NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

If you are experiencing a stringof weird, unexplainable night-mares in the past few days,know that you are not alone.

If one goes by personal pro-files on social media, manypeople are paying more atten-tion to their dreams of late, andrealising that they are notalone in experiencing disturb-ing nightmares of late.

Not knowing what to do,most of those who are active onsocial media are posting theirexperiences online, askingwhether they are the only oneshaving bizarre and memorabledreams.

Science has suggested thatdream content and emotions

are connected to our wellbeingwhile we are awake. Whilebizarre dreams riddled withsymbolism allow some to cope

with intense memories oreveryday psychological stres-sors within the safety of theirsubconscious, nightmares, on

the other hand, can be warn-ing signs of anxietye that wemight not otherwise perceivein our waking lives.

"With hundreds of millions ofpeople forced to remain athome during the Coronaviruspandemic, some dream expertsbelieve that withdrawal fromour usual environments anddaily stimuli has left dreamerswith a dearth of “inspiration,”forcing our subconscious minds

to draw more heavily on themesfrom our past," opine dreamexperts. Psychotherapists sug-gest that dreaming more oftenand having strange dreams areextremely common duringtimes of high stress.

"Self-isolation doesn’t help.Being trapped at home fordays and weeks is unhealthyand can lead to having weirddreams.

PNS n NEW YORK

A potential drug from phar-maceutical major GileadSciences has shown tremen-dous promise in an ongoingclinical trial at the Universityof Chicago Medical Centerwhere 36 of 53 severe COVID-19 patients who were treatedwith anti-viral medicineremdesivir have shown clini-cal improvement.

According to a reportin The STAT, theresearchers saw rapidrecoveries in fever andrespiratory symptoms,with nearly all patientsdischarged in less thana week.

Gilead's sharesjumped more than 15per cent in after-hourstrading and Dow futuressurged more than 800points on Thursday fol-

lowing the report."The best news is that mostof our patients have already

been discharged,which is great. We'veonly had twopatients perish,"Kathleen Mullane,the University ofChicago infectiousdisease specialistoverseeing theremdesivir studiesfor the hospital, wasquoted as saying.

Gilead said in astatement: "Whatwe can say at this

stage is that we look forwardto data from ongoing studiesbecoming available".

Gilead's severe Covid-19study includes 2,400 partici-pants from 152 different clin-ical trial sites all over theworld.

Remdesivir by GileadSciences is one of several drugsbeing fast-tracked into trials bythe World HealthOrganization, comparingpotential treatments in hospi-talised COVID-19 patients ina dozen countries, includingCanada.

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Data presenta-tion on Covid-19 needs to bereworked tosoothe nerves

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‘RBI measures toboost liquidity,incentivise banksto lend more’

Remdesivir by Gilead Sciences is one of severaldrugs being fast-tracked into trials by the WorldHealth Organization, comparing potentialtreatments in hospitalised COVID-19 patients in adozen countries, including Canada

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Gilead's drug Remdesivir showspromise against COVID-19

NEW DELHI Indian scientists are testing amulti-purpose vaccine that has proved effective

against leprosy and boosts immunity in hosts to see ifit can help tackle the coronavirus, the chief of country'slargest public-funded research institution told NDTV on

Friday."With the approval of the DCGI (Drug Controller Generalof India), we have begun tests on the MW vaccine that has

been successfully used against leprosy," Dr Shekhar Mande,Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

(CSIR), said. "Making a vaccine is a lengthy process. The research isgoing on. We are working on a vaccine that improves the immunity inhosts. We are awaiting two more approvals. Once we have those, we

will start trials. We will know the results within the next six weeks," DrMande said. The World Health Organisation has said a specific vaccine

for the novel coronavirus that has triggered the ongoing COVID-19pandemic could take at least 12 months or longer.

Covid-19 has no doubt shaken the world, but there is a glimmer of hope from at least three major factors.Remdesivir, previously tested in humans with Ebola virus disease and in animal models for treating MERS

and SARS, has reportedly cured about 70% of Covid-19 patients treated as part of study in the US. It is nowtaking longer for Covid-19 cases to double in India (6.2 days), compared to the situation before the lockdown(3 days). Indian scientists are testing Mw, a multi-purpose vaccine that has proved effective against leprosy

and boosts immunity in hosts, to see if it can help tackle Covid-19.

Indiatesting vaccine

Doubling rate of cases in India reduced NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry said on Friday the rate atwhich the number of coronavirus cases in the country was becomingdouble in the last one week was 6.2 days, as against three daysbefore the nationwide lockdown was imposed. Ata daily media briefing about updates on COVID-19 situation, Joint Secretary in the HealthMinistry Lav Agarwal claimedthat India has been doingbetter than many othercountries on the outcomeratio, which is the number ofrecoveries from coronavirusinfection versus thenumber of deaths. "If 80per cent of the patientsin India are recoveringand in 20 per cent casesdeaths are beingreported, then by thatstandard India has beendoing a little better thanmany other nationson the outcomeratio," he said.

A GLIMMER OF HOPE

TS to continue ‘50%pay cut’ for April tooL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Amid pervasive heartburn, aPIL plea against last month'ssalary cut in the High Court,the state government is under-stood to have decided to goonce again for 50% pay cut toemployees and pensioners inTelangana for the secondmonth in a row.

The state government imposed50 per cent pay cut foremployeesandpensioners in March, citing'financial constraints' as if theterm originated only on accountof corona outbreak.

Right or wrong, employeesand pensioners received 50 percent pay for themonth ofMarch on April 1. Now, thesame policy would be contin-ued in the case of salary and-pensions for April too.

It may be pertinent to notehere that a division bench ofthe Telangana High Court onWednesday directed the Stategovernment to respond to aPIL plea filed in connectionwith GO 27 issued for deduct-ing the salaries and pension ofgovernment employees andpensioners respectively andGO 45 directing the public andprivate establishments to payfull salary to its employees.

This dichotomy in thinking

has been criticized in informedcircles. Official sources saidsince the financial condition ofthe state government had turnedfrom bad to worse in April onaccount of lockdown,there is nopossibility of the governmentpaying full salary and pensionsfor April.

The justification of the gov-ernment is that it could notbear financial losses in Marchwhen 50 percent pay cut wasimposed, though there waslockdown in state only in thelast 12 days of the monthfrom March 20 to 31. In April,the situation deteriorated fur-

ther with complete lockdownfor the month. The state cab-inet meeting on April 11decided to extend lockdowntill April 30. In this backdrop,official sources said there is noway in which the governmentcanmobilise funds to pay fullsalaries and pensions for April.

The state government issuedorder (GO Ms No27) onMarch 30 imposing 75 per centcut in gross salary of ChiefMinister, ministers, MLAs,MLCs, chairpersons of all cor-porations and electedrepre-sentatives of all local bodies.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Upping his ante on the Centre'sdecision to exempt a few sectorsfromlockdown restrictionsstarting April 20, Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao is learnt-to have decided to seek the sup-port of neighbouring AndhraPradesh andMaharashtra ChiefMinisters to effectively enforcethe lockdown as it is tillApril30,without giving relaxations toany sector whatsoever, irre-spective of the Centre's guide-lines.

KCR is expected to talk to APChief Minister YS JaganMohanReddy and Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayover phonein this regard in a

day or two.The Telangana Chief

Minister wants the three'neighbouring states' to coop-erate for containing the spreadof coronavirus by strictlyenforcing existing lockdowncurbs tillApril 30.

All the three states havebeen witnessed spikes in coro-na cases dayafter day. In fact,the situation in Maharashtra isalarming asit tops the country'slist of corona positive cases anddeaths.

India suspendsall visas till May 3

Corona is the stuff of nightmares for manyTwo nurses test positive

NAVEENA GHANATEn HYDERABAD

Two nurses, who had come incontact with a Covid-19 pos-itive patient in Talabkattabefore she died, tested positivefor the virus on Friday.

The woman was confirmedCovid-19 positive after shepassed away on April10.

She apparently was thesource of infection for somedoctors and nurses. Sourcespointedout the results of sam-ples obtained from some doc-tors are awaited.

The deceased woman wasamong the contacts of a per-son who returned after attend-

ing the March 13-15 TablighiJamaat congregation inMarkaz, New Delhi.

Before she succumbed to thevirus, the woman was taken tofive facilities: a private hospi-tal in Nampally, GandhiHospital, King KotiGovernment Hospital,Osmania Hospital and PrincessDurre Shehvar Hospital.

Minister Etela Rajender saidthat three contacts tested pos-itive on Thursday.

Over 40 patients havereportedly been shifted to iso-lationcentres and the testresults of samples obtainedfrom 12doctors have yet to bedeclared.

n Contracted it from Talabkatta victim Not knowing what to do, most of thosewho are active on social media areposting their experiences online, askingwhether they are the only ones havingbizarre and memorable dreams

No respite, 66 new cases in TelanganaPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana reported 66 morecases on Friday, taking the totalnumber of Covid-19 cases to766. Of these cases, 46 werereported in GHMC area and asmany as 21 cases were reportedfrom Suryapet.

Suryapet now has secondhighest number of Coronacasesin the state after Hyderabad.There are 286 active cases inHyderabad area and 562 inTelangana. One case each was

reported from VikarabadandJogulamba Gadwal. There wereno deaths reported onThursday. On Thursday, con-tainment efforts continued in 13

districts and 209 clusters. Telangana, which was among

top 5 states in the country,attained 7th position in thenumber of Corona cases. Thestates with highest number ofcases are Maharashtra, Delhi,Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan, Gujarat and UttarPradesh respectively.

The Health Departmentadvised citizens to ensure thatfreshly cooked food and safepotable water is consumed.The Control Room received399 calls on Friday, five ofwhich pertained to suspectedCorona cases and three forambulance facility inHyderabad.

KCR to seek support of AP, Maha CMsto enforce lockdown till April 30

DistrictGHMC 286Suryapet 44Nizamabad 42Vikarabad 33Warangal 21

Active cases There are 286 active cases in Hyderabad area and562 in Telangana. One case each was reportedfrom Vikarabadand Jogulamba Gadwal.

22

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Right or wrong, employees and pensionersreceived 50 per cent pay for the month of March onApril 1. Now, the same policy would be continued inthe case of salary and pensions for April too

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government of Indiahas suspended all existingvisas granted to foreignersand all incoming passengertraffic into India throughImmigration Check Posts(ICPs) till May 3. The ruleswill be applied to all exceptcertain categories, an orderissued by the foreigners' divi-sion of the Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) said. Theministry decided to extendthe suspension of all existingvisas granted to foreigners,except to those belonging todiplomatic, official, UN orinternational organisations, andemployment and project cate-gories, till May 3 in the wake ofthe coronavirus outbreak.

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HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020 hyderabad 02

It’s quite heartening to notethat the nation as a wholehas acknowledged with

gratitude the contribution ofthe medical doctors and otherhealthcare personnel, themunicipal and panchayat staffand the police personnel inminimising the impact ofCovid-19 across the country.

As such, with the absence oflive cricket on TV or radiocommentary, and intense pen-etration of the Internet, socialmedia has come to change theway we think.

People are more receptive tofake news, be it political orregarding our health, ultimate-ly believing it to be true. Also,humans by nature tend to believealarmists news more easily.

The situation is such thateverybody is worried and isconstantly trying to get updateson the situation.

With little else to do duringlockdown except communicate

on social media, most of ushave our own theories regard-ing the pandemic. While allkinds of opinions are aired, thefact remains that among themore important issues thatneed to be addressed are theutility of data made available tothe general public and thelikely inferences drawn by thepublic from such data.

Under such circumstances,the common man tends to fallback on the state-wise datareleased at regular intervalsabout the number of affectedpersons and the number ofdeaths due to Covid-19.

People panic whenever thereis a jump in number of posi-tive cases in their state whilepeople in states having fewercases relax and consider them-selves to be safe.

Does huge available datapermit us to draw meaningfulinferences? What message dothe available data is likely to

convey to the general public? In statistics, crude death

rate is measured as a ratio ofnumber of deaths due to allcauses during a time-period(generally a year) to the pop-ulation of the country (gener-ally expressed as number ofdeaths per thousand persons).Historically, Global CrudeDeath Rate is coming downdue to health revolution.

The severity of any particu-lar disease is measured in termsof mortality rate which is theratio of number of deaths dueto that particular disease in a

given time period to the totalpopulation of the country.

Therefore, comparing theabsolute number of deathsdue to Covid-19 across thecountries or across the Statesin India has no meaning asthey differ in size (measured interms of population).

For instance, it doesn't serveany purpose in comparing thenumber of deaths due toCovid-19 in a big state likeUttar Pradesh with the num-ber of deaths due to Covid-19in a small state likeUttarakhand. Further, the time

period also has to be consid-ered. Some countries areaffected by Covid-19 sinceJanuary, 2020 while in someother countries, it is morerecent phenomenon.

Some conceptual aspects,further complicate the matter.In some countries, the deathdue to Covid-19 of a severediabetic person may be record-ed as death due to diabetes

while in some other countries,it may be registered as deathdue to Covid-19. Therefore, fora meaningful inter-country/inter-state comparison, it isessential to consider the sizeand the time dimensions andrelated conceptual issues.

The people who, in theirdaily activities generally dealonly with figures in hundredsand in thousands, are most

likely to panic if they areinformed that the number ofpersons affected by Covid-19is in lakhs and the number ofdeaths due to Covid-19 is inthousands.

They would get demoralisedand visualise a dim future.

The same data can be pre-sented in a different mannerthat will boost the confidenceof the general public. It is bet-ter to present case fatality ratei.e., the percentage of deathsamong the persons affected byCovid-19, which will be a fig-ure smaller in magnitude andhence boost the confidence ofthe general public.

In a press briefing on March3, 2020, the Director-Generalof the World HealthOrganisation, Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus report-ed that the fatality rate due toCovid-19 is only 3.4 per cent.Experts admit that calculatingcase fatality rate in case of

Covid-19 is tricky due to thelong incubation period.

It is better to provide esti-mate with a small margin oferror, which will send a posi-tive message to the generalpublic. A low fatality rateimplies that a large percentageof affected persons is likely torecover and lead a normal life.

Further, by providing someillustration, awareness amongthe general public needs to bebuilt regarding the speed oftransmission of Covid-19 ifsocial distance is not main-tained at public places. In short,the information provided to thegeneral public should buildtheir confidence and capacity,in order to be successful in thefight against Covid-19.

About the authors: S. Indrakant, Visiting

Professor, CESS, Hyderabadand N. Lingamurthy, former

Vice-Chancellor, KakatiyaUniversity, Warangal

S INDRAKANT N LINGAMURTHY

Data presentation on Covid-19 needs to be reworked to soothe nerves Under such circumstances, thecommon man tends to fall back onthe state-wise data released atregular intervals about the number ofaffected persons and the number ofdeaths due to Covid-19

CORONA CRISIS

Comprehensive test needof the hour, say expertsAVINASH DEEPAK PULI nMAHBUBNAGAR

According to experts, a com-prehensive test in the listedcontainment pockets and redzones was regarded as an aptsolution to overcome theCoronavirus crisis inMahbubnagar district.

They say that an initiation inidentified red zones wouldpave way for the commence-ment of tests in almost all theurban areas of the districtswhich have been listed amongthe critical areas by the admin-istration.

The expert group consistingof doctors, biochemistryresearchers and pathologists inthe district feel that a compre-hensive test could be taken upon the lines of 'SamagraKutumba Survey' and sincealmost all the members ofeach and every family are stay-ing home during this lockdownperiod, this process would bean easy task for the ASHAworkers and other non medicaland para medical groups thatare engaged in dealing with thepresent situation.

The research group opinedthat the Telangana govern-ment has by now undertakena mode of operation that hasbecome a guiding force to

many other states. The lock-down and the consequent mea-sures in almost all the parts inthe districts have alreadyhelped the administration tocontain the spurt in the posi-tive cases and it even enabledthe administration to containthe movements of suspectedcases in many areas.

So far as Mahbubnagar dis-

trict is concerned, the issuepertaining to the minimisationof cases has certainly succeed-ed and two districts --Narayanpet and Wanaparthyhave been declared Coronafree zones.

In the remaining areas too,this process would become areality if the comprehensivetesting process is opted for and

all the inmates in the suspect-ed zones are tested with thepreliminary testing methods.

Some pathologists went onto say that a comprehensivetesting process in a specific dis-trict by taking it as a pilot unitwould pave way for the iden-tification of any suspectedcase.

"This test process should beconducted on the lines of'Samagra KuTumba Survey'and the teams should visitalmost all the households andtest all the people. Duringthese tests, the suspected per-sons would be screened andthis preliminary screening doesnot require any major methodsexcept the thermal screeningprocess," they opined.

Subsequent to thermalscreening, the next phase testswould have to be initiated andof any person with the symp-toms of Coronavirus are iden-tified they should be instruct-ed to take to the quarantineand isolation processes, theexperts said.

If the pilot concept in the redzones is implemented thor-oughly a similar process needsto be expanded and thus theentire state would be coveredin the same fashion and thatwould help the state fight thedeadly virus, they said.

So far as Mahbubnagar district isconcerned, the issue pertaining to theminimisation of cases has certainlysucceeded and two districts --Narayanpet and Wanaparthy havebeen declared Corona free zones.

Follow lockdown rulesstrictly, says VemulaPNS n BHEEMGAL

Roads and Bildings MinisterVemula Prashant Reddy onFriday visited the containmentzone set up at the boys' hostelin Bheemgal municipality andthe clusters to spread preventthe spread of coronavirus. TheMinister spoke to the officialsthere and said that the viruscases decreased because ofstrict enforcement of contain-ment rules.

The Minister called uponpeople to observe lockdownrules strictly for another 10days. He said that a controlroom has been set up in clus-ters to get the essential com-modities delivered at theirdoor-step.

Later, he visited theGrameen Bank here andasked officials to provide tent,chairs and drinking water forcustomers who gathered nearthe bank to withdraw Rs1,500 granted to them.

Later, the Minister reviewedthe Corona reining measureswith officials at Velpur. Heasked the officials to continueto work with the same spirit foranother 7-10 days. TheMinister boosted morale ofthose who are staying at thequarantine centre at Perkitand Balkonda.

He told them the govern-ment would sent them totheir homes if they tested neg-ative for the virus. He askedthem to follow government

rules. Armoor revenue divisional

officer Srinivasulu, MROs,Markfed chairman M

Rangareddy, Sapranch YenuguSweta, additional collector BChandrasekhar and otherswere present.

MINISTER INAUGURATESPROCUREMENT CENTRE NIZAMABAD: Minister for Roads and Buildings Vemula PrashantReddy on Friday inaugurated a paddy procurement centre at PachchalNadkada village of Velpur mandal and distributed rice and otheressential commodities among those who did not have ration cards.The Minster exhorted the farmers to make use of the paddyprocurement centres set up in their villages. Paddy procurement isbeing undertaken in villages through setting up of procurementcentres in every village as farmers are not in a position to go to themarket yards. The total number of procurement centres set up inTelangana this year was 6800 as against 3800 last year, he said. Thenumber of paddy procurement centres increased in Nizamabaddistrict this year to 547 as against 310 last year. The stategovernment is purchasing the paddy through Markfed by obtaining abank guarantee for Rs 25000 crore.

Simplify paddyprocurement,says Palla PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Rythu BandhuSamiti president, Dr PallaRajeswar Reddy, on Fridaylisted out series of measuresinitiated by state governmentto simplify procurement ofpaddy and maize from farm-ers during the current rabiseason.

The government has issuedorders to district authoritiesto procure old gunny bags toprocure paddy and maize. Incase the farm-ers did notr e c o r dthe areaof culti-v at i on ,the gov-ernmentwill sendagriculture exten-sion officials to undertakevisit to the farmer's field toasses the crop yield and givestokens accordingly.

Further, in case farmerslive in one revenue villageand his field is located inanother revenue village. Theagriculture officials in boththe villages should coordinateefforts among them and givetokens to such farmers. Theagriculture officials shouldrecord the crop yield in thetokens keeping in mind thechange of yield from districtto district, mandal to mandaland village to village depend-ing on the crop manage-ment.

Corona is the stuff ofnightmares for manyContinued from page 1

During sleep, your brainprocesses the stress, anxietyand other feelings you havewhen you’re awake,” explainedDr Murthy, a psychotherapistfrom Hyderabad.

Describing one of thedreams, a user on a socialmedia platform said that he sawa zombie apocalypse type situ-ation and that he was takingshelter with his family in a smallshuttered shop, which he does-n't know how he ended up in.

“If every day you’re watchingthe news, and it’s making youscared or uncomfortable orworried about your relatives oryourself, and this goes on adnauseam for months, it willimpact your dreams,” said the

doctor. He said that the brainhas several “folders” for thethings in your life. One folderis for your spouse, another foryour work, another for yourworries and fears and so on, DrMurthy said. “When you sleep,the subconscious can just runfreely and pick something total-ly random from any of thosefolders,” the psychotherapistsaid, adding that it can be froma movie scene, a past relation-ship or something that’s present,like the Coronavirus.

