1 CRORE MEALS DISTRIBUTED OVER 70 DAYS OF LOCKDOWN

The COVID-19 crisis brought to the fore many COVID warriors who stepped up to resolve or reduce various challenges that emerged. Members of The Rotary Club of

Mumbai Queen’s Necklace (RCMQN) include some of the good Samaritans who truly took on the COVID-created food crisis head on. A veteran of 35 years in the social service sector, RCMQN launched its initia-tive, Feed All in Need, as soon as Lockdown 1.0 was declared.

The Genesis

The core Miracles Team of the club (so named for their desire to create miracles in service) swung into action, quickly deciding that the biggest collateral damage of the lockdown was going to be the hundreds of thousands of daily wage earners who were suddenly reduced to penury and brought to the brink of hunger and starvation. The Feed All In Need project was born and started taking shape. The project which started with supporting someone’s modest attempt to feed 5000 people daily quickly metamorphosed into a massive concerted ef-fort, involving most of the members of RCMQN, to feed upto 1,60,000 meals daily to the less privileged.

The Funding

RCMQN Members have a deep sense of giv-ing and they reached deep into their pockets and pledged commitments of Rs 4 crore in two weeks. This gave wings to the Miracles Team and one of the largest relief projects ever envisaged got underway.

Reliance Foundation provided free gro-ceries for one month and TajSats Kitchen provided 20,000 free meals daily for 10 days. Thackers Caterers provided 4,000 free meals

a day for several weeks and other caterers like Foodlink, Popular and Blue Sea also do-nated some meals.

Help poured in from all quarters and from small, heart-warming donations of Rs 105 from a staff member towards 5 meals, to large donations from corporates like Piramal Foundation, Amit Chandra Foundation, Mrs. Vita Dani, HSBC, HBS Foundation, Give In-dia, Godrej group, Jewelex, Asian Star and Rosy Blue, to name a few. In two months, the donations raised in cash and kind reached a whopping total of Rs. 14 Crores.

The Kitchens

Annamrita ISKCON was roped in as the principal food supplier and provided piping hot, nutritious 100,000 khichdi meals from their three kitchens at Mahul, Wada and Mira Road. As the scale of the project Feed All in Need grew, other large caterers like NESCO, Food Link, Thackers, Modern Bak-ery, Serena and others were engaged to keep up the growing and changing demand. After several days of feeding khichdi, the team successfully transitioned to feeding people puri bhaji, vada pav and pulao meals at least one day of the week to give them a change of taste.

The Distribution Effort

The distribution of meals from Colaba to Palghar required a large team. This was han-

dled by multiple NGOs, with NESH (No One Ever Sleeps Hungry) being the major distributors in Mumbai. YMCA Mumbai, Chhoti Si Asha, Geo Roti Ghar, Feed My Mumbai, RSS, Mumbai Responds, TISS and many more helped the project reach wherever hunger struck in Mumbai. Art of Living supported the distribution with its large team in Vasai and Virar. In all, over 200 volunteers on the ground ensured that for 70 days the meals were delivered every single day on time to the large number of people wait-ing patiently in queues at nu-merous locations.

End or a new beginning

As the Lockdown 1.0 was scheduled to come to an end, RCMQN conceptualised the idea of the distribution of Food Kits in order to help the daily wage earners tide over the first two weeks. Each kit containing rice, flour, pulses, sugar, cooking oil, spices and tea was designed to feed a family of four for 15 days. The kits were distributed to carefully identi-fied marginalised communities like hand cart pullers, dabbawalas, transgenders, sex workers, rag pickers and others.

Lockdown 1.0 progressed into lockdown 2.0 and kept extending. Mumbai saw a large ex-odus of migrants who left the city on foot, hitched rides on trucks and by buses and trains. At this time, it became imperative to think about them and very quickly the team ramped up distribution of theplas, dry snacks, fruit and water at railway stations

and exit points from the city. In this endeavour, RCMQN collaborated

with the Srimad Rajchandra Trust and others.

Project Feed All in Need has so far fed 60 lakh cooked meals and

enabled 40 lakh meals through the kit distribution, thereby touching a

number of 1 Crore meals over 70 days. The crying need to feed the hungry people is far from over and Rotary Club of Mumbai Queen’s Necklace aims to keep tapping into its own resources and the generosity of donors to help the homeless and the jobless navigate these trying times.

RCMQN’s Feed All In Need

OUR BUREAU / New Delhi

PM Modi's observation at anall-party meeting on Fridayevening that "there was noChinese presence on our sideof the line of actual control(LAC) pertains to the situa-tion as a consequence of thebravery of our armedforces," the Prime Minister'sOffice (PMO) clarified.It said the clarification was

necessary since attempts arebeing made in some quartersto give a mischievous inter-pretation to the PM's re-marks that were made toclarify the CONTD. ON P5

MUMBAI /Agencies

Maharashtra HomeMinister Anil Desh-mukh said that his

government will discusswith the Centre the extradi-tion process of Pakistan-ori-gin Canadian businessmanTahawwur Rana, who wasrecently rearrested in the USfor his alleged involvementin the 26/11 Mumbai terror

attacks. "We will discussRana's extradition processwith senior police officials inMaharashtra and at the Cen-tral-level," he said. Meanwhile, Ujjwal Nikam,

the special public prosecutorin the 26/11 case, said that ex-tradition of Rana will throwmore light on the activitiesof the ISI. Rana was rear-rested in Los Angeles onJune 10 based on an extradi-

tion request by India, whichhad declared him a fugitive. Rana has been charged

with larger criminal con-spiracy for carrying out ter-ror activities in the countryand is declared a fugitive byIndia. Pakistani-Americanterrorist David ColemanHeadley had told investiga-tors that he had acted as anagent of Rana during the26/11 attacks, Deshmukhsaid.

CONTD. ON P5

VOL. 32 NO. 8|MUMBAI, PUNE, INDORE, BHOPALSUNDAY|JUNE 21, 2020|14 PAGES

Quality at Value

DASH

BOAR

D

NEW DELHI : A tri-service contingent of the Indian armed forces will participate in the military parade at Moscow's RedSquare on June 24. The tri-service contingent will be led by a colonel-rank officer and will comprise 75 personnel of allranks from the three services, the Army said. Russia postponed its military parade traditionally held on May 9 for a laterdate due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Russia's TASS news agency. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh willdepart on Monday for Moscow, Russia to take part in the 75th anniversary of the Russia victory in the World War IIMilitary Parade on June 24.

NEW YORK: A team of US scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, has found that infants under 90days of age who tested positive for Covid-19 tend to be well, with little or no respiratory involvement.The fever was often found to be the primary or only symptom, said the study, published in the 'Journal ofPediatrics'. "Our findings suggest that these babies mostly have mild illness and may not be at higher riskof severe disease as initially reported from China," said study lead author Leena B Mithal fromNorthwestern University in the US.

Coronavirus Cases8,812,096

Deaths463,712

Source - worldometer

Babies with COVID-19 tend to have mild illness: ExpertsIndian armed forces contingent at Moscow military parade

Modi's Ladakh remarks:PMO issues clarification

Will push for 26/11 accused Rana'sextradition from US: Maha govt

Bringing him will throw light on ISI activities: Nikam

AGENCIES / London

Days after a violent face-offbetween India and China inGalwan, a latest set of satel-lite images have surfacedshowing China diverting thecourse of Galwan river. Thesatellite pictures showingsigns of the landscape of thevalley being altered throughwidening tracks, movingearth and making rivercrossings were taken by theEarth-imaging companyPlanet Labs, the Daily Mailreported.'Looking at it in Planet, it

looks like China is con-structing roads in the val-ley and possibly dammingthe river,' Jeffrey Lewis, di-rector of the East Asia Non-proliferation Program atCalifornia's Middlebury In-stitute of InternationalStudies, was quoted as say-ing.

He said, “There are a tonof vehicles on both sides -although there appear to bevastly more on the Chineseside. I count 30-40 Indian ve-hicles and well over 100 ve-hicles on the Chinese side.”The imagery sighted onTuesday also showed themachinery along the moun-tains and in the GalwanRiver.Since last month, India and

China have been involved intalks to smoothen the ongo-ing border tensions. Howev-er, last week as many as 20Indian soldiers lost theirlives in the face-off in Gal-wan Valley after an attemptby the Chinese troops to uni-laterally change the statusquo during the de-escalationin eastern Ladakh.The Indian intercepts have

revealed that the Chineseside suffered 43 casualties in-cluding dead CONTD. ON P5

Satellite pix show Chinadiverting Galwan river

Says attempts being made to give all-party meeting statement, that no one entered Indian territory from the other side, a "mischievous interpretation"

India rejects China's sovereignty claimNEW DELHI: India rejected China's claim of sovereignty overGalwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, asserting that attempts by theChinese side to "advance exaggerated and untenable" claims arenot at all acceptable. External Affairs Ministry SpokespersonAnurag Srivastava said China's claim over Galwan Valley wasnot in accordance with its own position in the past, noting thatattempts of transgression by Chinese side were invariably metwith appropriate response from the Indian troops. "The positionwith regard to the Galwan Valley area has been historicallyclear. Attempts by the Chinese side to now advanceexaggerated and untenable claims with regard to Line of ActualControl (LAC) there are not acceptable. They are not inaccordance with China's own position in the past," he said.

Varsity threatens to takeaction on Indian studentBEIJING: A Chinese universityhas threatened to take actionagainst an Indian student forallegedly posting offensivecomments against Chinese peopleon social media, the Global Timesreported. The Indian nationalsurnamed Kadukkasseri is astudent at Jiangsu University(JSU). The Indian student hassince apologised, the report said.

No request for hospitalbeds anymore: Chahal

DIPTI SINGH / Mumbai

Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) chiefIqbal Singh Chahal says hehas stopped receiving mes-sages on his phone from peo-ple seeking assistance forhospital beds – which hetakes a sign that it has be-come easier to get a bed at ahospital in the city. While re-ducing cases in most wardsto single digits, the BMC ispreparing infrastructure todeal with even one lakhmore COVID-19 patients ifrequired, says Chahal, in aninterview with The FreePress Journal on a host of is-sues. Talking about the steps

being taken by the civic bodyto contain the spread ofCOVID-19, Chahal also cau-tions Mumbaikars to adoptthe new normal and takeprecautions until a vaccineis found.

How would you evaluatethe COVID-19 situation inMumbai?We have managed to get aperfect grip on the virus inMumbai. From Colaba-Nari-man Point to Bandra, andfrom Vashi bridge to Chem-bur, the number of cases re-ported daily have reduced tojust 5 to 7. On, Saturday,Dharavi, reported just 7 cas-es. Our focus is to maintain

this and then bring it downeven further. If you look atthe average growth rate ofoutbreak in CONTD. ON P5

PIC:SAJAD HAMEED

2THE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

LOCKDOWN DELHI: A group of 500 prominent persons, including filmpersonality Aparna Sen, have sent an open letter to thecentral government demanding the immediate release on bailof activists such as Varavara Rao and Safoora Zargar at a timewhen ‘a pandemic is raging across the country’.

The left-leaning poet and writer Rao is among the 11 humanrights activists who are in jail in connection with the BhimaKoregaon violence that took place near Pune in January. Thesignatories to the letters include film personalities AdoorGopalakrishnan, and Naseeruddin Shah. -Our Bureau

500 prominent persons write open letter to the Centre

MUMBAI RADAR

Wine shops caught sellingliquor over the counterBHAYANDAR: The state government has allowed homedelivery of liquor, barring the containment zones in Thane,amidst the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, some establishments have started taking undueadvantage of the relaxations, thus defeating the entire purposeof the stop-gap arrangements put in place by the districtadministration. Three more employees of a wine shop in Bhayandar, includingthe store manager, landed into the custody of the police fordefying lockdown rules and relaxation protocols by sellingIndian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from the premises of theestablishment. Based on the information, a team led by DeputySP Shashikant Bhosale swooped down on Chetan Wine Shopin Bhayandar (west) on Friday evening and caught the accusedred handed as they indulged in over the counter sale. “The triowere booked under the relevant sections of the MaharashtraProhibition Act and provisions of the IPC for disobeying ordersduly promulgated by a public servant,” said Bhosale. Notably, the Local Crime Branch (LCB) unit of the Thane (rural)police has already sought the cancellation of licenses of thoseestablishments in the twin city that were found to be sellingIMFL, beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks during thelockdown period last month. -Suresh Golani

SHE IS CURRENTLY IN HOSPITAL AND IS OUT OF DANGER

AMIT SRIVASTAVA Navi Mumbai

Two alert beat marshals at-tached to NRI police stationin Navi Mumbai saved thelife of a 25-year-old woman,who tried to commit sui-cide by hanging herselffrom a ceiling fan on Fri-day night in Ulwe. Thewoman had almost lost con-sciousness. However, theduo reached in time aftergetting calls from the policecontrol. With the help of afiremen, they broughtdown the woman and ad-ministered CPR.The woman is currently

in hospital and is out ofdanger. The police controlroom received a callaround 8.45 pm on Fridaynight about a child cryingfrom a house locked frominside at sector 5 in Ulwe.According to police, Naik

Kiran Swar and PandurangKawthe were on duty in

Ulwe, when they received acall from the police controlroom about the cryingchild. Without wastingtime, they immediatelyreached the flat of thebuilding and heard thesound of a crying childcoming out from the flat.They knocked on the doorrepeatedly, however, no oneopened it. They immediate-ly called the Ulwe firebrigade.A senior official from the

NRI police station saidthat, in just four minutes,the firemen reached thebuilding. “They broke openthe door with the help ofthe firemen and found afour-year-old girl child cry-ing alone in the hall. Shewas pointing towards thebedroom door that wasclosed,” said the official.They were clueless andcompletely unaware of whythe child was crying.The official added that

they again broke open thedoor of the bedroom andfound a woman hangingfrom the ceiling fan. Shehad used her dupatta tohang herself.Meanwhile, Police Naik

Swar noticed a little move-

ment in the fingers of thewoman. “Without wastingtime, he held the legs andpushed the woman aboveand asked to cut the dupat-ta,” said the official. Thefireman rushed to thekitchen and brought a

knife and cut the dupatta.“The fireman also adminis-tered CPR repeatedly andthe woman showed a littlemovement and, finally, re-gained consciousness,”added the official. She wasimmediately taken to thehospital and is now out ofdanger. He further addedthat they all showed greatacumen and saved thewoman.Police said that the

woman was staying alonewith her four-year-olddaughter and her husbandis out of the country. She iscurrently under the obser-vation of doctors and isalso traumatized.Meanwhile, Sanjay Ku-

mar, commissioner of po-lice, praised the alertnessof the beat marshals andfiremen who showed theiracumen to save the woman.The police department willalso felicitate them with acash reward.

Beat marshals, firemen save Ulwe woman’s life

CITY BOOKSTORES FIND MORETAKERS AMONGST THE YOUNG

BHAVNA UCHILMumbai

The reopening of bookstores seems tohave delighted readers as young as athree year old.The sale of books under the chil-

dren’s section is reported to haverisen, even as many bookstores haveswitched over to online sales, seeing adip in the number of customers visit-ing their stores.“The footfall has dropped. However,

the new normal is young readers, asyoung as three to four years old. Par-ents want to indulge them more inreading to distract them from gadgets.Earlier not many people would pur-chase books for their children,” saysTrushant Tamgaonkar, executive di-rector, Title Waves, an 8,000 sq. ft.bookstore in Bandra West. Title Wavessaw the need to go online and startedproviding home delivery from May on-wards through a delivery firm thatcharges Rs 40 per courier. Spellbound, a speciality kids book-

store in Juhu that caters to childrenfrom 0 to 7 years of age, too, has seen adrop in visitors, as many prefer tohave books delivered to their car whenthey come by, instead of coming in asthey used to before. Owner HemanginiBabla says she sees a greater interestamong her regular customers to shoponline from their website. Kitab Khana, a popular book store in

Fort, has not opened the physical storefor visitors yet. It had closed as a pre-cautionary measure a week before thelockdown. While it does not allow in-store browsing, it provides kerb-sidedelivery as well as home delivery ofbooks. It takes orders on Instagramand WhatsApp, and delivers the nextday after payments are made throughbank transfer or payments methodssuch as Gpay. “We are seeing chil-dren’s books sales mostly,” says T Ja-gat, chief operating officer of thestore. Kitab Khana may open in July,he says. “It is a 100 per cent hit on thebusiness. The experience of browsingthrough books physically is totally dif-

ferent from online shopping. Peopletend to come across books that interestthem when they browse and purchasethose too. The response to online salesis not great. But we don’t want to takethe risk of starting browsing at thispoint,” he says. A bookstore inside a shopping centre

in Powai, Paras Bookwallah sells pre-owned books and is also home deliver-ing to its customers after they place anorder through WhatsApp. They havenot got a good response despite publi-cising on social media about home de-liveries, says Kinjal Karelia, its pro-prietor.Granth Book Store in Juhu, on the

other hand, does not provide online de-livery. Store manager Herin Keniyasays they are taking safety precau-tions, such as using masks, gloves, andthermal scanners. Footfalls have re-duced though.Smaller book stores though are

struggling without business. ManishDara of Gyaan Book Store near Thanestation that sells pre-owned books saysthat business is dull as most of his cus-tomers used to take the local trains.With local trains not functioning forthe general public, all he has sold isacademic books to those who livenearby and come in with urgentneed. Similar is the situation with Ka-

mal Book Store in Andheri, alsoselling pre-owned books. Only ahandful of customers walkedin throughout the day. “If theshop had been onrent, we wouldhave had to leaveto our native,”says Jigar Pa-tel, whose fa-ther set theshop 35 yrs ago.

EVEN AS MANY OF THEM HAVE SWITCHED OVER TO ONLINE SALES

ROAD'Back to Business'

THE

AHEAD

If the shop had been on rent, we would have had to leave forour home town.

-JIGAR PATEL, KAMAL BOOK STORE“

PIC: BL SONI

AGENCIESMumbai

Shiv Sena deputy leaderPriyanka Chaturvedi on Sat-urday said the Centre mustrespond to China's claim thatthe sovereignty over the Gal-wan Valley area in Ladakhbelonged to it.After India trashed the Chi-

nese Army's claim of sover-eignty over the Galwan Val-ley and asked Beijing to con-fine its activities to its side ofthe LAC, China's foreignministry on Friday claimedthat the Galwan Valley wason the Chinese side of theLine of Actual Control.Prime Minister Narendra

Modi had on Friday assertedthat neither is anyone insideIndia's territory nor has anyof its posts been captured.Taking to Twitter,

Chaturvedi said, "YesterdayPM Modi assured the nationthat no posts/territory havebeen ceded to China, but hereChina claims Galwan Valleyas theirs." "This is unaccept-able and the governmentneeds to clarify or respond tothis. Havewe ceded our Gal-wan valley or ousted the PLA

from there? Nation wants toknow," the recently electedRajya Sabha member said inthe tweet.

SANJAY JOGMumbai

Union Minister of Jal Shakti Ganen-dra Singh Shekhawat, in a letter toMaharashtra Chief Minister Ud-dhav Thackeray, has urged the stategovernment to implement the JalJeevan Mission. The minister ar-gued that, considering the presentCOVID-19 crisis, the Jal Jeevan Mis-sion (JJM) will play a crucial role tocombat the issues related to publichealth and rural economy.Shekhawat has suggested that wa-

ter supply works need to be taken upin all the villages to provide house-hold tap connections to help localsand migrants get employment andboost the rural economy. In 2019-20,Maharashtra provided tap connec-tions to 5.45 lakh households asagainst the target of 16.26 lakh tapconnections.The central government had ap-

proved Rs 1828.92 crore for the statein 2020-21, and there is an unspent

amount of Rs 285.35 crore. In addi-tion to this, the central allocationand matching state share of Rs3,908 crore will be available inthe current fiscal for implemen-tation of JJM. Further, the 15thFinance Commission has allocat-ed tied grants of Rs 5,827 crore tothe state, which are to be spentmandatorily on the supply ofdrinking water, rainwater har-vesting, water recycling, sani-tation and maintenance ofOpen Defecation Free status.Shekhawat called upon

the state government toinvolve local villagecommunities orgram panchayatsand user groupsin the planning,implementation,management, opera-tion and maintenance ofwater supply systems in vil-lages to ensure long-term sus-tainability to achieve drink-

ing water security.He requested for the retro-fitting and augmentation ofthe existing 8,268 piped wa-ter supply schemes, there-by making a provision of22.35 lakh household tapconnections during thisyear. The state has beenadvised to take up allthese works in ‘cam-paign mode’, so thatthese villages can easilybecome ’Har Ghar JalGaon’ in the next 4 to 6months and the re-

maining house-holds, be-

longing topoorandmar-

ginal-ized sec-

tions of the so-ciety, get tap connec-tions immediately.

Implement Jal Jeevan Mission toboost employment: Shekhawat

AGENCIESMumbai

The Maharashtra government will use 'tele-ICU' facility in Mumbai and six other places ona pilot basis to treat COVID-19 patients in seri-ous condition, state health minister RajeshTope said on Saturday.He said the proposal to use the technology,

in which the condition of the patient ischecked via a monitor attached to each bed

by expert doctors who would then sug-gest the best line of treatment, hasbeen given by Mediscape Founda-tion.It will be used in Mumbai, Thane,Jalgaon, Solapur, Aurangabad,Akola and Jalna, the ministersaid, adding that its use may be ex-tended to other parts dependingon the performance and success.Speaking about the condition of

COVID-19 patients in the state, hesaid, "Around 75 per cent of the positivecases are asymptomatic, some 10-15 percent have mild symptoms while three

percent are serious and require ICUadmission."

