Dear friends & fellow members,

Government/Municipal Hospitals, a lot of members have come forward.

the below mentioned Government/Municipal Hospitals on one hand & their empanelled vendors on the other to ensure that the right & much needed equipment & consumables were delivered to these hospitals.

List of hospitals facilitated by the Chamber:

As the COVID-19 cases are only increasing, we would once again request our esteemed members to continue contributing in every possible way.

NEFT Details: : Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Bank Name : State Bank of India Bank Address : Horniman Circle, Mumbai Main Branch, Mumbai Samachar Marg,FortAccount Type : Current AccountAccount No. : 10996680930IFSC Code : SBIN0000300 In order to continue serving our members, Bombay Chamber has been regularly uploading its website with information on

Government/other Regulatory Authorities on COVID-19, including relating to employment.

On behalf of the Bombay Chamber team, I wish you and your families a stay safe during the lock-in.

Warm Regards,V. S. ParthasarathyPresident-Bombay Chamber of Commerce & IndustryPresident-Mobility Service Sector, Mahindra Group & Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

Hospital Type Description (* in process) Cost/Value B.Y.L. Nair Hospital Consumable *3 Ply Surgical Mask `12.8 lakhs

PPE kits Equipment *ICU Beds

JJ Hospital Consumable 3 Ply Surgical Mask & Face Shields `17.1 lakhsSanitizer

Equipment Mobile Digital X-rayKasturba Hospital Consumable 3 Ply Surgical Mask & Face Shields `15.4 lakhs

SanitizerEquipment Auto Bio Chemistry Analyzer

*CoagulometerKEM Hospital Consumable PPE kits `2.8 lakhsSion Hospital Consumable PPE kits `2.8 lakhs NMMC Vashi Hospital Consumable 3 Ply Surgical Mask & Face Shields `10.9 lakhs

PPE kitsSanitizer

Equipment*Video Laryngoscope

Total ` Lakhs (approx.) `61.8 lakhs

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

`̀ 108 per kilo

`̀ 136 per kilo

`̀ 168 per kilo

`̀ 50 per Dozen

WORLD MILK DAYA RED initiative appearsin today’s edition ofThe Indian Express. Thispage is an initiative of themarketing solutions teamof The Indian ExpressGroup and containscontent paid for byadvertisers. This pageshould be read as anadvertisement.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

THEMAHARASHTRA govern-mentonSundayannouncedthelaunch of 'Mission Begin Again'from June 3, a three-phase re-moval of restrictions and intro-ducing relaxations to the now11-weeklockdown,evenasitex-tendedthelockdownitselfuntilJune30.Theplandoesnotapplytocontainmentzones.Activitiesallowedinthefirst

phase are individual outdoorphysical exercise like walking,runningandjogging,butstrictlyin the neighbourhood. Theguidelinesemphasisecyclingasapreferredexercise,asitensuresthepracticeof socialdistancing.Moreover, government andpri-vate offices are to functionwith15 per cent and 10 per cent oftheir existing staff strength,respectively.Homedeliveryofnewspaper

hasbeenallowedtoresumefromJune 7, Chief Minister UddhavThackeraysaidinalivestreamedaddress to the state on Sundayevening. He also said that final-yearuniversityexamswillnotbeheldandstudentswillbemarkedon theaggregateof previous se-mesters. Film shootings are alsoset to resume. For all three

phases, night curfewremains inplace from9pmto5am.Containment zones – there

are 3,169 such zones inMaharashtra, including 684 inMumbai,177inThaneand65inPune – are not included in thisplannedgradedopening.The relaxations apply to

every area outside theseCONTINUEDONPAGE2

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

‘MISSIONBEGINAGAIN’

IRAMSIDDIQUEMUMBAI,MAY31

THEREWERE lastminute anx-iousmomentsovertheoperationof 68 passenger trains linked toMaharashtra fromMonday, ashoursbeforesomeofthesetrainswere scheduled to depart fromMumbai, theUddhavThackeraygovernment,citingsafetyissues,wrote to theRailwayBoard (RB)seeking details of measures putin place to ensure that none ofthe passengerswere from con-tainmentzones.However, lateonSunday,the

Chief PRO of Western Railway(WR),RavinderBhakar, issuedastatementsayingthat followingdiscussions between theRailways and theMaharashtragovernment, a consensus hadbeenreachedonrunningspecialtrains fromand toMaharashtra

asper schedule fromJune1.Earlierintheday,theletterby

Chief SecretaryAjoyMehtahadstatedthatif theRailwaysdidnotprovide the details sought, nei-therwould 46 trains that are tooriginate or terminate in thestate be allowed to operate, nor22 trains that are supposed topass through the state, be al-lowed to stop at stations inMaharashtra, except for

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Shops, offices to openoutside containmentzones in Maharashtra,film shoots to start

MAHARASHTRA

NEWACADEMICSESSIONOFSCHOOLSTOBEGININJUNE:CMPAGE5

State blinks, passengertrains allowed to leave

AtCSMTinMumbaionSundaynight. Express

AVISHEKGDASTIDAR&RAVISHTIWARINEWDELHI,MAY31

THERAILWAYSwill continue toprovide states “asmany (trains)as theywant,” to transport pas-sengers returning home amidthelockdownbutover250trainshave been “wasted” becausestates that requested for themcould not bring in passengers,Union RailwayMinister PiyushGoyal toldThe IndianExpress.“Sad part is after notifying

trains,morethan250trainstheycouldnotuse…Maharashtra…italone could not usemore than100trainsastheycouldnotbringpassengers.Still,wenevercom-plained,” Goyal said in an inter-viewSunday(Full interviewtobepublished tomorrow).“We have never refused a

single train to any state. And as

manyastheywant,wewillcon-tinue to provide them (trains),”hesaid .“We readied 145 trains but

state (Maharashtra) could notuseit.Lookatthewastage.Thosetrains could have been used bymigrants elsewhere. Once theybrought 20,000 people toBandra.Wesaiddon’tworry,wewill put (a) train in Bandra andwill move everybody. No pas-senger cameasper the list. And

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Over 250 trains wasted,states couldn’t getpassengers, says Goyal‘Rlyswillprovideasmanytrainsas(states)want, trainsontimeMay1-19’

UnionRailwayMinisterPiyushGoyal

FULL INTERVIEWTOMORROW

RAAKHIJAGGALUDHIANA,MAY31

THE LEVEL-I Covid Care Centres(CCCs), for “pre-mild” or “mild”cases,don'thaveasinglepatient.And,with a spike in cases under

control,non-CovidtreatmentwillsoonbefullyavailableattheCivilHospital, themain governmenthealthcarefacility inthedistrict.That's the good news from

Ludhiana. But a deeper dive re-veals a few glaring holes in thenarrative.There are no ventilators or

ICUs in government hospitals,andPunjab'smostpopulateddis-trictwith over 35 lakh people iscompletelydependentonprivatefacilitiesforLevel-3treatmentofcaseswith“severe”symptoms.There are 30 ambulances

available under the 108 schemebut not one with Basic LifeSupport (BLS)equipment.

Therewere alsoprotests lastweek by doctors at the CivilHospitalover“faultymasks”.Andseveralvideosoflow-qualityfoodprovided to Covid patients atLevel-2isolationcentreshavebeendoingtheroundsonsocialmedia.“There isnoventilator inany

governmenthospitalinLudhianadistrict.Fourventilatorswerely-ing unused at the Civil Hospitalformorethanayearwithoutex-pertstaff tooperatethem.Thesemachines were moved to theChristianMedical College andHospital (CMCH) nearby,whichis a Level-3 facility,” says DrRajesh Bagga, Civil Surgeon,Ludhiana.

The ventilatorswere shiftedafter an “incident” onMarch 31,when the hospital could not of-fer the service to a 42-year-oldpatientwhowasthenreferredtothe RajindraMedical College inPatiala where she died withinhours. “We have oxygen bedswith a centralised suction sys-tem,butnoICUs,” saysBagga.Speaking to The Indian

Express, State HealthMinisterBalbirSinghSidhupointsoutthatthe government has created afive-bed ICU in CMCH. “But yes,our government hospitalsmusthaveall these facilities.WehavemadeaplanworthRs600crorefor upgrading health infrastruc-

ture under which ICUs will becreated in all district headquar-ters,”hesays.Ludhiana Deputy

CommissionerPardeepAgarwalsays “good facilities” have beenset up. “For Level-3 patients,wehave tiedupwithprivatehospi-talswherewereferpatientsto, iftheneedarises,"hesays.But fornowinLudhiana, this

means that while the govern-menthasearmarked2,550bedsforLevel-1Covidtreatment,and450toisolateLevel-2“moderatecases”inDedicatedCovidHealthCentres (DCHCs), all the84bedsand31ventilatorsforLevel-IIIpa-tientsare inprivatehospitals.

“Therewerealsotheprotestsovermaskswith faulty respira-tor valves. Now the supply hasimproved,andkitsarearrivinginsufficientquantity.Theissuewasraised after four ward helperstestedpositive,”saysDrDevinderSandhu, a doctor at the CivilHospital.The quality of food, and its

non-availabilityontime,hasbeenanissue, too. “Now, thesituationhasimproved,”saysanasympto-matic patient, speaking overphonefromanisolationcentre.Across the district, mean-

while, the CCCs are emptywith1,897peoplecurrently inhome

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

AttheCivilHospital inLudhiana.GurmeetSingh

No govt ventilator or ICU, Ludhiana leans on pvt hospitals

LOCKDOWNDAY

68

CONCERNHARYANA: Another200+ day; doublingin 9 days. Most newcases in 3 districtsbordering Delhi.

CAUTIONJ&K:Adding casessteadily; currentlygrowing at a ratefaster than thenational average.

A GLIMMERGOA: Clear slowingdown after suddensurge of cases. Justtwo cases reportedin the last 3 days.

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Kerala■TamilNadu■Bihar■WestBengal

TOTALCASES65,16816,3561,20821,1843,5655,130

DOUBLINGRATE**15.2627.7311.6515.8212.3012.43

SURGEIN24HRS2,94041258938206317

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

4.72%2.60%6.18%4.55%5.85%5.79%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:1,82,143

RECOVERED:86,983 |DEATHS:5,164TESTS:37,37,027 |DOUBLINGRATE: 15.25**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

TESTREP RTSFROMTHE

FIELDHOSPITALINVENTORY

ANEXPRESS SERIES

DEFERSJUNESUMMIT, SUGGESTSSEPTEMBER/NOVEMBERMEET

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY31

CALLING THE G7 a “very out-dated group”, US PresidentDonald Trump said Sunday hewould like to include India,Australia, South Korea andRussia in the grouping of thelargestadvancedeconomies.Trump suggested that the

Group of 7 be called “G10 orG11”, and proposed that thegroupingmeet in September orNovember thisyear.TheG7comprisestheUS,UK,

France, Germany, Italy, Canadaand Japan.India,whichattendedtheG7

meet in Biarritz, France, in

August last year, had been in-vited by Trump to attend themeet this June. PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwasexpectedtotravel to theUS for theG7 sum-mitatCampDavidnextmonth.The US President shared his

thoughts with reporters on AirForce One on his way home af-ter the launch of the firstmannedmissionintospacebyaprivatecompany, SpaceX.“IampostponingitbecauseI

don’tfeelthatasaG7,itproperlyrepresentswhat’sgoingonintheworld… It’s a very outdatedgroupof countries,”hesaid.“WewantAustralia,wewant

India,wewantSouthKorea.Andwhat dowe have? That’s a nicegroupofcountriesrightthere,”hesaid,withoutmentioningRussia.Butheappearedtohavesug-

gestedinvitingRussiaaswell,ac-cordingtoareportfromapoolofreportersthattravelledwithhim.Trumpsuggestedthattheex-

pandedgroupbecalledthe“G10or G11”, and said he had“roughly” discussed the ideawith the leaders of the fourcountrieshewouldliketoaddtothegrouping.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

G7 very outdated,want India, SouthKorea, Australia in grouping: Trump

NEW FRONTIER IN SPACEOnSundayeveningIndiatime,NASA astronautsRobertLBehnken(inphoto)andColDouglasHurleyjoinedthreecolleaguesattheInternationalSpaceStation,afterSpaceX'sCrewDragoncapsuledockedatthestation.This is thefirst timethatNASAastronautshaveenteredtheISS fromacommerciallybuiltspacecraft.NASA REPORT,PAGE12,EXPLAINED, PAGE9

Nepal ups theante, tablesBill to altermap, emblem

INDIAHAS longcalled forreformingglobal institu-tionsandgroupings toreflectmodern-daygeopolitical realities.Trump’soffer toexpandG7fits intoNewDelhi’sideaof beingpartof theglobalhigh table.WithanassertiveChina roundthecorner, theUS is call-ingall like-mindedcoun-tries topartner indealingwithBeijing.

ChinaonUSmindE●EX

PLAINED

ExpandedgroupcanbecalledG10or11,saidTrump

Says itwill representwhat’sgoingon intheworld; favours re-admissionofRussia

SANDEEPSINGH&GEORGEMATHEWNEWDELHI,MUMBAI,MAY31

WITH COVID-19 patients run-ning high bills in private hospi-tals, the Insurance Regulatoryand Development Authority ofIndia (IRDAI) has asked theGeneral InsuranceCouncil–theapex body of general insurers –to arrive at a ‘standardised coststructure’ for treatment of thepandemic.This will set the ball rolling

for a standard Covid-19 insur-ance product with details ofcosts covered, including thosefor PPE kits and other consum-ables, which are currently un-availableunderanormalhealthinsurancepolicy.

With theCouncil sending itsfeedbackbyMay31, the regula-torisexpectedtotakeadecisionon the product over the nextcoupleofweeks. Inacommuni-cation to insurers, the GeneralInsurance Council said the pro-posal underdiscussionentailedarriving at a negotiated rate forall elements associated withCovid treatment inahospital.As of now, private hospitals

which have Covid-19 wardschargehighrateswithtreatmentcosts ranging fromRs 3-8 lakh.“Whilegovernmenthospitalsdonothave adequatebed capacityto deal with patient load, thecommonman is unable to beartheexpensesof aprivatehospi-talandespeciallyasuperspecial-ity for Covid-19 treatment. A

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

WORLD

FURY INTHESTREETSASPROTESTSSPREADACROSSU.S.PAGE12

Insurance regulatorsteps in for standardCovid-19 product

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,MAY31

SCALINGUP its rowwith Indiaover territorial claims to theLipulekh-Kalapani-Limpiyadhuraregion, the Nepal governmenttabledaconstitutionamendmentBill in the House of Represen-tatives on Sunday, seeking tomakealterations,additionstothecountry’s politicalmap andna-tionalemblem.Law Minister Shiva Maya

Tumbahamphe tabled the Bill,seekingtogivelegalsanctitytothenewmap, after the governmentofPrimeMinisterKPSharmaOliwas assured the support of two-thirds intheHousefollowingthedecision of theNepali Congress,themainOppositionparty,tobackthelegislation.AlthoughNepalhasalengthy

process foradoptionofaconsti-tutionamendmentBill,thereare

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Govt says twoPak officialscaught spying,asked to leaveSHUBHAJITROY&MAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI,MAY31

THE GOVERNMENT on Sundaysaid that two officials at thePakistan High Commission inNewDelhi were caught spyingandhavebeenaskedtoleavethecountrywithin24hours.This is the first timeafter four

years that suchan incidentof ex-pelling officials of the PakistanHighCommissionhastakenplace.InOctober2016,IndiaandPakistanhadexpelled officials fromeachother’smissionsforspying.“Two officials of the High

Commissionof Pakistan inNewDelhi were apprehended todayby Indian law enforcement

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

Shops, officesto open inMaharashtracontainmentzones inthe19redzones of the state,which essen-tially include the MumbaiMetropolitanRegionandmunic-ipal corporation areas of Pune,Solapur,Aurangabad,Malegaon,Nasik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola,AmaravatiandNagpur.In the first phase beginning

June3,aspertheorderissuedbyChief SecretaryAjoyMehta, thegovernmenthasallowedindivid-ualphysicalactivitieslikejogging,walking, running and cycling inpublicspaces,includingatneigh-bourhood beaches, public andprivateplaygrounds,gardensandpromenades and other openspaces,between5amto7pm.However, no group activity

willbepermitted.Whileencour-aging cycling, the order statedthat long distance travelwithincitieswillnotbepermitted.Also, thegovernmenthas al-

lowedplumbers,electriciansandtechnicians as well as thoseworking in auto garages andworkshopstofunctionwithpriorappointments. Further, it saidthatallgovernmentoffices–ex-pectthoseinvolvedinemergencyservices –will functionwith 15per cent staff orminimumof 15employees.In the second phase begin-

ningJune5,allmarketsandshops–exceptmallsandmarketcom-plexes – are allowed to functiononoddandevendaysbetween9am and 5 pm.While shops ononesideoftheroad,laneandpas-sagewillopenonodddays,thoseon the other sidewill open oneven days. However, customerswill not be allowed to try onclothes,andtheexchangeandre-turnpolicyhasbeenscrappedfornow.“People are advised to

walk/usecyclesforshoppingandto use nearby/neighbourhoodmarketsasfaraspossible...Useofmotorisedvehicles forshoppingwillbestrictlydiscouraged,”saidMehta, adding that if social dis-tancingnorms arenot followed,authorities will immediatelyclosedownsuchshopsandmar-kets.Further, taxi, cabaggregators

andautorickshawshavebeenal-lowed to ferry only twopersonsbesidesthedriverforessentialac-tivities.In the third phase from June

8, all privateoffices canbeoper-ate with up to 10 per centstrength. Sources said the stag-gered opening is in anticipationofasurgeinthenumberofCovid-19 cases in the coming days. “Asurgehasbeenreportedinsomecitieswheretherelaxationsweregiventwoweeksago.WeexpectittohappeninMumbaiandothermunicipal corporation areas,which is why relaxations havebeen allowed phase-wisewithsomerestrictions.Also,wedonotwant the people to step out oftheirhomesunnecessarily,”saidanofficial.Mass transporters such as

BEST and the suburban trainservicearenotpartofthisgradedopening.Norareschoolsandcol-leges,religiousplacesandplacesof worship, barber shops, spasandsaloons,shoppingmalls,ho-telsandrestaurantsaswellasso-cial,political,sports,religiousandlargecongregations.Officials said increasing the

staff strengthofprivateandgov-ernment officeswould dependon the resumption of the localtrainservices–adecisionthathastobetakenbytheCentre–aswellthe kind of spike in cases in thecomingdays.Uddhav,whileaddressingthe

state in the evening, said thatnewspaperhomedeliverywillbeallowedfromJune7.“Wearegiv-ingpermissionforhomedeliveryofnewspapersfromnextSunday.Butwe need to take care of thenewspapervendorswhoneedtobe given amask and a bottle of

handsanitiser,”headded.Hefurthersaidthat it isdiffi-

cult tohold final-yearuniversityexams till August. “So,we havetaken a decision that studentswill bemarked for the final se-mesteronthebasisof theaggre-gatemarks of all their previoussemester exams. Still, if any stu-dent feels that they could havescoredmoremarks(thantheag-gregatemarks), heor shecanbegiven a choice to appear for ex-amswhenever it is possible toholdtheexams.”Moreover,withincreasingde-

mand from various entertain-ment bodies to allow shooting,thegovernmentgaveconditionalpermission to resume shootingoffilms,televisionserials,webse-ries and others in non-contain-ment zones. An official in theChief Minister's Office said:"Applicationswillbescrutinisedand then thepermissionwill begiven. If applications are foundsatisfactory,itispossiblethatthepermission to start productionworkwillbegivenwithinaday."The 16-page Government

Resolution (GR) said that stepsshould be taken to educate andsensitiseallthepartnersandem-ployees involvedintheshootingprocess regarding preventivemeasures.Producerswillhavetocarry out pre-production andpost-productionworksbyadher-ingtoguidelines.The GR also asked the pro-

ducerstominimisecrewstrengthby 33 per centwhile all staffersare required to carry identifica-tion card while travelling forshoot.Whenever possible, cast-ingshouldbedoneremotelyviaFacetime,Zoom,Skypeandoth-erssuchoptions.Minimalphysi-calcontacthastobeensureddur-ingtheshoot.Allthenecessarypermissions

to commence shoot for any TVshowistobeprocuredbythere-spective broadcasting companyfrom the collector of the districtwhere the shooting is to takeplace. Meanwhile, theShivSenahas decided to turn its shakhasintoclinics inMumbai.

Over 250 trainswasted: GoyalUP and Bihar were quite un-happy,”hesaid.GoyalsaidthatmostShramik

Specials reached their destina-tions before time or on time for19consecutivedaysafterstartingonMay 1 before a surge in de-mandcreatedcongestionontheroutes.An analysis of records from

several sources by The IndianExpress Sunday showed that ofthe3,740ShramiktrainsthatransinceMay 1, about 40 per centwere recorded as late. The aver-age delayworked out to abouteighthours.“Migrantswouldcometothe

station and could not be trans-ported because receiving stateswould not allow. How I used togetcallsfromdifferentstatesthatthree to four states in easternIndia were not accepting mi-grants likeUP or Biharwas,” hesaid.“When some states did not

show (willingness) we wereforcedtoremoveconsent,”Goyalsaid, adding that “the combina-tion of removing consent andaddingstoppages(totheShramiktrains)betweenMay20andMay20” added congestion in theroutes. An average of 256 trainsraneverydayduringthisperiod,hesaid.Goyalsaidthatthedecisionto

start the Shramik Specials wastakenwhen itwas noticed thatstrandedmigrantswerenotwill-ingtostayincamps.“Andwhenwe saw thatmi-

grantswerenotwillingtostayinthe camps -- they should havebecause containment and lock-downisaboutstayingwhereyouare -- we realized that peopleweremoving out of the campsandwere facing inconvenience.So on the first day (of May)we

startedtheShramikSpecials,”hesaidHesaidthatalltrainswerego-

ing toUP, Bihar and east Indianstates—inadirectionwhichalsosaw themost number of freighttrains carrying essentials likefoodgrains,coalandfertiliser.Thiscreatedcapacityconstraints.“Freight trains plus this

(Shramiktrains),wearehandlingthemverywell. Then the desti-nationstatesstarteddemandingmore stoppages as they didn’thave the capacity to handle alltrainsatonestop.Sendingstatescould not get passengers at onestation,” Goyal said explainingtheroutecongestionthatensuedpostMay19.“When congestion on these

routes became too muchRailwaysdivertedonly71 trainsoutofthe4040trains.. .Imonitorthemthriceaday,”hesaid.He also said that that

Railways has served 1.19 croremeals on board the ShramikSpecials whereas states haveserved54lakhmeals.“Thefaresarerecoveringless

than15percentofthecost.Butitisnotaboutthat.Canyouimaginewhatwouldhavehappened if itwas announced that ‘free trains’were going to start from tomor-row? Everybody would havecometogetonboardthosetrains.Wouldanyonehavebeenabletomanage the situation?” Goyalsaid.“Eventhen,Railwayshasnottakenmoney froma single pas-senger.”

Ludhianaquarantine instead. “When pa-tientstestpositive,weshiftthemstraight to DCHCs.We treat allpositive patients at Level-2,whether they havemild symp-tomsormoderate,”saysBagga.Out of 84beds in Level-3, 25

areoccupied,includinginthebigfour: CMCH,DayanandMedicalCollege and Hospital (DMCH),

FortisHospitalandSPSHospital.Sofar,fourpatientsrequiredven-tilator support but all of themdiedlater,includinga52-year-oldAssistantCommissionerofPoliceinFortisHospitalonApril18.And yet, Ludhiana hasman-

agedtokeepupwiththespike.The district had 18 cases till

April 28, including four deaths.FromApril29toMay15,118caseswerereported.Today,thenumberhasreached284,with14deaths.Officials say the surge was

largely due to the return of resi-dents stuck in a gurdwara inMaharashtra'sNanded,migrantfarm workers arriving fromGwalior and Jaisalmer, and stu-dentscomingbackfromKota.“InPunjab, over 8,000 such peoplearrivedin2-3daysofwhomover300 came to Ludhiana,” says anofficial.Moreover,withthecitybeing

a referral centre, 90 of the totalcasesare fromotherpartsof thestate, including 53 RailwayProtection ForcepersonnelwhohadcomefromDelhionduty.Ofthe14deaths,sixwereofpatientsfromoutsidethedistrict, includ-inganRPFpersonnel.“Ludhiana isa referral centre

because there aremany tertiarycare hospitals here... All the pa-tients, among those who re-turned fromNanded, Jaisalmer,KotaandGwalior,havebeendis-charged,exceptfora54-year-oldasymptomaticpatientwhodiedonMay18duetoacardiacarrest,”saysBagga.ApartfromtheCivilHospital,

there are four swab collectioncentres in theDCHCs, oneat therailway station and another at aresidential school in KitchluNagar,which is also a CCC. “Wecansendupto350samplesadayto government laboratories inPatialaandFaridkot,” saysanof-ficial.According to the Civil

Surgeon,asymptomaticpatients

arenowbeingdischargedonthetenthdaywithouta second test.Andthefocusnow,hesays, isonproviding treatment to non-Covidpatients.“Wehavegotaletterfromthe

Healthdepartmenttorationalisestaff posted in CCCs andDCHCssothatwecanstartnon-Covidfa-cilities.We are thinking of con-verting 150 beds at the CivilHospitalbackfornon-Coviduse.Wewereabletohandlethespike,butnowdengueandmalariapa-tients,andthoseneedingcriticalsurgeries, need to be taken careof,”saysBagga.

Insuranceregulator steps insuper specialty hospital, for

instance,currentlycharges(with-out ventilator) in the followingmanner: Bed Rs 20,000–Rs30,000 a day, bed plus PPE andmedical staff, cost per day Rs50,000.Theapproximatecostfor15dayswould be aroundRs 3.5lakhs–Rs9.5lakhsdependingonthegradeofthehospitalandcity,”the proposal said. There havebeeninstanceswhenpatientsre-ceived bills of even upto Rs 16lakh bill for Covid treatment inprivatehospitals.“The government of India

must cap themaximum rateshospitalscanchargeforCovid-19using their power underEpidemicAct and if possible IR-DAI could issue an advisory forthe same,” said theCEOof apri-vate insurancefirm.For government hospitals, it

has proposed a rate of Rs 3,000for isolationward, Rs 4,000 forisolation room, Rs 5,000 for ICUand Rs 7,500 for ICU withventilator. Theserateswould in-cludeaccommodationandfood,ventilator charges, doctor’s visit,investigations, medicines andPPEkit.

GIPSA (General InsurancePublicSectorAssociation)normscan,however,befollowedforcat-egorisation of private hospitalsfor defining reasonable treat-ment rates, the proposal beforeIRDAIandGICouncilsaid.The proposal has suggested

three zones depending on thesizeof thecity.Foran“A+”gradehospital (top grade) in Zone 1, ithasproposedRs11,000forisola-tionward,Rs16,000forisolationroom, Rs 20,000 for ICU and Rs25,000for ICUwithventilator.ForZone2,therateswouldbe

Rs 8,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000andRs 20,000, respectively. TherateswilldropfurtherforZone3hospitals.For “A” grade hospitals,

chargeswouldbe15percentlesscomparedwith “A+” categories.For “B” grade hospitals, thechargeswould be limited to 65per centof thecostof “A+” cate-gories. The costwill include ac-commodationcharge,doctorvis-its,PPEkitcost,investigationcost,medicine, and consumable costanddiet forpatients.Going by this proposal, the

hospitalisation charges for a pa-tient for10dayswillworkouttoRs 2.5 lakh in a top grade “A+”hospital inMumbaiorDelhi.Atpresent, different insurers

havedifferent products to coverthe illness.Hospitalsalsochargedifferentrates.“Discussionshavebeen going on for some timenow,” said the CEO of an insur-ancecompany.“We are trying to develop

something specific where thecommonmangets treatment inprivate hospitals at reasonablerates. Someunderstandingwithhospitals can be arrived at as isdonebyfourPSUswithnetworkhospitals under an arrange-ment…forthatmattereachTPA(thirdpartyadministrator)hasanetwork of their own but it’sdone for defined surgical proce-

dures.Hereyouhavetodealwithconventionaltreatment,”saidthechief of a PSUgeneral insurancecompany.IRDAIhasnotcappedthecost

inthecurrentguidelines.

