DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO.

● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PUBLICTRANSPORT,DOMESTICHELPS, PRIVATEOFFICESCANFUNCTIONWITH RELIEF FOR UDDHAV

liquor shops allowed in green, orange zones 33% strength in red zones; so can pvt vehicles
Maharashtra
Moregreenthanred,lockdownextended MLC polls on
May 21, says EC
2 weeks more of
BUSINESS AS USUAL
curbs; 77 deaths
BY UNNY RITIKA CHOPRA Has to get
in biggest NEW DELHI, MAY 1 elected
single-day toll ELECTIONS TO the nine vacant
before
May 27
seats of Maharashtra Legislative
Council will be held on May 21,
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY the Election Commission (EC) The EC, officials said, will
NEW DELHI, MAY 1 decided in a meeting on Friday. soon ask the Ministry of Home
The decision is expected to Affairs to appoint an officer of
THECENTREonFridayextended pave the way for Maharashtra “suitable seniority” to ensure
thenationwidelockdownforthe Chief Minister Uddhav that the MLC election process in
secondtime,fortwoweeksstart- Thackeray to enter the Maharashtra is compliant with
ing May 4, but announced con- Legislative Council. guidelines issued by the Union
siderable relaxations in green As per Article 164 (4) of the government under the Disaster
and orange zones, including Constitution, Thackeray, who is Management Act.
movement of private and public
INSIDE not a member of the state Simultaneously, the EC will ask
transportwithinastate,andfur- Legislature, needs to get elected the Maharashtra government to
theropeningupof theeconomy.
FULL LIST OF WHAT’S to either the Legislative depute an officer “to ensure that
Someofthekeyrelaxationsin ALLOWED, WHAT’S Assembly or Legislative Council the extant instructions regard-
green and orange zones are: NOT IN THE ZONES before the six-month deadline, ing COVID-19 are complied with
opening of markets (barring expiring on May 27 in his case. while making arrangements for
malls) and offices; operation of
STATE PUTS CAP ON The Commission will next conducting the elections”.
factories and industries; move- CHARGES PVT week review the remaining elec- The state’s Chief Electoral
mentofpublic(withsomerestric- HOSPITALS CAN LEVY tionsto18RajyaSabhaseatsand9 Officer,BaldevHarpalSingh,will
tions);servicesofdomestichelps, ON PATIENTS A special train leaving Friday night from Nashik railway station with 332 migrant workers bound for Bhopal, Madhya Legislative Council seats of Bihar, be the observer for the polls, an
barber shops and all other self- PAGES 3, 4, 5, 6 Pradesh. They were among the 1,900-odd stranded in relief camps across Nashik. Prashant Nadkar whichwerealsodeferredbecause EC official said.
employed people; e-commerce of the COVID-19 outbreak. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

E
delivery of non-essential items.
Inredzones,barringcontain-
Few in know before Govt First train with migrants leaves state for THE SIX ROUTES
EXPLAINED

ment areas, private offices can

function with 33% strength, and Trains
aheadof
standalone liquor shops will be
allowed to open.
However, “movement of in-
clears 6 ‘Shramik Specials’ ● extension Bhopal: ‘Jab wapas aa sakte hai, aayenge’ Jaipur Lucknow Patna
dividualsforallnon-essentialac- six trains are from Lingampalli part of the national lockdown. Kota
tivities shall remain strictly pro- AVISHEK G DASTIDAR (Telangana)toHatia(Jharkhand), WITH MAJOR urban cen- IRAM SIDDIQUI & CORONA COUNT To allow migrants stranded Bhopal
Hatia
hibited between 7 pm to 7 am” NEW DELHI, MAY 1 Aluva (Kerala) to Bhubaneswar, tres still under consider- SADAF MODAK in Maharashtra return to their Nashik Bhubaneswar
NASHIK, MAY 1
across all zones. The local au-
thorities have been asked to is- EVEN AS the nationwide lock-
Nashik to Lucknow, Nashik to
Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna, and Kota
able restrictions for an
additional fortnight, the 35,365 1,152 home states, the Maharashtra
government on Friday morning
Lingampalli
CASES DEATHS
sue orders under Section 144 of down was extended by another to Hatia. With Railways in talks government would have AS THE seven-coach train en- requistioned a special train for Aluva
the CrPC to ensure this. two weeks, the government al- withotherstates,moretrainsare found it difficult to con- tered Nasik Road station around 9,065 RECOVERED Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh in
Besides, a “limited” number lowed six special passenger expected to run in the coming tain migrant unrest. This 8 pm on Friday, enthusiasm and which 332 labourers left for
of activities will remain prohib- trains to transport migrants, pil- days to evacuate those stranded. could explain the change relief sweptthosesittinginwell- 9,02,654 samples have been home.
ited throughout the country, ir- grims, tourists and others The decision to run the six in plans to allow trains, arranged queues on the plat- tested as on May 1 One of the lucky ones was EXPLAINED: FIGHTING
respective of the zone. These in- stranded across the country to trains — shrouded in secrecy till the optimal means to form, waiting to board the first Mahesh Baghde, whose cell- VIRUS WITH PHONES
cludetravelbyair,rail,Metroand their home states Friday. the first train departed at 5 am transport large numbers. passenger train that would chug days after train services came to phone kept buzzing, as he PAGE 7
CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Named Shramik Special, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 out of Maharashtra nearly 41 a grinding halt on March 22 as CONTINUEDONPAGE2

India Inc says relaxed norms give them Firms told to

some relief but need more to open up ensure 100% of
permitted cab aggregators and reasonsforeconomicactivitycon-
their staff have
AASHISH AARYAN,
PRANAV MUKUL
taxis in orange and green zones.
On paper, these moves are
tinuingtostayonhold.Theguide-
lines also prohibit movement of Aarogya app
& SANDEEP SINGH expected to trigger partial re- individuals for all non-essential
NEW DELHI, MAY 1 sumption of operations in the activitiesbetween7pmand7am. DIPANKAR GHOSE
services sector. But, on the While allowing a section of NEW DELHI, MAY 1
INITSguidelinesfortheextended ground,anumberof companies, the staff to work from offices
lockdown issued Friday, the especially those operating in red could be a big relief for the serv- THE NEW guidelines issued by
Centre has allowed private com- zone districts, are not so sure. icessector,topexecutivesof lead- the government on COVID-19
panies to operate with up to 33% These firms point to insuffi- ing firms in red zones said they management make the down-
staff on their premises across all cient availability of commuting were unlikely to implement the load of the Aarogya Setu app
threezones,includinginredzones options and the risk of spread of relaxations, terming them “too must for all employees at a
outside containment areas, and the disease among employees as CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 workplace, whether public or
private. While thus far the use of
the app was “encouraged”, now
Extra cost, empty OPDs: onus has been put on the heads
of respective organisations to

Covid hits revenue model “ensure 100% coverage”.

Under the
Management Act and Section
Disaster

regular basis, only around 50 pa- 188 of the IPC, violations of any
` 90 per kilo TABASSUM tientsarecomingnow,”saidRTI- government guidelines in con-
BARNAGARWALA ICS CEO R Venkatesh. Most pri- tainment zones can attract pe-
& PRABHA RAGHAVAN vate hospitals have witnessed a nal provisions, going up to two
` 118 per kilo MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, MAY 1 hugedropinfootfallofpatientsin years in prison.
emergency as well as OPDs, and The guidelines for contain-
THE PREMISES of Southern almostallpatientshaveresched- ment zones, to come into force
` 145 per kilo Kolkata’s Remedy Hospital uled their elective surgeries. from May 4, also state that local
wears a deserted From large hos- authorities too must ensure
` 50per Dozen look,withstraystaff
attending to a few
P RIVATE & pital chains to
smaller nursing
100% coverage of Aarogya Setu
among the residents.
patients in the OPD. I SOLATED homes, the lock- As per the new “national di-
THE EDITORIAL PAGE There isn’t any downandtheCovid rectives”, “It shall be the respon-
AN EXPRESS SERIES
crowd either at the pandemic have re- sibility of the head of the respec-
681-bed PART 3 shaped operations: tive organizations to ensure 100
FEAR, HOPE AND Rabindranath revenues have percent coverage of this app
CENTRAL BANK Tagore International Institute of dipped by 70-80 per cent, oper- among employees.”
BY MANISH SABHARWAL Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS). ating costs have jumped with Developed by the govern-
PAGE 8 “Compared with about 1,000 hospitals required to provide ment, the app is meant to track
patientsvisitingthehospitalona CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Halted by sealed Delhi-Gurgaon border:

Doctors, health staff, crucial surgeries
PAGE 1
ANCHOR

SOMYA LAKHANI
& SHIVAM PATEL
NEW DELHI, MAY 1

ONTHURSDAYnight,cancersur-
geon Dr Mandeep Malhotra had
to reschedule a surgery for a pa-
tient suffering from throat can- A long queue of vehicles at the NH-8 border-crossing on Friday, first day of sealing. Abhinav Saha
cer after he realised he won’t be
able to make it to Fortis Hospital
in Vasant Kunj from his Gurgaon couldn’t make it to Narayana ing,healthcareworkerswholive healthcareworkerssaidtheyhad
residence the next morning. Superspeciality Hospital in in the two cities were among to deal with police personnel,
DrTariqMatin,aDelhi-based Gurgaon. those who found themselves whodidn’tletthempassdespite
neuro-interventionist, had to WiththeDelhi-Gurgaonbor- stranded. Apart from the long their ID cards and explanations
postpone a procedure too as he der sealed starting Friday morn- queues at border checkpoints, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Mumbai
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FROM PAGE ONE

‘Shramik Specials’ home, since travel “would be an eral of the All India Government well as conducting counselling

on Friday from Limgampalli to

Hatia carrying 1,200 migrant
issue” without local trains.
“It would be unfair to expect
them to come to office just be-
Lockdown lowed in red zones with two
passengers besides the driver
expected to return to near nor-
malcy,withallactivities,barring
count for about 33% of the pop-
ulation (2011 Census). On the
Nurses Federation, said:
“Authorities should either allow
movement or make arrange-
and yoga sessions. “One of the
young boys kept saying he
wanted to meet his mother. I
workers — came two days after cause we have been allowed to inter-statemovement byroad; (earlier it was just one passen- thoseprohibitedacrossthecoun- other hand, 44% districts are in ments for healthcare workers to made a video call on my phone
theCentreallowedbusestoevac- have33%employeesatwork.We opening of schools, colleges, gerinallzones)andmotorcycles try, to be allowed. These include the green zone, but account for stay near their places of work.” onedayandhewashappytosee
uate stranded people. moved most of the work online and other educational and with just the rider. Cycle/auto plyingof busesandoperationof onlyaboutaquarterofthepop- Dr Ritu Garg, zonal director of her,” said Rajshree Gangurde,
Hours after the first train de- anyway during the past 40 days. training/coachinginstitutions; rickshaws, taxis/cab aggrega- busdepotswith50%capacity. ulation. The 39% districts in the FortisMemorialResearchInstitute who was in-charge of two shel-
parted early Friday morning, the It is better to wait it out,” the ex- hospitality services, including tors, buses, barber shops, spas “All other activities will be orange zone account for about in Gurgaon, said while restricting ters in Deolali.
HomeMinistryissuedanadden- ecutive said. hotels and restaurants; places and salons still remain prohib- permitted activities, which are 43% of the population. movementacrossthebordermay The migrant workers were
dum to its Wednesday order on Officials at leading fast mov- of largepublicgatherings,such ited in red zones. As far as eco- not specifically prohibited/per- The Centre has allowed help reduce transmission, “we asked to pay for their tickets
buses to “include” trains. ing consumer goods companies as cinema halls, malls, gymna- nomic and industrial activity in mitted with restriction in vari- statestorestructureredandor- alsoneedtoensuremedicalassis- back home – about Rs 215 per
“Movement of migrant workers, said they would prepare rosters siums, sports complexes etc; redzonesisconcerned,thepre- ous zones, under these guide- ange zones, according to distri- tance to patients on chemother- person for a general class ticket
pilgrims, tourists, students and andseeifpeople,otherthanthose social, political, cultural and vious guidelines will remain in lines,”theMHAnotificationsaid. bution of cases within a zone. apyandotheremergencies”. to Bhopal. Collector Suraj
otherpersons...isalsoallowedby already coming in, were needed other kinds of gatherings; and, force. The only change is that It, however, clarified that states The MHA guidelines say that in A spokesperson for Max Mandhare said all migrantspaid
special trains...,” the Home min- in office. “We had no idea of this religious places/places of wor- privateofficeswillbeallowedto can impose more restrictions if caseadistricthasbeendeclared Healthcare said nearly 40% of for their own tickets. "It is a dig-
istry order said. lockdown being extended, so a ship for public. open with 33% staff strength, they deem it necessary. a red zone, but barring its mu- their clinical, para-clinical and nified way of sending them
The decision on the six trains coupleofdaysago,ourHRdepart- “However, movement of and all shops in rural areas, Pregnant women, those nicipal areas, the rest of the dis- support staff travel between home.Wehadensuredthatthey
set off requests for trains from ment sent out mails to vertical persons by air, rail and road is without any distinction of es- above 65 years of age, and chil- tricthasnotseenanycaseinthe Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad. donotfaceanyproblemsatshel-
other states, including heads, asking them to mention if allowed for select purposes, sentialandnon-essentialitems, dren below 10 years have been last 21 days, the state may de- “Sealingatbordersisforcingusto ter homes," he added.
Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. they needed more people com- and for purposes as permitted will be allowed to operate. asked to stay home. clare areas outside the munici- operatewithlimitedmanpower... But for Sawant Kochle, the
Forthesesixtrainsandforsub- ing totheofficeafter May 4.Now byMHA,”theMinistryofHome While buses will not be al- States have also been asked pallimitsasorange.Similarly,or- Despite ID cards and passes is- around Rs 500 he spent on his
sequentones,ticketpriceswillbe I think that becomes irrelevant,” Affairs said in a statement. lowed to ply in orange zones, tofollowallSOPsissuedbyMHA angezonedistrictscouldclassify sued by Delhi for healthcare and his wife's tickets was the
paidbytheoriginatingordestina- a senior executive at an FMCG In green zones — districts taxisandcabaggregatorswillbe withregardtotransitofmigrant such areas as green. workers,theyarebeingstopped,” onlycashhehadonhim.Adriver
tion states. Besides the sleeper- company said. which haven’t reported a fresh permitted with one driver and labour, students and pilgrims The decision, sources said, the spokesperson said. fromMumbai,Kochlehadlefton
class ticket fare, Railways has However, companies in the case of COVID-19 in 21 days — one passenger. All other activi- andtransitofforeigners.Thean- hasbeentakenasmanydistricts foot with his wife, two children
chargedRs30assuperfastcharge business-to-business space said buses can ply with 50% seating ties, including opening of mar- nouncement came on a day have been declared red or or- Migrants’ train and Rs 4,000 in cash. "We spend
andanadditionalRs20perticket. thatevenif thereisalimitof 33%, capacity while private vehicle kets, liquor stores and barber when 77 deaths were reported ange because their municipali- waited for his turn to board the the money over the period in
Followingameetingbetween most departments would want movement is allowed even for shops, have been allowed. acrossthecountryinthelast24 ties,withhigherdensityofpop- train. "My family is constantly buying things for the children.
Railways and Home Secretary that strength to be present. “non-essential” work. Social “Intheorangezones,inaddi- hours — highest single-day toll ulation, have reported high calling tocheck if I have boarded Some new things for breakfast
Ajay Bhalla Thursday, the trans- “In the B2B space, it is always distancing,sanitisationandhy- tiontoactivitiespermittedinred so far. With 1,755 new cases in number of cases whereas the the train. Those living with us at someday or some more milk. I
porter was given to understand a situation of all hands on deck. giene have to be maintained. zones,taxisandcabaggregators thelast24hours,thetallyisnow restof thedistricthasremained the shelter homes also want to have no money left.”
thatthegovernmentwasgoingto But here, the question of which For the first time, the sale of willbepermittedwithonedriver 35,365 cases (9,064 recovered) largely unaffected. “This kind of know if we made it," said Inall,thereare1,900migrant
allow migrants to leave by trains. employeeliveswherecomesinto liquor,paanandgutkha,strictly andonepassenger.Inter-district and 1,152 deaths. In a commu- classificationwillopenmorear- Mahesh with a smile. Mahesh, workers in 27 shelter homes
Following communication play. Our focus and priority will prohibited in earlier lockdown movementofindividualsandve- nication to states Thursday, easinanaffecteddistrictforeco- who worked at a construction across Nashik. While a major
with Telangana Chief Secretary be locally situated employees orders, is allowed. However, hicleswillbeallowedforpermit- Union Health Secretary Preeti nomicactivity,”aHomeMinistry site at Mulund in Thane, had be- chunk of the 332 who left for
SomeshKumar,theLimgampalli- whocancometoofficeeasily,”an MHA sources said only stand- tedactivitiesonly.Four-wheeler Sudanhadlisted130districtsin official said. The 21-day lock- gunwalking homeonMarch29. home on Friday are from
Hatia train was approved past 11 executive at a steel company’s alone liquor stores will be al- vehicleswillhavemaximumtwo theredzone,284inorangezone, down, which began on March He was stopped near Kasara in Madhya Pradesh, 845 are from
pm on Thursday. The 24-coach corporate office said. lowed in red zones. passengers besides the driver and319ingreenzone.Thelistis 25,wasextendedbyanother19 Thane and put up at a shelter Uttar Pradesh and the remain-
rake,whichwassentforwashing, An executive at a top fashion While the restrictions will andpillionridingwillbeallowed revised weekly. days on April 14. With the sec- home in Nashik. ing from states like Bihar and
sanitation and routine mainte- and lifestyle brand pointed out notbeeasedincontainmentar- on two-wheeler,” said an MHA While17%ofIndia’stotaldis- ond extension, the lockdown To ensure social distancing, Rajasthan. "We need trains for
nanceat9pm,rolledinpast2am thatwhilemostofthecompany’s eas, private vehicles will be al- statement. In green zones, life is trictsareintheredzone,theyac- willnowremaintillMay17. therewere54people eachinthe those from MP and UP, as peo-
on Friday. The Railway ministry largest market segments have sixcoaches. Instead of eight per- plefromthesestatesaremorein
kept only a handful of officers in beenclassifiedasredzones,there sons in one lobby of a sleeper numbers. For those from other
theloop.Therewasnoindication
then about the government run-
was a concern of customers not
turningupevenwithingreenand
Aarogya Setu ties should also be earmarked,
the directives state.
people, while last rites cannot
be attended by more than 20.
scanning, handwash and sani-
tizerpreferablythroughtouch-
coach, only six were seated.
From 7 pm, over 10 buses
states, buses will be arranged,"
said Mandhare.
ning any other train. orange zones. Liquor shops are now al- “No organization/manager of free mechanism will be made brought the 332 workers and Mandharehadrequestedthe
Thestategovernmentgotthe In addition to this, e-com- COVID-19 cases, and inform a lowed, and regarding these as a public place shall allow a at all entry and exit points and others from 27 shelter homes in Railways to run two trains from
labourers in buses, which were mercefirms,whichhavebeenal- user if a positive case is around well as outlets selling paan, gathering of five or more per- common areas,” the directives Nashik district. As they alighted, Nashik – one for Lucknow in
kept waiting till the station au- lowedtosellbeyondtheessential them. The new directives also gutkha and tobacco, the direc- sons,” the guidelines say. say, also calling for frequent some with all their belongings, Uttar Pradesh and the other for
thoritiessentthemagreensignal. items in orange and green zones, underlinethatcompaniesmust tives say all must ensure “min- Some elements continue santisation of work areas. including clothes and utensils, Bhopal. However, as permis-
Passengers were then screened may also witness hurdles. A ma- avoid large meetings, put up a imumsixfeetdistance(2gazki from before, such as compul- The directives add that or- andotherswithnothingbuttwo sions needed from UP could not
andgivenprotectivegear.Station jorityofthelargestfulfilmentcen- listof localhospitalsandclinics doori),fromeachotherandalso sory face masks at public ganisations can ask all per- bottles of water given by the au- be received in time, a train will
staff and state government offi- tresandshipmenthubsthatserv- authorised to treat COVID-19, ensure not more than 5 per- places and workplaces. sons above 65 years of age, thorities, the only word they now depart for the state on
cials applauded as the train, with icelargeregionsofthecountryare and ensure employees show- sons are present at one time”. Guidelines also say social dis- those with co-morbidities, were uttering was ‘ghar’. Saturday morning.
54 passengers in each coach, situated in red zones. ingsymptomsareimmediately Spittinginpublicispunishable tancing must be enforced at pregnant women and chil- While some had children Divisional Railway Manager
pulledoutofthestation.Foodand “We urge the government to sentforcheck-up.Aquarantine by a fine. workplaces and in company dren below the age of 10 to back home, some parents, oth- Vivek Kumar Gupta said, “Soon
water were provided to the pas- considerthepositiverolee-com- facility to isolate employees The directives also under- transport, suggesting stag- work from home unless they ers had farms to take care of. afterwereceivedrequestfortwo
sengers,forwhichmoneywasin- merce can play to get customers showingsymptomstilltheyare line that marriage functions gered shifts and lunch breaks. are employed in essential Kamti Bai (33), who had trains on Friday morning from
cluded in the ticket price. thepriorityproductstheyneedin safely moved to medical facili- must not have more than 50 “Provision for thermal services. come to Mumbai about three the state authorities, the trains
Arun Kumar, DG, Railway red zones as well,” said an months ago to work at a road were arranged. The coach com-
Protection Force, said, “Our men Amazon India spokesperson. construction site, was excited to position of the train was made
escortedthetrain.Weensuredso- Two senior executives with dailyforitsstaff andwespendRs to pay salaries,” Dr Reddy said. deferment of statutory liability Express,“Icandelaythesurgerya meet her two daughters back at based on how many were to
cialdistancinginsideandsecurity leading private sector banks said 2.4lakhadayonthis,”saidanad- Said Dr Naresh Trehan, payments, and liquidity support. day or two, maybe even a week, home in Chilka village near travelkeepinginmindsocialdis-
of thetrain.Itisanon-stoptrain.” that while their branches are un- ministrator at Breach Candy ChairmanandManagingDirector, But some public health ex- but beyond that all our work will Bhopal. "There are problems of tancing norms.”
By Friday afternoon, the der essential services and are op- Hospital in South Mumbai. “Our Medanta - The Medicity: pertssuggestthattheindustryal- be undone.” foodbackhomeaswell.ButIwill
Home Ministry indicated that it erating with around 30% of the hospital’s income comes mostly “Healthcare facilities are already ways exaggerates its burden. A Hesaidthehospitalhasgiven beabletodosomethingforthem MLC polls
was in the process of allowing strengthcurrently,thebanksarein from cardiac and stroke patients. cruising close to the ground in fewhospitalbillsaccessedbyThe them accommodation to stay once I get home," said Kamti, The Commission, in the
trains to run from other areas. “nohurry”tocallpeopletowork. Butthosecaseshavedisappeared, terms of revenues and profits. IndianExpressshowthatpatients backinDelhi,buthecannotashis who was travelling with two coming week, will devise the
While the Maharashtra gov- we don’t know why. There may Now,theoutbreakandlockdown havebeenbilledinthethousands aged grandmother and two other women from her village. Standard Operating Procedure
ernment informed the Railways Empty OPDs be salary cuts in other industries. has resulted in drop in revenue. for PPE used by hospital staff. young children stay with him. Janki Devi, also in her 30s, (SOP) for conducting elections
thatitwaswillingtosendoutmi- staffers financial incentives, per- But in private hospitals, we are There is a huge gap in our ability In one instance, a Covid pa- Malhotra said even patients with a toddler in her arms, said duringa pandemic.TheSOPwill
grants bound for MP and UP, it sonalprotectiveequipment(PPE), payingover20percentincentives topayourcosts.Wedon’twantto tient, who is admitted in a large are in trouble as many cross the thatshehadwalkedfortwodays lay down the precautions the
said the special train can’t origi- transport service, and even ac- tostafferswhoagreetowork,”the getridof ourstaff andwewantto private hospital for over 10 days border for treatment. “I have a from Karjat in Raigad to Nashik polling staff, and MLAs will have
nate from Mumbai or Pune as commodation. administrator said. keepoperationsintact.Theindus- now,wasbilledoverRs8lakhfor Gurgaon-based patient who got after she stopped working in to take while casting their vote.
these are hotspots. With Nashik At Hinduja Hospital in Khar, Some can take these extra try may have to borrow up to Rs treatment,withPPEcostsrunning operated on for breast cancer. March.Livinginamakeshifttent The EC's decision comes less
eventuallychosenastheoriginat- Mumbai, elective surgeries gen- costs, others, including several 10,000croretokeepalive,”hesaid. up to nearly Rs 50,000. The hos- Now she needs post-surgery ra- built alongside a road construc- than a day after Maharashtra
ing station, clearances were ob- erated 80 per cent revenues, said neighbourhood nursing homes, Unlikeotherindustrialsectors, pitalisnotbeingnamedsincethe diation.Iaskedhertogetitdoneat tion site at Karjat, Devi said she Governor B S Koshyari asked the
tained from the state govern- its Medical Director, Dr Avinash have locked themselves down. wherethelockdownmeansunits patientremainsadmittedandthe ahospitalinGurgaon,butitturns hadnotevenheardoftheCOVID- Commission to hold elections to
ments of MP and UP. As per the Supe. “The occupancy is only 20 In Ruby Hospital in the city’s are shut down and staff stays family shared the bills on condi- out that a lot of its staffers live in 19 pandemic when work at the nine Legislative Council seats,
protocol finalised, the receiving per cent since elective surgeries suburbs,staffattendancedropped home, said Reddy of Apollo tion of anonymity. Delhi, so her post-surgery radia- project site suddenly stopped. which fell vacant on April 24, “at
states need to arrange for the likecosmeticprocedures,jointre- by 40 per cent as soon as the first Hospitals, hospitals don’t have DrShaktivelSelvaraj,Director, tion has not been scheduled.” “Wewaitedforafewdaysbut the earliest”. Koshyari's letter
medical screening of passengers placement, have completely Covid cases trickled in. “We can’t that elbow room. HealthEconomics,Financingand At 7.30 am Friday, Dr R K then our contractor ran away came two days after Thackeray
upon arrival. stopped.Wearetreatingonlycan- afford PPE daily for every staffer. “For(sectorslike)aviation,you Policy, at the Public Health Agarwal (58), senior consultant, without paying us. We then de- approached Prime Minister
cer and fracture cases. OPD has Somedemandedaraise.Withno know they are shut down. They FoundationofIndia,estimatesthe anesthesia, at Sir Ganga Ram cided to walk home, as we saw Narendra Modi on the matter.
India Inc refrain come down too,” he said. patients,itisdifficulttohandlethe are closed, they are at home and average cost of treatment of a Hospital, left his Gurgaon resi- many doing the same,” she said. Thackeray called up the PM after
risky to expand any further be- Forthehospital,PPE,transport increased cost,” a paediatrician it’s done till they reopen. For CovidpatientadmittedtotheICU denceforworkandreachedinno Devi, who works at farms back theGovernorsatonarecommen-
yond the current manner of op- andaccommodation,ontheother fromthenursinghomesaid. healthcare, not only do you have for10daysandonventilatorsup- time.Onhiswaybackintheafter- homeduringmonsoon, saidshe dation made a month ago by the
eration”.“Itisaverytoughcalland hand, have added 10 per cent to TheBreachCandyadministra- no patients, but you have to be portatahospitalinthecharitable noon though, he found himself will return once work resumes state government to nominate
Idon’tthinkIamgoingtotakethe the cost, he said. tor said a hospital makes profits openforthe10percentor20per sectoratRs2.5-3lakh,justathird pleading with police. “I work in a here. “Aur kahaan jayenge? Jab him to the Legislative Council.
risk. The virus is very contagious, Operating a Covid facility is onlyif occupancyratesare80-85 centwhowillcomebecausethey of Rs 8 lakh the patient has been COVIDhospital.Ishowedthepo- wapas aa sakte hai, aayenge.” Thackeray was sworn in on
andevenifoneemployeecatches much more expensive, said percent.“Sincethepandemicbe- needyou.Ontopofit,youhaveto billed so far. licepersonnelmyIDcard,aletter Dilip Kaul (17), who came to November 28, 2019. His failure
it,thecascadingimpactisprohib- Abhay Soi, Chairman, Max gan, bed occupancy is hardly 30 also treat this unknown, critical Hospitals prefer brands that from the hospital, but they just Nashik to meet his brother on to enter the Legislature by May
itive,”saidtheCEOof aleadingfi- Healthcare,andCMD,RadiantLife per cent,” he said. and difficult to handle third type provide them higher commis- didn’tlisten.ItoldthemIamtired, Holi, could not return home due 27wouldmeanthestateCabinet
nancial services firm. Care. “It is thrice that at a regular At20percentoccupancylev- of environment (the outbreak)... sions leading to higher costs for ageing and that they should let to the lockdown. “I had thought would also have to resign.
Hesaidthatintheservicesin- hospitalduetothecostofprotec- els, revenues per quarter of pri- and handle your staff’s insecuri- patients. “This holds good even mego.Ileftthehospitalat1.30pm Iwillbuy new clothes for my12- The government had hoped
dustry, people are critical and his tive gear and tests we perform to vatehospitalsarelikelytodropto ties,” she said. during a pandemic,” said Malini and finally reached home at 4.45 year-old sister but I could not. to get Thackeray nominated
firmwouldnottakeanychances. ensure our healthcare workers Rs 18,000 crore from Rs 59,000 Trehan said there was a need AisolarepresentingAllIndiaDrug pm,” said Agarwal. Hopefully,shewilljustbehappy through the Governor’s quota
“There is no back-up for a critical are not infected. We also have to crore (pre-Covid) and losses at forthegovernmenttosupportthe Action Network (AIDAN), a pa- Matin,theneuro-intervention- to see me,” he said. followingtheEC'sdecisiontode-
individual and while companies exercise caution in operating around Rs 22,000 crore, said Dr workingcapitalrequirementata tientactivistgroup.“Wehaveob- ist,said40%of Narayanahospital’s At the station, local authori- ferpollstothenineCouncilseats
will have to take the call, we other facilities (25 per cent cost- Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing lower interest rate. “We’re not served that costs of repeated healthcare staff live in Delhi, and ties, including District Collector due to the coronavirus outbreak
wouldliketocontinueintheway lier now) so that patients with Director, Apollo Hospitals asking for grants, because we Covid testing, PPE etc are all of- couldnotcometoworkFriday. Suraj Mandhare and Police and the subsequent nationwide
we are operating right now.” othercriticalconditions,anddoc- Enterprises, and President, know that the government is al- floaded to the patient.” Gurgaon-based Dr Anurag Commissioner Vishwas Nangre lockdown, beginning March 25.
“The extension of the lock- torsandnursestreatingthem,do FederationofIndianChambersof ready under pressure,” he said. (With reporting by Santosh Singh Gupta, a neurosurgeon at Fortis Patil overlooked the arrange- BesidestheGovernor’sletter,
down period... will allow a cali- not get infected,” he said. Commerce and Industry. “Now that special COVID-19 in Patna and Atri Mitra in Kolkata) Vasant Kunj, said: “NCR has al- ments.“YouareleavingonMay1. the Commission had also re-
brated opening of the economic Testing costs. Take for exam- “Thepainthattheprivatesec- hospitalshavebeencreated,there waysbeenoneunit...Iamtheonly ItisMaharashtraDayandLabour ceived representations from the
activities,” said Sangita Reddy, ple, South Mumbai’s Bhatia tor is facing is the complete lack arenomoreCovidpatientsinhos- Sealed border neurosurgeon at the hospital. I Day. We are grateful for you and Shiv Sena, the Congress and the
President,FICCI,adding, “Though Hospital where 51 staffers tested of revenue right now,” she told pitalslikeMedanta,sothosewho regarding their work. haveaskedaFortisGurgaonneu- hope that you can remember NCP, the ruling coalition part-
relaxationshavebeenmade...sig- positive.ItspentRs32lakhtotest The Indian Express. “The ability to arenon-Covidcancomefortheir TheGurgaonauthoritieshave rosurgeon who lives in Delhi to this and also return to the state ners in the state. Their letters
nificant part of the economic ac- over700staffers.“Andthesetests saythatwecanprovidefreetreat- treatmentwithoutfear.Oncethat directedthatthoseworkingthere cover for me. My wife works at whenthingsgetbetter,”Patilan- stated that on account of the
tivitywillstillremaininabeyance.” will be routinely done again and ment for Covid-19 is not (possi- happens, the financial situation andlivinginDelhiandvice-versa FortisGurgaonandseveralheads nounced to the crowd. “peculiar,extraordinary,unfore-
An executive from a pharma- again,”saidRBDastur,medicaldi- ble)... other nursing homes and will improve,” he said. shouldmakelivingarrangements of department and the director Nodal officers at the shelter seen facts and circumstances”,
ceutical company in Mumbai’s rector of the hospital. smallerhospitalsareinaverybad Ficci has, meanwhile, sought at or near their workplaces to have been unable to come be- homes said they attempted to Thackeray had not been able to
Lower Parel said employees Then there are safeguards. scenariotoo.Mostofthemarelos- exemptionsandwaiversonindi- avoid cross-border movement. cause they live in Delhi.” keep the spirits up of those get himself elected to the
would continue to work from “Our hospital requires 300 PPEs ing money and don’t know how rect taxes, income tax benefits, Malhotra told The Indian G K Khurana, secretary gen- stranded by playing movies as Legislative Council.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

