the largest circulated english daily in south india ...€¦ · and resident of kukatpally in...

VINEETA PPANDEY || DDCwith aagency iinputsNEW DELHI, MARCH 22

Deserted roads, emptyparks, silent neighbour-hoods — India saw anunprecedented completeself-imposed shutdown dueto the “janata curfew” asmillions stayed indoors fol-lowing the appeal by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.At 5 pm the silence was bro-ken with the sound ofthalis, conches and bells aspeople came out in largenumbers to hail the effortsof healthcare providers andall others involved inessential services.

India reported three morecoronavirus deaths onSunday, including the firstcasualties from Bihar andGujarat, taking the toll toseven and the number ofCovid-19 cases rose to 396,as authorities suspendedall passenger train andinter-state bus services tillMarch 31 and imposed alockdown in 80 districts inunprecedented steps to con-tain the spread of the infec-tion

The Union health min-istry said one death eachwas reported from Bihar,Gujarat and Maharashtraon Sunday. A 38-year-oldman with a kidney ailmentand recent travel history toQatar died at AIIMS-Patnaand a 67-year-old man diedat a hospital in Surat.Another death was report-ed from Mumbai of a 63-year-old man.

As the virus casesclimbed, the central andstate governments decidedto lock down 80 districts in17 states from where Covid-19 cases have been reportedto break the chain of trans-mission, and the HealthMinistry said states wouldearmark hospitals to exclu-sively treat coronaviruspatients.

While essential serviceswere allowed to remainopen, cities largely sawmilk booths opening foronly a brief while as evenration and grocery shopswere closed in most ofIndia. The only people onthe roads were eitherambulances, the police ormediapersons.

The government was alsoexpanding the network oflabs for testing samplesfrom suspected cases.Several states, includingMaharashtra, Kerala,Haryana, UP, Uttarakhandand West Bengal,announced a partial orcomplete lockdown forvarying periods.

Prime Minister NarendraModi thanked the peoplefor expressing gratitudetowards those at the fore-front of the battle againstcoronavirus. In a series oftweets, the PM wrote: “Thecountry thanked each per-son who led the fightagainst coronavirus. Manythanks to the countrymen.”

The Prime Minister saidthe event marked thebeginning of the nation’svictory in a long battleagainst the Covid-19 men-ace. He urged people tobind themselves to theprinciple of social distanc-ing with the same resolveand restraint. On Sunday,several people postedvideos and audio of thesounds of birds chirpingand cuckoo singing.

■ Page 88: IICMR iissues guidelines ffor ppvt ssector

c m y k c m y k

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I MONDAY I 23 MARCH 2020

Janata obeys curfewMany states to extend

lockdown till month-endTrains, Metro services,interstate buses halted

Covid cases rise to 396, 3 new deaths take toll to 7

CENTRE RECOMMENDEDLOCKDOWN IN 80 DISTS

TS lockdown till March 31

Foreign returnees flouthome quarantine rulesMADDY DDEEKSHITH II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Despite the nation-wideand global alarm over thecoronavirus pandemic, noteveryone who has beenasked by health officials toremain in home isolationand under quarantine afterreturning from an interna-tional trip are followingthe instructions.

One woman, whoreturned from Singaporeon March 13, has been

missing, while a man whocame from Doha, left forAndhra Pradesh withoutany notice, while a thirdhas shifted his residenceand is not traceable.

A young woman, whoarrived in Hyderabad fromDubai on March 14, violat-ed all home quarantineguidelines prescribed bythe K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led government.

After landing at the RajivGandhi International Air-port at Shamshabad, she

did not go home inChandanagar, and insteadwent to a residence in DDColony.

She did not follow self-quarantine procedures, afact confirmed by the staffof Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC). Her location wasfinally traced by civicauthorities through aphone call.

■ Page 44: SSome rreturneesgiving ffake aaddresses

S.A. IISHAQUI II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Chief Minister K. Chandr-asekhar Rao on Sundayannounced a total lock-down of Telangana tillMarch 31 to combat theCoronavirus (Covid-19) epi-demic.

While addressing a pressconference here afterreviewing the situation inthe state at a meeting inPragati Bhavan, MrChandrashekar Rao said,“it is essential that we alltake care and introducepreventive measures toensure the virus does notspread further in Telan-gana. To achieve this objec-tive, the state governmenthas taken this decisionunder the Epidemic Dis-eases Act of 1897, and anotification has beenissued.”

He said that with suspen-sion of all internationalflight, no one allowed toenter the country from searoute, threat of furtherimport of Covid-19 infec-tion had been minimised,but there was need to con-tain spread of virus frompeople who have alreadytested positive.

Mr Rao said, “essentialservices like milk and veg-etables would be exemptedfor curfew but only oneperson from each familywould be allowed to shopfor these essentials.”

He announced that allshops and establishments,shopping malls, supermar-kets and wine shops wouldremain closed till March

31. However, small kiranashops are allowed to oper-ate. He said all publictransportation, includingauto rickshaws, taxis, pri-vate bus and Hyderabadmetro rail services standsuspended till March 31.

All inter-state borders withneighbouring Mahara-shtra, Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka have also beenclosed till then.

■ Page 44: NNo eentry ffor private vvehicles ttoo: CCM

New Delhi, March 22:Unidentified men hurled“inflammable substance”near the site of anti-citizen-ship law protest in ShaheenBagh but none of the fivewomen protesters presentthere were injured, policesaid.

However, the protestorsalleged that the attackerscame on motorcycles andhurled petrol bombs. Theincident happened around9.15 am when entire Delhiwas observing a ‘Janatacurfew’ with people staying

indoors in a bid to containthe spread of the novel coro-navirus.

Police found a banner,rugs, burnt bamboo and afew broken bottles. Somebottles were also found in alane near the protest site,said deputy commissionerof police (Southeast) R.P.Meena.

Initial investigationrevealed that a person set abanner on fire after“putting inflammable sub-stance using a lighter,”Meena said, adding a case

has been registered atShaheen Bagh police sta-tion. One of the volunteerswho did not wish to be iden-tified said the men threw apetrol bomb in a lane nearthe protest site. “They hadpetrol bombs but there werenot many people aroundthen. Only five women weresitting on protest,” he said.

He said there has been adifference of opinionbetween two groups overcontinuing the protest andpolice had to be called inwhen they fought on

Saturday. A police officialsaid they suspect an insid-er’s involvement inSunday’s incident as theprotesters had clashed onThursday too.

“We were informed abouta fight at the protest venueand had to intervene to sortout the matter,” he said. Asection of protesters want toend the agitation due thecoronavirus outbreak butothers want to continue.Many have left their slip-pers there as a symbol oftheir solidarity. — PTI

Shaheen Bagh attacked‘Inflammable substance’ hurled near site: CopsCITIZENSHIP | STIR

ONLY 1 PERSONPER FAMILY CANGO SHOPPINGDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The state government’slockdown of the state tillMarch 31 is essentially aserious exercise in ensur-ing that everyone stays athome. The idea is toreduce movement of peo-ple thereby reducing thechance of coronavirusfrom spreading from oneperson to other.

The lockdown will allowonly stores selling essen-tial commodities. Peoplewill need to make quickpurchases and returnhome. To this end, thegovernment said no morethan five people can gath-er at any given publicplace, street or road, any-where. Only one personfrom a family will beallowed to leave the housefor making essential pur-chases.

People violating thisnorm are liable to bepenalised.

The government saidthat people working inprivate companies thatwill be under the lock-down must be paid theirmonthly salaries on time.The same goes for govern-ment employees though 80per cent of them areexpected to stay homewith only 20 per centworking.

6 new positive casesin TS take total to 27DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The number of Coron-avirus (Covid-19) cases inTelangana on Sunday leaptfrom 21 to 27, with the gov-ernment announcing sixnew Covid-19 positivepatients in the state.

Three of the six new casesare from the city andRanga Reddy districts,while another is fromBhadadri Kothagudem dis-trict. Two others are origi-nally from AP. All six indi-viduals had a history ofrecent foreign travel, thestate health departmentsaid in its daily eveningmedia bulletin on Covid-19.

A 24 year old male, desig-nated as patient 22, who isfrom Guntur in AP, hadrecently arrived here fromLondon via Dubai. Another23-year-old male, a studentand resident of Kukatpallyin Hyderabad, travelledfrom London to Hyde-rabad, via Doha in Qatar.

The third case confirmedis of a 26-year-old male, a

resident of Rajolu in eastGodavari district of AP,who flew into Hyderabadfrom Sweden on March 16,the health department said.

The fourth patient whotested positive is a 34-year-old male from Manikondain Ranga Reddy district,who too travelled backfrom Sweden on March 14.

■ Page 44: OOldest ppositivecase iis 550-yyear-oold

PRIVATE CCOVID-119 TESTING CCENTRES ●● Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad●● Apollo Hyderguda, Hyderabad●● SRL Ltd., Secunderabad●● SRL Ltd, C/o. Ambicare

Clinics, Kondapur●● Medics Labs, New Bowenpally

To stop localtransmission of

Covid-19, theCentre recom-

mended totalshutdown in 5districts of TS

Vol. 83 No. 82 Established 1938 | 32 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com

TELANGANA●● Hyderabad●● Medchal●● Ranga Reddy●● Sanga Reddy●● Bhadradri Kothagudam

Hyderabad, March 22:The Telangana State Boardof Intermediate Educationhas decided to postponefive exams that werescheduled to be held onMarch 23, until furthernotice. The Spot ValuationCamp work that wasscheduled to be startedfrom Monday has also beenpostponed, according to alate night release.

INTER BOARDPUTS OFF EXAMS

`4,500Maximum test cost

`1,500for screening suspect cases

`3,000 for confirmation test

DURGA PPRASADSUNKU/SANJAY SAMUEL PPAUL || DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH, 22

Hyderabadis on Sundaygave a resounding‘thumbs-up’ to the ‘JanataCurfew’ call given byPrime Minister NarendraModi. They stayed at homeall day as part of the exercise to observe homeisolation and break thespread of coronavirusinfection.

The people of the cityalso stepped out of theirhomes at 5 pm andapplauded the overwhelm-ing and selfless servicesrendered by health work-ers, service providers fromvarious governmentdepartments and mediapersons.

On the streets, the storywas, however, slightly dif-ferent. The city police,which deployed teams of officials at nearly everymajor junction, checkedeveryone who was passingby.

Those found to be takinga joy-ride or were out onthe streets without a spe-cific reason were givencivic discipline sermons.Some were also arrestedby the policemen.

People held placardsgiven to them by the policethat carried messages like'avoid crowd be proud', “Isupport Janata Curfew',and 'Safety begins withcleanliness as a part ofsocial service”.

According to assistantcommissioner of police(ACP) Panjagutta,Thirupathanna, the policedecided to put those who‘broke the curfew’ to gooduse and “create more pub-lic awareness. And that iswhy we are asking them tohold these placards.’

Speaking to reportersnear the LegislativeAssembly building, CityPolice CommissionerAnjani Kumar said thatwhile law and order, andtraffic police officials werestationed at every junctionin the city, self-awarenessand self-realization kept 99per cent of the peopleindoors.

Barring some individu-als staying on to the roadsand some children onstreets, even crowdedareas like Begum Bazaar,Secunderabad railway sta-tion, Tolichowki,Moazzamjahi Market,Panjaguta and Ameerpetwere totally deserted.

People began gatheringoutside the gates of theirhomes or on balconies inapartment complexes asthe clock struck five toclap and thank the emer-gency service workersand the doctors.

Meanwhile, PrameelaNaveen, a member of a‘task force’ set up by twogated communities in thesame area, said that theyhave also made plans tohelp each other and fami-lies in case of any healthor other emergencies.

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

SHORT TAKES

Upasana and Ramcharan claps from the balcony oftheir residence in Jubilee Hills on Sunday. — R. PAVAN

Chiranjeevi and his family members clap at 5 pm at their residence in JubileeHills on Sunday. — R. PAVAN

Actor Rajasekhar with his wife Jeevita and their daughters clapfrom the residence balcony on Sunday. — R. PAVAN

QUARANTINESTAMP INK INHIGH DEMAND

T.S.S. SSIDDHARTH || DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The indelible ink, a staple inIndian elections of all shapesand sizes, is back in action.But this time, it is for a differ-ent purpose, that of ensuringthose identified for home quar-antine after returning from atrip abroad, can be easily iden-tified if they step out of theirhomes before the completionof their mandatory 14-dayhome quarantine.

All passengers who are inter-national arrivals are beingstamped on their hand identi-fying them as home quaran-tine bound. It was because ofthese stamps that several indi-viduals who preferred to leavequarantine and go elsewherewere identified and placedback in isolation.

The indelible ink is manufac-tured by only two firms inIndia - Hyderabad-basedRayudu Labs, and the Mysore-based public sector unit,Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd.The stamping of quarantinebound individuals that beganin Maharashtra is now beingreplicated by several otherstates including Telagnana.

“We received some ordersfrom a few states. Officialsfrom the Telagnana healthdepartment also placed anorder with us. Each bottle ofindelible ink contains 10 ml ofink,” VVS Rayudu, CEO,Rayudu Laboratories Limited,told Deccan Chronicle.

Bulk orders, he said, werecoming in from Maharashtra,especially around Pune, wherea 15 litre container was sent.

Meanwhile, officials fromMysore Paints and VarnishLtd, told Deccan Chroniclethat they had not received anyorders for the ink. “The offi-cials must be using the left-over ink that was sent to themduring the last elections,” CHara Kumar,a general manag-er at the firm said.

UOH HELPS STUDENTS

FLYING HOMEHARLEEN MMINOCHA || DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The University of Hyderabad’sJ&K Students' Association, inan attempt to help students liv-ing in the varsity’s hostel facil-ity, collected around `60,000 onSaturday to support studentsflying to their hometowns. Thedrive was started to fund thoseflying at the last minute toLadakh, Jammu and Kashmirand the northeast after theUniversity's orders to vacatethe hostel premises by March23.

“We decided to set up thisfund because a situation ofpanic and anxiety among stu-dents living far away fromtheir home had started to buildup. Students who could notafford the last minute tickets,that were priced between`15,000 and `20,000 had startedto look at the railways as anoption,” said Hadif Nisar,president, Jammu andKashmir Students'Association, UoH. Train serv-ices have been halted up toMarch 31.

The student body helped atleast 10 students. “We havesome extra funds left with us.We will use it as and whenmore students leave for theirhometowns,” Mr Nasir added.

The UoH hostel facility waslocked down until April 6.

FAKE COVIDNEWS: 2 BOOKED

IN WARANGAL DC CCORRESPONDENTWARANGAL, MARCH 22

Police arrested two persons indifferent cases of spreadingfake news on WhatsApp aboutoutbreak of coronavirus inWarangal district.

In the first case, a messagewas floated on a WhatsAppaccount that coronavirus hassurfaced in Kamalapur area ofWarangal Urban district.Seeing this, Dr. Samyuktha,who is working with thePrimary Health Centre atKamalapur, lodged a com-plaint with police that it wasfake news being circulatedonly to spread fear amonglocals. Police, who took upinvestigation, identifiedVadukari Rajesh ofPangidipally as the personwho circulated the news. Hewas booked under sections 270,504, 505(2) of the IPC and sec-tion 54 of the NationalDisaster Management Act.

The other case was bookedagainst V. Rajendra Prasad, aresident of Oorugonda village,for spreading news that a pas-tor, who had returned fromKerala, had tested positive forCovid-19.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

At exactly 5 pm on Sunday,thousands of people livingall around the countryclapped, and for some rea-son also rang bells andmade noise with their sil-verware though the PrimeMinister who had mootedthis idea in his publicaddress, had only askedpeople to clap. This clap-ping was a gesture meantto express gratitude to doc-tors, policemen and othersworking tirelessly duringthe Covid-19 outbreak.

However, many citizensgot the brief wrong.

Social media was floodedwith messages claimingthe gesture would havemagical effects. Someclaimed that according toastrology, clapping at theprescribed time wouldcause vibrations in thebody and this would killthe virus within.

One message read: “Atthat time, the moon ispassing to a new ‘naksha-tra’ called Revati [...] Thecumulative vibration willencourage blood circula-tion in the body.”

BJP leader Shaina NCtweeted that blowing aconch will have the sameeffect; her tweet was takendown after users reportedit as misinformation.

In fact, there was evenmore dangerous misinfor-mation floating around.The most commonlyshared and believed theo-ry was one that claimedthe coronavirus couldn’tsurvive on its own formore than 14 hours, theduration of the JanataCurfew!

One elaborate messageadvocating this theory was

presented in the form of aconversation with an NRIdoctor calling his friend inIndia to appreciate theprime minister for his“greatness”. One versionof the message read: “Theman who gave Modi thisadvice should win theNobel prize for Medicine”.

The idea seemed soamazingly apt to manycelebrities, that theyshared it on social mediaplatforms! Actor-politicianRajnikanth, actorMohanlal and singer SonuNigam were those whobought into this idea.

Rajnikanth’s videoappeared on Twitterwhich he claimed wastaken down by Twitter forspreading misinforma-tion.

The problem got so bigthat Union HealthMinister Dr Harshvard-han tweeted against “anti-social elements” spread-ing such false informa-tion.

He declared in sternwords: “Social distancingmust become a habit.”

Though these claimshave been debunked end-lessly by fact-checking

websites (and anyone whohas basic common sense),netizens weren’t willing tolisten.

Soon after the clappingsession ended, peoplestarted getting a new mes-sage.

It read: “NASA satellite’slive telecast has revealedthat coronavirus is retreat-ing from India thanks topeople’s efforts at 5 pm.”The message claimedNASA’s “bio-satellite hasshown Covid-19 straindiminishing and weaken-ing” based on measure-ments of “cosmic waves”.

As often happens, the far-rago of nonsensical claimshid the real purpose of thegesture.

Many didn’t realise thatit was to thank the medicalfraternity, build rapportamong citizens and incul-cate a sense of associationin a population looking ata possible nationwidelockdown.

Some burst crackers andtook out impromptu ral-lies in the streets shouting“Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. Ifsuch types prevail, the waragainst Covid-19 will beharder than it already is.

Clapping will have magical effects, residents feelSome claim, according to astrology, clapping at the prescribed time will kill coronavirusBIG | IMPACT


While the police inHyderabad tried to edu-cate the people about thecoronavirus, even holdingup placards with informa-tive slogans, the police inSecunderabad made itlook like the janata curfewwas imposed rather thanvoluntary.

The police there got intoconfrontations with citi-zens. Secunderabad is theonly area where policecarried lathis.

When Deccan Chronicleenquired about the behav-iour of the cops with citi-zens, OU police said that

they had been given strictwarnings from higherauthorities to do so as thecommunity spread of the

coronavirus began inSecunderabad and the cityis a highly sensitive zone.

“We are trying to please

people with a good gesturebut with the current situa-tion prevailing, we cannotexplain to them aboutCovid-19 and create panic.People might abuse usbehind our back but weare protecting them fromthe spread of the deadlycoronavirus,” was thesomewhat vague explana-tion given by the police-man.

Since Secunderabad isone of the entry points tothe city, police barricadedthe Tarnaka, Alugad-dabavi, Paradise,Mahankali Police Stationand Habsiguda. Policehave confronted people forwearing face masks.

Cops take extra care to makeself-imposed curfew successful

Hundreds stuckat railway stationADITYA CCHUNDURU II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Hundreds of travellerswho had boarded trainsyesterday were stranded atrailway stations onSunday as there were nobuses, autos or taxis totake them to their finaldestinations in view of thecurfew announced by thecentral government. Inmany cases, it was thepolice that came to theirrescue.

At the Secunderabadrailway station on Sundayafternoon, hundreds ofpeople had arrived intrains from Gorakhpurand Yaswantpur.

Most of them were look-ing to get to their homes inthe city, but some were try-ing to reach other parts ofthe state.

Many finally simplystopped trying and decidedto sleep in the courtyard ofthe station until tomorrow,hoping buses will runthen.

A man who had come infrom Itarsi in MadhyaPradesh, trying to go toKurnool, lamented thatthere were no hotels in thearea for him to stay in tillMonday. He had a fightwith a constable who toldhim to leave the area forhis own safety.

A group of Teluguyoungsters who had justfinished a hotel manage-ment course in Lucknowwanted to get toKukatpally. They said theywere looking for autos butthere were just a handfulon the roads. “One of themasked `800 for the trip,”said one of the group.

The Hyderabad policetried its best to salvage thesituation. They madearrangements for a fewSETWIN buses to come tothe station and transporttravellers whose destina-tions were on the mostcommon routes.

Sub-inspector M Srinu ofthe Gopalapuram police,who was coordinating theeffort, said, “We aredeploying police vehiclesto take people to placeslike Shamirpet andPatancheru.”

Not everyone was cooper-ating with the policemen.Some travellers wantedthe police to make surethey were dropped rightoutside their homes. Aflabbergasted constableremarked: “All of thesepeople knew about the cur-few. Why couldn’t theyhave delayed their travelplans? We are genuinelytrying to help them, butthey are treating us like acab service.”

Few violators amidcurfew’s successMADDY DDEEKSHITH || DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The curfew was a massivesuccess with people mostlystaying at home. But, asalways, there were the fewsocially irresponsible whostepped out to speed alongthe empty roads ofHyderabad.

One of them who was outat 9 in the morning, saidhe was on his way to astore in Secunderabad thathe had heard was sellingchicken for `30 per kilo!Others claimed they hadmedical reasons for step-ping out.

“We are forced to allowpeople onto the roads ifthey claim a medical emer-gency. We do not knowwhether the claim is gen-uine,” said traffic inspec-tor Venkatramana, whowas posted near the secre-tariat junction.

Anyone who violated thecurfew for no reason wasmade to stand with a plac-ard saying ‘Social distanc-ing is social responsibili-ty’, ‘Avoid close contactwith sick people’ and ‘Use

your forearm when youcough or sneeze’.

One individual inSecunderabad planned atour of the city on his two-wheeler accompanied by ababy whose nose was cov-ered!

The cops promptly senthim back home.

Some cabbies and autodrivers were caught nearthe state Assembly build-ing and were fined `2,000each by the cops.

Curious youngsters ingroups drove their bikeson empty roads uploadingvideos of doing so onsocial media platforms.They claimed they werechecking whether the cur-few was being observed.

A fan of Chief MinisterK. Chandrashekar Raomounted a loudspeaker onhis white Ambassador carand campaigned acrossthe city raising awarenessabout Covid-19.

Private e-marketinggroups delivered groceriesearly in the morning with‘This vehicle is carryingessential grocery goods’imprinted on the vehicle.

Residents, including elders, youth and children, clap to express appreciation for doctors and other staff who workrelentlessly in the fight against the deadly coronavirus, at Mettuguda, Secunderabad, on Sunday. — GANDHI

Entire city stays at home, steps out to applaud medical personnel fighting the virusTotal silence, then a huge noise

Policemen stop motorists to enforce janata curfew onSunday.


Home calling

A passenger waits for transportation at Secunderabad Railway Station on Sunday —S. SURENDER REDDY

T. JJAYENDRACHAITHANYA II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Despite being officiallyhome-quarantined, manypeople are unable to reachhome either due to overen-thusiastic monitoring orpublic fear.

This mainly happenedwith 37 persons who hadreached Mumbai from var-ious Arab countries. Theybelonged to differentplaces in Telangana andAndhra Pradesh. Auth-orities at the Mumbai air-port advised them homequarantine and providedthem a bus to reachHyderabad, so that theycould travel to theirrespective places fromthere.

In connection withJanata curfew announced

by Prime Minister Modion Sunday, Telanganapolice had put up check-posts at 18 interstate bor-ders to check if peoplereturning from abroad areentering the state usingroad transport.

As the private bus carry-ing the passengers fromMumbai reached Madgi

near Zaheerabad on Sun-day, the Janata curfew hadalready come into force.The bus was stopped thereand not allowed to proceedahead. Instead, they wereall shifted to an isolationward in Sangareddy dis-trict.

Zaheerabad (Town) insp-ector Siddeshwar said, “As

part of Janata curfew, novehicle coming from otherstates was allowed to enterTelangana. Similarly, thebus carrying passengersadvised home quarantinewas also stopped. As ofnow, they are not allowed.”

In another incident, aman who had returnedfrom Australia was travel-ling to Nagpur from Secu-nderabad by HazrathNizamuddin Express, inan AC bogie. Other passen-gers noticed the homequarantine stamp on theman’s hand and informedthe ticket examiner on thetrain.

The passengers wereapprehensive that hecould be carrying the coro-navirus. Following this,the passenger was de-boarded at the Bhongirrailway station.

Advised home quarantine,group lands up in isolation

Janata curfew curbs air,noise pollution levels

DSP flouts quarantine rules forson, gunmen carry his luggage BALU PPULIPAKA AANDRAVINDRA SSESHU II DDCKHAMMAM/HYDERABAD,MARCH 22

Embarrassments appearto be piling up for theTelangana State Gover-nment with respect tohow individuals with infl-uence, power and positionin the government andadministration continueto cock a snook at rules,regulations and guide-lines with respect to pre-vention and spread of thedreaded Covid-19 disease.

