Vol. 13 No. 192 | Pages 24 | `̀ 5.00NEW DELHI, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 www.mailtoday.in / www.mailonline.in

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6,977 new cases in India,

total rises to 1,38,845

154 more deaths in 24 hrs,

toll mounts to 4,021

COUNTRY RECORDS

6,000+ CASES FOR THE FOURTH DAY IN A ROW

635 new cases in Delhi,

total rises to 14,053

15 more deaths in 24 hrs,

toll mounts to 276

4,298 NEW CASES CITYSEES IN 8 DAYS AFTER THELOCKDOWN WAS RELAXED

Delhi govt orders 117private hospitals toreserve 20% of bedsonly for coronaviruspatients. The movemeans 2,000 morebeds available in allsuch city hospitals.Show-cause noticeserved to a privatehospital for denyingCovid-19 treatment.

SCRAMBLE FORBEDS IN DELHI

C VID-19

PANDEMICTHE RISING CORONA CURVE

‘The situation is under control. I will be concerned when there isa significant increase in deaths,or health care system collapsesdue to a sudden spike in cases.’

ARVIND KEJRIWAL, DELHI CM

NOW NOD NEEDED FORHIRING UP MIGRANTSCM Yogi Adityanath saidany state that wants tohire UP workers will haveto seek an approval fromgovt. A commission thatwill help workers get jobswithin UP also on cards.

DELHI-GHAZIABAD BORDER SHUTThe Ghaziabad administration tookthe decision in view of rising coronacases. Essential services are allowed.

HIMACHAL EXTENDS LOCKDOWNThe state govt said curbs will go on tillJune 30 to control coronavirus. May 31is deadline for nationwide lockdown.

SEE PAGES20-21HOCKEY ICON BALBIR SINGH SR. PASSES AWAY

Limited domestic operations start amidquarantine threat in several states, manystranded as 82 f lights cancelled in Delhi

EXTREME caution, joy, apprehensionand frustration marked Day One of themuch-awaited resumption of limiteddomestic flight operations in Delhias well as across most parts of thecountry on Monday. Turn to Page 2

An unusually empty Jama Masjid during Eidal-Fitr festival in Old Delhi on Monday.

Passengers with face masks & shields lineup to check-in at Delhi Airport as limiteddomestic flight ops resumed on Monday.

STATECURBS,NIXEDFLIGHTSCAUSEADRAG

‘From no domestic flights yesterday to532 flights & 39,231 passengers today,action has returned to Indian skies.With Andhra Pradesh set to resumeoperations from tomorrow [Tuesday]and West Bengal from May 28, thesenumbers are all set to increase further.’HARDEEP SINGH PURI, CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER

BACK IN AIR: DAY 1

PANAKAJ NANGIA

PANAKAJ NANGIA

REPORTS ON

PAGES2-6

By Munish Pandey and Mausami Singh in New Delhi

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Monday, May 25, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 2

— DV SADANANDA GOWDA, UNION MINISTER

I come under the exemption clauseand I have the exemptions... ArogyaSetu App on my phone also shows I’m safe.

‘

’

The SC on Mondayallowed Air India to

keep the middle seatsoccupied while operating itsnon-scheduled flights to

bring back Indians strandedabroad up to June 6 whileobserving that the govtshould be more worriedabout the health of citizens.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD kid travelledalone from Delhi to Ben-galuru in Karnataka as theIndian skies opened fordomestic passenger flightsfrom Monday morning twomonths after a gap of twomonths.

As the flights resumed,many travelled to meettheir near and dear ones.Five-year-old VihaanSharma is one of them. Theflight operations werehalted across the country tostop the spread of coron-avirus cases in India.

Vihaan Sharma, who wasstuck in Delhi following thecoronavirus-induced lock-down, arrived in Bengaluruon Monday, nearly afterthree months.

He travelled as a special cat-egory passenger on Delhi-Bengaluru flight and met hismother at KempegowdaInternational Airport.

His mother said, "My five-year-old son Vihaan Sharmahas travelled alone fromDelhi. He has come back toBengaluru after 3 months."

—Indiatoday.in

Chaotic take-off

Vihaan Sharmawas received by

his mother onarrival

Continued from page 1

After a gap of two months, action returned toIndian skies. Andhra Pradesh will come onboard today and West Bengal on May 28.

EXTREME CAUTION There was confusion and chaos at IndiraGandhi International Airport (IGIA) in theNational Capital as passengers as well as crewand ground staff, all in highly protective gear,grappled to adapt to the new normal.

The airport witnessed thermal screening,contact-less check-in (and even sourcing of

Once passengers boarded, theywere given face shields, sanitis-ers and masks by the airline andinstructed to minimise conver-sations.

Crew members made multipleannouncements related tosafety measures and protocols.Passengers were told to disposeof gloves and shields only afterde-boarding the flight, in bio-hazard bins inside the airport.

Other announcementsincluded: “Don't travel heavy asa passenger can take only twobags — one hand and anotherfor check-in. Long queues willgreet you, so if you care for youback, keep the hand baggagelight. Beverage is not available,so to be safe, carry a sandwichor paratha from home, it keeps

you cheered up.” “IndiGo's flight operations will

support more than 20,000 pas-sengers to be home by tonight,"the airline said.

NEW BEGINNING Ajay Singh, Chairman and Man-aging Director, SpiceJet, said, "Ithank all stakeholders for theircooperation. This indeed is anew beginning in the lives ofeveryone associated with air-lines, including passengers, whohave been eagerly waiting toreturn home."

A total of 532 flights operatedacross the country with 39,231passengers.

- With inputs from AjayKumar in New Delhi

water), social distancing amongpassengers, trolleys being disin-fected, besides baggage andrestrooms being sanitised withUV rays.

Some passengers came to theairport in PPE kits, others wereseen wearing masks, face shieldsand gloves. They had to makewritten declarations about nothaving cold, cough, flu and fever.

Those departing from Termi-nal 3 had their baggage scannedby UV rays. They were screenedand had to produce their ticketsto CISF personnel standinginside a glass shield.

Passengers were allowed tocheck-in and move for securityclearance after a quick check ofAarogya Setu app. At each step,ground staff ensured strictadherence to social distancingnorms leading to long, serpen-tine queues.

Delhi's first departure flight,for Pune, took off at 4.45 am,while the first in-bound aircraftlanded around 8 am fromAhmedabad.

THE FRUSTRATION At least 82 flights to and fromDelhi were cancelled. A total of125 flights landed at IGIA and118 departed from it.

Many passengers who were leftstranded at the airport com-plained that airlines didn’tinform them about last-minute

cancellations. Shyam, who had booked on a

flight to Dibrugarh, was visiblyupset with the cancellation andsaid, "I came all the way fromAgra after spending thousandsof rupees. But after reaching theairport, I was told that my flighthas been cancelled,” he said.

“Had they informed us inadvance, we could have planneddifferently. The airline is not will-ing to provide an alternative andI can't even book any otherflight," he added.

Dozens of passengers who hadbooked flights from Delhi toAgartala, Hyderabad and Dibru-garh expressed anger over thecancellations.

“After being trapped here inDelhi for two months, I was veryexcited to go to Kolkata. Ireached the airport on cousin’sbike to catch the flight. Allefforts went in vain after I heardabout my flight cancellation,”said Taposh Mitra, a bakeryshop owner in Kolkata.

QUARANTINE FACTOR Cancellations were attributeddue to inadequate preparednessand conflicting quarantinerules in other states.

The Union healthministry has put theonus on state gov-ernments to set pro-tocols for isolation

of flyers as per their discretion. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Ker-

ala, Bihar, Punjab, Assam,Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradeshand Jammu & Kashmir areamong the states which haveannounced their respectivequarantine measures for passen-gers arriving at their airports.

Some states have decided toput passengers on mandatoryinstitutional quarantine, whileseveral others talked about put-ting them under home quaran-tine or both.

THE JOY OF FLYING, FINALLYBut those who managed to flycould hardly contain relief andexcitement after being strandeddue to the lockdown.

Shafayat Ali, who along withhis wife and two-month-oldchild had been stuck in Delhisince March 20, said, “I will befinally able to see my family afterover two months. It's the bestEid for us as we will be celebrat-ing it with my entire family inKashmir."

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCETo experience the new air

travel norms in the wakeof the coronavirus pan-

demic, an India TodayTV correspondenttook to and fromNew Delhi-Lucknowflights.

Passengerscome out of

Indira GandhiInternational

Airport in Delhion Monday.

(Above) Inside a flight.

Lim-ited domestic

operations startamid quarantine

threat in many states

5-YEAR-OLD TRAVELS ALONEFROM DELHI TO BENGALURU

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 3NEWS

—JYOTI MAYAL, TAAI PRESIDENT

We are looking at more ease of doingbusiness so that we don’t suffer and theconsumer also does not suffer in case ofcancellation of flights.

‘

’

Domestic air travelresumed on

Monday after 2 monthseven as some states wereunenthusiastic about

opening up their airportsin view of rising Covid-19cases causing around630 flights to becancelled.47

Flights to 14 destinationsoperated byChhatrapatiShivaji MaharajInternationalAirport on Monday

Flights, transportleave people inlurch in Mumbai

CHENNAI’S PASSENGERSFACE INCONVENIENCE TOO

By Pankaj Upadhyayin Mumbai

MAHARASHTRA, theworst-affected state in thecountry due to coron-avirus, gave its nod forflight operations only bythe evening of May 24.

It was decided thatMumbai airport, which onany given day conductsaround a thousand opera-tions, would conduct only50 operations. This leftmany flyers nervous aboutthe status of their flights.Many passengers claimedthat the customer careservices of airlines weren’tof much help and thatthey had to travel all theway to the airport only torealise that their flightshad been cancelled.

With no clear guidelinesin place from the stategovernment either abouttransport facilities, thepassengers had to suffer.Most passengers said thatthey had to arrange forprivate vehicles to reachthe airport as they could-n’t find any public trans-

port. Those who somehowmanaged public transporthad to pay sky high prices.

“I paid `2,000 from Worlito the airport. The taxidriver said that lockdownis on and the taxi serviceshaven’t started as yet. Butwe had to reach the air-port so we had no choicebut to pay the sky-highprice,” said a passenger.

Another family whoreached airport fromMankhurd area nearMumbai said that theyfeared that they won’t getpublic transport andhence reached the airportat 7 am even though theirflight was at 1 pm. “Wehad problems reachingthe airport. Somehow, wemanaged to get twoautos,” said a couple.

“All the arriving passen-gers will be stamped ontheir left hand for identifi-cation and will have tocompulsory undergohome isolation for aperiod of 7 days as per theprotocol by the MunicipalCorporation of GreaterMumbai,” said MIAL.

Passengers wearing protective face masks wait in aqueue to enter Chhatrapati Shivaji InternationalAirport in Mumbai on Monday.

By Shalini Lobo in Chennai

THE Chennai government hadinformed the Ministry of Civil Avia-tion that due to high incidents ofthe virus, there will be less opera-tion from the Chennai airport.

Protocol for passengers was put inplace including a kiosk to helpthem with a Tamil Nadu e-pass.However, confusion still reigned atthe departure lounge due to cancel-lation of flights.

“Yesterday I paid Rs 15,000 andbooked a ticket to Ahmedabad.Today I came here and the airlinetells me that the flight has beencancelled and they will get back tome in 7 days,” said Moksha whowas travelling to Ahmedabad afterbeing in Chennai for 2 months dur-ing the lockdown.

Another passenger and her hus-band who had come to Chennai fortreatment also found out that their

Air India flight from Chennai toDelhi had been cancelled. “My hus-band is a patient and we came fromthe hospital to find out that ourconnecting flight to Delhi has beencancelled. From Delhi, we arescheduled to take another flight toAmritsar. We might have toreschedule for tomorrow,” she said.

PHOTOS: PANKAJ NANGIA

A passenger checks her phoneas she waits to check-in at theairport in Chennai on Monday.

PHYSICAL distancingnorms went for a toss

at the Jaipur airport wherepassengers were seenfeigning an utter disregardfor the safety precautionsadvised by the governmentand airlines.

Specific markings weremade on the floor of theairport to ensure that pas-sengers maintain the requi-red physical distance. Butseveral passengers decidedto stand in close proximityto each other while ignor-ing the yellow markings andcircles demarcated by theairport authorities outsidethe departure area.

“We have placed distancemarkings everywhere inthe airport so that peopleshould not gather togeth-er,” director, Jaipur airport,Jaideep S Balhara said.

—Dev Ankur Wadhawan

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Monday, May 25, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 4

— AMIT CHAVDA, GUJARAT CONGRESS CHIEF

‘Namaste Trump’ event organisedby the BJP govt in Gujarat isresponsible for the death of over 800persons due to coronavirus.

‘

’

An employee of theRail Bhavan in the

Capital tested positive forthe novel coronavirus onMonday, leading to the

closure of all offices of theRailways Ministry for thenext two days, the secondtime in less than afortnight.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

CM claims virus in city under control, a week

after Lockdown 4.0 curbs were eased; keeps

20% beds in pvt hospitals for Covid-19 patients

DELHI VS CORONABy Pankaj Jain in New Delhi

THE Covid-19 situation in Delhiis under control, a week afterseveral relaxations were givenin the fourth phase of coron-avirus-induced lockdown,Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

said on Monday. Kejriwal assertedthat he would be concerned only iftwo things happened — either thereis a significant increase infatalities or the city’shealth care system col-lapses due to spike inCovid-19 cases.

The chief minister further saidthat it is not a matter of concernif people are getting infected andrecovering simultaneously fromthe dreaded virus as coronaviruswill not go away in next one ortwo days.

Addressing an online mediabriefing, Kejriwal, said his gov-ernment was ready to deal withthe situation if there is a spike inthe number of serious cases inthe national capital.

He said that there are cur-rently 4,500 beds available forCovid-19 patients in both pri-vate and government hospitalsand 2,000 new beds will be avail-able in private facilities fromMonday.

The Delhi government ordered117 private hospitals in the cityto reserve 20 per cent of the bedsfor people test positive for coro-navirus on Monday.

The CM also said that a show-cause notice has been issued toa private hospital in Delhi whichdenied treatment to a patientwho tested positive for Covid-19.

