pandemic around the world.

BWF has also been forced to movethe BWF Members’ Forum and AGM2020. Both are key events on the BWFcalendar and will now take place onAugust 20 and 21 in Aarhus.

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Isolated inside the SAICentre here in view of the

COVID-19 pandemic, it’sbusiness as usual for theIndian men’s and women’shockey players as they pre-pare for the upcomingTokyo Olympics in a “safeenvironment”.

The Sports Authorityof India Centre, which hasbeen shut for outside visi-tors, is well-equipped forregular practice sessions andno unauthorized personsare allowed to enter itspremises.

“The COVID-19 out-break has not affected ourpractice sessions. We arecontinuously washing ourhands and our tempera-

tures are being checked reg-ularly. The authorities atour SAI campus are ensur-ing that we are training in asafe environment,” said themen’s team captainManpreet Singh.

“With the backing of

SAI and our coaches, wehave been training veryhard for the Olympics,” headded.

The women’s team cap-tain Rani Rampal said herteam is fortunate to contin-ue training for the Olympics

in a safe environment.“We are very fortunate

to have a facility like the SAIcampus here. Everyone isworking very hard so thatthe hockey teams can con-tinue to practice for theOlympics,” said Rani.

“Our health is beingmonitored everyday and weare taking all the necessaryprecautions. The authoritiesat SAI have helped us tocontinue to focus on ourgoal of performing well atthe Tokyo Olympics,” sheadded.

The men’s team isscheduled to play NewZealand in its openingmatch of the TokyoOlympics while the women’sside face the Netherlands,both games on July 25.

0*��*�2 The England and Wales CricketBoard (ECB) has suspended all profession-al cricket till May 28, delaying the start ofthe new season, due to the COVID-19 pan-demic.

The ECB took the decision followingdiscussions with the First Class Counties, theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and theProfessional Cricketers’ Association (PCA).

“It was agreed that, given the currentinformation available, a seven-week delay tothe start of the season is the most appropri-ate approach,” an ECB media statement said.

The Board also announced that it isworking on three new options, including thethree-Test series against West Indies, the T20Cup and the women’s schedule against India,for a possible start in June, July or August.

“Close liaison with the Government willcontinue, with discussions on the potentialof starting the season behind closed doorsand giving sports fans the opportunity to livebroadcast action,” the statement said onFriday.

“The potential for reduced versions ofcompetitions, should the season become fur-ther truncated, will also be discussed.”

The ECB said it will meet as needed toreview the position and make further deci-sions as the UK situation unfolds.

ECB Chief Executive Officer TomHarrison said, “The decision to delay thestart of the season has been essential, giventhe circumstances the nation faces. I am reas-sured by the collaborative effort fromacross the game that together, we will makethe very best of whatever length of seasonwe are able to safely schedule in the com-ing months,” he added.

He said this would give the ECB timeto keep pace with a fast-moving situationand continue to plan for how a revised sea-son might look.

“Critically, we can also remain as flex-ible and adaptable as possible, within theobvious restrictions we face.”

Last week, England’s tour of Sri Lankawas called off mid tournament in view ofthe rising threat of the pandemic.

“Securing the future of the game will bea primary focus as we plot a revised sched-ule with an emphasis on the most financial-ly important forms of the game for the coun-ties across international and domestic crick-et,” Harrison said. PTI

+���!�+ Senior all-rounderand former captainMuhammad Hafeez is nothappy about Sharjeel Khanbeing offered anotherchance to play for thenational team after complet-ing a two and a half year banfor spot-fixing.

Hafeez, who made hisPakistan debut in 2003,took a dig at Sharjeel on hisTwitter account which hasled to a debate on the PCB’spolicy on allowing taintedplayers back in the nation-al team.

Hafeez, in his post, said:“Shouldn’t we set standardsof dignity and pride higherthan any other ‘Extra Talent’to represent Pakistan. JustAsking.”

He had also resisted

the comeback ofMuhammad Aamir to thePakistan camp some yearsback when the boardrecalled Aamir after hecompleted his five-year banfor spot-fixing.

Another former captainRamiz Raja has also voicedhis concerns over the wor-rying trend of giving taint-ed a lifeline.

Ramiz said the boardneeded to draw a line as faras corrupt players are con-cerned even if they havecompleted their bans.

Sharjeel competed hisban last August and made acomeback to cricket withhis appearance in thePakistan Super Leaguewhere his form was underscrutiny.

The opener wasbanned for five years, withhalf of the ban suspended inlate 2017, for his role inagreeing to spot fix a gamein the PSL earlier that year.He and another Pakistanbatsman, Khalid Latif weresent back home from Dubaifrom the 2017 edition. PTI

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Pakistani cricket legend JavedMiandad is in awe of Virat Kohli’s

batting and has picked the India cap-tain as his favourite batsman, say-ing his record “itself tells a lot”.

The former Pakistan captainpicked the current India skipperas his favourite due to his “classy”batting.

Speaking on his YouTube chan-nel about the talent and depthpresent in the current Indiansquad, Miandad especiallypraised Kohli for his envi-able stats and the way heachieved them.

“I was asked who isthe best in the Indiancricket team, so I chooseVirat Kohli,” Miandadsaid.

“I don’t have to say

much, his performance itself tells a lot.People have to admit this as stats are vis-ible.

“Virat performed reallywell in South Africa; even

on an uneven wicket, hescored a hundred. Youcannot say he is scared

of fast-bowlers or hecannot play onbouncy pitches or hedoesn’t play spinners

well.”Miandad, who

aggregated 8832 runs in124 Tests and 7381 runs in

233 ODIs for Pakistan, statedthat both Rohit Sharma andKohli make batting look easy.

On Kohli, he added,“He is a clean hitter. Lookat his shots, it feels so goodto watch him bat. He hasclass.”

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Ireland’s seven-match series

against Bangladeshbecame onSaturday the latestcasualty to beinflicted on thecricket calendar bythe coronavirus pandemic.

The three one-day internationals inBelfast and four Twenty20 matches inEngland, scheduled to take place in May,have been postponed in line with Britishand Irish government advice against thestaging of sporting events with mass gath-erings and travel restrictions.

“We have a responsibility to protect thewellbeing of players, coaches, fans and thewider community, and will not hesitate totake a safety-first approach to our opera-tions over coming months,” said WarrenDeutrom, Chief Executive of CricketIreland.

“We would like to thank the BangladeshCricket Board for their helpful cooperationin reaching this decision, and we shall workwith them at establishing new dates for theseries when we are all in a position to planfor the future with greater certainty.” UnitedKingdom is entering a second weekend ofsporting shutdown that is expected to lastfor at least a couple of months.