Govt to use tele-ICU facility on pilot basis

PALGHAR: As many as 30 tribals from Maharashtra's Palghardistrict will work in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, an of-ficial said on Saturday.At least 30 tribal volunteers, including six women, who are part

of an NGO, have undergone basic training in nursing and willserve at different hospitals amid the pandemic, the official said.Considering the rise in COVID-19 cases, the volunteers will

work at Golden Park Hospital at Vasai town in the district andcivic-run Indira Gandhi Hospital at Mira- Bhayandar city of theneighbouring Thane district. -Agencies

Tribals to work at hospitals

SANJAY JOGMumbai

Veteran political leadersfrom the sugarcane-richAhmednagar districts –Rev-enue Minister BalasahebThorat and former Congressleader RadhakrishnaVikhePatil (who is now aBharatiya Janata Party legis-lator)– are currently engagedin verbal duel. Their rivalryis old in local politics. How-ever, the trigger now is theCongress party’s U-turn overnot getting its due share inthe Maha Vikas Aghadi gov-ernment’s functioning.Vikhe-Patil targeted Thor-

at, holding him responsiblefor Congress’ poor showingin the state. “Even thoughCongress is sharing power inthe state, the party and itsministers are neglected in de-cision-making. Congress haslost its strength and I havenever seen such a helplessstate unit chief,’’ he alleged.Thorat rebutted Vikhe-

Patil saying that the people ofMaharashtra have witnessed

his stint as the Leader of Op-position in the state assem-bly. “On many occasions,Vikhe-Patil was seen touch-ing the feet of former ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis.He is helpless,’’ he noted.Thorat further said Vikhe-

Patil should stop worryingabout the Maha Vikas Agha-di government as it was onthe firm wicket. “The opposi-tion should not dream aboutcoming to power. MVA isquite strong and will com-plete full term,’’ he opined.Vikhe-Patil took a jibe at

Thorat and questioned hisstanding in the Congress par-ty. “Thorat was appointed the

Congress group leader after Iquit the party. He has beenmaking all efforts to retainhis ministership. It is so hu-miliating that Thorat had towait for eight days for CMUddhav Thackeray’s meet-ing. The meeting was to begto keep the Congress party inthe MVA alliance and not totake up issues faced by work-ers, farmers, businesses andstudents,’’ he claimed.Thorat replied he did not

take Vikhe-Patil’s allegationsseriously. Further, his sup-porters termed Vikhe-Patilpower hungry and remindedhim of the defections that hecarried out to stay in power.

Thorat and Vikhe-Patilengage in a verbal duel

Body of elderly man found byroadside, murder suspectedTHANE: A 70-year-old man's body was found lying on a roadsideon the outskirts of Ulhasnagar township in Thane district ofMaharashtra, police said on Saturday.The body was recovered on Friday evening, they said."Police had received information that the body was lying along aroad leading to a brick kiln on the outskirts of Ulhasnagar," anofficial of Hill Line Police Station said.The victim was later idenfitied as Sejumal Ramnanai and it cameto light that the septuagenarian was a resident of Ulhasnagar, hesaid. Police suspect it to be a case of murder as strangulationmarks were found on the neck."Somebody might have strangulated the elderly man using awire," the official said. The body was sent to a governmenthospital for post- mortem and an offence under IPC section 302(murder) was registered, police said. -Agencies

More than 90LShiv Bhojanthalis servedsince launch

SANJAY JOG | Mumbai

The Maha Vikas Aghadigovernment’s much ambitiousShiv Bhojan meal served at asubsidised rate has been hitamong people. Since its launch,on January 26, a whopping90,57,925 plates have beenserved so far. Initially, the platewas served at Rs 10. However,during the lockdown enforced dueto the COVID-19 pandemic, ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayreduced the per plate rate to Rs 5.Food and Civil Supplies MinisterChagan Bhujbal told the Free PressJournal, “In the present COVID-19crisis with the nationwidelockdown in place, the poor andthe migrants benefited because ofthe Shiv Bhojan scheme. Thegovernment’s decision to reduceper plate rate was timely. Thescheme started with just 50centres on a pilot basis. However,now, there are 848 centres acrossthe state, which serve meals in theafternoon while ensuring hygieneis maintained.’’He informed that 79,918 plateswere served in January, 4,67,869in February, 5,78,031 in March,24,99,257 in April, 33,84,040 inMay, and 19,44,487 till June 19.On June 20 alone, 1, 04,323plates were served. Together,90,57,925 plates have beenserved so far. Bhujbal said on anaverage 1 lakh plus plates arenow served daily. “The numbershot up during the lockdown,’’ heviewed.Bhujbal said the state governmenthas made an allocation of Rs 150crore for the Shv Bhojan schemefor 2020-21. “The governmentaims to achieve, in phases, atarget of 5 lakh plates served dailyunder the scheme,’’ he noted.The Shiv Bhojan costs thegovernment Rs 50 in urban and Rs35 in rural areas. According to him, the governmentgives a subsidy of Rs 45 per platein urban and Rs 30 per plate inrural areas to thecontractor/operator of the ShivBhojan centre. “The governmenthas not provided land, utensils orcooking gadgets. This is theresponsibility of theoperator/contractor of the centre.However, the government, sincebeginning, has been quite strictabout the health and hygieneaspect,’’ he added. Shiv Sena, inits assembly poll manifesto, hadpromised a meal at Rs 10 perplate.

Centre must respond to China'sGalwan Valley claim: Shiv Sena

Bhiwandi marketburns China

President’s effigyTHANE: Bhiwandi shopowners, traders andpoliticians protested againstChinese products and burnedXi Jinping's effigy onSaturday. The incident tookplace at Mahavir Chowk inAnjurphata, Bhiwandi,following the clash betweenthe Indian Army and Chinaat Galwan Valley, EasternLadakh.According to sources, theAnjurphta market inBhiwandi is the biggestmarket of Chinese products.Chaudhary said, "Afterburning Xi Jinping's effigy,we all paid a heartfeltcondolence and tribute tothe Indian Soldiers. I, alongwith all the traders and shopowners in the market, havenow decided to boycottChinese products.”

-Narendra Gupta

Ashiya takes over asBNCMC’s new chiefBHAYANDAR: Failing tocontain the spread of COVID-19, Bhiwandi Nizampur CityMunicipal Corporation(BNCMC) CommissionerPravin Ashtikar was replacedby IAS officer Dr PankajAshiya on Saturday. 81 fresh cases were reportedin Bhiwandi on Saturday,taking the toll to 875 cases. Owing to the increase in thenumber of COVID-19 cases, the state-run Indira GandhiMemorial Hospital, which has a capacity of 100 beds forCOVID-19 patients, is now full. Ashiya is said to have done agood job in curbing the cases in Malegaon, where he wasappointed by the Nashik District Disaster ManagementAuthority as the special monitoring officer in the city. Prior tothis, the 2015 batch IAS officer was appointed as the assistantsecretary at NITI Aayog.Reportedly, on June 9, Ashiya had visited Thane MunicipalCorporation Commissioner Vijay Singhal over the rapid numberof positive cases in Mumbra. Ashiya was just appointed asspecial monitoring officer in Thane to combat the pandemic.He served for only 10 days in Thane. -Narendra Gupta

Dawoodi Bohras adopt Shramik Special Trains to servefood and other refreshments to migrants.

“

SWAPNIL MISHRAMumbai

For the second consecutiveday Mumbai recorded morethan 100 covid-19 deaths. OnSaturday, the city reported136 fatalities, which is thehighest single-day deaths re-ported so far. The previoushighest was 114 which wasrecorded on June 19. Howev-er, 1,197 new corona caseswere reported, taking the to-tal positive count to 65,265cases with 3,559 deaths so far. Meanwhile, with 3,874 freshCovid-19 cases on Friday, Ma-harashtra broke its Friday’srecord of highest single-daycase count. The state has

1,28,205 cases now, with65,265 in Mumbai alone. Also,at least 160 people died acrossthe state, taking the overalltoll to 5,984.

BMC officials said of the136 deaths in Mumbai, 75 peo-ple died between June 16 toJune 19, and 61 deaths wererecorded between March

(when the pandemic started)and June 16. The 61 deathswere reported late due to de-lay in the hospitals reportingthe same to BMC. The civicbody maintained it receivedthe documents of these pa-tients in the last 48 hours.On Friday, BMC started anew 200-bed Covid-19 healthcentre in Dharavi’s Maha-rashtra Nature Park. Civicofficials said the centre —constructed over a 2,200 sq ftarea — is waterproof andhas oxygen-supported beds.It will admit moderately illpatients in need of oxygensupport. Around 10 doctorsand 15 nurses are going tohandle the facility.

RONALD RODRIGUESMumbai

Staring at a pool of uncer-tainties, final year studentsare worried about job oppor-tunities considering the eco-nomic crisis due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Stu-dents are in a limbo as theyeagerly await their finalyear results wanting tojump into the job marketwhile simultaneously wit-nessing employment beinglost and pay cuts aroundthem.Shrutika Kamadh, a finalyear student of architec-ture said, "I had already cre-ated my portfolio hopingthat I would apply for a jobas soon as my results are de-clared. But right now, I donot even know when my re-sults will be announced con-sidering the recent declara-tion of the state governmentto not conduct final year ex-ams in Maharashtra. In ad-dition, jobs in my field of

study cannot be done fromhome because it involves on-site work so I do not knowwhen will that be possible."Kamadh fears not beingable to find a job due to thecurrent financial crisis. Ka-madh revealed, "My eldersister who works in the cor-porate field lost her job inApril while, my father is suf-fering pay cuts. The job mar-ket seems to be goingthrough a financial crisis. Iam scared I might not beable to find a job by end ofthis year."In addition, students fearwork from home cultureand financial crisis mightincrease the competition forjobs. Rashid Malik, a finalyear engineering student,said, "Often, companies hirethose who are willing totravel or work at far awayoffices. But due to the workfrom home module, any-body can work from any-where if you have access tointernet and basic electron-

ic devices. The competitonmight increase as manypeople can work fromhome."Malik fears jobs might notpay well due to financiallosses borne by companiesdue to lockdown. Maliksaid, "I am willing to take up

any job that I get at such acrucial stage. These jobsmight not pay well becauseof the financial loss causedto businesses due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. It is asif, we are caught up in thecycle of desperate times,desperate measures."

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

3LOCKDOWNMUMBAI: In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases, a 1,000-bed temporary hospital is being set up at Byculla here, acivic official said on Saturday. The facility in the premisesof Richardson and Cruddas Ltd will be ready by the end ofthe month, a release from the Brihanmumbai Municipal

Corporation stated. The hospital will be equipped with300 ICU beds with oxygen supply and other facilities, itwas stated. Over 300 staffers, including 50 doctors, 100nurses and 150 ward boys and other personnel, will workat the facility. — AGENCIES

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DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES

Lack of jobs, pay cuts: Students fear impact of Covid on their careers

City records highest deaths in a day

Medical students demandoption to appear for exams

RONALD RODRIGUESMumbai

Medical students are irked withthe decision of the stategovernment to cancel final yearexams and conduct optionalexams for all courses apart frommedical programmes. Students ofUndergraduate (UG) andPostgraduate (PG) medicalprogrammes claim they are theonly ones being forced to appearfor exams amidst the COVID-19pandemic situation despitehaving worked in the frontlinescatering to coronavirus patients.Students claim they know therisks involved and the importanceof distancing as they havecatered to COVID-19 patients.Hetal Mehta, a final year MBBSstudent, said, "I have beenworking as an assisstant for thelast two months in my collegehospital catering to COVID-19patients. I have seen the risksinvolved first-hand and I havedone my part professionally. Thestate government should notforce us to risk our lives again bycompelling us to appear forexams along with several otherstudents, faculty and staff."If the state can give around 10.18lakh final year students of othercourses an option to appear forexams then we should be giventhe same option too whether toappear or be graded based onaverage marks of previoussemesters. Yashad Vyas, a finalyear PG student of physiotherapy,said, "The state has given anoption to final students of othercourses to appear for exams orget average marks then, why arewe being denied that option? Is it

that the state does not care aboutthe safety of medical studentswho have helped saved livesduring the pandemic?"On June 4, the Governor ofMaharashtra granted approval tothe proposal of the MaharashtraUniversity of Health Sciences(MUHS) to conduct all UG and PGexams starting from July 15onwards. The plan was submittedby state medical educationminister Amit Deshmukh. MUHSgoverns all medical colleges inthe state.Students claim it is not safe toappear for exams consideringthe number of COVID-19 casesare increasing every day. Also,some students have returned totheir native and are unable tofind transport to return to theircolleges in the city. ShaileshGajanan, a final year MBBSstudent said, "My practicals arestarting from June end but I amunable to find transport. Also, Ido not know where will I stay inMumbai as I was asked tovacate my hostelaccommodation earlier. It is notsafe to travel to a red zone butthe state government seems togive a deaf ear."

We have riskedour lives on thefrontlines andnow, we are beingforced to appearfor exams, saidHetal Mehta, anMBBS student

Panic after 20 covidcases are detected in South Mumbai high-rise

Stringent measures are being takento contain spread in North Mumbai

DIPTI SINGHMumbai

While the tally of coronavirus casesin Dharavi, Worli, Govandi andKurla which were termed as Covidhotspots are gradually decreasing,an increasing number of cases inareas located in north Mumbaihave forced the BMC and police toimpose complete lockdown insome of these localities. The movecomes a day after policeadministration suggesting BMC toseal some of the affected areasafter residents of containmentzones were found openly violatingnorms.Covid 19 cases have beenincreasing rapidly in some of thewards in the Western suburbsespecially in some parts of northMumbai including P North (Malad)R South (Kandivali) R Central(Borivali) and R North (Dahisar). Thecurrent count of covid 19 cases in P(North) ward stands at 3488, RSouth is 2142, R Central is 1882and R North is 1318."As part of this complete lockdownin the above wards, all theactivities and non-essential shopswill remain closed around theselocalities and only essential serviceswill be available. the move isaimed at preventing the spread ofcoronavirus further in the area.while the contract tracing formulafollowed in rest of Mumbai is 1:15

(15 close contacts of a persontested positive), in these wards willbe1:20. These 20 people will betested, moved to institutionalisolation or hospital depending ontheir test results. Their homes willbe sanitised thoroughly andlocked," Iqbal Singh Chahal, BMCcommissioner told the Free PressJournal.Moreover, the implementation ofregulations in sealed buildings andcontainment zone will be mademore stringent and will be closelymonitored by both BMC and localpolice. Besides officials will takestrict action against those whobreak the containment zone rulesimposed by the BMC and alsothose who do not comply with therules of social distancing will faceaction too, BMC officials said.

"Since the time lockdown has beenrelaxed, many people fromcontainment zones sneak out tobuy things to meet others. Thesituation was going out of controlof the local police. The policeadministration has requested us tocompletely close all approach roadsto the containment zones or sealedareas and leave just one way/roadfunctional which will be monitoredby the police. The most affectedareas in Dahisar have beenKetikipada, Ambavadi, Ganpat PatilNagar etc. We will make thecontainment measures in the wardmore stringent and keep a closewatch on the areas suggested bypolice with their help," saidSandhya Nandedkar, AssistantMunicipal Commissioner of R(North) ward.

Hosp treated just 4 poor patients in lockdown: HC told

“I am willing to take up any job that I get at such a crucialstage. These jobs might not pay well because of thefinancial loss caused to businesses due to the COVID-19pandemic.” — A final year engineering student

MUMBAI: Despite reserving20 per cent of its beds for poorand needy persons, a charita-ble hospital here had treatedonly four such patients- threein May and another in June-during the coronavirus-in-duced lockdown, the BombayHigh Court has been told.However, it is not clearwhether these patients wereinfected by coronavirus.The state charity commis-sioner revealed this detail inan affidavit following a probeinto an alleged incident of KJ Somaiya Hospital chargingRs 12.5 lakh from some ''poor''patients for COVID-19 treat-ment.However, the affidavit also

stated the petitioners- sevenresidents of an SRA buildingin suburban Bandra- havenot disclosed their incomestatus, supported by any doc-umentary evidence, whichwould make them eligible forfree treatment.

The petitioners havesought refund of hospitalbills.During the inquiry, the hos-pital contended the govern-ment resolution (GR) cap-ping the prices for COVID-19treatment, reserving 20 per

cent beds and offering freetreatment for the poor, cameinto effect on April 30 andMay 21 respectively, whichwas after the patients weredischarged.Last week, the seven resi-dents had approached thehigh court alleging that thehospital had charged themRs 12.5 lakh for treatmentand had threatened to stoptheir discharge if they failedto pay the money.In their plea filed throughadvocate Vivek Shukla, thepetitioners had sought a re-fund saying that the hospitalwas bound to reserve bedsfor the poor and providethem free treatment since it

was run by a charitable trust.A bench of Justices R DDhanuka and Madhav Jam-dar had then directed thestate charity commissionerto conduct an inquiry in thematter.In an affidavit submittedbefore the HC on Friday, thecharity commissioner saidwhile the hospital had re-served 20 per cent beds forpersons from indigent andeconomically weaker sec-tions, it had treated only foursuch patients since the lock-down came into force.The first phase of coron-avirus-induced lockdowncame into effect on midnightof March 24. — AGENCIES

The state charity commissioner revealed the detail in an affidavitfollowing a probe into an alleged incident of K J Somaiya Hospitalcharging Rs 12.5 lakh from some ''poor'' patients for Covid treatment.

DIPTI SINGHMumbai

Panic gripped residents ofNapean Sea road after, 20 newcovid 19 cases were reportedfrom a single high rise in thearea in the span of just oneweek. On Saturday, Housingsocieties Napean Sea Road or-ganised a virtual meetingwith the Assitant MunicipalCommissioner of D wardPrashant Gaikwad to gettheir concerns addressed.The meeting was organisedafter the news of 20 peoplefrom Tahnee Heights Cooper-ative Housing Society at Na-pean Sea Road were testedpositive for Novel Coron-avirus this week. Of these 20people, 18 are servants anddrivers employed by the resi-dents of the high rise and twoare residents.Initially, a driver employedwith one of the families, resi-dents of Tahnee heights wastested positive, later the infec-tion spread to his contacts,

also drivers and other staff inthe high rise.After the first case was detect-ed, his closed contacts weretraced and the majority ofthem tested positive too BMCsaid. Gaikwad said, "We havemanaged to trace the closecontacts, spraying of disinfec-tants and sanitizing the prem-ises has been done. Affectedareas have been sealed."BMC D ward team has sealedthe car parking and the com-mon toilet used by all employ-ees of the highrise which ispossibly one of the sources ofinfectionDuring the meeting on Sat-urday, issues of precautionsto be taken, rules pertain-ing to containment zonesand sealed buildings. Thesocieties were suggestedthat staff should be keptwithin the premises. Tem-porary staff like house helpsecurity etc will be testeddaily for fever and a recordof the same will be main-tained by the society.

PIC: BL SONI

PIC: BL SONI

Mankhurd: Rs 49Lcash recoveredfrom gutka seller

Sushant's suicide: Bandra policereceives contract copies from YRF

State’s Scout &Guide Fellowship distributes 400PPE kits

MUMBAI: The city crime branchhas arrested a 27-year-old manidentified as Rakesh Gupta withtobacco and gutka worth Rs 5.5lakh on Friday. Acting on a tip ofa team from crime branch unit 6and officials of Food and DrugAdministration (FDA), itconducted a raid in Mandalaarea of Mankhurd and seized thebanned products. During theraid, Rs 49 lakh cash was alsorecovered from Gupta. Accordingto the crime branch, this moneywas made during the lockdownby selling the banned tobaccoproducts. Gupta was bookedpreviously at least five times forsimilar offences, said a crimebranch officer.

— STAFF REPORTER

Another constable succumbs to Covid; Police toll now at 32

STAFF REPORTER Mumbai

A 56-year-old police consta-ble attached to the Specialbranch (SB) of the Mumbaipolice becomes a latest vic-tim of COVID19. RajendraShelar who had contractedthe deadly virus, died ow-ing to COVID19 on Satur-day morning, taking thedeath toll from the Mumbaipolice to 32. While the statepolice force has lost its 47personnel so far due toCOVID19.Shelar a resident of po-lice quarters near theMumbai police commis-sioner's office was recently

diagnosed with theCOVID19 following he wasadmitted a nearby hospital.It is unclear that how hecontracted the disease ashe was on leave after theMumbai police decided torest their personnel whoare over 55 year of age, theconstable had comorbidity,said a police officials. OnFriday a 55-year-old headconstable attached to theTardeo Traffic divisiondied of COVID19. He wasundergoing treatment atKEM hospital since June 9.In the past eight days, 10police personnel from thecity police have succumbeddue to COVID19.

STAFF REPORTER/ Mumbai

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,several organisations are steppingup and doing their bit to assistthose who are at the frontlines ofthe war against the virus. Underits "prevent Covid 19 project", theMaharashtra State Indian Scoutand Guide Fellowship on June 16distributed 400 PersonalProtective Equipment kits to theparamedical staff of the civic-runSewree T B Hospital and to policestations and police traffic posts inAndheri East. The distribution wascarried out by Nisith Sinha, itsjoint State Secretary, reported S KAgarwal, President of theorganisation.