Kejriwal said, “We have issueda show-cause notice to a privatehospital that denied treatmentto a patient who tested positivefor Covid-19. It is the hospital’sduty in such a case to provide anambulance to the patient & takethem to a coronavirus hospital.”

Kejriwal said that at the pri-vate hospitals, 509 of total 677beds are currently occupied bycoronavirus patients.

“The Delhi government hasordered 117 private hospitals toreserve 20 per cent beds forpatients seeking treatment forthe contagious disease,” Kejri-wal said, adding that the privatehospitals have 72 ventilators ofwhich, only 15 are being used bythe coronavirus patients.

About 3,314 patients with mildsymptoms were being treated athomes, Kejriwal added.

He said that for the status ofCovid-dedicated hospitals inDelhi, there are 3,829 beds ingovernment Covid-19 hospitals,out of which 3,164 beds haveoxygen availability.

By Puneet Sharma in Ghaziabad

THE Delhi-Ghaziabad borders wereordered by the Ghaziabad administrationto be sealed again after a spike inthe coronavirus cases in theneighbouring districts.

District magistrate AjayShankar Pandey issued theorders to close all borders ofDelhi-Ghaziabad on Monday.

In the last few days, most ofthe coronavirus cases wererelated to those people whocommuted between Delhi andGhaziabad, the DM said. Thedecision comes after the Ghazi-abad chief medical officer requestedthe district magistrate and concludedthat cases were on the rise in the neigh-bouring districts.

Under this order, only essential services

will be exempted. Only essential goodsvehicles, trucks, vehicles related to bankservices, ambulance, health care serviceswill be allowed to cross without any pass.

Doctors, paramedical teams, police,and bank staff do not need a

movement pass. Their employ-ment id-cards will suffice.

The central governmentemployees can also moveafter showing their identitycards. The third and fourthgrade employees who work

in different governmentoffices need to get a registra-

tion pass from their office asonly 33 per cent employees are

allowed to work in these offices.Media personnel also need to show theiridentity cards. People from Delhi’shotspots areas will be prohibited to crossthe border.

Ghaziabad DM shutsborders with Capital

CASES REPORTED IN LOCKDOWN 4.0

299May 18

500May 19

534May 20

571May 21

660May 22

591May 23

508May 24

635May 25

4,298TOTAL(in eight days)

The Delhi government hasordered 117 private hospitalsto reserve 20 percent beds forpatients seekingtreatment for thecontagious disease.

— ARVINDKEJRIWAL,

Delhi CM

‘

‘

Onlyessential

goods vehicles,vehicles relatedto bank services,

ambulance, healthcare services will

be allowed tocross

Notice to hospital forrefusing virus patient

Doctorswear

protectivegear

beforeentering

the Covid-19 ICU in

Delhi’sLNJP

hospital.

By Nikhil Lakhwani in New Delhi

WITH the end of the holymonth of Ramadan, the festi-val of Eid, on Monday wascelebrated across the coun-try. Perhaps the first timewhen the festival was cele-brated amid the virus, wherefor the first time people werenot able to hug and greeteach other in order to followsocial-distancing norms.

An India Today TV visitedOld Delhi and the iconicJama Masjid, which is usu-ally packed, especially onthe day of Eid. The adjacentmarket is also flooded withpeople. However, this yearthe place was nearly empty.

Only few were seen onstreets with almost every-body following the necessarydistance from each other.Some volunteered to tell allmarket visitors of the gov-ernment guidelines.

Even the Shahi Imam ofJama Masjid urged people tostay at home and offer Eidprayers from their homes.

Sanjay Bhatia, DCP (cen-tral), along with police per-sonnel, were at ground zeroto ensure that people fol-lowed the guidelines as noreligious place is allowed toopen during the lockdown.

Delhi Police, along withparamilitary forces, were

deployed in parts of OldDelhi and the adjoiningareas to restrict peopleinside their homes.

The shops were not allowedto open as per the directivesexcept for the sweets shop.

In northeast Delhi, Eid thisyear is a celebration of along-time friendship thateven stood the test of com-munal riots for some, whilefor many, it is shorn of anyfestivities.

Exactly three months ago,

when riots broke out innortheast Delhi’s OldMustafabad, Mahesh Guptaand Mohammad Ilyas, whohave known each other fornearly 10 years, were inGupta’s shop.

“The riots have not dam-aged our friendship. We stillshare the same bond, loveand happiness. We stoodtogether when the riots brokeout and we are still togetheras a family as we fight thecoronavirus pandemic. ThisEid is not about new clothesor biryani. It is to reinforceour faith in humanity andlive in harmony just like theold times,” Ilyas, ashopowner, said. —PTI

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 5NEWS

—JUSTICE D Y CHANDRACHUD, SC JUDGE

Emergencies vest substantial powerin the executive as increasedgovernment action may be necessary to preserve public health.

‘

’

Migrant labourersprotested in

Punjab’s FatehgarhSahib district on Mondayafter they came to know

that a Bihar-bound trainwas cancelled. Civil andpolice officials rushed tothe spot to control thesituation.

3,060

Tiwari plays cricketwithout face mask!

AIIMS Delhisanitisationsupervisordies of virusA 58-YEAR-old sanitationsupervisor at the AllIndia Institute of Med-ical Sciences (AIIMS),who had tested positivefor the novel coron-avirus, has died, sourcessaid. He was on ventila-tor and succumbed tothe infection on Sundayaround 7.30 pm.

He was a permanentemployee of AIIMS andwas posted at the pre-mier medical institute’soutdoor patient depart-ment, they said.

“Another corona war-rior sacrifices his life inservice of the country,”Dr Srinivas Rajkumar T,general secretary,AIIMS Resident Doctors’Association, tweetedwith the hashtag ‘Indi-aFightsCOVID19’.

“AIIMS has lost itsproud warrior. The virusis dangerous, very com-municable and doesn’tspare anyone,” Rajku-mar added.

—PTI

By Manjeet Sehgal in Chandigarh

DELHI Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari waspictured flouting the lockdownand social distancing rulesamid the coronavirus-inducedlockdown during his recentvisit to Sonipat, Haryana.

Not only did Tiwari sendsocial distancing to the back-seat when he went to playcricket amid the lockdown, theDelhi BJP chief also did notwear a mask which has beenmade mandatory by the gov-ernment.

Tiwari was seen playingcricket at Sheikhpura UniqueCricket Stadium in Sonipat,Haryana. Sub-DivisionalMagistrate, SonipatAshutosh Rajan on Monday

issued a notice to the ownerof the stadium.

In the pictures, Tiwari is seenwithout a mask or a face shield.

In one of the pictures, Tiwariis seen standing near a smallcrowd as he entertained themby singing a song.

The BJP chief alsotweeted a video of theevent on his Twitterhandle.

The recent inci-dent has brought

the functioning of the Sonipatadministration into question.

This comes as coronaviruscases are rapidly increasingacross the country. Coron-avirus cases in India on Mon-day recorded a jump of 6,977confirmed infections in the

past 24 hours, taking thenationwide tally to

138,845, said theUnion Health Min-istry. —www.india

today.in

DelhiBJP chief

posted a video ofthe event on Twitter

Covid-19 scare dimscity’s Eid festivities

A boy offers prayers inDelhi’s Jama Masjid to

celebrate Eid on Monday.

Market area in OldDelhi almost deserted

PHOTOS: PANKAJ NANGIA

A doctor attends toa patient in the ICU

for Covid-19 patientsat the Lok Nayak Jai

Prakash Narayan(LNJP) Hospital in

the national capital.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari seen without a mask amid thecoronavirus lockdown in Haryana’s Sonipat.

‘Shramik Special’ trains ferried around40L migrants since May 1, Railways said.

Commuters make theirway in Old Delhi’s market

area on Monday.

A massive traffic jam at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border in Ghazipur after

the Ghaziabad administration sealedits border with Delhi on Monday.

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

After kin testpositive, J&KL-G’s advisorquarantinedBy Kamaljit Kaur Sandhuin New Delhi

THE ADVISOR to Jammu andKashmir Lieutenant Governor-Girish Chandra Murmu hasbeen placed under quarantineafter his wife and son testedpositive for coronavirus upontheir return from Delhi toJammu on Sunday.

Advisor RR Bhatnagar is saidto be doing fine with no symp-toms at all.

Bhatnagar’s wife is a doctor inNew Delhi and may have pickedup the coronavirus while onduty.

Speaking to India Today TV,Bhatnagar said, “I am underquarantine and shall be testedsoon. My wife and son areasymptomatic and are beingtreated in a hospital.”

The family were tested imme-diately on arrival to Jammuand were placed under quar-antine as per protocol.

Both his wife and son havebeen admitted to a hospital inKatra, Reasi district. The advi-sor has been placed underquarantine in a nearby guest-house facility.

Bhatnagar is former DG, CRPF.Earlier, K Vijay Kumar, MHAAdvisor to Union Home Minis-ter Amit Shah and CRPF DG APMaheshwari put themselves inself-quarantine after coming inindirect contact of a coron-avirus infected person.

RR Bhatnagar is advisor tothe LG of J&K.

PANKAJ NANGIA

Two staffers at KJo’shouse found positive

Main objective is

to have a ‘ready

reckoner’ for all

future pandemicsBy Abhishek Bhalla in New Delhi

THE Centre plans to hire anagency to document all measurestaken by ministries in the fightagainst coronavirus and also thelessons learnt during the pan-demic. The collected data willserve as ‘ready reckoner’ for similarcalamities in the future.

The proposed agency will collate dataand material related to the mitigation andmanagement of Covid-19. In a letter writ-ten to all ministries, the National Disaster

Management Authority(NDMA), under the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA), said aRequest for Proposal (RFP) tohire a ‘Knowledge ManagementAgency’ will be issued.

The project is being monitoredby the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) and the NDMA will bethe designated body for theimplementation of this exercise.

The NDMA formulated theconcept based on directionsfrom the Prime Minister’s Office.

THE IDEAThe objective behind the exer-

cise is to have a future referencefor dealing with pandemics.

The idea is not just to list suc-cesses but also draw upon short-comings for future references, thedirective from the PMO stated.

Various response actions takenby ministries should be mapped

IN A late-evening post on Twitter, film-maker Karan Johar said that two mem-bers of his household staff had testedpositive for the novel coronavirus.

He also said that he and his family haveall taken the swab test and have beendeclared negative for the coronavirus.

“We will remain in self-isolation for thenext 14 days for the safety of everyonearound us,” wrote Johar in his post onTwitter.

“I’d like to inform you that 2 membersof our household staff have tested posi-tive for Covid-19. As soon as the symp-toms were detected, they were putunder quarantine in a section of ourbuilding. The BMC was informed imme-diately, and the building has been fumi-gated and sterilised by them as per thenorms.

“The rest of us in the family and thestaff are all safe and display no symp-toms. We have all taken the swab testthis morning and have tested negative,but will remain in self isolation for thenext 14 days for the safety of everyonearound us. We stand by our commitmentto safeguard everyone and have ensuredthat all measures prescribed by theauthorities have been strictly adheredto.

“We will also ensure that the best treat-

ment and care is provided to them dur-ing the illness, and we’re sure that theywill be fighting fit soon!

“These are difficult times but by stay-ing in our homes and taking the rightprecautions, there is no doubt in mymind that we can defeat this virus. Stayhome everyone and stay safe.” Film-maker Karan Johar lives in Mumbai withhis mother Hiroo Johar and his kids Yashand Roohi. —www.indiatoday.in

The body temperature of a woman is checked at the entrance of the Max Hospital inNew Delhi on Monday.

� The proposed agencywill collate data andmaterial related to themitigation andmanagement of Covid-19.

� The project is beingmonitored by the PMO andthe National DisasterManagement Authority willbe the designated body forthe implementation.

� The documentation willbe in the form of text andaudio-visual materialrelated to mitigation andmanagement of Covid-19.

� The idea is not just to list successes but also draw upon shortcomingsfor future references, the directive from the PMO stated.

TO NIP DISASTERS IN THE BUD

NEWS

— NITISH KUMAR, BIHAR CHIEF MINISTER

People should remain positivetowards those Covid-19 patients whohave returned home after gettingdischarged from hospitals.

‘

’

Police have registereda case against

unidentified persons forallegedly hacking into thewebsite that issues e-passes

for interstate movement atthe district magistrate’soffice in Kanjhawala andforging such documents,officials said on Monday.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

6

Govt to hire agency fora Corona ‘report card’

Covid-19 will be catalogued andstored for future reference.

“We will give you further infor-mation about it after the Knowl-edge Management Agency is onboard,” said the communicationsent on May 18.

The documentation will be inthe form of text and audio-visual material related to miti-gation and management ofCovid-19.

“Since it will be voluminous itwill need to be systematicallycatalogued using state of the artmethods,” the NDMA communi-cation added.

Joint Secretary (Mitigation)rank officer will be the nodalofficer for this exercise inNDMA. A format for the docu-mentation to be done has alsobeen sent to the ministries.

This includes recordingresponse actions undertaken byall departments, public sectorunits and autonomous bodiesunder the administrative con-trol of the Ministry.

The Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) is likely to examine thetemplate and send its observa-tion to NDMA by May 26.

against a timeline starting in thelast week of January, the direc-tions to all ministries and depart-ments sent by NDMA said.

The agency will design anonline data repository, where allthe relevant material regarding

Bollywood Director Karan Johar.

7NEWSMail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

By Abhishek Bhalla and Ankit Kumarin New Delhi

WITH the India-China faceoff contin-uing at multiple locations in Ladakhand no breakthrough in talksbetween their militaries, the IndianArmy is ready for a tense long haul atthe Line of Actual Control, officialsources say.

Both have enhanced troop deploymentwith more than 1,000 soldiers on each sidecaught in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation.

SATELLITE IMAGERYNew satellite images from the European

Space Agency (ESA) confirmed the Chinesetroop build-up opposite the ITBP camp nearthe Pangong Lake in Ladakh.

A comparison of images takenat different times over the lastmonth suggests the movement ofChina's People's Liberation Army(PLA) on the other side of LAC.An analysis of images from May24 also shows possible movementin the water using smallboats at a distance ofabout 3 km from theITBP camp.

