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HYDERABAD SATURDAY MARCH 28, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

}BALAYYA, RANA IN AYYAPPANUM

KOSHIYUM TELUGU REMAKE?

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864

*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 166*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

{Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

www.dailypioneer.comPage 11

PNS n MUMBAI

The RBI on Friday put on holdEMI payments on all termloans for three months and cutinterest rate by steepest inmore than 11 years as it joinedthe government effort to rescuea slowing economy that hasnow got caught in coronaviruswhirlwind.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) cut repo to 4.4 per cent,the lowest in at least 15 years.Also, it reduced the cashreserve ratio maintained by thebanks for the first time in overseven years. CRR for all banks

was cut by 100 basis points torelease Rs 1.37 lakh croreacross banking system.

The reverse repo rate was cutby 90 bps to 4 per cent, creat-ing an asymmetrical corridor.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas predicted a big globalrecession and said India willnot be immune. It all dependshow India responds to the sit-

uation, he said.Global slowdown could

make things difficult for Indiatoo, despite some help fromfalling crude prices, Das said,adding food prices may softeneven further on record cropproduction.

Aggregate demand mayweaken and ease core inflationfurther, he noted.

The liquidity measuresannounced include auction oftargeted long-term repo oper-ation of 3 year tenor for totalamount of Rs 1 lakh crore atfloating rate and accommoda-tion under Marginal StandingFacility to be increased from 2per cent to 3 per cent ofStatutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)with immediate effect till June30. Combined, these threemeasures will make available atotal Rs 3,74,000 crore to thecountry's financial system.

Lockdown closes‘distance', spike inactivity in the sheetsl Sales of condoms, erectiledysfunction drugs and pills on the rise NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

In a fast-changing worldwhere, until the other day,people-to-people contactswere confined to posts onsocial media platforms withpeople poring over multipledevices to stay 'connected', thelockdowns seem to have mul-tiplied quality time as well aswhat goes on between thesheets.

Whatever it is, the city isnot far behind in the countrywhen it comes to making themost of lockdown. Severalpharmacies and e-commercesites have started reportingrising sales of condoms, drugsto cure erectile dysfunction,and contraceptive pills. Allthese days, the talk was main-ly about spikes in demand forfood supplies, masks andmedicines. Now, condomsand other contraceptives,

Viagra and pills have enteredthe race.

According to a psycholo-gist, the global Covid-19 pan-demic, followed by lockdown(that shows no scope forrelaxation until any timesoon), has not only triggeredlarge-scale anxiety, but alsoincreased intimacy amongcouples who normally arecaught in their busy lives andlacked personal space andtime.

"We did not realise thatour condom stocks weregoing low until recentlywhen we ordered for arestock filling from our ware-house. People are alsodemanding contraceptivepills and chloroquine andVitamin C, apart from obvi-ously hand sanitisers and N-95 masks," said VamsiKrishna, a drug store ownerfrom Secunderabad.

Entered into recession thatwill be worse than 2009: IMFPNS n WASHINGTON

The coronavirus pandemic hasdriven the global economyinto a downturn that willrequire massive funding tohelp developing nations, IMFchief Kristalina Georgieva saidFriday.

"It is clear that we haveentered a recession" that will beworse than in 2009 followingthe global financial crisis, she

said in an online press briefing.With the worldwide eco-

nomic "sudden stop,"Georgieva said the fund's esti-mate "for the overall financial

needs of emerging markets is$2.5 trillion."

But she warned that estimate"is on the lower end."Governments in emergingmarkets, which have sufferedan exodus of capital of morethan $83 billion in recentweeks, can cover much of that,but "clearly the domesticresources are insufficient" andmany already have high debtloads.

K’taka man dies of COVID-19,train journeytriggers panicPNS n BENGALURU

A 65-year-old coronaviruspatient who died inKarnataka this morning afterapparently contracting theinfection on a train ride hasraised concern about com-munity transmission of thehighly contagious disease.

The man, the 60th coron-avirus patient in Karnataka,died in Tumakuru. It is notknown for certain how hecaught the virus. TheKarnataka HealthDepartment has posted anotice on Twitter asking who-ever travelled with him ontrain to come forward.

Missing foreign arrivals upsetCentre’s Covid-19 plansl States told to plug ‘gap’ in monitoring international passengersPNS n NEW DELHI

More than 15 lakh foreigntravelers came to India over thelast two months but a "gap inmonitoring" by states could"seriously jeopardize" India'sefforts to check the spread ofcoronavirus or COVID-19, thecentre has said.

Cabinet Secretary RajivGauba, the country's topbureaucrat who is leading theCOVID-19 crisis managementgroup, wrote in a sharp letteryesterday to states that therewas a gap between the actualmonitoring of internationalpassengers for COVID-19 andthe total arrivals from abroad.

He stressed that "concertedand sustained action" wasneeded urgently to ensure thatpassengers not on the radar areplaced under surveillanceimmediately.

The centre had startedscreening international pas-sengers at airport from January18, the letter pointed out. "Ihave been informed that uptoMarch 23, cumulatively, theBureau of Immigration hasshared details of more than 15lakh incoming internationalpassengers with states andUnion Territories for monitor-ing COVID-19. However, there

appears to be a gap between thenumber of international pas-sengers who need to be mon-itored by states and UTs andthe actual number of passen-gers being monitored," Gaubasaid in his letter.

"This may seriously jeopar-dise our efforts to contain thespread of COVID-19, giventhat many among people whohave tested positive so far in

India have a history of interna-tional travel. It is importantthat they are put under closesurveillance to prevent thespread of the epidemic," saidthe Cabinet Secretary.

He added: "I understandthat the ministry of healthand family welfare has repeat-edly emphasized this andrequested the states and UTs totake immediate steps in thisregard."

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated March 27, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC TODAY

Month & Paksham:Phalguna & Krishna PakshaPanchangam:Tithi: Chaturthi: 12:17 am (Next Day)Nakshatram: Bharini: 12:52 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 09:19 am – 10:50 amYamagandam: 01:52 pm – 03:23 pmVarjyam: 02:05 am – 03:50 amGulika: 06:17 am - 07:48 amGood Time: (to start any important

work)Amritakalam: 07:31 am - 09:18 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:56 am – 12:45 pm

HYDERABADWEATHERFFoorreeccaasstt:: ClearTemp: 37/23Humidity: 43%Sunrise: 06.13Sunset: 06.28

Cabinet Secretary RajivGauba stressed that"concerted andsustained action" wasneeded to ensure thatpassengers not on theradar are placed undersurveillanceimmediately

Time for sale of unsoldBS-IV vehicles extendedPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Fridayallowed the sale of BS IVcompliant vehicles for 10 days,barring in Delhi-NCR, afterthe ongoing countrywide lock-down is over the coronaviruspandemic is lifted.

The apex court, which hadearlier fixed the deadline ofMarch 31, 2020 for sale of BSIV compliant vehicles acrossthe country, passed the order

on a plea by FADA, whichhad sought extension of timefor sale of their unsold inven-tory amid coronavirus scareand economic slowdown.

A bench of Justices ArunMishra and Deepak Gupta,which heard the matter onFriday through video-con-ferencing, made it clear how-ever that no BS IV vehicleswill be allowed to be sold inDelhi-NCR from April 1,2020.

TS sees rapid increase,14 cases in one day!

TS can handle 60,000corona cases: CM KCRl State has capacity to treat 12,400 positive cases;l 1,400 beds with ICU facilitiesL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao assertedon Friday that the state govern-ment was fully equipped tohandle even 60,000 cases ofcoronavirus, though the situ-ation per se might not worsenin Telangana.

At a presser here, the ChiefMinister stated that the staterecorded 10 Covid-19 positivecases on Friday alone, takingthe total cases in the state to 59.The state government hadcapacity to treat 12,400 positivecases of corona. Presentlythere were 1,400 beds withICU facilities. Should the sit-uation warrant, the facilitiescould be scaled up further, hesaid.

Most of the Covid-19 pos-itive cases reported inTelangana pertained to thosewith a history of travel to var-ious foreign countries andthey were not transmittedlocally. He appealed to people

to cooperate with the govern-ment and follow regulationsfor ensuring a complete lock-down to effectively containthe spread of the virus in thestate.

NAVEENA KAVI n HYDERABAD

In what is clearly the largestsingle-day spike, Telanganasaw 14 patients test Covid-19positive on Friday. AlthoughTelangana Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao stated onFriday that till date 59 personsin TS had tested coronaviruspositive; there seems to besome discrepancy in the offi-cial numbers, going by whatthe Chief Minister himselfhad said and the breakdowngiven by his cabinet col-leagues as well as officialsentrusted with the job ofissuing bulletins carryingupdates.On Thursday night, the offi-cial count of the number of

Covid-19 positive cases was45. On Friday morning,Eatala Rajender said that twomore patients tested positivesince Thursday night.Towards evening, the ChiefMinister said that "10 morecoronavirus positive cases"were reported on Friday.

KCR said that most of thesecases pertained to those withtravel history and the mem-bers of the families of such

persons. He said that20,000 people were

under surveil-l a n c ei nh o m e

q u a r a n -tine and in

government-run isola-tion centres.Till Thursday, the govern-ment diligently released dataof patients and their travelhistory. However, on Friday,they did not release detailsand even changed the websitethat had served as coronatracker.

CM KCR said that thepatients are majoritypersons are with travelhistory and families of suchpersons. KCR said that20,000 people areunder surveillance inhome quarantine andin government runisolation centres

PNS n HYDERABAD

Most of the masjids acrossTelangana including the his-toric Mecca Masjid here worea deserted look as lakhs ofMuslims offered their Zuhur(noon prayer) at home onFriday following the call to doso by religious bodies andleaders in the wake of coron-avirus spread.

All India Muslim PersonalLaw Board on Thursday urgedMuslims to offer Zuhur athome due to the coronaviruspandemic.

At the same time, it request-ed people not to leave mosquesabandoned and around four

individuals should remain inthe place of worship to estab-lish the congregational prayers.

Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui,Mecca Masjid Superintendent,said as per the GovernmentOrder the mosque was closedfor public prayers from March22. However, prayers and otherrituals are conducted every day

with only five persons as sug-gested by religious leaders.

"Usually there will bearound 8,000 people praying inMecca Masjid for Fridayprayers. Since there is a lock-down we did not allow thegeneral public. Only a fewpeople were allowed forprayers," Siddiqui told.

Most of the mosques acrossthe state have put up sign-boards saying that it was closedand requested the fraternity tooffer prayers at home.

However, five persons wereallowedto ensure that regularprayers are conductede, aMuslim scholar said.

Lakhs of Muslims in TSoffer Friday prayers at home

LOCKDOWN

RBI cut repo to 4.4 %, the lowest in at least 15 years. Also, it reduced the cash reserve ratiomaintained by the banks for the first time inover seven years. CRR for all banks was cut by100 basis points to release Rs 1.37 lakh cracross banking system

Encourage civilsociety, pvt sector to partnerwith govt: VP

5

GDP likely togrow just 2 per cent in2020-21: Icra

8

Modi's lockdownaddress best interms of TV ratings

4

PRINCE HARRY-MEGHAN MARKLE SETUP PERMANENT HOME IN CALIFORNIA

Canadian researchers are developing a DNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2,the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and has currently infected

nearly 5,00,000 people worldwide and crippled theglobal economy. Entos Pharmaceuticals, a health-care biotechnology company headed by a Universityof Alberta researchers, develop new therapeuticcompounds using the company's proprietary drug-delivery platform and has begun manufacturingvaccine candidates against the novel coronavirus."Given the urgency of the situation, we can have a leadcandidate vaccine within two months.

ON PUBLIC DEMAND, "RAMAYAN"WILL AIR ON DOORDARSHAN AGAINRamanand Sagar's Ramayan, which was Sunday morning appointment

viewing nationwide in 1987-1988, is returning to Doordarshan. OnFriday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted tosay that Ramayan will now air on DD National twice a day starting Saturday(March 28). Earlier this week, as India prepared for a 21-daylockdown against the Coronavirus, Twitter was floodedwith messages asking for reruns of Ramayan and B RChopra's Mahabharat, which was telecast afterRamayan ended in 1988. "Happy to announce that onpublic demand, we are starting re-telecast of Ramayanfrom tomorrow, Saturday March 28 on DD National.

Robert Bosch GmbH became the latest company to roll out a Covid-19test, saying it can diagnose in less than 2.5 hours and help efforts to

fight the outbreak. The new test uses the Vivalytic molecular diagnosticsplatform made by Bosch's health-care division. The device is already usedin hospitals, laboratories and medical practices toidentify a range of bacterial and viral diseasesincluding influenza and pneumonia. It will be availablein Germany in April and sold in international markets,Bosch said. "Infected patients can be identified andisolated faster," Bosch Chief Executive OfficerVolkmar Denner said in a statement.

NEW CORONAVIRUS TEST SHORTENSWAIT FROM TWO DAYS TO 2.5 HOURS

CANADIAN RESEARCHERS DEVELOPINGDNA VACCINE AGAINST COVID-19

The UK's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have left Canadaamid the coronavirus pandemic and moved permanently to

California, according to a media report. According to thereport published on Friday by London-based TheSun newspaper, the couple along with their son,Archie left the 10.7 million-pound mansion theywere borrowing in Vancouver and took a flight outof the city shortly before US PresidentDonald Trump and Canadian PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau closed the borderbetween their countries.

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2

2

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EMIs put on hold, big-bang interest rate cut as RBI

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

On March 24, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi urged allIndians to stay at home forthree weeks to contain thespread of the novel coron-avirus. Following this, expectfor essentials, everything cameto a standstill, including thepolitical party offices. Thepolitical parties closed itsrespective offices from March22, the day when the nationobserved 'Janata Curfew'.

Senior leaders, cadres and allothers of the political partieshave confined to their resi-dences extending support tothe call given by the PrimeMinister. It is for the first timein the history that the politicalparties have closed its offices.

PCC former presidentPonnala Laxmaiah said that he

never saw the closure of polit-ical parties offices in this man-ner. "I think the people havenever faced this kind of situa-tion earlier," he said speakingto 'The Pioneer'. He said thathe is passing time by reading abook 'Why India is Not aGreat Power Yet?' written byBharat Karnad.

TPCC chief and NalgondaMP N Uttam Kumar Reddysaid that he is in touch with hisparty leaders through mobile

and social media. Besides, heis passing time by readingnewspapers and watchingnews channels by confininghimself to his residence. CLPleader Mallu BhattiVikramarka said that he isstaying at his constituencyMadhira and guiding the peo-ple and creating awareness onthe spread of Coronavirus.Speaking to The Pioneer,Bhatti said that he had receiveddifferent phone calls from the

people and is conveying thesame to the officials concernedlike police, revenue and con-cerned Ministers to solve theirproblems.

CPI state secretary ChadaVenkat Reddy said that he hasconfined to his residence inHyderabad. He said that he is

spending time by readingbooks. TJS president Prof MKodandaram said, "I am writ-ing an article on the last 6-yearsBudget trends. I am also read-ing Oxford University Press'book named India: Economy,Politics and Society to learnIndian economy and globaleconomy conditions. We pre-pared a note on the G.O.sreleased by the state govern-ment in regarding CoronaVirus a couple of days ago andreleased it to the press onbehalf of all-party. I will readmore books after completingIndia: Economy, Politics andSociety".

TTDP chief L Ramana saidthat he is reading newspapers,watching news channels on theongoing Corona pandemic. Hesaid that he is spending mostof the time on his fitness andwith his grand children.

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Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for anydamage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement beforeresponding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020 hyderabad 02

Senior leaders, cadresand all others of the political partieshave confined to theirresidences extendingsupport to the call given by the PrimeMinister. It is for thefirst time in the historythat the politicalparties have closed its offices

Leaders join hands infight against Covid-19BAKKA TENNYSON n NALGONDA

Following the call given byChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao,the Ministers,MLAs, MLCsand other pub-lic representa-tives havestarted theiref forts toguide themasses on thepandemic.

W h i l eMinisters startedcoming out openlyon to the streets to pre-vent the people from ventur-ing out in the lockdown peri-od, the MLAs, MLCs andother public representativesin almost all the districtshave taken up the task of cre-ating awareness in theirrespective constituencies.

Rajya Sabha MemberBanda Prakash hasannounced a donation of Rs5 crore from his MPLADS tothe Pandemic relief and hedeclared that he woulddonate his two-month salaryto the CMRF. Similarly, for-mer Deputy Chief MinisterKadiyam SrIhari has

announced his two-monthsalary towards the CM ReliefFund.

At the same time, PowerMinister Jagadish

Reddy took up aproactive role

in Nalgondadistrict andhe urgedthe youthsto stayindoors inorder toprevent the

spread ofthe dreaded

virus. TheMinister, along

with the police officialspatrolled the city and guidedthe deviators and violators ofthe government directionsto correct themselves andstay home in order to securesafe for their rest of life.

The Minister's initiationwas put into practice for thelast two days and his guid-ance has been carried out inalmost all the three districtsof erstwhile Nalgonda. InSangareddy district, AndholeMLA Kranthi Kiran took upa novel initiative of guidingthe stranded working class onthe Choutukur national high-way and advised them to

take to their native places sothat they feel safe in thecoming days.

He spoke about the pre-cautionary measures advisedby the government andcalled upon the strandedworkers to stay home.

Meanwhile, the WarangalWest leg is lator Vinayabhaskar met the s lumdwellers in his constituencylimits and guided on thenovel corona and the steps tobe taken to tackle the spreadof the virus. In all these dis-tricts, the fogging and spray-ing of disinfectants wasundertaken to tackle thespread of pandemic.

Ministers startedcoming out openly onto the streets toprevent the peoplefrom venturing out inthe lockdown period.MLAs, MLCs andother publicrepresentatives havetaken up the task ofcreating awareness intheir respectiveconstituencies

Parties shut its offices, leaders confined to homes

Donations pour in for CMRFPNS n HYDERABAD

Several prominent personalitieson Friday came forward withhuge donations for the mea-sures taken by the TelanganaGovernment to prevent thespread of Coronavirus.Accordingly, Andhra PradeshState Madugula LegislativeAssembly Constituency inVisakhapatnam, formerMinister Reddy Satyanarayanahas announced his two month'spension to the Telangana StateCM Relief Fund.

Also, Kohinoor Group gaveRs one crore to the CMRF.Kohinoor Group ChairmanMohammed Ahmed handedover a cheque for Rs one croreto Chief Minister KCHandrashekhar Rao atPragathi Bhavan on Friday.Anurag EducationalInstitutions gave Rs 25 Lakh.Anurag EducationalInstitutions Chairman, MLCPalla Rajeswara Reddy hand-ed over the cheque to the

Chief Minister. On Behalf ofAparna Constructions,Director Uday Reddy gave Rs2 crore to the CMRF.

Also, Hyderabad PublicSchool -- one of the oldest edu-cational institution of thecountry, as part of its socialresponsibility, has come for-ward to contribute Rs 10 lakh

to the CMRF as a token ofcommitment in the service ofTelangana State. The ManagingCommittee of HyderabadPublic School Society alsocontributed Rs 5 Lakh toAkshay Patra foundationtowards feeding the poor andthe daily wage earner in theunorganised sector

Anurag Educational Institutions chairman and MLC Palla Rajeswara Reddyhanding over the cheque to CM K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Last week, Naxals dealt aheavy blow to the securityforces in Chhattisgarh bykilling 17 personnel of theChhattisgarh police. However,during the ambush in theBastar region of the state,three Maoists too lost theirlives.

CPI Maoist spokesperson ofthe Dandakaranya Vikalp con-firmed that three of theirPeoples Liberation GuerillaArmy (PLGA) operating in theregion fell to the bullets of thepolice in the crossfire.

An audio statement, pur-portedly read out by Vikalp inHindi maintained that theCRPF and DRG personnelwere killed in the exchange offire that took place in thedense forests of Amabedainterior near Dornapal andJegurugonda.

Though the specific place ofincident was not revealed, theencounter, according to thepolice sources, took placebetween Chinthaguppa,

Chinthalnar and Polepalli inSukma district.

Located in Dantewadaregion, this part is regarded assafe zone of the naxalites.They reportedly resorted toseries of attacks in this part,including the killing of 72CRPF jawans in an incidentten years ago.

The statement of Vikalptermed the slain Naxalites asthe Comrades of sacrifice andcontinued that the PLGA hasrecovered a massive cache ofarms and ammunition belong-ing to the police forces in theincident.

Continued from Page 1

Echoing this, anotherchemist said that: "Whilemany people are stocking upon hydroxychloroquine sul-fate as a possible drugagainst COVID-19, the saleof condoms has a lsoincreased."

Sources at a leading e-commerce site said thatonline sales of condoms andcontraceptives had jumped."In times of war and epi-demics, intimacy levels go upamong sexual partners," saidRajiv Mehta, consultant psy-chiatrist at Delhi's Sir GangaRam Hospital (SGRH). Hesaid that December 2020might just see a 'coronavirusbaby boom' of sorts.

"People are anxious andliving at home. Couples,

married or otherwise, whowere too busy with theirprofessional lives are nowgetting proximity and time.So, intimacy will increase asit has increased during wars.This is a war-like situation,"Mehta added.

On the flip side, too muchproximity might lead toquarrels, said Dr. DianaMonterio, a city-based psy-chologist. "While the goodpart is bonding and morefamily time, the other side ofthe coin could also meanmore disagreements andquarrels in the household. Itis up to the couple to worktheir differences out andcome out strong. I receivecalls from several of themasking me ways to connectand bond well with theirspouses during the lock-

down period and I alwayssuggested simple team build-ing exercises," said the doc-tor.

