· 9 hours ago · move to resume domestic flight, ... reached 1,30,658 with over ......

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A head of the resumption of domestic flights from May 25, the Maharashtra Government on Saturday said it will not allow air travel till the end of the month even as the Governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Assam, Mizoram and the administra- tion of Jammu & Kashmir have released mandatory quar- antine protocols for the air trav- ellers. Maharashtra’s decision will be big blow to the Centre’s move to resume domestic flight, also because Delhi- Mumbai is considered to be the business route in India. The Maharashtra Government has said the lock- down remains till May 31 and accused the Centre of “arbi- trarily” making the decision to allow domestic flight opera- tions without holding any con- sultation with the State. It said that the State need- ed time to decide on the Standard Operating Protocols (SOP) over air travel. A senior official said that outside airport, everything becomes state gov- ernment’s responsibility, hence we can’t take any risk. Tamil Nadu has also urged the Centre to reconsider the reopening of air travel citing a surge in coronavirus cases in Chennai and non-functioning public transport, which will trouble passengers commuting between the airport and the city — a distance of around 10 kilo- metres. Goa has requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to permit coronavirus antibody testing for passengers upon their arrival. Maharashtra is also planning to test all visitors. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday made it clear that an unnecessary “fuss” was being made over quarantine of domestic air travellers. Puri said he did not understand the need to quarantine domestic air passengers once flight opera- tions start from next week if they have downloaded the Government’s contract-tracing app Aarogya Setu and the sta- tus on it shows green (negative). New Delhi: India will try to restart good percentage of international passenger flights before August, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said, three days after announcing resumption of domestic flights from May 25. While various States like Karnataka and Maharashtra announced their respective quarantine measures for pas- sengers coming there through domestic flights, the Minister said there was no need for quarantine if a passenger is showing green status on Aarogya Setu app. I ndia’s coronavirus tally reached 1,30,658 with over 6,300 new cases and the Government deciding to focus on 11 municipal areas like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Nashik which have report- ed 80 per cent of the total cases in the country. Sikkim reported the first case as a 25-year-old student, who returned from Delhi, test- ed positive. Data from various States registered 6,054 new Covid-19 patients while the death toll stood at 3,720. The Health Ministry has said mortality rate in Covid-19 cases in is 3.06 per cent as against the global rate of 6.65. A total 5,864 new cases were reported from across the coun- try while 2,168 people went to home after being recovered. Meanwhile, Dr JN Pande, Director at the Pulmonology Department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, died of coro- navirus on Saturday, just a day after a mess worker succumbed to the infection. T he Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh remains tense with three stand-offs including one in Galwan valley. Local Army commanders from India and China have held at least three rounds of talks in the last one week, but to no avail. Against this backdrop, Army Chief General MM Naravane visited Leh on Friday to take stock of the situation. Efforts are also on to resolve the issue through diplomatic means. Northern Command chief Lt General YK Joshi and 14 Corps chief Lt General Harinder Singh briefed the Army chief about the situation. T hree days after super cyclone Amphan hit Bengal, the Army was called out to assist the State Government to normalise life in Kolkata and neighbouring areas, sources in the State Home Department said. The Army acted within hours and deployed five columns at various places pri- marily to clear off the major thorough fares clogged by uprooted trees. It will, however, help in restoration of other facilities like drinking water and power supply too, sources said. T he Railways has drawn up a schedule to operate 2,600 Shramik Special trains over the next 10 days across the country to ferry around 36 lakh migrant workers, stranded due to the Covid-19 lockdown, to their home States, Chairman of the Railway Board VK Yadav said on Saturday. It has run 2,600 Shramik Special trains in the last 23 days carrying around 36 lakh stranded migrants, he said, adding 1,000 ticket counters have been opened across India and more will be opened soon. “We have operated 260 Shramik Special trains every day on an average for the last four days, carrying three lakh passengers daily,” Yadav said. To a question on fares of the special trains to be operat- ed from June 1, the Railway Board chairman said the rail- ways was charging pre-lock- down normal fares only. He reiterated that 85 per cent of the expense of Shramik Special trains is being borne by the Centre and the states are only paying 15 pc in the form of fares. Responding to a letter sent by the West Bengal government seeking stalling of all migrant trains to the state till May 26 due to Cyclone Amphan, Yadav said it was due to a natural calamity and things will be back to normal soon. H undreds of passengers travelling in Shramik Express staged protest and blocked the busy Delhi-Howrah rail route on Deen Dayal Upadhaya Station (earstwhile Mughalsarai) when they realised that the train was diverted to wrong route. Similar protest was witnessed when passengers complained to unhygienic con- dition in train and non-availability of water and food. “The authorities are treating us like ani- mals. They do not know the route and made the train to pass through wrong route,” Manish Rai, a passenger said. Around 1,200 passengers were travelling in a Shramik Express from Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) to Muzzafarpur (Bihar). On May 21 mid-night the train was stopped at the outer signal of the Pt Deen Dayal Upadhaya (PDDU) station. When it did not move for six hours, the passengers realised there is some mis- take. “Actually the train was diverted to a wrong track. As the train was to go to Muzaffarpur it should have been diverted to Varanasi instead it was diverted towards PDDU station in Chandauli district,” Manish said. D elhi recorded 23 more deaths in past 24 hours due to Covid -19, taking death toll in the national Capital to 231 on Saturday. In a bulletin issued on Saturday, the Delhi Health Department said the death toll from coronavirus has risen to 231 and the total number of cases mounted to 12,910. T he State Government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, is putting in myriad efforts to fight against Coronavirus (Covid-19) infec- tion. The Government is main- ly focusing on immunity boost- ing of people. Social distanc- ing is also being followed and also keeping in mind providing facilities for the public. At the quarantine centers the Government is providing nutri- tious food daily so that people can increase their immunity. In this regard, regular monitoring of the quarantine centers is also being done by the Deputy Commissioners in various dis- tricts. A large number of migrant labourers are coming back from other states. In this con- text, through social policing, the government is reaching the people and making them aware. Work is also being done to make people aware to pre- vent coronavirus infection. It is not possible to prevent it unless people are aware of the infection. For this, the village head, Mukhiya, Anganwadi Sevikas, Sahayikas, watchman, school committee, teacher etc. are engaged in the work of making people aware of the coronavirus infection, it's pre- vention and the safety mea- sures from door to door in their villages. Recently, new TrueNat machines have been installed in various districts of the State for the testing of coronavirus. The installation of this machine has accelerated the process of testing. The government is taking good care of the health of the infected person, due to which the death rate in the state is 0.93 per cent as compared to the whole country, while the recov- ery rate is 42.10 per cent. To increase immunity in people, Ayurvedic immunity booster decoction has been prepared by District AYUSH Office, Gumla with a mixture of 4 main ingredients. This ayurvedic immunity booster will help in preventing coronavirus infection. Consuming this decoction 2 to 3 times daily can increase the immunity. The ingredients used in the mixture such as basil, cinna- mon, dry ginger and pepper- corns have many medicinal properties which can prevent from coronavirus as well as many diseases like cough, cold. In the coming days, this Ayurvedic decoction will also be made available to all the labourers and other people in Covid Care Centers and Quarantine Centers of the dis- trict and all the government and non-government offices in the district. A t least 20 new cases of Covid-19 infection sur- faced in Jharkhand on Saturday from four districts, health offi- cials said. Out of the 20 cases, as many as 11 are from Koderma, they added. "20 suspects tested positive for Covid-19 today (Saturday). Two of them are from Ranchi and 11 from Koderma," said Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni. "Most of the cases are that of migrant workers who returned home," he added. However, no new cases were reported from Hindpiri – the only large containment zone in Jharkhand, said health officials. Hindpiri, which was the hotspot of Covid-19 in Ranchi, now has only one active case. According to fig- ures with the National Health Mission (NHM), at least 141 Covid-19 patients have recov- ered in Jharkhand so far. There are as many as 205 active cases in State as reported on Saturday late evening. More than half of the 350 people infected by Covid-19 virus so far in Jharkhand are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years – a trend that highlights how young people were as prone to the virus as their older coun- terparts, health officials said. Out of the 350 cases, 181 are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years and 129 in rhe age bracket of 31 to 50 years, an NHM report said. Most of the migrant work- ers testing positive forCovid-19 are also under the age of 40 years, said an NHM official. As many as 179 migrant workers have tested positive in Jharkhand since May 5 – a trend that highlights how the return of migrant workers was turning out to become a reason for spurt in cases, health offi- cials said. The Government has so far collected samples of 52,972 Covid-19 suspects from across the State, and less than 350 of them have tested positive. Out of the 20 cases reported on Saturday, 11 are from Koderma, two from Ranchi, three from East Singhbhum and four from Simdega, the NHM report said.

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Ahead of the resumption ofdomestic flights from May

25, the MaharashtraGovernment on Saturday saidit will not allow air travel till theend of the month even as theGovernments of Kerala,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Karnataka and Assam,Mizoram and the administra-tion of Jammu & Kashmirhave released mandatory quar-antine protocols for the air trav-ellers.

Maharashtra’s decision willbe big blow to the Centre’smove to resume domesticflight, also because Delhi-Mumbai is considered to be thebusiness route in India.

The MaharashtraGovernment has said the lock-down remains till May 31 andaccused the Centre of “arbi-trarily” making the decision toallow domestic flight opera-tions without holding any con-sultation with the State.

It said that the State need-ed time to decide on the

Standard Operating Protocols(SOP) over air travel. A seniorofficial said that outside airport,everything becomes state gov-ernment’s responsibility, hencewe can’t take any risk.

Tamil Nadu has also urgedthe Centre to reconsider thereopening of air travel citing asurge in coronavirus cases inChennai and non-functioningpublic transport, which willtrouble passengers commutingbetween the airport and the city— a distance of around 10 kilo-metres.

Goa has requested the CivilAviation Ministry to permitcoronavirus antibody testingfor passengers upon theirarrival. Maharashtra is alsoplanning to test allvisitors.

Union Civil AviationMinister Hardeep Singh Purion Saturday made it clear thatan unnecessary “fuss” wasbeing made over quarantine ofdomestic air travellers. Purisaid he did not understand theneed to quarantine domestic airpassengers once flight opera-tions start from next week ifthey have downloaded theGovernment’s contract-tracingapp Aarogya Setu and the sta-tus on it shows green (negative).

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New Delhi: India will try torestart good percentage ofinternational passenger flightsbefore August, Civil AviationMinister Hardeep Singh Purion Saturday said, three daysafter announcing resumptionof domestic flights from May25. While various States likeKarnataka and Maharashtraannounced their respectivequarantine measures for pas-sengers coming there throughdomestic flights, the Ministersaid there was no need forquarantine if a passenger isshowing green status onAarogya Setu app.

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India’s coronavirus tallyreached 1,30,658 with over

6,300 new cases and theGovernment deciding to focuson 11 municipal areas likeAhmedabad, Mumbai, Puneand Nashik which have report-ed 80 per cent of the total casesin the country.

Sikkim reported the firstcase as a 25-year-old student,who returned from Delhi, test-ed positive. Data from variousStates registered 6,054 newCovid-19 patients while thedeath toll stood at 3,720.

The Health Ministry hassaid mortality rate in Covid-19cases in is 3.06 per cent asagainst the global rate of 6.65.A total 5,864 new cases werereported from across the coun-try while 2,168 people went tohome after being recovered.

Meanwhile, Dr JN Pande,Director at the PulmonologyDepartment at the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), Delhi, died of coro-navirus on Saturday, just a dayafter a mess worker succumbedto the infection.

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The Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Ladakh remains

tense with three stand-offsincluding one in Galwan valley.Local Army commanders fromIndia and China have held atleast three rounds of talks in thelast one week, but to no avail.Against this backdrop, ArmyChief General MM Naravanevisited Leh on Friday to takestock of the situation. Effortsare also on to resolve the issuethrough diplomatic means.

Northern Command chiefLt General YK Joshi and 14Corps chief Lt GeneralHarinder Singh briefed theArmy chief about the situation.

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Three days after supercyclone Amphan hit

Bengal, the Army was calledout to assist the StateGovernment to normalise lifein Kolkata and neighbouringareas, sources in the StateHome Department said.

The Army acted withinhours and deployed fivecolumns at various places pri-marily to clear off the majorthorough fares clogged byuprooted trees.

It will, however, help inrestoration of other facilitieslike drinking water and powersupply too, sourcessaid.

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The Railways has drawn upa schedule to operate 2,600

Shramik Special trains overthe next 10 days across thecountry to ferry around 36 lakhmigrant workers, stranded dueto the Covid-19 lockdown, totheir home States, Chairman ofthe Railway Board VK Yadavsaid on Saturday.

It has run 2,600 ShramikSpecial trains in the last 23 dayscarrying around 36 lakhstranded migrants, he said,adding 1,000 ticket countershave been opened across Indiaand more will be opened soon.

“We have operated 260Shramik Special trains everyday on an average for the last

four days, carrying three lakhpassengers daily,” Yadav said.

To a question on fares ofthe special trains to be operat-ed from June 1, the RailwayBoard chairman said the rail-ways was charging pre-lock-down normal fares only.

He reiterated that 85 percent of the expense of ShramikSpecial trains is being borne bythe Centre and the states areonly paying 15 pc in the formof fares.

Responding to a letter sentby the West Bengal governmentseeking stalling of all migranttrains to the state till May 26due to Cyclone Amphan, Yadavsaid it was due to a naturalcalamity and things will beback to normal soon.

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Hundreds of passengers travelling in ShramikExpress staged protest and blocked the busy

Delhi-Howrah rail route on Deen DayalUpadhaya Station (earstwhile Mughalsarai)when they realised that the train was divertedto wrong route. Similar protest was witnessedwhen passengers complained to unhygienic con-dition in train and non-availability of water andfood. “The authorities are treating us like ani-mals. They do not know the route and made thetrain to pass through wrong route,” Manish Rai,

a passenger said.Around 1,200 passengers were travelling in

a Shramik Express from Vishakhapatnam(Andhra Pradesh) to Muzzafarpur (Bihar). OnMay 21 mid-night the train was stopped at theouter signal of the Pt Deen Dayal Upadhaya(PDDU) station. When it did not move for sixhours, the passengers realised there is some mis-take. “Actually the train was diverted to a wrongtrack. As the train was to go to Muzaffarpur itshould have been diverted to Varanasi insteadit was diverted towards PDDU station inChandauli district,” Manish said.

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Delhi recorded 23 moredeaths in past 24 hours

due to Covid -19, taking deathtoll in the national Capital to231 on Saturday.

In a bulletin issued onSaturday, the Delhi HealthDepartment said the death tollfrom coronavirus has risen to231 and the total number of cases mounted to12,910.

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The State Government led byChief Minister Hemant

Soren, is putting in myriadefforts to fight againstCoronavirus (Covid-19) infec-tion.

The Government is main-ly focusing on immunity boost-ing of people. Social distanc-ing is also being followed andalso keeping in mind providingfacilities for the public. At thequarantine centers theGovernment is providing nutri-tious food daily so that peoplecan increase their immunity. Inthis regard, regular monitoringof the quarantine centers is alsobeing done by the DeputyCommissioners in various dis-tricts.

A large number of migrantlabourers are coming backfrom other states. In this con-text, through social policing,the government is reachingthe people and making themaware. Work is also being doneto make people aware to pre-vent coronavirus infection.

It is not possible to preventit unless people are aware of theinfection. For this, the villagehead, Mukhiya, AnganwadiSevikas, Sahayikas, watchman,school committee, teacher etc.are engaged in the work ofmaking people aware of thecoronavirus infection, it's pre-vention and the safety mea-

sures from door to door in theirvillages.

Recently, new TrueNatmachines have been installed invarious districts of the State forthe testing of coronavirus. Theinstallation of this machinehas accelerated the process oftesting.

The government is takinggood care of the health of theinfected person, due to whichthe death rate in the state is 0.93per cent as compared to thewhole country, while the recov-ery rate is 42.10 per cent.

To increase immunity inpeople, Ayurvedic immunitybooster decoction has beenprepared by District AYUSHOffice, Gumla with a mixtureof 4 main ingredients.

This ayurvedic immunitybooster will help in preventingcoronavirus infection.Consuming this decoction 2 to3 times daily can increase the immunity.

The ingredients used in themixture such as basil, cinna-mon, dry ginger and pepper-corns have many medicinalproperties which can preventfrom coronavirus as well asmany diseases like cough, cold.In the coming days, thisAyurvedic decoction will alsobe made available to all thelabourers and other people inCovid Care Centers andQuarantine Centers of the dis-trict and all the governmentand non-government offices inthe district.

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At least 20 new cases ofCovid-19 infection sur-

faced in Jharkhand on Saturdayfrom four districts, health offi-cials said. Out of the 20 cases,as many as 11 are fromKoderma, they added.

"20 suspects tested positivefor Covid-19 today (Saturday).Two of them are from Ranchiand 11 from Koderma," saidHealth Secretary Nitin MadanKulkarni. "Most of the cases arethat of migrant workers whoreturned home," he added.

However, no new caseswere reported from Hindpiri –the only large containmentzone in Jharkhand, said healthofficials. Hindpiri, which was

the hotspot of Covid-19 inRanchi, now has only oneactive case. According to fig-ures with the National HealthMission (NHM), at least 141Covid-19 patients have recov-ered in Jharkhand so far. Thereare as many as 205 active casesin State as reported on Saturdaylate evening.

More than half of the 350people infected by Covid-19virus so far in Jharkhand are inthe age bracket of 11 to 30 years– a trend that highlights howyoung people were as prone tothe virus as their older coun-terparts, health officials said.Out of the 350 cases, 181 are inthe age bracket of 11 to 30 yearsand 129 in rhe age bracket of31 to 50 years, an NHM reportsaid.

Most of the migrant work-

ers testing positive forCovid-19are also under the age of 40years, said an NHM official. Asmany as 179 migrant workershave tested positive inJharkhand since May 5 – atrend that highlights how the

return of migrant workers wasturning out to become a reasonfor spurt in cases, health offi-cials said.

The Government has so farcollected samples of 52,972Covid-19 suspects from across

the State, and less than 350 ofthem have tested positive. Outof the 20 cases reported onSaturday, 11 are from Koderma,two from Ranchi, three fromEast Singhbhum and four fromSimdega, the NHM report said.