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Cricket Australia (CA) maypropose the introduction ofreserve days for the semifinals

of the Men’s T20 World Cup in theICC Cricket Committee meetinglater this year.

Earlier this month, the ICC hadfaced a lot of flak for not keeping areserve day for the knockout stagesof the Women’s T20 World Cup inAustralia.

As a result, England were forcedto make an exit after their semifinalclash was washed out resulting inIndia, the higher ranked side in thegroup stage, progressing to thefinal.

As the ICC’s current playingconditions stand, the men’s T20World Cup, slated to begin herefrom October 18, will have noreserve days available before the finalat the Melbourne Cricket Ground onNovember 15.

But, an ICC spokesperson said,according to a report incricket.Au.Com, that playing condi-

tions for the Men’s T20 World Cupwill be discussed in the organisation’sCricket Committee, which is sched-uled to meet in the middle of thisyear, before they are formally signedby the Chief Executives Committee(CEC).

Should any of ICC’s memberboards wish to suggest changes toplaying conditions, they will haveopportunity to do so at the CECgathering, although it’s rare forstandard playing conditions to berevised at that stage, the ICCspokesperson said, according to thereport.

CA Chief Executive KevinRoberts, who will be part of thatCEC meeting, said a case existed forthe inclusion of reserve days in theupcoming men’s T20 World Cup.

“There’s always cause for reflec-tion at the end of any tournamentor any season, in terms of how youapproach future tournaments,”Roberts said.

He, however, conceded thatthere was a valid argument to main-tain the playing conditions that

governed the preceding women’stournament.

“In saying that, there will bepeople who suggest there should besemi-final reserve days for themen’s. But I’m not sure how theEnglish women’s team would feelabout that, not having had a reserveday in their leg of the tournament,”he said.

“I would imagine the playingconditions are in place for thewomen’s and men’s events withinthis tournament (in 2020) and canbe discussed and considered afterthat’s completed.”

He said the playing conditionswere typically determined before atournament starts.

“We have got two events here —women’s and men’s — within the onetournament, albeit staged at differ-ent times of the year,” Roberts said.

The last year’s men’s 50-overWorld Cup included the provisionof reserve days for knock-out finals,in keeping with existing playing con-ditions for the ICC’s men’s andwomen’s ODI tournaments.

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UEFA were forced intoan embarrassing

about-turn on Friday afterthey mistakenly tweetedthat Euro 2020 would keepits original title despitebeing pushed back to 2021as a result of the coron-avirus.

“Although it will pro-visionally take place from11 June — 11 July 2021,#EURO2020 will still beknown as UEFA EURO

2020,” UEFA had confi-dently said on Twitter.

However, just hourslater, they were lessassured.

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Forced into lockdown by thecoronavirus, English teams

outside the lucrative PremierLeague are facing an unprece-dented period of financialuncertainty.

Championship, LeagueOne and League Two matcheswill not resume until April 30at the earliest and even thatdate looks optimistic given thechaos caused by the pandem-ic.

A grim reality is takinghold in boardrooms around thecountry and some teams fearthey could be forced out ofbusiness if football doesn'treturn until after the summer.

Aware of the growingpanic, the Football Leagueagreed a $58 million reliefpackage, based on an earlypayment of bonuses, televi-sion money and an interest-free loan, to assist financiallystricken clubs.

But reports this weekclaimed that will only beenough to tide clubs over forthe next four weeks.

Cambridge chief executiveofficer Ian Mather admits therescue package may not beenough, with the nightmareprospect of having to lay offstaff a possibility.

"These are unprecedentedtimes for all of us in so manydifferent ways," Mather said.

"One of the most concern-ing features of the situation foreveryone is that there is noclarity as to when it will end.

"This (rescue package) iswelcome news but the amountwe can access is relatively smalland it is far from a completeanswer to the financial problemwe are facing.

"We are looking at ways ofreducing our cost base and thiswill include making someextremely difficult decisionswhen it comes to our staff."

Without matchday rev-enue, it is likely that some clubswill ask their players to acceptwage cuts if the lockdown con-tinues into the summer.

In Scotland, top-flight out-fit Hearts have already told

their players and staff to takea 50 percent wage cut in a bidto stay afloat.

‘HIT HARD’There could be aid on the

horizon if television broad-caster Sky Sports are willing torelease some of the 119 millioneuros they are due to play theFootball League next season.

But that remains uncertainand, for now, fear is the over-riding mood across the Englishgame.

Steve Thompson, manag-ing director of Dagenham,believes the fifth tier NationalLeague will need a bailoutfrom the British government tosurvive.

Thompson said clubs inthe National League will,between them, require between15 million pounds and 20 mil-lion pounds to keep runningand revealed talks are ongoingwith the Football Association.

"It is going to require gov-ernment help. The biggestworry is that so many non-league clubs, they are integralparts of their community. Itworries me if these clubs arelost, what will happen goingforward," Thompson said.

"There needs to be a con-centrated effort. I don't thinkwe can expect a bailout fromthe Premier League or FA, soit needs to be government led."

It may not be only non-league and lower league teamsin England who feel the pinch,with Championship sidesCharlton and Blackburn bothhaving endured financial diffi-culties before the virus.

Millwall are one of thesmaller teams in the secondtier, with their 13,734 averagegate, ranked 18th among the 24clubs.

The south London side'schief executive Steve Kavanaghsaid they have already beenwounded by the sudden halt tothe season.

"We're like all other busi-nesses, we've been hit hard, butour income stream just stoppedovernight," Kavanagh said.

"Like everybody else, itwill have impacts on us. I'm notgoing to shy away from that.But hopefully if we can all pulltogether we can find a waythrough.

"We've got an owner who'sbeen around a long time andI'm sure will help the club asbest he can."

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Crystal Palace wingerWilfried Zaha has offered

free accommodation to med-ical staff in his London prop-erties as they treat patients withcoronavirus.

The 27-year-old IvoryCoast international is the lat-est football personality to offera free bed, following in thefootsteps of formerManchester United star GaryNeville and Chelsea ownerRoman Abramovich.

Zaha, reported to earn£130,000 ($150,000) a week at

the Premier League club, will-ingly took up the baton sayinghe had friends working in theNational Health Service and hecould provide accommoda-tion for the hard-pressed staffwho could not return homeafter their shifts.

He has built up a proper-ty portfolio of around 50 prop-erties in London, including intrendy Notting Hill. The flatsare usually used by corporateclients but with global travelseverely restricted there is notmuch call for them at themoment.

"If you do good, good will

come to you," said Zaha citedin The Times on Saturday. "Itis clear that my intentions arethat all I want to do is help atevery opportunity, especially inthe crazy period we are goingthrough.