Nepalindications that theHousemaypass it early, possiblywithin thenexttwoweeks.The Opposition Nepali

CongressdecidedtobacktheBillbut disapproved of PrimeMinister Oli’s “insensitive” re-markstargetingIndia.At a meeting of the Nepali

Congress national executiveSaturday night, seniormemberGopalMan Shrestha saidwhileNepalshouldreclaimitsterritorythrough dialogue with India,Prime Minister Oli's remarksabout the Indian national em-blemwere not in keepingwiththeofficeheholdsorthespiritofrelations that bind Nepal andIndiatogether.Referring to Satyameva

Jayate, Oli told parliament lastweek that he would ask hisIndian friendswhether truth orforceprevailsinitsdealingswithNepal.The newmap, published by

theOligovernmentafterIndiain-augurated a new road viaLipulekhontheMansarovarYatratrail,includesthestrategicareaofaround370sqkmat thetrijunc-tion of Nepal, India and China(Tibet).India controls Lipulekh,

Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and itsmapsshowtheareaaspartof itsterritory -- this is contested byNepal.Therewasno immediate re-

action from India on theNepalgovernment’smovetointroducethe Bill. A day earlier, IndianDefenceMinisterRajnathSingh,respondingtoaqueryontherowwithNepal, toldAaj Tak: “Nepalislikefamily,IndiaandNepalarelike brothers. It is all under con-trol. If there is any problem,wewillsit togetheranddiscuss it.”Earlier,theIndianMinistryof

ExternalAffairshadsaidNepalis“well awareof India’s consistentposition on thismatter andweurgetheGovernmentofNepaltorefrainfromsuchunjustifiedcar-tographic assertion and respectIndia’ssovereigntyandterritorialintegrity”.ForPrimeMinisterOli,whose

positionappearedveryshakyun-til lastmonth,thisterritorialrowwithIndia isashot inthearm.Sofiercehasbeenthereaction

in Nepal that it has put on thebackburner issues roiling thecountry–allegationsoframpantcorruption,inepthandlingoftheCovid-19 situation, the failureofthe government to announce areliefpackageorflyhomeNepal’scitizens abroad, sinking tourismandthestateof theeconomy.Nepal believes it has enough

tobackitsclaimtotheLipulekh-Kalapani-Limpiyadhura region.Itpointstohistoricaldocuments,mainlythetextofthe1816Treatyof Sugauli under which Nepalagreed to a reduced territorywestoftheKaliriverfollowingitsdefeattotheEastIndiaCompany,proofof landrevenuecollection,and Nepal census coverage oftheseareasuntiltheearly1960s.Ninety-three-year-old

Bishwabandhu Thapa,whohasbeenwitness to every upheavalin Nepal from the days of theRanas, says King Mahendrahanded thestrategically-impor-tant land at the trijunction on“temporarybasis”followingare-quest from Jawaharlal Nehrusoon after the 1962 Sino-Indianwar. It figuredasadisputemuchlater, first inthe1990s.In July 2000, the two Prime

Ministers, G P Koirala and AtalBihariVajpayee,agreedtohaveitsettledthroughdiplomaticchan-nelswiththeForeignSecretariesoverseeing it –noheadwaywasmade.In May 2015, the issue be-

camemore complicated withIndiaandChinasigninganagree-

menttobuildaroadviaLipulekh--without involving or consult-ing Nepal which lodged itsprotest,butreceivednoresponsefromthetwocountries.AndthisMay 8, India inaugurated theroad, prompting theOli govern-menttomakeitsmove.

2 Pak officialscaught spyingauthorities for indulging inespi-onageactivities,”astatementbytheMinistry of External Affairssaid.Indian government sources

identified themasAbidHussainand Muhammad Tahir. “Theywere caught red handed by po-licewhile obtaining documentsof IndiansecurityestablishmentfromanIndianandhandinghimovermoneyandaniPhone.TheyinitiallyclaimedtheywereIndiannationals. They produced fakeAadharcards.Later,duringinter-rogation, they confessed thattheywereofficialsatthePakistanHigh Commission andworkedfor ISI,”asourcesaid.“The Government has de-

clared both these officials per-sona non grata for indulging inactivitiesincompatiblewiththeirstatus asmembers of a diplo-maticmissionandaskedthemtoleave the country within 24hours,” theMEAstatementsaid.It also said that Pakistan’s

Charge de Affaires SyedHaiderShahwas issued a demarche inwhich a “strong protest” waslodgedwithregard to theactivi-ties of these officials “againstIndia’snationalsecurity”.Pakistan’s ForeignMinistry

condemned the Indian govern-ment’s decision and said, “Twostaff members of the PakistanHighCommission inNewDelhiwereliftedbytheIndianauthor-ities today(May31)onfalseandunsubstantiated charges. Theywere,however,releasedoninter-ventionbytheHighCommission.Wecondemnthedetentionandtortureaswellasthreateningandpressuring of the diplomatic of-ficialstoacceptfalsecharges.”“Pakistanstronglyrejectsthe

baseless Indian allegations anddeplorestheIndianactionwhichisinclearviolationof theViennaConvention on DiplomaticRelationsaswellasthenormsofdiplomaticconductespeciallyinanalreadyvitiatedatmosphere,”itsaid.Themenwereapprehended

byDelhiPolice’sSpecialCellfromCentral Delhi’s Karol Bagh. “Ateam led by inspectors UmeshBarthwal andNeeraj Kumar re-ceivedinformationthatthemenwere coming to meet an in-formertogatherclassifieddocu-ments.Thepoliceteamlaidatrapand apprehended themwhiletheywere returning. Police arelookingforthemanwhohandedthemthedocuments,”saidasen-iorpoliceofficer.AnFIRhasbeenregisteredby

theSpecialCellpoliceundersec-tions of theOfficial Secrets Act.“The twowere questioned andtheynamedanotherperson,whowas detained fromKarol Baghlater in the evening. Senior offi-cialswereinformedandthemenwere handed over to the em-bassy,” theofficersaid.Duringquestioning, themen

are learnt to havedisclosed thattheywerecollectingdocumentsfrom informers about Armymovement in Jammu andKashmir.“Policehavefounddur-ing investigation that one ofthem, AbidHussain, had forgedan Aadhaar Cardwith a GeetaColonyaddress,” theofficersaid.Thelatestincidenthasthepo-

tentialtotriggerdiplomaticretal-iation fromPakistan. India andPakistan downgraded theirdiplomatictiesinAugustlastyear,afterJammu&Kashmir’sspecialstatus underArticle 370was re-voked. Both countries have re-calledtheirHighCommissioners,andDeputyHighCommissionersnowact as the chief of themis-sion.

FROMPAGEONEG7 very outdated, want India, SouthKorea, Australia in grouping: TrumpOn Saturday, German

ChancellorAngelaMerkel hadexpressedher inability totraveltotheUSfortheG7summitnextmonth,citingthe“pandemicsit-uation”.The inclusionof fourmore

countries into the G7, whichhas the world’s largesteconomies, isasignaltoChina.ThiscomesatatimewhentheUSandChinaare inabruisingwar of words over a range ofissues—fromHongKong’sau-tonomytoTaiwan, theoriginsofCovid-19totheSouthChinaSea tensionsand trade issues.During Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh’s UPA rule,India attended the G8 five

times–RussiawasindefinitelysuspendedinMarch2014afterthe annexation of Crimea, re-ducing thecountof theG8.Indiaattendedthesummit

in 2019when PrimeMinisterModivisitedFrance.AnaidetotheUSPresident

said the plan is to bring to-gether all traditional allies todiscuss how to deal with thefutureof China.Beijinghasbeenquite crit-

ical of Washington in recentweeks, especiallywith the USthreatening itwithsanctions.Whiletherehasbeensome

talk of re-admitting Russia —Trumphad raised this issue inBiarritz – the e suggestion to

expand it and include India isa new proposal. The proposalto re-admitRussia is expectedto elicit strong reactions fromotherG7membercountries.It is not clear when the

rescheduled summitwill takeplace although Trump sug-gested that it could be heldaround the UN GeneralAssembly in September oreven after the US Presidentialelections in November thisyear.“MaybeIwilldoitafterthe

election,” he said. “Think agoodtimewouldbebeforetheelection… So, it might be aG10, G11, and it could be afterthe election is over,” he said,

keeping the scheduling issueflexibleandopen-ended.India, which is likely to be

electedforthenon-permanentmember’s seat at the UNSecurity Council in NewYork,will beat theglobalhigh tablenextmonth.AndexpansionofG7 appears in line with NewDelhi’s thinking that India de-servesaplaceattheglobalde-cision-makingbodies.Trump’s proposal comes

days after he claimed he hadspoken to Modi about thetense situation on the India-Chinaborder.Hisclaimwasre-butted by the Indian govern-mentthrough“off-the-record”statements.

operationalhalts.Bhakarsaidthedecisionto

run the trainswas taken afterthe Chairman of RailwayBoard, Vinod Kumar Yadav,wrote to Mehta, requestingthatnecessaryinstructionsbeissuedto thedistrictadminis-trations for compliance ofministriesofHomeAffairsandHealth and Family Welfareguidelines for the running ofthese special trains.Yadav mentioned in the

letterthatasalargenumberofpassengers had alreadybookedtickets, itwouldcausesevereinconveniencetothemandmay also lead to law andorderproblemsatvarioussta-tions if trainswere cancelled.In his letter, Mehta had

soughtclarityonseveralpointstoensurethesafetyofpassen-gers in these special trains –200ofwhichwillbeginopera-

tion across the country fromJune1.These included how social

distancingnormswouldbefol-lowedinsidethecoaches,howRailwayswouldensurethatnoperson from containmentzones boards the train, whattesting protocolwould be fol-lowed before boarding andhow wearing of masks andglovesbypassengersthrough-out their travel would be en-sured.The letter further stated

that a person boarding fromacontainmentzonemightbein-fected but asymptomatic andas such, pose a risk to fellowtravelers. Inavideoconferenceheld on Sunday evening, boththe general managers ofCentral Railway (CR) andWestern Railway (WR) saidthey did not have thewhere-withal toensurethis, saidoffi-

cials.“Thereisnowaytocheckifaparticularpassengerboard-ing a train is from a contain-mentzone,” saidanofficial.Mehta'sletteraskedforthe

details tobesharedat theear-liest. Until that is done, itadded, 'Nospecial trainonthepattern of regular trains shalloriginate, terminate or halt atany of the railway stationswithin the state ofMaharashtra except only foroperationalhalts."Theletteralsoclarifiedthat

Shramik Special trains willcontinuetomoveinandoutofMaharashtra based on thestandardoperatingprocedurethathasbeen laidout.A senior state official said:

“TheRailwaysshouldtakeintoconsiderationMaharashtra'sconcerns.Thestate is tryingtoconsolidate some gains in thebattle against Covid-19 and

doesnotwanttotaketherisksthatmight comewith allow-ing large number of people tobe transported by train intovariouspartsof thestate.”A senior official from the

Railway Board said that simi-lar apprehensions have beenalso raisedbyAndhraPradeshand Jharkhand. “The Andhragovernmenthadaskedforonlyoneadditionalstopwithinthestateapart fromthe terminat-ing station to ensure propermonitoringof all arrivingpas-sengers, while Jharkhand hadstopped movement of fourtrains,”theofficialsaidoncon-ditionof anonymity.Thelettercomesaweekaf-

ter RailwaysMinister PiyushGoyal taunted Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray for not be-ingable to fill ShramikSpecialtrains on time, despite askingformore trains.

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DecodingtheborderdisputebetweenIndiaandNepalNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

In today’sepisodeweexplorewhyNepalhasmovedaconstitutionalamendmentseekingclaimover threeterritories

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State blinks, passenger trains allowed to leave

LIFE begins with milk!When a child is born, thefirst food consumed by the

child is mother’s milk. Milk isconsidered as an elixir for thechild with its nutritive and pro-tective properties.Mother’s milkconsists of well-designed pro-tein, essential fats and carbohy-drates in form of lactose. Otherthan this nutrition, it is full ofminerals and vitamins frommother. It also has immunomod-ulatory properties.

Similar to humans, mothercows and buffaloes produce milk for their calves.After making sure hercalf is well fed and healthful, we humans consume her milk. Milk isconsumed since ancient times in Indian culture in various forms suchas liquid milk,dahi (set-yogurt),butter,buttermilk,paneer,shrikhand,lassi,khoa and variety of ethnic sweets made from milk. It has nutri-ents very similar to mother’s milk but in higher quantities;very goodbalance of proteinsWhey 20% and Casein’s 80%,fats,carbohydratesand essential micronutrients. It also consists of natural im-munomodulatory substances such as Lactoferrin which boosts ourimmunity preparedness,gives a feeling of satiation and keeps us fulldue to slow release casein proteins, the fat conjugates such as CLA(conjugated linolenic acid) help in our metabolic functions, highamount of Calcium and other minerals take care of our bone devel-opment and repairs.

Apart from its nutritional ben-efits,dairying is lifeline of rural In-dia. Farmers who are backbonesof our economy, who make surethere is always enough food onour table depend on milk as adaily income. Out of the totalMilk produced in India, about48% is either consumed at theproducer level or sold to non-pro-ducers in the rural area.The bal-ance 52 % of the milk is mar-ketable surplus available for saleto consumers in urban areas.

Similar to all industries, dairy-ing is also badly affected by theCovid-19 pandemic.About 40%drop in consumption of liquidmilk has affected the entire sup-ply chain and milk had to beprocessed into more shelf-stableproducts such as cheese, butter,milk powder and UHT milk. En-tire rural India is dependent ondairying for livelihood. Dairyingand farming has created a sym-biotic relationship between ruraland urban India. Indian dairyand livestock sector employeesmake up for 8.5% of total work-force and accounts for Rs7,58,417 crore, which is 4.9% oftotal GDP and about 36% ofagricultural GDP. (National Ac-counts Statistics-2019, CentralStatistical Organisation, GOI &Dairy Industry White Paper Vi-sion 2020 by Suruchi Consul-tants). The least we can do torestart our country’s economic isdrinking a glass of milk.

IN his address to the nation lastweek, Prime Minister NarendraModi spoke about the unprece-dented crisis that mankind is facing

today in the form of Covid-19. He sug-gested that at this crucial juncture, theonly way ahead for our country is to be-come aatmanirbhar or self-reliant.

While many around us would havescoffed at the Prime Minister’s idea ofaatmanirbharta, I believe that achievingthis goal is not impossible.

The question then is — how do youmake this mantra a reality in a countrylike India that imports goods worth bil-

lions of dollars already?The answer lies inidentifying the sectors that are hugely de-

pendent on imports such as energy, elec-tronics, edible oil, durables and mineralsand like.

I take you back to the 1970s when an-nual milk production in India was stag-nant at 21 Million Metric Tons (MMT)with per capita availability of just 110 gper person per day. India was largely de-pendent on imports for milk and domesticmilk producers were in a state of penury. Itwas then that a tripartite commitmentwas made by the stakeholders, the policymakers and the political leadership of In-dia, to replicate the successful Amulmodel of milk co-operatives created byShri Tribhuvandas Patel and Dr VergheseKurien, across the country. The country

reaped the fruits of White Revolutionthrough Operation Flood and today Indiahas become aatmanirbhar in milk pro-duction. India is now the largest producerof milk in the world with an annual pro-duction of 189MMT and from being acountry that produced just 1/3rd of the USand 1/8th of Europe. We have doubledour production as compared to the USand increased it to 25% more than thatof Europe. The per capita availability isnow 400 g per person per day, inspite of2.5 times increase in population over lastfive decades.More importantly, theWhiteRevolution hasalso enabled 100million house-

holds to become independent entrepre-neurs and earn their livelihood with dig-nity and respect.

And how do you create a revolutionequal in scale toWhite Revolution today?

The answer lies in strengthening thethree pillars of a successful movement —stakeholders, the policy makers and thepolitical leadership of India. The policymakers and the political leadership are al-ready up for the challenge by setting thepriority and laying the roadmap.We haveall the resources and skills and most im-portantly we have a stable democraticelectoral setup in place. Now, it all comesdown to India’s demographic strength toshow their confidence in Indian brands asper PM's call to the nation.

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J. D. THOTE DAIRYJ. D. Thote dairy is one of the most seasoned diaries, with

a humble beginning right around five decades prior in 1954,Mr. Jambu Dada Thote, founder and promoter ofM/s J. D. Thote Dairy started his milk procurement business. Itall started in Ashta, a small village in Sangli District of WesternMaharashtra, where Mr. J. D. Thote collected milk from farmersfrom the region and supplied it to the nearby Sangli city.

From day one, Mr. J. D. Thote was very firm anddetermined to provide excellent quality milk to his customersand also, his way of thinking was basic to give the best qualitymilk produce at the most aggressive rates so as to elevate

every single individual from the all-encompassing J. D. Thote family!This determination later became the prime ethic of our organization. The

Quality of milk supplied and the trust that Mr. J. D. Thote had built, helped inboosting the demand from neighbouring cities. Mr. J. D. Thote seized thisopportunity at the earliest which led to the foundation of M/s J. D. Thote Dairy.To fulfil the ever-increasing demand from customers, our first milk ProcessingPlant was set up at Ashta in 1979. Dairy farming is a part of agriculture, practicedto produce milk which is generally from dairy cows and buffaloes.

Today, the company has one of the most technologically advanced dairyplants in the country, with a processing capacity of approx. 50 thousand litres ofmilk per day. Every day, about 50 thousand liters of milk is standardized,pasteurized, packaged and dispatched for sale in Sangali, Satara, Pune, Mumbaiand Konkan. Apart from Milk, Butter, Ghee, Shrikhand, Basundi, Paneer,Buttermilk, Flavoured Milk, Chakka and Lassi form part of a formidable line-up ofJ. D. Thote Dairy products.

Mr. J. D. Thote’s work in Western Maharashtra region has helped M/sJ. D. Thote Dairy earn respect from farmers, suppliers and end customers. TheQuality of our items is one of the significant purposes behind the developmentof J. D. Thote Dairy as one of the most confided in brands in milk industry.

We are currently open franchise module to give opportunity for the youthto start business in this crisis situation. Mark our words dairy business is agranted income.

Contact: 99700 89777 / 83808 99799 / 02342-242037.Web site : www.jdthotedairy.com. Email : jdthotedairy@yahoo.com

Address : M/s J. D. Thote Dairy, Sangli–Islampur Road,A. P. Ashta, Tal- Walwa, Dist. Sangli–416301 (Maharashtra).

Mr. Sheetall Thote,Partner,

J.D.Thote Dairy

#WORLDMILK DAY1 June 2020

Dr. R S Sodhi,Managing Director

GCMMF (Amul)

Turmeric Milk (haldi ka doodh) isan ancientAyurvedic drink that’sknown for its anti-inflammatoryproperties. This quick and easyrecipe is optimized for absorp-tion, includes several warmingspices and tastes perfectly sweet,rich, yet light and comforting.

INGREDIENTS■ 1 cup of Organic milk■ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder■ Some black pepper powder■ Some desi ghee■ Honey or organic sugar

to taste

METHOD■ Place the milk in a pan over

medium heat.■ Bring to low boil.Add all in-

gredients except the honey orsugar.

■ Keep steering the mixture forsome time.

■ Put off heat, and allow themixture to cool.

■ When the mixture has cooled,add honey or sugar to taste.Enjoy Health!

GOLDEN MILK OR TURMERIC MILKMaking India aatmanirbhar

Dairy sector growth can help revive Indian economy

Atul Chitale PartnerM/s B.G.Chitale

MYRIADBENEFITS OF MILKCalcium:Builds healthy bones and teeth;maintains bone massProtein: Serves as a source of energy;builds/repairs muscle tissue

Potassium:Helps maintain a healthyblood pressurePhosphorus: Helps strengthen bonesand generate energyVitamin D: Helps maintain bonesVitamin B12: Maintains healthy red

blood cells and nerve tissueVitaminA:Maintains the immune sys-tem;helps maintain normal vision and skinRiboflavin (B2): Converts food intoenergyNiacin: Metabolizes sugars and fatty acids

3WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

AFTER A 61-year-old migrantworker, who travelled fromMumbai to Nashik, died in aNashik government hospital onMay22,districtofficialshavesetouttoquarantineatleast20pas-sengerswho travelledwith herinamini-truck.The woman travelled from

Ghatkopar, taking a lift in a veg-etable truckwith several labour-erswhowereheaded forNashik.She reachedDeola inmid-Mayandsufferedfrombreathlessness.Fromthere,herfamilytookhertoaprivatedoctorinSatana,followed

byNashikcityfortreatment.“She tested positive for

Covid-19 and died onMay 22,”said Dr Kapil Ahir, medical offi-cer (publichealth) inNashik.Sincethen,thewoman’stwo

sonsandbothdaughter-in-lawshave testedpositive. District of-ficials went on to trace hermovementsinSatanaandDeola.While the doctor she consultedtested negative, two others shemetinDeolatestedpositive.Twoother high-risk contacts inSatanaalso testedpositive.“As word spread, people

themselvesstartedshowingup.Those who travelled with herwere put under quarantine,”Ahir said.

SADAFMODAKMUMBAI,MAY31

ALOCKDOWNcourthasrejectedpre-arrestbailapplicationofa33-year-old doctor, booked for al-legedly sexually assaulting a44-year-oldmale Covid-19 patientearlier thismonth andobservedthat“consideringtheheinousandpervert nature of the allegedof-fence”therewasaneedforcusto-dial interrogationof theaccused.The accused, in his submissionsbeforethecourt,hadsaidhewasfalselyimplicatedinthematter.“It is pertinent to note here

that police officers, doctors,nurses and other persons/ au-thoritieswhoarefightingagainstthepandemicofCovid-19arebe-ingtreatedbythesocietyatlargewith respect. In such circum-stances, I find that therewas noreason for the authorities ofWockhardtHospitaltolodgefalsereport against applicant (ac-cused)...”thecourtsaidlastweek.While theaccused,whois in

quarantine, isyet tobearrested,his services were terminatedfromthehospital,policesaid.OnMay 2, the Agripada police had

registered an FIR based on thecomplaintof theHRmanagerofthe southMumbai hospital un-der sections 377 (unnatural of-fences),269(negligentactlikelyto spread infection of diseasesendangering life) and 270 (ma-lignantactlikelytospreadinfec-tionofdiseasesendangeringlife)of the Indian Penal Code. Thecomplaintwasregisteredonthebasisof theallegationsofthepa-tient undergoing treatment forCovid-19at thehospital’s ICU.According to the complaint,

the accused doctor had joinedthehospitalonApril30andwasamong the young consultantshired by it after 80 of its stafferswereinfectedbythecoronavirus.OnMay1,hejoineddutyat8amandwas assigned work at theCovidICUward.At10.30am,thecomplaintstated,thedoctorwasinformed by the HR managerthatacomplaintofsexualassaulthadbeenfiledagainsthim.

The prosecution told thecourtthatthepatienthadalertedanurseandsubmittedawrittencomplaint. As the statement ofthe patient was yet to berecorded, the prosecution sub-mitted the accused, if grantedpre-arrestbail, couldattempttoputpressureonthevictim.While statements of the se-

curityguard,threedoctorsandapublicrelationofficerof thehos-pitalwererecorded,spotpanch-nama was also pending, thecourt was told. The accused’slawyersubmittedthatitwasnot“prudent”foradoctortocommitsuchanactknowingthatthepa-tient was infectedwith coron-avirus.Healsotoldthecourtthatwhile his client was in quaran-tine since the incident, he hadnotbeentested for thevirus.Observingthatitcouldnotbe

a ground for granting pre-arrestbail, the court said the accusedcould approach a hospital in hisvicinity and get tested.“Considering the heinous andpervert nature of the alleged of-fence, I find that custodial inter-rogationofapplicantisnecessaryfor effective investigation in thematter,” thecourt furtherstated.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

A COURT in Mumbai grantedbailtoa20-year-oldmanbookedfor rape under Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, observing that itwas not proper to keep the ac-cused in jail amid the growingnumber of Covid-19 casesamong inmates. The court alsoobserved that facts of the caseprima facie show that the ac-cusedwasinarelationshipwiththe16-year-oldvictim.The accused had claimed in

hisbailapplication,filedthroughlawyerBharatManghani,thathe

and the victim were in a rela-tionship.Hehadsubmittedthattheyintendedtogetmarriedandthat the victim left her home ofher ownwill on February 12. Amissing complaint was filed atVakolapolicestationbyherpar-ents, based onwhich the policebegan a search for her. Shewasfound in Nashik alongwith theaccused,wholivesthere.Theac-cusedtoldthecourtthatthepo-lice had completed their inves-tigation and a chargesheet wasfiled. The prosecution led bySpecial Public Prosecutor GeetaSharma submitted that if re-leasedonbailtheaccusedwouldpressurise thevictim’s family.“At the time of the incident,

thevictimhasleftherhomevol-untarily and disclosed her rela-tionship toherparents,whoareagainst it.Takingintoconsidera-tionthefactsabouttheirrelation-ship and due to the lockdown,thetrialwillnotproceedfurther.Also, as there isCovid-19spreadamong the inmates, it is notpropertokeeptheaccusedinjailanymore,” the court saidwhilegrantingbail to theaccused.Theaccused,whowaslodged

in the Arthur Road Jail, was re-leasedwithconditions,includingnotvisitingthevictim’sresidence.A high-powercommitteehad

directedthereleaseofabout50percentoftheprisonersinthestateoninterimbailoremergencyparole.

