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16
G od sees the truth, but waits”, the famous story by Leo Tolstoy, was exactly the same in the modern context, the way Nirbhaya’s battered soul and her grieving parents waited for the 7 long years to see the rapists and killers being hanged. Justice was finally delivered when hangman Pawan pulled the lever of all the four death-row convicts one after another at 5.30 am on Friday morning and thus putting an end to the most talked about gangrape and subsequent murder of a 23- year-old paramedic girl in the independent India. Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were executed at 5.30 am in Tihar Jail. Cheers went up after the hanging with some waving the national flag and shouting slo- gans of “Long Live Nirbhaya” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. The crowd even distributed sweets amid chanting “Nirbhaya has got justice, the other daughters still await”. The brutality of the crime on a winter night more than seven years ago had shaken the nation. After the execution of the convicts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said justice has prevailed. “It was of the utmost importance to ensure the dignity and safety of women,” the PM said. I ndia as on Friday reported 55 more positive cases of COVID-19, highest so far in a day, taking the total tally to 249 belying hopes that the onset of summer will curb the spread of deadly coronavirus. Among those found positive for the novel coronavirus are 32 for- eign nationals, including 17 from Italy, three from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also included four deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra so far. Presently, 6,700 people who came in contact with the patients are under rigorous surveillance. A spike in numbers prompted the States and UTs to reinforce its efforts to contain the spread. While the Maharashtra Chief Minister said all workplaces in major cities, including in country’s commercial hub Mumbai and Pune, will remain closed till March 31, the Delhi Chief Minister announced shutting down of all malls in the nation- al Capital, but exempted gro- cery stores and pharmacies. The Centre extended till April 15 the regular visa and e- visa of those foreigners strand- ed in India due to the coron- avirus pandemic. India has reported four deaths so far due to the virus that has taken toll on 5,168 people across the continent, mostly in Italy which is now the hardest hit country in the world with 3,405 fatali- ties. As coronavirus continued its upward trajectory across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a meeting via video link and deliberated ways to check its spread with Chief Ministers of various States. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and top Health Ministry officials were present in the meeting. On the other hand, sever- al Indo-Pacific nations on Friday held a teleconference to exchange their assessments about the coronavirus pan- demic and discuss ways to work in synergy to combat the global menace. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla took part in a US-initiated teleconference during which he briefed the participants on the proactive steps taken by India to counter the pandemic. On the issue of Indian stranded in Europe in transit due to the travel restrictions imposed by India in the wake of coronavirus scare, the Government said it is working out the logistics with various airlines to bring them back. “The MEA is working out the logistics with airline com- panies to bring back stranded Indians from EU countries,” the MEA said. E nding days of speculation over the survival of 15- month-old Madhya Pradesh Government after 21 Cong MLAs rebelled against their own Government, Chief Minister Kamal Nath tendered his resignation to Governor Lalji Tandon around 1 pm on Friday. Later, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was adjourned sine die. The Governor asked Kamal Nath to continue as the caretaker Chief Minister until the next Government is formed. The Congress veteran stepped down a day after the Supreme Court ordered the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker to conduct a floor test on Friday by 5 pm. As the House assembled at 2 pm for the trust vote, only BJP legislators turned up, while the Congress MLAs remained absent. Speaker NP Prajapati read out the agenda saying that the meeting was convened as per the directives of the apex court. He said that since Kamal Nath has submitted his resig- nation, there was no point in holding the trust vote. Continued on Page 4 P resident of India, dozens of Parliamentarians, Union Ministers, and several digni- taries have come under the coronavirus scanner for com- ing into contact with Lok Sabha member Dushyant Singh, who had earlier attend- ed dinner in Lucknow with COVID positive Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, famour for her “Baby Doll” number. Dushyant’s mother Vasundhara Raje as well several top officials of the State Government and Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh were present at the party attended by over 180 guests. Dushyant, who had attend- ed Parliament proceedings for three days after Kanika’s party and also attended a dinner reception hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind where Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Maneka Gandhi, VK Singh and others were present at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Wednesday. The samples of Dushyant and Vasundhara have gone for test- ing and results were awaited. Both of them have quarantined themselves. Several MPs, including TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, on Friday went into self-quaran- tine following the announce- ment by the BJP MP and his mother that they were self-iso- lating themselves. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Jitin Prasada too went for self isolation. T he Indian Railways on Friday decided to stop the operation all passenger trains originating from any railway station in the country from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday in view of the “Janata curfew” announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.According to a railway order, mail and express trains will also stop services from 4 am to 10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train ser- vices will be reduced to a bare minimum.“All passenger trains originating between midnight of March 21/March 22 to 22:00 hours of March 22 (approxi- mately 2,400 services) shall not be run. New Delhi: The Delhi Metro services will be closed on Sunday in view of “Janata cur- few”, officials said. “The move is aimed at encouraging public to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, which is essential in the fight against COVID-19,” DMRC said. Mumbai: Snapping its four- day losing streak, equity bench- mark Sensex rallied over 1,627 points on Friday in line with global markets as Governments across the world took drastic measures to combat the eco- nomic blowback of Covid-19. After starting on a volatile note and swinging over 2,485 points, the BSE barometer ended 1,627.73 points or 5.75 per cent higher at 29,915.96. Detailed report on P11 P andemonium prevailed in the Assembly during the Question Hour on Friday with ruling party Congress MLAs stormed the well of the House, taking objection to the com- ment of BJP MLA CP Singh against senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The ruling and opposition members created a ruckus after which Speaker Rabindranath Mahato adjourned the House twice before 12 noon and then till 2 pm. The uproar occurred in the House after BJP MLA and for- mer minister CP Singh called senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as “Pappu”, which infu- riated the Congress MLAs. In fact, after the proceed- ings of the House began, Congress MLA from Jamtara Irfan Ansari opposed the deci- sion to nominate former Justice Ranjan Gogoi as MP in Rajya Sabha. The Speaker rejected Irfan’s plea saying that the case is not of this House and it should not be discussed. After this, CP Singh stood in his place urging the Speaker that he had to provide some impor- tant information which is nationally important. While making the information he addressed Rahul Gandhi as “Pappu” infuriating the Congress lawmakers. The Congress MLAs, who included Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari and others, entered the well of the House. The Congress MLAs demanded an apology from Singh on his remark. As the Congress slogan shouting by Congress MLAs intensified the BJP lawmakers too reached well of the House. Continued on page 4 C hief Minister Hemant Soren today joined the video conferencing of Chief Ministers of all the States with Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the steps being taken with regard to COVID-19. The PM had a discussion with the CMs regarding precautionary preparations, medical facili- ties etc. The CM said after the video conferencing that the State Government is constant- ly working to tackle the epi- demic. Instructions have been issued by the Government to all departments to ensure com- pliance with all the necessary safety parameters related to this. All the departments have strictly implemented these safe- ty parameters. In view of the increasing cases of Corona virus worldwide, the Government of Jharkhand is also fully active in protecting the common man from the effects of Corona virus. “I appeal to the people of the State to take precautions and protect themselves and also protect others. Get out of your home only when needed,” he said. The CM said during that during the video confer- encing several steps being taken to contain Coronavirus spread were discussed. Health Minister Banna Gupta, Chief Secretary Dr DK Tiwari, Principal Secretary of Health department Nitin Madan Kulkarni alongwith other senior officials were pre- sent in the meeting. Meanwhile, the CM was told through social media that masks and sanitiser were being sold on high prices in Ranchi. Taking cognisance of the issue the CM asked DC and Ranchi police to take punitive action on the matter. Continued on page 4

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Page 1: # ˇ˝˛˚ ˜ˇ ˙!#$% %!*+*%+ , $%&’ˇ () ˝!%& (- 2˛ , 4ˆ˘ $ %& & && 7 % & % … · 2020-03-20 · Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) ... work in synergy to combat the ... Health

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God sees the truth, butwaits”, the famous story by

Leo Tolstoy, was exactly thesame in the modern context,the way Nirbhaya’s batteredsoul and her grieving parentswaited for the 7 long years tosee the rapists and killers beinghanged. Justice was finallydelivered when hangmanPawan pulled the lever of all thefour death-row convicts oneafter another at 5.30 am onFriday morning and thusputting an end to the mosttalked about gangrape andsubsequent murder of a 23-year-old paramedic girl in theindependent India.

Mukesh Singh (32), PawanGupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26)and Akshay Kumar Singh (31)were executed at 5.30 am inTihar Jail.

Cheers went up after thehanging with some waving thenational flag and shouting slo-gans of “Long Live Nirbhaya”and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. Thecrowd even distributed sweetsamid chanting “Nirbhaya hasgot justice, the other daughtersstill await”.

The brutality of the crimeon a winter night more thanseven years ago had shaken thenation. After the execution ofthe convicts, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said justicehas prevailed. “It was of theutmost importance to ensurethe dignity and safety ofwomen,” the PM said.

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India as on Friday reported 55more positive cases of

COVID-19, highest so far in aday, taking the total tally to 249belying hopes that the onset ofsummer will curb the spread ofdeadly coronavirus. Amongthose found positive for thenovel coronavirus are 32 for-eign nationals, including 17from Italy, three from thePhilippines, two from the UK,one each belonging to Canada,Indonesia and Singapore. Thefigure also included four deathsreported from Delhi,Karnataka, Punjab andMaharashtra so far.

Presently, 6,700 peoplewho came in contact with thepatients are under rigoroussurveillance.

A spike in numbersprompted the States and UTs toreinforce its efforts to containthe spread. While theMaharashtra Chief Ministersaid all workplaces in majorcities, including in country’scommercial hub Mumbai andPune, will remain closed tillMarch 31, the Delhi ChiefMinister announced shuttingdown of all malls in the nation-

al Capital, but exempted gro-cery stores and pharmacies.

The Centre extended tillApril 15 the regular visa and e-visa of those foreigners strand-ed in India due to the coron-avirus pandemic. India hasreported four deaths so far dueto the virus that has taken tollon 5,168 people across thecontinent, mostly in Italy whichis now the hardest hit countryin the world with 3,405 fatali-ties.

As coronavirus continuedits upward trajectory across thecountry, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Friday helda meeting via video link anddeliberated ways to check itsspread with Chief Ministers ofvarious States.

Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan and top HealthMinistry officials were presentin the meeting.

On the other hand, sever-al Indo-Pacific nations onFriday held a teleconference toexchange their assessmentsabout the coronavirus pan-demic and discuss ways towork in synergy to combat theglobal menace.

Foreign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla took part in

a US-initiated teleconferenceduring which he briefed theparticipants on the proactivesteps taken by India to counterthe pandemic.

On the issue of Indianstranded in Europe in transitdue to the travel restrictionsimposed by India in the wakeof coronavirus scare, theGovernment said it is working

out the logistics with variousairlines to bring them back.

“The MEA is working outthe logistics with airline com-panies to bring back strandedIndians from EU countries,” theMEA said.

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Ending days of speculationover the survival of 15-

month-old Madhya PradeshGovernment after 21 CongMLAs rebelled against theirown Government, ChiefMinister Kamal Nath tenderedhis resignation to GovernorLalji Tandon around 1 pm onFriday. Later, the MadhyaPradesh Assembly wasadjourned sine die. TheGovernor asked Kamal Nath tocontinue as the caretaker ChiefMinister until the nextGovernment is formed.

The Congress veteranstepped down a day after theSupreme Court ordered theMadhya Pradesh AssemblySpeaker to conduct a floor teston Friday by 5 pm.

As the House assembled at2 pm for the trust vote, onlyBJP legislators turned up, whilethe Congress MLAs remainedabsent. Speaker NP Prajapatiread out the agenda saying thatthe meeting was convened asper the directives of the apexcourt. He said that since KamalNath has submitted his resig-nation, there was no point inholding the trust vote.

Continued on Page 4

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President of India, dozens ofParliamentarians, Union

Ministers, and several digni-taries have come under thecoronavirus scanner for com-ing into contact with LokSabha member DushyantSingh, who had earlier attend-ed dinner in Lucknow withCOVID positive Bollywoodsinger Kanika Kapoor, famourfor her “Baby Doll” number.

Dushyant’s motherVasundhara Raje as well severaltop officials of the StateGovernment and UttarPradesh Health Minister JaiPratap Singh were present atthe party attended by over180 guests.

Dushyant, who had attend-ed Parliament proceedings for

three days after Kanika’s partyand also attended a dinnerreception hosted by PresidentRam Nath Kovind whereUnion Ministers RajnathSingh, Smriti Irani, ManekaGandhi, VK Singh and otherswere present at RashtrapatiBhawan on Wednesday. Thesamples of Dushyant andVasundhara have gone for test-ing and results were awaited.Both of them have quarantined

themselves. Several MPs, including

TMC’s Derek O’Brien andSukhendu Shekhar Roy, andApna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, onFriday went into self-quaran-tine following the announce-ment by the BJP MP and hismother that they were self-iso-lating themselves. FormerUnion Minister and seniorCongress leader Jitin Prasadatoo went for self isolation.

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The Indian Railways onFriday decided to stop the

operation all passenger trainsoriginating from any railwaystation in the country frommidnight to 10 pm on Sundayin view of the “Janata curfew”announced by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.According to arailway order, mail and expresstrains will also stop servicesfrom 4 am to 10 pm on Sundaywhile all suburban train ser-vices will be reduced to a bareminimum.“All passenger trainsoriginating between midnightof March 21/March 22 to 22:00hours of March 22 (approxi-mately 2,400 services) shallnot be run.

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��������������������������New Delhi: The Delhi Metroservices will be closed onSunday in view of “Janata cur-few”, officials said. “The moveis aimed at encouraging publicto stay indoors and maintainsocial distancing, which isessential in the fight againstCOVID-19,” DMRC said.

,�������!������ ���� �!�,���-���� %.�/Mumbai: Snapping its four-day losing streak, equity bench-mark Sensex rallied over 1,627points on Friday in line withglobal markets as Governmentsacross the world took drasticmeasures to combat the eco-nomic blowback of Covid-19.After starting on a volatilenote and swinging over 2,485points, the BSE barometerended 1,627.73 points or 5.75per cent higher at 29,915.96.

Detailed report on P11

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Pandemonium prevailed inthe Assembly during the

Question Hour on Friday withruling party Congress MLAsstormed the well of the House,taking objection to the com-ment of BJP MLA CP Singhagainst senior Congress leaderRahul Gandhi. The ruling andopposition members created aruckus after which SpeakerRabindranath Mahatoadjourned the House twicebefore 12 noon and then till 2pm.

The uproar occurred in theHouse after BJP MLA and for-mer minister CP Singh calledsenior Congress leader RahulGandhi as “Pappu”, which infu-riated the Congress MLAs.

In fact, after the proceed-ings of the House began,Congress MLA from JamtaraIrfan Ansari opposed the deci-

sion to nominate former JusticeRanjan Gogoi as MP in RajyaSabha. The Speaker rejectedIrfan’s plea saying that the caseis not of this House and itshould not be discussed. Afterthis, CP Singh stood in hisplace urging the Speaker thathe had to provide some impor-tant information which isnationally important. Whilemaking the information headdressed Rahul Gandhi as“Pappu” infuriating theCongress lawmakers.

The Congress MLAs, whoincluded Jamtara MLA IrfanAnsari and others, entered thewell of the House.

The Congress MLAsdemanded an apology fromSingh on his remark. As theCongress slogan shouting byCongress MLAs intensified theBJP lawmakers too reachedwell of the House.

Continued on page 4

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Chief Minister HemantSoren today joined the

video conferencing of ChiefMinisters of all the States withPrime Minister Narendra Modiregarding the steps being takenwith regard to COVID-19. ThePM had a discussion with theCMs regarding precautionarypreparations, medical facili-ties etc.

The CM said after thevideo conferencing that theState Government is constant-ly working to tackle the epi-demic. Instructions have beenissued by the Government to alldepartments to ensure com-pliance with all the necessarysafety parameters related tothis. All the departments havestrictly implemented these safe-ty parameters. In view of theincreasing cases of Coronavirus worldwide, theGovernment of Jharkhand isalso fully active in protecting

the common man from theeffects of Corona virus.

“I appeal to the people ofthe State to take precautionsand protect themselves andalso protect others. Get out ofyour home only when needed,”he said. The CM said duringthat during the video confer-encing several steps beingtaken to contain Coronavirusspread were discussed.

Health Minister BannaGupta, Chief Secretary Dr DK

Tiwari, Principal Secretary ofHealth department NitinMadan Kulkarni alongwithother senior officials were pre-sent in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the CM wastold through social media thatmasks and sanitiser were beingsold on high prices in Ranchi.Taking cognisance of the issuethe CM asked DC and Ranchipolice to take punitive actionon the matter.

Continued on page 4

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Page 2: # ˇ˝˛˚ ˜ˇ ˙!#$% %!*+*%+ , $%&’ˇ () ˝!%& (- 2˛ , 4ˆ˘ $ %& & && 7 % & % … · 2020-03-20 · Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) ... work in synergy to combat the ... Health

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Amidst fear of the novelcoronavirus outbreak, the

transport department has askedlong distances buses to main-tain a record of travel historyof passengers. Moreover, toensure sanitisation of buseson a daily basis.

“We have written all thedistrict transport officers(DTOs) at all district and alsoto all the private long distancebus operators to ensure saniti-sation of seat handles and seatsof all public transport on a dailybasis. We have also asked busesto display awareness messages

on novel coronavirus not onlyinside the bus terminus but alsoat the bus terminuses,” said an

official.The directive said that the

long distances buses plying to

other neighbouring States likeUttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bengaland Bihar to maintain a regis-

ter of passenger’s travel histo-ry with details like contactnumber, address of passengerson a daily basis.

The official said the crowdat the bus stands will be con-trolled and proper steps will betaken by providing handwash-ing facilities for the public. Hesaid that the directors of theHealth Department have sug-gested measures that need to betaken on an emergency basis.

“We have asked the peopleto do less travelling during thistime and do it only when nec-essary. The buses have to recorddetails of all passengers includ-ing travel history, contact num-ber (mobile number), completeaddress of passengers (based onID card like Aadhar card,” saidthe official.

Sources in the State trans-port department revealed thatthe DTOs have been directedto conduct random checkingon the long distance buses not

only at the bus terminuses butalso along the way (state high-ways and NHs) to check if thedirective of keeping travel his-tory of passengers is being fol-

lowed or not and if sanitizersand public messages are dis-played in the buses.

To avoid spread ofCoronavirus buses are being

sanitised daily at night. Sincethousands of people travel inthese buses everyday and pub-lic transport are one of themajor reasons of spread.

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Confederation of IndiaIndustry (CII) has wel-

comed the proactive stepstaken by both the central andState Governments to stopthe coronavirus spread andextends full support for thesame.“Coronavirus has nowbeen declared a global pan-demic by WHO.

Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) encourages theindustry to follow govern-ment directives in this difficulttime and whole heartedlyextend all support to the gov-ernment and local authorities.CII appeals to citizens to besafe and call the officialhelpline numbers immediate-ly if they experience any symp-toms.

People should also pro-actively stay in self-isola-

tion if they have recently trav-elled to any of the affectedcountries or were in any risksituation. Together we shallmeet these challenges andshall prevail” said SanjaySabherwal, chairman, CIIJharkhand State Council &managing director, MetaldyneIndustries Ltd.

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To commemorate the com-pletion of 30 years of

Modern Pranic Healing, MCKSFood for Hungry Foundation(Service wing of PranicHealing) sponsored the cancerdiagnosis cost for 30 needypatients of Mehar Bhai TataMemorial Hospital.

Through this noble initia-tive” MCKS Food for Hungry”has helped in diagnosis of can-cer in patients which becomesbig financial hurdle for theunderprivileged patients as thediagnosis cost is not coveredunder any active Governmentinitiative. Without such helpmany patients often go undi-agnosed which lead to curablestages of cancer advancing intohigher stages. MCKS Food ForHungry also sponsored 10years of education and school-

ing expenses for 10 students ofShri Surat Sarvajanik GujaratiMiddle School on the occasion.

Pranic healing is a highlydeveloped No Touch techniquedeveloped by Master ChoaKok Shui in which it is possi-ble to treat mental, physical,economic and emotional prob-lems through healing of ener-

gy bodies of a person. This sim-ple and miraculous techniquecan be learned very easily.

MCKS Food for Hungry isthe service wing of PranicHealing with active contribu-tions in the fields of Education,Hunger, and Skill Development.Every day more than 200 freemeals are served by the foun-dation to the underprivileged atMTMH and MGM hospital.MCKS Food for Hungry alsoorganises free healing camps,free meditation camps, blooddonation drives, school infra-structure improvement drives,skill development classes on aregular basis.

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It is ‘asteen’ (sleeve) of policeuniform in time of coron-

avirus that has drawn the atten-tion of the senior cops of thepolice headquarters in Ranchi.

IG provisions has written aletter where there is a protocolfor wearing sleeve whose sizedepends upon seasons likewinter and summer as if inwinter the size of the sleeve getsfull hand length it gets short-ened in summer up to orslightly above the elbow.

The protocol is to wear‘bund asteen’ (official term) fullsleeve uniform from 15.11.2019to 15.3.2020. This protocol isapplied to cops down to DGP.The winter police uniform iswoolen.

Again the protocol is towear ‘asteen moora’ (rolledsleeve) slightly above elbow on/from March 16 onwards. Thisis equally applicable to cops andDGP even. This rolled sizesleeve is for summer where theuniform is to be of cotton.

Police sources said thisprotocol has failed because ofgreat weather changing in the

State where even on March 20people prefer to stand in theSun in the morning to beatpink of winter. Blankets are thein thing at night for sleep. Fearof coronavirus further makesone to cover hands and feetmore said sources.

The IG provisions has sentits copies to every SP andDIGs and other ranks to followthis uniform protocol.

Sources said this practice isage old but with fear of coron-avirus all around sleeve is a vitalthing now.

Government of India per-suades people not to sneeze orcough in open or in any formwhere hands are cupped but tosneeze and cough right withmouth down towards the bend-ed elbow where full sleeveshirt will work as a wall andhere right from cops to DGPare to wear a rolled out sleeveleaving their elbows to openrisk.A cop said, “I wear rolledsleeve uniform. I have nooption but to cough or sneezeright in open as I have no tis-sue paper with me. I will notuse hanky too.”

SP Palamu Ajay Linda

agreed in principle that sleeveprotocol be relaxed in timeslike this and cops and officialsbe allowed to wear full sleeveuniform called in police jargonbund asteen but said, “Letthere come a directive frompolice head quarter.”

IG of police Ranchi NavinKumar Singh when approachedsaid, “The issue is relevant butonly state spokesperson ofpolice will be able to tell on thismatter.”

IG provisions Vipul Shuklaon being contacted who hadissued this sleeve protocol let-ter on 16.3.2020 vide memonumber 1831/TS, Office ofDGP Jharkhand said, “Thismatter needs to be re-looked inthe wake of the current healthsituation.”ADG Murari LalMeena said, “There is a greatsubstance that has been raisedwith the size of sleeve of policeuniform and I believe notmuch time be spent to take afinal call on it ( read to againswitch over to bund asteen thatis full sleeve uniform”Meenasounded too inclined to have areturn to ‘bund asteen’ of policeuniform.

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MECON management,comprising PK Sarangi,

Director (Technical), SalilKumar, Director (Projects), RH Juneja, Director (Finance)and SK Verma, Director(Commercial) has been hold-ing a series of meetings to ini-tiate and review different mea-sures towards mitigation andcontainment of COVID-19 andto ensure safety of employees.

In the various precaution-ary measures and advisoriesissued, employees have beenasked to maintain properhygiene and frequent sanitisa-tion.

It has been instructed toencourage digital interactionsthrough phone, email andvideo conferencing and avoidnon- essential official travel.

It has also been stressedupon to discourage entry of vis-itors in the office premisesand if necessary use only des-ignated places earmarked forsuch activity. A scheme of stag-

gered office timing with entryat 9 to 9:30 am and 9:30 to 10am has been introduced toavoid crowding in respectivelocations.

Additionally, the advisoryalso mentioned about main-taining social distance andseeking medical advice in casea person experiences any illnessrelated to respiratory symp-toms/ fever and self isolation,if required.

MECON’s Ispat Hospital isalso prepared for handlingNovel Coronavirus cases and 2beds have been earmarked forCOVID-19 cases. Dr AKthakur, specialist I/c(Medicine), Ispat hospital hasbeen named as Nodal officerfor COVID-19 at Ranchi officeand in case of any requirementat other offices, it has beenadvised to consult Retainerdoctors.

The guidelines issued byWHO in this regard, are alsobeing propagated amongst theemployees, through internalcommon mail system.

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Rajya Sabha MP MaheshPoddar has appealed to the

business fraternity members ofJharkhand to followGovernment directions andhelp the needy in the wake ofCOVID-19.

“Whenever there is a crisison the country due to differentreasons, the industry-trade-business world has shown thecourage to stand firmly withthe people of the country, shareand overcome the sufferings ofthe people. Even during thisnew disaster which came in theform of Coronavirus, we will allcontinue this tradition, this is

the expectation from you all,”he said.

“First of all, follow theauthorised and scientificallygiven suggestions for preven-tion of corona virus, motivateevery person in your contact todo the same. In accordancewith the call of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, make ‘JanataCurfew’ successful on March22, encourage people engagedin our service and safety at 5pm, do not do panic shoppingand maintain social distancingas much as possible,” he sug-gested.

The MP further asked togive "paid leave" or "work athome" to the employees work-

ing in factories, establishments,shops, offices etc. if their phys-ical presence is not mandato-ry. “Understand the problemsof daily wage earners and dailywage earners, consider how to

overcome their problems. Theyhave no fault in the disaster thathas come, but they will sufferthe most. They are not able tofight, but I and you are, so con-sider it your responsibility andtry to overcome their suffering,”he said.

“According to my infor-mation, in many cities of theState, including Ranchi, thereare many forums or institutionsoperating under "Roti Bank" orother names that provide freefood to the poor. By givingfinancial support to such insti-tutions or groups, we canincrease their scope and reducethe suffering of the poor,” headded.

Poddar said that manyinstitutions provide food atcheap rates. One such center isrun by Maheshwari Sabha out-side Nagarmal Modi SevaSadan of Ranchi. More peoplecan be benefited by increasingthe main power and resourcesat such centers. We shouldalso give financial support tosuch institutions. Fast foodtrucks are operating in mostcities of the State includingRanchi. These mobile shopsshould be prepared to providecheap or free food (simplefood). All should give financialsupport to such centers readyto participate in this project.According to the need, if some

people from our group arepresent as volunteers at suchcenters then even better.

“There are crowds of dailywage labourers coming fromnearby villages at many squaresand intersections of Ranchi.First,we should arrange to ‘san-itize’ them, secondly we shouldtry to provide them free foodor grains etc. You will also havemany other suggestions thatcan be tried to benefit or pro-vide relief to the sufferinghumanity. I look forward tosuch suggestions and propos-als. I am myself following mostof the above. If you feel it nec-essary, then tell me what else Ican do at my level,” he said.

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The new record of daily pro-duction of 834 tonnes of

galvanized coils from HDGLunit has been established with-in two months of the resump-tion of production of BSLCRM-3. The ExecutiveDirector (Operations) of BSL,Atanu Bhowmick congratulat-ed the HDGL team of CRM-3on this achievement.

