PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Concerted efforts are beingmade by experts in the field toneutralise the Styrene gas thatleaked from the tank of LGPolymers here, killing 11 peo-ple and affecting many others,said Minister for Industries MGautam Reddy on Friday.

Health Minister Alla KaliKrishna Srinivas said that554 victims were shifted tohospitals out of whom, 128have completely recovered.While there are 305 persons,including 52 infants, are beingtreated at the KGH. There are121 others being treated atprivate hospitals that are outof danger. Nobody is on ven-tilator support, the HealthMinister said. The govern-ment would provide com-plete medical support to all ofthem, he added.

Speaking after a high-levelreview meeting of the Groupof Ministers, which includedAlla Nani, KurasalaKannababu, BotsaSatyanarayana, DharmanaKrishna Das, Avanti Srinivasand P Jayaram, GautamReddy said there was no needto panic as experts from thefield are doing their best toneutralise the gas in the tank.

He said stern action wouldbe taken against those foundguilty for the accident after theinquiry report is presented.Asking people not to believein rumours, the Minister saidit might take 48 hours to neu-tralise the gas.

The government has onlybeen a facilitator for industriesand now it has taken up thetask of safety audit of 86industries in the state, headded.

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BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 186*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Page 12

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ADAH ON CASTING COUCH:PRODUCTION OFCOUCHES EXISTS

TODAY

{

Former NCP MP in list of BJP candidates forMaha Council

4

Manu Bhaker getselectronic targetinstalled at home

5

Record excise dutyhike unlikely tohelp bridge fiscalgap: Report

8

16 migrant workers crushed todeath by goods train in Maha PNS n AURANGABAD

At least 16 migrant workerssleeping on rail tracks werecrushed to death by a goodstrain in Aurangabad district ofMaharashtra on Friday morn-ing, police said.

Two other labourers wereinjured in the accident whichtook place at 5.15 am under theKarmad Police station jurisdic-tion, an official said.

The workers, who werewalking to Bhusawal fromJalna in central Maharashtraalong rail tracks, were return-ing to their home state MadhyaPradesh, an official at theKarmad police station toldPTI. They were sleeping on railtracks due to exhaustion whenthey were run over by thegoods train coming from Jalna,around 40 km from Karmad,he said.

"The labourers, working ina steel factory in Jalna, left fortheir home state on foot lastnight.

Police officers inspect the site of the horrific accident near Karmad in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra in which 16migrant labourers were crushed to death under a goods train early on Friday.

Train accident: Survivorsraised alarm, but in vain AURANGABAD: Survivors of theAurangabad train accidentfrantically raised alarm to alert theirgroup members sleeping on tracksabout a fast-approachingfreight train, but it all wentin vain as 16 of themwere crushed to death atthe crack of dawn onFriday.

Chilling detailsemerged about the tragedyinvolving a group of migrantworkers who were on their wayto native places in MadhyaPradesh on foot fromMaharashtra and had taken abreak to rest on rail tracks out ofsheer fatigue.

The accident left 16 migrantworkers dead and one injuredwhile three others survived. Allof them were working in a steelmanufacturing in Jalna, a district

adjoining Aurangabadin central Maharashtra,

and were heading homein the amidst of coronavirus-

enforced lockdown, officials said."A group of 20 stranded

labourers started walking fromJalna. They decided to take restand most of them lied on railtracks. Three of them weretaking rest in a nearby plain area.

"After some time, these threesaw a goods train coming andimmediately raised the alarm butit went unheard," Superintendentof Police Mokshada Patil told.

After some time, thesethree saw a goods train

coming and immediately raisedthe alarm but it went unheard

—MOKSHADA PATIL ,Superintendent of Police

554 affected by Styreneleak, 305 still in hospital

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Stating that the PollutionControl Board (PCB) shouldbe strengthened, ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy on Friday directed theofficials to identify hazardousfactories in and aroundVisakhapatnam located indensely populated areas.During a review meeting heldthrough videoconference, theChief Minister asked the offi-cials to prepare a comprehen-

sive roadmap to ensure a safeand risk-free city from haz-ardous industries and thelocation should be far awayfrom habitations.

The Chief Ministerinstructed officials of the PCBto play a proactive role in pre-venting mishaps.

He further directed theofficials to conduct a fair andtransparent investigation onthe mishap and come outwith a comprehensive report.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunalslapped an interim penalty of Rs50 crore on LG Polymers Indiaand sought response from theCentre and others on Friday inthe gas leak incident inVisakhapatnam, AndhraPradesh, saying "there appearsto be a failure to comply withthe said Rules and other statu-tory provisions". A bench, head-ed by NGT Chairperson JusticeAdarsh Kumar Goel, set up a 5-member Committee to probe

Thursday's gas leak incident inthe chemical factory, in which11 people were killed and 1,000exposed, and submit a reportbefore May 18. "Having regardto the prima facie materialregarding the extent of damageto life, public health and envi-ronment, we direct LGPolymers India Pvt Ltd to forth-with deposit an initial amountof Rs 50 crore, with the DistrictMagistrate, Vishakhapatnam,which will abide by furtherorders of this tribunal.

No patient on ventilator, 128 recover; efforts are on to neutralise gas

VIZAG TRAGEDY

High-Powerpanel set upto probe leakPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment on Friday constituted afive-member High-PowerCommittee to probe the leak-age of styrene gas from the LGPolymer plant at RRVenkatapuram inVisakhapatnam on Thursday,

A GO was issued by ChiefSecretary Nilam Sawhney tothis effect. As per the orders,the committee will be headedby Neeraj Kumar Prasad,Special Chief Secretary (EFSand T department) and themembers will include KarikalValaven, Special ChiefSecretary (Industries), VinayChand -Visakhapatnam dis-trict collector,

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

One more person suc-cumbed to the styrene gasthat leaked from LGPolymers India PrivateLimited plant at RRVenkatapuram in Vizag onThursday, taking the toll to12.

The victim was identifiedas Ratnala GangadharChowdhary (65), who wasdeclared dead at KothavalasaPrimary Health Centre inVizianagaram district.

V i z i a n a g a r a mSuperintendent of Police BRaja Kumari said thatGangadhar was a resident ofthe Gopalapatnam in Vizagcity.

Like others, he had

inhaled the Styrene onThursday morning.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Fridayasked states to consider non-direct contact or online salesand home delivery of liquorduring the lockdown period toprevent the spreadof coronavirus onaccount ofcrowding at theshops.

A bench ofJustices AshokB h u s h a n ,Sanjay KishanKaul and B RGavai, hearingthe matterthrough video

conferencing, disposed of theplea challenging the guidelinesissued by the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) onMay 1, allowing sales ofliquor through directcontact during thelockdown period.

We are not inclinedto entertain this peti-tion filed under Article32 of the Constitution of

India. The petition isdismissed. However, itshall be open for the

concerned StateGovernment to

consider non-direct saleincluding on-

line sale/home delivery ofliquor to facilitate social dis-

tancing, the bench said.During the hearing,advocate Sai Deepak,appearing for peti-tioner GuruswamyNataraj, argued thatthere are 70,000

liquor vends acrossthe country and over five

crore people have till nowpurchased liquor from theseshops.

He said that due to socialdistancing norms not beingfollowed at the liquor vendsand shops, there has been risein Covid-19 cases.

Consider home delivery ofliquor, SC suggests states

HC reservesorder in SECremoval casePNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Friday reserved itsverdict on the plea againstremoval of the N RameshKumar as State ElectionCommissioner by the StateGovernment.

The High Court made thedecision known after conclu-sion of hearing the argu-ments of counsels of the 12petitioners who filed petitionschallenging the removal ofthe SEC.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Despite the increase in thenumber of patients being dis-charged after recovery, therehas been a steady increase inthe number of Covid-19 pos-itive cases in Andhra Pradesh.

The State reported 54 newcases during the last 24 hoursas per the bulletin released bythe government on Friday,taking the total number ofCoronavirus positive cases to1,887.

Meanwhile, an 80-year-oldpatient from Ganigalli,Kurnool City made a completerecovery from the virus andwas discharged on Friday fromViswabharathi District CovidHospital, Kurnool accordingto district collector GVeerapandian.

The patient was admittedon April 14, and after under-going treatment he recoveredwell and tested negativetwice.

3 die, 80-year-oldcured, discharged

COVID CRISIS

Over 60 pc ofleaked styrenepolymerisedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Over 60 per cent of thestyrene vapour that leakedf rom a t an k i n LGPoly m e r s n e arVi s a k h ap at n am onThursday, killing at least 11people, has polymerizedso far and all chemicaltanks in the plant are safe, District Collector VVi n ay C h an d s a i d onFriday.

Anxious relatives wait for news about their loved ones recuperating at the KGH,in Vizag on Friday.

Well-wishers console the relative of avictim in front of the KGH on Friday.

A mother feeds her baby recovering from the affects of gas leaked from the LG Polymers factory on Thursday, at the KingGeorge Hospital in Vizag on Friday

Victims recuperate at the KGH on Friday.

NGT slaps Rs 50 cr interim penalty on LG

Identify hazardous factories inpopulated areas, officials told

After making wearing a mask in public places mandatory, the Telanganagovernment has issued orders imposing Rs 1000 as fine for those not

complying with it. "In order to prevent transmission of COVID-19, it shall bemandatory for everyone to wear a face cover/mask in public places.Each violation shall attract a fine of Rs.1,000, an order issued bythe state government on Thursday said. The government issuedfresh orders as the lockdown was extended upto May 29 tocontain the coronavirus spread. While permitting certainactivities, the orders said no movement of any person shall bepermitted for any purpose other than accessing emergency medicalcare during the period from 7 PM to 7 AM.

MANASAROVAR PILGRIMS ECSTATICAFTER KEY ROAD OPENS IN U’KHAND

TELANGANA IMPOSES RS 1,000FINE FOR FAILURE TO WEAR MASK

The Madras High Court has observed that defamation cases have become"tool of intimidation" by some powerful politicians and corporates and has

quashed such proceedings against two journalists and an Engish daily.Justice G R Swaminathan, who quashed the proceedings recently, said such"cases are used as tools to intimidate the media." The higherjudiciary could not desert its duty when it comes toprotection of fundamental rights and the freedom of thepress, the judge said. The Judiciary will have to take therole of an activist as "criminal defamation proceedingshave become a tool of intimidation for corporate bodiesand powerful politicians,” he said.

India is dispatching medicines to more than 25 African countries as part ofassistance for them to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of

External Affairs said on Friday. It said medicines includedhydroxychloroquine, paracetamol and other drugs which are immediatelyrequired to fight the pandemic. "These medicines are expected tocomplement the national efforts of the various countries in Africa tocombat the pandemic," the MEA said in a statement. On April 17,Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation withSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa and conveyed to himIndia's "full support" to the African continent in dealingwith the coronavirus pandemic.

An 80-km strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass at aheight of 17,000 feet along the border with China in Uttarakhand with

Dharchula was thrown open by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh onFriday.The new road is expected to help pilgrims visiting KailashMansarovar in Tibet as it is around 90 kms from the Lipulekhpass. After inaugurating the road through video-conferencing, Singh said pilgrims going to KailashMansarovar will now be able to complete their journeyin one week instead of up to three weeks. The roadoriginates at Ghatiabagarh and ends at Lipulekhpass, the gateway to Kailash-Mansarovar.

INDIA SENDING MEDICINES TO 25AFRICAN COUNTRIES, SAYS MEA

DEFAMATION CASES HAVE BECOMETOOL TO INTIMIDATE MEDIA, SAYS HC

3 3

3

3

3

3

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65-yr-old succumbsto gas, toll rises to 12

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VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020 vijayawada 02

PNS n HYDERABAD

At a time when migrant work-ers from various parts of thecountry are returning to theirhome States due to ongoingnation-wide lockdown, a trainwith about 250 migrants fromBihar reached Telangana onFriday.

Sharmik Special carryingthe workers, who were work-ing in rice mills of Telanganareached Lingampalli stationon the outskirts of Hyderabad.

According to East CentralRailway (ECR), the traindeparted from Khagaria inBihar at 3.45 am on Thursday.ECR officials said the train wasoperated at the request of theState government.

They made the clarificationafter Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jhatweeted to the RailwayMinister, wanting to knowunder whose order the train

was being run.Telangana Chief Minister

K. Chandrashekhar Rao had

said on May 5 that the trainscarrying migrant workers toBihar will come back with

20,000 to 25,000 workers fromBihar, who were working inrice mills in Telangana.

Last month, Rao had urgedthe Bihar government to sendback the workers to Telangana.More than 90 per cent of theworkers in rice mills wereBihari migrants. "These work-ers, who load and unload therice trucks, had gone to Biharfor Holi and are stranded theredue to the lockdown," theChief Minister had said.

Rao had even stated that ifnecessary he would talk to theCentre to arrange a few specialtrains to bring back the Biharimigrant workers. The ChiefMinister said as Telangana wasprocuring record 1.05 croretonnes of paddy from farmersat designated procurementcentres in villages in view of thelockdown, the task can't becompleted without the labour-ers Bihar, who load and unloadthe trucks.

PNS n GENEVA

A wholesale market in the cen-tral Chinese city of Wuhanplayed a role in the outbreak ofthe novel Coronavirus in 2019,as the source, or possibly as an'amplifying setting', the WorldHealth Organisation said onFriday calling for more research.

Chinese authorities shut downthe market in January as part ofefforts to halt the spread of thevirus and ordered a temporaryban on trade and consumptionof wildlife.

"The market played a role inthe event, that's clear. But whatrole we don't know, whether itwas the source or amplifying set-ting or just a coincidence thatsome cases were detected inand around that market," said Dr

Peter Ben Embarek, a WHOexpert on food safety andzoonotic viruses that cross thespecies barrier from animals tohumans.

It was not clear whether liveanimals or infected vendors or

shoppers may have brought thevirus into the market, he told aGeneva news briefing.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo has said there is "a sig-nificant amount of evidence"the virus came from the Wuhan

laboratory, although he has alsosaid there wasn't certainty.

No public evidence has linkedthe outbreak to the lab in Wuhanand scientists have said theCoronavirus appears to havedeveloped in nature. A Germanintelligence report cast doubts onPompeo's allegations, Der Spiegelreported.

Ben Embarek did not addressthe accusations.

He noted that it tookresearchers a year to identify

camels as the source of theMERS (Middle East RespiratorySyndrome) virus, a Coronavirusthat emerged in Saudi Arabia in2012 and spread in the MiddleEast, adding: "It's not too late."

"What is important, whatwould be of great help, is to gethold of the virus before it adapt-ed to humans, before the versionwe have now. Because then wewould better understand how itadapted to humans, how itevolved," he said.

WHO ON CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Wuhan market ‘played a role, that's clear'US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hassaid there is "a significant amount ofevidence" the virus came from theWuhan laboratory, although he has alsosaid there wasn't certainty

These migrants from Bihar reach TS

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao had said on May 5that the trains carrying migrant workersto Bihar will come back with 20,000 to25,000 workers from Bihar, who wereworking in rice mills in Telangana

PHCs to get two-wheelersfor delivery of medicinesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Emphasising the need for strictimplementation of Covid-19preventive measures in the State,Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has ordered officials topurchase two-wheelers forPrimary Health Centres (PHCs)for the supply of medicines tothe patients within 24 hours.

Health care system in theState should be strengthenedfurther, the Chief Minister saidduring a review meeting here onFriday, and instructed officials toput YSR Telemedicine to max-imum use. He asked officials tobuy bikes and ensure availabil-ity of thermo bags at every PHCin the State as soon as possible.

Medicines should be deliv-ered to patients within 24 hoursof the call and doctor's prescrip-tion. The system will be furtherstrengthened with the upcom-ing Village Clinics, he added.

With concern to the Covid-19 tests and quarantine centres,

officials said that tests havebeen completed for the identi-fied people in the family survey.People stranded in various coun-tries, including the US, the UKand Gulf nations are returningto the State.

The Chief Minister instruct-ed officials to ensure qualitativefacilities in the quarantine cen-tres and shelters. Initially,75,000 beds should be utilisedthat were set up across the Stateand the number should beincreased to 1 lakh beds, hesaid.

On the agriculture front, heinstructed officials to be pre-pared for the purchase of 10,000tonnes of oranges and alsoagreed for the grant of subsidyin retail sale. The MinimumSupport Price is being provid-ed for maize and turmeric, hesaid adding that purchase ofturmeric from neighbouringStates should be prevented.

He directed officials to com-plete the farmers' registration byMay 10 and display the list atvillage/ward secretariats aheadof the launch of Rythu BharosaKendras (RBKs) on May 30. Hetold officials to publicise theregistration and see that all theeligible farmers are applied forthe scheme.

He made it clear that socialdistancing should be strictlyimplemented near shops andwearing a mask is mandatory.So far, six crore masks havebeen distributed in the Statewith a daily production of 42lakhs masks.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The South Central Railway,Vijayawada Division, has com-pleted the replacement ofdilapidated masonry bridgewith precast RCC (ReinforcedCement Concrete) boxes ineight hours without affectingmajor train operations underthe supervision of SanjeevKumar, Divisional Engineer,South, Vijayawada Division,South Central Railway.

The workers were engagedby obtaining consent from theadministration and they werethoroughly screened, providedwith PPEs, sanitizers and allthe safety precautions wereundertaken by strictly adher-ing to social distancing mea-sures during the work.

Utilising the lockdown peri-od imposed by the Centralgovernment to containingCovid-19 spread, the Divisionhas carried out major tracksand bridge repairs in recordtime, which would have other-wise affected the movement of

more than 200 passenger andgoods train services during thenormal course.

Recently, four major bridgeblocks were completed by theDivision viz; two bridges eachon up and down line mainlinebetween Sigarayakonda–Tangutur and Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam section wherethe track was washed out twotimes during floods in additionto the replacement of scissorscrossover at Vijayawada yardwith PCC sleepers.

P Srinivas, DivisionalRailway Manager, Vijayawada,

congratulated the engineer-ing team for carrying out suchcrucial works during the lock-down. He expressed his happi-ness and satisfaction over theDivisional teams remarkableperformance by positivelymarching ahead and settingnew precedents even duringthese troubled times of pan-demic.

He lauded the efforts anddedication of field staff incommissioning the majorinfrastructure works in recordtime without affecting thetrain operations.

Dilapidated masonry bridgereplaced with precast RCC

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Indian Navy’s INS Dega air-field in Vizag is all set to get afacelift as the Ministry ofDefence on Friday signed acontract with Tata Power SED(TPSED)

The Ministry of Defencesigned the contract forModernisation of Air FieldInfrastructure (MAFI) of 37airfields for Indian Air Force(IAF), Indian Navy (IN) andIndian Coast Guard (ICG)with Tata Power SED (TPSED)at a cost of nearly Rs 1,200crore. The proposal has beenduly approved by DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh.

On March 12, 1986, theVisakhapatnam airfield cameunder naval control from theerstwhile national airportauthority (domestic). Navalair station (Visakhapatnam)was formed with one Chetakflight and a few disembarkedhelicopters of ship-borneflights.

The Indian Navy’s airfieldhas seen an exponentialgrowth since its inception. OnOctober 21, 1991, INS Degawas commissioned by admirall Ramdas as a full fledged airstation. At the time of incep-tion, air operations from thisair station were restricted torotary wing operations andDorniers from Vayudoot.

The MAFI Phase-II is a fol-low-on programme based onMAFI Phase-I that includedupgradation of 30 airfields ofIAF. The airfields modernised

under MAFI Phase-I havebeen of immense benefit toboth military and civil users.

The project is a turnkeyproject that includes installa-tion and commissioning ofmodern airfield equipmentlike Cat-II Instrument LandingSystem (ILS) and Cat II AirField Lightning System(AFLS).

The modern equipmentaround the airfield will also bedirectly connected to AirTraffic Control (ATC), there-by providing excellent controlof the airfield systems to theair traffic controllers. Theupgradation of navigationalaids and infrastructure underthis project would enhancethe operational capability byfacilitating air operations of

military and civil aircraftseven in poor visibility andadverse weather conditionwhile enhancing aerospacesafety.

The contract will provideimpetus to the domestic indus-try in the prevailing situation.The project will give a boost toover 250 Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises, whichwill be directly benefited frombeing involved in execution ofvarious activities of this pro-ject. This contract would aid ininfusing the much needed cap-ital in the market and boostemployment generation insuch fields as communica-tions, avionics, informationtechnology, apart from civiland electrical equipment andconstruction.