3 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

Mumbai

BMC TO PVT HOSPITALS PALGHAR LYNCHING Relative of IIT-B

‘Take action against Separate mob stopped, attacked bus

rushing policemen to lynching site
staffer tests positive
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

healthcare staff not

MUMBAI,MAY1

THE IIT-B authorities said they were in touch

MahantKalpavrukshaGiri(70)wasin with the Brihanmumbai Municipal
KAVITHAIYER For more than three hours, thechowkeyforbarelyfiveminutes,where Corporation and strictly following all health

reporting to work’
GADCHINCHLE(PALGHAR),MAY1 a policeman was trying to protect him advisories after a relative of a non-faculty
the Maharashtra Police bus fromthemob.“Igotoutofthechowkeyat memberoftheinstitutetestedpositiveforthe
NEARLY TWO weeks after three men in- was held hostage at Chisda that point,” Borsa said. Minutes later, as a novel coronavirus on Thursday evening.
cluding two sadhus were lynched by a village near Khanvel in policeman escorted the sadhu into the The woman, who is a health worker at
mob of villagers in Dahanu taluka of waiting police van, the mob rained blows Sion Hospital, has been quarantined at a fa-
Palghardistrict,ithasemergedthatasep- the union territory of with lathis on both of them. cilityoutsidethecampus,whileherhusband
aratemobof about200menstoppedand Dadra-Nagar Haveli “Theoldmanwasthefirsttogo,hefell and two children have been quarantined at
TABASSUM RETIREMENTAGEOFCIVICMEDICALOFFICERSRAISED assaulted a Maharashtra police bus that and was beaten repeatedly. Then some theinstitute'sVanviharguesthouse,theIIT-B
BARNAGARWALA was rushing reinforcements to the lynch- othersfromthemobwenttothepoliceve- authoritiesinformed.Inmid-March,through
&LAXMANSINGH Mumbai: The BMC has decided prior to their retirement date. ingsiteontheinterveningnightofApril16 Nagar Haveli Sharad Darade said 19 men hicle and pulled the other two out,” an executive order, the Collector had taken
MUMBAI,MAY1 toincreasetheretirementageof “This will be voluntary, and and17.Formorethanthreehours,thebus were arrested on April 24 for rioting and Borsa said. over several buildings, including Vanvihar
medical officers who are set to doctorsandteacherscandecide was held hostage at Chisda village near obstruction of government officials. Confirming the fresh arrests made on guesthouseandMTNLguestrooms,ontheIIT-
THEBRIHANMUMBAIMunicipal superannuate next year by six if they want to opt for an exten- Khanvel in the union territory of Dadra- “While the incidents are separate, details Friday, Additional Director General of Bcampusasdesignatedquarantinefacilities.
Corporation(BMC)hasaskedpri- months to a year. sion,”SureshKakani,Additional Nagar Haveli, about 13 km from have now been shared with the Police (CID) Atulchandra Kulkarni said all Director Dr Subhasis Chaudhuri con-
vatehospitalstotakedisciplinary The circular, issued by BMC Municipal Commissioner, said. Gadchinchle village in Palghar’s Dahanu MaharashtraCIDtocheckforanycommon aspects of the case are being investigated. firmedthatthefamilywasresidingattheem-
actionagainstnurses,doctorsand onApril28,statesthatinviewof Thenewrulewillbeapplica- taluka where the lynching occurred that elements.Photographsoftheaccusedhave “The investigation has just commenced, ployees’ quarters on the institute campus. “It
Class IV workers who do not re- the coronavirus pandemic, the ble to senior medical officers, night around 11 pm. been shared too,” Darade said. newnameshavecomeupintheprobeand appears that she may have contracted it (the
porttowork.TheBMChasalsoas- BMC will need more doctors, medical officers of all the main A First Information Report was regis- Meanwhile, the Maharashtra CID they were arrested,” he said. virus) outside the campus during her call of
suredprivatehospitalsthatitwill and, therefore, it has decided to and peripheral hospitals, and teredonApril17atKhanvelpolicestation, which has started its investigations into Theadultaccusedareallinpolicecus- duties... The institute, with its taskforce on
facilitate these hospitals in find- give an extension in service to medical college teachers. located just 5 km from Gadchinchle, re- the lynching on Friday arrested five men tody — the previously arrested 101 were COVID-19,isstrictlyfollowingallhealthadvi-
ing replacements for employees them.Officialssaidthatonlydoc- Currently,theretirementage garding this assault on the police bus in from Gadchinchle and Divshi villages af- namedinafreshFIRregardinganotherof- sories. With the help of BMC officials, we are
who are not reporting to work torswhowereduetoretireinthe of doctors at civic hospitals and which some policemen sustained minor ter recording detailed eye-witness state- fenceandremandedtopolicecustodyun- now following all additional measures that
during the COVID-19 outbreak. next year may apply for an ex- medical college teachers is 58 injuries. Nineteen men from Chisda and mentsaswellasidentifyingmoreaccused tilMay13,whilethefivenewarrestswere experts have been suggesting to us based on
Severalhospitalshadreached tension in service three months and 62 years, respectively. ENS nearbyareasarrestedonApril24andlater using CCTV footage from a surveillance also remanded to police custody till May one of our campus residents having tested
out to BMC claiming that they released on bail. Two men, the alleged cameramountedonaMaharashtraForest 13. Meanwhile, teams of policemen have positive.” He added that IIT-B was in touch
were unable to run routine serv- pitalsandstaffdonotresumenor- “Already many staffers who masterminds, were picked up once again Department chowkey outside which the been searching in the forests and hill- withBMCofficials.“Weshallmakeourselves
ices of out patient department mal functions immediately. Dr R live in Mumbai Metropolitan onThursdayandplacedunderpreventive attack and lynching occurred. Among the slopes around Gadchinchle for other ab- amenabletotesting,ifthatisadvised,”hesaid.
andadmissionsduetoshortageof B Dastur, medical director of Region are unable to reach office detention. eyewitnessescalledtoidentifythoseseen scondingaccused.Localpoliceofficialssaid Whiletheinstitutehadvacateditshostels
staff. “Since a government order Bhatia hospital, said that Class IV because of transportation issues. According to Dadra-Nagar Haveli in the footage are Gadchinchle Sarpanch theaccusedmen’smobileshavebeencol- in March, 83 students who were not able to
makesitmandatoryforhospitals employees continue to refuse to So, the idea to have 100 per cent Collector Sundeep Kumar Singh, Suraj Chitra Choudhari and Sonu Borsa, one of lectedtostudytheirlocationatthetimeof gohomeandsomeforeignexchangestudents
to pay staff full salary during the work.“Privatehospitalsareinafix, attendance is to absorb new staff Zimne and Jagdish Rathad of a locality twowatchmenpostedattheforestdepart- the incident and also any video or photo- were allowed to stay back.
lockdown period, several have we can’t fire them for not report- in Covid-related work and pre- called Patelpada in Chisda village were ment post. graphic evidence.
stopped reporting to work,” said ing. And we can’t function nor- monsoonpreparation,”saidanof- found to have led the mob of 200 to 300 “We have no reason to stop an Eeco, Sinceearlythisweek,teamsof police- ADVERTISEMENT
Dr Gautam Bhansali, from mally without them.” ficialfromGeneralAdministration mentocutdownatreeandblockthehigh- we just stop big vehicles that may have men have brought a few accused, one by In the present Coronavirus
Bombay hospital. Shortage of health workers Department (GAD). way that night, soon after the lynching at any contraband material, mainly to pre- one,backtothevillageforasearchoftheir
endemic situation, Mr. Jay Shah –
He said that nurses and doc- spans across private and public The circular states that staff Gadchinchle. “In order to ensure that the ventillegallogging,”BorsatoldTheIndian home and for their mobile phones.
torshavestartedcomingtowork, hospitals.Followingissueofman- from non-essential department incident is not repeated, after examining Express. He also remembers the men AccusedAjayBorsa’smotherBanasaidhe the director of Exertion HR has
but liftmen, ward boys, and tech- power, BMC issued a circular for can be utilised in contact tracing thesituation,wefelttheyshouldbeplaced who threatened to attack him if the Eeco was brought home for just a few minutes sent request letter to CPFC, EPFO
nicians,especiallythoseattached its own hospitals and depart- of COVID-19 patients at ward under preventive detention under the was not stopped that night as it returned on April 27. about PMGKY Scheme on 9th
withunions,haverefusedtoleave ments directing civic officials to level,quarantinecentremanage- GujaratPreventionofAntiSocialActivities from the border, refused permission to “They were looking for his phone any April, which is not beneficial to
home. “If we get freedom to cut ensure 100 per cent attendance. ment, for upgrading municipal Act, 1965,” said Singh. proceed due to the lockdown-time seal- home and in the mud near the highway, maximum employers because of
theirpay,theymaystartworking,” The circular issued on April 30 hospitalswithextrabedsandoxy- Apurva Sharma, Sub Divisional ing of state borders. but we couldn’t find it,” Bana said. the criteria that out of 100
he said. states that BMC staff is overbur- gen, and for de-silting of nullahs Magistrate of Khanvel, said the two insti- Borsa was also in the chowkey when, Suman Gavit, wife of accused Suresh
In a video meeting with pri- dened with work related to and other pre-monsoon works. gated others to intimidate the police and nearly two hours into the attack, a police Gavit, said a team of policemen brought
employees atleast 90% should
vate hospitals, BMC has assured COVID-19 outbreak and other Meanwhile, BMC has asked throwstonesatthepolicebus.“Theyheld teamfromKasapolicestationarrivedand SureshbackonMonday,andtookpictures draw a salary below 15000/-.
that it can provide a list of candi- municipal activities, and finds it staffers aged above 55 years and thebushostageformorethanthreehours triedtohelpthevictimstrappedinthenow oftheirhome,ofthetelevisionandoftheir Moreover, any organisation must
datesavailablewithitwhocanbe hard to work with 50 per cent with comorbidity like hyperten- and damaged the vehicle,” said Sharma. upturned Eeco vehicle. stock of rice from their paddy crop. “He be having atleast 25% of manager
deputedinprivatehospitalstore- staff. To ensure there is 100 per sion, high blood pressure, dia- The complainant in that case is “The police moved one sadhu and the drank a little water. I saw when he was & higher designated category.
place employees not reporting to centattendance,BMChasnotified betes,dialysis,toworkfromhome Assistant Police Inspector Vilas Jadhav of driver into the police vehicle. The second changing his clothes that there are dark Requested them to remove the
work. On April 28, BMC also is- its staffers under Epidemic fornextonemonth.Thisincludes Talasaripolicestation,whoseteamofrein- sadhu,theoldman,washitonhisheadas bruisesonthebackofhislegs,”Sumansaid.
clause and give benefit to all
suedanordertoallprivatehospi- Diseases Act, 1897, there will be staff nurses and doctors working forcementswasheadedtoGadchinchlevia soon as he came out of the Eeco. Savita Borsa’s husband Vishnu was also
tals that it can take action under salary deductions if they are ab- in hospitals where COVID-19 pa- Dadra-Nagar Haveli. He ran into the chowkey,” Borsa told The broughthome.“Hewascrying,buthetold
organisations having employees
EpidemicDiseaseAct,1897,ifhos- sent and they will be suspended. tients are not admitted. Superintendent of Police of Dadra- Indian Express. me not to cry too much.” she said. below 15000/-.

CPCB STUDY
Lockdown
impact: sharp
drop in nitrogen Garbage pile up
at Dharavi, a
dioxide, benzene coronavirus
hotspot that has
reported more
SANJANABHALERAO than 340 positive
MUMBAI,MAY1 cases. So far, 18
COVID-19 related
WITHVEHICLESoffthecityroads deaths have been
and most industries shut for over reported from the
a month due to the coronavirus- slum sprawl.
inducedlockdown,theairquality Nirmal Harindran
in Mumbai has improved signifi-
cantly .
A study, 'Impact of Lockdown
(March 25 to April 19) on Air AFTER COMPLAINTS

State puts cap on charges pvt

Quality', undertaken by the
Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB)showsasharpdecreaseof
77 per cent in nitrogen dioxide

hospitals can levy on patients

(NO2)levelsand59percentdrop
in average benzene (a hydrocar-
bon, C6H6) level during the lock-
down period as compared to the
weeks preceding it. charge. For instance, an angiog- fore the notification came out,”
The data, released Friday, was TABASSUM raphy should not cost more than Bhansali said.
generatedbycontinuousambient BARNAGARWALA Rs 12,000, a normal delivery not Lilavati hospital currently
air quality monitoring (CAAQM) MUMBAI,MAY1 more than Rs 75,000, a valve re- does not follow GIPSA package
network and analysed with 10 placement is capped at Rs 3.23 rates. “We will follow whatever
stations for Mumbai. THESTATEhealthdepartmenthas lakh, a permanent pacemaker government says as we do not
The major sources of anthro- put a cap on charges private hos- implantation at Rs 1.38 lakh, a want patients to suffer at this
pogenic emissions of NO2 are pitalscanlevyonpatients,stating cataract surgery at Rs 25,000 time of economic slowdown,”
combustion processes like heat- that it has received “a number of and so on. said chief operating officer Dr V
ing, power generation, and en- grievances of exorbitant amount Items like pacemaker, per- Ravishankar. Ravishankar, how-
gines in vehicles and ships. of money being charged by sonalprotectiveequipment(PPE), ever, added that rates were
The study has compared healthcare providers”. The new intraocularlenses,stents,catheter, never increased after the out-
hourlypollutantconcentrationin schedule of rates is applicable for balloon, medical implants, con- break in Mumbai. “We are ad-
pre-lockdownperiodwithduring treatment of both COVID-19 and sumablescannotbechargedover mitting non-COVID patients in
the lockdown. The peak hourly non-COVIDpatients.Stateofficials 10 per cent mark up on net pro- common and economy ward
valueofNO2duringthepre-lock- said they came across instances curementcost.ThismeansifaPPE too at the same charges as be-
down period was almost five wherepatientswereovercharged costs Rs 100, hospitals cannot fore,” he said. He added that the
times the peak value observed because hospitals are selectively chargeapatientmorethanRs110. hospital is following protocol to
during the lockdown period. A admitting patients based on staff Hospitals said they are study- reserve beds for indigent pa-
similar trend was observed for and doctor availability in light of ing the notification and are going tients. “In fact there is one Covid
carbondioxide(CO2)with61per the pandemic. to interact with the government patient on ventilator who we are
centreductioninpeakhourlyval- An official said patients who overthis.DrKhalidShaikh,owner treating for free,” he said.
ues during the lockdown period, hadnoinsurancepolicywerebe- of Sai hospital, said he is already Dr Avinash Supe, director of
underscoring the absence of ve- ing charged steeply. “We came followingtheratesfixedbyGIPSA. HindujaHospital(Khar),saidthis
hicular emissions. acrosscaseswherepackagecosts “Severalhospitalschargebeyond notification may have to be fol-
In Mumbai, the Chembur- offered are high, patients are not GIPSA rates. This notification will lowed for a few months until the
TrombayandDeonarareas,which getting admitted in hospitals,” forcethemtochargeanormalpa- outbreak subsides. “After the
havepowerplants,severalpetro- said Dr Sadhana Tayade, director, tient as per GIPSA rates,” he said. Covidoutbreakbegan,thereis80
leumrefineriesandafertiliserfac- Directorate of Health Services. The notification stated that per cent reduction in beds’ occu-
tory, are considered hotspot for Hospitals in Mumbai, Thane, charitable hospitals have to re- pancy. All elective procedures
high NO2 levels. Lowest 24-hour Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Pune, serve10percentbedsforindigent have been halted,” he said.
average of NO2 levels during the which have agreement on treat- patients for free and another 10 Dr R B Dastur, medical direc-
lockdown period was 5 µg/m3 ment packages with General percentforweakersectionof the tor of Bhatia hospital, said this
(microgramspercubicmeterair). Insurance Public Sector society under the Bombay Public notificationwillcreateproblems.
AdropinconcentrationofPM Association (GIPSA), cannot Trusts Act, 1950. “Every day we are getting new
2.5,(whichisusedtocalculateair chargemorethanthelowestbed DrGautamBhansali,consult- notifications, it is difficult to op-
quality index) was also observed categoryratesforpatients.GIPSA ant with Bombay hospital, said erate. In a normal operation the-
— there was a 40 per cent reduc- is an association of government the capping may force hospitals atre there are not less than 5-6
tion in PM 2.5 and 43 per cent re- insurance companies that fixes to opt for inferior quality surgi- staffers. Their personal protec-
duction in PM10 (atmospheric package rates for surgeries in cal supplies and consumables. tiveequipmentcostishigh.Now
particulate matter that have a di- hospitals. “Hospitals are already going in we can’t even test a patient for
ametre of less than 10 microme- For hospitals not attached to losses, they are in a dying situa- COVID-19if he is asymptomatic.
ters). Average sulphur dioxide GIPSA package rates, the notifi- tion. This will further hit private So, for every patient PPE has to
(SO2) levels also decreased by 33 cation provides a schedule of health sector. Private sector beworn,imaginethecosttohos-
per cent during the lockdown. rates beyond which they cannot should have been consulted be- pital for this,” he said.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

4 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

Maharashtra

1,008 fresh cases reported in Centre’s decision to locate

IFSC Authority in Gujarat
state, doubling rate now 9 days disappointing, says Pawar
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, PUNE, MAY 1

MAHARASHTRA RECORDED
1,008 new cases of Covid-19 on
´FiÀ°Fb°F
Friday, taking the total count of
infected persons to 11,506. State
health officials have attributed
the rise to the disease's natural
progression and improved test-
ing capacity in Maharashtra.
Mumbai alone recorded 751
fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its
ÀFWÀFa¹FûþI
total count to 7,812.
Apart from the increasing
numbers, another area of con- NCP chief Sharad Pawar addresses the Loksatta web
cernwastheinabilityof thestate interactive series titled ‘Sathicha Gazhal Maharashtracha’.
to control the doubling rate of
cases. Maharashtra's doubling
rate worsened on Friday, it now to set up this new Authority in time to do politics, Pawar said
stands at nine days. Until last Gandhinagar, Pawar said, the Prime Minister should con-
week it took over 10 days for EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE “Mumbai has always been the vene an all-party meeting for
cases to double. MUMBAI, MAY 1 country's economic capital, and wider consultations.
Atleast 26more deaths were it has its distinct identity. It is the The former Union minister
recorded,takingthedeathtollto THE CENTRE'S decision to locate leading industrial city. The deci- and former Maharashtra CM
485 in Maharashtra. Mumbai the newly created International sion to shift the IFSC Authority said: “The task ahead is to reas-
saw six deaths, including one Financial Services Centre (IFSC) from Mumbai to Gujarat is dis- sure industries, (and ensure)
death of an Uttar Pradesh resi- AuthorityinGandhinagaris“dis- turbing.” their survival along with work-
dent, taking its total death count appointing, and a move against He said, “The decision to lo- ers. The lockdown has affected
to295.Pune,however,surpassed Mumbai's established status as catetheIFSCAuthorityinGujarat key sectors such as agriculture,
Mumbai by recording 11 deaths. the nation's financial capital, is not a right decision. We will industries and infrastructure.
ThreeothersdiedinJalgaon,and NCPleaderSharadPawarsaidon pursue the matter with the PM There are concerns and a fear of
one each in Bhiwandi, Friday. and urge him to reconsider the increase in unemployment and
Sindhudurg, Thane, Nanded, “The stature of the Prime decision and relocate it in closure of industrial units; these
Aurangabad and Parbhani. Minister is such that s/he should Mumbai.” havetobetackled.Theindustrial
Of those who died, 14 were always rise above his/her state. The IFSC Authority is a uni- belt of Mumbai, Pune and
aged above 60 years, while one Migrants wait to board a special train to Bhopal from Nashik on Friday night. Prashant Nadkar The decisions should be broad, fied agency to regulate all finan- Nashik will have to be restored
was aged less than 40. The fatal- inclusive and of a national level. cial services in international fi- to get the state's economy mov-
ity rate is highest amongst peo- Therefore, we will urge Prime nancial services centres in the ing in the right direction.”
ple aged above 40 and with co- admitted, the Brihanmumbai tors?" Galgali said. May 1 due to COVID 19 related Minister Narendra Modi to re- country and was notified earlier Therefore, he said “ad hoc