Another city-based psy-chologist suggested that thesale of erectile dysfunctiondrugs like Viagra as well asmenstruation-halting medi-cines will also rise further asthe lockdown progresses.

According to internation-al reports, condom saleshave been increasing inAmerica and other nations,with India being the latest tojoin the list of these coun-tries. China too reported anincrease when it wentthrough a lockdown.Shortages of condom havebeen reported in Singaporeand Hong Kong. Australiatoo reported high sale fig-ures of condom.

I n commonsensical terms,a government consists ofa group of individuals that

share a defined responsibility. It is the common concern of

every citizen to have an effi-cient, open, responsive,accountable, clean and dynam-ic administration that is opento make adjustments at all lev-els, as and when required. InIndia especially, it’s veryimportant to change the neg-ative perception of public ser-vices as apathetic, insensitive,dilatory, corrupt and discrim-inatory.

The rationale for a vibrantpublic service in promotingthe progress and integrity ofthe country, and pursue idealsof social justice, is as validtoday as when the Republiccame into being.

It is necessary to deviseurgent steps to restore theconfidence of the public, espe-cially the vulnerable groups, in

the capacity and fairness ofadministration almost all overthe country.

Governance has to extendbeyond conventional bureau-cracies to involve active citizenand consumer groups at alllevels.

Governmental support forthese measures, and elicitingthe widest possible responsefrom all sections of society andcitizen groups on the contextand direction of the changesrequired is needed.

The crisis in administrationcalls for a redefinition of therole of government and itsfunctions and its real focus toserve the public effectively asmuch as to ensure efficient andcost-effective administration.Accountability, transparencyand cleansing public servicesare all interconnected issues,for ensuring a clean andresponsive administration.

This is what Telangana

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao has beeninsisting on since the begin-ning. KCR, a visionary that heis, had been implementing aplethora of out of the box poli-cies, programmes which areleading the state from darknessto light.

His innovative welfareschemes, total overhaul of theadministration, replacingarchaic Acts with new ones intune with the present-day soci-etal requirements, total trans-parency in administration anddecentralisation of power and

responsibilities are aimed atbringing in a radical change ingovernance.

The host of programmesconceived by KCR havebrought in a qualitative changein the State. KCR’s foresight asfar as public health is con-cerned can be gauged from thefact that he was the first tointroduce programmes likeKCR Kits and Kanti Velugu.He had embarked upon anambitious programme likeconceiving the idea of compil-ing the health profile of thepeople in Telangana State.

As far as crisis manage-ment is concerned, none canmatch KCR’s administrativeskills. How he is handling theCoronavirus outbreak will bea process document for futuregenerations.

Without pressing the panicbutton, the CM from day onehas been handling it in a

most practical way. He did notpress the panic button, butinstead assessed the situationand prepared an action plan.The fact that there is such asmall number of Coronaviruspositive cases in the Stateand no causality till date isproof of his practical admin-istration.

When the PM announcedthe three-week lockdown,there was little panic inTelangana as KCR, in his time-ly press conferences, explainedin simple terms about thevirus and how it spreads.

His precise, clear and mat-ter-of-fact approach helpedpeople prepare mentally toface the lockdown. Being aleader who understands theplight of the masses especial-ly the poor, KCR made it clearthat the restrictions are neces-sary but not overwhelming. Healso ensured that the poor andmarginalised get 12 kg rice and

Rs 1,500 cash.KCR did not hide from the

people the danger loomingand took the people into con-fidence, thereby inspiring eachand every elected representa-tive, from the Gram Panchayatmember to the MP, madethem work as volunteers in themovement to defeat the virus.

He also inspired prominentcitizens, industrialists, andbusinessman, elected represen-tatives to donate liberally to theCM’s Relief Fund.

What stands alone as far asKCR’s governance concernedis his uncanny approach to thecrisis and problems. He isunconventional in that sense.

He comes out with innova-tive and novel solutions to theproblems, as he knows thestate and its people like backof his palm.

In the present scenario, cit-izens in urban and rural areasare provided with widespread

and easy access to all informa-tion relating to Coronavirusspread and the steps taken bythe government. The mea-sures taken by the governmentand the dos and don’t for thepublic have also been widelypublicised.

It appears that for the peo-ple of Telangana, the search forgood governance seems tohave become a reality withKCR.

Good Governance, howev-er, is not a finished product. Itis a dynamic concept. Itencompasses fast changingpolitical, social and econom-ic milieu, along with interna-tional environment and con-ditions of operational gover-nance.

Hence, the need for period-ical rethinking on and evenremodeling of the conceptand institutions of governance.And this is what KCR is doingon a regular basis.

Citizen-centric governance is hallmark of KCR administration

VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAOCPRO to Chief Minister

The host of programmes conceived by KCRhave brought in a qualitative change in theState. KCR’s foresight as far as public health isconcerned can be gauged from the fact that hewas the first to introduce programmes like KCRKits and Kanti Velugu

‘3 Maoists killedin encounter'

Docs come tothe rescue ofneedy P V KONDAL RAOnWARANGAL

With the complete lockdown isenforced strictly across thestate, the people complainingcommon ailments are subject-ed to face hardships. Followingthis, the doctors in Warangalhave volunteered to offer onlinetreatment and prescription ser-vices to the needy.

Dr Mohd Nazeer, aWarangal-based forensic expertis the first in this chain to comeforward to offer the service tothe needy through a noveleffort.

He has put up a post on thesocial media on Thursdayevening offering his medicaladvice and support on mobileto the needy. His messagemaintained that he wouldattend to the queries related tothe health issues or doubts onCoronavirus too. Advising thepeople to stay safe by remain-ing at home, this doctor haseven shared his contact num-ber for attending to the griev-ances of the public pertainingto health ailments. Followingthe footsteps of Dr GuruvaReddy of the SunshineHospitals of Hyderabad, aWarangal-based multi-special-ty and super specialty hospitalAjara health care unit has alsoannounced healthcare advice-cum-service to the needy.

Continued from Page 1

Hyderabad MP andAIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi also appealed to peo-ple not to come to mosquesto offer Friday prayers.

"My appeal to all Muslimsis to offer Zuhur prayerstomorrow at home & to notcongregate. The only way wecan get ahead in this fight isby practicing social distanc-ing & preventing larger gath-erings," he tweeted.

Lakhs ofMuslims in TSoffer Fridayprayers...

Continued from Page 1

The Chief Minister, howev-er, ruled out giving permissionto private laboratories to testblood samples of those sus-pected to have contractedCovid-19. "The Centre haspermitted private labs to con-duct these tests. But we havekept approvals on hold. Wedon't want to give scope forprivate players to fleece peoplein the name of tests. We willallow them only after the gov-ernment testing facilities areexhausted. Four governmenttesting facilities are alreadyavailable and the fifth one willcome into operation soon.Besides, CCMB, Hyderabadwill also be available to test 800

samples per day," KCR said.The Chief Minister reiterat-

ed that his government wasready to go to any extent toface the crisis. The govern-ment's efforts would bear fruitonly if people cooperated. "Theonly way to check corona is toremain in isolation. I requestall to confine to their homesand remain in isolation. Peopleshould support us in contain-ing the spread of virus at thelocal level," the Chief Ministerremarked.

In the light of reports thatstudents and IT employeeswere making attempts to crossinter-state borders, the ChiefMinister asked people to desistfrom leaving the state in their

own interests and in the inter-ests of people in other states.He appealed to the manage-ments of hostels in Hyderabadnot to forcibly evict inmates.He warned that stern actionwould be taken against them ifthey failed to continue to pro-vide accommodation tohostellers.

Recently, thousands of stu-dents and IT employees wereasked to leave hostels in lightof the Covid-19 outbreak.This forced them to head fortheir native places in AndhraPradesh. There were tensemoments when such stu-dents/IT employees werebarred by the AndhraPradesh police from crossingthe border.

TS can handle 60,000 corona...

Gap inmonitoringinternational..

Continued from Page 1

There have been instancesof people skipping quarantineor hospital visits after return-ing from abroad. In Punjab,a man who died yesterday,and his two fellow travelers,met hundreds of people afterreturning from a two-weektrip to Germany and Italy.Fifteen Punjab villages havenow been sealed.

In Kolkata, a teen whoreturned from London test-ed positive after he showedup at the designated hospitaltwo days after his arrival. Hismother, a senior bureaucrat,even attended office andmeetings in the state govern-ment building, where ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeealso sits. The CabinetSecretary has urged statesand Union Territories toinvolve district authorities toimprove tracking.

Missingforeignarrivals ...

Continued from Page 1

India has more than 700coronavirus cases and 17persons have died.

There have been instancesof people skipping quarantineor hospital visits after return-ing from abroad. In Punjab,a man who died yesterday,and his two fellow travelers,met hundreds of people afterreturning from a two-weektrip to Germany and Italy.Fifteen Punjab villages havenow been sealed.

In Kolkata, a teen whoreturned from London test-ed positive after he showedup at the designated hospitaltwo days after his arrival. Hismother, a senior bureaucrat,even attended office andmeetings in the state govern-ment building, where ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeealso sits.

The Cabinet Secretaryhas urged states and UnionTerritories to involve districtauthorit ies to improvetracking.

TS sees rapidincrease...

Continued from Page 1

Sources indicated that thereports were now being sentdirect ly to the ChiefMinister's Office. Thisimplies that the mediawould have to fend for itself.Of the patients tested so far,only two cases were high-profile, i.e. those of the DSPof Kothagudem and doctorsof Yashoda Hospital.However, the government istrying to curtail informationamid heightening crisis.This has raised questions onwhether the constricted flowof information is due to thepossible spread of commu-nity transmission or part ofefforts to protect bigwigs.The government seems to bedisinclined to rely on privatehospitals at this point.Officials want to rope themin them only after exhaust-ing government resources.Vijaya Diagnostics releaseda brochure stating that theCovid-19 testing would costRs 4,500 at their Somajigudacenter.

Lockdown closes ‘distance'....

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIME ORNERC

3 held for selling vegetables at higher pricesHYDERABAD: The police onFriday arrested three people forselling vegetables for exorbitantrates. First case was reported inKPHB near KSR complex at VIthphase. The patrolling staffnoticed one Neelam Srinivas whowas selling vegetables onpushcart for a price abovemarket value to needy people."She violated lockdown rules tocontrol the Covid-19 by the stategovernment of Telangana asthere is a chance of gatheringcrowd. We booked her undersection 188 of the IPC and underrelevant sections of EssentialCommodities Act of 1955," thepolice said. The second case wasreported on Friday afternoonwhen the patrolling staff noticedtwo men, late identified asSudershan Reddy and NaveenKumar, selling vegetables forhigher rates. "The men werealso booked for violatinglockdown rules and bookedunder the same sections asNeelam. The trio was sent forjudicial remand," the policeadded.

Complaints floodCivil Suppliesdepartment HYDERABAD: Complaints ofjacking up prices of essentialcommodities, including those ofvegetables and pluses, areflooding the Civil SuppliesDepartment. On Thursday alone,the department received at least400 such complaints. Besideslodging complaints, the peoplehave asked the authorities theexact date of distribution of 12kg rice to card holders andfinancial assistance of Rs 1,500to the poor. The Civil SuppliesDepartment made available tollfree services 1967,180042500333, WhatsAppnumber 7330774444 and a landline number 040-23447770 toenable people to lodge theircomplaints over irregularities andfor making necessary enquiries.

‘Stay calm' to win thewar against Covid-19DAVE BENNETT SILVERY n HYDERABAD

The decision by the govern-ment to shut down our nationand ensure that the deadlyCoronavirus does not spread,is unprecedented. Theseunforeseen circumstances havebrought to fore one of the mostdistressing topics that is quiteprevalent but usually avoidedbeing spoken about, that ofmental health.

Hitherto unnoticed, unspo-ken and always brushed underthe carpet, people with mentalhealth issues are among theworst-hit as they simply do notknow what to do. In normaltimes, some of these peoplefind solace by venturing outonto the roads or meetingpeople. For them, social dis-tancing is by itself a biggerpunishment. If they indeedventure out onto the road,they are being mercilesslythrashed by cops.

After multiple videos ofpolice thrashing youngsterson the streets went viral on thefirst night of the lockdown, apolice officer remarked: "Thesepeople were used to roamingout daily and when the curfewwas announced, they just didnot know what to do and afterhours of staying in, venturedout onto the streets at night."

Considering the tabooaround the topic of mentalhealth in India, the ongoingCovid-19 crisis is an opportu-nity to study the underlyingmental health issues that weface. For many whose place ofrefuge has never been theirhomes, the enforced isolationwill be tough to bear and onecan only hope that they wouldnot consider taking anyextreme steps.

feeling of uncertainty andpanic has taken over the coun-try, especially for those whosedaily routine of going to office,hanging out with their friends

or colleagues, meeting peoplein public spaces and things thatgive them joy and keep thementertained have come to ahalt.

Speaking to The Pioneer,experts on mental healthopined that one must bringabout a new approach to reinin fears and destructivethoughts.

Remain calm and positive: "As the world continues to

fight a war that seems like it islosing, panic and fear engulfseverybody. Staying within thefour walls of one's homes dur-ing lockdown, it is of utmostimportance to remain calmand positive for your mentalhealth. Worrying about every-thing that is going on willincrease your stress levels, leav-ing your prone to heart prob-lems and weakening yourimmune system," said RaellBose, a psychologist.

Maintaining every relation-ship is not important:

"We tend to feel a moralobligation to maintain everyrelationship, even the onesthat are not beneficial to us.However, before you collapsedue to the stress of it all, youshould know that it is okay tocut people off and consideryour health a priority," saidAngel Sunayana, a private psy-chologist.

Talk it out: Talk to someone about what

bothers you and what is it youfear. Let go of the notion thatpeople will judge you becauseof what you think. Talking willnot only help you get help, butthe very aspect of sharing isgoing to heal you.

Make a schedule and stickto it:

If it is possible to continuewith your daily activities likebefore the lockdown, do it.Going to the office, gym, etc.,if one does not have any hin-drance to continue the sameschedule, doing so will ensurenormalcy in your head. A bro-ken and improper schedule willnot only change your lifestylebut also affect your sleep, peaceand mental health, eventuallyleading to depression or anxi-ety. If the lockdown has affect-ed your daily routine, make anew schedule and force your-self to stick to it.

Stop obsessing over the newsaround Corona:

Constantly checking thenews to get updates on how thevirus is spreading is only goingto get one stressed. The panicand the stress will affect theimmune system and mess withone's health. Given the extentof damage the virus has caused

and the widespread coverage itgets on news platforms, onejust cannot miss it. However,limiting news informationinput during this time will eas-ily calm one's mind.

"It's natural to feel stressedand experience anxiety in alockdown and especially whenthere is news about the Virusthat harms us even before weknow it has. Social distancingis the best way to avoid thespread of the Virus but in acountry like ours it's difficultto do it so it's important for alockdown. Firstly we shouldunderstand that this is a greatopportunity to spend timewith our family and lovedones which we were unable todo because of our busy sched-ule" says John Michael A.Solomon, CounsellingPsychologist, Mind's PaceCounselling and ResearchCentre, Hyderabad.

Some of the things weshould understand duringlockdown are :n Have a relaxed mind andfocus on ourselves. This givesus an insight of our feelingsand mental abilities.n Spend time with familydoing activities which wouldyou as a family.n Avoid unnecessary news andforwards. Not every news istrue and numbers always causeunrest.n Taking precautions is alwayssafe for you, your family andthe society at large.n Anxiety and stress can beavoided by knowing that youare safe at your home.

Following the guidelinesthat the government has issuedare important and they are forour own good. Maintain ahealthy lifestyle to avoid con-tracting the virus. If one stillfeels that they have panicattacks or anxiety issues youcan always get online helpfrom a mental health profes-sional.

Youth throw rules to the windPNS n HYDERABAD

Despite the state governmentasking the people to stayindoors and HealthDepartment issuing advi-sories, the youth in the cityhowever are not botheredabout the lockdown. Acrossthe city, in some places, theyouth were found playingcricket, roaming on the bikesand etc. On one hand, whenthe rural youths are protectingtheir villages by guardingthem, the youth in the urbanareas are throwing rules to thewind. In Hyderabad, the elder-ly are strictly following theinstructions of the govern-ment. They are confining totheir residences. They arecoming out only when theywant to purchase essentials.Ramu, a native of Uppal, saidthat the youths were comingout in groups violating the

restrictions announced by thestate and central governmentsin regard to lockdown. Atsome places, the youths werebehaving arrogantly when theelderly asked them to confineto their residences. OnThursday night, mild tensionprevailed at Street Number 8area near NGRI, when theyouth came into argument

with the elderly. In manyplaces like Kakathiya Colonyin Hubsiguda, the youths arecreating troubles to the peoplewho were confined to theirresidences.

Ravi from Ramanthapurrequested the authorities con-cerned to increase the policevigil so that everyone strictlyfollows the lockdown.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Courton Friday decided to suspendwork in all its subordinatecourts and tribunals till April14, 2020 or until further ordersin the wake of the declarationof 21 days of

lockdown by union gov-ernment beginning from themidnight of March 24, 2020.

In an official notification,the registrar General of theHigh Court has said that all itssubordinate courts, tribunals,Telangana state legal servicesauthority, mediation and arbi-tration Centre, High Courtlegal services committee andstate judicial academy willremain close till April 14 of thenext month.

He said that the case whichare listed up to April 14, 2020would be adjourned automat-ically en-bloc to a working dayafter one month. He said that

the details of the adjournedcases will be uploaded in thedistrict court website of all thedistricts of the state. All thestaff members except thosewho are drawn for urgentjudicial work have been askedto not attend their office. Theyhave been asked to be availableon phone and attend theirduties whenever there is aneed.

The Registrar General hassaid that the absence of the

employees from the officewould be treated as on duty bythe authorities concerned. Athree-judge bench of the HighCourt comprising of the ChiefJustice Justice RS Chauhan,Justice A Abhishek Reddy andJustice MS Ramachandra Raoalso passed order stating thatall matters in which interimorders either subsist as onMarch 20, 2020 or will expirein future will automatically beextended till June 6, 2020.

It has also said that theorders passed by the courts ofthe state after February 15,2020 for the execution ofdecrees and dispossession ofjudgement debtors should bekept in abeyance till the furtherorders of the court. The HChas passed this orders whiledealing with a case taken up byit on its own motion on theissue of extension of interimorders and abeyance of execu-tion orders.

HC suspends works in its subordinate courts

‘Clean your mobileswith sanitiser'PNS n HYDERABAD

TS Public Health Director DrG Srinivas Rao requested pub-lic to clean their mobilephones every time they go outand come inside. Speaking atTiE webinar on Friday, hesaid, "The main problem iswith Mobile phone. Themobile phone needs to becleaned whenever you go outand come back. Before enter-ing the home, clean the mobilephone with sanitiser".

He advised the people to letonly one person to go out topurchase groceries and nottake turns, designate one dressfor shopping and also shouldused mobile wallet. He said,"Don't change shopping bagfrequently but use only one.Take bath every time you

come home as we don't knowwhom we are coming in con-tact outside".

"Don't try to talk to childrenfor long time, avoid func-tions, we need to have restrainand distance. Most importantthing at home is sleep in dif-ferent rooms," he said. In thesame webinar, Cyberabad CPSajjanar said, "I have beenkeeping away from my ownfamily as I have to visit manyplaces during the course of myjob. I am keeping away frommy children as well."

Principal secretary JayeshRanjan said that 95 per centtechies will be working fromhome in Telangana of the 5lakh IT force. He also addedthat the broadband usage hasrisen by 30-40 per cent inMarch as against January.

Hyderabadis ignorequarantine rules

Gang held for cheating people

PNS n HYDERABAD

Despite the seriousness ofpandemic, Hyderabadis told tobe under home quarantinewere breaking rules. GHMCon Friday reported that 16 per-sons, who have come fromabroad have violated the pro-tocol of Home quarantine fora period of 14 days.

They have been shifted toGovernment designated quar-antine centers for failing toabide by the home quarantinerules. About 6 persons fromKukatpally Zone, 5 personsfrom Charminar Zone, 4 per-sons from Serilingampallyzone, and one fromKhairtabad zone were viola-tors of Home quarantine.

PDS rice distributioncomes to a halt PNS n HYDERABAD

Distribution of rice to rationcard holders across the state atthe rate of 12 kg per white cardcommenced on Thursdaymorning but suspendedtowards in the afternoon uponreceipt of emergency ordersfrom the Civil SuppliesCorporation.

Rice distribution was takenup in all districts exceptHyderabad on Thursdaymorning, but orders suspend-ing it were despatched around3 pm. Accordingly, the PDSdealers suspended the distri-bution activity. Either the gov-ernment or the civil suppliescorporation did not assignany reasons whatsoever forsuspending the distribution.

In Karimnagar, CivilSupplies Minister GangulaKamalakar Reddy com-menced the distribution ofrice. In all, 2.80 crore card-holders are going to benefitdue to the programme. Atother places, MLAs in variousconstituencies commencedrice distribution.

Ruling out any scope forcongregation of people, tokenswere issued and distributioncommenced ward-wise issuingpeople with tokens. Peoplewere asked to limit their num-

ber to mere 20. But hundredscongregated at the venue of thedistribution posing problemsto the people. Meanwhile, FPdealers are advising the gov-ernment on distributing rice asper key register but notthrough e-PASS machine orthrough biometric system.

Taking all these aspects intoconsideration, around 3 pmorders were issued asking thePDS dealers to stop distribu-tion of rice. When CivilSupplies officials wereapproached for reasons forsuspending the distribution, anofficial who wished to remainanonymous said that the dis-tribution of rice to all FPshops is not fully competed.