STAFF REPORTER Mumbai

The Bandra police investigatingthe suicide case of actor SushantSingh Rajput has received copiesof the contract from the Yash RajFilms (YRF) on Saturday. Thecontract was sign by the late actorfor his upcoming project with thebanner. On June 18, Mumbaipolice had sent a letter to YRF and

demanded copies of the contract."The investigation officer hasreceived a contract copy from theYRF which was signed by SushantSingh Rajput, " said AbhishekTrimukhe, Deputy Commissionerof Police, zone 9.In the past, Rajput had worked intwo films of YRF, in 2013 heworked in "Shuddh DesiRomance" and in 2015 film"Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!" Of

YRF. His third film with YRF wassupposed to be "Paani" directedby Shekhar Kapur, however YRFhad reportedly backed of theproject.On Saturday, Bandra police hasrecorded statements of actor'smanagerial staff and his legaladviser. "Based of the informationgiven by them we will verify thefacts, " said an officer form thepolice station.

SNIPPETS

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

5LOCKDOWNMore domestic flights likely soon: MinisterNEW DELHI: To ease domestic mobility and acceleratepassenger traffic growth, the Centre will allow flightsto more destinations in the coming week. Addressingthe media here on Saturday, Civil Aviation MinisterHardeep Singh Puri said more destinations and

frequencies would be added in the coming week. Butthese new flights and frequencies are likely to bewithin the 33 per cent capacity cap. Till now thedomestic passenger traffic averages 65-72,000passengers a day. Over 700 flights a day are operating.

IN REMEMBRANCE

AGENCIES / Hamirpur (HP)

A government school in HimachalPradesh's Hamirpur district will benamed after Sepoy Ankush Thakurwho laid down his life in a face-offwith China in Ladakh's Galwan val-ley, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakursaid on Saturday.The chief minister made the an-nouncement after visiting the sol-dier's home in Karohta village. Healso said that a financial help of Rs 20lakh will be provided to the family ofthe sepoy.The chief minister said the countryis proud of its army and brave jawansthat are manning its borders.He was accompanied by Rural De-velopment and Panchayati Raj Minis-ter Virendra Kanwar. Local MLAsalso announced to install the jawan'sstatue in his village. Thakur said ad-equate funds will be provided for re-

pairing the path leading to the villagecrematorium, which is in a bad condi-tion, and assured people of upgrad-ing health care centres in the areawith modern facilities. The chiefminister came to RCH Bhota complexhere in a chopper from Shimla andthen took a car to Karohta village.It was his first visit to the districtsince the coronavirus outbreak inMarch. The chief minister and othersaccompanying him wore face masks.

Himachal school to be named after martyr

Continued from Page 1

A lame attempt toobfuscate truth: Cong

OUR BUREAUNew Delhi

In a strong rebuttal to thePrime Minister's Office(PMO) clarification that thePrime Minister's statementrelated to the post-June 15scenario, the Congress onSaturday dismissed it as"clearly a lame attempt to ob-fuscate the truth" and urgedthe Prime Minister to follow'Raj Dharma' and rise to thechallenge of protecting 'Na-tional Security' and 'Territor-ial Integrity.'Party chief spokesmanRandeep Singh Surjewalasaid the PMO and the Gov-ernment need to first clearlystate their position on theGalwan Valley. Is GalwanValley not part of Indian ter-ritory? Why is Governmentnot coming forward andstrongly rebutting the Chi-nese claim over Galwan Val-

ley? If Chinese troops arepresent there, does it notamount to intrusion into andoccupation of the Indian ter-ritory? Also, why is the Gov-ernment silent on intrusionsin the Pangong Tso area?"The PMO's statement belit-tles the gravity of the situa-tion on the India-China LAC.Security Experts, Army Gen-erals and Satellite Imageryhave confirmed not only oneintrusion on June 15, 2020but several intrusions intoand occupation of Indian ter-ritory in the Ladakh area,"Surjewala said in a rejoinder."The Prime Minister's ob-servations that "there was noChinese presence on our sideof the LAC pertained to thesituation as a consequence ofthe bravery of our armedforces.” Clearly, the implica-tion is that there was one in-trusion on June 15 and it wasrepulsed, he said.

PM’s `50,000 cr job push: Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan

AGENCIES / New Delhi

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday launchedan employment scheme withan outlay of Rs 50,000 crorefor migrant workers who re-turned to their home statesduring the coronavirus-in-duced lockdown.Launching the scheme,Modi said during the nation-wide lockdown, the talentfrom cities returned to vil-lages and it will now give aboost to development of ru-ral areas.The 'Garib Kalyan RozgarAbhiyaan' will be imple-mented on a mission mode in125 days in 116 districts of sixstates – Bihar, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Ra-jasthan, Jharkhand andOdisha – that received themaximum numbers of mi-grant workers back.

It will help expedite imple-mentation of 25 public infra-structure works and those re-lated to augmentation oflivelihood opportunities.These 25 works are related torural housing for the poor,plantations, provision ofdrinking water through JalJeevan Mission, and construc-tion of panchayat bhavans,community toilets, rural man-dis, rural roads, cattle shedsand anganwadi bhavans, ac-cording to the Ministry of Ru-ral Development, which is thenodal ministry for the project.The scheme was launched

weeks after lakhs of migrantworkers returned to theirhome states following loss ofemployment in urban cen-tres due to the nationwidelockdown to combat thespread of COVID-19.Under the scheme, the bas-ket of a wide variety of workswill ensure that each migrantworker is able to get an oppor-tunity of employment accord-ing to his skill in the coming125 days, it said, adding thatthe programme will also pre-pare for expansion and devel-opment of livelihoods over alonger term.

Speaking on the occasion,Modi said there are somepeople who may not appreci-ate efforts of villagers in thefight against the novel coron-avirus but he applauds themfor their efforts.The way villages havefought coronavirus hastaught a big lesson to thecities, he added.Talent has returned fromcities during the lockdown,those whose labour and skillswere behind the rapidgrowth of cities will nowboost development of vil-lages with the help of thisscheme, he said.Underlining that migrantworkers were always in theCentre's thoughts during thelockdown, the prime ministersaid it is an endeavour of hisgovernment that workers getjobs near their home and helpin development of villages.

Rahul should rise abovepetty politics: Amit Shah

AGENCIES / New Delhi

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah on Saturdayhit back at former Con-gress president RahulGandhi over his state-ment on face-off be-tween Indian and Chi-nese soldiers in Gal-wan Valley in Ladakhand advised him to rise above"petty politics".Putting a video of the fatherof an injured army man onhis Twitter account, Shahsaid, Gandhi should stand insolidarity with national inter-est by shunning his politicsover the issue at a time whenthe whole nation is united."A brave armyman's fatherspeaks and he has a veryclear message for Mr Gandhi.

At a time when the entire na-tion is united, Mr RahulGandhi should also riseabove petty politics and standin solidarity with national in-terest," Shah tweeted.Shah's remark came afterRahul Gandhi in a fresh tweetaccused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of surrender-ing Indian territory to China."PM has surrendered Indianterritory to Chinese aggres-

sion. If the land was Chi-nese: 1. Why were oursoldiers killed? 2. Wherewere they killed?,"Gandhi tweeted.The video of the fa-ther of an injured sol-dier shows him saying,"Indian Army is a verystrong army and hasthe ability to defeat Chi-

na and other foreign coun-tries. Rahul Gandhi shouldnot do politics on the issue...My son fought and will con-tinue fighting in the army".Gandhi had on Friday re-tweeted a video of the fatherwith a comment that cabinetministers were lying about theviolent face-off with Chinesetroops on June 15 night in theGalwan Valley in Ladakh on theLine of Actual Control (LAC).

DCGI notice onLifebuoy's claimas anti-Covid soapNEW DELHI: The Drug ControllerGeneral of India has served ashow-cause notice on HindustanUnilever over its misleadingadvertisement of Lifebuoy soap,which claims that it has anti-Covid therapeutic properties.“From the manufacturing license,it is clear that the license wasissued treating Lifebuoy soap as acosmetic. It has been brought toour notice that the advertisementissued by Hindustan Unilever forLifebuoy as virus fighter cosmeticsoap in TV and social media, withmisleading claims of havingprophylactic properties, henceprevents and mitigates viralinfection, in violation of the Drugs& Cosmetics Act by showingpictorial depiction of Covid-19virus, suggesting that Lifebuoy iseffective to destroy/prevent viralinfection," said the notice.

–Our Bureau

Chidu blasts PM for ‘clean chit’ to ChinaOUR BUREAU / New Delhi

In a blistering attack onPrime Minister Modi claim-ing at the end of an all-partymeeting in India-China face-off, Senior Congress leaderand former union home min-ister P Chidambaram said hehas left practically everyonebaffled and bewildered that‘no outsider was inside Indi-an territory in Ladakh’.His attack came soon after

former Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi charged thePM of surrendering the Indi-an territory to Chinese ag-gression. If the land was Chi-nese, why were our soldierskilled? and where were theykilled, he asked.Chidambaram tweeted thatif the PM's statement is true,"what was the fuss about May5-6? Why was there a fight be-tween troops on June 16-17?Why did India lose 20 lives?

AGENCIESKathua (J&K)

Shooting down the Pakistanihexacopter (drone), whichwas carrying weapons, bythe Border Security Force(BSF) personnel in Kathuadistrict is a major achieve-ment as they would have like-ly been used to carry out amajor terrorist attack, ac-cording to Inspector General(IG) BSF, NS Jamwal on Sat-urday.The BSF official said thatan M4 (US-made) carbine ma-chine gun, ammunition andseven grenades have been re-covered from the hexacopter."The patrolling party ofBSF from BoP in Pansar sawa hexacopter coming into In-

dian territory from Pakistanside. After it entered 200-250metres into our territory ourparty fired on it and broughtit down. After being broughtdown an M4 US-madeweapon semi-automatic car-bine, 60 rounds of ammuni-tion, two magazines and sev-en grenades were recoveredfrom it," Jamwal said at apress conference."The hexacopter itselfweighs close to 18 kilogramsand it was carrying a payloadof 5-6 kg. The majority of thehexacopter parts are Chinesemade," he added.Further investigation ofthis incident is being carriedout by Jammu and Kashmirpolice, according to the offi-cial.

‘Drone would most likelybe used to carry outmajor terrorist attack’

Muslims misusing Article 30,time for a rethink: Vijayvargiya

MANOHAR LIMBODIYA / Indore

BJP national general secretary KailashVijayvargiya believes that Muslims aremisusing the Constitutional provisionsgiven under Article 30 that gives mi-norities the right to establish and ad-minister educational institutions oftheir choice, as many of the madrasasinstead of imparting real education arebreeding jihadis, which is damaging thesociety and country.Talking to Free Press Journal, Vijay-vargiya, who is known for his hardlineHindutva approach, demanded a na-tional debate on this issue. He said thatall political parties should participate inthis debate, leaving aside their politicalideologies, so that people become awareof the realities. He said that he will raisethis issue before his party, adding thatseveral other bodies agree with him andhave brought these ideas before the

country from time to time.He said that when the fathers of the In-dian Constitution made this provision,they wanted children of the Muslimcommunity to become educated believ-ing that community members would bein the best position to understand theneeds of their community. They neverimagined that these provisions wouldbe misused in such a manner that theybecome festering wounds in the body ofthe nation.

“These wounds have to be healed, andtherefore there is an urgent need for arethink as these provisions are beingmisused and thus they need to bescrapped or changed,” Vijayvargiyasaid.He said that in the decades followingour independence, there have beenmany changes in the education systemin the country, but there has been nochange in what is being taught in mostof the madrasas and various otherschools and colleges run by the Mus-lims. “In the name of education the stu-dents are being systematically brain-washed and anti-national brigades arebeing prepared,” Vijayvargiya said.He said that at present the govt andother agencies have ample proof that ji-hadis are being bred in these education-al institutions who take part in anti-na-tional activities, which is harming theinterests of the country.

PMO clarification of Chinese incursion

Ready to deal withany situation: IAF

AGENCIESHyderabad

The Indian Air Force is wellaware of China's air activi-ties including about its air-fields, operational bases anddeployment in Tibet, AirChief Marshal RKS Bhadau-ria said on Saturday as adeadly clash between troopsof the two countries in east-ern Ladakh triggered fears ofa fresh confrontation.He said the IAF is "well pre-pared" and "suitably de-ployed" to counter any secu-rity challenge along the bor-der with China and evenhinted that his force hasflown combat air patrols inthe region as part of height-ened preparedness."We fly whatever is re-

quired in response to any sit-uation. It includes combatair patrol when it is re-quired," he told reporters af-ter reviewing a combinedpassing-out parade of offi-cers at the IAF academy inDundigal.He was asked specificallywhether IAF was flying com-bat air patrols in Ladakh. Un-der combat air patrols, fullyarmed fighter jets can bescrambled at short noticesfor specific missions.The IAF has already moveda sizeable number of itsfrontline Sukhoi 30 MKI,Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraftand Apache attack helicop-ters to several key air basesincluding Leh and Srinagarin the last four days, sourcessaid.

Anti-China demonstration held outsideOppo factory, 32 protesters booked NOIDA (UP): Scores of people burnt the flag of China and aneffigy of the country's president Xi Jinping as they protestedoutside the factory of Chinese phone maker Oppo in GreaterNoida in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Saturday. The protest was heldto raise a call for boycotting Chinese products in the wake of theSino-India face-off in Galwan Valley in Ladakh earlier this week inwhich at least 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives, the protesterssaid.

US calls China 'rogue actor', blames it for face-off with India

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: The US calledthe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a "rogueactor" and held it responsible for the violentface-off along the Line of Actual Control inLadakh where 20 Indian soldiers were killedand dozens injured earlier this week.Slamming China, US Secretary of State MikePompeo said on Friday that the People's

Liberation Army (PLA) has "escalated border tensions" in India, theworld's most popular - populous democracy. "But the CCP isn't justa rogue actor in its own neighbourhood," he said, adding that if itwas, the US might think differently about it.

Mike Pompeo

The chief minister made theannouncement after visitingthe soldier's home in Karohtavillage. He also said that

financial assistance of Rs 20lakh will be provided to the

sepoy's family.

Sepoy Ankush Thakur

Modi's Ladakh remarks: PMO issues...post-June 15 situation that "neither is anyone inside our territory, nor didanybody intrude, nor have any of our posts been captured."In a statement, the PMO said: "The focus of PM's remarks was the eventsof June 15 that led to the loss of lives of 20 Indian military personnel.The sacrifice of 16 Bihar Regiment soldiers foiled the attempt of theChinese side to erect structures and also cleared the attemptedtransgression at this point of the LAC on that day." It said the meetingwas informed that "This time, Chinese forces have come in much largerstrength to the LAC and that the Indian response is commensurate." Asregards transgression of LAC, the PMO said: "It was clearly stated thatviolence in Galwan on 15 June arose because the Chinese side wasseeking to erect structures just across the LAC and refused to desist fromsuch actions." The words of PM that “those who tried to transgress ourland were taught a befitting lesson by our brave sons of soil”, succinctlysummed up the ethos and the values of our Armed Forces, the PMO said,adding that the PM further emphasised that “I want to assure you, thatour armed forces will leave no stone unturned to protect our borders.”"What is Indian territory is clear from the map of India. Satellite pix show China diverting Galwan...and seriously injured in the violent clash. Meanwhile, In a strongrebuttal to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) clarification that the PrimeMinister's statement related to the post-June 15 scenario, the Congressdismissed it as "clearly a lame attempt to obfuscate the truth" andurged the PM to follow 'Raj Dharma' and rise to the challenge ofprotecting 'National Security' and 'Territorial Integrity.'Also, construction of a strategically important 60-metre bridge bridgeover the Shyok river in eastern Ladakh was completed amid the face-off with China. It will improve movement of Indian troops in the regionbut the Indian Army clarified that it is not on the track moving toPatrolling Point 14 at Galwan Valley where the clash took place.

Will push for 26/11 accused Rana's..."Headley had also admitted that Rana used to finance him," Nikamadded. Rana, 59, was recently released from jail on compassionateground after he told a US court that he had tested positive for COVID-19. However, he was rearrested in Los Angeles 10 days back. A specialcourt here had issued arrest warrant against Rana on August 28,2018. According to Nikam, Headley had then made "sensitiverevelations" involving the terrorist activities of Lashkar-e Taiba (LET) andtheir links with ISI. "The extradition of Rana will throw more light onthe ISI activities," he added.

No request for hospital beds anymore: ChahalMumbai it has come down to 2.17 % from 9.5%. Health experts acrossthe globe have said that once the doubling rate of cases increases andstays at 30 days, the situation can be considered as under control. Theaverage doubling rate in Mumbai as on June 20 is 34 days. Furthermore,wards like H (East) (Bandra East, Khar) have a doubling rate of 72 days.G North (Dharavi, Dadar), which earlier had a big spike has registered adoubling rate of 45 days. The national average doubling rate stands at17 days currently. No other city in the country has achieved a doublingrate of 30 days. This shows that the situation in Mumbai is getting undercontrol and we are working harder to make it even better.How prepared was BMC to handle the situation, especially afterthe ease of restrictions under 'Mission Begin Again?We were prepared to face the worst. We had even expected cases todouble after relaxations of restrictions. After watching people crowdingin several areas in the city, I believed that cases might surge from1,500 to 2,500 and more on a daily basis. But, that did not happenand the number of cases reported on a daily basis started slidingdespite all the relaxation to lockdown restrictions.How is BMC dealing with complaints of non-availability of beds?What non-availability of beds? The issue has become irrelevant today.The question of 1916 not being operational, shortage of beds andpeople roaming in multiple hospitals looking for beds has becomeredundant in Mumbai. We have formed a strategy called "Chase thepatient", under which proper protocols are followed, which ensures, nopatients will be left out and will get a bed if he/she needs one. Ouronline dashboards and ward-level war rooms are operational 24x7.Once a person calls us for help and complains of covid-like symptoms,our ward level teams reach them in 20 to 30 minutes. They arechecked for symptoms, oxygen levels and other symptoms. If they theperson has strong covid-like symptoms, we allot them a bed either inthe nearby institutional isolation centres or a hospital. The team doesnot leave until a bed is allotted, we have clearly instructed them.How many beds are currently occupied by COVID patients,andhow many more ICU beds is BMC arranging for?Of the total 28,839 active patients in Mumbai, only 9,200 are actuallyoccupying beds in hospitals. Remaining patients are either at homequarantine or at common/ institutional isolation centres. We arearranging for more beds. In the next 10 days, we will have 300 to 500more ICUs (intensive care units) by next week. We are now preparingto ensure that even if we have a lakh more patients we have theinfrastructure to handle it. For the last several days, I have not got anymessages on my phone from people seeking beds, because thesituation has improved so much that people are getting beds easily.Which are the areas that the BMC is focused on currently?There are only six to seven wards where we are seeing rise in thenumber of cases and we are now focusing aggressively in these areas.Once we control cases here, we will be able to win this battle. Thesewards include P North(Malad), P South (Goregaon), R South (Kandivali),R North (Dahisar), K East (Andheri east) and S (Bhandup)and T(Mulund) wards. We have set targets on chasing the close contacts. Wehave appointed community leaders in these areas. These are peoplewho have lived in the area for many years and know the locality well.These community leaders keep us updated with ward level work doneincluding community tiolets being cleaned and sanitised regularly.Quality of food packets they are recieving. NGO's we have appointedare working as directed by us. Has any co-morbid person left out ofchecking. We will have stringent containment measures in place inthese areas. We will monitor this for next three weeks.How has the campaign "Chase the Virus' helped?The campaign has helped us to a great extent until now. However,from Monday onwards, we are intensifying the campaign even further.With the help of a few NGOs we are planning to launch 50 mobiledispensaries/ labs with 50 doctors and 100 lab technicians collect swabsamples. We will start rapid testing with the help of these mobiledispensaries/ labs. Besides this 150 private doctors have joined ourcampaign and have agreed to work with us free of cost.The reconciliation of death cases led to a controversy, BMC wasaccused of hiding the number of deaths.On June 6, when I was going through the data, I saw one well knownprivate hospital has listed 17 deaths in a day. I was shocked discussedthis with other officials.We found out there was just one death on thatday, remaining deaths occurred between April and May 2020, but werereported on that day. I decided to unearth it further. After carrying out areconciliation exercise, the total number of cases turned out to be 862. Iinformed the chief secretary and asked if we could put this in publicdomain. We decided to be transparent, when we could have kept itcovered. We are not hiding anything, people must understand that.There has been some controversy over the BMC rules to not givethe report to patients but to the civic body directly. Can you tell usabout that?The idea was to discourage people to get the report and look for thehospitals themselves. However, following our new protocol, we have put ateam of doctors contacting the patient, informing them and assuring themthat they will be taken care of and things would be fine. People who havesymptoms need hospitalisation, those symptomatic can be quarantined athome if they have facilities. The shortage of beds in Mumbai happenedbecause 95% of the beds in private hospitals had people with asymptomaticcases. The hospitals wanted money and these asymptomatic people feltpsychological security. We are doing what is best of the Mumbaikars.What lessons have been learnt from the pandemic, how can weimprove our health infrastruture?We have to boost our health infrastructure and invest more on healthsector. We need to build more public hospitals. This year we haveincreased the highest number of ICU beds. For example, Mumbai hadonly 371 ICU beds, until now. Now as on June 20, we have 1160 ICUbeds, the number will further increase to 1660 by the end of this month.This has not happened in last 10 years. Pandemic has come after acentury. It is new to us, and we are learning on job while dealing with it.What message would you like to give Mumbaikars?I would just like to say that its time that Mumbaikar need to adopt thenew normal. Need to wear a mask every time they have to go out,wash your hands regularly or used sanitisers frequently. Maintainingphysical distancing is something we need to follow religiously. All thisuntil the vaccine comes out.