11,506
morbidities like diabetes, Municipal Corporation has de- Additional Municipal complications. consider the decision and retain thisweek.Itwillbelocatedatthe lockdownacrossthisbeltwillnot
hypertension, heart ailment. cided to test corporators and Commissioner Kakani on Friday A 71 year old woman resid- Mumbai's status as an interna- Gujarat International Finance work.Thegovernmentwillhave
On Friday, the state had 792 their family members as a pre- clarified that he only instructed ing at Tadiwala road who was tional financial services centre,” Tech City in Gandhinagar. totakeapracticaldecisiontoease
containment zones with 1.74 cautionary measure. BMC will toconductmedicalcheck-upnot smptomatic since April 24 and Pawar said at a Loksatta web in- On the challenges in the light thelockdownwithguidelinesfor
lakh under quarantine at home
and in institutions set up by gov-
step away from its mandate to
test only symptomatic people in TOTALPOSITIVECASES Covid-19 testing.
Pune reported seven deaths
admitted on April 28 at Sassoon
general hospital succumbed to
teractive series titled 'Sathicha
Gazhal Maharashtracha'.
of thenationwidelockdown,and
its resultant economic fallout,
safety of the people.”
The Centre should provide
ernment. Maharashtra has this case. INMAHARASHTRA on Friday of which two had suc- the infection on May 1. She had The series, which began on Pawar said putting the economy morefinancialstimulustorevive
tested 1.53 lakh samples, and its Aseniorcivicofficialfromthe cumbed to COVID-19 infection bilateral pneumonia and also Friday, on the foundation day of back on track remains a formi- infrastructure and accommo-
positivity rate stands at 7.5 per BMC said that on April 30 addi- Number of deaths 485 late Thursday night. The toll has had diabetes, hypertension and the state, will host all former dable challenge. “Greater focus date the concerns of jobless
cent. The average is much lower tional municipal commissioner Total number of people climbed to 99. obesity. chief ministers of Maharashtra, on agriculture, industrial and in- workers, he said.
than USA, France or Iran. Suresh Kakani instructed all discharged 1,879 Sassoon general hospital re- A 68 year old man from Nana and will end with a talk by Chief frastructure is a must. It calls for Referring to the Governor's
TheBMChasdecidedtokeep zonal Deputy Municipal ported three deaths including PethwhowasadmittedtoBharati Minister Uddhav Thackeray. higher investments. For this, the decision against accepting the
all asymptomatic Covid-19 pos- Commissioners to set up a camp Number of people tested that of an 80-year-old woman hospital on April 28 succumbed Pawar was interviewed by ReserveBankof Indiaalongwith stateCabinet'srecommendation
itive people at home isolation to for corporators and their family 1.51 lakh from Kavadi Malwadi, who was to COVID 19 infection on April Loksatta editor Girish Kuber and other financial institutions will to nominate Uddhav Thackeray
decongest hospitals and reserve for COVID-19 test. Officials said Total number quarantined suffering from illness since April 30.Hehaddiabetesandhyperten- associate editor Mukund have to provide incentives and to the Legislative Council, Pawar
them for critical and serious pa- that the tests will be done at 11,677 26 and was referred by YASH sion. The death was reported on Sangoram. plans on loans and interest rates. said, “The state is reeling under
tients.BMCofficialssaidfeasibil- some open space with the help hospital and admitted to Friday by municipal health au- Stating that he hopes all po- TheRBIwillhavetotakeboldde- theCovid-19pandemic.Itwould
Number of new cases 1008
ity of home isolation will be of privatelaboratories.Thyrocare SassoonhospitalonApril29.She thorities. In another case, a 75 litical parties will come together cisions.” have been better if politics was
checkedforeachpositivepatient and Metropolis have been ex- hadbilateralpneumoniaandob- year old man from Parvati to oppose the Centre's decision Stating that this was not the kept out of it in such a situation.”
if they have no symptoms. For empted from testing corpora- structive uropathy and died on Darshan died due to COVID 19
crowdedhouseholdswhereoth- tors. BMC will be paying for the that the civic body has been April 30. Her report for COVID- complications on May 1.
ers stand a risk of infection, pa-
tient may be shifted to Covid
care centres.
entire testing expenditure.
"Corporators are also part of
BMCandcity'scaretakersothere
avoiding testing of its frontline
workerslikenurses,sanitarystaff,
doctors. "This is against the BMC
19 tested positive on May 1.
In another case a 65-year-old
man from Tadiwala Road who
At Symbiosis hospital, a 75
year old man from Siddharth
Nagar succumbed to COVID-19
High Court allows wage cuts
With several corporators in
Mumbai involved in food distri-
bution to migrants and home-
is nothing wrong in paying for
them," an official said.
RTI activist Anil Galgali has
protocolastheyhaddecidedthat
onlysymptomaticpeoplewillbe
tested.Allothercivicstaff should
was symptomatic since April 16
was admitted on April 21 to
Sassoongeneralhospital.Hehad
related infection early on Friday
morning.A51yearoldmanfrom
Yerawada also died on May 1 at
for absentee workers in areas
less, and in helping patients get slammed BMC's move claiming alsobetested.Whyonlycorpora- bilateralpneumoniaanddiedon KEM hospital.
with relaxed or no restrictions
Home ministry relaxations under consideration, OMKAR GOKHALE
MUMBAI, MAY 1
Themanufacturerssubmitted
that they would pay 50 per cent
of the gross wages or minimum
andfoodallowance,if beingpaid
on month to month basis in the
caseofthoseworkerswhoarenot

Maharashtra govt may issue final order today THE BOMBAY High Court’s
Aurangabad bench on Thursday
said employers may deduct
rates of wages as per minimum
wages law, whichever is higher.
While advocate D G Nagode,
appearingfortheCentre,andad-
requiredtoreportforduties,”ob-
served Justice Ghuge.
The court clarified that since
Maharashtra has partially lifted
Home Affairs (MHA). districts in the state, 14 districts dens," said a bureaucrat. want to return to Maharashtra wages as per procedures laid vocateDRKale,representingthe the lockdown in certain indus-
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Uddhav said the three zones are in Red Zone, 16 in Orange Terming the lockdown as a will be allowed. States are down in the law for employees state, sought time to take in- trial areas, workers would beex-
MUMBAI, MAY 1 have been created based on the Zone and six are in Green Zone. "speed-breaker", Uddhav said in touch with each other... But who voluntarily remain absent structions from authorities, pected to report to work.
number of cases in each district. Though the state is yet to put duringhiswebcastthatthelock- there should not any crowding," inareaswhereCOVID-19restric- Justice Ghuge declined to inter- It,, however, added: “In the
HOURS BEFORE the Centre on "TheRedZoneincludesMumbai outitsownlistof whatwillbeal- down helped to break the trans- he added. tions have been relaxed. fere in the MHA order for the event that such workers volun-
Friday extended the nationwide and neighboring areas like lowed or not, as per the MHA mission chain. Still,the numbers He further said that district JusticeRavindraVGhugewas time-being, stating that a simi- tarily remain absent, the man-
lockdown till May 17, while Kalyan, Dombivli, Panvel, Pune guidelines, some of the relax- arerisingbecauseof thecontacts collectors will be instructed to hearing a plea filed by five man- lar case is pending before the agement would be at liberty to
introducing considerable relax- and surrounding areas, as well ations in Red Zones include the of patients who were infected make arrangements for people ufacturing companies, who had Supreme Court. deduct their wages for their ab-
ations, Chief Minister Uddhav as Nagpur and Aurangabad reopeningof privateofficeswith initially, he added. stuck in Maharashtra for intra- challenged a notification issued The bench noted that the sence subject to the procedure
Thackeray said stringent where numbers are rising daily. wirth 33 per cent strength, con- "Though the economic cycle state travel. by the Union Ministry of Home Supreme Court, on April 27, had laid down in law while initiating
lockdown conditions will con- At present, it is not in our inter- structionactivitiesinurbanareas hascometoahaltanditwilllead ■ Red Zone: Mumbai City) Affairs (MHA) on March 29 that not given any interim relief in such action. This would apply
tinue in 14 districts of ests to restart normal activities with on site accommodation tojob lossesand increaseunem- Mumbai suburban, Thane, prescribed employers to pay similar pleas and had adjourned even to areas where there may
Maharashtra that are in the Red there," he said while addressing arrangements for workers, re- ployment, the priority is to save Palghar, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, their employees, including mi- the hearing. Moreover, the not have been a lockdown.”
Zone, including the Mumbai the state through webcast. openingof standaloneshopsand the realassets of the nation – the Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, grants and contract workers, full Kerala High Court had stayed an Thecourtalsograntedliberty
Metropolitan Region, Pune, "In the Orange Zone, which shopsinresidentialcoloniesand people," he added. Satara, Dhule, Akola and Jalgaon monthly wages in view of the order issued by Kerala finance to trade unions and workers’
Nagpur and Aurangabad. includes districts with active complexesandopeningof stand- Uddhav also said that the ■ Orange Zone: Raigad, lockdown situation. ministry, which had permitted representatives to file interven-
While some restrictions will cases,weareplanningtoincrease aloneliquorshopsamongothers. government is making efforts to Ahmednagar, Amravati, The counsel for the compa- 50percentpaymenttostateem- tion applications in the
be eased in the Orange Zone and thenumberof activitiespermit- Sources said that the relax- send migrant workers back to Buldhana, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, nies, advocate T K Prabhakaran, ployeesanddeferredremaining. plea.JusticeGhugesaidthatpay-
the Green Zone, sources in the ted,exceptinsomeareas.Weare ations allowed by MHA are un- their home states. Hingoli,Ratnagiri,Jalna,Nanded, said they were seeking exemp- “Iwouldnotbeinclinedtoin- ment of gross wages by the pe-
government said a limited set of gradually removing restrictions der consideration of the state "Those who want to go their Chandrapur, Parbhani, Sangli, tion from paying their workers– terfere with the impugned MHA titioners to their workers, save
economic activities are likely to in Green Zones," he added. government and a final order states will be allowed to do so, Latur, Bhandara and Beed despite the workers being will- orderandwouldexpectthepeti- and except conveyance/food al-
bepermittedintheRedZonesas As per the list issued by the may be issued on Saturday. onlywithduedisciplineandpre- ■ Green Zone: Osmanabad, ingtocometowork–sinceman- tioners to pay the gross monthly lowance, shall be subject to re-
well in line with the guidelines Ministry of Health and Family "We are also in favour of cautions and after speaking to Washim, Sindhudurg, Gondia, ufacturing activities have been wagestotheemployees,saveand sult of the plea and posted fur-
issued by the Union Ministry of Welfare on Friday, of the total 36 opening public parks and gar- theirstates.Similarly,eventhose Gadchiroli and Wardha. restricted due to the lockdown. except conveyance allowance ther hearing on May 18.

HC TELLS STATE GOVT

‘Undertake rapid antibody tests with available reliable kits of Indian firms’
posed to be undertaken to con- public interest litigations (PILs) seek an additional supply if re- representingthepetitioners,said could certainly be undertaken nent danger of an uncontrolled specifically named two compa-
OMKAR GOKHALE duct rapid antibody tests with seekingreliefsandmedicalfacil- quired by the local bodies. thattheICMRcommunicationof for the purposes of surveillance, spreadof COVID-19,surveillance nies, the test kits were found to
MUMBAI, MAY 1 the reliable kits available with it. itiesinthewakeof thepandemic. JusticePitaleThursdayissued April 27 to chief secretaries of all although the best test for diag- could certainly be an important be unreliable,” the court noted.
“This becomes all the more OnApril8,thehighcourthad directions to the state after gov- states stated that the rapid test nosis of COVID-19 continued to partofthestrategytocontrolsuch The bench directed the state
THE BOMBAY High Court’s significant, considering that the saiditwouldbenecessaryforthe ernment lawyers, S Y Deopujari kits of two Chinese companies be the RT-PCR swab test.” spread of COVID-19.” government to undertake rapid
Nagpur bench has directed the results of the rapid antibody Union Health Ministry to con- and D P Thakare, submitted that ought not to be used and they In view of submission by The court further observed tests with available reliable kits
state government to undertake tests are said to be quick and, sider whether it can direct au- it had received 71,000 rapid an- will bereturned to the suppliers. ICMR, the Nagpur bench of the thatthelistof organisations,pro- and file a response stating the
rapid antibody tests with avail- hence, of assistance to the state thorities to conduct rapid anti- tibodytestkitsfordistributionin “The April 27 letter did not dis- high court said the state govern- viding such kits, also includes steps proposed to conduct them
able reliable kits provided by governmentindecidingitsstrat- body tests. The court had noted COVID-19hotspots.However,on close any policy decision of the ment could not refuse to distrib- Indian companies and said that across Maharashtra.
Indian companies since the egy to deal with areas where that procurement of rapid test April 20, the director of Health ICMR to do away with rapid an- ute reliable rapid test kits. kits provided by them can be On Thursday, the court also
Indian Council for Medical there is rapid spread or appre- kitshasbeenmadebytheCentre Services, Pune, through a letter tibody tests,” Mandlekar said. In the order, Justice Pitale used by the state government. asked the Centre and the
Research (ICMR) has recognised hension of the rapid spread of in parts, however, their use has had communicated that the kits Assistant Solicitor General noted,“Thiscourtisoftheopinion “In view of ICMR letter, the state Maharashtra government to se-
the utility of such tests for the COVID-19,” the high court said. been put on hold in view of di- shouldnotbeusedtillfurtheror- Ulhas Aurangabadkar, repre- that state is not justified in refus- government can certainly un- riously consider the issue of un-
surveillance and prevention of A single-judge bench of vergent results of sample tests. ders, and that allotment of kits senting ICMR, said its decision ing to distribute the rapid anti- dertake rapid antibody tests us- dertaking RT-PCR tests on a pri-
COVID-19 pandemic. It also di- Justice Manish Pitale Thursday OnApril 24,thestategovern- was not undertaken as per ICMR did not indicate any policy deci- body test kits and not undertak- ing kits of companies other than ority basis for its frontline staff,
rected the state government to heard, through video-confer- ment said it has requested the directions, Thakare said. sion to stop rapid tests. ICMR ing the rapid antibody tests for those stated (Chinese compa- like doctors, health personnel
place on record the steps pro- ence, various pleas, including ICMR for more tests kits and will Advocate Tushar Mandlekar, submitted,“Rapidantibodytests surveillance.Inviewoftheimmi- nies), because in respect of the and police.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

5 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

Nation

‘Given our ONLY A QUARTER OF PEOPLE IN GREEN

constraints, India
Lockdown lowdown
Two more weeks of lockdown, but more things will be up and running, depending on where you live
33% population
handled Covid Orange
CONTAINMENT ZONES
WHAT IS ALLOWED
■ In malls, markets and WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED in the red zone,
43% in orange
zone
situation maturely’ 284
District market complexes, only ■ Cyclerickshaws and
■ Local authorities should shops selling essential goods autorickshaws; taxis and cab
ensure 100 per cent allowed aggregators; intra-district
coverage of Aarogya Setu ■ Industrial establishments and inter-district buses; and,
Union Health Minister DR 130 among residents like SEZs, export-oriented barber shops, spas and
HARSH VARDHAN speaks to Redzone ■ No movement of people units (EOUs), industrial saloons. area in the future, should be
ABANTIKA GHOSH about the District allowed in and out of these estates and industrial KARISHMA MEHROTRA missed out. This is how we have
measuresIndiahastakentofight
COVID-19, and the way forward.
zones, except for medical
emergencies, and for
townships with access
control allowed.
ORANGE ZONE & ABANTIKA GHOSH
NEW DELHI, MAY 1
defined red and orange zones
now.Itiscriticaltopreemptanun-
Excerpts: Greenzone 319 maintaining supply of Manufacturing units of IN ADDITION TO ACTIVITIES dercurrent of cases that can be-
District essential goods and services essential goods, including ALLOWED IN RED ZONES THE 130 districts in the red zone come unmanageable for the dis-
The government is saying drugs, pharmaceuticals, ■ E-commerce allowed form 17 per cent of the total dis- trict tomorrow,” he said.
India has fought COVID-19 CONTAINMENT RED ( excluding medical devices, their raw ■ Liquor shops can stay open tricts in the country, but account The list is dynamic - there
the best. Are we counting our
chicks too soon? ZONES containment zones) material and intermediates
allowed. Manufacturing of
■ Taxis and cab aggregators
will be permitted, with one
forabout33percentofthepopu-
lation (2011 Census).
were 170 red zones on April 15,
there are 130 now. However, 42
No. Given our constraints, I Areas within red and ■ Out-patient departments IT hardware; jute industry driver and one passenger The284districtsintheorange districts that used to be orange
wouldsaythatIndiahandledthe (OPDs) and medical clinics, with staggered shifts and only. zone—39percentofthetotaldis- zones are now red zones.
situation very maturely — with THE EXPRESS orange zones where
there is a significant with social distancing social distancing; ■ Inter-district movement of tricts — account for about 43 per A comparison with an
speed, scale and determination
pre-emptively,proactivelyandin INTERVIEW risk of spread of
infection; its
norms and other safety
precautions
manufacturing units of
packaging material allowed
individuals and vehicles, but
only for permitted activities.
cent of the population. And the
319 districts in the green zone
Integrated Disease Surveillance
Programme (IDSP) list from April
agradedmanner.Todaywestand WITH boundaries to be ■ Movement of individuals ■ Construction work limited ■ Four-wheelers can carry a form 44 per cent of the total dis- 27showsthat48districtsthathad
at a better position compared to determined by district for non-essential activities to in-situ construction maximum of two tricts, but account for only about reportednofreshcasesforthelast
othercountriessofarasmorbid- DR HARSH allowed, only between (where workers are passengers, besides the a quarter of the population. 14 days have now been listed as
VARDHAN administration
ity and mortality is concerned. 7 am and 7 pm available on site and no driver; pillion-riding is While 17 per cent of the pop- orange or red. Lakhisarai in Bihar
Our numbers show this.
UNION HEALTH MINISTER
RED ZONE ■ Movement of vehicles, workers are required to be allowed on two-wheelers. ulation in the red zone are in had reported no new case in 28
Youwouldrememberthaton only for permitted activities, brought in from outside) (None of the above is Maharashtra, 16 per cent are in daysonApril27,butisnowanor-
A district is designated
January7,Chinareportedthefirst thereisaclearalternativecauseof with a maximum of 2 allowed in containment Uttar Pradesh and 12 per cent in ange zone.
red depending on the
casetoWHOandonJanuary8,we death that cannot be related to
total number of active
persons plus driver in four- RURAL AREAS zones within orange zones) West Bengal. Responding to a question on
starteddeliberationswithourtec- COVIDdisease….Itisevidentthat wheelers, and with no ■ Liquor shops can stay According to the revised two districts in West Bengal
cases, doubling rate of
hnicalteamofexperts.ByJanuary patients you are referring to as
confirmed cases, extent
pillion-rider in case of two- open WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED guidelines, green zones are those whichhavenotreportedcasesfor
17, we had formulated our detai- well as the migrants, who have wheelers ■ All industrial and ■ Inter-district and intra- whichhavenotreportedanyfresh 14daysbuthavebeenlistedasred
of testing and
led response and issued detailed died on way home, cannot be in- ■ Private offices can operate construction activities, district plying of buses caseinthelast21days,downfrom zones, Agarwal said: “We have
surveillance feedback,
advisoriestoallstates.Withinthe cludedinCOVID-19deaths,asper with up to 33 per cent including MNREGA work, the 28 days earlier. Red zones are usedverycomprehensivecriteria.
based on directions
next2-3days,westartedthermal
screeningofallinternationalpas-
definition. … During my various
interactions with state/UT health
from Centre.
strength, with the
remaining persons working
food-processing units and
brick-kilns
GREEN ZONE defined “by taking into account
thetotalnumberofactiveCOVID-
We have to be careful to not let
thingsgooutofhandinthefuture.
sengers coming from COVID-19
affectedcountriesatsevenmajor
ministers, I have been stressing
thatweshouldcontinueprovision
ORANGE ZONE from home
■ E-commerce permitted
■ All shops, except those in
shopping malls, can open
■ All activities allowed,
except the limited number
19 cases, doubling rate of con-
firmedcases,extentoftestingand
There should not be a situation
that we are testing less and we
airports…We strengthened our of non-COVID services to needy Districts which are only for essential goods ■ All agriculture activities of activities prohibited surveillance feedback.” miss the undercurrent as cases
mechanismforcountry-widesur- patients. They are all trying their neither red or green allowed — sowing, throughout the country, The new classification means keep growing. The density of the
veillance, contact tracing as well
asentryscreeningfortravellers.In
best. However, I do understand
that COVID-19 outbreak has GREEN ZONE URBAN AREAS
■ All standalone shops,
harvesting, procurement
and marketing operations in
irrespective of the zone.
■ Liquor shops can stay open
thatsomedistrictswhichhavenot
reportedcasesfor14dayscanstill
population too may hasten
spread.Wehaveidentifiedpoten-
coordination with states/UTs, we placed unprecedented demands Districts with zero neighbourhood shops and the agricultural supply ■ Buses can operate with up be listed in the red zone. tial future risk districts too and
reviewed our public health sys- onhealthcaresystemsworldwide, confirmed cases till shops in residential chain to 50 per cent seating Health Ministry Joint identified them as red zone. The
tempreparedness...Keepinginvi- notjustinIndia...Thereisariskthat date; or no confirmed complexes can remain open, ■ Animal husbandry capacity; bus depots can Secretary Lav Agarwal said on challenge is whether we can de-
ew the transmission mode of the thequalityofessentialhealthserv- cases in the last 21 days without any distinction of activities, including inland operate with up to 50 per Friday that the idea is to prevent lineate containment zones prop-
disease, socio-cultural and geog- ices which communities expect essential and non-essential. and marine fisheries. cent capacity. an unforeseen surge in cases. erly and do everything required
raphicconsiderationsofourcoun- from the health system may get “Earlier,wehadjusttwocrite- with100percentrigour,”hesaid.
try and on the basis of learnings compromised. ria for these classifications: total “It is important to carry out
fromglobalexperiences,westre- NOT ALLOWED ACROSS ALL ZONES cases and doubling rates. But as proactive and stringent contain-
ssed on ways and means to en- Is it correct that we can have a the cases increase, the recovery ment and to ruthlessly break the
forcesocialdistancingasthemost COVID vaccine as early as ■ Domestic and when permitted by MHA.. ■ Hotels and restaurants, ■ Persons above 65 years rates change, sampling require- chain of transmission so that it
potent‘socialvaccine’forcombat- September? international air travel; ■ Reopening of schools, cinema halls, malls, and those below 10 years, ment increases, and we need to does not go out of the district.
ing COVID-19. Lockdown is one The challenges and efforts travel by rail and Metro; colleges, and other gymnasiums, sports those with co-morbidities or change sampling and identifica- However, outside the contain-
such public health measure... needed to rapidly develop, evalu- inter-state bus transport; educational and complexes pregnant to stay home, tion criteria. It should be more ment zone, it is possible that
ateandproducevaccineareenor- and inter-state movement of training/coaching ■ Places of worship closed to except for meeting essential broad-based, multi-factorial so there could be some relaxations
Is there a sense that India has mous. Physicians, funders and individuals by road -- except institutions the public. needs or emergencies thateveryeventualityforidentify- that the Ministry of Home
got a less virulent strain of manufacturers have come to- ing critical areas for intervention Affairs can notify under the
the virus? Why are there such gether as part of an international TOKNOWWHICHZONEYOURDISTRICTISIN,VISIT: www.indianexpress.com are identified and no zone which Disaster Management Act,”
high mortalities in places like collaboration, coordinated by can go on to become a problem Agarwal said.
Indore and Ahmedabad? WHO, to help speed up the avail-