State needs to speed up mobilisation of doctorsPNS n HYDERABAD

While the world is racingagainst time to find vaccine forCorona, the treatment is stillsymptomatic, implying thatthere is no need for specialists'doctors to cure the patients.

Currently, only the special-ists doctors are treating Coronapatients. Sources indicated thatmobilisation of personnel is nothappening at the pace it shouldin Telangana. Sources allegedthat even though all depart-ments in Gandhi are realigned,there is scarcity in doctors.

We clearly need to concen-trate on utilising all the doctors,as treatment is done sympto-

matically. At the moment, casesreported at private hospitals arebeing sent to government hos-pital.

Even a medical graduatecan treat Covid-19 and a pul-monologist would be requiredonly if the person is critical.

Sources alleged that stretchinghealth personnel would weak-en their immune system andmake them vulnerable to thevirus.

Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao on Fridaydeclared that additionalstrength of health experts isbeing pooled and even doctors,Medicos who have just gradu-ated and from other streamswill be roped in to handleemergency.

Government is workingtowards creating pool of doc-tors, retired and working in pri-vate areas, to the tune of 12,000health personnel. He supposed-ly said that there are some

8,000 personnel already work-ing.

Apart from shortage of doc-tors, there is shortage of equip-ment. The State governmenthas kept 1,400 Intensive CareUnit beds ready to tackle anyeventuality. The state is antic-ipating the scenario of 60,000people being infected and thepace and number at which it isprocuring ventilators is suppos-edly inadequate.

Sources pointed that thenumber of ventilators at themoment in government are notenough for addressing anyserious eventuality incase ofcommunity transmission. Thiswas confirmed by Chief

Minister K Chandrashekar Raoon Friday, who said, "India likecountry doesn't have medicine,facilities, ventilators, healthfacilities are not like othercountries, all we have is theunity and prevention alone isin our hands".

Meanwhile, Health MinisterEtela Rajender urged UnionHealth Minister, Dr HarshVardhan, to allow the manufac-turing of N-95 masks, person-al protection equipment, andventilators at Defence Researchand Development Organisation(DRDO), Bharat DynamicsLimited (BDL), and ElectronicsCorporation of India Limited(ECIL) in Hyderabad.

Red Crossjumps intoaction

Red Crossjumps intoaction

Wine shopemployeeheld for theftPNS n HYDERABAD

An employee of a wine shopwas caught stealing liquorbottles during the shutdownperiod in Narayanguda onFriday. The accused, identi-fied as Shivalingam, wasworking for HarminderSingh at Kuldepp wines inHimayatnagar, the policesaid.

Singh received an alert viaCCTV system at the shop onlate Thursday night andwhen he went to check, hefound the shutter open."Upon entering, he foundShivalingam boxing bottlesof liquor. The man thenescaped and fled the place.Upon receiving a complaintfrom Singh, we booked a caseand apprehendedShivalingam on Friday," theNarayanguda police said,adding that their crime staffused cc cameras in the areato trace and nab him.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan on Friday hasdirected all the officials con-cerned and Red Cross districtbranches to educate peopleon Covid-19 and its spread.

In a review meeting held atRaj Bhavan, the Governorappealed all unit heads ofpolice force and GeneralOfficer Commanding(GOC), Telangana andAndhra Sub Area to co-oper-ate with IRCS in conductingvoluntary blood donationcamps in their respectiveorganisations, to supplyblood to Thalassemia chil-dren and patients of urgentsurgeries.

Also, Raj Bhavan, in coor-dination with Red Cross isarranging supply of essentialcommodities for 15 days toabout 1,000 poor and vulner-able families in the slumopposite to Raj Bhavan. TheGovernor requested all 15lakh strong Junior Red cross/Youth Red cross volunteers inthe State to take care of at lasttwo poor and vulnerable fam-ilies in all respects during thecrisis.

She advised the Red Crossdistrict branches to handoverlist of Red Cross volunteerswith their contact details tothe District Collectors.

Gang held forcheating people PNS n HYDERABAD

Officials of the North Zoneteam of the Commissioner'sTask Force on Friday bustedan inter-state cheating gangand apprehended four personsfor cheating people.

The arrested were identifiedas Afsar Hussain, AslamRocky Mallick, Mohd Nayeemand Mohd Samiruddin. Allfour persons are natives ofKolkata in West Bengal.

Afsar Hussain, is the king-pin and the leader of the gang.

He used to purchase goldcoated ornaments from BadaBazar in Kolkata for Rs 5,000to 6,000. The gang membersreach Hyderabad by train andstay at lodges near RailwayStations. While in the area,they target pawnbrokers/jew-elers and inform them thattheir family relatives areundergoing treatment in thehospital and they requiremoney. The accused alongwith seized material werehanded over to SHO,Tukaramgate PS.

Rice distributionwas taken up inall districtsexceptHyderabad onThursdaymorning, butorderssuspending itwere despatchedaround 3 pm

PNS n HYDERABAD

Officials of the North Zoneteam of the Commissioner'sTask Force on Friday busted aninter-state cheating gang andapprehended four persons forcheating people.

The arrested were identifiedas Afsar Hussain, Aslam RockyMallick, Mohd Nayeem andMohd Samiruddin. All fourpersons are natives of Kolkatain West Bengal.

Afsar Hussain, is the king-pin and the leader of the gang.He used to purchase gold coat-ed ornaments from Bada Bazarin Kolkata for Rs 5,000 to6,000. The gang membersreach Hyderabad by train andstay at lodges near RailwayStations. While in the area,they target pawnbrokers/jew-elers and inform them thattheir family relatives are under-going treatment in the hospi-tal and they require money.

They then show the goldcoated ornaments with a fakeinvoice to pass off as genuinegold, and obtain a loan fraud-ulently after pledging the orna-ment. The accused have beenmoving in Telangana,Karnataka and Tamilnadu statesand allegedly pledging fakegold ornaments with differentjewelers/Pawn brokers by vari-ous means in cheating manneravail loan from money lendersand fled away from the spot.

Home Minister reviewslockdown bandobustPNS n HYDERABAD

Home Minister MohdMahmood Ali on Fridayreviewed the lockdown ban-dobust of Cenral zone ofHyberabad Commissionaratearea. Along with HomeMinister Anil Kumar,ADDL CP(Traffic), DCPViswapras adv i s i t e dC h i n t h a lBasthi market,R a v i n d r aBharathi areasof central zone.

The HomeMinister was briefedregarding the precautionarymeasures of epidemic diseaseCovid-19 in the region and thepolice officers explained himhow they are dealing withcritical situation arising out ofCovid-19 in the region. Later,the Home Minister alsoreviewed the functioning of allCCTV cameras of area toensure the functionality ofthe system is smooth.

Later, the Ministeraddressed the press conferenceat Ravindra Bharathi area.Home Minister explained howthe state police is dealing withthe crisis. "There is no reasonto panic, as the people are

strictly adhering to lock-down norms. I am sure

in the coming days,the cases willcome down," hesaid.

" T h eTelangana policeis the most

friendly police inthe country and

would co-operatewith the people in every

possible way. Super marketand shop owners have beeninstructed not to sell things ata higher rates," the Ministerfurther said.

Home minister appreciatedthe police for working effec-tively for the welfare of thepeople. Those who are buyingessential commodities mustalso maintain social distance,he cautioned people.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020 hyderabad 04SHORT READS

Kejriwal to discusscoronavirus pandemicwith world's city leadersNEW DELHI: Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal will representDelhi and India at a globalmeeting of city leaders onFriday evening via a video-conference organised by theC40 Cities Climate LeadershipGroup to discuss thecoronavirus pandemic. Agovernment official said at themeeting, the chief minister willaddress around 35 top cityleaders from across the world.He added that the mayors ofLos Angeles (Eric Garcetti),Seoul (Won-soon Park), Paris(Anne Hidalgo), Milan(Guiseppa Sala), Istanbul(Ekrem Imamoglu) and Rome(Virginia Raggi) would join themeeting, among others.

RBI's decisionprogressive, timely:Nadda

Maha: 40 workerstrying to flee to UP intruck caught, bookedTHANE: Around 40 migrantlabourers working in Mumbaiwere caught here on Fridaymorning for allegedly trying toescape to Uttar Pradesh in atruck amid the ongoingnationwide lockdown imposedfor curbing the spread ofcoronavirus, police said. Thedriver of the truck had told thepolice that he was carryingvegetables in the vehicle, anofficial said. "The 40 migrantlabourers work in Mumbai. Dueto the coronavirus scare, theywere trying to go to their nativeplaces in Uttar Pradesh in thetruck. They had reached Nashik,where the police caught themand asked them to return toMumbai in the same vehicle,"inspector (crime) D Gawde ofKopri Police Station said."Scared of the action, the driverstarted driving back to Mumbai.When the truck reached AnandNagar check-post in Thane, thepolice checked the vehicle andfound the labourers travelling init," he added. When asked whythey were going to UP, thelabourers told the police thatthey were concerned about thespread of coronavirus inMumbai and hence wanted toreturn to their native places,Gawde added.

NEW DELHI: Describing RBI'sdecisions, including loweringthe repo rate, as progressiveand timely, BJP president J PNadda on Friday said theannouncements will help themiddle class and strengtheneconomy. "Our Government istaking all necessary actions tohelp the citizens in this difficulttime. Yesterday, Gov announcedrelief package. Today, in anotherimportant step RBI has takenmany important decisions togive support and stability toIndian economy," he tweeted.Noting that the central bank hasslashed repo rate, reverse reporate and cash reverse ratio tostrengthen economy, he said ithas also helped the middleclass by giving moratorium ofthree months and also waivedinterest on EMIs. "I welcomethese progressive and timelymeasures," he added.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

The Odisha government onFriday asked people to refrainfrom visiting a private hospitalhere and directed it to isolateall its staff, including doctors,who came in contact with apatient after he was found to beCOVID-19 positive.

The 60-year-old man, whowas detected as Odishas thirdCOVID-19 patient onThursday night, does not haveoverseas travel history and hehad come here by a flight fromNew Delhi on March 10, asenior official said.

The man had gone to Delhion March 7 and during his staythere, he had also visitedRewari in Haryana, the stategovernments chief spokesper-son on COVID-19, SubrotoBagchi, said.

He returned to Bhubaneswaron a flight along with his wifeand daughter, he said.

On March 13, he becameunwell and on March 16 he

went to Assembly dispensaryand subsequently visited theprivate hospitals OPD onMarch 21, Bagchi said, addingthat on March 23 he wasadmitted to the ICU of the hos-pital with pneumonia and dis-charged on March 24.

On the same day he went tothe Capital Hospital was admit-ted there on March 25.

His sample was sent for test-ing and it came back as posi-

tive for coronavirus on thenight of March 26, Bagchi said.

A senior official of theHealth and Family Welfaredepartment said that the man-agement of the hospital hasbeen asked to take all possiblemeasures — solate the doctors,nurses and all those who hadattended the patient.

A massive exercise is inprogress to identify the peoplewho had met him and come in

contact with him, Bagchi said,adding that all those peoplemust remain in isolation.

The Health and FamilyWelfare Department will soonsend fresh guidelines to all doc-tors, clinics and hospitals whichmust be strictly followed, hesaid.

The department alsoexpressed its displeasure overhow the private clinic handledthe sensitive case. In spite of

repeated advisory, some privatehealthcare facilities are notcomplying with the COVID 19Regulations. Governmenturges them to act responsiblyand follow the Regulationswhile treating patients with flu-like symptoms. Non-compli-ance shall be viewed seriously,it in a tweet.

Official sources said at least10 teams are now engaged totrace all those who might havecome in contact with the thirdCOVID-19 patient, a residentof Bhubaneswar.

They have been instructed tofind out all the people whocame in contact with the man,who tested positive after 17days of initial symptoms.

They said the secondCOVID-19 positive case, a 19-year-old man, who returnedfrom London, had come incontact with at least 55 persons.

In the latest case, the manhad not been to any foreigncountry, but likely to havebeen infected during his visit to

Delhi or on the way back toBhubaneswar.

Therefore, the number ofcontacts of the third patientcould be much more, an offi-cial said.

Stating that the state is pass-ing through a very sensitive peri-od, Bagchi said the state govern-ment has already made it clearthat the more than 78,000migrant workers who returnedfrom other states, badly hit byCOVID-19, must be placedunder isolation for 14 days.

Referring to the latest case, hesaid, people ought to observemaximum precautions and actresponsibly to prevent the dead-ly disease from becoming anepidemic in the state.

"If you have travelled by thesame flight, went to the sameclinic or have been to theAssembly dispensary, then getyourself quarantined and con-tact helpline number 104," hesaid. We all should cooperatewith the government and oth-ers, he added.

Pvt hospitals not following COVID-19 protocol: Odisha govt

PNS n NEW DELHI

GoAir on Friday said it hasoffered government its air-craft, crew and airport staff tocarry out emergency servicesand repatriation of citizens,two days after another low-costcarrier IndiGo made a similaroffer.

Currently, while there is aban on international anddomestic passenger flights inthe country, all-cargo flightscan operate as usual, accordingto aviation regulator DGCA.

However, the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) is yet to give permis-sion to airlines to conductflights using their commercialpassenger aircraft with justcargo in their belly.

India has suspended domes-tic passenger flights from mid-night on March 24 and allinternational flights from 1.30am on March 23.

"GoAir has reached out tothe Ministry of Civil Aviationand the DGCA and offered its

services in the wake of a com-plete lockdown across thenation," the airline said in apress release.

"The Wadia-Group con-trolled low-cost carrier hasoffered its aircraft, pilots, cabincrew and airport staff to carryout emergency services andrepatriation of citizens," it noted.

The letter submitted byGoAir to the Union CivilAviation Ministry offers thefollowing services -- ship cargoon behalf of the government,

ship essential services such asmedicines, food grains andship manpower who wouldcarry out the emergency ser-vices such as doctors, nurses,para medics and relief workers.

According to GoAir, in theletter, it has also offered torepatriate Indian citizens whoare stuck overseas, repatriateexpats in our country back totheir base countries and repa-triate Indian citizens withinour various states and unionterritories.

GoAir offers its aircraft, crew,airport staff to govtModi's lockdown address

best in terms of TV ratingsPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi'saddress announcing the 21-daylockdown got more viewershipthan his previous televisedaddresses, including the demon-etisation speech in 2016, accord-ing to BARC India ratings.

On Tuesday, Modiannounced a complete lock-down across the country for 21days, asserting that social dis-tancing was the only way outfor India in its decisive battleagainst the coronavirus.

Television rating agencyBroadcast Audience ResearchCouncil's (BARC) India's rat-ings indicate that the telecastwas watched by more viewers,compared to Modi's previousspeeches announcing demon-etisation or the "janta curfew".

"According to data shared by@BARCIndia the speech byPM @narendramodi on TotalLockdown on 24th March had

highest TV viewership (uniqueviewers greater than IPLFinals) with more than 201channels carrying it," PrasarBharati CEO Shashi Shekharsaid in a tweet.

The final match of the IndianPremier League (IPL) had aviewership of 13.3 crorepeople,

while 19.7 crore peoplewatched Modi's address ontelevision. The prime minister'saddress to the nation on March19, announcing a 14-hour"janata curfew", garnered aviewership of 8.30 crore peopleacross 191 television channels,according to the BARC ratings.

Modi's address on abrogationof Article 370 of the Constitutionon August 8 last year had a view-ership of 6.5 crore people across163 channels, while his addresson November 8, 2016 announc-ing demonetisation was viewedby 5.7 crore people on 114channels.

Central Vista project should beput on hold indefinitely: JairamPNS n NEW DELHI

Senior Congress leader JairamRamesh on Friday called forindefinitely putting on hold thegovernment's ambitiousCentral Vista project, sayingthe thousands of crores ofrupees that will be spent on itcould be used for more press-ing issues.

He said it is "obscene" thatthe government is going aheadwith the project even now,referring to the country'sefforts to contain the spread ofcoronavirus.

Ramesh's comments comein the backdrop the Centreapproving the land use changefor execution of the CentralVista redevelopment project inLutyens' Delhi last week.

"It is not just insensitive, butobscene to be thinking of theNew Central Vista project now.It should be put on hold indef-initely. There are more press-ing uses for the thousands of

crores that will be spent to sat-isfy one man's ego," theCongress leader said in a tweet.

He also shared a news reportclaiming that the project islikely to be delayed by a fewweeks due to a nationwidelockdown to contain thespread of COVID-19.

Over the past few days, sev-eral opposition leaders havecriticised the government fornotifying the land use changefor the project.

The redevelopment projectof Central Vista — the nation's

power corridor — envisages atriangular Parliament buildingnext to the existing one, com-mon Central Secretariat andrevamping of the 3-km-longRajpath -- from RashtrapatiBhavan to India Gate.

The new Parliament Housebuilding will come up on a 9.5-acre land near the existingbuilding. Earlier, the plot wasmeant for development of adistrict park.

PNS n NEW DELHI

SpiceJet has offered services ofits aircraft and crew members tothe government for any human-itarian mission during the 21-day lockdown and the airline isready to operate some flightsfrom Delhi and Mumbai toPatna to alleviate the suffering ofmigrant workers, especiallythose from Bihar, its CMD AjaySingh said on Friday.

While domestic and interna-tional passenger flights have

been banned till April 14 mid-night, IndiGo and GoAir havealso offered their aircraft andcrew and staff members to thegovernment for any missionrequired to contain the spread ofcoronavirus.

"We have offered our aircraftand crew for any humanitarianmission that the governmentneeds us to fly. We are alreadyflying food, medicines and med-ical equipment for governmentevery day (on our freighter air-craft)," Singh said.

If govt agrees, will flymigrants from Delhi,Mumbai to Patna: SpiceJet

PNS n NEW DELHI

Top BJP leaders on Fridaycondoled the demise of DadiJanki, the head of spiritualorganisation Brahmakumaris,with BJP president J P Naddaand Home Minister Amit Shahsaying that she dedicated herlife to serving humanity.

Veteran BJP leader L KAdvani expressed his deeppain and said she was a high-ly admired and respected spir-itual leader who for manyyears steered theBrahmakumari movementvery effectively towardswomen empowerment, wel-fare of humanity and worldpeace.

Shah said she epitomisedhumanity, simplicity and com-passion and dedicated everymoment of her life to servingthe mankind.

Nadda said Dadi Janki, whowas 104 years of age, steeredthe society toward positivity allher life.

Advani recalled his longassociation with her and saidher divine presence was alwaysoverwhelming for him.

"Dadi Janki's lifelong selflessservice to society will contin-ue to inspire and guide us foryears to come. She servedsociety with diligence. Shetoiled to bring a positive dif-ference in the lives of others.Her efforts towards empower-ing women were noteworthy,"he said.

Dadi Janki passed away atthe age of 104 after prolongedillness. She breathed her last at2 am on Friday at a hospital inMount Abu in Rajasthan. Shewas suffering from respirato-ry and stomach-related prob-lems for the last two months.

Top BJP leaders condoledemise of Brahmakumarischief Dadi Janki

Jamiat urges Muslims to pray at homePNS n NEW DELHI

Prominent Muslim bodyJamiat Ulema-e-Hind onFriday appealed to Muslims tooffer prayers at home insteadof congregating in mosquesamid the coronavirus out-break. Jamiat PresidentMaulana Arshad Madani saidhe himself is offering prayer athome.

For daily prayers, he saidMuslims should pray at home,instead of congregating inmosques. Muslims are sup-posed to pray five times in aday at designated hours of theday.

"All people must avoid gath-erings at any place, and followthe Shariah guidelines for theprotection of human life," hesaid.

Earlier in the day, he said inthe light of government direc-tives issued regarding coron-avirus, he would advise thatpeople must avoid gathering inmosques on Friday as well andoffer prayers at home.

"Only Imam, muezzin and

three persons should offerJumah prayers at mosque sothat obligation can be ful-filled. It is our religious andsocial responsibility to protectourselves and others from thisharm," Madani said in a state-ment.

Madani lauded the commu-nity for adhering to appeals ofclerics and offering the Fridayprayers at home. He said it waspraiseworthy that only 3-4people, including imam and

muezzin, prayed at mosqueswhile others prayed at home.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Disaster ManagementAuthority in Goa will take overplatforms of the Madgaon rail-way station to provide shelterto the homeless people in thewake of the lockdown to con-tain the spread of the novelcoronavirus pandemic, accord-ing to an order.

Three persons, all with trav-el history to abroad, tested pos-itive in Goa for the deadlyCOVID-19 on Wednesday.

The order from Ajit Roy, thecollector and chairperson ofthe South Goa District DisasterManagement Authority, hasissued a requisition under theDisaster Management Act,2005, of the services of all plat-forms and station premises ofthe Madgaon railway station,which belongs to the KonkanRailway, for shelter homeseffective immediately.

The requisition has been

made to the station master ofthe railway station.

Madgaon railway station inGoa has direct rail connectionwith several major cities inIndia like New Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai. It hasfour platforms, which will nowbe used as shelters for thehomeless.

Goa has a steady onslaughtof migrant population cominginto the state for employmentand in the decade preceding

2011, 1.35-lakh people migrat-ed there from other states,according to the Census 2011.

Goa receives the mostmigrants from its neighbour-ing states of Karnataka andMaharashtra, the data revealed.

While persons fromKarnataka migrated the mostinto Goa, with over 53,000shifting residence to the state,Maharashtra came second with30,644 migrating from there toGoa, as per Census 2011.

Madgaon railway stn platforms inGoa to provide shelter to homeless

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief SecretaryR K Tiwari has urged govern-ments of neighbouring statesto arrange food and lodgingfacilities for residents of thestate stranded there amid thelockdown imposed to controlthe spread of coronavirus.

In a letter to the chief secre-taries of different states, Tiwarihas requested them to makearrangements for proper foodand lodging in their respectivestates for people of UP, an offi-cial spokesperson said.

