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New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XCVI No. 80 n Price ₹5.00/with Hindustan ₹ 9.00 (₹ 7.50 in Faridabad)/with Mint ₹ 9.50 n 14 Pages + 2 pages of HT City. Area specific pages extra. FRIDAY, APRIL 03, 2020

TONY LEWIS, PART OF THE DUO BEHIND

DUCKWORTH-LEWIS METHOD, DIES AT 78 >>p13
ANOTHER
QUARANTINE
FOR NETANYAHU
A JULY WITHOUT ROGER FEDERER
FANS AFRAID THEY MAY NOT SEE THE LEGEND AT WIMBLEDON AGAIN >>p9
>>htworld p8

1,000,000 AND COUNTING

CORONAVIRUS DISEASE Cases hit seven figures worldwide, deaths exceed 50,000; spike in India
HT Correspondent
Plan staggered exit from
n [email protected]

NEWDELHI: At exactly 12pm IST on

FROM A MYSTERY TO A PANDEMIC, IN 93 DAYS lockdown, PM tells CMs
December 31, a 280-word report Headlines from news reports that tell the story of how Covid-19 spread to change the world
from news agency AFP made its
way to newsrooms around the DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
world. Citing local media, the HT Correspondents
DEC 31: JAN 4: China pneumonia FEB 11: Novel MARCH 11: WHO describes
report said a mystery virus was
causing “viral pneumonia of outbreak spurs WHO action as
coronavirus coronavirus outbreak as
n [email protected]
CASH-STRAPPED STATES ASK
China probes mystery lingers pandemic
unknown origin” in the city of First official response from WHO. named By now, there are over 118,000
NEW DELHI: Underlining India’s
CENTRE FOR URGENT FUNDS
Wuhan, where 27 people had been
infected till then. The story drew
pneumonia Infections in China rise to 44 'Covid-19': cases in 114 countries. 4,291
people are dead
goal of ensuring minimum loss of
life and detailing the next steps in NEW DELHI: The government sectors for products bought,
UN health
little attention, as the world pre- outbreak in JAN 9: Chinese report says
illnesses may be from new agency
India’s strategy to deal with the may borrow about ~40,000 services rendered, or such
pared to celebrate the beginning coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crore to compensate cash- things as subsidies.
of a new year later that night. Wuhan for coronavirus
New virus, tentatively titled
‘Co’ stands for corona, ‘vi’ for virus and
‘d’ for disease
pandemic, Prime Minister Nar- strapped states for their rev- In a meeting with PM
In less than 100 days in the new
year – Thursday is the 93rd day to
SARS links: nCov-2019, identified
FEB 23: Italy battles surging
endra Modi on Thursday indi-
cated that once the lockdown
enue shortfall under the
GST regime, and push its
Modi though video confer-
ence on Thursday, several
be precise – the virus has infected State media JAN 11: China reports first death
from mysterious pneumonia
coronavirus outbreak as cases rise
over 100
ends, the Centre and the states departments and public sec- state chief ministers
1 million people and killed 50,000, First news report covering the outbreak will together ensure a staggered tor firms to clear their ven- demanded that the Centre
ripping through 203 countries in outbreak, at the time thought to Iran's neighbours impose travel MARCH 19: ITALY OVERTAKES re-emergence of the citizenry. dors’ dues , to rescue them pay their GST compensa-
a rampage that will likely exact as be similar to SARS JAN 23: China locks down bans as coronavirus toll rises (AFP) CHINA'S CORONAVIRUS Interacting with the state chief from an acute liquidity tion, immediately release
epicentre of virus outbreak; nearly New epicentres of the contagion DEATH TOLL
severe an economic, social and 600 infected outside of China
ministers over a video conference crunch caused by the 21-day the wages of workers
psychological toll as the number Italy becomes the world’s from his residential office at 7, coronavirus lockdown, enrolled under MGNREGS
of casualties by the time human- JAN 24: WHO says 'bit too early' worst-hit country, with deaths Lok Kalyan Marg, the PM empha- three officials aware of the and sought help in Corona-
JAN 30: to declare coronavirus a global MARCH 25: exceeding China’s. A day later,
ity can beat it. Till now, a little sised that in the next few weeks, developments said. Apart virus relief efforts. The gov-
over 200,000 have recovered from India's first emergency
MODI DRAWS global deaths top 10,000 as
virus’s spread accelerates “testing, tracing, isolation and from states, government ernment is considering
the disease.
In India, infections crossed
coronavirus JAN 31: WHO declares LAXMAN MAR 30: New York state
quarantine” should remain the
focus areas of the local adminis-
departments also owe
money to companies across
their proposals, the three
officials said. ››P4
2,000 on Wednesday and the coun- case detected ‘international emergency’
over novel coronavirus REKHA surpasses 1,000 coronavirus
deaths
trations, according to an official
try was on course to add 514 more
on Thursday -- the first time daily in Kerala By now, more than 7,700 people
have been infected in 18 countries
India orders
21-day lockdown
By now, New York is a global hot
statement.
Many CMs praised the Cen- up health care facilities to meet but the state was represented by
new cases crossed the 500 mark. spot, less than a month after tre’s role in dealing with the out- the surge in the Covid-19 cases. its chief secretary.
across 4 continents to break chain
reporting its first case. The US
New fatalities too logged a big of infection break, especially in identifying According to an official, all During the interaction, Modi
too has the highest number of
jump -- 19 -- taking the total toll to infections and quarantining suspect cases states were represented in the spoke about formulating a “com-
72 in the country, which is in the arising from Nizamuddin meeting. However, only few CMs mon exit strategy” to ensure

APRIL 2: COVID-19 CASES WORLDWIDE SURPASS 1 MILLION

middle of a three-week long Markaz in Delhi. But nearly all spoke. West Bengal chief minis- “staggered re-emergence of the
nationwide shutdown to ensure states demanded more financial ter Mamata Banerjee was the population” once the lockdown
the coronavirus disease (Cov- support and help with ramping only CM not present at the meet, CONTINUED ON P 14
id-19) outbreak does not assume
the proportions it has in coun-
tries such as Italy and the United
States.
The United States is now the
ple,” US President Donald Trump
said earlier in the week, while
projecting that up to 240,000 peo- Jamaat accounts for lion’s Health workers, police PM Modi to share
worst-hit region, accounting for ple could die.
attacked in some states video message
more than a third of all daily new
cases around the world. New
York has lost 2,200 people and the
virus was on course to surpass
Italy, with a large ageing popu-
lation that is the most vulnerable
to the Sars-Cov-2 pathogen, has
seen the highest number of
share of Delhi’s infections BENGALURU/BHOPAL: Madhya Pra-
WHILE ASHA WORKERS
at 9am today
the 9/11 terror attacks in the next deaths at 13,000. Spain, the United desh police arrested seven people NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nar-
36 hours as the deadliest tragedy Kingdom, France and Germany HT Correspondents largely driven by Tablighi ple were evacuated from on Thursday for allegedly attack- WERE ATTACKED IN endra Modi will share a video
in a city that is at the heart of mod-
ern day pop culture.
together account for close to
20,000 fatalities.
n [email protected] Jamaat-linked infections from
states such as Tamil Nadu,
Tablighi Jamaat’s six-storey
complex in Nizamuddin since
ing and hurling stones at two doc-
tors in Indore, the latest in a
BENGALURU, TWO message with countrymen on
Friday amid a nationwide lock-
Almost 10 million Americans China, where the pathogen is NEWDELHI: The number of corona- where all 75 new infections March 29. Of these, 250 were for- string of assaults on frontline WOMEN DOCTORS WERE down to combat the coronavirus
filed for unemployment benefits believed to have mutated in virus disease (Covid-19) infec- reported the same origin. In all, eigners and 1,804 people were health workers by local residents SURROUNDED BY A outbreak.
in the last two weeks. either bats or pangolins to jump tions in the national capital about 9,000 members linked to shifted to different quarantine across India, complicating the “At 9 AM tomorrow morning,
The United States and Europe to humans, has recorded 3,300 jumped on Thursday by 141 – the the gathering in Delhi have been centres, while 334 positive cases already uphill battle against the MOB IN INDORE I’ll share a small video message
are largely being regarded as the deaths – with a rate of growth that biggest single-day increase yet – quarantined or are being sought were hospitalised, the official coronavirus disease. with my fellow Indians,” the
current hot spots of the pan- slowed into single digits only with nearly 92% (129) of them out to be isolated after they said. The attack in Indore came on woman, who was suspected to prime minister tweeted on
demic, with world leaders expect- after what has been a close two linked to the Tablighi Jamaat, a attended events at the Delhi Earlier in the day, Delhi chief the same day a group of Asha have come in contact with a Cov- Thursday.
ing “the roughest two or three months of lockdown in large religious group that is now building that is believed to have minister Arvind Kejriwal said workers were attacked and their id-19 patient, to accompany the Modi held a meeting with chief
weeks” in their country. “We’re parts of the country. feared to be driving the outbreak turned into a hotbed of the infec- that the number of cases linked belongings snatched in Benga- medical team for tests. Television ministers on the Covid-19 out-
going to lose thousands of peo- CONTINUED ON P 14 in the country despite an unprec- tion this month. to the Tablighi Jamaat could luru, policemen and medical per- visuals showed the 100-strong break via video-conferencing on
edented lockdown that has “The home ministry along shoot up since the government sonnel were pelted with stones in mob chasing the doctors and Thursday. In his last address to
forced people to stay indoors for with states and Union territories has decided to test all of the 2,346 Bihar and local residents clashes hurling stones at them. the nation on March 24, the
three weeks. launched a massive effort and people linked to the building. with law-enforcement authori- “We have been visiting the Prime Minister had announced
TRACKING THE VIRUS The number of fatalities rose
by two – both of these patients
about 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat
workers and their primary con-
The government has begun
action at several levels against
ties in West Bengal. Also on
Wednesday, relatives of a
locality for the past three days for
the screening of residents. We
a 21-day lockdown in the country
to contain the spread of the dis-
had also been to the Nizamuddin tacts were identified and quar- the missionary group, booking 49-year-old coronavirus patient had information about a person ease. HTC
GLOBAL INDIA building – and the country’s antined. Among these, 1,306 peo- its leader Maulana Mohammad who died at a government hospi- coming in contact with a Covid-19
CASES DEATHS CASES DEATHS overall number of confirmed ple are foreigners,” said Punya Saad under sections that punish tal assaulted the doctor and the patient…We were talking to the
1,000,168 51,354 2,520 (+514) 72 (+19)
INDIA DATA COMPILED BY COVID19INDIA.ORG AND CROSS-CHECKED
cases rose 2,520, also soaring by
a record number over Wednes-
day’s figure of 2006.
Salila Srivastava, joint secretary
in the Union home ministry, dur-
ing a daily briefing on Thursday.
offences that could lead to the
worsening of an epidemic and for
criminal conspiracy. home min-
staff on duty, alleging negligence.
In Indore, the two women doc-
tors were surrounded by a mob
person (the elderly woman)
when, all of a sudden, residents
got agitated and attacked us,”
Second virus case
FROM INPUTS BY HT’S CORRESPONDENTS AND NEWS AGENCIES
The national surge, too, was Srivastava said that 2,346 peo- CONTINUED ON P 14 when they asked an elderly local said one of the doctors. ››P7
linked to Dharavi
‘No evidence Covid Pak court overturns worries officials
will go away; need
17 companies asked
murder conviction
ICMR suggests antibody MUMBAI: Mumbai’s overworked
public health workers have a

to reorganise lives’ to help meet 38mn in Daniel Pearl case tests in all new hot spots
new, daunting challenge on their
hands -- Dharavi.
After a 56-year-old garment

Sanchita Sharma
n [email protected]
unit PPE shortfall NEW DELHI: Ahmed Omer Saeed
Sheikh, the terrorist convicted of
the 2002 kidnapping and murder
Rhythma Kaul
n [email protected]
contain the fast-spreading pan-
demic.
already have been infected, but
have mild or no symptoms,
shop owner died of Covid-19 in
India’s largest slum on April 1, 70
high-risk residents were quar-
antined. On Thursday morning,
NEWDELHI: There is no evidence to Sunetra Choudhury Singhal, a recent graduate of OP of journalist Daniel Pearl, had The test used now -- PCR according to experts who say the a second case emerged – a munic-
suggest that the coronavirus dis- n [email protected] Jindal School, didn’t anticipate his death sentence commuted to NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of (polymerase chain reaction) -- move will help us know how ipal worker who was assigned to
ease will suddenly disappear, in the first year of joining his a prison term of seven years by a Medical Research (ICMR) identifies the Sars-Cov-2 virus many have been able to fight off the area tested positive for Sars-
says Dr David Nabarro, the WHO NEW DELHI: How do you produce father’s business. Their Harya- Pakistani court on Thursday. advised on Thursday antibody from throat of nasal swab sam- the infection. The antibody test Cov-2. It is not just Dharavi’s
special envoy on the disease, add- millions of coveralls (a key part of na-based firm, Sai Synergy, was a The court also acquitted three tests (or blood tests) in areas that ples of people with symptoms or uses a few drops of blood to deter- population that is the worry, its
ing people may have to consider personal protective equipment or supplier of fire protective gear other men who were earlier sen- are emerging as hot spots of the high-risk individuals (health mine whether a person has anti- inhabitants live in some of the
new norms for the foreseeable PPE) that health care workers that was used by oil rig workers in tenced to life imprisonment. coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a workers and family members) bodies against the coronavirus. most cramped spaces in the
future. Commenting on India’s need when dealing with some- West Asia, till February. That’s Omar’s defence lawyer said, move that will ensure faster who might have come in contact While the results of PCR tests country. In an area measuring
response to the threat, Nabarro thing as infectious as the corona- when it received an SOS from the “Omar has already served 18 detection of all possible cases in with a Covid-19 patient. take up to five hours, the antibody 2.1 sq km, the slum has over
told HT: “This was really a far- virus disease (Covid-19), when, textile and health ministries of years... He will be out in a few these clusters and help authori- The antibody detection blood test results will be available in 57,000 shanties, and small flats,
sighted decision because it gave till last month, they were mostly the Government of India. days.” ››P13 ties buy some precious time to test will identify people who 15-30 minutes. ››P5 almost all of them illegal. ››P11
the whole country the opportu- imported ? Director of Research and Devel-
nity to come to terms with the How do you do so, and quickly, opment in the textiles ministry, NIZAMUDDIN BASTI
reality of this enemy. “ ››P6 when no one had a design specifi-
cation till February 27?
Balram Kumar, reached out to
the company to attend a meeting. Celebrated gurbani
Payment of motor,
For 17 firms that have been
tasked with making the coveralls
-- Hindustan Times spoke to six of
At the meeting, there were a
handful of other companies; all
had one thing in common: they
A peek inside the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz singer dies, eye on
health insurance
them -- it is a race against time
that involves dealing with raw
material shortage, workers wor-
worked with or made unwoven
fabric (used to make the protec-
tive clothes).
Mayank Austen Soofi
n [email protected]
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya,
which lies deep in the heart of
the basti. The Markaz’s grey
event he attended
premiums deferred ried about their safety, and learn-
ing to quickly produce under the
watchful and anxious eyes of the
The agenda of the meeting was
simple: could these companies
make PPEs?
NEW DELHI: Most nights, the
main avenue of Delhi’s tony
Nizamuddin East is as silent
building stands near the
entrance, very close to the
famous Karim’s restaurant,
AMRITSAR: Bhai Nirmal Singh
Khalsa, 67, a Padma Shri awardee
and a former hazoori ragi (Gur-
NEW DELHI: Last dates for paying government. “We were ready but it took as a grave. There is no traffic and a few steps away from a bani exponent) at Amritsar’s
all health and third-party motor And for the only laboratory some time and paperwork for the except for an occasional car, a great literary landmark: poet Golden Temple, died of a heart
vehicle insurance premiums that tests them, it simply means manufacturing to start,’’ said “Niz East” dweller probably Mirza Ghalib’s grave. attack on Thursday a day after he
falling in the lockdown period — working around the clock. Singhal. The work started two returning to his or her elegant The front facade of the six- was diagnosed with coronavirus.
March 25 to April 14 — have been It’s an experience that Tanmay CONTINUED ON P 14 apartment. The 17th-century storey building is studded “A health department team
extended to April 21, 2020, tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i- with long arch-shaped win- visited his (Khalsa’s) house on
finance minister Nirmala Khana remains shrouded in dows that look strangely simi- March 3 after we got the informa-
Sitharaman said on Thursday.
“The government has pro-
mustread darkness.
Sometimes though, in this
lar to traditionally built win-
dows seen in the bylanes of
tion that two guests... from the US
visited him. They were found
vided relief for third-party auto
TRUMP SAYS CHINA’S FIGURES DODGY silence, footsteps are heard — n The Markaz building in Nizamuddin area. MAYANK AUSTEN SOOFI/HT distant Venice – currently asymptomatic,” said civil sur-
insurance policy holders and those of men walking in small ravaged by the coronavirus geon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal.
health insurance policy holders US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the coronavirus groups, each holding a bundle Nizamuddin railway station Nizamuddin West, in the con- disease (Covid-19), another Khalsa then went to Chandigarh
in light of the #Covid19 situa- numbers being reported by China were “a little bit on the light side”. under their arm or on the to the Markaz, the organisa- gested and not-upscale-at-all thing it has in common with for a devotional event on March
tion,” Sitharaman tweeted. The China reacted sharply, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman telling head. They are the Jamatis, tion’s headquarters. It is Nizamuddin Basti. the Markaz building that has 19 where over 100 people had
reporters that “to slander, to discredit, to blame others or to shift
decisions have been taken in members of the Tablighi located across Mathura Road, This village takes its name emerged as India’s biggest gathered. The Chandigarh civic
responsibility cannot make up (for) the time that has been lost”. ››P8
public interest, a finance minis- Jamaat, on their way from the next to the equally upscale from the shrine of Sufi saint CONTINUED ON P 6 body has quarantined 84 people,
try spokesperson said. HTC who attended the event. ››P11
02 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

spotlight
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: METRO

Fire dept sanitises At city virus tracking hub,

Tablighi Jamaat
HQ in Nizamuddin, Markaz takes centre stage
adjoining areas We did not get a list of all those who had been in the
Anvit Srivastava
n [email protected]

NEWDELHI: Firefighters on Thurs-

Anonna Dutt
n [email protected]

NEW DELHI: “No entry from this

gate due to Covid-19”. This note is
stuck on the door of the four-room
› Markaz but left before the operations to vacate the
premises started. However, our teams are going to
mosques around the city to check whether they have
day sprayed thousands of gallons office in a Delhi government
of disinfectant in south Delhi’s building in Laxmi Nagar. The anyone who had been at the Markaz living with them.
Nizamuddin and adjoining areas, door opens to the hub from where DELHI HEALTH DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL
which has emerged as the single- all coronavirus disease (Cov-
largest source of the Covid-19 id-19) cases in the city are tracked
across India. and containment plans are had been at the Markaz living declared five of its hospitals -- Lok
A six-storey building — the charted for the infected. with them,” said an official from Nayak, Deen Dayal Upadhyay,
Tablighi Jamaat headquarters — So far, Covid-19 has infected Delhi’s health department who Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Guru Teg
has emerged as the biggest Cov- 293 people in Delhi, of which four asked not to be named. Bahadur, and Rajiv Gandhi
id-19 hot spot in India so far, with have died. An alarming 182 of The surveillance teams also Super Speciality – as designated
at least 182 people from there test- these cases, including two deaths, keep an eye on the amount of food Covid-19 centres. The five hospi-
ing positive for Covid-19 in the are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat being prepared at these establish- tals, when fully converted to Cov-
Capital alone, and more than xx headquarters at the Markaz ment to see whether there may be id-19 centres, will have at least
in hospital for showing Covid- building in Nizamuddin Basti, several people living in the same 5,850 beds for the patients.
like symptoms. More than 1,810 which has emerged as the biggest compound. There are also 75 isolation beds
people who attended the congre- coronavirus hot spot in the coun- The district surveillance offi- in Safdarjung Hospital, at least 32
gation have been placed in quar- try over the past three days. cer takes down a detailed travel beds at Ram Manohar Lohia Hos-
n A health worker disinfects a Nizamuddin resident’s house. One of the occupants of the house recently returned from the UAE and tested antine in the city. With staff from other offices history of anyone infected, trying pital, and over 100 beds in the AIl
positive for Covid-19. Health workers on Thursday went from door to door in the area as part of sanitisation operations. BIPLOV BHUYAN/HT Senior officers from the fire assisting the Covid-19 team as to figure out if the source was India Institute of Medical Scien-
department said Nizamuddin is numbers swell, there are around someone they came in contact ces (AIIMS) Jhajjar campus for

62% of Delhi’s 293 Covid-19

the first hot spot they were tasked 20 people here at any given time. with, or if they passed on the Covid-19 cases. The AIIMS
with sanitising and the exercise They type out letters, official infection to someone else. The trauma centre, with 250 beds and
will be carried out in other parts orders, and guidelines to be sent teams – comprising of staff from 100 ventilators, has been con-
of the city as well, if required. to health authorities; they call dispensaries -- then visit houses verted into a dedicated Covid-19
Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire nodal officers in Covid-19 hospi- in the vicinity of the patients to facility.

cases now linked to Jamaat

Service (DFS), said on Thursday tals and quarantine facilities for see if any of their contacts are Another key area the Laxmi
that his team had sanitised the an update on the number of showing symptoms. All the con- Nagar office tracks is testing. It
building (markaz) in Nizamud- vacant beds; and they make tacts are asked to self-quarantine receives real-time updates from
din, the lanes surrounding the arrangements for resources that at home, and are placed on com- government centres and, most
building and other adjoining resi- may be needed in the wake of a munity surveillance. importantly, eight private labs
dential areas. possible rise in cases. Officials from the district mag- across the city authorised to test
NIZAMUDDIN Two new deaths in the Capital have also been traced to the Markaz “We sprayed at least two fire This is also where the lists of istrate’s office have now been patients. “Since these are
trucks full of disinfectants. One positive cases and the people they roped in for surveillance. “If we patients who are not under our
Sweta Goswami of ₹5,000 for Delhi’s construction brought out from the Markaz are from abroad and 1,810 were cases fire tender usually carries 10,000 might have come in contact is find that the address provided is surveillance, our team is immedi-
n [email protected] workers will be extended to cover serious. So, we will conduct tests linked to the Markaz. By late litres of water mixed with sodium generated. These lists are then wrong or the people no longer live ately sent to their home to take
those operating public service on each of the 2,346 persons evac- Thursday evening, the count of hypochlorite. On Thursday, we sent to teams in all the 11 districts there, then we send the list of the history and start contact trac-
NEWDELHI: At least 182 (62%) of the vehicles such as auto-rickshaws, uated from there. Some of them those in government quarantine sprayed at least 5,000 gallon of dis- of Delhi over e-mail and What- people to the district magistrate’s ing,” according to a third official.
293 coronavirus disease (Cov- taxis and e-rickshaws. could be corona positive as more touched 3,075. infectant,” he said. sApp to arrange home visits and office. They take the help of the Data is shared with the state
id-19) cases in Delhi were linked “We currently have 208 active results arrive in a day or two. The The CM announced that the Garg added that they sprayed calls or what is referred to as police to find these people and health minister and the chief
to the Tablighi Jamaat congrega- coronavirus patients in various Delhi tally will then shoot up,” Delhi government will give a one- disinfectant on shutters of shut “community surveillance”. If the bring them to quarantine facili- minister every day. The officials
tion that took place in Nizamud- hospitals, out of which one is still Kejriwal said. time compensation of ₹5,000 to shops, footpaths, walls, parked contacts have developed symp- ties if need be,” said a second offi- from the hospitals, the integrated
din early in March, the Delhi gov- on ventilator and five are on oxy- He said it was vital that every- those who have a public service vehicles and other buildings in toms, they are transported to iso- cial from Delhi’s health depart- disease surveillance programme
ernment said on Thursday, while gen. The remaining 202 are sta- one followed the 21-day national vehicle (PSV) registered in Delhi. the vicinity. lation facilities in dedicated Cov- ment. (IDSP), and other government
maintaining that the outbreak ble,” Kejriwal said. lockdown to control the spread of The decision is likely to benefit On Wednesday, in a meeting id-19 ambulances for testing. The officials also keep in touch departments, also have regular
had not entered the community Out of the 2,346 people evacu- the disease that has killed at more than 250,000 owners of PSVs with the chief secretary and top There are five computers in with their counterparts from meetings with the ministers to
transmission phase in the ated from the Tablighi Jamaat 51,000 people worldwide. such as auto-rickshaws (nearly bureaucrats in Delhi, lieutenant the office, several files and lists other states for tip-offs on Delhi track the number of infections
national capital. headquarters in Nizamuddin, 536 Kejriwal narrated a tale from 95,000), e-rickshaws (around governor Anil Baijal had directed are arranged in piles, and geospa- residents who might have come and preparedness measures.
Between Wednesday and are in the hospital as they showed Mahabharata in which Yudhish- 85,000), taxis (nearly 75,000) and that the fire department be used tial maps of all cases are pinned in contact with positive patients The ministers and health sec-
Thursday, Delhi reported 141 Covid-19 symptoms, according to thir tells Vidur that neither the Gramin Sewas (over 6,100). in carrying out a disinfection up on walls to aid the officers. from other states. Alerts from retary, in turn, are in touch with
new Covid-19 cases. the government. The remaining strongest nor the fastest would “Many auto, e-rickshaw and drive in Covid-19 hotspot clus- The biggest task the authori- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the central government for
Chief minister Arvind Kejri- have been taken to seven govern- survive a forest fire and only taxi drivers have complained ters, quarantine centres and vul- ties have at the moment is finding Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir requirements such as PPE, test-
wal, in a digital news briefing on ment quarantine centres, includ- those animals that live in bur- that their income has stopped as nerable public places in the city. the people who might have left and Andoman & Nicobar are ing kits, and viral transport
Thursday, said the number of ing one in Tughlakabad Railway rows would see themselves they cannot operate their vehi- Garg said that even though the the Nizamuddin Markaz building what prompted the state authori- medium needed to collect sam-
deaths caused by the disease in colony and DDA flats in Bakkar- through the fire. “This coronavi- cles due to the lockdown. My gov- department is handling such a sit- before they started testing people ties to first inspect the Markaz ples. As of now, the health depart-
Delhi increased to four on Thurs- wala, Narela and Sultanpuri. rus is like a forest fire. Those who ernment has decided to give them uation for the first time, they are there on March 25. building last week. ment, and by extension the Laxmi
day, up from two a day earlier. The CM reiterated that the stay home will remain healthy,” Rs 5,000 each so they do not have fully prepared. “At present we “We did not get a list of all those All the hospitals in the city Nagar anti-Covid hub, is on high
The two new deaths were traced number of cases could increase Kejriwal said. to sleep hungry. Implementing have four dedicated teams, each who had been in the Markaz but with isolation facilities for Cov- alert to track people people across
to Nizamuddin Markaz, an further as the government Giving the latest figures of this scheme will take about 10 having one fire tender. If need be, left before the operations to id-19 patients also have a nodal the city who might have come in
emerging hot spot of infections planned to begin testing even those under quarantine, he said days since we are still devising more teams will be pressed into vacate the premises started. officer who sends updates to the contact with those from the
discovered late in March. those Markaz evacuees who were 2,943 people were in the govern- the system through which the action,” he said, adding that his However, our teams are going to office in Laxmi Nagar as soon as Nizamuddin Markaz building.
Kejriwal also announced that under government quarantine. ment’s quarantine facilities out of money will be disbursed,” he men have been provided with mosques around the city to check someone tests positive. “Many more will test positive,”
a one-time compensation scheme “The patients who were which 1,133 were those who came said. adequate safety gear. whether they have anyone who The Delhi government has says a fourth official.

