JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

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

SINCE 1932

`̀ 90 per kilo

`̀ 118 per kilo

`̀ 145 per kilo

`̀ 50 per Dozen

Migrantsheadedtovillages inUPreachAllahabadfromMPonThursday.RiteshShukla

PRABHARAGHAVAN& TABASSUMBARNAGARWALANEWDELHI,MUMBAI, APRIL30

IT HAS BEEN a struggle for DrRohintan Dastur, MedicalDirector at SouthMumbai’s BhatiaHospital, to get his700-odd staff backtowork after it wasfirst sealed on April8. He offered themtransport,hotelstaytocuttravelrisks,andevenone-and-a-half times thesalary.“Theywerescared,”says67-

year old Dr Dastur, his face halfcovered by anN-95mask as he

walks in anempty lanenearhishomeat Cuffe Parade. The 200-bedhospitalmanagedtoresumelimited services just a day ago.Nurses and doctors have re-portedtowork,buthouse-keep-ingstaff is still stayingaway.The hospital is admitting

only emergencyCovidcases.BhatiaHospital

is justoneof the10private hospitalsthat had to shutdown temporarilyaftertheMunicipal

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

VISHWASWAGHMODE&RITIKACHOPRAMUMBAI,NEWDELHI, APRIL30

MAHARASHTRAGovernor B SKoshyari onThursday asked theElectionCommissiontoholdelec-tions to nine Legislative Councilseats inthestate“at theearliest”.ChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayneeds towin fromone of thoseseatstobecomeamemberofthelegislature before a six-monthdeadlineexpiringonMay27.Sources told The Indian

Express that the EC is likely toagree to Koshyari’s request andhold polls to the nine seats,which fell vacant onApril 24, atthe earliest. The poll panel hascalledameetingFridaymorningtoexamine thematter.The Governor’s letter to the

EC came hours after Shiv SenaleaderssubmittedalettertohimfromThackeray,andtwodaysaf-ter the CM approached PrimeMinister NarendraModi on thematter. Thackeray calledup thePM after the Governor sat on arecommendation made amonth ago by the state govern-ment to nominate him to theLegislativeCouncil.Sena leaders said the

Governor’s move ends the un-certainty over Thackeray’s con-tinuanceasCM.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2Dip in patients, sealingfears, wary staff makepvt hospitals play safe

The khullam khulla boyall loved passes awaySHUBHRAGUPTANEWDELHI, APRIL30

“MAINSHAAYARtohnahin,magaraii haseen, jabse dekha mainetuhjhkomujhkoshaayariaagayi”.The year, 1973. The film,

Bobby. The actor, Rishi Kapoor,singingthatsongtohisbeloved.Bobby was a smash hit.Overnight, the Rishi Kapoor-Dimple Kapadia jodi becamesucha rage that it seemedtherehad been no youthful romancebefore it, and in a manner ofspeaking, therehadn’t.RajKapoor’stalentfortelling

oversize storiesmelding soppi-ness and sharpness, combinedwithhis eye for spottingpubes-cent beauties and amint-freshpair, did the trick. Polka-dotted

bikinisandanartfulstreakof ‘be-san’ adorning the hairline(Dimple’s opening scene in themovie)becamethe lookdujourforyoungwomen,andeverysin-gle young love-lorn ‘aashiq’ be-came a ‘shaayar’, praying for a

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RISHIKAPOOR1 9 5 3 - 2 0 2 0

LAXMANSINGHMUMBAI, APRIL30

In the first death of amunicipalstaffduetoCOVID-19inMumbai,a 49-year-old BrihanmumbaiMunicipalCorporation(BMC)of-ficialwhowastakingcareoffooddistributiontohomelessandmi-grant workers in Dharavi areapassedawayonWednesday.With his death setting off

panic and another municipalstaff testing positive, MumbaiMayorKishoriPednekarsaidthecivicbodywouldconductmed-icalcheck-upofall itsofficialsin-volved in food distribution.Pednekar said with the de-

mandforfoodexpectedtocome

down as states take their mi-grant labour back, the BMC

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Officer dies, BMC may exitMumbai food distribution

MadhukarHariyandiedofCovid-19

CORONACOUNT

1,075DEATHS

8,373RECOVERED

8,30,201sampleshavebeentestedasonApril30

33,610CASES

MSMEsareamongtheworstaffectedby thedownturn. Since theydon’thave largebuffersthatblue-chipcompa-nieshave, thegovern-ment isplanninga reliefpackage for smaller firmsto improve their access tofundingandtheir liquid-ityposition.

MSMEsworsthitE●EX

PLAI

NED

DEALINGWITHECONOMICFALLOUTOFLOCKDOWN

AANCHALMAGAZINE&SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI, APRIL30

ASTHECovidpandemicandtheprolonged lockdown batter allsectorsof theeconomy,thegov-ernment, sources said, is work-ingona rescuepackage that, fornow,may address the needs ofthemicro,smallandmediumen-terprise(MSME)segmentratherthanthe largercorporatesector.

MorethansixmeetingshavebeenheldatthePrimeMinister’sOffice — including Thursday’swith FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharamanandCommerceandIndustryMinister Piyush Goyal—todiscussthescopeandquan-tumofthesecondfiscalpackage.But what has held back an

announcementistheopen-end-edness of the stimulusbeing pushed by sectionswithin the government.

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ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, APRIL30

INORDER to give a boost to theeconomy, Prime MinisterNarendraModi held a detailedmeeting Thursday on strategiesto attractmore foreign invest-ment andpromotedomestic in-vestment. He also reviewed thecontributionoftheminingsectorinincreasingemploymentoppor-

tunitiesandboostinggrowth.Modi advocated a “more

proactiveapproach”tohandholdinvestors,solvingtheirproblemsand helping them in getting allnecessarycentralandstategov-ernment clearances in a time-boundmanner, according to astatement from the PrimeMinister’sOffice.Themeeting was attended

by HomeMinister Amit Shah,CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PMwaryof open-endedprovisions:FundforMSMEwithguarantee likely

Adopt proactive approachon investment: PM to team

Second stimulus: Govt plans targetingbased on need,MSMEs to beginwith

Runningoutof timetoenterHouse

Way cleared forUddhav, Governorasks EC to hold polls

PRIVATE&ISOLATEDAN EXPRESS SERIES

PART2

TURNAWAYNOPATIENT:DELHI,MAHARASHTRATELLPVTHOSPITALS P7

Mumbai

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

Sealing fearsCorporation of GreaterMumbaiusedtheblunt instru-ment of sealing when someheathcarestaff reportedCovidpositive. Themetrowithmax-imum cases and deaths wit-nessedanalmostcompletecol-lapse of private healthcare intheearlydaysof theCovidpan-demic.Private hospitals fear ad-

mittingCovidpatientswill ex-pose their frontline staff to in-fection, and this could attractadverse action. To top this,there is little clarity on testingpatients - upon admission aswell as pre-operatively. Two,following government advice,many patients rescheduledelective or planned surgeries.OPD(out-patientdepartment)consulting has anyway re-ducedtoasmall fractionofpre-Covid days.But as the number of posi-

tive cases continue to rise andreports of hospitals turningaway patients pour in, stateswantprivatenursinghomes toopen fully.With theMunicipalCorporation of GreaterMumbai (BMC) struggling toexpand its isolation beds, theMaharashtra governmentThursday warned hospitalsagainst refusing patients -Covid or non-Covid. The Delhigovernment too issued an or-der asking all nursing homesand hospitals to resume serv-ices, and admit non-Covid pa-tients.Butprivatehealthcare facil-

ities inMumbai arewary afterthe sealing experience. Thosewilling to reopen find little tono support from paramedicalstaff.In Kolkata too, private hos-

pitals feel theyare ill-equippedto handle suspected Covid pa-tients. When patients withCovid-like symptoms come,they just redirect themtoded-icated COVID-19 hospitals.Peerless, which has an 11-bedisolationwardand isequippedwith ICU beds and a couple ofventilators, admits Covid pa-tients. But RTIICS doesn’t.Privatehospitals inKolkatadidset up a few isolation beds fol-lowing a meeting with thestategovernmentonMarch20,but many are scared and feartheyare ill-equippedtohandlesuspected Covid patients, andhence refer them to dedicatedCovid hospitals.These fears echo through-

out the country, especially insmallerprivate facilities thatei-ther shut shop due to lack ofPPE, reducedmanpower,or in-ability to financially sustainthemselves followingadrop inwalk-in patients.Large corporate hospitals

too are feeling theheat. For in-stance,MaxHealthcare’s non-frontlinestaff across theboard,including senior doctors whoare not directly involved in itsCovid andother facility opera-tions, have taken pay cuts of“above25per cent” so that thehospital chaincan“continuetobeoperationalduring the timeofCovid”,AbhaySoi,Chairman,MaxHealthcare, toldThe IndianExpress.“Other industries have the

option of reducing operationsor laying off staff, but thehealthcare industry facesape-culiar problem - we have tobear increasing costs at thistime while simultaneouslyramping up capacity tomeet agrowingrequirement,”hesaid.Severalhospitals, especially

in Tier II and Tier III cities, arealso wary of “mahamari as-patal (pandemichospital)” tagaffecting business for manymonthstocomeevenafterepi-demic subsides. For instance,Bihar has more than 250 for-profitandnot-for-profitprivatehospitals, empaneled undertheAyushmanBharat-PradhanMantri JanArogyaYojana.Most

had, however, shut operationsfearing theywouldnot be ableto contain the infection if itspread in theirhospitals, somestategovernmentofficials saidon condition of anonymity.However, in states which

havethecapacitygiventhe factthat the case load is manage-able, the government has keptprivate hospitals on standby,while itprioritises treatmentatits own facilities. For instance,dependingontherequirement,only selective private health-care facilities in MadhyaPradeshhavebeen involvedbythe state as dedicated centres.“If we involve everyone, it

would be chaotic,’’ said DrLokendraDave,member, state-level Technical AdvisoryCommittee, who is also one ofthemembers of a governmentteam tasked with medicaltreatment and hospital man-agement. Another reason forthis is not all private facilitieshave the equipment and re-sources to follow the protocolof treatment, he said.“While there is a risk that

they could end up spreadingthe infection, the governmenthastoalsoensurethat therearefacilities for treatment of non-Covid patients. The govern-mentmay involvemorehospi-tals if they have facilities,” hesaid.The case is similar in Uttar

Pradesh,which has not barredprivatehospitals fromtreatingpatients, buthas limitedCovidfacilities toprivatemedical col-leges. According to PrincipalSecretary(Health)AmitMohanPrasad, the plan is to hire an-other building like a lodge,smaller private hospital, hotelor hostel around every hospi-tal with an isolation facility sothat asymptomatic patientscan be shifted there. This way,hospital beds can be vacatedfor serious patients.“We have several private

medical collegesalready inourfold and that gives us a totalbed capacity of 10,000 (gov-ernment and private com-bined). We have notified a lotof privatehospitals and, asandwhen theneedarises,wehavetold them that they should beready within three-five-daynotice to prepare themselvesforprovidingCovidcare. In themeantime, we expect privatehospitals should be givingother essential services likedialysis at their facilities,” saidPrasad.In Telangana, private facili-

ties like Apollo Healthcarewereearlier restrictedbydirec-tions tosendallof theirCOVID-19positive patients to govern-ment facilities, said Dr SangitaReddy, Joint ManagingDirector, Apollo HospitalsEnterprises.In other instances, there is

ambiguity instategovernmentpolicies in involvingandallow-ing private facilities. “An areawhereadditional claritywouldhelp is the testing of patientsonadmissionaswellaspre-op-eratively.Thisseemsimportanttosafeguardotherpatientsandstaff frompatientswhomaybepositive, but asymptomatic ormildly symptomatic,” said DrAshutosh Raghuvanshi,Managing Director and CEO,Fortis Healthcare.“Situations like thismayre-

sult in quarantine of largenumbers of medical staff,which we can ill afford at thisjuncture,” he said. FortisHealthcarehas setup isolationwards andearmarked350 iso-lationbedsacross its28hospi-tals.Hospitals like Apollo too

face constraints in treatingpa-tients coming to their facilitiesfor crucial, non-Covid treat-ment.Unsure if theyarecarry-ingthecoronavirus,whichputsApollo’s staff at risk of infec-tion, the hospital is bulking upon its use of personal protec-

tion equipment. While Apollocanstill afford this, smallerpri-vate nursing homes and facili-ties in states like Maharashtrahave also been demandingPPEs for their staff. “In everyemergency room now, all ourstaff wears PPEs, because wedon’t knowwho has come in.Everyone is treated as (Covid)positive, because we have thismajor constraint of testing,”saidDr Reddy.“There is a lack of commu-

nicationbetweengovernmentdepartments. While one de-partment will understand themerit inallowingus tooperatea certainway, another depart-ment will say the opposite,”said the executive of a privatehospital in Delhi on conditionof anonymity.In other states like Gujarat,

private hospitals were neverdiscouraged from treatingCovid patients. However, fol-lowing the nation-wide lock-down, thesehospitalsoperatedon thin staff, taking inpatientswho required emergency pro-cedure, congruent to statehealth department’s advisoryto avoid plannedprocedures.OnApril19,Gujaratdecided

that those willing to pay and

get treated inprivatehospitals,can do so in three facilities inAhmedabad-SterlingHospital,HCG Hospital and NarayanaMulti-speciality Hospital.Sterling andHCGHospital hadstarted treatingCovidpatientslast week, while NarayanaMulti-speciality Hospital wasstill in the process of draftingits treatment protocol.In the absence of defined

treatmentprotocolsand lackofaccess toprotectiveandtestingequipment earlier, some pri-vate hospitals were refusingadmission topatientswith flu-like symptoms, insteaddirect-ing themtogovernment facili-ties. Despite warnings andadvisories by states,manypri-vate hospitals are still unwill-ing to riskwhatever littlebusi-ness they are getting fromnon-Covid patients.(With inputs from Sohini Ghosh

in Ahmedabad, Ravik Bhattacharya,Santanu Chowdhury and AtriMitrain Kolkata, Santosh Singh in Patna,

AvaneeshMishra in Lucknow,MilindGhatwai in Bhopal, AbantikaGhosh andAashish Aryan inNew

Delhi)PART3:FORPRIVATE

HOSPITALS,COVIDSYNONYMOUSWITHLOSS

Rishi Kapoor“bund kamra” and lost keys.The wearer of those trade-

markdouble-knitsweatersandcolourfulmufflerspassedawaythismorning inaMumbaihos-pital, after a two-year strugglewith cancer. He had spent ayear in the US getting treatedandhadreturned late lastyear,in a buoyant mood. His familysaid hewas ‘jovial’ right to theend — and that sounds justabout right for a man whosupped (and sipped) well,laughed loudly, and lovedwelland fully. Hewas 67.Bobby was one of those

filmswhichturned iconicevenwhile itwasplaying intheatres.It gave the wavy-haired, fair-and-handsomeRishi,whohada small but significant part inthe former, his break-out film.A star was born. And RishiKapoorbecamethegoldenboyof Bollywood, the singing-dancing-romancingheroweallloved to love.ThatRishiKapoorwouldbe

astar,wasordained.Andhere-mainedone throughhis careerthat was dotted with filmsgood,badandplain indifferent,top-lining the youthful, bash-

ful, charmer that he played sowell, till there came a time hecouldn’t, and tipped over intothatstagewhenanactorcanbecalled a veteran.In his best iteration of the

youthful lover,hedialleddownthe mannerisms, lookedstraight intotheeyesof thegirl,andsmiledthat smile.Neverascrinkly as his uncle Shashi’s, itstill got the desired results. Itmelted the heart of the girl infrontofhim,andall theswoon-ingwomen in the auditorium.Kapoor could also be sur-

prisingly light on his feet.His comic timing was on

fulldisplay in the1975double-bill Khel Khel Mein andRafoochakkar, in which hemade whoopee with NeetuSingh: the twowould go on tomakeanotherextremelypopu-lar ‘jodi’ in a number of films,and endupmarrying.Kapoorwas righton top, all

through the 70s. He had theability to switch betweenbroad brush-strokes and deli-cacy, and we saw that in 1977,when he disco-ed it up — inblindingly shiny sequins,strumming the guitar — inNasir Hussain’s musical HumKissi Se Kam Nahin. The same

year, in a remarkably versatileflip,heappeared in thesombredrama,Doosra Admi.And once again, the same

year, a switcheroo. Who canforget Akbar Allahabadi in‘Amar Akbar Anthony’: thatpaan-stained-teeth, dil-phenk‘aashiq’, singing that timelessquwaali: “purdah hai purdah”,andmaking puppy eyes at theburqa-cladNeetu Singh?The 80s was the decade

when Bollywood wasswampedwith unimaginativerepeats.Even here, Rishi managed

eyeballs. Monty in SubhashGhai’s 1980 reincarnationdrama ‘Karz’; Dev in one of RajKapoor’s last significant out-ingsPremRog (1982); thepain-filled, in-search-of-redemptionMangal inSukhwantDhadda’sEk Chadar Maili Si (1983); Raviin Saagar (1985); Rohit inChandni (1989).AndthencameDeewana in 1992, inwhich hisco-starwasamop-haired,dim-pled, rank new-comer: ShahRukhKhan.Kapoor’s days of playing

lover-boymay have been overbuttherewasnowayyoucouldkeep a goodKapoor down.Likeoldwine,or,better still,

the finest scotch — thefavouriteKapoor tipple—Rishikept getting better. Two yearsago, he played a patriarch, aMuslim, and a patriot, inAnubhavSinha’s stirringMulk:hisanguishedspeech,whenhespeaksof his love forhiswatan(country),was themovingcoreof the film. “Pyaar kaise saabitkiya jaata jata hai.. pyar kar kehi na...”A star who exemplified

love, who made people fall inlove, is nomore. His ‘adaa’, hissmile, his stories, will live on.Theshy ‘shaayar’ turning intoaheavy-weight thespian, willlive on: khullam khulla pyaarkareinge hum dono, he sang, issduniya se nahin dareinge humdono.He went, still singing that

song.

Officer diesmightalso stopdistributionoffood. “After this, corporatorscanmakearrangement for fooddistribution in (their) respec-tivewards.Also,grains, insteadof foodpackets,will beconsid-ered,” she said in a recordedvideo.The BMC has been distrib-

uting about 6 lakh food pack-ets to labourers and homelessacross the city daily.Madhukar Hariyan, who

diedonWednesday,wasan in-spector in the AssessmentDepartment of G-NorthWard(Dharavi, Dadar, Shivaji Park)and had been working for theBMC formore than 15 years. Aresident of Borivali, he did nothave any co-morbidity, a civicofficial said. According to BMCofficials, Hariyan developedfever on April 22 and had notbeen coming to office sincethen.“Initially, he went to a pri-

vate doctor in Borivali.However,his conditionstarteddeteriorating. Since he hadCOVID-19 like symptoms, hewas testedonMondayand theresults camepositiveafter twodays. On Wednesday, whenmunicipal staff were takinghim to Kasturba Hospital fortreatment,hediedontheway,”an official said.The30 staffmembers of G-

North Ward who had been incontact with Hariyan havebeen tested for COVID-19 andsent tohomequarantine for14days pending results. “Sincenone of them has symptoms,we have told them to stay athome,” Assistant MunicipalCommissioner,G-NorthWard,KiranDighavkar said. Sampleshave also been taken ofHariyan’smother,wifeandtwodaughters.

With a population densityof 35,000 per sq km andmorethan8 lakhpeople,Dharavi re-mainsachallenge for theBMC.OnWednesday, 14 new caseswere reported from the slumarea, taking the total casesthere to 344. It has seen 18deaths of people with coron-avirus.The BMC is currently dis-

tributing food at 700 spots inthe city, through more than800PlanningDepartmentstaff.Theycollect foodfrom44com-munity kitchens.TheBMCunionsaidvery lit-

tle had been done to ensuretheir safety. “Hariyan lost hislife due to the BMC’s negli-gence. We had demandedmedical check-up of all themunicipal staff partof fooddis-tribution as they did not havesafety gear and directly camein contact with manypeople. Now, after Hariyan’sdeath, the BMC has promisedto conduct check-upof all staffandgive thembasic protectiveequipment,” said RamakantBane, general secretary of theunion.On Thursday, Dr Sangita

Hasnale, Assistant MunicipalCommissioner, PlanningDepartment, and in charge offood distribution, issued a cir-cular saying all the staffwouldbe checked for symptoms.

UddhavSources in the EC said that

elections can be conductedamidst the coronavirus out-break and lockdown,providedprecautions as advised by theHealthMinistry are taken, andMLAs follow social distancingwhile casting their vote. “TheCommissioncanappointanof-ficerof theHealthDepartmentto assist the state CEO (ChiefElectoralOfficer),”anECofficersaid on the condition ofanonymity.As per a statement by the

RajBhavan, “Inhis letter (to theEC), the Governor has statedthat the Central Governmenthas announced many relax-ation measures regarding theenforcement of lockdown... Assuchtheelections... canbeheldwithcertainguidelines, hehassaid.”Sources in theSenasaid the

party as well as allies NCP andCongress had also submittedseparate letters to the EC re-questing for polls to the nineseats, and handed over copiesof the same to theGovernor.In his phone conversation

withModionTuesdayevening,Thackeray had expressed un-happinessoverthe“politicsbe-ing played” over his nomina-tion to theUpper House of theLegislature.Sources in the Sena said

that the Governor had indi-cated to themon Tuesday thatthey should approach the ECfor holding elections.“He could have nominated

Uddhavji to the Council. Now,the ECwill hopefully issue thenotification for the polls in thenext fewdays,”aSenaministersaid.As perArticle 164 (4) of the

Constitution, aministerwho isnot a member of a Legislatureneeds to get elected to theAssemblyor theCouncilwithinsixmonthsof beingappointed.Uddhav was sworn in onNovember 28, 2019.His failure to enter the

Legislature by May 27 wouldmean the state Cabinet wouldhave also had to resign.Thegovernmenthadhoped

to get Thackeray nominatedthrough the Governor’s quota,following the deferment ofpolls to thenineseatsbytheECdue to the coronavirus out-break.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

Govt plans targeting based onneed, MSMEs to begin with

Adopt proactive approach oninvestment: PM to team

“The Prime Minister hasbeen asking ‘searching’ ques-tions.What probably weighsinhismind is theaftermathofthemassive stimulus thegov-ernment imparted followingthe2008globalfinancialcrisis.Few large industrial groupsmade themost of themone-tary and fiscal stimulus, builthuge and unsustainable bal-ance sheets, left banks withlargeNPAs,andthisalso ledtohigh inflation,” said a sourcewhodidnotwishtobenamed.The political leadership is

keen toavoid this.While indi-vidualministries and depart-ments are making a strongcase for a large-scale fiscalpackage, there are indicationsfromotherquarters foraneedto pause, calibrate the impactand then announce any inter-vention.The Prime Minister is

worried about the lack of a“sunset clause” in stimulusprovisions.“He would rather have it

more focused.MSMEs, healthcare, financial sector, and thepoor and vulnerable - thesewill remain the target seg-ments,” anotherofficial said.Sources involved in dis-

cussingthesecondfiscalpack-age said that a consensusseems to be emerging thatwithin industry,MSMEs havenotgainedmuchandcontinue

to feel the pain despitemeas-uresannouncedbytheFinanceMinistryinitsfirstpackageandsteps taken by the ReserveBankof India so far.Sources saidMSMEsmay

be supported through a fundthat carries a governmentguarantee. “The governmentcould also provide a directguarantee against fresh loansto units in the sector so thatthey can raise funds frombanks to stay solvent,” said asource, not wishing to benamed. Officials indicatedthere is a clear realisation thatthereexistslimitedfiscalspacefor a big package of the orderof theoneextended in2009.MSME minister Nitin

Gadkarihad, onApril 24, indi-cated thepossibilityof settingup a Rs 1 lakh crore revolvingfund forMSMEs.It is learnt that directions

havebeengiventothePSUstosettlebills raisedbyMSMEstoensure the latter’s workingcapital requirements aremet.Thegovernment’splanistoen-sure higher working capitallimits, clearance of any pend-ing dues and credit guaranteeagainst loan losses toMSMEsso thatbanks lendto them.While a credit guarantee

fundforMSMEsisalreadyrunby SIDBI, the new proposal isthegovernmentprovidingadi-rect guarantee against fresh

loans toacertainextent.This could also be done

throughagovernment-backedspecialpurposevehiclewhichis expected to nudge banks toboost lending toMSMEs andlower-rated companies, forwhich funding has beenchokedbecauseof risk-aversebanks.For the corporate sector as

awhole, a package, if any,willlikely be discussedwell afterthe lockdown is lifted and is-suesspecific to individualsec-tors such as automobiles oraviationget flagged.There is a view that large

corporates got benefits fromthe corporate tax cut lastSeptemberwhenrates fordo-mestic companies were re-ducedto22percentfromear-lier rate of 30 per cent.Moreover,theupcomingsalarypayment position of compa-nies in earlyMay, when Aprilsalarieswouldbedisbursed, isalso being tracked closely togaugesignsof distress.Aspartof thestimulus, the

governmenthas also finalisedplans to set up a credit en-hancement company to sup-portlower-ratedinfraprojects- a proposal that has been intheworkssometime.Theproposedcompany,for

whichinter-ministerialdiscus-sions have been completed,will provide partial guarantee

against loan losses to lenders,enabling the borrower to en-hance its credit ratings for in-fraprojects.“Thiscompanywillde-risk

the banking sector, enablemorefundingfornewprojectsof nearly Rs 3 lakh crore frombanksand thecorporatebondmarket,” theofficial said.Whilethegovernmenthas

so far tried to remain withinthe additional 0.5 percentagepoint space provided underthe Fiscal Responsibility andBudgetManagement (FRBM)laws, there is a realisationwithingovernment thatmoreneeds todone.A relaxation of the fiscal

deficit targetby1.5per centofGDPcouldgeneratearoundRs3.5 lakhcrorethatcanbeusedto provide an economic stim-ulus, according to a recentCRISIL researchreport.Compared tomany devel-

oped economies, many ana-lystsarguethat Indiahasdonemuch less on the fiscal sidewhile theRBI has beenproac-tive inmonetaryeasing.India’s fiscal package of Rs

1.7 lakh crore, comprising di-rectincometransferandothermeasures, is only 0.7 per centofGDP,comparedwith2.5percent in China, 8.9 per cent inthe US, 7.9 per cent in SouthKoreaand6.6percentinBrazil,the report said.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Minister forCommerce&IndustriesPiyushGoyal, MoS (Finance) AnuragThakur and top officials of thecentral government. It cameamid expectations that thegovernmentplanstoannounceafreshsetofreliefmeasuresforMSMEs and needy sections ofsociety to help them combattheadverseeconomiceffectsofthe lockdown.“It was discussed that a

schemeshouldbedevelopedtopromotemore plug and playinfrastructureintheexistingin-

dustrial lands/plots/estates inthecountryandprovideneces-sary financing support,” thePMO said. The governmentmaylookateasingsomeoftheexisting regulations to attractgreater foreign investment.“Variousstrategies tobring

investmentsintoIndiainafast-track mode and to promoteIndian domestic sectorswerediscussed.Detaileddiscussionswereheld onguiding states toevolve their strategies & bemoreproactiveinattractingin-vestments,” it said.“It was also discussed that

the reform initiatives under-takenbythevariousMinistriesshouldcontinueunabatedandaction should be taken in atime-boundmannertoremoveany obstacles which impedepromotion of investment andindustrial growth,” the PMOsaid.Modi discussed potential

reforms in themines and coalsectors togiveaboost toecon-omy — ensuring easy andabundant availability of min-eral resources from domesticsources,upscalingexploration,attracting investment and

modern technology, to gener-ate large scale employmentthroughatransparentandeffi-cientprocesses.According to an official

statement, auctioningof addi-tional blocks, encouragingwiderparticipationinauctions,increasing the production ofmineralresources,reducingthecostofminingandcostoftrans-porting, increasing ease of do-ingbusinesswhile also reduc-ing carbon footprint withenvironmentally sustainabledevelopment also formed im-portantpartofthediscussions.