Tiwari has stressed that inthe event of movement ofpeople from one state toanother, the nationwide lock-down announced in view ofthe coronavirus outbreakwould be flouted and chancesof spread of the diseasewould increase.

Odisha Assembly staffasked to go on homequarantine, session shiftedPNS n BHUBANESWAR

Odisha Assembly Speaker S NPatro on Friday asked all theVidhan Sabha employees to goon home quarantine after thestate's third COVID-19 patientcame in contact with one ofthe staffers.

He announced that theassembly, which suspendedits proceedings on March 13 inthe wake of coronavirus out-break, will conduct the busi-ness of passing theAppropriation Bill for 2020-21in a special sitting at the LokSeva Bhavan, the state secre-tariat, on March 30.

"As the third COVID-19patient came in contact withthe staff of the assembly, all theofficials need to put them-selves on home-quarantineand the entire building will bedisinfected to prevent the

spread of the deadly virus," thespeaker said.

"The House will resume atLok Seva Bhawan. I have direct-ed all the Members of LegislativeAssembly to maintain a distanceof two metres from each otherwhile sitting," he added.

The speaker said that lead-ers of all the parties havebeen requested to send only 30per cent of their members tothe March 30 session.

Television ratingagency BARCIndia's ratingsindicate that thetelecast waswatched by moreviewers, comparedto Modi's previousspeechesannouncingdemonetisation orthe "janta curfew"

The man had goneto Delhi on March 7and during his staythere, he had alsovisited Rewari inHaryana, the stategovernments chiefspokesperson onCOVID-19, SubrotoBagchi, said

UP govt asksstates toarrange foodfor workers

He also shared anews reportclaiming that theproject is likely tobe delayed by afew weeks due to anationwidelockdown tocontain the spreadof COVID-19

All people mustavoid gatheringsat any place, and

follow the Shariahguidelines for theprotection of human life

— MAULANA ARSHAD MADANI,Jamiat PPresident

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Prez, V-P holds video-conferencing with TNguv on COVID situationCHENNAI: President Ram NathKovind and Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu on Fridayinteracted with Tamil NaduGovernor Banwarilal Purohitregarding the containment ofCOVID-19 in the state, the RajBhavan said. The two interactedwith Purohit through videoconferencing, it said in arelease. Kovind and Naiduinteracted with the Governor"about the overall situationprevailing in Tamil Nadu,regarding the containmentmeasures" against the spreadof coronavirus, it added. TamilNadu has so far reported 35positive cases of coronavirusand this included a 45 year-oldman discharged after treatmentand another who died of theinfection and other co-morbidconditions. The stategovernment has announced aslew of measures to tackle thespread of the contagion with afocus on staying indoors.

Remove postal deptfrom essential servicesduring lockdown: A Raja

Kerala tippler endslife upset over closureof liquor shops: PoliceTHRISSUR: A 38-year-old dailywage labourer here committed'suicide' on Friday, allegedlyfrustrated over not gettingliquor following the coronaviruslockdown and after strugglingwith withdrawal symptoms,police said. Sanoj, a paintingworker, was found hangingfrom a tree next to his house,they said. "In our preliminaryinvestigation, his family told usthat he was frustrated over theclosing of liquor shops. He wasshowing withdrawal symptomsas he was not getting alcoholfor last two days," police said. Acase has been registered forunnatural death and furtherinvestigation was on, policesaid. All liquor outlets, bothprivate and the state-runbeverages corporation, havebeen closed in Kerala as part ofthe nationwide lockdown tocheck the spread of coronaviruswhich has affected over 120people in the state. State exciseMinister T P Ramakrishnan hadyesterday urged the tipplers,who have withdrawalsymptoms, to approach the de-addiction centres in districts.

NEW DELHI: DMK MP A Rajaon Friday requested PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toremove the postal departmentfrom the essential services asall modes of transport havebeen stopped during the 21-day coronavirus lockdown andthere is no work for itsemployees. The formerTelecom minister said it hasbecome difficult for thedepartment to continue withits services and postalemployees are at crossroadsand suffering inability as thereis no work. "I do appeal thehonourable Prime Minister toremove the postal departmentfrom the essential services astrain and other modes oftransport have been stoppeddue to lockdown in lieu ofcoronavirus,” Raja said. PrimeMinister Modi on Mondayannounced the 21-daynationwide lockdown tocontain the spread of thenovel coronavirus.

PNS n KOLKATA

The Kolkata MunicipalCorporation (KMC) hasreserved two burial groundsand a crematorium for last ritesof coronavirus victims in thecity, days after a controversyerupted over the cremation ofWest Bengal's first COVID-19casualty.

According to the mayor incouncil (MIC), health, AtinGhosh, KMC has designated atwo-furnace cremation centreat Dhapa grounds, a burialground at Baghmari forMuslims and another at Topsiafor Hindus.

"We have taken this decisionso that there is no repetition ofthe incident that took place onMonday. These burial grounds

and cremation centres havebeen reserved so that there isno confusion and commo-tion," Ghosh told PTI.

Of the 10 afflicted withCOVID-19 in the state, one hasdied.

The last rites of an elderlyman, who became the firstcasualty of the novel coron-avirus in Bengal, was consider-ably delayed on Monday aswary locals put up a road block-ade in the city's Nimtala area tostop government officials fromcremating him, saying it couldlead to virus transmission.

KMC officials said themunicipal solid waste dumpingground at Dhapa was identifiedfor cremating the COVID-19fatalities as the area is sparse-ly populated.

KMC reserves burial grounds,cremation centre for COVID-19 victims

Getting battle-ready for COVID-19emergency: NDRF chiefPNS n KOLKATA

The NDRF, the specialisedforce to tackle disasters, is get-ting battle-ready should itsservices are required amid ris-ing cases of the deadly COVID19 that has put the countryunder an unprecedented lock-down, its Director General S NPradhan said.

Pradhan said personnel ofthe National Disaster ResponseForce are also present in all theCOVID-19 state control roomsas part of its preparedness.

We have prepared 84 smallcore teams per battalion. Theforce is trying to cover 600 per-sonnel in each battalion withpersonal protection equipment(PPE)... we have informed thechief secretaries of all the statesthat we are on standby modeand can be called in as andwhen required in terms of theprotocol, he told PTI in a tele-phonic interview. Our menare deputed in the dedicatedcontrol rooms of states so thatwe are on the same page with

the local authority in terms ofthe information, work andtasking, he added.

NDRF has 12 battalions,each consisting of 1,150 per-sonnel. Pradhan said Biharand Tamil Nadu have alreadysought its help for coronavirusprevention exercise. OnThursday, the Bihar govern-ment had asked for two NDRFteams to be on standby inPatna and Munger for supportto the local police and medicalstaff. Tamil Nadu called us to

tend to segregation activities atrailway stations, he said.

The force has so far trainednearly 28,000 personnel,including those from the CISFand other forces, and will con-tinue with the routine everyday, but in smaller batches tomaintain social distancing.

Pradhan said the NDRF hasbeen successful in clearing a lotof apprehension of the staff ofother forces about the coron-avirus safety precautions.

We have been preparing and

training all the outward- facingstaff across the landports, air-ports and seaports for the lastone month on how to wearPPEs, especially the gloves andmasks and how to handle them,and the basic aspects of socialdistancing, the NDRF chief said.

Pradhan, who assumedcharge in January last year, saidpersonnel of the force are

trained for medical firstresponse (MFR) and pre-hos-pital treatment (PHT), andcan function as the facilitatingarm of states for the frontlinehealth workers.

We are not in the frontlinelike doctors or in the second-line like paramedics, but prob-ably feature right after them...NDRF men can be of help atthe quarantine centres or inplaces where there are masscases, he said.

The Odisha-born IPS officeralso said it will have enough per-sonnel to respond to any natur-al disaster that may arise amidthe COVID-19 crisis, notwith-standing the nearly 50 per centof its strength in all readiness fora possible coronavirus call. Wewill work in a collaborativemodel with the states for exam-ple, there will be a local police-man, a local medical profession-al, then there will be an NDRFpersonnel so that we caneconomise the whole exerciseand judiciously use our force,Pradhan said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Fridaysought response from the Centreon a plea seeking directions forimmediate evacuation of around850 pilgrims stranded in Iran'sQom city in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak.

A bench of Justices D YChandrachud and Surya Kant,which heard the matter throughvideo-conferencing, issuednotice to the Centre on the pleawhich has sought a direction tothe government to provide ade-quate medical support to theseIndian citizens who are strand-ed in Iran till their evacuation.

Iran is one of the countriesworst affected by the COVID-19pandemic and has reported over2,000 deaths so far.

Petitioner Mustafa MH, a res-ident of the Union Territory ofLadakh, has said in his plea,which was argued by senioradvocate Sanjay Hegde, thatsome of his relatives had travelledto Iran along with a group ofabout 1,000 pilgrims inDecember last year.

He said his relatives werescheduled to return to India inthe first week of March but theyare stranded in Iran due to thecoronavirus outbreak.

"The petitioner is constrainedto file the present writ petitionseeking an order of evacuationof about 850 citizens of Indiawho are currently stranded in thecity of Qom, Iran," the plea said.

It said that several citizens ofLadakh had brought this issue tothe notice of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs after which thegovernment took steps but thesestranded pilgrims "have notbeen able to receive properaccommodation or health care".

Referring to the statementgiven by the external affairsminister, the plea said, "varioussteps were taken and total num-ber of around 389 people wereevacuated from Iran whichincludes students as well."

"A team of doctors was sent to

Iran who conducted the test on850 people. However, thisprocess was conducted onlyonce," it claimed.

It alleged that the Iraniangovernment has accommodatedstranded passengers in varioushotels but most of these pilgrimsare not in a position to pay forit since they do not have suffi-cient funds with them.

"Besides, they have beenaccommodated in hotel roomsin groups of four-five. It isextremely important to notethat the situation of spread ofcoronavirus is extremely criticalin Iran," the plea said, adding thataccommodating them togetheris a serious health hazard andcould lead to disastrous conse-quences.

PNS n KOLLAM

A young IAS officer in Kerala hasbeen booked by police after heleft the state violating instructionsto remain under home quaran-tine following his recent returnfrom honeymoon abroad, offi-cials said on Friday.

An FIR has been registeredagainst Kollam sub-collectorAnupam Mishra, who hails fromUttar Pradesh, based on a reportfrom the Health departmentabout the violation, KollamSuperintendent of Police TNarayanan told PTI.

Describing the action of theofficer as a "serious matter",District Collector B Abdul Nassersaid Mishra had returned toKerala on March 19 from hisMalaysia-Singapore trip and wasadvised to remain under quaran-

tine, as per the protocol foroverseas returnees in the back-drop of coronavirus outbreak.

On his return to Kerala fromthe foreign trip, Mishra hadundergone medical examina-tion and did not show symptoms.His personal staff, includinggunman, have also been keptunder observation.

However, the officer had leftfor his brother's place inBengaluru without informinganyone, Nasser said.

When the Collector got intouch with him, Mishrainformed him that he was inBengaluru.

"He was on leave after his mar-riage and took permission totravel to Malaysia and Singapore.On his return I advised him toremain under home quarantine.Seems like he left to be with his

family at Bengaluru," Nassertold PTI.

However, police said Mishra'smobile tower location showsKanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Authorities came to know on

Thursday that Mishra, who hadbeen staying alone in his quartersat Kollam, was not there afterhealth department staff, whoregularly visit people in quaran-tine, found the lights in his

house switched off, police sourcessaid.

"The officer has gone withoutprior permission or leave. He didnot have any symptoms of thevirus. Without informing us, he

left. It is a serious matter, the col-lector said adding Mishra hasbeen asked to provide his currentaddress and travel details toBengaluru."

When an officer leaves hisjurisdiction, he is supposed toinform the government, whichMishra did not do. He has alsonot taken prior permission forleaving the state, the later toldreporters. The state governmenthas sought an explanation fromthe officer in this regard.

Case has been registeredagainst him under various sec-tions of the Indian Penal Codeincluding 188 (disobedience toorder duly promulgated by pub-lic servant), 269 (Negligent Actlikely to spread infection of dis-ease dangerous to life) and 271(disobedience to quarantinerule), police said.

COVID-19 battle is war, draftfinal year medicos for the jobPNS n BENGALURU

India should take a cue fromthe UK and Italy and allowfinal year medical students toskip exam and bring them intothe hospital system immedi-ately to fight the war againstCOVID-19, noted cardiac sur-geon Devi Prasad Shetty onFriday said.

The Chairman and Founderof the city-based NarayanaHealth said there should besome reforms in medical edu-cation like the UK and Italy.

In the UK, he noted, finalyear medical students havebeen told that they dont needto appear for the exam, andthey will be given pass basedon the past performance andthey can get into the hospitalsystem to fill the shortage.

Italy got 10,000 more doc-

tors following the move to cutshort the duration of MBBS bynine months, according tohim.

COVID-19 battle can beonly won by young doctorsand young nurses. Its like awar, Shetty told PTI.

He said: Senior doctorsnoneof them will be able to touchthe patients because they arepast the age of 50. A personwho is past the age of 50 isvery vulnerable himself. Thisis a very contagious disease.

PNS n KOCHI

Noted Fisheries scientist andVice Chancellor of KeralaUniversity of Fisheries andOcean Studies (KUFOS) Dr ARamachandran died dueto cardiac arrest at hisresidence inKalamasery here onFriday, the universitysaid. Ramachandran,61, had been theFisheries Advisor toSultanate of Oman and expertmember in many a national andinternational fisheries councilsand organisations. Son of formerCochin Mayor and Congressveteran late K S N Menon,Ramachandran is survived bywife and a son. While being the

Director of the School ofIndustrial Fisheries of CochinUniversity of Science andTechnology (CUSAT),Ramachandran was elevated to

the position of Vice Chancellorof KUFOS in June 2016.

It was under his leader-ship that the first everInternational BlueEconomy Congress inthe country was held

here in November lastyear. Ramachandran who

secured his Post Doctoral fromDelft Technical University, TheNetherlands, had published over300 internationally recognisedresearch papers and authoredmany books in fisheries andguided as many as 132 researchscholars to secure their PhDs.

Noted fisheries scientist A Ramachandran is dead

IAS officer booked in Kerala for violating quarantine

Now, an app to allowstudents continue studiesPNS n KOCHI

The Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM) on Friday said a firmassociated with it has come upwith an app that enables stu-dents and teachers to contin-ue with their studies that havegone off-track following earlyclosure of schools amid theoutbreak of novel coronavirus.

Linways Technologies hasdevised the software whichkeeping in tune with socialdistancing that is essential tocontain the pandemic.

"We are providing it for freefor the next couple of months.We are also consideringwhether it should be extend-ed based on the situation,"according to Bastin Thomas,co- founder of the companybased in KSUM's IntegratedStartup Complex in

Kalamassery near here.The app, which is already

being used by close to 100higher education institutionsin the country, entrusts thehead of a department orschool with the authority todirect the conduct of classes.

From there, the lessonsreach the students. The appfacilitates access to video lec-tures and provides an updateon who all have viewed them.

It also provides details of theportions covered and the stu-dents who have read the mate-rial.

The app features quiz, quicktests and a facility to clarifydoubts. "Linways is deter-mined to support teachersand students all across theglobe to survive, and cometogether stronger thanever,"Thomas said.

Our men aredeputed in thededicated controlrooms of statesso that we are onthe same pagewith the localauthority interms of theinformation, workand tasking,Pradhan said

On his return toKerala from theforeign trip, Mishrahad undergonemedicalexamination and didnot showsymptoms. Hispersonal staff,including gunman,have also been keptunder observation

PNS n NEW DELHI

Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Friday urged gover-nors and lieutenant gover-nors to enhance awarenessamong people, and encouragecivil society organisations andthe private sector to partnerwith the government in thefight against coronavirus.

Interacting with governorsand LGs during a video con-ference by President RamNath Kovind, he observedthat as first citizens of theirrespective states, they were ina unique position to play avery creative role in thismoment of national crisis bymotivating and guiding theirrespective sates and UTs.

"Your leadership is crucialand your guidance, facilitationand motivating ability can bemost valuable," he said.

According to an officialstatement, Naidu wanted thegovernors and LGs to motivatenew partners such as univer-sities, kendriya vidyalayas,other educational institutionsand religious bodies to con-

tribute to this urgent cause byfreeing up spaces to allocatespots for isolation wards forCOVID-19 patients.

As chancellors of variousuniversities, Naidu wantedthem to explore the possibili-ty of conducting online class-es to complete the curriculumand ensure academic schedulewas not disturbed.

He appealed to private hos-pitals to earmark some bedsfor COVID-19 patients andurged civil society organisa-tions, including the Red Cross,to take up humanitarian assis-tance activities for the poor,elderly and sick members ofour population.

Naidu asked the governorsand LGs to involve religiousand spiritual leaders, film andsports celebrities as also wellknown public figures to pro-mote awareness to combatCOVID-19. He also urged theprivate sector which has infra-structure and resources toplay a more proactive role insupplementing efforts of gov-ernment and mitigate thehardship faced by people.

CORONAVIRUS:

SC seeks Centre's response onevacuating 850 pilgrims from Iran

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Health MinisterRajesh Tope on Friday urgedthe people to donate blood asthe state's blood banks are like-ly to face an acute shortage ofsupply due to the ongoinglockdown.

Blood supply is required notjust for coronavirus patients,but also for people sufferingfrom other illnesses, he saidduring a Facebook live. "TheState Blood TransfusionCouncil (SBTC) told me thatwe have blood stock thatwould just suffice for seven toeight days," Tope said.

"Blood is something that hasno alternative. We can't do

without it. Blood has a shelflife of 35 days," he said.

Therefore, police and theadministration must ensurethat blood donation camps areheld, the minister said. "Butthey should also keep socialdistancing in mind," he said.

Blood banks in Mahamay run dry soon: Tope

Cop sings toconvince peopleto stay at homePNS n MUMBAIThe video of a Maharashtrapoliceman singing a popularHindi film song to persuadepeople to stay indoors amidrising coronavirus positivecases in the state has gone viralon social media. In the video,apparently shot in northMaharashtra, the policemancan be seen with a cordless micin hand, asking people stay athome as part of the social dis-tancing to contain spread ofcoronavirus. "Zindagi mautna ban jaye, sambhalo yaaron...(Friends, ensure that life does-n't turn into death)", the cop isseen crooning the song fromAamir Khan-starrer Sarfarosh.

Encourage civilsociety, pvt sector topartner with govt: VP

FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS

In 2001, General Abdul RashidDostum, then a fierce warlord, thefirst Vice President of Afghanistanand a key political figure for thenorthern Afghan provinces now,

apparently said the following to the Captainof the US Army Special Forces ODA 595fighting the Afghanistan war. The latter wason a classified mission in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks that led to the fightfor Mazar-i-Sharif. “There are no rightchoices here. This is Afghanistan.Graveyard of many empires. Today you areour friend, tomorrow you are ourenemy…You will be cowards if you leave.And you will be our enemies if you stay.”

With close to 100 attacks inAfghanistan post the signing of the US-Taliban deal, the decree by AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani to release 1,500Taliban fighters and competing power axesin the country with Opposition leaderAbdullah Abdullah and Ghani holding par-allel inaugurals of the new Government inKabul, Afghanistan threatens to come fullcircle from its Taliban-ruled days. Indeed,18 years later, the US is caught between thecoward-enemy binary, with the Talibanspokesman Za-bihullah Mujahid announc-ing, “As per the US-Taliban agreement, ourmujahideen will not attack foreign forcesbut our operations will continue against theKabul administration forces.” Moreover, asthe Trump administration has deliberate-ly concealed two written annexes of the dealfrom the public, much remains in the realmof speculation regarding the details of thepact. This would lead one to make assess-ments, whether or not the Taliban is liv-ing up to the end of the bargain, which isalmost impossible.

The US Secretary of State MikePompeo’s latest dash to Kabul to reconcilewarring parties in Afghanistan, to form aunity Government and begin intra-Afghanistan talks, did not see any progress.However, the Trump administration’sthreat of slashing $1 billion in assistance toAfghanistan has yielded some result withthe Ghani Government and the Talibanagreeing to prisoner-swap, starting March31. There has been little progress on theissue of two parallel Governments inKabul. As the US is dealing with one of theworst pandemics in its history right now,its resolve to leave Afghanistan in the next14 months is going to further strengthen.To this end, there are a few questions thatneed clear answers from India’s point ofview. What does the emerging situationmean for peace in Afghanistan and the larg-er regional stability in the region? How willthe resultant geopolitical and geostrategicspace in Afghanistan be used by externalpowers? What should be India’s role in anew Afghanistan, where the Taliban hasgained renewed legitimacy?

Depicting a change from its earlier

stance, New Delhi welcomedthe pact between the US and theTaliban. During his first foreigntrip, Indian Foreign SecretaryHarsh Vardhan Shringla reachedKabul for a two-day visit and mettop Afghan political leaders a daybefore the US-Taliban peaceagreement was signed in Qataron February 29. The IndianAmbassador to Qatar, PKumaran, was also an invitee ofthe Qatari Government to thesigning ceremony.

In November 2018, twoIndian representatives participat-ed, non-officially, in the Moscowchapter of the Afghan peacetalks, which included a high-levelrepresentation from the Taliban.Besides the fact that it doesn’twant to be in a camp opposite tothe US, an increasingly close part-ner of India in global endeavours,there is an apprehension in NewDelhi about being left out of theprocesses that are shapingAfghanistan’s politics if the lattercontinues strategic distancingfrom the Taliban.