Historical analysisof the imagesreveals that ITBPhas had a perma-nent camp on theIndian side of thearea for many years.

These images showsigns of a possible Chi-nese troop presence at adistance at about 2.5 km fromthe LAC, which was not visible inthe imagery from the first weekof May 2020.

CHINESE INTRUSIONS

There have also been reportsof the Chinese trying to makeforays into the Indian side buthave been stopped by Indiantroops. The disengagementtook place in Eastern Ladakhafter troops came to blows on

May 5 and were involved in afaceoff till the morning of

May 6.

MILITARYHOTSPOTS

Areas across theGalwan Valley andthe Pangong Lakecontinue to be

hotspots where theconfrontation contin-

ues with no signs of de-escalation.

A close watch is being main-tained in the Pangong Tso sec-tor of Eastern Ladakh and theGalwan Valley region where theChinese have enhanced deploy-ment, sources said. Amid the

tension, the Chinese have alsoenhanced patrolling along thePangong Lake and increasedthe numbers of boats deployed.

The Pangong Lake in EasternLadakh is disputed and hasoften been a flashpoint. Theface-offs were triggered byIndian road construction and

development of infrastructureobjected to by the Chinese.

Other than Pangong Tso,which is extremely sensitive,other places that are volatile inthe wake of the recent escala-tion are Trig Heights, Demchokand Chumar in Ladakh, whichform the western sector.

There are many other vulnera-ble spots in Arunachal Pradeshand Sikkim that fall in the east-ern sector. On the recordthough, the army has main-tained that there is no continu-ing faceoff at the Pangong Tsoand there is no build-up ofarmed troops in the region.

SUSPECTED ‘SPY’ PIGEON CAPTUREDA PIGEON, suspected to be trained in Pak-istan for spying, was captured along theInternational Border (IB) in Kathua districtof Jammu and Kashmir, officials said onMonday.

They said the pigeon, carrying a codedmessage, was captured by residents ofManyari village in Hiranagar sector soonafter it flew into this side from Pakistan.

Security agencies concerned are workingto decipher the coded message, the offi-cials said.

“The villagers handed over the pigeon (tothe local police station) yesterday. A ringwas seen attached to one of its legs withsome numbers on it and a probe is on,”Senior Superintendent of Police of KathuaShailendra Mishra said. —PTI

By Dev Ankur Wadhawanin Jaipur

THE dreaded locust attack hasnot spared Rajasthan’s capitalas millions of locusts were seenswarming over Jaipur on Monday.

These locusts, covering thou-sands of miles, have arrived inJaipur from Pakistan followingthe route of Saudi Arabia – Pakistan.

They have already destroyedcrops spread over at least5,00,000 hectares of land, mostlyin western and easternRajasthan.

The districts adverselyaffected by the large-scale coor-dinated attacks by locustsinclude Sri Ganganagar,Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner,Jodhpur, Churu and Nagaur,Ajmer, Jaipur and Dausa.

Hundreds of millions of them,in what has been a fresh arrivalon Monday, flew over largeswathes of land.

The locusts have already

destroyed crops spread overvast hectares of land in the lastthree months.

In Western Rajasthan’s SriGanganagar, Bikaner andBarmer districts, large groups ofpink swarming locusts have

loomed large over lush greenfields laden with Rabi crops thisyear.

And they have been the badomen farmers in atleast twelvedistricts of the desert statecould have easily done without.

Indian Army is

ready for long

haul in Ladakh

with no signs of

de-escalation

By Manjeet Negiin New Delhi

THE Indian Air Force (IAF) is allset to operationalise the sec-ond squadron who will flylocally made Light Combat Air-craft (LCA) Tejas FOC aircraft atan event at the Air Force Sta-tion in Sulur near Coimbatore.

The No. 18 Squadron, code-named ‘Flying Bullets’, will beequipped with the Tejasfighter jets. The event to oper-ationalist the squadron will beheld on May 27. Air Chief Mar-shall RKS Bhadauria will bepresent at the event.

The No. 18 Squadron wasformed on 15 April 1965 withthe motto ‘Teevra aur Nirb-haya’, which means ‘swiftand fearless’.

The squadron usedto fly MiG-27 aircraftbefore it got num-ber-plated ordecommissionedon April 15, 2016.The squadron wasresurrected on April1 this year at Sulur.

The squadronactively partici-pated in the 1971

war with Pakistan and wasdecorated with the highestgallantry award ‘Param VirChakra’.

It earned the sobriquet of‘Defenders of Kashmir Valley’by being the first to land andoperate from Srinagar. Thesquadron was presented withPresident’s Standard in

November 2015.Tejas is an indigenousfourth generation tail-

less compound delta-wing aircraft.

The aircraft isequipped with a fly-by-wire flight con-trol system, inte-

grated digitalavionics, multimoderadar and its struc-ture is made out ofcomposite material.

India-China militarytalks end in impasse

Locusts swarm inJaipur, ruin crops

Swarms of locusts in the walled city of Jaipur, on Monday.

IAF ALL SET TOROLL OUT 2ND

LCA TEJASSQUADRON

Air Chief MarshalRKS Bhadauria.

COMMENT8 Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

The efforts of the govt will betowards rationalisation ofits expenditure and to rampup allocations for essentialsduring the current f iscal.—ANURAG THAKUR, Minister of State

for Finance, on the Centre’s plan for this fiscal

THE Indian scientistCV Seshadri observedthat an event shouldbe seen through threelenses. The firstinvolves storytelling.

Storytelling is an art form whichbecomes even more tragic whenthe storyteller disappears alongwith the story. One can think ofthe Narmada Dam in this con-text. One loses the sheer magic,the tension of anticipation,beginning “once there was”.

The second perspective, more validtoday, is usually scientific or ecological,and centres around paradigms as theo-retical frameworks for problem solving.The emphasis here is on the faith andlogic of scientific or medical ideas. Thethird level is one of discourse combiningmyth, language, philosophy, andexplores the world view and theoryaround the event. The Coronavirus, as apublic event, deserved all three inter-pretations but was seen more throughan act of policy or through a paradig-matic frame. As a result, the discussionsaround it are becoming more impover-ished.

Losing the plotThe pandemic is presented as a polic-

ing problem and its effects evaluatedstatistically. People discussing thefuture, usually technocrats, see theirown world mirrored Coronavirus andargue enthusiastically for artificial intel-ligence. Corporations seeking to controlof the economy, talk of investment, ofworking at home, but rarely see thetragedy of work and the city.

The language of cost-benefit analysispervades it, but the language, the poli-tics of suffering is lost. The number andeconomics need a Karl Marx or a KarlPolanyi to estimate suffering. Our econ-omists speak more like charteredaccountants of death. The story ofvagrants, marginals, migrants is lost orpulverised to a lowest common denom-inator narrative. A man cycling home toBihar gets run over, two women die of

heart attack walking home from a pil-grimage, migrants protest of lack offood and North east students in Delhiuniversity hostels get harassed, we treatall these as sociological categories, astypes rather than as human being. Infact, the entire informal economy is nei-ther paradigm, discourse, nor story,except in the writing of Jean Dreze orof the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti San-gathan.

The travails of migrant workers, whichis one of the epic events of modernIndia, is completely lost in the narrative.

The new normal?Apart from the impoverishment in the

public narrative, this is a second kind oferasure, a friend of mine, a lawyer,dubbed it, the missing interstitial narra-tive. It stands between the private andthe official of public. It’s a narrativeabout fears, anxiety, and loss. Fear isseen as a medical symptom reduced topanic in hospitals, but the normalcy offear and pain is lost in the Corona nar-ratives. As a housewife said, there is noplace to be afraid by a language which isneither paranoid nor fundamentalist.She claimed her fears about her littledaughter, or about her elderly mother,were not something that echoes out-side. They have converted old age frompoetics to a form of dull policy-prose.The refrain goes, everyone above sev-enty onwards is vulnerable, and there-fore dispensable. Old age has no indi-vidual resilience or identity. It iscaptive, ironically, to the absence of sto-rytelling. When in fact, the old weregreat storytellers keeping myth and folktale alive. As one woman said, smallpoxhad its Shitala, a goddess duplicate, butCorona as a secular thing has disem-bedded it from folk tale.

As a result, little about Corona, exceptboredom, remains within memory. The

oral memory of Corona disappears as thesociety boasts of its coming digitality. It’sstrange that as we become a highlyorganised information society, memorybecomes a casualty, and with it the rich-ness of storytelling. It seems a strangething to say today that Corona reflectsthe impoverishment of storytelling. Itlacks even a proper encounter with artsor photography. As a teenager remarked,one hopes the Corona gets a graphicnovel with icons. Something has hap-pened to the imagination of disasters.

Susan Sontag, the American literarycritic, who wrote Illness as Metaphor,coined the term ‘The Imagination of aDisaster’. She used it to refer to thevocabulary, language, the myth, thefolklore of a disaster, and its ability togenerate a framework of meaning andunderstanding. There is an emptinessto the pandemic. It is, what I would call,a McLuhan’s nightmare. MarshallMcLuhan, a Canadian communicationexpert, claimed that each medium ofcommunication becomes an extinctionof the body. Orality and typography,created in different matrix of narratives.In the virus, one sees society quarrellingbetween orality, textuality, and digital-ity, and remaining articulate in all three.

Lack of narrativeWe need new social contract, rework-

ing relations between a society which isoral, textual, and digital. This also needsa deeper articulation of the varieties oftime and a new language for fears. Whenone listens to technocrats discussingthe virus, one would think it is a piece ofplumbing gone wrong. Neither IBM norMicrosoft quite capture the fate of thevirus. They need to go beyond the mar-ket to understand it. We have to see thevirus, not just as a fact of biology, but asa piece of the cosmos and find the lan-guage to articulate the relationship.Democracy is often a failure of the imag-ination, expressing itself as a failure ofrights or ethics of storytelling. The virusseems to be both a literary and scientificdisaster which we need to re-read andinvent in the years to come.

The writer is a social nomad. TThheevviieewwss eexxpprreesssseedd aarree ppeerrssoonnaall..

HUMOURDAILY

Duct tape is like the force. It hasa light side, a dark side and itholds the world together.

SO FUNNY

BORIS Johnson has seriouslyblown it. Usually he is his ownworst enemy – now it seems to beDominic Cummings, his chiefadviser. Johnson offered no apology onbehalf of Cummings.As throughout this crisis, everymove has been politicised andsubjected to one test – how doesthis make Johnson look? A stagearmy of inarticulate B-listministers is put on daily beauty

parade, briefed to boast, obfuscateand maintain fear of the primeminister and his government.Public intelligence is insulted,mistakes are not analysed, risksare not discussed or assessed. Infive minutes of radio, we heardJohnson excusing Cummings, thena minister demanding a return toschool, then there was a solemnadvertisement commanding, “Stayalert … save lives.”

The contrast is glaring with othercountries where experts – notpoliticians – lead briefings to thepublic on the reasons for evolvingpolicies and the risks involved.

Johnson owesan apology to the people

DAY IN WORDS

DAY IN NUMBERS

AROUND THE WORLDTHE GUARDIAN

ON THE UK PM’S MISTAKE

Mine is not a unique story.Each of you have a similartale of becoming American.Regardless of yourimmigration status,you’ve taken action toan education.

The clubs will consider goinginto administration to savethemselves. There is a loomingnightmare economically forEFL clubs.

—GARY NEVILLE, English footballcoach, on the effects of lockdownon football clubs in a few months

Public intelligence is insultedand risks aren’t assessed

—SELENA GOMEZ, actor,sending a messageto graduates from

immigrant families

`3 cr worth of imported

cigarettes seized byDirectorate of

Revenue Intelligencein Andhra Pradesh

22%the rate of

unemployment inMay in the UnitedStates, say official

advisors

If voting changedanything, they would make itillegal.

—Emma Goldman”

I just invent, then waituntil man needs what I’veinvented.

—RB Fuller”

NEWSMAKER OF THE DAY BY SIDDHANT JUMDE

MANOJ TIWARIDelhi BJP chief andparliamentarianManoj Tiwari wasseen flouting thelockdown when hetravelled to Sonipatand played cricketwithout a mask. Inresponse to thecriticism levelled athim, Tiwari said hewas following theorder issued by theministry of homeaffairs and hadmaintained all socialdistancing norms.

The Covid storymust be retold

by Shiv Visvanathan

“ “

9Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 SPOTLIGHT

BIZ BAROMETERMG ARUN

Yarn exports in India have taken a hit in the last few months

INDIAN professionals are increasing theirtime spent on online learning as a responseto remote working, a shrinking job market,the need for upskilling, and the need to staymindful through these challenging times,shows a survey by LinkedIn. Sixty three percent Indian professionals surveyed said theywill increase their time spent on onlinelearning.

The study show 60% professionals want togain more industry knowledge, 57% want tolearn how they can advance in their careers,

and 45 % want to better their communica-tion capabilities through online learning. Theneed to balance job responsibilities withhousehold chores has left the Indian work-force yearning for efficient planning as find-ings show that 43% of Indian professionalswant to learn better time management, stayorganised, and prioritise better.

Online courses findnew takers in India

EXPORTS of tex-tiles and cottonyarn, whichwere comingapart evenbefore the pan-

demic struck because ofcompetition from Viet-nam, Chinese stock liqui-dation and lack of freetrade pact support, havebeen further devastated.

India’s yarn exports con-tracted 30 per cent in the quar-ter ended March as imports byChina, which accounts for athird of India’s yarn exports, fellas garment units there shut-tered. Imports by Bangladesh,which accounts for nearly a fifthof India’s yarn exports, alsodeclined.

“Overall, exports are estimatedto have nosedived 80-90 per centin April and won’t revive in ahurry. Consequently, we expectyarn exports to slide 35-40 percent (year-on-year) this fiscal,”reads a research note fromCrisil. Indian merchandiseexports fell 13 per cent (in dol-lar terms) in the quarter endedMarch compared to a year ago,and a steep 60 per cent in Aprilas the COVID-19 pandemic andshutdown of national bordersslammed global trade.