100 PPE kits handedover to Collector

INS Dega to get a facelift

The Ministry of Defence signed thecontract for Modernisation of Air FieldInfrastructure (MAFI) of 37 airfields forIndian Air Force (IAF), Indian Navy (IN)and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) with TataPower SED (TPSED) at a cost of nearlyRs 1,200 crore. The proposal has beenduly approved by Defence Minister

LG POLYMERS DISASTER

SUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

The long-term health effect ofStyrene on the victims, whoinhaled after its leakage fromLG Polymers cannot be total-ly ruled out, claimed formerDirector of Homi BhabhaCancer Hospital and ResearchCentre (Visakhapatnam) ProfD Raghunadha Rao on Friday.

A concrete plan, he suggest-ed, to address several issuesrelated to health, environmen-tal and administrative croppingup from the Styrene gas disas-ter is very crucial.

In all, 554 victims were shift-ed to hospitals out of whom,128 have completely recov-ered. While there are 305 per-sons, including 52 infants, arebeing treated at the KGH. Fivevillages with population ofmore than 5,000 were affected.“Styrene was categorised as

‘probable’ to ‘possible’ carcino-gen in 2018 that hints the riskinvolved in it. Moreover, wenever had this kind of disasterand so it’s not a known phe-nomenon. The effect of thestyrene monomer who inhaleddepends on the quantity, age

and varies from individual toindividual. The traces left in thebody could manifest it laterwith physical ailments. So, wecan’t rule out its long-termeffect.”

He further highlighted thatthe impact of chronic exposureof styrene on rats or animals isknown but that would not beexactly same in case of humanbeings. Responding to views ofsome doctors that the gaswould not have long-termimpact, he said the bad conse-quences of styrene or any-

thing related to fuel, hydrocar-bon would be suppressed giventhe money involved in it.

“All the residents, the rescueteams and perhaps the caregivers must be enrolled in along term health monitoringplan. These are typically of 2types: post traumatic stressdisorder and physical ailments.”

Every single resident mustcompulsorily be screened anddocumented for any psycho-logical stress – acutely, sub-acutely and long term. Theymust all undergo a baseline

assessment of bodily func-tions, system wise, withemphasis on dermatological,gastrointestinal, respiratory,cardiac, renal and neurologicalsystems.

According to him, theseshould be reassessed at period-ic intervals, perhaps, for lifetime of individuals – those thatremain within the area andthose migrate and perhapsmove into the area. Adequatestress should be laid onscholastic achievement of thechildren, who were victims,long term disability if any.

Studies must focus on suchlong term impact on reproduc-tive capabilities of survivorsand on mutagenic, teratoge-nenic and carcinogenic poten-tial, if any.

Monitoring plant and animallife could also be of very greathelp in deciphering long termeffects from styrene.

Prof D Raghunadha Rao

All the residents, the rescue teams andperhaps the care givers must be enrolledin a long term health monitoring plan,suggested former director of HomiBhabha Cancer Hospital and ResearchCentre (Visakhapatnam) Prof DRaghunadha Rao

Minister for Transport, Information and Public Relations Perni Venkataramaiah(Nani) inaugurates a modern filtration plant in Machilipatnam on Friday

Transport Ministeropens filtration plant PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for Transport,Information and PublicRelations PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) inau-gurated a modern filtrationplant in Machilipatnam onFriday. It was constructed at anestimated cost of Rs 22 croreunder the Amrutha scheme.

Speaking on the occasion,the minister said that the plantwould treat 22 million litres ofwater and supply drinkingwater to the people ofMachilipatnam soon. The oldplant has a capacity of treatingabout 16 million litres waterand with both the plants waterproblem can be solved inMachilipatnam Corporation,

he said.“If the monsoon arrives on

time, we will not have anywater problem, or else we willfollow the same procedure ofdiverting from the Godavaricatchment areas water as it wasdone last year. Drinking watersupply to people ofMachilipatnam is just a fewweeks away and every dayone-hour drinking water willbe supplied,” he said.

He said that Rs 25 crore wasproposed for setting up of newreservoirs for supply of drink-ing water in the city, he added.Machilipatnam MunicipalCorporation CommissionerSivarama Krishna, municipalengineer Trinadh Babu andothers were present.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Retail Chemist andDruggist Association ofVijayawada and KrishnaDistrict Chemist and DruggistAssociation arranged 100Personal ProtectiveEquipment (PPE) kits worthRs 1 lakh to help doctors andpara medical staff, the front-line warriors battling theCorona crisis, as a humble ges-ture. In a special programmeheld at the Collector's campoffice here on Friday, DrugControl department assistantdirector KolanukondaRajabhanu handed them overto Krishna District CollectorMd Imtiaz.

DVR Sai Kumar, Presidentof Retail Chemist andDruggist Association ofVijayawada, said KolanukondaRajabhanu has been a trueinspiration for their associa-tion's service activities againstthe Corona crisis. Speaking on

the occasion, assistant directorKolanukonda Rajabhanuthanked the association fortheir contribution and saidthat the association hasreceived appreciation frompeople for their past servicesin Gudivada, Avnigadda,Muvva, Tiruvuru, Jaggayapetaand Machlipatnam. Druginspectors P Srirama Murthy,J Vinod and B Anvesh Reddyalso present on the occasion.Sudakar, Sri Hari and otherassociation members also par-ticipated in the programme.

Hotterweathermay not stop Covid-19INS n TORONTO

Temperature and latitude arenot associated with thespread of the Covid-19 dis-ease, say researchers, addingthat they found a weak asso-ciation between humidityand reduced transmission.

The results - that hotterweather had no effect on thepandemic's progression -surprised the authors. "Ourstudy provides importantnew evidence, using globaldata from the Covid-19 epi-demic, that these publichealth interventions havereduced epidemic growth,"said study researcher DrPeter Juni from theUniversity of Toronto, and StMichael's Hospital inCanada.

The study, published in theCanadian MedicalAssociation Journal, lookedat 144 geopolitical areas -States and provinces inAustralia, the US and Canadaas well as various countriesaround the world - and atotal of more than 3,75,600confirmed Covid-19 cases.China, Italy, Iran and SouthKorea were excluded becausethe virus was either waningin the case of China or in fulldisease outbreak at the timeof the analysis in others.

Tearful adieuto police dogPNS n VIJAYAWADA

A tearful farewell was organ-ised for police trained dog atMachilipattnam on Friday.District Superintendent ofPolice M RavindranathBabu, along with AdditionalSPs Satyanarayana, M SattiBabu, DSPs, CIs, SIs, RIs andother police personnel, werepresent at the farewell.

The police dog Raja won16 medals for cracking crim-inal cases. It had helped thepolice to crackdown manycriminal cases in Krishnadistrict to nab the culprits.The police dog was ill forsome time and was under-going treatment andbreathed its last on Friday.Raja was honored withinternational, national anddistrict medals during thesix years recognising its tal-ent and ability.

Long-term effects can’t be ruledout: Homi Bhaba former director

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020 vijayawada 03HEART-RENDING SCENES AT MORGUE

Will ex gratia bring backlives, ask kin of gas victimsSUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

N Greeshma was going to be 10this June and her family hadbig plans to celebrate the day.Her father had promised her totake her for shopping. They didnot know that death will sniffher daughter’s life out in hersleep. It was heart-rending tosee the Greeshma’s father andrelatives sobbing uncontrol-lably and many other kin of theLG gas leak victims on Fridayat the KGH mortuary.

From 10 am onwards onFriday, family members andrelatives of the deceased wereseen in front of the mortuary.“It is unbelievable that ourdaughter G Kundana Sriya (6)is no more. I took her to KGHospital on Thursday aftershe inhaled the Styrene gas and

lied unconscious on Thursday,expecting that she will recov-er. I want my daughter, I don’twant any compensation, willthe compensation bring backmy daughter?” asked incon-solable G Sobha. Sriya’s parentsSobha and Srinivas and hisfamily members demandedstringent action against the

management of LG Polymersfor killing their daughter andothers.

“Why the management ofthe LG Polymers failed tosound a siren immediatelyafter the gas leak. The negli-gence of the management ofthe company has claimed thelife of my husband S Govinda

Raju (38), who was a worker atLG Polymers,” said Raju’s wifeS Venkatalakshmi. GovindaRaju was a worker at the LGPolymers but he didn’t attendthe duties on Thursday. Rajuwoke up around 3 am aftersmelling the leaked gas fromthe plant and he went near thecompany to find what hashappened but he was founddead on Thursday morning.

“We are demanding the clo-sure of the LG Polymers as it

was located in the residentialarea. Why the police failed toarrest the responsible personsfor leakage of the poisonousgas,” she kept asking questionscrying loudly.

It’s really a great loss to me asmy husband N Nani was killedin the gas leakage. My childrenare asking where the father is,I don’t know how to inform andconsole my children saidLakshmi with a choked voiceand tears rolling down.

It’s really a great loss to me as myhusband N Nani was killed in the gasleakage. My children are asking wherethe father is, I don’t know how toinform and console my children saidLakshmi with a choked voice andtears rolling down

Government releases Rs 30 cr towards ex gratiaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The government on Fridayreleased Rs 30 crore towardsex gratia announced by ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy to the families of thevictims of LG Polymers gasleak incident. As per theChief Minister’s announce-ment, an ex gratia of Rs 1crore each will be paid to thekin of the deceased. A pay-ment release order has beenissued to this effect.

On Thursday, during hisvisit to Visakhapatnam to con-sole the gas leak-affected, theChief Minister has expressedhis anguish over the tragedyand announced compensationof Rs 1 crore each to the fam-ilies of those who had lost theirlives in the incident.

He also announced gradedcompensation in a bid to sup-port the affected people. Thosewho are on ventilators in hos-pitals will be given Rs 10 lakh,while patients, who require ahospital stay of two or threedays, will be extended financialassistance of Rs 1 lakh. Thosewho have been dischargedafter primary treatment willalso get an ex gratia of Rs25,000. This apart, all the

15,000 families residing in theaffected villages around theplant will be given Rs 10,000each.

So far, 12 persons died in thetragic styrene gas leak at theLG Polymers chemical plantlocated at RR Venkatapuram inVisakhapatnam. Others have

been admitted to various hos-pitals after inhaling the toxicgas. Deputy Chief MinisterAalla Nani announced onFriday that 128 gas leak-affect-ed victims were dischargedafter treatment at King GeorgeHospital and other hospitals inthe district.

Those who are on ventilators in hospitals willbe given Rs 10 lakh, while patients, whorequire a hospital stay of two or three days,will be extended financial assistance of Rs 1lakh. Those who have been discharged afterprimary treatment will also get an ex gratia ofRs 25,000. This apart, all the 15,000 familiesresiding in the affected villages around theplant will be given Rs 10,000 each

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The ramification of the LGPolymer gas leak incident is yetto sink in properly, but theproclamation — ‘stay home,stay safe’ to protect peoplefrom Coronavirus—changedto the staying at home unsafefor thousands of families inVisakhapatnam.

Not only were the peopleresiding close to the plantwhere the mishap occurredscared, but almost all Vizagitesfearing that another big leak orexplosion could take place.

The fear grew stronger withthe videos of fumes emanatingfrom the plant going viral onThursday around 9 pm whendusts were settling down. And,rather doing it in day time,police suddenly launched anevacuation drive in the affect-ed area by the gas. These alldevelopments were enough tocreate a fear among peoplewith conviction that gas leakedfor second time, hence, copsare trying to rescue people.

A video also surfaced howpeople are waiting for ambu-lance and seeking for helpafter second leak in the plant,denied by the NDRF andpolice later. Panic-strickenpeople started fleeing the areapacking their bare minimumneeds to friends or relativeshouses away from the plantarea. It was not only the peo-ple residing within three to fivekm radius of the plant, butbeyond that.

This correspondent also gotdistress calls from his friends,who are staying quite far awayfrom the plant, but wanted toleave their home with thenews of second leak spreadinglike a wild fire.

People fromMadhavadhara, Simhachalamand many other places wereseen leaving their area in cars,auto-rickshaws and bikes to ahaven. “Since the lockdown inview of the Coronavirus, stay-ing home was safe, but now ithas changed,” said Abhishekwho became father to a babygirl recently. He was worriedabout his daughter as kids arevulnerable.

“There is a sort of fear in usafter the incident. Yesterdaynight was sleepless for me.And, the fear still persists.Home is not safe now,” saidSuresh from Simhachalam.

NDRF and district adminis-tration said that there was nosecond leak from the plant andadvised people not to believein rumours and gas leaked inthe affected area would beneutralised in 48 hours.

Fear of gas leak stillpersists among Vizagites

NDRF and districtadministrationsaid that therewas no secondleak from theplant, and advisedpeople not tobelieve in rumoursand gas leaked inthe affected areawould be neutrali-sed in 48 hours

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu on Fridayexpressed concern over the lackof prior documentary and scien-tific evidence on Styrene-relatedtragedies for assessing the actu-al impact of LG Polymers gasleakage on the local environmentand its long-term health effectson survivors.

He said that Styrene leakagehad caused a large number ofhuman fatalities and loss oflivestock besides hospitalisa-tion of over 350 persons.Hence, national and interna-tional experts, along withchemical scientists, should beinvolved in a comprehensivestudy of the toxic leak in thelong-term interests of people inthe Port City.

Addressing a virtual pressconference, the TDP supremoalso stressed the need for amandatory preparation of elec-tronic health profiling of all thesick keeping in view theirmedium and long-term healthinterests.

All data regarding air quali-ty should be immediately gath-ered scientifically at the facto-ry location and surroundingsfor proper assessment.

Naidu accused the YSRCPgovernment of adopting a 'casu-al' and 'superficial ' approach toa human tragedy. Best doctorswith national and global exper-tise should be deployed to treatthe sick. The government should

not think in terms of givingthem nominal treatment andthen leave the residents to theirfate, he said.

The TDP chief stronglyobjected to Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy announc-ing compensation hastily basedon preliminary reports fromDistrict Collector and withoutfully understanding andanalysing the situation by con-sulting the subject experts.

It would not be enough forthe Chief Secretary and otherofficials to study and deciderecovery measures. The ChiefMinister should realise the seri-ousness of the situation basedon how Prime Minister andUnion Cabinet Secretary hadheld review meetings on the gastragedy, he said.

Naidu recalled how theNational Green Tribunal hadreprimanded and ordered LGPolymers to deposit Rs 50 croreimmediately towards futurecompensation while theNational Human Rights

Commission had also taken suomotu cognisance of the tragedybased on media reports.

Naidu further asserted that aproper study should be made soas to find out whether someother chemical was used to sta-bilise Styrene inside the storagetank which might have eventu-ally led to leakage mishap.

Expressing concern overreports of the second leakage,he termed it as an administra-tive failure on the part of thegovernment and officials fornot being able to properlyguide the people ofVisakhapatnam on Thursdaymidnight. As a result, mostscared residents rushed out tothe beachside and stayed awaketill late night in the grip of fearof another massive leakage.

Naidu accuses state govt ofcasual approach to tragedy

n The TDP chief said thatStyrene leakage hadcaused a large numberof human fatalities andloss of livestock besideshospitalisation of over350 persons

n National andinternational experts,along with chemicalscientists, should beinvolved in acomprehensive study ofthe toxic leak in the long-term interests of peoplein the Port City, Naidusaid

554 affected by Styrene leak, 305 still in hospitalContinued from Page 1

With reference to the gasleak, Gautam Reddy said itoccurred during maintenanceand that production was notstarted during lockdown.

Minister Alla Nani said thegovernment was totallyinvolved in the relief and reha-bilitation measures as per theinstructions of Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy. The15,000 people in the five vil-lages in the vicinity of LGPolymers plant were evacuat-ed and rehabilitated on a war-footing soon after the news ofthe gas leakage was received.

The Minister said nobodywould be allowed into theaffected villages till medicalexperts say so and peoplehave to be thoroughly alertabout the situation. The ChiefMinister has advised the offi-cials to take all precautionarymeasures and assured that thecompensation announcedwould be paid very soon.Medical teams are on alert andpeople in need can get treat-ment on the spot at the reliefcamps arranged for the pur-pose, the Minister said.

16 migrant workers crushedto death by goods train...

Continued from Page 1

They came till Karmad andslept off on the tracks as theywere tired," police officerSantosh Khetmalas said.

Fourteen workers lost theirlives in the accident, while twoothers were injured, he said,adding three labourers whowere also part of the group sur-vived as they were sleepingsome distance away from the railtracks.

The injured are undergoingtreatment, Khetmalas said.

The migrant workers, ren-dered jobless due to the coron-avirus-enforced lockdown anddesperate to go to their nativeplaces, were walking along the

rail tracks apparently to escapepolice attention.

A video clip from the scene ofthe tragedy shows the bodies ofmigrant workers lying on thetracks and nearby with theirmeagre personal belongingsscattered around.

Prime Minister NarendraModi expressed anguish over thedeath of 14 migrant workers inthe train accident.

He said all possible assistanceis being provided. In a tweet, theprime minister said, "Extremelyanguished by the loss of lives dueto the rail accident inAurangabad, Maharashtra. Havespoken to Railway Minister ShriPiyush Goyal and he is closelymonitoring the situation".

HC reservesorder in SECremoval case

Continued from Page 1

The arguments concludedon Friday, the fifth day.

Advocate General S Sriramargued that there was noprotection of tenure of theSEC in the Constitution. Thestate government broughtthe ordinance only as part ofthe electoral reforms and theintention of the governmentwas to conduct the electionsimpartially, he claimed.

The advocate-general alsostated that it was not true thatthe government was vindic-tive in bringing the ordi-nance.

3 die, 80-year-oldcured, discharged

Continued from Page 1

As per doctors information,among the 100 patients dis-charged so far fromViswabharathi Covid Hospital,the youngest patient was 1 year4 months old and this was theoldest.

Till now, 842 people haverecovered and been dischargedfrom hospitals, while 41 peoplehave died to Covid-19 infection.As many as 1,004 active Covid-19 patients are undergoing treat-ment in the designated hospitalsacross the state.

During the last 24 hours,7,320 sample were tested, of

which 54 returned positive. Of these 54 cases, Anantapur

reported 16, Visakhapatnam 11,nine cases were reported fromWest Godavari district, Kurnooldistrict had seven, Krishna dis-trict six and three cases werereported in Chittoor. Gunturand Vizianagaram have report-ed one Covid case each.

Among the 62 patients dis-charged from the hospitals, 23are from Kurnool, 14 fromGuntur, eight from Prakasam,six from Chittoor, three eachfrom Anantapur, YSR Kadapaand Krishna districts, one eachfrom SPS Nellore andVisakhapatnam districts.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Police resorted to lathi-charge ashundreds of migrant workersturned violent at Mangalagirinear here on Friday demandingthe authorities send them backto their home states.

Tension prevailed after themigrants turned violent duringthe protest at All India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS)Mangalagiri in Guntur district.They barged into the securityoffice at the construction site andransacked it.

Policemen in riot gear enteredthe campus and used force to

chase away the protesters. Morethan 3,000 construction work-ers from Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Odisha and UttarPradesh working at AIIMS con-struction site have beendemanding that they be sentback to their states.

They staged protests againon Friday against officials fornot making any transportarrangement despite an assur-ance given three days ago.Officials tried to pacify themby saying that since Gunturdistrict is a Red Zone, theirStates were not giving consentfor their travel at this stage.

Migrant workers’ protestturns violent at Mangalagiri Consider home delivery of liquor...

Continued from Page 1

Deepak contended that theresults, which have beenachieved in over a month-longnationwide lockdown will benullified as the coronavirusgraph, which was earlier flatten-ing, is now showing a sharp rise.

He sought issuance of freshMHA guidelines or directions forprohibition of sale of liquor atvends and shops through directcontact during the lockdownperiod or till the NationalDisaster Management Authorityannounces India to be Covid-19

free. To this, the bench said thatdiscussion is already going on forallowing online sale of liquor orits home delivery.

Deepak said he only wantedthat life of a common manshould not be affected due to thisdirect sale from vends and MHAshould issue clarificatory guide-lines and states should abide byit. The bench then directed thestate to consider online sales orhome delivery of liquor duringthe lockdown period and dis-posed of the matter.

The plea, filed through advo-cate Anindita Mitra, said that

media reports indicate that socialdistancing norms at and aroundthe liquor vends/shops are beinggiven a complete go-by in theseareas, leading to alarming situ-ations. The health and safety ofall persons who gather at andaround the liquor vends/shops,the personnel of the liquorvends/shops, the police officialswho have to be deployed andintervene, passers-by and thepublic at large is being endan-gered and jeopardised, increas-ing the scope for further trans-mission of Covid-19 amongst thepopulation it said.