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Mumbai

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK Mumbai

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DGIPR/2020-21/C61

We have grown herein the shade of trees and skyscrapers,from the soil of knowledge and business.

We have celebrated heredown by the sea and up on the hills,for joyous festivals and glorious victories.We have been together,faced times good and bad,with courage and confidence.

Wherever we go,our hearts are here, full of pridefor our land, our Maharashtra.

UDDHAV THACKERAYBALASAHEB THORATAJIT PAWARChief MinisterDeputy Chief Minister Minister of Revenue

१ मे २०२०, महारा�᳙ िदनािनिम� मािहती व जनसंपकर् महासंचालनालय, महारा�᳙ शासनद्वारा �सृत.

MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI, APRIL30

AT BAIGANWADI in Govandi’sShivaji Nagar area, a man onWednesday threw stones at apolice team that asked him tostay indoors. This comes twodays after nearly 30 people at-tacked personnel of the ShivajiNagar police for asking them todothesame.TheMumbaiPolicehasbeen

facing a challenge in keepingpeople in Shivaji Nagar home.Accordingto local residentsandthe police, withmajority of thepopulation living in slums andeveryone at home, there is notenoughplacetoforalltostayin-doors,forcingpeopletostepout.Inadditiontothelocalpolice,

StateReservePoliceForce(SRPF)and a special unit from theMumbai Police headquartershavebeenpostedforcrowdcon-trol atShivajiNagar.Around 6.30 pm on

Wednesday,whenapoliceteamwaspatrolling,aconstablespot-tedagroupofpeopleassemblednearroad14atBainganwadiandstartedshoutingatthepeopletoreturnhome.

“While most returnedhome,amanstartedshouting–‘kisike baap ka rasta nahin hain,police ko hume hatane ka ad-hikaarnahinhain... Tumlognikloyahanse (Nooneownstheroad,the police cannot ask us to gohome... they should leave),” anofficer said.As the police team charged

towards him, the man startedrunning.“Whenthepoliceteamstarted chasing him, the manthrew stones at them. One ofthestoneshitaconstableontheknee. The team then asked lo-cal residents to stop the man.The localseventuallyoverpow-ered the person and beat himup,” the officer added.Theman turned out to be a

rickshaw driver, MohammadShah (41), a resident ofBaiganwadi. The police firsttookhimtoa localhospital andlaterarrestedhimforobstruct-ing a public servant from per-forming duty.On Sunday, around 30 peo-

plehadattackedapolice team,also in Bainganwadi. Five per-sons have been arrested in thecase so far. OnMonday, a dou-blemurderwasreported in thearea over a past dispute in

whichsixpersonswerenamedas accused.Dr Rama Shyam, pro-

grammedirectorofAdolescentsand Youth Programme at NGOSneha, said, “People steppingoutof theirhousesinthisareaisan issue. Space is at apremium.Ten to 15 zari workers rent oneroom to sleep, as they work inshifts. Now, all of them areforced tobe together.”Sheadded, “Apart fromthis,

temperatures are rising andpeopleareirritated...withfightsbeing reported in houses. Also,many people think that theydon’t need to fear COVID-19, aslife and death is in the hands ofthealmighty.”An IPS officer said, “Apart

from the local police, we haveSRPF and a special unit fromthe headquarters to monitorthese areas. This is a red zoneandpeoplehave sucummedtothe virus.”“But since it is Ramzan, we

have kept vegetable and fruitsshopsopenfrom10amto3pm.Yet, people come out in theevenings to purchase things.Wehavebeen spendinga lot ofenergy in ensuring that peoplestay indoors.”

ABHAGORADIAMUMBAI, APRIL30

IN A first, the BMC Educationdepartmentcompletedthelot-teryprocessforadmissiontoitsCBSE and ICSE-affiliatedschools on Thursday throughvideo-conferencingapp,Zoom.Startedonapilotbasisforthe

2020-21academicyear,theBMCbeganonlineapplicationsforitsCBSEandICSEschoolsinMarch.TheschoolswillholdclassesforJuniorKGtill standard6,withacapacityof40studentsperclass.However,lotterywasconductedfor38 seatsper class,with twoseatsreserved,whichwillbean-nouncedbyjointcommissioner(Education),saidMaheshPalkar,educationofficer.Online applications for

Classes7to10willbeintroducedfromnextacademicyear.Noad-mission fees will be chargedfromstudentsoftheseschools.The lotterywasconducted

at municipal administrativebuilding inDadarwest.Mumbai Public School,

WoolenMills,Mahim(ICSE)re-ceivedatotalof360applicationsforallclasses,ofwhich,332wereapproved. The lotterywascon-ductedonlyforJuniorKG,Senior

KGandClass1.Applications forclasses2 to6were less in com-parison to the capacity of theschool, followingwhichall ap-plicationsweregivenadmission.ForMumbai Public School,

Poonam Nagar (CBSE) inJogeshwari East, 1,510applica-tionsoutof2,154receivedwereeligibleforlottery.Atotalof304seatsacrossallclasseswerefilled.“April30wasthelastwork-

ingdayforallBMCschools.Theschoolsareslatedtoopenpostsummer break after June 15.For the seats that continue toremain vacant, a decisionwillbe taken later,” saidPalkar.Ateacherherself,Satwinder

Kaur,whoenrolledher child inClass 1, said, “The lotterywasconductedinafairmanner.IfeelBMCistakinggoodeffortswiththisinitiative.Wedecidedtoen-roll our child in this school in-steadofaprivateschool.”NeevanBainigotadmission

inJuniorKGintheICSEschoolonThursday.HisfatherAshokBaini,whoworks in a travel agency,said, “I read about the curricu-lumandpatternofteachingandwasconvincedtoenrolmychildhere.Muchof the learningwilltakeplace throughgadgets... Itwill be aGoogle challenge forparentsandteachersaswell.”

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, APRIL30

THE52-YEAR-OLD,whowasthefirst COVID-19 patient inMaharashtratoundergoplasmatherapy, passed away lateWednesday at Lilavati hospital,four days after he received thetransfusion. He suffered fromsepticaemia and acute respira-torydistresssyndrome.Doctorssaid the plasma therapy did lit-tle to improvehis condition.On Tuesday, Lav Agarwal,

JointSecretary,UnionHealthandFamilyWelfareMinistry,hadsaidthat convalescent plasma ther-apyisnotanapprovedtherapytotreat COVID-19 patients and re-mainsintrials.Hewarnedthatifnotundertakencorrectly, itmayhavehaveanadverse impact.InMumbai, the BMC is con-

ductingastudyonplasmatherapyunderinfectiousdiseaseexpertDrOmSrivastavaandKasturbalabo-ratory.Doctors inMumbai saidadecision to give the52-year-oldplasma therapy was taken on“compassionategrounds”afterhe

developedacytokinestorm,acon-dition inwhich thepatient’s or-gans comeunderattack fromhisownimmunitysystem.A total of 200ml of plasma

wastransfusedintothepatientonApril 25. Apart fromplasma, healso underwent other interven-tions, from trying the “pronemethod” in which a person ismadetoliefacedowntoimprovehis breathing, to anti-viral drugs.“Buthisbodyrespondedtonoth-

ing,” said Lilavati hospital’s chiefexecutiveofficerDrVRavishankar.Doctorsalsotriedathree-day

doseofTocilizumabdrug,anim-munosuppressant. The drug iscommonlyusedforarthritisandisnowoneofthenewerdrugsbe-ing tried to treat critical COVID-19patients.DrJalilParkarsaidthepatientwasadmittedonApril20,bywhenhisconditionwascriticaland he required ventilator sup-port. He suffered from fever,

throatpainandcoughfor10daysbeforehefinallygottested.Whenhis result came positive on the11th day, he was admitted toLilavatihospital.AnX-rayshowedhis lungs had developedwhitepatches, his oxygen levels haddropped.Doctorstriedanti-viraldrugs ritonavir and lopinaviralongwithTocilizumabtoreducetheviral loadinhisbody.“He developed septicaemia

early on. Usually, we observe apatient for 48 hours for plasmaeffects, but therewas little im-provement in his case due toplasma therapy. That is why adecisiontonotgivefurtherdosewas taken,”Parkaradded.The 52-year-old also devel-

oped pneumonia in lungs. LateWednesday,hepassedawaydueto complications of COVID-19andseptecemia.

BMC completes lotteryprocess for admissions toschools through Zoom app

52-yr-old firstCovidpatient toundergoplasma therapydies

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI, APRIL30

IN VIEWof the Union HealthMinistryprojectionthatCOVID-19 cases inMumbai could hit70,000 byMay-end, the BMChasdecidedtosetup4,000ad-ditionalCOVID-carebeds,eachwithanoxygencylinderforpa-tients. Thecivicbody’splan in-cludetorampupbedcapacitiesin the existing hospitals andprovideoxygenlinetoeachbed.In ameeting lastweek, the

BMC briefed deans, superin-tendentsandCEOsof all hospi-tals about theneed to rampupbedcapacities. The capacity of

civic-runNairhospitalwillbein-creasedto1,000bedsandSevenHills atMarol to 1,300bedsbymid-May.HBTTraumaHospitalat Jogeshwari will also berampedupto100beds.Inaddi-tion,theBMCisalsogoingtoac-quire exhibition centres, opengroundsandschoolstousethemasCOVIDcare centres for highriskasymptomaticcontacts.Followingtheinter-ministe-

rialcentralteam’ssuggestiontorampupthenumberofquaran-tine beds available for Dharavito 5,000, the civic body has ac-quiredseverallodges,municipalschoolsandcollegehostel.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Enforcing lockdown in crammedShivaji Nagar a challenge for cops

Mumbai:Nineconstablesattached with Wadalapolicestationtestedpos-itive for COVID-19 onWednesdayafterpartici-patinginaspecial testingcamp. So far, 106 police-menhavetestedpositivefor the virus inMumbai.Three among themhavedied.DeputyCommissioner

of Police RashmiKarandikar (Port Zone)said, “As our policemenhad been on bandobastdutiesinareasdeclaredasred zones by the BMC, aspecial campwas organ-isedforthemonMonday.”All are asymptomatic pa-tients,sheadded.On Wednesday

morning,afterthereportsarrived,thenineweread-mitted to Gurunanakhospital in Bandra. Thepolice station has beensanitised.ENS

Mumbai:Matunga police hasbooked twomen for allegedlyusing an emblem of VidhanSabha — used byMLAs — ontheircartopassthroughpolicenakabandi during the lock-downperiod.Policesaidtheac-cused, a father-son duo, wereinterceptedatacheckpointandbrought to the police stationwhen they could not presentrelevantdocuments.Theyweresubsequentlybooked.According to police,

Kamlesh Shah (54) and sonTanish (28) are residents ofcentralMumbaiandtheywereintercepted at MaheshwariUdhyan in Matunga around

12.30pmTuesday.AnofficerfromMatungapo-

licestationsaid, “He(Kamlesh)was using the emblem ofVidhanSabha,whichmeanshewasposingasanMLA...”“We learnt that they are

businessman and had put thesticker on the windshield oftheircartopassthroughpolicenakabandis during the lock-downperiod,” saidanofficer.Senior Police Inspector

Vijaysingh Ghadge said, “Asthere is a fear of spread of thecoronavirus infection, we areavoidingarrest asmuchaswecan. Accordingly, we haveserved themnotices.”ENS

2 booked for using Vidhan Sabhaemblem to evade nakabandi

Amanisexaminedatanewly-installedSmartCovidOPDatJ JHospitalonThursday. GaneshShirsekar

The52-year-oldmansufferedfromsepticaemiaandacuterespiratorydistresssyndrome

9 more copstest positive

BMC to add 4,000 Covid carebeds with oxygen supply

Mumbai

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL30

SEEKINGAmajor economic in-fusion to prop up the economy,the Congress party nowwantsthe government to pay amonthly unemployment al-lowanceofRs5,000forthenextthreemonthstotheunorganisedsector.Aparty’staskforceunderfor-

mer chief minister PrithvirajChavan in Maharashtra hassought thecashhandout for theentireunorganisedlabourforce,includingfarmlabourers,hawk-ers, small shopkeepersandoth-ers. “The country’s 90 per centworkingpopulation is in the in-formal sector. The InternationalLabour Organisation reportedthismonth that40crorepeoplewill go into deeper poverty be-cause of the coronavirus pan-demic,” saidChavan.While the Maharashtra

Pradesh Congress Committeehad formed the task force tocombat the pandemic, the rec-ommendationregardingtheun-employment allowance hasbeenmade for the entire coun-try. “Maharashtra should leadtheway by announcing the un-employmentallowance,”addedChavan. In Maharashtra, theCongressisapartnerinthecoali-tion government under ChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray.Earlier on Thursday, former

Union finance minister PChidambaram demanded thattheCentreshouldcomeoutwithaschemetoprotectsalariesandwagesof thoseemployedbymi-cro, small andmedium enter-prises (MSMEs).Maharashtra’sIndustriesde-

partmenthas alreadyproposedthatMSMEs in the state shouldbe reimbursed for twomonthsof staff salaries if they abide bythe condition of not laying offstaff. “The government shouldcontribute part of the salary totheemployees in themicro andsmall enterprises sector,” theCongress task force recom-mended.Chavan said the task force

hadsubmitteditsfirstsetof rec-ommendations to the stateCongress president BalasahebThorat, who is also the state’srevenueminister.Thereportwillbesubmitted toThackeray.Advocatingagradedliftingof

the lockdown to ensure thatgains of the pastmonth are notsquandered, Chavan reiteratedCongress’sdemandthat10kgofgrainsbeprovidedfreeofcosttillSeptemberunderthepublicdis-tributionsystemtomarginalisedsectionswhodonotpossess ra-tion cards. “The Maharashtragovernmentmust ensure ade-quate supply of dals, oil andsugar for thenext twomonths,”thereportstated.Tocushiontheeconomic damage, Congress’stask force has also recom-mendedwaiving off interest ofagriculturalloansforsixmonths,a waiver of farm electricitycharges for six months, and aspecial package for poultryfarms.On healthcare andmedical

infrastructure,thepanelhasde-manded that the “governmentmust impose price control onpersonal protective equipmentthroughuniformpricingpoliciesand request theCentre towaiveoff GST on PPEs and other pro-tective gear”. It has also de-manded ramping up of testingandoutliningofapolicyforsup-ply of protective gear to privatemedical professionals and hos-pitals.Contending that availability

ofbedsandambulancefornon-COVIDpatients,especiallyinru-ralMaharashtra,wasbecomingamajor issue, Chavanasked theThackeray government to an-nounced an independent SOPfor expectantmothers. “Testingfor COVID-19must be free in allhospitals registered under theMahatma Phule JeevandayeeArogyaYojana.Thegovernmentmust also specify SOP for inclu-sion of private doctors for fightagainst COVID19,” the reportstated.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,APRIL30

THE BOMBAY High Court onThursdaydirected the state gov-ernment and the police to re-spond to a plea seeking CBI orcourt-monitored probe by aSpecialInvestigationTeam(SIT)intheApril16Palgharmoblynchingcaseandasked theauthorities tofile a report on the investigationintotheincidentsofar.Thecourthasalsodirectedthe

statetoproducedetailsofthede-partmentalinquirythathasbeeninitiatedagainstthepoliceofficialswhoweresuspendedafterthein-cident.Asingle-judgebenchofjustice

Ujjal Bhuyan heard, throughvideo-conference, aPIL filedbyaDelhi-based lawyer, AlakhAlokSrivastava,seekingaprobebytheCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) or a Special InvestigationTeam(SIT)underthehighcourt’ssupervisioninthecase.The government lawyer in-

formedthecourtthat101peoplehad been arrested in the case,whilesomepolicepersonnel,who

werepresentatthetimeofthein-cident,weresuspendedforallow-ing themob toassembledespitethelockdown.

While theMaharashtra gov-ernment has ordered probe aprobe by the state CID, the pleasoughttheprobetobetransferredto theCBI. Governmentpleader,PriyabhushanKakade,submittedthat the state had already set upan impartial inquiry byappoint-ingpersonsfromoutsidePalgharsothat therewasnointerferencebythelocalpersons.Afterhearingthesubmissions,

Justice Bhuyan issuednotices toauthoritiesandaskedthemtofilea detailed responsewithin twoweeks.OnApril16night, threemen,

including two ascetics and adriverwere lynchedbyamobinPalghar district on suspicion ofbeing child-kidnappers and or-gan harvesters. The threemenweredrivingtoafuneralinSuratwhen a group of villagers inGadchinchle, a tribal village in aremote part of Palghar, stoppedtheircarandattackedthemwithstones, logs,andaxes.

KAVITHAIYERMUMBAI,APRIL30

WITHLAKHSofmigrantworkerswaiting to return to their nativestates, theMaharashtra govern-mentwillhavethemostnumbersof people to repatriate after theCentre onWednesday releasedguidelines allowing states toun-dertakerelocationofsuchpeopleimmediately.In a set of supporting guide-

lines issued on Thursday, stateChief Secretary AjoyMehta in-structeddistrictcollectorstoenu-merate thosewhoareseeking toreturn to their homes states.However,thestatehadearlierthismonth stated that there are cur-rently7.5lakhmigrantworkersinits4,871sheltersalone.Owingtothevery largenumbers, thegov-ernmentismullingoverwhethertoprovide state transport buses,whether to provide this servicefree of cost, andwhether the re-ceiving statesmay bewilling tosharethecostofbustransport.Topministers are also keen to reiter-atetherequestforspecialtrainstoferrytheworkershome.State TransportMinisterAnil

Parabhadsaidearlierthat10,000

buses of theMaharashtra StateRoadTransportCorporationhavebeenkept ready for theworkers’repatriationoncetheCentreper-mitsthesame,butafinaldecisionwillonlybetakenonFriday.Organisationsworkingwith

migrantsandurbanpoorsaidonThursday that the Centre andstate’s suggestion tousebuses toferry theworkers appears far-fetched given their very largenumbersinMaharashtra.“Weneedspecialtrains.These

are very long journeys fromMumbaiorPunetoGorakhpurordeep inside Bihar orOdisha. It’salso not clear if there will beenough buses,” said ChandanKumar of the AngmehanatiKashtakari Sangharsh Samiti,which has beenworkingwithworkersfromvariousstateslivingin the Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwadandthenearbyindustrialhub.Acollectiveofvariousorgani-

sationsworkingwithmigrantworkershasalso communicated

tothestatethattheprocessofre-locatingtheworkersshouldbeas-sistedbytrainedteamssuchastheNDRF,andthatitshouldconsiderproviding a travel and food al-lowance to theworkers for thejourney.Governmentsourcessaiddis-

cussions began onThursday re-gardingrequisitioningprivatebusoperators’ fleets, but the costwould be a consideration. Thestatewouldneedaminimumof20,000 buses in addition to the10,000statetransportbusesavail-ableimmediately,andifsocialdis-tancing norms are to bemain-tained during the journey, thenthesebuseswouldhave tomakemorethanonetripeach.“The operational part looks

very tedious and cumbersome,”said Shweta Damle of Habitatsand Livelihood Welfare

Association.“Alotdependsonthesource states – theymust com-municate well and in a timelymanner the various rules.” Sheconceded that there are no easysolutions to the crisis forMaharashtra.Meanwhile, thestategovern-

ment’sstandardoperatingproce-dure formovement of strandedpersonsreleasedonThursdaysaidthat thenodal authority, thedis-trict collector,must register theworkers,andsubmitadetailedlistof thosewishingtoreturnhome.“Sendingandreceivingstates”willconsult eachotheron thesched-uleof themovement, itadded.Explaining the protocol,

MaharashtraHomeMinisterAnilDeshmukh said that collectorsare now the nodal officers forthose seeking to return home,whethermigrantworkers, stu-dents,orothers. “Thosewhoarestuck here should approach thecollector and fill a formprovid-ing details about themselves,theirvillage,howtheyplantogothere, etc. Once the collectorgivesapproval,theycanstartgo-ing to their villages,” theminis-ter said,making nomention ofwhetherthestagewouldorgan-izetransportforthemigrants,or

if thiswouldbechargedtothem.Those making their own

arrangementstotravelimmedi-atelywillalsorequirelettersinagivenformatfromthestate’sdis-aster management authority.Theletterswouldhavetoclearlystate that they have beenscreened and do not show anyCOVID-19symptoms.“How do I get such a letter

whenthey’renotlettingusoutofhere at all?Also,what about themonth’slostpay?”askedMatadinDhankar, amarbleworker fromMorena inMadhyaPradeshwholives andworks in and aroundPimpri. He has spent nearly 40days in amunicipal school con-verted into a shelter in Pimpri-Chinchwad. “Will they give ussomekindof cash assistance forthe losses?Howwill I go homewithoutanythingtoafamilythatsurvivesonmyearningalone?”ChandanKumarsaidtheother

problemthatthestateandcentralgovernmentsarebothsilentonistheaddedpressurethattherepa-triationwould put on the ruraleconomy. “Therehas tobe somekindof plan for thesepeople go-ing back home. Sending themhomeisnotasolutiononitsown,”hesaid.