According to experts, it’simportant to pay attention tothe emotions evoked by yourdreams after you wake up. Insome circumstances, dreamscan be a way for our brain todecipher what we’ve learnedand observed during the day.

TS to continue ‘50%pay cut’ for April tooContinued from page 1

Similarly, 60 per cent pay cutwas imposed for IAS, IPS,IFSofficers etc., 50 per cent cutfor government employeesand 10 per centcut for Class-IV government employees,outsourced, contract staff.

However, the governmentexempted employees fromhealth and policedepartments,besides sanitary workers inlocal bodies, from 50 percentsalary cut, followinguproar that pay cut will hit themorale of these staff who arenow frontline warriors in the-fight against corona. They

were paid full salaries later. So,these employees will continueto receive full salary for themonth ofApril also.

The GO on pay cut releasedby the government stated,"These ordersshall come intoforce, for the gross salary forthe month of March2020,payable on 1stApril, 2020 andwill continue to be in force till-further orders."

The government wants toutilise the provision of 'orderswill continueto be in force tillfurther orders' to impose paycuts again foremployees andpensioners for the secondmonth in a row in April.

KCR to seek support of AP, Maha CMs to...Continued from page 1

Telangana shares long borderswith Maharashtra andAP.Official sources said KCRwants to have the ChiefMinisters of neighbouringstates on board while safe-guarding 'mutual interests' incontaining thespread of coro-navirus.

Interestingly, the ChiefMinisters of Telangana andMaharashtraannounced theextension of lockdown tillApril 30 on the same day -- thatisApril 11, three days prior tothe end of the 21-day nation-

wide lockdown.Noticeably, Jagan did not

make any announcementregarding the extension oflockdown in AP prior to April14. After Prime MinisterNarendraModi announced theextension of nationwide lock-down till May3, the AP govern-ment has chosen to simply fol-low it.

However, KCR is clueless onseeking the supportofKarnataka Chief MinisterBS Yeddyurappa --anotherstate with which TSshares bor-der points and where the casesare increasing. This isbecause

it's a BJP-ruled state and KCRdoubts whetherYeddyurappawould supporthim in this cause keeping asidepolitics.

Although Modi has decidedtoexempt a few sectors fromthe rigours of the lockdownfrom April 20 to help re-startthe stalledeconomy, KCR isopposed to the idea.

According to KCR, theCentre's proposal on partiallockdown would make it all themore difficult to control thecorona situation due toresumption of movement peo-ple and vehicles on states' bor-

der points. He feels that statesshould be given the discretionto lift curbs depending onlocal situation. He is of theopinion that neither the Centrenor the Union HealthMinistryis in a position to accuratelyknow the ground realities andtherefore the State govern-ments should be left to taketheir owndecisions.

KCR is apprehensive that theproposed relaxations from April20 could complicate matters somuch so that there could bewider spread of the virus and allefforts till date to contain thevirus would go the drain.

Gilead's drug Remdesivir shows...Continued from page 1

Treatment with GileadSciences's experimental drugremdesivir led to clinicalimprovement in 68 per cent of53 patients hospitalised withsevere complications ofCOVID-19, another study saidthis week. The drug was pro-vided on an individual com-passionate use basis.

Nearly two thirds of patientsin this cohort were on mechan-ical ventilation at baseline,including four patients also onextracorporeal membrane oxy-genation (ECMO).

Treatment with remdesivirresulted in an improvement inoxygen support class for 36 ofpatients over a median follow-up of 18 days from the firstdose of remdesivir, according

to the findings published inThe New England Journal ofMedicine.

More than half of patientson mechanical ventilation wereextubated and nearly half of allpatients were discharged fromthe hospital following treat-ment with remdesivir.

"Currently there is noproven treatment for COVID-19. We cannot draw definitiveconclusions from these data,but the observations from thisgroup of hospitalized patientswho received remdesivir arehopeful," said Jonathan D.Grein, Director of HospitalEpidemiology, Cedars-SinaiMedical Center, Los Angeles,and lead author of the journalarticle.

Since January 25, 2020,Gilead has been providing

emergency access to remde-sivir for qualifying patientswith severe complications ofCOVID-19 who are unable toenroll in ongoing clinical tri-als.

Remdesivir is not yetlicensed or approved anywhereglobally.

Robert W. Baird & Co react-ing to this opined that theseresults need to be cautiouslyinterpreted and added thatthe more definitive answerwill come from the double-blind placebo controlled studyby National Institute of Allergyand Infectious Diseases(NIAID), part of the USNational Institutes of Health,expected in late May.

Remdesivir is an investiga-tional broad-spectrum antivi-ral treatment.

India testingvaccineContinued from page 1

Several countries including theUS and China are working onvaccines to counter the fast-spreading respiratory virus thathas affected over 21 lakh peo-ple across the world and killednearly 1.5 lakh. In India, over13,000 people have been infect-ed and 437 have died. DrMande said India is working ongenome sequencing of the virusthat will help trace its origin andspread. It can also help under-stand if the virus is mutating anddeveloping resistance to drugsbeing used against it. "The NIVin Pune has done 25 sequenc-ing. We have done 30 sequenc-ing in two of our labs. We dosome 500 to 1,000 in comingtwo weeks," he said.

Doubling rate of cases in...Continued from page 1

"Before lockdown, the dou-bling rate of coronavirus caseswas 3 days. Going by thenumber of cases in the lastseven days, the doubling ratehas been 6.2 days. In 19 statesand Union Territories thedoubling rate is less than thenational average," he said.

The health ministry officialalso said the average growthfactor of cases from April 1has been 1.2, whereas betweenMarch 15 and 31 it was 2.1.

This decline of 40 per centwas due to increase in testing,including that of cases with

severe acute respiratory infec-tions (SARI) and influenza-like illness (ILI), Agarwalsaid.

The number of novel coro-navirus cases in India rose by1,007 and 23 deaths werereported in 24 hours, takingthe tally of total infections to13,387 and fatalities to 437, thejoint secretary in the healthministry said, adding 1,749people have been cured of theinfection so far, which is 13.06per cent of the total patients.Agarwal further informedthat five lakh rapid antibodytesting kits are being distrib-uted to states for districts.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

3 BOOKED FORVIOLATINGLOCKDOWN

COMPLAINT FILEDAGAINST TV9

The Cyberabad Police on lateThursday night booked two

Chinese citizens and their friendfrom Nagaland for violatinglockdown at Sanath Nagar inHyderabad. According to thepolice, the trio was traveling in acar when they were stopped bythe police at Moosapetcheckpoint. Upon inquiry, theytold the police that they weregoing to Patancheru to meet afriend. Since it was not anemergency, police detained andbooked them for violating thelockdown. The youngsters intheir mid-20s were residing atBongulur on the city outskirts.They are the students of aUniversity in the city. They hadbeen staying in the city sinceAugust 2019. Further, they didnot have any recent travelhistory, police said. Later, theywere taken to the police stationand their vehicle was seized. Acase under sections 188, 269,270 and 271 of the IPC, DisasterManagement Act and EpidemicDiseases Act was registeredagainst all three. Later noticeswere also served to them.

An advocate from Hyderabadhas sent a defamation notice

to the TV9 news channeldemanding an unconditionalapology for telecasting adefamatory programme bydepicting Hindu goddess RenukaYellamma as Coronavirus andthereby hurting the sentiments ofHindus. On April 13, TV9 TeluguNews channel had aired 'ISmartVarthalu', wherein the HinduGoddess Renuka Yellamma wasmocked as Coronavirus. "Canyou explain what Hindu religionand Hindu goddess has got to dowith the Corona Virus whichoriginated from China?" askedthe advocate in the petition. Theadvocate demanded that thechannel telecast an unconditionalapology within seven days fromthe date of receipt of the notice,failing which a complaint wouldbe filed with the NBSA forderogatory, malicious anddefamatory program and also toinitiate civil and criminaldefamation proceedings againstthe channel in the court.

Challans fail to deterlockdown violatorsDAVE BENNETT SILVERY n HYDERABAD

Four weeks into the lockdown,the traffic police of the tri-com-missionerate area have issuedclose to nine lakh challans onerrant motorist and lockdownviolators. However, strict polic-ing and stringent enforcementof the law does not seem to bea deterrent to persons who arehell bent on disobeying as isseen in the increasing numberof challans issued.

Since the start of the lock-down, the Cyberabad Policehave issued a total of 4.24lakh challans against viola-tors. The Rachakonda TrafficPolice issued close to 62,000challans and the HyderabadTraffic Police issued more thanfour lakh challans.

As if issuing challans in a bidto discourage people from ven-turing out was not enough,police personnel even seizedvehicles. With more than50,000 vehicles seized, includ-ing 39,000 vehicles inHyderabad commissioneratearea, 3,862 vehicles inRachakonda and 7,157 inCyberabad as of April 17,Friday, the police are going allout to discourage citizens tonot venture out.

"Since the beginning of thelockdown, we have begun

booking cases of double ridingon two wheelers, which is pro-hibited according to the GO 45and 48 issued by the govern-ment for enforcing the lock-down. The other violationsinclude venturing beyond a 3-km zone, triple riding, drivingwithout helmet, not wearinghelmet by pillion rider, viola-tion of no entry and drivingwithout documents amongothers," said Anil Kumar,Additional Commissioner(Traffic), Hyderabad.

Police are booking casesunder various violations ofthe Motor Vehicle Act and alsoSection 188 (Disobedience to

an order lawfully promulgatedby a public servant). A major-ity of the cases booked by thepolice are via e-challans ornon-contact cases, bookedafter traffic cops on the streetsor the control room take pic-tures of the violator. Apartfrom the Traffic Police officials,Law and Order officials werealso seen manning camerasand clicking pictures of viola-tors on the roads.

The Traffic Police are alsousing the Automated NumberPlate Recognition (ANPR)software to identify the vehiclesviolating the 3-km lockdownnorm. Officials have also set up

speed guns to nab personswho take advantage of emptyroads and over speed on them.The Cyberabad zone alonehas more than 12 speed gunsset up at crucial roads, that wasable to issue more than 23,000challans till Friday.

Traffic police and Law andOrder officials are seen allaround the city pleading andsensitising those who are ven-turing out. Awareness cam-paigns on the lockdown ruleson social media and in personat various checkpoints wereconducted, warning the publicagainst committing traffic vio-lations. But despite the fullfledged efforts of these front-line warriors to enforce thelockdown and stop the spreadof coronavirus, the publicseems to grow restless and keepventuring out. In cases ofemergency, motorists who ven-ture out are supposed to beself-disciplined and responsi-ble. The challans are just toensure that they follow thelockdown rules strictly or faceconsequences, said an official.The most number of vehiclesseized across the three com-missionerate is two wheelers.Officials said that the vehicleswhich have been seized duringthe lockdown period will notbe returned by any meansuntil the lockdown ends.

Since the start of the lockdown, theCyberabad Police have issued a total of 4.24 lakh challans against violator

PNS n HYDERABAD

MA&UD Minister KT RamaRao along with Ministers EtelaRajender, Srinivas Goud helda video conference with theAddl. Collectors, MunicipalCommissioners of all Districtsof Telangana State fromGHMC Head office, here onFriday.

To contain the spread ofCoronavirus, the measures tobe implemented strictly incontainment zones directedMA&UD Minister KT RamaRao. Minister said that thereare 260 containment zones inthe state out of which 146 fallwithin GHMC limits, theremaining fall in 43 municipal-ities across Telangana.

Municipal commissionersand zonal commissioners weredirected by Minister to ensurethe people living in contain-ment zones stay indoors. Healso directed the officials thatessentials including milk, veg-etables and medicine should bedelivered at their door steps.The essentials should be deliv-ered only by the volunteers.

Minister also said that vol-unteers should be providedwith separate dress code. Theneeds of the people should benoted by creating WhatsAppgroups, people living in thecontainment zones will be thegroup members. Ministerdirected the officials to bookcases against people living incontainment zones and flout-ing guidelines that need to befollowed.

To monitor the contain-ment zones minster empha-sised on 12 key points: Properbarricading; Appointing offi-cials form line departments;Appointing para medical staffto conduct fever survey;Ensuring sanitation andspraying are strictly done;Delivery of essentials; Peopleshould be informed aboutcontainment guidelines to befollowed and arrangementsmade by government throughvia public address system;Distribution of pamphlets tohouseholds; Door-to-doorinspection by medical teamsand officials; Senior officialsmonitoring the zones regular-ly are the key points rolled outby Minister; Ensuring peopledon't step out of their houseand regulating their move-ments are the other keypoints; Ambulances onstandby in case of emergency;Directed officials to ensuresupply of rice.

Further Minister appealedthe people to stay where theyare as lockdown in force andproviding shelter and food tothe migrant workers.

CEOs allpraise forgovt stepsHYDERABAD:IT Minister KTRama Rao on Friday interactedwith about 100 headhonchosbelonging to the HyderabadChapter of CEO's Club over avideo call. KTR has beenconducting a series of suchinteractions with variousindustry organizations todiscuss the impact oflockdown and also to evolve astrategy to restart the industry.Various CEOs complimentedthe Telangana StateGovernment's efforts tocontain the Coronavirus. Theyexpressed their happiness forhaving a decisive leadership inthe state.IT Minister K T Rama Rao saidthat India woke up at the righttime and the lockdown seemsto be working as per ourobservations Minister said thatthe current lockdown has givenus time to brace up.

Stay indoors, KTR tells residents

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao's son anddaughter are known not onlyfor their command over mul-tiple languages and oratoryskills but also for a good senseof humour.

Both K. T. Rama Rao, a statecabinet minister and his sisterK. Kavitha make witty remarks

on different occasions.However, this time it was the

sibling's banter and that too ona social media platform whichlightened up an apparent seri-ous situation due to coron-avirus induced lockdown.

"Sir a sincere query: Anythoughts on opening barbershops or salons post 20 Apr?My wife is eager to try her handon haircut and if that happens

I have a strong feeling I'll needto stay home even after thelockdown is lifted," a Twitteruser asked KTR.

"Hey, when Virat Kohlicould let his wife style his hair,why don't you," came the replyfrom KTR.

However, it was Kavitha'switty remark aimed at broth-er which made the day livelyfor huge number of their fol-

lowers."Annayya .. Bhabi kikuda chance isthunnava,"tweeted Kavitha, asking herbrother if he is also givingchance (for haircut) to hiswife.

The banter amused theTwitter users who postedvideos, memes and made com-ments as to what would hap-pen if KTR's wife gets a chancefor haircut.

KTR, Kavitha's Twitter banter winning hearts!PNS n HYDERABAD

TRS Malkajgiri constituencyin-charge Marri RajasekharReddy on Friday lauded the ser-vices being rendered by ANMsand ASHA workers in the StateGovernment's combat againstCoronavirus. He said that the people of theconstituency would not forgettheir services. Speaking afterdistributing masks, sanitisersand 25-kg rice and other essen-tial commodities to each of theANMs and ASHA workers, heasked them to exercise cautionand take precautions while dis-charging their duties. He want-ed them to wash their handswith sanitisers daily and wearmasks.

Rajasekhar Reddy laudedChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao for beingthe early bird to put in place var-ious precautions and for extend-

ed assurance to the people tosupport them in all respects atthis hour. Exhorting the peopleto remain indoors to drive awaythe virus from the state's soil, heconveyed his special thanks tomedical professionals, doctors,government officials and tomedia.

For the past 15 days, food,water and essential commodi-ties are being distributed amongthe poor and needy in Medchaland Hyderabad. MandalPradesh president Padma JaganReddy, vice-MPP, MPTCs,municipal chairmen and othestook part in the programme.

PNS n HYDERABAD

With no positive case regis-tered continuously for 14days, restrictions in 16 con-tainment zones in the citywere l i f ted, said ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar.

All measures were in placein the earmarked contain-ment zones to curtail thespread of virus. If no positivecase is reported in 14 days inan earmarked zone, contain-ment status will be liftedthere, he said.

The State government issetting up containment zonesto curb the spread of virus inplaces where positive caseswere being registered. TheChief Secretary along withMunicipal Administrationand Urban DevelopmentPrincipal Secretary ArvindKumar inspected measures in

place in a containment zoneat Malakpet in the city.

There are about 750 hous-es in the above zone and anexclusive WhatsApp grouphas been created to facilitatethe provision of essentialcommodities , groceries,medicines etc based on therequests of residents, he said.

In one particular family inthe zone, 11 positive caseswere registered and though

few persons tested negative,they have been under quar-antine in the local mosque,he informed. Since all theentry and exit points arebarricaded in the zone, thesituation is presently undercontrol.

A special nodal team com-prising police, medical andhealth officials has been setup to monitor the situationin the zone, he added.

NO SERVICE

NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

With zero service providersavailable for all electronicdevices and home appliances,the public is either donningthe mechanic's hat or copingup with the manual labourwork. The majority is simplyholding onto the defectivepieces till lockdown is lifted.

As per the numbers collat-ed by the India Cellular andElectronics Association(ICEA) and the ConsumerElectronics and AppliancesManufacturers Association(CEAMA), more than 5 mil-lion mobile phones, 70,000refrigerators and 50,000-plustelevision sets have piled upfor repair and servicing inIndia during the first phase ofthe lockdown enforced to con-trol the spread of the coron-avirus.

The numbers are from the

period from March 22 to April13, said the report, adding thatthere are another more than30,000 microwave ovens, ACand washing machines whichneeds repair at a time whenIndians are locked indoorsand doing household choresthemselves due to the lock-down.

"A lot of gadgets havebecome dysfunctional andneed urgent service, which isnot possible remotely," saidKamal Nandi, CEAMA pres-ident and business head atGodrej Appliances.

"With so many refrigeratorsnot working, customers arefinding it difficult to stock up

food and preserve medicines.Also, with as many as 70 percent of the service techni-cians staying close to the ser-vice centres, there is no issueof migrant labour and opera-tions can easily be restartedonce the government allowsit," he said. Most companiesare currently running onlineand telephone support in alimited way and haveuploaded do-it-yourself videosto help consumers. "Althoughthe YouTube videos help to anextent, it's always not accuratefor a commoner as issues mayvary. My laptop stopped work-ing, crippling my work andforcing me to use and rely onsmartphones. I've tried fixingit numerous times but it keepspopping new issues. I haveabsolutely no idea what's caus-ing it," said Nithin Raj, a pri-vate employee.

Xiaomi, which has thebiggest share of smartphone

sales in India, said in a state-ment that it has received astrong influx of consumerqueries and complaints duringthe lockdown and has tried tosolve minor software issuesover chat and emails. "Today,smartphones are one of themost essential items, afterfood and groceries.

It helps enforce social dis-tancing by helping peopleconnect without having to goout and this is something thatcannot be overlooked," a com-pany spokesperson said.

An LG representative saidconsumers are operating theirair-conditioners without firstgetting them serviced as tem-peratures rise, while evenwater purifiers cannot be ser-viced or repaired right now.Many companies have extend-ed their service and repairwarranty periods to provideconsumers some benefits dueto the lockdown.

MHA: TraceRohingyaswho attendedJammat meetPNS n HYDERABAD

Rohingya Muslims fromHyderabad and across Indiahad allegedly attended theIslamic event in Delhi, latestreport reveals. The Ministry ofHome Affairs has reportedlywritten to states to traceRohingya Muslims who hadattended Tablighi Jamaatevents at Mewat, Haryana andNizamuddin Markaz.

It is stated there is a possi-bility that they have contract-ed Coronavirus infection. It isalso reported that Rohingyasliving in camps at Hyderabadhad visited MarkazNizamuddin and attended aJamaat event at Mewat.Furthermore, Rohingyas fromShaheen Bagh who hadundertaken activities related tothe Islamic Missionary orga-nization have not returned.

Essentials distributed among ANMs

Masksdistributed topolicePNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad Traffic Policetook up precautionary mea-sures to ensure personalhygiene and protection oftheir personnel in view of theCoronavirus pandemic. AnilKumar, Traffic AdditionalCommissioner, distributed2,500 hand sanitisers, 10,000masks and 200 face shields tothe police personnel. Thesanitisers were recently donat-ed by film director HarishShankar and masks by JeevanPrasad, a social activist. Apartfrom this, all traffic patrolvehicles and official vehicleswere sanitised.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The RachakondaCommissionerate in collabora-tion with Tata Institute of SocialService (TISS) has started asocial economic profiling andneeds assessment of migrantworkers residing in commis-sionerate. The survey is collect-ing data on the social aspects,including the responsiveness ofthe migrants and psychologicalissues brought on by the lock-down so that the targetedapproach can be helped asneeded.

The survey that began onApril 14, was being conductedat Jawahar Nagar sector 1Mandal parishad school onFriday by the RachakondaPolice with Rachakonda

Security Council (RKSC) vol-unteers. During the survey, aresiding migrant of Malkaramhas requested the team to helptheir new born baby with birthrelated complications.

