PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM GUWAHATI & DIBRUGARH

RN-1127/57 TECH/GH – 103/2018-2020, VOL. 82, NO. 105 GUWAHATI, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020

82 years of service to the nation

www.assamtribune.com ePaper app for The Assam Tribune Pages 12 Price: 6.00GET IT ONGoogle Play

p2 p5 p9 Package for powerdiscoms likely this week

China number one inCOVID-19 deaths: Trump

ASTC buses to ferrySecretariat staff to work

Never thought a day will

come when one will even

be afraid to sneeze!

JOCOSERIOUS

LS SecretariatNEW DELHI, April 19:

The Lok Sabha Secretariatwill resume work fromMonday after it was shuton March 24 in the wakeof the COVID-19 outbreak,an official order stated.Both Houses wereadjourned sine die,bringing a premature endto the budget session ofParliament that was slatedto conclude on April 3. –PTI

Air, rail travelNEW DELHI, April 19:

Union minister PrakashJavadekar today made itclear that the Centre hasso far not taken anydecision on starting trainor airline services forpassengers, asserting thatany discussion on theissue is futile. Only thegovernment will take afinal decision, he added. –PTI

RelaxationGUWAHATI, April 19:

From April 21, thegovernment will allowself-employed personslike electrician, mobileand computer repairers,plumbers, motormechanics and carpentersto operate on thepremises of thecustomers, but they willhave to adhere to socialdistancing norms. – StaffReporter

ContainmentGUWAHATI, April 19:

The premises of thehousing complex SpanishGarden will remain as a‘containment zone’ foranother 14 days, thedistrict administration saidin a notification today,adding that all restrictionsimposed earlier willremain in force till then. –Staff Reporter

Aminul remandGUWAHATI, April 19:

The court of specialjudicial magistrate heretoday remanded thearrested AIUDF MLA fromDhing constituency,Aminul Islam, in judicialcustody. Although the CIDpleaded for seven-daypolice custody, the courtrejected the prayer. – StaffReporter

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The StateGovernment has provided $1,000 eachto 230 people from Assam stranded inabroad and provided Rs 25,000 each to610 people undergoing treatment in oth-er states for cancer, kidney and heartailments during the lockdown, ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowal said whilespeaking to the media at the office ofNational Health Mission (NHM) hereon Sunday.

Sonowal said that the State govern-ment was very much concerned aboutthe people from Assam stuck in differentstates of the country and abroad and hastaken several steps to alleviate their dif-ficulties.

State govt aid to people stranded outside

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewing the initiatives of the State health department to contain spread of COVID-19, inGuwahati on Sunday. – UB Photos

Easing of lockdowncurbs in select sectors

from todayCentre prohibits e-commerce companies

from selling non-essential items

CM reviews steps to contain COVID-19

Today, Sonowal held a review meetingat the NHM head office which has beenmade the control room for fighting coro-navirus. Appreciating the roles playedby Health Minister Himanta BiswaSarma and Minister of State for HealthPijush Hazarika, Sonowal said that thetimely and the swift action taken by thehealth department has instilled a senseof belief and confidence among thepeople of the State to succeed againstcoronavirus.

Saying that the health department hasshowed exemplary performance bysetting up infrastructure, arranging lo-gistics etc in a record time, the ChiefMinister said that he himself witnessedthe upbeat mood among the health work-ers because of the decisive and timely

steps taken by the department. He urgedthe health department officials to carryon this momentum so that victory canbe achieved over COVID-19.

In the meeting, Health MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma gave a detailedpresentation about the various activitiesbeing carried out to contain coronavirusoutbreak in the State and said thatAssam would face a critical phase in thisfight when people would start comingback to State after the lockdown islifted. Informing about the formulationof Quarantine Release Policy and set-ting up of Quarantine Discharge Boardin the State, the Health Minister saidthat the Health department has takensteps for providing medicine at thedoor steps of people.

NEW DELHI, April 19:E-commerce companieshave been prohibited fromselling non-essentialitems during the lock-down, as conditional relax-ations in select sectorsoutside the coronavirushotspot areas to kickstartthe battered economycome into effect fromMonday.

With states gearing up torevive limited business activ-ity after the Centre an-nounced easing some of thecurbs on April 15, UnionMinister Prakash Javadekaron Sunday said more reliefmeasures are bound to comeif the country continues tomanage the coronavirus cri-sis well, asserting, “you can-not (have) lockdown perma-nently”.

“He (Modi) gave the callof lockdown at the right timeand is now partially allowingeconomic activity while thelockdown continues. Withsuch a (huge) population we

have managed well, if thiscontinues we will get morerelief,” Javadekar told PTI inan interview.

While the relaxationsstarting from April 20 areprimarily aimed at boostingthe rural economy, Java-dekar, who is a member ofthe Group of Ministers(GoM) to oversee measuresto combat COVID-19, ex-pressed confidence that eco-nomic activities will resumein cities as well “sooner thanlater”.

Maharashtra Chief Minis-ter Uddhav Thackeray saidsome industrial activity in thegreen and orange COVID-19zones in the state will be re-sumed in a restricted man-ner. “We have to turn thisarthachakra (stuck wheel ofthe chariot of economy) fromApril 20.

But Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal said his gov-ernment has decided not torelax lockdown restrictionswhich is in force till May 3 as

of now since coronavirus ap-pears to be spreading at a“faster pace” in the nationalcapital. The governmentwill assess the situation againafter one week, he said.

Kejriwal said Delhi hasreported 1,893 COVID-19cases and 43 deaths.

Four days after e-com-merce companies were al-lowed to sell products likemobile phones, refrigeratorsand ready-made garments,Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla issued an order ex-cluding non-essential itemsfrom their business. The April15 order had said e-com-merce platforms were al-lowed to sell such items fromApril 20.

Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) officials had said tel-evison sets and laptops couldalso be sold online after whicha few e-commerce compa-nies had starting acceptingorders.

SEE PAGE 6

No shortage of food items: Chief Secy

R DUTTA CHOUDHURY

GUWAHATI, April 19:With the country in lockdownto prevent the spread of coro-navirus, the State level taskforce headed by the ChiefSecretary has to deal withdifferent issues like ensuingsmooth supply of essentials,problems faced by the peo-ple of Assam staying in otherstates of the country, dealingwith the issues concerningthe Railways, maintainingregular liaison with the Cen-tre etc. Meanwhile, ChiefSecretary Kumar SanjayKrishna has asserted thatthere is no shortage of anyfood item in the State andthere is no reason for thepeople to be apprehensive.

Talking to The Assam

Tribune, the Chief Secretarysaid that all the issues relat-ed to the lockdown are dis-

cussed every morning by theState level task force and theproblems are sorted out im-mediately. He is also in con-

stant touch with the commit-tees constituted by the Cen-tre and his counterparts ofother states of the country.The State level task force,comprising senior officers ofdepartments like Home,Health and Family Welfare,Food and Civil Supplies etcas well as senior officers ofPolice meets every morningto discuss and sort out all theproblems faced during thelockdown. The meeting ofthe Task force is followed bya video conference with theDeputy Commissioners andSuperintendents of Policeand district health officials sothat the problems can be dealtwith immediately.

Task force sorts out problems faced during lockdown

SEE PAGE 6

COCOCOCOCOVID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19 sta sta sta sta status in tus in tus in tus in tus in INDIAINDIAINDIAINDIAINDIA

Confirmed cases 16,116

Cured/Discharged 2,302

Death 519

Figures include foreign nationals

As on 19/04/2020 at 5 pm

Source: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

Alert TODAY

Alive TOMORROW

Five morepatients released

in StateSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19:Five more COVID-19 pa-tients were released fromhospitals today, bringingdown the number of activecases in the State to 16.

Four patients were re-leased from MMCH in Gu-wahati, one of whom is a res-ident of Muzaffarnagar in Ut-tar Pradesh. The patients dis-charged from MMCH are MdShahrukh, Mafizuddin, Zami-la Khatun and Md Asraf Ali.

Spanish Garden residentManish Tibrewal was alsodischarged from GMCH dur-ing the day. But as SpanishGarden is a ‘containmentzone’, he will not be able togo to the complex. Instead,he will be lodged at a cabin atGMCH and he may shift to ahotel room if he wished.

All the discharged patientswill be under observation forfourteen days. “All these pa-tients have tested negativein four successive tests doneon separate days as per pro-tocol,” Health MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma said.

SEE PAGE 6

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: While the general administra-tion department issued an order allowing selected addi-tional activities in the State from April 21, the State healthdepartment has laid down guidelines to be followed in theCOVID 19 containment zones, hotspots and buffer zones.

The guidelines issued by the general administrationdepartment yesterday will not be applicable in the de-clared containment zones, hotspots (red and orange zones)and buffer zones.

According to the health department notification, in thecontainment zones, no unchecked inward/outward move-ment of population except for maintaining essential serv-ices (including medical emergencies and law and orderrelated duties) and government business continuity, willbe allowed.

Guideline issued forcontainment zones

SEE PAGE 6

A total of 2,331,318 coronavirus cases recorded

worldwide

Death toll from the pandemic 160,502

At least 604,000 patients recovered

Now the pandemic epicentre, the US has over 735,000

infections and 39,090 deaths

Europe, the hardest-hit continent, has 1,151,820

infections and 101,398 deaths

Data as on Sunday – AFP

Centre issues SOP onmigrant workers

SPL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, April 19:

In the wake of the COVID-

19 pandemic, the Centre onSunday announced its

revised guidelines and the

latest SOP (standardoperating protocol) for

movement of stranded

migrant labourers withinthe states where they are

currently located.

Official sources saidUnion Home Minister

Amit Shah on Saturday

reviewed the COVID-19situation in the country and

directed the officers of the

ministry to discuss withstates the relaxation in

lockdown restrictions to be

applicable from April 20.

The minister said as Indiais still fighting a battle with

coronavirus, the lockdown

restrictions as well asnational directives should

be followed scrupulously.

He said while certainactivities are being permit-

ted in areas that do not fall

within hotspots, clustersand containment zones, due

caution has to be exercised

to ensure that only genuineexemptions are given.

As per the latest SOP, in

order to facilitate theirmovement within the

states the migrant workers

currently residing in

shelter camps should be

registered with the local

authorities and their skillmapping be carried out to

find out their suitability for

various kinds of works. Ifthe labourers wish to

return to their places of

work within the statewhere they are presently

located, they would be

screened and those who areasymptomatic would be

transported to their

respective places of work.It may be noted that

there shall be no move-

ment of labourers outsidethe state or Union Territo-

ry where they are current-

ly located, the SOP stated.

SIVASISH THAKUR

GUWAHATI, April 19: Assam had

extensively done summer paddy cul-

tivation covering over four lakh hec-

tares during the preceding months

(Nov-Dec to Jan-Feb) and the yield

would be ready for harvesting by end

of April and May.

Revealing this, sources in the agri-

culture department told The Assam

Tribune that adequate plant protec-

tion measures were taken when over

9,000 hectares of cropland (summer

paddy and maize) were infected by

pests across 18 districts, hindering

chances of crop loss.

“We are confident of a very good

paddy harvest, which will go a long

way in ensuring food security for the

people. Harvesting of maize in over

38,000 hectares of land will also begin

in the next few days,” sources added.

State ready for harvesting paddy by end of AprilAdmitting that there had been a gap

in facilitating procurement and trans-

portation of vegetables during the

initial period of the lockdown, sourc-

es said that the entire chain of vege-

table delivery to the vendors has been

streamlined now.

The loss of vegetable yield due to

the ongoing lockdown has been

pegged at 10,136 MT as on April 18.

“Across the State, 3,290 selected

vendors have been engaged in sell-

ing vegetables to the masses at a price

fixed by the government. Two com-

mittees at district and State levels

are closely monitoring the situation,

including procurement and transpor-

tation,” sources said, adding that the

demand for vegetables witnessed a

substantial fall following closure of

hotels and restaurants, hostels, and

community gatherings.

Rabi vegetables cover an area of

around 4.51 lakh hectares in the State,

while kharif vegetables spread over

1.17 lakh hectares. Production of rabi

and kharif vegetables stood at 66.95

lakh MT and 12.73 lakh MT respec-

tively last season.

Sources said that even during the

lockdown, agriculture and allied ac-

tivities were not allowed to come to

a grinding halt with field and related

activities continuing in strict adher-

ence to the Central government’s

lockdown guidelines and the Assam

health department’s instructions.

“Every effort was made to ensure

crop security. While vegetable crops

were harvested and sold through au-

thorized retailers, seeds were also

planted during the lockdown by main-

taining social distancing and other

norms,” sources said.

SEE PAGE 6

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 20202 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI

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INTERNATIONAL

The Sun sets as a fishing boat crosses the Mediterranean Sea at Ramlet al-Baida publicbeach, which is almost empty of people during a lockdown aimed at curbing the spreadof the COVID-19 coronavirus in Beirut, Lebanon on Saturday. – AP/PTI

A volunteer wearing a protective outfit distributes holy light in Bucharest, Romania onSaturday. Priests accompanied by volunteers distributed the holy light ahead of theusual time, at midnight, as people observed the interdiction to join religious celebrationsin the week leading to the Orthodox Easter, imposed across Romania as authorities tryto limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus infections. – AP/PTI

From left, Amanda Gates, Monica Alfieri, and Jessica Halverson visit while practising social distancing by sitting intheir vehicles on Saturday, in a parking lot in Seattle's SODO neighbourhood. The four friends said they have beengetting together this way every week since Washington state's stay-at-home orders were put in place due to theoutbreak of the coronavirus, to talk and catch up. – AP/PTI

America’s loveaffair with

Anthony FauciWASHINGTON, April 19:

Move over, Ruth Bader Gins-

burg. There is a new feisty

super senior in Washington

who is captivating American

hearts.

Anthony Fauci is every-

where these days – not just

as the straight-talking coro-

navirus point man at Presi-

dent Donald Trump’s daily

pandemic briefings but on T-

shirts, coffee mugs and, yes,

even donuts.

Indeed, for many, the di-

minutive 79-year-old epide-

miologist with a heavy

Brooklyn accent is the coun-

try’s new hero – a no-non-

sense scientist speaking truth

to a terrified nation led by a

President who sometimes

has a loose grasp of the facts.

Nick Semeraro, owner of

Donuts Delite in Rochester,

New York, is just one of the

business owners paying trib-

ute to the doctor – and si-

multaneously cashing in on

Fauci-mania.

Semeraro is churning out

donuts that feature a picture

of Fauci on edible paper

where the hole should be –

his way of honoring the gov-

ernment’s top infectious dis-

ease expert. – AFP

ROME, April 19: Italians

debated on Sunday their first

cautious steps out of a coro-

navirus lockdown that has left

an estimated half of the work-

ing population seeking gov-

ernment support.

The Mediterranean coun-

try has been filled with ru-

mours and speculation about

when people will finally be

allowed to walk the streets

freely for the first time since

early March.

The balmy weather is not

helping government efforts to

keep everyone inside in the

face of a disease that has offi-

cially killed 23,227 in Italy –

second only to the United

States.

The number of daily fines

for illegal outdoor activity is

rising and police are setting up

barricades along roads leading

to the beaches on the western

outskirts of Rome.

The growing sense that

weeks of confinement were

ending forced an unnamed

source in Prime Minister

Giuseppe Conte’s office to

tell media that “nothing will

change”.

But some officials seem to

think that extending the strict-

est lockdown measures be-

yond their May 3 deadline

might simply not work.

The daily death rate has fall-

en to half of what it was at the

peak of the crisis and people –

feeling less frightened but

more stir crazy – may simply

start going out.

“We must give citizens

greater freedom of move-

ment,” Deputy Health Minis-

ter Pierpaolo Sileri said on

Saturday.

Conte gave little of the game

away in one of his characteris-

tic late-night Facebook posts

on Saturday.

He said some activities

will be allowed to resume

“according to a well-struc-

tured programme that bal-

ances the need to protect

people’s health with the need

to resume production”.

Conte is expected to hear

on Monday the conclusions of

a re-opening taskforce headed

by former Vodafone chief ex-

ecutive Vittorio Colao.

The pressure on Conte

from the leaders of Italy’s

northern industrial heartland

is also growing intense.

The heads of Milan’s Lom-

bardy and Venice’s Veneto re-

gions have both warned that

they might soon have to be-

gin reopening businesses on

their own.

“We either close everything

and die waiting for the virus to

go away, or we reopen and

live,” Veneto governor Luca

Zaia said Thursday. – AFP

BEIJING/WUHAN, April 19: China has

classified the coronavirus epicentre Wu-

han as a low-risk area, days after it re-

vised the city’s death toll by 50 per cent,

even as 16 new COVID-19 cases were

reported in the country, health officials

said on Sunday.

According to the risk criteria defined

in a guideline issued by China’s State

Council, cities, counties and districts

with no newly-confirmed cases in the

last 14 days are categorised as low-risk

areas.

Those with fewer than 50 cases or those

with over 50 but without a concentrated

outbreak are classified as mid-risk areas,

and those with over 50 cases as well as a

concentrated outbreak are classified as

high-risk areas.

China’s National Health Commission

(NHC) said on Sunday that 16 new con-

firmed COVID-19 cases were reported

in the country on Saturday, with nine

imported cases and seven local trans-

missions.

The death toll remained at 4,632 as no

new fatalities were reported on Satur-

Lanka partiallyeases curbs

COLOMBO, April 19: Sri

Lanka has partially relaxed

curbs imposed in the coun-

try to check the spread of the

novel coronavirus in a bid to

boost economic activity.

In a release, the President’s

Media Division (PMD) said

the coronavirus curfew will

be lifted from April 20 on-

wards in all districts, except-

ing select areas, from 5 am

to 8 pm.

The curfew will continue

in parts of Colombo, Gampa-

ha, Kalutara, Puttalam,

Kandy, Kegalle and Ampara

districts.

“Objective of relaxing cur-

few is to reactivate the econ-

omy, while measures to con-

tain COVID-19 will continue

in parallel. It is imperative to

adhere to health guidelines

and act responsibly for the

safety of society at large,”

President Gotabaya Rajapak-

sa said on Sunday.

If any area where the cur-

few has been relaxed is later

identified as a risk village or

zone, the curfew will be re-

imposed limiting only to such

area, the PMD statement

said. Permission to enter or

leave these areas will be con-

trolled by the police.

In areas where the curfew

will continue, main roads can

only be used for essential

services. Schools, universi-

ties, tuition classes and oth-

er education institutes and

cinemas will remain closed

through out the country.

Once the curfew is relaxed,

state entities – departments,

corporations and bank –

should operate as usual. – PTI

Global nCoVdeath toll tops

160,000PARIS, April 19: The

worldwide death toll from

the novel coronavirus pan-

demic rose to 160,790 on

Sunday, according to a tally

from official sources com-

piled by AFP.

More than 2,334,130 de-

clared cases have been reg-

istered in 193 countries and

territories since the epidem-

ic first emerged in China in

December.

Of these cases, at least

518,900 are now considered

recovered.

The tallies, using data col-

lected by AFP from national

authorities and information

from the World Health Or-

ganisation (WHO), probably

reflect only a fraction of the

actual number of infections.

Many countries are test-

ing only the most serious

cases.

In the United States, now

the worst-hit country, the

death toll stood at 39,090

with 735,287 infections. At

least 66,819 patients have re-

covered.

Italy is the next most-af-

fected country with 23,227

deaths and 175,925 con-

firmed infections.

It is followed by Spain with

20,453 fatalities and 195,944

confirmed infections, France

with 19,323 deaths and

151,793 infections and Brit-

ain with 15,464 deaths and

114,217 cases.

China – excluding Hong

Kong and Macau – has to date

declared 4,632 deaths and

82,735 cases. – AFP

BEIJING, April 19: A pre-

mier Chinese virology labora-

tory in Wuhan, which is in the

eye of the storm for allegedly

being the source of the novel

coronavirus, has for the first

time refuted the charge, in-

cluding those of US President

Donald Trump, that the dead-

ly virus originated from his lab

before it spread across the

world and wreaked havoc.

China has come under in-

creasing global pressure over

lack of transparency in its han-

dling of the coronavirus pan-

demic, which has so far infect-

ed over 2,333,160 people and

claimed more than 160,790

lives across the world.

President Trump on Satur-

day said his administration was

looking into reports that the

novel coronavirus “escaped”

from a Wuhan laboratory be-

fore it spread to the world.

“We’re looking at it, a lot of

people are looking at it. It

seems to make sense,” Trump

told the media when asked if

there was an investigation into

whether the coronavirus dis-

ease escaped from a lab in Chi-

na’s COVID-19 ground-zero

city of Wuhan.

Ever since the virus came

to light in Wuhan in Decem-

ber last year, speculation has

been rife on whether the viral

strain originated from the

Wuhan Institute of Virology

(WIV) or from its nearby Hua-

nan Seafood Market.

The WIV, specifically its P4

laboratory, is equipped to han-

dle dangerous viruses.

Though the laboratory de-

nied the rumours in a state-

ment in February, its director

Yuan Zhiming, in a first media

interview, rejected the ru-

mours that his institute is the

original source of COVID-19.

“We know what kind of re-

search is going at the institute

and how the institute manag-

es viruses and samples. There

is no way that virus came from

us,” he told the state-run

CGTN TV channel.

“We have a strict regulato-

ry regimen. We have code of

conduct for research so we are

confident of that,” the direc-

tor said.

He said since the Institute

of Virology and the P4 lab is in

Wuhan, “people can’t help but

make associations”.

Referring to US allegations,

Yuan said it is unfortunate that

some people are “deliberate-

ly misleading” people without

having any “evidence or

knowledge”.

The virus “cannot be man

made”, Yuan said, noting that

there is no evidence to

prove that COVID-19 is ar-

tificial. – PTI

Wuhan virology lab chief deniesCOVID-19 originated from institute

SAYS VIRUS ‘CANNOT BE MAN MADE’

Fearful but impatient, Italy edgestoward end of lockdown

DHAKA, April 19: Thou-

sands of people on Saturday

defied the countrywide lock-

down to attend the funeral of

a Muslim cleric in Bang-

ladesh, triggering fears of

rapid spread of the coronavi-

rus pandemic.

The news media in Bang-

ladesh reported that thou-

sands of people, without

masks and in clear violations

of social distancing, partici-

pated in the funeral prayers

of Khelafat Majlish’s ‘Nayeb-

e Amir’ Maulana Zubayer

Ahmad Ansari, held at a ma-

drasa in Bertola village un-

der Sorail Upazila of Brah-

manbaria district. The cleric

had passed away at his home

last night.