LAXMANSINGH&SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,MAY31

AS OF Friday, 1,173 people haddied due to Covid-19 inMumbai. Amid the pandemic,while the city’s 11 electric cre-matoria have been functioningat double their capacity, thebacklog of the departed await-ing final rites has led to manygrief-struckfamiliesqueuingupfor cremation, with some evenwaiting for seven to10hours.AnemployeeattheWorlicre-

matoriumsaid,“InMay,226bod-ieswerebroughthere.Beforethispandemicstruck,weused to re-ceivethesemanybodiesinayear.Atmost, 30 bodieswould arriveinamonthbeforetheoutbreak.”In all, Mumbai has 49 BMC-runand20privatecrematoria.Family members of a 55-

year-old deceasedman had towait for about 12 hours to cre-mate his body at Daulat NagarcrematoriuminBorivali.Theres-ident of Appa Pada slum in

Malad(East)haddiedonMay25at Shatabadi hospital, awaitingCovid-19 test result.“The bodywas released as a

suspected case of Covid-19death. Later in the night, thebody was first taken toVadarpada crematorium nearLokhandwala, Kandivali. Butthey said they are only cremat-ing Covid-19 patients.We thenvisited Daulat Nagar cremato-rium,wherewewere informedwe would have to wait tillaround 6.30 am the next day,”saidPremVishvakarma,afriendof thedeceased.Besides thewaiting period,

another problem the familieshave to face is arranging for am-bulances.Asthebodieshavetobedirectlyshiftedfromambulancesto the furnaces at the cremato-rium, the ambulances are likemakeshiftmortuaries. “Atmid-night,we arranged for a secondambulance, as theambulance inwhichthebodywasbroughthadtoattendtoanotherpatient.Afterspeakingtotwoambulanceserv-ices, which were charging Rs

1,000 advance and Rs 300 perhour,finallyweoneagreedtotakeustothecrematoriumatRs3,500andwait there till themorning,”Vishwakarmasaid.For the last 10 days, electric

crematoria at Shivaji Park inDadar, Chandanwadi inKalbadeviandWorliareworkingathalf their capacity, as one fur-nace at each of the facilities hasbeenshutdownforrepairs.Afur-naceattheWorlicrematoriumisunderrepairafterafirelastweek.Astafferfromacrematorium

in southMumbai said that themachines are currently bearingthe load of a year in a month.“The bodies are wrapped in aplastic body suit and sanitised.Due to this, the temperature inthefurnacerisessuddenlyasop-posed to cremations of non-Covid-19patients.Thisistherea-sonbehindfiresatthefurnaces.”A staffer fromWorli crema-

torium said, “Due to the lock-down, the availability of woodrequiredinwood-basedcrema-tion is low... We also get non-Covid-19 bodies, increasing the

loadonthe furnace.”Congress corporator from

BandraWest, Asif Zakaria, saidsimilarcasesofdelayarebeingre-portedfromacrossthecity.Hesaidthe BMC should start an onlinemechanismwhere real-timeup-datesofcrematoriacanbeseen.BMCofficialssaidthedelayis

also caused by the disinfectionprotocol that has to be followedaftercremation.“Thefurnaceisamachineandwehavetofollowamaintenance protocol. Once abodyisplacedinthefurnace,theprocess takes about one-and-a-half hours. Then the furnacehastobeclearedandthetemperatureshould come down to negativebefore the next body is broughtin. Also, the staffers have tochangetheirPPE,”saidanofficial.Some crematoria have now

startedgivingtokennumberstofamily members while askingthem towait at the hospital tilltheir turncomes.Bhoiwada Crematoriumhas

been one of the busiest as it hasKEMhospital, Tata hospital andTBHospital in its vicinity. Local

Shiv Sena corporator SachinPadwal, with the help of KEMhospital administration, has setupamechanismunderwhichrel-ativesofpatientsarebeinggivensuch tokennumbers. “The bodyis being kept at KEM hospital.Afterthecrematoriumstaffalertsus,wecallthefamilymemberstotake themortal remains to thecrematorium,”saidPadwal.TheBMC,meanwhile,hasis-

sued a short tender for settingup15temporarymortuaries in-side Hindu electric crematoria.The temporary ormobilemor-tuaries are like boxes wherebodiescanbekepttill their turnfor last rites comes. With this,BMCaimstoreducethewaitingperiod and also the risk to rela-tives as well as the staffers ofcrematoriumwhohave towaitwith thebodies inambulances.According to the infection

control protocol, all Covid-19bodies either have to be cre-mated in electric crematoria orburiedatburialgroundsthatarelargeenoughtoensuretheinfec-tionwouldnot spread.

CORONAWATCH

Minister’sdrivertestspositiveMumbai: A 55-year-olddriverofCongress leaderand Mumbai CityGuardianMinisterAslamShaikh’s Saturday testedpositive forCovid-19, of-ficials said Sunday,adding theminister hastested negative for thevirus. While the driver,who has been workingfor Shaikh since January,was asymptomatic, hiswife developed a fever afewweeksago, followingwhich Shaikh’s entirestaffwere testedonMay28.“TheCovid-19testsofall my staff was carriedout, but only the driverwas found positive (forthe virus). He was notcomingtodutyfromMay11 as another driverwason duty. My test resulthas also come negative,butwearetakingallpos-sible precaution,” theMinister for Textiles andFisheries said Sunday.Thedriverhasbeenquar-antined at a friend’s va-cantroominthegovern-ment quarter sinceSaturday.ENS

BIDDING ADIEUMigrantsonboardaShramikSpecial traintoGorakhpur inUttarPradesh,atThanestationonSunday. Deepak Joshi

Activity MunicipalCorporations Remaining ContainmentofMMR,Pune,Nagpur, Areas ZonesAurangabadetc

Travel-Air, train,metroInter-stateroadmovementTaxi, cab, rickshaw Essential 1+24wheeler Essential 1+22wheeler Essential 1Inter-districtplyingofbusIntra-districtplyingofbusMovement formedicalemergenciesEducation institutionsHospitality-HotelsMedicalclinic,OPDPlacesofworship&largegatheringsAgriactivities N/AIndustries (Urban) EssentialIndustries (Rural) N/AUrbanin-situconstructionShoppingmallsSupplyof goodsMarkets/shops (5th June)EssentialgoodsshopsE-ComessentialgoodsE-Comnon-essentialgoodsLiquorshops /HomeDeliveryBarbershops, spas, saloonsPrivateoffices 10%strength(8th June)Govtoffices 15%or15whichever 100%

ishigherSubregistrar/RTO/DyRTOBank&FinanceCourier&PostalOutdooractivities (3rd June)HomedeliveryrestaurantsElectricians,plumbersetc (3rd June)Garages,workshopsetc. (3rd June)

What’s allowed & not allowed inMaharashtra (To be readwith orderdatedMay 31)

MISSIONBEGIN AGAIN11 electric crematoria function atdouble capacity, yet bodies pile up

Court denies bail to doctor accusedof sexually assaulting Covid patient

Migrant worker dies, 20of her co-passengers inmini-truck in quarantine

Covid cases in Arthur Road jail: Manbooked under POCSO Act granted bail

Migrantworkers fromWestBengalboardatruckfromPDMelloRoadtoBandrastation, inMumbaionSunday.NirmalHarindran

Theaccused,whois inquarantine, isyet tobearrested, saidpolice

THEOUTBREAKMAHARASHTRA 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

MAHARASHTRAON Sundayreported2,487freshcasesand89 deaths, taking its overallcountof the infected to67,655andtollto2,286.Until a fortnight ago,

Maharashtrawascontributingto33.5percentofIndia’sCovid-19 burden. On Sunday, theshareroseto35.7percent,datafromstaterevealed.Theoveralltollhasalsomorethandoubledinthelast15days.Mumbai recorded 1,244

new infections Sunday, reach-ing 39,686 cases. It also re-ported52moredeaths, takingitstollto1,279.The state government

Sunday said people can availfreeCovid-19treatmentunderthe Mahatma Gandhi JanArogyaYojana in 902 empan-elledhospitalsacrossthestate.The scheme is for yellow andorange cardholders, but in 14drought-affectedregions,peo-plewithwhite ration card canalsoavailthisscheme.AfterMumbai,Punehasthe

highest numberof fatalities at329. The toll inThane touched200onSunday– thirdhighestin the state –with five deathsrecorded in thedistrict. Of the

89 newdeaths, 47were agedabove60years,35peoplewerebetween 40 to 60 years, andsevenwere less than40yearsold.At least56of thedeceasedsufferedfromcomorbidities.With an acute shortage of

dialysiscentresmakingitdiffi-cult forpatientssufferingfromrenal failure undergodialysis,BMChasropedin17centrestoperformdialysis on Covid-19patients.Twocentreswillcon-duct dialysis onpatientswhoareawaitingtest results.So far,373 patients have registeredwithBMCtoundergodialysis.

Totalnumberof activecases 36,063

Numberofdeaths 2,286

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 29,329

Numberofpeople tested4.62 lakh

Totalnumberquarantined 72,704

Numberofnewcases

2,487

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

67,655

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackerayonSundaysaidtheac-ademic year for schools in thestatewill commence in Juneandboth offline and online optionsshould beused for it. Thackerayalso approved the use of onlineplatforms, such as GoogleClassroom, for teaching as thecountry enters the fifthphase ofthe lockdownamidtheCovid-19pandemic.“The academic year must

start from June. Schools shouldbe started, wherever possible,with proper healthcare.Education should start eventhrough the online medium,”Thackeraysaidatareviewmeet-ingheldwith the school educa-tiondepartment.Healsostressedontheneed

to strengthen online educationsystem in the state. “At present,

GoogleClassroomcanbeused,”he said, adding that an inde-pendent computer-based sys-temshouldbedeveloped in thecomingdays.“Educationshouldstartwith

all possiblemethods... Studentsshould not lose their academicyear.If thereareinternetconnec-tivity issues in remote areas,which are unaffected by Covid-19, schools should start by fol-lowing social distancingnorms.If it is difficult tostart schools insomeplaces, thenalternative op-

tionsshouldbeused.Buteduca-tion should not stop,” saidThackeray.Themeeting was attended

by School Education MinisterVarsha Gaikwad, AdditionalChief Secretary VandanaKrishna, scientist RaghunathMashelkar, educational expertsamongothers.“The government is prepar-

ing the standard operating pro-cedure for the schools basedonthe inputs fromeducational ex-perts, officials and guardians,”saidGaikwad. “Thepreparationto provide education throughonlinemediumorTelevisionandradiohavebeencompleted.Thegovernmenthasplannedtopro-videbookstoschoolstudentsbyJune15,”Gaikwadadded.KrishnasaidthatGooglewas

ready to provide online class-

roomservices freeof cost to theschool education department.“The department has prepareda plan to resume schools in aphasewisemanner. It has sug-gestedreducingfestivalholidaystocompletethesyllabusandalsoextend the academic year tillMay,” addedKrishna.

Meg×erHe$ekeÀjeä^er³e kesÀefcekeÀume De@C[HeÀefì&uee³ePeme& efue. ³ee kebÀHeveer®eeefo. 31 cee®e&, 2020 jespeer mebHeuesu³ee$ewceeefmekeÀ DeeefCe Je<ee&keÀefjleeSkeÀef$ele uesKeeHeefjef#ele efve<keÀ<ee&®³eeefJeJejCeHe$ee®ee meejebMe meojJe=ÊeHe$eeceO³es efo. 30.05.2020jespeer Òeefme× keÀjC³eele Deeuee neslee.ke=ÀHe³ee ³ee peeefnjeleerceOeerue meJe&DeekeÀ[s ©. ueeKeeceO³es Demes Jee®eeJes.

CORRIGENDUMExtract of Statement ofConsolidated AuditedResults for The Quarterand Year ended 31stMarch, 2020 of RashtriyaChemicals and FertilizersLtd. was published in thisnewspaper on 30.05.2020.Please read all figures inthis ad as Rs. in Lakh.

Educationshouldstartwithallpossiblemethods...Studentsshouldnot losetheiracademicyear”

UDDHAVTHACKERAYCHIEFMINISTER

Newacademic session ofschools to begin in June: CM

ABHAGORADIAMUMBAI,MAY31

WHILECHIEFMinisterUddhavThackerayonSundaysaidthatthe academic year for schoolsshouldcommenceinJuneandbothofflineandonlineoptionsshouldbeusedforthepurpose,thependingdecisiononrestart-ingjuniorcollegeshasleftClassXIIstudentsworriedaboutthecompletionof theirsyllabus.Adding to their concerns is

thefact thattherehasbeenlit-tleornocommunication fromtheirrespectivecolleges.Usually, the curriculumof

ClassXIIexamsiscompletedbyNovember,afterwhichthestu-dents appear for college-con-ducted prelims and use thetime for self-study. The boardexams are conducted inFebruary.Given thatmost colleges

catertobothjuniorcollegeanddegree students, the studentsassumethattheywillopenpostAugust, as per an announce-ment made by HigherEducation Minister UdaySamant. OnMay 8, based onUGCguidelinesandreportbyastate-levelcommittee,Samanthad announced that the newacademic year for universitystudents will begin fromSeptember1.But by September, junior

collegeswill be leftwith littletime to complete the syllabus.“Thosewho have enrolled inprivatecoachingclassesarestillbetter off… those frompoor

backgroundsarecompletelyre-liantoncollegesandschoolsforcompletingthestateboardsyl-labus,” saidNivan Shah, a stu-dentofHRCollege,Mumbai.Mostcollegessofarhaven’t

begunonline classes andhavehadlittlecommunicationwithstudents regarding the futurecourse of learning. KCCollegestudent RishabhSharma said,“Wehave begun studying onourownbutmanyareawaitingthe government announce-mentonabridgedsyllabus.”Whencontacted,KCCollege

principal Hemlata Bagla said,“Wewill release recorded lec-tures online from June15.Wewill also create WhatsAppgroups and allot teachers tomentorstudents.”Meanwhile, somecolleges,

includingStXavier’s,willbeginclassesonlywhentheinstitutesreopen.“Asurveyregardingon-line education found that 20per cent of the students andteachers didnothave internetconnectivityor requiredgadg-ets.So,weplantoteachafterthecollegereopens,”saidprincipalRajendraShinde.Director of Secondary

EducationDinkarPatilsaid thedepartment has been dis-cussingtheideaofabridgedsyl-labus. “It is in process andweare seeingwhat can be donesincereducingthesyllabuswillbringaboutchangeintheeval-uationpattern.Entranceexamswill also need to be looked at.Wehave alreadyhad the firstmeeting to discuss the issue,”headded.

RESTARTINGJUNIORCOLLEGES

No communicationfrom state govt orcolleges, Class XIIstudents a harried lot

2,487 freshcases, 89 deaths

MAHARASHTRA6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

Ref No:-BSCL/2020-21/312 Date: 30.05.2020

Bareilly Smart City Limited, Bareilly invites e-tender for the following projects:-

Date:-

Sd/-

Chief Executive Officer,

Bareilly Smart City Limited, Bareilly.

BAREILLY SMART CITY LIMITED (BSCL)BAREILLY (UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA)

S.No.

Name of the Work (In Lakh)Earnest MoneyDeposit (Rs.)

Tender feewith GST @

18% (Rs.)

Workcompletion

Period

Bid StartDate

1 Construction of HandicraftPromotion Centre at Bareilly

100.00 11800 18 Months 03/06/2020

2 Sanjay Community hall & PondComplex External Development atBareilly

18.00 11800 18 Months 03/06/2020

1 Detailed NIT and Bid Document shall be available on: - https://etender.up.nic.in and

http://www.nagarnigambareilly.com

2 Tender call notice in two Bid systems (Part- I: General & Technical Bid and Part-II financial

Bid/Price Bid/BOQ) from intending bidders fulfilling the eligibility criteria mentioned in this

Notice and other qualifying requirements mentioned in this RFP

3 Amendment to NIT, if any would be published on website only

4 In case of any queries on this RFP, intending bidders may contact THE GENERAL MANAGER,

BAREILLY SMART CITY LIMITED, Bareilly (Tel. No: - 0581- 25510074, 7055519602) or send

an email to: ceo bscl01@gmail.com

MAHARASHTRA STATE SEEDS CORPORATION LIMITED,(PROCESSING MATERIAL WING)

Regd. Office : “Mahabeej Bhawan” , Krishi Nagar, Akola 444 104 (Maharashtra)Phone Off.: 2258480, 2455093, Fax : 0724-2455187, 2455287. CIN No.U01200MH19765SGC018990

E-Mail : hopmw@mahabeej.com. Visit us at : http://www.mahabeej.com.

TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS

BUSINESSPOULTRY

VENCOBBVENCOBB Ex-FarmYesterday’s price inPune Rs. 108/-.Suggested Retail Priceis Rs. 126/-

0070701559

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50164971

Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it is not possible toverify its contents. The IndianExpress (P.) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurred as a resultof transactions withcompanies, associations orindividuals advertising in itsnewspapers or Publications.We therefore recommendthat readers make necessaryinquiries before sending anymonies or entering into anyagreements with advertisersor otherwise acting on anadvertisement in any mannerwhatsoever.

''IMPORTANT''

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY31

SOLAPUR DEPUTY MayorRajesh Kale, brought by policeto Pimpri-Chinchwad onSaturday in connectionwith acheatingcase,wasallowedtogohomeafterhe started sneezingandcomplainedof sore throat.Sangvi police inspector

Dnyaneshwar Sable on SundaysaidKalewaspickedupfromhisresidence in Solapur on Fridayand brought to Sangvi policestationonSaturday.

“Hewas taken into custodyin connectionwith a cheatingcase.Afamilyhadlodgedacom-plaint against him for cheatingthem while selling a flat tothem.Thefamilyallegedtheflatthey livedinwassoldtoat least10peoplebyKale,” saidSabale.“Duringhismedical exami-

nation, itwasfoundthathehadfever. In the evening, he beganto sneeze and complained ofsore throat. We thenallowedhimtogoafter servinghimanotice.Hehasbeenaskedtoreportbackaftersevendays,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY31

FORMER MAHARASHTRAFinanceMinisterandseniorBJPleaderSudhirMungantiwarhaswrittentoChiefMinisterUddhavThackeraySundayseekingasix-month extension for thesarpanches, deputy sarpanchesandmembers of 14,314 grampanchayats across the state,whosetenurehaveended,inthewakeoftheCovid-19pandemic.“Due to the Covid-19 pan-

demic, the state governmentshould extend the tenure of14,314 grampanchayats by sixmonths. They can continue to

work as a caretaker,”Mugantiwarstatedintheletter.Maharashtra has a total of

28,813 gram panchayats, ofwhich4,112inAmravatidivision,2,885 inPunedivision, 2,500 inNashik division, 2,473 inAurangabad division, 1,525 inNagpur division and 813 inKonkan division are slated forfreshelections.“It has come to our notice

thatthegovernmentisconsider-ingtoappointadministrators inthe gram panchayats, whosetermisover.Suchamovewouldnotaugurwellforthedemocraticprocessunderwhichgrampan-chayatsfunction,”Mungantiwarstated, adding that Guardian

Ministerswere exercising theirpowers toappoint theadminis-trators.“Whenthegovernmenthad

givenextensions to cooperativesocietiesanddistrictcooperativebanks to avert electoral processamidstCovid-19pandemic,whyshoulditrefrainfrommakingthesamedecisionforgrampanchay-ats,”heargued.TheBJPleadersaidthegram

panchayat electionswere notcontestedonpartylinesorsym-bols. “Locals (residents) vote forindividualskeepinginmindtheissuesintheirrespectivevillages.Therefore, granting sixmonthsextensionshouldnotworry thegovernment,”hestated.

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,MAY31

THE INDIA MeteorologicalDepartment(IMD)Sundayissueda pre-cyclonewatch for northMaharashtra and southGujaratcoastswith a low-pressure areapersistingoverthesoutheastandadjoining east-central ArabianSeaandLakshadweepislands.“It is expected to turn into a

cyclonic storm by Tuesday.WearemonitoringwhetherthiswillbeasintenseasCycloneAmphanand are in touchwith the con-cerned state governments,”MrutunjayMohapatra, directorgeneralof IMD,said.Adistrict-wiseforecast,issued

by the IMD, has put Palghar on“redalert”withthepossibilityofextremely heavy rain at isolatedplaces for June3 and4.Mumbai

and Thane, meanwhile, havebeenput on “orange alert”withthe possibility of heavy to veryheavy rainfall at few places.According to IMD,Mumbai, thethree areas are likely to receiverain/ thundershowers on June 1and2.Light tomoderate rainfall at

most placeswith isolatedheavyto very heavy showers are verylikely over Lakshadweep area,Kerala and coastal Karnataka onMay31and June1under the in-fluenceofthestorm,anIMDbul-letinstates.Heavyandextremelyheavyrainfall is likelyoversouthGujarat, north Konkan,MadhyaMaharashtra,Daman,Diu,Dadra&NagarHavelionJune3and4,itadds.“The low-pressure area

formedSundaymorningaround5.30am.Thesystemisverylikelyto concentrate into a depression

over east-central and adjoiningsoutheast Arabian Sea duringnext24hoursandlikelytointen-sify further intoacyclonic stormovertheeast-centralArabianSeaduringthesubsequent24hours,”theIMDbulletinsaid,addingit isvery likely tomove northwardstill June 2morning and then re-curve north-northeastward andreach near northMaharashtraandsouthGujaratcoastsaroundJune3morning.“Maharashtra, especially the

westcoast, isvery likely toexpe-rience an activewet spell fromJune 1 to 4. Light to moderaterainfall atmost places,with iso-lated heavy spells, is very likelyover south Konkan andGoa onMay31,andisolatedheavytoveryheavyfallsonJune1,”thebulletinsaid. Fishermen, out at sea, havealso been advised to return byMay31.

ManbookedforsexualassaultonminorMumbai: A 33-year-oldman hasbeenbookedforallegedlysexuallyassaultinganeight-year-oldgirlata central Mumbai residentialbuilding thatwas listed as a con-tainmentzonetillaweekago,po-lice said.The girl, police said,was play-

ingontheverandaofherhouseonMay 28 when the accused al-legedly took her inside a pumproom and forced himself on her.After the child informed hermotherabouttheincident,sheap-

proachedtheAgripadapolicesta-tion and subsequently, a case un-der relevant sections of IPC andProtectionofChildrenfromSexualOffencesAct,2012wasregistered.“The accused, who did odd

jobs in the society for the past 12years, fled on realising that thefamilyhasregisteredapolicecom-plaint,” an investigator said,addinghemayhavetakenatrucktoBhiwandi.Policearenowtryingto trace themanwith the help ofhis calldata record. ENS

DIPANITANATHPUNE,MAY31

Tomarkhis50thbirthday,MilindSoniwanted to run50 km. It al-most did not happen as his bigday,May 11, fell amid the thirdphase of the lockdown, underwhich runningoutsidewaspro-hibited.Sonithendecidedtoturntheinternalroadofhishousingso-cietyinKothrudintoterrain.Thecirculartrack,whichruns

among rowhouses rather thanthelongstretches,wasbarely270metres.Sonihadtokeephisspeedin check—hewouldhave com-pleted the distance in about sixhours on the roador on thehillyslopesofPune.“IamhappywhenI amrunning. It is not aworkoutanymore. Had I not run onmybirthday, Iwouldhavebeendis-appointed for a long time,” saysSoni, a chartered accountantworkingwithKirloskarGroup.Not just bakingorplaying an

instrument,coronavirushaspos-siblyinspiredanewsub-genreofsports — virtual marathoners,withanumberofpeoplerunningon balconies, stairways androoftops,incarparks,lobbies,andeveninsidetheirhouse.The Satara Stay-at-Home

Marathon, which marked theInternationalDayofMarathononApril 10, boastedof 1,700 finish-ers(runnerswhocompletedtheirtarget distance). The PuneRunningorganises a run, knownas the LSOM(Last Sundayof theMonth),inwhich350peoplepar-ticipated end-April and theamount collected as registrationfees was donated to thePunePolice.TheUniversalRunners,based

inNewDelhi, has alsoorganisedtwomarathonsduring the lock-down.InUdaipur,Rajasthan,DilipSoniofMewariRunnerssaystheycelebrated the 480th birth an-niversaryofMaharanaPrataponMay25with a virtualmarathonof 480 km, inwhich thousandsparticipated from home. He

added that they exceeded theirtarget.OnMay31, theLockdownMarathon4.0wasorganisedbyanIndoregroupcalledIndoriSubah.Participants can choose cate-

gories of 5 km, 10 kmor 15 km,amongothers, on theday of themarathon anduse apps on theirphone to record speed, timeanddistanceanduploadtheseonthesocial media pages of themarathon.Prasad Patil, a Pune-based

communitywellnesscoachwitha decade ofmarathon-runningexperience, says, “Running is thebasicemotionofeveryhumanbe-ing…Whenyou run, somethinghappenstoyou—psychologically,mentally and emotionally.Running provides distractionfromstress,”hesays.“Manypeople are hooked to

running,sowethoughttoorgan-ise an event somorepeople canrun inside their housewithoutbreaking the lockdown rules,”saysAvinashDeshmukhofLSOM,who ran in his 2BHK,where hedoesn’tget10metresatastretch.

BACKTONORMALCY:Restrictions inWorliKoliwada,acontainmentzone, liftedafter twomonths inMumbai.GaneshShirsekar

Mungantiwar asks CM to extend termof 14,314 gram panchayats by 6 months

NORTHMAHARASHTRACOASTONPRE-CYCLONEWATCH

Palghar on red alert,heavy rain inMumbaion June3&4: IMD

INCUSTODY INCHEATINGCASE

Solapur deputy mayor allowed togo home after he starts sneezing

On rooftops, balconies and stairways:Pune runners turn to virtual marathons

EXPRESSNETWORK 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

ASADREHMANLUCKNOW,MAY31

HIS BAIL hearing having beendeferred twice, Uttar PradeshCongress president AjayKumarLallu has been in jail for morethan10days.LalluwasarrestedonMay20

following allegations of provid-ing fakedocuments forbuses tobringbackmigrant labourers toUP during the lockdown. StateCongress leaders now say theycannot appeal for his release inhigher courts until his bail pleaisrejectedbythespecialcourtinLucknow. The next hearing isscheduled forMonday.Lallu was arrested twice on

May20.First,hewasarrested inAgra for being part of a protestagainst thestateadministrationnot giving permission for thebuses — arranged by theCongress—toenterUP.Afterhewasgrantedbailbya localcourtandreleased, LalluwasarrestedagainbyLucknowPoliceinAgrafor alleged involvement in for-geryofdocumentsforthebuses.ThiscasewasfiledatHazratganjpolice station inLucknow.TheCongressleaderwaspre-

sented in the CJM court onMay

20. Because the case had a non-bailableoffence(IPCSection467),the CJM sent him to jail and re-jectedthebailplea.Lallu’slawyerfiled for bail in the district courtandthematterwasfirstheardonMay26.Itwasthentransferredtoan MP-MLA special court inLucknowasLallu isanMLA.Thematterwas first heard at

thespecialcourtonMay28,whenthe government lawyer soughtanotherdateciting“thelockdownandbecausethepaperscouldnotbemade available”. Lallu is cur-rentlylodgedinLucknowjail.ManojKumarTripathi,District

Government Counsel (Crime),who is representing thegovern-ment,said,“OnMay28wesought

anextension tillMay30, andonMay30wesoughtanotherexten-sionforsevendayscitingthatthepaperswerenotavailableasthreepoliceteamshadgonetodifferentstatesforprobeandtheinvestigat-ingofficer(IO)isnotinthecity.Butthe court summoned the IO onJune1alongwiththecasediary.”Asked what the govern-

ment’s prayer is, Tripathi said,“Thematter is sub-judice. I canonlysaythatnooneiskeptinjailfornoreason.Heisinjailaccord-ing to ruleof law.”On the delay in bail hearing,

Tripathi said, “Some fake docu-mentswere found for vehicles.Hence, police teamshad to visitdifferent states for investigation.Hence,timewassoughtbypolice.”Sanjiv Pandey, Lallu’s lawyer,

said, “We prayed in court thatLallujihasnoroleintheissuere-garding buses. The correspon-dencewasbetweenPriyanka ji’s(GandhiVadra)officeandgovern-ment officials. The governmenthasnodocumentaryevidenceinthematteragainstLallu.”The complaint based on

whichtheFIRatHazratganjpolicestationwaslodgedsays,“…ThisistobringtothenoticethatonMay16, PriyankaGandhiVadra, AICCgeneral secretary,wrote a letter

addressed toChiefMinister YogiAdityanath.Thelettersoughtper-mission to run1,000buses fromNoida, Ghaziabad to help in theso-calledmigrationof labourers.The requestwasgrantedandon,aletterwaswrittenomMay18byadditionalchiefsecretary(Home)toPriyankaGandhi’spersonalsec-retary (SandeepSingh) askingordetailsof1,000buses…Inthelistprovided,therewere31autorick-shaws/threewheelers,oneambu-lance,59schoolbuses,onetruck,twoDCMs…Therewere70vehi-cles in the listwhichhadnodataavailable anywhere and59vehi-cles had expired fitness certifi-catesandinsuranceof29vehicleswasunavailable…”Thecomplaintsaysthelistwas

givenwiththeintentionofcheat-ingandthiswasdoneasaconspir-acyalongwithLallu,whichcouldhave led toanaccidentandbeenusedforpoliticalgain.When contacted, state

CongressLegislaturePartyleaderAradhanaMishrasaid,“Onthele-gal front, we have done every-thing possible. The governmentisseekingmoretimetodelaytheproceeding. We can’t go to ahigher court because that canonlybedoneoncethebailpleaisrejectedbythespecialcourt.”