Badly hit to very good: how TN rode the crisis

This question cannot be an- abilityofavaccineagainstCOVID-
sweredwithoutgoingintotheepi- 19...AdraftlandscapeofCOVID-19 Baghel writes to
demiology of the disease. COVID- candidatevaccines,developedby
19 outbreak in India has been the WHO, includes seven candidate PM: Tough to get
resultofanimportedviralstrain… vaccinesinclinicalevaluationand a 27-year-old pregnant woman second case, on March 18, was of done by senior officials from state’spublichealthsystem,PHCs
ApaperfromChinadescribedtwo another 82 candidate vaccines in ARUNJANARDHANAN died in Chennai. amigrantworkerwhohadarrived Chennaiand,intwoorthreedays, andcommunityhealthnetworks. buses, special
different variants of this virus — S pre-clinicalevaluation.Atthemo- CHENNAI,MAY1 The inter-ministerial team fromUttarPradesh,withthepos- wehadtracedallofthem,includ- However, he said, “confusing ad-
and L. L virus has been described ment,halfadozenIndianfirmsare sent by the Centre that visited sibilityof tracingthesourceof his ing those who reported on their hoc measures” over lockdown trains needed
to be more transmissible and makingeffortstodevelopvaccines ONE OF the worst-hit states TamilNaduobservedonThursday infection,includingonatrainride, own.” could have been avoided.
pathogenic. However, the study against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. aroundmid-April,withthelargest that its recovery rate was “very a logistical nightmare. But what HeaddedthatunlikeinKerala, “Complaintsfromfrontlinework-
had many flaws. The genetic Seven vaccines are at various numbers after Maharashtra and good”, with 54% of patients. Its really set off the scare in the state where the government sought ersaboutpoorfacilitiesandsafety EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
make-upofthevirusisnotthesole stagesof theevaluationprocess. with 37 of its 38 districts report- casefatalityrate,of1.2%,isalsoless and set its numbers zooming thehelpofpublictoototracepeo- measures could have also been NEW DELHI, MAY 1
predictor of the virulence of the ing coronavirus, Tamil Nadu has than half the country’s (around were the returning members of ple,hereofficialshandleditthem- addressed,” Joseph said.
SARS-CoV-2… The transmission There are projections of India sinceturnedacorner.Withasim- 3%). the Tablighi Jamaat congregation selves.“Assomepeopleweretry- DrRRamakrishnan,whoear- CHHATTISGARH CHIEF Minister
and pathogenicity could have hitting 2.74 crore cases by ilar population as Gujarat, it has The state has 25 government fromDelhi.Atonetime,90%of its ing to use the Tablighi link for lier headed the National Institute Bhupesh Baghel on Friday wrote
been influenced by many other August 15. How long will this nearlyhalfitscasesandone-eight medical colleges with another 11 cases had links to the Tablighi communal purposes, we did not of Epidemiology, said where to Prime Minister Narendra
factors which have not been con- continue? itsdeaths.Justfive-sixdistrictsare beingbuiltindistricts.ItsMaternal Jamaat.Thatproportionhasfallen share contact-tracing details on Kerala scored over Tamil Nadu Modi asking the government to
sideredinthestudy...Hence,wedo Alotofmathematicalandepi- now reporting cases, while Mortality Rate is 16, against to60%nowwithavegetablemar- social media. We called each of was in the experience it gleaned run special trains to bring back
nothaverobustevidencetoattrib- demiologicalmodelsonCOVID-19 Coimbatore, which once had the AndhraPradesh’s32andGujarat’s ket at Koyambedu, Chennai, one themindividually,soughtthehelp from handling the Nipah virus workers from the state stranded
ute high mortality to viral strains areavailablerightnow.Weshould most patients, has had no fresh 30, for example, while its Infant of the largest in the country, of community leaders.” outbreaks the past two years. in other states.
inIndoreandAhmedabad. understandthateverysuchmodel cases for about a week. Mortality Rate stands at 2, com- emerging as a new cluster. A senior state secretary said T Sundararaman, former di- In his letter, Baghel said
uses multiple assumptions when What has helped the state paredtoAndhra’sandGujarat’s13 State Health Secretary Beela another step that helped was en- rector of the National Health Chhattisgarh is coordinating
While we are calculating actualdataisnotavailable,asisthe keep the numbers relatively low and11,respectively.Neighbouring Rajeshsaiditwassurveillanceand suringthattherewasnomassex- Systems Resource Centre, said with other states for the return
COVID deaths, patients of case with this disease outbreak. (2,526 cases, 28 deaths, as of Kerala may be the only state bet- continuous monitoring that odus of migrant workers. “Local bothKeralaandTamilNaducould of migrants and an action plan
other diseases have been Hence, most models tend to be Friday evening), after a sudden terthanitonthesevitalindicators. helped them limit the numbers. bodieswerequicktoprovideshel- have done better in monitoring has been chalked out to bring
suffering because of purelyspeculative.Withoutexam- surge, is its health network. LikeKerala,TamilNadu,which “We have many people in public ter and food,” the secretary said. severeacuterespiratoryinfections back workers in buses.
lockdown, because doctors of ining the assumptions that have Starting from welfare policies in has a huge diaspora in Southeast healthandallofthemworkedto- Tamil Nadu is currently run- (SARI)andinfluenza-likeillnesses However, he said, it would be
non-COVID hospitals have gone into theformulation of such the 1950s, and despite bitter Asia, was among the first to start gether,” she said. ning576communitykitchensfor (ILI). difficult to arrange buses and
not got passes, TB reporting is models,itisnotprudenttocomm- transfers of power between par- screening passengers arriving at A senior police officer said, a total of 1.18 lakh people. Its 245 With109casesstillaworry,as other infrastructure required to
down. Migrants have died on ent on their speculative outco- ties,thestatehasinplaceasystem airports. It began this in January “We acted quickly when we re- Amma Canteens record an aver- their source of infection has not bring back workers in such large
way home. Will these be mes…Indiahasmanagedtokeep of quality and affordable health- lastweek,whennewsofthecoro- alised that over a thousand peo- age footfall of 3.12 lakh people been traced, Health Secretary numbers. Baghel said special
counted as COVID deaths? theCOVID-19threatundercontrol care. navirusoutbreakwasjustcoming ple had attended the Delhi con- daily. Rajeshsaidtheywerefocusingon trains from point to point could
COVID-19deathisdefinedasa till date, through proactive and Of its 203 cases reported on out of China. ference of the Jamaat. Hundreds DrAmalorpavanathanJoseph, SARI and ILI now. “We have been be run to ensure safety, conven-
death resulting from a clinically pre-emptiveinterventions... Friday, 176 were from Chennai TamilNadugotitsfirstCOVID- of Call Detail Records were re- the man behind Tamil Nadu’s or- watchingsuchcasessinceMarch. ience and hygiene of the work-
compatibleillnessinaprobableor FULL INTERVIEW ON alone.Thecityalsoaccountsfor16 19 case on March 7, an engineer viewed,detailssharedacrossdis- gan donation system, seen as the Wehavebeentestingallofthem,” ers.
confirmedCOVID-19case,unless www.indianexpress.com ofitstotal28deaths.OnThursday, whohadreturnedfromOman.Its trict officials, coordination was bestinthecountry,alsolaudedthe she said. Meanwhile, his party—the
Congress—said the govern-

Rationing water, few offs: Managing a barricade in Jaipur

ment’s April 29 order allowing
inter-state movement of
stranded migrants only in buses
defies logic. Senior Congress
leader Abhishek Singhvisaidthe
Policefor26years.Jaipurisamong cover of Rs 50 lakh for all police ors of Ramganj, and in the early needof thehourisa“fiscalinjec-
ANKITA DWIVEDI JOHRI the13urbancentresthataccount personnel,” he says. days,itwasveryhardtoconvince tion specially designed for mi-

THE C RONA
JAIPUR, MAY 1 for well over half the number of Despite the department’s ef- people to stay indoors,” he says. grant labour” and not “Tughlaqi
COVID-19casesinthecountry.For forts,saysthe42-year-old,police- Situated in the heart of Jaipur, farmans”. “The order of the
A200-MLbottleofsanitiseranda
one-litrebottleofBisleriwaterare
among the first things he packs.
thepastfourweeks,theheadcon-
stable has been stationed at a
picket in Ramganj, along with a
FIGHTERS menonthegroundfendforthem-
selves. “I have home-cooked
meals and lots of vegetables. We
Ramganj is among the most
densely populated areas of the
city — making the task of health
Ministry of Home Affairs…on
movement of stranded work-
ers…is nothing but all fizz and
Thelatter,hesays,isfortheentire home guard, in Jaipur’s Walled AN EXPRESS SERIES havetostayhungryonshiftssince workers and security personnel no pop. We wonder whether it
night. These, and a pair of gloves, City where an indefinite curfew no restaurant is open, and carry- even more difficult. was issued by an ignorant and
amask,acap,andthethoughtthat hasbeeninplacesincelateMarch. ing food to work is too risky...” The 42-year-old’s shift begins uncaring person. It was, in fact, a
“duty toh karni hai, dar kar kya Nearly 1,000 police personnel “I have three sets of uniform. by first reporting at the Ramganj crueljoke,”hesaid.Specialtrains
hoga (we have to do our duty, havebeendeployedintheneigh- wardshavealsobeengivencom- Every alternate day, I wash two PoliceStation.“Wearemarkedab- are now being run to transport
what purpose will fear serve)”, bourhood. pletePPEkits...Wehavesufficient sets. I also wash my mask and sent even for a 15-minute delay,” migrant workers home.
saysthe42-year-oldheadconsta- “I have been on night shift, A police barricade at Ramganj on Friday. Rohit Jain Paras stockofmasks,glovesandPPEkits glovesandreusethemforaslong he claims. He then puts on his
ble, have helped him report to from 10 pm to 6 am, for the past for the next 15-20 days.” as I can... Apart from the few that gear, cleans a chair with his small Cong slams Central
workforthepastmonthinJaipur’s 10days.Wearesupposedtogeta Sevenpositivecaseshavebeen I have got from work, I have also bottle of sanitiser and takes it to Vista project
Ramganj — one of the COVID-19 day off after seven days/nights of ate from each other’s plates, finished.Ihadabigfightwithhim, reportedamongpolicepersonnel taken some from friends and his “point”. Night duty, says the
hotspots in the tourist city which work, but I have got only a day’s shared water bottles, sat on the and the matter reached the DCP. in Jaipur, and 50 staff members NGOs.If Idon’thavefivemasksin 42-year-old,isparticularlytough, The Congress on Friday
accountsforover50percentofits leave in 30 days. Maybe I will get same chair and beds... We now Itwasresolved,butIdidn’tgetany who met them have been quar- reserve, I feel anxious,” he says. and scrolling through ‘news’ on slammedtheUniongovernment
nearly 900 cases. one this week,” he says. The po- pay Rs 200 for a room from our HCQ,” he complains. antined in the past month. IGP Towards the end of March, Facebook and WhatsApp only for continuing with the redevel-
“My duty is in ‘core’ Ramganj, licemenworkintwoothershifts- own pockets,” he says. A resident Jaipur Police Commissioner (JaipurRange)SSengathirsaysthe when he was told about his de- help for a few hours. opment of the Central Vista re-
I feel scared to even keep my wa- 6 am to 2 pm, and 2 pm to 10 pm. of Haryana, the 42-year-old has a Anand Srivastava says, “Across department has received masks ployment in Ramganj, he says “I “Thereisnoteashopopen.It’s development project at a time
ter bottle on the ground, take He moved into a guest house daughterwhoispursuing BTech. Jaipur, at least 9,000 policemen and sanitisers from both govern- was a little nervous”. a struggle to stay awake without the country is battling the coro-
smallsipsthroughmyshift.Since withanotherconstableafterapo- Ashisconcernsabouthisown are on corona duty. Of these, 300 ment and private players. “I have served in the relief chai... I also listen to Haryanvi naviruspandemic. Thepartyhas
all shops are shut, I can’t buy an- liceman at the Ramganj station safetygrew,healsoaskedtheSHO were given HCQ doses based on “Some women police officers team during the Bhuj (Gujarat) songs and watch Haryanvi films askedtheSupremeCourt to take
other bottle. I don’t accept water contracted the virus a few weeks of hispolicestationtohandhima proximity to infected people, have started sewing masks too. earthquake. I have been on both on YouTube. It keeps me awake,” noteof theissueandtodirectthe
fromresidentseither,itmayhave ago. “Hadkamp mach gaya (There dose of hydroxychloroquine — a which included policemen ac- We have also purchased them election and curfew duty before. he says. government that the project
the virus,” says the head consta- was chaos). Earlier, I stayed in the preventivemeasureagainstcoro- companying medical teams. from CRPF stores in Delhi... There Butthistimethetaskwasverydif- FULLREPORTON should be the last priority at this
blewho has been with Rajasthan barracks at Police Lines. All of us navirus.“Buthesaidthestockhad Teams stationed at isolation is also an SBI-linked insurance ferent... My picket is in the interi- www.indianexpress.com juncture.

Mumbai
 6 THE OUTBREAK Nation WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

‘Officials told us at 11 pm,

MAHARASHTRA

Hospital first turned away

ASI who tested positive,
later admitted him: Cop
we packed clothes, rushed’ “They were given eight bottles of

SAGARRAJPUT Claimsaboutthehospital
given admission (to a hospital).
Afterwewereinformed,wehada
SREENIVASJANYALA
&ABHISHEKANGAD BIHAR TO SCREEN waterperheadandwecounselled
themontheprecautionstotake,”
MUMBAI,MAY1 demanding Rs 2 lakh for word with the hospital following HYDERABAD,RANCHI,MAY1 RETURNING PEOPLE Nagesh said.

A 57-YEAR-OLD assistant sub-in-

admissionarecompletely whichthepolicemanwasadmit-
ted.” VASUDEV SINGH was sleeping
AT PATNA STATION, A Telangana official said they
wouldmakearrangementsforthe
spector(ASI),whotestedpositive baseless;thepatientwas In its response, the hospital when the announcement came. QUARANTINE THEM remaining labourers in the state
for the coronavirus, was turned admittedunder MPKAY said,“HiranandaniFortisHospital Officials came to the makeshift too in the coming days, though
away by Hiranandani Fortis scheme.Thepatient had in Vashi is a Navi Mumbai labour colony at Sangareddy, Patna:TheBihargovernment this may take time now with the
Hospital in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, towaitforapprovalfrom Municipal Corporation desig- some 40 km from Hyderabad, welcomed the Centre’s deci- extensionofthelockdown.About
initiallybutlateradmittedafterlo- theauthorities,andnot nateddedicatedCOVID-19health around 11 pm Thursday and told siontosendmigrantworkers athousandworkersfromMadhya
calofficialsandpolicethreatened centre.Clearguidelineshavebeen them to pack their bags; they totheirhomestatesbyspecial Pradesh,Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh,
to lodge a complaint, a constable
becauseof anyfinancial issued by the governing bodies were going home. “We packed a trains,includingonerunning OdishaandWestBengalcontinue
who was with his family at the commitment.” thatpatientsneedtobeadmitted fewclothesandrushed.Wewere fromJaipurtoPatnaonFriday, tobestuckattheSangareddycon-
hospital has alleged. HIRANANDANI FORTIS in the jurisdiction of their own screened, given token numbers, andsaidpeoplearrivinginthe struction site.
Theconstableallegedthatthe municipal corporation, and any askedtoshowourAadhaarcards, train will undergo screening Saying they were mistreated
HOSPITAL, VASHI
hospital demanded Rs 2 lakh to exceptions need to be separately and then told to board buses. atPatnastation.Fromthesta- by their supervisors, one of the Police officers in Aluva provide water to passengers. Express
admithim.Butthreatenedwitha authorised.Patientsmustunder- Around 2 am we left for the train tion, they would be taken by labourers,DevendraMandal,said,
complaintforrefusingadmission, tal.“Theytoldmetheyhaveorders standthehealthcarenetworkand station,”saysthe45-year-oldcon- buses to their respective dis- “When we tried to tell them we
doctors admitted him after four
hours, said the constable.
nottoadmitapolicemanfromany
other district and, as he was
theeffortsthatarebeingmadeto
contain the infection, which re-
structionworkerfromGarhwain
Jharkhand.
tricts, where they would be
quarantinedfor21daysatthe
wanted to go home and de-
mandedourmoney,theyscolded Screened, certified, home
on their mind, 1,140
The ASI is posted in the posted in Mumbai, they cannot quires that patients get admitted Three hours later, Singh was blockheadquarters,itwasin- us.Theykeptsayingwewouldbe
Protection and Security depart- admithim,”Dhagesaid.Thecon- in their own city limits. amongthe1,200migrantlabour- formed. There would be paid next month. Our families
mentof Mumbai Police and trav- stable then called the COVID-19 “As per the set COVID-19 pro- ers who left for Hatia, Jharkhand, screening at the inter-state cannot survive if we don’t send
elstohisworkplacebystatetrans-
port buses. “As he has been
travellingbySTbusesregularly,his
helpline started by Mumbai
Police. After that, the hospital au-
thorities agreed to admit him.
tocols,allpatientsthatareadmit-
tedtoourhospitalarecentrallydi-
rected by the Navi Mumbai
from Lingampalli
RailwayStationinHyderabad
onboardaspecialtrain—thefirst
borders as well. ENS money home.”
Speakingaboutlastweek’sin-
cident, Sangareddy SP
leave Kerala for Odisha
daughter,whoisapharmacist,de- “We filled the online forms. Municipal Corporation. The said such to run since the start of the ing the labourers back, said the Chandrashekar Reddy said, “The wouldbemoretrainsinthecom-
cidedtogethimtestedforCOVID- After that, the hospital staffers police officer is a resident of national lockdown on March 25. state was informed on Thursday workers said they had not been VISHNU VARMA ing days. Migrant link workers,
19,” said constable called the ASI’s daughter again Kamothe, which falls under the The 22-coach train was arranged night,andTelanganadecidedthe paid since February and com- ALUVA, MAY 1 whohadbeenchosenbythedis-
Satish Dhage. andaskedthefamilytodepositRs jurisdiction of Panvel Municipal by South Central Railways after passenger list. plainedoflackofproperfoodand trict administration to keep
Afterthetestresultscamepos- 2 lakh. I was shocked, so I in- Corporation. Requirement of au- theTelanganagovernmentmade SecretaryRahulSharma,coor- accommodation.” THEFIRSTbatchof 1,140migrant channels of communication
itive, his wife, daughter and son- formed my seniors who advised thorisation from Navi Mumbai arequesttotheRailwayMinistry. dinating with officials in District Collector M workers from Odisha, who were openwiththeworkers,continu-
in-law rushed him to a private not to pay any money. Police offi- Municipal Corporation, as per The workers who were sent Telangana, said, “We had sent Hanumanth Rao said he had is- livingandworkinginErnakulam ously worked the phones to tell
hospitalinVashi.“Thefamilywas cials and municipal authorities guidelines,wasexplainedtohim. backThursdaywereemployedat them a list of 16,000 people sued a notice to the construction district of Kerala, boarded a spe- them in Odiya that they would
in constant touch with our DCP fromNaviMumbaithenhadtoin- Sinceherequestedtobeadmitted a construction site for IIT stranded in various parts of the firmemployingthemtopaytheir cial train arranged by the be allowed to go home.
PrashantKadamandaseniorpo- tervene,” Dhage said. withus,specialauthorisationwas Hyderabad Phase 2 buildings, state.InitiallytheCentresaidpeo- wages. Railwaystotakethemhome.The A heavy contingent of police
liceinspector,soafterthehospital When they threatened to requestedfor.Uponreceivingper- workonwhichisatahalt.Manyof ple would be moved by road, but However,asseverallabourers non-stop train destined for officers was deployed at Aluva
refused admission, they told me lodge a complaint for refusing to mission from the Navi Mumbai the labourers said they hadn’t yesterday evening we were in- leftsayingtheyhadbeentoldthey BhubaneswarleftfromAluvarail- railway station to take stock of
to reach the hospital and help admit an ASI, the hospital finally Municipal Corporation, the pa- been paid their dues. formed they were sending a spe- wouldbepaidlater,RajeshSingh, way station at 10 pm on Friday. themeasures.Volunteerspacked
them get admission,” Dhage admitted him at 1 am on Friday. tient was admitted. “We have been living cial train.” 38, from Ranchi was among the V S Sunil Kumar, minister in- bread, bananas and water to be
added. Around 8.30 pm on When approached, Deputy “Claimsaboutthehospitalde- crammedinshantiesatthecamp, RanchiDeputyCommissioner lucky ones. Going home with Rs charge of the district, said that distributed to the workers in the
Thursday, he reached the hospi- Commissionerof PolicePrashant manding Rs 2 lakh for admission survivingonbareminimumfood Rai Mahimat Ray said, “Upon ar- 19,000,hisduessinceJanuary,he Railways informed them about train.
Kadamconfirmedthedevelop- are completely baseless; the pa- and bad facilities. I hope to finally rivalinHatia,eachmigrantworker said,“Idon’tknowwhenIwillre- the plan to run the train. A By 7 pm, the first batch of
ment,butrefusedtocomment. tientwasadmittedunderMPKAY seemyfamily,”saidanemotional will be welcomed with a mask turn but till that time this money helpdesk jointly run by police, workers were ferried to the sta-
Navi Mumbai police com- scheme. The patient had to wait Sanjiv Kumar, from Kurgi in and a flower. Thermal screening will be useful.” revenueandhealthdepartments tioninstatetransportbuses.The
missioner Sanjay Kumar said, forapprovalfromtheauthorities, Jharkhand, as the train set off. will be conducted along with Amongthosewhosaidhewas began registration of the mi- minister,districtcollectorandtop
“We learnt that a policeman and not because of any financial However,whileKumarhoped videographyoftheentireprocess. owed money was Khusbir Singh, grants at several camps early police officers welcomed them
posted in Mumbai was not commitment.” this would happen as early as Sixty sanitised buses have been alabourcontractor.“Thecompany Friday. with food and checked their
Saturdaymorning,theJharkhand preparedfortheironwardmove- hastogivemearoundRs3lakh.It G Venu, Deputy medical credentials.
governmentwillscreenthemand ment to respective districts.” Ray paid only a portion of it.” Superintendent of Police, A migrant link worker from
2,400 students may keep them in quarantine on said they would put the passen- Speaking to The Indian Ernakulam Rural, said the mi- Odisha said on a loudspeaker
a case-by-case basis. gersinhomeorinstitutionalquar- Express from onboard the train, grants who wanted to go home that only two workers should sit
return from The decision to send the antine in their districts, based on Vasudev Singh said, “As soon as were chosen on first come-first on each seat in the train. They
labourershomefollowedtwoin- medical screening. thetrainstarted,wemadevideos, serve basis, though priority was mustwearmasksatalltimesand
Kota to Bengal cidentsofviolenceatSangareddy A South Central Railway offi- clicked photos and sent them to given to women, children and washhandsregularly.Theywere
between the men seeking wages cial said the labourers were our family members.” elderly people. As soon as news warned against pulling the
Kolkata: After being stranded at and their supervisors. They also screenedforsymptomsbeforebe- Hamid Raja, returning home of thetrainflashedonlocalnews emergency chain to stop the
KotainRajasthanformorethan clashed with police. Later, the ing allowed on the train. “To en- with Rs 400, said his family in channels,longqueuesformedin train.
amonthduetothelockdownto workers petitioned Jharkhand sure social distancing, we re- Garhwastartedcryingwhenthey areas like Perumbavoor, a hub of “The state’s responsibility
curb the spread of COVID-19, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, moved the middle berth so that heardthenews.“Afteramonthof migrant workers. was to pick them up from their
about2,400studentsfromWest who placed a request with the insteadof72passengerspercoach uncertainty,thisfeelslikeheaven.” The workers were screened camps,registerthemusingtheir
Bengal returned on Friday. The Centre to get the workers back. therewereonly54.Itisanon-stop At11.15pmonFriday,thetrain for symptoms of cough, cold, identification cards, conduct
busescarryingstudentsentered Jharkhandhadearliersaiditcould train so the Telangana govern- arrived at Hatia. Waiting for the headache and fever. Those who medicalcheck-ups,providefood
the state via Bihar and not get back an estimated nine ment arranged food and water.” labourers were welcome hoard- passed were given certificates forthe34-hourjourneyandferry
Jharkhand. After a medical lakh people stranded outside the Sangareddy Divisional ings, roses, food, masks, doctors testifying that they were med- them to the station. We have
check-up there, students were state on its own. Revenue Officer M Nagesh said readytoscreenthem,200police- ically fit. done a systematic job. Railways
sent towards their homes. IAS JharkhandPrincipalSecretary they had ensured an adequate menonthegroundanddronesin The officer said that those informedusthatworkershaveto
officer P B Salim said 2,400 stu- Amrendra Pratap Singh, head of number of food packets, includ- the sky, plus buses labelled who could not get into the first buy tickets for the journey,” the
dents came in 103 buses. ENS the coordinating team for bring- ing breakfast, lunch and dinner. SammanRath(DignityChariots). batch were assured that there minister said.

MAHARASHTRA Special train leaves Jaipur for Patna

ED files case in irrigation scam Patna from where Bihar gov-
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE ernment officials will make
Mumbai: The Enforcement named as an accused yet in any JAIPUR, MAY 1 arrangements for screening and
Directorate (ED) recently regis- of the cases, then ACB DGP help them reach their homes.
tered a case in the Vidarbha Sanjay Barve had said in an af- NEARLY 1,200 migrant labour- “To ensure social distancing,
Irrigation Development fidavit in November 2018 that ers from Bihar left for Patna by the middle berth of the coaches
Corporation (VIDC) scam that Pawar had intervened in the a special train on Friday night. won’t be opened and the train,
was being investigated by the process of awarding of con- According to senior officials which has 24 coaches will go
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) tracts for irrigation projects, by of the Rajasthan government, straight to Patna,” said the NWR
of Maharashtra Police. ensuring that mobilisation ad- all these migrant labourers official.
“TwoECIR'swereregistered vance (MA) was given to con- were stranded in the state ever He added that the labourers
in the VIDC scam on the basis tractors by tweaking rules, and since the lockdown started and were brought through state-
of an FIR registered by ACB in also by approving irregular es- were living in government government buses to the rail-
''IMPORTANT'' connection with the case,” an calations of project costs. camps. way station.
Whilst care is taken prior to official said. It is a predicate of- Last year, the ACB had con- “The labourers who are Another train from Kota fer-
acceptance of advertising copy, fence where the angle of tradicted its earlier report and, leaving today were lodged at rying around 1,200 students to
it is not possible to verify its money laundering will be in an affidavit before the camps in Nagaur district. We Jharakhand was also scheduled
contents. The Indian Express (P.)
Limited cannot be held probed. Nagpur High Court, said that brought them to the closest to leave on Friday.
responsible for such contents, Several leaders in the BJP there was no evidence against point which is Jaipur and from “I am happy that students
nor for any loss or damage government, including former Pawar. where they will be sent to from Jharkhand are leaving by
incurred as a result of Maharashtra chief minister ACBhadbeeninquiringinto Bihar,” said additional chief sec- train from #Kota, #Rajasthan to
transactions with companies, Devendra Fadnavis, had al- a total of 2,654 tenders of 45 retary, industries, Subodh Jharkhand and they would soon
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers or leged that Maharashtra Deputy projects of the VIDC as per the Agarwal. reunite with their families. My
Publications. We therefore Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had two PILs filed in 2012 in the An official from the North best wishes to all the students,”
recommend that readers make played a role in the scam. Nagpur bench of the Bombay Western Railways (NWR) said tweeted Rajasthan Chief
necessary inquiries before Although Pawar has not been High Court. ENS the train will go non-stop till Minister Ashok Gehlot.
sending any monies or entering
into any agreements with

Cyber frauds use PM CARES

advertisers or otherwise acting
on an advertisement in any
manner whatsoever.