The baby was delivered athome as the parents could notafford institutional deliverycharges. The JawaharnagarPolice Station Sub InspectorAnil and Circle InspectorBhikshapati Reddy immedi-ately arranged an ambulance toshift the baby to CHC,Malkajgiri with the help ofPawan and Maheswari, RKSCvolunteers. The infant is underthe observation of Dr Raju,superintendent of CHCMalkajgiri. Based on the labreports the baby will be referredto Niloufer Hospital, if needed.

Two womentest positivePNS n HYDERABAD

Two women have tested pos-itive from Musheerabad area,one on Thursday and theother on Friday. Policesources claimed that they donot have a travel history andboth are above 55. Accordingto sources, though the duodid not have a travel historybut might have been in con-tact with Markaz returnees.

"The whole area surround-ing their residence was cor-doned off and the other rel-atives were sent to quarantinecentres. Further steps arebeing followed as per proto-col, the sources said.

Samples of other personsresiding in the home havebeen collected and they aredirected to be in home quar-antine till the results are out.Even if they are negativealso, the residents were toldto be under home quarantine.

Hyd varisty gets approval as Covid-19 testing centrePNS n HYDERABAD

The University of Hyderabad(UoH) has been chosen by thecentral government to add tothe COVID-19 testing capabil-ities in Telangana. Selected tobe part of the city clusterestablished for the region, thepremier university will handleCOVID-19 testing operationsin a separate laboratory locat-ed at the Center for DNAFingerprinting andDiagnostics (CDFD).

The UoH will be part of thecity cluster comprising ofCenter for DNAFingerprinting andDiagnostics (CDFD), CSIR-Centre for Cellular MolecularBiology (CSIR-CCMB),National Institute of AnimalBiotechnology (NIAB), andCSIR-Indian Institute ofChemical Technology (CSIR-IICT). The CSIR-CCMB is

the coordinating institutionfor Hyderabad.

"I am happy that UoH hasbeen identified as a TestingCentre being a Top Researchand teaching University andwe have the facilities and man-power to carry out the tests.Our university along withCDFD is geared to effectivelyhandle the laid down proce-dures for COVID-19 testing.Its a privilege for UoH to be ofhelp to the nation during this

testing times", said Prof AppaRao Podile, Vice-Chancellor,UoH.

The City or Regional clus-ters of testing centres are beingset up to scale up the testingcapacity, and will serve the cityand state in testing of COVID-19 samples.

UoH will immediately iden-tify 15 technical personnel fordata entry, sample sorting,liquoting and coordinationwith other testing labs.

Timely help for newborn

Measures in place to tacklespread of virus, says CS

Covid-19: Mobiles, TV sets pile up for repairs

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Court hasexpressed in concerns over the-growing number of coronaviruspositive cases in the state capi-tal. Itasked the state governmentto spell out how it would per-form Covid-19detection tests inthe coronavirus hotspots of thestate. It askedthe state govern-ment to submit a detailed reporton the issue and adjourned thematter till April 24,2020.

A divisionbench, compris-ing the Chief Justice of the stateJustice RaghavendraSinghChauhan and Justice T.Amarnath Goud passed theorders, whiledealing with abatch of PIL pleas filed ontheissue of the coronavirus.The division bench took up thehearing of the cases throughvideo conference mode.

The advocate-general toldtheHC, during the course ofarguments, that the state govern-ment hadbeen taking all kindsof requisite precautions to con-tain the spreadof the virus,including procurement of test-ing kits and performance of thetests. Responding to the queryraised by the division benchregarding the management ofthe hotspots, he said that specialarrangements had been made tohelp the people residing in theCovid-19hotspots of the state. Inanother PIL plea related to bru-tal attack on an innocent man bythe Wanaparthy police, the HConce again asked the state gov-ernmentweather an FIR wasfiled against the accused policein the case.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020 hyderabad 04

HC to TS govt: Spell out stepstaken to tackle Covid-19

Give time to displacedresidents: High CourtPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Court onFriday directed the state gov-ernment to give time to the dis-placed residents of Ananthagirivillage in Rajanna Sircilla dis-trict till April 22, 2020 to com-pletely shift to the temporaryaccommodation provided tothem before taking possessionand causing submergence ofthe petitioners houses underAnanthagiri reservoir which ispart of Kaleshwaram lift irriga-tion project. A division benchof the HC comprising of theChief Justice of the state JusticeRS Chauhan and Justice

T Amarnath Goud passedthese orders while dealing witha petition filed by the affected

families. Arguing the case thecounsel for the petitioners BRachna Reddy told the HighCourt that the authorities con-cerned were releasing the waterwithout providing the compen-sation to the affected families.

She also said that the waterwas being released despite theongoing lockdown.Responding to this the divisionbench also asked the state gov-ernment to file a counter withcomplete details in the casebefore adjourning the case bytwo weeks. The state govern-ment had provided the accom-modation to the displaced fam-ilies at the designatedResettlement colony as perSchedule III of LandAcquisition Act, 2013.

Pension: Govttold to reviewits decisionPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Courton Friday directed the stategovernment to file a counteraffidavit in the petition filedby Telangana governmentpensioners Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) challeng-ing the GO No 27 issued byit for deferment of 50 per centpension payment in respectof retired employees of thestate.

The petitioner JAC submit-ted that all the pensioners andtheir family members weredependent on the pension fortheir livelihood. During thecourse of arguments, the divi-sion bench asked the advo-cate general on which basis 50per cent deferment of thepension amount was done byit. It also asked the state gov-ernment as to who wouldcome to the rescue of the pen-sioners if they fall ill. It feltthat the decision was notproper as

It would directly affect thelivelihood of the pensioners.The division bench of the HCcomprising of the ChiefJustice of the state Justice RSChauhan and Justice T.Amarnath Goud later postedthe matter to April 24 for fur-ther hearing.

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Some leaders from theTelangana Congress are help-ing the poor, especially themigrant labourers on a regularbasis since the lockdown cameinto force. They are extendinghelp by distributing essentialgoods, vegetables and otheritems.

The Congress leaders -TPCC Minorities Departmentchairman Abdullah SohailShaik, TPCC officialspokesperson Nizamuddin andGHCCC MinoritiesDepartment chairmanWaliullah Sameer, and all DCCpresidents and constituencies'in-charges are extending helpto the poor every day.

Especially, Nizamuddin and

Waliullah Sameer have sup-plied more than one lakh foodpackets besides distributingessential goods packets andvegetable to the needy.Abdullah Sohail Shaik is toocontinuing his philanthropicwork by distributing essentialgoods to the needy since March

22.Every day, Nizamuddin and

Waliulla are distributing foodpackets to the labourers livingin-Golconda Khilla, MD Lines,Hakimpet (Tolichowki),Hakimpet Kunta, Zirra-Asifnagar, Tolichowki andnearby areas.

Speaking to 'The Pioneer',Nizamuddin said that theystart their work every day inthe morning and distributethe food from 3PM onwards tothe needy for their dinner."We are cooking vegetablebiryani or vegetable rice everyday to about 3,000 people. Wealready distributed essentialgoods including 10-kg rice, 2-kg dal, 1-kg Oil, 200 gramMirchi, 100 gram Tamarind,250 gram garlic-ginger mix, 1-kg salt, to about 2,000 families.We will continue this till theend of lockdown," he said.

Abdullah Sohail is extendinghelp to the migrant labourersby reaching out to them follow-ing the suggestions he receivedfrom other states Congressminority departments.Abdullah is mainly distributing

essential goods to the migrantlaborers from other states.

On the other hand,Sangareddy MLA T JaggaReddy is extending help to themigrant labourers by provid-ing vehicle facility to ensurethat the migrant labourersreach their native villages.Jagga Reddy is sending themigrant labourers to theirnative places with his person-al money. So far, he had sendabout 2,000 workers to theirnative places throughSangareddy to Zaheerabad,Maharashtra border,Karnataka border,Narayanakhede, Jukkal,Kamareddy and several otherplaces by arranging DCMvans. In a statement, he madeit clear that he would the samein the coming 15 days.

Congress leaders step up in serving needy

PNS n HYDERABAD

With huge swathes of forestarea in Telangana under sur-veillance by two satellites hiredby the Forest Survey of India(FSI), information regardingforest fires helps the forestdepartment chalk out preven-tive measures particularly dur-ing the summer months.

Wildfires in Telangana aremainly ground fires in natureand manmade (deliberate orincidental), while some arenatural and unintentional.These wildfires occur betweenNovember and May. March isthe most susceptible month forthe wildfires. No loss to forestsand wildlife are reported dueto these ground fires, butground flora and the youngregeneration is only damaged.Beedi leaf collectors, cattlerearers, travelers, pilgrims,illicit cultivators, encroachersetc. are the main causativeactors for ignition of fire.

It is observed that 62 percent of the fires are found to befalling in a slope more than 30per cent, BL unit areas accountfor about 52 per cent of forestfires, forest fire incidences aremore in MDF and OF classes

as compared to other Crowncover density classes. Of thetotal 9,790 compartments it isidentified that, 1,106 com-partments are high fire proneand 1,621 are medium fireprone.

Similarly, 1,279 habitationsare identified as high fireprone out of total 4,252 fringevillages. About 2,530 roadsare identified as high fireprone out of 10,633 forestroads. Forty three ranges arehighly vulnerable to fire.Special attention is given tothese areas besides coveringother areas. Following allthese, the forest officials haveadopted a strategy to combatforest fires. Those include,about 8,000 km fire lines are

created and being maintained;9,470km of Peripheral trench(CPT) is dug up which alsoprevents spread of f ire,besides harvesting of water;Watch towers have been con-structed at vantage locationsas fire observation points;Procured firefighting equip-ment l ike Fire blowers;Deployed Quick responseteams during peak seasonwith hired vehicle in vulner-able ranges, apart from theexisting base camp watchers,strike force members and firewatchers for firefighting andconducting awareness cam-paign; District firefightingcells in the office DFO areestablished in the Districts tohelp reach out in time.

Increase testing, says UttamPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Congress leadershave said that the State govern-ment should increase the num-ber of tests for Coronavirus inthe State. The leaders said thatlarge scale testing should bedone to ensure that the virusdoes not spread from theinfected people to others.

They alleged that TRSMinisters and leaders weremoving around at variousplaces, including Red Zoneareas, in utter violation ofnorms without ensuring socialdistancing. Alleging that thestate government is not behav-ing transparently in regard tofinancial affairs, they said thatthe Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao wasspeaking lies in regard to pro-curement of produce fromfarmers by stating that heallotted Rs 30,000 crore forprocurement where as it needsonly Rs 20,000 crore.

Addressing video-confer-ence with senior leaders onFriday, TPCC chief N UttamKumar Reddy said that thenumber of tests currently beingdone was too low. He said testsshould be done on large scaleto identify the affected people.He said lockdown was not theonly solution to prevent thespread of Coronavirus.

Uttam said that theCongress has been giving con-structive suggestions to thegovernment. However, the rul-ing TRS party leaders are try-ing to take political advantage.He said cases were being reg-

istered against the Congressleaders to prevent them fromdistributing food and otheressential items among needypersons.

Meanhile, he demanded thestate government to reveal asto why it has confined to twoor three government hospitalsfor conducting Corona testsinstead of allowing the ICMRapproved hospitals for tests.Telangana Congress and vari-ous ICMR approved privatehospitals are asking the stategovernment on the same butthe latter is simply neglectingthe issue, he said.

“Besides 2-3 governmenthospitals in Hyd, Covid-19testing is not allowed in anyother TS government or ICMRapproved put Hospitals, despiteour repeated representations.Now this map by researcherJamewils also says ‘no info’ ontesting. Why is TelanganaCMO so secretive on this mat-ter?(sic),” Uttam tweeted.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The asymptomatic natureof Coronavirus has turnedout to be double edgedsword as patients beingtreated in hospital wantto leave. A kind of con-fusion exists amongpatients as they werebrought to hospital eventhough they were general-ly feeling okay and want to goabout their daily lives. Apartfrom treating such patients, thetask at hand for the doctors inGandhi is to explain why theyare patients. Our doctors areinteracting with them andexplaining the details, said theHealth Department officials.

H e a l t hMinister Eatala Rajender alsoconfirmed that 80-90 per centpatients do not have symp-toms. According to TelanganaHealth Department more than

80 per cent of patients beingtreated in Gandhi Hospitalare not showing symptoms."The patients don't have fever,cold, sneeze or cough, butthey were tested positive. Theythink they are not patients, butfor us they are patients," theHealth Department officialssaid.

Such cases are often report-ed during tests done as part ofcontact tracing. Moreover thisIsolation is apparently trou-bling Covid-19 patients, espe-cially since they can't see theirfamily. This is resulting inpatients insisting upon leavingthe premises. Several new stud-ies have shown that carriersshowing mild or even nosymptoms may be helpingspread the virus.

According to RobertRedfield, the director of theCentres for Disease Controland Prevention, 25 per cent ofpeople infected with the newcoronavirus don't present anysymptoms or fall ill but can stilltransmit the illness to others.

HC seeksreport ondisabledPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Court onFriday sought a report on thespecial steps being taken by itto meet the needs of disabledpersons of the state. It askedthe state government to sub-mit the report by April22,2020. A division bench ofthe HC passed these orderswhile dealing with a PublicInterest Litigation (PIL) filedby city based advocate ShivaGanesh Karnati, a native ofUppal. During the course ofarguments done throughvideo conference mode, thecounsel for the petitionerKowturu Pavan Kumar and D.Sudarshan said that the stategovernment had failed toimplement the comprehensivedisability inclusive guidelinesIssued by union governmenton March 26,2020 for protec-tion of and safety of different-ly abled persons during theongoing covid 19 pandemic.They said that the although thestate government had claimedthat it was prepared to face thepandemic covid 19 with theestablishment of necessaryquarantine Center's and isola-tion wards and hospitals, it hasnot turned them disabledfriendly so far.

Cong blamesKCR for tribalwoman'sdeathPNS n HYDERABAD

Former Minister MohammedAli Shabbir exhorted the peo-ple to support the poor andneedy who were hit due tolockdown. He said that theimpact of ongoing crisiscould be minimised if every-one plays his/her role withoutdepending on the authoritiesalone.

Shabbir Ali was speakingto the media after distribut-ing ration kits among 418sanitation workers, water andelectricity staff (municipal) ofKamareddy Municipality onFriday. He informed that theRation Kits comprises of 10items including 5 kg rice, 1 kgoil, 1 kg sugar, etc., His fam-ily members including hisson Mohammed Ilyas, broth-er Mohammed Nayeem andothers also distributed rationkits among 1,100 workers.

Shabbir Ali also blamedthe government for the deathof a Tribal woman inKamareddy who died of heartattack while standing in bankqueue for several hours towithdraw Rs 1,500 depositedby the government. The vic-tim, Kamala Bai, 45, hailedfrom Kannapur Tanda ofRamareddy mandal.

‘Governmentcompletingroad works'PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State FinanceCommission chairman GRajesham Goud, held areview meeting with theFinance Commission offi-cials Suresh Chanda, MemberSecretary and Chenniah,Member and discussed theimpact on local body rev-enues in the State.

In the meeting, the com-mission has discussed variousactivities taken up by the stategovernment to contain thedeadly virus. Under the lead-ership of KCR and KTR, thestate officials and representa-tives have been doing variousinitiatives and extending helpto the poor by supplyingrequired ration and food.

"Government has takengreat initiatives to sanitise theentire state, especially thezones that are at higher riskzones. The government hasalso has taken up variousworks in municipalities tocomplete various road andunderground cable layingworks. The Local and Urbanbody officials and represen-tatives have taken the owner-ship in this fight againstCovid-19 and are doing verygood job to support the peo-ple at any given time,” theysaid.

Discharge us: Asymptomatic patientsHealth MinisterEatala Rajenderalso confirmedthat 80-90 percent patients donot havesymptoms

Satellites come in handyfor Forest Department

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Govt lifts curbs onexports of medicinesmade from ParacetamolNEW DELHI: The governmenton Friday removed restrictionson exports of medicines madefrom Paracetamol amid theoutbreak of Covid-19. However,restrictions on exports ofParacetamol activepharmaceutical ingredients(APIs or raw materials) willcontinue, the DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT) said in a notification. Toexport a product, which isunder restricted category, anexporter requires no-objectioncertificate or permission of alicence from the DGFT. "...Theformulations made fromParacetamol (including fixed-dose combinations)...are madefree for export with immediateeffect. However, ParacetamolAPIs will remain restricted forexport," it said. The governmenton March 3 had put exportrestrictions on 26 pharmaingredients and medicines,including paracetamol.However on April 6, it removedthe export restrictions on 24APIs and formulations exclud-ing Paracetamol. India expor-ted formulations made fromParacetamol worth USD 5.41billion during April-January2019-20. It was USD 5.8 billionin 2018-19. According toMumbai-based doctor SachinRamteke, Paracetamol is usedcommonly to treat body painand fever. "It is used as sym-ptomatic treatment to controlbody temperature," he said.

Disappointed with RBIannouncements, needmore measures tohelp poor: Congress

Yes Bank scam:Wadhawan brothers'plea for FIR rejectedMUMBAI: A special court herehas rejected the plea of DHFLpromoter Kapil Wadhawan andhis brother Dheeraj, seekinginspection and certified copiesof the FIR registered againstthem in connection with theYes Bank scam. The plea wasrejected by the court on thegrounds that the matter is noturgent and the accused hasliberty to apply after thelockdown is lifted, Wadhawans'lawyer said on Friday. TheWadhawan brothers are namedas accused in the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)FIR pertaining to the swindlingof money by Yes Bankpromoter Rana Kapoor andothers. Both Kapil and Dheerajwere absconding since the casewas registered against them onMarch 7, prompting the CBI toget non-bailable warrants(NBWs) against them from aspecial court.

NEW DELHI: The Congressexpressed disappointment overthe announcements made bythe Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Friday to support theeconomy, saying thegovernment should take moremeasures to mitigate theproblems of the poor peoplesuffering due to thecoronavirus-induced lockdown.Senior Congress leader AjayMaken claimed the measuresannounced by the RBI wouldnot help all those who aresuffering due to the crisiscaused by the virus and said thecountry's central bank shouldintroduce more measures.

PNS n BENGALURU

Scores of people thronged afarmhouse to get a glimpse ofthe wedding of former PrimeMinister and JD(S) supremo, HD Deve Gowda's grandsonNikhil Kumaraswamy, ignor-ing appeals not to visit thevenue in view of the ongoinglockdown in the wake of theCOVID-19 outbreak.

Nikhil, son of former ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy,tied the nuptial knot withRevathi, the grand-niece offormer Karnataka housingminister M Krishnappa.

The marriage was solem-nised at Kumaraswamy'sKethaganahalli farmhouse atBidadi in the neighbouringRamanagara district, a JD(S)stronghold.

"The information we have isthat at least 150 to 200 vehicleswere given permission toattend the event. This hap-pened when the social workerswho want to serve the badlyaffected poor people are notgetting permission to run theirvehicles," Ramanagar BJP dis-trict president M Rudreshalleged.

"Till now Ramanagara issafe from coronavirus and is in

the green zone. If at all the dis-ease spreads in Ramanagara,the entire blame will be onDeve Gowda's family," Rudreshalleged.

He also said that he wouldmeet the Deputy Commission-er and the Superintendent ofPolice of Ramanagara districtand ask them how permissionwas granted for such a "largegathering".

JD(S) MLC T A Sharavanadenied allegations that thelockdown norms were flouted.

"There were only eight peo-ple on the stage to perform rit-uals as against the claim thatpeople crowded the venue.Social distancing was main-tained throughout the mar-riage," Sharavana told P T I.

JD(S) leader N H Konaraddialso denied the accusationssaying that all the norms werefollowed.

"Whatever central guide-lines are there, we have themfollowed in toto. The social dis-tancing norm has also beenadhered to," he said.

Sources said the family wasforced to shelve grand plans inview of the COVID-19 lock-down with only close familymembers in attendance.

With congregation of anytype not allowed during thelockdown to check the spread ofcoronavirus, Kumaraswamyexplained in a video message ear-lier this week that the event willbe a low-key family affair withminimum number of people. He

had also appealed to his partyworkers, relatives and well-wish-ers not to visit the venue.

According to him, after thelockdown was announced, themarriage was planned at theirhome here itself but sincesocial distancing will be achallenge, it was decided toorganise it in Ramanagara. Hecited Bengaluru being in the"Red Zone" with maximumCOVID-19 cases in the state asalso a reason for shift in thevenue.

Lockdown norms ignored atformer PM grandson's wedding PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Doctors, nurses and all healthservice providers in Odisha'sCOVID-19 hospitals areplaced under quarantine for 14days after they have tended topatients for about the sameperiod in a particular month,a top official here said.