The scheme will be implemented on a missionmode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states –

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha – that receivedthe maximum numbers of migrant workers back

Glenmark launches COVIDdrug at Rs 103 per tablet

NEW DELHI: Drug firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Saturday said ithas launched antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand nameFabiFlu, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at a price of about Rs 103 per tablet. The drug will be available asa 200 mg tablet at a maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 3,500 for astrip of 34 tablets, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said. FabiFlu is the firstoral favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment ofCOVID-19, it added. When asked about the company's manufacturingcapacity of the drug, the drug firm said: "Considering a minimum oftwo strips per patient, Glenmark will be able to provide FabiFlu forabout 82,500 patients in the 1st month itself. We will be closelymonitoring the evolving situation and basis the situation, we willwork to scale and meet the healthcare needs of the country".

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

7LOCKDOWN

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

JAIPUR: A meteorite-like object falling from the sky inRajasthan's Sanchore town has left the locals bemused.Officials confirmed to IANS that an object weighingaround 2.78 kg fell from the sky on Friday morning, re-sulting in a one-foot deep crater in the earth.A huge explosion kind of sound created by its fall

echoed in around two kilometre stretch. The localsrushed to the police station and the local administra-tion to inform them of an explosive sound.The teams of geologists in the Geographical Surveyof India's Ahmedabad and Jaipur office have been con-tacted for its further examination.

Meteorite-like object falls from sky in Rajasthan

AGENCIESNew Delhi

In a first, the Supreme Courthas allowed a petition seek-ing divorce by mutual con-sent through video confer-encing.Justice V Ramasubraman-ian said "The marriage sol-emnized between the partieson May 31, 2001, shall standdissolved by a decree of di-vorce by mutual consent. Allthe proceedings pending be-fore all courts between theparties shall stand closed/disposed of/quashed interms of the settlementagreement."The court exercised itspowers under Article 142 ofthe Constitution and passedthe decree for the dissolution

of the marriage. "Under theterms of the settlement, ajoint application has beenmade by the parties in pray-ing for a decree of dissolu-tion of marriage by mutualconsent by invoking jurisdic-tion under Article 142 of theConstitution" noted thecourt.The court said that since theentire payment as recorded inthe settlement agreement hasbeen paid, the parties have nofurther or other obligationsagainst each other.The court observed that un-der the terms of the settle-ment, a sum of Rs.57, 50,000was liable to be paid by thehusband to the wife. "Thecounsel for the respondent(husband) states that the en-tire amount has been paid.

This is also confirmed by thecounsel for the petitioner(wife). The petitioner and therespondent are also presentthrough the video conferenc-ing. The petitioner con-firmed the receipt of the en-

tire amount", said the court.The petitioner moved thetop court urging it to transferdivorce proceedings pendingin the family court in Telan-gana to the District and Ses-sions Court in Kolkata. How-

ever, the matter was referredto the top court mediationcentre, where the parties ar-rived at an amicable settle-ment and prayed for termi-nation of the marriage. "TheSupreme Court MediationCentre conducted mediationand the parties have nowreached to an amicable set-tlement", said the court, cit-ing the settlement agreementon November 5, 2019.The parties, in the 2019agreement, said by signingthis agreement the partiessolemnly state and affirmthat they have no furtherclaims or demands againsteach other and all the dis-putes and differences havebeen amicably settled by theparties hereto through theprocess of mediation.

IN A FIRST, SC PASSES DIVORCE DECREETHROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCING

DELHI L-G WITHDRAWS FIVE-DAY INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE ORDER

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Delhi Lieutenant GovernorAnil Baijal on Saturdayrolled back the order on five-day institutional quarantinein the national capital.The Lieutenant Governorhad on Friday ordered five-day mandatory institutionalquarantine for every Covid-19 patient under home isola-tion. A day later, he with-drew the order and said, "Re-garding institutional isola-tion, only those Covid posi-tive cases which do not re-quire hospitalisation on clin-ical assessment and do nothave adequate facilities forhome isolation would be re-quired to undergo institu-

tional isolation."The development came af-ter Delhi government op-posed the order, assertingthat institutional quaran-tine will make people evadetesting which will furtherincrease the spread of theinfection.At the Delhi Disaster Man-agement Authority meetingon Friday, the city govern-ment also raked up the issueof shortage of healthcarestaff at the quarantine cen-ters to oppose the L-G's order.Meanwhile, the nationalcapital recorded a single dayspike of over 3,000 freshcoronavirus cases on Friday.Delhi has 53,116 total con-firmed cases, out of which2,035 have succumbed.

Health Minister'splight gets betterafter plasma therapy

Delhi govt orders hospitals torecall medical staff from leave

Over 1200 doctors and nurseshave tested +ve since March

NEW DELHI: Amid increasing number of Covid-19 cas-es in the national capital, Delhi government on Saturdayissued an order directing hospitals and medical institu-tions to recall their staff who are on leave to report forduty immediately. Special Secretary S.M. Ali said thatleave of any kind will only be granted under most com-pelling circumstances. "All MSs, MDs, Deans and Direc-tors of the hospitals and medical institutions under theHealth and Family Welfare Department are advised to is-sue directions to all the staff working under their con-trol who are on leave of any kind to immediately reportfor their duties," the order stated.

NEW DELHI: According to a recent study over 1200 doc-tors and nurses have tested positive in major Delhi hos-pitals since the last three months. This data has beencollected from private hospitals as well, based on infor-mation collated by the United Nurses Associationen-gaged in the private sector, and Sir Gangaram Hospital,whose authorities confirmed that 313 HCWs had testedpositive at the institute. . “For doctors, nursing officersand other health workers with high risk exposure, thequarantine period shall be initially for one week only,”said the Health Ministry's advisory.

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain's health con-dition has improved after receiving the plasmatherapy, doctors treating him in the city's Max hos-pital said on Saturday.On Friday, the 55-year-old leader's health deterio-rated after he developed pneumonia during the on-going treatment for COVID-19 at the Rajiv GandhiSuper Speciality hospital.He was then shifted to the Max hospital and ad-ministered plasma therapy. He is, however, still onoxygen support in an ICU ward.

AIIMS Senior Resident Doctor Meet Minare (33) plays with his10-month-old child as his wife Dr. Ranjuna (R), mother Anita(2R) and father Ramesh look on, at their Anand Vihar residencein New Delhi, Thursday, June 18, 2020. All five members of thefamily came out COVID-19 positive and have since been on arecovery path.

Raj govt capsCovid testingat Rs 2,200

AGENCIESJaipur

The Rajasthan governmenthas capped the Covid-19 test-ing charge at Rs 2,200 for pri-vate labs, against the fee ofRs 3,500 to Rs 4,500 whichwere earlier charged.The decision was taken byChief Minister Ashok Gehlotin a meeting held late on Fri-day night to review measurestaken to fight COVID-19 inthe state.In the two-hour meeting,Gehlot further announcedthat the maximum chargeper bed shall be Rs 2,000while the bed with ventilatorwill cost Rs 4,000.Gehlot also made it clearthat the government will not

tolerate any exploitationthrough overcharging pa-tients. The Chief Ministerfurther ordered the healthdepartment officials to en-sure that private hospitals donot charge exorbitantly."You should initiate actionagainst those flouting normsunder various sections oflaw including that of Epi-demic Ordinance in case ofviolation," Gehlot orderedthe officials present in themeeting."Although the lockdownhas ended, the corona crisiscontinues to loom large overus. Hence, everyone shouldremain careful and wearmasks while going out andmaintain social distancing,"the CM said.

I stand by what I said: KeralaCong chief on 'Covid Rani' remark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the second day, the re-mark of State Congress president Mullapally Ramachan-dran about State Health Minister K.K. Shailaja was thetalk of the town, with the former reiterating that he hasdone no wrong at all. On Friday, while kicking-off a protest meeting in front ofthe Secretariat, Ramachandran came down heavily onShailaja saying that she was trying to take credit but doingnothing and bringing hardship to the diaspora.

2 SC benches to hold courteven during summer vacation

OUR BUREAUJaipur

The Supreme Court is onrescheduled summer vaca-tion from Monday but thejudges have agreed to hold thecourt "to meet the demand ofjustice and for hearing ofmatters of urgent nature.A circular issued by ChiefJustice of India SharadArvind Bobde says two divi-sion benches will meet dur-ing the first week of the va-cation from June 22 to 26 asalso one court of judges inchamber and one registrarcourt to conduct the hearingsthrough video/tele confer-encing mode.

During the second weekfrom June 29 to July 3, twoBenches will assemble thewhole week while one will siton June 30 and second onJuly 3, a Friday as the lastday of vacation since the reg-ular courts start from July 6.Fresh matters filed up toJune 19 will be also heard bythe vacation benches.The two Benches that willassemble on Monday are ofJustices Arun Mishra andSanjiv Khanna and JusticesHemant Gupta and Anirud-dha Bose. Justice S RavindraBhat will take up the cham-ber matters while RegistrarAnil Laxman Pansare willhold the registrar's court.

AGENCIES / Jaipur

A senior Congress leader Ra-machandra Reddy was al-legedly abducted and mur-dered by his relative PratapReddy and his (P Reddy's)driver over a land dispute.As per information provid-ed by the police, both the ac-cused are absconding and acase has been registeredagainst them."The Deceased Ramchan-dra Reddy and accused Prat-ap Reddy, both are relatives,they have land dispute fromsome time now, regardingthat the deceased and ac-cused both were sitting in acar in Shadnagar and argu-

ing with each other. Thenfrom there accused PratapReddy's driver had come andthey took the deceased to anabandoned venture in Kothu-ru, both killed RamchandraReddy and left from there.Both are absconding.Presently a Kidnapping Casehas been registered," saidShadnagar DCP while speak-ing to ANI over the phone.

Senior Congress leader abducted,murdered by relative in Telangana

No chance of extending

CHENNAI: Tamil NaduChief Minister K.Palaniswa-mi on Saturday said therewas no chance of extendingthe lockdown after June 30.Talking to reporters herePalaniswami said till nowthere is no chance of extend-ing the lockdown.He also said only God knowswhen the spread of Coron-avirus will come down andthe doctors are saying that thespread will come down step-by-step and the government istaking necessary measures.He said a total of 694 peopletested positive for coronavirusat the 527 fever camps organ-ised by the government.

SC counsels lawyer forwearing T-shirt & lyingon bed at virtual hearing

AGENCIES / New Delhi

The apex court has stressedthat the minimum court eti-quette be maintained duringthe video hearings as alawyer appeared in a T-shirtwhile lying on bed during ahearing.Justice S. Ravindra Bhatsaid when counsels appearedin the court video hearing,they should be presentableand avoid showing imagesnot appropriate and couldonly be tolerable in the pri-vacy of their homes. Ex-pressing unhappiness, thejudge observed that a coun-sel should be properlydressed given the public na-ture of hearings. The apexcourt is conducting hearingsthrough video link due to the

Covid-19 pandemic. "We are all passing throughtrying times and hearings byvirtual courts have becomean order of the day. Yet, theminimum court etiquette interms of what can be consid-ered decent dress and back-ground should be followed,given the public nature ofthe hearings," said the topcourt. The top court washearing a petition seekingtransfer of a matter in con-nection with maintenanceand cruelty, which was pend-ing in the Additional Districtand Sessions Judge, Princi-ple Judge, Family Court, inRewari Haryana to anothercourt in Bihar.The lawyer tendered an un-conditional apology to thejudge, which was accepted.

lockdown: TN CM

KABUL: The US State Department says COVID-19infections have been reported at its embassy in theAfghan capital and the staff who are affected includediplomats, contractors and locally employed staff.The State Department did not say how many were

affected. An official at the embassy in Kabul, who couldnot be identified because of not being authorized to talkto the media, said as many as 20 people were infected,the majority of whom are Nepalese Gurkhas, whoprovide embassy security.

Coronavirus hits US Embassy in KabulLOCKDOWNTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

8

YOSHITA SINGHNew York

Geoffrey Berman, the pow-erful US attorney for theSouthern District of NewYork who has investigated anumber of associates ofPresident Donald Trump,has said that he has not re-signed and has no intentionof doing so after the JusticeDepartment moved abrupt-ly to oust him.Attorney General WilliamP Barr on Friday an-nounced that PresidentTrump planned to replaceBerman."I learned in a press re-lease from the AttorneyGeneral tonight that I was'stepping down' as UnitedStates Attorney. I have notresigned, and have no inten-tion of resigning, my posi-tion, to which I was appoint-ed by the Judges of the Unit-ed States District Court for

the Southern District ofNew York," Berman said ina statement on Friday night.He asserted that he willstep down when a presiden-tially appointed nominee isconfirmed by the Senate."Until then, our investiga-tions will move forwardwithout delay or interrup-tion. I cherish every daythat I work with the menand women of this Office topursue justice without fearor favour - and intend to en-sure that this Office's im-

portant cases continueunimpeded." Berman'sstatement came in responseto Barr announcement thatTrump intends to nominatethe current Chairman ofthe Securities and Ex-change Commission JayClayton as the next UnitedStates Attorney for theSouthern District of NewYork.Barr said in a statementthat he thanks Berman,"who is stepping down aftertwo-and-a-half years of

service" as Manhattan's topfederal prosecutor."With tenacity and savvy,"Barr said Berman has done"an excellent job leading oneof our nation's most signifi-cant U.S. Attorney's Offices,achieving many successeson consequential civil andcriminal matters. I appreci-ate his service to the De-partment of Justice and ournation, and I wish him wellin the future." Barr addedthat on his recommenda-tion, Trump has appointedCraig Carpenito, currentlythe United States Attorneyfor the District of New Jer-sey, to serve as the ActingUnited States Attorney forthe Southern District ofNew York, while the Senateis considering Clayton'snomination. The appoint-ment will be effective July 3and Carpenito will workclosely with Berman to "en-sure a smooth transition."

"I learned in a press release from the AttorneyGeneral William P Barr tonight that I was 'stepping

down' as United States Attorney. I have notresigned, and have no intention of resigning, myposition, to which I was appointed by the Judgesof the United States District Court for the Southern

District of New York"—US attorney Geoffrey Berman

Brazil cases hit 1mAGENCIESSao Paulo

Brazil's governmentconfirmed on Fridaythat the country hasrisen above 1 millionconfirmed coron-avirus cases, secondonly to the UnitedStates.The country'shealth ministry saidthat the total nowstood at 1,032,913, upmore than 50,000from Thursday. Theministry said thesharp increase wasdue to corrections ofprevious days' under-reported numbers.Brazilian PresidentJair Bolsonaro stilldownplays the risksof the virus afternearly 50,000 deathsfrom COVID-19 inthree months, saying

the impact of socialisolation measureson the economycould be worse thanthe disease itself.Specialists believethe actual number ofcases in Brazil couldbe up to seven timeshigher than the offi-cial statistic. JohnsHopkins Universitysays Brazil is per-forming an averageof 14 tests per 100,000people each day, andhealth experts saythat number is up to20 times less thanneeded to track the virus.Official data show adownward trend ofthe virus in Brazil'snorth, including thehard-hit region ofthe Amazon, aplateau in cases anddeaths in the coun-

tries' biggest citiesnear the Atlanticcoast, but a risingcurve in the south.In the Braziliancountryside, whichis much less pre-pared to handle a cri-sis, the pandemic isclearly growing.Many smaller citieshave weaker healthcare systems and ba-sic sanitation that'sinsufficient to pre-vent contagion."There is a lot of re-gional inequality inour public healthsystem and a short-age of professionalsin the interior," saidMiguel Lago, execu-tive director ofBrazil's Institute forHealth Policy Stud-ies, which advisespublic health officials.

Corona fears and anxietyahead of Trump’s rally

AGENCIESWashington

Tens of thousands of people from manystates crowded Tulsa for an indoor rallyand other campaign events Saturday forPresident Donald Trump, raising con-cerns that the gatherings could help fuelnascent spikes of cornavirus cases inmany places.State and city health department offi-cials were already bracing for a possiblesurge in COVID-19 cases from large out-door demonstrations against police bru-tality held across the country.Now the Trump rally - at an indoorarena that can hold 19,000 people and isexpected to be at capacity - is shap-ing up to be the first indoorevent of such a massivescale since the coron-avirus pandemic tookhold and many states is-sued stay-at-home or-ders.Tulsa has seen thelargest increase in cas-es in Oklahoma in re-cent days, and severalbordering states, includ-

ing Arkansas, have seen spikes in com-munity spread of the virus in recentweeks."I think there's no question that indoorevents are more risky than outdoorevents. But we don't really know how bigthat difference is. And certainly otheraspects, like how tightly packed thingsare ... will make a big difference," saidJustin Lessler, an associate professor ofepidemiology at John HopkinsBloomberg School of Public Health.Lessler said large events like the rallyor the protests have the "potential to besuper spreader events," but their poten-tial to drive the pandemic is short-lived.Meanwhile, Protesters marched over

the Brooklyn Bridge, chanted "Wewant justice now!" near St.Louis' Gateway Arch,prayed in Atlanta andpaused for a moment ofsilence at the MartinLuther King Jr. Me-morial in Washing-ton, as Americansmarked JuneteenthFriday with new ur-gency amid protests todemand racial justice.

Attorney probing Trump allies refuses to quit

WASHINGTON: The White House has confirmed that President Donald Trumpwill host a 4th of July event despite pleas from lawmakers to cancel over concernsregarding the coronavirus pandemic, media reports said.In a statement on Friday, the White House announced that the President and FirstLady Melania Trump, with the Interior Department, will host the 2020 "Salute toAmerica" on the South Lawn of the White House and Ellipse on July 4, The Hillnews website reported.The event will feature music, military demonstrations and flyovers to celebratethe nation's service members and veterans, as well as an address from the Presi-dent.Donald Trump first hosted a "Salute for America" on July 4, 2019, bringing troops,tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to the streets of the nation's capital.But this year's event comes despite pushback from lawmakers that holding a massgathering could put people at risk of contracting the coronavirus, which has so farinfected 2,219,976 people and killed 119,099 others in the country.Both tallies are currently the highest in the world.

July 4th event is on: WH

CORONACURE

CORNERNovartis haltsHCQ trial Swiss drugmaker Novartishas announced todiscontinueHydroxychloroquine (HCQ)clinical trial over acuteenrollment challenges thathave made completion ofthe trial infeasible, and notbecause any safety issueswere reported or efficacyconclusions made.The Basel-based companysaid that it will, however,continue the worldwidesupply ofhydroxychloroquine forclinical trials and upongovernment requests.

MMR vaccine to the rescueThe administration of avaccine unrelated to thenovel coronavirus, such asthe one used for measles,mumps, rubella, or MMR,may serve as a preventivemeasure against the worstdisease complications ofCOVID-19, scientists say.Researchers, includingthose from the LouisianaState University in the US,said live attenuatedvaccines, which are madeusing weakened strains ofa disease causingpathogen, providenonspecific protectionagainst lethal infections.They said these vaccinescan induce "trained" innateimmune cells for improvedhost responses againstsubsequent infections.

Countries battle between lockdown and reopeningMEXICO CITY: Mexico City hasdelayed a planned reopening ofbusinesses until coronavirus in-fections drop, its mayor has said,as cases continue to surge nation-wide.The city had been hoping to openhotels, restaurants and shoppingcentres on Saturday as part of itstraffic-light system for easing thelockdown, the BBC reported.But on Friday, Mayor ClaudiaSheinbaum said the capital citywould remain at red - the highestlevel of lockdown - until next week.

MELBOURNE:Australia's Victoriastate is set to reimpose householdrestrictions from Monday afterrecording double-digit increases inCOVID-19 cases for a fourth consec-utive day.Victoria Premier Daniel Andrewssays household gatherings will berestricted to five guests and out-door gatherings to 10 people untilmidnight July 12.Andrews said Victoria recorded25 new cases on Saturday, thebiggest daily increase in two months.

RIYADH: More than 1,500 mosquesare due to reopen Sunday in the holycity of Mecca amid strict health pre-cautions after three-month closuredue to the COVID-19 pandemic inSaudi Arabia, a media report said.Late last month, mosques re-opened across Saudi Arabia, exceptin Mecca, for congregation prayersas part of a phased plan for gradualreturn to normalcy, said the Gulfnews report.On Sunday, nearly 1,560 mosques inMecca will reopen for worshippersstarting from the Fajr prayer.

MADRID:Spain’s state of alarm, theemergency mechanism propping upthe nationwide lockdown to containCOVID-19, will expire midnight onSaturday, 98 days after it first cameinto effect.In an unprecedented situation dur-ing the country's history, the days un-der lockdown in Spain progressed atvarying speeds, reports Efe news.But with the gradual easing of re-strictions, life has slowly returned tothe streets, squares, shops, highways,factories, offices, bars and beachesup and down the country.

MEXICO AUSTRALIA SAUDI ARABIA SPAIN

• UK: Summer solstice revellers urged not to go

to Stonehenge

• China reports 34 new coronavirus cases;

submits virus genome sequence to WHO

• Pak resumes international flights

• Guatemala replaces health minister mid-pandemic

• German slaughterhouse virus cases exceed 1K

• South Korea sees most new cases in 3 weeks

DEATHS

463,568+

8,808,778+CASES

DASHBOARD

WALKOFLIFE

Climate & corona are both important: GretaAGENCIES / Stockholm

Swedish teen activist GretaThunberg has said that theworld needs to learn the les-sons of coronavirus andtreat climate change withsimilar urgency.In an exclusive interviewwith the BBC, Thunbergsaid: "People are starting torealise that we cannot keeplooking away from thesethings... We cannot keepsweeping these injusticesunder the carpet".She said the lockdown has

given her time to relax andreflect away from the publicgaze.Thunberg shared with theBBC the text of a deeply per-sonal programme she hasmade for Swedish Radio.In the radio programme,which went online on Satur-day morning, the young ac-tivist looks back on the yearin which she became one ofthe world's most high-profilecelebrities.It was in the UN that shedelivered her famous "howdare you" speech. "You have

stolen my dreams and mychildhood with your emptywords", she told the worldleaders gathered in the UNAssembly lastThunberg told the BBCthat she knew it was a "life-time moment" and decidednot to hold anything back.The activist said that theonly positive that couldcome out of the coronaviruspandemic would be if itchanges how we deal withglobal crises: "It shows thatin a crisis, you act, and youact with necessary force."