The latest in a series ofmissteps that are likely tofurther establish in thepublic mind that VIPswould possibly be betteroff when it comes to coro-navirus infections in thestate, two gunmen, taskedby the State Police depart-ment to protect a deputysuperintendent of police(DSP) in BhadadriKothagudem district,were actually put to workto help carry the luggageof the DSP’s son from ahospital in Kothagudemfrom where he was sent toHyderabad with strongsymptoms of Covid-19.

The 23-year-old son ofthe Kothagudem DSP,

S.M. Ali, has since testedpositive for the disease.

In a video clip of theyoung man leaving theKothagudem hospital andgetting into a 108 ambu-lance, he can be seenaccompanied by two gun-men in safari suits. One ofthem, with nothing but ahandkerchief tied overhis nose and bare hands,can be seen carrying thenow Covid-19 patient’sluggage and placing it inthe ambulance after theyoung man, who recentlyreturned from London,sits inside the ambulance.

Incidentally, gunmenprovided by the policedepartment to senior offi-cials are meant for theirprotection and are not tobe used as personal valetsor servants.

As news of the Covid-19positive test spread inKothagudem, people beg-an discussing how a sen-ior police officer of therank of a DSP flouted theState Government guide-lines on quarantine proce-dures and took his sonhome instead of havinghim admitted to a facilityrun by the government.

It is learnt that CentralGovernment officials

have contacted the dis-trict collector and soughtan explanation on thisissue.

It may be recalled thatjust a few days ago, aTelangana Rashtra Sam-ithi MLA Koneru Kon-appa had flouted quaran-tine guidelines and wentabout taking part in aseries of public program-mes in Kagaznagar imme-diately after returningfrom a trip to the USAalong with his wife.

Meanwhile, with theDSP’s son testing positivefor Covid, the two gun-men who appeared tohave been at the hospitalto serve the young man,are among those whowere admitted to Mah-atma Gandhi MemorialHospital in Warangal andkept under observation.

In all, 22 persons includ-ing the DSP are said to beamong people with whomthe Covid-19 patient, des-ignated as Patient No. 26by the State HealthDepartment, was in closecontact since his returnfrom London on March 18.He first went toKhammam fromHyderabad and then toKothagudem.

T.S.S. SSIDDHARTH II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The decision to lock downHyderabad on Sundayimproved its air qualityand saw noise divingdown even as people invo-lved in ensuring essentialservices in the state capi-tal received tremendousapplause from the peopleat 5 p.m. with claps andbanging of steel plates.

Courtesy overwhelmingabsence of vehicles onroads, the air qualityindex in Sanathnagar at 8

p.m. was 18, which onusual days is in high 90s.

At the Industrial Devel-opment Area of Pasha-mylaram, air quality in-dex was 74, which is con-siderably low for an indu-strial area, which isalways strewn by indus-trial effluents.

“Lack of any vehicles onthe road meant there wasno congestion. The barefew that were movingabout released minimalemissions,” said an offi-cial of the TelanganaState Pollution Control

Board (TSPCB).The decibel levels of the

city too dropped down totwo digits, as most of thecity wore a look akin to aghost town on Sunday.

The usually loud Para-dise Junction in Secun-derabad, which has neverfallen shy of 100 decibels,registered only 69 deci-bels.

The Abids area inHyderabad, where thenoise level always regis-ters 70 decibels and above,on sunday it was notedonly 60 decibels.

Commuters who arrived in India from Arab countrieswere stopped by the police at an inter-state border.

COUNTER POINT

Max: 35.5OCMin: 24.4OC RH: 34%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Rain or thunder-showers, would occur in

evening . Max/Min temperature 36/22ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDEVikari; Uttarayana

Tithi: Phalguna Bahula Trayodasi till10.08 am

Star: Shatabisha till 10.26 pmVarjyam: 5.37 am to 7.24 am

(Monday)Durmuhurtam: 4.47 pm to

5.35 pmRahukalam: 4.30 pm to 6 pm

HIJRI CALENDARRajjab 27,1441 AH

PRAYERSFajar: 5.18 am

Zohar: 12.33 pmAsar: 4.44 pm

Maghrib: 6.34 pmIsha: 7.41 pm

SUNSET TODAY 6.27 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 6.17 AM

MOONRISE 5.10 AMMOONSET TODAY 4.57 PM

IN BRIEF

Hyderabad: The West ZoneTask Force arrested one

Ganesh Ohatker for sellinglow-quality face masks for`20, against the mandatedprice of `8. Police said he

had purchased low-qualitydisposable face masks.

Man sells masks athigher price, held


IN BRIEF

Hyderabad: Three persons,including an independent

councillor, who wereinvolved in spreading a

video appealing to the pub-lic not to participate in the

curfew on Sunday, have beenapprehended by the

Sangareddy police. 34thward councillor at

Sangareddy, MohammedSami, Mr Sami believes the

public should not follow theinstructions of the Prime

Minister unless the CitizenAmendment Act.

Cops make videofor curfew

Hyderabad: Cyberabadpolice on Sunday made a

video on TikTok social mediaapplication appealing to the

public to take part in thejanata curfew. In several

parts of the city, the policehad pickets out to prevent

public movement. Policecommissioners of

Rachakonda and Cyberabad,Mahesh Bhagwat and V.C.

Sajjanar respectively,thanked the public for taking

part in the janata curfew. Inthe evening, the police per-sonnel joined the 5 o’clock

clapping session.

NO ENTRY FORPVT VEHICLESTOO, SAYS CM

From Page 1

Chief Minister K. Chandras-hekar Rao said, “No vehicles,including public and privatetransport buses, or privatevehicles would be allowed intothe state. Only trucks carryingessential commodities likemilk and vegetables would bepermitted.”

He said that keeping in viewhardships poor people wouldface during the lockdown peri-od, it was decided to provide 12kgs of rice to each member infamily of 87 lakh white rationcard holders besides giving`1,500 to each family to pur-chase vegetables and grocery,adding that his governmenthas sanctioned `2,417 crore forthis.

While appealing to peoplestay away from groups andgatherings, the Chief Ministersaid that groups of more thanfive people would not beallowed on roads anywhere inthe state. He said that duringthe lockdown period, 20 percent of staff and officers ofgovernment departments,other than those involved inemergency services, wouldfunction in offices on a rota-tion basis.

He announced that all educa-tional activities, includinginvigilation of papers andanganwadi centres standsclosed during this lockdown.Alternative arrangementswould be made to supply nutri-tious food to mother and childduring the interregnum.

The Chief Minister said thatall private institutions andestablishments, besides thegovernment, should pay wagesto outsourcing and contractemployees during the lock-down.

The government has identi-fied all pregnant mothers whoare due for delivery fromMonday to till March 31 and hehas issued orders to ensuremeasures for safe deliveriesand proper medical care formother and new born.

40th ANNIVERSARY

Late BATHULA JOHN SWAMY DASSSupdt. Agriculture Dept.

DOB: 23-07-1930 DOD: 23-03-1980“Still in our memories”

- Family Members(CA-3295)

1st DEATH ANNIVERSARYI will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

Psalms 23:6

U.B. ALBERT SUKUMAR DOB: 24.09.1961 DOD: 23.03.2019

Inserted by:Wife: Mrs. Shanthi Jyothi AlbertSon : U. Benny Prashesth Kumar

& Relatives(S/1920/D01978)

SAD DEMISEHe led a blessed life

and kept his faith in the Lord

FRANCIS JOHN DORAIRAJ DOB: 31.05.1933 DOD: 22.03.2020

Memorial Service : 4:00 p.m.Mettuguda Cemetery, Secunderabad.

Mourned by:GRIEVING FAMILY MEMBERS

Phone: 9885809171, 9618891786

(L/1920/D00023)

OBITUARY

Dr. A.S. GAJENDER MUDALIAR (M.S.)

Retd. Superintendent Gandhi Hospital Retd. Prof. & Head of Dept of Surgery

Reached heavenly abode on 21.03.2020Cremation on 23.03.2020Forenoon at Bansilalpet

Dr. Jyothi Lakshmi (Daughter)Dr. Ravindran (Son-in-law)9848097635, 9866571208

(L/1920/D00022)

FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARYI will dwell in the house of the Lordforever. Psa 23:6

Mr. GANDLA KESHAV RAOD.O.B: 27.12.1957 D.O.D: 23.03.2019

You are dearly missed by Loving Wife

D. Jysothna KalabhashiniPh: 8466841526

(S/1920/D02034)

OBITUARY

KENNETH FOREGARDD.O.B: 03-02-1953 D.O.D: 22-03-2020

Burial at Bhoiguda at 1 pm on23-03-2020. Ph: 9885025144

Inserted by:FAMILY MEMBERS

(CA- 3296)


Responding to the call givenby Prime Minister NarendraModi, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao onSunday participated in theapplause programme by clap-ping to offer solidarity atPragathi Bhavan at 5 pm,along with his family mem-bers and Cabinet colleaguesand senior officials.

Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundarajan also joined inalong with family membersat Raj Bhavan and saluted allthose helping the people infighting the virus with theirselfless services in the partic-ularly critical times.

The Governor said, “all ofus should be aware of thegravity of the situation andat the same time must not getpanicky. I am afraid thatsome of them with symp-toms of the virus are min-

gling with everybody with-out knowing the real threatof it.”

She cautioned the people tobe careful and reiterated thatsocial distancing was the

best way to curb the spread ofthe highly contagious virus.

The Chief Minister,addressing a press confer-ence, said that the people ofTelangana have shownincredible response to thejanata curfew.

He said he was urging thepeople of the state with fold-ed hands to continue it tillMarch 31.

“We will hope that the pan-demic will disappear fromthe state,” he said, addingthat this was a symbolic indi-cation to show the world that“we all are one.”

Later in the night Unionhome minister Amit Shahcongratulated Mr Rao for thesuccessful and wonderfulconduct of ‘janata curfew’.

Speaking over phone, MrShah praised the spirit of theTelangana people and theway the entire administra-tion implemented the actionplan.

Muslims offer Isha prayers at the Macca Masjid on Shab-e-Meraj. The attendance at the masjidwas less compared to the previous years in view of the coronavirus outbreak. — P. SURENDRA

Shah thanks TS for curfew

Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan claps at 5 pmon the steps of Raj Bhavan.

— DC

ATHER MMOIN II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Shab-e-Meraj congre-gations have been sus-pended in almost allmosques and publicplaces in response toan appeal of quaran-tine in the wake ofCovid-19 by ChiefMinister K.Chandrashekar Raoon Sunday.

The regular Isha(night) prayer offeredas usual in mosques,but people were notallowed to stay in themosques after theprayers.

Shab-e-Meraj, obser-ved on 27th Rajab ofthe Islamic calendar,is an occasion whenthousands of devoteesthrong usuallymasjids and shrinesand offer night-long

prayers, but in view ofthe outbreak of Covid-19 and precautionsand preventionagainst this diseasethe managing commit-tees of the mosquesdecided decision tosuspend the Shab-e-Meraj observance.

Almost all mosquesshut down after 9.30pm, including the his-toric Macca Masjid.Hand sanitisers sup-plied for the worship-pers in manymosques. However,the religious scholarsand Ulema includingMIM presidentAsaduddin Owaisiwent on online anddelivered sermonsfrom their homes.

The speeches of theUlema were postedlive on various socialmedia platforms.

From Page 1

The fifth patient is a 23-year-old male and a resi-dent of Kothadugem ofBhadradri-Kothagudemdistrict, who flew in fromLondon on March 18.

The oldest among allthese individuals to havetested positive forCoronavirus announced bythe government on Sunday,is a 50-year-old womanfrom the city, who cameback home here fromDubai on March 14.

The bulletin said thathealth minister EtalaRajendar held a meetingwith Somesh Kumar, ChiefSecretary, and other seniorofficials, where variousstrategies to ensure pre-paredness to contain thespread of the virus, man-agement of positive cases,strengthening of hospitals,diagnostics and surveil-lance were discussed.

Night sermonssuspended forShab-e-Meraj

OLDEST +VECASE IN TS50 YRS OLD


Chief Minister K. Chan-drashekar Rao on Sundayinstructed agricultureminister Niranjan Reddyand Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar to takeappropriate measures sothat farmers will not faceany problems in the pro-curement of paddy duringthe Rabi season.

The CM said the actionplan should be prepared toprocure paddy from IndiraKranthi Patham centres,primary agriculture coop-erative societies and mar-ket committees from thevillage level itself.

The Chief Minister saidthat the Food Corporationof India is ready to procureone lakh tonnes of paddyand he instructed the ChiefSecretary to convene anemergency review meetingon the matter on Mondayto prepare the guidelines.

The iconic spots in Hyderabad — Charminar (top), Hitec City and Tank Bund (above right) — were totallydeserted on Sunday in view of the janata curfew. — P. SURENDRA, R. PAVAN, S. SURENDER REDDY

GHMC uses curfewto disinfect the city

Some returnees give fake addressesFrom Page 1

Another woman, wholanded in city fromSingapore on March 13,provided fake details toauthorities, who nowhave absolutely no clueof her whereabouts.They are convinced thatshe had broken quaran-

tine protocol.Meanwhile, a man

who came to Hyderabadfrom Doha on March 15,violating all coron-avirus preventive meas-ures, fled to Tanuku inneighbouring AndhraPradesh without inti-mating authorities.

Even as the govern-

ment decided to lockdown the state and closeborders, several ofthose who returnedhome after a tripabroad, appear to notonly have been trying toescape quarantine buthave managed to giveauthorities the slip.

In Chandanagar circle

of GHMC alone, of atotal of 52 internationalpassengers, three shift-ed their residence with-out intimating authori-ties. The GHMC staff isyet to track about 3,000international passen-gers who arrived sinceMarch 1 into the citylimits.

S.A. IISHAQUI II DDCHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Telangana state wasunder a complete lock-down and roads in thestate capital and otherparts wore a desertedlook on Sunday as the‘janata curfew’ pro-posed by Prime Mini-ster Narendra Modi tocheck the spread ofcoronavirus, wasobserved by the people.

The PM’s call wasendorsed by ChiefMinister Chandrashe-kar Rao who urged peo-ple in the state toobserve it till 6 am onMonday.

Since it was a Sunday,when most people any-way remain home,roads in most citiesincluding Hyderabad,S e c u n d e r a b a d ,Cyberabad, Warangal,Nizamabad, Khammam,

Karimnagar and Rama-gundam, were empty.State-run transportbuses were off the roadswhile Metro Rail alsostopped its services.

Barring medical shopsand vegetable and milkstores, bars, restau-rants, grocery storesand supermarkets kepttheir shutters downacross the state.

The Chief Minister,Governor TamilisaiSoundarajan, SpeakerPocharam SrinivasReddy, ministers K.T.Rama Rao, T. HarishRao, and T. SrinivasaYadav stayed at home.

At many places policepersonnel could be seendiscouraging those whocame out of their hous-es from going furtherand explained theimportance of socialdistancing.

In the twin cities, and

towns and cities acrossthe state, temples wereclosed after performingthe daily rituals in theearly hours.

According to transportdepartment officials,border check posts withneighbouring Maha-rashtra, AP andKarnataka have beensealed, and vehiculartraffic has been sus-pended on the Vijaya-wada highway.

The police stopped aprivate bus at Madginear Zaheerabad carry-ing passengers fromMumbai to Hyderabadwho were said to havereturned from Dubai,and referred them formedical examination.

There was heavypolice presence atSecunderabad railwaystation and theMahatma Gandhi busstation and other places.

In the morning, peoplein most parts of the OldCity of Hyderabad werestayed in their homes.Shops and businessestablishments wereclosed. There was verylittle traffic on theroads.

The GHMC authori-ties are engaged in amassive cleaning-upoperation in the old city.Teams from theDisaster Response Forceare spraying disinfec-tants in public places.

Muslim scholars haveurged the community toavoid large gatheringson Shab-e-Meraj.

Later in the evening,after 5 o’clock, peoplecame out of their homesand clapped to expressappreciation for theservices rendered byhealth personnel anddoctors in the waragainst coronavirus.

3 held for trying tooppose curfew

ENSURE PADDYFARMERS DON’TSUFFER: KCR

AP pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

Covid-19: AP to beshut till March 31Inter-state borders will also be closedN. VVAMSI SSRINIVAS || DDCVIJAYAWADA, MARCH 22

Andhra Pradesh hasdecided that it wouldremain locked down tillMarch 31, in a bid to pre-vent further spread andto contain the Coronavir-us (Covid-19) epidemic.

Announcing this hereon Sunday, Chief Min-ister Y.S. Jagan MohanReddy appealed to peopleto remain indoors tillend of this month associal distancing wasbest available remedy tomake the country virus-free.

This comes in welcomecontrast with his earlierpublic pronouncementduring his governmentconfrontation with theState Election Commi-ssion, when CM MrReddy maintained thatthe Covid-19 was in anearly stage in the stateand would pose no riskto conducting local bodypolls.

Elaborating on theshutdown of the state,the Chief Minister fur-ther announced thatinter-state borders wouldbe shut, all public andprivate transportation

would be suspended andonly essential establish-ments like hospitals,medical shops, grocerystores, and petrol pumpswould operate.

Supply of all essentialcommodities, includingLPG cylinders, wouldcontinue, Mr Reddyassured.

The SSC examinationswill however be held asper schedule and so wasthe case with the budgetsession of the Assembly.

Coming to rescue ofthe poor and daily wageearners who would bethe first and worst affect-ed by the shutdown, CMReddy decided to extenda cash incentive of `1,000for each household ofpoor towards compensa-tion for loss of wagesduring the lockdown.

The amount would behanded over to thesefamilies by volunteerson April 4. Besides, eachpoor household would beprovided with one kilo ofred gram, along with freeration, which would willreach their doorstep onMarch 29, he said.

“I know this is not suf-ficient but we are tryingto extend help to extent

possible. These addition-al measures will cost theexchequer `1,500 crore,”CM Reddy said, addingthat the lockdown waspainful but inevitable.

“We are followingremaining states tobring a synergy to coun-try-wide efforts on thisfront,” he said.

Mr Reddy gave a sternwarning to traders agai-nst exploiting the crisisby enhancing prices ofcommodities. Districtcollectors and SPs wouldrelease item-wise pricelist and it would be theirresponsibility to ensuretraders sell at those prices.

A toll-free numberwould be advertised forpeople to lodge com-plaints of hoarding orexcess pricing. “I willnot hesitate to send suchtraders behind bars,” hesaid. Maintaining thatthe government had alre-ady issued orders tooperate its office with 50per cent workforce at atime, Mr Jagan MohanReddy appealed to allcommercial establish-ments and factories tooperate with skeletalstaff.

SHORT TAKESTROLLED

COVID VICTIM URGES HELP

DC CCORRESPONDENTVIJAYAWADA, MARCH 22

A confirmed coronavirus vic-tim of the city has requestedpeople not to spread rumoursregarding him and his family.Instead, he sought their sup-port in getting rid of the dis-ease.

This first case of Covid-19registered in Vijayawada hasincreased the total number ofcorona victims in AP state tofive.

The victim released a selfievideo on Sunday assertingthat he had voluntarily dis-closed his coronavirus statusand was currently quaran-tined in an isolation ward. Hesaid once cured, he will worktowards bring awareness with-in masses on coping up withthe disease.

The virus victim’s selfiecame after he was trolled oversocial media that he had hid-den from authorities informa-tion about him contractingcoronavirus. Refuting thesame, he said he is a studentwho returned from Paris toDelhi on March 16 at 9 a.m. Hewent through the screening atDelhi airport, which clearedhim of having any Covid-19symptoms. Thereafter, he tooka flight and reachedHyderabad on March 17 at 12noon. From there, he took aprivate cab to Vijayawada andreached home at 6 p.m.

The same day (March 17), arepresentative of Vijayawadamunicipality vigilance wingcame to his house and directedhim to observe self-quarantineat home for 14 days.

The student said he startedhonouring the quarantineorder.

However, when he developedfever and other symptoms, hecalled the Covid-19 emergencyteam, which found that he hadcontracted coronavirus andshifted him to a governmentisolation ward.

Lamenting over circulationof rumours about him and hisfamily, he stated he did nothide the status of his health atany point in time. Soon afterhe realised his ill health, hevoluntarily called the emer-gency health team.

Hunt for 3 passengerswith Paris returneeMD IILYAS || DDCVIJAYAWADA, MARCH 22

The travel patterns offoreign returnees is cre-ating a dangerous riskfor the country and itspeople, and is loophole inthe battle to combat andcontain the spread of theCoronavirus (Covid-19)pandemic. Foreignreturnees, who cameback home using public

and private transportand refusing to quaran-tine or report hospitalsare now easily one of thebiggest health risks forthe country, and state ofAndhra Pradesh.

A student who returnedfrom Paris reachedVijayawada city in a pri-vate cab fromHyderabad. The cab thenferried three other per-sons in the return jour-

ney to Hyderabadbelongs to a driver-ownerbased in Guntur. The APpolice, which have start-ed “contact tracing” ofthe Covid-19 victim, fur-ther started searches totrace the three personswho travelled in thesame cab.

The Vijayawada policeon Sunday announced ahigh alert in the entirecity.

SPEAK OUT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

Beside the governmentschool at Musheerabad, a

drinking water camp is beingarranged for the last 12 years.This year, the road has beendamaged by Metro Rail roadcutting and there are potholeswhich is affecting traffic. Thisis preventing pedestrians andschool children from reachingthe water camp. GHMC staffis not taking action eventhough we have lodged a com-plaint and sought the repair ofthe road.

Mohammed AfzalMusheerabad

Insects, clogged drains add to virus woes

Drainage overflows at Maharaja Colony, Tadbund

Kishan Bagh allowedto stink by civic body

Officials refuse to clearworms, give clean water!

A threat as dangerousas dreaded Covid-19We, the residents

of DefenceColony, near

railway under bridge inRamakrishna Puram,wish bring to yournotice the harrowingtime we are havingthese days. The sewer-age board cleared thesewers after openingthe manholes in ourlane and the silt wasdeposited there.However, despite innu-merable plea, they havenot cleared the mess.

We knocked on thedoors of the local cor-porator Ms Sridevi butto no avail. In the pres-ent times when are allgrappling with thethreat of coronavirus,the dried up silt, whichis highly contaminated,is spreading into ourhomes. A health hazardis waiting to happen,quite literally I hopethe concerned authori-ties will act at least now.

Dr Prasad,Secunderabad.

GHMC, ‘disgusting’ like always! It is very pathetic thatcontrary to its tall claims of doing this and that,GHMC presents a ground reality that is in stark con-

trast to their cleanliness claims.By all logical standards, they should have cleaned up the

stink in their jurisdiction before the commencement of theannual examinations. In most localities drainage over-flows and parents, who accompany their children to theexam centres, have no healthy place to sit near the CityBoys School in our area. It is shameful that theCorporation has not taken any initiative to have the areacleaned. The situation is loathsome as those in the vicinityof the school have to bear the constantly emanating badsmell from open dump yard. Children, already caught inthe exam fever, are most vulnerable.

Syed Abdul BariKishan Bagh, Hyderabad

Path to watercamp blockedat Musheerabad

In spite of taking it to thenotice of the GHMC, there is

no respite from mosquitoesand hyacinth at the Safilgudalake. The lake is covered by theweed, and swarms of mosqui-toes are seen every evening.Recently the local MLA andthe corporator while inaugu-rating a road promised to getthe hyacinth removed but noaction as been initiated.Fogging has not yielded thedesired results. Spraying byusing drone technology cankill both mosquitoes andhyacinth. We, the residents ofBalramnagar Colony and adja-cent areas, request the GHMCto tackle the problem.

P. Satyanarayana,BN 340, Balramnagar,

Safilguda.

Mosquitoes,hyacinth atSafilguda lake

Ilive at Saraswatinagarbehind the dargah at

Chintalkunta. When we comeon to the main road to go toVanasthalipuram which is toour left, there are many vehi-cles coming on the wrong sidewhich we cannot see. Alsothere are four shops on theroad in front of dargah. Whenpeople stop at these shops, theroad is blocked further.Because of these two viola-tions, many accidents are tak-ing place. I requested the traf-fic police to conduct randomchecks to catch these trafficrule violators but no actionhas been taken so far.

M. Prasad Rao Saraswatinagar

Chintalkunta

Wrong-sidedriving atSaraswatinagar

ROAD LEADINGTO NIVEDITASCHOOL TERRIBLEIwalk daily along the

Begumpet MMTS lineto Sister NiveditaSchool. The manhole isopen and there is also apublic toilet for menwhich is dirty. Thesespread a bad smell in thearea. Also, near theSister Nivedita School,drainage water is leak-ing. The authoritiesshould take necessarysteps to clean the placeand make India better.