Chief General Manager(CRM-3) Rajan Prasad,General Manager (CRM-3)

Ranjan Kumar and a largenumber of personnel were pre-sent. Bhowmick appreciatedcontinuous efforts for settingrecords and improving pro-duction with increasing qual-ity. It is noteworthy that theproduct of CRM-3 (HDGL) isin great demand in the autosector and white goods sectorof the country.

In the coming times, BSLis moving towards fulfilling themarket requirements byachieving the target of pro-ducing this prime product.

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The funds sanctioned to theOne Stop Centres (OSCs),

popularly known as SakhiCentres, by Government ofIndia to Jharkhand has wit-nessed a spurt in last five years.Funds sanctioned to SakhiCentres in Jharkhand havegone up from�10.27 lakh in2015-16 to �4.09 crore in 2019-20. In last five years, the Centrehas released a total of �11.98crore to OSCs in the State.Union Minister of Women andChild Development SmritiZubin Irani provided the infor-mation in Rajya Sabha onMarch 19, 2020, while replyingto a question raised by MPParimal Nathwani.

According to the statementof the Minister the One StopCentre (OSC) Scheme is beingimplemented under theNirbhaya Fund since 1st April2015. As on date 728 OSCs havebeen approved by Governmentof India in 724 districts acrossthe country and 680 OSCs out

of them have become opera-tional so far. Out of these 24OSCs are in Jharkhand andtotal number of cases stood at403. As per the informationprovided in the house, the cen-tre released �10,26,800 in 2015-16, � 56,82,900 in 2016-17,�18,47,152 in 2017-18,�7,04,36,941 in 2018-19 and�4,08,53,107 in 2019-20.

Nathwani wanted to knowwhether Government has pro-posed to implement anyscheme for setting up of OneStop Centres (OSCs), popular-ly known as Sakhi Centres tosupport women affected byviolence and the expenditureincurred by Government forsetting up such centresandthedetails of OSCsapproved, estab-lished and functional along

with the number of womenregistered thereunder.

The Minister also said thatthese Sakhi Centres provide anintegrated range of services under

one roof including medical help,police facilitation, psychologicalcounselling, legal counsellingand temporary shelter to womenaffected by violence.

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The State health departmenthas been keeping a keen eye

on the passengers coming fromoutside to the State and as ondate 344 passengers comingfrom various Coronavirusaffected nations have been keptunder observation by districtsurveillance teams in the State,out of which 110 people havecompleted their observationperiod of 28 days. However,there is no positive cases ofCorona Virus reported fromthe State till Friday evening.

A press communiquéissued by Integrated DiseaseSurveillance Programme

(IDSP) informed that cumula-tive number of sample testedtill Friday is 45 out of which 40cases resulted as negative andresults awaited for five cases. Atotal of 8 samples were col-lected on Friday out of which4 cases from Ranchi and 4 casesfrom Jamshedpur, results of allthe eight cases are awaited.

The department is tryingto find list of people returnedfrom China from December, 292019 to January, 31 of this yearand the people returned fromother countries till February,25. According to the informa-tion provided by the depart-ment, till the date not a singlepatient has been hospitalized.

Meanwhile, GovernorDraupadi Murmu on Fridayappealed to people ofJharkhand on the basis ofPrime Minister, NarendraModi’s message to preventCorona virus to spread.

Murmu appealed that shouldkeep themselves alert and theyshould also keep themselves intheir house as much as possi-

ble.“People should follow ‘Janta

Curfew’ on March, 22 from 7am to 9 pm. At 5 pm on March,

22 they should generate soundsby clapping. They shouldrefrain themselves to go toHospitals for routine checkups.

They should try to get advicefrom their known doctor fromtheir home. The companiesand employer should not cutsalary of their staffs. Peopleshould refrain themselves fromrumors” said Murmu.

The DistrictAdministrations throughoutthe State of Jharkhand request-ed for the services for PLVs forcreating awareness amongstthe people of Jharkhand atTaluka and Village level forcombating the treat of COVID-19.In an another case, afterreturning from the US onFriday, Congress MLA fromMahagama Deepika PandeySingh has decided to keep her-self in quarantine for a few days.She gave information in thisregard by tweeting. Pandeywrote on Twitter that this pro-tocol is being adopted aroundthe world as a history.Therefore, there is no need to

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The opposition BJP onFriday boycotted the House

proceedings protesting againstJMM legislator LobinHembrom remark againstBiharis. The JMM MLA tar-geting former Chief MinisterRaghubar Das said that the for-mer CM has made such adomicile policy which indi-rectly favoured outsiders, espe-cially those from Bihar.

On earlier occasion too,Lobin had attacked BJP andformer Chief MinisterRaghubar Das saying that BJPGovernment policy was suchthat jobs were given to peopleof Arrah-Chhapra. Lobinraised the issue of outsiders tak-ing possession of land takenfrom the raiyyats in HEC whilediscussing demand grants. TheJMM MLA said that the peo-ple of Ara, Chhapra came andsettled here, while the originalRaiyat here became beggar.He accused the previousGovernment of imposing suchas local policy which openedthe door for outsiders. The BJPprotesting against Lobinremark staged uproar in Houseand later boycotted in theHouse.

The JMM on several occa-sions had opposed the RaghubarDas’ local policy. After the for-mation of Grand AllianceGovernment in State JMM pres-ident Shibu Soren had said thatthe previous Raghubar Das-ledGovernment's ‘Sthaniya Niti’ ofmaking 1985 as the cut-off yearfor being eligible to be a residentof Jharkhand was ‘not proper’,and that the policy will bechanged. Similarly, at the 41stfoundation day function of JMMin Dumka, a resolution waspassed. The leaders urged the CMto implement domicile as per1932 Khatiyan. With the intro-duction of such domicile policy,those having land records as per1932 land records will be givenpreference in III and IV gradejobs.

Sources said that thoughJMM’s stand is clear on domi-cile issue, the contentious issueis likely to bring heart burnsamong other constituents ofGrand Alliance especiallyCongress and RJD. The BJPsensing the issue has askedCongress and RJD to cleartheir stand on domicile issue.

The BJP Govt headed byformer CM Raghubar Das in2016 announced the new domi-cile policy.

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Police on Friday resorted tolathi charge on successful

candidates for PanchayatSecretary Post when they weregoing to submit their memo-randum to Chief Minister,Hemant Soren.

Students alleged even afterthe completion of the wholeprocess, their merit list is notbeing released even though itswritten examination has beentaken in three stages.

An applicant Puja Kumarisaid that when the students toldthe Police that they will gothrough the SSP ResidenceRoad then the Police thrashedthem and there was not a sin-gle women staff present.

“The police are beatingthe students on direction ofHemant Soren Governmentbut we will continue our protesttill the date when theGovernment will not fulfillour demand,” she added.

The examination of thethree phases has been done onJanuary 21, January 28 and 4February 2018. The result of itswritten examination wasreleased in February 2019. Atotal of 4774 students weredeclared successful. After theexamination result, the originaldocuments of all the successfulcandidates were examined afterwhich typing test was held inApril of 2018. Kumari saidthat more than 10 months

have passed after the typingtest, despite it the merit list hasnot been released yet.

Reacting on the lathicharge BJP State SpokespersonPratul Shahdeo on Fridayaccused the State Governmentof trying to suppress the peace-ful demonstration of students.

Shahdeo said this is anoth-er U-turn of this Government.Soren used to talk to providejustice to the students after get-ting power police resorted lathicharge on students on hisbehalf when the successfulcandidates of the PanchayatSecretary examination weregoing to submit memorandumto Chief Minister in a peacefulmanner, he added.

Shahdeo said that similar-ly when Hemant Soren was inopposition, he also used to talkabout regularization of ParaTeachers job and the JMMalso made a clear referenceabout the issue in its manifesto.“As soon as they came to powerthey changed their old tune.Now the matter of regulariza-tion of Para Teacher has beenput on the backburner. This isanother u- turn of the StateGovernment,” he added.

All Jharkhand StudentsUnion State president, GautamSingh also criticized the inci-dents of lathi charge on theStudents and said that the stu-dents were protesting peace-fully when the police beatenthem mercilessly.

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Fearing complete lockdownin coming days, people in

the Capital City have startedstock –piling essential goods.Even people have started stock-ing huge amount of potatoesand onions because of the fearthat in case if there is a lock-down or if there is any problemor any problem in vehicularmovement from any otherstates in the movement ofgreen vegetables it people willhave potatoes and onions intheir kitchen to feed on forsome days.

Some shopkeepers on thecondition of anonymity alsoblamed the electronic media forcreating panic among the peo-ple. The shopkeepers were ofthe view that media should playa constructive role in sensitsz-ing the people and not indulgein fear-mongering. The shop-keepers were also of the viewthat the Government had a

huge role to play in COVID-19containment, as people havestarted hoarding essential itemsand if hoarding is not checkedthan in coming days than manyunderprivileged people willface shortage of essential itemsas they cannot afford bulkpurchasing.

Some shopkeepers saidthat their sales have drastical-ly come down due the fear of

COVID-19.Some even saidthat there day-sale is nil till 1in the afternoon which theysaid is disturbing because thatwill force them to pull downtheir shutters if this COVID-19is not contained.

Even some bootleggers arescared of stepping out of theirhouse due the fear of con-tracting the virus according tosome wine shop owners in the

city. People were of the viewthat more than the disease it isthe rumour which is creatingproblem in the society andincreases the responsibility ofthe government and the peopleat large.

Many shops in the citysaid that slowly they are run-ning out of sanitizers andhandwash from their shops.Shopkeepers said that the gov-ernment and the civil societymembers have a huge role toplay if the virus has to be con-tained otherwise things can spi-ral out of control.

Some shop-keepers alsosaid that they had minor tiffwith some of their customersbecause they were hell bent instockpiling some their essentialgoods that is creating problemin catering to their other reg-ular customers. They said thatthe correct information has toreach the people only then thepeople of the city will stoppanic –buying.

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Don’t get me wrong, but Iam happy in a way that

things have panned out. For thefirst time in 45 years, India isuniting, and out of sheer fear.The world has united too in itsdesperate fight against thedreaded Coronavirus, but thenI am singling out India becausefirst, I am Indian and second,because this is a country wheredivision rules, fragmentedindependence is reckoned to beits core democratic strength.Everybody in India has anindependent opinion that ismost often different from thenext person’s, and thereforethere are countless pockets ofopinions. Everybody is either aBengali or a Gujrati, a Marathior a Madrasi, a Malayali or aKashmiri. Nobody is an Indian.Everybody is a know-all. Andargument is considered to bethe universal birthright of everyindividual, for right reasons orthe wrong. The spectrum ofdivergence was all too evidentthis time also when the Coronascare started surfacing. If some-one said “I think we shouldwear masks”, three otherswould jump up to say “Are you

out of your mind? Why shouldyou wear masks? Boss, thisCorona thing is just like anyother flu, don’t get worried,don’t make yourself a laughingstock by wearing one of thoseweird things on the face”.Someone said “Use a handker-chief at least when sneezing”.The next person would instant-ly taunt “Where will you get130 crore handkerchiefs?Sneeze, as you have alwayssneezed.” End of story.

The divergence still exists,but it is narrowing down. I amvery happy to see it in my city,Kolkata – the protest capital ofthe country, the “cholbe na,cholbe na” mega metro – andtherefore a barometer of thegeneral pan India situation.People are actually wearingmasks, staying indoors, tellingeach other about essentialhygiene; roads are largelyempty, people are more cau-tious and what was veryencouraging to see this morn-ing was local youth at a road-side tea stall accost a guy whohad openly sneezed and hadshot the sputum out of hismouth without a secondthought and walked on as ishabit. There were five of them,none had masks, they stoodsome five feet away andscreamed “Who do you thinkyou are? You look educatedenough to understand the pre-vailing situation, and yet yousneeze openly? Do you knowhow much of germs that green-ish-grey stuff you spat out onthe road carry? Now you haveto wipe it clean with whateveryou have, we will give youwater, but you wash the road”.I was impressed. I couldn’tbelieve it was Kolkata.

In 1975 too, unity wasborn out of fear, but it was fearof a different kind. It was anadministrative fiat, a state of

emergency declared underArticle 352 of the Constitutionby the President, and thereforeit was binding on all. All lawenforcement agencies were putto use to ensure that for 18months till January 1977,nobody across the countrydared to violate the rules.Trains and buses ran on time,cabbies didn’t refuse, peoplerushed to office, all State andCentral government officesrecorded attendance sharp at 10am, the usual chaos evaporat-ed from life. And people gotadjusted to the new lifestyle.Before 1975, there were thethree wars -- the Sino-Indianconflict in 1962, the first Indo-Pak war of 1965 and the sec-ond, aka the Bangladesh war of1971 – and I was witness to thechanges they brought about inusual Bengal life style. Thosewere days when total curfewruled, blackouts became thenorm after dusk, all car head-lights were painted half-blackso that the high beam didn’ttravel and of course every-body would run towards thebasement or get out on thestreets the moment the sirenssounded the alarm. There wastotal and absolute Unity.

Forty five or 50 years is along slice of Time, enough forpeople to forget what sweepingFear is. Peacetime Indians havelong got immersed in a foolish

self-belief: “Nothing will hap-pen to me”. The Corona virusseems to have shaken that con-fidence somewhat. Doubtshave crept in: “What if…”, theyare asking now. Collective con-cern has surfaced for a change,and it is right too. Changeyourself, change others. Theworrisome thing about India isthe utter lack of discipline andbasic hygiene. So every badhabit is considered okaythroughout the length andbreadth of the country. It istime for a reform, a thoroughchange of habits. There is nobravery in falling ill and mak-ing other people sick. Just con-sider this. We have weatherednipah, swine flu, jaundice,hepatitis, flu, plague, smallpox,malaria, cholera, SARS,chikungunya, dengue, zika,avian flu, Japanese encephali-tis, so on and so forth. ButCorona is perhaps the first timethat an Indian Prime Ministerhas had to address the nation,that every State head across thecountry has pulled out all stopsto prevent a catastrophic out-break. As I pray like every otherIndian for the crisis to blowover, I also pray that Indiaemerges a stronger, more unit-ed and healthier country infuture.

Basistha Basu is formerly,Editor East, The EconomicTimes, Kolkata.

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Under the Right toEducation Act 2009

(RTE) for the academicsession 2020-21, a meet-ing was held under thechairmanship of DistrictEducation Officer (DEO)Neelam Aileen Toppofor admission of eligiblestudents in the grant andprivate schools. Thereare 39 such schools in thedistrict. A total of 847applications werereceived from the districtafter which 293 studentsforms were found correctand 518 students forms wererejected for various reasons.Toppo directed the DistrictEducation Superintendent thatafter validating the reason forthe rejected applications, thelist needs to be again preparedand asked to present the list inthe next meeting.

Under RTE, free admissionprocess for children belongingto weaker sections and disad-vantaged groups has started inprivate schools. After verifyingthe eligibility of applicationsreceived in this session, a list ofeligible, ineligible children willbe entered. Eligible children

will be given direct entry intothe school. During this meet-ing District EducationSuperintendent Renuka Tigga,Arvind Kumar of PublicRelations, Ashutosh Kumar,Principal of ChinmayaVidyalaya and Sanjay Kumarwere present.

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AHindi workshop wasorganised in the Vigilance

Department of BSL under thechairmanship of GeneralManager (Vigilance) VKBansal, Assistant GeneralManager (Vigilance) AnuragSharma, Manager (Liaison &Administration) BasudevRajwar, Deputy Manager(Vigilance) Prerna Kumari andother officers and personnel ofthe Vigilance Department werepresent in the workshop.

The workshop was inau-gurated by Bansal, after lightingthe lamp. In his address hecalled upon the participants to

pay special attention to maxi-mum use of Hindi in officialwork to speed up the propaga-tion of Official Language Hindi.Rajwar gave detailed informa-tion of Official Language Rules,Act and Constitutional provi-sions to the participants andgave a message to act as perSection 3 (3) and Rule-5, so thatthe targets set by the OfficialLanguage department, Ministryof Home Affairs, Governmentof India and SAIL CorporateOffice To be completed. In theworkshop, competitions relat-ed to Rajbhasha were organisedand all successful participantswere given prizes by the chiefguest.

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Amidst the rising fear ofCoronavirus, Ranchiites

have welcomed Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s call of selfimposing social distancing or‘Janta Curfew’ on Sunday from7 am to 9 pm.

While addressing the nationon Thursday evening, the PMemphasised that there is noneed to be panic but at the sametime also urged people to followJanta curfew- a curfew which isimposed on the people, by thepeople for themselves.

People from all walks of lifeand across all age groups in theCity are keen to support Modiand curb the spread of thedeadly virus.Dr Kiran Mehra,Retired Associate Professor,chemistry department, RanchiWomen’s College said, “Iabsolutely agree with the PMand will totally abide by the selfimposed curfew. If the virus isactive for about 12 hours, thenthe Janta curfew will go a longway in breaking its chain. Thesecond important point whichhe spoke about was clapping,banging vessels or ringing bells.It is being said that if everyone

follows it, then the sound ener-gy produced will also help inkilling the virus. My childrenbased in Mumbai and Bangaloreare also planning to stay homeon Sunday.”

Shweta Murarka, a youngmother has been using disin-fectants to wash clothes and veg-etables said. “Since I come froma joint family, it will be after along time when all of us will behome together. With three kidsat home, we plan to spendSunday playing board games likeOthello, Zenga and Scrabble.The purpose is to make the dayfun as well as educational forthem. We are trying to createawareness amongst the chil-dren and inculcate some goodhabits in them. As a last wash,we have been using disinfectantsfor clothes, vegetables and alsofor mopping the house.”

“With my college closed tillApril 14, I am planning to fol-low Janta curfew not just for aday but a week. Since both myparents are working, we hardlyget to spend any time together.We plan to make some tradi-tional Gujrati dishes which areotherwise available only inrestaurants. With work and col-

lege, we don’t get to see manyfilms, so I have also made a listand we plan to have a marathonmovie session,” said JayVachharajani, a student ofIndian Institute of Management,Ranchi. Senior citizen RenuHirani and her family who areresidents of Kanke Road havenot ventured out of their housefor the last 15 days. “Of coursewe are following Janta curfew. Itis a very good idea. We have alsoplanned on chanting ‘Om’ from6 pm to 6:15 pm. In case of anemergency, we have stockedgroceries and regular medicinesfor about 15 days at home. Weare not even stepping out tomeet our neighbours in thebuilding.”

“Announcement of Janta

curfew by the PM is a great stepto fight the deadly Coronavirus.Practicing self curfew on Sundaywill be very convenient as manybusiness houses and day to dayactivities can easily be put onhold on Sunday. I think every-one should follow it as it is fortheir own safety. From what wehave heard, the life span of thisvirus is of 12 hours while the selfimposed curfew is of 14 hours-it will help in breaking thechain,” said city based busi-nessman Manindera Kumar.

“On Janta curfew since thewhole family will be home, Iplan to cook some of theirfavourite dishes. The idea ofthanking those involved inemergency services by clap-ping, ringing bells is a great oneand my kids and I will surelyparticipate in it. We haven’tstepped out of the house for aweek. I am generally busy withhousehold chores and hardly get

much time with the kids. Withschools shut this is like a gold-en period where I am thor-oughly enjoying spending qual-ity time with my children,” saidDr Neha Nupur, guest faculty atDoranda College. Amidst therising fear of Coronavirus,Ranchiites have welcomedPrime Minister Narendra Modi’scall of imposing social distanc-ing or ‘Janta Curfew’ on Sunday,March 22 from 7 am to 9pm.While addressing the nationon Thursday evening, the PMemphasised that there is noneed to panic and urged the cit-izens of India to follow janta cur-few- a curgfew which is imposedon the people, by the people forthemselves.People from all walksof life and across all age groupsIn the City are keen to supportModi I and curb the spread ofthe deadly virus.

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From Page 1The CM said that all the

vendors are aware and theyshould understand that Masksand Sanitizers come under thepurview of EssentialCommodities Act, 1955, soselling them at a rate higherthan black marketing and fairprice is a crime.On the direc-tions of DC, Ranchi a team ofdrug inspectors formed bySDM Ranchi reached the phar-macy and investigated the mat-ter. However, no such mask wasfound that was shown in thevideo over social media. It wasrevealed by the investigationteam that the video was shotbefore March 13 when maskswere not included in essentialgoods and the mask wasbought from some local ven-dors at Rs 135 per piece andwas being sold between Rs150-200.

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The situation in Housebecame tensed which couldhave lead to scuffle betweenCongress and BJP lawmakers.However, the matter was con-trolled after ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Alamgir Alamand MLA Pradeep Yadav inter-vened.

However, the CongressMLAs kept on demanding anapology from CP Singh. Onthis, CP Singh said that if theruling party has any problemwith his remark against RahulGandhi than they can takelegal opinion on the issue. Atthe same time Poreyahat MLAPradeep Yadav who joinedCongress recently said that amotion of condemnationshould be brought on this sub-ject which was supported bythe JMM MLAs.

On the other hand, SpeakerRabindranath Mahato spurredthe views of both the parties

and said that it is not proper torepeatedly interrupt the pro-ceedings of the House underthe conspiracy.

Meanwhile, outside theHouse Irfan Ansari said, “CPSingh has lost his mental bal-ance as he has the habit ofunparliamentary statements inthe House.” Ansari said, “Wehave never made any suchstatement against BJP leadersincluding Prime MinisterNarendra Modi or HomeMinister Amit Shah.”

Earlier, BJP MLA BhanuPratap Shahi raised the issue ofalleged starvation death of oneBhukhal Ghasi in Kasamar.He demanded an inquiry fromthe committee of the Assemblyand demanded action againstthe guilty officers. Respondingon behalf of the government inthis matter, the Minister ofParliamentary Affairs gaveassurance of action after inves-tigation.

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From page 1He then announced the

sine die adjournment of theAssembly.

Earlier on Friday whiletalking to the media, the CMannounced that he is tenderinghis resignation, hours ahead ofthe scheduled floor test.

“I have decided to tendermy resignation to the Governortoday,” he said while address-ing a press conference inBhopal.

On Thursday, the SupremeCourt had ordered a floor testin the state Assembly to be heldon Friday. While addressing thepress conference, Kamal Nathstated that the Bharatiya JanataParty had tried to “destabilise”his government and added,that his government “tried bestto give a new direction to the

state in a span of 15 months”.He also accused the BJP ofholding Congress’s MLAs cap-tive in Karnataka in order totopple the government in theState.

“Over the last 15 months,I have worked for the progressof Madhya Pradesh. BJP got 15years but I only got 15 months,but during this time people ofMadhya Pradesh know theconspiracy that BJP hasindulged in. From day one, BJPbegan plotting. The party alsoheld our MLAs captive inKarnataka. 22 of our MLAswere held captive in Bengaluru.This was politics spendingcrores of rupees,” he said.

“We delivered on our 400promises in 15 months, BJP didnot like it. It could not stomachour achievements. We alsoacted against the mafia, it couldnot thrive.” “People will not for-give those who went againsttheir wishes,” he added.

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Army Chief General MMNaravane on Friday

reviewed preparations withinthe force to meet the coron-avirus pandemic challenge andordered that at least 35 per centof officers and 50 per centjawans working in offices willobserve home quarantine andwork from there for a weekstarting March 23. The secondbatch will observe these pre-cautions from March 30 as perthe new advisory'.

The advisory issue onFriday also said intermixing of

groups to be avoided and itshall be ensured personnel areavailable on telephone andelectronic means at all times forexigencies of work. Theseadvisories were firmed up afterdiscussions between Naravaneand important functionaries atthe Army Headquarters here,officials said.

These instructions comedays after a Army jawan ofLadakh Scouts was tested pos-itive in Leh and now undergo-ing quarantine in a hospitalthere. AS a precautions, theArmy is now screening manyother soldiers of the Ladakh

Scouts Regimental Centre inLeh as they had come into con-tact with the 34-year-old sol-dier.

*Meanwhile, the Army inits advisory has asked the com-manders to regularly hold*Awareness Campaigns* onprecautions to be taken with-in the Army and also for com-munities in near vicinity toArmy establishments.

Among other measures,all conferences and seminarspostponed have been post-poned till 15 April andTemporary Duty of all ranksrescheduled/cancelled till 15

April. Leave of personnelalready on leave was extendedtill 15 April 2020 at the discre-tion of Competent Authority.

All service personnel (lessArmy Medical Corps) attend-ing courses terminating priorto 15 April 202were to beretained at respective traininginstitution for which addition-al training programme to beissued. The annual MedicalExamination(AME)/PeriodicMedical Examination(PME)was postponed till 15April.

Among other measuresentry to the army canteens will

be regulated and crowding andbunching has to be avoided.Moreover, posting of all per-sonnel was deferred.

The Army also appealed toveterans and civilians livingwithin and in the vicinity ofarmy cantonments and sta-tions to adhere to social dis-tancing norms and to supportadditionalinstituted to preventspread of COVID -19.

Moreover, those personnelworking in army offices willreport for duty in staggeredtimings to avoidcrowding/bunching atentry/exit points.

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Senior Congress leader andformer Finance Minister P

Chidambaram on Friday saidthe war against coronaviruscannot be fought with "moralarmaments" and that lock-down was the only solution.

After he supported PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on thesteps suggested by him in hisaddress to the nation onThursday, the Congress leadersaid the PM must take toughsocial and economic measuresand he should act boldly andnot waste any time.

"ICMR says that the diseaseis still at Stage 2 (local trans-mission) in India. This is the

moment to act. Let us notallow this moment to passwithout decisive action andregret later," he tweeted.

He said he had offeredsupport to the Prime Minister’sannouncements yesterday, “butI am absolutely certain that thePM will have no option but tocome back with tougher socialand economic measures”.

“Yesterday, I got theimpression that PM was testingthe waters. He should act bold-ly. The war against coronaviruscannot be fought with moralarmaments," he said on Twitter.

There has been a buzzabout the janata curfew beinga dry run or trial for a completelockdown in the days to come.

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New Delhi: Amid the coron-avirus outbreak, a Bhopal-based counter-terrorism relat-ed app developer has developedan android-based applicationCorona Virus Monitor fortracking news and develop-ments related to the outbreakof the virus across the globe.Through the application whichcan be downloaded for free, thedeveloper intends to providereal time developments relatedto Covid-19 pandemic andspread situation awareness andprotection from the viral infec-tion. The app http://app.apps-geyser.com/10347701/Coronavirus%20Defence is yet to beuploaded by the Google PlayStore. PNS

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Several Indo-Pacific nations onFriday held a teleconference

to exchange their assessmentsabout the coronavirus pandem-ic and discuss ways to work insynergy to combat the globalmenace.

Foreign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla took part in aUS-initiated teleconference dur-ing which he briefed the partic-ipants on the proactive stepstaken by India to counter thepandemic.

The telephonic conferencecall, initiated by US DeputySecretary of State Stephen Biegunfor discussions among someIndo-Pacific nations on issuesrelated to countering COVID-19, also included senior repre-sentatives from Australia, SouthKorea, Vietnam, New Zealand,and Japan, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs said in a state-ment. The participants sharedtheir assessments of the currentsituation with respect toCOVID-19, and discussed waysto synergise their efforts tocounter its spread, the MEA said.

