Upload File

english news paper | breaking news | latest today news in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include...

  • Home
  • Documents
  • English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan
12
T he RBI on Friday cut inter- est rate by 75 basis points and also provided a big relief to the middle class by permitting the banks to allow a three- month moratorium on pay- ment of installments of all term loans outstanding as on March 1, 2020. During the moratorium period, the borrower will not be not required to make any repayment to the banks. The RBI decision will bring big reliefs to millions of borrowers who are facing tough time from income erosion due to the lockdown. The 75 basis point interest rate cut by the RBI is the steepest in more than 11 years as it joined the Government effort to rescue a slowing econ- omy that has now got caught in coronavirus whirlwind. Announcing the measures, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das predicted a big global recession and said India will not be immune. Global slowdown could make things difficult for India too, despite some help from falling crude prices, Das said, adding food prices may soften even further on record crop production. Aggregate demand may weaken and ease core inflation further, he noted. The RBI cut repo to 4.4 per cent, the lowest in at least 15 years. Also, it reduced the cash reserve ratio maintained by the banks for the first time in over seven years. CRR for all banks was cut by 100 basis points to release 1.37 lakh crore across banking system. The reverse repo rate was cut by 90 bps to 4 per cent, creat- ing an asymmetrical corridor. The twin measure which follow the 1.7 lakh crore relief package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, are expected to provide relief both the weaker section of the society as well as the middle class. The Government may now come up with another set of measures to help the corporate India fight the slowdown triggered by the countrywide lockdown. On moratorium decision, the Central bank said it will not result in asset classification downgrade and will have no adverse impact on the credit history of the borrowers. The decision will cover all regional, rural banks, co-oper- ative banks, NBFCs, including Housing Finance Companies, but the banks will have the final say in extending the benefit to customers. The liquidity measures announced include auction of targetted long-term repo oper- ation of 3-year tenure for total amount of 1 lakh crore at floating rate and accommoda- tion under Marginal Standing Facility to be increased from 2 per cent to 3 per cent of Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) with immediate effect till June 30. Combined, these three measures will make available a total 3,74,000 crore to the country’s financial system. After cutting policy rates five times in 2019, the RBI had been on a pause since December in view of high inflation. While the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI originally was slated to meet in the first week of April, it was advanced by a week to meet the challenge of coronavirus. In a tweet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the RBI Governor’s decision saying that the macro- economic fundamentals of the Indian economy are sound, and in fact stronger than what they were in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008-09. “Appreciate @RBI @DasShaktikanta’s reassuring words on financial stability,” she said. The three-month morato- rium on payments of term loan installments (EMI) and interest on working capital give much-desired relief, she added. “...Slashed interest rate needs quick transmission,” the Finance Minister said in anoth- er tweet. Meanwhile, welcoming the RBI’s decision to provide three months moratorium on pay- ment of term loans, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that amid this hour of need, the “move has pro- vided a much needed relief to people and businesses”. Besides other measures to help the economy facing lock- down, the RBI announced steps to release primary liquidity of 1,37,000 crore in the banking system and reduced cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 100 basis points with effect from March 28 for one year. It can be noted that a few States like Maharashtra had urged all the departments to pull out money from private sector banks despite previous communication from the RBI not to do so. Yes Bank witnessed mas- sive withdrawals ahead of being put under a moratorium by the RBI, but has been reporting normal activity since the restrictions removed on March 18. T he coronavirus scourge continued to grow steadily in the country with more than 100 confirmed cases reported on Friday and the total tally crossing 800. The Ministry of Health put the figure to 724 in the morning and didn’t revise it till late in the night. Other websites monitoring the Covid- 19 outbreak worldwide placed the updated total count to 874 and Friday’s fresh cases to 147. In an effort to ramp up the health facilities to meet the emergency, the Government has given an order to a PSU to provide 10,000 ventilators. “We have given an order to a PSU to provide 10,000 ventilators. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has also been requested to purchase 30,000 additional ventilators in 1-2 months,” said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry. At a Press briefing on coro- navirus here, he said 75 new cases of coronavirus and four deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. However, the Worldometer, run by an inter- national team of developers, researchers, and volunteers has estimated the Covid-19 cases to be at 874 with 19 deaths and 147 fresh cases. The Government has also launched a coronavirus risk-tracking app called ‘Corona Kavach.’ Jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Union Health Ministry, the app uses a person’s location to assess whether they are in the high risk geographical zone or not. The app is now available for download — in beta — for Android phones on the Google Play Store, said a senior Health Ministry official. The Government also said it will soon start its participa- tion in solidarity trial that the World Health Organization is initiating. “Earlier we did not do it because our numbers were so small that our contri- bution would have looked minuscule,” said Raman R Gangakhedkar, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at ICMR. On Friday, Kerala’s tally reached 176 — the highest number of cases so far. Continued on Page 2 A mid heartrending stories of migrant workers trudging hundreds of kms to return home carrying sackful of good- ies on their heads and facing assault from the police, the Centre has asked States to help stranded workers. The Ministry of Home Affairs also issued advisory to States and UTs to prevent mass exodus of migrant and agri labourers, industrial workers and unorganised sector work- ers. The Centre’s directive came on a day 300 migrants were found crammed in two trucks . Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has come to the rescue of a 28-year old Mumbai resident by issuing him a special pass to drive close to 2,300 km, cutting across three States, and reach Kolkata to attend his father’s last rites. Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken to some of the Chief Ministers and asked them to look into the issue of mass exo- dus of migrant workers from different parts of the country after the announcement of 21- day lockdown. Home Secretary AK Bhalla has also issued an advisory asking States and UTs to take immediate steps to provide adequate support, including food and shelter, to migrant agricultural labour- ers, industrial workers and other unorganised sector work- ers during the nationwide coro- navirus lockdown. Continued on Page 2 I n an alarming disclosure, the Government has said an undisclosed number of over 15 lakh passengers who returned from abroad during the last two months may have skipped the monitoring system put in place for coronavirus surveillance. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has pointed to the States that in the last two month, more than 15 lakh international travellers came to India but there appears to be a gap in their actual monitoring. Gauba has asked States to urgently strengthen the sur- veillance of international trav- ellers who entered the country before the lockdown. Interestingly, so far only around 28,000 persons have been tested for the coronavirus infection. The fact that major- ity of those who tested positive have a travel history, the Cabinet Secretary’s disclosure should alert the States in iden- tifying all those who returned from abroad, quarantine and test them in case of any symp- tom for the infection. In his letter to Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories, Gauba said such a gap in monitoring of interna- tional passengers for coron- avirus “may seriously jeopar- dise the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19,” given that many amongst the persons who have tested positive so far in India have history of inter- national travel. “As you are aware, we ini- tiated screening of interna- tional incoming passengers at the airports with effect from January 18, 2020. I have been informed that up to March 23, 2020, cumulatively, Bureau Of Immigration has shared details of more than 15 lakh incoming international passengers with the States/UTs for monitoring for COVID-19. “However, there appears to be a gap between the number of international passengers who need to be monitored by the States/UTs and the actual num- ber of passengers being mon- itored,” Gauba said in his letter. The Government had started monitoring of all inter- national passengers who have arrived in India in last two months in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Continued on Page 2 D etailing the Delhi Government’s action plan and reviewing corona updates with senior health officials, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressing a digital Press conference on Friday said five-member committee of doctors have prepared action plan to prepare for stage 3 out- break of COVID-19 cases in Delhi. Also, the CM said from Friday, 325 Delhi Government schools will be used to provide free food to the homeless and needy people. He said the Delhi Government is now feeding nearly 20,000 people daily, from Saturday we will be feed- ing 4 lakh. He said, “Till Thursday, there were only 36 COVID-19 cases in Delhi. Today, three more cases have been con- firmed which has totaled the cases to 39. Out of these 29 cases had a travel history and 10 are via local transmission.” Kejriwal said the team of doctors has submitted a detailed SOP on the issue and the Government is fully pre- pared to deal with up to 100 patients per day and are prepar- ing for 1,000 positive cases daily in future. Kejriwal said, “The situa- tion is under control right now, since there is a maximum increase of 3-4 cases per day, and there were also days when no new cases were registered.” Continued on Page 2 A mid coronavirus scare has come a ray of hope with German-based multinational technology company, Robert Bosch, claiming that it has invented a fully-automated test that diagnoses respiratory pathogens, including COVID- 19, in less than two-and-a-half hours. The test, working on Bosch Healthcare Solutions’ Vivalytic analysis device, can be per- formed directly at points of care — eliminating the need to transport samples. Patients may also be isolated on site, reducing the ability of the virus to spread further, said the com- pany in a statement. The device can be used in all medical insti- tutions, and meets quality stan- dards issued by the WHO. Continued on Page 2 W ith Covid-19 cases increasing by the day and likely to spike in the days to come, the Army has formed responsive and agile Quick Reaction Medical Teams (QRMTs) which are on six hours standby notice to mobilise to help hospitals and civil administration if needed, Army Chief General Manoj Naravane said here on Friday. He also said contingency plans are ready, adding this responsibility will not affect its operational readiness. The Army has code named its anti- Covid-19 operations as Operation Namaste. Highlighting some of the measures taken by the Army in the last few weeks, Naravane said all field hospitals were instructed to be ready to set up a 45-bed isolation facility. Continued on Page 2 B ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that he has tested positive for coro- navirus after experiencing “mild symptoms”, becoming the first world leader to announce the infection. Minutes after Johnson’s announcement, his health sec- retary Matt Hancock tweeted that he too was infected and was in self-isolation. In a video message posted on Twitter, the 55-year-old Johnson said he will continue to lead the UK government’s response to the deadly virus, which has claimed 578 lives in the country. “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coron- avirus,” Johnson said on Twitter. “I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this,” he said. Hancock, who is a key member of Johnson’s coron- avirus “War Cabinet”, said in a video message that he will be self-isolating until Thursday. “Following medical advice, I was advised to test for coro- navirus. I’ve tested positive,” Hancock posted on Twitter. A rchitect, painter, muralist, sculptor and graphic artist Satish Gujral was a product of the experiences that he had had. And he kept layering them till the ripe old age of 94. While events like the Partition and his hearing impairment at the age of eight influenced his art, he never let these get the better of him. Later he underwent a cochlear implant and regained his power of hearing after 62 years in 1998. Indian art and architecture greatly benefited due to Gujral’s fickle-minded nature. Because of his ability to get bored of things easily, he kept changing his profession, but perfected each one of them. At the end of it all, the man turned into one of the most brilliant multi- faceted personalities India has ever seen. Continued on Page 2 T he rumours of my death have been greatly exagger- ated,” Sir James Paul McCartney, the legendary musical maestro, had once borrowed the line from Mark Twain to scotch the rumour of his death. The sheer influence of a canard — in the present case that newspapers can act as carriers of coronavirus — is as pervasive and deadly as the pandemic Covid-19, leading to panic among newspaper read- ers and vendors. Therefore, it is high time The Pioneer informed you about facts, and measures we have taken, when the life of our esteemed readers is concerned. While there is no data or sci- entific truth — as clarified by WHO too — in the rumour as the entire process from print- ing to packaging newspapers is completely automated, thus devoid of human touch, The Pioneer has added an additional layer of safety by spraying sani- tisation on the paper during the printing and by ensuring that even vendors and delivery per- sons are properly sanitised. Also, the printing staff are thermally scanned and sani- tised daily, said The Pioneer’s printing manager Indraraj. Continued on Page 2 Washington: The US now has more coronavirus cases than any other country after more than 16,000 COVID-19 infections were reported there in a single day, taking the number of patients in America to over 85,600. Globally, a total of 24,057 people have died due to the novel coronavirus with Italy standing at the top with 8,215 deaths, followed by Spain (4,365) and China (3,169), the varsity figures stated.

Upload: others

Post on 18-Aug-2020

5 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

Report

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

��������� ������ ������������������ ������������� �������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������� ! "�#$��%������������������&�'��������������������������������������������������������(�����������������������������������������)���������*

�������������������������� ������� ���������� ����+�����,-�.�����)����/����)����������������������������������������$����0##�*

� � � �� �� ! �! � �� �������� ������������ ����������������1������������)��������������-���)�������.���1���������� ��%���)�����%1����������*

���"��������������������� � �������#$%&'� 2����'���������������%��������1��������� ��� �����'���)�����������+�����.����������������/����)*

�������

����� 0#3��#!,�

The RBI on Friday cut inter-est rate by 75 basis points

and also provided a big relief tothe middle class by permittingthe banks to allow a three-month moratorium on pay-ment of installments of allterm loans outstanding as onMarch 1, 2020.

During the moratoriumperiod, the borrower will notbe not required to make anyrepayment to the banks. TheRBI decision will bring bigreliefs to millions of borrowerswho are facing tough timefrom income erosion due to thelockdown.

The 75 basis point interestrate cut by the RBI is thesteepest in more than 11 yearsas it joined the Governmenteffort to rescue a slowing econ-omy that has now got caught incoronavirus whirlwind.

Announcing the measures,RBI Governor Shaktikanta Daspredicted a big global recessionand said India will not beimmune. Global slowdowncould make things difficult forIndia too, despite some helpfrom falling crude prices, Dassaid, adding food prices maysoften even further on recordcrop production. Aggregatedemand may weaken and easecore inflation further, he noted.

The RBI cut repo to 4.4 percent, the lowest in at least 15years. Also, it reduced the cashreserve ratio maintained bythe banks for the first time inover seven years. CRR for allbanks was cut by 100 basis

points to release �1.37 lakhcrore across banking system.The reverse repo rate was cutby 90 bps to 4 per cent, creat-ing an asymmetrical corridor.

The twin measure whichfollow the �1.7 lakh crore reliefpackage announced by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Thursday, are expected toprovide relief both the weakersection of the society as well asthe middle class. TheGovernment may now comeup with another set of measuresto help the corporate India fightthe slowdown triggered by thecountrywide lockdown.

On moratorium decision,the Central bank said it will notresult in asset classificationdowngrade and will have no

adverse impact on the credithistory of the borrowers.

The decision will cover allregional, rural banks, co-oper-ative banks, NBFCs, includingHousing Finance Companies,but the banks will have the finalsay in extending the benefit tocustomers.

The liquidity measuresannounced include auction oftargetted long-term repo oper-ation of 3-year tenure for totalamount of �1 lakh crore atfloating rate and accommoda-tion under Marginal StandingFacility to be increased from 2per cent to 3 per cent ofStatutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)with immediate effect till June30.

Combined, these three

measures will make available atotal �3,74,000 crore to thecountry’s financial system.

After cutting policy ratesfive times in 2019, the RBI hadbeen on a pause sinceDecember in view of highinflation.

While the Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) of the RBIoriginally was slated to meet inthe first week of April, it wasadvanced by a week to meet thechallenge of coronavirus.

In a tweet, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanwelcomed the RBI Governor’sdecision saying that the macro-economic fundamentals of theIndian economy are sound,and in fact stronger than whatthey were in the aftermath ofthe global financial crisis of

2008-09.“Appreciate @RBI

@DasShaktikanta’s reassuringwords on financial stability,” shesaid.

The three-month morato-rium on payments of termloan installments (EMI) andinterest on working capitalgive much-desired relief, sheadded.

“...Slashed interest rateneeds quick transmission,” theFinance Minister said in anoth-er tweet.

Meanwhile, welcoming theRBI’s decision to provide threemonths moratorium on pay-ment of term loans, Commerceand Industry Minister PiyushGoyal said that amid this hourof need, the “move has pro-vided a much needed relief topeople and businesses”.

Besides other measures tohelp the economy facing lock-down, the RBI announced stepsto release primary liquidity of�1,37,000 crore in the bankingsystem and reduced cashreserve ratio (CRR) by 100basis points with effect fromMarch 28 for one year.

It can be noted that a fewStates like Maharashtra hadurged all the departments topull out money from privatesector banks despite previouscommunication from the RBInot to do so.

Yes Bank witnessed mas-sive withdrawals ahead of beingput under a moratorium by theRBI, but has been reportingnormal activity since therestrictions removed on March18.

����� 0#3��#!,�

The coronavirus scourgecontinued to grow steadily

in the country with more than100 confirmed cases reportedon Friday and the total tallycrossing 800. The Ministry ofHealth put the figure to 724 inthe morning and didn’t reviseit till late in the night. Otherwebsites monitoring the Covid-19 outbreak worldwide placedthe updated total count to 874and Friday’s fresh cases to 147.

In an effort to ramp up thehealth facilities to meet theemergency, the Governmenthas given an order to a PSU toprovide 10,000 ventilators. “Wehave given an order to a PSUto provide 10,000 ventilators.Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL) has also been requestedto purchase 30,000 additionalventilators in 1-2 months,” saidLav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary,Union Health Ministry.

At a Press briefing on coro-navirus here, he said 75 newcases of coronavirus and fourdeaths have been reported inthe last 24 hours. However, theWorldometer, run by an inter-national team of developers,researchers, and volunteers has

estimated the Covid-19 cases tobe at 874 with 19 deaths and147 fresh cases. TheGovernment has also launcheda coronavirus risk-tracking appcalled ‘Corona Kavach.’

Jointly developed by theUnion Ministry of Electronicsand Information Technologyand the Union Health Ministry,the app uses a person’s locationto assess whether they are inthe high risk geographical zoneor not. The app is now availablefor download — in beta — forAndroid phones on the GooglePlay Store, said a senior HealthMinistry official.

The Government also saidit will soon start its participa-tion in solidarity trial that theWorld Health Organization isinitiating. “Earlier we did notdo it because our numberswere so small that our contri-bution would have lookedminuscule,” said Raman R

Gangakhedkar, Head ofEpidemiology andCommunicable diseases atICMR. On Friday, Kerala’s tallyreached 176 — the highestnumber of cases so far.

Continued on Page 2

����� 0#3��#!,�

Amid heartrending stories ofmigrant workers trudging

hundreds of kms to returnhome carrying sackful of good-ies on their heads and facingassault from the police, theCentre has asked States to helpstranded workers.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs also issued advisory toStates and UTs to prevent massexodus of migrant and agrilabourers, industrial workersand unorganised sector work-ers. The Centre’s directive cameon a day 300 migrants werefound crammed in two trucks.

Meanwhile, theMaharashtra Government hascome to the rescue of a 28-year

old Mumbai resident by issuinghim a special pass to drive closeto 2,300 km, cutting acrossthree States, and reach Kolkatato attend his father’s last rites.

Home Minister Amit Shahhas spoken to some of the ChiefMinisters and asked them tolook into the issue of mass exo-dus of migrant workers fromdifferent parts of the countryafter the announcement of 21-

day lockdown. Home SecretaryAK Bhalla has also issued anadvisory asking States and UTsto take immediate steps toprovide adequate support,including food and shelter, tomigrant agricultural labour-ers, industrial workers andother unorganised sector work-ers during the nationwide coro-navirus lockdown.

Continued on Page 2

����� 0#3��#!,�

In an alarming disclosure,the Government has said an

undisclosed number of over 15lakh passengers who returnedfrom abroad during the last twomonths may have skipped themonitoring system put in placefor coronavirus surveillance.

Cabinet Secretary RajivGauba has pointed to the Statesthat in the last two month,more than 15 lakh internationaltravellers came to India butthere appears to be a gap intheir actual monitoring.

Gauba has asked States tourgently strengthen the sur-veillance of international trav-ellers who entered the countrybefore the lockdown.

Interestingly, so far onlyaround 28,000 persons have

been tested for the coronavirusinfection. The fact that major-ity of those who tested positivehave a travel history, theCabinet Secretary’s disclosureshould alert the States in iden-tifying all those who returnedfrom abroad, quarantine andtest them in case of any symp-tom for the infection.

In his letter to ChiefSecretaries of States and UnionTerritories, Gauba said such agap in monitoring of interna-tional passengers for coron-

avirus “may seriously jeopar-dise the efforts to contain thespread of COVID-19,” giventhat many amongst the personswho have tested positive so farin India have history of inter-national travel.

“As you are aware, we ini-tiated screening of interna-tional incoming passengers atthe airports with effect fromJanuary 18, 2020. I have beeninformed that up to March 23,2020, cumulatively, Bureau OfImmigration has shared detailsof more than 15 lakh incominginternational passengers withthe States/UTs for monitoringfor COVID-19.

“However, there appears tobe a gap between the numberof international passengers whoneed to be monitored by theStates/UTs and the actual num-ber of passengers being mon-itored,” Gauba said in his letter.

The Government hadstarted monitoring of all inter-national passengers who havearrived in India in last twomonths in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak.

Continued on Page 2

� �� �����!�� 0#3��#!,��

Detailing the DelhiGovernment’s action plan

and reviewing corona updateswith senior health officials,Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal addressing a digitalPress conference on Fridaysaid five-member committee ofdoctors have prepared actionplan to prepare for stage 3 out-break of COVID-19 cases inDelhi. Also, the CM said fromFriday, 325 Delhi Governmentschools will be used to providefree food to the homeless andneedy people.

He said the DelhiGovernment is now feedingnearly 20,000 people daily,from Saturday we will be feed-ing 4 lakh.

He said, “Till Thursday,there were only 36 COVID-19cases in Delhi. Today, threemore cases have been con-firmed which has totaled thecases to 39. Out of these 29cases had a travel history and10 are via local transmission.”

Kejriwal said the team ofdoctors has submitted adetailed SOP on the issue andthe Government is fully pre-pared to deal with up to 100patients per day and are prepar-ing for 1,000 positive casesdaily in future.

Kejriwal said, “The situa-tion is under control rightnow, since there is a maximumincrease of 3-4 cases per day,and there were also days whenno new cases were registered.”

Continued on Page 2

����� 0#3��#!,�

Amid coronavirus scare hascome a ray of hope with

German-based multinationaltechnology company, RobertBosch, claiming that it hasinvented a fully-automated testthat diagnoses respiratorypathogens, including COVID-19, in less than two-and-a-halfhours.

The test, working on BoschHealthcare Solutions’ Vivalyticanalysis device, can be per-formed directly at points of care— eliminating the need totransport samples. Patientsmay also be isolated on site,reducing the ability of the virusto spread further, said the com-pany in a statement. The devicecan be used in all medical insti-tutions, and meets quality stan-dards issued by the WHO.

Continued on Page 2

����� 0#3��#!,�

With Covid-19 casesincreasing by the day

and likely to spike in the daysto come, the Army has formedresponsive and agile QuickReaction Medical Teams(QRMTs) which are on sixhours standby notice tomobilise to help hospitals andcivil administration if needed,Army Chief General ManojNaravane said here on Friday.

He also said contingencyplans are ready, adding thisresponsibility will not affect itsoperational readiness. TheArmy has code named its anti-Covid-19 operations asOperation Namaste.

Highlighting some of themeasures taken by the Army inthe last few weeks, Naravanesaid all field hospitals wereinstructed to be ready to set upa 45-bed isolation facility.

Continued on Page 2

����� !�0��0

British Prime Minister BorisJohnson said on Friday that

he has tested positive for coro-navirus after experiencing“mild symptoms”, becomingthe first world leader toannounce the infection.

Minutes after Johnson’sannouncement, his health sec-retary Matt Hancock tweetedthat he too was infected andwas in self-isolation.

In a video message postedon Twitter, the 55-year-oldJohnson said he will continueto lead the UK government’sresponse to the deadly virus,which has claimed 578 lives inthe country.

“Over the last 24 hours Ihave developed mild symptomsand tested positive for coron-avirus,” Johnson said onTwitter.

“I am now self-isolating,but I will continue to lead thegovernment’s response via

video-conference as we fightthis virus. Together we will beatthis,” he said.

Hancock, who is a keymember of Johnson’s coron-avirus “War Cabinet”, said in avideo message that he will beself-isolating until Thursday.

“Following medical advice,I was advised to test for coro-navirus. I’ve tested positive,”Hancock posted on Twitter.

����� 0#3��#!,�

Ar c h i t e c t ,p a i n t e r ,

muralist, sculptorand graphic artistSatish Gujral wasa product of theexperiences that he had had.And he kept layering them tillthe ripe old age of 94. Whileevents like the Partition and hishearing impairment at the ageof eight influenced his art, henever let these get the better ofhim. Later he underwent acochlear implant and regainedhis power of hearing after 62years in 1998.

Indian art and architecturegreatly benefited due to Gujral’sfickle-minded nature. Becauseof his ability to get bored ofthings easily, he kept changinghis profession, but perfectedeach one of them. At the end ofit all, the man turned into oneof the most brilliant multi-faceted personalities India hasever seen.

Continued on Page 2

�( ������ � ���� 0#3��#!,�

The rumours of my deathhave been greatly exagger-

ated,” Sir James PaulMcCartney, the legendarymusical maestro, had onceborrowed the line from MarkTwain to scotch the rumour ofhis death. The sheer influenceof a canard — in the presentcase that newspapers can act ascarriers of coronavirus — is aspervasive and deadly as thepandemic Covid-19, leading topanic among newspaper read-ers and vendors.

Therefore, it is high timeThe Pioneer informed youabout facts, and measures wehave taken, when the life of ouresteemed readers is concerned.While there is no data or sci-entific truth — as clarified byWHO too — in the rumour asthe entire process from print-ing to packaging newspapers iscompletely automated, thus

devoid of human touch, ThePioneer has added an additionallayer of safety by spraying sani-tisation on the paper during theprinting and by ensuring thateven vendors and delivery per-sons are properly sanitised.

Also, the printing staff arethermally scanned and sani-tised daily, said The Pioneer’sprinting manager Indraraj.

Continued on Page 2

������� ��� ����������������������� � ������ ���������� ��� ���������� ���

��������������� �������������������������������������������������� ������� ��������

������0��%�/��������-��%���������)����������������,�%���2����4%����������������� '��

��!��"#������!��$���%���&�'�������(��

������� � ���� �� ��� ���� ����������� ��� ��

��� �� ���� ���! ���"�#���� �������� "�#��� �� �

����)����������)�����*�����*�)������+���� �(�����!��!���$�"������

,���"�����������+��"��"���")����*��#����!&�-�.�"���

/����0�������+"�����'�$"�0��"��1230���"�$����*��4������

$%�&'�(���#�) ����� ���)������� ���*�

�������������� ��������� ����� ��� ����� � ��

5�����������"��"�67!��8����9

����������� �������������������� �� �������� �������� ��� �������������������������� ������� !"��#��� �������� �

Washington: The US nowhas more coronavirus casesthan any other country aftermore than 16,000 COVID-19infections were reported therein a single day, taking thenumber of patients in Americato over 85,600.