PreethiHyderabad

ERRATIC WATERSUPPLY AT SPR HILLS

RESTORE WEEKLY VEGETABLE MARKET AT AZAMPURA

There is a narrowpath adjacent to

Gopi KrishnaResidency at RoadNo 2, Netajinagar,Jai Jawan Colony.This is because of anunauthorised con-struction of anapartment abettingthe road.Consequently, it hasturned into an unau-thorised entry pointfor residents livingbeyond NethajiNagar. At times, it isused by anti-socialelements to escapefrom the police. The stretch has become dangerousfor those residing at Road No 2. I request the author-ities to close this unauthorised by-pass and bringrespite to us

N. Nagarajan, Hyderabad

The weekly vegetablemarkets that are

organised in every local-ity on a specified daycome as a major boon toevery household, partic-ularly working women.Unfortunately, foralmost a year now, thisweekly market(Wednesday) has been

stopped in Azampuraunder Chaderghat lim-its. It is believed that thedecision was taken whennearby houses com-plained about trafficproblems everyWednesday evening. We,the residents ofAzampura, request theauthorities to make use

of the huge GHMCground, Doodh Khana,which is situated oppo-site the Corporation’sward office for a fewhours once every week.This will not disturbanyone and there isample space for parking.

S.I. HussainiAzampura, Hyderabad

This is to bring to thenotice of the author-

ities that there has beenno regular water supplyat SPR Hills, T. AnjaiahNagar, Yousufguda,Borabanda. Although,we have made severalrepresentations theyhave fallen on deaf ears.I hope at least now theofficials will step in andbring relief. Moreover,summer is round thecorner and the problemgets worse.

Farheen BegumHyderabad

Iam a retired governmentofficer residing in

Pragatinagar, Kukkatpallysince 18 years. I would like toinvite your attention to thevegetable market which is setup in the vicinity ofAmbedkar Park. Of late, I haveobserved that many unautho-rised vendors have startedoccupying the road sides fromElephant Square toMithilanagar Road making itdifficult for the movement ofpublic as well as vehiculartraffic. Moreover, these vegeta-bles vendors do not allowparking of vehicles in thevicinity of their shops. Assuch people have to walk along distance to keep theirvehicles. Hence it is requestedto remove such unauthorisedvendors from the road and askthem to shift near AmbedkarPark.

Mahesh SonneyHyderabad

Move illegalvendors fromPragatinagar

Steps nearSitaphalmandiflyover, please!We, the residents of Ravin-

dernagar in Sitaphal-mandi, are facing problemsbecause of the railway cross-ing at Modern School. Though,the flyover is helpful tomotorists and buses, it is prov-ing problematic for pedestri-ans, who have to cross the rail-way line to go to the other side.Checking by TTEs is adding tothe problem as trains are halt-ed. As such, GHMC has to alsobuild steps on either side ofthe flyover so that pedestriansneed not take the crossing. Weappeal to GHMC to constructsteps on a priority basis.

T.S. Chandramohan,Secunderabad.

Even as we arecaught in the grip ofcoronavirus fear,

people in some parts ofSecunderabad faced abigger threat followingThursday’s hailstorms.The drainage passing

through MaharajaColony, SBI Colony,Sanjeevaiah Colony,Temple Rock Enclave andright up to TadbundCircle was overflowing.To make matters worse,the drain water was stag-

nating in and aroundcompound walls of sever-al houses. Quite a fewhouses in these areas arerented to working classand landlords have cov-ered drainage by con-structing garages or

washrooms. Drain lineshave not been cleaned foryears together therebyexposing the neighbour-hood to health hazards,particularly when watergets stagnated andremains so for several

days. Will theCantonment authoritiestake steps at least now byremoving the encroach-ers and restoring a prop-er drainage system?

Rinki JangawatSecunderabad

This is to bring to thenotice of the authori-

ties about the pitiableconditions that people areliving in the AC Guardsarea. For the past twomonths, we are gettingworms in the water thatis supplied here. We havesubmitted a complaint

but the water departmentofficials bluntly informedus that they cannot doanything about it. It isshamefully regrettablethat we cannot get cleanwater despite paying alltaxes.

Rajiv Lui,Hyderabad

TILTED ELECTRIC POLE POSES DANGER

An electric pole that is leaning precariously atHussaini Alam Road, next to Dargah HazrathSyed Shah Moosa Quadri Gulab Singh Bowli,

Puranapul is posing danger to motorists and pedestri-ans. This is also worrying the locals as it could fall onsomeone moving along the road. I urge the authoritiesto replace it with a new pole immediately in the inter-est of public safety.

Syed Hameeduddin Quadri, Hyderabad

Seal the illegal bypass, now

SPEAK OUT pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

This is regarding problemsfaced because of a function

hall at Mallepalli beside AmbaHospital. The Telangana StateHousing Board (TSHB) has putup notices cautioning the pub-lic not to entertain any busi-ness with the functional hallmanagement. However, theowner of the illegally con-structed function hall had thewarning boards removed,making a mockery of the judi-ciary. I request GHMC andTSHB officials to take immedi-ate action against the ownerand have the hall sealed.

Md KaleshaMallepalli

Seal Illegalfunction hallat Mallepalli

We purchased an iPhone 11on October 25 last year

from Aptronix, Parklane. Assuggested by the salesincharge, we made a transac-tion using the HDFC debitcard as a `6,000 cash back wasoffered after four months fromthe date of purchase.

I followed up with Aptronixsince the first week of March.Aptronic escalated the matterto their channel partner,Pinelabs. At their request, Ialso provided the bank state-ment from the date of pur-chase till date, showing evi-dence that no cash back wascredited into the account.Since then I have followed upwith Aptronix and Pinelabsover emails and phone callsbut each one is trying to throwthe ball into the other’s court.

While I spoke to a represen-tative of Pinelabs, after beingin a queue for about 15 min-utes, the person at the otherend said the matter was to besettled by Aptronix.

Satish VinayakHyderabad

Waiting for mycash backon iPhone

Traffic cops needed at Tolichowki crossroads

Garbage clearance inKhanamet is

appalling, to say theleast. People gatherwaste from different res-idential colonies anddump them into thehuge garbage contain-ers that do not have thecapacity to cope with

waste that is being gen-erated after new shopsand eateries have comeup in the neighbour-hood. The smell is nau-seating and bearing thebrunt are motorists andpedestrians. For thetwo-wheeler riders, it iseven more horrific. The

ideal solution would beto either increase thenumber of containersor to employ more man-power to remove thetrash, which is harmfulto the community.

Nagarajamani M.V.,Iris Residency,

Khanamet

BSNL non-responsive This is with regret we

inform that the BSNLauthorities have ignoredour representationsabout a precariouslyplaced pole in the laneopposite Dena Bank inRed Hills. We have lodged

four complaints with theBSNL authorities but tono avail. We hope theywill at ;east respond nowbefore disaster strikes.

Tariq SultanPresident, Moghul

Mezonet Apats

Dumped car nearHitec spreading fear!The car in the pic-

ture, bearing anillegal number plate,has been left lying inHitec City for quitesome time. The con-cerned officials shouldcome and clear it from

there as the locals areworried about thecriminal purpose forwhich the vehicle hasbeen kept there.

Rhea PapaliHyderabad

Open nala hits traders at RP Road In what can easily be

blamed as ineptness ofGHMC officials, a nala ismaking life a hell for overone year to all shopkeep-ers of Rashtrapathi RoadOpposite General Bazaardargah.

Ever since it has beenopened, dirty water fromthe nala is entering

almost every shops and inthe process blocking themain and causing healthhazards to us.

We have lodged severalcomplaints with the civicbody but the officials tellus that after cleaning thewaste and removing silt,they would close the nala.However, till date none

has come from theCorporation. I hope atleast its engineering teamwill attend to the problemand come to our aid. Thisis affecting our businessalso.

Rajkamal ElectronicsManagementSecunderabad

Iwould like to bring to yourkind attention the ill-treat-

ment by a hospital. My wifeAkhtar Begum, 60, was admit-ted in the Princess DurruShehwar Hospital at PuraniHaveli, Hyderabad, in Octoberand November last year. SinceI am a retired employee of theDirectorate of Health, Koti, Iam eligible to get my wife’smedical expenditure reim-bursed. I have made tens ofvisits to the hospital to get therequired formalities complet-ed so as to submit the formsfor reimbursement. I have metthe superintendent, account-ants, clerks and other officialsto get clearance. Despite this,nobody cares and they useharsh words. I am 80, diabeticand suffering with knee prob-lems and going through verytough financial conditions. Irequest the authorities con-cerned to look into my issueand help me to get the formali-ties done.

Abdul KhaderHyderabad

Give my papersback, Shehwarhospital

Ola took taxiback, KCRmust helpWe have taken a leasing car

from Ola but bookingswere affected due to the coron-avirus and Ola recovered myvehicle (TS10 UB 0952). I amgoing to the office every daybut they are saying they willescalate it to the central team.When I called the centralteam, I was told they wereunaware of my car recovery.Besides, Ola has raised a bill of`50,001. The business has beenaffected. CM K. Chandra-shekar Rao must help out.

Shaik Ahtesham HussainQadri, Hyderabad

On February 9, I was trav-elling from Hyderabad to

Vijayawada. At the Pantangitoll plaza, I was stopped asmy vehicle does not haveFASTag. Just outside the tollplaza, there was a tent wheretwo or three boys were sell-ing FASTags. They took `200for the FASTag and made metransfer `1,200 through SBInet banking for tag loadingand assured that it will becharged within a few min-

utes. The FASTag is notbeing identified by any tollplaza nor has the vehiclenumber been registered. Imade numerous calls to 1033and but got no proper replyor no reply at all. When Iasked for the mailing add-ress, the customer centredidn’t have one. (FASTagcomplaint Ref no: 16738899/1729345; Vehicle No. TS09EQ 8091)

A.S.C. Bose, Hyderabad

FASTag boys at Pantangitoll plaza cheated me

Shringar bindiis irritatingmy skinI have been using Shringar

Kumkum for 30 years. Forthe past year, it has been giv-ing skin problems like aller-gy and stain on the skin. Iconsulted dermatologistsand took medicine but Idon’t see any relief.

I strongly feel the productquality has deteriorated orShingar must be using somechemicals which is not goingwell with the skin.

Anita M.Hyderabad

Not gettingincomingon AirtelIwish to complain about

the problem I am facingwith Airtel (9885712399). Ihave not been getting incom-ing calls and messages sinceMarch 18. I have tried manytimes to contact Airtel cus-tomer care and via Twitterbut the response was not as Iexpected. The customer carepersonnel do not have anyanswer to what exactly is theproblem.

Aditya MadalaHyderabad

Dear Readers, We at Deccan Chronicle request you to kindly sendall your complaints, issues, grievances, feedback and suggestionsto our government and all its departments by writing to SpeakOut, the voice of the people, to our email [email protected] — Editor

MONKEY BIZ AT PADMARAONAGAR HAS TO STOPI’m a resident of Pad-

maraonagar, Secun-derabad which faces amonkey menace every-day. There is a troop ofmonkeys that destroysplants on the balconiesand enters housesthrough the windows. Irequest the GHMC totake immediate action.

Radhika NaiduPadmaraonagar

WAITING FORBSNL REFUNDSINCE OCTOBER

DISCOM ADDSMORE DAYS TOPOWER BILL

HEFTY FEE ATSEC’BAD FOR 8-MIN PARKINGIwould like to

inform you thatat the Secun-der-abad railway sta-tion Platform 10side, the parkinglot operator is col-lecting between`100 and `500 forwaiting for morethan eight min-utes. This is illegalin a governmentparking lot. Atpublic places, themaximum parkingrate should be `30to `40.

At a place likethe Secunderabadstation, it is diffi-cult to pick upsomeone withineight minutes andleave.

NoorullaShariff

Secunderabad

Indigo notrefundingthe full fareIbooked three tickets

on Indigo to Varanasifrom Hyderabad onMarch 21 and return onMarch 25 paying`24,501. Due to thespread of coronavirus Iwanted to cancel thetickets. Unfortunatelythe refund amount wasaround `1,200. Is thisproper? Neither Indigonor Cleartrip, throughwhich I booked the tick-ets, are not coming online.

In fact the governmentshould instruct the air-lines to refund the fullamount.

K.V. Krishna Rao A2/44, Mayuri

ApartmentsMayur Marg,

BegumpetHyderabad

My multiple effortsto get billingerrors rectified

by TS Southern PowerDistribution CompanyLimited have failed.

In June 13, 2019, thetotal units billed was 187units for 39 days. As perrules, the billing for 31days must be 149 units.The remaining 38 unitsmust be billed the follow-ing month. Slab rates saythe cost for 100 units is`330.00 and the cost forthe rest 49 units `210.70.The bill should be`540.70. The amount was`678.10. The excess`138.60 which has notbeen adjusted.

Chandrakanth East Marredpally

Ihad surrendered mylandline telephone

(27733230) on October 17last year and requestedrefund of the deposit. Ihave not received themoney till now. On con-tacting their office, I wasinformed that it will taketime due to the shortageof funds. It is really sadthat BSNL, run by thegovernment, is taking solong to refund thedeposit when it expectscustomers to pay theirbills in time or face dis-connection. I requestBSNL to refund thedeposit soon withoutkeeping me waiting fur-ther.

Chandrasekhar,East Marredpally,

Secunderabad.

The sharingautorickshaws thatare parked right in

the middle of the roadare causing inconven-ience to the commutersto pass the Tolichowkicrossroad. A regular

user since two years, Ihave had to bear the autonuisance to proceed onmy work. Not only dothey park haphazardly,the drivers argue inunparliamentary lan-guage when asked to

move their vehicles. Wedon't see any traffic con-stable, who is required tocontrol the congestionand regulate traffic, par-ticularly because thearea is always crowded.I wish to appeal to traffic

police commissionerAnil Kumar to step inand bring relief to thecommuters at theTolichowki crossroads.

Mohammed RasheedHyderabad

DC IMPACT

We wish to thank DeccanChronicle for publish-

ing our plea about the deep-cut road at Kachegudacrossroads. Following thepublication, GHMC author-ities have repaired andfilled up the ‘deep-cut’ roadthereby bringing relief allaround.

S.Vivaanramvikas RajHyderabad

Garbage mess at Khanamet area

Service providers give cashback worries

NATION pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

IN BRIEFNORMAL LIFECOMES TO A

HALT IN ASSAMMANOJ AANAND || DDCGUWAHATI, MARCH 22

The North-Eastern statesincluding Assam on Sundaycame to almost standstillalong with rest of the countryto observe ‘Janata curfew’ acall by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to put a brakeon the chain of coronavirusspread.

Streets in the state capitallike Guwahati, Itanagar inArunachal, Kohima inNagaland and Imphal inManipur wore a deserted lookthroughout the day and only avery few vehicles engaged inessential services were seenplying.

The response of PrimeMinister’s call to do clappingfor those fighting against coro-navirus was amazing inGuwahati as entire capital citystarted vibrating with soundsof clapping and beating uten-sils. In some locality peoplestarted bursting crackers too.

All business establishmentsincluding small shops andmarkets remained closed.Pharmacies, however,remained open. Essential serv-ices like ambulances, watersupply etc. continued to oper-ate.

ICMR ISSUESGUIDELINES FOR

PRIVATE LABSDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, MARCH 22

In view of the increasing num-ber of cases and more peoplereporting symptoms, theCentre has decided to increasethe number of testing labora-tories by bringing in the pri-vate sector.

The Indian Council ofMedical Research has issuedguidelines for private sectortesting, based on whicharound 60 labs have applied tothe government seeking per-mission for testing.

These will be in addition tothe 111 government testingcentres already functional.ICMR director-general BalramBhargava warned againstindiscriminate testing andraising the rates of tests.

He said India at present hasthe capacity to do 10,000 testsper day to detect Covid-19though only 5,000 are beingtested per week so far. “Thestrategy is to test only thosewho show symptoms,” MrBhargava said.

He said the states have beenasked designate separate hos-pitals for Covid treatment only.“For example, in Delhi, AIIMS’division of National CancerInstitute (NCI) in Jhajjar(Haryana) — which hasaround 800 beds — will be usedonly to treat Covid-19patients,” Mr Bhargava said.

J&K FORMALLYANNOUNCES

CLOSE DOWNYUSUF JJAMEEL || DCSRINAGAR, MARCH 22

The Jammu and Kashmir gov-ernment on Sunday formallyannounced closure of allestablishments and servicesacross the Union Territory tillMarch 31 in an effort to limitthe spread of deadly novelcononavirus. However, 16 serv-ices and commodities havebeen declared as essential andexempted from the shutdown.These include supply and saleof groceries, fresh fruits andvegetables, gasoline, milk andmilk products, medicines andother pharmaceuticals, cook-ing gas (LPG) and cattle feedand fodder. Also banks andATMs, health services, manu-facturing of health and med-ical equipment, telecom serv-ices, newspapers, post offices,electricity and potable watersupplies and municipal andsanitary services.

Meanwhile, Kashmir Valleyremained under virtual lock-down on the third and capitalSrinagar and the towns ofBudgam and Pulwama on thefourth consecutive day onSunday with J&K police andCentral armed forces enforc-ing a strict curfew or curfew-like restrictions. In Jammuregion of the UT, Prime Mini-ster, Narendra Modi’s, ‘JanataCurfew’ call was obeyed byvast majority of populationand official agencies turningcities and towns into ‘ghosttowns’.

J&K has, so far, reportedfour-three in Jammu and onein the Valley and Ladakh thir-teen positive cases of Covid-19but no deaths. Updating thetally, an official spokesman inJammu said on Sunday that asmany as 3,938 travellers andpersons in contact with sus-pected cases have been putunder surveillance.

‘Janata curfew’ gets stellar response

Bihar records 1st death; announces lockdown

17 jawans killedin Maoist attack

WB jail clash, toll rises to four

WB on shutdownfrom 5 pm todayRAJIB CCHOWDHURI || DDCKOLKATA, MARCH 22

As the total number ofCovid-19 patients rose toseven in West Bengal onSunday, the MamataBanerjee government hasannounced lockdown inmost parts of the stateincluding Kolkata andseven districts from 5 pmon Monday till March 27midnight, adding thestate to the list of manyothers which haveswung into the mode totackle the Covid-19pandemic. Only the essen-tial and emergency serv-ices will remain opera-tional.

The seven districts areNorth Dinajpur, SouthDinajpur and Malda inNorth Bengal andHowrah, Nadia, Mursh-idabad and BurdwanWest in South Bengal.Among the remaining 16districts, the lockdownwill be in force in all thetowns and also in severalsub divisional areas.

The decision was takenafter the meeting betweenthe Cabinet secretary andthe chief secretaries ofall the states includingWest Bengal which obser-ved janata curfew. Thelockdown bars move-ments of public vehicles,buses, taxis and autorick-shaws.

The state government’s

move also came as threemore persons including acouple were found posi-tive with the deadly virus.Admitted to theInfectious DiseasesHospital in Beliaghata,the three patients are theparents of the second con-firmed case: a youth inthe state and a womandomestic help of the fam-ily in Ballygunge of southKolkata.

They were earlier keptin isolation as the 23-year-old tested positive ofCovid-19 days after hisreturn from London andvisits to many places,ignoring precautions.The lockdown announce-ment also coincided therailways’ cancellation ofall trains includingKolkata Metro in thestate.

The Eastern Railwaystated, “...all originatinglong distance mail/expr-ess and intercity trains(including premium trai-ns) and all originatingpassenger trains shallremain cancelled till 24.00hours of 31.03.2020. Subu-rban trains, as notifiedearlier, are continued atbare minimum level until24.00 hours of 22.03.2020.”

It added, “Thereafter allsuburban trains will betotally cancelled from24.00 hours of 22.03.2020till 24.00 hours of31.03.2020.”

DC CCORRESPONDENTKOLKATA, MARCH 22

The death toll in the clashbetween the prisoners andpolice personnel in DumDum Central Jail, one ofthe largest prisons inWest Bengal, over restric-tions due to Covid-19 pan-demic, has jumped to fourfrom one as the prisonwitnessed fresh violenceon Sunday. The threedeceased were ArghyaChakraborty, Badal Mon-dal and Sheikh NoorHossein, according to offi-cial sources.

All of them were under-trial prisoners and hadsuffered bullet injuries,sources claimed. Theywere brought to RG KarMedical College andHospital in north Kolkatawith another deceasedprisoner: Kamalesh Mah-ato on Saturday evening.

Except Mahato, the iden-tities of the rest wereestablished later. OnSunday, Chakraborty’smother identified hisbody at the morgue of theRGKMCH. Chakraborty, aresident of Lake Town,was an accused in a case

under the NDPS Act. Like Mahato who was

also accused in an NDPSAct case from Khardah inNorth 24 Parganas, thethree other prisoners arealso suspected to havebeen shot dead when thepolice allegedly openedfire after coming underattack by prisoners whowent on rampage and tor-ched wards of the prisonon Saturday in protest ofthe prison authorities’decision to not to allowthem to meet their familymembers to tackle thespread of Covid-19.

RABINDRA NNATHCHOUDHURY || DDCBHOPAL, MARCH 22

In one of the deadliestassaults on security per-sonnel in Chhattisgarh inthe past two years,Maoists late on Saturdayevening ambushed a jointsearch party inElmagunda in southBastar district of Sukma,killing 17 jawans andinjuring 15 others.

“Bodies of 17 jawanswere recovered at theencounter site on Sundayafternoon,” a seniorpolice officer posted inBastar told this newspa-per.

Of the 17 slain jawans,12 were from districtreserve group (DRG), ananti-Naxal tribal forceraised by Chhattisgarhpolice, and five were fromSpecial Task Force (STF),counterinsurgency wingof Chhattisgarh police.

This was the biggestcasualty faced by the DRGwhich comprised surren-dered Naxals and localtribals, in counterinsur-gency in Bastar so far.

At least 15 security per-sonnel were also injuredin the incident. Theywere airlifted to Raipur inChhattisgarh for treat-ment. Conditions of twoof them were stated to becritical.

Bastar range inspectorgeneral of police (IG) P.Sunderraj confirmed theincident.

According to a seniorpolice officer posted inBastar, a joint searchparty comprising person-nel of district reserve

group (DRG), special taskforce (STF) and 206COBRA (CommandoBattalion for ResoluteAction) was dispatched toKasalpad area, a Maoist-stronghold, followingintelligence inputs ongathering a large numberof ultras in the jungle

Maoists laid an ambushfor the counterinsur-gency forces at a strategicpoint at the foothill ofKasapad when the latterwere returning to theirrespective base campsafter conducting searchoperations.

“Maoists who had posi-tioned them at hilltopopened fire on the securi-ty personnel when the lat-ter reached the plainarea, reducing them tositting ducks.Reinforcement rushedfrom nearby Burkhapalevacuated 15 injuredjawans who were laterairlifted to Raipur fortreatment. However, bod-ies of 17 jawans could berecovered only after 20hours on Sunday after-noon”, the police officersaid requesting not to bequoted. Maoists also tookaway 16 weapons includ-ing 12 AK 47 assault riflesand one Under BarrelGrenade Launcher(UBGL) from the slainjawans, police said.

The encounter site isclose to Chintalnar where76 CRPF jawans werekilled by Maoists on April6, 2010.

The region, consideredheadquarters of Maoists’battalion number one,has been declared liberat-ed zone by the ultras.

NAYEAR AAZAD II DDCPATNA, MARCH 22

Bihar has been placedunder complete lockdownfrom Sunday, March 22 toMarch 31. The announce-ment was made by BiharChief Minister NitishKumar after analysing thethreat to the state emerg-ing from the coronaviruspandemic.

In a statement which wasreleased by his office onSunday, Mr Kumar saidthat the lockdown is beingenforced in all districts,sub-divisional and blockheadquarters and munici-pal towns till March 31. Healso urged people toextend their support in

the fight against the dead-ly virus.

“Bihar is being placedunder lockdown to preventthe spread of coronavirusin the state. During thisperiod all private estab-lishments, offices, andpublic transport willremain suspended,” hesaid in the statement.

The government has,however, exempted allessential services which

include healthcare, medi-cine shops, general provi-sion stores, banking sectorand media.

Earlier on Sunday, thestate administration heldan emergency meetingafter Bihar recorded itsfirst death due to coron-avirus. According to theBihar health department,a person named Saif Aliwith a travel history toQatar died at AIIMS,Patna, where he was beingtreated for critical kidneyailments.

According to Bihar ChiefSecretary Deepak Kumar,“The test report reachedthe hospital a day after hesuccumbed to the infec-tion. The state govern-

ment is taking all neces-sary precautions to dealwith the situation.”

Doctors at RajendraMemorial ResearchInstitute (RMRI), Patna,where coronavirus testsare conducted, said that114 samples were exam-ined on Saturday, out ofwhich two cases werefound positive for Covid-19.

The other Covid-19 posi-tive person has beenadmitted to a hospital inPatna. Meanwhile, screen-ing at railway stations hasalso been stepped up andpassengers coming fromother states are beingmonitored.

To deal with the rising

coronavirus threat, isola-tion wards have been setup in all medical collegesand hospitals across thestate.

As a precautionarymeasure, the state govern-ment had earlier cancelledall major events includingthe Bihar DivasProgramme which was tobe observed on March 22.Apart from this, all educa-tional institutions, parks,zoos and cinema hallshave also been shut downtill March 31.

“Concerned officialshave been asked to trackall details about personswho have tested positive,”principal health secretarySanjay Kumar said.

Several people posted videos and audios of sounds of birds chirping, cuckoos singing on social mediaDC CCORRESPONDENTwith aagency iinputsNEW DELHI, MARCH 22

Deserted roads, emptyparks and silent neigh-bourhoods — India saw anunprecedented self-imposed shutdown due tothe ‘Janata Curfew’ as mil-lions stayed indoors fol-lowing the appeal byPrime Minister NarendraModi. At 5 pm the silencewas broken by the soundof clashing thalis, conchesand bells.