The gathering was so large

that the authorities did not

bother to stop it, media re-

ports said.

Noted Bangladeshi author

who lives in exile in Sweden,

Taslima Nasreen tweeted

that 50,000 people had at-

tended the funeral prayers,

defying the ban on mass gath-

erings during the lockdown.

“Stupid government didn’t

even try to stop these stupid

people,” she tweeted.

Nasreen was driven out by

religious fundamentalists for

her critical commentary on

Islam and Muslims in her

1993 book ‘Shame’.

Like many other Muslim

majority countries where

religious congregations are

turning out to be a major

multiplier in the coronavirus

pandemic, the Saturday fu-

neral gathering could be-

come Bangladesh’s hotspot

for the outbreak. So far, over

2,100 people have tested

positive and 84 have died

due to coronavirus in Bang-

ladesh.

Religious hardliners have

thrown a major challenge in

Muslim majority countries.

For example, in Iran, hard-

line Shia Muslims stormed

shrines even as they were

shut after hundreds had test-

ed positive for Covid-19. A

group of over 53 senior cler-

ics in Pakistan recently

warned the Imran Khan gov-

ernment against the ban on

religious congregations dur-

ing the lockdown. – IANS

Thousands defylockdown for funeral ofMuslim cleric in B’desh

WASHINGTON, April 19:

President Donald Trump has

cast doubt on the accuracy of

China’s official coronavirus

death toll, terming it “unre-

alistic” and claiming that the

actual number was “way

ahead” of the US’ which is

not the world’s “number

one” country in terms of

COVID-19 fatalities.

Trump’s comments have

come two days after another

1,300 fatalities were added to

the official count in the Chi-

nese city of Wuhan, where

the outbreak started in No-

vember last year. The revi-

sion puts China’s overall

death toll to more than 4,600.

“We are not number one;

China is number one just so

you understand,” Trump

told reporters at a White

House news conference on

Saturday.

“They are way ahead of us

in terms of death. It’s not

even close,” he asserted.

According to Trump, when

highly-developed healthcare

systems of the UK, France,

Belgium, Italy and Spain had

high fatality rates, it was 0.33

in China.

The President asserted

that the actual number was

much more than the official

Chinese death toll figures,

which he said were “unre-

alistic”.

“You know it, I know it and

they know it, but you don’t

want to report it. Why? You

will have to explain that.

Someday I will explain it,”

he said.

He also highlighted that

on a per-capita basis, the

mortality rate in the US was

far lower than other nations

of Western Europe.

Early this month, Presi-

dent Trump cast doubt on the

accuracy of official Chinese

figures after US lawmakers,

citing an intelligence report,

accused Beijing of a cover up.

The number of the coro-

navirus cases in the US

crossed 700,000 on Friday,

while over 35,000 people

have died from the disease,

as President Trump assured

his people that America was

“very close” to seeing the

light “shinning brightly” at

the end of the tunnel.

According to data main-

tained by Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity, over 35,000 people

have died in the US and the

country has 734,969 infec-

tions, the highest in the

world.

The death toll in China is

4,632 with no fatalities re-

ported on Saturday, accord-

ing to China’s National

Health Commission. – PTI

China number one innCoV deaths: Trump

OFFICIAL TOLL ‘UNREALISTIC’

day, it said.

The overall confirmed cases in China

had reached 82,735 by Saturday, includ-

ing 1,041 patients who were still being

treated, 77,062 people who were dis-

charged after recovery, and 4,632 people

who died of the disease.

The NHC said the total number of im-

ported cases climbed to 1,575.

Another 44 new asymptomatic cases

were reported on Saturday, the NHC said,

adding that 999 asymptomatic cases, in-

cluding 186 from abroad, were still un-

der medical observation.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people

who are tested positive for the coro-

navirus but develop no symptoms such

as fever, cough or sore throat. They are

infectious and pose a risk of spreading

to others.

Wuhan, where the coronavirus first

emerged in December last year and

spread to the world like wildfire, has been

classified as low-risk area, 12 days after

lifting the lockdown over the city of 11

million people, state-run Xinhua news

agency reported. – PTI

Coronavirus: China declaresWuhan low-risk area

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 3

Janasanyog/D

/206/2

0

NATIONAL

B H U B A N E S W A R /

PATNA, April 19: Health ad-

visories have been issued to

medicine shops in Odisha as

well as in some districts of

Bihar to keep a record of peo-

ple purchasing flu medicines

as authorities suspect they

could be used to suppress

symptoms of coronavirus

with an intent to skip testing.

The Drug Controller Ad-

ministration under the Health

and Family Welfare depart-

ment of Odisha has asked phar-

macists to note the address or

at least telephone number of

the persons buying medicines

for cold, cough and sneezing.

“We have been collecting

data in order to ascertain the

ratio of population vulnera-

ble to cold and fever. There

is no reason to be worried

about. The data may be used

in extreme case in future,”

KOLKATA, April 19: For-

ty-one cancer patients from

West Bengal and Assam,

stranded in Chennai for

weeks due to the ongoing

coronavirus-triggered lock-

down, were able to reach

home in a convoy of ambu-

lances with the effort of some

good samaritans.

The convoy of 35 ambu-

lances set out from the Tamil

Nadu capital on Tuesday with

41 patients, of whom 38

were from West Bengal and

three from Assam, West

Bengal Ham Radio Club

founder Ambarish Nag

Biswas said here on Sunday.

The three patients from

Assam reached their desti-

nations on Saturday, a day af-

ter the others from West

Bengal had arrived.

Biswas said that the am-

bulances commenced the

journey back to Chennai on

Sunday with some medicines

and masks handed over by

people here for their rela-

NEW DELHI, April 19:

Over 20 celebrities, includ-

ing Anurag Kashyap, Vishal

Bhardwaj, Mahesh Bhatt and

Ratna Pathak Shah, joined

hands to urge “Delhi Police

to stop abusing the lock-

down” and put an “end to the

witch-hunt” against “stu-

dents and activists protest-

ing against CAA”.

The artists released the

statement on Sunday on Twit-

ter. “To fight this pandemic, the

citizens and authorities need

to stand by each other. By tar-

geting activists taking advan-

tage of the lockdown, when

there is hardly even any me-

dia coverage of its actions, the

Delhi Police is betraying the

civic rights of the citizens. We

urge the Delhi Police to stop

abusing the lockdown, respect

the human rights of our fellow

citizens and put an end to this

witch-hunt. We demand the

release of these students and

activists”, the celebrities

urged in the statement.

The 29 signatories include

Mahesh Bhatt, Aparna Sen,

Ratna Pathak Shah, Anurag

Won’t relaxlockdown justyet: KejriwalNEW DELHI, April 19:

The Delhi government will

not relax the lockdown for at

least a week as the coronavi-

rus spread appears to have

gained pace, Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal said on Sun-

day, asserting that the decision

has been taken to save lives.

Citing instances of asymp-

tomatic people testing posi-

tive for the virus, Kejriwal

said out of 736 samples col-

lected recently, 186 were

found infected by COVID-19

and the people did not know

they were carrying the virus.

“When we talked to one of

them, he said he was engaged

in serving food at a govern-

ment-run centre. I have or-

dered for rapid testing of all

those who visited the centre.

We will also do rapid testing

of all people engaged in food

distribution at government-

run centres,” Kejriwal said

during a video conference.

He has previously said his

government has been serv-

ing food to around 10 lakh

people daily.

Kejriwal, however, as-

sured the situation is under

control and his government

will reassess it after a week

to see what relaxations can be

given. An order by Chief Sec-

retary Vijay Dev said the ad-

ministration will review the

situation on April 27. – PTI

‘Action againstTablighis who

flouted visa rules’AURANGABAD, April 19:

Members of the Tablighi

Jamaat who violated visa

norms will be dealt with strict-

ly and action will be taken af-

ter several of them complete

their quarantine period in

connection with the corona-

virus outbreak, Maharashtra

Home Minister Anil Desh-

mukh said on Sunday.

The outfit is being seen as

one of the main causes for the

spread of the virus as several

people who took part in its gath-

ering in Nizamuddin in Delhi

last month, who later tested

positive, fanned out nationwide

for missionary works.

“It has been observed

some Tablighis have violat-

ed visa rules and strict action

will be taken. Inquiry will

take place after their quaran-

tine period is over. We have

taken action against 156

Tablighi Jamaat members so

far for visa offences,” Desh-

mukh told reporters here.

Queried on migrant la-

bourers stuck in the state due

to the lockdown, Deshmukh

claimed Chief Minister Ud-

dhav Thackeray had raised

this issue in the video-con-

ference meet with Prime

Minister Narendra Modi,

“but CMs of other states re-

fused to open borders”.

He also said six jails in the

state, where crowding has

been observed, will be un-

der lockdown from Sunday

and staff working there will

stay inside so that virus

doesn’t infect inmates. – PTI

Press freedomcannot be

unfettered: CourtMUMBAI, April 19: Press

enjoys freedom of speech

and expression but it cannot

be “unfettered”, and rea-

sonable restrictions are re-

quired to be followed in the

interest of public order, a

Mumbai court observed in

its recent order while grant-

ing bail to television journal-

ist Rahul Kulkarni.

The journalist was arrest-

ed on Wednesday for alleg-

edly ‘spreading misinforma-

tion’ through his report that

the government was think-

ing of starting train services

to ferry migrants, which al-

legedly led to a crowd gath-

ering in Bandra area of Mum-

bai on Tuesday.

A metropolitan magistrate

court of PB Yerlekar granted

him bail on Thursday. The

court in its order said, “There

can be no doubt that the press

enjoys freedom of speech and

expression. However, the

said freedom cannot be said

to be unfettered.” – PTI

Over 3.8 lakhcorona testsconducted

so far: ICMRNEW DELHI, April 19:

The Indian Council of Medi-

cal Research (ICMR) said

that it has conducted more

than 3 lakh eighty thousand

tests so far in the country.

Addressing media, Dr Ram-

an Gangakhedkar, chief scien-

tist of the ICMR said, “We have

conducted 3,86,791 tests so far.

Yesterday a total of 37,173 tests

were done, out of these 29,287

tests were done in 194 labs of

ICMR network. 7,886 tested

in 82 private labs.”

Joint Health secretary Lav

Agarwal who was also present

at the press conference said,

“A total of 15,712 confirmed

cases are reported for COV-

ID-19 in the country. As many

as 2,231 persons i.e. is 14.19%

of total cases have been cured

or discharged after recovery.

A Task Force has been

formed to work on the fron-

tiers of science related to drug

testing and vaccines. Through

the Task Force, the govern-

ment will further facilitate, keep

track the progress of national

and international efforts in vac-

cine development. – IANS

Chemists told to keep recordof people buying flu medicines

M Patnaik, the Drugs Con-

troller of Odisha, told PTI.

In Bihar, though the health

department denied issuing

any such directive, but district

administration of Bhojpur and

Rohtas have sent a note to the

chemists to this effect.

Reports suggest that a

large number of people are

buying medicines like para-

cetamol which may be used

to suppress symptoms of the

infectious virus.

In Bihar, Rohtas and Bho-

jpur, district administrations

have issued a directive to

pharmacies to submit

records of people buying

medicines for fever, cough

and cold probably to keep

track of those having symp-

toms akin to COVID-19.

According to the order, the

medicine shops have been

told to submit information to

the authorities concerned in

their respective areas.

Assistant Drug Inspector,

Rohtas in a notice asked med-

ical shops to maintain person-

al details of people buying

medicines for fever, cough

and cold in a proper format

and the same (details of buy-

ers) should be sent to the

Drug Inspector on their what-

sapp numbers on a daily ba-

sis for perusal of the District

Magistrate.

In Bhojpur, the district ad-

ministration has directed the

medical shops to write down

name and mobile phone num-

bers of people buying para-

cetamol and crocin tablets.

They have been instructed to

furnish the details to the con-

cerned government hospitals

incharge or Medical Officer.

It also said that even pri-

vate clinics and hospitals will

provide information about

such patients coming to them

with symptoms of fever, cold

and cough to the concerned

government hospital.

Odisha Drug Controller

said chemists outlets are send-

ing the required data to dif-

ferent area Drug Inspectors.

“We know fever, cold and

cough are seasonal disease.

The people should cooperate

and open up,” she said adding

urban local bodies’ help is also

taken to make medicine shops

aware about coronavirus.

A chemist outlet owner in

IRC village in Bhubaneswar

said, “Yes we have been send-

ing address and phone num-

bers of the people purchas-

ing medicines for cold and

cough to the department.

People have no hesitation in

sharing their phone num-

bers.” – PTI

Film personalities condemn‘witch-hunt’ by Delhi Police

Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj,

Vishal Dadlani, Nandita Das,

Konkona Sen Sharma, Hansal

Mehta, Onir, Sushant Singh,

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub,

Neeraj Ghaywan, Ashwini

Chaudhury, Ankur Tewari,

Abish Mathew, Sandhya

Mridul, Andre Borges, Vinta

Nanda, Mallika Dua, Saba

Singh Azad, Sohail Tatari,

Kushan Nandy among others.

The statement came as a

response to the recent arrest

of two students of Jamia Mil-

lia Islamia University.

“The country light now is

reeling through a grave crisis

as a result of the novel Corona-

Virus and nearly a month-long

lockdown. We are all being

asked to stay home and stay

safe in order to break the chain

of the deadly virus. We are

shocked to know that in this

midst of such a grave situation,

the Delhi Police has arrested

two students of Jamia Millia Is-

lamia and several activists from

localities of North-East Delhi

who had participated in peace-

ful protests against the CAA,”

the signatories said.

“Even as we write this,

more students and activists

are being called for question-

ing and interrogation by the

police on a daily basis.”

“In a twisted fairy tale that

the Delhi Police is trying to

weave, these activists are now

being implicated in cases re-

lated to the communal vio-

lence in Delhi that took place

in February. A riot in which the

minorities suffered the maxi-

mum damage, both in terms

of lives and livelihoods, has

now become a pretext for the

Delhi Police to further witch-

hunt activists, most of whom

also come from the minority

community,” they added.

The personalities stressed

that “the lockdown cannot be a

lockdown of the rights of citi-

zens, and must not be abused

by the authorities”. “These ac-

tions of the Delhi Police are ut-

terly inhuman and undemocrat-

ic. Making several people trav-

el to police stations every day

and then throwing some of

them to jails also defeats the

purpose of the lockdown,” read

the statement. – IANS

Ambulance convoy bringsback 41 cancer patients

stranded in Chennaitives who are in the south-

ern city for treatment or oth-

er requirements.

The stranded patients had

completed their treatment

schedule at the hospitals, but

were caught in the lockdown

and were unable to return.

“With some of them still

weak from chemotherapy

and other treatments, it

was not possible for them

to stay at lodges or rented

places owing to the fear of

catching coronavirus or

other infections, while the

hospital bills were shooting

up,” Biswas said.

While some of the strand-

ed patients had money with

them, others had very little

to spare, he said.

The situation of the pa-

tients came to the notice of

Ham Radio Club members

in Chennai, who got in touch

with ambulance service

providers and some local

NGOs, he said.

A Nagarjuna of Chennai

Ham Radio Club coordinat-

ed with Biswas in West Ben-

gal to facilitate hassle-free

journey for the patients.

Members of the amateur

club in Chennai arranged for

some financial support from

NGOs to make up for the

shortfall as some patients did

not have money with them,

and also got the ambulance

operators to settle for a rea-

sonable rate.

The patients and the driv-

ers were checked for the

deadly virus before they left

Chennai, and provided with

certificates declaring them

fit to travel and not suffer-

ing from COVID-19, since

they would have to cross

borders of three states be-

fore reaching their destina-

tions, he said.

Drinking water and dry

food were provided in each

vehicle for the patients and

drivers, Biswas said.

On the way, the convoy had

stopped at a few places. – PTI

4 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020

MESSAGE FOR TODAY

We shall never know all the good that a simple

smile can do.

– MOTHER TERESA

Covid-19: A severe blow to tourism industry

Easing of curbsWith a number of lockdown restrictions set to be eased

from April 21 onwards, the common man, especially those

from the lower income groups, will get a lot of succour.

The nationwide shutdown understandably hurt the poor

the most and it would have been irrational and impractical

to prolong the situation without relaxing some norms.

Those dependent on their daily income have been the

hardest hit by the unprecedented situation and notwith-

standing assistance by the government authorities and

voluntary organizations, they have been undergoing quite

an ordeal. With restrictions now removed on agricultural

and allied activities and more to follow concerning wide-

ranging spheres including both government and private

sectors, things will be comparatively easier for the mass-

es to fend for themselves. Indeed, the relaxations to be

effected have been envisaged keeping in mind the cur-

rent financial situation of low-income earners. However,

these additional activities would be operationalized by

the States, Union Territories and the district administra-

tions based on strict compliance to the existing guide-

lines on lockdown measures. It is extremely crucial that

before operating these, the authorities ensure that all

preparatory arrangements with regard to social distanc-

ing in offices, workplaces, factories and establishments,

and other sectoral requirements are in place. While the

Centre has given a broad outline of the proposed relaxa-

tions, the States and their district authorities will have to

decide their respective hotspots on the basis of the Cov-

id-19 containment. Hotspots which are areas of large

Covid-19 outbreaks or clusters with a significant spread

of Covid-19 will have to be determined based on the guide-

lines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare, and the exemptions given after April 20 will not

be applicable to the hotspots.

With the gradual easing of the lockdown curbs, the

State Government is also contemplating to bring back the

lakhs of migrant workers stranded in other States, espe-

cially in South India. However, bringing such a huge

number of people from outside at this critical juncture

could be a hazardous exercise fraught with grave risks

that can undo the good done during the lockdown period

so far. Therefore, instead of any hasty step, the Govern-

ment would be better off to ensure that the stranded

people are taken care of by the authorities in the States

where they are currently being sheltered. The Assam

Government should be in constant touch with their coun-

terparts in other States and facilitate every type of as-

sistance these people will require. If necessary, the Gov-

ernment should offer financial assistance to the stranded

people by transferring funds into their personal accounts.

Prudence dictates that any large-scale inter-State move-

ment of people be deferred till the situation eases fur-

ther and the lockdown is brought to a logical conclusion.

Sole succourOver two hundred countries and territories have been

affected by the novel coronavirus, which has infected

and killed millions of people. In the absence of tried and

tested methods, governments of various nations took a

leaf out of China’s book, and imposed lockdowns on their

citizens. It may be recalled that China made an attempt to

contain the epidemic within Wuhan city, where Covid-19

originated, placing its 11 million citizens in quarantine,

and also putting in lockdown cities in the Hubei Province

where Wuhan is located, thereby cutting more than 50

million of its people off. Despite the reality that the Chi-

nese effort at containment failed and the virus seeped

out to become a global pandemic, most of the afflicted

nations, including heavily-populated ones like India, have

taken to the lockdown method if not to stave off the pan-

demic, at least to slow down the rate of infection to pre-

vent their fragile health systems from collapsing. But

now questions are being raised about the effectiveness

of the lockdown method not merely because it has been

unsuccessful in preventing heavy fatalities in many coun-

tries, but also because of the damage it is doing to national

economies. With even an affluent country like the US

suddenly witnessing a huge spike in registration of un-

employed people, the fate of the millions of poor in a

country like India can well be imagined!

It has become obvious by now that a lockdown has to be

protracted, and also rigorously observed by every indi-

vidual in a society, to be effective. Questions are now

being raised whether employment of this method is worth

the economic costs, and people in some countries are

beginning to openly defy administration’s directives.

Questions also are being raised as to whether prolonged

lockdown is sustainable in a country like India where a

sizeable segment of the population leads a hand to mouth

existence. This is the rationale behind the authorities in

our nation easing some of the restrictions during the ex-

tended period of the lockdown despite the risk of in-

creasing the rate of infection. However, by now it has

become equally obvious that humanity’s sole succour as

far as combating Covid-19 is concerned is the science of

Medicine and our ability to find a vaccine or a drug as

quickly as possible. No matter that WHO experts contin-

ue to maintain that such a vaccine is at least a year away,

a recent development has raised an iota of hope for be-

leaguered humanity. Scientists at Oxford University have

said that they will be able to come up with a vaccine,

designated as ChAdOX1, for the coronavirus by Sep-

tember this year. Reportedly, this unprecedented speed

is thanks to China’s success in sequencing the genetic

material of the virus allowing research groups to study

how it invades human cells and infects them.

ourism, popularly known

as the ‘smokeless indus-

try’, has come to a stand-

still throughout the

world due to the global outbreak of

the novel coronavirus or Covid-19.

The origin of the word can be traced

to the Latin language which means

‘poison’ and Covid-19 has definitely

stood true to its name. The World

Health Organization (WHO) had

declared Covid-19 as a pandemic on

March 11 last. This pandemic has

shaken the world infecting more

than 200 countries forcing each one

of us to change our lives and

thoughts including our social, eco-

nomic, cultural behaviour. It has

been conjectured and seems likely

that the impact of this global epi-

demic will be felt by us for a long

time in the future.

This pandemic has spread rapid-

ly across the world affecting the

developed and the developing coun-

tries with heavy repercussions on

all the public and private sector en-

terprises bringing the global econ-

omy to a screeching halt. Likewise,

one of the worst hit sectors is the

tourism industry. This industry is

an amalgamation of many sectors

and when global movement has to

be restricted owing to the ground-

ing of flights and shutting down of

hotels, etc., the ripples are felt

strongly. However, this is in rela-

tion to the global tourism scenario.

Coming down to the scenario prev-

alent in Assam or the Northeast as

a whole, since the start of the tour-

ist season, a completely different

picture comes to the fore.

The tourist destinations of the

Northeast like the Kaziranga,

Manas and Nameri National Parks,

Majuli, Shillong, Cherrapunjee, Ta-

T

Though our noble concept of

Atithi Debo Bhava has

encountered a temporary

pause, we are hopeful that with

the help of technically correct

and timely public education and

a collaborative effort of the

Central and State governments

along with its stakeholders, the

tourism industry shall regain its

footing in the near future.

Lettersto the

EDITOR

Trump’s decision on WHO funding

Sir, – The decision of the US

President Donald Trump to stop

funding for the World Health

Organization (WHO) temporarily

is unfortunate. President Trump is

said to be unhappy with the WHO

for its ‘mismanagement’ in

respect of the coronavirus. Trump

has blamed the WHO for its

‘failure’ to tackle the crisis caused

by the outbreak of the coronavi-

rus. Without a handsome fund, the

WHO would not be able to

execute its health-related

programmes. The WHO spends

more than two billion dollars a

year. It gets funds from its

member states which contribute

nearly 51% of the WHO’s funding.