"Foreign Secretary Shringlabriefed the participants on theproactive steps taken by Indiaboth nationally and in the regionunder the prime minister's lead-ership," it said.

Shringla conveyed India'sdesire to share its perspectiveswith partners in the region andto work together with others.

The participants are expect-ed to continue the conference callon a weekly basis, coveringissues like cooperation on vac-cine development, challenges ofstranded citizens, assistance tocountries in need and mitigatingthe impact on the global econ-omy, the statement said

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The Government has decid-ed to extend till April 15 the

regular visa and e-visa of thoseforeigners who are currently inIndia and unable to leave thecountry due to the novel coro-navirus pandemic.

According to a UnionHome Ministry notification, anumber of foreign nationals arein the country since imposition

of travel restrictions and areunable to exit the country dur-ing the validity of their visa.

It has been decided to pro-vide the essential consular ser-vices by the office of theForeigners RegionalRegistration Officers andForeigners RegistrationOfficers to foreign nationals,presently in India.

"Regular visa, e-visa or staystipulation of all foreign

nationals which have expired orwould be expiring during theperiod from March 13 (mid-night) to April 15 (midnight)would be extended till mid-night of April 14 on 'Gratis'basis after making online appli-cation by the foreigner.

"Exit of such foreignnationals, if so requested bythem during this period, will begranted without levy of overstaypenalty," the Ministry said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday held video

conference with Chief Ministersto monitor and deliberate in theways to check the spread ofcoronavirus and various mea-sures of preparedness of thepandemic. Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan andtop health ministry officialswere also present in the threehour long meeting held viavideo link, which started at4pm. Many Chief Ministersurged Prime Minister for ban ofinternational flights from sen-sitive countries for some moretime and demanded for finan-cial packages to workers in theun-organised sectors.

Modi appreciated the stepstaken by the States and thankedthem for sharing their experi-ences and giving suggestions.

He talked about the urgentneed of capacity building ofhealthcare workers and aug-mentation of healthcare infra-structure. He suggested thatthe Chief Ministers should dovideo conference with tradebodies in their states to preventblack marketing and undueprice rise. He urged them to usesoft power of persuasion aswell as legal provisions, wher-ever necessary.

"Prime Minister said thatthe COVID-19 Economic TaskForce set up by Government ofIndia will formulate the strate-gy to devise suitable approachto effectively tackle the eco-nomic challenge. He urged theChief Ministers to ensure that allnecessary steps are taken and alladvisories are adhered to inorder to ensure the safety of cit-izens in the country at large. Nostone should be left unturned inour common endeavors to fightCOVID-19," said PMO in astatement.

There was unanimousopinion on need of awarenessand training to the health work-ers in the field. Punjab ChiefMinister Amrinder Singh,Maharashtra CM UddhavThackeray, Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath wereamong those who attended thevideo conference. West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee reiterated for stop-ping international flights to thestate and demanded for finan-cial packages to the workers andthose working the un-organisedsector.

Maharashtra CM urged forthe increase of in the number ofcoronavirus testingLaboratories in the country.

New Delhi: Parliament wouldmeet at 2 pm on Monday andnot at the usual 11 am on therequest of members as they saidthey would be reaching late dueto the changes in their airflights. The decision was takenafter several members said theywould not be able to reach thenational capital from theirrespective constituencies in themorning following relocation offlights and cancellation of trainsdue to coronavirus. SpeakerOm Birla informed Lok Sabhathat the Question Hour wouldremain suspended on Monday.He made it clear that the deci-sion is applicable for March 23only. PNS

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The Government on Fridaydenied in the Lok Sabha

that there was any evidence ofcoronavirus having any ‘suspi-cious origin’ from China asbeing circulated in the socialmedia and asked Oppositionnot to “press panic button” evenas the Congress sought to saythere was spectre of hoarding,and price rise after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’saddress a day before and sug-gested that the dispensationprovides temporary succourto daily wagers, auto-driversand small vendors.

Asking questions duringthe question hour on the pan-demic coronavirus, memberswanted Government to clarifywhether it has prescribedAurvedic or homeopathy med-icines for curing the disease ofwhich there was yet no clinicaltrial. N Uttam Kumar Reddy(Congress) said having issuedan advisory the Ayush Ministrycontradicted itself saying therewas "no known cure toCOVID-19."

The member sought toknow what advisory AyushMinistry has given on the issue.Responding to queries, AyushMinister of State (indepen-dent) Shripad Naik said hisministry's advisory neverclaimed "effective treatment" ofcoronovirus by Aurveda (orhomeopathy) as it has sug-gested that its treatment mayhelp respiratory and immunesystem of the patients.

Reacting to the concerns ofmembers, Union HealthMinister Harshvardhan saidwhosoever is being tested, isbeing tested with "perfect sci-entific rationale."

At this stage, ManishTewary (Congress) sought to

say that origin of coronavirusis surrounded with suspicionsaying World HealthOrganization (WHO) was notgiven access to Wuhan inChina, the place from wherecoronavirus first broke out andlater affected the global popu-lation. Would India speak tothe WHO and have the originof Coronavirus investigated?",the Congress MP asked andwanted to know "..whether itwas naturally originated andnot grown out of a scientificexperiment ..?"

Responding to Congressmember's question,Harshvardhan said hisGovernment was in regulartouch with the WHO and anysuspicion on the count of theorigin of the virus was linkedto what was being circulated inthe social media platforms likeWhatsUp. The Minister saidthere was "no authenticity" inthe report. Hashvarshan saidIndian research organisationsare in touch with other globalorganisations on the origin ofthe virus. He maintained thatIndia was the first to knowabout the coronavirus onJanuary 8th a day after Chinaestablished that there was a"new coronavirus" in Wuhan.

Speaking on theCoronavirus issue CongressMP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhurysaid while his party was withthe Prime Minister on the sub-ject, the government shouldtake note of hoarding of essen-tial eatables and general price

rise after his address to thenation on Thursday night.Chowdhury suggested thatgovernment provide tempo-rary assistance to daily wageearners, auto drivers , securityguards , vendors who havebeen hard-hit by the self-imposed curfew of the people.

The Congress leader saidadvance wage payments shouldbe made to MNREGA dailywagers.

Intervening from the gov-ernment aide, Parliamentaryaffairs minister Pralhad Joshievery one should honour thegood suggestions given by thePrime Minister in the light ofthe global crisis. He deniedthere was any shortage ofessential commodities andurged opposition to not to"press panic button".

Chowdhury , however,went on to say that PrimeMinister's address " se Bazarmain aag lag gayi.." There wasan uproar and Congress mem-bers were seen walking out ofthe house. Later, at Zero hour,Speaker Om Birla saidParliament is with PM's reso-lution and his appeal fora"Janata curfew" on Sunday.

Kanimozhi (DMK) saideconomically poor section hasbeen the worst hit due to coro-navirus pandemic and theEconomic task forceannounced by the PrimeMinister should take note ofthe informal sector which is induress in the wake of the shut-down.

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The Government on Fridayassured Parliament that there

is no shortage of masks and handsanitisers which are necessarypreventive steps in the fightagainst coronavirus pandemic.This assertion came in the RajyaSabha after some MPs drew theattention to reports of paucity ofthese items since the outbreak.

Allaying their apprehen-sions, Minister of Chemicalsand Fertilisers MansukhMandaviya said more than 100manufacturing units all overthe country were producing

more than one and half croremasks every day. Therefore, fearsabout shortage were unfounded,he said. The minister alsoassured the Elders that there wasno paucity of sanitisers.

In another coronavirus relat-ed issues figuring in the house,two MPs namely Satish ChandraDubey and Kirodi LalMeena(both BJP)sought imme-diate government intervention tobring back stranded students inPhilipines.

The two MPs said morethan 540 students includingthose from Bihar and Rajathanwere stranded in Manila after an

emergency was declared follow-ing coronavirus and flights werecancelled.

Earlier in the day, ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu announcedthat Sukhendu ShekharRoy(TMC) had sought permis-sion of the house to remainabsent and be self-quarantinedue to coronavirus.

The House unanimouslylauded Prime Minister NarendraModi's address to the nation onThursday urging people to unit-edly fight the challenge of coro-navirus. However, AnandSharma(Congress)said the gov-ernment by a notification had

asked people above the age of 65to remain at home but manyMPs above this age were comingto Parliament. He wanted toknow if Parliament was exemptfrom the government rulesincluding imposition of section144 and Epidemic Act.

Naidu and minister PiyushGoyal said essential serviceswere exempted and Parliamentwas fulfilling its respponsbility ofpassing the budget. Moreover,functioning of Parliament sent amessage to the nation that it wasleading the nation from thefront in the fight against coron-avirus.

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In an effort to give a boost to'Make in India' project of the

NDA Government in defencemanufacturing, the draft ofDefence ProcurementProcedure(DPP) 2020 propos-es higher indigenous contentand incentives for local mate-rial and software.

The draft unveiled byDefence Minister RajnathSingh on Friday here also pro-vides for making after salessupport a part of capital acqui-sition contract, leasing ofdefence equipment introducedfor the first time and emphasison product export under off-sets. The proposed DPP alsooffers incentive under offsetsfor units in Defence corridor.

The main focus of the DPP2020 is to further increaseindigenous manufacturing andreducing timelines for pro-curement of defence equip-ment. These and several othersuch innovative measures werepart the draft finalized by ahigh-level committee headedby Director GeneralAcquisition, Ministry ofDefence that was set up inAugust 2019.

Speaking on the occasion,the defence minister said theobjective of the DPP is tomake India self-reliant and aglobal manufacturing hub. Thegovernment is constantly striv-ing to formulate policies toempower the private industryincluding MSMEs in order todevelop the eco-system forindigenous defence produc-tion. The defence industry ofIndia is a strategically impor-tant sector having huge poten-tial for growth. It needs to be

the catalyst for India's eco-nomic growth and realisationof our global ambitions.

With experience gained bythe industry and the Ministryof Defence , it is now time totake further steps to strength-en 'Make in India' initiative,refine Life Cycle Support ofprocured equipment and plat-forms and hasten the defenceacquisition process by furthersimplifying the procedures &reducing the overall procure-ment timelines, he added.

The major changes pro-posed in the new DPP are hikein indigenous content ratio bymore than ten per cent to sup-port Make In India. Also, useof raw materials, special alloysand software incentivised asuse of indigenous raw materi-al is a very important aspect of'Make in India' and IndianCompanies are world leaders insoftware. A new categoryBuy(Global-Manufacture inIndia) is part of the proposedDPP with minimum 50 percent indigenous content.

Leasing has been intro-duced as a new category foracquisition in addition to exist-ing 'Buy' & 'Make' categories tosubstitute huge initial capitaloutlays with periodical rentalpayments. Leasing is permittedunder two categories i.e, Lease

(Indian) where Lessor is anIndian entity and is the ownerof the assets and Lease (Global)where Lessor is a Global enti-ty. This will be useful for mil-itary equipment not used inactual warfare like transportfleets, trainers and simulators.

The scope and options forProduct Support have beenwidened to include contempo-rary concepts in vogue, name-ly Performance Based Logistics(PBL), Life Cycle SupportContract (LCSC),Comprehensive MaintenanceContract (CMC)to optimiselife cycle support for equip-ment. The capital acquisitioncontract would normally alsoinclude support for five yearsbeyond the warranty period.

The DPP draft was pre-pared by a Review Committeebased on the recommenda-tions of all stakeholders, includ-ing private industry. In order toaccrue advantage of domainspecialisation of various subjectmatter experts, eight sub-com-mittees headed by LtGen/equivalent officers wereconstituted to assist the reviewcommittee. These committeescarried out extensive delibera-tions and interactions over aperiod of six months to for-mulate their respective char-ters.

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As many as 32 political par-ties, including seven

national parties have spent thehighest of �1495.41 crore onpublicity, followed by �567.19crore on travel expenses,�528.94 crore on lumpsumamounts paid to candidatesand �399.03 crore on other ormiscellaneous expenses duringthe Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

According to a report pre-pared by the Association forDemocratic Reforms (ADR) onthe basis of expenditure detailssubmitted by the political par-ties to the ElectionCommission, these politicalparties have recollected�6405.59 crore in 2019. Ofthem, a major chunk of�5544.34 crore (86.55%) wasreceived by seven political par-ties while 25 regional partiesreceived �861.25 crore(13.45%).

According to the report,political parties have declaredtheir expenditure under theheads of publicity, travelexpenses, other/miscellaneousexpenses and lumpsumamounts paid to their contest-ing candidates. The expendi-ture on publicity is 49.94 per-cent of the overall expendituredeclared under various headswhile expensesincurredtowards candidates constituted17.67 percent of the totalex-penditure," it said.

The ADR report said the32 political parties analyzedspent the maximum on mediaadvertisement (�1166.15 croreor 77.98 percent) followed byexpenditure on publicity mate-rials (�222.1 crore or 14.85 per-cent) and public meetings

(�107.16 crore or7.17 per cent).Of the total expenditure of the32 political parties on publici-ty, �1223.71 cr or 81.83% per-cent was spent by the nationalparties and �271.70 cr or18.17% was spent by theregional parties.

On the travel expenses,the ADR has divided expendi-ture incurred by star cam-paigners and the party leaders.Political parties have spent atotal of �567.19 crore on'Travel'. Of this, national par-ties have spent �487.33 cr(85.92 %) and regional partiesspent Rs 79.86 cr (14.08%).

National and Regionalpolitical parties collectivelyspent 98.53% of their totaltravel expenses or �558.88crore on their star campaign-ers and the remaining 1.47% or�8.31 crore on the travel oftheir party leaders.

The 32 national andregional parties together spent�2591.39 crore during the 2019Lok Sabha polls, of which anexpenditure of �2004.99 crore(77.37%) was incurred by theseven national parties.

According to ADR, theelection expenditure statementsof 18 Regionalparties includingDMDK, JD(S), RJD, JKNPP,RLD etc. for the 2019 LokSabhaelections are unavailable on thewebsite of ECI till date.Theexpenditure statements ofIUML and SHS are not avail-able for theAndhra PradeshAssembly elections 2019.

"Regional Parties namelyMGP, MPC and MNS submit-ted their election expenditurestatements for the general elec-tions despite not having con-tested the elections - asdeclared by them.

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Intensifying the measures tocombat Coronavirus in

Maharashtra, Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Fridayordered closure of all shops,business establishments andprivate firms in MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR),Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad andNagpur till March 31 andreduced the employees’ atten-dance limit in governmentoffices to 25 per cent, even asthe total number of confirmedCovid-19 cases rose to 52.

Hours after the chief min-ister made an announcementabout the lockdown till March31, Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar said in Pune that allshops, business establishmentsand private firms in MMRand three other cities in thestate will remain closed not justtill March 31 but the closureorder would remain in force tillfurther orders.

Simultaneously, StateEducation Minister VashaGaikwad announced the can-cellation of examinations for

first to eighth standards inschools across the State andsaid the remaining examina-tions for the ninth and 11thstandards would be held afterApril 15. “However, the ongo-ing SSC examinations for theremaining subjects will be heldas scheduled. All teachersexcept those taking classes forthe 10th standard have beenasked to work from home,” theminister said.

With three more personstesting positive for Coronavirusin different parts of the state onThursday, the total number ofconfirmed Covid-19 rose to 52.Pune and the neighbouringPimpri-Chinchwad haveaccounted for a maximum of21 cases, the break-up of pos-itive Coronavirus cases else-where in the State is: Mumbai-11, Nagpur-4, Yavatmal-3, NaviMumbai-3, Kalyan-3, Panvel-1,Thane-1, Ulhasnagar,Ahmednagar-2, Aurangabad-1and Ratnagiri-1. Of the patientswho had tested positive forCovid-19, a 63-year-old dis-ease-infected had died at theKasurba Hospital on Tuesday.

Addressing the peopleacross the State live throughsocial media, the ChiefMinister said the order closingdown all shops, business estab-lishments and private firms inMMR and three other cities inthe state would come in forceat 12 midnight. “The sale ofessential goods, food grains,

drugs and supply of milk havebeen spared from the lock-down,” Uddhav said.

“In case there is confusionabout the closure announce-ment, the affected people maycontact the local district col-lector and divisional commis-sioner. I have a request tomake to the shopkeepers and

owners of the business estab-lishments who are closed downtheir units as per theGovernment orders pay minimum wages to the affect-ed employees,” the ChiefMinister said.

Uddhav said there were noimmediate plans to discontinueoperation of suburban trains and

buses in Mumbai. “For now, wehave no plans to close down sub-urban train and bus services.But, as part of our crowd reduc-ing initiative, rwe are bringingdown further the limit ofemployees attending the gov-ernment offices from the earli-er 50 per cent to 25 per cent”.

Meanwhile, interacting withmediapersons at Pune, DeputyChief Minister Ajit Pawarexhorted people not to con-tribute to crowds by invitingpeople for marriages andensure against crowds at funer-als. “During the period of clo-sure for shops, business estab-lishments and private firms, Irequest the owners to pay remu-neration to daily wage earners”.

“Since the next 15 days arevery crucial, I request the peo-ple to co-operate with the gov-ernment in implementing mea-sures to combat Coronavirus,”the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Pawar said the collectorsand divisional commissionershad been given powers to pur-chase whatever drugs neededfrom the market. “We have lift-ed all the restrictions on the pur-

chase of drugs by the district col-lectors and divisional commis-sioners. We do not need fundsfrom the Centre. We are capa-ble of handling the situation. Wewill ensure that there is nodearth for funds”.

Meanwhile, MumbaiMunicipal CommissionerPraveen Pardeshi announcedrestrictions on vehicular move-ment in the areas of Isolationcentres and quarantine centresdeclared by the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)like Kasturba Hospital, KEMHospital and Seven HillsHospital.

Through an amendedorder for “social distancing”issued under the rule 10 of theRegulations for Prevention andContainment of COVID-19framed under the EpidemicDiseases Act, 1897, the BMCCommissioner also announcedthe closure of schools, cinemahalls, swimming pools, gyms,malls/mill compound, SpaCentres, Clubs, Pubs, dis-cotheques, Sanjay GandhiNational Park, AmusementPark and banning of mass con-

gregations and functions.“All private, Corporates

and establishments to be com-pletely shut down, However,essential services like drinkingwater supply, sewerage ser-vices, banking services, RBI,telephone and internet ser-vices, rail and transportationservices, food, vegetables andgroceries, hospitals, medicalcentres, medical stores,Electricity, petroleum, Oil,energy, media, Port, IT servicesprovided for essential serviceshave been excluded from theshut down. Production/ man-ufacturing processes whichrequire continuity of processmay continue to continue at 50per cent staff strength,” theamended order stated.

Among other things,Pardeshi asked the police toissue advisories to not to gath-er in masses at sea beaches andpublic places and said thatspitting at public places,premises and road wouldattract a fine of Rs 1000. Hesaid that the sanitary staff andpolice would enforce the penal-ty on spitting strictly.

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Ahead of ‘Janta curfew’ onSunday, the entire Jammu

district locked down complete-ly on Friday to ‘effectively’ fightcoronavirus pandemic. Thoughno fresh case tested positive inthe last 24 hours in Jammu andKashmir, the Government agen-cies reviewed their preparednessto ensure success of the ‘Jantacurfew’ on Sunday.

In Srinagar, all out effortswere being made to sanitise thedensely populated areas andtracking down any suspectedcase of coronavirus who mayhave come in contact with thelone positive case.

In Jammu, all the localmarkets wore a deserted lookas shops remained closed.

The district administra-tion also suspended publictransport mini buses on dif-ferent routes across the districtto prevent movement of com-mon people. All the religiousplaces are also observing com-plete shut down.

Late in the evening, the gov-ernment ordered that theemployees shall attend theiroffices on alternate weeksexcepting those who are asso-ciated with Coronavirus controlefforts and essential services.

The concerned head of thedepartments were directed todraft a weekly roaster of duty forall employees till further orders.

In order to strictly enforcethe lock down, the DistrictAdministration, also sealedtwo business premises forviolating the Orders of DistrictDisaster ManagementAuthority (DDMA).

According to the MediaBulletin on novel coronavirus(COVID-19), at present 2465

persons have been kept underhome quarantine while as 44are in hospital quarantine.

Persons who are underhome surveillance stand at 416while as 405 persons havecompleted their 28-day sur-veillance period. The Bulletinadded 186 samples have beensent for testing of which 178tested as negative and only fourcases have tested positive, so farwhile as four reports are await-ed till March 20, 2020.

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Mamata Banerjee hasappealed to the Centre to

“immediately stop all the inter-national flights.” The BengalChief Minister who interact-edwith Prime MinisterNarendra Modi through video-conferencing later told themedia on Friday that she had“told the Prime Minister to stopall the international flights” toBengal.

“The coronavirus is com-ing from outside the country.Why should the people ofIndia suffer for the diseasethat is coming from outside?”the Chief Minister said addingMaharashtra and Telenganatoo had made similar requeststo the Central Government.

The Centre had onThursday announced a banon all international flights to

the country for a week begin-ning March 22.

Banerjee’s appeal camewithin hours of a second youthwas found to be infected bycoronavirus. The 22-year-oldwho had returned fromLondon on March 13 and hadbeen in home-isolation wasreported positive after he vis-ited the hospital with flu-likecondition on March 17, sourcessaid, adding all the 11 membersof the jointly family he lives inhave been quarantined in aGovernment facility.

A third person a plasticsurgeon who had visited Dubaihad also beenquarantined withsuspected corona infection.His pathological samples havebeen sent for tests.

Alleging that New Delhiwas not cooperative enoughregarding the StateGovernment’s requisitions for

corona preparedness the ChiefMinister said, “I reported himabout how our demands fornecessary kits have thus farbeen ignored.” On how thePrime Minister responded toher allegations she said “he saidthat he was taking note of it butdid not give any assurance… Isaid that all the equipment weare manufacturing here inBengal through MSMEs butsome other things like per-mission for setting up labsthat only the Centre can give

has to come from there.”Banerjee also said she had

placed demands for food grainsduring the coming months ofcrisis. The Chief Ministerannounced that theGovernment will provide 5kgs of ration free to the peopletill the month of September.“Either we will supply it home-to-home or we will ask theguardians to come and collectit from the ration shops whichhave been asked to remainopen at least five-and-a-halfdays a week.”

The Chief Minister alsosaid she had requested thePrime Minister to come out aplan for the unorganised sec-tor that is likely to suffer fromloss of jobs in case of biggereventualities in the comingweeks. She is also said to haverequested the prime ministerfor a plan for the unorganised

sector which is expected to beworst-hit due to a considerabledrop in economic activities aspart of containment efforts.

“I have requested the PMto come up with a plan for theunorganised sector, sufferingdue to COVID-19 pandemic,”she said, adding herGovernment was taking all theprecautionary steps to handlethe pandemic.

“We have a near-seven starfacility at Rajarhat New Townfor those who will have to bequarantined. This facility canaccommodate about a thou-sand people,” she said addingall the districts have been askedto create such isolation centres.

As on Friday she said about5.63 lakh people had beenscreened in the State. Out ofthem 57 people have been quar-antined and 18,700 people havebeen kept in home isolation.

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Asking people to follow the guide-lines of Uttar Pradesh and Central

Governments for preventing the spreadof coronavirus, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that people should can-cel all religious and social functions tillApril 2.

The Chief Minister also orderedthat the State-run hospitals provide onlyemergency services to avoid unneces-sary crowding.

“Non-essential tests and OPD con-sultations should be postponed tillMarch 31. This is being done to ensurethere is no unnecessary crowding inhospitals,” he said.

“It is mandatory to observe socialquarantine to prevent spread of coro-navirus. People should follow theguidelines issued by the Union and stategovernments in letter and spirit,” Yogisaid in a statement issued in Lucknow

on Friday.Yogi also appealed to all

religious leaders to spread awarenessabout coronavirus and how dangerousit was.

“Religious and social functionsshould be deferred till April 2 and incase of marriages, the number of invi-tees should not be more than 10.Efforts should be made to minimisecrowding at one venue. People shouldstay at their homes and avoid meetingpeople,” the chief minister said.

Yogi said that orders had beenissued to intensify checking at bus andrailway stations and in buses enteringUP from different states.

“Important cities like Lucknow, Noida and Kanpurshould be sanitised. Schools and col-leges should remain closed and teach-ers and non-teaching staff too should not come to school tillApril 2,” he said.

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An attempt by a tippler tomake the Kerala State

Beverages Corporation, theState-owned retail and whole-sale dealer of Indian MadeForeign Liquor, to home deliv-er the usual quota of spirit mis-fired on Friday as the KeralaHigh Court not only dismissedhis petition in this regard butimposed a fine of Rs 50,000 as

cost of the case on Jyothish, thepetitioner.

The demand of Jyothishwas to make the liquor availablethrough online platforms. Hiscontention was that in the back-drop of coronavirus COVID, ithas become risky to stand in thelong queue in front of the retailoutlets to purchase the regularquota of liquor. There are nodearth of customers queuing upin front of the BEVCO countersbecause the State is one of the

largest guzzlers of liquor in thecountry.

Jyothish pleaded before thecourt that the retails werecrowded during business hoursand it was unsafe to wait hoursin front of the “watering holes”for procuring alcohol for con-sumption. His suggestion wasthat the BEVCO could start dis-tributing the spirits through on-line service whereby the mate-rial would be home delivered.

But AK Jayasankaran

Nambiar, the judge who heardthe petition was neither amusednor humored by the contentionof the petitioner. “The citizen-ry ought to realize that therestrictions imposed by thisCourt on the filing of cases iswith a view to ensuring thattheir fundamental rights as cit-izens, for access to justice is,guaranteed to the extent possi-ble, even at the cost of exposingthe judges, lawyers, Clerks andstaff of this court to the risk of

viral infection. When measuressuch as these are adopted by theInstitution in public Interest ,the very least that is expectedfrom the litigating public is asensitivity to the interests oftheir fellow citizens in societywho like them have a funda-mental right to a safe place ofwork and a healthy environ-ment. One cannot help butlament at the selfishness of thepetitioner in the instant case ,and others like him in society

whose obsession with perceivedrights blinds them to the oblig-atory duty that they owe to thefellow citizens,” said the judgewhile dismissing the petition.

He also pointed out that‘the petitioner’s conduct in fil-ing a frivolous petition at a timelike this while making a mock-ery of the salutary concept ofaccess to justice which thisinstitution strives to guaranteealso ridicules the functioning ofthis noble institution. For the

said reckless, insensitive andinsolent action, the petitionercannot be let away lightly.’

The amount of Rs 50,000will be paid to the ChiefMinister’s Distress Relief Fund.

Old timers in the capital cityof Thiruvananthapuram recalledan incident that took place in1986 when late Prof M PManmathan, a Gandhian whodevoted his life to bring in totalprohibition in the State staged ademonstration in front of the

State secretariat demanding theclosure of all liquor shops. Arenowned film personality led arally of 100 tipplers demandingthe provision of ‘quality’ liquorthrough retail outlets!

Though Kerala is reelingunder the impact of CoronaVirus, the liquor outlets areoperating to capacity much tothe shock of the population.The Government has orderedthe closure of schools and col-leges but not the liquor outlets.