The applause was to be agesture of appreciation forthe efforts of the healthcare providers and all oth-ers involved in essentialservices in this time of cri-sis.

While essential serviceswere allowed to remainopen, cities largely sawmilk booths opening foronly a brief while even asration and groceries shopsremained closed in mostparts of the country.Ambulances, police andmedia persons were theonly things out on theroads.

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi thankedpeople for expressing grat-itude towards those whoare at the forefront of thebattle against Corona-virus. In a series of tweets,PM wrote “The countrythanked each person wholed the fight against theCoronavirus. Many thanksto the countrymen.”

The Prime Ministeradded that the eventmarked the beginning ofthe nation’s victory in along battle against theCovid-19 menace. He urgedthe people to bind them-selves to the principle ofsocial distancing with thesame resolve andrestraint.

On Sunday, several peo-ple posted videos andaudios of sounds of birdschirping and cuckoossinging. With people andvehicles off roads, somecities even reported pea-cocks on the road.

From North to South,East to West, India wasunited and determined inits fight against novelcoronavirus. No one defiedthe self imposed curfew aspolice stood on emptyroads. Delhi woke up toempty streets with peopleconfining themselves tohomes after the usual

paper reading session inthe morning.

Several ditched morningwalk though early risersmanaged to do that too.However, people were seendoing yoga in balconies.

In view of the Janatacurfew, the Delhi Metrohad announced closing itsservices while Rail servic-es were also halted acrossthe country. However, afew buses were seen onroads in Delhi. Severalstates have already closedtheir malls, cinema halls,multiplexes, cafes, restau-rants and bars.

Streets of Kolkata toowore an empty look andpublic places remaineddeserted. Mumbai, the citythat never sleeps, too wascompletely deserted aspeople posted videos ofempty Marine Drive.Mumbai’s usually bustlingwestern and easternexpress highways andother arterial roads weresilent as people stayed intheir homes to support thecurfew.

The bustling cities ofUttar Pradesh, the coun-try’s most populous state,too, were deserted and the

streets were eerily quiet,with the silence interrupt-ed every few hours by‘azaan’ or prayer call frommosques.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan claps as a gesture to show gratitude to the helpers and medical practitionerswho are working relentlessly to fight coronavirus along with family members in Mumbai on Sunday. — PTI

Masks: Govt callsfor proposals DC CCORRESPONDENTwith aagency iinputsNEW DELHI, MARCH 22

The government has invit-ed proposal applicationsfrom Indian companiesand enterprises to addressprotection and home-based respiratory inter-vention for Covid-19patients.

The proposal mayinclude technologicallyinnovative solutions likelow-cost masks, cost-effec-tive scanning devices,technologies for sanitisa-tion of large areas aswell as for contactlessentry, rapid diagnostickits, oxygenators and ven-tilators.

“In the last few decades,various viral diseaseshave spread across conti-nents and caused massivefatalities. The latest in thelist is the covid-19 pandem-ic, which has put thehealthcare system ofvarious countries out ofgear. Protection of thegeneral population needsefficient clinical masksand sanitisers, suitabledevices for screening anddetection, home-basedventilator systems to com-plement healthcare facili-ties and other productsand technologies to moni-tor and control the spreadof diseases,” the technolo-gy development board(TDB), a statutory bodyunder the department ofscience and technology,said.

The areas in which the

technologically innovativesolutions are invitedinclude low-cost maskswhich can capture virusesfrom the air and absorbrespiratory droplets, cost-effective thermal scan-ning, large area sanitisa-tion and sterilisation(including electrostaticspray and ultra violettreatment for variousavailable surfaces likeglass, ceramic, wood, tex-tile, etc.), bioinformaticsand surveillance, rapidand accurate diagnosiskits (paper-based andother point of caredevices), AI and IoT-basedsolutions for contactlessentry, oxygenators andventilators (low cost andportable).

Meanwhile, Someinmates of Burail ModelJail here are making near-ly 700-800 face masks dailydue to a surge in theirdemand in the wake ofCovid-19 outbreak, an offi-cial said on Sunday.

Under ‘Making of Mask’project, two teams, with 15inmates each, have beenconstituted, said NeenaChaudhary, SeniorMedical Officer, BurailModel jail.

She said, each day 700-800 masks are being madefor general preventivemeasures and they arefully sterilised.

Chaudhary said themasks are priced at `10each and will initially besupplied to the govern-ment offices where thereis public dealing.

● ● AT 55 PPM the silence ofJanata curfew was brokenby the sound of clashingthalis, conches and bells.

● ● THE AAPPLAUSE was agesture of appreciationfor the efforts of thehealth care providers andall others involved inessential services inthis time of crisis.

● ● THE TTEST report of SaifAli, with a travel historyto Qatar, reached thehospital a day after hesuccumbed to theinfection.

DC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, MARCH 22

The Budget Session ofParliament is likely to beconcluded on Mondayafter passage of theFinance Bill in bothHouses, sources said onSunday.

The session, which wasearlier scheduled to con-clude on April 3, is nowlikely to be adjourned sinedie on March 23, sourcessaid.

The session is likely tobe concluded almost 12days before its scheduledwinding up due to thelooming threat of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, in wake ofthe Covid-19 outbreak, theNationalist CongressParty on Sunday asked itsMPs not to go back toDelhi but assist govern-ment agencies in theirlocal areas, helping citi-

zens to fight Covid-19. While the TMC on

Sunday announced that ithas given instructions toall its MPs to withdrawfrom parliament andreturn to their constituen-cies in view of the coron-avirus scare.

TMC Rajya Sabha MPand leader of the party inthe upper house, DerekO’Brien and SudipBandyopadhyay, LokSabha MP and leader ofthe party in the lowerhouse, have written to pre-siding officers of bothhouses urging them towind up proceedings onMonday March 23.

The TMC has 22 MPs inthe Lok Sabha and 13 inthe Rajya Sabha.

The letter said, “PrimeMinister Narendra Modihimself has spoken aboutthe urgent need for socialdistancing and the need tonot assemble in large

groups and that thoseabove the age of 65 shouldtake abundant care.Around 44 per cent MPs inRajya Sabha and 22 percent MPs in Lok Sabhaare 65 years of age andabove. It is not only aboutMPs but the thousandswho enter the Parliamentcomplex every day.This conflicting messag-ing is downright danger-ous.”

The budget session ofparliament is currently inprogress and many MPshad returned to theirrespective constituenciesduring the weekend.

Last week, in the upperhouse, some members ofthe Trinamul Congresscame with masks whichwas objected toby the presiding officer.Later, after interventionof other members, theywere allowed to wearmasks.

Parties ask MPs to withdraw from Parliament dutiesCORONA | TREMORS

Budget session likely to end today Cong raises doubton Covid-19 figuresDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI,MARCH 22

The Congress on Sundayquestioned the govern-ment over the figures ofCovid-19. Party communi-cations chief RandeepSingh Surjewala allegedthat figures of variousgovernment agencies arenot matching. He tweeted,“Why are the Covid-19 out-break cases of differentgovernment agencies notmatching? Government ofIndia Health Ministrysays 324 as of 11.45 amwhile ICMR says 341 as of10 am.” He further added,“Similarly, the number ofCovid-19 patients are

being shown far less ongovernment of Indiahealth ministry website!government of Haryanahad announced six Covid-19 cases on March 20thwhich rose to eight onMarch 21st. But, the gov-ernment of India stillrefers to only three coron-avirus positive cases inHaryana?”

Though the Congress issupporting all the movesby the government, it isstill critical of the govern-ment for ‘late response’.Earlier, Rahul Gandhicalled for immediate stepsto revive the country’seconomy amid Covid-19pandemic.

NATION pg 9DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

Deafening silence to beat Covid-19Millions of people across the country stayed indoors on Sunday in an unprecedented and overwhelming response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appealfor a janata curfew to help check the spread of coronavirus, coming out briefly at 5 pm to show gratitude to health and other essential service providers with

sounds of bells, conches and claps. Mr Modi thanked the people but said it was the start of a long battle, as he urged them to follow social distancing.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link which is chock-a-block with traffic wears a deserted look during the janata curfew called by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in the wake of coronavirus pandemic on Sunday. — PTI

MUMBAI

The fender-to-fender traffic on the Jalahalli flyover is missing asBengaluru observed the janata curfew, on Sunday. — PTI

BENGALURU

People clap and make noise to thank service providers fighting Covid-19 during aone-day janata curfew in Chennai on Sunday. — PTI

CHENNAI

A man takes a selfie amid pigeons that take over traffic-less road during janata curfew at Connaught Palace, New Delhi, on Sunday. — PTI

DELHI

QUARANTINEDQuarantined passengers display the stamps on their hands after beingdetained by security personnel in Mumbai on Sunday. — PTI

JAIPURJohari Bazaar in Jaipur sees no traffic during the janata curfew observedto fight the deadly coronavirus, on Sunday. — PTI

A priest plays a conch shell at Taj Mahal in Agra, as part of the nationwide janatacurfew in order to contain the spread of the dreaded virus, on Sunday. — India

AGRA

A man plays flute in the backdrop of people clapping as a gesture to show gratitude to medicalpractitioners fighting Covid-19. — PTI

KOCHI

EDIT pg 10DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

The machinations that led to the fall of the 15-month-old Kamal Nathministry in Madhya Pradesh have dealt a body blow to the basic polit-ical morality which citizens would expect the political parties touphold. True, the Congress has been playing its cards poorly, but that

doesn’t absolve the BJP of the fraud it has been committing on our democrat-ic system in one state after another with remarkable success. The Congressunseated the BJP, which was in power for three consecutive terms, in the 2018Assembly polls in MP, winning 114 of 230 seats; two short of an absolute major-ity. The mandate was clear, and the party formed the government with thesupport of two BSP and one Samajwadi MLA. Two Independents also joinedthe bandwagon later, giving the Congress ministry a comfortable majority.

As many as 22 Congress MLAs loyal to the BJP’s new poster boy JyotiradityaScindia, fled to a resort in BJP-ruled Karnataka and sent in their resignationsfrom the Assembly to the Speaker. The MLAs were incommunicado for sev-eral days, while Mr Scindia resigned from the Congress and found the BJP thebest platform for him to “serve the state and nation”. The MLAs stuck to theirresignations, effectively reducing the Assembly’s strength to 206 (two seatswere vacant earlier). The Congress, with 94 MLAs against the BJP’s 109, wasoutnumbered hopelessly in the race to touch the magic number of 104, forcingthe resignation of Mr Nath ahead of a no-confidence vote ordered by theSupreme Court. The Congress’ bid to seek legal help to get access to the rebelMLAs and its tactics to delay the vote fell flat as the courts refused to play ball.

Ever since it was voted to power in 2014, the BJP has been pursuing a violentidea of politics calling for a “Congress-mukt Bharat”. Given that the Congressis the main Opposition party in Parliament, and is in power in many states,the call itself is outrageous. The grand old party shows signs of fatigue with nonew leadership emerging, but people have different ideas about it, as theyhave shown in many elections, most recently in Chhattisgarh, Haryana andMaharashtra. True, its elected members deflect to the other side for no reasonother than power and pelf.

Individuals can be treacherous, ambitious, self-serving, plain greedy ormorally wanting in a democracy, but when political parties with the avowedgoal of service to the people betray a similar behavioural pattern, it signals avery dangerous trend. This makes a mockery of the representative form ofdemocracy that kept our nation going over 70 years. A notorious commentattributed to a Soviet-era leader is that it’s not the people who vote that count,but it’s the people who count the votes. If a party can form a government irre-spective of the popular will, and the ruling party at the Centre has developedit as a powerful tool to upset popular mandates, and is proud of it, we shouldstop calling ourselves a democracy. Madhya Pradesh offers no reason to thinkotherwise.

23 MARCH 2020

In the death of Pradip Kumar Banerjee India has lost one of its greatestfootball players and its finest representative of the spirit of sport, whichincluded passing on his skills and his sporting acumen to whole new gen-

erations. Titles like the “Indian footballer of the millennium” and the Fifaorder of merit represented a thoroughly deserved honour for one whoembodied sportsmanship.

A robust right-winger in the old 5-3-2 formation, his athletic runs andthundering drives towards goal were the stuff of legend. He played duringIndia’s golden soccer era when Asian titles were not out of each andOlympic ambitions were not outrageous pipedreams. There were manywith him like Chuni Goswami and T. Balram who made teamwork possiblewith talent and bonding.

The scoring of the equaliser against France in the Rome Olympics was aprecursor to his being the most dynamic player in the gold medal-winningteam at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 1962. The years between the 1956Olympics in Melbourne and the Merdeka tournament of 1965 were P.K.’sgolden years during which he scored 15 goals for the national team. The bur-den of injuries was to force him into retirement from the maidans ofKolkata, but coaching was to prove as much his metier as much as soccerskills.

An amiable personality well grounded in fair play, P.K. became a legendas a coach, first in the maidan with East Bengal and then Mohun Bagan,which he managed while the club achieved its first-ever triple crown andEastern Railway. He had a simple and forthright style of communicatingthat endeared him to a host of talented youngsters.

His presence at international events in Kolkata, including cricket at theEden Gardens, was seen as his endorsement of sport in its more moderneras. ”Pkda” (83) lived to see a professional revolution come about inIndian soccer with the ISL as well as the rise of India in the rankings fromthe lowly 200+ it had once slipped to onto 108.

PK personified sporting spirit

If mandate doesn’t count,are we still a democracy?

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Responding promptly to theworldwide outbreak of themysterious coronavirus,Prime Minister Narendra

Modi took a series of proactivesteps to deal with this serious pub-lic health issue. The PrimeMinister followed it up by speakingto world leaders about how theycan combat this disease togetherand then went on to address thenation to seek the cooperation ofpeople during these challengingtimes. But curiously, in this flurryof activity, Mr Modi did not think itnecessary to address Parliament onthis issue even though it is current-ly in session. Nor was there anyeffort to reach out to the Oppositionor chief ministers though it is thestate governments that are directlyresponsible for handling the crisis.In fact, Mr Modi has not been seenin either of the two Houses eversince reports of coronavirus casesstarted pouring in, not even on hisquestion days. There was a timewhen question hour in Parliamentwas considered sacrosanct and pre-

siding officers did not take kindlyto such dalliance. As Rajya Sabhachairman, the late Shankar DayalSharma had even pulled up V.P.Singh when he was Prime Ministerfor coming late to the House on hisquestion day.

Meanwhile, former RajyaSabha MP, J.K. Jain hasembarked on a special mis-

sion to combat coronavirus. He hasbeen coming to Parliament Housewith a bagful of masks that Mr Jainhas been distributing to MPs alongwith a handwritten note to eachrecipient in which he has made sev-eral suggestions to lawmakers. Hehas requested MPs that they use theMPLAD scheme money for the massproduction of these wash-and-wearkhadi masks in their respective con-stituencies. This, he said, will notonly provide employment to peoplebut also create awareness amongthem about the steps they can take tokeep coronavirus at bay.Unfortunately, there are few takersfor Mr Jain’s proposal.

For Kamal Nath, the loss of hisgovernment will also mean theloss of a bungalow in Lutyens’

Delhi. The senior Congress leaderhas been occupying number the 1,Tughlaq Road, bungalow for morethan a decade now. It was allotted toMr Nath when he was a minister buthe managed to retain it even after hetook over as Madhya Pradesh chiefminister by getting the premisesshifted to the state governmentquota. The urban development min-istry is now waiting anxiously tocancel this allotment and move thebungalow back to the Central pool.While Kamal Nath will have to forgohis accommodation in the VIP zone,his bête noire, Jyotiraditya Scindia,who has joined the Bharatiya JanataParty and has been given a RajyaSabha seat, will move back toLutyens’ Delhi as he is also tipped toget a ministerial berth in the Modigovernment. He could well be allot-ted the 27, Safdarjang Road, bunga-low, which was originally occupiedby his father, Madhavrao Scindia.After his death, it remained with the

family. Jyotiraditya Scindia had tovacate the place after he lost the 2019Lok Sabha election.

Nationalist Congress Party bossSharad Pawar is known toexercise total control over his

cadres but Kandhal Jadeja, his partyMLA in Gujarat, has proved to be an“autonomous body”. Though MrPawar has repeatedly assured theCongress of his party's support fortheir candidates in the March 26Rajya Sabha election, Mr Jadeja isnot expected to toe the party line andthe NCP bosses can do nothing aboutit. Mr Jadeja happens to be the son ofthe famous “Godmother” Santokben,and has a long list of cases againsthim. Consequently, he can ill-affordto be on the wrong side of the BJPgovernment in Gujarat. The NCP leg-islator has already met the BJP boss-es and assured them that his votewill go to their candidate.

Andhra Pradesh chief ministerJaganmohan Reddy appearsto have impressed the BJP

leaders, especially law minister RaviShankar Prasad. And there is a rea-son for it. In his interactions withthem, Mr Reddy has assured the BJPbosses that his government has nointention of confronting the Centreand would instead extend all cooper-ation to it. He also sought MrPrasad's guidance for his move toabolish the legislative council in hishome state. Launching an attackagainst his chief political rival,Telugu Desam Party chiefChandrababu Naidu, Mr Reddy issaid to have told the BJP that it haderred in having an alliance with MrNaidu as the latter has no base in thestate and that the TDP had done wellin the 2014 Lok Sabha and assemblypolls only because of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s popularity.Needless to say, this has led to specu-lation that Mr Reddy’s party, theYSR Congress, may be joining theNational Democratic Alliance at theCentre.

Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based journalist

No questions forthe PM, please;

Jyotiraditya may‘win’ bungalow

The corona disruptions& their impact on India

By now it’s plainthe coron-avirus pan-demic will be aglobal dis-

rupter. It will affecteconomies and nationsworldwide, alter relativepower equations and cutprosperity everywhere.In this turmoil, somenations and societies willfare better than others.

How is India likely todo? Will the changesprove advantageous orcould they push thenation further into aneconomic and geopoliti-cal back alley? Theanswer depends on howwe ride out the crisis.

For now, India has beenrelatively unscathed, butthe pointers aren’tencouraging. Theresilience our populationhas so far shown isentirely gratuitous andnot the result of any greateffort by the people or thegovernment.

Some experts suspectthe low number of coron-avirus cases reported inIndia are due to low lev-els of testing and hencelow detection. It has beennoted that most countriesshowing high levels ofinfection have done moreintensive testing of theirpopulations: 1,000 andmore per million, where-as in India the testingrate is an abysmal fiveper million so far.

Most quarantine facili-ties, including those forincoming travellers intoNew Delhi’s showcaseairport, are reportedly sobad — dirty, crampedand entirely lacking infacilities — that peopleincluding those infectedare fleeing them.

Dipanjan Roy, anIndian epidemiologist,was quoted by The NewYork Times as saying the“challenge of a largecountry like India withovercrowding is thatsome people will alwaysslip the net, whereveryou put it”.

Should the virus go outof control and become amass outbreak, India islooking at a catastrophe.India’s public health sys-tem — overcrowded,short-staffed and lacking

facilities, may be easilyoverwhelmed. Privatehospitals and clinicsaren’t vastly better andcannot compensate forany breakdown in government-run healthservices.

It's disheartening toread about the tepid paceof transformation of ourhealth system. Whileindividual doctors,researchers and a hand-ful of medical entrepre-neurs have done aremarkable job in creat-ing world-class medicalfacilities, their effortscover only a minisculeportion of the population,and mostly the affluent.The vast majority ofIndians have to rely onmedieval conditions andhealthcare systems.

During 1918-19, theSpanish flu, in its devas-tating sweep across theglobe killed an estimated50 million people. Indiawas the worst-hit, losingan estimated 20 millioncitizens. The country’shealthcare system, thenrun by a colonial govern-ment, proved completelyincompetent.

A century later, inde-pendent India has done amuch better job of build-ing up its medical infra-structure, but gravedoubts persist over itsability to cope with acoronavirus-like pan-demic could unleash.

Indians thus can’t befaulted on relying ondivine or natural provi-dence for hope. If faithdoes indeed triumphover the virus, then Indiacould see some welcomechanges.

The benefits that Indiacould hope to derivewould be fortuitous, aris-ing not out of any proac-tivity but out of relativeshifts in the Asian andglobal order. The mainfactor of change willarise out of China’s rela-tive decline.

While China has done amagnificent job in con-trolling the spread of thepandemic within its bor-ders, it has done so at ahuge cost. The severerestrictions imposed byits government have sentproduction processes and

supply chains completelyhaywire. The rest of theworld, for the first time,realises the folly ofoverdependence on anyone source for industrialand service supplies.

A process of diversifica-tion is inevitable and willimpact China negativelyin the long term, dimin-ishing its centrality andhegemony in the globalorder. This cannot butbenefit India, though towhat extent and how sig-nificant it will beremains to be seen.

At the same time, thehope that India will beable to take up some ofthe slack arising out ofChina’s problems is like-ly to be belied. TheIndian economy contin-ues to struggle with infra-structural issues, a bro-ken financial system,large-scale corruptionand a judiciary that can-not cope with rising liti-gation. Added to this areproblems of order andsecurity.

The case of bulk drugmanufacturing paints adismal picture of thecountry’s systemic inade-quacies. The Central gov-ernment had in 2017promised to offer severalincentives for local man-ufacture of bulk drugs(key inputs for medi-cines) which are nowsourced mainly fromChina.

However, when thecoronavirus crisis chok-ed bulk drug flows fromChina, it was found thatnothing had changeddomestically. Lack ofclarity in Central poli-cies, delayed permissionsand a cumbersome sys-tem of clearances hadheld up the entireprocess for more thantwo years. When the pan-demic hit, India still didnot have a bulk drugsindustry in place despitea much-touted DraftPharmaceutical Policyand pious statements ofintent.

Issues like these cannotbe rectified overnight

and the political will orthe ability to addressthem continues to be low.Thus, the opportunityarising from diversifica-tion of supply chainsaway from China arelikely to largely bypassIndia and benefit othermore agile nations.

On the other hand,India’s relative economicisolation, its low partici-pation in the global sup-ply chains and worldtrade in general willinsulate it from short andmedium-term shocks.

Other better-perform-ing Asian economies likeSingapore, Thailand,Malaysia and so on willbe hit much harder giventheir dependence onexternal demand factors,including tourism, andthe export of goods andservices which con-tribute significantly totheir GDP (GrossDomestic Product). Thus,India’s relative position-ing could well improve inAsia, but this is unlikelyto translate into any realbenefit in absolute terms.

India’s net gains aremost likely to be in geopo-litical terms — it couldwell emerge relativelystronger in a weakenedglobal order. This progno-sis is, however, predicat-ed on the assumption thatthere is no catastrophicspread of the coronavirusepidemic within India,unlike what happened in1918-19.

The added uncertaintyarises out of the possibleeffects of a sharp contrac-tion in global economicgrowth, supply chain dis-ruptions, plunging stockmarkets and a possibleglobal recession on theIndian economy.

India is already in ahard place where theeconomy is concerned.Even higher rates ofunemployment engen-dered by a pandemiccould stoke politicalinstability. On the otherhand, Indians are anincredibly resilient peo-ple who have weatheredcenturies of recurringcatastrophes, includingnatural disasters,famines and epidemics.No matter how deep thecrater, Indians alwayscrawl back. The questionis whether they emergeinto a better world or amore dismal one.

The writer is an indepen-dent commentator

on political and security issues

Should the virus goout of control and

become a massoutbreak, India is

looking at a catastrophe. India’s

public health system is

overcrowded,short-staffed andlacking facilities.

Subhani

Indranil Banerjie

Anita Katyal Political Gup-Shup

LETTERSCOVID-19 PANDEMICPanic is not the cure forCovid-19 (1st secondarytransmission in TS stokesfear of spread, DC, March22). The onus of followingguidelines set by WHOand government lies ononeself. There are somewho are still ignoring therisks and freely roamingabout for pleasure. Theiractions can increase thespread of this deadly virusand lead to death of manyinnocents.

Nithya SarvepalliHyderabad

We need to step up measures tocontain the spread of coronavirus.Though Covid-19 cases have beenincreasing, people are not follow-ing protocols to contain the virus.Those who returned from affectedcountries must be strictly quaran-tined. The shutdown of schools andcolleges must be extended. Publictransport must function with mini-mum number of vehicles to restrictpublic movement. It must also beensured that the suspected cases donot use public transport to reachhospital.

Thangella ShreyaHyderabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modiannounced a one-day irrationaljanata curfew. The government hasits own goals. Why should we standin front of windows, balcony, andbang plates or bells?

Syed Shamsuddin MaghrabiHyderabad

All Indians, irrespective of caste,creed and religion, listened to thePM’s call. It has thus been provedthat we are one nation ofHindustanis. It is time to evaluateif priority must be given toHindustan instead of Hindutva.There is time to mend our waysand progress.

ShakirHyderabad

NEW DELHI, March 22The deliberations of theNational Development Counciltoday as well as yesterday cutacross political alignments andwere throughout marked bygood humoured sallies amongthe Chief Ministers.

For thefirst time,there werequotationsf r o mS a n s k r i tclassics.