Office of the Executive Engineer

Provincial Division, P.W.D. Bageshwar
Phone/Fax.No:- 05963-220006 Email ID:[email protected]
bait to cheat people: police
Short Term Tender Notice (e-Tendering) her to trust him. He then told where an FIR has been regis-
The Executive Engineer, Provincial Division, Public Works Department Bageshwar invites Online Short Term (Single Bid
System) e-Tender for the following works on behalf of hon’ble Governor of Uttarakhand. All information regarding tender will be
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE her that she would have re- tered against an unidentified
available on https://www.uktenders.gov.in from 06.05.2020 MUMBAI, MAY 1 ceived a message. When Rai person.
Sl. Name of work Cost of Earnest Validity Time of Contractor’s checked her phone, she found An officer from Thane po-
No tender form Money (Rs. of Tender Completion Category of ON APRIL 18, 25-year-old Sarita a message stating, “Hey, Please lice said that a similar com-
(in Rs.) In Lakh) Registration
Rai, a software engineer, re- Pay me 1000 Using This Link- plaint was received at
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ceived a call from a person https://phon.pe/liq1xmti”. Khadakpada police station in
1 Renewal work by S.D.B.C. in State Guest House 2000.00+ 0.55 60 Days 06 Months Category “D”
approach road in Km 1,2 & 3(200m) under Annual 18% GST & Above in claiming to be from PNB Bank. When she clicked on the Thane. In this case, Manjusha
Repair for Financial year 2020-21 (Length-2.200Km) Road works The person asked the Panvel link, the PhonePe app on her Madvi, a homemaker, received
2 Renewal work by P.C. in Garur-Kapkoti-Falyati Motor 3000.00+ 0.95 60 Days 06 Months Category “D” resident if she was on the opened on her mobile where a call on Thursday from a per-
road in Km 1 to 4 under Annual Repair for Financial 18% GST & Above in PhonePe app. When Rai said she put in her password. son claiming to be from the PM
year 2020-21 (Length- 4.00Km) Road works
she was, the person told he Immediately, Rs 1,000 was CARES helpline. He told her
3 Renewal work by P.C. in Dangoli-Sailani-Darimkhet- 2000.00+ 0.50 60 Days 06 Months Category “D”
Harbar-Pandrapali-Balighat-Dofar-Dharamghar- 18% GST & Above in
that due to the lockdown, Rs debited from her account. that Rs 5,000 had been debited
Kotmanya-Pakhu-Thal-Saatsiling motor road (SH:60) Road works 1,000 was being deposited in When she told the caller that in her account.
in Km 36(330m), 37, 38(670m) under Annual Repair her account from the PM instead of receiving Rs 1,000, “She checked her inbox and
for Financial year 2020-21 (Length-2.00Km) CARES fund. the amount has been debited found a message asking her to
4 Fabrication, Erection, Bearing fixing, Riveting and 2000.00+ 0.60 60 Days 09 Months Category “D” The Prime Minister's from her account, he told her pay Rs 5,000. She, however,
painting work in 30m span bridle bridge on Lahur 18% G.S.T & Above in
River near Jakh Khari under District Sector in District Road works Citizen Assistance and Relief in there was some problem and misread it and thought the
Bageshwar. Emergency Situations Fund sent a link on WhatsApp again. message said that she had re-
5 Renewal work by P.C. in Bageshwar-Girechhina- 2500.00+ 0.70 60 Days 06 Months Category “D” was set up on March 28. The “In the next few minutes, she ceived the money. As she did
Someshwar Motor road in Km 3,4, & 7 under Annual 18% GST & Above in fund is to be used to combat ended up paying Rs 28,000 in not want the money, the caller
Repair for Financial year 2020-21 (Length-3.00Km) Road works
pandemics like COVID-19 and 10 transactions,” an officer said. asked her to refund it. She then
6 Renewal work by S.D.B.C. in Km 3,4,5 & 12 of 4000.00+ 1.20 60 Days 09 Months Category “C” take up relief efforts. Eventually, the woman re- ended up making several
Karnprayag-Simali-Gwaldam-Chaukuri-Thal- 18% GST & Above in
Munsyari-Jauljivee Motor road (Baijnath-Bageshwar Road works When Rai told the caller alised she has been duped. She transactions, Rs 30,000 in all,
Section) under SPAR (Length-4.00Km) that she had not heard of any later approached the before realising that she has
such scheme, the person asked Khandeshwar police station been cheated,” the officer said.

Mumbai
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to [email protected]

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

172,481
United Kingdom
THE WORLD
163,009
Germany
205,463
Italy
120,204
Turkey
Fighting COVID with phones
The govt wants everyone to download the Aarogya Setu app to help fight the pandemic. How do contact
167,303 tracing apps work? Which other countries are using them? What are the concerns around data & privacy?
France
114,431
1,070,032 Russia Aarogya Setu is that it collects a single blan-
US
95,646
PRANAV MUKUL
NEW DELHI, APRIL 29
FIVE APPS BACKED BY GOVTS, WHAT THEY SEEK ket consent from the user at the beginning,
and the details of what this consent would
Iran
be used for, is included in the privacy policy.
87,187 ASTHEworldandIndiabattlethenovelcoro- This isnot the casewith similar apps in other
Brazil 213,435
Spain navirus pandemic, India has all but made it countries. The privacy policy of Australia’s
mandatory to download and use a mobile Permissions Aarogya Home Trace Rakning COVID COVIDSafe notes, for example:
required Setu Quarantine Together C-19 Safe
TOTAL CONFIRMED: 3,276,373 DEATH COUNT: 233,998 phone application called Aarogya Setu de-
veloped by the National Informatics Centre (India) (Poland) (Singapore) (Iceland) (Australia)
“We cannot access any contact data
stored on a device, or share this with health
Source: Johns Hopkins University, updated at 11:00 pm on April 30 (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Approximatelocation officials, unless and until a COVIDSafe user
Information Technology. consentstouploadthedatatothedatastore.”
Preciselocation
According to new guidelines for the ex- TheCOVIDSafe app isbased on asourcecode
ReceivedatafromInternet

HOWMASKS,GOWNSCAUSESKIN
tended lockdown beyond May 3, use of from Singapore’s TraceTogetherapp, but dif-
AarogyaSetuisrequiredforallemployees,pri- Viewnetworkconnections fers from the original app in several ways.
vate and public, with the head of the organi- Around the world, questions have also
Bluetoothdevicepairing/access*

INJURIESAMONGDOCTORS,NURSES
sation made responsible for ensuring 100% been raised about what happens to the data
coverage among employees. Earlier in the Fullnetworkaccess andtheappitself oncethepandemicrecedes.
week,allcentralgovernmentemployeeswere Runatstartup Policies of these apps have detailed
asked to download the app and, beginning clausesondeletionof data.Iceland’sRakning
Friday,ithasbeenmademandatoryforevery-
Preventdevicefromsleeping C-19 app says phone numbers it stored will
one crossing the Delhi-Gurgaon border. Readphonestatusandidentity* bedeletedwhentheneedforcontacttracing
ReadcontentsofUSBstorage* is over, and all location data will be deleted
How does a mobile phone app help in from the database 14 days after uploading.
the control of a viral epidemic?
Modify/deletecontentsofUSB* COVIDSafe gives an option to its users to
The Indian government has adopted the Takepics,videos/recordaudio* request deletion of data held in its database;
PAPER strategy of aggressive and elaborate ‘contact
tracing’(alongwithtesting)asthekeytocon-
Controlflashlight thisisinadditiontoallcontactdatabeingau-
tomatically deleted after 21 days.
CLIP trolling thediseaseand restrictingits spread.
Aarogya Setu is a contact tracing app that
Changeaudiosettings
ReadGoogleServiceconfiguration
Aarogya Setu says that “all personal in-
formation collected. at the time of registra-
Putting on PPE in Guwahati. AP uses GPS coordinates and Bluetooth data to Accessextralocationprovider tion will be retained for as long as your ac-
NEW RESEARCH tracktheuser’slocation,bothontheirown,as commands count remains in existence and for such
well as relative to other users, to establish Readsyncsettings period thereafter as required under any law
THEPERSONALprotectiveequipment wearing PPE. Among them, 42.8% ex- whether they have come physically close to for the time being in force”. It will, however,
(PPE)thatmedicalprofessionalswear perienced serious skin injury related someone suffering from COVID-19, and to Togglesyncon&off purge all data stored on the app that is not
while treating COVID-19 patients — touseofPPE,thestudyfound.Flagging make an assessment of their risk of infection. Drawoverotherapps uploaded to the server after 30 days.
masks, goggles, face shields, and pro- the increased risk of infection, the re- Many countries are using mobile apps to Createaccounts,setpasswords Singapore’sTraceTogetherappsaysthaton
tective gowns — causes skin injury. In searchers wrote: “The skin injuries track the spread and progress of the disease. request,itwilldeletecontactinformationand
the process, it puts them at increased among medical staff are serious, with South Korea and Singapore were the early *Eachentrymarkedwithanasteriskreferstotwo identifiers from its servers, thus rendering
risk of infection, according to a new insufficientpreventionandtreatment.” starters. In South Korea, the app was rolled setsofpermissions.Ineachsuchpair,agivenapp “meaninglessalldatathatyourphonehasex-
study by a large team of Chinese re- They researchers identified three out by private developers; in Singapore, it eitherseeksbothsetsofpermissions,ordoesnot changedwithotherphones,becausethatdata
searchers, and published in Advances maintypesofPPE-relatedskininjuries: was an initiative of the government. seekeitherkindofpermission. will no longer be associated with you”.
in Wound Care, a monthly from Mary device-relatedpressureinjuries;moist The use of these apps has been credited Bluetoothdevicepairing/access:Pairwith
Ann Liebert publishers. associated skin damage; skin tear. with a significant extent for these countries’ Bluetoothdevices;accessBluetoothsettings How many people are currently using
The study covered 4,308 medical Several factors increased the risk for success in flattening the disease curve. The ReadphoneIDandidentity:Separatepermissions Aarogya Setu?
staff from 161 hospitals, with re- skininjury,includinggender(seechart). outbreak in these countries began relatively forphone;andfordeviceID&callinformation The Android and iOS versions of the app
sponses from 4,306 valid. The med- Sources: Mary Ann Liebert publishers; early, but as of the end of April, South Korea ReadcontentsofUSBstorage:Separate have been downloaded more than 75 mil-
icalstaff workeddailyfor8to12hours Advances in Wound Care had under 11,000 cases and 247 deaths, permissionsforstorage;andforphotos/media/files lion times, according to official data.
while Singapore had 15,000-odd cases and Modify/deletecontentsofUSBstorage:Separate While Aarogya Setu started off as a vol-
permissionsforstorage;andforphotos/media/files
SOMESTAFFATGREATERRISKTHANOTHERS only 14 deaths. Their case fatality rate and
deaths per 1 lakh population were very low Takepics,videos/recordaudio:Separatefortaking Care19 app, which is used in some
untary exercise to top the government’s ef-
forts of containing the COVID-19 outbreak,
Risk factor Higher prevalence Lower prevalence — 2.3% and 0.48, and 0.1% and 0.25 respec- photos&videos;andforrecordingaudio US states. Reuters itisgraduallyinchingtowardsbecomingone
Gender Male staff: 59.7% Female staff: 40.5% tively,accordingtodataontheJohnsHopkins of the mainstays in the battle. The govern-
University pandemic tracking dashboard. ment has mandated all central government
Age Over 35 yrs: 46.3% Under 35 yrs: 41.2% Chinahasbeenusinghealthappstoward maintainandsharedatacollectedfromusers. app functions in the following manner: employeesandofficerstodownloadtheapp.
Healthcare role Doctors: 51.9% Nurses: 41.6% off apotentialsecondwaveof infection.Italy, Acomparisonofthetermsandconditions Whensomeoneregistersontheapp,their Onlyif theyaremarked“safe”orat“low-risk”
PPE quality Grade-3 PPE: 88.5% Grade-2 PPE: 21.0%). whichseemstohavegotovertheworstof its oftheiruseisinthechart.Thisanalysisisbased name,phonenumber,age,sex,professionand by the app should they commute to work,
crisis,isworkingonanapp,andGermanyhas on the Android versions of the apps; the iOS the countries they visited in the last 30 days the government order said.
Daily wearing time Over 4 hrs: 47.3% Within 4 hrs: 18.7%
backedajointGoogle-Appleinitiativetobuild versions too, need similar permissions. arecollected,andstoredonaserverrunbythe This is in addition to several private com-
Sweating Heavy sweat: 91.3% Not heavy: 17.8% a contact tracing API. The same initiative is India’sAarogyaSetuseeksninesetsofper- Government of India. This is stored with a paniesaskingemployeestodownloadtheapp
under discussion in France, amid disagree- missions (in the chart, the entry on Bluetooth uniqueID,whichisusedtoidentifytheuserin astheyprepareforliftingofthelockdown.Itis
mentovertheamountof datatobecollected. refers to two sets of permissions) — including all subsequent app-relatedtransactions. This possible that a ‘safe’ status on Aarogya Setu
IntheUK,aBluetooth-basedcontacttrac- fornetwork-basedlocation,GPSlocation,re- digitalIDisalsoassociatedwithanyinforma- couldbecomeaformalorinformal‘permit’to
INDIA COUNT: 35,365 (1152 DEATHS) ing app is under testing. In Israel, the NSO
group, which built the Pegasus surveillance
ceivingdatafromtheInternet,runningatde-
vicestart-up,andpreventingthedevicefrom
tion that may subsequently be uploaded.
At time of registration, the person’s loca-
enterpublicbuildingsandspacesinthefuture.
There is one important point to consider
TOP 10 STATES REST OF INDIA
AndamanandNicobarIslands33
software last year, has tested a contact trac-
ing app, even though an initiative by the
‘sleeping’.Thenumberof permissionssought
byAarogyaSetuishigherthanonlyAustralia’s
tiondetailsarecollectedfromthedevice,and
uploaded to the server. For the app to do its
regarding penetration of the app, however -
which is directly linked to its effectiveness.
ArunachalPradesh 1
Assam 42 Israeli police to use mobile phone location to COVIDSafeapp,whichdoesnotseekpermis- job, users must keep the location and Officials from most of the governments
Bihar 426 enforce quarantine measures has been sionfornetwork-basedlocationorforreceiv- Bluetooth features switched on at all times. rolling out these apps have pointed out that
2584 Chandigarh 56 blockedbyParliamentoverprivacyconcerns. ing data from the Internet. When two registered users come within the key factor that will determine the suc-
3515 Delhi Chhattisgarh 40
Rajasthan Several health experts have argued that a The reasons for seeking particular per- Bluetooth range of each other, typically less cess of these projects would be the rapid
2281 UP Goa 7
key tool at governments’ disposal to contain missions range from the purpose and design than 10 metres, the apps on their respective emergence of a critical mass of users. The
Haryana 313
HimachalPradesh 40 the COVID-19 outbreak, and which was not of a certain app, to thedata thatthe app’s de- devices will automatically exchange the dig- apps, including Aarogya Setu, must have a
JammuandKashmir 614 aroundduringthe1918SpanishFlu,istheabil- veloper intends to collect. For example, the ital IDs and record the time and GPS location penetration of at least 50%. This means that
2719 795 Jharkhand 111 ity to harness digital technologies to track the “prevent device from sleeping” permission, at which the contact took place. unless half the population of the country
MP West Bengal Karnataka 576
4395 Kerala 497
spread.Atthesametime,deploymentof con- which all apps analysed for this report (ex- This information collected at this point is downloads the contact tracing app, the in-
Gujarat tact tracing apps by governments or public cept Australia’s COVIDSafe) seek, is intended stored locally on the devices. If one of these tended outcome will not be achieved.
1039 Telangana Ladakh 22
health authorities has added to the debate on to ensure the app is able to keep the smart- registered users tests positive for COVID-19, While this is a reason for governments to
Manipur 2
10,498 Meghalaya 12 online privacy and personal data protection. phone’s CPU awake to complete work. the information will be uploaded from their aggressivelypushfordownloads,criticshave
Maharashtra 1463 Mizoram 1 While some of these apps have sought Android devices are designed to fall mobile device, and stored on the server. argued that this particular response to the
Andhra Pradesh Odisha 143
Puducherry 8 sweeping access to smartphone functional- asleep when idle, to prevent draining of the According to Aarogya Setu’s privacy pol- pandemic opens out a vast space for intru-
2323 Tamil Nadu Punjab 357 ities, others stop just short of that, collecting battery. But some apps need to work in the icy,theappcontinuouslycollectstheuser’slo- sive surveillance by state agencies, threaten-
Tripura 2 and uploading data without specifically ob- background, and for this, they seek permis- cation data and stores it on the device, creat- ingtheprivacyof largesectionsof theirusers.
Uttarakhand 57 taining the consent of users in every case. sion to wake up the phone’s screen or CPU. ing a record of all the places visited at The critics have said that while some of
UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof 11pm,May1. Somestatesmayhave Again,giventhatPoland’sHomeQuarantine 15-minuteintervals.Further,everytimeauser the features that do not necessarily adhere
reportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove. So, which countries already have such appismeanttoensurethoseunderquarantine conducts a self-assessment on the app, tick- to all privacy norms are all right as long as
apps, and what data do they collect? staythatway,itperiodicallyaskspeopletoupload markingCOVID-19symptoms,theappmarks theappisvoluntary,governmentsmaybegin
9065 PATIENTS DISCHARGED IN 30 STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES
Thereareprivateinitiativesinseveralcoun- a selfie, which is geotagged. Upon failure by a this user Yellow, Orange or Green, based in a to make the apps mandatory in order to
tries, but the main government-backed apps user,policearenotified.Tomakethiseffective, reducing order of threat, with Green mean- achievethenecessarypenetration.Thiscould
Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak and what you should/should not do? are, apart from India, in Poland, Singapore, the app seeks access to camera and storage. ing the person is safe. mean using the app to give a safety clear-
Write to [email protected] Iceland, and Australia. Each of these apps re- ance to individuals before they use public
quiresaspecificsetofpermissionsfromusers, How exactly does Aarogya Setu work? What about questions of user privacy? transport, enter their workplaces or even
and have different policies on how they store, India’s official COVID-19 contact tracing One of the red flags being raised about step out of their residential premises.

How outbreak is disrupting both supply of, and demand for, bank loans
(also referred to as wholesale customers). passenger vehicles, and almost every second
UDIT MISRA And yet, there are several sectors of the CHART 1: GROWTH IN RETAIL LOANS CHART 2: ... AS DEMAND FOR UNDERLYING home (new units); this dip in demand com-
NEW DELHI, MAY 1 economysuchasthemicro,smallandmedium EXPECTED TO STALL... ASSETS IS EXPECTED TO PLUMMET pletelyshutsoffthedemandforretailloans.
enterprises (MSMEs) that are facing acute
ONTHEfaceof it,itisaconundrumwhy,de- shortageoffundsespeciallyinthewakeofthe 19.0 19.2 Figures are in % What about the supply of loans?
16.3 16.5
spitetheReserveBankofIndia’srepeatedef- COVID-19-inducedeconomicdisruption. 14.3 15.0 It is a valid question why banks, which
13.5
forts to bring down the interest rate in the are flushwith cheapmoney,arenotaggres-
economy as well as provide more money to What explains this oddity? sively pushing for loans in the economy.
12.0 11.9 -17%
thefinancialsystem,bankshavenotbeenex- To understand what is happening, one Simply put, banks are increasingly risk-
tendingmoreloanstothebroadereconomy. needs to break down the picture into the 7.9 8.7 2-3 -22% Consumer averse. Moreover, they do not know which
7.0 5.9 2.4 -24%
Forinstance,theRBIhasmadeitcheaper demand and supply sides of loans. -25% Two- durables firmwillsurvivetheCOVID-19disruptionand
0-1
for the banks to borrow from it — by reduc- Chart 1 shows the credit growth rate for Passenger Commercial wheelers which will flounder. The irony is that banks
FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY20E

FY21P
FY19

ing the repo rate by 185 basis points since retail and wholesale consumers. Credit cars vehicles maybewillingtogiveloanstothebiggerfirms
February 2019. Further, it has made it less growthtobusinesseswasalreadystruggling but these companies do not need new loans
NewhousingUnits Source:CRISILResearch
remunerative for banks to park their funds forthelastseveralyears.Mostofthemomen- — Corporateloansgrowth — Retailloangrowth -45% because they already have excess capacity
withtheRBIbycuttingthereversereporate tumtocreditgrowthwascomingfromloans whilesmallerfirms,whichareindireneedof
by 225 basis points. retail customers were taking. These were funds, appear too risky for banks’ appetite.
However,atthecount,bankshadparked typically being taken by individuals buying plummeted amongbusinessesin the2019- fornewloanswouldremainanaemicamong expected to fall? In this regard, the regulatory forbear-
close to Rs 7 lakh crore with the RBI. homes, personal cars, and other consumer 20 financial year. Retail loan growth also thebusiness,retailloans,whichwerepushing Chart2showswhy.Demandformostcom- ance, in the form of a three-month-long
Essentially, banks have decided to even park durables like televisions, refrigerators etc. sufferedabitastheeconomysloweddown. upthetotalcreditgrowthrate,willfalltotheir moditiesforwhichindividualswouldhavetyp- moratorium on paying back loans, has
the deposits that they get (say from savings But, as the graph shows, even before the However,theCOVID-19impactislikelyto lowest growth rate in a decade. icallytakenaretailloanislikelytofallsharply.In made it difficult for banks to assess which
accountholders)withtheRBIinsteadoflend- COVID-19 disruption in the past couple of be spectacular according to most estimates. termsoffinancingpenetration,almostallcom- firms are poor are managing their business
ing to either retail customers or businesses months, demand for loans had already CRISILResearchestimatesthatwhiledemand Why is the demand for retail loans mercial vehicles are financed, as are 75% of all and finances in this period.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE The only way of catching a train I have ever
discovered is to miss the train before
— G K CHESTERTON

FOUNDED BY
Fear, hope and central bank
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
RBI’s job involves trade-offs, not conflicts. The virus
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
lockdown makes them even harder

GET ON RIGHT TRACK Manish Sabharwal

Special trains for migrants are welcome, must be informed by
AMARTYA SEN ONCE wrote in the Economic seculardeclinehas many parents, someeco- Depression. Historian Heraclitus suggested
sensitivity and fair play, and guided by medical protocols and Political Weekly that Alfred Tennyson’s nomic models are useful but all are incom- youcanneverstepinthesamerivertwice;the

A
poem “The Charge Of The Light Brigade”, plete,andthefogof warinvolvesmakingsec- river is different, you are different, and the
DAY AFTER the Union Home Ministry allowed the inter-state movement of which glorified charging ahead in nobility, ond best choices as long as they are worldisdifferent.Historymattersbutnobody
migrant workers, a train carrying about 1,000 labourers took off from “Theirsnottoreasonwhy/Theirsbuttodoand reversible, proportional, and accountable. knowsif thisisthebeginningorendingof the
Lingampally in Telangana for Hatia in Jharkhand on Friday morning. The die”, was inappropriate inspiration for policy Central banks often undertake liquidity virus. Yet the global central bank COVID tool-
homeministryhadinitiallyallowedthemovementof theseworkersinbuses. because “Good reform is the charge of the management while leaving policy rates un- box has been substantial; buying corporate
But several states had questioned the feasibility of the move and demanded that the rail- heavy brigade. The reason why is central to changed;currentactionsarenotaconspiracy bonds,makingcorporateloans,cuttinginter-
the task”. A central bank like the RBI must re- tounderminetheMPCoritsinterestratecor- estrates,conductingopenmarketoperations,
waysrunspecialtrainstoferrythestrandedmigrants.TheCentrehasdonewelltoaccede
place intellectual certainty with continuous ridor (between reverse repo rate and MSF and reducing reserve ratios. Additionally,
totheirrequest.TherailwayshasoutlinedplanstorunspecialShramikTrainstomovemi- debate about Why because their job involves rate with repo rate midpoint targeting and banks have been permitted to grant loan
grant workers, tourists, students, and pilgrims back to their homes. It has asked the state complex trade-offs — next quarter vs quarter call rate operating target). They are a prag- moratoriums, hold less capital, restructure
governments to make sure that the Centre’s COVID-19-related guidelines on the screen- century,growthvsstability,and mandatesvs matic encouragement for banks to lend to loans,paylowerdepositinsurancepremiums
ingof inter-statetravellersarescrupulouslyfollowed.It’snowuptothesegovernmentsto expectations. A global anthropological shock clients rather than lend Rs 7 lakh crore to the and delay bad loan recognition. The emer-
draw up plans and protocols for this purpose. They must hold regular conversations with like COVID makes these trade-offs — they are RBI. Other virus flexibility includes repay- gency authority under Section 13 of the US
not conflicts — even harder. The RBI must re- ment moratoriums (with 10 per cent provi- FederalReserveActbeingused—inmyopin-
the railway authorities to ensure transparency in running the special trains.
member three things — acting prudently to sions), bad loan accounting forbearance (de- ion,prematurely—alsoexistsinSection18of
By all accounts, about 10 million migrant workers have been stranded in different balancethenextquarterandquartercentury, spite past experience of breaking the the RBI Act. But emergency powers are a last
parts of the country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lock- acting flexibly to blunt this economic cata- thermometer doing little for the fever) and resort. We are not there yet. The recovery be-
downonMarch 24. Having livedon charityin cramped sheltersarranged bystate govern- clysm,andactingwithintheirmandatetoen-
Just like COVID is bank windows for NBFC/Mutual Fund liq- ing V-shaped, U-shaped, or Bathtub-shaped
ments, NGOs and some business outfits, these workers are yearning to go back to the fa- sure institutional legitimacy and immunity. particularly painful for uidity. Listening is hardly compromise. is only modellable after the lockdown.
miliarity and comfort of their villages. The prospect of a train back home is bound to First, acting prudently. If everybody be- patients with pre-existing Especially if accompanied by a will to un- Just like COVID is particularly painful for
lieved that in the long run we are all dead, conditions, the RBI’s wind liquidity, asymmetry and forbearance patientswithpre-existingconditions,theRBI’s
kindle their hopes. But such situations are also rife with feelings of desperation and anx-
we would never sit under trees planted by when the planet’s gap year ends. COVID balm is constrained by pre-existing
iety. This was evident in Mumbai, about three weeks ago, when distressed migrants people who had no chance of sitting under
COVID balm is constrained Third,actingwithinmandate.Centralbank conditions in Indian banking; bad loans
swarmed the Bandra railway station, anticipating a relaxing of the lockdown. When their them. The coronavirus is a human tragedy by pre-existing conditions in governance is a fine balance; they function (peaked at Rs 14 lakh crore but still large), in-
hope turned to disappointment, the hapless workers took to the streets. To prevent such but a central bank must not act like a com- Indian banking; bad loans best when they don’t declare poorna swaraj adequate competition (scheduled commer-
a situation from recurring, the railways and the state governments must engage and in- mercial bank because that would compro- (peaked at Rs 14 lakh crore fromthegovernmentandtheyaren’tconsid- cialbanknumbershavehoveredbetween90
form the migrants while planning special trains. Decisions on who gets to be on the trains mise the balance between today and tomor- ered a part of the finance ministry. The diffi- and100since1947),privatebankgovernance
row. A narcissism — bordering on solipsism but still large), inadequate culty of balance isn’t uniquely Indian; (CEOsopowerfulthatboardsandsharehold-
must be fair and must be seen to be so too. The state must keep all channels of commu-
— already reflects in global debt levels that competition (scheduled Wharton Professor Peter Conti-Brown asks: ers are weak), public sector bank governance
nications open with those who might temporarily be left out.
steal from our grandchildren. More impor- commercial bank numbers “Is the independence of the US Federal (shareholder so powerful that boards and
TherailwayshassaidthatthepassengersontheLingampally-Hatiatrainwerescreened tantly, India doesn’t have the economic Reserveapreciouspublicgoodtobeprotected CEOs are weak), and the RBI’s own game
andsocialdistancingprotocolsfollowedduringthejourney.Giventhatseveralstudieshave
have hovered between 90
strengthtocopytheUSFederalReserve’s$2.3 oranefariousdodgeofpublicaccountability?” (process, technology and human capital in
shown that most coronavirus carriers are asymptomatic, the imperative of following such trillion offer to lend to businesses of all sizes and 100 since 1947), private History suggests technocratic central banks regulationandsupervision).Allthesemustbe
protocols on future journeys cannot be overstated. The state governments and railway of- and sorts, run anything close to this year’s bank governance (CEO so runbyunelectedofficialsamplifyinstitutional tackledwithurgencywhennormalcyreturns.
ficialsshouldmakesurethattheseoperationsareconductedwithoutburdeningthemigrants expected US fiscal deficit of 15 per cent of powerful that boards and vulnerability by wading into democratic pol- The true antidote to fear is hope. Another
GDP, or sustain Japan’s public debt levels at itics; the messy, slow and clunky process in- fiscal package may come soon. But supple-
but at the same time, care should be taken to ensure that the virus does not spread to the shareholders are weak),
240 per cent of GDP. We are all in the same volvingconciliation,compromise,andsqueez- mentingIndia’sfiscalandmonetarypolicyin-
country’sruralareas.Allthismayposelogisticalchallengesfortherailwaysandthestategov- storm but we are all not in the same boat. public sector bank ing collective decisions out of conflicting terventions by announcing two bold reform
ernments.Itwillrequirethemtocooperateandcoordinateonmatterssuchasmakinglists Second, acting flexibly within mandate. governance (shareholder so demands described in Bernard Crick’s won- plans — 90-day flick-of-pen and one-year
of thetravellingmigrants,ensuringscreeningfacilitiesforthem,andarrangingtransportto, Renaissance physician Paracelsus had im- powerful that boards and derful1963book,InDefenceofPolitics.TheRBI structural — that tackle overdue reforms in
and from, the railway stations. This is an opportunity for these authorities to get the first portant advice for central banks; the dose must build on its track record of wisely bal- labour,education,cities,finance,compliance,
makes the poison. Anything powerful
CEOs are weak), and the ancing the trade-offs between depositors vs and civil services, will catalyse hope among
steps towards the opening up right. For that reason, they will be closely watched.
enough to help has the power to hurt; han- RBI’s own game (process, borrowers,companiesvsbanks,andstability employers, employees, banks, and overseas
dling the inevitable tensions between the technology and human vsgrowth.Anditmustcontinuetostayoutof investors. Creating a prosperous India needs