F O R TA B L I G H I AC T I V I T I E S

Home min put 4.2k Sanitation workers in hot spots say

Admin of gurdwara in
Majnu Ka Tila booked
foreigners on visa they are working without safety gear Ashish Mishra Municipal Corporation (EDMC),
HT Correspondent
n [email protected]
mass gathering of people at the
gurdwara. The management offi-

blacklist since 2015 n [email protected]

NEWDELHI: With Nizamuddin and

Dilshad Garden emerging as the
said authorities have not yet pro-
vided him with PPE kits.
“We have been given low qual-
ity masks and gloves. These
NEWDELHI: Police Thursday regis-
tered a case against the manage-
ment of the gurdwara in Majnu
cials violated the government
orders that banned the gathering
of five or more people in any place
to avoid the spread of the corona-
Shishir Gupta Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Covid-19 hot spots in Delhi, and masks become useless within two Ka Tila for violating prohibitory virus,” a senior police officer, on
n [email protected] Gauba has told state police chiefs more quarantine facilities being hours of work, so it is like work- orders and the 21-day lockdown condition of anonymity, said.
to run a quick background check developed across the city, sanita- ing without any protection,” norms, after 227 persons from The officer said none of the 227
NEWDELHI: On Thursday, the Min- on them to ascertain their activi- tion workers have raised con- Kumar said. Punjab were evacuated from rescued persons showed symp-
istry of Home Affairs said in a ties. cerns about their safety. An EDMC spokesperson said there on Wednesday to prevent toms of the Covid-19 infection
statement that it has blacklisted According to North Block offi- The Akhil Bhartiya Safai Maj- that as per standard guidelines, the spread of the coronavirus. when tested by doctors at the
960 foreigners “present in India cials, Tablighi followers from door Sangh, an association of san- tests for Covid-19 are done only a They were later shifted to two gurdwara. A Delhi government
on tourist visas” for their abroad are put on an immigration itation workers, has demanded person displays symptoms. quarantine centres in the city. official said all evacuees are being
“involvement in activities of the blacklist if they are found preach- they be provided more effective “None of our sanitation staff has On Tuesday night, the police screened and their samples are
Tablighi Jamaat.” ing or proselytizing in India. It is protective gear, along with regu- shown symptoms, so till now had received information regard- being collected for testing.
As many as 4,200 foreigners not a violation to merely listen to lar screenings of sanitation work- n The SDMC used drones to spray disinfectant in areas surrounding there is no need to conduct Cov- ing a gathering of around 300 peo- “There were chances of people
have thus far been blacklisted by sermons from the Jamaat leader- ers and their families. the Nizamuddin Markaz on Thursday. BIPLOV BHUYAN/HT PHOTO id-19 tests,” he said. ple at the gurdwara in Majnu ka getting infected, as maintaining
the Home Ministry’s Immigra- ship, one of the officials cited in On Thursday, the South Delhi The official also claimed PPE Tila. Upon confirming the infor- social distancing was not possible
tion Department for flouting the first instance clarified. Municipal Corporation (SDMC) tify those who have worked in hot But sanitation workers said kits were meant primarily for mation, the Delhi government at the religious place. The man-
tourist visa norms and engaging Foreign members of the said it will start screening staff spots. Such employees and their they are not being provided doctors, paramedic staff other was intimated and 227 migrants, agement committee should have
in Tablighi activities, particu- Jamaat engaged in missionary deployed in Nizamuddin. families should immediately be proper protective gear. workers engaged in hospitals who were from Punjab, but work- informed the police or govern-
larly missionary work, since work on a tourist visa are black- With close around 40-50 sanita- screened for the coronavirus,” “In the name of protective treating Covid- 19. ing in Delhi-NCR, were evacu- ment authorities and got the
2015, according to government listed for two years. Since Janu- tion workers deployed in Nizam- Gehlot said. gear, employees have been given The SDMC on Thursday ated on Wednesday. migrants staying at the gurdwara
officials familiar with the matter. ary 2020, at least 2,000 foreigners uddin and a similar number in A senior SDMC official said the substandard masks and gloves. started a drive to sanitise areas Police said the FIR has been isolated,” the officer added.
The focus on the activities of particularly from Indonesia, Dilshad Garden, Sanjay Gehlot, civic body was “concerned” Many are made to work even neighbouring the markaz. It used registered under sections 188, 269, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Manage-
the Tablighi Jamaat has Malaysia, Bangladesh and Myan- president Akhil Bhartiya Safai about its workers and all neces- without these. I have convened drones to spray disinfectants in and 270 of the Indian Penal Code. ment Committee (DSGMC) presi-
increased after a gathering in mar have visited the Markaz at Majdoor Sangh, said sanitation sary steps would be taken. several meetings with the author- Nizamuddin East, Nizamuddin “The FIR was registered fol- dent, Manjinder Singh Sirsa,
March organised by it has been Nizamuddin, the organisations employees work at the forefront “So far, no symptoms of Cov- ities of the three municipalities Basti and surrounding areas. lowing the instructions of the said, “This is a desperate attempt
found to be responsible for hun- HQ. and, as a result, are prone to be id-19 have been observed in sani- but to no avail,” he said. The drones conducted 18 Delhi government since the gurd- to malign the services done by
dreds of Covid-19 infections Hindustan Times learns that infected with the highly conta- tation workers. We will screen Lokesh Kumar, a sanitation rounds, of 20 minutes each, of dis- wara committee did not inform Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Manage-
across India. in cases where a Tablighi gious virus. these workers in two or three employee working in Dilshad infecting operations, an official the police or the concerned subdi- ment Committee and the Sikhs
It is likely the first of its mem- preacher with a large following is “The civic bodies should iden- days,” the official said. Garden, under the East Delhi said. visional magistrate about the across India and the world.”
bers to be infected may have come misusing visa norms, then the
in touch with infected foreigners home ministry blacklists the per-
staying at the organisation’s son permanently. HT couldn’t D AY A F T E R C B S E D I R E C T I V E
headquarters in Delhi’s Nizam- ascertain how many preachers
uddin area.
While Maulana Saad, the
fourth emir of Jamaat, has made
it clear, from his quarantine-base
have been permanently black-
listed since 2015.
A foreigner on the blacklist
will not be given a visa again for
Most pvt schools say exams ended before lockdown
that Tablighi workers must fol- two years. Now the home minis- HT Correspondents and government schools of north- “We are considering evaluat- March 10 and 15, like every year.
low medical advice, the initial try is debating if it should extend n [email protected] east Delhi where exams were first ing students based on internal Many had also declared the
resistance or hesitation by the the validity of the blacklist to at suspended in February due to assessments conducted through- results before the lockdown was
group in following government least four years or more to send a NEWDELHI: A day after the Central communal riots and in March out the year and the annual announced. However, some
guidelines regarding large gath- strong message. Board of Secondary Education after Covid-19 hit the Capital. exams that were held until the schools were yet to conduct the
erings, social distancing, and the “Under the existing provi- (CBSE) advised its affiliated On Wednesday, the CBSE lockdown was announced. We compartment exams.”
nationwide lockdown has been sions, such kind of visa violations schools to promote all Class 9 and directed its schools to promote will have to plan everything dif- Deeksha Khera, principal of
blamed for a spike in positive do not attract permanent black- Class 11 students to the next students of these classes based on ferently for north-east Delhi DPS Mathura Road, said, “All our
cases all over India. listing. But we intend to revisit grades based on their internal internal assessments. schools,” the official said. papers were conducted before the
The home ministry has the issue,” said a second official. assessments given the Covid-19 The internal assessment gen- Gayyur Ahmed, principal of lockdown because generally
directed Delhi Police and the A Delhi police officer, who did pandemic, a majority of private erally carries 20% weightage in Sarvodya Bal Vidyalaya in Jama exams are already done by that
police of other states to act not wish to be named, said legal schools in the city on Thursday the final results. It includes unit Masjid, said the schools are ready period. The results were declared
against these foreigners under action against Jamaat members, said they had managed to conduct tests, projects, practicals and with the internal assessment online keeping social distancing
the Foreigners Act and the Disas- who violated their visa condi- the exams for these classes before extracurricular activities. marks of these classes. “We will measures in mind.”
ter Management Act. tions, will entail registration of the lockdown began, while those A senior official in Delhi gov- promote the students as soon as Experts said it was the best
The government on Thursday cases against them and arrest. run by the Delhi government said ernment’s education department we receive a direction from the alternative the CBSE could have
said among 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat The Tablighi Jamaat, an off- they were yet to take a call on said that in their schools, only the government,” he said. come up with at the moment. Shy-
members, who are under quaran- shoot of the Deobandi movement, ways to implement the direction. Urdu language exam was left for Bharat Arora, general secre- ama Chona, an education expert,
tine across the country, 1,306 are preaches on how to be a good In Delhi government schools, Class 9 students and sociology tary of the action committee of said, “The schools can now test
foreigners. Muslim by focusing on Quran which are also affiliated to the and engineering graphic exams private unaided schools, an these students immediately after
About 216 foreigners were still and Hadiths while also incorpo- CBSE, one exam was yet to be for Class 11. However, govern- umbrella group of around 1,000 they get promoted to the next
in the six-storey building in cen- rating some local traditions. In conducted for Class 9 and two for ment schools in north-east Delhi private schools in Delhi, said, grades just to assess their learn-
tral Delhi when Indian officials that way, it is different from Ahle- Class 11 before the lockdown was were yet to take at least four “Almost all schools affiliated to ing levels so they can bring the
began their evacuation a few days Hadith and Wahabbi movements announced. However, the situa- exams for Class 9 and five for our organisation had completed students at par in another two- n Homeless people and those stranded due to the lockdown are given
back. of Islam. tion is different in both private Class 11. their internal exams between three months in the same class.” food at Yamuna Pushta near Nigambodh Ghat. SANCHIT KHANNA/HT
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 03

p g
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: METRO

Capital catching up to Shortage at some of Delhi’s

handle inevitable spike food camps, excess at others
HT Correspondents
n [email protected]

COVID-19 Delhi is not testing enough people to have the complete picture of the spread of NEWDELHI: The free lunch and din-
the disease. But, on the other hand, it is ramping up its hospital infrastructure to treat patients ner programme that is being run
by the Delhi government for
nearly a week now, has grown to
Anonna Dutt of Covid patients. All the trauma 2,800 centres across the city.
n [email protected] cases are now being redirected to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kej-
the main AIIMS campus. riwal said on Thursday that the
NEW DELHI: Across ministries in The Rajiv Gandhi Super Speci- Delhi government served lunch
the Delhi government, in hospi- ality hospital in Tahirpur already to 5,85,386 and dinner to 5,79,162
tals treating Covid-19 patients, has 400 beds for Covid-19 patients people at around 1,423 centres.
and among health experts closely and is adding another 100 in the “We are feeding 3.5 lakh-4 lakh
tracking the pandemic and its next few days. There are 25 venti- people daily, and will start feed-
spread, there is a degree of una- lators in the hospital. “We had ing 10-12 lakh people from tomor-
nimity — Delhi is about to see a stopped our elective procedure row. We found that people were
rise in cases. and started discharging people crowding at food centres. So we
But if this is the hypothesis, is who were getting better. Now, we decided to create more centres,”
Delhi ready? have very few non-Covid-19 cases he added in a videoconference.
Interviews with five key offi- in the hospital and they will be On Thursday, Hindustan
cials across the city government discharged soon too,” said an offi- Times reporters visited about a
and in hospitals presents a mixed cial. dozen of the centres set up by the
picture. The Lok Nayak hospital has Delhi government and found that
Delhi is not testing enough shifted its out-patient clinics to a a few facilities were out of food.
people to have a full sense of the separate orthopaedics block, the And that some remain crowded.
spread of the disease. It is also suf- medical emergency facilities to a Some of the centres are in shel-
fering from a shortage of personal separate new emergency block, ters run by the state. Others are in n People queue up to collect food outside a distribution centre near the Akshardham flyover. The Delhi
protective equipment (PPEs), and surgical emergency facilities schools. government is feeding nearly 350,000 to 400,000 people daily through such centres . RAJ K RAJ/HT PHOTO
which has put health care work- to its Sushruta Trauma Centre in According to Sujit Kumar,
ers in the line of danger. n A security guard checks the temperature of a customer in front of a Civil Lines. caretaker of one of the bigger the left over food in nearby colo- because it is located in a gated res- Nagar, Ramesh Yadav, 43 who
But it is ramping up its hospital store in Saket on Thursday . The city has so far witnessed 219 “The hospital has dedicated 35 shelters run by the Delhi Urban nies. Today also we have a lot of idential area. School authorities was brought to a shelter by the
infrastructure to treat Covid-19 Covid-19 positive cases and four deaths. AMAL KS/HT PHOTO ventilators for Covid-19 patients Shelter Improvement Board Rajma and rice left,” said Ravi said the food was transferred to police four days ago, said he
patients, putting in place isola- currently; we need ventilators for (DUSIB) in Sarai Kale Khan, Chandran, an official from the another government school in doesn’t mind staying, but is get-
tion facilities, and maintaining a S K Sarin, director of the Insti- tors. I am in touch with suppliers, our emergency cases too. There lunch and dinner are prepared Delhi government’s education the nearby Chilla village. ting less to eat.
reserve of ventilators for severe tute of Liberty and Biliary Sci- manufacturers. I have also are about 88 ventilators at GB for around 500 persons twice a department, who is overseeing At the centres at AIIMS, and “We are labourers and are
cases. This means, experts advis- ence, is the head of a medical com- requested industrialists to Pant hospital that can also be day, but on Thursday 600-700 peo- the arrangements in a school in the one at Yamna Pushta, there used to eating three meals a day.
ing the government suggest, that mittee which is advising chief donate PPEs for the doctors, used later on when the numbers ple turned up for lunch. Ghazipur which has been turned was no shortage. Both are in shel- Here there is nothing in the morn-
if there are 100 new cases every minister Arvind Kejriwal on Cov- instead of the donation in the CM go up,” said Dr JC Passey, medi- “There are two more centres in into a centre. ters and at the latter, close to 1,000 ing. The first meal comes around
day, Delhi will be able to handle it. id-19. In its report, the committee relief fund,” Kejriwal said. cal director of the Lok Nayak nearby colonies, both of which The hunger relief centre in people are served two meals a midday a small bowl of khichdi or
has said that Delhi is prepared to Sarin — the head of the medi- campus. are within walking distance but Vasant Vihar’s C block is in a day. dal-rice. The quantity is too less.
THE NUMBERS deal with 100 cases daily. cal committee — suggested that Countries across the world, have fewer takers. But because school in a quiet residential lane Vinay K Stephen, chief func- Another meal comes at 7pm,
As of Thursday evening, 219 peo- “The committee will prepare a people with businesses overseas where cases have spiked, have this centre falls along the main inside a colony, where most gates tionary, Sadik Masih Medical which again is not enough,” said
ple have tested positive in the city blueprint of what we have and should donate PPE kits to man- struggled with providing ventila- road, a lot of people turn up have been closed because there Social Servant Society which Yadav, who is one of the 41people
and four have died. what is needed in the next three to age the disease. “Many people are tors for those with severe symp- here.We have asked for an are no guards. The school itself is manages some of the shelters staying in the government school
Of the 219, 108 cases are among four days.,” said Sarin. donating food to the poor, but the toms. But the medical committee increase in supplies, “ he added. in a part of the block that doesn’t said, “After the government that has been converted into a
people from the Nizamuddin government is already making advising the government Similarly, the Kalindi Kunj have access gates. Like in some of opened new centres to provide shelter.
Markaz. The numbers are likely THE PPE CHALLENGE arrangements for that. What we believes that there are enough centre, which again doubles up as the other camps, there have been food to migrants and poor people, He added that the policemen
to rise further, with reports of At the moment, Delhi’s biggest really need are PPE kits and I ventilators in the city for now. a shelter, cooks for around 50 peo- complaints of social distancing there is not much pressure on picked him up when he was walk-
most of the 536 people in hospital challenge is a shortage of PPEs, would suggest all those who have ple a day, but in the last 3-4 days, norms not being maintained in shelter homes . We are providing ing back to his rented accommo-
isolation yet to come back. which are essential to prevent businesses overseas buy the kits TESTING CAPABILITY 60-70 persons have started turn- this camp. A park in front of the food to 3,000 people daily. We are dation in Paharganj from the
The number of infected cases infection among the medical staff there and ship it to government But even if the infrastructure for ing up for each meal. “Some have school has become a place for just hoping that the government Anand Vihar ISBT, after failing
could also rise because all those who interact with Covid-19 here,” said Sarin. a limited number of cases is to return hungry,” said Afzal those who come to the camp to releases the payment soon, as we to catch a bus back to Uttar Pra-
who have flown in from interna- patients. Eight doctors in the city slowly being put in place, there Khan, caretaker. hang out, before or after meals. are running out of funds.” desh. “There are eight of us here
tional destinations are not yet out have already got infected with the HOSPITAL INFRA remains uncertainty over how But, at other centres in Ghazi- The government has set up two Nearly 2,500 schools and 250- from the same area. I want to
of the danger zone. It could rise virus, and there are reports of On the positive side of planning, many people in the city actually pur, Patparganj and Mayur more centres at Kusum Pahari night shelters have started dis- request the authorities to let us go
because of the huge congrega- medical staff in hospitals contem- however, the government has have the infection — and that is Vihar Phase 2, there was excess and Bhawar Singh Camp to cater tributing food to 500 people a day, back to the room where we can
tions of migrant workers Delhi plating resignations. ramped up its health infrastruc- because of the low rates of testing. food. “We do not use the same to the poor in Vasant Vihar. each bringing the total number of cook and feed ourselves or give us
saw in the aftermath of the When cases surge, the short- ture dedicated to Covid-19 cases. Kejriwal has requested the meal for dinner since it is getting In Mayur Vihar Phase 1, the distribution centres in the city to enough to eat,” said Yadav, who
announcement of the lockdown. age will create a deeper crisis. It has declared five of its terti- Centre for more test kits. warm. So we ask our civil defence food centre at Janki Devi SKV nearly 2,800. stitches bags at a workshop in
It could rise because those who “We are ensuring that the PPE get ary care hospitals — Lok Nayak There is also a lag of two to volunteers to go and distribute school no longer serves as one In central Delhi’s Rajendra Paharganj for a living.
are at the forefront of battling the used rationally — everybody who hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Superspe- three days in receiving reports.
disease — the health workers — enters the ward, including the ciality hospital, Baba Saheb “Right now we are testing
themselves are getting infected. It sanitation staff, has to put on the Ambedkar hospital, Deen Dayal about 4,000 to 5,000 people a day
could rise because one person — protective gear. We have enough Upadhyay hospital, and Guru across the country. This is a very
any one person — may emerge as at the moment, but there can be a Teg Bahadur Hospital — as dedi- small number. My feeling is that
a “super spreader”. Or it could scarcity in the future ,” said a doc- cated Covid-19 facilities. This will Delhi alone should test about
rise just because India may be at tor from AIIMS. earmark at least 5,850 beds for the 3,000 people a day. Now that we
the stage of community transmis- The Delhi CM on Wednesday management of Covid-19 have kits that can be manufac-
sion — where the source of the appealed to the Centre to ensure patients. These hospitals are tured indigenously, we should be
infection cannot be located — the availability of more PPEs, working on moving their non- more liberal,” said Sarin.
despite the government empha- which are in short supply. Covid-19 patients to secluded He added, somewhat omi-
sising that this is not yet the case. “I want to assure the doctors building or other facilities. The nously, “I think, by nature’s
The government believes it is that the government is with you. AIIMS trauma centre, with 250 design, community transmission
ready to deal with this spike — I am personally pursuing the sup- beds and 100 ventilators, has also must have started — I would be
but up to a point. ply of sufficient PPE for the doc- been dedicated for the treatment very surprised if it hasn’t.”

9-month pregnant
wife of AIIMS doc
also tests positive
for Covid-19
HT Correspondent
n [email protected]

GURUGRAM: Hours after a doctor

from the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) tested
positive for Covid-19 on Thurs-
day, his nine-month pregnant
wife, too tested positive for the
infection.
The AIIMS doctor’s wife is the
first pregnant woman in the city
to have tested positive for the
virus.
So far, the health ministry has
no guidelines for managing Cov-
id-19 during pregnancy. The
World Health Organisation says
that there is limited data on the
impact of Covid-19 on pregnant
woman, but so far there is no evi-
dence of higher risk of severe ill-
ness.
The 28-year-old doctor from
AIIMS worked in the physiology
department of the hospital and
had not come in direct contact
with any Covid-19 patient being
treated there. He has been admit-
ted to an isolation facility with his
wife. Their three year old daugh-
ter has also been admitted to the
hospital as a suspected Covid-19
case. They did not have a history
of foreign travel.
“We have not been able to
establish where he got the virus
from as he has no history of inter-
national travel and he was not
involved in treating patients with
Covid-19. The only history that
we have come to know is that he
had gone to a mosque, but we are
not sure whether he got the infec-
tion there,” said Dr DK Sharma,
medical superintendent of
AIIMS.
It is unclear which mosque the
doctor had visited in the city.
At least five other doctors have
tested positive for Covid-19 in the
past one week, officials said.
04 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

p g
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: NATION

Govt may borrow ₹40k crore as

DISPATCH 16
cash-strapped states seek funds
RELIEF MEASURES Move aimed at compensating states for their revenue shortfall under GST regime, say officials
HT Correspondent essential items, medicines and
n [email protected] medical equipment, advance pay-
MAHARASHTRA RAJASTHAN

Covid-19: What NEW DELHI: The government may

borrow about ₹40,000 crore to
compensate cash-strapped states
for their revenue shortfall under
n ~16,000 cr pending
GST compensation to
be released
n Permission to procure
WEST BENGAL
n ~25,000
pandemic
crore grant to fight the

n ~36,000 cr under different accounts

that had not been released earlier
n ~1
n
lakh-crore grant
Cancellation of interest
payment to RBI and
other central financial
ment of wages to registered and
active MNREGS workers and
demanded cancellation of pay-
ment of interest to the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) and other cen-

you need to the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

regime, and push its departments
and public sector firms to clear
their vendors’ dues , to rescue
and manufacture PPE
kit and N-95 masks
n Approval to start
antibody testing on a
n Immediate release of GST compensa-
tion and cess amount
n Protective suits for medical staff
institutions
n Allowing the state to
take loans of up to 2%
of its GDP
tral financial institutions. Some
CMs including Thackeray also
demanded immediate distribu-
tion of Coronavirus safety equip-

know today them from an acute liquidity mass scale ment and testing kits.
crunch caused by the 21-day coro- Odisha chief minister Naveen
navirus lockdown, three officials CHHATTISGARH Patnaik did not present any wish-
familiar with the matter said. ANDHRA PRADESH WHAT n Deposit of ~750 per month for
list in the video conference with
Apart from states, government PM Modi, but he wrote to him ear-
R Sukumar departments also owe money to
n Immediate supply of
medical and safety
STATES next three months in every Jan
Dhan account lier this week demanding unem-
firms across sectors for products equipment WANT FROM n Special relief package,
ployment allowance to 3.61 mil-
s Delhi prepared? bought, services rendered, or lion MGNREGS workers in the

I
n Release of all pending
That isn’t a question designed to be such things as subsidies. funds
CENTRE including advance payment
and unemployment allowance, state for the lockdown period of 21
alarmist. On Thursday, the number of Cov- In a meeting with the Prime n Raising fiscal deficit limit for MGNREGA workers days. He requested the Centre to
id-19 cases in Delhi rose to 293, driven Minister Narendra Modi through for the next financial year allow the state to utilise ₹380.39
upward by more people who attended the video conference on Thursday, crore from the MNREGS fund to
gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat at its HQ several state chief ministers BIHAR PUNJAB provide the unemployment
testing positive. That trend is likely to con- demanded that the Centre pay ODISHA n Raising
allowance for 21 days.
fiscal deficit limit to n Release of ~6752.83 crore
their GST compensation, imme- n Unemployment allowance 4% from existing 3% Chhattisgarh chief minister
tinue — in terms of both an increase in towards the state’s arrears of
diately release the wages of work- for registered MGNREGA n A million N-95 masks, half a
Bhupesh Baghel in a letter to PM
cases, and more from the Jamaat gathering GST compensation
ers enrolled under the Mahatma workers million PPE kits and 100 Modi on Wednesday demanded
testing positive. Hundreds evacuated n 15-day unemployment
Gandhi National Rural Employ- n Funds to buy protective ventilators the allocation of a special relief
from the Markaz Nizamuddin are in allowance per month for three
ment Guarantee Scheme equipment for medical n Availability of medicines, months on 90:10 Centre-state
package for labourers under
hospitals in Delhi; around 1,800 are (MGNREGS) and sought help in MGNREGS. He also requested a
staff
LESSONS in quarantine. Which is why this
is an opportune time to ask the
Coronavirus relief efforts. The
government is considering their
medical equipment sharing pattern
support of ₹750 per month to all
Jan-Dhan account holders for the
FROM NY question.
Is Delhi prepared?
proposals, the three officials said.
The cabinet secretariat and the crore in GST arrears immedi- Most of the states asked the PM on Wednesday. She did not
next three months. Under a relief
package announced last week,
New York City clearly wasn’t pre- New York City clearly department of expenditure are ately; the payment has been Centre to relax their borrowing take part in the video conference the government will pay ₹500 a
pared to handle the contagion. As wasn’t. On Thursday, the continuously monitoring the sit- pending since October , 2019. limits,and demanded an addi- with PM Modi on Thursday. month for three months to
Delhi’s Nizamuddin becomes a hot number of Covid-19 fatalities in uation so that the states do not A recent report on Covid-19 tional grant in the aftermath of Maharashtra CM Uddhav women who hold Jan Dhan
spot, officials in India would do well the city touched 1,397. On face a funding crunch in fighting prepared by the Federation of Covid-19 and advance wage pay- Thackeray sought the release of accounts.
to study what NYC got right and Wednesday, the New York the coronavirus pandemic and Indian Chambers of Commerce ments to MGNREGS workers. GST compensation worth ₹16,000 The Union government has
what it didn’t Times listed the wishlist, in terms companies, particularly micro, and Industry (Ficci) also asked Bihar chief minister Nitish crore. The state government also also received industry requests to
of critical medical equipment, of the small and medium enterprise the Centre to provide liquidity to Kumar requested the Union gov- sought help with procurement release payments that are due to
city’s mayor Bill de Blaiso: 3.3 million (MSME), receive their dues in states by increasing the overdraft ernment to consider raising the and manufacturing of personal private sector units.
N95 masks, 2.1 million surgical masks, time to tide over the crisis, the facility available to them from the fiscal deficit limit for the state to protective equipment (PPE) kits According to an industry esti-
officials said on condition of ano- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and tide over the emergency. A simi- and N-95 masks, a government mate, the outstanding payments
100,000 isolation gowns, 400 ventilators. All
nymity. pay pending GST compensation lar demand also came from the statement said. to companies run into lakhs of
these are incremental numbers — require-
Several states have cited a immediately. Punjab and Rajasthan govern- Punjab also demanded pay- crores. The Associated Cham-
ments additional to what the city currently funding crunch and announced According to the Union gov- ments. The states’ current fiscal ment of 15 days’ unemployment bers of Commerce and Industry
has. salary cuts for their employees ernment officials mentioned deficit limit stands at 3 % of Gross allowance per month for three of India (Assocham) estimated
Administrators and health care profes- for March. Industry, particularly above, the total compensation State Domestic Product (GSDP). months to mitigate rural distress payments owed by state distribu-
sionals shaping India’s response to the pan- the MSME sector, has asked for payout to the states in 2019-20 is West Bengal has demanded a on account of the national lock- tion companies to power genera-
demic would do well to study what is hap- the speedy release of outstanding expected to be over ₹1.20 lakh grant of ₹25,000 crore to fight the down, suggesting a 90:10 centre- tion units at ₹90,000 crore. In the
pening in New York City — what it got right payments by government agen- crore while total collection from pandemic, besides face masks, state sharing for these. It asked delayed payments monitoring
and, more importantly, what it didn’t. cies. “The expenditure secretary GST compensation cess was less gloves, sanitizers to fight the for a special insurance package portal MSME Samadhaan, only
It emerges that the big issue in Delhi has told all ministries and CPSEs than ₹80,000 crore. “The govern- virus and protective suits for for frontline workers such as the 14% of the ₹3,774.36 crore (against
right now is the shortage of PPE (personal (central public sector enter- ment will put up a proposal to the medical staff. It also demanded police and sanitary workers. 11,619 claims) filed by MSMEs
protective equipment). This is a problem in prises) not to sit on vendors’ GST Council to borrow from the that the Centre release ₹36,000 Rajasthan demanded ₹1 lakh have been settled so far, it said.
other cities and states, and, indeed, in many money and clear their dues expe- market to pay compensation to crore under different accounts crore from the Centre to fight Assocham president Niranjan
parts of the world. Last week, the Indian ditiously,” one of the officials states,” the second official said. that had not been released ear- Covid-19. In a statement after the Hiranandani said the payment
government said it has placed orders with familiar with the matter said. The GST law assures the states lier. “...to uphold the spirit of video conference with the PM, delays had created a massive
local and global manufacturers for around An official in the West Bengal a 14% increase in their revenue cooperative federalism, we need Rajasthan chief minister Ashok liquidity crunch in two ways:
six million units of PPEs. Work on these to government said the Centre must for five years and the Centre is this minimum help from the cen- Gehlot said he had sought a relief “One, government is taking over
be proceeding apace, despite the hurdles pay the entire compensation committed to meeting any short- tral government to cope with the package and asked for an all the cheap borrowing in the
amount due to the states at this fall in revenue through the cess unprecedented impasse at this enhancement of the state’s bor- system (though inadequate), and
posed by the lockdowns (see page 1).
crucial juncture to meet their levied on luxury goods and sin hour to fight against the Covid-19 rowing limit. two, they do not release cash flow
Delhi government officials and doctors
Covid-19 expenses. Punjab has products such as liquor and other pandemic,” chief minister Gehlot requested an inter- to vendors – so the liquidity crisis
also say the city-state has enough isolation asked for the release of ₹6,752.83 tobacco products. Mamata Banerjee wrote to the state supply chain protocol for has exacerbated. ”
wards, ICUs, even ventilators (see page 3),
but many of these assessments are based on