Bail hearing deferred twice,UPCong chief in jail for 11 days

AjayKumarLallu

Imputations (againstcourt) and gradingsdamage the institution:Supreme Court judgeEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY31

SUPREMECOURT judge JusticeSanjay Kishan Kaul on Sundaycautioned that “imputations”againstthecourtandits“grading...damagestheveryinstitution”,andtoucheduponwhathecalledthe“afterme the deluge” thoughtprocessamongsomepeoplewhousedtobepartof thejudiciary.Speaking of the need to en-

surepeople’sfaithininstitutionsto prevent anarchy, he said thatthose“whohavebeenpartoftheinstitutionsalsoowetotheinsti-tutiontoseethatit isnotunnec-essarily vilified and not vilifiedinamannerwhichcausesdam-age to the institution itself”.Hewas speaking at a webi-

nar on ‘Freedom of speech intimesofCovid-19’,organisedbythe Madras High Court BarAssociation. The commentscamedaysafterformerSupremeCourt judge Justice Madan BLokur said in an article that theapexcourtdeservedan ‘F’gradefor themanner inwhich it han-dled themigrantcrisis.Without naming anyone,

Justice Kaul said, “The judiciaryperforms a particular role. Itdoesn’t have an opportunity torespond.Criticismofaviewpoint,a judgment, there isnoproblembecause I always believe thejudgment is an opinion... Butwhenimputationsandgradingsstartbeingmade, I think itdam-agesthevery institution.”

Hecontinued, “Theunfortu-natepartissomeofuswhohavebeen part of this institution…there is theproblemthenof ‘af-termethedeluge’,which is thatsincewearegone, everything isgoingwrong. Iwouldsaythatit-self is adanger.”“We are an evolving society,

thingswillevolve…peopleinthepastwhospeakaboutitalsocom-mittedmanymistakesandblun-ders. But to remain in the newshas also become a problem.Therefore the tendency to bemorecriticalandcriticalinaman-nerwhichIwouldsaycrossescer-tainlines isaproblemalso...”The judge said, “I hope there

is a rethink on this process” andaddedthat“whilecriticismisal-ways information that mustcometous,Ithinktherearesomeboundaries which need to bemaintained. Because otherwiseitbecomespartof adisinforma-tionwhich causesdoubts on in-stitutionsandIdon’tthinkthat’sgood for any system because ifyoumistrusteverybody,mistrustevery system, then you have nosystem. Then you have anarchy.If you have to prevent anarchy,faithininstitutionsisimportant.”Justice Kaul said freedomof

speech is the bedrock of anydemocratic system and ruedthat “we are becoming increas-ingly intolerantof opinions thatdo not match ours and this isprevalentinallsectionsunfortu-nately” with the result that“whatisperceivedasthemiddlegroundbecomes thecasualty”.

BCI denounces ‘attack’ on SupremeCourt, criticises Justice Lokur’s remarksANANDMOHANJNEWDELHI,MAY31

THEBARCouncilofIndia,inapressrelease,saidtherewasa“sustainedand synchronisedattack”on theSupremeCourt by some formerjudges and senior advocates in a“conspiracytoweakenandbrow-beattheinstitution”.BCIchairpersonMananKumar

Mishra,whosigned thepress re-

lease,saidformerSupremeCourtJudgeMadan B Lokur had alsojoined this groupand thathis re-marksontheSupremeCourtwere“idle talk, undermining the au-thorityof judiciaryasawhole”.

“WehaveheardJusticeLokurgivingsermonsthatnoonefromthe Bench and the Bar shouldever indulge in act that wouldshake the faith of the public injudiciary. Now, he himself be-comes part of thesemisguidedgroup of people is amind-bog-gling departure by him of hisownmuch hyped principles,”thepress release read.The BCI statement said that

some statements issued by

JusticeLokurandothers impute“derogatory,defamatoryallega-tionsagainsttheSupremeCourtof India”, which aims to “dis-grace,defameandlowertherep-utation of the Supreme Court.The Bar totally disapproves anddeprecates such act. Being partof this institution, Justice Lokurisnotexpected todoso”.Justice Lokur told The Indian

Express that he did not want tocommentonBCI’s statement.

JusticeMadanBLokur

Dehradun: A day after his wifetested positive for Covid-19,Uttarakhand minister SatpalMaharaj and four more familymembers also tested positive.Moreover, 17 others from hisstaff and some supporterswhohe came in contact with also

tested positive. Maharaj had at-tendedacabinetmeeting,chairedbyCMTrivendraSinghRawat, inthesecretariatFriday.Governme-ntspokespersonMadanKaushiksaid all theministers of the cabi-netwouldbequarantinedaspertheguidelinesof theICMR. ENS

Uttarakhand minister tests positive,cabinet to be quarantined

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY31

STEPPINGUP its attackonPrimeMinister Narendra Modi, theCongress party on Sunday saidhistorybooksinthefuturewouldrecognisethesixyearsofhisgov-ernmentasbeinga“harbingerofdoom”,addingthat theCovid-19pandemic has exposed the gov-ernment’shelplessness.TheCongressalsohitoutatthe

government regarding SolicitorGeneral (SG) TusharMehta’s re-marks that some High Courtswere “runningaparallel govern-ment in the country”. The partyaskedwhetherthestatementwasmeanttobrowbeatthecourts.Addressingapressconference,

seniorCongressleaderKapilSibalalso asked thePMto reveal howmuchmoneywaspaidtomigrantworkers from the PM-CARESfund. “They don’t knowhow torun a government. That iswhytheyhave always been focusingonapolarisingagenda.Theydon’thaveanyexperienceof adminis-tration at thenational level… in

statesitisadifferentmatter....Nowtheydon’tknowhowto face thispandemic,”Sibalsaid.TheCongress leader accused

thegovernmentof focusingona“communal” and “polarised”agendasinceitcametopowerlastMay till the imposition of lock-down onMarch 24. Real issueslikeeducation,healthcareandtheconcerns of the poor, Sibal said,were not on the government'sagenda.Sibal said the government

doesnotknowthenumberofmi-grants there are in the country,andthat itwasgoingbythe2011censusdata.“The government tells the

court that we are prophets ofdoom. Futurehistory bookswillrecognise these six years of thisgovernmentasbeingaharbingerofdoom.ThePrimeMinistertalksaboutprotectingdemocracy, butactually, tillMarch24, they triedtothrottledemocracy.Hesayshegotridofcorruptionandmisgov-ernance.Was demonetisationgoodgovernance?Wasmulti-lay-eredGST goodgovernance?” heasked.

History will recognisesix years of BJP govt asharbinger of doom: Sibal

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY31

AN INDIAN Council of MedicalResearch(ICMR)scientistwhoar-rived from Mumbai to DelhiroughlytwoweeksagohastestedpositiveforCovid-19,andtheNewDelhi ICMRbuildingwillbesani-tisedandfumigatedfortwodays,it is learnt.Only essential staff, involved

withCovid-19-relatedwork,willbe going into the building onMonday.“SinceICMRHQisunderfumi-

gation, it is requested to workfromhometomorrowanddayaf-tertomorrow.OnlyCovid-19core

teammaycome,ifabsolutelynec-essary.Others shouldwork fromhome only,” said amessage re-ceivedbyemployees.Sources said the scientist

who tested positive had lastweek attended a meeting,which had in attendance NITIAayogmember Dr Vinod Paul,ICMR Director General DrBalram Bhargava, and Dr R RGangakhedkar, ICMR’s head ofthedivisionof epidemiology.Employees were notified of

the change on Sunday after-noon. Lower rung staff con-firmedtheyhadbeentoldnottogo to the office fromMonday.Topofficialssaidtheywouldstillbegoing tooffice.

ICMR scientist testspositive in Delhi,building to be sanitised

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY31

A NEW Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) studyhas found that a high dosage ofhydroxychloroquine (HCQ)cor-relateswithalowerCovid-19in-fectionrate inhealthcarework-ers.Drawingfromagovernmentdatabaseof about1,000health-careworkers (HCW)who havetestedpositive for the infection,the study also found that therewas no significant associationbetweenHCQandadversedrugreactions.“Noticeably, six ormorepro-

phylactic doses of HCQused byHCWs has a remarkably high(>80%) protective effect againstSARS-CoV-2 infection... The po-tentialanti-viralandanti-inflam-matory properties of HCQ, to-gether with the low cost oftherapy, excellent oral bio-avail-ability,hightissueconcentrations

inthelungsrelativetotheplasmalevels andacceptable safetypro-filelendsupporttothisassertion.”Thestudystandsincontrastto

a recent World HealthOrganisation (WHO)decision tohalt their HCQ trial because astudypublished inmedical jour-nalTheLancetfoundthatthedrug

hadno therapeutic benefits andevenincreasedmortalityinCovid-19cases.The ICMR study addressed

thediscrepancy, stating that thestudy in 'The Lancet' observedpatients with a high viral load,whiletheICMRstudyfocusesonprevention of the infection.ICMR’s investigation betweenMay8andMay23lookedat378cases and373 controls, drawingfrom the agency's data portalfrom over 70 testing labs. Theportal has reported 21,402symptomatic health carework-ers in thecountry,ofwhom, fivepercent (1,073)are positive.The study found that a little

overhalfoftheworkerswhotooknoHCQ tested positive, 60 percent who took HCQ withoutmaintenancewere positive, al-most 70 per centwho took thedrug in 2-3doseswere positive,40 per centwho took 4-5 doseswerepositive,andlessthan20percentwhotookoversixdoseswere

positive.The studyhypothesised that

the initial spike in positivityamongsthealthcareworkerstak-ingalowdosageofHCQisbecausetheymay be takingmore risksthinking the drug is protectingthem. Beyond theHCQ findings,thestudyalsofoundthatalackofprotective gear — masks andgloves—was significantlymorecommonamongpositivepatients(15percent) thanthecontrols (5per cent). This difference wasmore significant than other fac-tors such as ICU timewith a pa-tientorhandlingaspecimen.The ICMR’s National Task

Force recommendedHCQ—anantimalarialdrugheavilydebatedaroundtheworld—forasympto-matic healthcareworkers andhousehold contacts of positivecasesonMarch23.The highest dosage recom-

mendationwasonedoseweeklyfor sevenweeks, after two initialdoses.

High HCQ dosage linked to lower Covidinfections in healthcare workers: ICMR

HealthworkerscollectsamplesofnursesandAshaworkers inPatialaonSunday.HarmeetSodhi

SPIKE INCOVIDCASES

Hospital beds adequate, but pressure onlabs, quarantine facilities in KarnatakaJOHNSONTABENGALURU,MAY31

TWOTHIEVES and apolicemanwhowasinvolvedintheircaptureare among 153 people quaran-tinedatBengaluru'sVictoriaHos-pital, themainCovid-19hospitalherewhich can accommodatearound400patientsatatime.TheCovid-19patientsadmit-

tedinthehospitalcrossedthe150mark for the first time on Satu-rday. In fact, caseshave spiked inKarnatakainrecentweeks—withasmany as 148 cases recordedeachdaysinceMay23,comparedto around50 inpreviousweeks.However, hospitals inKarnatakaarenot creakingunderpressure.Rather,thepressureisshowingonquarantineandtestingfacilities.Thisisunlikehigh-prevalence

states,wherethedemandforICUbeds, ventilators and hospitalbeds is exerting pressure on thehealthcaresystem.Withatotalof28,686hospital

bedsallocatedacross527govern-

ment and private hospitals inKarnataka for Covid-19patients,andwithonly1,874activecases--- including15 in ICU --- at pres-ent, thebedoccupancy is just 16percentinthestate.“Becauseourhospitalshaveadequatebeds,weare keeping asymptomatic andmildly symptomatic patient inhospitals,” Health SecretaryJawaidAkhtarsaid.While hospitalsmay not be

feelingthestress,testingfacilitiesandinstitutionalquarantinefacil-itiesarefeelingthepinch.With a largenumber of peo-

ple returning fromMaharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi andRajasthan, theyhavebeenquar-antined and their samples col-lected for testing. This has led tohugebacklogunderKarnataka'stestingandquarantinepolicies.According to state govern-

ment data, therewere 1.12 lakhpeoplein4,219institutionalquar-antinefacilitiesinKarnatakaasofMay 30, with districts likeKalaburagi having as many as21,000people—mostlyreturnees

fromotherstates—inquarantine.Onthetestingfront,datafrom

theCovid-19warroomuptoMay29showsthatnearly10,000sam-ples are awaiting testing in dis-tricts likeKalaburagi, VijayapuraandBidar.InKalaburagi,11,757of29,611

samples collected tillMay29arependingtesting,inVijayapuraitis14,210 samples of 21,783 and inBidaritis9,964of23,960samples.Karnatakahasoperationalised

60 labs for Covid-19 testing andtestedamaximumof13,581sam-plesonMay25,averaging12,000samples in recent days. Largenumbers of returningmigrantsare being tested using the pooltestingmethod.“Mostofthetestingishandled

by threepremier labs—NIV lab,Nimhans lab and BMCRI lab.These labshad to goon leave fortwodays to calibrate equipmentsincecontinuous testingwasbe-ing conducted.We are trying tosee that testing is done faster,”state Health CommissionerPankajPandeysaid.

Inordertoreducetheburdenonlaboratoriesandquarantinefa-cilities, thestategovernmenthasdecidedtodoawaywithrepeatedtestingforasymptomaticpatients—asprescribedbyICMR—andal-low home quarantining forasymptomaticpersonsreturningfromotherstates.After seven days in institu-

tional quarantine, the asympto-matic persons can be sent tohome quarantinewithout test-ing under the new dischargepolicy.“With growing pressure on

quarantinefacilities,wehavere-vised quarantine norms. Toomuch crowding can lead tospread of the disease,'' stateEducation Minister S SureshKumarsaid.Of the 2,922 Covid-19 cases

recorded in Karnataka sinceMarch8,asmanyas1,433arere-turnees fromMaharashtrawhoarrivedoverthelastthreeweeks,62werereturneesfromDelhi.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

BUSROW

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

THEOUTBREAK MigrantsOnTheRoad

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Theirchapter inDelhiwrappedup,Maheshandhisfamilygetset to leave forBihar.PremNathPandey

Sonear,andyet:Thewaitseemsinterminableasmigrantworkers lineuptoboardatrainforWestBengal.AshishKale

AGAINST THE ODDS

ThewalkfromMahimtoChhatrapatiShivajiMaharajTerminus—adistanceofroughly15km—isfamiliartothembynow.ImrulHaq,hispregnantwifeRabiaandmother-in-lawKhadijahavemadethejourneyonfootseveraltimes, hearingtheywouldgettraintickets.TheyareattheterminusagainonSunday,hopingtocatchatraintoWestBengal.NirmalHarindran

NEWDELHI:2:00PM

PUNE:2:40PM

Babban,AjayandManoj,whowereconstructionworkers inNangal,onwaytoboardatrain forBihar.HarmeetSodhi

TheirtraintoWestBengalcancelled,Jamunaandhisfamilyplananotherattempttoreachhome.GajendraYadav

DADRI:2.23PM

PATIALA:3:40PM

MUMBAI:2:15PM

UTTARPRADESH9,783 378 97

Foreignentrants:None

TAMILNADU12,807 1,149 92

Foreignentrants:3

RAJASTHAN14,287 214 70

Foreignentrants:NA

KERALA3,099 61 37

Foreignentrants:20

ANDHRAPRADESH21,008 120 12

Foreignentrants:None

KARNATAKA13,358 299 255

Foreignentrants:7

HARYANA3,455 168 None

Foreignentrants: 21

■Samplestested

■Positivecases■ Migrants

A look at howCovid-19 case counts in statesare changing asmigrants return home

CASECOUNT: THECHANGINGPICTURE

States’ data for last 24hours, updatedup to9pmonMay31

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY31

PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModion Sunday acknowledged the“difficulties” that the Covid-19pandemic had caused, and saidthat the “most gravely affectedby the crisis are the underprivi-leged labourersandworkers”.A day after the central gov-

ernment announcedguidelinesfor the latest phase of the exitfrom the lockdown, the PrimeMinister cautioned, once again,that“becomingcarelessorlack-adaisical cannotbeanoption”–and that “after so many hard-ships, the country’s deft han-dlingof thesituationshouldnotgo invain”.Inhis thirdmonthly address

onradio,MannkiBaat,sincethelockdown began, Modi said,“Thereisnostratuminourcoun-tryunaffectedbythedifficultiescaused by the affliction – themostgravelyaffectedbythecri-sis are the underprivilegedlabourersandworkers.“Theiragony,theirpain,their

ordeal cannot be expressed inwords.Whoamongstuscannotunderstand and feel what theyand their families are goingthrough! All of us are trying toshare their distress; the tor-ment…theentirecountryisdo-ing that.”However, “all of us alsohave

to bear inmind that after suchaustere penance, and after somany hardships, the country’sdeft handling of the situationshouldnotgoinvain,”Modisaid.“Wemust not let this fight

weaken. Becoming careless orlackadaisical cannot be an op-tion. The fight against corona is

still equally serious.”“You, your family, may still

facegravedangerfromcorona,”the PM said. “We have to savethe life of every human being;therefore, distancing of twoyards, facemasks, andwashingof hands are the precautionsthat are to bemeticulously fol-lowed in the samemanner aswe have been observing themso far. I am sure that you willtaketheseprecautionsforyour-self, your loved ones and foryour country.”Withtheutmostprecaution,

flightshaveresumed,industryisreturningtonormalcy,andama-jor segment of the economy isre-opening, the PM said – “Insuch a scenario, we need to beeven more alert and careful...thereshouldbeno laxityonourpart in complete adherence (toprecautions).”Modi also talked about the

benefitsofyoga,thesignificanceof the Ayushman Bharat healthinsurance scheme, his idea of aself-reliant India, the locust at-tack, and saving the environ-mentamongother themesdur-inghishalf-houraddress.

Workers hit,their penanceshouldn’t bein vain: PM

ThirdMannkiBaatsincelockdown

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY31

THE CENTRAL InformationCommissionhasdirectedtheChiefLabourCommissioner(CLC)toup-loadwithinaweekalldataregard-ingmigrantworkers stranded inshelterssetupbygovernmentsorby employers atworkplaces orthose generally clustered indis-tricts. It hasalsodirected that theinformation must be updatedfromtimetotime.On a complaint filed by RTI

activist Venkatesh Nayak,Information CommissionerVanaja N Sarna has also askedthe CLC to upload cumulativenumbers of themigrant work-ers and names of the districtsfromwherethedataiscollected,wherever possible, in compli-ancewithSection4oftheRTIAct(clause related to suomotudis-closureof information).The order datedMay 27 has

extensively cited the orders ofthe Supreme Court (the suomotu case) and theHighCourtsof Orissa, Madras and AndhraPradesh which have alreadytakennoticeof theextremelev-els of distress and suffering ofmigrant workers, resulting inscores of deaths. “Undoubtedly,theneedofthehouristogetcon-cretedataregardingthenumberof stranded migrant workersacross the country so that nec-essarymeasuresmaybetaken,”theCIChasnoted.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,MAY31

THEKARNATAKAgovernmenthasmodified quarantine norms forpeople entering the state fromstates with high prevalence ofCovid-19fromJune1.IthasmadeitmandatoryonlyforreturneesfromMaharashtra to undergo sevendaysofinstitutionalquarantine.The department of health

and familywelfarehas said thatallpersonsreturningfromstatesotherthanMaharashtramustbehomequarantined for14days.ThegovernmenthadonMay

21 precribedmandatory seven-day institutional quarantine forpeople returning fromMaharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,RajasthanandDelhi.

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,MAY31

AMID COMPLAINTS from mi-grantsnotgettingadailykitworthRs1,000atquarantinecentresandafewwantingtostayatthesecen-tres just to get the kit, the Bihargovernmenthasnowdecided togive Rs 1,000 to each migrantwhentheyreturntothestate.Eventhosewhoareunregis-

tered can now get Rs 1,000 asfarereimbursementafteralocalauthority testifies their returnfromoutsideBihar.Bihar Deputy CM Sushil

KumarModi said, “There havebeen unnecessary crowds atquarantine centres because ofthelureof thekit.Therearesev-eralmigrantswhowantedtogetinto a quarantine centre just toget it...We have decided to giveRs1,000toallmigrantsforparityof treatment.”“All those who would get

registeredwill get aminimumfare reimbursement of Rs 1,000(Rs 500 plus actual fare) and Rs1,000 in lieuof thekit. Thereareseveral peoplewho are return-ingwithout informing the gov-ernment. We have decided togive Rs 1,000 and fare reim-bursement to these people aswellafterlocalauthoritiestestifytheir return,”hesaid.

Karnataka to only quarantinereturnees from Maharashtra

HOMEQUARANTINEFOROTHERS INNEWNORMS

CIC: Put dataon strandedmigrant workersin public domainwithin a week

Bihar to giveRs 1,000 tomigrants aftercomplaintsabout kits

States set to open, with cautionUNLOCK1

Alookathowthestategovernmentsplanto liftmorerestrictions, adayafter theCentralgovernment issuedguidelines toease the lockdowncurbswitha focusontheeconomy

TAMIL NADUState government has decidedtoextendlockdowntill June30.Curbsonreligiousplaces, inter-state bus transport, andmetroand suburban rail services willcontinue. Public transport willpartially resume from June 1with 60% passenger capacityexcept in districts, includingChennai, that hashighnumberof Covid cases. From June 8, allnon-AC restaurants can offerdine-in facility at 50% strength.Restrictionsonshoppingmalls,educational institutions, inter-national flightsservices,cinemahalls, bars, community andpo-litical gatherings andmeetingsin auditoriums, inter-state busservices will continue.Industries and private enter-prises outside Chennai city re-gion, suchas ITcompanies,willbe allowed to function with100% strength. Within the cityregion, IT companies are al-lowed to have only 20% of staffin office.

KARNATAKAThe state government onSundayliftedrestrictionsonin-ter-state and intra-statemove-ment of people and goods butmayrestrict travel fromspecificstates.Agovernmentordersaidin the first phase, religiousplacesandplacesofworshipforpublic, hotels, restaurants andother hospitality services andmalls will be allowed to func-tion from June8.

WEST BENGALAlmost all outdoor activitieswill start from June 8 in WestBengal. However, the WestBengal Government extendedtheCovid-19 lockdowntill June15. All relaxation will be al-lowedoutsidethecontainmentzoneoraffectedarea.Theordersaid, operations in tea gardensand jute mills, micro, small,medium and large industries,includingminingandconstruc-tion activities, will also be al-

lowed with 100% strength ofworkers from June 1. Inter-dis-trictmovementof governmentandprivatebuseswillstart fromJune1.Allplacesofworshipcanreopen from June 1, but maxi-mum 10 people would be al-lowed to congregate at a time.

UTTAR PRADESHThestategovernmentextendedlockdown till June 30 and saidthat people coming fromhotspot areas in Delhi will notbe allowed to enter Ghaziabad

andNoida.Governmentofficeswill reopen with 100% staff,who will be called in threeshifts. From June8, all religiousplacescanopen.Hotels, restau-rants and hospitality serviceswill also reopen along withshoppingmalls.

TELANGANATelanganagovernmentsaidex-isting lockdown orders willcontinue till June 7. Shoppingmalls, multiplexes and restau-rants will also remain closed.

Therewillbenoactivity incon-tainmentzonestill June30.Citybuses and metro service willalso remain closed till June7.

BIHARInter-state travel will not needpass.All religiousplaces,exceptthose in containment zones,will open. Hotels and restau-rants will open from June 8.Therewould be restrictions onpublic movement between 9pm and 5 am except for essen-tial services.

RAJASTHANAll government offices willwork with full strength fromJune 1 and private offices -whilebeingpermitted tooper-ate with full strength - shouldencourage work from home,said the state government.Under the new guidelines, thegovernment has done awaywithzonesystemforclassifica-tion of districts according totheir SARS-CoV-2 cases.Religiousplacesofworshipandshoppingmallswill continuetobe remain closed and restau-rants will be allowed to offeronly home delivery and take-away services. There is no re-striction on inter-state and in-tra-statemovementof personsand goods and no prior ap-proval or pass is required.

CHHATTISGARHThestategovernmentwillallowinter-district and inter-statetravel only for e-pass holders.The state will also keep allsportscomplexesandstadiumsalongwithpublicparksshuttillJune 7. In containment zones,only crucial serviceswill open.

MADHYA PRADESHState government extendedlockdown till June 30 in con-tainment areas, lifted travel re-strictions fromMondayandal-lowed reopening of religiousplaces, shoppingmalls, hotels,restaurants and other servicesfrom June 8. All essential activ-ities will be permitted in con-tainment zones. Religious, so-cialandpoliticalgatheringswillremain banned. Inter-statebuses will not ply. Except forIndore, Ujjain and Bhopal divi-sions,publictransportwith50%capacity will be allowed else-where.Allgovernmentandpri-vateoffices inIndore,UjjainandBhopal municipal corporationareas will open with 50% staff,and elsewhere with fullstrength.

(Clockwisefromtop)Pune’sAPMCmarketopenedaftermorethan45days;anofficialsanitisesaHimachalStateRoadTransportbusinShimlaasbusservicesaresettoresumeoperations;amancleanshisshopinAhmedabad,adaybeforetheodd-evenruleisliftedforshops.

PavanKhengre

JavedRaja PradeepKumar

New Gujarat HC bench praises stategovt: We all would have been deadSOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD,MAY31

JUSTOVERaweekafteradivisionbenchof theGujaratHighCourtmadesomescathingobservationson the state government's han-dlingof theCovid-19 situation, abench headed by Chief JusticeVikramNathhas said that “if thestategovernmentwouldnothavebeendoing anything, as alleged,then probably, by now, we allwouldhavebeendead”.OnMay22, a division bench

headed by Justice J B Pardiwala,and including Justice IleshVora,had said the state governmentwastryingto“artificiallycontrol”theCovid-19situationandcalledtheCivilHospital inAhmedabad“as good as a dungeon”. Thisbenchhadbeenhearing aPIL onCovid-relatedissuessinceMay11.

On May 28, a new bench –headedbyChief JusticeNathandincludingJusticePardiwala–wasnotifiedtohearthePIL.Adaylater,thisbenchsaid:“All

thosewho cannot extend theirhelpinghandinthisdifficulttime...havenorighttocriticisethefunc-tioningof thestategovernment...Allthatwearedoinginthislitiga-tion is to keep the state govern-mentconsciousandactivebyre-mindingitofitsconstitutionalandstatutoryobligations”.It said highlighting just the

shortcomings of a government“onlycreates fear inthemindsofpeople.”Sayingthatitsorders“arebeingmisused for someobliquemotive”,thecourtaskedeveryoneto “be very careful” before com-mentingon its orderspertainingtothePIL. “Inouropinion, thePILismeantforthebenefitofthelostandlonely...PILsarenotmeantto

advance political gain and seekpoliticalmileage... In timesof cri-sis, we need to bind, not bicker.TheCovid-19 crisis is a humani-tarian crisis, not a political crisis.Hence,itisimperativethatnoonepoliticises this issue. Theuncer-taintyaboutCovid-19andits im-pact on our economymakes itevenmore important that thegovernmentdoes the right thingintermsofitspolicies,”thebenchsaid.“In these extraordinary cir-

cumstances, the role of theOpposition is equally important.There is nodenying that the roleof theOpposition is to hold thegovernment to account, but intimes like this a helping handwouldbemorebeneficial thanacriticaltongue...Merelycriticisingthe government in power is notgoingtomagicallycurepeopleofCovid-19,norisitgoingtotomake

thedeadcomebacktolife...Whileadversarial criticismmaydonogood, constructive criticismcanhelp,” itsaid.Saying that it “would not in-

terferewiththefunctioningofthestategovernment”,thebenchsaidthe“courtstepsinbymandamuswhenthestatefailstoperformitsduty”.“Allgoodworkthatthegov-ernmentwoulddowill surelybeappreciatedandhailed.Ifwefindanyremiss,negligenceorcareless-ness,we shall comedownheav-ily...Wewouldliketoobservethatthe state government has takenupthislitigationinpublicinterestveryseriously,” itsaid.The government said on

Friday that an analysis of theCovid-19 deaths at the hospitalfound that “83.24% of the de-ceasedpatientssufferedfromse-vere comorbidities”. ThematterwillnowbetakenuponJune19.