Pakistan’s role as one of thefacilitators in bringing the Talibanto the negotiating table has fur-ther shrunk New Delhi’s diplo-matic heft, apropos Afghanistanat the global high table. As such,there are signs of greater skin inthe game in Afghanistan forIndia to pre-emptively deal withan emerging politico-strategicdynamic over there.

Afghanistan has come fullcircle — first the ouster of theTaliban Government, then ademocratic Afghan Governmentwith security force, to the return

of the Taliban as a legitimatepolitical player. Despite theAmericans calling it an agree-ment “between the IslamicEmirate of Afghanistan, which isnot recognised by the US,” thereis no denying the fact that thepeace deal has brought a sense oflegitimacy to the Taliban. Thiscompels a shift in New Delhi’sAfghan strategy.

There are at least three fac-tors that point to India’s shiftingpolicies in Afghanistan, albeitwithout an endgame. First, India’simproved relations with the USand its increasing convergenceswith Washington have left littleroom for it to be on a side that’svehemently opposed to the latter.More so when China is becom-ing a key player in Afghanistan.US President Donald Trump,during his recent visit to India, issaid to have solicited supportfrom New Delhi for the Talibandeal. Second, America’s with-drawal from Afghanistan tacitlythrusts a greater regional respon-sibility on India. This is not justin correspondence to the emerg-ing regional expectations on thepart of Afghanistan but also a pal-pable realisation in its scheme ofregional leadership. Finally, hav-ing a greater skin in the game forIndia in Afghanistan, albeit withdeliberate moderations in itsrole over there, seems to be thebest option for New Delhi as thechoice is between being there andbeing left out.

India’s role in Afghanistansince 2001 has largely beenfocussed on the civilian recon-struction of the war-torn coun-

try, with involvement in thesecurity sector limited to train-ing Afghan officers in Indian mil-itary institutions, and a ratherrestrained willingness to supplymilitary platforms and equip-ment. Owing to recent develop-ments, questions over the natureof India’s role in Afghanistan arebeing acutely debated in theIndian strategic community.

The Ghani-led AfghanGovernment in Kabul has bare-ly emerged from a divided elec-tion result and is faced with anuphill task in terms of thrashingout the future of the country withthe Taliban, which has steadfast-ly refused to recognise its legiti-macy, calling it a puppet of the USGovernment. Much is also con-tingent on the release of theremaining 3,500 Taliban fightersas promised by the GhaniGovernment. Therefore, whileNew Delhi, Washington andKabul may still call for anAfghan-owned and Afghan-ledpeace process, it will be naïve notto consider the return of a full-fledged violence by the Taliban.

For India, the most perti-nent question is: What kind ofleverage has Pakistan gained inthe entire gamble, in exchange forits role in the US-Taliban talks,given its influence over theTaliban leadership and intentionsto maintain strategic depth in thatcountry? Pakistan’s regaining ofthe “strategic depth” runs counterto all efforts to establish an influ-ential Indian presence inAfghanistan.

The recent heinous attack ata gurudwara in Kabul that killed

28 Sikhs portrays the complexi-ty of the challenge for India inAfghanistan as the only legitimatebacker of the elected AfghanGovernment even as the USpurposefully recedes. If Indiacontinues to guard its stakes, irre-spective of the nature of the nextGovernment over there, it shouldbrace for a long resistance andfight with the Pakistani deep state.As was evident in the gurudwaraattack, Pakistan will intensifythe use of the Haqqani networkand other terrorist factions thatit has a leverage on, as a front toattack India.

The India-Afghanistanstrategic partnership, amongother things, is based on a res-olute Afghan Government inKabul. At this juncture, with thecertainty that the Taliban willreturn to the corridors of powerin some form or the other, it is ano-brainer to conclude that NewDelhi needs dexterity than everbefore. Add to this, the complexpicture of China, which hasshown its willingness to invest inAfghanistan. The US pullout,therefore, can be an opportuni-ty for India to fill the strategic gap.But to do this effectively, it wouldeither require an enhanced secu-rity apparatus in Kabul, whetherby partnering with another coun-try or by itself. Both will havetremendous and long-drawnrepercussions.

(Vivek Mishra is deputy direc-tor, KIIPS, Bhubaneswar, andresearch fellow, ICWA, New Delhi.Monish Tourangbam is assistantprofessor Manipal University,Karnataka)

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) announce-ment that it will infuse close to `3.74 lakhcrore into the Indian financial system to deal

with the COVID-19 pandemic is welcome.Alongside, its move to cut the repo rate and reducethe cash reserve ratio will give the economy themuch-needed boost it will sorely require once thelockdown ends, hopefully without thousands ofmore victims. The reverse repo rate has beenslashed by 0.9 per cent while the cash reserveratio of lenders has been lowered by a whole per-centage point. According to the Central bank’s

own admission, the repo rate currently stood at 4.40 per cent, down from 5.15 percent earlier. Given that the Indian economy was already reeling and now that theentire country has been put in lockdown, halting all commercial activities, such amove was all but essential and expected. We should all understand that the Indianeconomy, in fact, financial systems across the world, will take several months ifnot a few years to recover from the mess that the Chinese recalcitrance has wroughton supply chains, banking systems and even on the informal economy back home.In fact, we would be lucky if we register any growth this financial year. While theGovernment’s earlier relief package of ̀ 1.70 lakh crore was meant to help the poorand dispossessed, the Central bank’s move makes it amply clear that India’s con-sumer economy is what keeps the wheels of the economy greased. It may includea minuscule number of Indians but they do matter. Making sure that they stay afloatafter the crisis ebbs will help the poor in the long-term as well. This is not makinglight of the situation but simply stating a fact. Several industries will be badly impacted. Even after domestic and international flights are allowed again, it is unlike-ly that India’s aviation sector will resume with the numbers that it did before flightsstopped. It is quite likely that the restrictions on flights will be lifted slowly but withthe consumer economy devastated and the fact that there are bound to be thou-sands of white-collar job losses, it is unlikely that vacation travel will pick up any-time before 2021 at the earliest. Many people are likely to be holding onto cashreserves for a while and only pay essentials such as educational fees. People mustbe encouraged to spend because this is what keeps chefs, waiters, housekeepingstaff and even pilots employed.

While the RBI has announced a moratorium for term loans, a lot will now dependon the banks and other lending institutions to act and pass on the benefits to thepeople. Instead of increasing Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates, may be theGovernment should consider reducing rates, particularly on high-value items suchas automobiles, to encourage consumption. We should all understand that the year2020 will be a dead loss in terms of economic growth. Projections of a two-threeper cent growth might be too optimistic if the visitor from Wuhan stays on till thewinter, when the entire economy could even regrow. We can only hope that thereis a rebound of sorts when things get back to normal, whenever they do. And forthat to happen, confidence has to be kept high. Therefore, the RBI’s decision is apositive for India. Now over to the Indian corporate sector and the consumer.

This is a chilling reality. Fifteen lakh interna-tional travellers arrived in India betweenJanuary 18 and March 23. And the

Government is trying to find all of them withrespective States to gauge the extent of infectiv-ity they have set off. There is no doubt about thewhole-heartedness of efforts by the Centre in tack-ling the COVID-19 and attempting a national lock-down on a colossal scale, the biggest in the world,to build a culture of social distancing as the onlypreventive. The economic relief package and food-grains for the poor may still not be enough but

India is a huge country with several challenges and this is the time when our fed-eral structure is being tested. And while it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi whogets the national attention, the work done by some Opposition Chief Ministers intheir respective States proves that unitedly each could learn from the other and forgea united front with the Centre. In the process, we are developing innovative mod-els of crisis management that may hold us in good stead to manage not only thiswave of the virus but future pandemics as well. One such Chief Minister is Kerala’sPinarayi Vijayan, heading a State that has not only tamed the deadly Nipah virusbut confined, choked and controlled it. Kerala’s model of testing, finding, isolatingand contact-tracking with a round the year follow-up surveillance is paying off results.Even before a Central package, the Vijayan Government announced a ̀ 20,000 crorerelief measure and is the first to give some dignity to migrant labourers, who arehomeless and without food post-lockdowns, by officially designating them Stateguests. Not only that, having learnt hard lessons in disaster management duringthe floods, Kerala is also opening community kitchens and shelters for the displaced.This inclusivity is not just a tokenism or a political plank to be used at opportunemoments; the Vijayan Government has always tried to integrate migrant workers,paying them three times the minimum wage in other States, providing for their chil-dren’s education and enrolling them for several State schemes. The Arvind KejriwalGovernment in Delhi has eased lockdown pressures, although the city is one of thehotspots of COVID-19 in India, and created a three-layered response model of pre-paredness. It has allowed e-tailers, 24X7 operation of shops selling essential pro-visions and medicines and is converting abandoned buildings as either shelters orquarantine areas. It even has a graded action plan for the spike in cases, from 100to 500 and upwards, and has roped in voluntary services of private doctors to stemthe tide once the cases rise. The four lakh community kitchens in school premis-es for the poor will hopefully stem the exodus of daily wagers. The Gehlot Government in Rajasthan has set an example in Bhilwara, the State’s epicentre ofthe virus, by locking it down completely before the national diktat, aggressive con-tact tracing and now possibly testing every citizen in clusters. Captain AmarinderSingh in Punjab, the State which sees high international arrivals, completely cut itoff before any other State had.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee in Bengal, true to her style, took to the streets,distributing masks and drawing circles in public markets to educate people aboutthe norms of social distancing. She has pledged no food shortage and is prepar-ing for the surge with makeshift medical facilities. Odisha Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik may have been extremely low-key but has been one of the first to set upa network of quarantine and care centres, his post-flood management holding himin good stead. In fact, going by reports, States and Union Territories with more test-ing centres are reporting higher cases of incidence. In the end, this is a big test ofendurance and leadership. If we pass this, then we might just go back to cooper-ative federalism than a competitive one. Welfarism could be shared.

Unique emergency

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Total lockdown” (March 26).The 21-day lockdown to counterthe Coronavirus pandemic comeswith the crippling effect of thou-sands of people losing their jobs.Daily wage earners and those dri-ving autos and taxis have to stayat home. They will find it hard tomake ends meet. At present, wecannot judge how the spread ofthe disease will affect the econo-my but what is sure is that falloutswill be severe. The Government,too, cannot be blamed entirely forthis. For, we are in the midst of aunique emergency, one we havenever seen before. The bailoutplans of the Reserve Bank of Indiaas well as the Finance Ministermay not be enough. Some busi-ness sectors need direct support.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

Strict adherence

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Total lockdown” (March 26).The outbreak of Coronavirushas impacted the common man’sdaily activities even as the econ-

omy is threatening to slip into arecession. Amid the lockdowncall given by the Government tostrictly stay indoors and staycalm, this is an opportunity forthe people to build deep bondswith their family members andcherish the value of relationships.

It is now the duty and responsi-bility of every family member notto step out and respect therestrictions laid down by theGovernment to prevent furtherspread of the pandemic.

Varun DambalBengaluru

Utter stupidity

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Total lockdown” (March 26). Farfrom questioning what concreteaction was being taken to stop thecontagion, why is our health infra-

structure in a mess with an allo-cation of less than two per cent ofthe GDP? Why were adequate pre-ventive measures not taken earli-er in spite of the outbreak of thedisease in many other countries?Yet, the Prime Minister urgedIndians to beat plates and ring bellsin “honour” of those renderingyeoman service in times of crisis.People did answer his call. GullibleIndians marched out to their bal-conies and the streets with plates,pots, pans, bells and what not,making a mockery of the idea ofsocial distancing.

Rightly has a reputed journal-ist quipped that we have won theWorld Championship of Stupidity.As such, the directive to stay athome does not hold water. Thoseforced to venture outside out ofneed are being harassed on socialmedia. It seems that while thecredit for any success goes to thePrime Minister, the failures areattributed to the common people.If people clanging utensils trulyrevered doctors, they would nothave forgotten Kafeel Khan, whois languishing in jail.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020

06

Costly skin in the game

VIVEKMISHRA

MONISHTOURANGBAM

With the certainty that the Taliban will return to the corridors of power in some form or theother, it is a no-brainer to conclude that New Delhi needs dexterity than ever before

The Army is undertaking itsoperational tasks like before.There are contingency plansin place and spread ofCovid-19 will not affect thecore efficiency of the Army.

Indian Army chief —Gen MM Naravane

Hello kids, I really need yourhelp. Now only you can beatCoronavirus. I feel somepeople are grown-ups only inage, we need to wake themup to beat Coronavirus.

Actor—Hrithik Roshan

I hope that the US will takesubstantive actions to improveSino-US relations, and bothsides can work together tostrengthen cooperation in fighting the epidemic.

Chinese President—Xi Jinping

S O U N D B I T E

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

Care for the poor and the marginalised

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Stepping up

They may not have the halo but some CMs are coming upwith effective systems for managing the virus spread

The Indian state is finally responding to the Coronavirus outbreak with more alacrity

This refers to the editorial, “Total lockdown” (March26). It is perplexing as to why the announcement fora 21-day lockdown was made in the same manner

as it was done during demonetisation. The citizens weregiven almost no time to settle down. The lockdown ordersshould have come a few days ago. The migrant work-ers should have been given some time to return home.Visuals of labourers, some with babies on their shoul-ders, walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their homeswent viral on the very first day of the lockdown as theywere asked by their employers to vacate their quarters.Failing to get any transport, they started walking.

What has happened cannot be rectified now. But itis welcome that without any delay, the Union Governmentcame up with a relief package worth `1.7 lakh crore toshield the poor during the ongoing COVID-19 pandem-ic. Many State Governments like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, UttarPradesh and Punjab have announced relief measures toalleviate the sufferings of the vulnerable. Several StateGovernments and civil society groups have been provid-ing cooked food to the homeless. Given the fact that 194.4million of our population are undernourished, they are

susceptible to diseases like pneumonia and tuberculo-sis. If they are not immediately provided with nutritiousfood, they can become the epicentre of COVID-19. Indiahas enough food stocks to tide over the Coronavirus cri-sis but the problem is of management. The FAO estimatesthat 30 per cent of cereals are lost in India due to inef-ficient supply chain management. The Government mustbuy the surplus food and distribute them to the needy.This will not only solve the problem of hunger and mal-nutrition but also improve the condition of the farmers.

Sujit DeKolkata

States take charge

There’s a gap in the number ofpassengers who should havebeen monitored and the actualnumber. This may jeopardiseour efforts to contain thespread of Covid-19.

Cabinet Secretary—Rajiv Gauba

A mixed bag

YOU’RE WASTING EVERYONE’S TIME WITH THIS(TALK OF SHORTAGE OF VENTILATORS). YOU ARE

FRIGHTENING AMERICA WITH THAT KIND OF STUFF. —PETER NAVARRO

WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER

PETER, IF YOU THINK THAT SPEAKING IN FACTS ANDTRUTH IS FRIGHTENING TO THE PEOPLE, THEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.—BRIANNA KEILAR CNN HOST

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

In his address to the nation on March 19, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi announced the set-ting up of an Economic Response Task Force

(ERTF) under the Union Finance Minister (FM),Nirmala Sitharaman to come up with a packageof measures to alleviate the problems faced byindustries, sectors, businesses and workers due tothe economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

The most seriously affected sectors, such asaviation, transport, hospitality, tourism, retail,micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),are looking for a host of concessions such as addi-tional interest subvention (for instance, MSMEsare demanding three-five per cent over andabove the two per cent that they are already get-ting), moratorium on repayment of loans and inter-est dues, relaxing the repayment schedules and lib-eralising the norms for declaring a loan a non-per-forming asset (NPA). At present, a loan is classi-fied as a NPA if it is not paid within 90 days andnow the demand is for increasing this to 180 days.

The industries are also seeking reduction inpolicy rate, the interest rate charged by theReserve Bank of India (RBI) on loans given tobanks, by 50 basis points and reduction in the CashReserve Ratio (CRR) to inject more liquidity intothe economy and so on.

However, the worst-affected are tens of mil-lions in the “informal” sector such as street ven-dors, craftsmen, construction workers, domesticworkers, agricultural labourers, the self-employedand so on. They are in need of immediate finan-cial relief and in substantial measure. Whatshould be the relief amount per person? What willbe its impact on the Budget?

India’s working population is about 40 crore.Of this, 94 per cent or 37.6 crore are in the infor-mal sector. The national minimum wage of aninformal worker is approximately ̀ 175 per day or`4,550 per month (26 working days) and when s/hedoesn’t get to work, s/he loses this much income.For 37.6 crore workers, this comes to about`1,70,000 crore per month. If the lockdown con-tinues for three months, the loss will be ̀ 5,10,000crore. This should be the quantum of DirectIncome Support (DIS). What has the FM offered?

On March 24, for the industries and business-es, Sitharaman announced reliefs which are large-ly “procedural.” These include extending the datefor filing returns (income-tax, Goods and ServicesTax, customs, excise and statutory filings under theCompanies Act), reducing interest chargeable ondelayed payments, exemption from penalty,increasing threshold of insolvency filing and so on.She also indicated that the financial package foraffected sectors will be separately notified basedon recommendations of the ERTF.

On March 26, apart from providing insurancecover worth `50 lakh for doctors, nurses, para-medics and sanitation workers, she announced thePM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme (PMGKS) aimed atproviding immediate assistance — in both cash andkind — to millions of poor. The scheme entails atotal expenditure commitment of ̀ 1,70,000 crore.

The package includes giving five kg ofrice/wheat per person per month for “free” toaround 80 crore people through the PublicDistribution System (PDS) plus one kg of preferredand region-specific choice of pulse per householdfor three months (this is in addition to the five kgof rice/wheat already being given to them permonth); ex-gratia of `500 per month for threemonths to Women Jan Dhan account holders tobenefit 20 crore women; release first installmentof `2,000 under the PM-KISAN scheme to 8.69

crore farmers in the first week of April;an ex-gratia amount of `1,000 for thenext three months in two instalments tothree crore widows and senior citizens;free gas cylinders to 8.3 crore womenUjjawala scheme beneficiaries for threemonths; and an increase of `20 in wagerate of workers under the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MNREGA) to benefitfive crore people.

For construction workers, StateGovernments have been directed to usethe welfare fund for building and con-struction labourers (it has around`31,000 crore) to help people face eco-nomic disruption because of the lock-down.

Likewise, the funds available underthe District Mineral Fund (DMF) can beused for testing activities, medical screen-ing and providing healthcare to fight thepandemic.

Besides, under the Deen DayalNational Livelihood Mission (DDNLM),Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) willget collateral-free loans up to `20 lakh(up from `10 lakh earlier) to benefit630,000 SHGs.

For the organised sector, theGovernment will pay the Employees’Provident Fund (EPF) contribution ofboth the employer and the employee or24 per cent for three months. However,this is only for those establishments withup to 100 employees, 90 per cent of themearning less than `15,000 per month.

Further, the Employees’ ProvidentFund Organisation (EPFO) regulationwill be amended so that workers canwithdraw up to 75 per cent for contin-gency expenditure as non-refundableadvance or three months of wages inadvance, whichever is less. This isexpected to benefit 4.8 crore workers.

Of the 10 items, payment under PM-KISAN is merely a rehash of what is

already being done. The proposed relieffor construction workers and healthcarefrom the respective funds is not amenableto any precise quantification.

The increase in loan limit forWomen SHGs is not a cash transfer orgrant. The 24 per cent contribution toEPF may sound attractive but is ham-strung by a rider; thus, even if the num-ber of employees earning less than`15,000 per month is 89 per cent of thetotal, the concerned establishment won’tbe eligible. The change of EPFO regula-tion merely allows the worker to with-draw his own money.

The remaining items offer some con-crete financial benefit. Let us attempt toarrive at a number by putting relevantpieces together.

For a woman Jan Dhan accountholder, who is also the head of the house-hold, the value of 35 kg rice (for a fam-ily of five people at five kg per person)and one kg pulse is `955 (market priceof rice: ̀ 35 per kg and pulse ̀ 80 per kg);`500 ex-gratia; ̀ 500 value of subsidisedgas cylinder and `600 increase in wageunder MNREGA. All put together, thebenefit comes to `2,555 per month.

This is a good sum, though far belowthe amount required to offset the loss ofincome resulting from the lockdown.Besides, an overwhelming numbers ofworkers in the informal sector will be leftout; their benefit may at best be restrict-ed to five kg of free wheat/rice and onekg pulse (that too subject to the capabil-ity of the existing distribution networkto supply these grains to the needy).

However, we should also not beoblivious of the fiscal implications of evena limited package. The nerve-shatteringCOVID-19 has come at a time when theGovernment is staring at a big shortfallin tax collection. As it is, at `15,75,000crore, the target for 2020-21 (increase of31 per cent over the likely actual during

2019-20 at `12,00,000 crore) — fixedprior to the crisis — was highly unreal-istic. Post-crisis, this may look like day-dreaming. With the inevitability of glob-al recession and lack of market appetite,the target for proceeds from disinvest-ment of its shareholding in Public SectorUndertakings (PSUs) i.e. ̀ 2,10,000 crore(a major source of non-tax revenue) isclearly out of reach.

Some experts have suggested that theGovernment may relax the fiscal deficit(FD) target for 2020-21 by one percent-age point to release about ̀ 2,00,000 crore.But this can’t be viewed in isolation fromthe existing fiscal position. If, deferredsubsidy payments (DSPs), extra-bud-getary resources (EBRs) are included,already the FD should be six per cent (asagainst the budgeted 3.5 per cent). Thesteep decline in both tax and non-tax rev-enue (courtesy the Coronavirus) willincrease it further.

On top of this, a further relaxationof one per cent to meet expenditure com-mitments under PMGKS will lead to afiscal catastrophe. We may defeat theCoronavirus eventually but the vastmajority of the poor will be crippled byresulting high inflation (for the first timein decades, the Centre is asking the RBIto buy its bonds which in plain wordsmeans “print new currency” and isinflationary), high interest rates, high costof capital to industry, plummeting realwages and so on.