The US and the EuropeanUnion, which together accountfor 64 per cent of India’s ready-made garment (RMG) exports,are staring at a recession. The

US is the worst-infected countrynow, and the pandemic-drivenlockdown has ripped manyapparel retailers there. Besides,a spike in unemployment andfall in personal incomes wouldcut spending on apparel. In theMarch quarter, India’s garmentexports slipped around 16 percent and in April, the fall was adrastic 91 per cent. Readymadegarments exports may dive 30-35 per cent this fiscal, Crisil said.

The writer is Deputy Editor,India Today.

THE Centre’sfinances could bepressured in 2020-

21 on account of revenueshortfalls due to therestriction on economicactivity and an increasein government spendingtowards relief measures.The financial crunch hasprompted an increase inthe government’s marketborrowing programme byRs 4.2 lakh crore to Rs. 12lakh crores for the fiscal.“By factoring the likelyrevenue shortfalls andincreased expenditure inFY21, we estimated thegovernment’s fiscal defi-cit to widen to around 7%of GDP in FY21 as againstthe budgeted 3.5% of GDP.Here it is also reckonedthat the denominator ofGDP in nominal termswill be lower by aroundRs 10-11 lakh crore,” saidCare Ratings in a report.

As many as 43% of

respondentsto a study

want to learn better time

management

Cyber criminals turn innovative

Virus affectscountry’stextiles asyarn exportsshrink 30%

CORPORATE STRESS REACHES BANKS

The cycle of stress initiated by the lockdown will have a significant impact on banks

Exports nosedived inthe month of April

THE lockdown has intensi-fied the domestic macro-economic concerns onGDP growth, employmentgrowth and demand-sup-ply. The significant disrup-tion and loss of economicactivity across all thedomestic sectors has ledto a sharp downwardrevision in economicgrowth prospects for thecurrent fiscal.

With a significant drop inthe economic activity,India Ratings andResearch expects most

sectors in India to experi-ence varying degrees ofrevenue contraction dur-ing the current fiscal, dueto demand and supply dis-ruptions. This presents

fresh challenges for bankswhich, over the last fouryears have been reelingunder corporate stress.Banks faced elevated pro-visions resulting from the

corporate stress cycleover 2015-16 to 2019-20and as per Ind-Ra’s esti-mates, banks had largelyprovided for the existingcorporate stress andwere progressingtowards a more moder-ated credit cost cycle.However, the Covid-19related measures arelikely to result in anothercycle of stress.

Additionally, the pres-sure on non-corporatesegments, is likely tointensify.

Revenues are likelyto contract

DESPITE efforts byorganisations to layer up theircyber defences, attackers arecontinuing to innovate fasterthan ever before and automatetheir attacks, says the 2020Global Threat IntelligenceReport by technology servicesprovider NTT Ltd.

The attack data indicatesthat over half (55%) of attacksin 2019 were a combination ofweb-application andapplication-specific attacks,up from 32% the year before,while 20% attacks targetedCMS suites and more than 28per cent targeted technologiesthat support websites.Technology became the mostattacked industry for the first

time, accounting for 25 % of allattacks (up from 17%). Overhalf of attacks aimed at thissector were application-specific (31%) and DoS/DDoS

(denial-of-service /distributeddenial-of-service) (25 %)attacks, as well as an increasein weaponisation of IoT(internet of things) attacks.

During thelockdown,cyber crimehas gone up as hackershave adoptednew tactics

By Rupashree Mitra

ACCORDING to the Global Cli-mate Risk Index report 2019,India is the 14th most vulner-able country in the world.Economic losses due tocalamities have been tremen-

dous, ranking India among top fivecountries, along with highcasualty. The subconti-nent’s unique geo-climaticconditions make it highlyprone to natural disasters.As Amphan unleashed itswrath on the easternstates last week, amidst aglobal health emergency,we take a closer look atIndia’s preparedness withdisaster management andwhat this science has inthe offing.

Prof. Santosh Kumar, Professorand Head Governance, NationalInstitute of Disaster Management(NIDM), explains, “Disaster issimply a large scale destructioncaused by natural activities likeearthquake, cyclone, floods,tsunami, etc., and human inducedsuch as fire, industrial accidents,forest fire. According to theUNDRR, disaster is the seriousdisruption of the functioning of acommunity or a society.” Prof.Janki Andharia, Professor andDean, Jamsetji Tata School of Dis-aster Studies, Tata Institute ofSocial Sciences (TISS), adds,“Disasters are situations thattranscend or stress the copingcapacities of a society and/or alocal community. A distinction isoften made between hazards,which are physical events such asan earthquake or cyclone thatturn into disasters because oftheir impacts on society.”

H ENCE, disaster manage-ment is the administra-tion of resources andresponsibilities at vari-ous stages — disaster

risk reduction, preparedness,response, relief and immediateand long-term recovery in order tolessen the impact. India’s Disas-ter Management Act (DMA), 2005was recently invoked by PM Modiwhen the first nationwide lock-down was announced to containthe spread of Coronavirus. Withtime, the understanding of disas-ters and goals of disaster manage-ment keep evolving, says DrAnshu Sharma, Co-founder,SEEDS (Sustainable Environ-ment and Ecological Develop-ment Society), a not-for-profitorganisation. “For example,within recovery and rehabilitationwe now talk about ‘building backbetter’, wherein the goal is torebuild better and safer thanbefore so that future disasters donot have a similar impact. Simi-larly, the concept of resilience is to

� ONLINE ACCESSTO EDUCATIONVIRTUAL education poweredby Digital Intelligence hasproven to be an optimalsolution wherein learningcan continue unabated.FORE School of Manage-ment brings its expertise inproviding executive educa-tion to enabling access toits world-class executivebusiness education suite toanyone, anytime, anywhere.

The online programmesoffered are designed foreffective learning, targettedat individual professionals aswell as corporate teams.Prof Rajneesh Chauhan,Dean (Corporate Relations)at FORE School of Manage-

ment stated, “We arepleased to introduce OnlineMDPs, which provide anavenue for continued learn-ing and reskilling for execu-tives while maintainingsocial distancing.”

Corporates can partnerwith them to develop cus-tomised courses targettedat business and team needs.

JK Business School (JKBS)has always stressed on main-taining a healthy lifestyle.Now, JKBS is promotinghealthy living during thelockdown with their onlineversion of FitBit sessionrebranded as e-FITBIT.

This initiative helps reducestress and improves produc-tivity. Guided by a trainedfitness professional the stu-

dents along with the facultywill perform flexibility,strength, and enduranceactivities at home.

e-FITBIT is scheduled onalternative days (Monday,Wednesday and Friday) andthe students can downloadrecordings of these fitnesssessions and follow routinesat a later time in case theymiss these sessions.

NEWS BRIEFS

� HEALTHY EVENINGS WITH E-FITBIT

THE Festival of MedicalResearch will be hostedonline by the University ofSheffield for the first timefor people to enjoy whilethe UK remains in lock-down. The theme of thisyear’s festival is healthyliving and how medicalresearch can help to keepus well throughout ourlives.

A range of activities andexhibits will be onlinefrom May 29 to June 5, andis for people of all ages.

Dr Alice Pyne, a lecturerin Soft Matter and Poly-mers at the University ofSheffield’s Department ofMaterials Science andEngineering, will be pre-senting a series of videosand activities that will

explore the structure ofDNA. She hopes the festi-val will inspire more med-ical researchers. Join thefree festival online atwww.sheffieldculturehub.co.uk.

� NEW CERTIFICATE COURSE IN FINTECHLEADING EdTech Educa-tion platform ImarticusLearning has announcedits partnership with SPJain School of GlobalManagement, to form aFintech training pro-gramme. With this, two ofthe country’s biggest fin-tech providers have joinedhands to bring a compre-hensive fintech pro-gramme that provides in-depth exposure throughcase studies and interac-tions with industry lead-ers.

This programme withspecialisations inblockchain, payments andlending supported by animmersion week in Singa-pore will allow financeand data science profes-sionals to hone their skills.

Talking about thiscourse, Nikhil Barshikar,founder and managingdirector, Imarticus adds“This is a one-of-a-kindprogramme that allowscandidates to immersethemselves in the Fintechecosystem across Asia.”

diploma programmes in disastermanagement. We also offer anonline certificate course since2013, in partnership with theInternational Federation of RedCross and Red Crescent Soci-eties, Geneva. The courses areoffered within the broad frame ofsocial and environmental justiceand examine issues on a contin-uum of disasters and develop-ment. While Covid-19 is a healthemergency, it has cascadingimpacts on economy, labour andlivelihood, which are unprece-dented. Hence, we are encour-aging students to take upCovid-centric researchtopics for their dis-sertation and fieldinternship.”

Interestingly, the

student profile has participantswith varied academic qualifica-tion from different sectors, bothfrom within and outside the coun-try. “A person who is self-driven,motivated, has a passion to servehumanity, and the will to connectwith those in need is the rightcandidate for this field. Varioushumanitarian agencies working insectors like health response, shel-ter support, water and sanitation,mental health and gender inclu-sion offer employment opportuni-ties,” says Dr. Sharma.

In fact, the profession is witness-ing development of cutting-

edge technology withsatellite imagery, artifi-

cial intelligence mod-els, tele-communica-tions and last mile

community volunteer networksto deliver early warnings aboutimpending disasters quickly andaccurately. “We are movingtowards a point where we willsoon be able to give specific infor-mation on vulnerabilities as wellas upcoming disaster threats,enabling a hyper-local and rapidresponse that will save lives andproperties. The same technologyis being deployed for Covid-19 toidentify the most at risk micro-enterprises that desperatelyrequire livelihood recovery sup-port and further to repurpose andlocally aggregate them to ride outthe rough economic landscapethat looms ahead. This is part ofour mission of building resiliencethrough innovation,” concludesDr. Sharma.

anticipate, absorb and adapt todisaster events. This includes abil-ities of knowing impending risksand forecasting the future; our sys-tems are therefore made robustenough to survive the event, aswell as intelligent to learn fromeach event and make improve-ments to face future disasters bet-ter.”

Newer catastrophes, with theirunique biological, economical andinfrastructural impact, are addinginnovative dimensions to disastermanagement — a well-defined dis-cipline that is paving professionalavenue for future employees. As aprovision of DMA, the NIDM isresponsible for human resourcedevelopment, capacity building,training, research, documentationand policy advocacy. It conductsvarious programmes under sixacademic divisions, partneringwith national institutes of reputelike IITs, NIRD, ISRO, FRI, andinternational organisations likethe World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF,UNDRR, International RecoveryPlatform, Swiss Re, Munich Re

and many more. As Prof. Kumarinforms, officials from NationalDisaster Response Force, StateDisaster Response Force, medicalprofessionals, nodal officers of thecentral ministries along with civilsociety, NGO, researchers, partici-pate in these programmes. “NIDMalso conducts online self-learningcertificate courses for citizens andwill hold an online session ‘Com-munity preparedness for response’on May 29, 2020,” he adds.

THERE are other institutesas well that offer diploma,certificate and mastercourses in disaster manage-ment like GGSIPU, IGNOU,

Disaster Management Institute(Bhopal), The Global Open Uni-versity (Nagaland), Indian Insti-tute of Ecology and Environment,and TISS. Prof. Andharia says,“The School of Disaster Studies,TISS, offers two-year master, one-semester certificate, and one-year

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�ON THE SPOT �

EDUCATION MAIL lines up some of the country’s tophiring executives and finds out what they look forwhile selecting a candidate for a corporate role

Candidates mustupdate as well asapply their skills

■ Talent spotters now regardpotential as one of the keyemployee attributes for hiring.How do you spot potential andpassion during a job interview?

We provide live projects andassignments to candidates tounderstand their broader per-spective and creativity. That’s amajor part of any hiring we do.Our idea of recognising a candi-date’s passion is by the ability oftheir pitch, the way they posethemselves and their projects.It’s about the level of creativityused and brainstorming done.

■ What are some of the otheressential attributes you lookfor in a job applicant?

Some of the essential attributeswe look for are:

� Politeness� Productivity� Open-mindedness� Passion for the job� Hardworking� Adaptable mindset� Background check for keyperformance indices

■ What are some ofthe common issues,which you confrontin graduates whilehiring?

The exponentialsalary expectationfrom the right can-didates because ofthe opportunity thatlies with a project likeAdmission24. Also, theaverage skillset from mostcandidates while submitting anyassignment.

■ What is the transitionalchange, which a candidate hasto be prepared for whenhe/she enters the job marketfrom the campus?

The job market is completely dif-ferent from college life. Everystudent who becomes a poten-tial candidate for this job marketmust understand that real lifestarts here and it’s all aboutimplementing concepts youlearnt in college. The paradigmshift happens here and thescoreboard of a resourcebecomes zero to start off fresh.One must be prepared to under-stand the requirements of themarket and adhere to it. Also,they should polish their skills andcater to a company’s expecta-tion rather than focusing on justtheir own expectations.

■ The role of social media inhiring candidates?

Social media plays a crucial role.Not only has it helped us to pro-mote the job but also in gettingan insight into a candidatebefore he/she enters the doorfor an interview. This helps inengaging with the right talentwithout any wastage of our or

their resources.

■ How can a candidatemake himself/herself

valuable in theirline of work?� Be enthusiastic� Bring somethingvaluable on thetable� Upgrade your

skills and demon-strate them

� Be technically compe-tent. Just getting into the door

won’t solve the purpose� Be acquainted with theindustry perspective

■ How severe can the cost ofmaking mistakes be on a pro-fessional level, as opposed toacademics, where it can endwith a little red circle?

Hiring a bad candidate affectsthe company’s future pool oftalent and result in wasting timeand money. As per a LinkedInsurvey, 27 per cent candidateswho had a negative experiencewould ‘actively discourage’ oth-ers from applying for a job withthat company. It is not justabout the financial burdenwherein the candidate becomesa liability to the organisation. Itis also about time and resourcewasted in training, retrainingand managing the personal con-flicts of the candidate.

It’s aboutimplementing

concepts learnt incollege. One must

understand therequirements of

the market

ABHINAV SEKHRI, CEO& Founder, Admission24

Cognition of coaching, counselling and Covid-19THE Coronavirus pandemic andlockdown has brought aboutnumerous challenges for us all.Many people are developing anegative energy and bom-bardment of informationthrough social media is leavingthem confused. Under thesecircumstances, it is natural forus to seek expert help. This hasresulted in another issue; theproliferation of life coachesand counsellors.