SERIOUS
CONCERNS
conservative estimates of the number of
daily cases, in some cases, as low as 100. On
April 1, New York City reported 3,144 new
cases in a day. That’s the kind of number for
Tracking to testing: Control rooms at coronanotes
PM-CARES
With at least two positive which Delhi should be ready — and then
cases linked to Asia’s
largest slum, Dharavi, in
Mumbai, there are serious
heave a sigh of relief and celebrate when the
numbers stay low.
It’s also the kind of number for which
forefront of efforts to contain spread TO ACCEPT
FOREIGN AID
concerns over the HT Correpondents the tracking was through excel
Mumbai should be ready. On Wednesday, a NEW DELHI: The Prime
infection raging through [email protected] sheets, now a specialised app
the area, which has a 56-year-old man in Dharavi, Asia’s largest n
Minister’s Citizen Assistance
slum, in Mumbai, died of Covid-19. On called “Quarantine Watch” has and Relief in Emergency
population density of
Thursday, another person who worked in New Delhi: With more than 100 been built in-house by the gov- Situations (PM-CARES) Fund
66,000 per square km
Dharavi tested positive. The prospect of the positive Covid-19 cases detected ernment. will accept contributions from
in at least nine states around the All those under home quaran- abroad on the same lines as
infection raging through the shanty town
country -- apart from Delhi -- tine are required to upload the PM’s National Relief Fund
with a population density of 66,000 per
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, hourly photos/selfies. This app to cope with the Covid-19
square km is the stuff of which nightmares situation, people familiar with
Tamil Nadu and Kerala, among automatically sends location
are made (see page 11). others, have set up control rooms data, which is checked to ensure developments said on Thurs-
Parts of Mumbai are already being to act as nodal centres to track the that those being tracked are actu- day. The people, who spoke on
treated as hot spots where clusters of spread of the virus by processing ally at the location they claim to condition of anonymity, said
infected people are found. There are around real-time data from the districts, be. Locally, information at dis- the PM-CARES Fund will
13 such across India. The area around coordinating door-to-door sur- trict level is fed by Asha workers, accept donations and contri-
Markaz Nizamuddin is another cluster — veillance, and testing people. Anganwadi workers and village butions from individuals and
where door-to-door surveys of people organisations based in foreign
Here is a look at what how these volunteers. The data is centrally
countries. This is consistent
within a 3km and a 5km radius of the epicen- control rooms function. collated at the war room to moni- with the government’s policy
fiscal tre (in this case, the six-storey HQ) were n A man stands inside a decontamination tunnel in Srinagar on tor progress and track patients. for the PMNRF, which has
undertaken on Thursday (see page 2). UTTAR PRADESH Thursday. WASEEM ANDRABI /HT Several government and pri- received foreign contributions
Amidst all these local developments, US A 1,600 sq feet hall on the fourth vate hospitals have been set aside as a public trust since 2011.
unemployment numbers soared to 6.6 mil- floor of the health directorate health, animal husbandry and cials work in the central control for Covid-19 patients.
lion from 3.3 million last week — a statistic office in Lucknow has about 20 home coordinate regularly with room in three shifts. Kerala’s toll
that should worry India because it shows people sitting before computer the chief minister’s office. free helpline (1056) is monitored MAHARASHTRA CRPF MEDICAL
screens processing data, making The district control room from this facility. The state has set up a dedicated
the extent of economic havoc that can be
calls, and coordinating with interacts with the police and med- The network of people on the control room in state secretariat,
OFFICER TESTS
FISCAL wreaked by the pandemic (see page 8).
health officials in 75 districts. ical teams tracking Covid-19 sus- ground who survey their areas with 14 senior bureaucrats han- POSITIVE
Around the world, companies are being
PACKAGE forced to lay off people to cope — in India,
“We are connected to the state pects through door-to-door sur- submit reports to district medical dling different responsibilities. NEW DELHI: A CRPF chief
helpline (18001805145) to get veillance. An application, officers every day. These are fed For instance, Manoj Saunik, medical officer, who was
Amid the crisis, US apart from the few companies providing inputs from across the state. We TSCop, helps geotag the houses of to the district control room, additional chief secretary, residing in Officers’ Mess in
unemployment numbers essential products and services that con-
soared to 6.6 million from are also in touch with officials to foreign returnees . which sends it to the state control finance, has been tasked with Saket (Delhi), has been tested
tinue to function through a 21-day lock- pass on necessary inputs to dis- room, where at least four people ensuring that all government positive and is now quaran-
3.3 million a week before ,
down, every other business is idle, incur- tricts,” said a staff member, TAMIL NADU have been assigned to each dis- departments receive the grants tined at AIIMS Jhajjar, officials
signalling the havoc that
can be caused by the ring costs with no revenue. The US has requesting anonymity. The state has a 200-person strong trict. allotted to them, while Rajiv said on Thursday. A ministry of
pandemic. With this in already announced a fiscal package The control room has data of 24x7 control room run out of the Apart from giving instructions Jalota, additional chief secretary, home affairs official said the
mind, India – following in amounting to roughly 10% of its GDP, with nearly 60,000 people with names, Directorate of Public Health to the ground staff, these control has been directed to formulate CMO was tested positive on
the footsteps of the US some of this amount going to businesses. cell numbers and addresses. office in Chennai, in addition to rooms track people who have measures to implement all policy Thursday after which Transit
and France -- should also France has said it will pay companies to not “The number of outbound specific control rooms in each dis- returned from overseas and decisions taken by different Officers’ Mess (Saket), where
think of a fiscal package calls had gone up to 2,000 a day trict. “We have a portal (stopco- made self-declarations at air- departments. the officer was staying, has
retrench people. India, too, needs to think in
for businesses when migrant workers were rona.tn.gov.in) on which we put ports and police stations. Those The state has earmarked 30 been sanitized and orders
terms of a fiscal package for businesses. have been issued to quaran-
Even with one, the recovery will be slow entering the state last week,” a out information,” a senior official under quarantine use a geo- government hospitals and 1,000
tine the working staff.
and painful. Without one... control room official said. UP has from the National Health Mission tracking application that maps private hospitals for free treat-
earmarked 246 hospitals to treat - Tamil Nadu said. their movements if they step out ment of Covid-19 patients.
Covid-19 patients. Districts provide three of their homes. Information
updates to the state control room about them is tracked by local ANDHRA PRADESH
RAMAYANA SETS
TELANGANA every day: one on medical sup- body workers and sent to the con- A control centre at Vijayawada VIEWERSHIP
Control rooms have been set up at
the state secretariat in Hydera-
plies, and two daily reports on the
number of people quarantined;
trol rooms.
Kerala has six Covid-only hos-
operates round-the-clock with
staff from 21 government depart-
RECORD
bad, the Greater Hyderabad their health status, how many pitals and each of the 14 districts ments working in shifts. It fields NEW DELHI: The retelecast of
htweather Municipal Corporation office, samples have been tested, and have Covid care homes. about 1,000 calls every day on a Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan
garnered the highest viewer-
and at all three major police com- how many have tested positive. toll free number (104) for Covid-19
ALMANAC TEMPERATURE missionerates in Hyderabad, Responsibilities have been KARNATAKA related questions and concerns.
ship for a Hindi general
Today is
3rd April 2020 IN FOUR METROS Cyberabad and Rachakonda. divided at the state control room: The central control room has at A state-level task force has
entertainment channel
l 8 Shaban 1441 Delhi
programme since 2015 when
Apart from these, each district collecting data on home quaran- least 120 people from various gov- been set under CM’s office, while the Broadcasting Audience
FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY l Chaitra, Shukla
Paksha, 10
32°c I 18°c has its own control rooms to mon- tines; an integrated disease sur- ernment departments tasked to each district has separate control
Strong surface winds Mainly clear sky Partly cloudy sky Research Council (BARC)
l Samvat 2077 Mumbai itor Covid-19 cases and to enforce veillance portal desk where the update district-wise numbers, centres. Village and ward volun-
during day time Sunset: Friday 33°c I 24°c started formulating these
at 06:40 p.m. the national lockdown. acute respiratory infection track developments, field calls, teers, secretariat employees, aux- ratings, the government said
Sunrise: Saturday Kolkata The statewide control rooms details are entered; and a dedi- and coordinate efforts across the iliary nurse midwives (ANMs) on Thursday. The TV series
at 06:07 a.m. 37°c I 26°c are monitored by two IAS offi- cated call centre for the public. states. and Asha workers survey houses garnered 170 million viewers in
32°c I 18°c 33°c I 17°c 34°c I 18°c Moonrise: Saturday
Chennai
at 02:34 p.m. cers, Rahul Bojja and Anil Bangalore-based Pro-digital and record details of people who four shows over the weekend.
• • Moonset: Sunday 36°c I 25°c
at 04:17 a.m. Kumar; while the state ministers KERALA labs helped the government setup have come from abroad or other
of information technology, One-hundred and twenty offi- the control room. While initially states and check for symptoms.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 05

spotlight
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: NATION

Hoarding, transport snags In lockdown, farmers

despair about future
choke supply of essentials Smriti Kak Ramachandran, Neeraj
Mohan, Tanmay Chatterjee and
Venkatesha Babu
n [email protected]

LOCKDOWN Businesses blame lean inventories on panic-buying and issues with the transportation of food supplies NEWDELHI/KARNAL/KOLKATA/BENGA-
LURU: Vegetable farmer Jagdish
Zia Haq and Anisha Dutta Kumar cultivates cabbage and
[email protected] cauliflower on his farm in Theog,

THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

n

in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla

NEWDELHI:A supply crunch of con- district . The crop is ready for har-
sumer items has cascaded across vest, but Kumar has a prob-
states, as buyers, rich and poor, A total of 514 new cases were reported on Thursday, taking the total District-wise
lem:there are no farm workers
scour markets for everyday number of Covid-19 cases across India to 2,520, according to data cases around in the village.
needs amid a lockdown to stop the Scale 1 to 174 for “Even if I myself harvest the
spread of Covid-19. released by state governments the smallest to produce, there is no way I can
Businesses blame their lean the largest circle send it to the market. It will rot in
Total confirmed cases, including new cases added on April 2 New cases
inventories on panic-buying of fields, I have no option,” he said.
District-wise cases District with highest cases
goods equivalent to two-three In neighbouring Punjab’s Lud-
months of household supplies by hiana, Sukhwinder Singh, who
affluent classes, as they hun- grows cauliflower and peas, is
kered down for the shutdown. UT Jammu UT Ladakh Assam confronting the same problem. n People carry vegetables on a cycle rickshaw at Preet Vihar in New
They also blame issues with and Kashmir 13 0 11 Leh 16 3 “We have a large amount of vege- Delhi on Thursday. SUSHIL KUMAR/HT PHOTO
the transportation of food sup- tables waiting to be moved out of
plies, including grains, edible oil, 70 8 25 Srinagar Himachal Pradesh
8 Jorhat our fields. We need to remove lockdown started,” he said. to throw unsold milk,” he said.
fruits, vegetables, milk, even con- them to prepare the fields for the States have been asked to oper- In Karnataka, unverified vid-
sumer products. Some stores are upcoming kharif season but there ate wholesale markets to ensure eos emerged of people purport-
selling limited quantities of items
6 3 3 Kangra Arunachal is no labour,” Singh said. supplies across India even as edly dumping 1,500 litres of milk
to discourage hoarding. “The Punjab Pradesh Down south, in Karnataka’s Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and into a drain and a river in Belgavi.
excess buying has strained back- Chandigarh Koppal, grape farmer Sharana- UP have deferred procurement of Similar videos were put up on
end stocks and godowns,” said 47 1 19 SBS
Nagar 18 2 1 1 Lohit basappa Hiregoudar is heart- winter crops. social media from West Bengal,
market tracker Comtrade in a broken— he is letting a bountiful In UP, farmers have not been Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
note. Inventories that should
Haryana Uttarakhand Manipur harvest of seedless grapes on his able to sell their produce since Sixty per cent of the milk pro-
have lasted two months were seven-acre plot rot on the vines. March 22, the day of the Janata duced in Bengal every day is used
exhausted in a week, it said. 43 0 24 Gurugram 7 0 4 Dehradun 2 1 In previous years, he has sold Curfew, said two of them. Similar by confectioners, but with eater-
And deliveries at the last-mile
are hobbling under tight local 2 Imphal
West
them at ~23-25 a kg; this year, he
was offered ~2-3.
reports came from Madhya Pra-
desh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
ies shut, most of the milk is going
waste. “One of the main reasons
rules of individual states. DELHI Uttar Pradesh The plight of Kumar, Singh A food industry representa- behind this crisis is that retail
Federal instructions and 293 141 121 5 45 Gautam
Budh Nagar
and Hiregudar illustrates a larger tive, who requested anonymity, outlets are either closed because
orders issued by state adminis- problem confronting India — a said factories engaged in process- of the lockdown or operating only
trations are not in tandem, first- 26 South
Delhi disruption of the agricultural ing and producing packaged for limited hours,” said Bhaskar
hand reports suggest. India is one supply chain — in the aftermath foods were running at half their Nandy, managing director of
economy but many individual Rajasthan of the nationwide, three-week capacity because of a shortfall in Bhagirathi Milk Cooperative
markets. Steering all of them in lockdown that took effect on the supplies of raw materials. He Society in West Bengal’s Mur-
one direction, all of sudden, has 133 13 March 25 as part of an attempt to said input provisions were run- shidabad district.
been a key challenge, ground
reports indicate.
32 Jaipur contain the spread of Covid-19.
The lockdown prompted an
ning at a fifth of the normal sup-
plies. A dip in supplies from farm-
Ranjit Singh, procurement
manager at the Haryana Dairy
Part of the problem is also that exodus of migrant workers back ers has disrupted the entire chain Development Cooperative Feder-
modern supply chains are intri- Gujarat home to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, from markets to wholesale buy- ation (HDDCF), known as VITA,
cate. A bread maker typically Odisha and West Bengal from the ers to factories, this person said. said, “There is no demand; we are
depends on three: agriculture, 87 5 farming states of Punjab, Hary- According to the agriculture able to sell only 5,000 litres per
biological and chemical leaven-
ing agent producers and the pack-
33 Ahmedabad ana and Himachal Pradesh,
depriving farmers of labour to
ministry’s website, agmark-
net.gov.in, which monitors daily
day against 20,000 litres before
the lockdown. Even we don’t
aging sector, each with its own harvest their crops. Transport arrivals and sales at various have enough containers to keep
supply chain. Madhya Bihar Mizoram too has been disrupted because of wholesale markets, the arrivals the remaining 95,000 litres of milk
A soaring milk demand ahead Pradesh strict enforcement of the lock- after the lockdown have dipped we procure daily as there is no
30 6 1 1 Aizawl
of the lockdown followed by a
sharp fall now has upset supply
107 21 8 Munger
down by the police although
essential services are exempt
by up to 70%. For instance, at the
Azadpur market in New Delhi,
demand for milk products.”

schedules, RS Sodhi, the manag- 12 Indore from the restrictions. 132,000 tonnes of cabbage arrived POULTRY
ing director of Amul, India’s larg- In many states such as Karna- on March 1; this fell to 19,500 ton- Sandeep Punia, a farmer in
est dairy cooperative, said . Small Jharkhand West Bengal taka, Assam and West Bengal, nes on March 31. Ambala’s Nagla village, said
Chhattisgarh
milk suppliers and aggregators 2 1 53 16 there have been reports of farm- In states with poorer road con- poultry farmers were selling
were under pressure but the
overall availability is adequate,
9 0 5 Raipur 1 Ranchi &
17Kolkata
ers dumping their vegetables and
milk because of the absence of
nectivity such as West Bengal,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha,
broiler chicken at ₹20 per kg
whereas the rearing cost is ₹80
Hazariagh
he added. buyers and a dip in the prices of the arrival of several vegetables and were also losing money on
Some states have seen milk Maharashtra Odisha Andaman fruits and vegetables. was in single digits in tonnes, a the sale of eggs.
demand drop, leading to farm In Haryana’s Yamunanagar fall of 80% since March 1. Atul Sonkar, president of the
losses. “Owing to regulatory 416 81 174 5 1 and Nicobar district, farmer Sushil Kumar of Chandigarh Meat Market Wel-
measures in the wake of Covid-19, Mumbai Radaur village sold cauliflower DAIRIES fare Association, said the it was
there is a decline in milk and milk 3 Khordha 10 0 for ~10 per kg on Wednesday com- While vegetable farmers are the “worst of times” for the busi-
products, and difficulties have Goa 10 South pared to ~24-27 per kg before the struggling to sell their produce, ness and if the pandemic contin-
Andaman
arisen in interstate movement for
5 0 Telangana lockdown came into effect. milk producers in states that do ues to rage, the industry would be
its conversion to milk powder,” Minister of state for animal not have a strong cooperative dead. In some places, poultry
Rajesh Kumar Singh, additional 154 57 44 Hyderabad husbandry, dairying and fisher- network of collection centres and owners have started home deliv-
chief secretary of Kerala said. ies Sanjeev Kumar Balyan milk processing units, such as the ery of chicken and eggs.
Hundreds of trucks are stuck Karnataka admitted to problems in these one that exists in Gujarat, are in Balyan said the government
on state borders, despite home Andhra Pradesh sectors, adding that the Centre dire straits. was taking stock of the situation
124 14 21 Bangalore
ministry’s orders allowing move-
ment of both essentials and non-
149 38 15 YSR and
Prakasam
has already issued an advisory
allowing the transportation of all
Ajit Singh, a dairy owner in
UP’s Gosaiganj, said the demand
on a daily basis.
“We have also issued an advi-
essentials. “The home ministry’s farm and dairy products. for milk has declined because sory to the states to ensure that
orders have not percolated to the
ground level... Trucks are still
Kerala Tamil Nadu Puducherry “We have also asked coopera-
tives to purchase more milk from
sweet shops were closed. “I use to
sell milk for ~50 per litre but now
meat and poultry items are
included in the list of essential
being stopped at state borders ...,” 286 21 115 Kasaragod 309 75 37 Chennai 3 0 2 Puducherry farmers. Already, the collection I am not getting even ~25-30 per commodities,” he said.
Kultaran Singh Atwal, president has increased by 8% since the litre. I am left with no option but (With inputs from state bureaus)
*Data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies
of the lobby group All-India
Motor Transport Congress said. FROM TABLIGHI JAMAAT
The Food Corporation of India
is ramping up supplies.
“During the lockdown, the FCI
AT LEAST AT LEAST AT LEAST Cops on boats to
42 HOT SPOTS stop infiltration
is replenishing 10 lakh (1 million)
tonne of foodgrains through 352
rakes of Indian railways,” Union
food minister Ram Vilas Paswan
9,000
Tablighi Jamaat members
400
Covid-19 positive cases can potential areas at Nepal border
said in a tweet.
But there is a problem. It only
quarantined across India be tracked to Jamaat identified across country Mohan Rajput
stocks cereals (rice and wheat), n [email protected]
and limited quantities of pulses
and sugar. The crisis is concen- taries to various ministries, apart into Assam city after police seized run by state-regulated agricul- days. Special focus is being given RUDRAPUR: Uttarakhand govern-
trated in a clutch of other items: from railway board chairman. It trucks plying without permits. ture produce market committees to essential commodities like ment has deployed jal police
flour, biscuits, edible oil, soaps, is tasked with ensuring supply of Cultivators are piling perisha- — Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, foodgrains, sugar, fruits & vege- along the Indo-Nepal border on
handwash, some lentils, vegeta- essential and medical goods. bles in cold chains, as buyers Mullana near Haryana’s Ambala tables, petroleum products and the Sharda river after reports of
bles, baby food, packaged juices, On the ground, however, bro- aren’t purchasing in large quan- and Gollapally in Telangana’s fertilisers. people crossing the river ille-
medicines for a variety of condi- ken chains of command are test- tities, unsure of transport. Karimnagar — said they were Scheduled passenger flights gally amid a 21-day nationwide n Municipal workers spray disinfectant on the building of Rajiv
tions, even matchboxes. ing the limits of ensuring a billion Truckers have sought exten- operating with 30-40% less staff. have been pressed into service to lockdown and sealing of inter- Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai on Wednesday. ANI
“Earlier, wholesalers would people’s needs are met. The coun- sion of the due date for payment of In this vacuum, Indian Rail- supply cargo nationwide. Over national borders to curb the
deliver to my shop. Now, I have to
make beeline to the wholesaler,”
general provisions store proprie-
tor Ravindra Ghosh said from
try went into a lockdown with
less than four hours of notice.
Police crackdown on agricul-
tural activities have upended
road tax and GST to September
30. “On the 8th day of the country-
wide lockdown, the government
is making efforts to restore sup-
ways has stepped up.
A railway ministry official said
issues at many terminal points,
loading and unloading opera-
the past few days, 85 flights have
carried 76 tonnes. All passenger
flights are grounded till April 14.
“We are operating flights
spread of Covid-19.
Uttarakhand and Nepal share
275 km on the international
boundary, along which the
All 75 new TN cases
Ranchi’s Kokar locality.
To resolve logistics issues, the
Union government has formed a
harvesting and transportation of
crops. Md Moinuddin, a vegeta-
ble wholesaler in Assam’s Kam-
ply chains. There is no clear pol-
icy on whether to run vehicles or
not, especially those with non-es-
tions were being resolved now.
There are issues of shortage of
labour, he said. As many as
despite logistical challenges in
transportation of cargo to and
from airports and in movement of
Sharda river flows.
According to police, Tanak-
pur, Banbasa, Jhulaghat, Dhar-
linked to Jamaat
committee under the ministry of rup district, said he has not been sential goods,” Singh said. 1,43,458 wagons of essential goods aviation personnel,” a ministry of chula, Baluakot and Jauljibe Sowmiya Ashok attended the religious conference
home affairs. It comprises secre- able to hire trucks to get stocks Three major wholesale hubs were loaded over the past three civil aviation official said. are the points which provide the n [email protected] held in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin.
facility to cross the border. Until Wednesday, the state had
However, after the borders CHENNAI:Tamil Nadu on Thursday traced 1103 persons.
C A N G I V E R E S U LT S I N 1 5 M I N U T E S were sealed due to the coronavi- reported 75 fresh cases of Cov- “All 1103 people have been
rus disease outbreak, the num- id-19, of which 74 had attended the tested but some of the results are

ICMR advises antibody testing in hot spot areas ber of people trying to cross the
border by swimming through
the river has increased, an offi-
cial said.
Tablighi Jamaat religious confer-
ence held in Delhi in March. The
75th person who is from Chennai
contracted the virus after coming
under process. Of these 264 have
tested positive,” she said. “All
have been tested but results are
under process.”
Rhythma Kaul
[email protected]
THE ANTIBODY (polymerase chain reaction) —
identifies the Sars-CoV-2 virus
body test. And antibody positives
to be confirmed by RT-PCR
said, the move will mean getting
quicker results even if there is a
Teams of Champawat Jal
police are patrolling over
in contact with someone from the
group, state officials said.
Rajesh said that the state was
increasing the testing facilities
DETECTION BLOOD
n

from throat or nasal swab sam- (reverse transcription-PCR) large number of people. Sharda river to monitor and The state now has 309 positive and six more labs will be added
NEWDELHI:India has allowed faster
and cheaper antibody tests to
TEST WILL IDENTIFY ples of people with symptoms or
high-risk individuals who might
using throat/nasal swab, and
antibody negatives to be quaran-
“However, to ensure there are
no false positives or false nega-
stop illegal crossing the river by
the people, the official added.
Covid-19 cases, of which 264 are
related to the religious confer-
soon. Each lab can carry out 100
tests every day.
check for the coronavirus disease PEOPLE WHO ALREADY have come in contact with a Cov- tined at home,” said the interim tives, we recommend confirma- “Jal police personnel are con- ence, which is now being treated Tamil Nadu was using the
in so-called hot spots — these HAVE BEEN INFECTED, id-19 patient. ICMR advisory. This means posi- tory PCR-based test for all posi- ducting patrolling over Sharda as the largest cluster in the lockdown time to ramp up testing
show clusters of infections — of The antibody detection blood tive results will be reconfirmed tive results,” this official said. river to watch or to stop people country. facilities and focus on infrastruc-
which there are 20 in the country, BUT HAVE MILD OR test will identify people who have using the PCR test. Experts say that India’s deci- of both sides for crossing the Including Thursday’s fresh ture and equipment.
the health ministry said on NO SYMPTOMS, been infected, but have mild or no The antibody test uses blood to sion to introduce antibody testing river in view of coronavirus epi- cases, the virus has now spread “We have enough masks, Per-
Thursday. symptoms, according to experts determine whether a person has kits could be a game-changer. demic. People of both sides cross across 20 districts in Tamil Nadu. sonal Protective Equipment kits,
An expert said the decision
ACCORDING TO EXPERTS who say the move will help us antibodies against the coronavi- “The Indian health system has the border by swimming in “There are 75 fresh cases in enough to give all nurses who are
could be a game-changer in know how many have been able rus. Antibodies in the immune lot of experience in such tests, like remote areas,” said Bipin Pant, Tamil Nadu today of which 74 working in isolation wards. We
India’s fight against the pan- The Indian Council of Medical to fight off the infection and have system means the person either the ones for dengue and chikun- circle officer (CO) Tanakpur were people who took part in this have made it mandatory for all
demic, not just because of the Research advised on Thursday, become what could be called a had the disease at some point in gunya. So it will be easy to ramp Chamapawat. Delhi Conference. One person who have to see patients in isola-
time and the cost, but also these tests, a move that will “corona-blocker”. While the the past, even though the person up the screening...a great tool for There are around 1000 Nepa- had contact with someone who tion wards. Daily there is a
because Indian companies and ensure faster detection of all pos- results of PCR tests take up to five was never tested for it, and has surveillance, and building epide- lese citizens who are stuck in has travel history to Delhi,” 20-minute ‘mock drill’ on how to
laboratories have experience in sible cases in these clusters and hours, the antibody test results now recovered, or has the disease miological data. Indian compa- the Dharchula area, awaiting health secretary Dr Beela Rajesh put on the PPE and remove it,
doing such antibody tests (which help authorities buy some time to will be available in 15-30 minutes. now, minus the symptoms. nies would be able to produce opening of border so that they said. how to interact with the patients,
are blood tests) and can easily contain the pandemic. “Population in hot spot areas An ICMR official, who spoke them easily,” Lalit Kant, a senior can go to their native places in Nearly 1,500 people from Tamil and how to maintain the dis-
develop inexpensive kits for it. The test used now — PCR may be tested using rapid anti- on the condition of anonymity infectious disease expert, said. Nepal. Nadu are believed to have tance,” she said.
06 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

p g
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: SCIENCE

HOW WORLD REACHED A MILLION CASES

1
As the world reaches a million coronavirus cases, we take a look at the grim numbers that a global pandemic has left behind in its 93-day rampage. Some scary trends
emerge if we break down the spread into four phases — each with a quarter million new cases. While the first case was officially confirmed on Dec 31, 2019, the 250,000th
case came 80 days later on March 20, 2020. From there, it took only six days for the 500,000 mark, four days for the 750,000 mark and another three for a million.

80 DAYS TO 250,000 6 DAYS TO 500,000 4 DAYS TO 750,000 3 DAYS TO 1,000,000 MILLION

272,035 NEW
CASES 257,556 NEW
CASES 252,774 NEW
CASES 253,675 NEW
CASES

782,365

10 WORST-HIT COUNTRIES 10 WORST-HIT COUNTRIES 10 WORST-HIT COUNTRIES 10 WORST-HIT COUNTRIES

Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases Country Cases
China 81,250 United States 19,100 United States 83,836 France 29,551 United States 161,807 France 45,170 US 228,727 France 56,100
Italy 47,021 France 12,758 China 81,782 Iran 29,406 Italy 101,739 Iran 41,495 Italy 115,242 Iran 59,358
Spain 20,410 Korea, South 8,652 Italy 80,589 United Kingdom 11,812 Spain 87,956 UK 22,453 Spain 110,238 UK 22,652 529,591
Germany 19,848 Switzerland 5,294 Spain 57,786 Switzerland 11,811 China 82,198 Switzerland 15,922 Germany 81,766 Switzerland 18,294
Iran 19,644 United Kingdom 4,014 Germany 43,938 Korea, South 9,241 Germany 66,885 Belgium 11,899 China 81,568 Turkey 18,014
It took the infection nearly 23 days to spread to 500 people. Around 10 The next 250,000 cases only took six days. Between March 21 and 26, In just four days between March 27 and 30, the next batch of quarter Covid-19’s unrelenting exponential advance in the US
days later, global cases stood at 10,000. By March 3, there were over the virus has spread heavily through the western hemisphere. With one million cases poured in. The massive surge of cases continued in the US continued through the end of March into April as the
100,000 cases. Two weeks later, the global case toll touched a quarter exception, all countries in the 10 worst-hit nations were in Europe and as it reported nearly 78,000 new cases in these four days. In this period, nation remained on the unenviable top slot in terms
million, with China having reporting the lion’s share of cases. The next North America. With nearly 65,000 cases, the numbers started rising Spain, Germany and France continued to post massive load of new of new cases. Spain and Italy also continued
closest country was Italy which had 47,000 cases. At this point, the exponentially in the US. Spain, Italy and Germany also were reporting cases as well with the three nations accounting for nearly 90,000 new reporting more cases at an alarming rate, with
United States, which reported its first case on January 20, has 19,100 high numbers in this period as well. In China, meanwhile, the epidemic cases combined. This meant that nearly half the new cases in these four the United Kingdom also starting to report a high
cases and is out of the five worst-hit nations at this point peaked as the country reported only 500 cases in this time period days came from only five countries. number of new cases.