Over 60 pc ofleaked...

Continued from Page 1

In a report submitted toChief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy during avideo conference, theCollector said it mighttake 18-24 hours for theremaining vapour to poly-merise, a process to bringdown the temperaturebelow 20 degree Celciuswhere styrene remains inits original liquid form,and turn safe.

"We have taken all mea-sures to plug the leakcompletely and expertsare closely monitoring thesituation. The situation isnow fully under control,"the Collector added.

On Thursday, he hadsaid a technical glitch inthe refrigeration unitattached to the twostyrene tanks at the planthad caused the vapourleak.

NGT slaps Rs 50 cr interim penalty on LGContinued from Page 1

The amount is being fixedhaving regard to the financialworth of the company and theextent of the damage caused," thebench said.

The NGT issued notices to theMinistry of Environment andForests, L G Polymers India,Andhra Pradesh State PollutionControl Board, Central PollutionControl Board, VishakhapatnamDistrict Magistrate and soughttheir response before May 18, the

next date of hearing.The committee comprises

former AP High Court judgeJustice B Seshasayana Reddy; VRama Chandra Murthy, FormerVice Chancellor, AndhraUniversity, Vizag; ProfessorPulipati King, Head of ChemicalEngineering Department, AndhraUniversity; CPCB MemberSecretary, CSIR-Indian Institute ofChemical Technology Director,and head of NEERI in Vizag.

The NGT directedVishakhapatnam DM and regional

office of State Pollution ControlBoard to provide logistic supportto the committee to enable theirfact-finding and reporting.

"The Chairman, CPCB maysteer and facilitate the functioningof the committee using availabletechnology. CPCB will bear theinitial cost of functioning of theCommittee to the extentnecessary. The committee will beat liberty to take assistance ofsuch experts, individuals andinstitutions as may be considerednecessary," the bench said.

High-Power panel set up to probe leakContinued from Page 1

RK Meena -VisakhapatnamCommissioner of Police asmembers and Vivek YadavMember Secretary, AP PollutionControl Board as member-convener.

The committee will inquire intothe reasons for the leakage, and

whether the company hadadhered to safety protocols.

It will study if there are anylong-term effects of the gasleakage on the surroundingvillages.

The committee willrecommend the proposed actionto be taken against the industrialunit in case of any negligence,

that led to gas leakage.Further, the committee will

suggest measures to be taken byindustry units, including safetyaudits, to prevent such mishapsin the future, and in case, thereare any observations andsuggestions for all similarindustrial plants, they will beincluded in the report.

Continued from Page 1

Jagan asked Special Chief Secretaryfor Environment and Forests NeerabhKumar Prasad and AP Pollution ControlBoard Secretary Vivek Yadav to be partof a high-level inquiry team and nothesitate to recommend the relocation ofthe industries, if needed from the

residential areas. "Ensuring public safety, a

comprehensive safety audit of all theindustries should be taken up and aStandard Operating Procedure shouldbe enforced. Without any hesitations,the officials should come up withsuitable recommendations to avoid suchmishaps in future,” he said.

65-yr-old succumbs to gas, toll rises to 12Continued from Page 1

He had called his cousin, who resides atKothavalasa to informed that he was onhis way there on his scooter. Gangadharcollapsed on the road after he reached toKothavalasa and was admitted to PrimaryHealth Centre, where he breathed his last

on Thursday evening. Gangadhar was suf-fering from some heart-related ailments,the SP added. Superintendent of KingGeorge Hospital (KGH) Dr G Arjuna saidthat a total of 321 people, including 57children, who fell sick in the gas leakageincident, are undergoing treatment at KGHand their condition is stable.

Identify hazardous factories in populated areas...

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020 nation 04SHORT READS

Court extends CBIremand of Wadhawansin Yes Bank scamMUMBAI: A special court hereon Friday extended till May 10the CBI remand ofDHFLpromoter Kapil Wadhawan andRKW Developers promoterDheeraj Wadhawan, arrested inconnection with the Yes Bankscam. The duo was arrestedlast monthfrom aMahabaleshwar- basedquarantine facility, nearly 50days after the CBI booked themin a case of alleged bribery alsoinvolving former Yes Bank CEORana Kapoor. The Wadhawanswere produced before thespecial court here on Friday atthe end of their previousremand. The centralprobeagency sought an extension oftheir custody, saying they needto interrogate the duo further.The Wadhawan brothers havebeen named accused in the CBIFIR pertaining to allegedswindling of money by Kapoorand others, officials said.

Disinfection drive atSrinagar Secretariatafter staff tests positive

Punjab cop shootsdead kabaddi playerKAPURTHALA: A Punjabpoliceman shot dead a 24-year-old international kabaddi playerand seriously injured his friendin Kapurthala district, fearingthey would attack him forstopping their vehicle duringcurfew, police said on Friday.Assistant Sub InspectorParamjit Singh killed ArwinderjitSingh and seriously injuredPardeep Singh on Thursdaynight in Lakhan Ke Paddavillage. The ASI was going tothe village to drop his friendMangu in a car when they sawanother vehicle coming towardsthem at 10 pm when a curfewwas in force in the area, policesaid. They followed the car andsignalled to stop. When the carstopped, the ASI fired four tofive rounds from his servicerevolver at Arwinderjit and hisfriend suspecting that they weregoing to attack him, police said.

SRINAGAR: An entire floor ofthe Civil Secretariat in Srinagarwas cleared and disinfectedafter an employee posted theretested positive for COVID-19two days ago, officials said onFriday. The employee, aresident of the Safapora area inGanderbal district, was foundCOVID-positive on Wednesday,prompting the authorities toclear the floor where he wasworking, they said. Adisinfection drive was carriedout in the secretariat building,which houses offices of the topbrass of administration andbureaucracy of Jammu andKashmir. Deputy Commissio-ner, Srinagar, Shahid IqbalChaudhary dismissed reports insome sections of the mediaabout the Civil Secretariat beingclosed. "I have just returnedfrom there. We had onepositive case from there. Theparticular floor was cleared anddisinfected following dueprotocols," he added.

Ban on pvt hospital after kins'video over death of 4 patientsPNS n INDORE

The Indore district administra-tion imposed a temporary banon a private hospital here fromFriday, after four patients,including a suspected COVID-19 patient, reportedly diedthere within six hours asclaimed by their relatives in avideo that went viral on socialmedia.

In the purported video, therelatives of the four patientsadmitted in the city's GokuldasHospital are seen crying andexpressing their pain.

They alleged in the videothat the hospital administra-tion wants the facility to bevacated in order to sanitise it,which is why no attention wasbeing paid towards the treat-ment of patients that ultimate-ly resulted in the death of fourpatients in a short span.

After the video went viral,the administration immedi-ately sent the officials of thehealth department to Gokuldas

Hospital for investigation,where some suspectedCOVID-19 patients are alsobeing treated.

Chief Medical and HealthOfficer (CMHO) Praveen Jadiasaid, "We came to know dur-ing the preliminary investiga-tion that four patients died inthe hospital within six hours onThursday. Three of thedeceased tested COVID-19negative during the probe,

while the report of anotherpatient is awaited."

"We have seized the docu-ments from the hospital andtemporarily stopped its oper-ations. The matter is beinginvestigated in detail," headded.

The CMHO informed that 14patients admitted to this hospi-tal are being sent to other facil-ities. Despite repeated attempts,the reaction of Gokuldas

Hospital management over theallegations made by the patientscould not be elicited.

In different videos that hadsurfaced on social media in therecent past, some private hos-pitals were accused of sendingback patients suffering fromvarious diseases without treat-ment, charging hefty fees andnot discharging patients ontime even after they testedCOVID-19 negative.

PNS n MUMBAI

Former NCP MP RanjitsinhMohite Patil and three othersfigure in the list of BJP candi-dates for the May 21Maharashtra LegislativeCouncil poll. The list wasreleased from Delhi on Friday,a state BJP functionary said.

Senior state BJP leadersEknath Khadse and PankajaMunde don't find a place in thelist, which instead has lesser-known faces like GopichandPadalkar, Praveen Datke andAjit Gopchhade.

Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil whojoined the BJP ahead of the2019 Lok Sabha elections is theson of former Maharashtradeputy chief minister VijaysinhMohite Patil. While Ranjitsinhjoined the BJP officially, hisfather hasn't done so formally.

Padalkar who joined theBJP ahead of last year'sAssembly polls, had unsuccess-fully contested against AjitPawar from Baramati. Pawarhad retained his seat with amargin of over six lakh votes.

The Council election is

being held for nine seats, forwhich the electoral college isthe 288-member MaharashtraLegislative Assembly.

The quota for a winningcandidate is 29 votes. Theelection assumes importanceMaharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray is amongthe candidates.

While Pankaja Munde lostthe 2019 Assembly electionfrom Parli to estranged cousinand NCP leader DhananjayMunde, Khadse who wasdenied Assembly poll ticket byhis party, had recently declaredthat he would like to contestthe May 21 poll.

BJP has 105 MLAs and the

party has claimed support of11 members of smaller partiesand independents. It needs116 first preference votes to getits four candidates elected.

Talks are still on among thethree ruling MVA alliancepartners with the Congressadamant on fielding a secondcandidate. If the allies contestmore than five seats, therewould be an election.

During the trust vote in theAssembly, the MVA hadsecured support of 169 MLAs,while four MLAs (CPM 1,MNS 1, AIMIM 2) hadabstained.

PNS n ITANAGAR

As a mark of gratitude, a groupof migrant workers painted,without charging a paisa, aschool building in ArunachalPradesh that sheltered themduring the lockdown, an offi-cial said on Friday.

The labourers, mostly fromDhemaji and NorthLakhimpur districts in neigh-bouring Assam, took shelter inthe school in Yupia area ofPapum Pare district, and theywanted to paint the buildingthat was their home for sever-al days, he said.

"Within a couple of days, theschool building, which wasnot in a good shape, was givena new look," Papum PareDeputy Commissioner PigeLigu said.

Expressing her happiness,headmistress of the upper pri-mary school Obbi Zirdo Rumisaid the maintenance of thebuilding was due.

"It is an unbelievable

moment for the institution. Iam very thankful to the work-ers and the district adminis-tration for their support andcooperation in this crisis peri-od," she said. The migrantworkers also cleaned theschool premises and repairedwooden benches, the head-mistress said.

"We are habituated to hardwork and happy to keep our-selves busy with activities inthese tough times. It was ourgratitude to the local adminis-

tration that was taking care ofus," one of the migrant workerssaid. The deputy commission-er said the authorities werecontinuously monitoring thehealth condition of the workers,while they painted the building.

"We ensured that social dis-tancing protocol and healthsafety guidelines were followedwhile they were working," hesaid. The district administra-tion had arranged two reliefcamps-one at the school andanother at the UD Shopping

Complex -to provide shelter tomore than 145 labourers dur-ing the nationwide lockdown.

Papum Pare SP JimmyChiram said adequate securi-ty arrangements were made forthe stranded labourers, andregular physical training ses-sions were arranged to keepthem fit during their stay in therelief camps.

The administration alongwith police also helped allmigrant workers reach theirrespective destinations safely.

Migrant workers paint Arunachalschool that sheltered them

"It is an unbelievablemoment for theinstitution. I am verythankful to theworkers and thedistrict administra-tion for their supportand cooperation inthis crisis period,"she said

Private bus operatorsdemand doubling ofbus fares in BengalPNS n KOLKATA

Private bus operators in WestBengal have demanded dou-bling of fares and subsidy forplying their vehicles in sevenCOVID-19-free districts ofthe state, bus owners' associ-ations said on Friday.

Joint Council of BusSyndicates general secretaryTapan Banerjee said, it was noteven possible to meet the fuelprices by carrying only 20 pas-sengers in a bus, as stipulatedby the state government formaintaining social distancingnorms.

The matter was raised dur-ing meetings between repre-sentatives of the bus owners'associations in the seven greendistricts and state Transport

department officials onThursday. The owners areeager to run their buses pro-vided the state governmentensures that they are compen-sated for the loss, he said.

He claimed that even dou-bling of fares would not coverhalf the cost of plying a busas each vehicle with a seatingcapacity of 45 to 55 passen-gers, on an average, carries 65to 70 persons.

Flight carrying 167 J-Kmedical students arrivesfrom Bangladesh capitalPNS n SRINAGAR

A special flight, carrying 167medical students hailing fromJammu and Kashmir, arrivedhere from Bangladesh capitalDhaka on Friday as part of theCentre's efforts to bring backIndians stranded abroad.

"Total 167 students arrivedat Srinagar airport in the spe-cial flight from Dhaka thisafternoon," an official said.

Officials said the studentswere undergoing screeningat the airport after whichthey will be sent to admin-istrative quarantine for aperiod of 14 days as mandat-ed under the guidelinesissued for curbing the spreadof COVID-19.

Srinagar DeputyCommissioner Shahid Iqbal

Chaudhary expressed his grat-itude to the Indian HighCommission in Dhaka for the"tremendous efforts" in gettingthese students home.

"Profound gratitude toIndian High Commission@ihcdhaka for tremendousefforts. More to follow. Forconvenience of students --bulk tickets next," Chaudharysaid in a tweet.

Hry govt decides to extend parolegranted to prisoners by six weeksPNS n CHANDIGARH

The Haryana government hasdecided to extend by anothersix weeks the duration ofparole or interim bail grantedto convicted prisoners in viewof the COVID-19 pandemic.

As many as 3,817 prisonerswere released last month oninterim or regular bail, paroleor extended parole. The stategovernment decided to releaseconvicted prisoners with up toseven years of sentence andundertrials liable to get aslong jail terms on conviction.

Foreign prisoners, however,are not included in this. Also,prisoners convicted in caseslike drug smuggling, rape, acidattack are not among thosereleased.

“The decision to release theprisoners had been taken inaccordance with the SupremeCourt's directive to decongestcrowded prisons to preventthem from becoming fertileground for spread of the coro-navirus,” Jails Minister Ranjit

Singh Chautala said.A high-powered committee

under Justice Rajiv Sharma ofthe Punjab and Haryana HighCourt and comprisingAdditional Chief Secretary(Home), Haryana, VijaiVardhan and DGP (prisons) KSelvraj in its recommenda-tion had on May 5 stated“readmitting around 4,000prisoners released on parole orinterim bail back into the jailsat this stage is a huge risk”.

The committee was formedon the directive of the SupremeCourt, dated March 23, which

passed the order for decongest-ing prisons in view of thepandemic.

"Readmitting of such a largenumber of inmates at thispoint is likely to increase therisk of the COVID-19 infec-tion to the existing inmatesand will defeat the wholeobjective of releasing inmateson parole/interim bail.

"In this background, itwould be appropriate to extendthe parole period of the con-victs for another six weeksfrom the date of their first sur-render," the committee said.

ICMR to study asymptomatic patientsto check for community spreadPNS n NEW DELHI

Amid a spurt in COVID-19cases, apex health researchbody ICMR has decided toconduct a study in 75 affecteddistricts across the country toidentify people who wereexposed to the novel coron-avirus infection and yetshowed mild or no symptoms.

The study can help ascertainwhether there has been com-munity transmission of the res-piratory disease in those areasor not, official sources said.

The death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 1,886 andthe number of cases climbed to56,342 on Friday registering anincrease of 103 deaths and3,390 cases in the last 24 hourssince Thursday morning,according to Union healthministry data.

"As a part of the study, peo-ple from red, orange and green

zones in a district will be test-ed for COVID-19 at random tocheck whether they have devel-oped antibodies against theinfection even though theyremained asymptomatic orshowed mild symptoms.

"The presence of antibody inthem will establish that theywere infected by the virus andwere able to fight it off. Theydid not know they had con-tracted the disease as they

had no symptoms," an officialexplained.

The exercise will also helpascertain if there has beencommunity spread of the dis-ease, the official said.Community spread is a stagewhere the source of the infec-tion cannot be traced.

Scientists at the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) aim to begin the studyat the earliest.

PNS n NEW DELHI

US-based The Law SchoolAdmission Council (LSAC) hasdecided to administer the 2020LSAT-India entrance examina-tion online for the first time everfrom June 14 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. LSAC said LSAT-India, which was a paper-penciltest since its inception in 2009,becomes India's first and onlyLaw Entrance Exam to be entire-ly online, AI-enabled remote-proctored.

The move to online exam willenable candidates to take the testfrom the convenience of theirhome or other respective settingswithout worrying about theirhealth and safety, it said in a state-ment.

Candidates seeking admis-sion to law schools in the coun-try will be able to take the LSAT-India from June 14, 2020 usingan online test delivery system.

It said Pearson VUE, one ofthe leading players in computer-

based testing in the world,administers this test as anArtificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled, online solution for aspi-rants to take their required col-lege admissions tests in a safemanner, thereby overcomingthe restrictions posed by theCovid-19 lockdown.

It is the first time in more than25 years of existence of Pearson'sVirtual University Enterprises(VUE) that an AI-enabledremote-proctored online solution

has been made available in thisformat. LSAC President andCEO Kellye Testy said, “Theworldwide pandemic Covid-19has clearly had a profoundimpact on how we live and onhow business is conductedaround the world. But we know,too, that it is acutely affecting theacademic pursuits of millions ofstudents everywhere.

"In order to safeguard the abil-ity of Indian students to apply tolaw schools in India, we have

partnered with Pearson VUE tooffer students a technologicallyadvanced entrance exam thisyear. The test delivery system hastechnical features that ensure thetransparency, convenience, andintegrity of the testing process,without sacrificing security,"Kellye said. The statement saidstudents seeking admission to allprogrammes of Jindal GlobalLaw School can take this examat their own convenience fromthe safety of their homes or othersettings to complete the admis-sions process in an efficient andtimely manner.

C Raj Kumar, Founding ViceChancellor, O.P. Jindal GlobalUniversity (JGU) & FoundingDean, Jindal Global Law School(JGLS), said: “At a time when theglobal pandemic has createdunprecedented uncertainty for alllaw entrance exams generatinghuge anxiety among law schoolaspirants, LSAT-India has givenhope and aspiration by launch-ing this exam in an online format.

Five lakh fruit trees to be plantedacross India on Environment Day

LSAT entrance exam to be held online due to CovidPNS n DEHRADUN

Around five lakh fruit treeswill be planted across thecountry on the WorldEnvironment Day on June 5.

The plantation drive will beundertaken by two NGOsfrom India and the US.

The Dehradun-basedSustainable Green Initiativeand the United States-basedOne Tree Planted will executethe programme together withthe involvement of local com-munities in the land of smalland marginal farmers country-wide, SGI founder Raj Mohansaid.

Trees to be planted duringthe drive include moringa,papaya, banana, lemon, guava,apricot, pear, peach andjujubes, he said.

The SGI has planted 30,100fruit trees in ten villages in

Saklana range of Uttarakhand'sTehri Garhwal district, he said.

The initiative is intended tonot just expand the greencover but also create sustain-able livelihood for the ruralpopulace.

Fruit trees will not onlyprovide nourishment but alsosupplement income of smallfarmers, he said.

Moringa, papaya, andbanana trees can produce foodand fruit within 8-10 months

of planting. Lemon, guava,apricot, pear, peach, andjujubes produce fruit in theirthird year and onwards, hesaid.

The long-term benefit isimmense. Each tree provides aminimum of Rs 1000 per year,half a million fruit trees trans-late into Rs 50 crore worth offruit and nutrition, year afteryear for the next 50-60 years,the SGI founder said.

Beyond the nutritional andsocial benefits of reforesta-tion with fruit trees, this pro-ject will support cleaner air andhelp reduce the effects of cli-mate change.

The planting and nurturingof fruit trees will be executedby local partners at SustainableGreen Initiative with whomOne Tree Planted has alreadyplanted over 300,000 treesthroughout India.

PNS n FIROZABAD

A woman delivered her childon the roadside after she wasallegedly denied treatment bydoctors here, police said onFriday. Kiran (35) delivered thebaby at around 11 am on theroadside at Katra Bazar inShikohabad area of the district,they said. The woman's fami-ly alleged that doctors deniedtreatment to her. As soon at thenews spread, AdditionalDistrict Magistrate (ADM)Narendra Singh and CircleOfficer of Shikohabad InduPrabha reached the spot andgot the woman admitted in ahospital. Prabha said, "It wouldbe probed whether the doctorsrefused to treat her. The con-dition of the woman and thechild is fine. Both are well."