The broad division wasbetween the ‘haves’ and ‘havenots’. On one side were arrangedthe “better off” states —Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Punjab and Gujarat — and onthe other weaker States likeMadhya Pradesh, AndhraPradesh, Mysore, Bihar, UttarPradesh and Rajasthan.

50 YEARS AGO IN

Witty sallies markNDC proceedings

We arein am a k e -o r -b r e a km o m ent fort r u s t ,

not just in this government butin the British state itself. Themeasures that were announcedby Boris Johnson and RishiSunak this week are extraordi-nary in economic, social andlegal terms. When the Covid-19crisis is finally over, the statewill be judged against howeffective they were.

None of us will have livedthrough anything like what weare about to experience. If thiscountry gets it broadly right,then trust in our politicians

and the state will rise. But if itgets it wrong, then the natureof the relationship between thecitizen and the state will bechanged for at least a genera-tion. People will be far morereluctant to follow officialadvice in future.

Johnson now talks about thisbeing a ‘wartime government’.The phrase dramatises thechange that has taken place,one that no one could haveanticipated when the Torieswon their 80-seat majority on12 December. It not onlyreveals the size of the chal-lenge but also what is at stake:a state that cannot protect itsown citizens quickly loseslegitimacy.

But the government knowslittle about the enemy it is

fighting. For instance, no onecan be sure what effect Covid-19 will have on a child whosemother contracts it early inpregnancy — because the virushas been in humans for only afew months. One of those whoare trying to deal with the cri-sis likens it to driving in fog:you simply do not know whatis ahead.

The challenge facing the gov-ernment is much more dramat-ic — and serious — than theone it was supposed to face inthe months following the endof the Brexit transition period.Voters, it was thought, wouldjudge the government onwhether the borders worked ornot. It was going to be a compe-tence test that could win orlose the government the nextelection.

Senior government figuresare beginning to speculate inprivate that the date for the UKexiting the transition periodwill have to be pushed back.This week’s trade negotiationshave been called off and if thebars on travel last as long asexpected, it is hard to see how

it could all be done by 31December. No. 10, though, stillmaintains that there is time todo a deal.

Johnson needs to become atruly national leader in thecoming months. In a countrythat has been divided by thepolitics of the past few years,he must find a way to bringpeople together in a commonendeavour. Given that this cri-sis is nothing to do with Brexitand that Johnson is not a polit-ical sectarian, this should bepossible. Sunak’s economic

package was not ideologicalbut was a simple attempt tokeep the economy going. Itssize — £350 billion — was stag-gering. But the government’saim was to emphasise that itwould do ‘whatever it takes’ tokeep the economy going.Expect more on what measuresthe government will take tosupport workers in the comingdays. One thing that wouldhelp immensely is if a test isdeveloped to see who has hadthe virus and recovered. InWhitehall, there is growingconfidence that this will soonbe possible. It would, as thechief medical officer ChrisWhitty has said, be ‘transfor-mational’, by enabling twothings. First, it would meanthat those NHS workers whohave already had the diseasewould be able to carry on work-ing without fear of becominginfected. Second, citizens whohave had it could take part in amassive volunteer effort. Theycould help in hospitals or deliv-er food and medicine to thedoorsteps of the vulnerable.David Cameron’s vision of a

‘big society’ never took off as apolitical idea, but if ever weneeded it, it is now. A commu-nity effort could save lives andkeep up the spirits of thosewho are suffering and thosewho are helping out.

This virus will changeBritish society. If these eco-nomic and social measures areneeded for as long as 18months, it will do so profound-ly. We will remember lifeunder Covid-19 in the way ear-lier generations rememberedrationing. Various issues willalso be pushed up the agenda,such as the gig economy andthe obligations that firms haveto their contractors. The gov-ernment is keen to avoid tak-ing steps that will, in effect, beimpossible to reverse. But thelonger this situation goes on,the harder it will be to deliverpiecemeal solutions.

The crisis will also catalyse ashift in attitudes to China.Several ministers are furiousthat after Sars, another diseasehas emerged from China as aresult of its live animal mar-kets. There is a feeling that the

CCP’s refusal to deal with thisproblem endangers others.

Coronavirus has also high-lighted the extent to which UKsupply chains, including med-ical ones, are dependent onChina. Influential figures ingovernment believe that thissituation is not sensible and itmust be addressed once the cri-sis is dealt with. Medical secu-rity will become a policy objec-tive as much as food securityis.

‘Wartime governments’ arejudged by history on one thing:did they win? But Johnson willbe aware that beating the virusis no guarantee of ‘post-war’electoral success. Success inthe fight against coronaviruswould, however, significantlyboost trust in the state and thepolitical class. It would undomuch of the damage done topublic faith in politics by thepast 12 years. By contrast, fail-ure could damage the relation-ship between public and thestate for ever.

By arrangement with theSpectator

As China seems torecover from thedreaded Covid19,Beijing has started anew battle, an

Information Warfare (IW)against the way the world per-ceives the Middle Kingdomtoday.

It is true that after the out-break of the virus towards theend of December (the virus hadprobably been around sinceseveral weeks already, but theauthoritarian regime in Beijingpreferred to hide the truth fromits own people and the world),the Communist regime discov-ered that it does not manyfriends on the planet.

China has now decided tocounterattack. Zhao Lijian, oneof China’s sharp shooters, wascalled upon to serve asspokesman of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs. Zhao, whoserved earlier as deputy chief ofmission in Pakistan, is knownfor his vitriolic twitter attacksagainst China’s critics.

Referring to a statement of thedirector of the US Centres forDisease Control (CDC), Zhao’slatest tweet alleged that theAmericans are at the origin ofthe virus: “CDC was caught onthe spot. When did patient zerobegin in US? How many peopleare infected? What are thenames of the hospitals? It mightbe US army who brought theepidemic to Wuhan. Be trans-parent! Make public your data!US owes us an explanation!”

But the artillery fire does notcome from a single sniper. Afull-fledged IW began aroundthe time that President XiJinping, accompanied by WangHuning, the propaganda boss inthe Politburo’s StandingCommittee; Ding Xuexiang,director of the Party’s GeneralOffice, and General ZhangYouxia, vice chairman of theCentral Military Commission,visited Wuhan.

One of the first shots camefrom the Chinese Embassy in

Australia, which emailed localjournalists, accusing them of“politicizing the Covid-19” bysaying it originated in China“without any supporting facts.”

Financial Review journalistMichael Smith received anemail from the Chineseembassy in Canberra, com-plaining that he had called theCovid-19, ‘China virus’. Smithasserted that Beijing “has piv-oted its propaganda narrative,now insinuating that the virusoriginated in other countries.”

The symptoms of the Chineseaggressiveness was alreadyseen on February 18, when HouYanqi, the Chinese ambassadorto Nepal, issued a statementcriticising an article publishedin the Nepali press: “TheKathmandu Post published anarticle which, with a picture ofmalicious intention, deliberate-ly smeared the efforts of theChinese government and peo-ple fighting against the newCovid-19 pneumonia and evenviciously attacked the politicalsystem of China.”

The lady ambassador went astep further. She accused thechief editor of The KathmanduPost, Anup Kaphle, of beingbiased: “[he] has always beenbiased on China-related issues.…[he is] becoming a parrot ofsome anti-China forces.”

As a result, a group of 17Nepali editors affiliated withvarious media houses inKathmandu issued a statementcriticising the embassy forthreatening Kaphle: “We wouldalso like to remind the embassythat it breached diplomaticdecorum in doing so.”

Hou’s attack on the press waspart of a well-orchestrated cam-paign against any foreignmedia refusing to followBeijing’s line.

The Communist mouthpieceThe Global Time was not leftbehind. An Op-Ed stated:“Amid the raging Covid-19 epi-demic, some Western countrieshave shown their true colors.”

The writer elaborated: “SomeWestern media outlets haveblamed China for the virus'going global and made a bigdeal out of China's ‘delays’ dur-ing the outbreak's initial stage.Now that the novel Covid-19 cri-sis continues to unfold acrossthe world, it's obvious to seewhich country's handling hasbeen more efficient and effec-tive.”

The media blitzkrieg brings anew narrative: “The origin isthe virus is unknown. It couldhave come from anywhere inthe world. China has been amodel in handling the sensitiveissue. Beijing can now advisethe world how to go about it.”

The strategy’s objective is toforce the world to forget howand where the virus started orto find out if the first case origi-nated in a Chinese Lab or else-where.

Axios, the analysis websitecommented: “Beijing's Covid-19propaganda blitz goes global,”before elaborating: “As Chinabegins to get its Covid-19 out-break under control, authori-ties are going on the offensiveto rewrite the narrative thatthe global epidemic is Beijing'sfault.”

Axios spoke of China's formi-dable propaganda apparatuswhich can obscure the truthand change narratives abroad,

just as it can at home.Bill Bishop, author of the

Sinocism newsletter added:“The CCP is masterful atrewriting history, and we’rewatching them do it in realtime.”

The Editor of Bitter Winter,an Italian website studyingChina’s Human Rights,recounted: “Some days ago, Iopened my email and found amessage from a Chinese col-league asking whether I wassafe from the ‘Italian virus’. Ihad never heard the expression‘Italian virus’ with respect toCOVID-19, but then learnedthat others had received simi-lar messages, and thatJapanese were being asked byChinese friends whether theyhad been affected by the‘Japanese virus’.

He quoted from a report in LaCroix International citing con-fidential instructions sent byBeijing to Chinese embassies:“While the virus severely hitWuhan, where it really origi-

nally came from is unknown.We are conducting new studiesto locate the virus’ true origin.”

Embassies were asked to‘raise doubts’ in the publicopinion, suggesting that per-haps the virus originally cameto China from abroad.

On February 26, Xinhuaannounced the release of abook, which detailed PresidentXi Jinping’s “outstanding lead-ership as a great power leader”defeated the virus. The publica-tion proved to the world the“significant advantages of theChinese system of leadershipand socialism with Chinesecharacteristics,” and showedhow “the centralized and uni-fied leadership of the CCPCentral Committee withComrade Xi Jinping as the corewon the Great war against thevirus.” It was later withdrawnas the victory had beenannounced too early.

After reading La CroixInternational’s report, London-based sinologist Steve Tsangstated: “the CCP always had amonopoly on truth and historyin China, and now tries to denythat it originally hid the truthon the virus. CCP officers claimthey are right even when it isobvious they are wrong.”

Another Op-Ed in The GlobalTimes argued that all this was asymptom of West’s ideologicalcrisis: “The Western media'signorance and bias of China'ssystem have never appearedmore obvious. For decades, theWestern media have been try-ing to persuade their readersthat Chinese people have nofreedom or democracy, simplybecause China doesn't adopt theWestern-style electoral sys-tem,” while Beijing is pursuinga more substantial and efficientset of freedom “designed tomeet the needs of the peoplewho most desire long-termpeace, stability and develop-ment.”

That would be fine, but whysuch aggressiveness and oftenblatant distortion of the facts.

What China does not seem tounderstand is that even if shewins a few IW battles, this willnot help her to become arespected State.

The writer is based in SouthIndia for the past 42 years. Hewrites on India, China, Tibetand Indo-French relations.

Looking at the presentsituation all around Iam reminded of a Sufistory told by Osho. A

Sufi mystic used to live on theoutskirts of a town. He pos-sessed some supernaturalpowers which enabled him tosee things not visible to thehuman eye. One day he saw adark shadow hastily passingby towards the town. Hestopped it and asked,” Hey!Who are you and where areyou going in such haste?” Theshadow responded, “I amdeath and within the next six

months I have been asked totake a thousand lives in thistown. A great pandemic isgoing to fall on the people.”

The mystic knew that whatwas destined to happen wasgoing to happen. He let theshadow pass. The next sixmonths were a complete cata-strophe in the town with peo-ple dying like flies. At the endof the disaster, the shadow wasgoing back, the mystic waswaiting for it, he stopped itand accused,” I didn’t knowthat even the death lies! Yousaid, one thousand people will

die and thirty thousand havedied.”

The death said, “I have onlykilled one thousand as per mypromise, the rest of them havedied of fear. It is not my fault.”

This parable sheds light onthe human tendency of hypno-tising them-selves andbelieving itaccordingly.You can alsoh y p n o t i s ey o u r s e l fthat you arenot going tocatch thed i s e a s e .Osho hasworked a loton self- hyp-nosis. He points out that whenan epidemic spreads some-where, people start gettinginfected and falling sick, butthe doctors and the nurseswho are taking care of them

day and night don't catch theinfection? If the disease isinfectious, they should be thefirst ones to catch it. But thedoctor knows that he is thedoctor, and this hypnosis pre-vents him from catching theinfection. He is so engrossed in

serving othersthat this hypno-sis about the dis-ease does notwork on him.Others, ofcourse, go oncatching thei n f e c t i o n .P s y c h o l o g i s t ssay that the roleof germs in thissituation is sec-ondary, the role

of hypnosis is primary; that iswhat makes people sick orhealthy.

For example, in a gatheringwhere people are listeningintently to a speaker, one per-

son coughs and suddenly,many others start coughing.You don't realise that this isjust hypnosis. It is nothing butyour own faculty for hypnotis-ing yourself. Until now youwere sitting quietly, there wasno trace of any coughing, butone-man coughs and you aresuddenly reminded of cough-ing. With that reminder, hyp-nosis catches hold of you andyour throat begins to itch.Now you are bound to cough,you cannot avoid it. This was asuggestion, it functioned like aspell, and now you will followit. Life is very mysterious. Ifyou start implanting the ideain your unconscious mind, itwill materialise.

Amrit Sadhana is editor ofOsho Times International. She

facilitates meditation work-shops based on Osho insights

around the country andabroad.

China begins Information Warfare

Hypnosis and the coronavirus epidemic

Covid-19 crisis will be a test of trust

IAM so sick and tired ofcorona-vorona by nowthat all I want is to gointo hibernation and

not emerge until the damnvirus has disappeared.

Every newspaper and TVheadline carries nothingbut reports about thisplague; every conversationstarts and ends with it; andmy WhatsApp and emailinbox are full of advice andnews about the virus.There is simply no escape.

I know it’s a deadly dis-ease, especially at my age.But I would rather riskinfection than spend therest of my life following itsprogress. Of course, it’s adisaster that has put theworld economy at risk, butthere comes a point whenyou need to think aboutother things than a virus.

Conspiracy theoriesabout its origins are mutat-ing faster than the virusitself, as are possible cures.One day we are told masksare useless; the next day,The New York Timesinforms us that they arebetter than nothing. Andwe are constantly urged towash our hands repeatedlyfor at least 20 seconds, butnobody informs us how bil-lions of poor people aroundthe world will get soap andclean water. Then there arethe unattractive images ofpeople fighting over handsanitiser and loo paper.

Supermarket shelveshave been emptied. My besthoarding story is about twoAmerican brothers who aresitting atop a mountain of17,700 bottles of hand sani-tiser without any buyers.Serve the greedy youngbuggers right.

I suppose it’s easy for meto dismiss the coronavirusand wish it would go away.Being retired has its bene-fits. But young peopledependent on jobs that paylittle and require dailyattendance are at risk, asare businesses of all kinds.When people lose theirjobs, they can no longerbuy goods, thus reducing orending demand across theeconomy. This ripple effectis now threatening us all.

Soon, I will be flying toEngland from Sri Lanka,and according to the media,the over-70s might have toself-isolate for four months.This seems a dream cometrue: there are many booksthat have been waitingpatiently for my attention.In particular, I look for-ward to reading WilliamDalrymple’s The Anarchy,an account of the loot andplunder carried out by theEast India Company. I havenot started it yet becausethe hardback copy weighs aton, and I can’t read it inbed.

Then there is a fascinat-ing biography of SaladinAyoubi and his role indefeating the Crusaders athousand years ago. Andmost testing of all is a hefty

tome by Nikos Kazantzakis,author of Zorba the Greek,who wrote a sequel to TheOdyssey. I picked it up inBerkeley for two dollarswhen I was visiting my sonlast year, and look forwardto ploughing through it.

I suppose I’ll cook quite abit as all local pubs andrestaurants will be shut,but that’s no hardship.There are so many cook-books to consult, althoughfresh ingredients will haveto be ordered online. Andthere are a couple of exer-cise machines to keep me insome sort of physicalshape.

These are all good inten-tions, but I don’t know howmany will actually beimplemented. As we nowhave Netflix, it’s alwaystempting to click on amovie and settle down.Thus far, I have been bingewatching the magicalanime films produced byStudio Ghibli, and havebeen blown away by thebrilliance of the animationand the originality of thestories. I strongly recom-mend Princess Mononokeand Spirited Away asstarters. One TV series Ienjoyed at my son’s recom-mendation was Ottoman.This is a well-observedretelling of the rise of theOttoman dynasty.

The coronavirus has can-celled several social events.While obviously I amunhappy for those directlyinvolved, I am not entirelydisappointed at missingthem. When I am inEngland, I am often forcedto attend, but frankly, Iwould much rather stay athome. I am accused ofbeing anti-social, and mywife is right, of course. Buthaving to dress up andmake polite conversationwith strangers is a strain Ican do without.

While the world struggleswith the virus, we inPakistan have a plan: theSenate chairman invokedGod’s help while thePunjab chief minister saidthat all the mosques in hisprovince will remain openso the faithful can pray fordivine intervention in closeproximity.

In Iran, when the authori-ties shut down some holyshrines in Mashad andQom to prevent pilgrimsfrom thronging there, devo-tees burst into the premisesand insisted on carrying onwith the rituals. In otherMuslim countries, theauthorities have acted withgreater prudence, and wor-shippers have shown morediscipline. Obviously,Pakistanis and Iraniansthink they are betterMuslims than Jordaniansand Saudis. At a time ourMaker has His hands full,you’d think we would be alittle more considerate.

By arrangement withDawn

The crisis will alsocatalyse a shift in atti-tudes to China. Severalministers are furiousthat after SARS, anoth-er disease has emergedfrom China as a resultof its live animal mar-kets. There is a feelingthat the CCP’s refusalto deal with this prob-lem endangers others.

What China does notseem to understand isthat even if she wins afew IW battles, this willnot help her to becomea respected State.

Every newspaperand TV headline car-ries nothing butreports about thisplague; every con-versation starts andends with it.

James Forsyth

Amrit Sadhana

OPED pg 11DECCAN CHORNICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

IrfanHusain

Claude Arpi

Bored of the virus?It may be time to

go into hibernation!

WORLD pg 12DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

SHORT TAKES

FIRST HOSP DOCDIES OF VIRUS

IN PARIS

2 SL INMATESKILLED IN RIOT

OVER VIRUS

GORILLAS ALSOAT RISK FROMCORONAVIRUS

Paris, March 22: The firstFrench hospital doctor hasdied of coronavirus, authori-ties said Sunday.

The 67-year-old emergencyroom medic worked atCompiegne hospital, north ofParis, the town mayor said.Health Minister Olivier Veransaid that as far as he knew theman — who died Saturday —was the “first hospital doctorto be hit”.

Mayor Philippe Marini saidthe victim “would soon havebeen 68” and had treated someof the first cases in the Oisedepartment, the first area inFrance to be badly hit byCovid-19.

He was infected in earlyMarch, Marini said, and diedin hospital in the northerncity of Lille, where some ofthe most serious cases arebeing treated. Veran refused togive any more informationabout the victim, sayingdetails were being withheldfor medical reasons and torespect the wishes of the doc-tor's family.

The doctor is thought to bethe first French medical pro-fessional to die in the epidem-ic, which has so far claimed562 lives in France. — AFP

Colombo, March 22: Inmatesin a Sri Lanka prison scuffledwith guards and some tried toescape during a protestagainst new strict measures tocontrol the spread of the coro-navirus, leaving two dead andsix wounded, police saidSunday.

Tensions erupted onSaturday at the Anuradhapuraprison when guards tried tocontrol the riot. In the commo-tion, guards opened fire to pre-vent inmates from fleeing,police said.

Anuradhapura is about 200km (120 miles) north ofColombo. Prisoners were com-plaining about the decision bythe authorities not to allowvisitors as a move to containthe virus. Sri Lanka hasimposed a three-day country-wide curfew since Friday asthe number of cases has risento 77.

On Sunday, a police state-ment said two inmates diedand six others were beingtreated at a hospital. Policesaid no inmates escaped andsecurity at the prison has beenstrengthened with additionalpolice teams, including com-mandos.

Senaka Perera, president ofthe Committee for ProtectingRights of Prisoners, said theinmates were protesting con-gested conditions and the poorquality of meals after the gov-ernment banned visitors fortwo weeks to prevent thespread of the virus. Visitorsoften bring home-cooked food.Sri Lanka’s prisons are over-crowded, sometimes housing5,000 inmates in a facility capa-ble of holding 800, accordingto the pressure group. — AP

Kampala, March 22: As thecoronavirus infects more peo-ple around the world, conser-vationists are warning of therisk to another vulnerablespecies: africa’s endangeredmountain gorilla. Congo’s Vir-unga National Park, home toabout a third of the world’smountain gorillas, is barringvisitors until June 1, citing“advice from scientific expertsindicating that primates, incl-uding mountain gorillas, arelikely susceptible to complicat-ions arising from Covid-19.”

Neighbouring Rwanda alsois temporarily shutting downtourism and research activi-ties in three national parksthat are home to primates suchas gorillas and chimpanzees.Mountain gorillas are prone tosome respiratory illnesses thatafflict humans. A commoncold can kill a gorilla, accord-ing to the World Wide Fund forNature, one reason why tour-ists tracking gorillas are notnormally permitted to get tooclose. Around 1,000 mountaingorillas live in protected areasin Congo, Uganda and Rw-anda, for whom tourism is animportant source of revenue.

But Covid-19 has led torestrictive measures. VirungaNational Park’s decision hasbeen welcomed by conserva-tionists in the region. PaulaKahumbu, chief executive ofthe Kenya-based conservationgroup WildlifeDirect, said that“every possible effort must bemade” to protect mountain go-rillas because so few are left inthe wild. — AP

Italian soldiers patrol the square facing Duomo gothic cathedral in downtown Milan, Italy, Sunday. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has told thenation he is tightening the lockdown to fight the rampaging spread of coronavirus, shutting down all production facilities except those that are“necessary, crucial, indispensible to guarantee” the good of the country. — AP

Italy records 800 deaths in 24 hrs Figures released showed deaths still largely contained to Italy’s richer northRome, March 22: Italy onSaturday reported 793 newcoronavirus deaths, a one-day record that saw thecountry’s toll shoot up to4,825 — 38.3 percent of theworld’s total.

The number of con-firmed Covid-19 infectionsrose by 6,557 to 53,578. Thetotal number of fatalitiesin the northern Lombardyregions around Milan sur-passed 3,000.

Northern Italy has beenthe hardest hit by the coro-navirus outbreak. Itaccounts for nearly two-thirds of Italy’s fatalities.

Italy has reported 1,420deaths since Friday, a grimfigure that suggests thepandemic may be break-ing through the govern-ment's various contain-ment and social distanc-ing measures.

The Mediterraneannation of 60 million hasbeen under an effectivelockdown since March 12,when public gatheringswere banned and moststores shuttered.

In a bid to combat theoutbreak, approximatelythree million masks werescheduled to arrive inItaly on Saturday.

Police were out in forceacross the streets of Romeon Saturday, checking doc-uments and fining thoseoutside without a valid

reason, such as buyinggroceries.

Joggers were asked torun around the block oftheir houses, parks andbeaches were closed, andthe government in Romeprepared to extend schooland other closures into thesummer months.

But the outbreak keepsgathering pace in the newglobal epicentre of a virusthat was first reported inDecember in China andhas since transformed theworld, straining healthcare systems, upendinglives for millions and pum-melling stock marketsglobally.

The figures releasedSaturday showed deathsstill largely contained toItaly’s richer north, whoseworld-class healthcare sys-tem is creaking under thepressure of coronaviruspatients.

But it is better that whatis available in the poorersouth, where some regionshave registered a fewdozen deaths - and whichthe government in Rome iswatching closely.

The Lazio region thatincludes Rome has record-ed a total of 50 deaths and1,190 infections.

The rising death tollcomes despite widespreadefforts to lockdown theentire country.

Italy announced 627 newdeaths on Friday, as itsnumber of fatalities wentpast that of China, wherethe virus originated.

Italy’s government saidon Friday it is consideringeven further restrictionson its already locked-downpopulation as the countryreels under the continuedspread of the coronavirus.

“In the next 24 to 48

hours, new restrictionsare possible,” Italy’s min-ister of regional affairsFrancesco Boccia saidFriday, citing the possibili-ty of banning open-airactivities.

The presidents ofregions in the north -Italy’s richest and themost devastated by thevirus - have been pressingPrime Minister Giuseppe

Conte to clamp down evenharder on the movementof people, calling for thedeployment of the army tohelp enforce the measures.

“Unfortunately, eventoday the statistics aren’tgoing in the right direc-tion, neither in terms ofnew infections or in termsof deaths,” Lombardy’spresident Attilio Fontanasaid. — Agencies

Russia sends experts, medics

CHINA REPORTS1ST LOCAL CASEAFTER 3 DAYSBeijing, March 22:China will redirect allarriving internationalflights from its capitalBeijing to 12 other citiesfrom Monday to controlthe surge of importedcoronavirus cases as thecountry reported its firstdomestically transmittedCovid-19 case after a gapof three days, officialssaid on Sunday.