All this points to a dire need forexpediting reforms in all crucial areas viz.food, fertilisers, fuel, power, irrigation,credit, taxation, banking and PSUs so asto result in a “sustainable” reduction inspending and achieve the desired buoy-ancy in tax revenue. But, for now, it seemsall reforms have been put in the deepfreezer.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst)

While some of the relief measures announced by the FM are just financialjugglery, the remaining items offer some concrete benefits to the poor

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

Humanity unitedlike never before

HIMADRISH SUWAN

China's response to the Coronavirus outbreak is alesson on how to stay strong in times of a

global community crisis

UTTAM GUPTA

HOWEVER, WESHOULD ALSO NOT

BE OBLIVIOUS OFTHE FISCAL

IMPLICATIONS OFEVEN A LIMITED

PACKAGE. THE NERVE-SHATTERING

COVID-19 HASCOME AT A TIME

WHEN THEGOVERNMENT IS

STARING AT A BIGSHORTFALL IN TAX

COLLECTION.AS IT IS, AT

`15,75,000 CRORE,THE TARGET FOR

2020-21 (INCREASEOF 31 PER CENT

OVER THE LIKELYACTUAL DURING

2019-20 AT`12,00,000 CRORE)— FIXED PRIOR TOTHE CRISIS — WAS

HIGHLYUNREALISTIC.

POST-CRISIS, THISMAY LOOK LIKEDAYDREAMING

With nations being plagued by the alarming spread of COVID-19, the concept of world unity has acquired a new meaningand dimension. The world is unitedly trying to stop the march

of the Coronavirus and scientists, researchers and doctors are look-ing for solutions on a war footing. Spreading and multiplying with expo-nential spikes, the COVID-19 has claimed 24,863 lives and affected5,49,220 people around the world till date and the numbers are grow-ing by the day. These are tough times and many world leaders arealso in the grip of the Coronavirus, with British Prime Minister BorisJohnson being the latest addition to the list.

It is times like these that make us question the idea of free move-ment across boundaries and borders. Though, over the decades, glob-al connectivity has contributed to the exponential growth of trade, com-merce and technological developments, such pandemics make usrethink and measure the perils of having superior transportation net-works. However, a snag in the fabric of humanity is far from what itwill take to make us abandon our collective consciousness and humanintegrity.

Given China’s rampant growth and the high population densitybased on the millions of businesses operating here, it is no mysterywhy the containment and arrest of the COVID-19 outbreak was dif-ficult to manage. To add to this, China’s booming economy and indus-trial network made the virus travel and assault other nations fasterthan anticipated. Having no real history to speak of and completelybased on hygiene checks and regular sanitisation, there is no tangi-ble measure to hold on to. This has quite naturally spread panic andhysteria among people, who are majorly concerned about the col-lapse of aid and governance with time.

China, on the other hand, has been lauded for its determinedresponse in fighting and containing the epidemic. Being the epicen-tre of a mortifying disease with unknown capabilities, it must havebeen an uphill task. But, despite the world slamming the nation forbringing the Coronavirus epidemic upon it and being fixated on howBeijing tackles this crisis, what China has done, as a community, isspectacular. Right from proactively locking down its borders and sus-pending travel from and into the country — which seems like a hugedecision to take considering how deeply-entrenched trade and busi-ness is in Chinese functioning — the response has been fast andcompetent.

Having an established reputation for being miles ahead in tech-nology and development, discipline and excellence, China has indeedlived up to the world’s expectations by rapidly acting against the spreadof the Coronavirus, taking drastic measures to lock down and iso-late its population. When every major Virology expert is stressing onthe need to quarantine and restrict movement among citizens, the com-plete shutdown of Wuhan and other Hubei provinces within a few weeksof the outbreak of the COVID-19 contagion was a monumental fac-tor in slowing down the virus’ spread.

It is almost unheard of, in the recent past, of a major superpow-er completely alienating itself and strictly imposing travel restrictions,effectively jeopardising its economy and trade relations, just to com-bat an illness. Not just this, being the flagbearer of human capital avail-ability, China was able to construct two gigantic, 1,000-bed hospi-tals, with state-of-the-art facilities and test kits, within days. Such adedicated and coordinated effort by the healthcare professionals, firstresponders and construction workers, is no mean feat. They stoodby their nation and poured their hearts and souls into those develop-ments, all the while being dangerously susceptible to exposure.

China has been called the fasting-growing economy for years.With its booming industrial markets, it has achieved stellar heights ofbusiness leadership. With the COVID-19 contributing to plunging stocks,decimated production chains and halted exchange of raw materialsto industry leaders like Apple and Tesla, it is amazing how the coun-try has managed to hold on to its nerves and not crumble under thisonslaught.

Interestingly, while the number of Coronavirus cases has beengrowing across the world, it is on the decline in China. This goes toprove that suspending schools, offices, all major gatherings and even-tually going into a lockdown, indeed turned the stakes in humanity’sfavour. Having a responsive and watertight public healthcare systemalso nipped the problem in the bud, historically speaking.

It is hard to imagine what would have transpired if this decisionhad been delayed by Beijing. The pandemic, that is taking a new andaggressive shape each passing day, would have become an even big-ger monster, impossible to fight.

The Coronavirus outbreak and China’s response to it is indeeda lesson on how to put barriers around panic and keep a strong facein times of a global community crisis. And finally, it is a sight to behold,how we humans have united against a common enemy and are fight-ing for mankind’s survival, shoulder to shoulder.

(The writer is Chairman, Confederation of Young Leaders andDirector, Indian Institute of Governance and Leadership)

It is often said that marketing is thelink between (a segment of) soci-ety’s needs and its economic

response patterns. However, onemajor group of customers that haslargely been ignored by marketers ispersons with disabilities (PwDs) ordivyangs.

When the corporate strategyguru CK Prahalad exhorted compa-nies in the late 20th century to alle-viate poverty and profit from the“Bottom of the Pyramid”, the target-ting horizon for corporates widened

significantly. Thus was opened a newfrontier which corporates had notthought of till then. On similar lines,today it might be worth looking atspecial needs groups like PwDs asprofitable target segments in afocussed manner.

According to the World Bank, thesize of this market is in the range ofapproximately 15 per cent of the glob-al population. That is to say, approx-imately one billion people on the plan-et are in dire need of products that canhelp solve their problems of fitting in,holding down jobs, or simply surviv-ing with dignity. In India, the num-ber of divyangs is nearly 2.7 crore. Addto this another 150 million senior cit-izens who also face varying degreesof disabilities and impairments as theyage. A further impetus comes fromthe knowledge that as lifespansincrease due to better healthcarefacilities, the proportion of senior cit-izens will only increase in the future.It might, therefore, be safe to surmise

that it is a lucrative-enough market topursue with earnestness. Are mar-keters scanning the demographicand divyang data well enough toaggressively chase this segment?Could it be a new frontier for earlystarters in this domain?

Intervention experts who workwith PwDs have time and againexhorted industry doyens to designand develop assistive devices that willhelp an individual to do somethingthat they otherwise might be inca-pable of doing. It often helps peopleovercome a handicap.

Some examples of assistive tech-nologies are: Aids to help mobility likewheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes,crutches, prosthetic devices, andorthotic devices. Devices that helphearing-impaired individualshear/hear more clearly. Aids to assistcognitive functions in people withmemory, attention or informationprocessing challenges. Computerhardware and software that enable

individuals with mobility and senso-ry impairments use computers andmobile devices. Tools to help learn-ers with disabilities participate in edu-cational activities with the help ofautomatic page turners, book holdersand adapted pencil grips. Also, closedcaptioning via apps to help peoplewith hearing problems watch visualcontent.

It can also include physical mod-ifications in the built environment,including ramps, grab bars, widerdoorways to enable access to build-ings, businesses/workplaces and yel-low strips to outline safe walkingareas. Plus, high-performance mobil-ity devices made with lightweightmaterials that enable divyangs toplay sports and be generally activephysically. Also, adaptive switches andutensils to allow those with limitedmotor skills to prepare food, consumeit and accomplish other related activ-ities, are the need of the hour.

PwDs have the same range of

aspirations, preferences and attitudetowards brands and products as peo-ple without. And yet this niche mar-ket is underserved. While the bigcompanies focus on the vast majori-ty of the market, smaller firms andentrepreneurs will do well to engagewith this niche segment.

People like to buy from peoplewho look like them. So divyangs maybe engaged in advertisements toPwDs. Marketers should test-marketproducts on PwDs and their familymembers or care givers to obtain pre-cise feedback. Some researchers con-tend that when companies marketingto PwDs have divyang employees intheir organisation, it helps in connect-ing with the target group as having avaried customer base appears to bemore acceptable to PwD customers.Marketers must also exhibit genuineinterest and concern for the PwD seg-ment by engaging with disability-ori-ented organisations and non-profitsin their activities. Marketing to PwDs

needs appreciation of the fact that dis-abilities are varied and a one-size-fits-all approach will be counterproduc-tive. For instance, a visually-chal-lenged person’s needs would be quitedifferent from that of a mobility-impaired one.

Marketers would also do well tobear in mind that instead of trying tobring new products, tweaking exist-ing ones to improve accessibilitycould be quicker. For instance, abraille smartphone for the visually-impaired; Artificial Intelligence- basedsoftware that converts speech into textfor the hearing-impaired; carsdesigned to allow wheelchair- boundpeople to enter the vehicle directlywith the wheelchair and then drive sit-ting in the wheelchair itself; voice/ges-ture-activated home appliances for themobility-impaired; medicine boxeswith light/sound signals to help elder-ly and memory loss individualsremember to take/keep track of pre-scribed drug schedules; spectacles-

mounted laser pointers for comput-er keyboards for cerebral palsypatients and so on.

There is an acute need for “assis-tive technology products”, much morethan what marketers have cared toexplore. With Government policieslike Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan(Accessible India Campaign) inmotion since 2015, marketers coulddeliver a better quality of life for PwDsbecause there is now a structuredapproach and framework available.Importantly, such marketing must notbe pursued as a charity or philan-thropic activity.

Divyangs value their self-esteemand personal dignity just as much asany other person. All that marketersneed to do is deliver value in the formof access to an equal lifestyle at a rea-sonable cost and there could befound an ocean of loyal and proudcustomers among the PwDs.

(The writer is Professor, Marketing,Great Lakes Institute of Management)

An ocean of opportunity in assistive productsAll that marketers need to do is deliver value in the form of access to an equal lifestyle at a reasonable cost

to divyangs and they would find huge numbers of loyal and proud customers

JONES MATHEW

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Tata Motors extendsfree service, OEwarranty periodMUMBAI: Tata Motors onFriday said it has "proactively"extended the last date to July31 for customers whoseoriginal equipment warrantyand free service period weredue to expire between March15 and May 31. The step hasbeen taken due to the 21-daypan-India lockdown imposedby the central government fromWednesday. All Tata Motorsworkshops will ensure that thecustomers have been informedof this extension, the companysaid in a statement. "In the lightof the Central Governmentimposed lockdown due to theCOVID-19 outbreak and theresultant inability of ourcustomers to avail maintenanceand repairs, as part of theirvehicle's warranty policy, TataMotors has decided to extendthe last date, for customerswhose OE warranty and freeservice period (not kms.) aredue to expire between March15 and May 31, to July 31," thecompany said in the statement.

Exporters call forone-year repaymentmoratoriumMUMBAI: Appreciating themassive liquidity infusion witha slew of measures that theRBI announced earlier in theday, the national exportersbody has called for specificsteps for the industry since itbeing the worst hit. "While themoratorium on all loansrepayments for three monthsand 75 bps cut in interestrates would help exporters aswell, the export sector hasbeen the worst hit by theCoronavirus pandemic andwould thus need bigger relief."The moratorium on loanrepayments should beextended at least to 6-12months for exporters since theglobal economy is set to beslipping into a recession,"EEPC chairman Ravi Sehgalsaid in a statement.He said it will be a long haulfor exports to resume asalmost the entire world isunder lockdowns.

Govt raises Rs 11,500cr from sale of THDC,NEEPCO to NTPCNEW DELHI: The governmenthas raised Rs 11,500 crorethrough strategic sale of twostate-run power companies,THDC and NEEPCO, to NTPC.The government has sold74.49 per cent stake in THDCfor Rs 7,500 crore and 100per cent in NEEPCO for Rs4,000 crore. With this, thetotal disinvestment proceedsin the current financial yearstand at over Rs 46,500 crore.The Revised Estimates hadpegged disinvestment receiptsin the current financial year atRs 65,000 crore. "DIPAMcompleted two more strategicdisinvestment transactions.GoI's 74.49 per cent stake inTHDC at a consideration of Rs7500 cr and 100 per centstake in NEEPCO at Rs 4000cr has been disinvested infavour of NTPC," SecretaryDIPAM said in a tweet.

Sensex snaps 3-day rally, ends131 pts lower on recession fearsPNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark indexSensex erased early sharp gainsto close lower by 131 points onFriday, snapping its three-dayrising streak as concerns overan impending recession height-ened after the RBI said the pro-jected annual growth was atrisk due to the COVID-19outbreak.

In a bid to support theeconomy during the pandem-ic, RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas unveiled a slew of mea-sures, including its steepestinterest rate cuts in morethan 11 years. The repo hasbeen cut by 75 basis points to4.4 per cent - the lowest in atleast 15 years.

Further, the Reserve Bankreduced the cash reserve ratio(CRR) for all banks by 100basis points to 3 per cent torelease Rs 1.37 lakh croreacross the banking system. Italso allowed banks to put onhold monthly instalment pay-ments on all term loans forthree months.

After opening significantly

higher, the 30-share BSEbarometer gave up all the gainsto end 131.18 points or 0.44 percent lower at 29,815.59. It hita high of 31,126.03 and a lowof 29,346.99 in day trade.

On the other hand, thebroad-based NSE Nifty closed18.80 points, or 0.22 per cent,higher at 8,660.25.

Bajaj Finance was the biggestloser in the Sensex pack, tank-ing up to 8 per cent, followedby Hero MotoCorp, IndusIndBank, Maruti and HCL Tech.

Axis Bank, ITC, NTPC andM&M were among the topgainers.

Despite massive rate cuts,domestic market turned neg-ative on concerns over theannual economic growthamid rising uncertainty overthe COVID-19 pandemic,traders said.

Announcing the decisions ofthe Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC), RBIGovernor Das said that no pro-jection for growth and inflation

was being given in view of theuncertainty created by out-break of the deadly virus.

He further said that thegrowth projection of 4.7 percent for the fourth quarter of2019-20 and 5 per cent for thewhole fiscal was at risk.

Jimeet Modi, Founder andCEO, Samco Securities said, Insuch uncertain times, insteadof fresh funds entities want tosave their skin, RBI's relaxationof only 3 months instead of 6months for moratorium on

interest on loans and workingcapital has disappointed many.

He added that there is nodoubt that the RBI is playingevery card in its pocket to pre-vent a crisis-like situation bygiving banks the ability to lendmore, but as such no directhelping hand has been given toailing industries as of now.

Meanwhile globally, bours-es in Shanghai, Hong Kong,Tokyo and Seoul ended high-er, while benchmarks inEurope were trading in the red.

International oil benchmarkBrent crude fell 2.20 per centto USD 25.76 per barrel infutures trade.

On the currency front, therupee depreciated marginallyto 75.20 against the US dollarin intra-day trade.

The death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 17 in thecountry on Friday and thenumber of coronavirus casesclimbed to 724, according tothe Health Ministry.

The number of deathsaround the world linked to thenew coronavirus has crossedover 24,000.

PNS n MUMBAI

Despite the Reserve Bank ofIndia's (RBI) massive actionsto spur the economy, India'sgross domestic product (GDP)is likely to contract by 4.5 percent in the April-June 2020quarter and will rise by only 2per cent in 2020-21 on thecoronavirus impact, accordingto domestic rating agency Icra.

While announcing a num-ber of measures in the policyreview, the RBI refrained fromgiving its estimate on bothgrowth and inflation, sayingthings are fluid and rapidlychanging.

The Indian economy wasalready supposed to clock adecadal low growth of 5 per centin 2019-20, according to officialestimates, and the coronavirus-related worries have only com-pounded the problems.

"Regardless of the measuresannounced now by the RBI,we are lowering our base casescenario for GDP growth to (-)4.5 per cent for Q1 FY2021and to 2 per cent for FY21,"Icra said in a note on Friday.

They said the estimate isguided by the rapidly growinguncertainties over the durationof the impact of coronaviruson economic activity in Indiaand the rest of the world.

The RBI's policy measuresgot welcomed as a set of "com-prehensive announcements"by the agency.

"The combination of mora-toriums, liquidity enhancingmeasures and the sharper-than-hoped-for repo rate cutwill help to assuage the mar-kets in these increasinglyunsettled times, and offersome protection against wide-spread defaults, even thoughthe actual impact on boostingeconomic activity may be lim-ited," it said.

A slew of analysts havebeen downwardly revisingtheir growth estimates fol-lowing the outbreak of thecoronavirus pandemic in Indiaand also a host of developedcountries. India has beenplaced under a three-weeklockdown till mid-April,which has chilled virtually allthe economic activity.

GDP likely to growjust 2 per cent in2020-21: Icra

PM, FM, industry welcome RBI ‘bazooka' of interest rate cut, liquidity measuresPNS n NEW DELHI

From Prime Minister NarendraModi to rating agencies andeconomists, all welcomed theReserve Bank of India's steps toreduce the cost of borrowingand infusing liquidity in themarket in its war against theimpact of coronavirus pan-demic. Following are the com-ments made by key leaders,businessmen and economists:Prime Minister Narendra Modi:Today RBI has takengiant steps tosafeguard oureconomy fromthe impact of theCoronavirus. Theannouncements willimprove liquidity, reduce the costof funds, help middle class and

businesses.Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman:Appreciate RBIGovernorShaktikanta Das'reassuring wordson financialstability. The 3-monthmoratorium on payments of termloan installments (EMI) andinterest on working capital givemuch-desired relief. The slashedinterest rate needs quicktransmission.Alka Anbarasu of Moody's

Investors Service:"RBI's guidelinespermitting banksand non-bankfinancial

institutions togrant a 3-month

moratorium on loan repaymentswill soften the negative creditimpact that the coronavirus hashad on their borrowers in the nearterm. However, there are stillmaterial downside risks to assetquality given the halt in India'seconomy, the impact of which will

not be known until a few quartersafter the end of the moratorium.SBI ChairmanRajnish Kumar:The RBI policyannouncementsare bold, decisive,compelling and

with a humane touch inattenuating to the needs of theeconomy to fight through thepandemic. The large rate cut, theadjustment in capital conservationbuffer, the moratorium onrepayments and the bazooka ofconventional CRR cut andunconventional liquidity measureof incentivising banks to supportCP market - all will help financialmarkets stabilise, lead toimmediate rate transmission andaddress the credit needs of the realeconomy. Given that we are inexceptional times, RBI has playedthe role of championing the causefor the economy andfinancial system!Cyril Shroff,ManagingPartner, CyrilAmarchand

Mangaldas: The RBI hasunleashed a bazooka to deal withthe economic pain and uncertaintyprevailing. This provides a much-needed respite for borrowers andlenders in these tryingcircumstances and should softenthe recovery period.* BJP president Jagat PrakashNadda: RBI decision will help themiddle class. I welcome theseprogressive and timely measures.Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan:

Moratorium onpayment ofinterest on loansand workingcapital will

provide much-needed relief to both

people and businesses. Raymond Ltd chairman andmanaging director Gautam Hari

Singhania: Themovesannounced byRBI today aredecisive and acomprehensivepackage to ensure the stability offinancial markets makingborrowing costs as low aspossible with businesses aroundthe country are closed and theeconomy is showing recessionarytrends. The steps to ease workingcapital pain, reduced liquiditycosts and providing moratoriumon term loans will alleviate stress

across varioussectors.

Essar PortsCEO RajivAgarwal:Moratorium of

3 months for

interest and principle paymentsalong with a sharp cut in the CRRwill ease the liquidity and helpindustry as well other segmentsof the economy. More stepsmight be needed once theGovernment comes out with themuch-needed stimulus packageto overcome the economic crisisarising from COVID-19.Anshuman Magazine, CBRE: RBI

is in a missionmode to nurturethe market,preservefinancialstability and

the timing hereis crucial. The

decision to defer installments ofall term loans by three monthswill provide the necessarysupport to homebuyers as well.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With demand and supply beensuspended due to COVID-19lockdown, edible oils tradebody SEA on Friday urged themarket regulator Sebi to takeaction to curb excessive spec-ulation in castor seed futureson the NCDEX platform.

In view of the coronavirusoutbreak, all market yards areclosed, all manufacturing unitsare shut, most export activitiesare closed. But the NCDEXcastor seed futures has beenhitting upper circuit since lasttwo days on very thin vol-umes, it added.

"In the absence of the func-tioning of the physical marketdue to the COVID-19, theNCDEX futures market isbeing driven by speculatorswithout any correlation to the

physical market fundamen-tals," Solvent ExtractorsAssociation of India (SEA)Executive Director B V Mehtasaid in a letter to the Securitiesand Exchange Board of India(Sebi). To protect the sanctityof the market, the industrybody said the Sebi shouldtake suitable action as in thecurrent conditions, the futuresmarket is completely unlinkedto the physical market.

Trade body demands Sebiaction to curb speculationin castor seed futures

PNS n NEW DELHI

Biotechnology major Bioconand its arm Biocon Biologicshave activated business continu-ity plans across their functionsto prepare for unforeseen eventsin light of the evolving COVID-19 situation.