A life coach is essentially acertified professional trainedin coaching his/her clients onissues that could relate to per-sonal growth, business expan-sion, professional growth, and

personality development.They would typically help aclient understand his/her cur-rent situation, set up goals,and push their client towardsthe achievement of thesegoals. However, they do nothave the ability to handlemental health issues. While alife coach can also be a certi-fied professional in psychol-ogy, most of them operatebased on their own experi-ence.

A clinical psychologist, on theother hand, is qualified in psy-chology with at least a mas-ter’s degree. They are trainedto deal with emotional and

mental health issues of thepatients where diagnosis isclinical in nature. Psycholo-gists assess a patient andhis/her situation from an inde-

pendent perspective. Basedon this assessment, a line oftherapy is devised for thepatient to cure the mental

health issues entailed therein. These two professionals deal

with different situations. Itmay be risky for an unawareperson to mix it up.

Unfortunately, there arepeople claiming to becoaches, often without therequired qualification, havemushroomed intending toencash the opportunity.

Please do not seek help onmental health and emotionalissues from any self-styled lifecoach who is not a certifiedexpert in psychology.

Clinical psychologist Dr.Prerna Kohli is founder of

Mind Control Solutions

TURNINGDISASTER

1110 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

EDUCATION MAILMAIL

Catastrophes can inspire

you to pursue a career in

disaster management

PROF. SANTOSH KUMAR, Head Governance, NIDM

DR. ANSHU SHARMA, Co-founder, SEEDS

PROF. JANKI ANDHARIA, Dean, Jamsetji Tata School

of Disaster Studies

OPPORTUNITYA file picture of

professionalshelping out localresidents after a

landslide atWayanand,

Kerala, in 2019.

Now,AI models are

used to deliverdisaster warnings

Be wary of lifecoaches with no

qualification

SEEDS

INTO

THE US suspended travelfrom Brazil over an explosionof coronavirus infections inthe South American nation,but across the Atlantic,many parts of Europe were

set to further ease lockdowns onMonday after slowing their Covid-19 outbreaks.

Rocketing cases rates in South Americahave pushed the worldwide caseload tonearly 5.4 million, with deaths approach-ing 350,000, but with the global economybattered, governments are scrambling toprovide relief, however, they can to busi-nesses and citizens wearying of mass con-finement. Brazil — the world’s sixth-largest country — has been declared thelatest hotspot with more than 360,000reported cases, second only to the US,even as its leader, the far-right PresidentJair Bolsonaro, plays down the threatfrom the virus. In a sign of global concernabout the outbreak in Brazil, where morethan 22,000 have died of COVID-19, theWhite House said Sunday it would barentry into the US of non-Americans whohave been in the South American nationin the 14 days before.

BOLSONARO BREAKS RULESDespite the crisis engulfing Brazil, Bol-sonaro — an ally of US President DonaldTrump — has repeatedly argued that lock-down measures are unnecessary andharmful to the economy. He flouted socialdistancing rules again on Sunday, attend-ing a rally outside the presidential palacein Brasilia to greet a cheering rally, ditch-ing his face mask, shaking hands andembracing supporters — even hoisting ayoung boy onto his shoulders at one point.

The leader grinned as flag-waving sup-porters shouted “Legend!” and “The peo-ple support you, Bolsonaro!”

But despite the strong supportfrom his political base, he hasfaced scathing criticism for hishandling of the outbreak asexperts warn Brazil’s healthcaresystem is overwhelmed. Andwhile his government hasimposed a Brazil travel ban overthe virus, Trump remains frus-trated with lockdown measuresat home, and — with 40 millionjobs lost this year — is aggres-sively pushing a US reopeningdespite the national death tollapproaching 100,000.

Again trying to project confi-dence, Trump played golf for asecond straight day on Sunday,after avoiding the fairways sinceMarch 8. The polarised opinionon lockdowns in America was ondisplay after video footageemerged of a jam-packed swim-ming pool in Missouri over theweekend, despite orders man-dating social distancing meas-ures. “Scenes such as this oneare inconceivable during thepandemic. Do they all havedeath wishes?” said a woman.Another said, “Just Americansbeing free and making their owndecisions and enjoying life.”

EUROPE REOPENINGDespite Hard-hit Spain easedcurbs in Madrid and Barcelona,with the capital’s popular RetiroPark opening its gates Mondayfor the first time in 10 weeks.“The reopening of Retiro bringsme a feeling of serenity, gives mecomfort,” said Rosa San Jose, a50-year-old schoolteacher whohad come to the park to walk,wearing a white mask. Mean-while, restaurants, bars andswimming pools were amongseveral types of businesses set toreopen in the Czech Republic,which has reported 9,000 cases.

The nation will even allowevents with up to 300 people,and Czechs are no longerobliged to wear face masks in

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

BRAZILTRAVEL BANNEDAMID SURGE IN VIRUS,U.S.SAYS

UK PM’S DEFENCE OF TOP AIDE SPARKS FURYUK PRIME Minister BorisJohnson faced mutiny in hisparty and fury acrossBritain on Monday for refus-ing to sack his closest aideDominic Cummings who isaccused of flouting the coro-navirus lockdown by driving250 miles from London.

Defending one of Britain’smost powerful men, John-son said at the weekendCummings acted “responsi-bly and legally and withintegrity” by heading fromLondon to northern Eng-land with his son and hiswife, who was ill with Covid-19 symptoms. Many believethat was hypocritical giventhe government’s mantra to

avoid such movements.“What planet are they on?”

asked the Daily Mail, aninfluential right-wing paperusually supportive of John-son and his adviser, whohelped the Prime Ministerto power and to secureBritain’s exit from the Euro-pean Union. Some 20 rulingConservative Party lawmak-ers, 14 Church of Englandbishops and some scientistsalso expressed anger.

“Boris Johnson hasnow gone the fullTrump,” said PeteBroadbent,bishop of Willes-den, comparingBritain’s leader

to his ever-controversial USally President DonaldTrump. With a death tollaround 43,000, Britain is theworst-hit country in Europeand the government wasalready under pressure overits handling of Covid-19.

Downing Street office saidCummings made the jour-ney to his parents’ propertyin County Durham to ensurehis son, 4, could be cared forby relatives if he fell ill along

with his wife. The gov-ernment’s instruc-

tion people show-ing symptomswas not to leavethe house for 14days. —Reuters

UK PM Boris Johnson at a remotepress conference in London.

Borisrefuses to sack

Cummings, who isaccused of floutinglockdown norms.

VICTIMS of Aus-tralia’s cata-strophic bush-

fires are still living intents, garages andmakeshift sheltersmonths after the blazesended, with efforts torebuild their lives ham-pered by the pandemic.

Inside a small tin shedon Australia’s south-east coast, a family ofsix takes refuge fromthe cold as the south-ern hemisphere winterbegins to bite. Thestructure — chock-fullof toys and beds — has

been home to AnitaLawrence, 51, and herfive kids since February.“Every single little thingdisappeared,” she said.

Australia’s unprece-dented bushfire crisisthat scorched an arealarger than mostnations and displacedthousands put a rarespotlight on climatechange in a rich, devel-oped nation. The disas-ter sparked charitytelethons, governmentpromises of a recovery,donations from acrossthe world. —AFP

File photo of USPresident DonaldTrump during anevent in Florida.

12 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

— MIKHAIL MISHUSTIN, RUSSIAN PM

It’s better, safer to spend theholidays in your own country...Will reopen places fully whenthe situation becomes normal.

‘

’

Privacy concerns overQatar’s coronavirus

contact tracing app haveprompted a rare backlashand forced officials to offer

reassurance, concessions.The access to users’ locationdata through the Ehteraz apphas prompted fears aboutstate surveillance.W RLDLY

ISE

world’s third-biggest economy.

MOUNTING PRESSUREDespite experts warning againstreopening too soon, and recom-mending some form of confine-ment measures until a vaccineor treatment is developed, gov-ernments are feeling immensepressure to ease lockdowns.India, which has imposed theworld’s biggest lockdown —resumed domestic flights onMonday with the governmentdesperate to get Asia’s third-largest economy moving again.

But infections are still surgingin India, leaving passengers andairline staff worried about therisks of travel resumption. Oneairline employee — wearinggloves, a mask and a protectiveface shield — said she and othercolleagues felt “very nervous”about starting work. —AFP

public except in shops and onpublic transport. Among manyplaces in Europe, cafes andrestaurants in Greece were gear-ing up to reopen on Monday —but only those with outdoorservice. Nightclubs and barswere set to resume business inIceland’s capital Reykjavik,while zoos and museums willwelcome visitors again inCopenhagen, and Rome’s swim-ming pools and sports centreswill also reopen.

In Asia, Japan lifted its state ofemergency on Monday as newcases slowed to a crawl in the

Brazil declared latest virus

hotspot with 360,000 infected

Meanwhile, Europe eases

restrictions after dip in cases

A waitress serves people atan outdoor seating sectionof a restaurant at Ramblas,in Barcelona on Monday.

SPAIN urged foreign holiday-makers on Monday to returnfrom July as one of Europe’sstrictest lockdowns eased, buttourism businesses were scepti-cal about salvaging the summerseason. The world’s second-most visited nation closed itsdoors and beaches in March tohandle the Covid-19 pandemic,but it has seen out the worstand plans to lift a 14-day quar-antine requirement on overseasarrivals within weeks.

“It is perfectly coherent toplan summer vacations to cometo Spain in July,” Tourism Min-ister Reyes Maroto said. Spainnormally draws 80 million peo-ple a year with tourism account-ing for over 12% of gross domes-tic product and an evenbigger share of jobs, sothe summer season iscrucial to possibilitiesof mitigating a loom-ing recession.Though allowed to

open outside spaces at halfcapacity from Monday, manybars and restaurants in Madridand Barcelona stayed closed asowners weighed the value ofcatering to just a few.

Some of those who did open,after gloved and masked staffcleaned terraces and placedtables far apart, were pes-simistic. “It’s complicated, weare not going to be able to savethe tourist season, unless(enough) foreigners come,” saidAlfonso Gomez, a restaurantowner in Barcelona. Anotherrestaurant owner, CelestinoPereda, said businesses in thetourism industry “can’t survive”because so much depends onthe summer. On the streets of

Barcelona and Madrid,which have been hit

worse than most otherareas, passersbyenjoying new-foundfreedoms were moreupbeat. —Reuters

People wearing face masks cross a street in Shinjuku areain Tokyo on Monday after the state of emergency is lifted.

TheEuropean

country normallydraws 80 milliontourists a year.

Emergency lifted in rest of Japan

JAPANESE Prime MinisterShinzo Abe lifted a state ofemergency for Tokyo and fourremaining areas on Mondayafter the number of infectionsfell across the country, butwarned that it could be reim-posed if the virus startedspreading again.

The move meant that thewhole country would now havethe social distancing curbsloosened, after an initial liftingof restrictions for most areason May 14. Abe said the totalamount of stimulus from twoeconomic packages will exceed$1.86 trillion but it would stilltake considerable time to getback to normal life while con-

trolling infection risks. “Todaywe are taking a firm steptowards the next stage follow-ing the removal of the state ofemergency,” Abe toldreporters gathered in Tokyo.

Abe acknowledged Japan hasfaced some problems with itsresponse and promised areview once the outbreak wasover. But he also praised the“Japan model”, in which itbrought the outbreak undercontrol in six weeks withoutstrict lockdowns imposed inother countries. However, hewarned that, “in the worst casescenario, there may be thepossibility of reimposing thestate of emergency”. —Reuters

Devotees offer a special prayer at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka onMonday. Muslims began marking a sombre Eid due to fears of skyrocketing infections.

THE pandemic and lock-downs coupled with travelrestrictions and social dis-tancing norms have mutedthe Eid celebrations in Pak-istan and Bangladesh amongother countries as worship-pers in most Muslim-major-ity countries marked the end

of Ramzan in strictly-regu-lated prayer congregations.

A large number of peoplewere forced to stay indoorsdue to the fears of contract-ing the virus which has killednearly 3.5 lakh people andinfected over 5.4 millionacross the world. —PTI

Virus dampensfestive spirit ofEid worldwide

Two worshippers greet eachduring a drive-through Eidcelebration in Wheaton.

Islamic Society of North America Mosque communitymembers hand out gifts to celebrate Eid in Mississauga.

SPAIN MAY STOP QUARANTININGOVERSEAS ARRIVALS FROM JULY

Brazilian PresidentJair Bolsonaro (C)greets supportersin Brasilia, despite

a surge in casesacross the country.

13Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

— JOSEP BORRELL, EU FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHIEF

The pandemic could be seenas a turning point in the powershift from West to East... Weneed a more robust strategy...

‘

’

China has decidedto evacuate its

citizens from India whoare facing difficulties inthe country and want to

return home. The Chineseembassy put out a noticeon its website on Monday,asking people to booktickets in special flights.

The WHO has temporarily suspendedclinical trials of hydroxychloriquine asa potential treatment for Covid-19being carried out in countries as a pre-cautionary measure, WHO chief TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

People offer prayers inQuetta on Monday.

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 202014 COFFEE BREAK

TWO PAGES OF ASTROLOGY, PUZZLES AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

ARIES Apr 14-May 14

Unconditional love will bethe key to making this relationship clip along in a

smooth manner. The help you needfrom your sweetheart will be forthcoming and very welcome too.

CANCER July 16-Aug 15

Heading your list is makingplans for the future. Your

best efforts are going to go intomaking this relationship a better one. The future begins to looks bright and sunny.

LEO Aus 16-Sep 15

There will be a lot ofharmony in your loverelations. You share so

many interests and this plays a big rolein becoming a sealing factor in thiscurrent relationship.

SCORPIO Nov 16-Dec 15

It is going to be a nice day. A

recent attraction will keep you

busy and will not let you feel down in the

dumps. The gods of love are going to

swathe you in ecstasy.

AQUARIUSFeb 12-March 13

You may want to tap into anhitherto unexplored area in

your romance. Being less docile willhelp you finds ways of becoming moreassertive and getting good results.

SAGITTARIUSDec 16-Jan 13

A lot of understanding from yourbeloved will brighten your mood.

Extra work and lack of time being spenttogether could make you irritableotherwise. You will sail through.