The contributions that the WHO

gets fall into two categories:

membership dues and voluntary

contributions. The USA is the

largest government donor of the

WHO, and the WHO’s budget

does rely heavily on the US

contributions. As such, the

stoppage of contribution to the

WHO by the USA will cause a

wang, Ziro, Loktak lake, Kohima,

Mon, etc., are very popular desti-

nations for both the domestic and

foreign tourists. The entire region

has exciting adventure tourism and

river cruise facilities. As per the

records of the ministries of tourism

of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunach-

al Pradesh, in 2018-2019, approxi-

mately 47,10,971 domestic tourists

and 25,739 foreign tourists visited

Assam. In 2017, 84,820 foreign tour-

ists visited Assam and in 2016 the

number was 66,302. This

shows an impressive

growth of 40%. Megha-

laya had an impressive in-

creased tourist flow with

10,02,907 tourists in 2017

out of which 9,90,856

were domestic and 12,051

were foreign tourists in

comparison to 8,39,363

tourists in 2016. In 2016-

17, Arunachal had 4,14,000

tourists which was a 20%

growth in comparison to

3,43,000 tourists in 2015-

16. Tourists irrespective

of domestic and foreign

had gradually discovered

that Northeast India is an

exciting tourist destina-

tion that allures the sens-

es of every single tourist. The

unique natural beauty, cultural diver-

sity, wide flora and fauna, adventure

activities, cuisine, unspoiled and pure

hospitality of this paradise unex-

plored have indeed turned North-

east India to a favourite tourist des-

tination.

Though the onset of the tourist

season showed a promising picture

with bookings and enquiries pour-

ing in, it was suddenly disrupted due

to the tense political situation in the

end of 2019 that engulfed Assam, to

some extent the Northeast and the

whole of India as a result of the Cit-

izenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

This affected the growing tourism

industry and also the outlook of the

foreign tourists. The slowly dissi-

pating fear amidst the tourists re-

garding Assam as an unsafe destina-

tion seemed to have reinstated it-

self. As a result, tour operators and

travel agencies had to deal with can-

cellation of tours at the peak of the

season. Nevertheless, it was hoped

that with three more months of the

tourism season still on hand, the in-

dustry would somehow limp

through the season and gather mo-

mentum in the future. As efforts

were being made to recuperate with

the losses, the outbreak of Covid-

19 finally restrained all hopes.

By the time this global epidemic

started making its way into India, it

already had the West in its throes.

Amidst the pandemonium, there

were also reports of native people

turning aggressive towards foreign

tourists apart from hotels ignoring

them to accommodate, vehicles re-

luctant to transport them and so on.

The loss due to the political and so-

cial unrest in Assam at the end of

2019 and for the outbreak of Covid-

19 in the beginning of 2020 amounts

to crores of rupees. This huge eco-

nomic loss forebodes grave and un-

precedented situations that even-

tually might lead to shutting down

of many businesses and unemploy-

ment. The sudden and unexpected

slowdown in the tourist

flow has dealt a severe

blow to all the people as-

sociated directly or indi-

rectly with the tourism

industry like a tour oper-

ator, guide, naturalist,

driver, safaris in national

parks, boat man of rafts,

hoteliers, cruises and all

other small or big estab-

lishments which are sole-

ly dependent on tourists.

The World Travel and

Tourism Council has pre-

dicted that the pandemic

can cut 50 million jobs

worldwide in the travel

and tourism industry and

Asia may be the worst

affected. However, it

might take a period of approximately

10 months for the industry to re-

cover once the pandemic is over. It

is noteworthy to mention that the

Kerala Government had announced

a financial package of Rs 20,000 crore

as a relief package to help revive

different sectors of the State includ-

ing tourism, and any such initiative

from the State governments of the

Northeast region will surely help

the tourism stakeholders.

The need of the hour is to break

the chain of Covid-19 and to make

that possible, it is necessary to stay

at home, maintain social (physical)

distancing, avoid any gathering. As

a step towards containing this glo-

bal epidemic, the Government of

India has cancelled all the sustaining

visas for the foreign travellers, cur-

tailed the domestic and the interna-

tional flight services, rail and road

transports. The service and the hos-

pitality sector of Northeast India has

felt the crisis deeply with a huge

number of youths being engaged in

this sector.

Another very crucial issue to mull

over is the immediate future of the

students who are pursuing the cours-

es in tourism in roughly 16 different

colleges and universities of Assam.

While skilled and trained manpower

is an urgent necessity of the growing

tourism industry in Assam, the

present situation also casts a doubt

on their future. As inbound tourism

where foreign tourists visit our coun-

try is dependent on the disposal in-

come of foreigners, the current eco-

nomic lull in the developed countries

also brings in some doubts. On the

other hand, one cannot but hope that

developing a strong base for domes-

tic tourism in India in the future can

gradually help regain the vitality of

the tourism industry.

Owing to the new norms of social

and physical distancing being set by

the Covid-19 outbreak, ‘Namaste’

has become a global gesture instead

of a handshake. Though our noble

concept of Atithi Debo Bhava has

encountered a temporary pause, we

are hopeful that with the help of tech-

nically correct and timely public ed-

ucation and a collaborative effort of

the Central and State governments

along with its stakeholders, the tour-

ism industry shall regain its footing

in the near future.

Giving environment a chancehe year 2020 will forev-

er be remembered in

human history as the

year of great loss. The

month of March specifically will be

remembered as the month the earth

stood still. This of course is a direct

correlation to the outbreak of coro-

navirus or Covid-19. The virus that

sprang out of Wuhan, China has left

devastating impacts on human life.

Extensive news coverage on alarm-

ing death tolls, immense pressure

on health infrastructure and crip-

pling effect on the economy made

governments across the world

reach for the panic button in the face

of this unforeseen enemy. An ene-

my that was unlike any other we

had seen before. It knew no bound-

aries, it had no face, no agenda or

motive; it only paved the way for

great tragedy to follow.

It is strange that while humanity

was facing its greatest foe ever, the

environment has made substantial

improvements. The environment

began to show signs of recovery af-

ter years of torment it had to suffer

because of rising levels of pollution.

The best means to fight Covid-19

was for people to practise self-isola-

tion. Home quarantine measures

were issued by governments across

n Partha Barua

the globe to flatten the curve. Es-

sentially, the flattening of curves

means managing the number of

deaths and people being tested pos-

itive over a longer period of time.

This needs to be done so that the

health sector is better able to cope

up with the demand of providing

services to the ill. Home quaran-

tine left factories, industries, offic-

es, transportation sectors empty. As

people practised social distancing,

these services were badly hit. Gov-

ernments issued lockdown orders

in the interest of public safety. In

fact, in India, additional security forc-

es along with the State police were

deployed in order to oversee ground

situations.

As human activities slowed

down, the environment got a

much-needed breather. The first

examples came from Italy. It was

reported that just a few days after

lockdown orders, the canals in Ven-

ice showed significant improve-

ment in its water quality. Over the

next few days satellite images of

NASA showed considerable air

quality improvement over China’s

atmosphere. This was in fact a

worldwide phenomenon. Emis-

sions from industries, factories, air-

planes and vehicles decreased, so

did the levels of carbon dioxide in

the atmosphere. There was circu-

lation of cleaner air. As humans re-

treated into their homes, we could

see in cities across North America

fauna started entering the city

boundaries. In India, the city of Ja-

landar woke up to the sight of the

Dhauladhar mountain range which

has happened after nearly 30 years.

Environment crusaders might

be happy as the environment is

showing signs of recovery but it

cannot be sustained at the cost of

livelihoods, economic losses, etc.

Environmental benefits at the cost

of economic losses or vice versa

are not the ideal solution. A fine

line has to be drawn which would

allow human progress and envi-

ronmental improvement to run

parallel to each other. It is essen-

tial to achieve this balance. We

must remember that only due to

the prevailing conditions at the

moment, there are visible signs

of environmental improvement.

Environmentalists fear that once

lockdowns across the world are

lifted people will revert to busi-

ness as usual. Will industries and

factories beef up their production

to counter the losses incurred dur-

ing these past weeks? Will people

start making small changes into

their lives for a sustainable future,

like using a bicycle instead of a car

whenever possible? The bigger

question now is whether we will

take this as a learning curve or

refuse to learn anything and re-

vert to our old habits. The issue of

exploiting nature and causing ram-

pant pollution must be addressed

and we as individuals must also

start making small personal sacri-

fices for the greater good.

Alternate energy sources must

be explored and utilized more vig-

orously. The world already has plen-

ty of alternates like solar, wind, ge-

othermal, electronic, etc., in place.

Moving from conventional energy

sources based on fossil fuels was al-

ways encouraged but only a few have

adopted it. A shock like Covid-19

has given us a jolt to take a step back

and analyse our options for a better

future for us and the coming gener-

ations. It must be pointed that even

before March 2020, the issue of cli-

mate change was a concern for many.

In 1992 the first multilateral legal

instrument on climate change was

signed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

where the UNCED (United Na-

tions Conference on Environment

and Development) was held. It was

decided here that countries will try

to limit average global temperature.

Again, in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol

was signed in Japan. Here industri-

alized countries agreed to stabilize

greenhouse gas emission. Several

other summits and meets also took

place between 1997 and 2016. The

most recent agreement signed was

the Paris Agreement, 2016. It en-

visaged decreasing global warming.

The goal was to keep the increase

in global average temperature be-

low two degrees Celsius. Here, each

country whether underdeveloped,

developing or developed must de-

termine plans and regularly report

on the steps it has undertaken to

curb global warming. Greta Thun-

berg, the young teenage activist

from Sweden, addressed the exis-

tential climate change crisis. In her

emotional speech in the UN last

year, she accused the world leader-

ship for not taking appropriate steps

to address climate change.

Over the past weeks we have

seen that stringent government ac-

tions across the globe have been

viewed as a game changer. While

some countries initially did not take

these warnings seriously like the

USA, Italy and China, others like

India, Canada, etc., were quick to

act upon it. With strong political will

and appropriate government meas-

ures, the fight against Covid-19 will

be eventually won. But the work

on sustaining the environment

must start now.

T

financial problem for the health

body. Yours etc., MAHESWAR

DEKA, Rangiya.

Covid-19 crisisSir, – The growing rage of the

Covid-19 pandemic on this planet

reinforces the age-old belief that the

nature retaliates at a juncture when

the human race loses self-control

and becomes insensible to revere

the earth’s biodiversity by being

excessively greedy, selfish and

exploitative in pursuit of wealth and

self-contentment. The Covid-19

virus followed previous warnings at

regular intervals in the form of

natural disasters like tsunami,

typhoons in the various parts of the

world but all these were brazenly

ignored by the countries. India also

battled her share of natural

disasters in the past decade like the

deadly tidal waves in Orissa and

Tamil Nadu or the consecutive ice-

storms and cloudbursts in Uttara-

khand resulting in the loss of lives

and properties. In Assam, the

culpability of the greedy and

dishonest people is evidently clear

with the rounding off of a few

hundreds of government servants,

contractors, businessmen and their

accomplices in the last four years

for misappropriating public funds

while they were entrusted with

various public responsibilities like

collection of state revenues,

building public roads, flood

protection works, taking care of

forest wealth, etc. In short, Covid-

19 has exposed the human crisis

and provided an appropriate

occasion for every human being to

ponder over and take the right

lesson from. The strength of moral

character lies in the virtues of

honesty, integrity and dedication

with a tinge of spirituality. Yours

etc., PANNALAL DEY, Guwahati.

Lockdown 2.0Sir, – We are fighting against the

coronavirus, staying at our home

now during the Lockdown 2.0. We

hope we will vanquish this deadly

virus with the advancement of the

latest medical research for a

vaccine or medicines. Our

government machinery is trying

its best to deliver the best results

through the best possible practic-

es. Hence, we must have patience

and prevent the virus from further

spreading and affecting the people.

Let’s not forget to keep a distance

of one metre from each other.

Social distancing is our sole

responsibility and purpose of living

at present. It’s our earnest desire

to free ourselves from this menace

and live life normally, doing our

day-to-day activities as usual. Hope

we will defeat the scourge called

Covid-19 by following all precau-

tionary measures. Yours etc.,

JAYANTA TOPADAR, Dhemaji.

Reviving economySir, – After the financial crisis of

2008, the global economy is now

facing the gravest threat of Covid-

19 prompting many eminent

institutions projecting a gloomy

picture. The IMF has already

projected the growth of GDP of

India for the prevailing year to be

around 2%. Amidst rampant

unemployment, it’s not good

news for India. The image of China

in the world is not good now. Its

non-disclosure of many vital things

regarding Covid-19 has helped the

virus to reach every nook and

corner of the world. Moreover, its

supply of substandard essential

medical equipment has astonished

many countries. On the other hand,

India has gained some goodwill for

her prompt delivery of hydroxy-

chloroquine to about 55 countries.

The irresponsible Chinese

behaviour has prompted many

countries to bring its manufacturing

industries out of China. India to reap

dividend from the situation should

grab this opportunity. The Uttar

Pradesh Government has already

prepared some plans to attract such

multinational companies. Assam can

also reap benefits from the situation.

The State Government can declare

some economic packages or special

economic zone (SEZ) to attract such

multinational companies. It shall

bring the much-needed help to our

industries. We can invite the

Japanese manufacturing companies

to Assam as Japan has already asked

some of its companies to leave

China. We just need to upgrade or

amend our agreements in the

context of JICF (Japan-India

Coordination Forum for Develop-

ment of North-Eastern Region).

Yours etc., NILADRI MAHANTA,

Jail Road, Jorhat.

n Udit Bhanu Barthakur, Sapna Medhi

Articles (within 1000-1100 words) and

Letters to the Editor for publication in

the editorial page may be sent to the

email ID: editor@assamtribune.com.

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 5

CITY

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

State government has arranged a

special bus service for the em-

ployees of Janata Bhawan from

April 21 till the lockdown is lifted.

“With limited services allowed

to be functional, the Government

of Assam is also gearing up to

start functioning of its offices

with effect from April 21 with

limited staff and by maintaining

social distancing. Janata Bhawan

has also decided to resume office

with effect from April 21 by pro-

viding bus service to the employ-

ees with utmost care to main-

taining social distancing. The bus

service will be provided by the

Assam State Transport Corpo-

ration (ASTC) to the employees

during the lockdown period in

strict compliance with the

norms,” said Dr M Angamuthu,

Commissioner and Secretary,

Secretariat Administration De-

partment.

ASTC buses to ferrySecretariat staff to work

The service will operate on

eight routes of the city.

In route number 1, the bus will

start from the LGBI Airport at

8.15 am each day and proceed via

Azara through National Highway

37, Jalukbari, Basistha Chariali,

Beltola Tiniali, Survey, Wireless

and Last Gate to the Janata Bha-

wan complex.

In route 2, the bus will start from

Jalukbari at 8 am and pass through

Fancy Bazar, Panbazar, Uzanbazar,

Chandmari and Ganeshguri, while

in route 3 the bus will start from

New Guwahati at 8.30 am and have

stoppages at Noonmati, Narengi,

VIP Road, Borbari, Hengrabari

and Ganeshguri on the way to Ja-

nata Bhawan.

In route number 4, the bus will

start from Panjabari at 9 am and

reach the Janata Bhawan by cov-

ering Sixmile, Khanapara, Jaya

Nagar (Housefed Complex) and

Down Town, while in route 5 it

will start from Basistha Mandir at

9 am by covering Games Village,

Bhetapara, Hatigaon Chariali, La-

khiminagar and Last Gate.

The bus of route 6 will start

from Natboma Housefed Com-

plex at 9 am and cover Sijubari,

Hatigaon, Sewali Path, Lakhimi-

nagar and Last Gate en route to

Janata Bhawan.

In route 7, it will start from the

Odalbakra bus stand at 9 am and

cover Kahilipara, DPI, Ganesh

Mandir and Last Gate, while in

route 8, it will start from the Jaluk-

bari bus stand at 8.30 am and have

stoppages at Maligaon, Bharalu-

mukh, Paltan Bazar, Ulubari,

Bhangagarh and Christian Basti

before reaching the Janata Bha-

wan complex.

The respective buses will stop

at each stoppage for two minutes.

The return journey of the bus-

es in all the eight routes will start

at 5.30 pm each day from the Ja-

nata Bhawan complex. This spe-

cial bus service will cease to op-

erate as and when the lockdown

is lifted by the government.

OBITUARY

Aaroti HazarikaGUWAHATI, April 19: Lead-

ing social worker

Aaroti Hazarika

passed away today at

her Harabala Path

residence in the city

following a cardiac arrest.

She was 79.

She leaves behind a son, two

daughters and a host of relatives.

Her last rites were performed at

the Navagraha crematorium.

She was associated with a

number of social-cultural organi-

sations in her locality. She had also

authored several books.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Aarogya Setu app has gained

huge acceptance among the em-

ployees of the Maligaon-head-

quartered Northeast Frontier

Railway (NFR).

“Aarogya Setu mobile app is

aimed at checking the spread of

COVID-19. This app is a contact

tracing solution designed to help

break the chain of infection and

connect to the healthcare system

directly. It empowers people with

better information on the poten-

tial risk of infection, self-assess-

ment tools and contextual advice.

In NFR, more than 80 per cent

officials and their families have al-

ready downloaded the app,” said

an official of NF Railway.

He said the Ministry of Rail-

ways has also advised all its offi-

cials to download the app in their

mobile phones.

Most employees of NF Rlyusing Aarogya Setu app

The official added that the app

works with the help of Bluetooth

and GPS technology.

“The idea behind this app is that

if two individuals who have the

app installed in their phones are

in close proximity, then their

phones will communicate with

each other. If one of the individu-

als happens to be at risk of COV-

ID-19, the other will immediate-

ly be informed through a notifica-

tion on the app. This way, every-

one’s phones will be constantly

communicating with each other,”

he said.

If someone comes within close

proximity of 10 people during a

day, if these people are all part of

the contact chain, and if, over the

coming days, any of these people

were to be diagnosed with COV-

ID-19, the one would immediate-

ly be notified by the app and will

be advised to get tested or go into

self-isolation, the official ex-

plained.

“Simultaneously, healthcare

authorities would also be notified

of these potential risks, enabling

them to get in touch with the in-

dividuals concerned and provide

them with the assistance they

need. The recommendations are

made leveraging Bluetooth tech-

nology, artificial intelligence algo-

rithms and are based on inputs and

best practices suggested by ex-

pert medical practitioners and ep-

idemiologists,” he stated.

Food packetsdistributed toneedy people

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Central Guwahati Development

Committee and United Bank Of-

ficer’s Association jointly organ-

ised relief distribution activities

during the lockdown for the eco-

nomically weaker section of soci-

ety on April 18 and 19, covering

some major parts of Guwahati,

stated a press release issued here

on Sunday.

Areas like Navagraha, Lamb

Road, Birubari, RG Baruah Road,

Ganeshguri, Christian Basti and

Harizan Colony, B Borooah Road,

under the guidance of Guwahati

MP Queen Ojha, were covered

under the initiative.

More than 500 families were

served with food packets in the

last two days. Another 500 food

packets will be distributed to the

needy people shortly, the press

release added.

Online communityprovides rationto poor people

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: Guwa-

hati Foodie, an online community

consisting over 1,00,000 food lov-

ers, on Friday provided necessary

daily ration, including rice, dal,

mustard oil, soap, salt and milk,

to 196 families in and around the

Azara revenue circle.

Earlier, Guwahati Foodie organ-

ised a donation campaign to raise

funds for the initiative through its

Facebook page and group.

They also reached out to Pura-

bi Dairy for supply of milk pack-

ets for distribution.

The Guwahati Foodie team is

also planning to reach out to fam-

ilies in other areas in the coming

week with such relief packets.

Bid to lead organisedrelief works

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Small Wish International, an NGO,

on Sunday announced an initiative

– Small Wish International Hu-

manitarian Network – to lead or-

ganised humanitarian efforts in

Assam.

The Network will bridge the

coordination gap between individ-

ual humanitarian efforts and NGOs

engaged in relief distribution.

Man trampledto death by

wild elephantCORRESPONDENT

JORABAT, April 19: A 45-year-

old man was trampled to death by

a wild elephant at Lichubagan un-

der the Khetri Police Station ear-

ly this morning.

The deceased has been identi-

fied as Dhaneshwar Rongpi of

Bahtola village. Soon after receiv-

ing the information, a police team

reached the spot and sent the

body for autopsy.

CM enquires aboutwellbeing of noted

personalitiesGUWAHATI, April 19: Chief

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to-

day made telephone calls to sev-

eral noted personalities of the

State and enquired about their

wellbeing amidst the lockdown.

Sonowal talked with eminent lin-

guist and researcher of folklore of

Assam Dr Birendranath Datta,

former DGP Nishinath Changka-

koti, eminent scientist and educa-

tionist Dr Kulendu Pathak, Pada-

dhikar of Srimanta Sankardev Sang-

ha Kamalakanta Gogoi, former Pa-

dadhikar of Srimanta Sankardev

Sangha Bhaben Deka, litterateur

Dr Bimal Phukan, children’s writ-

er Gagan Chandra Adhikari, and

former DIG of Assam Police Hiran-

ya Bhattacharya, among others, an

official release said.

Stating that Assam was per-

forming well till now in managing

the COVID-19 outbreak, Sonow-

al assured that the State govern-

ment was fully prepared to tackle

all eventualities in the future. He

also talked to Zubeen Garg and

Angaraag (Papon) Mahanta. – Staff

Reporter

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Northeast Frontier Railway

(NFR) has refunded Rs 33.81 cr

to the passengers whose tickets

had to be cancelled on account of

the suspension of passenger train

services due to the ongoing na-

tionwide lockdown.

“During the first phase of the

lockdown from March 24 to April

14, the number of passengers who

cancelled their tickets was

2,43,939 and the amount refund-

ed to them was approximately Rs

22.41 crore. Similarly, during the

second phase of lockdown, which

started on March 15, a total of

1,23,716 passengers cancelled

their tickets till April 17 and the

amount refunded to them was ap-

proximately Rs 11.40 crore. So

overall, since the beginning of the

lockdown and till April 17, an

amount of Rs 33.81 crore was re-

funded by NFR to a total of

3,67,655 passengers who can-

celled their tickets,” said Sub-

Train ticket cancellation: Rs 33.81 cr refundedhanan Chanda, Chief Public Rela-

tions Officer (CPRO) of NFR.