Former NCP MP in list of BJPcandidates for Maha Council

BJP has 105 MLAsand the party hasclaimed support of11 members ofsmaller parties andindependents. Itneeds 116 firstpreference votes toget its fourcandidates elected

Denied treatmentby doctors, womandelivers baby onroadside in UP

CMHO Praveen Jadiasaid, "We came toknow during the preli-minary investigationthat four patients diedin the hospital withinsix hours on Thursday.Three of the deceasedtested COVID-19negative during theprobe, while the reportof another patient isawaited"

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

PIL in HC seeks freelaptop, phones to poorkids for online classesNEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt Friday asked the Centreand the AAP government torespond to a PIL seekingdirections to them to providefree laptops, tablets or mobilephones to poor kids so thatthey can access classes onlineduring the COVID-19 lockdown.A bench of Justices Manmohanand Sanjeev Narula issuednotices to the Centre, the Delhigovernment, the municipalcorporations and 10 privateunaided schools here seekingtheir stand on the plea by anNGO, Justice for All, by June10 -- the next date of hearing.In its plea filed throughadvocate Khagesh Jha, theNGO has contended that theprivate unaided schools'decision to conduct classes viavideo conferencing would affectover 50,000 students belongingto the economically weakersections (EWS) and cannotafford laptops, phones andhigh-speed internet service toattend the classes.

Tea stall worker killsemployer for refusingmoney for liquor

Drunk man kills two-year-old daughterBADAUN (UP): A drunk mankilled his two-year-olddaughter by smashing herinto the ground after anargument with his wife inBisauli area here, police saidon Friday. On Thursday,Sukhpal reached his home inan inebriated state and had analtercation with his wife. In afit of rage, he threw hisdaughter on the ground, theysaid. The little girl was rushedto a hospital by other familymembers but died duringtreatment. The accused hasbeen detained. The familymembers have not yet filed aformal complaint to the police.

PALGHAR: A man, who workedat a tea stall at Boisar inPalghar district of Maharashtra,allegedly killed his employerafter the latter refused to givemoney to him for buying liquor,police said on Friday. Theincident occurred late eveningon Wednesday and theaccused, Ram Vilas Rajbhar(42), was arrested withinhours, they said. Liquor shopsin Maharashtra were shut foralmost 40 days due to thelockdown to curb thecoronavirus outbreak. Butstandalone liquor shops weregiven permission to operatefrom Monday as part of therelaxations granted by the stategovernment. "The victim,Jagandev Rajbhar (55), ran atea stall in the Boisar township,in which the accused worked.On Wednesday evening, theaccused demanded moneyfrom the stall ower in order tobuy liquor," Palghar policespokesperson Hemant Katkarsaid. However, the victimrefused to give money, whichangered the accused. Followingan argument, he hit hisemployer with a log of wood, inwhich he died on the spot, theofficial said. The accused wasarrested within hours and anoffence was registered againsthim under IPC sections 302and others, Katkar added.

Stopping spread from urbanto rural areas key in battle

COVID-19

PNS n BENGALURU

Preventing the spread of thecoronavirus from urban to ruralareas where majority of the pop-ulation live will be a key in thecountry's battle against theCOVID-19, a prominent healthexpert said on Friday.

As people start easing back intotheir normal lives, they shouldcontinue with the practice ofsocial distancing, wearing of facemasks and hand hygiene to con-tain the spread, President ofPublic Health Foundation ofIndia Prof. K Srinath Reddy said.

"One of the important thingsis to try and reduce as much aspossible flow of traffic betweenurban and rural areas, betweenhotspots and non-hotspots, atleast till the hotspots are undercontrol because rural areas aremuch protected even now in anystate, he said.

PHFI is engaged in capacitybuilding in public health in thecountry through education,training, research, policy devel-opment, health communicationand advocacy.

There was less likelihood of thespread in rural areas as peoplethere generally have less mobili-

ty, Reddy, who formerly headedthe Department of Cardiology atthe All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), told PTI in aninterview.

By restricting traffic for onlyessential goods and travel needs,we will be able to contain itbecause that is our biggest asset,two-thirds of our population isin rural areas, if we protectthem, then we will be much safer,he said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,886 and the numberof cases climbed to 56,342 in thecountry on Friday, registering anincrease of 103 deaths and 3,390cases in the last 24 hours, accord-

ing to the Union Health Ministry.When you increase the numberof tests, you will definitely findout more cases. We have to lookat number of new cases, as a per-centage of number of tests done.Thats the figure to look at,Reddy said.

Its true that the number ofcases detected will increase withthe number of tests and the virusis likely spreading, said Reddy,who has been involved in sever-al major international andnational research studies, havingbeen trained in cardiology andepidemiology.

"But what we need to look atis how severe are the cases.

Eighty-five per cent are verymild, or asymptomatic, then wemay not have much to worry,because ultimately the virus isgoing to spread, we cannot sud-denly arrest the virus but ques-tion is how fast its spreading andhow severely are the cases beingaffected, Reddy said.

He said the COVID-19 deathrate in India so far was 1.3 permillion population, while itsmuch higher in other countrieslike the US (26 deaths per mil-lion), the UK (449 per million)and Belgium (726 per million).That means even if its spreading,its much milder in India forwhatever reasons, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Accusing the Centre of dilut-ing labour laws using the coro-navirus pandemic as an excuse,seven political parties jointlywrote a a letter to PresidentRam Nath Kovind on Fridayregistering their protest overthe issue.

The workers are being treat-ed as slaves, said the lettersigned by CPI (M) GeneralSecretary Sitaram Yechury,CPI General Secretary D Raja,CPI (ML) General SecretaryDipankar Bhattarcharya, AllIndia Forward Bloc GeneralSecretary Debabrata Biswas,Revolutionary Socialist Party(RSP) General Secretary,Manoj Bhattacharya, RJD MPManoj Jha and ViduthalaiChiruthaigal president KatchiThol. Thirumavalavan.

"Reducing them to this sta-tus is not merely a violation ofthe Constitution but its nulli-fication," they said.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,Rajasthan and Punjab haveextended working hours fromeight to 12 without amendingthe Factories Act.

The parties raised a concernthat the others states are like-ly to join this list.

Uttar Pradesh has exempt-

ed factories, businesses, estab-lishments and industries fromthe purview of all, but threelabour laws and one provisionof another Act for three years.The Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment too announcedexemption of all establish-ments from obligations underall labour laws for a period ofthousand days.

The parties said the Indianeconomy was already in a tail-spin hurtling towards a reces-sion even before the outbreakof this pandemic.

The government has donelittle to help those who losttheir livelihood. Fourteen croreworkers have lost their jobssince the lockdown began,they said.

"Diluting labour rights seems

to be the logic employed by'your government' at the centreand by some state govern-ments, rather than concentrat-ing on fighting the pandemic byaugmenting our health facilitiesand protecting our doctors andhealth workers and taking careof the people's requirements,"the letter stated.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Flouting lockdown norms,nearly 2,000 migrant workersgathered at a government officein the Gota area here on Fridayhoping they will somehowfind a way to reach their nativeplaces, said police.

The gathering, which start-ed since the morning, wasapparently triggered by arumour about a bus reachingoutside the government officeto ferry migrants to railway sta-tion.

On learning about the sud-den rush of people at thedeputy collector's office nearGota bridge, police officialsimmediately reached the spotand persuaded the migrants,mostly from Uttar Pradeshand Bihar, to disperse.

Migrants wanting to go their

native places amid the lock-down are supposed to make anonline application. They canalso fill up the required formoff-line and submit it at anydesignated office under a dis-trict collector.

"This office of deputy collec-tor also accepts such forms.Migrants who were given the

permit were earlier asked tocome here so that they can beferried to a railway station inbuses.

"Migrants having permitsthen board trains to reachtheir native places. This is howthe system works," saidAssistant Commissioner ofPolice, M A Patel.

Since a bus carryingmigrants had left from thisoffice on Thursday, a rumourstarted doing the rounds thatanyone wanting to go back totheir native places should reachthe spot, said Patel.

"Thus, around 2,000migrants flocked here sincemorning hoping to catch a bustill railway station and then atrain till their native places.

"Before sending them backfrom the spot, policemen madethem understand the entireprocess and even helped themin filling up the forms," Pateladded.

This was the latest in aseries of incidents of lock-down violation in Gujarat bymigrant workers desperate toleave for their native placesduring the coronavirus-enforced curbs.

2,000 migrants gather outsidegovt office following rumour

Ajit urges migrants to bepatient, avoid risky journeysPNS n MUMBAI

Terming the death of migrantsin a train accident as "painful",Maharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar on Fridayurged labourers to have patienceand not undertake risky jour-neys to their home states.

At least 16 migrant workerssleeping on rail tracks whilereturning to Madhya Pradeshwere crushed to death by agoods train in Aurangabad dis-trict of Maharashtra in the earlyhours of Friday.

Only four migrant workerssurvived in the accident, whichtook place at 5.15 am nearKarmad, around 30 km fromAurangabad, police said.

"The incident is painful. It isdisturbing to see how desperatemigrant workers in Maharashtraare to return to their home

states," Pawar said in a statement.Pawar, who is also the state's

Finance Minister, said theMaharashtra government wasworking on war footing to sendmigrant workers to their nativestates and this was being donewith cooperation from theCentre and other state govern-ments. "Workers should wait tilltheir turn comes and arrange-ments are made (to ensure theirreturn). They should not risktheir lives travelling in an unsafemanner," he said.

PNS n GUWAHATI

The Guwahati MedicalCollege will not admit patientsfor the next few days after apost graduate student of thestate-run facility tested posi-tive for COVID-19, HealthMinister Himanta BiswaSarma said on Friday.

Assam recorded a spike incoronavirus cases onThursday, as eight people test-ed positive -- four each inGuwahati and Silchar -- tak-ing the number of cases in thestate to 53.

"A PG student at GuwahatiMedical College testedCOVID positive last night.Consequently, we are screen-ing everyone who came in

contact with him, and theentire premise has been sani-tised. We have closed the hos-pital for new patients for thenext few days," Sarma said.

"Special arrangements willbe in place for patients alreadyadmitted and collection ofnew swab samples," he said onTwitter. There are 18 activecases of novel coronavirus inthe state, while 34 people haverecovered so far.

GMC closed for newpatient admissions afterPG student tests positive

AI flight carrying 200Indians from Sharjah toarrives in Lucknow PNS n LUCKNOW

An Air India flight with around200 Indians from Sharjah willarrive in Lucknow on Saturday,an official said. The Indian gov-ernment on Monday hadannounced plans to begin aphased repatriation of its citizensstranded abroad from May 7.

The government also saidthat Air India will operate 64flights from May 7 to May 13 tobring back around 15,000 Indiannationals stranded abroad due tothe coronavirus-induced lock-down. "An Air India flight is like-ly to arrive in Lucknow fromSharjah between 8.00 pm and8.30 pm on Saturday. The tenta-tive number of passengers arriv-ing in Lucknow is 200," AK

Sharma, the director ofChaudhary Charan SinghInternational Airport, told PTIon Friday. India imposed anationwide lockdown to curb thespread of coronavirus in thecountry, grounding all interna-tional flights since mid-March.Under the repatriation plan, thegovernment will be facilitatingthe return of Indian nationalsstranded abroad on compellinggrounds in a phased manner.

PNS n SRINAGAR

A police officer was injured onFriday during clashes withmiscreants, protesting thekilling of terrorist organisationHizbul Mujahideen chief RiyazNaikoo, in Budgam district ofJammu and Kashmir, officialssaid. Deputy Superintendent ofPolice Fayaz Hussain sustainedhead injury during stone pelt-ing by miscreants atNasrullahpora locality inBudgam district, the officialssaid. The miscreants peltedstones to protest the killing ofNaikoo and his associate dur-ing an encounter with securi-ty forces in the Awantipora areaof Pulwama district onWednesday. Police used batonsand tear smoke shells to chaseaway the protesters, the officialssaid, adding there were noreports of any injuries amongthe protesters so far.

PNS n NOIDA (UP)

A 60-year-old man died due tocoronavirus in western UttarPradesh's Gautam BuddhNagar on Friday, becoming thefirst fatality in the district dueto COVID-19. The victim wasa resident of Noida's Sector 22,officials said.

He was admitted in a privatehospital in Noida earlier thisweek and found positive forCOVID-19 on Thursday afterwhich he was taken to theGovernment Institute ofMedical Science (GIMS) inGreater Noida, the officialssaid. In response to a PTIquery on whether a patient hasdied due to coronavirus, GIMSDirector Dr. Brig (retd) RakeshGupta said: "Yes."

Gautam BuddhNagar reportsfirst death dueto COVID-19

PNS n NEW DELHI

A plea has been filed in theSupreme Court seeking adirection to the Centre toapproach the InternationalCourt of Justice (ICJ) and filea case for compensation ofUSD 600 billion from Chinaalleging that the coronaviruspandemic was "deliberatelycreated" by it.

The plea claimed there wasstrong evidence that coron-avirus or COVID-19, whichhas "destroyed" the Indianeconomy and killed hundredsof it citizens, originated fromChina's Wuhan Institute ofVirology.

The petition, filed byMadurai resident K K Ramesh,has alleged that COVID-19 hasbeen "deliberately created byChina as biological weaponagainst India".

"Petitioner states COVID-19

pandemic was designed byChina to be a very effective andcatastrophic biological war-fare weapon to kill mass pop-ulation in India," said the plea,drawn by advocate C R JayaSukin.

It underlined that coron-avirus spread in India, othercountries and continents butnot in other cities of Chinadespite originating in nearby

Wuhan. The plea said thatsince individuals cannotapproach the ICJ, the Centreshould be directed to file a casethere in this regard.

As per the latest data avail-able on the website of theHealth Ministry, over 56,000positive cases of COVID-19have been reported in Indiawith 1,886 deaths due to thevirus.

Plea seeks direction to Centre to approachICJ for compensation from China

Manu Bhaker gets electronictarget installed at homePNS n NEW DELHI

Pistol ace Manu Bhaker hasgot a new electronic targetinstalled at the makeshiftshooting range at her home inHaryana in place of an archa-ic manual machine that wasbreaking down frequentlyand hampering her Olympicspreparation.

The old machine was caus-ing her "immense irritation".

Delighted by the reboot inher training, the teenagedstar has got down to prepar-ing with renewed vigour, surein her mind that theOlympics will take place nextyear despite the uncertaintyin the world of sports due tothe COVID-19 pandemic.

"I have recently got the

machine installed at my homeand this will be surely morebeneficial in my training,"Bhaker told PTI from herhome at Goria village.

Her father set up the rangeafter she showed exception-al skills in the precision sport.

Bhaker thanked the SportsAuthority of India (SAI) and

Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ),the organisation that managesher, for promptly getting themachine — an avant-gardetarget — delivered at herhome despite the nationwidelockdown enforced to containthe COVID-19 pandemic.

"I was facing a lot of issueswith the old machine as it wasmanual. The thread wouldcome off and often it wouldbreak down on and off. Nowit's very different with thenew machine," the 18-year-old Bhaker said.

"Since I feel there is unlike-ly to be any outdoor actionand competitions for anoth-er three-four months, Ithought it will be useful to getthis installed at this point intime."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi Minorities Commissionchairman Zafarul Islam Khanon Friday approached theDelhi High Court seekinganticipatory bail in seditioncase lodged against him.

The plea was mentioned foran urgent hearing and it hasbeen allowed to be listed onMay 12, his advocate VrindaGrover said.

Khan on April 28 publisheda post having alleged seditiousand hateful comments throughhis official page on socialmedia.

Based on a complaint, theDelhi Police Special Cell onMay 2 lodged an FIR againstKhan under Sections 124A and153A of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) for the alleged offences of

sedition and promoting feelingsof hatred between differentgroups on the grounds of reli-gion, race, place of birth, resi-dence and language.

Khan sought anticipatorybail on the ground that he is apublic servant and a senior cit-izen aged 72 years, who suffersfrom heart disease and hyper-tension and is highly suscepti-

ble to COVID-19 infectionwhich can have fatal conse-quences for a person of his ageand health condition.

“In these circumstancesthere is an urgent need to

grant him protection fromarrest and coercive action in afrivolous and untenable case, inorder to safeguard his liberty asthe failure to do so will haveirreversible consequences onhis right to life,” the petitionfiled through advocates VrindaGrover, Ratna Appnender andSoutik Banerjee said.

The plea sought direction tothe police that in the event ofhis arrest, he be immediatelyreleased on bail and that nocoercive measures be takenagainst him. It also soughtdirection that Khan's laptopand mobile be not seized.

The plea claimed that nooffence has been committed byKhan and the FIR has beenregistered with a mala fideintention to harass and intim-idate him.

Delhi Minorities Commission chief movesHC for anticipatory bail in sedition case

Khan sought anticipatorybail on the ground that heis a public servant and asenior citizen aged 72years, who suffers fromheart disease andhypertension and is highlysusceptible to COVID-19infection which can havefatal consequences for aperson of his age andhealth condition

Police suffersinjury in clasheswith miscreants

The government hasdone little to helpthose who lost theirlivelihood. Fourteencrore workers havelost their jobs sincethe lockdown began,they said

The death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 1,886and the number ofcases climbed to56,342 in the countryon Friday, registeringan increase of 103deaths and 3,390cases in the last 24hours, according to theUnion Health Ministry

Seven political parties write toPrez over labour law dilution

The gas leak incident nearVisakhapatnam in the early hoursof May 7 has led to the death ofmore than 10 people and hospi-talisation of over 200. According

to the district authorities, the gas was con-firmed to be either styrene or vinyl benzene.As an intermediary, styrene is known as PVCgas and is used for the manufacture of insu-lation material, plastic, rubber, pipes, fibreglass and also for the packaging industry.According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), it is the 12th most used chemicalin the world. It is to the credit of the districtauthorities and the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF), who reacted quick-ly, that fatalities remained low. Around 500kg of chemicals were airlifted from Gujaratto neutralise the effect of the gas well in time.

Separately, with the direct interventionof the United Nations (UN), the bar for inves-tigation of the Vizag gas leak case has not onlybeen raised but has also been virtually inter-nationalised. The spokesperson for the UNSecretary-General António Guterres,Stéphane Dujarric, said, “We obviouslysend our condolences to the victims and hopefor the quick recovery of those who have beenimpacted. These kinds of incidents shouldbe fully investigated by the local authorities.”

While detailed investigations wouldundoubtedly be undertaken, prima facie, itappears that the protocols necessary for therecommencement of operations after the 45-day lockdown was lifted were not followed.When the accident took place early in themorning, only a handful of casual workerswere present. Elements of negligence at mul-tiple levels are more than obvious. For this,evidence will have to be secured immediate-ly and this should be done in the rightearnest. While the plant must have beensealed, a team of experts headed by a scien-tist from the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) needs to be con-stituted immediately to get into variousaspects of this matter.

According to scientific research approvedby the US Environmental Protection Agencyand published in a top scientific journal,Environmental Health Perspectives, chronicexposure to styrene has been linked to theoccurrence of neurological and behaviour-al deficit. This may eventually result indecreased performance, including delayedreaction time and visual disturbances, hear-ing loss and possibly even peripheral neu-ropathy. The International Agency forResearch on Cancer (IARC) has deter-mined that styrene is a possible carcinogenand can cause cancer on prolonged exposure.

In this context, let us not repeat the mis-takes of the Bhopal tragedy. Even after 35years of the disaster, scars have not fullyhealed yet. The chain of suffering of the peo-ple has continued unabated for generationsas genetic deformities have been reported insome newborns. Bhopal has been listed asthe world’s biggest man-made environmen-

tal disaster. Thousands of peo-ple were killed in this disasterand many more suffered perma-nent damage or a genetic impact.Responses of our entire system— the executive, legislative andeven the judiciary — were foundto be inadequate to meet theexpectations of the people.Whatever was done by way ofrelief was too little when com-pared to catastrophes across theworld.

In the case of Vizag, theplant was run by HindustanPolymers 1961 onwards. Later, itmerged with UB Group in 1978.Subsequently, LG Chem ofSouth Korea took overHindustan Polymers andrenamed it as LG PolymersIndia Pvt Ltd in July 1997. It isunderstood that after the lock-down, permission to recom-mence operations was obtaineda couple of days ago on phone.The factory inspector and thepollution control board had nei-ther inspected nor understoodthe sensitivity of such a plantrecommencing operations with-out adequate precautions.

This incident should be awake-up call for Governmentagencies as well as the manufac-turers since a large number ofindustries would be preparing torecommence operations afterthe lockdown is relaxed.

