DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 12 PAGESJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

THEEXITDILEMMABYDEEPAKNAYYARPAGE6

SHUBHRAGUPTANEWDELHI, APRIL30

“MAINSHAAYARtohnahin,magaraii haseen, jabse dekha mainetuhjhkomujhkoshaayariaagayi”.The year, 1973. The film,

Bobby. The actor, Rishi Kapoor,singingthatsongtohisbeloved.Bobby was a smash hit.Overnight, the Rishi Kapoor-Dimple Kapadia jodi becamesucha rage that it seemedtherehad been no youthful romancebefore it, and in a manner ofspeaking, therehadn’t.

RajKapoor’stalentfortellingoversize storiesmelding soppi-ness and sharpness, combinedwithhis eye for spottingpubes-

cent beauties and amint-freshpair, did the trick. Polka-dottedbikinisandanartfulstreakof ‘be-san’ adorning the hairline

(Dimple’s opening scene in themovie)becamethe lookdujourforyoungwomen,andeverysin-gle young love-lorn ‘aashiq’ be-came a ‘shaayar’, praying for a“band kamra” and lost keys.The wearer of those trade-

markdouble-knit sweaters andcolourfulmufflers passed awaythismorning in aMumbai hos-pital, after a two-year strugglewithcancer.HehadspentayearintheUSgettingtreatedandhadreturnedlatelastyear, inabuoy-antmood.Hisfamilysaidhewas‘jovial’righttotheend-andthatsoundsjustaboutrightforamanwho supped (and sipped)well,laughed loudly, and lovedwelland fully.Hewas67.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

The khullam-khulla boy everyone lovedto love: Rishi Kapoor passes away at 67

RISHIKAPOOR1 9 5 3 - 2 0 2 0

Covid effect: Oman says its ownwill replace expats in govt sectorsSHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, APRIL30

ASGULFeconomiesfaceaslow-down due to the oil crisis trig-gered by the coronavirus out-break, Oman has called for allexpatriates employed in thecountry’s “governmentsectors”tobereplacedbynationals.With government jobs al-

ready reserved for nationals un-der a “decades-old” policy of“Omanisation”,thelatestmoveisexpectedtoaffectexpatriatesem-ployedinstate-runcompanies.

InNewDelhi, the fear is thatOman’s move could “becomethenewnormal”formanyoftheembattled economies in the re-gion.Therearemorethan7lakhIndiansinOman,ofwhichabout6 lakh are blue collar workersand professionals, according tothe IndianEmbassy inMuscat.Besides Indians, Bangladesh

and Pakistan nationals form amajor chunk of the expatriatecommunity, which totals aboutone-thirdofOman’spopulationof over46 lakh.According to amonthly sta-

tisticalbulletinforAprilissuedby

Oman’s National Centre forStatisticsandInformation(NCSI),andpublishedbyTimesofOman,53,332expatriatesworkedinthegovernment sector asofMarch-end,withthetotalnumberoffor-eignworkersat13,21,753.Officially, the Indian govern-

menthasdownplayedthe latestdirective. Stressing that“Omanisation”isa“decades-oldpolicy”, theMinistry of ExternalAffairs’ spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said: “The policy isnot India-specific, and nottargeted towards India.”

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

VISHWASWAGHMODE&RITIKACHOPRAMUMBAI,NEWDELHI, APRIL30

MAHARASHTRA Governor B SKoshyarionThursdayaskedtheElection Commission to holdelections to nine LegislativeCouncil seats in thestate “at theearliest”.ChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray needs to win fromone of those seats to become amemberofthelegislaturebefore

a six-month deadline expiringonMay27.Sources told The Indian

Express that the EC is likely toagree to Koshyari’s request andhold polls to the nine seats,which fell vacant onApril 24, at

the earliest. The poll panel hascalledameetingFridaymorningtoexamine thematter.The Governor’s letter to the

EC came hours after Shiv SenaleaderssubmittedalettertohimfromThackeray,andtwodaysaf-ter the CM approached PrimeMinister NarendraModi on thematter. Thackeray called up thePM after the Governor sat on arecommendationmadeamonthagoby thestategovernment to

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Way cleared for Uddhav, MaharashtraGovernor asks EC to hold Council polls

Runningoutof timetoenterHouse

THEWORLD

SKOREA, HONGKONGMILESTONE: A DAYWITHNONEWCASESTRUMPSAYSCHINAWANTSHIMTO LOSERE-ELECTIONBIDPAGE10

Weare closed today onaccount ofWorld

LabourDay. There willbe no edition of

The Indian Express onSaturday,May 2, 2020.

MSMEsareamongtheworstaffectedby thedownturn. Since theydon’thave largebuffersthatblue-chipcompa-nieshave, thegovern-ment isplanninga reliefpackage for smaller firmsto improve their access tofundingandtheir liquid-ityposition.

MSMEsworsthitE●EX

PLAINED

DEALINGWITHECONOMICFALLOUTOFLOCKDOWN

AANCHALMAGAZINE&SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI, APRIL30

ASTHECovidpandemicandtheprolonged lockdown batter allsectorsof theeconomy,thegov-ernment, sources said, is work-ingona rescuepackage that, fornow,may address the needs ofthemicro,smallandmediumen-terprise(MSME)segmentratherthanthe largercorporatesector.

MorethansixmeetingshavebeenheldatthePrimeMinister’sOffice — including Thursday’swith FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharamanandCommerceandIndustryMinister Piyush Goyal—todiscussthescopeandquan-tumofthesecondfiscalpackage.But what has held back an

announcementistheopen-end-edness of the stimulusbeing pushed by sectionswithin the government.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, APRIL30

INORDER to give a boost to theeconomy, Prime MinisterNarendraModi held a detailedmeeting Thursday on strategiesto attractmore foreign invest-ment andpromotedomestic in-vestment. He also reviewed thecontributionoftheminingsectorinincreasingemploymentoppor-

tunitiesandboostinggrowth.Modi advocated a “more

proactiveapproach”tohandholdinvestors,solvingtheirproblemsand helping them in getting allnecessarycentralandstategov-ernment clearances in a time-boundmanner, according to astatement from the PrimeMinister’sOffice.Themeeting was attended

by HomeMinister Amit Shah,CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PMwaryof open-endedprovisions:FundforMSMEwithguarantee likely

Adopt proactive approachon investment: PM to team

Second stimulus: Govt plans targetingbased on need,MSMEs to beginwith

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,APRIL30

WEST BENGALWednesday re-vealedthat105personsinfectedwiththecoronavirushaddiedinthe state, but maintained thatonly33of thesedeathscoulddi-rectlybeattributedtoCOVID-19.The other 72 had pre-existingdiseases, or co-morbidities, andthefactthattheyhadalsotestedpositiveforcoronaviruswas“in-cidental”, Chief SecretaryRajivaSinhasaid.The latest numberswere re-

vealed by an expert committeethatwas formed to carry out anaudit of all the coronavirusdeathsbeingreportedinthestateandassess theexactreasons.“TheDeathAuditCommittee

has recommended that HealthDepartment officials shouldkeepmore records of patients,and improve the procedure ofkeepingrecords.Thecommittee

alsoadvisedthatthereshouldbeauniform format to issuedeath

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

What Bengal’s officialtally doesn’t say:One in 8 who testedpositive died of virus

CORONACOUNT

1,075DEATHS

8,373RECOVERED

8,30,201sampleshavebeentestedasonApril30

33,610CASES

ABANTIKAGHOSHNNEEWWDDEELLHHII,, AAPPRRIILL3300

OFTHE1,075novel coronavirus(COVID-19) deaths across thecountrytillThursday,almosthalfthe patients were less than 60yearsold.ThismarksashiftsinceApril 18, when less than 25 percent of the deaths occurred inthisagegroup.On the other hand, those

agedover75yearsnowaccountfor only 9.2 per cent of thedeaths,asharpfall fromthe42.2percentearlier.Ahead of May 3, when the

lockdown is scheduled to end,Union Health Secretary PreetiSudanhasaskedstatechiefsecre-taries to “broadbase” the criteriafor red, orange andgreen zones,anddesignateareasaccording totheir assessment. As per the re-vised criteria, she said, greenzonesaredistrictswhichhaven’treported a fresh case in 21days,downfromthe28daysearlier. Inher letter, she listed130 red, 284orange,and319greendistricts.“The districts were earlier

designated as hotspots / redzones, orange zones and greenzones,primarilybasedonthecu-mulativecasesreportedandthedoubling rate. Since recoveryrates have goneup, thedistrictsarenowbeingdesignatedacrossvariouszonesdulybroad-basing

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Almost 50% ofthe dead arebelow age 60,up from 25%

Migrantsheadedtovillages inUPreachAllahabadfromMPonThursday.RiteshShukla

PRABHARAGHAVAN& TABASSUMBARNAGARWALANEWDELHI,MUMBAI, APRIL30

ITHASBEENastrug-gle for Dr RohintanDastur, MedicalDirector at SouthMumbai’s BhatiaHospital, to get his700-oddstaffbacktoworkafteritwasfirstsealedonApril8.Heof-fered them transport, hotel stay

to cut travel risks, andevenone-and-a-half timesthesalary.“Theywerescared,” says67-

year old Dr Dastur, his face halfcoveredbyanN-95maskashewalksinanempty lanenearhis home at CuffeParade. The 200-bed hospital man-aged to resumelimitedservicesjusta day ago. Nurses

and doctors have reported towork,buthouse-keepingstaff is

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Sealing fears, dip inpatients, wary staffare making privatehospitals play safe

PRIVATE&ISOLATEDAN EXPRESS SERIES

PART2

LAXMANSINGHMMUUMMBBAAII,, AAPPRRIILL3300

In the first death of amunicipalstaff due to COVID-19 inMumbai, a 49-year-oldBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) official whowastakingcareof fooddistribu-tion to homeless andmigrantworkers in Dharavi area passedawayonWednesday.With his death setting off

panic and another municipalstaff testing positive, MumbaiMayorKishoriPednekarsaidthecivicbodywouldconductmed-icalcheck-upofall itsofficialsin-volved in food distribution.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Officer dies, BMC may exitMumbai food distribution

MadhukarHariyandiedofCovid-19

INSIDE

MURSHIDABADMEDICALCOLLEGECHIEFREMOVEDPAGE3

`5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

FROMPAGEONE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

West Bengalcertificates. The committee ad-vised the death certificatesshouldhaveimmediatecauseofdeath, antecedent cause ofdeath and underlying cause ofdeath,” Sinhasaid.WestBengalhad formed this

committeeonApril2.Tillthatday,the state had reported sevendeaths, but the government re-viseditdownwardtothree,citingthesamereason.OnApril 24, the expert com-

mitteegaveitsfirstreportinwhichithadsaidthatofthe57deathsofcoronavirus-positivepatients inthestatetillthen,only18couldbeattributeddirectlytoCOVID-19.Co-morbidconditionsinpeo-

pledyingdue toCOVID-19 isnotuncommon.Infact,morethan50percentofpeoplewhohavediedinIndiahadapre-existingdisease—diabetesandhypertensionwerethemostcommon.Thedetailsofmanyof the rest arenot known,anditispossiblethatasignificantnumberevenamongthosewouldhaveco-morbidconditions.Mostof theother stateshave

included thedeaths of all thosewhotestedpositive in itsCOVID-19toll.And,nostatehasreportedsuchalargedifferenceinthenum-bers of actual deaths of coron-avirus-positivepatients,andthosewhosedeaths have been ascer-tainedtohavebeencausedprima-rilybyCOVID-19.However,followinginthefoot-

stepsofWestBengal,severalhavealsoconstituteddeathauditcom-mittees. Authorities in Delhi,Mumbai and Punjab have an-nouncedthatexpertcommitteeswouldassessthecauseofdeathinevery casewhere a positive pa-tientdies.OnThursday,WestBengalre-

ported that it had 572 “active”Coronavirus cases. A total of 139peoplewhohadearliertestedpos-itivehadrecovered,while33haddied.Thatwouldgivethestateato-

talcaseloadof744.But,byaddingthe72otherswhohavedied,sincetheyhavebeenconfirmedtohavetestedpositive, the totalnumberof caseswouldgoup to816. Thiswouldmean that at least one inevery eight persons who hastested positive in the state hasdied.Nootherstateinthecountryhassuchahighcasefatalityratio.The Indian Express has re-

ported thatWestBengalwas thestatewiththefastestspreadofthediseaserightnow,andthelowestdoublingtime.Inthelast24hours,Sinhasaid,

1,905 samples were tested.Overall, the14designated labs inthestatehavetested16,525sam-ples.“Oneofourtestinglaborato-rieshasnotbeenworkingoverthelastthreedaysduetosometechni-cal problems. Twomoreprivatelaboratorieshavebeenadded tothe list but theyhavenot startedtesting samples of COVID-19,”Sinhasaid.According to a report by the

HealthDepartment,positivecasesare nowbeing reportedmainlyfromKolkata,Howrah,HooghlyandNorth24Parganasdistricts.“All over the state, there are

444containmentzones,ofwhichmajor zones are from threedis-tricts,Kolkata,HowrahandNorth24Parganas. InKolkata, thereare264 containment zones. InHowrahandNorth24Parganas,thereare72and70containmentzones, respectively,” the reportstates.Theofficial figures showthat

5,288personsareingovernmentquarantineand10,773inhome.

Officer diesPednekar saidwith the de-

mand for foodexpected tocomedownasstatestaketheirmigrantlabourback, theBMCmightalsostopdistribution of food. “Afterthis, corporators can makearrangementforfooddistributionin (their) respectivewards. Also,grains,insteadoffoodpackets,willbe considered,” she said in arecordedvideo.TheBMChasbeendistribut-

ing about 6 lakh foodpackets tolabourersandhomelessacrossthecitydaily.MadhukarHariyan,whodied

onWednesday,wasan inspectorintheAssessmentDepartmentofG-NorthWard (Dharavi, Dadar,ShivajiPark)andhadbeenwork-ing for theBMCformorethan15years.AresidentofBorivali,hedidnothaveanyco-morbidity,acivicofficialsaid.AccordingtoBMCof-ficials,HariyandevelopedfeveronApril22andhadnotbeencomingtoofficesincethen.“Initially, hewent toaprivate

doctor in Borivali. However, hiscondition starteddeteriorating.SincehehadCOVID-19likesymp-toms, hewas testedonMondayand the results camepositiveaf-ter two days. On Wednesday,whenmunicipalstaffweretakinghimtoKasturbaHospitalfortreat-ment,hediedontheway,”anof-ficialsaid.The 30 staff members of G-

NorthWardwhohadbeenincon-tactwithHariyanhavebeentestedfor COVID-19 and sent to homequarantinefor14dayspendingre-

sults. “Since none of themhassymptoms,wehavetoldthemtostayathome,”AssistantMunicipalCommissioner, G-NorthWard,KiranDighavkar said. SampleshavealsobeentakenofHariyan’smother,wifeandtwodaughters.Withapopulationdensityof

35,000persqkmandmorethan8 lakhpeople,Dharavi remainsachallenge for the BMC. OnWednesday, 14newcaseswerereportedfromtheslumarea,tak-ing the total cases there to344. Ithasseen18deathsofpeoplewithcoronavirus.TheBMC is currentlydistrib-

utingfoodat700spotsinthecity,throughmorethan800PlanningDepartment staff. They collectfood from 44 communitykitchens.TheBMCunionsaidverylittle

had been done to ensure theirsafety.“HariyanlosthislifeduetotheBMC’snegligence.Wehadde-mandedmedical check-upof allthemunicipal staff part of fooddistributionas theydidnothavesafety gear anddirectly came incontactwithmanypeople.Now,afterHariyan’sdeath,theBMChaspromisedtoconductcheck-upofall staff andgive thembasicpro-tective equipment,” saidRamakantBane,generalsecretaryoftheunion.On Thursday, Dr Sangita

Hasnale, Assistant MunicipalCommissioner, PlanningDepartment,andinchargeoffooddistribution,issuedacircularsay-ingallthestaffwouldbecheckedforsymptoms.

Almost 50% deadthe criteria. This classification ismulti-factorialandtakesintocon-siderationincidenceofcases,dou-bling rate, extent of testing andsurveillance feedback to classifythedistricts.Adistrictwillbecon-sideredundergreenzoneif therearearenoconfirmedcases so faror there isnoreportedcasesincelast21daysinthedistrict,”Sudanwrote.Among the states and UTs

whichhave10ormoredistrictsinthe red zone are Delhi, WestBengal,Maharashtra,TamilNaduandUttarPradesh.Meanwhile, according to the

latestdata releasedby theUnionHealthMinistry, 14 per cent ofCOVID-19patientswhodiedwereless than45years, 34.8per centwere 45-60 years, 42 per centwere 60-75 years, 9.2 per centwere over 75 years. Thismeansthat 48.8 per cent of thosewhodiedwereagedlessthan60years.OnApril 18,when thedeath

tollstoodat488,asimilaranalysisby theHealthMinistry had re-vealed that 42.2 per cent of thedeaths occurred in theover-75-years agegroup, 33.1per cent in60-75years, 10.3per cent in45-60years,and14.4percentbelow45years.So,only24.7percentofthosewho diedwere aged lessthan60years.While the case fatality rate is

3.2per cent, 78per centof thosewhodied had co-morbidities -downfrom83percentonApril18-and65percentweremales.Inthelast24hours,1,823new

cases and 67 deaths were re-ported.Whilethetotalcasecountisnow33,610, about25per centhave recovered (8,372).A total of8,30,201 samples have beentestedsofar.The national doubling time

hasnowincreased to11days - itwas3.4daysbeforethelockdown.Thedoublingtimeisevenmoreinseveral states andUnion territo-ries(UTs).InDelhi,UttarPradesh,Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha,Rajasthan,TamilNaduandPunjab,thedoublingtimeis11-20days.InKarnataka, Ladakh, Haryana,UttarakhandandKerala, it is 20-40 days; in Assam, Telangana,Chhattisgarh and HimachalPradesh it ismore than40days -inHimachalPradesh,itisover191days.FollowingaletterfromSudan

to the states earlier, theHealthMinistryreiteratedinastatementthathospitalsmust ensurenon-COVIDessentialservices.“Aguid-ance note ofMinistry of HealthandFamilyWelfarehasbeen is-suedonApril20toenablethede-liveryof essentialhealth servicesduring the COVID-19 outbreak.This includesprovidingessentialservicesforreproductiveandchildhealth,immunisation,communi-cablediseasessuchasTB,leprosyandvector-bornediseases,aswellas non-communicable diseasessuchascanceranddialysis,”itsaid.Theministrysaidreportsthat

privatehospitals are “hesitant toprovidecriticalserviceslikedialy-sis,bloodtransfusion,chemother-apyandinstitutionaldeliveriestotheir regularpatients”are“unac-ceptable”.“States/UTsarealsoadvisedto

follow the guidelines regardingCOVID-19testingissuedbyICMRonApril17.Theprotocolshouldbewidely disseminated amonghealthcare serviceproviders andtestingforCOVID-19shouldbeasperprotocol,”itsaid.At the daily briefing, Health

Ministry Joint Secretary LavAgarwalsaidthatadequateavail-abilityofhydroxychloroquinehas

beenensuredatthegroundlevel.He reiterated that rapid tests,whichhavebeenstoppedfollow-ing reports of varying accuracy,havealimitedroleinsurveillance.“ICMRisworkingwithstatestofi-nalisehowthisshouldbeusedontheground.As fordiagnosis andtreatment, theRT-PCR test is thebestoption,”headded.Agarwalsaidwhile thecoun-

try ispartofWHO’smulti-coun-try Solidarity Trial for potentialtreatments for COVID-19, theremdesivir trial of theNationalInstituteofAllergyandInfectiousDiseases (NIAID) in theUS is in-conclusiveandIndiawillwait formore studiesbefore takingacallonthedrug.

Sealing fearsstill stayingaway. Thehospital isadmittingonlyemergencyCovidcases.BhatiaHospital is just oneof

the10privatehospitals thathadtoshutdowntemporarilyaftertheMunicipal CorporationofGreaterMumbai used the blunt instru-mentofsealingwhensomeheathcarestaffreportedCovidpositive.Themetrowithmaximumcasesanddeathswitnessedanalmostcomplete collapse of privatehealthcareintheearlydaysoftheCovidpandemic.Privatehospitals fear admit-

ting Covid patientswill exposetheir frontline staff to infection,andthiscouldattractadverseac-tion.Totopthis,thereislittleclar-ityon testingpatients -uponad-missionaswellaspre-operatively.Two, followinggovernment ad-vice,manypatients rescheduledelectiveorplannedsurgeries.OPD(out-patientdepartment)consult-inghasanywayreducedtoasmallfractionofpre-Coviddays.Butasthenumberofpositive

casescontinuetoriseandreportsofhospitalsturningawaypatientspourin,stateswantprivatenurs-inghomestoopenfully.WiththeMunicipalCorporationofGreaterMumbai (BMC) struggling toex-pand its isolation beds, theMaharashtra governmentThursday warned hospitalsagainst refusingpatients -Covidornon-Covid. TheDelhi govern-ment too issuedanorder askingallnursinghomesandhospitalstoresumeservices, andadmitnon-Covidpatients.Butprivatehealthcarefacilities

inMumbaiarewaryaftertheseal-ing experience. Thosewilling to

reopen find little to no supportfromparamedicalstaff.InKolkata too, privatehospi-

tals feel they are ill-equipped tohandlesuspectedCovidpatients.Whenpatientswith Covid-likesymptomscome, they just redi-rectthemtodedicatedCOVID-19hospitals. Peerless,whichhasan11-bed isolation ward and isequippedwith ICU beds and acoupleofventilators,admitsCovidpatients. But RTIICS doesn’t.PrivatehospitalsinKolkatadidsetupafewisolationbedsfollowingameetingwith thestategovern-mentonMarch20,butmanyarescared and fear they are ill-equipped to handle suspectedCovid patients, andhence referthemtodedicatedCovidhospitals.These fears echo throughout

thecountry, especially insmallerprivate facilities that either shutshopdue to lackof PPE, reducedmanpower, or the inability to fi-nancially sustain themselves fol-lowingasharpdropinwalk-inpa-tients.Large corporatehospitals too

arefeelingtheheat.Forinstance,MaxHealthcare’s

non-frontline staff across theboard, including senior doctorswhoarenotdirectlyinvolvedinitsCovidandotherfacilityoperations,have takenpaycutsof “above25percent”sothatthehospitalchaincan “continue to beoperationalduring the timeof Covid”,AbhaySoi, Chairman,MaxHealthcare,toldTheIndianExpress.“Otherindustrieshavetheop-

tionofreducingoperationsorlay-ingoffstaff,butthehealthcarein-dustry facesapeculiarproblem-wehave tobear increasingcostsatthistimewhilesimultaneouslyramping up capacity tomeet agrowingrequirement,”hesaid.Severalhospitals,especiallyin

Tier II and Tier III cities, are alsowary of the “mahamari aspatal(pandemichospital)”tagaffectingbusiness for many months tocomeevenaftertheepidemicsub-sides.Forinstance,Biharhasmorethan250 for-profit andnot-for-profit privatehospitals, empan-eledundertheAyushmanBharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana.Most of themhad, how-ever,shutoperationsfearingtheywouldnotbeable to contain theinfection if it spread in theirhos-pitals,somestategovernmentof-ficials said on condition ofanonymity.However,instateswhichhave

thecapacitygiventhefactthatthecaseloadismanageable,thegov-ernmenthaskeptprivatehospi-talsonstandby,whileitprioritisestreatmentatitsownfacilities.Forinstance, depending on the re-quirement, only selectiveprivatehealthcare facilities inMadhyaPradeshhavebeeninvolvedbythestateasdedicatedcentres.“If we involve everyone, it

would be chaotic,’’ said DrLokendraDave,member, state-level Technical AdvisoryCommittee,whoisalsooneofthemembersof agovernment teamtaskedwithmedical treatmentand hospital management.Anotherreasonforthisisthatnotallprivatefacilitieshavetheequip-mentandresourcestofollowtheprotocoloftreatment,hesaid.“Whilethereisariskthatthey

couldendupspreadingtheinfec-tion, thegovernmenthas toalsoensure that thereare facilities fortreatmentofnon-Covidpatients.The government may involvemorehospitals if theyhavefacili-ties,”hesaid.The case is similar in Uttar

Pradesh,whichhasnotbarredpri-vatehospitals from treatingpa-tients,buthaslimitedCovidfacil-ities toprivatemedical colleges.According toPrincipal Secretary(Health)AmitMohanPrasad,theplanistohireanotherbuildinglikea lodge, smallerprivatehospital,hotelorhostelaroundeveryhos-pitalwith an isolation facility sothat asymptomatic patients canbeshiftedthere.Thisway,hospitalbedscanbevacatedforseriouspa-tients.“Wehaveseveralprivatemed-

icalcollegesalreadyinourfoldandthatgivesusatotalbedcapacityof10,000 (governmentandprivatecombined).Wehavenotifiedalotof private hospitals and, as andwhen the need arises,we havetold them that they should bereadywithinthree-five-daynoticetopreparethemselvesforprovid-ingCovid care. In themeantime,weexpectprivatehospitalsshouldbegivingotheressential serviceslikedialysisattheirfacilities,”saidPrasad.InTelangana,private facilities

likeApolloHealthcarewereear-lierrestrictedbydirectionstosendall of theirCOVID-19positivepa-tientstogovernmentfacilities,saidDrSangitaReddy,JointManagingDirector, Apollo HospitalsEnterprises.Inotherinstances,thereisam-

biguity instategovernmentpoli-ciesininvolvingandallowingpri-vatefacilities.“An area where additional

claritywouldhelpisthetestingofpatientsonadmissionaswell aspre-operatively. This seems im-portant to safeguard other pa-tientsandstafffrompatientswhomay be positive, but asympto-matic ormildly symptomatic,”saidDrAshutoshRaghuvanshi,ManagingDirectorandCEO,FortisHealthcare.“Situationslikethismayresult

inquarantineoflargenumbersofmedicalstaff,whichwecanillaf-fordatthisjuncture,”hesaid.FortisHealthcare has set up isolationwardsandearmarked350 isola-tionbedsacrossits28hospitals.Hospitals likeApollo too face

constraints in treating patientscoming to their facilities for cru-cial,non-Covidtreatment.Unsureif they are carrying the coron-avirus,whichputsApollo’sstaffatrisk of infection, the hospital isbulkingupon itsuseof personalprotection equipment. WhileApollocanstillaffordthis,smallerprivatenursinghomesandfacili-tiesinstateslikeMaharashtrahavealso been demanding PPEs fortheirstaff.“In every emergency room

now,all our staffwearsPPEs, be-causewe don’t knowwho hascome in. Everyone is treated as(Covid)positive,becausewehavethismajor constraint of testing,”saidDrReddy.“There is a lackof communi-

cationbetweengovernmentde-partments.While one depart-mentwillunderstandthemeritinallowingus to operate a certainway,anotherdepartmentwillsaytheopposite,” said theexecutiveof a private hospital inDelhi onconditionofanonymity.InotherstateslikeGujarat,pri-

vatehospitalswereneverdiscour-agedfromtreatingCovidpatients.However, following thenation-wide lockdown, thesehospitalsoperatedonthinstaff,takinginpa-tientswho required emergencyprocedure,congruenttothestatehealthdepartment’s advisory toavoidplannedprocedures.OnApril 19,Gujarat decided

that thosewilling topayandgettreatedinprivatehospitals,candosointhreefacilitiesinAhmedabad-SterlingHospital,HCGHospitalandNarayanaMulti-specialityHospital. Sterling and HCGHospital had started treating

Covid patients lastweek,whileNarayana Multi-specialityHospitalwasstillintheprocessofdraftingitstreatmentprotocol.Intheabsenceofdefinedtreat-

mentprotocolsandlackofaccesstoprotective and testing equip-mentearlier,someprivatehospi-talswere refusing admission topatientswith flu-like symptoms,insteaddirectingthemtogovern-ment facilities.Despitewarningsandadvisoriesbystates,manypri-vatehospitalsarestillunwillingtoriskwhatever littlebusinesstheyare getting fromnon-Covid pa-tients.