He added, “NFR would like to

assure all passengers that they

need not worry about getting re-

fund as the Ministry of Railways

has already decided to give full

refund for all tickets for the can-

celled trains by amending the re-

fund rules.”

It is noteworthy that as part of

the various measures taken by

the Union Government in the

wake of the COVID-19 outbreak,

the Ministry of Railways also de-

cided to suspend operation of all

passenger trains.

Accordingly, passenger trains to

and from the NFR zone were also

cancelled initially till April during

the first phase of the lockdown.

Later, the suspension of passen-

ger services was extended up to

May 3 following extension of the

lockdown period.

“As crores of passengers daily

use trains to commute, the sus-

pension of train operation has cre-

ated problems for them. Howev-

er, to minimise their problem, the

Railway Ministry immediately

changed the refund rules by duly

notifying changes in all types of

media so that all sections of people

get to know about the changes for

their benefit and heavy rush to get

refund at ticket counters can be

avoided and social distancing can

be maintained,” said Chanda.

As the lockdown period has

been extended, no booking of any

type of tickets, including E-tick-

ets, will be done until further ad-

vice, he said.

“However, the facility of online

cancellation will remain function-

al for ticket bookings. But, all

counters for ticket booking for

Unreserved Ticketing System

(UTS) and Passenger Reservation

System (PRS) will remain closed

till further orders. Full refund will

be given for tickets for the book-

ings made for the cancelled trains.

Full refund will also be there for

those cancelling the advance book-

ings of tickets for trains not yet

cancelled,” said Chanda.

He added, “In case of the trains

cancelled up to May 3, the re-

funds would be automatically re-

mitted online by the Railways to

the customers who had booked

the tickets online, but those who

had booked across the counters

can claim the refund at the

counters till July 31.”

While passenger services have

been cancelled, freight train op-

erations are being continued

round-the-clock by NFR to ensure

uninterrupted supply of essential

commodities.

“NFR staff are working day and

night to run freight train servic-

es throughout its jurisdiction fer-

rying essential commodities like

salt, sugar, foodgrains and petro-

leum products for the public dis-

tribution system. Moreover,

NFR is also carrying items like

potatoes, milk, vegetables, ferti-

lizers and foodgrains transport-

ed by private businessmen so

that there is no shortage of these

commodities for the common

people,” Chanda said.

LOCAL FORECAST:

Partly cloudy sky togenerally cloudy sky. Rain/thundershower is verylikely to occur. Maximumand minimumtemperatures are mostlikely to be 30°C & 20°Crespectively on Monday.

TEMPERATURE:

Max 29.6° C

Min 18.9° C

WEATHER

GUWAHATI

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Kamrup Metro district adminis-

tration, in collaboration with

NGO Feeding India, is aiming to

cover around 600 newspaper

hawkers of Guwahati under its

free ration distribution initiative.

As part of the initiative, the dis-

trict administration today distrib-

uted free rations among 50 news-

paper hawkers on the premises

of Pragjyoti Cinema Hall in Mali-

gaon locality.

Additional Deputy Commis-

sioner Ratul Chandra Pathak in-

formed that within two days, the

district administration would

cover other newspaper hawkers

as well.

The ration distribution drive

will be held at different locations

in Bhetapara, Chandmari,

Sixmile, Ganeshguri and Ambari

areas of Guwahati.

According to Pathak, during

the lockdown hours, the district

administration has covered

around 60,000 families under the

free ration distribution drive.

Among them, around 38,000 fam-

ilies were covered though the dif-

ferent NGOs and in case of

around 22,000 families, officials

of the district administration dis-

tributed the rations directly.

“In our helpline number, eve-

ryday we get 30 to 40 informing

us about non-receipt of free ra-

tions. When such cases come up,

our officials deliver the ration

right at the door step of the de-

prived families,” Pathak said.

A large section of people from

outside the State, who are

stranded in the city amid the lock-

down, have also come under the

free ration distribution drive.

At present, around 350 fami-

lies from Arunachal Pradesh,

around 300 families from Meg-

halaya, around 125 families from

Mizoram, more than 400 fami-

lies from Tripura and around 70

families from Manipur have re-

mained stranded in different

parts of the city.

Free ration distribution

District admin,NGO to cover 600

newspaper hawkers

If two individualsusing the appare in closeproximity, theirmobile phoneswill communicatewith each other

A police official passing through a sanitisation unit set up on the Basistha Police Station premises, in Guwahati on Sunday. – UB Photos

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, April 19: In the

post-lockdown Assam, a large

number of children hailing from

financially weaker families are

likely to drop out of school,

according to Ratul Chandra

Goswami, general secretary of

the Assam State Primary

Teachers’ Association.

At present, over 40 lakh

children are pursuing their

lower primary education in

different government school

across the State and most of

them come from the poor

section of society, Goswami said

today, adding the number of

school dropouts in Assam is

currently around 87,000.

“Students whose parents are

daily wage labourers will

particularly face immense

hardship in the post-lockdown

period. So, these children are in

a very vulnerable situation and

are likely to be deprived of

further education if the State

government does not take

proper steps at the right time,”

Goswami said.

He said that there is a need to

extend mental support to these

families so that they do not lose

confidence. In an attempt to

motivate these families, the

Association has started a drive

to reach out to each and every

parent over telephone.

Meanwhile, commenting on

the direction of the State

government to continue online

classes through WhatsApp, etc.,

the Association yesterday that it

is not possible to implement the

same in Assam. In Assam,

parents of around 80 per cent

students do not have WhatsApp

in their phones. Moreover, most

primary school students are not

tech-savvy enough to participate

in online classes, it said.

In a damage-control move,

the Association has suggested

to the government to cancel

the summer vacation for this

year and not use primary

schools as the relief camps

during the flood season. It has

also urged the government not

to engage primary school

teachers in various non-

academic activities, including

census, NRC, elections, etc,

and withdraw some unneces-

sary holidays from the academ-

ic calendar of Assam.

Lockdown may raiseLP school dropout rate

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, April 19: The

Assam Apex Cooperative Fish

Marketing and Processing Feder-

ation Ltd (Fishfed) has started

selling fish in mobile vans at Pan-

du-Maligaon, Narengi-Noonmati,

and Dispur areas of the city by

following all government adviso-

ries on COVID-19.

Earlier, during the lockdown,

Fishfed – a State-level coopera-

tive federation of primary fishery

and pisciculture societies of As-

sam under the Fisheries Depart-

ment – had been selling fish only

at its retail outlet in Rupnagar.

“The Kamrup (Metro) district

administration had arranged for

sale of local fish at the Rupnagar

outlet of Fishfed to the nearby

residents from April 10. Howev-

er, on April 15, we received per-

mission to sell fish in three areas

of the city in mobile vans. People

Fishfed selling fish in mobilevans at three city localities

are getting varieties of local and

fresh fish at a specific price here,”

Managing Director of Fishfed Dr

Dhruva Jyoti Sharma said.

“The Fishfed has cooperative

societies under its control and

these societies are supplying the

fish. We are not compromising

with hygiene and social distanc-

ing. The vehicles used for carry-

ing fish are being sanitised every

day. Social distancing is being

strictly maintained at the Fishfed

outlet,” he said.

Fishfed sells nearly 2,500 kg of

local fish every day.

“To maintain hygiene at our re-

tail booth, we always provide

aprons, caps, hand gloves and other

equipment to our salespersons and

other staff engaged in marketing.

We are following the same during

the lockdown as well,” he said.

Currently, fish is being sold in

the city through Fishfed and also

under the supervision of the Dis-

trict Fishery Development Offic-

er (DFDO).

“The DFDO had tied up with

three bazar committees of Uzan-

bazar, Pandu and Bhetapara to

make fish available in the city. The

wholesale suppliers bring fish

from different sources and the as-

signed vendors collect the fish

from the wholesalers for door-to-

door delivery,” he said.

Many vendors are also selling

fish without permission violating

the advisories issued by the dis-

trict administration. “The admin-

istration should take stern action

against them,” he said.

Don’t worry, I will make people believe

that coronavirus only infects the old

6 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020

NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, April 19:The fight against coronaviruspandemic is the “biggest in-visible war” facing the hu-manity and India is confront-ing it with excellent synergybetween all key organs of thenation, Defence Minister Ra-jnath Singh said today.

In an interview to PTI,Singh said a wide spectrumof measures has been put inplace to insulate the threeservices and their strategicassets from the deadly infec-tion while keeping them ful-ly prepared to deal with anypossible threats, includingalong the borders.

Singh, who is also headinga Group of Ministers onCOVID-19, said well-thought-out protocols are be-ing implemented aggressive-ly to keep the forces fightingfit so that they continue toplay an active role in dealingwith the national crisis alongwith the other agencies.

“The fight against COVID-

NEW DELHI, April 19: Ru-mours spread on the Internetsuggest that use of air condi-tioners during this summermay not be safe as it can helpspread the novel coronavirusthat causes COVID-19.

The truth, as per the factcheck done by the Press In-formation Bureau (PIB), isnot that straightforward.

Based on inputs from doc-tors, the official handle of PIBFact Check tweeted that run-ning windows AC in a roomwhere there is no coronaviruspatient poses no risk to people.

“As the mercury soars,here’s one more #PIBFact-check.

Vaccine emergesas frontrunner to

combat novelcoronavirus

NEW DELHI, April 19:The Indian Council of Medi-cal Research today said thatvaccines developed or ob-served for the novel corona-virus by five groups of scien-tists are in the process ofcoming into human trial phaseafter passing trials on animals.

Speaking at a daily mediabriefing here, ICMR’s ChiefScientist Dr Raman Ganga-khedkar said that at least 70groups of scientists acrossthe world have been work-ing on development of vac-cine for the novel coronavi-rus and five groups havecome into human trial phase.

“At least five out of 70groups of scientists who areconducting research on thevaccine of novel coronavirusare in the process of comingto the human trial stage. Oneof the groups is researchingon ChAdOX1 vaccine, and notmuch side-effect of the vaccinewas observed on the animals.

“There is a candidate vac-cine against SARS-CoV-2called ChAdOx1 that is oneof the front runners in therace to find a vaccine for nov-el coronavirus,” he said.

Gangakhedkar said thatscientists are hopeful thatChAdOX1 vaccine may workin coronavirus cases. – IANS

45-day-old babydies of COVID-19

NEW DELHI, April 19:One of the saddest news onSunday shocked the countryas a 45-day-old baby died ofthe highly infectious novelcoronavirus at Lady HardingHospital here.

The infant who died onSaturday early in the morn-ing, has become the young-est casualty in the country.Additionally, six health work-ers have tested positive forthe virus and more than 30have been quarantined.

A hospital source told thisnews agency that a 45-day-old baby was kept in theCOVID dedicated ward. Thebaby was not born at LadyHarding Hospital, and hadcome from outside.

“I am not aware what con-dition he was in, when he wasbrought to the hospital andhow long he was there be-cause he was admitted di-rectly to the dedicated COV-ID ward in the hospital. Wehave made a separate facilityfor new born which is for thebabies who are born in thehospital. This baby was be-yond the neonatal period,”said the source, adding “thismakes a total of two infantsin our hospital who have test-ed positive for COVID-19. Ofwhich this baby has expired.”

The source also said, thereare six healthcare workerswho have tested positive in-cluding 2 doctors, 3 nursesand one lab technician.

“Around 30 staff membersfrom the pediatric departmenthave been quarantined but noneof them has tested positive asof now. However, they are stillunder observation. A team ofhealthcare workers from theadult department has also beenquarantined as it was lookingafter a patient who had diedearlier. But the exposure in thepediatric department was big-ger. Contact tracing in healthcare workers is underway. Thepaediatric ward is being sani-tized,” the source said. – IANS

BENGALURU, April 19:The United Kingdom will flyout 4,000 more Brits, strand-ed amid extended lockdownacross India, by 17 charterflights from six cities, includ-ing Bengaluru, from Mondayto April 27, said a top diplo-mat, here on Sunday.

“About 4,000 more Britswill fly out of 6 Indian citiesto London during this week,as they were stranded sincethe lockdown was enforcedon March 25, with interna-tional flights suspended,” UKacting High CommissionerJan Thompson said.

The first flight from Ben-galuru will take off on Mon-day, followed by another onApril 23, which will fly theBrits stranded in Karnatakavia Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

The 21-day lockdown wasextended by the governmentup to May 3 to contain thecoronavirus spread in thecountry.

The charter aircraft will flyfrom Ahmedabad on April 20,22, 24 and 26; Amritsar onApril 21, 23, 25 and 27; NewDelhi on April 21, 23, 25 and27; Goa on April 20, 22 and24 and Mumbai on April 26.

“Among the Brits, most

Actor Ejaz Khanin police remandtill April 24 overFacebook postMUMBAI, April 19: Actor

Ejaz Khan, arrested for alleg-edly uploading an objection-able Facebook post, was onSunday produced before aMumbai court which re-manded him in police custo-dy till April 24.

Khan’s lawyer NazneenKhatri sought bail for the ac-tor, but the court rejected itsaying his offence, for whichhe has been charged underIndian Penal Code Section153A (promoting enmity be-tween different groups), isnon-bailable.

Khan, who had earlier par-ticipated in reality TV showBigg Boss, was summoned toKhar police station on Satur-day in connection with thecomment made during a Fa-cebook live session and thenplaced under arrest.

“The actor was producedbefore the Bandra metropol-itan court which remandedhim in police custody tillApril 24. Now, he will belodged at the Bandra policestation lockup. We are fur-ther probing the case,” Kharpolice station’s senior in-spector Gajanan Kabdulesaid. – PTI

4,000 more Brits to beflown out of India by April 27

vulnerable will fly first, fol-lowed by those who bookedearly and waitlisted passen-gers,” said the statement.

Brits who registeredneedn’t take any action at thisstage. If they get a seat, theywill be contacted by the CTM(Corporate Travel Manage-ment) with information abouttheir flight. “We are work-ing to arrange more flightsfrom locations where largenumber of Brits are strand-ed,” said Thompson.

About 3,000 Brits haveflown to London in 12 chart-ed flights from five South In-dian cities – Bengaluru, Chen-nai, Hyderabad, Kochi andThiruvananthapuram – sinceApril 13.

Earlier, 2,000 Brits wereflown from Goa, Mumbai andNew Delhi in seven charterflights between April 8 andApril 12.

“India is a priority countryfor the Foreign and Com-monwealth Office (FCO) toarrange charter flights from,with a large number of Britswanting to return in the ab-sence of commercial flightsand curbs on movement dueto lockdown,” Thompsonsaid. – IANS

Armed forces adequately protectedfrom coronavirus: Rajnath

19 is possibly the biggest in-visible war in our lifetime; awar against humanity andhaving various impact onhealth and economic securi-ty of the nation... We as a na-tion are fighting the crisis ona war footing,” he said.

The minister also dispelledapprehensions that the pan-demic may have impactedIndia’s operational prepared-ness. There were concernsafter 26 Navy personnelserving in the Western Na-val Command tested positivefor the infection.

“The Indian armed forcesare prepared for all contin-gencies and I can assure youthat we are prepared to de-fend our sovereignty fromadversarial forces in all sce-narios in land, air and sea,”he said.

To emphasise operationalpreparedness of the military,Singh said the Indian Armyis carrying out “targetedstrikes” on terror launch

pads along the Line of Con-trol in Jammu and Kashmirand eliminating Pakistani in-filtrators.

The minister said exper-tise of armed forces in com-munications, supply chainmanagement, medical sup-port and engineering are be-ing used to combat the pan-demic in the country, besidesextending a helping hand toseveral friendly nations.

Singh said armed forcesare taking a series of meas-ures like curtailing move-ment of troops, restrictingleave, enforcing work fromhome, maintaining social dis-tancing and decontaminationof barracks as preventivemeasures.

“A mandatory 14-day quar-antine period is being en-forced for all personnel, ifcoming from outside theirstations, irrespective of rank.In case of ships, strict moni-toring of all sailors is beingdone and disembarkation at

foreign ports is being author-ised only in emergencies,”he added.

He said special precautionsare being followed on shipsand submarines where it isdifficult to strictly follow so-cial distancing norms.

Soldiers deployed alongborders, especially in re-motest regions, are safestas they are cut-off from alllikely carriers of disease, hesaid, adding, the govern-ment is ensuring their safe-ty by deploying fresh troopsin the areas who have beenmedically validated as hav-ing no symptoms of the in-fection.

The minister also said thatthe government has direct-ed leading defence public sec-tor undertakings to producemedical equipment like ven-tilators, masks, personalprotective equipment andother equipment to addressthe problem of their short-ages. – PTI

Why you need to use ACs with caution during COVID-19“Claim: ACs should not be

used to cool off in the heat, asthey spread #Covid_19.

“Fact : It’s a little compli-cated. Window ACs are ok,but not central air-condition-ing. Let’s listen to this seg-ment from @DDNewslive,”said the tweet.

In the video clip accompa-nying the tweet, doctors areheard saying that in health-care establishments wherethere could be coronaviruspositive patients, central ACsmay pose some risk.

A guidance document bythe Indian Society of Heating,Refrigerating & Air Condi-tioning Engineers (ISHRAE)

also suggested that peopleshould use air conditionerswith caution during the pan-demic, especially in healthcareestablishments.

“The most important factorin this scenario is to ensurethat the virus-laden airborneparticles do not leak out of therooms occupied by COVID-19patients and also to maintainthe concentration of virus-lad-en particles inside the patientroom at a minimum,” said thedocument titled, “COVID-19Guidance Document for AirConditioning and Ventilation”.

This is required to controlthe spread of infections andalso to protect the healthcare

workers, it added.“As is the normal practice,

most of these patient roomswould be served by a HVAC(heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system thatwould be of a recirculatorytype, wherein the air fromthe room is taken back to theAHU (air handling unit) forthermal conditioning andbrought back,” ISHRAE said.

“The same HVAC systemcould also be connected to afew other areas of the hospi-tal. In some cases, theremight be no dedicated returnair duct and it could be a ceil-ing return system.

“If a COVID-19 patient

had to be admitted to such aroom, it would present a sig-nificant risk of the virus-lad-en particles spreading outfrom the designated COVID-19 patient rooms,” the docu-ment added.

The engineers suggestedhow air conditioners shouldbe used in different settingssuch as homes, commercialestablishments, and inhealthcare facilities.

The document suggeststhat recirculation of cool airby room air conditioners mustbe accompanied by outdoorair intake through slightlyopen windows and exhaust bynatural exfiltration. – IANS

RAF personnel conducting a flag march during the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, inMoradabad on Sunday. – PTI

A man takes care of a child while sitting on a pavement during the ongoing nationwidelockdown, in New Delhi on Sunday. – PTI

A girl holding some eatables amid the ongoing nationwidelockdown, at Krishan Kunj in Laxmi Nagar, East Delhi, onSunday. – PTI

(Contd from page 1)The Chief Secretary said

that the supply lines of theessential commodities arebeing maintained and thereis no reason for worry. Hesaid that the Government isalso in constant touch withthe Railways and Food Cor-poration of India and when-ever a problem crops up, itis dealt with in the Task Forcemeeting. He pointed out thatRailways bring in both essen-tial and non essential com-modities to Assam and therewas a time, when there wereproblems relating to unload-ing of non essential items,which resulted in holding upof Railway rakes. The issuewas immediately sorted outby arranging labourers to un-load the rakes. The stock po-sition of all food items bothin the FCI godowns and inthe open market is assessedevery day. He also pointed outthat the demand for vegeta-bles, meat, milk products etchas come down drasticallybecause all the hotels andrestaurants are closed.

Replying to a question onother issues dealt by the TaskForce every day, SanjayKrishna said that there arevarious issues. One is the

No shortage of food ...

Five more patients ...(Contd from page 1)

“There were no complications in the chest X-rays and theirblood samples were also normal,” he added.

Two more patients – one at North Lakhimpur and anotherat the Sonapur Civil Hospital – are likely to be dischargedtomorrow.

The minister said that after the 14-day isolation, Healthofficials would screen the residents in the containment zones.“Tests will be conducted on the people who came into contactwith the positive cases. The DC will also submit a report,following which a medical panel will take a call on lifting the‘containment zone’ tag from a place,” the minister added.

Guideline issued ...(Contd from page 1)

Thermal screening will be carried out at all entry and exitpoints of these zones. Sufficient information and educationcampaign will be carried out in the containment zones and thebuffer zones.

All vehicular movement, movement of public transport andpersonnel movement will be restricted in these zones. Thedistrict administrations will post signs and create awarenessinforming the public about the perimeter control.

Health workers posted at the exit point will perform screen-ing (e.g. interview of travellers, measure temperature, recordthe place and duration of intended visit and keep completerecord of intended place of stay).

All roads, including the rural roads, connecting the contain-ment zone will be guarded by the police.

Details of all persons moving out of the perimeter zone foressential or emergency services will be recorded and theywill be followed up through IDSP. All vehicles moving out ofthe perimeter control will be decontaminated with sodiumhypochlorite solution.

problems faced by the peopleof Assam living in other statesof the country and “we haveto get in touch with the con-cerned state governmentswhenever such issues cometo our notice. Recently, wehave come to know that stu-dents from Assam living inKota in Rajasthan are facingserious hardship and the mat-ter has been taken up with theGovernment of Rajasthan. Weare getting good cooperationfrom all the states in this re-gard,” he added.

Immediately after receiv-ing report that Nagalandpushed back a number of mi-grant labourers, the StateGovernment had to swinginto action to identify thosepeople so that they can bequarantined and tested. Iden-tification of a number of pos-itive cases in Meghalaya cre-ated panic in that state andthe government of Megha-laya went for a complete lock-down and even trucks carry-ing essentials to Barak Val-ley were not allowed, be-cause of which there wasshortage of LPG in the val-ley. The matter was imme-diately taken up with theGovernment of Meghalaya.

Sanjay Krishna said that the

Water Resources Depart-ment has been asked to startthe work of repairing of theembankments by maintainingsocial distancing and thereshould not be any shortage offunds for the purpose. How-ever, he said that such worksare not allowed in the areasmarked as “red zones”.

On the plan of the Govern-ment to resume functioningof all the Government de-partments from April 21, theChief Secretary said that of-ficers of the rank of Deputysecretaries and above wouldgo to offices, while, 33 percent of the employees ofgrade III and IV would at-tend. He said that the Gov-ernment would requisitionbuses for transportation ofthe officers and employeesto offices.