Globally, a total of 24,057people have died due to thenovel coronavirus with Italystanding at the top with 8,215deaths, followed by Spain(4,365) and China (3,169),the varsity figures stated.

$������!����������� �

$#%�&�����'���� ���������������������� �� ��(��)� ����* ��� �+%

��������������%�����������������������������������1������.��������5656������.�)�7��5656

�������������������%��������������%����1���������������������������������������������

���������������������%���������������%�����

��������������������������%�1)��6�1�����8����������������������)������������������

�-2������%������������������������)���4%����)�������79�666�������������1��(���)���

������

# �� ����� ��( � ���#� ��,������- ��������������( � ���(������������

���������+�����!�

:�������)'������ ����1��(*���;����)�������/����������&

������������� ���

�7�:,����"!<�-#��-� �"!.� ����666��-+ ��#"�, ��0��0#��"<

�������*���;����)�������;

=!�������) �'�)�76��**#� >?="��� %�������#$�������"������1��

'%1������/������#!,���!+�@0�3 2,�'"!��2,+2"0# 3"-

-"0�,��-"�'+- �,"0��&"-,��#,-"�+0 ,<�#-"2"����A"<3"�"

�*+,-��*��.��/01������������ ��������������� ���������� ���������������� ����!"���#$%���

��(����!�2�� ���� ��� ��!�3/2�34345�� �����3��6

�7;�8�78�<�� �!<� @�0��0��,#�&".#

(;7�=��1B�,�0��3�!!�&#���,"0�#��0��56�3�C

����������� ���������������������������� �

Page 2: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$ �� ���

����������� ������ ����������������� ������������������������������������� �� �� �����!��"����#��� $����%&&'''(� ����������)#����*�������$(&'�(&&!�����%�+�����,-���.�/�����0����������123!-3�413�/����(�''/��0������������0���5���0��6 �71�6�� �!����0��#����7�������������0��8�����$���� 9���������0/�1�:%;'<=;&''�(+<==(<&%<;�>?<&(+;(<&����*�� @�����0;��A�����!��!������#�������A�B �3������*�� %((�'&��9���������0'=((%(+;�;;+�(+;�;;;�(+;�;;=�

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

����� 0#3��#!,�

Farmers engaged in agricul-tural activities, wholesale

vegetable markets operated byAgriculture Produce MarketCommittee and manufacturingand packaging units of fertilis-ers, pesticides and seeds havebeen exempted from thepurview of the 21-day lockdownannounced to combat coron-avirus.

In additional guidelinesissued by the Home Ministry,agencies engaged in procure-ment of agriculture products,including Minimum SupportPrice (MSP/operations wereexempted from the lockdown)mandis operated by theAgriculture Produce MarketCommittee or as notified by thestate government, farming oper-ations by farmers and farmworkers in the field have beenexempted from the purview ofthe lockdown, the fresh guide-lines said.

Custom hiring centres(CHC) related to farm machin-

ery, manufacturing and pack-aging units of fertilisers, pesti-cides and seeds have also beenexempted from the lockdown soare intra and inter-state move-ment of harvesting and sowingrelated machines like combinedharvester and other agricultureand horticulture implements.

After Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's announce-ment of the 21- days lockdown,the home ministry on Tuesdaynight issued the guidelines forthe enforcement of the nation-wide lockdown.

The guidelines listed sever-al services including governmentand private offices that will beout of bounds during the peri-od, while exempting establish-ments such as hospitals, ration

shops, dairies, banks, insuranceoffices, print and electronicmedia. Delivery of all essentialgoods including food, pharma-ceuticals, medical equipmentthrough e-commerce has alsobeen exempted from thepurview of the lockdown.

"All enforcing authorities tonote that these strict restrictionsfundamentally relate to move-ment of people, but not to thatof essential goods," the guide-lines said.

Another set of guidelineswas issued on Wednesday giv-ing exemption to several cate-gories of people and servicesfrom the purview of the lock-down.

This is the third set of guide-lines issued in last four days. Aseries of Standard OperatingProcedures was also issued onThursday wherein the centralgovernment has made it clearthat essential goods and servicesshould be made available to thepeople asked state governmentsto ensure their smooth func-tioning.

�� ""����������� 0#3��#!,�

In the wake of the lockdown inDelhi, BSES has curtailed

manual services and requestedconsumers to use digital medi-um to reach out to discom forredressal of any grievances.

In support of the measurestaken by the Government tocontain the spread of theCOVID-19, some of our ser-vices, have been curtailed. “Wewould not be registeringrequests for new connections tillfurther orders. All existingappointments are also beingpostponed till further notice,” itsaid in a statement.

“We are also using the lat-est digital and online technolo-gies to reach-out to our con-

sumers. Consumers can con-nect to BSES through our dig-ital platforms like BSES website,Mobile App, Facebook, Twitter,WhatsApp and through SMS,”it said.

A senior BSES official saidthat all physical distribution ofbills and meter reading is beingstopped till further notice andconsumers will be given provi-sional bills. “We are closelymonitoring the situation in thenational Capital and taking allappropriate measures to ensurereliable power supply to ourconsumers without compro-mising the safety of our employ-ees. We are in constant touchwith all the relevant stakehold-ers on the evolving situation inthe national Capital,” he said.

(�,�����������! ����� �����������

5#�"��������!���"���%��!���)�������+����

���� �!�� �! �� .+.2"�

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on

Friday expressed serious con-cern that scores of people weretravelling by trucks and tankersto various destinations in var-ious parts of the State thusexposing them to the threat ofcontracting the pandemic.

Addressing the peopleacross the State live throughsocial media, Uddhav said inthe evening “We have takensome bold steps to ensureavailability of essential com-modities to the people. As partof the exercise, we have askedthe shopkeepers vending theessential commodities to keeptheir establishments open for24 hours. Soon after we tookthese steps, I was asked tolearn that the people are trav-elling by trucks and tankers”

Uddhav, who has beenspeaking live to the peoplealmost on a daily basis, said:

“People should relaise thatthey face the health risk themoment they stir out of theirhomes. Hence, it is essentialfor the people to stay at home.While being at home, pleasedo not feel that you are pass-ing through a crisis. Pleaserealise that the pandemic willnot enter your home. Henceyou please be where you are.Please do not use unautho-rised means to travel”

Uddhav's statementshould be seen in the contextof the State Government hasbanned the movement of alltypes of vehicles, exceptingtrucks and other vehiclestransporting essential com-modities, from one district toanother as part of the state-wide lockdown . With noother means of transport, thepeople in many parts of thestate are defying the ban onmovement of people and trav-elling by unauthorised trucksand tankers.

"������.�������������� �������������� ���)�������-������

����� ,�.!"

Five persons, including awoman, were arrested on

Friday for beating policemenwho had tried to stop themfrom mining sand illegally inHimachal Pradesh's Kinnaurdistrict during a statewidecurfew to contain the spread ofthe new coronavirus, officialssaid.

A police team found PhoolDevi, Sahil, Shekhar, Ashokand Satish were mining sand inKatgaon area and tried to stopthem. But the five attacked thepolicemen with shovels, sticksand stones, they said.

Three policemen wereinjured.

The accused then fledfrom the spot but were laterarrested and booked undervarious charges including forinjuring public servants anddisobeying the curfew order.

A curfew has beenimposed in the state in thewake of the coronavirus out-break in the country.

����������#�)"$������)���*��"�#��!����"�#����)���"�� "������

From Page 1 Though he wouldn’t agree

to it, art has remained his con-stant love, even as he experi-mented with it like no otherlover would. Over the years, heconstantly changed his mediumand materials in order to dif-ferentiate his art from that of hisprevious creation. Known forcreating some of the mostexquisite paintings, murals andsculptures, Gujral was one of thegreatest as well as the most ver-satile artists of India.

He also ventured into archi-tecture, even as people criticisedhim for doing so since he wasalready successful as an artist.Had he not ventured into archi-tecture fearing failure, Indiawouldn’t have got one of thefinest buildings of the 20thcentury - the Belgium Embassy,situated in New Delhi. He cre-ated artworks with moderntechniques that were muchinspired from Indian cultureand tradition and Indian archi-tecture.

Unlike many of his peers,who went to Paris or London inthe early 1950s, Gujral went toMexico City to study with DiegoRivera and Siqueiros. It was herethat he was exposed to the ideaof public art, which he imple-mented later in his life and alsocame in touch with artists FridaKahlo and Octavio Paz.

The Mexican Governmentconferred Gujral with “TheOrder of the Aztec Eagle”, anhonour given to foreigners ren-

dering distinguish services toMexico and humanity.

His art touched people ineveryday objects.

His familiar works includethe alphabet mural on the out-side wall of the Delhi HighCourt. Among the best are histwo sculptures at the ITCMaurya, New Delhi. Gujral cre-ated a modernist mould withIndianesque idioms. He alsodesigned the Belgian Embassyin Delhi for which the BelgianGovernment honoured himwith the Order of the Crown in1983. He was awarded thePadma Vibhushan for his con-tributions. “Gujral’s was a ver-satile practice spanning paint-ing, sculpture and architecture.RIP,” artist Ranjit Hoskote tweet-ed, expressing his condolences.

Reactions from other peo-ple in the art world came in aswell. Adwaita Gadanayak, DG,NGMA, said, “India losesGujral, an eminent artist, sculp-tor and architect. His brilliancelay in his ability to use his cre-ativity to the fullest in manyforms and ways. The NGMAhas his early painting of 1999 inour collection. Highlight hap-pened in 1952, when he got ascholarship to study at therevered Palacio de Bellas Artesin Mexico City, where he wasapprenticed under renownedartists Diego Rivera and DavidAlfaro Siqueiros - who wereremarkable figures of the 20th-century art scene. To have FridaKahlo and Octavio Paz as hisfriends became the importantpoint of synergy.”

From Page 1In an advisory to all States

and Union territories, the MHAsuggests that in order to miti-gate the situation for unorgan-ised sector workers, particularlystranded migrant workers,States/UTs need to exploremeasures by involving variousagencies, including NGOs, toprovide food and shelter withbasic amenities like clean drink-ing water and sanitation.

The Ministry has alsoadvised the States and UTs toensure that hotels, rentedaccommodations, hostels etc.,continue to remain functionaland delivery of essential itemsis streamlined, so that stu-dents, working women hostelinmates etc, are allowed tocontinue in existing facilitiesobserving precautions.

It has also asked Statesand UTs to make arrange-ments for uninterrupted supplyof essential commodities tohotels, working women hostelsso that they continue to live inexisting facilities. The Statesand UTs have also been advisedto make these vulnerablegroups aware of measurestaken by the Government,including provision of freefoodgrains and other essentialitems through PDS, andstreamline the distribution sys-tem. The coronavirus-enforcedlockdown has triggered a massexodus of migrant workersacross the country.

The mass exodus ofmigrant labourers, workers,domestic help and other unor-ganised sector workers with

their families from differentcities continued on the thirdday. Unable to find transport,hundreds of people, especiallydaily wage workers and theirfamilies, have been seen walk-ing for days with little food andwater to reach their villagesfrom the cities. Incidents ofpolice lathicharge on them havebeen reported from UttarPradesh.

Thousands of migrantlabourers were seen crossing theDelhi-Ghazipur border onFriday.

In Maharashtra, the author-ities have issued a special passand arranged a vehicle to a per-son identified as Anindya Royto attend the last rites of hisfather. His father Ashish KumarRoy, 61, died of cardiac arrestearly on Thursday. Left with nooptions due to lockdown,Anindya narrated his ordeal onsocial media and urged peopleto help him reach his hometownby road. Roy also called up hisfamily in Kolkata and askedthem to send across his father’sdeath certificate over email aswell as WhatsApp. He for-warded the documents toMaharashtra TransportCommissioner Shekhar Channeand narrated his problem.Within minutes, Channe issueda special pass enabling Roy totravel through Maharashtra.

The similar case has hap-pened in Delhi where officialsof Bihar Bhawan in Delhi alsoissued a special travel pass andarranged vehicle to a person toattend his mother’s last rites inMadhubani, in Bihar. Severalpersons have approached to theTelangana Governmentthrough social media seekingspecial passes or ‘no objectioncertificate’ to attend final rites

of their relatives. A personfrom Kurnool, is living inHyderabad, issued the NoObjection Certificate (NOC) bythe Telangana Government toattend final rites of his mother.In another case, a resident of inGuntur district, was given aspecial pass and provided vehi-cle to reach his hometownwhere his grandfather passedaway.

The UP Government hasalso started arranging for busesto ferry people who are comingin from other States and arestranded on the border districts.The Gautam Buddh Nagaradministration on Friday said itarranged over a dozen buses toover 600 stranded people tohelp them reach home duringthe lockdown. These migrantworkers , including womenand children hailing from Biharand places in interior UttarPradesh such as Etawah,Auraiya, Kanpur, Aligarh,Gorakhpur, Azamgarh werepicked up from the YamunaExpressway. In Jharkhand, agroup of 27 migrant labourers,who worked in West Bengal’sHooghly district, walked toreach Dumka. The labourerssaid that no transport is avail-able to reach their home inBihar’s Saharsa. In Thane,around 40 migrant labourersworking in Mumbai werestopped by police on Fridaymorning for trying to escape toUttar Pradesh in a truck.

Worried over a large num-ber of exodus of migrant work-ers including farm labourers,the Gujarat Government hasassured that migrant labourerswould be given food andaccommodation but won’t beallowed to travel to their villagesduring the 21-day lockdown.

From Page 1Gauba said, “It is important

that all international passengersare put under close surveillanceto prevent the spread of the epi-demic.” He said the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare(MoHFW) has repeatedlyemphasised the importance ofmonitoring, and requested theStates and UTs to take imme-diate steps in this regard.

“I would, therefore, like torequest you to ensure that con-certed and sustained action istaken urgently to put suchpassengers under surveillanceimmediately as per MoHFWguidelines,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary alsourged the Chief Secretaries toactively involve the districtauthorities in this effort. Thescreening of internationalincoming passengers at airportswas done from January 18 in aphased manner.

From Page 1And also to create 10 bed

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facil-ity exclusively for COVID-19 atsix-hour notice. In addition, 30per cent Field Hospitals havebeen kept on standby for con-structing COVID-19 hospitalsin coronavirus hotspots, hesaid.

Noting that at presentCOVID-19 is in “preparatorystage of impact in India” andthe country is making con-certed efforts to prevent thedisease from establishing afirm base, he said “next fewweeks will be crucial to preventnegative effects of this deadlymutant virus.”

On the possible contin-gency options that may arise asthe cases continue to rise,Naravane said, at this juncture,it is difficult to say how the sit-uation will develop. “However,after having analysed the impactof COVID-19 over last two-three months in other countries,one can start planning andpreparing for difficult times.”

On the Army’s operationalpreparedness, he said the Armyhas certain “inherent capabil-ity” to rise up to various emer-gency situations by virtue oforganisational structure andtraining and in keeping withthat, the “Indian Army is plan-ning and preparing to fightCOVID-19.”

While reviewing the situa-tion on a daily basis, the ArmyChief said various advisoriesand instructions have been

issued to the force to createawareness and contain spreadof COVID-19. “Commandwise COVID-19 helpline num-bers have also been given,” hestated.

The Army currently haswellness centres for evacuees atManesar, Jaisalmer andJodhpur and Army medicalfacilities at Jhansi, Binnaguriand Gaya have been kept onstandby with an additional col-lective capacity of 1,600 beds.Naravane said till now 372evacuees have been treated atManesar and currently 82 areunder quarantine. At Jaisalmer484 citizens who were evacu-ated from Iran are under quar-antine and another 277 atJodhpur, he added.

Meanwhile, the Army hasasked its personnel on leave toextend their stay and not reportto their formations till April 15in wake of the novel coronavirusoutbreak. This order was part ofthe fresh advisory issued afterone soldier in Ladakh was test-ed positive after he returnedfrom home where his father,who had earlier returned fromIran, was also tested positive.The soldier has recovered.

Moreover, conferences andseminars and temporary dutyof all ranks also stand cancelledtill April 15. Also, those work-ing in the Army Headquartershere are directed to work inshifts to ensure less contact andreduce footfall in offices.

Chipping in for the nation-al effort to fight the pandem-ic, 62 Cantonment Boardsspread over 19 States andUnion Territories, across thecountry, with a population ofapproximately 21 lakh (includ-ing military and civil) havegeared up to the challenge.

Instructions have been issuedto all the Cantonment Boardsto identify beds in hospi-tals/health centres and guesthouses for any eventuality.

Presidents and ChiefExecutive Officers of theCantonment Boards are inconstant touch with civilianauthorities in their respectiveareas and providing requiredassistance whenever needed.All the advisories issued byMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare are being strictlyadhered to by all theCantonment Boards.

All the Cantonment officesbuildings, residential areas,school premises, libraries, parksand markets are being sanitisedregularly. Residents are beingsensitised about the COVID-19via public announcementsthrough loud speakers, infor-mative notices, hoardings/pam-phlets displayed at all promi-nent places, offices and marketareas in cantonments.

Residents Medical Officersare organising workshops forall the personnel dealing withessential services and demon-strating precautions to be takenin avoiding transmission ofCOVID-19 and simultaneous-ly preparing CantonmentGeneral Hospital (CGH) forany emergencies. Action planshave been prepared in the lightof directions of DirectorGeneral Defence Estates(DGDE). All CGH are workingfull time to provide requiredmedical assistance.

Cantonment Boards areproviding face masks, handgloves, sanitiser bottles to theentire staff. All the hotels andrestaurants in cantonmentareas are directed to strictly fol-low advisory.

From Page 1The CM said, “I had

formed a team of five doctorsunder the chairmanship of DrSareen, who is the head of ILBShospital. The team has donebrilliant work and submitted itsreport yesterday, including acomprehensive plan of actionon the preparations done in thewake of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi. They differ-entiated the action plan intothree stages, first is what can bedone if we get 100 new casesevery day, second is what canbe done if we get 500 new casesevery day, and third is what canbe done if we get 1,000 newcases every day.”

“If we get 100 new casesevery day, the current health-care system that we have isenough to treat the surge. Forthat, a detailed plan has beencreated to see how many iso-lation beds, ventilators, ICUbeds, testing mechanisms andstrength, ambulances, medicalstaff such as doctors and nurs-es, under each head of 100, 500,and 1000 new cases every day.They have also mapped amechanism on which private

hospitals to include in case ofthe surge, where the ambu-lances, ventilators and otherresources will come from, etc.

“We will start implement-ing all these plans of actiononce the cases rise from 100 perday. We have a detailed plan oftreating up to 1,000 new casesper day. But, I hope that wenever reach this stage and Ihope and pray that the rise in4-5 new cases will also decreasein the future,” said Kejriwal.

For the poorest sections ofsociety, the Delhi Governmentis providing free ration to thepeople. Those who do nothave ration cards, are being fedmeals by the DelhiGovernment in 224 night shel-ters. “We were feeding nearly20,000 people per day throughthese night shelters until now,but we also observed that thenumber of people was rising. Inoticed some videos on thesocial media of people whocould not get meals,” said theCM.

Urging Bihar and UttarPradesh migrants not to leavethe Capital, Kejriwal said hisGovernment will ensure time-ly supply of food to dailywagers and homeless.

“Those who do not haveration cards, are being fedmeals by the DelhiGovernment in 224 night shel-ters. “I noticed some videos onthe social media of people whocould not get meals,” he said.

“To provide lunch and din-ner facilities at 325Government schools across

Delhi. Every school shall beable to feed around 500 bene-ficiaries each day and eachnight. The Government hasalso increased the supply ofmeals in the existing nightshelters from today.

“I have also instructed theMLAs to ensure that no one intheir constituency suffers fromhunger. They should collabo-rate with the society and pro-vide food to all,” he said.

Kejrwial said, “Many socialand religious organisationshave come forward to help,including ISKCON, RadhaSoami, gurudwara organisa-tions, and many other organi-sations are helping theGovernment and also provid-ing food in their personalcapacity. My thanks to all ofthem on behalf of the people.”

Requesting people tomaintain social distance,Kejriwal said the lockdownwill bear no results if people donot indulge in social distancing.“I have seen media stories onour night shelters and how ben-eficiaries are made to maintaina considerable distance fromeach other,” he added.

The Delhi Governmenthas started transferring pensionamount of Rs 5,000 to eightlakh pensioners includingsenior citizens, widow and dis-abled in first phase.

“Today, we have trans-ferred Rs 5,000 in the accountof pensioners, rest five thou-sand will be transferred in firstweek of April in second phase,”Kejriwal said.

From Page 1It can perform ten tests per

24 hours, and can be used bymedical workers who have notspecifically trained with it before.The company will debut the testat its Robert Bosch Hospital inStuttgart, before seeking otheruse cases, said the statement.

“The special feature of theBosch test is that it offers dif-ferential diagnosis, which savesdoctors the additional timeneeded for further tests. It alsoprovides them with a reliablediagnosis quickly so they canthen begin suitable treatmentfaster,” says Marc Meier, presi-dent of Bosch HealthcareSolutions.

“We want the Bosch rapidCOVID-19 test to play a part incontaining the coronavirus pan-demic as quickly as possible. It

will speed up the identificationand isolation of infectedpatients,” says Dr VolkmarDenner, chairman of the boardof management of RobertBosch.

“Infected patients can beidentified and isolated faster,”Bosch Chief Executive OfficerVolkmar Denner said in a state-ment. To develop the test, Boschteamed up with Northern Irishmedical equipment makerRandox Laboratories Ltd, itspartner on Vivalytic.

Detection of Covid-19 is thekey to stemming its spread. Incountries like Germany andSouth Korea, where testing wasrobust early on, fatality rateshave been comparatively lowerthan in Italy and the US whereslow testing helped fuel the dis-ease’s explosive growth.

From Page 1The newspaper copies, bun-

dled in sanitised brownenvelopes, are loaded into sani-

tised vehicles. And the deliveryboys, the only persons whoactually touch your newspa-pers before delivering the sameat your doorsteps, have beeninformed about the importanceof personal hygiene, particular-

ly sanitising their hands. Theyhave been provided with sani-tisers and masks to ensure thatThe Pioneer readers are absolute-ly safe while touching or read-ing the newspapers, said the cir-culation head, Rajeev Gautam.

From Page 1Kerala is followed by

Maharashtra, where the numberof cases has climbed up to 147.Five persons tested positive forcoronavirus in Maharashtra’sVidarbha region – four inNagpur city and another inGondia district, officials said onFriday.With a fresh case inAndhra Pradesh on Friday, thetotal cases have now gone up to12 in the State.

The number of cases inTamil Nadu has climbed to 29,including six foreigners.

Three positive cases wereconfirmed in Tamil Nadu onFriday.

The number of cases inTelangana has gone up to 59,including 10 foreigners.

Karnataka has reported 55cases of coronavirus, while thenumber of cases in Gujarat hasclimbed to 43, including a for-eigner.

The number of cases inRajasthan has increased to 41,including two foreigners. UttarPradesh has reported 47 cases,including a foreigner, while thenumber of positive cases inDelhi has gone up to 39, includ-

ing a foreigner.Punjab hasreported 38 cases, while 30Covid-19 cases have so far beendetected in Haryana, including14 foreigners.

Madhya Pradesh hasrecorded 20 cases, Ladakhreported 13 each while Jammu& Kashmir reported 18.

West Bengal has 10 Covid-19 patients.

Chandigarh has reportedseven cases, Chhatisgarh hasregistered six cases whileUttarakhand has five, includinga foreigner. Three fresh cases ofcoronavirus have been reportedfrom Bihar, taking the totalnumber of those who have test-ed positive for the Covid-19 tonine, the health departmentsaid on Friday. HimachalPradesh has reported three caseseach, while two cases have beendetected in Odisha.’ Goa hasreported three coronavirus caseswhile Puducherry, Mizoramand Manipur have reported onecase each. The death toll due tocoronavirus in India alsoclimbed to 19 on Friday.

On Friday, a 65 year-oldman who had tested positive forcoronavirus passed away inTumakuru, Karnataka onFriday.

He had travelled to Delhi by

train on March 5 and returnedon March 11.

As per the Ministry data,out of total Covid-19 deaths inIndia, Maharashtra reportedthree deaths, Gujarat three,Karnataka two, while MadhyaPradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar,Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal andHimachal Pradesh reported onedeath each.

Jammu & Kashmir alsoreported its first Covid-19 fatal-ity.A 60-year-old man, who hadtested positive for coronavirusin Rajasthan’s Bhilwara, hasdied due to comorbid condi-tions, an official said on Friday.

As many as 121Government laboratories havebeen approved by the IndianCouncil of Medical Research toconduct tests for deadly novelcoronavirus, the ICMR said onits website on Friday.

In addition, there are 35 pri-vate labs across the country forconducting the tests in AndhraPradesh, Assam, Bihar,Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh,Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir and Jharkhand.

Now, the total number offacilities for cornavirus testinghas increased to 157, both pri-vate and Government.

��!��"#�����!��$��222

5����������"��"�67!8����9

,���"����������+��"��"���")���*��222

���������+�����--- ,��9���222

4�$�!�222

�3���+�222

/����0��������+"����'�$"�0���"��1230��"�$�����*��4������

Page 3: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$ ��������

�� ""����������� 0#3��#!,�

The Delhi PoliceCommissioner, SN

Shrivastva on Friday issued anorder approving the smoothdelivery of essential goods,including food, groceries andmedicines, in the nationalCapital.

The Government has onlyexempted the movement ofessential services across thecountry after the PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced 21-day nationallockdown.

Earlier, when the curfew forpublic safety was imposed, sev-eral employees of e-commercefirms had complained thatpolice were not allowing themto ply on road.

On Wednesday, a meetingbetween senior police officialsand e-commerce companieswas held where police saidthey will allow these companiesto deliver food and groceries.

However, on Thursday,Delhi Police Commissioner SNShrivastava released anotherorder withdrawing the onlinefirms to re-start their services.Though the order also statedthat the police will revise theguidelines for the online com-panies.