SADAFMODAKMUMBAI, APRIL30

AFEWpacketsof biscuits,nam-keenandRs500 inhis pocket isallVedPrakashhadwhenhebe-gan a nearly 1,000 km journeyon foot from Jalgaon in northMaharashtra to his home inRewadistrictofMadhyaPradeshon April 15. Fifteen days later,Prakash’s journey, punctuatedbyhostility fromsomevillagersen route and kindness fromstrangers, including policemen,endedwithhimreachinghisvil-lage,Khamaria.Currently, in quarantine at a

spaceontheoutskirtsof thevil-lagefortwoweeks,PrakashtellsTheIndianExpressonthephone,“Sabsebohothaathpairjodkepo-hoche. Bohot dushvyavhaar hua,bohottakleefhui,pargharpohochgaye. (We had to plead for helpbeforealotofpeople,manymis-treated us.Wewent through alot of difficulty, but at least weare finallyhome).”Workinginaunitthatmakes

mats, 38-year-old Prakash, hasbeen going to Jalgaon for workfor the past 18 years. With theunit shutting down because ofthe lockdown,Prakashandoth-erswithhimdidnothaveanyac-cess to food or ration. “We sur-vived for a few weeks withwhatever savingswe had, hop-ing that the transportwill start.Othersweknewalsohadleftfortheir homes and reached in

seven days by taking lifts frompeople. So, with almost nomoney left, we also decided toleave,”Prakashsays.Lalji Geruhai, another resi-

dent of Madhya Pradesh, whowasstrandedinJalgaon,hadbe-guna journeytohishometown,also inRewadistrict,onApril11.“Bohot darr tha beemari ka. (Wewere very scared of the pan-demic). We had been hearingthat the cases are increasing inMumbai and Indore. Thoughtherewere no cases in the areawherewewerelivinginJalgaon,wewantedtocomehometoourfamily in these difficult times,”42-year-old Geruhai, who alsoworks in amat-making unit inJalgaon, says.He adds that he had read

how the situation had deterio-ratedinItalyandIran,andfearedtheworst. “Rationmil raha tha,parapneparivaarsedurkoikyunrehnachahegaaisewaqtpar.(Wewere getting ration, but whywouldanyonewanttostayawayfrom one’s family at suchtimes)?”heasks.Geruhai undertook the jour-

neywith14others, includinghisyounger brother, walkingthroughoutthenightandrestingat noonwhen the sunwas tooharsh.Hecarriedpuri-sabziandafewbiscuitsandwasfedbymanypolicemenontheway,hesays.Hewasmorefortunateashegotfre-quent lifts andwas able to com-pletethejourneyinsevendays.Prakash,wholeftonApril15,

saidafterbeinghelpedbypolice-menandothersforthefirstthreedaysofthejourneytillKhandwa,he and the group had to walkhome, over 800 km away. “Atonenaka,policemenadvisedustowalk on the railway tracks toavoidhighways.Wewouldwalkontracksandif thatbecamedif-ficult,we took thehighway.Werested for twohours during theday and two hours during thenight,”hesays.With thepeaksummerheat

andno food, Prakash saidwalk-ing became evenmore strenu-ous.“ThereweretimesIfeltthatI cannot reach home alive. Inmost villages we crossed, thepeoplewerehostile towardsus.Thereissomuchfearaboutcoro-navirusthattheydidnotwanttohelpahumanbeingintrouble. Ifwe asked for water, some shuttheirborewells.Wecrossedonevillagetoanotherwiththehopethat thenextonewill bekind tous, but for kilometres nobodygaveuswateror food,”hesays.Headds,however,thatmany

strangers,especiallypolicemen,werekind.“Theymusthaveseenmany like us desperate to gethome. They helped us in someplaces, arranging transport forshort distances. One policemangave us one kilogramme ofgrapes toeat,”Prakashrecalls.Once he reached his village,

however, the local sarpanchasked him to leave and threat-ened toputhim in jail. “Wehadnot done anything wrong. We

werereadytoremaininquaran-tine or undergo tests,” he said.Subsequently,Prakashcontactedotherrepresentativesandwasfi-nallyallowedtostay.Now waiting for the two-

week quarantine period to end,Prakash says evenwhen he en-tershishouse,otherworrieswillremain. “We have a small farmandabig family, of over20peo-ple. Without my salary, we donot know howmy family willsurvive if the lockdown contin-ues formanymonths,”hesays.Many others, including a

groupof 10 fromUttar Pradesh,stranded at Tilak Nagar, pooledin Rs 3,500, after a lorry driverpromised to drop them home.“Wewere stopped near Powaiandsentback.Wehadborrowedthe money from home for thejourney,”saysMohammedIsrar,whoworkswith thegroup.Another group of five from

Kurla bought cycles and begantheir journey for Jharkhand lastweek. “We are not able to con-tact them as their phonesmayhave run out of battery. I spoketo them last two days ago, theysaidthattheyweresurvivingonfoodservedatsomedhabas,butgoing hungry for themost partof theday,” saysTriveniYadav, aresident of Jharkhand, strandedin Dharavi. “We had decided toundertake the same journey ifthe lockdown was extendedagain. Now, we hope that thearrangementoftransporttotakeushome isdonesoon,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL30

A PETITIONwasmoved beforethe Bombay High Court onThursday seeking to directGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyarito decide on the state Cabinet’srecommendationonnominatingChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayas amember of the LegislativeCouncilwithinthreedays.TheCabinet, inameetingon

April 9, had recommended thatKoshyari should nominateUddhav to the Council throughthe Governor quota to avoid aconstitutional crisis amid theCOVID-19lockdown.OnApril27,the Cabinet had reiterated itsrecommendation to theGovernor. Uddhav has to getelected to theHousebyMay27,else he and his Cabinet wouldhave to resign.A plea moved by social ac-

tivist Surinder Arora, throughadvocate Satish B Talekar,claimed that if the Governordoes not act upon the recom-mendation, Uddhav wouldcease to be the CM, leading to

“administrative uncertainties,destabilisation of the govern-ment, social chaos and politicaldisorder in wake of COVID-19outbreak”.Maintaining that the

Governor is bound by the aideandadviceof theCabinet,Aroraalleged that BJP, “as a part of itspolitical gameplan”,was tryingtomake Uddhav step down asCMwith thehelpofKoshyari.Moreover, the plea claimed

that asUddhav had been a pro-fessional photographer, editorand socialworker, the decisiontakenbyCabinetdoesnot sufferfrom legal infirmities and thenomination is justified as perArticle171(5)oftheConstitution.Article 171 (5) provides thatmembers to be nominated onstate legislative council by theGovernorshallconsistofpersonshaving special knowledge orpracticalexperienceinliterature,science, art, cooperativemove-mentandsocialservice.InviewoftheCOVID-19pan-

demic,theElectionCommissionhad deferred elections to thenine Legislative Council seatsthat fell vacantonApril24.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,APRIL30

WITH586morepeoplecontract-ing COVID-19,Maharashtra onThursday crossed the 10,000mark, takingthetotalnumberofpatients in the state to 10,498.Mumbai, with 417 new cases,nowhas7,061infected.The state on Thursday also

registered 27 deaths, taking theoverall toll to 459.While at 20,Mumbaicontributedtothehigh-estnumberoffatalities–290peo-plehavediedinthecitytillnow–three deathswere registered inPune,twoinThaneandoneeachinNagpurandRaigad.Of the27dead,19weremen

and eight women. Fourteen ofthe deceasedwere over the ageof 60while 13were in the agegroupof40to59.Amongthede-ceased,22hadcomorbiditieslikediabetes,hypertensionandlungproblem.The overallmortality rate in

Maharashtra nowstands at 4.37per centwhile inMumbai, it is4.10 per cent. It took around 45daysforthetotalcountofpatientsinthestatetohitthe5,000mark.It, however, took only nine daysforthefiguretospikefrom5,000to10,000.Acrossthestate,180patients

were discharged on Tuesday,taking the total number of re-covered patients to 1,773. A to-talof8,266patientsarenowun-dergoing treatment. The statehassofarscreenedaround42.11

lakhpeople.InMumbai,atleast26staffers

in Nanavati hospital remain in-fectedwithCOVID-19.Thehospi-tal has been designated a dedi-cated COVID-19 facility to treatmoderateandcriticallyillpatientsalongwithSaifeeandWockhardthospitals in the private sector.Wockhardt hospital, which hadpreviously reported 80 infectedstaffers,reopenedthisweekwithskeletal staff to provide emer-gencyservices.InNanavati hospital, at least

four of those infectedwere in-volved in direct care of the in-fected. These staffers have beenisolated and are undergoingsymptomatic treatment. InMumbai, over 300healthwork-ers remain infectedwith coron-avirus inbothpublic andprivatehospitals.

Numberofdeaths 459

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 1,773

Numberofpeopletested1.45 lakh

Totalnumberquarantined10,695

Numberofnewcases 583

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

10,498

Severalmigrantworkershavewalkedbacktotheirvillagesafter the lockdownwas imposed.Deepak Joshi

PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,APRIL30

NANDED DISTRICT authoritieshavecordonedoff a fewhostels,aftermorethan90Sikhpilgrims,who had visited a gurudwarahere, tested positive for coron-avirusonreachingPunjab.In March, more than 2,000

Sikhpilgrims,whohadcome topay obeisance at a famous gu-rudwara in the district, werestrandedwhen the nationwidelockdownwasimplementedonMarch 24. Every year, nearly 30lakh pilgrims visit the religioussite locatednearGodavari river.Thestrandedpilgrimshadeven-tuallymoved into hostels neartheshrine.Five days ago, the first batch

ofpilgrimsfinallyleftforPunjabin special chartered buses, fol-lowedbytherestof thepilgrims.However,alarmbellswentoff inPunjab when the pilgrimsstarted testing positive forCOVID-19 once they reachedhome. By Thursday evening,over90pilgrimshadtestedpos-itive,withresultsof severaloth-ers still awaited.NandedDistrict CollectorDr

Vipin Itankar, however, said thepilgrims were screened withthermal guns and COVID-19symptoms before they boardedthebuses.“ThepilgrimswereinNanded

for the past one-and-a-halfmonths and none of themhadshownanysymptomsassociatedwiththeinfection,”hesaid.District authorities said the

pilgrimsmight have picked upthe infectiononthewayas theyhad passed through hotspotzones like Indore and Bhilwara.Oneof thedriversof thebushasalso testedpositive.PratapPatilChiklihar,BJPMP

fromNanded, also said the dis-trict authorities had taken am-ple precautions while sendingthe pilgrims. “They werescreened before they boardedthebus,”hesaid.Now, the authorities have

cordonedoff a1km-radiusareaaround the hostels where thepilgrimsstayed.Check-upsofthesevadars and those who hadcome in contact with the pil-grimsarebeingdone.Till date, Nanded has re-

ported only three cases, and itsfirstpatientwasamanwhohadtraveled to Nanded fromHyderabad.

586 new cases,state crosses10,000-mark

Home after arduous journey on foot, migrantssay: pleaded for help, but many mistreated us

Plea in HC seeks directionto Governor to decideUddhav’s MLC nomination

Pay Rs 5,000 amonth to all ininformal sector,Cong tells govt

PALGHARLYNCHING

HC directs state tofile detailed reporton status of probe

OVER90TESTPOSITIVE INPUNJAB

Nanded authoritiescordon off hostels whereSikh pilgrims stayed

Thecountry’s90percentworkingpopulation is inthe informalsector.TheInternationalLabourOrganisationreportedthismonththat40crorepeoplewillgo intodeeperpovertybecauseofthecoronaviruspandemic”

PRITHVIRAJCHAVANFORMERCHIEFMINISTEROFMAHARASHTRA

Civic staffercleansastatueatHutatmaChowkorMartyrs’Square inMumbaiontheeveof InternationalLabourDay,onThursday. GaneshShirsekar

ThestategovernmentonThursdayreleasedastandardoperatingprocedureformovementofstrandedpersons

Lakhs to repatriate, but state undecidedon how to sendmigrantworkers home

Two doctors told to vacate house in PunePune:AtleasttwodoctorshavebeenaskedtovacatetheirrentedhousesinPuneandPimprioverthepastfewdays.IndianMedicalAssociation(IMA)generalsecretarySudhirBhaleraosaidThursdaythatayoungdoctorwasaskedtovacatehisrentedflat inPimpri-Chinchwad by his landlord due to fear of COVID-19 infection.“Therewasnowaythedoctorcouldgetanotherrentedpremisesatthistime.Somehow,wemanagedtogetanaccommodationforhim,” said Dr Bhalerao. IMA’sMaharashtra unit chief AvinashBhondvesaidinPunecity,adoctorwasalsoaskedtoleavehisres-identialsociety.“Aftercitypoliceanddivisionalcommissionerin-tervened, thesocietymembersrelented,”hesaid.MANOJMORE

Mumbai

EXPRESSNETWORK 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, APRIL30

THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-ministration cited “fake news”involvingtheSupremeCourtthatwasallegedlybeingspreadintheUnionTerritory to argueagainsttheliftingof InternetrestrictionsinitssubmissionstothetopcourtonWednesday.Inperhapsthefirst suchoffi-

cial acknowledgment, it alsotalkedabouttheriseof twonew“Pakistan-based”militant out-fits—The Resistance Front (TRF)and Tehreeki-Milat-i-Islami(TMI)—thatwereallegedlyusingmessagingappsto“instigatetheyouth”.Inanaffidavitfiledinresponse

to petitions byNGOFoundationforMediaProfessionals, ShaleenKabra, the Principal Secretary ofthe JammuandKashmirHomeDepartment, referred to “a fakeorder purporting to be a Recordof Proceeding” of the SupremeCourtdatedApril9,2020.Intheorder,ithasbeen“falsely

reflected that administration ofUnion Territory of J&Khas beenordered to take a quick reviewwithin 24 hours to restore fullInternetcommunicationinthere-gion”,theadministrationsaid.It added that an FIR under

sections 465 (forgery), 466 (for-geryofcourtrecord)and471(us-ingforgeddocumentasgenuine)of theIPCwasfiledinthisregard

at the Cyber Police Station,KashmirZone.TheUnionTerritoryalsosub-

mittedthat“cross-borderterror-ismandviolentactivitiescarriedoutbyterroroutfitslikeJeM,LeT,HM,operatingwiththeexternalsupportaretoowellknown”andthat “new outfits are beinglaunched,likeTRFandTMI,insti-gatingtheyouthtojointerrorismandtherehasbeenaspurtinter-roractivitiesinthelastfortnight”.“The terrormodules operat-

ingwithin theUTsandhandlersfrom across the border aid andincitepeopleby transmissionoffakenewsandtargetedmessagesthroughuseofInternet...,”thead-ministrationsaid.Defendingthedecisiontocap

Internet speed at 2G, it addedthat “Pakistan-based terrorismhandlers likeTRFandTMI, insti-gatingyouthtojointerrorism,areusingmessagingapplications tocommunicateasalsotoraisethemoraleofterrorists;however2Gmobile data services consider-ably restrict the use of such ap-plications”.Pointing to instances of fake

news creating a law-and-orderscare, the administration saidtherewere rumours relating toCOVID-19 deaths, the health ofHurriyatchairmanSyedAliShahGeelani, and “circulation on so-cial media particularly inWhatsAppgroups showingPoKflagatopClockTower,LalChowk,Srinagar”.

SC order forged to spreadfake news, J&K tells top court

ADMNDEFENDS INTERNETCURBS

COVIDeffect: Omansays its ownwill replaceexpats ingovt sectorsSHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, APRIL30

ASGULFeconomies facea slow-down due to the oil crisis trig-gered by the coronavirus out-break, Oman has called for allexpatriates employed in thecountry’s “government sectors”tobereplacedbynationals.Withgovernmentjobsalready

reserved for nationals under a“decades-old” policy of“Omanisation”, thelatestmoveisexpectedtoaffectexpatriatesem-ployedinstate-runcompanies.InNewDelhi, the fear is that

Oman’smovecould“becomethenewnormal”formanyoftheem-battledeconomies in the region.There are more than 7 lakhIndiansinOman,ofwhichabout6lakharebluecollarworkersandprofessionals, according to theIndianEmbassyinMuscat.Besides Indians, Bangladesh

and Pakistan nationals form amajor chunk of the expatriatecommunity,which totals about

one-third of Oman’s populationofover46lakh.Accordingtoamonthlystatis-

tical bulletin for April issued byOman’s National Centre forStatisticsandInformation(NCSI),andpublishedbyTimesofOman,53,332expatriatesworkedinthegovernment sector as ofMarch-end,withthetotalnumberoffor-eignworkersat13,21,753.Officially, the Indian govern-

menthasdownplayed the latestdirective. Stressing that“Omanisation” is a “decades-oldpolicy”, theMinistry of ExternalAffairs’ spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said: “The policy isnot India-specific, and nottargeted towards India.”Over the past few weeks,

Oman has announced budgetcuts to stabilise theeconomy.ByWednesday, the country hadrecorded 2,274 COVID-19 casesand10relateddeaths.Two weeks ago, the state

barred private companies fromsacking Omanis under job cutstargeted to lessen the economic

burdencausedbythecoronaviruscrisis. It also urgedprivate firmstoasknon-Omaniemployees“toleavepermanently”.The new circular issued by

Oman’s Ministry of FinanceWednesdaycalledforexpatriatesemployed in the country’s gov-ernmentsectorstobereplacedbyOmanis, so that they can con-tributetothedevelopmentoftheSultanate,accordingtoareportinthe Times of Oman publishedThursday.“TheorderforOmanisationof

governmentsectorswillhave itsimplementation costs includedin the 2021 budget estimates,which need to be submitted byJuly 2020. The circular has alsosaid that the replacement of ex-patswithOmaniswillneedtobedone in a speedy and organisedmanner,” thereportsaid.It quoted Oman’s Finance

ministryassayingthatthestate’sFinancial and AdministrativeAudit Institution indicated thepresenceofanumberofexpatri-ateswhooccupy leadership and

supervisory jobs in governmentfirms.Itquotedtheministryassay-

ing that government companiesareconsideredan“attractiveen-vironment that can accommo-datequalifiedOmanijobseekers”and that the companies have“good potential to execute gov-ernment’sOmanisationpolicy”.On April 7, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi had called upOman’sSultanHaithambinTariqtodiscuss “healthandeconomicchallenges posed by theCOVID-19pandemic,andthestepsbeingtaken” by their countries to re-spondtothem.“SultanassuredPMaboutthe

safetyandwellbeingoftheIndiancommunityinOmaninthepres-entsituation,” theMEAhadsaid.Omar’s former ruler, Sultan

Qaboos bin Said, who died inJanuary,hadbeenabenefactorofthe Indian community fordecades. IndiahadsentMinorityAffairsMinisterMukhtar AbbasNaqvi to Muscat to convey itscondolences.

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL30

WITH JUST two days worth ofkits left, IndiaWednesday re-ceivedthefirstpartof7lakhRNAextractionkits,outofanorderofover30lakhkitsplacedwithvar-iouscompanies.RNA extraction kits are cru-

cial for diagnostic tests on peo-ple suffering fromCOVID-19.The supply comes at a time

India is looking to rampuptest-inginpreparationforrelaxationof lockdown norms and has setits sights on conducting over 1lakhdaily tests.After the Indian Council of

Medical Research (ICMR) de-cided to indefinitely suspend

rapid antibody tests followingcomplaints about quality ofChinesekits,RTPCRtestsremaintheonlytestforcoronavirus.ThetestcannotbedonewithoutRNAextraction kits, which manystateshavereportedlyrunoutof.Confirmingthereceiptof the

kits, Environment Secretary CKMishra,whoheads the empow-eredgrouponisolationbeds,test-ingetc,saidthisdoesnotincludekits already available with thestates,andthatthereare“dailyar-rivals”.Hesaid:“Wedon’thaveaproblemas of now.We reached70,000 tests today. Our testingtargetswilldefinitelybemet.”AskedwhetherIndiahasad-

equate kits for testing, JointSecretary (Health) Lav Agarwalsaid, “AvailabilityofRTPCRtests

2 days of kits left, 7 lakh RNA extraction kits arrive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,APRIL30

WEST BENGALWednesday re-vealed that 105persons infectedwith thecoronavirushaddied inthestate,butmaintainedthatonly33of thesedeaths coulddirectlybe attributed to COVID-19. Theother72hadpre-existingdiseases,orco-morbidities,andthefactthattheyhad also testedpositive forcoronavirus was “incidental”,ChiefSecretaryRajivaSinhasaid.The latest numberswere re-

vealed by an expert committeethatwas formed to carry out anaudit of all the coronavirusdeathsbeingreportedinthestateandassess theexact reasons.“TheDeathAuditCommittee

has recommended that HealthDepartment officials shouldkeepmore records of patients,and improve the procedure ofkeepingrecords.Thecommitteealso advised that there shouldbe a uniform format to issuedeathcertificates. Thecommit-tee advised the death certifi-cates should have immediatecause of death, antecedentcause of death and underlyingcauseof death,” Sinha said.WestBengalhadformedthis

committee on April 2. Till thatday,thestatehadreportedsevendeaths, but the government re-vised it downward to three, cit-ing thesamereason.OnApril24, theexpertcom-

mittee gave its first report inwhich it had said that of the 57deaths of coronavirus-positivepatientsinthestatetillthen,only18couldbeattributeddirectlytoCOVID-19.Co-morbidconditionsinpeo-

pledyingdue toCOVID-19 isnotuncommon.Infact,morethan50percentofpeoplewhohavediedinIndiahadapre-existingdisease—diabetesandhypertensionwerethemost common.Thedetailsofmanyof the rest arenot known,anditispossiblethatasignificantnumberevenamongthosewouldhaveco-morbidconditions.Mostof theotherstateshave

included the deaths of all thosewhotestedpositiveinitsCOVID-19toll.And,nostatehasreported

such a large difference in thenumbers of actual deaths ofcoronavirus-positive patients,and those whose deaths havebeen ascertained to have beencausedprimarilybyCOVID-19.However, following in the

footstepsofWestBengal,severalhavealsoconstituteddeathauditcommittees.AuthoritiesinDelhi,Mumbai and Punjab have an-nounced that expert commit-tees would assess the cause ofdeathineverycasewhereapos-itivepatientdies.OnThursday,WestBengalre-

ported that it had 572 “active”Coronaviruscases.Atotalof139people who had earlier testedpositivehadrecovered,while33had died. That would give thestateatotalcaseloadof744.But,by adding the 72 others whohavedied, since theyhavebeenconfirmed to have tested posi-tive, the total number of caseswould go up to 816. Thiswouldmean that at least one in everyeight persons who has testedpositiveinthestatehasdied.Noother state in the country hassuchahighcase fatality ratio.The Indian Express has re-

portedthatWestBengalwasthestate with the fastest spread ofthe disease right now, and thelowestdoubling time.In the last 24 hours, Sinha

said,1,905samplesweretested.Overall,the14designatedlabsinthe state have tested 16,525samples.“Oneofourtestinglab-oratories has not beenworkingover the last three days due tosome technical problems. Twomore private laboratories havebeen added to the list but theyhavenotstartedtestingsamplesof COVID-19,”Sinhasaid.According to a report by the

HealthDepartment,positivecasesare nowbeing reportedmainlyfromKolkata,Howrah,HooghlyandNorth24Parganasdistricts.“All over the state, there are

444containmentzones,ofwhichmajor zones are from three dis-tricts,Kolkata,HowrahandNorth24Parganas. InKolkata, thereare264 containment zones. InHowrahandNorth24Parganas,thereare72and70containmentzones,”thereportstates.

What Bengal’s official tallydoesn’t say: One in 8 whotested positive died of virus

WAIT FOR FOODMigrantswait for foodatEastDelhi’sMadhuViharonThursday.Anil Sharma

ABANTIKAGHOSHNNEEWWDDEELLHHII,, AAPPRRIILL3300

OFTHE1,075novel coronavirus(COVID-19) deaths across thecountrytillThursday,almosthalfthe patients were less than 60yearsold.ThismarksashiftsinceApril 18, when less than 25 percent of the deaths occurred inthisagegroup.On the other hand, those

agedover75yearsnowaccountfor only 9.2 per cent of thedeaths,asharpfall fromthe42.2percentearlier.AheadofMay3,whenthelock-

downis scheduled toend,UnionHealthSecretaryPreetiSudanhasasked state chief secretaries to“broadbase”thecriteriaforred,or-angeandgreenzones,anddesig-nateareasaccordingtotheirassess-ment.Aspertherevisedcriteria,shesaid,greenzonesaredistrictswhichhaven’treportedafreshcasein21days,downfromthe28daysear-lier. Inherletter,shelisted130red,284orange,and319greendistricts.“Thedistrictswereearlierdes-

ignatedashotspots/redzones,or-angezonesandgreenzones,pri-marily based on the cumulativecases reported and thedoublingrate. Since recovery rates havegoneup,thedistrictsarenowbe-ing designated across variouszonesdulybroad-basing the cri-teria. This classification ismulti-factorialandtakesintoconsidera-tion incidenceof cases, doublingrate,extentoftestingandsurveil-lancefeedbacktoclassifythedis-tricts.Adistrictwillbeconsideredundergreenzone if therearearenoconfirmedcasessofarorthereis no reported case since last 21daysinthedistrict,”Sudanwrote.Among the states and UTs

whichhave10ormoredistrictsinthe red zone are Delhi, WestBengal,Maharashtra,TamilNaduandUttarPradesh.Meanwhile, according to the

latestdata releasedby theUnionHealthMinistry, 14 per cent ofCOVID-19patientswhodiedwereless than45years, 34.8 per centwere 45-60 years, 42 per cent

were 60-75 years, 9.2 per centwere over 75 years. Thismeansthat 48.8 per cent of thosewhodiedwereagedlessthan60years.OnApril 18,when thedeath

tollstoodat488,asimilaranaly-sisbytheHealthMinistryhadre-vealed that 42.2 per cent of thedeathsoccurred in theover-75-yearsagegroup,33.1percent in60-75years,10.3percent in45-60 years, and 14.4 per cent be-low 45 years. So, only 24.7 percent of those who died wereaged less than60years.Whilethecasefatalityrateis

3.2percent,78percentof thosewho died had co-morbidities -down from83per cent onApril18-and65percentweremales.In the last 24 hours, 1,823

new cases and 67 deaths werereported. While the total casecount is now 33,610, about 25percenthaverecovered(8,372).Atotalof8,30,201sampleshavebeentestedso far.The national doubling time

hasnowincreasedto11days- itwas 3.4 days before the lock-down.ThedoublingtimeisevenmoreinseveralstatesandUnionterritories (UTs). In Delhi, UttarPradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil NaduandPunjab,thedoublingtimeis11-20 days. In Karnataka,Ladakh, Haryana, Uttarakhandand Kerala, it is 20-40 days; inAssam,Telangana,ChhattisgarhandHimachalPradeshit ismorethan 40 days - in HimachalPradesh, it is over191days.Followingaletter fromSudan

to the states earlier, theHealthMinistryreiteratedinastatementthat hospitalsmust ensurenon-COVIDessentialservices.“Aguid-ancenoteofMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfarehasbeenissuedonApril 20 toenable thedeliveryofessential health services duringtheCOVID-19outbreak. This in-cludesprovidingessentialservicesforreproductiveandchildhealth,immunisation, communicablediseases such as TB, leprosy andvector-bornediseases, aswell asnon-communicablediseasessuchascanceranddialysis,”itsaid.

Almost 50% of thedead are below age60, up from 25%

have increased from one lab to292governmentlabsand97pri-vateones. Ithasbeenconstantlyscaled up - froma fewhundredto yesterday,when58,686 tests

weredone....Whatevercapacityisneeded,wheneveritisneeded,the country has always kept in-creasing to meet the require-ments...”

Mumbai

TENDER WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY 1,20206

Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertising copy,it is not possible to verify itscontents. The Indian Express (P.)Limited cannot be heldresponsible for such contents,nor for any loss or damageincurred as a result oftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapers orPublications. We thereforerecommend that readers makenecessary inquiries beforesending any monies or enteringinto any agreements withadvertisers or otherwise actingon an advertisement in anymanner whatsoever.

''IMPORTANT''

The superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, Public Works Department, Almora invites tender through E-Tendering (Two BidSystem) on behalf of Honourable Governor of Uttarakhand for following works. All other information will be available from dated04.05.2020 & onwards on website http://www.uktenders.gov.in

S.No.

Name of work Cost ofTenderForm

EarnestMoney

(Rupee Inlakh)

Validityof

Tender

Time ofCompletion

Contractor’sCategory ofRegistrationfor tendering

1 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Almora- Sharpathak Motor Road in Km. 1 to 15 (Length 15.00 Km.)(2) L.R. Saha Motor Road in Km. 1 to 3 (Length 2530 Km.)(3) Almora- Bageshwar Motor Road in Km. 1 to 6 district Almora.