"Health workers pleasereach out. We have already hadfeedback — this is exactlywhat we wanted to achieve."

His business partner ObiWilliams said they had alreadybeen contacted by staff at twoLondon hospitals.

"Anyone who can helpand do their bit needs to standup and help," said Williams.

Neville, now a TV pundit, hasoffered free use of 176 rooms intwo Manchester hotels he co-owns — including one oppositeOld Trafford Stadium — and hascalled on footballers to follow hislead, while Russian tycoonAbramovich has invited medicalstaff to 72 rooms in the hotel atChelsea's Stamford Bridgeground.

The British government onFriday ordered all pubs, cafes andrestaurants to close to restrict thespread of coronavirus.

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When he broke the two-hourbarrier for the marathon in

October, Eliud Kipchoge did notrun alone, but now, as a diary heis recording reveals, he has nochoice.

Kipchoge may be the onlyman to have broken two hours,but when he set the time inVienna he ran with an echelon ofpacemakers.

Now, as the first episode of"Eliud Kipchoge's IsolationDiary", makes clear, he is expe-riencing the loneliness of thelong-distance runner.

The diary, recorded for theBBC, opens with the Kenyan ris-ing from a kitchen chair with histracksuit and running shoes on.

"It's now 6 o'clock," he says."This is now the third day

since we broke up from the thecamp due to coronavirus. It'sreally hard to train because Ivalue teamwork. It's mutualinterest because it helps me somuch."

"I am trying to quarantinemyself, stay with the family andmake sure I don't actually min-gle with a lot of people," he says.

"I am trying to keep more fitmyself and wake up early at 6o'clock and go for a run andmake sure I stay fit," he adds.

"Good morning," he adds,waving, turning and heading onhis own for open front door.

Outside it is dark and dogscan be heard barking.

����%��2 Chinese football starWu Lei, who plays for Espanyol inSpain, has been diagnosed withthe coronavirus, the ChineseFootball Association (CFA) saidon Saturday.

"Wu Lei has mild symptomsand is currently undergoing treat-ment," the CFA said in a state-ment, adding that they had beengiven the news by La Liga strug-glers Espanyol.

"The Chinese FootballAssociation has maintained closecommunication with Wu Lei andthe club, and will provide all nec-essary assistance as appropriate.

"We wish Wu Lei a speedyrecovery."

The 28-year-old striker,China's best-known player, is inself-isolation at home inBarcelona, Xinhua news agencysaid.

Wu is the only Chinese play-ing in one of Europe's five topleagues, having moved to Espanyolfrom Shanghai SIPG in Januarylast year.

The coronavirus emerged inthe Chinese city of Wuhan late lastyear and has since turned into apandemic that has killed thou-sands around the world. AFP

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CA may propose introduction of semis reserve days for Men’s T20 WC

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�12A�����23���12��9�##�!�27�"#�����2��B<����8>��7+��:�83�� � /�2 Former India captain SunilGavaskar feels it would be very difficultfor MS Dhoni to find a place in the Indiasquad for the T20 World Cup slated tobe played in October-November inAustralia.

“I would definitely like to see Dhoniin India’s World Cup squad but it’s high-

ly unlikely that it is going to happen,”Gavaskar told Dainik Jagran.

“The team has moved on. Dhoni isnot someone to make big announce-ments so I reckon he would silently retirefrom the game.”

Dhoni, 38, last played for India at the2019 World Cup in England. IANS

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�)���75������1��1:���O���1�B<B<A�2�5��!1��B<B���1��2��“With apologies for the

earlier error, to be clear nodecision has yet been madeon the name of therearranged EURO to be heldin 2021. The earlier tweet wassent by mistake,” they tweet-ed.

Euro 2020 has beenpushed back 12 months toJune 11 to July 11 next yearto clear the way for suspend-ed domestic competitions towrap up if conditions allow.

UEFA said the post-ponement “will help alldomestic competitions, cur-rently on hold due to theCOVID-19 emergency, tobe completed” as it made a“commitment” to finishingclub seasons by June 30.

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Page 9: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-21 · restaurants and banquet halls ... New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, ... their three ‘best’ moves

● Myth: Coronavirus will disappear whensummer sets in India. Fact: From the evidence so far, the newcoronavirus can be transmitted in all areas,including areas with hot and humid weather. ● Myth: Taking a hot bath can preventcoronavirus disease. Fact: Our normal body temperature is 97.5degree F. Taking hot bath will only raise our bodytemperature. Additionally, extreme hot water isharmful for us.● Myth: Pets at home can spread coronavirus. Fact: To date, there is no evidence that pets suchdogs or cats can be infected with COVID-19.However, it is prudent to wash hands before andafter handling them.● Myth: Eating Chicken or other meats can causeCOVID-19. Fact: There is no such evidence. However, eat wellcooked meat and avoid raw meat.● Myth: Wear a mask when you step out. Fact: There is no need to wear a mask for healthypeople. If you have fever, cold and cough wear athree-layer surgical mask to protect others fromgetting infected. Seek medical attention as well.N95 mask is only required for healthcareprofessionals.

The novel coronavirus outbreak (2019-nCoV, now called SARS-CoV-2)causing the COVID-19 viral diseasethat has swept into 156 countries,which affected 191,127 people (as on

March 18, 2020) and killed more than 7807people is now officially a pandemic, as declaredby the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It is for the first time that the WHO hascalled an outbreak a pandemic since the H1N1“swine flu” in 2009. The 1918 Spanish fluepidemic was the deadliest flu season that weknow of, infecting about one-third of the world’spopulation.

Coronaviruses are a large group of virusesthat are known to infect both humans andanimals, and in humans causes respiratoryillness that range from common colds to muchmore serious infections. The most well-knowncase of a coronavirus epidemic was Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS), which, after firstbeing detected in southern China in 2002, wenton to affect 26 countries and resulted in morethan 8,000 cases and 774 deaths.

The COVID-19 disease appears to haveoriginated from a Wuhan seafood market wherewild animals, including marmots, birds, rabbits,bats and snakes, are traded illegally.Coronaviruses are known to jump from animalsto humans, so it is thought that the first people

infected with the disease — a group primarilymade up of stall holders from the seafoodmarket — contracted it from contact withanimals.

If we compare COVID-19 with two othercoronavirus outbreaks in the recent past, we willsee that it is less lethal. With a mortality ratecurrently estimated at around 2 percent (a rangeof 0.7 to 3), it is less deadly to those whobecome affected than SARS or MERS.According to early WHO estimates, the averagereproductive rate (r0) of coronavirus rangedbetween 1.4 and 2.5. That means, on an average,each confirmed case of coronavirus would infectbetween 1.4 and 2.5 other people. It is, therefore,more contagious than some of the deadliestairborne viruses.