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Much before theinfamous gamcha wasbrought in trend by

the Prime Minister NarendraModi to cover the nose andmouth during the COVID-19pandemic, Teeka Ram wasalready flaunting one. A lose t-shirt paired up with a jeans, agamcha and a pair of chappalswith a smirky smile on face,Teeka Ram is among one of thefavourite characters from &TV’smuch loved show Bhabhi JiGhar Par Hai.

Meet Vaibhav Mathur akaTeeka, a born artist who from hisschool days knew that hispassion lies in acting. “I comefrom a kayasth family, whereeducation is of utmostimportance. My father is fromthe agricultural industry and mymother is a lecturer, so I wasexpected to become a scholar,which I did but I was notinclined towards taking theconventional career path. Sincemy childhood, I was intodrawing and painting. Myteachers predicted that I will dosomething different. However, Ididn’t have any idea what will itbe, back then,” Mathur tellsyou.

Mathur’s acting careerstarted as early as he was inschool. “I was in Class XII whenmy father told me that I shouldthink of pursuing my craft. Hetold me that theatre was pickingup pace and I could try myhands in that. I gave it a thoughtand enrolled myself into a dramaacademy. I went on doingtheatres for around 12 years andthen thought of shifting toMumbai to earn a living. There,I had my struggle days and aftersome time I started getting adsand then got a few shows. Thisis how my acting journeystarted,” he tells you.

Mathur, before doingBhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai, was alsoa part of F.I.R. both of which aredirected by Shashank Bali.

“I share a good rapportwith Shashank sir. Though, mypart in F.I.R. was not that big andI entered the show very late butI enjoyed doing it. Once thatshow got over, I told Shashanksir that I would like to be a partof his future projects as well. Heassured me that he would reach

out to for the same. Aftersometime, I got a call from himasking what was I upto thesedays. I told him that I amlooking for work. He asked meto come and meet him for a role.I knew that he was coming upwith something great onceagain.

Once I met him, he told methat I am playing a tantrik andI have to showcase my skills tothe best. I enacted the same andhe was convinced. Then heoffered me to play Teeka, aroadside loafer and I was all setfor it,” Mathur recalls.

He tells you that he neverthought that the character wouldgain such fame. “I had neverimagined that Teeka wouldbecome a household name. I amoverwhelmed with theaudience’s response. The otherday I met a fan who told me thathe had named his childrenTeeka and Malkhan, becausethey are extremely naughty. It feltgreat. It is good to know that

people are respecting you inwhichever way and recognisingyou. I am glad that the characterhelps them have a good laugh,”he says.

An actor is all aboutimprovising and adding minutedetails in his character and thatis what Mathur abides by.“Whatever role I play, I makesure that I give it a twist. I try toadd certain elements in thecharacter. For Teeka, as well,from day one I tried to evolvethe character as much. Also, ourdirector Shashank Bali wasconfident that whatever I will dowith the character will onlyenhance it.

The script is undoubtedlyvery well-written, however wehave got the space to add someextra mirch-masala. Take forexample, when Teeka laughswhile covering his mouth withgamcha. It is all natural. Thereare people that do that. It is likehe is trying not to mocksomeone directly but in a

satirical way. He usually doesthis when Tiwari ji or Vibhuti jigets insulted, so he enjoys that,”he tells you.

When you play such roles— a roadside romeo — therecomes extra responsibility to notgo over the top and hurt theaudience’s sentiments. “Thecharacter Teeka, though a loafer,is written and portrayed withutmost responsibility. There’sdecency in him. This characteris not fictional, it is there in everynook and corner of the society.However, I try my best to notcross the line. For example,when Teeka and Malkhan try toimpress a girl, the girl slaps themand walk away. The two,automatically start singingromantic songs, just to suggestthey are not taking it on theiregos. They are similar to gali’sloafers who can never hurt theirneighbours,” he says.

Mathur says that he hadalready worked with most of theactors in F.I.R and that it did helpto maintain the chemistry in thisshow as well. “I have workedwith Yogesh Tripathi (who playsHappu Singh) and also SaanandVerma (who plays Saxena ji)before. Though we didn’t havetoo many sequences together butyes we know each other well.This helps in building thechemistry and improve thecomic timing,” he says.

He tells you that theatmosphere on the sets caneasily be figured out watchingthem on screen. “The workingenvironment is as lively. Weenjoy as much as we do onscreen. Everyone pour in theiracting skills. There are senioractors too on the sets, so wemaintain mutual respect butwe have a lot of fun. If theworking environment is notgood or as comfortable you willnot be able to do as good oncamera,” Mathur says.

He adds that he will neverturn away a similar role becauseit has earned him all the nameand fame. “This role is close tomy heart. And if in future I willbe offered similar roles, I wouldnever say no. But as an actor, itis my responsibility to explorenew characters and new genres.So my focus will be on tryingdifferent things,” he says.

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3�� ������������������4��(��������5�����5���(������� ����� �������� ����&������+����3���6���(�7�&������������� �,�����4������� � ������8 ��9 �������� 7����������� 4��� �9����&3�2:2�&�&1:��,������ ��������9������9� ������������4��(�5�������� ����� ������� How did you cope with the lockdown?

It was good. Spent a lot of timewatching series and movies. Readingbooks and spending time with my wife.When you are on the sets, you don’t getenough time to be with each other. I reada lot of motivational and biographies. I justcompleted reading Tuesdays With Morris.I read The Laws of Spirit World, How toWin Friends and Influence People and ThePower of Positive Thinking. So, yes, a lot ofbooks on mental well-being given that weneed it these days.� From TV to films, how did thathappen?

After Ramayan, I had started gettingfilm offers. But the projects were small.Most actors in a hurry take wrongdecisions. While I wanted to do a film buthad decided that it would be with a bigproduction house. Meanwhile, I continuedto do TV and reality shows many of whichI had won. This gave me name and fame.More people in the industry noticed meand I got Khamoshiyan, a Mahesh Bhattand Mukesh Bhatt produced film inassociation with Vishesh Films.� TV actors don’t always manage tomake it big. Why?

It is difficult to predict thesethings. There are no set rules. This willeither make or break your film career.If one were to say that a big TV actorcan’t make a career in films would bewrong. Shah Rukh Khan is a case inpoint. I just feel it is important towork with good producers. A goodproducer always insists on beingassociated with a good project andpromotes it properly. Whether afilm is a hit or a flop is a differentstory, what is important is thatyour work is appreciated and youprove that you are a good actor.� TV, films or web series, whatwould you prefer?

It has always been my dreamto be a 70 mm screen and bewatched with millions of people.There is a high that comes with it.I love films. But today, OTTplatforms have become popular aswell and are content-driven, thereare plenty of opportunities here too.If a good project comes my way, Iwould take it up.� Has content-driven andentertainment combo opened moreavenues?

Definitely. It is good for the industrythat makers are experimenting. If a filmhas a combination of entertainment andcontent, people will love it. Also, suchmovies are doing well today and making

people come up with better and biggerconcepts which the production houses arewilling to invest it.� Ramayan is being re-telecast onDangal TV, what makes mythologiespopular?

We have to understand that our epicsare extremely popular and teaches us lifelessons. Parents want their child to be amodel citizen. These epics help inculcategood values. In

many households, people read these on aregular basis but some can’t manage.Watching serials is a good option.�What was your reaction when you wereoffered to play Ram?

I was doing a series in the Southplaying a villain. Debina Bonnerjee wasalso in the show. I was young when the rolecame to me; I was 21. People told me thatin order to get good roles, one had to lookmature and older. I had a beard andsported slighted long hair. When theoffer came, I thought I would do a betterjob as a villain. In South, they need well-built men. I was all muscle. To play a hero— Ram, I was not convinced since I wasnot sure how I would look clean-shave. Butwe did a mock shoot, I realised that Iwould fit the role.� Has there been any take away lessonsfrom playing Lord Ram?

I was lucky that it was in my first show.My schooling started from there. It notonly taught me how to act, but also how

to be a good man. Ramayan kept megrounded. Before I got this show, therewere days of struggle. When I got therole, I was humbled. � Did you envision that MaanSingh Khurana would become sopopular?

I never realised that this wouldhappen. Ramayan had given me somuch fame. People would comeand touch my feet and offermoney. Before this, everyone whohad done mythology wastypecast. Once the show got over,I was only getting roles to playGod. But I would refuse. I toldmyself that I was an actor andwanted to do diverse roles. It wasa challenge for me to do a dramaand was hell bent on doingGeet… to get a break. But thechannel would keep rejecting meby saying I was Ram.

The producer insisted. I hadgiven over 10-15 auditions. Then

we decided to give a try and thechannel loved it. The minute theshow went on air, it gave me instant

stardom. The character became sucha rage. The serial helped me getnoticed and I got films due to Maan

Singh Khurana.� What next?

Just before the lockdown, I was doingThe Wife for Zee Studio. Till now, I hadbeen part of projects with two heroes.Here, I play a solo lead. There is a lot ofresponsibility. But due to the lockdown, weare now busy posting small videos onsocial media with a message in them.

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No, the Americansweetheart is nolonger in front of the

camera to guide yourhomecoming through theweb of mystery that hookedyou forever in the last season.But she is producingHomecoming 2, the AmazonSpecial series that returned toviewers with the same net ofsubtle but engaging dramathat come in the list of goodsuspense thrillers.

Julia’s role is consummatelytaken over by a less known butno less impactful Janelle Monaewith expressive eyes and abewitching smile whenever shegets out of the compellingsituation she is in, which is rare.

The 2.0 pace is set right atthe beginning and it takes justthe first shadowy shot of awoman waking up on a boatfloating over a desertedwaterbody clinging to even

more deserted forest land. Shespots a man on the shore buthe scoots the moment she callsfor help. She has no memory ofwho she is and why she hasfound herself in such a diresituation.

That’s enough for you toforget about whining aboutthe absence of Julia Robertswho helmed Season 1 toremarkable consequences. Themystery is so well and tightlyknit that the purposeful intentof drawing the viewer fromepisode to episode comesacross as one of the most subtleslow-moving, almost invisibleploys to keep the desperatecuriosity on.

That it takes over fourepisodes to start stitching theconclusion in your mind,speaks of a good footnote in themystery genre but the fact thatmost would be rearrangingtheir conclusions as the storyunfolds makes Homecoming 2a viable option, even if you hadnot been homebound due tothe dreaded Coronavirus.

Monae finds herself in anunenviable position with no

friends and apparently manyhidden foes as her militarytattoo stares her back from thearm with some suspectinjection marks. Is she really anair force veteran? Is she thevictim of a place called Giestwhere she is being secretly ledto? Or is it altogether a storythat defies calculations? Musttune in to watch, even if it is notan intrigue fueller that thisriveting series is actually anadaptation of a podcast,something that hooked JuliaRoberts to such extent that thebig star of the big screendecided to play thepsychologist on a job to counselmilitary vets.

In Homecoming 1, Geistwas the shady organisationgiving amnesia pills to peopletroubling the Government. InHomecoming 2, it does notlose its status of being thedeadly troublemaker but allthat comes with a twist.

There are side stories too,though very intricately woveninto the main plot. For more,there’s always Amazon Primewaiting for you.

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Recognising growing demand for action-thriller movies inIndia, global content leader Lionsgate Play premiered 2019

hit Primal in India on May 22,2020 under the popular Fridayblockbuster series. Primal, directed by Nick Powell and starringNicolas Cage, Famke Janssen, Kevin Durand and othersreceived positive reviews from cinephiles. Viewers can watch thisfilm on partnered telecom platforms of Lionsgate Play —Vodafone Play, Airtel Xstream, Idea Movies and TV.

The film revolves around Frank Walsh is a skilled big-gamehunter specialising in rare and dangerous species. He has recentlycaught an extremely rare white jaguar in the rain forests of Braziland now expects to sell it to a zoo for a fortune. Frank books aship to deliver the jaguar along with other animals to the U.S.However, authorities also need the ship to transport a notoriouskiller who must be brought to trial, and who, for medical reasons,cannot be transported by plane. On the way to the U.S., thecriminal frees himself and releases dangerous animals andvenomous snakes.

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Hindpiri, Ranchi's largestcontainment zone, which

became the hotspot of COVID-19 in the capital, has only oneactive case of the viral infectionnow, Sub-divisional Officer(SDO) Lokesh Mishra said onSaturday. Various agencies aresurveying the locality to see ifthe area of containment can bereduced, he added.

"Around 3000 householdsmay fall out of the containmentzone after the survey," saidMishra. "We are surveying thearea and screening people forCOVID-19 symptoms. Theprocess should be complete intwo days," he added.

Lokesh said that the districtadministration may also allowover-the-counter sale of sweetsin the city. However, restaurantswill only be allowed to providehome delivery, he added."Sweet shops will be allowed tosell products online as well as

over-the-counter. But restau-rants will only be allowed toprovide home delivery," saidMishra.

Also, Ranchi is now aCOVID-19 orange zone,Deputy Commissioner RaiMahimapat Ray said onSaturday. Out of the 15 activecases in the district, at least 10are migrant workers whoreturned home from otherCoronavirus-affected States,Ray added. "At least 112 casesof COVID-19 infection havebeen reported in the district sofar, and 95 of these patientshave recovered," he furthersaid.

Ranchi was declared aCOVID-19 red zone lastmonth by Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare in thewake of the rapidly rising countof infected people here. WithRanchi losing the red zone tag,Jharkhand now has 21 orangezones and three green zones,said health officials. The districtwill become a COVID-19green zone if no fresh cases ofthe viral infection are reportedin the next 21 days, they added.

Ranchi was the only COVID-19 red zone in Jharkhand so far.

At least four more COVID-19 patients recovered in Ranchion Saturday, said Ray. Ranchihas shown the fastest recoveryrate of patients in Jharkhanddespite having to face an

unprecedented surge in caseslast month and being home toHindpiri – the only large con-tainment zone in the State.

The doubling rate ofCOVID-19 infection has alsogone up in Ranchi from 3.5 afew days ago to 57.92, said the

Deputy Commissioner.Doubling rate, according to theWorld Health Organisation(WHO), is the time taken forthe the number of cases to dou-ble. This means that earlier thenumber of COVID-19 casesdoubled here in 3.5 days, and

now the count doubles in 57.92days, officials said.

The COVID-19 testing ratein Ranchi is also higher thanrest of the country, said Ray.The rate of testing in India is205 per 1 lakh population,whereas in Ranchi it is 285 per1 lakh population, he said.More than 10,000 COVID-19tests have been conducted inRanchi so far, and the case pos-itivity rate here is 1.8 per cent,added Ray.

The first case of COVID-19 in Jharkhand was reportedfrom Hindpiri in Ranchi onMarch 31. Since then, the local-ity emerged as a hotspot of theviral infection, officials said. A22-year-old Malaysian woman,who attended the TablighiJamaat congregation in NewDelhi, is said to be the first car-rier of the virus in the district.She was apprehended alongwith 17 other foreign nationalsfrom Hindpiri in March. Twoof them –the Malaysian womanand a man from Trinidad– test-ed positive, health officialssaid. Later, the woman testednegative, they added.

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In the wake of the exceptionalmeasures to maintain peace

and security on the occasion offestival of Eid-Ul-Fitr, RanchiDistrict Administration has madespecial security arrangements inacross the District. Eid -Ul- Fitrwill be celebrated on May, 25.

Despite the relaxationsannounced in the fourth phase oflockdown, religious and otherlarge gatherings are still banned.

Ranchi Superintendent ofPolice (SP), Sourabh informedthat extra police force will bedeployed at busiest and sensitivesites in the City and rest parts ofthe District to maintain peaceand traditional brotherhood onthe occasion of Eid. "In a moveto prevent gatherings at reli-gious and busiest places theDistrict Administration willdeploy a large numbers of policeforces," he said.

The SP said that the talks aregoing on with the religious lead-ers to convince the people to offerprayer from their home so thatthe global epidemic caused byCoronavirus could be prevented.The people will have to follow allnorms of social distancing while

celebrating the festival and thetalks are also going on with theleaders to convince people in thisregard, he added.

"Round-the-clock policepatrolling has also been intensi-fied for maintaining full securi-ty across the District at all othersmall and major places and vil-lages across the area. The Policeforce has been put on high alertand vigilance to ensure foolproofsecurity arrangements at thebusiest shopping centers and theplaces of worships - the Mosquesof all sects besides the openplaces across the District," said

Sourabh.Keeping in view of the lock-

down measures community lead-ers and clerics have stepped in tourge people to stay off-streets.General Secretary of AnjumanIslamia Ranchi, Mokhtar Ahmedsaid that at this time, the only wayto prevent Coronavirus is socialdistancing only until there is nomedicine.

Ahmad has appealed to peo-ple to try to take precaution toavoid Kovid-19 like they havebeen treated till now. Due to theCorona crisis in the Country, thelock-down has been extended forthe fourth time till May 31, so ithas been decided not to offer Eidprayers in Idgahs and Mosquesunder Anjuman Islamia and theCentral and the StateGovernment also forbade this, headded.

"During the lock-down, wedid not offer any Namaz, includ-ing Namaz of Juma, at themosques. Even the last Juma ofthe month of Tarawih andRamadan, which is said goodbye,is that the Namaz was not recit-ed in mosques and people offeredZohar prayers in their homesinstead of Zuma prayers," saidAhmad.

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Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey on Saturdaytargeted the previous BJP Government

and said that the skill development pro-gramme of the State Government was a fraudand that should be investigated. He also wrotea letter in this regard to Chief Minister toorder a probe by any government agencies.

Tirkey said that in the name of place-ments through skill development theGovernment duped unemployed youths ofthe State, currently thousands of themtrapped in lock-down due to the spread ofCorona virus in various states.

Hitting hard on previous Government ledby BJP, Tirkey said that first of all theGovernment had assured them that theyouths would get Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 hono-rarium in the other states like Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra sent themthere as bondage labourers and during thelockdown their condition is very pitiable.Even they don't have food and money theCompany owners are preventing them totheir home return and the owners are forc-ing to work due to which many of thembecame ill he added.

Tirkey said that 30 to 35 thousandunemployed youths of the State wereemployed as bonded laborers in the name ofemployment and registered their names in the"Limca Book" with the help of false figures.

Meanwhile, the Congress ReliefMonitoring Committee congratulated the

Food Supply Minister Rameshwar Oraon forproviding free food, water to thousands oflaborers by starting the Dal-Bhat KendraScheme for migrant laborers, students and allothers on the National Highways.