AGENCIESHong Kong

As the pro-democracy andanti-national security lawprotests in Hong Kong con-tinue to draw attention tothe atrocities being com-mitted by China, the Bei-jing government seems tohave become moreadamant in isolating HongKong and imposing itsdominance in the city.In the bid to muzzle thegrowing dissent voices, theChinese government has in-cluded the word "collusion"in the national security law.With this move, the legisla-tion has now criminalised"activities of foreign and ex-ternal forces to interfere inthe affairs" of Hong Kongand anyone who "colludeswith foreign states in plot-ting to harm the mother-land's sovereignty, territori-al integrity and security"will be sentenced between 10years and life in jail, theSouth China Morning Postreported.This new weapon to silencethe Hong Kong protesters,has given rise to fresh angeramong the people.

China’s newweapon tosilence HKprotesters

AGENCIES / Dublin

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkarslipped in a quote from the 2004 Amer-ican teen comedy film, "Mean Girls"during his daily briefing on theCOVID-19 situation in the country, amedia report said.As the Prime Minister announcedplans to scale back COVID-19 restric-tions, he said on Friday: "Some haveasked whether there is a limit to whatwe can achieve," the Metro newspaperreported.

Quoting the moment Lindsay Lo-han's character in the movie wins theMathletes championship finals,Varadkar said: "My answer is that thelimit does not exist."It appears that "Lord of the Rings"star Sean Astin bet Varadkar "50 quid"to slip the "Mean Girls" reference intohis next speech, said the newspaper.The wager was in response to theIrish leader quoting Astin's part ofSamwise during a previous COVID-19briefing.In it, Varadkar had said: "So, this af-

ternoon let me end with words ofhope. In the end, it's only a passingthing this shadow, even darkness mustpass. A new day will come, and whenthe sun shines, it'll shine out the clear-er." During Friday's briefing, thePrime Minister said that, with someexceptions, Ireland will move to phasethree from June 29.Hairdressers and barbers will re-open and gatherings of up to 50 peopleindoors will be allowed after the gov-ernment brought forward a series ofrelaxation measures.

Irish PM a fan of ‘Mean Girls’?

ITALY

Last month, tech billionaire Elon Musk and hispartner Claire ‘Grimes’ Boucher welcomed theirfirst child together – a son, whose name rapidly

became the source of much amusement and even a fewtabloid headlines. Actor Sumeet Vyas, who welcomedbaby boy earlier this month, too recently opened upabout his experiences as a first time father. Namingdilemmas notwithstanding, the journey into first-timefatherhood can be daunting for many; when this tran-sition must be made during an ongoing pandemic, ittakes on new meaning. Recent estimates by UNICEF indicate that India hasthe largest number of expected pregnancies and birthsduring the lockdown (20.1 million, to be precise). Forthese parents, the joy of childbirth is also tinged withdisruptions in services, limited access to support net-works and strained healthcare systems.

Greater responsibility“In many ways, the role of the father has become moreimportant during the pandemic – my wife underwent aC-section delivery and was prescribed complete bedrest for two months. In addition to caring for ourdaughter’s basic needs, I must also take responsibilityfor comforting my wife when she becomes anxiousabout our baby’s health and being able to cope with themany restrictions that the lockdown has imposed onus. I’ve found that being calm and focused can go a longway in making the situation manageable – it’s easy tobecome overwhelmed when there are so many factorsat play,” says Abhishek Bhasin. He adds that learningto cope with the baby’s erratic schedule has made himmuch more mindful and patient – qualities that he be-lieves will serve all fathers well during the pandemic.

Organised but flexibleWith the baby’s nanny having to leave work during thelockdown, Imran Ladak found that having a schedulethat involved splitting up time and responsibilitieswith his partner went a long way in helping them tobetter manage the situation. However, he also warnsthat “being very rigid about adhering to this schedulecan easily become frustrating. Remember, your babywill do what (s)he wants, regardless of the tasks you’ve laid out for the day. Going with the flow and trying to do as much as you can as the day unfolds isimportant.”

A mixed blessingFor Kanishk Tuteja, the hardest part about becoming afather during the lockdown has been not being able tocelebrate important milestones with friends and fami-ly. “In our culture, especially, a new birth brings with itmany ceremonies. It is a very social affair. However, wehave been very vigilant about social distancing andthis has meant giving up on these festivities. At thesame time, as an entrepreneur in the hospitality indus-try, work stresses are at an all-time high. This said,having a baby to focus on has made the passage ofthis troubled time much sweeter – I’ve been toobusy to worry about the future of my business.All I can do is get as much work done as is possi-ble and then spend time with my child – thanks

to the lockdown, I am able to spendmuch more time with my new-bornbaby than I ever would have beenable to. I’ve also begun to learnnew skills – including DIY décorand photography – so that I canmake this period much morememorable and special.” Ladak adds that the addition of

a new member to the householdhas filled him with great optimism,

despite the adverse impact of the pan-demic on his work. “Becoming a fatherhas made me more positive about the fu-ture and more resilient – I am confident thatthings will work out for the best of our fam-ily, no matter how bleak the situationseems right now. I’ve also learned to takethe highs as well as the lows in my stride.There’s so much to look forward to, somany new experiences that I hope toshare with my baby boy,” he says.

THEFREEPRESSJOURNAL

9SUNDAY June 21, 2020 To be circulated with The Free Press Journal

Dad’sFirst-time

daddys sharetheir fatherhood

experiencesduring

pandemic withANINDITA

PAUL

All aboutyour stateof mind

The pandemicand the resultantisolation have

completely changedthe game, as far asnew parents areconcerned, explainsDr Nahid Dave,psychiatrist atThought Matters.“Most couples arenow worried aboutthe health of themother and child,while also strugglingto come to termswith the socialisolation anduncertainty. A newbaby brings with it alot of addedresponsibility andexpenses. There’salso the fact thatnew fathers mustnow spend muchmore time with theirwife and child thanthey had initiallyplanned,” she says.How fathers react tothese stressors islargely dependent ontheir innatepersonality andperception of thesituation at hand.“I’ve found that formost fathers, the actof bringing new lifeinto the world is ahopeful experience.Even for those whoare struggling withpay cuts andeconomicuncertainty, spendingtime with their babyfills them withhope,” she explains.If you do findyourself boggeddown by fears, sherecommendschanging yourperspective of thesituation. “Ifworrying is leadingyou to work towardsa solution, the act ofworrying can beproductive. Else, itcan be much likerunning endlessly ona treadmill in thehopes of gettingsomewhere.Spending time withyour child can betherapeutic andhealing. If you docatch yourself caughtin a cycle andworrying anddespair, simplysaying ‘Stop’ outloud to yourself canpull you back to thepresent and help you check thedownward spiral.”

Sumeet Vyas with wife Ekta Kaul before the birth of their son

Elon Musk with baby X AE A-XII Musk

At the crack of dawn, Kalpesh and Jayeshrush to check on their father as soon as theywake up. As the elder son, Kalpesh runs his

fingers through his frail-looking stroke survivor fa-ther’s hair to check on him, 62-year-old Ashok Man-rupchand Jain opens his eyes with a smile. Thetimes have changed. The lockdown has infused arare responsibility into his sons. On April 4, at 7 am, Ashok woke up with a loss ofcontrol on his facial muscles. After being unable totake a bath by himself, the family found him un-able to eat breakfast properly. “It was scary watch-ing the side of his face slump and being unable tokeep food in his mouth. We knew at once thatsomething was wrong,” recalls elder sonKalpesh. They rushed him to a hospitalwhere he underwent treatment for twodays before returning home. But thatwas not all. On May 6, again at about8 am, Ashok displayed similar symp-toms, except that this time around,they seemed more severe. Ashok’seyes had turned glassy and hecouldn’t recognise anyone inthe family. “Now, we rushedhim to another renownedhospital in Girgaum wherehe remained for treatment,for 20 days at a stretch,”says an emotional Jayesh,recalling the ordeal.Now, back home, inhindsight, the familymaintains the lockdowncame as a boon consider-ing, at all times, both sons,Kalpesh and Jayesh wouldbe away at work throughoutthe day and the situationcould have simply spiraled outof control had their father fallensick then. “Which is why theysay, ‘What happens, happens forthe best’,” maintains a visiblyweak yet positive Ashok, now wellon his way to a recovery. “Now,both my sons stay more at home,spend time with their children,wake up early and eat healthy. My

stroke has scared them into behaving themselves,”he says with a twinkle in his eyes. “Why, for thefirst time in my life, they are even planning an in-formal family get-together on Father’s Day,” he adds.Merchant Navin Jain found himself spendingquality time for the entire two months of the lock-down with his 14-year-old daughter Hiya Jain whohelped her father put things in order his shop.“Earlier, she would be embarrassed to come to theshop but, this lockdown, she spent so much timewith me instead of her friends as has been thecase,” recalls Navin. For the very first time, Hiya spent time with herfather even bonded with him at work. “This time, Irealised how busy he has always been with work.Always at the shop, I always complained how hehardly had time to spend with me. But now, I realise how difficult it was for him,” says Hiya,planning a surprise treat for her dad, this

Father’s Day. Insurance and realty consultantWasim Khan couldn’t be happierwith the lockdown. After havingsuffered a heart condition thathad played up just before the lock-

down, Wasim had been ad-vised rest but simply could-n’t afford to stay put athome for long, owing towork deadlines and pro-fessional commitments.“The lockdown came as aboon for me,” he says. “Icould finally take a break,”recalls Wasim.From March 25 onwards,

Wasim got a golden opportu-nity to spend ‘days on end’with his three children andtwo sons-like nephews, Fizanand Dayan, his ‘Jaans’. “Thiswas the best time of our lives,”recalls eldest daughter andphysiotherapist Farheen wholearnt to cook new ‘vegetarian’

dishes from YouTube for her father. Farheen, inci-dentally, will soon be leaving Mumbai “to pursue apost-graduation programme” and stay away fromher family throughout the period.Younger daughter Alisha, who “topped her re-cently-held XII exams,” has been helping her fatherkeep the home in order. Wasim’s wife Latifa is aself-professed cleanliness freak and the father-daughter duo make sure her standards are met.“This lockdown, I realised, she has a serious inter-est in aeronautics,” says Wasim.Son Atif who plays cricket for the Mumbai Crick-et Association, has grown closer to his father, espe-cially after his ailment. “Even today, he comes andsleeps next to me every night. We make sure tohave the morning tea together. When he is away, wetalk over video calls… the lockdown has brought uscloser,” maintains Wasim. This Father’s Day is special for the Khan family,closer than ever before, who will celebrate it with‘vegetarian food’, song and dance in celebration offather Wasim Khan’s recovery and more.For Marathi television and theatre personalityMihir Rajda, his biggest grouse was that work kepthim away from his six-year-old daughter Nihira. “Ihated it,” recalls Mihir. “She would call me afterevery few days when I was away at work and Icouldn’t be with her,” says Mihir. “During this lock-down, I managed to spend so much quality timewith her that our bond has strengthened,” he says.Today, when Mihir goes out to shop for groceriesand gets late by even five minutes, Nihira calls tocheck on him. It started when Nihira’s school shutbefore the lockdown and for the first time, Mihirgot a chance to spend a full week with his daughter.“It was then that I learned she loves mathematics,just like I do,” says Mihir, pleasantly surprised.Earlier, whenever he got time to spend with thedaughter, they would do ‘fun’ things, now –throughout the lockdown - they were doing justabout everything together. “I also realised mydaughter is intelligent and understanding at thesame time,” maintains Mihir.“During the lockdown, on one occasion, whileworking late at night, Nihira came up to me andsaid, “Dad, chalo mujhe chinta ho rahi hai aapki,”recalls Mihir, moist-eyed at realising how sensitiveand caring his daughter had become. This Father’sDay will be special for Mihir and Nihira too.

Paa,it’stimetochill!

Abhishek Bhasin with daughter

Pandemic has strengthenedthe bond between fathers and children. GAJANANKHERGAMKER gets us someheart-warming tales

Mihir Rajda spending time with daughter Nihira

(From right)Wasim Khan with

wife Latifa, son Atif,

daughtersFarheen, Alisha

and nephewsDayan and Fizan

(extreme left)

Ashok Manrupchand Jain (centre) withsons Kalpesh (left) and Jayesh

Navin Jain with daughter Hiya

the way

Anxious about the spread of thecoronavirus and your own im-munity? Claustrophobic on be-

ing bound in your home largely? Sink-ing into depression at not being able tomeet people you love and pursuing oth-er activities like gym-exercising thatkeep you upbeat otherwise?The two-word sure-shot solution toyour problems is Yoga. As a recent re-search from the University of SouthAustralia (that examined 19 studiesacross 6 countries) and published in theBritish Journal of Sports Medicineconfirmed – movement-based yoga cansignificantly improve mental healthduring the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, the original and deeper intentof Yoga has always been to enable its

practitioners enjoy sound mentalhealth, in all circumstances – despitepopular associations of Yoga withphysical health alone. The BhagavadGita defines yoga as samatvam yogahuchchayate’ – a state of the highestmental equilibrium, a calm mind thatis not swayed by the dualities of existence.Of course, such a state is not easy toattain or retain, given the nature of thehuman mind, which is habitually asrestless as a drunken monkey bitten bya scorpion, in the lexicon of ancientrishis. The mind is a maze of disor-dered feelings, ideas, and its variousmodifications (vrittis) like knowledge(right or wrong), imaginations, vaguethoughts floating in sleep, and memo-ries can create hellish sufferings, trig-gering stress. Under stress, the body re-leases more of stress hormones likeadrenaline, resulting in tighter mus-cles, increased blood pressure, loweredimmunity, and shallow breathingwhich lowers oxygen supply to the

body; also food assimilation isaffected. Continued stressgenerates more toxins thanthe body can throw out.Eventually, these mentaldisturbances (Adhi) cul-minate in physical ail-ments (Vyadhi).Since Yoga recognis-es that the body is eas-ier to control thanthe mind, and themind and body areintimately connect-ed, it aims to gaincontrol of the mindby working on thebody. Different Yogaasanas, pranayams,and kriyas (cleansingactions), while entail-ing bodily movements,profoundly impact themind, strengtheningpositivity. A fact, whichis endorsed by manycelebrity yoga practition-ers like Shilpa Shetty, Malai-ka Arora, AishwaryaaDhanush, Shikhar Dhawan,Vikram Sathaye, and AnkurTewari. Says actor Yami Gautam,

known for her fitness regime, “Yogais a lifestyle... It helps me stay positiveand keeps my skin glowing.”Unlike other physical practices,which do not require full mind engage-ment – in a gym, one can keep walkingon treadmill, while talking on phone orlistening to music – while doing asanas(postures), the mind has to be continu-ously involved. Almost all body move-ments in yoga are synced with breath-ing patterns; like in hastapadasana,you inhale deeply while stretching yourarms upward and then exhaling, lowerthe arms to grasp your ankles. Thus, the yoga asanas,when prac-ticed correctly, firm up the mind asmuch as the body. Observes yogateacher Shailaja Menon in her bookYoga Shakti, “Every time…we directthe mind to stay on the body in asanapractice or to shift the focus to thebreath and count… breaths, the under-lying thrust is to strengthen our capaci-ty to direct our minds and shift our at-tention to stay where WE choose. Thatcapacity is the KEY to release from suf-fering, and it is the path to freedom.”Regular practice of asanas for even 20minutes every day contributes to keepboth mind and body stable and flexible.Even more mind-beneficial thanasanas is the practice of pranayama(breath regulation). Our rishis madethe vital discovery that breath corre-sponds to thought. Our minds are gen-erally unsteady since our breath is ir-regular and shallow. While we cannotcheck the incessant flow of ourthoughts, we can regulate our breath.Through regular practice of differentpranayams (breathing exercises) such

as anulom vilom,which involve deep,conscious breathing, our breathingslowly becomes steady, and so do ourminds. Also, pranayams aid better oxy-genation of the lungs and thus all cellsof the body – result, all organs functionoptimally. Regular practice ofpranayams for even ten to fifteen min-utes every day keeps the mind-bodymachine robust, boosting immunity.

However, to realise the full benefit ofYoga – the ability to remain focussed onone’s highest goal at all times – oneneeds to also imbibe certain mental at-titudes. Rishis evolved different concep-tual techniques to control the mind likePratipakshabhavana. It means to con-sciously cultivate opposite positivethoughts whenever a destructive ornegative thought occurs in our minds,regarding ourselves or others. Whenwe do so, we feel instant calm and re-lief. This method reminds us that otheroptions exist, and our negative thoughtis based on our past hurts. It allows usto begin changing damaging thoughtpatterns.Another important attitude that yogaadvocates and which is pertinent todayto fight COVID-19 is the niyama of Ish-warpranidhaana – surrender to a high-er reality. Ishwar signifies the universe.Yoga urges us to believe that this uni-verse is both benevolent and meaning-ful. It also reminds us that our egos, in-telligence, knowledge, etc. are limited.So it makes sense to place our faith in ahigher reality. Such faith induces astrong, positive and affirming state ofmind.Lockdown is ideal time for both theuninitiated and those familiar withYoga, to delve deeper into its riches.

(Munmun Ghosh is a certified yoga instruc-tor and a yoga practitioner for past 25 years.

She can be reached onkaushani05@gmail.com)

SUNDAY|JUNE 21, 2020

weekend10THE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

Wellness

se YogaIn times of COVID-19 when people are clueless abouthow to boost immunity andmental well-being, MUNMUNGHOSH writes how yogasans &pranayams can do the needful

hoga…

Yoga: The Art of Mental EquilibriumWHAT: Techno-monk and Lifestyle coach, Gopinath ChandraDas will deliver a lecture on how with the help of yoga wecan strike a perfect balance between body and mind andmake your life simple and stress-free. WHEN: Today, 9 am till 10 am WHERE: On Zoom, ID: 2465719266, Password: Yogi

‘YogNaad’ ft. Rahul Sharma WHAT: ThisInternational Yoga Day,listen to themesmerizing tunes ofSantoor Maestro RahulSharma on the virtualevent ‘YogNaad’. Theevent is organized bythe The Yoga Instituteon account of theInternational Yoga Day.This unforgettable liveperformance by themaestro is definitely a

not to be missed event and is free for all. The event can beattended on the Facebook and YouTube page of The YogaInstitute. WHEN: Today, 5:30pm to 6:00pmVISIT: The Yoga Institute on Facebook, YouTube &@theyogainstituteofficial on Instagram

Healthy Talk with Rujuta Diwekar WHAT: Listen to the ‘healthy’ conversation between Dr.Hansaji Yogendra, Yog Guru and Director at The YogaInstitute and Celebrity Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar live. Theywould talk about the importance of yoga and health lifestylealong with the importance of a healthy diet in your day today routine. The session is free for all and is going to be aninteractive session where the audience can involvethemselves and be a part of the same. It can be attended onthe Facebook and YouTube page of The Yoga Institute.WHEN: Today, 11:30 am to 12:10 pmVISIT: The Yoga Institute on Facebook, YouTube &@theyogainstituteofficial on Instagram

Beautiful connection of Yoga andMental Well-Being

WHAT: ThisInternationalYoga Dayexperiencethe beautifulconnectionbetweenYoga andMental well-being withDr. HansajiYogendra,Yog Guru

and Director at The Yoga Institute and India lifestyle coachand Motivational speaker, Gaur Gopal Das. This interactivesession can be attended LIVE on the official Facebook andYouTube page of The Yoga Institute and free for all wherethe audience can ask their queries.WHEN: Today, 7 pm to 7:45 pmVISIT: The Yoga Institute on Facebook, YouTube &@theyogainstituteofficial on Instagram

Yoga-Thon 2020WHAT: Yoga-thon is a full-day virtual yoga festivalorganised by Ira Yoga Wellness (www.irayogawellness.com)to celebrate the International Yoga Day. Participants will getan opportunity to learn about the various forms of yogafrom the wonderful team of teachers at Ira Yoga Wellness.The event will be streamed LIVE from 7 am- 7 pm on variousonline platforms, and will include exciting contests,giveaways, and influencer collaborations.WHEN: Today, 7 am till 7 pm TO REGISTER VISIT: www.insider.in

Yoga for respiratory & ImmuneSystems

WHAT: On theoccasion ofInternational YogaDay, Jai Sisodiya, anadvanced YogaAcharya, woulddescribe thesignificance of threeintermediate posturesand specific breathingtechniques which canimprove ourrespiratory systemsand could be thegateway to a positiveand healthy life.Generally 1/4th to thof lungs functionsthroughout the day.