India is one of the first countries in theworld to prepare for an outbreak of COVID-19outbreak. According to Health ministry, Indiabegan screening people at airports from 17January onwards, six days after Chinese statemedia reported the first known death from anillness caused by the virus and a good two weeksbefore the WHO declared it a global healthemergency.

As on date, India has over 200 confirmedCOVID-19 cases and is on Stage 2, whichmeans we have only local transmission frompositive cases. The Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) believes that we mayeventually slip into Stage 3, where the diseasespreads in the community and large areas areaffected. ICMR also says that we haveapproximately 30 days window period to haltthis transmission and that’s where our focus as acountry should be on.

Till now, India has taken following stringentmeasures to address the problem:● Mandatory checks at airport and quarantineas required.● Blanket Visa ban until at least April 15, 2020.● Invoked Disaster Management Act tocentralise the response and preparedness.● Invoked Epidemic Act for the same purpose.● Created isolation facilities across the countryusing Armed Forces and Paramilitary Forcesfacilities.● Carried Rescue Missions from China, Iranand Italy to bring back Indians who are at risk ofCOVID-19 exposure.

Indian Healthcare Sector along with Centraland State Government is fully prepared to dealwith the outbreak. However, we need to keep inmind that every country in the world is facingsome challenges despite their socio-economicstatus as the virus is spreading very rapidly.

In today’s world, naturally fear is always the

first wave of every epidemic. But, we mustrealise that we have had pandemics before, andwe have responded to them before. It is veryimportant to know what each one of us can doto fight against COVID-19.

WHO advises seven simple steps for everyone of us to stay safe and prevent the virus fromspreading to other people. These are:STEP 1: Wash your hands frequently, regularlyand thoroughly with an alcohol-based hand rub(use a hand sanitiser that contains at least 60%alcohol, for at least 20 seconds) or wash themwith soap and water (for at least 40-60 seconds).Wash your hands after coughing or sneezing,when caring for the sick, before, during andafter you prepare food, before eating, after toiletuse, when hands are visibly dirty and afterhandling animals or animal waste. We use ourhands to touch objects and surfaces that may becontaminated. Without realising it, we thentouch our faces, transferring viruses to our eyes,nose and mouth where they can infect us.Washing your hands with soap and water orusing alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses thatmay be on your hands, including the virus thatcauses COVID-19.STEP 2: Avoid touching your eyes, nose andmouth to avoid transmission of virus. Handstouch many surfaces and can pick up viruses.Once contaminated, hands can transfer thevirus to your eyes, nose or mouth and can thenenter your body and make you sick.STEP 3: Cover your mouth and nose when yousneeze or cough with the bend of your elbow orwith a tissue. Also make sure that you, and thepeople around you, follow good respiratoryhygiene. Dispose of the used tissue immediatelyinto a closed bin and wash your hands. Whensomeone coughs or sneezes, they spray smallliquid droplets from their nose or mouth whichmay contain virus. By covering your cough orsneeze, you avoid spreading viruses and othergerms to other people. By using the bend ofyour elbow or a tissue and not your hands tocover your cough or sneeze, you avoidtransferring contaminated droplets to yourhands. This prevents you from contaminating aperson or a surface through touching them withyour hands.STEP 4: Avoid crowded places and close contactwith anyone that has fever or cough, andinternational travel history in recent past. This ismore important for people over 60 years of ageor with underlying health condition such ashigh blood pressure, diabetes, heart and lungdiseases or cancer. Maintain at least 1 metre (3feet) of distance between yourself and anyonewho has a fever or cough. COVID-19 spreads

mainly by respiratory droplets that come out ofthe mouth or nose when a person who has thedisease coughs. By avoiding crowded places, youkeep yourself distant from people who may beinfected with COVID-19 or any otherrespiratory disease. This is called SocialDistancing and is proven a very effectivestrategy for containment.STEP 5: Stay at home if you feel unwell, evenwith a slight fever and cough. By staying homeand not going to work or other places, you willrecover faster and will avoid transmittingdiseases to other people. This is called HomeIsolation and is very effective for rationing ofhealthcare resources to sicker individuals.STEP 6: If you have a fever, cough and difficultybreathing, seek medical care early. If you can,call your hospital or health centre first so thatthey can tell you where you should go. In Indiathe helpline number set up by Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare is: +91 11 23978046.This will help to make sure you get the rightadvice, are directed to the right health facility,and will prevent you from infecting others.STEP 7: Get information from trusted sources.Stay informed about the latest information fromabout COVID-19 from trusted sources. Makesure your information comes from reliablesources — Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, Government of India website, theWHO website, or local health authorities.Everyone should know the symptoms — formost people, it starts with a fever and a drycough. Local and national authorities will havethe most up-to-date information on whetherCOVID-19 is spreading in your area. They arebest placed to advise on what people in yourarea should be doing to protect themselves.

In addition, we also need to understand thatso far 80% of people affected by COVID-19have mild symptoms and recovered from thedisease in two weeks. Most coronavirus illnessare also generally mild for children and youngadults. Treatment is similar to other coronavirusoutbreak protocols with some drugs (Undertrial) are now being tried in very sick patients.We do not have an effective vaccine as yet andtherefore seek proper medical attention in timeand avoid self-medications.

It is time we realise that COVID-19 isspreading through our human networks —through our countries, our towns, ourworkplaces and our families. In this spread, asingle person’s behaviour can cause ripple effectacross the globe. Let us be responsible and fightthe coronavirus outbreak together.

The author is President, Asian Society forEmergency Medicine (ASEM)

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Recently, when US PresidentDonald Trump was in Indiawith the agenda to push the

Indo-American strategic andtrade relations to new heights,there was unrest in the Capital,with North-East Delhi being theworst hit by communal riots. Thesame period coincided with thefirst anniversary of the Balakot airstrikes, in retaliation to thekillings of 40 jawans who losttheir lives when terrorists —aided and abetted by Pakistan —attacked an Army base inPulwama. To mark the anniver-sary, the Global CounterTerrorism Council (GCTC) held around-table conference with Lt-Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, formerAir Marshal Anil Chopra, Lt-GenSatish Dua, former diplomat TCARaghavan, Prof Amitabh Mattooand retired police officer PrabhaRao as speakers.