ASTHEnovelcoronavirusspread,hos-pitalsworldwidescaledbackmedicalprocedures, including life-savingheart surgery. Two re-cent articles examinehow cardiac surgerycentres have been im-pactedbytheCovid-19pandemic, and howthey can resumeoper-ationsinthisnewenvi-ronment. These arewritten by Dr MarcRuel, M Pitfield of theUniversity of Ottawaandcolleagues.In the first article,

published inCirculation, DrRuel andhis co-authors found that 60 cardiacsurgerycentresin19countrieshadre-

ducedcardiacsurgeriesbyanaverageof50to75%inresponsetothepandemic.The second article, published in

The Annals of ThoracicSurgery, contains 12recommendations de-veloped by a consor-tium of experts in 19countries. The recom-mendationscovertop-icssuchas:prioritisingsurgeries;dealingwithcardiac patients whotestpositiveforCOVID-19; and patient dis-charge and follow-upprotocols.Thetwoarti-

cles were a joint effort by uOttawa,CornellUniversityandCedarsSinai.

Source:UniversityofOttawa

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

How Covid has led to scalingback of heart surgeries

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 182,143 (5,164 DEATHS)

65,168Maharashtra

21,184Tamil Nadu

8,617Rajasthan

7,891MP

7,445 UP

18,549 Delhi

16,343Gujarat

5,130West Bengal

3,636Bihar

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

3,569Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May31.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.86,984PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 4Assam 1185Chandigarh 289Chhattisgarh 447DadarNagarHaveli 2Goa 70Haryana 1923HimachalPradesh 313JammuandKashmir 2341Jharkhand 563Karnataka 2922Kerala 1208Ladakh 74Manipur 62Meghalaya 27Mizoram 1Nagaland 36Odisha 1819Puducherry 51Punjab 2233Sikkim 1Telangana 2499Tripura 268Uttarakhand 749

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

188,989India

232,664Italy

183,370Germany

276,156United Kingdom

188,752France

239,479Spain

1,773,106US

498,440Brazil

163,103Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED:6,104,980 DEATHCOUNT:370,078Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay31. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

405,843Russia

AMITABHSINHAPUNE,MAY31

ONSUNDAYnight, twoAmericanastronautsflew to the International Space Station, theworld’sonlyspace-based laboratory, locatedabout400kmfromtheearth,inajourneythathasbeenundertakenhundredsof timesear-lier.Theeventgeneratedtremendousexcite-ment around the globe, not because of anyspecial technological achievement but be-causeof theagencythat facilitatedthetrip. Itwasthefirsttimethatastronautsusedaspace-shipbuiltandlaunchedbyaprivatecompany,andtheevent isbeingwidelyseenasthebe-ginningofanewerainspaceexploration.TwoNASA astronauts, Robert Behnken

andDouglas Hurley, flew onboard a space-shipnamedCrewDragonbuilt bySpaceX, acompany founded by billionaire entrepre-neurElonMuskwhoalsoheadsTeslaMotorswhich produces new-age automobiles. Therocket, named Falcon 9, which carried thespaceship into the orbit, was also built bySpaceX. The Florida launch facility used forthe flight still belonged to NASA, however,and had previously been used to launchAmerican spaceships including the Apollomissions that took human beings tomoon.ThemissionwascalledDemo-2, inkeepingwiththefactthatitwasstillonlya‘testflight’,whichif successful,wouldleadtomoremis-sions in thecomingmonths.

What’s the big dealForNASA,itwasthefirstflightof itsastro-

nauts on an American spaceship, launchedonAmericansoil,afternineyears.NASAusedto have a fleet of five spaceships under itsSpaceShuttleprogramme,thatwereusedtomakeatotalof135ofjourneysintospace,andthe International Space Station (ISS), in the30yearsbetween1981and2011.Twooftheseweredestroyedinaccidents,theChallengerin1986andColumbiain2003,eachresultinginthedeathofsevenastronauts.Afterthe2003accident, in which India-born astronautKalpanaChawlawasamongthosekilled,theUS government had decided to close theSpaceShuttleprogramme.The three remaining spaceships,

Discovery, Atlantis,andEndeavour,werefor-mally retired in July2011, even though theywerefitformanymoreflights.Itwasdecidedthat it probably no longermade sense forNASAtobuildandoperatethesespaceships.Itwas not just costly, butwas also consum-ing a lot of scientific resources. The trans-portation needs could easily be fulfilled byspacevehiclesthatsomeprivatecompanieswerepromisingtomake.Accordingly, itwasdecided to help and support these compa-niesinbuildingthesespaceshipsthatcanbehiredbyotheragenciesaswell,andevenpri-vate individuals. The NASA collaborationwithSpaceXandBoeingwasaresultof this.Inthemeanwhile,NASAhitchedrideson

Russian spaceships to travel to the ISS, forwhich it paid tens of millions of dollars foreverytrip.RussiaalsousestheISSfacility,androutinely sends its astronauts to the space

station on its own spaceships. The newop-tion isexpectedtobecheaper thanthat,be-sidesofferingthecomfortofoperatingfromhomesoilandeliminatingdependenceonaforeigncountry.Sunday’sSpaceXflightthereforeisacul-

mination of more than decade-long effortstofreetoenableprivateplayersbuildandop-eratewhat essentially is a commercial taxi-servicetospace,andallowNASAtoconcen-trate on deep space exploration, andworkmore vigorously towards takinghumans tomoon, andMars, and, possibly, on someas-teroid, inbetween.

Private participation, so farTheinvolvementofprivateindustryinthe

spacesectorisnothingnew.Worldover,moreandmorework of space agencies is beingdone in collaborationwith private compa-nies. There are literally hundreds of private

entities building commercial satellites fortheirclients.Launchservicesarestillasome-what restricted zone, considering that it re-quires elaborate facilities and deep pockets,but here too, there are several players apartfrom SpaceX and Boeing.Many, like VirginGalaticofbusinessmanRichardBranson,havebeen alreadymade space flights and hopeverysoontostartofferingpassengerridestospacewhoever canafford topay. In fact, lastyear,aspacecraftbuiltbyScaledComposites,aUScompany, even tookahumanbeing foraveryshortrideintospace,becomingthefirstprivatespacecraft todoso.While there are a lotmanyprivate com-

panies operating in the space sector in theUnitedStates,thereisnodearthofthemevenin India.Most of them collaboratewith theIndian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO),inbuildingand fabricating thecomponentsthat go intomaking rockets and satellites.

There are several that have startedmakingsatellitesfortheirownuse,orfortheirclients.However, launch services, including thebuildingofrocketsorlaunchvehiclestotakethesatellites intospace, is somethingthat isstill somedistance away in India right now.WhileISROhasbeencollaboratingmoreandmorewithprivateindustry,thecapabilitytoindependentlycarryoutevenroutinespacemissions, liketheonesthatSpaceXorBoeingorVirginGalactic,havebeenundertakingfre-quentlynow,hasbeenmissing.

Window to the futureSunday’sflightalsounderlinesthefactthat

spaceresearchandexplorationisnowamuchmore collaborative enterprise than earlier.Space agencies of different countries arenotjust sharing data and resources, but increas-ingly getting together to carry out jointmis-sionsaswell. TheInternationalSpaceStationitself isagoodexampleofinternationalcoop-erationinthespacesector.Thespacefacilityissettoretiresomewherearound2028,anditsreplacement being planned is likely to haveparticipation fromat least tencountries, andpossiblyprivateplayersaswell.There is also a growing realisation that

spaceagenciesneed todirect their energiesand resourcesmore towards scientific re-searchanddeepspaceexploration. It’sbeenfiftyyearssincethelandingonmoon,andef-fortstotakehumanbeingstoMarsandothercelestial bodies, needs to be expedited.Getting back to theMoon,whichNASAandsome other agencies plan to do in the nextfew years, is just the first step in that direc-tion. But that would also require hugeamountsof financial resources thatmostofthespaceagencies, includingNASA,arecur-rentlystarvedof.Privateplayersareexpectedtoinfusefreshinvestments,andalsotechno-logicalinnovationthatwillbenefiteveryone.

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI,MAY31

ASTENSIONScontinuebetween India andChinaalongtheLineofActualControl(LAC),alookatwhatthelinemeansonthegroundandthedisagreementsover it:

What is theLineofActualControl?The LAC is the demarcation that sepa-

rates Indian-controlled territory fromChinese-controlled territory. India consid-ers the LAC to be 3,488 km long,while theChineseconsiderittobeonlyaround2,000km.Itisdividedintothreesectors:theeast-ernsectorwhichspansArunachalPradeshand Sikkim, the middle sector inUttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, andthewesternsector inLadakh.

What is thedisagreement?Thealignmentof theLAC in theeastern

sectorisalongthe1914McMahonLine,andthereareminordisputesaboutthepositionsonthegroundaspertheprincipleofthehighHimalayan watershed. This pertains toIndia’s international boundary aswell, butfor certain areas such as Longju andAsaphila.Thelineinthemiddlesectoristheleastcontroversialbutfortheprecisealign-menttobefollowedintheBarahotiplains.The major disagreements are in the

westernsectorwheretheLACemergedfromtwo letters written by Chinese PrimeMinisterZhouEnlaitoPMJawaharlalNehruin1959,afterhehadfirstmentionedsucha‘line’ in1956. Inhisletter,ZhousaidtheLACconsisted of “the so-calledMcMahon Lineintheeastandthelineuptowhicheachsideexercises actual control in the west”.ShivshankarMenon has explained in hisbook Choices: Inside theMaking of India’s

Foreign Policy that the LACwas “describedonly ingeneral termsonmapsnot toscale”bytheChinese.Afterthe1962War,theChineseclaimed

they hadwithdrawn to 20 kmbehind theLAC of November 1959. Zhou clarified theLACagainafter thewar inanother letter toNehru: “Toput it concretely, in theeasternsector it coincides in themainwith theso-calledMcMahon Line, and in thewesternandmiddlesectors itcoincides inthemainwith the traditional customary linewhichhas consistently been pointed out byChina”. During the Doklam crisis in 2017,theChineseForeignMinistryspokespersonurged India toabideby the“1959LAC”.

Whatwas India’s responsetoChina’sdesignationof theLAC?IndiarejectedtheconceptofLACinboth

1959and1962.Evenduringthewar,Nehruwas unequivocal: “There is no sense ormeaning in the Chinese offer towithdrawtwentykilometresfromwhattheycall ‘lineof actual control’.What is this ‘line of con-trol’?Isthisthelinetheyhavecreatedbyag-gressionsincethebeginningofSeptember?”India’s objection, as described by

Menon, was that the Chinese line “was adisconnectedseriesofpointsonamapthatcould be joined up inmanyways; the lineshouldomitgains fromaggression in1962andthereforeshouldbebasedontheactualposition on September 8, 1962 before theChinese attack; and the vagueness of theChinese definition left it open for China tocontinue its creeping attempt to changefactson thegroundbymilitary force”.

WhendidIndiaaccept theLAC?ShyamSaran has disclosed in his book

How India Sees theWorld that the LACwasdiscussedduringChinesePremierLiPeng’s

1991visittoIndia,wherePMPVNarasimhaRao and Li reached an understanding tomaintainpeace and tranquillity at the LAC.India formally accepted the concept of theLACwhenRaopaidareturnvisittoBeijingin1993 and the two sides signed theAgreement to Maintain Peace andTranquillityat theLAC.ThereferencetotheLACwasunqualified tomake it clear that itwasnotreferringtotheLACof1959or1962but to the LACat the timewhen the agree-mentwas signed. To reconcile the differ-ences about someareas, the two countriesagreedthattheJointWorkingGroupontheborder issuewouldtakeupthetaskof clar-ifyingthealignmentof theLAC.

Whydid India change its stanceon the

Lineof ActualControl?As perMenon, it was needed because

IndianandChinesepatrolswerecominginmore frequent contact during the mid-1980s,afterthegovernmentformedaChinaStudyGroupin1976whichrevisedthepa-trollinglimits,rulesofengagementandpat-ternof Indianpresencealong theborder.In the backdrop of the Sumdorongchu

standoff, when PM Rajiv Gandhi visitedBeijing in 1988,Menonnotes that the twosidesagreedtonegotiateabordersettlement,andpendingthat,theywouldmaintainpeaceandtranquillityalongtheborder.

HaveIndiaandChinaexchangedtheirmapsof theLAC?Only for themiddle sector. Mapswere

“shared” for thewestern sector but neverformallyexchanged,andtheprocessofclar-ifying the LAC has effectively stalled since2002.Asanaside,thereisnopubliclyavail-ablemap depicting India’s version of theLAC.During his visit to China inMay 2015,

PMNarendraModi’sproposaltoclarifytheLACwas rejected by the Chinese. DeputyDirectorGeneral of theAsianAffairs at theForeignMinistry, Huang Xilian later toldIndian journalists that “We tried to clarifysome years ago but it encountered somedifficulties,which led toevencomplex sit-uation. That is why whatever we do weshouldmake it more conducive to peaceand tranquillity for making things easierandnot tomake themcomplicated.”

Is theLACalsotheclaimlineforbothcountries?NotforIndia.India’sclaimlineistheline

seenintheofficialboundarymarkedonthemapsasreleasedbytheSurveyof India, in-cludingbothAksaiChinandGilgit-Baltistan.InChina’scase, it correspondsmostly to itsclaimline,butintheeasternsector,itclaimsentire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.However, the claim lines come into ques-tionwhenadiscussiononthefinalinterna-tionalboundariestakesplace,andnotwhentheconversationisaboutaworkingborder,say theLAC.

Butwhyaretheseclaimlinescontroversial inLadakh?Independent Indiawas transferred the

treaties from the British, and while theShimla Agreement on theMcMahon Linewas signed by British India, Aksai Chin inLadakh province of the princely state ofJammuandKashmirwasnotpartofBritishIndia, although it was a part of the British

Empire. Thus, the eastern boundary waswell defined in 1914 but in the west inLadakh, itwasnot.A G Noorani writes in India-China

Boundary Problem 1846-1947 that SardarVallabhbhai Patel’sMinistry of States pub-lishedtwoWhitePapersonIndianstates.Thefirst,inJuly1948,hadtwomaps:onehadnoboundaryshowninthewesternsector,onlya partial colourwash; the second one ex-tendedthecolourwashinyellowtotheen-tire state of J&K, butmentioned “boundaryundefined”. The secondWhite Paperwaspublished in February 1950 after India be-cameaRepublic,where themapagainhadboundarieswhichwereundefined.In July 1954, Nehru issued a directive

that“allouroldmapsdealingwiththisfron-tier should be carefully examined and,where necessary, withdrawn. Newmapsshould be printed showing our NorthernandNorthEasternfrontierwithoutanyref-erence to any ‘line’. The newmaps shouldalso be sent to our embassies abroad andshould be introduced to the public gener-ally and be used in our schools, colleges,etc”. Thismap, as is officially used till date,formed the basis of dealings with China,eventually leading to the1962War.

HowistheLACdifferent fromtheLineofControlwithPakistan?TheLoCemerged fromthe1948cease-

fire line negotiated by the UN after theKashmirWar. Itwasdesignatedas the LoCin 1972, following the Shimla Agreementbetweenthetwocountries. It isdelineatedonamapsignedbyDGMOsofbotharmiesandhastheinternationalsanctityofalegalagreement. The LAC, in contrast, is only aconcept – it is not agreeduponby the twocountries, neither delineated on amap ordemarcatedontheground.

A new era in space explorationSIMPLYPUT

SpaceX’sCrewDragonhas landedtwoNASAastronautsat theInternationalSpaceStation,markingthefirsthumanspaceflightwithprivatecollaboration.Whatdoes itsignal for thefutureof spaceexploration?

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JUNE1,2020

Line of Actual Control: where it is located, andwhere India and China differ

Pangong lake inLadakh . ShuaibMasoodi

TheInternationalSpaceStation(top)viewedfromtheapproachingCrewDragon,andthecapsule itself (above), at theclosingstagesof the journey.NASATV

150METRES AWAY

30MINUTES AWAY

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SOBERING SIGNALSGDPdataunderlineseconomicchallenge.Muchwilldependoneasingof lockdownrestrictions, success incontainingvirus

THEGDPDATAreleasedbytheNationalStatisticalOfficeonFridayaffirmsthreedisconcerting trends. First, theeconomyhadsloweddownconsid-erably, even before the national lockdownwas imposed to contain thespread of the coronavirus. The revised data for the first three quarters ofthe previous financial year indicates that the slowdownwasmore pro-

nouncedthanwaspreviouslybelieved.Second, the lockdownhasmademattersworse.And as thedata on the eight core industries forApril indicates, the economic distress islikelytobemoreseverethanexpected.Third,theheadlinegrowthnumberisbeingdrivenbyonly twosectors—agricultureandgovernment.Attheaggregatelevel,growthingrossvalueaddedslumpedto3percentinthefourth

quarterof thelast financialyear.Whilegrowthwasaboveexpectations,as it isbasedonalimitedsetofdataonearnings—timelinesforsubmittingfinancialreturnshavebeenex-tended—thenumbersarelikelytobesubjecttodownwardrevisionasandwhenmoredataisavailable.Agricultureandpublicadministrationanddefence,whichlargelyreflectgov-ernment, continue todrive economic activity. Excluding them, gross value addedby theremainingeconomygrewbyamere1per cent in the fourthquarter. Themanufacturingsectorhasnowcontracted for threestraightquarters,with thepaceof contractiondeep-ening.Similarly,theconstructionsectorhasalsonowcontractedfortwostraightquarters.Trade,hotelsandcommunicationhavesloweddownconsiderably,ashavefinance,reales-tateandprofessional services.On theotherhand,privateconsumptiongrowthslumpedto2.7percentinthefourthquarter,downfrom6.6percentthepreviousquarter.Andwithhouseholdscuttingbackondiscretionaryspending,privateconsumptionislikelytomod-erateconsiderablythisyear.Investmentactivitycontinuedtobemoribund,contractingnowforthreeconsecutivequarters,notwithstandinggovernmentspendingoninfrastructure.Leadingeconomic indicatorspaint agrimpicture. The indexof eight core industries

contractedby38per cent inApril,withall sectors registeringacontraction. Exportsde-clinedby60percentinApril,whilenon-oilnon-goldimportsfellby52percent, indicat-ingweakdomesticdemand.However, therearesomesignsofeconomicactivitypickingup,thoughmarginally,inMay.Whileelectricitygenerationhadcontractedby22.8percentinApril, thepaceof contractioneasedto14.9percent inMay—indicatingthat thegrad-ual liftingof restrictionshas led to the resumptionof someeconomic activities. In largepart, howeconomic activity nowshapesupwill dependon the easing of the lockdownrestrictions, and the success in containing the virus.While onewill have towait for theApril-JunequarterGDPdatatogaugethefull impactof thelockdownoneconomicactiv-ity, given theproblemswithdatacollectionduring thisperiod—theNSOwasunable tofullycaptureretail inflationdata—it ispossiblethatthepaucityofdatamakesitdifficulttoaccuratelyassess thedamage to theeconomyduring thisperiod.

BATTLE FOR HONG KONGAsChina,USandyoungprotesters faceoff,Delhimust lookathowits interests inHongKongareaffectedbynewdynamic

ASHONGKONGgetscaughtintheColdWarbetweenChinaandAmerica,Indiawillhavetopaycloseattentiontotheeconomicandstrategiccon-sequencesof thecurrentchurn.Theapplicationof theprincipleof “onecountry, twosystems” forHongKongwhenBritain restored it toChinain 1997, after nearly 150 years of colonial control, seemed like a stroke

ofgenius.DesignedtosatisfytheneedsofthepeopleofHongKong,BeijingandtheAnglo-Americanpowers, the special statusof HongKongwas to last until 2047.Half a centurylookedlongenoughforHongKong’spainlessintegrationintoChina.Butthecompacthasbeenunder stress formanyyears.China’s growing emphasis on the principle of “one country” hasmet resistance from

HongKong’syoungactivists,whounderlinetheideaof“twosystems”.China’srecentfocusonextendingitsnationalsecuritylawstoHongKonghassharpenedtheinherentcontradicti-onsintheAnglo-Chinesecompactandtriggeredlarge-scaleprotestsagainstBeijing’seffo-rt totightenitsgripoverthecity.UnabletopushthemthroughtheHongKonglegislature,Beijinghasnowtakendirectcharge.Lastweek,China’sNationalPeople’sCongressautho-risedastandingcommitteetodraftanationalsecuritylawforHongKong.ThelawisexpectedtobeapprovedbySeptemberandadoptedinHongKong.IfBeijing’spatiencewiththeHongKongprotestshaswornthin,Washingtonhasannouncedplanstorevokethespecialpriv-ilegesthatHongKongenjoys,asadistinctandautonomousChineseregion,underUSlaw.While thedetailsof theChinese lawandtheUSresponsewillunfold inthedaysahead,

animportanterainHongKong’shistoryiscomingtoanend.IndiahasbeenanintimatepartofHongKong’sfoundinganditsriseasacriticalplayerinAsia’seconomictransformation.IfIndiansoldiersandtraderswereinvolvedinsecuringanddevelopingthecityinthe19thandearly20th centuries, Indianmigrants andentrepreneurs in the21st century are adding tothecity'sdynamicbusinessenvironment.Liketherestoftheworld,India,too,hasbenefitedfromHongKong’sspecialstatus.HongKongtodayisoneofthetoptradingpartnersof IndiaandhostsasizeableIndiancommunityofnearly40,000.Untilnow,IndiahascarefullyavoidedbeingsuckedintoHongKong’spolitics—bothinternalandinternational. It istimeforDelhitotakeafreshlookatitsmultipleinterestsinHongKongandhowtheymightbeaffectedbythetriangulardynamicbetweenChina,USandthecity’syoungprotestors.

Vikram SMehta

Inpost-Covidworld,wewillneedamindsetofpreparedness todealwithalloil eventualities

THEPOST-COVID“WORLD(willbe)switch-ing from just in time to just in case”. ThisquotewasbroughttomyattentionbyPascalLamy, the former Director General of theWTOthroughanote inwhichheattributedit to the economist Alan Kirman. This arti-cle is pegged around this quote, but ratherthan use it in the future continuous sense(“will be”), I use theauxiliaryverb“should”and that too specifically for the Indian pe-troleum sector. The suggestion is that thedecisionmakersof thissectorshouldswitchtoa “just in case”policymode.The oil market is in noman’s land. Few

speakwith conviction about its future tra-jectory.Lastmonth, itdroppedintonegativeterritoryforadayintheUSA;todaythepriceof thesamecrudequality is above$30/bar-rel. If onereadsthecommentaryofexperts,one could be excused for thinking that oilprices will soon cross $50/barrel or crashonce again, to below $20/barrel. The fineprint of these reports is always caveatedwith thedisclaimer, “it all depends”ononeormore of the comparably uncertain vari-ablesofeconomicgrowth,geopolitics—US-China relations, the timing of the develop-ment of an anti-COVID vaccine or acombination of all these variables. The factis no one really knows how the petroleumsector will fare in the “new normal”of thepost-COVIDworld.Thisisnotacomfortablestartingpointfor

ourdecisionmakers.For,whattheydoknowisthat, irrespectiveof thetwistsandturns inthepetroleummarket, Indiawill need fossilfuels (coal, oil andgas) todrive its economicgrowth for at least the next decade, if notlonger.Andthatasizeablepercentageoftheserequirementswill have to be imported. Thecountrydoesnothavethegeologytoexpectgushers especially in an environment ofvolatile (andrelatively low)oilprices.Whatmust also be discomforting is the

“knownunknown”ofthepost-COVIDstress.They know that COVID has knocked thepropsfromundertheIndianeconomy.Theyalso know that every petroleum company,irrespectiveofwhether it is in theprivateor

publicsector,willfaceanincreasinglyuncer-tain and challenging future business envi-ronment.What theydonotknowis thena-ture of these challenges, and therefore, theconditions,sinequanon,formanagingthem.Indiaconsumesaround5,00,000barrels

of crudeoil everyday.Of that, it imports ap-proximately4,50,000barrels/daymakingthecountrythethirdlargestcrudemarketintheworld. Everymonth, on average, 70 loadedVLCC (very largecrudecarriers )—account-ingfor10percentoftheglobaltankermarket—bringcrudeoiltoIndia. Approximately60percentofthisoilisdischargedinandaroundthe Jamnagar area and then carried bypipelinestorefineriesinJamnagar,Mathura,Panipat, BinaandBhatinda.And50per centor so is sourced from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,AbuDhabi, IranandIraq .Against the background of these post-

COIVDmarket uncertainties and the abovefactoids, Isuggestthatthemandarinsofourpetroleum industry switch to the “just incase”policymode.ONGC/OIL are strategically important

PSUs. Few have questioned the support tothesetwocompaniesandtheimportanceofharnessing our indigenous oil and gas re-serves. Hitherto, this support has beenpremised on the view that oil supplies arerelatively scarce and that prices will trendupwards.Wenowneedtoask:Whatif, “justin case” the oil market is structurally over-supplied and prices fall to such low levelsthat it makes no commercial sense forONGC/OIL to expend public resources on “highrisk,highcost”exploration?Oilandgasare,afterall, tradablesandcanbepurchasedonthehighseas. Shouldtheynot,giventhispossibility, contemplate redefining theircore purpose andperhapspivot away fromoil andgas towards cleanenergy?Looked at through a different lens but

with a “just in case” mindset, the prepon-derance of crude supplies sourced fromcountries facing deep political, economicand social tensions raises the question:What if these domestic problems chokedouraccess?Howwouldwemanagethedis-

ruption? These are not newquestions. Ourdecisionmakershaveworriedaboutsupplysecurity for decades. What is new are thecircumstances createdbyCOVID. The issueof strategic reserves could, for instance, ac-quire a different hue.Wehave currently 11days of reserve cover (5.33million tonnes)with plans to increase it to 24 days (11.83million tonnes).Werewetodecide tobuildup these reserves to levels comparable toother countries of between 70 to 100 daysof import cover, the issuewould be capital.Given the slowdown of the economy andthepressuresontheexchequer, thegovern-mentwouldnothavethefinancialresourcesto invest in the creationof additional facili-ties.Theonlywaythisfinancialhurdlecouldbe overcome is if the government and theprivate sector invest jointly.This collabora-tive optionwould have to be considered tocounter the “just in case” contingency of aprolonged andmajor disruption. And if in-deed such an option were acceptable, itcould be extended to cover trading, crudepurchases, co-freighting, subject of coursetoanti-trust andcompetition rules.A final example to embed the impor-

tanceof “just incase”thinkingcanbedrawnfromthegeopoliticsof ourneighbourhood.What if the relations betweenIndia/Pakistan/China took an ugly turn?Whatsecuritymeasuresshouldwecontem-platetoprotectthepetroleumassetslocatedinMumbai and Jamnagar?AlanKirman’sobservationwasmade in

thecontext (Ipresume)of theover relianceofMNCsonthe“China”supplychainagainstthebackdropofUS-Chinatensions.Mysug-gestion is made in the context of COVID,when all hands on decks are needed totacklethe “urgent”taskofrevivingtheecon-omy.The government must not, in theprocess, lose sight of the “importance” ofcreating, ifnothingelse, themindsetofpre-paredness to respond to “just in case out-comes”.