272,035
DEC 31, 2019 JAN 9, 2020 JAN 30, 2020 MAR 12, 2020
First case First death First case First death
50000
recogonised reported in reported in reported in 37,582
by China China India India
11,299 23,970

Dec 31, Mar 20 Mar Mar Apr

2019 2020 26 30 2
DATA SOURCE: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY; WORLDOMETER

Cats susceptible to virus, but facetoface

DAVID NABARRO, Special envoy, World Health Organization

unlikely to pass it to humans ‘Lockdown in India was early, this

RESEARCH Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are less vulnerable, according to pre-print study was far-sighted, courageous move’
Jayashree Nandi and tonsils of ferrets,” the study NEW DELHI :There is no evi- make any recommendation whether it will have a particu-
n [email protected] concluded. dence to suggest that the coro- because I don’t know what is lar distribution pattern. The
But its too early to conclude navirus disease (Covid-19) happening [on the ground]. virus is four months old, to
NEW DELHI: Ferrets and cats are whether cats can contract the will disappear, says Dr David India is looking carefully to our knowledge, and we are
susceptible to contracting coro- infection in natural conditions Nabarro, the World Health make sure that when the lock- learning.
navirus (Covid-19) but not dogs, (non-experimental) and Organization’s (WHO) special down is lifted, there won’t be a I don’t know what will hap-
ducks, chickens and pigs, a non- whether they can infect envoy on the disease, adding windfall, with lots and lots of pen in hotter weather. I’m
peer reviewed study published humans. that people may have to con- cases, hospitals overwhelmed really eagerly awaiting infor-
in bioRxiv has found and said Dr Nivedita Gupta, a viral sider new norms for the fore- and a national crisis. I think mation from your country
these findings can be important diseases expert at the Indian seeable future. Declaring a that strategy is right. which is now going into the
for vaccine and antiviral drug Council of Medical Research, lockdown when there was rel- summer to know whether or
development for the disease. said some animals will be sus- atively a small number of time to develop capacities at What about the people worst not there is the same level of
BioRxiv is a free online archive ceptible to the virus and that is cases in India gave the coun- the local level and sorting out affected? transmission, or whether it is
and distribution service for how animal models are created try time to come to terms with hospitals. We need to save the lives of the same level of illness that
unpublished preprints in life for research on vaccines. “But the new virus, he tells San- Of course, there is a lot of people who are badly affected. we’ve seen in temperate cli-
sciences. to jump to the conclusion that chita Sharma in an inter- debate and criticism, and We must be looking after our mate.
There is, however, no reason they can infect pet owners and view. Edited excerpts: inevitably with a lot of frus- hospitals, treating our health I’m really hoping that it
for panic among pet keepers or humans is not right. We have tration and anger that life is workers like they have to be won’t be quite so severe and
cat lovers because the findings domestic cats in India which can Can Covid-19 be stopped? being disturbed this way. I treated considering they are that weather will be on our
are based on only lab experi- n The study, however, is not conclusive. SATISH BATE/HT FILE be very different from the cats in If you don’t get in early and think it is courageous of the on the front line, protecting side. We also don’t know how
ments, and there has been no China. First, we need to under- the outbreaks grow, they get government to take this step them as much as we can and the virus will behave in com-
study on whether cats can pass Research Institute (China), Chi- causes Covid-19], dogs have low stand what is the spill over point very big very quickly and and provoke this enormous supporting them in society so munities where there is quite
on the infection to humans. It is nese Academy of Agricultural susceptibility, and livestock to cats there. Such spill overs then managing them is a mas- public debate and let the frus- they get looked after... really a lot of illness, like malaria or
also unclear which species of Sciences and National High including pigs, chickens, and happen due to zoonotic interface sive task. tration come out, to accept making sure they are secure. other infectious diseases.
cats was used for the study. Containment Laboratory for ducks are not susceptible to the between humans and wild ani- So, where you have coun- that there will be hundreds of In imposing major lock-
According to the authors Animal Diseases Control and virus. Ferrets have frequently mals. In the SARS epidemic also tries with not many cases and millions of people whose lives downs, all governments are Will social distancing be the new
Hualan Chen et al, the experi- Prevention (China). been used as an animal model we saw that civet cats were a strong, robust responses at are being disrupted. For poor having to juggle with the need normal?
ments were conducted to under- Animals studied were inocu- for the study of human respira- reservoir of the virus. Nobody the community level sup- people on daily wages, this is a to really get on top of out- Let’s wait and see but let us
stand how the virus behaves in lated and the viral RNA load was tory viruses. Unlike influenza keeps civets as pets.” ported by governments, we massive sacrifice. And to do it breaks quickly and, at the plan for the virus to be with us
animals and which among them quantified from organs of those viruses and other human SARS- Some media reports have are most hopeful. now as opposed to waiting toll same time, ensure that people for the foreseeable future.
can be used to model the efficacy euthanised and faeces of ani- coronavirus, which replicate in suggested that even dogs can be Everything starts at the when the virus is more wide- through the lockdown are not There is no evidence to sug-
of control measures in humans mals isolated. both the upper and lower respi- infected. Bloomberg carried a community level, detecting spread, was very courageous. experiencing extreme impov- gest it will suddenly disap-
like drugs or vaccines. “In summary, we found that ratory tract of ferrets, we found report on March 19 saying two people with disease and isolat- erishment or shortage of food. pear.I believe the coming real-
The authors are scientists ferrets and cats are highly sus- SARS-CoV-2 only replicates in dogs tested positive for the virus ing them, finding their con- Unlike in Europe and USA? There is growing recogni- ity for the world will be one
affiliated to Harbin Veterinary ceptible to SARS-CoV-2 [which the nasal turbinate, soft palate, in Hong Kong. tacts and quarantining them, Comparisons between gov- tion all across the world that where we are always defend-
and maintaining, as far as pos- ernments are not very help- we have to manage lockdowns ing against this enemy, like a
sible, a ready state to respond ful, but I can say that there very carefully. kind of fire brigade is needed
frompageone to outbreaks quickly, and
widespread efforts to reduce
have been countries where
that kind of strong action was
The size of some of these
lockdowns is really massive,
in place.
And within that defence,
A peek inside the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz opportunities of transmission
through lockdowns. During a
not taken early on and we see
they now have to struggle
so having an integrated policy
of lockdown management
then have the recovery of
social interaction and eco-
Covid-19 hot spot so far. rooms, each being the temporary meals such as dal and chawal are places such as Yemen and lockdown, you must build with immense suffering. We that deals with the social and nomic activity but done in a
Social activist Faisal Khan, dwelling of some learned elderly prepared communally, and Morocco. community capacity for inter- are seeing health workers economic consequences is way that keeps us all safe. I
convener of Khudai Khidtmatgar person to whom younger Jamatis served in a basement hall, he Almost all the Jamatis are rupting transmission where absolutely at the end of their always important. As far as I don’t think we have an impos-
welfare organisation, spends a might go for counsel. Most resi- reports. In the evening, the Jama- men. One evening, just a few days its starts and I see it recog- tether, and getting infected know, there are 70 countries sible task, but if we call on our
couple of days every year inside dents (some might stay for a tis can be seen milling around in before the lockdown, this nised in India. because they are exhausted. and territories where lock- collective ingenuity to estab-
the Markaz, in the month of Ram- week, others for just a weekend) the basti. The Tablighi centre reporter spotted a few young We see long term lockdowns down is being applied, which lish norms that will enable
zan, for “peace and meditation”. would, however, settle with their attracts visitors from countries Jamatis huddled in a small park How would you rate India’s being talked about... some is somewhere around one- society and business to get on
Talking on the phone from his backpacks and beddings in the such as the UK, the US, Germany, not far from the Markaz. Some of response? people are talking about six third or half of the world’s with what they do best, which
office in south Delhi’s Ghaffar big halls, sleeping at night on the the Netherlands, Malaysia, Indo- these boys were exercising on the The lockdown in India was weeks, eight weeks. population. So lockdown is enterprise that creates
Manzil, he gives an idea of the floor. Sermons will be held in the nesia, Nigeria, Sudan and South fitness equipment installed in the quite early on, when there management is a key activity wealth and enables people to
interiors of the Markaz complex. mosque at different times of the Africa. A mere walk in the lanes park. One man in a loose shalwar was relatively a small number Is a 21-day ockdown enough? to get right alongside the have a decent standard of life.
“The entrance hall is littered with day. An average day in the of the Basti might take you to dif- kameez was shyly working out on of cases detected. This was a That all depends on how well- response to the disease. I’m asking people to consider
hundreds of chappals that spill Markaz, Khan says, “is about per- ferent corners of the world, as the chest press machine; two far-sighted decision because it organised the basic communi- the new norms at the same
far out into the street. It’s a mira- forming prayers and listening to you are likely to overhear con- were sitting at the two ends of a gave the country the opportu- ty-level public health services Will the virus go away or will it time they are imposing lock-
cle that every Jamati finds his maulanas about how to be a good versations in British-accented see-saw. nity to come to terms with the and hospitals are. And become a seasonal? downs because the norms are
own sandals from that great pile.” Muslim”. English, Chinese, French, or Ara- The “open gym” remained reality of this enemy. People whether people can see it as a We don’t know how it will going to be key to exiting
Khan says that each floor in The eating arrangement, he bic. Until a few years ago, the area crowded for a long time, and then understood that there is a battle that requires solidarity behave over time or whether safely from lockdowns with-
the Markaz has the same layout says, “is just like the langars held had a popular telephone booth the boys walked back towards the virus in our midst. It gave right across society. I don’t it will become less serious and out exposing them to disease.
— a spacious hall lined with small in Sikh gurdwaras.” Simple advertising special call rates for Markaz.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 07
HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS:NATION
Three suicides in
Front-line health
‘ P R E PA R E O R S U F F E R ’ WA R N I N G

UP linked to Covid; Must break virus chain: Gen Rawat

police, authorities
staff battle attacks on high alert
S Raju, Utkarsha Tyagi &
Shishir Gupta
n [email protected]

NEWDELHI: India’s Chief of Defence

Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat
believes that India must break
“We have created isolation and
quarantine facilities in Jais-
almer, Jodhpur and Jhansi to
accommodate 500 patients each
for treatment, to add to the capac-
ity of para-military facilities,
the manufacturers of medical
equipment such as ventilators,
masks and protection suits. “We
have already placed an order of
370 ventilators with the DRDO
{Defence Research and Develop-
LAWLESSNESS Doctors, police assaulted while making inquiries Tariq Khan the Covid-19 virus chain by April such as the one in Manesar,” he ment Organisation} and are ask-
n [email protected] 14, through the lockdown and said. ing ordnance factories also for
Venkatesha Babu and Ranjan social distancing, or be prepared The single-point military manufacture of masks and PPE
n [email protected] MEERUT/BAREILLY: A 35-year-old to weather the long-term conse- advisor to the government said {personal protective equipment}
vegetable vendor was found quences of the pandemic. that since army, navy and air suits. The power to make advance
BENGALURU/BHOPAL:For five years, hanging from a ceiling fan at a “The military dictum is ‘pre- force schools are closed due to the payments has been given to
Krishnaveni has been going door- quarantine centre in Uttar Pra- pare or perish’, but in these times n General Bipin Rawat lockdown, the premises can be director generals of armed medi-
to-door in north Bengaluru’s desh’s Shamli on Thursday, of Covid we have refined it to ‘pre- prepared as quarantine centres. cal services, army commanders,
cramped Sadiq Palya area, col- police said, adding that it is the pare or suffer’. We must arrest even though the virus has not “We have three army public corps commanders and brigade
lecting information, spreading latest in a spate of suicides linked the spread of the virus through a spread in North-east India. We schools, one navy school and one commanders so that there is no
awareness about Malaria and to the coronavirus (Covid-19) out- 100% lockdown and social dis- have now two to three hospitals air force public school in Delhi. It shortage of any medical supplies,
Cholera, and helping the low break in the state. tancing by April 14. With the har- ready in each zone to treat, man- has been decided that these both for troops and the public,” he
income neighbourhood access “A ward boy spotted his body vesting season around the cor- age and control the infection,” he schools should be made ready to said.
community health care. hanging from the ceiling fan and ner, India cannot afford the num- said. be made quarantine centres, if The CDS also said that two
An Accredited Social Health chief medical officer Sanjay Bhat- bers to go up. The military is The CDS said that the military required. Even though the capac- naval medical ships were ready to
Activist or Asha worker in her nagar informed the authorities totally prepared to stand up to the and its doctors were constantly in ities of these schools is about 1,500 help neighbouring countries in
forties, Krishnaveni was well about the incident,” said Shamli’s demands made by government touch with the Union health min- patients each, only 200 will be put case of a medical emergency. The
known to many local residents police superintendent Vineet and the people,” Gen Rawat said istry, and he, as secretary of mili- up in each school due to proper air force, which recently flew a
but her painstakingly developed n Residents of Tatt Patti Bakhal in Indore apologise to a team of Jaiswal. He added the vendor’s in a phone interview. tary affairs, was attending meet- sanitation requirements. The 14-member team to the Maldives,
ties to the local community came doctors a day after health workers were attacked by locals. PTI body has been sent for a post mor- He said that the army, navy ings with PK Mishra, principal same model is being readied in is prepared to ferry medical sup-
undone on Wednesday evening tem examination. and air force have moved into secretary to the Prime Minister, other parts of the country if there plies in and out of the country.
when she and her colleagues deliberately planned rumours as accused,” he added. The vendor allegedly commit- action by dedicating 17-18 hospi- and cabinet secretary Rajiv is a requirement, or in a worst- Although Gen Rawat is opti-
were assaulted by a group of having fuelled the assaults. The state government also ted suicide even as the result of tals to care for the infected, and Gauba. case scenario.” mistic that India can contain the
young men. The reason: They In Indore city’s Tatt Patti vowed strong action against the his Covid-19 test was yet to come. the total bed capacity in the forces Gen Rawat said that one ward Gen Rawat also said that the virus, he is “keeping his fingers
were going to every home, asking Bakhal area on Wednesday, two assaulters. “I have directed police He had returned to his village has been ramped up to 15,000 so in each hospital, including places defence ministry has made an crossed” and hoping that “social
if something was coughing or had women doctors were surrounded to provide adequate security to from Delhi on March 30 amid the far. “We have hospitals ready such as Delhi where the base hos- important change in the procure- distancing, lockdown, and the
fever – some of the most-common by a hostile mob while combing health workers and have asked 21-day lockdown imposed across even in far-off places like Dima- pital is normally crowded, will be ment manual by allowing Indian summer heat” will end the
symptoms of Covid-19. the area for people with Covid-19. them to take strict action against the country to check the spread of pur and Zakhama in Nagaland, dedicated for Covid-19 patients. advance payments to be made to threat.
“They heckled us, snatched A police official said the mob those who harass health work- the disease. He was quarantined
our belongings and we couldn’t started gathering when the doc- ers,” chief minister Shivraj Singh the next day as he was feeling
call anybody. We are here for
their health and look how they
treat us,” she fumed, after city
tors asked an elderly local
woman, who was suspected to
have come in contact with a Cov-
Chouhan said.
But reports of similar attacks
kept pouring in from different
unwell.
Another 23-year-old migrant
worker allegedly committed sui-
Ex-servicemen being Navy’s temperature
police rescued the group of health
workers. Taken aback, the Asha
workers have now vowed to
id-19 patient, to accompany the
medical team to a hospital for
tests. Television visuals showed
parts of the country.
In Bihar, police and medical
personnel were attacked by resi-
cide in Bareilly after escaping
from a quarantine centre. Police
said he had earlier escaped from
mobilised to aid fight guns to cost ₹1,000
never go back to the neighbour- the 100-strong mob chasing the dents of Munger town when they the centre twice to meet his fam-
hood without police protection. doctors and hurling stones at tried to collect samples. Stones ily, but was brought back on both HT Correspondent More than 8,500 military doc- HT Correspondent the count of Covid-19 cases.
They aren’t the only one. them. “We have been visiting the were hurled at the quick response occasions. n [email protected] tors and support staff are ready to n [email protected] The dockyard’s temperature
Across India, front-line health locality for the past three days for team (QRT), comprising police- Sub-divisional magistrate Dig- help the government, while 9,000 sensor has an accuracy to 0.02
workers and doctors are battling the screening of residents. We men and an ambulance. vijay Singh said the worker was NEW DELHI: The defence ministry hospital beds have been prepared NEW DELHI: The Naval Dockyard, degree Celsius, as per the state-
attacks by local residents, com- had information about a person In Hyderabad, relatives of a quarantined following the gov- on Thursday announced that it is to meet emergency require- Mumbai, has designed and devel- ment. The temperature guns will
plicating the already uphill battle coming in contact with a Covid-19 49-year-old coronavirus patient ernment’s directions. “We told mobilising thousands of ex-ser- ments, the armed forces told the oped a hand-held infrared tem- be used for screening the 20,000
against the coronavirus disease patient…We were talking to the who died at a government hospi- him that the isolation was a pre- vicemen (ESM) to assist state gov- government on Wednesday. perature sensor, and has the personnel who visit the dockyard
(Covid-19) that has infected at person (the elderly woman) tal assaulted the doctor and the cautionary measure to ensure the ernments and district adminis- It said more than 4,200 ESM are capacity to scale up its produc- daily. “In view of Covid-19, initial
least 2,500 people. The central and when, all of a sudden, residents staff on duty, alleging negligence. safety of his family members and trations, wherever required, to assisting in data collection from tion, if agencies require the screening of these personnel
state governments have praised got agitated and attacked us,” Telangana director general of neighbours. The victim had fled supplement the country’s efforts villages in Punjab, Chhattisgarh instruments in large numbers to entering the dockyard was essen-
health workers and appealed to said one of the doctors on condi- police M Mahendar Reddy prom- from the camp to meet his family. to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. has employed veterans to help screen people for fever amid the tial to prevent the spread of the
the citizenry to help them, but to tion of anonymity because of ised strong action against them. When police reached the village A ministry spokesperson said the police, district collectors in Covid-19 outbreak, the navy said disease within the yard and the
little effect.“The doctors are safety concerns. In Maharashtra, a group of searching for him, he escaped and the department of ex-servicemen Andhra Pradesh have sought the in a statement on Thursday. navy’s Western Fleet. The most
doing humantarian work under State police arrested seven local villagers assaulted a was later found hanging.” welfare has taken the initiative. assistance of ESM volunteers and The navy said the instrument preliminary method to screen a
difficult circumstances and they people on Thursday and Chhatri- 56-year-old man in Solapur dis- The 23-year-old was the young- “Rajya Sainik Boards, Zila Sainik retired medical personnel have has been developed due to the probable patient is to check for
need the state’s support. Without pura police station incharge trict for informing a village offi- est among six siblings and was Boards are playing a dynamic been kept on standby in Uttar scarcity of temperature sensors body temperature by non-contact
them, we will not be able to con- Karni Singh Shaktawat said the cial about those who attended the quarantined at a school after role in identifying and mobilising Pradesh. in the market, where these are means,” the statement said.
tain Covid-19,” said KK Aggar- accused were identified on the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in returning from Gurugram on maximum ESM volunteers to The ministry also said the being sold for a high cost. “The As the country prepares to
wal, head of medical associations basis of a video clip and they have Delhi. March 28. Police said his body has assist the state and district National Cadet Corps (NCC) has instrument has been manufac- handle a rising number of cases
of Asia and Oceania, calling for been booked for rioting, endan- In West Bengal, police clashed been sent for autopsy and the dis- administration in performing issued guidelines for temporary tured for under ₹1,000 using and meet its need for ventilators,
enhanced security. gering the lives of public ser- with locals in the north 24 parga- trict administration will provide public outreach activities such as employment of its cadets, aged in-house resources. The cost is a which about 5% of the Covid-19
Many of the attacks have been vants, and disobeying govern- nas district after residents pre- compensation to his family. contact tracing, community sur- over 18, to augment relief efforts fraction of the price of the temper- patients may require, the navy
reported while health workers ment orders. “At least three of the vented health workers from col- A farmer suffering from fever veillance, management of quar- and the functioning of various ature guns in the market,” the has also pitched in with an inno-
are out collecting samples or accused arrested have criminal lecting Covid-19 data. and cold committed suicide to antine facilities or any such tasks agencies involved in battling the statement said, adding that the vative ventilator design that can
spreading awareness. Experts record. A manhunt has been (With inputs from HT Correspondents “save his village from being assigned to them,” the ministry pandemic under ‘Exercise NCC country’s medical infrastructure cater to six patients simultane-
blame panic, misinformation and launched for arrest of 15 other in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Patna) infected” in Mathura on Tuesday. said in a statement. Yogdan’. was being tested by the surge in ously.

NEWSPAPERS CARRY
TREMENDOUS CREDIBILITY
AND THE LOCAL PAGE OF
A REGION IS WIDELY READ
BY PEOPLE.

Narendra Modi
Hon. Prime Minister of India
08 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

spotlight
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: WORLD

US sees deadliest day so far AMERICAN NIGHTMARE As 884 die in 24 hours, a record
Netanyahu is back
in quarantine as
Israel’s health
minister tests +ve
6.6 million people in the US apply for unemployment benefits JERUSALEM:Israeli health minister
Yaakov Litzman, a leading mem-
Yashwant Raj The Washington Post reported. deaths, which is feared in two ber of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish
n [email protected] Also, in line with White weeks. community, has tested positive
House experts’ earlier warning The number of confirmed for Covid-19, forcing Prime Min-
WASHINGTON:The death toll in the that 100,000 to 240,000 Ameri- cases in the country increased ister Benjamin Netanyahu to
US from the coronavirus pan- cans could die in the epidemic by about 29,000. New York state re-enter precautionary quaran-
demic has topped 5,300, while even if mitigation efforts were remained the worst impacted, tine, officials said on Thursday.
the country witnessed a stun- implemented fully, the Penta- with at least 84,000 cases and Netanyahu’s previous quaran-
ning single-day record of 884 gon is reported to be preparing over 2,220 deaths. New York tine, imposed earlier this week
people killed in just 24 hours. to provide 100,000 body bags for City accounted for a large num- after one of his staffers tested pos-
The US death toll is lower civilian use. ber of them with 1,374 at one itive for the novel coronavirus,
than those of Italy and Spain but US President Donald Trump, stage, almost a fourth of all had ended on Wednesday night,
above the 3,318 recorded in who earlier had downplayed the deaths in the country. his office said. The premier’s new
China, where the pandemic first pandemic’s impact on the US, With NYC’s hospitals under seven-day self-isolation was
emerged in December. The US said on Wednesday that “we’re severe pressure, Samaritan imposed following his contacts
leads the world in the number of going to have a couple of weeks, Purse, a charity from North with the 71-year-old Litzman, the
cases, with at least 227,000. starting pretty much now, but Carolina, set up a 68-bed field prime minister’s office said.
And in a sign of the devastat- especially a few days from now, hospital in Central Park, the
ing economic impact of the epi- that are going to be horrific”. city’s hub of major concerts, ral- IRAN’S PARLIAMENT
demic, a record 6.6 million As the number of coronavi- lies and other public events. It SPEAKER TESTS +VE
Americans applied for unem- rus cases and fatalities contin- took in its first patient on TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament
ployment benefits last week as ued to climb, health services Wednesday. “We are here to speaker Ali Larijani has con-
businesses were forced to shut across America, especially in stand with New Yorkers and tracted the coronavirus, the high-
down as part of the mitigation areas with high incidence of the meet the needs of people est-ranking official among sev-
efforts and layoffs in manufac- illness, have complained of crip- stricken with the coronavirus,” eral senior government figures to
turing, transportation and pling shortages of protective the charity said in a statement. catch the disease, as several top
other sectors, according to num- gear for health care workers A six-week-old baby girl has Israeli officials entered quaran-
bers released on Thursday. such as masks, gloves, gowns died from Covid-19 in the state tine after Israel’s health minister
More people had applied for and face shields. of Connecticut, governor Ned tested positive on Thursday.
jobless benefits in the last two There is an additional Lamont said on Thursday, The parliament in Iran, the
week - 3.3 million had filed the urgency to the crisis as the stressing that the death is a regional epicenter of the corona-
week before - than in the six health services brace them- reminder that “nobody is safe virus, announced Larijani’s ill-
n Window lights are illuminated in the shape of a giant heart at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco, California. AFP months of the Great Recession, selves for a peak in cases and with this virus”. ness on its website. AGENCIES

Trump says China hid numbers, Beijing rejects claim AS WORLD BATTLES CORONAVIRUS,
Yashwant Raj
n [email protected]
eign ministry spokeswoman told
reporters “to slander, to dis-
credit, to blame others or to shift
these reports and a particular US
intelligence report given to the
Trump administration last week
that, relative to what we wit-
nessed and what was reported.”
China has 82,431 confirmed
“Unfortunately, we are just
not in a position to confirm any of
the numbers that are coming out
GOVERNMENTS COME UNDER FIRE
WASHINGTON:US President Donald responsibility cannot make up that reportedly said China is cov- coronavirus cases on Thursday, of China,” Trump’s national
While countries around the world are imposing lockdowns and firmly handling
Trump said on Wednesday that the time that has been lost”. ering up the scale of the outbreak. according to the Johns Hopkins security adviser Robert O’Brien violators, some citizens and activists are raising a few hard questions
the coronavirus numbers being Trump administration offi- Trump denied receiving that University’s tracker; and 3,332 said at the briefing. He went on to
reported by China were “a little cials and lawmakers have long report, when asked at the daily deaths. point to “public reporting” and
bit on the light side”, echoing been sceptical of the number of White House briefing on the coro- The Chinese tally has “Chinese social media” reporting
claims that Beijing may have cases Beijing has reported on the navirus outbreak. But he echoed remained in this range for a while about the numbers being low.
been underreporting them in a outbreak that started last Decem- the underlying sentiment. “Their now, showing that the outbreak Bloomberg News reported that
bid to overstate its response and ber in Hubei province. numbers seem to be a little bit on has been stopped from spreading a US intelligence report given to
bolster its image. They have pointed to lack of the light side,” he said, adding, and growing, a narrative not the Trump administration last
China reacted sharply. A for- independent corroboration of “And I’m being nice when I say widely subscribed outside China. week said the numbers were fake.

VIRUS TRACKER Nations across Europe

1,000,168
GLOBAL CASES
mark grim milestones
HT Correspondent & Agencies

51,354
■ Police cars patrol during a lockdown in Hyderabad, Pakistan on Thursday. AP
n [email protected]
French disconnection Denial, denial, denial
LONDON/MADRID:Spain’s death toll
GLOBAL DEATHS from the coronavirus pandemic
In France, where the government imposed a lockdown on March 17 in a
bid to get a grip on soaring cases and deaths, calls for national unity
Much is at stake in countries that have
been dominated by a single ruler for
rose above 10,000 on Thursday have been mixed with scathing criticism of the government, particularly decades, where the public will expect
even as France and Belgium over a shortage of face masks. The head of the right-wing opposition political stability to deliver some kind
WORST-HIT NATIONS (BY CASES) announced grim milestones of Republicans in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, described the of sanctuary from the crisis. The
their own. government's response as "chaotic". Several criminal complaints have Turkish government under President
COUNTRY CASES DEATHS Spain now has the world’s sec- been lodged against members of the French government, accusing Recep Tayyip Erdogan was boasting in
ond-highest death toll after Italy them of endangering lives, even of manslaughter. early March that the country had not
1 USA 235,747 5,620 at 10,003. The total deaths rose by a single confirmed case. By now it has
just over 10%, with a record 950 registered nearly 300 deaths. Russian
‘Everyone is exposed’
2 ITALY 115,242 13,915 fatalities overnight. The number
In Europe and America, there are clear signs of public anger.
President Vladimir Putin said on
March 17 that the situation was
of registered coronavirus cases "We don't have enough money, we don't have enough tests
3 SPAIN 110,238 10,096 rose about 8% from Wednesday to and we don't have enough protective equipment. Everyone
"under control" in his country but the
increasing number of cases has since
110,238, the government said. in the hospital is extremely exposed," seethes Andrew who forced a lockdown in much of the
4 GERMANY 84,264 1,074 “A glimpse of hope: the curve
has stabilised. We have reached ...
works in a New York hospital. "People we could have saved country. And an escalating crisis
are dying, as they could not be admitted into intensive in Iran belies early statements
5 CHINA 81,589 3,318 the peak of the curve and we have
started the slowdown phase,” n #HOPE: Matterhorn mountain located on the Italian-Swiss border is
care," said Sara Chinchilla, who works at a Madrid hospital. by its leadership that the
■ A police officer in New York City. AFP epidemic would soon end.
Health minister Salvador Illa told lit up as sign of solidarity during the coronavirus pandemic.
6 FRANCE 59,105 4,503 parliament.
AFP

France became the fourth locally. Russia has more than UK’s House of Commons, said in
7 IRAN 50,468 3,160 country to pass the 4,000 corona- 3,500 confirmed cases of corona- a statement on Wednesday even-
‘SHOOT THEM DEAD,’ SAYS DUTERTE
virus deaths threshold on virus after a 28% increase over- ing that the government and par-
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned violators of coronavirus lockdown
8 UK 33,718 2,921 Wednesday, after Italy, Spain and night. liament hoped appropriate tech- measures they could be shot for causing trouble and said abuse of medical workers was a
the United States. Italy reported 760 deaths from nology would be in place by April serious crime that would not be tolerated. " My orders to the police and military… if there is
9 SWITZERLAND 18,827 536 French health authorities the coronavirus on Thursday as 21, when MPs may or may not be trouble… shoot them dead. "Is that understood? Dead."
reported 509 new deaths, taking the number of fatalities rose physically present in the House.
10 TURKEY 18,135 356 the total to 4,032. The rate of again after three weeks of nation- Rees-Mogg said, “We are
increase of deaths has deceler- wide lockdown. exploring options with the parlia-
(AS OF 11:35 PM IST) SOURCE: WORLDOMETER ated in France.
Belgium passed the 1,000 mark
on Thursday, health officials
The toll over the past 24 hours
compared with 727 on Wednes-
day. There were 4,668 new cases
mentary authorities in readiness
for parliament’s return.”
The government’s worst case
Canada to repatriate those
stranded in India in six flights
said. of the coronavirus on Thursday scenario envisages a coronavirus
The official toll has doubled in compared with 4,782 a day earlier, death toll of 50,000 people if self-
the space of three days. There as growth in infections slowed. isolating is not adhered to, but the
have now been 1,011 deaths and Confirmed cases in the coun- UK is not right now on course for
15,348 officially recorded cases. try, Europe’s worst-hit nation, a toll of that scale, a source famil- Anirudh Bhattacharyya India on Tuesday. About 25,000 14-day self-isolation.
President Vladimir Putin now total 115,242, while deaths iar with the government’s emer- n [email protected] Canadian passport holders and Meanwhile, Canadian PM Jus-
extended his order keeping Rus- reached 13,915. . gency discussions said. permanent residents are in India tin Trudeau has sought an emer-
sians at home until April 30, In the UK, plans are afoot to According to the source, who TORONTO: Canada will arrange now. The arrangement came gency session of the parliament to
warning that the spread of coro- enable MPs to question the gov- spoke on condition of anonymity, flights to repatriate citizens and about after discussions between pass urgent legislation required
navirus has yet to reach its peak. ernment virtually when parlia- the worst day for deaths is projec- permanent residents who have India’s external affairs minister S for measures required to counter
The Russian leader said cer- ment resumes after the Easter ted to be April 12. been stranded in India due to the Jaishankar and his Canadian the impact of the pandemic.
tain parts of the country, includ- break on April 21. The develop- A so-called best case scenario national lockdown. counterpart Francois-Philippe The focus will be on a stimulus
ing Moscow, haven’t managed to ment comes after speaker Lind- in the circumstances would be a They will be flown back in six Champagne. package to help workers and
get the situation under control. say Hoyle and several lawmakers death toll of 20,000, according to flights: four will depart from New Canada continues to impose a businesses survive.
He said he would give additional pushed for using technology to the source. The UK virus death Delhi and two from Mumbai. The ban on the arrival of foreign Direct support and liquidity
authority to regional leaders to continue parliamentary work. toll rose 24% in one day to 2,921, as first of these flights will depart on nationals. All those who return measures will cost the exchequer
determine the level of response Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the of April 1. Saturday and the last will leave will have to go into a mandatory CA$ 190 billion.