GEMINI June 16-July 15

Romance is going to besmooth and you are going to

enjoy many happy moments with yourlover. You will probably be on cloud nineas your beloved will be ready now tomake a commitment.

TAURUS May 15-June 15

Happiness is going toincrease. You will enjoy all

sorts of comforts due to your lovedone. On the whole, your life will behappy as both of you show greatdevotion to each other.

VIRGO Sep 16-Oct 15

There is every chance thatyou would like to introduceyour beloved to the family.

You are going to be pleasantly surprisedat how happily they greet yourcompanion.

LIBRA Oct 16-Nov 15

Avoid taking small mattersto heart. It would be in yourinterest to take a look at the

larger picture. You do not want therelationship to sour, so take things inhand now.

PISCES Mar 14-Apr 13

Problems will get solutions.

The long wait is going to get

over. Happiness will enter your love life

once again. You are going to have a

blissful and exciting day.

CAPRICORNJan 14-Feb 11You will begin to gain more

confidence and see good

progress by dealing with irritating issues in

your love life with more ease. You will get

to learn some new things.

By Dr Ajai Bhambi

Co

ffee

Bre

ak

Difficulty Rating

Cross out numbers to create blanks. No digit canappear in a row or column more than once. No twoadjacent squares can be blacked out. All the squaresleft unblacked must be connected — vertically or horizontally — to form a single shape.

SCRABBLE GRAMS

DAILY JUMBLE MINI SUDOKU SUDOKU X

CODEWORDSUDOKU

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

KAKURO SUDOKU CLASSIC HITORI

*Datesbased

on VedicSun Signs

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 15COFFEE BREAK

by Manisha Koushik

FOCUSFOCUSASTROASTRO

ARIES Mar 21-Apr 20

You will get money come to yourfrom multiple sources that keepyour bank balance healthy. You

will get appreciation on the professionalfront due to your best performance.

TAURUS Apr 21-May 20

Wealth will come to yoursteadily that will keep your

financial front comfortable. You havepending tasks to complete, so get afterwhatever you have in your plate.

GEMINI May 21-June 21

Some will cut corners to repay aloan. Those who have just joined

new job will see things going good on theprofessional front. Some positive resultsand total fitness is indicated for some.

CANCER June 22-July 22

Your stable financial conditionwill allow you to put some cashfor emergency. Marketing

personnel will achieve their targets.Active lifestyle and good eating habitswill help achieve perfect fitness.

LEO July 23-Aug 23

You will manage to keep yourfinancial front intact with judicious

spending. An achievement at work will adda new feather in your cap. You will achieveperfect fitness with your efforts.

VIRGO Aug 24-Sep 23

Your financial front will becomfortable and stronger thanbefore. You will manage to get

amongst the top few in your office withyour professional competence.

LIBRA Sep 24-Oct 23

You will manage to increase your

health with good financial

judgements. You should tie things

up in proper manner on the professional

front, if you are planning to take a break.

SCORPIO Oct 24-Nov 22

Those in need of monetary helpmay get lucky today. You willput efforts to boost your

image on the professional client toattract new clients.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23-Dec 21

Some may have resources to repay a

loan. This is a lucky day on both

financial and professional front for

doctors and engineers. Your initiatives taken

on health front will help keep you fit.

CAPRICORN Dec 22-Jan 21

You will get good rent for arented apartment. Things will gosmooth on the professional

front. You will put efforts to maintaingood health.

AQUARIUS Jan 22-Feb 19

A change of job will make yourfinancial condition stable. Yourcontribution to your

organization will get you reward of additional authority.

PISCES Feb 20-Mar 20

Your earning capacity willincrease. This is the right day to

complete all your pending tasks. Takingalternative medicine will prove helpful ingetting rid of a health issue.

KEN-KENEach row & column must contain numbers 1 to 4 (easy) or1 to 6 (difficult). The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes must combine to produce the numbers in the top-left corner.

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS4 You must have brown rum

in your tea or you showyour temper! (7)

8 Having a good excuse, I amgranted bail (5)

9 They have darns in themyet are seen all around thehouse! (9)

10 That American soldier hasreturned the big bird andhas a dog instead (5)

11 Seen in the water but aptto file out on being given adrug (9)

13 Thanks! There’s less to putback or hang down (6)

15 He’ll fish in a corner -right? (6)

19 Ric’s nerve has disturbedthat old writer (9)

21 Not out, I obtained a goldbar (5)

22 Aunt Tara left on seeingsuch a big spider (9)

23 Senor! Hold your tongue! (5)

24 Pardon? You’re just beingnasty to me! (7)

DOWN1 Supply the chicks, alien or

you’ll be given the chop! (7)

2 Is put in crepe and makes

holes (7)

3 They’re in a state when work-

ing but remain courteous, it

seems (5,8)

4 If using a raft, certain

charges are made (6)

5 Ian’s anger disturbs Nona and

they’re both past ninety! (13)

6 A tear is shed when I use a

lariat (5)

7 To sum up, Ed meditated (5)

12 It’s very easy to get

cereal (3)

14 Sort of curve taken by

a car (3)

16 They’re seen to account for

LS and his greed (7)

17 A cattle thief makes little

sound (7)

18 Here’s why you left to run off!

You’re just unmanageable!

(6)

19 Art to us, as a rule, is in San-

skrit (5)

20 Concerns a score given when

it’s broadcast again (5)

SUDOKUFill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the 3X3squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. Solutions are below.

Difficulty Rating Difficulty Rating Difficulty Rating

TODAY’S SOLUTIONS

HITORI CRYPTIC CROSSWORDKAKURO

SUDOKU SUDOKU CLASSICMINI SUDOKU

CODEWORD

Scrabble and scrabble tiles are registered trademarks. Allrights in the game are owned in the USA by Hasbro Inc., inCanada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by J.W. Spear &Sons Limited., a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc

SCRABBLE GRAMSSUDOKU X

KEN-KEN

16 Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Govt agencies, publicsector undertakings andmajor industries combinedowe an estimated `5 lakhcrore to MSMEs. TheCentre will clearoutstanding paymentswithin 45 days.

‘QUOTE OF THE DAY

— NITIN GADKARI, MINISTER FOR MSMEs34.15 mntonnes of wheat produced thisyear, surpassing last year’s figureof 34.13 mn tonnes.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

Billionaire Sunil Mittal-led BhartiTelecom plans to raise $1 billion by

diluting 2.75% stake at a f loor price of`558 per share through secondaryplacement to become debt free. This is at a6% discount on the `593.2 apiece closingprice as on May 22.

mybiz

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

HOUSING finance companyHDFC Ltd on Mondayreported a 10 per centdecline in consolidated netprofit to Rs 4,341.58 crore forthe Jan-March quarter.

The company had clocked anet profit of Rs 4,811.26 crorein the same quarter of 2018-19. The board has proposed adividend of Rs 21 per share ofthe face value of Rs 2 per unit,HDFC Ltd said in a regulatoryfiling. On a standalone basis,the profit of HDFC during thequarter slipped by 22 percent to Rs 2,232.55 crorefrom Rs 2,861.58 crore in thesame quarter of the previousfiscal year.

During the quarter, the netinterest income improved toRs 3,780 crore compared toRs 3,161 crore in the corre-

sponding quarter previousyear. For the full fiscal, thenet profit on standalone basisnearly doubled to Rs 17,769.65crore as against Rs 9,632.46crore. However, HDFC Ltd in astatement said the profitnumbers for the year are notdirectly comparable withthat of the previous year dueto various reasons, includingadditional provisioning forthe impact of COVID-19 of Rs5,913 crore as against Rs 935crore in the previous fiscal.The gross non-performingloans as at March 31, 2020stood at Rs 8,908 crore. This isequivalent to 1.99 per cent ofthe loan portfolio.

The non-performing loansof the individual portfoliostood at 0.95 per cent whilethat of the non-individualportfolio stood at 4.71 percent, it said. As per NationalHousing Bank (NHB) norms, itsaid, the company is requiredto carry a total provision ofRs 4,188 crore. Of this, Rs 2,267crore is provisioned towardsnon-performing assets.

HDFC profitdips 10% inJan-March

THE ANDHRAPradesh HighCourt hasordered theseizure of thepremises of LG

Polymers plant inVisakhapatnam, in thecase related to the gasleak which claimed 12lives. No LG official isallowed to enter the prem-ises and the directors ofthe South Korean com-pany have been barredfrom leaving the country,according to a PTI reportfrom Amaravati.

The court has ordered thecompany’s directors not to leaveIndia without its permission.The authorities have also beendirected not to release theirpassports without the permis-sion of the court.

A division bench comprisingChief Justice JK Maheshwariand Justice Lalitha Kannegantiwas hearing a bunch of PILsseeking justice for the affectedpeople, shifting the factory fromthe present location and actionagainst the culprits, amongother prayers.

The court passed the interimorders on Friday but the writtenorders were issued on Sunday.

The premises of the companyshall be completely seized andno one be allowed to enter thepremises, including the direc-tors of the company, the courtsaid.

As many as 12 people, includ-ing a minor, were killed whenstyrene vapours leaked from theLG Polymers plant on May 7,while several hundred fell illafter inhaling the poisonouschemical at RR Venkatapuramnear Visakhapatnam.

“ We further direct that none ofthe assets, mobile or immobile,fixtures, machinery and con-tents shall be allowed to beshifted without the leave of thecourt,” the bench said in itsinterim order.

As stated before the court, thedirectors of the company havesurrendered their passport andthey are in India, however wedirect that their passports shallnot be released without theleave of the court and they benot allowed to go outside India,the bench said in its order.

The court also ruled that if anycommittee wants to inspect thepremises, it will be at liberty todo so but will have to put a note

LG Polymersbosses can’tleave IndiaHigh Court seals South Korean firm’s

plant in Vishakhapatnam gas leak case

HC questions takingstyrene to S Korea

Sets aside `5,913 cr forCOVID-19 impact

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

TOYOTA Kirloskar Motor(TKM) on Monday said it willresume manufacturing opera-tions at its plant in Bidadi nearBengaluru from Tuesday. Afterweeks of lockdown and partiallifting of restrictions across thecountry, the company will re-start production at the facilityfrom May 26 in a phased manner,in concurrence with the direc-tives of both, the state and thecentral governments, TKM saidin a statement.

The company officials areclosely monitoring andevaluating the situationto gradually ramp upoperations, it added.More than 290 deal-erships of the com-pany and 230 serv-

ice outlets have also resumedoperations across the country,the automaker said. Whilerestarting operations, we havedeliberately been very circum-spect to take some more timeowing to the fact that we wantedto take extra precautions so asto ensure that both the work-place and its surrounding aresafe for us to resume work, TKMDeputy Managing Director RajuB Ketkale said. The companysaid it had introduced a set ofsafety initiatives at its plant aswell as dealerships.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki Indiaon Monday said Suzuki Motor

Gujarat has resumed man-ufacturing operations

after having sus-pended work for overtwo months due tothe coronaviruslockdown.

Toyota too limps back ‘Lockdowns can createanother medical crisis’

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

MAHINDRA and MahindraGroup chairman Anand Mahin-dra on Monday came outstrongly in favour of lifting thelockdown on the ground thatapart from being “eco-nomically disastrous”it is also leading to“another medicalcrisis.”

While admittingthat choices arenot easy for pol-icy makers, hesaid that a lock-down extensionwas not the wayout.

“Lockdown exten-sions aren't just eco-nomically disastrous,as I had tweeted earlier, butalso create another medical cri-sis,” Mahindra said in a tweet.

He was referring to an articlethat highlighted the dan-

gerous psychologicaleffects of lockdowns

and the huge risk ofneglecting non-COVID patients.

He said, thenumber coron-avirus cases willcontinue to rise

and the focus mustbe on rapid expan-

sion of field hospitalbeds with oxygen lines.

The army has enormousexpertise in this, he

pointed out.Mahindra had earlier urged

the government to lift the lock-

down after it had completed 49days after which it went in forthe next round till May 31. OnMarch 22, before the govern-ment announced a nationwidelockdown, Mahindra had pro-posed such a move expressing

concern over reports thatIndia was likely to have alreadyreached stage 3 in which themore widespread social trans-mission of COVID-19 starts tak-ing place and it becomes diffi-cult to keep track of the trail.

Mahindra: Non-COVIDpatients neglected

AnandMahindra

As many as 12 people were killed and several hundred fell ill when styrene vapours leaked fromthe LG Polymers plant on May 7.

‘

REUTERS

Marutialso resumesproduction at

Gujarat factory

on the register maintained atthe gate of the company regard-ing the said inspection and whilereturning, a note regarding theact done in the premises.

GOVT TOO PULLED UP The court sought replies fromthe State government and theCentre before May 26 andposted the matter for further

hearing on May 28.The bench also took serious

note of the transportation ofstyrene monomer from the plantto South Korea. "After registra-tion of crime, on appointment ofthe investigation/inspectionteam and also when magisterialenquiry was required, why, with-out appointment of the saidpanel or permission of the court,styrene monomer has been per-

mitted to be transported toSouth Korea and who is the per-son responsible for the same,"the court asked and directed theCentral and state governments,various government agenciesand the company to submit thecompliance report by May 26.

The court, which posted thenext hearing to May 28, alsowanted a reply on the net worthof LG Polymers Pvt Ltd.

17Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 MY BIZ

By Arno Schuetze,Christian Kraemer in Frankfurt/Berlin

THE Germangovernmentand the man-agement of flag-ship carrierLufthansa,

which has been hit hard bythe coronavirus pandemic,have reached a preliminarydeal on a 9 billion euro ($9.8billion) bailout, two peopleclose to the matter said.

The agreement is still pendingapproval by the German coron-avirus rescue fund’s steeringcommittee, which is expected tomeet on Monday, as well asLufthansa’s boards and the EUcommission.

Lufthansa declined to com-ment. The German economyministry said that negotiationswere in their last phase but havenot yet formally concluded.

Shares in the company were up6.2% at 8.56 euros by 1230 GMT.

The carrier said last week itwas in advanced talks on a dealthat would involve the govern-ment taking two seats on itssupervisory board, but only exer-cising full voting rights in excep-tional circumstances, such as toprotect the firm against atakeover.