Taking part in the discussion,Lt-Gen Hasnain reiterated that weshould not look at Balakot in iso-lation. “We must look at incidentswhich are happening today andthe incidents which happened onAugust 5, when the Governmentof India revoked the special statusgranted under Article 370 of theConstitution to Jammu andKashmir,” he said as he remindedhow it was only after the Uri ter-

ror attacks that India started tak-ing tangible action on terrorismgenerating from across the border.“It reduced the strength of terror-ists quite significantly,” he said.

Another watershed develop-ment of the Balakot strike wasthat it called the nuclear hoaxpaddled way too often by thePakistani political and militaryestablishment. It exposed themyth that any Indian ‘misadven-ture’ would lead to a war, more soa nuclear one. The conventionalwisdom was that with Pakistanwell equipped with nuclearweapons, it was suicidal to crossthe borders. And if ever that hap-pened, it would lead to nuclearcatastrophe in the subcontinent.Balakot proved it was a well-craft-ed lie. For, it showcased there isseveral layers of strategic anddiplomatic actions between apunitive strike on terrorism andnuclear warfare.

Lt-Gen Hasnain also ques-tioned the notion that withBalakot we have done enough totackle terrorism. “Actually, thethought should be that we havejust started,” he said. “Now whatwe need in India is more of strate-gic planning through research, forwhich information is an impor-tant domain. It’s our responsibilityto convey our narrative just not

internationally but to our nationtoo,” he said explaining that aconflict doesn’t mean one opera-tion followed by victory. “There isa whole theory of conflict wherefirst comes conflict initiation,then progression, then stabilisa-tion, then transformation, thenresolution and finally termina-tion. And in this theory, Pakistan

is always a nice conflict initiatorbut worst conflict terminator,” headded.

Lt-Gen Dua took the dis-course to history and remindedthat India had never been anaggressor. “If we see the greatestemperors and kings, most of themfought within the boundaries andnever were they determined in

conquering the world,” he said,adding that in order to safeguardthe unity and integrity of thenation, “we should make our-selves strong and kinetic whenrequired”. Gen Dua also explainedthe inner dynamics of thePakistan Army and how it con-trolled almost every aspect ofPakistani life, including economy.

“In Pakistan, about 52% of fundsare used for and by the Army, andless than 1% for education,” hesaid.

Raghavan too emphasised theneed to move back and take awider look at Pulwama andBalakot and the general aspect ofhow we can deal with Pakistan onthe issue of terrorism. “Often tac-tical operations can be used toconvey strategic messages andthat we have very well conveyedthrough Pulwama and Balakot,but despite that we also need tomove back and see the wider con-text. Seeing this through historicaland political prospective whatBalakot did was to send the mes-sage to Pakistan very similar ofthe kind which was send toPakistan in 1965,” he said

The former Pakistani HighCommissioner too said thatBalakot alone wouldn’t be enoughto intimidate Pakistan to cut offits terror tentacles. While remind-ing that India has added an ele-ment of unpredictability in itsresponse to Pakistan, he cau-tioned against the impression thatPakistan had been successfullyintimidated. “The fact is there areno winners here,” Raghavan said,urging the Indian establishmentto again go to the drawing boardand draft new ways to engage

with Pakistan. “It cannot be justthrough military or through tacti-cal measures; the political anddiplomatic issues need to beaddressed with political anddiplomatic measures,” he said.

Former Air Marshal Chopralauded the political and militaryleadership for Balakot. Heinformed how this mission, whichinvolved about 6,000 people,could be kept under the wraps forthe international community. “Itmakes me feel proud that thismission which involved so manypeople and so many days of plan-ning could be kept away frompublic eyes.”

The Balakot operation maynot have stopped terrorists alto-gether. It may not have totallyconvinced Pakistan to shun thejihadi path. But it definitely sent amessage, and a strong one, to theinternational community, espe-cially the one having ambiguousstand on terrorism, to makeamends. Post-Balakot, it becameapparent to one and all this in‘New India’ any terrorist misad-venture on its soil won’t gounpunished. It’s, however, just thebeginning. The Government ofIndia must always maintain itsvigil and further build its securityapparatus to take on growing ter-ror challenges and threats.

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�%<%*$:#�1��$:�:�$:��+/�+$�88:The past six months have seen a

lot of action in the sleepy townof Orchha in Madhya Pradesh,India. The kind that you seebefore a grand event about to

take place. The roads, all levelled andrepaired, look as good as new; signages arein place, homestays model a fresh look, dec-orated with local Gond art… the excitementis clearly visible. There is something aboutthe mood that takes you into a flashback,to the legend of Lord Ram’s condition to theBundela queen, that he be made the king,if she wanted him to leave Ayodhya andaccompany her to Orchha. This conditionalso makes Orchha the only place in Indiawhere Lord Ram is referred to as Raja Ramand worshipped as a king. Eventoday, there exists a templededicated to him called SriRam Raja Mandir.

Situated on thebanks of Betwa River,Orchha is locatedaround 80 km awayfrom Tikamgarh dis-trict in MadhyaPradesh and 15 kmfrom Jhansi of UttarPradesh. Jhansi being wellconnected, and as the nearestrailhead, you can easily drive down toOrchha once you reach there. Built by KingRudra Pratap Singh of Bundela dynasty inthe 16th century, this ancient town isfamous for its Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchhafort complex, Raja Mahal among others.

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The bustling Orchha Fort complexhouses several palaces and monu-ments. That Orchha is sheltered by

thick forest is one of the main reasons thatthe age-old monuments continue exist inexcellent condition. It is this well-preservedstate, and a clearly visible Mughal influencein the Bundela architecture, that recentlyput this historical town in the tentative listof the UNESCO’s world heritage.

It is recorded that King Veer Singh Devof Bundela dynasty was a close friend ofMughal emperor Jahangir and even gave

him refuge as support in latter’sfight against Akbar. The

Jahangir Mahal insidethe Orchha Fort

bears testi-

mony to the royal hospitality extended tothe Mughal king for a night. This four-storey architectural masterpiece is a mix ofMuslim and Rajput architecture and hascountless rooms with arched entrances, bal-conies and latticed windows that frameminiature painting-like views of the mon-ument-studded riverbank outside.

The Raja Mahal, Sheesh Mahal and RaiPraveen Mahal are three other palacehighlights that make this fort popularamong the tourists. Of these, Rai PraveenMahal has an interesting history. It is saidthat Rai Praveen was a courtesan inBundela king’s court. So famous was thebeauty of this courtesan that EmperorAkbar summoned her to his court in Agra.It is said that upon reaching Agra, the intel-ligent courtesan composed a couplet for theemperor asking him why he should wantto enjoy a meal that was already tasted. Thisearned her release to return home and aPalace inside the Orchha Fort.