FA L L O U T O F PA N D E M I C

UN climate talks in Glasgow moved to 2021

Prasun Sonwalkar Glasgow by the UK in partner- why we have decided to res- in those plans, and a chance to
n [email protected] ship with Italy. chedule COP26. We will con- shape the 21st century econ-
The Scottish government tinue working tirelessly with omy in ways that are clean,
LONDON: COP26, the UN Cli- announced this week that the our partners to deliver the green, healthy, just, safe and
mate Change Conference SEC Arena, where COP26 was ambition needed to tackle the more resilient.”
scheduled for November in due to take place, will be climate crisis.” Experts involved with the
Glasgow, has been postponed turned into a field hospital to Espinosa said, “Covid-19 is Paris Agreement endorsed
due to the coronavirus pan- cope with coronavirus cases. the most urgent threat facing the postponement. Ajay Mat-
demic. A decision was taken UK business secretary humanity today, but we can- hur, director-general of the
at a virtual meeting attended Alok Sharma, the COP26 pres- not forget that climate change Energy and Resource Insti-
by UN climate chief Patricia ident-designate, said, “The is the biggest threat facing tute, said, “The momentum
Espinosa on Wednesday. world is facing an unprece- humanity over the long term. for climate action has acceler-
Prime Minister Narendra dented global challenge and “Soon, economies will ated considerably, and we will
Modi was to attend the meet- countries are rightly focusing restart. This is a chance for have to ensure that this
ing that will now take place in their efforts on saving lives nations to recover better, to momentum is sustained as
2021, which will be hosted in and fighting Covid-19. That is include the most vulnerable COP26 is moved to 2021.”
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 09

spotlig t
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: SPORT

A July without Roger Federer

shortpasses
SPURS’ SON TO
TRAIN AS A
MARINE: REPORT
SEOUL: Tottenham Hotspur’s
South Korean striker Son
MISSED How a Wimbledon-less year affects Heung-min will report to a
the 38-year-old champ and his legion of fans marines boot camp later this
month to fulfil military service
duties, a report said Thursday.
Surprisingly enough, the Son was spared a mandatory
BEYOND greatest Wimbledon career on stint as a conscript when
THE NEWS the men’s side of the draw, which South Korea took gold at the
saw eight titles, is enclosed 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia,
within two five-set losses to dif- earning the team an exemp-
ADITYA IYER ferent Novaks—Jiri in first round tion. Son will report to a
of 1998 and Djokovic in the final of marines boot camp on the

O
ver the last fortnight, 2019. I cannot remember the island of Jeju on April 20 for his
have you found your- former and do not want to basic training, an industry
self feeling deeply remember the latter. For Roger source told the South’s Yonhap
apologetic about miss- fans (and doesn’t that include news agency.
ing live sports? everyone who watches tennis?),
Tour de France dates
Watching millionaires smack the life and times of Federer at
remain on schedule
a ball with their foot, racquet or SW19 is bracketed within two
bat has always been a great way monumental victories: the first PARIS: Cycling’s shutdown was
to rise above the drudgery of against Pete Sampras, in the extended until June due to the
everyday life; but where we are fourth round of 2001; and the last Covid-19 pandemic, meaning
now, is very far from ordinary. against Rafa Nadal, in the semi-fi- French one-week stage race
the Criterium du Dauphine will
That perspective made it easy nal of 2019, which set the record
be postponed, organisers said.
to dismiss the personal anguish of straight against the Spaniard.
However, the Tour de France,
fellow sports fans. The suspen- I can only illustrate the inter- due to start in Nice on June 27,
sion of Liverpool’s title-run in the val between those two moments, remains on schedule. The only
English Premier League? Get a and hence Federer’s longevity, remaining key Tour de France
grip. The postponement of the using personal milestones. warm-up race not yet post-
European Championship and When Federer snatched the poned is the Tour de Suisse.
Tokyo Olympics? Forget about it. baton from the seven-time Wim- “For now the Tour de France
The cancellation of the Indian bledon winner in Sampras, I had dates remain the same,”
Premier League? About time just completed my 10th standard president of the race organiz-
already. board exams. More than half a ers, Christian Prudhomme,
That resolve remained firm lifetime (or 18 years) later, I was said. However, the Interna-
until the most highbrowed sports fortunate enough to be on Centre tional Cycling Union (UCI) said
event of them all got called off for Court for the father of all it is preparing a new potential
the year, and all perspective and rematches—Federer v Nadal at calendar taking into account
apologies streamed out of sani- Wimbledon for the first time different scenarios and will
tised windows. For the first time since their epic, era-defining final present it in the coming
weeks.
in 75 years, since the end of World in 2008. Apart from a period of
War II, Wimbledon has been can- play in the fourth set, the quality Stokes to race against F1
celled. More poignantly for those of that semi-final didn’t quite live drivers in virtual GP
who have witnessed the ongoing up to the hype. But Centre Court’s
era in the sport, this will be the immaculate love for Federer did. LONDON: Ben Stokes will test
his driving skills against five F1
first June/July in 23 years with- Federer is revered everywhere
drivers, including Ferrari’s
out Roger Federer featuring on he plays around the globe—his
Charles Leclerc, in the sport’s
his beloved bed of grass. groundstrokes can lift every second virtual grand prix this
In the bygone decade, Federer spectator in the largest tennis n Roger Federer had two match points on his serve in the fifth set of the 2019 Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic. It is difficult to comprehend how he lost from there. GETTY weekend. Stokes will team up
didn’t win a single US Open, arena in the world, the Arthur with Thai racer Alexander
started ignoring the French Open Ashe Stadium in New York. But sympathetic ripple of applause. erer had two match points on his towards the net to stifle the angle five and over all Slam tally to 17— A cancelled Wimbledon is Albon in the Red Bull line-up
and required great miracles to even that pales when compared Next point, Nadal crashed his serve to win his ninth trophy at of the return. In 2012, Murray’s three Big Ws and three majors bound to hurt Djokovic’s rhythm for his first e-sport competi-
survive at the Australian Open. It to Wimbledon’s passion for any- backhand into the net and Centre Wimbledon and tie Martina Nav- crosscourt passing shot sailed away from tying both of Federer’s but not as much as it is bound to tion. McLaren’s Lando Norris
was only at Wimbledon that he thing Federer. For one, that Court exploded—men in croco- ratilova for the record. On the wide and Federer slipped to his all-time records. Even the most impact Federer’s ticking career- and Williams’ George Russell
remained omnipresent—like his romance has little to do with his dile-leather shoes and tweed second match point at 40-30, he knees and cried. In 2019, Djok- rabid Federer fans have probably clock. If and when Wimbledon is and Nicholas Latifi will also be
court coverage—and a constant shot-making abilities. jackets forgot time and again that even set up the point just as he ovic’s crosscourt passing shot accepted that Djokovic is going to held next year and if—and that’s competing along with retired
in the far reaches of the second 2019: sometime in the second they weren’t at a football match. had set up the match point landed on the edge of the service reel Federer’s numbers in, what the big if—Federer returns to British GP winner and TV
week of the tournament. Those set, Nadal ran along the length of That Friday may mark the last against Andy Murray in 2012. box. Everything after that with the Serb having won five out play it, he will be almost 40, and pundit Johnny Herbert. The 28
reasons alone are enough to his baseline and curled in a mag- time Federer won a match at Seven years apart, Federer remains a blur. It is hard to focus of the last seven Slams (including playing for both lost and leftover lap race will see 20 drivers
make the third Grand Slam of the nificent forehand down-the-line Wimbledon. It is still hard to fully served down the T and Murray when you’re blinking back tears. the only one played this year) in time. But because it’s Federer at joining remotely from their
year the one that matters the winner. Urged by a sprinkle of comprehend how he managed to and Djokovic blocked it back. Djokovic has now beaten Fed- what is already a full-fledged hot Wimbledon and that occurrence homes, will be staged on a
most to tennis fans; tradition and loud Rafa supporters, Centre lose two days later on Sunday. At Federer then whipped his fore- erer in three Wimbledon finals streak, the third such streak of has often defied logic, his fans will virtual version of Albert Park.
strawberries can take a walk. Court followed with a belated and 8-7 and 40-15 in the fifth set, Fed- hand down-the-line and charged (three!) to take his SW19 count to his career. still expect him to win it.

Online coaching classes: India’s top athletes log in at home

HT Correspondents out at home simply cannot match RANI RAMPAL AMIT PANGHAL which are the qualities most From rooftops to balconies to
n [email protected] the rigours of a training camp, important for my sport and activ- porches, they are using limited
but the body gets used to a certain ity,” he says. space to great effect, and from
NEW DELHI: “What do you think amount of calories and craves it. “In some sport only some of stools to trash bins, they are
your body is like—a Mercedes or “Do a fasting in lockdown. Get these qualities are needed, while improvising when it comes to
a Ferrari?” asks Ryan Fernando, up, have a cup of coffee and do an in other sport you need a more equipment.
a nutritionist who works with intense workout,” he says. “Skip complete range. If you are a Amit Panghal, the first Indian
some of India’s top athletes, as he breakfast and have lunch.” Foods sprinter, speed, power and flexi- male boxer to win a silver at the
begins a workshop unlike any he to burn fat? Cinnamon, lemon, bility are most important while 2019 World Championships, does
has done before. moringa, black coffee. agility and CV endurance is not not have a rope ladder to do his
Instead of sitting down with his Fernando, who has worked nearly as important,” he says. footwork drills, so he’s painted
athletes to figure out their spe- with the likes of two-time Olym- John says many athletes, with- one in his garage.
cific nutritional needs, Fernando pic medallist Sushil Kumar, is out supervision, end up wasting “Innovation is the key since
is addressing them via Facebook. among several specialists—top their time on exercises that don’t there is no access to the gym and
“As an athlete if you believe your coaches, physiotherapists and add to their sport-specific fitness. weights,” says golfer Chiragh
body is a high-end dream vehicle mental conditioning experts who They should be spending time Kumar, winner on the Asian
then you need to put the correct are live streaming sessions for on physical attributes that can Tour and Asian Games silver
fuel inside to run it,” he says, and the Sports Authority of India director for the men’s team, and “I am using the stairs for differ- “Assuming that the lockdown he expects athletes to have at actually make a difference in medallist.
goes on to explain in detail how to (SAI) to help athletes manage this Raffaele Bergamasco, the ent strength endurance exer- is extended to two months, you home. their sport. This is most impor- “I place a stool in the driveway
boost immunity levels and how to unprecedented challenge of women’s team head coach, have cises, side jumps, single leg will be at 40-45 per cent of your “Ensure that you maintain dis- tant.” and do three sets of 10-15 jumps
preserve muscle strength at maintaining their fitness levels at prepared a detailed schedule for jumps,” says the 2019 Asian Box- maximum capacity (on return to cipline and do morning and even- Dr Kartik Doshi, head of the for power,” he says. “The trash
home during the lockdown home, with no top-end training the nine boxers who have quali- ing Championships silver medal- full training) and you will take ing sessions for at least one and Abhinav Bindra Targeting Per- bin nearby is tall, and I often jump
period. facilities at their disposal. fied for the Olympics, as well as list Kavinder Bisht. “Also, lots of two months to reach match fit- half hours each. Remember, this formance centre in Bhubanes- over it as well. Since the driveway
The advice includes eating Social media platforms and for those who hope to make it to bodyweight exercises and ness. If you push yourself at that is off season training and not a war, says technology has been of allows room, I do 20-yard sprints,
“beetroot, green peas, and rocket WhatsApp were things that future trials for categories where shadow boxing. The important time then there will be risk of holiday,” he says. immense help during the lock- shuttle runs, jumping jacks and
leaves, because they help in coaches would exhort their train- India is yet to seal a berth. Boxers thing is that I am constantly in injury. There is no major compe- David John, Hockey India’s down. on-the-spot jogging. For squats
vasodilation which means the ees to stay away from, lest they will have to film their training touch with coaches and try and tition schedule for next few high performance director sets “You need a programme and and lunges, I lift my daughter
widening of blood vessels. When waste their precious time and sessions and upload them on a maintain a routine.” months so you have time, do not an interesting assignment for his athletes who are serious will fol- Aynaz on my shoulders.”
the pipeline widens, you can send lose focus. Now, connecting WhatsApp group. The coaching Physiotherapist Nikhil Latey, be scared and in a hurry,” Latey athletes via Facebook. low,” he says. “We are also plan- Chirag then uploads these vid-
more blood to the muscles, more online is the only way to help elite staff will then analyse the videos who worked with Mary Kom says. “There are seven attributes of ning to start tele-consultation eos on Twitter or Instagram and
O2, water, vitamins... and you can athletes maintain their condi- and offer their inputs, or adapt when she won her bronze at the Latey gives tips on how to do fitness—cardio vascular endur- with all the ABTP centres.” challenges his golfer friends to
take out more lactic acid.” tioning. the sessions. 2012 Olympics, sounds a caution bodyweight strength training, ance, speed, agility, muscle While trainers have stepped up pull them off. “It’s also a way to
For Fernando, the biggest con- India’s top boxers have their Similar classes are being con- for athletes in his online session, and fitness and flexibility exer- strength, muscle power, muscle their efforts using the digital plat- break the boredom.”
cern is how to prevent athletes ‘Online Pathsala’. Santiago ducted for close to 300 junior and ‘Training in times of coronavi- cises at home using resistance endurance and flexibility. You form, athletes are finding innova- Inputs from Avishek Roy, Robin Bose,
from putting on weight; working Nieva, the high performance youth boxers as well. rus’. bands, the one piece of equipment have to determine and rank tive ways to implement them. Sandip Sikdar

HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS
‘ C A S E - B Y - C A S E ’ T R E AT M E N T
Sonia condemns unplanned Puri: Will decide on int’l
IAS officers identify hot spots, flag
lockdown, ‘miserly’ relief flights after curbs end gaps in policy, equipment shortage
Anisha Dutta countries, we can think of open- Deeksha Bhardwaj gloves etc. for medical staff was in response to the pandemic, rec-
Aurangzeb Naqshbandi confidence in the poor and, as a sure the poor and also to provide n [email protected] ing the international flights,” n [email protected] an area of concern for several dis- ommended that issues related to
n [email protected] result, we witnessed the tragic adequate financial support to the ministry of civil aviation secre- tricts and across states,” said the procurement, logistics and sup-
spectacle of thousands of migrant sections left out earlier. NEWDELHI: The civil aviation min- tary Pradeep Kharola said. NEWDELHI: From the domestic pro- report by the National Prepared- ply chain of medical equipment
NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi, the workers desperately trying to go “The NYAY [minimum istry is clear that the 21-day Puri also said incoming flights duction of Covid-19 testing kits ness Survey that was released on should be addressed on priority
interim president of the Con- back to their villages,’’ it said in a income guarantee] scheme put nationwide lockdown (due to the to bring Indians back home will and ventilators to lifting the lock- Thursday. The survey was con- to bridge the demand-supply
gress, said on Thursday that statement. forward by the Congress [as a pre- Covid-19 pandemic) will cease in have to remain suspended for down cautiously, young civil ser- ducted from March 25 to March gap.They also called for more
while the 21-day lockdown may Gandhi hit out at the Centre poll promise last year] offers a mid-April, after which the now. “We have a lockdown for the vants across the country have 30, with 410 district collectors and testing centres (with separate
have been required to fight Cov- over the exodus of migrant work- useful model that can be adapted resumption of international next 15 days, and any incoming offered a host of suggestions to IAS officers (batches 2014-2018) centres in rural areas) and isola-
id-19, the unplanned manner in ers, saying that the “tragic spec- and implemented,” said the reso- flights will be considered on a flights to bring Indians back tackle the coronavirus disease who have served as assistant sec- tion wards to be set up.
which it was implemented caused tacle” will “forever remain a blot lution, passed after Gandhi case-by-case basis, Union civil home will have to await the lifting (Covid-19) pandemic. retaries registering for it. “The respondents suggested
chaos and pain, provoking a reac- on the Modi government”. chaired a CWC meeting via video aviation Hardeep Puri said on of the lockdown,” Puri said. “But In a survey, conducted by the Of these, 266 submitted com- increase in the fiscal spending
tion from BJP president JP Information and broadcasting conferencing. Thursday. in so far as the lockdown is con- Department of Administrative pleted reports to the DARPG. (around 5 - 10 Lakh Crore/
Nadda who accused the Congress minister Prakash Javadekar said Former Congress chief Rahul The lockdown suspending rail- cerned, the lockdown is till April Reforms and Public Grievances, “This is the feedback we have around 2% of GDP) on health
of politicising the issue. the comments were “unfortu- Gandhi said the country has to ways, road and air transport was 15, and we can start considering 266 Indian Administrative Ser- received from across the coun- infrastructure, essential com-
Gandhi was speaking at a nate, false, and unnecessary”. fight Covid-19 with a specific announced by the Union govern- the resumption of (international) vice (IAS) officers submitted a try,” a DARPG official said. “This modities for poor and vulnerable
meeting of the Congress Working Thousands of migrant work- strategy and consultation, and ment on March 25 for three weeks flights, on a case by case basis, host of suggestion and identified the situation on the ground and groups,” according to the report.
Committee, which also found ers began fleeing cities for their stressed the need to ensure that till April 15. All domestic and dependent on where they are hot spots across 16 states. They the gaps that we want to highlight Other economic relief could
fault with the relief package homes on foot last week. The Cen- the most vulnerable and the poor international flights stand sus- coming from after that.” flagged some crucial gaps in pol- in the fight against Covid-19. The include partially waiving com-
announced by the government. tre announced an economic stim- as also aged are protected. pended till then. “The govern- He said airlines can begin icy, and highlighted the shortage suggestions have been noted and mercial rent of shops under lock-
“The Financial Action Plan ulus plan to provides direct cash Former Prime Minister Manmo- ment has to examine this, both advance bookings as per their of medical staff, equipment and will be addressed appropriately.” down, they suggested.
(FAP) I announced on March 25 transfers and food to the poor. han Singh said the Congress the health ministry and the home own discretion. “...we are pro- facilities such as ICU beds, venti- The respondents, while high- The civil servants also noted
was miserly, hopelessly inade- The CWC, which is the Con- stands one with the nation to take ministry will have to take a holis- ceeding as a ministry on the basis lators, ambulances, oxygen cylin- lighting that the national, state that more needed to be done to
quate and left out several vulner- gress’s highest decision-making on the challenge posed by the tic view on the fact that when con- and on the understanding that ders. “PPEs (personal protective and district administration has increase Covid-19 awareness in
able sections. It failed to instil body, demanded FAP II to reas- pandemic. ditions become safe in other the lockdown is till mid-April.” equipment) such as masks, been “effective and purposeful” backward districts.
10 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

E STA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 24
comment
§
Help the health Nizamuddin: Why liberals are wrong
workers, now The Jamaat’s action was criminal. Don’t defend it
because of a flawed notion of secularism
worse. All riots are bad and should be con-
demned.
The problem with knee-jerk secularism is
that it can sometimes offer up excuses for the
indefensible. We think we are defending the

The absence of PPEs is having VIR

ate them from each other.”
At a time when millions of Indians are
Muslim community from attacks by bigots.
In fact, we are damaging Indian secular-
SANGHVI making sacrifices to fight the coronavirus, ism.
disastrous implications this kind of behaviour is not just criminal, it
amounts to attempted murder.
Each time secularists take a stand that
runs totally counter to morality or even to
All this seems clear cut enough. So, why is common sense, we damage the liberal idea of

I
ndia cannot fight the coronavirus pandemic if its health there a problem? India. Yes, communalists will play the Hin-
care warriors — doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and Well, because of what seems like a knee- du-Muslim game. But we must never fall into
jerk reaction from sections of the secular the trap of doing the same thing.
support staff in hospitals — are not safe. This is obvious,

A
s the full scale of the damage to establishment. We must condemn disgraceful and crimi-
but needs to be reiterated because of the rapid rate at public health caused by the I cannot believe that any sensible person nal behaviour wherever we see it. Once we
Tablighi Jamaat meeting — — Hindu or Muslim, secular or communal — start defending people only because they
which members of the medical fraternity are getting and its aftermath — in Delhi’s can approve of the primitive fundamental- belong to a particular religion, we are no bet-
infected. In Delhi alone, eight doctors Nizamuddin area emerges, ism of the Jamaat, an orthodox group that ter than the religious bigots on the other side.

have tested positive. In Chandigarh, ourtake clear about.

there are some things we can be

One of them is that attempts by Hindutva

would take Islam back several centuries to
fulfil its objectives.
And yet, such is the nature of our political
n At a time when millions of Indians are
making sacrifices to fight the coronavirus,
Secularism does not mean that you rush to
the defence of every Muslim, no matter what
he or she has done. It means that you fight
two nurses and a doctor have tested
communalists to try and turn this into a Hin- dialogue that many secular liberals believe this kind of behaviour is not just criminal, against all religious bigots and their primi-
positive. Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital has scaled down operations du-Muslim issue are despicable. It is shame- they must respond vigorously to everything it amounts to attempted murder HT tive mindset that ignores science and pro-
ful that TV channels allow terms like “bio-ji- that Hindu communalists say. So, if Hin- motes religious mumbo-jumbo.
after two nurses tested positive. In Bihar’s Nalanda, according had” to be used. dutva extremists and trolls are using terms associated with their ideological opponents The issue with the Jamaat gathering is not
to a report in the Los Angeles Times, doctors were exposed to a The second thing we can be certain of is like jihad and using the incident to attack all on the right — whataboutery. only that it endangered the lives of so many
that various authorities are not blameless. Muslims, then the answer must be to find Ok, they say, if this was wrong, then why people. It is that it did so in the name of reli-
patient who tested positive — and developed symptoms them- There appears to have been laxness in grant- some way to defend the Jamaat. was it okay for Parliament to remain in ses- gion. In the process, it strengthened the com-
selves. Yet, they were told to keep working, which in turn, has ing visas. The Delhi Police, who have a sta- All of Wednesday, we heard the excuses. sion even when social distancing was the munal Hindu propaganda that Muslims are
tion located next to the Markaz, failed to clear There was, first of all, the constant blaming norm? What about Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s fundamentalists who do not regard them-
potentially put all of them and the newer patients at risk. the building. of the authorities. “Why didn’t the police victory celebrations in Bhopal when legisla- selves as subject to Indian laws.
These are just illustrative examples of a larger pattern. The Equally, it is as clear that the Jamaat lead- break up the gathering?” “The IB was keep- tors hugged each other despite the risk of cor- Of course, this is complete nonsense. The
ers behaved with extreme irresponsibility, ing a watch on the Markaz: why did it allow onavirus infection? Why was it okay for Yogi average Muslim is as sensible and as patri-
implications are clear. One, this will lead to the spread of the using religion to encourage people to stay the foreigners who had attended to travel Adityanath to refuse to call off Ram Navmi otic as the average Hindu. Many influential
inside the building and to ignore health around India?” And so on. celebrations till the very end? Muslims have condemned the Jamaat.
infection — for the interaction of medical workers with each
warnings. The videos and audiotapes that There are valid questions but they, in no There are two answers to the whatabout- But when secularists feel obliged to find
other and patients is very high in these times. Two, India already have now been discovered show Jamaat cler- way, lessen the horror of what the Jamaat ery. excuses for Muslim bigots, they obscure this
ics saying things like “Yes there is a virus. did. The first is that not only were all of these reality. If India is to move forward, then all of
has a grave shortage of health care workers in relation to the But 70,000 angels are with me and if they can’t A murderer is no less responsible for his things wrong, they were widely criticised us should unite to fight bigots, no matter
population. An increase in cases is inevitable. This will require save me, who will? This is the time for more actions because an inept police force failed to and condemned at the time. The second whether they are Hindu or Muslim. Find
such gatherings.” A voice, believed to be that capture him in time. answer is that it does not matter what else excuses for one or the other and the battle is
all available human resources — but if doctors and nurses get of Maulana Saad, is heard saying, “This is a When their explanations fail to hold, some happened. You cannot explain away the 2020 already lost.
infected on a large scale, the opposite will happen. They will need plan to end amity between Muslims, to alien- secularists then switch to a tactic that is often Delhi riots by saying that the 1984 riots were The views expressed are personal

to be quarantined and treated, depleting resources. Three, it

deals a blow to the morale of the medical fraternity. There are
already reports of doctors and nurses contemplating mass resig- Covid-19 should lead to One mantra for India:
nations — which authorities are in no position to accept. While
this may seem irresponsible, it is important to recognise that
they are individuals, with anxieties and fears, families, and want
more investment in health Test-isolate-treat-trace
to survive. India cannot afford its health care workers to be low Invest in human resources and technology; strengthen Even if all Indians stay home for 21 days, the virus will
on motivation at a time when it needs them at their finest.
district hospitals; and consider universal health insurance only be down, not out. Increase testing tenfold
There is only one solution: Source and supply personal pro-
competencies such as testing, referral,
tective equipment (PPE) immediately. The government is aware NANDITA quarantining and using medical equipment another battlefront. In the best adminis-
BHAN can be developed. The fight against Covid-19 SUJATHA trative system, at least three days are
of the challenge. On Monday, it announced its plans to ramp up
cannot be won without the active involve- RAO required for a balanced response system to
manufacturing and procurement of protective gear. But on the MADHAVI ment of the private sector and other health implement such an order: Framing guide-
MISRA care providers who can play an important lines for clarity, understanding and opera-
ground, each passing day without adequate gear puts at risk the
role in identifying potential cases and tionalising them to reach the last mile. But
lives of doctors, medical staff, their families, and patients they ensuring early quarantines. We need to the sudden lockdown led to misunder-
rethink the roles and responsibilities of standing and panic, forcing migrant work-
are treating. This will undermine the lockdown, lead to the emer-

T
he coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) frontline health workers such as Accredited ers to flee cities.

T
gence of many more “super-spreaders” and clusters, and under- has exposed the new nature of Social Health Activists, Auxiliary Nurse he coronavirus pandemic (Cov- The chaos that followed has, however,
health threats and emergencies, Midwives and multi-purpose workers, tak- id-19) may or may not be a viral flu. diverted attention from what caused it,
mine the effort to flatten the curve with the lockdown. Empathise linked to food systems, human-wild- ing into account the skills they have. It is infectious, but only a third as besides creating the added worry of the
with the frontline workers — and act on it by giving them what life and anthropogenic conflicts, and the Second, with citizens under lockdown lethal as SARS. In the recent past, potential spread of the infection to the hin-
dynamics of globalisation. To counter this and their mobility restricted, the role of the world has witnessed more deadly epi- terland. It reminds me of the spread of HIV
they need, to save their lives and lives of citizens. emergency, an unrivalled response has community health centres and district hos- demics: SARS, MERS, Ebola, and H5N1. in Surat. The sudden dismantling of a 400-
been initiated by all governments, the scien- pitals will be key. State and district adminis- Yet, the coronavirus has been overwhelm- year-old brothel, by an enthusiastic police
§

tific community and citizen groups. tration will need support from local commu- ing due to the speed with which it has chief, forced sex workers to flee, making
On March 25, despite fewer notified cases nity bodies, panchayats, urban local bodies, spread, infected people, and claimed lives. containment of the infection difficult.

The dollar cements compared to other countries, India initiated

a 21-day national lockdown, adopting social
distancing and citizen isolation, state bor-
and citizen groups to ensure that cases are
isolated early and supply chains for drugs
and essential equipment are functioning
The virus breached India’s borders on
January 30 through the 1.5 million Indians
returning to India since then till the ban on
But now, India has a window of opportu-
nity, provided it acts quickly and deci-
sively. The lockdown itself has limited

its position
der closures and a call to action for low-cost optimally. A communication plan to spread international travel. We do not know how value. Even if all 1.3 billion stayed home
innovations to support the government the right messages will be important. Dis- many among them were active and passive for 21 days, the virus will only be down, but
through this crisis. trict hospitals need appropriately trained carriers of the infection due to our abys- not out.
While the health care system attempts to staff and medical equipment to ensure that mal state of testing. For optimal results, the lockdown has to
The Fed will exchange treasury bonds for ramp up for what seems like a long battle
ahead, this is a wake-up call and a chance to
cases are managed effectively at the facility
and mortality is minimised. Effective use of
Two months down the line, we have
over 2,000 infected, and over 50 dead.
be accompanied by scaling up testing ten-
fold from the current levels, and rigor-

overnight dollar loans. This is positive invest in health care systems like never
before. India’s investments in the health
telemedicine can deal with complicated
cases, especially in inaccessible areas. We
These figures are not worrisome when
compared to other countries, except that
ously implementing the mantra — test-iso-
late-treat-trace. And for such a scale-up,
sector have historically been low, at no time should be careful to not concentrate servi- the curve is moving upwards and flatten- testing has to be free and accessible.