On the personal expense of CongressGeneral Secretary, Ahmad Patel manymigrant laborers reached their home inGiridih from Gujraat.

State Congress Spokesperson AlokKumar Dubey said that this result is due toOraon's visionary thinking that the poor,helpless laborers were getting water and food.He said that only one train was made avail-able while the Chief Minister made writtendemands of hundreds of trains to bring backlakhs of workers of Jharkhand and also askedfor permission to bring students, laborersfrom places like Andaman and NicobarIslands.

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Atotal of eight agendas werediscussed in the Ranchi

Municipal Corporation (RMC)standing committee meetingon May 23. The meeting waschaired by the Mayor AshaLakra. Deputy Mayor SanjeevVijaywargiyaa, MunicipalCommissioner Manoj Kumar,Deputy MunicipalCommissioner Shankar Yadavand Rajnish Kumar along with10 ward councilors were alsopresent.

The Mayor first congratu-lated the frontline warriors asRanchi entered the orangezone. “In the fight againstCovid- 19 it is a great achieve-ment that Ranchi has nowentered the orange zone and itwill soon be in the green zoneas well. Taking this opportuni-ty, I would like to congratulatethe officials and cleaners ofRMC, district administration,health workers, police person-nel and media professionalswho have been fighting thisbattle as Corona warriors.Prime Minister Narendra Modihas guided the country verywell in following social dis-tancing norms,” said Lakra.

In the meeting it wasdecided that in case of con-tracting the disease all medicalexpenses will be borne by thecivic body for all contractualworkers and daily wage earn-ers of RMC including cleaners, drivers, MPS,MTS in charge and zonalsupervisors among others. Incase of death, an amount of 10lakh would also be granted tothe dependents.

Owing to the outbreak ofCovid-19, for the financial year2020- 2021 the last date ofdepositing holding tax has alsobeen extended from June 30 toJuly 31 and no penalty chargeswill be levied.

An amount of Rs 11 croregranted by the State govern-ment under civic amenitiesfund has been allotted to thevarious ward councilors for theyear 2020- 2021 which will beused for maintaining the lights,drains and other civic ameni-ties by them.

“RMC has been asking thegovernment funds for waterand presently the body has nosuch funds. Keeping this mind,an amount of Rs 1.5 crore fromthe civic amenities fund hasbeen transferred for the main-

tenance and repair of previ-ously installed HYDT, MiniHYDT and hand pumps byRMC,” said the Mayor.

It was also approved that anamount of Rs 1 lakh would begranted to the spouse of thedeceased temporary workerJitendra Kumar who lost his lifeduring the pandemic.

In the meeting it was alsodecided that a letter would beaddressed to the Chief Ministerregarding the proposal made bythe Deputy Mayor on holdingtax paid by the general publicfor the financial year 2020-2021. The letter will state thatthe tax should be waived off forhouses which are spread over

an area of less than 1000 squarefeet where as for houses spreadover more than 1000 squarefeet, it should be reduced to 50per cent.

“The final decision on thisproposal will only be taken ifthe State government agrees tobear the expenses and onlyafter that will it be implement

by RMC,” added Lakra.The official further urged

the populace of Ranchi toadhere to social distancingnorms and not step out of theirhouses until necessary as onlythen will Ranchi come in thegreen zone.

The residents can contactthe civic body on any issuesrelated to cleanliness and san-itation on the toll free number9431104429.

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The residents of Jharkhandwill feel the heat in the

fourth week of May as mercurylevels are likely to soar high.

The maximum tempera-ture across the State is alsoexpected to rise above normalconditions from May 24onwards.

Due to the super cycloneAmphan, during the last fewdays the temperature levelswere low with the maximumtemperature being recorded atabout 12– 16 degree Celsiusbelow normal.

Presently, as per the seasonnormal weather conditions willprevail across the State. Theweather will continue to remaindry with slight chances of rain-fall in scattered places in thecoming days.

From May 24 to May 26,scattered places in north eastJharkhand may witness lightshowers. Scattered places incentral, north east and southeast are likely to receive lightrainfall on May 27.

It is also being predictedthat isolated places in northeast, south east, south, northwest and central Jharkhandmay receive light showers on

May 28 and May 29.“The temperature is grad-

ually increasing across the Stateand the maximum temperaturewill be a few degrees above nor-mal espically in the north westregion. In the State capital toothe temperature will touch the40 degree mark on May 23.Since the Tropic of Cancercrosses Ranchi, temperaturein Jharkhand will be on thehigher side till around June 20.In the next few days, the max-imum temperature inDaltonganj, Garhwa andChatra can even go upro 44- 45degree Celsius,” said DeputyDirector, MET Centre Ranchi,Abhishek Anand.

According to the bulletinreleased by the MeteorologicalCentre on May 23, in the last24 hours, the highest maxi-mum temperature was record-ed in Daltonganj at 42.3 degreeCelsius which is 1.3 degreeabove normal. Ranchi wasrecorded at 2 degrees above normal at 38.4 degreeCelsius.

As per the communiquéissued, from May 24 to May 27,the maximum temperature inRanchi and its surroundingareas will be at 40- 41 degreeCelsius.

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Following protests fromMuslim community over

an objectionable post in socialmedia by one Putul Singh ofParsudih, the police adminis-tration has issued strong warn-ing over such posts. The mem-bers of the community havebeen staging demonstrationseeking action against the cul-prit.

“Recently there have beencases of social media poststhat have disturbed the social

fabric of our city. We have putsuch posts under scanner forEid. We want people to follownorms and do not hurt reli-gious sentiments by any kind ofpost,” said a police official

SSP, East Singhbhum, MTamil Vanan has said thatsocial media will be underscanner due to recent spread-ing of rumours via varioussocial media platforms on theoccasion of Eid.

He said that in the recentpast several incidents tookplace in the city due to rumours

spreading on networking sites.This time the police will ensurethat such messages are putunder scanner and those foundguilty are taken into task. Astrict vigil will be kept on suchsites. He also released an appealto the citizens requesting themnot give air to any suchrumours.

Administration has alsodecided to deploy around 600strong force of district policeaccompanied by Rapid ActionForce (RAF) jawans at strategiclocations in communally sen-

sitive pockets of city especial-ly in Mango, Sakchi, Jugsalai,Shastrinagar (in Kadma),

Dhatkidih (in Bistupur), MasjidRoad (in Golmuri) andBhalubhasa (in Sitaramdera).

Pickets would be postedand round the clock patrollingdone to maintain law andorder, he said, adding peacecommittee meetings have beenheld with various communities,who have assured cooperationfor peaceful observance of thefestival.

The lockdown has resultedin many changes in Ramadanthis time. With markets closedand meat supply hit due to theCOVID-19-induced lockdown,Muslims are in for a Ramzanwithout their favourite kebabs

and other chicken and muttondishes.

The religious heads haveappealed to Muslims to offernamaz during Ramzan at theirhomes and follow lockdownguidelines to prevent the spreadof COVID-19.

“Since rituals are being fol-lowed at home, no one venturesout in the market places. Weused to sell kebabs and biryaniin the past, but things are dif-ferent this time,” said an ownerof takeaway centre.

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After being arrested byCriminal Investigation

Department, JharkhandCooperative Bank's Saraikelabranch manager ShushilKumar Satpathy was sent toSeraikela divisional jail after hewas produced before a judicialmagistrate on Saturday.

Satpathy (57) who wasaccused of scam over Rs 37crores of the bank's money wasarrested by CID at Bistupur onFriday afternoon.

Deputy superintendent ofpolice (CID) Animesh Guptasaid beside Sapathy, there areseven other accused in two sep-arate cases registered with theSeraikela thana in August 2019after the matter came to forthfollowing an audit in August2019 . Later the cases had beenreferred to the CID.

" We are investigating thescam. In one of the cases,Satpathy, who is presently sus-pended from the bank granti-ng an amount of Rs 32.8 croresto a businessman SanjayDalmia without valid docu-ments. In this case, Dalmia isalso accused but is presently onbail. In another case, six otherJharkhand Cooperative Bankofficials beside Satpathy andDalmia are accused of embez-zling Rs 4.4 crores of the bankmoney," said Gupta. The DSP(CID) pointed out they arrest-ed Satpathy after collecting allnecessary evidence.

BERMO: A 23-year-old mar-ried woman in Bokaro districtwas allegedly beaten up andparaded by her communitymembers over an illicit rela-tionship with a village man.

According to police in-Charge of Kathara OP, B.P.Singh, a 23-year-old woman wasallegedly beaten up and parad-ed half-naked by the membersof the Mahila Samittee of hercommunity for being in lovewith a man from another atChapi village under Katharapolice station Jharkhand'sBokaro district here on Fridayevening.

A video of the incident,which took place on Friday, sur-faced on social media onSaturday. ASP, AnjaniAnjan,Bermo took cognisanceof the incident and issued anotice to the police station,asking them to have the matterprobed and send the panel adetailed report.

An ASP also spoke to theTenughat police officials andasked them to ensure safety ofthe woman while seeking anexpeditious probe into the mat-ter. The police was informedthat no one person could havebeen taken into custody in thismatter and the police is search-ing for miscreants, the statement

said. The village panchayat rep-resentative, on the condition ofanonymity, said that a womanfar away reached the victim'shouse on Friday evening withher husband and accusing herof having a relationship with herhusband.

Later 23 year old womanhands were tied with rope, hairwas cut and a garland of slipperswas put on and roamed theentire village. The women of thevillage together carried out allthese incidents. While the maleclass remained spectacled, saidvillage representative. Sourcessaid that when police arrived,stone pelting was done:Tenughat OP police reached assoon as the woman was awareof the excess. Some peoplealso said that seeing the situa-tion uncontrolled, the policehad to prepare for aerial firing.After this, Bermo ASP AnjaniAnjan sent women's force, thenbrought the woman to thepolice station barely free fromthe occupation of the women'sMahila Samitee.

Tenughat OP in-charge B.P.Singh said that at night thewoman was taken toCommunity Health CenterGomia for her treatment. Thewoman has not yet filed a com-plaint against anyone. PNS

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Koderma district adminis-tration has started

"Shramik Samman Kitchen" toensure quality food and toprovide earning opportunity tothe quarantined migrant work-ers, who have come from dif-ferent parts of the States amidnationwide lockdow.

DC, Ramesh Gholap saideveryday migrant workers werecoming to Koderma, they havelost their jobs and it would bedifficult for them to run theirfamilies without money. Hesaid, the Shramik SammanKitchen ,was one step towardsproviding them job opportu-nity .

Initially, 6 migrant workers, with experience working withbig restaurants , have beenengaged in Kitchen , said the DC.The cook will be paid Rs 800 perday and the rest 5 helpers will bepaid Rs 500 per day for theirworks.

Gholap said, the districtadministration was making sep-arate list of skilled and unskilledmigrant workers to ensure jobs tothem . He said , all BDOs hadbeen asked to prepare the list ofjobs under MGNREGA in theirrespective blocks to provide jobopportunities to them.

The DC, who himself hailsfrom a humble background , asa schoolboy he helped his moth-er sell bangles , said he could feelthe pain of labourers. He said, theadministration would not let anystone unturned to generate jobopportunities for the migrantworkers of the district.

Ranchi: The winners ofthe security relatedposter design, safety cal-endar design and secu-rity essay competition-2019 organized by JCSSIwere rewarded in theExecutive Director (Operations)Conference Room following socialdistancing.

ED (Operations) AtanuBhowmik, while awarding the win-ners, gave the message of makingsafety & its standard compliances ofhighest priority. On this occasion,senior officers and personnel of var-ious departments were present mak-ing social distancing as routinepractice.

In Poster DesignCompetition NeelamKushwaha bagged 1stposition, OperatorTechnician (CTS)Sudeshna Mukherjee,OCT (ETL) Priya Kumari

and OCT (ETL) Shatabdi Lenkawere 2nd position collectively & forSecurity Calendar DesignCompetition Neelam Kushwaha gotsecond prize,. Again in Safety EssayCompetition Nitesh Ranjan SeniorManager (ECD) and OperatorTechnician (CTS) SudeshnaMukherjee together got first placeand Navin Chandra Pathak,Manager (CRM-1,2) got second place. PNS

Bokaro: A special device—TrueNat machine was formal-ly inaugurated at SadarHospital Bokaro for COVID-19test.

Truenat is a battery-oper-ated machine that can test twosamples simultaneously andprovide results between 55-60minutes; the investigation willbe done on two levels with fullaccuracy, said Dr Ashok KumarPathak Civil Surgeon Bokaro.

These machines are usedfor testing tuberculosis.Recently, the ICMR approvedthe use of TrueNat machinesfor COVID-19 testing. TrueNatmachines will reduce thedependence on RT-PCR testsand will help ease the load oftesting centres, said CivilSurgeon.

“It will also, help the preg-nant women as well as thoseneeding emergency medical

attention. Patients will receiveemergency medical care aftertheir samples were tested bythis device for COVID-19infection,” added Pathak

Now, a large number ofmigrants are returning andmany of them from red zones,this device will help us in a lotbut we need to ramp up ourtesting, he said adding“Presently, samples of only 20patients can be examinedthrough this instrument in aday.”

This machine will also helpin protecting healthcare work-ers and patients from gettinginfected from coronavirus.

The test report of eachpatient will be provided bytechnical personnel after aninterval of 55 minutes,informed Pathak. Keeping inmind the safety of doctors andhealth personnel during the

investigation, a complete sys-tem of sanitization has beeninstalled in the lab as well as onthe sample collection counter.Personnel on duty have alsobeen provided with all kinds ofnecessary kits, he said.

Three technical personnelhave been engaged for testingof the samples under the super-vision of a doctor.

After testing negative, thepatients will be provided withthe report immediately while incase of positive report of anypatient, samples will again besent to Ranchi or Dhanbad, themain lab for re-investigationand the main lab’s report will beconsidered as final, said theCivil Surgeon.

Speaking on the occasionSub-Divisional Officer ChasShashi Prakash Singh said,COVID-19 test is free-of-costat Sadar hospital now. PNS

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The group of BSL personnelhelping the needy during

the lockdown period known as“Ispat Sparsh” has been con-tinuously supported by thesteel workers. Even duringLockdown 4.0, the team ofispat sparsh is helping them byreaching out to the needy.

To give a boost to thiseffort of Ispat Sparsh, the teamof CRM-3 Department of BSLtook the initiative and pre-sented them a support amountof fifteen thousand rupees. Onbehalf of CRM-3, ChiefGeneral Manager Rajan Prasadpresented the support moneyto the team. On behalf of IspatSparsh, Deputy GeneralManager (CSR) CRKSudhanshu, member of IspatSparsh received the support

from Mr. Prasad. During thisoccasion other senior officersof CRM-3 were also present.

It is known that the team ofispat sparsh has so far provid-ed 1500 packets of ration to theneedy and provided food tomore than 1700 people. Theteam has also provided milk foryoung children and distributedsanitary napkins amongwomen in some areas. Theteam is committed to continuethis work even further and thesteel workers are constantlymaking voluntary contribu-tions in their efforts.

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The Congress on Saturdayreleased a video of an inter-

action between former partychief Rahul Gandhi and agroup of migrant workerswalking back to a village inUttar Pradesh from Haryanaamid the nationwide Covid-19lockdown.

In his introduction to thevideo, Rahul said Covid-19has hit a lot of people but theworst affected are migrantworkers walking thousands ofkilometres back to their homes,without food and water anddespite being beaten up andthreatened.

“But they did not stop andcontinued to walk back to theirhomes. I want to give you aglimpse of their thinking, fears,dreams, aspirations and theirfuture,” he said.

The migrant crisis has trig-gered a political slugfestbetween the oppositionCongress and the ruling BJP,with both sides accusing eachother of playing politics on theissue.

The former party chiefalso demanded that the gov-ernment should immediatelyensure a direct cash transfer of�7,500 to each of 13 crorefamilies.

The Congress said Rahulhas been extremely active onsocial media for many yearsnow, becoming one of the 10most followed politicians in theworld on Twitter with 14.2 mil-lion followers.

Over the past few weeks, hehas been regularly releasinglonger format videos of hisconversations with notedexperts, such as former ReserveBank of India (RBI) governorRaghuram Rajan and NobelLaureate Abhijit Banerjee.

In the pipeline are a num-ber of new video formats andinnovative communicationapproaches that he will use totake his message to the widestpossible audience in India andabroad, the party said.

The video interactionreleased took place on May 16near Sukhdev Vihar flyover inNew Delhi. The migrant work-ers were on their way fromAmbala in Haryana to Uttar

Pradesh’s Jhansi, a distance ofabout 600 km.

Rahul met them whenthey stopped to rest after walk-ing more than 100 km.

In the 17-minute video,the Gandhi scion is seen sittingon a footpath with themigrants and interacting withthem.

For almost an hour, he lis-tened to their story and hard-ships, the discrimination theyfaced, their reasons for decid-ing to flee their workplace, andwhy they were forced to walkback to their homes, theirfears, dreams and aspirations,the Congress said.

At the request of thegroup, Rahul and Congressvolunteers organised trans-port and necessary permis-sions to get them back safely

to their village, the party said.On arrival, they were screenedby local health authorities andput into 21-day home quar-antine.

Soon after the interactionon May 16, the party allegedthat Delhi Police had detainedthe workers.

In a shot in the video,Mahesh Kumar, a migrantworker of Jhansi, tells Rahul heand the other workers hadbeen walking 120 km andstopping at regular intervals.“We are helpless. What can wedo? We have to walk,” he says.

Another constructionworker and his family tells himthey would have left for theirhomes had information aboutthe lockdown been providedfour days before it wasimposed.

The workers remainednon-committal about return-ing to their workplaces, insist-ing it is important to save theirlives.

They claimed they hadnot received any monetaryhelp from the government.

The migrants said morethan the Coronavirus, hungeris hurting them and that iswhy they were not afraid ofgetting killed on the roads.

Rahul concluded the videowith a message to migrantworkers: “My brother and sis-ters, you are the strength ofthis country, you carry theweight of this country on yourshoulders. The entire countrywants there should be justice(nyay) with you. It is our dutyto empower this strength ofthe country.”

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The BJP on Saturday hitout at Congress leader

Rahul Gandhi over his videoon his interaction with themigrant labourers saying hewas out to spread “politicalpollution”. The party alsolashed out at the opposition forplaying “negative politics” evenat the time of global pandem-ic

Senior BJP leader andUnion Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi said that Rahul isspreading political pollutioninstead of offering any solutionto the problems. “This is a timeof unprecedented crisis withCoronavirus, Amphan Cycloneand Visakhapatanam gastragedy all happening at onceand the Congress must helpthe government,” he said.