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Outside the fort, an impres-sive Chaturbhuj templestands testimony to theKing Ram legend. The

story goes that

after the grand temple was built, Lord Ramappeared in the queen’s dream, refusing toreside there. A section of the palace wasthen converted into the Ram Raja Temple,which continues to be worshipped so bypeople who come to pay respects to “KingRam” who rules Orchha. To date, no deityis worshipped inside Chaturbhuj temple.

A beautiful Laxmi Narayan temple islocated very close to River Betwa, a 10-minute drive from the fort. Down the stepsof the temple, along the banks of the river,are located the chhatris or the cenotaphs ofthe Bundela rulers. Fourteen in number,these chhatris are made in stone with

domed ceilings, reminding you of a mixof Mughal and Hindu architecture.

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Cut to present,the banks ofBetwa river

next to the chhatris camealive to the strains ofIndian classical musicand dance,with leg-endary Hindustaniclassical vocalistShubha Mudgalopening the cul-tural evening witha soulful rendi-tion of a ban-dish dedicatedLord Ram —Jab harid h a n u s hdhare. She

was followed by a highly energetic danseuseAditi Mangaldas and her troupe. A surrealaarti was offered to the river by dance groupSadhya creating magic for the audience.

Curated by Yasmin Kidwai of Springboxfilms, Namaste Orchha is an attempt by theMadhya Pradesh Tourism Board to put thissleepy town on the active tourist map.Though the town has been attracting a fairshare of travellers, most look at it as an‘optional’ visit when they plan their travel toa more famous Khajuraho nearby. Thisunique three-day was organised earlier thismonth to celebrate the rich history, cultureand cuisine of Bundelkhand.

For the first time, the town bore witnessto unusual collaborations and performancesby international artistes such as sitarist SmitaNagdev, fusion band Mrigya, bhakti folksinger Kaluram Bamaniya, Indian Ocean,santoor-player Shruti Adhikari, Kabir-folksinger Prahlad Tipaniya, singer Shilpa Rao,composer Clinton Cerejo and Franco-Spanish musician Manu Chao. Multipleguided tours of Orchha, such as photogra-phy tours, heritage walks, yoga sessions andrafting were held to get the visitors to engagewith the locals and discover the hidden gem.

Crafts promotion, including directengagement with the weavers, aimed to putthe town on the textile map. DesignerAnupama Dayal collaborated with thehomestay owners and handpainted theexteriors and walls around town to lend anartistic touch and quirk to the stays.

What’s a festival without local food tast-ing? A unique food curation by Delhi-basedfood writer and curator, Anoothi Vishal,brought together noted Indian chefs likeVikramjit Roy and Harangad Singh tointerpret Bundelkhandi cuisine and localingredients in their inimitable styles. Therewas also a touch of the indigenous by homechef Vandana Dubey who put together aspread of Bundelkhandi food, includingbada, thandula-aloo sabzi and tamatarchutney-bathue ka raita. Anamika Singh ofAnandini Himalaya Tea gave Orchha its veryown blend — Ram Raja Blend.

“The history and story of Orchha is tooimportant and too beautiful to be dependenton anything or anyone to discover,” saidKidwai as she shared the tourism plan toextend the golden triangle of Delhi to Agratill Orchha, both for national and interna-tional tourists. “The aim of the festival is toget people to visit Orchha once. And we are

confident that they would want tocome back again.” There’s the

temptation!

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South Korea initially emergedas one of the potential

hotbeds of coronavirus(COVID-19) along with China,Italy, Iran. The ShincheonjiSect, a mysterious Christianreligious group, has played avital role in fast spreading thevirus across South Korea.When the cases of coronavirusspiralled in the country, the sci-entists discovered the com-mon source of its origin: themuch talked-about ShincheonjiSect, to which more than three-fifths of the victims belong.And it is based mainly inDaegu, the fourth largest city ofSouth Korea. What hasshocked the Korean authoritiesand the global health experts isthat the unique style of con-gregation of Shincheonji mayhave catapulted the virus out-break to the current alarmingsituation in the country. Its fol-lowers are supposed to kneelon the floor in close rowswhile praying, not allowed towear masks (until recently)and encourage attending thechurch even when unwell.

In the month of February,a female follower who later test-ed positive for the virus wasamong the first to be infectedas per the information provid-ed by the South Korean healthofficials. In fact, this woman’srefusal to undergo examinationdespite attending severalchurch gatherings may havehelped spreading the virus.This has signaled that Daegu,the southern city of the coun-try, wherein the major activi-ties of the sect take place, isresponsible for the fast growthof the COVID-19 in SouthKorea. Also what has alertedthe authorities is that it isquite common among its dis-ciples to hide their identities inpublic. The faith itself has cat-egorised “sickness” as weak-ness. These all may haveallowed or rather forced theinfected followers not come outin public. This can be consid-ered as too dangerous lookingat how fast the disease has trav-elled from faraway Wuhan todifferent parts of the world.

The Shincheonji cult wasformed by Lee Man-hee in1984. Many say this apocalyp-tic Christian group is a cult.The very origin of the sect liesin the Book of Revelation. Inthe Korean language, the wordShincheonji refers to “NewHeaven and Earth”. Its officialname is “Shincheonji Churchof Jesus, the Temple of theTabernacle of the Testimony.For all the believers, it is noother than Lee who is the onearound whom their livesrevolve. They address him as“Chairman Lee” or at timessimply the “Chairman”. But in

prominent Church literatures,he is referred to as “PromisedPastor”, “The Advocate” andfinally, “The One WhoOvercomes”.

It has lakhs of followerswho generally keep their iden-tities dormant in public places.The founder identifies himselfas the “Promised Pastor” men-tioned in the Bible. But whathis critics say is that he is sim-ply peddling Christian heresay.It is interesting to note that thecardinal principles of the faithsay that the followers of thefaith are the embodiment of theone true Christianity and posefor salvation when the momentof final judgment comes. All ofthem strongly believe thateveryone else will be deniedforgiveness and destroyed. Tothis sect, the end of the worldis just near. Once we browsethrough the recent history of

South Korea, we can easilylocate such religious move-ments, sects or faiths that havequite often appeared and influ-enced a significant part of itssociety. Interestingly, Lee hasbeen having long experience insuch controversial movementsthat have quite often appearedin South Korea. Hence suchreligious revivalist movementsare nothing new in this coun-try. In fact, the Shincheonji hasemerged from the ruins ofearlier Tent Temple Movementthat fell apart in the 1970s afterits leader was accused of mas-sive fraud. Even little beforethat there was another suchrevivalist religion called OliveTree Movement that toobrought millions togetheracross South Korea. Such newreligious movements thoughare on the fringe, they play sig-nificant roles in mobilising

people and shaping opinionsthe way they feel right. Andmany a times the leaders ofsuch cults are questioned, triedand even prosecuted as per thelaw of the land.