Lufthansa has been in talkswith Berlin for weeks over aid tohelp it cope with what isexpected to be a protractedtravel slump, but has been wran-gling over how much control toyield in return for support.

Rivals such as Franco-Dutchgroup Air France-KLM and U.S.carriers American Airlines,United Airlines and Delta AirLines have also sought state aid.

Lufthansa has said it expected —MT Bureau & Agencies

By Ilona Wissenbach in Karlsruhe

VOLKSWAGEN must pay com-pensation to owners of vehicleswith rigged diesel engines inGermany, a court ruled onMonday, dealing a fresh blow tothe automaker almost fiveyears after its emissions scan-dal erupted.

The ruling by Germany’s high-est court for civil disputes, whichwill allow owners to return vehi-cles for a partial refund of thepurchase price, serves as a tem-plate for about 60,000 lawsuitsthat are still pending with lowerGerman courts.

Volkswagen admitted in Sep-tember 2015 to cheating emis-sions tests on diesel engines, ascandal which has already cost itmore than 30 billion euros ($33billion) in regulatory fines andvehicle refits, mostly in theUnited States.

U.S. authorities banned the

affected cars after the cheat soft-ware was discovered, triggeringclaims for compensation.

But in Europe vehiclesremained on the roads, leadingVolkswagen to argue compensa-tion claims there were withoutmerit. European authoritiesinstead forced the company toupdate its engine control soft-ware and fined it for fraud andadministrative lapses.

Volkswagen said on Monday itwould work urgently with

motorists on an agreement thatwould see them hold on to thevehicles for a one-off compensa-tion payment. It did not give anestimate of how much the rulingby the German federal court, theBundesgerichtshof (BGH),might cost it.

“The verdict by the BGHdraws a final line. It creates clar-ity on the BGH’s views on theunderlying questions in thediesel proceedings for most ofthe 60,000 cases still pending,”

Volkswagen said.A lower court in the city of

Koblenz had previously ruledthe owner of a VW Sharan mini-van had suffered pre-meditateddamage, entitling him to reim-bursement minus a discount forthe mileage the motorist hadalready benefited from.

The court at the time said heshould be awarded 25,600 eurosfor the used-car purchase hemade for 31,500 euros in 2014.

“We have in principle con-firmed the verdict from theKoblenz upper regional court,”said BGH presiding federaljudge Stephan Seiters.

Volkswagen had petitioned forthe ruling to be quashed alto-gether by the higher court.

Volkswagen loses dieselgate case in Germany

READY TO TAKE OFF: File photo of Lufthansa jetliners parked at the Munich airport

conditions of the deal to includethe waiver of future dividendpayments and limits on manage-ment pay.

The plan includes Germanytaking a 20% stake inLufthansa. Germany will buythe new shares at the nominalvalue of 2.56 euros apiece, forabout 300 million euros ($327million), a person close tothe matter said.

The government willalso inject 5.7 billioneuros in non-votingcapital, dubbedsilent participa-

tion, into the company. Part ofthis silent participation could beconverted into an additional 5%equity stake.

The silent participation willcarry a coupon of 4% in 2020 and2021, increasing to 9.5% by 2027to incentivise a fast repayment,the person added.

Separately, Lufthansa will geta 3 billion euro loan from

state-backed bank KfW.While the deal isexpected to be for-mally finalised bythe German gov-ernment on Mon-

day, an EU decision is stillpending. The company and thecompetition watchdog are stilldiscussing which slots at whichairports Lufthansa will have towaive as a remedy to ensure thebailout does not hamper competition.

“Scrutiny is extremely thor-ough as it is the first largeequity-based bailout in the pan-demic,” the source said.

According to business dailyHandelsblatt, German chancel-lor Angela Merkel said that Ger-many would fight for remediesnot being too stringent.

German govt comes on boardwith 20% stake and 2 members

Judges arrive on Monday for the ruling in the VolkswagenDiesel case at Karlsruhe in Germany.

REUTERS

Car owners to getcompensation

Lufthansawill also get 3

bn euro loan fromstate-owned bank

INTERNATIONAL Labour Organi-sation (ILO) assured 10 centralunions that it has expresseddeep concerns over the suspen-sion and tweaking of labourlaws by states to the Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi.

Besides, the ILO has also urgedthe PM to send a clear messageto central and state govern-ments to uphold India's interna-tional commitments (conven-tions based on labour laws) andengage in social dialogue. TheILO's intervention came afterten central trade unions esca-lated the issue of suspensionand tweaking of labour lawswith the international bodythrough a letter on May 14,2020.

ILO red-flagslabour law draft

THE Central Board of IndirectTaxes (CBIC) on Monday said ithas sanctioned GST refund claimsworth Rs 11,052 crore in 47 days.In a tweet, the CBIC said it is com-mitted to ensuring liquidity toGST taxpayers especially MSMEsectors during the lockdown.Refunds have been sanctionedwhile ensuring work from home, it added.

The finance ministry had onApril 8 said that to provide reliefduring COVID-19 it has beendecided to issue all pending GSTand custom refunds which wouldbenefit around 1 lakh businessentities, including MSME. Thetotal refund granted will beapproximately Rs 18,000 crore, ithad said.

`11,052 cr GST refunds cleared

INDIAN consumer goods giantITC is going to acquire spicesmaker Sunrise Foods PrivateLimited, the company said in astatement to stock exchangeson Sunday.

The company on May 23entered into a Share PurchaseAgreement to acquire 100% ofthe equity share capital of Sun-rise Foods Private Limited,which has operated primarily inthe spice business under thetrademark “Sunrise”, theKolkata-based company said.The size of the deal was notrevealed.

ITC is buying Sunrise Foods

MERCEDES Benz India on Mon-day launched flexible financialsolutions to boost customerspending amid a slowdown in theeconomy due to the coronaviruspandemic.

Under its 'Wishbox 2.0', the Ger-man luxury carmaker is offeringcustomised financial solutionsincluding no EMI for first threemonths, lesser EMIs for the firstsix months with regular EMIsstarting from 7th month of pur-chase and 10-year extended loan.Mercedes-Benz India MD andCEO Martin Schwenk said Wish-box 2.0 will instill customer confi-dence by offsetting some of theirfinancial commitments.

Merc offers easyEMIs to buyers

Lufthansa gets$9.8 bn lifeline

SENSEX30,932.90

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30,672.59

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FRIDAY’S CLOSE

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-260.31H: 31,107.91L: 30,474.88

MA

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1 M&M 4.46 426.55

2 INFOSYS 3.01 692.25

3 ASIAN PAINTS 2.72 1,617.85

4 ULTRATECH 1.90 3,638.40

5 TECHM 1.88 529.70

% change Price (`̀)TOP GAINERS

% change Price (`̀)

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1 AXIS BANK -5.65 337.10

2 HDFC -4.99 1,516.55

3 BAJAJFNNCE -4.67 1,895.95

4 ICICI -4.32 291.20

5 BAJAJ AUTO -3.28 2,552.75 EX

CH

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TEFriday

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Dollar `̀75.15 `̀75.92

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Pound `̀92.20 `̀92.44

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GOLD/10 gm `604 `46,992

SILVER/1 kg `440 ̀ 47,775

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18 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

19

Sports

MailElgar shows interest inbecoming SA’s Test captain

INDIAN Premier League will helpspread positivity and change themood of the people during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Indiaopener Shikhar Dhawan, who is hope-ful that the glitzy T20 tournament willtake place this year.

The Coronavirus outbreak, whichhas infected more than 55 lakh peo-ple while causing 3.4 lakh deathsworldwide, has wreaked havoc glob-ally, bringing the sporting communityto a standstill.

The IPL, which was originally sched-uled to be held from March 29 to May24, was indefinitely postponed by theBCCI due to the outbreak of the novelcoronavirus in India and subsequentlockdown announced by the govern-ment to contain the fast-spreading

disease. “It’s very important that some

sports return to improve the environ-ment and mood. It will have a hugeimpact if the IPL returns,” Dhawansaid during an Instagram chat with SriLanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews.

“We have to take care of the secu-

rity of everyone so we need to bevery careful. If it happens, it will bereally good for us as it brings a lot ofpositivity that can be spread all overthe world as a lot of people watch it,”he added.

“There is speculation that the 13thIPL might be conducted in October-November if the T20 World Cup in Aus-tralia is postponed. Hopefully, the IPLwill happen.

“I always think in a positive manner.It will be really good if the tourna-ment goes ahead,” he added.

Cricket boards across the world areworking out ways of resuming thegame, which includes matches beingheld behind closed doors withoutspectators.

—AgenciesIndian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan.

Feels players will miss

fans if matches held

in empty stadia

IPL WILL HELP SPREAD POSITIVITY, SAYS SHIKHAR DHAWAN

Madan Lal slams academies whichhosted T20 matches last weekend

‘BIZARRETO RESUMECRICKETIN DELHI’

T20 cricketmatches were held

across New Delhiand safety

measures wereused.

By Chetan Sharma in New Delhi

LAST weekend when some ofthe academies hostedTwenty20 cricket matcheshere following the relaxationissued by the government inlockdown-4, mixed responses

came in from all the corners. Some wel-comed it, whereas few — including thesenior Delhi Police officers — ques-tioned the hurry!

MAIL TODAY had reported on Sunday whencricket matches were played in outer Delhi. OnMonday, former Indian cricketer Madan Lal,too, came down heavily on the academies, say-ing, “Why are they risking lives of kids?”

“I myself have an academy at Siri Fort. But Ihaven’t started it yet as cases of Coronavirus arerising in Delhi. This is not the time for cricket.

“When the government is suggesting every-body to stay home then there might be somereason for it. It is really very dangerous. Peopleshould understand it and not let their kids goand play cricket for some time,” Madan Lal toldthe paper adding, “I myself am locked at homeand not going outside.”

Asked about the chances of India hosting IPLthis year, the former cricketer said it is difficultto comment on the matter at this time.

“Well, if you ask me now, Iwould say how can you play inthese conditions? But you neverknow about future. The BCCI isplanning for September window.If cases get controlled andvaccine is made thenthere is a chance of IPLthis year. But if thingsremain the same orworse, then forget it.

“In July there israiny season and it islearnt that cases

might get increased after that. Iam just praying that everythinggets normal and people under-

stand importance of socialdistancing,” he said.

Recently, membersof the 1983 WorldCup winning teamjoined hands withDelhi Police to pro-mote “teamworkand discipline” inIndia’s fight

against the COVID-19 pandemic.On this Madan Lal said, “India

needs to work as a team to fightthis battle against Coronavirus.When I see people avoidingmasks and social distancing, Ifeel sad. I think the people whoare following the guidelines soseriously will get infectedbecause of these careless people.

“If the government or police willtake any action then theses peo-ple will start shouting or crying,”

he said. “Government has givenrelaxation that people can opentheir shops or join offices. We allknow many people are facingproblems because of work andeven job security is an issue now.”

2020 keeps getting worse.Amid the Coronavirus scare,West Bengal and Odisha werehit hard by the Amphan Cyclonewhich has caused some serious

damage in the two states.The Super Cyclone has caused

damage to lives, houses andinfrastructure. Many people havelost their lives whereas numberof houses has been destroyedbadly by the deadly cyclone.

Consequently, the cricket frater-nity have come together and paidtheir respective condolences tothe families which have beendeeply affected by the cyclone.

Like Virat Kohli, Madan Lal alsopaid his condolences to theaffected families. “It is really sadwhat is happening in the World. Iam saddened by the death ofmany people in West Bengal andOdisha. My deepest condolencesto the families,” he said.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

When the governmentis suggesting everybody tostay home then theremight be some reason forit. People should under-stand it and not let theirkids go and play.

— MADAN LAL, FORMER INDIA CRICKETER

‘‘

‘‘

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

ExIndia

cricketer saysdifficult to say

whether IPL can behosted or not

MAIL TODAY on May 24 had reported the story on theT20 cricket matches being held in New Delhi.

ASR TO

RACKan’t wait

nto action

, ging. In England, there is plentyof uncertainty over their hypedfootball league as the star play-ers are in two minds. Withsome testing positive forCOVID-19, there is a genuinefear what will happen if thevirus spreads.

WHAT all thismeans iseven thoughthe com-mon manlike you

and me has moved on,the elite athlete is stillin two minds. Whilesome have been openabout their reserva-tions in resumingsporting activity, afew are afraid of talk-ing about it.

Two leading ath-letes, MC Mary Komand Manu Bhakerhave mentioned theydo not want to playsport in the arena tillsuch time as it is fullysafe. Frankly speaking,nobody knows when itwill be totally safe.

Each day one getsto hear a differentversion on the TokyoOlympics. The Inter-national OlympicCommittee President

Fnational sports federa-tion needs to give theathletes the freedom tochoose their path. Withresumption of trains and

soon even flights, there is a pos-sibility many elite athletes willlike to go home for a break andthen come back.

Given the uncertainty onwhen competitions proper willbegin, athletes can be givenfreedom to choose, though themandatory 14-day quarantineperiod cannot be compromised.

Athletes are fatigued now in adifferent way. They have dealtwith disturbed eating cyclesand even sleep patterns.Resumption of sport will comeacross as something good forthem, but there is fear.

Such is the strength of theCoronavirus, it can hit anyone.It is even worse for the asymp-tomatic people, as it is carries ahigh viral load. Apart from eat-ing proper food, fruits, higherdose of Vitamin C supplement,the athlete knows he is not aRambo while dealing with thedreaded virus.

Maybe, the time has come fornational sports federation to beeven more considerate. Yes,there is a risk in releasing ath-letes at large as travel itself isan added risk factor. This is thetime maturity will count evenmore, be it athlete or officials.

By Chetan Sharma

in New Delhi

AT A time when there are con-cerns over resumption of trainingin stadia, a friendly local cricketTwenty20 match was played atthe Greenfield ground in Ghevravillage, here on Saturday.

This would be the first evercricket match — at any level —being played in India ever sincethe lockdown was imposednationwide in March, because ofCOVID-19 pandemic. The newsmay have brought smiles back tocricket lovers in the Capital but italso invites trouble to the state which is struggling with cases ofinfection.

Speaking to MAIL TODAY, SachinDabas, who was the organiser ofthe T20 match, said he wasforced to host the match as peo-ple were calling and requestinghim for it soon after the relax-ation guidelines from the govern-ment.