For his part, another seniorBJP leader and Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar alleged thatthe Congress and other partieswere engaged in an exercise ofhypocrisy and making contra-dictory comments on the strat-egy to be adopted to battle outCoronavirus pandemic.

Javadekar said, at a timewhen the entire country shouldunitedly fight against this pan-demic, the Opposition is con-tinuously playing negative pol-itics and their meeting calledby Congress reflects it. Healleged that the Congress andother Opposition parties are

commenting on 20 lakh crorerupees package without under-standing its benefits. He saidModi-government has organ-ised a single ration card whichcan be used anywhere in thecountry and also arranged for“free grain” for those whohave no ration card.

The BJP leader said con-gress and other oppositionwere initially asking why lock-down was not being extendedby now same parties werequestioning its extension bythe government. Similarly, hesaid at first opposition saidwhy government was notallowing stranded migrants totravel to their native places butnow since 50 lakh of them havereached their places, same par-ties were playing by “organis-ing few buses”.

He said on the one handopposition parties talking loudabout cooperative federalismon the other the sameCongress and otherOpposition-ruled states arenot giving permission to run asmany trains needed formigrant workers.

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In a series of tweets, BSPsupremo Mayawati attacked

Rahul Gandhi saying his videolooks less like an act of sym-pathy and more like drama.She also said that hadCongress given jobs to labour-ers in the last 70 years, this sit-uation wouldn't have risen.She slammed BJP too for"walking in the footsteps ofCongress".

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Healthcare professionalstreating coronavirus

patients in designated hospi-tals are up in arms against theUnion Health Ministry’s newguideline which asks them tovacate quarantine facilities ifthey are not showing anysymptoms of the disease.

Under the previous guide-line, all doctors, nurses, tech-nicians and sanitation workersin the Covid-19 wards had towork 14 days in a row andremain in quarantine for thenext 14 days to ensure thatthey did not take the infectionback home.

However, the revisedguideline from the Ministry onmanagement of manpower inthe hospitals issued on May 15said that there was no need forquarantine of healthcare work-ers after Covid-19 duty, unlessthere had been a breach in thepersonal protective equipmentor any other form of high-riskexposure.

The clauses in the latestguideline, however, has notgone down well with theFederation of ResidentDoctors’ Association(FORDA) which observed ablack ribbon protest on Fridaydemanding proper quaran-tine for all healthcare workerson Covid-19 duty.

Dr Shivaji Dev Barman,President of FORDA, said thatwe have requested theMinistry to amend the guide-lines and allow us 14 daysquarantine as well as testing sothat we can go home withoutany tension. The Coronaviruscan show its effect by two to 14days.

Non-symptomatic health-care workers have been foundto be coronavirus positive inmany cases even after wearingPPE kits.

A circular from Delhi’sLady Hardinge MedicalCollege issued on Thursdaysaid, “Hotel facility duringpost-duty period in Covid-19and suspected Covid-19 zonesprovided to healthcare work-ers is hereby withdrawn andthe occupants are directed toplease vacate their roomsimmediately. If any overstay isnoticed, charges paid for the

overstay will have to be recov-ered from their salaries.”

The accommodation willbe available to those still onCovid-19 duties at the hospi-tal. A similar demand was atDr Ram Manohar Lohia(RML) hospital in Delhi.

Dr Ekta Yadav, presidentof the RDA at RML hospital,however, said that they werehoping that the health min-istry takes back these guide-lines by the time the next shiftends.

Doctors at Safdarjung hos-pital have negotiated a five-dayquarantine for healthcareworkers in the Covid-19 wards,so that they can be tested oncebefore they go back home.

“At the hospital level, ourmedical superintendent hasallowed five-day quarantinefor healthcare workers fromthe Covid-19 wards, so theycan stay in the hotel till theyare tested once,” said DrManish Kumar, president ofthe RDA of Safdarjung hospi-tal.

The All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS) isproviding quarantine to onlythose who are recommendedby the hospital infection con-trol committee.

The dharamshalas of thehospital, which are used by therelatives of the patients usual-ly, were being provided to thehealthcare workers from thehospital.

“We are following thehealth ministry guidelines,”said Dr DK Sharma, medicalsuperintendent of the hospital.

The guidelines define“high risk exposure” as ahealthcare worker treatingCovid-19 patient or handlingtheir samples without properpersonal protective equipment(PPE) or probable breach ofthe PPE.

It will also be required if ahealthcare worker is in contactwith a positive person at a dis-tance of less than 1 metre formore than 15 minutes withoutmasks, face-shields or goggles.

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Due to the outbreak ofCoronavirus, ‘Hunar Haat’,

an income and employmentgenerating platform providingan opportunity to artisans andcraftsmen from across thecountry to showcase theirhandmade and indigenousproducts, would reopen after agap of five months, fromSeptember 25.

Despite the pandemic, aschedule is planned to organ-ise the artisan fair in 25 citiesuntil early next year. This time,Hunar Haat will also use thedigital medium to sell productsonline.

Minority Affairs MinisterMukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the‘Hunar Haat’ will witness larg-er participation of artists andcraftsmen this year with thetheme of “local to global”.

He said ‘Hunar Hat’, whichhas provided employment andemployment opportunities tomore than 5 lakh Indian arti-sans, craftsmen, culinaryexperts and other people associated with them in the last5 years, have become popularamong the people.

It provides market andopportunity to master artisansand craftsmen from remoteareas of the country and hasbecome a credible brand of rareexquisite indigenous handmadeproducts, said the Minister.

In February this year, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadvisited Hunar Haat, which wasorganised at India Gate. He hadencouraged and lauded indige-nous handmade products of

artisans and craftsmen.The ‘Hunar Hat’ may

receive further boost withPrime Minister stressing use oflocal in a bid to become self-reliant in the wake of globalpandemic.

Appreciating the artisansand craftsmen and their prod-ucts in Mann Ki Baat pro-gramme, Prime Minister Modihad said "I witnessed hues ofour country's diverse expanse,cultures, traditions, cuisinesand the warmth of emotions”

According to the statementissued by Ministry of MinorityAffairs, craftsmen have utilisedlockdown period to preparerare indigenous exquisite prod-ucts at large scale.

They will bring them fordisplay and sale in the nextHunar Haat, which is beginningfrom September 25.

Social distancing, hygiene,sanitisation and use of maskswill be ensured at "Hunar Haat".There will be a special "Jaan Bhi,Jahaan Bhi" (Lives and liveli-hoods, both) pavilion to createhealth awareness among thepeople with the theme of "Sayno to panic, yes to precautions".

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The Border Security Force(BSF) has reported 21

new cases of Covid-19 infec-tion in its ranks in the last 24hours. The Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) report-ed six new cases during theperiod.

The BSF has a tally of 120active cases whereas 286infected personnel haverecovered and dischargedfrom hospitals.

As many has 406 personshave been infected due to thecoronavirus in the BSF (120active plus 286 recoveries)which was the highest num-ber among the Central para-military forces.

All of the infected BSFmen are under treatment atdesignated Covid- 19 health-care hospitals , a BSFspokesperson said.

Nine personnel (Kolkata:5, Tripura: 4) recovered fromthe infection during the last24 hours. They have been putunder quarantine as per theprotocol.

With six new cases, theCRPF has total count of 129infected persons.

As many as 219 infectedpersonnel have recoveredfrom the pandemic and twoothers succumbed to the dis-ease.

A total of 350 persons hadcontracted the disease included those who haverecovered or died.

The positive cases in theCRPF were detected fromGuwahati and they have beenadmitted in Gauhati MedicalCollege and Hospital(GMCH).

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Covid-19 in itself may notbe virulent for the kids

but travel restrictions, deliv-ery delays and parents’ fear ofleaving home amidCoronavirus outbreak havethrown in disarray the glob-al immunisation programme-putting approximately 80 mil-lion children under the age ofone, both in rich and poorcountries alike, at risk of dis-eases like diphtheria, measles,and polio.

These are the observationof the World HealthOrganisation, UNICEF, Gaviand the Sabin VaccineInstitute.

The reasons for disruptedservices vary. Some parentsare reluctant to leave homebecause of restrictions onmovement, lack of informa-tion or because they fearinfection with the ovid-19virus.

Other than that, manyhealth workers are a lsounavailable because of restric-t ions on travel , or redeployment to Covidresponse duties, as well as alack of protective equipment.

"Disruption to immunisation programmesfrom the Covid-19 pandem-ic threatens to unwinddecades of progress againstvaccine-preventable diseaseslike measles, said WHODirector General Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus.

Measles and polio vacci-nation campaigns, in partic-ular, have been badly hit,with measles campaigns sus-pended in 27 countries andpolio campaigns put on holdin 38 countries.

At least 24 million peoplein 21 Gavi-supported lower-income countries are at risk ofmissing out on vaccinesagainst polio, measles,typhoid, yellow fever, cholera,rotavirus, HPV, meningitisand rubella due to postponedcampaigns and introductionsof new vaccines.

India has recently issuedadvisory, asking the states tocontinue with the vaccine

immunisation programmeirrespective of the categori-sation of coronavirus diseasecontainment zone but main-taining physical distancingnorms.

The world organisationsnoted that since March 2020,routine childhood immuni-sation services have beendisrupted on a global scalethat may be unprecedenteds ince the incept ion ofexpanded programs onimmunisation (EPI) in the

1970s. More than half (53per cent) of the 129 countrieswhere data were availabler e p o r t e dmoderate-to-severe disrup-tions, or a total suspension ofvaccination services duringMarch-April 2020.

Gavi CEO Dr. S ethBerkley said: "Due to Covid-19 this immense progress isnow under threat, risking theresurgence of diseases likemeasles and polio. Not onlywill maintaining immunisa-

tion programmes preventmore outbreaks, it will alsoensure we have the infra-structure we need to rollout an eventual Covid-19vaccine on a global scale."

Transport delays of vac-cines are exacerbating thes ituat ion. UNICEF hasreported a substantial delayin planned vaccine deliveriesdue to the lockdown mea-

sures and the ensuing declinein commercial flights andlimited availability of char-ters.

"We cannot let our fightagainst one disease come at

the expense of long-termprogress in our fight againstother d iseases , " saidHenrietta Fore, UNICEFExecutive Director.

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If your mask is leaving youirritated, speech-distorted

and causing fogging on glass-es, then you can opt for thecup-shaped mask developed byresearchers from Centre forNano and Soft Matter Sciences(CeNS), Bangalore. They say ithelps to create enough space infront of the mouth whilespeaking. This snug-fit maskcauses no speech distortion, nofogging on glasses, and indeed,packs well all around, leavingpractically no room for leakagewhile breathing.

The product from theCeNS which is an autonomousinstitute of the Department ofScience and Technology alsohelps to create enough space infront of the mouth whilespeaking. The innovation hasbeen transferred to a Bangalorebased company CamelliaClothing Ltd for mass pro-duction.

“Another importantadvantage is its high breatha-bility allowing one to wear itwithout any discomfort.Further, the researchers havechosen the fabric layers suchthat there is a possibility of

deactivating pathogens sheer-ly by the electric charges thatmay prevail under mild fric-tion due to the triboelectricnature of the fabric. Theseadvanced-level tests are beingcarried out.

"While an ergonomicdesign for COVID-19 protec-tion mask is essential for itsease of use for long hours, it isoften not paid much attentionbeyond a few standard designs.A good design should mini-mize the feeling of intrusionand leakage around the edges,but maximize the ease ofbreathing and talking whileholding its place," said ProfAshutosh Sharma, Secretary,DST.

With the increase of activeCOVID cases in India andother countries, usage of facemasks has been advised for thegeneral public. While thehealthcare professionals canuse the special and high tech-nical quality medical masks,for the general public, a maskwith moderate filtering effi-ciency should suffice. It shouldbe comfortable to wear toencourage public to wear it forlong hours.

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Scientists from Palampur-based Institute of

Himalayan Bio-resourceTechnology (IHBT), a lab ofthe CSIR, have claimed that thechemicals in Kangra tea couldbe effective in boosting immu-nity as they can block theCoronavirus’ activity betterthan anti-HIV drugs.Incidentally, ICMR is planningto introduce anti-HIV drugs totreat Covid-19 patients.

Dr Sanjay Kumar,Director, IHBT, during a webi-nar at the institute on theInternational Tea Day recent-ly said, “Using computer-basedmodels, our scientists screened65 bioactive chemicals orpolyphenols, particularly threethat could bind to a specificviral protein more efficientlythan commercially availableanti-HIV drugs approved fortreating COVID-19 patients.These chemicals might blockthe activity of the viral proteinthat helps the virus to thriveinside human cells.”

Tea catechins productionprocess which has been trans-ferred to Baijnath

Pharmaceuticals, and Ready toServe Teas and Tea winescould be game changer forKangra tea, added Dr Kumar.Catechins are natural antioxidants that help preventcell damage and provide otherbenefits.

At the event, Tea vinegartechnology was transferred toa Dharamshala-based com-pany. Tea vinegar has anti-obesity properties.

Also herbal green andblack teas blended withAYUSH-recommended herbswere also launched. These

products could be very usefulfor boosting immunity againstCOVID-19, he said.

Dr RK Sud, ChiefScientist, IHBT said that onthe recommendations ofIndia, the United Nations(UN) recognized the tea'smedicinal properties and cul-t u r a limportance and declared May21 as International Tea Day.

President of Kangra TeaPlanters’ Association, ArunThakur and ChairmanPalampur Cooperative TeaFactory, Rajinder Thakur

talked about the issues con-fronting the Kangra tea indus-try. They said that while teamechanisation which wasintroduced by the institute ispaying dividends, its afford-ability is

“Similarly, the tea planta-tion needs to be extended inthe State by replacing pinetrees which give nothing butforest fires. Whereas tea plan-tation being environmentfriendly conserve soil mois-ture and prevent soil erosionand generates livelihood to themasses,” they opined.

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Dr JN Pande, Director at thePulmonology department

at the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS),Delhi, died of coronavirus onSaturday, just a day after a messworker succumbed to theinfection.

Sangita Reddy, a seniorDelhi doctor and the Joint

Managing Director ofApollo HospitalsEnterprises, shared thenews in a tweet.

"Deeply saddenedto hear that todayCovid-19 claimed itsmost illustrious victim,Dr JN Pande, Directorand Prof ofPulmonolog y at AIIMS,Delhi. A stalwart of the med-

ical world his work in pulmonology will continue to

ensure better health for many.My Condolences to his fam-ily," she tweeted.

Pulmonology is a medicalspecialty that deals with dis-eases involving the respiratory tract.

Hundreds of doctors andhealth workers across thecountry are being infectedwith coronavirus since itsoutbreak.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday

said banks have been asked toextend loans automatically toeligible borrowers without fearof 3Cs - CBI, CVC and CAG.

She said clear instructionshave been given in a meetingwith CEOs and MDs of publicsector banks and financialinstitutions on Friday that thebanks should not be scared toextend loans as 100 per centguarantee is being given by theGovernment.

In case of default, the indi-vidual bank or official will behauled up, she said in a con-versation with BJP leader NalinKohli uploaded on the party’ssocial media platforms.“Yesterday, I reiterated that bysaying, if a decision goeswrong, and if there is a loss, the

Government has given 100 percent guarantee now.

It is not at all going to beon the individual official andon the bank, and thereforewithout fear they should takethis automatic route in thesense, everybody eligible foradditional term loan and addi-tional working capital shouldbe given,” she said.

As part of the �20.97 lakhcrore comprehensive econom-ic package, the Governmentannounced the EmergencyCredit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS) worth �3-lakh crorefor the MSME sector, hit hardby the coronavirus crisis.

It is being said that the gen-uine bonafide decisions in thebanking sector are beingimpacted because of the worryof undue harassment by 3Cs-Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), Central Vigilance

Commission (CVC) andComptroller and Audit General(CAG).

The Finance Ministry hastaken several steps to allaythose fears including with-drawing some of the notifica-tions which were causing fearsamong bankers, she said.

“...Concerns these banks havehad in their minds earlier, andmay have even now areabsolutely well founded. Infact, through my last 7-8months, I have spent at leastthree different times with thebanks to say that the fear of the3Cs as they refer to the CBI,CVC, and also the CAG shouldnot be in their minds,” she said.

When asked about criti-cism about leaving many crit-ical sectors including hospital-ity, auto and civil aviation in theeconomic package, Sitharamansaid the Government has nottaken a sectoral approach buta holistic approach. “ E x c e p tagriculture and the power sec-tors where reforms would beundertaken, other than that Ihave not come up with any sec-toral reference. What has nowbecome to be called as MSMEpackage, it includes MSME,

and also aims at touching oth-ers (sectors) too,..So the sectorsthat you are referring to canalso benefit through this,” shesaid. It is based on theunderstanding that any enter-prise “with a certain exposureto the bank and with a certaininvested capital, or with a cer-tain turnover if they need addi-tional term loan, additionalworking capital in order to buytheir own material to restart, inorder to be able to pay somefixed cost, it can take thatroute,” she said. She expressedhope that from June 1, liquid-ity would start flowing frombanks without any new collat-eral. During the meetingwith bankers, the FinanceMinister said it was emphasisedthat the loans should be sanc-tioned in a simple mannerand if possible digitally toavoid any physical contact.

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State-run Bank of Baroda onSaturday said it can offer up

to �12,000 crore in loans toMSMEs under the �3 lakhcrore Emergency Credit LineGuarantee Scheme (ECLGS)announced by theGovernment.

Last week, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanhad announced a 100 per centcredit guarantee scheme worthRs 3 lakh crore to support themedium, small and microenterprises (MSMEs) whichhave been adversely affected bythe coronavirus crisis.

All existing MSME bor-rowers with outstanding cred-it of up to �25 crore as onFebruary 29 and with an annu-al turnover of up to �100 crorewould be eligible for fundingunder the scheme.

“In our case, that particu-lar portfolio amounts to be�58,000 crore.