On Friday, the CP has againissued an order complying withthe guidelines given by theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA). The MHA has saidwhile the country needs to bein a “lockdown”, supply andstorage of essential goods,including health infrastructureand food must be allowed.

The Delhi Police order hasbeen forwarded to all theSpecialCP’s, Joint CP’s and AddlCP’s in Delhi. They will followthe Standard OperatingProcedure (SOP) that was given

by MHA on Thursday, theorder stated.

To prevent the spread ofcoronavirus, people mustensure social distancing whilemaintaining the supply ofessential goods. Under theMHA’s order, a ration shopdealing with groceries, vegeta-bles, fruits, dairy products,meat, animal fodder, seeds andpesticides will be allowed to sell.

It is also mentioned thathome delivery of food, phar-maceuticals and medical equip-ment is also operational.

The Delhi Police said theywill follow these orders andwon’t restrict the movement ofessential goods.

Under the SOP, restaurantsdelivering food will also beallowed to re-start their ser-vices. Storage facilities likegodown will also bere-opened.Since the manufacturing andtransport of many of the essen-tial goods take place in differ-ent cities, the Delhi Police willalso allow inter-city and inter-state transport of all the goods.

The guidelines for the com-

panies providing essentialgoods include ensuring socialdistancing and showing validdocuments and ID proof topolice.

According to the SOP,police must not shut ware-houses where non-essentialgoods are also stored. Theorder states that retailers andwholesalers store both essentialand non-essential goods, hence,the warehouse facilities mustnot be shut.

The retailers will also haveto give an undertaking sayingthey will only deal with essen-tial goods and will also have toallow authorities to audit theirrecords. The employees engagedin the supply chain of the goodsmust have ID proof along withe-pass, given by the government.

In the case of unorganisedsectors, the employees need totake permission from the Delhigovernment. The companieshave been directed to deployminimum staff to deliver goods,conduct health check-ups ofemployees and provide themwith protective gear.

According to the MHAorder, the State Governmentcan also open a 24x7 controlroom to register complaints ofemployees and people facingissues with food supply.

�� ""����������� 0#3��#!,�

Following the COVID-19scare, the public health

department of South DelhiMunicipal Corporation(SDMC) has carried out sur-veillance on 1,787 passengerswho visited Delhi from abroad.

A senior SDMC officialsaid all these people were askedto isolate themselves and thecivic body keeps conductingsurvey to check if they havedeveloped any symptoms ofcoronavirus. "The official alsoinformed the Resident WelfareAssociation (RWA) about thesepersons so that they are notallowed to go outside thepremises." he said.

Intensifying measures tofight against coronavirus pan-demic, the civic body has start-ed distributing vitamin C tabletsbeing disturbed to 20,000 Safaikaramchairs for better immu-nity.

All Deputy Health officershave been instructed to use fog-ging machines to spray mixtureof water with Sodium hypochlo-rite one per cent to disinfectantsand sanitise the areas in all fourzones, he added.

The official said that thenurses and DBC workers are

engaged in surveillance of pas-sengers, who visited Delhi fromabroad through door to doorsurvey. The civic body is alsochalking out the strategy to trainaround 400 malis for this sur-veillance and door to doorwork, he said, adding that theywill be trained to conduct ahousehold survey and preparea list mentioning the number ofpatients suffering fromCovid19-like symptoms.

The civic body has alsodeployed one dedicated tipperin each zone to collect munic-ipal solid waste from quaran-

tined homes. The municipalstaff will also be given PersonalProtective Equipment (PPE)kit to protect them from catch-ing infections.

The official said that 50bedded hospitals at KalkajiColony is ready with properarrangements of food, medi-cines, Personal protective equip-ment (PPE), laundry and otherfacilities. The civic body has alsoidentified a community centreat Sector-17, Dwarka for provi-sion of quarantine facility with50 beds strength to deal withemergency situation.

��$������)����"���#����7->�������� ��"�

��� �������������������� ��������� ��� ������������� �������� �������� �� �������� � $��/���� � �0�� ��

�#�./�� ���� ����� �������� �� �"���0'�

�� ""�����������0#3��#!,�

In a major relief to migrantlabourers and homeless peo-

ple, South Delhi MunicipalCorporation has decided torope in big restaurants andeateries to provide free food tothem during the three-weeklockdown.

The civic body has decid-ed to arrange 20,000 foodpackets with the help of hotels,restaurants, mid day meal

kitchens and some NGOs anddistribute it among the needyon daily basis.

The SDMC has alsoreleased a account number39238693858 (IFSC code -SBIN0000631, SBI, ChandniChowk) where any individual,group or company can con-tribute fund which will beutilised as per Governmentrule to take measures to con-tain spread of coronavirusand also to help the affectedpersons.

�������������������(��!�� ����������"����!�������2�� �������

�� ""����������� 0#3��#!,�

As part of its efforts to contain the impact ofCovid-19, Indian Railways has made two

24X7 helpline numbers 138 and 139 functionalto answer queries, provide assistance and to dis-seminate relevant information to railway cus-tomers and others during the 21-day lockout.

Indian Railways has opened a Railway Boardcontrol cell to ensure seamless flow of informationand suggestions between Railway administrationand general public, a senior official said.

This control office would work round the clock

and shall be manned by a director level officer. “Itwould monitor calls received on the centralised rail-way helpline 139 and the decentralised railwayhelpline 138, in addition to monitoring trends onsocial media, especially Twitter to communicateand alleviate any difficulties faced by Railway cus-tomers and others by taking timely action.Further complaints, suggestions or queries can alsobe mailed to [email protected],” hesaid. Dialing the number 138, the customers candirectly be connected to the local railway divisionso as to provide him the updated local and region-al information.

1��� ����� ���� ���!� ������� ���23405�6�7� �� �

�� ""�����������0#3��#!,�

Amid the three-weeknational lockdown period

due to coronavirus, 1.6 lakhwagons of the Indian Railwayscarried supplies to ensureavailability of essential com-modities through its uninter-rupted freight services in lastfour days.

Of these, more than 1lakh wagons of essential com-modities were ferried byIndian Railways to ensurethat the nation keeps runningand the supply chains keep

functioning.During the situation of

lockdown in various States,Indian Railways Staff deployedat various good sheds, stationsand control offices is workingon 24/7 basis to ensure that thesupply of essential items for thenation does not gets affected.

A senior Indian Railwayofficial said that a total of26577 wagons were loadedfor essential commodities likefood grains, salt, edible oil,sugar, milk, fruits and vegeta-bles, onion, coal and petrole-um products on 23rd March,.“This includes 1168 wagons of

food grains, 42 wagons offruits and vegetables, 42 wag-ons of onions, 42 wagons ofsugar, 168 wagons of salt, 20wagons of milk, 22473 wagonsof coal, and 2322 wagons ofpetroleum products,” headded.

While on 24th March, total27742 wagons were loaded foressential commodities. Thisincludes 1444 wagons of food-grains, 84 wagons of fruits andvegetables, 168 wagons of salt,15 wagons of milk, 50 tanks ofedible oil, 24207 wagons ofcoal, and 1774 wagons ofpetroleum products.

On March 25th and 26th,23097 wagons were loaded foressential commodities.

The official further saidthat a close coordination isbeing maintained with theState Governments so thatrakes of essential commoditiesare handled smoothly withoutany delay, amidst variousrestriction imposed in thewake of Covid-19.

To monitor the uninter-rupted movement of essentialcommodities over IndianRailway system, an emergencyfreight control is working inthe Ministry of Railways.

$������ ��1234���������������� �� �� ������������������������

NEW DELHI: The Delhipolice on Friday registeredmore than 60 cases anddetained 3,432 people for vio-lating Government orders dur-ing the coronavirus lockdown.

According to the datashared by the police, 65 caseswere registered under section188 (for disobedience to orderduly promulgated by publicservant) of the Indian PenalCode till 5pm. SR

35�)����-�6- 6���� ��������������� ���� ���

Page 4: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�� ����������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

������������������� �

����� 0#3��#!,�

While the ModiGovernment is out to

battle the Covid-19 outbreak,President Ram Nath Kovindand Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu on Fridayjoined the action as they helda video-conference with allthe Governors, LieutenantGovernors andAdministrators “to find waysto complement the efforts ofthe Government of India andthe State Governments” inmeeting the challenges arisingfrom the outbreak of the pan-demic.

The President exhorted tothe collective strength of thesociety and urged Governors,LGs and Administrators tomobilise volunteers of IndianRed Cross society, voluntaryand religious organisationsto contain the menace at theearliest.

“President Kovind andVice President Naiduexpressed hope that theIndian society’s inherentstrength of ‘sharing and car-ing’ and the Government’smeasures would mitigate thesufferings of the most vul-nerable sections of the society,particularly the workers of theunorganised sectors and thedestitute,” a communiqué stat-ed.

In the video-conference,14 Governors and Delhi Lt.Governor shared experiencesin their territories as theirareas were worst affected bythe pandemic.

The video conference wasconducted by the VicePresident and it brought outthe best practices initiated byvarious States to mitigate thepeople’s plight while enforc-ing the lockdown in the coun-try.

Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshiyari out-lined the measures initiatedby the State administration tocombat the pandemic whileKerala Governor ArifMohammed Khan lauded therole of government, voluntaryorganisations, medical pro-fessionals, paramedics andthe police to act in coordi-nated manner to persuadepeople to maintain social dis-tancing in Kerala. He reciteda couplet to emphasise the

significance of social dis-tancing.

Khan pointed out 1800retired doctors and MBBSstudents in the state haveenlisted for voluntary ser-vices and 375 Psychologistshave been roped in to giveadvice to those who findquarantine as difficult phasein their lives. “This is con-sidered to be an innovativemove in Kerala worth emu-lating for other states,” he said.

Karnataka GovernorVajubhai Vala outlined howalmost 8,000 Red CrossSociety volunteers in the Stateare working to spread aware-ness about the disease.Akshay Patra, a social organ-isat ion, is a lso act ivelyinvolved in distributing foodpackets all over the state.

While Satyadeo NarayanArya, Haryana Governor, saidthat the state was fully pre-pared to meet all challenges,Lt Governor of Delhi AnilBaijal said he and the Delhi Chief Minister weremeeting every day to takestock of the situation. At dis-trict level, DCs and DCPs arecoordinating moves to facil-itate the relief work and edu-cate people about social dis-tancing.

Gujarat GovernorAcharya Dev Vrat said thatquarantine facilities in theState were being augmentedand State’s cooperative spiritis invoked to launch concerted efforts by govern-ment, social and religiousorganisations, private sector,voluntary and cultural organ-isations to pool in theirresources to meet the chal-lenge.

Governor of TelanganaDr Tamilisai Soundararajaninformed the State is exten-sively using social media tospread awareness. She alsoinformed that Raj Bhavanhas also taken steps to providefood to about 800 needy fam-ilies living near Raj Bhavan.

The Vice President sug-gested her to take help ofartistes, film stars, writersand intellectuals to raise thelevel of awareness amongpeople about the seriousnessof the pandemic. He advisedTamil Nadu GovernorBanwarilal Purohit too to dothe same.

West Bengal GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar- informedthat Universities in the Stateare ready to be utilised in caseof need while Bihar GovernorPhagu Chauhan talked aboutState’s proximity to interna-tional border that makes thestate rather vulnerable tospread of the disease. He,however, praised the mannerin which the BiharGovernment has been actingto contain the Coronavirus.

Punjab Governor andAdministrator of ChandigarhV. P. Singh Badnore informedthat Red Cross has been help-ing to supply food packets in Chandigarh andRajasthan Governor KalrajMishra, informed that a fundhas been created to enablepeople to make donations.

President Kovind urgedeveryone to hold regularstock-taking with the stategovernment and make con-tributions in a way that thebattle again the Coronaviruscould be taken to a logicalend.

;��? �@;��+����+�)��������"��"��

����� 0#3��#!,�

Amid Coronavirus crisis,the Government has

restricted sale and distributionof anti-malarial drug ‘hydrox-ychloroquine’ declaring it as anessential drug to treat theCOVID-19 patients and meetthe requirements of emergencyarising due to the pandemic.

This means that any prepa-ration containing the said drugwill have a warning label of‘only prescription sale’ andagainst self-medication.Additionally, chemists wouldneed to maintain records forname and address of the pre-scriber, the name of the patient,the name of the drug and thequantity supplied and suchrecords shall be maintained forthree years and be open forinspection.

The move to bring hydrox-ychloroquine under restric-tion category came after it wasfound that people had startedhoarding the drug when a fewdays ago, the national taskforce for COVID-19 constitut-ed by Indian Council forMedical Research (ICMR) hadrecommended as a preventivemedication.

The Union Ministry ofHealth has now issued a noti-fication in this regard.

In the order, theGovernment declared that theCentral Government is "satis-fied that the drug hydroxy-chloroquine is essential tomeet the requirements ofemergency arising due to pan-demic COVID-19 and in thepublic interest, it is necessaryand expedient to regulate andrestrict the sale and distribu-tion of the drug 'hydroxy-chloroquine' and preparationbased thereon for preventingtheir misuse".

"Now, therefore, in exer-cise of the powers conferred bySection 26B of the Drugs andCosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of1940), the Central govern-ment hereby directs that saleby retail of any preparationcontaining the drugHydroxychloroquine shall bein accordance with the condi-tions for sale of drugs specifiedin Schedule H1 to the Drugsand Cosmetics Rules, 1945."

As per the notification, thedrug specified in ScheduleH1 is labelled with the symbolRx which shall be in red andconspicuously displayed onthe left top corner of the label,and with a warning displayedin a box with a red border.

A couple of days ago, theGovernment had banned theexport of the anti-malarial

drug to ensure sufficient avail-ability of the medicine in thedomestic market.

The ICMR has recom-mended the use ofHydroxychloroquine for treat-ing healthcare workers han-dling suspected or confirmedcoronavirus cases and alsothe asymptomatic household

contacts of the lab-confirmedcases.

The treatment protocolrecommended by the ICMR-constituted National TaskForce for COVID-19 has beenapproved by the DrugController General of India(DGCI) for restricted use inemergency situations.

'�������� �� )�� ��������� !���� ������7����.������8� ����� ���

����� 0#3��#!,�

Noting that people withdisabilities (PwDs) are

more vulnerable due to theirconditions during the coron-avirus crisis, which hasrestricted peoples' movement,the Government has issuedguidelines to the States toensure that the sector has asmooth access to essentialsupport services includingcaregiver, supplies and medicalaid at their doorstep.

The guidelines preparedby the Department of thePwDs under the UnionMinistry of Social Justice andempowerment also stress onensuring easy accessibility ofthe sector to their caregivers sothat they do not have to suf-fer.

Meanwhile, followingintervention of the activists inthe sector and DPwDs , theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT) has exempt-ed the PwDs from attendingthe offices during the lock-down period.

Shankutala Gamlin,Secretar y of the PwDsDepartment, in a letter to theState Chief Secretaries alsosuggested the States to des-ignate the StateCommissioner for PwDs asthe nodal authority for bettercoordination with otheragencies for the welfare of thesector.

While calling for settingup of a 24X7 helpline num-ber at State level exclusivelywith facilities of sign languageinterpretation and video call-ing, Gamlin pointed out that“COVID 19 is impacting theentire population, but PwDsare more vulnerable to thedisease due to their physical,sensory and cognitive limi-tations.

“As such, there is a need

to understand their disabili-ty specific requirements, dailyliving activities and takeappropriate and timely mea-sures to ensure their protec-tion and safety during situa-tions of risk. Special careshould be ensured to childrenand women with disabili-ties.”

The exhaustive guidelinefocus on do’s and don’ts forthe authorities while dealingwith the PwDs.

The States have beenasked to ensure all informa-tion about COVID 19, ser-vices offered and precautionsto be taken should be avail-able in simple and local lan-guage in accessible formats;i.e. in Braille and audibletapes for persons with visualimpairment, video-graphicmaterial with sub-titles andsign language interpretationfor persons with hearingimpairment and throughaccessible web sites.

Sign language inter-preters who work in emer-gency and health settingsshould be given the samehealth and safety protectionas other health care workersdealing with COVID19besides sensitizing normalpeople about the needs of thePwDs, says the guidelines.

Also, during quarantineas well as during treatment,essential support services,personal assistance, and phys-ical and communicationaccessibi l ity should beensured e.g. visually chal-lenged persons, persons withintellectual/ mental disabili-ty (psycho-social) are depen-dent on care giver support.

The guidelines also focuson provisions for on-linecounselling mechanism tode-stress PwDs as well astheir families to cope with thequarantine period.

���������������������������������� ����������� ��9�:������'����

����� 0#3��#!,�

Three days since the coun-trywide lockdown, senior

Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Friday said that the 21-dayshutdown will devastate thecountry's poor and weak. Thisa day after Congress top lead-ership appreciated the Centre's�1.70 lakh crore package andextended the party's coopera-tion to fight COVID-19.

For her part, Congresschief Sonia Gandhi offered allher MPLADs funds to combatthe menace in her Lok Sabhaconstituency, Rae Bareily.

Rahul also wrote to theHRD Ministry to extend helpto residential students acrossthe country including thosestranded in his Parliamentaryconstituency Wayanad inKerala. Rahul also contributedRs 25 lakh to combat Coronamenace in his constituency.

"It will deliver a heavyblow to the India we love.India isn’t black & white. Ourdecisions have to be carefullythought through. A morenuanced and compassionateapproach is required to dealwith this crisis. It’s still not toolate," Rahul cautioned the gov-ernment.A day after extendingher party's cooperation to theGovernment in fighting thepandemic, Sonia wrote to theRae Bareli District Magistrateauthorising the official to drawas much funds as required indealing with the situation besiesproviding sanitisers, masks andmedicines to the people of herconstituency.

"I appeal to the districtadministration to distributemasks and sanitisers to thepeople and give extra care tothe daily wagers and the elder-ly," the four-time MP from RaeBareli wrote to the DM.

She further said that she

would do all that is required asthe MP from Rae Bareli to keepthe people safe and healthy.

She also requested theadministration to ensure thatnobody goes hungry in herconstituency.

Rahul, on his part, wrote toHRD Minister RameshPokhriyal Nishank to ensureproper medical facilities forresidential educational insti-tutions to which Pokhriyalresponded that the Ministry isvery sensitive on issues per-taining to students and thus hehas already issued instruc-tions to facilitate all facilities tosuch students.

Rahul also requested theMinister to facilitate regularcommunication between stu-dents of such institutions andtheir parents.

“In the light of the thenational lockdown, a signifi-cant number of students stay-ing in hostels and other resi-dential facilities of schools andinstitutions of higher educationhave been unable to go home.I have received several requestsfrom parents to ensure thewellbeing of their childrenstaying in residential facilities”,Rahul said in his letter.

He said that 20 studentsfrom his parliamentary con-stituency, Wayanad, werestudying in Jawahar NavodayaVidyalaya (JNV), Nainital, aspart of the migration pro-gramme between linked JNVsin different linguistic regions.

“I would also like torequest the Ministry to ensureuninterrupted supply of basicnecessities, especially in resi-dential schools like JNVs.Further, adequate precaution-ary measures should be adopt-ed, and institutions mustensure proper access to med-ical facilities”, he added.

���������� ��!"!#���$#%�&��'��"�!(� �$�'�)���$*�

����� 0#3��#!,�

As the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI), country’s

central bank that regulatesentire banking system andcontrols issue and supply ofIndian rupee, on Friday alsochipped in to ease out finan-cial difficulties faced by theconsumers in the lockdownsituation, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi praised itfor taking “giant steps” tocushion the impact of coro-navirus on the economy.

"Today RBI has takengiant steps to safeguard oureconomy from the impact ofthe Coronavirus. Theannouncements will liqui-date, reduce cost of funds,help middle class and busi-nesses", said the PrimeMinister.

Finance Ministry had inlast two days already taken aslew of measures to relaxcompliance issues and pro-vide early financial assis-tance to daily wagers,labourers, women, seniorcitizens and others in theorganised and unorganisedsections. A day before,Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitaramanannounced an economicpackage worth 1.7 lakh croreto give succour to the poor-est of poor hit by the lock-down in the wake of coron-avirus spread in the country.

“The announcementswill improve liquidity, reducecost of funds, help middleclass and businesses”, Moditweeted after RBI governorShaktikanta Das announcedthe steps to ease the situationfor the various segments ofconsumers in the county.

BJP President JagatPrasad Nadda also appreci-ated the central bank for tak-ing measures amid the crisis.

Nadda said that RBI hastaken many important deci-sions to give support and sta-bility to the Indian economy.

"RBI has slashed downRepo rate, Reverse Repo rateand Cash Reverse ratio togive strength to the economy.To help the middle classRBI has given moratorium of3 months and also waving offinterest. I welcome theseprogressive and timely mea-sures”, Nadda tweeted.

Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanacknowledged RBIGovernor’s efforts to bringeconomic stability in thecountry. Sitharaman, in hertweet, stated that RBI'sannouncement to provide3-month moratorium onpayments of term loaninstalments (EMI) and inter-est on working capital willgive much-desired relief. TheFM also said, "Slashed inter-est rate needs quick trans-mission".

“The macro economicfundamentals of the Indianeconomy are sound, and infact stronger than what theywere in the aftermath of theglobal financial crisis of2008-09…”, she said.

On Thursday,Shaktikanta Das injected�3.74 lakh crore liquidityinto the system through var-ious measures. The centralbank announced a massive75 basis points cut in reporates and slashed reverserepo rate by 90 basis pointsto 4 per cent.

It is expected that thegovernment may work outan economic relief packagefor India Inc in the light ofcoronavirus crisis triggeredslowdown and loss to thebusiness community andannounce it soon.

�(�(�� �����$#%��� � ��7� ����������������� ��� �������������� ������������

����� 0#3��#!,�

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s televised March 24

speech, wherein he announceda 21-day nationwide lockdownto combat the spread of thecoronavirus disease, waswatched by 19.7 crore people,more than those who watched

Indian Premier League finals.“According to data shared

by @BARCIndia the speech byPM @narendramodi on TotalLockdown on 24th March hadhighest TV viewership (uniqueviewers greater than IPL Finals)with more than 201 channelscarrying it,” Prasar BharatiCEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati

said in a tweet.It said that the final match

of the Indian Premier League(IPL) had a viewership of 13.3crore people, while 19.7 crorepeople watched

Modi's address on televi-sion. “According to the datashared by BARC India thespeech by PM Narendra Modi

on total lockdown on March 24had the highest TV viewership[unique viewers greater thanIPL finals] with over 201 chan-nels carrying it,” Vempati saidon Twitter. Over 200 newschannels, including PrasarBharti-run Doodarshan, hadbroadcast the telecast. ThePM’s televised address on

Tuesday garnered significanthits on the social media as well.The number of hits onDoordarshan’s and RajyaSabha’s YouTube channels werehalf a million and 0.1 million,respectively.

Television rating agencyBroadcast Audience ResearchCouncil’s (BARC) India’s rat-

ings indicate that the telecastwas watched by more viewers,compared to Modi’s previousspeeches announcing demon-etisation or the “Janata Curfew”.

The Prime Minister'saddress to the nation on March19, announcing a 14-hour"janata curfew", garnered aviewership of 8.30 crore people

across 191 television channels,according to the BARC ratings.

Modi's address on abroga-tion of Article 370 of theConstitution on August 8 lastyear had a viewership of 6.5crore people across 163 chan-nels, while his address onNovember 8, 2016 announcingdemonetisation was viewed by

5.7 crore people on 114 chan-nels.

Technically called thesevere acute respiratory syn-drome coronavirus-2 or SARS-CoV-2, this novel coronaviruscauses the COVID-19 disease.A novel virus is one that hasnot been previously identifiedin humans.

������������������������� ��� ���������!�����"���#�������� ��

����� 0#3��#!,�

Af t e rcon-

ve r t i ngt h ec o m -p a r t -ments of trains into isolationcentres, the Government onFriday went ahead for its pre-paredness to tackle theCorona scare by announcingto use the Kendriya VidyalayaSchools across the country asa set up for isolation centres.

The Kendriya VidyalayaSanghathan (KVS) dirceted itsregional offices to allow theschool infrastructure for mak-ing Temporary Housing ofSuspected COVID-19 Cases.

"In view of the current sit-uation created by COVID-19in the Country, the KVS HQhas directed all its RegionalOffices that on receipt of aformal request from anyDefence Authority or DistrictAdministration, the Dy.Commissioner/In-ChargeDC/Principal of KV con-cerned shall allow the use ofClassrooms of KendriyaVidyalaya bui ldings forTemporary Housing suspect-ed COVID-19 cases," said aKVS circular.

@��������%���)�������(�����������������

����� 0#3��#!,�

After taking the lead in bring-ing the South Asian

Association for Regional Co-operation(SAARC) groupingtogether to fight the coronavirusmenace, India has proposed set-ting up of a common electronicplatform for all the membernations to share expertise andbest practices to jointly combatthe spread of pandemic coron-avirus. The move comes daysafter Prime Minister NarendraModi strongly pitched for aregional approach to deal withthe pandemic. The SAARC is aregional grouping comprisingIndia, Bhutan, Pakistan,Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, SriLanka and Bangladesh.

India made the proposalfor electronic platform at a videoconference of senior health offi-cials of the SAARC on Thursday.At an India-initiated video con-ference of SAARC leaders onMarch 15, Modi suggested thathealth professionals of the mem-ber nations could come togeth-er to jointly fight against thecoronavirus pandemic.

"India proposed a sharedelectronic platform for allSAARC nations to share andexchange information, knowl-edge, expertise and best practicesfor jointly combating the coro-

navirus epidemic," the Ministryof External Affairs(MEA) said ina statement.

It was informed that con-siderable work has already goneinto the creation of the platform,which could also serve as a

multipurpose vehicle to furtherdiscuss and conduct activitiessuch as online training for emer-gency response personnel, theMEA said. The Indian side pro-posed that till the electronicplatform is fully operational, a

network of experts representingthe health services of all SAARCcountries may set up onemail/whatsapp to enableexchange of all relevant infor-mation on real time basis.