Particularly after the Bhopaldisaster, a number of legislationswere enacted. From theEnvironment (Protection) Act,1986 to the Public Liability

Insurance Act 1991. Accordingto the relevant rules framed bythe Government, styrene is clas-sified as a hazardous and a toxicchemical. This should naturallyhave required a greater degree ofsupervision and monitoring ofoperations. Some of the majorlaws and regulations that appearto have been overlooked in theinstant case are, Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 and therules framed there under such asthe Hazardous WasteManagement and Handling Rule1989 and ones framed thereunder, including theManufacture, Storage AndImport Of Hazardous Chemical(Amendment) Rules, 1989,among others.

Despite a plethora of rulesand regulations, there are certainaspects which indicate weaknessin our legal system in dealingwith such cases. During a dis-cussion in the Parliament on theCivil Liability for NuclearDamage Act, 2010, it was men-tioned by the late Arun Jaitley,who was then the leader of theOpposition in the Rajya Sabha,“We have a sad and unfortunateexperience of the Bhopal gasleak. This law deals only withnuclear incidents. I think, twolessons still remain. If there areincidents and accidents, whichare not on account of a nuclearincident but because of which alarge number of casualty anddamage does take place, our legalregime even today is only theconventional legal regime. The

victims go to a civil court andthen have their remedies adju-dicated, and we are all consciousof the limitations of our legal sys-tem that it almost takes decades,not years, in order to compen-sate the victims…”

These were ominous words,whose importance one realisesonly after 10 years when a trag-ic incident has occurred inVisakhapatnam. The Parliamentcan still amend the existing lawsor legislate a fresh enactment tofill up this major lacuna. WhileAndhra Pradesh Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy hasalready visited the spot and hisGovernment is undertaking nec-essary relief measures, there stillmight be individual compensa-tion seekers, whose expecta-tions would have to be suitablyaddressed.

The number of lawsuitsfiled in India and abroad afterthe Bhopal tragedy was so largethat a special enactment had tobe undertaken. All such matterswere transferred to a single judi-cial forum, which, however,failed to deliver complete justice.So let us not repeat the mistakesof Bhopal and ensure adequatecompensation to the victimsand those injured in tune withinternational standards.Compensation for the damagecaused to the environment, too,must be made.

(The writer is a formerGovernor and a Senior Advisorat the Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)

It is becoming clear as a summer’s day nowthat the Coronavirus spread is continuing,in India and across the world. While the rate

of the spread of the infection may have beenmitigated in some countries, the fact is thatthe world will have to live with the virus. Butthis will mean that several companies will haveto continue their work from home policies.Many big tech companies have already donejust that. Google has led the way. Sundar Pichai,the CEO of Google-parent company Alphabet,told his employees they will likely be workingfrom home until the end of the year. Facebook,

too, has allegedly made it clear that it will be reopening its offices from July 6but the number of employees will be limited to those absolutely necessary. Whatwill this mean for professional relationships? After all, the “office water cooler”was always a place for staff members to gather and swap gossip and storiesand even strike up a relationship. The last mentioned aspect is quite clearly onhold, particularly with marriages (and even divorces in some countries) beingpostponed. What will this mean for office politics and the future of work? In the1980s, we all assumed that by 2020, we will all have flying cars and workingwill be automated to a large degree. Well, 40 years ago, we had no idea that theentire world would be brought to a standstill by a microscopic organism. Likewise,not too long ago, there were barriers to working from home. Improvements incommunication technology have, however, helped dismantle them now. Giventhe developments in internet connectivity, virtual world communication has becomefast and reliable, too.

While paeans have been sung about telecommuting and working from homeat the start of the lockdown, it is becoming frighteningly obvious that this is aprivilege that only a few can afford. And not just people but also companies. Inmany offices, including media organisations, production systems demand thatpeople come to work. These folks are as important as the frontline health andpublic security officials who have little choice but to come to office. And whileit might be months before any organisation gets back to full staffing numbers,make no mistake, many firms themselves will be victims of this gift that camefrom China. The future of work, whenever it does resume, will be markedly dif-ferent. But much like the future of anything right now, it will be impossible to pre-dict what life will be like at office in 2021.

Images continue to flood us of the reversemigration brought on by the COVID-19 lock-down, the sudden shutdown of economic

activity upturning lives and livelihoods to suchan extent that even our shock has been dulledinto a fatalistic acceptance. Still there is noactionable plan to return, relocate or rehabil-itate migrants. Despite the delayed arrange-ment of trains and buses, the Government con-tinues to be on the backfoot about managingthe economic plight of daily wagers who lostjobs and living quarters overnight. So theymarch on day and night. Without food and

water. Stumbling and falling by the highway as they seek emotional succour ingoing back to their native villages and live off the land than starve to death, unwant-ed and uncared for. Yesterday, that pattern of brute reality suffered a further jolt.A cargo train ran over migrants in Maharashtra, who fell exhausted after walk-ing miles and decided to sleep on railway tracks thinking no trains would runduring the lockdown. It shows the sheer desperation, hopelessness and a sur-real wasteland that COVID-19 has reduced the nation and humanity to. Yet themigrants continue to trudge on along railway tracks and highways, waiting togo home as we fly in stranded Indians home in a massively tom-tommed exer-cise. Still there is no codified plan to engage with the destitute labourers andrehabilitate them productively or dignify them as equal citizens of India. Theydon’t have money for trains or buses. Without portable ration cards, they can-not avail the Government’s enhanced food allowances except in their villages.And no matter what the guarantees in zones that are operating units or resum-ing farm operations, they would much rather sign up for MGNREGA work in theirhome States, which is seeing a commensurate surge. Treated as virus carriers,disinfected brutely with hoses and dehumanised as Stateless people, the migrantworkforce — about two crore people are on the move — is not coming back,causing a chronic shortage of labour and slowing down economic revival.

The return of the native story is playing out among non-resident Indians, too.Many of whom have expired work permits and are facing deportation are beingevacuated along with stranded Indians abroad. Even NRIs with valid foreign cit-izenship are homeward-bound, buying up high end property and country homesin India over the last month, hoping to return once normal flights resume. Eachcountry is going to de-globalise, become insular and build self-sufficiencies withown resources and manpower in a post-pandemic world. So immigrant labour-ers and NRIs are going to bear the brunt in foreign nations and these returneesare going to stress the economy further. With mounting joblessness in our owncountry, it will be very difficult to accommodate returnees according to their capac-ities, skilled or unskilled, or even give them a dole. As the Government is underpressure to announce a significant stimulus, just to roll out working capital tomedium and smaller industries, this human bulge poses another crisis. Althoughthe Government bungled in anticipating the lockdown impact on the country’slabour capital, it needs to now get a national migrant database going with a thor-ough mapping of skill sets and capacities. In the event of a future crisis, suchdata would help in organising and providing assistance to them wherever theyare located. Even help relocate them to work sites that are in need of their ser-vices. Given the emotional pull of home during the pandemic and the fact thatsome have already returned, there needs to be a systematic reintegration plan,whereby those that have been lost are replaced by returnees to their home States.As the mass return of migrants becomes a reality, the Government at all levelsshould have a contingency plan. Though nobody would like to talk about China’sWuhan, the local government there has engaged labour effectively in mass-pro-ducing FMCG items. We can start import substitution units in the long run butin the short run, we can look at lighter industries, like farm produce processingunits and packaging. Start-ups helping in cold chain logistics and aggregationcan be incentivised and create smart rural and hub economies which can overtime ease off the overflow of labour into big cities. Decentralised federalism holdsthe key not only in politics but in oiling the economy bottom up.

Don’t run over migrants

Worsening situation

Sir — It is a matter of deep con-cern that Mumbai is on the vergeof an unprecedented public healthemergency as both public and pri-vate hospitals in the city areswamped with Coronaviruspatients. The ICU facilities ofalmost all hospitals are fullyoccupied and there is a shortageof nearly 400 doctors and health-care professionals. Despite thelockdown, Mumbai is witnessing400 cases daily on average. Thecity’s medical infrastructure isfinding it difficult to meet itsneeds, forcing a few to wait onroads overnight before theadministration makes arrange-ments. The situation is so direthat people with non-COVIDailments are struggling to getadmitted. If the Governmentdoesn’t act immediately, the cri-sis will worsen, putting the livesof many more patients at risk.

MN MusaMumbai

Probe the Vizag leak

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Memories of Bhopal” (May 8).

The dreadful incident of thestyrene gas leak from a chemi-cal plant near Visakhapatnamhas brought more bad news amidthe gathering economic gloom. Agas leak at a paper mill inChhattisgarh and a boiler explo-

sion at a Neyveli LigniteCorporation plant, too, werereported on the same day.

With this, serious questionshave arisen regarding the set-upof chemical plants in the country.Styrene is a known carcinogen

and requires a high level of super-vision during usage. Negligenceon the part of the staff must beinvestigated and those heldresponsible must be booked.

In these times when theCorona pandemic has affected

more than 56,000 lives, the nationcan ill-afford to bear such a cat-astrophe. All those killed andinjured in this mishap must getjust compensation.

Tushar AnandPatna

Endangering lives

Sir — It is not surprising that hun-dreds of people thronged TAS-MAC shops in Tamil Nadu with-out maintaining physical distanc-ing. There is now fear that manyasymptomatic people may havespread the virus. How far couldauthorities have implemented the“one bottle per person” order of theHigh Court? When policemenfound it a Herculean task torestrict the movement of peopleduring the “lockdown within lock-down” period, how could theypossibly have controlled crowds infront of TASMAC shops? Thecrowds now endanger the healthof the entire community. Who willbe held responsible if the numbersof the infected swell soon?

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionVIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020

06

Haunted by the past

KK PAUL

The styrene leak from a chemical plant in Vizag confirms that India has not learnt lessons fromthe Bhopal tragedy. A probe needs to find the reason and laws, too, must be amended

If the Government wants toend the lockdown, it mustbring physiological changein the minds of the people and transparency in exit plan.

Congress leader—Rahul Gandhi

I often wonder if we will be ascompassionate as we havebeen after this crisis is over.May be a lot of people will justgo about their lives, thankingGod that this is over.

Actor—Divya Dutta

The pandemic continues tounleash a tsunami of hateand xenophobia, scapegoat-ing and scaremongering. Anall-out effort to end hatespeech globally.

UN Secretary-General—Antonio Guterres

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Respect the rights of migrant workers

Respective State Governments have been doing theirbit to ensure that migrant workers return home withleast hassles. With the Government allowing spe-

cial trains to help them reach their homes, there was amad rush of migrants who queued up to register theirnames in a bid to catch the first train home. Initially, indus-try stakeholders brushed aside apprehensions over themigrant exodus affecting them. However, when reportsemerged that lakhs of stranded labourers registered withthe local authorities to transport them back home, indus-try honchos got worrying. The Goa Chamber ofCommerce and Industry has now asked the StateGovernment to consider counselling them into staying.

Of course, for a State is so heavily dependent onthe workers, measures to pre-empt a mass exodus ofthe migrant labour force is welcome. But how candidhas the Government’s appreciation for the migrant work-ers in Goa been? Inevitably, finding themselves at thereceiving end in these times, the Government was allbut listless in its attempt to provide relief to the work-ers. The “lockdown dilemma” will haunt the migrantsfor quite some time. Ignored and abandoned, many hadto petition their State Governments to help them out oftheir predicament. In response, the Goa Government was

seen contradicting its own stand by urging contractualagencies to take care of the workers by providing themprovisions and other essentials. And the Chief Ministernow wants the contractors to impress upon the labour-ers to not leave Goa. This sounds as if the administra-tion has absolved itself of all responsibilities. In such asituation, what would motivate the migrants to contin-ue working? Moreover, the police, too, have not beensympathetic to them. It is in the interest of the State totreat the migrant workers with kid gloves.

Pachun MenonMargao

ACCORDING TOTHE RELEVANT

RULES FRAMED BYTHE GOVERNMENT,

STYRENE ISCLASSIFIED AS A

HAZARDOUS AND ATOXIC CHEMICAL.

THIS SHOULDNATURALLY HAVE

REQUIRED AGREATER DEGREEOF SUPERVISION

AND MONITORINGOF OPERATIONS.

SOME OF THEMAJOR LAWS AND

REGULATIONSAPPEAR TO HAVE BEEN

OVERLOOKED

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

No end in sightFor me, the epitome ofmind skills training is MSDhoni. I think people canlearn from him because hehas maximised his potential into results.

Indian cricketer—Subramaniam Badrinath

Instead of just doles, compile a migrants’ database, employthem in projects depending on location and decentralise units

While countries slowly open up their economies, corporationsindicate that working from home will be the new norm

Seize the day

I URGE ALL CHEMICAL MAKERS TO EXERCISE CAREWHILE REOPENING THEIR PLANTS THAT SUSPENDED

OPERATIONS DUE TO THE LOCKDOWN.—UNION CHEMICALS AND FERTILISERS MINISTER

SADANANDA GOWDA

AFTER A PROBE IT IS NECESSARY TO SHIFT THE (LGPOLYMERS) UNIT TO A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONETHAT HAS NO POPULATION IN THE VICINITY.—FORMER CHIEF MINISTERCHANDRABABU NAIDU

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

With India currently besieged by COVID-19 and the host of socio-economic prob-lems that come along with it, few can afford

to worry about geo-political machinations takingplace abroad. Yet, as the peace process between theUnited States (US) and the Taliban in Afghanistanreaches a precarious position — with the Taliban hav-ing ramped up their attacks against the AfghanGovernment despite the recent spread of theCoronavirus in the country — it is imperative Indiatakes stock of the situation.

While it might be many months before the USfinally exits Afghanistan, especially with the viruscomplicating prisoner exchange and the ongoingnegotiations, the South Asian security matrix is goingto undergo a paradigm shift once all American mil-itary operations come to their inevitable end. Indiamust aim to use this transition to boost its region-al security interests.

The conflict in Afghanistan can at one level beunderstood as being between the majority Pashtunswho are mostly concentrated in Southern andCentral Afghanistan (and across the Durand Line,the 2,430-km border between Afghanistan andPakistan), who the Taliban claim to represent, fight-ing against the empowerment of ethnic minoritiesfrom northern Afghanistan such as the Tajiks,Hazaras and Uzbeks by successive democratically-elected governments.

While both the past and present presidents ofAfghanistan — Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani —are Pashtun, they are seen as leaders propped up bythe West. They are also seen as being overly-sym-pathetic to ethnic minorities. Moreover, many Stateinstitutions are dominated by ethnic minorities andsee a lack of representation by the Pashtuns.

However, the conflict in Afghanistan has alsobeen considered as a continuation of the proxy warbetween India and Pakistan. It is no secret thatPakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has deepties with the Taliban and has continued to backextremist groups in Afghanistan, even while callingitself an “ally” of the US in its war on terror.

A recent example of the Pakistani military estab-lishment’s support to the Taliban and allied terrorgroups was the attack on a gurdwara in Kabul onMarch 25. Prima facie it was thought to be an attackcarried out by the Islamic State (IS). However, fur-ther investigations carried out by Afghan authori-ties found direct links between the attackers, theTaliban-linked Haqqani Network and the ISI. Areport produced by the European Foundation forSouth Asian Studies (EFSAS) further substantiatedthese links.

India, on its part, has been a staunch support-er of the democratic Afghan State. This link has exist-ed since the pre-9/11 terror attacks, when New Delhisupplied military equipment and humanitarian sup-port to the Northern Alliance in its effort to topplethe brutal Taliban regime.

The Northern Alliance later went on to form theAfghan Government and many of its leaders, suchas General Dostum, are now key members of thepresent regime. William Dalrymple’s Brookings EssayA Deadly Triangle, published in 2013, presents andexplains this tacit conflict cogently.

With the US now having committed to leaving,the weakest entity in this entire sum seems to be theAfghan Government. With the decrease in Westernmilitary support to it, the Taliban have made steadygains and now control over a third of the country.The Afghan National Army has been unable to estab-lish itself as an effective fighting force.

Moreover, the recent election results have beenheavily disputed and both leading candidates,incumbent Ashraf Ghani and his opponent AbdullahAbdullah, have sworn themselves in as President inMarch. A divided civilian leadership, a weak mili-tary establishment and with US support nearing itsexpiry date, the Afghan Government now finds itselfin a bleak spot.

This situation has been further exacerbated bythe US negotiating for a peace deal directly with the

Taliban without the Afghan Government.Regardless of how these negotiationsultimately pan out, any form of eventualpeace will need the integration of theTaliban into the governing State — a real-isation that made the US finally reach thenegotiation table. As it stands presently,the Taliban have been able to keep theirsphere of influence strong enough to makethe US realise that trying to governAfghanistan as a whole, in a state of peaceand stability, would be impossible with-out their cooperation. The US war aim ofcompletely eradicating the Taliban andmaking the majority ethnic group, thePashtuns, co-opt into a democratic systemdominated by minority ethnic groups wasnear impossible. Ghani and Abdullah bothneed to realise this, if they have not alreadydone so.

So where does India find itself at thisthreshold of a new phase in Afghanistan?The resurgence of the Taliban has obvi-ously worried New Delhi. A key interestof India, if not its main, is to ensure thatthe Afghan State does not eventually con-sist of elements that would supportextremist groups functioning in Kashmir.In the past, the Taliban have been knownto have warm relations with the Lakshar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM). Extremist networks based inKashmir, with the backing of the IS, havebeen known previously to have auxiliarybases functioning freely acrossAfghanistan and Pakistan.

However, the Taliban now seem to bewilling to leave behind extremist inclina-tions if allowed to integrate into theAfghan State. They have repeatedlyclaimed that they have now cut former tiesand will not allow terror groups to func-tion in Afghanistan if allowed to form aGovernment. Recently, during an onlineconference hosted by the Delhi-basedthink-tank Global Counter-terrorismCouncil, the Taliban spokesperson

Mohammad Shaheen stated, “We willnever want any foreign organisationusing Afghan soil to target another coun-try. We will bring a law to stop any suchactivity.” More pertinently, Shaheen alsoclaimed that the Taliban would be morethan willing to engage with neighbouringcountries “on the basis of mutual respectand mutual interests.”

While the solidity of these sentimentswill only be seen in times to come, Indiamust now aim to establish some sort ofties with the Taliban. Till now, it has beenopenly hostile to the negotiations under-taken by the US and has repeatedly triedto lobby for their termination. Continuingsuch aggressive posturing against theTaliban is folly if India wants to have sub-stantial influence in a post-AmericaAfghanistan. At a time when the Talibanthemselves are re-evaluating their relationswith their Pakistani allies and are fearingthe spectre of extremism and lawlessnessthat ISI activity brings, India must aim toprovide them with an alternate regionaloption.

Some analysts, such as veteran jour-nalist and author Ahmed Rashid, haveeven gone on to claim that the Talibanwould prefer closer relations with Indianow. In contrast to Pakistan, which hasbacked terror groups that have onlybrought destruction and devastationupon the country, India has immense softpower in Afghanistan. Holding backfrom military intervention, while contin-uing to support Afghanistan economical-ly with Indian aid totalling more than $3billion now, has been an effective geo-political move.

Further strengthening this commit-ment, the Indian Government in mid-April sent medical and food supplies to aidthe Afghan Government in tacklingCOVID-19. If relations with the Talibanare not established in this new chapter ofAfghanistan, which will most likely see

them play a pivotal role, India will risksquandering its influence. Simultaneouslythough, India must also continue itsengagement with the democratic regimeand the northern ethnic minorities. It isequally important to remember that a sit-uation resembling the Afghan civil war ofthe late 90s, between the Taliban and theerstwhile Northern Alliance, is still verymuch a possibility.

In a situation of an all-out militarycampaign, where the Taliban might havean inclination to fall back on Pakistan forassistance, India must be ready to engagewith equivalent assistance in the form ofeconomic and humanitarian aid to theentities that will safeguard its interests.Some hawkish voices have even called forIndian boots on the ground in an effortto fill the void that will be left by the UStroops.

Yet, if history has taught us anything,after the British, Soviet and now US mis-adventure to stabilise Afghanistan, itwould be a terrible mistake to do so. It isimportant to remember that much of thegoodwill harboured by the Afghanstowards India has been due to our abili-ty to help them without intervening mil-itarily, an action which will be perceivedas hostile by many. No nation appreciatesthe idea of a foreign army on its soil —especially not Afghanistan.

In a situation which is constantlydeveloping and has the possibility of mul-tifarious outcomes, India must constant-ly try to pre-empt the status quo and buildties that will help assert its geo-politicalinterests. A stable and peaceful regime inAfghanistan, which censures terror activ-ity, is vital to India’s security interests.Deeming Afghanistan to be irrelevant, assome have, will only result in the weak-ening of India’s position in South Asia.