So, 20 per cent of thatwould be around �10,000 c

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Aday after the RBI project-ed economic contraction

in 2020-21, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onSaturday said future fiscal pol-icy actions to stimulate theeconomy will depend on howCOVID-19 pandemic pansout. The government hasalready announced a �20.97lakh crore economic package,which includes Reserve Bank’s�8.01 lakh crore worth of liq-uidity measures till May 17.Sitharaman said making a“realistic assessment” of eco-

nomic growth would be diffi-cult at this point of time asthere is no clarity on when thepandemic would retreat.“I’m not closing the door at all.I want to keep getting inputsfrom industry, implementwhat we have announced anddepending on how things panout we have to respondaccordingly. We are only 2-month old in this year, we have10 months to go,” Sitharamansaid in a conversation with BJPleader Nalin Kohli.The Reserve Bank on Fridayhad said the impact ofCOVID-19 is more severe

than anticipated and the GDPgrowth during 2020-21 is like-ly to remain in the negativeterritory.

It projected some pick-up in growth impulses fromsecond half (October-March)of 2020-21 onwards.Last week, the minister hadannounced an economic pack-ages five tranches, whichincluded a �3.70 lakh croresupport for MSMEs, �75,000crore for NBFCs and �90,000crore for Power distributioncompanies, free foodgrains tomigrant workers, increasedallocation for MGNREGS.

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Air India pilot unions IPGand ICPA on Saturday

threatened they might not beable to extend support to theairline’s “normal operations”and in the matter of flight dutyand time limitations (FDTL),alleging that financial and otherissues of employees remainunresolved.

The two unions, whichrepresent the pilots operatingBoeing and Airbus aircraft ofthe airline, in a joint letter tothe personnel department, alsosought to know the outcome ofthe various cost-cutting mea-sures which the carrier initiat-ed in March to deal with itsprecarious finances in the wakeof the coronavirus pandemic.

The Indian Pilots Guild(IPG) and the IndianCommercial Pilots Association(ICPA) letter comes ahead ofthe resumption of commercialpassenger services on domes-tic routes from May 25, whichwere suspended about twomonths ago along with inter-national services in the wake ofCOVID-19 and subsequent

lockdown imposed by the gov-ernment on March 25.

Air India had announced ahost of measures to reducecosts, including withdrawingspecial allowances for pilotsand other facilities for its offi-cials, a 10 per cent deductionin allowances (excluding basicpay, HRA and variable dearnessallowance) in respect of allemployees, except cabin crew,for a period of three monthseffective from March.

It had also announcedundertaking negotiations toreview all agreements withlessors and hotels to reducetheir rates.

“We have communicatedour precarious financial situa-tion to your office with suffi-cient notice and clarity. Since ithas fallen on deaf ears, wewould like to inform you, wemay not be in a position toextend FDTL and support fornormal operations if the man-agement does not take care ofthe frontline workers cate-gories and move forcefully togenerate revenue for Air India,”the two unions said in a jointletter on Saturday.

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Several Union Ministers,including Piyush Goyal,

Nitin Gadkari and NarendraSingh Tomar, on Saturdayinteracted with stakeholdersof some key industries like foodprocessing, marine and autoparts.

Besides commerce minis-ter Goyal, MSME ministerGadkari and agriculture min-ister Tomar, Minister of AnimalHusbandry, Dairying andFisheries Giriraj Singh andFood Processing MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal alsotook part in the virtual inter-action.

The Ministers also helddiscussions on ways to boostdomestic competitiveness andincrease India’s share of globalexports in food processing,marine and auto parts. Had ameeting with food and marineprocessing, ready to eat seg-ment and auto parts stake-holders.

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Engineering firm TataProjects on Saturday said it

is augmenting hospital infra-structure with 2,304 beds atmultiple locations across Indiato treat COVID-19 patients. “As one of the fastest growingand most admired infrastruc-ture companies in India, we feltthe need to use our expertise inexecuting large and complexurban and industrial infra-

structure projects towardsaugmenting, upgrading thenation’s hospital network,” TataProjects Chief Strategy OfficerHimanshu Chaturvedi said ina statement.

Today, the company isproud that its teams of engi-neers, technicians and workersare working tirelessly towardsstrengthening the fight againstCOVID-19, he added.

“We believe that our sup-port in the fight against

COVID-19 will further help inonce again accelerating India’sprogress at the earliest,”Chaturvedi said. Recently,at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital,Tata Projects transformed twowards encompassing 65 bedsand specialised medical equip-ment so that it can handle moreserious coronavirus cases. In addition, Tata Projects is alsoturning a large section of KEMHospital’s orthopaedic centreinto a 115-bed isolation centre.

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DCB Bank on Saturdayreported a 28 per cent

decline in net profit at �69 crorefor the March quarter, impact-ed by the coronavirus crisis.

The private sector lenderhad posted a net profit of �96crore in the same period of2018-19. Income during theJanuary-March quarter of FY20rose by 8.5 per cent to �434crore, as against � 400 crore inthe same period of the preced-ing fiscal, DCB Bank said in arelease.

The bank’s profit after taxin FY20 stood at �338 crore, up4 per cent from �325 crore in2018-19. Income during theyear grew 10.5 per cent to�1,656 crore as against � 1,499crore in the preceding fiscal.

“Both FY 2020 and Q42020 Profit Before Tax wasimpacted by �63 crore Covid-19 Regulatory PackageProvision. The bank conserv-atively made more provisionthan required as per guide-lines,” it said.

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Abhas Jha, an Indian econ-omist, has been appointed

by the World Bank to a keyposition on climate changeand disaster management inSouth Asia, the global lendersaid. Jha’s appointmentcomes at a time when CycloneAmphan has badly hit WestBengal, Orissa in India andBangladesh.

In his capacity as WorldBank’s Practice Manager forClimate Change and DisasterRisk Management for SouthAsia, one of the top prioritiesof Jha will be to encourage andhelp the South Asia region(SAR) Disaster RiskManagement and ClimateChange team to connect andcollaborate across GlobalPractice boundaries, the banksaid in a statement on Friday.

And also to the WorldBank to conceive and deliverinnovative and high-qualitydevelopment solutions to

respond to client demands andstrengthen disaster risk man-agement and climate action inthe region, the statement said.

Based out of Singapore, Jhawill also work closely withother Practice Managers,Global Leads and GlobalSolutions Groups to incubate,pilot and scale-up innovativeand high-quality developmentsolutions, and to promote thegeneration and flow of globalknowledge to serve these coun-tries, the bank said.According to the bank, Jha’smandate is to nurture, lead,inspire and deploy a team ofhighly qualified professionals todeliver the best solutions forthese countries. Jha, anIndian national, joined theBank in 2001 in the office of theExecutive Director forBangladesh, Bhutan, India andSri Lanka and has since workedin Latin America and theCaribbean, Europe and CentralAsia, and East Asia and thePacific regions.

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The Finance Ministry is notconsidering imposition of

calamity cess on the GST asbusinesses are grappling withlow sales and decliningdemand, sources said.

Reports had earlier saidthat the Central Government isconsidering a calamity cess onthe Goods and Services Tax,similar to flood cess imposedby Kerala in June last year.Ministry sources said that inthe present economic scenarioduring the COVID-19 pan-demic, any purported propos-al of introducing a calamity cesswould be nothing less than anadversity itself.This wouldprove to be counter-productive,as sales are already at low vol-ume and the industry is facinga deep crisis for want ofdemand and likely labour chal-lenges, a source said. “Any suchmeasure would further damp-en the consumers’ sentimentand could weaken markets’strength, especially when thegovernment is endeavouring itsbest to boost the consumption,”the source said.

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Beijing: China is preparing toset up national security agenciesin Hong Kong to deal with pro-democracy agitators, the statemedia reported on Saturday, aday after Beijing introduced acontroversial national securitylaw to firm up control over theformer British colony.

Currently, a ChineseMilitary garrison comprisingover 10,000 troops — mainly asymbolic presence for externaldefence — is stationed in HongKong. The public order is main-tained by the Hong KongSpecial Administrative Region(HKSAR) government.

The draft bill on establish-ing and improving the legal sys-tem and enforcement mecha-nisms for the Hong KongSpecial Administrative Region(HKSAR) to safeguard nation-al security was submitted to theNational People’s Congress(NPC) during its week-long

session here and is expected tobe passed on May 28.

The bill is a political bomb-shell for the former Britishcolony as China has decided tobypass the local legislative coun-cil to bring about a new nation-al security law, tailor-made tocontrol Hong Kong after thepro-Beijing local administrationheaded by Chief ExecutiveCarrie Lam failed to controlmonths of mass protests bypro-democracy groupsdemanding autonomy and free-dom from China.

The Chinese central gov-ernment is preparing to set upnational security agencies inHong Kong to enhance infor-mation collection and evidence-based dealing against acts of‘splitting the country, subvertingstate power, organising andperpetrating terrorist activities’as it accelerated efforts to for-mulate the national security

legislation, state-run GlobalTimes reported on Saturday.

“As far as I know, the legis-lation is ready, which will bepassed in the next meeting ofthe NPC Standing Committee,”Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, amember of the NationalCommittee of Chinese People’sPolitical ConsultativeConference (CPPCC) and solic-itor in the Supreme Court ofHong Kong, told the tabloid.

The bill was moved in theNPC by the government whichwas denounced by pro-democ-racy parties as a death knell forHong Kong’s autonomy.

After the lawmakers vote onthe draft Hong Kong NationalSecurity Law on May 28, theNPC Standing Committee canhold interim meetings to signthe bill into law, Wong said.

The Standing Committeerefers to a small group of pow-erful legislators who meet

round-the-year. The near 3,000-member NPC, regarded as arubber-stamp Parliament forroutine approvals of the rulingCommunist Party’s decisions,holds a full session only ones ayear.

“National security mattersare tackled in a highly profes-sional scope, and ordinarypolice officers or governmentofficials do not have specificmeans, for example, investiga-tion measures,” Wong said, not-ing that the central govern-ment’s special agencies to safe-guard national security are like-ly to set up branches in HongKong.

Lam, whose ExtraditionBill in the local assemblysparked seven months of mas-sive protests, defended the newdraft legislation tabled in theNPC.

Hong Kong was rocked byunprecedented, pro-democracy

protests last year which beganover the proposed extraditionlaw, which sparked fears thatlocals would be prosecuted inthe Chinese mainland.

It later turned into a majorpro-democracy movement withdemands to elect local officialswithout Chinese interference.

Lam told the media inHong Kong that business con-fidence in the former Britishcolony will improve as the placewill be safer after its legal sys-tem and enforcement mecha-nisms to safeguard nationalsecurity are established andimproved.

The new legislation willnot damage the interests of for-eign investors, state-run Xinhuanews agency reported.

Lam said national securityis the top priority of everycountry and region, which isthe foundation for the citizens’well-being. PTI

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Ninety-seven people, includ-ing nine children, were

killed and two passengers mirac-ulously survived a fiery crashwhen a Pakistan InternationalAirlines plane with 99 trav-ellers on board plunged into adensely populated residentialarea near the airport here, theArmy said on Saturday.

Flight PK-8303 from

Lahore crashed at the JinnahGarden area near ModelColony in Malir on Fridayafternoon, minutes before itslanding in Karachi’s JinnahInternational Airport. Elevenpeople on the ground wereinjured.

The Pakistan Army, lead-ing the rescue and relief efforts,said 97 bodies have been recov-ered and two passengers sur-vived the crash.

Rio De Janeiro: Brazil report-ed more than 3,30,000 con-firmed cases of the novel coro-navirus as of Friday, surpassingRussia to become the nationwith the second-highest num-ber of infections, behind onlythe US, according to a tally keptby Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil’s health ministry saidFriday there were 3,30,890 con-firmed COVID-19 cases.

The Latin American alsohas recorded more than 21,000deaths, though experts believethe true numbers are higher.

Brazil reported 1,001 deathsover the previous 24 hours,bringing its total death toll tomore than 21,000. It is the hard-

est hit nation in Latin America.The news came as states

and cities across Brazil debatewhether to loosen restrictivemeasures introduced to limitthe spread of the virus, orimplement stricter lockdowns.

While the mayor of Rio deJaneiro said he wants to gradu-ally reopen non-essential shopsin the next few days, newspaperFolha de S. Paulo reportedFriday that Sao Paulo was reeval-uating its previously announcedplans to reopen commerce andinstead may enter lockdown.

A surging coronavirus isravaging parts of LatinAmerica, setting records forcases and deaths Friday insome countries in the world’smost unequal region even asthe pandemic’s march slows inmuch of Europe, Asia and theUnited States. AP

London: British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson isunder pressure to sack his topaide after reports that hebreached the coronavirus stay-at-home lockdown rules bytravelling to his parents’ home.

Dominic Cummings, whois Johnson’s Chief StrategyAdviser at No. 10 DowningStreet, had developed coron-avirus symptoms around thesame time the UK prime min-ister tested positive for thedeadly virus at the end ofMarch. According to UKmedia reports, he and his wifetravelled from London over 260miles to his parents’ home inDurham, north-east England,during that time.

In a statement, DowningStreet on Saturday saidCummings believed he“behaved reasonably and legal-ly” and that his actions were in

line with the coronavirusguidelines.

The government’s strictsocial distancing rules in placeat the time called on people notto travel as part of measures tocontain the spread of COVID-19. And, the advice for anyonewith coronavirus symptomsremains to self-isolate at homeand not leave – even for essen-tial supplies – for seven days.

A member of the public isunderstood to have seenCummings and made a com-plaint to the local Durhampolice, a joint investigation bythe ‘Guardian’ and ‘Mirror’newspapers revealed.

“On Tuesday, March 31,our officers were made awareof reports that an individualhad travelled from London toDurham and was present at anaddress in the city,” aspokesperson for Durham

Constabulary said.“Officers made contact

with the owners of that addresswho confirmed that the indi-vidual in question was presentand was self-isolating in part ofthe house. In line with nation-al policing guidance, officersexplained to the family theguidelines around self-isolationand reiterated the appropriateadvice around essential travel,”the spokesperson said.

Opposition partiesdemanded a “clear explanation”from Downing Street forCummings’ actions.

“Owing to his wife beinginfected with suspected coro-navirus and the high likelihoodthat he would himself becomeunwell, it was essential forDominic Cummings to ensurehis young child could be prop-erly cared for,” a DowningStreet spokesperson said. PTI

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Apowerful Muslim body inSouth Africa has cautioned

the community members aboutEid turning into a “super-spreader” of the deadly coron-avirus, urging them to foregothe traditional ways of cele-brating the festival.

The Muslim JudicialCouncil of South Africa(MJCSA) issued a statement onFriday, calling on Muslims tonot to engage in the tradition-al ceremonies and prayers asso-ciated with Eid. The commu-nity members will have toforego their usual practice ofmeeting for communal prayersat open spaces or visits tocemeteries, friends and family

on the festival due to theCOVID-19 restrictions.

“Eid can potentially becomea super-spreading event, whichresults in many more peopledying, especially if people dis-obey lockdown regulations andstart visiting family (as) it willlose its effect if people start vis-iting each other at home.

“Please avoid physicallygetting together as it puts your-self and your family at risk,” thestatement said.

The country has beenunder a nationwide lockdownsince March 27. The presidenthad last month announced afive-phase plan to graduallyease the lockdown imposed tocombat the spread of the coro-navirus in the country.

For over a century,Muslims in the country’s firstcolonised city, Cape Town,have gathered in large numberson the beach front to eagerlyawait the sighting of the newcrescent moon to signal the endof Ramzan and the advent ofEid the following day.

This would also have beenthe case this Saturday, but nowthe MJCSA has called onMuslims to stay away, appar-ently for only the second timesince the tradition started.Elders recall that the only timethere had been a break was dur-ing the Second World War.

Cape Town is in theWestern Cape Province, whichhas become the epicentre of thecoronavirus in the country.

Washington: President DonaldTrump’s administration hasdiscussed holding the first USnuclear test since 1992 as apotential warning to Russia andChina, the Washington Postreported on Friday.

Such a test would be a sig-nificant departure from USdefense policy and dramatical-ly up the ante for other nuclear-armed nations. One analysttold the newspaper that if it wereto go ahead it would be seen asthe “starting gun to an unprece-dented nuclear arms race”.

The report, citing onesenior administration official

and two former officials, allwho spoke anonymously, saidthe discussion had taken placeat a meeting on May 15.

It came after some USofficials reportedly claimedthat Russia and China wereconducting their own low-yield tests. Moscow andBeijing have denied the claims,

and the US has not offered evi-dence for them.

The senior administrationofficial said that demonstrat-ing Washington’s ability to“rapid test” would be a usefulnegotiating tactic as the USseeks a trilateral agreementwith Russia and China overnuclear weapons.

The meeting did not con-clude with any agreement, andthe sources were divided overwhether discussions were stillongoing. Nuclear non-prolif-eration activists were quick tocondemn the idea. “It would bethe starting gun to an unprece-dented nuclear arms race,”Daryl Kimball, executive direc-tor of the Arms ControlAssociation, told the Post.

He added that it would alsolikely “disrupt” negotiationswith North Korean leader KimJong-Un, “who may no longerfeel compelled to honour hismoratorium on nuclear test-ing.” Beatrice Fihn of theInternational Campaign toAbolish Nuclear Weapons(ICAN), the group that won the2017 Nobel Peace Prize,warned a Trump nuclear testcould “plunge us back into anew Cold War”. AFP

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Washington: President DonaldTrump has labeled churchesand other houses of worship as“essential” and called on gov-ernors nationwide to let themreopen this weekend eventhough some areas remainunder coronavirus lockdown.

The president threatenedFriday to “override” governorswho defy him, but it wasunclear what authority he hasto do so.

“Governors need to dothe right thing and allow thesevery important essential placesof faith to open right now —for this weekend,” Trump saidat a hastily arranged press con-ference at the White House.Asked what authority Trumpmight have to supersede gov-ernors, White House press sec-retary Kayleigh McEnany saidshe wouldn’t answer a theoret-ical question. PTI

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Gaza City: The crowded GazaStrip recorded its first deathfrom the coronavirus onSaturday, officials said, amidfears an outbreak could para-lyze the territory’s already over-stretched health care system.

The Palestinian healthministry said the deceased wasa 77-year-old woman who hadunderlying health problemsand had been placed at a spe-

cial field hospital near theRafah border crossing pointupon arriving from Egypt.

Gaza’s authorities, led bythe militant group Hamas,reported 35 confirmed newcases this week, bringing thetotal to 55. All of the infectedhave been in designated quar-antine and isolation facilitieshosting returnees from abroad.There were no reports of com-

munity transmission of thevirus. Gaza’s health care systemis fraying under the weight ofan Israeli-Egyptian blockade,internal Palestinian divisionand repeated wars and skir-mishes between Israel andPalestinian militant groups.