The Chief Secretary saidthat from April 21, the Gov-ernment is also planning toallow opening of industries.But the factory ownerswould have to give an under-taking that social distancingwould be maintained in thepremises and as far as possi-ble, the workers would haveto be locked in the premisesso that they cannot come intocontact with others.

State ready for ...(Contd from page 1)

In Dibrugarh district alone, 311 sellersearned Rs 1.4 crore by selling 7,01,325 kg ofvegetables.

Meanwhile, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Dashas lauded the performance of Assam’s agri-culture sector and the role of the agriculturedepartment facilitating unhindered farmingeven during the lockdown.

Sources, quoting the RBI Governor, saidthat Assam along with West Bengal, Karnata-ka, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh havedone exceedingly well in maintaining agricul-tural production during the lockdown.

“The RBI Governor said that the countryhas achieved record yield of foodgrains andhorticulture products and there was a suffi-cient stock of rice and wheat,” sources said.

Easing of ...(Contd from page 1)

Asked to comment during a media briefingon the U-turn, Punya Salila Srivastava, a JointSecretary in the MHA, said the COVID-19 sit-uation was extremely dynamic and the decisionto allow non-essential goods through e-com-merce was withdrawn after it was felt the list ofpermitted items through online platform wasextensive and that it may impact the lockdown.Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also wrotea letter to the chief secretaries of all States andUnion Territories giving a clarification.

“...I would like to clarify that while opera-tions of e-commerce companies for non-essen-tial goods stands prohibited, however they willcontinue to operate for essential goods as hasbeen allowed earlier and continue to be allowed,”he said. – PTI

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 7NORTH EAST

AIZAWL, April 19: The Mizoram

Board of School Education (MBSE) has

reversed its decision to resume class

12 board examinations, suspended in the

wake of the coronavirus outbreak, fol-

lowing an appeal by the Centre to do so.

The decision to postpone the Higher

Secondary School Leaving Certificate

(HSSLC) examinations till further or-

ders was taken during a meeting of the

MBSE officials held on Friday evening,

a notification issued by the Board said.

The decision was taken following an

appeal by the Central government to

put on hold the examination due to the

lockdown imposed to contain the spread

of novel coronavirus, it said.

“The rescheduled class 12 board ex-

aminations for the remaining subjects

in Arts, Science and Commerce streams

Mizoram reverses decision toresume class 12 board exams

have been postponed till further orders.

“The MBSE has sought an apology

from all the students and stakeholders

for the inconvenience as the Centre’s

appeal has to be respected,” the notifi-

cation said.

It said the Board had initially decided

to resume the suspended examinations

to ease the students’ inconvenience as

Mizoram at this point of time is believed

to be “more or less free from coronavi-

rus” as no new cases have been report-

ed and most of the persons placed un-

der quarantine have completed their

isolation period.

A 50-year-old pastor from Mizo-

ram, who had travelled to the Nether-

lands, is the lone COVID-19 patient in

the state.

Of the 769 persons who were placed

under quarantine, 588 have completed

their isolation period and were dis-

charged while 177 are still in the quar-

antine facilities at present, Health offi-

cials said.The MBSE, in a notification

issued on Tuesday, said class 12 board

examinations for the remaining subjects

will be held from April 22 to 24.

The Board notification was confirmed

by Education Minister Lalchhandama on

Wednesday. The board examinations will

resume in view of the hardships faced

by the students. The issue was discussed

by the cabinet and during a meeting of

all political parties, NGOs and student

bodies, which recommended the re-

sumption of the examinations, the min-

ister had said. Around 4,700 students

are yet to complete their board exami-

nations. – PTI

CORRESPONDENT

AGARTALA, April 19:

With the overall situation in

the fight against COVID-19

pandemic ‘improving’ in

Tripura, Chief Minister Bi-

plab Kumar Deb has asked

the village heads to ensure

no one from across the bor-

der to enter the state.

The state, which is sur-

rounded by Bangladesh in

three sides and Assam and

Mizoram by one side is like-

ly to get relaxation from

April 20 for improving its

position in the battle against

the COVID-19. Only two

COVID-19 positive cases

have been detected in the

Tripura CM asks villageheads to intensify vigil

state so far and out of whom

one patient has already

been discharged from the

hospital.

In an audio interactive

session with the Gram Prad-

hans and other elected mem-

bers of Gram Panchayats, the

Chief Minister today warned

against any infiltration from

the across the border- be it

international or inter-state to

contain the deadly disease

effectively.

“If anybody enters your

village from across the bor-

der, inform it to police or ad-

ministration immediately. It

is in the greater interest of

the state”, he told the village

heads.

Deb also clarified, the

same spirit must be shown

in case of infiltration from

Assam or Mizoram. “De-

spite sealing of international

border and inter-state bor-

der, some people are com-

ing to the state in the diffi-

cult times. It should not be

allowed anymore”, he said.

Calling for social surveil-

lance in the border villages

to prevent infiltration, the

Chief Minister said BSF and

police have already been

asked to show zero tolerance

when it comes to illegal infil-

tration to the state.

COVID-19

CORRESPONDENT

DIMAPUR, April 19: The Nagaland Horti-

culture directorate has designed a standard op-

erating procedure (SOP) for the farmers en-

gaged in cultivation of vegetables, fruits, spices,

flowers and plantation crops to reduce the risk

of spreading the COVID-19 and protect the

farming operations in various horticultural fields.

The SOP said the farmers, including their

family members, should follow the guidelines

on COVID-19 issued by the Central as well

as the state government, including the guide-

lines issued by the district administration.

The number of farmers should be kept

minimum depending upon the operations to

be carried out in the field.

The farmers should stay at home if one feels

sick. If they develop symptoms at work, they

should inform or they should be taken to the

nearest hospital/health department officials.

The farmers who travelled to the affected

areas, other states or other countries in re-

cent days should be asked to self quarantine

as per the guidelines issued by the state Health

department.

They should not bring labourers from an-

other place or village but take the services of

those available within their jurisdiction.

The farmers or their dependents who are

in quarantine/isolation should not be engaged

in any field operation activity. The SOP said

use of face mask will be compulsory.

It said the farmers should avoid shaking

hands and other physical contacts with other

co-workers in the field. The activities which

are usually carried out in clusters must be

restricted and carried out in a phased manner

to avoid crowding.

The farmers should maintain personal hy-

giene and restrain from social gathering after

work.Staggering lunch/tea breaks should be

adopted, the SOP said.

There must be adequate washing points

from entry to departure, toilets, temporary

shelter for lunch, input/equipment rooms and

hand washing procedures must be displayed

near washing points.

The farmers should know the importance

of washing hands well before lunch/tea break,

after using toilet, before putting on gloves or

after contact with farm animals etc

As per the SOP, the farmers should do dis-

infectant spraying at regular intervals around

the farm buildings, store room to ensure hy-

giene and sanitation.

It added that adequate personal safety meas-

ures to be taken for loading/unloading and

transportation of produces to the collection

centres or market places.

New system designed for farmers in Nagaland

A ration dealer using POS machine for distribution of essential food items along the Indo-Bangla border at Matinagar inSipahijala district, Tripura on Saturday. – Correspondent

Houses damaged due to a thunderstorm that lashed many areas of Mizoram on Saturday.-Correspondent

Forecast for North Eastern

States : Rain/thundershower is

very likely to occur at most

places over Arunachal

Pradesh, Assam and

Meghalaya and at many places

over Nagaland, Manipur,

Mizoram and Tripura.

Warning: Thunderstorm with

lightning and gusty wind with

speed (30-40) kmph is very

likely to occur at isolated

places over Arunachal

Pradesh, Assam and

Meghalaya. Thunderstorm with

squall with speed (50-60) kmph

is very likely to occur at

isolated places over Nagaland,

Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

Heavy rain is very likely to

occur at isolated places over

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam

and Meghalaya.

Temperatures :

Max (°C) Min (°C)

Dibrugarh 25.0 20.4

Tezpur 28.9 21.1

Silchar 33.2 19.7

Dhubri 29.1 21.0

Jorhat 28.0 19.4

N Lakhimpur 24.6 19.6

Shillong 23.6 U/S

Cherrapunjee 22.6 13.4

Aizawl 28.3 16.1

Kohima 20.6 11.6

Pasighat 23.8 20.0

Itanagar 26.8 19.4

Imphal 30.0 15.6

WEATHER

NORTHEAST

Meghalaya intensifiesscreening of truckers

ferrying essentialsCORRESPONDENT

JORABAT, April 19: Government agencies in Meghalaya

have stepped up screening of long-distance truck drivers,

who are transporting essential items to the State, for COV-

ID-19.

To ensure that the truckers do not carry the coronavirus,

the Meghalaya police have intensified checking at the inter-

State border with Assam here as a result of which a large

number of trucks got snarled up.

The screening is being carried out on National Highway-

6 at12th Mile near Byrnihat. They are making sure that

body temperature of every person entering the State be

checked and recorded as part of the measures to prevent

the spread of the deadly virus.

Speaking to The Assam Tribune, Superintendent of

Police of Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district C Syrti urged the

citizens to abide by the directives. “Though the checking

may cause a little inconvenience to the truckers, it is

absolutely necessary to screen every person entering

the State for COVID-19 to limit the spread of the virus,”

the SP said.

The Meghalaya police are also giving face masks, hand

sanitiser and water bottles for free to people entering

the State.

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, April 19: Considering the nation-

wide lockdown and its impact on the educa-

tion sector, Manipur Education Minister Dr

Thokchom Radheshyam launched e-text-

books for students of class 8 to 10 at his office

chamber here .

Commissioner (Education-S) T Ranjit Singh,

Director (Education-S) Th Kirankumar Singh,

Secretary of Board of Secondary Education

Manipur (BOSEM) Dr Chithung Mary Tho-

mas and senior officials of the Education De-

partment were present on the occasion.

Dr Radheshyam said that making the text-

books available in electronic format is one of

the many initiatives taken by the government

to address the problems in the education sec-

tor posed by the prevailing situation arising

out of the nationwide lockdown.

Once the textbooks are made available in

electronic format, it would help in develop-

ing study materials in this format by various

stakeholders, he opined.

The e-textbooks will be easily accessible

to the students and teachers at times of crisis

like the present one triggered by the COV-

ID-19 outbreak.

Stating that education is regarded as one of

the most important sectors as it nurtures and

E-textbooks help Manipurstudents during lockdown

nourishes the young minds for a better fu-

ture, Dr Radheshyam said that there would

also be a provision for improving the text-

books further by seeking comments from the

public. It will also become the source of early

printing of textbooks in times to come.

The e-textbook programme was taken up

by BOSEM. Books for class 1 to 8 are pre-

pared by State Council for Educational Re-

search Training while those for class 9 to 10

are in the domain of BOSEM. Now, all the e-

textbooks for class 1 to 10, totalling 71 books,

would be uploaded soon, he said.

It will take around two weeks to upload all

the books. Books in tribal dialects will be up-

loaded subsequently.

The e-textbooks will be available at the

newly designed website – bosemebook.in –

developed by X-tremeWave. The textbooks

can also be accessed through mobile applica-

tion ‘Bosem eBook’, which can be download-

ed from Google Play Store.

In addition, the web page will have other

features such as year-wise instruction for ex-

aminers, blueprint, teachers’ guidebook and

scanned copies of answer scripts of overall

toppers and subject toppers.

The electronic format of comic textbooks

for class III, IV and V were also formally

launched here on Tuesday.

CORRESPONDENT

AIZAWL, April 19:

Several houses in Mamit,

Aizawl and Saitual districts

in Mizoram were either

completely or partially

damaged by heavy rain-

storm that lashed northern

parts of the State Saturday

afternoon.

In Chief Minister

Zoramthanga’s Aizawl East-

I consitiuency, damages of

houses were reported from

seven localities and villages.

Official report said 50

houses were complete

damaged while several

Storm hits Mizoramother houses were partially

damaged.

The Chief Minister visited

all the affected areas today

and disbursed immediate

relief.

In Sesawng village, 20

houses were reported

completely damaged while

50 houses were partially

damaged.

In Dampui village in

Mamit district, six houses

were badly damaged and 10

houses were partially

damaged. Mamit MLA H

Lalzirliana also visited the

affected families today and

disbursed immediate relief.

69 prisonersreleased

IMPHAL, April 19: The

Manipur government has re-

leased 69 prisoners from dif-

ferent jails in Manipur as per

the Supreme Court guide-

lines to decongest prisons in

the wake of the novel corona-

virus pandemic.Of the 69 re-

leased prisoners, 64 were

from Manipur Central Jail

Sajiwa and five from Central

Jail Imphal.The prisoners

were released on interim bail

or parole for three months, a

highly-placed official source

said. The prisoners were re-

leased to decongest the pris-

ons in view of the outbreak of

COVID-19. – Correspondent

47 foreignnationalsstranded

AIZAWL, April 19 : As

many as 47 foreign nationals

are stranded in Mizoram due

to the nationwide lockdown

imposed in the wake of the

novel coronavirus outbreak,

officials said on Saturday.

According to Mizoram Ad-

ditional Secretary (Home De-

partment) Pu Laldawngliana,

47 foreigners are stuck in

Mizoram. Deputy Inspector

General of Mizoram Police,

John Neihlaia, said the foreign

nationals stranded in Mizo-

ram included tourists, foot-

ballers and relatives of Mizo-

ram residents. – IANS

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG April 19 :

Three persons died and one

seriously injured, in a road

accident in East Jaintai Hills

district today, after they

tried to sneak out from the

State hiding in a bitumen-

loaded truck headed for Mi-

zoram.

The truck loaded with bi-

tumen bearing registration

No. NL-02-N-4222 capsized

and turned turtle at Lumsh-

nong near the Forest Inspec-

3 killed in road mishaption Bungalow.

The truck was on its way

from Beltola, Guwahati and

was headed to Mizoram.

But, four persons sneaked

into the truck illegally from

“somewhere between

Deinchynrum and Byndi-

hati,” East Jaintia Hills po-

lice said.

“These four persons were

hiding between the loaded

bitumen drums on the back

side to avoid detection. Two

died on the spot. The third

person was immediately

rescued by Lumshnong Po-

lice, but he later succumbed

to his injuries in the hospi-

tal,” East Jaintia Hills Super-

intendent of Police, Lakador

Syiem said.

The fourth person was res-

cued after a six hour long res-

cue operation. “The rescue

operation was extremely

tough because of heavy rain

and thunderstorm. The in-

jured has been referred to

Silchar Medical College and

Hospital for treatment,”

Syiem added.

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, April 19: To ad-

dress the grievances and hard-

ship faced by the people of the

State in procuring the essen-

tial items amid nationwide

lockdown, Manipur Chief

Minister N Biren Singh

launched a ‘Home Delivery

Supplies Management Con-

trol Room’ at Dharmasala,

Thangal Bazar, Imphal.

The Chief Minister stat-

ed that any individual or group

can contact the toll-free

number 1800-313-8171 from

9:00 am to 3 pm. The control

room will strengthen the

home delivery services being

offered by various agencies in

New control roomopened in Manipur

the State. Initially, the control

room will be operational for

the Imphal East and Imphal

West and the remaining dis-

tricts will be covered shortly.

N. Biren Singh main-

tained that the State govern-

ment has received the direc-

tives of the Union Govern-

ment on the relaxation of the

lockdown restrictions in

some parts of the State. He

said that a decision will be

taken at the Cabinet meet-

ing which is scheduled to be

held on Monday. The Chief

Minister then thanked the

co-operation and support of

the people extended to the

government in fighting COV-

ID-19 in the State.

Manipur healthofficials booked

IMPHAL, April 19: A case was filed against some offi-

cials of the health department of the Manipur government

after substandard N95 masks were seized by police in a raid

at the Central Medical Directorate in Lamphel, officials said

on Saturday. The raid was conducted by a special team of

the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Police Station on Friday

after allegations were levelled that substandard masks were

supplied to the district hospital in Churachandpur, they said.

The team seized 1,250 N95 masks and samples of other

medical protective gear, police officials said.On April 14,

200 defective N95 masks were found to have been supplied

to the district hospital, they said.“The defective masks,

supposed to be used in the isolation ward, were, however,

returned on the same day and replaced with new ones” a

senior official said. – PTI

Woman thanks ModiCORRESPONDENT

AIZAWL, April 19: In a video clip that went viral today, a

woman in Salem neighbourhood was seen praising Prime

Minister for giving her a free ration of 40 kgs of rice. She

broke into tears while speaking, and she asked God’s bless-

ings for Modi.

A PIB release in Aizawl said today in Mizoram, scores of

beneficiaries have availed benefit of the Rs 1.70 lakh crore

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojona, a scheme to en-

sure that no India dies of hunger during the COVID-19

lockdown.

In Kolasib district, beneficiaries say that the scheme

helped them a lot during the lockdown.

Lalbiakmawii, a woman from Kolasib Venglai, also thanked

the Government of India for giving free ration under the

PM package. She said it was a great help during the crisis

time of the Covid-19. Her family got 56 kg rice under the

scheme.

8 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020STATENEWS IN BRIEF

Tezpur MP reviews stepsTEZPUR, April 19: Tezpur MLA Pallab Lochan Das on

Friday chaired a meeting in the presence of DeputyCommissioner Manvendra Pratap Singh and otherofficials where he reviewed the steps taken by thedistrict administration to enforce the lockdown andsupply of essential commodities. At the meeting held atthe District Library auditorium, Das reviewed thedistribution of free PDS rice to people and the process ofdistribution of Rs 1,000 to non-ration card holder families.He directed the officials to ensure home delivery of riceand ensure that no shopkeeper charges more fromcustomers than the rate fixed by the administration. Dasalso reviewed the supply of vegetables and askedofficials to ensure supply to tea garden areas. He alsoasked the Health department officials to ensure stocks ofall medicines. – Correspondent

Minister visits HaflongHAFLONG, April 19: Hills Area Department Minister

Sum Ronghang visited Haflong on Saturday to take stockof the situation with regard to preparedness againstCOVID-19. Ronghang inspected the quarantine facilitiesat Haflong Civil Hospital, where ICUs and 25 isolationwards have been prepared. He held a meeting withDebolal Gorlosa, Chief Executive Member of the NC HillsAutonomous Council, and Deputy Commissioner AmitabhRajkhowa. Ronghang later told the media that everypossible help was being extended to the needy, and reliefmaterials would be distributed soon. – Correspondent

Drivers not being checkedGOSSAIGAON, April 19: Every day, 40-60 trucks pick

up the government-allotted rice from the FCI godown atGossaigaon meant for public distribution at Dhubri, butthe truck drivers and helpers who gather at the godowncomplex near the Gossaigaon Haat Railway Station arenot being properly examined. According to sources,doctors with medical staff and nurses sometimes come tothe FCI office and rapidly examine the drivers andhelpers. The sources also said that there is no separateaccomodation for the medical staff at the complex. Thelocal people have demanded the civil administration tomake arrangements for proper medical examination ofthe drivers before they enter the FCI office at Gos-saigaon. – ANN Service

Leopard carcass foundDERGAON, April 19: Police found the carcass of a

leopard from Tarfat Ahom Gaon in Golaghat district onSaturday. Acting on a tip-off, police dug out the carcassfrom a jungle where miscreants had buried the leopardafter killing it. However, police have not apprehendedany person till the filing of this report. – Correspondent

Golden langurs killedBONGAIGAON, April 19: A female golden langur and

her baby died after being hit by a speeding car bearingregistration number AS-19-H-9535 on the nationalhighway at Kakoijana near the reserve forest underAbhayapuri Police Station in Bongaigaon district onSaturday. A few langurs had ventured out of the forestand reached the highway when the incident occurred. Anemployee of Bank of Baroda was driving the car fromBarpeta. Residents detained the employee and hisvehicle and handed them over to police. – Correspondent

Donation by retired peopleRANGIYA, April 19: As many as 17 retired Assam

government employees from different departments cameout to donate food and other relief materials to needypersons at Jamtola village of Rangiya on Saturday. Thesenior citizens distributed essential items including riceto needy persons of the village. – Correspondent

Quarantine campsGOSSAIGAON, April 19: The Kokrajhar Deputy

Commissioner has proposed the names of several LP andME schools to be made into quarantine camps in Gos-saigaon subdivision, when several persons from outsidethe State are expected to arrive after the end of thesecond phase of the lockdown period. The SeniorCitizens’ Association, Gossaigaon subdivision, and the AllAssam Bengali Yuba Chatra Federation, have appealed tothe Gossaigaon SDO(C) not to allow schools in the area tobe turned into quarantine camps. – ANN Service

CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI, April 19:

Taking care and monitoring

the health and hygiene of

inmates of child-care homes

in this critical time of the

COVID-19 pandemic is a

challenging task. However,

things become a little

easier when the people rise

to the occasion.

One such inspirational

incident has come to light

here, when a child rights

activist expressed gratitude

to the cleaning staff of the

Mangaldai Municipal Board

in helping two child care

institutions of the district

beyond their official

jurisdiction.

Purnima Goswami, a

member of the Child

NDRF personnel spraying disinfectants at the StateBank of India, Mirza branch as a preventive measureagainst COVID-19. – Photo: Mobaraque Hussain

Sale of liquor,gutka banned in

BiswanathCORRESPONDENT

BISWANATH CHARIALI,

April 19: Exercising the pow-

er conferred under regulation

12 of The Assam COVID-19

Regulations, 2020 and under

the Disaster Management

Act, 2005, of Biswanath Dis-

trict Magistrate Dhruba Jyoti

Das has banned spitting in

public places, sale of liquor,

gutka and tobacco.

Pillion riding has also been

banned as a preventive meas-

ure prescribed by the govern-

ment against the spread of

coronavirus.

He also directed mandato-

ry wearing of face masks in all

public and work places. Any

violation of the order will in-

vite punitive action under

Section 51 of the Disaster

Management Act, 2005 and

Section 188 and 269 of the In-

dian Penal Code.

Rangiya Correspondent

adds: Under the leadership of

ADC Dr Bedanga Talukdar, a

massive drive was launched

here against the sale of gutka

and pan masala by shops on NT

Road, MG Road and several

other areas. During the drive,

officials seized large quantities

of such items and sealed one

shop Rong Enterprise near the

ASTC office. The ADC also

asked the people not to spit in

public places and follow the

lockdown norms as laid down

by the government.

OBITUARY

Dr Bidhan

ChoudhuryGUWAHA-

TI, April 19:

Dr Bidhan

Choudhury, a

resident of

Happy Villa

area, Uzanbazar, passed away

on April 16. He was 65.