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An encounter with PradeepKumar Banerjee, the ace

footballer who breathed his laston Friday is like watching amovie being shown on widescreen. He was one of the fewquintessential football coachesthe country had seen. “As aplayer, he was the prince of theera and reigned supreme in themaidans. Speed, agile and ballcontrol were his forte,” remem-

bers T K Chathunni, formerIndian defender who had rep-resented Bombay’s Orkay Millsand Goa’s Vascoe Club duringhis playing days.

Chathunni said PK was aloving personality who lovedanything about football includ-ing the rival team members.“The Salgaonkar team coachedby me had beaten East Bengalin the Federation Cup finalsheld in Kolkata in the early 70s.PK Sir was the coach of EastBengal. Immediately after the

match, he was gracious enoughto come to us and congratulateeach and every member of theSalgaonkar team,” saidChathunni.

The last time PK Daa cameto Kerala was in 1985 as thecoach of Indian team thatplayed in the Nehru CupInternational football matchheld at Thiruvananthapuram.That was the first time footballlovers in Kerala saw AnaadiBarua, a surprise inclusion inthe team.

India was pitted againstUSSR in the opening match ofthe tournament. The Sovietswho were getting readied for the1986 world cup at Mexico hadsent a team that included play-ers like Igor Belanov, VasslyRats, Andrei Baal and RinatDassayev who ultimately madeit to the national team thatplayed in Mexico. It seems theSoviets never wanted to leaveany stones and unturned in theirmarch to the final. They literallybutchered the Indian team 5-0.

“This is all I have to offeras Indian stars,” said PK afterthe match . The likes ofMauricio Afonso, ParminderSingh, V P Sathyan, KrishanuDey and Babu Mani stoodbewildered as the Sovites mes-merized them with top quali-ty football. “We don’t haveplayers now. What you seehere is stars and they arenowhere near the likes of InderSingh or Subhash Bhowmick,”said PK after the match.

One could feel the pain in

his words because he was theplayer who made the Europeansunderstand that football isplayed in India too. “With thiskind of stars and administration,I don’t have any hope or dreams,”he said after India’s last match inthe tournament in which thehosts failed to score even a sin-gle goal. When K Bhaskaran,sports journalist wrote a book onIndian football as part of theWills Book of Excellence series,he chose PK as his adviser andconsultant.

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The Lok Sabha on Fridaypassed the Indian Institutes

of Information Technology(IIITs) Laws (Amendment)Bill, 2020 Bill which seeks toconfer the status of Institutionof National Importance (INI)on five more Indian Institutesof Information Technology(IIITs). It proposes to bring thefive institutions under the IIIT(Public-private Partnership)Act, 2017, similar to the other15 IIITs established under thescheme in Public-privatePartnership (PPP) mode.

The five IIITs which areproposed to be given the INI

status are located in Surat,Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartalaand Raichur. These five IIITsalong with 15 others which arealso build in PPP mode willnow be able to use the nomen-clature of Bachelor ofTechnology (BTech) or Masterof Technology (MTech) or PhDdegree. Replying to the debateon the Bill, Human ResourceDevelopment Minister RameshPokhiriyal ‘Nishank’ said thatsuch institutes have recorded100 per cent placement.

Clarifying the apprehen-sions raised by some membersof the House, he said theseinstitutes also follow the reser-vation policy announced by thegovernment. The minister alsosaid the quality of educationwas improving and the coun-try was moving ahead inresearch and development.

New Delhi: The CBI hasbooked four former seniorofficials of Mahanadi CoalfieldsLimited (MCL) and 25 com-panies, including Adani PowerLimited, Jindal Steel and PowerLimited, ACC and Vedanta, forallegedly causing a loss of Rs 97crore to the public sectorundertaking in the supply ofcoal from it.

The agency has bookedfour of the then officials in thefinance department of MCL —

chief manager KaberiMukherjee, senior managersAnil Kumar Bhowmik,Debajyoti Chakraborty anddeputy manager SripalliVeeraghanta, along with 25big companies, for the allegedconspiracy hatched between2013 and 2017, according tothe FIR.

The major companiesbooked by the CBI includeACC, Adani Power Limited,Adani Power Maharashtra

Unit-3, Adani PowerMaharashtra Unit-1, Vedanta,Sesa Sterlite Limited (nowVedanta), JK Paper Limited,Jindal Steel and Power Limited, IFFCO and EmamiBiotech Limited, according tothe FIR.

Other companies booked asaccused include ACC Ltd.,Haldia Energy Ltd., Hadia SteelsLtd., BILT Graphic ProductsLtd., JSL Ltd., Jindal Steel &Power Ltd and IFFCO. PNS

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The Ministry of Agriculturehas urged the States to

release their share of premiumunder crop insurance to ben-efit farmers, citing the examplesof Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan that have notreleased Rs 2,731 crore and Rs1,482 crore respectively.

Replying to a query duringthe Question Hour in Rajya

Sabha on Friday, Minister of Statefor Agriculture and FarmersWelfare Kailash Choudhary saidthe Centre was in touch withstates for early release of theirshare so that it can release thepremium to farmers. The pre-mium subsidy sharing patternbetween the Centre and Stateshas been 50:50.

“The states which have notgiven premium for crop insur-ance include Madhya Pradesh

which owes Rs 2,731 croreand Rajasthan which owes Rs1,482 crore,” Choudhary said.

The other states with pend-ing premiums includeMahrarashtra, Telangana,Karnataka and West Bengal.He said the Centre was readyto release the premium tofarmers the same day.

“We are in constant touchso that the farmers get theirclaim,” he said.

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The chairman, Animal WelfareBoard of India (AWBI), Dr OPChaudhary, has acted commend-ably in issuing a circular, datedMarch 11, 2020, to the Chief

Secretaries of all States and Union Territoriesabout pet animals at a time of Coronavirus.Stating that it was being brought to the board’snotice that animal owners were “leaving theiranimals to stray without proper food, wateror shelter” due to the spread of COVID-19,the circular added, “In this regard, the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) has clarified thatdogs and cats are not involved in spreadinginfection in the current episode ofCoronavirus infection.” Further, the circularreminded that cruelty to animals was anoffence under Sections 3 and 11(1) of thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960and the rules thereunder, as well as violativeof the Supreme Court’s directives in thisregard.

The circular stated that AWBI hadalready advised the Governments of States andUnion Territories to see that stray animalswere looked after by local bodies, which wereresponsible for the matter. It requested ChiefSecretaries to issue circulars to all concernedto create awareness among the public aboutnot leaving the animals they were taking careof to stray or not inflicting unnecessary painand suffering on animals because of the spreadof COVID-19 and directing the law enforce-ment authorities to ensure the same. A copyof the circulars, it ended by saying, might beforwarded to the board.

Here is a kind of pro-active action on thepart of authorities one does not ordinarily see.Irrespective of the results that follow in itsimmediate aftermath, it will add to the pres-sure, building up over time, on the authori-ties and the public, to treat animals humane-ly and according to law. It is going to be a longhaul. Cruelty to animals is part of a widerproneness to hatred and cruelty that is as inte-gral a component of the human psyche as loveand compassion. Humans enjoy being cruel,whether to other humans or animals. As ErichFromm points out in his seminal work, TheAnatomy of Human Destructiveness, animals“do not enjoy inflicting pain and suffering onother animals, nor to ‘they kill for nothing.’Sometimes an animal seems to display sadis-tic behaviour — for instance, a cat playing witha mouse; but it is an anthropomorphic inter-pretation to assume that the cat enjoys the suf-fering of the mouse; any fast-moving objectcan serve as a plaything whether it is a mouseor a ball of wool.”

“Man,” Fromm points out, “is the onlymammal who is a large-scale killer and asadist.” He holds that indulgence in destruc-tion and cruelty can always cause a man tofeel “intense satisfaction; masses of men cansuddenly be seized by lust for blood.Individuals and groups may have a charac-ter structure that makes them eagerly wait for— or create — situations that permit expres-sions of destructiveness.”

Animals have been a specialtarget of human savagery becausethe dominant global discoursearising in the background of theEuropean Renaissance and the18th century Enlightenment haveexcluded them from the moraluniverse of the humans. The twoprincipal grounds for doing so isthat they, unlike people, lackedrationality and were created toserve humans. Neither groundsurvives scrutiny. Irrationality isas much a part of the human psy-che as rationality. Otherwise somany people would not havecheered Hitler and Mussolini orclung to countless superstitiousbeliefs. Elizabeth Costello, themain protagonist in JM Coetzee’sThe Lives of Animals, puts thingsin perspective when she says,“Both reason and seven decadesof life experience tell me that rea-son is neither the being of theuniverse nor the being of god. Onthe contrary, reason looks to mesuspiciously like the being ofhuman thought; worse than that,like the being of one tendency ofhuman thought. Reason is thebeing of a certain spectrum inhuman thinking.”

Reason, the cutting edge ofrationality, is an instrument foranalysing and assessing informa-tion and integrating it into theconsciousness. Equally, it is aninstrument for solving problemsand coping with the worldthrough the establishment of

causal relationships based onthought process like induction,the drawing of conclusions fromempirical observation anddeduction, the drawing of con-clusions from premises derivedthrough induction. The conclu-sions it has yielded have, how-ever, often proved wrong, espe-cially when the process of rea-soning has been based on incor-rect premises. As important,reason is value neutral. It canequally serve moral andimmoral causes.

Second, reason has not beenthe only instrument for copingwith and modifying the world.Sometimes instinct has workedwhere reason has failed orinstinctive responses have trig-gered rational speculationwidening the frontiers of knowl-edge and technology and chang-ing the world materially, philo-sophically and morally. Animalshave far sharper instincts — orthe sixth sense if you will — thanhuman beings. More, they havefar stronger and sharper facul-ties like that of hearing andsmell, can often see in the darkand have far stronger survivalcapacities than men and women.Coetzee further makes ElizabethCostello say, “scientific experi-mentation that leads you toconclude that animals are imbe-ciles is profoundly anthropocen-tric. It values your ability to findyour way out of a sterile maze,

ignoring the fact that if theresearcher who designed themaze were to be parachuted intothe jungles of Borneo, he or shewould be dead of starvation ina week. If I as a human beingwere told that the standards bywhich animals are measured arehuman standards, I would beinsulted. It is experiments them-selves that are imbecile.”

Finally, animals may not berational in the manner humansare but they can reach conclu-sions by weighing options andmap courses of action to be fol-lowed. They feel emotions suchas grief and joy exactly the sameway that humans do. They are asentitled to free and joyous livesas humans. Most of them do notdo so because they have eitherbeen enslaved and mercilesslyexploited or savagely hunted assport. Things have improved.Many countries have legislatedagainst cruelty to animals,banned or limited animal exper-imentation and banned orrestricted hunting. It is, howev-er, still a long way to a world inwhich humans and animals aretreated legally and morally at par.Time was when people thoughtthat human slavery could not beabolished. It was. There will alsobe a time when animal slaverywill cease to exist.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

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Sir — It was indeed surprising andshocking that �1.76 was levied astransaction charges on recharge of�200 on the Delhi Metro card.Such incidents discourage digitalpayments. If the Governmentreally wants to promote digital sys-tems, transaction charges on pay-ment through credit cards shouldbe reduced and must be paid bythe Centre, rather than the traders.Presently, people avoid makingpayments through credit cardsbecause traders demand an addi-tional transaction charge of twoper cent.

Banks can discontinueexchangeable credit points for useof credit cards. They will, in turn,benefit from the manifold rise intransactions through credit cards.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)should fix the maximum interestrate on delayed payments for cred-it cards. Malpractices of imposingpenalties should also be regulated.The system of over-limit penaltyshould be abolished with bankshaving the liberty to decline pay-ment beyond the permissible limitto the customer.

SC AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — The star-crossed relationsbetween the telecom companiesand the revenue department ofthe Government are unlikely tochange. In the retrospective taxissue, the Supreme Court was per-suaded by the view that the busi-ness connection rule did not

apply to capital transactions. Subsequently, the apex court

held a similar view over revenueevaluation for taxation as that wasthe legal position arising out ofthe Government’s own ham-handed construct. The court’s lat-est observations — on theGovernment’s fresh submissionsover adjusted gross revenue —

have been also been severe.The malady is quite basic —

the inability to foresee the explo-sive impact of modern technolo-gy, both by service providers andthe government. In 2004, the tele-com companies had gross rev-enues pegged at �4,855 croreand by 2015, it had jumped to�2.37 trillion. The Government,

on its part, used law enactment tomake up for its lack of foresight.Caught in a bind, theGovernment must be ruing theineptness of its blindsided babus.

R NarayananMumbai

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Sir — Amid growing fear andparanoia in society due to thespread of Coronavirus, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s messageto the nation, asking the citizensto observe janta curfew thisSunday, is welcome. In fact, hisassurance was much-needed tocalm anxious nerves. In suchtimes of crisis, it is not just the Statemachinery but people, too, whomust show the resolve and worktogether for a larger cause. ThePrime Minister’s call for self-imposed curfew is meant to pre-pare us for tougher times and isdoable. We need to understandthat in such desperate times, weneed to be ready for some sacri-fices and pain to emerge stronger.

Bal GovindNoida

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American statesman and prominent attorneyDaniel Webster once said, “Justice is the great-est interest of man on Earth. It is the ligament

which holds civilised beings and a civilised societytogether.” We, the people of India, were gifted withone of the most significant Constitutions ever writ-ten, on January 26, 1950 and are fortunate to haveour freedoms and rights acknowledged and definedin it. The framers of the Constitution recognised thatpeople have inherent fundamental rights that areinalienable and constitutionally-enforceable throughcourts, subject to reasonable restrictions. They areuniversally recognised and include the right to equal-ity, freedom of expression, freedom of conscienceand religion and the right to approach courts toenforce them. These rights are contained in Part IIIof the Constitution. Part IV deals with the DirectivePrinciples of State Policy that act as instruments ofinstruction for the implementation of fundamen-tal rights in Part III.

Unlike the Indian Constitution, the AmericanConstitution written in 1787 was probably flawedat first. It did not have a written provision or a “Billof Rights” which guaranteed protection of funda-mental personal freedoms and rights of its citizens.Seeing the need for it Thomas Jefferson argued thatthe people were entitled to it against everyGovernment on the planet and “no just Governmentshould refuse a Bill of Rights to its people.” After that,in 1791, the “Bill of Rights” was introduced in theUS Constitution by the first ten amendments andit prohibited the Congress from making any lawwhich impedes the free exercise of religion, speech,right to peaceably assemble and the right to a fairtrial and several other personal rights of individu-als.

According to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor inthe “Bill of Rights”, the framers of the AmericanConstitution built a wall around certain fundamen-tal individual freedoms, forever limiting the major-ity’s ability to intrude upon them. Fundamental rightsare recognised in every civilised nation and arefounded on the rule of law which no law can depriveits citizen of, in a civilised and secular society.

Justice Patanjali Sastri in the AK Gopalan vsState of Madras case in 1950 noted that Part III formsa new feature of the Constitution and it is the Indian“Bill of Rights.” It is modelled on the first ten amend-ments of the American Constitution which declarethe fundamental rights of US citizens.

The rule of law and secularism are at the heartof the Indian Constitution and Indian laws. The ruleof law assures us of equality before it and equal treat-ment of laws, liberty, dignity, personal freedom andthe right to life. The Preamble to our Constitutionand Articles 25 and 26 dealing with freedom of reli-gion guarantee equality to all individuals and groupsirrespective of their beliefs. They also emphasise thatthere is no religion of the State itself. The conceptof secularism is one facet of the right to equalitywoven as the central golden thread in the fabricdepicting the pattern of the scheme of theConstitution as noted in the M Ismail Faruqui vsthe Union of India case.

There may be times when the Governmentmust be reminded about the rule of law and secu-larism as reflected in our Constitution. Recently, astatue of Lord Jesus and 14 crosses portraying eventsin the Passion of Christ, from his condemnation byPontius Pilate to his entombment, were removedfrom a cemetery in Karnataka near Bengaluru by

the district administration. It was allegedthat the church was encroaching on pub-lic land and involved in forcible conver-sions. The church says that the propertywas being used on the basis of a validGovernment sanction for several years.The church also says that the statue andthe crosses were removed at the behest ofmajoritarian groups amid false accusationsof forcible conversions.

The church requested the Stateadministration to allow them to contin-ue with their Lenten observances whichthey have been doing for the last severalyears at the cemetery. Lent is a 40-day peri-od before the crucifixion and burial ofLord Jesus on Good Friday and his res-urrection from the dead on Easter Sunday,that is observed by Christians by fastingand praying. The belief in the crucifixionand resurrection of Lord Jesus is the cen-tral belief of Christianity. The church saysthat the removal of the statue of Christ andthe 14 crosses is illegal as the land wassanctioned for a Christian graveyard andthey have the documents to prove it. Theysay that the State administration showedundue haste to remove the statue andcrosses and could have at least waited tillafter Easter and not obstruct the religiousobservances that have been going on forseveral years.

There are other incidents whenChristians have wrongly been accused offorcible conversions. In 2017, eightChristians were intercepted and arrestedon charges of forcible conversion underthe Madhya Pradesh Freedom of ReligionAct and kidnapping under the IndianPenal Code. They were travelling for aBible camp along with 60 children fromMadhya Pradesh to Nagpur. After a longand arduous trial, a court in MadhyaPradesh acquitted the eight Christians in

February, as they were proved innocent ofall charges. Increasingly, churches are tar-getted by mobs and their Sunday servicesdisrupted. Disturbingly, more often thannot, no action is taken against the attack-ers. However, the pastors and church lead-ers are assaulted and are arrested andaccused of forcible conversion. In 2015 inJhajjar, Haryana, Sunday services in onechurch were stopped by the districtadministration on account of a processionand puja which happened to be takingplace near it. The district administrationdid not respond to the pleas of thechurch to allow the members to worship.

However, the administration hastilywithdrew its illegal order as soon as thechurch approached the Punjab andHaryana High Court. The court directedthe State to provide adequate security asand when required, especially when thechurch services were in progress. Thechurch was allowed to function as per thefundamental rights guaranteed by theConstitution and the established princi-ples of the rule of law.

States such as Madhya Pradesh,Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat andHimachal Pradesh have Freedom ofReligion Acts which are also referred toas anti-conversion laws. These laws right-ly prohibit religious conversions by force,fraud and inducement. Some of these Statelaws have been in existence for more than50 years in Madhya Pradesh and Odishaand there have been many false convic-tions under these laws. It appears that suchlaws only serve the purpose of intimidat-ing and harassing Christian pastors andnot others who indulge in conversions andforced re-conversions. Such Acts impedeon the rights of Christians only and arebeing used to threaten religious leadersand congregations even in States where no

such laws exist. Accusing church leadersand pastors of forceful conversion hasbecome a convenient method for the per-petrators of crimes against Christians, toassault and silence them, just like thedreaded Blasphemy law in Pakistan is usedagainst minorities. The anti-conversionlaws only promote communal hatred anddo not subserve any Constitutional pur-pose and are a blot on our democracy. Allcitizens of India are equally entitled to free-dom of conscience and the right to freelyprofess, practice and propagate religion ascontained in Article 25 of the Constitution.

The Government must be remindedof its duty, as reflected in the observationsof the Supreme Court in the State ofKarnataka vs Praveen Bhai Togadia casewhich said that secularism is not to be con-fused with the communal or religious con-cept of an individual or a group of per-sons. It means that the State should haveno religion of its own and no one couldproclaim to make the State have one suchor endeavour to create a theocratic State.Each person, whatever be his religion,must get an assurance from the State thathe has the protection of law to freely pro-fess, practice and propagate his religionand freedom of conscience.

The anti-conversion laws are imped-ing the rights of the Christian minorityand must be repealed. The abrupt removalof the statue of Lord Jesus in Karnatakaand the promptitude with which theadministration acts to appease groups whoaccuse pastors of forcible conversion area few real incidents of a travesty of justiceand the misapplication of laws. The anti-conversion laws are an antithesis to therule of law and must be struck down fromthe statute books.

(The writer is Advocate Partner, DuaAssociates)

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With March 22 being celebrat-ed as World Water Day eachyear, it is pertinent to take

stock of India’s efforts to clean the mostrevered river of the country, the Ganga.Namami Gange the flagship pro-gramme which aims to clean Ganga ona mission mode, gets considerableattention from the Central Governmentin terms of funds and priority. NamamiGange lays much emphasis on pollu-tion abatement through the improve-ment of sewage infrastructure.However, despite the concerted effortsbeing made towards cleaning the river,the results have not been very promis-

ing. The data from the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) indicate thatthere was no change in the water qual-ity of the river between 2014-2018 interms of bacteriological parameters. TheCPCB has also been monitoring theorganic load in the priority drains enter-ing the river. In 2018, the pre-monsoondata showed that the drains dischargedwater of biochemical oxygen demand(BOD) varying from 2.48 tonnes perday (TPD) to as high as 241.17 TPD.Further, the CPCB has also installedreal-time water quality monitoring ofthe Ganga near the ghats and the drainsentering the river, which highlights theareas with BOD higher than threemg/L. Further, the data from CPCBindicates that most of the river waterfrom the stretch between Uttar Pradeshto West Bengal is unfit for drinking andat some places for bathing as well.

Another major cause of concern isthe non-point source of pollution. TheGovernment’s effort, in this case, hasonly been restricted to provide toiletsin the villages at the bank of the riverbut there has been no strategy for othernon-point sources of pollution such as

farm and cattle waste runoff. Regulatoryauthorities do not monitor these pol-lution sources and the focus is only onmonitoring sewage-related contami-nants.

There clearly exists a gap in theeffective implementation of this missionmode programme. The main objectiveof this flagship programme was to stopdirect dumping of waste into the riverby having effluent treatment plants andsewage infrastructure in all majorriverine cities. Under this objective, thetarget was to create sewage treatmentcapacity for 3,700 million litres per day(MLD). However, by February 2019, theGovernment could only create a capac-ity of 480 MLD.

Some of the reasons for ineffectiveimplementation can be sourced fromthe report of the Comptroller andAuditor General in 2017, which high-lighted unused funds, lack of staff andthe absence of long-term planning.Because of this mismanagement alarge amount of solid and liquid wastestill finds its way into the riverunchecked. The extended deadline of2020 has promised that most of the

drains would stop discharging filth intothe river but this seems difficult toachieve unless the focus changes fromcentralised solutions to a decentralisedones.

One of the main interventions bythe Government was setting up efflu-ent/sewage treatment plants at a citylevel i.e. the centralised systems. Thiswas because a greater population couldbe served and also to maximise theenvironmental and social gains. Suchsystems have been able to improve thequality of the river to some extent andalso reduce further deterioration. Butat many places, these treatment plantswere designed according to the futureneeds and hence involved huge costs,while running under capacity. TheGovernment’s plan to clean the river onmission mode might not lead to thedesired results unless there is a shifttowards the decentralised systemswhich is further strengthened throughactive stakeholders’ participation. Thesesystems should be supported by the bye-laws of city management rules. It helpsto treat the wastewater generated insmall localities. The treated waste-

water could be reused in replenishingthe local water bodies. Further, such sys-tems have several advantages such aslower costs, the potential to graduallyincrease the capacity, environmentalbenefits and also increased opportuni-ties for reuse of the effluents.

Decentralised systems that can beundertaken for wastewater manage-ment include septic tanks, waste stabil-isation ponds, constructed wetlands,membrane bioreactors (MBR) andland treatment. A constructed wetlandin Pompia, Greece is one examplewhere it was used for treating the waste-water generated by the local commu-nity. Due to the wetland, the treatedeffluent was equivalent in terms of qual-ity to the tertiary treated municipalwastewater. There were high removalrates for Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS),Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), phos-phorus, Total Coliform (TC) and FecalColiform (FC). Hence, it has a poten-tial to be reused in several areas, espe-cially irrigation. Given that the worldis facing the exacerbating effects of cli-mate change, the availability of treated

water for non-potable purposes canreduce its deleterious impact on dwin-dling water resources. Decentralisedsystems in such scenarios can bedependable and cost-effective solutionsand the treated effluent can either bereused in some application or forreplenishing the drains/channels whichfeed into the rivers.

India has also been able to build thetechnologies of constructed (floating)wetlands such as the PhytoridWastewater Treatment, which has beendesigned especially to treat industrial,municipal and agricultural wastewater.Siddheshwar Lake in Pachpakhadi,Dawala Lake in Ovala as well asDativali Lake in Diva are a few exam-ples in Thane, where this decentralisedsystem has been used and was success-ful in reducing BOD and COD in thewastewater.

Such systems can be replicated atmost of the places, especially the 100riverine cities at the bank of the riverGanga. These systems can help India insolving two major problems of the sec-tor — wastewater pollution and adeclining availability of the resource by

treating the wastewater and putting itto use for irrigation, landscaping and soon, which will reduce the burden onfreshwater resources. It is also a way ofadapting to the mounting stress of cli-mate change.

The emphasis should be on break-ing down the puzzle of river cleaninginto smaller problems and the provisionof sewerage infrastructure cannot be aone-size-fits-all solution. Each smallerproblem should have a customised solu-tion addressing it locally. Local bodiesplay a crucial role in this and theyshould be empowered to participate inthe process of decision-making, imple-mentation and facilitation to reuse treat-ed wastewater.

There is a need to undertake thecleaning of individual watersheds of thebasin on a decentralised basis, provid-ing local solutions to local problems/ori-gins of pollution. Tapping pollution atthe local level will not only help in curb-ing it at the source but will also makethe system sustainable.

(Grover is Fellow and Seth isResearch Associate, Water Resources,TERI)

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Putting in place a tighterframework to curb high

market volatility, Sebi on Fridayannounced revising marketwide position limit for stocks inthe derivatives segment, flexingdynamic price bands and othermeasures for one month start-ing from March 23.

The slew of measurescomes amidst sharp move-ment in stocks and continuingvolatility in the wake of thecoronavirus pandemic that hasalso adversely impacted eco-nomic activities.

The measures would beeffective from March 23 andwould be in place for onemonth.

Among other steps, revisedpositions limits would beapplicable in equity indexderivatives (F&O) and therewould be flexing in dynamicprice bands in the F&O(Futures & Options) segmentonly after a cooling period of15 minutes after fulfilling cer-tain criteria, Sebi said in a state-ment. Taking note of the con-tinued abnormally high volatil-ity in the market, Sebi said itdiscussed with stock exchanges,clearing corporations anddepositories appropriate mea-sures that may be taken in theexisting circumstances.

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Global stock markets pushedhigher Friday at the end of

another volatile week, as wearyinvestors welcomed a world-wide fightback against thecoronavirus fallout by govern-ments and central banks.

In the eurozone, marketsjumped after the EuropeanCentral Bank launched a vaststimulus this week, withFrankfurt, Paris, Milan andMadrid scoring gains ofbetween 2 and 4 per cent.

London's stock marketwon about 2 per cent one dayafter the Bank of Englandslashed interest rates to arecord-low 0.1 per cent andahead of new UK state stimu-lus plans later Friday.

The dollar eased some-what after a lengthy rallyfuelled by traders cashing outof their investments, while theembattled oil market extendedThursday's gains.

US stocks rose at the open-ing bell, with the Dow adding0.5 per cent in the first coupleminutes of trading, as USauthorities move forward withstimulus plans.

"The stock markets' upsideis a result of a number of bigbazookas fired off by centralbanks," Scope Markets analyst

James Hughes told AFP, beforesounding a note of grim cau-tion.