Home to 2 million people,the Gaza Strip has only a littleover 60 ventilators and a chron-ic shortage of medication. AP

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Washington: A bipartisangroup of lawmakers have forthe first time introduced alegislation in both the cham-bers of the US Congressproposing major reforms in theH-1B work visas by givingpriority to the best and bright-est US-educated foreignyouths, a move that couldbenefit Indian students alreadyin the country.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows UScompanies to employ foreignworkers in speciality occupa-tions that require theoretical ortechnical expertise. Companiesdepend on it to hire tens ofthousands of employees eachyear from countries like Indiaand China.

On April 1, the USCitizenship and ImmigrationServices (USCIS) said that theUS received nearly 275,000unique registration requests forthe Congressional mandated85,000 H-1B visas for foreigntechnology professionals, ofwhich more than 67 per centare from India.

As far as the students areconcerned, India accounts forthe second largest number offoreign students in the USafter China. There are morethan 200,000 Indian studentsin the US. PTI

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London: David Waugh isputting down barrier tape andspraying yellow lines on theground outside the main doorof his school near Manchester.

Waugh, who oversees fiveschools in northwesternEngland, already has paintedyellow arrows to ensure thatchildren follow a one-way patharound the building when theyreturn next month from anextended break due to the coro-navirus pandemic.

Soft furniture and playequipment have been cordonedoff, and desks have been spreadapart. Waugh has stocked up on7,500 face masks, hundreds ofpairs of gloves, hand sanitiserand other supplies. AP

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� � The Indian PremierLeague has helped English crick-et grow, feels Jos Buttler, admit-ting that the cash-rich T20 tour-nament is the best in the worldafter the ICC World Cups.

Butler said he was desperateto be a part of this year’s IPL,which now has been indefinite-ly suspended.

The World Cup-winningEngland wicketkeeper batsman,has been a part of two franchis-es in the IPL. After playing forMumbai Indians in the 2016-17season, Buttler moved toRajasthan Royals in 2018.

“There’s no doubt that it(IPL) has helped English crick-et grow and the numbers ofplayers who were involved in thelast few years,” Buttler said in theBBC Podcast — The Doosra.

“It was something I was des-perate to play. For me it’s the besttournament in the world, takingout the World Cups,” he added.

Buttler, who made massivestrides as a white ball player aftera few seasons of IPL, said theleague is like the fantasy crick-et he aspired to play as kid, withthe top stars of the game rubbingshoulders together.

“Some of the match ups youget to see in the IPL are great.Bangalore has been amongst thetop three teams with (Virat))Kohli, AB and Gayle coming upand then to see them up againsta (Jasprit) Bumrah or a DaleSteyn or (Lasith) Malinga.

“As a kid growing up that iswhat you want to play — fanta-sy cricket. Mix all the teamstogether what it will be like ifKohli and de Villiers play togeth-er,” he added.

Buttler credited KevinPietersen, who advocated for thecreation of a separate windowfor the IPL, paving the way forEnglish players to be a part of thecash-rich tournament.

“English cricket has gotquite an interesting history withthe IPL. The documentary aboutKevin Pietersen and how hewanted to get involved and theroad blocks he faced,” he said.

“He really paved the way fora lot of us to go and now play inthe IPL with more blessingfrom English cricket. He is a pio-neer in building the steps inplace to realise just how impor-tant the IPL is for developingcricketers,” Buttler added. PTI

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Australia’s premier pacer PatCummins is well aware ofChesteshwar Pujara’s capa-

bilities, insisting that they willneed to “take their medicine” tooutlast the Indian middle-ordermainstay in the home series thissummer.

Pujara’s exploits with the batin India’s series win in 2018-19 isstill fresh in Cummins’ mind andhe would like to avoid a repeat ofthe same in the upcoming tour.

Pujara was the star of India’sbreakthrough 2-1 series win overAustralia, amassing 521 runsfrom four Tests at an average of74.42 with three centuries andone fifty.

“He (Pujara) had a mam-moth series for them (in 2018-19). He’s one of those playersthat’ll take his time, he’s in hisown little bubble and he doesn’tget disturbed by too much,”Cummins told cricket.Com.Au.

“We’ve got to find a way tooutlast him if he bats the way hedid last time. There wasn’t toomuch in the pitch so you could-n’t manufacture anything. So Ithink (we need to) take our med-icine a bit more and try and out-last him.”

Cummins hopes the condi-tions this time would be inAustralia’s favour, saying theywould need to get the likes ofPujara out of his comfort zone tostop India.

“But we’ll wait and see.Hopefully the wickets are a bitbouncier (and) we’ve got a fewmore options,” he added.

The 27-year-old believes thathe has evolved as a bowler fromthe 2018-19 tour.

“I think each Test I play, Ilearn a little bit about my ownbowling. I’ve probably played 10or 15 Tests since that series andI feel like with each series I get alittle bit better,” he said.

“There were a few lessons; thefirst lesson I learnt was how bru-tal Test cricket is. They might batall of day one and there’s nothingthat’ll stop them batting all of day

two unless we take wickets, whichthey did a few times.

“They showed us what youhave to be, what level you have tobe at, to be the best team in theworld.”

Overall, Cummins, current-ly world No 1 Test bowler, feelsAustralia is far better equipped tohandle the Indians now than lasttime.

“I think we’ll be ready forthem this time,” he said.

“Everyone’s a little more expe-rienced this time because obvi-ously we’ve got a couple of classbatters back in the side andsomeone like Marnus(Labuschagne) has played a bitmore and done brilliantly.

“So I feel like we’re in a bet-ter position.”

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The wait for bowlers looking toresume Test cricket after the

coronavirus hiatus will be longerthan others as the ICC has set apreparation time of up to two tothree months for them to avoid get-ting injured.

“Test cricket would require aminimum of 8-12 week preparationperiod (for bowlers), the final 4-5-week period would involve matchintensity bowling.

“Bowlers are at a particularlyhigh risk of injury on return to playafter a period of enforced time-out,”the sport’s world governing body saidin its ‘back-to-cricket’ guidelines.

Under the subhead cricket spe-cific risks, the ICC mentioned about“safe and effective return of players

to strength and conditioning (partic-ularly bowlers).”

“Limited preparation maycause higher injury levels,” itsaid.

“When looking attimescales, considerationneeds to be given to the ageand physical preparednessas this will influencethe risk and lengthof time required todevelop appropri-ate bowling loadsthat will allow asafe and effec-tive return tointernationalcricket.”

The ICCsaid a return to T20Internationals for bowlers

would require a minimumfive-six week preparationperiod, the last three-week

involving match intensi-ty bowling.

The minimumpreparation timefor ODIs has beenset at six weeks,with the finalthree weeks involv-

ing match intensitybowling.

The ICC alsoadvised teams to use

larger squads and exer-cise caution overbowlers’ workloads andstated that Test cricketwould require a mini-mum of eight to 12week preparation.

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England all-rounder ChrisWoakes feels banning the

use of saliva on balls will notbe an issue as bowlers willeventually find other ways toshine the ball.

Woakes feels appying sali-va on the ball is a habit and itwill take some practice to getrid of it when cricket resumes.

“Moving forward you’regoing to have remind yourselfthat you can’t use those thingsto shine the ball,” Woakeswas quoted as saying byWisden.

The 31-year-old said thebowlers’ job will become hard-er without the use of saliva onthe ball.

“Don’t get me wrong, youcan shine the ball without sali-va and sweat, it probably justdoesn’t have the same effect.You might have to work a lit-tle bit harder on rubbing onthe trousers,” he said.

“We will find ways toshine the ball, whether that’sbeing a little bit more aggres-sive on the shining side ofthings.

I’m sure we will find a wayof getting some shine into thatball and making sure it doesmove off the straight,” headded.

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Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju onSaturday said India will not host

any international event in immediatefuture and fans will have to learn tolive with the new normal of sportingactivities happening behind closeddoors in the post Covid-19 world.

Rijiju’s statement gain greatersignificance in the context of the sus-pended IPL, which the BCCI wantsto host in October-November incase the ICC T20 World Cup inAustralia is postponed.

“We have been working for quitesome time now to resume sportingactivities but before that we have tothink about practice and training. Weare not going to have a tournamentkind of situation immediately,” Rijijuwas quoted as saying by India Today.

“We have to learn to live with thesituation where sporting events will

have to be carried forward withoutspectators in stadiums and sportsvenues,” he added.

Talking specifically about the13th edition of IPL, which has beenput on hold for an indefinite perioddue to the pandemic, Rijiju said it isthe Government’s prerogative to takea call on conducting any tournamentin the country.

“In India, the Government has totake a call and it will take a calldepending on the situation. We can-not put health at risk just because wewant to have a sporting event.

“Our focus is fighting Covid-19and at the same time we will have towork a mechanism to get back tonormalcy. It is difficult to confirmdates but I am sure we will have somekind of sporting events this year,” hesaid.

Asked about the prospect of theTokyo Games that were scheduled for

this year but were postponed to 2021due to the pandemic, the SportsMinister said he is hopeful of thequadrennial event taking place on therevised dates.

“Olympics is still far away and wehave full confidence in the JapaneseGovernment and IOC and everycountry will support that the conductof Tokyo 2021 will not be postponed.There are too many stakes inOlympics, so it is difficult to evenforesee that Olympics can be post-poned,” he said.

“As far as India’s preparationgoes, we are at the best stage of ourpreparation of any Olympics so farin history. This is going to be India’sbiggest contingent so far and havemedal-winning prospects. But I amnot saying we are so prepared to fin-ish in the top 10 or 5 but our longterm target is that India will be in thetop 10 in 2028.”

�1��1� Former Australiaspinner Brad Hogg haspicked four Indians in hiscurrent world Test XI.

Mayank Agarwal, RohitSharma, Ajinkya Rahaneand Mohammad Shami werethe players from Team Indiawho made a cut in Hogg’steam. However, it wassuprising to see that neitherVirat Kohli nor CheteshwarPujara could find a spot inthe team.

“Everyone will ask whyis Virat Kohli not in thisteam?” Hogg said in a videoposted in his YouTube chan-nel. “But if you look at his

last 15 Test innings, only four times he has gone over 31 (runs).That’s why Virat Kohli is not my Test team this year.”

“Rohit Sharma’s a bit lucky to find a place in this XI. He’saveraged over 90 but has played Test cricket only in India. ButI love the way that he’s so relaxed, just pushes the ball throughthe off side and also works the ball off his legs,” he added whilespeaking about Rohit.

The former left-arm chinaman picked Proteas wicketkeep-er-batsman Quinton de Kock as captain of the team.

Apart from the four Indians, the other players who founda spot in the team are Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, BabarAzam, Pat Cummins, Neil Wagner and Nathan Lyon. IANS

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Pacer Shardul Thakur onSaturday became the first

India cricketer to resume out-door training after a two-month coronavirus-forcedbreak.

Thakur, who has fea-tured in one Test, 11 ODIs and15 T20s, hit a local ground atBoisar in Maharashtra’s Palghardistrict along with somedomestic players.

The Maharashtra Govt hasallowed opening of stadiumsfor individual training in greenand orange zones without spec-tators. This was after the HomeMinistry offered relaxation inrestrictions for the fourth phaseof the lockdown.

“Yes, we practised today. It was goodand definitely pleasing to practice aftertwo months,” Thakur said. An official

said that that the Palghar DahanuTaluka Sports Association started

the net sessions at Boisar, whichis around 110 kms away fromMumbai.

Strict safety protocols werefollowed, with each bowler get-

ting his own set of disinfected balls.“All the safety measures were

followed. The bowlers got their ownballs which were disinfected and

temperatures of the players whocame for practise were also checked,”the official said.

Mumbai batsman HardikTamore, who made his Ranji debutfor the domestic giants last season,was also seen training at the same

ground.

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The ICC has advised its member nations to exercisecaution while resuming cricket activities, fearing

a spurt in local transmission with many countries stillstruggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Safety first is one of the primary considerations ofthe ICC’s back-to-cricket guidelines and involving theGovernments at all stages is a must.

“The resumption of cricket activities shouldbegin only if there is no perceived or known risk thatdoing so might result in an increase in the local trans-mission rate,” the ICC said in its guidelines.

While England remains one of the most affectedcountries, major cricket-playing nations such as Indiaand Pakistan have seen a spike in the number of coro-navirus positive cases in recent weeks.

The world governing body of the sport added:“Every effort should be made to ensure that risks asso-ciated with the cricket environment — field of play,training venue, changing rooms, equipment, manage-ment of the ball have been mitigated before any train-ing session or match.”

Under the subhead Government advice, the apexbody guidelines stated, “ICC Members (and their owncricket communities) should be guided by the adviceof their respective Governments in relation to whensporting activity is resumed.

“Where sporting activities has been expressly for-bidden by Governments, no cricket activity shouldcommence until approval to do so has been obtainedfrom the Government.”

Government advice should also be sought in rela-tion to “travel restrictions (domestic and internation-al) and quarantine requirements”.

The ICC has also called for the need to educateplayers and all other stakeholders on the updated safe-ty protocols in what is going to be a vastly differentworld. Sharing of equipment will become a thing ofthe past.

“Wherever possible, items of cricket equipmentshould not be shared with anyone else unless an appro-priate cleaning protocol is followed.

“Players should be advised to minimise the use ofchanging rooms, shower facilities and other commu-nal areas. “Where possible, players should be encour-aged to shower and change at home instead of at matchand training venues.”

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The legendary Shane Warnebelieves Cricket Australia

should force the states to pick aspinner in every first class game toimprove the quality of spin bowl-ing in the country which is current-ly “going downhill fast” due to theincrease in drop-in wickets.

“A spinner should play everysingle game, no matter what theconditions are like, so that partic-ular spinners can learn how to bowlon day one or day four. At themoment, they (states) only pickthem when the conditions suit,”Warne was quoted as saying by TheWest Australian.

“How are they going to learnif you don’t allow them to play statecricket? There has to be a respon-sibility on the states to pick one spe-

cialist spinner in every game. Andif they don’t, well maybe CricketAustralia has to step in. Otherwisespin bowling will go downhill,and is going downhill fast.”

Warne, one of the greatest leg-

spinners the game has produced,said there is a dearth of quality spin-ner who can fill in the shoes ofNathan Lyon and urged CA toensure that states include a spinnerin every Sheffield Shield game.

“Nathan Lyon is one of the bestspinners in the world, and we’re solucky to have a great spinner inLyon. If something happened tohim, we’ve got a spinner with verylittle first class experience thatcould be up against some of the bestplayers in the world of spin,” he saidduring the launch of Advanced HairStudio’s new website.

“We have some good spinnersin Australia, but they’re not gettingthe opportunities. Cricket Australiashould maybe put some pressureon the states and say, ‘You have topick one specialist spinner in yourteam every time.’”

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Need to find way to outlast Pujara: Cummins�������� ����������������!����%%���������$��� ��������<�)����� 7 0��� Australia’s limitedover captain Aaron Finch believescricket boards across the worldwill have to compromise andmake “one big effort” to get thesport back on track following thecoronavirus hiatus.There are spec-ulations that the 13th IPL, whichwas suspended indefinitely, mightbe conducted in October-November at the expense of theT20 World Cup in Australia.

Finch, who is on the board ofplayers’ union, said it is not onlyabout the IPL and all stakehold-ers have to make compromises toget cricket to thrive again.

“It will get to a point, not justfor IPL but for all cricket, there’llbe a compromise from a lot of dif-ferent stakeholders — organisa-tions, countries, players, the ICC— to get cricket back and coun-tries thriving again,” Finch wasquoted as saying by SydneyMorning Herald.

“I think the ICC aremeeting next week to startdiscussing the FTP (FutureTours Program) again.The next couple ofweeks we’ll have moreidea what that lookslike, what compro-mises will be madefor different tourna-ments and coun-tries.”

Stakes arehigh forAustralia asIndia is also

scheduled to tour Down Underfor a Test and ODI series with$300 million riding on it.

Finch said things always won’tbe in favour of Australia but com-promises will have to be made.

“Everyone working togetherto get the best result for everyone...Some situations where it’s notideal for Australia we have tocompromise and give. It will beone big effort, I think,” the 33-year-old said.

“With India coming out herethis summer, Kevin Roberts (CACEO Roberts) said it was a nineout of 10 (chance). I think therewill be give and take in a lot of dif-ferent things like that.”

Australia is likely to resumecricket with a limited-over seriesin England after the BangladeshTest tour was postponed due tothe global health crisis.

However, Finch said he hasno concerns about playing inthe UK as they would be stay-ing in a bio-secure environ-ment and would be able totrain during the 14-day quar-

antine period.“I’d be super excited

to get any cricket back -if it’s internationalcricket all the better,”Finch said. “If it’s done

really well with thequarantine bubble and reg-ular testing, I don’t see itbeing an issue. I’d be keento get back playing as soonas possible.” PTI

�+�&"+�2�#2<+��6&��;,$-�#4��+�+�#��,;��#�<�;4��5&���#,$;2�$����,�"#��#;,8�00

2�=�!�����������������!��%�������$���������%&$��������;&�%;;�����#,#,/

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�+C$$�4#,%�"+��;%���;���#,+�6�$$�?#��;&����$#@�8��;�<+�=:�-� ������� ��� �����������4�������4��� ��� Former Australiapacer Brett Lee feels the latestICC guidelines, instructingagainst the usage of saliva onthe balls in the post Covid-19scenario, will be difficult toimplement.

“When you have donesomething your whole lifefrom 8,9,10 years of age whereyou lick your fingers and youput on the ball, it’s very hard tochange that overnight too,”Lee said on Star Sports showCricket Connected.

Lee, who played 76 Testsand 221 ODIs, however expectssome leniency from the worldcricket body in this regard.

“So, I think there’s going tobe a couple of occasions, orthere’s going to be some lenien-cy from the ICC, where there

may be warnings. It’s a greatinitiative, it’s going to be veryhard to implement, becausecricketers have done this fortheir whole life,” added Lee.

Even veteran SouthAfrican cricketer Faf Du Plessisagreed with Lee, saying thesame applied to fielders too.

Giving his own example,Du Plessis, said he is used to thehabit of taking a bit of his spiton his fingers before catchingthe ball in the slips.