The country’s NationalHealth Commission(NHC) said that 46 newconfirmed cases werereported on the main-land on Saturday, includ-ing one domestic infec-tion transmitted by im-ported cases inGuangzhou.

The NHC said Sundaysix deaths were reportedfrom China on Saturday,including five fromHubei province, takingthe country's death toll to3,261. Coronavirus epi-centre Wuhan, however,has not reported any newcase for the fourth con-secutive day, the healthofficials said. — PTI

Spain reports394 new deathsMadrid, March 22:Spain on Sunday ann-ounced 394 new deathscaused by the novel coro-navirus, raising to 1,720the official death toll inEurope’s worst-hit coun-try after Italy, a 30 percentincrease over the previ-ous day.

The number of con-firmed cases of the dis-ease rose by 3,646, or 14.6percent, to 28,572, accord-ing to health ministry fig-ures, with officials warn-ing infections will risefurther in the comingdays. With 1,785 beingtreated in intensive careunits for the virus, thereis mounting concernabout overcrowding athospitals.

Prime Minister PedroSanchez warned late onSaturday that Spain’s out-break, already among theharshest in the world,would continue to wors-en. “We must prepareourselves emotionallyand psychologically forvery hard days ahead,” hetold the nation in a tele-vised address late onSaturday.

“We have yet to receivethe impact of thestrongest, most damagingwave, which will test ourmaterial and moralcapacities to the limit, aswell as our spirit as asociety,” he added. Spainhas issued lockdownorders for its roughly 46million residents who areonly permitted to leavetheir homes for essentialwork, food shopping,medical reasons or towalk the dog. — AFP

Queen’s aidetests positive

Oz bans travel within the countrySydney, March 22: Austr-alia’s prime minister onSunday told citizens tocancel any domestic travelplans to slow the spread ofcoronavirus, warningstronger measures wereimminent to deal withlocalised outbreaks.

Scott Morrison said thegovernment was “movingimmediately” to recom-mend against non-essen-tial travel, announcing themeasure as Australia’scoronavirus infectionstopped 1,000 cases.

He said work-relatedtrips, the transport of

essential supplies andtravel on compassionategrounds could continuebut people should cancelany other travel plansahead of the upcomingEaster school holidays."More stronger measureswill be coming and theywill be coming in morelocalised areas to dealwith outbreaks,” Morr-ison said.

“What that means is,what may be necessary ina part of Sydney may notbe necessary at all in...

other parts of the coun-try.”

Australia has alreadysealed off its borders, put-ting in place an unprece-dented ban on entry fornon-residents in the hopeof stemming the rise ofCovid-19 infections.

Two Australian regions— the island state of Tas-mania and the NorthernTerritory — have alsoimplemented a 14-dayquarantine period for allvisitors.

— AFP

London, March 22: Aroyal aide at BuckinghamPalace has reportedlytested positive for thecoronavirus while QueenElizabeth II was still ather London residence.The 93-year-old monarchshifted out of the palaceto Windsor Castle indefi-nitely on Thursday as a“precaution” after all herengagements were can-celled and reports arethat she is healthy.

According to UK mediareports, it is not knownhow close the royal aidein question would havegot to the Queen but everymember of RoyalHousehold staff the per-son came into contactwith has since beenplaced self-isolation.

“The worker tested posi-tive before the Queen leftfor Windsor. But the Pala-ce has 500 members of st-aff so, like any workplace,it’s not inconceivable itwould be affected in somestage,” ‘The Sun’ quoted aroyal source as saying.

The aide, who has notbeen named, is believed tohave taken ill and testedpositive for the deadlyvirus earlier last week.Buckingham Palace hasdeclined to comment onthe reports but said that itwas taking all necessarysteps in light of the advi-sory in place for theCovid-19 pandemic,which has been rapidlyspreading in the UK asthe death toll rose to 233on Saturday.

“We wouldn’t commenton individual members of

staff. In line with theappropriate guidance andour own processes, wehave taken the necessaryactions to protect allemployees and people inv-olved,” a palace spokes-person said.

There are some reportsthat the monarch ispreparing to deliver a livetelevision broadcast inthe coming days as amorale boost for the pub-lic during the ongoing cri-sis, which has put Britaininto a near shutdownwith all social venuesclosed indefinitely andpeople advised to stayindoors and follow strictsocial distancing rules.Earlier this week, theQueen had issued a state-ment of support andcalled on people to findnew ways of staying intouch to get through thelockdown.

— PTI

Moscow, March 22:Russia on Sunday sent thefirst of nine militaryplanes which are to take atotal of 100 army virusexperts and medics toItaly to help fight the coro-navirus pandemic there.

The Russian defenceministry said the aid mis-sion was agreed byPresident Vladimir Putinand Italian PrimeMinister Giuseppe Conte.They spoke on the phoneSaturday evening, theKremlin said.

The military transportplanes arrived overnightat an aerodrome outsideMoscow and eight medicalteams were ready to flyout with mobile aerosoldisinfecting units andmedical equipment, the

defence ministry said. The first plane took off

Sunday and was due toland at the Pratica di Maremilitary airport outsideRome, the ministry said.

The planes are set to flyout a group of around 100people including special-ists on viruses and epi-demics from the defenceministry who have “signif-icant international experi-ence of fighting epi-demics,” it said.

The ministry said thatthe experts had previouslytaken part in fightingEbola, African swine feverand anthrax outbreaks.Russia has a total of 306confirmed cases of coron-avirus so far.

Italy’s death toll reached4,825 on Saturday. Putinvisited Italy in July lastyear and has often spokenof his long friendshipwith former prime minis-ter Silvio Berlusconi.

— AFP

● ● THE RRUSSIAN defenceministry said the aid mis-sion was agreed byPresident Vladimir Putinand Italian Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte. Theyspoke on the phoneSaturday evening.

● ● THE PPLANES are set tofly out a group of around100 people including spe-cialists on viruses and epi-demics from the defenceministry who have “signifi-cant international experi-ence of fighting epidemics.

● ● WORK-RRELATEDtrips, the transport ofessential supplies andtravel on compassion-ate grounds could con-tinue but people shouldcancel any other travelplans ahead of theupcoming Easter schoolholidays said ScottMorrison.

Will coronavirus slow down world’s conflicts?United Nations, March22: Syria, Libya, Yemen,Afghanistan, the Sahel...with the great powersfocused intently on theCovid-19 virus, will armedconflicts across the worlddecrease in severity orintensify? Experts as wellas diplomats at the UnitedNations say there is a seri-ous risk of the latter.

For guerrilla fightersand extremist groups, “it’sa clear godsend,” saidBertrand Badie, a special-ist in international rela-tions at France’s Instituteof Political Studies(Sciences Po). When the“powerful become power-less,” he said, one can see“the revenge of the weakover the strong.”

In recent days, some 30Malian soldiers werekilled in an attack in

northern Mali blamed onjihadists, without drawingany sharp reaction fromthe Security Council. InLibya, and Syria’s Idlibregion — the object ofintense diplomatic atten-tion before the coron-avirus stole the spotlight— fighting continues.

Evoking the “potentiallydevastating impact of#Covid-19 in #Idlib andelsewhere in Syria,” theUN undersecretary-gener-al for political affairs,Rosemary DiCarlo, calledon Twitter for all partiesto show restraint.

“If anyone — incredibly— still needed a reason tostop the fighting there,”she added, “this is it.”Martin Griffiths, the UNspecial envoy for Yemen,issued a similar plea: “At atime when the world is

struggling to fight a pan-demic, the focus of theparties must shift awayfrom fighting one anotherto ensuring that the popu-lation will not face evengraver risks.”

Up to now, these coun-tries have not been afflict-ed by Covid-19 on the scaleseen in China, SouthKorea or Europe. But thevirus carries the potential,once it reaches into poorand conflict-ridden coun-tries, of having a devastat-ing impact.

In the absence of con-certed assistance fromabroad, the UN fears “mil-lions” could die. The pan-demic will not necessarilyfavour any particular gro-up of belligerents, one dip-lomat noted, because theravaging disease has been“uncontrollable.” — AFP

For guerrilla fighters and extremist groups, it’s a clear godsend: SpecialistRISKY | AFFAIR

French soldiers install beds at the military field hospital at The Emile Muller Hospitalin Mulhouse, eastern France, on Sunday. — AFP

● ● THE 993-YYEAR-OOLDmonarch shifted out ofthe palace to WindsorCastle indefinitely onThursday as a “precau-tion” after all her engage-ments were cancelledand reports are that sheis healthy.

● ● THE WWORKER testedpositive before the Queenleft for Windsor. But thePalace has 500 membersof staff so, like any work-place, it's not inconceiv-able it would be affectedin some stage saidsources.

COLOMBIAANNOUNCES 1STVIRUS DEATHBogota, March 22:Colombia has reported itsfirst coronavirus death,the country’s health min-ister announcedSaturday, with the centralAmerican nation record-ing 210 infections.

Fernando Ruiz said thepatient was “a 58-year-oldman, living in the town ofCartagene, working as ataxi driver, who trans-ported two foreign citi-zens in his vehicle in thepast few days.”

He died on March 16,but the cause was notestablished until severaldays later, the ministersaid. Colombians will gointo obligatory self-isola-tion for almost threeweeks from Tuesdayevening in an attempt toprevent the spread ofCovid-19. —AFP

We must prepareourselves emotion-

ally and psychologicallyfor very hard daysahead, We have yet toreceive the impact of thestrongest, most damag-ing wave, which will testour material and moralcapacities to the limit, aswell as our spirit as asociety

— PEDRO SANCHEZPrime Minister

A man and his son wearface masks in Beijing.

— AFP

WORLD pg 13DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

SHORT TAKESGERMAN PREZ

MERKEL IN QUARANTINE

8 INDIAN SAILORSSTRANDED ONSHIP OFF UAE

Berlin, March 22: GermanChancellor Angela Merkel willquarantine herself at homeafter being treated by a doctorwho has since tested positivefor the novel coronavirus, agovernment spokesman saidSunday.

“The Chancellor has decidedto quarantine herself immedi-ately at home. She will be test-ed regularly in the comingdays... (and) fulfil her officialbusiness from home,” SteffenSeibert said in a statement.

The doctor had visitedMerkel Friday to vaccinate heragainst the pneumococcusbacteria. It could take sometime to determine whether thechancellor is herself infectedas “a test would not yet be fullyconclusive,” Seibert said.

During her 15-year term inoffice Merkel has largelyenjoyed robust health,although she suffered repeatedshaking spells in publicappearances during a summer2019 heatwave that were neverfully explained. In response tothe tremors, she chose to sit ona chair when receiving guestswith military honours outsidethe chancellor’s office inBerlin. Previously the veteranleader broke her pelvis in across-country skiing accidentin 2014. — AFP

SULKING TS STUDENTS IN UK

MOVED TO HOTELLondon, March 22: A groupof 19 Indian students, who hadsought refuge within theIndian High Commission pre-mises in London demanding tobe put on an India-bound flightdespite travel restrictions backhome in view of the coron-avirus pandemic, were movedto a hotel on Sunday evening.

The students, mostly fromTelangana, had initially refu-sed offers of accommodationarranged with the help of In-dian diaspora groups as India’sban on travellers from the UKand Europe remains in placeuntil the end of this month.

“We have finally reasonedwith them and organised forthem to take taxis to a hotel inwest London,” said a communi-ty leader who has been work-ing with the High Commissionon arrangements for thestranded students. They hadbeen placed within a quaran-tined space, which houses thevisa and consular section with-in the Indian High Comm-ission building in Aldwych,central London. Many of themhad booked flight tickets backto India for later this month, intime for what is usually anEaster break period at univer-sities in the UK.

However, India issued anupdated travel advisory earlierthis week, saying no travellerswould be allowed entry intoIndia after 1200 GMT on March18 until March 31. It triggered alast-minute dash for flights asmany students took to socialmedia to seek assistance fromthe Indian High Commissionas their travel plans went awryin the wake of the rapid spreadof the pandemic — PTI

Dubai, March 22: Eight Ind-ian sailors stranded withoutfull wages for nine monthsaboard a ship off the UAE haveappealed for help as three ofthem have fallen sick, accord-ing to a media report.

The eight sailors are trappedon the ship, MV Hoot, off thecoast of Khor Fakkan sinceJune 2019 after unwittinglyembroiling in a legal dispute,The Gulf News reported.

Recently, two of the seamenreportedly developed cold andfever while a third has con-tracted skin infection. With noaccess to healthcare or medi-cines, the remaining crewmembers fear it’s only a mat-ter of time when they will alsofall sick, the paper reported.

“Our condition is deteriorat-ing day by day. We are exhaust-ed both mentally and physical-ly. I don't know how long wecould hold on like this,”Suresh Kumar, the ship’s chiefofficer, told the newspaperover phone.

He also claimed that the ship-ping company owed him sever-al months of wages. JaspalSingh, 32, who handles enginemaintenance, said they are liv-ing on borrowed time. “Two ofus are running fever and ourcook has developed blisters allover his body. We have toration drinking water as wehave no access to fresh water.Many of us haven’t taken aproper bath in months, We usesea water to bath ourselves”he said. — PTI

Boom time for S. Korea drive-in cinemaSeoul, March 22: A longqueue of cars forms infront of a drive-in cinemain Seoul, as South Koreanslook for safer spaces toenjoy a movie without therisk of contracting thecoronavirus raging acrossthe world.

Box office numbers inSouth Korea — which has8,897 confirmed viruscases — have plummetedin recent weeks due to theepidemic, with authoritiesurging the public to avoidlarge crowds.

But at Park Dong-ju’sdrive-in cinema, moviego-ers can enjoy a film fromthe comfort of their cars,parked in front of a largeoutdoor screen. “We’vehad a 10-20 per centincrease in sales for week-days, and sell out on week-ends,” Park said, adding:“We’re definitely gettingmany more calls and inter-net inquiries after thecoronavirus outbreak.”

A website for his drive-incinema shows a large ban-ner that reads, “Openthroughout the year”, astark contrast to some the-atres worldwide forced tosuspend business overvirus fears. Choi Jin-

young, a 22-year-old hospi-tal worker, said she had towait two hours for ticketsand was worried that itmight sell out for theweekend. “I wanted toenjoy culture life with my

boyfriend but since cine-mas are dangerous andworrying to go, I lookedfor a special date andthat’s how we came here,"she said.

Park Ji-seung, 24, said he

refrained from going out-side due to the coron-avirus outbreak, butadded he felt “safe” at thedrive-in cinema. SouthKorean Prime MinisterChung Sye-kyun urged

religious, indoor sportsand entertainment facili-ties to suspend operationsfor 15 days, asking the pub-lic to work from home andrefrain from going out-side. — AFP

Banner on website banner reads ‘open throughout the yearESCAPE | FROM VIRUS

1.5m at risk due to virus: UKPeople should stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives says secretary London, March 22: Up to1.5 million vulnerable peo-ple in Britain, identifiedas being most at risk fromthe coronavirus epidemic,should stay at home for atleast 12 weeks, the govern-ment said Sunday.

Those with underlyinghealth conditions such asbone or blood cancers, cys-tic fibrosis, or who havehad an organ transplanthave been advised byhealth officials to do all

they can to shield them-selves from the virus,including confining them-selves at home for a longperiod.

“People should stay athome, protect our NHSand save lives,”Communities secretaryRobert Jenrick said in astatement. He added thatthe government was ask-ing “extremely vulnerableindividuals” to take “extrasteps to shield them-

selves”. A statement from the

communities departmentoutlined the time frame

the government wantedthe most vulnerable to fol-low. “People identified asbelonging to one or moreof the at-risk groups willbe contacted by their GPpractice, specialist or bothstrongly advising them tostay at home for a periodof at least 12 weeks.”

A dedicated phone lineand arrangements todeliver groceries or medi-cines will also beannounced. Paul

Johnstone, director ofPublic Health England,said those contactedshould “not go out forshopping, for leisure or fortravel”.

Latest figures show 177people have died in UKfrom the coronavirus. OnFriday, the governmentannounced stronger meas-ures to try and combat thespread, including the clos-ing of bars, pubs andrestaurants. —AFP

China was verysecretive onvirus says Trump

New York, March 22:New York Gov. AndrewCuomo said the state isscouring the globe formedical supplies andscouting temporary hospi-tal locations as the coron-avirus crisis grows.

Flights to New York City-area airports were brieflysuspended after an air-traffic control worker test-ed positive. As the numberof confirmed casesstatewide soared above11,000, ColumbiaUniversity’s chief of sur-gery raised alarms about atorrent of patients soonoverwhelming emergencyrooms. Cuomo said thegoal is to quickly boost thestate’s hospital capacityfrom around 50,000 beds to75,000 beds.

About 1,600 people havebeen hospitalized so far.The Federal EmergencyManagement Agency hasdeclared a major disasterin the state, freeing upaccess to billions of dol-lars in relief funding. Asof late Saturday night, thedisease has killed 60 peo-ple in New York City.

Numbers for the rest ofstate were unknown.

Cuomo said the state islooking to see if the JacobK. Javits ConventionCenter in Manhattancould be suitable for 1,000requested field hospitalbeds that would be sup-

plied by FEMA in a “tentconfiguration” with equip-ment and staff.

Also on Saturday, thestate was scouting fourlocations for temporaryhospitals that would bebuilt by the Army Corps ofEngineers, Cuomo said.

The possible sites includethe Javits Center, StonyBrook University andSUNY Old Westbury onLong Island, and theWestchester CountyCenter north of the city.“Everything that can bedone is being done,"

Cuomo said. Officials haveidentified 2 million masksthat can be sent to hotspots, and apparel compa-nies are pivoting to makemasks, Cuomo said.

A million masks werebeing sent Saturday toNew York City hospitals,and 500,000 to Long Island.Because of dwindling sup-plies, hospitals have beenrationing supplies andasking staff to reusemasks until they becomesoiled. ColumbiaUniversity’s chief sur-geon, Dr. Craig Smith, saidhospitals in the New York-Presbyterian system areburning through about40,000 masks a day —about 10 times the normalamount.

The state is also round-ing up critically neededventilators, purchasing6,000 to deploy to the mostcritical areas and investi-gating whether multiplepatients can be served by asingle ventilator, Cuomosaid. “We are literallyscouring the globe lookingfor medical supplies,” hesaid. — AP

Washington, March 22:President Donald Trumphas hit out at China forbeing “very secretive” insharing information onits coronavirus outbreakthat has claimed over13,000 lives globally,asserting that the US andthe world would havebeen better prepared ifBeijing gave an “advancewarning” about theimpending crisis.

Speaking at a pressbriefing here on Saturday,Trump denied reportsthat the US intelligencereports in January andFebruary had warned ofa coming pandemic, say-ing America did not knowabout the outbreak untilit started coming out pub-licly.

“Just so you under-stand, China is not a ben-eficiary here. China hasthousands and thousandsof people. China has gonethrough hell over this.They’ve gone throughhell.

I’ve had conversationswith (Chinese) PresidentXi (Jinping). I just wishthey could have told usearlier. They knew theyhad a problem earlier. Iwish they could have saidthat,” Trump said.

For more than a weeknow, Trump has beenaddressing the WhiteHouse press on a dailybasis, with each briefingrunning for more than anhour every day. “Chinawas very secretive (oncoronavirus). Very, verysecretive. And that'sunfortunate,” he toldreporters.

Trump reiterated thathe greatly respects Chinaand shares a very goodrelationship with hisChinese counterpart Xi

Jinping, but expressedhis disappointment thatBeinjing was dishonestand slow to alert theworld about the serious-ness of coronavirus.

— AP

CHINA EMBARKSON CLINICAL TRIALFOR VIRUS VACCINEBeijing, March 22:China has started thefirst phase of a clinicaltrial for a novel coron-avirus vaccine, recordsshow, as the world’s scien-tists race to find a way tocombat the deadlypathogen.

It comes after US healthofficials said last weekthey had started a trial toevaluate a possible vac-cine in Seattle.

The Chinese effortbegan on March 16 — thesame day as the USannouncement — and isexpected to continue untilthe end of the year,according to a filing inthe country’s ClinicalTrial Registry, datedMarch 17.

“Volunteers of theCovid-19 phase one trialhave already startedreceiving the vaccine,” astaff member involved inthe government-fundedproject said on Sunday.

The 108 participants,aged between 18 and 60,will be tested in threegroups and given differ-ent dosages.

They are all residents ofthe central city of Wuhan— where the new coron-avirus first emerged latelast year.

IRAN LEADERREFUSES USASSISTANCE

Sen. Rand Paul istested positiveWashington, March 22:Kentucky Sen. Rand Paulsays he has tested posi-tive for Covid-19, the dis-ease caused by coron-avirus.

The Republican is thefirst member of theSenate to report testingpositive.

He said in a tweetSunday that he is feelingfine and is in quarantine.

Paul, a doctor, said hehas not had symptomsand was tested out of anabundance of cautiondue to his extensive trav-el and events. Paul saidhe was not aware of anydirect contact with anyinfected person.

Two House members,Reps. Mario Diaz Balartof Florida of BenMcAdams of Utah, havetested positive.

The Senate was in ses-sion Sunday seeking abipartisan response tothe pandemic.

— AP

N. KOREA SAYSTRUMP SENTLETTER TO KIMSeoul, March 22:President Donald Trumpsent a personal letter toNorth Korean leaderKim Jong Un, seeking tomaintain good relationsand offering cooperationin fighting the coron-avirus, Kim’s sister saidSunday. The latest correspon-dence came as Kimobserved the firing oftactical guided weaponsover the weekend, draw-ing criticism from SouthKorea, as nuclear talksremain deadlocked.

In a statement carriedby the North’s official,Kim’s sister and seniorruling party official, KimYo Jong, praised Trumpfor sending the letter at atime when “big difficul-ties and challenges lieahead in the way ofdeveloping ties” betweenthe countries.

In the letter, Trumpexplained his plan to“propel the relations bet-ween the two countriesand expressed his intentto render cooperation inthe anti-epidemic work,”an apparent reference tothe global coronavirusoutbreak. — AP

Dubai, March 22: Iran’ssupreme leader refusedUS assistance Sunday tofight the new virus, cit-ing an unfounded con-spiracy theory that thevirus could be man-madeby America. AyatollahAli Khamenei’s com-ments come as Iran facescrushing US sanctionsblocking the countryfrom selling its crude oiland accessing interna-tional financial markets.

But while Iranian civil-ian officials in recentdays have increasinglycriticized those sanc-tions, 80-year-old Kham-enei instead chose to traf-fic in the same conspira-cy theory increasinglyused by Chinese officialsabout the new virus todeflect blame for the pan-demic. — AP

NY airports, hospitals feel the pressure38 +ve for virus in NYC jailsNew York, March 22:New York City was hit bythe nation’s largest coron-avirus jail outbreak todate this week, with atleast 38 people testing pos-itive at the notoriousRikers Island complex andnearby facilities — morethan half of them incar-cerated men, the boardthat oversees the city’s jailsystem said Saturday.

Another inmate, mean-while, became the first inthe country to test positivein a federal jail.

In a letter to New York’scriminal justice leaders,Board of Correction inter-im chairwoman Jacq-

ueline Sherman describeda jail system in crisis.

She said in the last week,board members learnedthat 12 Department ofCorrection employees, fiveCorrectional HealthServices employees, and21 people in custody atRikers and city jails hadtested positive for thecoronavirus.

And at least another 58were being monitored inthe prison’s contagiousdisease and quarantineunits, she said.

“It is likely these peoplehave been in hundreds ofhousing areas and com-mon areas over recent

weeks and have been inclose contact with manyother people in custodyand staff,” said Sherman,warning that cases couldskyrocket. “The best pathforward to protecting thecommunity of peoplehoused and working in thejails is to rapidly decreasethe number of peoplehoused and working inthem.”

New York officials haveconsistently downplayedthe number of infectionsin its prisons and jails,The Associated Press hasfound in conversationswith current and formerinmates. — Agencies

An outdoor screen shows a movie at a drive-through cinema in Seoul. — AFP

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Medical staff use a trolley to move a patient towards a medical helicopter at The Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, on Sunday.— AFP

●●THOSE WWITH underlyinghealth conditions such asbone or blood cancers, orwho have had an organtransplant have beenadvised by health officialsto do all they can to shieldthemselves from thevirus.

US VICE PREZPENCE, WIFETEST NEGATIVEWashington, March 22:US Vice President MikePence and his wife KarenPence have tested nega-tive for the deadly novelcoronavirus, a top WhiteHouse official said onSaturday. Pence and theSecond Lady took the testafter a staff from his teamtested positive for thedeadly disease. However,the infected staff wasnever in direct contactwith either Pence or USPresident Donald Trump.