Arrangements for safetyhave been made for healthworkers in the facilities ear-marked for coronaviruspatients, and those dealingwith suspected or confirmedcases provided with PersonalProtection Equipment (PPE),Development Commissioner SC Mohapatra said onThursday.

"Currently, the state has 24dedicated COVID-19 hospi-tals. Eleven more will be upand running by April 20.Doctors, nurses are workingfor 15 days in a month andputting up in an accommoda-tion given to them. Their foodand other requirements aretaken care of...

"After having worked for 14or 15 days, they undergo quar-antine for the same periodbefore resuming service,"Mohapatra said.

All healthcare serviceproviders have been told not toreturn home or come in con-tact with their family members

for the time being, he main-tained. "Arrangements havebeen made for the hospital staffin hotels and hostels. Otherfacilities are also being set upfor them. These professionalshave been given special train-ing on how to handle COVID-19 patients. They conductmock-drill before startingwork," he said.

Noting that Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik had directedofficials to set up dedicatedhospitals when just about oneor two cases surfaced,Mohapatra said a total of 3,951beds and 293 ICU beds havebeen set up in the 24 COVID-19 facilities.

Some of these facilities havecome up in a matter of 20-25days, he said.

"The dedicated hospitals willensure that coronavirus

patients get focused treatmentin a professional manner andmedical staff and other patientsin general hospitals are notexposed to infection,"Mohapatra said.

14-day quarantine in a monthfor docs, nurses in Odisha

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) has begun distribution ofPPEs and masks being preparedby its troops and their families,to a number of organisations atthe frontline of the battle againstcoronavirus, officials said onFriday. Last week, the ITBP hadlaunched a special stitching facil-ity at its camp located at Saboliin Haryana's Sonipat district toprepare protective gear.

A senior official said 200 PPEsand 200 masks have been provid-ed to Haryana Urban LocalBody (ULB), 50 PPEs to RohtakDental College, 20 PPE suits and50 masks to Sarvodaya Vidyalayain Rohini, Delhi and 20 PPEs and50 masks to the Kondli (eastDelhi) municipal corporation.

"These COVID-19 protectiongear are meant to be used by peo-ple working at quarantine facil-ities and rendering similar ser-

vices. These are not meant for useby doctors at hospitals who aretreating coronavirus patients,"ITBP Director General (DG) S SDeswal said.

He said the force is ramping upits capacity to prepare moresuch medical equipment to caterto other organisations.

"Some sister forces like theCentral Industrial Security Forceare also in touch with us and we

will provide them PPEs andmasks," the ITBP chief said.

The senior official quotedabove said all such equipmentdistributed till now has beengiven free and the force is man-aging the cost of production fromits monetary reserves. The PPEsprepared by the ITBP cost aboutRs 100, while the price of maskscomes to less than Rs 5, he said.

These products have also been

analysed for use by the NorthernIndian Textile ResearchAssociation (NITRA) and the AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), Delhi, theofficial said.

"Till now, we have been fabri-cating these items for our ownuse in health and quarantinefacility management centres butdue to the increased demand, theforce is planning to enhance the

daily capacity to double the pre-sent volume," an ITBPspokesperson said.

At present, 200 PPEs and 500masks are being fabricated at theSaboli centre every day, he said.

The Wives WelfareAssociation is also chipping inthis task and it has preparedabout 1,000 masks till now. Itsmembers are stitching masks athome and sending it to theSaboli centre, he said.

“Some requests for supply ofthese items are also being madeto us on social media and we arelooking at their requirements tocater to them as quickly as pos-sible,” the spokesperson said.

The ITBP is also running aquarantine facility in Delhi, oneof the largest in the country with1,000 beds, since January 28.About 1,200 Indians and foreign-ers, rescued from coronavirus-affected countries, have beencatered to by this facility till now.

With congregationof any type notallowed duringthe lockdown tocheck the spreadof coronavirus,Kumaraswamyexplained in avideo messageearlier this weekthat the event willbe a low-keyfamily affair withminimum numberof people

ITBP begins distribution of PPEs, masks to frontline agencies"Some sisterforces like theCentral IndustrialSecurity Forceare also in touchwith us and wewill provide themPPEs andmasks," the ITBPchief said

PNS n AIZAWL

After launching teachingthrough television channels,the Mizoram Board of SchoolEducation (MBSE) has decid-ed to conduct the remainingHigher Secondary SchoolLeaving Certificate (HSSLC)examinations from April 22, anofficial release said on Friday.

The release said that theremaining HSSLC examina-tions of Arts, Science andCommerce streams would beheld from April 22 to April 24in all the (HSSLC) examina-tion centres under the MBSE.

In view of the extension ofthe nationwide lockdown tillMay 3, the Central governmenthas stopped regular and ongo-ing academic -- normal andoff-line -- activities and inter-actions to prevent the spreadof coronavirus.

However, various state gov-ernments have initiated andencouraged online teaching

and coaching for the students.In Mizoram, lessons for stu-dents on several subjects arebeing telecast from Monday toSaturday via the AizawlDoordarshan Kendra.

"The half-an-hour teachingprogramme began on Monday(April 13). Students are toattend these classes on DDKAizawl Channel," an officialfrom the Mizoram EducationDepartment said.

He said that the school

education department hasinstructed all the students togive priority to home school-ing and their parents mustalso monitor them duringthis period.

Meanwhile, Mizoram HealthMinister R. Lalthangliana saidin a separate press release thatthe 22-year-old woman fromAizawl, who had tested positivefor coronavirus at a Mumbaihospital on April 13, is a breastcancer patient.

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

On March 19, as the first flushof COVID-19 cases were beingreported from across the coun-try, a man flew from Dubai toKerala's Kannur and waspromptly asked to self-isolate athome for 28 days, despite show-ing no symptoms associatedwith the novel coronavirus.

He was tested on April 14 - 26days later - while he was stillasymptomatic; the state took thisprecaution because his travel his-tory placed him in a high-riskcategory. Two days later he wasfound to be COVID-19 positive.

On March 20 two othersreturned to Kannur from Dubaiand both were placed in isolation.They too were asymptomatic,meaning they showed no symp-toms. As with the above case,samples were collected on April14 and they returned positive forthe novel coronavirus on April 16.

According to the KannurDistrict Medical Officer, of the 248people who had returned fromabroad and were tested for the

virus, 17 were found COVID-19positive. Around 95 per cent ofthese 17 cases were asymptomatic.

"We are following a strict 28-day isolation (period) and high-risk category people are beingtested, even if asymptomatic.There is nothing to worry aboutbecause all these people havebeen in strict mandatory isola-tion with regular follow-ups," KNarayana Naik, the medical offi-cer said. However, the story is alittle different in most otherparts of the country, where thetesting criteria for COVID-19 isstill the display of symptoms dur-ing a 14-day isolation period.

Are 14 days enough?Kerala's case for 28-day quarantine

Mizoram to conduct remainingboard exams from April 22

RBI steps will help protectlivelihoods of people: NaddaPNS n NEW DELHI

BJP president J P Nadda saidon Friday that the measurestaken by the RBI to deal withthe crisis caused by coron-avirus will help protect thelivelihoods of people by infus-ing liquidity and improvingcredit flow.

Under the leadership ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, the government is tak-ing all necessary steps to helpthe economy cope with thiscrisis arising out of COVID-19, Nadda said.

"Initial ? 50,000 Cr to sup-port small & mid NBFCs,refinance facilities of ?25,000Cr to NABARD to help farm-ers, ?15,000 Cr to SIDBI toboost loans to start-ups &SMEs, ?10,000 Cr to NHB tosupport housing for all, willprove to be significant steps,"the BJP president tweeted,citing various measuresannounced by RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das.

The Reserve Bank of Indiaon Friday cut the reverse reporate and announced a slew ofmeasures including re-financewindow of Rs 50,000 crore andtargetted long term repo auc-tion of similar amount to dealwith the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Das assured that the RBIwill use all instruments at itsdisposal to deal with the chal-lenges posed by the outbreakof the novel coronavirus,depending on the evolvingsituation.

PNS n JAMMU

The Pakistan Army on Fridayshelled civilians areas and for-ward posts along the Line ofControl (LoC) in town sectorsof Poonch district, drawingretaliation from the IndianArmy, officials said. This is 13thconsecutive day of shellingand firing by Pakistani troopsalong the LoC in Jammu andKashmir. On Thursday, Pakis-tan targeted civilian areas andforwards posts along the LoCin three sectors of Poonch andRajouri districts, officials said."At about 1100 hours, the Paki-stan Army initiated unprovok-ed ceasefire violation alongLoC in Qasba & Kirni sectorsof district Poonch by firing withsmall arms", Defence spokes-man Lt Col Anand said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Friday saidmigrants and daily wagers shouldbe incentivised as it put forth a 10-point demand charter before theArvind Kejriwal government tohelp those in distress in thenational capital due to COVID-19. The party demanded thatfixed power charges be waived offand school fees should not becharged from students, besidespayment of salaries of schoolteachers in aided schools andworkers in MSMEs by the govern-ment. Congress senior spokesper-son Ajay Maken sought StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs),to be notified as regulations, fordelivery boys in the national cap-ital to help stop the spread of thedeadly virus through them.

He said all 89 people who were

in touch with a Pizza deliveryboy, feared to be infected with thevirus, and have been quarantinedshould be immediately tested.

Addressing a press conferencethrough video-conferencing,Maken said testing should beramped up in the national cap-ital and asked whether Delhi hadentered the community trans-mission stage-3 of the virus as135 people have been kept"under investigation".

Cong makes 10-pointdemand charter to Delhi govt

IAF chopper makesemergency landingin Hoshiarpur,pilots safePNS n HOSHIARPUA

An Apache helicopter of theIndian Air Force made anemergency landing in thefields of Budhawar village inthe district on Friday follow-ing a technical glitch, officialssaid. Two pilots on board —Flight Lieutenant Anoop andFlight Lieutenant Rajat —aresafe. There was no damage tothe helicopter or on theground, they said. The heli-copter had taken off from thePathankot base.

PNS n PALGHAR

Three persons were draggedout of their car and beaten todeath by a group of villagersin Palghar district ofMaharashtra on suspicionthat they were thieves, policesaid on Friday.

Inspector Anandrao Kaleof the Kasa police station saidthe gruesome incident tookplace between 9.30-10 pm onThursday.

The mob attack took placeat a time when a nationwidelockdown is in force to curbthe spread of coronavirus.

The identity of the victimswas not yet established, hesaid, adding more than 100people have been detained bythe police.

Three ‘thieves’beaten to death,100 detained

Army surround attackerswho killed SPO in KishtwarPNS n JAMMU

A gunbattle has broken outbetween security forces andthe suspected terrorists whokilled a special police officerand critically injured his col-league in Jammu andKashmir's Kishtwar districtearly this week, officials said.

On Monday, the suspectsattacked the SPOs with axes inTander village and escaped intothe jungle. The police had beenon their trail since and locatedthem on Friday. Additionalsecurity forces were rushedand a gunbattle ensued, a policeofficer said, adding detailswould be made available later.

The attackers have beenidentified as local residentsAshiq Hussain, a rape accusedwho was released on bail from

Kishtwar Central Jail threeweeks ago, and BasharatHussain.

The official said the two arebelieved to have joined the ter-rorist ranks and carried out theattack to lay their hands ontheir weapons. This was thefirst terror attack in Kishtwardistrict this year.

Kishtwar was rocked by aseries of terrorist attacks inNovember 2018, when it sawits first terror attack in over adecade.

New portable UV racket candisinfect surfaces just by wavingPNS n NEW DELHI

Researchers have developed aportable racket with ultravio-let (UV) light which they saycan disinfect almost every sur-face — from groceries, e-com-merce packets, keys, currencynotes to vehicles — simply bywaving the device over them,and may help in the fightagainst the COVID-19 pan-demic.

The 80-centimetre-longracket comprises of an ovalhead which has tubes of UVC— ultraviolet light with wave-lengths between 200-280nanometres — embedded onthe one side, the researcherssaid.

The other side of the deviceis covered with a metallic sheet

to shield the person holding itfrom bodily contact withharmful UVC rays, they said.

"The current pandemic hasshown that we need to be morevigilant about our safety andshould ideally disinfect any-thing that we carry from out-side into our homes," MandeepSingh, an assistant professor atLovely Professional University

(LPU) in Punjab, told PTI."Our UV racket is a perfect

solution to achieve this.Whether it is keys, bags, fooddelivery or e-commerce pack-ets; one needs to wave the rack-et over them just for a few min-utes to disinfect them,” Singhsaid.

The researchers explainedthat all one needs to do is towave the racket over the surfaceswhile holding it at a distance of4-5 inches from the object for60 seconds to disinfect it.

The racket is also equippedwith an object movement iden-tification feature, which meansthe device shuts the sanitisingprocess if it observes anyhuman intervention, to avoidany harm to the human skin,they said.

Pak Army shellscivilian areas inPoonch

"Arrangements havebeen made for thehospital staff inhotels and hostels.Other facilities arealso being set up forthem. These profess-ionals have beengiven special trainingon how to handleCOVID-19 patients.They conduct mock-drill before startingwork," he said

The incidents that unfolded atBandra West recently suggestthat the gross insensitiveness

of both the Centre and the state gov-ernments towards the crisis facingmigrant workers has finally reachedits tipping point. Thousands ofworkers took to the streets imme-diately after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced theextension of the Coronavirus-inducednationwide lockdown.

Considering that the eventualextension has figured in discussionsfor over two weeks prior to theannouncement, one can't help butask: Why, knowing very wellmigrant workers' plight, the govern-ment willingly glossed over theissue? Why could they not utilisethe lead time to prepare for trans-port of the workers? Or, worse still,are the discomforts and issues of theunorganised sector of no impor-tance to the ruling parties which riseto power in every election with theirvotes?

Another problem that haunts

society now is the spread of fakenews as if it is competing with coro-navirus in terms of speed. A singlepiece of unsubstantiated news drovethousands of people on to thestreets on Mumbai, regardless oflockdown curbs, police posts and,above all, the risks of contracting thevirus. The unstoppable forwardingof messages too reared its ugly head.All of this undermines the serious-ness of the state of affairs and onecould even say that we are now fac-ing the risk of citizens lowering theirsocial responsibility. With little orno accountability, citizens, partic-ularly the unlettered ones,have nooption but to buy into whateverfalse news or views irresponsiblepublications trot out. If the recentevents are not proof enough of theforegoing aberrations, nothing elsecan be!

It could very well be argued thattravel is of the least importance,considering the gravity of the situ-ation in the country. The efforts ofthe government over the last one

month would have been in vain hadthe railways operated even for 24hours. The already terrorising pan-demic would know no boundsand the situation would be well outof anyone's hands. Consideringthis, the bare minimum that couldbe done is to provide adequate andproper shelter as well as resourcesto these migrant workers who arecrammed in makeshift shelterswith unstable roofs and uncleanbathrooms, which would bring

more diseases than prevent any.Social distancing, which the Centreand state governments preach,sounds hollow if one looks at theconditions in which migrant work-ers are 'sheltered'.

States would well to follow inthe footsteps of Kerala, whichaccounts for 65% of the shelters thatthe country has for migrant work-ers. Alongside testing for the virus,the state has made providing foodfor these workers a top priority. The

state dishes out food every day forover 54 lakh migrant workers.Thereis undoubtedly, an unprecedentedchallenge at hand. And, at times likethis, it is easy to lose sight of whoit is that really needs help. The statescannot afford to forget that theseworkers, who are living indeplorable conditions, thousands ofkilometres from their homes, areheroes, alongside everyone who issacrificing their comforts for thewellness of society. Providing themwith decent facilities is essential tolet them know in the darkest hourof their lives that they are not alone.This the least any government cando for them.

At the end of the day, the coun-try, post lockdown, would requirethe services of migrant workersmost to help recoup the lossescaused by the virus and put theeconomy back on a trajectory ofgrowth.

Chandra LekhaLaw Student

O.P. Jindal Global University

Peering through the window, Icould see the iconic Manhattanlandscape with its tall towerssoaring into the sky. I was on anAmerican Airlines flight from

Washington DC that was set to land atwhat was then Idlewild Airport and is nowJohn F Kennedy International Airport.That was my first view of New York City(NYC) and the date, if memory serves, wasMarch 2, 1960.

Over the years, New York has becomemy second-most favourite city, the firstbeing Kolkata, where I was born andwhere I grew up, and which remains homedespite my decades in Delhi. I, therefore,deeply mourn the tragedy that has struckboth NYC and New York state in the formof a massive COVID-19 attack, sendingthousands to the hereafter and paralysinga throbbing megacity with its vibrantdiversity of peoples and cultures, waxingalong its wide avenues and in the shad-ows of its concrete canyons, epitomisedby the Wall Street.

I am not the proverbial New Yorkerwho has lived in the city for years and feelsthe richness of its life in his/her viscera. Iam an outsider whose many visits, nonemore than a month long at a time, have leftbehind a string of warm memories of excit-ing encounters with people, visits to gal-leries and museums, of the buzz of manyvoices in bars, varied fares in restaurantsand hours of bookshop browsing (alas mostof them have now closed down). The vari-ety of people one sees is stunning — rang-ing from White Anglo-Saxon Protestants(WASPS) to African Americans, fromthose of European origin to those ofChinese, Latin American, Sri Lankan,Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian stock,from those in dark suits scurrying aroundin the financial district in lower Manhattan,to residual hippies lounging around in theVillage’s Washington Square Park.

My memories, too, are diverse. Iremember the West End Bar on theBroadway opposite Columbia University.Later closed down, it was frequented by theuniversity’s faculty members and studentsand, often, by celebrities and writers. It washere that Jack Kerouac (On the Road, TheDharma Bums, The Subterraneans et al),William S Burroughs (of Naked Lunch andJunkie and much else) and Allen Ginsberg(Howl and Other Poems and Kaddish andOther Poems) held court, gave identity toBeat writing and shaped its emerging con-tours, with the word “Beat” being first usedby Hubert Edwin Huncke (Guilty ofEverything: The Autobiography of HerbertEdwin Huncke and The Evening SunTurned Crimson among others).

Prior to gentrification in the last cou-ple of decades or so, the area aroundColumbia University and the West EndBar was marked by poverty and a highcrime rate. Now the Beats and kindred

souls have left along withjunkies, hustlers and muggers;the Yuppies (young, upwardly-mobile professionals) and theuniversity authorities have takenover much of it. A sigh for that.But then NYC has seen manytransient bursts of literary andartistic excellence under thecanopy of its fervid creativity.The area around the ColumbiaUniversity and the West End Baris a part of West Harlem which,in turn, is included in the widersprawl of Harlem, envelopingthe central and eastern part ofthe latter, in the northern reach-es of NYC.

In the 1920s and early1930s, the entire area was thevenue of what has come to beknown as the HarlemRenaissance, which saw a flow-ering of African American cul-ture in the spheres of literature,music, theatre, visual art andsculpture. There was an explo-sion of music, particularly jazz.Paul Robeson was a toweringpresence. Many others, whobecame tall eminences later, cuttheir teeth at the Cotton Club,for a long time a Whites-onlynightclub at the heart of Harlem,which featured promisingAfrican American performers.Duke Ellington, composer,pianist and jazz orchestra leader,made his mark here. LouisArmstrong, trumpeter, who pro-foundly influenced the evolutionof jazz, played here. Lena Horne,

singer, dancer, actress and civilrights activist, made her markhere, as did Ethel Waters, cele-brated for her mellifluous ren-dering of the blues and AdelaideHall, the noted jazz singer wholater migrated to Britain.

The visual and plastic artsflourished. Aaron Douglas’spaintings and Augusta Savageand Meta Warrick’s sculptureswere widely and criticallyapplauded. It was equally a timefor intellectual ferment, whichowed much to the collection ofessays, The Soul of Black Folk(1903) by WEB Du Bois, sociol-ogist, historian, civil rightsactivist, author and editor. Heplayed a major, if not defining,role in shaping the HarlemRenaissance, as did MarcusGarvey, founder of the UniversalNegro Improvement Association(UNIA) and the AfricanCommunities league. The wide-ly-circulated weekly newspaper,Negro World, which he foundedand ran on behalf of the UNIA,and The Crisis, the quarterlymouthpiece of the NAACPwhich Du Bois founded in 1910and edited until 1934, played acritically important role in pub-lishing African American writersand giving them much-neededvisibility.

Langston Hughes was, per-haps, the most important literaryfigure of the Harlem Renaissance.Countee Collen left behind hismark as a poet. Arna Bontemps

and Jean Toomer were importantwriters whom The Crisis gavesalience. While the Renaissance’srole in enabling individual writ-ers to be recognised and success-ful is important, much more soits contribution to laying thegroundwork for the evolution ofAfrican-American conscious-ness and literature and definingits ethos. Du Bois wanted AfricanAmerican artists to remembertheir moral responsibility project-ing the issue of racial equality intheir work. James Baldwin, thenovelist and essayist whose writ-ings shook the United States inthe 1960s, did this in all his works,and, particularly tellingly, inNobody Knows My Name andThe Fire Next Time.