OmanOver the past few weeks,

Omanhasannouncedbudgetcutsto stabilise the economy. ByWednesday, the country hadrecorded2,274COVID-19 casesand10relateddeaths.Two weeks ago, the state

barredprivate companies fromsackingOmanisunderjobcutstar-getedtolessentheeconomicbur-dencausedbythecoronaviruscri-sis.Italsourgedprivatefirmstoasknon-Omani employees “to leavepermanently”.The new circular issued by

Oman’s Ministry of FinanceWednesdaycalledforexpatriatesemployedinthecountry’sgovern-ment sectors to be replaced byOmanis, so that they can con-tributetothedevelopmentoftheSultanate,accordingtoareportinthe Times of Oman publishedThursday.“TheorderforOmanisationof

government sectorswill have itsimplementationcostsincludedinthe2021budgetestimates,whichneedtobesubmittedbyJuly2020.Thecircularhasalsosaidthatthereplacement of expats withOmaniswillneedtobedone inaspeedyandorganisedmanner,”thereportsaid.ItquotedOman’sFinancemin-

istry as saying that the state’sFinancial and AdministrativeAudit Institution indicated thepresenceof anumberof expatri-ateswhooccupy leadershipandsupervisory jobs in governmentfirms.It quoted theministryas say-

ing that government companiesare consideredan“attractiveen-vironmentthatcanaccommodatequalifiedOmanijobseekers”andthat the companies have “goodpotential to execute thegovern-ment’sOmanisationpolicy”.On April 7, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi had called upOman’sSultanHaithambinTariqtodiscuss “healthandeconomicchallengesposedbytheCOVID-19pandemic, and the steps beingtaken” by their countries to re-spondtothem.“SultanassuredPMaboutthe

safetyandwellbeingoftheIndiancommunityinOmaninthepres-entsituation,”theMEAhadsaid.Omar’s former ruler, Sultan

Qaboos bin Said, who died inJanuary,hadbeenabenefactorofthe Indian community fordecades. IndiahadsentMinorityAffairsMinisterMukhtarAbbasNaqvitoMuscattoconveyitscon-dolences.

Rishi KapoorBobbywasoneof those films

whichturnediconicevenwhileitwasplaying in theatres. It resur-rected the flailing fortunesof RajKapoor, whowas then reelingfrom the crash and burn of his1970 laced-with-melancholy,semi-autographical opus,MeraNaam Joker. It gave the wavy-haired, fair-and-handsomeRishi,whohad a small but significantpart in the former, his break-outfilm.A star was born. And Rishi

KapoorbecamethegoldenboyofBollywood, thesinging-dancing-romancing herowe all loved tolove.ThatRishiKapoorwouldbea

star, was ordained. And he re-mainedoneall throughhis longcareer thatwas dottedwith allkindsoffilms,good,badandplainindifferent, top-lining theyouth-ful, bashful, charmer that heplayed sowell, till there cameatimewhenhecouldn’t,andtippedoverintothatstagewhenanactorcanbecalledaveteran.In the last few years, in

Yashraj’s Hum Tum (2004),Kapoorplayed thekindof suave,worldly,wine-sippingdadswhoaremoresupportivepals to theirkids.Hegraduatedtograndpasta-tusintheKaranJoharproduction,‘Kapoor&Sons’ (2016),wherehewasburiedunder layersof latex:Kapoor, alwaysa starbutalsoal-ways an able actor, could havegivenus agewithout themake-up.Hehadthemileage.In his best iteration of the

youthfullover,hedialleddownthemannerisms,lookedstraightintotheeyesofthegirl,andsmiledthatsmile.Neveras crinklyashisun-cleShashi’s,itwasstillasmilethatdidthetrick.Itmeltedtheheartofthegirl infrontofhim,andalltheswooning ladies in the audito-rium.In1976,RishiwaspartofYash

Chopra’s evergreen romanticmulti-starrer,KabhieKabhi.Those

were the days of bell-bottoms,bouffants, floppycollared-shirts,andhangdoglovers.Rishiacedthelook, andbrightenedup the filmconsiderably. The sameyear, hehadahugesuccessasasoloherowithLailaMajnu,inwhichheandRanjeetaplayed themythic star-crossedlovers.ButKapoorcouldalsobesur-

prisingly light on his feet. Hiscomic timingwason full displayinthe1975double-billKhelKhelMeinandRafoochakkar,inwhichhemadewhoopeewithNeetuSingh: the twowould go on tomakeanotherextremelypopular‘jodi’inanumberoffilms,andendupmarrying.Kapoorwas right on top, all

throughthe70s.Hehadtheabilityto switchbetweenbroadbrush-strokesanddelicacy,andwesawthat in1977,whenhedisco-ed itup - inblindingly shiny sequins,strumming theguitar— inNasirHussain’smusicalHumKissi SeKamNahin.Thesameyear,inare-markably versatile flip, he ap-peared in the sombre drama,DoosraAdmi.Andonceagain,thesameyear,

a switcheroo. Who can forgetAkbarAllahabadi in ‘AmarAkbarAnthony’: that paan-stained-teeth, dil-phenk ‘aashiq’, singingthattimelessquwaali:“purdahhaipurdah”,andmakingpuppyeyesattheburqa-cladNeetuSingh?Itwas a believe-it-or-faintManmohanDesaientertainer,andRishi Kapoor provided a well-judgedbalancetotheburlyblusterof AmitabhBachchanandVinodKhanna, creatingan instant clas-sic,whichspokesobeautifully tothe sectarian, inclusivenatureofIndia.So many movies, so many

memorable characters. The 80swasthedecadewhenBollywoodwas swampedwithunimagina-tiverepeats.Evenhere,Rishiman-agedeyeballs.Monty inSubhashGhai’s1980reincarnationdrama‘Karz’;Dev inoneof RajKapoor’slast significantoutingsPremRog(1982);thepain-filled,in-search-of-redemption Mangal inSukhwantDhadda’s Ek ChadarMaili Si (1983); Ravi in Saagar(1985),chieflyrememberedonlybecause it resurrectedDimpleKapadia’sdwindlingcareer;RohitinChandni(1989),whereSridevi’snau-nauchoodiyaanbecamethestaple of all shaadi-songs. Andthen cameDeewana in1992, inwhich his co-star was a mop-haired,dimpled,ranknew-comer:ShahRukhKhan.Kapoor’sdaysofplayinglover-

boymayhavebeenoverbuttherewasnowayyoucouldkeepagoodKapoordown.Wesawhimplayaconflicted son-and-husband inRajkumar Santoshi’s Damini; aseasonedloverinImtiazAli’sLoveAajKal;anout-and-outbadguyinAgneepath;aversionofhimselfinChintuji;aharriedhouseholderinDo Dooni Chaar (along withNeetu,equallydelightful);andhisstar-sonRanbir’sfatherintheplainawful Besharam, one that hewouldhavewanted to throwoffhisvast-and-variedCV.

Uddhavnominatehim to the LegislativeCouncil.Sena leaders said the

Governor’smoveendstheuncer-taintyoverThackeray’s continu-anceasCM.Sources in the EC said that

electionscanbeconductedamidstthe coronavirus outbreak andlockdown,providedprecautionsasadvisedbytheHealthMinistryaretaken,andMLAsfollowsocialdistancingwhilecastingtheirvote.“TheCommissioncanappointanofficerof theHealthDepartmentto assist the state CEO (ChiefElectoral Officer),” an ECofficersaid on the condition ofanonymity.Aspera statementby theRaj

Bhavan, “Inhis letter (to theEC),theGovernorhas stated that theCentral Government has an-nouncedmanyrelaxationmeas-uresregardingtheenforcementoflockdown...As such theelectionsto the council seats canbeheldwith certain guidelines, he hassaid.”Sources in the Sena said the

party aswell as allies NCP andCongresshadalsosubmittedsep-arate letters to theEC requestingfor polls to the nine seats, andhandedovercopiesofthesametotheGovernor.Their letters statedthat on account of “peculiar ex-traordinaryunforeseen facts andcircumstances”, Thackeray hadnot been able to get himselfelectedtotheLegislativeCouncil.“. if theaforesaidelections to

the9seatsof theStateLegislativeCouncilarenotonlyheldbutalsoconcludedonor before 27May,2020, inter-alia in theabsenceofhisnominationtothestatelegisla-tive council by the HonorableGovernor. it is apprehended thathewillnotbeable tocontinueasthechiefminister. In suchanun-likely situationavery stablegov-ernmentwill notbeable to con-tinueuninterruptedly,”theletterssaid.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

Govt plans targeting based on need“The Prime Minister has

been asking ‘searching’ ques-tions.Whatprobablyweighs inhismindistheaftermathof themassive stimulus the govern-ment imparted following the2008globalfinancialcrisis.Fewlargeindustrialgroupsmadethemostofthemonetaryandfiscalstimulus,builthugeandunsus-tainable balance sheets, leftbankswith largeNPAs,andthisalso ledtohighinflation,”saidasourcewhodidnotwish tobenamed.The political leadership is

keentoavoidthis.While individualministries

anddepartments aremakingastrongcase for a large-scale fis-calpackage,thereareindicationsfromotherquartersforaneedtopause, calibrate the impactandthenannounceanyintervention.The PrimeMinister isworriedabout the lack of a “sunsetclause”instimulusprovisions.“He would rather have it

more focused.MSMEs, healthcare, financial sector, and thepoorandvulnerable-thesewillremainthetargetsegments,”an-otherofficialsaid.Sources involved in dis-

cussing the second fiscal pack-agesaidthataconsensusseemstobeemerging thatwithin in-dustry,MSMEshavenotgainedmuchand continue to feel thepain despite measures an-

nouncedbytheFinanceMinistryin its first package and stepstaken by the Reserve Bank ofIndiasofar.SourcessaidMSMEsmaybe

supported througha fund thatcarriesagovernmentguarantee.“Thegovernmentcouldalsopro-videadirect guarantee againstfreshloanstounitsinthesectorsothattheycanraisefundsfrombanks to stay solvent,” said asource,notwishingtobenamed.Officials indicated there is a

clearrealisationthatthereexistslimitedfiscalspaceforabigpack-age of the order of the one ex-tendedin2009.MSME minister Nitin

Gadkari had, onApril 24, indi-catedthepossibilityofsettingupaRs1 lakhcrorerevolving fundforMSMEs.Itislearntthatdirec-tionshavebeengiventothePSUstosettlebillsraisedbyMSMEstoensurethelatter’sworkingcap-italrequirementsaremet.Thegovernment’splan is to

ensurehigherworking capitallimits,clearanceofanypendingdues and credit guaranteeagainstloanlossestoMSMEssothatbankslendtothem.While a credit guarantee

fund forMSMEs is already runbySIDBI,thenewproposalisthegovernmentprovidingadirectguaranteeagainstfreshloanstoacertainextent.This could also be done

throughagovernment-backedspecialpurposevehiclewhichisexpected to nudge banks toboost lending toMSMEs andlower-rated companies, forwhichfundinghasbeenchokedbecauseofrisk-aversebanks.Forthecorporatesectorasa

whole, a package, if any, willlikelybediscussedwellafterthelockdown is lifted and issuesspecifictoindividualsectorssuchas automobiles or aviation getflagged.Thereisaviewthatlargecor-

porates got benefits from thecorporatetaxcutlastSeptemberwhenratesfordomesticcompa-nieswerereducedto22percentfromearlierrateof30percent.Moreover, the upcoming

salarypaymentpositionofcom-paniesinearlyMay,whenAprilsalarieswouldbedisbursed, isalso being tracked closely togaugesignsofdistress.Aspart of the stimulus, the

government has also finalisedplanstosetupacreditenhance-ment company to supportlower-ratedinfraprojects-apro-posalthathasbeenintheworkssometime.Theproposedcompany, for

which inter-ministerial discus-sionshavebeencompleted,willprovidepartialguaranteeagainstloan losses to lenders, enablingthe borrower to enhance itscredit ratings for infraprojects.

“This companywill de-risk thebanking sector, enable morefunding for new projects ofnearlyRs3lakhcrorefrombanksandthecorporatebondmarket,”theofficialsaid.While the governmenthas

sofartriedtoremainwithintheadditional0.5percentagepointspaceprovidedundertheFiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) laws,thereisarealisationwithingov-ernment that more needs todone.A relaxation of the fiscal

deficit target by1.5per cent ofGDPcouldgenerate aroundRs3.5lakhcrorethatcanbeusedtoprovideaneconomic stimulus,according toa recentCRISIL re-searchreport.Compared tomanydevel-

opedeconomies,manyanalystsarguethatIndiahasdonemuchlesson the fiscal sidewhile theRBIhasbeenproactiveinmone-taryeasing.India’sfiscalpackageofRs1.7

lakhcrore,comprisingdirectin-cometransfer andothermeas-ures, isonly0.7percentofGDP,comparedwith2.5per cent inChina,8.9percentintheUS,7.9percent inSouthKoreaand6.6percentinBrazil,thereportsaid.TheFinanceMinistryhasso

far not responded to queriesseekingcommentsforthestory.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Minister forCommerce& IndustriesPiyushGoyal,MoS (Finance) AnuragThakur and topofficials of thecentral government. It cameamidexpectationsthatthegov-ernment plans to announce afresh set of reliefmeasures forMSMEs andneedy sections ofsocietytohelpthemcombattheadverseeconomiceffectsof thelockdown.“It was discussed that a

schemeshouldbedevelopedtopromotemoreplugandplayin-frastructure in the existing in-dustriallands/plots/estatesinthecountryandprovidenecessaryfinancing support,” the PMOsaid.Thegovernmentmaylookat easing someof the existingregulationstoattractgreaterfor-eigninvestment.“Various strategies tobring

investments into India inafast-track mode and to promote

Indiandomesticsectorswerediscussed.Detaileddiscus-

sionswereheldonguidingstatesto evolve their strategies & bemoreproactive inattracting in-vestments,”itsaid.The shutdownof theecon-

omytocombatCOVID-19isex-pected to take a severe toll oneconomic activity, leading to aslumpineconomicgrowthandmaking anypossible recoveryveryslow.Economistsandanalystsar-

guethattheeconomy,especiallythe MSMEs, would requiregreater fiscalsupport tosurvivethrough thisworst downturn,even though the governmentwillhavetobalanceanyexpan-sioninpublicexpenditurewiththeneedsofmaintaining fiscalbalance.Rating agency CRISIL has

lowered its growthoutlook forIndiainfiscal2021to1.8percent,fromthe3.5percentestimatedearlier. The forecast is basedonanassumptionthattheCovidef-

fectwillsubsidemateriallyinthecurrent quarter, besides anor-malmonsoon, andminimumfiscalsupportofRs3.5lakhcrore.Data released Thursday

showedthattheoutputofeightcore infrastructure industriesshrankby6.5percentinMarchduetofallinproductionofcrudeoil,naturalgas,refineryproducts,fertiliser,steel,cementandelec-tricityamidthelockdown,com-paredto5.8percentexpansioninMarch2019.The first economic relief

packageofRs1.7lakhcrorewasmainly focussedondirect cashtransferstothepoorandincomesupporttofarmers.Thenextlegofreliefisbeingaimedatprovid-ing help to companies alongwith a focus to freeup lendingresourcesofthebanks.“Itwas also discussed that

the reform initiatives under-takenby thevariousMinistriesshould continueunabatedandactionshouldbetakeninatime-boundmanner to remove any

obstacleswhichimpedepromo-tionofinvestmentandindustrialgrowth,”thePMOsaid.Modidiscussedpotentialre-

formsintheminesandcoalsec-tors togiveaboost to theecon-omy — ensuring easy andabundantavailabilityofmineralresources from domesticsources, upscalingexploration,attractinginvestmentandmod-erntechnology,togeneratelargescale employment through atransparent and efficientprocesses.According to an official

statement,auctioningofaddi-tional blocks, encouragingwider participation in auc-tions, increasing the produc-tion of mineral resources, re-ducing thecostofminingandcost of transporting, increas-ing ease of doing businesswhile also reducing carbonfootprint with environmen-tallysustainabledevelopmentalso formed importantpartofthediscussions.

Proactive approach

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAKWestBengal

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,APRIL30

DAYSAFTERmedicalsuperinten-dent of Murshidabad MedicalCollegeandHospital,DebdasSaha,issuedanorderaskingdoctorsnottomentionCOVID-19inthedeathcertificateofcoronaviruspatients,theBengalgovernmentThursdayremovedhim. In theApril 25or-der, Saha directed, “in case ofCOVID positive, nomention ofCOVIDD/C (deathcertificate)”. Aday later, a rectifiedorderwas is-suedaskingdoctorstostatetheac-tualcauseofdeathofpatients.Theorderhadtriggeredapoli-

ticalcontroversyinthestatewithBJP’snominatedRSmemberSwa-panDasguptacallingit“absolutelyscandalous”.“ThisofficialcircularinMurshidabadclearlystatesthatCovid19 positive should not bementionedinthedeathcertificate.Will fudging the figures alter thegrimrealityofacallousstategov-ernment?”hehadtweeted.OnWednesday, CMMamata

Banerjeereferredtotheorderandsaid,“Peopleareraisingahueandcryoverwhoisissuingwhatkindof order.Wehave to correct our-selves becausewemakemista-kes.” The government ThursdaytransferredSaha toNorthBengalMedicalCollegeandHospitalwh-erehewill serveasaprofessoratanaesthesiologydepartment. Inhisplace,thegovernmenthasap-pointedDrSharmilaMallickasthenewmedical superintendent ofMurshidabadMedicalCollegeandHospital.Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha

said,“Thestatechief secretaryisnot the rightpersontospeakonthis..”

11Rise indeath figures in48hrs

37Newcases in last24hours

444Containmentzones instate

Kolkata:Atotalof2,368studentsfrom Bengal are set to returnhome from Rajasthan’s Kota —the coaching hub for engineer-ing andmedical aspirants — inabout 95 buses arranged by thestate government, HomeSecretary AlapanBandyopadhyay said onThursday.Taking to Twitter,

Bandyopadhyaysaid,“2,368stu-dents ofWest Bengal are beingbrought back from Kota in 95buseswithStategovernmentof-ficers as escorts and likely toreach tomorrow,”Bandyopadhyay tweeted.Chief Minister Mamata

BanerjeehadonMondaysaid,“Iam personally overseeing thisandwewill leave no stone un-turned in ensuring that every-onegetsanypossiblehelp.” PTI

Amansanitiseshishandbeforecollecting foodgrains,whichwasbeingdistributedbytheKolkataPolice,onStrandRoadonThursday. ParthaPaul

2,000 studentsbeing broughtback home fromKota in 95 buses,says state govt

Kolkata: A day after MamataBanerjeegovernmentannouncedthat private buseswould be al-lowedtoplyinGreenZone(leastrisky)districts inBengalwith20passengers per ride, private busoperatorsonThursdaysaidsuchameasurewouldfurtherjeopar-disetheir financialcondition.Associationsofbusoperators

demanded subsidy from thegovernmenttoalleviate their fi-nancialburden.

BusMinibusSamannoySam-ity(coordinationcommittee)gen-eralsecretaryPradipNarayanBo-sesaidrunningabuswithonly20peoplewouldleadtohugefinanc-iallosstoowners,whowerealre-ady battered by the lockdown.“Oncebusesareoperational,thenownershave tobuydiesel. Fromwherewilltheygetmoneyifonly20people areallowedat a time?The state governmentmustpro-videsubsidytorunbuses.”

On Wednesday, Banerjeesaid intra-district private busservices could commence inGreen Zones with a cap of 20passengerspertripformaintain-ingsocialdistancingnorms.JointCouncilofBusSyndicates

generalsecretaryTapanBanerjeesecondedBose.“Mostof therou-tesoutsidethemajorcitiesarein-ter-district.Nowifthosebusesarerunlocally,thenitwillbedifficulttogeteven20passengers.” ENS

‘Cap on bus passengers to worsen cash woes’

RAVIKBHATTACHARYAKOLKATA,APRIL30

INDIA’S LARGEST land port re-sumedoperations on Thursday,over amonth after it shut downfollowing PMNarendraModi’s“JanataCurfew”calltocontaintheCOVID-19pandemicandthesub-sequentnationwidelockdown.Though almost 2,100 trucks

havebeen strandedat Petrapolein theBongaonarea of North 24Parganasdistrict sinceMarch22,onlytwotruckscarryingjuteandmaizeseedsfromIndiawereun-loadedatthegateatzeropointbe-causeoffearsaboutthepandemic.Manyclearingagents,labour-

ersanddriversarescaredtostepfootintheneighbouringcountry,andthelocalTMCleadershiphasalsowarnedofdireconsequencesif goodsareallowedtomove.“Therewas a letter from the

districtmagistrate that askedustofacilitatetheopeningofthelandport,”saidKartikChakraborty,thesecretary of Petrapole ClearingAgentsStaffs’WelfareAssociation.“We are all living under fear

since neither we nor theBangladeshi side have PPEs[PersonalProtectiveEquipment].Clearingagentsexchangeddocu-ments at the gate and labourersfromBangladesh unloaded thegoods.What if someonegets in-fectedwithCOVID-19?”heasked.Earlier, 500 to 550 Indian

trucksusedtoentertheportarea,andabout100to150Bangladeshivehicleswerepermittedtodothesame.Accordingtosources,fromnowonly trucks from Indiawillbeunloadedatthezeropoint.“Nowwearepositioningour

vehiclesatthezeropointgateandBangladeshilabourersareunload-ing it.Wehopeeverydayeightto10trucksareunloaded.Thereareover 2,100 goods-laden trucksstuck inourside. So, itwill takealongtime,”saidChakraborty.

The massive cargo pile-upstarted as soon as the lockdownwasdeclared lastmonth. Indiantruckdrivers on theBangladeshiside—Benapole—were told toimmediatelyreturn,leavingtheirvehicles. The same instructionswere issued toBangladeshidriv-ersfromtheotherside.Atpresent, 100 Indian trucks

areinBangladeshand30vehiclesfrom the other side are in India.SincetheBureauof ImmigrationandtheBorderSecurityForcearenot allowing the drivers to gocrossoveronfootandunloadthecargo from their vehicles, truck-ers arenot ready tomoveunlessthosevehiclesareoffloaded.Exporters had been urging

boththeCentreandthestategov-ernment over thepastmonth toopen theport. Thedemandwasopposedbyclearingagents,work-ers,andthelocalTMCleadership,all ofwhomcalled for thecheck-posttoremainshutbecauseofthepandemic. They also sought thepresenceofpropermedicalteamsandprotectivegearforeveryone.Eventually,lastweektheCen-

tre agreed toopen theport,withUnion Home Home SecretaryAjayBhallawriting to stateChiefSecretaryRajivaSinhaonApril24aboutthegovernment’sapproval.Five days later, theDMwrote tothemanagerofthePetrapoleportauthority,askingtheofficialtoen-suremaximumsocial distancingduringtradeatthecheckpost.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,APRIL30

A 34-YEAR-OLD woman diedwithout treatment inher homein the city’s Paikpara localityearlyonThursdayasneighboursrefused to step into her houseand an ambulance service re-fused to takeher tohospital be-cause of fears about the novelcoronavirusdisease(COVID-19).Thebodyremainedathome

formorethan10hours,andwascollected by the police only intheevening.According to the police, at

6.30 am thewoman’s 60-year-oldmotherfoundherunrespon-sive and frothing at themouth.

She contacted the neighboursand told them her daughtermight need hospitalisation.However,noonecameforward.The local people contacted

councillor Tarun Saha. “Wealsocontactedanambulanceservice,but no onewas ready to come.Wewere also indoubtwhethershe died of COVID-19 or not,”saidaneighbour.Saha said he tried to make

arrangements for her hospitali-sation, but because of the pre-vailing situation an ambulancecouldnotbearranged.“Thisisanunnatural death. So, post-mortemisnecessary.Icontactedthepolice,andultimatelythepo-lice sent the body for post-mortem.” According to the

neighbour, the body was col-lectedat5pm.The woman’s mother said

herdaughterhadcomplainedofsomeuneasinessonWednesdayevening. “But, afterhalf anhourshe felt normal. In themorning,I found her senseless in herroom. I contacted the neigh-bours butnobody came to sendher body to hospital,” said the60-year-old.“Afterprimaryinvestigation,

itseemsanaturaldeath.Wesentthe body to RG Kar MedicalCollegeandHospital.Tomorrow[Friday], they will conduct thepost-mortem and after thatwewill hand over the body for lastrites,”saidapoliceofficeratTalastation.

Woman’s body lie for over 10hours for fear of virus spread

STATECOUNT

572ACTIVECASES

33DEATHS

139RECOVERED

■ 16,525sampleshavebeentested tillApril 30

TrucksbeingunloadedatPetrapole landport.Express

India’s biggest landport reopens, but onlytwo trucks unloaded aspandemic fear reigns

HadorderedtonotmentionCOVID-19indeathcertificateof +vepatients

Murshidabadmedical collegechiefmoved out after order row

THEOUTBREAK WESTBENGAL4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

During this worldwide pandemic, on 25th April,Central Bank Of India,Regional Office Durgapur dis-tributed food packets to 110 old and poor families ofFarakidanga area.This was an initiative taken by theChief Regional Manager - Joy Mukherjee, ChiefManager- Ajay Kumar, Senior Manager- SaileshGupta, Manager- Randhir Nayan, Agm - DebdulalMondol and other senior dignitaries.

South Eastern Railway, till 27th April, 2020 has distributed2,42,813 free and hygienic meals to the destitute, poor andneedy people nearby and outside railway areas at Headquar-ters & all over its four Divisions viz. Kharagpur,Adra, Chakrad-harpur and Ranchi.The worst hit victims of lockdown are dailywage labourers, porters, rickshaw pullers, beggars, slumdwellers, homeless vagabonds etc. including their family mem-bers. Out of total 2,42,813 meals, 64,555 meals have beenserved and distributed by Indian Railway Catering & TourismCorporation (IRCTC) utilising its Base Kitchen infrastructure lo-cated in South Eastern Railway stations with the help of Com-mercial Department. The rest 1,78,258 free meals have beenarranged for distribution by Security & other departments ofSER. Various associations viz.South Eastern Railway Women’sWelfare Organisation (SERWWO), SER Bharat Scouts & Guides,St.John Ambulance Brigade, Civil Defence, etc have also joinedhands in this mass food distribution activities.

Airports continue to support society in this crisis time of COVID19,as Cargo,medical, relief & related essentialflights are operating.Housekeeping team at Netaji Subash Chandra Bose InternationalAirport,Kolkata con-tinue to do their bit of keeping the nation safe with sanitising and disinfectant cleaning of the terminal.Dur-ing this COVID19 Lockdown, KolkataAirport facilitated operation of relief flights for stranded US, UK, EU,Bhutanese,Malaysian nationals for their safe passage home.Our dedicated teams for Operations,Medical,Engineering,Fire Services,Cargo,ATC and others have ensured to follow standard procedures along with ther-mal screening & social distancing to provide an unhindered service

AirportsAuthority of India,Regional Head-quarters, Eastern Region, is doing it's bit inthis testing times, where employees con-tributed & distributed packets of essentialcommodities to 575 families covering 3slum areas around Ramkrishna MissionSwami Vivekanand Ancestral House andCulture Centre Kolkata. 90 workers fromthis low income group were given supportof Rs1000 each.

The CSIR-CMERI has developed Hospital CareAssistiveRobotic Device (HCARD).This Robot hasVideo Confer-encing Facilities, Delivery System for providing medi-cines to the patients,Collecting Samples from the Patientor providing food to the patient.This device works bothinAutonomous Mode as well as Manual Mode of Navi-gation. The HCARD assists in solving thedistance be-tween the Health Professionals and the Patients. Thedevice iscontrolled and monitored by a Nursing Boothwith a Control Station which has the following features:? Navigation ? DrawerActivation to provide medicinesand food to the patients and collect samples from the pa-tient ? Audio Visual Communication Prof (Dr.) HarishHirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI stated that the HospitalCare Assistive Robotic Device will be very effective forFrontline Healthcare Officials dealing with COVID 19patients in delivering services while maintaining mandatory Social Distancing”.Prof.Hirani further added thecost of the device is Less than 5 Lakhs and theWeight is less than 80 kgs.

Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device (HCARD)

SUCCESSFUL TRIAL OF 9000HPWAG-9HH LOCO AT 100KMPH

Contribution for PM CARES Fund

AAI(Kolkata) continued its support in crisis

ER FACILITATED DISMANTLINGOF TALA ROAD OVERBRIDGE

Central Bank of India initiative

ALREADY OVER 2.42 LAKH PEOPLE RECEIVEDFREE HYGIENIC MEALS

Message from Mr. K B Agarwala

Federation of Hosiery ManufacturersAssociation of India (FOHMA)

COAL INDIA CONTRIBUTES Rs. 221 CRORES TO“PM CARES FUND”TO FIGHT COVID19 PANDEMIC

369 TRIPS OF PARCEL EXPRESS TO ENSURE UNINTERRUPTEDSUPPLYOF ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES BY

SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Contribution of AAI(Kol) in this testing times

CORPORATE ASSOCIATE DIARY APPOINTMENTS, MOVEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS, HONOURSNOTICE BOARD

E V G E N T S , A N N O U N C E M E N T S , C S R I N I T I A T I V E S , A P P O I N T M E N T S , M O V E M E N T S , C E L E B R A T I O N S

Coal India has contributed an amount of Rs. 221 Crores to the “PM CARES FUND” to fight theCOVID19 pandemic in India.Employees of Coal India have voluntarily contributed one day’s salarywhich amounted to Rs.61 crores and CIL contributed an amount of Rs.160 crores from it’s CSR tothe ‘PM Cares Fund’.

Indian Railways,aptly called the 'Life Line ofThe Nation' is fighting against the Coronavirus pan-demic in different fields by adopting various measures including movement ofTimeTabled Parcel Ex-pressTrains and FreightTrains for maintaining uninterrupted supply of essential commodities toevery nook and corner of the country during nation-wide lockdown. As a part of commitment to thenation,South Eastern Railway during this nationwide lockdown has already geared up its entire net-work to runTimeTabled Parcel ExpressTrains towards different destinations in the country. SouthEastern Railway,during this national crisis,has already run 369 trips of Parcel ExpressTrains from 2ndto 26thApril, 2020 carrying essential commodities viz. food grains,medicines,medical equipmentsincluding PPEs, masks, sanitizer, coveralls & gloves, fish, egg, vegetables, grocery items, fruits,sugar,salt,betel leaves, fabrics,plastic goods,poly bundle,e-commerce items,machine parts, cottongoods etc. which amounts to 4,431.13 tonnes of parcel traffic containing 1,59,407 number ofpackages to different places in the country.These Parcel ExpressTrains will continue to run till 3rd May,2020.2020.

The dismantling of Tala Road Overbridge (ROB) over Railwaytrack has been completed on 27.4.2020. Situated between Tala &Bagbazar stations of Circular Railway, the ROB consisted of 08(eight) spans in Railway area. Each span of ROB was of 38 (thirtyeight) shallow PSC (Pre-Stressed Concrete) girders interlaced to-gether except span No. 07(seven), which was a RCC (ReinforcedCement Concrete) /Masonry structure.ER played a considerable role in dismantling of old Tala Bridge byState Government. It may be mentioned that, though the passen-ger services are presently suspended during this period of lock down,the goods & parcel express trains are being run by ER on 24x7 basisto maintain the supply chain of essential commodities all over thecountry. ER facilitated the dismantling work of the bridge with con-trolling the operation of freight trains by imposing traffic & powerblocks to suit the dismantling work.

ALREADY OVER 2.42 LAKH PEOPLERECEIVED FREE HYGIENIC MEALSARRANGED BY SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY

(PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, followingthe COVID-19 pandemic in India. The fund will be used forcombating, containment and relief efforts against the coron-avirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in thefuture. Over the years, North Eastern Development FinanceCorporation Ltd (NEDFi) a Development Financial Institutionof the North Eastern Region has been playing a pivotal role ofthe catalyst to the overall economic growth of the North East-ern part of India not only by rendering services to the financial

aspects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem but also through facilitating developmental activities through its CSRactivities .

Chittaranjan LocomotiveWorks (CLW) built 9000HP,WAG-9HH electric loco(locono-90002) has successfullypassed the Oscillation and EBDtrial by Research Design &Standard Organisation . RDSOhas issued final speed certifi-cate for operation ofWAG-9HH class of locomotives upto maximumspeed of 100kmph on Indian Railways track. Now, after obtainingstatutory CRS sanction,will be put in service.CLW produced this highpower locomotive on 21.12.2019 and trials were conducted between31.1.2020 to 26.02.2020 on Northern Railways.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an upheaval, which is unprecedented innature. It has upset everything, turning the economic scenario from boom to gloom Ithas become more challenging due to the fact that countries all over the globe arehaving to adapt multipronged approaches to contain this disease. We from FOHMAhave been representing to the various authorities about the difficulties being faced byour industry / trade due to this pandemic.While, our Government has been trying totake steps to mitigate the hardships – a lot more needs to be done to support ourfraternity in these extremely difficult times now. It goes without saying that extensiveeconomic losses are anticipated now and in the foreseeable future.

The superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, Public Works Department, Almora invites tender through E-Tendering (Single Bid System) on behalf of Honourable Governor of Uttarakhand for following works. Allother information will be available from dated 04.05.2020 & onwards on websitehttp://www.uktenders.gov.in

S.No.

Name of work Cost ofTender Form

EarnestMoney

(Rupee Inlakh)

Validityof Tender

Time ofCompletion

Contractor’sCategory of

Registration fortendering

1 Renewal work by PC in Km. 40 to 44 and 46to 51 of Lohaghat- Barakot - Simalkhet-Kaflikhan - Bhnoli Motor Road (Simalkhet-Kaflikhan Section) under Annual Maintance2020-21 in district Almora. Length 11.00 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.54 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

2 Renewal work by PC in Km. 1 to 3 and 6 to 11of Dwarahat - Asgoli Motor Road underAnnual Maintance 2020-21 in district Almora.Length 9.00 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.08 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

3 Renewal work by PC in Km, 5 to 10 of Kapkot- Pindari - Glacier Motor Road under - AnnualMaintance 2020-21 in district Bageshwar.Length 6.00 Km.

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

1.40 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “C” &above

(Road Works)

4 Renewal work by SDBC in Km. 1,2,9,10,11and 13 of Karnprayag (Simli) - Gwaldam -Bageshwar - Chokori- Thal- Munshyari-Jauljibi (Baijnath - Bageshwar Section) MotorRoad under Annual Maintance 2020-21 indistrict Bageshwar. Length 6.00 Km.

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

1.60 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “C” &above

(Road Works)

5 Renewal work by SDBC in Km. 69 (400M),72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79 and 81 of Almora-Baijnath- Gwaldam- Karnprayag (Baijnath-Gwaldam Section) Motor Road under AnnualMaintance 2020-21 in district Bageshwar.Length 7.40 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.70 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

Office of Superintending Engineer1st Circle PWD Almora

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING(E-Tendering) Short Term E-TENDER NOTICE

e-TENDER NOTICE FOR HOUSEKEEPING SERVICESNIT. No: 03 of 2020

For and on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Central University ofKashmir , e-tenders under two bid system are invited from registered/ Companies/ Agencies for providing Housekeeping services acrossdifferent campuses of the University at Ganderbal. The bids must besubmitted through e-tendering mode available on CPP Portal(www.eprocure.gov.in) from 01.05.2020 to 21.05.2020. The detailedtender document along with a link is available on University website(www.cukashmir.ac.in).The hard copy of the Technical bids alongwith Tender processing fee of Rs. 1,000/- (Non- Refundable) andEMD of Rs. 1,50,000 (Refundable), should reach the university on orbefore 22.05.2020 (04.00 P.M.) and the same should be addressedto the Registrar, Central University of Kashmir, Green Campus,Ganderbal 191131 (J&K). The tender fee and the EMD shall be paid/ deposited online or in the shape of DD, FDR, BG Pledged , toRegistrar, Central University of Kashmir / drawn from any national-ized bank payable at Ganderbal (J&K). In case of any clarification,the bidders can send their queries to estates@cukashmir.ac.in orcontact at 7006171124 / 9419022101.

Sd/- Officer Incharge EstatesCentral University of Kashmir

No.: CUK/Est/H-KEEPING/F.No.274/19/1097/HomeDate: 30.04.2020

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIRGreen Campus Ganderbal-191131

Tender Enquiry No.Work Description

Last Date & Timeof Bid Submission/Date and time ofOpening of bids

EstimatedCost/EMD

(Rs.)

Availabilityof Bid

Document

TATA Power-DDL invites tenders as per following details:May 01, 2020

RC for Supply of Polyolefin Sleeves 38 Lac /48K

TPDDL/ENGG/ENQ/200001217/20-2101.05.2020 21.05.2020;1600 Hrs/

21.05.2020;1630 HrsRfx 5000001695

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPURNo. NIT/2019-20/351-360 Date 29.04.2020

A»´fIYf»fe³f BÊX-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 396/19-20d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f ´fdS¹fûªf³ffAûÔ ´fS ´f±fI S ½fÀfc»fe WZ°fb BÊ-MZÔ dOdSa¦f ´fidIi ¹ff ÀfZ Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W` a:-

d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f d½f½fS¯f E½fa ÀfaVfû²f³f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in°f±ff http://roads.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊMhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W`Ü ¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIYY

IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f AfSXdÃf°f SXfdVf (÷Y.)

Collection of Toll Tax (From Private Vehicles ) Nasirabad-Kekri-Deoli Road for388 Days. UBN No.: RRC1920WSOB00834

354.94 Lac

Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf ´fi´fÂf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e A½fd²f dQ³ffaI 20.03.2020 ´fif°f: 09.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZ 05.05.2020 Àff¹fa 06.00 ¶fªfZ °fI

TRIPURA STATE ELECTRICITYCORPORATION LIMITED

(A Govt. of Tripura Enterprise)

Notice Inviting E-TenderAdditional General Manager (DP&C), TSECL, Agartalainvites e-tenders for the following items of works/ serviceson behalf of TSECL. Details of tenders will be available inwebsites http://tripuratenders.gov.in and www.tsecl.in.1. Selection of Implementation Partner for Supply,

Installation, Implementation, Configuration andIntegration of ERP system in TSECL, Tripura.

2. Engagement of PMC and related support forImplementation of ADB financed ‘Tripura Power SectorImprovement Program’.

3. Engagement of PMA and related support forImplementation of ADB financed ‘Tripura Power SectorImprovement Program’.

Sd/-Additional General Manager (DP&C)

Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd.

The superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, Public Works Department, Almora invites tender through E-Tendering (Two BidSystem) on behalf of Honourable Governor of Uttarakhand for following works. All other information will be available from dated04.05.2020 & onwards on website http://www.uktenders.gov.in

S.No.

Name of work Cost ofTenderForm

EarnestMoney

(Rupee Inlakh)

Validityof

Tender

Time ofCompletion

Contractor’sCategory ofRegistrationfor tendering

1 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Almora- Sharpathak Motor Road in Km. 1 to 15 (Length 15.00 Km.)(2) L.R. Saha Motor Road in Km. 1 to 3 (Length 2530 Km.)(3) Almora- Bageshwar Motor Road in Km. 1 to 6 district Almora.

Length 5.30 Km. (Length 5.30 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

7.00 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

2 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Suwakhan- Dhoram- Chalnichina Motor Road in Km. 1 to 12, 14

and 15 (Length 14.00 Km.)(2) Aartola- Jageshwar- Naini Motor Road in Km. 1 to 3 (Length 3.00

Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

4.20 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

3 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Bageshwar- Girechina- Someshwar- Dwarahat- Vimandeshwar-

Eira- Ranikhet Motor Road (Binta- Someshwar- GirechinaSection) in Km. 35 to 44 (Length 10 Km.)

(2) Koshi- Dolaghat- Korichina- Bagwalipokhar- Binta Motor RoadKm. 38 (Length. 0.65 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

3.85 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “B”& above

(Road Works)

4 Renewal work by SDBC in district Bageshwar under AnnualMaintenance 2020-21(1) Chandra Singh Sahi Motor Road (Bageshwar- Kapkot Motor

Road) in Km. 11 to 21 (Length. 11 Km.)(2) Kapkot- Pindari- Glacier Motor Road in Km. 1 to 4 (Length. 4 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

4.12 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

Office of Superintending Engineer1st Circle PWD Almora

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING (E-Tendering)Short Term E-TENDER NOTICE

With no shows oncards, magicianswait for a miracleSANTANUCHOWDHURYKOLKATA,APRIL30

MAGICIANSINWestBengalwerewitnessingavan-ishingactofscheduledshows.Withsocialdistanc-ing being the thumb rule during the nationwidelockdowntocontain thespreadof coronavirus,allmagicshowshadbeencancelledsinceApril.Magicianswerenowstruggling tokeep them-

selvesafloatandbelievedthat itwouldtakeoverayear togetbookings forregularshows.“I hadshows linedup inMayand June.All have

beencancelledaspublicgathering isnowbanned. IwasevensupposedtoperforminCanadaandJapan.Allshowshavenowbeenpostponed.Ifthiscontinues,thenitwillbedifficultformagicianstosurvive,”saidmagicianSubrataKumarMukherjee.Besidesbeingaprofessionalmagicianfornearly

26 years,Mukherjeewas also an advocate at theCalcuttaHighCourt.However, his secondsourceofincomealsobore thebruntof lockdown. “Even thecourtsareclosednow.Therearereportsthatthelock-downislikelytobeextended.Ifitdoes,thenIwillnotgetclientsaswell. Itfeelsliketheropeisbeingburntfrombothends,”saidMukherjee.The situationwas also grim for lesser-known

magicianswhoweretryingtoestablishthemselvesinthis field.ParthaRoy,48,wholivedinasingleroomonthe

terraceofathree-storeyhouseinCentralKolkata,saidhislifeasamagicianhadbeentoughduringthelock-down.“InAprilandMay,Ihad12showslinedup.EachshowwouldhavefetchedRs2,000. Iamnothopingtogetshowsbeforenextyear.Iwillurgethestategov-ernment to look into thepleasofmagicians, espe-ciallythesmallerones,"saidPartha,whoperformsinclubs,birthdaypartiesandfairs.ForbuddingmagicianArindamBhoumik,27,fo-

cusingonanalternative careerwas theonlyoptionnow. “Ihaveapart-time job inanengineeringcon-sultancy,whilebeingafull-timemagician.Sincelock-down,Ihavenotgotasinglecalltoperforminshows,”hesaid.Withuncertainty staringat them, thema-gicianswere now looking at theirmagicwands,hopingforsomemiracle tounfold.

SubrataMukherjee,amagicianfor26years,wasall smilesbefore the lockdown. Express

UTTARAKHANDDaily awardsfor civilians,policeDehradun: UttarakhandPolicewillfelicitateapolice-manandcivilian everydayfor contributing to theCOVID-19 fight. DG (LawandOrder) Ashok Kumarsaidpolicepersonnelwillbegiven cash awards whilecivilianswillgetcertificates.Meanwhile,thepolicehead-quartershasasked districtstodeploypersonnel above55years,whoaresaidtobemorevulnerable toCOVID-19,onlyinsideoffices.ENS

BENGALCops gave inbefore ‘lungibahini’Kolkata: The BJP Thursdayaccused the TMC govern-mentofturningBengalintoa “hub of anti-nationals”andclaimed that ithas lostthemoral right tocontinueinpowerafterpolicesurren-deredbeforeagroupofpeo-ple wearing ‘lungis’ thatwent on a rampage inHowrah.StateBJPpresidentDilipGhoshwasreferringtoTuesday’s mob attack onpolicemenwhoweretryingtoenforcelockdownnormsattheminority-dominatedTikiapara area of Howrahdistrict,aredzone.ENS

Over 30 lakhfreemeals byRailwaysNewDelhi: IndianRailwaysdistributednearly 30 lakhfreemealstostrandedpeo-ple at 300 locations acrossthe country untilWedne-sday,10lakhofthosedistrib-uted in the last 10days, ac-cordingtoastatementfromtheRailwaysMinistry. TheRailwaysbegandistributinghot,cookedmealsintheaf-ternoonoutside its stationsandelsewhere fromMarch28. “Distributionof food isbeingdonewithhelpofRPF,GRP, commercial depart-ments of zones, state gov-ernments,districtadminis-trations and NGOs,” theministrystated. ENS

CORONAWATCH

AconstructionsiteinLucknowonThursday.Vishal Srivastav

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK Nation

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

KAMALDEEPSINGHBRAR,NAVJEEVANGOPAL&PARTHASARATHIBISWASAMRITSAR,CHANDIGARH,PUNE,APRIL30

CONFIRMING theworst fears ofthePunjabgovernment,thenum-ber of coronavirus cases amongthepilgrimswhoreturnedtothestate from Nanded inMaharashtraoverthepastcoupleof dayshasnowreached183,ac-counting for 33.7 per cent of thetotalCOVID-19casesinPunjab.With 149 pilgrims testing

positiveThursday, thestate sawitsbiggestone-dayspikeincoro-navirus cases, of 167, taking itstotal to542.Over 4,000 pilgrims from

Punjab were stuck in NandedsinceMarch.Thereareapprehen-sionsof aTablighi Jamaatkindofsituation,with a similar numberat one of its gatherings inDelhileading tohundredsof casesandcontact-tracingacrossmorethan15states.Akal Takht chief Giani

Harpreet Singh expressed con-cern on Thursday that the pil-grimswerebeingtargeted.“Iamafraid that the Sikhpilgrims arebeingvilifiedinthesamewayaswere Tablighi Jamaat followers.Itseemsthattheentirecommu-nity isbeing targeted.”Test reports of 577 pilgrims,

out of the 3,525 who have re-turned to Punjab, have beenreceived.TheNanded administration

onThursdaysaiditwouldconducttestsonallthepilgrimsremainingthere, plus the priests and se-vadars at local gurdwaras.Nanded-Waghala MunicipalCorporationCommissionerSunil

Lahane said almost all devoteesfromPunjabhaveleft.“WeareleftwithpilgrimsfromHaryana,UttarPradeshandMadhyaPradesh.AllthedriversreturningfromPunjab(afterdroppingthepilgrims)willalsobetested.”The pilgrimswho had been

staying in accommodationsarrangedbythegurdwarashiredeither private vehicles or tookbuses organised by the Punjabgovernment and the gurdwaraadministrationstoreturn.Overthepastfewdays,apart

fromthepilgrimsfromNanded,153 students from Kota and3,085 labourers from Jaisalmerin Rajasthan, have returned toPunjab.The149pilgrimswho tested

positive Thursday belong toAmritsar (76), Ludhiana (38),Mohali (10), Tarn Taran (7),Kapurthala (6), Gurdaspur (3),

Ropar (2), Sangrur (2) andNawanshahr, Jalandhar, Patiala,FerozepurandMoga(1each).Punjab,with21of its 22dis-

tricts reporting coronaviruscases (the only exception isFazilka), has so far tested21,205people, and seen 20 deaths and104recoveries.SGPCpresidentGobindSingh

Longowal Thursday asked thePunjabgovernment tousegurd-wara inns to quarantine the pil-grims,insteadofderasasplanned.“Wehaveeverythingreadyingur-dwaras.Wewill make the pil-grimsfeelathome,”hesaid.Urgingthatthepilgrimsnotbe

vilified,Longowalsaid,“Theywerestuckformorethanamonthandit was essential to bring themback. Some people aremakinghate comments on socialmediaagainst thepilgrims... Theyhavebeenfollowingalltheinstructionsfrom the first day.What is theirmistake if some of them havetestedpositiveforCOVID-19aftertakingalltheprecautions?”Back inNanded, authorities

have sealed thepremiseswherethepilgrimsstayed,withDistrictCollectorVipin Itankar assertingthattheyhadscreenedeverybodybeforetheyboardedthebusesforPunjab. “The pilgrims were inNanded for one-and-a-halfmonths and none of themhadshownanysymptoms,”hesaid.The district authorities said

the pilgrimsmight have pickedup the infection on theway, astheyhadpassedthroughhotspotzones like Indore in MadhyaPradesh and Bhilwara inRajasthan, and pointed out thatthedriverofoneofthebuseshadalso testedpositive.Nanded so far has only three

casesofcoronavirus.

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA&ASTHASAXENAMUMBAI,NEWDELHI, APRIL30

FOLLOWINGAspateofincidentsof patients being refused treat-ment,mostlyinprivatehospitals,at least two state governments,Maharashtra andDelhi, have is-sued orders warning of actionagainsthospitals that turnawaypatients,COVIDornon-COVID.WhileDelhionThursdayre-

iterateditsearlierorder—thisisthe third such by the state gov-ernment— andwarned of can-cellationofregistrationoferringhospitals,Maharashtra said “nopatientistobeturnedaway...un-der any circumstance”, failingwhich action would be takenunder the Epidemic DiseasesAct, 1897.TheDelhigovernmentorder

said, “All hospitals/clinics, espe-ciallythoseinprivatesectors,areherebydirected to remain func-tional and ensure that anyoneneeding any essential criticalservices,includingdialysis,bloodtransfusion, chemotherapy andinstitutionaldeliveries,isnotde-nied such service. Non-compli-ance will be viewed seriouslyand action as per provisions oflaw, including cancellation ofregistrationofthedefaulterhos-pital/nursinghome,willbeiniti-atedwithout furthernotice”.Sources said the Delhi gov-

ernment had received com-plaints against two hospitalsthat have been insisting on aCOVID-19 test report beforetreating patients. “We are look-ingintotheallegations.Theirac-tions can lead to cancellation oftheirregistrationif thesituationdoesn’t improve inthenext fewdays,”saidaseniorDelhigovern-

mentofficial.Maharashtra’s order comes

days after the BrihanmumbaiMunicipalCorporation(BMC)is-sued two circulars inMumbai,one to nursing homes and pri-vate doctors to restart practiceimmediately, and the second toprivatehospitalstonotsealtheirfacilitiesandcontinuefunction-ingwithprecautionswhilehan-dlingCOVID-19patients.Noting that “in view of in-

creasing number of COVID-19positive patients that govern-ment, municipal and privatehospitals are either refusing ordelaying treatment/admissionof the patients causing delay intreatment and holding ambu-lances for long time”, the ordersaidhospitalsshouldhavestan-dard operating protocol toscreen, transfer, admit and dis-chargepatients.MaharashtraChiefSecretary

Ajoy Mehta invoked theEpidemicAct toaskhospitals tohave a screening area for pa-tients fromMay 2 and create asystemoftriagetosegregatesus-pected COVID patients fromotherpatients.Theorder askedhospitals to

test suspected cases “on prior-ity”andseektestreportswithin12 hours. Saying that the orderwill come into effect fromMay2, an official said the govern-mentwouldgivehospitals timetosetup infrastructureover thenext twodays.The Thursday order man-

dates that each patient be pro-videdauniqueIDbeforeadmis-sion. The hospitals have beenasked to shift bodies of COVID-19 patients within 30minutesfrom the ward and decongesttheirpremisesbydivertingmildorasymptomaticcasestoCOVIDcarecentres.

InMarchandApril, BMChaddeclaredatleast10privatehospi-tals as containment zones— im-plyingnonewpatientcouldbead-mittedandnoconsultationwouldbecarried—after staffers startedtestingpositive. The corporationlaterrealisedsealingprivatehospi-talswasnot a solution to controlthespreadofthedisease.OnApril18, itaskedwardof-

ficerstodisinfectaffectedwardsinhospitalsifapositivecasewasdetected and advised hospitalsto provide PPEs to staffers andcontinueessentialservices.Itad-vised hospitals to have 50 percent of staff at a time to avoidcrowding. On April 23, privateclinics were instructed to startoperations immediately, andprovidetreatmenttonon-COVIDpatients,speciallythosewithhy-pertension, diabetes, andchronic obstructive pulmonarydistress.

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,APRIL30

ONLYGERMANYhadconductedmoreteststhanIndiabythetimeitreached1,000COVID-19deaths.And, at the 1,000-deathmark,India’s ratio of positive cases toconducted tests (positivity rate)wasthelowestofallcountries.Thiswas foundby The Indian

Express analysis of data fromtheOxford University and GlobalChange Data Lab dashboard,calledOurWorldinData.Thepor-talfeedsintestingnumbersfromindividual government reports.Mortality numbers also comefromgovernmentreports,viathe

European Center for DiseasePrevention and Control (ECDC)database.According to the analysis, 18

countries have hadmore than1,000COVID-19deaths.TheyareGermany, India, United States,Canada, Switzerland, Ireland,United Kingdom, France, Italy,Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium,Mexico,Iran,andTurkey,inorderof highest to lowest number oftests done when the countryreached this stage. Therewasnotesting data available for Brazil,China,andSpain.At the juncture of 1,000

deaths, the total case loadwashigherinGermany,theUS,TurkeyandChina.Thismeansthatthose

countries had a smaller propor-tion of their cases dying. Theirmortalityratespercentwere1.3,1.5,2.1and2.4,respectively.India’scurrentmortality rate is roughly

3percent.Nine countries worldwide

have conducted more than7,50,000tests,anumberIndiasur-passed onWednesday. At this

stage, only Russia andGermanyhad reported fewer deaths, andonly Russia had reported fewercases.TheUK,Italy,Spain,Canada,TurkeyandtheUSallhadsignifi-cantlyhigherdeathsthanIndiaonthedaytheyconductedjustover7,50,000tests.However, when it comes to

comparisonswithothercountrieswhentheywereatIndia’scurrentcaseload, India’s positioningslumps slightly.Whencountrieshittheir32,000casemark,sixhadfewer deaths than India (Peru,China, Turkey, US, Russia andGermany)whileninehadhigherdeaths. Three countries hadhighertestingatthispoint(Russia,France andGermany),while no

datawasavailableforSpain, Iran,ChinaandBrazil.Even though India’s death

count remains relatively low, therateofincreaseindeathsisnowrel-ativelyhigh.COVID-19deaths inIndiaarenowdoublingfasterthanthe current rate in Italy, US,Germany,UK,Israel,IranandSpain.India currently doubles deathnumbers every 11 days, on parwithTurkey,CanadaandPakistan.Theglobaldeathcountisdoublingevery 17 days, according to theWorldinDatadashboard.Testing,deathsandrecoveries

have varying definitions acrosstheworld,andthereforemaylimitcomparisons.Inanothertrend,recoveriesin

Indiaforthepasttwoweekshavenotbeenasuniformastheywereduring the first twomonths ofcases.InitiallyIndiasawalmostallitscasesrecoveringintwoweeks.Currentrecoverynumbersarenolongerasclosely trailing thecaseloadfromtwoweeksago.Whenaddingdeaths (with a

14-day lag), the gap betweencasesand“completed” (deathorrecovery)numbers still remains.Thus,thismostlikelymeansthatinfectionperiodsare longer thantheyusedtobe,statisticalexpertstold The Indian Express. Somelikelypossibilitiesarethatrecov-eriesare taking longeror that in-fections are being diagnosedsooner.