You will be taught how we can use 100% of lungs andboost both the respiratory parts as well as immune systems.On the other hand, Acharya will also explain the importanceof a healthy diet and how it can shape our overall well-being. WHEN: Today, 8:30 am till 9 am WHERE: On Zoom, ID: 2465719266, Password: Yogi

Pranayama Workshop WHAT: Breath is the bridge which connects life toconsciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.What is Life? What is it that we all are searching for? In ourconstant quest for a better, far improved, well rounded life,we often tend to miss the quintessential aspect of Life- OurBreath. The challenges posed by day to day tasks of our lifeleave us stressed and worried. An easy breathing techniqueof Yoga can help us release the stress. These breath controlpractices of Yoga are called ‘Pranayama’. Pranayama is oneof the most potent yet under used yogic practices for bothmanaging anxiety and boosting immunity. Learning toconsciously manipulate your breath trains your nervoussystem to sync up with your immune system, hormonalsystem, and detox systems.WHEN: Today, 8 am & 5 pm TO REGISTER VISIT: www.insider.in

Your YogaDay planner Grab your smartphone or laptop and

stream these online events which we havehand picked for you with an aim to make

your Yoga Day fun and memorable

Now that the lockdown iseasing, we can allbreathe easy right?

Wrong! The easing is happeningfor economic reasons, but thedanger of the COVID-19 conta-gion hasn’t disappeared.We now know how pressuredconfined living can get. Be it liv-ing alone and isolated, or withmany people in close confineson a 24x7 basis have their ownset of challenges. Compoundthat with being faced with noth-ing but bad news day after daycan unnerve even the strongestamongst us. The resultant fearis enough to trigger our basicfight or flight instinct, andwhen we realise that we are un-able to do either, the sense ofhelplessness can cause a personto become emotionally reactive -which shows up in the form ofanger or depression. Leftunchecked, these emotions canassume dangerous proportions,to the point of becoming a phys-ical threat for not only the per-son experiencing it but also thepeople around. We all do get angry, but then,we simmer down. If a person isfeeling angry all the time, theymay be actually experiencing acase of depression. In this arti-cle, we look at the connectionbetween anger and depression,as well as the other symptomsand diagnosis of depression. Iwill also discuss the holisticways of treating both anger anddepression.Here are some tips on how tomanage issues with anger anddepression:Use your body’s senses as anearly warning system: Similarto managing stress, listen toyour body, and pay attention tothe physical signs of anger.

Step back, and when possi-ble, walk away: Once you’reable to recognize that you aregetting angry or upset, it’s im-

portant to take a step back andgive yourself a moment to calmdown.

Deep breathing and musclerelaxation: Deep breathing canhelp calm your body down,while also focusing your atten-tion on something other thanwhat was getting you upset.

Ask yourself if it’s worth it:Most of the time when we getangry, it is out of proportion tothe situation we’re in. Angercan be useful in a dangerous sit-uation (like when you feel physi-cally threatened), but most ofthe time getting angry simplydoesn’t help.

Give your anger a healthyoutlet: If you feel yourself get-ting worked up, try giving yourtension a positive outlet. Anyform of indoor or outdoor exer-cise is the best way around. Depression is caused by imbal-ance of energy in various or-gans like liver, spleen, stomach,heart; phlegm heat troublingthe heart, etc., each type pro-duces different symptoms inbody. Liver inflammation cancause lot of agitation in mindand bring on suicidal tenden-cies.Patient could be treated by

studying symptoms related toeach problem, but it is difficultto meet patient in present cir-cumstances, so here are a fewways to find an internal balanceto sort out anger and depressionworked out by the Acusansthanbased on Ayurvedic acupres-sure. The treatment can be done bystimulation and pasting gramsor pea seeds, cluster or five starmagnets on point or applyingcolours, in an efficient and easymanner. There are ten MegaMeridians, five on palm side ofthe wrist and five on back sideof the wrist. Each mega-meridi-an is energy gate for a particu-lar organ, endocrine gland, al-lergy, lymph, circulation sys-tem, treatment for degenerationof bones etc., numbered 4, 1, 0,2, 3 on palm side of wrist and 6,7, 9 8, 5 on back of wrist.

Here are some basic treatments:1. Colourtherapy fordepression,stress andphobia: Applygreen, red andyellow colourwith the helpof a sketch penon the pointsshown in theimage below.You can also

use felt pen or a colour marker.

2. Depression and Insomnia:Byol magnet has power toenhance indicated by ↑ or re-duce↓, the energy as shown bythe arrow symbols. Mind, brain,soul behaves in a particular

manner due to imbalance in en-ergy level of the organ, glandetc. To balance the same for de-pression or insomnia, one has topaste chakra magnet on righthand Mega Meridians no. 7 ↑ 8↓ and on Left hand MegaMeridians 8 ↑ 7 ↓

3. Treating depression withNail Therapy: Paste AyurvedicByol magnets (small size) on the

pointsshownin thepic-turesbelow.Yellowsidetou-chingskin forpointswith ↑

and white side touching forpoints with ↓ indication.Index finger Left hand 8, 0 ↑ 7, 9 ↓Right Hand8, 0 ↑ 7, 9 ↓

4. Anxiety, nervousness andhysteria treatment:

Paste Chakra magnets on theleft hand mega-meridians, palm1 ↑ and 2 ↓ and back sidemeridians 8 ↑ and 6, 7↓

5. Target the thyroid gland:Overactive(Hyper)thyroidgland dueto excessTSH secre-tion by an-terior pitu-itary caus-ing depres-sion, confu-sion,weight lossetc. Paste aByol mag-net white

side touching or green gramgerminating point on the skinon meridian TW 2.

6. Anger due to inflammationof liver: Paste methi seed or a

Byol Mag-net on PtLiv 2. Makesure thatthe whiteside of themagnetshould beon the topas shown inthe imagebelow. If youwant tolearn aboutMegaMeridiansand Sujok

Meridians in details then pleasevisit www.artofselfhealing.in

(From increasing metabolismto overcoming physical problems,

through a series of article, ProfLuthria will speak about the artof self-healing through different

healing techniques.)

mind Clear the

Su-Jok, a therapy whichpromises to treat physical ailments canalso keep mental problems at bay, Prof. G B Luthria tells us how

Here’s the list of some basic asanasand pranyams which you shouldtry: Asanas: Tadasana, Konasana, Va-jrasana, Parvatasana, ShavasanaPranayams:Anuloma viloma, UjjayBrahmari, Sheetali, Sitkari

Everyone is looking forward to a timewhen India unlocks completely. Thatwould mean the whole array of activ-

ities that we could do before lockdown, or atleast some part of it. From June 8, coun-tries like Belgium opened up the doors oftheir bars, while the laid-back café life ofParis also re-started. As India grapples withmore increasing number of coronaviruscases, for us, perhaps, the opening and re-sumption of cultural activities and eating-out is not expected to begin soon. This be-ing Pride month, with drag shows going on-line, the oeuvre of artistes and performersfrom the LGBTQIA+ community never ac-tually saw a pause. Does a gay-friendly bar mean a bar

specifically planned and designed forgay people? Or does it mean a generallyfriendly place that accepts theLGBTQIA+ community as its own. Akind of bar where everyone, feels ab-solutely at home. We look at five Indian bars which have

flagshipped inclusivity, and hence helpedin creating a nightlife and an afterhours at-mosphere in their cities that felt safe forthe LGBTQIA+ community. With their pres-ence, members of the community can lookforward to these watering holes even whena complete unlock takes place.

n PDA – MARTINIS AND MORE, DELHI:Celebrity Chef Ritu Dalmia wanted to cre-ate a space the community could call theirown. When PDA was started by her compa-ny DIVA, and PCO – a speak-easy cocktailtavern, it became exactly that. A placewhere the community could chill, settlinginto the vibe of the place. The bar wants tocelebrate the equality that was brought onwhen Article 377 was declared void, andshow its love to people they consider theirown. Coasters have the rainbow and apride flag has been painted on a wall. Notto miss at PDA – Rainbow Thursdays. Thatnight is also a bar-takeover night by mem-bers of the community. Public relationsprofessional Noor Enayat and LGBTQIA+dating app developer Ishaan Sethi havebeen some of their bar hosts.

nDOOLALLY, MUMBAI: Across outlets, sev-eral events have taken place to celebratethe community. Hosted by the likes of Har-ish Iyer, the taproom has presented moviebashes such as Spoil The Cinema where amovie is seen differently. These events areabout breaking free from the previous nar-ratives that surrounded the movies, andseek to analyse characters “projected asgay” too. Other Doolally events have includ-ed What the Folks! where parents of mem-bers from the community meet and discuss

issues that concern them about their chil-dren who have come out. Queer quizzeswere also part of Doolally’s schedule whereparticipants were asked questions relatingto the history of the community. “We lovehaving created a supportive venue. Some ofour staff is also from the community. Ourstaff knows that all guests are supposed to

be treated the same,” says themanagement.

nKITTY SU, MUMBAI, DELHI, CHANDIGARH; KittyKo, Bengaluru:The PureLove Thursdays at Kitty Suand Kitty Ko are quite leg-endary and are seen as thepioneer in creating anightlife scene which isholistic. People from thecommunity love hangingout here, because it’swhere they can truly ex-perience a sense of free-dom that has not alwaysbeen possible in theoutside world. PDA be-tween members of thecommunity takes

place uninhibitedly at theevent, as they catch the entertainmentthat’s been planned for the night. In Mum-bai, Pure Love Thursday is often presentedby Rage, which brings to the venue dragshows. The drag shows range from bellydancing to duet dances on popular Hindisongs and solo performances in shimmer-ing music and lighting. The best part is any-one can perform — be a drag queen or kingfor the night. After lockdown started Ragebegan to hold drag nights on Kitty Su’s In-

stagram page going liveon Thursdays, like before,but this time on the inter-net (hashtagged #queer-antine). Kitty Su’s otheronline Insta posts includeconversations with MayaThe Drag Queen, in part-nership with Vh1, andphotoshoots featuringdrag artistes talkingabout shape-shifting,breaking rules and onhow one can portray one-self and one’s gender.

nGIGGLE WATER, HYDERABAD: Before thevirus, at Rainbow Sun-days which happenedevery Sunday, people fromthe community camedressed in all their finery,with full make up on, andlet their hair down. Pro-moters curated dragshows just like Kitty Suand these Sundays weresome of the most sought-after nights at the club.Remarks Vaibhav Modi,

curator of Rainbow Sundays, “Sometimesthere was no place even to move on Rain-bow Sundays. It is high time we had placesthat are more inclusive. We don’t want sepa-rate spaces for different genders, colours,castes, and creeds. At Giggle Water even ifyou are a gay couple you are absolutely giv-en couple entry and you don’t have to poselike friends.”

nCOWBOYS CAFE, NASHIK: Prior to theportentous virus which came and forced ho-tels and restaurants to shut shop, CowboysCafe at Meuse Jupiter Business and LuxuryHotel in Nashik was planning on hostingLGBTQIA+ pride nights every fortnight oreach week. Plans got shelved as the lock-down put entertainment and partying onthe back-burner. Now, when the govern-ment eventually flags off the opening ofrestaurants, Cowboys Cafe plans to pick upwhere it left off. The hotel’s GM ShahidSyed was the VP of Operations at Neos barin Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, which alsohad the tradition of LGBTQIA+ nightsevery fortnight, and thought to bring thesame concept to Cowboys. “I like the factthat members of the community never cre-ate a nuisance. Also now the phenomenonis legalised so why not. I’m going to call myevent manager after the lockdown and plan the themes for the Pride nights,”shares Syed.

weekend 11SUNDAY|JUNE 21, 2020

Culture

a toast to inclusivity!Raising

Here’s something

to look forward

to: LGBTQIA+ frie

ndly bars in India

that you can visit

once things

return to normalc

y... For now,

MAITHILI CHAKR

AVARTHYfinds

out how these Indi

an nightspots

are creating a sea

-change in the

way the LGBTQIA+

community

parties

The lockdown goes on, but so doesour bid to make the most of atime when going online is the best

way to find all-new-activities. Everyoneis doing their best to find respitethrough the sanctuaries provided by theinternet, when being stuck at homepushes us to discover new online plat-forms which today have become themain sources of entertainment. Whereconversations take place virtually, andwhere virtual meet-ups and webinarsare the order of the day. The exchangeof ideas and thoughts now happens onZoom and one is continually learninghow to make technology work for theirbusiness. Pride month is no different. Around the world, from New York to

Dublin to Seattle, drag performancesand acts by the likes of queer artistesBilly Porter and Black Belt Eagle Scout,parade retrospectives, trans film series,and the marriage of themes like #black-livesmatter and ending police brutalitywith the LGBTQIA+ movement will besome virtual offerings of US and Euro-pean Pride parades. Events which hith-erto took place at venues, on roads and

in maidans, are now online. The great-est benefits of the events happening on-line is that people from any part of theworld can tune in. Another advantage isthat many events which were paid-forearlier will now be available to interest-ed folks for free. The 11th Kashish Mumbai Interna-

tional Queer Film Festival will go on-line this year. While passes have to bebought to watch the films, the panel dis-cussions and the opening and closingceremonies can be viewed online with-out a ticket. The festival is now calledKashish 2020 Virtual and mirrors howplanners have adapted to new realities. Says Sridhar Rangayan, Festival Di-

rector, “Kashish is the first major filmfestival in India to go completely online.It will be a nine-day festival. It willshowcase 100+ Indian and internationalLGBTQIA+ films as well as have paneldiscussions and filmmaker interactions.The films will be available for viewingon a special online platform, which wewill publicise on our website when thetime is right. The schedule for the festi-

val will also be available there, and itwill drop in at a certain time. There willbe links on our website which will leadparticipants to the films they want towatch, which will be available for only24 hours for which passes will be re-quired. People can watch the panel dis-cussions on YouTube which can be ac-cessed any time, even after the festival.With the festival going on the web, itwill now open up to the whole world,which was not the case earlier.”The British Council India is holding

the Digital Pride Festival (#PrideAtH-ome) along with another initiativecalled More Films for Freedom, in part-nership with The Queer Muslim Proj-ect, till June 28. The digital pride festi-val will bring together talents from In-dia and the UK’s queer arts communi-ties, from fields like music, dance andthe theatre, whose art will celebrate anew atmosphere of inclusion. ‘MoreFilms for Freedom’ will feature threeshort films with LGBTQIA+ leitmotifs,made by Syrian, South African andPalestinian filmmakers, available from

June through September. The social me-dia platforms details and the festivalschedule can be found on British Coun-cil India’s website.LGBTQIA+ podcasts are a new thing

where subjects like coming out, queerparenting and more are tackled openlyand frankly. One such podcast, calledAzaad Awaaz, is hosted by filmmakerMozez Singh on Amazon’s AudibleSuno. Shares Singh, “I didn’t want tobring only celebrities on board. I want-ed to also invite ‘real people’. Eachepisode is different. We have had on airlawyers for the Article 377 petition andone of the petitioners Keshav Suri (whois a huge LGBTQIA+ icon) to discusswhat went into filing the petition. Wealso invited a trans man, who is a pilot,who spoke about his ‘horrific journey’from female to male. The podcasts re-veal how the guests went through a trialby fire and are now telling their stories.We are planning season two at a timewhen it will be possible to meet, becausewe prefer it when participants feed ofeach other’s energy in a studio.” Then there is a #21DaysAllyChallenge

that has been planned by Pride Circle, aconsulting company in India promotingequality at workplaces for LGBTQIA+community. The challenge will be onefor Allies. One can register for the chal-lenge before July 1 and complete tasksthat have been set, mainly geared to-wards sensitising the society toLGBTQIA+ issues. Some challenges in-clude reading LGBTQIA+ books andlearning about intersectionality and itsadjuncts. Participants earn points asthey complete tasks and the highestpoint earners win prizes worth Rs

20,000 each along with certificates. “We found that we were not really able

to engage enough people through thecompanies we work with and hencethought up this 21-day-challenge. Ittakes 21 days to learn a new habit. Wewanted to neutralize biases and reachpeople through multiple touch points.The first few challenges are directed ateducation and legal perspectives aroundthe world. To help people knowLGBTQIA+ laws that are local to them.We also wanted people to have theawareness to check with someonewhich pronoun they identify with, incase someone doesn’t identify with theirassigned pronoun. The challenges alsocreate cognizance about supportingLGBTQIA+ businesses, for example, or-dering a birthday cake from a bakeryowned by an LGBTQIA+ person, callingout ‘homophobic’ jokes and using theright vocab,” shares Ramkrishna Sinha,Pride Circle’s Co-Founder. If this issomething that excites you, you can reg-ister for the challenge on https://thep-ridecircle.com/21daysallychallenge/.

THE FREE PRESSJOURNAL

PRIDEMAITHILI CHAKRAVARTHY speaks to organisersto give an insight into how they clinched the

opportunity to take Pride month online

The new place of

I’m so lonely, that’s okay I shaved my head —I’m not sad”, Nirvana’s lyrics ringing in thehollows of Covid isolation as Kurt Cobain

busts out an experience bleeding through his six-string. A cut, a slice through the skin as one re-strings the old guitar oneself for the first time,sliding one by one thin resonant metal and bleed-ing from it; we have this summer solstice, theWorld Music Day. Did it really take a world pan-demic for a musician to learn how to restringtheir guitar themselves? This year, we must talk about the rebirth of the

old and the new in musicians across the genres asthey struggle and cope through this new realitywith their fretboards or their keyboards — as real-ity slides from C major to a bleak F minor. Gigsand shows, performances on stage are prohibitedand regulars are having a hard time not being outthere shouting their expressions through theirchosen medium.Saachi Mendon is a Blues and Jazz musician

who recently debuted with her album ‘Until NextTime’ in December 2019 and plays live aroundMumbai in various known venues. Having cometechnically from a blues background, she’s cur-rently exploring Funk as a genre. “Funk has be-come so much of an inclination, that I hope I don’tforget my roots after all of this is over,” she tellsamused. Quarantine has made this possible, asisolating with an instrument at hand really doesgive one the mental freedom and the time to ex-plore the uncharted waters of one’s creativeprowess. This is a sentiment resonated by severalmusicians as not only does music provide a sooth-ing outlet for angst — the frustration of isolationand the forbidden fruit of performance is bring-ing about a rebirth of ideas musically in thosewho’ve dedicated their lives to their strings andtheir frets. Internationally, we have Julia Lerner, a German

classical music hall pianist who currently teachesat institutes like Jugendmusikschule, Ludwigs-burg, Hear and Now Musikschule, Stuttgart, Ger-many. She tells us about her delightful quarantineproject which took flight from the nests of isola-tion. As a way of not being able to perform and be-ing cooped up, Julia launched a project to substi-tute the stage. The Queen song ‘Show Must GoOn’, so very much relevant to the fight againstthese dreadful times, was chosen as musiciansfrom around Germany and the world came togeth-er to form a video compilation of this song withJulia leading. This was a success. Moreover , shesays, “I grew up as strictly a classical musicianand I had always wanted to explore jazz, and nowwas the time, now were the days, I downloadedsome tutorials and I can in no way say I am a goodat it, but at least I’ve begun. It’s funny to explorethis newer genre. It’s reckless.” This points to acertain trend in the world of music of musiciansleaving their old selves if just for a while to touchupon something completely new, even if it issomething of an antithesis to their original form.“The next time I walk up the stage, I will not walk,I will run up there,” she says speaking of the rev-erence she feels for the instrument before a per-formance. And maybe, if the audience is lucky, theElegy of Rachmaninoff may have a touch of jazz. As for the spectrum of amateur-ship, Shagnik

Chakravrarty, a student and a self-taught musi-cian tells us, “One of my aims in degree collegewas to at least attend amateur-ship in any instru-ment. I had time now and I started doing a courseon my old small piano and really loved it. Hence Iinvested in an actual keyboard now and if not forquarantine I don’t know if my musical journeywould’ve fully begun.” The Black Swan state ofthe world currently maybe doing the music worldmore good than harm, or so it seems. What is it that all of these musicians from across

a spectrum of genres, from the calm and pell-melltumble of blues and jazz to the set wonders of clas-sical, have in common? We can see that musicianseverywhere have begun to reinvent the old and de-fine the new. This year we have in the air the spiritof reinvention and revolution, nothing is set instone anymore and music as it is, a collection ofbeautiful frequencies arranged just so, followssuit. Is music and are musicians now up for a rebirth,

a renaissance 2.0 of sorts, with everything in theworld collapsing and rebuilding at the same time?Maybe there is an evolution, maybe there is a rev-olution, but musically, nothing seems to beat thesolid fact that it will always exist to accompanyeach and every phase that mankind togetherwalks through. This can be seen from the fact a new genre has

emerged in these past couple months of worldquarantine called ‘Bardcore’. It is the sort of thingwhich makes one wonder at the sheer creativeprowess of humanity— Bardcore being a me-dieval revival of older instruments and vocalswith Anglo-Saxon translations of modern songs(even Lady Gaga’s, yes). If this is not a reinventionof the old for a newer world that we now face, withthe talk of the new normal et cetera, then what in-deed is? Music like history will repeat itself andso will musicians like revolutionaries be its re-vivalists.Kurt Cobain’s words of madness, Freddie Mer-

cury’s words of hope — “My soul is painted likethe wings of butterflies, Fairy Tales of yesterday,grow but never die”, but all in all, Nirvana fans, “Ishaved my head” nonetheless, as the drama ofMahler's Symphony drops the curtain — to a new-

Musical renaissance 2.0

On World Music Day, STUTI KUTEspeaks to musicians who are

adapting to and even reinventingthemselves during the pandemic

KASHISH opening ceremony last year

(From left) Sushant Digvikar AKARani Kohinoor (drag queen), MozezSingh & Bidisha Mohanty AKA Badshah Kohinoor (drag king)

Sridhar Rangayan (centre) withmembers of KASHISH core team

here won't be public gatherings, no live eventshappening nor doing yoga together with friends— the coronavirus pandemic has changed theway the International Yoga Day will be celebrat-

ed this year. Yoga needs no introduction. The benefitsof this ancient form of physical, spiritual and mentalpractice are way too many and over the years, has be-come an important part of millennials' daily lives. Ithelps not only one stay physically, but mentally fit as well. Speaking about the importance of yoga in COVIDtimes, Ira Trivedi, author and yoga acharya, says, “Yogaworks on many levels: mental, physical and emotional.And, amid the coronavirus crisis, we need yoga morethan before as yoga can help strengthen respiratory sys-tem, boost immunity and also help manage stress, ten-sion that these uncertain times have brought with it.”