Unfortunately, the GreatDepression delivered a cripplingblow; other factors like internalsquabbling worsened matters.The Harlem Renaissance hob-bled to an end in the early 1930s.As they say, sic transit Gloriamundi (Thus goes worldly glory).Before waning, however, it pro-jected the ethos and culture ofAfrican Americans on theirterms and not in terms of thestereotypes many Whites hadimposed on them. With its cre-ative reverberations spreading farand wide, it made the world situp and take note. It aroused thelatent pride of African Americansin their own accomplishments,culture and capabilities and madethem progressively unwilling to

suffer the discrimination that hadcontinued to be heaped on themdespite the abolition of slavery.The road was prepared for themovement for equality, an issuethat was gaining increasingmomentum, to swell into thetidal wave of the civil rightsmovement of the 1960s whenmany barriers collapsed.

The 1960s were a turbulentperiod. Besides the peaking of thecivil rights movement, the oneagainst the United States’ partic-ipation in the Vietnamese War (asDavid Elliott calls it in his defin-itive book the by the same name),convulsed the campuses andstreets. NYC was no exceptionand the highest point in the mul-tiplicity of protest meetings,marches and sit-ins was clearlythe April 15 Spring Mobilisationmarch against the war inVietnam, which attracted sever-al hundreds of thousands of par-ticipants.

In NYC, the civil rights,anti-war and the Beat move-ments, which often overlapped,flowed parallelly in the 1960s.The three subsided in theearly1970s. The reasons were sev-eral. The civil rights legislation ofthe 1960s seemed to have takensome of the edge of the AfricanAmerican drive for equality. TheVietnamese war limped to aclose in 1972. Internal feudssplit the Left-leaning Students fora Democratic Society, which wasactive in both the anti-war andcivil rights movements. Allinvolved were tired of the pro-longed campus unrest.

The Beat movement hadalso lost steam. The East VillageOther, the shrill voice of counter-culture and protest, died in1972. The Village Voice, a soberplatform of creative dissentfounded in 1955, ceased publi-cation in 2017, surviving onlinetill 2018. The Bohemiansmoved out of the village. YetNew York was not bereft ofexcitement. The village had itsjazz and restaurants. Until theCOVID-19 horror struck, per-formances and exhibitions drewthousands to the Lincoln Centrefor the Performing Arts, whichnow houses the New YorkPhilharmonic, the MetropolitanOpera, the New York City Balletand the Julliard School of Music.The Museum of Modern Artand the American Museum ofNatural History drew streams ofvisitors.

Over the whole city nowhangs the sinister shadow of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Will itever recover? It did from thetrauma of 9/11. Will there nowbe a second coming? Thosefamiliar with NYC’s resilienceknow there will be.

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

Months before the deadly Coronavirusvirus struck the world, we had never evenheard of Zoom, the US-based video con-

ferencing app that was first founded in 2011 bya Chinese immigrant Eric S Yuan. With countriesfacing a nationwide lockdown, almost the entireworld population was compelled to work fromhome and it is here that it became a critical com-ponent of an enabling technological infrastructure.So much so that after TikTok and Whatsapp, itranked as the third-largest downloaded app.According to data, in India itself, in the 10 days

between March 1 and 11, when work from home arrangements were just begin-ning to kick in, there were 1.25 lakh Zoom downloads. But at the same time, con-cerns regarding an increasing dependence on this platform were already red-flagged.In fact, there are serious questions about privacy and security. This is why the UnionGovernment’s latest advisory warning against the usage of the application as it was“unsafe” and “vulnerable to cyber crimes” doesn’t spring a surprise. But the popu-larity of the app cannot be denied. From conducting business meetings to facilitat-ing religious services, to conducting online classes and even meeting friends for vir-tual hangouts, it has become the default social chatroom. The benefits are far toomany to lure in a network of users. Its services are free (superior services are chargedthough), it can accommodate up to 100 users in a single video call and has addi-tional features, for example, foregrounding the speaker. It is a saviour for people inself-isolation, who are dying to catch a glimpse of another human face.Undoubtedly, when world stocks are plummeting, its share price has doubled. Makesone wonder if anybody had anticipated a work from home scenario?

But now it appears if this was another Chinese effort to mine data of its usersto create a world surveillance network. Perhaps this is the reason the Governmentis warning against its use in secure communications. Accusations involve the already-established concerns on privacy and end-to-end encryption. Its ease of use alsoencouraged bad actors — there have been several cases where users have takenrecourse to making racist attacks, child abuse, even pornography. While the com-pany is still making amendments on a daily basis, it has also cultivated an image ofbeing a snooper on the prowl. And its admission that some calls were “mistaken-ly” routed to China is not reassuring at all. Nobody knows the shape of a post-COVIDworld but politics is in full play.

In the beginning, it seemed like a genuinely coop-erative effort, the decision to fight COVID-19 inthe Indian context and within our set of challenges

and resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi,known for his muscular approach, did enforce anationwide lockdown in the world’s most popu-lous democracy, overriding any other concernexcept that of saving lives and arresting the spi-ral of the disease. There were several rounds ofdiscussions with Chief Ministers of affected States,experiences and lessons were shared and an all-party consultation held. Modi himself did set aside

politics on the shelf and even consulted his predecessor Manmohan Singh on theeconomic fallout of the disease. Then the reverse migration of the daily wage earn-ers threw everybody off guard and the humanitarian crisis of returning labourers,wanting to escape the forced lockdown, the big city disease and work in their ownfields for whatever it paid added another front in the battle. And now that everybodyis up to the gills in trying to assess the trajectory of the problem, they are comingapart yet again. Although Central despatches talk about a peak in May/June beforea petering out, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he doesn’t expect thecurve to flatten before September. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlotexpressed concerns over the phased and gradual easing of lockdowns, saying thedisease spiral was such that an opening up decision could go either way. Now asthe nerves are fraying at the edges, both ruling and Opposition parties have begunwhataboutery and mutual blame games at a time when we are just about reining inthe disease and need to choke and chase it away. The Maharashtra BJP is blamingthe Shiv Sena alliance Government of Uddhav Thackeray for mishandling the migrantissue. The Bengal BJP is blaming the Mamata Banerjee Government for fudging deathfigures in cases of co-morbidities and the Delhi BJP is in a war of words with theAam Aadmi Party Government over access to medical gear and testing. Now there’sa raging war over whether we are testing enough, although the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) is confining tests to hotspot clusters, claiming the pene-trative approach, and not wasting kits. Of course, the rapid antibody tests have justlanded. Perhaps the distancing between the Centre and Opposition States is becom-ing more pronounced over issues of transparency.

It is a fact that apart from his national addresses, rallying his citizen soldiers fora big fight, the Prime Minister hasn’t exactly held a press conference or been talk-ing to the media, except for some confabulations with newspaper barons on sec-toral concerns. His Health Minister, too, is missing from daily briefings, leaving thatjob to the Health Secretary. In comparison, Chief Ministers of all Opposition Stateshave been interactive on a daily basis, keeping their people abreast of developmentsand spelling out strategies according to the evolving situation. This spontaneity andhands-on approach have not only struck a chord with the people, they have madethe Chief Ministers look taller than they were before COVID-19. Politically, the suc-cess of Chief Ministers like Gehlot in Rajasthan with the Bhilwara model or PinarayiVijayan in Kerala has given them a doer-deliverer image that will last for a while. NoBJP Chief Minister is being seen as proactive, continuing to be just under Modi’sshadow. Even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, only ridiculed these days without anypolitical capital, has emerged as a mature version, something which he could havedone long before. He, too, held an impromptu press conference and though pro-voked, refrained from attacking the Modi Government over crisis management. Truthbe told, he did raise an alarm about the possible COVID-19 impact as early as February,has been harping on early testing to save lives and pleading for an economic pack-age. However, he was pooh-poohed by not just the BJP’s IT cell but its senior lead-ers. Still, at the press conference, he emphasised how all parties should work togeth-er in a united fashion to face the crisis. Rahul, who had paid dearly for personallyattacking Modi, has been mature in his approach. In fact, he just insisted on mak-ing “constructive suggestions” to the Government, calling for direct cash transfersto migrants and rushing the overstocked foodgrains in a disciplined manner. He istaking the moral high ground and at least started to make sense. And with his pressconference, he is just pointing to the vacuum in communication from the other side.Communication dissolves panic and fear. Everybody is using the COVID-19 sce-nario to reap dividends later on. The Prime Minister has stepped up no doubt, butneeds to build a credible and constructive talking point, too. And be seen as a deliv-erer rather than speech-maker.

Who has the eyeballs?P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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op nionHYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020

06

Empire state of mind

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

Will New York city rise again from the shadow of COVID-19? It did from the trauma of 9/11.Will there now be a second coming? Those familiar with NYC’s resilience know there will be

Over the past few days, I post-ed a few tweets. After that, Istarted getting threateningmessages on my social mediahandles. I am no Zaira Wasim,I wouldn’t get threatened.

Grappler—Babita Phogat

I don’t get to sleep enough asI don’t get tired enough. I feelthere should be a certainamount of discipline andpatience. I hope we all comeout as better human beings.

Actor—Arjun Kapoor

Given these differences, thechoices made and whatChina is today, which Irespect, let’s not be so naiveas to say it’s been much better at handling this.

French President —Emmanuel Macron

S O U N D B I T EZoom into our lives

Humanity faces perhaps thetrial of its time as Covid-19grips the world. The missionis to do whatever to preventthe epidemiological curvefrom steeping any further.

RBI Governor—Shaktikanta Das

Opp CMs are stealing a march with their interactive strategiesvis-à-vis the handout briefings of the Centre

With concerns over privacy, is the Chinese appmasking data mining and surveillance?

STATES WOULD WELLTO FOLLOW IN THEFOOTSTEPS OFKERALA, WHICHACCOUNTS FOR 65%OF THE SHELTERSTHAT THE COUNTRYHAS FOR MIGRANTWORKERS

Centre, state governments mustnot glossover migrants' crisis

Crime and punishment

CANADA WILL BE ONE OF THE EARLY BORDERS WITH THE US TO BE RELEASED ONCE

THE RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED. —US PRESIDENT

DONALD TRUMP

WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTOF TIME, STILL, BEFORE WE CAN TALK ABOUTLOOSENING SUCH RESTRICTIONS.—CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Does it make sense to be politically correctwhen faced with an existentialist crisis? Ifa person is fighting for his/her life and finds

that survival depends not just on his/her ownactions but also on the actions of theneighbours/community, how should one respond?

The choices are pretty stark and binary, thereis no time or place for grey areas and that is howit should be. Simply put, good deeds must berewarded while bad deeds must be punished. Andpolitical correctness be damned.

During the present pandemic, as the numberof confirmed Coronavirus cases and casualtiescontinue to spiral not just globally but also in thecountry, there are millions of anonymous doctors,nurses and other healthcare professionals, mediapersonnel, soldiers, policemen, grocers and shop-keepers, delivery staff, sanitation workers andmany others, who keep our essential services func-tional. They are on the frontline, battling theCOVID-19 monster, keeping us safe without a carefor their personal safety and for the future of theirfamilies.

Many healthcare workers have even beeninfected and died due to the pandemic. These“Corona warriors” must be thanked and applaud-ed for their dedication and resilience, whereverin the world they may be. In fact, more than justgestures, we must reciprocate and do our best tokeep them safe, albeit by ensuring that weremain disciplined and follow rules regardingsocial and physical distancing; contribute what wecan to make their lives easier and, most impor-tantly, treat them with the respect they deserve.

The other side of the coin pertains to how wedeal with those who violate social and physical dis-tancing norms, knowingly or unknowingly,“Covidiots” as they have commonly come to beknown. Ignorance after over two months of fac-ing this pandemic is no longer a viable excuse andthose who violate norms must be treated as delib-erate defaulters, regardless of how illiterate or igno-rant they may actually be. The motivation for theiractions obviously stems from the belief that eitherit is not in their hands or that they are unlikelyto be effected by the virus, even if they catch it.

The problem of disciplining or getting thesepeople to adhere to the law is that our legal sys-tem is such that summary punishments do notexist. So, actually punishing a wrongdoer takesmonths, if not years. Moreover, given the poorquality of recruits to our police forces, leaving thedisciplining of wrongdoers in their hands will leadto sadistic and uncalled for abuse. None of this islikely to deter individuals from indulging in activ-ities that may not amount to being seen as crim-inal in nature but are certainly not socially accept-able behaviour either.

For those indulging in such behaviour do notsee that their actions could be responsible forputting others in harm’s way and even if they do,for some it is of no concern.

In fact, some who feel that they have beentreated unfairly by society at large, or even by thecountry, see this as an ideal opportunity to geteven. Among the latter there are also those work-ing at the behest of forces that are inimical towardsthe country and wish it harm. They should obvi-ously be categorised separately and their actionsmust be treated as deliberate acts of bio-terror-

ism and treated as such with no quar-ter being given. There is no differenti-ation here between Over GroundWorkers (OGW) and terrorists and allof them are no different from thosewielding guns or explosives.

Even among the scores of otherswho disobey societal norms, there aresome who do so deliberately becausethey believe they are above the law. Theseare those who belong to religious groupsor political parties or are seen as influ-encers who consider that their wealth,social status or position protects them.

The examples that best illustrate thiskind of horrendous behaviour are fromKarnataka, where the unwillingness ofthe State administration to act is con-doned by the Central Government, justbecause it happens to be a BJP one.

In one case, a chariot-pulling ritu-al that was a part of the SiddalingeshwaraFair, held in Chittapur village, inKalaburagi District of Karnataka, saw theparticipation of thousands of devotees,who violated the nationwide lockdownand social distancing norms withimpunity.

The police and DistrictAdministration remained mere specta-tors even though they were aware of theplanned event well in advance. Theywere finally forced to act and lodge anFirst Information Report (FIR) againstthe temple trust a day later, after a mael-strom erupted on social media. The like-lihood of any substantive action beingtaken against those responsible seemsunlikely.

Incidentally, Kalaburagi has beendeemed a COVID-19 hotspot and isunder complete lockdown. It also has thedubious distinction of having reported

India’s first death from the Coronavirus.Clearly, the Central Government’s writseems to run only within the NationalCapital Region (NCR), even if there!

The second incident is even moreappalling because those involved are thevery ones who are expected to setexamples for the rest of us to follow. Itpertains to the marriage of NikhilKumaraswamy, the grandson of formerPrime Minister Deve Gowda, to Revathi,the grand-niece of former CongressMinister M Krishnappa. Hence, a VIPwedding.

While only family members wereinvited and the event was moved out ofBengaluru to a farmhouse some distanceaway, the adherence to social distancingnorms or the wearing of masks, as ismandated, were completely disregard-ed by those attending. Photographs avail-able in the public domain show this utterdisregard for the nation”s fight againstthe virus. But this was only to beexpected as the Karnataka ChiefMinister, BS Yediyurappa, had earlier seta precedent of sorts, when he along withsome of his Cabinet colleagues attend-ed a wedding in Belgavi, at which therewere over 5,000 guests present. This, justdays after he had himself passed direc-tions that not more than 100 guestscould be invited to weddings.

Finally, there are also those whoeither unwittingly or carelessly breakthese norms just because they lack self-discipline or believe they can get awaywith it, much like those who jump traf-fic lights when there are no policemenabout.

The fact of the matter is that all“Covidiots” belonging to any of thesegroups are breaking the law and putting

the lives of other people at risk, for whichthey must be held accountable.

This clearly suggests that given theinfirmities in our criminal justice system,there is an urgent and pressing necessi-ty to introduce summary punishments.These must be handed out without fearor favour and be applied on all whobreak the rules. Obviously, the scale ofpunishment meted out should be basedon the severity of the misdemeanour.

This will be similar to the legalprocess of summary disposal that existswithin the military justice system, wherepunishments are awarded and carriedout on the spot.

If the offence is seen to be of a seri-ous nature, or the individual is a repeatoffender, s/he could then have an FIRregistered against him/her as per ourcriminal justice procedure. However, forsuch behaviour, the charges preferredagainst the individual must be non-bail-able and instead of being kept in a prisons/he must be kept locked in specially ear-marked “internment camps” where s/hewill be ineligible to receive anythingother than prophylactic medical care forCOVID-19 till his/her case is brought totrial. There is little doubt that extraor-dinary situations demand extraordinarymeasures. Those who follow the law can-not be held hostage by the few who donot follow rules, using our democraticprocess as their excuse. The notificationof such a measure will act as a strongdeterrent against willful misbehaviourand should be put in place for the dura-tion of this pandemic.

(The writer, a military veteran is aconsultant with the Observer ResearchFoundation and a Senior Visiting Fellowwith The Peninsula Foundation Chennai)

‘Covidiots’ are breaking the law and putting the lives of other people at risk.They must be held accountable and booked under the criminal justice system

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Innovations inbureaucracy

VK BAHUGUNA

The Govt should find a way to harness talent andexpertise from a larger resource pool but with a

well thought out strategy for nation building

DEEPAK SINHA

GIVEN THEINFIRMITIES INOUR CRIMINAL

JUSTICE SYSTEM,THERE IS ANURGENT AND

PRESSINGNECESSITY TO

INTRODUCESUMMARY

PUNISHMENTS.THESE MUST BE

HANDED OUTWITHOUT FEAR OR

FAVOUR AND BEAPPLIED ON

ALL WHO BREAKTHE RULES.

OBVIOUSLY, THESCALE OF

PUNISHMENTMETED OUTSHOULD BE

BASED ON THESEVERITY OF THEMISDEMEANOUR

Since time immemorial, mankind has been facing existential threatsand one of the challenges during such times is how to organ-ise manpower to meet the threat. In the modern world, a com-

petent bureaucracy fills the gap but is embroiled in red-tapism, whichproves counter-productive. Therefore, it is time for the bureaucracy toembrace innovation to fight any challenges that come its way.

If one actor in the bureaucratic chain slips up, things go haywirequickly. The latest example is the faux pas in Delhi where the impactof the lockdown on daily wagers and the unorganised sector workerswas not visualised by the Centre, the Lieutenant-Governor or the DelhiGovernment. In fact, after the suspension of two IAS officers, it wasrevealed that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses were fer-rying labourers to the Uttar Pradesh border. It should have been plannedbetter. Before/after the announcement of the lockdown by the PrimeMinister, officials of different Ministries should have been in touch withState Government officials to handle the migrant workforce and addresstheir needs. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) also appears to have failedin tracking the foreigners who came to India to attend the meet inNizamuddin. Or its advice was not acted upon by the police and theadministration.

This brings us to the need for innovation in the Indian bureaucra-cy in order to make its functioning quick and effective. There are morethan 65 lakh pensioners and 48 lakh regular employees and the ques-tion is how to improvise the functional talent of the regular staff andharness the experience of retired officers without committing to anyremuneration. Is it possible to have a provision in the rule book to usethe experience of retirees in national building without increasing thesuperannuation age?

The average lifespan is increasing and as per studies a person isat his/her best professional capability in the age group of 60-68 years.Hence, globally almost all governments have increased the retirementage of their staff. The superannuation age of United Nations (UN) employ-ees is 65, in the US it is 66 and will be raised to 67 by 2023. The UKis proposing an increase in the pension age to 66 by 2020 and 67between 2026-2028. It is the same situation in the most of Europe.But it is still 60 years in India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and other devel-oping countries. However, there is a sound rationale behind this dif-ference. The populations of developed countries have stabilised anddue to negative population growth they lack experienced manpowerreplacement. Therefore, they want to hold on to their experienced work-ers, particularly when they are at the peak of their capabilities. On theother hand, developing countries like India have burgeoning popula-tions and their educated youth is facing severe unemployment. Hence,we can ill-afford to increase the retirement age beyond 60 years.

However, the Indian bureaucracy has created several post-retire-ment sinecure for itself. And politicians in the Central and StateGovernments dole this out indiscriminately without consideration formerit, which is nothing but crony capitalism. These positions are beingcornered by IAS officers mostly as they harbour the notion that all thetop talent in the country is available within this group of civil servantsonly. It has taken the form of quid pro quo and is the root cause ofthe malfunctioning of the Government, waste of talent and poor deliv-ery. This also leads to unfair networking and lobbying among babus.

The Government should, therefore, mull an innovative way to useand harness talent and expertise from a larger resource pool but witha well thought out strategy. The Centre is trying to bring fresh talentinto the Government through lateral entry. It is, however, being doneon an ad hoc basis, which is counter-productive. The Centre shouldconstitute a higher Government management service and after 15 yearson the job, all officers of the organised civil services with proven capa-bility should be allowed to be screened by the Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) through a written and personality test. This willalso help in junking the deadwood.