“We followed all the precau-tions. Everything (safety meas-ures) was planned before. Allplayers were screened for temper-

atures, players wore mask duringfielding except when they werebatting or bowling, all equip-ments were sanitised,” he said.

match umpire Naveen Srivastavalso expressed his happiness ofgetting back to field after such along time. However, he alsoadmitted that it is ‘dangerous’ aswell.

There is another match alsoplanned on Sunday at ShukurpurGround in Sarvodya Bal Vid-hyalaya School.

When the paper contacted DelhiPolice officers for their commenton the match being played inDelhi, they were clueless as whatto answer.

The guidelines of home ministrystates that hosting of matchesare allowed, without spectators.But at the same time, it is not yetclear whether private academiescan start functioning or hostingmatches on local level or not.

DCP outer district A Koan toldthe paper that it is not allowed toplay any local cricket match.However, he refused to commenton the club level match that wasplayed in Greenfield Ground.

(Clockwise) Umpires withprotective gear during a friendly match in Ghevra. A player is screened fortemperature. Coin issanitised before toss.

Anas Yahiya

ManuBhaker

CONTROVERSIAL CRICKET!

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 20 TRIBUTE TO BALBIR SR.

BALBIR SR.LEAVES BEHIND

1924-2020

Star hockey forwardwon India three goldmedals at three successive Olympics

By S.Kannan in New Delhi

WHAT lamps ceased to burn, what heartsceased to beat....

On Monday, Balbir Singh Sr., 96, the Indianhockey rock star who could beat any rival defenceand won independent India three Olympic goldmedals, finally stopped breathing.

The demise of anyone is extremely sad. And when the person departing happens to be a true leg-end, it tugs at millions of hearts. There will be sadness, there will be tears, as this has been awretched year for Indian sport, what with two football legends, PK Banerjee and Chuni Goswamialso departing in 2020.

Yet, when one flips through the annals of history,there is so much to feel good about. Hockey is onesport which has been very special for India. If it waslegend Dhyan Chand who dazzled with his stick workand won India three Olympicgold medals in 1928, 1932 and1936, there was a slight differ-ence. At that time India was notindependent but competedunder the Union Jack.

Balbir Singh Sr. grew up idolis-ing Dhyan Chand. He has talkedof how watching a video ofthe original “Dada” inthe Berlin Olympicsinspired him hugely.The two gentlemenhad met manytimes with greatmutual respectfor each other,though by natureBalbir Singh Sr.was like the pupilbowing before themaster.

For many, theromance of Indian hockeyis dead. Yet, if you happened tobe lucky enough to have read, orseen the legends even once, thefeeling has been one of awe. Bal-bir Singh Sr. was humble,humorous, and above all asuperb human being.

Padma Shri BalbirSingh Sr. Ji will be remem-bered for his memorablesporting performances. Hebrought home lots of prideand laurels.

Pained to learn aboutthe demise of Padma ShriBalbir Singh Sr Ji, a leg-endary hockey player, wholeft an indelible imprint onworld hockey with his stick.

Deeply saddened by thetragic demise of India’s leg-endary Hockey Player BalbirSingh Sr...I pay my heartfelttribute and pray for the eter-nal peace of the departed soul.

— NARENDRA MODI,Prime Minister

— AMIT SHAH,Home minister

— KIREN RIJIJU,Sports minister

He had no airs about himself,instead aura. Old timers whohave been to the Shivaji Sta-dium for premier tournamentslike Nehru Hockey in New Delhiwill vouch for his simplicity andhow he made you feel so com-

fortable. He breathedhockey and it was so

easy to get him talk-ing. He would havemet three differentjournalists in oneafternoon andeach had his ownstory to write.

If there is oneword which

defined BalbirSingh Sr. and his

relation with hockey,it is passion. Here was

the young man whostarted as a defender and thenchanged his whole game. It wasby chance, in one tournament hehad to play as a forward in 1939in Punjab and from then, it wasa huge role reversal.

Those were the days when

Punjab was the cradle of Indianhockey. Slowly and surely, BalbirSingh Sr. became a solid forwardand then took up the vital roleof centre forward, which was socrucial when hockey was playedon grass.

As records will tell you, hescored goals with aplomb andfelt good about it. He wouldalways gush, “My biggestachievement was playing for anindependent India and I amlucky to have seen the tricolourgo up thrice.”

If anyone mentions the nameof Balbir Singh Sr., the firstimage which will first come tothe mind is that of a smart Sar-dar, ramrod straight and dressedsmartly. His red turban wasspotless, his moustache twirledup so proudly, and his patentblue shirt, red tie and blazerdefined his grand presence.

Till very recently, Balbir SinghSr. was travelling often fromChandigarh to Delhi. His pres-ence could not be missed andhis concern for Indian hockey

was genuine. Even in those dayswhen he would live half a year inCanada, his heart was always inIndia.

For someone who wanted tosee Indian hockey always dowell, Balbir Singh Sr. did not shyaway from coaching responsibil-ity. He had his skirmishes withthe Indian Hockey Federation aswell, but still stuck his neck out.When Pakistan thrashed Indiain the 1982 Asian Games final,there was a furore at home,where Balbir Singh Sr. was the

GOLDENMEMORIES

Balbir Singh Sr. in action during 1948 LondonOlympics. (Right) Balbir Sr. with his family.

OnMonday, the

Indian hockeyrock star (aged 96)who could beat any

rival defence,finally stopped

breathing

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 21TRIBUTE TO BALBIR SR.

I CONSIDER myself verylucky I had the blessings ofBalbir Singh Senior Sir in mylife. Every hockey lover knewthe legend was unwell for along period, yet when news ofhis departure came on Mon-day from his grandson, it hashit me hard.

My association with hockey,first as a player, then as a fanof the sport, and then becom-ing administrator, has beenone of huge learning. I mustadmit I have learnt from eachlegend of Indian hockey I haveinteracted with, in so many aspects.

Balbir Sir was very special inmany ways. Our interactionsgrew with the passage of timeand I will always cherish thatmoment when both of us actu-ally held the hockey sticks oneday in my office. It remainsetched in my memory, as to bestanding in front of a God-likefigure who won three Olympicgold medals for India, was adream come true.

Despite his age, Balbir Sirwas very alert and agile. I wasalso a big fan of his wit andhumour, which was so special.Our conversations were likethat between a master and apupil, though he always

called me Batra ji, with enor-mous respect. That alwaystouched me.

Today, I will share a fewthings which Balbir Sirwanted me to do for Indianhockey. The first is that Indianhockey returns to its ways ofwinning gold at the Olympics,World Cup and other majorassignments. Second, healways said there was no dif-ference between hockeyplayed at his time on grassand now on synthetics turf.

When I was president ofHockey India, I consulted himon many occasions. We didimplement a lot, but the jobahead of me as president of theIndian Olympic Association iseven bigger.

I know a lot of critics will laughwhen we talk of India returningto the podium on the Olympicstage and the World Cup. Bal-bir Sir stressed we have to getback our glory and also improve

the standard of coaching athome. Today, India is workingvery hard to also improve thestandard of coaches.

The dream which Balbir Sirsaw is not like chasing amirage. Indian hockey hasbeen improving, both themen’s and women’s teams Imust say. Nothing happensovernight and today Indianhockey is getting betterbecause of the inputs beingput in and full support fromthe government. And I amsaying this today as presidentof the IOA.

My heart is heavy, I feel like Ihave lost my guiding force inlife. We talked not just abouthockey but Indian sport intotality. I have promised myself,as president of the IOA, I will dowhatever it takes for the rise ofIndian hockey to continue stepby step.

Indian hockey has talent andthe support for it continuesfrom many quarters. Fromtoday, I am sure our coachesand players will work that muchmore harder to make BalbirSir’s dream come true. ThanksSir for leaving behind such won-derful memories.

—Writer is president of IndiaOlympic Association

Balbir Sir was myguiding force

India defeated England 4-0 intheir own backyard during theFinal of the 1948 OlympicGames as an independentnation was Balbir Sr.’s ‘great-est moment’.

Scored five goals in India’s 6-1win over Netherlands in goldmedal match of

the 1952 Olympic Games inHelsinki.

Under his captaincy, Indiascored 38 goals and concedednone on its way to the Goldmedal in 1956 MelbourneOlympics.

Balbir Singh Sr. is also the onlyAsian male and only Indianamong 16 athletes to be cho-sen as ‘Iconic Olympians’ bythe International OlympicCommittee across the modernOlympics’ history.

OLYMPICS RUN

He coached the Indian team which won thebronze Medal at the 1971 World Cup and wasmanager of the team that won the gold atthe 1975 World Cup.

For Balbir SinghSr.’s stellar con-tribution to thegame, he wasawarded thePadma Shri,India’s fourth-highest civilianhonour in 1957and was con-ferred with theMajor DhyanChand (in pic)Life TimeAchievementAward byHockey India in2014.

It is indeed a very sad dayfor hockey and our country.One of the most respectable,inspiring and ever-so-gra-cious souls has left us today,and I’m extremely saddened .

— MANPREET SINGH,Hockey men’s team captain

Pained to learn about thepassing of three timesOlympic Gold medalist BalbirSingh Senior sir this morn-ing. His contribution tohockey is unforgettable.

coach. But then, before that, theonly time India won the WorldCup in 1975, he was the manager.

If, today, players like DhanrajPillay, Dilip Tirkey and currentcaptains Manpreet Singh andRani Rampal are able to sharetheir feelings about Balbir SinghSr., it is because he never let thegeneration gap come in between.

Yes, his presence will bemissed. But then, Balbir SinghSr. leaves behind a treasuretrove of memories which can liftyou up. Again.

We weregreatfriends. Hewas very closeto me and I feel sadthat he is not amongstus now.

‘

’— MILKHA SINGH, INDIAN ATHLETICS LEGEND

Balbir Sr. posed with thehockey stick of legendary

Major Dhyan Chand (anidol of his) in 2009. Dhyan

Chand played with thestick during the 1936

Olympics.

IOA chiefNarinder

Batra(right)

withBalbir Sr.

— RANI RAMPAL,Hockeywomen’s team captian

GUEST COLUMN

by Narinder

Dhruv Batra

SUCCESSFUL COACHING CAREER

Mail Today, New Delhi, Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Published & Printed by Amit Gupta on behalf of G.H. Prints Pvt. Ltd, A-256, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase -1, New Delhi - 110 020. Published at F – 26, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110 001. Editor: Dwaipayan Bose

RNI No.: DELENG / 2007 / 21922

T.V. Today Network Limited. Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 andFirst Floor,

Sports

MailFelix suffers knee sprain aheadof LaLiga resumption on June 8

LEWIS Hamilton has admitted toquestioning his future in For-mula One during the lockdown.

The six-time world championsaid he had days when he strug-gled for motivation as he haswaited to discover when the2020 season may get under wayamid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Mercedes video filmedearlier this week, Hamilton said:“I have days when I wake up andfeel groggy, I don’t feel moti-

vated to work out. I feel, ‘Jeez,where are we going? What’snext? Should I continue racing?”

“I think all these differentthings, and then I’m like ‘Damnit!’, and the next hour, or what-ever, it passes, and I’m like ‘Damn!I love what I do! Why would I everconsider not continuing?”

Speaking during MentalHealth Awareness Week, Hamil-ton added: “Mentally it’s reallyabout ultimately feeling good

about yourself. It’s about find-ing a way to make sure you loveyourself. You have to really beable to love yourself and becomfortable on your own.

“I’ve been really spendingtime trying to take timefor me, makingsure that Iappreciateme, acknowl-edgingthings that

you do well, acknowledgingwhen you do well, acknowledg-ing also when you fail and youdon’t do it so great. It’s okay.And not being so hard on your-self, all these different things.”

Hamilton, who is in the finalyear of his Mercedes contract,

has the opportunity this yearto equal Michael Schu-

macher’s record of sevenF1 titles.

—Daily Mail

Hamilton admits to questioning F1 future

Lewis Hamilton

PLAYERS are at anincreased risk of mus-cle and joint injurieswith Project Restartfailing to provide aproper pre-season to

build fitness, warns formerEngland and Arsenal physioGary Lewin.

Having been given the greenlight by government to acceleratea return to action to complete the2019-20 season, Lewin has warnedthat one look at the Bundesliga‘sreturn earlier this month shouldserve as a warning.

In the first round of matchesfollowing a two-month hiatus forthe coronavirus pandemic, therewere eight muscle injuries in the

Bundesliga and, for Lewin, thePremier League could expect tosee similar without properpreparation.

“You would expect to see moremuscle injuries occur,” Lewin said,speaking on Sky Sports’ The Foot-ball Show.

“It’s a reaction time, how the

Ex England physio Lewin warns players willsuffer problems with no proper pre-season

SaysCoronavirus

lockdown hasplayed a huge part on

his mind

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

In England, PremierLeague sides have so far

been in small-grouptraining of five players.

body reacts to jumping, landing.That will put pressure on joints.You could see some joint injuriesbut the main worry is muscleinjuries.”

All 20 Premier League clubsvoted last week for a return tosmall group training as part ofPhase One of Project Restart.

Groups of no more than fivetrain together and there is limitedcontact as so to adhere to socialdistancing restrictions.

The next stage would see groupsincrease to 12 with restricted con-tact, including tackling.

For Lewin, a proper pre-seasonwould allow for this gradualapproach on the training groundto work while also preventingplayers from being at an increasedrisk of injury.

Without that type of pre-sea-son, Lewis can see ‘problems’ahead for clubs.

“There are so many differentways it could impact,” he added.“In pre-season, you’d start witha couple of weeks of light train-ing, some contact, building up tofull contact, working onstrength, power.

“Then you go into contracttraining with some friendlieswhere you can slowly build upthe competitions and intensity

over six-eight weeks. “The uniqueness of now is they

are doing park running, thenphase two with no contact, socialdistancing, trying to do some ballwork, football work,” Lewinadded.

“Then they go into close contact,then full contact. The general con-notations of falling over, gettingup, hitting player, that side youonly get from intense training ses-sions and friendly matches.

—Daily Mail

Cites how in

Bundesliga there

was a clear rise

INJURY WOESFOR PROJECT

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