"The markets hate uncer-tainty — and we could not bein a more uncertain time," headded in reference to theCOVID-19 pandemic that haskilled more than 10,000 peoplearound the world.

"So overall I feel marketsmay recover from here in theshort term, but we mustremember it has been a weekwhere this crisis escalated in animmeasurable and unprece-dented way. Who knows whatnext week has in store."

Coronavirus threatens toengulf the whole of Europeafter it emerged Thursday thateurozone member Italy hasovertaken China's death total -- and is now braced for anextended lockdown.

The ECB this weekembarked upon a massive 750-billion-euro (USD 820-billion)stimulus package designed tohelp virus-wracked economies,by buying extra governmentand corporate bonds.

On Thursday, US SenateMajority Leader MitchMcConnell presented a USD 1trillion emergency relief pack-age to combat the turmoil,with USD 1,200 cash handoutsfor individuals.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday said

an economic package for thecoronavirus-hit sectors will beannounced "as soon as possi-ble".

The Minister, however, didnot give any timeline by whenthe package will be unveiled.

Sitharaman was speakingto reporters after meeting min-isters and officials of civil avi-ation, animal husbandry,tourism and MSME ministriesto take stock of the situationfollowing the Covid-19 out-break.

"I had a meeting withtourism, MSME, civil aviation,animal husbandry sectors.These ministries presented

assessment of their sector afterconsultation with their stake-holders.

"We had a detailed discus-sion in the presence of theFinance Secretary andEconomic Affairs Secretary.We are compiling their sug-gestions," she said after thefour-hour meeting here.

The Ministry will hold aninternal meeting on Saturday tofirm up the action plan to dealwith the crisis, she added.

When asked by when thepackage will be announced, shesaid "it will be difficult to givetimeline but it will be done assoon as possible."

The finance minister alsosaid the task force announcedby Prime Minister NarendraModi is yet to be constituted.

On Thursday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inhis address to the nation hadsaid the government is settingup a 'Covid-19 EconomicResponse Task Force' to decideon relief package for sectors hitby the coronavirus outbreak.

"Task force is not yet con-stituted but keeping in mindthe sense of urgency, the min-istry was holding this meeting.Of course when the task forceis constituted it will also get thebenefit of these meetings.Other ministries are also send-ing us their suggestions," shesaid.

Asked about relief mea-sures for the financial sector,Sitharaman said, "SEBI hascome up with a list of regula-tions which will also sort of

keep the markets a bit stable.But I can't say what I am doingfor the markets. At themoment, we are at a criticalstage of collecting everybody'sinputs and also the ministry isworking in detail about all theinputs which have come."

Speaking after the meeting,Tourism Minister PrahladSingh Patel said the Ministry has been assessing thesituation.

"We all know that thetourism sector has beenimpacted. The finance minis-ter is already concerned aboutthe impact of coronavirus on allthe sectors. We will properlyassess the losses to the sectorand then decide if any packagehas to be granted for the indus-try," he said.

Mumbai: The rupee gave up itsday's gains to settle 8 paiselower at a fresh life-time low of75.20 against the US dollar onFriday as forex market contin-ued to grapple with economicuncertainties.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the domesticcurrency opened higher at 74.82and gained more strength as theday progressed. It went on to hita high of 74.72 before succumb-ing to weakening sentiments.

"The progression of fast-spreading coronavirus has cre-ated havoc ... This uncertaintyand hysteria have grappled theforex market, depreciating allemerging market currenciesand taking rupee to record lowof 75.30 zone," Rahul Gupta,Head of Research — Currency,Emkay Global FinancialServices, said. PTI

New Delhi: The Governmentis mulling measures like allow-ing late repayment of loans bythe micro, small and mediumenterprises to support the sec-tor amid the coronavirus out-break, sources said on Friday.

"We have discussed variousthings including fiscal sup-port... Some kind of defer-ment to ease the whole thing.The issues related to GST werealso discussed," said an officialafter meeting Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman here.

Senior officials from theunion MSME Ministry metthe Finance Minister here andsuggested various measures tohelp the country's micro, smalland medium enterprises sector.

The industry is facingmajor disruptions in the sup-ply chain owing to the coron-avirus outbreak amid weaknessin consumption demand. PTI

Mumbai: Yes Bank founderRana Kapoor, Arrested in amoney laundering case, is "eas-ily susceptible" to getting infect-ed by the coronavirus in prison,his lawyer told a court here onFriday. Kapoor, arrested by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)under the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) earli-er this month, was remandedin judicial custody till April 2as the investigation agency didnot seek his further remand.

The CBI, meanwhile,obtained a production warrantagainst him in another case.

As his earlier remandended, the ED produced the 62-year-old Kapoor, former MDand CEO of the beleaguered YesBank, before the court here.When the judge asked if he hadany complaints, Kapoor said hehas been suffering from asthmafor the last six-seven years, haslow immunity, and he was inacute depression.

Advocate Abbad Ponda,his lawyer, said a person withlow immunity is "easily sus-ceptible" to catching coron-avirus.

"The virus is spreadingvery fast....It is a very precari-ous situation.

If he goes there (to the jail)he might catch somethingwhich is very very serious," thelawyer said, requesting thatKapoor should be kept in alarger cell. PTI

New Delhi: With malls, shops,commercial establishments andretail stores being shut amidgrowing new coronavirus scarein India, leading etailers likeAmazon and Flipkart haveannounced drastic measures tokeep the orders moving albeitslowly as panic buying continues.

According to Amazon, asCOVID-19 has spread, it hasseen an increase in peopleshopping online.

"In the short term, this ishaving an impact on how weserve our customers. In par-ticular, you will notice that weare currently out of stock onsome popular brands anditems, especially in householdstaples categories," the compa-ny said in a recent blog post.

"You will also notice thatsome of our delivery promisesare longer than usual. We areworking around the clock withour selling partners ," it added.

IANS

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The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) will inject liquidity of

�30,000 crore through openmarket operations next week tomaintain financial stability inthe system in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak.

The RBI has decided toconduct purchase ofGovernment securities underopen market operations(OMOs) for an aggregateamount of �30,000 crore in twotranches of �15,000 crore eachin March, the central banksaid in a statement. The auc-tions would be conducted onMarch 24 and March 30, it said.

It said, "With the COVID-19 related dislocations, stress incertain financial market seg-ments is still severe and finan-cial conditions remain tight. TheRBI's endeavour is to ensure thatall markets segments functionnormally with adequate liquid-ity and turnover."

The central bank infused�10,000 crore through openmarket operations on Friday.

It will purchase securitieswith a coupon rate of 6.84 percent (maturity December 19,

2022); 7.72 per cent (May 25,2025); 8.33 per cent (July 9,2026) and 7.26 per cent (January14, 2029). The RBI said there isno notified amount against anyof these securities within theaggregate ceiling of �15,000crore set for the operation.

The Reserve Bank reservesthe right to decide on thequantum of purchase of indi-vidual securities, accept offersfor less than or higher than theaggregate amount of �15,000crore (including due to round-ing off) and also to accept orreject any or all the offerseither wholly or partially with-out assigning any reason.

Earlier on Monday, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Das saidthe regulator has "enough poli-cy tools and stands ready to takeany measures" needed to help theeconomy tide over the impact ofthe coronavirus pandemic.

In two liquidity-enhancingmeasures, Das announcedanother round of $2 billion dol-lar-rupee swap on March 23, andin another measure, he said theRBI will continue to conduct thelong-term repo operations(LTROs) of up to �1 lakh croreas and when the market needs it.

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New Delhi: IndiGo said onFriday that it will be operating60 per cent of its domesticflights on Sunday when 'Jantacurfew' would be in force.

Moreover, as the airline hasseen reduction in demand dueto the pandemic, it will be oper-ating 25 per cent less domesticflights for now. On Thursday,Prime Minister Narendra Modihad urged citizens to observeJanta curfew by not going out oftheir homes from 7 am to 9 amon Sunday amid novel coron-avirus pandemic.

"On Sunday 22nd March,in line with the Janta curfewannounced by the PrimeMinister on 19th March, theairline will be operating approx-imately 60 per cent of its nor-mal domestic schedule, in orderto accommodate those withurgent travel requirements onthat day," the airline said. PTI

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Snapping its four-day losingstreak, equity benchmark

Sensex rallied over 1,627 pointson Friday in line with globalmarkets as governments acrossthe world took drastic mea-sures to combat the economicblowback of Covid-19.

Domestic sentiment turnedpositive on hopes of a stimuluspackage after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced afinancial task force to supportsectors battered by the pan-demic, experts said.

After starting on a volatilenote and swinging over 2,485points, the BSE barometerended 1,627.73 points or 5.75per cent higher at 29,915.96. Ithit a high of 30,418.20 and alow of 27,932.67.

Similarly, the NSE Niftyzoomed 482 points, or 5.83 percent, to close at 8,745.45.

During the week, Sensexplummeted 4,187.52 points or12.27 per cent, while Niftysank 1,209.75 points or 12.15per cent.

ONGC was the top gainerin the Sensex pack on Friday,rallying 18.58 per cent, fol-lowed by UltraTech Cement(13.01 per cent), HUL (11.75per cent), RIL (11.24 per cent),TCS (9.90 per cent), Tata Steel(9.60 per cent) and Asian Paints

(8.91 per cent).Only HDFC Bank and

IndusInd Bank settled in thered, shedding up to 1.39 percent.

Modi on Thursdayannounced setting up of atask force under FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanto take necessary actions “inthe near future” after analysingthe coronavirus pandemic sit-uation.

Experts were of the viewthat the Covid-19 task forcemay come out with concreteproposals very soon.

The huge oil bounty fromthe crude crash can be used forthis, said VK Vijayakumar,chief investment strategist atGeojit Financial Services,adding that the PM’s appeal isa curtain raiser for the concreteactions to follow soon.

Covid-19 cases in Indiarose to 195 on Friday after 22fresh cases were reported fromvarious parts of the country,according to the HealthMinistry.

“Tracking positive senti-ments in the global markets,Indian indices closed up by

around 6 per cent. It was insync with Asian and Europeanmarkets and was more of arelief rally driven by technicalsrather than any fundamentalchange in outlook.

“Hopes of further stimulusfrom Central banks across theworld to contain the econom-ic damage boosted global mar-kets. The broader marketindices were also up by around4 per cent.” said Vinod Nair,head of research at GeojitFinancial Services.

All sectoral indices endedwith gains, with BSE energy, oiland gas, IT, FMCG, teck, met-als and utilities rallying up to9.96 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices surged up to4.18 per cent.

World over, market senti-ments improved as govern-ments stepped up measures tocushion the financial blow ofthe pandemic.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Seoul closed up to 7 percent higher.

Stock exchanges in Europetoo rallied up to 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupeeappreciated 6 paise to 74.72against US dollar intra-day.

Global oil benchmark,Brent crude futures rose over8.18 per cent to USD 30.80per barrel.

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Fitch Ratings on Friday cutIndia growth forecast to

5.1% for FY 2020-21, sayingsupply chain disruptions inthe wake of coronavirus out-break are likely to hit invest-ment and exports.

It also said that with glob-al GDP falling, the world wasin “recession territory”.

Fitch had in December2019 projected India to grow at5.6% in 2020-21 and 6.5% inthe following year.

In its Global EconomicOutlook 2020, Fitch said thenumber of people affected bycoronavirus in India wouldkeep rising in the comingweeks but that the outbreakwould remain contained.However, there are downsiderisks to this scenario.

“Supply-chain disruptionsare expected to hit businessinvestment and exports... Wesee GDP growth to remainbroadly steady at 5.1% in thefiscal year 2020-2021 followinggrowth of 5.0% in 2019-2020,”Fitch said. For 2021-22, Fitchprojected India’s growth to be6.4%.

Stating that the coron-avirus crisis is “crushing” glob-al GDP growth, Fitch halvedits baseline global growth fore-cast for 2020 — to just 1.3%from 2.5% projected inDecember 2019.

“The level of world GDP isfalling. For all intents and pur-poses we are in global recessionterritory,” said Brian Coulton,chief economist at FitchRatings.

Fitch said the outbreak ofthe virus was hitting sentiment,while local governments hadrolled out measures to containthe spread of the virus, such asclosing schools, cinemas andtheatres.

“While India’s linkageswith China (e.g. trade andtourism) are modest, manu-facturers in India are heavilyreliant on key Chinese inter-mediate inputs, especially ofelectronics and machinery andequipment,” it said.

It also projected the Indianrupee to be at 74 to the US dol-lar by the end of December 2020.The rupee is currently tradingaround 74.78 to a dollar.

WHO has declared coron-avirus pandemic. Over twolakh people have been infect-ed globally and the diseasecaused by it — COVID-19 —has claimed over 9,000 lives. InIndia there are over 160 posi-tive cases and four deaths so far.

The difficulties facing theIndian economy have beenexacerbated by Yes Bank failure.

“Fragilities in the financialsystem will further underminesentiment and domestic spend-ing. The overall financial systemremains burdened with weak

balance sheets, which will limitany upside to credit and growthdespite policymakers’ effortsin recent months to ease stress-es,” it added.

Fitch said the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) held an emer-gency meeting in mid-Marchand announced measures toshore up liquidity in moneymarkets, including the launchof further long-term repo oper-ations.

“Given downside pressureson growth, we think the RBIwill have to take additionalmeasures and we forecast a cutin the policy rate to 4.5% beforethe end of the year,” said Fitchwhich has a ‘BBB-’ rating onIndia with a stable outlook.

On the fiscal front, theauthorities announced targetedstimulus measures to mitigatethe impact of the outbreak, itadded.

Fitch said the number ofconfirmed COVID-19 casesin India was low, but was pick-ing up, at the time of project-ing growth in the Global eco-nomic outlook report.

“Our scenario assumes thenumber of people affected willkeep rising in the comingweeks but that the outbreak willremain contained. However,there are downside risks to thisscenario,” it added.

Fitch also lowered its oilprice forecast to USD 41%(Brent) for 2020 (annual aver-

age) from USD 62.5 per barrelin December.

“With the collapse of‘OPEC+’ co-operation boostingprospects for OPEC supply, wenow expect oil prices to aver-age USD 48 per barrel in 2021compared to our previous fore-cast of USD 60 per barrel,” itsaid.

Fitch said the global healthcrisis sparked by the outbreakof the coronavirus is taking anextraordinarily heavy toll onthe world economy.

Fitch further said it sees anoutright decline in global GDPthis year if more pervasivelockdown measures have to berolled out across all the G7economies, but a recoverycould be in sight in the secondhalf of calendar year 2020.

“Emergency macro policyresponses are purely aboutdamage limitation at this stagebut should help secure a ‘V-shaped’ recovery..., althoughthis assumes that the health cri-sis eases,” it added.

Fitch said even though itexpects a recovery in Chinafrom the second quarter of2020, Chinese growth isexpected to fall just 3.7 year forthe year as a whole, downfrom 6.1 year in 2019.

“The shock to the Chineseeconomy – primarily resultingfrom the official ‘lockdown’response to contain the virus –has been very severe,” it added.

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2����������9����-:�;��� �+���� ������������� ��� ��� �+���New Delhi (PTI): Gold prices on Friday jumped �1,395 to�41,705 per 10 gram in the national capital following rally inthe international prices of the precious metal, according toHDFC Securities.

On Thursday, the precious metal had closed at �40,310 per10 gram.

Silver prices also advanced �2,889 to �38,100 per kg againstthe previous close of �35,211 per kg.

“Spot gold of 24 karat in Delhi shot up by �1,395 withovernight rally in international gold prices,” HDFC Securitiessenior analyst (commodities) Tapan Patel said.

In the international market, both the metals were tradingwith hefty gains, with gold quoting higher at USD 1,514 perounce and silver at USD 12.96 per ounce.

“Gold prices traded higher with broad-based recovery incommodities,” he added.

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Script Open High Low LTPRELIANCE 939.00 1033.70 930.05 1020.20HDFCBANK 876.00 914.50 824.55 882.40INFY 554.00 617.00 549.65 584.95ICICIBANK 332.00 359.85 323.10 345.70SBIN 205.45 215.60 200.10 209.65KOTAKBANK 1223.00 1282.00 1147.40 1263.35BAJFINANCE 2750.00 3043.60 2623.95 2962.70IBULHSGFIN 92.35 114.30 81.25 91.10THERMAX 690.00 765.00 656.45 718.20TCS 1637.00 1867.95 1627.00 1798.00MARUTI 4929.00 5222.00 4815.35 5077.10HDFC 1640.00 1778.00 1536.05 1753.90INDUSINDBK 453.00 479.25 405.00 439.95AXISBANK 434.70 449.50 414.05 428.35ONGC 63.55 74.30 62.75 72.45ITC 164.00 176.55 164.00 175.55LT 852.00 878.30 832.00 864.75TATAMOTORS 74.30 79.55 72.70 77.40TATASTEEL 277.70 305.00 274.70 298.05BAJAJFINSV 5780.00 6373.60 5700.00 6263.25HINDUNILVR 1846.00 2080.00 1846.00 2052.50POWERGRID 149.50 161.40 149.00 157.50BHARTIARTL 449.90 472.15 437.00 461.90SHILPAMED 290.25 309.40 290.25 291.65JUSTDIAL 328.00 335.50 305.40 332.95CUMMINSIND 424.00 436.25 415.55 421.00APOLLOHOSP 1178.60 1399.90 1160.90 1363.95ESCORTS 595.00 700.50 562.65 675.20IDEA 3.58 3.58 3.32 3.46ASIANPAINT 1614.00 1757.45 1574.15 1745.85HDFCLIFE 423.05 442.00 411.60 419.15RBLBANK 177.50 187.20 167.90 171.50JUBLFOOD 1206.10 1596.40 1166.00 1466.80INDIACEM 98.00 104.00 97.00 98.15INDIGO 860.00 955.65 836.00 871.90M&MFIN 204.55 218.80 189.30 210.50ASHOKLEY 49.70 49.70 41.10 43.90SUNPHARMA 369.80 379.10 362.80 365.80NAUKRI 1949.95 2072.30 1865.85 1943.05CERA 2095.00 2467.50 2095.00 2401.50IBREALEST 43.70 48.20 43.70 45.10ICICIGI 1020.00 1057.70 953.70 1004.45WESTLIFE 285.15 336.95 285.15 323.95OIL 79.90 85.55 75.20 81.50TITAN 910.00 934.05 866.25 906.55MOTHERSUMI 65.00 69.35 62.75 66.75HDFCAMC 2300.05 2534.00 2280.00 2411.95THYROCARE 505.70 519.40 485.45 505.75PETRONET 194.65 208.80 179.30 207.70NTPC 79.00 82.20 76.30 81.50ZEEL 143.60 153.25 136.35 144.80PVR 1200.00 1367.10 1162.80 1313.95EICHERMOT 15648.00 15960.80 14474.85 15661.30FDC 203.00 208.95 194.20 202.65JINDALSTEL 95.15 106.95 92.90 104.70BANDHANBNK 207.00 236.40 204.30 232.35VEDL 71.90 77.95 70.50 75.35BPCL 306.80 323.05 298.65 318.50PEL 780.00 818.55 663.30 684.80DLF 129.90 141.85 121.40 139.90ADANIPORTS 259.00 264.60 247.65 257.05NESTLEIND 13430.00 14425.95 13206.20 14148.85MUTHOOTFIN 585.00 636.00 584.20 625.45DRREDDY 2750.00 2946.35 2650.00 2898.10JSWSTEEL 169.85 179.35 164.85 176.45PIDILITIND 1450.00 1543.00 1420.70 1501.85COALINDIA 124.70 134.50 122.60 132.45TECHM 535.00 583.90 528.00 576.45ISEC 308.70 312.95 273.00 282.75UNIONBANK 29.50 29.90 28.60 29.20WIPRO 165.00 185.60 162.60 179.40AMBUJACEM 154.00 168.65 151.95 160.90L&TFH 59.65 62.40 56.85 59.55MANAPPURAM 85.35 100.00 85.35 97.20GAIL 69.55 82.30 69.55 80.90IDFCFIRSTB 21.00 21.65 18.60 20.60BANKBARODA 62.20 66.80 61.90 63.25LAXMIMACH 2701.75 2701.75 2476.70 2546.75INFRATEL 125.05 155.45 123.30 149.80FORTIS 122.60 136.00 121.90 131.75IOC 90.00 92.95 88.30 90.60M&M 315.05 327.25 308.25 322.95BATAINDIA 1090.05 1284.80 1090.05 1230.10DIVISLAB 1899.90 2010.00 1866.70 1993.60ULTRACEMCO 3200.00 3657.20 3144.70 3580.45SRF 2925.00 3320.00 2866.05 3221.00MGL 757.00 817.15 731.30 792.35HINDPETRO 192.10 212.40 189.60 209.25NMDC 69.50 74.80 66.15 71.95UPL 297.00 320.10 287.30 298.90GRASIM 491.00 548.95 488.45 528.35AUROPHARMA 361.50 372.00 341.20 347.00LUPIN 636.30 665.00 620.00 641.60CANBK 100.70 102.95 95.45 96.15NCC 20.15 22.70 19.60 22.10AMARAJABAT 469.00 474.25 421.95 434.70LICHSGFIN 227.00 234.00 218.00 223.70PNB 37.50 38.95 36.70 38.20IPCALAB 1345.00 1500.00 1310.00 1371.85SRTRANSFIN 636.30 664.35 570.50 582.15CADILAHC 254.00 290.00 254.00 286.10SBILIFE 610.00 680.00 605.65 636.45HINDALCO 103.75 107.65 99.00 105.45FEDERALBNK 52.20 55.80 52.20 52.85HEROMOTOCO 1706.00 1839.00 1680.00 1817.50ADANIPOWER 28.00 29.50 26.75 29.05DABUR 419.55 452.40 415.25 444.50NIITTECH 1064.30 1163.15 1005.00 1142.20

HCLTECH 415.00 461.70 412.80 445.45ICICIPRULI 289.30 313.00 282.30 304.35EQUITAS 48.00 54.05 47.10 51.40RECLTD 89.20 95.20 89.00 91.85BHEL 23.25 23.90 22.10 23.40BAJAJ-AUTO 2225.00 2297.95 2157.00 2251.65TATACONSUM 247.25 273.65 235.60 264.15TATAELXSI 581.15 631.65 572.80 599.10LTI 1340.00 1598.95 1320.55 1520.55BANKINDIA 36.00 36.65 34.70 35.25TORNTPOWER 271.60 294.00 263.25 287.10OMAXE 162.90 164.40 158.10 163.10BEL 67.00 73.75 64.45 71.80BIOCON 259.80 276.95 253.70 274.85AUBANK 640.00 682.95 598.55 650.00DMART 1760.15 1923.10 1740.00 1923.10DEEPAKNI 360.00 398.80 347.60 380.10GMRINFRA 16.05 17.60 16.00 17.20BALKRISIND 779.00 845.90 734.50 826.50NAM-INDIA 240.00 258.15 233.00 257.00GLENMARK 206.20 218.50 203.90 210.50PTC 34.50 37.85 34.50 36.25BERGEPAINT 403.00 455.85 400.70 452.15SAIL 25.70 27.00 25.35 26.75BRITANNIA 2366.60 2507.00 2297.70 2471.20ADANIENT 131.00 141.45 128.70 137.20ATUL 3987.00 4300.00 3744.90 4210.75MINDTREE 725.00 879.45 711.75 848.30STAR 277.00 303.10 271.00 303.10MRF 58967.50 60998.50 57479.65 59191.85SHK 85.00 89.25 68.90 82.20SHREECEM 17732.00 19133.50 17122.70 18945.70HEXAWARE 217.05 245.45 203.95 238.30COLPAL 1115.15 1209.95 1115.15 1188.30PAGEIND 18304.80 19000.00 17956.80 18096.95CIPLA 380.00 399.75 372.95 393.60BHARATFORG 305.25 327.45 292.90 301.35IGL 335.00 349.05 326.00 344.10GODREJPROP 656.50 724.95 612.00 711.85DIXON 3540.00 3698.00 3274.55 3589.00MFSL 381.00 413.80 371.00 407.85SIEMENS 1120.75 1177.60 1085.40 1168.85TORNTPHARM 1830.50 1934.15 1798.60 1906.30MCX 945.00 1050.00 935.00 1041.35NHPC 18.65 21.70 18.50 21.20CONCOR 292.10 351.90 289.65 331.05BOSCHLTD 9600.00 9833.20 9204.75 9661.65SPICEJET 34.50 35.80 32.50 35.25NAVINFLUOR 1136.40 1215.00 1122.20 1189.25MIDHANI 183.50 191.90 170.95 175.30PFC 89.20 94.60 88.20 91.85APOLLOTYRE 87.95 92.35 84.80 89.10

EXIDEIND 140.00 149.25 137.40 146.40UJJIVAN 185.00 200.80 177.80 186.25TATAMTRDVR 32.65 34.10 31.95 32.55GODFRYPHLP 815.00 880.00 810.00 850.50DCBBANK 109.00 112.60 105.45 108.85CEATLTD 719.50 748.15 708.00 714.25GODREJCP 485.00 509.35 475.55 500.05METROPOLIS 1560.00 1609.00 1455.00 1550.20HAVELLS 536.10 554.80 522.00 538.80GRAPHITE 131.10 134.85 124.95 129.65INFIBEAM 34.50 37.00 32.10 33.25RAJESHEXPO 599.95 604.20 578.00 583.50CANFINHOME 319.00 347.25 310.60 336.45TATAPOWER 34.55 37.50 34.10 36.80HEG 560.00 600.00 532.85 554.85VOLTAS 547.65 585.20 547.65 566.30STRTECH 74.50 79.95 72.10 72.85ABBOTINDIA 13260.00 15268.00 13260.00 14791.75ACC 1081.25 1145.65 1063.65 1128.40TRENT 477.70 524.00 448.85 505.15CASTROLIND 115.25 118.90 111.00 113.85RAYMOND 271.50 284.30 265.00 274.80GRANULES 132.15 143.65 131.15 138.25TVSMOTOR 369.90 383.55 354.70 379.80ADANIGAS 100.50 103.10 96.30 99.00BASF 1075.00 1152.70 1075.00 1125.35HAWKINCOOK 4099.95 4200.00 3650.25 3880.80SANOFI 6439.40 6600.00 6225.00 6368.85DBL 255.00 297.10 255.00 271.90SUNTV 334.80 339.70 319.20 325.90SUZLON 1.92 1.98 1.85 1.93PRSMJOHNSN 36.85 40.20 35.70 37.60MARICO 250.00 260.90 247.80 256.00SPARC 93.00 106.60 93.00 104.55LALPATHLAB 1454.70 1457.90 1362.55 1408.80GSKCONS 8100.00 9090.00 8100.00 8953.70AVANTI 283.45 295.00 279.70 285.30