What is the current posi-tion of the sect and reaction ofthe common people over it?Since COVID-19 as globalpandemic has already infectedover 2,76,000 people and killed11,419 (till March 21) global-ly, including 8,800 cases and102 deaths in South Korean,people in the country areannoyed with the Shencheonjichurch. What has irked manyis that initially its leader Leesquarely blamed the COVID-19 on evil spirits that are pure-ly jealous of the rise of his faith.But very recently, he came outopenly in public apologising forhis church’s role in the outbreakof the virus in the country. He

also offered all his support inchecking the disease.

Meanwhile people aredemanding the dissolution ofthe sect in no time. Thus, theShencheonji has become thenerve centre of the nationwideinvective as the COVID-19 isshowing no signs of recedingaround the world. Again morethan 5,52,000 Koreans havesigned an online petitiondemanding quick actionagainst the church. Along withthis, many politicians are com-ing up against the Shencheonjiand the way it has helpedspreading the menace. TheMayor of Seoul demanded theprosecutors to investigate Leefor murder on the charges ofnegligence.

It is an unusual kind of acrisis that South Korea hasexperienced. But there isresigned acceptance among

the people. Many feel thattheir health system is robustenough to gear up to countersuch epidemics. Medics andhealth experts are on standbyduty across the country. Andthe weekly briefings at leasttwice daily from the Centre forDisease Control not only alertspeople but also helps theexperts to track each infectedperson. Despite that, unlikeHong Kong and Singapore,there is no such panic prevail-ing in South Korea aboutCOVID-19.

Unlike China, the epicen-tre of coronavirus outbreak,South Korea has not adhered tototal lockdowns or any otherauthoritarian measures to con-trol the epidemic. Many healthexperts in the country feel thatas it’s a democratic country totallockdown is not a reasonablechoice for it. Though there is no

astronomical rise in cases, theauthorities in the country arenot denying that there may bea resurgence of COVID-19.However there is hope due tothe implementation of wideranging and well-organisedtesting of the infected personsin the country. Accompanyingsuch efforts is the complete iso-lation of the victims and traceand quarantine their contacts.So far South Korea has con-ducted 2,70,000 tests, thatcomes to 5,200 tests every mil-lion people. But when it comesto the US, it has so far carriedout 74 tests per one millionpeople as the data revealed bythe Centre for Disease Controland Prevention points out.

Any epidemic of suchnature can be effectively con-trolled only by fast diagnosingthe cases or infected people.And tracing the contact of the

affected people and theirimmediate isolation could actas bulwark in preventing anysuch spike. Also the healthexperts have taken enougheffort to investigate the casesrelated to Shincheonji megachurch and equally quaranti-ning the infected ones in theDaegu city. However concen-trating on the Shincheonji fora long time has literally pouredthe entire energy of theGovernment behind it. And ithas allowed new clusters ofCOVID-19 appear in Seouland its surrounding areas suchas Gyeonggi province. Now thisneeds to be urgently addressedby the epidemic experts.

Finally, what has madeSouth Korea learn their lessonto hard hit such crisis is theexperience of handling ofMERS (Middle EastRespiratory Syndrome) in 2015.This happened when a SouthKorean businessman wasinfected with MERS after vis-iting three West Asian nationsin that same year. He was treat-ed in three hospitals but in theprocess infection spread, killing36, and isolating nearly 17,000people before coming to stop intwo months. That epidemichad forced the South KoreanGovernment to pass strict lawsthat gave enough power to theofficials to collect mobiles,credit cards and other datafrom those who tested positiveto map their whereabouts. Thisinformation barring their iden-tities shared in social mediahave helped others to trackvirus affected or their owncontact with such people. Mostimportantly, once China wit-nessed the outbreak of theCOVID-19, the Korea Centrefor Disease Control andPrevention started developingits tests and planned its com-plete cooperation with the diag-nostic manufacturers to makethe commercial kits for testing.This all seriously have con-tributed to prevention and sub-stantial control of the COVID-19 in South Korea.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

As the fight against a newvirus shifts to Europe and

beyond, China is supplyingmillions of masks and otherdesperately needed items tostruggling Governments, hop-ing to build political ties anddefuse criticism that it allowedthe disease to spread early on.

Serbia’s president plans tobe at the airport this weekendto welcome a shipment ofmedical supplies from his“brother and friend,” Chineseleader Xi Jinping. Xi’sGovernment has flown glovesand protective clothing toLiberia. It is sending 100,000test kits to the Philippines.More than 10 flights carryingmillions of masks and othersupplies are bound for theCzech Republic this week.

China, said Czech InteriorMinister Jan Hamacek, is “theonly country capable of sup-plying Europe with such

amounts.”It’s part of an effort by the

Communist Party to reshapethe narrative, from one of earlymissteps to a nation that acteddecisively to bring the outbreakunder control. China is toutingits deliveries of ventilators andmasks overseas and dispatch-ing its medical experts to sharethe lessons of its success.

China hopes to benefitfrom a realisation in the Westof how difficult it is to bring thevirus under control, said JulianKu, a law professor at HofstraUniversity in New York.

“The ChineseGovernment’s failures ... will beless harshly viewed in light ofthe failures of otherGovernments to respond effec-tively as well,” he said.

Serbian PresidentAleksandar Vucic blasted theEuropean Union and praisedChina for offering help when

he announced a state of emer-gency to combat the outbreak.His country wants to join theEU, but his Government hasmoved closer to Russia andChina in a seesaw battle forinfluence.

“I believe in my brotherand friend Xi Jinping and Ibelieve in China’s help,” Vucicsaid. “European solidarity,” hesaid, was just a fairy tale.

EU officials denied theywere stopping aid to Serbia, butsaid their first priority was EUmembers.

China has given $20 mil-lion to the World HealthOrganization for COVID-19efforts. While the EU and theUS have made larger pledges tocombat the disease, they arenow preoccupied by the crisisat home.

The Chinese “are winningpoints,” said Theresa Fallon, thefounder of the Center for

Russia Europe Asia Studies inBrussels. “Serbia thinks thatChina is their savior.”

Six weeks ago, Chineseauthorities were trying to quelloutrage at home and condem-nation abroad. The critics saiddue to politically motivatedfoot-dragging, China had mis-handled the viral outbreak rac-ing through a major provinceand its capital, Wuhan.

Now the criticism is rain-ing down on governmentsfrom Tehran to Washington,DC. A visiting Chinese RedCross official chastised Italy onThursday for letting so manypeople stroll the streets ofMilan.