ADAH SHARMA, ACTOR: Padmasanaon the mallakhambrope is my favouriteasana. My mother isa yoga teacher andI've been doing yogawith her since I wasa child. Now, duringlockdown, we havebeen meditating to-gether. We also doyoga on the mal-lakhamb rope to-gether of which Ishared a video do-ing shavasana onthe rope

GURMEET CHOUDHARY,ACTOR: With gyms inac-cessible yoga is the onlyway to keep oneself fit. Ihave been doing isha kriyatwice daily along withchanting ‘Om’. Yoga forme is finding my innerpeace. I have always been afitness fanatic. Duringlockdown it’s important tokeep fit mentally as well asphysically. Hence I havetaken to yoga extensively.

ALANKRITA SAHAY, ACTOR:Yoga is importantfor me because it’snot a workout it’s awork-in: It helpsme inhale the fu-ture and exhale thepast...it teaches meto live in the pres-ent. I am very ob-sessive about thepast and future,but yoga helps mestay calm and fo-cused. I started do-ing yoga in 2013along with my bestfriend Nirupama.She is very spiritu-al and believes inmagic like me.During one of ourtrips to Goa we at-tended a workshopon yoga and then there was no looking back for us. WhenI have hard days, I just breathe and try to let go as theasanas teach us — letting go is the hardest asana. I enjoybeing there in the moment that’s the only time I feel freeand away from the chaos. I’m still balancing and learningmore about me and my body through yoga.

VATSAL SETH, ACTOR:Yoga is one of the most im-portant things peopleshould practice because ithas a lot of benefits. Sincebreathing exercise is animportant part of yoga ithelps you to control yourbreath, calms you down.Most of the asanas are in-spired from animals, na-ture and when you startpractising yoga regularlyyou see the difference. Ilove doing the gomukh

asana: It does wonder for the whole upper, lower body andis amazing for the back.

KRANTIPRAKASH JHA,ACTOR: Yoga isa way of lifewhere you notonly take careof your body,but also yourinner self. Italso paves wayfor you to spendsome 'me' time.It teaches youpatience. It alsoteaches you torespect yourbody. If yourbody is healthy,your thoughtsbecome healthyand if thoughtsare healthyyour world ishealthy. Myfavourite ismayurasana,sirsasana andchakrasana.

TARUN KHANNA, ACTOR: Iwas into yoga since childhood.I did a lot of Karate as welland a lot of Karate exercisesinclude yoga asanas, but areknown by different names. Ipractice yoga for an hourevery day in the morning, it isa part of my daily routine ir-respective where I am. I make

sure I sit in vajrasana while having food. I have also mas-tered mayurasana over the years and now I am practisingbakasana and will eventually look at doing a handstand.Yoga is very good for an actor as it helps in concentratingand internalising thoughts. I would recommend yoga toeveryone.

APARNA DIXIT, ACTOR: I absolutely love yoga speciallyhead stands are my favourite. It soothes me, gives mepeace, teaches me balance physically and emotionally. Ifeel yoga is something that brings a positive change inyou fromwithin. Themore youpractice it,the more itheals andstrengthensyou. I makesure to dobreathingexercisesregularly.Yoga is likea calmamidst allthe chaosaround us.

he Yoga Institute of India, in collaboration with celebrity yoga expert ShrradhaSetalvad, will be celebrating International Yoga Day with ‘One World Yoga Anthem’.This anthem will feature Shrradha Setalvad creating a powerful light sound displayof yoga asanas. One World is a visual masterpiece, which aims to make each viewer

transcend to the plane of spirituality blessed by Siddhanath Gurunath, with the powerfuland resounding sound of ‘Om’. Celebrating this iconic day are a number of Bollywood starslike of which include Juhi Chawla, Madhoo Shah, Bhagyashree and Saiee Manjerekar, amongothers. The video also features internationally acclaimed yogis such a Kino Mac Gregor fromMiami, USA and Miguel Sant’ana from Brisbane, Australia. The song will be launched viaFacebook Live and YouTube today at 10.05 am, on Times Music Spiritual’s channels.

TTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21 202012

HOLLYWOOD TALK

Be apart ofyoga

anthem

n the lengthy post, Twinklehas shared a lot of momentsshe spent with her father.From tasting alcohol with

him to exchanging relationshipadvices, Twinkle spoke about manythings that define their bond. "Father's Day, for me, will always bein December. If my father hoped for aboy as his firstborn, I was never told.All I know is what he said to mymother: That I was the best presentshe could have ever given him as I en-tered the world, feet first, on his 31stbirthday. He always called me Tinababa, never baby, andthough I didn't realise itat that point, my up-bringing was differentfrom all the other younggirls around me. The re-strictions drawn aroundtheir adolescence didnot define mine. Thepermanent marker, onethat would later bepassed onto their hus-bands, to enforce thecircle of captivity didnot exist in my case,"Twinkle wrote on herwebsite Tweak India. "He was the one whogave me my first sip ofalcohol, Scotch on therocks in a glass tooheavy for my hand. Iwas permitted to peerinto the living room

with its shaggy white carpet and itsbejewelled people. The light from thechandelier was diffused by the smokethat enveloped the room like a di-aphanous veil, then the epitome ofliberated sophistication...When Istarted dating, we exchanged advice.He told me that he was looking for apartner who would lie down in his lapas they would read the same book to-gether. I laughed, 'Dad, this is nevergoing to happen. Your expectationsare ridiculous. What if they readslower than you or want to take abreak? Just find a decent woman who

can tolerate your nonsense and thatshould be enough'," Twinkle wrote. Wittily, she recalled how Khannahad once asked his daughter tohave "four boyfriends at atime". "Don't have oneboyfriend,' he once saidto me, "always havefour at a time. Thatway your heartwill never be bro-ken. A suggestionthat held me ingood stead, thoughI never told himthat the only manwho had the power tobreak my heart was myfather," she said. Twinkle also explainedthe importance of a father'srole in his daughter's life. "Adaughter needs her father's pres-ence in her life for many reasons.What she needs most is to knowthat she has someone to lean on,to depend upon, besides herself.My father may not have beenstanding by my side, holding myhand through every stage of life,but somewhere deep inside, Iknew that I could count on him.When he looked at me, regard-less of how angry he was, therewas a singular reflection, onethat never faltered -- his completebelief in me," she emphasised.

—IANS

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY

Seeking solace in yoga...Actors, producers speak to Manasi Y Mastakar about the importance of yoga in their lives

T DEEPSHIKHA DESH-MUKH, PRODUCER:Yoga, for me, is uni-versal goodness. Itis that which helpsme manage stress,calms my anxiousmoments and keepsme relaxed. Whiledoing yoga not onlydo, I feel elevated inmind but also bodyand soul. A kind ofcalmness enters meand I feel the stressleaving me by thesecond, my mindgets devoid of clut-ter and my thoughtprocesses also takea direction. I can’timagine a morningwithout pranayama.Everyone who isbusy during the dayneeds to engage insome amount of

yoga to feel the energy. While I do it for just 20 minutesgiven my hectic schedule, the process gets me going forthe day ahead. Not only does yoga calm my nerves but italso keeps the muscles in motion. While I am biased to-wards pranayama and breathing exercises, I wish Icould make more time to do the asanas. During work,even during a short break, I do attempt to do simpleasanas and pranayams to relax my body and mind.There is nothing like yoga to keep the momentum going.For those who have not tried yoga at all, you must, itwill make a world of difference. My favourite yogaasanas are all types of inversions.

KARISHMA KOTAK, ACTOR: I guess it’s im-portant to take someout everyday foryourself and justbreathe. It helpsin keepingour mentaland physicalhealth intact.It helps us toconnect tonature. Fur-thermore,your body be-comes moreflexible afterconsistentyoga practiceand you alsodevelop a greatsense of self-dis-cipline and self-awareness. Inshort, we need todo this to alignour thoughtsand ourchakras. I lovesurya na-maskars.

Coming Soon A biopic on Sushant

Singh Rajput he late SushantSingh Rajput's lifeis now the subjectof an upcoming

biopic. The film will bemade in Hindi, Telugu andTamil languages, and themakers plan to release it in2022. Reportedly, the filmwill be financed by com-mon public funding, andhave an official social me-dia page. The yet-untitledproject is to be directed byNikhil Anand. "It is painful to accept thefact that Sushant is nomore with us physically. Hewas an inspiration to everycommon man who wantedto make it big. He was notonly an excellent artist be-yond par, but also a greathuman being along withbeing an intelligent per-son. I hope that he ishappy wherever he is.My movie on himwill be a tribute tohim and it's mydream now to makehim immortal in thecinematic world. Ialso hope that it in-spires more peopleto be the part ofthe industry anda change comes. Ihope the nega-tives lessen andBollywood givesthe talent morepreference overnepotism,"Anand said. "The movieshall be started ina couple ofmonths as the situ-ation of the pan-demic gets better. In themeanwhile, the team will

be working on the story,cast and the movie makingteam. The movie will be re-leased nationwide. The ef-forts will be made to re-lease it worldwide so that itreaches and inspires andtouches a maximum num-ber of people," he added. As part of research andpreparation for the project,Anand plans to meetSushant's relatives, family

and friendsto makethe moviemore ac-curate.—IANS

T

WORLD MUSIC DAY

Let the music play!Singers, music composers speak toSandeep Hattangadi about what theday means to them and how thepandemic has changed the way it will be celebrated this year

HARIHARAN, SINGER: Weare all going through trou-bled times due to the pan-demic and continuouslystaying indoors can trou-blesome. With this, musicis the only source of heal-ing minds and making peo-ple feel better. Normally,we hold performances andrecord songs, but this timeround we are still groping

in the dark waiting for the pandemic to subside.

ANUP JALOTA, SINGER:Normally, we celebrate theday with a party. But thistime, the pandemic hasmade it impossible for peo-ple to come together. So wewill be celebrating it virtu-ally with many singerscoming together, singingsongs, etc. It will be at leastsix months before peoplecan come together and for

me to give a public performance. My heart bleeds forthose musicians on a daily wage.

NIKHIL KAMATH, MUSICCOMPOSER: Today, onWorld Music Day, I wantpeople to spend the day byspreading music of loveand respect. Let us spreadlove to all human beings bysinging songs of love andhope. Music is the onlyforce has the ability toreach hearts. It refreshes

and makes you feel alive. So sing ballads of love andhappiness.

JAVED ALI, SINGER: TheWorld Music Day has a lotof importance for me asmusic means everything tome. Music has given me alot in life and I am thankfulto it. I believe music hasthe power to be a healerand make one feel better af-ter listening to music. Itcan also cut across bound-aries and bind people.

GARY LAWYER, SINGER &MUSIC COMPOSER: Atthis point of time, due tothe pandemic I am at a lossfor words. Normally, wefriends and musicians gettogether on this day andcelebrate it with some newsong or album. But, thistime round its not feasible.But, I am still posting my

singles and music videos on various platforms andthis gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

‘Have four boyfriends at a time’ On Father’s Day, Twinkle Khanna pens an emotional note remembering

her father, the late superstar Rajesh Khanna

I

AGENCIES / New York

Researchers in the UShave found thatCovid-19 patients who

received transfusions ofblood plasma from peoplewho recovered found thetreatment was safe.The study of 20,000 hospi-talised patients with Covid-19, published in the MayoClinic Proceedings, suggeststhat giving blood plasma topeople early in the diseasemay be beneficial.“Our efforts to understandconvalescent plasma contin-ue. We’re optimistic but must

remain objective as we as-sess increasing amounts ofdata,” said study lead authorMichael Joyner from theMayo Clinic in the US. Thesafety report assessed theseven days following transfu-sion for hospitalised patientsbetween April 3 and June 11who were deemed at risk ofprogressing to a severe orlife-threatening condition.The findings showed thatSeven-day mortality ratesdeclined to 8.6 per cent com-pared to 12 per cent in a pre-vious safety study of thefirst 5,000 transfused pa-tients. Serious adverse

events continued to be lessthan one per cent. This ex-panded safety report revealsa decline in mortality whichappears contemporary withthe more rapid availabilityof plasma for use, but the au-thors caution that this alonedoes not provide any evi-dence on the effectiveness ofconvalescent plasma fortreating Covid-19.Given the accelerating useof the therapy, research isnow broadening its focus todetermine indicators of effi-cacy. At this time, convales-cent plasma therapy is theonly antibody-based therapyfor Covid-19.The re-searchers said that while themortality rate has de-creased, the patients in thelatter part of this study wereless critically ill.They also said the de-crease may be in part due toimproved medical carebased on increased knowl-edge during the pandemicand that more of the pa-tients received the plasmaearlier in their hospitaltreatment. –IANS

ARIES: You will be in a happy and joyousmood. Your family life will be blissful. You willbe at your romantic best. Those in the field ofpolitics will earn name and fame.

TAURUS: Do not make any decision under theinfluence of anger. Try to stay calm. Avoidstarting a new project or a business. Keep youreyes open; don’t miss out on any opportunity.

GEMINI: Your business will run smoothly andyou will be able to carry out key activities withthe help of your friends and associates. Someonefrom the opposite sex may show interest in you.

CANCER: You will use your money wisely.Saving money is the need of the hour. Cancermen, dress your best as women are likely to fallfor your charms.

LEO: At the workplace, your colleagues maygo against you. Those in the social sectorshould keep an eye on their opponents. Avoideating junk food and take care of your health.

VIRGO: Today, health issues will lead tohurdles in daily life routine which will lead todistress. Keep a tab on your anger. Unexpectedgains are on the cards.

LIBRA: You will do your best in all yourendeavours. You will grow on both personaland professional fronts. You may get in touchwith your old friends.

SCORPIO: You need proper planning andmanagement in order to finish your tasks ontime. You would feel like going out, but it isadvisable that you stay home.

SAGITTARIUS: Your focus and concentrationtowards your work/ projects will increase. Youmay make new contacts which will also makeway for new business deals.

CAPRICORN: Be very careful today, as aninjury, accident or something unfortunate is onthe cards. Drive cautiously. It is advisable thatyou invest in life insurance.

AQUARIUS: You may realise that you areextremely lucky and gifted. You will muster thecourage to make the sacrifices required topursue your dreams. Romance is in the air.

PISCES: You will be the ultimate leader today.Be it home or the workplace, you will leadeveryone effortlessly. Meditate or talk to yourloved ones as it will help beat your stress.

GUIDING LIGHTRelax Into the Uncertainty

— Shree Shivkrupanand Swamiji

Lockdown for us is a precaution-ary measure taken by each andevery government in the whole

world. It’s very important to stay athome and support the government.Stay at home and keep yourselfguarded against this pandemic. Ifyou step out of your house and un-knowingly meet an infected patientor touch an infected thing, you arethen bound to get infected. Believethat you are safe and do not createpanic during these days. Yourthoughts/belief impacts othersaround you. Believe that you are safeinside your house and keep everyoneelse safe.With regular meditative practiseone develops and strengthens one’sown endocrine system and the glandsin that system along with the electro-magnetic field surrounding one’sbody. This electromagnetic field cannow be mapped and checked throughkirlian photography and throughbiofield imaging.All ailments are a result of one’sthoughts, the more one thinks thegreater the chances of falling sick.Meditation trains the mind to becomecalm, thoughtless and ultimately to

go into samadhi. Your belief and yourthinking are what impacts your Aura.Aura in medical science is not thebody we can touch, but the electro-magnetic field which surrounds thehuman body. Suppose you are medi-tating and you hear the brahmanaad– a humming sound like ‘Om’ andsuddenly somebody comes in, thatsound stops as your aura has beendisturbed. A person who meditates issurrounded by a strong aura that willnever let any negative incident hap-pen to its body or around themselves.A strong aura will prevent you fromcatching diseases. The same is thecase in this pandemic situation. Keepthinking positive and spread positivi-ty around you.People should meditate for at leastfor 45 minutes every day. In the cur-rent situation, without going out wecan still meditate through variousYouTube channels. Continuouslymeditating alone at home will giveyou inner peace and make you re-laxed. In a nutshell, I would summa-rize by saying- Stay home, meditate,spread positivity, help others, do cre-ative things, and feel good about your-self.

(Spiritual organisations keen to be featured in this space contact : features@fpj.co.in)

YOUR DAY By Nilikash P. Pradhan

ASUS launches new AI noise-cancelling microphone tech

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

ETCETERA13MUMBAI: Taiwanese brand ASUS on Friday announced a new AI noise-cancelling microphone (AI Mic) technology that eliminates unwantedbackground noise for clear voice communication. According to the company, the new technology is now available on the ASUS AI NoiseCanceling Mic Adapter and the latest ROG headsets. The technology uses chipset-based machine learning to filter out and remove otherhuman voices and ambient sounds like wind or traffic noise. It connects to any headset via a 3.5 mm audio jack to provide users with crystal-clear voice communication. –IANS

FUN CORNER

Laugh out loud in lockdownWWhile you are stuck at home during the

lockdown, the Free Press Journal bringsyou the best memes and jokes from the in-

ternet. And to celebrate Father’s Day, we bring you aspecial edition consisting of only the funniest ‘dad’jokes! So, sit back, and don't forget to laugh on thesehilarious 'dad' jokes!

1. “Dad, did you get a haircut?” “No, I gotthem all cut!”2. “Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They’d crackeach other up.”3. “I don’t trust stairs. They’re always up tosomething.”4. “Did you hear the rumour about butter?Well, I’m not going to spread it!”5. “Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by it-self? It was two tired.”6. MOM: “How do I look?” DAD: “Withyour eyes.”7. “I made a pencil with two erasers. It waspointless.”8. “I’ve got a great joke about construction,but I'm still working on it.”9. “I’m so good at sleeping, I can do it withmy eyes closed!”10. It’s all about money, honey!

–Compiled by Husain Rizvi

(Disclaimer: These are jokes to lighten your mood indark times)

AGENCIES / Cambridge

Scientists at the Centerfor Astrophysics, Har-vard and Smithsonian

and the University ofRochester are collaboratingon a project to search theuniverse for signs of life viatechnosignatures, after re-ceiving the first NASA non-radio technosignaturesgrant ever awarded, and thefirst SETI-specific NASAgrant in over three decades.Researchers believe that al-though life appears in manyforms, the scientific princi-ples remain the same andthat the technosignaturesidentifiable on Earth willalso be identifiable in somefashion outside of the solarsystem. “Technosignaturesrelate to signatures of ad-vanced alien technologiessimilar to, or perhaps moresophisticated than, what wepossess,” said Avi Loeb,Frank B Baird Junior Profes-sor of Science at Harvard. “Such signatures might in-clude industrial pollution ofatmospheres, city lights,photovoltaic cells (solar pan-els), megastructures, orswarms of satellites.” Know-ing where to look for tech-nosignatures has not alwaysbeen easy, making it difficultfor researchers to obtain

grants and a footing in main-stream astronomy. Thesurge of results in exoplane-tary research --includingplanets in habitable zonesand the presence of atmos-pheric water vapour—overthe past five years has revi-talized the search for intelli-gent life. “The Search for Extrater-restrial Intelligence (SETI)has always faced the chal-lenge of figuring out whereto look. Which stars do youpoint your telescope at and

look for signals?” said AdamFrank, a professor ofphysics and astronomy atthe University of Rochester,and the primary recipient ofthe grant.“Now we know where tolook. We have thousands ofexoplanets including planetsin the habitable zone wherelife can form. The game haschanged.” The study, “Char-acterising AtmosphericTechnosignatures,” will ini-tially focus on searching fortwo particular signatures

that may indi-cate the pres-ence of techno-logical activitieson extrasolarplanetary bod-ies: solar panelsand pollutants.Solar panelsare rapidly gain-ing in populari-ty as a means forharnessing theenergy ofEarth’s sun, andresearchers be-lieve other civili-sations will dothe same with

their own stars as they seeknew means to produce ener-gy. “The nearest star toEarth, Proxima Centauri,hosts a habitable planet,Proxima b. The planet isthought to be tidally lockedwith permanent day andnight sides,” said Loeb. “If acivilization wants to illumi-nate or warm up the nightside, they would place photo-voltaic cells on the daysideand transfer the electricpower gained to the nightside.” Frank added. –ANI

The hunt for alien life is on…Scientists at the Harvard, Smithsonian and Rochester

University will scan the Universe for signs of intelligent life with the help of technosignatures

FPJ FEATURES DESK / Mumbai

The world, which is currentlygrappling with COVID-19 pan-demic will welcome the first so-

lar eclipse of the year today. Thiseclipse, which will be an annular solareclipse, is popularly called as ‘The ringof fire’. The first cosmic event of 2020will be reportedly visible in Asia,Africa, and Europe, Pakistan, Chinaand in some parts of India.In India, the solar eclipse will startat 9:15 am as per the Indian standardtime and will end at 3:04 pm. The max-imum eclipse will take place at 12:10pm. In Mumbai, the ‘Surya Grahan’will last for almost three hours, be-ginning from 10 am and ending at 1:37pm. However, it will be a partialeclipse.