SELF-ISOLATED
RBI’s dual mandate of growth and stability capital in regulation and the government’s domain. many things. One of them is an independent,
requires continuous work. Our inflation tar- The central bank crisis role debate is accountable, and boundaried central bank
geting regime is a macroeconomic gift to
supervision). All these must skewedbythegreatbook,LordsofFinance,by that listens.
India. But recognising that is hardly incon- be tackled with urgency Liaquat Ahamed that shows how central
In national interest, and in their own interest, private hospitals sistent with acknowledging that inflation’s when normalcy returns. bankers of the 1920s failed to fight the Great The writer is co-founder, Teamlease Services

must reconsider their divestment from fight against pandemic

I
T IS ALMOST two decades after liberalisation, when private enterprise took the
initiative from state enterprises. In that time, privately-owned and for-profit hos-
pitals took the burden of disease over from a moribund system of publicly-funded
hospitals. But the Rs 2.4 lakh crore private health care sector is faltering in the face
of a public health crisis, whose burden is being borne by government hospitals, their doc-
tors and nurses. Private enterprise owns almost three out of every four hospital beds in
BACK TO THE OLD NORMAL
India, and almost eight out of 10 ventilators, but they are handling less that 10 per cent In Pakistan, religious leaders, not doctors, are setting Covid policy
of those critically ill with novel coronavirus. States like Bihar, where private capital owns
about twice as many beds as government hospitals, have seen the private sector in com-
plete rout. The reluctance to engage is so great that they have been turning away coron- Khaled Ahmed
avirus patients and other patients in need of aid. In Delhi and Maharashtra, the state gov-
ON APRIL 23, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Ramadan and so did the rebel- acrossthecountrybeingfilledpredominantly
ernment has had to issue orders so that they do not turn any more away.
stagedafour-hour“telethon”tocollectfunds lious mullah Popalzai of Peshawar, claiming by people over the age of 50, the risk of the
As a series of reports in this newspaper showed, numerous factors have been at play for the coronavirus crisis and ended up net- hehadseenthemoon.Now,likemanytimes virus spreading is high”. They disclosed that
inthisfailure—paycuts,employeereluctance,thefearof sealing,thefutureconsequences tingnearlythreebillionrupeesbeforeasking in thepast,Pakistan will getsplit over fasting in“thepast48hoursmorethan80percentof
to brand value of hospitals identified with the pandemic, the lack of established proto- his favourite cleric, Tariq Jameel, to pray. The and end up celebrating two Eids. thepeople”prayinginmosqueswereintheir
cols and protective gear, and bureaucratic instructions, like those issued in Telangana, to mountebank priest first rejected the word PMKhanwasneverforfollowingthedoc- 60s and 70s. “Clearly this has resulted in the
refer viral patients to government facilities. Underlying all this is the economic reality of “fight”againstthecoronavirusbecauseitwas tors — dozens of whom have fallen victim to violation of the first and foremost principle
falling revenues and footfalls, accompanied by new expenses and risk. While the central “a curse of Allah” and needed repentance the pandemic while treating victims — be- of preventing the spread of the virus in the
fromanationhethoughtwascorruptandlas- causehecaredforthelivelihoodofthemasses most vulnerable group of elderly people”,
and state governments should offer to underwrite the risk, the fact remains that a sector
civious.Khanandthenationtookitastheold living below the poverty line. Then the mul- stated the letter from the Pakistan Islamic
which has benefited hugely from government concessions and encouragements, and normal and bowed their head. lahspitchedin,ledbyMuftiTaqiUsmani,who Medical Association (PIMA).
which has tried to take over healthcare in India, has abdicated its public responsibility Unsurprisingly, theclergy in Pakistan has scares everyone because of his de facto au- One-third of Pakistan’s population lives
and remains isolated from the national effort. theupperhand and has defeatedthedoctors thorityinsidePakistanandamongtheArabs. below the poverty line, whose children end
The pandemic offers an opportunity to policymakers to revalue the virtues of public in deciding the state policy against COVID- In this case, he defiantly overruled the Saudi up in free-boarding madrassas. The madr-
versusprivatehealthcare,andthoseof freefacilitiesversusinsurance-backedcare.Butboth 19, which had struck 10,500 victims and had monarchythathaddecidedtobanallcongre- assa’s worldview is focused mostly on jihad
claimed280livesattheendof April.Thedoc- gation together with the other Gulf states. andtherejectionof modernlife.Accordingto
must continue to exist and the present system, however flawed, must carry the nation
tors raised the alarm after Pakistan Tehreek- TheKhangovernmenthaddecidedtounr- one report, there were 300 madrassas in
through the crisis. To retain its perceived value, it is imperative for the private sector to do e-Insaf (PTI) reached an “accord” with the The Khan government had ealistically allow the mosque administration Pakistan in 1947; today, there are more than
its public duty now, and be seen to be doing so. In a crisis in which every citizen is pulling “top” priests of the country to let people decided to unrealistically tosayathree-mannamaz(sic).Usmanijoined 35,000. Poverty and a lack of normal educa-
togetheraccordingtoability,financialexcusesforwithdrawingappeartobepusillanimous throng the mosques five times a day, plus allow the mosque upwiththestate-appointed“moon-spotting” tion set the stage for religion as a psycholog-
and morally wrong. In their long-term interest, abstaining private hospitals must recon- special prayers during the month of administration to say a mullahMuftiMunibtodeclarethatthegover- ical refuge of neglected populations.
sider this divestment from the national effort. Ramadanfallingin the last week of April,de- nment-allowedmosquenamazwasnotacce- InIndia,too,theMuslimminority,asseen
pending on special moon-sighting by the three-man namaz (sic). Taqi ptable and that people should throng to their on TV being beaten up by Hindu vigilantes,
same religious panjandrums. Usmani joined up with the localmosquesasbefore.ThenKhandecidedto has turned inward to religion. Small-time
state-appointed ‘moon-
CREATOR OF MAGIC
Then, something funny happened. parleywiththerebelclerics andended upal- Muslim shopkeepers spend time earning
Another senior priest of Pakistan, Mufti lowingthemosqueprayersthatwouldspread theirdailywageandgoingfivetimesadayto
spotting’ mullah Mufti
Munib, got on to a roof in Karachi to sight the thepandemiclikewildfire.Bothsidesagreed theirlocalmosqueandbecometargetsof the
Ramadan moon but did not find it. There is Munib to declare that the on an unrealistic recipe of keeping the devo- communaldiscriminationthathashitSouth
With grace and a cutting edge, Chuni Goswami held up the an Islamic lunar calendar predicting accu- government-allowed mosque tees three feet apart while praying, which no Asia.InPakistan,itisgoingtobeimpossibleto
rately the rising moon every month but the namaz was not acceptable one believes can be put in practice. keep the masses away from the mosque
most romantic era of Indian football priests would have none of it. When the Thedoctorsof Pakistansaidinaletterthat where they are likely to catch COVID-19.
and that people should

W
moonwasnotsightedonThursday,themufti if the mosques were opened, the country’s
ITH THE PASSING away of Chuni Goswami, Indian football has lost ar- declaredthatthefollowingdaywouldnotbe throng to their local medicalservicewouldnotbeabletotreatthe The writer is consulting editor,
guablyitsgreatest-everplayer.Amonghispeers,hestoodouteasily.PK thefirstdayof fasting.SaudiArabia,however, mosques as before. victims. They warned that “with mosques Newsweek Pakistan
Banerjee had speed and strength, Tulsidas Balaram thrived in an all-
round game but Goswami had magical skills. Nobody in the history of
Indianfootballhadasharpercuttingedgeinthefinalthird.Inhisautobiography,WingTheke
Goal (Wing to Goal), PK mentioned a piece of Goswami’s brilliance during a match at the
1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. Goswami dribbled past four opposition players, went around MAY 2, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
the goalkeeper and instead of feeding the unmarked PK, the then India captain scored from
a very acute angle. PK wrote, “I asked him why didn’t he give me the ball. Chuni’s reply was FIVE-DAY WEEK in fuel, energy and other expenditures. vote, explained to the Council that he would
sharp, ‘I set it up going past five players, and you will put the cherry on top!’” THE UNION CABINET is understood to have dosobecausetheresolutioncouldnot“bring
Goswami was a born athlete. As a first-class cricketer, he was good enough to lead approved the proposal for a five-day work US VETO ON PALESTINE the achievement of peace one day closer to
week and an announcement in this regard is THE UNITED STATES vetoed a Tunisian reso- practical reality.”
Bengal to a Ranji Trophy final. His inswingers had floored Garry Sobers’s West Indies in
likely soon. The department of personnel of lution that would have had the UN Security
a tour game against East Zone and Central Zone combined in the 1960s. the Union home ministry has been asked to Council call for a Palestinian state. The vote BAHUGUNA RESIGNS
In many ways, Goswami, PK and Balaram symbolised the most romantic era of Indian take necessary action. The five-day week was 10-1 with four abstentions. The resolu- H N BAHUGUNA, Congress-I secretary gen-
football. India was not a footballing superpower then. But they were no pushovers either, plan was mooted some time ago in view of tiongotonemorethantheninevotesneeded eral, has resigned. He also resigned from the
and could produce moments of underdog magic, like beating Asian giants Iran, Japan and the increasingly feltneed for conservation of to put it through under normal circum- Congress-I working committee and parlia-
South Korea. They were not, perhaps, the most technically gifted or systematically regi- energy and fuel. Moreover, it was felt that stances, but the US’s negative vote killed it. mentary board. When he was asked why,
mented footballers. But when in sync, they could orchestrate artistic football, turn on the with two off-days in a week, the employees Britain, France, Portugal and Norway ab- Bahuguna said: “I had become non-func-
will be better equipped physically and men- stained. Tunisia, Niger, Gambia, Mexico, tional.No jobonhandandnothingtodo.”He
style quotient. There was always the allure of raw talent, and a beautiful unpredictabil-
tally to do better justice to their jobs. Jamaica, Bangladesh, the Philippines, China, said it had “nothing to do with” the list of
ityaboutthem.WithGoswamiandBanerjeegone,Balaramremainstheflickeringlinkbe- Government sources have estimated that a the Soviet Union and East Germany all voted Congress-I candidates for the UP assembly
tween the grossly commercialised times of Indian football and its uncomplicated black- five-day week will mean a yearly national for the proposal. US Ambassador Donald elections. He said he had not, however, re-
and-white era. saving of Rs 600 crore in the form of savings McHenry, just before casting his negative signed from the party.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

THE IDEAS PAGE

WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“There are times when government must curtail individual freedoms to protect
the public. But those measures must end once the threat passes.”
— THENEW YORK TIMES

A new phase of the fightback Stronger after

Thoughstringent,lockdownwastimely.Now,it’stimetoaddressballooningopportunitycostsacrosssectors crisis
CONFIRMED CASES IN COUNTRIES WITH 50000+ CONFIRMED CASES, AND INDIA AS OF APRIL 30 Afterpandemicpasses,MadhyaPradeshwill
1,280,000
US:1069424 emergeasalogisticsandwarehousinghub
640,000
forrebalancedsupplychains
320,000 CaseDoubleevery3days
Spain:213435 Italy:205463
UnitedKingdom:172481 AsAristotlehasputit,“Patienceisbitter,
Shamika Ravi 160,000
CaseDoubleevery2days
Turkey:120204
France:167299 but its fruit is sweet.” All of us are patiently
Germany:163009 staying at home to ensure that we remain
Russia:106498 Brazil:87187 Iran:94640 safe and India remains healthy. This is al-
80,000
WHILE THE OECD countries are reeling un- Canada:54457 ready showing better results. This is also
der the COVID-19 impact, India is clearly 40,000 likely to strengthen our relationships.
India:34863
ahead of the curve. This is not merely in As Paul T P Wong said, “Time spent in
terms of the confirmed cases in the country self-reflection is never wasted - it is an in-
butisalsostronglyreflectedinverylowmor-
20,000
Shivraj Singh timate date with yourself.” Utilise this time
tality numbers (8.5 deaths per lakh popula- 10,000 CaseDoubleevery4days
Chouhan wisely. The world may never be the same
tion)comparedtoothernations(4,040inthe again. Analyse and hone your skill-sets to
UK and 1,930 in the US). While the first cases IndiaUpdate be better prepared for the future.
5,000
werereportedinmosthotspotcountriesand April6:Reductioningrowthrate,fromcasesdoublingevery4daystoevery6days COVID-19 IS undoubtedly the biggest chal- “Empathy,” it is said, “is seeing with the
India around the same time (last week of ProbablytheeffectofMarch25thtotallockdwon lenge faced by our country since eyes of another, listening with the ears of
January), today, the outbreak is far more 2,000 Independence. The bold and visionary de- another, and feeling with the heart of an-
manageable in India than in most other IndiaUpdate cision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to other.” The entire nation has shown empa-
countries. It was pragmatic for a resource- 1,000 March29:Increaseingrowthrate,fromcasesdoublingevery5daystoevery4days enforce a lockdown early on has contained thytowardstheplightof themigrantwork-
poor country to be pre-emptive and declare ProbablytheeffectofMarch13thtoMarch15threligouscongregationatNizamuddintotallockdwon the spread of the virus. ers and people are helping in whatever
a national lockdown when the total number 500 IndiaUpdate ProbablytheeffectofMarch12th Statepolicies: Today, the resolve and dedication of small way they can by providing food and
of caseswerestilllowat500.Thesubsequent March23:Reductioningrowthratefrom policies: 2.Shutdownofschools/colleges/public medical, paramedical, police, and emer- sheltertotheneedy.Wefeelthe painof our
growth of thepandemicclearly showsa per- casesdoublingevery3daysto 1.Travelbanandrestrictionsforcertain places gency services staff have ensured that the brothers and stand with them in this crisis.
ceptible decline in the number of cases due 200 every5days overseascountries 3.Statespassstringentquarantinelaws growth in confirmed cases in India is linear As Steve Maraboli wrote: “Life doesn’t
to the lockdown. Though stringent, this was andnotexponentialashasbeenwitnessed geteasierormoreforgiving,wegetstronger
much-needed and a timely policy interven- Day0,300+cases Day10 Day20 Day30 Day40 Day50 bymanyEuropeancountriesandtheUnited and more resilient.” The crisis will make us
tionbythegovernment.Itisimportant,how- States of America. We salute our heroes. stronger. Theselife-long learningswill pre-
Data Source: 2019 Novel coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Data Repository by Johns Hopkins CSSE
ever, to appreciate the high and growing op- Sincethe day of taking theoath, mypri- pare us to face challenges in the future.
Data update for India: 2020-05-01 02:32:28 (UTC) Mudit Kapoor (ISI, Delhi) & Shamika Ravi (Brookings)
portunity costs that are involved during a ority has been the health and safety of the As Frank Lloyd Wright famously said,
lockdown.Wemustbraceourselvesforlong- citizens of my state and to ensure that the “Study nature, love nature, stay close to na-
term pandemic management (18 to 24 full force and power of compounding. fied as “hotspots”. The lockdown in these last man standing in a queue is taken care ture. It will never fail you.” The chirping of
months) with significant economic impact Mindful policy interventions, when timed places needs to continue with some relax- of. the birds, the clearer skies, and good air
on our lives. well, can cut growing losses and the misfor- ations for basic trade and essential services. We have deposited Rs 885 crore in the quality during the lockdown have all
The immediate costs of the lockdown are tune of many. Not surprisingly, these “hotspots” are also accounts of 8.85 lakh registered labourers brought us closer to nature and made us
borne by the most economically vulnerable India is a large country and the current important economic centres of the coun- in the state. Seven lakh migrant workers realise its importance.
people in society. This perhaps was the ra- crisiskeepsremindingusof thatrealityevery try. The capacity of the local administration based in 22 states have been given assis- Most of us are enjoying no comforts or
tionale behind the first round of economic day.Whilewehavesucceededinslowingthe to develop and enforce appropriate strate- tance to the tune of Rs 70 lakh. Rs 430 crore luxuriesduringthelockdown.E-commerce
policy interventions announced by the fi- growth of the virus at the national level, the gies of containment, contact tracing and worthof scholarshipshavebeendisbursed. platforms and local kirana shops are sell-
nance minister within a few days of the lock- true gains and pains are at the state and local testing, should determine their decisions Sixty-sixlakh students eligible for mid-day ing only essential items. People are also
down. They targeted front-loading of cash level. As the data reveals, currently we have to ring-fence and isolate blocks while al- meals have been provided with Rs 117 consuming less without hoarding so that
transfers through PM-Kisan, support to con- threestatesthathavemaderemarkablegains lowing other parts of the district/city to re- crore. Forty-six lakh pension holders have there is no shortage for the needy, leading
structionworkers,self-help groups,fooddis- and “flattened the curve” of COVID cases. sume economic activity. been released advance pension of two lives of austerity.
tributionthroughthepublicdistributionsys- These are Kerala, Haryana and Tamil Nadu Over the last month, India has developed months of Rs 562 crore. The way businesses are run will un-
tem,amongothers.Beyondwelfareconcerns, where recoveries are growing and active significant capacity to test and treat COVID- A roadmap for preventionand contain- dergoaseachangepostCOVID.Many com-
there are significant growth concerns that cases are rapidly declining. States like 19 patients across the country by creating a mentof theviruswaspreparedasmypred- panies wouldpermanentlyshift personsin
aremountingwitheverydayof economicin- KarnatakaandTelanganaareimprovingtheir large number of specialised fever clinics and ecessor government had not made any certain roles and functions to work from
activity in the country. Companies are strug- recovery rates consistently, despite fluctua- identifying COVID hospitals across every arrangements. A comprehensive IITT home. Remote working provides access to
gling to honour payroll and maintain their tions. While every state and local adminis- state. Our disaggregated data analysis, how- (Identification, Isolation, Testing, and a bigger resource pool for companies. This
workforce against cancelling orders and de- tration has to keep eternal vigil and double ever, suggests that there is no hospital rush Treatment) strategy was devised and im- will provide enhanced job opportunities
clining demand for their goods and services. down on containment and testing,they have of patients with symptoms of acute respira- plemented on a war footing. As of today, for the talented youth of Madhya Pradesh.
These in turn will lead to greater delays and to aggressively improve their contact tracing tory ailments like in the US, the UK, and we have 20,243 isolation beds, 783 ICU The coronavirus has disrupted supply
defaults in loan repayments, thereby further efforts with the help of their police who are Europe. Given the uncertainty of the virus, beds, 690 ventilators, and 11 testing cen- chains globally. This is likely to result in di-
weakening the fragile banking sector and trained in debriefing, call record mapping we seem prepared for large hospitalisation tres in the state. versification of supply chains. Madhya
struggling credit markets. andhavemoremanpowerthanpublichealth and care if the need arises. The efforts now Working on the mantra of self-reliance Pradeshisgeographicallylocatedatthecen-
The Reserve Bank of India stepped in for departments of local administrations. must be to further contain the growth of the as propagated by our Prime Minister, PPE treof India.Ithasthepotentialtoemergeas
some timely monetary interventions, how- What should our strategy be? Given the infection. If the current rate persists, we will kits are being manufactured locally in the a logistics hub for the country in the near
ever, the longstanding climate of risk aver- scale and variation in infection control reach over a lakh cases within three weeks. state.Peoplehavecomeouttosupporteach future, as a rebalancing of supply chains
sionwithinthebankingsectorwillmeanthat across the country, our national strategy India is a very large country That is the power of compounding we are other during this crisis - more than 57,000 takes place. Resultantly, the state will be-
transmission of these monetary interven- needs to be informed and calibrated. and the current crisis keeps against. Beyond knowledge sharing across volunteers have registered and are helping come the warehousing hub of the country.
tions is unlikely to be timely or adequate. All Currently, there are more than 300 districts reminding us of that reality states and adopting successful containment in government relief work. The entire political establishment is
eyes are set expectantly in one direction. in the country which have reported zero strategies from each other, there is a role for InMadhya Pradesh,thegrowth incases working together under the leadership of
Historically, when economies are faced with COVID-19 cases. This can be confirmed
every day. While we have the central government in providing “NSG- has moderated and the situation is under Narendra Modi to tackle the spread of the
major calamities, governmentsstepin tosta- quickly with some random testing (we do succeeded in slowing the like” public health support teams to states control. The spirit of the people of Indore coronavirus. We have to remain vigilant,
bilise theenvironmentandboost confidence have the capabilities to conduct these growth of the virus at the that need them. On the economy front sim- and Bhopal, who have set standards for follow the lockdown strictly, and maintain
within the business community who are the meaningfully) and the lockdown can be national level, the true gains ilarly, the central government’s timely eco- cleanliness for the rest of the country, will social distancing so that the gains made to
creatorsof wealthandemployment.Wehave lifted effective immediately. Then there are nomic package should flatten the curve of overcome this battle. The cooperation of date are not negated. The next 10 days are
seen this response from all major economies about 225 districts which have reported less and pains are at the state and exponentiallyrisingopportunitycostsacross people of the state with the state govern- crucial. Stay home, stay safe. Together, we
disrupted by COVID-19 over the last several than 10 cases each. With adequate ring fenc- local level. As the data the sectors. Given the relative scale and vir- ment despite facing challenges has been will defeat corona and emerge stronger.
weeks. India will not be an exception to this ing at the level of the block where these reveals, currently we have ulence of the COVID-19 virus in India, the commendable. Jan Jan Ki Aas, Haarega Corona, Hoga
as the government fine tunes its strategy to cases are reported, these districts too can three states that have made odds seem stacked in favour of a calibrated Every crisis presents an opportunity. Vikas!
supportandkickstartourimmobilisedecon- afford to lift their lockdowns. There are, opening of the economy. Corona has given us PRERNA. It has taught
omy. The opportunity cost of time, however, however, approximately 30 districts across remarkable gains and us to be patient, reflective, empathetic, re- The writer is the chief minister of
is ballooning with each passing day. Just like the country which have reported large ‘flattened the curve’ of The writer is a former member of the Prime silient, natural, and austere. Madhya Pradesh
the spread of the virus, we are up against the numbers of confirmed cases and are identi- COVID cases. Minister’s Economic Advisory Council