Dr Choudhury was a pri-

vate medical practitioner. He

was a bachelor.

CORRESPONDENT

HAILAKANDI, April 19: Minis-

ter for Agriculture, Atul Bora, Min-

ister for Food, Civil Supplies and

Consumer Affairs, Phani Bhushan

Choudhury and Minister for Water

Resources, Keshab Mahanta today

reviewed the preparations on the

COVID-19 situation in Hailakandi

district of Barak Valley with MLAs,

district administration, officials of

concerned departments and traders

on Sunday.

Bora took stock of the availability

of foodgrains and smooth flow of

essential commodities in the dis-

trict. He asked the Deputy Com-

missioner to keep a tab on the

wholesale and retail prices and to

fix the prices to ensure uniformity

so that no middlemen can take ad-

vantage of the situation during the

lockdown. He also asked the Depu-

ty Commissioner to ensure that ag-

riculture seeds to be made availa-

ble for the kharif season are prop-

erly distributed among the farmers.

“We have to ensure production

Ministers review COVID-19 situation in Hailakandiamid the coronavirus situation by

maintaining social distancing during

cultivation by the farmers in their

agriculture fields,” Bora said, add-

ing that 75,000 farmers of the State

would be given seeds.

Bora directed the officials to dis-

tribute the tractors to the farmers

who have submitted the draft un-

der the Mukhya Mantrir Krishi Sa-

Sajuli Yojana as well as power till-

ers and shallow tube wells by main-

taining social distancing. He also in-

structed the district officials to con-

tinue with the Rashtriya Krishi Vi-

kas Yojana.

The District Agriculture Officer,

Aniruddha Dutta informed the min-

ister that 550 MT of vegetables have

been delivered at the doorsteps of

the people through 434 hawkers in

the urban and rural areas during the

lockdown. He further informed that

six wholesale dealers have been

engaged for procurement of vege-

tables from outside the district ben-

efiting 1250 farmers and 41200 con-

sumers.

Bora asked the Animal Husband-

ry and Veterinary Officer to keep

sufficient stock of cattle feed, med-

icines and to continue with the arti-

ficial insemination drive during the

lockdown. On being apprised about

the shortage of cattle feed, the min-

ister assured that he would do the

needful. Bora also suggested open-

ing WhatsApp groups for agricul-

turists and dairy farmers.

Minister Phani Bhushan Choud-

hury took stock of the availability of

foodgrains in the district and asked

the administration to ensure unin-

terrupted flow of essentials, NFSA

rice to beneficiaries, Rs 1,000 to non

card holders and benefits under the

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna

Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Kisan

Samman Nidhi.

Additional Director, Food Civil

Supplies and Corporate Affairs,

Ganesh Choudhury revealed in the

meeting that 200-300 quintals of

rice are being distributed and that

the flow of essentials is continuing

ceaselessly. Choudhury said that

22,000 quintals of rice are in cold

storage.

On the embezzlement of rice al-

lotted to Mohonpur GPSS, the Min-

ister directed the administration to

take firm action against the persons

and to file FIRs against them.

Choudhury asked the Deputy Com-

missioner to distribute the seized

rice among the beneficiaries.

Deputy Commissioner, Keerthi

Jalli informed the minister that steps

are being initiated to distribute the

recovered embezzled rice and to

weed out the fake card holders and

to distribute the quantities among

the beneficiaries. Choudhury di-

rected the district officials to take

punitive measures against anyone

indulging in hoarding or hiking price.

Additional Chief Secretary, Food

Civil Supplies and Consumer Af-

fairs, Syedain Abbasi said he would

facilitate lifting of rice from one to

ten tonne at the rate of Rs 22.50

per kg from FCI if any NGO is will-

ing to come forward.

Earlier, the Minister for Water

Resources, Keshab Mahanta asked

the department to strengthen the

embankments and to plug the

breaches before the onset of mon-

soon. He asked the Deputy Com-

missioner to summon the contrac-

tors to complete the ongoing work

on a war footing in the next 10 to 15

days. The Executive Engineer, Wa-

ter Resources, informed that there

are six vulnerable points and ap-

prised the minister about the ongo-

ing work.

Deputy Commissioner Jalli re-

quested the minister to sanction the

amount for the Rupacherra-Sonach-

erra protection work for putting up

a sluice gate and flood protection

work of Tosla and Kalinagar. The

minister assured that he would take

up the matter with the Chief Engi-

neer and arrange funds accordingly.

The meeting was attended,

among others, by MLAs, Sujamud-

din Laskar and Nizamuddin Choud-

hury, DDC, Vikram Dev Sarma,

Additional Deputy Commissioners,

EL Faihraem and RK Dam, Circle

Officer, Tridip Roy, Joint Director,

Health Services, Dr RC Dwivedy

and district heads of concerned de-

partments.

Municipal staff hailed for helping out child care centres

Municipal workers spraying disinfectants in Mangaldai. – Photo: Mayukh Goswami

Welfare Committee

(CWC), in a letter to the

Executive Officer of the

Mangaldai Municipal Board,

praised the prompt action

taken by his staff in

association with fire and

emergency services staff to

disinfect the campus of

Dhula Regional Physically

Handicapped Development

Society, Dhula, and Kasturi

Sishu Griha, Mangaldai,

which house many children

in need of care and protec-

tion as well as differently

abled persons, destitutes

and women.

The letter, while

thanking the entire

municipal staff, stated that

the authority in no time

responded to her letters

dated April 9 and 13,

Dilip Saikia on Saturday

stated that he has received

cheques for Rs 2 lakh – for

PM Cares Fund and Assam

Arogya Nidhi – from several

distinguished persons of

Kharupetia town, including

the Kharupetia Municipal

Board’s former chairperson

Krishna Saha, among

others.

BJP workers of Kharupe-

tia, in presence of the

Saikia, distributed packets

of essential food items to

more than 100 poor and

needy families of the

locality.

A single-day’s salary of

1,427 regular primary

teachers amounting to Rs

20,39,738 has been donated

to Assam Arogya Nidhi.

Another amount of

around Rs 23 lakh collected

as a single-day’s salary of

2,451 teachers under SSA,

Darrang and State Pool,

have also been donated to

Assam Arogya Nidhi. This

was stated by Mangaldai

Mohkuma Prathamik

Sikshak Sanmilani presi-

dent Pawan Kumar Jha and

secretary Bijay Kumar

Deka.

Dr Nagendra Nath

Sarma, an octogenarian

academician and writer and

a resident of Kalitapara,

also contributed Rs 21,000

to SBI, Mangaldai as

donation to Assam Arogya

Nidhi, while local contrac-

tor Kalpa Singh Bordoloi

handed over a cheque of Rs

1,02,221 to Mangaldai MLA

Gurujyoti Das on Saturday.

requesting for disinfecting

the institutions.

Public donations pour

in: Donations by the public

to the government for

fighting against the deadly

COVID-19 have been

pouring in from Darrang.

Mangaldai Lok Sabha MP

CORRESPONDENT

BONGAIGAON, April 19:

Bongaigaon has so far re-

mained free from coronavirus

infections and has been placed

in the Green Zone by the

Health Ministry along with 324

other districts in the country.

In the fight against the glo-

bal pandemic, the boat clinic of

the district has been playing a

pivotal role, and has already

conducted 22 awareness

drives in nine char areas.

The boat clinic teams have

identified 43 cases with recent

inter-district, inter-State and

international travel history and

suggested all persons to go for

home quarantine. As many as

23 follow-up visits were also

conducted in the home quar-

antine cases at regular inter-

val of 4-5 days.

Boat clinic playing majorrole in COVID-19 fight

The boat clinic also conduct-

ed special awareness drives on

handwashing, sanitisation and

other preventive measures

besides asking people to main-

tain social distancing during the

lockdown in the char areas in

Health officials during a trip on the boat clinic. – Photo: Tejesh Tripathy

the district.

The team also provided es-

sential items to 21 needy fam-

ilies during the lockdown pe-

riod with the help of adminis-

tration. The team has been giv-

en adequate protective gear for

its drive against COVID-19.

ASHA and Anganwadi work-

ers and Village Defence Party

members of the char areas have

also been given hand gloves,

masks and sanitisers by the

District Drug Warehouse.

WASIM RAHMAN

JORHAT, April 19: The impact of the ongo-

ing lockdown which will be 40 days or may be

more has not only robbed off the Rongali Bihu

celebrations of the Assamese society, but has

also stalled the publication of the famous Bar-

kataki Dewal Panjika (Assamese calendar),

popularly known as the Barkataki calendar

published by the Jorhat-based Barkataki

Company, a renowned publishing house es-

tablished in 1898.

It may be mentioned here that Assamese

people across the State, especially in Up-

per Assam eagerly wait for the Barkataki

Dewal Panjika which gets published on the

eve of Bohag Bihu on the advent of Assa-

mese New Year.

There is always a huge demand for the cop-

ies of the Barkataki calendar which is sold not

only in bookstalls but also by newspaper hawk-

ers and vendors at bus-stands and markets.

Moreover, quite a number of copies of the

calender have to be sent abroad for the NRI

Assamese community via courier service.

Jayanta Sharma, managing director of Bar-

kataki Company, told The Assam Tribune

that since the past 91 years the Dewal Pan-

jika has been published continuously with-

out any delay.

He said that the process of publishing the

CORRESPONDENT

NORTH LAKHIMPUR,

April 19: As the entire world

is finding novel ways to re-

spond to the challenges

caused by the COVID-19

pandemic, some 500 rural

women in Lakhimpur district

have been working day and

night to make face masks – a

protection barrier to stop the

spread of the deadly disease.

The women entrepre-

neurs are making ‘Asomi’, a

face mask made of cotton

sheets.

The women belonging to

81 gaon panchayats of La-

khimpur district have been

working hard since Rongali

Bihu in a bid to make

1,62,000 masks in a week.

They are expecting that

the ‘Asomi’ masks would re-

place the imported ones that

have flooded the markets.

The Lakhimpur District

Rural Development Agency

Lockdown hampering publicationof Barkataki Dewal Panjika

panjika this time was under way when sud-

denly the lockdown, a first of its kind situa-

tion, was announced by the Government to

tackle novel coronavirus threat, with all kind

of regular activities coming to a halt.

Sharma said that once the complete lock-

down was lifted and the situation gets better

and Government grants relaxation then the

publication house will bring out the Dewal

Panjika.

He said that there were queries from a

lot of people over phone and also on the

social media regarding the publication of

the panjika.

Sharma also said that the Sankhipta Dina-

panji (Pocket Panjika), which the Barkataki

Company has been publishing since about

seven years back, too will be printed and will

be released to the market after the lockdown

was withdrawn.

He further said that the publishing house

this time was undertaking an effort to make

available the Dewal Panjika online for the con-

venience of Assamese NRI people as other-

wise sending the hard copies through courier

service becomes very expensive and also

time-consuming.

The MD of the publication company stated

that an App was being developed through

which the panjika will be available after it is

downloaded from Playstore.

500 women makingmasks under ASRLM

in Lakhimpuris organising this initiative

under the Assam State Ru-

ral Livelihood Mission (AS-

RLM) during the lockdown

period. The DRDA has been

distributing the fabric, thread

and elastic material to the

women with the help of the

Lakhimpur district adminis-

tration. The administration

plans to distribute the ‘Aso-

mi’ masks among the poor

through the local gaon pan-

chayats.

These 500 women en-

gaged in making masks dur-

ing the lockdown are silently

contributing towards the fight

against COVID-19 at a time

when 3M 9004IN+ masks

are sold at exorbitant prices

at chemist shops. The masks

are reportedly being sold at

Rs 300 per piece at North La-

khimpur, which the common

people are finding hard to af-

ford. The ‘Asomi’ masks are

washable and considered to

be standard ones for use.

CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, April 19:

Twelve flood-affected families

of Kaintiyan village under Ga-

khirbheti Gaon Panchayat in

Kordoiguri area of Tinsukia

district have been facing hard-

ship due to the lockdown in

the wake of the COVID-19

pandemic.

These families have been

taking shelter at Kaintiyan LP

School since 1992, when floods

and erosion by the Brahmapu-

tra and its channel Ananta Nal-

lah washed away everything

belonging to 102 families.

They appealed to the gov-

ernment many times for re-

habilitation but in vain. Find-

ing no alternative, 90 families

shifted to other places in As-

sam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The remaining 12 landless

families are still in the school

campus, and have been urging

the government to grant them

a plot of land each, but have so

far failed to get any response.

The families of Dipen Go-

goi, Hiren Gogoi, Jatin Kako-

ti, Ratul Kakoti, Prafulla Ka-

koti, Anil Kakoti, Anima Go-

goi, Nagen Kakoti, Deben

Khanikar, Assam Proja, Amit

Gogoi and Nabin Gogoi have

been using the only pump in

the school for water and also

the school toilet.

They used to earn their dai-

ly bread by working in various

places on daily wages. Thir-

teen children in these families

are students, and are facing

trouble in continuing their ed-

ucation. After the declaration

of the lockdown, these people

became jobless. Though vari-

ous organisations have been

providing some relief, that has

not been sufficient.

12 flood-hit familiesfacing immense hardship

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 9BUSINESS & ECONOMY

The ongoing spread of

the COVID-19 pandemic

has rattled the equity

markets world over. The

aftermath has resulted

in sharp corrections in

the markets. For

instance, the benchmark

BSE Sensex index in

India dropped from a

peak of close to 42,000

to below 26,000

between January and

mid-March. While there

has been some upward

movement in the past

few days due to global

and national level

actions to deal with the

COVID-19 impact on

economy and society in

general, the market

continues to remain

extremely volatile.

The market correction

has resulted in sharp fall

in most people's

portfolios as gains

accumulated over

several years have

taken a severe beating.

You will also come

across advice by some

financial experts to take

advantage of the sharp

fall in the markets and

How to Balance Your

Investment Risks in

Turbulent Markets

By Deepak Jain,Independent Financial

Advisor

start your investments or

increase your

investments now to gain

from the low asset

prices. While the advice

is true in principle, it

might be difficult for a

retail investor to

determine if the market

fall has ended and if

they should start with

their investments. To

deal with such

situations, mutual funds

have a specific category

of schemes called the

Balanced Advantage

Funds.

Balanced advantage

funds are dynamically-

managed equity mutual

funds. They alter their

equity allocation

between 30% and 80%,

depending on market

valuations. Balanced

advantage funds adjust

their equity exposure

based on whether

overall market

valuations are

expensive or cheap. If

the market's valuation is

low, the funds raise their

equity exposure and as

the valuations start

getting expensive the

allocation towards debt

is increased. In effect,

the fund truly helps an

investor to Buy Low and

Sell High.

The underlying principle

for these funds is

dynamic asset

allocation. Asset

allocation is nothing but

a strategy used to keep

the risks in a portfolio

under check. This

means that the entire

corpus or amount being

invested or already

invested is not put in a

single asset class. Parts

of the corpus are put in

different asset classes

to avoid a major set-

back if any one asset

class witnesses a tough

phase.

The above Author is an

Independent financial

advisor and facts and opinion

published is solely the personal

statements of respective author.

NEW DELHI, April 19: The Union Cab-inet is likely to approve next week a pack-age for discoms reeling under revenueloss due to lower power demand amid thecoronavirus lockdown, including setting upof an alternative investment fund to payoff their dues towards electricity genera-tion companies, a source said.

“The Cabinet in the coming week canapprove a package for power distributionutilities (discoms) which are under stressdue to lower demand and cash crunch,”the source said.

“The package may include creating analternate investment fund to pay off dueson behalf of the discoms to gencos. Thediscoms may be charged nominal interest

Cabinet likely to okay package for power discoms this weekrate and administrative expenses on that,”he added.

The package may also include steps likedirections to the State and Central powerregulators to reduce electricity traiff, thesource said.

The payment of dues would help distri-bution companies (discoms) to increasetheir electricity load (supplies) and ensure24x7 uninterrupted power supply.

According to government data, discomsowe Rs 92,602 crore to power generationcompanies (gencos) as of February this year.

A report by industry body CII had saiddiscoms are likely to suffer a net revenueloss of around Rs 30,000 crore and liquiditycrunch of about Rs 50,000 crore due to the

coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.In its report released on Friday, CII had

suggested a host of measures like easycredit facility for discoms (from PFC andREC) to pay off its dues to gencos, lower

tariff, especially for industrial and commer-cial consumers, and deferral of indirecttaxes like electricity duty and coal cess.

It said the power sector, one of the es-sential services under the lockdown tillMay 3, is battling the twin issues of de-

mand and liquidity compression.Latest data from Power System Opera-

tion Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) indicat-ed that total demand per week betweenMarch 23 and April 12 was 18 BU (billionunits), compared to 23 BU during theweek of March 9-15 (before ‘Janata Cur-few’ and lockdown) – a 25-28 per cent re-duction in demand.

Further extension of the lockdown couldresult in additional demand compressionof 15 to 20 BU, implying a net revenueloss of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 crore forthe discoms, it had said.

This will further increase the liquiditycrunch to Rs 45,000 to 50,000 crore, inaddition to the pending Rs 90,000-crore

dues of the discoms to generating compa-nies from pre-lockdown time.

Earlier in the week, Renewable EnergySecretary Anand Kumar had said, “We areplanning to create an alternative investmentfund that will help to give load and financialsupport to discoms and clear the dues to bepaid to developers and generators. Our ef-fort is to release maximum due paymentsfrom discoms to the power generators.”

“We want to make sure that our powersupply and renewable power are protect-ed and not compromised. We tried to clearall the financial dues of the generators anddevelopers to enhance the capital availa-ble with them,” Kumar had said during awebinar. – PTI

Revenue loss dueto lower demandamid lockdown

A vendor holds face masks to sell them at a market during the nationwide lockdown inthe wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Kanyakumari on Sunday. – PTI

Labourers sort onions after harvesting at a field during the nationwide lockdown imposed inthe wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Patna on Sunday. – PTI

NEW DELHI, April 19: The novel corona-virus outbreak has significantly changed thecontours of professional life and these dayshome is the new office and internet is thenew meeting room, Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi said today.

“I have also been adapting tothese changes. Most meetings, beit with ministerial colleagues, of-ficials and world leaders, are nowvia video conferencing,” Modiwrote on LinkedIn.

The need of the hour is to thinkof business and lifestyle modelsthat are easily adaptable.

“Doing so would mean thateven in a time of crisis, our offices, business-es and commerce could get moving faster,ensuring loss of life does not occur,” he said.

Today, the world is in pursuit of new busi-ness models, he said, adding that India, a

Post-coronavirus world

India can emerge as nerve centre ofcomplex modern supply chains: PM

youthful nation known for its innovativezeal, can take the lead in providing a newwork culture.

India, with the right blend of the physicaland the virtual, can emerge asthe global nerve centre of com-plex modern multinational sup-ply chains in the post-COVID-19 world.

“Let us rise to that occasion andseize this opportunity,” he said.

The work place is getting “Dig-ital First”, he said.

“And, why not? After all, themost transformational impact oftechnology often happens in the

lives of the poor,” he said.It is technology that demolishes bureau-

cratic hierarchies, eliminates middlemen andaccelerates welfare measures, the PrimeMinister opined. – PTI

NEW DELHI, April 19: The decisionof the government to tighten foreign di-rect investment norms for investorsfrom neighbouring nations like China wastimely, but there is a need to look at allthe FDI proposals from other countries,particularly in sensitive sectors, accord-ing to experts.

The government on Saturday madeprior approval mandatory for foreign in-vestments from countries that shareland border with India to curb “oppor-tunistic takeovers” of domestic firmsfollowing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shardul Shroff, Executive Chairman,Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, saidthis decision will help India monitor itsFDI (foreign direct investment) whichcould be directed to acquisitions and take-overs of Indian entities at low valuationsat least in the course of the pandemic.

“Entities from seven countries shar-ing land border with india or where thebeneficial owner of the investments into

Decision to tighten FDI norms for investorsfrom neighbouring countries timely: Experts

India is situated in, or citizen of any suchseven countries can invest only throughthe government approval route,” Shroffsaid.

Terming the decision as “timely”,Biswajit Dhar, a Professor of Econom-ics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, saidthat there are fears of takeovers by Chi-nese firms as domestic companies areseverely impacted due to the lockdown.

However, he said: “Fear of acquisitionof Indian companies in this crisis time isfrom everywhere, not only from China.The government should look at all theFDI proposals. It should not be narrowlyfocused only on certain country.”

He added that it will take some timefor Indian manufacturing companies tocome on track and it will also depend onthe kind of stimulus package which theyget from the government.

Rajat Wahi, Partner, Deloitte India,said that the decision may have beenbetter if the government specifies sec-

tors, rather than countries.“The processes of FDI approval should

be on fast track as it should not hamperFDI flows into the country,” Wahi said.

Countries which share land borderswith India are China, Bangladesh, Paki-stan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Af-ghanistan.

Commenting on this, Nangia An-dersen LLP Director Sandeep Jhunjhun-wala said Chinese tech investors haveput an estimated $4 billion of greenfieldinvestments into Indian start-ups, as perthe estimates of India-China Economicand Cultural council.

“Such is their pace that over the lastfew years, 18 out of India’s 30 unicornsare Chinese-funded. Overall, time isright for India to safeguard longer-termconsiderations and protect its technolo-gy ecosystem by blocking hostile dealsand effectively dealing with the loomingchallenge posed by Chinese tech com-panies,” he said. – PTI

No cut inpension toCentral govtemployees,says Finmin

NEW DELHI, April 19:Denying reports of 20 percent cut in Centralgovernment pensions as‘false’, the Ministry ofFinance today said thatthere will be no reductionin salaries and pensions.

“It is being reported thata 20 per cent cut in Centralgovernment pensions isbeing planned. This news isfalse. There will be no cutin pension disbursements,”said a Finance Ministrytweet.

“It is clarified thatsalaries and pensions willnot be affected by thegovernment cash manage-ment instructions,” itadded.

Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman alsoshared the ministry’s tweet.

Earlier in the day, aconcerned social mediauser tweeted regarding thereports on reduction inpensions.

Replying to the tweet,Sitharaman said: “Thanksfor approaching for aclarification. There is no cutin pensions.” – IANS

Timelineextensions

I-T returnforms being

revised: CBDTNEW DELHI, April 19:

The Income Tax departmenttoday said it is revising the I-Treturn forms for the financialyear 2019-20 to allow asses-sees to avail benefits of vari-ous timeline extensions grant-ed by the government follow-ing the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new income tax re-turns forms for the financialyear 2019-20 will be notifiedby the month-end and returnfiling utility would be availa-ble by May 31.