At 1,000 deaths, only Germany had conducted more tests than IndiaTESTSCONDUCTEDAT 1,000DEATHS

1500000

1000000

500000

0

Tests

Germany

India

United

States

Canada

Switzerland

Ireland

United

Kingdom

France

Italy

13,70,655

7,70,764

5,59,468

4,01,552

2,11,400

1,53,054

1,27,737

1,07,546

97,488

JOHNSONTABENGALURU,APRIL30

AGROWINGnumber of peopleturning up in hospitals withSevere Acute RespiratoryInfection (SARI) and then testingpositiveforthecoronavirus,withseeminglynohistoryof travel orcontactwithCOVID-19patients,has becomea source of concernforHealthofficialsinKarnataka.According todaily state data,

36persons reported inhospitalswithSARIandlatertestedpositiveforCOVID-19overthelastmonth—making up asmuch as sevenpercentofthe525casesreportedinthestate,including10ofthe21deaths.Thishasledtotheclosureofas

manyasfivehospitalsinthestate,fear among non-COVID-desig-natedhospitals toattend toSARIcases, and theuse of PPE kits byhealthworkersattendingtoSARIcasesinCOVIDhospitals.AftertheICMRexpandedtest-

ingtoSARIpatientsonMarch20,astate-leveltechnicalexpertcom-mittee stated that “SevereAcuteRespiratory Illness (SARI) casesand Influenza Like Illnesses (ILI),whichhavegotsimilarsymptomsof COVID-l9, shouldbe screenedat the initial stagesof symptomsso thatmorbidity andmortalitydue toCOVID-19canbearrestedinthecommunity’’.As of April 29, therewere six

casesofILI(1percent)withposi-tiveresultsapartfromthe36SARIcasesinKarnataka.Amongtherecent suchcases

include a 65-year-oldmanwhodiedintheSARIwardof theRajivGandhiInstituteofChestDiseasesonApril13anda54-year-oldmi-grant worker from Bihar whotestedpositiveonApril22.Asmanyas30personslinked

totheworkerhavetestedpositiveandoneprivate hospital,wherehewas initially seenbydoctors,has been sealed alongwith theHongasandra locality inBengaluru, where he lived. Asmany as four other hospitalsaround Karnataka have beensealed after SARI cases turnedCOVID-19positive.“TheSARIcasesareprovingto

beverytricky.Alotofhospitalsareturning awaypatients to desig-nated COVID-19 hospitals.WecreatedaSARIwardonMarch27apprehending such a situation.OurhealthworkersareusingPPEkitsintheSARIwardasaprecau-

tiontopreventinfection,’’saidDrCNagaraja, director of the RajivGandhiInstituteofChestDiseasesin Bengaluru, one of the desig-natedCOVID-19hospitals.“The number of SARI cases

withnotravelhistoryorreportedcontactswith positive personssuggests that there is some levelof community transmission oc-curringinthestate,’’saidaseniordoctorinthestatehealthandfam-ilywelfaredepartment.But others dealing directly

withSARIcasessuggestthatalackof in-depth investigationof con-tacts of persons creates an im-pression of community spread.“There is no community trans-missionhappening. ThepersonswhocomewithSARI to thehos-pital andtestpositive forCOVID-19havehadcontactswithan in-fectedpersonbuttheyfailtorecallthe contact or report it whenbrought for admission,’’ saidDrNagaraja.ThenumbersofSARIcasesre-

turning positive results inKarnatakaisinexcessofwhathasbeen found nationally by theICMR COVID Group and re-searchersattheCouncil’sNationalInstituteofEpidemiology(NIE)inastudypublishedonApril28.“A total of 104 (1.8%) of 5,911

SARIpatientstestedwerepositivefor COVID-19. These caseswerereported from52districts in 20States/Union Territories. TheCOVID-19positivitywas higher

amongmales andpatients agedabove50years. In all, 40 (39.2%)COVID-19casesdidnotreportanyhistory of contactwith a knowncase or international travel,’’ thestudybyDrManojMurhekar,theNIEdirector andothers reportedin findingspublishedTuesday inthe Indian Journal of MedicalResearch.The study used SARI and

COVID-19casedatafromFebruary15toApril2fortheanalysiscover-ingaperiodwhenSARIcaseswerenot being tested (February15 toMarch20) and theperiodwhentheywerebeingtested.“Amongthe965SARIpatient

samples thatwere tested retro-spectivelybetweenFebruary15-29, 2020, andMarch 19, 2020,two (0.2%) were positive forCOVID-19.WhentheCOVIDtest-ingstrategywasexpandedtoin-clude all SARI patients, a total of4,946samplesyielded102(2.1%)cases. The positivity increasedfromzeroduringtheinitialweeksto2.6percentinthe14thweek,”thestudyreported.Thestudyshowedapositivity

rateof1.6percentforGujarat,0.9per cent for Tamil Nadu, 3.8 percent forMaharashtraand0.2percent forKerala— the states fromwhere themajority of sampleswere taken. It suggested that“containmentactivitiesneedtobetargeted in districts reportingCOVID-19 cases amongSARIpa-tients”.

In Karnataka, worry over spurt incorona cases among SARI patients

Karnataka panelsuggests Fauci’s‘promising’ drugBengaluru: Anti-viral drugRemdesivir, which according toUS National Institute of AllergyandInfectiousDiseasesdirectorDr Anthony Fauci has shown“clear” evidence of helpingCOVID-19 patients recover, isamong three treatmentoptionsrecommendedbyatechnicalex-pert committee for trial amongpatients in Karnataka.Remdesivir,producedbyUSfirmGileadSciences,costsaroundRs70,000 per dose in India. “Werecommended Remdesivir; ananti-infection drug calledSepsivac that can control cy-tokinestormreportedinCOVID-19 cases; and plasma therapy,which has received ICMR ap-proval fortrials inmanyplaces,”said Dr Sacchidanand, V-C ofRajiv Gandhi University ofHealthSciencesandheadof theexpertpanel.Therecommendationforuse

of Remdesivir on coronaviruspatients in Karnataka, whichcame before the study resultswere declared in the US onWednesday, was made on thebasis of findings from smallerstudies, published in ‘NewEnglandJournalofMedicine’onApril 10. ENS

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,APRIL30

OVERAhundredmigrantwork-ers fromBengalhit thestreets inKerala’sMalappuramdistrictde-mandingthattheybesenthome.Theworkerswere dispersed bythepolicewhoforcedthemtore-turntotheirrentedaccommoda-tions inChettiparambavillage.Meanwhile, CM Pinarayi

Vijayan said, “The (Centre’s) di-rection is that they should besentbackbybus. ButKeralahasinformed the Centre that direc-tive is impractical and theRailways should be asked toarrangenon-stoptrains,’’hesaid.The Chief Minister said that

around3.6lakhmigrantworkershave been living in Kerala sincethe lockdownwas announced,adding that taking themtotheirhome states by bus would in-creasethechancesof infection.Asthesituationforthereturn

of migration workers to theirhomestatesisevolving,therearechancesof tension,Vijayansaid.According to Malappuram

Deputy SP Jaleel Thottathil, themigrantworkers had protestedafterhearingaboutstrandedstu-dentsbeing takenback.

Migrantworkers fromPunjabtalk toofficialsoutsidetheBengalurudistrictcollector’sofficeto travelhome,onThursday. PTI

Punjab: 183Nandedpilgrims test positive,vilification fears rise

As migrantsprotest inKerala, CM saysCentre’s moveimpractical

PilgrimswhoreturnedfromNandedataquarantinefacility inLudhiana.

GurmeetSingh

Make sure no patient is turned away:Delhi, Maharashtra to private hospitals

Gujarat: UP migrants skipmeals, want to return home

Don’t walk, planning yourreturn: Yogi to migrants

AISHWARYAMOHANTYVADODARA,APRIL30

“WEARE ready to die of starva-tion,” says ShivamKumar, ami-grantworker at a relief camp inVadodara. Kumar is among sev-eralworkersfromUPwhorefusedmeals Thursday to register theirprotest. They have only one de-mand:tobesenthome.Kumar(18)setoff forUPfrom

Vadodarawith nine others, butwasbroughttothiscamponMar-ch28. “It has been amonth and

two days...we cannot handle itanymore.Iwanttogobackandseemymother,”Kumarsays.OnThu-rsday, police announced over aloudspeakerthattheywillbesenthomeandshouldnotskipmeals.The administration awaits

confirmation from respectivestate governments to sendbackthelabourers.“Thereareprotocolstobefollowed.Therehasbeennoconfirmation fromUPandBihar.As soon aswe receive it,wewillsend themback,” saidVadodaraMunicipal CorporationCommissionerNalinUpadhyay.

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,APRIL30

EVENAS nearly 3,000migrantlabourerswereontheirwaytothestate in100buses fromMadhyaPradeshonThursday,andprepara-tionsareontobringbackmigrantworkers from Gujarat,UttarakhandandRajasthan,UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanathurged themtobepa-tientandnotstartwalkinghome.“Itisanappealtoallworkersto

show patience, like they haveshowntillnow,andnottowalkonfoot. Contact governmentsof therespective states. Aplan is being

preparedtobringyoubacksafelyafter discussionswith the stategovernments,”Adityanathsaidonsocialmedia.Additional Chief Secretary

(Home) AwanishAwasthi said:“Today, buses from MadhyaPradeshhavestartedbringingpeo-ple. About 3,000 people in 100buses have leftMP,while those,whobelongtoMParebeingsentin40buses.”Adityanath askedofficials to

preparequarantinecentres, shel-ter homes and communitykitchens for the returningwork-ers.Hisofficealsoputoutnames,phone numbers and email ad-dressesofnodalofficers.

6WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOING HOMECentre’sdecisiontoallowmigrants toreturnhomeis

welcome.Their safetyanddignity is thestate’s responsibility

MORETHANAmonthafterthenationwidelockdowndriedupthesourcesof livelihood formigrantworkers in different parts of the country, theUnionHomeMinistryhaspassedanorderallowingtheinter-statemove-ment of theseworkers. By all accounts, most of themhave spent the

past fiveweeks in overcrowded shelters arranged by state governments, civil societygroupsoremployers.Thedecisiontoallowthemtoreturnhome,thoughbelated, iswel-come.TheCentrehasalsodonewelltodirectstatestoensurethatthehomecomingoftheworkershappens incontrolledconditions: “Onlyasymptomaticpeoplewill beallowedto travel, and a second assessment of their healthwill be conducted after they arrive attheir homestates”. Stateshavebeenasked todevelopprotocols for receiving and send-ingstrandedpersons.Theonusisnowonthemtodrawplanstofacilitatetheirsafereturn.Amajority of themigrantworkers hail fromRajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,West

Bengal, JharkhandandOdisha. ThesestateshaveavaryingCOVID-19burden.RajasthanandUttarPradeshhavemorethan2,000caseswhilethestatesintheeasthaveacompar-ativelylowincidenceof thedisease,though,asareportinthispapershows,WestBengal,BiharandJharkhandareshowingsignsofbecomingpotentialhotspots.Thereturnofmi-grants couldposemore challenges to these states. But that is a responsibility for the re-spectivegovernmentstoaddress—notaburdentobeshoulderedbythereturningwork-ers alone. The local authorities must reach out to themigrants to conduct periodicassessments of their health—as required by thehomeministry’s guidelines—and thestategovernmentsmustbe readywithquarantine facilitieswhere, if required, theycanbe isolated inadignifiedmanner. Thehumanitarian case for thesemeasures is evident.But, as formerchief economicadviserArvindSubramanianunderlinedatane-addaor-ganisedby this paper onTuesday, there is also economic sense in facilitating the exit ofworkers.Migrantworkerswill return toworkonlywhentheyareassured that, in timesof crisis, theycangobackeasilyandsafely to thesanctuaryof theirvillages.TheCOVID-19pandemichasbaredtheprecariousexistenceof at leasta100-million

people,manyof themmigrants,whoworkinfactories,buildroadsandhouses,pullrick-shawsandoperatetheinformaleconomy.Theyliveinsqualorinshanties—evenonpave-ments of the cities they serve—without regular supplies of potablewater andelectric-ity. Many of them do not have proof of domicile in the places theywork, cannot get aration card and thus remain out of the ambit of the public distribution system. In ruralIndia, theMGNREGA, thePMKisanYojana andcrop insurance schemesprovide a sem-blanceof reliefduringdistress.But incitiesmigrantworkersdonothaveeventhismod-icum of social security.Without social safety nets for suchworkers, thewheels of theeconomycouldstop turning. That’sone important lessonof thispandemic.

END THE UNCERTAINTYGovernorKoshyarihasurgedECtoholdelection inwhichMaharashtraCMwillbecandidate.ECmustactwithoutdelay

INTHEMIDSTof thepandemic,Maharashtraisstaringatabuildingpoliticalcrisis.Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeraywill have to vacate his office if he fails to getelected or nominated to the state legislative assembly or council beforeMay 27.ThackeraywassworninonNovember28lastyear,andasperthelaw,mustbecome

amemberof theHousewithinsixmonths, inthiscase,beforeMay27.SincetheElectionCommission has deferred all elections, including to nine legislative council seats inMaharashtra, in thewakeof theCOVIDoutbreak, the rulingcoalitionhasproposed thatGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari nominate Thackeray to a vacant seat in the legislativecouncil. The governor has been silent on the proposal, though the state cabinetmade aformalrecommendation, firstonApril9andthen,onApril27.OnThursday,however,herequestedtheECtodeclareelectionstotheninelegislativecouncilseats“attheearliest”.It is important that aprolongedpolitical impasse is avoided ina state inwhichCOVID istakingahighandmounting toll. At the same time, it is also imperative that a solution isfoundonly throughdueprocess, andnotby short circuiting it, orby settingaprecedentthat could return tohaunt, andbemisused.ThemainoppositionpartyinMaharashtra,theBJP,hasarguedthatThackeray’snom-

inationtothelegislativecouncilwouldbeinviolationof theRepresentationof thePeopleAct. TheRPAmandates that a vacant seat be filled only if the remainder of the termex-tendstoatleastayear-thetermoftheseatproposedforThackerayendsinJune.However,someconstitutional expertshavearguedthat thecited lawappliesonly toby-elections,andnotnominations. It is for the courts to clarify the law.But a resolution -whetherbythenominationroute,ortheholdingofelection-needstobereachedquickly,takingintoaccountthecontext,whileadheringtodueprocess. If theCOVIDcrisishadnotunfolded,itwouldnotbewrong to say that, given the rulingMahaVikasAghadi’s numbers in theassembly, Thackeray’s election to the legislativecouncilwasa fait accompli.The Election Commission could find away of holding the deferred elections to the

ninecouncilseats inMaharashtraimmediately.Theremaybelogistical issuesduetotheCOVIDrestrictions,but theECcouldexplore innovativesolutions.Elections to thecoun-cilrequireonlytheMLAstovoteandpollingcouldbeheldwithoutmakingthemcongre-gate in theHouse.Most importantly, all the stakeholdersmust avoid the temptation topoliticiseorprolong theuncertainty.

LOVELY LOVERRishiKapoorwasoldBollywood,buthewasalsocracklinglyfresh, spoketoan India tremblingonthecuspof anewera

SOMEPEOPLEAREdestinedtobestars.RishiKapoor,whopassedawayThursdaymorning at 67,was one such. Hewas a Kapoor, grandson of Prithviraj, son ofRanbirRaj, andpartof theFirstFamilyofHindicinema.Prithvirajwasa truepi-oneer,whoforgedasolidfoundationforKapoor&Sons.Rajwasayoungmanin

ayoungnation,andbothinhisactinganddirectorialchoicescementedtheideaofIndia.MerajootahaiJapani,hesang,yehpatloonInglistani,sarparlaaltopiRoosi,phirbhidilhaiHindustani.Allthroughhisbusyactingcareer,froma“childstar”toaveteran,RishiKapoorborethat

legacywell,whilecreatinganindeliblenicheofhisown,whichhekeptexpanding.Itallbe-ganwiththestupendoussuccessofBobby,ayouthfullovestorymadein1973,byRajKapoor.ItgaveHindicinemaabrandnewlover,andabrandnewwayofromancing.Theaudience,usedto thestaidwaysof theolder triumvirateofRajKapoor-DevAnand-RajendraKumarhadalreadybeenshakenbytheboisterousnessofShammiKapoor,andtakeninbytheboy-next-doorappealofRajeshKhanna.RishiKapoorwasoldBollywood,sure,buthewasalsocracklinglyfresh,andspoketoanIndiatremblingonthecuspofanewera.Alltheworldlovesalover,andRishiKapoorwasagreatone.Hesmiledathislady-love,

dancedaroundfountains,andsangsoulfulsongs.Thathewas capableofmuchmorewasevidentintherolesheessayedinlight-weightcapers,heavy-handedsocialdramas,roman-tic comedies, soppy love stories.Hewas also capable of restraint, as evident inhismuch-ahead-of-their-timesseriousromances.OneofhislastfilmswasAnubhavSinha’sMulk, inwhichhischaracter,amiddle-agedMuslimlawyer,soundedthegongforanIndiathatbe-longstousall,andtheimportanceof loveandcompassion.Acredotolive,anddie,by.

Pratap BhanuMehta

Kunal Ray

Lossofagreatartistehelpsinunderstandingthelossanydeathrepresents:Of individuality,ofauniquepossibility

HE WAITED AND WONIrrfanstruggledbeforehemadeit.That’swhatmadehimsuchagoodactor

DEATHHASMANYfaces.But ithasonlyonetruth. It represents an irrevocable loss ofvalue.Wearetoldinmostphilosophicalandreligious texts about its inevitability, itscertainty, its place in an order where allthingsaretransitory.TheGitaenjoinsusnotto grieve for what is inevitable. But this isjust a metaphysical fact, and, like manymetaphysical facts, does not capture thetruth. The truth is that even in theMahabharata no one quite believes theGita’s injunctions. Not a single charactermanages toabsolve themselvesof thepainof loss:Theentiredramaispropelledbylossand grief, not by the cold comfort ofKrishna’s metaphysics. It may not be ra-tional to fight the inevitable. But that isnotan argument that death is not loss.Philosophers have debated to death

whatkindof lossdeathrepresents.Andforwhom. The person dying or those left be-hind? A whole tradition, from Socrates toMontaigne, is devoted to preparing us forthe good death. ForMontaigne, “premedi-tation of death is a premeditation of free-dom”: Somehow knowing how to die lib-erates us from subjection and constraint.But even the composed Montaigne, whothought contemplating death made lifemore vivid andmeaningful, could not eas-ily reconcile to thedeathofhisbrilliant32-year-old friend, theyoungLaBoetie,authorof The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, ananalysisof thehypnosistyrantscanproduceintheirsubjects.Thefact thatLaBoetiewasonly32whenhediedmadethegriefharder,even in an agewheredying youngwasnotrare. Copingwith theprospectof someoneelse’s death is, in most cases, harder thancontemplating your own.There is, of course, another distinction

tobemade. Justas the inevitabilityofdeathisnotananswer to thequestionof loss, thequestion of loss is not the same as that ofgrief or attachment. The question of grief,howonecopeswith the factof loss, isadif-ferentquestionaltogether,andperhapsthemostdeeply subjective one.Different peo-plereact tothesamelossdifferently.Whichis why the answer to the question of griefcannot be a philosophical or theological

one. It has be about knowing the persongrieving. Inthissense,mostofoursermonsat death are beside the point. They can, atmost,affirmcertainpublictruths;theycan-not address thepain of loss.Thedeathofanincandescentartiste like

Irrfan,atanagemuchtooyoungforourera,is a tragic loss. The philosopher ThomasNagel, inMortal Questions, asked why theloss of the young seemsmore tragic thanthelossof theold:Keats’sdeathat24seemsmoretragic thanTolstoy’sat80. Inpart, thishas to do with the sense of unrealisedpossibilities.Keatswasdeprivedofyears tolive that come before Death becomes in-evitable.ButNagelhadwarned,rightly, thatthisdoesnotmeanTolstoy’sdeathwasnotalsoan insignificant loss. But the senseof adeathbeingprematureaddstoboththelossinvolved and the possible grief associatedwith it.But what is the loss we mourn, espe-

cially in the case of a brilliant genius likeIrrfan, who attained the pinnacle of whatart could achieve? He leaves a void in thisworld. Inpart, thesenseof loss thataccom-panies every artiste is the sense of their ir-replaceability.Theyare, insomedeepsense,unique. But it is also a uniqueness thattouches everyone. It is universal. Whatmakes it universal is that its achievementand value is something all of us can ac-knowledge. It lifts us out of our egotismsand narcissisms to give a glimpse of whatartistic excellence looks like.We regret hispassing early since the magnitude of hisachievement makes you wonder whatother possibilitiesmight havebeen.But the loss representedby the loss of a

greatartiste is insomesensesthekeytoun-derstanding the loss anydeath represents:The loss of individuality — being a uniquelocus of value in the world. Even at a lesspublicly recognised scale, anydeath extin-guishes somany possible futures for indi-viduals.Wemaynotbeunique in theartis-tic gifts that we possess. Not all of us areKeats or Tolstoy or Irrfan. But in the circlethat has been formed by our life histories,we end up shaping the world in a uniqueway.Death is anobjective loss.

But, inpart,whatconfersvalueonlife isrecognition.Artistes, insomesense,exposethemselves to a kind of universal judge-ment.Theyarerecognised,andtheir loss isinstantlyfeltbecausetheyaresouniversallyrecognised. But what confers value on thesmall arts of life, the quotidian quirks thatmakeuswhoweare, is the fact that some-one recognises them, even if only in smalland intimatecircles.AsAdamSmithknew,the greatest ignominy that can befall hu-man beings is not death, it is not havingtheir life acknowledged at all. That iswhatmakes it devoid of value.This is amomentatwhichdeath seems

somuchtobeinthepublicair.Eventhoughdeath is inevitable,modernityhas thecon-ceit that it can at least try and defeat it forsomeof the time. Death is not just ameta-physical event. Its course is somewhat de-termined by science and by sociology, byformsof collectiveorganisationthatdeter-mine who lives and who dies. We are de-bating the value of the lives of the old ver-sus the lives of the young. But we are alsodebating, insomeways, twoapproachestothevalueof life.Onethat looksat it inpurelystatistical terms:Where the value of eachlife can be offset by the value of another.Statistics becomes our newmetaphysics.Orwecanlookat it inartistic terms:Whereeachlife isasourceofunique, incomparablepossibility. Each death is, in its ownway, aloss thatcannotbemadeup.Everytimewedeprive the poor and all those we makeinvisible, of their sense of possibility, weinflict this loss on ourselves. Deprivingpeople of possibility is akin to deprivingthemof life.There is no absolution for grief.

Sometimes death has an inevitability.Sometimes hard choices have to bemade.Montaignecopedwiththe lossof LaBoetieby incorporating his work, a scepticism oftyranny, into his own. This was as if to say,thevery thing thatmakesus seedeathas aloss should lead us to affirm life in all itspossibilities.

Thewriter is contributing editor,The IndianExpress

IT ISDIFFICULT towrite anactor’s obituarywhen everything youmightwant to say isalready in the public domain. It becomesevenmoredifficultwhentheactor inques-tion issomeonelike IrrfanKhan,araregemin the history of Hindi cinema, a so-calledsupporting actor who rose tomainstreamstardom,andplayed leadroles incommer-cially successful films like Hindi Medium(2017)andPiku (2015).Perhaps,only Irrfancouldhavedone that.Hecreatedapath forothers to follow — a path cemented withsheerhardwork, relentlessstruggleandre-doubtable performances.A constant element to bemoan is the

strangeway inwhichstardomfunctions inBollywood,wheregoodlooksarethedefin-itive markers of a star; wheremere actingprowess might make you a good support-ing actor, at best. Irrfan could breach thatformulaic construct.His beginnings were far from comfort-

able. His struggle for recognition could in-spire a film script. Many serials, art-housefilms,yearsofunendingstruggle intheun-sparingmetropolis that isMumbai and, fi-nally, things began to change for this actorwithHaasil (2003)whereheplayed aneg-ative role.If you look at Irrfan’s body of work,

whichspansstudentdiplomafilmsandtel-

evisionserialsamongstotherthings, it is in-dicative of the most important thing thatactorswithoutapedigreehavehadto learninordertosurviveMumbai:Towait.Theartof waiting makes for a good teacher,perhaps.Maybe, it is this act of waiting that fur-

ther magnified his performances. He gaveeverything tohison-screenportrayals thatall those years of waiting had taught him.Of course, lestweforget,behindthesuccessof one IrrfanKhan, there still aremanysto-ries of failure — forever lost in the boule-vards ofMumbai.Evenwhen Irrfandid succumbtoHindi

film stardom, he ensured the script got el-evated. In Anurag Basu’s Life in a Metro(2007), he played a highly unimpressivecharacter,but there isnowayyouwouldn’tfall forhis innocenceandboisterouscharm.In The Lunchbox (2013), hemade themun-daneappears intriguing.Andit’shardtonotabsolutelydetesthiminHaider (2014).Thatis what he always did. Irrfan Khan wasnever IrrfanKhanonscreen.Healwaysbe-came the character.One cannot think of Ashoke Ganguly

from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesakewith-out putting Irrfan’s face to the character. Ifonemay dare to say so, Ganguly was fullyrealised on the screen because of what

Irrfanbrought into the character.Irrfan’s success story is a testimony to

his acting talent, which subverted box-of-fice norms.Hiswork abroadhelped to fur-ther strengthen his prospects in thecountry. It is rather sad that some of ourfinest have to wait for Hollywood orWesternvalidation to receive their rightfuldues at home.Can you think of Life of Pi (2012) with-

out Irrfan? He is barely there in the film,which is otherwise dominated by ablitzkriegof eventsandgreatvisualeffects,yet, it is his dialogues in the end thatmanyleft the theatrewith.There is a quote from Tom Hanks that

hasgoneviral since thenewsof Khan’s de-misespreadonsocialmedia.HanksreferstoKhan as “the coolest guy in the room” andsays he knowshe can only be a pale imita-tion of him. That says something, and notjustbecauseHanks is abigHollywoodstar.A lot of Irrfan Khan’s admirers and col-

leagueshavesaidthat thenewsofhisdeathhas left them “numb”. There’s no betterword to articulate the sense of abandon-ment—of beingunable towatchhim lightup the screen anymore.

Thewriter teaches literary and culturalstudies at FLAMEUniversity, Pune

The death of an incandescentartiste like Irrfan, at an agemuch too young for our era,is a tragic loss. Thephilosopher Thomas Nagel,in ‘Mortal Questions’, askedwhy the loss of the youngseems more tragic than theloss of the old: Keats’s deathat 24 seems more tragic thanTolstoy’s at 80. In part, thishas to do with the sense ofunrealised possibilities.Keats was deprived of yearsto live that come beforeDeath becomes inevitable.But Nagel had warned,rightly, that this does notmean Tolstoy’s death wasnot also an insignificant loss.But the sense of a deathbeing premature adds toboth the loss involved andthe possible grief associatedwith it.

Irrfan’s success story is atestimony to his actingtalent which subverted box-office norms. His workabroad helped to furtherstrengthen his prospects inthe country. It is rather sadthat some of our finest haveto wait for Hollywood orWestern validation to receivetheir rightful dues at home.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

WORDLYWISEIt's my life—acting.

— RISHI KAPOORTHEEDITORIALPAGE

IMPHAL VIOLENCEVIOLENCE SPREAD BEYOND the limits ofImphal as arsonists trying to set fire to aschool building were fired on by securityforces at Patsoi village, six kilometres fromthecity.But thebuildingwasrazed.Awaveof arson and terrorism swept Imphal lastnightdespitepatrollingbytroops.Thesitu-ation showedno improvementand theau-thorities extended by 16 hours, without abreak,the48-hourcurfewwhichwastoendat 4 pm on April 30. The curfew was ex-tended following alarming reports of gun-menmoving about in the predominantlyNepalese inhabited village of Sagolmang,about 25 km from the city and the burning

thereof 400dwellings.

CARTER ADDRESSPRESIDENTJIMMYCARTER, inasolemnre-port to his country, said the Americanhostages will be released from Iran only ifAyatollah Khomeini, the RevolutionaryCouncil and the militants agree unani-mously to let them go — a task he all butcalledimpossible. “Wecannotdealwith in-humanepeoplewhohavenorespect for in-ternational law, who violate the tenets oftheirownreligionandthenpersecuteinno-centpeoplewhoareAmericancitizensanddeprive them of their freedom for sixmonths,” Carter said during a nationally

broadcastnewsconference.

NO HANDCUFFSTHESUPREMECOURThasheldthattheruleproviding for handcuffing of undertrialswhile theyarebeing takentocourt isviola-tive of the fundamental rights guaranteedtheConstitution.“Armedescorts,worththesalt,canoverpoweranyunarmedundertrialand extra guards can make up for excep-tional needs. In very special situations, wedonot ruleoutapplicationof irons,” JusticeKrishna Iyer and Justice Chinnappa Reddysaid on a habeas corpus petition filed byPrem Shankar Shukla, an undertrial in theTihar jail inDelhi.

MAY 1, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Matters of Death

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“The world may have been late in reacting to India’s abetment of anti-Muslimterror, but it is positive to note that the global community is finally speaking up.For some time now, Sangh Parivar gangs have terrorised Muslims, be it due toallegations of eating beef, being ‘anti-national’ or spurious claims of spreadingthe coronavirus.” — DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THERE ARE NO labour-day rallies, celebra-tionsormeetingsthisyearaseveryoneisun-der lockdown, fighting the coronavirusthroughphysicaldistancing.Nevertheless, itisadayfortottingupwhathasbeenlostandwhat the futureholds.Thishasbeenapainful year forworkers.