The plans have been activat-ed also to meet the needs ofpatients, partners, customersand other stakeholders, Bioconsaid in a filing to the BSE.

Biocon will continue to oper-ate essential pharmaceuticalmanufacturing in full compli-ance with government require-ments, it added.

"Since we are involved inmanufacturing of essentialdrugs, we are assessing theimpact of the lockdown on ourability to continue with manu-facturing operations of essentialpharmaceuticals, biopharma-ceuticals and APIs in order to

meet our commitments topatients, customers and part-ners," it added.

While supply chain disrup-tions and impaired mobilitydue to lockdowns have a directbearing on the operations, "weare working to minimise disrup-tion to production schedules andsupply of drugs...," Biocon said.

The current inventory ofmost of "our raw materials forthe company is estimated to lastfor the next few months," itadded. Shares of Biocon weretrading at Rs 276.35 per scrip,down 2.33 per cent, on the BSE.

Biocon, Biologics activatebusiness continuity plans

PNS n MUMBAI

Analysts were unanimous inwelcoming RBI's rate cuts, for-bearance on loans and liquid-ity easing measures, sayingthe economy requires stimuliin the present circumstances.

Some of them also said thatthe Reserve Bank of India(RBI) may have to deepen therate cut if the COVID-19 cri-sis prolongs.

The RBI, which advanced ameeting of the rate settingpanel by a week, announced a0.75 per cent cut in its policyrates, infusion of Rs 3.76 lakhcrore of liquidity throughmoves like a cut in cash reserve

ratio and also allowed banks tonot treat any term loans asNPAs for three months if thereis no repayment.

“RBI, very correctly so,announced a comprehensivebazooka covering all aspects ofthe economy by taking mea-

sures system-wide boththrough liquidity, rates andregulatory forbearance (retailas well as for industry) and alsotargeted measures to managethe corporate bond markets,”Kotak Mahindra Bank's senioreconomist Upasana Bharadwajsaid.

She said the measuresshould help in tiding issueswhich many banks/institutionswere fearing and will go a longway in cushioning the disloca-tions in various markets.

The bank expects addition-al scope for 0.40-0.50 per centcut depending on the nature ofspread of COVID-19, sheadded.

RBI steps to help mitigate impactof coronavirus lockdown: IndustryPNS n NEW DELHI

A slew of measures announcedby the RBI on Friday would helpmitigate the impact of coron-avirus-related lockdown onbusinesses, the industry said.

The industry said that thesteps would help push lendingrates down, encourage banks toinfuse money into productivesectors, infuse liquidity andaddress the financial stress in thesystem. The RBI on Fridayallowed banks to put on holdEMI payments on all term loansfor three months and cut inter-

est rate by the steepest in morethan 11 years as it joined the gov-ernment efforts to rescue aslowing economy that has nowgot caught in coronavirus whirl-wind. The RBI cut repo to 4.4 percent, the lowest in at least 15years. Also, it reduced the cashreserve ratio maintained by thebanks for the first time in overseven years. CRR for all bankswas cut by 100 basis points torelease Rs 1.37 lakh crore acrossthe banking system.

“The current situation in theeconomy and financial marketsis extremely fragile and it

required a massive dose ofmonetary stimulus to be inject-ed at the earliest. The RBI hasdone just that. This should helplift the spirit of economy, " FicciPresident Sangita Reddy said.

"This, together with a host ofother measures to boost liquid-ity will address the financialstress in the system on accountof the COVID-19 outbreak andthe consequent lockdown. Thesubstantial reduction in the CRRwill help banks to reduce theirlending rates and aid monetarytransmission, " CII DG’sChandrajit Banerjee said.

PNS n SINGAPORE

Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong has described the coro-navirus outbreak in Singaporeas “very grave”, saying that hisgovernment will do whateverit takes to stabilise the coun-try's economy even if nobodycan tell what lies ahead.

Speaking to reporters afterthe government unveiled asupplementary budget of 48.4billion Singapore dollars inParliament on Thursday totackle the coronavirus out-break, Lee assured that he willdo everything possible to sta-bilise the city state's economy,preserve jobs and help compa-nies stay afloat.

"Whatever it takes to do that,we will do them," Lee said.

"We want to see peoplethrough this; we are under noillusions that this is the end ofthe story because nobody cantell what lies ahead," he added.

The city-state has reported683 virus infections and twodeaths, but has won praise forits approach and has so faravoided going into a totallockdown.

Lee gave a sense of the fast-changing situation, pointingout that his government hadthought the measures con-tained in the Budget present-ed on February 18 would buy

a few months of time for it toassess the situation and puttogether a second package.

“But we did not expect with-in one month, the picture wastotally changed, the healthpicture was totally changed, theeconomic picture was totallychanged,” conceded Lee.

"This is why theGovernment also completelychanged its policy responseand set aside a further 48.4 bil-lion Singapore dollars to sup-port businesses, workers andfamilies, he said.

It was a SupplementaryBudget nearly seven times theinitial 6.4 billion Singaporedollars worth of measures inthe February Budget to cush-ion the COVID-19 fallout.

The combined 55 billionSingapore dollar budget to

combat the coronavirus isintended to see the countryuntil the end of the year.

Lee added that Singaporeansmust be psychologically pre-pared for things to worsen inthe coming months.

In such a scenario, the gov-ernment is prepared to tap onthe reserves again, he said.

Singapore is drawing fromnational reserves to fund thesupplementary budgetannounced on Thursday.

Lee noted that economiesaround the world have beendrastically hit as the flow ofgoods and people reach astandstill.

As an open economy,Singapore is particularly hardhit, especially in industriessuch as aviation, tourism andhotels, he pointed out.

Bajaj Financewas the biggestloser in theSensex pack,tanking up to 8per cent,followed byHero MotoCorp,IndusInd Bank,Maruti and HCLTech

Covid-19 ‘very grave’ in Singapore,will stabilise economy: PM Lee

Biocon will continue tooperate essentialpharmaceuticalmanufacturing in fullcompliance withgovernmentrequirements, it added

Analysts welcome RBI stimulus measures

ecessity is the mother of invention, they say and the very sameproverb seems to be guiding the tribal folk on northTelangana terrain following the spurt of the Coronavirus andthe lockdown season.

Locals in the distant forests are aware of the fact that thedreaded Coronavirus may cause serious loss to mankind and henceprecautions were taken with by them with whatever resources wereavailable. This, much before the entry of the government machinery.

The tribal populace in the distant thandas and gudemsmade masks on their own, with leaves. A picture of thesame has been going viral for over two days now.

The Thanda’s elderly and heads of gudems in theWajedu, Venkatapuram and on the Eturnagaram beltof the Mulugu district have been taking necessary stepsto guide the next generation to contain the spurt of

COVID-19. Advanced technology that has been fanning intothe interior pasture with the aid of mobile phones,

radio, and TV has played a catalyst in guid-ing the tribals of the Mulugu, Bhadrachalamand other tribal districts and contiguousparts of the neighbouring state of

Chattisgarh.Though a war-like situation in the Abuzmadh

region continues to prevail between the Naxals andpolice force, the lockdown period has been takenas a truce time by both the parties. The Gottikoyasand Koyas in the region pleaded both, the govern-ment and Maoist forces, to not take to any seri-ous offensive steps during the lockdown periodand appealed them to maintain restraint.

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

Back then, it wasvery peaceful as the

city was not crowded. But Ifeel it doesn’t have thatcharm anymore as the cityhas expanded in ahaphazard manner on allsides. This makes it feellike an overgrown village.Another thing that worriesme is the level of pollution

and rising temperatures. RADHIKA SRINIVASAN

SaturdayMarch 28, 2020

N

eople from far and near call Hyderabadtheir home and one such person isRadhika Srinivasan, who moved to thecity from Mumbai. Having lived in var-

ious cities across the country, she decided to makeHyderabad her home when her husband got a jobhere.

She said that the laidback attitude of the peo-ple helped her take that decision. “I moved herewhen my husband got a job in 1995. We used tolive in Mumbai and compared to the mad rushthere, this city is very chilled out. That is some-thing that drew me here as I was born andbrought up in Calcutta, another city known forits laidback attitude,” Radhika said.

People are generally apprehensive of movingto a new city and this was also the case with her.Radhika said, “People told us that one can’t man-age in Hyderabad without knowing Telugu. Myhusband and I, being born and brought up in theNorth, never had issues in Mumbaias people spoke Hindi. So initially wewere worried about how we wouldmanage here. Then one day a man inMumbai told us that people here con-verse in Hindi too. That ended ourapprehensions. Initially, we startedliving in Malkajgiri, an area that hasa large number of Tamilians, and asTamil is our mother tongue, we werehappy there. We then moved toMarredpally, which is again filledwith Tamilians and Marwaris. Now,having moved to Saket in Sainikpuri,is a entirely different experience asthere are people from all over thecountry here. So we have never feltout of place.”

Speaking of how the city has changed in the25 years that she has lived here, the mother of twosaid, “Back then, it was very peaceful as the citywas not crowded. But I feel it doesn’t have thatcharm anymore as the city has expanded in a hap-hazard manner on all sides. This makes it feel likean overgrown village. Another thing that worriesme is the level of pollution and rising tempera-tures. The city is known to not have a rainy sea-son per se. But now, it rains at all odd times

and the

humidity is also high now.”Career-wise, Radhika said that the city has

given her ample opportunities. “When I movedto Hyderabad, I was very active in the music cir-cle and used to give concerts. I even applied forA Grade in All India Radio (AIR). In Marredpally,one of our neighbours came to know that I usedto play the violin. And as word got around, awoman came home and asked me to play for her.That is how I started giving concerts initially. Iwas also a vocalist then. But I had to give it allup as at the turn of the century, my daughter wasborn and my parents also fell ill. This forced meto take a sabbatical. After the 8-9 year hiatus, asenior artist once asked me why I stopped play-ing. That was when I decided to pick things upwhere I left off and went to learn from him. Therehas been no looking back since.”

“The audience here still prefer light music toclassical music like Chennai. People here gener-

ally ask us to play popular songor songs they are familiar with,whereas in Mumbai andChennai, people prefer new stuff.I have performed jugalbandiselsewhere in the country and wassurprised to see people eagerlylistening to Carnatic music evenin Nanded,” she said about themusic preferences of people inthe city.

Having lived in the city forover two decades, one is set tohave a set of fond memories andso does Radhika. She said,“When one says Hyderabad, thefirst thing that comes to my

mind is Marredpally. It is bang in the centre ofthe city. However, the perks of living in Sainikpuriare that there is a lot of peace and relatively less-er number of people moving about at any giventime. I also love the Hussainsagar and we usedto frequent it and the Birla Mandir. I also usedto attend concerts at Keyes High School when Iused to stay in Marredpally.”

With likes come dislikes. “Tank Bund hasbecome very polluted and crowded. Too

many pandals have been given permissionswhich has led to this. Traffic has also grown

by leaps and bounds. To mitigate allthese, public transport should

improve and Metro,though a boon,

must be usedwell. These aremy major

grouches,” Radhika said.“Another thing I feel which should be done on

a war footing is the reduction of plastic.People here still want a plastic bag forone milk packet. All small plastic bagsmust be stopped as our future gener-ations will be affected. Personally, Ihave been following this for years andhope people get this into their heads,”she added.

When asked what she feels aboutdemolition of Nizam-era struc-tures to rebuild or reuse them forother purposes, Radhika said,“Definitely such structuresshould not bedestroyed as theyare links to ourpast.”

Speakingof the peo-ple here shes a i d ,“Peopleare veryfriendly andI have been ableto live here forso longbecause ofthat. We havenever felt likeo u t s i d e r s .Even whenit comes tothe musicf i e l d ,m a n yorganis-ers don’tfeel I am aTami l i an ,and are veryaccepting.”

When herfamily comes tovisit the first thing ontheir mind is biryani, she said. “Out-siders always want to see the maintourist attractions and shop atCharminar. They also want Paradisebiryani and Qubani ka meetha. I personal-ly love Bagara baigan and milk Mysorepak.”

“If I get a chance, I would definitely rec-ommend the city to settle down,” Radhika con-cludes.

USING HUMOUR TOCOPE WITH DISTRESS

With access to theinternet, people have

resorted to usinghumour to cope withthe rapidly spreading

Coronavirus. Ever sincethe virus started

spreading, various socialmedia platforms like

Twitter, Facebook andInstagram have been

flooded with memes onvarious topics like tissue

paper hoarding, workfrom home issues,

frustration over socialdistancing and so on

which are helping bringsmiles in such times,

writes Rachel Dammala

ollowing the government’s orders,to quarantine themselves to fightthe Coronavirus, most people havebeen staying home for almost aweek now.

While there are those that are utilisingit to spend quality time with their familiesat home, others have decided to the makethe most of it by tapping into their muse.And one of the best results of them arememes on coronavirus.

Some of the most popular memes are theones on Indians singing bhajans to shooaway the virus, including Union MinisterRamdas Athawale who dispassionatelysloganeered “Go Corona, Corona Go”.Another favourite is the one with ‘Bunty’from an old Lifebuoy Handwash advertwhere he tells his friends that one shouldwash one’s hand for a full minute toensure it is germ-free. There are alsoinnumerable ones about the frustrations ofworking from home.

Asked how Coronavirus has inspiredcontent on social media, AnindyaDasgupta, a meme lover himself, replies,“We’re at home and have nowhere to go.After a point, it gets frustrating at homedoing nothing. Thus, memes have becomea way to deal with the crisis, albeit in ahumorous way.”

Nikita Venkat, a meme fanatic, secondsDasgupta and said, “There’s only so muchyou can do at home. For an introvert likeme and for those who aren't having a greattime at home, these memes are a great senseof relief.”

But what makes them so popular?Harsha Vardhan, a filmmaker opines,“The idea that we’re not alone, that some-body thousands of miles away too, relateswith something that I’m going through,makes it all the more personal, which iswhat makes me want to share it with fiveothers.”

Ravi Shankar, a media professional,says, “A very small number of the youthconsume news from newspapers and tele-vision. When memes help spread informa-tion and awareness with humour, you can’thelp but want to create, share and deriveentertainment from them.”

There is no better time to explain thephrase ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ thantoday. On one hand there are peopleindulging in panic buying as a result ofeither misinformation or rumours. And onthe other hand (a clean one — pun intend-ed), memes are not only helping ease panic,but also informing netizens. But humourin times of grief, especially in the face ofdeath, was never encouraged by the major-ity.

When did this suddenly become so wide-ly acceptable? Psychologist and studentcounselor for Narayana Institutions, CharanGudipati shares that social media, global-isation and movies have inspired thischange. “Our sense of humour has broad-ened and is becoming universal. Human lifehas never been so safeguarded in history.Decades ago, when people heard aboutsickness in a village nearby, they wouldevacuate immediately. Today, science hashelped allay those fears, giving scope tobring in humour in times like these,” headds.

One can’t disagree that laughter is a stressbuster. And not just memes, but songs onCOVID-19 too, have gone viral. From well-known stand-up comedian NaveenRichard’s Corona song that educates view-ers about the virus to the recently releasedsong by Dinchak Pooja, which advises peo-ple to practice social distancing, netizensare loving it. Our very own Telugu boys liv-ing in the United States, John Chevakula,Srujith Manuka and Pranay Boda too, wrotea song on Covid-19 based on the tune ofpop singer Camila Cabello’s Havana. Thehilarious song touches various issues likesocial-distancing, work from home andpanic buying.

F

WHEN ONE SAYSHYDERABAD, THE

FIRST THING THAT COMES TO

MY MIND ISMARREDPALLY.

IT IS BANG IN THECENTRE OF THE

CITY

PHyderabad, thecity of pearls, is

known to be thefirst choice for

those wanting tomigrate in search

of jobs. Theclimate, people,

food and otheressential services

make it acompelling optionfor many. Radhika

Srinivasan, ahousewife and a

violinist, who hasbeen living here

for over twodecades, speaks to

K RAMYA SREEabout what made

her makeHyderabad her

home, theopportunities the

city has to offer,and more.

‘CITY BEAUTIFUL, BUT LOSINGBATTLE TO POLLUTION, WARMING'

Tribals bet onindigenous masksTribals in the Wajedu belt of NorthTelangana have been wearing masksmade by them out of leaves, to preventthe contact of the virus. The villagershave been staying indoors and adheringreligiously to the lockdown called bythe government, reports PV Kondal Rao

A VERY SMALL NUMBEROF THE YOUTH CONSUME

NEWS FROM NEWSPAPERSAND TELEVISION. WHEN MEMESHELP SPREAD INFORMATION ANDAWARENESS WITH HUMOUR, YOUCAN’T HELP BUT WANT TOCREATE, SHARE AND DERIVEENTERTAINMENT FROM THEM

— RAVI SHANKAR A

10

Hyderabad Saturday March 28, 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ctress and Duchess ofSussex Meghan Marklewill be narrating theDisneynature docu-mentary Elephants.

The show will debuton April 3 on Disney Plus, the stu-dio announced Thursday.

This will be Meghan’s first pro-ject in show business after she andher husband, Prince Harry, Dukeof Sussex, officially step away fromtheir roles within the British RoyalFamily on March 31, reportsvariety.com.

In support of Elephants,Disneynature and the DisneyConservation Fund are donating toElephants Without Borders, an organ-isation working to protect the ele-phants living in Botswana.

Earlier this year, news broke thatMarkle had partnered with Disney onan unspecified project after she andher husband revealed they would bestepping back from their royal duties.

In the announcement,Disneynature’s credits Markle asMeghan, The Duchess of Sussex, ratherthan including her previous royal titleof HRH. Elephant will premiere onDisney Plus the same day as the pre-viously announced Disneynature documentaryDolphin Reef, which will be narrated byNatalie Portman. Penguins, which opened intheaters in 2019, will also debut on thestreaming service that day.

A

Meghan Markleback to showbizas narrator ofdocumentaryElephants

DISNEYNATURE’S CREDITSMARKLE AS MEGHAN, THEDUCHESS OF SUSSEX, RATHERTHAN INCLUDING HER PREVIOUSROYAL TITLE OF HRH. ELEPHANTWILL PREMIERE ON DISNEYPLUS THE SAME DAY AS THEPREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCEDDISNEYNATURE DOCUMENTARYDOLPHIN REEF

anna Laddu Thina Aasaiya star and doctorSethuraman passed away due to a cardiac arrestin the late hours last night at his residence here.He was 36.

The actor’s demise comes a shock to his friends,family and colleagues in the film industry.

A dermatologist by profession, Sethuraman was introducedin Tamil films by his friend actor Santhanam. After his firstfilm, he went on to star in films such as Vaaliba Raja, SakkaPodu Podu Raja and 50/50.

Actor Santhanam took to his Twitter account to say:“Totally shocked and depressed on

the demise of my dear friendDr.Sethu.. May his soul rest in

peace.”The young doctor mar-

ried Uma on February 12,2016 and the couple has achild. He had suffered aspine injury and under-went a surgery in 2017. Itis said that he wentthrough serious mental

and physical stress due tothe same.

Sethuraman is the ownerZ clinic —��a chain ofskin care and cosmetologyclinics in Chennai.

K

Tamil actor-doctorSethuraman dies ofcardiac arrest at 36

aylor Swift is helping fill the blankspace where incomes have gonefor several of her fans. Somehave gotten thousands of dol-lars from the Lover and 1989hit maker.

One fan, Holly Turner, got a cash infu-sion from Swift after the freelance musicphotographer and graphic designer wrote onTumblr that her livelihood was threatened andshe was considering whether to leave New York City.

Swift sent $3,000 and wrote, “Holly, you’ve always beenthere for me. I want to be there for you right now. I hopethis helps. Love, Taylor.” Turner was understandablyshocked. Swift “literally single-handedly saved my abil-ity to stay here. I cannot even believe my eyes right now,”Turner wrote.

Swift also sent $3,000 to another fan who was stressedabout bills piling up, prompting this response from thegrateful recipient: “This beautiful magical unbelievablehuman. I don’t even know where to begin.”

Other celebrities who’ve made donations during thecrisis include Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Kylie Jenner,Roger Federer and more.

T

Taylor Swift surprisesCovid-19 affected fanswith $3,000 each.That's Rs 2.2 lakh

osagallu, starring Manchu Vishnu and KajalAggarwal, is one of the many films that gothit by Covid-19 outbreak while on production.Having gone to floors lastJuly, the team managed towrap up portions in

Tirupati, Hyderabad, LA so far andwas to shoot some portions in a spe-cially erected IT set in Kukatpally thatcost Vishnu Rs 3.5 crore. But with thelockdown in place, the shoot had to bedeferred indefinitely. The actor-produc-er is now looking to resume proceed-ings once the situation returns to nor-malcy. In a statement on Friday, heappealed to people to follow the directivesof government and maintain social distance.

Inspired by Rs 2,800 crore heist, whichled to tremors in the entire IT world inMumbai some seven years, Mosagallu— a Telugu, Tamil and Hindi trilin-gual — also features NaveenChandra, Navdeep and Suniel Shettyin supporting roles. Directed byJeffrey Gee Chin, it is a joint produc-tion venture between Via MarEntertainment, AVA Entertainmentand 24 Frames Factory.

day after top personalities of theindustry — MegastarChiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan,Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Prabhas,Ram Charan, Sai Tej, KoratalaSiva, Anil Ravipudi, Dil Raju

and Sirish — donated handsomely toCMRF, PMNRF and for daily wage employ-ees of the industry, other eminent faces con-tinued the flow of assistance on Friday. AlluArjun was the first to have announced Rs1.25 crore for the governments of Telangana,AP and Kerala. “Covid-19 virus has takenthe entire world by storm, changing oureveryday lives. During this time of crisis,doctors, nurses, policemen and Army andpeople from other sectors have contributedto the society. Taking inspiration from them,I’m doing a contribution of Rs 1.25 croreto the people of Telangana, AP and Kerala,”he said through a video on his social mediapages. He also advised his followers that theonly way to fight the pandemic is to “washyour hands regularly and practice isolation”.