WOCKPHARMA 184.85 193.00 172.90 177.25FSL 29.00 32.60 28.95 29.85RPOWER 1.14 1.19 1.10 1.19GICRE 99.00 104.40 94.35 94.90KAJARIACER 424.15 451.15 419.30 435.85CHOLAFIN 178.85 200.65 175.40 193.75IDBI 20.60 22.75 19.95 22.15POLYCAB 757.00 797.60 757.00 774.70VENKYS 644.00 699.25 634.95 684.45DELTACORP 61.00 66.20 61.00 62.85HONAUT 24998.70 27000.00 24000.10 25177.45NOCIL 60.60 66.30 59.70 64.00SUNTECK 241.65 248.05 212.30 227.80UBL 887.70 930.15 864.00 895.30RADICO 299.90 311.30 293.00 304.05BEML 502.00 527.10 465.25 473.00BOMDYEING 42.55 45.80 42.00 43.85ABCAPITAL 46.50 48.45 45.45 46.00WELCORP 74.65 79.20 71.70 72.05EDELWEISS 38.10 43.25 38.10 40.80ALKEM 2210.00 2365.85 2190.00 2351.35IRCON 336.00 362.40 326.95 355.90GSPL 170.00 189.20 156.80 186.90ITI 48.00 57.80 48.00 56.85NATIONALUM 30.35 32.55 29.80 32.35TV18BRDCST 14.70 15.10 13.85 14.65ALKYLAMINE 1148.00 1293.90 1094.45 1250.75DEEPAKFERT 76.00 87.20 76.00 78.90NBCC 16.00 17.05 15.40 17.05BLISSGVS 101.45 104.70 99.65 101.60GUJGAS 230.05 245.00 225.00 241.75PNBHOUSING 207.90 211.20 190.00 192.10PFIZER 4094.10 4140.00 3970.00 4020.85ABFRL 188.00 189.00 174.55 186.85LTTS 1210.05 1267.95 1152.50 1240.45ASTRAZEN 2110.00 2429.00 2080.00 2357.75CUB 153.00 165.95 141.25 163.35GODREJIND 318.25 325.20 313.50 315.00BALRAMCHIN 88.35 90.85 86.00 89.25RITES 239.00 249.80 226.35 245.25IDFC 17.20 17.45 15.40 16.15BAJAJHLDNG 2320.00 2411.40 2211.60 2299.75ASTRAL 970.35 973.75 910.00 934.55JKCEMENT 1038.00 1060.95 946.65 987.10AMBER 1151.20 1250.95 1128.05 1221.25VIPIND 237.00 237.90 213.00 231.55FORCEMOT 751.55 784.90 733.25 760.80RELAXO 560.00 607.85 538.60 597.75KTKBANK 45.50 49.45 45.50 47.90PGHH 9650.00 10001.00 9460.00 9842.40HEIDELBERG 147.00 159.05 140.00 152.40GSFC 37.40 39.50 36.70 37.10WHIRLPOOL 1832.80 2073.45 1794.05 2016.20PIIND 1182.50 1272.90 1160.00 1199.40ENGINERSIN 55.95 58.30 53.70 57.20INOXLEISUR 261.70 283.55 259.00 283.55HINDCOPPER 21.60 23.70 21.60 22.80IRB 58.05 60.70 57.15 58.45GNFC 115.50 117.45 109.00 115.75RVNL 13.80 14.80 13.60 13.90LUXIND 1043.00 1056.70 982.45 1016.00AJANTPHARM 1199.25 1254.00 1156.60 1203.203MINDIA 17051.00 17576.00 16932.05 17316.25HUDCO 21.50 22.25 21.15 21.65JUBILANT 265.00 280.65 250.00 280.65PCJEWELLER 10.20 10.60 9.40 9.65AKZOINDIA 2000.00 2189.00 1970.55 2143.30PHILIPCARB 61.00 67.15 61.00 66.80HINDZINC 130.00 142.65 127.25 135.95PRESTIGE 160.30 175.00 153.00 157.95APLAPOLLO 1211.00 1419.95 1211.00 1309.05EMAMILTD 176.00 193.60 176.00 184.45HFCL 8.95 9.60 8.95 9.36SOUTHBANK 5.50 5.73 5.45 5.67NLCINDIA 42.85 47.20 41.55 45.65JAICORPLTD 51.30 53.60 49.35 52.90SUDARSCHEM 368.00 384.00 345.00 367.40BBTC 729.00 768.00 726.90 738.90INDHOTEL 85.00 92.00 82.50 90.65FINEORG 1823.00 1915.00 1775.45 1852.15GODREJAGRO 307.60 332.20 303.15 315.00FCONSUMER 9.98 9.98 9.98 9.98VINATIORGA 740.00 804.85 735.00 785.95COCHINSHIP 235.00 272.90 230.60 270.15COROMANDEL 525.00 560.00 475.40 555.20JSWENERGY 47.00 50.50 42.55 46.65GLAXO 1202.45 1256.55 1182.10 1235.30KANSAINER 375.00 380.75 360.10 370.35GESHIP 191.00 205.05 186.65 197.50MOTILALOFS 560.00 614.50 555.00 605.60JINDALSAW 50.40 57.90 49.80 53.00INTELLECT 48.70 53.75 48.65 51.20RELINFRA 10.25 11.25 10.25 10.50SUPREMEIND 958.00 960.75 920.00 945.60CHAMBLFERT 107.95 111.55 104.40 107.70CREDITACC 589.95 602.00 513.20 519.75SCI 38.00 40.95 38.00 40.00VBL 663.00 663.00 567.45 604.75CRISIL 1227.50 1310.95 1166.35 1227.60ADANIGREEN 142.00 142.15 138.55 142.05GMDCLTD 33.30 36.05 33.00 34.85WELSPUNIND 27.30 27.55 25.00 25.35RAIN 51.50 56.30 51.50 55.35INDIANB 50.35 54.10 49.40 52.00RESPONIND 81.80 84.70 81.00 84.60ASHOKA 53.90 56.70 51.20 55.90KEI 267.45 279.25 252.00 257.25KEC 234.00 235.35 220.00 222.00SONATSOFTW 190.00 196.80 176.80 182.55

GREAVESCOT 79.90 89.90 76.60 86.20LAKSHVILAS 13.45 14.35 13.25 13.40NESCO 540.00 540.00 495.00 502.50RCF 27.00 28.85 26.80 28.05REPCOHOME 160.55 161.65 145.70 151.90ARVINDFASN 156.95 166.95 151.75 162.70JKPAPER 78.05 82.25 78.05 79.90APLLTD 507.55 553.00 507.55 545.10

EIDPARRY 116.80 129.00 115.00 127.10NATCOPHARM 516.65 554.25 516.65 533.65QUESS 257.35 267.30 247.20 247.20BALMLAWRIE 79.90 84.85 78.00 79.65NIACL 85.10 94.00 83.00 89.05AEGISLOG 141.35 154.15 132.30 140.75BAYERCROP 3600.00 3828.15 3415.00 3519.10SOBHA 179.75 200.00 176.00 180.70KRBL 164.10 174.95 164.10 169.05RELCAPITAL 4.35 4.53 4.15 4.30WABAG 110.20 112.00 100.20 102.05RALLIS 182.90 203.90 179.25 187.90FINOLEXIND 374.35 388.70 343.90 381.95VGUARD 165.00 186.25 162.00 179.10KALPATPOWR 217.45 217.45 206.80 211.95VSTIND 3242.00 3502.75 3208.90 3231.10LINDEINDIA 474.30 484.85 441.90 471.70MPHASIS 665.00 707.00 655.00 699.40SUNDRMFAST 286.95 295.80 283.65 294.45JCHAC 2220.15 2527.55 2210.05 2408.40MEGH 38.00 40.35 38.00 38.70CROMPTON 209.85 226.75 203.20 211.45DCMSHRIRAM 238.00 254.00 230.65 249.45PARAGMILK 55.90 62.60 55.00 58.45DISHTV 5.12 5.27 5.10 5.14GHCL 87.85 93.35 86.00 89.85ADANITRANS 215.00 215.00 195.45 195.50JBCHEPHARM 529.40 540.80 502.00 506.95EIHOTEL 70.85 73.90 63.00 73.15BAJAJELEC 320.00 370.40 307.80 341.05NH 266.00 282.85 240.95 247.55CYIENT 281.00 287.50 266.00 270.30JMFINANCIL 67.00 73.80 65.50 73.15TATAINVEST 713.50 756.55 696.00 737.35NETWORK18 16.60 17.60 16.50 17.05SWANENERGY 100.65 102.00 100.00 100.00WABCOINDIA 5800.90 5980.55 5766.45 5966.00GRINDWELL 472.00 479.95 444.45 461.50ORIENTELEC 164.05 180.00 164.05 172.65GARFIBRES 1022.85 1138.55 1020.85 1070.30TATACOFFEE 59.45 60.95 58.40 59.90SHANKARA 285.15 304.35 285.15 285.15HSCL 34.80 36.10 32.60 34.75SJVN 19.50 21.00 19.50 20.50CAPPL 243.95 248.15 231.00 238.90TVSSRICHAK 919.00 982.65 910.00 949.95TIMKEN 800.00 841.70 734.40 824.00MINDAIND 252.00 292.00 238.00 269.80RAMCOCEM 553.20 597.00 551.00 593.00BIRLACORPN 505.00 519.85 497.20 508.15JKTYRE 42.20 44.35 41.30 43.05J&KBANK 14.15 14.35 11.30 12.80MOIL 96.50 99.85 93.15 97.15CGCL 182.40 199.90 169.50 178.80OFSS 1860.00 1924.00 1810.70 1871.85OBEROIRLTY 432.00 450.90 412.20 431.25HAL 568.70 582.80 555.55 572.50SOLARINDS 970.70 981.20 922.10 962.20GILLETTE 4881.50 5004.95 4834.85 4959.10MAHSCOOTER 2500.00 2575.20 2419.00 2488.45LAOPALA 158.00 174.20 137.00 161.20SIS 355.00 431.50 337.25 423.05SYMPHONY 964.00 978.30 935.00 941.55CARERATING 325.55 338.00 309.10 332.45JAMNAAUTO 25.20 29.90 24.20 26.40TRIDENT 3.65 3.84 3.60 3.66ASTERDM 90.10 95.50 89.55 92.75IEX 136.40 143.00 131.50 137.05CESC 467.15 480.50 456.00 471.55REDINGTON 73.00 80.05 72.85 75.05MRPL 29.50 30.90 28.00 28.45MASFIN 595.00 628.00 568.00 573.20JISLJALEQS 3.55 3.83 3.47 3.73BAJAJCON 136.00 140.35 134.00 138.80IFCI 3.45 3.77 3.36 3.53CHENNPETRO 65.15 69.30 64.35 66.45ADVENZYMES 111.50 115.85 108.50 112.20PGHL 3460.00 3574.95 3337.15 3419.80

GRSE 136.90 141.50 130.75 139.30TATAMETALI 430.00 438.00 390.00 394.10IIFL 92.30 97.00 85.60 90.20BRIGADE 164.95 168.00 154.10 156.40CCL 168.50 182.50 166.25 181.35LAURUSLABS 362.55 379.75 359.25 364.90PHOENIXLTD 648.00 664.65 585.90 646.80VMART 1701.00 1807.95 1667.30 1700.05BLUESTARCO 630.00 630.00 553.00 561.55SCHNEIDER 67.00 68.50 66.00 66.95GUJALKALI 202.60 232.50 202.00 223.80TIINDIA 387.50 401.60 377.50 385.65JYOTHYLAB 95.00 100.00 93.00 98.35DALBHARAT 503.95 519.20 494.25 511.10TTKPRESTIG 4759.10 4953.70 4578.20 4603.35LEMONTREE 31.00 32.45 28.70 31.30PNCINFRA 118.75 130.00 112.50 123.85IOB 7.05 7.19 6.94 7.12ESABINDIA 1086.30 1147.00 1070.00 1132.50BLUEDART 2101.05 2435.00 2047.05 2315.25PERSISTENT 530.00 555.00 480.00 507.50BDL 172.00 190.00 172.00 182.65CENTURYPLY 105.00 119.90 101.25 113.00KNRCON 217.45 224.95 207.65 221.00NILKAMAL 1035.00 1126.50 1016.05 1097.35VARROC 180.00 189.70 169.10 183.35ALLCARGO 69.30 74.75 67.90 68.55HERITGFOOD 198.35 198.35 181.40 184.90FINCABLES 216.40 216.40 180.00 202.30RATNAMANI 1066.00 1066.00 990.70 1013.60DCAL* 58.40 60.70 58.00 59.75ZENSARTECH 92.80 93.00 85.95 87.85ITDC 114.60 123.80 114.40 116.25JSLHISAR 36.15 39.30 35.75 38.35ESSELPRO 151.90 156.65 149.65 154.65DHANUKA 326.65 344.95 318.50 319.15UCOBANK 10.25 10.25 9.65 9.71AAVAS 1300.00 1325.00 1233.95 1305.10MMTC 12.40 12.65 11.65 12.05MINDACORP 57.70 62.85 57.30 62.85SKFINDIA 1565.00 1600.15 1493.15 1546.85ECLERX 358.95 405.00 356.20 377.45VRLLOG 150.00 160.00 143.20 146.65CENTRALBK 12.35 12.70 12.05 12.45AIAENG 1402.50 1430.10 1350.45 1379.20MAHINDCIE 78.10 78.10 74.40 74.90SYNGENE 242.95 259.00 235.30 238.60VAIBHAVGBL 780.00 780.00 748.50 764.60ZYDUSWELL 1228.35 1250.80 1202.00 1230.05JKLAKSHMI 230.30 238.50 222.15 229.75JSL 28.00 28.75 26.25 27.90HIMATSEIDE 61.05 69.00 58.20 62.00UFLEX 150.25 157.85 146.25 155.25ENDURANCE 714.75 742.35 709.00 729.55ERIS 370.00 391.60 370.00 379.85SFL 1369.00 1470.00 1300.00 1358.05NAVNETEDUL 58.20 61.25 49.00 58.50GALAXYSURF 1160.05 1200.00 1110.00 1184.50ORIENTREF 150.50 160.40 147.00 149.85GET&D 79.90 81.25 70.05 73.15TCNSBRANDS 410.20 498.10 340.90 461.80CENTRUM 9.00 9.80 8.90 8.95IFBIND 283.00 289.45 268.25 270.10GPPL 58.55 68.00 57.85 58.45ORIENTCEM 48.45 49.60 46.00 49.00TEJASNET 36.50 39.65 36.50 36.90TCIEXP 614.20 639.25 592.00 614.80KPITTECH 48.80 48.80 42.90 44.95MAGMA 20.80 20.80 19.40 20.00MAHABANK 9.12 9.16 8.81 9.05ITDCEM 31.20 32.90 30.00 31.70MAHSEAMLES 224.45 241.00 220.10 237.75CHOLAHLDNG 426.60 433.95 406.10 414.55MHRIL 148.20 156.40 145.95 149.25MAHLOG 250.45 252.05 233.90 242.60TEAMLEASE 1845.00 1991.75 1834.10 1963.80TNPL 109.60 112.50 105.85 107.85FLFL 187.05 187.05 187.05 187.05JAGRAN 46.00 46.00 41.40 42.70DBCORP 95.00 95.00 81.05 84.05INDOSTAR 254.45 272.55 250.05 260.05GICHSGFIN 61.15 65.00 60.00 61.55NBVENTURES 39.25 41.15 38.00 39.30CARBORUNIV 229.15 230.35 220.00 221.85SADBHAV 39.50 39.70 37.60 38.05FRETAIL 112.50 112.50 112.50 112.50MAHLIFE 225.00 262.60 220.00 241.00TIMETECHNO 30.95 31.10 28.60 29.35KPRMILL 404.50 421.20 402.05 418.05TAKE 41.00 41.90 40.00 41.15SUPRAJIT 123.90 137.75 123.90 130.75JTEKTINDIA 40.00 43.50 39.00 42.85GDL 90.25 95.00 85.75 86.80MAXINDIA 66.40 66.55 63.95 65.35GEPIL 524.00 556.45 513.40 553.30DHFL 10.58 10.58 10.58 10.58STARCEMENT 68.50 73.00 66.20 69.90SOMANYCERA 121.75 121.75 111.55 111.90SCHAEFFLER 3900.00 3950.00 3844.85 3900.95SHOPERSTOP 219.15 230.00 203.00 208.25GULFOILLUB 515.00 556.20 515.00 544.45HATHWAY 12.65 13.30 12.20 12.80VTL 870.00 876.95 867.60 867.75CHALET 215.00 221.20 205.00 221.20INOXWIND 19.75 21.10 19.70 20.85TVTODAY 145.80 154.65 143.25 154.65IBULISL 60.90 60.90 60.90 60.90SHRIRAMCIT 990.00 1022.20 971.90 1017.75GAYAPROJ 10.85 10.85 10.85 10.85

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 8284.45 8883.00 8178.20 8745.45 482.00INFRATEL 124.20 155.90 122.80 152.10 28.05ONGC 63.05 74.40 62.75 71.90 10.85GAIL 71.00 82.40 70.30 80.80 11.40HINDUNILVR 1850.00 2078.90 1850.00 2075.00 236.70ULTRACEMCO 3185.00 3656.80 3140.35 3561.00 394.95RELIANCE 939.50 1034.90 930.00 1028.00 110.30GRASIM 495.00 564.70 488.05 543.55 52.50HDFC 1624.00 1776.90 1535.20 1776.90 159.30DRREDDY 2641.00 2949.00 2641.00 2879.80 255.85WIPRO 163.10 185.80 162.50 178.00 15.65VEDL 72.40 78.00 70.40 76.00 6.65TCS 1630.00 1869.00 1627.00 1792.95 156.60ITC 165.10 176.50 165.10 176.35 14.50TATASTEEL 279.70 305.00 274.15 296.00 24.15JSWSTEEL 167.00 179.10 164.65 177.65 14.35ASIANPAINT 1610.00 1757.40 1570.55 1737.30 136.10BAJAJFINSV 5725.20 6391.95 5700.00 6240.00 454.50HCLTECH 413.50 461.95 411.85 444.70 31.25NESTLEIND 13198.00 14433.10 13150.00 14100.00 979.70BAJFINANCE 2799.85 3044.00 2621.65 2950.00 203.90BPCL 305.00 323.00 298.60 322.00 21.75COALINDIA 124.50 135.80 122.65 132.40 8.85TECHM 525.10 595.45 525.10 567.00 37.00TATAMOTORS 74.00 79.60 72.65 77.80 4.85INFY 549.50 617.45 548.00 580.90 35.35SHREECEM 17385.00 19186.30 17026.75 18880.00 1148.55HEROMOTOCO1725.00 1845.70 1675.00 1822.00 109.55BRITANNIA 2341.30 2500.90 2294.25 2455.80 137.65HINDALCO 101.20 107.70 98.70 105.50 5.75MARUTI 4869.00 5225.00 4812.60 5094.00 274.45POWERGRID 148.25 161.85 148.25 154.70 7.55EICHERMOT 15394.50 15999.00 14465.65 15750.00 703.55KOTAKBANK 1217.00 1283.60 1146.50 1266.95 56.10BHARTIARTL 445.00 472.00 436.65 461.60 16.85IOC 89.00 92.95 88.10 90.90 2.95NTPC 78.50 82.35 76.35 80.95 2.60BAJAJ-AUTO 2189.90 2298.90 2153.95 2228.20 61.60CIPLA 379.80 399.80 372.45 385.20 10.50SBIN 205.55 215.70 200.00 208.85 5.20M&M 316.00 328.20 308.25 321.30 7.10ZEEL 144.20 153.30 136.20 144.00 2.80ICICIBANK 328.00 359.80 323.00 344.40 5.85UPL 294.00 320.65 287.00 300.00 3.25LT 849.00 877.80 831.30 852.00 8.90SUNPHARMA 365.20 379.50 362.20 363.05 2.65TITAN 906.10 934.00 866.00 905.00 1.50AXISBANK 431.40 449.70 414.20 425.00 -3.25INDUSINDBK 444.05 478.90 405.25 440.10 -3.95ADANIPORTS 257.60 264.50 247.20 255.20 -3.15HDFCBANK 875.00 914.60 824.55 881.25 -14.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 20421.75 21369.40 20071.05 20982.90 744.65BANDHANBNK 203.75 239.85 203.75 235.00 34.25CONCOR 288.45 352.35 288.45 334.55 48.65CADILAHC 252.00 290.00 252.00 285.20 39.35NHPC 18.70 21.75 18.45 20.85 2.40BERGEPAINT 413.90 456.00 400.00 450.40 46.35HINDPETRO 195.40 212.45 189.60 210.00 19.90DLF 129.00 141.75 121.35 141.00 12.55HINDZINC 130.00 142.50 127.30 138.65 11.40BIOCON 258.20 276.95 253.50 275.15 22.25COLPAL 1125.00 1212.00 1115.00 1197.15 84.60ICICIPRULI 288.00 313.00 282.10 302.20 20.65NMDC 67.00 74.80 66.20 71.50 4.85DIVISLAB 1875.55 2017.15 1864.40 2000.05 129.10DABUR 419.00 452.70 415.00 446.50 27.65OFSS 1782.10 1950.00 1782.10 1880.00 114.60IDEA 3.60 3.60 3.30 3.50 0.20PGHH 9750.00 10000.00 9478.80 9999.00 492.00DMART 1790.00 1916.10 1733.70 1916.10 91.20ACC 1085.10 1146.50 1060.60 1142.90 52.95NIACL 86.00 94.75 82.75 89.00 4.05SIEMENS 1120.55 1178.80 1085.00 1165.00 51.80HDFCAMC 2313.00 2533.00 2272.30 2405.00 105.55PETRONET 193.90 208.75 179.25 205.90 8.25MOTHERSUMI 64.10 69.45 62.60 66.70 2.55MCDOWELL-N 500.00 529.95 499.10 519.00 19.55PIDILITIND 1459.00 1543.95 1423.10 1499.95 54.25PFC 91.40 94.80 88.15 92.40 3.30GODREJCP 488.20 509.80 475.55 499.85 16.80AMBUJACEM 153.95 168.55 151.40 159.10 5.15BANKBARODA 62.05 66.90 61.85 63.25 1.80MARICO 250.55 260.90 247.80 255.00 6.70PNB 37.50 39.00 36.70 38.20 1.00IBULHSGFIN 93.00 115.50 81.00 92.00 2.25UBL 870.00 932.95 863.80 900.15 21.15L&TFH 60.00 62.40 56.75 59.55 1.30LUPIN 640.70 665.10 631.25 644.70 9.70AUROPHARMA 364.00 372.20 341.00 350.10 4.10BAJAJHLDNG 2301.60 2419.25 2210.80 2325.00 24.40BOSCHLTD 9579.95 9849.00 9200.05 9650.00 95.40HAVELLS 537.00 554.90 521.35 537.80 2.60SBILIFE 627.00 680.75 606.00 610.00 2.30HDFCLIFE 425.10 442.00 411.30 415.90 -1.05PAGEIND 18269.50 19018.70 17921.85 18000.00 -156.10ICICIGI 1050.00 1074.25 950.00 1013.00 -16.40INDIGO 850.10 949.20 835.10 870.00 -39.20ADANITRANS 209.00 214.00 195.65 195.65 -10.25SRTRANSFIN 637.00 664.75 569.80 588.00 -34.65GICRE 100.20 104.90 94.30 95.00 -8.45ASHOKLEY 49.20 49.40 41.10 44.10 -3.95PEL 779.90 819.25 665.00 682.95 -94.25

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Southern Europe buckledunder the strain of the coro-

navirus pandemic on Friday,with gasping patients filling sickwards in Spain and Italy andfield hospitals going up in hotelsand a convention centre, as theglobal death toll surpassed10,000 people worldwide.

In the US, California’s gov-ernor barred nonessentialmovement for all 40 million res-idents, and the Trump admin-istration warned Americansabroad to return home or riskspending an “indefinite” peri-od away. And the income taxfiling deadline was moved fromApril 15 to July 15.

Meanwhile, John HopkinsUniversity’s coronavirusresource centre says that over86,000 infected patients havebeen recovered to date.

The World HealthOrganization noted the dra-matic speed of the virus’ spread.

“It took over three monthsto reach the first 10,000 con-firmed cases and only 12 daysto reach the next 100,000,” theUN health agency said.

In Bergamo, the epicentre ofthe virus in Italy, cemeteries wereoverwhelmed. Sky News videofrom inside the city’s main hos-pital showed patients lined up ina narrow ward, struggling forbreath as doctors and nursesmoved swiftly from one beepingmachine to the next.

“When the virus arrivedhere, there was no containmentand it spread through the val-leys very quickly... Some said itwas the normal flu. We doctorsknew it was not,” said Dr LucaLorini, head of intensive care atthe hospital, where nearly 500beds were dedicated to peoplesuffering severe symptoms ofthe virus, 80 of those in inten-sive care.

In the farm town of Fondithat has the largest wholesaleproduce market serving Romeand Naples, a new ordinancebanned all but essential peoplefrom entering or leaving after40 elderly residents becameinfected. At a convent on theoutskirts of Rome, 19 of 21nuns were infected, accordingto the Italian daily IlMessaggero. The Vatican pub-

lished a decree absolving thesins of the faithful who are sickor in quarantine as well as theircaregivers if they met certainconditions.

Wuhan, China, where theoutbreak began, offered a ray ofhope with no new infectionsreported for a second day in arow and only 39 cases report-ed nationwide — all of thembrought from the outside, theGovernment said.

The effects of a global econ-omy grinding to a halt were alsotaking a toll, from millions ofunsold flowers rotting in pilesin Kenya to the slow emptyingof the world’s skies. The UNchief warned of a loomingglobal recession “perhaps ofrecord dimensions.”

Scientists advising theBritish Government warnedthat restrictions on daily life mayhave to be in place for a year,with periods of less stringentand more stringent measures.

In the US, Congress workedto put together a $1 trillionemergency package that wouldprop up industry and smallbusiness and dispense reliefchecks to households of $1,200for adults and $500 per child.

In a measure of how thefortunes of East and West haveshifted, a Chinese Red Crossofficial heading an aid delega-tion to Milan castigated Italiansfor failing to take their nation-

al lockdown seriously. SunShuopeng said he was shockedto see so many people walkingaround, using public trans-portation and eating out inhotels, adding: “All peopleshould be staying at home inquarantine.”

China also sent medicalequipment to the Czech capi-tal, Prague.

Governments are trying tobalance locking down resi-dents with the need to keepfood, medicine and otheressentials flowing. In Britain,the category of vital workersincludes doctors, nurses andparamedics — and also vicars,truckers, garbage collectorsand journalists.

French PresidentEmmanuel Macron urgedemployees to keep working insupermarkets, production sitesand other necessary business-es amid stringent movementrestrictions.

“We need to keep thecountry running,” Macron said.

Worldwide, the death tollfrom COVID-19 passed 10,000and infections exceeded2,44,000, according to a JohnsHopkins University tally. Italy,

with 60 million citizens, hasrecorded 3,405 deaths, exceed-ing the 3,248 in China, a coun-try with a population over 20times larger. Spain, secondbehind Italy in Europe, report-ed 1,002 deaths and 19,980infections. The US death tollrose to 206.

“Certain medical centresare suffering stress that isreaching the limit,” saidFernando Simón, director ofSpain’s center for health alertsand emergencies. “The difficultdays in which we must beardown are coming now. Wemust keep our focus.”

A convention centre andhotels were being prepared asfield hospitals for nearly 10,000beds in Madrid, and France’s mil-itary worked to build a makeshiftmedical center in the country’shard-hit eastern town ofMulhouse. Although the illnessis mild in most people, theelderly are particularly suscepti-ble to serious symptoms. Italy hasthe world’s second-oldest popu-lation, and the vast majority ofits dead — 87% — were over 70.

Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, avirologist at Germany’sBernhard Nocht Institute for

Tropical Medicine, offeredanother reason for Italy’s highmortality rate: “That’s whathappens when the health sys-tem collapses.”

More than 86,000 peoplehave recovered, mostly inChina. Recovery takes twoweeks or so for mild cases butcan be up to six weeks for thosethat turn serious, according tothe WHO.

Iran’s official toll of morethan 1,400 deaths was risingquickly as well amid fears it isunderreporting its cases.Tehran accused Washingtonof helping spread the virus byretaining sanctions that preventit importing desperately need-ed medicine and medicalequipment.

“While the US is trying tocurb the virus internally, it ishelping the spread of the virusexternally,” Iran’s UN missionsaid in a statement.

Meanwhile, NASA said ithas suspended work on build-ing and testing the rocket andcapsule for its Artemis mannedmission to the Moon due to therising number of coronaviruscases in the community.

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No new domestic coron-avirus cases were con-

firmed in China for the secondconsecutive day even as threemore fatalities have beenreported, taking the death tollin the country to 3,248, theChinese health authority saidon Friday.

No new domestically trans-mitted cases of the novel coro-navirus disease were reportedon the Chinese mainland onThursday, the National HealthCommission (NHC) said.

Meanwhile, Beijing

accused US President DonaldTrump on Friday of trying to“shift the blame” for the glob-al coronavirus pandemic inan escalating row between thetwo powers.

Trump charged onThursday that the world is“paying a big price” for China’slack of transparency on the outbreak when it emergedin the central city of Wuhan latelast year.

China has been criticisedfor suppressing informationand punishing whistleblowersduring the early stages of thecontagion, which an AFP tally

shows has now killed nearly10,000 people with more than232,000 cases worldwide.

“Some people on the USside are trying to stigmatiseChina’s fight against the epi-demic, and shift the blameonto China,” foreign ministryspokesman Geng Shuang said.

Trump has defended hisdescription of the virus, sayingit was “not racist at all”.

China achieved a newmilestone in its efforts to con-tain the spread of the COVID-19 in the last three months byreporting zero cases onWednesday.

However, the NHC said onFriday that it received reportsof 39 newly confirmedCOVID-19 cases on theChinese mainland onThursday, all of which wereimported taking the total ofconfirmed cases of people com-ing from abroad to 228.

Of them, 14 were reportedin the Guangdong Province,eight in Shanghai, six in Beijingand three in the Fujian Province.Provincial-level regions ofTianjin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang,Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangxi,Sichuan and Gansu each report-ed one case.

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Rome: Italy Government onFriday said it is consideringeven further restrictions on itsalready locked-down popula-tion as the country reels underthe continued spread of thecoronavirus.

The country now has themost coronavirus fatalities in theworld, after it surpassed Chinaon Thursday with a rise of 427

deaths to an overall toll of 3,405.“In the next 24 to 48 hours,

new restrictions are possible,”Italy’s Minister of regional affairsFrancesco Boccia said Friday, cit-ing the possibility of banningopen-air activities. ThePresidents of regions in thenorth — Italy’s richest and themost devastated by the virus —have been pressing Prime

Minister Giuseppe Conte toclamp down even harder on themovement of people, calling forthe deployment of the army tohelp enforce the measures.Unfortunately, even today thestatistics aren’t going in the rightdirection, neither in terms of newinfections or in terms of deaths,”Lombardy’s Pesident AttilioFontana said. AFP

Tehran: Iran’s leaders on Fridayannounced 149 more fatalitiesfrom the new coronavirus, bring-ing its death toll to 1,433 amidnearly 20,000 confirmed cases.

Iran is battling the worstoutbreak in the Middle East,and has been widely criticised

for its slow response. The coun-try’s leaders struck an upbeattone earlier Friday, issuing mes-sages in honor of the Persiannew year in which they vowedto overcome the pandemic.

Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei, who has final

say on all state matters, calledthe new year “the year of leapsin production” in Iran’s econ-omy, which has been underheavy US sanctions sincePresident Donald Trump with-drew from the 2015 nuclearaccord. AFP

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She has always been looked atthrough the prism of her husband.Commonly called ‘Ba’, Kasturba

Gandhi was an ideal model, great sup-port and the perfect co-voyager ofMohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s jour-ney from South Africa to India and histransformation into the Mahatma.She devoted herself to the dharma ofbeing a true Hindu wife and followedit her entire life. However, as authorRM Bhalla argues, “she was muchmore than that.” She weathered onestorm after another and successfullyfaced unexpected challenges. Sheemerged to become one of the bright-est faces of womanhood during India’sfreedom struggle while remainingwithin the precincts of her home.

While the Father of the Nation hasbeen the topic of many debates anddiscussions by various authors and byGandhi himself, not many accountsmention Kasturba and her life atlength. People know her through a fewletters written to her by Gandhi thathe has talked about in hisAutobiography. However, she has nopersonal memoirs about her thoughtsand experiences. Bhalla, in his bookKasturba Gandhi: A Biography, talksabout how her contributions to India’sstruggle for independence have notbeen given the critical importance theydeserve. Excerpts:

�Why Kasturba? How is she relevanttoday?

The book deals with the life ofKasturba, who took her own consciousdecision to participate in theSatyagraha movement in South Africa

along with a large contingent of une-ducated poor Indian women there. Herstory is very relevant today becauseuneducated poor women are stillstruggling for their rights.

�Documenting a prominent per-son’s life could be challenging, espe-cially if s/he is related to the historyof the nation. How did you gatherinformation for the book aboutKasturba Gandhi?

Kasturba was not educated. Sheherself left no records of her thoughts,feelings, struggles, associations, expe-riences or any details of events she wasa part of. She never thought of it norwas she intellectually equipped for it.So we don’t have Kasturba’s version ofthe events in which she was involved.Not many detailed accounts or remi-niscences have been left by the mem-bers of her family or friends in publiclife.

Kasturba’s life and work can’t evenbe imagined or assessed indepen-dently; it was enmeshed in the day-to-day engagements of her husband andthe alchemy of his life. Her situationdid not allow her to initiate any actionoutside her home. All initiatives andinnovations were initiated by her hus-band and obeying his dictates becamean opportunity for her to learn, reactand resist. So the facts about her lifeand work are part of the history of theeventful years in the 19th and 20thcentury in South Africa and India.

An author has to cope with thehuge material about Gandhi’s strugglewith himself and the mighty forcesagainst which he pitched himself.Kasturba was a perpetual partner inthese struggles. Her life andwork can only beassessed in an imag-inative and contextu-al framework of thishistorical epoch and itis indeed a challengingtask for any author.

�An author who is pen-ning a biography alwayshas this pressure of show-casing his protagonist inthe right light since ques-tions could be raised laterover the accuracy and actu-ality of the facts presented inthe book...

A biographer is an inter-preter of events in respect of his pro-tagonist and he has to decide what the“right light” for his interpretation is.The facts presented in the book haveto be documented and the events asthey unfold in the life of the protago-nist should be presented accurately. Yetthe author’s own set of values gives acertain slant to his interpretations.How convincingly he argues in pre-senting the facts is a matter of his art.

�Kasturba Gandhi’s life experienceshave never been properly document-ed or even talked about much. Wheredid you source your data from?

Yes. It is a fact that the Gandhiindustry has definitely expandedworldwide but any bibliography deal-ing with Kasturba would not list morethan a dozen entries even today.However, in the last few decades,Gandhi has been rescued — to someextent, out of myths, legends, apoth-

eoses — and dealt with more critical-ly.

Kasturba’s life and work call forthe same critical approach. Her storyhas to be read in terms of the strug-gle of Indian women for identity,equality and self-empowerment. Thedata for the book has been sourcedfrom Gandhi literature, his completeworks in 100 volumes and historicalnarrations. But in Kasturba’s case,interpretations are more important asthe data has its limits.

�How do you think womanhoodwas neglected during India’s free-dom struggle? How does the book

present it? Also, giventoday ’s nationwideprotests, most of whichare being led by women(for instance, at ShaheenBagh), how do youthink the understand-ing of women’s role inchallenging times hasevolved?

The struggle ofwomen for emanci-pation started withthe spread ofdemocracy andtechnologica ldevelopmentall over the

world and it isstill continuing in India

and in other countries. Womenwere not neglected during India’sfreedom struggle. Rather they werebrought out of the confines of thefour walls of their homes to thepublic arena and they participatedboth in the revolutionary strugglesand the social reform movements.

After Independence, the unfold-ing of the democratic process, spreadof education and different move-ments across India have resulted inwomen’s participation in all walks oflife. Different groups are now vyingwith each other for a share in eco-nomic and political power andwomen are trying to become a votebank to achieve their rights.

�How long did it take to compile thework into a book?

The book was conceptualisedover many years and it was out of myinterest in the life and work ofMahatma Gandhi.

� What made you believe inmagic?

It all started when I used to goto Harvard Business School withmy father. There, he learnt creativ-ity and innovation from a magi-cian. It was surprising to see howmagic was treated with a complete-ly different perspective outsideIndia. So that changed my thoughtprocess. I always thought magicwas only Abra-Ca-Dabra.

I remember my father onceinvited me to Harvard to watch amagic show. For some reason, Iwas late, which angered me.Negative emotions were runningthrough my mind but a glimpse ofthe magic show changed some-thing in me. Long story short —the magician literally had thepower to take away all the negativ-ity that I had in me. After twohours or so, I did not even realisethat I was angry or sad. I felt likehe had the superpower to just takeaway all woes. I understood thatgood magic had the power to healyou in a certain way. And I thoughtmaybe in this world, somethinglike this is very essential. That’swhen I knew what I wanted to beand ended up becoming a magi-cian.

� How is You’ve Got Magic WithNeel Madhav different from otherexploration shows?

I am very excited. I am over themoon. I am elated. I am trying tofind more words in the dictionaryright now to tell you how excitedI am but I can’t think of many. Ithink it’s high time that magic as

a genre gets accepted. And thistime, it’s accepted by such a greatmedia house. Who could be betterthan Sony BBC Earth? I think it’san amalgamation of all good thingsto make the right potion. It’s thebest of magic, travel, food, culture,history and heritage. It’s a showthrough which most number ofpeople in India and across theworld will be able to exploreIndian heritage and culture in themost magical way.

� What draws you more — thetravel or the reactions of peoplewhile you perform the magic?

I think they go hand in hand.In my experience of travelling,magic is a major part of theinteraction that I do. Alot of communica-tion and conver-sation hap-pens afterthe magic,w h i c ha c t u a l l yacts l ikean iceb r e a k e rb e t w e e nthe audi-ence andme. It breaksthrough thegeneral norm,the thoughtprocesses and the per-ception that someone has.

We look at it through a regu-lar person’s perspective. If a ran-dom person woke up in the morn-ing not knowing that he will see

magic today orhe’s going to expe-

rience something asmagical as that, the

perception of the personis different because if you

take someone off guard, the con-versation just gets better. Itbecomes more real and truer.

� What kind of practice does

magic require? How do you stayon top of the game?

To have expertise at anything,you need practice. If you know youwant to become better than DavidCopperfield, you work hard for it.It’s as simple as that. There are noshortcuts. I wasn’t born with extra-terrestrial powers or this art ofmagic. This is just skin and Ibelieve that in the process of want-

ing to master things, each day is agift to practice and learn more.And every performance is practicein itself. So just keep adding on andon.

� Which was that one locationyou would like to revisit?

All of them. We under appre-ciate our Indian heritage, cultureand history. All the places have

been amazing and I’m the luckiestperson to have experienced somany of them. I have spent the lastsix years of my life travellingacross India and now, I have offi-cially been to all the 29 states inIndia. I have done the most mag-ical things and not so magicalthings — all at once!

� Have you performed your artfor any celebrity or influencer? Ifyes, then how was that experi-ence? And if not, then who wouldyou like to perform for?

My go-to magic effect is defi-nitely to reveal someone’s ATMpin. So whenever I meet a celebri-ty or artiste, that is the first trickI try with them. This obviously hasone and only one reaction where

they call me a ‘deadly guy’ or a‘dangerous guy’. I kind of knowalmost every celebrity’s ATM pinsranging from the Queen of Bhutan,who does not actually have one butshe made it up for the trick, to thePrince of Kuwait and knightedpeople from London. Well, the listgoes on...

� Your favourite trick?As mentioned, I love finding

peoples ATM pins. It’s the creepi-est and fun magic I have ever per-formed on celebrities. It’s interest-ing, keeps people on their toes andalso enough for them to not wantme to dive deeper into the game(Laughs).

(The show premieres on March23 at 10 pm on Sony BBC Earth.)

It was 1995 when Salman Khan and Shah RukhKhan shared screen space together for the first

time in the film Karan Arjun. Whether it was theMere Karan Arjun aayenge dialogue or the songs orthe actors’ performances, the Rakesh Roshan direc-torial became a huge hit for several reasons.

Reminiscing about the film’s 25 year long jour-ney, Salman said: “Karan Arjun was a special film.It is the first time that Shah Rukh and I had cometogether on-screen. I have so many beautiful mem-ories attached to this film. Karan Arjun is a com-plete entertainment package and even 25 years afterits release, fans can sit together with their familiesand enjoy it.”

The film also featured Raakhee Gulzar, Kajol andMamta Kulkarni in the lead roles. Rakesh Roshantoo shared his experience of working on the icon-ic film.

“When I had written Karan Arjun, I knew I hadto write a different kind of a story

from all the work I had done.Reincarnation as a topic wasdoing the rounds since theblack-and-white era but whenI decided to make a film on thetheme but using two brothers,

I faced a lot of criticism andrejection. So, I wrote the

film with a differentlens like that about amother-son bond. Ihad immense beliefin the story andsomehow knewthat my audiencewould feel andbelieve every dia-logue narrated bythe characters. Thereaction the filmreceived then andeven today is still

overwhelming. Thefact that a mother’s dia-

logue like Mere Karan-Arjun aayenge got the status

it has, is all because of theconviction it was deliveredwith. If at that time theyreturned from an unimagin-able place, it would have beenaccepted by the audience.Conviction is the one elementthat is behind the success of themovie and the milestone beingcelebrated today,” Rakeshadded.

As Karan Arjun completed25 years a few months ago, ZeeCinema will air the film to cel-ebrate the milestone.

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��How did you conceptualise thefilm, Sir?

The questions the film asks havebeen with me for almost my entirelife. I was aware of class divisions asa child... While growing up, manyof us need caretakers and we areclose to them but there is always abarrier when it comes to love.

As an adult, I employed womenin my home, women who I grewclose to... There is tremendous inti-macy when one shares a home,though of course it is a bit one-sided.For instance, someone who worksfor you can read your moods, theyknow if you’ve had a bad day, or ifyou don’t eat well, or if a phone callsuddenly changes your demeanour.Perhaps, even though we do notread them carefully but a bond thatdevelops over time.

The presence of two complete-ly disparate worlds within a singlehome is what I find most interest-ing — such different realities andconcerns but a human connection.

I decided to explore it as a lovestory to see how far I could take itand make the two characters moreequal. I feel that when you are in lovewith someone you see the worldthrough their eyes. It happens eas-ily, automatically... and that’s inter-esting as the individuals on eitherside of the barrier want to see eachother’s points of view.

��Is the film inspired by real-lifeinstances? What were the refer-ences that you took?

It is inspired from real-lifeinstances. The details are all fromlife, from my observations of peo-ple, life and society... Let’s say it’s asort of heightened reality.

��What is your definition of love?How do you think our societyunderstands it?

In the film I wanted to exploreideas of love. What is it really, howdo you know it is real, who is theone?

For me, it is about findingsomeone who sees you for who youare and enables you to be all that youcan be. And vice versa. Simply,

someone who brings out the best inyou. And of course, respect is cru-cial as there is no love without that.

��Do you think financial differ-ences or class hierarchy are a bar-rier for love?

I think they act as a barrier,especially, when people stick toprescriptive roles in society —what men and women ought tobe and so on. (Often in our soci-ety we accept it if a man mar-ries a woman who has less butthe opposite is more complicat-ed).

I feel that it’s important tochange your gender in yourhead before taking certaindecisions. I ask myself some-times, would I do this if I wasa man? If the answer isunchanged by gender, Iknow I am on the rightpath but if it changes, thenI have to stop and think.

One can overcomefinancial differences if peo-ple are self-aware and will-ing to actively fight preju-dices, even when itcomes to theones we haveinternalisedin our ownheart.

�� The filmcompels oneto think — weall believe inlove but can wereally love acrossclass? And if we can,how far do youthink one can go?

People canlove across class...Love is a humanemotion and Ibelieve it cantranscend classif we allow itto. The ques-tion is howfree does anindividualfeel with

respect to their fam-ily or society? How

accountable do weneed to be? Thatis a personaldecision.

Also, eachperson hashis/her ownneeds. Forsome, a deepe m o t i o n a lbond is morei m p o r t a n twhile for somea structurallyviable life,where familiesand lifestyles aresimilar. It isagain, a verypersonal choice.

��Most of yourfilms have

revolved arounddifferent dimen-

sions of love...I guess I love love

stories and I believein the transforma-tive power of love.Like I said, whenyou love someoneyou see the worldthrough their eyes,you see differently.That is incrediblypowerful.

�� Given the pandemic ofCoronavirus, which is not goingto go away anytime soon, how doyou think delaying film releasesis going to affect the industry,especially the small budget films?

It’s very hard to say as nobodyknows how long this will take. I amtrying to focus on the positiveaspects. The trailer has received anoverwhelming response, the filmhas been trending on IMDb(Internet movie database) as themost anticipated Indian film. Ofcourse, the release schedule will bevery crowded whenever cinemasopen but I feel Sir… is a film thatis quite different from mainstreamfilms, so we can coexist.

I have spent years on this filmand I will do what it takes to get itto its audience. But right now, I feelthere are bigger issues at stake. Fora lot of people, it’s going to be astruggle to make ends meet or havetwo square meals a day. We needto be conscious of that and try toreach out to the most vulnerablearound us.

��How do you plan to tide overit?

Right now, I am spendingtime with my family and amextremely grateful that we areable to be together. I am trying toenjoy living a slow life... and I amwriting again, which helps me staysane.

Film theaters may be shutteredacross the country and projectsdelayed but there is still the

newly released work of lurid andpulpy goodness from Brian DePalma.

The 79-year-old filmmaker haswritten his first work of fiction, AreSnakes Necessary? a crime novel hepenned with his partner, SusanLehman, a former editor for The NewYork Times. The book, full of snap-py dialogue and sharp knives, bearsplenty of the hallmarks of De Palma.Films are baked into it (the title refersto a book Henry Fonda is seen read-ing in The Lady Eve). MartinScorsese sums it up in a blurb: “It’slike having a new Brian De Palmapicture.”

Just over two weeks ago, I droveout to East Hampton to meet DePalma (the director of Carrie,Scarface, Body Double and Carlito’sWay) at an inn near his and Lehman’sLong Island house.

The conversation spanned hisnew book (a John Edwards-inspiredtale about a senator having an affairwith a young staffer), his grimthoughts about the advent of stream-ing (The industry is eclipsing theartistry) and his plans for a film part-ly inspired by Harvey Weinstein.

An abiding passion for cinemacoursed through De Palma’s reflec-tions. Lately, he’s been soaking upwesterns. The day before, he said, hewatched John Ford’s My DarlingClementine again — a film De Palma,noted, that knew how to shoot ashoot-out.

� Why is Are Snakes Necessary? abook and not a film?

Too many ideas and not enoughtime to make all the films. You writea lot of stuff that never makes it intoa film. With my partner, Susan, wejust basically did it because we hadfun doing it. We had never writtena novel before, neither of us. I hadan idea for a script I had never devel-oped based on the Edwards cam-paign and the girl (Rielle Hunter, thewoman he had an affair with) mak-ing webisodes, those little intimatethings she shot. As I was watching

this happen, being a director, you cansee someone flirting with the cam-era. We started with that.

� Has the straightforward processof fiction writing been a welcomealternative to the struggles of film-making for you? Your last film,2019’s Domino, had financial dif-ficulties and wasn’t released in theUS.

It’s a very sad situation. It wasunder-financed. I was there 100days and shot 30. They weren’t pay-ing anybody and I had a wholebunch of people working for me. Wefinished it. But I was so disenchant-ed with the people who financed it... that I said, “Guys, here it is. Goodluck.” And I didn’t do any publicityfor it.

� Did that sour you on makingmore films?

I had never been in a situationlike that except way back when I firstwas starting to make independentfilms like Sisters, which I think wasbudgeted at $150,000.

� What struck me reading yourbook is how enduring your obses-sions are. Vertigo, for instance,makes a cameo. In the book, it’sbeing remade.

It was a very influential film. Isaw it in 1958 in Vista Vision, Imight add, at Radio City Music Hall,I believe. It left a very strong impres-sion on me, obviously. As I’ve got-ten older and made a lot of films, Ican see there’s always lessons to belearned from Hitchcock the way hesets up certain sequences. AndVertigo is the whole idea of creatingan illusion and getting the audienceto fall in love with it and then toss-ing it off the tower twice. Very, verygood idea.

� Are there any Hitchcock filmsyou don’t like?

I thought the late Hitchcockstuff was not that good. When he gotfinally discovered by the Frenchand all the critics started to writeabout him, that’s when he was in hisdecline, I thought. I don’t think he

ever reached the pinnacle that he didafter Psycho and Vertigo.

� Do you think of your career ashaving a pinnacle?

Sure. I’ve studied directors’careers my whole life. Susan doesn’tlike me to say this, but you get older.You have a very good creative peri-od, but if you’re making decent filmsafter you’re 60, it’s kind of a miracle.

� What’s that pinnacle for youthen?

In my mid-50s doing Carlito’sWay and then Mission: Impossible. Itdoesn’t get much better than that. Youhave all the power and tools at yourdisposal. When you have theHollywood system working for you,you can do some remarkable things.But as your films become less success-ful, it gets harder to hold on to thepower and you have to start makingcompromises. I don’t know if youeven realize you’re making them. Itend to be very hard-nosed about this.If you have a couple of good decades,that’s good, that’s great.

� You must have gotten accus-tomed to your films, years after crit-ical or commercial disappointment,reemerging as cult classics.

You’ve got to believe in thefilms when you make it. The fact thatthe audience didn’t respond to it and30 years later they think it’s a master-piece is always gratifying. Your

instincts were always right. I’ve alwayssaid that the film you make is mea-sured against the fashion of the day.That shouldn’t stop you from tryingto do what you think is correct, whatworks for you.

� Do you think that kind of bold,wide screen filmmaking is stillbeing practised?

The things that they’re doingnow have nothing to do with what wewere doing making films in the 70s,80s and 90s. The first thing that dri-ves me crazy is the way they look.Because they’re shooting digitallythey’re just lit terribly. I can’t stand thedarkness, the bounced light. They alllook the same. I believe in beauty incinema. Susan and I were looking atGone With the Wind the other day andyou’re just struck at how beautiful thewhole film is. The sets, how VivienLeigh is lit, it’s just extraordinary. Ifyou look at the stuff that’s streamingall the time, it’s all muck. Visual sto-rytelling has gone out the window.

� Is that what irks you most abouttoday’s films?

The whole system is changing.You used to go out and make a film.Our generation, we wanted to takeover the studios. Which we did. Ithink what’s so interesting about thegeneration I came up with, they gotvery rich, extremely rich, workingwithin the studio system. Now, we’reinto this endless streaming.Everything has 10 parts and six sea-sons. It’s sort of moved back to theold studio system where the produc-ers and the writers are the king. Thedirectors, who knows who directsone of these things from another?Then you have the whole Marvel uni-verse, which is digital action stuff, allcomputer generated. When I madeMission to Mars and spent a yearworking on these shots with three orfour digital houses — one was work-ing on the ship, one was working onthe smoke, one was working on thedust — I would storyboard a shot andit would keep coming back to me fora year as they added things. The shotsare hopelessly expensive. You say:“What am I doing?” That’s when I

went to Europe and said I can’t makefilms like this anymore.

�Mission: Impossible is up to, what,it’s seventh installment?

Stories, they keep making themlonger and longer only for econom-ic reasons. After I made Mission:Impossible, Tom asked me to startworking on the next one. I said: “Areyou kidding?” One of these isenough. Why would anybody wantto make another one? Of course, thereason they make another one is tomake money. I was never a filmdirector to make money, which is thebig problem of Hollywood. That’s itscorruption.

�Women in your films has alwaysbeen a flash point. Some havecalled your films misogynistic. Thebloody drill-bit scene in BodyDouble is hard to imagine happen-ing today.

That was the film that wasattacked relentlessly when it cameout, but I can’t tell you how manypeople come up to me and talk to meabout Body Double.

�Do you feel time has disprovedthose criticisms?

They always considered I wassomehow a misogynist directorbecause I had women as focal pointsin my thrillers. Well, I’m sorry. I pre-fer to photograph women walkingaround rather than men. (laughs) Ithink some great philosopher oncesaid: The history of movies is of menphotographing women. I’ve alwayssaid: “If I have to follow somebody,I’d rather it be a beautiful woman thanArnold Schwarzenegger.” I’m sorry.

�Scorsese has wondered beforehow many films he has left. What’syour expectation?

I think we’re getting near the endhere. I have a bad knee. WilliamWyler said when you can’t walk, it’sover with. Now, if you write thesebooks, that can use up our creativeimagination. But as long as I can doit, I will do it. But I’m not going tomiss not doing it. (laughs)

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Actor Kartik Aaryan, whomade a splash with his

famous monologue in Pyaar KaPunchnama, his 2011 debutfilm, has come up with anoth-er non-stop one in the wake ofthe coronavirus outbreak. In avideo that the actor shared withhis fans on social media, he usesthe monologue to advise peopleto stay at home in order to limitthe spread of the disease.

His monologue begins with, “Problem? Problem ye hai ki humsab genius hain. Aur kya problem hai! Problem ye hai ki hume kisiki sunni hi nahi hai. Subah shaam Netflix and chill ke sapne dekhnehai, lekin jab do hafte ghar baithne ko mil raha hai, toh hume kaampe jaana hai.” Posting the video, Kartik writes,“#CoronaStopKaroNa. My Appeal in my style. Social Distancingis the only solution, yet.”

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South Indian actor Trisha, also aUNICEF brand ambassador, took to

social media to share an advisory againstthe pandemic. In a video that the actressposted in Tamil and English, she informsher followers about ways to avoid contact-ing the virus, which includes the basicssuch as washing hands with soap and con-tacting the medical helpline if the symp-toms begin to show.

“Novel coronavirus or COVID-19can be stopped. Together we can do it,” shesaid. In 2017, Trisha Krishnan became thefirst south-Indian to be bestowed with theUNICEF celebrity advocate status.

� 2/��� 3,

The 73rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been postponedin the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. The festival organisers

issued a statement, confirming the delay in the gala, which was ini-tially scheduled to take place in May.