Theworldhasbeenturnedupsidedownduetotheglobalpandemic.Worse,however, forthemillions of workers in India, was thembeingforcedtostayincampsorcrampedac-commodation,foregoingthecomfortof fam-ily, food,andmentalpeace. It isacruel ironythatafter thesacrifice theyhavebeenaskedtoundertake,theydon’tevengetthesafetyofphysicaldistancing.Workershavelosthard-wonrights,despite labourbeing thebiggestcontributor to the Indian growth story. Asthey spendMay 1waiting to get home, theCentral government thatdid somuch togetIndians abroad back home has only just al-lowedmigrant workers to go home, alongwithmanyconditions, leavingittothestatesto facilitate their return.Those who benefited most from this

growth see this workforce in utilitarian,rather than human terms. The privilegedmustunderstand that if theydonotwant tobeaffectedby impoverishment and insecu-rity thathas afflicted theseworkers, amini-mal level of livelihood securitywill have tobeguaranteed to labour, farmers andwork-ers in the informal sector. It ismyopiaof theworstsorttofightthespreadofCOVID-19bywishingawayamassivehumanitariancrisis.The solution lies in assuring all Indians ameasureof livelihoodand incomesecurity.Thismandatecanbemetwithacreative

and expanded Employment Guarantee Actasahumanresponse to thisepidemic.Mostcountries have put together significant re-coverypackagesof up to10percentof theirGDP andmore. India has repackaged someexisting entitlements, added a fraction of 1percentofGDPandofferedthatasasupportto all its citizens for copingwith the effectsofapandemicandasix-weeklockdownim-posed in an emergency-like scenario. Thereis no alternative to ensuring a regular cashflowtoallthoseaffectedandtheargumentofcash transfers vs anexpandedEmploymentGuaranteeActisthatofdolevsworkanddig-nity. Payment of part of the wages in sub-sidised foodgrainwould be ideal for the 94percentofourworkforceintheinformalsec-tor. Itwouldprovideworkwithdignity, andperhapsbe themost inexpensiveway to re-buildashatteredeconomy.Let’s look imagi-nativelyattheemploymentguaranteemeas-ures thatneedtobeundertaken.To beginwith, the existing entitlements

underMGNREGAneedtobetakenseriously.Workmustbe“guaranteed”ondemand.ThegovernmentmustputitsowncounseltotheprivatesectorintopracticeandusetheMGN-REGA budget to pay full wages to all activejobcardholdersduringthelockdown.Underalegislationthatisdesignedtoprovideliveli-hood security, workerswere restricted by alockdownbackedbyastrong legalmandatetostay indoors,withnoexemptionfromtheMinistry of Home Affairs for MGNREGAwork.TheActevenmakesaprovisionforun-employmentallowance,whenthestatecan-notprovidework.

MGNREGA has helped build rural infra-structure through approximately 10 crorefamilies. But because of the superimposedresourceconstraints,manycouldnotaccesstheentitled100daysofwork.Migrantwork-erscomingbackhomewillswellthealreadydesperatedemandforwork.ThegovernmenthasexistingprovisionsforexpandingMGN-REGAworkbyanother50days in situationsof any calamity. The expansion of theEmploymentGuaranteeActmust,therefore,be effective and open-ended. The 100 daysper familymust expand to allow access toany adult seeking any number of days ofworkduringtheperiodof recoveryfromtheCOVIDcrisis.Infact,anUrbanEmploymentGuarantee

shouldalsobeput inplace. Theshockof thelockdown, and the loss of employmentwillbe countered onlywith guaranteed tenureand security of income to help persuadeworkers to return to their former place ofwork. As industry revamps and struggles torestart,manycasual,andevenregularwork-ers in various industries, will need fallbackemployment.Apart from the regular public works

whichmust continuewith sufficient safetymeasures, home-based activities must bepermitted in the expanded employmentguaranteeprogrammetoenable“workfromhome”forthisclassofworkersaswell.Labourin their own farms and kitchen gardens canbeusedtoexpandproductivity.Selectedserv-ices,andproductionactivities,suchasmakingmasks, soaps and sanitisers, will help dealwiththechallengeofCOVID-19.Following Kerala’s success, panchayats

and local government units should be em-powered and involved in dealingwith thisepidemic.Thiswouldalsoincludeprovidingresourcesandflexibilityviaaworkforcepaidthroughtheexpandedemploymentguaran-teeprogrammetoaddressthemanifoldchal-lengesofCOVID-19.Theelderlyandthevul-nerableareunderacutethreat, andchildrenoutofschoolcouldfacegreatermalnutrition.Theworkers,withprecautions,couldbeusedjudiciously to provide food and care-givingservices for theneedy.Whatwouldthebudgetforthislooklike?

Wherewill themoneycome from? In1975,Maharashtra passed an employment guar-antee lawwith no restrictions on the num-berof daysorpeople. To fund this, the legis-lature identified four taxes: A professionaltax on all salary earners, a tax on petrol, asales tax surcharge and a tax on the incomeof three-cropirrigatedfarmstobeput intoadedicatedemploymentguaranteefund.Asa

consequence, Maharashtra always hadenoughmoneytoimplementthelaw.Asex-periencehas shown, eight hours ofwork atminimumwages are accessed only whenotherwork opportunities dwindle. As andwhentheeconomyrecovers, fewerworkerswilldemandwork.TheMaharashtra Act served as amodel

fortheNREGAwhenitwasenacted30yearslater. However, its innovative funding pat-ternwasnotadoptedbytheMGNREGA,andconsequently, it has always been short-changed.Thisisdespiteauniquelegalarchi-tecture of being demand-driven, and notbudget constrained. The recovery packageshould contain a set of dedicated taxes foradding a special “Disaster ManagementEmployment Guarantee Programme”.Perhapswecouldstartwithaoneortwopercentwealthtaxsothatsomeof theunequaldistributionofthefruitsofeconomicgrowththat has gone to the top 5 per cent in thecountry is used for serving the basic needsof thosewhocontributed fundamentally tothatgrowth.TheUnitedStates,notamodelforitsatti-

tude to labour, addressed the financial crisisbrought on by the Great Depression,whenthe thenPresident, FranklinDRoosevelt, of-fered Americans a “NewDeal” to fight thegreat depressionwith hope and solidarityand“cooperation”ratherthan“competition”.Thecentrepiecewasamassivepublicworksprogramme offering work at minimumwagestoanyonewhosoughtwork.Itnotonlyhelped build some of America’s great high-waysbutalsopaidaccomplishedbutimpov-erished artists for doing artwork in publicplaces.BoththehighwaysandthepaintingsremainofvaluetogenerationsofAmericans.India urgently needs a NewDeal of its

own. An open-ended, creative, expandedemploymentguaranteeatminimumwages,couldbeacentrepieceof thatnewdeal.May1 is an importantday to remember

because itmarks the “Haymarket”uprisingthat led toaneight-hourworkingdayandalongand successful struggle for amore justandhumaneworld.Hungerandindignityisa prescription for many uprisings. Whiletheseuprisingswill bringabout some formofchange, theywillnotnecessarilyresult ina solution that is of value to all. It would bewise if India’s rulers understand that. But itis evenmore important that the rest of usunderstanditandactwithsolidarityandco-operation.

Thewritersworkwith theMazdoorKisanShakti Sangathan(MKSS)

7

INTERNATIONALLABOURDayiscelebratedonMay1tohonourworkers.Labourhasanundeniableroleinshapingthenation’sfor-tune. Since the times immemorial, theworkingclasshasstruggledandsacrificedforgreatercauses—firstforIndependenceandthenbuildingthenationbrickbybrick.The ongoing fight against COVID-19 hasbroughttemporaryhardshipforeveryone,including workers. But Prime MinisterNarendraModi hasweighed life as beinggreater than livelihood and has nowpro-videdablueprintforturningthiscrisis intoopportunityinthepost-coronaworld.Theproposedchange inwork culture throughadaptability, efficiency, inclusiveness, op-portunity and universalismwill open upmore avenues for workers to buildNewIndia.Many leaders have been a beacon for

workersandBRAmbedkarwasoneamongthem. As the representative of theDepressed Classes in the Round TableConference, Ambedkar forcefully pleadedforlivingwages,decentworkingconditionsand the freedom of peasants from theclutchesof cruel landlords.Healso foughtfortheremovalof socialevilsthatblightedthe livesof thedowntrodden.Hewent on to form the Independent

Labour Party (ILP) in 1936with a compre-hensiveprogrammetomeettheneedsandgrievancesofthelandless,poortenants,agri-culturists, andworkers. In the polls held in1937, the firstelectionunder thenewlyen-actedGovernmentof IndiaActof 1935, theILPachievedspectacularsuccessbywinning15 of the 17 seats it had contested for theBombay Legislative Assembly. OnSeptember 17, 1937, during the Poona ses-sionoftheBombayAssembly,heintroduceda bill to abolish the Khoti system of landtenureinKonkan.Heopposedtheintroduc-tionofIndustrialDisputesBill,1937becauseitremovedtheworkers’ righttostrike.Hisprofoundknowledgeof labourmat-

ters was universally acknowledged anddemonstrated during his term as Labourmemberof theViceroy’sExecutiveCouncilfrom1942 to1946.When theworldorderwasinfluxduringWorldWarII,Ambedkarwas guiding Indian labour. The changingeconomy provided opportunities for theexpansion of industries.While entrepre-neurs andmanagers could hope for pros-perity, labourwas not given its due share.Ambedkar piloted and introducedmeas-ures for labourwelfareby laying the foun-dation for the basic structure for the gov-ernment’s labour policy. He tackled theknotty problems andwonesteemand re-spectfromemployeesandemployersalike.TheIndianTradeUnion(Amendment)Bill,introducedbyAmbedkaronNovember8,1943, compelled the employers to ac-knowledge tradeunions.On February 8, 1944, in the legislative

assemblyduring thedebate on the Liftingof Ban on Employment of Women on

Underground Work in Coal Mines,Ambedkarsaid: “It is for the first timethatI think in any industry the principle hasbeen established of equal pay for equalwork irrespective of the sex.” Itwas a his-toric moment. Through the MinesMaternityBenefit(Amendment)Bill1943,heempoweredwomenworkerswithma-ternitybenefits.Addressing the Indian Labour

Conference held in New Delhi onNovember 26, 1945, Ambedkar empha-sised theurgentneed tobringprogressivelabour welfare legislation: “Labour maywell say that the fact that the British took100 years to have a proper code of labourlegislation is no argument thatwe shouldalso in India take100years. History is notalways an example. More often it is awarning.”Ambedkar did not accept theMarxist

positionthattheabolitionofprivateprop-ertywouldbringanendtopovertyandsuf-fering. In Buddha or Karl Marx, hewrites:“CantheCommunistssaythatinachievingtheirvaluableendtheyhavenotdestroyedothervaluableends?Theyhavedestroyedprivate property. Assuming that this is avaluableend,cantheCommunistssaythattheyhavenotdestroyedothervaluableendin the process of achieving it? Howmanypeoplehave theykilled forachieving theirend?Hashumanlifenovalue?Couldtheynothavetakenpropertywithouttakingthelifeof theowner?”InspiredbyAmbedkar,thecurrentgov-

ernment has taken steps to improve thequalityof lifeofworkers. Forexample, thePradhanMantri Shram YogiMaan-DhanYojnawaslaunchedinFebruary2019toen-sureprotectionofunorganisedworkers intheiroldage.Throughtechnological inter-ventions likeShramSuvidhaPortal, trans-parencyandaccountabilityareensured intheenforcementof labourlaw.Thegovern-ment is working to simplify, amalgamateandrationalise theprovisionsof theexist-ing central labour laws into four labourcodes — Labour Code on Wages, onIndustrial Relations, on Social Security &WelfareandonOccupationalSafety,Health&WorkingConditions.In the extraordinary circumstances

brought on by the COVID pandemic, thelabour fraternitydeservesa special salute.During his Mann ki Baat broadcast onMarch29,thePMapologisedfortheincon-venience: “I extend a heartfelt apology toallcountrymen.AndIstronglyfeelfromthecoreofmyheartthatyouwill forgiveme—sincecertaindecisionshadtobetaken, re-sulting inmyriad hardships for you. Andwhen it comes to my underprivilegedbrothersandsisters,theymustbewonder-ingonthekindofPrimeMinistertheyhave,who has pushed them to the brink! Mywholehearted apologies, especially tothem.”PMModihaschampionedthefightagainst thepandemicandbeenacclaimedglobally.Muchof thecredit for thisgoestotheperseveranceof the labour fraternity.Aswerecalltheinnumerablecontribu-

tion of the countless labourers in nation-building, with an ever-increasing spirit ofShramev Jayate, wemust remember thecontributionsofAmbedkar.

Thewriter isUnionMinister forParliamentaryAffairs,Heavy Industries

andPublicEnterprises.He is theLokSabhaMPforBikaner

An Urban EmploymentGuarantee should also beput in place. The shock of thelockdown and the loss ofemployment will becountered only withguaranteed tenure andsecurity of income to helppersuade workers to returnto their former place of work.As industry revamps andstruggles to restart, manycasual, and even regularworkers in various industrieswill need fallbackemployment.

ArjunRamMeghwalNikhil Dey andArunaRoy

Labour’s leaderBRAmbedkarlaidthefoundationforworkers’

rights,socialsecurityinIndia

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

VIRTUE IN LISTENINGTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). The policysuggestions given by the 50 young of-ficersof the IRSneedseriousconsider-ation. The time has come to not onlywelcome the suggestions givenby thepubliconvariousplatformsbut toalsoimplement them after analysis. Theconventionalmethods of governancedefinitelyneedamakeover.Thecitizensareawareabouttheinnovationsandareproviding ideasandcriticismupfront.

OmkarThorat,Mumbai

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). In the timeof crises, the ruling party should con-centrateandthinkforthewelfareofthenation,andnotmerelyoftheirownim-age. Thegovernment shouldwelcometheadviceofthepeopleratherthancri-tise them.

ParulSrivastava,Prayagraj

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). It has beenrepeatedtimeandagainthatthemottoof the central government is“Maximum Governance, MinimumGovernment”.While the coronaviruspandemicwarrantsdeparturefromthesaidmotto,and theinvolvementof thecentral government, the Centre alsoneeds to listen and take cognisance ofideas that can be factored in for fight-ingthepandemic.Brushingasidewor-thy ideas and punishing those airingtheir views on issues concerning thelargercommunity, isunfortunate.

KrishanKumarChug,Delhi

DELIVER OR PERISHTHIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Covodfight:Governmentsysteminfront,pri-vate hospitals do the distancing’ (IE,April,29). It isunfortunatethatprivatehospitals are reluctant to join theCOVID-19 fight. It is the responsibilityof the doctors’ fraternity to be at theforefront andhelp government in thisinternationalcrisis.Abigsalutetothosedoctors andnurseswhoareexecutingtheir duties honestly at this time ofneed.Thepublicexpectsthebestserv-ice from the private hospitals as well.If theylagbehindindoingtheirduties,the public will remember theirnegligence at such juncture forever.The government should cancel thelicences if private hospitals do notdeliver.

SarjeraoNarwade,Sangli

LETTER OF THEWEEKAWARD

To encourage quality readerintervention, The IndianExpress offers the Letter oftheWeek award. The letteradjudged the best for theweek is published everySaturday. Lettersmay be

e-mailed toeditpage@expressindia.comor sent to The IndianExpress, B-1/B, Sector 10,Noida-UP 201301.

CR Sasikumar

The New Deal India needsAnopen-ended,creative,expandedemploymentguaranteeatminimumwagesshouldbeitscentrepiece

Morethanever, therightsofworkers,vulnerableneedtobesecured

May Day is a celebration of labour andlabourers, the creators of thewealth of na-tions. It isadaytodemonstratethestrengthof theworkingpeople, theallianceofwork-ers and peasants, unity of the trade unionsand labourmovements and to express soli-darity,nationallyand internationally.TheCOVID-19pandemic ishauntingthe

world. It has been devastating the lives ofpeopleduetomassunemployment,poverty,hungeranddespair.Theconditionsarewors-ening as economic inequality grows. Thepoor andworking people are bearing theburdenof thelockdowntheworldover.Thissituationhasplacedhugechallengesbeforetheworking people and their political andtradeunionorganisations.Theplightofdailywage earners and themigrant labourers ismiserable.Hungerdeathsarebeingreported.The lockdown in Indiahas impacted the fu-ture of our unemployed young people, stu-dentsandchildren.Despitethepropagandaaboutonlineteachingandlearning,thepoor,homeless, andhungry childrendonothaveaccess toanysuch facilities.The International Labour Organisation

(ILO)has comeoutwithanalarming reportthat 40-croreworkers in India are at risk offallingdeeper intopoverty. Theyaremainlyfromthe informal sector.

The current situation inour countryhasnot changed the character of the BJP-RSScombine. It has not changed the neoliberaltrajectoryof thepresentgovernmentMayDayhasaglorioushistory.Forthefirst

time inMay 1886, the ChicagoHaymarketSquarewitnessed a heroic struggle of theworking peoplewho demanded an eight-hourworkingday.Itwasademandtotellthecapitaliststhatjustbecausetheyhadappropri-atedthemeansofproductionasprivateprop-erty,itdidnotmeantheycouldruthlesslyforcetheworkerstoslogforendlesshourswithoutcompensationtoproduce thesurplus. Itwasto convey themessage thatworking peoplewouldfightfortheirrights.Inthisheroicstrug-gle, several workers were martyred. TheHaymarket struggle inspired theworkingmassesoftheworld.TheSecondInternationalof the workers of the world — in whichFriedrichEngels,thecompanionandcomradeofKarlMarx,playedaleadingrole—declaredin 1889 thatMayDaywould be observed asaninternationaldayforworkingpeople.InIndia,too,wehavetheheroichistoryof

working-classstruggles.ItisamatterofpridethatMayDaywasfirstobservedinIndiawayback in1923 inChennai. Tradeunionmove-ments started emerging during British andFrench rule in India. The jute workers of

Calcuttawereorganisedunderatradeunionin 1854. TheMadras PressWorkers Unionwas formed in 1903 and CoralMill workersunion in 1908. Though the AITUC wasfoundedin1920andweareproudlycelebrat-ingitscentenarythisyear,theB&CMillwork-ers in Chennai organised a trade union andgotitregisteredonApril3,1918.Thiswasthefirst registered tradeunion in India. The tex-tilemillworkersofPondicherry(Puducherry)werefightingforaneight-hourworkingdayundertheleadershipoftheCommunistPartyof India.On July30, 1936, therewas abrutalattack on theworkers and 12 of themweremartyred.ThisfinallyforcedtheFrenchcolo-nialists to accept the demand for an eight-hourworkingdayfor thefirst timeinAsia.Duringthedayswhenthepeopleof India

were fighting for independence from colo-nialrule,thetradeunionsstoodatthefront-line of thenationalmovement. Their strug-glesgotintertwinedwithpoliticalstruggles.Eventoday,workingpeoplehavetoplay

aleadingroleinthefightagainstthepresentgovernment. The BJP-led NDA governmentis aggressively attempting to change labourlaws to curtail the rightsofworkingpeople.One can see this in the attempt to increasetheworkinghours to12.Withpolitical power, theBJP-RSS ispro-

moting itsagendaof subverting thesecular,democratic republic of India and turning itinto a theocratic Hindutva Rashtra. Thisemerging situation demands that workingpeoplehave apolitical and ideological edu-cation.Politics isnothingbuteconomics.World capitalism is in very bad health.

Insteadofspendingonpublichealth,educa-tion and social infrastructure, there is com-petitivespendingonmilitaryandwarequip-ment. The report released by StockholmInternationalPeaceResearchInstituterevealsthat India is the third-largest militaryspender,aftertheUSandChina.Socialismisthe only alternative. But there is the lure offascismandneofascism.Thistrendisencour-agedby thecorporatecapitalists.OnthisMayDay,whilesalutingthework-

ing people for their historic revolutionaryrole,werenewourpledgetofightforsocial-ism—asocietyfreefromexploitation, injus-ticeandall formsof discrimination.Let us observe thisMay Day during the

lockdownby reachingout to theneedyandvulnerable. Let the working people riseagainstthepresentgovernmentastheyroseagainstthecolonialrulersfortheindepend-enceof thecountry.

Thewriter isgeneral secretary,CPI

Renew the pledgeDRaja

DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C)DR-II

DELHI GATE STP PHASE-II, OPPOSITE DELHI SECRETARIAT IP ESTATE, NEW DELHI-110002E-mail - eecdr2@gmail.com

NIT NO. 01 (2019-20) EE(C)Dr-II(Tender ID:- 2020_DJB_190370_1)

Sd/-ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) (K.U. Khan)Advt. No. J.S.V. 13/2020-21 Executive Engineer (C)Dr-II

S.No.

Name of Work Estimatecost (in Rs)

EarnestMoney(in Rs)

Tender Fees(in Rs)

Date of releaseof tender in re-procurement

solution

Last date/ time ofreceipt of tender

through e-procurement solution

1. Shifting of 2X1200 mm diasewerage pumping main comingin alignment of proposedunderpass at Ashram Chowk.

13685979/- 273700/- 1500/- 27.04.2020 21.05.2020upto 03:00 PM

e-TENDER NOTICE FOR HOUSEKEEPING SERVICESNIT. No: 03 of 2020

For and on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Central University ofKashmir , e-tenders under two bid system are invited from registered/ Companies/ Agencies for providing Housekeeping services acrossdifferent campuses of the University at Ganderbal. The bids must besubmitted through e-tendering mode available on CPP Portal(www.eprocure.gov.in) from 01.05.2020 to 21.05.2020. The detailedtender document along with a link is available on University website(www.cukashmir.ac.in).The hard copy of the Technical bids alongwith Tender processing fee of Rs. 1,000/- (Non- Refundable) andEMD of Rs. 1,50,000 (Refundable), should reach the university on orbefore 22.05.2020 (04.00 P.M.) and the same should be addressedto the Registrar, Central University of Kashmir, Green Campus,Ganderbal 191131 (J&K). The tender fee and the EMD shall be paid/ deposited online or in the shape of DD, FDR, BG Pledged , toRegistrar, Central University of Kashmir / drawn from any national-ized bank payable at Ganderbal (J&K). In case of any clarification,the bidders can send their queries to estates@cukashmir.ac.in orcontact at 7006171124 / 9419022101.

Sd/- Officer Incharge EstatesCentral University of Kashmir

No.: CUK/Est/H-KEEPING/F.No.274/19/1097/HomeDate: 30.04.2020

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIRGreen Campus Ganderbal-191131

No. F. 8(8)/H&SC/TM/2019-20/9237

This is for information of all concerned that the e-tenderhaving ID No. 2019_Horti_7181_1 is hereby cancelleddue to administrative reasons. Details are available inwww.tripuratenders.gov.in

Sd/-(Dr. P.B. Jamatia)

Director,Horticulture & Soil Conservation,

ICA-C/116/20 Tripura, Agartala

CANCELLATION

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

TAKING UMBRAGETRINAMOOL CONGRESSMPDr Santanu Sen haswritten toHealthMinistryofficerLavAgarwal,whoisthegovernment’sfaceinthebattleagainstCOVID-19,protestingagainsthiscom-mentsonthereasonfordoctorsgettinginfectedbythevirus.Sen, a doctor by profession and state secretary of the IndianMedical Association’sWest Bengal unit, has demanded anapologyfromAgarwalforhisallegedremarksthat“somepro-fessionals are getting infected in parties”. Sen has also sentcopies of his letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHealthMinisterDrHarshVardhan.

NO BRAKE ON BREAKEVENAS theSupremeCourthas restricted its functioning tohearingonlyurgentcasesforoveramonthnowinviewofthepandemic, the court is likely to continuewith its six-weeksummerbreak. Thecourtnotified twovacationofficerswhowill be in chargeof listing important cases before a vacationbench onWednesday. Incidentally, two high courts—Delhiand Karnataka—have already announced that theywill nottakeasummerbreaktomakeupforthehourslosttothepan-demic.

KEEPING AWAYFOLLOWINGTHEfiascoovernumbermismatchbetweentheHealthMinistryandICMR,theICMRhasnotonlystoppedis-suing daily figures of samples that testedpositive for coron-avirusbutitsrepresentativeshavealsomissedthedailybrief-ingson thesituationof thepandemic. The last the ICMRwasrepresented at a briefing was last Thursday, when D-G DrBalramBhargavamadeanappearance.

SPECIAL MENTIONIT’S NOT often that an Indian official findsmention in a for-eignminister’s letter to his Indian counterpart. In his thank-you letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Israel’sForeignMinister Israel Katz hasmade a special mention ofNikhilesh Giri, joint secretary inMEA, and Pradeep SinghKharolafromtheCivilAviationMinistryfortheirhelpinevac-uation of Israeli nationals stranded in India due to the lock-down. Insiders say the unsung hero in the evacuation exer-cisewasayoung, 2012-batchofficer, RakheeMayuri, postedin theWestAsia&NorthAfricadivisionofMEA.

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, APRIL30

THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-ministration cited “fake news”involvingtheSupremeCourtthatwasallegedlybeingspreadintheUnionTerritory toargueagainsttheliftingof InternetrestrictionsinitssubmissionstothetopcourtonWednesday.Inperhapsthefirstsuchoffi-

cial acknowledgment, it alsotalkedabouttheriseof twonew“Pakistan-based”militant out-fits—The Resistance Front (TRF)and Tehreeki-Milat-i-Islami(TMI)—thatwereallegedlyusingmessagingappsto“instigatetheyouth”.In an affidavit filed in re-

sponse to petitions by NGOFoundation for Media

Professionals,ShaleenKabra,thePrincipalSecretaryoftheJammuandKashmirHomeDepartment,referredto“afakeorderpurport-ingtobeaRecordofProceeding”oftheSupremeCourtdatedApril9,2020.In the order, it has been

“falsely reflected that adminis-trationofUnionTerritoryof J&Khasbeenorderedtotakeaquickreviewwithin24hourstorestorefull Internet communication inthe region”, the administrationsaid.It added that an FIR under

sections465 (forgery), 466 (for-geryofcourtrecord)and471(us-ingforgeddocumentasgenuine)of theIPCwasfiledinthisregardat the Cyber Police Station,KashmirZone.The Union Territory also

submitted that “cross-border

terrorismandviolent activitiescarriedoutbyterroroutfits likeJeM, LeT, HM, operating withthe external support are toowell known” and that “newoutfits are being launched, likeTRF and TMI, instigating theyouth to join terrorism andtherehasbeena spurt in terroractivities in the last fortnight”.“The terrormodules operat-

ingwithin theUTsandhandlersfrom across the border aid andincitepeopleby transmissionoffakenewsandtargetedmessagesthroughuseofInternet...,”thead-ministrationsaid.Defendingthedecisiontocap

Internet speed at 2G, it addedthat “Pakistan-based terrorismhandlers likeTRFandTMI, insti-gating youth to join terrorism,areusingmessagingapplicationsto communicate as also to raise

themoraleofterrorists;however2Gmobiledata services consid-erablyrestricttheuseofsuchap-plications”.Pointing to instances of fake

news creating a law-and-orderscare, the administration saidtherewere rumours relating toCOVID-19 deaths, the health ofHurriyatchairmanSyedAliShahGeelani, and “circulation on so-cial media particularly inWhatsAppgroupsshowingPoKflagatopClockTower,LalChowk,Srinagar”.Theaffidavitaddedthat“reli-

gious preachers from Pakistanhadurgedpeoplevia socialme-diatoreciteAzaninMasjidsdur-ingmidnightandonviewingthisvideo,peopleacrossthevalleyre-cited Azan in differentMasjids,which created panic and law-and-ordersituation...”