Thewriter is chairmanand senior fellow,Brookings India

Looked at through adifferent lens but with a ‘justin case’ mindset, thepreponderance of crudesupplies sourced fromcountries facing deeppolitical, economic andsocial tensions raises thequestion: What if thesedomestic problems chokedour access? How would wemanage the disruption?These are not new questions.Our decision makers haveworried about supplysecurity for decades. What isnew are the circumstancescreated by COVID. Theissue of strategic reservescould, for instance, acquire adifferent hue.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020 WORDLYWISEUnlimitedeconomicgrowthhasthe

marvellousqualityof stillingdiscontentwhilemaintaining privilege. — NOAM CHOMSKYTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Freeze Frame E P Unny

BIHAR POLL VIOLENCEATLEAST20personswerekilledandover70injuredinclashesbetweenrivalpartywork-ersinaseriesofviolentincidentsthatmarredthesingle-daypolling inBihar for321outof324constituenciesinBihar.Pollinghasbeencountermanded in Giridih, Hissus andSandeshconstituencies followingthedeathof a candidate ineachof them.Gayadistricttopped the casualty list with five dead fol-lowed by Nalanda (four), Patna and EastChamparan (two each) and Darbhanga,Nawadah, Monghyr, Saran, Sitamarhi,Begusarai andVaishali districts (oneeach). .The police opened fire in Bakhtiarpur townandManeraswell, butnoonewas injured.

ASSAM MEET OFFTHELOKDAL,BharatiyaJanataPartyandtheJanataPartyboycottedtheall-partymeetonAssam convened by PrimeMinister IndiraGandhi. In separate letters to the PrimeMinister,MrsGandhi,theBJPpresident,AtalBihariVajpayeeandtheJanataPartygeneralsecretrary,RKHegde,regrettedtheir inabil-ity to attend themeeting in view of such ashort notice. Hegde urged in his letter forpostponement of themeeting to anothersuitable date and release of the representa-tivesoftheAssammovement,amongstotherconditions. Vajpayee in his letter said, "wefearthatthismeetingcanonlywidentheim-mensegulf thathasdevelopedbetweenthe

officialNewDelhiandthepeopleofAssamoflate."Hesaidthathispartyfeltthatanationalconsensus on Assam could not be evolvedunless the leaders of Assamwere also in-volved in thediscussions.

BAGHPAT POLLINGITWASPERHAPSthedullesteverelection inthe Baghpat area, including the villagesaroundit.WiththeexceptionofoneboothinSaroorpur in theHarijan chaupal of the vil-lage,voterturn-outdidnotexceedthe50percentmark andwas appreciably below it inmostbooths.TheregionalsosawtheHaryanachief minister, Bhajan Lal and the Lok Dalchief,CharanSingh, touringthearea.

JUNE 1, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Just in case

THE INVISIBILITY OF FACESThemask is thecultural iconof thepandemic

THEFOURTHPHASEof thelockdownendedon Sunday. But before we analyse its posi-tives and negatives, we need to come totermswithacertainsenseof fearassociatedwith the COVID-19 virus even as we braceourselves for apost-pandemicworld.Across the world, several thinkers and

philosophers have been reflecting over thepandemicanditspossibleimpactonlifeandsociety. The most important of them areSlavojZizekandGiorgioAgamben.InZizek’sview, a new “sense of communism”woulddevelop in the aftermath of the pandemic.ItalianphilosopherAgambenfindsthepan-demic to be another platformwhere spon-soredhomosacersarecreated.Hisconcernis more with the sad condition of the vic-tims,when the state in all its dominant ex-travagance fails miserably. This uncondi-tional question of “failure’’ is crucial in theIndian context as we come across the fearandangst thepandemichas created.With relaxations increasing in the last

stagesof thelockdown,peoplehavestartedthinkingthatmovementisapossibility.Butwhatkindofmovementarewe lookingat?Facescoveredbymasksandhandsingloves,we queue up to buy things, condemn our-selves to followsocial distancing and fail to

recognise a fellow traveller — a migrantworkerordomestichelp.Anunpredictablesocialstratificationhas

come into existence following the pan-demic. This, one can surmise, would con-tinueforsometimedespitetheempathyweshowinourprivatespaces.Theverticalanddiametricaldivisions inthesocietyareveryacute to conceptualise and, even, to theo-rise. We have become our “Other”. Evenwithinourhomes.Panic and distancing are two distinct

themes of the COVID-19 pandemic. As thenumber of positive cases in the countrycrossesa lakhandhalf, our future restsonaprecariousmedicalsystem.Theroutineflowof visitors from one state to another hasadded fuel to the fire. Panic is mainly pro-ducedby thenewswehear, the footagewefamiliariseourselveswith,andthelow-scalewhisper network around. This panic is dif-ferent fromterror. Thispanic is theproductof ourutterhelplessness.Distancing is what we internalise and

put to practice.Withwhatever little spaceavailable to us to do something, wemain-tain distancing. Now, universities andschoolshavetomaintainadequatedistanc-ingof theirstudentsandteacherstoconductexaminations or for conducting classes.Classroomshavebecomethe“Other”fortheacademic. The gatekeeperwill not smile atyou, or even if he does, it is unlikely to reg-ister becausehe ismasked. Themask is the

cultural icon of the pandemic. And it regis-ters your “Otherness”.ExtendingZizek’sclaimthatwemaysee

a new communism,we are forced to com-prehendseveraldualismsatstake.Onesuchproblem is in the realm of ethics. We arehavingseveralwebinarsonthepost-COVID-19world.Buthavewereallygivenathoughtto the alarming sense of sufferingwe havethese days? Here I am reminded ofEmmanuel Levinas’s observations on lan-guageandsuffering.Levinassaid: “Thefacespeakstomeandtherebyinvitesmetoare-lation incommensuratewithapowerexer-cised.”Thequestionbeforeusnowisthein-visibilityof the faces.Theailingcancerpatientwhocannotget

admitted anywhere, the last ebb of thewoman dying on the road due to dehydra-tion,amigrantmothercryingwithherdeadbaby on her lap— these are all unbearablerepositories of the lockdown. Suffering orenduringpainfortheOtherisaninescapableobligation. But the suffering I encounter inthefacelessfacesof theOther,pointsouttheradical difference between the suffering ofthe Other and the suffering in me. This iswheretheethicsof thepandemicandlock-downis located.Howtounburdenthis suf-fering is a question addressed to the stateand its citizens.

Unni teachesEnglishatDeshbandhuCollege,Delhi

An unpredictable socialstratification has come intoexistence following thepandemic. This, one cansurmise, would continue forsome time despite theempathy we show in ourprivate spaces. The verticaland diametrical divisions inthe society are very acute toconceptualise and, even, totheorise. We have becomeour ‘Other’. Even within ourhomes.

KrishnanUnni P

INGOOD FAITH

§

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

"The hypocritical US political elites have given full play to double standards,and they have confused themselves. They are good at calculating benefits, butthey are more and more confused about common sense and public feelings."

— GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

India has the pole positionin another dimension of itsresponse. It has announcedseveral economic reforms asa part of the stimuluspackage. These are long-awaited — freeing up of thelabour market, allowingfarmers to sell their produceand land to who they choose,removal of archaic laws likethe Essential CommoditiesAct, with the promise ofmore to come. This is not anempty promise — the Centrewill advance another 1.5 percent of GDP to states toexpand spending.

Placing a bet on India Flying higherCivil aviationhasexpanded inreachandscale. Itwill comeout

of thiscrisis stronger

THE NARENDRAMODI years have wit-nessed a fundamental and paradigmaticshift incivilaviation—ithaschangedfroman elitist mode of transportation to onewhich iswithin thereachof all Indians, intune with the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik(UDAN)philosophy.As thereachandscaleof ourcivil avia-

tionoperationshaveincreased,theexpec-tationsofourcitizensfromthesectorhavealso risen significantly. Following therecommencement of domestic civil avia-tion operations in a staggered mannerfromMay 25, numerous citizens havebeen approaching us to restart interna-tionalflights.Severalfactorsneedtobead-dressed.Many international destinationsarenotallowingincomingpassengertraf-fic, except of their own citizens or diplo-mats. Within India, most internationalflights operate from the metros wheretravellers arrive fromneighbouring citiesandstates.Allourmetrocitieswereundervariousdegreesof lockdownwhicharebe-ginning to be lifted only now. Some ofthemarestillallowingonly25flightsorsoto take-off and land every day. TheMinistry of Home Affairs guidelines forlockdown 5.0 announced on May 30,whichhave furtheropenedup inter-stateand intra-state travel, will facilitate thegradual and calibrated reopening of thesector. As wemove towards the criticalmass of 50-60 per cent operation of do-mestic flights,ourability toresumeinter-national operationswill also improve.In the last six years, civil aviation has

emerged as a critical driver of economicgrowth in India. Pre-COVID Indiawas thethird largestdomesticaviationmarket inthe world with approximately 140 mil-lionpassengers travellingannually—thecountrywaspoised tobecomethe third-largest overallmarket in three years.Wewere experiencing double-digit growthwhen the headwinds of the COVID crisishit us and grounded us for twomonths.Indiawas one of the first nations to startscreening passengers and halt flightsfromChina.Ourefforts to service thenationdidn’t

cease but just took a different form.WelaunchedMissionLifelineUdanwhichhascovered more than 5.4 lakh kilometresthrough584flights,carryingcriticalmed-ical related cargo load of over 935 tonnesto the farthest parts of the country andabroad.OnMay6,welaunchedtheVandeBharatMissionwhich has already evacu-atedmore than 40,000 stranded anddis-tressedIndiancitizensfromdifferentpartsof theworld.Wearenowpreparingtosig-nificantly increase these flights.Takingabig leap forward,we re-com-

menced domestic aviation operationsfromMay 25. This decisionwas taken inthespiritofcooperativefederalism.Till late

onMay24,weaccommodatedall thesen-sitivities of the states. There were somecancellations on the first day as airlineschedulingandlogisticsareintegratedandany changemade to a flight in one sectorhasanimpactonseveralotherflights.Thegood news is that operations have beensmoothsinceMay26andover40,000pas-sengers have been travelling seamlesslyevery day. Since the sector is operating atlessthan33percentof capacity,weantic-ipated the mismatch between demandand supply and regulated fares to protectthe interestsof consumerswhilekeepingairlineoperationsviable.A lot of effort was also devoted to en-

suringthatweminimisetheriskof conta-gion through meticulously designedguidelines andprotocols. In fact,wewerein a state of readiness since May 15 andgaveallstakeholderssufficienttimetopre-pareandplan.Despiteourbestefforts,cer-tainunfortunatecaseswerenotedofpos-itive patients and immediate actionwastaken.It isnotablethatamongstthemodesof rail, road, and air, air travel is the onlymodethathascontrolledaccessandcom-plete traceability at the place of embark-ment, transit and disembarkment, mak-ingittheleastriskyamongstall themeansof public transport. COVID positive casesencountered in domestic operations tillnow are around 0.03 per cent of the pas-sengers— this shows that safety systemsareinplace. It isnecessarytoacknowledgethat we live in challenging times wherethereisadownsideandanelementof riskassociatedwitheverydecisionwemake.But the question is, can we afford to

shutourlivesandoureconomycompletelyfor an unending period to avoid that littlerisk?I firmlybelievethattheanswer isno.We have to learn to live with the virus.Anotherquestionis:Areeffortsbeingdonetominimiserisksasweresumeair travel?Iwouldliketoassureallourtravellersthattheanswer isa resoluteyes.In India, the mortality rate from the

virushasbeenrather low,around2.87percent. Itmustalsobenotedthatevenasthenumberof caseshas risen, thenumberofthose who have recovered has also beenrising.Someamateurcommentatorshavecited the rise in cases as a failure of thelockdown without acknowledging themassive exponential rise in cases whichhave been thwarted by our timelymeas-ures. The imposition of the lockdownhelpedusinachievingatleastthreeobjec-tives—wecouldhaltthesuddenexponen-tialgrowthof thevirusseeninothercoun-tries, prepare our healthcare system andassess when to restart the economy in acalibratedandprogressivemanner.After the imposition of the lockdown,

we have taken several reformmeasuresundertheAtmanirbharBharatAbhiyanforthe aviation sector such as opening air-spaces for airlines and opening other air-ports for private sector participation.Wewill continue to proactively engage andsupport our aviation sector. As the primeminister has rightly pointedout,wehaveto view this crisis as an opportunity. WeneedtoensurethattheIndianaviationsec-tor comesout fromthis crisis stronger.

Thewriter isUnionMinisterofCivilAviation.Viewsarepersonal

EVERSINCECOVID-19forcefullyenteredtheworld in February 2020, speculation hasmountedthatitwillchangepoliciesandlives,possibly forever.At leastoneCOVIDcasehasbeenobservedinover200countries—ifevertherewas a pandemic, we are looking at it.Countries have been forced to take extraor-dinary steps to counter this inhuman inva-sion. The economic steps are oriented to-wards getting the economies to avoid ameltdownand Indiahasnotbeenanexcep-tion. OnMay 12, PrimeMinister NarendraModigaveacallforaself-reliantIndiamove-mentwithfivepillars—economy,infrastruc-ture, system, vibrant demography and de-mand. Subsequently, and spanning aweek,theprimeminister-financeministerduoun-leashedasetofstimulusmeasuresfortheim-mediate short-term, and for themedium-term, a set of long-pending reforms inagriculture, labourandindustry.The conversation in India has revolved

around the size of the fiscal package— for achange, practically everyone is arguing thatwe havemore fiscal space and the govern-ment (especially according to the critics) isbeing heartless by not spendingmore. Butthis is amistaken view, not grounded in therealityof theIMF’sdata.Aspartofadataandinformation response to theCOVID-19pan-demic, the IMFhas startedpublishingapol-icytracker(IMF-PT)whichreportsonthefis-calandmonetarypolicystanceandresponsesfor193countries.According to the IMF-PT, the fiscal com-

ponentof theIndianpackageisestimatedtobeatleast3.5percentofGDPasexpenditurefor poor households,migrantworkers andagriculture.Thereisanadditional0.5percentof GDP for states to spend unconditionally,bringingthefiscalpackageexcludingloanstobusinesses to at least 4 per cent of GDP. Thesupportforbusinesses(MSMEs)isestimatedtobe2.7percentofGDP.Ofthis,atleast2percent of GDP is in the form of 100 per centcreditguaranteesandequity infusion.Amongmajor developing economies,

onlyBrazil(8percentofGDP)andPeru(7percent of GDP) have a fiscal stimulus higherthan the5per cent level for India. TheBrazilestimateincludesabout3percentofGDPasworking capital loans to businesses andhouseholds.Thefiscalsupportlevelforsomeimportant emerging economies is — China2.5percentofGDPandIndonesia3.5percent.Whilecomparingthefiscalstimuluspack-

ages across countries, it is important to un-derstandthatsuchpackagesareinthenatureof additional spendingand tax reliefswhichcanworkdirectlythroughaggregatedemandorindirectlybymitigatingriskandenhancingaccess to funds (if they are in the nature ofcreditguaranteestofinancialinstitutionsandnon-financialenterprises).Alargenumberoffiscal stimulus packages announced by dif-ferentcountriescontaincreditguaranteestofinancial institutions, SMEs, andagriculture.Hence,it isdifficulttosegregatefiscalstimu-lus into itspureandimpurecomponents.To put into perspective, the average of

all fiscal measures in the G24 developingeconomies isequal to3.6percent.Nomat-ter how the calculation is done, India is apositive fiscal stimulus outlier; by IMF-PTcalculations, the stimulus is close to thelargest among major emerging marketeconomies.The rich nations are spendingmore —

they can afford to. Japan announcedwhatmay be the upper limit to the expansion—21.1 per cent of GDP. However, this does in-cludelargeelementsofloansandcreditguar-antees.Throughacombinationofseveralfis-calmeasures(taxdeferrals,creditguarantees,etc.)theUShaspledgedcloseto13percentofGDP. The European Union, on average, haspledged4percentofGDP.Theaverageforad-vancedcountriesisaround6percentofGDP.Notwithstandingtheabsolutelyandcom-

paratively large fiscal package, a perusal ofmost IndiannewspapersandcriticspaintsadifferentpicturethanthatcontainedinIMF-PT. Several experts have contended that thefiscalstimulusisverylow.Asproof,itisstatedthat the fiscal deficit will expand by 0.8-1.0per cent of GDP; hence, the stimulus is verylow!Incontrast,mosteconomists,andinter-national organisations, recognise that fiscalstimulus consists of both the pure and im-pure and includes three broad items—adi-rect “above-the-line”component, a “below-the-line” component and guarantees ofvarious forms (primarily credit). The choiceof using only one component of the fiscalstimulus is selective, andhighly inappropri-ate.Itwasnotsolongagothatthecriticswere

arguingthatthegovernment,andtheReserveBankof Indiawerebeingheartlessandclue-less, by not addressing theMSMEproblem.Thisproblemisnowbeingaddressedvia100percentcreditguaranteesandfundinfusion,andyet isbeing ignoredbythecritics.Itisalsothecasethatthemonetarypolicy

change in India is quite significant and thetransformational impact of thismonetarystimulus is not being recognised. As a long-timeproponent of internationally competi-tivemonetarypolicy,thatis,realinterestrates

comparabletothoseprevalentincompetitoreconomies,thechangebroughtaboutbytheRBI under the leadership of GovernorShaktikantaDas is trulywelcome. The reporate nowstands at 4 per cent,with inflationwell contained. This is substantially amuchdifferent, andmuch improvedRBI responsethan thatwhatoccurred in2008-09.At thattime, as amonetary counter to the financialcrisis, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 425basis points to 4.75 per cent. Thiswas doneoversevenmonthsandtheprevailingCPIin-flationratewas10percent.Indiahas thepoleposition inanotherdi-

mension of its response. It has announcedseveral economic reforms as a part of thestimuluspackage.Thesearelong-awaited—freeing up of the labourmarket, allowingfarmerstoselltheirproduceandlandtowhotheychoose,removalofarchaic lawsliketheEssential Commodities Act, with the prom-ise of more to come. This is not an emptypromise— the Centrewill advance another1.5percentofGDPtostatestoexpandspend-ing.Thisadvancewillbeconditionalonthemfor undertaking long-pending reforms. TheIndianfiscalpackageisreformist,well-disci-plined andprovides focused support; and ifneeded, there is still room for additionalmeasures.BesidesIndia,fundamentaleconomicre-

forms have not been part of the COVID-19policy response. Some distance away fromIndia is Indonesia,with a stated permanentreduction of the corporate income tax ratefrom25 per cent to 22 per cent in 2020-21and20percentstarting in2022.There is an old saying about India and

investment: “Many a woman has beenfound six-feet under because she bet onIndia doing the right thing”. However, thistime it is really different and a largewageris merited. PrimeMinister Modi has usedthecrisis tore-orient Indiatowards its long-awaiteddestiny.

Thewriter isexecutivedirector IMFrepresenting India,SriLanka,Bangladeshand

Bhutan.Viewsarepersonal

OPTICS BATTLE

This refers to theeditorial, 'Standing itsground' (IE, May 29). China is noPakistan, and so itwill be to India’s ad-vantage if itmakes shrill noises aboutChina’sincursionsonIndiansoil,while,atthesametimeincessantlybolsteringitsmilitarymightalongtheflashpointsontheLAC.Suchsubtleinternationalisa-tion of the boundary dispute betweenthe twowouldweigh on China,whichalreadysuffersfromtheimageofbeingtooaggressive,anddissuadeitfromanytypeofmisadventure.

VijaiPant,Hempur

NOT CHARITYTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Unsafejourneys' (IE,May29). IndianRailwaysand stategovernmentshavetounder-stand that facilitating themovementofworkers isnot anact of charity. Theintervention of the Supreme Courthighlights that India isawelfarestate,and all help — fares, food, water andtransport — to themigrant labourers,is the responsibility of the govern-ment.

RajivBoolchandJain,Zirakpur

AFRICA AND INDIATHIS REFERS TO the article, 'Drawingcloser in crisis', (May29, IE). Africa is infocustodayforobviousreasons.China’sforayintothecontinentisimpressiveandothernationsarejumpingontheband-wagon. India's conjunctionwithAfrica

issuigeneris,basedonthehistorical-cul-turalcontext,andprovidesitwithanop-portunity towork inwith African na-tions. The congruence of our goals andthe similar cultural edifice are reasonsenoughtocollaborate.

AbhishekKumarAnshu,Patna

A CONTRADICTIONThis refers to the article, ‘A health part-nership’(IE,May29).Itstates:“Indiahashandled the pandemic exceptionallywell"and"is indireneedofmoremed-ical staff andamenities".Howcanbothbetrueatsametime?IfIndialacksmed-icalstaffsthenwhomanagespandemic"exceptionally"well?Politicians?There-alityisthatthegovernmenthasfailedtohandlethepandemic.

SuchakDPatel,Ahmedbaad

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

THE UNITED STATES Commission onInternationalReligiousFreedom(USCIRF) inits 2020 report has categorised India as aCountry of Particular Concern (CPC). Indiahadgotthisshamefultagoncebefore—afterthe2002Gujaratcarnage.TheUSCSIRisanindependent,bipartisan

US federal government commission estab-lished in 1998 under the InternationalReligiousFreedomAct.ItmonitorsfreedomofreligionacrosstheworldexceptintheUS.Oftheninecommissioners,threeareappointedby theUSpresident, twoby the leaderof USpresident’s party and four by the leader ofOpposition in the Congress. USCIRF reportsareglobally respected.Intellectualswhoexpressconcernsabout

theatmosphereofhatecreatedbyTVanchorsonbehalfofselfishpoliticiansandregressiverightistideologyhavebeenridiculedinIndia.Thejudiciarytoohasnotshowntherequisiteeagernesstostanduptothechallenge. Itdidnot consider the newly enacted CitizenshipAmendmentAct(CAA),theabrogationofthespecial status of JammuandKashmir or theviolationofcivilliberties,postabrogation,im-portant enough to be heard. In fact, theSupremeCourt supervised theexclusionaryanddivisiveNRCprocess inAssam.For true nationalists, international pres-

tige of the country ismore important thanwinning elections. For them, it is painful toseeourgreatcountrybeingclubbedtogetherwithIran,SaudiArabia,Pakistan,NorthKorea,Syria,MyanmarandChinaonthequestionof

religious freedom. Theywere already upsetwith the tweets fromWest Asia that re-mindedIndiaofitscivilisationalcommitmentto tolerance. This author does notwant anyMuslim country to speak on behalf of theIndianMuslims:Muslims have full faith inthecountry’sConstitutionandinstitutions.For years, India has been a Country of

Special Concern (CSC), but now the rankinghasfurtherdeteriorated.Ideally,Indiashouldbe on parwith the Scandinavian countries,the US and Canada. Today, Afghanistan,Sudan, Indonesia and Egypt have a higherrankingthanus.Who are the CPC countries? These are

countrieswherethegovernmentengagesinortolerates“particularlysevere”violationsofreligious freedom. Under the US’sInternational Religious FreedomAct, severeviolationsofreligiousfreedomindicate“sys-tematic, on-going and egregious violationsincludingtorture,degradingtreatment,pro-longeddetentionwithoutchargesandotherflagrant denial of right to life, liberty or thesecurityofpersons”.The report observes that the situation in

“India took a sharpdownward turn in 2019.The national government used its strength-enedparliamentarymajoritytoinstitutena-tion-levelpoliciesviolatingreligiousfreedomacrossIndia,especiallyMuslims”.IttooknoteofthediscriminatoryCAAprovisionsandre-jected the government’s claim that this lawhas nothing to dowith IndianMuslims. Asmany as three United Nations Special

RapporteurshadwarnedthattheNRCwouldresult in “statelessness, deportation, or pro-longed detention” (of IndianMuslims), buttheywere ignored.The report also tooknote of theUP chief

minister’scallfor“revenge”againstanti-CAAprotestersandhisremarkthattheprotestersshould be fed “bullets not biryani”. It alsomentioned the BabriMasjid verdict as oneencouraginga“cultureofimpunity”forthosewhodemolishreligiousplacesandharassmi-norities.ThewaytheSabarimalareviewwasaccepted,contentiousreligiousissuesofothercommunities clubbed togetherwith it andtheBabrireviewwasnotgivenevenanopencourthearinghavenotgonewellwith inde-pendentobservers.Theseverallynchinginci-dentsinthenameofcowslaughterhavealsobeennoted. Inaclearcut indictment, there-port said thenational andvarious stategov-ernmentsallowednationwidecampaignsofharassment and violence against religiousminoritiestocontinuewithimpunityanden-gaged in and tolerated hate speech and in-citementtoviolenceagainst them.Indiahasrefusedtotakecognisanceofthe

reportandhighlightedthreeoftheninecom-missioners opposing the CPC status. It hasstated thatunlike theauthoritarian regimesofChinaandNorthKorea,Indiaistheworld’slargest democracy. It is adifferent story thatontheruleof lawandfreedomofpressindexaswell,ourrankingsarecontinuouslyfalling.Twoof thedissenters (in theUSCIRF report)are President Trump’s nominees. They are

alsoworriedaboutthestateoffreedomofre-ligioninIndia,butdidnot favourtheCPCtagforus.Oneof themmentioned that theCAAwaspendingwiththeSupremeCourt.While the governmentwas right at the

diplomatic level torejectthereport, thecrit-icismought to be seen as an opportunity toreflect on the state of freedomof religion inIndia.Wemust ensure the freedomof reli-gionofeveryone.TheanxietyofHindusaboutautonomyintemplemanagementmustalsobe addressed. Even foreigners under Article25 of the Constitution have the right to notonly “profess and practise” but also “propa-gate”theirreligion.Anti-conversionlawsareagainst internationalhumanrights lawsuchas UDHR and ICCPR. Even the apex court’sjudgment in Rev. Stanislaus (1977) that up-held such lawswas termed by India’s fore-mostconstitutional lawexpert,HMSeervai,as “productiveof greatpublicmischief”. Theessentialitytestunderwhichourcourtshavetaken over the role of the clergywill hope-fully be revisited by the nine-judgeSabarimala bench. Similarly, there is a needtobringinastrongmob-lynchinglawaswassuggestedbytheapexcourt.Denialof reser-vation to the Scheduled Castes too needs arelook. Theplan for a nationwideNRCmustbedroppedandtheCAAamendedtoincludeallreligiousminoritiesratherthanspecificre-ligiousgroups.

Thewriter isvice-chancellor,NALSARUniversityofLaw,Hyderabad

TheUSreportonreligiousfreedominIndiacallsforreflection

Amatter of concernFaizanMustafa

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●ATUSSLEINTHERANKS:MPNATHANAEL

●●DILUTINGPROVISIONSOF2013LANDACT:

AADILSINGHBOPARAI

www.indianexpress.com

Hardeep S Puri

Surjit S Bhalla

CR Sasikumar

PMModihasusedCovidcrisis toreorient India towardsreform, longawaiteddestiny

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

VATICANCITY

Peoplemoreimportantthaneconomy:PopeVaticanCity:Pope Francissaid on Sunday that peo-ple are more importantthan the economy, ascountries decide howquickly to reopen theircountries from coron-avirus lockdowns."Healingpeople, not sav-ing (money) to help theeconomy (is important),healing people, who aremore important than theeconomy," Francis said."WepeoplearetemplesoftheHoly Spirit, the econ-omyisnot." REUTERS

PopeFrancis

TOPOFTHEWORLD

SRILANKA

SometourismsectorstoreopenJuneColombo: Sri Lankaplanstoreopenitstourismsec-tor inmid-Junebyallow-ing only small groups ofvisitors to begin with, alocalnewspaperquotedasenior tourismministryofficial as saying. A lim-ited number of smallgroups from around theworldwould be allowedto visit and stay in ap-proved five-star hotelsthathaveputstrictsafetymeasures in place,Tourism MinistrySecretary SHettiaarachchi said, ac-cording to a report in theSunday Times. "Thetourists will be requiredto carry a Covid-19-freecertificate issued eitherby their governments ora reputed agency," hesaid, adding touristswouldalsowaitonarrivalat the airport for coron-avirus testing. REUTERS

PAKISTAN

NawazphotosparksdebateoverhishealthLahore:A freshpicture ofPakistan's former primeminister Nawaz Sharifdrinking tea at a Londoncafe along with somemembers of his familywent viral on social me-dia, sparking adebate onhishealthwiththerulingPakistan Tehreek-i-Insafmembersdemandinghisreturn to face corruptioncases. "This picture ofSharifhavingteaincafeisexposing our law, justiceand judicial system. Thispicture also tells howmuchpeoplecantrustontheaccountabilitysystemin the country," ScienceMinister FawadChaudhrysaid. PTI

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,MAY31

CITIESACROSStheUnitedStatessmoldered on Sundaymorningafter a largely peaceful day ofprotestscollapsedintoanightofchaos, destructionandsporadicviolence.The fear and fury that had

seizedMinneapolis, where thedeath of yet another blackmanat thehandsof thepolice setoffprotracted unrest last week,sweptwellbeyondMinnesota.Parts of Los Angeles were

ablaze, squad cars and storeswere damaged or destroyed inChicago,gunfireechoedthroughdowntownIndianapolisandoneAmericancityafteranotherwasfilledwith the smoke, gaggingandvomitingthatfollowteargas.Hundredsofpeoplewerear-

rested across the country asclasheseruptedbetweenthepo-lice and protesters. In somecities, the authorities appearedto fire rubber bullets and otherprojectiles with little or noprovocation. In New York City,two police vehicles surged for-wardintoacrowdofdemonstra-tors,someofwhomwereblock-ingthestreetandpeltingthecarswithdebris.At least 75 cities have seen

protestsinrecentdays,andmay-ors in more than two dozencities imposedcurfews.