Terming the deliberations as

extensive and purposeful, theMEA statement said "The enthu-siastic and constructive partici-pation by all SAARC memberstates demonstrated the sharedcommitment to work together todefeat the challenge posed by thecoronavirus epidemic in theregion." The video conference,chaired by India's DirectorGeneral of Health Services, delib-erated on a wide range of issuesrelating to the pandemic. TheIndian side also made a com-prehensive presentation on thecountry''s response, covering theaspects of disease surveillance,contact tracing, travel restrictionsand evacuation, risk assessment,clinical management of patients,treatment options and protocolsand safety of healthcareproviders. All other SAARCcountries also shared their ownexperiences of dealing with theCOVID-19 challenge. "All coun-tries also highlighted their spe-cific vulnerabilities, capacities,best practices, gaps in resourcesand logistics, private sector par-ticipation as well as levels of pre-paredness," the MEA said.

It said community engage-ment and participation was iden-tified as an important element inany anti-COVID-19 strategy toaugment the large-scale emer-gency measures undertaken bythe governments in the SAARCregion.

����� 0#3��#!,�

The National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF),

the lead agency for tackling dis-asters, is getting battle-readyand has formed 84 small coreteams per battalion to bedeployed in case the Force's ser-vices are required amid the spi-ralling number of COVID-19cases in the country.

The personnel of theNDRF are also present in all theCOVID-19 state control roomsas part of its preparedness,information gathering andassess work requirements totackle the viral epidemic.

The force is seeking toequip 600 personnel in eachbattalion with personal protec-

tion equipment (PPE). TheNDRF has informed the statesthat it is on standby mode andcan be called in as and whenrequired, officials said.

The NDRF has a strengthof 12 battalions, each consist-ing of 1,150 personnel and arestrategically located to cater toany disaster as a first respon-der.

Bihar and Tamil Naduhave already sought NDRFassistance for coronavirus pre-vention exercise.

On Thursday, the Bihargovernment had asked for twoNDRF teams to be on stand-by in Patna and Munger forsupport to the local policeand medical staff. Tamil Naducalled NDRF to help in segre-

gating people at railway sta-tions.

The force has so far trainednearly 28,000 personnel,including those from the CISFand other forces, and will con-tinue with the routine everyday, but in smaller batches tomaintain social distancing.

The NDRF has been suc-cessful in clearing a lot ofapprehension of the staff ofother forces about the coron-avirus safety precautions andhas trained the staff across thelandports, airports and sea-ports for the last one month onhow to wear PPEs, especiallythe gloves and masks and howto handle them, and the basicaspects of social distancing.

��$*�����)����!���-������; ����������������)����� ���

%�� �������'��$:���)������������������!��������

�� ����$��������<�� ��-�������� ���= ���� ����=��� ����� ��-� ������� ������&�����-�4��&������������� � �����������������'���������"� ��+ �� ��� ��� ��!������ ��-���� �������������:>=%�!1?-����$�������� #������ �������� ����* ��� �+%

,������������������������������&��������!��%�������&������������"�����������

Page 5: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�� ��$�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$ ������������������� �

��� ���!��� � ��� �,#00"�

With the number of peoplediagnosed with COVID-

19 virus touching 35 in TamilNadu on Friday, the StateGovernment took unprece-dented steps to beef up thedepartment of health to meetfuture challenges. A 500 bed-ded super specialty hospital,south India’s first exclusivehospital for treating coronapatients started functioning inChennai on Friday.

Chief Minister EdappadiPalaniswamy who held a daylong meeting on Thursdaywith his council of ministers,senior bureaucrats, district col-lectors and police officers gaveclearance on Friday to appoint500 doctors, 1000 nurses and1508 para medical staff(Laboratory Technicians) andinduct 200 new ambulancesinto the fleet of governmentrun ambulance services.

Health Minister Dr CVijaya Baskar said on Fridaythat the Chief Minister gave hisconsent to appoint the new staffwho were recruited as pe theguidelines prescribed by theMedical Recruitment Board.“This is the first of its kindappointment drive in the State.All new recruits have beenasked to join for duty withinthree days in their own districtsitself taking into account thetotal lock down in force tillApril 14,” said Dr Baskar.

The minister also disclosedthat till Friday noon, a total of2,09284 passengers have beenscreened for corona virus and274 persons have been admit-ted to various hospitals acrossthe state for further tests.

The person who died inKanyakumari on Thursday wasfound free of corona virus. Theminister also disclosed thatthe health officials have foundout more than 200 persons who

ssect who were on a proselyti-zation drive in districts ofMadurai and Erode. “Thesepersons are being tested for anysymptoms”, said Dr Baskar.

Much to the relief of theadministration, eight preachersfrom Thailand who were underobservation tested negative forCorona virus, according to theMadurai district administra-tion. It was feared that the per-son who succumbed to Coronaat Madurai on Wednesdaycould have contracted the virusfrom them as he had accom-panied them for a number ofreligious congregations.

The Corporation ofChennai is deploying drones tospray disinfectants in inacces-sible regions in the metropolis.The civic administration iscollaborating with AnnaUniversity for deploying dronesin neighborhood areas wherethere are no roads to reach thehousing complexes. Accordingto G Prakash, corporationcommissioner, the droneswould disinfect 50,000 sq meterper day.

The entire State wore adeserted look on Friday asvehicles, both private and pub-lic stayed off the arterial roads.Youths who were found freak-ing out in the main thor-oughfares were turned back bythe cops guarding the roads.Those who violated the guide-lines were asked to perform“Thoppukaranam”, a kind ofbrain yoga performed in frontof Lord Vigneswara as a markof obeisance.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had a telephonic con-versation with EdappadiPalaniswamy on Friday aboutthe State’s preparedness to takeon Corona virus. According tothe chief minister’s office thePrime Minister was briefed byPalaniswamy about the stepstaken to check the disease.

Thiruvananthapuram: Ajunior IAS officer, AnupamMishra, who was recommend-ed self-isolation in the wake ofhis recent foreign travel, avoid-ed his quarantine and was latertraced to his home in UttarPradesh’s Kanpur city. He hasbeen suspended from service.

Kollam District CollectorBAbdul Nassar on Fridaymorning submitted his reportto the Government andRevenue Minister EChandrasekheran recom-mended action to the ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Later Vijayan, who is headof all civil service officials,suspended Mishra from ser-vice.

Mishra, a 2016 batch IASofficer, recently came to Kollamto take up the charge of SubCollector. He informed hissuperior that he had beenabroad and was asked to go forself-isolation at his official res-idence in Kollam, about 70 kmfrom the state capital.

Nassar told the media onFriday that Mishra in his expla-

nation has said that when hewas told to go into self-isola-tion, he presumed it meantgoing to his residence inKanpur.

“This is a violation of pro-tocol and I will submit thereport of his act to the stategovernment, who is autho-rised to take further action,”said Nassar.

State Fisheries Minister J.Mercykutty, who hails fromKollam district, said this is aclear case of a lack of socialcommitment.

According to reports,Mishra got married recentlyand returned from Singapore.On Thursday, the officialsfound out that he was not pre-sent in his official residence atKollam. He was traced with thehelp of police to Kanpur.

Two different set of chargeswill be there, one for escapingfrom isolation and the other isfor violating departmentalrules, as he left his home sta-tion without informing hissuperior, Government sourcessaid. IANS

� ���� ,<�#-"2"�

Telangana continues toreport new Covid-19 cases

with 10 people testing positiveon Friday.

With this the number oftotal positive cases in the statehas gone up to 59, ChiefMinister K. ChandrashekharRao told reporters.

While the first case wasdischarged after treatment, 58others are undergoing treat-ment at designated hospitals.

Besides this, 20,000 peoplewere quarantined either athomes or in Government-runfacilities.

KCR, as the Chief Ministeris popularly known, said thenew cases were reporteddespite lockdown and curfew.

He said if the State had nottaken these measures, the sit-uation would have turnedexplosive.

Stating that there is nocure for this disease, he said theonly weapon to fight this mon-ster was self-restraint andappealed to people to abide bythe restrictions imposed andstay at home to stay safe.

The Chief Minister said hespoke to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who laudedthe steps taken by the state tocontain the spread of coron-avirus and suggested moremeasures. KCR said Modipromised all help to the state incombating the virus.

The Chief Minister said thedeadly disease had rattleddeveloped countries like the

United States who have the besthealth infrastructure.

KCR quoted experts assaying that if the disease was tostrike India on the scale seen inthe United States, China andSpain, it could affect 20 crorepeople.

He said the state had notlost hopes and was fully gearedup to meet any situation. Thegovernment prepared an actionplan to deal with any eventu-ality.

Authorities have readied1400 ICU beds while 11,000people can be treated in isola-tion wards. “Thus we have12,400 beds for such patients,”he said.

The Government hasordered another 500 ventilators.

��� ���!��� � ����,#00"�

Liquor has become a hotissue in Kerala, a State

known for its passion for the‘material’. Thursday morningsaw a group of head load work-ers (porters) ruthlessly beatingup a group of journalists whoshot video of the formerunloading crates of IndianMade Foreign Liquor (IMFL)from trucks at Kozhikodeunder dubious situation..

Abhilash and Mithun,reporter and videographer ofJanam TV, a private TV newschannel, were covering theaction live following a tip offfrom one of the head loadworkers when they came underattack.

“We were told by oursources among the porters thatliquor meant for distributionthrough Kerala State BeveragesCorporation (BEVCO) wasbeing unloaded into a buildingnear Beach Road. There werethree truck loads of liquor andthere was no reason for unload-ing the same as all BEVCO out-

lets have been shut down sinceWednesday morning as part ofthe countrywide lock down,”said Abhilash.

The porters numbering 30surrounded the TV crew andbegan assaulting them forshooting the pictures of the‘action’. “The liquor was beingtransported to another desti-nation for selling in black mar-ket for a premium as the stuffwould not be available for thenext 21 days,” said Abhilash.

He said though the porterswore the uniform of CITU, themilitant trade union wing ofthe CPI(M), they were activistsbelonging to NDF and PopularFront of India who hadswitched over to the Marxistcamp recently. The NDF andPFI are extremist Islamicorganisations having strongpresence in northern Kerala.

The police have registereda case following the complaintby Abhilash and Mithun. Thecamera has been damagedbeyond repairing, said Mithunwho had taken some sprightlygood shots of crates of liquorbeing surreptitiously unloaded

from the trucks.GK Suresh Babu, Chief

Editor, Janam TV, said hewhole thing smacked of mys-tery. “The District administra-tion had declared Section 144as part of the total lock down.None of the porters were wear-ing masks and they were vio-lating the prohibitory order.Moreover no police officialswere present at the spot whichitself was a violation pf the con-ditions for unloading theliquor. Even BEVCO’s staffwere not to be seen,” saidSuresh Babu.

Though a small posse ofpolicemen arrived at the spotand saved the crew from fur-ther attack, none of the porterswho attacked the journalistshave been arrested. Later, thepolice registered case undersections 144, 147, 323, 324, 308,and 506 (1) of the IPC againstsix persons.

Abhilash who came underattack is a popular figure in theState because of the reportinghe did from Sabarimala in2018 about the police brutali-ty on the devotees.

�������'�$"�0���A$�����"��= �����3�

% �����4���""�� ������7�������� #����� ����$&8���� �� �

Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanon Friday said that the state hasa large population of straydogs and now with a total lock-down on account of Covid-19,they are in dire straits and thelocal bodies should ensure thatthey get food.

“We all know the dangersif these stray dogs don’t getfood and if it happens, then itwill be bad for the society. Sowe have asked all local bodiesin the state to ensure that theydo the needful and providefood for them,” said Vijayan.

IANS

Jammu: At least 1,500 peoplehave been shifted to quarantinecentres in J&K to ensure socialdistancing in the union territo-ry, police said on Friday.

Among those shifted intoquarantine are 1,200 people whohave a foreign travel historyand 300 police recruits.

A batch of 300 policerecruits has been sent to a quar-antine centre in Kathua district,UT police chief Dilbag Singhsaid here. Singh appealed to the

people to call police controlrooms if they notice any personin their area who could haveavoided the mandatory quaran-tine after returning from abroad.

The police chief acknowl-edged the cooperation of thegeneral public who had volun-tarily come forward for quaran-tine and also of those who hadcalled the police in different dis-tricts to give information aboutpeople who tried to jump quar-antine. IANS

Srinagar: Four more testedpositive in J&K on Friday as thetotal number of COVID-19cases rose to 18 in the unionterritory. Government spokesman, RohitKansal said four more havetested positive, out of whomtwo have travel history abroadand the other two have travelhistory outside J&K. Kansalsaid all the four who tested pos-itive on Friday belong toSrinagar district.

With this the total numberof COVID-19 patients has risento 18, four of whom are beingtreated in Jammu while 14 arebeing treated in Srinagar. IANS

Jaipur: Three more coronapatients were reported fromRajasthan on Friday taking thetotal tally to 46 in the state, saidstate health officials.

The new positive caseshave been reported fromJodhpur. One of them was aroom mate and co-traveller ofa person already found positiveon Thursday. They travelledtogether from UK to Jodhpur,said Additional Chief SecretaryRohit Kumar Singh.

On Friday morning, twonew positive cases were report-ed from Bhilwara. Both wereclose relatives of a deceasedwho had been tested positiveand died on Thursday eveningdue to prevailing co-morbidconditions. IANS

Bengaluru: Karnataka recordedthird Covid-19 death and sevennew positive cases, which havetaken the state’s total to 62, anofficial said on Friday.

“Till date, 62 Covid-19 pos-itive cases have been confirmedwhich include three deaths,”said a health official.

A 60-year-old man fromTumkur district succumbed tocoronavirus, becoming the thirdsuch death in Karnataka.

Designated as the state’s60th positive case, the deceasedman had travelled to Delhi bytrain on March 13.

The Health Department hassince traced 24 high risk prima-ry contacts and isolated 13 ofthem at a hospital. Eight ofthem tested negative and threewere healthcare professionalswho were home quarantined.

Karnataka’s 56th positivecase is a 10-month-old malechild from Dakshina Kannadawith no travel history to coron-avirus affected countries.

“As per the preliminaryinvestigation, the child was takento Kerala by their family mem-bers. The detailed investigationis under process and six prima-ry contacts have been traced andare under house quarantine,” an

official statement said.A 20-year-old Bengaluru

man with travel history toColombo returned to India onMarch 15 to become the 57thcase.

The state’s 58th case is a 25-year-old woman from the citywith travel history to London.She returned to India on March18. A 35-year-old woman,Bengaluru resident and contactof 25th case has emerged as the59th coronavirus positive case.

Positive case number 60was the sexagenarian who passedaway on Friday morning inTumkur. A 33-year-old womanfrom the city tested positive asthe 61st case. She was a contactof 25th case, a domestic help.

The final case from Fridaymorning and Karnataka’s 62ndcase is a 22-year-old man fromUttara Kannada with travel his-tory to Dubai.

All the new cases have beenadmitted to designated hospitalsand their contact tracing hasbegun. Positive cases one andthree have been discharged.

The state HealthDepartment has published anadvisory for travellers and fam-ily members of the dischargedquarantine cases. IANS

� ���� -�0"&"-

In its efforts to help the peo-ple during lockdown, the

Indian Army said on Fridaythat it has distributed rationsamong daily wagers, migrantworkers and the needy inKashmir.

Jaipur: As Bhilwara, the busi-ness town of Rajasthan,becomes corona epicentre reg-istering the highest COVID-19positive cases in the State,Health Minister Raghu Sharmatold IANS that stringent actionsshall be taken against the doc-tor of Bangad MemorialHospital, whose negligencecaused the crisis.

“Taking legal action againstthe doctor is very much in ourmind, however, priority is tocontrol the present situation.Bangad Memorial Hospital shallbe seized, and a legal case shallbe taken against this hospital.We are discussing this withour health machinery,” he said.

Alok Mittal, the doctor hasbeen accused of the grave neg-ligence as his inaction made thecoronavirus spread. He failed toperform his due duties honest-ly and did not act the way heshould have after receiving for-eign guests at his residence, thestate minister said.

Mittal continued visitingthe hospital, testing patientsand meeting staff and friendswithout getting himself quar-antined when required, saidSharma.

Speaking on how the par-ticular hospital became the epi-

centre, the minister said: “A fewguests from overseas had visit-ed the house of Dr Alok Mittaland they had brought the infec-tion along. Surprisingly, thedoctor without getting thethings checked continued visit-ing the hospital and diagnosedthe patients. He, himself thoughdid not go on any foreign trav-el, but continued interactingwith staff.

As the state governmentnow battles to keep the spreadin check, Sharma said that as adoctor, Mittal should not havegone to hospital and diagnosedthe patients in hospital but sur-prisingly, he also travelled toUdaipur during Holi and stayedin a resort putting many lives indanger.

Sharma said that the statehealth machinery first wants tocontrol the situation in Bhilwarawhere two patients who testedpositive for COVID-19 havedied on Thursday. Bhilwarahas 21 of the 45 positive casesin the state so far.

Of the 21 patients reportedin this textile town, 15 are doc-tors, nurses and other staff ofthis hospital. Even the twodeceased who died in state onThursday were admitted in thishospital. IANS

� ���� &"0�,�0"&"-

Gujarat’s health departmenthas surveyed more than

half the population of the Statefollowing the COVID-19 scare.Amid this crisis situation andlockdown, the Chief Minister’srelief fund received around �3.5crore in donations.

Jayanti Ravi, Principal sec-retary, Health and family welfareDepartment, Gujarat said, “Morethan 10,000 health workers arecarrying out a door to door sur-vey following the COVID-19scare in the state. More than halfthe population of the state, thatis 3,50,69,926 people have beencovered under the survey so farin the state.

The survey found that37,885 people had travelledinterstate, while 8,265 travelledabroad. Out of this, 118 havebeen kept in surveillance on find-ing symptoms of the disease.20,103 people have been quar-antined where 19,377 are attheir homes and 575 have beenkept in government institutions.FIR against 236 persons havebeen filed for violating quaran-tine,” added Ravi.

So far, there are 44 positivecases in the State out of which 36have travelled abroad. Out of therest 18, 16 came in contact withpersons having foreign travel his-tory and two have interstatetravel history,” added Ravi.

“The state government on

humanitarian grounds, facili-tated 250 state transport busesand around 500 private vehiclesfor migrant labourers who werewalking on the highways andsent them to their destinations inand outside Gujarat. But now nota single migrant labour will beallowed on the roads. The gov-ernment is assuring them of pro-viding food, water, shelter,” saidAshwini Kumar, the secretary ofthe CMO.

“We have also ensured thatthe factory owners, industryowners do not send their work-ers and labourers away due to theclosure of their units. GujaratChief Minister has ordered allthe district collectors to imple-ment this order,” added Kumar.

���� �!�� �! ��.+.2"�

One more coronavirus-infectedpatient died in Mumbai on Friday,

even as an alarming 28 persons testedpositive for the pandemic taking the totalnumber of positive Covid-19 patients inMaharashtra to 153.

The latest death took place at the P.DHinduja Hospital. “An 85-year-old doc-tor underwent a CT SCAN at SaifeeHospital and was diagnosed as diagnos-tic for COVID-19. The Surgeon wastransferred to the special isolation facil-ity at P.D Hinduja Hospital where he sub-sequently died,” Dr. Vernon Desa,Director (Medical governance and clin-ical compliance) at Saifee Hospital said.

“All containment and surveillancemeasures have been implemented toensure the safety of our staff, patients, andvisitors. Saifee Hospital reiterates that thehospital is fully operational,” Dr Desa said.

With the latest death, the total num-ber of Coronavirus deaths in Maharashtra

has gone up to six.The coronavirus had claimed first life

in the state on March 17, when a 63-year-old disease-infected had died at theKasurba Hospital. Subsequently, anoth-er 63-year-old male patient, who hadbeen admitted to private hospital inMumbai died on March 21. Later onMarch 24, a 65-year-old COVID-19patient died at Kasturba Hospital inMumbai. On the same day, 65-year-oldwoman died in a hospital at NaviMumbai.

In addition to these six deaths, therewas a COVID-19 recovered Philippinesnational who also died, but since the caus-es were different, he is not counted in theCoronavirus death toll in the state.

In a highest-ever day’s positiveCovid-19 tally, as many as 28 persons—including 12 members of a same familyliving in Islampur town in Sangli districtof western Maharashtra – tested positivefor the Coronavirus on Friday. “With theaddition of these 12 members, 23 mem-

bers of a single family have contracted thepandemic in Islampur town in Sangli dis-trict,” official sources said.

In Mumbai, as many 9 new patients– undergoing treatment at the KasturbaHospitlal – have tested positive. Of them,six are from Mumbai, while one eachfrom Vasai, Thane and Gujarat. Of thenine cases, five patients have history ofinternational travel, while in the remain-ing four cases, patients have contractedthe epidemic from “close contacts”.

Four persons were diagnosed posi-tive for Covid -19 in a Nagpur Hospital,whole one person each tested positive inPalghar, Kolhapur, Gondia and Pune.

In a related development, StateHealth Minister Rajesh Tope said that asmany as 19 persons, who had earlier test-ed positive for Covid-19 but recoveredlater, had been discharged from varioushospitals as on Friday.

“As many as 4228 patients have underCoronavirus tests in the state. Of the, thereports of 4017 persons have come neg-

ative. 135 persons have tested positive,”Tope said in a statement released in themorning. However, the number of per-sons who tested positive rose to 153 byevening.

“Risking their lives, the doctors,nurses and other staff members are work-ing at various hospital treating coron-avirus patients. They deserve to be com-plimented. The state government is con-sidering giving special allowance to allthem as a gesture of encouragement,”Tope said.

Tope said that Maharashtra was fac-ing a shortage of blood for the treatmentof the patients. “Hence, people shouldcome forward and donate blood, but bymaintaining the social distancing norms,”the minister said.

Tope pointed out that since allincoming flights to Maharashtra fromother parts of India, besides inter-statetravel had been closed due to the stateand national lockdowns, now the focuswas on locally acquired infections.

Mumbai: Two prominent tem-ple trusts in Maharashtra onFriday donated �51 crore and�2 crore to the Government forproviding various kinds ofreliefs in the ongoing ‘waragainst virus’ in the state, offi-cials said.

The Shri Saibaba SansthanTrust, Shirdi (Ahmednagar)announced a donation of �51crore to the Chief Minister’sRelief Fund (CMRF), its CEOArun Dongre said.

Besides, the SSST is alreadyproviding free food to allpatients and their relatives atthe Shri Sainath Hospital,Shirdi Orphanages, old agehomes, a shool for deaf anddumb, destitutes and needy,police personnel and othersthrough the Shri SaiPrasadalaya, he added.

The DevasthanManagement Committee,Kolhapur, which administers astring of temples, hasannounced a donation of �2crore through the famedMahalaxmi Temple, here.

“An amount of �1.50 crorehas been given to the CMRF,while�50 lakh will go to theCollector for enhancing variousmedical facilities in the districtto tackle Coronavirus,” theTrust’s Assistant SecretaryShivaji Salvi said.

Several other corporatesand private companies havecome forward to donate to theCMRF for the Covid-19 war inthe past few days, besides tak-ing up other community initiatives.

IANS

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath hasset up Team 11 to monitor thesituation in various sectorsamid COVID-19 and the sub-sequent nationwide lockdown.

The various teams are ledby 20 IAS and five IPS officers.

The leaders of these teamswill report directly to the chiefminister, apart from holdingregular meetings.

The teams will overseeworking in medical, health,revenue, labour, agriculture,industry, law and order, animalhusbandry, rural development,relief work, jail, industrialdevelopment etc. IANS

��'#+(,�-#�.#"/��#0*�'�1�(��2+�,$(��*&�+�������!�' (',

+������������� �������������� �����@55��������� ���� ��1����

@�����%��� �������������������������%�������

9��������������� ���#���!� �*� ��� �����%��������

��D66�����������AE@����������4%���������������F�'�����

7������������������-� G����)����8?

-�������+�������)������#���

8����������H������������������AE@�����)���������>

<������%�������������������������

������������"�����������������"�����3B

"��)������1%����������������)���@�����

Bareilly: Even as reports of police atrocities on those violatingthe lockdown continue to pour in, the police are also getting acco-lades for showing its human face.

The police responded promptly to the video message sentby a pregnant woman who was alone at home.

The woman, Tamanna, a 25-year-old a resident of Izzatnagararea of Bareilly district, was expecting her first baby when herhusband, Anees Khan, who works in Noida, got stuck there dueto the lockdown.

As the time for her delivery drew near, Tamanna, who livesalone, was locked at home without any support.

With no one to help her, she sent a video message to police,seeking their help. The police promptly responded and tookTamanna to a local hospital and got her admitted.

The police also made arrangements for a taxi to bring herhusband Anees to Bareilly from Noida. Tamanna delivered a babyboy on Thursday. The woman has now expressed her gratitudeon Twitter, thanking UP Police, specially SSP, Bareilly, ShaileshPandey, and additional DCP, Noida, Kumar Ranvijay Singh fortheir help.

The woman said local police acted like her guardian angelat a time when she thought she would die alone. IANS

Lucknow: With five new casesof coronavirus, the tally inUttar Pradesh has gone up to43.

The daughter and twoother contacts of the Noida-based Coronavirus positivecouple have also tested positivefor the infection in Lucknow.The reports came in onThursday night.

The Covid-19 infectionwas also confirmed in a Dubai-returned man from Baghpatdistrict besides a person inAgra.

State surveillance officer DrVikasendu Agarwal said, “Thenumber of patients, who haverecovered from the infection, is14. Three patients from Noida,who were undergoing treat-ment at different hospitals,have been discharged.” IANS

�"��)"$�������� �C;�������������B

7'� �������� ������ ���#� �������������������$�/������ �������� ��������

��&,�%� (�&'(/"�"%�!�.�"�%�$�,&#%��3�(",*'(�$*++�2,�'(%*'"

%������#������ �&��� � #'&(����&���)���# ��� �

Page 6: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

In 2001, General Abdul RashidDostum, then a fierce warlord, thefirst Vice President of Afghanistanand a key political figure for thenorthern Afghan provinces now,

apparently said the following to the Captainof the US Army Special Forces ODA 595fighting the Afghanistan war. The latter wason a classified mission in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks that led to the fightfor Mazar-i-Sharif. “There are no rightchoices here. This is Afghanistan.Graveyard of many empires. Today you areour friend, tomorrow you are ourenemy…You will be cowards if you leave.And you will be our enemies if you stay.”