The government has ex-tended various timelines underthe Income Tax Act,1961,through the Taxation and Oth-er Laws (Relaxation of CertainProvisions) Ordinance, 2020.

Accordingly, the time formaking investment or pay-ments for claiming deductionunder Chapter-VIA-B of ITAct that include Section 80C(LIC, PPF, NSC, etc.), 80D(mediclaim) and 80G (dona-tions) for the financial year2019-20 has also been extend-ed to June 30, 2020.

“In order to enable incometaxpayers to avail full benefitsof various timeline extensionsgranted by the Governmentof India due to COVID-19 pan-demic situations, the CBDTis revising the return formsfor FY 2019-20 (AssessmentYear 2020-21) which shall benotified by the end of thismonth,” the Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) said ina statement.

CBDT said that in order tofacilitate taxpayer to avail fullbenefits with various timelineextensions up to June 30, 2020,granted by the government, ithas initiated necessary chang-es in the return forms so thattaxpayers could take benefitsof their transactions carried outduring the period from April 1,2020, to June 30, 2020, in thereturn forms for FY20.– PTI

NEW DELHI, April 19:Insurance regulator IRDAIhas directed insurers to takedecision on health insuranceclaims within two hours, amove aimed at alleviatingpressure on the country’shealthcare infrastructure cur-rently facing the heat of thecoronavirus outbreak.

In the light of prevailingconditions owing to COVID-19 as also taking into consid-eration the need for alleviat-ing the pressure on thehealthcare infrastructure, allthe insurers shall decidehealth insurance claims expe-

MUMBAI, April 19: The meeting of IndianBanks’ Association (IBA) to discuss the crucialissue of granting a loan repayment moratori-um to non-banking financial companies(NBFCs) remained inconclusive on Saturday,sources said.

Lenders were divided on the issue and havedecided to approach the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) to seek clarity, sources said.

NBFCs have been demanding clarity on theapplicability of the RBI’s loan repayment mor-atorium to them.

The issue on granting a moratorium toNBFCs was discussed at length in today’smeeting. However, it was decided by the man-agement committee that the RBI is the com-

Lenders divided on loan moratoriumto NBFCs, to approach RBI

petent authority to take a call in this regard, asource told PTI.

There are still some differences among bank-ers on interpretation of the applicability of themoratorium to NBFCs, said another source.

Banking industry lobby IBA is likely to ap-proach the RBI next week to get some clarifi-cation on the issue.

On March 27, the RBI had announced athree-month moratorium on payment of allinstalments, of term loans, due between March1, 2020 and May 31, 2020.

These shadow banking players have beenoffering the moratorium to their customersdespite not getting one themselves from theirlender banks. – PTI

IRDAI asks health insurers todecide on claims within 2 hrs

ditiously, it said in a circular.In order to ensure that all

health insurance claims areresponded to quickly, the In-surance Regulatory and De-velopment Authority of In-dia (IRDAI) has directed in-surers to “comply” with cer-tain timelines.

“Decision on authorisa-tion for cashless treatmentshall be communicated tothe network provider (hos-pital) within two hours fromthe time of receipt of au-thorisation request and lastnecessary requirementfrom the hospital either to

the insurer or to the TPA,whichever is earlier,” thecircular said.

Further, decision on finaldischarge should be commu-nicated to the network pro-vider within two hours fromthe time of receipt of final billand last necessary require-ment from the hospital eitherto the insurer or to the third-party-administrator (TPA),whichever is earlier.

IRDAI has also asked allgeneral and health insurers(except ECGC and AIC) to is-sue appropriate guidelines totheir respective TPA. – PTI

Govt unlikely toexempt GST on

ventilators, PPEsNEW DELHI, April 19: The

government is unlikely to ex-empt GST on medical itemslike ventilators, PPEs, masks,test kits and sanitizers, as itwould lead to blocked input taxcredit (ITC), thereby raisingmanufacturing cost and leadingto a higher price for consumers.

There have been demandsfrom certain sections to exemptGST on certain items like ven-tilators, PPEs, masks, test kitsand sanitizers that are essentialitems for treatment of COV-ID-19, saying that GST exemp-tion on these items would leadto reduction in prices.

Currently, GST rate on ven-tilator is 12 per cent; on mask,it is 5 per cent; on test kits, it is12 per cent; on sanitizer, it is 18per cent; and on PPE, it is 5 percent (costing up to Rs 1,000)and 12 per cent (if the cost ismore that Rs 1,000 per piece).

Sources said GST exemp-tion on such items would leadto blocked ITC, thereby in-creasing the cost of manufac-turing and a higher price forconsumers. – PTI

14:00 Biyolir Headline

16:00 Abelir Khabar

16:30 Superfast Prime Time100

17:00 City18

18:00 Prime Time18

19:00 Dintur Shironam

20:00 Porjyobekhyon

21:30 Aparadh Nama

22:00 North East Scan

22:30 Noixo Xironam

15:00 Chah Gachar Maje Maje

15.30 Yuba Darpan

16:00 Abelir Batori

16:05 Tezaswini (Epi-65)

16.30 Geetmala

17:00 Nimishote Batori

17:02 Rong Birong

17:30 Rupali Dhou

18:00 Dharabahik

18:30 Batori

18:45 NE News

12:00 Bandbudh Aur Budbak

14:00 Roll No. 21

15:00 Oggy And The Cock...

18:00 Roll No.21 Special Kris...

19:30 Bandbudh Aur Budbak

21:00 Oggy And The Cock...

22:00 Bandbudh Aur Budbak

23:00 Courage The Cowardly...

23:30 The Tom & Jerry Show

12:30 Chhota Bheem Aur...

14:00 Chhota Bheem Chatpat

14:30 Chhota Bheem

16:00 Chhota Bheem Chatpat

16:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...

17:30 Chhota Bheem

18:30 Chhota Bheem-Super...

20:00 Chhota Bheem Chatpat

20:30 Chhota Bheem

21:00 Grizzy And The Lemm...

22:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated...

23:00 M.A.D.

23:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...

LOCKHORNS

THE PHANTOM ® By Lee Falk

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

BLONDIE

Know your DAYBy JACQUELINE BIGAR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Monday, April 20, 2020:

Powerful and inspirational you will have an excellent year. Financial gains

are indicated. Commitments stabilize. Make purchases and decisions on

your lucky day Friday to enhance success. If single, be receptive to an

involvement with an attractive person who is of a different generation. If

attached, working with those you are attracted to can also lead to greater

personal intimacy. You do everything together and are happy as clams.

TAURUS likes Taurus.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-

Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)HHHHH The highest form of control is knowing when to let go.Dynamic you has been going and going. determined to survive

this crisis. Today, you stop. You let it go. You woo distant parts of yourselfback. Success. Tonight: A quiet night by yourself.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)HHH Be alert to changes in your field. Very keen competition ispresent. (Everyone’s out of a job.) You deal with an important group

today. Be diplomatic in discussions. An uncharitable comment made wouldcome back to haunt you. Tonight: Collapse.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)HHHHH Today’s a perfect day to start writing a book, assemblingartistic creations or selecting educational goals. Bright and sunny.

Make sure you check on your mother or an elderly relative. Others are nothaving such an easy time of it. Tonight: Celebrate yourself.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)HHH Some days you don’t know what day it is. This is a commonproblem with exceptionally intelligent people during this time.

You are one, and so you must do something brilliant and creative today.Tonight: Get out of your rut. Play a board game.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)HHH Generally vivacious and dramatic, your feathers area little droopy today. It’s best to spend a rare day to your-

self. Pluto likes you to go through old closets and desks, andshed. Transform. Soon you will be ready for your season again.Tonight: Go over shared belongings.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)HHHHH Your sense of style and your people skills are excel-lent today. Network. Nurture a promising new relationship. Re-

assure a partner or children, including fur babies. They need to hearyour voice. You have not been speaking as much. Tonight: Date night.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)HHHH You make certain decisions about your living arrange-ments and household today. That in itself is an accomplish-

ment. You like your house clean. For now, you must treasure the bird inhand over the one in the bush. Tonight: Dinner with your loved one.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)HHHH Social prospects are especially bright today. Adorn your-self. Play with the children and assemble an especially wonder-

ful costume. You will have fun, and lord knows it has been a while. A petor animal can heal you. Tonight: Virtual party.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)HHHH Today is an excellent time to redecorate, plan home im-provements and foster a deeper sense of unity with relatives. Eve-

ryone has been so cut off due to social distancing. Genealogical studyuncovers interesting surprises. Tonight: A quiet night in. The usual.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)HHHHH Your mind is bright and your insight is in peak form.Today favors a fresh start. Sow and nurture all that you wish to

grow. Enthusiasm and a competitive mood prevail. Friends and siblingsoffer help. Accept. You have always wanted to learn to delegate. To-night: Be with friends.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)HHHHH For many years there has been unrest and uncer-tainty regarding finances. You might have literally gone from

rags to riches and back again. Today, you experience a breakthrough.Your genius mind sees in a flash what the problem is. Tonight: Beproud of yourself.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)HHHHH Visionary you must start to finalize your business andpersonal decisions. You have been putting everything off be-

cause of this strange sci-fi movie we’re all in. But today you receive a boltof energy. And that’s all you need. Tonight: Flaunt yourself.

H H H

Thought for the day

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

– ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Man seeketh in ____ comfort, use and

protection – Sir Francis Bacon (7)

Words: Goose, stoic, victim, grabby.Answer: Man seeketh in society comfort,use and protection – Sir Francis Bacon

Given below are four jumbled words. Solvethe jumbles to make proper words and movethem to the respective squares below. Selectthe letters in the shaded squares and jumblethem to get the answer for the given quip.

JUMBLED WORDSHEALTH CAPSULES®

by Bron Smith

Health Capsules is not intendedto be of a diagnostic nature.

CROSSWORD - 6872

Across: 1 Chrism, 5 Son, 8 Poet, 9 Abed, 10 Eiffel, 11

Downfalls, 13 Step, 15 Tao, 16 Xerox, 17 Match, 20 Few, 22

Fat, 23 Missy, 24 Cabal, 26 Sui, 27 Rely, 28 Inequable, 31

Critic, 32 Kepi, 33 Seas, 34 Pya, 35 Reeded.

Down: 1 Cheese, 2 Reflexes, 3 Sped, 4 Molotov, 5 Steno,

6 Nana, 7 Deflect, 12 Wax, 14 Pews, 18 Afar, 19 Talented,

20 Fiancée, 21 Railcar, 24 Cub, 25 Synced, 26 Salsa, 29

Quip, 30 Erse.

SOLUTION

11:55 The Lion Kingdom

12:25 Coyote Peterson: Brave...

12:55 Killer Instincts

13:15 Animal Planet Exclusives

14:05 India’s Wild Tales

14:50 Wildest Survival

15:35 The Lion Kingdom

16:00 World Of The Wild

16:30 The Cute Ones

17:00 Wild Frank

18:00 Mahayudh: Battle Of...

19:00 Animal Planet Exclusives

20:00 Wildest Survival

21:00 World’s Wildest Continents

22:00 Expedition Mungo

23:00 Animals Unleashed

12:00 India’s Jungle Heroes

13:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor

14:00 Extreme Rescues

15:00 Running Wild With Bear...

16:00 Adventure - Gordon Ramsay

17:00 Snakes in The City

18:00 Running Wild With Bear...

19:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor

20:00 Earth Day: 50 Days 50...

21:00 Running Wild With Bear...

22:00 #UnitedByHope

23:00 Investigates: Banged up...

11:00 Assamese news

11:30 Assamese news

12:00 Mid Day Live

13:00 Assamese Feautre film

16:30 Discussion Show (R)

17:30 Guwahati Bisesh

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18:30 Breaking @ 6:30

19:00 Assamesse Prime Time

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21:00 Kotha Barta

21:30 Talk Time

22:00 Live at 10

22:30 Noixo Guwahati

23:00 Noixo Batori

16:00 Upasona

17:00 Devotional Slot

1730 B2B Music

18:00 North East Diva GF

20:00 Rang Blockbuster

23:00 B2B Music

13:00 Masters Of Oz

13:30 India’s Finest

14:00 Colour Me Blue

14:30 Great Centuries

15:00 Nail-Biting Finishes

15:30 Cricket Talk

16:00 India’s Finest

16:30 Great Centuries

17:00 Men In Blue Victorious

18:00 Masters Of Oz

18:30 Cricket Talk

19:00 Colour Me Blue

19:30 Great Centuries

20:00 Nail-Biting Finishes

20:30 The Kohli Story

21:30 Best Of Ashes 2019

22:00 Men In Blue Victorious

23:00 Colour Me Blue

23:30 Nail-Biting Finishes

13:00 NBA 2019/20 HLs

14:00 March Of The Champions...

14:30 Wenger’s Final Triump...

15:00 TNA Greatest Matches 2016

17:00 Land Of Legends

17:30 Wenger’s Final Triump...

18:00 NBA 2019/20 HLs

19:00 UFC Fight Flashback

20:00 March Of The Champions...

20:30 Immortal

21:00 Wenger’s Final Triump...

21:30 UCL 2019/20

22:00 UFC Fight Flashback

23:00 Immortal

23:30 UCL 2019/20

13:30 Vivo IPL 2018 HLs

14:00 IPL 2008 HLs

14:30 Superstars 2017

15:00 IPL 2008

18:30 VIVO IPL Heroes 2019

19:00 Cricket Connected 2020

12:45 Ishq

16:15 Tezaab

19:55 Kick

23:05 Raajneeti

11:50 Beti No. 1

14:25 Mela

17:30 Keemat: They Are Back

20:55 China Gate

13:00 Planes

14:35 127 Hours

16:15 Toy Story 3

18:05 Avengers: Infinity War

20:50 Black Panther

23:05 Captain America: The

Winter Soldier

13:00 Transformers: Revenge

Of The Fallen

15:30 Due Date

17:15 No Strings Attached

18:45 Godzilla (2014)

21:00 Sherlock Holmes: A

Game Of Shadows

23:10 What Men Want

12:45 Monkey Trouble

14:15 Pain & Gain

16:10 Hotel For Dogs

17:45 Beneath

19:05 New Year’s Eve

21:00 Cradle 2 The Grave

22:35 Austin Powers In

Goldmember

SONY MAX

14:35 Aashiqui 2

STAR GOLD

23:00 Judwaa 2

UTV MOVIES

19:55 Kick

WB

16:10 Hotel For Dogs

12:15 Autonagar Surya

14:35 Rogue

16:45 Aan: Men at Work

19:45 Jaal: The Trap

22:40 Sher E Jigar

14:35 Aashiqui 2

17:15 Ekkadiki

19:55 iSmart Shankar

22:25 The Return Of Rebel 2

12:15 Mahabharat

13:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

14:00 Bidaai

15:00 Diya Aur Baati Hum

16:00 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya

17:00 Mann Ki Awaaz...Pratigya

18:00 Mahabharat

19:00 RadhaKrishn

20:00 Mahabharat

21:30 Devon Ke Dev Mahadev

22:00 Maharaj Ki Jai Ho

22:30 Hostages

23:00 RadhaKrishn

12:00 Hum Paanch

13:00 Qubool Hai

14:00 Kasamh Se

15:00 Choti Bahu

16:00 Pavitra Rishta

17:00 Brahmarakshas

18:00 Hum Paanch

19:00 Vivah

22:30 Hum Paanch

12:55 Khatron Ke Khiladi Jigar

Pe Trigger

15:20 Khatra Khatra Khatra

19:00 Shrimad Bhagwat

Mahapuran

20:00 Jai Shri Krishna

21:00 Fear Factor Khatron Ke

Khiladi Darr Ki Class

22:55 Khatra Khatra Khatra

12:00 Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain!15:00 Laal Ishq

12:50 Gossip Girl14:55 Genius Junior18:30 Before Sunset19:50 Cyril: Viva Magic20:10 Jeep Bollywood Trails22:00 Ray Donovan

23:00 Oblivion

SOLUTION TO TRIBUNE CROSSWORD – 6872

13:30 Bajrangi Bhaijaan17:00 Fidaa19:55 Singham23:00 Judwaa 2

13:10 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice15:35 The Monkey King 218:05 Avengers: Infinity War21:05 Captain America: The

Winter Soldier

Across

1 A sacramental

anointing (6)

5 Male child (3)

8 A writer of

verse (4)

9 Not up (4)

10 Parisian tower

(6)

11 Humiliating

failures (9)

13 Pace, stride (4)

15 Path for

Confucians (3)

16 Big name in

copiers (5)

17 Correspond

(5)

20 Not many (3)

22 Obese (3)

23 Young girl (5)

24 Clique (5)

26 Designer Anna

(3)

27 Depend (4)

28 Uneven (9)

31 Faultfinder (6)

32 French military

hat (4)

33 Oceans (4)

34 Monetary unit of

Myanmar (3)

35 Thatched (6)

Down

1 A dairy product

(6)

2 Involuntary

reactions to

stimuli (8)

3 Raced (4)

4 An explosive

cocktail (7)

5 Office worker in

short (5)

6 Mr Patekar of

Bollywood (4)

7 Turn aside (7)

12 Cerumen (3)

14 Church seats (4)

18 A long way off

(4)

19 Having ability

(8)

20 Bride to be (7)

21 Bogie (7)

24 Young animal (3)

25 Matched in a

way (6)

26 Hot sauce (5)

29 Wisecrack (4)

30 Gaelic language

(4)

The lockdown period has led to a boom inthe television and OTT markets all overthe world, with Indians getting their dose

of entertainment through fiction tales, historicalpieces, mythological stories and supernaturalthrills.

According to a report by Broadcast AudienceResearch Council (BARC), TV consumption inIndia grew by 38 per cent over the pre-COVIDperiod. People are now watching TV for all sev-en days with an increase of 47 per cent viewer-ship.

The report also stated that the consumptionof Hindi as a language has grown, with mytholo-gy driving the growth – thanks to reruns of clas-sic shows like Ramayan and Mahabharat. Thisweek, the Hindi GEC attained an all time highviewership of four billion since 2015 in HSM(Hindi Speaking Market) Urban.

Another trend which was spotted was the re-surgence of English movies category. Englishmovies has shown an 83 per cent growth in thelockdown period.

When it comes to OTT, the disruption causedby COVID-19 gave a big fillip to education apps,along with streaming services. The top contentpicked by the audience includes fiction, thriller,history, news, supernatural, and mythology.

The growth of TV and OTT was spotted byGlobalWebIndex Entertainment flagship reportas well. It stated that in every age bracket, “in-ternet users watch more broadcast TV than on-

line TV, despite year-on-year drops in broadcastengagement”. “Online TV has captured moreand more daily media time among internet us-ers since 2012, climbing from the 45 minute perday mark to its current standing of 1 hour 17minutes,” it added.

According to the report the average timespent watching linear TV in India is 1 hour and34 minutes, and online TV on a typical day is 1hour and 31 minutes.

It is important to note that while Netflix andAmazon Prime Video might have found a strongground in India, the report states that Indianmarket is not a smooth sail for foreign players.

Netflix engagement over the past year in In-dia, increased by 14 per cent points to 58 percent. It is further strengthening its position bywidening its Indian slate, and getting Bollywoodbiggies like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka ChopraJonas and Anushka Sharma on board.

“India’s streaming market is one of the biggestand fastest-growing in the world, and at the sametime, one of the most resistant to penetration fromglobal players,” the report said. That explains therecent growth of Indian OTT players, which in-clude Voot, AltBalaji, Zee5, and MX Player.

“The country’s video market is valued at over$700 million and is expected to grow to $2.4billion in value by 2023, with the over-the-top(OTT) industry projected to be with the highestgrowth rate,” it explained.

(Source: IANS)

What is India watching?A report says TV consumption in India has

grown by 38 per cent during the lockdown

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE10 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 11MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 STATE

Members of Indian Red Cross Society’s Goalpara branch distributing masks and relief material among workers of MaijongaTea Estate at Raikhyasini Part-I, on Sunday. – Photo: Roop Choudhury.

A CORRESPONDENT

NAGAON, April 19: During the on-

going nationwide lockdown, a few po-

lice officials of Nagaon district are ren-

dering yeoman service by helping sen-

ior citizens as well as those with old-

age ailments in the town and its out-

skirts here.

These police officials are supplying

essential commodities, medicines, LPG

refill cylinders and also taking care of

other urgent needs of the senior citi-

zens on an everyday basis.

This humane face of the men in uni-

form has been widely appreciated by

citizens of the district cutting across

party affiliation, religion, sex and social

hierarchy.

The beneficiaries, it may be perti-

nent to add here, happen to be senior

citizens who are in some cases unable

to go out on their own due to various

Nagaon Police brings succour tosenior citizens during lockdown

reasons. Further, some among the re-

tired citizens are sick or even handi-

capped, and live almost alone or are

abandoned by their offspring.

There are also senior citizens whose

children are compelled to stay far away

or even outside the state in the inter-

est of service or occupation.

To mention a few names, Sub-Inspec-

tors Gaurabjyoti Mahanta, Jibon P Mar-

ak, Abdul Hannan Laskar, ASIs Biswajit

Saikia, Anil Das and some other junior

commissioned officers have been toiling

ceaselessly for serving the senior citizens

in various locations since the nationwide

lockdown was imposed to curb spread of

the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding promptly to a phone call

or even SMS, these junior police offic-

ers are at the beck and call of the elder-

ly citizens right at their doorsteps, that

too for free.

Sub-Inspector Gaurabjyoti Mahanta

while interacting with this Correspond-

ent opined that it was their prime duty

to support or help these senior citizens

during such distressing times. A little

bit of service for the elderly citizens

during the evening of their lives is in

fact service to God, he observed.

Meanwhile, SI Jibon P Marak also

said that the police force had to play

dual roles during the ongoing lockdown

- strict on the road against the viola-

tors of lockdown guidelines, and on the

contrary, simultaneously generous to

those in need of help.

In the meantime, local MLA Rupak

Sarma felicitated newspaper hawkers

and newspaper distributors of the dis-

trict at a function held at the Natun Ba-

zar Durga Mandir here with a phulam

gamusa each, besides distributing

masks, hand sanitisers, gloves and other

equipment among them to curb further

spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus.

were made to work without

providing them protective gear

like gloves, masks, hand sani-

tiser or maintaining minimum

social distance at their respec-

tive work sites.

The students’ body said it

protested resumption of reg-

ular tea garden work immedi-

ately after the Central Home

Secretary ordered opening of

all tea gardens after a total lock-

down for over a month.