For the pensioners, it could be done by amending pension rulesand the Government should retain the power to summon them andmake it compulsory for them to be available at least for seven days amonth, should it need them. But this should be without remuneration,except for a marginal transport allowance per sitting. This will help theGovernment increase its productivity as well as efficiency and pen-sioners will also get an opportunity to contribute to nation-building.Many retirees will challenge this provision but it may be given a tryon an optional basis as it will open a window of opportunity for inno-vation. The Government should identify such works at different levelsin each department and use the large mass of talent, which otherwisegoes waste after retirement. There is ample opportunity to innovateon this and it may be possible to bring the curtains down on regularpost-retirement jobs and save money on defunct posts.

(The writer is a retired civil servant)

Any crisis brings with it greatinvestment opportunities but itis not easy to decipher what to

bet on. At present the sentiment instock markets across the world isgloomy and financial markets inIndia, too, are witnessing sharp volatil-ity as a result of this. The fall is in linewith the global benchmark indices asthe domestic market usually tracksthem. The stock market is likely to con-tinue to be highly volatile in the nearfuture. Further, with Foreign PortfolioInvestment (FPI) flying to the safetyof dollar-backed assets, this has led toa sharp plunge in the Indian stock mar-ket. The S&P BSE Sensex, which was42,273 points on January 20, dippedto 29,894 points on April 8. The Priceto Earning Ratio of the Sensex is less

than 18, which is far less than its his-torical range of 20-24. Markets acrosslarge, mid and small caps have correct-ed sharply from their peaks. In theFinancial Year (FY) 2019-20, the mid-cap index fell by 26 per cent while theSensex fell by 22 per cent. But that doesnot mean that it is the end of the stockmarket. Volatility tests the patience ofinvestors and traders. While the trad-er ends up losing money the investorgrabs multi-baggers.

COVID-19 is a black swan event:Throughout history, there have beenhighly improbable events that catchalmost everyone by surprise and canpotentially have a large impact on sta-tus quo by disrupting human activi-ties and/or creating havoc. These arecalled “black swan” events. The namestems from the fact that up until 1697,mankind believed that all swans werewhite. Then Dutch explorers sightedblack swans for the first time inWestern Australia, completely nullify-ing the belief that swans can only bewhite. Thus, the term “black swan” isused to describe an improbable eventwhich also has an extreme impact.

The field of finance regularlyattempts to capture outlier events and

fails with equal regularity. The impactof the Coronavirus on the stock mar-ket has all the characteristics of a “blackswan” event.

Crash and recovery: Worldwidestock markets have a history of crashand recovery and the Indian boursesare no different. The Sensex plunged53 per cent in one year during the“Harshad Mehta scam” in 1992 butrecovered 127 per cent in 17 months.During the “tech bubble burst” in 2000,the Sensex crashed 56 per cent in 17months but recovered 138 per cent intwo-and-a-half years. When the USfaced the “Lehman crisis” in 2008, theSensex crashed 61 per cent in a yearbut recovered 157 per cent in 17months. The current market hascrashed around 30 per cent in less thanthree months. Due to the COVID-19,no one knows when the economy willcome back on track. Some expertseven compare this meltdown of glob-al economies to the “Great Depression”that started in 1929 and lasted until thelate 1930s. Between 1929 and 1932, theworldwide Gross Domestic Product(GDP) fell by an estimated 15 per cent.By comparison, the global GDP fell byless than one per cent from 2008 to

2009 during the “Great recession.”Given the economic slowdown inIndia, the Yes Bank imbroglio, theCAA-NRC protests, Delhi riots, panicamid the Coronavirus, the sentimentis extremely negative. And this led tothe March-April meltdown on theIndian bourses.

Fear and greed: Investing in thestock market is not all about techni-cal and fundamental analysis but alsoabout analysing the behaviour ofinvestors at large. Investors discuss andagree to take rational decisions but attimes they are influenced by events andbehave irrationally. Sometimes theiractions are influenced more by emo-tions rather than the fundamentals ofthe stock market. Historically it hasbeen proven that in a bullish market,investor decisions are based on poten-tial gains rather than losses and theymake risky investments. However,stock markets reward patient long-term investors. There is no better wayof making money other than owninga great bunch of Indian companies andignoring the inevitable ups and downsof the market.

The future of other sectors: Thebanking sector may see more pain but

the insurance sector may see gains. The automobile sector, which

was suffering due to the 2019 econom-ic meltdown, may benefit from theCoronavirus outbreak. Recently,Maruti Suzuki India said that theyexpect to see a boom once the lock-down is lifted and as social distancingbecomes a common practice, forcingpeople to buy more cars. Similarviews were shared by other automo-bile makers. The Nifty 50 Index — adiversified 50 stock index accountingfor more than 13 sectors of the econ-omy — has rallied by over 20 per centsince its March lows.

The Nifty Pharma Index, on theother hand, has skyrocketed to over 37per cent, outperforming the broadermarkets quite remarkably. This hap-pened because with the world grap-pling with the Coronavirus pandem-ic, the spotlight is clearly on healthcare.In the same way, the agriculture sec-tor might not be affected much.

However, despite numerousattempts by the Reserve Bank of Indiato stem the freefall in the Indian cur-rency against the US dollar, there is noend to the pain. This may benefit thesoftware export sector and TCS,

Wipro, Infosys and so on could be thebeneficiaries. But real estate, hospital-ity and the entertainment sector mightbe the real losers in the stock market.The oil and natural gas sector mightalso suffer but as crude oil prices arelow, their losses are under control fornow. Due to the lockdown, inflationhas reduced but so have the volumes.Various sectors have felt the positiveimpact of the pandemic whereas oth-ers have borne its negative impact.Thus, their share prices will moveaccordingly.

What of recovery? It would befoolish to expect a quick economicrebound from the current crisis. Butconsidering the all-out efforts byCentral banks and fiscal authorities tosoften the blow, a deep economicslump might be avoided. The problemin the current scenario is that until weknow how quickly and thoroughly thepublic-health challenge will be met, itis virtually impossible for economiststo predict the endgame.

Global trade is expected to fallacross all sectors this year but couldrebound later depending on when thepandemic is brought under controland the policy choices governments

took to support their economies.Once business and economic normal-cy returns, the stock market will startmoving in a positive direction.Recovery would be faster than expect-ed. But if people only do discretionaryspending then economic revival wouldtake longer.

Whether it is correction or growth,both phases are worth taking anexposure in the stock market. But don’ttry to catch the falling knife.

What should investors do? Mostof us would want to wait till there issome clarity or evidence on how theCoronavirus will be contained, beforedeciding to invest. But practicallywaiting for the bottom to invest isextremely difficult. Therefore, insteadof waiting for the market to hit the bot-tom, experts recommend taking agradual and incremental approachwhere you start investing a small por-tion of your cash on a regular basis. Ifthere are sharp further corrections, theamount deployed can be increasedaggressively. The current crisis can bea great opportunity for stock marketinvestors.

(The writer is an author and GSTand tax expert)

There is great opportunity in the Corona crisisInstead of waiting for the stock market to hit the bottom, experts recommend taking a gradual and incremental approach

where you start investing a small portion of your cash on a regular basis and take advantage of the current crisis

ABHISHEK RAJA

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

‘Strongly supportmeasuresannounced by RBIto revive economy’New Delhi: TVS MotorCompany on Friday laudedRBI's measures to support theeconomy amid countrywidelockdown. The RBI hasannounced a slew of measuresto boost liquidity to NBFCs andother financial institutions. Italso reduced the reverse repoby 25 basis points to 3.75 percent. "I strongly support themeasures announced by theRBI today to support theeconomy in this period. It is asign of their continued effortsto stimulate economic activityand protect jobs," TVS MotorCompany Chairman VenuSrinivasan said in a statement.The long-term repo operationfor NBFCs and micro-lendersis a good tool to ease liquiditywithout tinkering with policyrates and Rs 50,000 crore is asubstantial amount, he added.

Spot gold marketsremain shut due tocountrywidelockdown: HDFCPNSn NEW DELHI

Spot gold markets remainedshut on Friday due to thecountrywide lockdown to pre-vent spread of COVID-19,according to HDFC Securities.In the international market,both gold and silver were trad-ing lower at USD 1,695 perounce and USD 15.23 perounce, respectively. "Goldprices traded lower with spotinternational gold prices wit-nessing correction on Fridaytowards USD 1,695 per ounce,"it said.

Textiles cos'topline likely todecline by 20-25pc in FY21: Ind-RaPNS n MUMBAI

India Ratings and Researchon Friday said textile compa-nies are likely to see a 20-25per cent decline in theirtopline this fiscal owing tomuted domestic demandand sub-par exports in theApril-June quarter due toCOVID-19 related disrup-tions.

Ind-Ra in a report saidcoronavirus related disrup-tions weighed on the textitlesector which has been facingmultiple headwinds in formof flattening demand fromkey exporting countries andincreasing competition fromneighbouring countries likeBangladesh, Pakistan andVietnam.

BMW Motorradsales surge 71 pc inJan-March periodNew Delhi: BMW Motorrad, thetwo-wheeler arm of Germanluxury carmaker BMW, onFriday said its sales increasedby 71.5 per cent in the firstquarter of the current year at1,024 units from 597 units inJanuary-March period of 2019.“BMW Motorrad India hasposted robust growth in Q12020, a result of the extremelystrong brand we have builtamong motorcyclingenthusiasts in India," BMWGroup India President and CEORudratej Singh said in astatement. The company hasbrought its most aspirationaland desirable global products toIndian customers anddeveloped a truly close-knitriding community that attractsriders who use motorcycling asa means to explore life, headded. The BMW 310 and theGS range are particularlypopular among the Indianriders, Singh noted. "Thoughour riding events are on hold toensure social distancing, we areengaging with fellow ridersdigitally and through socialmedia. We are closelymonitoring the market situationand its impact on futuredemand," he added.

PNS n MUMBAI

The national lockdown fromMarch 25 to combat theCovid-19 pandemic left theready-to-cook and snacks cat-egory reeling as curbs on themovement of goods and eco-nomic activities led to supplychain disruptions and causedmassive production losses,posing hurdles for all stake-holders including consumers.

The government hasextended the three-week lock-down by another 18 days toMay 3, to arrest the spread ofthe deadly Covid-19 pandem-ic that has taken close to 1.46lakh lives globally, includingclose to 440 in India.

The Centre, meanwhile, haseased some curbs by issuingrevised guidelines to enforcelockdown 2.0 -- allowing

movement of all types ofgoods, essential and non-essentials, among severalother relaxations.

Lack of employment andthe resultant pains in contin-uing to live in cities have cre-ated a crisis of reverse migra-tion as millions of dailywagers returned to theirhomes, bringing down pro-duction in many sectors,including FMCG companies.

Unofficial estimates saynearly half of the over 14-crore migrant workers haveleft for their homes and areunlikely to return soon.

"Since the lockdown, ourmanufacturing has comedown to just about 15-20 percent as our workforce mainlycomprises migratory workers,who have left for their homes.We are manufacturing with

only 15-20 per cent man-power, those staying nearby,”Krishnarao Buddha, seniorcategor y head at ParleProducts, told PTI.

This has also caused abreakdown in supply chain aswell and it has become a hugechallenge to send supplies todistributors in the absence oftruck drivers, he adds.

Snacks and condimentsare very much in demandand needed in families espe-cially with children or seniorcitizens.

"The ready-to-cook,snacks and condiments

makes it easyfor people whoare working fromhome and have chil-dren and senior citi-zens to take care. Sameis the case with bache-lors/students. ," heopined.

CG Corp' executivedirector VarunChaudhary said sincethe lockdown wasdeclared unexpectedlyalmost a l l FMCG companies are facing distribution chal-lenges.

Lack of employment and theresultant pains in continuing tolive in cities have created acrisis of reverse migration

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank on Fridayannounced a slew of regulato-ry and liquidity measures fornon-banking finance compa-nies (NBFCs), including Rs50,000 crore of targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO2.0) which will focus purely onproviding funding to the sector.

RBI also gave NBFCs flexi-bility for an 'asset classificationstandstill' period from March1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 for alltheir borrowers who haveavailed the three-month repay-ment moratorium announcedearlier.

The measures are aimed atproviding relief to NBFCs thathave been facing challengesdue to COVID-19 related dis-ruptions.

"It has been decided to con-duct targeted long-term repooperations (TLTRO 2.0) for anaggregate amount of Rs 50,000crore, to begin with, in tranch-es of appropriate sizes,"Governor Shaktikanta Das saidwhile addressing mediathrough video conferencing.

RBI said the funds availed by

banks under TLTRO 2.0should be invested in invest-ment grade bonds, commercialpaper, and non-convertibledebentures of NBFCs, with atleast 50 per cent of the totalamount availed going to smalland mid-sized NBFCs andmicrofinance institutions(MFIs).

These investments have tobe made within one month ofthe availment of liquidity fromthe RBI and it will be classifiedas held to maturity (HTM)even in excess of 25 per cent oftotal investment permitted tobe included in the HTM port-folio, Das said.

Also, exposures under thisfacility will also not be reck-oned under the large exposureframework.

RBI said in respect toaccounts for which lendinginstitutions have decided togrant moratorium or defer-ment, and which were standardas on March 1, 2020, the 90-day NPA norm shall excludethe moratorium period,that is there would anasset classificationstandstill for all such

accounts from March 1, 2020to May 31, 2020.

"NBFCs have flexibilityunder the prescribed account-ing standards to consider suchrelief to their borrowers," theGovernor said.

The central bank also decid-ed to provide special refinancefacilities for a total amount of

Rs 50,000 crore to Nabard,Sidbi and NHB to enable themto meet sectoral credit needs.

"This will comprise Rs25,000 crore to Nabard for refi-nancing regional rural banks(RRBs), cooperative banks andmicro finance institutions(MFIs); Rs 15,000 crore toSidbi for on-lending/refinanc-ing; and Rs 10,000 croreto NHB for support-ing housingfinance com-p a n i e s(HFCs),"Das said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's fuel consumptionslumped by a record 50 per centin April as all petroleum prod-ucts except LPG saw massivedemand erosion following anationwide lockdown haltedeconomic activity and travel.

According to provisionalindustry data for fuel consump-tion in the first half of April,petrol sales were down 64 percent, while diesel slumped by 61per cent.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF)consumption collapsed by 94per cent as most airlines havestopped flying.

The only fuel that showedgrowth was LPG as the govern-ment dole of free cooking gascylinders to poor householdsfired up consumption by 21 percent during April 1 to 15, thedata showed.

Overall the decline in petro-leum product sales was 50 percent, it said.

The data pertains to salesmade by three public sector(PSU) oil marketing companies.Private firms such as NayaraEnergy do not share mid-monthsales trend and their numbersget reflected only in the month-

ly consumption numbersreleased by the oil ministry inthe second week of every month.

Industry officials said this isthe biggest ever drop in sales andthe first data for the completelockdown period.

March sales numbers werereleased last week but thisincluded consumption in thepre-lockdown period as well.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had announced a 21-daylockdown beginning March 25,shutting offices and factories,barring those involved in essen-tial services. Also, flights weresuspended, trains

stopped plying, vehicles went offthe road and cargo movementstopped as most people wereasked to stay home to helpcheck the spread of coronavirus.

The lockdown was earlierthis week extended till May 3.

India had consumed 2.4million tonnes of petrol and7.3 million tonnes of diesel inApril 2019. As much as6,45,000 tonnes of ATF wasused in that month last year.

In March 2020, the country'spetroleum product consump-tion fell 17.79 per cent to16.08 million tonnes. Diesel,the most consumed fuel in thecountry, saw demand contractby 24.23 per cent to 5.65 mil-

lion tonnes. This is the biggest fall in

diesel consumption thecountry has recorded asmost trucks went off-road and railwaysstopped plying trains.

Petrol sales dropped16.37 per cent to 2.15million tonnes, whileATF consumption fell32.4 per cent to 4,84,000tonnes. However, LPGsales rose 1.9 per cent to2.3 million tonnes inMarch.

Fuel sales slump 50% in April;petrol down 64%, diesel 61%

Lockdown leaves ready-to-cook high and dry

PNS n NEW DELHI

Telecom regulator Trai onFriday said international calltermination charges will bebrought under forbearancebut within prescribed range of35 to 65 paise/min against afixed rate of 30 paise/minuteearlier -- a move expected tobenefit telecom operators.

International terminationcharge is the rate payable by anIndian International LongDistance Operator (ILDO),who carries the call from out-side the country to accessprovider in the country inwhose network the call termi-nates.

While the regulator hasgiven a range with floor and a

ceiling, and left it to operatorsto set the rate under a forbear-ance regime, it has, however,mandated that operators willoffer non-discriminatory ratefor such termination charges toeveryone.

The regulator has said thatan access services providerwill offer non-discriminatoryrate of such termination chargeto their own associated ILDOs

as well as standalone players toensure level-playing fieldbetween standalone and inte-grated companies.

"...the authority has decidedthat the rate of ITC shall bekept under forbearance with-in a prescribed range of Re 0.35per minute to Re 0.65 perminute," Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) saidin its latest regulations.

The regulator said that asthis new regulatory regimefor the rate of international ter-mination charge is being pre-scribed for the first time in thecountry, it will closely monitorits implementation, includingthe trends and patterns ofinternational long distancevoice traffic in the country.

RBI comes to NBFCs' rescue;boosts cash availability

Trai raises int'l call terminationcharges to 35-65 paise/minute

Measures areaimed atproviding relief toNBFCs that havebeen facingchallenges dueto Covid-19

Aviationturbine fuelconsumptioncollapsed by94% as mostairlines havestopped flying

Sebi eases rules forcos on intimation to exchanges PNS n NEW DELHI

Markets regulator Sebi onFriday eased compliance rulesfor listed companies withregard to prior intimation tostock exchanges about boardmeetings amid the extendednationwide lockdown to tack-le coronavirus pandemic

The regulator has alsorelaxed rules pertaining tointimation to stock exchangesfor loss of share certificates aswell as issue of duplicate cer-tificates.

Sebi has been giving relax-ation to listed companies andother market intermediariesas part of efforts to easetheir compliance bur-den.

In a circular, theregulator said ithas decided togrant relaxationfrom the provi-sions of listingnorms in the faceof challenges facedby listed entities dueto the COVID-19pandemic.

Sebi said prior intimation tostock exchanges shall bereduced to two working daysfor board meetings held tillJuly 31,2020.

Under the norms, stockexchanges need to be provid-ed prior intimation aboutmeetings of the board at leastfive days before the meeting iffinancial results are to be con-sidered and two working daysin other cases.

Sebi has also given relax-ation to companies for sub-mission of information regard-ing loss of share certificatesand issue of duplicate certifi-cates to the stock exchange.

The norms require listedentities to submit such

information within twodays of them getting

information.It has been decided

that any delay beyondthe stipulated timewill not attract penalprovisions. This relax-

ation is for intimationsto be made betweenMarch 1 to May 31, the

regulator added.

Gadkari, Goyal hail RBImeasures to prop upcoronavirus-hit economyPNS n NEW DELHI

Union Minister Nitin Gadkarion Friday said that "bold andforward looking" policy inter-ventions by the RBI shall pro-vide a much-needed boost tothe economy.

Other Cabinet ministersPiyush Goyal and Smriti Iranitoo hailed the measures, sayingthese steps would ensure ade-quate liquidity, ease financialstress and steer India's emer-gence as a world leader in thepost COVID-19 scenario.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) cut the reverse repo rateand announced a slew of mea-sures including re-finance win-dow of Rs 50,000 crore andtargetted long term repoauction of similaramount to deal with theimpact of the Covid-19pandemic.

Besides, it has beendecided that the NPAclassification normswill exclude the3 - m o n t hmoratori-um win-

dow that banks are allowed togive on loan repayments, toease the worries of micro,small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) that are in danger ofbecoming bad loan accounts.

"I specially thank RBI fortheir special focus on MSMEand providing 50,000 cr forrefinancing of MSMEsthrough SIDBI, NABARD &NHB. The extension of loanclassification to 180 days forstressed assists shall address toNPA's issue, " the Minister forMSME and Road Transportand Highways Gadkari tweet-ed.

In another tweet, he said:"State governments are under

severe liquidity crunch,increasing of WMAlimit by 60 per centshall help state govern-ments garner moreresources".

Commerce andIndustry Minister Goyal

also took to micro blog-ging site Twitter to

express his viewson the FBI'sannouncements.

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensex ral-lied 986 points on Friday, ledby gains in banking, energy andIT stocks after the ReserveBank announced a slew of liq-uidity-boosting measures tosupport the economy duringthe coronavirus crisis.

The RBI further eased bad-loan rules, froze dividend pay-ment by lenders and pushedbanks to lend more by cuttingthe reverse repo rate by 25 basispoints. After starting over 1,116points higher, the 30-shareBSE benchmark pared someearly gains to end 986.11 pointsor 3.22 per cent higher at31,588.72.