“Right now we need to stopall economic activity, and weneed to stop the mobility ofpeople,” said ExecutiveChairman Sun Shuopeng.

For most people, the newcoronavirus causes only mild

or moderate symptoms, such asfever and cough. For some,especially older adults andpeople with existing healthproblems, it can cause moresevere illness, including pneu-monia. The vast majority ofpeople recover from the newvirus.

At one level, China is rec-iprocating assistance itreceived. Nearly 80 countriessent supplies to China, some oncharter flights they sent toevacuate their citizens fromWuhan.

“It is China’s traditionalvirtue to repay goodwill withgreater kindness,” Chinese for-eign ministry spokesman GengShuang said, citing an ancientConfucian saying: “You throwa peach to me, and I give youa white jade for friendship.”

But at the same time,China is deepening ties withcountries that have been recep-

tive to its outreach as it assumesa larger international role. It isshipping supplies to Cambodia,whose Prime Minister HunSen has been an outspokensupporter of Xi and even vis-ited him in Beijing last monthas the outbreak raged.

China moved quickly tosend experts and equipment toItaly, which last year becamethe first western Europeancountry to join China’s Belt andRoad Initiative. The massiveprogramme seeks to expandtrade by building ports, roadsand other transportation pro-jects in a 21st century versionof the fabled Silk Road.

China is ready to workwith Italy to contribute tointernational cooperation onepidemic control and to thebuilding of a “Health SilkRoad,” Xi was quoted as tellingItalian Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte in a phone call

Monday.“It’s not an accident that the

heat map of where Xi Jinpingis sending condolences andChina is sending N95 masksoverlaps pretty closely withthose countries that havedemonstrated a willingness toaccommodate China,” saidDaniel Russel, a former seniorU.S. diplomat now with theAsia Society Policy Institute inNew York.

Opinions vary on the effec-tiveness of China’s efforts.

“It’s an open question howfar that’s going to get ... butthey’re clearly giving it theold-school try,” Russel said.The Communist Party’s pro-paganda, he said, has beenmore successful at home thanabroad.

Clive Hamilton, author of“Silent Invasion: China’sInfluence in Australia,” saidthat China has poured enor-

mous resources into shapingthe global discourse in recentyears.

“It would be a mistake tounderestimate how effective”this “major international cam-paign to rewrite the history ofthe coronavirus” might be, hesaid.

But Chu Yin, a professor ofpublic administration at theUniversity of InternationalRelations in Beijing, said Chinalags the U.S. and Europe in itsunderstanding of public diplo-macy and has always struggledto convert humanitarian aidinto diplomatic returns.

“If people really expect abig boost of China’s influencethrough the aid, it will be dif-ficult,” he said. “In my opinion,let’s just take the aid as doinga good deed, and it would helpChina’s economy if the epi-demic situation in these coun-tries is contained.” AP

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Awoman worried about her mar-riage prospects given her advanc-ing age came asking the other

day: “I am touching 40 this year, and yetI have not been able to find a reliablepartner who would stand by me. I amfairly attractive to look at and profes-sionally, too, I am doing comfortablywell. What is it that prospective groomsfind lacking in me? In the past, I cameclose to settling down with three guys atdifferent times, but they all ditched mejust as the marriage was fixed. Whatdoes my destiny have in store for mewhere marriage is concerned? Is itdenied?”

Answering her questions, I told herthat marriage was not denied at all.Rahu, the 7th sub-lord identified withmarital prospects, occupied the 2ndhouse marked with addition to family.Rahu is conjunct the lagna lordMercury, and in a sign owned by Moon,which occupies the 5th house identifiedwith love life. The linkage of thedenominators of the 7th house with the2nd, promises marriage. Further linkagewith the 5th house indicates a marriageof one’s own choice, which she has beenvying for. For this very reason, she

keeps rejecting the proposals offered byher family members. Here again, the 5thsub-lord Saturn, occupies the nakshatraowned by the Sun posited in the 2ndhouse, implying that she will developrelationship. But she could not hold onto any of them. The question now iswhy? Particularly when marriage seemspromised. Was it because by chance shehappened to pick up unfaithful lovemates? Or, they felt that their chemistrywill not work because of her habit ten-dencies? A look into astrological point-ers to her personality traits will offer theright answer.

She was born in Gemini lagnaimplies that she may quickly developfriendships but will find fault with themequally fast. For, she wishes to live onher own exclusive terms. So, she maylike only ‘yes persons’ around. Till suchtime people agree to her viewpoints,they remain her best friends for whomshe may do all that she could do. Themoment one disagrees with her on anycount, she can’t digest. Mercury thelagna lord is conjunct erratic Rahu, andboth placed adverse to Uranus. Thatmakes her unconventional, eccentric,and opinionated. It also accounts for her

insensible reasoning and judgment. Ifthat would not be enough, even the Sunis placed adverse to Uranus, which fur-ther accentuates the above tendencies.

Mind signifying Moon is debilitat-ed. It is conjunct mischievous Neptune,and also placed adverse to Jupiter aswell as fiery Mars. This in the firstplace, makes her stuck to delusionaldream perceptions, often distancedfrom ground realities. She may not bekeen to look beyond for a reality check.She may not acknowledge truth on itsfirst appearance. She may rather preferpassionately pursuing her own line ofthinking on hope against hope tillpushed to the wall. Second, she wouldbe temperamental, moody, aggressive,impulsive, rash and argumentative.Third, she may be emotionally volatile.All the more, because the Sun is alsoplaced adverse to emotions signifyingVenus. That makes her too much touchyand sensitive. Even on trivial issues, shemay get over exercised, and may stretchthem beyond due, mulling over themfor long. In the process, she loses hersense of objectivity and priority prefer-ence get compromised. Third, shewould be domineering and live in ademanding mode, not realising that theworld doesn’t necessarily move to an

individual’s asking. Once provoked, shemay become stingy and overcritical ofothers. At times, she may become meanalso. Fourth, she carries peculiar beliefsbecause of which, she is often misun-derstood by others.

Her love mates were good or bad, isbeside the point, as their personalitytraits can’t be figured out through herastrological chart. But because of herown mental infirmities as detailedabove, she would have scared themenough to run away from her life. She,therefore, in the first place, needs tounderstand that before blaming othersone should look into own fault lines.Second, life can’t be lived just in ademanding mode. One needs to beaccommodating, often ignoring someweaknesses in the other. In the process,their positives, that may be more, eludesone’s attention. So is said: “Watch yourthoughts, they become words; watchyour words, they turn in action; watchyour actions, they become habits; watchyour habits, that forms your destiny.”

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