T
he pre-eminence of the United States (US) dollar has over 1.3% of its GDP. Compare this to 5% in ces in some cities alone. ing horizontally: Today, more than double With several manufacturers of test-kits
China, 8.1% in South Korea, 10.9% in Japan. Third, the government must make all the districts are affected than a week ago. now authorised, prices will fall with vol-
been underlined with a thick green line during the
Despite instituting one of the earliest archi- efforts to encourage low-cost innovations in Due to poor testing, we have no idea ume. This will be much cheaper than what
present pandemic. The dollar has surged against all tectures of rural primary care, the Indian medical technology to meet the needs of among whom the virus is lurking, and in India is paying in terms of economic and
public health system is struggling to com- essential equipment, both to respond to the which direction it is spreading. Fighting a social costs. Removing the deterrence of
currencies since the crisis began. Which is why there prehend the challenges that Covid-19 has pandemic now and to develop the capacity war blindfolded has its risks. One hope is price and distance is critical in these
was a collective sigh of relief among central banks everywhere brought with it. for the next flu season. Identifying and eas- the onset of the searing summer and if, as times.
In 2005, the National Rural Health Mis- ing the regulatory frameworks for develop- is being said, this epidemic follows the The second measure is relaxing move-
when the US Federal Reserve announced on Tuesday that it sion (NRHM), now known as National ing new medical products can help enable same trajectory as the 2009-10 swine flu, ment restrictions for goods required for
would exchange US Treasury bonds for overnight dollar loans. Health Mission (NHM), attempted to rapid responses. Regulating the prices of we may end up with a more reasonable the manufacture and delivery of all
strengthen the primary, secondary and ter- essential drugs, low-cost mass production of count of the infected. health-related items — medical devices,
The facility was also extended to the Reserve Bank of India tiary health services. But this was not fol- masks and protective gear, will ease the bur- The response has been unprecedented consumables, drugs and instruments —
(RBI), though it is yet to take advantage of the offer. It carried out lowed through with robust investments in den. In the medium-to-long-term, India with heartbreaking consequences for the and ensuring the running of the out-pa-
health infrastructure, workforce, supply needs to further strengthen its biomedical poor, homeless and marginalised. I have tient departments in hospitals. The Chhat-
a $2 billion swap recently, and with oil prices having crashed, it chains, and community models for deliver- research capabilities, and invest in cutting- not found any compelling evidence in the tisgarh government is reportedly organis-
ing care. While the Prime Minister’s Ayush- edge “made in India” health technologies public domain to give the nation less than ing five additional vehicles per block to
has no urgent need for dollars. Like most major economies, the
man Bharat Yojna (PMJAY) has led to risk- and make it easier for health technology four hours to lock down. Surely it is not ensure the steady supply of drugs for
bulk of India’s international financial transactions are dollar-de- pooling and greater health access for poorer start-ups to function with tax cuts. Scientific based on a model prepared by some indi- tuberculosis and chronic patients, besides
households, the issue of quality assurance innovations hold the key to solving social viduals based in the United States that transporting patients to and from hospi-
nominated. If its external position unravels further, India’s cen- needs more attention in the future. crises. estimates that 300 million people will get tals.
tral bank may yet need a dollar infusion. With the recently The response to Covid-19 provides an Finally, a task force to understand the the flu, and since questioned by other We cannot allow the tap to run dry for
opportunity for meaningful health reform. impact of Covid-19 on the health system and experts? the essential care of millions of sick people
announced swap arrangement, RBI can use its roughly $160 bil- India needs to make low-cost, client-centred households is required. The pandemic Regardless, India has to take strong pre- who need their medicines and surgeries,
lion holdings of US Treasury bonds, about a third of the country’s medical and health innovations. A four- presents an opportunity to expand the cov- ventive measures. There were two models: without creating another health crisis.
pronged approach may help. erage of the PMJAY, including considering The China model of social distancing by Closing down outdoor patient units could
foreign exchange reserves, to match any dollar requirements. First, we need to invest in human resour- a universalised health insurance model. banning all movement, except for essen- also mean missing out potential carriers of
The bank’s decision to greatly increase its dollar holding over the ces for health, now and in the future. India Social distancing may lead to new challen- tials; and the South Korean model of mass the virus.
must strive to meet the World Health Orga- ges of anxiety and mental health all round. testing. It must be remembered that money can-
past several years has proved prescient. nization norms (2016) for health workforce The costs of this pandemic could also be Both strategies seek to isolate the virus not buy all the essentials needed to cope
density: 44 health workers per 10,000 people. borne by other health and nutrition pro- and disrupt transmission. Of the two, with a surge of cases, but quick decision-
While there has been much talk about the rise of the Chinese
Recent estimates indicate that current total grammes as services and attention are South Korea’s was more sensible, but not making can. The Centre has now consti-
renminbi, about 90% of international transactions are denomi- human resource density is at 29 per 10,000, likely to get diverted. We require state-level possible as we messed up our testing pol- tuted working groups to deal with differ-
with wide variations among states. While task forces that represent not just adminis- icy and do not have enough testing kits. ent aspects of the pandemic. This is a posi-
nated in dollars. The sudden surge in dollar demand caused by India increases this number, it needs to also trators and doctors but that engage wider On the other hand, social distancing tive step, provided they are empowered
the pandemic put many central banks in a tight spot, including look at enhancing quality through upskil- civil society to address some of these long- through lockdowns gave the government and held accountable for delays. Indian
ling. Through emergency response training, term effects. time to marshal its scarce resources to companies have also come forward, mak-
that of China. The Fed’s decision immediately eased pressure on Covid-19 presents an opportunity to bol- fight the next phase of the battle (treat- ing available all their resources — knowl-
the dollar as it meant the trillions of dollars of US Treasuries held ster India’s health system, sustain invest- ment) and getting related requirements — edge, expertise, infrastructure. This is
WE REQUIRE STATE-LEVEL ment in technology and reorient budgeting doctors, nurses, personal protective inspiring.
by other central banks were effectively as good as cash dollars. TASK FORCES THAT REPRESENT priorities towards what is truly essential — equipment, intensive care unit beds, Working together may give rise to inno-
our health. As our medical workforce fights equipment, drugs, and trained personnel vation with the long-term triggering of
Dollars represent 60% of global foreign exchange reserves. The NOT JUST ADMINISTRATORS this invisible enemy, India owes them a — in place. more self-reliant and less dependent poli-
US central bank, in a simple and responsible action, has served AND DOCTORS BUT THAT robust health system that can facilitate all Given our iniquitous health system, cies.
to remind that there is still only one central bank of central ENGAGE WIDER CIVIL SOCIETY their efforts. putting in place such infrastructure in the
event of a surge is vital, if we want to mini-
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi said:
It’s a battle we have to win.
banks. TO ADDRESS SOME OF LONG- Madhavi Misra and Nandita Bhan have extensive mise fatalities.
TERM EFFECTS OF COVID-19 experience of working in the public health system
The views expressed are personal
The suddenness of the lockdown with-
out preparation, however, has created
Sujatha Rao is former Union secretary of health
The views expressed are personal

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FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 11
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shortstories
Aurobindo Pharma Firms react to the
MOODY’S CUTS
OUTLOOK FOR Manufacturing activity abandons $1 bn
virus with pay cuts
INDIAN BANKS deal with Sandoz
MUMBAI: Moody’s Investors
Service slashed the outlook for
the Indian banking system to
negative from stable citing
at 4-month low in March Swaraj Singh Dhanjal
n [email protected]

MUMBAI: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd

Team Mint
n [email protected]

Amid a nationwide lockdown to

SOME COMPANIES HAVE
STOPPED OR DELAYED
disruptions to economic activity
from the coronavirus pandemic MOUNTING STRESS Export orders, future activity indices signal falling demand has abandoned a proposed $1 bil- slow the spread of covid-19, com- PAYMENTS TO SAVE
that will worsen the ongoing lion purchase of the US derma- panies are reworking cost struc- CASH BY INVOKING
slowdown and impair lenders’ Asit Ranjan Mishra tology business as well as three tures to survive, as remote work
asset quality. A deterioration in n [email protected] manufacturing plants of Sandoz, and lower discretionary spend- FORCE MAJEURE
global economic conditions and a the generics unit of Swiss drug ing have become the new normal. panies are trying to fill critical
21-day lockdown imposed by NEW DELHI: India’s manufactur- maker Novartis, as it did not get Companies in the worst-hit roles internally even if the person
India will weigh on domestic ing sector growth slowed to a approval from the US Federal sectors such as aviation and hos- does not tick all the boxes.
demand and private investment, four-month low in March, with Trade Commission (US FTC). pitality have announced immedi- E-commerce and online deliv-
the ratings agency said in a the nationwide lockdown to “Aurobindo today announced ate pay cuts. Indigo, India’s most ery companies have struggled to
statement Thursday. This in turn contain the covid-19 outbreak the mutual agreement with San- profitable airline, was the first to keep operating, and some have
will cause a spike in unemploy- throwing normal economic doz Inc. to terminate the agree- announce a 25% cut in senior staff tapped technology solutions to
ment and worsen banks’ asset
activity out of gear, according to ment to buy the Sandoz US pay. Rival airlines SpiceJet and keep going. Ashish Jhina,
across the corporate, small
a private survey released on generic oral solids and dermatol- GoAir too have announced simi- co-founder of Jumbotail, an
business and retail segments,
pressuring their profitability and Wednesday. ogy businesses from Sandoz Inc. lar pay cuts. GoAir has also online wholesale marketplace for
capital, it said. India has an- The manufacturing Purchas- This decision was taken as retrenched its entire workforce of food and grocery products, said
nounced a raft of monetary ing Managers’ Index (PMI) for approval from the US Federal expat pilots, who are considered the company is working to reduce
easing measures including sharp India declined from 54.5 in Feb- Trade Commission for the trans- expensive. It has introduced delivery touch points by artificial
cuts to policy rates and a $50 ruary to 51.8 in March. A figure action was not obtained within leave without pay and up to 50% intelligence-driven delivery
billion cash line to lenders in order of above 50 indicates expansion, anticipated timelines,” the com- pay cut for its top leadership. promise, and route optimisation.
to boost credit and ease financial while a sub-50 print signals con- pany said in a regulatory filing On Thursday, SoftBank- These have resulted in 50-60%
stress in a sector that was bat- traction. on Thursday. funded Oyo reduced salaries for increase in productivity within
tered by a crisis among shadow The survey by data analytics Hyderabad-based generics senior and top-level executives. the last week itself, he said. “We
lenders and witnessed default by firm IHS Markit tracks new drug maker Aurobindo had Founder and CEO Ritesh Agar- are working with non-essential
a private sector bank even before orders, output, jobs, suppliers’ agreed in September 2018 to wal decided to forgo his entire services companies to utilise
the viral outbreak hit India. The delivery time, and stocks of pur- acquire these businesses from FY21 salary while the company’s their workforce to ramp up deliv-
country has the worst bad loan chases for around 400 manufac- Sandoz for an upfront payment executive leadership took a vol- ery capacity,” Jhina said.
ratio among major economies and turers. of $900 million and performance- untary pay cut beginning at 25%. Some companies have stopped
last month engineered its The most prominent signs of based payouts of $100 million. Many companies are also or delayed payments to suppliers
biggest-ever bank rescue to
trouble for Indian manufactur- At the time, the transaction revisiting organisational struc- to conserve cash, by invoking
maintain confidence.
ing came from the new export was the largest outbound tures to manage costs. Headhunt- force majeure clauses. One of
orders and future activity indi- pharma deal by an Indian com- ers who spoke to Mint requesting them is commercial vehicle
TELCOS SEEK ces, which indicated falling pany. The previous largest was anonymity estimated that C-suite maker Volvo Eicher Commercial
RELIEF MEASURES global demand and softening n The June quarter will witness hardships as the lockdown will lead to production cuts and job losses for the acquisition of Gavis Pharma- hiring is already down by 50%, Vehicles, which has decided to
domestic confidence, respec- casual labourers, and even after the lockdown, it will be gradual step to see the implications of it on new ceuticals Llc and Novel Labora- worse than during the economic temporarily delay payments to
AMID COVID-19 tively, said Eliot Kerr, econo- infections, say experts. BLOOMBERG tories by Lupin Ltd for $880 mil- slowdown in 2008-09. Many com- some suppliers.
MUMBAI: While telecom service mist, IHS Markit. lion in 2015.
providers have been grouped “Should the trajectory of
CRISIL HAD SLASHED ITS up, we think that it will be grad- Finance minister Nirmala In 2016, Aurobindo bid for
under essential services to keep
businesses running during the
nationwide lockdown, the Cellular
injections continue in the same
vein, the Indian manufacturing GROWTH ESTIMATE FOR
ual, one step at a time, to see the
implication of it on new infec-
Sitharaman had last week
rolled out a ₹1.7 lakh crore relief
Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuti-
cal Industries Ltd’s Actavis UK Oil firms supply cleaner
sector can expect a much FY21 TO 3.5% AND SAID tions. Thus, there is potential package, to limit the economic Ltd and Actavis Ireland Ltd
operators Association of India
(COAI) has written to the Finance
Minister to offset the sector’s
sharper negative impact in the
coming months, similar to the THAT ADVERSE EFFECTS
for domestic demand to remain
low and crunched for an even
damage caused by the coronavi-
rus outbreak and to address the
units. It was pipped to the post by
domestic rival Intas Pharmaceu-
BS-VI fuel across India
financial concerns. The industry
scale seen in other countries,” OF LOCKDOWN CAN more significant period,” said loss of livelihood of millions of ticals Ltd, which paid close to Rajeev Jayaswal to BS-VI compliant petrol and
said Kerr. Pan. poor hit by the unprecedented £600 million (around ₹5,000 [email protected] diesel across the country, an
body that represents private
telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Other lead indicators also DWARF GAINS FROM Rating agency Crisil Ltd had lockdown. crore).
n

IOC spokesperson said. Execu-

Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio suggest substantial impact of DROP IN CRUDE OIL last week slashed its growth The relief package, under the Other notable transactions in NEW DELHI: State-run oil market- tives of the three oil companies
the covid-19 outbreak on the estimate for FY21 by 170 basis newly-framed Prime Minister the outbound pharma space in ing companies (OMCs) have said on condition of anonymity
has requested for refund of
unitilised input tax credits, low economy. In March, India’s
PRICES, AND STIMULI points to 3.5% and said that the Garib Kalyan Yojana, aims to recent years include Cipla Ltd’s launched cleaner BS-VI grade that consumer prices of petrol
cost funding, rationalisation of goods and services tax (GST) adverse effects of the ongoing alleviate the financial pain acquisition of three products petrol and diesel across the and diesel have not been raised
levies and reduction of spectrum collection fell to ₹97,597 crore, projected a gross domestic prod- lockdown can dwarf the gains faced by migrant workers, farm- from Teva in the US. In Novem- country from Wednesday with to recover the investments in
usage charges (SUC) among against the ₹1.25 trillion target uct contraction for the June from the sharp drop in crude oil ers, urban and rural poor, and ber 2016, Aurobindo had also an investment of ₹35,000 crore upgrading refineries as prices of
others. According to various for the month. quarter, while slashing their prices, and the anticipated mon- women. acquired a few products from without raising their pump pri- auto fuels had been freezed
reports, the telecom companies India’s largest carmaker FY21 economic growth esti- etary and fiscal stimuli. Pan said while everyone is Teva’s France portfolio. ces, thanks to the slump in inter- since March 16 despite a steep
differ from government numbers Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s mates. The government is working clamouring for a fiscal stimu- At the time of the Sandoz national oil rates. fall in their international rates.
on the increase in internet usage domestic vehicle sales also The June quarter will wit- on a fiscal stimulus to jumpstart lus, the first job for the govern- acquisition, Aurobindo claimed As per the commitment, the Petrol is currently sold at
and subsequent pressure on declined sharply by 48%. It sold ness hardships as the lockdown the economy apart from provid- ment now is healthcare, Pan that the deal would catapult it to three public sector companies – ₹69.59 per litre in Delhi and die-
telecom resources. While govern- 76,976 units during the month, will lead to production cuts and ing support to the healthcare said. “A stimulus for the general the second position in the derma- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), sel is priced at ₹62.29 a litre since
ment bodies noted up to 10% compared to 147,613 units a year job losses for casual labourers, and industrial sectors, eco- economy can be focused on only tological drugs segment and Bharat Petroleum Corporation March 16 despite India’s aver-
increase in usage, COAI has given
ago. said Indranil Pan, chief econo- nomic affairs secretary Atanu after the lockdown has ended, to would also make it the second- Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan age crude oil purchase price
an estimate of 20% increase.
With the disruption in eco- mist, IDFC Bank. Chakraborty had hinted on ensure that the fiscal stimulus is largest generics company in the Petroleum Corporation Ltd (Indian basket) has dropped by
REPORTERS AND AGENCIES nomic activity, most economists “Even as the lockdown opens Tuesday. spent and not saved,” he said. US by prescriptions. (HPCL) have fully transitioned over 27%.

HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS

In Dharavi, cramped quarters and AarogyaSetu app facetoface

BS YEDIYURAPPA , Karnataka chief minister
to tell people their
squalor make Covid fight difficult Covid-19 risk score ‘Isolation, social distancing
Rupsa Chakraborty
n [email protected]

MUMBAI : Mumbai’s overworked

to implement.
“It is almost certain that the
cases will spike in Dharavi due to
overpopulation,” said Baburao
Rhythma Kaul
n [email protected]

NEW DELHI : The government on

will do wonders, not testing’
public health workers have a Mane, a former state legislator Thursday launched a mobile NEW DELHI:Karnataka chief for them. All construction
new, daunting challenge on their from Dharavi. “There are, on app— AarogyaSetu— developed minister BS Yediyurappa has workers are being given food,
hands--Dharavi. average, 10-12 people living in in a public-private partnership to credited his government’s advance ration for two
After a 56-year-old garment thousands of 250 sq ft huts. As help people assess the risk of their proactive strategy for the rel- months and monthly ₹1,000 .
shop owner died of the coronavi- summer approaches and the tem- catching the Coronavirus disease atively fewer number of coro-
rus disease (Covid-19) in India’s perature soars, it will be almost (Covid-19). navirus (Covid-19) cases and Is there a case of cluster spread
largest slum on April 1, two teams impossible to prevent home- “The app will calculate the risk deaths in the state after it at a Mysuru pharma company?
of 50 officers and volunteers quarantined people from coming score based on their interaction reported the first fatality in In Mysuru, the disease was
arrived in Dharavi to spread out of their cramped spaces.” with others, using cutting edge the pandemic in the country first detected among two
awareness of Sars-Cov-2, the For Dharavi, BMC has put a Bluetooth technology, algo- on March 13. Yediyurappa workers. We quarantined all
virus that causes the disease, and special plan in place. It has cre- rithms and artificial intelli- spoke to Sunetra Choud- the workers. On Monday, six
to quarantine 70 high-risk resi- ated two teams of 25 people each gence,” Neeta Verma, director- hury about how his govern- more workers tested posi-
dents of the eight-building Slum that work round the clock in two general, national informatics ment was responding to the tive. We are tracing others. It
Rehabilitation Authority com- shifts. These teams include a san- centre, the government of India, crisis. Edited excerpts: n HT ARCHIVE cannot be described as a clus-
plex in which the man stayed. itary inspector, medical officers, said. ter case. The pharma com-
The neighbourhoods also has n Small industries’ workers lineup for the food packets at Dharavi police personnel jand community The app can be installed in pany had to be kept open.
91 shops, all of which have been during lockdown in Mumbai on Wednesday. SATISH BATE/HT PHOTO volunteers. In addition, the ward both Android and iOS-based What did Prime Minister Naren- bed facility at the Victoria
ordered shut. The next day an officer has on board 800 commu- smartphones. Once it is installed, dra Modi convey to chief minis- hospital (Bengaluru) for How is your government helping
additional 2,500 people were “It is going to be an uphill task that of Mumbai (32,303 people per nity health volunteers whose pri- and Bluetooth is switched on, one ters in Thursday’s video confer- treatment of Covid-19 cases. people from the northeast fac-
home-quarantined, and will identifying asymptomatic square kilometre), the fifth most- mary responsibility will be to would need to set location shar- ence? Immediately, we summoned ing racism because of Cov-
probably be tested for the virus. patients in an area that has more densely populated city in the trace vulnerable residents such ing to “always”. The app detects The PM suggested several experts and went according id-19?
On Thursday morning, just as than 850,000 people,” said Kiran world, according to a United as senior citizens, patients with other devices with Aarogya Setu measures [to check spread of to their suggestions. No incident of such discrimi-
the two teams plus 800 more com- Dighavkar, assistant commis- Nations Population Prospects respiratory ailments and preg- that are in the Bluetooth/GPS coronavirus] such as utilisa- nation has been reported
munity health volunteers were sioner of the Brihanmumbai study released in July 2019. nant women. proximity of one’s phone. tion of AYUSH staff and doc- Are you going to increase test- from our state. People of Kar-
getting ready for another busy Municipal Corporation and the Mumbai is also the city worst “I have sought permission to In case anyone whose phone tor’s services and popularisa- ing like Kerala, which has intro- nataka are known for toler-
day in Dharavi, a second case officer in charge of the city’s G hit by Covid-19 in India, with at convert the Rajiv Gandhi District has been in proximity to one’s test tion of AYUSH-suggested duced rapid testing? Many say ance and humanity... Do not
emerged – a municipal conserv- ward, where Dharavi is situated. least 235 people having teste posi- Sports club into a quarantine positive, the app calculates one’s food items for strengthening that the more we test, compare the situation else-
ancy worker from south Mumbai It is not just about Dharavi’s tive and 17 deaths. facility with 300 beds,” said risk of infection based on recency the immune system. Karna- the better it is. where with Karnataka.
who was assigned to the area population. Its inhabitants live in With private laboratories also Dighavkar. “Once approved, we and proximity of one’s interac- taka has already imple- More you isolate and dis-
tested positive for Sars-Cov-2. some of the most cramped spaces testing for Covid-19, this number will shift high-risk people {to the tion and recommends suitable mented or is in the process of tance the people from min- How would you react to criti-
Twenty of his friends and in the country. will only rise, health officials facility}.” action. implementing most of the gling, more we will be able to cism regarding breach of pri-
co-workers were quarantined. In an area measuring 2.1 sq said. The primary concern of health The health ministry on steps suggested by the PM. control the disease. vacy over Karnataka’s move to
Neither the garment shop km, the slum has over 57,000 Mumbai’s – and Dharavi’s – officers is the people’s coopera- Wednesday also announced an The first case was reported publish addresses of those who
owner nor the conservancy shanties, huts and small flats, population numbers make social tion. “People in slums don’t coop- email id—technicalquery.cov- What are you doing to trace 45 in Karnataka on March 6. On have travelled internationally
worker has a recent travel his- almost all of them illegal. distancing – one of the key pre- erate. The family can’t confirm [email protected]—to address queries people from Karnataka who Wednesday, we had 91 posi- since March 8?
tory, according to information Its estimated population den- ventive measures recommended his activity, and we don’t know related to the disease. In the past were at the headquarters of a tive cases and this indicates It is false news that we have
released by the city’s health sity – 66,000 people per square by the World Health Organisa- how many people he may have 24 hours, the ministry received religious organisation in Delhi how effective our measures published the addresses.
department. kilometre – is more than double tion (WHO) – almost impossible infected.” 900 emails on the topic. where some people have been are. This was the third worst- However, we have made a list
found to be Covid-19 positive? hit state, and has slid to 5th of the people, who arrived
We have tracked many of place. here from abroad, to keep a

Gurbani singer dead, event he attended under scanner them and they will be quar-
antined. One of the three dead
in Karnataka, who hailed
from Sira town in Tumkur
Are your five testing labs
enough?
We are increasing the testing
watch on their health.People
coming from abroad are car-
riers. In the larger interest of
the society, some measures
Mandeep Kaur Narula “He had visited England in Covid-19 in Punjab has risen to garh counterparts about district, is suspected to have facilities. We now have seven have been initiated.
n [email protected] November. A health department six. Khalsa’s condition, tracing of his been among the 45. The whole testing centres. We are buy-
team visited his house on March Khalsa was referred to the contacts was started in Chandi- town is being monitored. ing more than one lakh rapid Do you think the lockdown
AMRITSAR: Bhai Nirmal Singh 3 after we got the information that Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on garh. testing kits from abroad. Iso- should go beyond 21 days and
Khalsa, 67, a Padma Shri awardee two guests–his uncle and aunt– March 30 after he complained of A Sector 27 resident said the Karnataka has fewer Covid-19 lation, quarantining and how will you offset its economic
and a former hazoori ragi (Gur- from the US visited him. When breathlessness. gathering was held for a pre-wed- cases compared to states like social and physical distanc- impact?
bani exponent) at Amritsar’s the home quarantine period of The Chandigarh Municipal ding ceremony. “During three- Kerala. What are you doing to ing will do wonders and not It is too premature to predict
Golden Temple, died of a heart the guests was over on March 17, Corporation has quarantined 84 four days, lots of functions were keep the number down? the testing centres. anything. If the disease sub-
attack on Thursday a day after he they were found asymptomatic. people, who had attended the reli- held and many people visited the Karnataka was the first state sides , there is no question of
was diagnosed with coronavirus Bhai Nirmal Singh then went to gious gathering where Khalsa house,” said another neighbour. to announce a lockdown (on How are you dealing with the extending it. The Centre will
(Covid-19). Chandigarh for a kirtan sama- performed in the city on March A third neighbour said after March 22) much before other difficult situation that migrant take the decision. Our state
Amritsar’s civil surgeon, Dr gam [a devotional event] on n Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa. 19. An official said the 84 include reading the news about Khalsa’s states did so. When we workers are facing because of has a robust economy and we
Prabhdeep Kaur Johal, said March 19 where over 100 people 14 members of a family. death, she called police to inform reported the first Covid-19 the 21-day national lockdown? are going to bounce back
Khalsa was put on ventilator on had gathered,” Johal said. during his trip to Chandigarh. He The religious gathering was them about the event in Sector 27. death, we initiated various It is wrong to say that the soon. I am sure the lockdown
Wednesday night after his condi- She added he tested positive for died of sudden cardiac arrest on held at a house in Chandigarh’s “As their children had come from measures to contain the migrants are harassed. We impact on the economy will
tion worsened due to his bron- coronavirus on Wednesday. “He Thursday.” Sector 27. After Amritsar health abroad, they could not change the spread. We created a 1,500- have created all the facilities be minimal.
chial asthma. may have caught the infection With his death, the toll from authorities alerted their Chandi- plan at the last moment.”
12 corporate buzz hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

buzz No fresh symptoms seen in evacuees from Indian Coast Guard deploys NPC’s CoE cell hosts
ship Varad at Paradip webinar
NHIDCL donates to PM-CARES Fund
The management and staff of Na-
tional Highways and Infrastructure
Italy at ITBP Quarantine Facility National Productivity Council’s
(NPC) Centre of Excellence
Total 481 Indian evacuees from
Development Corporation Limited coronavirus-hit Milan and Rome, (CoE) cell hosted a webinar on
(NHIDCL), a Government of In- Italy are being looked after at ‘Implementation of Industry

‘MY WAY OF dia Enterprise under the Ministry

of Road Transport and Highways
ITBP Chhawla Quarantine Facil-
ity, New Delhi. No fresh symp-
4.0 in SMEs’ in order to create
awareness on the concepts of
CONTRIBUTING IS BY have made a humble contribution
of Rs 67,25,000 which includes
toms of coronavirus have been
seen in them till now. The two The North-Eastern sea border got
Industry 4.0. The expert speaker
Umashankar Prasad, Project
NOT TELLING’ one day salary of its employees, to
the PM-CARES Fund with their
batches of 218 and 263 persons
reached India from Italy on March
a major fillip when Indian Coast
Guard Ship Varad joined the fleet
Head, CoE: IT for I4.0, dis-
cussed about various technolog-
commitment to stand firmly with 15 and 22, respectively. at Paradip. The ship has joined ical domains of I4.0, framework
Check out today’s HT City the government in the fight against All basic facilities are being as the third Offshore Patrol Ves- for its implementation and pre-
the coronavirus. provided at the centre as done sel (OPV) class of Indian Coast sented various initiatives being
NHB contributes Rs 1 crore to PM- with the previous lot of evacuees. Guard ship under the operational undertaken by NPC to upscale
CARES Fund Daily monitoring and checkups control of Coast Guard Region- the adoption of smart manu-
The Government of India recently are also been undertaken by the quarantine period is 14 days plus. also been made including isola- al Headquarters (North-East), facturing in Indian industry(s)/
announced a public charitable trust ITBP medicos. The expected Emergency arrangements have tion beds and ambulances. Kolkata. SME(s).
under the name of ‘Prime Minis-
ter’s Citizen Assistance and Relief
in Emergency Situations Fund’
Subrat Sahoo takes charge NATA 2020 first test CBSE starts toll-free Record breaking NBT, India provides books
(PM-CARES Fund) with Prime as ACS to CM Chhattisgarh postponed helpline on coronavirus performance by LIC online for free
Minister as the Chairman of the Subrat Sahoo (IAS) has taken over The Council of Architecture has CBSE has recently decided to start Life Insurance Corporation of India In the wake of preventive meas-
trust. Under its Corporate Social the charge at the secretariat ‘Ma- decided to postpone the ensuing a helpline for students to create (LIC), continues to better its per- ures of the government to con-
Responsibility (CSR) activity, the hanadi Bhawan’ as the additional first test of National Aptitude Test awareness on the pandemic coro- formance, thereby winning people’s tain the spread of Covid-19, and
National Housing Bank (NHB) chief secretary to the chief minister in Architecture (NATA 2020) ex- navirus. This facility is available trust by crossing last financial year’s to encourage people to #StayIn
has contributed one crore rupees to of Chhattisgarh. Sahoo will also be amination scheduled to be held on on the toll-free no 1800 11 8004 number of policies on March 17 and #StayHome, the National
the fund to fight against Covid-19 holding additional charges of ACS, April 19 in pursuance of Ministry from 8 am to 8 pm initially up to itself, a fortnight ahead of year end Book Trust, India in its efforts to
pandemic. home and jails, power, electron- of Home Affairs, GoI announcing March 31. and with the most productive period encourage people to read books
BHEL and its employees contribute ics and information technology, complete lockdown in the coun- CBSE has also played a proac- still ahead. while at home, is providing its
to fight against Covid-19 commerce and industries (rail line try for containment of pandemic tive role in creating mass aware- As against 2,14,03,905 policies select and best-selling titles for
INVITATION FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST BHEL and its employees have projects) government of Chhattis- coronvirus (Covid-19). The new ness in public by way of memes completed last year as on March free download as part of its ini-
Rail Coach Factory (RCF) is a Production Unit under Ministry of made a humble contribution of garh. date of first test of NATA 2020 ex- on social media platforms, issuing 31, 2019, the corporation has cre- tiative of #StayHomeIndiaWith-
Railways manufacturing Mainline coaches and Self-Propelled donating their one-day’s salary to After taking over charge, Sahoo amination will be announced after guidelines to students/parents and ated a new record by completing Books. The 100+ books, in PDF
coaches for Indian Railways. the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund held discussion on improving cus- the period of complete lockdown the schools for creating awareness 2,14,22,370 policies as on March 17, format, can be downloaded from
In view of Covid-19 Pandemic, RCF is exploring the possibility to to bolster the fight against this un- tomer services, expediting projects is over. Also, the registration date about coronavirus and its preven- 2020 and is confident of crossing its the NBT’s website. Available in
collaborate with established Ventilator manufacturers by offering precedented medical emergency. and schemes of the companies as per for the first test of NATA 2020 has tion or even changing seating ar- target of 2.5 crore policies well be- multiple languages, the books
its component manufacturing and assembly capacity to ramp up Significantly, BHEL’s Ranipet the policy of the state government. been extended till April 15. rangements in exam halls. fore March 31, 2020. cover all genres.
manufacturing of ventilators in the country with an objective to unit has developed in-house a
increase the availability of ventilators to deal with crisis. The list of spray assembly that atomises the
resources (Machinery and Plant, Infrastructure) available with sanitising liquid and can be used
RCF is available at www.rcf.indianrailways.gov.in for mass sanitisation for combat-
Interested Manufactures of Ventilators are requested to visit ing the coronavirus.
www.rcf.indianrailways.gov.in download ANNEXURE-RCF-
NBT, India to launch corona studies
EOI and submit duly filled in along with attachments, if any, by series books
email to [email protected]. Realising the extraordinary psy-
Last date of submission - 06th April, 2020. chological, social, economic and
In case of any queries, Please contact Mr. Manish Bhimte, cultural significance of corona
Chief Design Engineer, RCF. Contact No. 9779241406 pandemic for the human society
Chief Design Engineer in times to come, National Book
Trust, India, under Ministry of
Notice No. G-122/01/Design-136/2020-21 Dated : 02.04.2020 Human Resource Development, is
launching a publishing series titled
‘Corona Studies Series’ to docu-  Rajesh Ranjan, DG, CISF along with MA Ganapathy, SDG, CISF Airport Sector visited IGI Airport, New  IOC’s Refineries HQ has provided support to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) for purchasing
ment and to provide relevant read- Delhi to take stock of the situation and arrangements made by CISF to meet the challenge of Covid-19. safety gear worth nearly Rs 80 lakh, including 2,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, two lakh
DG praised health officials and CISF personnel for their dedication and contribution. pair of gloves, two lakh surgical masks and 10,000 litres of cleaning solution.
ing materials for all age-groups for
the post-corona readership needs.
BUSINESS OFFER IRCON extends support of Rs 5
crore to fight coronavirus
Ircon International Limited (IR-
CON) has come forward to pro-
vide a financial assistance of Rs
five crore to PM-CARES Fund
through its CSR fund and em-
ployees contribution. SK Chaud-
hary, CMD, IRCON said that due
to Covid-19, the current situation
in India is unprecedented and this
amount would be utilised towards
fighting Covid-19. He further
 Delhi Division of Northern Railways is working 24/7 for the supply of essential commodities.  10th Shaheed Manoranjan Singh, Memorial CRPF State Open Football Tournament-2020, organised by
added that, IRCON stands strong- Operation of freight trains is continuing in wake of coronavirus. Commodities, such as foodgrains, CRPF and Imphal West football Association under the aegis of all Manipur Football Association, has
ly by the society in these testing salt, sugar, fruits & vegetables, fertilisers, etc are being loaded at railway terminals. concluded at SAI Sports Complex, Imphal (Manipur) in which 25 teams participated.
times.

COVID-19 HAS SHOWN US

THAT FAKE NEWS IS A
REAL ISSUE
It seems fake news on social media is
spreading faster than the virus itself. And
answers are harder than ever to come by.
Now we aren’t medical experts, but we know
how to get to the truth. By thoroughly
researching and verifying every word before
it’s actually printed. So, in these uncertain
times, might we ask you to wait. Wait before
you share something you have no way of
confirming. Wait until the truth in print makes
its way to your doorstep.
At this time, your trusted newspapers and news sites
are the best sources of credible and trustworthy information.