With close to 100 attacks inAfghanistan post the signing of the US-Taliban deal, the decree by AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani to release 1,500Taliban fighters and competing power axesin the country with Opposition leaderAbdullah Abdullah and Ghani holding par-allel inaugurals of the new Government inKabul, Afghanistan threatens to come fullcircle from its Taliban-ruled days. Indeed,18 years later, the US is caught between thecoward-enemy binary, with the Talibanspokesman Za-bihullah Mujahid announc-ing, “As per the US-Taliban agreement, ourmujahideen will not attack foreign forcesbut our operations will continue against theKabul administration forces.” Moreover, asthe Trump administration has deliberate-ly concealed two written annexes of the dealfrom the public, much remains in the realmof speculation regarding the details of thepact. This would lead one to make assess-ments, whether or not the Taliban is liv-ing up to the end of the bargain, which isalmost impossible.

The US Secretary of State MikePompeo’s latest dash to Kabul to reconcilewarring parties in Afghanistan, to form aunity Government and begin intra-Afghanistan talks, did not see any progress.However, the Trump administration’sthreat of slashing $1 billion in assistance toAfghanistan has yielded some result withthe Ghani Government and the Talibanagreeing to prisoner-swap, starting March31. There has been little progress on theissue of two parallel Governments inKabul. As the US is dealing with one of theworst pandemics in its history right now,its resolve to leave Afghanistan in the next14 months is going to further strengthen.To this end, there are a few questions thatneed clear answers from India’s point ofview. What does the emerging situationmean for peace in Afghanistan and the larg-er regional stability in the region? How willthe resultant geopolitical and geostrategicspace in Afghanistan be used by externalpowers? What should be India’s role in anew Afghanistan, where the Taliban hasgained renewed legitimacy?

Depicting a change from its earlier

stance, New Delhi welcomedthe pact between the US and theTaliban. During his first foreigntrip, Indian Foreign SecretaryHarsh Vardhan Shringla reachedKabul for a two-day visit and mettop Afghan political leaders a daybefore the US-Taliban peaceagreement was signed in Qataron February 29. The IndianAmbassador to Qatar, PKumaran, was also an invitee ofthe Qatari Government to thesigning ceremony.

In November 2018, twoIndian representatives participat-ed, non-officially, in the Moscowchapter of the Afghan peacetalks, which included a high-levelrepresentation from the Taliban.Besides the fact that it doesn’twant to be in a camp opposite tothe US, an increasingly close part-ner of India in global endeavours,there is an apprehension in NewDelhi about being left out of theprocesses that are shapingAfghanistan’s politics if the lattercontinues strategic distancingfrom the Taliban.

Pakistan’s role as one of thefacilitators in bringing the Talibanto the negotiating table has fur-ther shrunk New Delhi’s diplo-matic heft, apropos Afghanistanat the global high table. As such,there are signs of greater skin inthe game in Afghanistan forIndia to pre-emptively deal withan emerging politico-strategicdynamic over there.

Afghanistan has come fullcircle — first the ouster of theTaliban Government, then ademocratic Afghan Governmentwith security force, to the return

of the Taliban as a legitimatepolitical player. Despite theAmericans calling it an agree-ment “between the IslamicEmirate of Afghanistan, which isnot recognised by the US,” thereis no denying the fact that thepeace deal has brought a sense oflegitimacy to the Taliban. Thiscompels a shift in New Delhi’sAfghan strategy.

There are at least three fac-tors that point to India’s shiftingpolicies in Afghanistan, albeitwithout an endgame. First, India’simproved relations with the USand its increasing convergenceswith Washington have left littleroom for it to be on a side that’svehemently opposed to the latter.More so when China is becom-ing a key player in Afghanistan.US President Donald Trump,during his recent visit to India, issaid to have solicited supportfrom New Delhi for the Talibandeal. Second, America’s with-drawal from Afghanistan tacitlythrusts a greater regional respon-sibility on India. This is not justin correspondence to the emerg-ing regional expectations on thepart of Afghanistan but also a pal-pable realisation in its scheme ofregional leadership. Finally, hav-ing a greater skin in the game forIndia in Afghanistan, albeit withdeliberate moderations in itsrole over there, seems to be thebest option for New Delhi as thechoice is between being there andbeing left out.

India’s role in Afghanistansince 2001 has largely beenfocussed on the civilian recon-struction of the war-torn coun-

try, with involvement in thesecurity sector limited to train-ing Afghan officers in Indian mil-itary institutions, and a ratherrestrained willingness to supplymilitary platforms and equip-ment. Owing to recent develop-ments, questions over the natureof India’s role in Afghanistan arebeing acutely debated in theIndian strategic community.

The Ghani-led AfghanGovernment in Kabul has bare-ly emerged from a divided elec-tion result and is faced with anuphill task in terms of thrashingout the future of the country withthe Taliban, which has steadfast-ly refused to recognise its legiti-macy, calling it a puppet of the USGovernment. Much is also con-tingent on the release of theremaining 3,500 Taliban fightersas promised by the GhaniGovernment. Therefore, whileNew Delhi, Washington andKabul may still call for anAfghan-owned and Afghan-ledpeace process, it will be naïve notto consider the return of a full-fledged violence by the Taliban.

For India, the most perti-nent question is: What kind ofleverage has Pakistan gained inthe entire gamble, in exchange forits role in the US-Taliban talks,given its influence over theTaliban leadership and intentionsto maintain strategic depth in thatcountry? Pakistan’s regaining ofthe “strategic depth” runs counterto all efforts to establish an influ-ential Indian presence inAfghanistan.

The recent heinous attack ata gurudwara in Kabul that killed

28 Sikhs portrays the complexi-ty of the challenge for India inAfghanistan as the only legitimatebacker of the elected AfghanGovernment even as the USpurposefully recedes. If Indiacontinues to guard its stakes, irre-spective of the nature of the nextGovernment over there, it shouldbrace for a long resistance andfight with the Pakistani deep state.As was evident in the gurudwaraattack, Pakistan will intensifythe use of the Haqqani networkand other terrorist factions thatit has a leverage on, as a front toattack India.

The India-Afghanistanstrategic partnership, amongother things, is based on a res-olute Afghan Government inKabul. At this juncture, with thecertainty that the Taliban willreturn to the corridors of powerin some form or the other, it is ano-brainer to conclude that NewDelhi needs dexterity than everbefore. Add to this, the complexpicture of China, which hasshown its willingness to invest inAfghanistan. The US pullout,therefore, can be an opportuni-ty for India to fill the strategic gap.But to do this effectively, it wouldeither require an enhanced secu-rity apparatus in Kabul, whetherby partnering with another coun-try or by itself. Both will havetremendous and long-drawnrepercussions.

(Vivek Mishra is deputy direc-tor, KIIPS, Bhubaneswar, andresearch fellow, ICWA, New Delhi.Monish Tourangbam is assistantprofessor Manipal University,Karnataka)

#�!���)�����*����&�+!)*,�������(�������������������������-�./��������������*��������������� ��������

���� �� 012*�(34 ������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������������������� ������(������������������ �"��������������������������� �����������������������������#����������������������� 5�4������������������������������������������ �������(������������������������0���������&�

���������������������������� �������/�/5��������������6�36�����������%���������*���������� �������� ��������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������7������������������������*���������� ������������������ �������������������������������������������� �������������������������0�������������������������������� ��������������� �������������������������� ��������*����������������� ����������� ������������������� ���7�����%�������&�������������������3�.5������������������������������������������0���������&�������������� ��������*����&����(��������� ������������������������ ������*��� ����������������������*����������� ��������8�������������� ��� ������������������������������������������(���������#������������������� �� �� ��������� ��� ����� ������� � ����� 9���� ������������� � ���� ��������:����������������������������������������������������������(� ����*����&�������������������������������������������������������������*���"������� ����������������������������������������� ��������������������� ��������������������������������������(�����������(������������������������� ����������������������������� (�������;5;3�����������8�� ���������� ������������������������������������� �� ���������������������������$��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��

7�����!)*������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ *������� ���������%�������9�����#��+%9#,������� � ��%������������������������������������������� ������(����������������������������������������������7������������������������ ��;5;5�����������������������������������$���������������(������������������������������������������������7������� ����������������������������� �������������7������ ��������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������#��������!)*&���������������������*����� ���������*�������������������������������

#������������������� �<��������������(������ �������� ������ �� *���� ����=����� 3> ��� 8���� ;-� ��� ��

%������� �� �� ��� �� ���� ��� �� ��������������9�������������������������(�� �� ���������#����������������������(����������������� ��0���������(������012*�(34�������������������������(����������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������#�������������������������(����������������� �����������������

*���������������� ���������������������������������������(���������������������������������$���8������ ������8�������������������������������������� ���1���������0���8��������������������9������������������� ����������������������������������������������0����*���������������������������������(������������������������ ����������������������������� ��������������������������������������1�����0���8��������?����&�$����� �2��� ����������9���������������� ���������� ����������������������������������������?����&�����������������������������������������(�������������������� ��������(���������������� �������������:�������0��������������2��� ��%�����������������;5�555��������������������������������������� �����������������������������������������������(����������� ��������� �������������9��������� ����� ����������������������������������������������������������?������������������������ ������������������������������#������������� ��������������������������������������������������������@��2��� ��%�������������� ������������������������������ �������������������������������9�������������������������(���&�������������������������������9���������#�������?������%������������������������������������������������ ������������������012*�(34��*�����������������(�� ����������������(��������*����������(�������;/A.�������������������������������(��������������������������������������������������������������"�������������*������������������������������������������355��655������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������#����������������� ��������������������(� ��� �� ���� ���� ������� ��� �� ����� �� ���� ������ #� %����%���������!����������������������)����������9���&������������������ �������������������� ��������������������������������(������������������������ �������� ����B�����������0��������������9������$��������9������������������������������������������ �������������� ����9�������

8�������8�����)������)�������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9��������������������������������(����������������������������������������1�����0���8������ ���$�������� ���������� ���(� ����������������������������������"���������������������������(����������������������������������*������������ �������9�������C����#������������������(�������������������������������������*����������������������������������������*�������������������������������������(�����������������������������7�������������������

�������������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Total lockdown” (March 26).The 21-day lockdown to counterthe Coronavirus pandemic comeswith the crippling effect of thou-sands of people losing their jobs.Daily wage earners and those dri-ving autos and taxis have to stayat home. They will find it hard tomake ends meet. At present, wecannot judge how the spread ofthe disease will affect the econo-my but what is sure is that falloutswill be severe. The Government,too, cannot be blamed entirely forthis. For, we are in the midst of aunique emergency, one we havenever seen before. The bailoutplans of the Reserve Bank of Indiaas well as the Finance Ministermay not be enough. Some busi-ness sectors need direct support.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

��������������

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Total lockdown” (March 26).The outbreak of Coronavirushas impacted the common man’sdaily activities even as the econ-

omy is threatening to slip into arecession. Amid the lockdowncall given by the Government tostrictly stay indoors and staycalm, this is an opportunity forthe people to build deep bondswith their family members andcherish the value of relationships.

It is now the duty and responsi-bility of every family member notto step out and respect therestrictions laid down by theGovernment to prevent furtherspread of the pandemic.

Varun DambalBengaluru

�������������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Total lockdown” (March 26). Farfrom questioning what concreteaction was being taken to stop thecontagion, why is our health infra-

structure in a mess with an allo-cation of less than two per cent ofthe GDP? Why were adequate pre-ventive measures not taken earli-er in spite of the outbreak of thedisease in many other countries?Yet, the Prime Minister urgedIndians to beat plates and ring bellsin “honour” of those renderingyeoman service in times of crisis.People did answer his call. GullibleIndians marched out to their bal-conies and the streets with plates,pots, pans, bells and what not,making a mockery of the idea ofsocial distancing.

Rightly has a reputed journal-ist quipped that we have won theWorld Championship of Stupidity.As such, the directive to stay athome does not hold water. Thoseforced to venture outside out ofneed are being harassed on socialmedia. It seems that while thecredit for any success goes to thePrime Minister, the failures areattributed to the common people.If people clanging utensils trulyrevered doctors, they would nothave forgotten Kafeel Khan, whois languishing in jail.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

; 5 ; � � � � � = � ; 5 ( ( � 7 8

!!! ��#��&#�"((' ��.����1��(*���;����)���������I :�������)'��������I �������*���;����)�������;

���� �������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

�*

���������������� ���!

�4�"�+,�

5�6��7-%�,�.'/��

3����������������)��������������1�����������%���������������������������������������������������������������1���������������%��������0����������������$�����)�����������1�����

����"��)���%������(�������������������(���(��1�����*�������������������)��������������������������������������������������������������������)��������"��)*

�&.�,&� 789�$���:�J&���..�0�������

,�����(�����������)������)�%�����*�0������)�)�%�����1������������%*���������������������������%�����)��������������������(������%�����1�������������%*

$+'7J,�����(�-�����

����������������+ ��������(�%1������������������������� ����+ ���������������1��������������(������������������������������������������������������*

���&�*���7�*�.�&+JK��A�����

� % � . 0 / " - �

� � - - � , � - % � -- + � � � 0 " - % ,

���������������������������������

'�����������)�������9��++�7*+';�'&��7<=8,��)$'8�

(�!!"�#��!

9� ��!��������� ��� ����������! ��'���� ��!����� ���� "" ���� ����� !��"��!���������� ��������� ��

9� �4���������� ����"�������� ����������� ��������������� ��� ����!� ���������

����������������������������L���������(����M�N.����5?O*������������$����������)���������%�������������5����)����(������������������������������

��������������%�����������������*���������P���������������������������������������*��������(������������%���������������������)���*���������������(������%��������1������������������������%�������*��%��������1�%��������������1�1��������������%����������(����%���������(�������������������������������������������������)��������)�����������(����������)������(���1)������������)�������������������4%�����*/��������������)��������������)�����������(��*�

3�����������������������1���������������*�2%������������������������%����)�����)������+�����&��������������%�������������������(�����������*9���(��������������������������%��������������������������������*�.��)� �����&������������(��@�������������0��%��+����'����������'%� �1����������%���������������%�������������������%���������������%�����1��*� ������� ����&�������������������������)���%�������1�����������������(���������������������*�&���������������������8*8������������%�����%�����������%������%����������)����

%�����1��������������(�����%�����������%1���%����*�������)�������������������)����������������%������%���������)�����1�������������������������������*������������%����������(���������������������������%�������1%���������1������������������*�����/"��������������76��������������������������������������%������������������%���)����������������*�����&�����������%�1%)�����%���%���������������1%�������������������)*����������������)�������������1��������%�������������%��������1%�����������������������������������������*�

�#>�+�����������

(����+������#�

�����Q��������������%�1������������������%�������1�������������������������%���%�1��*�������)� ���������%����������������������������������������*

�,-�&�+���$7�+,79J-� ���&�%1�

Page 7: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

��!�: �����

���?���( ��������������?�������(��!��!��@� ����"��!��� ����"������� ����A)����� ��

"���!������� ����� �(��!��! ��������"����"")�B������� � ����

(!����!������� ��� ������

�����2��"������!�����! ����� ��������" ���� ������!����"���!�����������!��������2��!�������! ��� ��������)B��� �� ����� ������!����

8��6��%�.-�,8��6��

In his address to the nation on March 19, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi announced the set-ting up of an Economic Response Task Force

(ERTF) under the Union Finance Minister (FM),Nirmala Sitharaman to come up with a packageof measures to alleviate the problems faced byindustries, sectors, businesses and workers due tothe economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

The most seriously affected sectors, such asaviation, transport, hospitality, tourism, retail,micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),are looking for a host of concessions such as addi-tional interest subvention (for instance, MSMEsare demanding three-five per cent over andabove the two per cent that they are already get-ting), moratorium on repayment of loans and inter-est dues, relaxing the repayment schedules and lib-eralising the norms for declaring a loan a non-per-forming asset (NPA). At present, a loan is classi-fied as a NPA if it is not paid within 90 days andnow the demand is for increasing this to 180 days.

The industries are also seeking reduction inpolicy rate, the interest rate charged by theReserve Bank of India (RBI) on loans given tobanks, by 50 basis points and reduction in the CashReserve Ratio (CRR) to inject more liquidity intothe economy and so on.

However, the worst-affected are tens of mil-lions in the “informal” sector such as street ven-dors, craftsmen, construction workers, domesticworkers, agricultural labourers, the self-employedand so on. They are in need of immediate finan-cial relief and in substantial measure. Whatshould be the relief amount per person? What willbe its impact on the Budget?

India’s working population is about 40 crore.Of this, 94 per cent or 37.6 crore are in the infor-mal sector. The national minimum wage of aninformal worker is approximately �175 per day or�4,550 per month (26 working days) and when s/hedoesn’t get to work, s/he loses this much income.For 37.6 crore workers, this comes to about�1,70,000 crore per month. If the lockdown con-tinues for three months, the loss will be �5,10,000crore. This should be the quantum of DirectIncome Support (DIS). What has the FM offered?

On March 24, for the industries and business-es, Sitharaman announced reliefs which are large-ly “procedural.” These include extending the datefor filing returns (income-tax, Goods and ServicesTax, customs, excise and statutory filings under theCompanies Act), reducing interest chargeable ondelayed payments, exemption from penalty,increasing threshold of insolvency filing and so on.She also indicated that the financial package foraffected sectors will be separately notified basedon recommendations of the ERTF.

On March 26, apart from providing insurancecover worth �50 lakh for doctors, nurses, para-medics and sanitation workers, she announced thePM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme (PMGKS) aimed atproviding immediate assistance — in both cash andkind — to millions of poor. The scheme entails atotal expenditure commitment of �1,70,000 crore.

The package includes giving five kg ofrice/wheat per person per month for “free” toaround 80 crore people through the PublicDistribution System (PDS) plus one kg of preferredand region-specific choice of pulse per householdfor three months (this is in addition to the five kgof rice/wheat already being given to them permonth); ex-gratia of �500 per month for threemonths to Women Jan Dhan account holders tobenefit 20 crore women; release first installmentof �2,000 under the PM-KISAN scheme to 8.69

crore farmers in the first week of April;an ex-gratia amount of �1,000 for thenext three months in two instalments tothree crore widows and senior citizens;free gas cylinders to 8.3 crore womenUjjawala scheme beneficiaries for threemonths; and an increase of �20 in wagerate of workers under the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MNREGA) to benefitfive crore people.

For construction workers, StateGovernments have been directed to usethe welfare fund for building and con-struction labourers (it has around�31,000 crore) to help people face eco-nomic disruption because of the lock-down.

Likewise, the funds available underthe District Mineral Fund (DMF) can beused for testing activities, medical screen-ing and providing healthcare to fight thepandemic.

Besides, under the Deen DayalNational Livelihood Mission (DDNLM),Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) willget collateral-free loans up to �20 lakh(up from �10 lakh earlier) to benefit630,000 SHGs.

For the organised sector, theGovernment will pay the Employees’Provident Fund (EPF) contribution ofboth the employer and the employee or24 per cent for three months. However,this is only for those establishments withup to 100 employees, 90 per cent of themearning less than �15,000 per month.

Further, the Employees’ ProvidentFund Organisation (EPFO) regulationwill be amended so that workers canwithdraw up to 75 per cent for contin-gency expenditure as non-refundableadvance or three months of wages inadvance, whichever is less. This isexpected to benefit 4.8 crore workers.

Of the 10 items, payment under PM-KISAN is merely a rehash of what is

already being done. The proposed relieffor construction workers and healthcarefrom the respective funds is not amenableto any precise quantification.

The increase in loan limit forWomen SHGs is not a cash transfer orgrant. The 24 per cent contribution toEPF may sound attractive but is ham-strung by a rider; thus, even if the num-ber of employees earning less than�15,000 per month is 89 per cent of thetotal, the concerned establishment won’tbe eligible. The change of EPFO regula-tion merely allows the worker to with-draw his own money.

The remaining items offer some con-crete financial benefit. Let us attempt toarrive at a number by putting relevantpieces together.

For a woman Jan Dhan accountholder, who is also the head of the house-hold, the value of 35 kg rice (for a fam-ily of five people at five kg per person)and one kg pulse is �955 (market priceof rice: �35 per kg and pulse �80 per kg);�500 ex-gratia; �500 value of subsidisedgas cylinder and �600 increase in wageunder MNREGA. All put together, thebenefit comes to �2,555 per month.

This is a good sum, though far belowthe amount required to offset the loss ofincome resulting from the lockdown.Besides, an overwhelming numbers ofworkers in the informal sector will be leftout; their benefit may at best be restrict-ed to five kg of free wheat/rice and onekg pulse (that too subject to the capabil-ity of the existing distribution networkto supply these grains to the needy).

However, we should also not beoblivious of the fiscal implications of evena limited package. The nerve-shatteringCOVID-19 has come at a time when theGovernment is staring at a big shortfallin tax collection. As it is, at �15,75,000crore, the target for 2020-21 (increase of31 per cent over the likely actual during

2019-20 at �12,00,000 crore) — fixedprior to the crisis — was highly unreal-istic. Post-crisis, this may look like day-dreaming. With the inevitability of glob-al recession and lack of market appetite,the target for proceeds from disinvest-ment of its shareholding in Public SectorUndertakings (PSUs) i.e. �2,10,000 crore(a major source of non-tax revenue) isclearly out of reach.

Some experts have suggested that theGovernment may relax the fiscal deficit(FD) target for 2020-21 by one percent-age point to release about �2,00,000 crore.But this can’t be viewed in isolation fromthe existing fiscal position. If, deferredsubsidy payments (DSPs), extra-bud-getary resources (EBRs) are included,already the FD should be six per cent (asagainst the budgeted 3.5 per cent). Thesteep decline in both tax and non-tax rev-enue (courtesy the Coronavirus) willincrease it further.

On top of this, a further relaxationof one per cent to meet expenditure com-mitments under PMGKS will lead to afiscal catastrophe. We may defeat theCoronavirus eventually but the vastmajority of the poor will be crippled byresulting high inflation (for the first timein decades, the Centre is asking the RBIto buy its bonds which in plain wordsmeans “print new currency” and isinflationary), high interest rates, high costof capital to industry, plummeting realwages and so on.

All this points to a dire need forexpediting reforms in all crucial areas viz.food, fertilisers, fuel, power, irrigation,credit, taxation, banking and PSUs so asto result in a “sustainable” reduction inspending and achieve the desired buoy-ancy in tax revenue. But, for now, it seemsall reforms have been put in the deepfreezer.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst)

;��� ��! �"��� �� �� "�! ���� �������� ������� �<'��� �+����"��������+���� ��#��� �� !��������� !��"" ���! ����� � �� � "�������� ��

�)��� �12 " , � - � % � � � .

7*.�"#%��*"#%(��# (�"(9('�+(-�'(

7�5�����7���3�.

�����C������������������������%��%�1���(���������������������)�������������������

��1�������%���)�����

����5 '��-�

,�3#�#-��3# ,�+!��"! ��0��2#��2!����+ ��/

�,#�/� �"!�.'!��"���0 ��/#�#0�"�!�.��#�'"�@"&#*��,#�

0#-�#� ,"��#-�0&���������,"

��.#�"��"���.#3,#0��,#

&��#-0.#0��� �"-�0&�"��"�2�& ,�-�/"!!��0��"K

��!!#����0*" ����� ��"�

��D�9D�666��-�-#��,#��"-&#��/�-

5656�5��N�0�-#" #�/�7��'#-��#0���#-��,#�!�@#!<"��+"!��+-�0&

56���56�"���5�66�666��-�-#OJ�/�K#��'-��-����,#��-� � �J�3"

,�&,!<+0-#"!� ���*

'� ���-� � ���,� ."<�!��@�!�@#�"<�-#".�0&

7��������������������� �����������������012*�(34�������������������� �����"�������������������������#�������������� �� ����������������

����0�����������������������������������������������(�����������������������������9����������������� ����������(��������������012*�(34���������;/�>D-�������������6�/4�;;5�����������������������������������������(���� ���� �#������������������� ����������������������������0���������������)������$���8������)����=����������������������������������

*����������������������"������������������(����������������������������#���������������������(������������ ������������������������������������������(�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������(������E����������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������� �

%���0����&�������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ��� �� ������������������������012*�(34�������������(��������������#�����������0����&������������� ��������(�������������������������������������������������������������������E���������������� ������������������ ������� ������������������������������������������(������������������#������"����������� �������������� �������������������������� �����������������(����������������������������

0�������������������������������������������������������������������������������)���������(����������� �������������������������������������������������������)��������������������������������������������0����������������������������������������)��������������������������0���������������������� ��������������!����������������� ��������������������������(������������������������������ F������������������������������������������� (������������������(�������0���������������F����������������������������

E���������������������������������������������(����� �������������������������������0��������������������������&������������ ������ ������������������������0����������������������������������������������(�����������������7���� �����2������ ����������������������"���������������������������������B��������(�������������7�����������E��������������������������������������012*�(34�������������������������(�����������������������&������

*����������������������������������������������(�������� ������������������������ �������������������������������� ������������������� �������������������������(������������ ��������������������������������������������(������ �0���������������������������������3�555(�������(�������������(��(��(������������������������������� ��9������������������������������ ���������������������������������������������������������������������#� ������ ������������������������������������������������(��������������������������� ������������������

0�����������������������(������������ ��� ����7�����������������������������������������������������������������������7�����012*�(34���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������#�����������B������������(�� ��������������������������������������������������������

*��������� ��������������0�������������������������������������������������������0�����#��������������������������������������������������������������(����� �������������������������������������������� &��������E����������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������

*��������������������������������������������������������� �� )������#��������������������������������������������������� ��������������������(��������������������������

#�0��������������������0����&����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������� ����������������������������������������������������� ����������(�������������&���������������������������

+����������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������,

It is often said that marketing is thelink between (a segment of) soci-ety’s needs and its economic

response patterns. However, onemajor group of customers that haslargely been ignored by marketers ispersons with disabilities (PwDs) ordivyangs.

When the corporate strategyguru CK Prahalad exhorted compa-nies in the late 20th century to alle-viate poverty and profit from the“Bottom of the Pyramid”, the target-ting horizon for corporates widened

significantly. Thus was opened a newfrontier which corporates had notthought of till then. On similar lines,today it might be worth looking atspecial needs groups like PwDs asprofitable target segments in afocussed manner.