Saturday'supheavalwas thefifthdayofoutragesinceGeorgeFloyd diedwhile in police cus-todyinMinneapolisonMonday.A cellphone video showed awhite police officer - since firedand chargedwith third-degreemurder - grinding his knee intoMr. Floyd's neck formore thaneightminutesashestruggledtobreathe.Coming aftermonths of re-

strictionstocurbthecoronavirus

pandemic and the deep eco-nomic slowdown they havecaused, with 40million peopleout of work, the video of Mr.Floyd'sdeathbroughtarenewedoutpouring of anguish over in-equalityandmaltreatment.Despite imagesof fires light-

ingupthenightskyandlawless-ness that threatened to over-whelm many of the nation'spolice forces, many protesterswere not seeking physical con-

frontation, but rather ventingdeep frustration and calling forchange. "I'm not here to fightsomeone," said EldonGillet, 40,who was on the streets inBrooklyn."I'mheretofightasys-tem."Just outside the White

House's fence line, smoke filledthe air for a second night afterPresident Trump continued tosend conflicting and often divi-sivemessages.

After writing on Twitter onFriday that "when the lootingstarts, the shooting starts" -echoing comments from aMiami police chief in 1967 - onSaturday morning Mr. TrumpsaidtheSecretServicehadbeenpreparedtosicthe"mostviciousdogs" on protesters outside theWhiteHousegates.

Protests spreadbeyondUSHundredsofprotestersgath-

eredinTrafalgarSquareincentralLondononSundayafternoonandmarchedtowardtheUSEmbassy,themostvisiblesignsofarofpop-ular support overseas for theprotestsacrosstheUSagainstpo-licekillingsofblackpeople.

Holding signs and clappingtheir hands, theprotesters gath-ered in the square indefianceofstay-at-homerestrictionsineffectacross Britain to fight the coron-aviruspandemic.Theychanted"Ican't breathe," "Black livesmat-ter,"and"Nojustice,nopeace,"be-forecrossingtheThamestomarchpeacefullytotheembassy.TheprotestmarchonSunday

echoed one on Saturday in thePeckham district of SouthLondon.AnotherLondonmarchisplanned fornextSunday.Several hundred protesters

rallied outside the US Embassyin Berlin on Sunday, holding upsigns saying "Justice for GeorgeFloyd" and "Stop killing us,"Reuters reported.

Aprotesterargueswithaofficer inBrooklyn,NewYorkCityonSaturdaynight.Reuters

Reuters TV crewhit by rubberbullets as policedisperseprotesters

REUTERSMINNEAPOLIS,MAY31

TWOMEMBERSof aReutersTVcrewwere hit by rubber bulletsand injured inMinneapolis onSaturday night when policemoved intoanareaoccupiedbyabout 500 protesters in thesouthwestof thecity shortlyaf-ter the8pmcurfew.Footage taken by camera-

manJulio-CesarChavezshowedapoliceofficeraimingdirectlyathimaspolicefiredrubberbulletsand tear gas to disperse thecrowd."ApoliceofficerthatI'mfilm-

ing turns aroundpointshis rub-ber-bullet rifle straight atme,"said Chavez. Minutes later,ChavezandReuters securityad-visorRodneySewardwerestruckby rubber bullets as they tookcoveratanearbygasstation.Asked about the incident,

MinneapolisPoliceDepartmentspokesmanJohnElderrequestedacopyof thevideoandmadenoimmediatecomment.

SpaceX rocketship with two NASAastronauts docks with space stationASSOCIATEDPRESSCAPECANAVERAL,MAY31

SPACEX DELIVERED two astro-nauts to the InternationalSpaceStationforNASAonSunday, fol-lowing up a historic liftoff withanequallysmoothdockinginyetanother first for Elon Musk'scompany.WithtestpilotsDougHurley

andBobBehnkenpoisedtotakeovermanualcontrolifnecessary,the SpaceX Dragon capsulepulled up to the station anddocked automatically, no assis-tanceneeded.Itwasthefirsttimeaprivately

built and owned spacecraft car-

riedastronautstotheorbitinglabin itsnearly20years.NASAcon-sidersthistheopeningvolleyinabusiness revolution encirclingEarth and eventually stretchingtothemoonandMars.Thedockingoccurredjust19

hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9rocketblastedoffSaturdayafter-noon from Kennedy SpaceCenter, the nation's first astro-naut launch toorbit fromhomesoil innearlyadecade.Thousands jammed sur-

rounding beaches, bridges andtowns to watch as SpaceX be-came the world's first privatecompanytosendastronautsintoorbit, and ended a nine-yearlaunchdrought forNASA.

Gleamingwhite in the sun-light, theDragonwaseasily vis-iblefromafewmilesout,itsnosecone open and exposing itsdockinghookaswell as ablink-ing light. The capsule loomedever larger on liveNASA TV as itclosed thegap.Hurley and Behnken took

over the controls anddid a littlepiloting less than a couple hun-dredyards(meters)outaspartofthe test flight, before putting itback intoautomatic for the finalapproach. Hurley said the cap-sule handled "really well, verycrisp". SpaceXandNASAofficialshadheldoff onanycelebrationsuntil after Sunday morning'sdocking—andpossiblynotuntil

the two astronauts are back onEarthsometimethissummer.NASA has yet to decide how

long Hurley and Behnken willspendatthespacestation,some-where between one and fourmonths.Whilethey'rethere,theDragon test pilots will join theoneUS and twoRussian stationresidents in performing experi-ments andpossibly spacewalksto install freshstationbatteries.After liftoff, Musk told re-

portersthatthecapsule'sreturnwillbemoredangerousinsomeways than its launch. Even so,gettingthetwoastronautssafelyto orbit and then the space sta-tion had everyone breathinghugesighsof relief.

In thisblackandwhite infrared image,aSpaceXFalcon9rocketcarryingthecompany’sCrewDragonspacecraft is launchedonNASA’sSpaceXDemo-2missiontothe InternationalSpaceStation.Courtesy:NASA

THENEWYORKTIMESBEIRUT,MAY31

ASABOUT900childrenlanguishin fetid, disease-ridden detain-ment camps in northeasternSyria, theWestern states theirparents hail from have insistedtheycannot take themback.But last month, when a

seven-year-old French girl wason the verge of dying if she didnotreceiveurgentmedicalcare,France sent a medical jet andflew her to Paris for treatment,leavingbehindhermother, twobrothersandtwinsister.The repatriation of the girl,

Taymia,was the rare exception,butproof, rights advocates said,thatcountriescantaketheirchil-drenbackwhentheywant to."We have seen incredible

hardheartednesswhenitcomestotheresponsesofgovernments

such as France that talk the talkabout human rights," said LettaTayler,aseniorcounterterrorismresearcher at Human RightsWatch."If Francecouldtakeonechildout,whycouldn'tittaketheentire family?"Human rights groups say

leaving the children in Syriathreatenstheirmentalandphys-icalhealthandriskstheir indoc-trinationwith IslamicState ide-ology,which iswidely followedin the camps and could create anew generation of violentjihadists.Some countries have taken

many of their children back.Russia, Kosovo, Turkey,Uzbekistan and Kazakhstanhaverepatriatedmore than100womenandchildreneach.But mostWestern govern-

mentshavebeenreluctanttodoso, citingobstacles like thediffi-culty of confirming parentage,

thedangerofsendingdiplomatsintoawarzoneandnotwantingto separate children from theirmothers, whom the countriesmostlydonotwantback.While repatriating the adults

raises difficult questions about

howguilty and dangerous theymay be, a network of activists,lawyers and relatives in EuropeandNorthAmerica has pressedgovernmentstobringthechildrenhome, arguing that theydidnotchoose to go to Syria and should

notsufferfortheirparents'sins.But the advocates have had

limited success, often becausethegovernmentsdonotwanttodealwiththechildren'sparents."There is a line of argument

that the kids are not to beblamed, but we will not helpthem because there will be amother and potentially a fatherwhowillcomeoutof thewoodsand insist to be joinedwith thekids," said Tyge Trier, a humanrights lawyer in Copenhagenwho disagrees with the policyand is working to bring Danishchildrenhome.Despite the difficulties, 20

countries have brought homesomechildren, accordingtoMs.Tayler of Human RightsWatch.The United States has broughthome 15 children, a StateDepartmentofficialsaid,butdidnot sayhowmanyremained.Twenty-six children of

Canadians are stuck in north-eastern Syria,most of themagesixorunder,Ms.Tayler said.The issue of repatriation is

particularly thorny for France,whereIslamicStateattackshavekilled more than 250 people,turningamajorityofFrenchpeo-pleagainsttherepatriationof ji-hadistsandtheir families.Of the roughly 300 children

of French parents in Syria'scamps, only 18have been repa-triated.The Kurdish forceswho run

the camps have called for therepatriationofall foreigners,ar-guing that they cannot detainthemindefinitelyinanunstableregion.But the French government

regardswomenwho joined theIslamic State as fighters whoshouldbetriedwheretheycom-mitted their alleged crimes,meaning inSyriaor Iraq.

IslamicState fightersandtheir familiesaftersurrendering inaSyrianvillage in2019.Reuters file

Children of ISIS left in Syria camps, rights groups issue warning

ASSOCIATEDPRESSKABUL,MAY31

THE ISLAMIC State group tookresponsibility on Sunday for aroadside bomb attack against abus belonging to a local TV sta-tion thatkilled twoemployees.Marwa Amini, the deputy

spokeswomanfortheAfghanin-terior ministry, said four otherstation employees werewounded in Saturday after-noon'sattack inKabul.InastatementonanIS-affili-

atewebsite,thegroupsaidtheat-tackwas against a bus carryingemployeesofKhurshidTV, a sta-tion it described as "loyal to theAfghanapostategovernment".IS has been increasingly ac-

tive in Afghanistan after suffer-ing battlefield losses to govern-mentandUSforces,aswellasitsTalibanrivals.Mohammad Rafi Sediqi, an

officialwithKhurshid,confirmedthedeathsoftwoemployees.Hesaidtwoofthewoundedwereincritical condition from a bomb-ing that took place on the sta-tion'seighthanniversary.Theattackcameaftertheex-

piration of a truce that Talibanand Afghan nationals securityforcesreachedduringthethree-dayMuslimholidayofEidal-Fitr,whichendedTuesday.Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman

for Afghan president AsharfGhani, tweeted the governmentstrongly condemned the attackontheKhurshidTVcrew.

Nations expand reopeningsas global cases pass 6 millionTHENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,MAY31

THISWEEKbegins a pivotal pe-riod in the coronavirus pan-demic, as countries give stu-dents, shoppers and travelersmorefreedomtoreturntosomesenseof normalcyaftermonthsunder lockdown.InBritain,morestoreswillbe

allowed to open fromMonday,andsmallgroups fromdifferenthouseholds canmeet outdoors.Primary schoolswill open theirdoors in England, thoughwithnewsocial-distancingrulesandspaced seating. More than two

million people who have been"shielding" will be allowed tospendtimeoutdoors, accordingto news reports. The govern-mentalsogavethegreenlightforprofessional sports to resumeunderstrictprotocols,accordingto government guidelines pub-lishedonSaturday.Other countries are creating

"travel bubbles" to rev up theireconomies, allowing visitorsfromnationswith lowinfectionrates. The moves come as thenumber of global cases of thevirusgrewtomorethansixmil-lion,withover1.7million in theUnited States. Rwanda's healthministryonSundayreportedthe

East African nation's first deathcausedby thenewcoronavirus,a65-year-olddriverwhohadre-centlyreturnedfromaneighbor-ingcountry.Greecewill open its airports

to visitors from 29 countriesfrom June 15, the tourismmin-istry said, but Britain is notamong them. Norway andDenmark will allow leisuretravel between the two coun-tries, creating a travel bubblethat excludes Sweden, wherecoronavirus infections arehigher. Norwaywill also allowentry tobusiness travelers fromtheotherNordiccountries fromMonday, thegovernmentsaid.

E●EXPLAINED

Complaintsdolittletochangepoliceways

EVENASoutragehasmountedoverdeathsat thehandsofthepolice, it remainsnotoriouslydifficult in theUnitedStates toholdofficersaccountable, inpartbecauseof thepolitical cloutof policeunions, the reluctanceof investiga-tors, prosecutorsand juries tosecond-guessanofficer’ssplit-seconddecisionandthewide latitude the lawgivespoliceofficers touse force.Policedepartments themselveshaveoftenresisted

civilian reviewordragged their feetwhen it comes toover-haulingofficerdisciplinarypractices

Fury on the streets as protests spread acrossUS

KJMVARMABEIJING,HONGKONG,MAY31

THEPROMULGATIONofnewse-curity law for Hong Kong byChinahasresultedinasharpin-crease in inquiries for immigra-tion from the former Britishcolony especially the city's resi-dentswho emigrated enmassethere when it returned to theChinesecontrol in1997.Immigrationconsultantshave

fielded hundreds of new callssinceChina'slegislatureunveiledthecontroversialplanonMay21,bypassing the local legislature,Hong Kong-based South ChinaMorningPostreportedonSunday.The new law under which

Chinacanestablishthepresenceof its security forces in HongKong for the first-time evokedstrong protests from thousandsof local people. The protests

were expected to be intensifiedin thecomingweeks.China says the new law is

aimed at throttling secession,subversion,terrorism,foreignin-terference or activities thatthreatennational security.With Hong Kong now be-

comingthecentreof theemerg-ingColdWarbetweentheUSandChina, a number of local peopleare looking tomigrate to differ-ent countries. Someareacceler-atingtheirdecisiontobuyprop-erty overseas, while others arecutting their asking price for lo-calproperties,immigrationcon-sultancyfirmsinHongKongsaid."Thedayafter thatproposal,

we received over a hundredcalls," said AndrewLo, chief ex-ecutive at Anlex, a Hong Kong-basedimmigrationconsultancyfirm. "People are restless. Theyask if they can leave the nextday,"he told thePost. PTI

CHINA'SSECURITYLAW

Hong Kong panics, spikein immigration inquiries

Pak’s Quettatense over moblynching ofPashtun youthKarachi:Communaltensionandprotests have erupted inPakistan's Quetta city after amob,most of them believed tobefromShiaHazaracommunity,allegedly lynched a Pushtunyouth and severely injured histwo friends.Thecapitalcityof therestive

Baluchistan province remainedtenseandpartiallyshutdownonSundayafterthebrutal lynchingof theyouthonFridaynight.Police have arrested 12 peo-

pleinconnectionwiththelynch-ingwhichissaidtohaveoccurredover amonetary disputewhileanotherversion is that the threeyouths, who belonged toPushtuncommunity,hadfilmedsomewomenoftheHazaracom-munityontheirmobilephones.TheHazara community has

been the target of several terrorattacks in recentyears. PTI

Islamic State claims bombattack on Afghan TVstation bus that killed two

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Accountancy WatchAUDIT QUALITY INDICATORS BY ICAINew Delhi: In an effort to strengthen quality of auditing activities,the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will developa framework for audit quality indicators that will also help Indianaudit firms and auditors to compete globally. PTI

ROOMRATES INMANYLARGEFACILITIESHIKEDUPTO50%INLASTMONTH

PRABHARAGHAVAN&SANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,MAY31

EMERGENCYTREATMENTatpri-vatehospitalsduringtheCOVID-19 outbreak in India has turnedcostlier,with the addition of es-sentialprotectivegearforstaffthatfacilitieshavingbeenpassedontopatients. Insurance firms haveflaggedyetanothertrend—ratesforroomsinseverallargefacilitieshave been hiked asmuch as 50percentinthelastmonth,leadingtosomeclaimsbyhospitalsbeingrejectedorsentforrevisions.“Costs for non-COVID emer-

gency admissions have goneupby40-50per cent formajor pri-vatehospitals inDelhi,especiallywith the room rates. We havebeen receiving claims fromhos-pitalsforroomsthatweresetatRs6,000 amonth ago, but are nowaroundRs8,000-9,000.Wehavereturned those bills back to thehospitals,” said a senior officialwith an insurance firm, whospoke to The Indian Express onconditionofanonymity.“Patientswho have a policy

withusareprotectedbecausewehave visibility on the previousratesandcanspot thesechangesintimetoprevent it,butpatientswhodonothavesuchasafetynetare probably being chargedhigher,”theofficialadded.Maharashtraisamongthefew

states that recently capped therates for COVID andnon-COVID

treatmentinthestateto“redress”grievancesregarding“exorbitant”amounts chargedbyhealthcareproviderstopatientsnotcoveredunder any health insurance.However,heretoo,somefeelthathospitalshavebeengivenwriggleroomtoincreasethecostsofotherelements that arenot covered intheseratecaps.“Itisstillearlydays.Whilethe

announcement happeneda fewdaysago,notmuchhashappenedonground. But, it is ano-brainerthatwithhospitalstryingtocovertheirowncostsandworkingonaprofit logic, theymay try to raisemoney through other sources,”said a seniordoctorworking in alargeprivatehospitalinMumbai.“In the case ofMaharashtra,

costcappinghasnotbeenappliedtopersonalprotectiveequipment(PPE).Therearealsomedicationsandtestsnotincludedintheseratecaps and it is anopen secret thathospitalsmakemoney throughbillingthecostliestbrandsofsuch

elements even in routine times.Wemight see inflation there go-ingforward,”saidthedoctor.Private hospitals previously

cameunder fire for allegedly in-flating the cost of PPEs used intreating COVID-19 and non-COVIDpatients.With insurancefirms refusing to reimburse thecostofthesePPEs,theburdenhasbeenfallingonpatients.However, private hospitals

have argued that the rates theycharge for PPEs are justified andthatpatients are informed inad-vanceaboutthecharges.Arepresentationmadebyin-

dustrybodyFICCI on the costingof COVID-19beds for theprivatesectorestimated thecostof PPEsto run into aroundRs10,000perpatientperday.According to the representa-

tion, evidence-based practicearoundtheworldindicatesacon-sumptionof8-10PPEsperdayfortreatmentofaCOVIDpatientinanintensivecareunit(ICU).FICCIes-

timatedeachpatientmayhaveanaveragestayof18-20days.While the family of a Delhi-

basedCOVIDpatient had raisedthe issuewithMaxHealthcarebillingRs70,000billforPPEsovera nine-day period, the hospitalhadsaidtheoverallconsumptionof PPEsduring a24-hour cycle isapproximatelyninePPEsperdayperpersonintheICU.“The PPEs are charged at ap-

proximatelyRs1,200perPPEperdayandare in linewith thecostsincurredbythehospitalinsourc-ingthePPEs,”statedthehospital,adding that this had been ex-plainedtothepatient’sfamilydur-ingthetimeofadmission.“Asperthegovernmentdirec-

tive, hospitalmedical staff whoare indirect contactwith thepa-tients are advised to use goodqualityPPEkitsandmasks,whichare essential for the safety of thepatients and thehospital’smed-ical professionals,” said aspokesperson for FortisHealthcare, oneof India’s largestprivatehospitalchains.“Where PPE is required in

treatment, the cost of the actualPPEbeingusedischarged.InICUsorwardswithmultiple patients,thetotalcostofPPEsisdividedbythe number of patients in theward.Also,toensureminimalim-pact on thepatient, PPE is beingcharged atmuch lower than theMRP,”thespokespersonsaid.While some insurershad ini-

tially paid for PPE expenses forCOVIDandnon-COVIDtreatment

as anexception at thebeginningof the pandemic, the practice of“overcharging andprofiteering”by hospitals had become “glar-ing”,making it difficult for thesecoststobecovered,anofficialwithageneralinsurancecompanysaid.“Somehospitals are charging

ashighasRs1,200-1,400foraPPEwhichgenerallyisavailableforRs200-250.Patientsmustknowthatsincetheinsurancepoliciesdon’tcover them, the cost of such ex-penseswill have to be borne bythemand theyneed tobeawareofsuchoverchargingpracticesbyhospitals,” said the official, re-questinganonymity.Non-medical expenses, in-

cluding disposables like glovesandPPEs,areusuallynotcoveredbyinsurancefirmsaspertheIns-uranceRegulatory andDevelop-mentAuthority(Irdai)guidelines.A top official with a leading

general insurance company saidthat in the absence of standardprotocol for consumables likePPEs during the pandemic evenfromtheIndianCouncilofMedi-calResearch,thefirmisindividu-allygoingthrougheachcase.“Inmanycases,wehaveseen

that thehospitals are overcharg-ing. In the case of PPEs, we areanalysingthebillinginindividualcases.IfapatientisusingPPEthenwewill approve, however if thedoctorandmedicalstaffareusingit, it can’t be onePPEperpatientandsowearecriticallyevaluatingits use before approving its pay-ment,”theofficialsaid.

BRIEFLYKotakMahindraBankraises`7,442.5croreMumbai:KotakMahindraBank has raised Rs 7,442.5crorethroughaqualifiedin-stitutional placement (QIP)ofshares.ThebankSaturdayissued6.5 crore shares at apriceofRs1,145persharetothebuyerstoraisethemon-eywhichwillbufferitscap-italreserves,itsaidinafiling.

‘GSTCouncilmeetinglikelyonJune14’NewDelhi:TheGSTCouncilmeeting is likely to beheldon June 14, the first suchmeeting after theoutbreakof COVID-19, sources said.Tax collectionhas beenhitdue to lockdown imposedsinceMarch 25 to containthespreadof thevirus.

ToyotaKirloskarsalesdip86%inMayNewDelhi:ToyotaKirloskarMotor (TKM) on Sundayposted a86.49per cent fallindomestic vehicle sales to1,639unitsinMay.Thecom-panysaidithadpostedsalesof12,138unitsinMay2019.“We are conscious of thedealer business conditionsinvariouspartsofthecoun-tryandwehavebeenpriori-tisingproductionatourendasperdealer requirements,bothintermsofquantityaswell as thegrades that theyrequire,” TKM senior vicepresident—sales& service,NaveenSonisaid. PTI

SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI,MAY31

THEEXTENSIONofmoratoriumontermloaninstalmentshaspro-videdamajorrelief toborrowersand companies facing cash flowproblems, resulting fromreduc-tion in incomeorno incomedueto job losses. Thishelps themgetsome extra time for repaymentevenas their loan accounts con-tinue to remain standard andcreditscoredoesnotgetadverselyaffecteddue to regulatory relax-ations provided by the ReserveBankof India(RBI).For leveragedcompanies fac-

ingcashcrunch, themoratoriumprovidessurvivaltime.Theexpec-tationamong regulators and thebankingfraternityisthatoncethelockdowneases fully induecou-rse, economic activitywill comebackontrack,enablingrestorationofincomelevelsofpeopleaffectedbythesuddenstall.OnMay22,theRBIpermitted

banks andNBFCs to allowa fur-therthree-monthmoratorium,i.e.fromJune1toAugust31,2020,onpaymentofinstalmentsinrespectof term loans outstanding as onMarch31,2020.Lendershavealsobeenallowedtoconverttheaccu-mulatedinterestintoafundedin-terest term loan to be repaid byMarch31,2021.Individuals and companies

whohave availed term loans—suchashomeloans,carloans,cor-porateloansandcreditcardloans— can avail or seek extension ofmoratoriumfacility.

Nearly30%of loansundermoratoriumAccordingtodataprovidedby

differentbanks,nearly30percentof their outstanding loans have

comeundermoratorium so far,withmicrofinanceborrowersfac-ing extreme stress, followed byautomobilefinance,MSMEs,cor-porate and retail loans. For somebanks, this number is almost 70per cent. For large lenders likeState Bank of India, ICICI Bank,KotakMahindra Bank andAxisBank,thepercentageofloansun-dermoratorium is under 30percent. For Bandhan Bank, it is ashighas71per cent since it lendsprimarilytomicrounits.Banksex-pectmore people toopt formoratoriumfacilityassectorssuchas aviation, tourism,hospitality, tran-sportation and start-upshaveseennotjustsalary cuts but alsolayoffs.While the Indian economy is

expected to experience a signifi-cantcontractionthisyear,anyre-vival ineconomicactivity is seentobe a longdrawnprocess.Overtwo months of the lockdownmeansmomentum in the econ-omywill come back very, veryslowly.Thiswillkeeptheneedanddemandforloanmoratoriumele-vated.IDBIBank,thelatestlenderto report its financial results onSaturday, said that68per centofitsretailloanbookand69percentofcorporateloanshaveunderthethreemonthmoratorium.

Impact oncustomersTheimpactofavailingloanex-

tensionvarieswidelyacrossbor-rowers. For someonewho is intoinitialyearsofhisloantenureandavailingmoratorium,his interestpayout to thebankandtenureofthe loanwillgetextendedsignif-icantly as additional interest forsixmonthswillhavetobepaidona higher base. For a borrower

whose loan outstanding is notmuchas itwastakensomeyearsbackandrepaidsignificantly, theextrainterestpaymentwillberel-ativelysmaller,resultinginalowerextensionof theEMIschedule.During the life of a loan, the

amount of interest decreaseswhiletheprincipalcomponentin-creases as the loan amortisationprogresses. One thing to alwayskeepinmindismoratoriumisnota loanwaiver, itdoesnotprovideanymonetaryrelieforconcession

in interest costs.Interestwillcontinuetoaccrueontheout-standing portion ofthe loan during themoratoriumperiod.Forsomeonenotfac-ing any cash flow is-sues,moratorium is

ofnobenefit.

MoreNPAs forbanksBanks are likely to take a hit

down the line since this is ex-pectedtosignificantlyaddtotheirnon-performing assets (NPAs)fromthe secondhalf of 2020-21.Lendersareunlikelytofaceprob-lemsforthenextthreemonthsasregulatory relaxationswill pro-videthemabreathertillSeptem-berinrecognisingNPAs.Post-September,NPAsareex-

pected to shootup fromthe cur-rent level of around Rs 10 lakhcrorewhen these loans comeupforrepayments.InareportlastThursday,Fitch

Ratings said Indian banks arelooking at significant asset qual-itychallengesforatleastthenexttwo years despite regulatorymeasures, and estimated thattheirNPAscould risebyasmuchas200-600basispoints,depend-ing on the severity of stress andbanks’ individualriskexposures.

REUTERSBEIJING,MAY31

CHINA’SFACTORYactivityrosefora third straightmonth inMayascompanies got back to businessafter strictmeasures to containthecoronaviruswereeased,butadeepcontractioninexportordersmeanstherecoveryremainsslug-gish.The official manufacturing

PurchasingManager’sIndex(PMI)was50.6 inMay, comparedwith50.8inApril,officialdatashowedonSunday, pointing to a gradualrecovery in the industrial sector.Analysts had expected 51.0.The50-pointmark separates expan-sion from contraction on amonthlybasis.