Your order ‘forged’ to spreadfake news: J&K to top court

ADMNDEFENDS INTERNETCURBS

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL30

WITH JUST two days worth ofkitsleft, IndiaonWednesdayre-ceivedthefirstpartof7lakhRNAextractionkits,outofanorderofover30lakhkitsplacedwithvar-iouscompanies.RNA extraction kits are cru-

cial for diagnostic tests on peo-ple suffering fromCOVID-19.The supply comes at a time

India is looking to rampuptest-inginpreparationforrelaxationof lockdown norms and has setits sights on conducting over 1lakhdaily tests.After the Indian Council of

Medical Research (ICMR) de-cided to indefinitely suspendrapid antibody tests followingcomplaints about quality ofChinesekits,RTPCRtestsremaintheonlytestforcoronavirus.ThetestcannotbedonewithoutRNAextractionkits, andmanystates

have reportedly run out of RNAextractionkits.Confirming receiving 7 lakh

kitsonWednesday,EnvironmentSecretaryCKMishra,whoheadsthe empowered group on isola-tion beds, testing etc, said thisdoes not include kits alreadyavailablewiththestates,andthatthereare“dailyarrivals”.Hesaid,“We don’t have a problem as ofnow.Wereached70,000teststo-day.Ourtestingtargetswilldefi-nitelybemet.”AskedwhetherIndiahasad-

equate kits for testing, JointSecretary (Health) Lav Agarwalsaid, “AvailabilityofRTPCRtestshave increased from one lab to292governmentlabsand97pri-vateones. Ithasbeenconstantlyscaled up - froma fewhundredto yesterday,when58,686 testsweredone....Whatevercapacityisneeded,wheneveritisneeded,the country has always kept in-creasing to meet the require-ments...”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, APRIL30

THE NATIONAL InvestigationAgency(NIA)hasarresteda for-mer sarpanch from Shopian inconnectionwith its probe intosuspended J&K Police officerDevinder Singh’s alleged con-nectionswith terrorgroups.TariqAhmedMir, the former

sarpanch,was arrested fromhishomeinBaramullaonThursday.HeissaidtobecurrentlyalignedwiththeBJP.Sources said the NIA picked

upMir after it found evidence

thathehadbeensupplyingarmsto terror groups. “Mir has beenon the radar of agencies for awhile. The NIA found evidencethathehasbeenactingasacon-duit for supply of weapons toterror groups. His connectionswith the Hizbul Mujahideenhavebeenconfirmed,”asecurityestablishmentofficer said.DeputySPDevenderSinghwas

arrestedinJanuarywhiletravellingin his car with Hizbul militantNaveedBabu.TheNIAhadsaidhehadprovidedshelter to themili-tantonmultipleoccasions.A Jammucourt gave theNIA

custodyofMir for sixdays.

2 days of kits left, 7 lakhRNA extraction kits arrive

Ex-sarpanch held in probeagainst suspended J&K Dy SP

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,APRIL30

THE DELHI government ismaking arrangements tobring back students stuck inKotatothecity,ChiefMinisterArvindKejriwalsaidThursday.An estimated 700-800 stu-dents fromDelhi are stuck inKota,acoachinghubformed-icalandengineeringaspirantsinRajasthan,saidofficials.TheTransport department hasalsoreachedouttoprivatebusoperatorstoarrangevehicles,sourcessaid.“Delhigovernemntismak-

ingarrangementstosoonbringDelhi students back homefromKota,” the CM said in atweet. Kejriwal’s tweet comesadayafter theUnionMinistryofHomeAffairsdirectedstatesandUnion Territories to de-velopprotocolsforsendingandreceiving stranded migrantworkers,pilgrims,tourists,stu-dentsandothers.Seniorgovernmentofficials

saidtheyarestilldevelopinganSOP in accordancewith theMHA guidelines. “We willmakeanannouncement onlywhentheplanis fullyready.Ahalf-baked announcementmay trigger another roundofchaos,”saidanofficial.Sourcessaiddistrictmagis-

trates are likely to be desig-natedasnodalofficerstocarry

outregistrationofstrandedmi-grants, after which transitpasseswill be issued to onlythosewithout any influenza-likesymptoms.Presently,therearecloseto

10,000migrantworkersin111schools,whichhavebeencon-vertedintoshelters.Delhi Police,meanwhile,

said they toowere comingupwithaplanandthatthosewhowanttogobacktotheirhome-towns will have to registerthemselves.Workerswho have been

housedat theYamunaSportsComplex said theywere des-peratetogethome.Mehrushi,a constructionworker,who iswithherfamilyattheYamunaSports Complex, said, “Wewant to go back to Badaun inUPbutpolicearestillnotallow-

ingus.Howwillweget regis-teredorshowanyproofwith-outdocuments?Howlongwillwestayhere?”DelhiPolicePROMandeep

Singh Randhawa said, “ThegovernmentandDelhiPoliceare finalising themodalitiesandtheSOPs.Weareintouchwithresidentcommissionersof different states inDelhi. Inthe guidelines, one thing isclear that all migrants andother stranded people needto get proper registrationdone so their movement totheir hometowns can betracedandnecessaryprecau-tions can bemade. I want toappeal to everyone to notmove out and follow lock-down guidelines till SOP ismade and registration isdone.”

700-800STUDENTSSTUCK,SAYOFFICIALS

Arranging to bring backstudents from Kota: CM

TheCM’sannouncementcomesadayafter theMHAissuedanorderallowingmovementofmigrantworkers, students

Migrantswait for foodatEastDelhi’sMadhuViharonThursday.Anil Sharma

SOMYALAKHANINEWDELHI,APRIL30

“DIDYOUknow therewas only tall, wildgrasshereonceuponatime?Nilgaiwouldcome to graze rightwherewe are sittingand grazing today,” said Delhi’s belovedchronicler Ronald Vivian Smith, with achuckle, aswe ate cucumber sandwichesontheIndiaInternationalCentre(IIC)lawnslastAugust.ConversationswithSmith,whoturned

83inJanuary,traversedthroughanecdotes,stories of odddishes and lanes, andwerepepperedwithtalesandfablesofthekingsandghostswhoinhabitedthecapital.OnThursdaymorning,Smith—author,

columnist, journalist—passed away at acityhospitalafterabrief illness.With 11 books onDelhi to his credit,

Smith is survived by hiswife Elvina, andchildren Enid, Bunny, Esther, Tony andRodney. His funeral service took place attheBurariChristiancemetery.HissonTony(48)said,“Hehadabreath-

ingproblemand recently suffered fromakidneyailmenttoo.HewasadmittedtothehospitalMonday,andpassedawayat7.30amThursday.”Callingita“hugelossforDelhiites,”Delhi

ChiefMinisterAvindKejriwaltweeted:“RVSmith,thechroniclerofourgreatcityDelhipassed away thismorning.Hisworkkeptalivethestoriesandmemoriesofourcity.”AnAgraboy,borntoAnglo-Indianpar-

ents, Smith’s love affairwithDelhi beganinthe ’60swhenhemovedtothecityandstarted towork at the Press Trust of India.He had a roomat theNaazHotel in Jama

Masjid, and soonmoved to a roomat theAzadHindHotel.“He got a job at The Statesman, from

where he retired asNews Editor in 1996.Even after he gotmarried andhadus, hestayed at the hotel. He loved theWalledCity, and we moved to our house inMayapuri in1978,”saidTony.Hisbooks,Delhi:UnknownTalesofaCity

and Delhi That No One Knows, have in-formedreadersaboutthemanysuggestednamesofChandniChowk, thekebabsandparathasofGaliParantheWali,havelis,andghostsofOldDelhi.A fewmonths ago, Smith askedme to

standonthestepsof the JamaMasjidandlook at the balcony of Haji Hotel,where Iwould see its owner and his friendHajiFaiyazuddin. “Hewill tell you everythingyouwant to knowaboutOldDelhi.Meethim,tellhimSmithsentyou,”hehadsaid.

OnThursday,the82-year-oldownerofHajiHotelrecalledtheirdaysofyouthspentinthehotelbalconyinthecompanyofpo-ets.“HewenttoanEnglish-mediumschoolbut lovedUrdu poetry.Wewould eat atKarim’s,getpaan,talkaboutDelhi,itspeo-ple, andhewould put those details in hisbook,”herecalled.Every year, Faiyazuddin sendsbiryani,

korma and paan to Smith’s house inMayapuri after Bakr Eid. “My fatherZahooruddin andSmith’s father Thomaswere friends, andwouldmeet for amealevery time the Smiths’would visit fromAgra,”hesaid.Smith’slastbook,Delhi’sCurlyTales(2018)

isdedicatedtoFaiyazuddin: “thesuccessorofahistoricfamilyofDelhiandarepositoryofculturalheritageoftheWalledCity”.AfterstudyingEnglishLiteratureatan

Agra college, Smith beganwriting underthe guidance of his father Thomas Smith,an English teacher inAgra,who toowenton towork at The Statesman, andwas amasterchroniclerofAgra.Smithcompileda book of his father’s pieces andhis own,and also wrote about his family in TheSmithsofAgra.“Hisfathergothimatypewriter,andtill

Januarythisyear—justbeforehefellsick—heusedatypewriter,”saidTony.In the ’90s, Smithbeganhis columnat

TheHindu, and alsoworked at The IndianExpressbriefly,saidhisson,andhislastcol-umnappearedonApril25.Writer Sadia Dehlvi, who called him

Ronnie,reminiscedaboutChristmasmealsat the Smiths’ in the ’80s, and the regardthat the late Khushwant Singh had forSmith’swritingsonDelhi.

RVSMITH1 9 3 7 - 2 0 2 0

The raconteur of Delhi, lover of itscharms, chronicler of its secrets

Delhi cases dipbelow 100, threemore deaths; Govtreleases homeisolation protocol

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, APRIL30

THERATEof growthof COVID-19casesslowed a little on Thursday, as the cityrecorded 76 cases. Delhi has recordedover 100 cases each day over the pastfive days, with 293 cases— the secondhighest in the city so far — beingrecordedonSunday.Threepeople,allabovetheageof50,

suffering from co-morbid conditionsand on ventilators, succumbed to thedisease on Thursday, talking the deathtoll to59.Those who tested positive include

four staffmembers at AIIMS– ahospi-tal attendant and four security guards.Sofar,20staffmembersfromthehospi-tal have testedpositive.A nurse, whoworked at Hindu Rao

Hospital, also tested positive. She hadcome in contact with another nursefromthehospital,whohad testedpos-itive earlier. The hospital has quaran-tined76of its staff. Thirtyof themhavetestednegative,while results of othersare awaited.Atleast294healthcareworkershave

testedpositive so far.TheDelhi government,meanwhile,

releasedguidelinesonhomequarantineThursday.ThecitywillfollowtheCentre’sdecision to allow thosewithmild or nosymptoms,whotestpositive for thedis-ease, to isolate at home, provided theyhaveadequatefacilitiestoensureself-iso-lation,where they donot come in closecontactwithfamilymembers.A team of anganwadi workers will

assess the feasibility of home quaran-tine under the supervision of the in-chargeatapublichealthfacility.Acare-giver, who can communicate with thehealthdepartment,shouldalsobepres-ent in thehouse.

Gurgaon stepsup travel curbsto check spread

SAKSHIDAYALGURGAON,APRIL30

ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS onpublicmovementwillcomeintoplace at all borders of Gurgaondistrict starting 10 amFriday, asperanorderissuedbytheDistrictMagistrateThursday.Statingthatthe“emergentna-

ture andpotentialmagnitude ofthe pandemic”makes it impor-tant to enforce “strictermeas-ures”toensure“healthandsafetyofhumanlife”,theorderaddsthatthiswill bedone “throughcurbson cross-movement across allbordersof thedistrict”.Itstatesthatincaseofpositive

casesreportedinthedistrict,“in-cidences of cases are mostlywithinthesamehousehold/fam-ilyandepidemiologicallylinked”.“... thereremainsapotential

threat to the district due to itsdistinct geographical location.The district shares its borderwith theNCTofDelhi and is oncrossroads of major transportroutes.Aconsiderablenumberof people travel to Gurugamandbackbecauseof either theirworkplace or residence beinglocated here…,” states the or-der, adding, “despite lockdownefforts, there still have beencases of COVID-19 inGurugram, with the contacthistory traced to cross-bordersources”.

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

94,640Iran

205,463Italy

162,123Germany

172,478United Kingdom

166,628France

239,639Spain

1,053,036US

83,944China

120,204Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 3,249,022 DEATHCOUNT:230,615

THEWORLD

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11:00pmonApril 30

106,498Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 33610 (1075 DEATHS)

9915Maharashtra

2162 Tamil Nadu

2438Rajasthan

1012 Telangana

2660MP

2203 UP

3439 Delhi

4082Gujarat

758West Bengal

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

1403Andhra Pradesh

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands33ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 42Bihar 403Chandigarh 56Chhattisgarh 38Goa 7Haryana 310HimachalPradesh 40JammuandKashmir 581Jharkhand 107Karnataka 557Kerala 496Ladakh 22Manipur 2Meghalaya 12Mizoram 1Odisha 128Puducherry 8Punjab 357Tripura 2Uttarakhand 55

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,April30.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.8373PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN30STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

ANEWstudyhaswarnedthatmobilephones could be acting as “Trojanhorses” for coronavirus. It found thatphoneshostacocktail of livegerms.The researchwas a review of 56

previous studies from 24 countries.While all those studies predate thecurrent pandemic, the authors saidSARS-CoV2 is probably present onmobiles and other touch-screen de-vicesof coronavirus sufferers.The review, scheduled for publi-

cationinTravelMedicineandInfectiousDisease, foundthat68%of thephonessampled in these studies were con-taminated. Golden staph and E. colimicrobeswereamongthemostcom-monbugsonphones.“Our recommendation is that

phones should be decontaminateddailyandregularlywitheither70%iso-propylorbysanitisingwith(ultravio-let) devices likePhoneSoap,” said thestudy,ledbybiomedicalscientistLottiTajouriofBondUniversity,Australia.In a statement, Dr Tajouri de-

scribedmobile devices as “five-starhotels with premium heated spas,freebuffet formicrobestothriveon”.“They have temperature control, wekeeptheminourpockets,wearead-dictedtothem.Wetalkintothemanddeposit droplets that can be full ofviruses,bacteria-younameit.Weeatwiththem,sowegivenutrientstomi-cro-organisms..”Hesaidpeopletravelledwiththeir

phones“andnoborderofficerscheckthem”.“That’swhymobilephonesareTrojanhorses.Wedon’tknowthatwearecarrying theenemy.”Dr Tajouri said even the average

phoneuserhandledtheirmobilesanaverageof threehoursaday.“Youcanwash your hands as many times asyou like - andyou should - but if youthen touch a contaminated phoneyou are contaminating yourself allover again. Think of your phone asyour thirdhand.”

Source:BondUniversity

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

COCKTAILOFGERMSONMOBILES,LIKELYCORONAVIRUSTOO:PAPER

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL30

EARLIER THIS week, the US Centers forDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)intro-duced“anewlossof tasteorsmell”inalistofCOVID-19 symptoms.While loss of smell isa known symptomof several diseases, it islesscommonthanhearinglossorvisionloss,and patients become conscious of it laterthantheywouldnoticeafeverorbodyache.

WhathastheCDCsaid?“PeoplewithCOVID-19havehadawide

rangeofsymptomsreported—rangingfrommildsymptomstosevereillness.Symptomsmayappear 2-14days after exposure to thevirus. Peoplewith thesesymptomsorcom-binationsof symptomsmayhaveCOVID-19—CoughandShortnessofbreathordifficultybreathing,” theCDCsays.Inaddition,itlistssymptomsthatinclude

fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills,muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and anew loss of taste or smell. If a patients hastwo ormore of these symptoms, the CDCsays there is a chance that the person hasCOVID-2019 infection.

Whyis the inclusionof lossof smellimportant?Rhinology, ENT and otolaryngology ex-

pertshavebeenpushingforinclusionof lossof smell—knownasanosmia—inthe listofsymptomsforsometimenow.Theseincludethe American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the BritishAssociationofOtorhinolaryngology.Chillsareassociatedwithmanyotherin-

fections, such asmalaria, andmuscle painandbodyacheare typically associatedwithcommon flu. For these reasons, health ex-pertshaverepeatedlynotedthatit is impos-sible to symptomatically differentiate be-tweenCOVID-19andthecommonflu.Anosmia, however, is a less common

symptom.JohnsHopkinsUniversitytoolistsunexplainedlossof tasteorsmell,alongsidecough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle

aches,sorethroat,diarrohoea,headacheandalso fatigueamongthesymptoms.Mostoftheothersymptomsarecommon

among the lists developedbyvarious inter-national health organisations. According totheWorld Health Organization: “Themostcommon symptoms of COVID-19 are fever,drycough,andtiredness.Somepatientsmayhaveachesandpains,nasalcongestion,sorethroatordiarrhea.Thesesymptomsareusu-allymildandbegingradually.”The WHO list of symptoms has been

adoptedby theHealthMinistry in India.

Whydopeople losetheirsenseof smell?Itcanhappenduringaseverecold,when

wesaythenoseis“blocked”.Only,thisishy-posmia,areducedsenseofsmellratherthana complete loss of it. According to MayoClinic: “A stuffy nose from a cold is a com-mon cause for a partial, temporary loss ofsmell. A blockage in the nasal passagescausedbyapolyporanasal fracturealsoisacommon cause. Normal aging can cause alossof smell too,particularlyafterage60.”It isusuallyalsoassociatedwithreduced

appetitebecauseoursenseofsmell ispartofoursenseof taste.That iswhyduringacold,weseemtolacktasteinourfood.Ina2017re-view in the Journal Chemical Senses, re-searchers fromWageningen University inNetherlands wrote: “Anosmia and hypos-mia, the inability or decreased ability tosmell, isestimatedtoafflict3-20%ofthepop-ulation. Risk of olfactory dysfunction in-creaseswitholdageandmayalsoresultfromchronic sinonasal diseases, severe headtrauma,andupperrespiratoryinfections,orneurodegenerativediseases.”Other diseaseswith anosmia among its

symptoms include Parkinson’s disease,Alzheimer’s disease andmultiple sclerosis.In suchcases, it ispermanent.

Is this thefirst timeCOVID-19hasbeenlinkedtoa lossof senseof smellnew?No. There have been very early reports

fromvariouscountriesaboutsomepatientscomplaining of a loss of smell. According toENT UK, a professional membership body,“There isalreadygoodevidence fromSouthKorea,Chinaand Italy that significantnum-

bers of patients with proven COVID-19 in-fectionhavedevelopedanosmia/hyposmia.In Germany it is reported thatmore than 2in3confirmedcaseshaveanosmia. InSouthKorea, where testing has beenmorewide-spread,30%ofpatientstestingpositivehavehad anosmia as their major presentingsymptominotherwisemildcases.”In a communicationwith Public Health

EnglandonCOVID-relatedanosmia,ENTUKalsoflaggedthefactthatmanypeoplereportonlyanosmiawithoutanyof themoreusualsymptomslikefeveretc.“Iranhasreportedasuddenincreaseincasesof isolatedanosmia,andmanycolleaguesfromtheUS,FranceandNorthern Italy have the same experience. Ihavepersonallyseenfourpatientsthisweek,all under 40, and otherwise asymptomaticexceptfortherecentonsetofanosmia-Iusu-ally see roughlynomore thanoneamonth.I think these patients may be some of thehithertohiddencarriersthathavefacilitatedtherapidspreadofCOVID-19.Unfortunately,these patients do notmeet current criteriafortestingorself-isolation,”wroteProfClaireHopkins,presidentoftheBritishRhinologicalSociety,andProfNirmalKumar,presidentofENTUK.In an article in The Lancet Infectious

Diseases, researchers from the USMedicalCorpswrote: “Ourmultinational group, in-cluding one otolaryngologist currently in-fected with COVID-19 and experiencinganosmia and dysgeusia (altered sense oftaste),suggestthatphysiciansevaluatingpa-tientswithacute-onsetlossofsmellortaste,particularly in the context of a patent nasalairway(ie,non-conductiveloss),shouldhavea high index of suspicion for concomitantSARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Havepatients in Indiareportedlossofsenseof smell?Somehave. Inanowviralclip,adoctorin

Lutyen’s Delhi, whowas quarantined aftertestingpositive, talksabouthowhedecidedtogethimselfandhiswifetestedafterheno-ticed,followingafewdaysofcoughandbodyache, that he could not “smell perfume oragarbattis”.

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Howfarhassciencetravelled inthesearchforaCOVID-19vaccine,andwhatrolewillGavi—TheVaccineAllianceplay?Developing vaccines is a time-consum-

ingandresourceintensiveprocess.Ittypicallytakesupto10-15yearsfromthediscoveryofanovelwaytoproduceavaccinetorespondtoanunmetmedicalneedandthelicensureofavaccineforcommercialuse.Giventheun-precedentedlevelsofdatasharingandglobalcollaboration,withafull-scalepush,wecouldpotentially have a coronavirus vaccine—atleastaninvestigationaloneforpotentialusein outbreaks—within 18months to twoyears. Thatwouldbe an incredible achieve-mentcomparedtoanypreviousvaccinede-velopment,andwouldrequireluckintermsof theapproachescurrentlyinthepipeline.Gaviispositionedtoplayakeyroleineach

phaseof thedevelopment anddeliveryof aSARS-CoV2vaccine.Drawinguponourexpe-rienceenabling access to critical vaccines—includingtheEbolavaccine—weareworkingcloselywith theWorldHealthOrganization(WHO), the Coalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations, the industry andotherpartnersintheR&Dcommunitytocre-ateoptimalconditionsfortheidentificationofpriority candidate vaccines,with a focus onpotentialtoscaleandequitableaccess.Gavi’sinnovativefinancingmechanisms

arealsobeingmadeavailable.Gavi’s‘VaccineBonds’, through the International FinanceFacility for Immunisation (IFFIm), will beopentoadditionaldonorcommitmentsthatcanbespreadoverthelongtermbut,thankstoIFFIm’suniquefrontloadingfeatures,makesignificant funding available to acceleratevaccinecandidates.Gaviwill alsoenable itsprivate sectorMatching Fund to be rapidlydeployed for quick assistance fromprivatesector partners to scale up funding andproventechnologiestofightcoronavirus...The300,000Ebolavaccinedoses[access

towhichwasfacilitatedbyGavi]wereinves-tigational dosesmadeavailable throughanAdvanced Purchase Commitment after thevaccinewasdeterminedtobeefficacious,butbeforetheproductwasfullylicensed...Suchan effortmight also bemade in the case of

coronavirus vaccines to help control out-breaksorprotecthealthworkers.

Doesthechallengeof fightingCOVID-19endwiththediscoveryof avaccine?Withmorethan100candidatevaccines

already indevelopment, the response fromthe scientific community and industry hasbeenunprecedented.Butof course,vaccinedevelopmentonitsownisn’tenough.Thereis currentlynoglobal systemtooversee theallocationofvaccinesupplyandmanycoun-trieswhohavethecapacity tomanufactureat the required scalewill also face pressuretomake that supply available first to theirown population.We need global accessagreementsbeforeavaccineisdeveloped.Forme, there are two axes. The public

healthneed—if thereareoutofcontrolout-breaks anywhere in theworld, it threatensnot only those countries but the rest of theworld...Two,therewillneedtobesometypeofagreementonpriorityuse—healthwork-ers probablymost important, followed byhigh risk suchaselderly, thosewith chronicconditionsandfinally,thegeneralpopulation.

WhathasbeenGavi’sexperience inevolvingaccess tovaccines?Gavi’srolewillbetoshapemarketsfrom

developmenttomanufacturingtodistribu-

tion,sothatthereisequitableaccessatscaleto them.Gavi isworkingwithpartnersun-dertheleadershipofWHOtohelpselectandaccelerate candidate vaccines and ensuretheyaremanagedasglobalpublicgoods.ThisworkwillbuilduponGavi’ssuccess-

ful experience of shaping vaccinemarkets.This includesexpandingthenumberofvac-cine suppliers; the Advance MarketCommitment for pneumococcal vaccine—whichhas saved700,000children’s livesbypre-committingincentivepaymentsforvac-cinemanufacturerswhohavedevelopedap-propriatevaccinesfordevelopingcountries;the accelerated licensing and rollout of thefirst Ebola vaccine in the past four yearsthroughanAdvancePurchaseCommitment;andmanagingstockpilesagainstoutbreaks.IndianmanufacturershaveanimportantroletoplayinCOVID-19vaccinesupplyastheydoinsupplyofhigh-qualityvaccinesglobally.

DoyouanticipatetheCOVID-19fightdisruptingroutine immunisationprogrammesandvaccinationdrives?The COVID-19 outbreak is a reminder

that infectious diseases knowno borders,andthattheworldmustbepreparedfortheevolutionaryinevitabilityoftheemergenceof novel pathogens. In countries withweakerhealthsystems,suchoutbreakscan

haveevenmoredevastatingaimpact—bothwithinandbeyondnationalborders.Theim-portance of preparedness and early detec-tion,meaning investing in strong primaryhealthcare and immunisation systems asthe first line of defence against threats toglobalhealthsecurity,cannotbeoverstated.Wearealreadyseeingtheimpactthepan-

demicishaving.MajorGavi-supportedvacci-nation campaigns against polio,measles,cholera, HPV, yellow fever andmeningitishavebeenpostponed in low-incomecoun-tries. Thesewould have immunisedmorethan13.5millionpeople.Thenumberofpeo-plemissing out on vaccines is likely to risesubstantially asweexpect a significantpro-portionofplannedvaccinecampaignstobepostponedinthecomingmonths,withrou-tineimmunisationprogrammesalsoseverelyimpactedaskeystaffareredeployed.

Howcancountriesmitigatesuchrisks?For now, the focus of governments

needs to be on continuing routine immu-nisation as well as robust public healthmeasures for COVID-19 and this is whatthey are doing.Without routine immuni-sation, wewill face potential outbreaks ofregular vaccine-preventable diseases,whichwill overwhelm the health systemontopof theCOVID-19challenge.

We also must remember that strongroutine immunisation ensures people areprotected against the spread of infectiousdisease and, by connecting themtohealthservices, enables early detection of novelthreats. It alsomeans theexistenceof sup-plychains,trainedhealthworkers,datasys-temsand,crucially,diseasesurveillanceandinsomecasesbasic laboratory testing...Beyond routine immunisation,wehave

alsorecognisedprocuringstockpilesasanim-portantaspectofglobalepidemicprepared-ness. Gavi funds emergency vaccine stock-pilesforcholera,yellowfever,meningococcaldiseaseandEbolatoensurethatwhenanout-breakdoesoccur,wearepreparedtoquicklydeployvaccinestoprotectaffectedcommu-nitiesandlimitthespread.Theseemergencystockpiles are a last-resort insurancepolicythatguaranteevaccineswillalwaysbeavail-able for rapiddeliverywhenneeded, bene-fitingnot just directly affectednations, buttheentireglobalcommunity.

DrSethBerkley isCEOofGavi—TheVaccineAlliance, apartnerof theBill&MelindaGatesFoundation,whichworks forbetterandmoreequitableaccess tovaccines.Gavihashelpedvaccinate760millionchildren in

theworld’spoorest countries.HewasinterviewedoveremailbyKavithaIyer.

Can COVID hit sense of smell?SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

USdiseasecontrolauthorityhasnewlylistedlossof senseof smellamongCOVID-19symptoms.Alookatthis lesscommonlydescribedsymptom,andwhattheevidenceworldwidehasshownsofar

KABIRFIRAQUENEWDELHI, APRIL30

ONCETHEnovelcoronavirusSARS-CoV2in-vades ahumancell, the crucial next stage isreplication, when it creates copies aftercopies of itself. For this, the virus uses its“copymachine”, which is an enzymewiththis function. Trials with various drugs aretargetingvariousstagesofvirusactivity,andsomeofthem,notablyremdesivir,seektoin-hibitspecificallytheenzymethatmultipliesthegeneticmaterial of thevirus.Now,researchershavereportedthatthey

have determined the 3D structure of this“copymachine”.Thismakesitpossibletoin-vestigate how drugs such as remdesivirwork, theynote.

How itworksThefirststageof infectionisthevirusen-

tering thehumancell.On thesurfaceof thevirusisaspike-shapedprotein,theso-called“corona”,whichbinds itself toahumancellenzyme,ACE2.Thevirusthenacidifiescom-partments on the cell surface, enters, and

then begins to replicate using the body’sownmechanism.SARS-CoV2 ismade of a single strand of

RNA,which iswhat is copied and recopied.EnzymesthatenablethecreationofRNA(orDNA) are called polymerases; in the case ofSARS-CoV2, the polymerase is called RdRp,alsonamednsp12.Itisthepolymerasewhosestructureresearchershavenowdescribed.