According to the World Bank, thesize of this market is in the range ofapproximately 15 per cent of the glob-al population. That is to say, approx-imately one billion people on the plan-et are in dire need of products that canhelp solve their problems of fitting in,holding down jobs, or simply surviv-ing with dignity. In India, the num-ber of divyangs is nearly 2.7 crore. Addto this another 150 million senior cit-izens who also face varying degreesof disabilities and impairments as theyage. A further impetus comes fromthe knowledge that as lifespansincrease due to better healthcarefacilities, the proportion of senior cit-izens will only increase in the future.It might, therefore, be safe to surmise

that it is a lucrative-enough market topursue with earnestness. Are mar-keters scanning the demographicand divyang data well enough toaggressively chase this segment?Could it be a new frontier for earlystarters in this domain?

Intervention experts who workwith PwDs have time and againexhorted industry doyens to designand develop assistive devices that willhelp an individual to do somethingthat they otherwise might be inca-pable of doing. It often helps peopleovercome a handicap.

Some examples of assistive tech-nologies are: Aids to help mobility likewheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes,crutches, prosthetic devices, andorthotic devices. Devices that helphearing-impaired individualshear/hear more clearly. Aids to assistcognitive functions in people withmemory, attention or informationprocessing challenges. Computerhardware and software that enable

individuals with mobility and senso-ry impairments use computers andmobile devices. Tools to help learn-ers with disabilities participate in edu-cational activities with the help ofautomatic page turners, book holdersand adapted pencil grips. Also, closedcaptioning via apps to help peoplewith hearing problems watch visualcontent.

It can also include physical mod-ifications in the built environment,including ramps, grab bars, widerdoorways to enable access to build-ings, businesses/workplaces and yel-low strips to outline safe walkingareas. Plus, high-performance mobil-ity devices made with lightweightmaterials that enable divyangs toplay sports and be generally activephysically. Also, adaptive switches andutensils to allow those with limitedmotor skills to prepare food, consumeit and accomplish other related activ-ities, are the need of the hour.

PwDs have the same range of

aspirations, preferences and attitudetowards brands and products as peo-ple without. And yet this niche mar-ket is underserved. While the bigcompanies focus on the vast majori-ty of the market, smaller firms andentrepreneurs will do well to engagewith this niche segment.

People like to buy from peoplewho look like them. So divyangs maybe engaged in advertisements toPwDs. Marketers should test-marketproducts on PwDs and their familymembers or care givers to obtain pre-cise feedback. Some researchers con-tend that when companies marketingto PwDs have divyang employees intheir organisation, it helps in connect-ing with the target group as having avaried customer base appears to bemore acceptable to PwD customers.Marketers must also exhibit genuineinterest and concern for the PwD seg-ment by engaging with disability-ori-ented organisations and non-profitsin their activities. Marketing to PwDs

needs appreciation of the fact that dis-abilities are varied and a one-size-fits-all approach will be counterproduc-tive. For instance, a visually-chal-lenged person’s needs would be quitedifferent from that of a mobility-impaired one.

Marketers would also do well tobear in mind that instead of trying tobring new products, tweaking exist-ing ones to improve accessibilitycould be quicker. For instance, abraille smartphone for the visually-impaired; Artificial Intelligence- basedsoftware that converts speech into textfor the hearing-impaired; carsdesigned to allow wheelchair- boundpeople to enter the vehicle directlywith the wheelchair and then drive sit-ting in the wheelchair itself; voice/ges-ture-activated home appliances for themobility-impaired; medicine boxeswith light/sound signals to help elder-ly and memory loss individualsremember to take/keep track of pre-scribed drug schedules; spectacles-

mounted laser pointers for comput-er keyboards for cerebral palsypatients and so on.

There is an acute need for “assis-tive technology products”, much morethan what marketers have cared toexplore. With Government policieslike Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan(Accessible India Campaign) inmotion since 2015, marketers coulddeliver a better quality of life for PwDsbecause there is now a structuredapproach and framework available.Importantly, such marketing must notbe pursued as a charity or philan-thropic activity.

Divyangs value their self-esteemand personal dignity just as much asany other person. All that marketersneed to do is deliver value in the formof access to an equal lifestyle at a rea-sonable cost and there could befound an ocean of loyal and proudcustomers among the PwDs.

(The writer is Professor, Marketing,Great Lakes Institute of Management)

���� ���"�������������������� �������&##��$ ��' ()���(��*����������%����#%+�(�+ #,��%*��$��-�('��-� ..������� *��/, #�#%-���0#�� �� �(� ��* 1#��.����

���������� *���$�0�2�,#��-%*��$,3��*,'1�(���-�#�0 #� *��4(�,��.,���'�(�

:�6� ��-+�3

�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

!!! ��#��&#�"((' ��.

Page 8: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�����4�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

������������������� �

� /������'�����.�������#��%���'��������������������������/����)���������R�$������)����R%���������������%��������������%���)���������������������1��R������%��R���������������)

� 2������,������ �������)�.���,�����(�1����������������������(���+@�&������������1������������������������������������/����)

� /������&�������������/����)�������%������������������%��������������%��������%������������1)�������������%��������������������������������� �%���"�������#������1����������1�������������� ���!��(�*�3����������������������������1�����%�������������������������������������������������%�������������)�����������������������)������1���������%�

� �������������%�������������������������1���������)������������%���������������4%����������%�������������������������������./������@���������&������������/����)*R����������������������������������������R�����������1��������������566����������������1������������������������������������������1������

� A����C������)�1������������%���1������1%������������������������������1�%������������()��1���%�����������������%*���()��&��*�<%��(�@��(��������������)��(���������)C��7���������������������)�������������(������)�����������������������1���(�������$�������������%����������

� ���!��(�C����������2%������������������)����������������/����)�������(������)�������������������������������������������%������������������������������%���������*�����������������������(������������������1����1������%��������(�������������������������P��������������������������)����@���)

� ��������C���������������������1�������������)�����������������&���������C���������R���������R��������%���)C����������������������������������������1������>9

�������� ��������

��� ���

����� 2#�A�0&;3" ,�0&��0

Chinese President Xi Jinpingon Friday assured full sup-

port to his US counterpartDonald Trump in fighting thecoronavirus as Americaemerged as the next majorepicentre of the pandemic butunderlined that infectious dis-eases did not recognise anyborder or race.

Trump spoke to Xi overtelephone, days after the USpresident angered Beijing byreferring to the coronavirus as

"Chinese virus" and hisSecretary of State MikePompeo said China's rulingCommunist Party poses a "sub-stantial threat" to Americans'health and their way of life.

President Xi took a phonecall from President Trump, theChinese Foreign Ministry saidin a statement.

During the conversation,Xi stressed that since theCOVID-19 outbreak began,Beijing has acted in an "open,transparent and responsiblemanner and provided timely

updates on the outbreak to theWorld Health Organization(WHO) and relevant coun-tries including the UnitedStates".

After their telephonic talk,Trump tweeted, "Just finisheda very good conversation withPresident Xi of China.Discussed in great detail theCoronaVirus that is ravaginglarge parts of our Planet.

"China has been throughmuch & has developed a strongunderstanding of the Virus. Weare working closely together.

Much respect!" Trump wrote,hours after he said the WHO ofhas "very much sided" withChina on the coronavirus cri-sis, asserting that many are

unhappy with the "very unfair"praise by the global healthagency on Beijing's handling ofthe COVID-19 outbreak inthe country.

����� 3" ,�0&��0

The US now has more coro-navirus cases than any

other country after more than16,000 COVID-19 infectionswere reported there in a singleday, taking the number ofpatients in America to over85,600, according to JohnsHopkins University data.

Globally, a total of 24,057people have died due to thenovel coronavirus with Italystanding at the top with 8,215deaths, followed by Spain(4,365) and China (3,169), thevarsity figures stated.

America leads with 85,653COVID-19 cases, followed byChina with 81,782 and Italywith 80,589 infections, the datashowed. According toWorldometer, the website thatrecords confirmed cases ofinfection and deaths globally,the US by Thursday night had85,088 individuals infectedwith coronavirus, of which16,877 were added just in a sin-gle day. A week ago, the num-ber of confirmed cases were8,000. It has dangerouslysurged 10 times in the span ofa week.

With at least 263 deaths,the US also reported mostnumber of fatalities due to thecontagion on a single day onThursday. At least 1,290Americans have died due tocoronavirus so far, the websitereported. Over 2,000 coron-avirus cases were reportedly ina serious condition. The num-ber of confirmed cases as wellas the deaths due to COVID-19 are likely to increase sub-stantially in the coming days.

In China, where the out-break originated in December,3,287 people have died due tocoronavirus pandemic while

Italy has recorded 8,215 suchdeaths. US President DonaldTrump attributed the spike inthe confirmed cases to thelarge-scale testing of the dead-ly disease.

"I think it's a tribute to ourtesting," he said, adding "no oneknows what the numbers are inChina". Vice President MikePence said it was important forhospitals and labs testing thesamples to report back to theCentre for Disease Controland Federal EmergencyManagement Agency so thatthe Government has full visi-bility to provide the Presidentwith the best counsel.

The Abbott Laboratorysubmitted to Food and DrugAdministration a nationalrequest for approval of a point-of-care test, he said, adding thatthis would be the kind of testwhere one could go to a doc-tor and get the test done andhave the results in no morethan 15 minutes.

In an in interview with theCNN, Anthony Fauci,America's top infectious dis-ease expert said it was difficultto tell where the pandemic willgo and how long it will last inthe US. This is the relative per-centage of asymptomatic infec-tion — and it "influences every-thing," he said.

It influences transmission,contact tracing, and the mea-sures that the authorities needto take. That's why the mostimportant thing to do now is toconduct widespread testingand collect more data, heasserted.

He called for ratcheting upthe current level of contacttracing and testing. "We've gotto do it better than we are now,"he said. According to DeborahBrix, coordinator for the WhiteHouse Coronavirus Task Force,55 per cent of all new casescontinue out of the New York— New York Metro area. Thisincludes New Jersey as well, shesaid, expressing concern overthe coronavirus spread. "Atthe same time, 19 of the 50states that had early cases, buthave persistently low level ofcases and at this point have lessthan 200 cases," she said.

Brix said the US had done5,50,000 tests so far. "We arestill running somewhere about14 per cent overall. That means86 per cent of the people withsignificant symptoms becauseremember you had to have afever and symptoms to gettested at this point. So still 86per cent are negative," she said.

These are really importantfacts for the American people,Brix said.

��� 0#3�<�-@�

President Donald Trump andelected leaders in New York

are clashing again over thedepth of the state's coronaviruscrisis. Meanwhile, the outbreakis taking its toll on the state'scivil servants, with the virusclaiming the lives of bus andtrain workers and a civilianemployee of the New YorkPolice Department.

There are more than 6,000hospitalised COVID-19patients in New York, withalmost 1,600 in intensive care.New York has logged a nation-high of 519 deaths, and hasmore than 44,000 confirmedcases.

Here are the latest coronavirusdevelopments in New York:

MORE HOSPITALSSOUGHT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo saidthe state wants to build four moretemporary hospitals in NewYork City within weeks, beforecoronavirus cases are projectedto peak. The state is seekingauthorization from the Trumpadministration to add 4,000beds in the Bronx, Brooklyn andQueens. The hospitals would beconstructed at a horse track, acity college, an expo centre anda cruise ship terminal.

The requested conversionsare part of the state's broadereffort to quickly increase NewYork's hospital capacity from53,000 beds to up to 140,000beds. The federal governmentis already constructing a hos-pital at a Manhattan conven-tion center and a Navy hospi-

tal ship is due to arrive Mondayin New York City, a globalhotspot of the outbreak. "Werelooking far and wide, very cre-ative, aggressive and finding allthe space that we can possiblyfind," Cuomo said.

PUBLIC SERVANTSFELLED BY VIRUS

The coronavirus outbreak istaking its toll on New York City'scivil servants. Two people whohelped keep New York movingduring the crisis, bus operatorOliver Cyrus, 61, and train con-ductor Peter Petrassi, 49, werekilled by the virus Thursday,according to their union.

Transport Workers UnionLocal 100 President Tony Utanocalled the two deaths in one day"a terrible and incredibly sadloss." He called transit workers

"true heroes" for continuing towork during the pandemic andhe demanded the MetropolitanTransportation Authority pro-vide transportation workerswith protective masks.

"Dedication and duty doesnot mean using transit workersas cannon fodder," Utano said.Fifty-year-old letter carrierRakkhon Kim died Wednesdayfrom COVID-19-related com-plications, according to theNational Association of LetterCarriers. Kim had deliveredmail for 23 years. He worked inthe Bronx and lived inNorthvale, New Jersey, accord-ing to the union.

The New York PoliceDepartment announced its firstcoronavirus death on Thursday. Dennis Dickson, adepartment janitor, died from

complications of the disease,Police Commissioner DermotShea said. Dickson worked forthe department since 2006 andspent 17 straight days cleaningup police headquarters afterSuperstorm Sandy in 2012.

The department, even as ithas been tasked with helpingpolice New York's social dis-tancing rules, also continues tosee a spike in absences. OnThursday, 3,674 officers calledin sick, accounting for about10% of the force. As ofThursday, 351 NYPD personnelhad tested positive for the virus.

The department's topcounterterrorism official,Deputy Commissioner JohnMiller, was hospitalizedThursday, awaiting test resultsafter experiencing symptomsconsistent with COVID-19.

TEHRAN: Standing over thestill body of an intubated 5-year-old boy wearing nothing but aplastic diaper, an Iranian healthcare worker in a hazmat suit andmask begged the public for justone thing: Stop drinking indus-trial alcohol over fears about thenew coronavirus.

The boy, now blind afterhis parents gave him toxicmethanol in the mistaken beliefit protects against the virus, isjust one of hundreds of victimsof an epidemic inside the pan-demic now gripping Iran.

Iranian media report near-ly 300 people have been killed

and more than 1,000 sickenedso far by ingesting methanolacross the Islamic Republic,where drinking alcohol isbanned and where those whodo rely on bootleggers. AnIranian doctor helping thecountry's Health Ministry toldThe Associated Press on Fridaythe problem was even greater,giving a death toll of around480 with 2,850 people sickened.

The poisonings come asfake remedies spread acrosssocial media in Iran, wherepeople remain deeply suspi-cious of the government afterit downplayed the crisis for

days before it overwhelmed thecountry.

"Other countries have onlyone problem, which is the newcoronavirus pandemic. But weare fighting on two frontshere," said Dr. HosseinHassanian, an adviser to Iran'sHealth Ministry who gave thehigher figures to the AP. "Wehave to both cure the peoplewith alcohol poisoning andalso fight the coronavirus."

For most people, the newcoronavirus causes mild ormoderate symptoms, such asfever and cough that clear upin two to three weeks. AP

C(����������)"�����������$"�������"�������

�������������!��������=>#�!� ��������������

?��"" ���� ����9��!(���"�)��"����"��������#�"�����*�������������

"��� '"-�

The coronavirus pandemichas killed 25,066 people,

with Europe accounting formost of the deaths, according toan AFP tally at 1430 GMTFriday based on official statistics.

Europe was the worst-hitcontinent with 17,314 fatalities.Italy had the highest numbersof deaths in the world at 8,165,followed by Spain (4,858) andChina (3,292).

At least 547,034 coron-avirus cases have been regis-tered around the world sinceDecember.

4:7�5:�,�5= �=7::�7@���13 ���

"��� ."�-��

The death toll in Spain soaredover 4,800 Friday after 769

people died in 24 hours, in whatwas a record one-day figure forfatalities in the country, the gov-ernment said.

Spain has the world's sec-ond-highest death toll afterItaly, and has so far suffered4,858 deaths, while the numberof cases jumped to 64,059.

Although the figuresshowed a daily increase of near-ly 8,000 new infections, the

uptick comes as Spain moves todramatically increase its rate oftesting, ordering millions ofnew kits from around the world.

Despite the increase, therate of new infections appearsto be slowing, registering a 14per cent increase comparedwith 18 per cent on Thursday.

Even so, the number ofdeaths over a 24-hour periodwas far higher than Italy, whichcounted 662 deaths in its lastupdate on Thursday night.Italy has so far suffered 8,165deaths as a result of the epi-

demic with 80,539 peopleinfected.

Until Thursday night, Italyhad registered the largest num-ber of declared cases until itwas overtaken by the UnitedStates, where 85,991 peoplehave now tested positive for thevirus. Spain implemented astringent nationwide lockdownon March 14 which will not belifted until at least April 11,with the latest figures raisinghope that the measures to curbthe virus were beginning totake effect.

�/6��� �������������������

"��� �#,-"0

Iran on Friday announced144 new deaths from the

novel coronavirus, bringingthe official number of fatalitiesto 2,378 in one of the world'sworst-hit countries.

"In the past 24 hours, we'vehad 2,926 new confirmed casesof COVID-19 infections acrossthe country," health ministryspokesman KianoushJahanpour said in a televisednews conference.

"This brings the overallconfirmed cases to at least32,332," he added, noting that

11,133 of those hospitalised sofar have recovered. Jahanpoursaid nearly 2,900 of thoseinfected are in a "severe" con-dition.

He said that the risingnumber of confirmed caseswas due to Iranians increas-ingly "self-declaring" symp-toms and undergoing testing.

The ministry has repeat-edly called on citizens to visita website and report potentialsymptoms.

The data, together withtheir phone number and ID, is used to identifypotential cases.

,�5= �=7::���(�(=7�1 B����8���58

4��4���#�"��� �� �� "������"����������������������� ��

"��� -�.#

Italy recorded a shocking spike in coronavirus deathson Friday with 969 new victims, the worst daily

record for any country since the pandemic began.The infection rate however continued its down-

ward trend, with the civil protection agency report-ing nearly 86,500 confirmed cases in Italy — a 7.4 per-cent increase, down from around 8.0 per cent in pre-vious days.

�=5:D ��'7�,(�5:�7(=� ��� �����"���0����������

����A������� ����� �-��� ��������������� ��8� ����-������������)� ������������ ������������������� ������#���� ��������������:>=%�!1?�������-����* ��� ��

Moscow: Russia's biggest tele-coms provider on Friday plead-ed with clients to stop sendingcoronavirus memes and viralvideos, as networks began tooverload as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

"Memes and keeping ingood spirits are important, but itis important to be responsibleabout using content online,"MTS president Alexei Kornyasaid in a statement on the com-pany's website.

"I'm not saying you shouldstop watching films online orparticipate in video conferencesfor work," he said. But he calledon Russians to "refrain fromsending around funny but 'heavy'videos via messengers to dozens

of contacts," straining the tele-coms infrastructure. MTS has 80million clients in Russia and hasseen a "considerable increase inthe load on the network," most-ly in large cities, particularlyMoscow, Kornya said. AFP

'������� ������-�$��� ����������� �������

����� 2#�A�0&

Pangolins that were smug-gled into China carry coro-

naviruses that are closely relat-ed to the one behind theCOVID-19 pandemic, accord-ing to a study which shedsmore light on the origins of thedeadly virus.

However, the study, pub-lished in the journal Nature, saidthe degree of similarity betweenthe virus in the small anteatermammals, and the one causingthe pandemic is not sufficient tosuggest that the animals are theintermediate hosts behind thecurrent outbreak.

According to theresearchers, including thosefrom The University of HongKong, the findings suggest that

pangolins are a second mam-malian host of coronaviruses.

They said the sale of pan-golins in wildlife marketsshould be strictly prohibited tominimise the risk of futurevirus transmission to humans.

While evidence suggeststhat bats may be the reservoirfor the pandemic causing virus,SARS-CoV-2, the researcherssaid the identity of intermedi-ate host animals — that couldhave facilitated its transfer tohumans — remains unknown.

A seafood market linked toearly cases of the recent out-break of respiratory diseasewas cleared out shortly after theoutbreak began, the scientistssaid, impeding the search forthe animal species that is thesource of the coronavirus.

'�����$"���)�����"�!��#��"����##���"���'�"��&�(���

��&�C, "���������(��������������������������������(���1������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3����,�����������P���������������/����)*�R��������������1�������������������������������4%���������������������������%����������������%�������������1����)�������������R�3,�������������"�������&��1��)�%�����������%��������������������&�����* ���

7:��� �B������ ��������������7���������B ��� ���� ���9�C�>

� � "�!"0�"

AGeorgia couple who trav-eled to India to adopt a

child have had to delay bring-ing their new daughter back tothe United States after Indianauthorities locked down thecountry because of the coron-avirus. Prime Minister,Narendra Modi, on Tuesdayannounced a three-week lock-down in the country of 1.3 bil-lion people, meaning that cit-izens and visitors alike mayonly leave their homes or hotelsfor food, medicine or otheressential needs.

The order is meant to keepthe virus from surging andoverwhelming an alreadystrained health care system, butit has also left Mike andWhitney Saville of Auburn,Georgia, with little hope of get-ting back home with theirdaughter Grace anytime soon.

The Savilles were sched-uled to leave the country onThursday. But they said the USEmbassy told them the daybefore that airlines were refus-ing to help evacuate them andhundreds of other US Citizens.

$����� #��� �������� �#����������4�������������� �

Page 9: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�����5�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

!&�����

������������������� �

����� 0#3��#!,�

Rubbishing rumours ofbranch closure, Financial

Services Secretary DebasishPanda on Friday said bankbranches are committed fornecessary services during thelockdown and there is noshortage of cash.

The Department ofFinancial Services requestedpeople not to believe rumoursof the closure of customer ser-vice bank branches.

“Customer service bankbranches are operational &will continue to provide ser-vices. Sufficient cash acrossbranches & ATMs! Don’t trustrumours of branch closures!Customers requested to staggerarrival at branches etc,” Pandasaid in a tweet.

Later in the day, the IndianBanks’ Association (IBA) alsodenied the rumours and saidthat about 1,05,988 branches

across the country are opera-tional. With the impact ofcoronavirus being felt acrossthe country, the aim of IBA andits member banks is to ensureuninterrupted banking ser-vices to customers.

“So, be rest assured that weare doing our best and extend-ing all the support you need, inthe best possible way we can.We will continue providingbanking services to our valuedcustomers, however we appealto everyone to visit the branchpremises only in case ofabsolute necessity. Our employ-ees are also facing the samechallenges that you all are andso, we are asking for your helptoo,” IBA said.

The banking industry asso-ciation made an appeal to cus-tomers asking them to avoidvisiting branches for non-essential services and makemost use of the mobile andonline banking channels.

����� .+.2"�

The country’s largest lenderState Bank of India (SBI) on

Friday said it has passed on theentire 75 basis points (bps) reporate cut announced by theReserve Bank of India.

The new rates, to be effec-tive from April 1, will be applic-able for its borrowers availingloans based on external bench-

mark-linked lending rate (EBR)and repo-linked lending rate(RLLR), the bank said in astatement.

The EBR has been reducedto 7.05 per cent per annumfrom 7.80 per annum, whileRLLR to 6.65 per cent perannum from 7.40 per annum.

The bank said EMIs on eli-gible home loan accounts(linked to EBR or RLLR) will

get cheaper by around �52 per�1 lakh on a 30-year loan.

In the seventh bi-monthlymonetary policy announcedon Friday, the RBI reduced therepo rate by 75 bps, the high-est cut in 15 years, to 4.40 percent from 5.15 per cent.

In March 2004, the RBIhad reduced repo rate by onepercentage point or 100 basispoints.

AFP � Madrid

International travel willlikely fall by 20-30 percent in2020 due to the novel coron-avirus pandemic, putting mil-lions of jobs in the globaltourism sector at risk, theWorld Tourism Organizationsaid Friday.

This revises sharply lowera forecast made on March 6 ofa decline of just 1.0-3.0 percentdue to the travel restrictions putin place to curb the spread ofthe disease and economic fall-out of the outbreak.

The drop in arrivals willlead to an estimated loss of$300-450 billion in interna-tional tourism receipts, almost one third of the $1.5trillion generated in 2019, theMadrid-based UN body said ina statement.

The UNWTO said it hadrevised its forecast to take intoaccount “the unparalleled

introduction of travel restric-tions across the world” butadded it “should be interpret-ed with caution in view of theextreme uncertain nature of thecurrent crisis.” The body hadpredicted at the beginning ofthe year that internationaltourism would grow by 3.0-4.0percent in 2020.

“Tourism is among thehardest hit of all economic sec-tors,” the body’s secretary gen-eral, Zurab Pololikashvili, saidin the statement, adding “it isclear” that millions of jobswithin the sector are at risk.

The UNWTO noted thatsmall and medium-sized busi-nesses make up around 80percent of the tourism sector,which “leads the way” in pro-viding jobs for women, youthsand rural communities.

By comparison interna-tional tourism arrivals declinedby 4.0 percent in 2009 duringthe global economic crisis and

by just 0.4 percent in 2003 afterthe outbreak of Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS)which killed 774 peopleworldwide, it added.

Governments around theworld have restricted travel asthey scramble to contain thespread of the disease which hasclaimed over 23,000 livesworldwide since it firstemerged in China late lastyear. More than three billionpeople around the world arecurrently living under lock-down measures.

Major cultural events andbusiness conferences have beencalled off to limit contactbetween people and airlineshave drastically cut back thenumber of flights they offer.

International tourismarrivals rose by 4.0 percent in2019 to 1.5 billion, with Francethe world’s most visited nation,followed by Spain and theUnited States.

New Delhi: DelhiDivision of NorthernRailways is working 24/7for the supply of essentialCommodities. Operationof freight trains is contin-uing while passenger trainservices are suspended inwake of coronavirus(COVID-19) commodities like foodgrains, salt, sugar, fruits & veg-etables, fertilisers etc.are being loaded at Railway terminals.

During the lockdown in the country, essential staff i.e. Locopilots, Station Masters, Controllers, Goods Clerks, Maintenancestaff like Trackman, etc. is deployed at various good sheds, sta-tions, control offices, etc. working on 24/7 basis to ensure thatthe supply of essential items for the nation does not gets affect-ed. These staff on duty are being provided with masks and san-itizers and have been advised to follow social distancing evenwhile on duty.