Length 5.30 Km. (Length 5.30 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

7.00 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

2 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Suwakhan- Dhoram- Chalnichina Motor Road in Km. 1 to 12, 14

and 15 (Length 14.00 Km.)(2) Aartola- Jageshwar- Naini Motor Road in Km. 1 to 3 (Length 3.00

Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

4.20 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

3 Renewal work by SDBC in district Almora under Annual Maintenance2020-21(1) Bageshwar- Girechina- Someshwar- Dwarahat- Vimandeshwar-

Eira- Ranikhet Motor Road (Binta- Someshwar- GirechinaSection) in Km. 35 to 44 (Length 10 Km.)

(2) Koshi- Dolaghat- Korichina- Bagwalipokhar- Binta Motor RoadKm. 38 (Length. 0.65 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

3.85 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “B”& above

(Road Works)

4 Renewal work by SDBC in district Bageshwar under AnnualMaintenance 2020-21(1) Chandra Singh Sahi Motor Road (Bageshwar- Kapkot Motor

Road) in Km. 11 to 21 (Length. 11 Km.)(2) Kapkot- Pindari- Glacier Motor Road in Km. 1 to 4 (Length. 4 Km.)

Rs.5000,00+18% GST

4.12 Lakh 60 Days 12 Months Category “A”& above

(Road Works)

Office of Superintending Engineer1st Circle PWD Almora

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING (E-Tendering)Short Term E-TENDER NOTICE

Tender Enquiry No.Work Description

Last Date & Timeof Bid Submission/Date and time ofOpening of bids

EstimatedCost/EMD

(Rs.)

Availabilityof Bid

Document

TATA Power-DDL invites tenders as per following details:May 01, 2020

RC for Supply of Polyolefin Sleeves 38 Lac /48K

TPDDL/ENGG/ENQ/200001217/20-2101.05.2020 21.05.2020;1600 Hrs/

21.05.2020;1630 HrsRfx 5000001695

DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C)DR-II

DELHI GATE STP PHASE-II, OPPOSITE DELHI SECRETARIAT IP ESTATE, NEW DELHI-110002E-mail - eecdr2@gmail.com

NIT NO. 01 (2019-20) EE(C)Dr-II(Tender ID:- 2020_DJB_190370_1)

Sd/-ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) (K.U. Khan)Advt. No. J.S.V. 13/2020-21 Executive Engineer (C)Dr-II

S.No.

Name of Work Estimatecost (in Rs)

EarnestMoney(in Rs)

Tender Fees(in Rs)

Date of releaseof tender in re-procurement

solution

Last date/ time ofreceipt of tender

through e-procurement solution

1. Shifting of 2X1200 mm diasewerage pumping main comingin alignment of proposedunderpass at Ashram Chowk.

13685979/- 273700/- 1500/- 27.04.2020 21.05.2020upto 03:00 PM

^maV gaH maGOVERNMENT OF INDIASuperintending Archaeologist

ARCHAEOLOGICALSURVEYOF INDIAMumbaiCircle -MaharashtraSionFort, Sion (East),Mumbai - 400 022Tel./Fax : 022 - 2407 8266 / 8388E-mail : circlemum.asi@gmail.com

NOTICE INVITING E-TENDERSThe Superintending Archaeologist, Mumbai Circle, Sion Fort, Sion (E), Mumbai - 400

022 invites on behalf of president of IndiaOnline percentage rate E-tenders on two envelopesystem for followingwork:-1.NIT No. 01, Name of Work* Supply of Man Power (Un-Skilled Labours) for watch andward upkeep ofmonuments under jurisdiction ofMumbaiCircle,Mumbai.EstimatedCost**Rs.6,55,97,532/-, EarnestMoneyDeposit***13,11,950/-

Online tender forms and other details/information can be obtained from thewww.asi.nic.in and www.eprocure.gov.in for other details/information can be obtainedOffice of Superintending Archaeologist,Mumbai.

-Sd-Superintending Archaeologist

e-TENDER NOTICE FOR HOUSEKEEPING SERVICESNIT. No: 03 of 2020

For and on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Central University ofKashmir , e-tenders under two bid system are invited from registered/ Companies/ Agencies for providing Housekeeping services acrossdifferent campuses of the University at Ganderbal. The bids must besubmitted through e-tendering mode available on CPP Portal(www.eprocure.gov.in) from 01.05.2020 to 21.05.2020. The detailedtender document along with a link is available on University website(www.cukashmir.ac.in).The hard copy of the Technical bids alongwith Tender processing fee of Rs. 1,000/- (Non- Refundable) andEMD of Rs. 1,50,000 (Refundable), should reach the university on orbefore 22.05.2020 (04.00 P.M.) and the same should be addressedto the Registrar, Central University of Kashmir, Green Campus,Ganderbal 191131 (J&K). The tender fee and the EMD shall be paid/ deposited online or in the shape of DD, FDR, BG Pledged , toRegistrar, Central University of Kashmir / drawn from any national-ized bank payable at Ganderbal (J&K). In case of any clarification,the bidders can send their queries to estates@cukashmir.ac.in orcontact at 7006171124 / 9419022101.

Sd/- Officer Incharge EstatesCentral University of Kashmir

No.: CUK/Est/H-KEEPING/F.No.274/19/1097/HomeDate: 30.04.2020

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIRGreen Campus Ganderbal-191131

The superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, Public Works Department, Almora invites tender through E-Tendering (Single Bid System) on behalf of Honourable Governor of Uttarakhand for following works. Allother information will be available from dated 04.05.2020 & onwards on websitehttp://www.uktenders.gov.in

S.No.

Name of work Cost ofTender Form

EarnestMoney

(Rupee Inlakh)

Validityof Tender

Time ofCompletion

Contractor’sCategory of

Registration fortendering

1 Renewal work by PC in Km. 40 to 44 and 46to 51 of Lohaghat- Barakot - Simalkhet-Kaflikhan - Bhnoli Motor Road (Simalkhet-Kaflikhan Section) under Annual Maintance2020-21 in district Almora. Length 11.00 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.54 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

2 Renewal work by PC in Km. 1 to 3 and 6 to 11of Dwarahat - Asgoli Motor Road underAnnual Maintance 2020-21 in district Almora.Length 9.00 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.08 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

3 Renewal work by PC in Km, 5 to 10 of Kapkot- Pindari - Glacier Motor Road under - AnnualMaintance 2020-21 in district Bageshwar.Length 6.00 Km.

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

1.40 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “C” &above

(Road Works)

4 Renewal work by SDBC in Km. 1,2,9,10,11and 13 of Karnprayag (Simli) - Gwaldam -Bageshwar - Chokori- Thal- Munshyari-Jauljibi (Baijnath - Bageshwar Section) MotorRoad under Annual Maintance 2020-21 indistrict Bageshwar. Length 6.00 Km.

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

1.60 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “C” &above

(Road Works)

5 Renewal work by SDBC in Km. 69 (400M),72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79 and 81 of Almora-Baijnath- Gwaldam- Karnprayag (Baijnath-Gwaldam Section) Motor Road under AnnualMaintance 2020-21 in district Bageshwar.Length 7.40 Km

Rs. 4000,00 +18% GST

2.70 Lakh 60 Days 9 Months Category “B” &above

(Road Works)

Office of Superintending Engineer1st Circle PWD Almora

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING(E-Tendering) Short Term E-TENDER NOTICE

Navi Mumbai Municipal CorporationHEALTH DEPARTMENTRecruitment Advertisement

WHEREAS, the Government of Maharashtra, in exercise of the powers conferred under section2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic disease act, 1897 has framed Regulations for prevention and containment ofCOVID - 19 under no. 2020/CR/58/ Aarogya-5 dated 13th march 2020.

AND WHEREAS the Government of India has issued guidelines dated 7th April set up DedicatedCOVID Care Center (DCCC), Dedicated COVID Health Center and Dedicated COVID Hospital and asper the directions issued in the VC of Hon Chief Secretary Government of Maharashtra dated 8th April2020.

AND WHEREAS under rule 10 of the said regulation the Municipal commissioner is authorizedto take any measures for containment of COVID- 19.

AND WHEREAS as per the protocol given by Ministry of Health & Family welfare DirectorateGeneral of Health Services EMR Division an appropriate Management of Suspect/confirmed cases ofCOVID-19 in the jurisdiction of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

I Annasaheb Misal, Municipal Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, inexercise of said powers conferred upon me hereby invite the application for the post of Senior Asst.Medical Officers – MBBS, BAMS, BHMS & Qualified staff nurse for Covid-19 patients for threemonths on contract basis for Dedicated COVID Care Center, Flu Clinics.

Sr.No.

Designation TotalPosts

Fixed remuneration

1) Asst. Medical Officer – MBBS ( 60 )BAMS ( 30 )BHMS ( 30 )

120 Rs. 65000/- (MBBS)Rs. 55000/- (BAMS)Rs. 50000/-(BHMS)

2) Qualifed Staff Nurse 60 Rs. 25000/-

Educational Qualification :1) Asst. Medical Officer – MBBS, BAMS, BHMS.

a). Candidate should be degree holder of recognized university.b). Candidate should be registered with MMC or MCI or relevant Institution.

2) Qualified staff nurse:-a). Candidate should be 12th passed and GNM diploma holder of recognized Nursing Council

or B.Sc (Nursing) from recognized university.b). Candidate should be registered with the Maharashtra Nursing Council of India

Age Limit :The age of the candidate should not be more than 50 years as on 30.04.2020

General Instructions :1. Candidate should submit copy of marriage certificate or gazette for change of name.

They can also apply with maiden name.2. If candidate has passed diploma/degree in more than one attempt then the attempt

certificate should be submitted.3. The Candidate has to submit character certificate from local police station

within one month of his appointment.4. If candidate is found to have submitted any false information certificate/certificates or

papers or found hiding any information then his appointments stands cancelled.5. N.O.C. from previous employer should be submitted.

6. Candidate has to attend the walk in interview at his own cost.7. Selected candidate has to submit the contract document on bond paper of the Rs.

100/-stamp paper or as per legal charges according to his remuneration at his own cost.8. Municipal Commissioner reserves the right to cancel appointment of the candidate on

contract without any intimation.9. Candidate if found guilty of any misconduct or insubordination, his appointment will

be cancelled with immediate effect.10. Candidate can resign from the contract with intimation of 30 days in advance.

11. The appointment is only on temporary contractual basis for pandemic period and the

selected candidates will have no right to claim for regularization in service.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONSA. Any previous applications submitted will not be taken into consideration.B. No application will be accepted by post.C. Candidate should remain present along with original degree/diploma certificate

and Mark list self attested zerox copies at the time of walk in Interview.D. Candidate should remain present along with previous experience original

certificates and self attested zerox copies.E. Venue for the Interview : Meenatai Thakre Municipal General Hospital NerulF. Date of the walk in interview : 8th May to 13th may from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

(Annasaheb Misal)Commissioner

NMMC PR Adv no./1761/2020 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Mumbai

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,NEWDELHI,APRIL30

FOLLOWINGAspateof incidentsof patients being refused treat-ment,mostlyinprivatehospitals,at least two state governments,Maharashtra andDelhi, have is-suedordersaskinghospitalstoen-sure no patient, Covid or non-Covid, is turned awaywithoutexaminationandtreatment.Delhi onThursday reiterated

its earlier order - this is the thirdsuch by the state government -andwarnedofcancellationofreg-istration of erring hospitals. “Allhospitals/clinics,especiallythoseinprivate sectors, are herebydi-rected to remain functional andensure that anyoneneeding anyessential critical services, includ-ing dialysis, blood transfusion,chemotherapy and institutionaldeliveries,isnotdeniedsuchserv-ice. Non-compliance will beviewedseriouslyandactionasperprovisions of law, including can-cellationofregistrationofthede-faulter hospital/nursing home,will be initiatedwithout furthernotice,”statedtheorder.The Maharashtra govern-

ment’s order on Thursday said“no patient is to be turnedaway... under any circum-stance”, failing which actionwould be taken under theEpidemicDiseasesAct, 1897.Theordercomesdaysafterthe

Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation(BMC)issuedtwocir-cularsinMumbai,onetonursinghomes and private doctors torestartpracticeimmediately,andthesecondtoprivatehospitals tonotsealtheirfacilityandcontinuefunctioning with precautionswhilehandlingaCovid-19patient.Noting that “in view of in-

creasingnumberofCovid-19pos-

itive patients that government,municipal andprivate hospitalsare either refusing or delayingtreatment/admission of the pa-tientscausingdelay intreatmentandholdingambulancesforlongtime”, the order said hospitalsshouldhave standard operatingprotocoltoscreen,transfer,admitanddischargepatients.MaharashtraChiefSecretary

Ajoy Mehta invoked theEpidemicAct toaskhospitals tohave a screening area for pa-tients fromMay 2 and create asystemoftriagetosegregatesus-pected Covid patients from theotherpatients.The order askedhospitals to

testsuspectedcases“onpriority”and seek test reportswithin 12hours. Saying that theorderwillcome into effect fromMay 2, astategovernmentofficialsaidthegovernmentwouldgivehospitalstimetosetupinfrastructureoverthenexttwodays.TheThursdayordermandates

that each patient be provided aunique IDbefore admission. ThehospitalshavebeenaskedtoshiftbodiesofCovid-19patientswithin30minutesfromthewardandde-congest by diverting mild orasymptomaticcasestoCovidcarecentres.UntilWednesday, therewere

at least187criticalCovidcases inMaharashtra, of them 112 re-quiredoxygensupportand27in-vasive ventilator support. InMumbai,about120werecritical.InMarchandApril, BMChad

declaredatleast10privatehospi-talsascontainmentzones,imply-ingnonewpatient could be ad-mittedandnoconsultationwouldbe carried, after staffers startedtestingpositive.TheBMClaterre-alised sealing private hospitalswasnot a solution to control thespreadofthedisease.OnApril18,

itaskedwardofficers todisinfectaffectedwards in hospitals if apositivecasewasdetectedandad-visedhospitalstoprovidePPEstostaffers and continue essentialservices. It advised hospitals tohave50percentof staff atatimeto avoid crowding. OnApril 23,private clinicswere instructed tostartoperationsimmediately,andprovide treatment tonon-Covidpatients, speciallythosewithhy-pertension,diabetes,andchronicobstructivepulmonarydistress.On Thursday, even as state

governmentaskedprivatehospi-tals to keepoperating and treat-ing all types patients, hospitalssaid they are facing several hur-dleswith staff shortage and lackofprotectivegear.DrGautamBhansali,consult-

antwith Bombay hospital, saidtheyhavecreatedatriageareatoscreen patients and reopenedtheir OPD since Monday. “Wehave created a 15-bedward forthose who await their test re-ports,”hesaid.Butheaddedthatgetting test results within 12hoursisdifficult.Also,classIVem-ployees continue to refuse to re-porttowork.Dr Shahid Barmare, general

physician in Kohinoor hospital,said thehospital started itsOPDlastweek. “All of uswear PPE inOPD.IfapatientissuspectedtobeCOVID-19positive,wehavetore-ferthemtogovernmenthospital.Butshiftingcases togovernmenthospitalisverydifficult,theyhavenobeds.Wehave toadmit themin our hospital for testing,”Barmaresaid.InBreachCandyhospital,sev-

eral staffers live inCovidhotspotWorliandcannottraveltothehos-pital. In Bhatia hospital, house-keepingstaffhasrefusedtowork.

WITHINPUTSFROMTABASSUMBARNAGARWALA

Turn away no patient:Delhi, Maharashtratell private hospitals

7THE INDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK Nation

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,APRIL30

SUGARMILLS inMaharashtra,whichhad startedmanufactur-inghandsanitisers,arenowun-abletoselltheirproduce.Lackofknowledge of retail marketinghasproventobethebiggesthur-dle formillsevenasdemandforhand sanitiser surges amid thecoronaviruspandemic.Soon after the first coron-

avirus case was identified inIndia,panicbuyingofhandsan-itizers saw them flying offshelves. Prices skyrocketed,whichforcedthecentralgovern-ment to put them in the list ofEssentialCommodities itemstoprevent hoarding.Manufacturers jacked up theirproduction capacity to

meet thedemand.Chemically, hand sanitisers

containmore than 70 per centethanolandso, sugarmillswiththeir in-house ethanol plantswere the first to diversify intoproductionof handsanitisers.Ethanol,which ismore than

99.95per centpure alcohol, is aby-productof sugarproductionandmills sell this to oilmarket-ingcompaniesasafueladditive.For the last two years, the cen-

tral government is promotingethanol production as an alter-native to sugar to helpmills in-crease their liquidity.Since early April, mills had

started accruing licences fromtheexcisecommissionertostartproductionofhandsanitisersforretail and wholesale markets.The combined capacity inMaharashtra is at least 20 lakhlitresperdaywithbothcooper-ative and private mills takingpart in theproduction.While mills had shown

alacritywhenitcametoproduc-tion of hand sanitisers, themarketing aspect has put theminabind.Estimatesbythesugarcom-

missioner’s office show that tilldate,asmanyas40lakhlitresofhandsanitisershavebeenman-ufactured in the state of which12 lakh litres still lies unsold,

mainlywithcooperativemills.Cooperative millers admit

they have failed to crack the re-tail salesmarkets,which isnec-essarytooffloadhandsanitisers.Unlike sugar or ethanol, wheretraders come to themills in re-sponseto tenders,handsanitis-ers has a separate marketingchain which thesemillers hadfailed tocrack.Early in April, the

Maharashtra State CooperativeSugar Factories Federation hadwritten to the health secretaryseekingdirectionstodistrictcol-lectors todirect,primaryhealthcentres, government hospitalsandcorporationhospitalstobuydirectly from cooperativemills.Themillswerealsoaskedtoen-ter into rate contracts with thegovernment-runhealthfacilitiesto sell theirhandsanitisers. Thecentralgovernmenthadcapped

the price at Rs 500 per handsanitiser.However,tilldatenoth-ing concrete has happened inthis regard.On the other hand, private

millshavemanagedtofarerela-tively well in marketing theirproduce. Bhairavnath BThombare,presidentoftheWestIndian SugarMills Association(WISMA)—theapexbodyofpri-vatemillers in the state — saidretailsalesofhandsanitiserscanprovetobeagoodsourceofrev-enue for sugarmills.Thombare’s Natural Sugar

andAlliedLimited—whichrunstwo units in Osmananad andYavatmal — had produced70,000litresof sanitiserswhichwassoldacrossMarathwada.“Itdoesrequireaseparatemarket-ing channel but canprove to bea good source of revenue in thedays tocome,”hesaid.

After sugar, Maharashtra mills leftwith unsold stock of hand sanitisers

Tilldate,40 lakhlitresofhandsanitizershavebeenmanufacturedinthestateofwhich12lakhlitresstill liesunsold,mainlywithcooperativemills

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,APRIL30

ONLYGERMANYhadconductedmoreteststhanIndiabythetimeitreached1,000COVID-19deaths.And, at the 1,000-deathmark,India’s ratio of positive cases toconducted tests (positivity rate)wasthelowestofallcountries.Thiswas foundby The Indian

Express analysis of data fromtheOxford University and GlobalChange Data Lab dashboard,calledOurWorldinData.Thepor-talfeedsintestingnumbersfromindividual government reports.Mortality numbers also comefromgovernmentreports,viathe

European Center for DiseasePrevention and Control (ECDC)database.According to the analysis, 18

countries have hadmore than1,000COVID-19deaths.TheyareGermany, India, United States,Canada, Switzerland, Ireland,United Kingdom, France, Italy,Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium,Mexico,Iran,andTurkey,inorderof highest to lowest number oftests done when the countryreached this stage. Therewasnotesting data available for Brazil,China,andSpain.At the juncture of 1,000

deaths, the total case loadwashigherinGermany,theUS,TurkeyandChina.Thismeansthatthose

countries had a smaller propor-tion of their cases dying. Theirmortalityratespercentwere1.3,1.5,2.1and2.4,respectively.India’scurrentmortality rate is roughly

3percent.Nine countries worldwide

have conducted more than7,50,000tests,anumberIndiasur-passed onWednesday. At this

stage, only Russia andGermanyhad reported fewer deaths, andonly Russia had reported fewercases.TheUK,Italy,Spain,Canada,TurkeyandtheUSallhadsignifi-cantlyhigherdeathsthanIndiaonthedaytheyconductedjustover7,50,000tests.However, when it comes to

comparisonswithothercountrieswhentheywereatIndia’scurrentcaseload, India’s positioningslumps slightly.Whencountrieshittheir32,000casemark,sixhadfewer deaths than India (Peru,China, Turkey, US, Russia andGermany)whileninehadhigherdeaths. Three countries hadhighertestingatthispoint(Russia,France andGermany),while no

datawasavailableforSpain, Iran,ChinaandBrazil.Even though India’s death

count remains relatively low, therateofincreaseindeathsisnowrel-ativelyhigh.COVID-19deaths inIndiaarenowdoublingfasterthanthe current rate in Italy, US,Germany,UK,Israel,IranandSpain.India currently doubles deathnumbers every 11 days, on parwithTurkey,CanadaandPakistan.Theglobaldeathcountisdoublingevery 17 days, according to theWorldinDatadashboard.Testing,deathsandrecoveries

have varying definitions acrosstheworld,andthereforemaylimitcomparisons.Inanothertrend,recoveriesin

Indiaforthepasttwoweekshavenotbeenasuniformastheywereduring the first twomonths ofcases.InitiallyIndiasawalmostallitscasesrecoveringintwoweeks.Currentrecoverynumbersarenolongerasclosely trailing thecaseloadfromtwoweeksago.Whenaddingdeaths (with a

14-day lag), the gap betweencases and“completed” (deathorrecovery)numbers still remains.Thus, thismostlikelymeansthatinfectionperiodsare longer thantheyusedtobe,statisticalexpertstold The Indian Express. Somelikelypossibilitiesarethatrecov-eriesare taking longeror that in-fections are being diagnosedsooner.

At 1,000 deaths, only Germany had conducted more tests than IndiaTESTSCONDUCTEDAT 1,000DEATHS

1500000

1000000

500000

0

Tests

Germany

India

United

States

Canada

Switzerland

Ireland

United

Kingdom

France

Italy

13,70,655

7,70,764

5,59,468

4,01,552

2,11,400

1,53,054

1,27,737

1,07,546

97,488

UTTARAKHANDDaily awardsfor civilians,policeDehradun: UttarakhandPolicewillfelicitateapolice-man and civilian everydayfor contributing to theCOVID-19 fight. DG (Lawand Order) Ashok Kumarsaid police personnelwillbegivencashawardswhilecivilianswillgetcertificates.Meanwhile, the policeheadquarters has askeddistricts to deploy person-nelabove55years,whoaresaid tobemorevulnerabletoCOVID-19,onlyinsideof-fices. ENS

WESTBENGALBody left lyingfor hours overvirus fearsKolkata:Thebodyof a 34-year-oldwomanwasleftly-ingformorethan10hoursatherhomeinKolkatawithnoonecoming forward todis-poseof it, allegedly due toCOVID-19 fears. The bodywas foundby thewoman’smotherinthemorningwithfroth coming out of hermouth.Themotherclaimednone of the neighbourscameforwardtohelp.Finally,thelocalpolicearrivedintheeveningandsent thebodyforpostmortem. ENS

Railways givesover 30 lakhfreemealsNewDelhi: IndianRailwaysdistributed nearly 30 lakhfreemealstostrandedpeo-ple at 300 locations acrossthe country untilWednesday, 10 lakh ofthosedistributedinthelast10 days, according to astatement from theRailways Ministry. TheRailwaysbegandistributinghot,cookedmealsintheaf-ternoonoutsideitsstationsandelsewherefromMarch28. “Distribution of food isbeing done with help ofRPF, GRP, commercial de-partments of zones, stategovernments, district ad-ministrations andNGOs,”theministrystated. ENS

CORONAWATCH

WaitingtocollectfoodfromvolunteersinKolkata. PTI

JOHNSONTABENGALURU,APRIL30

AGROWINGnumber of peopleturning up in hospitals withSevere Acute RespiratoryInfection (SARI) and then testingpositiveforthecoronavirus,withseeminglynohistoryof travel orcontactwithCOVID-19patients,has becomea source of concernforHealthofficials inKarnataka.According todaily state data,

36persons reported inhospitalswithSARIandlatertestedpositiveforCOVID-19overthelastmonth—making up asmuch as sevenpercentofthe525casesreportedinthestate,including10ofthe21deaths.Thishasledtotheclosureofas

manyasfivehospitalsinthestate,fear among non-COVID-desig-natedhospitals toattend toSARIcases, and theuse of PPEkits byhealthworkersattendingtoSARIcasesinCOVIDhospitals.AftertheICMRexpandedtest-

ingtoSARIpatientsonMarch20,astate-leveltechnicalexpertcom-mittee stated that “SevereAcuteRespiratory Illness (SARI) casesand Influenza Like Illnesses (ILI),whichhavegotsimilarsymptomsof COVID-l9, shouldbe screenedat the initial stagesof symptomsso thatmorbidity andmortalitydue toCOVID-19canbearrestedinthecommunity’’.As of April 29, therewere six

casesofILI(1percent)withposi-tiveresultsapartfromthe36SARIcasesinKarnataka.Amongtherecent suchcases

include a 65-year-oldmanwhodiedintheSARIwardof theRajivGandhiInstituteofChestDiseasesonApril13anda54-year-oldmi-grant worker from Bihar whotestedpositiveonApril22.Asmanyas30personslinked

totheworkerhavetestedpositiveandoneprivate hospital,wherehewas initially seenbydoctors,has been sealed alongwith theHongasandra locality inBengaluru, where he lived. Asmany as four other hospitalsaround Karnataka have beensealed after SARI cases turnedCOVID-19positive.“TheSARIcasesareprovingto

beverytricky.Alotofhospitalsareturning awaypatients to desig-nated COVID-19 hospitals.WecreatedaSARIwardonMarch27apprehending such a situation.OurhealthworkersareusingPPEkitsintheSARIwardasaprecau-

tiontopreventinfection,’’saidDrCNagaraja, director of the RajivGandhiInstituteofChestDiseasesin Bengaluru, one of the desig-natedCOVID-19hospitals.“The number of SARI cases

withnotravelhistoryorreportedcontactswith positive personssuggests that there is some levelof community transmission oc-curringinthestate,’’saidaseniordoctorinthestatehealthandfam-ilywelfaredepartment.But others dealing directly

withSARIcasessuggestthatalackof in-depth investigationof con-tacts of persons creates an im-pression of community spread.“There is no community trans-missionhappening. ThepersonswhocomewithSARI to thehos-pital andtestpositive forCOVID-19havehadcontactswithan in-fectedpersonbuttheyfailtorecallthe contact or report it whenbrought for admission,’’ saidDrNagaraja.ThenumbersofSARIcasesre-

turning positive results inKarnatakaisinexcessofwhathasbeen found nationally by theICMR COVID Group and re-searchersattheCouncil’sNationalInstituteofEpidemiology(NIE)inastudypublishedonApril28.“A total of 104 (1.8%) of 5,911

SARIpatientstestedwerepositivefor COVID-19. These caseswerereported from52districts in 20States/Union Territories. TheCOVID-19positivitywas higher

amongmales andpatients agedabove50years. In all, 40 (39.2%)COVID-19casesdidnotreportanyhistory of contactwith a knowncase or international travel,’’ thestudybyDrManojMurhekar,theNIEdirector andothers reportedin findingspublishedTuesday inthe Indian Journal of MedicalResearch.The study used SARI and

COVID-19casedatafromFebruary15toApril2fortheanalysiscover-ingaperiodwhenSARIcaseswerenot being tested (February15 toMarch20) and theperiodwhentheywerebeingtested.“Amongthe965SARIpatient

samples thatwere tested retro-spectivelybetweenFebruary15-29, 2020, andMarch 19, 2020,two (0.2%) were positive forCOVID-19.WhentheCOVIDtest-ingstrategywasexpandedtoin-clude all SARI patients, a total of4,946samplesyielded102(2.1%)cases. The positivity increasedfromzeroduringtheinitialweeksto2.6percentinthe14thweek,”thestudyreported.Thestudyshowedapositivity

rateof1.6percentforGujarat,0.9per cent for Tamil Nadu, 3.8 percent forMaharashtraand0.2percent forKerala— the states fromwhere themajority of sampleswere taken. It suggested that“containmentactivitiesneedtobetargeted in districts reportingCOVID-19 cases amongSARIpa-tients”.