“At this time of global health crisis, our thoughts go to the vic-tims of the COVID-19 and we express our solidarity with all of thosewho are fighting the disease. Today, we have made the following deci-sion — The Festival de Cannes cannot be held on the scheduled datesfrom May 12 to 23. Several options are considered in order to pre-serve its running, the main one being a simple postponement, inCannes, until the end of June to beginning of July 2020,” the state-ment read.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, on March 8, the French gov-ernment banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people to limitthe spread of the disease. —IANS

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It was supposed to be arecord 22-race world cham-pionship but with seven

Grands Prix already either post-poned or cancelled, FormulaOne in 2020 has become ashorter, tightly-packed and eco-nomically challenging sprintfor the title.

The season-opener inAustralia and F1’s iconic Rivierashowpiece in Monaco havebeen axed.

Races in Bahrain, Vietnam,China, Netherlands and Spainhave also been shelved but withorganisers still hoping to shoe-horn them into a breathlessfinale once the threat of thecoronavirus had subsided.

A season which shouldhave started in Melbourne onMarch 14 will now not startuntil Azerbaijan on June 7 — atthe earliest.

“It’s super complicated toredo a calendar because youdon’t know when everythingwill be operational,” FredericVasseur, the team principal ofthe Alfa Romeo F1 team, said.

“You need to have a globalvision. England is not too affect-ed at the moment but it couldbe when Italy is less affected,” headded in reference to the twocountries which play host tomost of the teams in the worldchampionship.

There are still 15 races lefton the schedule before the con-cluding race at Abu Dhabi onNovember 29.

Last weekend, Ross Brawn,the sporting director of F1,said he was optimistic of a “17-18 race” championship.

However, that was when

only Australia, Bahrain,Vietnam and China had beendropped.

On Thursday, the DutchGrand Prix, slated to make itsreturn to the calendar for thefirst time since 1985 on May 3,and the Spanish event, set forMay 10, were postponed.

The Monaco GP, an annu-al showstopper since 1955 andset for May 24 this year, wascancelled completely.

‘UNCHARTERED TERRITORY’“We are in unchartered ter-

ritory. I’m pretty optimistic thatwe can have a good 17-18 racechampionship or more,” Brawntold Sky Sports.

“I think we can squeezethem in. But it depends onwhen the season can start.”

There is wriggle room.The traditional three-week

summer shutdown in Augusthas been scrapped to bereplaced by a 21-day break inMarch and April while the rac-ing season hunkers down.

The championship nowbecomes a frantic six-month

sprint rather than a nine-monthmarathon.

To rescue the calendar,there is an option of two racesorganised on the same weekend.

“It’s possible,” said Brawn,eyeing the three weeks betweenthe Hungarian Grand Prix onAugust 2 and at Spa in Belgiumon August 30.

“One thing we have alsobeen talking about is two-dayweekends, and therefore if wehave a triple header with two-day weekends, that could be anoption.”

F1 experimented with threeraces in a row in 2018 but sup-port was lukewarm from teamswho sweated over staff fatigue.

“I think what we need fromthe teams this year is flexibili-ty, I think they’ve got to givesome scope to do these things,”added Brawn.

“Because we are in veryunusual circumstances, andwe’ve got to make sure we’ve gota season that gives a good eco-nomic opportunity for theteams.

“For sure we’re going to

have a quiet start. I’m sure theteams will be flexible to allowus to fit those things in.”

More than ever, bank bal-ances and income will be key in2020 as teams and organisersgrapple with the implications ofa shorter, crammed season.

“The costs are not necessar-ily much lower if you do 18races rather than 22,” saidVasseur.

“Also, our income will beless — we do fewer races, wewill have less commercialrights.”

����� 7 ����&���

French defender AymericLaporte has urged his

Manchester City teammates tokeep up their home trainingroutines during their self-isola-tion — but admits he cannotstop thinking about the club’spossible exclusion from theChampions League.

The 25-year-old is present-ly recovering from a hamstringproblem, the latest in a litany ofinjuries that has limited him toeight appearances this season.

City’s players have had tostay at home and been giventraining plans since the reign-ing Premier League championsclosed the training ground fol-lowing British governmentadvice on Monday to avoid allnon-essential travel and con-tact.

“That’s (personal trainingschedule) the best thing foreveryone, that we do it everyday,” Laporte said, quoted inThe Times on Friday.

“They trust in you andyou have to be professional. Youhave to follow what they sayand we have to be responsiblein this case. “When we returnto normality, when we starttraining again outside, we haveto be ready.”

Premier League chiefs onThursday fixed a plannedresumption of domestic footballfor April 30. Britain has onlyjust begun to take the samerestrictive measures as otherEuropean countries to fightthe pandemic. Laporte saidCity players had been advisedto adhere to the guidance onavoiding social contact.

“We have the same proto-col as has been given out in allcountries: stay at home as muchas possible, don’t go out in thestreet, don’t shake hands withanyone,” said Laporte.

Laporte said he was wor-ried about City’s ban fromEuropean football for two yearsfor breaching financial fair-play rules, although the club hasappealed to the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS).

“We are waiting for a finaldecision,” said Laporte “We aregoing to see what happens nextseason.

“Obviously it would hurt usa lot if we aren’t in theChampions League next season.

“I am very happy here atManchester City. I am enjoyingmy football here. We are doinggreat things here. In the last twoyears we have won eight tro-phies.”

� �� ������

Star Australian opener David Warner has reported-ly decided to pull out of England Cricket Board’s The

Hundred league as it is clashing with national team’slimited overs series against Zimbabwe.

According to Australian website WAtoday, Warner’smanager James Erskine said that the decision has gotnothing to do with prevailing COVID-19 pandemic thathas caused a global lock-down of cricketing activities.

“David Warner has pulled out of the Hundred inwhat could be the first of multiple withdrawals fromEngland’s new franchise league by international play-

ers as the coronavirus pandemic grips world sport,” thewebsite reported.

Warner at a fee of GBP 125,000 was the highest paidplayer for the 100-ball-a-side spectacle which was setto be held from July 17 to August 15.

“His decision to withdraw from the competitionwas unrelated to the COVID-19 outbreak, his manag-er James Erskine said as he confirmed the move onFriday,” the report further stated.

Erskine on Thursday had said that Warner will beplaying IPL if the COVID-19 pandemic is under con-trol and the league gets rolling after April 15, the timetill which the league has been suspended.

-���� �A New Zealandcricketers and support staffmembers have gone into a 14-day self-isolation period afterreturning from their abortedAustralia tour, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand Cricket con-firmed that all 15 players andsupport staff members whoreturned from Sydney last week-end have gone into lockdown athome as per the government’sdirective. “They [Black Capsplayers and touring staff] haveall gone into self-isolation,” NewZealand Cricket’s public affairsmanager Richard Boock toldstuff.Co.Nz

“We’ve passed on all thedetails about what self-isolationmeans and as far as we knowthey’re all following it strictly,” headded. New Zealand werescheduled to play three ODIsand as many T20s but theChappell-Hadlee series wascalled off after just one ODI,which was held without specta-tors. PTI

�-� '���A Former India captainSunil Gavaskar believes the BCCI hastaken the right decision to suspendthe 13th edition of the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) amid the ongoingcoronavirus outbreak.

“The decision by the BCCI tosuspend the IPL till April 15 is a laud-able one. The health and safety of anation are more important thansport and it’s wonderful that the usu-ally much-maligned BCCI has putthat before anything else,” Gavaskarwrote in a column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar also said that the fateof the IPL depends upon how quick-ly the spread of coronavirus is con-trolled in the country.

“Whether the IPL will be playedat all depends on how quickly thespread of COVID-19 is controlled.Till April 15 overseas players won’tget a visa so it may take a bit longerfor the tournament to take off.Foreign players bring a differentflavour to the tournament and addto the excitement, so it’s important to

have them,” he said.The former Indian skipper also

lashed out at a BCCI official for thesuggestion that they did not want IPLto be like a Mushtaq Ali tournamentwithout the participation of foreignplayers.

“Having said that, for a so-calledtop BCCI official to comment that‘the BCCI has to ensure the qualityof the game is not poor. We did notwant a Mushtaq Ali tournament,’ isan incredibly insensitive statement ifindeed it is true,” wrote Gavaskar.

“Firstly, it’s insulting to the greatman after whom the tournament isnamed and secondly begs the ques-tion that if it’s such a ‘poor’ tourna-ment, then why have it at all? Also,can light be shed on why the quali-ty of the tournament is poor? Surelyit’s not simply because there are nointernational players in it, but alsobecause there are no Indian interna-tionals in it! That is a scheduling issuethat the BCCI has to look at,” headded. IANS

������A Former Pakistan captain andcurrent bowling coach Waqar Younis saidthat he won’t mind putting his papers ifhe is unable to deliver set targets.

Waqar, who has a three-year contractwith the Pakistan Cricket Board said hewould review his own performance asbowling coach after a year.

“I will be reviewing myself after ayear and let me make it clear, if I feel Iam not good enough for the job and I amnot doing justice to it I will resign andleave myself,” he told a YouTube channelCricketBaaz.

“It is not as if because I have a three-year contract I will hang around. I havesome set targets in mind and I want tohelp and groom the young fast bowlers.

“The way I look at it my plan is pre-pare a settled bowling attack for testcricket and keep a rotation policy for thewhite ball formats. Where we adopt a

horses for courses policy. Pick those whoare in form for us.”

He said so far he was satisfied aftertaking over as bowling coach lastOctober.

“We have got some exciting youngfast bowlers like Shaheen Shah, NaseemShah, Muhammad Hasnain and we arelooking at more talent. That does notmean I will ignore those who had donewell in domestic cricket.” PTI

������A Pakistan Cricket Board is confident ofgaining profit from the Pakistan Super Leaguedespite the T20 competition was suspended atthe semi-final stage.

According to official sources, the PCB is setto make profits from four major commercialdeals, including broadcasting and digital media.

“We will earn more compared to the fourprevious editions because majority of thematches (in earlier editions) had to be held inthe UAE where we generally had low crowds andcommercial deals were also not very profitable,”a source said.

“The losses will come from four matchesbeing held behind closed doors in Karachi andLahore but the gate money receipts are minimalcompared to the profits we will make from com-mercial, sponsorship and broadcasting deals.”

The PSL was on Tuesday suspended after thePCB revealed that a foreign player showed symp-toms of the dreaded COVID-19. The PCB hadalso shortened the league by four days consid-ering the worsening coronavirus situation butwas forced to call it off on Tuesday.

One source said 24 off the 30 matches heldbefore the semi-finals and final were full hous-es in Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachiand gate money earnings were very good.

“But yes, some matches were hit by badweather and reduced overs but we will still makegood profits from the PSL this time despite fourmatches being held in empty stadiums,” he said.

He also said the Board would refundmoney to ticket holders of the semi-finals andfinal. PTI

� �� 5��5 � �

PK Banerjee, a footballing colos-sus of his time and a raconteur for

life, died here on Friday aged 83, hav-ing dribbled and dazzled for a goodpart of his mind-boggling 51 yearsof service to the game.

He was suffering from respira-tory problems due to pneumonia andhad an underlying history ofParkinson’s disease, dementia andheart problem. Banerjee, who was onlife support at a hospital here sinceMarch 2, breathed his last at12:40pm.

Born on June 23, 1936 inMoynaguri on the outskirts ofJalpaiguri in West Bengal, Banerjee’sfamily relocated to his uncle’s placein Jamshedpur before partition.

The 1962 Asian Games Gold-medallist’s best days as a playercoincided with Indian football’sgolden era. He scored 65 internation-al goals in 84 appearances for thenational team.

His contribution was duly recog-nised by FIFA which rated him asIndia’s greatest player of the 20th cen-tury, bestowing him with theCentennial Order of Merit in 2004.

From his debut for Bihar in theSantosh Trophy as a 16-year-old in1952 to a stint as MohammedanSporting coach 51 years later,Banerjee takes leave as one of India’s

greatest.A member of the holy trinity,

that also included Chuni Goswamiand Tulsidas Balaram, Banerjee wasthe last surviving scorer of the 1962Asiad Gold-winning team.

Another one his bright momentswith the national team was a fourth-place finish at the 1956 Olympics,where India beat Australia 4-1.

In the final of the 1962 Asiad,India prevailed in front of a hostilecrowd angered by chef de mission

Guru Dutt Sondhi’s remark that itwas ‘Jakarta Games’, for barringcountries like Taiwan and Israel.

Banerjee scored the opener inthat game.

He was captain of the Indianteam that last played the Olympicsin Rome 1960.

He retired as a player in 1967after being laid low by recurringinjuries. But then went on accumu-late a staggering 54 trophies as acoach.

He pulled off a heist as MohunBagan coach when they famouslyheld New York Cosmos 2-2 in anexhibition match starring Pele in1977.

The star of Indian football whenthe sport was at its peak, Banerjeenever played for Mohun Bagan andEast Bengal, representing EasternRailways all his life.

A FIFA-certified coach, Banerjeehad a coaching career as illustriousas his playing one, beginning withBata SC and Eastern Railway.

Having struck gold as a player,a young 35-year-old Banerjee wasmade a joint India coach with G MBasha, and they delivered a Bronzeat the Bangkok Asiad in 1970.

Within a year at the helm,Banerjee guided India to a joint tri-umph at the Singapore Pesta SukanCup in 1971.

East Bengal won five CFL titleson the trot under his tutelage.

He also delivered at MohunBagan, guiding them to a treble —IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and DurandCup — in 1977.

He was coach of the MohunBagan that famously held the thenSoviet Union team, Ararat Yerevan,in the 1978 IFA Shield final.

Back at East Bengal, Banerjeeoversaw their famous 4-1 win overthe arch-rivals in the 1997 FederationCup semifinal.

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Formula One’s drivers willbattle it out in an Esports

Virtual Grand Prix series in abid to give fans their racing fixwhile the season is delayed bythe coronavirus.

Formula One chiefs areaiming to start racing inAzerbaijan on June 7, but to fillthe void for now the sport hasasked current F1 drivers to playa racing game featuring as-yetunnamed celebrity guests.

“Featuring a number ofcurrent F1 drivers, the series hasbeen created to enable fans tocontinue watching Formula 1races virtually, despite the ongo-ing COVID-19 situation thathas affected this season’s open-ing race calendar,” a statementsaid.

“The first race of the serieswill see current F1 drivers lineup on the grid alongside a hostof stars to be announced in duecourse.

“In order to guarantee theparticipants safety at this time,each driver will join the raceremotely.”

F1 drivers Max Verstappenand Lando Norris took part intwo separate virtual races lastweekend following the cancel-lation of the Australian GrandPrix.

The races will be run for 28laps for around 90 minutes andwill take place at the same timeas the postponed Grands Prixwould have occurred.

The events start this week-end with the Virtual BahrainGrand Prix run on the official2019 F1 video game.

Viewers will be able totune in via YouTube, Facebookand Twitch with a qualifyingsession to determine the gridpreceding the race itself.

Results will not counttowards the F1 world champi-onship, but the plan is to runthe virtual tournament untilreal racing can return.

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Indian footballer N BalaDevi, the first to sign a

contract with Scottishwomen’s Premier League clubRangers, has been forced toextend her stay with the teamin Glasgow owing to the trav-el restrictions forced by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The 30-year-old strikerdoes not have professionalcommitments right now afterthe Premier League was post-poned till April 30 owing tothe COVID-19 pandemic. Buther return to India has alsobeen stalled after the govern-ment on Thursday barred allincoming international flightsfrom March 22 to 31 to tack-le the deadly outbreak.

“There are no matchesnow as the league has beenpostponed and will start onApril 30. But even if she want-ed to go back home, the flightsfrom UK to India have beenstopped two days back,” BalaDevi’s agent Anuj Kichlu said.

“So she can’t go backhome, she will remain train-ing there, there is no otherway out. We will see the situ-ation. If the league re-starts onApril 30, she can stay thereand play.

“But if it does not startand is postponed again, wehave to see what to do or if anyflight is available at that timeand decide accordingly,” headded.

Devi was a captain ofIndia’s Gold-medal winningteam at the South AsianGames last year. She scored 16goals in five matches.

����� ��*� ��

Real Madrid striker LukaJovic apologised on

Thursday after travelling toSerbia and breaking self-isola-tion rules put in place to limitthe spread of coronavirus.

Jovic claims he was givenpermission to fly to his homecountry of Serbia by RealMadrid, who went into quar-antine last week after one of theclub's basketball players testedpositive for the virus.

But after arriving inBelgrade, according to Spanishnewspaper AS, the 22-year-oldwas "seen on the streets of thecapital, celebrating the birthdayof his girlfriend".

The local press in Belgradehave reported that Jovic wasvisited by police, although it isnot clear whether charges willbe brought against him.

"First of all, I am very sorrythat I am the main topic (ofdebate) these days, and I amsorry that people are con-stantly writing about me andnot about the main protago-nists in the fight against thiscrisis, who are the doctorsand all those who work inhealthcare," Jovic wrote onsocial media.

"In Madrid, my Covid-19test was negative. So I decidedto travel to Serbia, to help andsupport our people, in additionto being close to my family,with the permission of myclub.

"When I arrived in Serbia,they gave me the test and itcame out negative. I am verysorry that some people havenot done their job profession-ally and have not given me spe-cific instructions on how Ishould behave during my iso-lation.

"In Spain it is allowed to goto buy food or buy products inpharmacies, which does nothappen here (in Serbia). I apol-ogise to everyone if in any wayI have hurt or put someone indanger. I hope that together wecan overcome all this."

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The Olympic flame arrived inJapan on Friday to a muted

reception, what should havebeen a joyous celebration dra-matically scaled down due tothe coronavirus pandemic.

The flame landed on a spe-cial charter f light intoMatsushima Air Base in Miyagiprovince, chosen as part of the“Recovery Olympics” to show-case the region’s revival after the2011 earthquake, tsunami andnuclear meltdown.

Former JapaneseOlympians Saori Yoshida andTadahiro Nomura collected theflame from the aircraft and tookit to a cauldron in the shape ofa cherry blossom on a stage infront of selected guests.

But some 200 local childrenthat were due to welcome theflame were kept away as part ofwhat organisers called the“heartbreaking” decision topare back events as the worldbattles the virus.

After a speech by chieforganiser Yoshiro Mori, theformer Olympians lit the caul-dron with the torch, alsodesigned to represent Japan’scherished cherry blossom.

“Children had planned towelcome the Olympic flame,but we decided to scale it down,

giving priority to their safety,”Mori said.

The actual torch relaybegins on March 26, startingfrom the J-Village sports com-plex in Fukushima that wascommandeered as a base byworkers scrambling to containthe fall-out from the nuclearmeltdown.

“The Olympic flame relayis the biggest event ahead of theOlympics. It is very importantfor us to carry it out at any cost,”said Tokyo 2020 CEO ToshiroMuto ahead of the ceremony.

But organisers have beenforced to scale back whatshould have been a key event toraise awareness and excitementahead of the July 24 openingceremony.

While spectators areallowed to watch from theroadside, fans have been urgedto “avoid forming crowds”, withorganisers warning there couldbe a change of programme inthe event of “excessive conges-tion”.

Daily arrival and departureceremonies are closed to thepublic and all torch-bearers willhave their temperatures takenbefore participating in the relay,which is scheduled to visitevery part of Japan on a 121-day journey before enteringTokyo.

����� � &��*���

International Olympic Committee pres-ident Thomas Bach said it would be“premature” to postpone the Tokyo

Games but admitted the body was “con-sidering different scenarios” as the coro-navirus pandemic advances.

The IOC will act on advice from itsown taskforce and the World HealthOrganization, Bach told the New YorkTimes, after a week when the IOC hasweathered criticism over its response tothe crisis.

But he remained optimistic aboutholding the Tokyo Olympics on schedulefrom July 24 to August 9, and said therewas no question of cancelling the Gamesaltogether.

“Of course we are considering differ-ent scenarios, but we are contrary to manyother sports organizations or profession-al leagues in that we are four-and-a-halfmonths away from the Games,” Bach said.

“For us, (postponement) would not beresponsible now and it would be prema-ture to start speculation or make a deci-sion at a time when we do not have anyrecommendation from the task force,” headded.

Speculation has been growing over theGames, scheduled to start on July 24, afterthe COVID-19 outbreak closed sportscompetitions around the world, andparalysed many countries along withinternational travel.

Olympic qualifiers are among thetournaments affected, with 43 percent ofathletes yet to book their spots. But Bachsaid the situation was still too uncertainto make a decision about Tokyo.

“What makes this crisis so unique andso difficult to overcome is the uncertain-ty. Nobody today can tell you what thedevelopments are tomorrow, what they arein one month, not to mention in morethan four months,” he said.

“Therefore it would not be responsi-ble in any way to set a date or take a deci-sion right now, which would be based onthe speculation about the future develop-ments.”

Athletes lashed out at IOC advice thisweek to continue training “as best theycan” but Bach said health considerationswere “first and foremost”, adding “the deci-

sion of the IOC will not be determined byany financial interest”. “For us, while notknowing how long this tunnel will be, wewould like the Olympic flame to be a lightat the end of the tunnel,” he said.

Despite remaining hopeful of startingthe Games on time, Bach said the IOC’srisk-management policies and insurance“will make it possible for us to continueour operations and organize futureOlympic Games”.

“The IOC has no cash-flow problem,”he added, when asked about the potentialproblem of broadcast payments not arriv-ing in July.

The IOC has not said anything on thismatter, only repeating that it has confi-dence in the “success” of the event. It isnot surprising given that any prevarica-tion or uncertainty might lead to a dip inticket sales and could also affect athletepreparation.

Dick Pound, the former head of theWorld Anti-Doping Agency, who is anIOC member, is one of the few to havepopped his head above the parapet. "Atsome point, whether it's two months outor one month out, somebody is going tohave to decide ‘Yes’ or ‘No’,” Pound said lastmonth.

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Weightlifting’s Olympicqualifying schedule has

gone haywire due to the Covid-19 pandemic but India’sMirabai Chanu is a sure-shotfor the Tokyo Games, if they areheld, while young JeremyLalrinnunga is also set to makethe cut for the mega sportingspectacle.

Former world championChanu currently occupies thirdplace in the women’s 49kgworld rankings following thecancellation of the AsianChampionships, the lastOlympics qualifying event ofthe continent due to the coro-navirus outbreak.

She has taken part in fiveevents out of the six mandatedin the new qualification rules.

In a meeting of theExecutive Board of theInternational WeightliftingFederation held on March 17-18 via video conference, theworld body has made somerecommendations to theInternational OlympicAssociation (IOC) regardingthe Olympic qualifying events.

One of the key recom-mendations, sources said, mayclose the qualification processas all the five continental cham-pionships were cancelled.

This would mean theOlympics qualification slotswill be decided based on thecurrent world rankings. TheIOC will, however, take a finalcall on the recommendations ofthe International WeightliftingFederation.

“Mirabai is certain to thequalify for the Olympics, she iscurrently at third spot in theworld rankings. The top eightfrom the world rankings afterthe end of the qualificationperiod automatically qualifiesfor Tokyo Olympics,” IndianWeightlifting FederationSecretary General Sahdev

Yadav said.“She has competed in five

qualifying events but the sixthone, the Asian Championshipsin Tashkent was cancelled. Ithink there will be no morequalifying events and the worldrankings is set to be based onwhat it currently is.”

Under the new rules, toqualify for the Tokyo Olympics,a weightlifter must compete inat least one event in each of thethree periods of six months(spread over November 2018 toApril 2020), at least six eventsoverall and in at least one goldand silver-level event.

The 25-year-old Chanu hasnow collected 3869 Robi points— the IWF’s official calculationmethod — to be placed thirdbehind Hou Zhihui (4703) ofChina and Ri Song Gum (4209)of North Korea.

Regarding the 17-year-old Jeremey (men’s 67kg),who won a Gold in 62kg inthe 2018 Youth OlympicGames, Yadav said, “In theOlympics, there will be 14competitors in each weightcategory, men and women.Besides the top eight from theworld rankings, the top rankerfrom each of the five conti-nents will also qualify. Jeremyis at the top of Asian rankingsand if the international feder-ation’s recommendations areaccepted by the IOC, he willalso qualify.”

Jeremy is at the top ofAsian rankings with 3119Robi points, far ahead of sec-ond-placed MohammedAlmazyadi Nawaf (2672) fromSaudi Arabia. He is set for hismaiden Olympics.

The last slot will be fromthe host country, if that coun-try (Japan) has not qualifiedfrom this method. But if aweightlifter from the hostcountry has qualified, the lastslot will be given through thetripartite commission process.

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The COVID-19 pandemichas isolated her from the

world outside but iconic Indianboxer M C Mary Kom says theforced slowdown of life asusual has also redefined themeaning of freedom for her.

Mary Kom has self-isolat-ed at her Delhi residence sincereturning from the this month’sAsian Olympic Qualifiers inJordan where she booked her-self a second Olympic berth.

The precautionary mea-sure was necessitated by atraining trip to Italy beforelanding in Jordan even thoughthe entire Indian team gotCOVID-19 negative certifi-cates from the IOC.

“I am chilling, doing myexercises, taking care of my fit-ness and playing with my chil-dren after being away fromthem for almost one month,”Mary Kom said.

“That’s the best part ofthis isolation, I am with my

family through the day withouthaving to think of anything. Myappeal to everyone is don’tpanic, try and stay at home ifyou can and spend time withyour family,” she said.

“In my case, I have felt asense of freedom with this iso-lation. I have realised that I amnot feeling the stress of a dailyschedule right now.”

A five-time Asian champi-on besides being a Gold-medallist at theCommonwealth and AsianGames, Mary Kom would becompeting in her last OlympicGames if it goes ahead asscheduled in July-August inTokyo.

“I don’t think the Gameswill be postponed or cancelled.It is too huge an event to beshifted just like that. It willcause chaos. In any case, it’s notin my hands. So, it’s better Idon’t say much,” she said.

But will the current situa-tion, in which travel restrictionsby most countries have nearlybrought the world to a halt,have a bearing on her prepara-tions for Tokyo?

“Some planning isrequired. I haven’t yet made upmy mind, Training here is alsopretty smooth. There is noth-ing missing. We will see howthe situation is in the next cou-ple of weeks before deciding onwhether going outside is anoption,” she explained.

“Till then, everyone pleasestay at home and don’t forget towash your hands,” she laughed.

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Australia’s swimmers aremore concerned about a

level playing field than ruling thepool at the Olympics.

Due to travel bans, isolationrequirements and other issuesthousands of athletes still haven’tqualified for their events.

“We are still preparing forthe Olympics and Paralympicsto the best of our ability but weabsolutely understand that for alot of our peers and colleaguesthis isn’t the reality anymore, asit may not be for us soon,”Swimming Australia said in arelease co-signed by head coachJacco Verhaeren on Friday.

“We hope the IOC and(Paralympic organizers) are con-sidering everything they can toensure that there is a level play-ing field, with athletes being able

to perform in healthy condi-tions.”

The key theme? It would befairer to postpone the Olympics.

Swimming has been a reg-ular source of medals at theOlympics and world champi-onships for Australia, wherethe climate, location and rela-tively high number of Olympic-size pools is an advantage, butnot an insurmountable one.

“At the heart of the Olympicand Paralympic competition isthe notion of fair play — a valuewe hold very close, and we donot want that to be compro-mised,” the statement continued.“We know athlete preparation isbeing severely compromised.Friendship and solidarity areimportant Olympic andParalympic values and we standwith you in this time of uncer-tainty.”

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