(The writer is with the School ofOriental and African Studies, University ofLondon)

The Taliban are re-evaluating ties with their Pak allies and are fearing the extremism that ISI activity

brings. India must provide them with an alternate regional option, says RANVIJAY SINGH

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

Beware thegrapes of wrath

MARKANDEY KATJU

Modi must set aside political differences and riseto the occasion by forming a national govt likeChurchill did, which will pull together in a crisis

IN A SITUATION OFAN ALL-OUT

MILITARYCAMPAIGN, WHERE

THE TALIBAN MIGHT HAVE ANINCLINATION TO

FALL BACK ONPAKISTAN FOR

ASSISTANCE, INDIA MUST BE

READY TO ENGAGEWITH EQUIVALENT

ASSISTANCE IN THEFORM OF ECONOMICAND HUMANITARIAN

AID TO THE ENTITIES THAT

WILL SAFEGUARDITS INTERESTS.SOME HAWKISH

VOICES HAVE EVENCALLED FOR INDIAN

BOOTS ON THEGROUND IN AN

EFFORT TO FILL THEVOID THAT WILL BE

LEFT BY THE USTROOPS. YET, IF

HISTORY HASTAUGHT US

ANYTHING, AFTERTHE BRITISH,

SOVIET AND NOWUS MISADVENTURE

TO STABILISEAFGHANISTAN, IT

WOULD BE ATERRIBLE MISTAKE

TO DO SO

The media has repeatedly been showing heartbreakingvideos/images of hundreds of thousands of out-of-workmigrant labourers heading for their villages, hundreds of kilo-

metres away. They have been braving the searing heat, hunger andthirst as they try to reach home under terrible conditions. While somewere able to get on the trains meant to carry them back to their States,most were left to their own devices. Most decided to walk home andthere have been cases of people dying out of sheer exhaustion andlack of nutrition on the way, as they were forced to stick to back roads,railway tracks and fields to avoid being caught and punished by police-men for violating the nationwide lockdown that has been on for thelast 45 days now. The most recent tragedy to hit the migrants wasthe mowing down of 15 exhausted workers in Aurangabad, who hadgone off to sleep on the railway tracks and got crushed by a goodstrain early in the morning. There is no doubt that the lockdown hascaused a lot of hardship and suffering to these people and their fam-ilies. But the more important question, which nobody asks, is this:What will these people do on getting home?

The workers had migrated to the cities in search of jobs as therewere none available in their villages. The population has increasedfrom about 40-45 crore in 1947 in undivided India to about 135 croretoday, minus Pakistan and Bangladesh. This is a population increaseof about four times! There is, therefore, too much of a burden on thecultivable land. Moreover, machinery has partially displaced farm labour.So, for both these reasons, people migrated to cities in large num-bers after 1947 as they had no source of income in the villages. Itis estimated that in 1947 a whopping 85 per cent of Indians wereliving in villages and only 15 per cent were in the cities. Today it isbelieved that only 60-65 per cent live in villages and 35-40 per centare in the cities.

Now, to send crores of people who had migrated to the townsback to their villages raises the question of the lack of livelihood yetagain. There is no work for them in their villages. They will only becomea burden on their relatives and would hardly be welcome there. Inthe towns they were earning some money which they would sendback to their wives and children living in the village. Now their wiveswould hardly be happy at their return as they would not earn for theirfamilies, rather they would need to be fed by someone.

One is reminded of John Steinbeck’s great novel Grapes of Wrathwhich is about migrants who fled to California from Oklahoma, Texas,Arkansas and some other US States after they lost their livelihoodbecause of the dust storms and recession in the 1930s. They thoughtthey would get jobs in California but found that they were unwelcomethere as local workers thought they would depress wages and bringin diseases. Because of these factors the migrant workers faced greathostility from the locals. Steinbeck writes, “Ripe grapes spill their juiceswhen pressed for wine. Similarly, the migrants were ripe with wrathand boiling with anger that was ready to spill forth. In their souls, thegrapes of wrath were filling and growing heavy.” The same can besaid of conditions in India today. Unless there is some drastic reme-dial measure by the Government, food riots and civil disorders maybreak out soon in many parts of the country.

This happened in France in 1789 because of the bread short-ages in Paris and other cities, leading up to the French Revolution.Something similar happened in St Petersburg in Russia, when womendemonstrated in February 1917 on International Women’s Day demand-ing bread, causing the February Revolution.

In my opinion the Prime Minister should now seriously consid-er forming a National Government, including leaders of the presentOpposition parties and also some scientists, technical and adminis-trative experts. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had done thisin May 1940 when faced with the looming danger of invasion by NaziGermany. This National Government functioned from May 1940 toMay 1945 when the World War-II ended. During this period there wereno Opposition parties in the British Parliament, since the Oppositionhad joined the Government. Churchill, who was of the majorityConservative Party remained the Prime Minister, but Clement Atlee,the leader of the Opposition Labour Party, became the Deputy PrimeMinister. There were others from the Labour Party too, who joinedthe Government.

In my opinion, with respect to Prime Minister Modi, the criticalproblems facing the country today are too big for him and his partyto handle alone. The economy is sinking rapidly and the pandemichas greatly aggravated the situation. We are facing a danger of epicproportions. Food riots may break out anytime and law and order maycollapse, leading to anarchy. So what is needed today is the com-bined effort of the whole nation. So, dear Prime Minister, please setaside political differences and rise to the occasion by forming a NationalGovernment which will pull together in a crisis. You will be hailed asa great statesman, like Churchill, if you do so.

(The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.)

Agricultural extension is aform of informal educationthat aims at transfer of scien-

tific interventions to farmers andcollection of feedback from them.The ultimate aim is to introduce thelatest technical know-how in agri-culture and allied activities such asdairy, poultry, apiculture, marketingand so on. The use of effective tools,vernacular languages and groupdynamics marks the effectiveness ofany extension programme.

Apart from the other challengesthat plague agricultural extension,

the ongoing Coronavirus pandem-ic has compelled us to think andplan about its future in India.

Normally, agriculture exten-sion services are mainly provided bythe functionaries of State depart-ments of agriculture and local vol-untary organisations.

The Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) start-ed its extension activities with theNational Demonstration project in1964. Further, the Krishi VigyanKendra (KVK) was introduced in1974 to offer need-based and skill-oriented training to farmers andextension workers. Then the Lab toLand Programme was launched in1979 to improve the economic con-dition of small, marginal farmersand landless agricultural labourers.

KVKs are considered to be thefront runners in providing extensionservices to farmers even in theremotest districts of the country.The mandate of KVKs isTechnology Assessment and

Demonstration for widerApplication and to enhanceCapacity Development (TADA-CD). The target is horizontal expan-sion of proven agricultural technolo-gies through on-farm testing (OFT),frontline demonstrations (FLDs),farmers’ trainings, vocational train-ings for rural youth, interactionmeetings between scientists andextension functionaries, field daysand Kisan Melas. At present thereare 713 KVKs under the adminis-trative control of State and CentralAgricultural Universities (498),ICAR Institutes (63), NGOs (101),State Governments (38) and othereducational institutions (13).

In recent years, KVKs are per-forming the duties of primaryawareness centres for all Centrally-sponsored schemes in the ruraland agricultural sector. During thelockdown period also, KVKs are cre-ating awareness among rural house-holds for taking precautionary mea-sures in their farms to avoid the

spread of the Coronavirus.However, extension activities

such as training of farmers, ruralyouth and extension functionariesrequire a minimum gathering of 20to 25 people at one place. On theother hand, organisation of KisanMelas, field days on specificcrop/enterprise, farmers’ seminarsand campaigns involve the build-upof more than 100 farmers.

One of the modern extensionapproaches recommended for dou-bling farmers’ incomes are SelfHelp Groups (SHGs), farmers clubsand so on. These are formed toboost group activities so as to bringeconomies of scale in farmingthrough better resource manage-ment.

Farmers, as producers of agri-cultural products, can form groupsand register themselves under theIndian Companies Act to formFarmer Producer Organisations(FPOs). The aim is to improve thebargaining power of farmers

through building of resources andsocial capital. The Governmentintends to set up 10,000 FPOs overthe next five years in different fieldsof agriculture, including value addi-tion and processing of fruits, vegeta-bles and meat products.

Cluster frontline demonstra-tions (CFLDs) on oilseeds and puls-es, traditional agriculture develop-ment plan and so on, are among themajor extension programmes ofthe Ministry of Agriculture andFarmers’ Welfare which employs acluster approach for sustainableproduction in agriculture.

Further, agricultural market-ing covers so many activities whichinvolve interaction of multiple stake-holders at one place. Starting fromprimary rural/village markets towholesale regulated markets, allinvolve direct contact of manyfarmers, intermediaries and con-sumers to do interconnected activ-ities for completing the supplychain of agricultural products.

However, there are a large num-ber of agricultural services that areeffectively managed by IT applica-tions, including accessibility to mar-kets, training, capacity-building,collection of feedback from farmersand so on. The creation of an ITinfrastructure has been an integralpart of the Government’s strategy foreffective delivery of services.

The National e-GovernancePlan (NeGP) was introduced in2006 to make all Government ser-vices available to citizens via theelectronic media. Approximately, 45per cent of the world’s ICT projectsare implemented in India, with themaximum number of informationkiosks being in rural India.

E-agriculture initiatives suchas Agrisnet, Digital green, eSagu,Agmarknet, eArik, VillageKnowledge Centers (VKCs), SMSPortal/mKisan Portal, Kisan CallCenters (KCCs) and so on, are suc-cessfully rendering agriculturalextension services.

Mobile apps like Kisan Suvidha,Pusa Krishi, Krishi Gyan, Cropinsurance, Agri Market and IFFCOKisan Agriculture and so on, are alsopopular among farmers and exten-sion functionaries.

Despite the availability of the e-platform for extension services inagriculture, the usage by farmers,even the youth, remains very low.

Looking at the current mindsetand the need for social distancing inthe wake of the pandemic, organ-ising agricultural extension activi-ties in the country will be a hugechallenge.

Taking into consideration thesuccess of group dynamics in agri-cultural extension, there is an urgentneed to devise alternative method-ologies for offering uninterruptedextension services to the clientele,apart from ICT.

(The writer is Scientist, AgrilEconomics, Sher-e-KashmirUniversity of Agricultural Sciencesand Technology)

Covid poses a challenge to agricultural extensionDespite the availability of the e-platform for extension services in agriculture, the usage by farmers, even the youth,

remains very low in the country. This must be addressed on an urgent basis

PAWAN KUMAR SHARMA

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexended 199 points higher onFriday, propelled by stronggains in index-heavyweightReliance Industries and pos-itive cues from global mar-kets.

After rallying 645.13 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareindex surrendered most gainsto settle 199.32 points or 0.63per cent higher at 31,642.70.

Similarly, NSE Nifty rose52.45 points, or 0.57 per cent,to finish at 9,251.50.

Hindustan Unilever wasthe top gainer in the Sensexpack, rallying over 4 per cent,followed by Nestle India, TechMahindra and SunPharma.

Reliance Industrieswas the biggest contrib-utor to the gains onthe index, jumpingover 3 per cent afterthe companya n n o u n c e dthat US-basedprivate equity firmVista Equity Partnerswill buy 2.32 per centstake in Jio Platformsfor Rs 11,367 crore.

On the other

hand, NTPC, M&M, AxisBank and IndusInd Bankwere among the laggards.

According to traders,besides stock-specific action,firm cues from global marketsand strong foreign fundinflows enthused buyingactivity in the domestic mar-

ket.Foreign portfolio investors

purchased equities worth anet Rs 19,056.49 crore in thecapital market in the previoussession, provisional exchangedata showed.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul endedwith substantial gains asmoves to ease lockdown mea-sures and reopen economiesaround the world fuelled pos-itive investor sentiment.

Top stock exchanges inEurope were also trading ona positive note in their open-ing sessions.

Globally, the number ofcases linked to

the dis-ease hasc r o s s e d38.46 lakhand thedeath tol l

has topped 2.69lakh.

In India, thedeath toll due toCOVID-19 roseto 1,886 and thenumber of casesclimbed to56,342, accord-ing to the healthministry.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Zydus Cadilalaunches genericprostate cancerdrugNEW DELHI: Drug firm ZydusCadila on Friday said it haslaunched generic Enzalutamidecapsules used for thetreatment of prostate cancerwhich costs nearly 70 per centless than the currentlyavailable similar products inIndia. The company's productunder the brand name 'Obnyx'is priced at Rs 23,980 permonth. The current maximumretail price (MRP) ofEnzalutamide drug rangesfrom Rs 70,000 to 80,000 fora monthly therapy, ZydusCadila said in a statement.This price reduction willbenefit many prostate cancerpatients to adhere to thetreatment, it added. "Our aimis to make a preferred choiceof therapy like Obynx availableand more accessible to peoplesuffering from cancer.

COVID-19 hit:Indian pharmaexports miss target,stand at $ 20.58 bnHyderabad: The Indianpharmaceutical sector hasbeen affected by the COVID-19lockdown as exports haveregistered USD 20.58 billionduring the 2019-20 financialyear as against the targetedUSD 22 billion in the previousfiscal. Despite this, there was7.57 per cent overall growth inexports in FY '20 over 2018-19, a press release from thePharmaceuticals ExportPromotion Council, a bodyunder the Ministry ofCommerce, said on Friday.Though the exports starteddoing well in 2019-20 and ithas been a good year for thefirst three quarters withumulative growth rate of 11.5per cent during April-December 2019, the growthrate in February and Marchhas gone down recording 7.7per cent and -23.24 per centrespectively, resulting in thenegative growth of - 2.97 percent in the fourth quarter, therelease said.

BASF India receivesRs 85-cr demandnotice from K'takatax dept for FY14NEW DELHI: Chemical makerBASF India Ltd on Friday saidit has received a demandnotice of Rs 85.19 crore fromKarnataka's tax department forthe fiscal year 2013-14. In aregulatory filing, the companysaid it had earlier receiveddemand notices fromCommercial Tax Department,Karnataka for the periods2006-2010, 2010-13, 2014-15and 2015-16 as it treated thestock transfers of thecompany's Mangalore plant asinterstate sales to dealers.Subsequently, the companygot a stay for the periods2006-2010, 2010-11 and2014-15 by the KarnatakaAppellate Tribunal, it added.

Record excise duty hike unlikelyto help bridge fiscal gap: ReportPNS n MUMBAI

The record excise duty hike onpetrol and diesel will not helpthe government bridge the fis-cal gap as planned, nor will ithelp boost economic growth asconsumption demand will fur-ther be crippled, warns a report.Despite crude prices trading ata two decades low, the govern-ment had earlier this weekhiked excise duty on petrol byRs 10 a litre and on diesel by Rs13 a litre to mop up nearly Rs1.6 lakh crore in additional rev-enue this fiscal.

With this the new effectiveexcise duty on petrol is Rs32.98/litre and diesel is Rs31.83/litre.

Following the record hike inexcise duty on petrol and diesel,the total incidence of taxationon auto fuels jumped to 70 percent of the retail price. But theretail prices are not impacted asthe hike completely wipes outthe fall in crude prices.

"We continue to expect fis-cal slippage of 2 per cent ofGDP in overall fiscal deficitdespite the oil tax hike of 0.7per cent of GDP or around Rs1.6 lakh crore," Wall Street

brokerage Bank ofAmerica Securities Indiasaid in a note on Friday.

Its 200 bps fiscal slippageis based on the assumption ofanother 30 bps fiscal stim-ulus to small andmedium-sized enter-prises (SMEs), state-run banks and real-tors.

"We expect the gov-ernment to announceanother fiscal stimulusof 0.3 per cent of GDPfor SMEs, real estate andbanks to support growth.This will likely push up fis-cal deficit to 4.8 per cent ofGDP, overshooting the FY21budget target, by 130 bps.

"Accordingly, the states' fis-cal deficit will also rise 50-100bps above our expected 3.1 percent of GDP,” says the report.

The report also doubted thesustainability of the oil tax dri-ven fiscal management as itremains to be seen if the taxhike is sustainable as the Brentcrude is projected to climb toUSD 39 a barrel by theDecember quarter. The revenuegain of close to Rs 1.6 lakh crorewill make sense only if the cur-

rent prices sustain, and demandde-growth reverses, it said.

The budget had revisedupwards the fiscal deficit targetto 3.5 per cent for the currentfiscal, against the previously setglide path of 3.2 per cent. And

this report pegs a 200 bps slip-page to this target for the year.

Calling for more fiscal stim-ulus measures to tide over the

COVID-19 pandemic, itforecasts an "additional 30bps of GDP fiscal stimulus,atop the 35 bps alreadydone, focusing on SMEs,real estate and state-runbank recapitalization,shortly."

On growth, thereport said best casescenario offers 1.5per cent growth inFY21, lower thanthe 2 per centgrowth many oth-ers have pencilledin. Even this 1.5per cent growthis dependent onmore fiscal andmonetary stimu-lus and the Bank

of America economists expectthe Reserve Bank to slash thereverse repo by another 50bps to 3.25 per cent by October.“As it is, we see a 100 bps down-side risk to our 1.5 per centFY21 growth forecast if thelockdown extends to June, withthe restart taking up July.

Despitecrudeprices

trading at atwo decades

low, thegovernment had

earlier this weekhiked exciseduty on petrolby Rs 10 a litre

and on diesel by Rs13 a litre to mop upnearly Rs 1.6 lakhcrore in additionalrevenue this fiscal

Sensex ends 199 pts higher;Reliance Industries rallies over 3 pc

Foreign portfolioinvestorspurchasedequities worth anet Rs 19,056.49cr in the capital

market inthe

previoussession

Reliance strikes third deal in twoweeks, sells 2.32 pc in Jio PlatformsPNS n NEW DELHI

Reliance Industries on Fridayannounced the sale of 2.32 percent stake in its digital unit toUS-based Vista Equity Partnersfor Rs 11,367 crore, the thirddeal in a little over two weeksthat will inject a combined Rs60,596.37 crore in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to help itpare debt.

The US-based private equityfirm will buy a stake in JioPlatforms, which houses thecountry's youngest but biggest

telecom firmJio, at anequity value

of Rs 4.91crore and an

enterprise value of Rs 5.16crore.

"Vista's investment will trans-late into a 2.32 per cent equitystake on a fully diluted basis,making Vista the largest investorin Jio Platforms behind RelianceIndustries and Facebook," thecompany said in a statement.

The deal follows Facebookpicking up a 9.99 per cent stakein Jio Platforms on April 22 for

Rs 43,574 crore. Within days ofthat deal, Silver Lake - theworld's largest tech investor -

bought a1.15 per cent stake in JioPlatforms for Rs 5,665.75 crore.

"Jio Platforms has now raisedRs 60,596.37 crore from leadingtechnology investors in less

than three weeks," the compa-ny said.

Vista co-founder Brian Shethis half-Indian and his fatherhails from Gujarat. Relianceowner and richest IndianMukesh Ambani, who alsocomes from Gujarat, is said tohave personal connections withthe private equity firm's founderRobert Smith.

The discussions were led byAmbani's close aide ManojModi and Sheth.

Strategic and financialinvestors are to form 20 per centof Jio Platforms. Between thethree deals, Reliance has sold13.46 per cent of Jio Platformsand more such investments arelikely in near future.

Ambani, 63, chairman andmanaging director of Reliance,had in August last year set a tar-get of March 2021, to make hisconglomerate net debt-free. Butthanks to the Facebook deal, aRs 53,125 crore rights issue,Silver Lake and Vista Equityinvestments, and more stakesale to companies such as SaudiAramco, the target is likely to beachieved by December.

Reliance Industriesannounced thesale of 2.32 percent stake in itsdigital unit to US-based Vista EquityPartners for Rs 11,367 crore

Many expect Covid crisis to end sooner locallyPNS n MUMBAI

Indians are more optimisticthan people globally withregard to the COVID-19 crisisas most in the country feel thatthe pandemic will end soonerlocally, by May-end or the endof July, a survey has revealed.

Nearly half of respondents inIndia believe the situation willresolve in the country in thenext three months, but somethink it may take longer,according to the data byLondon-headquartered globalmarket research and data com-pany Yougov.

Even though some countrieshave managed to control thespread of coronavirus with nonew cases in the last few days,Indians are more likely to

believe the COVID-19 crisiswill get resolved sooner inIndia than it will globally, itadded.

Nearly half (48 per cent)think the pandemic is likely to

end in India by end of May orend of July, which is higherthan the number of peoplehoping for the same to happenglobally within this time frame(40 per cent).