In Karnataka, worry over spurt incorona cases among SARI patients

Karnataka panelsuggests Fauci’s‘promising’ drugBengaluru: Anti-viral drugRemdesivir, which according toUSNational Institute of AllergyandInfectiousDiseasesdirectorDr Anthony Fauci has shown“clear” evidence of helpingCOVID-19 patients recover, isamong three treatmentoptionsrecommendedbyatechnicalex-pert committee for trial amongpatients in Karnataka.Remdesivir,producedbyUSfirmGileadSciences,costsaroundRs70,000 per dose in India. “Werecommended Remdesivir; ananti-infection drug calledSepsivac that can control cy-tokinestormreportedinCOVID-19 cases; and plasma therapy,which has received ICMR ap-proval fortrials inmanyplaces,”said Dr Sacchidanand, V-C ofRajiv Gandhi University ofHealthSciencesandheadof theexpertpanel.Therecommendationforuse

of Remdesivir on coronaviruspatients in Karnataka, whichcame before the study resultswere declared in the US onWednesday, was made on thebasis of findings from smallerstudies, published in ‘NewEnglandJournalofMedicine’onApril 10. ENS

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,APRIL30

OVERAhundredmigrantwork-ers fromBengal hit the streets inKerala’sMalappuramdistrictde-mandingthattheybesenthome.Theworkerswere dispersed bythepolicewhoforcedthemtore-turntotheirrentedaccommoda-tionsinChettiparambavillage.Meanwhile, CM Pinarayi

Vijayansaid,“The(Centre’s)direc-tion is that they should be sentback by bus. But Kerala has in-formed theCentre that directiveis impractical and the Railwaysshouldbe asked to arrangenon-stop trains,’’ he said. TheCMsaidaround3.6lakhmigrantworkershave been living in Kerala sincethe lockdownwas announced,adding that taking themto theirhome states by bus would in-creasethechancesof infection.Asthesituationforthereturn

of migration workers to theirhomestatesisevolving,therearechancesof tension,Vijayansaid.According to Malappuram

Deputy SP Jaleel Thottathil, themigrantworkershadprotestedaf-ter hearing about stranded stu-dentsbeingtakenback.

Migrantworkers fromPunjabtalk toofficialsoutsidetheBengalurudistrictcollector’sofficetotravelhome,onThursday. PTI

As migrantsprotest inKerala, CM saysCentre’s moveimpractical

Gujarat: UP migrants skipmeals, want to return home

Don’t walk, planning yourreturn: Yogi to migrants

AISHWARYAMOHANTYVADODARA,APRIL30

“WEARE ready to die of starva-tion,” says ShivamKumar, ami-grantworker at a relief camp inVadodara. Kumar is among sev-eralworkersfromUPwhorefusedmeals Thursday to register theirprotest. They have only one de-mand:tobesenthome.Kumar(18)setoff forUPfrom

Vadodarawith nine others, butwasbroughttothiscamponMar-ch28. “It has been amonth and

two days...we cannot handle itanymore.Iwanttogobackandseemymother,”Kumarsays.OnThu-rsday, police announced over aloudspeakerthattheywillbesenthomeandshouldnotskipmeals.The administration awaits

confirmation from respectivestate governments to sendbackthelabourers.“Thereareprotocolstobefollowed.Therehasbeennoconfirmation fromUPandBihar.As soonaswe receive it,wewillsend themback,” saidVadodaraMunicipal CorporationCommissionerNalinUpadhyay.

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,APRIL30

EVENAS nearly 3,000migrantlabourerswereontheirwaytothestate in 100buses fromMadhyaPradeshonThursday,andprepa-rations are on to bring backmi-grant workers from Gujarat,UttarakhandandRajasthan,UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanathurgedthemtobepa-tientandnotstartwalkinghome.“It is an appeal to allworkers

to showpatience, like theyhaveshowntillnow,andnottowalkonfoot.Contactgovernmentsof the

respective states. Aplan is beingpreparedtobringyoubacksafelyafter discussionswith the stategovernments,”Adityanathsaidonsocialmedia.Additional Chief Secretary

(Home) Awanish Awasthi said:“Today, buses from MadhyaPradesh have started bringingpeople.About3,000peoplein100buses have leftMP,while those,whobelongtoMParebeingsentin40buses.”Adityanath asked officials to

preparequarantinecentres,shel-ter homes and communitykitchens for the returningworkers.

Mumbai

ANUSHREEMAJUMDAR

THECONNECTIONofthelightningcallfromBombay to Bikanerwas full ofstatic — Rishi Kapoor could barely

make out what Manmohan Desai wastrying to tell him, somethingabout a role ina film called Amar Akbar Anthony. DesaiwantedKapoortoplayAkbarbut theyoungactorwasconfused. “Howcan IplayAkbar?My grandfather (Prithviraj Kapoor) playedAkbar inMughal-e-Azam!” The hit film-makerwas flummoxedbyhis responseand

said, “What’swrongwiththisstupidman?”toGhanshyam,Kapoor’ssecretary,whowaswith Desai in Bombay during the call. ThematterwasclearedupsoonafterandKapoorwentontostarinoneofHindicinema’smostenduringhits,alongsideAmitabhBachchanand the late Vinod Khanna; if he had everworried about being eclipsed by the AngryYoungMan, and the Angsty YoungMan, heneedn’t have — as the qawwali-singingAkbar, the tailor whowooed the girl withmuchabandon,andthemostoptimisticoneof threebrothers,Kapoorheldhisown.Theanecdoteisoneofmanyherecounted

in his 2017 autobiography, Khullam Khulla:Rishi Kapoor Uncensored, a breezy chronicleof thelifeandlovesofRajKapoor’smostsuc-cessfulson,whomadehisdebutasa16-year-old inMera Naam Joker (1970) and had anillustrious career as Hindi cinema’s singingand dancing youngster, a jersey-sportinglover, before he embarked on a second in-ningsasanefficientsupportingactorinfilmssuch as Luck By Chance (2009), Agneepath(2012),D-Day (2013), Kapoor & Sons (2016)andMulk (2018).In his nearly 50-year-old career, Kapoor

courted stardom, critical acclaim and con-troversywith spontaneity, a trait he pridedhimselfonhavingasanactorandotherwise.In theageof socialmedia,his ill-consideredopinions and commentswould frequentlylandhiminhotwater,butKapoorwasneverone to back down. Hewas always aware oftheprivilegeaffordedtohimfrombirth,andall throughhis life,he’dalwaysbackedhim-self,whetheritcametohischoiceof film,thesweatersheworeinmostof themtillhewas44, and even his reckless tweets. He livedlarge and openly, and often became an ex-ampleofthewaysinwhichlong-lastingstar-dom matures, or not, with the passingof time.Inthelast fewyears,Kapoorremindedus

ofhownaturalanactorhecouldbe,howhecould handle even themost saccharine orrighteousroleswithadefttouch,andhaduscheerhimonhisrewardingcomebacktotheindustry. In interviews and other conversa-tions,hecouldbeajesterandatease,hewashis own person, no filters please. In 2014,when he discovered that the nationalarchivesofThe IndianExpress inChandigarhhadaphotographofhimwithayoungRanbironthesetsofPremGranth(1996),hewantedit for his autobiography. Upon being in-formed that it had to be purchased, Kapoorjoked,“Meraphotokhichtehoaurmujhsesehipaise lete ho? (You takemy photo and youchargemeforit?).Thosewhoknewhimwilltell you,hewasonlybeinghimself.

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

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LEFTUNDONEIt was announced in January that Rishi Kapoorwould star alongside actor Deepika Padukonein the remake of the 2015 American comedyThe Intern. He was supposed to reprise RobertDe Niro’s role as the senior intern.

RISHI KAPOOR 1952-2020

His OwnMan

(Clockwise fromleft)RishiKapoorwithayoungRanbironthesetsofPremGranth;withactor-wifeNeetuKapoor; (left toright)Randhir, Shammi,Rishi, ShashiandRajivKapoor ExpressArchive

RishiKapoor,whodied lastmorning, livedonhisownterms,andbackedhisownchoices—fromhis

filmstohis sweatersandevenhis tweets

MANSOORKHAN

IALWAYSfeltthatRishiuncle(thoughhewasonly five years senior tome)was one ofmyfather’s (Nasir Hussain’s) favourite actorsbecausehewould render the characters thatdadwouldwrite sowell—his acting ability,personalityandflamboyancewasaperfectfitfor them.Heenjoyedplaying those roles.HeandShammiKapoor—thetwofamousHindifilmromantic heroes—weredad’s favourite.His passing away is a sad and big loss fortheindustry.Hewas going to be cast in Jaane Tu…Ya

JaaneNa(2008).SinceIwasintheproductionteam,IspoketoRishiuncle,butsadly,itdidn’tworkout.IlastmethimwhenhehadcometoCoonoortoshootforKapoor&Sons.Oneday,hecametomyfarmandshared thathe feltper-sonally responsible for ZamaaneKoDikhanaHai(ZKDH,1981)notdoingwellcommercially,thathe’dletdaddownandthusavoidedtakinghiscalls(theotherNasirHussainfilmhestarredin,HumKisise KumNaheen, 1977,was ahugehit).Itoldhimthatmyfatherneverfeltthattheresponsibilityforhisfilmsfellonanybodyelse.The youthful loverboy iconmoved from

ShammitoRishiKapoorto(mycousin)AamirKhan. My directorial debut Qayamat Se

Qayamat Tak (1988)wasmeant to launchAamir.Dadwas clear that hewouldn’twriteQayamatSeQayamatTakinhisearlier,classicalstyle—Aamir’scharacterissober,notlikeRishiuncle’sconfident,brash,up-on-things,humor-ouscharacterswhogetthegirl.MyfriendandIhadtodothelighteffectsfor

ZKDH’ssongs,thewayitwasinSaturdayNightFever (1977). I was extremely introvert.Myfather,worried that Iwas going towastemylife,thoughtthecool,easy-goingRishiKapoorwasinspiringmetodosomething.Rishiunclewouldaskmewhydon’tImakefriends(intheindustry), itwas sohard forme to explain tohimthatIneverwantedtomakefriends.

KhanisthedirectorofQayamatSeQayamatTak

ASTOLDTOTANUSHREEGHOSH

‘He was flamboyant and easy-going’

KapoorwithPadminiKolhapure inastill fromZamaaneKoDikhanaHai

THEEVERGREENENTERTAINERInacareer spanning fivedecades, veteranactorRishiKapoorhas taught

generationshowto love, singanddance.A lookat someof hismost iconic films

MERANAAMJOKER(1970):Inhis fatherRajKapoor’smagnumopusandhisdebutfilm,heplayedtheadolescent

Raju. ItwonhimtheNationalAwardforBestChildArtist.

BOBBY(1973):His first leadrole, op-positeDimpleKapadia, this teenageromancewasa trendsetter. It estab-lishedKapoorasa romantichero.

KHELKHELMEIN(1975):Kapoorplayedacollegestu-dent, along-sideactor-wifeNeetuSingh

andRakeshRoshan.Aprankgot thetrio involvedwithanotoriouscrimi-nal. Ithas thepopulardrunkendecla-rationKhullamkhullapyaarkarenge, atitle that theactor laterborrowed forhisbiographyKhullamKhulla:RishiKapoorUncensored.

LAILAMAJNU(1976): InHSRawail’scinematicversionof the legendarymoving tale,Kapooressayed theroleof thestar-crossed lover,deliveringasoul-stirringperformance.

KABHIKABHIE(1976):Afamilydramaspanningover twogenera-tions, in theYashChopra film,Kapoorplayed the roleof ShashiKapoorandRakhee’s son,Vicky,who falls inlovewithPinky,playedbyNeetu.

HUMKISISEKUMNAHEEN(1977):NasirHussain’smusicaldramawillforeverbe remembered forKapoorandhis trumpet inBachnaaehaseenon,whichcreatedasensation.

AMARAKBARANTHONY(1977):Anactioncomedy,it focusedonthreebrotherswhoaresepa-

rated inchildhoodandadoptedbythree familiesof different faiths.

SARGAM(1979):This film,oppositeJayaprada,whoplayed the roleof a

mutedancer, establishedKapoorasthedafliwalaofBollywood.Hischartbuster songwasnumberoneonBinacaGeetmala for25weeks.

KARZ(1980):This reincar-nation thriller,directedbySubhashGhai,hasKapoor inadouble role.InLaxmikant-

Pyarelal’s composition,Dard-e-dil,Kapoorcanbeseenplayingvariousinstruments, and inOmshanti om, hegaveusbotha loveandadiscohit.

CHANDNI (1989): Itwas instrumen-tal inbringinganendtoaneraofactionmoviesandrejuvenating thegenreof romanticmusicals.HereKapoor starredoppositeSridevi,whoplayedayoungeffervescentwomantornbetweentwosuitors.

BOLRADHABOL(1992): Inadoublerole in this romantic thriller, his chem-istrywith JuhiChawlawasoneof thehighlightsof the film. ItprovedthatKapoorcanalsoexcel ingrey roles.

DODOONICHAAR(2010):Withthisfilm,Kapoor’sMrDuggal, a schoolteacher, gavevoice tomillionsofmiddle-class Indianswhoaspire forabetter life.

AGNEEPATH(2012): In the remakeofAmitabhBachchan’s1990 film,Kapoor shedhisvanilla image toessaytheroleof Rauf Lala, a ruthlessdrugdealerandpimp.

KAPOOR&SONS(2016): Itwasadelight towatchKapoorplaya90-year-oldpatriarch fromCoonoorwhohopedtohavehis familyreunited forhisbirthdaycelebrations.

MULK(2018):Inoneof his lastfilms,whichraisedquestionsabout religion,identityandpa-triotism,Kapoorplayed

MuradAliMohammed,a lawyer,whofights to reclaimhis family’shonourafteramember takes to terrorism.

SURBHIGUPTA

CROSSWORD4106

ACROSS1 UpsetsAlice, forexample,

whendescribingsomepoetry (7)

5 Lieaboutshowingtruegrit(5)

8 Worker in loveandupsetatheart isa little slow(9)

9 Tothe Italian,apolemeansnothing(3)

10 Leisure facility (4)12 Thesespeakerskeeptheir

topics to themselves (8)14 Emphaticallydeclaresa

preference(6)15 Holidaynook?(6)17 Stateof agirl inAmerica (8)18 Marinedetachment (4)21 Robinhasasash forhis

middle (3)22 Carryoutapieceof

equipment (9)24 Girl showingpassionwith

lovelessone(5)25 Sortof thinking,perhaps,of

belongingtotheside?(7)

DOWN1 Makesureyourslip isn’t

showing(5)2 Bigspendersalways include

atip (3)3 Stops for refreshment in

NovaScotia (4)4 Makeoneself fearfully

small? (6)5 Countriesmayshare it

betweenthem(8)6 Theyreducetheriskof

accidents in flights (9)7 Comes into force?(7)11 MelancholysortnearTunis

(9)13 Plain finediet,perhaps (8)14 Italianconsumergroupsmay

acceptsuchcases (7)16 Get ridof aspindleperhaps

havingnocentralpoint (6)19 Speakwellof previously

rising lot (5)20 Atlasthestartstowarmup(4)23 Everyaural receiver, initially

(3)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Youreallymuststeelyourself foranotherroundof emotionalear-bashingwithin

severaldays. Foryou, thepersonalcompensation isprovidedbytheMoon’sassertivepresence,whichstrengthensyourresolveandshouldmeanthat if othersshout,youcanshout louder.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Oneregionof yourchart, rulingtravelandcommunication,is lookingextremely

lively,but the livelier itbecomes, thegreaterwillbeyourneedtoexerciseduecautionanddouble-checkyourprogressatevery turn.There’snorequirement torush it, soyoumaytakeyour time.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Employers,orpeopleinpositionsofpower,are likely toshowthemselves in

adifferent lightat themoment,beingthatmuchmoreemotional thanusual.However,it isbankmanagers, andanyoneelseresponsible foryourmoney,whoyoureallyneedtokeepandeyeon.

CANCER(June22- July23)Watchout.Mars isnowadoptinganewandaggressiveposition,stirringup

feelingsyou’dprobablyratherforget.Remembertheoldruleofwar:onlyfightbattlesyouknowyoucanwin.Thatsaid, if conflictisnottoyourtaste, it’s timetohoneyourdiplomaticskills.

LEO(July24-Aug23)There isarightwaytomanageyouraffairsandawrongway.Thegoldenrule

nowmustbetoavoidall formsof intrigueandpaynoattentiontorumoursof anysort.Concentrateonpursuingyourownaffairswithasmuchhonestyandintegrityasyoucanmuster.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)AsensationalrelationshipbetweenVenusandMars isabout todo

youapowerof good,butonly ifyourbehaviour is impeccable. Ifyou insistonmaintainingarigidandoutdatedsetof values,thesesameplanetswillseriouslyundermineyou. It’sallaquestionof leadingabalancedlifeandofbeinghuman.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Venuscontinues toemphasise thepractical sideofrelationships.You

mayhavetomakeatacticalretreatatwork,but thisshouldbebalancedbyaseriousadvanceathome. It’sall aquestionofweighinguptheodds indifferentsituationsand, in this, youareamaster.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Themomenthascometospeakoutandmakeothersseethatwhatever

misunderstandings tookplacecannowbeputright.Thepast isthepast, andthat is that.Verysoonyouwillpersonallybe inapositiontorightoldwrongs.Youneed justice,now.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Turnyourattentiontoyour financialaffairs, andtakeabsolutelynorisks.

Resistallpressureandturndownallblandishments,nomatterhowseductive.Anddon’t trustanybody. It’snotthat theyarenecessarilydishonest, just liable toget thefactswrong.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)It’smakeorbreaktimeinat leastoneclose tieorassociation.The

question iswhether thisparticular relationshipcanbemadetowork,or if it shouldbeputonhold,perhapsindefinitely. Itmaybeadifficultchoice,but itwillprobablyhavetobetakensooneror later.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Youhavewaitedtoolongforyourpersonalrewardstoallowotherpeopletosteal

yourthunder,orexploityourfeelings.However,theworstthingyoucoulddoatthemomentisactontheassumptionofsuspicionswhichhaveonlyatenuousbasisinreality.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Events that takeplaceover thecomingfewdayscouldhavea

powerfulbearinguponyoursocialaspirationsandromanticlife.Youshouldtry tobeasindependentaspossiblewithoutcuttingyourself offfromclosepartners. It’sadelicatebalancingactbut I’msureyou’llmanage.

SUDOKU4196

DifficultyLevel4sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4195

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Lifeisanadventurein___.-NormanCousins(11)

SOLUTION:PREEN,FOIST,SAVING,VIVIFYAnswer:Lifeisanadventureinforgiveness.-NormanCousins

NPEER AIVGNS

FTIOS IIVYFV

SolutionsCrossword4105:Across:1Thespian,5Iris,9Cater,10Chatter,11Part-timework,13Action,14Motion,17Steeplechase,20Overran,21Reams,22Keys,23Reveille.Down:1Tack,2Extract,3Paratroopers,4Arctic,6Ratio,7Striking,8Makenocharge,12Passbook,15Install,16Seance,18Enemy,19Isle.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Mumbai

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

94,640Iran

205,463Italy

162,123Germany

172,478United Kingdom

166,628France

239,639Spain

1,053,036US

83,944China

120,204Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 3,249,022 DEATHCOUNT:230,615

THEWORLD

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11:00pmonApril30

106,498Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 33610 (1075 DEATHS)

9915Maharashtra

2162 Tamil Nadu

2438Rajasthan

1012 Telangana

2660MP

2203 UP

3439 Delhi

4082Gujarat

758West Bengal

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

1403Andhra Pradesh

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands33ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 42Bihar 403Chandigarh 56Chhattisgarh 38Goa 7Haryana 310HimachalPradesh 40JammuandKashmir 581Jharkhand 107Karnataka 557Kerala 496Ladakh 22Manipur 2Meghalaya 12Mizoram 1Odisha 128Puducherry 8Punjab 357Tripura 2Uttarakhand 55

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,April30.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.8373PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN30STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

ANEWstudyhaswarnedthatmobilephones could be acting as “Trojanhorses” for coronavirus. It found thatphoneshostacocktail of livegerms.The researchwas a review of 56

previous studies from 24 countries.While all those studies predate thecurrent pandemic, the authors saidSARS-CoV2 is probably present onmobiles and other touch-screen de-vicesof coronavirus sufferers.The review, scheduled for publi-

cationinTravelMedicineandInfectiousDisease, foundthat68%of thephonessampled in these studies were con-taminated. Golden staph and E. colimicrobeswereamongthemostcom-monbugsonphones.“Our recommendation is that

phones should be decontaminateddailyandregularlywitheither70%iso-propylorbysanitisingwith(ultravio-let) devices likePhoneSoap,” said thestudy,ledbybiomedicalscientistLottiTajouriofBondUniversity,Australia.In a statement, Dr Tajouri de-

scribedmobile devices as “five-starhotels with premium heated spas,freebuffet formicrobestothriveon”.“They have temperature control, wekeeptheminourpockets,wearead-dictedtothem.Wetalkintothemanddeposit droplets that can be full ofviruses,bacteria-younameit.Weeatwiththem,sowegivenutrientstomi-cro-organisms..”Hesaidpeopletravelledwiththeir

phones“andnoborderofficerscheckthem”.“That’swhymobilephonesareTrojanhorses.Wedon’tknowthatwearecarrying theenemy.”Dr Tajouri said even the average

phoneuserhandledtheirmobilesanaverageof threehoursaday.“Youcanwash your hands as many times asyou like - andyou should - but if youthen touch a contaminated phoneyou are contaminating yourself allover again. Think of your phone asyour thirdhand.”

Source:BondUniversity

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

COCKTAILOFGERMSONMOBILES,LIKELYCORONAVIRUSTOO:PAPER

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL30

EARLIER THIS week, the US Centers forDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)intro-duced“anewlossof tasteorsmell”inalistofCOVID-19 symptoms.While loss of smell isa known symptomof several diseases, it islesscommonthanhearinglossorvisionloss,and patients become conscious of it laterthantheywouldnoticeafeverorbodyache.

WhathastheCDCsaid?“PeoplewithCOVID-19havehadawide

rangeofsymptomsreported—rangingfrommildsymptomstosevereillness.Symptomsmayappear 2-14days after exposure to thevirus. Peoplewith thesesymptomsorcom-binationsof symptomsmayhaveCOVID-19—CoughandShortnessofbreathordifficultybreathing,” theCDCsays.Inaddition,itlistssymptomsthatinclude

fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills,muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and anew loss of taste or smell. If a patients hastwo ormore of these symptoms, the CDCsays there is a chance that the person hasCOVID-2019 infection.

Whyis the inclusionof lossof smellimportant?Rhinology, ENT and otolaryngology ex-

pertshavebeenpushingforinclusionof lossof smell—knownasanosmia—inthe listofsymptomsforsometimenow.Theseincludethe American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the BritishAssociationofOtorhinolaryngology.Chillsareassociatedwithmanyotherin-

fections, such asmalaria, andmuscle painandbodyacheare typically associatedwithcommon flu. For these reasons, health ex-pertshaverepeatedlynotedthatit is impos-sible to symptomatically differentiate be-tweenCOVID-19andthecommonflu.Anosmia, however, is a less common

symptom.JohnsHopkinsUniversitytoolistsunexplainedlossof tasteorsmell,alongsidecough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle

aches,sorethroat,diarrohoea,headacheandalso fatigueamongthesymptoms.Mostoftheothersymptomsarecommon

among the lists developedbyvarious inter-national health organisations. According totheWorld Health Organization: “Themostcommon symptoms of COVID-19 are fever,drycough,andtiredness.Somepatientsmayhaveachesandpains,nasalcongestion,sorethroatordiarrhea.Thesesymptomsareusu-allymildandbegingradually.”The WHO list of symptoms has been

adoptedby theHealthMinistry in India.