“Pleased to report thatthe Covid-19 test resultscame back negative forboth Vice President@Mike_Pence and SecondLady @KarenPence,” Ka-tie Miller, the Press Sec-retary for Pence, said in atweet on Saturday. — AP

■ Spread of coronavirus in India forces closure of vehicle production lines

Most auto factories shut downquickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 29,915.96 5.75Nifty 50 8,745.45 5.83S&P 500* 2,405.92 -0.14Dollar (`) 75.20 -0.11Pound Sterling (`) 88.29 -1.97Euro (`) 80.53 0.13Gold (10gm)* (`) 41,705s1,395 3.34Brent crude ($/bbl)* 27.20 -4.46IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.259 -2.397US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.006 -10.895

* As of 9:30 pm IST, March 20

DLF allots 10,000debentures toraise `1,000crRealty major DLF has raised`1,000 crore through the issueof non-convertible debentureson a private placement basis.The company has allotted10,000 senior, secured, rated,listed, redeemable, non-con-vertible debentures of the facevalue of `10 lakh each at par,according to a regulatory filing.The tenure of the NCDs is threeyears with coupon rate of 9.25per cent and 9.5 per cent annu-ally.

Indian Oil beginssupply of BS-VIfuel before Apr 1

Indian Oil Corp (IOC), thenation’s biggest oil firm, hasbegun the supply of theworld’s cleanest petrol anddiesel across the country withall its 28,000 petrol pumps dis-pensing ultra-low sulphur fuel agood two weeks before theApril 1 deadline. “We have suc-cessfully rolled out the supplyof BS-VI grade fuel across thecountry,” Indian OilCorporation (IOC) chairmanSanjiv Singh said.

Green certificatesales rise 64% to21 lakh in Feb.Sales of renewable energy cer-tificates rose over 64 per centto 21.42 lakh units in Februarycompared to 13.02 lakh in thesame month a year ago owingto high demand, according toofficial government data.Renewable Energy Certificates(RECs) are a type of market-based instrument. One REC iscreated when one megawatthour of electricity is generatedfrom an eligible renewableenergy resource.

JSL’s CDR exithelps SBI to add`300cr to profit

Printed & Published by T Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited, Printed at

Deccan Chronicle Press at DeccanChronicle Holdings Ltd. #563/9/D&9/E,Behind Andhra Bank Pet Basheerbagh,

Kompally, Ranga Reddy Dist. Editor:T.Venkatram RReddy, RNI Reg

No.APENG/2008/24282. © All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in partwithout written permission of The Editor,

Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

A consortium of lenders led byState Bank of India (SBI) willadd about `770 crore to theirbottomlines during the fourthquarter following the exit ofJindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) fromthe Corporate Debt Restruct-uring (CDR) framework. SBI willget `300 crore from the resolu-tion of this account, sourcessaid. PNB will write back about`100 crore from this, sourcessaid, adding that other lenderstoo will be able to show cashrecovery from this account.

pg 14MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 | HYDERABAD

RAVI RRANJAN PPRASADMUMBAI, MARCH 22

More pain lies ahead forthe domestic equity inves-tors as Coronavirus is stillat a threatening stage inIndia and globally infect-ed people count has risento more than three lakhscompared to two lakh justfour days back. In India,the number of infectedpeople have risen to 341,with seven people dying ofthe infection, so far.Several companies haveshut down factories as aprecautionary measure.

Hero MotoCorp hasdecided to halt operationsat all its global manufac-turing facilities – includ-ing in India, Colombiaand Bangladesh — and theGlobal Parts Centre (GPC)at Neemrana with imme-diate effect until March31, 2020, the companyinformed stock exchangeson Sunday.

Gains posted by theSensex and the Nifty-50under the Narendra Modigovernment since 2014 areat risk this week as therupee value could furtherplummet due to the mas-sive selling by foreignportfolio investors (FPIs).

The Sensex rallied 5.75

per cent or 1,627.73 pointson Friday on short cover-ing. But with the situationgetting worsen globally,the Indian equity marketscould face higher sellingpressure on Monday.

A new circular issued bythe Securities and Excha-nge Board of India (Sebi)on Friday to curb short-selling could have an imp-act on the equity marketson Monday as they wouldopen amid huge negativesentiment in the wake ofcoronavirus spreading allover the world.

V.K. Vijayakumar, chiefinvestment strategist atGeojit Financial Services,said, “Tightening of ruleson short-selling can bringdown excessive volatilityduring times of crisis likethis. Therefore, it has tobe welcomed. However,there can be unintendedconsequences in the time

of panic. The market isnow oversold. Short cover-ing may lead to sharpvolatility. Also, when liq-uidity is low, selling incash market can lead tocrash in prices.”

The rupee closed at arecord low on Friday at75.24 per US dollar amidpersistent selling by for-eign portfolio investors.Friday provisional datashowed FPIs were net sell-ers of Indian equitiesworth `3,345.95 crore.

As per NSDL data, FPIshave sold shares worth`49,507 crore and bondsworth `49,228 crore andtotal outflows in March2020 so far are `95,485crore or $12.5 billion,according to an estimate.

India’s foreign exchangereserves fell by $5.35 bil-lion to $481.9 billion in theweek ended March 13,according to data pub-lished by the RBI. “Thedecline in the reserveindicates RBI interven-tion through dollar sellingto control volatility andsteep depreciation. Thedollar hit record highsversus the rupee and maycontinue doing so asinvestors flock to US treas-uries,” said forex consult-ant IFA Global.

Stock markets likely tobleed further this week

DAVID FFICKLINGSYDNEY, MARCH 22

For much of the world, oilwealth is a curse. Endow-ed with ample reserves ofhydrocarbons, the likes ofNigeria, Angola, Kazakh-stan, Mexico and Venezu-ela frittered the benefitsaway.

Only in the Persian Gulfhas oil been a nation-building blessing. The dis-coveries of petroleum inthe mid-20th centuryturned an anarchic, des-perately poor region intoone of the most affluentplaces on the planet.Qatar, Kuwait and theUnited Arab Emirates areall richer than Switzer-land. Even Saudi Arabia,Bahrain, and Oman are ona par with Japan or theUnited Kingdom.

The transformation hasbeen so complete that it’seasy to believe the wealthderives from some eternallaw of nature. That’s nottrue, though. The currentprice war in oil marketswill only hasten themoment when the unsus-tainable nature of Gulfeconomies faces a brutalreckoning.

Right now, all six monar-chies are joining withRussia in opening the tapsto flood the crude marketand flush out higher-costproducers. While theplanned 2.5 million bar-rels per day increase fromSaudi Arabia is by far thebiggest wave in this tsuna-mi, its neighbors aren’tholding back. The UAEwill daily add about200,000 barrels or more,according to consultancy

Rystad Energy, whileKuwait will lift output by110,000 barrels. Russiawill raise daily productionby 200,000 barrels.

That splurge of supplyisn’t due to geopolitics.Instead, it’s a mathemati-cal result of the decline inthe oil price. With fewerdollars coming in for eachbarrel of crude, Gulfmonarchies need to pumpmuch more to maintainsomething resemblingcurrent revenues.

In principle, there’sample firepower to fightthis war. It costs about asmuch to pump a barrel ofoil from a Gulf oilfield asit does to buy a bottle offancy mineral water. Evenin an extreme scenariowhere crude prices fall aslow as $10 a barrel andalmost the entire global

oil industry loses money,Gulf producers wouldremain in the black. Theproblem comes for theireconomies, which need afar higher price to balancetheir budgets and supportdollar-linked currencies.

The region’s centralbanks and sovereignwealth funds have assem-bled vast sums to see themthrough such a crisis, aswell as the longer-termrisk of declining demand.Faced with lower prices,however, these bufferscould disintegrate quickly.

Take the net financialassets held by SaudiArabia’s government.These declined to just 0.1per cent of gross domesticproduct from 50 per centover the four yearsthrough 2018 as crudeplunged from levels of

around $100 a barrel at theend of 2014. The kingdomis now likely to be a netdebtor for the foreseeablefuture, even if prices riseback above $80.

Over the same fouryears, net financial assetsheld by the six Gulfmonarchies fell by aroundhalf a trillion dollars, toaround $2 trillion, accord-ing to a study last monthby the InternationalMonetary Fund. Even ifpeak oil demand doesn’thit until 2040, that remain-ing sum could be depletedby 2034, according to theFund. Oil at $20 a barrelwould run it down evenfaster, emptying the cof-fers as soon as 2027.

With oil prices in therange of $50 to $55 a bar-rel, Saudi Arabia’s inter-national reserves would

fall to about five months ofimport coverage as soonas 2024, according to anIMF report last year. Thatshould be a deeply alarm-ing prospect, bringing thekingdom within months ofan unthinkable balance-of-payments crisis and theabandonment of the dol-lar peg, which has under-pinned the global oil tradefor a generation. Yet theprices we’re now seeingmake this look almost likean optimistic scenario.

There’s still time to avertthis future, but it willinvolve major changes toour ideas about the Gulfand its the role in the glob-al economy.

The era when the Gulfnations and their sover-eign wealth funds weremagic cash machines pre-pared to pay top dollar for

assets on every continentmay be coming to an end.They may even have toturn into net sellers. Thatwill affect institutionsfrom the US Treasurymarket, where SaudiArabia holds about $183billion of securities; toSoftbank Group Corp.,which may find Riyadh aless generous partner forfunding Masayoshi Son’sexpansive visions.

The monarchies havesurfed a remarkable tideof wealth over the pasthalf-century or so, butevery wave eventuallycrashes. Future genera-tions will never again seethe wealth that currentsubjects enjoy. Perhapsthe Gulf wasn’t sparedfrom oil’s curse, after all.That moment was onlydeferred. — Bloomberg

Low oil prices set off decline of Gulf’s oil empire

MICHAEL GGONSALVESPUNE, MARCH 22

The deadly Coronaviruspandemic has virtuallyforced most automobilefactories across the coun-try to shut down opera-tions till March 31 to con-tain the virus contagion.

Maruti Suzuki, India’sbiggest car maker,Mahindra & Mahindra,India’s biggest utilityvehicle maker, HondaCars, Hero MotoCorp,India’s biggest motorcyclemaker, Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles on Sundayannounced closure oftheir respective factories.

Since the closure of fac-tories was mandated bythe government policy,other automakers couldfollow suit in a day or two.

Maruti Suzuki said thegovernment policy nowrequires the closure ofproduction and according-ly the company has taken

a decision on productionclosure.

“The company will shutproduction and officeoperations at its facilitiesin Gurugram and Mane-sar, Haryana with imme-diate effect till furthernotice. The company’sR&D centre at Rohtak willalso remain closed,”Maruti Suzuki said in astatement.

Honda Cars India alsoinformed its associatesand suppliers on Sundaythat production opera-tions at both its manufac-turing plants in GreaterNoida, Uttar Pradesh andTapukara, Rajasthan willbe temporarily suspendedfrom March 23 to 31.

Mahindra & Mahindra,which has its biggest plantlocated at Chakan, nearPune, announced that ithas shut down its opera-tion till the pandemicrecedes. Similarly, HeroMotoCorp, on Sunday said

it has decided to halt oper-ations at all its globalmanufacturing facilities –including in India,Colombia and Bangladesh— and the Global PartsCentre (GPC) at Neem-rana with immediateeffect until March 31.

Employees at all otherfunctions and locationsincluding the Centre ofInnovation and Techno-logy (CIT) in Jaipur inRajasthan will continue to

work from home, exceptfor those whose physicalpresence is necessary torun the day-to-day essen-tial services, Hero said ina statement.

Fiat Chrysler Automob-iles, together with FiatIndia Automobiles, saidthat it will work with thegovernment to temporari-ly close down operationsand suspend production toprotect the health andsafety of employees.

Over a dozen auto firmsin Pune and the neigh-bouring twin industrialbelt of Pimpri-Chinchwad, which togeth-er accounted for 23 of the63 coronavirus positivecases, with two deaths inMumbai out of five tilldate in the country, haveshut down their plants.

Tata Motors, with thebiggest production baseamong automotive compa-nies in Maharashtra, wasthe first company toannounce a shutdown fol-lowed by Bajaj Auto,India’s second biggestmotorcycle maker.

German car makersMercedes-Benz and Volks-wagen have also shut theirfactories in Pune.

Mini bus maker ForceMotors, constructionequipment giant JCB, andcommercial vehicle makerEicher Motors too decidedto close their productionoperations.

S. UUMAMAHESHWARHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

The global economy maybe staring at one of thebiggest debt crises in thehistory as countries shutown production lines andlock down people at theirhomes to stop the spreadof deadly Coronavirus.

According to theInstitute of InternationalFinance, the global debt inOctober 2019 stood at $253trillion, which is 3.2 timesof the value of annualglobal productivity — thehighest ever in the recenthistory.

A general shutdown toquarantine people hashalted the operations ofcompanies, affecting theirrevenue. An expectationto continue paying work-ers during the lockdownwould further put stresson financials of compa-nies. While governmentshave signalled that bankswould go easy on repay-ments, the companieswould accumulate furtherdebt by the time Covid-19is buried. Governmentsalso would have to raisedebt or easy restrictionsto mint new money —despite fragile economicconditions — to deal withan unprecedented healthand financial crisis.

According to the UNConference on Trade andDevelopment, sustaineddebts could pose a largerproblem for the globaleconomy and financialsystem.

“Today’s financialfragility far predates theCovid-19 “black swan.”Given the massive accu-mulation of debt in bothdeveloped and developingcountries since the 2008financial crisis, it haslong been clear that even aminor event — some“known unknown” —could have far-reachingdestabilising effects. Yet,until recently, rising assetprices – owing to a long

period of extraordinarilyloose monetary policies inadvanced economies – dis-guised mounting debt lev-els,” economist JayantiGhosh wrote in ProjectSyndicate.

“Worse, more sovereign-debt repayments on short-maturity internationalbonds will soon be due.And foreign exchangereserves, which havedeclined in many emerg-ing markets and develop-ing economies as a resultof recent capital outflows,will be less robust in theface of further outflows asbond markets becomemore fraught,” she wrote.

With investors turningrisk averse, the debt mar-ket may dry up for compa-nies which don’t haverobust credit ratings.

Unless governmenttakes steps to oil financialmarkets, the crisis trig-gered by Coronaviruscould explode decadeslong debt bubble.

According to IndiaRatings and Research,about 25 per cent of `10.52lakh crore of the low-rated corporate debt —`2.54 lakh crore — is vul-nerable to default over thenext three years.Delinquencies in corpo-rate debt could add to analready piled-up bad loansof `11 lakh crore, affect-ing the health of the coun-try’s banking sector.

New Delhi, March 22:Anticipating a spike inonline video streamingdemand amid lockdownand quarantine measuresto contain the spread ofcoronavirus, COAI hasurged the government toissue immediate instruc-tions to streaming plat-forms like Netflix,Amazon Prime Video, andothers to initiate meas-ures that will ease pres-sure on network infra-structure, which is neededfor “critical” functions atthis juncture.

The Cellular Operators'Association of India(COAI) has also approach-ed streaming platformscautioning them aboutsurge in digital use strain-ing network infrastruc-ture of telecom operators,and urged companies totake urgent steps like tem-porarily switching to SD(standard definition) fromHD (hi definition) stream-ing, removing high band-width-consuming adver-tisements and pop-ups,and replacing them withpublic announcements onawareness regarding thevirus.

In a letter to telecom sec-retary Anshu Prakash,COAI has said, “Due tolockdown/ quarantinemeasures in various partsof the country, a suddensurge in demand foronline video streaming isalso expected to rise sub-stantially.”

COAI said that duringthis crucial time, it isabsolutely essential forthe streaming platformsto cooperate with telecomproviders so as to managethe traffic distribution

patterns that are likely tostrain the network infra-structure “at a time whenit is needed for variouscritical requirements”.

Citing the “unprecedent-ed situation” due to theoutbreak of coronavirus,COAI noted that the gov-ernments are taking vari-ous measures to reducesocial interactions, inorder to contain thespread of the pandemic.

“In the past few days, inIndia too, advisories havebeen issued by variousgovernment agenciesincluding social distanc-ing, restrictions in termsof workplace, also encour-aging Work From Home(WFH), digital education,digital payments/ trans-actions, online health-care, wherever possibleand other critical require-ments to be met throughdigital means. This sud-den surge in digital use isalready putting pressureon the network infrastruc-ture of the Telecom Serv-ice Providers (TSPs),”COAI said. — PTI

Covid-19 may set offdebt crisis, threatenglobal economy

Netflix, Amazontold to switch toSD video format

The market is nowoversold. Short cover-

ing may lead to sharp volatil-ity. Also, when liquidity islow, selling in cash marketcan lead to crash in prices.

— V.K. VIJAYKUMAR,Chief investment strategist,

Geojit Financial Services

● ● COAI has also askedstreaming platforms totake urgent steps liketemporarily switching toSD (standard definition)from HD (hi definition)streaming in the wake ofmore people shifting towork from home.

● ● Remove high band-width-consuming adver-tisements and pop-ups,and replacing them withpublic announcements onawareness regarding thevirus.

●● According to theInstitute of InternationalFinance, the global debt inOctober 2019 stood at$253 trillion, which is 3.2times of the value ofannual global productivity— the highest ever in therecent history.

●● According to IndiaRatings and Research,about 25 per cent of`10.52 lakh crore of thelow-rated corporate debt— `2.54 lakh crore — isvulnerable to default.

SANGEETHA GG.CHENNAI, MARCH 22

The restriction on theexport of 26 active phar-maceutical ingredients(APIs) and their formula-tions will not be applica-ble for special economiczones. Following a repre-sentation of the industry,the government has alsoclarified that other prod-ucts, coming under thesame HS codes of therestricted items, can befreely exported.

On March 3, the govern-ment had restrictedexport of 26 APIs, includ-ing paracetamol, antibi-otics and vitamins, as wellas the formulations madeout of these APIs in thebackdrop of rising inci-dence of coronavirus.

The government hasclarified that restrictiondid not apply to SEZs andother items in the HScodes of these productswere not restric-ted. Theclarification comes afterthe industry expressedtheir concerns.

Financial Chronicle hadreported about the con-cerns expressed by theindustry.

As drugs meant for theexport market cannot beutilised in the domestic

market, pharmaceuticalexporters had asked thegovernment to exempt the“drugs manufactured forexport purpose only”from the restrictions.

Further, Pharmexcil in aletter to DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT) had also informedthat the customs officerswere not allowing theexport of other itemsfalling under the same HScodes of the productsbeing restricted.

The exporters hadapprehended that theymight face legal proceed-ings by foreign buyers ifthey were not able to fulfiltheir previous orders dueto export restriction.

Non-supply of one itemwould sometimes result inthe cancellation of entireorder and companiescould end up blacklistedor may be forced to payhuge penalties.

New Delhi, March 22:Equity-oriented mutualfund schemes delivered anegative return of about25 per cent to investorsover the last one monthas the broader marketwitnessed significantdowntrend amid coron-avirus-triggered reces-sion fears.

The 44-player mutualfund industry is notimmune to the economicblowback of Covid-19,and going ahead, smalland mid-cap equityschemes will continue toremain under pressurein the short to medium

term on account ofvolatility in the markets,said Krishna Karwa,Senior Research Analyst,at iFAST Financial India.

According to data com-piled by MorningstarIndia, all the equity sch-eme categories — ELSS,mid-cap, large & mid-cap,large-cap, small-cap, mid-cap and multi-cap havegiven negative return inthe range of 25-26 percent between February19 and March 18, 2020.

Individually, large andmid-cap funds have givena negative return of 26.63per cent followed by

large-cap (26.58 per cent),ELSS (26.47 per cent),multi-cap (26.45 percent), small-cap (26.32per cent) and mid-cap(24.84 per cent). Notably,all the funds fell lessthan their respectivebenchmark indices dur-ing the bear market.

“We have seen suchfalls in the market multi-ple times before. But aswe have seen in the pastover the long term mar-kets will recover,” Morn-ingstar India director-manager researchKaustubh Belapurkarsaid. — PTI

MF schemes lose 25% value

No curbs on APIsproduced in SEZs

● ● As drugs meant for theexport market cannot beutilised in the domesticmarket, pharmaceuticalexporters had asked thegovernment to exemptthe “drugs manufacturedfor export purpose only”from the restrictions.

Wellington: Describing his fall-out with Ross Taylor a “bad

stain for New Zealand cricket”,former skipper Brendon

McCullum attributed it to a racefor captaincy between the twoin 2011 and admitted that they

still aren’t the best of friendsdespite mutual respect.

Taylor, who is still active ininternational cricket, took over

the captaincy after DanielVettori stepped down from the

position following the 2011World Cup.

“It put some pressure on myfriendship and relationship with

Ross. I have a lot of develop-ment and under-age cricket

with Ross. I was the captain ofthe U-19 team and Taylor was

my vice-captain. We’ve alwaysgot on really well,” McCullum

said in a ‘Sky Sports Podcast’. However, after a 1-1 draw in a

Test series in Sri Lanka in 2012,it emerged that Taylor had

issues with then coach MikeHesson. That followed seriesdefeats in South Africa, the

West Indies and India. “We had to go for an interview

for the job. It was about pre-senting the map for the future

of New Zealand cricket to apanel. I don’t really know what

we were doing. “If I had my time, I would’ve

said ‘No I’m not going to comeand go through the process,you appoint Ross as captain

and then we’ll see what unfoldsfrom there.’

“It’s a bad stain for NewZealand cricket and put pres-sure on Ross and me. Then it

led me to eventually take overthe captaincy from Ross,” said

McCullum. — PTI

CRICKET pg 15DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

SHORT TAKES

New Delhi: India’s swashbuck-ling opener Rohit Sharma onSunday took a dig at the ICC

after his name did not feature ina poll initiated by the apex

body on who has got the bestpull shot in international cricket.

The International CricketCouncil tweeted a collage of

four batsmen playing the pullshot, asking fans whose is the

best. It included pictures ofWest Indies legend Viv

Richards, Australia great RickyPonting, former South Africanbatsman Herschelle Gibbs and

Indian skipper Virat Kohli.Unamused, Rohit, who is theonly batsman to score three

double hundreds in the ODIs,responded by tweeting,

“Someone’s missing here ?? Noteasy to work from home I

guess.” The ICC had asked,“Which batsman, past or pres-

ent, has the best pull shot, inyour opinion?” In the wake of

the COVID-19 pandemic, Rohitshared his take on the effects of

climate change, and looked atthe brighter side of the lock-

down that has been put in placeacross the world. — PTI

‘Ignored’ Rohittakes a dig at ICC

BIPIN DDANIMUMBAI, MARCH 22

Baroda Cricket Association(BCA) is awaiting the medical

reports of the victim whoaccused coach Atul Bedade of

“sexual harassment”. BCA has indefinitely suspendedBedade pending an inquiry intoallegations. “The victim is being

treated in a hospital inHyderabad. Her relatives areinto medical profession and

that’s why she is taking treat-ment in Hyderabad,” said Ajit

Lele, the secretary of BCA.“There have been more thanone complainant. But, so far,

there is no complaint of ‘sexualfavour’ against Bedade,” Lele

added. “After this suspension, more

girls may come out in open,” headded. Bedade played 13 ODIs

for India. Bedade appearedbefore the internal committeebut now BCA is set to form a

neutral committee. Former first-class cricketer Shishir

Hattagandi, CEO of BCA, was amember of the preliminary

investigation team.Interestingly, Hattagandi had

appeared as a witness for awoman when her allegationsagainst the BCCI CEO (Rahul

Johri) were heard. “The allegations against my

brother are false. The justice isnot given in this case and no

show cause notice was served,”Atul’s brother, Amarish, said.

More girls maycome out: BCA

The impact of the‘ C h i n a m a n ’(COVID-19), has

seen grounds and playareas bereft of partici-pants. While the Board ofControl for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) continuesto wait and watch the sit-uation before taking adecision on to play or notto, the Indian PremierLeague (IPL), the diehards continue their selfquarantine imbibing astale fare on offer.

The IPL’s future, till thedeadly virus is got undercontrol, is speculative atthis point in time. Notjust the IPL but the possi-bility of the Men’sInternational CricketCouncil’s (ICC)Twenty20 World Cup2020 (T20WC) which isslanted to be played inAustralia end October isalso in jeopardy. Thattournament would haveprobably been the lastopportunity for the effer-vescent Mahendra SinghDhoni, a.k.a. MSD towear the India colours atan international scene.

MSD is everyone’sfavourite, especiallywhen it comes to theshorter formats of thegame. Not too many indi-viduals can boast ofbeing part of two ICCWorld Cup victories, for-get leading the team.Indian cricket has hadit’s heroes and the expec-tations from them, attimes, go beyond reality.A few individual per-formances — with the

bat and the ball — havemade supermen out ofplayers.

While there have beenmany, from the time anIndian team stepped outat Lord’s to play theirfirst Test match againstEngland in June 1932,individual performanceshave got the playersattain legendary status.Vinoo Mankad’s heroicsat Lord’s in 1952, whenhe was got back into theteam (having beendropped), of spending 18hours and 45 minutes inthe middle in a losingcause can never be for-gotten. Nor can SunilGavaskar’s 221 at theOval in 1979, when hemade a total of 438 runsto chase batting last, isalso an unforgettableepic.

Not to forget theunrecorded (sadly),unbeaten innings of 175that skipper Kapil Devplayed in 1983 againstZimbabwe, when Indiawere tottering at 5 wick-ets for 17 runs, is part ofan all-time folklore. Thegrit shown by VVSLaxman while puttingthe monkey (no punintended) back onAustralian shoulders,with 281 runs scored atthe Eden Gardens inKolkata, has manybelieving that it was thegreatest innings playedby an Indian at home.Bhagwat Chandra-sekar’s magical spell of 6wickets for 38 runs thatgave India it’s first Test

victory in and againstEngland in 1971 made thecountry believe that theycould achieve the impos-sible.