While you enjoy reading the paper,

here are the QR codes to our news sites.

https://epaper.hindustantimes.com https://epaper.livemint.com https://epaper.livehindustan.com

HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 13

news
Conviction overturned in 3 Guj firms fined DELHI VIOLENCE

~10cr for running Jamia PhD scholar held for

without green nod
Daniel Pearl murder case
ESCAPING GALLOWS Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh’s death sentence commuted to 7-yr jail
HT Correspondent
n [email protected]

NEWDELHI:The Supreme Court has

‘conspiring’ in rioting case
Karn Pratap Singh and
Fareeha Iftikhar
ruled that environmental clear- n [email protected]
Rezaul H Laskar reports also said Sheikh was held ances (EC) granted with retro-
n [email protected] by the ISI for a week before he was spective effect cannot be sus- NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have
handed over to police. tained, directing three Gujarat- arrested a PhD scholar from
NEW DELHI: Ahmed Omer Saeed Pearl disappeared in Karachi based industrial units to pay ~10 Jamia Millia Islamia in connec-
Sheikh, the terrorist convicted of on January 23, 2002, while crore each as compensation for tion with a case of rioting and
the 2002 kidnapping and murder researching links between Paki- operating without valid green criminal conspiracy linked to the
of journalist Daniel Pearl, had his stani militants and Richard Reid, approvals and causing environ- February riots in north-east
death sentence commuted to a who was arrested the previous mental degradation. Delhi, officers with knowledge of
prison term of seven years by a month on a flight from Paris to A circular issued by the minis- the development said.
Pakistani court on Thursday. Miami with explosives in his try of environment and forest Joint commissioner of police
The Sindh high court delivered shoes. Pakistani prosecutors said (MOEF) on May 14, 2002, that (special cell) Neeraj Thakur con-
its ruling in response to appeals Saeed lured Pearl into a trap by envisaged granting ex post facto firmed Wednesday’s arrest of the
by Sheikh and three other men promising to arrange an inter- (with retrospective effect) ECs scholar, Meeran Haider, but did
convicted in connection with the view with an Islamic cleric, who was set aside by the Supreme not disclose details.
killing of the Wall Street Journal police believe was not involved in Court bench of justices DY Chan- The suspect’s alleged “involve- n Women stand beside charred remains of vehicles and vandalised
reporter in Karachi. The high the conspiracy. A video emerged drachud and Ajay Rastogi. ment in the conspiracy to insti- properties at Shiv Vihar, Delhi, on March 2. PTI
court overturned the verdict of an of Pearl being beheaded. Khaled The decision came on an gate the riots, funding the vio-
anti-terrorism court. Sheikh Mohammed, one of the appeal filed against a January lence and the agitation against interrogated at the special cell’s had approached his residence
Reacting to the ruling, key plotters of the 9/11 attacks, 2016 order of the National Green the Citizenship (Amendment) Lodhi Colony office. enquiring about him. He was
US House foreign affairs commit- n Omar Sheikh comes out of a Karachi court. AFP confessed in 2007 to beheading Tribunal (NGT) that ordered the Act (CAA) in Shaheen Bagh” is Haider, a resident of Jamia taken into custody around
tee tweeted, “Deeply concerned Pearl, according to a statement closure of the three industrial also being probed, the officers Nagar, was served a notice on 10.30pm. The JCC demands that
by Pakistan court’s overturning Sheikh Adil, who were earlier of the Wall Street Journal, was issued by the Pentagon. units – Alembic Pharmaceuti- cited above said, requesting ano- March 31, asking him to join the he must be released as charges
of convictions...It’s critical Paki- sentenced to life imprisonment. kidnapped in Karachi on January Sheikh was also a member of cals, United Phosphorous and nymity.. probe in the case that was regis- against him are baseless,” the
stan demonstrate a real commit- “The court has commuted 23, 2002 and later beheaded. The the Harkat-ul-Ansar and was Unique Chemicals – that com- At least 53 people were killed tered by the crime branch after committee said.
ment to addressing its longstand- Omar’s death sentence to a seven- four men were convicted by the involved in the 1994 kidnapping of menced operations without valid and more than 400 injured in the the riots. He Haider was asked to The University administration
ing terrorism problem by holding year sentence,” defence lawyer anti-terrorism court on July 15, four foreign tourists – three from EC and later obtained it with ret- February 23-25 rioting in north- reach the special cell’s Lodhi Col- said it had not been informed
those involved accountable.” Khawaja Naveed told Reuters. 2002. They filed appeals in the the UK and one from the US – in rospective effect. The Environ- east Delhi that started as clashes ony office at 10am on Wednesday. about the incident by the police
Sheikh, 46, a British citizen of “The murder charges were not high court four days later, and the New Delhi. The tourists were sub- mental Impact Assessment noti- between supporters and oppo- “We arrested Haider as we and declined to comment further.
Pakistani origin, was freed by proven, so he has given seven defence lawyers had contended sequently freed and Sheikh was fication of January 1994 man- nents of the CAA before acquir- have evidence to prove the char- The JNU unit of RJD on Thurs-
India with Jaish-e-Mohammed years for the kidnapping.” the prosecution had failed to arrested by police. He was in dated prior EC for setting up and ing a communal colour. Shaheen ges against him. His role in fund- day also issued a statement
founder Masood Azhar and ter- Naveed added, “Omar has prove beyond reasonable doubt prison in connection with the kid- expanding industrial projects. Bagh was the venue of an anti- ing the riots and anti-CAA pro- demanding his release. “Delhi
rorist Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar in already served 18 years...He will that the men participated in or nappings when he was freed The three industrial units com- CAA sit-in protest in December. tests is being probed,” the officer Police had asked Meeran Haider,
exchange for the passengers of be out in a few days.” It was not abetted the crime. along with Masood Azhar. menced production and expan- A senior police officer, one of two said. The Jamia Coordination the president of the young RJD,
Indian Airlines flight IC-814, immediately clear whether the Sheikh is being held in a prison Perhaps the most bizarre inci- sion of their operations without cited in the first instance, said Committee (JCC) alleged that Delhi, to join the investigation
which was hijacked by a group of Pakistan government will appeal in Hyderabad city of Pakistan’s dent involving Sheikh was the valid ECs. “Penalties must be Haider was president of the Delhi Haider was called for interroga- and then arrested him without
Pakistani terrorists from Kath- against the high court’s ruling. Sindh province. A former student phone call he reportedly made imposed for the disobedience unit of the Bihar-based Rashtriya tion by the Delhi Police’s special giving any valid reason. We
mandu to Kandahar in December A two-judge bench headed by of the London School of Econom- from prison to then Pakistan with a binding legal regime,” the Janata Dal (RJD)’s youth wing, cell on Wednesday. “Yesterday demand his release,” the state-
1999. Justice Mohammad Karim Khan ics, Sheikh was accused by offi- President Asif Ali Zardari at the court ruled. Chhatra RJD. Haider is being around 10pm, men in uniform ment read.
The murder conviction of Agha announced its verdict on cials of India and several Western time of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Sheikh was overturned by the the appeals filed by the four men countries of having long-stand- Sheikh pretended to be then
high court, which found him 18 years ago. The high court also ing ties with the Inter-Services Indian external affairs minister
guilty of the lesser charge of kid-
napping, for which he was given
dismissed the prosecution’s
appeal that the life sentence given
Intelligence (ISI) agency. Several
media reports from 2002 said
Pranab Mukherjee and appar-
ently threatened Pakistan with Deals
the seven-year prison term. to the three other men should be Sheikh had given himself up after military action.
The court also acquitted and enhanced to capital punishment. Pearl’s murder to his ISI contact, The situation was defused
freed the three other men – Fahad Pearl, an American national Ijaz Shah, who is Pakistan’s cur- after then US secretary of state
Naseem, Salman Saqib and and the South Asia bureau chief rent interior minister. Those Condoleeza Rice intervened.

shortstories
PLEA IN SC TO
Anti-migrant quota
RESTORE 4G
SERVICES IN J&K
nations violated law,
NEW DELHI : Patients, doctors, and
general public of Jammu &
Kashmir (J&K) are unable to access
latest information, guidelines,
rules top EU court n Tony Lewis THE MOST AWESOME BUSINESS DAILY THERE IS.

advisories and restrictions about

COVID- 19 because of restrictions
Associated Press
n [email protected]
THE FAILURE OF NATIONS
TO TAKE PART IN THE
Tony Lewis of
Duckworth-Lewis
on mobile internet speed to 2G, a
plea filed before Supreme Court BRUSSELS:The European Union’s
top court ruled on Thursday that
MEASURE TO HELP EU
by an NGO. The petitioner
PARTNERS IN DISTRESS
challenged the order issued by
the J&K administration on March
26 restricting internet speed in
the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Poland broke EU law by
refusing to comply with a refu-
WAS AT THE HEART OF method is dead
mobile data to 2G and prayed gee quota programme launched ONE OF THE BIGGEST LONDON: Tony Lewis, one of the
that 4G internet services be
restored in the Union Territory of
after well over a million POLITICAL CRISES men behind the Duckworth-Le-
migrants entered the bloc, most wis-Stern method used in
J&K. Slow internet speed renders fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. an explanation but they gave no weather-affected limited-over
telemedicine or online video In an emergency move in 2015, satisfactory answers. cricket matches, has died aged
consultation impossible, it said. EU nations agreed to relocate up In its ruling, the European 78, the England and Wales
to 160,000 refugees from Italy and Court of Justice said that “by Cricket Board announced on
Greece as those two countries refusing to comply with the tem- Wednesday.
WALL COLLAPSE buckled under the number of porary mechanism for the relo- “It is with much sadness that
KILLS COUPLE, migrant arrivals. Five years on, cation of applicants for interna- the ECB has learned of the pass-
GRANDDAUGHTER Greece is still struggling to man- tional protection, Poland, Hun- ing of Tony Lewis MBE, aged
age the burden, with thousands gary and the Czech Republic 78,” it said a statement. “Tony,
SAMBALPUR: An elderly couple of people held in deplorable con- have failed to fulfil their obliga- alongside fellow mathematician
and their granddaughter died
ditions in the Greek islands. tions under European Union Frank Duckworth, devised the
after the wall of their house
That “temporary relocation law.” DL method which was intro-
collapsed following an attack by a
wild tusker at a village in Odishas mechanism” decision was made The ECJ said it weighed coun- duced in 1997 and adopted offi-
Sambalpur district, officials said in a vote requiring about a two- ter-arguments by the three cially by the International
on Thursday. The wall fell on the thirds majority among the EU states but found them lacking. Cricket Council two years later.
three when the marauding jumbo member countries — 28 at the The three had argued that EU ICC condoled Lewis’ death.
tried to enter their house in time. countries alone are responsible Renamed the Duckworth-Le-
Kolgaon village under the Dhama The Czech Republic, Hungary for ensure public safety and not wis-Stern Method in 2014, the
Forest Range in Sambalpur Forest and Poland were among a small the commission, which drew up mathematical formula to calcu-
Division on Wednesday, they said. group of nations that voted the quota scheme and took the late the target score of the team
The deceased have been identi- against the move. In the end, countries to court. batting second in a truncated
fied as Kandha Mirdha (70), his only about 40,000 refugees were The failure of nations to take limited-over cricket match con-
wife Urmila Mirdha (65) and their relocated. The Czech Republic, part in the measure to help EU tinues to be used in rain reduced
granddaughter, Rashmita Majhi Hungary and Poland took in partners in distress was at the limited-over cricket games.
(12). Forest officials said the almost none over the two years heart of one of the bloc’s biggest Lewis received an Member of
woman and the girl died on the the scheme was in operation. political crises. Immigration the Order of the British Empire
spot while the man succumbed to The EU’s executive arm, the issue later became a major vote- for his services to cricket and
his inujries later.
European Commission, sought winner for far-right parties. mathematics in 2010. AFP/HTC

HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS
Fact-check unit busts ‘Stranded in India’
social media fake news app to help tourists
HT Correspondent Official news on Covid-19 can
n [email protected] be obtained from the unit, the Amrita Madhukalya tics of travelling within India .
statement said. The unit can be n [email protected] Tourism ministry officials
NEW DELHI: “A #CBSE press sent messages at pibfac- said they are coordinating with
release, stating that examination [email protected]. The unit is NEWDELHI: A French woman, who the ministry of external affairs,
of standard 10 and 12 would headed by Shri Nitin Wakankar, had landed in Rishikesh two embassies as well as state offi-
resume from 22 April 2020, is DG, PIB, the statement said. months ago to enter an ashram, cials to help stranded tourists.
#Fake and not issued by CBSE.” The I&B ministry is exploring missed the news of India’s 21-day Director General (Tourism)
“An MCI advisory being circu- various ways to curb the flow of lockdown as she had decided to Meenakshi Sharma said the min-
lated on social media, stating that incorrect information and stay off news alerts and internet. istry’s regional offices and state
MBBS UGs and students will be rumours. A dedicated Twitter But on Wednesday, as she governments have intervened
recruited for assistance in handle was also created for the found out about it, a local told her and involved local hotels in these
healthcare against #Covid19, is purpose. to try the tourism ministry. She states. Tourism ministry offi-
FAKE.” On Wednesday, Union home filed a request, and by Thursday, cials said anywhere between
These were among the first secretary Ajay Bhalla had writ- she was on a bus to Delhi. A relief 3000-4000 foreign tourists have
bits of fake news busted by a new ten to his counterpart in the I&B flight to France is slated for the been stranded in India. Most of
fact check wing of the govern- ministry, Ravi Mittal, emphasis- coming week. She filed a com- them are from the United States,
ment, constituted to keep the ing the importance of accurate plaint on a portal the Centre had Italy, United Kingdom and East-
social media discourse clear of information, for which a website, launched on March 31. The tour- ern Europe.
rumours and canards.The where people can verify facts and ism ministry said it received 500 A flight to Finland and another
agency will also provide speedy clear their doubts about unveri- queries and requests for help to Germany left with around 650
responses to queries on email. fied news, should be created. since the launch. The ministry passengers from Goa, and in the
A Covid-19 Fact Check Unit In the letter, the home hecre- had launched a portal on March coming days Italy and France are
(FCU) was constituted in the tary mentioned that the Supreme 31, ‘Stranded in India’. The minis- sending flights for tourists
Press Information Bureau (PIB) Court had taken serious note of try said its task force dealing with stranded from their own coun-
and the unit has become opera- the panic created by fake news the complaints said most of the tries. From Delhi and Mumbai,
tional, the Information and leading to mass movement of queries were about information four flights took off for Frankfurt
Broadcasting ministry said in a migrant labourers, their plight for travelling back home, about this week, and flights to the US
statement on Thursday. and untold suffering. extension of visas, and the logis- are slated later this week.
14 news hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FRIDAY, A PRIL 03, 2 02 0

LIFEINTHETIMEOFCOVID-19

Ready, aim, click: Up your Insta profile www.hindustantimes.com/delhi

Poulomi Banerjee

Instagram has become a very dif- AN INSTANT TREND: DALGONA COFFEE

ferent place, with no eating-out
and no travel. Most views are n There are suddenly pictures of peaks start to form. Put some Mayank Austen Soofi EXPERIENCE YOUR CITY LIKE NEVER BEFORE
now of drawing rooms and kitch- this concoction all over the ice in a glass and fill to two-
internet. Dalgona, a mix of thirds with cold milk. Transfer
ens, as the world remains in

Proust questionnaire with

chilled milk and beaten coffee, the whipped coffee foam on
lockdown for another week.
is reportedly named after top. Mix and drink.
With the playing field, in that a Korean candy that n “Even my six-year-old
sense, levelled a bit, now is a looks like the top daughter did it, after
good time to up your Insta pro- half of this iced

Rakhshanda Jalil
watching a video
file. Some of the most popular beverage. online,” says food
videos are things you can do with n To make it, you take writer Debjani
little to no expertise or effort — a 2 tbsp each of Chatterjee Alam.
quirky dance, a family playing instant coffee, sugar n It tastes like coffee
games, singing off-key a capella.
Instagram is also a good place
and hot water and
beat it all to a foam.
your grandma might
have made, but looks a
Wading deep into the heart of fellow citizens
to record your notes from these Keep beating till little lot more Insta-friendly.
weeks lived in isolation. Here’s The Proust Questionnaire represents a A gardener; to plant seeds in the soil, watch
how you can start to improve the confessional game that owes its them sprout and grow is the greatest marvel
frame. n Start with easy, candid shots structure to answers given by cele- Where would you like to live?
Always aim to tell a story: full of colour, says Instagram routine, says photographer Anu- Keep it realistic, says Devraj. PRIVATE brated French writer Marcel Proust in
CAPITAL two parties that he attended at ages 13 Ideally, in a cottage in the hills with a little
That’s what banking profes- influencer Sonal Devraj, seen rag Banerjee. While sharing your efforts in the
and 20 in the late 19th century. patch of a garden; But I guess I am doomed to
sional and amateur photogra- here with her cat Dum Dum. Use the light: Start by focus- kitchen, for instance, don’t the city you
live in this benighted city
never see
pher Abhisek Mukherjee tries to ing on natural light; plants in the upload only the end result, beau- We bring these Parisian parlour
do with every photograph. “An shot). “My friend took a photo of balcony, sunlight through a win- tifully plated. Sharing the proc- confessions into the Indian capital to Your favourite colour and flower
image should make you think, his wife stockpiling toilet paper. dow, says choreographer and ess is likely to connect with peo- explore people’s lives, thoughts, values and Favourite colour: red
laugh or aspire to something,” he That’s bound to make others Instagram influencer Sonal Dev- ple better. experiences. In a series, we interview folks
from diverse backgrounds. Flower: I love the narcissus for their delicate
says. Recent pictures include a laugh,” he adds. raj. Let it be a character in your Don’t get into every frame: beauty and tremulous fragrance. They come
lamb nihari made by his wife Capture the beauty of the photos, suggests Banerjee. You can share photos of your So today, say hello to Rakhshanda Jalil. An to us in Delhi for a very short while tied in
(something viewers might want mundane: Take your camera to Through the day, follow it house and activities without author, literary critic and an acclaimed bunches with a bit of a twine. Called Nargis in
to attempt too), a glimpse of her different corners of the house. A around the house. Whether it is being in the picture. Focus on translator of classic works, she often shares Urdu, they are a popular trope in Urdu poetry
assembling a chair so she could pretty bottle on a bathroom natural or artificial light, also try your favourite plant, pet or child her baking experiments as well as reading and used as a simile for the seeing eye (nargisi ity, his elegance, his leadership and most
work from home better (context shelf, washed utensils glinting for quirky effects — silhouettes, (just kidding). Mix it up. Swap experiences with friends on Facebook. These ankhein). And then there are the divine importantly his writings – be it his big books
and slice of life) and a view of on granite — pick things that you shadows, visual confusion. vanity for the element of fresh- days, she is coping with coronavirus-induced nargisi kofte, too! or the notes he wrote even to the most casual
their garden (a quarantine diary normally miss during your daily Don’t aim for perfection: ness and surprise. isolation in her lovely central Delhi residence
Your favourite bird of acquaintances... Also, Dr Rashid Jahan
with her husband and two daughters. For the
whose biography I wrote: a feminist writer,
first time in a very long time, she says, she is Sunbird; it is quick and agile, I love the way activist, doctor, a complete human being
doing absolutely no writing, not even the sun glints off its small, shiny body
YOUR DAILY WORKOUT READ translation. “Oh, yes, I am also losing a lot of
Your favourite prose authors
What characters in history do you most
Keep your legs toned and strong with the help of these simple lower-body exercises Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar: friends ... to the virus of communalism.” dislike?
Bohemian intellectuals of the The Urdu writer Intizar Husain – for the way Hitler rather obviously but all those emperors
1 Calf raises: 2 Alternating reverse Your favourite qualities in a man
Serpent Club gather in the evenings he fashioned stories, the expressions and as well as modern-day politicians who
In a standing lunges: Stand with your for a tipple, talk politics and art, and Intelligence idioms he used, culled from what was once a
position, lift feet together, then take a foolishly, and proudly, rushed into wars that
discuss their walks Your favourite qualities in a woman real, spoken Urdu and a living literary culture, caused thousands to die as collateral damage
both heels off lunge backwards with one and the fact that he has single-handedly
the floor until foot. Lower hips so your
around Paris. One of
Empathy, kindness crafted a new literary sensibility Your heroines in world history
you’re on your right thigh is parallel to the first Latin
toes. Hold this the floor. Ensure American novels Your chief characteristic Your favourite poets The British suffragettes who fought for the
pose for a few your knee is with multiple I bounce back and find something to do most basic of rights for women: the right to
endings, in its Oh, too many but chiefly, in English: TS Eliot. vote
seconds before positioned a b WB Yeats, John Keats; and in Urdu: Faiz, Iqbal,
you gently directly above search for meaning, What do you appreciate the most in your
friends? Ghalib, Mir, Shahryar and Zehra Nigah Your favourite food and drink
lower leg back your ankle. Hold, 3 Sumo squats: Stand with your feet wider it asks some
to the ground. repeat on the than shoulder-width apart, toes turned out about difficult questions. When they stand by me Your favourite heroes in fiction Paratha with aam ka achaar; coconut water
Keep your other side. 45 degrees. Bend the knees and lower yourself Your favourite names
WATCH Your main fault Odysseus; not for the wars he fought but the
hands at your Continue for into a squat with your hands clasped in front of
sides as you do one minute. your chest. Lower your hips until your thighs are adventures he had on his way home! Tara, Ali, Benazir
A Separation: In this dark Iranian Quick to judge, quicker to get angry
a this exercise at parallel to the ground. Then slowly straighten to Your favourite heroines in fiction
b a stand. Do this exercise at least 15 times.
film about the burdens of the past, Your favourite occupation What do you hate the most?
least 20 times.
Asghar Alice from Alice in Wonderland… nothing Bigotry
Farhadi has a Writing, writing, writing fazed her ever!
couple filing The military event you admire the most
COOK A ONE-POT MEAL Method: Pressure-
coo
Your idea of happiness Your favourite composers The idea of military intervention goes against
2.5 cups water and
k rice and dal with for divorce
When the thoughts are in full flow, when I everything I hold dear. There is no nobility or
Masala Rice with Vegetables Cook vegetables in
salt, for 5 minutes. because the
have written a para or two of good writing,
I have been listening rather a lot to the Sabri
2 cups water and wife wants to Brothers recently glory in war
Ingredients: 1 cup rice; 1/3 cup red dal; salt to taste. When good by my own standards, that makes me
vegetables are do move their 12-year-old daughter to How do you wish to die?
2 cups mixed vegetables, mix in garam masal ne, sigh with satisfaction Your favourite painters
chopped; 1 tsp garam a and powdered another country, for a different life,
whole spices. Simme In my own home, and as painlessly as possi-
masala; r for 5 minutes. and the husband wants to stay back Your idea of misery or what would be Amrita Sher-Gil, Frida Kahlo, and I adore A
Mix vegetables wit ble. Just as the Believer has been promised
1 cardamom, h cooked rice-dal with his ailing father. How will they your greatest misfortune? Ramachandran and his ‘Lotus pond’ series
mixture on a low fire death, like fragrance leaving the flower – as
3 cloves and for 5 minutes. Top explain any of this to an Islamic Your heroes/heroines in real life
with ghee and ser To, God forbid, lose or somehow be distanced an aunt told me by way of solace when my
1” cinnamon, ve hot, with curd, divorce court, and what does the
papad and pickles. from my family Jawaharlal Nehru: there is nothing not to like father passed away suddenly sitting in his
powdered; girl want for herself? Available on
1 tsp ghee; salt to taste Amazon Prime and YouTube. If not yourself, who would you be? in the man. I admire his erudition, his human- favourite armchair, talking to my mother

frompageone thecrosswords
1 million need to be protected. But now, the
states get about 13-14 days to plan
the state’s GSP and asked for the
Indian Council of Medical
self-quarantine, as advised by
doctors.” Ayyubi also said that
tory, which is the only one of two
producers of N 95 masks in the
CRYPTIC CLUES PUZZLE 15568 © Gemini Crosswords 2012 All rights reserved

Stock markets around the their exit routes well. And they Research (ICMR) to be made the Saad has released an audio mes- country, this involves free food, ACROSS
world suffered historic losses in must use it well.” nodal office for buying personal sage urging all his followers to free medical camps and upping 1 Can start out to do business (8)
the first three months of the year. The PM praised different protective equipment (PPE) and comply with the lockdown direc- the hygiene conditions for the 5 Open a pickle container for example (4)
The Dow Jones Industrial Aver- states for their “teamwork” ventilators so that they are avail- tions and be safe. In a minute- 700-800 workers that work there. 9 It’s poisonous, so mother gets a doctor in (5)
age and London’s FTSE 100 saw which helped check the speed of able to every state at best price long video released on social The company’s chief market- 10 He makes a practice of seeing complaints (7)
their biggest quarterly drops the virus, and thanked them for and on time. It also underlined media groups, Saad asked his fol- ing officer, Ravi Shinde, said: “We 11 He may make several calls before getting
the contract (6,6)
since 1987, plunging 23% and 25% supporting the lockdown, due to the need to focus on interstate lowers to remain indoors and have increased the space that’s
13 Having a certain inclination (6)
respectively. In India, Bombay which, the PM suggested, India supply chain protocol for essen- cooperate with the government. occupied by individual workers
14 It’s still produced in Ireland, though illegally (6)
Stock Exchange investors lost had achieved some success in tial items, medicines and medical and even though I am sure they
17 Undecided fate of a plane taking
around ₹33.38 lakh crore (in mar-
ket value) in March, the month
limiting the spread of Covid-19.
He emphasised the need for
equipment. West Bengal
demanded more face masks,
PPEs have concerns, they know that
this is for the country and so 20
paratroopers into battle (4,2,3,3)
Hide the real difference (7)
when the coronavirus contagion quick identification of virus hot gloves, sanitisers, special suits weeks ago and, on a good day, haven’t really objected to work- 21 Call attention to high point inside (5)
spread to equities. In an age spots and to encircle them to for medical staff and also immedi- when trucks aren’t stuck at the ing.’’ Earlier the company was 22 It’s a lot older than you (4)
largely defined as the era of social ensure the virus does not spread ate release of the Goods and Ser- highway because of the lock- producing 2.5 lakh masks daily 23 Axle-bushes, for instance, for carriages (8)
media, Covid-19 has now intro- out. The PM also pointed to the vices Tax (GST) compensation down, the unit produces 12,000 to and now it is hoping to amp up
duced a new zeitgeist: social dis- need to maintain law and order and cess amount. 15,000 of these suits. “The raw their production to 3.5- 4 lakh per DOWN
tancing. Jobs that can be done are across the country — law and Speaking to the media after the material is coming from Banga- day. 1 It’s up to me to find a great healer, perhaps (4)
now being done from home -- as order is a state subject. interaction, Karnataka CM BS lore for us and so many times they Every step of the way, the tex- 2 He has the main control (7)
3 Result of refusing to take things lying down?
QUICK CLUES
are classes for schools and col- He also asked the states to Yediyurappa said: “The PM said get stranded, else we didn’t have tile ministry’s officials are keep-
lege, and even the UK parliament. make available dedicated hospi- that migrant labourers should be any problems delivering our ing an eye. Vijay Shankar of (5-2,5) ACROSS DOWN
4 Was less agitated in prison (6) 1 Outlook (8) 1 Power to attract (4)
As a result, digital pipelines are tal facilities for Covid-19 patients, provided all facilities; lockdown order,’’ said Singhal. Neither Shree Hari Healthcare in Chen- 5 Capital of Ukraine (4) 2 Obsolete (7)
6 First half of June is very cold and wet (5)
sagging under the load of unprec- tap into the resource pool of should be implemented in full; Singhal, nor the other firms, were nai said that several ministry offi- 9 A water lily (5) 3 Troublesome (12)
7 Shy about going to bed? (8)
edented video streaming and con- AYUSH doctors, organise online food, medicine and other essen- willing to specify the exact orders cials arrived at his unit on March 8 Work in harmony as rowers should (4,8)
10 Primitive (7) 4 Cost (6)
ferencing. training and utilise paramedical tial items should be made easily that the government had placed 20, the day production started. 11 Racing bird (6,6) 6 Mental picture (5)
12 After autumn an apartment appears to 13 A curdling agent (6) 7 Neighbourhood (8)
staff and civil society volunteers. available; there should be no with them. However, supply of “We normally wouldn’t work produce no response (4,4) 14 Become less severe (6) 8 By chance (12)
PM to CMs At a time when there remains
a debate about whether India is
shortage of doctors or medical
facilities; the PM Garib Kalyan
raw materials is a common chal-
lenge for all of them. Nisheeth
with the government but this was
an urgent moment and we felt we
15 One form of literary work? (7)
16 Five have a good look round, but go hungry (6)
17 Interpretation (12)
20 Shock grossly (7)
12
15
Affable (8)
Feeling (7)
ended. The PM asked the state testing enough, the PM under- package should be implemented Dand of the Vadodara-based firm, had to pitch in,’’ said Shankar. He 18 Very light, for example (5) 21 Situated (5) 16 Splendid (6)
governments to send suggestions lined that data for testing must smoothly; and states should Sure Safety, which is also has been lucky with raw materi- 19 There’s a singular example of these in ancient 22 Middling (2-2) 18 Paper money (5)
on how to do this. He emphasised come from accredited labs so that ensure that there is no impact of involved in the production of als for his coveralls, with the min- history (4) 23 Temporary suspension (8) 19 Malarial fever (4)
that even after the lockdown there is congruence in data of dis- lockdown on agricultural activi- these coveralls, said that the com- istry suggesting alternative sour-
ends, the importance of social dis- trict, state and the Centre. ties.” The Opposition asked the pany is slowly trying to increase ces when his were stuck. How-
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS (15567)
tancing to prevent the spread of The PM also asked for stag- PM to be more consultative. The the pace of production but the ever, the challenge has been to
Covid-19 must be kept in mind. gered release of funds to the bene- chief spokesperson of the Con- lockdown isn’t helping. His raw take care of his workforce, major- CRYPTIC QUICK
This is the first hint of the gov- ficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan gress, Randeep Singh Surjewala, materials also come from differ- ity of which are women.
ernment’s thinking on what hap- Yojana to avoid crowding at said that if the PM had consulted ent parts of the country and their “We are working at a feverish
pens after April 14; it suggests banks. A video clip of the meeting the CMs before announcing the flow is proving to be a bottleneck. pace but we can’t do so at the cost
that while a complete lockdown also showed PM Modi asking nationwide lockdown, all the There is help, though -- in the of their health,’’ he said. The com-
will not continue, neither will political leaders needed to reach problems emerging now could form of nodal and field officers pany has mandatory hand wash
there be free movement of people, out to community leaders and have been avoided. that the government has assigned hygiene breaks every hour and a
with restrictions in place for cer- social welfare organisations. to each of these firms, so that they compulsory Sunday off but the
tain geographical clusters, demo-
graphic groups and on travel. The
State governments put forth
their demands at the meeting.
Jamaat can troubleshoot, call the local
administration in the area that a
pace of production is “satisfac-
tory”. The Kolkata-based Fron-
PM announced on Tuesday last The Rajasthan government ister Amit Shah said on Thurs- particular truck is stuck in, but tier Protective Wear has just
week that a 21-day lockdown was asked for a package of ₹1 lakh day the government has black- the delays are inevitable. started production of its coveralls
being put in place to control the crore, while West Bengal sought listed 960 foreigners for their Then, there are other obsta- in its Gurugram unit and will
spread of Covid-19, which has a grant of ₹25,000 crore, over and involvement in activities with cles. “I have 180 workers in my start in the Kolkata unit on Mon-
infected a million people across above their dues of ₹36,000 crore. the group while they were in unit but right now only 44% are day. “The ministry has assured
the world since last December. Experts believe that the crisis India on tourist visas. Their coming to work,’’ said Dand. us that we will continue to get all
Experts believe this may be a demands a strong Centre-state visas have also been cancelled. “Their families won’t allow them, supplies that we need, so I am con- htsudoku
sensible approach. Ravindra collaboration, and the former The home minister added that they are scared so the only thing fident that we can deliver on
Mehta, chief of pulmonary and needed to be more supportive of the state director generals of I can offer them is higher pay.’’ time,’’ said Sweta Chaudhry Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row,
critical care medicine at Apollo financial needs of the states. police and Delhi Police commis- So for coming to the factory in Singh, one of the promoters. column and each of the 9X9 squares contains all the
Hospitals, Bengaluru, said: Yamini Aiyar, president and sioner have been directed to take times of lockdown, Dand says, he The one place that is stretched digits from 1 to 9.
“Staggered re-emergence of the chief executive of the Centre for necessary legal action against pays a worker who would usually is Sitra, the government testing
public is the best option at the Policy Research, said: “Genuine the overseas Tablighi Jamaat get ~15,000 , ~25,000. “It’s not just lab in Coimbatore that is receiv- DIFFICULTY LEVEL
point as continuous lockdown for cooperative federalism is imper- members as they violated the labour, even the raw materials ing each of the samples from the
a long term is not sustainable. ative. States are at the front lines provisions of Foreigners Act, have become expensive. I know manufacturers. “Before, we
The government will test the and best placed to devise inter- 1946 and Disaster Management banks have been told to help us would get one sample a week,’’ SUDOKU>> SCAN THIS SUDOKU UNIT FOR
waters and even when people ventions suited to their contexts. Act, 2005. but they are totally unrespon- said Prakash Vasudevan of Sitra. THE SOLUTION AND MANY MORE PUZZLES
come out, the government must But they are fiscally strapped. On Thursday, the Delhi Police sive. They should be giving us “Now we are getting 15-20 sam-
enforce social distancing and The Centre needs to devise a mailed 24 questions to the interest-free credit.’’ ples a day.’’ Considering that the
restrict all non-essential activi- mechanism for support that is group’s head, the first step in Despite these hurdles, Sure lab has only four or five people
ties such as foreign travel. But in untied and flexible and but- launching its formal investiga- Safety is producing more and working during the lockdown, it
the next few weeks, the top prior- tresses state action rather than tion. The questions are related to more kits every day. If it was 500 means that workdays go on till 2
ity should be accorded to beefing undermine it with central the gathering of over 2,000 people earlier, it is now 700 and the com- or 3am. “We need to clear each around 38 million masks and 6.2 An official of the textile minis- across the country. The three-
up health care infrastructure.” schemes. The demand for greater at the building and Saad’s pany hopes to be able to increase sample that comes in daily and so million pieces of PPE to take care try, which is tasked with the all week lockdown in India till April
But the staggered re-emer- financial support from states is alleged violation of the orders it to 1,500 soon. If it isn’t a supply we are really stretched.’’ of Covid-19 patients, quoting an important coveralls and masks, 14 will, if successful, flatten the
gence will have implementation critical and the Centre must take that prohibited an assembly of problem, it’s the problem of So when all 17 of these firms internal report from Invest India. said that they are hopeful of hit- curve of the disease’s spread --
challenges. Yashovardhan Azad, heed.” large groups. Saad’s counsel, learning to run a factory with have fulfilled their orders and Invest India said it had contacted ting peak production by the mid- giving the administration enough
a retired senior Indian Police Ser- Many CMs also sought medi- Fuzail Ayyubi, said, “We are pre- social distancing, to take care of they are tested and ready to go, 730 companies for ventilators, dle of the month. Last week, the time to stockpile enough medical
vice officer, said: “Even after the cal equipment apart from cash to paring a reply. There are about workers’ needs and concerns. At will this fulfil India’s protective ICU monitors, protective equip- government issued a statement equipment, including masks.
lockdown is officially lifted, the tackle the situation. Rajasthan two dozen questions. The mau- the Mumbai-based Venus Safety gear deficit? Last week, Reuters ment, masks and testing kits, of detailing its plans to procure 6.2 People like Singhal are at the
identified hot spots of the virus wanted to take loans of up to 2% of lana is not absconding. He is in and Health Private Limited fac- reported that India needed which 319 firms had responded. million PPEs desperately needed forefront of that effort.
 HIN DU STA N T IM ES , N EW DE LHI
F RIDAY, A PRIL 03 , 2020 TIME OUT htcity
Shilpa Shetty
15
Kundra and her