Whydopeople losetheirsenseof smell?Itcanhappenduringaseverecold,when

wesaythenoseis“blocked”.Only,thisishy-posmia,areducedsenseofsmellratherthana complete loss of it. According to MayoClinic: “A stuffy nose from a cold is a com-mon cause for a partial, temporary loss ofsmell. A blockage in the nasal passagescausedbyapolyporanasal fracturealsoisacommon cause. Normal aging can cause alossof smell too,particularlyafterage60.”It isusuallyalsoassociatedwithreduced

appetitebecauseoursenseofsmellispartofoursenseof taste.That iswhyduringacold,weseemtolacktasteinourfood.Ina2017re-view in the Journal Chemical Senses, re-searchers fromWageningen University inNetherlands wrote: “Anosmia and hypos-mia, the inability or decreased ability tosmell, isestimatedtoafflict3-20%ofthepop-ulation. Risk of olfactory dysfunction in-creaseswitholdageandmayalsoresultfromchronic sinonasal diseases, severe headtrauma,andupperrespiratoryinfections,orneurodegenerativediseases.”Other diseaseswith anosmia among its

symptoms include Parkinson’s disease,Alzheimer’s disease andmultiple sclerosis.In suchcases, it ispermanent.

Is this thefirst timeCOVID-19hasbeenlinkedtoa lossof senseof smellnew?No. There have been very early reports

fromvariouscountriesaboutsomepatientscomplainingof a loss of smell. According toENT UK, a professional membership body,“There isalreadygoodevidence fromSouthKorea,Chinaand Italy that significantnum-

bers of patients with proven COVID-19 in-fectionhavedevelopedanosmia/hyposmia.In Germany it is reported thatmore than 2in3confirmedcaseshaveanosmia. InSouthKorea, where testing has beenmorewide-spread,30%ofpatientstestingpositivehavehad anosmia as their major presentingsymptominotherwisemildcases.”In a communicationwith Public Health

EnglandonCOVID-relatedanosmia,ENTUKalsoflaggedthefactthatmanypeoplereportonlyanosmiawithoutanyof themoreusualsymptomslikefeveretc.“Iranhasreportedasuddenincreaseincasesof isolatedanosmia,andmanycolleaguesfromtheUS,FranceandNorthern Italy have the same experience. Ihavepersonallyseenfourpatientsthisweek,all under 40, and otherwise asymptomaticexceptfortherecentonsetofanosmia-Iusu-ally see roughlynomore thanoneamonth.I think these patients may be some of thehithertohiddencarriersthathavefacilitatedtherapidspreadofCOVID-19.Unfortunately,these patients do notmeet current criteriafortestingorself-isolation,”wroteProfClaireHopkins,presidentoftheBritishRhinologicalSociety,andProfNirmalKumar,presidentofENTUK.In an article in The Lancet Infectious

Diseases, researchers from the USMedicalCorpswrote: “Ourmultinational group, in-cluding one otolaryngologist currently in-fected with COVID-19 and experiencinganosmia and dysgeusia (altered sense oftaste),suggestthatphysiciansevaluatingpa-tientswithacute-onsetlossofsmellortaste,particularly in the context of a patent nasalairway(ie,non-conductiveloss),shouldhavea high index of suspicion for concomitantSARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Havepatients in Indiareportedlossofsenseof smell?Somehave. Inanowviralclip,adoctorin

Lutyen’s Delhi, whowas quarantined aftertestingpositive, talksabouthowhedecidedtogethimselfandhiswifetestedafterheno-ticed,followingafewdaysofcoughandbodyache, that he could not “smell perfume oragarbattis”.

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Howfarhassciencetravelled inthesearchforaCOVID-19vaccine,andwhatrolewillGavi—TheVaccineAllianceplay?Developing vaccines is a time-consum-

ingandresourceintensiveprocess.Ittypicallytakesupto10-15yearsfromthediscoveryofanovelwaytoproduceavaccinetorespondtoanunmetmedicalneedandthelicensureofavaccineforcommercialuse.Giventheun-precedentedlevelsofdatasharingandglobalcollaboration,withafull-scalepush,wecouldpotentially have a coronavirus vaccine—atleastaninvestigationaloneforpotentialusein outbreaks—within 18months to twoyears. Thatwouldbe an incredible achieve-mentcomparedtoanypreviousvaccinede-velopment,andwouldrequireluckintermsof theapproachescurrentlyinthepipeline.Gaviispositionedtoplayakeyroleineach

phaseof thedevelopment anddeliveryof aSARS-CoV2vaccine.Drawinguponourexpe-rienceenabling access to critical vaccines—includingtheEbolavaccine—weareworkingcloselywith theWorldHealthOrganization(WHO), the Coalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations, the industry andotherpartnersintheR&Dcommunitytocre-ateoptimalconditionsfortheidentificationofpriority candidate vaccines,with a focus onpotentialtoscaleandequitableaccess.Gavi’sinnovativefinancingmechanisms

arealsobeingmadeavailable.Gavi’s‘VaccineBonds’, through the International FinanceFacility for Immunisation (IFFIm), will beopentoadditionaldonorcommitmentsthatcanbespreadoverthelongtermbut,thankstoIFFIm’suniquefrontloadingfeatures,makesignificant funding available to acceleratevaccinecandidates.Gaviwill alsoenable itsprivate sectorMatching Fund to be rapidlydeployed for quick assistance fromprivatesector partners to scale up funding andproventechnologiestofightcoronavirus...The300,000Ebolavaccinedoses[access

towhichwasfacilitatedbyGavi]wereinves-tigational dosesmadeavailable throughanAdvanced Purchase Commitment after thevaccinewasdeterminedtobeefficacious,butbeforetheproductwasfullylicensed...Suchan effortmight also bemade in the case of

coronavirus vaccines to help control out-breaksorprotecthealthworkers.

Doesthechallengeof fightingCOVID-19endwiththediscoveryof avaccine?Withmorethan100candidatevaccines

already indevelopment, the response fromthe scientific community and industry hasbeenunprecedented.Butof course,vaccinedevelopmentonitsownisn’tenough.Thereis currentlynoglobal systemtooversee theallocationofvaccinesupplyandmanycoun-trieswhohavethecapacity tomanufactureat the required scalewill also face pressuretomake that supply available first to theirown population.We need global accessagreementsbeforeavaccineisdeveloped.Forme, there are two axes. The public

healthneed—if thereareoutofcontrolout-breaks anywhere in theworld, it threatensnot only those countries but the rest of theworld...Two,therewillneedtobesometypeofagreementonpriorityuse—healthwork-ers probablymost important, followed byhigh risk suchaselderly, thosewith chronicconditionsandfinally,thegeneralpopulation.

WhathasbeenGavi’sexperience inevolvingaccess tovaccines?Gavi’srolewillbetoshapemarketsfrom

developmenttomanufacturingtodistribu-

tion,sothatthereisequitableaccessatscaleto them.Gavi isworkingwithpartnersun-dertheleadershipofWHOtohelpselectandaccelerate candidate vaccines and ensuretheyaremanagedasglobalpublicgoods.ThisworkwillbuilduponGavi’ssuccess-

ful experience of shaping vaccinemarkets.This includesexpandingthenumberofvac-cine suppliers; the Advance MarketCommitment for pneumococcal vaccine—whichhas saved700,000children’s livesbypre-committingincentivepaymentsforvac-cinemanufacturerswhohavedevelopedap-propriatevaccinesfordevelopingcountries;the accelerated licensing and rollout of thefirst Ebola vaccine in the past four yearsthroughanAdvancePurchaseCommitment;andmanagingstockpiles againstoutbreaks.IndianmanufacturershaveanimportantroletoplayinCOVID-19vaccinesupplyastheydoinsupplyofhigh-qualityvaccinesglobally.

DoyouanticipatetheCOVID-19fightdisruptingroutine immunisationprogrammesandvaccinationdrives?The COVID-19 outbreak is a reminder

that infectious diseases knowno borders,andthattheworldmustbepreparedfortheevolutionaryinevitabilityoftheemergenceof novel pathogens. In countries withweakerhealthsystems,suchoutbreakscan

haveevenmoredevastatingaimpact—bothwithinandbeyondnationalborders.Theim-portance of preparedness and early detec-tion,meaning investing in strong primaryhealthcare and immunisation systems asthe first line of defence against threats toglobalhealthsecurity,cannotbeoverstated.Wearealreadyseeingtheimpactthepan-

demicishaving.MajorGavi-supportedvacci-nation campaigns against polio,measles,cholera, HPV, yellow fever andmeningitishavebeenpostponed in low-incomecoun-tries. Thesewould have immunisedmorethan13.5millionpeople.Thenumberofpeo-plemissing out on vaccines is likely to risesubstantially asweexpect a significantpro-portionofplannedvaccinecampaignstobepostponedinthecomingmonths,withrou-tineimmunisationprogrammesalsoseverelyimpactedaskeystaffareredeployed.

Howcancountriesmitigatesuchrisks?For now, the focus of governments

needs to be on continuing routine immu-nisation as well as robust public healthmeasures for COVID-19 and this is whatthey are doing.Without routine immuni-sation, wewill face potential outbreaks ofregular vaccine-preventable diseases,whichwill overwhelm the health systemontopof theCOVID-19challenge.

We also must remember that strongroutine immunisation ensures people areprotected against the spread of infectiousdisease and, by connecting themtohealthservices, enables early detection of novelthreats. It alsomeans theexistenceof sup-plychains,trainedhealthworkers,datasys-temsand,crucially,diseasesurveillanceandinsomecasesbasic laboratory testing...Beyond routine immunisation,wehave

alsorecognisedprocuringstockpilesasanim-portantaspectofglobalepidemicprepared-ness. Gavi funds emergency vaccine stock-pilesforcholera,yellowfever,meningococcaldiseaseandEbolatoensurethatwhenanout-breakdoesoccur,wearepreparedtoquicklydeployvaccinestoprotectaffectedcommu-nitiesandlimitthespread.Theseemergencystockpiles are a last-resort insurancepolicythatguaranteevaccineswillalwaysbeavail-able for rapiddeliverywhenneeded, bene-fitingnot just directly affectednations, buttheentireglobalcommunity.

DrSethBerkley isCEOofGavi—TheVaccineAlliance, apartnerof theBill&MelindaGatesFoundation,whichworks forbetterandmoreequitableaccess tovaccines.Gavihashelpedvaccinate760millionchildren in

theworld’spoorest countries.HewasinterviewedoveremailbyKavithaIyer.

Can COVID hit sense of smell?SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

USdiseasecontrolauthorityhasnewlylistedlossof senseof smellamongCOVID-19symptoms.Alookatthis lesscommonlydescribedsymptom,andwhattheevidenceworldwidehasshownsofar

KABIRFIRAQUENEWDELHI, APRIL30

ONCETHEnovelcoronavirusSARS-CoV2in-vades ahumancell, the crucial next stage isreplication, when it creates copies aftercopies of itself. For this, the virus uses its“copymachine”, which is an enzymewiththis function. Trials with various drugs aretargetingvariousstagesofvirusactivity,andsomeofthem,notablyremdesivir,seektoin-hibitspecificallytheenzymethatmultipliesthegeneticmaterial of thevirus.Now,researchershavereportedthatthey

have determined the 3D structure of this“copymachine”.Thismakesitpossibletoin-vestigate how drugs such as remdesivirwork, theynote.

How itworksThefirststageof infectionisthevirusen-

tering thehumancell.Onthesurfaceof thevirusisaspike-shapedprotein,theso-called“corona”,whichbinds itself toahumancellenzyme,ACE2.Thevirusthenacidifiescom-partments on the cell surface, enters, and

then begins to replicate using the body’sownmechanism.SARS-CoV2 ismade of a single strand of

RNA,which iswhat is copied and recopied.EnzymesthatenablethecreationofRNA(orDNA) are called polymerases; in the case ofSARS-CoV2, the polymerase is called RdRp,alsonamednsp12.Itisthepolymerasewhosestructureresearchershavenowdescribed.

What is newThe3Dstructurehasbeendeterminedby

researchers at theMax Planck Institute inGermany,ledbydirectorPatrickCramer,theinstitute said inastatement.Theyreconstituted thepolymerase from

threepurifiedproteins.Onceitwasfunctionalin the test tube, they examined the samplesunder an electronmicroscope, magnifiedmore than 100,000 times. “One samplelookeddifferent,somehowstrange.Ourfirstthoughtwastodiscardit.Fortunately,wedidnot: This sample, over all, provided uswiththehigh-qualitydataweneeded,”researcherDimitryTegunovsaid inthestatement.The team reported that in overall archi-

tecture, the SARS-CoV2 “copymachine” is

similar to thatof SARS-CoV, thecoronavirusresponsible for SARS. However, they alsonoted distinguishing features. One of theseis an additional element in the SARS-CoV2polymerase,withwhichitbindstheRNAun-til ithascopied thegeneticmaterial.“Weweresurprisedtofindthatthestruc-

tureofthecoronaviruspolymeraseisspecial— it differs from other structures that wehave been investigating so far,” researcherHaukeHillensaid.

Why itmattersThe researchers repeatedly referred to

remdesivir,whichworkbyblockingthepoly-merase. Theirdescriptionof the3Dstructurecomes amidmixed signals from studies onremdesivir.Whilesometrialshave foundtheresultsencouraging, a studypublished inTheLancetthisweekhasreportedthattheclinicalbenefitsfromadministeringremdesivirwerenotfoundtobestatisticallysignificant.Knowledge of the architecture of the

polymeraseonanatomicscaleis important,nevertheless, as itopensupnewavenues tounderstandandcombatthevirus.Theteamplanstoinvestigatehowantiviralsubstancesblock theproliferationof coronaviruses.“With the structure at hand itmight be

possibletooptimizeexistingsubstancessuchasremdesivirandtoimprovetheireffect.Butwe alsowant to search for new substancesthat are able to stop the virus polymerase,”saidCramer, theMaxPlanckdirector.

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

Seth Berkley

‘We need global access agreements before a vaccine is developed’ANEXPERTEXPLAINS

Nasal swabbeingcollected inNewDelhi lastweek.PTI

3Dstructureof the SARS-CoV2polymerase.TheredandbluedepictRNA.MaxPlanck Institute

What coronavirus ‘copymachine’ looks like

Mumbai

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOING HOMECentre’sdecisiontoallowmigrants toreturnhomeis

welcome.Their safetyanddignity is thestate’s responsibility

MORETHANAmonthafterthenationwidelockdowndriedupthesourcesof livelihood formigrantworkers in different parts of the country, theUnionHomeMinistryhaspassedanorderallowingtheinter-statemove-ment of theseworkers. By all accounts, most of them have spent the

past fiveweeks in overcrowded shelters arranged by state governments, civil societygroupsoremployers.Thedecisiontoallowthemtoreturnhome,thoughbelated, iswel-come.TheCentrehasalsodonewelltodirectstatestoensurethatthehomecomingoftheworkershappens incontrolledconditions: “Onlyasymptomaticpeoplewill beallowedto travel, and a second assessment of their healthwill be conducted after they arrive attheir homestates”. Stateshavebeenasked todevelopprotocols for receiving and send-ingstrandedpersons.Theonusisnowonthemtodrawplanstofacilitatetheirsafereturn.Amajority of themigrantworkers hail fromRajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,West

Bengal, JharkhandandOdisha.ThesestateshaveavaryingCOVID-19burden.RajasthanandUttarPradeshhavemorethan2,000caseswhilethestatesintheeasthaveacompar-ativelylowincidenceof thedisease,though,asareportinthispapershows,WestBengal,BiharandJharkhandareshowingsignsofbecomingpotentialhotspots.Thereturnofmi-grants couldposemore challenges to these states. But that is a responsibility for the re-spectivegovernmentstoaddress—notaburdentobeshoulderedbythereturningwork-ers alone. The local authorities must reach out to themigrants to conduct periodicassessments of their health—as required by thehomeministry’s guidelines—and thestategovernmentsmustbe readywithquarantine facilitieswhere, if required, theycanbe isolated inadignifiedmanner. Thehumanitarian case for thesemeasures is evident.But, as formerchief economicadviserArvindSubramanianunderlinedatane-addaor-ganisedby this paper onTuesday, there is also economic sense in facilitating the exit ofworkers.Migrantworkerswill return toworkonlywhentheyareassured that, in timesof crisis, theycangobackeasilyandsafely to thesanctuaryof theirvillages.TheCOVID-19pandemichasbaredtheprecariousexistenceof at leasta100-million

people,manyof themmigrants,whoworkinfactories,buildroadsandhouses,pullrick-shawsandoperatetheinformaleconomy.Theyliveinsqualorinshanties—evenonpave-ments of the cities they serve—without regular supplies of potablewater andelectric-ity. Many of them do not have proof of domicile in the places theywork, cannot get aration card and thus remain out of the ambit of the public distribution system. In ruralIndia, theMGNREGA, thePMKisanYojana andcrop insurance schemesprovide a sem-blanceof reliefduringdistress.But incitiesmigrantworkersdonothaveeventhismod-icum of social security.Without social safety nets for suchworkers, thewheels of theeconomycouldstop turning. That’sone important lessonof thispandemic.

END THE UNCERTAINTYGovernorKoshyarihasurgedECtoholdelection inwhichMaharashtraCMwillbecandidate.ECmustactwithoutdelay

INTHEMIDSTof thepandemic,Maharashtraisstaringatabuildingpoliticalcrisis.Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeraywill have to vacate his office if he fails to getelected or nominated to the state legislative assembly or council beforeMay 27.ThackeraywassworninonNovember28lastyear,andasperthelaw,mustbecome

amemberof theHousewithinsixmonths, inthiscase,beforeMay27.SincetheElectionCommission has deferred all elections, including to nine legislative council seats inMaharashtra, in thewakeof theCOVIDoutbreak, the rulingcoalitionhasproposed thatGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari nominate Thackeray to a vacant seat in the legislativecouncil. The governor has been silent on the proposal, though the state cabinetmade aformalrecommendation, firstonApril9andthen,onApril27.OnThursday,however,herequestedtheECtodeclareelectionstotheninelegislativecouncilseats“attheearliest”.It is important that aprolongedpolitical impasse is avoided ina state inwhichCOVID istakingahighandmounting toll. At the same time, it is also imperative that a solution isfoundonly throughdueprocess, andnotby short circuiting it, orby settingaprecedentthat could return tohaunt, andbemisused.ThemainoppositionpartyinMaharashtra,theBJP,hasarguedthatThackeray’snom-

inationtothelegislativecouncilwouldbeinviolationoftheRepresentationofthePeopleAct. TheRPAmandates that a vacant seat be filled only if the remainder of the termex-tendstoatleastayear-thetermoftheseatproposedforThackerayendsinJune.However,someconstitutionalexpertshavearguedthat thecited lawappliesonly toby-elections,andnotnominations. It is for the courts to clarify the law.But a resolution -whetherbythenominationroute,ortheholdingofelection-needstobereachedquickly,takingintoaccountthecontext,whileadheringtodueprocess. If theCOVIDcrisishadnotunfolded,itwouldnotbewrong to say that, given the rulingMahaVikasAghadi’snumbers in theassembly,Thackeray’s election to the legislativecouncilwasa fait accompli.The Election Commission could find away of holding the deferred elections to the

ninecouncilseats inMaharashtraimmediately.Theremaybelogistical issuesduetotheCOVIDrestrictions,but theECcouldexplore innovativesolutions.Elections to thecoun-cilrequireonlytheMLAstovoteandpollingcouldbeheldwithoutmakingthemcongre-gate in theHouse.Most importantly, all the stakeholdersmust avoid the temptation topoliticiseorprolong theuncertainty.

LOVELY LOVERRishiKapoorwasoldBollywood,buthewasalsocracklinglyfresh, spoketoan India tremblingonthecuspof anewera

SOMEPEOPLEAREdestinedtobestars.RishiKapoor,whopassedawayThursdaymorning at 67,was one such. Hewas a Kapoor, grandson of Prithviraj, son ofRanbirRaj, andpartof theFirstFamilyofHindicinema.Prithvirajwasa truepi-oneer,whoforgedasolidfoundationforKapoor&Sons.Rajwasayoungmanin

ayoungnation,andbothinhisactinganddirectorialchoicescementedtheideaofIndia.MerajootahaiJapani,hesang,yehpatloonInglistani,sarparlaaltopiRoosi,phirbhidilhaiHindustani.Allthroughhisbusyactingcareer,froma“childstar”toaveteran,RishiKapoorborethat

legacywell,whilecreatinganindeliblenicheofhisown,whichhekeptexpanding.Itallbe-ganwiththestupendoussuccessofBobby,ayouthfullovestorymadein1973,byRajKapoor.ItgaveHindicinemaabrandnewlover,andabrandnewwayofromancing.Theaudience,usedto thestaidwaysof theolder triumvirateofRajKapoor-DevAnand-RajendraKumarhadalreadybeenshakenbytheboisterousnessofShammiKapoor,andtakeninbytheboy-next-doorappealofRajeshKhanna.RishiKapoorwasoldBollywood,sure,buthewasalsocracklinglyfresh,andspoketoanIndiatremblingonthecuspofanewera.Alltheworldlovesalover,andRishiKapoorwasagreatone.Hesmiledathislady-love,

dancedaroundfountains,andsangsoulfulsongs.Thathewas capableofmuchmorewasevidentintherolesheessayedinlight-weightcapers,heavy-handedsocialdramas,roman-tic comedies, soppy love stories.Hewas also capable of restraint, as evident inhismuch-ahead-of-their-timesseriousromances.OneofhislastfilmswasAnubhavSinha’sMulk, inwhichhischaracter,amiddle-agedMuslimlawyer,soundedthegongforanIndiathatbe-longstousall,andtheimportanceof loveandcompassion.Acredotolive,anddie,by.

Pratap BhanuMehta

Kunal Ray

Lossofagreatartistehelpsinunderstandingthelossanydeathrepresents:Of individuality,ofauniquepossibility

HE WAITED AND WONIrrfanstruggledbeforehemadeit.That’swhatmadehimsuchagoodactor

DEATHHASMANYfaces.But ithasonlyonetruth. It represents an irrevocable loss ofvalue.Wearetoldinmostphilosophicalandreligious texts about its inevitability, itscertainty, its place in an order where allthingsaretransitory.TheGitaenjoinsusnotto grieve for what is inevitable. But this isjust a metaphysical fact, and, like manymetaphysical facts, does not capture thetruth. The truth is that even in theMahabharata no one quite believes theGita’s injunctions. Not a single charactermanages toabsolve themselvesof thepainof loss:Theentiredramaispropelledbylossand grief, not by the cold comfort ofKrishna’s metaphysics. It may not be ra-tional to fight the inevitable. But that isnotan argument that death is not loss.Philosophers have debated to death

whatkindof lossdeathrepresents.And forwhom. The person dying or those left be-hind? A whole tradition, from Socrates toMontaigne, is devoted to preparing us forthe good death. ForMontaigne, “premedi-tation of death is a premeditation of free-dom”: Somehow knowing how to die lib-erates us from subjection and constraint.But even the composed Montaigne, whothought contemplating death made lifemore vivid andmeaningful, could not eas-ily reconcile to thedeathofhisbrilliant32-year-oldfriend, theyoungLaBoetie,authorof The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, ananalysisof thehypnosistyrantscanproduceintheirsubjects.Thefact thatLaBoetiewasonly32whenhediedmadethegriefharder,even in an agewheredying youngwasnotrare. Copingwith theprospectof someoneelse’s death is, in most cases, harder thancontemplating your own.There is, of course, another distinction

tobemade. Justas the inevitabilityofdeathisnotananswer to thequestionof loss, thequestion of loss is not the same as that ofgrief or attachment. The question of grief,howonecopeswith the factof loss, isadif-ferentquestionaltogether,andperhapsthemostdeeply subjective one.Different peo-plereact tothesamelossdifferently.Whichis why the answer to the question of griefcannot be a philosophical or theological

one. It has be about knowing the persongrieving. Inthissense,mostofoursermonsat death are beside the point. They can, atmost,affirmcertainpublictruths;theycan-not address thepain of loss.Thedeathofanincandescentartiste like

Irrfan,atanagemuchtooyoungforourera,is a tragic loss. The philosopher ThomasNagel, inMortal Questions, asked why theloss of the young seemsmore tragic thanthelossof theold:Keats’sdeathat24seemsmoretragic thanTolstoy’sat80. Inpart, thishas to do with the sense of unrealisedpossibilities.Keatswasdeprivedofyears tolive that come before Death becomes in-evitable.ButNagelhadwarned,rightly, thatthisdoesnotmeanTolstoy’sdeathwasnotalsoan insignificant loss. But the senseof adeathbeingprematureaddstoboththelossinvolved and the possible grief associatedwith it.But what is the loss we mourn, espe-

cially in the case of a brilliant genius likeIrrfan, who attained the pinnacle of whatart could achieve? He leaves a void in thisworld. Inpart, thesenseof loss thataccom-panies every artiste is the sense of their ir-replaceability.Theyare, insomedeepsense,unique. But it is also a uniqueness thattouches everyone. It is universal. Whatmakes it universal is that its achievementand value is something all of us can ac-knowledge. It lifts us out of our egotismsand narcissisms to give a glimpse of whatartistic excellence looks like.We regret hispassing early since the magnitude of hisachievement makes you wonder whatother possibilitiesmight havebeen.But the loss representedby the loss of a

greatartiste is insomesensesthekeytoun-derstanding the loss anydeath represents:The loss of individuality — being a uniquelocus of value in the world. Even at a lesspublicly recognised scale, anydeath extin-guishes somany possible futures for indi-viduals.Wemaynotbeunique in theartis-tic gifts that we possess. Not all of us areKeats or Tolstoy or Irrfan. But in the circlethat has been formed by our life histories,we end up shaping the world in a uniqueway.Death is anobjective loss.