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COVID-19, a morality tale THOUGHTLESS STATE
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, Going LETTER OF
Itshouldinspirecountriestorecommittoprincipleof universalbio-deterrence home’(IE, May 1).When the sudden THE WEEK
lockdown was announced without ad-
Lakshmi Puri equate preparation, it felt like a
thoughtless step. There appeared to be GLARING GAPS
no concern about the plight of not only THIS REFERS TO the editorial,
“IT’S AN ideal weapon because it only de- biosecurity infrastructure for quick and reli- bioweapons—arecritical.China’sfulldisclo- amenable to be used by non-state actors. tens of millions of migrant workers but ‘Reset and reform’ (IE, April 29).
stroys people... It’s a virus, airborne, inde- able testing, and vaccine development and sureandcooperation,asthevirusoriginating Biosafety is key to preventing and combat- alsolakhsof seniorcitizensandwomen Inadequacies and deficiencies in-
structible,self-perpetuating,multiplyingbe- deployment in telescoped time, is critical. country, is essential. ing bioterrorism as is the non-proliferation living alone in cities and towns. trinsicinourhealthsystemandthe
yond our calculations and all life will cease Any bioweapon attack or pandemic af- Stopping hostilestate or non-state actors and export control on dual-use biological Surprisingly, this did not occur to our absenceofasupportsystem,espe-
to exist everywhere... Nothing can stop the fects the armed forces’ capacity to deal with from stealthilyandeasily developingbiolog- materials and technologies. Implementing decision makers. It would have been cially for daily wage workers, are
Satan Bug.” Gregor Hoffman, the insane bio- other WMDs, conventional and terrorist ical weapons is imperative. Biosafety de- theUNGAResolution1540of 2019—ongen- better and less risky if people likely to attenuating our efforts to contain
scientistinthe1962AlistairMacLeanscience threats.Thedoublejeopardyof armedforces mands prevention of accidental release or eral and complete disarmament measures be affected by COVID-19 it were given a the Coronavirus.Thoughourgov-
fiction book and the 1965 film on the same getting weakened by the disease and their theft of biological disease agents from mul- to prevent terrorists from acquiring such week’ s time to prepare and the public ernment is seemingly making all-
(The Satan Bug), ominously described bio- resources being diverted for pandemic re- tiple, unevenly secured research facilities — WMDs — assumes significance. transport system mobilised to facilitate outeffortstocopewiththisconta-
logical weapons thus. sponseposessecuritychallenges.Biosecurity governmental and private R&D labs, biotech Wehavetomakeourinfrastructure,econ- their movement. gion, the initial delay in our
The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly should be mainstreamed into our defence, andvirologycentresof countries.Thesefacil- omy and healthcare bio-attack and pan- S N Shukla, Lucknow response to it cannot be just
awakened the world to the destructive po- security and counterterrorism strategies. ities need to be catalogued according to es- demic-proof.Protocolsforre-engineeringthe wished away. Our taking shelter
tentialof extremebiologicalevents.Manysee
COVID-19asaquasi-biologicalwarinitsscale,
Ideally, a dedicated National Rapid
Deployment Biosecurity Force of armed
tablished containment/safety levels, espe-
cially for dangerous biological toxins.
spatial matrix of production, work, mobility
anddeliveryofessentialservicesandIT-based
IMMORTAL MEMORIES under the extenuating claims like
thesmalldeathtollinourcountry
scope, duration and impact. UN secretary forces, police and health responders should Protocols in case of accidents and theft need healthsurveillancemaynowhavetobehard- THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Matters of as compared to those in other
general Antonio Guterres has called this the perform frontlinepandemic-relatedbio-de- to be established for them. wired. As a part of Prime Minister Narendra death’ (IE, May 1). In mourning death, countrieswillonlyshowourreluc-
biggest international crisis since World War fence, and disaster relief and response roles. National defence intelligence should in- Modi’svisionof economicandhealthsecurity we inevitably mourn the irreplaceabil- tance tolearn from ourmistakes.
II.Healthandbiosecurityhave,thus,become The COVID-19 war has exposed the chal- corporatemedicalintelligenceandinfectious symbiosis,Indiashouldpursuenationalself- ity of the person. Yet, why in the case of Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur
paramount in national security in 2020. lenges of differentiating between the offen- diseases-risk assessment, and pandemic sufficiencyinmedicalandhealthcaresupply artisteslikeIrfanKhanandRishiKapoor
COVID-19 illustrates the insidious nature sive and defensive: Peaceful and aggressive predictions. A dynamic national strategy for chainsandessentialgoods,servicesandtech- does the mourning becomes personal
and catastrophic potential of biological
weapons. Highly transmissible and deadly,
purposesof biological agents. We, therefore,
need to reengineer verification and certifi-
bio-intelligence and cooperation with
friendly biosecurity powers is needed. Close
nologies,anddeveloparobustexportcapac-
ity for global health security.
even for their millions of nameless
fans? Perhaps, it is because through
IRRFAN’S HONESTY
new biological agents cannot be anticipated cation systems for accurate differentiation. coordination with the national public health COVID-19hashurttheorigincountry,but their timeless performances, they gave THIS REFERS TO the article ‘He waited
and the time lag in finding treatment and Similarly, healthsecurity and biosecurity are systems, and keeping a careful tab on biode- in equal measure. China’s global economic us an experience of the sublime that and won’ (IE, May 1). Irrfan Khan was-
vaccines inflicts high morbidity and mortal- complementary but require distinguishing fence facilities is indispensable. footprintandconnectivityhasalsotriggered takes us beyond mortality. n’t born with a silver spoon. He was an
ity on defenseless populations. The latency between intentional harm and inadvertent The COVID-19 experiencehas shown the adisastrousworldwidepandemic.Weknow Sunil Macwan, Ahmedabad outlier.Hemadehiswayupwithoutbe-
period and mutation into different strains transmission. lack of authoritative and independent mul- now that in a biological war, every country ing particularly good looking. The les-
makes disease detection and controlelusive.
Mass contagion and fatalities can bring even
The controversy about whether the
COVID-19 virus was natural or human-en-
tilateral biosurveillance mechanisms. We
need to empower the WHO’s health secu-
will be devastated. There will be no victors
andhumanitywillbevanquished.COVID-19
LABOUR SECURITY son for us in his struggle is that talent
and hardwork do get recognition.
the most powerful countries to their knees gineeredin aWuhanlaband accidentally re- rity mechanisms to surveil and access facil- should be a morality tale to inspire all coun- THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘The new Patience, as the writer suggests, is the
and economies to a halt. Societies can be put leased,andtheUSgovernmentinvestigation ities in ground zero countries, free from tries to recommit to abjuring the use of dis- deal India needs’ (IE, May 1). An urban key. The single most striking aspect of
into turmoil and governance can suffer seri- into it, elucidates the challenges of biosafety. geopolitical pressures. India needs to propel ease as a weapon of war, and a doctrine of employment guarantee is the need of Irrfan’s life, though, was honesty. In
ous crises. Hand wringing about being blind sided dur- the early reinforcementof the Biologicaland universal bio-deterrence. India should mo- the hour. Had such a policy been in spite of success, he didn’t lose the com-
As such, our preparedness to detect ex- ing the first stirrings of the pandemic in Toxin Weapons Convention with a compre- bilise international cooperation and solidar- place, the crisis that labour is facing in mon touch. The sea of emotions ex-
tantandpotential,naturalandmoredanger- China has exposed weaknesses in the inter- hensive, legally-binding protocol on credi- itytostopandbanishthe“SatanBug”forever. citieslikeDelhiandMumbaicouldhave pressed by his eyes will be difficult
ous, human-manipulated biological agents, national early warning systems. Effective, ble biosurveillance, verification and compli- been averted. to forget.
and biodefend in a timely way is vital. credible, national and international, bioin- ance mechanism at the 2021 review The writer is former assistant secretary- Tarun Sharma, Aligarh M Abdullah Ghazali, Patna
Makingallournormallaboratoriesandmed- telligence and bio-surveillance systems — conference. general of the United Nations and deputy
ical facilities transformable into a seamless especially for new diseases and potential Biological weapons are now more executive director of UN Women

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

The World

PANDEMIC
WATCH Trump hints at tariff South Africa eases strict curbs:
‘Fortunately, we are open now’
on China over virus ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHANNESBURG, MAY 1
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
WASHINGTON, MAY 1 SouthAfricabeganeasingoneof
Emmanuel Macron the world’s strictest lockdowns
PRESIDENT DONALD Trump onFriday,withrunnersanddog-
FRANCE Thursdayhintedatimposingtar- walkers returning eagerly to the
iff on China, but ruled out con- streets but not all wearing the
Lifewon'tbe sidering cancelling US debt ob- facemasksthatarenowmanda-
normalafter ligations to the country as a
punishment for the coronavirus.
tory in the country with Africa’s
most coronavirus cases.
May11:Macron He said debt cancellation is a
"roughgame"andmayharmthe
In Johannesburg, Cape Town
and elsewhere, people took a
Paris: President sanctity of the US currency. breath of fall air and some
Emmanuel Macron "We can do it with tariffs.We headedtothemallstobuywarm
warnedonFridaythatthe can do it other ways even be- clothes for winter, which brings
end of the national lock- yondthatwithouthavingtoplay a new challenge in combating
down on May 11 would that game (cancel US debt obli- President Donald Trump at the White House. AP the virus: flu season.
only be a first step as gations). That's a rough game," South Africa has more than
France looks to pull out of Trump told reporters in the East 5,600 cases of COVID-19. People exercise in Cape Town on Friday. AP
the crisis created by the Room of the White House. as he likened it to a public rela- Concern among health workers
outbreak of the coron- "Well, I can do it differently. I tions agency for China amidst remains high. On Friday, health
avirus.Traditional Labour
Day protests that usually
can do the same thing but even
for more money just by putting
the pandemic after it originated
in Wuhan.
workers, unions and civil soci-
ety members protested outside
MEASURES IN OTHER COUNTRIES sales has reduced brawls
and traffic accidents, according
see thousands of demon- on tariffs. So I don't have to do "I think that the World one of the country’s best- to police.
strators on streets were that. You know, it's approxi- Health Organisation should be known hospitals, Chris Hani DENMARK BANGLADESH Some workers found the re-
cancelled this year due to mately$1trillion,alittlebitmore ashamed of themselves because Globalpressure Baragwanath in Soweto, de- The country has slowly Bangladesh has reopened turn of business enough reason
the virus outbreak that as I understand it, $1 trillion. But they are like the public relations overvirusorigin manding personal protective reopened by allowing some hundreds of its garment to celebrate. “We were badly af-
has killed 24,000 people we can do that in probably a lit- agency for China," Trump said. equipment. classes to return to school factories this week after fected by the lockdown but for-
across France. “May 11 tle bit of a more forthright man- He also said he was confi- As the country eases down and hairdressers, tattoo nearly one month of tunately we are open now. We
will not be the passage to ner," Trump said. dent the coronavirus may have THE US, Britain, Australia one notch to Level 4 restrictions, parlours, physiotherapists closures, in a move critics had to listen to the leaders be-
normal life. There will be "You start playing those originated in a Chinese virology and Germany are among many businesses can resume as well as courts of law to say risks igniting a sharp causethisisaverydifficulttime,”
a recovery that will need games (debt cancellation), and lab, but declined to describe the nations that have pres- limitedoperations.Many mines, reopen. Prime Minister increase in infections. said Cameron Elihaz, who owns
to be reorganised,” that's tough. You know, we have evidence. “Yes, yes I have,” he sured on Beijing over the factories and agricultural busi- Mette Frederiksen said An industry group said a cellphone repair and acces-
Macron said. “There will the dollar to protect. We want said, declining to give specifics. virus. A statement by US nesses can resume work in "where we stand now about 850 factories are sories shop in Johannesburg.
be several phases and to protect the sanctity of the “I can’t tell you that. I’m not al- intel agencies debunked phases,startingwithonlyathird means not everyone can operating with fewer Accordingtoofficials,schools
May 11 will be one of dollar, the importance of the lowed to tell you that.” one theory — that the of employees. Restaurants can return to work as they did workers and following shouldreopeninphasesstarting
them.” dollar. It's the greatest currency The Wuhan Institute of virus was manmade. reopen for deliveries only. before the corona crisis." safety guidelines. June 1 with the first batch being
in the history of the world. It's Virologyhasdismissedtheallega- However, the calls for People are now permitted to Grade 7 and Grade 12 pupils, the
become stronger. We have a tions, and other US officials have Chinatoprovideanswers, leave their homes for exercise oldest classes in primary and
very strong dollar. That's why downplayed their likelihood. compensation or both between 6 am and 9 am. A night But the ban on domestic and in- icised as puritanical. But health secondary schools, respectively.
SINGAPORE we're borrowing at zero, zero US Secretary of State Mike continue to be voiced, curfew is in place from 8 pm un- ternational travel remains. officials warn that smoking But teachers’ unions have

Govtextends interest rate," he said.

He also said the WHO
Pompeo said on Thursday it was
not known whether the virus
particularly by leaders in
the United States.
til5 am.Publictransport,includ-
ing buses, can operate with re-
Even with the easing, sales
of liquor and cigarettes remain
might exacerbate respiratory
problems experienced with
protested, saying schools should
not reopen until safe conditions
stay-homespan should be "ashamed" of itself, came from the lab. stricted numbers of passengers. banned, which some have crit- COVID-19. The ban on alcohol can be assured.

forworkers
Singapore: Singapore on
WHO extends Russia reports record
declaration of
cases; PM tests positive
Friday extended the stay-
home period of foreign
workers, including
Indians, in the construc- global health
emergency
tion sector by two weeks
until May 18 as the GLEB STOLYAROV
COVID-19 infections MOSCOW, MAY 1
among the community Mikhail
continuetorise,constitut- NEW YORK TIMES RUSSIA ON Friday reported a Mishustin
ing majority of the 932 NEW YORK, MAY 1 record daily rise in the number
new infections reported. of confirmed coronavirus cases,
With the new infections, THE WORLD Health a day after Prime Minister ter,toldPresidentVladimirPutin
which include Indian na- Organisationextendeditsdecla- Mikhail Mishustin announced onThursdaythathehadbeendi-
tionals, the total number ration of a global health emer- he had been diagnosed with the agnosed with the virus and
of casesinthecountryhas gencyonFriday,amidincreasing new virus and was temporarily would self-isolate.
reached17,101,thehealth criticism from the Trump stepping down to recover. Mishustin, who had been
ministry said. The vast Administration about its han- The nationwide case one of the main coordinators of
majority of the new cases dling of the pandemic. tally rose by 7,933 cases and Russia’s response to the new
are work permit holders The move comes three now stood at 114,431, Russia’s coronavirus, was the first high-
residinginforeignworker months after the organisation’s coronavirus crisis response ranking Russian official to pub-
dormitories, it said. original decision to announce a centre said. licly say they have the virus.
“publichealthemergencyofinter- It said 96 people diagnosed Putinhas warned the peakof
SRI LANKA national concern” on January 30. with COVID-19 had died in the the outbreak has yet to come,

Govtextends At the time, only 98 of the nearly

10,000 cases confirmed had oc-
last 24 hours. That raised the of-
ficialoveralldeathtollupto1,169.
and the authorities have said
there could be a new spike in
lockdowninrisk curredoutsideChina’sborders.
But the pandemic continues MAY DAY TURNOUT Mishustin, the prime minis- coronavirus cases. REUTERS

zonestillMay11 to grow. More than 3.2 million

Colombo: Sri Lanka on

people around the world are
known to have been infected
An aerial view shows hundreds of protesters practising social distancing during a May Day rally at the Greek parliament, in
Athens on Friday. Rallies were held despite appeals from the government to postpone them until curbs are lifted. AP UAE: Over 32,000 Indians
Friday extended thelock-
down in the coronavirus
andnearlyaquartermillionhave
died,accordingtoofficialcounts. register to return home
Patients try to escape quarantine in Pak
high risk zones of the There is evidence on six conti-
country, including capital nents of sustained transmission. faced technical issues, prompt-
district Colombo, till May All of this led experts on the PRESS TRUST OF INDIA ing the missions to delete the
11, saying steps were be- WHO’semergencycommitteeto ABU DHABI, MAY 1 tweet about it and repost it
ing made to bring life and
institutions back to nor-
reassesstheevolutionof thepan-
demic, and to advise on updated M ZULQERNAIN
RECORD 1-DAY COUNT “OnThursdayagoodnumber
of COVID-19 patients mostly
solved after holding dialogue
with the patients. “They wanted MORE THAN 32,000 Indians in
hours later.
In a tweet posted in the wee

990
malcy. "The curfew in the recommendations,officialssaid. LAHORE, MAY 1 TablighiJamaatmembersrefused to go back to their homes before the UAE, who wish to return hours of Thursday, the Indian
capital district of Many countries have weak to stay (at the centre) and broke thecompletionof thequarantine home amidst the coronavirus Consulate asked applicants “to
Colombo and three other health care systems that could SEVERAL COVID-19 patients in openthedoorinabidtoescape," period,” he said. lockdown, have registered with bearwithitif ittakestimeforthe
high risk zones for easily be overwhelmed, even as Pakistan, including several said Mayo Hospital's chief exec- Muhammad Shabbir, a the Indian missions here on day page to load due to high traffic.”
COVID-19 was due to be the spread has appeared to slow members of the Tablighi Jamaat, utive Dr Asad Aslam who is also Tablighi Jamaat member, said one of the opening of the online “As of 5pm on Thursday, we
lifted on 4 May. This has in parts of Asia and Europe. quarantined at a centre here ■ Pakistan has reported a supervising the management of the centre's management had registration process, according receivedmorethan32,000regis-
nowbeenextendedtill11 “The COVID-19 crisis has il- broke open the building's main record 990 new cases of the Expo Centre Field Hospital. unnecessarily kept them in the to a media report. trations,” Consul General of India
May," an official state- lustrated that even the most so- door in a bid to escape, creating coronavirus in the last 24 "A law and order situation 'detention house' despite being On Wednesday night, the inDubaiVipultoldtheGulfNews.
ment said. Sri Lanka has phisticated health systems are a law and order situation. hours, taking the total occurred, however, police man- tested negative. Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi Vipul said the technical is-
recorded 690 confirmed struggling to cope with the pan- Over 400 COVID-19 patients, number to 17,439 with 391 aged to control the situation and Aslam said under operating announced the details of data sues took place because of the
COVID 19 cases with 7 demic,” said Dr Tedros mostlyTablighiJamaatmembers deaths so far, the health send all those trying to escape procedure, the patients would collection through the website huge rush of people trying to ac-
deaths so far. Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO arebeingquarantinedatLahore's ministry said on Friday back to the centre,” said Aslam. be discharged after their reports of theIndianConsulate in Dubai. cess the webpage on the
director-general. Expo Centre Field Hospital. He said the matter was re- will be negative twice. Within minutes, the site Consulate's site for registration.

OTHER TOP GLOBAL STORIES

US not releasing data on

Taliban attacks: Watchdog
Biden denies sexual assault claim: ‘It never happened’
At issue is an allegation from

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which
monitors billions of dollars in US
KATIE GLUECK
NEW YORK, MAY 1
Reade, a former aide in his
Senateoffice,whohassaidBiden
VICE PRESIDENT AUDITIONS UNDERWAY
KABUL, MAY 1 aid to Afghanistan, expressed its assaulted her in 1993, when he
concern in its quarterly report, FORMER VICE President Joseph was a senator from Delaware. Washington: Presumptive campaign, said the search for
THE US mission in Afghanistan which also discusses the reduc- RBidenJronFridaydeniedanal- The statement comes as a Democratic nominee Joe a running mate often takes
has for the first time refused to tion in ground operations of legation of sexual assault by a RACE FOR number of women’s rights advo- Bidenbegantheprocessof se- twists and turns because it’s
publiclyreleaseitsdataoninsur-
gentattacksamidtheimplemen-
Afghan forces.
John F Sopko, who heads the
former Senate aide, Tara Reade,
his first public remarks about an THE WHITE cates and organisations have
called on Biden to address the
lecting a running mate in
earnest on Thursday by an-
one of the few things a nomi-
nee can control after a pri-
tation of a peace agreement be-
tweentheUSandtheTaliban,an
watchdog, wrote that data on
Talibanandothermilitantattacks
accusation that has roiled his
presidential campaign. Biden during an interview
HOUSE matter,andasseveralpeoplehave
corroborated parts of Reade’s
nouncing a committee to vet
potential candidates. The
maryspentlargelyreactingto
surrounding political forces.
American watchdog said Friday. "was one of the last remaining “I recognise my responsibil- on Friday. AP claim, saying they recalled her panel’s work will likely last He said reverberations from
The decision not to release metrics SIGAR was able to use to itytobeavoice,anadvocate,and cally it never, never happened.” sharing elements of the story through July, he said, mean- the choice can last for years.
the data comes as the Trump report publicly on the security a leaderforthechangeinculture Responding to questions yearsago.Inhisstatement,Biden ing months in which some Biden has limited some of
administration is eager for the situation in Afghanistan." that has begun but is nowhere Democraticnominee,alsocalled fromMikaBrzezinski,Bidensaid said that women who make alle- candidateswillappearupone the mystery by promising to
US-Taliban agreement to be However, the office of near finished,” Biden wrote in a on the National Archives to re- that all women had a right to be gations “should be heard, not si- day only to fade and poten- pick a woman. Gretchen
seen as successful so President Afghanistan's national security Medium post. “So I want to ad- lease any existing complaint re- heard when they come forward lenced,”buttheirstoriesalsowar- tially be replaced with some- Whitmer, Amy Klobuchar,
Donald Trump can meet his adviserearlierthisweeksaidthe dress allegations by a former lated to the allegation. with allegations, and then the rant scrutiny. He went on to raise one who isn’t on anyone’s StaceyAbrams,KamalaHarris
commitments on pulling troops Taliban have carried out 2,804 staffer that I engaged in miscon- In an interview with facts need to be examined. But “thefullandgrowingrecordofin- radar the next. and Elizabeth Warren are
out of Afghanistan. attacks since the peace agree- duct 27 years ago. They aren’t MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, Biden he strenuously insisted that in consistencies in her story, which Scott Reed, who managed considered to be some of the
Washington's Special ment between the Taliban and true. This never happened.” said of Reade’s claim, “No, it is his case, “I assure you it did not has changed repeatedly in both Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential main candidates. AP
InspectorGeneralforAfghanistan US was signed on February 29. Biden, the presumptive not true. I’m saying unequivo- happen. Period. Period.” small and big ways.” NYT

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

11 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020

GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER

`41,705 `75.09 $26.15 `38,100
Note: Spot gold markets shut due to lockdown in major states. *Indian basket as on March 19, 2020

SENSEX: 33,717.62 ▲ 997.46 NIFTY: 9,859.90 ▲ 306.55 NIKKEI: 19,619.35 ▼ 574.34 HANG SENG: 24,643.59 ▲ 67.63 FTSE: 5,796.29 ▼ 104.92 DAX: 10,861.64 ▼ 246.10
Note: Stock, currency and bullion markets were closed on account of Maharashtra Day; international market data till 1900 IST

ALL PRODUCTION FACILITIES WERE CLOSED IN COMPLIANCE WITH GOVT ORDERS

After pharma, pesticide
Barringtractors,automobilesector industry eyes make in India
recordszerosalesinApronlockdown tionaliseanduntilthewholevalue seeninthesamemonthlastyear.
opportunity from COVID
HARISH DAMODARAN
NEW DELHI, MAY 1
The big opportunity
the industry has
‘Benavia’ brands, with their
patents expiring in 2022 and
2024, respectively), flubendi-
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY 1 Wholevalue chain chain starts functioning, there is
no point starting production.
Industry sources say that
close to 300 showrooms linked WHILE THE focus has been on to undertake is
amide (insecticide molecule of
Bayer CropScience sold under

OTHER THAN tractor sales, needstostart Naveen Soni, senior vice

president, Sales & Services,
totractormanufacturersopened
after the relaxations on April 20
pharmaceuticals, the issue of
“Chinese dependence” is com-
manufacturing of active ‘Fame’ brand and just gone off-
patent) and fluopyram (fungi-
which benefitted from lock-
downrelaxationsannouncedon
functioning Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “As
with many other sectors, with
and selling the tractors in the
zonesmarkedasgreen.M&Mre-
ing to the fore, especially post-
COVID-19, also in pesticides.
ingredients that are
scheduled to lose patent
cide, also of Bayer and marketed
as ‘Luna’, with patent expiry in
April 20, 2020, the automobile the closure of dealerships and sumed manufacturing in its India’s imports of crop protec- protection in few years 2024).
industry registered zero vehicle There is no point starting production, despite some manufacturing the operation of Rudrapur plant after the relax- tion chemicals — mainly the “The multinationals that
sales across the country. As the relaxations, as the vendors and showrooms also need to the automotive value chain has ations were announced. technical material or active in- have developed these active in-
country witnessedanationwide operationalise. come to a grinding halt. Restart Commenting on the sales gredients that go into making and thiamethoxam) and fungi- gredients simply import them
lockdown for the entire month Until the whole value chain starts functioning, starting of the entire value chain cycle performance, M&M president- end-use formulations—stoodat cides (thiophanate methyl). now. The government should
of April, impacting production output will be of no benefit. Nearly 300 showrooms linked and its restoration will be grad- farm equipment sector Hemant Rs 9,266.84 crore in 2018-19, India, in 2018-19, exported speed up the process of granting
and sale of passenger car and to tractor manufacturers opened after the relaxations ual as the industry is faced with Sikka said,”The extension of the mostof itcomingfromChina(Rs cropprotectionchemicalsworth registration for their manufac-
other vehicles across the coun- on April 20 and selling the tractors in the zones marked the challenges of low consumer nationallockdownimpactedthe 4,904.28 crore), the US (Rs Rs 22,090.18 crore, a large part of ture by domestic companies
try, leading automobile manu- as green. sentiments, rebuilding of dis- business, with dealers partially 1,050.69crore)andGermany(Rs ittoBrazil(Rs4,314.74crore)and once they have become generic
facturers — Maruti Suzuki India rupted supply chains that need open for just a few days.” 614.53 crore). the US (Rs 4,238.63 crore). “Our chemicals,” states Aggarwal.
Limited and Hyundai Motor factors of productions to be re- While he said that there are “Just as in pharma, the gov- exports are higher than the do- Potentialmanufacturersareper-
India—announcedzerounitsale stored that including return of severalpositivefactorsincluding ernment should encourage mestic market, the size of which mitted to reverse-engineer pro-
for April, a first time in any said that zero sales in domestic company, however, began oper- workforce etc.” a good rabi output, opening of backward integration by our in- is Rs 19,000-20,000 crore. prietary crop protection prod-
month since their existence. As market was due to “suspension ations and manufacturing on a Tractor sales, however, re- procurementcentresbythegov- dustry to reduce excessive re- Investing in technical manufac- ucts even during their period of
tractor manufacturing and sale of manufacturingactivitiesamid smallscaleatitsfacilityinHalolin sumed after the government re- ernment,indicationof goodcrop liance on imports of technicals, turing capacity will allow us to patent protection.
was permitted in green zone, the nationwide look-down.” the last week of April 2020 and laxed the lockdown restriction in prices,reservoirlevelsthataugur particularly from China,” says project ourselves as more seri- “The problem today is that
M&M announced sale of 4,772 While MSIL exported 632 hopesthatproductionwillramp- certain industries including pro- well for tractor demand, “The Rajesh Aggarwal, managing di- ous players in the global market. even after the data is submitted,
units of tractors in April. units from Mundra port follow- up in the month of May. duction and sale of tractors since rateof improvementwilldepend rector of Insecticides (India) Ltd. We can emerge as an alternative thegrantof registrationtakesin-
In its statement, MSIL said ing resumption of port opera- Leadingmanufacturers,how- April 20. Mahindra & Mahindra on how quickly the on-ground The Rs 1,250-crore annual sales global supplier to China of both ordinately long time. As a result,
that the zero sales was because tions, Hyundai Motors exported ever, say that there is no point sold 4,772 units in the 10 days of sales operations, including the company — along with UPL, formulation products and tech- we cannot launch any product
all production facilities were 1,341 units in April. startingproduction,despitesome operationinApril.ThesaleinApril start of NBFCs are normalised, Gharda Chemicals, and PI nical material,” adds Aggarwal. that has gone off-patent and
closed in compliance with gov- MG Motors too announced relaxations, as the vendors and was, however, lower by 83 per following the relaxation of the Industries — is among the few The big opportunity the makeitimmediatelyavailableto
ernment orders. Hyundai too sale of zero units in April. The showrooms also need to opera- centoverthesalesof28,552units lockdown,” Sikka added. major domestic manufacturers Indian industry has to under- farmers at a more competitive
of technical grade pesticides. take is manufacturing of active rate. Since the registration
“Wecanandshoulddomore. ingredients that are scheduled process is so slow, it discourages

Tesla scrip tumbles ‘Global recession, change in consumer Changes in consumer

behaviour will determine the
And this is the time for the gov-
ernmenttoalsohelp,”pointsout
Aggarwal, whose company
to lose patent protection in the
next few years.
These include chlo-
domestic manufacturing and
India ends upbeing a large-scale
importer of technical material

after Musk tweets attitude to shape economic activity’

As India tries to gain control over COVID-19 pandemic, the
segments that are likely to
flourish after the pandemic is
brought under control
manufactures technical-grade
products thatinclude herbicides
(bispyribac-sodium,pretilachlor
rantraniliprole and cyantranilip-
role (both blockbuster insecti-
cides of DuPont sold to FMC
from China, The ultimate loser is
the farmer,” claims Aggarwal.
Whether that pace would

stock price too high period of lockdown, global recession and changes in
consumer behaviour are the factors that will shape economic
activities going ahead, says a Dun & Bradstreet report
A near halt of all non-essential
activities in the industrial
and atrazine), insecticides
(lambda-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin
Corporation of US in 2017, while
marketed under ‘Coragen’ and
change after novel coronavirus,
has to be seen.