Online masterclass Crafting memories this quarantine son, Viaan

from your film gurus W ith the ongoing

lockdown leaving us
confined to our homes,
many are taking this time to
celebrities are no different!
Particularly celeb-parents,
who are making
#craftingmemories with their
Actor
Shilpa
Shetty
Kundra is
unwind, have fam-jam little ones and coming up with seen crafting
Radhika Bhirani sessions and take up new, creative ways to keep them handmade
exciting hobbies. And engaged. love notes with
Vivek ilmmakers are utilising the son, Viaan, in a
Ranjan
Agnihotri F lockdown period to engage
with film buffs through
various online platforms.
Karanvir Bohra with his
daughters Bella and Vienna
video she recently
posted. While the actor
hopes for the situation to get
PHOTO:
INSTAGRAM/
THESHILPA
SHETTY

While some of them are better, she says, “While at wrote, “From working out
responding on chats to queries home, I’m getting to spend a together to dancing to playing,
on scriptwriting, others have lot of time with Viaan, and we Bella and Vienna have filled
taken a step further by keep coming with new things immense happiness in our
conducting online classes. to do with each other. We lives. Even though home-
Rishabh Suri Director Ritesh Batra talks spent this morning creating bound for such a long stretch,
about screenwriting in his these little love notes for each I just love spending time with
er story has been going #AskMeAnything session on other.” Adding to the them! Today we thought of

H viral for all the right

reasons. Who’d have
imagined that someone so
Twitter. He says, “I like talking
about films, and you’re
welcome to join.”
lockdown diaries, actor
Karanvir Bohra also shared a
video in which he is seen
making a moustache — a
“moochi” for the real hero of
the house: our mommy
young would work closely Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan enjoying precious moments darling!”
with Covid-19 suspects and Shikha Malhotra RS Agnihotri is hosting free online with his twin daughters, and Sanchita Kalra
PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/KARANVIRBOHRA
patients? Actor Shikha Prasanna classes, urging people to
Malhotra, seen in films such more,” says Malhotra, who PHOTO: AALOK “make your first indie short
as Fan (2017), tells us what has a BSc degree in Nursing. SONI/HT film”.
made her decide to work Talking about how she is Director RS Prasanna is
as a nurse. dealing with the situation, hosting YouTube sessions, Nitesh Tiwari
“When I heard the PM’s
address to the nation about
the 21-day lockdown, I
given that hospitals are
brimming with people
infected by the virus,
Film Learning in Corona
Times. He uploads a video
every day, talking about the
and Ashwiny
Iyer Tiwari
PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH
CAUGHT ON
couldn’t sit at home. As
someone with a medical
background, I realised the
Malhotra, 25, says,“I’m a
little upset as we even have
patients as young as seven
Ritesh
Batra
PHOTO: YOGEN
technicalities of filmmaking.
Inspired by other online
teachers, he says, “I thought,
INSTA
situation was serious. I months as corona positive in SHAH ‘Hey, I’m a filmmaker, let me Couples who
started visiting hospitals in our hospital. I feel bad when teach that’!” work out
Mumbai from the very next I see people roaming in the Directors Nitesh Tiwari and together, stay
day, until I found a streets, even after the PM Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari have together. Actor
government hospital. I was requested everyone to take started an Instagram class on Sushmita Sen
directed to the medical precautions. We’ve to wear screenplay writing. He says, set some
superintendent, who was three layers of dressing, two “We want to encourage #CoupleWorkout
surprised that I wanted to do head covers and two pair of budding writers, who have goals with her
this. They wanted to place shoes, one can’t breathe queries, but didn’t get a chance boyfriend, model
me in the isolation ward for properly. You have been to interact with professionals. Rohman Shawl.
Covid-19, as they required requested to be at home only We were getting requests for a Think before
more people for that. My to protect yourself. We feel while, and now that we have taking the
shift lasts around 11-12 dehydrated after a point.” time, we decided to go for it.” plunge at home!
hours, I want to put in n [email protected] n [email protected] PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/SUSHMITASEN47

Staying well SUDOKU DIFFICULTY LEVEL CALVIN AND HOBBES Bill Watterson
groomed during
the lockdown has
become a
challenge for men
PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/
DAVIDGANDY_OFFICIAL

STAY
GROOMED
AS YOU MATHDOKU DID YOU KNOW?
SELF-ISOLATE Even before actor Ranbir Kapoor
worked with his father, actor Rishi
Kapoor, in Besharam (2013), he
Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and
Akshay Kaushal shape: Trim the eyebrow each of the 9X9 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. had assisted on Rishi’s directorial,
hair longer than the rest Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999).
ecently, actor Ranveer with scissors and use a SCRAMBLE - 3410
R Singh shared a photo of
himself sporting an
unruly beard and dreadlocks
tweezer to remove extra hair.
n Groom your nose: Trim your
nose hair with scissors, but
Solve the four anagrams and move one letter to each square to
form four ordinary words

— a look that he anticipates to

have post lockdown. But you
be careful while doing it
yourself.
AGTAE
wouldn’t want to look like him, n Exfoliate skin: Scrub your DE EST
would you? However, most face with sea salt mixed with
men depend on salons for their olive oil for 10 minutes. This ABDL LY
grooming rituals, and with all helps in removing dead skin.
shops shut now, it’s time to n Home pedicure: Soak your E H IST F
take the pair of scissors in feet in lukewarm water Now arrange the letters marked with an asterisk (*) to form the
your own hand. mixed with liquid soap. Trim answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing words as indicated.
Here are some quick tips: your nails with a clipper. Our insignificance is often the cause of our _________.
- Aesop (6)
SOLUTION SUDOKU
n Get rid of facial hair: Beard Rub your heels with pumice SOLUTION MATHDUKU
styling isn’t easy, so shave stone. Wash your feet, wipe - Aesop
Place numbers into the puzzle cells so that each row and column contains each of the digits from 1 to 5. No number is to be repeated in any row or
off that beard, and get a them, and apply moisturiser. ANSWER: Our insignificance is often the cause of our safety.
column. Each bold-outlined cells contain a hint of a number and one of the mathematical symbols + x - /. The number is the result of the operation
SCRAMBLE SOLUTION: Agate, steed, baldly, fetish
neat look. Cover them with socks. represented by the symbol to the digits contained.
n Keep your eyebrows in n [email protected]

Astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma can be contacted at: Delhi: 011-47033152, Eddie Murphy: The actor, comedian and singer,
FRIDAY,
DAILY HOROSCOPE APRIL 03,
2020
40532026 (Sat to Mon): Panchkula: 91-172-2562832, 2572874 (Tues to Thurs);
Mumbai: 09716145644 (Last week of every month)
known for films such as 48 Hrs., Trading Places,
The Nutty Professor, Dolemite Is My Name, and
Dreamgirls, turns 59 today.

Nobody can deter you from your resolve to A deal you thought you had clinched may Your enthusiasm for work is likely to keep Appreciation for something you have
make more money. You are likely to take show signs of slipping through your you energetic throughout the day. Don’t achieved on the work front is likely to
up a creative pursuit and earn fingers if you are not proactive. Keep the pay the full amount for a service till you add to your high morale. A venture may
appreciation. Irregular hours can upset pace up on the work front to avoid have availed it. A new exercise regimen require heavier than anticipated
your routine and reflect on health. There lagging behind. Self-discipline will keep will prove immensely useful in getting expenditure for being successful.
ARIES is no point in stepping outside the house TAURUS you in good health. Changes you wanted GEMINI back into shape. Going to any extent for CANCER Being a choosy eater has its advantages,
(MAR 21 - APR 20) unless really required to. Many options (APR 21 - MAY 20) to bring to the home front will now be (MAY 21 - JUN 21) the welfare of your family is ingrained in (JUNE 22 - JULY 22) as you remain in good health today.
will open up on the academic front. possible. Those freshly out of college can your nature and you are not likely to leave Someone is likely to prove of immense help
Someone you dislike may extend a helping opt for higher studies. Things that you are any stone unturned to help and support them. to you on the family front. Today, travel is
hand, so don’t hesitate to extend a hand of friendship. passionate about may come to you, even without you seeking them. Don’t take any chances on the road today. Keep someone who you are best avoided.
Love Focus: Getting involved in too many things will automatically Love Focus: Someone you secretly admire is likely to set your heart suspicious about under close observation. Love Focus: Those waiting for love to happen can be in for a long
shift romance to a low key. aflutter on the romantic front! Love Focus: Don’t get too possessive in love. wait!
Lucky Number: 11 Lucky Colour: Cream Lucky Number: 17 Lucky Colour: Electric Grey Lucky Number: 9 Lucky Colour: Peach Lucky Number: 5 Lucky Colour: Green

In your eagerness for earning more, Things look most promising on the Be careful at work today. A financial Your one-point programme of cutting
don’t disturb the source providing you professional front and may give your dispute is amicably settled, thanks to costs will help you conserve money
steady income. Initiative on the career a push. Health tips are likely to your patience and perseverance. today. For success, you will need to
professional front will prove come in handy for those wanting to Alternative medicine will come in handy pursue your professional goals with all
indispensable in promoting your come back in shape. Be careful in in curing an ailment. Parents or elders the energy and focus today. Some
interests. A change of routine may lead LEO handling money. Parents may nag you VIRGO may insist on doing something that you LIBRA good advice on the health front will SCORPIO
some to perfect health. A great family (JULY 23 - AUG 23) over an issue and compel you to do their (AUG 24 - SEPT 23) don’t approve of. A journey you were (SEPT 24 - OCT 23) lead you to perfect fitness. Domestic (OCT 24 - NOV 22)
time is foreseen for some. Those spiritually bidding. Your travel plans may undergo a looking forward to may have to be work is likely to be shared by your family
inclined will find mental solace in religious few changes due to someone’s insistence. Your cancelled. A disputed property bothering you is members today. A trip may get cancelled or
activities. popularity is set to rise on the social front, as you increase your social not likely to get you into any legal wrangle. postponed for some of you. Don’t take things for granted on the
Love Focus: Some problems may threaten to crop up on the circle by networking. Love Focus: Your romantic endeavours may not bring immediate academic front.
romantic front. Love Focus: Giving some space to lover will be a good idea. results. Love Focus: Spending time with lover looks possible.
Lucky Number: 22 Lucky Colour: Royal Blue Lucky Number: 7 Lucky Colour: Beige Lucky Number: 18 Lucky Colour: Magenta Lucky Number: 14 Lucky Colour: Dark Yellow

Some of you are likely to gain goodwill by Saving money can be on the top of your You will need to give some more time for Careful investments will soon start giving
helping somebody commute. Handling agenda today, but make sure that doing financial troubles to be completely over. rich dividends. An opportunity on the
complicated tasks on the work front will so does not rub others the wrong Your ideas on the professional front are business front will prove profitable.
not pose much difficulty today. Love life way. Those of you who may be likely to be accepted. Bringing changes Excellent physical condition may find
will prove most satisfying as lover preparing for some kind of in lifestyle is likely to earn you better some full of energy today. Something
showers love and affection. Health important competition or interview will health. Remaining on the right side of you were hoping on the family front will
SAGITTARIUS problems disappear by only a slight CAPRICORN need to be more deliberate about it. AQUARIUS those who are important on the social PISCES happen. You will have to take time out to
(NOV 23 - DEC 21) (DEC 22 - JAN 21) (JAN 22 - FEB 19) (FEB 20 - MAR 20)
change in lifestyle. You will find the family Good health is assured to you as you get front will be in your interest today. guide someone on the academic front. Your
more than supportive today in your back to your routine today. A religious Students can get distracted from their focus attempts to hog the limelight on the social
endeavours. A property matter may not get resolved due to delay in event or marriage ceremony is quite likely to be postponed to a due to peer pressure. front may be partially successful.
paperwork. later date. Love Focus: You are romantic by nature and will keep the fires of Love Focus: Your advice will work in sorting out the differences
Love Focus: Love life will prove most fulfilling. Love Focus: Love life remains satisfactory. passion burning in your love life. between newlyweds.
Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Colour: Magenta Lucky Number: 8 Lucky Colour: Coffee Lucky Number: 4 Lucky Colour: Purple Lucky Number: 1 Lucky Colour: Light Red
 Titas Chowdhury

‘MY WAY OF
www.hindustantimes.com

S
onakshi Sinha recently
took to Instagram to say
www.facebook.com/HTcity that she’ll be doing a
social media detox
during the lockdown period.
twitter.com/htshowbiz Ask her about it and she says
that she wanted to take a break

CONTRIBUTING
and battle the panic that’s
instagram.com/htcity
stemming from the false
information which is floating
www.youtube.com/user/ht around on the web. She
elaborates, “Things have
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, APRIL 03, 2020 I Entertainment & Promotional Features suddenly changed so much
and I felt like I shouldn’t be

Humour does what force can’t spending so much time on my

phone. A lot of stuff that’s

IS BY NOT
posted online and reposted by
people are fake. Now is the
time to keep your mental
Shara Ashraf Prayag officers dancing to show how sanity intact. I wanted to take a
to wash hands properly, while break from all of that and do

L
aughter is the best a police officer in Chennai things that keep me sane,
medicine, even in times like made violators wear grounded and normal at a time
these. In order to spread coronavirus helmet. People like this.”
awareness about coronavirus, were also made to hold

TELLING’
She says that she would
police officers are coming up placards reading ‘Don’t step rather spend her time doing
with fun and novel ideas. out, don’t go near corona’. something productive that
Dancing to demonstrate how to Inspector Rajesh babu, himself helps her grow. “Our fast-
wash hands, doing an aarti of wore one of these headgears, paced life has come to a
those stepping out without a hoping that people get scared standstill. You can’t be your
reason and singing parodies — and do not step out. Sonakshi chirpy self at this time. There
police officers across India are Bilaspur DSP Abhinav Sinha are days when you might feel
exhibiting their quirky side. Upadhyay, says that he and his PHOTO: NUPUR low,” Sinha states, adding, “I
In Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, wife also made a parody of Ek AGARWAL just want to do things that
people who are out without a
reason, are getting their aarti
Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai (Shor;
1972) and when the lyricist of Sonakshi Sinha make me happy such as read
and catch up on the movies
done. Lalita Mehar, the DSP the original, Santosh Anand,
sees in the video performing
the aarti, says, “Why use lathis
heard it, he called Upadhyay to
appreciate him. He says that it
believes in ‘doing that I’ve missed. There are
better things in life than to be
on my phone. I play a lot of
when aartis work better? The
purpose was to make people
was “emotionally
overwhelming”. her bit and moving games on my phone. It’s
always in my hand and
realise how they are putting Singer Daler Mehendi says,
everyone’s life at risk.”
Police officers in other states
“Huge respect for these
officers who have taken this
on’; adds that she that’s something that I
want to change
consciously.”
are also singing to urge people
to stay at home. A video of a
initiative. It’s a great way to
bring the nation together.” has taken a break A while ago, Sonam
Kapoor was trolled on
Pune police officer singing “The aarti video is the
Zindagi Maut Na Ban Jaye is
also being shared on social
coolest thing I have seen. It’s
much better than hitting
from social media twitter for not making a
donation to the PM-CARES
fund. The Dabangg (2010)
Cops are using cool and quirky moves to prevent the common man
from stepping out without reason PHOTO: P RAVIKUMAR /REUTERS
media. The Kerala police, too,
had earlier released a video of
anyone,” says actorSonu Sood.
n [email protected]
as a lot of posts actor remains unfazed by
trolls and says that

there are fake everyone has their way of

contributing to the crisis.
“If someone wants their

Desi nuskhe get a modern twist

contributions to be
known and that
inspires five more

Iced
STOP PRESS people to also make a
donation, that’s a great
idea. My way of doing
Srinidhi Gopalakrishnan Dalgona Coffee PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/PAYALDEVOFFICIAL it is by not telling
PHOTO: ISTOCK everyone. Social
DIY DALGONA COFFEE
F
ritters, chai tea, seasoned media is place where
foxnuts, turmeric latte — do Ingredients everyone has an
they sound familiar? These opinion for
1tbsp coffee, 1tbsp sugar,
are things we have probably 2tbsp water, 250ml milk, everything and that’s
grown up eating or drinking
(Read: pakode, masala chai,
3 ice cubes IF YOU’RE LOOKING also a reason why I
don’t like it
makhana, haldi doodh). Age-old
Method
n In a bowl, mix coffee,
FOR SOMETHING SWEETER, anymore. Even if I
recipes from our homes have
found their place in the West,
sugar and water. Whip it
together till it reaches a
YOU COULD REPLACE COFFEE tweet a full stop,
people will have an
albeit under fancier names.
The latest to make it to this
firm peak stage. POWDER WITH MATCHA, THE opinion on it. I

list is Dalgona coffee. A Korean

n In a glass, add ice cubes
and pour in the milk. Top
GREEN TEA POWDER. THIS THERE’S NO PROOF: believe in doing my
bit and moving on,”
beverage, this delicacy has
become the talk of the town, and
it up with the whipped COULD ALSO WORK FOR PAYAL DEV she signs off.
coffee. Garnish with
is a few steps away from being coffee granules. THOSE WHO PREFER TEA A mid the ongoing

Fashion designers stand by their artisans

declared as the official controversy around
‘quarantine drink’! While it has OVER COFFEE. Badshah’s song Genda
caused a stir on social media, a Phool on using folk artiste
section of Indian netizens name — that determines the Ratan Kahar’s lyrics without
wonder what all the fuss is success of the dish!” says chef crediting him, co-singer Prerna Gauba Sibbal

Dekh Bhai Dekh

about, as ‘pheti hui coffee’ has Arun Sundararaj. Payal Dev has now told

T
been a childhood favourite. Turmeric latte sounds Bollywood Life, “They don’t hey sit in nondescript,
While one may ask, ‘What’s in appealing, but it is plain old have proof. The same song cramped rooms, and
a name?’, experts believe a dish haldi doodh. And the has been used six to seven sometimes, in derelict
is an amalgamation of importance of this drink at a times on YouTube and credit factories, weaving couture
taste, plating and its
name. “It is the
final product
served — the ideal
time like this needs no
explanation, given its
properties as an
immunity booster.
resurrected my has not been given to them
in Bengal as well.”

RAM GOPAL VARMA

dreams with their magical
fingers. For years, they have
fought for their rights and
often, a section of design

career, says Shekhar

match of taste, n srinidhi.gopalakrishnan@hindustan houses have given them due
presentation and credit. This time, as Covid-19
times.com
JOKES ABOUT BEING hits the globe, many designers
COVID-19 POSITIVE are safeguarding their
artisans’ interests.
Shekhar Suman
FILE PHOTO
Kavita Awaasthi entertained during the
lockdown, the channel has
years. I was at my all-time
career low. So, when I was F ilmmaker Ram Gopal
Varma tweeted that he
tested positive for the
Some designers have paid
them in advance. “Our

S
hekhar been airing old TV shows approached for DBD in 1993, I primary focus at this time is to
Suman’s which were popular and are was sceptical,” he shares. coronavirus, causing panic ensure that our employees’
social media still remembered by viewers. During this lockdown, among his followers. But salaries and benefits reach
feed is Thrilled that his superhit Suman is catching up with later, Varma clarified in them so they are able to
inundated sitcom DBD is airing again, life and “being reintroduced” another tweet that his sustain themselves at a
with posts Suman says, “I am happy that to himself. He feels in the fast coronavirus diagnosis was difficult time,” says designer Artisans at work in
from his a family entertainer will be pace of life, one forgets who an April Fool’s joke. HTC Rina Singh of Eka. Even designer’s atelier
followers watched by youngsters. They we are. “It’s ironic that most Kolkata-based designer PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/ASHAGAUTAM
about the will realise the joy of living people dream of owning a big Adarsh Makharia of label
return of the together in a joint family. We house but how many of us Osaa is doing the same. “Our transferring money to
NOTE TO READERS: Some of the
iconic comedy need the spirit of being stay at home to enjoy it? coverage that appears on our pages
artisans are provided all basic artisans in clusters are
Dekh Bhai Dekh together with our loved ones Circumstances have now is paid for by the concerned brands. amenities,” he says. what some designers are
(DBD) — a comedy in tough times like these.” forced us to stay at home. No sponsored content does or shall Also, Mumbai-based looking after. “As a
show that captures He reminisces that the This is the time to catch up appear in any part of HT without it designer Anita Dongre has brand, we work with
the lives of the three show was a huge hit from day with life, learn more about being declared as such to our valued created a fund for all people, artisans full-time. We
generations of one. “Doing TV wasn’t the yourself and appreciate what readers. who are affiliated with her have given them their
Mumbai-based plan but DBD resurrected my you have. This virus is design house. salaries not only for
Dewan family who career. I debuted with Utsav nature’s way of teaching us a Medical needs and March, but till mid April.
live together under (1984) and had a few hit films lesson. It has taught us to Since a lot of them work in amount for medical
one roof — on
Doordarshan. In a
move to keep
but then my career dipped
badly. I got B-grade film
offers so I didn’t take them on
slow down. The pandemic has
ambushed us and we have to
fight it out,” he says.
HOLLYWOOD clusters where work is
stopped, we have
made sure they have enough
contingencies for the entire
team as well,” explains
designer Gautam Gupta of
audiences and waited at home for two n [email protected]
STRUGGLES funds to take care of their
family. We have kept some
label Asha Gautam.
n [email protected]

WITH
I didn’t see my dad Sana Saeed, as
a child actor,
played
COVID-19 I wish my parents were
E
mmy-winning

with me: Jacqueline

Shahrukh singer Adam

on his last day: Sana

Khan’s daughter Schlesinger
in Kuch Kuch passed away due to
Hota Hai (1998); Covid-19 on
(inset) her late Wednesday. The singer Juhi Chakraborty be there for them.”
Sangeeta Yadav father Abdul was 52, and gave in to Further, sharing an update
Ahad Saeed

L
complications caused by the ife has been thrown on the other members of her

A
ctor Sana Saeed’s world virus. Actor Tom Hanks completely out of family, the 34-year-old says
came crashing down took to Twitter to condole gear amid this that her sister in North
when she got to know that the death of the Fountains of pandemic, and with travel Carolina, USA, is having a very
her father, Urdu poet Abdul the Wayne member. “There being out of question, tough time. “The supermarkets
Ahad Saeed, passed away due would be no Playtone people are unable to meet there are completely out of
to a prolonged illness on without Adam Schlesinger, their families who are stuck stock, there are no products
March 22, when the nation without his That Thing You in different countries. and medicines. My brothers,
observed Janata Curfew. Adam Schlesinger and Ali Do! He was a One-der. Lost Jacqueline Fernandez, too, is who are in Australia, are sorted
Sitting miles away in Los Wentwort (below) PHOTOS: AFP, him to Covid-19. Terribly in a bit of misery, as her as they are in a remote part in
Angeles, USA, and amid a INSTAGRAM/THEREALALIWENTWORTH sad today. Hanx,” he parents live in Bahrain and the country,” she shares.
lockdown situation due to the tweeted. she can’t be with them. The actor has been keeping
coronavirus pandemic, it was Meanwhile, actor Ali “I wanted my parents to busy with the help of social
all the more difficult for her to that he was really suffering but after seeing the death Wentworth took to be with me right now; I’m media and is sharing workout
cope with the loss. and he’s definitely in a better certificate, they allowed them Instagram to confirm that concerned about their health,” videos and her piano skills. “It
“My dad was a diabetes place now,” says Saeed, 31, to go. Though I wasn’t there she, too, has tested positive shares Jacqueline as she talks took me some time to realise
patient, and this led to who went to USA for an event. physically, my sister kept for Covid-19. The actor about her father Elroy and what was happening and the
multiple organ failure. It was Due to the Janata Curfew, texting me all the time during shared a photo, and wrote, mother Kim. first week was difficult. I felt a
around 7am in LA when I got the actor’s family decided to the ceremony,” Saeed shares. “I have tested positive for The actor of Sri Lankan bit lost thinking about what I
the news and I wanted to rush keep the funeral low profile to Uncertain about when she’ll the Corona Virus. I’ve never origin adds that she feels would do. However, I figured
back home and hug my mother avoid a large gathering. “My get to return home, the actor is been sicker. High fever. people, who have their parents that I may not be able to go on a
and sisters. I haven’t got family had decided to do the keeping herself occupied by Horrific body aches. Heavy by their side at present, are film set but I have my
closure since then. The funeral on the same day and “praying a lot, doing yoga, and chest. I’m quarantined from rather “lucky”. She explains, audiences and a platform and I
circumstances under which I we had only three hours in has also taken up an online my family. This is pure “Right now, they need all the decided to be as creative as
lost my father were very hand. On their way, they were business course”. misery. #stayhome”. ANI Jacqueline Fernandez love, care and attention. They possible,” she shares.
unfair, but I know in my heart stopped by the cops to check, n [email protected] are vulnerable, and we need to n [email protected]