New Delhi: Moody’s InvestorsService on Friday slashed itsestimate of India’s GDP growthduring 2020 calendar year to2.5 per cent, from an earlierestimate of 5.3 per cent and saidthe coronavirus pandemic willcause unprecedented shock tothe global economy.

The estimate for 2020 com-

pares to 5 per cent economicgrowth in 2019. In its GlobalMacro Outlook 2020-21,Moody’s said India is likely tosee a sharp fall in incomes atthe estimated 2.5 per centgrowth rate, further weighingon domestic demand and thepace of recovery in 2021.

PTI

Mumbai: The rupee pared itsinitial gains to settle 27 paisehigher at 74.89 (provisional)against the US dollar on Fridayafter the RBI announced variousmeasures to stimulate growthamid coronavirus-induced lock-down in the country.

Forex traders said stimulusmeasures announced by theRBI and FPIs turning net buy-ers in capital markets boostedinvestor sentiment. However,there are still concerns over theimpact of coronavirus out-break on the domestic as wellas the global economy.

The rupee opened on apositive note at 74.60 andtouched a high of 74.35 in latemorning trade. Later it erasedthe gains to end 27 paise high-er at 74.89 against theAmerican currency.

During the day, the domes-tic unit touched a high of74.35 and a low of 75.40. TheRBI on Friday cut benchmarkinterest rate by 75 basis pointsto 4.4 per cent. PTI

New Delhi: Industry bodyCOAI has urged telecom reg-ulator TRAI to grant at least sixweeks of additional time to tel-cos to file monthly and quar-terly reports which are due inApril 2020.

The association cited mas-sive efforts being undertakenby telecom companies to over-come “numerous operationalchallenges” in order to keepvital networks up and runningamid the 21-day nationwidelockdown to counter the spreadof coronavirus.

In a letter to TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(TRAI) Chairman RS Sharma,the Cellular Operators’Association of India (COAI)said that it is “extremely diffi-cult for our members to submitvarious monthly and quarter-ly reports on the due date as perthe requirements of TRAI asmost of these reports requirecircle wise compilation andtheir compilation in the currentenvironment will not be pos-sible.” PTI

����� ��!�.2�

Over 2,000 Indian nationalsare among the 16,900 for-

eign tourists stranded in SriLanka due to the lockdownimposed by the governmentafter the coronavirus outbreak,official figures released here saidon Friday.

At 2,439, the Indians are thehighest among the number oftourists stranded in the island

nation followed by the Chineseat 2,167, data from the SriLanka Tourism andDevelopment Authority said.

The data was released a dayafter Sri Lanka said that it willallow chartered flights from anycountry to land here and fly outtheir citizens stranded in thecountry on a holiday or forwork purposes due to the coro-navirus epidemic.

Sri Lanka shut its interna-

tional airports for incomingflights since last week and thepeople were asked to skip for-eign travel in view of the coro-navirus threat.

A limited number of out-bound flights do still operate.Sri Lanka has so far recorded104 confirmed COVID-19cases while another over 200others are under observation.

Sri Lanka’s first knownCOVID-19 was a female

Chinese tourist. She was curedand departed early this month.

The first Sri Lankan nation-al to be confirmed to carry thevirus was a tour guide whoworked with Italian tourists. Hewas cured and left hospital thisweek. The number of COVID-19 cases across the globe hasskyrocketed to 531,860 and atotal of 24,057 people havedied so far. At 85,653, the USnow has the highest number of

confirmed coronavirus cases inthe world, surpassing Chinaand Italy. Nearly 1300 peoplehave died in the US due to thedisease. The coronavirus out-break has highly impactedtourism of Sri Lanka, a majorsource of revenue for the coun-try. This blow to the islandnation’s tourism comes after theEaster Sunday attacks last yearthat killed 258 people, includ-ing Indians.

����� .+.2"�

Market benchmark BSESensex closed lower by

131 points or 0.44 per cent involatile trade on Friday, cuttingshort its three-day winningrun due to deepening growthconcerns and a less-than-expected moratorium on loansannounced by the RBI in itsmonetary policy.

Stock markets had ralliedaround 4 per cent in openingtrade in line with firm globalmarkets and ahead of the RBIgovernor’s address.

However, stocks lost steamafter the policy announcementwith the benchmark indicesparing sharp gains. The 30-share Sensex ended 131.18points or 0.44 per cent lower at29,815.59. It hit a high of31,126.03 and a low of29,346.99 in day trade.

The broad-based NSE

Nifty managed to end withgains, closing higher by 18.80points or 0.22 per cent at8,660.25 as energy, FMCG andselect banking stocks advanced.

On a weekly basis, both theindices closed in the red, mark-ing their sixth week of lossesdue to heavy selling after lock-downs in major economies tocontain coronavirus spread.

“In such uncertain times,instead of fresh funds entitieswant to save their skin, RBI’srelaxation of only 3 monthsinstead of 6 months for a mora-torium on interest on loans andworking capital has disappoint-ed many,” Jimeet Modi, Founderand CEO, Samco Securities said.

In a bid to support theeconomy during the pandem-ic, RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas unveiled a slew of mea-sures, including its steepestinterest rate cuts in more than11 years. The repo has been cut

by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent— the lowest in at least 15 years.

Further, the Reserve Bankreduced the cash reserve ratio(CRR) for all banks by 100 basispoints to 3 per cent to release�1.37 lakh crore across thebanking system. It also allowedbanks to put on hold monthlyinstalment payments on allterm loans for three months.

The RBI is playing everycard in its pocket to prevent a cri-sis-like situation by giving banksthe ability to lend more, but assuch no direct helping hand hasbeen given to ailing industries asof now, Modi observed.

Axis Bank, ITC, NTPCand M&M were among the topgainers. Sector-wise, BSEbankex, metal, power, IT andhealthcare indices ended on apositive note while BSE tele-com, auto, oil and gas, basicmaterials and realty indicesended in the red.

(���%����!��B��!���� � �����" ����� � � �!�1(4�! ������ ����� "��� !�0��0

Stock markets on both sidesof the Atlantic retreated

Friday as investors bankedprofits from the week’s equitiesrally sparked by massive gov-ernment and central bankaction to bolster an economybattered by the coronaviruspandemic.

On Wall Street, the DowJones index lost more than 700points in early business, whilein Europe key indices were alsodeeply in the red — althoughstill set for solid weekly gains.

“European markets havepulled back... With cautionbeing the order of the day aftersuch a good rally,” said NeilWilson, chief market analyst attrading group Markets.Com.“Stimulus efforts have calmedmarkets” this week, Wilsonsaid, noting however thatinvestors were looking to takeprofits ahead of the weekendpause. Earlier, Asian stock mar-

kets had managed to recordmore gains. While the numberof people contracting COVID-19 continues to escalate, thesupport measures which theG20 said amounted to $5 tril-lion, have given traders hopethat the expected global reces-sion will be sharp but short.

Even news that a record 3.3million Americans claimedunemployment benefits lastweek — smashing the previousall-time high of 695,000 in1982 — was unable to derail themore positive view.

Dan Skelly at MorganStanley Wealth Managementsaid stocks, after being clob-bered in recent weeks, werenow showing signs of bottom-ing out. “While we do believethis will be possibly thesharpest recession in history, itmay also be the shortest, sothere is room to be optimisticfor a second-half rebound,” hetold Bloomberg TV. Supportthis week has come largely

from a $2-trillion US stimulusbill that is making its waythrough Congress and isexpected to be passed by theHouse of RepresentativesFriday before being signed offby President Donald Trump.

“For investors, this packageshould be good for US equitiesand other risk assets as itshould leave US corporationsin a better position to weatherthe economic downturn andthrive in the rebound,” saidDavid Kelly, at JP MorganAsset Management. OnThursday, Federal Reserve chiefJerome Powell said the UScentral bank would continue to“aggressively” pump liquidityinto the economy.

The Fed’s promise to effec-tively print cash has sent thedollar tumbling this week andit continued to fall mostlyacross the board Friday — butnot against the euro which wasweakened by Germany’s rescuepackage.

�����!��� ���� �� ������� ������� ������� �� �@�������

4�$���**"�����������)*������������ ������������$"���!�"���!��&�,/(�(����

'#%������������ �D@�)����������������)���������9���������"��4,;#�����"��1�1����123E

� !����"�""��#�"� �����1��!��"#�������2����#�"��F

:>�%����������������������� �������������� ���������-8����������

0 ����0�������"�=1������� ��������A��

7$���1+����"����������"��(:����������+���� 4��@�������!������� ����BCD��� ����������$=

��� @"2+!

After months of deliberation, AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani on Friday

announced his 21-member team tonegotiate peace with the Taliban, onlyto have his political opponent reject itas not inclusive enough.

Afghanistan’s political turmoil hasimpeded each tentative step towardnegotiations with the Taliban — nego-tiations that are supposed to come nextunder a peace deal that Washington

signed with the insurgents last month. The deal calls for the eventual

withdrawal of all 13,000 U.S. soldiersfrom Afghanistan in exchange for guar-antees from the Taliban to fight othermilitant groups, including the IslamicState group. The deal has been toutedas Afghanistan’s best chance yet of end-ing its relentless wars.

But Ghani and his opponent,Abdullah Abdullah, have been lockedin a power struggle that U.S. Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo could not resolve

during his emergency visit to Kabul ear-lier this week.

Pompeo held talks with both Ghaniand Abdullah, who has also declaredhimself president in a parallel inaugu-ration ceremony earlier this month, butmade no headway in reconciling thetwo. Washington subsequently said itwould cut $1 billion in assistance toAfghanistan if the two leaders couldn’t“get their act together.”

Ghani’s 21-member team is led bythe Masoom Stanikzai, former head of

Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, whowas forced to resign last year. He quitafter a CIA-trained team under his com-mand was found to have killed fourbrothers they falsely accused of beingIslamic State operatives.

The special forces unit known asUnit 02 still operates despite reports ofabuses, including one last year by theHuman Rights Watch, which docu-mented what it says are mountingatrocities by U.S.-backed Afghan spe-cial forces.

5) 4�$���$�"����#�"�"�#�����)���=��"*�����+

Page 10: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

� + % , - � � " , � � " - �

�%������)�����������������������������������������������)�%�)���������P������������%����)������������%�����������������1���������)���������%���)�����1�%��������������%���������*�.)������������,��)�������������%��)�������1�������������)���������������������������)�1��������������������������*

��������������(������������1)������������������%�����*�2%�����������������(���������������(�����������%������������)������������������)�����������������������������������1%���������%������)*�3���������%�����)�����%�����(���������%������*5D������������������������"�����'��������������������@�����*

�58C( ��' �::5� 85(���C,,�8�( 5 �A%������������%���������������%��������(���������������������������������������������%������������������������*��������������������������������%��������(�����������%���������������)���������1��1����*"��������������������������������������%�����������������������1)� �%����� ������������������)�������������������������)*�

5::C�5�GC8�������1��������������������%��������������������1���%��������%����%�������������%*�.��)������������������������%����������)����������%�����������%�������%���������)�55��������������������+ "*�0�@���,%��)�����(��������%�����������������������)���������������1��*

,���������������������S3���������������%�����������������������������(�����S���������)�%����%�����������)��������������)�%�������)������������������%��������������*�"���)�%���)�������������1�����)�%�����1)��������%�S��������������������*�0�1��)������1��������)�%�1�������������)*

584�:�85�G7:��5-( 5D�-C�5�

�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$ ������)�%&"�'( )* 6�

������� �����64��������

���� ������!����Born in Jhelum in pre-Partition

Punjab, Gujral was the brother of thelate Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujraland was awarded India’s second-high-est civilian honour, the PadmaVibhushan in 1999. The three Gujralbrothers belonged to a prodigious fam-ily. Satish’s elder brother, IK Gujral, wasan important voice in the Congressparty and this family went onto to cre-ate their own realms in the pages ofIndian history. Refugees after India’sPartition, he would often recall howthey were given 200 square yards andlater, how a 600 square yard plot atNizamuddin was sold off and theybought a piece of land at Jor Bagh foran auction.

���� ����� �����D���Gujral lost his hearing power at the

age of eight. But his inner creativity hada resilience that was deep and resonant.He studied at JJ School of Art inMumbai and was sent to Mexico on ascholarship in 1952. His apprenticeshipwith David Alfredo Siqueiros andDiego Rivera, two artists who led thatcountry’s muralist movement becamethe turning point of his artistic odyssey.In an interview in 2000, he had said, “Iwas a leftist in those days. I wanted topaint on the walls like the Mexicanmuralists. But later, I realised that artshouldn’t be used as a propaganda.Everything cannot be rebellious. I wasalways given opportunities and wasgrateful for them. I decided that artmust be a tool to initiate dialogue withpeople. I started advocating public artin my country. When I did murals onthe walls of Panjab University,

Chandigarh, Shastri Bhawan andOberoi Hotel, among many others, Iknow I was recreating stories of expe-rience and learning.”

His first job was of a graphicdesigner in Shimla. While working, he

painted refugees and their pain. “Aftera long time, I realised that I didn’t paintPartition but I painted my own suffer-ings,” he had said in the same interview.

When he came back from Mexicoto Delhi, he wanted to sell his works. He

went to Ravi Jain’s Dhoomimal atConnaught Place. At that time, therewas also Kumar Gallery (set up in 1956)and he gave a few works to VirenderKumar to begin the Kumar Gallery,which stands as one of the best in the

nation today.Among his architectural wonders is

the Belgian Embassy in Delhi, whichwas selected by the International Forumof Architects as one of the 1,000 bestbuilt buildings in the 20th century allover the world.

�� ���������(������ ���� �����������

It was Gujral’s paintings that heldtheir own in terms of narratives anddepths of contextuality. His subjectswere concerned with the dialoguebetween single tragic figures and build-ings set down around them with all theapparent solidity of a stated fact. Thisdark, parched environment was part ofa locked-in world, in which figures andbuildings stand among the soundlessfall of shadows, so that the viewer’sinspection seemed like a trespass. Therewas something hauntingly Indianesquebut he consciously refused to exploit tra-ditional Indian styles. Perhaps, thisquality lay in the dry colour, the texturethat was sunburned and gritty, that wasdragged across the surface to create auniform mat texture.

His paintings had subtleties ofcolour that played across their harshsurface like hints of a mirage in a drydesert. But they had an elusive qualitythat retreated into profundity too.Eventually, their seeming solidity dis-solved into sliding planes of colour.

���� �?* �����������Satish Gujral’s wooden sculptures

were a blend of India’s mythology andhis brilliance lay in bringing in differ-ent mythic metaphors into his sculptur-al language. Created out of oil on burntwood, with leather, cowrie shells andceramic beads on ply board, this workis an abstract representations of deities-interspersed with vermillion and goldcolours. He explored the spatial elementsof depth and texture through a uniquetechnique and his multi-faceted, con-temporary sensibilities.

������"����!��������������His scorn for the Progressives was

well known. He challenged the view thatthe Progressives brought internationalmodernism to Indian art, a viewexpressed in his autobiography. “Theidea of the Bengal school of a modernIndian art was sound but its practition-ers lacked the talent, the genuine inspi-ration to carry it out. The progressive artgroup could have given further impetusto the idea of the Bengal school, butkilled it. What began in the 60s couldhave begun in the 40s.”

“We relate modernity to the West;what is not Western is not modern.Judging by that yardstick, our moder-nity is spurious. But if you judge the dif-ference in attitudes to the past, the deter-mination to infuse contemporary values,then I would say modernism has alwaysexisted. In the visual arts, its presentsource would not be the progressive artgroup but the Tagores,” was his obser-vation.

��How did you conceptualisethe show, Relatively Relatable?What inspired it?

When you’re writing ashow, you don’t have to reallyconceptualise it. There are twoways to bring it out. First, youspend a few months and writedown all the jokes that come toyour mind and find a scene forit. It is actually a more fun wayto do it. Then, you eventuallyget tired of doing that, so youchallenge yourself. It then startswith the scene and you exploreit. I tried the first option. I justkept writing for two yearsabout things that came into myhead and then seven to eightmonths before the show, Istarted thinking about how Iwant to connect the dots. Atthat time, I had a major crisisin terms of my political beliefsand philosophies and whatcould get me through the crazytimes. The world seemed spiltso I felt the need to talk aboutthat part in all of us.

��Observational comedy hasbecome the most mainstreamcomic genre as it easily grabsthe attention of people whoare able to relate to what’sbeing said. How did youdecide on your content andwrite your script in a way thateveryday observations are visible?

What’s great about obser-vational comedy is that it’savailable to everybody. It’s thesame observation yet very few

people find it. Everyone knowsthe comic scene and strikes tohave the same observation.The best observational jokesseemingly are the most obviousones yet no one seeks it or digsit specially. To all those who sayobservational jokes are easy,they are not. It’s not easy toexplore. I managed to do it asI was aware of it. I take theaudience through seeminglyfamiliar parts of observation-al jokes and then take themsomewhere else. Like NeilGaiman once said, “If your jobis of a storyteller, then take theaudience into a forest, guidethem and tell them it’s going tobe okay. And then you leavethem in that forest.” I havewanted to do that with myjokes. I want to have a broad-er understanding of my obser-vational jokes and then startmessing around with them,with my character work andstart doing funny anecdotalones.

��Are such shows and onlineentertainment industry work-ing the best in the time of self-isolation?

I can see most of the comiccreators trying to innovate andexplore new ways to shootthemselves from home.Although there are some whochoose to go long-term andmaybe they are working on itand moving along. When theworld gets fine later, they willlook foward to making it hap-pen. There are some who areworking on churning out morefrequent content — kind of ashort-term deal. They keep oninnovating as they are creativepeople and will go mad if theydon’t do anything, really. A lotof stand-up comedians aren’table to go on stage due to thesituation. I am excited aboutwhat they will come up with.

��Earlier, comedy was onlylooked at as something that’ssupposed to be funny and give

people a break from theirmonotonous schedules.Today, humour has become atool of dissent and some-thing that could be used toput across a strong perspec-tive in a satirical way. What’syour take on such a change?

It’s good. But I think it hasalways been that way. When itcomes to Kerala, humour is thegreatest tool or weapon againstpolitical propaganda. Maybe it’sbeen the case with other statesas well, it is just getting high-lighted today through socialmedia use. I think for thelongest time, humour throughcartoons and comics in news-papers has also been the great-est tool to represent a politicalideology or opinion. Stand-uphas just become another way.

�How has the comedy indus-try evolved in India? Therehave been talent hunt showsaround dance and music butComicstaan was first of itskind...

It’s about time becausestand-up comedy as a realityshow is already a known con-cept internationally. And notjust stand-up, reality judge-based contests have alwaysbeen around. I grew up inTamil Nadu and Kerala, watch-ing a lot of comedy groupsdoing comic sketches. Theyhave always been around. It’sjust that the format of stand-upis new. Hence, the format ofComicstaan seemed to be new

as well.Mimicry artists have gone

through it and showcased theircomedy. It’s great because theaudience loves drama but theyneed something that keepsthem hooked on in betweenjust like reality show dramassuch as Roadies or any other.But here, Comicstaan is adrama with comedy inbetween. And it caters to peo-ple of all ages.

��How do you keep yourselfupdated with the currenttrends because as a comedianyou have to keep your contentfresh and contemporary withthe time?

I don’t agree you have to.Though, yes, it helps. Youcould speak on relevant thingsbut there are a million thingsthat will always be there andcould be watched. I feel you candisconnect with the surround-ings and still can come up withsomething that works. It’s pos-sible to not know what’s goingon in the world and have itinfluence your work. You don’thave to literally watch news24x7 to be able to come up withthe content. There is still a lotto speak about and make jokeson in comedy. It could literal-ly be about anything you like,given it hits the audience.

(The episode, a part ofAmazon Funnies, a new visualidentity for Amazon Prime Video’sStand-up Specials, can now bestreamed on the platform.)

As the global Coronavirus outbreak spelt aseries of museum closures and postponed

performances and concerts, India’s most-cele-brated tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain saysthat the humanity will need to come togetherto fight the pandemic.

“It is too early to tell what the effect of thisdisease will be but it is clear that humanity needsto come together and fight this. There needs tobe a serious focus on hygiene like washing handsevery 20 minutes, drinking warm water everyfew minutes, wiping all metal surfaces in thehouse and of course, keeping distance with otherpeople. If and when we survive this, then we canask the government and big corporations to helprestart the support for arts,” he said when askedhow we can sustain the arts in these trying times.

Hussain was part of a concert postponeddue to COVID-19, along with Indian classicalviolinist Kala Ramnath and Carnatic musicianJayanthi Kumaresh, — “both top-shelf premierartists representing both North and SouthIndian music.”

Last month, Hussain had paid homage tohis father and guru Ustad Allarakha on his cen-tenary in the form of several multi-artist per-formances that spanned a day.

“We had a multi-layered relationship. I washis son, then his student, then his apprentice,then his colleague and finally his friend. I cher-ish every moment that I spent with him. He wasand is the horizon I still reach for,” he said abouthis father.

He hopes to reinstate the concert, once avirus is contained and eradicated. “These con-certs are a way for us all to connect with eachother through music. When we are all coopedat home. This can be a welcome change to every-one and keep their minds diverted to somethingpositive when all one hears is about the virusand everyone is in tenterhooks worried abouttheir respective future,” he said.

Kala Ramnath added, “We musicians arealso worried but there is no point worrying andby doing these concerts, we are trying to say thatwhat could be possibly better than music to keepus all positive during such a time.”

E%��'� �

17*.�"#%�"((�,�%��*"#%(2

"� �!� ���1E��������

DAYS OF GLORY

�*'��#9(,��'(��(-#"(�+��%$(�(;&('#("�(,

�"��'(��%#�",$#&,�!($�9(�%$'�*/$�%$(

�(�', ��$(�!�' ��-�����#.(���'%#,%3

�'�$#%(�%3�,�*�&%�'�"��!'#%('3�

�����7���:���3!$��&�,,(���!����"�$*',�����%�%$(�'#&(�����/(��-��<3�!�,

#"-�*("�(��+��$#,�.*�%#�-��(%(�

&�,,#�", �=����5 ��

��� ����� ���� �����%�����������0"�##0�-��,"-� 1�������������������������������������������%���%������������(�������1�%�����Q�������������������������������������%��������1��%���)��������������������������������������������%������*�����Q�$����)����������������� ���������� ��������*�2)��,","@ .���"!

������.����'�7 ������8�9"#�) &�

( !���� #��� �)������8������������&������� ��# ����8�:&������7�����������7�����: �:�� �!�

�);��������) &��������7������;<�"� ��� �� ���� ����7)�( ����

Page 11: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

������)�%&"�'( )*�66�������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

������D�64��������

Parenting is a dauntingtask for as there can beseveral bumps along the

way. Right from being anxiousabout the child touching eachof his/her milestone on timeto wondering about theirfuture and obsessing overdoing each thing perfectly,this job has never beeneasy. The dilemma,between being a workingmom to set a goodexample or a stay-at-home one who can getdown on the floor andplay, is endless. Thereare various other facets

of parenting where eachhas a not-so-easy answer.

Actor SandhyaMridul’s series, directedby Karishma Kohli,Mentalhood, revolvesaround different issues ofparenting — bullying,health, child molestationand much more. Itaddresses difficult par-enting issues while offer-ing alternative perspec-

tives of motherhood.The series revolves

around Karishma Kapoor(Meira Sharma), who makes

her comeback and digitaldebut with this, as a mother of

three with Sanjay Suri (AnmolSharma) who plays her husband.The character is a former MissKanpur who gave up her model-

ing aspirations to raise her children,two planned and the third, an acci-dent. After her husband’s transfer,she sets up home in Mumbai. Thechildren get admission in a high-endschool where Karishma meets sever-al other mothers trying hard toensure a good upbringing for theirkids. With not many avenues open interms of career, she starts a blogMentalmom, penning her day-to-daylearnings as a mother.

It also stars Sandhya (Anuja Joshi),also known as Ajo, Shruti Seth (DikshaShah) as the Boho mom, TillotamaShome (Preity Khosla) as the “Naive”Mom, Shilpa Shukla (NamrataDalmia) and Dino Morea (Akash).

In the first episode itself one couldsee that while all the mothers are soft-spoken and patient, Anuja stands apart

because of her bold and outspoken atti-tude. “Yes, Ajo is different from theother mothers and I was aware of itfrom the very beginning. In fact, thisis one of the reasons I wanted to playher. She’s layered and has variousshades — black, white and grey. Shetries to make her point sometimes but

at other times she’s hard to understand.

That’s something that I like about her. Sheis such a crazy, neurotic and erratic char-acter that I thought it would be fun andit was,” says Sandhya.

However, when the script was narrat-ed to her she didn’t jump into it butthought and processed it for a while. Asan actor who wants to do versatile anddiverse roles, the fact that she hadn’tplayed such a character before interest-ed her. She says, “I thought it could bean interesting role because it had a rangeof things — something I always look forin a character. I wanted to play Ajo withall that she’s supposed to be. There is aninstance where she yells at Karishma forbringing chole bhature to the ParentTeacher Association (PTA) meet as shethinks they are unhealthy. To play some-body who goes over the top is a challengein its self... so I was just testing if I canpull this off. Also, Ekta (Kapoor) andKarishma didn’t give me much of achoice. They were very clear that theywanted me for Ajo.”

Each episode of the series dealswith a different question and scenario, forinstance, the first one is on nutrition, thesecond on bullying, the third on genderand so on. While one might think thateach level demands a different prepara-tion, the actor denies it. For Sandhya, itis important to flow with the moment andwhat’s happening at that point becausethere’s so much fun in spontaneity.“Honestly, there was no preparation. I’llbe lying if I say I prepared for it. I am nota method actor. I always flow with thescript and what the other actors are giv-ing me. Though subconsciously there ismental preparation of the issue that youare dealing with to internalise the sensi-tivity involved. But that’s all,” says she.

Anuja is a bully mom. She is referredto as the uncrowned queen of the moms’WhatsApp group and manages everysmall task of her children’s lives. Onewonders if the actor relates with the role.“Well I relate with Anuja to the extent that

I know mothers who are like her, but wehave nothing in common. Not her life,lifestyle, mannerisms, most of her is notme,” says she.