What is newThe3Dstructurehasbeendeterminedby

researchers at theMax Planck Institute inGermany,ledbydirectorPatrickCramer,theinstitute said inastatement.Theyreconstituted thepolymerase from

threepurifiedproteins.Onceitwasfunctionalin the test tube, they examined the samplesunder an electronmicroscope, magnifiedmore than 100,000 times. “One samplelookeddifferent,somehowstrange.Ourfirstthoughtwastodiscardit.Fortunately,wedidnot: This sample, over all, provided uswiththehigh-qualitydataweneeded,”researcherDimitryTegunovsaid inthestatement.The team reported that in overall archi-

tecture, the SARS-CoV2 “copymachine” is

similar to thatof SARS-CoV, thecoronavirusresponsible for SARS. However, they alsonoted distinguishing features. One of theseis an additional element in the SARS-CoV2polymerase,withwhichitbindstheRNAun-til ithascopied thegeneticmaterial.“Weweresurprisedtofindthatthestruc-

tureofthecoronaviruspolymeraseisspecial— it differs from other structures that wehave been investigating so far,” researcherHaukeHillensaid.

Why itmattersThe researchers repeatedly referred to

remdesivir,whichworkbyblockingthepoly-merase. Theirdescriptionof the3Dstructurecomes amidmixed signals from studies onremdesivir.Whilesometrialshave foundtheresultsencouraging, a studypublished inTheLancetthisweekhasreportedthattheclinicalbenefitsfromadministeringremdesivirwerenotfoundtobestatisticallysignificant.Knowledge of the architecture of the

polymeraseonanatomicscaleisimportant,nevertheless, as itopensupnewavenues tounderstandandcombatthevirus.Theteamplanstoinvestigatehowantiviralsubstancesblock theproliferationof coronaviruses.“With the structure at hand itmight be

possibletooptimizeexistingsubstancessuchasremdesivirandtoimprovetheireffect.Butwe alsowant to search for new substancesthat are able to stop the virus polymerase,”saidCramer, theMaxPlanckdirector.

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

Seth Berkley

‘We need global access agreements before a vaccine is developed’ANEXPERTEXPLAINS

Nasal swabbeingcollected inNewDelhi lastweek.PTI

3Dstructureof the SARS-CoV2polymerase.TheredandbluedepictRNA.MaxPlanck Institute

What coronavirus ‘copymachine’ looks like

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JAPAN

EmergencymaybeextendedbyamonthTokyo: Japan ispreparingto extend its state ofemergencyoverthenovelcoronavirus,originallysettoendonMay6,forabouta month, governmentsources told Reuters onThursday, even as someother countries begin toreopen after strict lock-downs. Japanese PrimeMinister ShinzoAbe toldparliamentthathewouldconsultinfectiousdiseaseexpertsonwhethertoex-tend the emergency,which he declared onApril 7 for seven prefec-tures including Tokyo.The state of emergencygives local governorsgreaterpowertotellpeo-ple to stay at home andaskbusinesses toclose.

AcrowdedpassagewayinTokyo.AP/File

PANDEMICWATCH

PAKISTAN

Coronaviruscasesjumpto15,759Islamabad: Pakistan re-ported 874 new cases ofcoronavirus inthelast24hours, taking the totalnumber of infections to15,759 with 346 deathsso far, a statement saidon Thursday. TheMinistry of NationalHealth Services said thedeaths of 19 more pa-tients have been re-ported in the provincesof Punjab, Balochistanamongothers, takingthetotal death toll to 346.Punjab reported 6,061cases, Sindh 5,695,Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa2,313, Balochistan 978,Gilgit-Baltistan 333,Islamabad 313 and PoKreported66 cases.

SOUTHAFRICA

HighestdailycountaseasingofcurbsloomsJohannesburg:Thenum-ber of coronavirus casesin South Africa surgedpast the 5,000-mark onThursday after itrecorded the highestsingle-day jump, just aday before the countrywasset tograduallyeaseits over a month-longnationwide lockdown.Health Minister ZweliMkhize said that therehad been a 73 per centdaily increase in con-firmed COVID-19 infec-tions, with 354 newcases taking the total to5,350. There were also10 deaths overnight,raising the total deathtoll to 103.

MALDIVES

FirstCOVID-19deathreportedMale:Maldives has re-ported its first death tothenewcoronaviruswiththe totalnumberof posi-tivecasesstandingat280.HealthMinister AbdullaAmeen said Thursdaythatthevictimwasan83-year-oldwomanfromthecapital Male'. First casesof COVID-19 were re-portedattouristresortsinthis Indian Ocean archi-pelagostateandauthori-ties for sometime kept itfromspillingoverintothecommunity. However,there is now a suddenspike in the number ofpatients in the capital is-land as well as far off is-lands with no traceablesourceof infection.

AGENCIESSEOUL,APRIL30

WITH SOCIAL distancing andvirustestingpolicies inplaceformonths in several countries, afew governments are now re-portingremarkablemilestones:recordingzeronewdomesticallytransmitted coronavirus cases,ornonewcasesatall.SouthKoreaonThursdayre-

ported that for the first timesince the virus’s February 29peak, it had no new domesticcasesandjust fourcasesamongpeople who came in from out-side the country. The develop-ment was a stark turnaroundfor a nation that was batteredearlyonbythevirus—with909cases on February 29 alone —and quickly conducted wide-spread testing and contracttracingofnewinfectionstohaltthe virus’s spread.The Koreas Centers for

Disease Control and Preventionsaid in a statement Thursdaythat the additional figures tookthecountry'stotalto10,765with247deaths. Itsays9,059of themhave recovered and been re-leased fromquarantine.Itsaysthefournewcasesare

all importedonesandthattherewerenonewlyreportedcasesoflocal infections.

Localmedia said it's the firsttime for SouthKorea tohavenodaily increaseof local infectionssinceFebruary15.South Korea's caseload has

beenslowinginrecentweeksaf-ter it recordedhundredsof newcases every day between lateFebruaryandearlyMarch.South Korea has subse-

quently relaxed someof its so-cialdistancingguidelines. It ex-pected to ease up on morerestrictions incomingdays if its

caseload maintains a down-ward trend.That progress has beenmir-

rored in Hong Kong, which onThursday reported that therehad been no new cases in thesemiautonomousChineseterri-tory for five straight days. Thecity has had more than 1,000cases over all, and had a resur-genceininfectionsinlateMarchthatpromptedstrict lockdownsontravel, includingquarantiningof foreignarrivals,socialdistanc-

ing measures and the wide-spread adoption of work-from-homepolicies.Hong Kong residents over-

whelminglywearmaskswhengoingoutside, evenwith the re-centplunge innewcases.Other countries are flirting

withsimilarsuccesses.Australiareported justninenewcasesonWednesday, and New Zealandhadtwodaysover the lastweekwith just one new confirmedcoronavirus infection.

CELEBRATINGBUDDHA’SBIRTHDAY:Peopleobservesocialdistancingatanevent tomarkthebirthdayofBuddhaata temple inSeoul, SouthKorea,onThursday. Reuters

STEVEHOLLANDWASHINGTON,APRIL30

PRESIDENTDONALDTrumpsaidonWednesdayhebelievesChina’shandling of the coronavirus isproof that Beijing “will do any-thingtheycan”tomakehimlosehisre-electionbidinNovember.InaninterviewwithReuters,

Trump talked tough on Chinaandsaidhewaslookingatdiffer-ent options in terms of conse-quencesforBeijingoverthevirus.“I candoa lot,”hesaid.TheRepublicanpresident,of-

ten accused of not acting earlyenough to prepare the UnitedStatesforthespreadofthevirus,said he believed China shouldhavebeenmoreactive in lettingtheworldknowabout thecoro-navirusmuchsooner.Askedwhetherhewasconsid-

eringtheuseoftariffsorevendebtwrite-offsforChina,Trumpwouldnotofferspecifics.“Therearemanythings I cando,” he said. “We’relookingforwhathappened.”“Chinawilldoanythingthey

can to haveme lose this race,”said Trump.He said he believesBeijingwantshisDemocraticop-ponent, Joe Biden, to win therace toeasethepressureTrumphas placed on China over tradeandother issues.“They’re constantly using

public relations to try tomake itlikethey’reinnocentparties,”hesaidof Chineseofficials.Hesaidthetradedealthathe

concluded with ChinesePresidentXiJinpingaimedatre-ducingchronicUS tradedeficitswithChinahadbeen“upsetverybadly” by the economic falloutfromthevirus. REUTERS

NEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,APRIL30

THE FEDERAL guidelines put inplace to slow the spread of thevirus by encouraging people tocurtail nearly all public life areset to expire and PresidentTrump has indicated he has nointention of extending themeasures as states across thecountrymove aheadwith a va-riety of plans to gradually re-open their economies.“They’ll be fading out, be-

causenowthegovernorsaredo-ing it,” Trump told reporters onWednesday, referring to the re-strictions. The devastating cas-cade of dismal financial newshasincreasedpressureonalllev-

els of government to restartcommercial activity.An additional 3.8 million

workersfiledforunemploymentbenefits across the country lastweek. The figures announcedThursday by the LaborDepartmentbringthenumberofworkersjoiningtheofficialjoblessranksinthelastsixweekstomorethan30million, andunderscorejust howdire economic condi-tionsremain.Many state agencies still find

themselvesoverwhelmedbytheflood of claims. “Theproblem iseven bigger than the data sug-gest,” said Elise Gould, a senioreconomistwith the institute, aleft-leaning research group.“We’re undercounting the eco-nomicpain.”

‘HE IS AFRAID — AFRAID FOR HIS RATINGS AND FOR THE SYSTEM HE HAS SPENT 20 YEARS CREATING’

Putin, Russia’s man of action, lets others act against the virusANDREWHIGGINSMOSCOW,APRIL30

THISWASsupposed tobeamo-ment of triumph for PresidentVladimirVPutin,acelebrationofhis grand successes in restoringthe Russian state to a place ofprideintheworldandconsolidat-inghis grip onpower, all toppedoff by a gloriousmilitary paradeinRedSquareonMay9,the75thanniversary of the Red Army’svictoryoverNaziGermany.But the coronavirus has

changedall that.Now,havingbowedtothein-

evitable and canceled the pa-rade, Putin seems less a can-doexecutivethanaboredmonarch

coopedup in apalace, checkinghiswatchduringtelevisedvideoconferenceswithhisunderlingsabout thepandemic ashis pop-ularity ratingsdip.For20years, Putinhasmade

hismarkasamanofaction,ahy-peractive leader ever ready toface down the Kremlin’s foes athomeandabroad,andevenwildtigers in remote Russian forests.Confrontedwiththecoronavirus,however, a leaderwhowas re-elected in 2018with nearly 80percentofthevoteandwhofacesno serious threats to his powerhasbeenoddlypassive.“He is afraid— afraid for his

ratingsandforthesystemhehasspent20yearscreating,”saidGlebOPavlovsky, adisenchanted for-

merKremlinadviser. Facedwithaviralenemythathecannoteas-

ilyvanquish, “Putinunderstandsthatthebestthingtodoisstandto

theside,”Pavlovskyadded.AddingtoPutin’stroubles,the

collapse of oil prices removes amajorstreamof revenues forso-cialprograms,whileRussia’soil-and gas-dependent economy isexpected to shrink by 6 percentthisyear.Butturmoilintheglobaloilmarket,unlikethehealthcrisis,at least plays to Putin’s strongsuits of geopolitics and high-stakesdiplomacy.By contrast, the pandemic

hasonlyhighlightedwhathasal-ways been Putin’s biggest vul-nerability:apronounced lackofinterestorsuccessintacklingin-tractabledomesticproblemslikedilapidatedhospitals,pocketsofentrenchedpovertyandyearsoffalling real incomes.

Addingtothegloom,anApril22referendumonconstitutionalamendmentshadtobecanceledbecauseofthevirus.Theamend-ments, already approved byRussia’s legislature, allow Putintocrashthroughtermlimitsandstay inpoweruntil 2036.Faced in 2014 with a simi-

larly grave threat to Russian in-terests created by the ouster ofUkraine’s pro-Kremlin presi-dent, Putin seized themomentbygrabbingCrimea.When,twoyearslater, it lookedasifRussia’sclosest ally in theMiddle East,President Bashar al-Assad ofSyria, might also fall, Putinjumped in to reverse the tideofSyria’s civil war by sendingRussianwarplanesandsoldiers.

But his display ofmachismobefore the advancing pandemicdid not work out quite asplanned:Hevisited infectedpa-tientsatanewMoscowhospitaldressed in a canary yellowhaz-mat suit, only to find out a fewdays later that the head doctorwho showed him around andgavehimalongfleshyhandshakehadtestedpositive for thevirus.Since then, Putin has been

sheltering at his country villa. Itwasfromthere,warmedbygen-tle flames from a fireplace in acozy-lookinglivingroom,thatheonApril19deliveredawhat-me-worryOrthodoxEastermessageto thenation.“The situation,” he said, “is

under total control.” NYT

PresidentVladimirVPutin ledameetingwithmembersofRussia’sSecurityCouncilviaavideo linkthismonth. Reuters

THE LONG WAITAPeruvian lives inatentonthestreet,whilewaitingtobetestedforCOVID-19andobtainpermissiontoreturnhometoanotherpartof thecountry, inLima,Peru. Reuters

COSTASPITAS&ESTELLESHIRBONLONDON,APRIL30

PRIMEMINISTERBoris Johnsonsaid Britain was now past thepeakof its coronavirus outbreakand promised to set out a lock-downexitstrategynextweek,de-spite rising deaths and criticismofhisgovernment’sresponse.Johnson offered hope to

locked-downBritons,buturgedthem to stick with restrictionsdesigned to slow the spread ofthevirus.“I canconfirmtodaythat for

the first time, we are past thepeak of this disease,” Johnsonsaid. “We’re past the peak andwe’re on the downward slope,and we have so many reasonsto be hopeful for the longterm.”Nevertheless, Britain now

has the second-highest officialCOVID-19 death toll in Europewithmore than26,000deaths.With rising unemployment

and companies crippled, thegovernmentisunderpressuretooutlineanexit strategy.Johnson promised to set out

nextweek a “menu of options”on how the lockdown could berelaxed, but said exact dateswouldbedrivenbyscientificad-viceanddata.REUTERS

KJMVARMABEIJING,APRIL30

CHINESE PRESIDENT Xi JinpinghastermedChina'sbattleagainstCOVID-19 as a major strategicachievement, as the rulingCommunist Party is all set tohold the postponed ParliamentsessiononMay22amidasteadydeclineinthecoronaviruscases.The virus has claimed 4,633

lives in thecountry.China's arduous efforts to

contain the coronavirus havebrought a decisive outcome to

thefightofdefendingHubeiandits capital cityWuhan, Xi told ahigh-powered Central

Committeemeeting of the rul-ing Communist Party of China(CPC)onWednesday.

The nationwide battleagainsttheepidemichasgainedmajor strategic achievements,the state-run Xinhua newsagencyquotedXias saying.Xi said Hubei, including

Wuhan, should continuestrengtheningcommunity-levelepidemicpreventionandcontrol.The COVID-19 pandemic

continues its explosive growthoverseas, Xi said, noting themounting pressure to preventimported infections andthe growing complexity ofstemming domestic epidemicresurgence.PTI

Washington: US intelli-gence agencieshave con-cluded the coronaviruswas“notmanmadeorge-neticallymodified"butsaythey are still examiningwhethertheoriginsof thepandemictracetocontactwithinfectedanimalsoranaccidentataChineselab.The statement from

theOffice of theDirectorof National Intelligence,theclearinghousefor theweb of US spy agencies,comes as PresidentDonaldTrumpandhisal-lies have touted the as-yet-unproventheorythata lab inWuhanwas thesourceof thepandemic.“The Intelligence

Community also concurswith thewide scientificconsensus that COVID-19viruswasnotmanmadeorgeneticallymodified,”saidthestatement. AP

VIRUSORIGINATEDIN CHINA, BUTNOTMAN-MADE, SAYINTEL AGENCIES

PresidentDonaldTrumpintheOvalOffice. Reuters

Social distancing rulesset to fade out as 3.8 mnmore file for jobless aid

RACE FORTHEWHITE

HOUSE

Trump says Chinawants him to losebid for re-election

Britain is pastcoronaviruspeak: Boris

AUSTRALIANCAPITAL TERRITORYFREEOF COVID-19Canberra: The AustralianCapital Territory has be-comethefirstof thecoun-try'seightstatesandmain-land territories to declareitself free of all knowncasesof thecoronavirus.Chief Health Officer

Kerryn Coleman said theterritory surrounding thecapital city Canberrawasfreeof any recorded infec-tiononThursdayforthefirsttime in sevenweeks afterthelastpatientrecovered.There have been 106

confirmedCOVID-19casesinCanberra and threepa-tientshavedied.The capital territory

has a population of420,000, and its infectionrate per head of popula-tionranksinthemiddleofthe field.Everyonewith cold or

flu symptoms have beenoffered free testing inCanberraforthepastweekand the government saidthatofferwillbeextendedforanotherweek. AP

South Korea, Hong Kongmilestone:A day gonewith no new local cases

China’sdecision tohold itspostponedParliamentsessiononMay22 iswidely seenasasign that thegovernmentcon-siders theoutbreakundercontrol.Now, theCPC’s focusap-pears tobe turning to theeconomy,withreports saying thattheagriculturesectorandpillar industries suchasautomanufacturingandbiomedicinewill beamongthose togetapushaspartof economic recoveryefforts.

Outbreak ‘undercontrol’,Chinalookstogeteconomyontrack

China’s battle against coronavirus majorstrategic achievement, says Xi Jinping

Boris Johnson

11SENSEX: 33,717.62 ▲ 997.46 NIFTY: 9,859.90 ▲ 306.55 NIKKEI: 20,193.69 ▲ 422.50 HANG SENG: 24,643.59 ▲ 67.63 FTSE: 6,025.92▼ 89.33 DAX: 11,001.48 ▼ 106.26

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`41,705

RUPEE`75.09

OIL$26.15

SILVER`38,100

Note:Spotgoldmarketsshutdueto lockdowninmajorstates. *IndianbasketasonMarch19,2020

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

HITBY the fall in crudeoil pricesanddemandforrefinedproducts,RelianceIndustriesLtd(RIL)hasre-ported a 37.2 per cent fall in netprofit at Rs 6,546 crore for thequarter ended March 2020 asagainstRs10,427croreinthesameperiodayearago.TheboardofRILalsoapprovedamegarightsissueofRs53,125crore—probablythelargest in the corporate sector’shistory — to shareholders.TheboardhaspricedtherightsissueatRs1,257pershareinthesharera-tioof1:15.RIL’srevenuewasdownby2.5

percentatRs1,51,209croreinthequarter fromRs1,55,151crore inthe year-ago period. RIL’s sub-sidiary,RelianceJio,posteda177.5percentriseinnetprofitatRs2,331croreduringtheMarchquarterasagainstRs840croreayearago.RIL said the decrease in rev-

enue is primarily on account of10.1 per cent decline in refiningandpetrochemicalsbusinessrev-enues. The sharp fall of 20.5 percentinaverageBrentoilpriceledtolower product price realizationacross the hydrocarbon chain.“Thiswaspartially offsetby con-tinuinggrowthinconsumerbusi-nesses, even amidst the opera-tional issues posed by thepandemic.Digitalservicesandre-

tailbusinessrecordedanincreaseof30percentand4.2percent,re-spectively, in revenueduring thequarter,”itsaid.RILChairmanandMDMukesh

D Ambani, said: “Despite thedauntingchallengesarising fromthefalloutoftheglobalpandemic,ourcompanyhasonceagaindeliv-eredaresilientperformanceforFY2019-20.OurO2C(oiltochemicals)businesses delivered sustainedearningsduetoitsintegratedport-folio, cost-competitiveness, feed-stockflexibilityandproductplace-mentcapabilities.Wecontinuetooperate all ourmajor facilities atnearnormalutilisationlevels.”RIL’sproposedrightsissuewill

be its first in threedecades. “Thepromotershaveconfirmedthatinadditiontosubscribingtotheirag-gregate entitlement in full, theywillalsosubscribetoalltheunsub-scribedportion,”RILsaid.

MARCHQUARTER: JIOPOSTS177.5%RISE INNETPROFITAT `2,331CR

`1 lakhcrorefundraising

THOUGHTHEvolatilityinoilpriceshasimpacteditsbottomline,RILisgoingaheadwithitsmegainvestmentandfundraisingplans.Thecompanyisexpectedtocompletethecapitalraisingprogramme,totallingoverRs1.04lakhcrorebyQ1ofthecurrentfinancialyear.ThisincludestheinvestmentbyFacebookinJioPlatforms,theRs53,125-crorerightsissueandthepreviousinvestmentbyBritishPetroleuminFY20.

RILnetdrops37.2%onfall inoilprices,poordemand;boardokays`53,125-cr rights issue

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

RILCHAIRMANandMDMukeshAmbani’shasdecidedtoforegohisentire salary “until the impactofCOVID-19abates”.AmbanihadhissalarycappedatRs15croresince2008-09.RIL announced itwill reduce

salariesof someof its employeesinthehydrocarbondivisionby10per cent in viewof the “adverseimpact” of thepandemicon fueldemand.Thecompany’sboardofdirectorswould forego30-50percentof their salary,RILExecutiveDirectorHitalRMeswanisaid.Thesepaycutswouldapplyto

theemployeesinthehydrocarbondivisionwho are earningmorethanRs15lakhayear.Thoseearn-inglessthanthatwouldnotbeim-pacted,thelettersaid.“In light of the outbreak ...

Ambanihasvoluntarilydecidedtoforegohis entire salary,”RIL said.“Andnow,heisforgoinghissalaryuntilthecompanyandallitsbusi-nessesarefullybacktotheirearn-ingspotential,”itsaid.

NewDelhi: Facebook’smega Rs43,574-crorepactwithRelianceJiowill help the socialmedia giantbuild products and technologythatcanbeextendedtootherpartsof the world, CEO MarkZuckerbergsaid.Hesaidthesocialmediagiant

aims to create a “much bettershoppingandcommerceexperi-ence” in India working withJioMartbyleveragingWhatsApp’scommunication and paymentsplatform.Facebookisfocusedonalong-

termplayinIndiaanditsdealwithJio is indicativeof the company’scommitment, its IndiaManagingDirectorAjitMohansaid.PTI

BRIEFLYCompliancenormsfor liquidfundseasedNew Delhi: Sebi has giventhreemoremonthsfor liq-uid funds to comply withtherequirementofholdingatleast20percentofassetsin liquidassets.

USTRreport isdefamatory:SnapdealWashington: Snapdeal hassaid the USTR report thatplaced it in theNotoriousMarketsListisbasedon“un-verified inputs” and is“defamatory”innature.PTI

NABARDstaffcontributetoPM-CARESNewDelhi: NABARD em-ployeeshavecontributedRs9.85croretothePM-CARESFund,saidastatement.

VedantaenablesmassoutputofPPEsNewDelhi:Vedantahasen-abledmass production ofPersonal Protective Equip-ment in Gurgaon, said astatement.ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,APRIL30

INDIANEEDS to lift its lockdownina“measuredway”butasfastaspossibleasitdoesnothavetheca-pacitytosupportpeopleacrossthespectrumfortoolong,formerRBIGovernorRaghuramRajansaid,ashearguedthatthecountryneedsto spendRs65,000crore to sup-portthepoor.HesaidIndiahastobe “cleverer” about opening upand argued a second or thirdroundof lockdownwillbedevas-tatingfortheIndianeconomy.Inaconversationwithformer

CongresspresidentRahulGandhi,Rajansaid“therewillhavetobearethinking of everything in theglobal economy”post-COVID-19andarguedIndiahasanopportu-nity in shaping that dialogue to-wards “one which has greater

place formore countries in theglobal order, amultipolar globalorderratherthanasingleorabipo-larglobalorder.”HesaidIndiacanfindopportunitiesforitsindustriesanditssupplychains.He said there has to be a se-

quencingwhenitcomestoopen-ingupandthefirstshouldbethose

placeswheresocialdistancingcanbemaintained.But,forthat,hesaid“a lot of work needs to be donebothoncreatingthestructures,aswell as ensuring that theworkplaceisrelativelysafe.”ReferringtoasurveybyCentre

forMonitoring IndianEconomywhichsaidanestimated100mil-lionworkershavebeenrenderedjobless due to the lockdown, hesaid thenumbersare “worrying”and“mindboggling” and “I thinkit says,we need to openup in ameasuredwaybutasfastaspossi-blesothatpeoplestarthavingjobs.Wedon’thavethecapacitytosup-portpeople across the spectrumfortoolong.Beingarelativelypoorcountry,peoplestartoutwithsig-nificantlylowerreserves.”“Weneedto findwaysof get-

ting bothmoney aswell as foodthroughPDS toasmanyof thesepeopleaswecan,”hesaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL30

INDIA IS expected towitnessapermanent lossof around4per cent of its real GDP, ornearly Rs 9 lakh crore, on ac-counttheeconomicimpactofspread of coronavirus and anationwide lockdown, said areport released by CrisilResearch. Projecting a basecase GDP growth rate of 1.8per cent for FY21, with adownside scenario of zeroGDPgrowth for the year, thereport projected a sharp re-covery beginning the firstquarter of next financial yearwhen theGDP is expected togrowat7.5percent—benefit-ting from thebase effect. ForIndiaInc,thereportprojecteda revenuedecline of up to15percentanddip inprofitabil-ity by 25-30 per cent for thecurrentyear.Asthepandemicishurting

economicactivity across sec-tors anddemographicprofileof thecountry,DK Joshi, chiefeconomist at Crisil said, “Wefeelthatafiscalstimulustothetuneof Rs3.5 lakhcrore is re-quired(includingwhathasal-readybeenannouncedbythefinanceministerearlier).Whilethegovernmenthasprovidedfor fooddistributionandcashtransfertobankaccountsoftheneedy,thefocusforthenextsetof stimulus shouldbearoundsmallandmediumenterprisessoas to support their survivalastheyarethebiggestjobcre-ators.Wewill need stimuluslaterduringthetimeofrecov-erytoo.”CrisilsaidIndiashouldpre-

paretobenefitfromanyglobalbusiness realignmentoppor-tunity.Asallmajoreconomiesare impacted by the pan-demic, Shaun Roache, chiefAsia –Pacific economist, S&PGlobalRatings,saidaglobalre-alignment of supply chain ison the cards and India couldbenefitfromit. Joshi,however,added domestic conditionshave to be made morefavourable to attract compa-niesmovingawayfromChina.StatingthatIndiawillhave

to grow at an average of 8.5per cent for threeyearsup toFY24 tomakeup for theper-manent loss of around 4 percent of its real GDP this year,

the report said high growthratesof8.5percentwouldre-quire, “extraordinaryandex-tended policy support, re-forms and facilitations tosupport domestic businessandsupplychains,andattractforeigninvestment.”While India Inchasseena

near halt in business activity,thereportprojectedadeclineinrevenuegrowthof8-10percent on a base case (GDPgrowth of 1.8 per cent). It,however, said on lowerGDPgrowth,revenuedeclinecouldbe 12-15 per cent. “Wehaveneverwitnessed such a sce-nario in our lifetime,” said,PrasadKoparkar,seniordirec-toratCrisilResearch.The impact is expected to

be severe for certain sectors.Whileconsumerdiscretionaryservicessuchasairline,hospi-tality,mediaandorganisedrealestatecouldseearevenuede-clinebetween20and30percent, auto and consumerdurables couldwitness ade-cline between12and22percent. On the other hand,pharma, FMCGand telecomareexpectedtodobetter. Thereport projects a revenuegrowthof 15-18per cent forthetelecomsector“onaccountof pricehike last year and in-creaseindataconsumption.”Profitabilityofcompanies

isalsosettocomeunderpres-sure and India Inc could see15-18 per cent decline inearnings before interest taxdepreciation and amortisa-tion(Ebitda)onthebasecaseGDP projection. In linewithdecline in revenue and prof-its, more companies are ex-pectedtobecomevulnerablefor degrade and default, thereportsaid.It statedwhile22percent

ofIndiancompanieswithtotaldebtofRs16lakhcrorehadin-terest coverage ratio of lessthan1tillMarch2020, it issettoriseto32percentbytheendofFY21.Asbanksturncautious,NPAsaresettoriseby150-200basispointsthisfiscal.Amongthesectors,aCrisil

metric onparameters of ero-sion in revenue growth andcredit risk, shows that autocomponents,realestate,gemsand jewellery, airline, con-struction, poultry andmeatand textiles are theweakestpositioned.