Fewer Indians (32 per cent)think it may take longer (endof August- end of October) tillthe crisis resolves in India, butthe number of people sayingthis for the situation changingglobally is slightly higher- at 36per cent, the survey has found.

Fewer than this, both local-ly (7 per cent) and globally (10per cent) think the pandemicmay last till the end of the year(end of November- end ofDecember) till it is under con-

trol, the survey added.The survey was done online

by YouGov Omnibus among900 adult respondents in Indiabetween April 28 and May 1through YouGov's panel of oversix million people worldwide.The survey further revealedthat Indians are most likely tovisit public places once localCOVID-19 cases are undercontrol, but likely to return towork once the government nor-malises movement.

Nearly half of respondents in Indiabelieve the situation will resolve in thecountry in the next three months, butsome think it may take longer

Qatar Airways plans torebuild flight networkin phased manner PNS nMUMBAI

Persian Gulf carrier QatarAirways, which reportedly plansto lay off an unspecified num-ber of employees in the wake ofthe coronavirus outbreak, said itwill rebuild its flight network ina phased manner starting thismonth. As part of this plan, theairline is looking to resumeflights to India by June, subjectto regulatory approval, Qatar air-ways said in arelease. At present,the airline continues tooperate flights to morethan 30 destinationsaround the world.

By the end of May, theairline plans to grow its networkback to over 50 destinations(subject to approvals), resumingservices to cities such as Manila,Amman, and Nairobi while afurther number of destinationsare planned to be added by theend of June. Qatar Airways willbe operating flights on

Ahmedabad, Amritsar,Bangalore, Mumbai, Calicut,Kolkata, Kochi, New Delhi,Goa, Hyderabad, Chennai andTrivandrum routes by end ofJune, it said.

The gradual expansion willfocus initially on strengtheningconnections between the airline'shub in Doha with the globalhubs of its partner airlinesaround the world includingLondon, Chicago, Dallas andHong Kong. It will also

look at

reopen-ing many major business andleisure destinations such asMadrid and Mumbai, QatarAirways said. According to areport, Qatar Airways onWednesday said it will lay offstaff as the coronavirus pandem-ic has largely grounded theglobal aviation industry.

Moody's pegsIndia's FY21 GDPgrowth at 0%PNS n NEW DELHI

Moody's Investors Service onFriday projected India'sgrowth at zero per cent for thecurrent fiscal and said the neg-ative outlook on sovereignrating reflectsi n c re a s i n grisks thatGDP growthwill remainsignificantlylower than inthe past.

The outlook also partlyshows weaker policy effective-ness to address economic andinstitutional issues, it noted inthe update to its November2019 rating forecast.

Stating that the negativeoutlook indicates that anupgrade is unlikely in thenear term, Moody's said high

government debt, weak socialand physical infrastructure,and a fragile financial sectorface further pressures due tothe coronavirus outbreak.

Moody's had, in November2019, affirmed India's 'Baa2'

rating butrevised down-ward the out-look to nega-tive from sta-ble on con-cerns of lowere c o n o m i c

growth. 'Baa2' is an investment

grade rating with moderatecredit risk, and is two notch-es above the junk grade.

The negative outlookreflects increasing risks thateconomic growth will remainsignificantly lower than in thepast, it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Adani Gas Ltd on Fridayreported a 61 per cent rise instandalone net profit to Rs 122crore for fourth quarter endedMarch 31.

The company had posted anet profit of Rs 76 crore in theyear-ago period.

Adani Gas, which retailsCNG to automobiles andpiped natural gas to householdkitchens and industries, sawsales volumes rise 3 per centto 145 million cubic metres,the firm said in a statement.

However, revenue fromoperations was 1 per centlower at Rs 490 crore.

The company did not givereasons for lower revenuesand higher profit.

"The recent unfortunateCOVID-19 event and the con-sequential nationwide lock-down in India has impactedthe current ongoing demandof CNG and PNG (piped nat-ural gas) by industrial andcommercial segments," thestatement said.

City gas distribution fallsunder essential services andAdani Gas Ltd (AGL) said itwill ensure that during thisperiod of crisis, the supply ofPNG and CNG is maintainedwithout any interruption.

"Currently, with over 95 percent of volume coming fromthe operational geographicalareas (GAs), makes the busi-ness quite resilient," it said. Weexpect to continue to generatehealthy cash flows from oper-ations going forward."

The company said capitalcontribution for infrastruc-ture development in new GAshas been made from theaccruals of the company.

AIIB approves USD 500 mn loan tosupport India's fight against Covid-19PNS n NEW DELHI

The Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank (AIIB) hasapproved a loan of USD 500million to support India'sefforts to fight the COVID-19pandemic, the Beijing-head-quartered multilateral lendingagency said on Friday.

AIIB's COVID-19 CrisisRecovery Facility, created aspart of the coordinated interna-tional response tocounter theCOVID-19 pan-demic, hasan initialsize ofUSD 5 toUSD 10 bil-lion to support itsmembers' urgent econom-ic, financial and public healthpressures and quick recovery

from the coronavirus crisis."The AIIB Board of Directors

has approved a loan of USD 500million to support India'sefforts to prevent, detect andrespond to the threat posed byCOVID-19 by strengtheningthe preparedness of the coun-try's national health system," itsaid.

The project is funded byAIIB's COVID-19 Crisis

Recovery Facility cre-ated to adapt to

urgent financingneeds of theBank's mem-

bers impactedby the pan-demic, it said.

The IndiaC O V I D - 1 9

E m e r g e n c yResponse and Health SystemsPreparedness Project, cofi-

nanced with the World Bank,will support India in address-ing significant challenges posedto the public health system,AIIB said.

"The financing will enablethe Government of India toscale up efforts to limit thetransmission of cases, strength-en the health system to expandits response capacity andenhance preparedness to man-age future outbreaks," it said.

The project also supports thepurchase of medical equip-ment, enhanced disease detec-tion capabilities and research.

It is expected to address theneeds of infected people, at-riskpopulations, medical andemergency personnel and ser-vice providers at medical andtesting facilities as well asnational and animal healthagencies.

Procter & GambleMarch qtr profit atRs 91 crorePNS n NEW DELHI

Procter & Gamble Hygieneand Health Care Ltd onFriday reported a marginalrise of 1.09 per cent in netprofit at Rs 91.10 crore forthe March quarter 2020 as thelockdown impacted its busi-ness operations.

The FMCG firm, whichfollows July-June financialyear, reported a profit of Rs90.11 crore in the year-agoperiod.

Net sales were down 6.19per cent to Rs 656.05 crore inthe latest quarter as against Rs699.34 crore in the year-agosame period, P&G said in aBSE filing.

“The company was fore-casting high single digit salesgrowth for the quarter beforethe lockdown.

Rico AutoIndustriesresumesoperationsPNS n NEW DELHI

Rico Auto Industries onFriday said it has resumedoperations at several plantsacross the country followingrelaxation of guidelines by thegovernment in the thirdphase of the coronaviruslockdown. The auto compo-nents maker said its plants atDharuhera, Bawal, Pathredi,Gurugram, Haridwar andHalol have resumed opera-tions between April 27 andMay 8.

However, the Chennaiplant is yet to reopenalthough the company hasreceived permission to restartfunctions, the company saidin a regulatory filing.

Operation will be started inremaining facilities shortlyafter complying with the dueregulations, it added.

Rupee settles 18 paise higherat 75.54 against US dollarPNS n MUMBAI

The rupee appreciated 18 paiseto provisionally settle at 75.54against the US dollar on Friday,tracking higher domestic equi-ties and weakness in theAmerican currency. Forextraders said positive cues fromdomestic equities and signifi-cant foreign fund inflows sup-ported the local unit. At theinterbank foreign exchange,the rupee opened at 75.36,then pared some initial gains to

finally close at 75.54 against theUS dollar, registering a rise of18 paise over its previous close.

During the day, the domes-tic unit hit an intra-day high of75.27 and a low of 75.59 againstthe US dollar. On Wednesday,the rupee had settled at 75.72against the US dollar. Forexmarket was closed on Thursdayon account of BuddhaPurnima.

Domestic bourses were trad-ing on a positive note with thebenchmark Sensex trading

316.53 points higher at31,759.91 and broader Nifty up83.90 points at 9,282.95.

Foreign institutionalinvestors were net buyers in thecapital market, as they boughtequity shares worth Rs19,056.49 crore on Thursday,according to provisionalexchange data. Meanwhile, thedollar index, which gauges thegreenback's strength against abasket of six currencies, wastrading 0.05 per cent down at99.84.

Adani Gas reports 61pc rise in Q4 net profit

Great Bombay Circus on its last legs?ndia’s oldest circus,the Great BombayCircus, marks itscentenary this year.The troupe has beenentertaining people

since the 1920s. However, thisyear could be their last yearbecause of the implementationof the lockdown due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The oldest circus company inIndia last performed in TamilNadu until early February,when the number of peoplewho came to watch the circusdrastically reduced by eachpassing day. Once theCoronavirus precautionary

measures were imposed, thecircus had to stop their shows.

A total of 134 artists, includ-ing nine Ethiopia and 19 Nepalnationals, along with their per-forming animals have beenstuck in Mannargudi in TamilNadu for close to two monthsnow. Of the 134, 27 are womenwho are accommodated inrental homes. Most of the menare reportedly fending forthemselves in tents on the cir-cus site.

The workers say that thoughtheir boss had been payingthem their salaries, but even heis running dry. Soon, the ownerwon't be able to afford fund

them.“It’s been more than a month

and a half since the shows havebeen stopped. Our boss haspaid us our salaries and beenable to feed us so far, but he’salso running dry now and isnot being able to afford to pro-vide us with food and shelter,with the circus being shut forso long,” says Tulsi DasChoudary, one of the oldestmembers in the troupe, hasbeen working with them for thelast 61 years now. He’s survivedtwo cancers and wants to keepperforming with the troupe tillhe dies.

Camels, horses, ostriches,

dogs, and parrots are to betaken care of. The artists’salaries, food, shelter, andmaintenance expenses per dayare said to come up to Rs 90,000. As of now, workerssay, local authorities and a fewdonors have been supplyingessential items like rice, dal,vegetables, etc to cook.

“We couldn’t go back home,and now our owner is alsofinding it difficult to fund us. Ifwe don’t get any help now, thiscircus might have to shut downforever. What will we do?” Tulsiadds.

“This is where I have earnedrespect and been loved since

childhood, the circus is ourhome. Till today we have pro-vided entertainment for youand your children, if you don’thelp us now, our owner mightnot be able to support us any-more, and this circus, ourhome, might have to be shutdown forever. Please help us,we’re at your mercy,” he adds.

A fund raising campaign hasstarted on Milaap.org to helpthese stranded artists survivethis pandemic and help themsave the circus.

The workers are looking forpeople to donate so they cankeep their shows going post thelockdown. — PNS

I

CAMELS, HORSES, OSTRICHES, DOGS, AND PARROTSARE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF. THE ARTISTS’ SALARIES,FOOD, SHELTER, AND MAINTENANCE EXPENSES PERDAY ARE SAID TO COME UP TO RS 90,000. AS OFNOW, WORKERS SAY, LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND AFEW DONORS HAVE BEEN SUPPLYING ESSENTIALITEMS LIKE RICE, DAL, VEGETABLES, ETC TO COOK.

esearchers, busi-ness profession-als and innova-tors of variouscountries aroundthe globe are

using technology to allevi-ate the effects of the globalhealth crisis.

From monitoring plat-forms that track the spreadof the virus to finding pas-sive vaccines to clinical tri-als to drone deliveries —these are a few of the differ-ent technology projectsused by Israel to fightCoronavirus.

COVID-19 REMOTEASSESSMENT ANDMONITORING PLAT-FORM

It is a triage and monitor-ing platform that allowsofficials to monitor theprogress of the disease andalerts health providers ofpatients at risk. A sympto-matic Coronavirus heatmap is leveraged to locateCoronavirus symptomaticpatients, and track the pathof the pandemic. The infor-mation provides data-basedguidance on next steps forpatients, providers andpublic health agencies.

Currently it is in-usewith the Ministry of Health,the emergency services, andall major HMOs in Israel,with the Department ofHealth in the State ofOdisha, India, and with theDepartment of Health inthe State of Rhode Island.Diagnostic Robotics haspartnered with Deloitte andSalesforce for seamless inte-gration to all Salesforce cus-tomers and is a member ofthe COVID-19 HealthcareCoalition, alongsideAmazon, Google, MayoClinic and others.

It provides an AI layerfor the healthcare system,providing services topatients, providers andinsurers. Their AI-drivenpersonalised triage systemguides the patients throughtheir journey in the medicalecosystem, analysing theirmedical history and current

medical case using AI andNLP technologies, withgeneric ability to integratewith multiple sensory out-put data.

The Israeli Ministry ofHealth has developed aCOVID-19 strategy whichincludes daily nation-widemonitoring of Coronavirusrelated symptoms of thepopulation usingDiagnostic Robotics digitalrisk assessment and moni-toring platform forCOVID-19, screening eightmillion patients daily.

DRONE DELIVERIESDrone technology com-

pany Flytrex, in partnershipwith EASE Drones, theGrand Forks RegionEconomic DevelopmentCorporation and the City ofGrand Forks, announcedthe launch of its dronedelivery service directly tobackyards in Grand Forks,North Dakota. The initia-tive will provide food, med-icine and other essentialgoods via drone to selectedhouseholds.

The deliveries will bemade in cooperation withthe Northern PlainsUnmanned Aerial SystemTest Site (NPUASTS), withtakeoffs taking place acrossthe street from a local shop-ping supercenter, whereprovisions will be pur-chased. “In this time of cri-sis and social distancing,drones provide the idealsolution to bolster deliverycapacity while keeping citi-zens safe at home,” saidFlytrex CEO Yariv Bash.

POWER THE VIDEOEXPERIENCE

Kaltura has emerged asthe fastest growing videoplatform. Various compa-nies are using it to buildknowledge, improve teamproductivity and collabo-rate. It also engages viewersand facilitates the deliveryof message more effectively.From executive messagingto live streaming of events,it ensures high quality, reli-able playback for viewers

and powerful, easy-to-usetools for producers. Kalturaalso trains employees,faster, and more cost effec-tively.

MOBILE SPORTSTRAINING PLATFORM

Legend is an immersivemobile sports training plat-form that engages youngathletes, by providing a vir-tual, AI driven, trainer. Itenables the young athletes

to train and compete withtheir friends and participatein the global communitythrough unique daily andweekly workouts, chal-

lenges and competitions.

PLASMA-DERIVEDANTI-CORONAIMMUNOGLOBULIN

(PASSIVE VACCINE) Kamada is developing an

anti-Corona (SARS-COV-2) immunoglobulin (pas-sive vaccine) using its pro-

pri-etary plasma derived FDA-approved platform technol-ogy, as a potential treat-ment for patients from thedisease. The product isbeing produced from plas-ma donated by patientsrecovering from COVID-19, which is expected toinclude antibodies to theCoronavirus.

CLINICAL TRIALS Pluristem Therapeutics

(NASDAQ, TASE: PSTI) isa leading regenerative med-icine company developing aplatform of novel biologicalproducts candidates. Thecompany has reportedrobust clinical trial data inmultiple indications and iscurrently conducting latestage clinical trials in sever-al indications.

R Monitoring platforms that track the spread of the virus, passive

vaccines, clinical trials anddrone deliveries are a few

of the spectrum oftechnologies used by Israel

to fight against thepandemic

DRONE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY FLYTREX, IN PARTNERSHIP WITHEASE DRONES, THE GRAND FORKS REGION ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND THE CITY OF GRAND FORKS,ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF ITS DRONE DELIVERY SERVICEDIRECTLY TO BACKYARDS IN GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA. THEINITIATIVE WILL PROVIDE FOOD, MEDICINE AND OTHERESSENTIAL GOODS VIA DRONE TO SELECTED HOUSEHOLDS

LIVING WITH THE VIRUS

SaturdayMay 9, 2020

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

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10

Vijayawada Saturday May 9 2020 what’s brewing?

MUMS, giftyourself a dayof detox

MUMS, giftyourself a dayof detox

others Day isaround the cor-ner, so go aheadand plan someguilt free 'me-time.'

While you spend most ofthe days in lockdown work-ing and taking care of theneeds of family and home, it'stime to take care of yourself.Try a special skin detox ses-sion for a refreshing breakfrom her daily hustle and forsome rest and relaxation.

Dr Geetika Mittal, a con-sulting dermatologist atCetaphil believes a rejuve-nating detox session is theperfect way to unwind. Sheshares five simple ways topamper yourself onMother's Day:

M

MAKE A REFRESHING SUMMER COOLERA common recommendation for good healthand great immunity is Vitamin C. With sum-mers setting in, make a refreshing lemonadewith mint leaves and honey. This will leave youfeeling rejuvenated and will help detox youbody as well add a natural radiance to her skin.

CLEANSING BATHUsing right bathing productssuch as a cup of unfilteredapple cider vinegar and a fewdrops of olive oil or a few dropsof lemon juice in lukewarmwater will help you feelrefreshed.With these simple skin detoxtips, you can give yourself a dayyou really deserves.

COOK AFRESHHEALTHYMEALFor just sevendays, make hersome healthydelicious mealsloaded with fruitnuts, dry fruit,vegetables andgreens. Pleaseensure they arecleaned thor-oughly thoughand don't allowthe grumbling atthe table to getthe better of you.

BALANCEDSKINCAREROUTINEAs mothers repre-sent the epitome ofgentle care, youneed to care foryour skin too.Ensure you have theright set of productsto cleanse and mois-turise. The rightchoice of productsare is naturally ful-filling and basicallyhelp to enhance thecells and help theremoval of skinimpurities in amuch easier man-ner, thus improvingoverall health.

LIGHT EXERCISINGOpt for light yoga asanas, simple stretch-

ing and meditation to help feel at ease.This will help relieve stress and get rid

of muscle stiffness too. After all, abit of sweating is essential.

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

Australian opener David Warner saysit is unlikely that the T20 World Cup

will be staged in his country in October-November because of the Covid-19 pan-demic.

“The ICC World Cup will not goahead here by the looks of it. It will bedifficult to get everyone (16 teams)together,” said Warner in an InstagramLive session with India’s batting star RohitSharma.

However, the International CricketCouncil is yet to take the final call on theT20 showpiece event.

During the chat, Rohit said India’stour of Australia, which is scheduled afterthe T20 World Cup, will be a “great way”to restart international calendar.

“I love playing against Australia.When we won last time (in 2019), it wasgreat for us. You guys (Warner and SteveSmith) were missing (due to ball-tamper-ing bans).

“What our bowlers and batters didthere was amazing. I am looking forwardto the upcoming tour already. Hope bothboards manage to get the series under-way. Will be a great way to kick off crick-et in the world,” said India’s limited oversvice-captain.

India won their first Test series inAustralia, and Warner said he was feel-

ing helpless watching his team lose.“Watching that series was hard as you

can’t do anything from the outside. ButI want to say that India has the best paceattack against left-handers. They zero in

one spot and keep bowling there.“Mentally, it was great for Indian

cricket but it was hard to watch. I felthelpless. Hope it does happen and look-ing forward to the battle,” said Warner.

The Australian said playing India inIndia is one of the toughest challenges inworld cricket.

“I love playing India in india.Everyone is against you. Hard conditions.Same for you (Rohit) when you comehere,” he said.

Warner is also not enthused by theidea of playing in front of empty stands,like Australia did against New Zealandin Sydney in March before the ODI serieswas called off.

“It was a bizarre experience. Youcould only hear echo of cricket ball. It wasbizarre. We are used to calling ‘yes andno’ while running between wickets but wedid not need to do that.

“It was literally like playing a warmup game. It was surreal. I don’t know forhow long you can sustain that. You gainyour momentum from home crowd.”

The Aussie opener also spoke aboutplayers considered the best in the worldin Test cricket in Virat Kohli and SteveSmith. “People say Kohli and Smith arethe best in the world,” said Warner. “Butwe make Smith and Kohli because wetake the shine off the ball. We have gotan important job as openers.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

India skipper Virat Kohlibelieves cricket in empty

stadiums is a real possibility ina post Covid-19 world andthough it is unlikely to have abearing on the intensity ofplayers, he feels the magicwould certainly go missing.

“It’s quite a possible situ-ation, it might happen, I hon-estly don’t know how everyoneis going to take that becausewe all are used to playing infront of so many passionatefans,” Kohli said in Star Sportsshow Cricket Connected.

“I know it will be playedat a very good intensity butthat feeling of the crowd con-necting with the players andthe tension of the game whereeveryone goes through it inthe stadium, those emotionsare very difficult to recreate,”he added.