Similarly, the NSE Niftyzoomed 273.95 points, or 3.03per cent, to finish at 9,266.75.

Axis Bank was the top gain-er in the Sensex pack, surgingover 13 per cent, followed byICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank,Maruti, TCS, Kotak Bank andReliance Industries.

On the other hand, NestleIndia, HUL, Tech Mahindraand Sun Pharma ended in thered.

Interest rate sensitive, bank-ing, financial, auto and realty

indices settled up to 6.83 percent higher.

In his second televisedaddress since the nationwidelockdown began on March 25,Reserve Bank of India (RBI)Governor Shaktikanta Daspledged to boost liquidity andexpand bank credit.

He announced measuresincluding a cut in the reverserepo rate, Rs 50,000-crore tar-geted long-term repo opera-tions (TLTRO) and refinancingfacilities for Nabard, Sidbi andNHB.

The rupee rebounded 48paise to provisionally settle at76.39 against the US dollar,

buoyed by RBI announce-ments.

Market ended on a firmnote tracking positive globalcues and announcement ofstimulus package by the RBI,said Sanjeev Zarbade, VP PCGResearch, Kotak Securities.

Further, reports from the USthat a drug from Gilead isshowing great results in treat-ing Covid-19 cases also led topositive sentiments, he added.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Seoul and Tokyo endedwith significant gains, andstock exchanges in Europewere also trading on a strongnote.

Sensex rallies 986 pts; rate-sensitivestocks soar post RBI boost

PNS n HYDERABAD

Domestic consumption andexport of tobacco may wit-ness a dip of about 20per cent during thecurrent year due tothe ongoing lock-down to containcoronavirus spreadin India as well assome countries inEurope and the US, sourcesclose to the Tobacco Boardsaid.

Sources indicated that theBoard may ask farmers to cutsowing in Karnataka this yearfollowing the plunge indemand.

However, the Board was yetto take a call on that. A mem-ber of India Tobacco

Association noted that thecountry exports about

Rs 5,000 crore worth oftobacco after valueaddition to USA,Europe and othercountries. "Like any

other industry thetobacco industry also

came to standstill due to lock-down. Tobacco auction in APwhich began earlier was alsosuspended. It is expected tobegin after April 20.

Due to delay in supplies andalso health advisories onCOVID-19, there may be

muted demand this year.Tobacco Board expects

about 20 per cent dip indemand this year," sourcestold PTI.

When contacted, TobaccoBoard chairmanRaghunadhaBabu Yadlapati said AndhraPradesh and Karnataka pro-duced 124 million kgs and 103million kgs respectively lastyear. "We will ensure that allthe tobacco produced by farm-ers will be cleared. We willrequest the industry to liftunsold stocks if any fromthem.

We will not let any farmersuffer even if there is a drop indemand," Babu said.

Indian tobacco consumption, exportsmay dip by 20% due to lockdown

PNS n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday said theRBI has taken a slew of steps tomaintain adequate liquidity inthe system, incentivise bankcredit flows, ease financialstress and enable normal func-tioning of markets, followingdifficulties being faced due toCOVID-19.

Announcing a second stim-ulus in less than a month, theRBI eased bad-loan rules, frozedividend payment by lendersand pushed banks to lendmore by cutting the reverserepo rate by 25 basis points tohelp mitigate risk to the econ-omy posed by the pandemic.

"In view of the difficultiesbeing faced due to #COVID19,the @RBI has taken a slew ofsteps aimed at maintainingadequate liquidity in the sys-tem, incentivising bank creditflows, easing financial stress,and enabling the normal func-tioning of markets,"Sitharaman said in a tweet.

In order to increase credit tofarmers, MSMEs andhousing sector, RBIannounced a spe-cial refinance facil-ity totalling Rs50,000 crore forNABARD, SIDBIand the NationalH o u s i n gBank, she

said.Of this, Rs 25,000 crore goes

to NABARD, Rs 15,000 croreto SIDBI, and Rs 10,000 croreto NHB for improving long-term funding requirements ofagriculture and the rural sector,small industries, housingfinance companies, NBFCsand MFIs, the minister said.

"To increase MSME liquidity,@RBI announced a targetedlong-term repo operationtotalling Rs 50,000 crore aimedat mid and small NBFCs andMFIs. This amount can berevised upwards if needed in thefuture. RBI also cut the reverse

repo rate by 25 bps to3.75%," Sitharaman

said.

‘RBI measures to boost liquidity,incentivise banks to lend more’

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SaturdayApril 18, 2020

Can you share your associationwith Hyderabad?

I am working as the principalof the Hyderabad Public School,Begumpet. The school is notonly the pride of Hyderabad andTelangana but the entire coun-try.

How has the city been treatingyou?

Hyderabad has

welcomed me and my familywith open arms. We are all veryhappy to be in Hyderabad. Wehave been received withimmense love and affection.

Migrating from other cities,one generally hasapprehensions orpre-conceivednotions. Didyou also have

the same? If yes, were theytrue?

I was not apprehensive at all.One of the reasons possibly isbecause I am a geographyteacher. I knew it was a cos-mopolitan city with beautifulweather for most of the year.Another plus point is the factthat it is a very secular and wel-coming place. I am happy thatall of it and much more havebeen true.

Have you lived in other citiesin the country? If so how isHyderabad different fromthem?

Yes. Hyderabad is very differ-ent. It does not have the level ofaggression, pollution, snobbish-ness which are prevalent inmany other cities. It gets underone’s skin very fast and is a verywelcoming city. Hyderabad hasbecome one of my mostfavourite cities.

One thing that comes to yourmind when you think ofHyderabad and why?

Rich and strong culture.People are rooted to their histo-ry, traditions and values. Thereare no showoffs here.

Can you share one of yourfondest memories here?

here are many memorablemoments I have spent here andit is very difficult to pick justone. In fact, every day spent atthe Hyderabad Public School,Begumpet is full of memorablemoments.

How is the city helping you inyour career?

It has helped me immensely.Since I am the principal of oneof the most prestigious schoolsin the country, the HyderabadPublic School, Hyderabad ishelping me in every way.

How different is the educationsystem here when compared toother cities? Also, is it good orbad?

The education system is moreor less similar like any othergood city in the country. Parentsare more aware and alert to theirchildren’s future here and maybea tad obsessed with science. Weneed to understand that human-ities, soft skills and life skills willplay a major role in unknownfuture careers of students.

What do you like and dislikethe most about Hyderabad?

There is nothing to dislikeabout Hyderabad. I love that it issimple yet modern, traditionalyet progressive and historic yetforward looking. Everythingabout the city is unique and Ihope we are able to preserve its

natural beauty like rocks, lakesand the forests for our futuregenerations.

Do you plan to settle down inthe city after your retirement?

It is too early for me to thinkabout retirement. But if I do set-tle down in Hyderabad, I will bevery happy about it.

Have you visited Hyderabadearlier before shifting here? Ifso, what kind of differencesyou’ve seen as a visitor and as aperson living here?

I had visited Hyderabad onlytwice before moving here and itwas an official visit on bothoccasions. So I did not get to seemuch of the city.

What is it that your relatives orfriends who visit you like totake back and what are theplaces they want to visit?

They like to take back thebiryani, bakery and pearls. Theyalso like to visit Falaknuma,Chowmohalla, Charminar, QutbShahi Tombs and GolcondaFort.

Last but not the least, what isHyderabad to you?

Hyderabad is home. It has given a very beautifulwarm experience to me and my entire family. My wifeand son are all very happy here.To me one belongs to whereone’s heart is. I have no hesita-tion in saying that my mind, myheart and my soul feel at homein Hyderabad.

hat makes Hyderabad, a concretejungle compared to the lush greenvalleys and plateaus of Himachal

Pradesh, endearing enough for someone tomake it their home? One such person who has moved fromHimachal Pradesh to Hyderabad is SkandBali, the principal of the Hyderabad PublicSchool, Begumpet. He tells The Pioneerwhat is so special about Hyderabad that hehas moved from Himachal Pradesh, a statethat has scenic valleys and fields that arethe envy of one and all, in his conversationwith K RAMYA SREE

‘Mind, heart, soul feel

AT HOME IN HYD’W

Hyderabad is home. It has given a very beautifulwarm experience to me and my entire family. Mywife and son are all veryhappy here. To me onebelongs to where one’sheart is. I have nohesitation in saying that mymind, my heart and mysoul feel at home inHyderabad

COVID 19 and Diabetesith more andmoreCoronaviruspositive casescoming to lightwith each pass-

ing day, it has becomeincreasingly important forpeople to stay indoors andtake necessary precautions.

The aged and vulnerablehave been asked to be evenmore cautious, given theirweak immunity to fight thevirus. But diabetic patientstoo are to take this serious-ly since they face a higherchance of experiencingserious symptoms andcomplications fromCOVID-19. But if diabetesis well managed, the risk ofgetting severely sick from

COVID 19 is the same asthe general population.

Diabetic patients at high-er risk:

If diabetic patients donot control their bloodsugars adequately, they areat a higher risk of develop-ing diabetes-related com-plications because thebody’s ability to fight offan infection is compro-mised. Viral infections canalso increase inflamma-tion, or tissue oedema inpeople with diabetes. Thisis also caused by above-target blood sugars, andboth could contribute tomore severe complications.

Currently, the medicalfraternity doesn’t know ofany reason to thinkCOVID-19 will pose a dif-ference in risk betweentype 1 and type 2 diabetes.People who already havediabetes-related healthproblems are likely to haveworse outcomes if theycontract COVID-19 thanpeople with diabetes whoare otherwise healthy,whichever type of diabetesthey have.

When should a diabeticpatient suspect COVID-19?

A diabetic patientshould suspect COVID-19when adults face difficultyin breathing, persistentpain or pressure in thechest and when one's faceor lips turn blush pink.Precautions to be taken:

Precautions that a dia-betic patient must take

include drinking lots offluids to avoid dehydra-tion. Self-monitor bloodglucose frequently to pre-vent hypoglycaemia as wellas to identify glycaemicexcursions. Patients withtype 1 diabetes must moni-tor urine ketones, if tworeadings of random plasmaglucose are above250mg/dL, they shouldimmediately consult aphysician.

Patients should beinstructed about personalhygiene and cleaning injec-tion/infusion sites and fin-ger-stick sites with soapand water or rubbing alco-hol. Patients with poorglycemic control should beconsulted about the warn-ing signs and symptoms ofdiabetic complications andthe need for hospitaliza-tions if necessary.

Clinical considerations:Some clinical considera-

tions for patients with dia-betes in times of COVID-19 epidemic include thatthey are at risk of infec-tions, especially influenzaand pneumonia. This riskcan be reduced by goodglycemic control.

All people with diabetes(above 2 years of age) arerecommended to take vac-cination of pneumococcaland annual influenza.Diabetes was seen as animportant risk factor formortality in patientsinfected with PandemicInfluenza A 2009 (H1N1),Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome (SARS)

Coronavirus and MiddleEast RespiratorySyndrome-related coron-avirus (MERS-CoV).

Measures to preventCOVID-19:

Other measures a diabet-ic patient can take to pre-vent COVID-19 are givingspecial care to patientswith diabetes along with

cardiac/ renal complica-tions and having adequateprotein intake and atten-tion to nutrition. Exercisehas been shown to improveimmunity, so one might aswell try it for other healthbenefits, if not this.

Measures to take if infect-ed:

If a diabetic personexperiences symptoms ofCOVID-19, he/she mustnotify the health authorityand get tested for the dis-

ease. The affected personmust remain isolated for atleast 14 days. A vastmajority of patients havemild disease which can bemanaged at home. Dosageof anti-diabetic drugs mayneed to be adjusted (con-sult a physician).Hospitalized patients withsevere levels need frequentblood glucose monitoring.

Insulin is a preferred agentfor control of hyper-glycemia. But more impor-tantly, diabetic or not,everyone must practicethorough washing of handswith soap and water, prop-er respiratory hygiene,avoid or minimise contactwith the affected person.

(The writer of the article,Dr Meghanath, MD, DNB,is a consultant physician at

Care Hospitals,Visakhapatnam)

W

People who alreadyhave diabetes-relatedhealth problems arelikely to have worseoutcomes if theycontract COVID-19than people withdiabetes who areotherwise healthy,whichever type ofdiabetes they have

10

Hyderabad Saturday April 18 2020 what’s brewing

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

ith the COVID-19lockdown shuttingeveryone in theirhomes, B-Towndenizens are con-stantly looking for

new ways to stay occupied. Apopular means that hasemerged for our celebrities isorganic farming. Many ofthem are busy growing organ-ic vegetables and fruits in theirgarden, while some have takenup the task of keeping the gar-den clean.

Bhumi Pednekar has decid-ed to learn the science ofhydroponics farming or soil-less gardening from her moth-er during this lockdown.

“My mom and I alwayswanted to have a hydroponicsgarden of our own where wegrow our own vegetables andcan have a fully sustainablelifestyle. We wanted to have agarden to table lifestyle athome and we are both happywith the progress. I have beenworking closely with my momduring this time. I’m proudthat our garden can now pro-duce food for two days of theweek!” the actress informed afew days ago.

Shilpa Shetty recentlyshared a video where she canbe seen “cleaning and tendingto the garden” with a broom.The actress shared anothervideo last week where she wasteaching her son how to pluckorganic brinjals from theirgarden, and at the same timeensuring the child didn’t touchthe green chillies.

“One of the greater joys oflife is to see your efforts com-ing to fruition in this circle oflife; whether it is about start-ing a new venture, seeing yourchild grow up or just theplants you nurture bearingvegetables and fruits for you toenjoy. Planted these seeds inpots 4 months ago and wasthrilled to see brinjals andchillies ready to be harvested.As they say, what you sow, soyou shall reap. Clean organicproduce,” the actress wrote onInstagram.

Aditya Roy Kapur alsorecently shared a picture onInstagram where he can beseen sweeping dry leaves inthe garden with a broom.

Mouni Roy in a recentInstagram post shared pho-tographs of freshly-pluckedorganic tomatoes from hergarden. The actress also regu-larly waters her flower plants.

Mouni’s organic tomatoescan have a tough competitionfrom Raveena Tandon whoshared pictures of her “home-

grown” tomatoes onInstagram.

“Homegrown tomatoes! Weforget how simple things inlife can bring such joy...”expressed Raveena.

The lockdown season hasalso turned Juhi Chawla intoan organic farmer. The actressshared pictures where she canbe seen planting tomatoes andpreparing beds for corianderand fenugreek. Juhi called ither “Naya kaam” (new task)!

Payal Ghosh recently sharedphotographs where she can beseen brooming her garden andtaking care of plants. “Had fungardening, it’s relaxing way toget in touch with nature, alsogood for mind and body...always overlooked it...younever know, sometimes criti-cal times also teach you goodthings.. as it is rightly said,‘Never Stop Learning Because

Life Never Stops Teaching’,”wrote the actress onInstagram.

In a recent tweet, Dia Mirzaexpressed, “Favourite chore ofthe day — watering the gar-den. Maali kaka is stayinghome. Staying safe. So we taketurns to water the garden inour co-op.”

Lockdown diaries:FARMVILLETIME IN B-TOWN!

W

ays after lauding the work beingdone by Corona Crisis Charity —an initiative which has beenformed to aid the daily wageemployees of the industry whohave been hit by industry shut-

down — Bollywood superstar AmitabhBachchan has extended his help to theemployees of Telugu industry. The Hindicinema legend has arranged 12,000

corona relief coupons worth Rs 1,500each to be distributed to the dailywage film workers in Telugu states.

Megastar Chiranjeevi, who startedCCC, shared the news on his

Twitter page on Friday. “A BIGTHANK YOU to ‘BIG B’ forthis wonderful initiative.Thesecoupons can be redeemed at#BigBazaar stores (sic),” the

actor, who shares close ties withBachchan, wrote on Twitter.

Big B extends hishelp to T-town dailywage employees

11

Hyderabad Saturday April 18 2020tollywood

irst-time directorBuchi Babu Sanahas pulled off acasting coup lastyear when hemanaged to sign

on Vijay Sethupathi for a cru-cial role in Uppena. Usuallyselective with his choices,this is the acclaimed Tamilactor’s second film in Telugu— after a brief appearance inmegastar Chiranjeevi-starrerSye Raa Narasimha Reddy.Babu admits it was an easiersaid than done process tohave got the nod ofSethupathi for the film, a rus-tic love story which is mak-ing all the right noises cour-tesy it’s fresh pairing ofVaisshnav Tej, Krithi Shettyand the rollicking soundtrackby Devi Sri Prasad. “When Istarted penning the story, Iwould refer to the protago-nists as hero and heroine onpaper without any particularactors on mind. But for theantagonist part Rayanam, Ionly envisaged VijaySethupathi. Our team,including my boss Sukumargaru, wasn’t sure whether theactor would do the film. EvenChiranjeevi garu expressedapprehensions aboutSethupathi’s participation inthe film after I pitched himthe script. He was like,‘Sethupathi is a busy artiste,right? Will he do it?’ But hewanted us to narrate him thestory during the Azerbaijanleg filming of Sye RaaNarasimha Reddy.

Unfortunately, Sukumar garuand I couldn’t meet himthere,” Buchi Babu recalls ina conversation with ThePioneer.

Six months later, the direc-tor could finally get a ren-dezvous with his favouredactor at Park Hyatt,Hyderabad. “It was a casualmeeting. Sukumar garuintroduced me to Sethupathigaru, saying I’m his student.The actor told me later that itmight take time to reach himin person but he will take acall on a story in just twodays after the narration. Heinformed me that he will bevisiting Hyderabad again forSye Raa shoot and that hewill get back to me. In themeanwhile, to impress himand to ensure that he doesn’tmiss out on the finer nuancesof the script, I’ve got hold ofan assistant director who isfluent in Tamil. Within aweek, the assistant directorgrasped my story and startednarrating it to me in Tamil.He was better than me narra-tion-wise. Maybe I got boredof hearing my story in Telugutime and again… but Ienjoyed the Tamil narra-tion even though Icouldn’t understand it,”he reminisces.

And when Buchi Babufinally got Sethupathi’sappointment for the narra-tion three months later, hewas in for a shock. “I’ve tookmy assistant to him to nar-rate the story in Tamil. Our

allotted time was one hour.Turns out, Sethupathi garuwas insistent that I narrate it.He said, ‘Brother, I willunderstand, you go ahead’. Iwasn’t even prepared;because I was sure that myassistant would do the job.15 minutes into the narra-tion, he wanted to know,‘Can I light a cigarette if youdon’t mind?’ He was hungrytoo, so we ordered biryani.Also, before I proceeded withthe narration, he asked mewhether it’s a negative role ora positive role. When I saidit’s a negative role, he said hewould listen to it. The narra-tion exceeded our allottedtime and he didn’t even havethe biryani. Post the com-plete pitch, he said with a

laugh, ‘It’s a verybad role’. After apause, he added,

‘It’s a better story than ’96and it will be spoken acrossthe country post release’.Moments later, he informedthat he would be doing thefilm much to our collectivejoy,” the director explainsfondly.

Effusive in his praise forthe actor, the director addsthat Sethupathi is anextremely down-to-earthactor and if he believes insomething, he will do it withall his heart. “Once he comesto the sets, he will never visithis caravan until pack-up. Hehas no complaints even if wego late into the nights. Hehas immense respect fordirectors. At times, he wouldfeed me with his own handsduring lunch hours. As anactor, he is ready to give youfour-five variations of ascene,” the director rhap-

sodizes, signing off.

Babu admits itwas an easier said

than doneprocess to havegot the nod ofSethupathi for

the film, a rusticlove story,

starring VaisshnavTej and Krithi

Shetty, findsNAGARAJ

GOUD

F

Sethupathi garu told meUppena is a story than ’96:

BUCHI BABU SANA

d ith restrictions in place over Covid-19outbreak, filmmaker Nandini Reddy isabsorbing a lot of content on OTT plat-forms. Simultaneously, she is also super-vising the dialogue version of her next.“I’m reading a lot as well. I’m occupied

with Bethlehem right now. I’ve re-organised myentire book shelf. I’m also into a lot of audiobooks when I’m walking,” she tells us.

The director, whose last was the super hit OhBaby, insists that she is balancing shows withfilms. “I’ve completed watching Caliphate and it’sabsorbing. I’ve started watching Broadchurch onNetflix. I’m half-way through Panchayat onAmazon Prime in between the thrillers. It’s lightand easy. As far as films go, I’ve completedTrance (Malayalam), Ayyappanum Koshiyum(Malayalam) and Dia (Kannada),” she con-cludes.