“For the fielders, it’s thesame. As Brett (Lee) men-tions, I’m used to taking a bitof spit on my fingers before Icatch the ball at slip. If you lookat someone like Ricky Ponting,he has a big spit on his handsevery time he tried to catch aball,” Du Plessis said. PNS

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My experience…convinced me that tea was bet-ter than brandy, and during the last six monthsin Africa I took no brandy, even when sick, tak-ing tea instead.

— Theodore Roosevelt

Tea deserves all the preference itreceives from those who relish it.The beverage not only has a highsustenance value, but has also beenproven to endow several positive

effects on health. In a world of progressive sci-entific research, the biological composition ofthe tea plant has come under study because ofthe correlation of longevity and health in manyancient tea drinking cultures like China andJapan.

In its everyday aspect, tea is considered abeneficial agent for relieving fatigue and aidingclarity of thought, besides being favourable fordigestion. Although its stimulating effects arederived from its caffeine content, unlike coffee,drinking tea in large quantities does not causehyperactivity, insomnia, or stomach irritation,as this compound is present in a ratio that ishalf the level of caffeine in coffee. A 190 mlcup of tea contains approximately 40-50 mg ofcaffeine, while full flavour coffees average 110-120 mg per cup.

Green, oolong, white and pu-erh tea infu-sions contain even less caffeine than black teas.Not only do they undergo lesser oxidation, butit is so because such teas are made with multi-ple infusions: since water is added more thanonce, and as the liquor gets poured off, itreduces the content of caffeine. Caffeine isconsidered safe when it is consumed at a doseof 400 mg or less per day which would includethe intake of soft drinks such as colas. Hence,be it black or green tea, whichever it may be, itis safer to enjoy several cups of tea rather thanmultiple cups of coffee.

����������������� �����In all, this exhilarating beverage ranks as a

useful component of nature’s health repository.The leaves of the Camellia Sinensis, especiallythe buds and tender shoots contain catechinsand polyphenols. These are part of the molec-ular family of flavonoids that are beneficiarycompounds made by plants.

Tea gains much of its refreshing pungencyfrom its secondary ingredient, polyphenols TFand TR which are derived from a precursormagic compound Epi-gallo-catechin-gallate(EGCG) that is found in green tea leaves.

Its content is a little higher in green tea, ascompared to the fully fermented black teas,because during the oxidation process, most ofthe catechins are converted into complexpolyphenols, thearubigins and theaflavins.Oolong tea contains a mix of catechins andpolyphenols, as it is semi-fermented. Instantand iced teas, on the other hand, do not havethe same amount of polyphenols as an equalvolume of brewed tea. Instant teas are general-ly derived from low grade source material.

All these different types of catechins andpolyphenols have great value as they serve asantioxidants that neutralise the damage causedby an excess of free radicals in the body. Thelatter, in simple terms, are the by-product ofthe normal process by which oxygen is com-bined with glucose in our body cells, to makeenergy; they are not in themselves harmful. Infact, the immune system may itself producefree radicals to neutralise viruses and bacteria.It is only when they are produced in excessthat they begin to attack the cell membranes

and tissues and pave the way for cancer,besides perpetuating blockage that plays a rolein heart disease and accelerates the ageingprocess.

Antioxidants act as vital scavengers thatmop up the damage caused by rogue free radi-cals by neutralising them and consequentlypreventing cell and tissue damage.

Although antioxidants in the form of cate-chins and flavonoids are found to some extentin red wine and in green leafy vegetables likebroccoli and spinach, and fruits such as applesand berries as well as in dark chocolate, tearemains one of the most important sources ofantioxidants.

A study at the Antioxidant ResearchCentre in London published in Free RadicalResearch in February 1999, put forth the fol-lowing formula: 2 cups of black tea = 1 glass ofred wine = 7 glasses of orange juice = 20 glassesof apple juice.

Tea, therefore, with its high content ofantioxidants, is a potential agent for fightingcancer. Similarly, biological research alsoreveals that the antioxidants in tea can counterthe artery-damaging potential of the reactivefree radicals. According to TNO, a Dutchinnovation organisation, quercetin, a valuablepolyphenol found in tea and other vegetablesand fruits, has anti-oxidative properties andprevents the formation of plaque.

In this manner, it helps the endothelial lay-ers of the arteries to remain flexible for goodcirculation and makes the blood cells lessprone to clotting and is a good preventive forheart disease and strokes. Although these dis-eases are attributed in great part to genetic andlifestyle factors, health studies do show somepositive insights into the antioxidant benefitsof this beverage.

Moreover, the catechins in tea offer theadvantage of being an aid for killing infectionas they block viruses and bacteria from hook-ing on to cell walls. Therefore they can helpprotect against diseases like influenza, foodpoisoning, dysentery and cholera. By the same

measure, they can kill mouth bacteria that areharmful for teeth and gums and lead to peri-odontal disease.

Tea also improves the functioning of theintestines by blocking the growth of bad bacte-ria and enhancing good bacteria and is there-fore a good digestive. It is said to be detoxify-ing as the catechins can scavenge harmfulheavy metals like lead, chromium, mercury,which may get ingested with food.

����������������� �����In itself tea has no calories at all, and it is

merely the addition of sugar in each cup of teathat leads to weight gain. Milk however, is notobjectionable, as long as it is just a dash.

There is also the belief that green tea helps

in slimming. While it can by no means be con-strued as a miracle drink, green tea is knownto give a metabolic boost that may shed off afew extra calories by about four per cent. Byvirtue of its antioxidant qualities that help fightageing and skin damage, tea extracts with theirrefreshing aromas are also used in facialcreams, skin packs and perfumes.

The comforting qualities of the beverageare no old wives tale either. There is a naturalbioflavonoid found in tea that has been foundto significantly increase endorphin levels,which in turn reduce pain and anxiety so thatin cases of shock and stress, a cup of teasoothes the nerves.

�������������������������The tea plant has the natural ability to

absorb fluoride from the soil and so a tea infu-sion readily releases this mineral into thewater, making it a beneficial drink for healthyteeth. It is estimated that a single cup provides0.1 mg of fluoride and can provide forty-fiveper cent of the body’s daily requirement.Studies have also shown that there are someestrogenic compounds in tea, together withelements of manganese that help in increasingbone mass by five per cent, thereby reducingfracture risk. It also contains potassium, a min-eral vital for maintaining body fluid levels. Thebeverage acts as a diuretic. This benign brew isalso known to have Vitamin C, zinc and folicacid, and is therefore regularly recommendedfor pregnant women.

Finally, it is not to be forgotten that duringthe days of its discovery in China, the beveragewas recognised at first for its remedial worth.Modern health research still continues to reit-erate this fact.

Excerpted with permission from Chai: TheExperience of Indian Tea, by Rekha Sarin &

Rajan Kapoor, Niyogi Books, �1995. The book was awarded the Best in the World

— Gourmand Cookbook Awards in theBeverages Category (2015)

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The coronavirus pandemic has changed many things inthe world most of which are going to stay. At least fora considerable period. Not only did it ensure that the

wheels of globalisation come a full circle, it also brought sev-eral realisations on the part of the humanity at large. Themost important was that conservation and not consump-tion be the model for a sustainable growth and viable econ-omy. In all this turmoil Gandhi stands vindicated. His ide-ologies, which could better be termed as practices, and alsohis economic thought. We are back to the basics and, moreimportantly, understand why it makes a lot of sense. If allthe effects of pollution that we callously inflicted on moth-er earth in the last 50 years could be undone in 50 days, wemust have become much wiser in this lockdown period.Gandhi had always been emphasising swadeshi and self-reliance. His swadeshi movement that caught the imagina-tion of the masses during the Indian National Movement wasin a way a game changer. It proved a very effective strategyaimed at weakening the British Empire and was a powerfultool in the hands of the Indian National Congress which wasspearheading the movement. A few details of the SwadeshiMovement may help in understanding what it was all about.Gandhi had given a clarion call to boycott British productswhile advocating Indian products and production process.Though Swadeshi as a slogan had been a part of the overallstrategy of the nationalists before Gandhi’s advent on thescene, it was the entry of Gandhi that gave the movementa shot in the arm and resulted in making it a mass move-ment. Incidentally, the first few Industrial Policy Resolutionsof independent India had emphasised self-reliance and importsubstitution as the major goals. How we digressed is a dif-ferent story all together, but this is a time to rethink and redo.What Gandhi exhorted and advocated some 100 years agohas once again become the mantra for India’s rise in the postCovid world. Gandhi had given a complete prescription forsustainable development of India and it included a self suf-ficient village economy and focused on local production ofgoods for local needs. As things unfold in the pandemic, wenow see reason in what Gandhi had championed then. It isa grim economic scenario. Jobs and opportunities are dwin-dling and millions of migrant workers working in differentparts of the country are forced to return to their respectivevillages. It is imperative to strengthen the village economyand start the process of revival. There cannot be a better strat-egy than making the villages self-sustaining units of Indianeconomy. As the former President of India Abdul Kalam hadsuggested in his PURA philosophy, that is, Providing UrbanFacilities in Rural Areas. That is the essential first step. Therural infrastructure must support the strategies of growthand provide a conducive atmosphere for entrepreneurshipdevelopment. Rural entrepreneurship has played a crucialrole in development of many European and Asian economies.It is India’s turn now. Gandhi said that India’s soul lived invillages. We must now try to enrich the soul.

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This is the underlying principle ofthe creation. By our acts both, thatis, we and the world should ben-

efit. We can understand this from anexample of a head of a joint family. Whatoccupies his mind mostly? That notonly himself but the whole familyshould prosper. His all acts are direct-ed that way.

Similarly, God is the head of the cre-ation. It is His responsibility to see thatthe world runs as smoothly as possible.As we all have free will, which the Lordnever withdraws from us, He has a verytough task. But being God, the omnipo-tent, He manages till it is time for dis-solution of the creation. Fortunately, itis not that time yet. He has intervenedbecause the world was moving in thewrong direction and at great speed.More persons were getting addicted tounlimited sense gratification. In theprocess, the climate was gettingbutchered. In spite of many youngactivists like Greta Thunberg, not manyin the position of power were listening.God had to act to save the world froma certain disaster. This coronavirus —never mind how it started — is a medi-um to reset the world and this is hap-pening quite effectively at this time. Fuelguzzlers are off the roads mostly as areairplanes from air, etc. Crude price istouching rock bottom and the climatehas improved trementously. Couldanyone have imagined this scenario? Weare breathing clean air in Delhi, prob-ably the most polluted city in theworld.

God somewhat like the head oflarge joint family wishes all of us to pro-mote ourselves as well as contributewhatever we can for the betterment ofthe rest of the mankind. God desiresthat His devotees should disseminateHis instructions among His devotees.

(The Bhagavad Gita 18.67-68) They aremost dear to Him. I am citing the exam-ple of Goswami Tulsidas in this connec-tion. The next example is of personsengaged in public welfare. God assuresthat doers of welfare activities do notend up badly. (6.40) Bill Gates is a greatexample for it.

The third example is of climateactivists, who are mostly young, whowish to save the world for their future.They are clamouring for control on car-bon emission and not cutting more treesto do farming. We could eat a little lessmeat in order not to grow so muchgrains. The fourth example is of a leaderlike Mahatma Gandhi, who left such amark. The last example is of all thoseparents, who bring up children verynicely doing many sacrifices in theprocess. They benefit themselves andthe rest of world by their efforts.

Generally, God insists on surrenderto Him (18.62), because such personsare most likely to be useful to the cre-ation. They will not sin and harm selvesor the creation. This is not unfairbecause it is God’s responsibility to man-

age the creation the best way possible.We are aware how those who are busyin lustily enjoying themselves are cre-ating negative forces around them.They are using more than their share ofthe bounties of the world. Despots areworse. They cause damage to the cre-ation by their sinful acts. And those par-ents who do not fulfil their parentalduties are not great favourites of theLord. When we become narrowly self-ish, we hurt ourselves as well as theworld around us.

In the end, I must mention manysaints, who are praying for the welfareof the world. I consider myself most for-tunate to be born in India and livinghere. And I try to fulfil all my dutiesincluding towards myself, my family, myjoint family, devotees and others. Thisdoes not go unnoticed by the Master ofthe universe. He rewards me in manyways, especially by giving peace, blissand security. The best part is God’s reg-ular communications to me guiding mein my eternal journey. #�������������������������� ����$��������

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The corona phobia is spread-ing all over the world morerapidly than coronavirus. Itis the subject discussedeverywhere. Transactions

have reached an impasse. Almosteveryone has self-quarantined them-selves in their respective places. Roadsappear derelict. The future is uncer-tain. Many people all over the worldare dying due to the deadly virus. Theeerie statistics make for the newsheadlines. Scientists are racing againsttime to find the vaccine. Governmentsare implementing lockdowns in theircountry to restrict the spread of thepandemic. The atmosphere is sombreeverywhere!

Nobody wants to die. That is thefact of life. Every living entity strug-gles hard to keep himself alive in thisworld. But death is forced upon us bythe cruel nature. Why? Why Natureis so cruel? I want to live forever butI am forced to die. Why such dichoto-my? An intelligent being will under-stand something is notoriously wronghere. Actually, we don’t belong to thisworld. This is not our real home. Weare not in our natural environmentnow. When we are in exotic environ-

ment like water or air, we are afraidbut when we land on land, we feel safeas that is our natural environment.Similarly, leaving our natural environ-ment, the spiritual world we came toalien environment that is the mater-ial world thus inviting monumentalanxiety.

If you just turn back the pages ofprevious newspapers you will getspooked. Before coronavirus out-break there were other calamitieskeeping us engaged constantly. Indiaand Pakistan were on the brink of war,there was Dokhlam standoff, commu-nal violence over CAA, rising rapecases, economic slump, heavy floodsdue to torrential rains, Cyclone Fani,Cylone Bulbul, etc.

You may think this was only forIndia. But for rest of the world too, listis endless — Massive fire in Amazonforest, melting of ice caps due to glob-al warming, US Iran War, two major737 MAX flight crashes in Indonesiaand Ethiopia, bomb blasts in SriLanka, rising gun violence in the US,US-China trade war, Australian bushfire, rising cases of cancer patients,Swine flu outbreak, and many more.These are few amongst many hitting

us like the constant tides in an ocean.But Coronavirus outbreak is a

Pandemic! It is declared global emer-gency by WHO. It is not a measlyproblem of some one country! OK.Accepted the fact that it is a pandem-ic affecting the whole globe and weneed to follow proper precautions andguidelines laid by the government. ButLord Krishna has already declared inthe Gita (8.15) that this world is aplace of misery. Birth, Death, old ageand disease (Janma-måtyu-jarä-vyäd-hi) are constantly haunting and daunt-ing us. For a given individual any-where, he has some or the other prob-lem in his life making him miserable.Whether it is a small epidemic or pan-demic. He is in anxiety most of thetime.

The pain in the body is a goodnatural mechanism to alert us to takethe treatment. In COVID-19 case thepatient has flu like symptoms offever, cold, cough, and so on. Whenhe gets the symptoms, he can rush tothe hospital to take treatment intime. Many are getting cured andbeing discharged from hospitals. So,the point is pain in the body coercesus to go to doctor and take treatment.

Similarly, the constant miseries inflict-ed upon us by nature are indicationthat we need treatment. And the besttreatment recommended in this age ischanting the Holy names of God.

Hare Krishna Hare KrishnaKrishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama RamaRama Hare Hare

Chanting will make us peaceful inthis world and next too. That is theimmense power of Holy Name. It ismore powerful than Coronavirusalso.

Also, if one understands theteachings of Bhagavad Gita that oneis not this body but spirit soul (2.22)he will be peaceful. Just as we changeclothes daily while the person remainsthe same, the soul keeps changingbodies according to his karma. Thesoul is unaffected by the miseries ofthis world. The body is subjected tothe change but the soul is unchange-able. The moon although appearingwith the clouds is not affected by thejittery movements of the clouds, itremains steady as it exists at differentlevel than the clouds. Similarly, thesoul remains unchangeable in thischangeable world.

Bhagavad Gita also speaks aboutlaw of Karma. The laws of Karma areextremely stringent. One may escapethe laws of government but one can-not escape the laws of nature. Natureawards exactly the reactions to the liv-ing entity according to what he desiresand deserves. Nothing more or less.

Sometimes, nature divulges massKarmic reaction in form of Tsunami,earthquakes, volcanoes, massivefloods, severe drought, etc. So manypeople get affected. It may seemNature acting blindly. Material Naturemay act in mass but not blindly.

Only they will die who are sup-posed to get the Karmic reaction oth-ers won’t even though in the epicen-ter of the calamity. And we have wit-nessed many cases of people or smallchildren surviving massive earth-quakes buried under debris for dayswhile those staying in their safe andaffluent houses are killed. Nature’s lawpunishes the sinful and awards thepious without a doubt.

By chanting and reading Gitadaily we will fully get cured and goback home back to Godhead wherethere is no — birth, old age, diseaseand death and no Corona but onlyKaruna (mercy) of God. Everythingis within the plan of God although itmay not be exactly the plan of God.If we remain alive through this pan-demic, we will serve God here and ifwe die, we will go to Kingdom of Godand serve Him there. The eternalnature of Soul is to serve God always.��������������������������������������������������%���7�������������C��7�4'D

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It is after decades that great things arehappening to our environment. As aresult of the clear air, for the first time

in three decades, the snow capped peaksof Gangotri became visible from UP’sSaharanpur. It was a pleasant surprise.These are the same mountains which canotherwise be seen from Mussouri, reportsVK Jain, conservator Saharanpur district.

The spring has been markedly differ-ent. There has been rejoicing about returnof blue skies, sparkling rivers, new crop ofleaves on Cycas palms. Each of them has aglassy new foliage. The flora and faunahave been getting back to normal.Marigold, Jasmine, Lilies and roses havegrown in abundance. The nature is boun-tiful reads another report from Jind.

Noise pollution levels have completelygone down which allows you to hear birdsmore clearly. Birds, whose chirpingsounds have been heard the loudest in theNCR during the lockdown include, thebrown rack, Chat, Indian robin, orientalmagpie robin, refocus, tropic, commonhawk Cuckoo, Asian Koel, barbets rosystarlings, and even the golden orlola — abird which migrated from the hills of theHimalayas, sums up Jasjeev Gandhlok.