But, inpart,whatconfersvalueonlife isrecognition.Artistes, insomesense,exposethemselves to a kind of universal judge-ment.Theyarerecognised,andtheir loss isinstantlyfeltbecausetheyaresouniversallyrecognised. But what confers value on thesmall arts of life, the quotidian quirks thatmakeuswhoweare, is the fact that some-one recognises them, even if only in smalland intimatecircles.AsAdamSmithknew,the greatest ignominy that can befall hu-man beings is not death, it is not havingtheir life acknowledged at all. That iswhatmakes it devoid of value.This is amomentatwhichdeathseems

somuchtobeinthepublicair.Eventhoughdeath is inevitable,modernityhas thecon-ceit that it can at least try and defeat it forsomeof the time. Death is not just ameta-physical event. Its course is somewhat de-termined by science and by sociology, byformsof collectiveorganisationthatdeter-mine who lives and who dies. We are de-bating the value of the lives of the old ver-sus the lives of the young. But we are alsodebating, insomeways, twoapproachestothevalueof life.Onethat looksat it inpurelystatistical terms:Where the value of eachlife can be offset by the value of another.Statistics becomes our newmetaphysics.Orwecanlookat it inartistic terms:Whereeachlife isasourceofunique, incomparablepossibility. Each death is, in its ownway, aloss thatcannotbemadeup.Everytimewedeprive the poor and all those we makeinvisible, of their sense of possibility, weinflict this loss on ourselves. Deprivingpeople of possibility is akin to deprivingthemof life.There is no absolution for grief.

Sometimes death has an inevitability.Sometimes hard choices have to bemade.Montaignecopedwiththe lossof LaBoetieby incorporating his work, a scepticism oftyranny, into his own. This was as if to say,thevery thing thatmakesus seedeathas aloss should lead us to affirm life in all itspossibilities.

Thewriter is contributing editor,The IndianExpress

IT ISDIFFICULT towrite anactor’s obituarywhen everything youmightwant to say isalready in the public domain. It becomesevenmoredifficultwhentheactor inques-tion issomeonelike IrrfanKhan,araregemin the history of Hindi cinema, a so-calledsupporting actor who rose tomainstreamstardom,andplayed leadroles incommer-cially successful films like Hindi Medium(2017)andPiku (2015).Perhaps,only Irrfancouldhavedone that.Hecreatedapath forothers to follow — a path cemented withsheerhardwork, relentlessstruggleandre-doubtable performances.A constant element to bemoan is the

strangeway inwhichstardomfunctions inBollywood,wheregoodlooksarethedefin-itive markers of a star; wheremere actingprowess might make you a good support-ing actor, at best. Irrfan could breach thatformulaic construct.His beginnings were far from comfort-

able. His struggle for recognition could in-spire a film script. Many serials, art-housefilms,yearsofunendingstruggle in theun-sparingmetropolis that isMumbai and, fi-nally, things began to change for this actorwithHaasil (2003)whereheplayed aneg-ative role.If you look at Irrfan’s body of work,

whichspansstudentdiplomafilmsandtel-

evisionserialsamongstotherthings, it is in-dicative of the most important thing thatactorswithoutapedigreehavehadto learninordertosurviveMumbai:Towait.Theartof waiting makes for a good teacher,perhaps.Maybe, it is this act of waiting that fur-

ther magnified his performances. He gaveeverything tohison-screenportrayals thatall those years of waiting had taught him.Ofcourse, lestweforget,behindthesuccessof one IrrfanKhan, there still aremanysto-ries of failure — forever lost in the boule-vards ofMumbai.Evenwhen Irrfandid succumbtoHindi

film stardom, he ensured the script got el-evated. In Anurag Basu’s Life in a Metro(2007), he played a highly unimpressivecharacter,but there isnowayyouwouldn’tfall forhis innocenceandboisterouscharm.In The Lunchbox (2013), hemade themun-daneappears intriguing.Andit’shardtonotabsolutelydetesthiminHaider (2014).Thatis what he always did. Irrfan Khan wasnever IrrfanKhanonscreen.Healwaysbe-came the character.One cannot think of Ashoke Ganguly

from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesakewith-out putting Irrfan’s face to the character. Ifonemay dare to say so, Ganguly was fullyrealised on the screen because of what

Irrfanbrought into the character.Irrfan’s success story is a testimony to

his acting talent, which subverted box-of-fice norms.Hiswork abroadhelped to fur-ther strengthen his prospects in thecountry. It is rather sad that some of ourfinest have to wait for Hollywood orWesternvalidation to receive their rightfuldues at home.Can you think of Life of Pi (2012) with-

out Irrfan? He is barely there in the film,which is otherwise dominated by ablitzkriegof eventsandgreatvisualeffects,yet, it is his dialogues in the end thatmanyleft the theatrewith.There is a quote from Tom Hanks that

hasgoneviral since thenewsof Khan’s de-misespreadonsocialmedia.HanksreferstoKhan as “the coolest guy in the room” andsays he knowshe can only be a pale imita-tion of him. That says something, and notjustbecauseHanks is abigHollywoodstar.A lot of Irrfan Khan’s admirers and col-

leagueshavesaidthatthenewsofhisdeathhas left them “numb”. There’s no betterword to articulate the sense of abandon-ment—of beingunable towatchhim lightup the screen anymore.

Thewriter teaches literary and culturalstudies at FLAMEUniversity, Pune

The death of an incandescentartiste like Irrfan, at an agemuch too young for our era,is a tragic loss. Thephilosopher Thomas Nagel,in ‘Mortal Questions’, askedwhy the loss of the youngseems more tragic than theloss of the old: Keats’s deathat 24 seems more tragic thanTolstoy’s at 80. In part, thishas to do with the sense ofunrealised possibilities.Keats was deprived of yearsto live that come beforeDeath becomes inevitable.But Nagel had warned,rightly, that this does notmean Tolstoy’s death wasnot also an insignificant loss.But the sense of a deathbeing premature adds toboth the loss involved andthe possible grief associatedwith it.

Irrfan’s success story is atestimony to his actingtalent which subverted box-office norms. His workabroad helped to furtherstrengthen his prospects inthe country. It is rather sadthat some of our finest haveto wait for Hollywood orWestern validation to receivetheir rightful dues at home.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

WORDLYWISEIt's my life—acting.

— RISHI KAPOORTHEEDITORIALPAGE

IMPHAL VIOLENCEVIOLENCE SPREAD BEYOND the limits ofImphal as arsonists trying to set fire to aschool building were fired on by securityforces at Patsoi village, six kilometres fromthecity.But thebuildingwasrazed.Awaveof arson and terrorism swept Imphal lastnightdespitepatrollingbytroops.Thesitu-ation showedno improvementand theau-thorities extended by 16 hours, without abreak,the48-hourcurfewwhichwastoendat 4 pm on April 30. The curfew was ex-tended following alarming reports of gun-menmoving about in the predominantlyNepalese inhabited village of Sagolmang,about 25 km from the city and the burning

thereof 400dwellings.

CARTER ADDRESSPRESIDENTJIMMYCARTER, inasolemnre-port to his country, said the Americanhostages will be released from Iran only ifAyatollah Khomeini, the RevolutionaryCouncil and the militants agree unani-mously to let them go — a task he all butcalledimpossible. “Wecannotdealwith in-humanepeoplewhohavenorespect for in-ternational law, who violate the tenets oftheirownreligionandthenpersecuteinno-centpeoplewhoareAmericancitizensanddeprive them of their freedom for sixmonths,” Carter said during a nationally

broadcastnewsconference.

NO HANDCUFFSTHESUPREMECOURThasheldthattheruleproviding for handcuffing of undertrialswhile theyarebeing takentocourt isviola-tive of the fundamental rights guaranteedtheConstitution.“Armedescorts,worththesalt,canoverpoweranyunarmedundertrialand extra guards can make up for excep-tional needs. In very special situations, wedonot ruleoutapplicationof irons,” JusticeKrishna Iyer and Justice Chinnappa Reddysaid on a habeas corpus petition filed byPrem Shankar Shukla, an undertrial in theTihar jail inDelhi.

MAY 1, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Matters of Death

Mumbai

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“The world may have been late in reacting to India’s abetment of anti-Muslimterror, but it is positive to note that the global community is finally speaking up.For some time now, Sangh Parivar gangs have terrorised Muslims, be it due toallegations of eating beef, being ‘anti-national’ or spurious claims of spreadingthe coronavirus.” — DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THERE ARE NO labour-day rallies, celebra-tionsormeetingsthisyearaseveryoneisun-der lockdown, fighting the coronavirusthroughphysicaldistancing.Nevertheless, itisadayfortottingupwhathasbeenlostandwhat the futureholds.Thishasbeenapainful year forworkers.

Theworldhasbeenturnedupsidedownduetotheglobalpandemic.Worse,however, forthemillions of workers in India, was thembeingforcedtostayincampsorcrampedac-commodation,foregoingthecomfortof fam-ily, food,andmentalpeace. It isacruel ironythatafter thesacrifice theyhavebeenaskedtoundertake,theydon’tevengetthesafetyofphysicaldistancing.Workershavelosthard-wonrights,despite labourbeing thebiggestcontributor to the Indian growth story. Asthey spendMay 1waiting to get home, theCentral government thatdid somuch togetIndians abroad back home has only just al-lowedmigrant workers to go home, alongwithmanyconditions, leavingittothestatesto facilitate their return.Those who benefited most from this

growth see this workforce in utilitarian,rather than human terms. The privilegedmustunderstand that if theydonotwant tobeaffectedby impoverishment and insecu-rity thathas afflicted theseworkers, amini-mal level of livelihood securitywill have tobeguaranteed to labour, farmers andwork-ers in the informal sector. It ismyopiaof theworstsorttofightthespreadofCOVID-19bywishingawayamassivehumanitariancrisis.The solution lies in assuring all Indians ameasureof livelihoodand incomesecurity.Thismandatecanbemetwithacreative

and expanded Employment Guarantee Actasahumanresponse to thisepidemic.Mostcountries have put together significant re-coverypackagesof up to10percentof theirGDP andmore. India has repackaged someexisting entitlements, added a fraction of 1percentofGDPandofferedthatasasupportto all its citizens for copingwith the effectsofapandemicandasix-weeklockdownim-posed in an emergency-like scenario. Thereis no alternative to ensuring a regular cashflowtoallthoseaffectedandtheargumentofcash transfersvs anexpandedEmploymentGuaranteeActisthatofdolevsworkanddig-nity. Payment of part of the wages in sub-sidised foodgrainwould be ideal for the 94percentofourworkforceintheinformalsec-tor. Itwouldprovideworkwithdignity, andperhapsbe themost inexpensiveway to re-buildashatteredeconomy.Let’s look imagi-nativelyattheemploymentguaranteemeas-ures thatneed tobeundertaken.To beginwith, the existing entitlements

underMGNREGAneedtobetakenseriously.Workmustbe“guaranteed”ondemand.ThegovernmentmustputitsowncounseltotheprivatesectorintopracticeandusetheMGN-REGA budget to pay full wages to all activejobcardholdersduringthelockdown.Underalegislationthatisdesignedtoprovideliveli-hood security, workerswere restricted by alockdownbackedbyastrong legalmandatetostay indoors,withnoexemptionfromtheMinistry of Home Affairs for MGNREGAwork.TheActevenmakesaprovisionforun-employmentallowance,whenthestatecan-notprovidework.

MGNREGA has helped build rural infra-structure through approximately 10 crorefamilies. But because of the superimposedresourceconstraints,manycouldnotaccesstheentitled100daysofwork.Migrantwork-erscomingbackhomewillswellthealreadydesperatedemandforwork.ThegovernmenthasexistingprovisionsforexpandingMGN-REGAworkbyanother50days in situationsof any calamity. The expansion of theEmploymentGuaranteeActmust,therefore,be effective and open-ended. The 100 daysper familymust expand to allow access toany adult seeking any number of days ofworkduringtheperiodof recoveryfromtheCOVIDcrisis.Infact,anUrbanEmploymentGuarantee

shouldalsobeput inplace. Theshockof thelockdown, and the loss of employmentwillbe countered onlywith guaranteed tenureand security of income to help persuadeworkers to return to their former place ofwork. As industry revamps and struggles torestart,manycasual,andevenregularwork-ers in various industries, will need fallbackemployment.Apart from the regular public works

whichmust continuewith sufficient safetymeasures, home-based activities must bepermitted in the expanded employmentguaranteeprogrammetoenable“workfromhome”forthisclassofworkersaswell.Labourin their own farms and kitchen gardens canbeusedtoexpandproductivity.Selectedserv-ices,andproductionactivities,suchasmakingmasks, soaps and sanitisers, will help dealwiththechallengeofCOVID-19.Following Kerala’s success, panchayats

and local government units should be em-powered and involved in dealingwith thisepidemic.Thiswouldalsoincludeprovidingresourcesandflexibilityviaaworkforcepaidthroughtheexpandedemploymentguaran-teeprogrammetoaddressthemanifoldchal-lengesofCOVID-19.Theelderlyandthevul-nerableareunderacutethreat, andchildrenoutofschoolcouldfacegreatermalnutrition.Theworkers,withprecautions,couldbeusedjudiciously to provide food and care-givingservices for theneedy.Whatwouldthebudgetforthislooklike?

Wherewill themoneycome from? In1975,Maharashtra passed an employment guar-antee lawwith no restrictions on the num-berof daysorpeople. To fundthis, the legis-lature identified four taxes: A professionaltax on all salary earners, a tax on petrol, asales tax surcharge anda tax on the incomeof three-cropirrigatedfarmstobeput intoadedicatedemploymentguaranteefund.Asa

consequence, Maharashtra always hadenoughmoneytoimplementthelaw.Asex-periencehas shown, eight hours ofwork atminimumwages are accessed only whenotherwork opportunities dwindle. As andwhentheeconomyrecovers, fewerworkerswilldemandwork.TheMaharashtra Act served as amodel

fortheNREGAwhenitwasenacted30yearslater. However, its innovative funding pat-ternwasnotadoptedbytheMGNREGA,andconsequently, it has always been short-changed.Thisisdespiteauniquelegalarchi-tecture of being demand-driven, and notbudget constrained. The recovery packageshould contain a set of dedicated taxes foradding a special “Disaster ManagementEmployment Guarantee Programme”.Perhapswecouldstartwithaoneortwopercentwealthtaxsothatsomeof theunequaldistributionofthefruitsofeconomicgrowththat has gone to the top 5 per cent in thecountry is used for serving the basic needsof thosewhocontributed fundamentally tothatgrowth.TheUnitedStates,notamodelforitsatti-

tude to labour, addressed the financial crisisbrought on by the Great Depression,whenthe thenPresident, FranklinDRoosevelt, of-fered Americans a “NewDeal” to fight thegreat depressionwith hope and solidarityand“cooperation”ratherthan“competition”.Thecentrepiecewasamassivepublicworksprogramme offering work at minimumwagestoanyonewhosoughtwork.Itnotonlyhelped build some of America’s great high-waysbutalsopaidaccomplishedbutimpov-erished artists for doing artwork in publicplaces.BoththehighwaysandthepaintingsremainofvaluetogenerationsofAmericans.India urgently needs a NewDeal of its

own. An open-ended, creative, expandedemploymentguaranteeatminimumwages,couldbeacentrepieceof thatnewdeal.May1 is an importantday to remember

because itmarks the “Haymarket”uprisingthat led toaneight-hourworkingdayandalongand successful struggle for amore justandhumaneworld.Hungerandindignityisa prescription for many uprisings. Whiletheseuprisingswill bringabout some formofchange, theywillnotnecessarilyresult ina solution that is of value to all. It would bewise if India’s rulers understand that. But itis evenmore important that the rest of usunderstanditandactwithsolidarityandco-operation.

Thewritersworkwith theMazdoorKisanShakti Sangathan(MKSS)

11

INTERNATIONALLABOURDayiscelebratedonMay1tohonourworkers.Labourhasanundeniableroleinshapingthenation’sfor-tune. Since the times immemorial, theworkingclasshasstruggledandsacrificedforgreatercauses—firstforIndependenceandthenbuildingthenationbrickbybrick.The ongoing fight against COVID-19 hasbroughttemporaryhardshipforeveryone,including workers. But Prime MinisterNarendraModi hasweighed life as beinggreater than livelihood and has nowpro-videdablueprintforturningthiscrisisintoopportunityinthepost-coronaworld.Theproposedchange inwork culture throughadaptability, efficiency, inclusiveness, op-portunity and universalismwill open upmore avenues for workers to buildNewIndia.Many leaders have been a beacon for

workersandBRAmbedkarwasoneamongthem. As the representative of theDepressed Classes in the Round TableConference, Ambedkar forcefully pleadedforlivingwages,decentworkingconditionsand the freedom of peasants from theclutchesof cruel landlords.Healso foughtfortheremovalof socialevilsthatblightedthe livesof thedowntrodden.Hewent on to form the Independent

Labour Party (ILP) in 1936with a compre-hensiveprogrammetomeettheneedsandgrievancesofthelandless,poortenants,agri-culturists, andworkers. In the polls held in1937, the firstelectionunder thenewlyen-actedGovernmentof IndiaActof 1935, theILPachievedspectacularsuccessbywinning15 of the 17 seats it had contested for theBombay Legislative Assembly. OnSeptember 17, 1937, during the Poona ses-sionoftheBombayAssembly,heintroduceda bill to abolish the Khoti system of landtenureinKonkan.Heopposedtheintroduc-tionofIndustrialDisputesBill,1937becauseitremovedtheworkers’ righttostrike.Hisprofoundknowledgeof labourmat-

ters was universally acknowledged anddemonstrated during his term as Labourmemberof theViceroy’sExecutiveCouncilfrom1942 to1946.When theworldorderwasinfluxduringWorldWarII,Ambedkarwas guiding Indian labour. The changingeconomy provided opportunities for theexpansion of industries.While entrepre-neurs andmanagers could hope for pros-perity, labourwas not given its due share.Ambedkar piloted and introducedmeas-ures for labourwelfareby laying the foun-dation for the basic structure for the gov-ernment’s labour policy. He tackled theknotty problems andwonesteemand re-spectfromemployeesandemployersalike.TheIndianTradeUnion(Amendment)Bill,introducedbyAmbedkaronNovember8,1943, compelled the employers to ac-knowledge tradeunions.On February 8, 1944, in the legislative

assemblyduring thedebate on the Liftingof Ban on Employment of Women on

Underground Work in Coal Mines,Ambedkarsaid: “It is for the first timethatI think in any industry the principle hasbeen established of equal pay for equalwork irrespective of the sex.” Itwas a his-toric moment. Through the MinesMaternityBenefit(Amendment)Bill1943,heempoweredwomenworkerswithma-ternitybenefits.Addressing the Indian Labour

Conference held in New Delhi onNovember 26, 1945, Ambedkar empha-sised theurgentneed tobringprogressivelabour welfare legislation: “Labour maywell say that the fact that the British took100 years to have a proper code of labourlegislation is no argument thatwe shouldalso in India take100years. History is notalways an example. More often it is awarning.”Ambedkar did not accept theMarxist

positionthattheabolitionofprivateprop-ertywouldbringanendtopovertyandsuf-fering. In Buddha or Karl Marx, hewrites:“CantheCommunistssaythatinachievingtheirvaluableendtheyhavenotdestroyedothervaluableends?Theyhavedestroyedprivate property. Assuming that this is avaluableend,cantheCommunistssaythattheyhavenotdestroyedothervaluableendin the process of achieving it? Howmanypeoplehave theykilled forachieving theirend?Hashumanlifenovalue?Couldtheynothavetakenpropertywithouttakingthelifeof theowner?”InspiredbyAmbedkar,thecurrentgov-

ernment has taken steps to improve thequalityof lifeofworkers. Forexample, thePradhanMantri Shram YogiMaan-DhanYojnawaslaunchedinFebruary2019toen-sureprotectionofunorganisedworkers intheiroldage.Throughtechnological inter-ventions likeShramSuvidhaPortal, trans-parencyandaccountabilityareensured intheenforcementof labourlaw.Thegovern-ment is working to simplify, amalgamateandrationalise theprovisionsof theexist-ing central labour laws into four labourcodes — Labour Code on Wages, onIndustrial Relations, on Social Security &WelfareandonOccupationalSafety,Health&WorkingConditions.In the extraordinary circumstances

brought on by the COVID pandemic, thelabour fraternitydeservesa special salute.During his Mann ki Baat broadcast onMarch29,thePMapologisedfortheincon-venience: “I extend a heartfelt apology toallcountrymen.AndIstronglyfeelfromthecoreofmyheartthatyouwill forgiveme—sincecertaindecisionshadtobetaken, re-sulting inmyriad hardships for you. Andwhen it comes to my underprivilegedbrothersandsisters,theymustbewonder-ingonthekindofPrimeMinistertheyhave,who has pushed them to the brink! Mywholehearted apologies, especially tothem.”PMModihaschampionedthefightagainst thepandemicandbeenacclaimedglobally.Muchof thecredit for thisgoestotheperseveranceof the labour fraternity.Aswerecalltheinnumerablecontribu-

tion of the countless labourers in nation-building, with an ever-increasing spirit ofShramev Jayate, wemust remember thecontributionsofAmbedkar.

Thewriter isUnionMinister forParliamentaryAffairs,Heavy Industries

andPublicEnterprises.He is theLokSabhaMPforBikaner

An Urban EmploymentGuarantee should also beput in place. The shock of thelockdown and the loss ofemployment will becountered only withguaranteed tenure andsecurity of income to helppersuade workers to returnto their former place of work.As industry revamps andstruggles to restart, manycasual, and even regularworkers in various industrieswill need fallbackemployment.

ArjunRamMeghwalNikhil Dey andArunaRoy

Labour’s leaderBRAmbedkarlaidthefoundationforworkers’

rights,socialsecurityinIndia

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

VIRTUE IN LISTENINGTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). The policysuggestions given by the 50 young of-ficersof the IRSneedseriousconsider-ation. The time has come to not onlywelcome the suggestions givenby thepubliconvariousplatformsbut toalsoimplement them after analysis. Theconventionalmethods of governancedefinitelyneedamakeover.Thecitizensareawareabouttheinnovationsandareproviding ideasandcriticismupfront.

OmkarThorat,Mumbai

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). In the timeof crises, the ruling party should con-centrateandthinkforthewelfareofthenation,andnotmerelyoftheirownim-age. Thegovernment shouldwelcometheadviceof thepeopleratherthancri-tise them.

ParulSrivastava,Prayagraj

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Theprickly state’ (IE, April 30). It has beenrepeatedtimeandagainthatthemottoof the central government is“Maximum Governance, MinimumGovernment”.While the coronaviruspandemicwarrantsdeparturefromthesaidmotto,and theinvolvementof thecentral government, the Centre alsoneeds to listen and take cognisance ofideas that can be factored in for fight-ingthepandemic.Brushingasidewor-thy ideas and punishing those airingtheir views on issues concerning thelargercommunity, isunfortunate.

KrishanKumarChug,Delhi

DELIVER OR PERISHTHIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Covodfight:Governmentsysteminfront,pri-vate hospitals do the distancing’ (IE,April,29). It isunfortunatethatprivatehospitals are reluctant to join theCOVID-19 fight. It is the responsibilityof the doctors’ fraternity to be at theforefront andhelp government in thisinternationalcrisis.Abigsalutetothosedoctorsandnurseswhoareexecutingtheir duties honestly at this time ofneed.Thepublicexpectsthebestserv-ice from the private hospitals as well.If theylagbehindindoingtheirduties,the public will remember theirnegligence at such juncture forever.The government should cancel thelicences if private hospitals do notdeliver.

SarjeraoNarwade,Sangli

LETTER OF THEWEEKAWARD

To encourage quality readerintervention, The IndianExpress offers the Letter oftheWeek award. The letteradjudged the best for theweek is published everySaturday. Lettersmay be

e-mailed toeditpage@expressindia.comor sent to The IndianExpress, B-1/B, Sector 10,Noida-UP 201301.

CR Sasikumar

The New Deal India needsAnopen-ended,creative,expandedemploymentguaranteeatminimumwagesshouldbeitscentrepiece

Morethanever, therightsofworkers,vulnerableneedtobesecured

May Day is a celebration of labour andlabourers, the creators of thewealth of na-tions. It isadaytodemonstratethestrengthof theworkingpeople, theallianceofwork-ers and peasants, unity of the trade unionsand labourmovements and to express soli-darity,nationallyand internationally.TheCOVID-19pandemic ishauntingthe

world. It has been devastating the lives ofpeopleduetomassunemployment,poverty,hungeranddespair.Theconditionsarewors-ening as economic inequality grows. Thepoor and working people are bearing theburdenof thelockdowntheworldover.Thissituationhasplacedhugechallengesbeforetheworking people and their political andtradeunionorganisations.Theplightofdailywage earners and themigrant labourers ismiserable.Hungerdeathsarebeingreported.The lockdown in Indiahas impacted the fu-ture of our unemployed young people, stu-dentsandchildren.Despitethepropagandaaboutonlineteachingandlearning,thepoor,homeless, andhungry childrendonothaveaccess toanysuch facilities.The International Labour Organisation

(ILO)has comeoutwithanalarming reportthat 40-croreworkers in India are at risk offallingdeeper intopoverty. Theyaremainlyfromthe informal sector.