Though the actor says that there isnothing in common, but her attitude doesseem to match. In real life we have seenSandhya taking strong stands. During the#MeToo movement in 2018, the actormade headlines as she accused actor AlokNath of sexual harassment. She even sup-ported and took a stand for other actorswho were a part of the movement, too.For Sandhya, the movement is still notover. It will continue till women keepcoming out for their rights and justice.“They shouldn’t be asked ‘why didn’t theycome out earlier’ or pushed to come outor judged because they are coming out,”says the actor before adding, “I took astand during the movement because itwas important to address the issue. Wemade a huge impact which really shookthe system. It’s a huge start. A messagewas sent out very clearly. A lot of peoplewill now think twice before doing any-thing like this. I can say this because I per-sonally know a lot of men who backedoff, apologised, are wary and trying tochange their ways. The men who weren’teven aware that they were doing some-thing wrong are now aware that they needto deal with women differently.”

However, even after all this there arepeople who say there is nothing of thissort in India. The actor says it is like dis-respecting the women who spoke up.Giving a message to the women, she adds,“Speak when you are ready. And I amalways there if anybody wants to consultme. They can reach out to me. Don’t bein a hurry because people are making youfeel so. You should speak only when youare ready to. We really need to take action.Not only women but even men. Merelytweeting about the incident won’t help.”

A double role in Hu Ba Hu (2002),a sister in Saathiya (2002), a strong copin Waisa Bhi Hota Hai (WBHH) (2003),

the actor has played a variety of charac-ters but her favourite will always be AgniSinha from WBHH. “That project, cast,experience and cinema will always be myfavourite. I am glad that I did that kindof cinema. The film literally made mejobless because I fell in love with it andcouldn’t find another such. And I justcouldn’t even try to do commercial cin-ema (or rather what was called commer-cial cinema at that time). I kept on try-ing to choose work which was different.I love films with good scripts, good char-acter sketches and clear characterisation,”says she.

Though the series acts as an essen-tial guide for parenting, its entertainmentand thrill quotient has been questioned.The internet is full of reviews which termit a preachy show. However, Sandhyaremains unaffected as she doesn’t see thereviews, ever. She says, “I do the best Ican with my acting playground and thenjust leave it. If the audience like it, great.The only reviews I probably care aboutwould be from my family, maybe. If peo-ple feel it’s preachy, so be it. It deals witha lot of issues and there are many peo-ple who feel a show like this was impor-tant. Many people love it. So I’d rather behappy with that. However, I also feel thatcriticism is good. I am happy with them.Somebody told me that Ajo was over thetop and I was like ‘yes she was supposedto be.’ But at the same time, it was a pointnoted. So that’s the way it is.”

The actor’s creative process is to con-stantly work on herself, connect witheverything, good or bad, and staying vul-nerable and fragile. “If I can do that as ahuman being then as an actor I’ll alwaysbe authentic. More than preparing as anactor my process is always fixing myselfas a human being and expanding as muchas I can. My preparation is mostly emo-tional, physical, mental and spiritual fit-ness,” adds she.

(The series is streaming live onALTBalaji and ZEE5.)

�How does it feel to return forthe third series of AmericanIdol?

I truly enjoy everythingabout this show. We really careabout the contestants and striveto advise them the best way weknow how. We are artists too,so we understand the load ofeverything they are dealingwith — from performing, stagepresence to song selection.When I joined the panel, twoyears ago, it was a completelynew territory for me. I lovedAmerican Idol in its early yearsand I still do it. And when Iwalked on the sets of the 18thedition of the show as a judge,I realised it's big time.

�What is the best part ofbeing a judge?

I would say I've been anhonest judge throughout allthree seasons. The best part isto see kids and get inspired bywatching them perform. It is sogood when I get to see such tal-ented people go far.

�How do you break the newsto someone who is super

quirky or they have no talent?Quirky is great. We have to

say some things that are hardto hear sometimes but it does-n't have to be presented harsh-ly.

�Can you tell us about thedynamics between you, LionelRichie and Katy Perry?

We have come to knoweach other very well after threeseasons. The shooting days arevery long and hectic. I thinkour comraderie comes acrosson the show. I'm having a blastwith them and respect whatthey bring to the show. It's greatto work with them. We get to

have fun with one another andwatch these kids, who are justremarkable as they sing. It'sactually fun to give them adviceand critique them together. Iwish we could spend moretime helping them.

�E ach season has sometweaks, what are we going toget from this season ofAmerican Idol?

Well, the important thing isthat we are seeing a lot of tal-ent in children. However,explaining them as to why andhow they haven't put the finalpieces of the puzzle together,are the trickiest.

To watch dreams come truein front of your very own eyesis quite inspiring. Music is aninspiration in itself. Some of thesongs can be very challenging,obscure but most of the time thecontestants pick up the right onefor them. With each little per-formance, they become biggerstars and with each week, they'reable to reinvent themselves a lit-tle bit more. They will be ableto even add a different elementeach time they perform and pulloff new surprises for us. Thatreally sets this season apart.

(The 18th edition of theshow airs on on Star World onSaturday and Sunday at 7 pm.)

Pop star-composer Yo Yo Honey Singhsays staying away from the industry for

two to three years never made him nervousabout losing it. Asked about the fear of some-one taking their place, he said, “I don’t wantto outdo anyone’s thought but staying awayfrom the industry for two-three years nevermade me nervous or fear of losing it. Thetime, I was away from 2017 till now, I com-posed 60 songs.”

“And I never felt out of the scenebecause people were still grooving to mysongs and loving my work. I am in the heartsand DNA of my audience, and no onechanges that,” he added.

The singer has been vocal about hisstruggles with bipolar disorder and alco-holism. “I never let negativity reach me orany other aspect of my life, may it be songs,personal life or health. Talking about myhealth was a way of keeping my larger fam-ily and fans informed on my phase of life. Ihave written songs on my experience; theyare more serious and philosophical. I willrelease the songs to tell my story to people,”he said.

Talking about his journey as a person,the singer said, “Early years of my career, Istretched and exerted myself extensively andI knew it would eventually affect my health.I have changed myself and my routine com-pletely. Akshay (Kumar) sir is a huge inspi-ration for me. I wake up early, I give myselftime to do my tasks and not rush myself intoit.”

Recollecting his experience touringwith Shah Rukh Khan in Australia, he said,“We went on an Australia tour with ShahRukh Khan and there were protests againstme performing, saying that I promote alco-hol. Shah Rukh sir stepped in and said thatif I don’t come, then this tour won’t happenat all. After the show, we were partying inmy room and that’s when I wrote the songChaar bottle vodka. We made Shah Rukh lis-ten to the track and he asked what kind of

song is this and we said, ‘this is about thefour bottles of vodka that we finished lastnight’.”

The Loca hitmaker feels people now getoffended easily. “I think people nowadays getoffended too quickly. As much I support thefreedom of expression, I still think that youget judged on every single thing. In the past,we had songs like Mehbooba mehbooba,Choli ke peeche kya hai, Chumma chummaand more, but they never got discussed ofbeing morally correct or not. As an artist,it becomes difficult to please the audienceat large and be creative at the same time.”

The singer shared his thoughts in anepisode of By Invite Only, which airs onzoOm. The singer isn’t against the currentremix trend, and said, “I think everyone isoriginal. Even though they are makingremix, they are all original.”

In a fun quickie session, Honey Singhsaid, “If I would be single, would take AliaBhatt on a date with me.” When quizzedabout one Bollywood actor who is overrat-ed, Honey gave a witty response, “HimeshReshammiya.” E%��'

�������=0)>��'140$E@��������� ������� �� �� ��������� ����������"��� ������������� ��������� #����� ��%�)4 �)�1'�

NO EASY ANSWERS

& � �� ��"" �� ���7��������)� � �����!+@#�2-<"0

�)��������������>���������������������

����� �����������������%���1���1�����������������������������������)��������*

2)��#". ���"

5� (�#%�+#/

����������04��������

-����� �� ������� ;�"����!��)�:��#�"��)�"��������# ����;�"7� ���7��� ��� �;�"�� )�#� � ���������������� ������ ������� �����:���:�7�;-� &:�

�&!� ��� &��)���������7���������� � #�������&������) &�������:� ����� ���������������������)�� ����;�/&���������

Page 12: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020. 3. 27. · announced include auction of ... Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ... plan

�� ���6��������������������� ����� ��!"#�!$!$

����� 0#3��#!,�

The all-powerful ICC Board on Fridaydiscussed various contingency plans

for its flagship tournaments, includingWorld T20 and World TestChampionship in the wake of Covid-19pandemic that has brought cricket to astandstill.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly wasIndia’s representative when it was beingspeculated that a former Board presidentwould attend the meeting, held via videoconference.

The sporting world has been undercomplete lockdown and several bilater-al Test series under World TestChampionship also run the risk ofbeing cancelled.

“The impact of the pandemic on thesport globally was discussed,” an ICCrelease stated.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhneysaid, “We continue to undertake a com-prehensive business continuity and con-tingency planning exercise which willallow us to adapt to the rapidly evolv-ing world in which we find ourselves.”

While no decisions were taken asany shifting of tournament or change ofdates involves gigantic logistical exercisewhich needs meticulous planning atevery stage.

“The ICC management will contin-ue our contingency planning aroundICC events and will also work withMembers to explore all options availableto us based on a range of scenarios con-nected to the pandemic.”

When a Board member was askedwhat happens if England, which is dueto host Pakistan and West Indies at homeis unable to do so, he said the matter ofpoints allocation will be referred to thetechnical committee.

“It can’t happen unless an amicablesolution is reached. You might haveIndia playing six series and perched attop and England get to play three dueto lockdown and tight FTP schedule.You need a solution to distribution ofpoints and matter should be referred tothe technical committee,” a representa-tive of a member said.

A couple of Board members felt thatWorld T20 in Australia is not underthreat as October is still some time away.

“If things are under control fromJune, we can then work on a specificcontingency plan. Right now, ICC wouldbe working on various plans and wouldcome up with their proposals in courseof time,” the senior official said.

"��� !��#-'��!

Jurgen Klopp says the mood atLiverpool is upbeat despite the coro-

navirus lockdown, even admitting hehas tried to copy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s dance moves to keephimself occupied.

The Premier League leaders wereon the verge of their first top-flight titlefor 30 years when English football wassuspended earlier this month.

The virus shutdown has since beenextended until at least April 30 butLiverpool do not know when, or if, theywill get a chance to complete the job.

Klopp said his players’ spiritsremained high despite the frustra-tions of having no football to play andpraised the efforts of his backroom staffwho are looking after the players’ fit-ness.

“We spoke a couple of times, wehave a really intense, big, big group chat— the whole of Melwood (trainingground) are in that,” he said, speakingto the club’s website by videolink fromhis home.

“The boys are really lively in that,the boys are just interested in what

everybody is doing, comments onwhat everybody is doing — if Ox is onInstagram or whatever.”

Midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlainand his girlfriend, Little Mix singerPerrie Edwards, performed a danceroutine, which she posted on socialmedia.

Teammate James Milner played upto his “boring James Milner” tag byposting a video of himself cutting hisgrass with a ruler and scissors.

“I didn’t cut the grass but I tried thedance of Ox,” said Klopp. “Not as badas you probably think. It’s very impor-tant in these times that we all show wetake this situation seriously, but we arehuman beings.”

Klopp praised the efforts ofLiverpool and other clubs in helpingsupport more vulnerable members ofthe community during the current cri-sis.

And he urged people to abide bythe lockdown.

“The only way to get football backas soon as possible, if that’s what thepeople want, the more disciplined weare now the earlier we will get, piece bypiece by piece, our life back,” Kloppsaid. “That’s how it is.”

“At one point we will play footballagain as well, 100 percent,” he added.“I couldn’t wish more for it because ofa few really good reasons, how you canimagine. I can’t wait actually, but evenI have to be disciplined and I try to beas much as I can.”

����� @�!@"�"

MS Dhoni’s much-anticipatedcomeback with the IPL may

not happen anytime soon in lightof the fast-spreading COVID-19pandemic but his childhood coachKeshav Ranjan Banerjee remainshopeful that the ageing cricketinghero will find a place in India’s T20World Cup.

The lucrative T20 tourna-ment’s 2020 edition, which hadalready been postponed to April15, is on the verge of cancellationwith the country in a 21-daynational lockdown.

Dhoni has been out of actionsince India’s semifinal exit in theWorld Cup in July last year.

“In the current scenario, IPLlooks unlikely and we will have towait for BCCI’s call. His (Dhoni’s)position will become tough obvi-ously. But my sixth sense says hewill get a chance in the T20 WorldCup, which will be his last,”Banerjee said.

The Chennai Super Kings cap-tain trained in Ranchi in the leadup to IPL 2020 and also led theirtraining camp in Chennai beforethe league was postponed.

“I spoke to him last after hereturned from Chennai and I’m inconstant touch with his parents.He’s doing his fitness training andis fully fit.

“Now let’s wait for the BCCI’sdecision. There’s no tournament.ICC tournaments are off till June.So we will have to wait and see.”

Head coach Ravi Shastri hadearlier said the IPL would decidethe fate of Dhoni, who will turn 39in July.

But with IPL about to get

shelved this year, the Indian greatsincluding that of Sunil Gavaskarand Virender Sehwag, had raiseda question mark on the return ofthe 2011 World Cup winningskipper.

“True that he has not played atournament (since July 2019) butfor someone with 538 Internationalmatches, I don’t think it would take

much time to adjust.”“It would have been a differ-

ent scenario for a beginner. But it’snot the case with Dhoni he has gota wealth of experience. I think hewill get a last chance,” maintainedBanerjee.

“He is fully fit and trained inChennai for a week or so. Noweverything is closed in Ranchi, ear-

lier he would train at the JSCA. Butnow he’s confined at home andmaking use of the facilities athome. He has a gym, a badmintoncourt, and a running corridor.”

“I’m sure BCCI (presient,selectors, captain) are aware of thescenario. They will make theannouncement when it’s the righttime,” Banerjee added.

����� 0#3��#!,�

Badminton WorldFederation said it is “dis-

appointing” that some play-ers, including Indian starSaina Nehwal, questioned its“sincerity and motives”when it continued with theAll England Championshipsdespite the rapidly-growingthreat of COVID-19 pan-demic.

BWF’s decision to con-duct the Super 1000 tourna-ment in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak camefor sharp criticism from thetop shuttlers of the world,including Nehwal, who hadaccused the sport’s adminis-

trators of placing moneyabove players’ safety.

In an open letter, BWFsecretary general ThomasLund said the decision to goahead with the All England

Championships was basedon the best advice at thattime.

“It has been very disap-pointing to see some mem-bers of the badminton com-

munity speculate on thesincerity and motives of theBWF in this time of crisis,”Lund wrote.

“Our number one con-cern has always been thehealth and safety of all of ourparticipants.

“However, at the sametime, we are deeply con-cerned about the cancella-tion of tournaments andthe flow-on effect this has onelite players and coacheswhereby they could now bein a position of temporaryunemployment and loss ofincome.”

The coronavirus out-break saw the postpone-ment and cancellation of

several high-profile sportsevents across the world.

While BWF too hadpostponed a few tourna-ments, it went ahead withthe All EnglandChampionship as planned,despite growing cases of therapidly spreading disease.

Top players hadslammed BWF for takingthe deadly disease “too light-ly” and putting their lives at“risk” by going ahead withthe tournament two weeksago.

India’s chief coachPullela Gopichand hadtermed it a “wrong decision”,former world number 8, HS Prannoy called it “stupid”.

"���.�!"0

Italy’s sports ministerVincenzo Spadafora on

Thursday said he was “very,very doubtful” that Serie Aaction would return ashoped in early May.

Both Spadafora andItalian football federationchief Gabriele Gravina hadlast week expressed theirhope that the championshipcould resume on the week-end of May 2.

“The forecasts thatmade us think we couldresume sports competitionsin late April or early May Ithink are a bit too opti-mistic,” Spadafora toldItalian television station Rai3. “I am very, very doubtful.I can certainly say that ifthere are conditions toresume competitions incertain circumstances, itwill certainly take placebehind closed doors.

“To date, it is unthink-

able to say that in May it ispossible to resume all com-petitions regularly, espe-cially with spectators.

“Even scientists haveno certainty about the evo-lution of the epidemic. Wehave to adapt our deci-sions to changing situa-tions.”

All sport in Italy hasbeen suspended until April3. “The final decision willbe up to the FIGC (theItalian football federation),”the sports minister added.

“They could decide topostpone games until thelate summer, but the situa-tion is complicated, footballhas taken a little longer thanothers to understand thecrisis.”

He added: “We want tobe ready to start as soon asit will be possible. Sport willbe one of the engines thatwill allow us to revive thiscountry after the healthcrisis.”

"��� ."0�,# �#-

England bowler James Anderson is deter-mined that the coronavirus will not end his

illustrious career as he focuses on keeping fit bytaking part in “virtual” training sessions withhis teammates.

Anderson, 37, whose 584 Test wickets arethe most taken by any paceman in the historyof the game, is nearing the end of his playingdays.

But the Lancashire veteran says despite hav-ing no cricket to play until the end of May atthe earliest, the idea of not bowling profession-ally again has not crossed his mind.

“I’ve not actually thought about never play-ing cricket again,” he said during a conferencecall on Thursday. “I feel like we will play againand I will play again at some stage.

“I’m still hungry to play, I’ve still got ambi-tions to play for England.

“So I think the fact I’ve been able to do thisfor a long time and I get to play a sport as a jobmeans when I do get to do that again, I’m real-ly going to cherish it and enjoy every singlemoment of it.”

With Britain under a coronavirus lockdown,Anderson is keeping fit by working out on-linewith teammates including fellow pacemenStuart Broad and Mark Wood.

“A few of the lads are training together vir-tually,” he said. “I did a workout with StuartBroad and Mark Wood yesterday.

“We’ve all got Pelotons — the bikes. You cancompete against each other. Stuart came out ontop this time, with me a close second and MarkWood in third.”

Anderson made the most recent of his 151Test appearances against South Africa in CapeTown in January before a broken rib ended histour prematurely.

That followed an Ashes campaign last yearin which he bowled just four overs because ofa calf problem.

Although he has long been a red-ball spe-cialist, Anderson said he would be prepared toplay white-ball cricket again, even in the newHundred competition.

Anderson has an ambassadorial role withthe Manchester Originals, one of the franchis-es, but no contract.

“I want to be playing cricket and if that isthe only cricket going on, if it’s the Hundred orthe T20 Blast, I’d love to be involved in that,”he said.

“If there wasn’t any red-ball cricket this sum-mer, it would be a long, long time for me to beticking over in the nets.”

� ������ Barcelona have becomethe first Spanish football club to offi-cially announce a pay cut for play-ers and club staff as the countrygrapples with the coronavirus pan-demic.

Sports in Spain has come to astandstill and Barcelona had tomake the move so as to pay theirsupport staff. “Faced with this sce-nario, the Board of Directors hasdecided to implement a series ofmeasures to mitigate its effects andreduce the economic effects of thiscrisis,” said the club in its statement.

“Among the measures adopted,it’s worth noting those related to theworkplace are motivated by the needto adapt the contractual obligationsof the club staff to the new and tem-

porary circumstances that we areexperiencing.”

The club added the measuresinclude “a reduction of the workingday, imposed by the circumstancesand the protection measures carriedout, and, as a consequence, the pro-portional reduction of the remuner-ation provided for in the respectivecontracts.”

The measure should lower theclub’s wage bill by around 25 percentat a moment when it is not receiv-ing any income through gatereceipts.

Barca also explained it wouldmake all of its facilities available foruse by the regional health ministryto help the struggle against the coro-navirus. AFP

‘DHONI WILL GET CHANCE IN T20 WC’

(������' �������� �� ��������%�� ��������$�� �'���� ��� ������ ������ ������� ����� ��� #::%F+� ��

�'!�1�����%���)������56�3������F�!��������� <�0#<

Australia head coach JustinLanger feels the IPL is an excel-

lent platform to prepare for the T20World Cup but conceded thathealth is paramount as the leaguemay become another casualty ofthe COVID-19 pandemic.

“Before this crisis started tounravel, we were absolutely deter-mined for our guys to play theIPL,” Langer was quoted assaying by foxsports.Co.Au.

“Because with the T20World Cup coming up,there’s no bettergrounding, no betterpractice, no better tour-nament for them to getready for that,” headded.

Australia’s PatCummins, DavidWarner, AaronFinch, Steve Smith

were to headline the IPL.Langer, who is also a member

of the national selection panel,insists he is not stressed about pick-ing players as Australia have a wellsettled side.

The Aaron Finch-led sidedefeated South Africa 2-1 in three-match T20 series in February.

“In terms of selection, I’m nottoo stressed about it ... One or twopositions in our World Cup side areup for grabs. It’s a very, very set-

tled team. We played great crick-et against South Africa,” he added.

Australia are scheduledto start their T20 World

Cup campaign againstPakistan on October 24in Sydney.

The ICC have main-tained the T20 WorldCup will go ahead as per

planned but postponedthe qualifying events on

Thursday.

C�� ���������)����%�4������ ������)������������9�$�� ������.+.2"�

Sport is least of priority at a timewhen India fights against the

COVID-19 pandemic which hasbrought life to a standstill, feels starIndia batsman Rohit Sharma, whowants to talk about IPL only afternormalcy returns.

Rohit, who has been out ofaction for last two months due tocalf muscle injury was due for acomeback in the cash-rich Indian

Premier League, which has beenpostponed till April 15 but standsa good chance of getting cancelledif prevailing situation continues.

“We should first think aboutthe country. The situation needs toget better first then we can talkabout the IPL. Let life get back tonormal first,” Rohit said.

The opener was responding toquestions during an Instagramchat with teammate YuzvendraChahal.

5�������"�����*""����!����)�����#����

,��������������������� ���������� �� ��

��� �����������3������56����������

/32�#����!����������� ���:�����&����������7

'���������������# � �������������������G�������>���� ����� ��

#���������������������

�%���2,�,&�'%,�.#"#,%('�1��*+%-*�2�-�(�'���5���'(%*'"�-�'��('#(�� E�� ���������������� ��� ����� �� %�

2�%����������������)��)�������������������� Newcastle United managerSteve Bruce on Thursday suggestedplaying games every day in a bid to getPremier League season finished whenit is safe for the campaign to resume.

“We have to try and get this sea-son finished, whatever that takes,everybody wants that,” Bruce said in aninterview with Daily Telegraph.

“We can have a ‘Festival of Football’month, games every day, teams play-ing two or three games a week. “It is notideal, but if we can play 10 to 15 gamesin December and the start of January,we can do it to get this season finished.

“It probably means the start of nextseason will be delayed, we will proba-bly have to scrap one of the cup com-petitions and do without a winter break,but it can be done.

“However, we will find a way.”Professional football in England has

been postponed until at least April 30,and due to govt-ordered lockdown therestart could be pushed back even fur-ther. AFP

�����Athletes who had already qualifiedfor the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before theywere postponed will keep their places whenthe showpiece takes place in 2021, sourcessaid on Thursday.

Around 57% of the 11,000 scheduledparticipants for Tokyo had already madesure of taking part when the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) pushed theGames back to 2021 due to the coronaviruson Tuesday.

The IOC and 32 international sportsfederations held a teleconference onThursday where it was decided to respectthe qualification process.

“Thomas Bach (the IOC President)first explained the reasons for the postpone-ment of the Games, then said that the ath-letes qualified for Tokyo 2020 would auto-matically be qualified for 2021,” one of theparticipants in the conference said.

“One of the main subjects was to knowwhen and how to organise the qualifica-tions.

“In some federations, many sportsmen

and sportswomen are not qualified and ittakes at least three months for the OlympicGames to organise them.”

The 2020 Tokyo Games were scheduled

for July 24-August 9, but after telephone dis-cussions between Bach and Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe, a historic joint deci-sion was taken for the first postponement

of an Olympics in peacetime.However, there is no definite date yet

for the rescheduled Games with Bach say-ing Tuesday the Tokyo Olympics “must berescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but notlater than summer 2021, to safeguard thehealth of the athletes, everybody involvedin the Olympic Games and the internation-al community”.

Many Olympic sports, such as boxing,saw the vast majority of their qualifyingtournaments either interrupted or can-celled due to the global health situation.

Others, such as sailing however,already had 90% of their competitors qual-ified.

“The allocated quotas remain allocat-ed,” confirmed another participant inThursday’s meeting.

“Thomas Bach has confirmed that adecision (on a new date for the 2021 event)will be made within the next four weeks,”he said.

“Some said they prefer May 2021, oth-ers June ...” AFP

�������8��� � �����+������5�5�� �������5�1������


Rolling News - Breaking News

Hart businesses celebrate at the Inspire Business Awards · BReAKING NeWS BReAKING NeWS BReAKING NeWS BReAKING NeWS BReAKING NeWS 3 Join us for free at the Lismoyne Hotel in Fleet

How Breaking is "Breaking News"?

Breaking News - SS contest winner announced!

BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE · BREAKING NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Winners of the 4th Annual International M&A Advisor Awards Announced New York, NY, October 15, 2012 –

BREAKING NEWS!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Breaking Bad News Regional Guidelines · PDF filebreaking bad news breaking bad new breaking bad newsbreaking bad news breaking bad news bad news breaking bad new ccoonntteennttss

Breaking Bad News. Objectives: Students will: Recognize essential principles of breaking bad news. Identify pitfalls in delivering breaking bad news

CTV News | Top Stories - Breaking News - Top News Headlines/httpFile/file.pdfCTV News | Top Stories - Breaking News - Top News Headlines

English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ...€¦ · est MSME package, we are disappointed with announce-ments made by FM.” “Centre has announced 3.6 lakh crore

Breaking news without breaking the infrastructure

Breaking News - Infographic

White’s - ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News ...abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/White Complaint.pdfWhite’s - ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News

Covering Breaking News

Breaking campus news

Breaking News | Latest News | Current News | Happening …failedmessiah.typepad.com/files/breaking-news-latest-news-current... · Breaking News | Latest News | Current News ... to

Breaking News

BREAKING NEWS!

World’s first spaceport announced - Breaking News English …  · Web viewWorld’s first spaceport announced. The age of space tourism came a step closer yesterday with the announcement

English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ... · This shall also apply to all pay-non-banking companies to Aday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special

ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News, Headlines & Videos Complaint2.pdf · ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News, Headlines & Videos