It also said that all the tea

garden authorities were direct-

ed by the civil administration

to meticulously follow the do’s

and don’ts of the health adviso-

ries. But the release claimed

that the garden owners showed

utter disregard to the said rules

and regulations.

The students’ body added

that only 50 percent workers

were being engaged in produc-

tion work while the rest of the

workers are in dire straits sans

any means of sustenance as

the garden management has

refused to provide them ra-

tions.

Significantly, the Adivasi stu-

dents’ union demanded action

against the tea garden owners

for failing to honour their com-

Tea workers yet to be providedprotective kit: Adivasi students

mitment towards the workers

and employees. The students’

body informed that only those

who have Dhan Jan accounts

have got Rs 500 released by

the government, but the rest

are yet to get any kind of as-

sistance.

However, government

sources here denied the alle-

gations and claim that there has

been no report of violation of

the COVID-19 directives in

any tea garden as there is con-

stant monitoring going on by

a network of observers at the

garden level, revenue Block

level and district level.

Abhinandan Borthakur, La-

bour Officer of Sivasagar told

The Assam Tribune today

that the lockdown was lifted

partially in the tea gardens

after holding exhaustive

meetings with all the stake-

holders, i.e., the garden own-

ers, employees’ associations

and student bodies like All

Assam Tea Tribe Students’

Association and district ad-

ministration.

All possible steps have been

taken as precautionary meas-

ure to protect the workers and

employees, Borthakur added.

CORRESPONDENT

SIVASAGAR, April 19: The

president of All Assam Adivasi

Students’ Union Stephen

Lakra and secretary Deven

Urang in a release expressed

concern for exposing the tea

garden workers to the COV-

ID-19 pandemic as the latter

Workers of Sontock Tea Estate in Sivasagar district depositingplucked leaves, on Saturday. – Photo: Manoj Borthakur

CORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR, April 19: A tense

situation has been prevailing

in the labour line of Barjuli Tea

Estate near Rangapara town

under Rangapara Police Sta-

tion in Sonitpur district follow-

ing an incident of firing in the

air to disperse a lockdown-vi-

olating mob in the said labour

line last night.

According to information

Police fire in the air tocontrol mob at Rangapara

available, on receipt of infor-

mation about violating norms

of the ongoing lockdown in the

area, personnel from Ranga-

para Police Station arrived at

the spot and urged the gather-

ing to go back to their homes

in a bid to maintain the social

distancing protocol.

However, instead of obey-

ing the police, the people gath-

ered there started arguing and

refused to return back to their

homes.

In the meantime, when po-

lice tried to push them back to

their homes, the people, who

had by this time converted

into a virtual mob, started to

attack the men in uniform and

in retaliation police resorted

to a light baton charge follow-

ing which four persons sus-

tained injuries.

As a fallout, the mob pelted

stones on the police present.

As the situation went out of

control, additional forces were

rushed to the spot.

However, in an effort to

bring the situation under con-

trol, police were compelled to

fire in the air.

Those injured were subse-

quently rushed to a local hos-

pital. Later, senior police and

administration officials rushed

to the spot and took stock of

the situation.

32 virus-negativepatients discharged

CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, April 19:

In all, 32 virus-negative patients

from Sadiya were discharged

on Friday from quarantine at

the Lokapriya Gopinath Bord-

oloi Civil Hospital in Tinsukia

after they tested negative.

The sub-divisional adminis-

tration of Sadiya picked up

these 32 persons from various

places on April 4 following a

report that these persons came

into contact with a COVID-19

patient from Tezu in Arunach-

al Pradesh, who was a Niza-

muddin Markaz returnee.

After completing the 14-day

mandatory hospital quaran-

tine, they were all discharged

and allowed to go home on

Friday.

A slow loris which was rescued from a paddy field at Sakhati village near Boko in Kamrupdistrict, on Sunday. – UB Photos

The traditional para being erected at Bajali. – Photo: Navakanta Kalita.

ANN Service

PATACHARKUCHI, April 19: The age-

old para installation ceremony held on the

seventh day following Rongali Bihu was a

dampener this year due to the ongoing lock-

down in connection with the COVID-19 pan-

demic.

Since the days of yore, people of Bajali sub-

division have been celebrating the para in-

stallation ceremony in the belief of reaping a

bountiful harvest and also to get rid of pesti-

lence.

However, due to restrictions imposed by

the administration, only a few people installed

the traditional para at the Patacharkuchi Shi-

va-Durga Dham premises.

The para is nothing but a decorated bam-

boo pole which is made in various villages.

During the evening hours, the paras are tak-

en to Patacharkuchi from various places like

Marka, Bezkuchi, Sundarpur etc., and errect-

ed in a kadam tree.

The festivel is also celebrated at Jalikhata,

Barbhala, Haripur and Gobindapur. Howev-

er, due to the prevailing situation, the people

this year just symbolically performed the rit-

ual by avoiding a gathering.

Senior advocate Giridhar Choudhury in-

formed the media that this was perhaps the

first time in history that the people had to

celebrate the festival in a subdued manner

due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Para installation ceremonyadversely hit by lockdown

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR, April 19: A multidisciplinary

and multilingual e-journal titled Co-crea-

tion was recently launched by Ramanuj

Gupta Degree College here.

Rudra Narayan Gupta, governing body

president of the college and also of the

charitable trust, ceremonially launched the

e-journal in the presence of Dr Anjana

Bhattacharjee, Principal of the college and

Dr Dipankar Kar, Director of the college

Multilingual e-journal Co-creation launchedrespectively. Speaking on the ocassion,

Gupta said, “this is probably a first of its

kind initiative launched by an educational

institution in this difficult situation, espe-

cially amidst a nationwide lockdown.”

“The faculty and students of Ramanuj

Gupta Degree College have tried their

best to present creative content to over-

come this uncertainty surrounding hu-

manity,” he observed.

He added that it is the students’ com-

munity which will ultimately lead the coun-

try to newer heights in the near future.

Dr Dipankar Kar too shared his views

saying that the publication was an impres-

sive manifestation of the creative talent

of the students.

“During the lockdown, this e-journal

can definitely be described as ‘Creation

in Crisis’. It is a humble effort through

which the tremendous potentialities of

the young and the ignited minds have

manifested in the form of original work,”

he maintained.

Spitting, sale of liquor,tobacco banned in

Dima Hasao districtHAFLONG, April 19: The Dima Hasao district administra-

tion has issued a few guidelines for the local people to follow

as the nation has been grappling with the coronavirus pan-

demic.

The order stated that wearing of face masks was compulso-

ry in all public places and work sites. Selling of liquor, gutka,

tobacco etc., was strictly prohibited, besides spitting in public

places.

The district administration warned that anyone not follow-

ing the order will invite penal action under Section 51 of the

Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action U/S

188 of the Indian Penal Code, and other legal provisions. –

Correspondent

CORRESPONDENT

SIVASAGAR, April 19: Veg-

etables worth approximately Rs

2 lakh brought illegally from

Darrang district in a truck bear-

ing registration number AS01

FC 5221 was seized by district

administration here yesterday

from Dhai Ali.

Local people saw the vegeta-

bles being unloaded and stocked

in a house in the area. The truck,

however, left the place before

police arrived.

While a case was registered

at the Sivasagar Police Station,

police booked a man named Yu-

suf Ali and recovered a road

permit from his possession.

Meanwhile, there were re-

ports of vegetables being

Vegetables broughtillegally from Darrang

district seizedsneaked into Sivasagar and

Charaideo districts from Nagaon

and Darrang despite the nation-

wide lockdown allegedly due

to slackness in surveillance by

police on National Highway-37.

Incidentally, two mini trucks

loaded with vegetables were

seized by Sivasagar Police at

Bogidoul area recently.

Sivasagar Deputy Commis-

sioner Lakhinandan Gogoi on

Thursday said that he has re-

stricted vegetable supply from

other districts to stop the

COVID-19 virus from spread-

ing to the district and also to

give the local vegetable grow-

ers an opportunity to earn a

little money by selling their

produce during the lockdown

period.

12 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATISPORTS

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020

Alex Marshall

Raina had Dhoni’s backing: YuvrajNEW DELHI, April 19: It is common

for any captain to have a favourite play-er and when it came to Mahendra SinghDhoni, it was Suresh Raina, who enjoyedunstinted backing from the former In-dia captain, feels Yuvraj Singh.

One of India’s greatest limited-overscricketers, Yuvraj remembered howDhoni faced selection dilemma when hehad to choose two out of him, YusufPathan and Raina in the playing XI dur-ing the 2011 World Cup.

“Suresh Raina had a lot of supportthen, because MS used to back him.Every captain has a favourite player andI think Mahi really backed Raina at thattime,” Yuvraj said told ‘Sports Tak’.

Ultimately all three players made theplaying XI (although Yusuf was droppedfrom playing XI mid-tournament) withYuvraj playing a pivotal role in winningthe title.

“Yusuf Pathan was also performingwell at that time and even I was do-

ing well and was also picking wick-ets. And Raina was not in a good touchthen,” he said.

“They did not have a left-arm spinnerat that time and I was picking wickets sothey did not have any choice,” he added.

The swashbuckling batsmen also re-vealed questions were raised over thebat he used to famously hit Stuart Broadfor six sixes in an over during the 2007T20 World Cup, leading the match refe-ree to check the willow.

“The Australian coach at that timecame to me and had asked if there was afibre behind in my bat and asked if it waslegal. ‘Has the match referee checkedit?’ So I told him to get it checked.”

“Even (Adam) Gilchrist asked mewho made our bats. So match refereehad also checked my bat. But honestly,that bat was very special for me. I havenever played with a bat like that. Thatone and the 2011 World Cup bat, theywere special.” – PTI

Suresh Raina had alot of support then,because MS usedto back him. Everycaptain has afavourite playerand I think Mahireally backedRaina at that time.

– Yuvraj Singh

“

Known corruptors trying to buildrelations with players: ICC ACU chief

LONDON, April 19: The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit head Alex Marshall hasrevealed that “known corrupters” are try-ing to build relations with cricketers byexploiting their increased presence on so-cial media due to the coronavirus-forcedhalt to on-field action.

No competitive match has taken placesince a Pakistan Super League game onMarch 15 as players globally have been inlockdown enforced to contain the spread ofthe COVID-19 pandemic, which has killedlakhs worldwide.

“We are seeing known corrupters usethis time, when players are on social mediamore than ever, to connect with them andtry to build a relationship that they can ex-ploit at a later date,” Marshall was quotedas saying by The Guardian.

Marshall insists the lull in cricketing ac-tivity does not necessarily mean a drop in

fixing approaches.“COVID-19 may have put a temporary

stop on the playing of international and do-

mestic cricket around the world but thecorrupters are still active,” Marshall wasquoted as saying by The Guardian.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has puta complete stop on all on-field cricketingactivity and there is no clarity on whenthings will normalise.

“We have reached out to our members,players and their wider networks to high-light this issue and ensure they all continueto be aware of the dangers of approach-es...,” Marshall said. The ACU chief’s teamis also aware that the drop in income dueto absence of matches could also make someof the less well-paid players more vulner-able to enticing offers from fixers.

James Pyemont, the England and WalesCricket Board’s head of integrity, added:“There will always be someone to makesomething out of a crisis and view it as anopportunity.” – PTI

Expect boxing’s national campto resume next month: Nieva

NEW DELHI, April 19:Indian boxing’s High Per-formance Director Santia-go Nieva expects the na-tional camp to resume atleast partially next monthand foresees no hiccups infans rushing back to livesport in the age of social dis-tancing as he feels peoplealways “look for risks”.

The seasoned coach, whohas been with the Indian teamsince 2017, is quite optimis-tic of things improving by thebeginning of next month de-spite the rising COVID-19

cases as well as the numberof deaths in the country.

“I think the camp will re-start next month. If not full

strength, then at least thecore group,” he told PTI.

The core group compris-es the ones who have alreadyqualified for the Olympics andthose who are seen to bestrong contenders to makethe cut in future qualifiers.

Asked what gives him thebelief that camps would begood to go if the nationallockdown ends on May 3,the Swede said, “That’s myhunch. Of course I can bewrong but I think we willbe able to restart early nextmonth.” – PTI

Nieva

I should have scoredmore goals: Rooney

LONDON, April 19:Wayne Rooney may be Man-chester United and England’srecord goalscorer but he stillbelieves he should havefound the back of the netmore often during his career,even though he was not anatural finisher.

Rooney, a teenage sensa-tion at Everton, joined Unit-ed in 2004 and went on toscore 253 goals in 559 ap-pearances during a 13-yearspell for the Old Trafford clubthat saw the Red Devils pileup the trophies.

Rooney surpassed 1966World Cup-winner BobbyCharlton as United’s all-timeleading scorer, just as he didfor England with a tally of 53goals from 120 caps.

Despite those figuresRooney, writing in his Sun-

day Times column, insisted:“I’m going to be honest – andthis might surprise you – butI’m not a natural goalscorer.”The 34-year-old, now a play-er-coach at second-tier Der-by County, added: “I was nev-er a Gary Lineker or a Ruudvan Nistelrooy; I neverlooked at myself that way.

“I hold the goal records forManchester United and Eng-land and I am very proud aboutthat – yet there have been bet-ter No. 9s than me.” – AFP

RooneyPANAJI, April 19: Goa

Sports Minister Manohar Aj-gaonkar on Sunday said the stategovernment will seek clarifica-tion from the Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) over the fateof the much-delayed 36th Na-tional Games in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreakhas brought all sporting activi-ties to a grinding halt world-wide. In India, major events likethe IPL have been postponedindefinitely and some tourna-ments cancelled.

The pandemic has also

Goa govt to seekclarification from IOA

raised doubts over the Nation-al Games, scheduled to be heldin the state from October 20 toNovember 4.

Goa has reported a total ofseven positive cases, of whichsix have recovered.

“My department has writ-ten to the Chief Minister onSaturday urging him to seekclarification from IOA over thefate of National Games,” Aj-gaonkar told PTI.

The minister said the stateis prepared to host the games,but need at least three monthsadvance notice. – PTI

ASHGABAT (Turkmenistan), April 19:Turkmenistan is rebooting its football seasonon Sunday, with fans flocking back to stadi-ums in one of the few countries yet to de-clare a case of coronavirus.

The reclusive Central Asian state followedother countries around the world when itsuspended its eight-team league in Marchjust three games into the season.

The national football federation cited rec-ommendations by the health ministry andthe World Health Organisation for prevent-ing the spread of the illness.

A month later, and despite internationalconcerns that Turkmen authorities are un-derplaying the threat of the virus, football isreturning, with supporters only too happy tofollow the action from the stands.

“Joy boosts our immunity,” joked Ashir Yu-supov, a 34-year-old entrepreneur.

He said he would be watching reigningchampions Altyn Asyr take on early table-toppers Kopetdag in the capital Ashgabat onSunday.

Yusupov said he had no fear of crowdedplaces, despite being aware of bans on sports

Turkmenistan football seasonrestarts with crowds

events in other countries.“We have no coronavirus, so why not re-

start our league?” he asked.Three ex-Soviet states have bucked the

global trend for suspending professionalleagues: Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Bela-rus.

Global interest in the Belarusian leaguehas surged on the back of its decision, whilethe Tajikistan’s Super Cup final earlier thismonth attracted a curious multi-lingual on-line following.

But Belarus, which has confirmed 4,779coronavirus cases, has been strongly criti-cised for allowing fans to attend games.

Tajikistan has begun its season with match-es held behind closed doors, even as its au-thoritarian government, like that of Turk-menistan, continues to insist there are nocases in the country.

Ashgabat-based Altyn Asyr, whose nametranslates as “Golden Age”, won the Turk-men title last year.

Victory against Kopetdag would take ittop of the table, with other teams set to playon Monday. – AFP

PARIS, April 19: Rafael Nadal celebrates the15th anniversary of his first Monte Carlo Mas-ters title on Sunday, a victory which sparked abreakthrough season, a maiden Grand Slamtriumph at Roland Garros and set the Spaniardon the road to becoming one of the sport’s great-est players.

Nadal was just 18 when he beat GuillermoCoria in the 2005 Monte Carlo final.

Two years earlier, he had offered tennis aglimpse of the future when, at 16, he stunnedFrench Open champion Albert Costa on thefamous red clay on the shores of the Medi-terranean.

His 2005 triumph was one of 11 titles Nadal

How maiden Monte Carlo win sparked Nadalcaptured that year – eight of them on clay atCosta do Sauipe, Acapulco, Monte Carlo, Bar-celona, Rome, the French Open, Bastad andStuttgart.

He also proved he was no slow-court bully,ending the year with hard court victories inCanada, Beijing and Madrid.

That success was also reflected in therankings.

At the end of 2004, he was at 51; fast forward12 months and he was the world number two.

Among his 85-trophy career haul, 11 havecome in Monte Carlo including a record eightin a row from 2005-2012 and three more be-tween 2016-2018. – AFP

BERLIN, April 19: BayernMunich captain and goalkeep-er Manuel Neuer told Ger-man media on Sunday he hasbecome “irritated” with ne-gotiations to extend his con-tract, which have reportedlystalled in recent weeks.

“All talks I have had since Ihave been here have beenconfidential... nothing hasever leaked,” the 34-year-oldtold Germany’s most popu-lar daily Bild.

“But now, details about thecurrent talks are constantlyappearing in the media, andare often untrue. That irri-tates me. It’s not somethingI am used to at Bayern.”

The veteran goalkeeper’s

Neuer ‘irritated’ as Bayerncontract talks stall

Ratra useslockdown to

complete courseNEW DELHI, April 19:

Former India wicket-keeperAjay Ratra has utilised the on-going lockdown to completean introductory level coachingcourse with Cricket Australia.

Ratra, who has worked withthe Indian women’s team andcoached Assam in the latestdomestic season, cleared sev-en modules to obtain the cer-tification. The 38-year-old isalready a BCCI-certified Lev-el 2 coach and his next goal isto clear Level 3.

“In 2017, BCCI and CricketAustralia had jointly conducteda course and it was about toexpire. That was to be re-newed and alongside that Ithought to go with this CricketAustralia course. It was an on-line course with seven mod-ules (covering all aspects of thegame),” Ratra told PTI.

unusually candid commentscome amid widespread re-ports that his current con-tract negotiations have hitthe rocks.

If the talks fail, club captainNeuer could be free to leaveBayern in June and attract theinterest of the PremierLeague clubs.

According to Bild, Neuerand his agent Frank Kroth aredemanding a five-year deal,with a salary of 20 million eu-ros ($22 million) per season.

In Sunday’s interview,Kroth denied such details andsaid he was not “confrontingthe club with demands whichwill hit it hard in the corona-virus crisis”. – AFP

Printed and published by Ganesh Ch. Das on behalf of Assam Tribune Pvt. Ltd. at the TribunePress, Tribune Buildings, P.O.- Assam Tribune, M.R.D. Road, Chandmari, Guwahati-781003.Tel. 0361-2660102 (EPABX), 0361-2661360, 0361-2668807 (News Desk), FAX 0361-2666396.E-mail: advt@assamtribune.com; news@assamtribune.com; atribunenews@gmail.com.

Editor: Prafulla Govinda Baruah

Rafael Nadal

No. S(E)32/2018/

ORDERWhereas, in pursuance of Government of India's Letter No. 40 - 3/2020 - DM-I (A)

dtd. 15-04-2020, the country is in a lockdown upto 3rd May, 2020 with a limited servicesto be available from 20th of April, 2020. With the limited services allowed to be functional,the Government of Assam is also gearing up to start functioning offices w.e.f. 21st April,2020 with a limited staff and maintaining social distancing as per government instruction,and;

Whereas the Janata Bhawan (Assam Secretariat), Government of Assam has alsodecided to resume office w.e.f. 21st April, 2020 by providing bus services to the employeeswith utmost care to maintaining social distancing. The bus services will be provided bythe Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) to the employees during the lockdownperiod with strict compliance of social distancing inside the bus.

The time schedule of ASTC bus services for employees of Janata Bhawan, Dispur is asfollows :-

Route No. 1 (i) The bus will start from Airport VIP at 8:15 AM by covering Azara throughNH-37- Jalukbari - Lokhra - Basistha Chariali - Beltola Tiniali - Survey- Wireless - Last Gate - Dispur. In each stoppage bus will stop for 2(Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 2 (i) The bus will start from Jalukbari at 8:00 AM by covering Fancy Bazar -Pan Bazar - Uzanbazar - Chandmari - Ganeshguri - Dispur. In eachstoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 3 (i) The bus will start from New Guwahati at 8:30 AM by covering Noonmati- Narengi - VIP road via Borbari - Hengrabari - Ganeshguri - Dispur. Ineach stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 4 (i) The bus will start from Panjabari at 9:00 AM by covering Sixmile -Khanapara - Jaya Nagar (Housefed Complex) - Six mile - Down Town- Dispur. In each stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 5 (i) The bus will start from Basistha Mandir at 9:00 AM by covering NH-37(Games village) - Bhetapara - Hatigaon Chariali - Lakhiminagar - LastGate - Dispur. In each stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 6 (i) The bus will start from Natboma (Housefed complex) at 9:00 AM bycovering Sijubari - Hatigaon - Sewali path - Lakhiminagar - Last Gate- Dispur. In each stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 7 (i) The bus will start from Odalbakra bus stand at 9:00 AM by coveringKahilipara - powerhouse - DPI - Ganesh mandir - Lastgate - Dispur. Ineach stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two) minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

Route No. 8 (i) The bus will start from Jalukbari bus stand at 8:30 AM by coveringMaligaon - Bharalumukh - PaltanBazar - Ulubari - Bhangagarh -Christian Basti - Dispur. In each stoppage bus will stop for 2 (Two)minutes.

(ii) The return journey will start at 5.30 PM from Janata Bhawan complex.

This bus service will cease to operate as and when the lockdown is lifted by theGovernment and the bus service for the women employees of Janata Bhawan will resumeas usual route and timing.

This order shall come into force w.e.f. 21st April, 2020 and will remain in force till 3rdMay, 2020.

Sd/- (Dr. M. Angamuthu, IAS)

Commissioner & Secretary to the Govt of Assam

Secretariat Administration Department.Janasanyog/D/223/20

Originating from Japan,

‘su do ku’ is a mind game

and a puzzle that can be

solved with proper

reasoning and logic. Fill

the grid with digits in such

a manner that every row,

every column and every

3 x 3 box accommodates

the digits 1 to 9 without

repeating any.

Solution of last problem

SU DO KU