Soon after, production houses MythriMovie Makers and Haarika & HassineCreations issued a statement, announcingRs 10 lakh each to the governments of bothTelugu states respectively. FilmmakerSukumar too will be contributing Rs 5 lakheach to the governments of Telugu states.Tunesmith SS Thaman informed that forthe Cine Musicians Union of Hyderabadand Chennai, he will be parting Rs5 lakh.

Meanwhile, Prabhas, afterannouncing a donation of Rs 1crore to CMRF of bothTelugu states on Thursdayevening, decided to con-tribute Rs 3 crore further —this time to the PrimeMinister’s National ReliefFund. He announced thelatest contribution lateon Thursday evening.

— NG

Hyderabad Saturday March 28, 2020

ALLU ARJUN WASTHE FIRST TOHAVE ANNOUNCEDRS 1.25 CROREFOR THEGOVERNMENTS OFTELANGANA, APAND KERALA

11

tollywoodilmmaker Prasanth Varma, who burst on tothe scene with the genre-binding Awe, whichdealt with psychological issues and socialproblems like child abuse, sexual abuse, anddrug abuse among others, is continuing hisexperimental streak. As his film with Akhil

Akkineni got delayed over varied reasons, he hasdecided to utilise the time by making a compactbudget movie à la his seminal maiden film.According to a source in the know, the medi-

um budget movie has a coronavirus angle toit. “Prasanth conceived an idea — what if avirus attacks us — some six years ago.

However, when

he started writing the story late last year, he neverexpected Covid-19 would spread as it did now. Thefilm’s whole theme will revolve around the virus andits effects,” pointed out the source.

The source went on to add that he has already start-ed shooting the film without much hullabaloo and hascompleted close to 40 per cent. “A relatively young castis spearheading the movie. Given the current situa-tion, Prasanth feels it’s not the right time to talk aboutthe film. Once the lockdown is lifted and things set-tle down, he will open up about it. He already has afirst look in place and once it’s out, it will be the most-talked about Telugu film of 2020. That is for sure,” the

source concludes.

FPRASANTH VARMA'S NEXT

CENTRES ON COVID-19The film maker has already started shooting the filmwithout much hullabaloo and has completed close to

40 per cent, finds NAGARAJ GOUD

or the past one week, there hasbeen intense buzz about SitharaEntertainments bagging Telugurights of recent Malayalamsuper hit AyyappanumKoshiyum. Soon after, there

have been reports about how Sithara chiefS Naga Vamsi eyeing Nandamuri Balakrishna

to play the cop role that was essayed by BijuMenon to perfection. Now, the latest buzz sug-

gests that the producer has initiated talkswith Rana Daggubati to play the otherlead — of a retired Army havildarKoshy Kurien, who had put in 16years of service. Malayalam superstarPrithviraj enacted it.

While there has been no directorattached to the project yet, reportsfurther suggest Vamsi is almost onthe brink of finalising the remakedeal. As he is also looking to grabthe Hindi remake rights as well, it’staking time. Then there is the lock-down. A text to him on whetherindeed he is looking at Balayya tospearhead the casting didn’t elic-it any response though.

Directed by Sachy,Ayyappanum Koshiyum, one ofMalayalam cinema's biggest hits

this year, was about an ego clashbetween the parts played byBiju and Prithviraj, trans-forming into an intense

psychological game over itsrunning time. Jakes Bejoy

composed the tunes for the flick.

F

A

s Ram Charan turneda year older onFriday, MegastarChiranjeevi — newentrant to the worldof social media —

went down the memory lane andshared a cute throwback pictureof him playing with tiny toddlerCharan.

“I was naturally overjoyedwhen @AlwaysRamcharan wasborn. Much later it occurred tome there was perhaps a reasonwhy he was born on 27th March#WorldTheatreDay ‘PrapanchaRangasthala dinotsavam’! Hetook to acting like a fish to water.On this eve, Many Many Happy

Returns #Charan (sic),” he captioned the picture whichhas got 70 k likes till Friday

evening. Replying to his father, Charan

wrote, “Heart-stirring wordsfrom my Hero!! I can’t say if theday had anything to do with it,but I know my APPA did. Thankyou for the wishes and every-thing else. Love you Appa.”

Charan, who not sometimeback asked his fans to call off hisbirthday celebrations, decided toring in his special day with hisfamily. His wife Upasana postedpictures of the actor slicinghome-made cakes to mark theoccasion on her Twitter page.

Chiru goes down thememory lane on Charan's b'day

A

JR NTR’S GIFT TO CHARANLater in the evening, Charan got a gift from Jr NTR, his co-star from their

upcoming film RRR. The latter released the visuals of the former’s look fromthe film in the short video, which was filled with Rajamouli’s breathtakingvisuals, Keeravani’s riveting background score and of course NTR’s boomingvoice. Charan with his physique and emotional intensity helped it further. Itwent viral within no time upon release. Interestingly, for the video NTR dubbedfor his lines in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi as well — a first for him.

Rs 3.5 crore IT office set for Mosagallu

M

More donations pour in from T'wood

BALAYYA, RANA IN AYYAPPANUM KOSHIYUM TELUGU REMAKE?

sport 12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 28, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

The all-powerful ICC Board on Fridaydiscussed various contingency plans

for its flagship tournaments, includingWorld T20 and World TestChampionship in the wake of Covid-19pandemic that has brought cricket to astandstill.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly wasIndia’s representative when it was beingspeculated that a former Board presidentwould attend the meeting, held via videoconference.

The sporting world has been undercomplete lockdown and several bilater-al Test series under World TestChampionship also run the risk ofbeing cancelled.

“The impact of the pandemic on thesport globally was discussed,” an ICCrelease stated.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhneysaid, “We continue to undertake a com-prehensive business continuity and con-tingency planning exercise which willallow us to adapt to the rapidly evolv-ing world in which we find ourselves.”

While no decisions were taken asany shifting of tournament or change ofdates involves gigantic logistical exercisewhich needs meticulous planning atevery stage.

“The ICC management will contin-ue our contingency planning aroundICC events and will also work withMembers to explore all options availableto us based on a range of scenarios con-nected to the pandemic.”

When a Board member was askedwhat happens if England, which is dueto host Pakistan and West Indies at homeis unable to do so, he said the matter ofpoints allocation will be referred to thetechnical committee.

“It can’t happen unless an amicablesolution is reached. You might haveIndia playing six series and perched attop and England get to play three dueto lockdown and tight FTP schedule.You need a solution to distribution ofpoints and matter should be referred tothe technical committee,” a representa-tive of a member said.

A couple of Board members felt thatWorld T20 in Australia is not underthreat as October is still some time away.

“If things are under control fromJune, we can then work on a specificcontingency plan. Right now, ICC wouldbe working on various plans and wouldcome up with their proposals in courseof time,” the senior official said.

AFP n LIVERPOOL

Jurgen Klopp says the mood atLiverpool is upbeat despite the coro-

navirus lockdown, even admitting hehas tried to copy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s dance moves to keephimself occupied.

The Premier League leaders wereon the verge of their first top-flight titlefor 30 years when English football wassuspended earlier this month.

The virus shutdown has since beenextended until at least April 30 butLiverpool do not know when, or if, theywill get a chance to complete the job.

Klopp said his players’ spiritsremained high despite the frustra-tions of having no football to play andpraised the efforts of his backroom staffwho are looking after the players’ fit-ness.

“We spoke a couple of times, wehave a really intense, big, big group chat— the whole of Melwood (trainingground) are in that,” he said, speakingto the club’s website by videolink fromhis home.

“The boys are really lively in that,the boys are just interested in what

everybody is doing, comments onwhat everybody is doing — if Ox is onInstagram or whatever.”

Midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlainand his girlfriend, Little Mix singerPerrie Edwards, performed a danceroutine, which she posted on socialmedia.

Teammate James Milner played upto his “boring James Milner” tag byposting a video of himself cutting hisgrass with a ruler and scissors.

“I didn’t cut the grass but I tried thedance of Ox,” said Klopp. “Not as badas you probably think. It’s very impor-tant in these times that we all show wetake this situation seriously, but we arehuman beings.”

Klopp praised the efforts ofLiverpool and other clubs in helpingsupport more vulnerable members ofthe community during the current cri-sis.

And he urged people to abide bythe lockdown.

“The only way to get football backas soon as possible, if that’s what thepeople want, the more disciplined weare now the earlier we will get, piece bypiece by piece, our life back,” Kloppsaid. “That’s how it is.”

“At one point we will play footballagain as well, 100 percent,” he added.“I couldn’t wish more for it because ofa few really good reasons, how you canimagine. I can’t wait actually, but evenI have to be disciplined and I try to beas much as I can.”

PTI n KOLKATA

MS Dhoni’s much-anticipatedcomeback with the IPL may

not happen anytime soon in lightof the fast-spreading COVID-19pandemic but his childhood coachKeshav Ranjan Banerjee remainshopeful that the ageing cricketinghero will find a place in India’s T20World Cup.

The lucrative T20 tourna-ment’s 2020 edition, which hadalready been postponed to April15, is on the verge of cancellationwith the country in a 21-daynational lockdown.

Dhoni has been out of actionsince India’s semifinal exit in theWorld Cup in July last year.

“In the current scenario, IPLlooks unlikely and we will have towait for BCCI’s call. His (Dhoni’s)position will become tough obvi-ously. But my sixth sense says hewill get a chance in the T20 WorldCup, which will be his last,”Banerjee said.

The Chennai Super Kings cap-tain trained in Ranchi in the leadup to IPL 2020 and also led theirtraining camp in Chennai beforethe league was postponed.

“I spoke to him last after hereturned from Chennai and I’m inconstant touch with his parents.He’s doing his fitness training andis fully fit.

“Now let’s wait for the BCCI’sdecision. There’s no tournament.ICC tournaments are off till June.So we will have to wait and see.”

Head coach Ravi Shastri hadearlier said the IPL would decidethe fate of Dhoni, who will turn 39in July.

But with IPL about to get

shelved this year, the Indian greatsincluding that of Sunil Gavaskarand Virender Sehwag, had raiseda question mark on the return ofthe 2011 World Cup winningskipper.

“True that he has not played atournament (since July 2019) butfor someone with 538 Internationalmatches, I don’t think it would take

much time to adjust.”“It would have been a differ-

ent scenario for a beginner. But it’snot the case with Dhoni he has gota wealth of experience. I think hewill get a last chance,” maintainedBanerjee.

“He is fully fit and trained inChennai for a week or so. Noweverything is closed in Ranchi, ear-

lier he would train at the JSCA. Butnow he’s confined at home andmaking use of the facilities athome. He has a gym, a badmintoncourt, and a running corridor.”

“I’m sure BCCI (presient,selectors, captain) are aware of thescenario. They will make theannouncement when it’s the righttime,” Banerjee added.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Badminton WorldFederation said it is “dis-

appointing” that some play-ers, including Indian starSaina Nehwal, questioned its“sincerity and motives”when it continued with theAll England Championshipsdespite the rapidly-growingthreat of COVID-19 pan-demic.

BWF’s decision to con-duct the Super 1000 tourna-ment in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak camefor sharp criticism from thetop shuttlers of the world,including Nehwal, who hadaccused the sport’s adminis-

trators of placing moneyabove players’ safety.

In an open letter, BWFsecretary general ThomasLund said the decision to goahead with the All England

Championships was basedon the best advice at thattime.

“It has been very disap-pointing to see some mem-bers of the badminton com-

munity speculate on thesincerity and motives of theBWF in this time of crisis,”Lund wrote.

“Our number one con-cern has always been thehealth and safety of all of ourparticipants.

“However, at the sametime, we are deeply con-cerned about the cancella-tion of tournaments andthe flow-on effect this has onelite players and coacheswhereby they could now bein a position of temporaryunemployment and loss ofincome.”

The coronavirus out-break saw the postpone-ment and cancellation of

several high-profile sportsevents across the world.

While BWF too hadpostponed a few tourna-ments, it went ahead withthe All EnglandChampionship as planned,despite growing cases of therapidly spreading disease.

Top players hadslammed BWF for takingthe deadly disease “too light-ly” and putting their lives at“risk” by going ahead withthe tournament two weeksago.

India’s chief coachPullela Gopichand hadtermed it a “wrong decision”,former world number 8, HS Prannoy called it “stupid”.

AFP nMILAN

Italy’s sports ministerVincenzo Spadafora on

Thursday said he was “very,very doubtful” that Serie Aaction would return ashoped in early May.

Both Spadafora andItalian football federationchief Gabriele Gravina hadlast week expressed theirhope that the championshipcould resume on the week-end of May 2.

“The forecasts thatmade us think we couldresume sports competitionsin late April or early May Ithink are a bit too opti-mistic,” Spadafora toldItalian television station Rai3. “I am very, very doubtful.I can certainly say that ifthere are conditions toresume competitions incertain circumstances, itwill certainly take placebehind closed doors.

“To date, it is unthink-

able to say that in May it ispossible to resume all com-petitions regularly, espe-cially with spectators.

“Even scientists haveno certainty about the evo-lution of the epidemic. Wehave to adapt our deci-sions to changing situa-tions.”

All sport in Italy hasbeen suspended until April3. “The final decision willbe up to the FIGC (theItalian football federation),”the sports minister added.

“They could decide topostpone games until thelate summer, but the situa-tion is complicated, footballhas taken a little longer thanothers to understand thecrisis.”

He added: “We want tobe ready to start as soon asit will be possible. Sport willbe one of the engines thatwill allow us to revive thiscountry after the healthcrisis.”

AFP n MANCHESTER

England bowler James Anderson is deter-mined that the coronavirus will not end his

illustrious career as he focuses on keeping fit bytaking part in “virtual” training sessions withhis teammates.

Anderson, 37, whose 584 Test wickets arethe most taken by any paceman in the historyof the game, is nearing the end of his playingdays.

But the Lancashire veteran says despite hav-ing no cricket to play until the end of May atthe earliest, the idea of not bowling profession-ally again has not crossed his mind.

“I’ve not actually thought about never play-ing cricket again,” he said during a conferencecall on Thursday. “I feel like we will play againand I will play again at some stage.

“I’m still hungry to play, I’ve still got ambi-tions to play for England.

“So I think the fact I’ve been able to do thisfor a long time and I get to play a sport as a jobmeans when I do get to do that again, I’m real-ly going to cherish it and enjoy every singlemoment of it.”

With Britain under a coronavirus lockdown,Anderson is keeping fit by working out on-linewith teammates including fellow pacemenStuart Broad and Mark Wood.

“A few of the lads are training together vir-tually,” he said. “I did a workout with StuartBroad and Mark Wood yesterday.

“We’ve all got Pelotons — the bikes. You cancompete against each other. Stuart came out ontop this time, with me a close second and MarkWood in third.”

Anderson made the most recent of his 151Test appearances against South Africa in CapeTown in January before a broken rib ended histour prematurely.

That followed an Ashes campaign last yearin which he bowled just four overs because ofa calf problem.

Although he has long been a red-ball spe-cialist, Anderson said he would be prepared toplay white-ball cricket again, even in the newHundred competition.

Anderson has an ambassadorial role withthe Manchester Originals, one of the franchis-es, but no contract.

“I want to be playing cricket and if that isthe only cricket going on, if it’s the Hundred orthe T20 Blast, I’d love to be involved in that,”he said.

“If there wasn’t any red-ball cricket this sum-mer, it would be a long, long time for me to beticking over in the nets.”

BARCELONA: Barcelona have becomethe first Spanish football club to offi-cially announce a pay cut for play-ers and club staff as the countrygrapples with the coronavirus pan-demic.

Sports in Spain has come to astandstill and Barcelona had tomake the move so as to pay theirsupport staff. “Faced with this sce-nario, the Board of Directors hasdecided to implement a series ofmeasures to mitigate its effects andreduce the economic effects of thiscrisis,” said the club in its statement.

“Among the measures adopted,it’s worth noting those related to theworkplace are motivated by the needto adapt the contractual obligationsof the club staff to the new and tem-

porary circumstances that we areexperiencing.”

The club added the measuresinclude “a reduction of the workingday, imposed by the circumstancesand the protection measures carriedout, and, as a consequence, the pro-portional reduction of the remuner-ation provided for in the respectivecontracts.”

The measure should lower theclub’s wage bill by around 25 percentat a moment when it is not receiv-ing any income through gatereceipts.

Barca also explained it wouldmake all of its facilities available foruse by the regional health ministryto help the struggle against the coro-navirus. AFP

‘DHONI WILL GET CHANCE IN T20 WC’

Mahendra Singh Dhoni listens to India coach Ravi Shastri’s instructions during practice session BCCI/Twitter

IPL best tourney for T20 WC preps: LangerPTI n SYDNEY

Australia head coach JustinLanger feels the IPL is an excel-

lent platform to prepare for the T20World Cup but conceded thathealth is paramount as the leaguemay become another casualty ofthe COVID-19 pandemic.

“Before this crisis started tounravel, we were absolutely deter-mined for our guys to play theIPL,” Langer was quoted assaying by foxsports.Co.Au.

“Because with the T20World Cup coming up,there’s no bettergrounding, no betterpractice, no better tour-nament for them to getready for that,” headded.

Australia’s PatCummins, DavidWarner, AaronFinch, Steve Smith

were to headline the IPL.Langer, who is also a member

of the national selection panel,insists he is not stressed about pick-ing players as Australia have a wellsettled side.

The Aaron Finch-led sidedefeated South Africa 2-1 in three-match T20 series in February.

“In terms of selection, I’m nottoo stressed about it ... One or twopositions in our World Cup side areup for grabs. It’s a very, very set-

tled team. We played great crick-et against South Africa,” he added.

Australia are scheduledto start their T20 World

Cup campaign againstPakistan on October 24in Sydney.

The ICC have main-tained the T20 World

Cup will go ahead as perplanned but postponed thequalifying events on

Thursday.

We will talk about IPL once life gets back to normal: RohitPTI nMUMBAI

Sport is least of priority at a timewhen India fights against the

COVID-19 pandemic which hasbrought life to a standstill, feels starIndia batsman Rohit Sharma, whowants to talk about IPL only afternormalcy returns.

Rohit, who has been out ofaction for last two months due tocalf muscle injury was due for acomeback in the cash-rich Indian

Premier League, which has beenpostponed till April 15 but standsa good chance of getting cancelledif prevailing situation continues.

“We should first think aboutthe country. The situation needs toget better first then we can talkabout the IPL. Let life get back tonormal first,” Rohit said.

The opener was responding toquestions during an Instagramchat with teammate YuzvendraChahal.

Anderson still ambitiousto play for England

James Anderson warms up during nets session AP

ICC planningfor World T20to go ahead

BWF fire back at ‘disappointing’ virus criticism

Spectators enter Arena Birmingham to watch All England Open finals AP

Barca cut wages of players

Italy’s sports minister ‘doubtful’of early May return for Serie A Liverpool spirits high despite virus lockdown

Bruce wants games everyday to finish seasonLONDON: Newcastle United managerSteve Bruce on Thursday suggestedplaying games every day in a bid to getPremier League season finished whenit is safe for the campaign to resume.

“We have to try and get this sea-son finished, whatever that takes,everybody wants that,” Bruce said in aninterview with Daily Telegraph.

“We can have a ‘Festival of Football’month, games every day, teams play-ing two or three games a week. “It is notideal, but if we can play 10 to 15 gamesin December and the start of January,we can do it to get this season finished.

“It probably means the start of nextseason will be delayed, we will proba-bly have to scrap one of the cup com-petitions and do without a winter break,but it can be done.

“However, we will find a way.”Professional football in England has

been postponed until at least April 30,and due to govt-ordered lockdown therestart could be pushed back even fur-ther. AFP

TOKYO: Athletes who had already qualifiedfor the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before theywere postponed will keep their places whenthe showpiece takes place in 2021, sourcessaid on Thursday.

Around 57% of the 11,000 scheduledparticipants for Tokyo had already madesure of taking part when the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) pushed theGames back to 2021 due to the coronaviruson Tuesday.

The IOC and 32 international sportsfederations held a teleconference onThursday where it was decided to respectthe qualification process.

“Thomas Bach (the IOC President)first explained the reasons for the postpone-ment of the Games, then said that the ath-letes qualified for Tokyo 2020 would auto-matically be qualified for 2021,” one of theparticipants in the conference said.

“One of the main subjects was to knowwhen and how to organise the qualifica-tions.

“In some federations, many sportsmen

and sportswomen are not qualified and ittakes at least three months for the OlympicGames to organise them.”

The 2020 Tokyo Games were scheduled

for July 24-August 9, but after telephone dis-cussions between Bach and Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe, a historic joint deci-sion was taken for the first postponement

of an Olympics in peacetime.However, there is no definite date yet

for the rescheduled Games with Bach say-ing Tuesday the Tokyo Olympics “must berescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but notlater than summer 2021, to safeguard thehealth of the athletes, everybody involvedin the Olympic Games and the internation-al community”.

Many Olympic sports, such as boxing,saw the vast majority of their qualifyingtournaments either interrupted or can-celled due to the global health situation.

Others, such as sailing however,already had 90% of their competitors qual-ified.

“The allocated quotas remain allocat-ed,” confirmed another participant inThursday’s meeting.

“Thomas Bach has confirmed that adecision (on a new date for the 2021 event)will be made within the next four weeks,”he said.

“Some said they prefer May 2021, oth-ers June ...” AFP

Athletes qualified for Tokyo 2020 will keep 2021 spots