What is annular solar eclipse?A solar eclipse happens when themoon while orbiting the earth comesbetween the sun and the earth. Thereare three types of solar eclipses: Total,partial and annular. The eclipse whichis occurring today is an annular solareclipse and it happens when the moonis farthest from the earth, seems small-er and does not block the entire view ofthe sun. The moon then appears like adark disk on the sun which makes wayfor the spectacular phenomenon calledthe ‘Ring of fire’. Take note, this is the first solar

eclipse of the year 2020, while the sec-ond and the total solar eclipse may hap-pen on December 14. In India, the annular solar eclipsewill be visible only in Rajasthan,Haryana and Uttarakhand and for therest of the country, it will be partial.

Precautionary measuresPeople living in the states where theeclipse is visible should avoid lookingat the sun with their naked eyes. Makesure you wear special purpose-solar fil-ter ‘eclipse glasses’. You can’t wearyour regular sunglasses as they won’tprovide proper protection. Looking di-rectly at the sun during a solar eclipsecan cause permanent damage to theretina and pupil of your eyes.If you are stepping outside yourhome to watch the solar eclipse thenfollow social distancing, avoid stand-ing too close to someone and do notforget to wear a mask. Capturing the stunning view on cam-era or looking through binocularssounds a good idea, but scientists areagainst it. Even when you are trying tocatch a glimpse of the eclipse througha camera, wear the eclipse glasses or asun filter. If you own a DSLR camerathen use an eclipse filter before takingthe snaps of the solar eclipse, it willhelp keep your camera lens damage-proof.Amid pandemic, going out to experi-ence the eclipse could be risky, instead,stay home and watch the summer sol-stice online! Timeanddate and Slooh, arobotic service that can be viewedthrough a web browser, will stream theannular solar eclipse on their respective YouTube channels.

Don’t miss the ‘ring of fire’ in the sky!

While theworld is setto witness

one of the biggest ce-lestial events of 2020,the Annular SolarEclipse, know howthis Surya Grahanwill impact your life.Also, know how onecan ward off the neg-ative effects of gra-han with simple tipsand tricks of Nu-merology based onone’s birth number.

Number 1: Those who are born on 01, 10, 19 or 28of any month, their birth number become 1. Suchpeople are ruled by the sun. Today, they may feeltired and exhausted during the day. You may com-plain of backache, body pain and mental stress.Keep an eye on your blood pressure. To ward offthe negative effects of grahan, people associatedwith number 1 should chant Surya mantra and do-nate jaggery, wheat, masur dal and copper utensilsor items post the grahan.

Number 2: Those who are born on 02, 11, 20 or 29of any month, their birth number become 2. Peo-ple linked to number 2 may suffer from breathless-ness, restlessness, cold and congestion. It is advis-able that you pray to Lord Shiva. Donate fooditems which are in white colours, like sugar, riceor dairy products like milk.

Number 3: Those who are born on 03, 12, 21 or 31of any month, automatically their birth numberbecome 3. People whose lucky number or birthnumber is 3 are prone to sinus infection. They arealso likely to feel uneasy all the time. To lower thenegative effects of the grahan, people associatedwith number 3 should pray to their Kul Devta/Devi, Guru Nanak or Lord Vishnu. It will providemuch-needed solace. After the graham gets over,try to donate some food items which are in yellowcolour.

Number 4: Those who are born on 04, 13, 22 or 31of any month are likely to suffer from stress andanxiety during the grahan period. They may expe-rience pain in their joints, mostly in the neckarea. Meditation is a must for people with number4. Donating mixed grains to needy after the gra-ham will curb the negative effects of the solareclipse.

Number 5: Those who are born on 05, 14 or 23 ofany month may complain of headaches, perspira-tion and pain in the hands and feet. People associ-ated with number 5 should pray to Lord Ganeshaduring the grahan. After the grahan finishes,make sure that you take a saltwater bath. If yourbirth number is 5 then you should donate some-thing which is in green colour to eunuchs.

Number 6: Those who are born on 06, 15 or 24 ofany month are likely to experience stomach andthroat problems. People who are co-related tonumber 6 should pray to Goddess Laxmi duringthe grahan period. If your birth number is 6 andyou want to suppress the negative effects of solareclipse then donate food, especially cooked rice toneedy people.

Number 7: Those born on 07, 16 or 25 of anymonth are prone to suffer skin problems like aller-gy, itches or rashes. Mood swings is another prob-lem which may trouble people associated withnumber 7. If your birth number is 7, then youshould definitely sit in silence and meditate whileduring the solar eclipse. After the solar eclipsegets over, saltwater bath and donating water willhelp reduce the negative effects of the eclipse.

Number 8: Those who are born on 08, 17 or 26 ofany month might complain about shoulder pain.Dental problems and body pain are also seen onthe cards. Individuals whose birth number is 8should pray to Lord Shani and donate thingswhich are in black colours like a black umbrellaor gram dal after the eclipse.

Number 9: Those who are born on 09, 18 or 27 ofany month should keep a tab on their blood pres-sure as their blood pressure may increase andcause serious problems. Small cuts and woundsare also likely to occur. Avoid cutting and workingduring the grahan period. After the grahan getsover, donate things or food items which are red incolour.

Solar eclipse and its side-effects

Doc Biindu Khuraana

DIY tips for viewing the eclipse:Make a pinhole in a card sheet and holdit under the sun. At some distance, keepa screen of white paper. Image of the suncan be seen on this sheet. By adjustingthe gap between the sheet and thescreen, the image can be made larger.You can use a strainer for making pinholeimages. Cover the ‘compact’ makeup kitmirror with black paper, with a small holeat the centre. Reflect the image of theSun on a distant wall in shadow. You canget a projected image of the eclipsedSun.

–FPJ WEB DESK

Blood plasma from recoveredCOVID-19 patients safe to use

Strenuous daily exercisemay shorten longevity

AGENCIES / Tokyo

Researchers analysedthe longevity data forprofessional Japanese

traditional artists, and foundthat Kabuki (classical Japan-ese dance-drama) actors,known for their vigorousmovements, surprisinglyhad shorter lifespans com-pared with other traditionalarts performers who leadmostly sedentary lifestyles.The findings suggest thatjob-related strenuous exer-cise throughout life may notnecessarily extend longevity.Frequent exercise is oftentouted as the key to leading along and healthy life. But fewstudies have delved intocomparisons in longevity be-tween those who partake invigorous physical activityand those who lead mostlysedentary lifestyles as a re-sult of their occupationthroughout their lives.

Now, Naoyuki Hayashi andKazuhiro Kezuka of TokyoTech’s Institute of LiberalArts have conducted an un-usual study that calls intoquestion the idea that vigor-ous daily exercise positivelycorrelates with longevity.They compared the lifes-pans of four different groupsof Japanese traditional artsperformers by examiningdata from a total of 699 pro-fessional male artists, bothliving and dead.They hypothesized thatKabuki actors would leadlonger lives owing to thehigh-level physical activityinvolved in their theatricalperformances, comparedwith Sado, Rakugo and Na-gauta practitioners, who areknown to perform tea cere-monies, recount comic sto-ries and play musical instru-ments while sitting, respectively.

–ANI

Today the sun will ‘hide’ behind moon forminga rare and beautiful phenomenon called

Annular Solar Eclipse

14SPORTSTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | SUNDAY | JUNE 21, 2020

Printed and Published by Girdharlal Lakhotia for the Proprietors, Indian National Press (Bombay) P. Ltd., at Journal Press, Free Press House, Free Press Journal Marg, 215, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021. Tel: 22874566, Advt. Dept. 22872289. E-mail: mail@fpj.co.in • OFFICE: Indore: 3/54, Press Complex, A. B. Road, Indore-452 008, Tel: 2555111-2, Fax: 2558555, New Delhi: 1/8 INS Bldg., Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110 001; Tel.: 23718853; Kolkata: Tel.: 22875645; Chennai: Tel: 28217766; Bhopal: Tel: 2660570, 4271345. Air Surcharge Rs. 2.00 only. Managing Editor: Girdharlal Lakhotia. Editor: S. S. DHAWAN.Reg. No. MCS/048/2018-20; RNI No. 46955/1988

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTEINSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

YNever say never becauselimits, like fears, areoften just an illusion”.- Larry Brown

SPORTS CAFERijiju, Mary, Anjum to join Shilpa online yoga NEW DELHI: Six-time worldchampion boxer MC MaryKom, shooter Anjum Moudgilwill join sports minister KirenRijiju on Sunday for anonline yoga session by actorand fitness enthusiast ShilpaShetty on the occasion ofInternational Yoga Day.Organised by Government ofIndia's flagship program 'FitIndia', the 45-minute online session, 'Fun Family Yoga', is speciallydesigned keeping in mind the Ministry of Ayush's guidelines regarding'Yoga at Home', since people cannot congregate to celebrateInternational Yoga Day owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am perfectly healthy: Ganguly's broKOLKATA: Cricket Association of Bengal secretary SnehasishGanguly on Saturday said he's perfectly healthy, rubbishing reports ina section of media that he's infected with COVID-19. According to theWest Bengal health department, the family members of Snehasish,wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law and a domestic help, have testedpositive for COVID-19 and are being treated at a private hospital.

France to re-openstadiums for fansPARIS: Stadiums in France willre-open for fans from July 11 asthe country continues to liftcoronavirus restrictions, a BBCreport said. There will be up to5,000 fans who will be allowedin arenas to watch live sport.The number could increase laterin the summer, the report said.

Pakistan squad toleave on June 28

LAHORE: A 29-memberPakistan squad will leave forEngland on June 28, PakistanCricket Board (PCB) said in astatement on Saturday.However, veteran formercaptain Shoaib Malik will bejoining the squad only on July24 after spending time with hiswife and son. The tour willconsist of three T20Is and asmany Tests towards the end ofJuly. The PCB said that theteam will be quarantined inDerbyshire for 14 days, underrestrictions in place for thecoronavirus pandemic, but willbe allowed to practice duringthat period.

ICA raises fundfor cricketers

NEW DELHI: Boosted bysignificant contributions, theIndian Cricketers Association(ICA) has managed to raise Rs78 lakh and will providefinancial assistance to 57needy cricketers as they battlethe COVID-19 pandemic.

Dad’s foundation tohelp warriors

KOLKATA: Indian cricket boardpresident Sourav Ganguly'sfoundation has joined hands withchocolate and chewing gummanufacturing giant Mars Wrigleyto support frontline doctors, healthcare providers and caregiversduring the COVID-19 pandemic."Health care workers have beenon the frontline of the currentcrisis to ensure safety andwellbeing of others. .

Anderson's careerstretched

LONDON: England's strength andconditioning coach Rob Ahmunfeels the coronavirus-forced breakhas without a shadow of doubtprolonged pace spearhead JamesAnderson's career by a year ortwo. Anderson is among a groupof 55 players asked to return toEngland training ahead of thethree-match Test series againstWest Indies, scheduled to beginon July 8.

MSSA Oly Day contestMUMBAI: The Mumbai SchoolsSports Association's annualOlympic day will be held on June23. This time due to thecoronavirus, will organisecompetition for the kids. Thisevent is not only limited to hockeyplayers but kids from other sportscan be a part of this event aswell. Olympics Day art and crafts,program videos of wellness, andessay writing on importance ofOlympic Day. For details contactLawrence 9096828068

THIS DAY, THAT YEARWest Indies win the World Cup

The firstWorld Cup

final, and aCaribbean

coronation. West Indies were alwaysin control against Australia once theircaptain, Clive Lloyd, belted 102 offonly 85 balls. Chasing 291,Australia's work was undone by asuccession of run-outs. Three came from brilliant work by Viv Richards inthe covers alone, including both Chappells. At 233 for 9 it was as good asover, but Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson jangled one or two nerves, untilthe fifth and final run-out finished things late on the longest day of theyear. The winning margin was 17 runs, 13 of which came from Thomsonno-balls. The game, which started at 10.30am, finished at 8.43pm.

1975

ASSOCIATED PRESSLondon

Paul Pogba made animmediate impact onhis return from sur-gery, earning a penaltyconverted by BrunoFernandes that recov-ered for ManchesterUnited a 1-1 draw atTottenham in the Eng-lish Premier League onFriday.While the teams haveendured three monthswithout games in thepandemic, Pogba hasn'tplayed since December.And he entered only in

the 63rd minute at anempty Tottenham sta-dium with the hostsleading from StevenBergwijn's 27th-minutestrike through goal-keeper David de Gea'shands.

“David is disappoint-ed with it but the ballwas moving," Unitedmanager Ole GunnarSolskjaer said.Pogba, whose Unit-ed future has beenmired in uncertainty,

helped to inject someattacking dynamismthat United had beenmissing.After Pogba wasbundled off the ball byEric Dier, Fernandesnetted his third penal-ty since joining Unit-ed in January.“Paul showed somereal quality out there,”Solskjaer said. "He con-tributed really, reallymuch for us to get apoint and maybe couldhave helped us to getthe three points. He dideverything a midfieldershould do. He tackled,

he won the ball. Heplayed passes and heshowed some skills, sofantastic to have himback.”United was denied asecond penalty whenVAR overturned the de-cision to penalise United is three pointsbehind fourth-placed

Chelsea having playedan extra game. But fifthplace will clinch aChampions Leaguespot if Man City's two-year ban from Europeis upheld next monthfor breaking financialrules. Tottenham re-mained four points be-hind United.

Manchester United's English striker Mason Greenwood (R) vies for the ball against Tottenham Hot-spur's Dutch midfielder Steven Bergwijn (L) during the English Premier League football match

Man U, Spurs go DutchPogba, helped to inject some attacking dynamism that United had been missing

A stoppage-time strike by Neal Maupay helped Brighton& Hove Albion come from behind to earn a 2-1 win overArsenal and record their first league victory since 28December. Brighton are in the 15th place with 32points, five points clear of the bottom three. Arsenal,are ninth on 40 points.

Gunners shot down

A brilliant late goal by Craig Dawson earned Watford apoint as they came from behind to draw 1-1 withLeicester City. The result moves Watford out of therelegation zone into 16th place with 28 points.

Watford out of relegation zone

ASSOCIATED PRESSBarcelona

Barcelona was held at Sevillato 0-0 for its first stumblesince the resumption of playin the Spanish league follow-ing a three-month stoppagefor the COVID-19 pandemic.The slip gives Real Madridthe chance to pull level atopthe Spanish league withBarcelona. Madrid trailsBarcelona by three points be-fore it visits Real Sociedad onSunday to complete round 30of 38. Madrid holds the head-to-head goal difference withBarcelona in the case of a tie.Barcelona defender GerardPique said the two points thedefending champions left inSeville on Friday could be de-cisive."It is going to be difficult towin this league because wedepend on the results of oth-ers now, and I don't thinkMadrid is going to dropmany points," Pique said."We lost a chance today.And seeing how we haveplayed (...), it is going to bedifficult." Coach

Quique Setién, however, saidthe fight was far from over."We knew beforehand thatit would be difficult to win allthe games left, practicallyimpossible, and that this wasone of the toughest matcheswe faced," Setién said."It is frustration of the mo-ment. (.) I am sure (Pique)will feel different tomorrow,

and I am sure that Madridwill drop points, too. We haveto be optimistic."Lionel Messi went closestto breaking the stalematewhen his first-half free kickwas cleared on the line by de-fender Jules Kounde, leavingthe Argentina star on 699 ca-reer goals for club and coun-try.

Barcelona's all-time leadingscorer was stifled by Sevilla'sdefense anchored by formerManchester City midfielderFernando. Messi had scoredin the previous two matches,both Barcelona wins, sincethe league resumed.Sevilla, which played with-out its normally very loudfans at its Sánchez PizjuánStadium as mandated byhealth officials in all leaguegames, remained in thirdplace at 10 points behindMadrid.Villarreal moved into con-tention for a top-four finishand a Champions Leagueberth after it won at Granada1-0 thanks to GerardMoreno's early strike. Athird straight victory left Vil-larreal in seventh place butjust two points out of fourth.Leganés snatched a 1-1draw at Mallorca in a matchbetween two teams in the rel-egation zone. Both goalscame from free kicks, withSalva Sevilla putting Mallor-ca early and Óscar Rodríguezequalising with three min-utes left.

Sevilla hold Barca, do Real favourFPJ CORRESPONDENT

Dhaka

Mashrafe Morataza who ledthe Bangaldesh cricket teamhas tested postive for Covid-19, his brother MorsalinMortaza confirmed on Satur-day."My brother has had a feverfor two days. He did the testlast night. Today came thetest positive. He is at home inisolation," Morsalin toldCricbuzz.The pacer becomes the sec-ond high-profile cricketer af-ter former Pakistan captainShahid Afridi to test postivefor the deadly virus.Earlier today, the news offormer Bangladesh cricketerand elder brother of ODIcaptain Tamim Iqbal, NafeesIqbal contracting Covid-19also came out.Mashrafe Mortaza has sup-ported the coronavirus vic-tims in Bangladesh with allhis hearts since the outbreakof the pandemic. From do-nating his Bangladesh crick-et’s salary to supporting 300

needy families in Narail, hisbirthplace and the Lohagaraupazila with food and essen-tial items, the 36-year-old hasdone it all.Mortaza has representedcaptained Bangladesh in allthe 3 formats and haveplayed 36 Tests, 220 ODIs and54 T20Is for his country.On June 13, former Pak-istan all-rounder ShahidAfridi had took to Twitter toinform that he had contactedcoronavirus.

After Afridi,Morataza tests+ve for Covid

PRESS TRUST OF INDIANew Delhi

Star batsman Steve Smith islooking forward to India'stour of Australia, saying hecan't wait to play in themuch-anticipated serieswhich will be "incredibly spe-cial".India will tour Australia forthree ODIs, four Tests andthree T20Is between Octoberthis year and January, 2021."They are an amazing sideand can't wait to play themwhen they come out to Aus-tralia this year, will be some-thing incredibly special,"Smith was quoted as sayingin Star Sports show 'CricketConnected'.India's tour will begin witha T20 International match onOctober 11 at Brisbane. Theother two T20I matches willbe played on October 14 (Can-berra) and October 17 (Ade-laide).The four-match Test seriesbegins on December 3 atBrisbane. India are then

scheduled to play a day/nightTest from December 11 to 15in Adelaide. The third andfourth Tests will be held inMelbourne (December 26-30)and Sydney (January 3 to 7).The ODI series is scheduledto begin on January 12 inPerth, followed by matcheson January 15 (Melbourne)and January 17 (Sydney).Smith also spoke about hisfriendship with India cap-tain Virat Kohli, describinghim a "terrific guy"."I had few conversationswith him (Virat) off the field,

few messages here and therein recent times just to seehow things are going in In-dia. He is a terrific guy andwe both play hard out on thefield and play as well for ourrespective teams and its partof the game," said the formerskipper.During last year's ODIWorld Cup, Kohli had askedthe Indian fans at the Oval toapplaud Smith and not boohim, a gesture which earnedthe Indian captain the presti-gious ICC Spirit of Cricketaward.

‘India series will be incredible’

FIVE-TIME PGA TOUR WINNER FIRST VIRUS VICTIM, SINCE GOLF RESUMED LAST WEEK

ASSOCIATED PRESSHilton Head Island

Five-time PGA Tour winner NickWatney tested positive for the coron-avirus, the first player with a con-firmed infection since golf resumed afull schedule last week.Watney immediately withdrew fromthe RBC Heritage on Friday and mustself-isolate for at least 10 days underthe PGA Tour's protocols.He did not return a telephone callseeking comment. Watney played theopening round with Vaughn Taylorand Luke List, and a rules official no-tified them at the turn of the positivetest."I was a little shocked, to be honest,"Taylor said."Heart started racing, got a littlenervous. Just hope Nick is doing welland we get through this."Watney missed the cut last week in

the Charles Schwab Challenge atColonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Hetravelled on his own to South Caroli-na, and his coronavirus test upon ar-rival at Harbour Town was negative.Before arriving to the course for hissecond round, he reported symptomsconsistent with COVID-19, the illnesscaused by the virus. Watney was test-ed again, and the result came back

positive.Si Woo Kim saw him in passing onthe range, and Rory McIlroy said hechatted with Watney on the puttinggreen. McIlroy said they were at adistance, and that Watney sent him atext about the positive result afterMcIlroy finished his round."He was just saying, 'Look, I hope Ididn't get too close to you.' He feelsbadly that he was here today at thegolf course," McIlroy said."I said to him, 'If I was in your posi-tion, I probably would have beenhere, too. At this point, you just haveto concentrate on getting better andgetting healthy."List won last week on the Korn Fer-ry Tour, where one player and threecaddies tested positive before theevent and did not come to the cours-es, and two non-players tested posi-tive before this week's event, both inFlorida.

Watney tests positive on PGA Tour

PTI / Melbourne

If 15 teams can be allowed toenter Australia for the T20World Cup then fans will notbe stopped from watchinglive action from the stadi-ums, Cricket Australia's in-terim CEO Nick Hockleysaid on Saturday.Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who re-cently got the boot fromCricket Australia, which isgrappling with financialwoes.Different possibilities arebeing worked out for the T20World to go ahead as sched-uled later this year and one ofthem is to host the tourna-ment before empty stands inthe wake of COVID-19 pan-demic.However, Hockley saidcrowds will be allowed,though, hosting 15 teamswith players, officials andsupport staff is 'complex' asof now, hinting that probablythe ICC flagship event couldbe pushed back."The reality is, and we'vegot much more understand-ing about this in recentweeks, is crowds are mostlikely to come back before in-ternational travel. Ourbiggest challenge is getting15 teams into the country,"Hockley told cricket.com.auwhen asked if he would liketo see the World Cup proceedwithout fans.

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