While thepace of expansioninproductionslowedinMaycon-strained by lacklustre demand,theforward-lookingtotalnewor-ders gauge showedan improve-ment to 50.9 fromApril’s 50.2,suggesting domestic demandcouldbepickingupsoon.However, export orders are

stillcontractingatthefastestpaceinyears,withasub-indexstand-ingat35.3inMay,wellbelowthe50-pointmark.“Thecurrentsituationsforthe

pandemic and global economyare still severe and complex,which resulted in a continuedcontraction inglobaldemand(inMay),”NBSofficial ZhaoQinghesaid in a statement accompany-ingthedatarelease.Hammeredbythehealthcri-

sis, China’s economy shrank 6.8percentinthefirstquarterfromayear earlier, the first contractionsince quarterly records began.Analystsbelieveitwillbemonthsbeforebroaderactivityreturnstopre-crisis levels, even if a freshwaveofinfectionscanbeavoided.Whilemost businesses have

reopened,manymanufacturersare strugglingwith reduced orcancelledoverseasordersaslock-downspush theglobal economyintorecession.Domesticdemandalso remainsdepressedamid in-creased job losses andworriesaboutasecondwaveofinfections.Factories reducedheadcount

for the first time since they re-opened,with a sub-index fallingto49.4from50.2inApril,thesur-veyshowed.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY31

STAGING A comeback afterwithdrawalsinMarchandApril,foreignportfolioinvestors(FPIs)have investedRs14,569crore inequities during the month ofMay in spite of the volatility instock markets. On the otherhand,domesticfinancialinstitu-tions(FIs)—includinginsurancecompanies—have invested an-other Rs 13,000 crore in May,taking combined institutionalinvestment, including FPIs anddomestic FIs, to Rs 27,500 croreduring themonth.

The return of FPIs comes af-ter theypulledout amassiveRs61,973 crore from equities inMarchandRs6,883croreinAprilamid fears of a coronavirus-in-ducedglobal recession.“There areworries over the

economy.Marketswereexpect-ing gradual opening up. Severalstates, includingMaharashtra,areplanningtoextendthe lock-

downby onemoremonth. Thismayturnouttobeadampener,”saidananalyst.As FPIs had pulled out Rs

22,935crorefromthedebtmar-ket inMay, therewas a net out-flowofRs7,356croreinMay.FPIshave pulled out Rs 40,345 crorefromequities since January thisyearandRs1.05 lakhcrore fromthedebtmarket.Themarketwill

stagearallyif thelockdownisre-laxed and normal business re-sumes by the first or secondweekof June.“Phased reopening of the

economy, in line with globaltrends, will go a long way inboosting business confidenceapart from opening opportuni-tiesforjobsandincomes.Itisim-portant to understand that theunprecedented high global un-employment is the product ofthegreat lockdownandnotdueto any economic crisis.Therefore, we can expect jobsand incomes to bounce backsharply.However,managingthespreadof thediseasearisingout

of opening would be a chal-lenge,” said V K Vijayakumar,chief investment strategist atGeojit Financial Services.Mutualfunds(MFs)invested

Rs6,363croreinstocksinthelastweek of March, while theypulledoutRs7,965croreinApril.Reversing the selling trend inMay, they put in Rs 2,832 crore,thedata showed.Inaddition,MFsarekeeping

highliquidityforanypossiblere-demptionsbycorporatehousesas post-lockdown, the industryis likely to face a lot of redemp-tion pressure as corporateswillwithdrawa lotofmoney.Meanwhile, MFs have also

beenwitnessing net inflows inequity-oriented schemes. Suchequity-oriented funds receiveda net inflow of Rs 11,723 crorefrom investors inMarch and Rs6,213crore inApril.VinodNair,headof research,

Geojit Financial Services, said,“Benchmark indiceshadaposi-tiveweekandgainedbyaround5.7percent.Althoughthenum-ber of new infections remainedelevatedinIndia,thegeneralex-pectationwasthattheeconomywouldslowlystartemergingoutof restrictions, post-Lockdown4.0, except in thehotspots.“Globally, themarketswere

heavingasighofreliefaftermore

stimulus packages were an-nounced by China, the EU, andother countries, following theeasing of lockdownmeasures.However, these gains weresomewhat clouded by the per-sistentUS-Chinatensions,whichthreatened to affect the globaltradeandrecoveryprocess.”The banking index in India

made a strong comeback lastweekonthebackof somevaluebuying.However,concernswithregards toheightenednon-per-forming assets remain, and themarket is expecting sector-fo-cusedreliefpackagesandmeas-ures to boost demand in theeconomy,hesaid.

FPIs, domestic financial institutions invest `27,500 cr into equities in May

Loan moratorium extension:More time for borrowers but nointerest relief; likely rise in NPAs

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY31

NOTIFYINGTHE income tax re-turns (ITR) for assessment year(AY) 2020-21, the Income TaxDepartmenthasmadeitmanda-toryforassesseestofileI-TreturnsforhighvaluetransactionssuchasdepositsincurrentaccountworthoverRs1crore,electricitybillpay-ment of Rs 1 lakh ormore andspendingonforeigntravelofRs2lakh and above, even if their in-comeisbelowthetaxablelimit.The tax department has also

revisedtheI-Treturnformstoal-lowassessees to avail benefits ofvarious timeline extensionsgranted by the government fol-lowingtheCOVID-19pandemic.The Central Board of Direct

Taxes (CBDT)onMay30notifiedSahaj (ITR-1), Form ITR-2, FormITR-3,FormSugam(ITR-4),FormITR-5,FormITR-6,FormITR-7andForm ITR-V for the assessmentyear2020-21(incomeearnedbe-tweenApril 1, 2019 toMarch31,2020).ThenewITRformsalsore-quire taxpayers to furnishdetailsof tax saving investments/dona-tionsmadeduring June2020 forthe2019-20separately.NangiaAndersen consulting

director ShaileshKumar said thebenefit of simpler forms ITR-1,ITR-2 and ITR-4 would not beavailable to individualswho areeither directors in a companyorhave invested in unlisted equityshares. “The ITR formsaremodi-fiedinlinewithnewdisclosurere-quirementsmadeintheIncome-

taxActforAY2020-21.Taxpayerswouldneedtobecarefulof thesenewdisclosurerequirements,be-forefilingtheirITRandtoselectanappropriateITRform,”hesaid.The Centre had earlierwith-

drawntwoI-Treturns(ITR-1andITR-4), whichwere notified inJanuary, to allow for the changesduetoCOVID-19.Itextendedvar-ioustimelinesundertheIncome-taxAct,1961,throughtheTaxationand Other Laws (Relaxation ofCertain Provisions) Ordinance,2020,extendingthetimeformak-ing investment or payments forclaiming deduction underChapter-VIA-Bof the I-TAct thatincludeSection80C(LIC,PPF,NSCetc.), 80D (Mediclaim) and 80G(Donations)forthefinancialyear2019-20toJune30,2020.The I-T Department usually

notifies the ITR forms in the firstweekof April of the relevant as-sessmentyear.This year, though, the

Departmentnotifiedforms1and2inJanuary.ButaftertheCOVID-19pandemic,theDepartmentre-visedthe formsandhasnowno-tifiedallITRformsinthelastweekofMay.Returns in ITR-1Sahaj canbe

filedbyanordinarily resident in-dividualwhosetotalincomedoesnotexceedRs50lakh,whileFormITR-4Sugamismeantforresidentindividuals,HUFsandfirms(otherthanLLP)havingatotalincomeofup toRs50 lakhandhavingpre-sumptive income frombusinessandprofession.WhileITR-3and6arefiledby

businesses, ITR-2 is filedbypeo-plehaving incomefromresiden-tialproperty; ITR-5 is filedbyLLPandAssociationofPersons(AoP).ITR-7isfiledbypersonsinreceiptof incomederivedfrompropertyheldundertrustorotherlegalob-ligationwholly for charitable orreligiouspurposesorinpartonlyforsuchpurposes.

AY 20-21 ITR forms: Filing returns forhigh value transactions mandatory,timelines extended amid pandemic

China’s May factory activity expands,but weak orders signal bumpy recovery

■ArepresentationbyFICCIonthecostingofCOVID-19bedsfortheprivatesectorestimatedthecostofPPEstorunintoaround`10,000perpatientperday

■Accordingtotherepresentation,evidence-basedpracticearoundthe

worldindicatesaconsumptionof8-10PPEsperdayfortreatmentofaCOVIDpatientinanICU

■Non-medicalexpenses,includingdisposableslikeglovesandPPEs,areusuallynotcoveredbyinsurancefirmsasperIrdaiguidelines

‘PPEs COSTAROUND`10KPERPATIENTDAILY’

Hospitalisationexpenses fornon-COVID&COVIDtreatment riseupto50%: Insurers

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY31

THE INDIAN economy is oncourseforafull-yearcontractionthis fiscal, asrecoveryprospectsfrom COVID-19 related disrup-tionsremain“clouded”,accord-ingtoDBSBankIndiaeconomistRadhikaRao.The comments came amid

the release of key data thatshowed India’s gross domesticproduct(GDP)growthtumblingto3.1percentintheMarchquar-ter— the slowestpace since theglobal financialcrisismorethanadecadeback. In fiscal2019-20,theIndianeconomygrewby4.2percent.Commenting on the GDP

data,Raosaid,“Headlinegrowthwas firmer than consensus, butwas constrained by data collec-tion issues, including unavail-abilityofearningsformanysec-tors.Thiskeepsthedooropenfordownward revision to thisgrowthrate”.Statingthatthesecondquar-

terof calendaryear2020(April-June)will provide a clearer pic-ture of the economic slumpduring the lockdown, Rao said,adding “recovery prospects inFY21 remain clouded and theeconomy is on course for a full-yearcontraction thisyear”.AccordingtoDBS, consumer

discretionary sectors, produc-tion and services are likely totake longer to recover.

‘Economy oncourse forfull-yearcontraction’

‘Most consumers want tobuy goods from kiranas’Amajority of Indian consumers want to buy from locallysourced items going forward, according to the ‘DeloitteGlobal State of the Consumer Tracker’ survey

● NO RUSH TO STOCKPILE:CONSUMERS IN THECOUNTRY ARE ALSO NOTRUSHING TO STOCKGROCERY IN THEIRHOMES

●MOST AGAINST USINGPUBLIC TRANSIT:ONMOBILITY, MAJORITYCONSUMERS SAID THEYWANT TO LIMIT THE USEOF PUBLIC TRANSIT

55%Willing to spend a lotmore onless discretionary items likegroceries

52%Willing to spend on everydayhousehold goods

72%Want to buy from locallysourced itemsgoing forward

64%Said theywill buy frombrands

that have respondedwell tocrisis

70%Want to avoid ride-hailingoptions altogether, so as tomaintain social distancing toward off COVID-19 risk

TRUST INKIRANAS:Thesurvey reflects the trust builtby kiranas, also knownasconvenience stores or ‘mom-and-pop’ stores, during thelockdown

Source: Deloitte/PTI

1,000: Number of respondents over 18 years whoparticipated in each of the 13 countries — including India,Australia, Canada, China, and France — surveyed betweenApril 19 and May 16

79%:Havean intention toownanewvehicle

New Delhi: The Goods andServicesTaxNetwork(GSTN)onSundaysaidithasenablednewregistrationfunctionalityontheGSTportalforerstwhileregistered entitieswho arenowcorporatedebtorsunderprovisions of the InsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC).This facility will benefit

the companies that are un-dergoingthecorporateinsol-

vencyresolutionprocessandwhosemanagement affairsare being undertaken by in-terim resolution profession-als(IRPs)orresolutionprofes-sionals(RPs).In March, the Central

Board of Indirect Taxes andCustoms said the corporatedebtors shall be liable to ob-tainnewregistrationthroughIRPorRP. PTI

GSTN enables new registrationfunctionality for insolvency RPs

I-TRETURNFORMS1AND2,NOTIFIEDEARLIER INJAN,NOWREVISED

ThereturnofFPIscomesafter theypulledoutamassive`61,973crorefromequities inMarchand`6,883crore inAprilamidfearsof acoronavirus-inducedglobalrecession

Vol. LXIVNo.128Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208,TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&AdministrativeOffices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)

Additional air surchargeof `1 .00 -Goa.Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Ltd.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JUNE1,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

14USOPENMULLSCHARTER FLIGHTSThe US Open organisers are considering to ferry the players viacharter flights and conduct Covid-19 tests on them in a bid to goahead with the tournament. Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, BuenosAires and Dubai are among the cities where players could catch aflight to New York on an airline that is a tournament partner.

CROSSWORD4132

ACROSS1 Rangeanddirections (5)8 Flattery lefthimwithanastyhangover (8)

9 Fastenerheldonbyathread(5)

10 Wherepromptaction isrequested(8)

11 Privateenclosure foranassassin (5)

12 Meal in the lateafternoon(3)16 Distantsquealsof littlepigs(6)

17 Elevenpiesputout for thefairies (6)

18 Aftera roundwehavesomethingtopay(3)

23 Raiseanarmytosurroundone(5)

24 Foundits target,upsetting thewomen(4,4)

25 Wayoutroute isbuilt (5)26 Waitonthepatients,butdothemabadturn?(5,3)

27 Composerwithcapacity fordrive (5)

DOWN2 Anicknameisappropriate forhim(8)

3 Havingachoicemadethemcross (8)

4 Adampersortof foil (6)5 Policechaseends in thewood(5)

6 Jumpovernet (5)7 Ore is refined in thewood(5)

12 Suchtiming isdeceptive(3)

13 Varietyofpeathat’sagoodclimber (3)

14 Itmaybemade inopencourtor incamera (8)

15 Blamedanumberbeforehavingmadecertain (8)

19 Politiciancaught incunninghabitof anun(6)

20 FloodedsectionsofOttawashoreline (5)

21 Accustomonetoasequenceover theEast (5)

22 Thesecouldbeonthebed(5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)It’s awonderfullyoptimistic day, onetoput equal effortintogeneral social

contacts and intense, intimateaffairs. Somepeoplewillbelieve that all theyhavetodo tomake somethinghappen is to thinkabout it.Also, devotemoreattention todevelopingyour special,creative talents.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Theburningquestion iswhetheryoushouldconcededefeatoveramoral

issue. I thinknot, foryourauthoritarianapproachmatches themoodof thetimesbetter thananyoneelse’ssomewhat flabbyprinciples.Mindyou, thatdoesn’tmeanthatyoushouldn’t listentootherpeople’swishes.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Youshouldwaitalittle longerbeforesigningonthedotted line,

especially ifmoney isan issue.Besides,promisesmadenowmayhavetobeamendedbeforelong.Somethingthatappears toguaranteeyoursecuritymay infacthaveslightdisadvantages,sodon’t takeanythingatfacevalue.

CANCER(June22- July23)Yourbargainingpowercouldn’tbestrongerbut, as luckwouldhave it, the

opposition isalmostinsuperable.Youhadbetterbeasbusinesslikeaspossibleandaccept thathalf a loaf isbetterthannone.But, then,youarewell-versed intheartsofcompromise.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Although inrealityyouareextremelyfortunate,youseemtoforgetyourmany

blessings. I knowyou’vebeencarryingtheworldonyourshoulders,butaquietwordhereor therecouldremoveoneparticularburdenatastroke.Just remember thatsomeone,somewhere, lovesyou.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Tobeperfectlyblunt,youwerebornunderthesignof theworrier.Todaythe

Moonoccupiesapartof yourhoroscopewhichencouragesyoutosee theworstor look forproblems.Theresult?You’relikely to faceupto freshdifficulties.Theremedy?Lightenupa little.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Youmay consider itbest to distanceyourself fromprofessional or

worldly affairs for awhile anddevote all your time andenergy tomaking a go ofsocial contacts, or of interestswhich concernnobodybutyou. Andwhenyou’rerefreshed and revived thenyou’ll be able to play yourfull part in solving otherpeople’s problems.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Youknowbetterthananyonehowdifficult it is todistinguish fact from

fantasy,yetyounowhaveachanceto faceupto thestarktruthasneverbefore. It’sall amatterof realising thatyoumayhavebeenmistakenall along.Notonly that—butarivalmighthavebeenright.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Restriction isalwaysfollowedbyexpansion.This isabasic lawof

astrology.So if youfeela littlehemmedintoday,doyourbesttoberesponsibleandwaitanother fewdaysbeforeyou letrip.There’snohurry, soprepareyourgroundwithcare.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)DifficultpatternsinvolvingplanetslikeVenus, JupiterandMarsmaybe

seenas favourablerather thenproblematic.Youmaythereforebeable to turnthetablesonotherpeople,andtransformablockonyourprogress intoaguaranteeof yourmaterialsecurity.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Nowthat theSun isyourservant ratherthenyourmaster,youmayfeel free to

makeyourownfuture. Insomesensesyoursituationremindsmeof theprisonerwho,onbeingset free, asked ‘whatdo Idonow?’That’saquestionyou’ll answeras thecomingdaysandweekspass.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Verysooneverythingwillcomeinto theopen—oralmost

everything.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatskeletonswillberattlingindiscriminately inyouremotionalcupboards,but thatyoucanchoosewhenandwhere tomakeyour feelingsknown.Youmightevenbepleasantlysurprised.

SUDOKU4126

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4125

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Lifeisn’taboutfindingyourself.Lifeisabout___yourself.—GBShaw(8)

SOLUTION:JEANS,TRAIN,INTERN,COUGARAnswer:Lifeisn’taboutfindingyourself.Lifeisaboutcreatingyourself.—GBShaw

JNSAE TINNER

ANTIR AORUCG

SolutionsCrossword4131:Across: 1Offensives,6Idol,10Cloud,11Apathetic,12Creators,13Rumba,15Ophelia,17Scoffed,19Newyear,21College,22Night,24Straight,27Stillwine,28Erase,29Noes,30Instalment.Down:1Ouch,2Floorshow,3Nadia,4Isadora,5Elapses,7Datum,8Lockandkey,9Charcoal,14Morningsun,16Liestill,18Freshface,20Russian,21Current,23Guise,25Ideal,26Feet.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

A50%pay-cutcouldseemoreWIplayers turning freelancersandpreferringcash-richT20 leagues

SANDIPGNEWDELHI,MAY31

BACKINtheday,whenfranchise-basedT20leagues were just sprouting around theworld, Dwayne Bravo, the Trinidadian all-rounder who everyone wanted in theirdugout, had quipped: “Themost uncertainjobisthatofaWestIndiescricketer.”Hewasreactingtotheusual‘mercenary’slurthrownatWestIndiancricketerswhoseemedtopre-ferT20leaguesoverplayingfortheirregion.Kieron Pollard drew the blueprint, and

the rest followed.Theexodus is expected toincreaseasplayingforWestIndiesbecomeseven less rewarding- financially.The 50 per cent pay-cut, announced by

CricketWest Indies (CWI) onSaturday, is ex-pected to see anupsurge in T20 freelancersfrom thequiet islands. The salary deductionmeansthehighestrungofcentrallycontractedplayers—thosewhoearnUS$300000andplaytwoformats—willgetaroundUS$150000.It’swhatPollardorChrisGaylesnaffle inasingletournament. Even a newbie like ShimronHetmyerpocketsonemilliondollarsayear.Theopportunities and rewards are astronomical—eventhelow-rungT20leagueinCanadacanfetcharoundamilliondollars.ThetruncatedfiguresofplayerswithBand

CcontractsareUS$120,000andUS$60,000re-spectively.“Itmeanstheboardwillfinditevenmoredifficult to findplayersreadytoturnupfortheWindies,”observedanex-cricketer.As such, the tribe of freelancers is

swelling. In a survey conducted by theFederation of International Cricketers'Associations in 2019, nearly 50 per cent ofprofessionalcricketerssaidtheywouldcon-sider rejecting a national contract if theywerepaidsignificantlymoretoplayasafreeagent in domestic T20 leagues. Asmany as78 per cent of players featuring in the do-mesticleaguesbelievethereshouldbe‘ring-fenced’windows around T20 leagues to al-low them to play both international anddomestic T20 cricket without having tochoosebetweenthe two.Now if salaries are cut, players’ loyalties

wouldbetestedevenmore.Pay-cutsdidn’tem-anatefromthedark.Likewithhurricanes,they

came forewarned. But thenwithhurricanes,theywerehelpless.Earlythisyear.theinterna-tionalplayersfromtheWestIndiesweremadetowaitthreemonthsfortheirsalarieswhilethedomesticplayershadtowaitforsixmonths.Andthenbrewthepandemic.Thoughitwasmoreorlesscontrolled,the

financial implications were huge. CWI’sbiggest cash-raking tournament, theCaribbeanPremierLeague,isuncertaintobescheduled this year. Last year, it made theboardricherbyanestimatedUS$25million.The home series against South Africa andNewZealandwerecancelled.Moreover, thetourism industry copped an estimated lossof200milliondollars,whichhadarippleef-fectonthegameasmostof thegame’sspon-sors in the islands were in the hospitalitybusinessandwerecash-strapped.The board calling off the leagues further

impoverishedthedomesticassociations.Forinstance, the Trinidad and Tobago CricketAssociation suffered loses of around 2mil-liondollarsaftertheywereforcedtoscrapthelocalT20league.“Everythingwehadplanned

isonholdandmorethanlikelynoneofthosethingswilltakeplacefortheremainderoftheyear.Thatmoneyjustwentdownthedrain,”saidboardpresidentAzimBassarath.Ononehand there is considerable sym-

pathyfor thenewdispensationunderRickySkerrit, though players waddle in uncer-tainty.“Icanunderstandwhytheboardtooksuchadecision.Butwhatwouldtheplayersdo?Willtheyhavethemotivationtoplayfortheislands,orthefranchiseswhowouldpaythembetter?Evenbeforetheannouncementof the pay-cut, some of the players viewedtheCWIsuspiciously,”theformerplayersaid.TheCWI’srun-inswithplayersoverpay-

ments andwhimsical selectionpolicies, es-pecially during the Dave Cameron regime,arewell storied. Their antipathy only grewafter audit this year, conductedbyaccount-ing and management consulting firmPannell Kerr Foster (PKF), which came upwithrevelationsofgravefinancialmisappro-priationincludingthevanishingofhalfamil-liondollarsthattheBCCIhadgivenasbonusto CWI last year. Other damning details in-

cluded the probable use of CWI as the con-duitforamoney-launderingtransactionandaquestionableloanfromamajorsponsortoan international business company associ-atedwitha formerCWIemployee.Little wonder then that most talented

new-ageCaribbeancricketersputthelucreofdomestic leagues over the pride of turningup for the islands.Whilemost of the olderlegends, thosewho have presided over thehalcyondaysofCaribbeancricket,arecriticalof those theycall the “mercenaries”.Some, likeRichieRichardson,arekinder.

Heoncetoldthispaper:“WestIndiescricketshouldstoplookingatthefreelancerslikevil-lains.Youcan’tforceplayers,butyoucancer-tainlycajolethem.Theadministratorsshouldput players first, and ensure that the bestteamplays in every format. Otherwise, youwill see more of them playing franchisecricket. Theyshouldmake themstay.”Sonaturally, thetalentedoneslandupin

themulti-million leagues. “A young crick-eter isnaturallydrawn intoT20cricket.Ouridols were (Rohan) Kanhai and (Alvin)Kallicharran and (Gary) Sobers, theirs areGayle and Bravo. So they’ll obviously growup idolising them,wanting to be like them.It’snatural,” reckonedRichardson.In TimWigmore’s seminal book, Cricket

2.0: Inside the T20Revolution, he narrates aconversation between Pollard and aWestIndiescricketboardadministrator thatsumsupthechangingprioritiesofprecociously-tal-ented cricketers from theCaribbean islands.Theadministratoraskedhim:“Doyouwanttoberememberedasalegendordoyouwanttoberememberedasamercenary?”Pollard,ex-udingthecharacteristicstrut,replied:“I’lltakemy chances and I’ll go around theworld, I’llbackmyself andI’llbackmyability.”Thenhe explained the rationale: “I have

three priorities. One is family. Secondly isknowing that being a sportsman, you canonlyplaycricketforacertainamountoftime.Thethirdthingisyoualwayswanttodowellandbeat the topof yourgame.”In times of slowdown andWest Indies'

cricket economic slump, the so-calledmer-cenarieswillbe therolemodels for thenewgenerationofCaribbeancricketerswhowanttomakecricket theirprofession.

Islands get sinking feeling

KieronPollard,whosecontract isworth$300,000ayear,willnowmake$150,000. File

WITHTHErevisedpaystructure, thesalaryaWest Indiesplayerwouldgetbyrepresenting thenationalcricket teamwillpale incomparisonwith thosehecouldget in someoftheT20 leagues. Forexample, fastbowlerOshaneThomas,whohasaCcontract,wouldget60,000USD(Rs45 lakh)annuallyplusmatch fees.But twomonths in IPLwouldmakehimricherbyRs50 lakhplus thematch fees.Not just IPL, themostex-pensiveT20 league,buteventhe rel-ativelyoutlieroneshandoutdecentpaycheques. For instance, aplayerearnsanaverageof 50,000USDaseason fora fortnightplaying in theCanadianPremierLeague, relativelythe least lucrativeof leagues.

Whyplayerswillhavetheir loyaltieswithfranchisesE●EX

PLAINED

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,MAY31

DAYS AFTER returning to Manipur fromDelhi,where he had to be airlifted for can-cer treatment, 1998 Asian Games goldmedallist boxer Dingko Singh has testedpositiveforCovid-19.Dingko,whohadbeensuffering from liver cancer, had been takento the national capital more than amonthagoforradiationtherapy.HewasdischargedonMay21andreturnedtoImphallastweek.FormerworldchampionLSaritaDevi,who

is in Imphal, has been coordinating withDingko’s family and theBoxingFederationofIndia(BFI).“DingkoandhiswifehadarrivedinImphalonMay23andhadbeenputataquar-antinecentre in Imphal since then. Twodaysago,hecomplainedofhighfeverandwastestedforCovid-19onSaturday.Histestreturnedpos-itiveandwehavespokentohiswifeNgangomBabaiDevi.AlltheboxingfraternityinManipuris ready for anykindof help requiredandweprayforhisrecovery,”Saritasaid.Astategovernmentofficialalsoconfirmed

thattheformerboxerhadtestedpositive.“WehaveapersonnamedDingkoSinghamongthepositive caseswhose tests cameonSunday.We cannot disclose further on the person’sidentity,” said Khoirom SasheekumarMangang,assistantdirector,Health,Manipur.

Dingko, who had been suffering fromlivercancersince2017,hadundergoneradi-ation therapy at the Institute of Liver andBiliary Sciences (ILBS), Delhi in January be-forereturningtoImphal.WhenhisconditionworsenedinApril,Dingkowasairliftedtothesame hospital before being discharged lastweek.Hehadalsocontracted jaundice.BFI,whichhadearlier takencareof all his

medicalexpenses,apartfromairliftingDingkofromImphal,areintouchwiththefamily.“It’sunfortunatethatDingkohastestedpositive.WeatBFIarewithhimandhisfamily.IspokewithSaritaDeviandwillspeakwithhiswifetoo.Heisalegendandwewillprovidewhateversup-portherequiresatthishour,”saidJayKowli,sec-retarygeneralofthenationalfederation.

Battling cancer, Dingkotests positive for Covid-19

Former IndiaboxerDingkoSinghwithhiswifeBabaiDevi. File

Dingkoandhiswife hadarrived inImphal onMay23andhadbeenput at aquarantine centre inImphal since then. Twodays ago,he complainedof high fever andwas tested forCovid-19onSaturday.His test returnedpositive andwehave spoken tohiswifeNgangomBabaiDevi.”

LSARITADEVIFORMERWORLDCHAMPION