sector, and supply chains have

REUTERS
NEWYORK,MAY1
The subsequent
share drop erased
been significantly disrupted
Lockdown extension to allow calibrated
opening up of economy, says Ficci
Daily movement of trucks
SHARES OF Tesla Inc tumbled 9 around $13 billion falling to less than 10 per cent
per cent on Friday after Chief from Tesla’s market of normal levels
Executive Officer Elon Musk thewhole,”Reddysaid.
value and nearly Depressed global demand has ENSECONOMICBUREAU
tweeted that the electric car- The group suggested Ficciearliersuggestedthedis-
maker’s high-flying stock was $3 billion from the led to a collapse in global NEWDELHI,MAY1 tricts which fell in the green zone
overly expensive. commodity markets
that airlines should be should be opened in a phased
value of Musk’s stake
“Tesla stock price is too high,” THE TWO-WEEK extension of allowed to open for the manner. Public transport such as
Musk said on Twitter in one of As debt levels increase and lockdownwithnewguidelinesfor general public but after busesandtrainsshouldbeallowed
severalunusualmessages,includ- whether his tweet was vetted by loans turn bad, the banking opening up of certain areas and to ply only between green zones,
ing ones quoting parts of the US saying, “No”. sector might face challenges districts in the green zone will al- ensuring the principles whilethesevehiclesshouldavoid
national anthem and that he Muskhasahistoryof sending and this can cause a financial low “calibrated opening of eco- of social distancing makinganystopsintheredzones.
would sell almost all his physical provocative tweets. In August turmoil nomic activities,” Federation of The group also suggested
possessions. 2018, he tweeted that he had se- IndianChambersof Commerce& that airlines, which had been
The subsequent share drop cured funding to possibly take Industry (Ficci) president Sangita business activities, it is also now asked to suspend operations on
erased around $13 billion from Tesla private at a big premium, The collapse in global demand is depleting the savings and increasing Source: Reddysaid. opportune time for the govern- March 23, should be allowed to
Tesla’smarketvalueandnearly$3 which led a fraud case by the US the debt levels of households, corporates and the governments and Dun & “Whilearegularassessmentof ment to come up with the finan- open for the general public but
billion from the value of Musk’s Securities and Exchange will most likely create a channel for a new round of debt crisis Bradstreet/PTI thezonesandactivitiesisrequired cial package, especially for the after ensuring the principles of
stake. Still, shares remain up al- Commission. Musk settled by to further relax the opening up of MSMEs, and for the industry on social distancing.
most50percentfromthestartof agreeing to pay $20 million and

Amazon says India business

April. have a Tesla lawyer pre-screen
Morethantwohoursafterthe
tweets began, Tesla had not re-
tweets with important informa-
tion about the company. Amid pandemic, PM BRIEFLY
spondedtorequestsforcomment.
Twitterdeclinedtocomment.The
The subsequent share drop
erased around $13 billion from
reviews performance of worst hit among foreign ops Govtdefers
Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla’s market value and nearly
releaseofGST
Musk had responded to an email
asking whether he was joking or
$3 billion from the value of
Musk’s stake. aviation, power sectors ASMITADEY circumstances,inthiscomingQ2,
we’dexpect tomakesome$4bil-
mop-updata
NEWDELHI,MAY1 lion or more in operating profit. New Delhi: The government

Forex reserves fall PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA

NEWDELHI,MAY1
PM discusses
labour welfare AMAZONHASsaiditsIndiabusi-
ness has been the worst hit
But these aren’t normal circum-
stances. Instead, we expect to
spend the entirety of that $4 bil-
on Friday deferred the re-
lease of April GST revenue
collection data as the ongo-

$113 mn to $479.45 bn AMID THE COVID-19 pandemic

andtheresultantlockdown,Prime
MinisterNarendraModireviewed
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi held discus-
sions on labour welfare on
among its international opera-
tions. Talking to investors on the
Q12020earningscall,chieffinan-
lion, and perhaps a bit more, on
COVID-related expenses getting
products to customers and keep-
inglockdownandextended
return filing deadline led to
lowermop-up,sourcessaid.
almost$62billion. the performance of the aviation Fridayandsaidthecountryis cial officer Brian Olsavsky said, ing employees safe,” Jeff Bezos,
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,MAY1
In the reporting week ended
April 24, the foreign currency as-
andpowersectorsonFriday,with
afocusonreducingcostsandmak-
proud of its hardworking
labourforce.
“The biggest impact internation-
ally has been in India.”
founderandCEO,said.
Last month, the Ministry of TarunBajaj
AFTER RISING for the past few
sets(FCAs),amajorcomponentof
theoverallreserves,decreasedby
ingthemmoreefficient.
Reviewing the power sector,
“We discussed ways
throughwhichthissectorcan
He said the constraints of op-
erating during the lockdown pe-
Home Affairs (MHA) said the sale
of non-essentialsbye-commerce
takesoveras
weeks, the country’s foreign ex-
changereservesdeclined$113mil-
$321millionto$441.56billion.
Expressed in dollar terms, the
the prime minister underlined its
importanceinpropellingtheecon-
power India’s growth,” the
prime minister said in a
riod, during which e-commerce
playershavebeenpermittedtosell Shares of Amazon, the
companies would be permitted
only to reverse the decision a day
DEASecy
lionto$479.45billionintheweek FCAsincludetheeffectofappreci- omy.Theneedforaneffectiveen- tweet. only essential items, had meant world’s largest online before the rules were to kick in. New Delhi: Tarun Bajaj, a
to April 24, due to a fall in foreign ation or depreciation of non-US forcement of contracts to attract “India is proud of our cuttingbackonmerchandise.”We retailer, fell 5 per cent in Small businesses led by The 1988batchIASofficer,Friday
currency assets, according to the unitsliketheeuro,poundandyen private investment was also dis- hardworking labour force,” willexpandwhentheIndiangov- after-hours trade. Reuters file Confederationof AllIndiaTraders assumed charge as the
latest data from the Reserve Bank held in the foreign exchange re- cussed. Modisaid. PTI ernment announces that we are (CAIT) had strongly opposed re- EconomicAffairsSecretary.
of India. serves. At the review of the civil avia- allowed to resume operations. So sumptionofsaleofnon-essentials
In the previous week, the re-
serveshadincreasedby$3.09bil-
Goldreservesroseby$221mil-
lion to $32.901 billion in the re-
tionsector,itwasdecidedthatthe
country’s air space should be ef- supply of electricity to all con-
we are in bit of a holding pattern
except for grocery in India,”
$19.50billion.
The global e-retailer’s net in-
byonlinefirms.AMarchreportby
Forrester Research said e-tailers IDFCFirst
lionto$479.57billion.Thereserves
had touched a lifetime high of
porting week, the RBI data
showed.
fectivelyusedinamannerthatthe
flyingtimefortravellersisreduced
sumers.
At the meeting on the power
Olsavskysaid.
Losses for Amazon’s interna-
come for the quarter declined to
$2.5 billion from $3.6 billion in
areexpectedtotakeahitofatleast
$1 billion in gross sales due to the
Banktoraise
$487.23 billion in the week to
March 6, after it rose by $5.69 bil-
The special drawing rights
with the International Monetary
andairlinessavecosts.
Reviewing the power sector,
sector, he also discussed various
long-term reforms for enhancing
tional operations soared to $398
million in Q12020 from $90 mil-
Q1 2019.
Amazon said it could incur as
lockdownthatlimitsshipmentsto
essential items. The report had
`2,000cr
lion.During2019-20,thecountry’s Fund (IMF) fell $6 million to $1.42 Modi asked officials to work to- the sustainability, resilience, and lion in the year-ago period with much as $4 billion on COVID-19 captured the impact of the initial NewDelhi:IDFCFirstBankon
foreignexchangereservesroseby billion. WITH PTI wards ensuring round-the-clock efficiencyof thesector. operatingexpensesshootingupto related expenses. “Under normal 21-daylockdownperiod. FE Fridaysaiditwillraiseafresh
equity capital of Rs 2,000
crorefrominvestors,includ-
Court dismisses US manufacturing skids Zero net debt
to be achieved
Apple sales inch higher Non-subsidised
cooking gas
ing its promoter and a
WarburgPincusfirm.
ArcelorMittal despite virus, but CEO
application to 11-year low in April within 2020:
RIL joint CFO
price cut by NCLT
against Essar REUTERS
low 50 indicates contraction in
themanufacturingsector,which New Delhi: RIL chairman and MD sees uncertain future `162.50/cylinder transfers8
London: The Court of Appeal in
WASHINGTON, MAY 1 accountsfor11percentof theUS
economy.
Mukesh Ambani has accelerated
the timeframe for wiping out Rs REUTERS PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
members
Londonhasdismissedanapplica- US MANUFACTURING activity The smaller-than-expected 1.61 lakh crore of net debt at the SANFRANCISCO,MAY1 NEWDELHI,MAY1 New Delhi: The NCLT has
tionfiledbyArcelorMittalseeking plunged to an 11-year low in drop in the ISM index was be- company by bringing in strategic transferred eight members
permission to appeal against the April as the novel coronavirus cause the survey’s measure of investorsinkeybusinessesaswell APPLEINCreportedsalesandprof- NON-SUBSIDISEDLPGormarket- todifferentBenches.
London High Court’s judgment wreakedhavoconsupplychains, supplier deliveries surged to a ascommittingmoreequity. its that beat Wall Street expecta- pricedcookinggaspriceswerecut
thatrefusedaworldwidefreezing
orderagainsttheparentcompany
supporting analysts’ views the
economy was sinking deeper
reading of 76.0 last month from
65.0 in March.
In an investor call, RIL’s joint
chief financial officer Srikanth
tions Thursday, with Chief
ExecutiveOfficerTimCooksaying
byarecordRs162.50percylinder
onFriday,inlinewiththeslumpin Ogatanamed
of EssarSteelLtdandmembersof
promoterfamily.
into recession.
The Institute for Supply
A lengthening in suppliers’
deliverytimesisnormallyassoci-
Venkatachari said, “The zero net
debttargetwillbeachievedwithin
China sales were “headed in the
rightdirection”asthatcountryre-
benchmarkinternationalrates.
This is the third straight
president,MD
“TheCourtofAppeal’sdecision
given by Lord Justice Newey on
Management (ISM) said on
Friday its index of national fac-
ated with a strong economy and
increased customer demand,
the2020calendaryear.”Sincethe
August announcement, Ambani
opensfromthenovelcoronavirus.
But Cook said it was impossi-
Apple CEO Tim Cook. File monthlyreductioninratesofnon-
subsidisedLPG,whichuserswho
&CEOofHMSI
April 21, 2020, concluded that tory activity dropped to a read- which would be a positive con- hassolda9.99percentstakeinthe bletoforecastoverallresultsforthe have given up subsidy buy. Also, NewDelhi:HondaMotorsaid
ArcelorMittalUSA’s(AMUSA)ap- ing of 41.5 last month from 49.1 tribution. But in this case slower digital platform and decided to currentquarterbecauseofuncer- such as streaming television con- this is the gas that domestic it has named Atsushi Ogata
peal had no real prospect of suc- in March. That was the lowest supplier deliveries indicate sup- hive out Reliance’s oil and petro- taintycreatedbythevirus.Shares tent rose with billions locked in household consumers buy after newpresident,CEOandMD
cessandtherewasnoothercom- level since April 2009, just a few plyshortagesrelatedtothecoro- chemicalsbusinessintoaseparate declined2.4percentto$286.56in their homes. Apple saw China exhaustingtheirquotaof12cylin- of Honda Motorcycle &
pelling reason for the Court of months before the Great navirus pandemic and not entitytohelpaproposedstakesale extendedtrading. sales of $9.46 billion, down less ders of 14.2 kg each at subsidised ScooterIndia. PTI
Appealtohearit,”Essarsaid. PTI Recession ended. A reading be- stronger demand. toAramco. PTI Sales of subscription services thana$1billionfromayearago. prices.

Mumbai
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020 India lost the top spot in the Test rankings to
Australia, dropping to third after their
stupendous 2016-17 record (12 wins, one loss)
was eliminated from the annual update as per
rules. The latest update rates all the matches
played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those
of the previous two years at 50 per cent.

Postponement of Hundred
sees ECB chairman resign
Wushu beats the lockdown
COLIN GRAVES has decided to step down Shashank Manohar. Graves, who had Maharashtra state championship held via video app; nationals to follow later this month
from his position as the England and agreed for an extension till November this
Wales Cricket Board chairman on August year to oversee the inaugural season of
31 following the post- the 100-ball tournament, decided to end SHIVANI NAIK Organisers had to scale down
ponement of The his term early after the cash-rich tourna- MUMBAI, MAY 1 ambitions in how complex the
Hundred tournament ment was postponed due to the fast-
to next year, the ECB spreading COVID-19 pandemic. "With the AROUND 80 athletes, dressed up in their routines could be — so, no long
announced on Friday. launch of The Hundred unavoidably finestbright,baggymartialartsfinery,pulled weapons like swords or ninja
Graves, who was ap- moved to 2021, I have reviewed last year's their hair back tight from the face and took
pointed as chairman in extension of my term as Chair, and put a their steady solemn stance for webcams at
jumps that could be a problem
May 2015, will be re- request to the Board to now finish early, Maharashtra's first-ever online Wushu state on slippery house floors and
placed by Ian Watmore on August 31," Graves said in a statement. championship that happened this week. none of the Neo, Morpheus
after being ratified in the AGM at the end "There is still much to be done in the com- The30-secondroutinesinWushu’sTaolu
of the month. Graves is expected to take ing months as I continue to lead the ECB event comprises barehand and short Matrix-artistry.
over as ICC's next chairman, replacing during this challenging time.” PTI weapon defense and offense manoeuvres.
The Covid-19 crisis has halted every
sporting activity in any sensible nation look- how complex the routines could be — so, no
Badminton Worlds moved to Australia won’t allow sweat, ing to stem the rise in infections. longweaponslikeswordsorninjajumpsthat
avoid clash with Olympics saliva on cricket ball But shooting had a stab at competing could be a problem on slippery house floors
The badminton world championship slated Australia will not allow the use of saliva or from home and chess is thriving in this un- and none of the Neo, Morpheus Matrix-
for August next year in Spain will now take sweat to shine the ball once cricket training precedentedenvironmentof socialisolation. artistry. “Not even the terrace, and following
place from November 29 to December 5, the resumes in the post COVID-19 world, says a Wushu joins the small group of restless all social distancing rules,” says Sopan.
sport's apex body said, postponing its show- framework released by the federal govern- sports itching to find ways — as compact as Participants completed 30-second routines in Taolu, which is slow barehand India's Wushu practitioners — spread
piece to avoid a clash with the Olympics. ment, regarding the staged return of sports. they are — for some semblance of normalcy movements of choreographed techniques. Screengrab from Kashmir to the north east to inner
“The Badminton World Federation (BWF) There is speculation that use of saliva to under lockdown. Maharashtra districts like Jalgaon and
and Spanish Badminton Federation (FESBA) shine the ball will be stopped to cut down Jammu & Kashmir will also see 18 dis- Amravati — were quick to leave the couches
can confirm the BWF World Championships the risk of the highly contagious infection trictsconducttheironlineWushustatemeet the more popular Tai Chi event — which has —360and540degreesintheairandthedra- whenthenationalfederationgotactiveabout
traditionally scheduled for August 2021 will with reports suggesting that the ICC is con- from May 3-5, while the online Wushu served to alleviate edginess of its practition- matic accurate landings. In competition, the aggressively pushing for its athletes to incul-
now take place at the end of 2021 from sidering the possibility of allowing the use of Nationals will take place from May 25-29. ers even beyond this competition. Katke, the fringe benefits like mental peace, decision cate Wushu training in their daily regimen.
Monday 29 November to Sunday 5 artificial substances to polish the red ball un- Taolu Wushu which emphasises on slow brains behind the event, says he's been busy making and inner-mind control cannot be “They are using Tai Chi to help patients in
December," the BWF said in a statement. The der the supervision of umpires. According to movements—literallyataslow-motautcrawl these last two months training many in Tai calibrated. What does, says world silver Wuhan,” said the federation's Suhel Ahmed.
world championship has traditionally been ESPNcricinfo, Australian Institute of Sport — had most participants opt for Nanquan, a Chi online. “Besides being a sport at Youth medalist Shravani Katke, Sopan's 18-year- Videos of nurses and doctors taking Tai
an annual event, which is however not held (AIS) in consultation with medical experts routine which mimics the fighting poise and Olympics and Asian Games, Tai Chi has be- old daughter, is clean lines inthe movement. Chi and Qigong classes (with a China flag
in an Olympic year. But, with the 2020 Tokyo and sporting bodies has come up with guide- movementsof atigeronaprowl.Participants come relevant as something that helps im- “But movements are in slow motion. So strategically placed in widely circulated
Games postponed to next year owing to the lines, restricting the use of saliva and sweat attheMaharashtrameetwerejudgedonbody prove immunity," he claims. innerminddistractionsactuallyreflectinthe videos) for patients with mild symptoms of
COVID-19 pandemic, it will be the first time to shine the ball. The framework, which out- structure, shapeof thestance,balance,speed Though all such pronouncements come movement.Judgescanseeit.Butmostly,par- thecoronavirusinWuhanwereallon thein-
that the prestigious event will be conducted lines a staged return to play, has three stages and landing efficiency of the jumps, though with large-fonted disclaimers, Tai Chi has its ticipants rely on body posture, jumps, land- ternet. These were obviously after the worst
in the Olympic year. PTI — Level A, Level B and Level C. PTI degree of difficulty was capped given con- famous followers. Former first lady Michelle ings for points,” she claims. That and cru- stormhadpassedandthePPE-drapedTaiChi
straintsof spaceinsideahome.“Therewasno Obama is said to have hopped into Tai Chi cially, a good internet connection. performing nurses were gently coaxing pa-
Hungarian GP minus fans Pole vault showdown entryfee—afirstforstatecompetition,”Sopan classeswhenonanofficialstatevisittoChina Shravanirealisedalsothatwhiletheusual tients to resume some exercise. But it found
The Hungarian GP on August 2 will be Three of the world’s top male pole vaulters Katke, chief organiser, said. while movie star Jet Li is also a Tai Chi buff. pressures of performing in front of crowds resonance in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.
staged without fans in response to the will meet in competition on Sunday in Gajanan Pawar of Pune who picked a “It's to do with breathing techniques and arenotafactorinonlinecompetitions,some- Bhushan Marathe, a Wushu athlete and
coronavirus pandemic, organisers an- what has been dubbed the “Ultimate medal reckons it was his power-packed 30 it can be customised for knee problems, BP, thing else gave athletes sleepless nights. judgefromJalgaonwrotetothedistrict'sgov-
nounced. The race at the Hungaroring is Garden Clash”. World record-holder second gig that helped him pip opponents. hypertension,asthma,arthritisrelief.Usually “We'vebeenpracticingforthis30second ernment hospital andpoliceauthoritiessug-
following the example set by the British GP Mondo Duplantis, two-time world cham- “It was a first time experiment and I had to it's three-and-half minutes in international show for many days at home. It's literally gesting he could take basic classes on Tai Chi
and the truncated F1 season's new curtain- pion Sam Kendricks and 2012 Olympic consider the space constraints. But my per- competition (Taolu is 1 min 20 seconds) home territory. But even if there’s no public to help them deal with the stress.
raiser in Austria as likely to go ahead but in champion Renaud Lavillenie of France will formance had more power than opponents We've cut it to 30 seconds,” says the secre- pressure, imagine failing at home. Or not be- “The response was positive. And we took
front of empty grandstands. “It has now be- be connected via a live video link as they which is why I medalled,” he said. tary of the state Wushu association. ing able to perform while competing in the 2-3 sessions for the frontline doctors and
come clear that we cannot hold the 35th compete from their own back gardens. The Participants would finish their routine Tai Chi — more fidgety and fighting than area where we practiced 1000 times," she nurses, wearing PPE of course. And later for
Formula 1 Hungarian GP in front of specta- event, which will be streamed by World and then squint into screens to watch their yoga and Pranayam and acquiring a mysti- says of a patch created by pushing all furni- policepersonnel.Wecouldn'thelpmonetar-
tors despite all our efforts,” a statement Athletics, is scheduled to start at 1500 GMT opponents on Zoom. Pawar's younger cal fetish owing to its old association with ture against one wall. “I didn't want judges ily. But we thought this could be our small
from race organisers announced. The state- and will span three locations: Lavillenie in brother helped shoot and in checking the Shaolintemples,is increasingly gainingpop- to get distracted,” she says of not bothering help," he says. “It was possible only because
ment added that this decision was neces- Clermont-Ferrand, Kendricks in Oxford, lights. ularity even in India owing to its expansive with the peripherals like cushion covers. the cases were not too many and they could
sary to protect the health of fans. AFP Mississippi, and Duplantis in Lafayette. AFP On Thursday, many more competed in limbmovementsandgeneraljumpsandflips Organisershadtoscaledownambitionsin take some time out," he adds.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4107 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Everything seems to Please don’t lose
focus around how your head just
much you can afford, because all around
not to mention the you partners seem to
value you place on certain be losing theirs. The most
relationships. Money itself may positive way to use your
be a cause of friction, but you planetary energy at the
may also spend your way to moment is to get involved in
satisfying long-held desires. some sort of charitable venture.
Just check you’ve got the spare Do favours for others and you’ll
funds first. benefit within a few years or
even months.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
There’s a powerful SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
undercurrent in all You think you know
your affairs at the your own mind, but
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson moment, sweeping
you inexorably towards the
do you? Now is the
time to face the facts,
future. In fact, you’ll soon reach as long as you listen carefully to
an emotional high tide. It other people’s views. The only
seems inevitable that you must problem may arise if you are
be true to your heart, and this dealing with matters where
ACROSS DOWN will make it very difficult emotions count for more than
1 Fail in a raffle but get lucky at 1 Seat of learning, perhaps (4) to compromise. do your practical skills. And,
Russian roulette (4,1,5) 2 Angostura put out for Jason’s above all, don’t undervalue your
6 Jar for a kind of berry (4) crew (9) GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) own contribution to the world.
10 It’s to be seen on a rifle (5) 3 Greek upper chamber (5) You are bound to feel
11 She’s used to getting low 4 Anti-labour act? (7) just a little strung out SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
scores (9) 5 Journey on such a train can today, perhaps This certainly looks
12 Eliminate in 10 seconds flat only have one end (7) because it looks as if like an expensive
(5,3) 7 Free-style wrestling can your work is never done. If moment and, if you
13 Time for grammar (5) leave one so exhausted (3,2) you put your emotional know what’s good
15 He may go to an ancient city 8 Those who claim to be energy into achieving for you, you’ll stay well clear of
and sit in ruins (7) teachers? (10) something of value, rather than dubious financial involvements.
17 People out - on patrol? 9 Censorious to a dangerous frittering your time away, then Put your emotional suspicions
(7) degree? (8) you will soon begin to reap to one side and concentrate on
19 They pound away with 14 Details put as specified (10) the rewards. finding out what makes
mortars (7)
21 Brace of fresh lobster
16 A hot line arranged for the
opera (8)
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
someone else tick.

(7) 18 Charged with putting under You should state CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
22 Nothing turns up in the test, perhaps (9) your case and stick You are bound to
flower beds (5) 20 I’d enter uphill races beside to it. If you know meet your fair share
24 Now proud, then undone the motorcycle (7) that what you say is of criticism. In fact
before the fall (8) 21 They play in the alley (7) an exact reflection of how you the greater the
27 Painful reminder of the need 23 Examine a surgical feel, there can be little room opposition you face, the better,
for filling time? (9) instrument (5) for compromise. It is up to because you’ll be forced to
28 Not qualified to sum up (5) 25 Point out a device for others to realise that, just now, sharpen up your act, with good
29 Two-way agreement (4) climbers (5) you have to be you. I’m sure consequences for your social
30 Up-to-date description of 26 Sport may be part of the act, partners will be patient dreams and romantic affairs
Christmas (7,3) or vice versa (4) with you. in particular.

SolutionsCrossword4106:Across:1Elegiac,5Fibre,8Andantino,9Nil,10Ease,12 LEO (July 24 - Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
Egotists,14Rather,15Recess,17Virginia,18Isle,21Obi,22Implement,24Irene,25 Your planetary Whatever you’re
Lateral.Down:1Erase,2End,3Inns,4Cringe,5Frontier,6Banisters,7Enlists,11 aspects could not be doing, however you
Saturnine,13Definite,14Ravioli,16Dispel,19Extol,20Heat,23Ear. more challenging. feel, there are always
This is just a simple balancing factors,
way of saying that difficulties and right now excessive secrecy
should be welcomed as relating to feelings will be
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel5s
‘learning opportunities’. You compensated for by equally
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4196

may see this as a chance to grow forthright honesty concerning

Instructions in wisdom, maturity and ideas and opinions. As a
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, confidence, even if partners’ matter of fact, it may be all
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 behaviour is sometimes wild thoroughly confusing.
SUDOKU 4197

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe and unpredictable.

Happyisthemanwhomthe_____:sweetspeechflowsfromhismouth-Hesiod(5,4) PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) You seem to be
eachoftheninehorizontal It’s certainly a smitten by a strange
LPEEO AEEGLU rowsandineachofthe powerful moment, sort of divine
nineboxes. and you seem to be discontent, almost as
unduly affected by if you know that the grass must
the way other people think and be greener on the other side,
LOPSS ACUUMV DifficultyLevel feel. There may be nothing you but you’re not sure how to get
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; can do about it for now, beyond there. News from overseas
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; trying to get them to talk about might just bring relief, but a
5s=VeryHard;6s= their many fears and desires. mystical or spiritual approach
- Hesiod
Answer: Happy is the man whom the Muses love: sweet speech flows from his mouth Genius Don’t judge them too harshly. may reveal the answer.
SOLUTION: ELOPE, SLOPS, LEAGUE, VACUUM

VOL. LXIV NO. 103 PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, THE INDIAN EXPRESS (P) LTD BY MS VAIDEHI THAKAR AT THE INDIAN EXPRESS PRESS, PLOT NO. EL-208, TTC INDUSTRIAL AREA, MAHAPE, NAVI MUMBAI - 400710 AND PUBLISHED FROM 1ST FLOOR, EXPRESS TOWERS, NARIMAN POINT, MUMBAI - 400021. EDITORIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: EXPRESS TOWERS, NARIMAN POINT,MUMBAI -
400021. PHONE: 22022627/67440000. FAX: 022-22835726. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: VIVECK GOENKA, CHIEF EDITOR: RAJ KAMAL JHA, EDITOR: UNNI RAJEN SHANKER, EDITOR (MUMBAI): NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN.* (*RESPONSIBLE FOR SELECTION OF NEWS UNDER THE PRB ACT) ADDITIONAL AIR SURCHARGE OF `1 .00 - GOA. COPYRIGHT: THE INDIAN EXPRESS (P) LTD. ALL RIGHTS RE-
SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN ANY MANNER, ELECTRONIC OR OTHERWISE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. THE INDIAN EXPRESS®

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