Gandhiji, would have been pleased tonote that consequentially surgence ofnature to reiterate that the resources ofEarth needs to be exploited minimal asthis earth has sufficient for every humansneed and that simple way of life, he advo-cated is best. To save the planet, our mis-sion must be preventing global warmingand the climate crisis, close wet marketsand wild life trade undeniably, Gandhiji’sideals are beneficial ecologically.

But Gandhiji’s ideals can be disastrouseconomically retorts Rashmi Dasguptaand raised the big question before thehumans decide to use their formidablebrains to recalibrate ‘Progress’ so that it

benefits all not just us.Notwithstanding that doubts persists

about origin of Coronavirus. BramahChallanye argues that Chinese cover up ofthe spread of the first deadly diseaseSARS, in 2002-2003 triggered in theworld of this century’s pandemic and nowthat Beijing opposes an independentinquiry leaves margin of doubt.

However WHO Emergencies DirectorMichael Ryan believes that killer virusjumped from animals to humans in amarket of China late last year, possiblyfrom a market in Wuhan selling the exoticanimals for meat.

Mahatma Gandhi’s ecological intelli-gence of making cult of materialism thatwill recoil on itself and have what we con-sume, consume us. This is staring us inthe face says Gopal Krishan Gandhi.Greed, market created, market driven,market manipulated cares little for thehygiene. The Wuhan market is where it is.

Blaming it in isolation is absured, forthere is a Wuhan market in every city,town and thoroughfare. There is a Wuhanmarket in every one of us.

We may recall, the world has wit-nessed two world wars in the 20th centu-ry in its quest for the trade markets in theEast. A poet then reminded the belliger-ent Germany:

“Geya hai bhool German Aasmanibaap ko apne; Khuda Science ko samjahahai, munkre-zat-e-khuda ho kar”

(The Germany has forgotten theHeavenly father; And believes Science theGod, in denial of the existence ofProvidence.)

Allama Dr. Mohd Iqbal’s propheticutterance hold good both for the West asalso for the East.

“Dyar-e-maghrab ke rehne walo;Khuda ki basti, Dukaan nahi hai”

(O, ye, the inhabitants of the West;God’s abode is not a trader shop).

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The strength and unity of thehistoric European Union

(EU) may be history soon.With the Covid-19 pandemic,many of its member nationswould find it difficult to beeven in the union itself. It’s notonly the current crisis, butalso a sustained economicdownturn since the setback of2009 that could finally push thesurvival of the EU to the brink.

The coronavirus pandem-ic has pitted the members ofthe EU against one another. Forexample, by early March,Germany, one of the fewnations in Europe to manufac-ture medical masks, immedi-ately cancelled plans to exportthese protective gears to fellowcountries. This badly affectedItaly which was then in themidst of Covid-19 attack. Thenthe worst was the fightingbetween two regions of Spaini.e. Barcelona and Madrid. Theautonomous and nationalistGovernment of Cataloniawanted to close the borderbetween the region and the restof Spain. But it could not do asMadrid came armed withemergency authority.

By May, when the virusalmost swept Spain and manyparts of Europe, many EUnations like Germany, France,Austria and Italy reestablishedtheir almost forgotten bordercheckpoints. Alas! At a timelike this, since the SecondWorld War, surely the EU as aunit is performing very poor-ly. Sadly, Brussels, the EUheadquarters, is aimlessly look-ing for a strategy. It has notbeen successful in bringing itsflocks together. It looks like asif the Union is on the verge ofbankruptcy and collapse.

By mid-2019, some ana-lysts rightly pointed out thatfalling production in verymany Eurozone manufacturingunits, surveys portrayingincreasing gloominess amongsome top business leaders, andlastly, an increasing contractionin world trade had a directimpact on the already totteringeconomic structure of the con-tinent. Therefore, the perilousstate of the Eurozone economywas very much clear even inthe last year itself and many ofits leaders such as GermanChancellor Angela Merkel andPresident of France EmmanuelMacron knew about it.

At the moment, a quaran-tined and partly openingEurope is learning that all themajor countries of WesternEurope, except Germany, couldhardly offer any realistic solu-tion to Covid-19 and its imme-diate fallout. On other hand,the European leaders are ner-vous about the way USPresident Donald Trump istrying to change the course ofaction of the existing globalorder. Many strategic experts in

Europe strongly believe thatWashington is all out to destroythe EU. In the beginning of thelast year, Mike Pompeo, theSecretary of State’s wooing ofsome of the East Europeannations was considered anattack on the Union’s exis-tence. In fact, it’s a hard ideo-logical battle for the EU toencounter in the coming days.This also sharpened an East-West division within the EU.This was preceded by Trump’s2017 Warsaw Speech, infusedwith nativist nationalism.Again in the year 2018, hisstrong measures to imposetariff on EU goods, and histearing up of critical globalagreements wherein the EU hasserious stakes was the IranNuclear Deal, the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces Treaty(INF), etc. Further, his openencouragement to Brexiteersand a warning to withdrawfrom Syria was once again a callto threaten the very identity ofthe EU. When John Bolton wasTrump’s National SecurityAdviser, his anti-EU narrativewas on full display whenPompeo paid visit to Budapest,

Bratislava and Warsaw. AfterTrump’s coming to power,America is giving warm wel-come to the rightwing populistgovernments that the EU hasput on notice for long for theirdemocratic backsliding.Another significant aspect ofPompeo’s visit to EasternEurope was that these countrieswere formerly a part of the IronCurtain. All these moves couldbe rightly calculated as insultsthrown at old allies like that ofthe Union. Also such diplo-matic overtures from the UScould be read as a new powergame that Washington wantedto unleash so as to mar the uni-fying efforts of the EU. Suchpolicies would only exasperatethe EU nations as this wouldonly embolden the dema-gogues in Europe.

Is it so that Germany canalone save the EU? It’s not pos-sible for Merkel alone at themoment. But, Germany has theEurozone’s biggest economythat accounts for more than aquarter of the bloc’s output. Ithas the largest number of peo-ple and the most workers whoindeed set the course of the

continent’s economic engine.Many of the EU countries likeFrance, Italy, Belgium, Slovakia,Sweden and the Netherlands,all of them count Germany astheir top business partner.

EU’s decline is no more acock and bull story anymore.As the US is withdrawing fromsome of the key global summitsand treaties, the last exit pointmaybe the World TradeOrganization (WTO), the EUwould find it equally difficultto bear the heat from Chinaand Russia. Trump’s theatricsare simply bunkum. Simplytaking on China and on glob-al institutions at a time Covid-19 is engulfed the world ishighly deplorable. Yes, it is well-understood that these invec-tives towards China are allabout winning the next termfor the White House. But thenderailing a liberal order whichthe US itself has been pio-neering and guarding foralmost more than sevendecades is inconceivable. Whyan America of the 21st centu-ry is trying to push itself to self-isolation? Why Washington isnot partnering with Brussels to

set the stage for a multi-polarworld order? America’s grandconfusion at global stage andcurrent chaos, emanating fromthe Covid-19, is seriouslyimpairing the stability of theliberal world order wherein theEU’s stake is certainly too high.

Further, the trade warbetween America and Chinamay also affect the EU as well.Trump’s tariffs on a number ofChinese imports and on steeland aluminum from Europehave already disrupted the sup-ply chains across Europe. Thisalso has unsettled the plans ofmany top management hous-es who readily take early deci-sions in regard to their invest-ments for new factory spacesand the number of workers tobe hired around the year.

Needless to say that strut-ting the EU project to its mem-bers and to the world couldinvite serious challenges at thismoment. Even then, it wouldbe completely wrong to con-clude that the EU may evanescesoon from the seat of globalleadership. With the devasta-tion of the Covid-19, massmigration, right-wing upsurge,

record low growth, Brexit,emergence of Russian subver-sion, anemic defence spending,and finally lack of unity amongthe members, one can easilypoint a finger at the grand signsof disarray. In the fight betweenthe US and China, the role ofthe EU is definitely secondaryand declining. If the world isnot unipolar today, in a multi-polar world order with thestrength and growing eco-nomic might of emergingnations like India and China,the EU has very little relevanceto put forward.

Beyond all these negativenarratives, Europe alwaysremains relevant. Its transcon-tinental presence of soft power,military and economic mightcan hardly be matched by theUS or China. To conclude, wecan safely say that Europe is the“invisible superpower”. TheCovid-19 crisis may take longerand surely hamper in rechris-tening the EU. But it is a tem-porary phase. Europe had seenmany such disasters in thepast. And these advancednations with their superiorhealth, administration and

leadership would stage a come-back at the global stage. It’s amisnomer to advocate that theEU can’t act as a superpower.It’s a fact that Europe is not asovereign state like India or theUS, but when it comes to anypoint of crisis, it always acts asa single entity. After Russianinvasion of Ukraine, manyinternational pundits opinedthat Moscow might turntowards the east i.e. Chinabecause of its economic might.But these experts were provedwrong. In mid-2015, China’strade accounts for only 14 percent of Russia’s trade whereasonly three European countriescombined i.e. Germany, theNetherlands and Italy account-ed for more than 20 per cent ofRussia’s trade. Thus Kremlinlooked again towards Europe,not Beijing. And the miscon-ception that China has becomemore important in Russianpower calculus was justbrushed aside.

The Covid-19 poses a newthreat to European unity. Manyof the members of the EU aremulling over self-imposed pro-tectionist policies in regard to

migration as their systems arealready too overburdened. Thisand the post-Covid Europewill definitely witness the riseof more nationalist narratives.But this is not a new trend. TheEU is too resilient to handlesuch roadblocks in remainingunited and strong. Despitesuch tremors, its core formalinstitutions such as single mar-ket, environmental and otherpublic regulations, the com-mon trade policy, agriculturalpolicy, foreign aid, and com-mon border control mecha-nisms have still stooduntouched. What Dani Rodrikadvocated should stay not onlyas an evergreen theme, but asa working spirit to both theEuropean leaders and to itspeople at this moment ofCovid-19 crisis: “From Europecame democratic values, socialsolidarity and for all its currentproblems, the most impressivefeat of institutional engineeringof the century, the EuropeanUnion”. Hope it does. Long livethe European unity.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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The globe is facing anunprecedented health cri-

sis at present and India is noexception. There is no denyingthe fact that recession andunemployment are beginningto hit nations across the globe.Besides, we are also facing theproblems of fake news andcommunal hatred along withCovid-19.

The coronavirus crisis hasraised serious questions aboutthe appropriateness of the cap-italist structure of society.There is a vigorous debate onthe mortality rates due to thepandemic and starvation indeveloping and developednations. It seems that Covid-19will outpace hunger on thedeath toll but the debate itselfshows the failure of the market-oriented economy in India. Itis feared that in the currenteconomic system a huge num-ber of the poor will lose theirlives to starvation due to theeconomic impact of the pan-

demic. The ruthless capitalist mar-

ket offers no free lunch. Thestate is also indifferent to peo-ple’s plight, but we, as a society,can pressurise the Governmentto help the vulnerable sectionsof society. Chances are we maysucceed. There are many whoendorse the argument that“higher choices for consump-tion means higher welfare”.

It might be true in somecases, but the vast majority ofIndians do not benefit fromeconomic growth; rather, theystruggle to buy even the essen-tial goods for survival. Forexample, some people arespending the lockdown in theirfarmhouses with plenty of foodand facilities, while others arebarely managing to get onesquare meal per day. Just imag-ine a situation in which peoplebehave only in their self-inter-est, not thinking about otherswhile making decisions duringsuch a crisis. What will be the

outcome? Probably, you knowthe answer. The neoliberal ideology encourages suchbehaviour.

As a set of economic prac-tices, neoliberalism representsan advanced form of capitalismwith several indicators thatprivilege widespread econom-ic activities over all otheraspects of human life. Theproponents of neoliberal econ-omy hold that the highesthuman good can be achievedthrough liberal entrepreneur-ship aided by private propertyrights, free markets, and freetrade. They also advocate thatthe state must serve to safe-guard the interests of the mar-ket by creating and maintain-ing support systems such asinfrastructures, legislating mar-ket-friendly laws, and practic-ing non-interference in markets.

Endorsed by most politicalestablishments around theworld, neoliberalism today

greatly influences not onlyinternational institutions suchas the International MonetaryFund (IMF), the World Bank,the World Trade Organization,but also the way in whichindividual nations conceptu-alise and run their economies.

However, the pandemicunleashed on the world by thenovel coronavirus has broughtneoliberalism’s triumphantmarch to a grinding halt. Thesudden and indefinite shut-down of all economic activitiesat both the national and glob-al levels has adversely affectedmany Third-World countries.India has suffered from theeconomic downturn, caused bythe nationwide lockdown sinceMarch 24. Unfortunately, thosehardest hit are the daily-wagers,the migrant labourers, ownersof MSMEs and the small farm-ers. Abruptly deprived of theirlivelihood during the lock-down, they are staring in theface of a grave economic crisis.

To its credit, the Governmenthas announced a 1.7 trillion-rupee financial package andurged the State Governmentsto provide the basic necessitiesto the poor during the lock-down, but our economic poli-cy seems to have victimised thepoor. India’s neoliberal-capi-talist model of economy hasfailed to uplift the poorest ofthe poor. The Covid-19 crisishas only exposed this sad real-ity.

People need entertainmentthrough socialisation. We arenot saying that people arehappy at their homes, con-suming essential goods andservices only. But the coronapandemic has once again com-pelled the world to find astrong alternative to the neolib-eral model of economy thatoffers better opportunities tothe rich than the poor. In theIndian context, the Gandhianmodel of economy needs seri-ous consideration as a better

alternative. Mainstream economics

tends to overlook theGandhian model based on lim-iting the wants of the peoplebecause it hampers the GDPgrowth. This model primarilydepends upon three ideas:Gram Swaraj, Decentralisation,and Sarvodaya. The concept ofGram Swaraj is associated withself-efficient villages that havethe minimum facilities to livea decent life. The magnitude ofmigrant workers and studentsin the cities indicates the fail-ure of necessary facilities inrural India. Decentralisation ofpolitical and economic poweris needed to give Swaraj to vil-lages. In India, the Centremust provide more rights tolocal governments, urban localbodies and panchayati raj insti-tutions to develop their regions.

Sarvodaya means “uplift-ment of all”. Gandhiji coinedthis term from Ruskin’s famousbook “Unto This Last”. This

ideal is based on the followingthree principles: the good of anindividual dwells in the good ofall (First law of Sarvodaya), noinequalities in remunerationbetween physical and mentalwork (Second law ofSarvodaya), and the life of afarmer (creative production) isworth living (Third law ofSarvodaya). We may not agreewith all the ideas propoundedby Gandhiji and it may notgenerate the magical 7-8 percent growth rate a year, butthey certainly have the capac-ity and vision to empowerIndia’s poor, especially those inthe BPL category. It can alsoengender a more sustainableand equitable economic growthand promote peace and non-violence in society.

(Atman Shah is lecturer,Department of Economics, andSunil Macwan is lecturerDepartment of English; both atSt Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad)

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Pursuing Dhyana, we have alreadyseen how mind becomes free fromall thought imprints, thus becom-

ing free from all limitations and precon-ditioning thereto. Full landscape of mindthen becomes accessible, offering itswholesome powers. Also, it makes onelook at options in hand with an openmind, whereby one could see things inthe right perspective due. You could thenmake right choices in life. It is importantto note here that mind is just an instru-ment, which can’t move on its own. It hasto have its defining principles to perceiveany subject matter in perspective, which,in turn, makes us take initiatives or reactand respond to external stimuli. Theparadox, however, is that a purified mindis free from any thought impression.What then would drive the mind?

Well, Dhyana process doesn’t end upby attaining its optimal level. You thenneed to explore the realities of life afresh.In the process you first turn your atten-tion to the laws of nature that holds thekey to our life cycle. Following which,you explore the living world around withall its diversity and complexities. Sincepursuing Dhyana, one’s level of intelli-gence gets sharpened enough to smartly

engage with those around with ease andcomfort.

What would one realise exploringthe realities of life? Well, pursuingDhyana, you eventually strike at the rootof our existence — the eternal element ofconsciousness, equally available to all.You then realise that all live existenceshave a common root. So, there remainsunity underlying all diverse existences. Itimplies that the world is a unified organ-ism, where no individual existence has areality independent of the whole. Waterflowing down a snow bound mountaincreates ground for live existence allthrough its run till it meets the sea.Water evaporates, turns into cloud andthen rains back to recharge our waterresources. This way, life keeps running insuccession. Trees and plants regulate ourweather cycle. The animals and otherspecies too keep discharging theirassigned role towards sustained run ofthe life cycle. And, it is the collectiveeffort of all that keeps life cycle going on.

The above concept has been beauti-fully explained in Kathopanisada andBhagavad Gita through the simile of aninverted Asvata (Banyan) tree. The rootis directed towards unseen domain in the

higher realms of the cosmos. It impliesthat life mechanism is rooted to anincomprehensible eternal primal source,but for which no existence is possible.The trunk of that huge tree, with all itsbranches, twigs, and leaves, turneddownward in perceptible domain repre-sent the living world. Leaves dry up peri-odically making way for emergence offresh leaves. Similarly, life cycle keepsrunning in succession. If ever you pluckthe leaves, break a twig or branch of thetree, they will become lifeless. Theyremain live so long as they are a part ofthe main tree.

Even modern science carries similarperception, as would the observation ofan acclaimed Australian physicist, PaulDavies mean: “For a naïve realist, theworld is a collection of objects. For aquantum physicist, it is an inseparableweb of vibrating energy patterns, whereno single component has a reality inde-pendent of the entirety, included in theentirety is the observer.” If you look atthe energy principles of creation, youmay realise that all existences with nameand form have come into being throughplay and interplay of energies sourced tothe nature. Even a human being withsolid body frame, when seen at the sub-

atomic level is nothing but a web of ener-gy patterns. Here, I wish to add anotherscientifically established fact: Energy par-ticles having a common source are inimmediate and intimate connect witheach other no matter how distant theyare. And since the energies manifestinginto the living world are all sourced to a‘Singularity’, as both the Vedic andScientific perception stand, all existencesare interconnected at the energy level.The obvious implication is that if there issome disturbance at one end of theworld, its resonance will be felt far andwide. No wonder, the coronavirus thaterupted in Wuhan in China, has beenmocking at the financial and scientificmight of the so called modern world oftoday, with no end immediately in sight.The present pandemic has shown itsrepeat pattern after 100 years to remindus once again, that we need to remainconscious about our collective obliga-tions even while pursuing our individu-alistic aspirational urges.

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