Kohli said the manymoments which are createdbecause of the passion broughtin by fans, would be missing.

“Things will still go on,but I doubt that one will feelthat magic happening insidebecause of the atmospherethat was created.

“We will play sports howit is supposed to be played, butthose magical moments willbe difficult to come by,” hesaid.

‘HOLLOW FEELING’Cricket is not going to be thesame in the post Covid-19world and playing in emptystadiums would be a “hollowfeeling” but Australiawicketkeeper-batsman AlexCarey is ready to embracethe “new normal”.

Carey is open to the ideaof playing in empty stadi-ums, which according to himcould be a way forward.

“Cricket as we’re used to isgoing to be different for a bit.There’s the T20 World Cupand the IPL that we’re alllooking to play, but it’s hard topicture anything without thefans. It’s going to be a hollowfeeling,” said the DelhiCapitals player during anInstagram Live session withhis IPL team.

“But I feel the fans will atleast have some Live cricket tolook forward to on TV, and Ican promise it’s still going tobe some solid cricket whichthe fans are going to love,”added the left-hander.

PTI n NEW DELHI

It is premature to talk aboutresumption of cricket butIndia’s tour of Australia

later this year is likely to goahead, BCCI treasurer ArunDhumal said on Friday, down-playing the logistical issueslikely to arise because of theCovid-19 pandemic.

To ensure that the high-profile tour, starting in October,goes on as scheduled, Dhumalsaid quarantining of Indianplayers upon their arrival is apossibility even though it is notfeasible before every overseasassignment.

“You can’t be sure of the sit-uation prevailing at that pointof time. As of now the Australiatour is on because nobody hascalled off that tour and same forT20 World Cup,” Dhumal said.

“The need for quarantineahead of Australia tour onlyarises if the preceding T20World Cup doesn’t take place.If the World Cup happens, thenplayers would have alreadycompleted their quarantine.”

Dhumal said isolationbefore the start of the tour canonly be a one-off.

“If quarantine becomes anorm before every tour then itwould be difficult to organise

games,” he said.Dhumal then went on to

list the bigger logistical chal-lenge that awaits Australia —the T20 World Cup in

October-November.“...Would it be possible for

Australia to have so manyteams (16) coming in andquarantining for two weeks?

Players will be out of cricket forso long and further two weeksof quarantine and thenstraightaway to go into T20World Cup. Who would be

interested? So there is no clar-ity.

“Once the situationimproves and the lockdownends, then we will see keepingthe safety and health of ourplayers in mind as that is para-mount,” said Dhumal.

India are scheduled to playfour Tests Down Under withCricket Australia consideringan additional one. Dhumalsaid the five-Test series ideawas discussed before the lock-down but Cricket Australiacould now change its mindconsidering the severe financialimpact Covid-19 has had onthe board.

“The India-Australia touris more likely to happenbecause it is further away andlogistically it easier to organ-ise. We will have to see whatgovernment guidelines are atthat point (both India andAustralian Government).

“How will the team trav-el? There is no clarity oninternational travel and if wecan get an exemption. Wedon’t know as of now. The pic-ture is ho hazy that we can’tdecide anything,” saidDhumal.

On Cricket Australia’s ideaof an additional Test, Dhumalsaid:”As far as the fifth Test

goes, that discussion hap-pened before the lockdown.When cricket resumes, (wewill see) whether any countrywould like to host an addition-al Test or have two T20sinstead, which is likely to gen-erate more revenues.

“There is a possibility thatrequest comes from CricketAustralia only.”

Dhumal also said if theIPL doesn’t take place, theboard will take a hit of `4000crore.

“If IPL doesn’t take placethe revenue loss will be ̀ 4000crore. In case, we lose thehome season also, that willalso be a substantial amount.BCCI is also facing huge loss-es. If IPL doesn’t happen thenwe will be in a very big prob-lem,” said Dhumal.

If the T20 World Cupdoesn’t take place in October-November, staging the IPL isa possibility in that window.

“If the situation improvesby that time (September-October), we also have thinkabout T20 WC and Asia Cupand accordingly take a call. Fora full-fledged IPL to happen,you have to have at least 45-50 days. Whether we get thewindow, it is still a questionmark.”

LONDON: England captain JoeRoot has said he is “very opti-mistic” Test cricket will takeplace in his side’s 2020 home sea-son even if that means thesquad have to go into more thantwo months’ of quarantine.

With Britain currently inlockdown because of the coro-navirus, a three-Test seriesagainst the West Indies sched-uled for June has been post-poned, with Pakistan due to visitlater in a season whose start hasnow been delayed until July 1.

“I’m very optimistic, hope-fully that can be the case and itwould be a real shame if it was-n’t,” he told the Cricket show onSky Sports.

“I think a number of peopleare desperate to see Live sportback on telly (television) and theguys are all very much missingplaying and would love to getback out there.” AFP

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Technical Committee of AllIndia Football Federation on

Friday recommended the implemen-tation of the continental body’s rule onfielding foreign players in a domesticmatch from next year, reducing thenumber to four from five, a decisionwhich is in line with national teamcoach’s thinking.

India head coach Igor Stimac hadin March expressed unhappiness at thenumber of foreign players featuring ina match in Indian Super League andI-League, saying it was coming in theway of the country producing a futureSunil Chhetri.

Stimac had said that ISL and I-League should follow Asian FootballConfederation’s policy of allowing amaximum of four foreign players in amatch instead of the five permitted inthe domestic games currently.

The AIFF’s Technical Committee

met on Friday via video conferenceunder the chairmanship of ShyamThapa and took the decision to recom-mend the 3+1 (three non-Asians andone Asian) rule.

“The Committee discussed atlength and unanimously recommend-ed the implementation of the 3 (for-eigners) +1 (Asian) recruit rule for alldomestic league matches after the 2021season onwards, as per current AFCregulations for participation in AFCClub competitions,” the AIFF said ina release.

“However, if AFC changes thisrule, the changes will be implement-ed for domestic league matches,” itadded.

The Committee was also briefedabout the postponement of the FIFAU-17 Women’s World Cup India 2020by the FIFA-Confederations workinggroup, and informed that the futuredates of the tournament haven't yetbeen finalised.

LAUSANNE: Football teams will beallowed to use five substitutes whenplay resumes after the coronaviruspandemic, the sport’s law-makingbody announced on Friday.

The International FootballAssociation Board (IFAB) said in asstatement that it had agreed to aproposal by world governing bodyFIFA for a temporary change to therules “to protect player welfare”.

Teams face likely fixture con-gestion in a packed calendar as theyattempt to make up for lost timewhen play can resume.

The lay off is expected to havean impact on player fitness levelstoo.

It also said that competitionswhich were using video assistantreferee (VAR) would be allowed todrop it for the time being.

The change will apply to com-petitions scheduled to be complet-ed by 31 December of this year.

While teams will be able tomake five substitutions, “to avoiddisruption to the game, each team

will only have three opportunitiesto make substitutions” as well as athalf time or before extra time.

In competitions that allow ananother replacement in extra time,teams will have an additional sub-stitution opportunity.

The previous limit on outfieldsubstitutes for top-level competi-tions has been three in regulationtime. AFP

AFP nMILAN

Italian football giants Inter Milanand AC Milan were both back

training on Friday two months aftera strict lockdown which has hit thenorthern Italian city hard.

Inter said all their players andstaff have tested negative for coron-avirus on Friday, clearing the way forthem to return to individual train-ing in the afternoon.

“All the medical tests that the firstteam underwent have come backnegative,” the team said in a state-ment.

“Optional individual trainingsessions will begin this afternoon.”

City rivals AC Milan resumedearlier in the week with club techni-cal director Paolo Maldini warningon Friday “not going back on thepitch would be a disaster.”

Former Italy captain Maldini,together with his 18-year-old sonDaniel, a Milan youth team player,have both recovered from coron-

avirus.“You have to be careful, but not

to resume would be a disaster fromall points of view,” 51-year-oldMaldini said during a liveInstagram chat on Fridaywith former Milan team-mate Filippo Inzaghi.

“France were wrong todecree the end immediate-ly, but we will accept whatwill be the verdictof theG ove r n me nt .There is so muchuncertainty.”

The city inthe northernL o m b a r d yregion is the

epicentre of Italy’s outbreak, one ofthe worst in Europe in terms ofdeaths and infections.

Lombardy has suffered some15,000 deaths, around half of Italy’s30,000 coronavirus fatalities, since theoutbreak first erupted in early March.

Both Milan clubs insisted theywere taking the maximum precau-tions.

“We have closed the commonareas of Milanello,” said Maldini.“The players are divided into fourfor each pitch and in 12 you canwork well anyway.”

Inter added: “The club main-tains the utmost attention to pre-

ventive measures to safe-guard the health of

the players and allmembers of theclub, in accor-dance with all thegovernmentaland publichealth protec-

tion guidelines.”

AFP n SEOUL

Tottenham Hotspur strikerSon Heung-min was

named one of the topfive recruits in his unitas he finished threeweeks of compulsorymilitar y training inSouth Korea on Friday.

South Korea’smarine corpsposted picturesof Son wield-ing an M-16assault rifleand salutingon theirF a c e b o o kpage as hecompletedhis stint at a

boot camp.All able-bodied South

Korean men are obliged toserve in the military for near-

ly two years, making upthe bulk of Seoul’s600,000-strong forces —who face off against

North Korea’s army of 1.3million.

But Son — the topAsian goalscorer in

Premier Leaguehistory, and theAsian FootballConfederation’sreigning inter-national playerof the year —was in theSouth Korean

team that

earned an exemption by win-ning Gold at the 2018 AsianGames in Indonesia.

The Spurs star broke downin tears of joy after the 2-1extra-time win over Japan,which meant he could fulfil hisobligations with just threeweeks’ basic training andaround 500 hours of commu-nity service.

In April he reported to amarines camp on the island ofJeju for the basic training,which involved lengthy hikes,as well as tear-gas trainingand rifle practice.

He was judged among thefive best recruits out of 157 onhis course, a spokesperson forthe Republic of Korea MarineCorps said.

JEONJU: The towering stands ofthe 42,477-capacity JeonjuWorld Cup Stadium stoodempty on Friday as South Koreaopened football’s post-coron-avirus era without fans, butwith an unprecedented interna-tional TV audience.

With most leagues world-wide sidelined by the pandem-ic, the K-League is the first com-petition of any standing to comeback to life and a host of safetyprecautions have been imposed,with wild goal celebrations andeven talking discouraged.

The long-delayed season-opener between defendingchampions Jeonbuk Motors andCup-holders Suwon Bluewingswas watched by sport-starvedfans in a swathe of foreign

countries, even though specta-tors are not yet allowed at K-League games.

Paper sheets taped to stadi-um seats spelled out

“#C_U_SOON” and “STAYSTRONG”, while one end wasdraped in a giant green bannerfor the Mad Green Boys, theJeonbuk fan club.

Once the match began, fill-ing the site were the sounds ofplayers shouting calls and ballkicks that would have beenburied under fans’ thunderingchanting during normal times.

The match was punctuatedwith intermittent playing ofJeonbuk fan club’s recordedchants via speakers.

The season’s opening goalwas a header by veteran strikerLee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk inthe eighty-third minute.

Lee celebrated the scoringby posing with teammates asexcessive celebration involvingclose physical contact is bannedby K-League’s safety guidelines.

Using sign language theyexpressed their “respect” formedical workers treating coro-

navirus patients.Jeonbuk maintained the 1-

0 lead till the end.Before and after the match

the players bumped fists insteadof handshakes as advised.

The match, played understringent safety guidelines, is thefirst glimpse of post-virus foot-ball and similar scenes are like-ly elsewhere as other leagues getunder way.

All personnel entering thestadium had their temperatureschecked and were required towear face masks, and hand sani-tisers were located throughoutthe venue.

Players have been told toavoid excessive goal celebra-tions, handshakes, close talkingand blowing their noses.

India tour Down Under still On

K-League kicks off football’s post-virus era

Jeonbuk's Lee Gong-gook, right, gestures with his teammates after scoring AP

‘Smith, Warner stand inb/w India & victory in Aus’PTI n MUMBAI

India will not win the Testseries in Australia later this

year if they fail to dismiss sea-soned run-machines Steve Smithand David Warner early, thegreat Ian Chappell said on Friday.

Should the much-anticipatedseries goes ahead as scheduled,the duo’s presence will put thehosts at an advantage, accordingto the former Australian captain.

“I am certainly looking for-ward to it (the India-Australiaseries). It will be a very interest-ing one. India will come with theconfidence of having won lasttime they toured Australia,”Chappell said on the Sony Ten PitStop show.

The 76-year-old added, “Itwill be a bit harder this time (forIndia) with Smith and Warner inthe Australian side. But India arewell equipped to handleAustralian conditions.”

Aussies missed services ofSmith and Warner in the lastseries.

“Australia are pretty hard tobeat at home and particularlywith the attack that they have gotat the moment, it is a very, verystrong attack.

“The batting last time Indiawere here wasn’t so good. IfIndia can keep getting Warnerand Smith out cheaply, thenIndia could win. If they don’t getWarner and Smith cheaply,

Australia will win,” said Chappell.Chappell heaped praise on

current India skipper Virat Kohli,saying he is the best at themoment when it comes to play-ing all the three formats, reiter-ating a point he made recently.

“India has had some prettygood batsmen, but the com-ment I made was over the threeformats. I was basically askedSteve Smith or Virat Kohli and Isaid — over the three formats,you can’t pick anyone ahead ofKohli.

“I mean his records in allthree formats is incredible andhow he averages over 50 in T20cricket, I think it’s a tremendousfeat.

“So, he (Kohli) in my opin-ion, if you are taking about allthree formats, Kohli is the bestbatsman at the moment,” said thelegendary Australian player.

Steve Smith and Pat Cummins PTI

Virat & Co to accept quarantine to save Aussie Test series later this year

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Australia captain Tim Paine pose with Border-Gavaskar trophy before start of 2018-19 series

No T20 WC in 2020: Warner

Australian opening batsman David Warner AP

Sports without fans instadium possible: Kohli

Root optimisticabout home Tests

Son earns military accolade

Football to allow five substitutes Milan clubs back training AIFF recommends foreignplayers cap in ISL, I-League

or the past oneweek buzz aboutKshanam directorRavikanthPerepu’s secondfeature, Krishna

and his Leela, looking for adirect OTT release has beendoing the rounds. The devel-opment assumes significanceas the film is a productionventure of Suresh Babu whoowns cinema halls acrossTelugu states and is also aprominent distributor aswell. When contacted,Perepu said, “The discus-sions for an OTT releasehave been going on butwhether it will be an OTTrelease or a theatrical releaseisn’t confirmed yet.”

The director, however, isopen to the idea of an OTTrelease. “Any filmmakers

dream is to see his filmreaching a large number ofpeople. The current situationprohibits people from visit-ing cinema halls but theyneed content. When OTTplatforms are helping thefilm to reach the viewershome directly, why not tryit? Nobody knows what’s instore for us because of theprevailing conditions. Wehave to adapt and see where

it takes us. Ultimately,a film is made for

people to consumeit, right?”

Ravikanth asserted.Shot in Visakhapatnam,

Bengaluru, Coorg, NandiHills, Ladakh, the film, hesays, is a romantic comedy.“It’s a story about one guy(Siddhu Jonnalagadda) try-ing to flirt with three women(Shraddha Srinath, SeeratKapoor and ShailiniVadnikatti) simultaneouslyand the teaser indicates it.The soon to drop trailer willopen the actual story. Thefilm will be funny and view-ers will be able to relate to itas it’s filed with incidentsthat most people would’veencountered in their lives,”he added. — NG

ogether, the formidablejodi of writer-directorVakkantham Vamsi andSurender Reddy havedelivered commercialsuper hits like Kick and

Race Gurram. While there has beena one-odd flop like Kick 2, their

other works like Ashok, Athidi andOosaravelli have their own set ofadmirers despite the films not takingthe box-office by storm. And now,we’ve learnt that they are joiningforces again. Suri, who’s last director-ial was the period drama, Sye RaaNarasimha Reddy, starring MegastarChiranjeevi, is keen on getting backto the commercial pitch which paidrich dividends to him in his careerso far.

We hear that Suri approachedVamsi to pen a story for him andthe former immediately agreed. Asource close to the developmenttells us, “The director set his sightson an action-drama with dollops ofentertainment as his next and thefirst name that crossed his mind for

it was Vakkantham. He immediatelyrang the writer and wanted toknow if he can come up withsomething usual but at thesame time hatke. The writer

agreed and has even begun writing.With their last film together, Kick 2,going out like the briefest of candlesat the box-office, they are deter-mined to hit the bulls-eye this timearound. Chances of script beingpenned for Varun Tej are high.”

The source adds, “Vakkantham’snext directorial with Ravi Teja mighttake time as the actor is committedto a couple of other projects after hewraps up Krack with GopichandMalineni. So, he wants to make themost of thecurrenttime toworkforSuri’snextandhan-doverthescript atthe earli-est.”

aking to Twitter onFriday, director RadhaKrishna on Friday post-ed some candid picturesfrom the launch of hisnext with Prabhas. The

event transpired more than a yearago. The likes of SS Rajamouli and

VV Vinayak have attended themuhurat as guests and seem tohave had a great time bondingwith darling Prabhas. With theactor’s fans expressing theirdispleasure in productionhouse UV Creations on notupdating the fresh details ofthe film regularly, this moveof the director seems to bean appeasement tactic.Nonetheless, the fans arepleased, seeing their darling— sporting a hoodie and apair of dark jeans—smiling

in the pictures. Hislook was complete with a pair ofcool and yellow coloured shades.This is the first time that officialphotos from the muhurat are out inthe public.

The still-untitled film is a roman-

tic drama set in Europe.Recently, the unit filmed some por-tions in Georgia, before theyreturned to India due to Covid-19scare across Europe. Pooja Hedge,who was seen in a comfy printeddress, is cast paired oppositePrabhas in the film.

12

Vijayawada Saturday May 9 2020tollywood

Prabhasis all

smiles

ADAH on casting couch:Production of couchesexists universally

ctress AdahSharma, whohas worked inboth southerncinema andBollywood,

says that the castingcouch exists everywhere.

Several Bollywoodpersonalities havepreviously spo-ken out abouttheir horrificcastingcouch

experience in southerncinema.

“Casting couch isn’tsomething that just existsin the South or the North.I think it is somethingthat has been spokenabout worldwide. The

production ofcouches exists

universally,”Adah

said.

Adah, who has workedin Telugu, Tamil andKannada film industriesapart from Bollywood,says there is always achoice.

“I think you alwayshave a choice of whetheryou want to sit on it, layon it, stand on it or notdo anything on the couch.You can sit on thefloor,” quipped theactress.

A

emembering hisfriend Prasad on hisbirth anniversaryFriday, directorSukumar wrote amoving post and

shared it on his Instagram page.Beginning with “lekapovadamante enti..?? modati sari ee padamnakartham kakunda poyindi”(What is the meaning of nomore? I have failed to understandits meaning for the first time), thedirector went on to a recall a con-versation which seemed to havetranspired in his dream. Upset

with his friend’s absence for overa month, Suku asks Prasad wherehe has been until now. To which,the friend replied, “I didn’t hadmuch time; I had to leave’. WhenSuku pressed him on how is heroaming around with lockdown

restrictions in place, Prasad says,“We can. People will say things,but we can.” When Suku wantedhim to be careful, Prasad replied,“What can happen to me any-more? Nothing will.” The postwent viral within no time andgarnered thousands of likes.

Suku and Prasad have beenfriends since mid ’90s. They bothworked as lecturers in the pastand Prasad even accompaniedSuku to Hyderabad when hebegan his journey in the filmindustry. Prasad passed away dueto heart attack early last month.

R Suku and Prasad havebeen friends since mid’90s. They both workedas lecturers in the past

SUKU remembers his dear friend

Suri approached Vamsi to pen a storyfor him and the former immediatelyagreed, finds NAGARAJ GOUD

SURI, VAKKANTHAM TEAM UP AGAIN

T

Filmmakers needto adapt now:Ravikanth Perepu

F

Any filmmakers dream is to see hisfilm reaching a large number ofpeople. The current situation prohibitspeople from visiting cinema halls butthey need content. When OTTplatforms are helping the film to reachthe viewers home directly, why not tryit? Nobody knows what’s in store forus because of the prevailingconditions. We have to adapt and seewhere it takes us. Ultimately, a film ismade for people to consume it, right?

T