W

I’M READING ALOT.I’VE RE-ORGANISEDMY ENTIRE BOOKSHELF. I’M ALSOINTO A LOT OFAUDIO BOOKSWHEN I’MWALKING

Movies andshows forNandini Reddy

aunched earlier this year, thefirst look of Upendra-starrermultilingual film, Kabza,unveiled on Thursday, receiveda thunderous response from theactor’s fans. Naturally, film’s

director R Chandru, who is teaming upwith Uppi after Brahma and I Love you,

is ecstatic. “We are glad thatthe Telugu audiences havegiven a thumbs-up to thefirst look. We are confidentthat the film too will meetwith a similar response

upon release. Thehero’s characteri-

sation,Upendra garu’sperformance, andthe story will standout as the film’s

biggest highlights,”he said.He added that 30 per

cent of the film’s shootingis over but right now it ison pause mode because ofCovid-19. “We willresume the shoot oncethings return to normalcy.We are making Kabza ona budget of Rs 70-80 cr.Jagapathi Babu garu hasgot a major role in themovie. A top actress willbe cast oppositeUpendra garu, the nameof which will berevealed soon,” heinformed.

An underworldgangster — retro peri-od drama, the film’sstory spans from 1947to 1980. LagadapatiSridhar is presentingthe Telugu version,while Chandru is dou-bling up as the pro-ducer as well. Besides

Kannada and Telugu,the film will release inTamil, Hindi, Malayalam,Odiya and Marathi.

Uppi’s nextmounted onRs 80 crore

l

POST THECOMPLETE PITCH,SETHUPATHI SAIDWITH A LAUGH,‘IT’S A VERY BADROLE’. AFTER APAUSE, HE ADDED,‘IT’S A BETTERSTORY THAN ’96AND IT WILL BESPOKEN ACROSSTHE COUNTRYPOST RELEASE’

sport 12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | APRIL 18, 2020

3 NNEW VVIRUS CCASES AAT QQATAR WWC SSITESDoha: Qatar has detected three more coronaviruscases among workers on World Cup stadiums,bringing the number of infections among thoseinvolved in 2022 tournament construction to eight. TheGulf nation has reported seven deaths from the COVID-19 disease and 4,103 cases in total, announcing thefirst infections in stadium workers on Wednesday.Building work for the stadiums and infrastructure tostage the tournament has continued through the crisiseven as non-essential retail has been halted andmosques, parks and restaurants have closed.

EUROPEAN TTOUR CCANCEL FFRENCH, BBMW OOPENLondon: The European Tour on Friday announced thecancellations of both the French Open and the BMWInternational Open in Munich due to the coronaviruspandemic, with the Scottish Open postponed. TheBritish Open, golf's only major tournament playedoutside the United States, had already been scrapped.The French Open, continental Europe's oldest Opencompetition, was due to be held from July 2-5, butwas cancelled after the French government extendedthe ban on all mass gatherings until mid-July. TheBMW event in Munich was scheduled for June 25-28.

AUSTRIAN FFOOTBALL CCOULD RRETURN IIN MMID-MMAYVienna: Austrian Bundesliga could make its return toaction from its virus-forced suspension as early asmid-May, the league's president revealed. Teams fromthe top division will be able to restart training nextweek, albeit in a scaled back format of just six playersat a time, and Christian Ebenbauer is refusing to ruleout matches being played behind closed doors andfinishing the season by the end of June. “Personally Ithink that it's absolutely possible that we could restartplaying matches in mid-May,” he told reporters.

AUS, KKOREA IITTF TTOUR EEVENTS CCANCELLEDSingapore: International Table Tennis Federation(ITTF) has confirmed that the Australian Open and theSouth Korean Open have been cancelled amid COVID-19 outbreak. “The ITTF is looking at a number ofdifferent scenarios and possibilities of rescheduling,but it is currently still too early to make any decisionsuntil there is greater certainty about when activitiescan resume,” the sport's ruling body explained in astatement. The Australian Open had been scheduledfor June 23 to 28, while the South Korean Open wasto take place between June 16 and 21.

WOMEN'S HHOCKEY TTEAM TTO RRAISE FFUNDSNew Delhi: The Indian womens hockey team willraise funds for helping the poor and migrant familieswhose lives have been affected due to the COVID-19pandemic by launching an 18-day fun fitnesschallenge. While the challenge aims to raisecrowdfunding for the cause, the movement alsoencourages people to use this opportunity to adapt toan active lifestyle during the nation-wide. Thechallenge will see members of the team come up withfitness tasks that range from burpees, lunges, squatsto spider man pushups, pogo hops and more. Eachday a player will give a new challenge and tag 10people on their social media handles, to take up thechallenge and donate `100 to the fundraiser.

GREMIO PPREPARED TTO SSELL PPEPERio: Gremio could be forced to sell Brazil under-23forward Pepe as they grapple with the financial impactof the coronavirus pandemic. Pepe has reportedlyattracted interest from Spanish clubs Sevilla andValladolid, though Gremio said a firm offer has not yetbeen made for the 23-year-old. AGENCIES

SINGLES

NEW YORK: US Open organizerson Thursday said they are plan-ning for the Grand Slam event togo ahead as scheduled and that anevent without spectators is “high-ly unlikely”.

United States TennisAssociation chief executive MikeDowse said nothing “is off thetable” and a final decision on thefate of the event would come inJune but having fans attend theevent is still their goal.

“Playing without spectators,we are not taking anything off thetable. But right now that’s a high-ly unlikely scenario,” said Dowse.

“That’s not in the spirit of cel-ebration of tennis.”

Dowse’s comments come as

the National Tennis center’sindoor courts in New York werebeing used as a makeshift hospi-tal facility to treat those affectedby the coronavirus pandemic.

While the indoor tenniscourts have been turned into ahospital zone, the LouisArmstrong Stadium has beentransformed into a meal assemblyarea for patients, volunteers andarea schoolkids.

Dowse said they are in con-tact with a half dozen doctors andare going to be seeking theiradvice in making the next moves.

“We’re very fortunate thatwe’re the fourth Grand Slam to go,so time is on our side at thispoint,” Dowse said. “Obviouslyour ambition is to run the tour-nament.

“Having said that, it won’t bethe driving factor. The driving fac-tor will be the health and well

being of the players, the fans andour staff.”

Dowse said they have sometime to seek the advice of medicalexperts before they make theirfinal decision.

“We are looking at time frameof June to make that decision. Wewill approach it through a med-ical advisory group. Based on thatinformation we will make thedecision if it is safe to play thetournament or not,” he said.

The US Open is now the nextmajor tournament on the sched-ule from August 31-September 13,with Wimbledon having beencancelled and the French Openpostponed to a September 20 starton the red clay in Paris. AFP

BERLIN: Four-time worldchampion SebastianVettel on Friday cau-tioned against the temp-tation to shoehorn toomany Formula One races

into a revised calen-dar, describing the

move as “not realistic”.The 22-event F1 sea-

son has been decimatedby the coronavirus withnine races either can-celled or postponed.

The French GrandPrix scheduled for June28 is also in doubt as isthe Belgian Grand Prix,set for August 30.

F1 chiefs have float-ed the idea of mak-ing up for lost time

by staging raceson successiveweekends oreven having

two races on

the same weekend.However, Ferrari starVettel fears such a movecould lead to burnout forteam staff.

“We drivers are a lit-tle privileged,” Vetteltold reporters by tele-conference from hishome in Switzerland.

“Of course, theraces are tiring butthere have to belimits for thestaff. They mustrest.

“We must alsosee if it is easy toreschedule races, ifthe circuits are notalready taken. Manyquestions remain. Ithink the schedulewill be busier, but 10consecutive week-ends is not realistic.”

Vettel sug-

gested that he wouldfavour staging races with-out fans if it allowed aquick resumption as longas it did not become acommon feature.

“It’s complicated,”admitted Vettel.

“On the one hand,there is the health of

the sport, on theother, that of thepeople who workin the paddockand especially thefans.

“There areseveral options.

No one likes torun in front ofempty stands,but we will

have to see if itwill not allow us toresume much soon-er.

“The first races

will probably be a littledifferent, but not toomuch, I hope, because wewant to run in front ofthe fans.”

Vettel insists that forhim even a 10-race sea-son is just as valuable asa 22-race campaign.

There have beentalks over an extension.However, those conversa-tions took a twist afterVettel finished the 2019c’ship behind new team-mate Charles Leclerc.

“At the beginning (ofthe coronavirus crisis),the priority was to man-age the situation in thebest way and thereforethe negotiations were puton hold,” said Vettel.

“I think we are goingto move forward but wedo not have a specificdeadline.” AFP

PTI n NEW DELHI

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) iskeen to host the currently-

suspended IPL but the influ-ential voices within the BCCIfeel that there is no point indiscussing such a proposal ina “closed world” battling theCOVID-19 pandemic rightnow.

The IPL, scheduled fromMarch 29-May 24, has beenpostponed indefinitely by theBCCI and the Board will onlyconduct the tournament whennormalcy returns.

SLC president ShammiSilva on Thursday said that Srilanka is ready to host themega event as the country,which has fewer positive cases,is expected to return to nor-malcy earlier compared toIndia.

“The BCCI will not bein a position to say any-thing when the world isclosed,” a senior Boardofficial said.

Sri Lanka has justover 200 cases cases rightnow as against India’stally of more than13,000. The deathtoll in India hascrossed the 400-mark.

The officialconfirmed thatcurrently, thereis no proposalfrom the SLCand there is no

guarantee when a meaningfuldiscussion can take place onthe subject even if it comesalong.

“There is no proposalfrom SLC yet and obviouslyno discussion,” the officialsaid when asked what will bethe BCCI’s stand when theoffer is on table.

The SLC can have thematches on three grounds —Galle, Kandy and PremadasaStadium — with logisticsreduced to less than half asthere are no inland flights.

Having an IPL could helpthe SLC gain significant finan-cial stability, more than whata short white-ball seriesagainst India (three T20Is andthree ODIs) can guarantee inJuly.

As of now, the BCCI willbe more keen on having it in

India in either of thetwo slots betweenSeptember-October

and October-November.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Team India boasts of a fast-bowling attack that skip-per Virat Kohli says he is

proud to lead. And the manwho has been an integral partof the transformation of ayoung attack into world beatersis Mohammed Shami. Havingstarted off under former skip-per Mahendra Singh Dhoni,Shami is now the leader of thepack under Kohli.

While bowlers tend to getslower as a Test match progress-es, Shami is someone who getsbetter with each passing sessionand has time and again shownthat he can be a match-winnerin the second innings for TeamIndia. So what is his area offocus when he has that ball inhand?

“I try to ensure that mypace doesn’t fall below the140kph mark. But my focus ison the seam and swing. I havealways tried to make sure thatthese two things remain perfect.I can bring pace with my phys-ical strength and you can alwayswork on it by doing strengthtraining. But I have alwaysgiven priority to swing andseam and never for a minute letthem take a backseat,” he smiles.

And the reverse swing?Did Shami have it from theword go? Or did it take time tomaster the art? The pacer saysthat it is something that has

come to him with time andafter a lot of training.

“As you keep playing, youlearn a lot of things. It is allabout following one processafter the other. So, when youhave learnt one trick and mas-tered it, you then move to thenext one and work on that. Inthe beginning, I didn’t havemuch idea about reverse swing.

“But slowly I came tounderstand what the process ofreverse swing is all about andhow it can be an integral partof a pace bowler’s armoury.Then I started working on itand I had to work hard,” heexplained.

It is often said that a bowleris only as good as his captainallows him to be because at theend of the day it is the skipperwho has to trust his bowler todeliver. And Shami says therelation between Kohli andhim is there for all to see on thefield.

“Do I need to say this? Ithink the results bear testimo-ny to the fact that Virat backsus to the core. He has alwaysgiven us that freedom to dowhat we feel confident about.Also, it is very important at theinternational level to have a cap-tain who knows your strengthsand weaknesses and also backsyou. This in turn helps you raiseyour game.

“Also, Virat has a lot of trustin our abilities and he gets the

result because as a bowler, allyou need is for the captain toback you and believe in you andyour vision,” he insists.

Critics had started sayingthat Shami had become a red-ball specialist till he showed theworld he can be a force to reck-on with even in white-ballcricket. Now that he plays all thethree formats, how different isthe preparation going into a for-

mat? Shami says it is all in themind.

“Mindset obviously doeschange as per the format. Interms of skills also you doneed to change and adapt as perthe format because what willwork for you in Tests might notwork for you in the shorter for-mats of the game. It is all aboutthe mindset and how you adaptto the situation,” he said.

AFP n CAPE TOWN

Former Test skipper Graeme Smith was onFriday confirmed as South Africa’s director of

cricket — and revealed that Quinton de Kockwould not be elevated to the Test captaincy.

Jacques Faul, acting chief executive of CricketSouth Africa, said Smith had been appointed fora two-year term, expiring at the end of March2022. Smith was appointed in an acting capaci-ty last December.

The 39-year old captained South Africa in aworld record 108 Test matches and in 149 one-day internationals.

He told a tele-conference that the debate overthe Test captaincy was one of the challenges hefaced during a period when no cricket can beplayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s not going to be Quinton,” he said, citingDe Kock’s responsibility as the country’s limited-overs captain as well as being wicketkeeper anda key batsman.

“Quinton will be our white-ball captain butfrom a workload and mental capacity aspect wewant to keep him fresh. From personal experi-ence I know that captaining all three formats ischallenging and we don’t want to overburdenhim.”

Smith gave no indication of the likelyreplacement following the decision of Faf duPlessis in February to step down from the job.

“There’s no one person you can pinpoint,” hesaid. “There are a lot of players on a similar level.”

South Africa’s next scheduled Test series is inthe West Indies in July but Smith said that it hadnot been finalised due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

South Africa are also due to go to Sri Lankafor a limited-overs tour in June but Smith saidboth tours could be postponed.

“We are in discussion with the boards of thosecountries and decisions willhave to be made prettysoon,” he said.

Smith said his imme-diate priority was the T20World Cup in Australia inOctober andNovember, assum-ing it happened asplanned.

He said SouthAfrica hoped tohost a Twenty20series againstIndia in August aspart of the build-upto the world event.

“There is a lot ofdoubt about whatthe situation will beby then but we are indiscussions with theBoard of Control forCricket in India,” hesaid.

LONDON: Premier League clubsremain committed to finishing thetop-flight season, but did not seta June 30 deadline to complete thefixture list at their latest meeting.

With the Premier League post-poned since March 13, it had beensuggested a firm closing date forthe season needed to be imposed.

But the 20 clubs did not dis-cuss wrapping up the remaining 92Premier League fixtures by June 30when they met on a conference callwith league chiefs.

With fears that failure to fin-ish the season could cost the

Premier League more than £1 bil-lion ($1.2 billion), clubs looked atvarious models for a potentialreturn to action.

However, Britain is on lock-down until May 7 at the earliest,leaving English football to play awaiting game in the hope of animprovement in the health crisis.

A Premier League spokesmansaid a number of complex scenar-ios were being worked through.

“We are actively engaging withstakeholders, including broadcastpartners, and our aim is to ensurewe are in a position to resume play-

ing when it is safe to do so andwith the full support of the govern-ment,” added the spokesman.

“The health and wellbeing ofplayers, coaches, managers, clubstaff and supporters are our prior-ity and the league will only restartwhen medical guidance allows.

“Today’s shareholders’ meet-ing provided an opportunity todiscuss possible scheduling mod-els. It remains our objective tocomplete the 2019/20 season butat this stage all dates are tentativewhile the impact of COVID-19develops.” AFP

AFP n MADRID

The Spanish FootballFederation (RFEF)

proposed on Thursdaythat La Liga’s currentstandings decide whichteams qualify forEuropean competitions ifthe season has to be can-celled due to the coron-avirus pandemic.

La Liga and UEFAhave not given theirapproval to the plan, withboth governing bodiesinsisting they are stillfocused on finding a wayto ensure domestic sea-sons are completed.

Javier Tebas, La Liga’spresident, said earlier thismonth the league hadidentified the end of May,start of June and end ofJune as possible times forfixtures to restart.

But the RFEF, whichregularly clashes with LaLiga over political issuesin Spanish football, hasput forward a back-upplan that would see thecurrent top four —Barcelona, Real Madrid,Sevilla and Real Sociedad— qualify for theChampions League.

Getafe and AtleticoMadrid, in fifth and sixthrespectively, would go intothe Europa League, alongwith Athletic Bilbao, asthe Copa del Rey’s high-

est-placed finalist outsidethe top six.

“The decision will bemade, when requested byUEFA, according to thepositions on the last dayof the First Division whenan equal number of gamesare played by the 20teams,” said the statementfrom the RFEF.

“The top four at thattime would go into theUEFA Champions Leagueand the fifth and sixthranked, plus one of thetwo finalists of the Copadel Rey, to the UEFAEuropa League, accordingto different circumstancesthat may occur.”

If the Copa del Reyfinal was played and RealSociedad beat Bilbao,Valencia would take theadditional Europa Leaguespot as the seventh-placedteam in La Liga, said theRFEF.

IANS n BENGALURU

Indian hockey striker MandeepSingh believes the team has

moved on from the initial disap-pointment which they had to dealwith following the postponementof Tokyo Olympic Games and arenow working on improving theirskills and fitness during the lock-down in place due to COVID-19pandemic.

“At first, it was disappointing(Olympic postponement) butwith the entire world battling thiscrisis, we understand this decisionwas made keeping the players’safety in mind,” Mandeep said.

“We have moved on from theinitial disappointment and arenow working on maintaining ourfitness levels during this lockdownperiod.”

The hockey team, both menand women, are currently at theSports Authority of India (SAI)Centre in Bengaluru where theyare carrying out their fitnessdrills and keeping in touch withthe game.

“We are lucky the entire coregroup is together here in SAI,Bengaluru and our coaching staffis also here. Though we are not

doing hockey training we havebeen given a specific programschedule to follow which includesindependent training schedulefor all players,” said the Indianstriker.

“This is something every ath-lete will have to deal with fromacross the globe and we are no dif-ferent.

“At least, I would like tothink we are in a better positionthan others with the team stilltogether going about other aspectsof training like analysing ouropponents matches, making indi-vidual presentation to our coach-es via video meetings and so on.

“We are in a better position tobegin training once the lock-down is lifted,” he added.

India last won a Gold inHockey in 1980 in MoscowOlympics. Since then, they haveparticipated in eight Olympiceditions but have failed to makea podium finish. And after qual-ifying for the Tokyo Games, theteam was in high spirits andwere looking forward to end themedal drought.

“This lockdown has notaffected our goal of winning amedal at the Olympics,” Mandeepinsisted while stressing on the goalof the team.

BOSTON: The fourth edition of theLaver Cup has been postponedfrom September 2020 to 2021because of scheduling conflicts withother tennis events in a year disrupt-ed by COVID-19, organizers said onFriday.

The Europe vs World men’steam tournament had been sched-uled for Boston from September 25-27, but those dates clash with thenew dates selected by the FrenchTennis Federation for the post-poned French Open, now scheduledfor September 20-October 4.

The tournament will now beheld September 24-26, 2021, also inBoston.

“It’s unfortunate that the LaverCup has to be pushed back a year,but at this stage it’s the right thing

to do for everyone concerned,”Roger Federer, a key backer of theLaver Cup, said in a statementreleased by organizers.

“Although disappointing, thegood news is that TD Garden willstill be able to host the event nextyear and I really look forward tofinally playing in Boston for the firsttime at Laver Cup 2021.” AFP

Mohammed Shami prepares to bowl during India’s nets session PTI/File Picture

Seam & swing top priorities for ShamiICC exploring all options on T20 WCPTI nMELBOURNE

The International CricketCouncil (ICC) is not in a

hurry to take a decisionwhether the T20 World Cupshould be postponed in thewake of COVID-19 or staged asscheduled, saying it is “explor-ing all options” as part of itscomprehensive contingencyplanning for all its events.

With Australia sealing itsborders and putting restrictionson travel to contain the dread-ed disease, there have beenspeculations that the T20 WorldCup scheduled to be held fromOctober 18 to November 15could be postponed to next yearor held inside closed doors.

“We are continuing withour planning for ICC events asthey are, but given the rapidlyevolving situation as a prudentand responsible measure we are

also undertaking a comprehen-sive contingency planning exer-cise,” an ICC spokesperson toldSkySport.

“This includes exploring alloptions available to us based ona range of scenarios connectedto the pandemic.”

The T20 World Cup is stillsix months away and ICC saidit will take a decision after con-sulting all stakeholders, includ-ing the Australian government.

“We will continue to takeadvice from experts andauthorities, including theAustralian government andwill take decisions at the appro-priate time,” the spokespersonsaid.

“We will utilise all the dataand information available to usto ensure we can take well-informed, responsible deci-sions that are in the best inter-ests of our sport.”

No proposal on IPLfrom Lanka: BCCI

De Kock won’t be SA’sTest captain: Smith

PL clubs committed to finishing season

Current top 4 qualify for CL ifseason cancelled: Spanish FA

US Open fate to be decided in JuneLaver Cup postponed until 2021

Lockdown hasn’t affected our goalto win Olympic medal: Mandeep

Vettel dismisses idea of back-to-back races