COVID-19 EFFECTECONOMY

‘Permanent loss of 4%to real GDP likely;revenue decline of upto 15% for India Inc’

Need to open up in a measuredway, but as fast as possible: Rajan

Core industries’output shrinks6.5% in March

Gold demand plunges36% in March quarter

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,APRIL30

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER onThursday reported a decline of3.93percentinconsolidatedprofitto Rs 1,512 crore for the fourthquarter, impactedby the coron-aviruscrisisfrommid-March.Thecompanyhadpostedanet

profit of Rs 1,574 crore in theJanuary-Marchperiodof thepre-viousfiscal.Salesduringthequarterunder

review stood at Rs 9,055 crore,down9.61percentfromRs10,018croreinthecorrespondingperiodayearago,HindustanUnileverLtd(HUL)saidinaregulatoryfiling.“The spreadof COVID-19 im-

pacted the business frommid-March,”saidHUL.

SC directs RBI to ensure itsmoratorium circular isimplemented in letter, spiritEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,APRIL30

THESUPREMECourtonThursdayexpressed doubts onwhetherbankswerepassingonthereliefsannouncedbytheRBItoborrow-ers in thewakeof theCOVID-19pandemic andnationwide lock-down,andaskedtheapexbanktoensurecompliance.ABenchheadedbyJusticeNV

Ramana,whichheardapleathatclaimed theMarch27 circular ofthe RBI has not been imple-mentedbybanks,said“inviewofthe above,wedirect theReserveBank of India to ensure imple-mentation of the Circular dated27.03.2020initsletterandspirit”.Thepleaurgedthecourttoset

asidethecircular.But theBench, also compris-

ingJusticesSKKaulandBRGavai,which heard a clutch of PILs re-latedtoRBIcircularviavideocon-ferencing, refusedto interfereaf-ternotingnoneofthepetitionerswerepersonallyaggrieved.Meanwhile,theRBIextended

regulatorybenefitstoallbanksin-cludingthosedeployingtheirownresourcestoextendliquiditysup-port to themutual funds underthe Special Liquidity Facility forMutual Funds (SLF-MF) scheme.Italsopermittedbankstofilereg-ulatoryreturnswithadelayofupto 30 days from the due date asseveralentitiesfacedifficulties intimely submission inviewof thedisruptionsonaccountoftheout-break.WITHPTI

25-30% flights may resumeafter lockdown; airlines,airports begin preparationsPRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,APRIL30

ASTHEgovernmentpreparestore-laxcertain restrictionsMay4on-wards, airlinesandairportshavestartedtolaydownthegroundforresumptionofscheduledcommer-cialflightoperationsthathavebeenshutsinceMarch25.Theindicationfromgovernmentofficials, how-ever, isthatflightsareexpectedtoresumewith25-30percentcapac-itymid-Mayonwards.Inacommunicationtoairport

managersacross thecountry, theAirportsAuthorityof India (AAI)askedallairportstobeinprepared-ness tohandle flight operations.Issuingasetofstandardoperatingprocedures,AAI’sdirectorateofop-

erationssaid:“Oncethelockdownperiod isdeclared tobeover, air-ports shall be facilitating limiteddomestic/internationalscheduledflightsinphases,tostartwith,maybeat30percentcapacitytofacili-tate requiredsocialdistancing.” Itadded initially, airlineoperationsmaybe limitedtoTier-l citiesandmajorTier-llcities.Similarly,Air India’smanage-

menthaswrittentoitsstaff tobe-ginpreparing for resumptionofflightoperations.“Thereisaprob-ability to commence 25-30 percentoperationspost-lockdowninmid-May2020,”acommunicationsenttooperationsstaffread.Governmentofficialshavesaid

airlines and customers will begiven10days forbookingsbeforeoperationsareallowedtoresume.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

GOLDSEEMS to be losing lustrewith the economic slowdownand the lockdown triggered bythecoronaviruspandemichittingthedemandfortheyellowmetal.As a result, demand for gold fell36 per cent to 101.9 tonnes dur-ingtheJanuary-Marchquarterof2020ascomparedto159tonnesinthesameperiodof lastyear.According to theWorldGold

Council, in value terms, gold de-mand value for the quarterwasRs37,580crore,adeclineof20percent in comparison with Rs47,000croreayearago. Totaljew-ellery demand in India forJanuary-Marchperiodwasdownby 41 per cent at 73.9 tonnes as

comparedto125.4 tonnes in thesameperiodof lastyear.The value of jewellery de-

manddeclinedby27per cent toRs 27,230 crore fromRs. 37,070croreayearago.Total investmentdemandfor

the January-March quarterwasdown by 17 per cent at 28.1tonnes as compared to 33.6tonnesayearago.However,invalueterms,gold

investment demand was Rs.10,350 crore, a rise of 4 per centfromRs9,940crorelastyear.

Sensex jumps997 points onCOVID-19 drug,lockdown easingENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

DOMESTICMARKETS Thursdaystagedastrongrallybuoyedbyre-portsofencouragingdrugtrialsintheUStotreatCOVID-19andprob-ableeasingoflockdownpostMay3insomeofthestates.TheSensexrallied997points,

or3.05per cent, to33,717.62andtheNSENifty Index spurted307pointsto9,859.90.Therupeealsoroseby57paiseat75.09perdol-laramidexpectationsofcapitalin-flowsandanothereconomicpack-age from the government.However,economicfundamentalsremainunchangedasofnow,andanypick-up inmacroaggregateswilltakesometime,asperexperts.

Fitch downgradesviability ratings ofSBI, BoB, ICICIand Axis BankNew Delhi: Fitch Ratings onThursday downgraded the via-bility ratings of SBI, ICICI BankandAxis Bank to ‘bb’ from ‘bb+’on account of deteriorating op-erating environment for banksamidtheCOVID-19pandemic.Theglobalratingagencyalso

downgradedBankofBaroda’sVRbyonenotchto ‘bb-’, from‘bb’.The agency affirmed the

long-termissuerdefault ratingsof SBI and BOB at ‘BBB-’ andthoseofICICIBankandAxisBankat ‘BB+’.PTI

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,APRIL30

THECOVID-19outbreakandsub-sequentlockdownhasledtoashiftinbuyingbehaviourof fastmov-ing consumergoods in favourofonlinepurchasesasregionsacrossthecountry,withhigherdepend-enceontraditionalretailers,sawafall involumesofsuchitems.Thisisdespite the fact that traditionalchannels continue to dominatethe contribution to India’s retailchannelsforFMCGsales.As per a study by Nielsen,

amongthefourzonesofIndia,eastzonewasundermaximumstressduringtheJanuary-Marchperiod,whilethesouthzonecontinuedtosee sustainedgrowth. The studynotedthattheeastzonerecorded0.4percenton-yearsalesvolumegrowthforFMCGproductsduringJanuary-Marchperiod this year,comparedto10.9percentgrowthlast year. Traditional trade con-tributed to 95 per cent of theFMCGsalesinthisregion.The south zone, whichwas

leastimpacted—recording6.4percentgrowthinJanuary-Marchthisyear, comparedwith8.7per centlastyear—hastheleastcontribu-tion from traditional trade in allfourzonesat84percent.PrasunBasu, southAsia zone

president,NielsenGlobalConnect,said theCOVID-19episode is ex-pectedtocausesignificantshiftinconsumerpatterns going aheadbutthemagnitudeofhowthebe-haviour gets alteredwill onlybeknownonce lockdown is lifted.“Therewillbeanewnormalforre-tailers for sure,” he saidduring a

webinaronThursday.AsurveybyCARERatingsob-

servedwhile sectors such as e-commerceandretailareexpectedtodowellintheongoingfinancialyear,with82per centof the sur-vey’srespondentsexpectingpos-itivegrowthinthesesectors,“itcanbeinferredthatthegrowthwillbesupported by the e-commercesectorratherthanretail”.Thepushtowardsonlinecom-

merceisalsoevidentfromthefactthat several large companies aretweakingstrategiestogivealegupto their e-commerceoperationsonbackofexpectationsthatcon-sumersmaynot immediatelyre-turntophysicalstores.“Whileweare takingallmeasures toensuresocial distancing andhave evenlaiddownSOPs toensure safety,there is anexpectation thatpeo-plemightbeafraid tovisit storesatleastimmediatelypostthelock-downis lifted,”saidaseniorsalesdepartment executive at a largefashionandlifestylebrand.

RISKSCALEVulnerability:■High ■Medium ■Low

Sector Workforcesize (crore)Agriculture 20.53Industry 11.53Miningandquarrying 0.19Manufacturing 5.64Electricityandwatersupply 0.27Construction 5.43Services 14.44Trade 4.69Transport 2.29Accommodationandfoodservices 0.87Otherservices 6.59

FormerCongressPresidentRahulGandhi (left) inaconversationwith formerRBIGovernorRaghuramRajanviaavideo link, inNewDelhi. Screenshotpostedby@RahulGandhiTwitterhandleviaPTI

Facebook aims toextend products,tech built with Jio

Salary deduction at RIL’shydrocarbon division,Ambani to forego salary

RILChairmanandMDMukeshAmbani. File

HUL net slips3.9% to `1,512 cron virus hit

EPFO allows firms to file PF returnswithout simultaneous payment of duesENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL30

INAmove thatwill ease compli-ance burden for employers, theEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO)haspermit-ted companies to file their elec-tronic challan cumreturn (ECR)withoutthesimultaneousrequire-menttopaytheirPFcontributions.Through thismove, the govern-mentisalsoexpectedtogetanes-timate of the companies underEPFOwhicharefacingcashcrunchandwagepaymentrelatedissues

owingtothelockdowntocountertheCOVID-19pandemic.Therewill benopenal action

onthosecompanieswhichfiletheECRontime,eveniftheirpaymentcontributions get delayed. “TheECRcannowonwardsbefiledbyanemployerwithout theneedofsimultaneouspaymentof contri-butions.Thecontributionsmaybepaid later by theemployer athisconvenience after filing theECR...filing of ECR shall establishemployer’s intent to complyandunwillingness to defaultwhichwill not attract penal conse-quences andemployees also get

assurance of their employmentandmembership,”theEPFOsaid.Thiswill also “help in policy

planninganddecision-makingre-gardingsupportingthebusinessesandEPFmembers inwagepay-mentorcontributionpaymentorotherwise”,itadded.Earlier thismonth, the EPFO

extended thedeadline for filingECR andmaking payment of PFdues for themonthofMarch tillMay15.TheECRandPFduespay-mentsforMarchweredueonApril15.Thereafter,theemployerswereto get 10 days’ grace period forcompliancetillApril25.

Pandemic, lockdowngive shot in the armto e-comm adoption

AgroceryshopinNewDelhi.Regionswithhigherdependenceontraditionalretailerssawafall inFMCGvolumes.GajendraYadav

New Delhi: RelianceIndustries Ltd on Thursdaysaiditsboardhasapprovedhiving off its $75 billionworth oil-to-chemicalsbusiness intoaseparatedi-vision to enable the sale of20percentstakeintheunitto Saudi national oil com-panyAramco.PTI

$75-bn O2C bizto be hived off

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,APRIL30

THEOUTPUTof eight core infra-structure industries shrankby arecord6.5per cent inMarchduetosignificantdipinproductionofcrude oil, natural gas, fertiliser,steel,cementandelectricityamidthecoronaviruslockdown.Theeightcoresectorshadex-

pandedby5.8per cent inMarch2019.InFebruarythisyear,thesec-tors recorded a growth of 7 percent.Productionof crudeoil,nat-ural gas, refinery products, fer-tiliser, steel, cementandelectric-itycontractedby5.5percent,15.2percent,0.5percent,11.9percent,13per cent, 24.7per cent and7.2percent,respectively,inthemonthunderreview,accordingtodataofthe Commerce and IndustryMinistryreleasedonThursday.

Thevalueof jewellerydemanddeclined27%to`27,230crorefrom`37,070croreayearago

Football’s return good foreveryone:Mourinho

TottenhammanagerJoseMourinhobelievesbringingfootballback,evenbehindcloseddoors,wouldbeamuch-neededmoraleboostforfansstarvedofactionduringthecoro-naviruscrisis.No

PremierLeaguegameshavebeenplayedsinceMarch9duetothepandemic,whichhasclaimedmorethan26,000Britishlives.DutchfootballchiefshavecalledanendtotheEredivisieseasonwhileFrenchsportsministerRoxanaMaracineanuonThursdaycalledfortheFrenchleaguetoendtheLigue1season.England'stop-flightclubsareduetomeetonFridaywith"ProjectRestart"atthetopof theiragenda.Theywilldiscusshowtheycancompletetheseasondespitethelogisticaldifficulties. AFP

MotoGP cancels racesTheMotoGPraces inGermany, theNetherlandsandFinland in Juneand Julyhavebeencancelled, the InternationalMotorcyclingFederation (FIM)andpro-moterDornaSportsannounced. “Theon-goingcoronavirusoutbreakhasobliged thecancellationof all threeevents," theysaidina joint statement. TheGermanGrandPrixwasscheduled fromJune19-21at theSachsenringandtheDutchMotoGPfromJune26-28atAssen, theonlycircuit tohavehostedamotorcyclegrandprixeveryyear since its inception in1949. AFP

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PARISSTGermainmovedwithinafingertipofbeingcrownedLigue1championswhentheFrenchleaguerecommendedtofreezethe2019-20standingsamidtheCOVID-19crisisonThursday,FrenchsportsdailyL'Equipereported.According to thenewspaper, the LFP's

boardwill ratify the recommendationonThursday afternoonandeffectively handPSG their seventh title in the last eightyears. Thedecisionwouldmean that sec-ond-placedOlympiquedeMarseille andthird-placed StadeRennaiswouldbe innext season's Champions Leaguewith

PSG. Lille, StadedeReims andNicewouldqualify for the Europa League. Amiens andToulousewouldbe relegatedwith Ligue2leaders Lorient, and second-placed Lend,promoted to the elite. “I thinkwehave toaccept thedecisions that havebeen taken,in all sports and in all countries,” said PSGdefender ThiloKehrer on the club'sweb-site earlier thisweek.“I thinktheteamsthatareatthetopof

their leaguesatthemomentdeservetobethere. If thedecisionistakentocallanendtotheseasonthenthetitlewillbedeservedtoo.”TheLFPdidnotcomment. REUTERS

PSG to be namedwinnersas standings remain frozen

Outbreakwill not affectwomen's sport: Perry

Amidstconcernsthatcash-strappedgovern-ingbodieswillgiveprioritytomen'seventsoverless-lucrativewomen'sfixturesoncethehealthcrisistriggeredbyCOVID-19pan-demicisover,starAustraliaall-rounderEllysePerrybelievesthatwomensportwillemergeunscathed.Sportingactivitiesaroundtheworldhavebeenbroughttoagrindinghaltbythecoronavirusoutbreak.BoardslikeCricketAustraliaarefacingafi-nancialcrisisandwereforcedtolayoffma-jorityof theirstaffbutPerrybelievesthatgoverningbodieswill lookfornewwaysofrevenuegeneration.“Sport ingeneral is resilientand I can't

actually see ithavinga long-lastingnega-tiveeffect,”Perry told theAustralianAssociatedPress." "It's certainlymadeor-ganisations rethinkhowtheyruntheirsportsandtheir codesandpotentially stripitback towhat is really important. PTI

Diamond League cancelledTheDiamondLeague trackmeet inLausanne, Switzerland,won'thappenasscheduledonAug.20.Organizersof theAthletissimasay theyarenowlookingat``alternativeoptionsand formats thatcouldstill beconsidered inorder toofferathletes thepossibility tocompete.''Switzerland'sgovernmenthasprohibitedgatheringsofmore than1,000peopleuntiltheendofAugust.Athletissimaorganiserssay“it is currently impossible toallowahighnumberof people togather inacon-finedarea.'' PTI

ECBsaysTheHundreddelayeduntil 2021

ThelaunchofTheHundredwaspostponeduntil2021onThursdayastheCOVID-19pan-demicforcedtheEnglandandWalesCricketBoard(ECB)toputitsnewflagshiptourna-mentonhold.Thefranchise-basedleague, includinganAmericansports-styledraftandfeaturingeightteamswithnamessuchasLondonSpirit,ManchesterOriginalsandTrentRockets,wasscheduledtorunfrommid-JulytoSeptember.TheannouncementthatthenewlimitedoversexperimentwillnotstartthisseasonseemedinevitableoncetheECBlastweekextendedthesuspensionof theprofessionalgameuntil July1. REUTERS

No need tochange salivarule: WarnerPRESSTRUSTOFINDIAMELBOURNE,APRIL30

STAR AUSTRALIAN opener DavidWarnerdoes not see the need to abolish the use ofsalivatoshinetheballwhencricketresumesin the post COVID-19world as he feels it isnomore or no less risky than sharing thechange roomwith fellow players. There isspeculationthatuseofsalivatoshinetheballwill be stopped to cut down the risk of thehighly contagious infectionwhen interna-tionalcricketrestarts. “You'resharingchangerooms and you're sharing everything else, Idon't see why you have to change that,”Warner told 'cricket.com.au'.“It's been going around for hundreds of

yearsnow,Ican'trecallanyonethat'sgotsickbydoing that. If you're going to contract a bug, Idon't think it'd necessarily be just fromthat.I'mnot too surebut it's notmyplace to com-mentonwhetherornotweshouldorshould-n't (use saliva to shine theball). It's up to theICCandthegoverningbodiestodecide.”However, former fast bowler Shaun Tait

believes it is important to be open aboutchangesand theuseof saliva couldbecomea thing of the past. “I've never been a hugefanof thesalivaontheball, it'snotverynicereally,” Tait said. “Wehave to open to somepossible changes there.”

Khawaja axed; Labuschangne,Burns land CA contractsSenior batsmen Usman Khawaja and

ShaunMarshmissedout but the fast-risingMarnusLabuschagneandJoeBurnswerere-warded for their performances in CricketAustralia's annual player contracts an-nounced on Thursday. The list, which hascome later than scheduled due to the up-heaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,features six new faces for the 2020-21 sea-son --Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Burns,Labuschagne,KaneRichardsonandMatthewWadeto the list.The 33-year-old Khawaja, who was

Australia’smost importantbatsmanduringWarnerandSteveSmith’ssuspension,hasn’tcomeclosetonationalselectionsincebeingdroppedandisseeminglyunlikely toaddtohis 44 Tests and 40 ODIs. “AsMitchMarshandMatthewWade have proven there arealwaysplentyofopportunitiesforthosewhohavemissed out to be re-selected by per-forming consistently at domestic level,”chairmanof selectorsTrevorHohnssaid.“And importantly tomake themost of

anyopportunity thatcomestheirwayat in-ternational level.As isalways thecase thereareunluckyomissionsbut,however,becauseyou are not on the list does not mean youcannotbeselected,”heexplained.

R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789 VOL. XVI No.36 Printed by V.Srinivasan and Published by V.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Ltd and Printed at Saraswati Print Factory Pvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga (West), Kolkata-700105 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 & 30, N.H.-6,Mouza - Prasastha &Ankurhati, P.O. - Salap, P.S.-Domjur, Howrah - 711 409. Ph: (033)66043800 Fax: (033) 66043825 & 66043847. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor ( Kolkata): Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act)Copyright : The Indian

Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner,electronic or otherwise,inwhole or in part,without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Indian Express(R)

We’ve lost oneof the leading lights ofIndian sport today.Not toomanycanboast of being top-notch in twodifferentsports. Youplayed your part to the fullest,restwell, Chuni sir.”

SUNILCHHETRI, INDIACAPTAIN

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,APRIL30

CHUNIGOSWAMIwas India’s greatest-everfootballer. His superioritywas beyond anydoubt.Hewasalso arguably India’s greatest-everall-roundsportsman,forheledBengaltoaRanjiTrophyfinal.HewasMrQuicksilverofIndiansport.Goswami, 82, breathed his last in

KolkataonThursday.Hewassufferingfromage-relatedailments.His familyconfirmedthathewasadmitted toacityhospital ear-lier in the day,where he died of a heart at-tack around 5pm. He is survived by wifeBasanti and sonSudipto.Indiawon the1962AsianGames football

goldunderGoswami’s captaincy.Healso ledIndia to the1964AsianCupsilvermedal.Histop-flight football career spanned from1954to1968beforehemadeaseamlesstransitiontocricket.Goswami,however,wasa lotmorethanhis longevity as aplayer, thenumberofgoals he scored, the medals he won, thepostagestampinhishonourorthePadmaShriandtheArjunaAwardhewasconferredwith.FormerPresident SRadhakrishnanwasa

fan. Old-timers atMohunBagan still speakabouthowthegreatphilosopher and states-man loved towatchGoswami skippingpastdefenders during Durand Cupmatches inDelhi. Hewas so good that even TottenhamHotspurmadeanoffer. But as the storygoes,Goswami had just got a job at State Bank ofIndiaandthesafetynetweighedheavy.“Chuniwas a fantastic dribbler. His close

control was superb. But thoseweren’t thebiggest attributes of his game.His greatness

lay inhis brain.Great players playwith theirbrains,whichsetsthemapartwithregardstodecision-making. Anddecision-making (onthepitch) separates a great footballer fromagoodone,”TulsidasBalaram,Goswami’sIndiateammateandapartofIndianfootball’s‘ThreeMusketeers’–PKBanerjee,ChuniandBalaram–toldTheIndianExpress.“Iamdevastated.Pradip(Banerjee)passed

away lastmonthandnowChuni. Forme, thelossesareunbearable.Weplayedfordifferentclubs. Chuniwas a Baganman through andthrough(aMohunBaganRatna),whileIplayedfor East Bengal. Andyet,whenweplayed forBengalandIndia,ourunderstandingwastele-pathic.Chuni,PKandBalaramplayedfootball

with their brains,” said Balaram. He agreedthat therewas a healthy rivalrywhen theyplayed club football. “Yes,wewanted toout-shineeachother inBaganversusEastBengalmatches.Ithelpedusbecomebetterplayers.”SubimalGoswami,whobecame famous

byhisnickname,wasbornonJanuary15,1938atKishoreganjinerstwhileEastBengal.In1946,hejoinedtheBaganjuniorteamandwasnur-turedbyBalaidasChatterjee.In1954,hegrad-uated to the senior teamandplayed for thethemuntilheretiredin1968.AsperAIFFstats,Goswami scored200goals forhis club–145in theCalcutta Football League, 25 in the IFAShield,18intheDurandCup,11intheRoversCupandoneintheDrHKMookerjeeShield.

Goswamimade his international debutagainst Burma (nowMyanmar) at the 1958Tokyo Asian Games and scored in his firstgame,asIndiaralliedtowin3-2.Hewentontorepresent India in36 internationals, captain-ing in 16 of them, andnetting 13 goals. The1962AsianGameswas his crowning glory;India beating SouthKorea 2-1 in the final towinthegoldmedal.ThelatePKBanerjeeoncerecalledhowtheentirestadiuminJakartawasbooingIndiaandbayingforblood,becauseanIndianofficialhadsupportedIsrael’sinclusionintheAsiad.Thefootball teamborethebruntbut the finalwas a triumphof the collectivewillof11Indians.Asacricketer,Goswamiwasanall-rounder

– a middle-order batsman and decentmedium-pace inswingbowler.Hemadehisfirst-classdebutin1962andforsixyearsplayedcricket and football at a high level. He ledBengaltothe1971-72RanjiTrophyfinalwherehisteamlosttoBombay.HealsoplayedforEastZone. In 46 first-classmatches, Goswamiscored1,592runsincludingacenturyandtook47wickets.Hewasalsoaverycapable tennisplayer,aregularontheSouthClubcourts.All India Football Federation president

Praful Patel condoledGoswami’s death. “It’ssadtohearthatChuni-da,oneofIndia’sgreat-estfootballers, isnomore.HiscontributiontoIndian Footballwill never be forgotten…Hewillstaysynonymouswiththegoldengener-ationof Indianfootball.”The BCCImourned his death through a

tweet.CricketAssociationofBengalpresidentAvishekDalmiya said: “His contribution tofootball would be cherished forever. In thesame vein, hewas not only the Captain ofBengalCricketTeambuthadalsoreceivedtheKartickBose LifetimeAchievementAwardofThe CAB in 2011-12 for his CricketingExcellence.” FormerBCCI secretaryNiranjanShahcalledGoswamia“rare” sporting talentanda“truelegend”.FormerIndiaspinnerandex-BengalcaptainDilipDoshisaid: “Hehadagreat sense of humourwhichhe timely ap-plied to release the tension in the dressingroom. India is poorerwithout such stalwartsandiconsofsport.”

GOALSANDGLORY:Goswaminetted200goalsforBagan, besideswinningnineleaguetitles,fiveIFAShieldsandDurandCupseachandthreeRoversCups;(left)hemetidolPeletoo. AIFF

CHUNIGOSWAMI, 1938-2020

Swerve, dribble, shoot... repeatLeaderDESPITEBEINGaprodigious talent, SyedAbdul Rahim—India’smost successfulcoach—ignored Goswami for theMelbourneOlympicsin1956.He,however,wasnamedasCalcuttaUniversity’scaptainand led themtoAll India Inter-UniversityChampionship title, himself scoring thewinning goal against BombayUniversityin the final. His reputation, domestically,keptonincreasingsincethenandin1958,hewaschosenfortheTokyoAsianGames,where hemade his international debutagainstBurma(nowMyanmar).Thatmo-menton,hewasaregularwiththenationalteamuntilheretiredin1965havingscored13goals in 36 international appearancesandcaptainingin16of them.Asmuchashisgoals,Goswamiwillbe

rememberedforleadingthenationalteamtounmatchedheights. Thegoldmedal at1962AsianGamesremainshisgreatesttri-umph–hescoredabraceinthesemifinalsagainstSouthVietnamthathadeightplay-erswithFrenchLeagueexperience.Healsocaptainedtheteamtoarunner-upfinishinthe1964AsianCupinIsrael.

DribblerGOSWAMIBELONGED toagenerationofgreats.Whatseparatedhimfromtherest,though,was his body swerves anddrib-bling abilities. Olympian SSHakeem re-called a Santosh Trophymatch betweenServicesandBengal,whenGoswamiwastrappednearthecornerflag.Hakeem,whoplayedforServices,thoughthecouldstealtheballawayfromGoswamiwithaslidingtackle. Butdoing that to India’s best drib-blerwasn’tgoingtobeeasy.BeforeHakeemcouldevenmove,Goswamiwriggledpastthedefenderfromthetiniestofspacesandchargedtowardsthebox.Hisabilitieswiththeballmadehimin-

comparabletoanyotherplayerofthatgen-eration aswell as the ones that have fol-lowed.Hehadanaura,somuchsothatde-spitenotbeingthemostdisciplinedplayer,hewasoftenforgiven.Goswamihadarep-utationof turningup late for thenationalcamps–once, in fact,he turnedupa fort-night late for the 1960 RomeOlympicspreparatorycampinHyderabad.According tohistorianNovyKapadia,

when someplayers raised voices againstthe preferential treatment given to him,Rahim–thecoach–retorted:“Uskamaafikballcontrolkarlo, tumbhifir lateaana.”

LoyalistGoswamiwas eightwhen he joined

MohunBagan.Andheneverleftthem.Notwhenarch-rivalEastBengal’sgeneralsec-retaryJyotishGuha,accordingtothebookBarefoottoBoots,triedtolurehimbyoffer-ingtobuythelatestFiatcar.Notevenwhenhe received an invitation to trainwithTottenham Hotspur, who—under BillNicholson—had justwon the EuropeanCupWinnersCup.Notexposedtointerna-tional club football, Goswami saidhedidnottaketheofferseriouslybecausehedid-n'twanttoforsakethestabilityhisemploy-ers,SBI,guaranteed. MIHIRVASAVDA

Quick feet, sharp mindGoswamiwasinarguablyIndia’sfinestfootballerever,andarguablythecountry’sfinesteverall-roundsportsman