MSDs heroics were dif-ferent, he will always beknown as the ‘captain’rather than the playerwho inspired his teams— at the T20WC 2007 inSouth Africa and the ICCWorld Cup (50 overs) —to victory. Let’s take alook at his statistics as abatsman, wicketkeeper.In eight matches of the2007 T20 WC, he scored163 runs with 45 runsbeing his highest againsthosts South Africa, withone catch behind thewicket. The 2011 ICCWC50 overs his run tally was92 in seven matches tillthe final against SriLanka which he finishedwith a ‘helicopter shot’sixer scoring a memo-rable 91 unbeaten runs atthe Wankhede Stadiumin Mumbai.

If he will be remem-bered for that iconic sixhit off NuwanKulasekara in the penul-timate over of the match,

his wily decision to givethe last over to JoginderSharma turned the gameIndia’s way in the T20WC2007. To give a relativelyunknown player the ballto bowl to Misbah-ul-Haq, turned out to be amasterstroke. Not to for-get, the same call couldhave turned the otherway had Misbah pulledthe ball to the boundaryinstead of looping it tothe safe hands of S.Sreesanth stationed atshort fine-leg.

MSD has not made anyannouncements abouthis cricketing future. Itwas expected that theformer skipper, who hasquarantined himselffrom any part of thegame after the ICC WorldCup last year, would usethe IPL as a platform.His performances in theblue riband leaguewould have made him acontender for the ICCT20WC in Australia.Cancellation of the IPLwould broadly mean theend of the gloriouscareer of one of thecoolest (literally) crick-eters of the shorter,modern era.

The legend, SunilGavaskar believes thatthe team has moved onand that MSD is notsomeone to make bigannouncements. Just theway he quietly retiredfrom Test match cricketafter the third, drawnmatch at Melbourne in2014 and the way hestayed in the backgroundwhile the Indian teamcelebrated their victoryand hoisted the littlemaster SachinTendulkar on theirshoulders, it does looklike MSDs long journeywill end quietly; barringa miracle.

End of a glorious era?Hemant KenkreSilly Point

New Delhi, March 22:With gyms closed and theIndian cricket team play-ers sweated it out insidetheir homes in the wake ofthe Coronavirus pandem-ic. Fielding coach R.Sridhar gave them fitnesstips from home.

In a video shared onInstagram by the Indiancricket team, the officialhandle, Sridhar is seendoing exercises. “Stayindoors and stay fit. Ourfielding coach@coach_rsridhar givingus major fitness goalsfrom home,” the post said.

Test opener MayankAgarwal made the most ofhis time at home withworkout sessions.Agarwal posted a series ofpictures of him workingout in the lawn and athome, doing strength-training exercises.

ASHWIN LAUDS JANTA CURFEW

As PM Narendra Modiurged people to self isolateon Sunday, India spinnerR. Ashwin said that it is anunbelievable start of the‘Janta curfew’ and hopedthat “social distancing canbe adhered to in the daysto come”.

“Unbelievable start tothe #JantaCurfew , pindrop silence as they usedto say in school. Hope this

is extended beyond thisday and social distancingcan be adhered to In thedays to come. @naren-dramodi @AmitShah,” thesenior off spinner tweet-ed.

SEHWAG, LAXMAN HAIL ‘WARRIORS’

Former cricketersVirender Sehwag and VVSLaxman hailed the effortsof ‘warriors’. Sehwag tookto Twitter to write: “A bigSalute to all the warriorswho are working tirelessly.

May this pass soon andmay there be peace, peaceand peace. Om Shanti.”On the other hand,Laxman wrote: “Reallyproud of each and every-one who are working tocombat this. We are allextremely proud of you. Ipray that these difficulttimes pass soon and every-one remain healthy andhappy.”

HESSON IMPRESSED

IPL franchise RoyalChallengers Banglore’s

director of cricket, MikeHesson, is pleased to see‘Janta Curfew’ being fol-lowed in India. Taking toTwitter, Hesson shared avideo of Bandra-Worli SeaLink without any vehicu-lar traffic. In general days,the particular stretch seesheavy traffic. “Have seenthis view many times frommy hotel room over theyears but not with lessthan 1000 cars onit........#India is having acurfew today for 14 hoursto fight #covid_19 it’slooks like it’s being fol-l o w e d . . # j a n t a c u r f e w#modi #stayathome#corona #covid_19 #sea-gate,” Hesson wrote.

WARNE’S ADVICE TO FANS

Former Australian spinlegend Shane Warneurged fans across theworld to adhere to the gov-ernment guidelines.Taking to Twitter, hewrote, “Just got sentthis!!!!! Wow, please,please, please can we allstick together and listen tothe Govt and adhere to theadvice.” “We have sur-passed 3,00,000 coiron-avirus cases worldwide.Some perspective: the first1,00,000 took 3 months thesecond 1,00,000 took 12days the third 1,00,000 took3 days,” read a picture

shared by the leg-spinner. SACHIN PRAISES

INDIANS FOR EFFORT

Cricket legend SachinTendulkar on Sundaypraised all Indians forcoming together as anation even while stayingat home and showing sup-port to those in the essen-tial services working over-time to fight Covid-19.

“Today India cametogether even while staying in our homes.While we are at homethere are many who areselflessly performing theirduties. Thank you to eachone of you for putting usbefore yourself. The disci-pline and commitment weshowed today needs to con-tinue,” Tendulkar said ina tweet.

GOOD TIME TO INTROSPECT: POLLARDD

West Indies’ limited-oversskipper Kieron Pollardbelieves the break broughtupon them by the Covid-19pandemic is a good time to“introspect”. “It is a goodtime for introspection, agood time for reflection, agood time to look at whereyou are as an individual inyour career and what youwant to achieve going for-ward,” he was quoted byJamaica Gleaner.

— Agencies

Cricketers workout from home

Sweating it out

With all the coaching centres and gyms being closed as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, cricketers Mayank Agarwal (from left) , Ajinkya Rahane and R. Ashwin work out at home. — TWITTER

Lucknow, March 22:Bollywood singer KanikaKapoor, who tested posi-tive for coronavirus a fewdays ago, stayed in thesame five-star hotel hereas the South Africancricket team, who were inIndia for the ODI seriesagainst Virat Kohli andCo. which later got post-poned.

“There are reports thatshe dined in the hotel’sbuffet and also attendedseveral guests in thelobby,” an official wasquoted as saying onSunday.

“She was living there ata time when the SouthAfrican team was stayingin the hotel for the ODImatch, which eventuallywas called off. There isinformation that Kanikawas seen briefly attend-ing a news channel’sannual conclave held atthe hotel. Therefore, it isimportant to scan theCCTV footage and listthose who came in con-tact with her.”

The Quinton de Kock-led South African cricketteam were slated to play

three ODIs in India butthe series had to be post-poned amid the outbreakof coronavirus pandemic.

They came to Kolkataand travelled via Dubai totheir respective destina-tions and have seen beenon mandatory quaran-tine.

Kanika has been criti-cised a lot by netizens forher irresponsible behav-iour for not self-quaran-tining herself upon herreturn from London andthen attending severalparties in Lucknow. Herfamily members are nowquestioning the medicalreport which declared herpositive. — Agencies

Infected Kanika was insame hotel as SA team

● Kanika has beencriticised a lot bynetizens for herirresponsiblebehaviour for notself-quarantiningherself upon herreturn from Londonand then attendingseveral parties inLucknow.

Atul BBedade

Sanju Samsom holds a placard to show his support forthe ‘Janta Curfew’. — TWITTER

M. SS. DDhoni

McCULLUMREGRETS SPAT

WITH TAYLOR

GAMES pg 16DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

O-limping GamesUS track & field latest to mount postponement pressureParis, March 22:Pressure mounted onOlympic organisers topostpone the 2020 TokyoGames after the powerfulUS track and field federa-tion urged this summer’sshowpiece be pushed backdue to the coronaviruspandemic.

USA Track and Fieldbecame the latest influen-tial sports body to ask forthe Games to be called offafter its head Max Siegel“respectfully requested”in a letter that the USOlympic and ParalympicCommittee (USOPC)“advocate... for the post-ponement of the 2020Olympic Games inTokyo”.

USOPC had said it wastoo soon to axe the July 24-August 9 Games, muchlike InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC)head Thomas Bach, whosaid that it would be “pre-mature” to make such abig decision.

“The right and responsi-ble thing to do is to priori-tise everyone’s health andsafety and appropriatelyrecognise the toll this dif-ficult situation has, andcontinues to take, on ourathletes and theirOlympic Games prepara-tions,” wrote Siegel.

USATF joined a growingchorus of calls fromsports organisations topush back the Olympics, aday after the country’sswimming federationasked USOPC to back apostponement until 2021.

“We urge the USOPC, asa leader within theOlympic Movement, touse its voice and speak upfor the athletes,” USASwimming CEO TimHinchey said in a letter.

Spain’s athletics federa-tion then added its voiceto the growing resent-ment.

“The circumstances donot guarantee an ade-quate preparation or afair competition with therest of the athletes in theworld, without endanger-ing the health (of Spanishathletes),” Spain athleticsfederation said.

World Athletics presi-dent Sebastian Coe saidthat the sporting worldwas in “uncharted territo-ry”.

The Norwegian OlympicCommittee (NOC) said ithad sent a letter to theIOC on Friday, motivatedin part by a Norwegiangovernment ban on organ-ised sports activitieswhich had created “a verychallenging time for thesports movement inNorway”.

“Our clear recommenda-tion is that the OlympicGames in Tokyo shall nottake place before theCOVID-19 situation isunder firm control on aglobal scale,” the NOCsaid.

Meanwhile, the newchairman of the UnitedKingdom’s athletics gov-erning body also ques-tioned the need to hold theOlympics this summergiven the uncertainty sur-rounding the spread ofCovid-19.

“To leave it where it is iscreating so much pressurein the system. It now hasto be addressed,” head ofUK Athletics Nic Cowardtold the BBC. — AFP

People wearing face masks take pictures in front of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame displayed outside the Miyakorailway station in Iwate prefecture on Sunday, after its arrival from Greece. — AFP

Upset Rao resigns from SAIDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MARCH 22

Expressing his displeas-ure at the Special AreaGames (SAG) scheme’smerger with SportsAuthority of India (SAI)centres, B.V. P.Rao, IAS(retd) has resigned as themember of GoverningBody of SAI.

Rao, who wrote to UnionSports Minister KirenRijiju, expressed his con-cerns about the mergerand said, “I am deeplysaddened that theGoverning Body of SportsAuthority of India (SAI)has decided that SpecialArea Games Scheme(SAG) will be merged withSAI Training Centers (STC) in its last meetingchaired by you on March13.”

“I am given to under-stand that you have dis-cussed my suggestion notto merge SAG with STCscheme during the last

Governing Body meetingof SAI. I am told you seemto have commented thatthe SAG Scheme wasworking well years agobut it is not the sametoday. I agree with you tosome extent. Over theyears several bureaucratswho succeeded me andseveral Sports Ministerswho preceded you, havewatered down the SAGscheme for various rea-sons. If the SAG is noteffective as it was origi-nally intended, is itsmerger with an alreadyproven non-workingscheme like STC a solu-tion?” Rao questioned.

In a challenging state-ment Rao quipped, “Whatis astonishing is thatsomeone like you, whohails from remote tribalstate of ArunachalPradesh, is not able seethe importance of theSAG scheme which essen-tially focuses on theNorth East India. I dare

challenge you to explainto the Sports World whatschemes of SAI or anystate government schemecan serve or fulfil orreplace the purpose ofSAG? Or Under your lead-ership Sports Ministry isable tap the natural talentof remote and tribal areasof the Country? You needto answer these questions.Let me remind you, seniorbureaucracy in theMinistry of Sports andSports Authority of Indiathat everyone is account-able on policy of nationalinterest.”

“I vividly rememberIndian sports legendSunil Gavaskar calling onDirector General SportsAuthority of India with arequest to make a film onSAG by his own sportsmanagement firm. SAGprogramme is wellrecorded and telecastedthrough a six part televi-sion serial titled “Questfor Gold". It is, perhaps,

the only governmentscheme in India on whicha television serial hasbeen shot with privatemoney! I am quite surethat in a modicum ofspace SAG may find in therecent history of IndianSports, the then SportsMinister Mrs MargaretAlva, will be given thecredit of nourishing SAGand you will be creditedwith killing the scheme,”a livid Rao added in hisletter.

“My only umbilical cordwith Sports Authority ofIndia has been the SAGscheme, which I con-ceived, planned andimplemented for the firstfive years of its launch.As that connection is per-manently destroyed, Idon’t have any reason tobe associated with SAI.Hence, I do here by resignas the member ofGoverning Body of SportsAuthority of India,” Raoconcluded.

Tokyo torch lights up JapanSendai (Japan), March22: Tens of thousands ofpeople flocked to a caul-dron with the Olympicflame in northeasternJapan over the weekenddespite concerns aboutthe coronavirus pandem-ic. The flame arrived inJapan to a scaled-downwelcoming ceremony onFriday as doubts grewover whether the 2020Tokyo Olympics will goahead on schedule as thedeadly virus causes chaosaround the world.

The pandemic hasalready shredded the glob-al sports calendar, withtop sports leagues sus-pended and major tourna-ments postponed.

More than 50,000 peopleon Saturday queued towatch the flame displayedat Sendai station inMiyagi, chosen as part ofthe “Recovery Olympics”to showcase the region’srevival after the 2011earthquake, tsunami andnuclear meltdown.

Some had to stay in a500-metre (1,650-foot)queue for several hours,local media said.

Many of them woremasks as they took pic-tures with the cherryblossom-shaped cauldron.

“I queued for threehours but watching theOlympic flame was great-ly encouraging,” a 70-year-old woman told pub-lic broadcaster NHK.

But organisers, con-cerned about the bigger-than-expected gathering,have warned the viewingevent could be suspendedif a crowd becomes“extremely dense”, localmedia reported.

The nationwide torchrelay begins on March 26,starting from the J-Village sports complex inFukushima that was usedas a base for workers dur-ing the 2011 nuclear disas-ter. — AFP

SPAIN ATHLETICBODY WANTSPOSTPONEMENTMadrid, March 22: TheSpanish athletics federa-tion (RFEA) joined thecalls for the postpone-ment of the TokyoOlympics because of theimpact of the coronaviruspandemic.

“The Board of Directorsof the Royal SpanishAthletics Federation, onbehalf of the majority ofSpanish athletes, is advo-cating the postponementof the Tokyo 2020Olympic Games,” theRFEA said in a statement.

“Circumstances do notguarantee adequatepreparation or fair com-petition with the rest ofthe athletes in the world,without endangering thehealth (of Spanish ath-letes),” said the RFEA.

Spain had recordedmore than 1,320 deathsfrom Covid-19 bySaturday and is enforcingconfinement to try to stopthe spread of the virus.

— AFP

Virus-hit Madridex-president dies

Dybala, Maldiniscontract Covid-19Rome, March 22:Argentina striker PauloDybala said that he hasbecome the third Juventusplayer to test positive forcoronavirus while formerAC Milan defender PaoloMaldini revealed that heand his son have also beeninfected.

“Hi everyone. I just want-ed to let you know that wehave received the Covid-19test results and thatOriana (Sabatini, his girl-friend) and I are positive,”the 26-year-old Dybalatweeted on Saturday.

“Fortunately, we are per-fectly fine. Thank you foryour messages,” he added.

Italian championsJuventus said that Dybalahad been self-isolatingsince Wednesday.

Later Saturday, the clubsaid Maldini, now the tech-nical director at Milan, andhis 18-year-old son Daniel,a youth team player, werealso battling the disease.

“Paolo and Daniel areboth well and have alreadycompleted two weeks athome without contact withothers,” said a statementfrom AC Milan.

“They will now remain inquarantine until clinicallyrecovered, as per the med-ical protocols outlined bythe health authorities,” thestatement added.

He won five ChampionsLeagues with Milan andappeared in 647 matches.

Juventus teammatesDaniele Rugani and BlaiseMatuidi have also testedpositive for the diseasewhich claimed almost 800more lives on Saturday,bringing the total in Italyto 4,825. (

Wells Bayou wins eerieLouisiana Derby at emptytrack

As Wells Bayou complet-ed a wire-to-wire victory inthe $1 million LouisianaDerby, there was hardly acheer to be heard — otherthan the isolated tri-umphant shouts of trainerBrad Cox and his stablecrew.

In the 107th running ofthe qualifying points racefor the Kentucky Derby, theclubhouse and grandstandat Fair Grounds RaceCourse were empty andeerily quiet because ofcrowd restrictions relatedto the coronavirus pan-demic. — AFP

Madrid, March 22:Former Real Madrid presi-dent Lorenzo Sanz, whowas hospitalised with coro-navirus, died at the age of76, his son announced.

Sanz was in charge of theSpanish giants from 1995-2000, overseeing twoChampions League titles.

“My father has justpassed away. He did notdeserve this ending and inthis way,” tweeted his son,Lorenzo Sanz junior.

“One of the best, bravestand hardest-working peo-ple I have ever seen. Hisfamily and Real Madridwere his passions,” headded.

Three days ago, Sanz Jr.,a former professional bas-ketball player, said that hisfather had been admittedto a Madrid hospital aftersuffering the symptoms ofthe coronavirus which haskilled more than 1,320 peo-ple in Spain.

Sanz claimed a place onthe Real Madrid board inthe mid-1980s, when thepresident was RamonMendoza.

He replaced Mendoza aspresident in 1995.

With Jupp Heynckes ascoach and star playerssuch as Davor Suker,Roberto Carlos, ClarenceSeedorf, Fernando Hierroand Raul, Real won theChampions League in 1998by beating Juventus in thefinal.

It was their seventhEuropean Cup but first in32 years.

Two years later, in Paris,Real claimed an eighth bybeating Valencia in the

final. However, that sameyear, Sanz was ousted aspresident by FlorentinoPerez, who opened a newera at the club, adding fivemore Champions Leaguesin two decades.

Current club captain andSpanish internationalSergio Ramos, who withteammates is in quaran-tine after one of the club’sbasketball players testedpositive for the virus,hailed Sanz.

“Very sad day for RealMadrid. Lorenzo Sanz con-nected yesterday and todaywith two numbers for his-tory — 7 and 8,” tweetedRamos in reference to thekey Champions Leaguetitles.

“His death saddens useven more in these difficultdays in which we find our-selves. My deep condo-lences to his family andfriends. Rest in peace,” thetweet added. — AFP

Hi everyone. I just want-ed to let you know thatwe have received theCovid-19 test resultsand that Oriana(Sabatini, his girlfriend)and I are positive.Fortunately, we are per-fectly fine. Thank you foryour messages.

— PAULO DYBALA

Argentine footballer

Paris, March 22: The InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC), under pres-sure to postpone this summer’s TokyoGames, is asking National OlympicCommittees (NOCs) about the impactof the coronavirus crisis on athletepreparation.

In a questionnaire entitled “Covid-19and preparation for the Tokyo 2020Olympic Games” the IOC asks theOlympic committees of its membercountries “how do the emergency regu-lations relating to Covid-19 limit thetraining and preparation of your ath-

letes?” In its questionnaire, the IOCasks about possible forced alterationsor even relocation of training camps,without indicating what it intends tolearn from the answers.

On Friday, USA Swimming warnedthat its swimmers could no longertrain normally without the risk ofcatching the virus. The head of USATrack and Field Max Siegel “respect-fully requested” that the US Olympicand Paralympic Committee “advo-cate... for the postponement of theTokyo olympics”. — AFP

IOC ASKS MEMBER COUNTRIES ABOUTTHE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Shanghai, March 22: MarouaneFellaini has tested positive for the coro-navirus, his club Shandong Lunengsaid Sunday, the former ManchesterUnited player becoming the firstknown case in the Chinese SuperLeague (CSL).

The 32-year-old Belgian internationalmidfielder has a normal temperatureand is feeling fine, Shandong said, but “is under obser-vation and having treatment at a designated medicalfacility”. Fellaini is just the latest high-profile name infootball to catch the disease, joining the likes PauloDybala, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mikel Arteta.

But he is the first confirmed case in the CSL, dealinga blow to the league’s hopes of starting the season asearly as next month. — AFP

FELLAINI IS CORONAVIRUSPOSITIVE, FIRST IN CSL

SHORT

Paris: Restrictions imposed dueto the coronavirus pandemichave reduced the number of

doping tests to a minimum, cre-ating another hurdle for the

Tokyo Olympics to clear to goahead on time.

The Games are scheduled forTokyo from July 24 to August 9,

but, since Friday, a chorus ofsports bodies and athletes fed-

erations has begun to urgetheir postponement. The

International Testing Agency(ITA) had planned an exhaus-tive programme ahead of the

Games, but anti-doping organi-sations in United States, France,Great Britain and Germany haveannounced that they are reduc-ing testing of top-level athletes.

The Chinese anti-dopingagency stopped its activities atthe beginning of February. The

principal reason is the travelrestrictions affecting 1 billionpeople worldwide to halt the

spread of Covid-19. — AFP

DOPE TESTHURDLES FORTOKYO GAMES

TAKES

Neeraj urges India to act responsibly

SAI to providequarantine facilities

Sportsworld salutesservices providers

New Delhi: Star javelin throwerNeeraj Chopra says he is keep-ing himself busy with workoutsat gym and some movie-watch-

ing during self-isolation at NISPatiala, urging the country to

behave responsibly in its fightto contain the Covid-19 pan-

demic for the sake of its poor.Chopra, who has qualified for

the upcoming Tokyo Olympics,has been ordered by Sports

Authority of India (SAI) toremain self-isolated for 14 daysafter returning from a training

stint in Turkey.“I am not training at all. The

gates of this hostel meant forthose who have come back

from foreign training have beenlocked. Not allowed to go any-where but we are given an old

gym to do some workout tokeep ourselves fit,”

Chopra said.“I am enjoying my spare time

listening to music, speaking onphone with family and friends,

and reading a bit also.Sometimes, I watch movies on

my laptop,” Neeraj furtheradded. — PTI

New Delhi: The SportsAuthority of India (SAI) centres,

which have been shut downdue to the Covid-19 pandemic,

will be used as quarantine facil-ities for patients of the deadly

disease, the Sports Ministrysaid on Sunday.

The decision to allow all SAIregional centres, stadiums andhostels to be used as quaran-

tine facilities was taken follow-ing a request from the Health

Ministry.“Yes, we have decided to allow

all our centres to be used asquarantine facilities after the

Health Ministry asked for it. It isa pandemic and all the SAI cen-

tres are public properties. Thisis a crisis situation and whatev-

er support the governmentneeds, we are ready to providethat,” Sports Secretary Radhey

Shyam Julaniya said.Julaniya, however, did not spec-

ify exactly when these centreswill be put to use by the health

ministry. — PTI

New Delhi: India’s sports fra-ternity joined the nation on

Sunday to salute the essentialservices providers engaged in

fight against Covid-19, by clap-ping for them or sharing mes-sages and videos of gratitude

on social media.PM Narendra Modi had urgedthe Indians to observe ‘Janta

Curfew’ and express gratitudetowards the health-care work-

ers and other basic serviceproviders, and his appeal

received an overwhelmingresponse from the citizens.Indian men’s hockey team

coach Sjoerd Marjine posted avideo of all the players clapping

at their training centre inBengaluru. Wearing the team’s

jersey, the players positionedthemselves on different floorsof the building and clapped in

tandem. “A big Salute to all thewarriors who are working tire-

lessly. May this pass soon,”Virendra Sehwag tweeted.— PTI

A young fan clicks a selfie in front of the Tokyo 2020Olympic flame displayed outside Miyako railway sta-tion in Iwate prefecture on Sunday, after its arrivalfrom Greece. — AFP

Lorenzo SSanz

Paolo MMaldini Daniel MMaldini Paulo DDybala

FellainiRegd. No. H/SD/509/2018-20Printed and Published by

T. Venkateswarlu on behalf ofDeccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.Printed at Deccan Chronicle Presssituated at Plot No. 9 Alwal Village,

Vallabh Nagar Taluk, MedchalMalkajgiri Dist. Telangana andPublished at 36, S.D. Road,

Secunderabad-3.RNI Registration No. 3081/1957.

Editor: Aditya Sinha

BHAKER READYFOR TOKYODESPITE CRISISNew Delhi, March 22:Postponement of tourna-ments, cancellation of tri-als and camps hardly mat-ter at this point to one ofIndia’s biggest youngachievers in sport, ManuBhaker, who is hoping tosee the world win the bat-tle against the Covid-19pandemic.

“Trials, events shouldbe postponed in currentsituation as there areother very importantthings for the world todeal with,” Bhaker said.

“I am relaxed at home.The current situationdoesn’t affect my prepara-tion and mindset. I amcontinuing with my yogasessions, meditation andand things that help mestay calm and composed.

“The Olympics, whenev-er it happens, is huge, sowe need to be prepared,”Manu said. — PTI

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