The current situation inour countryhasnot changed the character of the BJP-RSScombine. It has not changed the neoliberaltrajectoryof thepresentgovernmentMayDayhasaglorioushistory.Forthefirst

time inMay 1886, the ChicagoHaymarketSquarewitnessed a heroic struggle of theworking peoplewho demanded an eight-hourworkingday.Itwasademandtotellthecapitaliststhatjustbecausetheyhadappropri-atedthemeansofproductionasprivateprop-erty,itdidnotmeantheycouldruthlesslyforcetheworkerstoslogforendlesshourswithoutcompensation toproduce thesurplus. Itwasto convey themessage thatworking peoplewouldfightfortheirrights.Inthisheroicstrug-gle, several workers were martyred. TheHaymarket struggle inspired theworkingmassesoftheworld.TheSecondInternationalof the workers of the world — in whichFriedrichEngels,thecompanionandcomradeofKarlMarx,playedaleadingrole—declaredin 1889 thatMayDaywould be observed asaninternationaldayforworkingpeople.InIndia,too,wehavetheheroichistoryof

working-classstruggles.ItisamatterofpridethatMayDaywasfirstobservedinIndiawayback in1923 inChennai.Tradeunionmove-ments started emerging during British andFrench rule in India. The jute workers of

Calcuttawereorganisedunderatradeunionin 1854. TheMadras PressWorkers Unionwas formed in 1903 and CoralMill workersunion in 1908. Though the AITUC wasfoundedin1920andweareproudlycelebrat-ingitscentenarythisyear,theB&CMillwork-ers in Chennai organised a trade union andgotitregisteredonApril3,1918.Thiswasthefirst registered tradeunion in India. The tex-tilemillworkersofPondicherry(Puducherry)werefightingforaneight-hourworkingdayundertheleadershipoftheCommunistPartyof India.On July30, 1936, therewasabrutalattack on theworkers and 12 of themweremartyred.ThisfinallyforcedtheFrenchcolo-nialists to accept the demand for an eight-hourworkingdayfor thefirst timeinAsia.Duringthedayswhenthepeopleof India

were fighting for independence from colo-nialrule,thetradeunionsstoodatthefront-line of thenationalmovement. Their strug-glesgotintertwinedwithpoliticalstruggles.Eventoday,workingpeoplehavetoplay

aleadingroleinthefightagainstthepresentgovernment. The BJP-led NDA governmentis aggressively attempting to change labourlaws to curtail the rightsofworkingpeople.One can see this in the attempt to increasetheworkinghours to12.Withpolitical power, theBJP-RSS ispro-

moting itsagendaof subverting thesecular,democratic republic of India and turning itinto a theocratic Hindutva Rashtra. Thisemerging situation demands that workingpeoplehave apolitical and ideological edu-cation.Politics isnothingbuteconomics.World capitalism is in very bad health.

Insteadofspendingonpublichealth,educa-tion and social infrastructure, there is com-petitivespendingonmilitaryandwarequip-ment. The report released by StockholmInternationalPeaceResearchInstituterevealsthat India is the third-largest militaryspender,aftertheUSandChina.Socialismisthe only alternative. But there is the lure offascismandneofascism.Thistrendisencour-agedby thecorporatecapitalists.OnthisMayDay,whilesalutingthework-

ing people for their historic revolutionaryrole,werenewourpledgetofightforsocial-ism—asocietyfreefromexploitation, injus-ticeandall formsof discrimination.Let us observe thisMay Day during the

lockdownby reachingout to theneedyandvulnerable. Let the working people riseagainstthepresentgovernmentastheyroseagainstthecolonialrulersfortheindepend-enceof thecountry.

Thewriter isgeneral secretary,CPI

Renew the pledgeDRaja

Mumbai

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JAPAN

EmergencymaybeextendedbyamonthTokyo: Japan ispreparingto extend its state ofemergencyoverthenovelcoronavirus,originallysettoendonMay6,forabouta month, governmentsources told Reuters onThursday, even as someother countries begin toreopen after strict lock-downs. Japanese PrimeMinister ShinzoAbe toldparliamentthathewouldconsultinfectiousdiseaseexpertsonwhethertoex-tend the emergency,which he declared onApril 7 for seven prefec-tures including Tokyo.The state of emergencygives local governorsgreaterpowertotellpeo-ple to stay at home andaskbusinesses toclose.

AcrowdedpassagewayinTokyo.AP/File

PANDEMICWATCH

PAKISTAN

Coronaviruscasesjumpto15,759Islamabad: Pakistan re-ported 874 new cases ofcoronavirus inthelast24hours, taking the totalnumber of infections to15,759 with 346 deathsso far, a statement saidon Thursday. TheMinistry of NationalHealth Services said thedeaths of 19 more pa-tients have been re-ported in the provincesof Punjab, Balochistanamongothers, takingthetotal death toll to 346.Punjab reported 6,061cases, Sindh 5,695,Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa2,313, Balochistan 978,Gilgit-Baltistan 333,Islamabad 313 and PoKreported66 cases.

SOUTHAFRICA

HighestdailycountaseasingofcurbsloomsJohannesburg:Thenum-ber of coronavirus casesin South Africa surgedpast the 5,000-mark onThursday after itrecorded the highestsingle-day jump, just aday before the countrywasset tograduallyeaseits over a month-longnationwide lockdown.Health Minister ZweliMkhize said that therehad been a 73 per centdaily increase in con-firmed COVID-19 infec-tions, with 354 newcases taking the total to5,350. There were also10 deaths overnight,raising the total deathtoll to 103.

MALDIVES

FirstCOVID-19deathreportedMale:Maldives has re-ported its first death tothenewcoronaviruswiththe totalnumberof posi-tivecasesstandingat280.HealthMinister AbdullaAmeen said Thursdaythatthevictimwasan83-year-oldwomanfromthecapital Male'. First casesof COVID-19 were re-portedattouristresortsinthis Indian Ocean archi-pelagostateandauthori-ties for sometime kept itfromspillingoverintothecommunity. However,there is now a suddenspike in the number ofpatients in the capital is-land aswell as far off is-lands with no traceablesourceof infection.

AGENCIESSEOUL,APRIL30

WITH SOCIAL distancing andvirustestingpolicies inplaceformonths in several countries, afew governments are now re-portingremarkablemilestones:recordingzeronewdomesticallytransmitted coronavirus cases,ornonewcasesatall.SouthKoreaonThursdayre-

ported that for the first timesince the virus’s February 29peak, it had no new domesticcasesandjust fourcasesamongpeople who came in from out-side the country. The develop-ment was a stark turnaroundfor a nation that was batteredearlyonbythevirus—with909cases on February 29 alone —and quickly conducted wide-spread testing and contracttracingofnewinfectionstohaltthe virus’s spread.The Koreas Centers for

Disease Control and Preventionsaid in a statement Thursdaythat the additional figures tookthecountry'stotalto10,765with247deaths. Itsays9,059of themhave recovered and been re-leased fromquarantine.Itsaysthefournewcasesare

all importedonesandthattherewerenonewlyreportedcasesoflocal infections.

Localmedia said it's the firsttime for SouthKorea tohavenodaily increaseof local infectionssinceFebruary15.South Korea's caseload has

beenslowinginrecentweeksaf-ter it recordedhundredsof newcases every day between lateFebruaryandearlyMarch.South Korea has subse-

quently relaxed someof its so-cialdistancingguidelines. Itex-pected to ease up on morerestrictions incomingdays if its

caseload maintains a down-ward trend.That progress has beenmir-

rored in Hong Kong, which onThursday reported that therehad been no new cases in thesemiautonomousChineseterri-tory for five straight days. Thecity has had more than 1,000cases over all, and had a resur-genceininfectionsinlateMarchthatpromptedstrict lockdownsontravel, includingquarantiningof foreignarrivals,socialdistanc-

ing measures and the wide-spread adoption of work-from-homepolicies.Hong Kong residents over-

whelminglywearmaskswhengoingoutside, evenwith the re-centplunge innewcases.Other countries are flirting

withsimilarsuccesses.Australiareported justninenewcasesonWednesday, and New Zealandhadtwodaysover the lastweekwith just one new confirmedcoronavirus infection.

CELEBRATINGBUDDHA’SBIRTHDAY:Peopleobservesocialdistancingatanevent tomarkthebirthdayofBuddhaata temple inSeoul, SouthKorea,onThursday. Reuters

STEVEHOLLANDWASHINGTON,APRIL30

PRESIDENTDONALDTrumpsaidonWednesdayhebelievesChina’shandling of the coronavirus isproof that Beijing “will do any-thingtheycan”tomakehimlosehisre-electionbidinNovember.InaninterviewwithReuters,

Trump talked tough on Chinaandsaidhewaslookingatdiffer-ent options in terms of conse-quencesforBeijingoverthevirus.“I candoa lot,”hesaid.TheRepublicanpresident,of-

ten accused of not acting earlyenough to prepare the UnitedStatesforthespreadofthevirus,said he believed China shouldhavebeenmoreactive in lettingtheworldknowabout thecoro-navirusmuchsooner.Askedwhetherhewasconsid-

eringtheuseoftariffsorevendebtwrite-offsforChina,Trumpwouldnotofferspecifics.“Therearemanythings I cando,” he said. “We’relookingforwhathappened.”“Chinawilldoanythingthey

can to haveme lose this race,”said Trump.He said he believesBeijingwantshisDemocraticop-ponent, Joe Biden, to win therace toeasethepressureTrumphas placed on China over tradeandother issues.“They’re constantly using

public relations to try tomake itlikethey’reinnocentparties,”hesaidof Chineseofficials.Hesaidthetradedealthathe

concluded with ChinesePresidentXiJinpingaimedatre-ducingchronicUS tradedeficitswithChinahadbeen“upsetverybadly” by the economic falloutfromthevirus. REUTERS

NEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,APRIL30

THE FEDERAL guidelines put inplace to slow the spread of thevirus by encouraging people tocurtail nearly all public life areset to expire and PresidentTrump has indicated he has nointention of extending themeasures as states across thecountrymove aheadwith a va-riety of plans to gradually re-open their economies.“They’ll be fading out, be-

causenowthegovernorsaredo-ing it,” Trump told reporters onWednesday, referring to the re-strictions. The devastating cas-cade of dismal financial newshasincreasedpressureonalllev-

els of government to restartcommercial activity.An additional 3.8 million

workersfiledforunemploymentbenefits across the country lastweek. The figures announcedThursday by the LaborDepartmentbringthenumberofworkersjoiningtheofficialjoblessranksinthelastsixweekstomorethan30million, andunderscorejust howdire economic condi-tionsremain.Many state agencies still find

themselvesoverwhelmedbytheflood of claims. “Theproblem iseven bigger than the data sug-gest,” said Elise Gould, a senioreconomistwith the institute, aleft-leaning research group.“We’re undercounting the eco-nomicpain.”

‘HE IS AFRAID — AFRAID FOR HIS RATINGS AND FOR THE SYSTEM HE HAS SPENT 20 YEARS CREATING’

Putin, Russia’s man of action, lets others act against the virusANDREWHIGGINSMOSCOW,APRIL30

THISWASsupposed tobeamo-ment of triumph for PresidentVladimirVPutin,acelebrationofhis grand successes in restoringthe Russian state to a place ofprideintheworldandconsolidat-inghis grip onpower, all toppedoff by a gloriousmilitary paradeinRedSquareonMay9,the75thanniversary of the Red Army’svictoryoverNaziGermany.But the coronavirus has

changedall that.Now,havingbowedtothein-

evitable and canceled the pa-rade, Putin seems less a can-doexecutivethanaboredmonarch

coopedup in apalace, checkinghiswatchduringtelevisedvideoconferenceswithhisunderlingsabout thepandemic ashis pop-ularity ratingsdip.For20years, Putinhasmade

hismarkasamanofaction,ahy-peractive leader ever ready toface down the Kremlin’s foes athomeandabroad,andevenwildtigers in remote Russian forests.Confrontedwiththecoronavirus,however, a leaderwhowas re-elected in 2018with nearly 80percentofthevoteandwhofacesno serious threats to his powerhasbeenoddlypassive.“He is afraid— afraid for his

ratingsandforthesystemhehasspent20yearscreating,”saidGlebOPavlovsky, adisenchanted for-

merKremlinadviser. Facedwithaviralenemythathecannoteas-

ilyvanquish, “Putinunderstandsthatthebestthingtodoisstandto

theside,”Pavlovskyadded.AddingtoPutin’stroubles,the

collapse of oil prices removes amajorstreamof revenues forso-cialprograms,whileRussia’soil-and gas-dependent economy isexpected to shrink by 6 percentthisyear.Butturmoilintheglobaloilmarket,unlikethehealthcrisis,at least plays to Putin’s strongsuits of geopolitics and high-stakesdiplomacy.By contrast, the pandemic

hasonlyhighlightedwhathasal-ways been Putin’s biggest vul-nerability:apronounced lackofinterestorsuccessintacklingin-tractabledomesticproblemslikedilapidatedhospitals,pocketsofentrenchedpovertyandyearsoffalling real incomes.

Addingtothegloom,anApril22referendumonconstitutionalamendmentshadtobecanceledbecauseofthevirus.Theamend-ments, already approved byRussia’s legislature, allow Putintocrashthroughtermlimitsandstay inpoweruntil 2036.Faced in 2014 with a simi-

larly grave threat to Russian in-terests created by the ouster ofUkraine’s pro-Kremlin presi-dent, Putin seized themomentbygrabbingCrimea.When,twoyearslater, it lookedasifRussia’sclosest ally in theMiddle East,President Bashar al-Assad ofSyria, might also fall, Putinjumped in to reverse the tideofSyria’s civil war by sendingRussianwarplanesandsoldiers.

But his display ofmachismobefore the advancing pandemicdid not work out quite asplanned:Hevisited infectedpa-tientsatanewMoscowhospitaldressed in a canary yellowhaz-mat suit, only to find out a fewdays later that the head doctorwho showed him around andgavehimalongfleshyhandshakehadtestedpositive for thevirus.Since then, Putin has been

sheltering at his country villa. Itwasfromthere,warmedbygen-tle flames from a fireplace in acozy-lookinglivingroom,thatheonApril19deliveredawhat-me-worryOrthodoxEastermessageto thenation.“The situation,” he said, “is

under total control.” NYT

PresidentVladimirVPutin ledameetingwithmembersofRussia’sSecurityCouncilviaavideo linkthismonth. Reuters

THE LONG WAITAPeruvian lives inatentonthestreet,whilewaitingtobetestedforCOVID-19andobtainpermissiontoreturnhometoanotherpartof thecountry, inLima,Peru. Reuters

COSTASPITAS&ESTELLESHIRBONLONDON,APRIL30

PRIMEMINISTERBoris Johnsonsaid Britain was now past thepeakof its coronavirus outbreakand promised to set out a lock-downexitstrategynextweek,de-spite rising deaths and criticismofhisgovernment’sresponse.Johnson offered hope to

locked-downBritons,buturgedthem to stick with restrictionsdesigned to slow the spread ofthevirus.“I canconfirmtodaythat for

the first time, we are past thepeak of this disease,” Johnsonsaid. “We’re past the peak andwe’re on the downward slope,and we have so many reasonsto be hopeful for the longterm.”Nevertheless, Britain now

has the second-highest officialCOVID-19 death toll in Europewithmore than26,000deaths.With rising unemployment

and companies crippled, thegovernmentisunderpressuretooutlineanexit strategy.Johnson promised to set out

nextweek a “menu of options”on how the lockdown could berelaxed, but said exact dateswouldbedrivenbyscientificad-viceanddata.REUTERS

KJMVARMABEIJING,APRIL30

CHINESE PRESIDENTXi JinpinghastermedChina'sbattleagainstCOVID-19 as a major strategicachievement, as the rulingCommunist Party is all set tohold the postponed ParliamentsessiononMay22amidasteadydeclineinthecoronaviruscases.The virus has claimed 4,633

lives in thecountry.China's arduous efforts to

contain the coronavirus havebrought a decisive outcome to

thefightofdefendingHubeiandits capital cityWuhan, Xi told ahigh-powered Central

Committeemeeting of the rul-ing Communist Party of China(CPC)onWednesday.

The nationwide battleagainsttheepidemichasgainedmajor strategic achievements,the state-run Xinhua newsagencyquotedXias saying.Xi said Hubei, including

Wuhan, should continuestrengtheningcommunity-levelepidemicpreventionandcontrol.The COVID-19 pandemic

continues its explosive growthoverseas, Xi said, noting themounting pressure to preventimported infections andthe growing complexity ofstemming domestic epidemicresurgence.PTI

Washington: US intelli-gence agencieshave con-cluded the coronaviruswas“notmanmadeorge-neticallymodified"butsaythey are still examiningwhethertheoriginsof thepandemictracetocontactwithinfectedanimalsoranaccidentataChineselab.The statement from

theOffice of theDirectorof National Intelligence,theclearinghousefor theweb of US spy agencies,comes as PresidentDonaldTrumpandhisal-lies have touted the as-yet-unproventheorythata lab inWuhanwas thesourceof thepandemic.“The Intelligence

Community also concurswith thewide scientificconsensus that COVID-19viruswasnotmanmadeorgeneticallymodified,”saidthestatement. AP

VIRUSORIGINATEDIN CHINA, BUTNOTMAN-MADE, SAYINTEL AGENCIES

PresidentDonaldTrumpintheOvalOffice. Reuters

Social distancing rulesset to fade out as 3.8 mnmore file for jobless aid

RACE FORTHEWHITE

HOUSE

Trump says Chinawants him to losebid for re-election

Britain is pastcoronaviruspeak: Boris

AUSTRALIANCAPITAL TERRITORYFREEOF COVID-19Canberra: The AustralianCapital Territory has be-comethefirstof thecoun-try'seightstatesandmain-land territories to declareitself free of all knowncasesof thecoronavirus.Chief Health Officer

Kerryn Coleman said theterritory surrounding thecapital city Canberrawasfreeof any recorded infec-tiononThursdayforthefirsttime in sevenweeks afterthelastpatientrecovered.There have been 106

confirmedCOVID-19casesinCanberra and threepa-tientshavedied.The capital territory

has a population of420,000, and its infectionrate per head of popula-tionranksinthemiddleofthe field.Everyonewith cold or

flu symptoms have beenoffered free testing inCanberraforthepastweekand the government saidthatofferwillbeextendedforanotherweek. AP

South Korea, Hong Kongmilestone:A day gonewith no new local cases

China’sdecision tohold itspostponedParliament sessiononMay22 iswidely seenasasign that thegovernmentcon-siders theoutbreakundercontrol.Now, theCPC’s focusap-pears tobe turning to theeconomy,withreports saying thattheagriculture sectorandpillar industries suchasautomanufacturingandbiomedicinewill beamongthose togetapushaspartof economic recoveryefforts.

Outbreak ‘undercontrol’,Chinalookstogeteconomyontrack

China’s battle against coronavirus majorstrategic achievement, says Xi Jinping

Boris Johnson

Mumbai

13SENSEX: 33,717.62 ▲ 997.46 NIFTY: 9,859.90 ▲ 306.55 NIKKEI: 20,193.69 ▲ 422.50 HANG SENG: 24,643.59 ▲ 67.63 FTSE: 6,025.92▼ 89.33 DAX: 11,001.48 ▼ 106.26

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`41,705

RUPEE`75.09

OIL$26.15

SILVER`38,100

Note:Spotgoldmarketsshutdueto lockdowninmajorstates. *IndianbasketasonMarch19,2020

Internationalmarketdata till1900IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

HITBY the fall in crudeoil pricesanddemandforrefinedproducts,RelianceIndustriesLtd(RIL)hasre-ported a 37.2 per cent fall in netprofit at Rs 6,546 crore for thequarter ended March 2020 asagainstRs10,427croreinthesameperiodayearago.TheboardofRILalsoapprovedamegarightsissueofRs53,125crore—probablythelargest in the corporate sector’shistory — to shareholders.TheboardhaspricedtherightsissueatRs1,257pershareinthesharera-tioof1:15.RIL’srevenuewasdownby2.5

percentatRs1,51,209croreinthequarter fromRs1,55,151crore inthe year-ago period. RIL’s sub-sidiary,RelianceJio,posteda177.5percentriseinnetprofitatRs2,331croreduringtheMarchquarterasagainstRs840croreayearago.RIL said the decrease in rev-

enue is primarily on account of10.1 per cent decline in refiningandpetrochemicalsbusinessrev-enues. The sharp fall of 20.5 percentinaverageBrentoilpriceledtolower product price realizationacross the hydrocarbon chain.“Thiswaspartiallyoffsetby con-tinuinggrowthinconsumerbusi-nesses, even amidst the opera-tional issues posed by thepandemic.Digitalservicesandre-

tailbusinessrecordedanincreaseof30percentand4.2percent,re-spectively, in revenueduring thequarter,”itsaid.RILChairmanandMDMukesh

D Ambani, said: “Despite thedauntingchallengesarising fromthefalloutoftheglobalpandemic,ourcompanyhasonceagaindeliv-eredaresilientperformanceforFY2019-20.OurO2C(oiltochemicals)businesses delivered sustainedearningsduetoitsintegratedport-folio, cost-competitiveness, feed-stockflexibilityandproductplace-mentcapabilities.Wecontinuetooperate all ourmajor facilities atnearnormalutilisationlevels.”RIL’sproposedrightsissuewill

be its first in threedecades. “Thepromotershaveconfirmedthatinadditiontosubscribingtotheirag-gregate entitlement in full, theywillalsosubscribetoalltheunsub-scribedportion,”RILsaid.

MARCHQUARTER: JIOPOSTS177.5%RISE INNETPROFITAT `2,331CR

`1 lakhcrorefundraising

THOUGHTHEvolatilityinoilpriceshasimpacteditsbottomline,RILisgoingaheadwithitsmegainvestmentandfundraisingplans.Thecompanyisexpectedtocompletethecapitalraisingprogramme,totallingoverRs1.04lakhcrorebyQ1ofthecurrentfinancialyear.ThisincludestheinvestmentbyFacebookinJioPlatforms,theRs53,125-crorerightsissueandthepreviousinvestmentbyBritishPetroleuminFY20.

RILnetdrops37.2%onfall inoilprices,poordemand;boardokays`53,125-cr rights issue

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

RILCHAIRMANandMDMukeshAmbani’shasdecidedtoforegohisentire salary “until the impact ofCOVID-19abates”.AmbanihadhissalarycappedatRs15croresince2008-09.RIL announced itwill reduce

salariesof someof its employeesinthehydrocarbondivisionby10per cent in viewof the “adverseimpact” of thepandemicon fueldemand.Thecompany’sboardofdirectorswould forego30-50percentof their salary, RILExecutiveDirectorHitalRMeswanisaid.Thesepaycutswouldapplyto

theemployeesinthehydrocarbondivisionwho are earningmorethanRs15lakhayear.Thoseearn-inglessthanthatwouldnotbeim-pacted,thelettersaid.“In light of the outbreak ...

Ambanihasvoluntarilydecidedtoforegohis entire salary,”RIL said.“Andnow,heisforgoinghissalaryuntilthecompanyandallitsbusi-nessesarefullybacktotheirearn-ingspotential,”itsaid.

NewDelhi: Facebook’smega Rs43,574-crorepactwithRelianceJiowill help the socialmedia giantbuild products and technologythatcanbeextendedtootherpartsof the world, CEO MarkZuckerbergsaid.Hesaidthesocialmediagiant

aims to create a “much bettershoppingandcommerceexperi-ence” in India working withJioMartbyleveragingWhatsApp’scommunication and paymentsplatform.Facebookisfocusedonalong-

termplayinIndiaanditsdealwithJio is indicativeof the company’scommitment, its IndiaManagingDirectorAjitMohansaid.PTI

BRIEFLYCompliancenormsfor liquidfundseasedNew Delhi: Sebi has giventhreemoremonthsfor liq-uid funds to comply withtherequirementofholdingatleast20percentofassetsin liquidassets.

USTRreport isdefamatory:SnapdealWashington: Snapdeal hassaid the USTR report thatplaced it in theNotoriousMarketsListisbasedon“un-verified inputs” and is“defamatory”innature.PTI

NABARDstaffcontributetoPM-CARESNewDelhi: NABARD em-ployeeshavecontributedRs9.85croretothePM-CARESFund,saidastatement.

VedantaenablesmassoutputofPPEsNewDelhi:Vedantahasen-abledmass production ofPersonal Protective Equip-ment in Gurgaon, said astatement.ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,APRIL30

INDIANEEDS to lift its lockdownina“measuredway”butasfastaspossibleasitdoesnothavetheca-pacitytosupportpeopleacrossthespectrumfortoolong,formerRBIGovernorRaghuramRajansaid,ashearguedthatthecountryneedsto spendRs65,000crore to sup-portthepoor.HesaidIndiahastobe “cleverer” about opening upand argued a second or thirdroundof lockdownwillbedevas-tatingfortheIndianeconomy.Inaconversationwithformer

CongresspresidentRahulGandhi,Rajansaid“therewillhavetobearethinking of everything in theglobal economy”post-COVID-19andarguedIndiahasanopportu-nity in shaping that dialogue to-wards “one which has greater

place formore countries in theglobal order, amultipolar globalorderratherthanasingleorabipo-larglobalorder.”HesaidIndiacanfindopportunitiesforitsindustriesanditssupplychains.He said there has to be a se-

quencingwhenitcomestoopen-ingupandthefirstshouldbethose

placeswheresocialdistancingcanbemaintained.But,forthat,hesaid“a lot of work needs to be donebothoncreatingthestructures,aswell as ensuring that theworkplaceisrelativelysafe.”ReferringtoasurveybyCentre

forMonitoring Indian Economywhichsaidanestimated100mil-lionworkershavebeenrenderedjobless due to the lockdown, hesaid thenumbersare “worrying”and “mindboggling” and “I thinkit says,we need to openup in ameasuredwaybutasfastaspossi-blesothatpeoplestarthavingjobs.Wedon’thavethecapacitytosup-portpeople across the spectrumfortoolong.Beingarelativelypoorcountry,peoplestartoutwithsig-nificantlylowerreserves.”“Weneedto findwaysof get-

ting bothmoney aswell as foodthroughPDS toasmanyof thesepeopleaswecan,”hesaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL30

INDIA IS expected towitnessapermanent lossof around4per cent of its real GDP, ornearly Rs 9 lakh crore, on ac-counttheeconomicimpactofspread of coronavirus and anationwide lockdown, said areport released by CrisilResearch. Projecting a basecase GDP growth rate of 1.8per cent for FY21, with adownside scenario of zeroGDPgrowth for the year, thereport projected a sharp re-covery beginning the firstquarter of next financial yearwhen theGDP is expected togrowat7.5percent—benefit-ting from thebase effect. ForIndiaInc,thereportprojecteda revenuedecline of up to15percentanddip inprofitabil-ity by 25-30 per cent for thecurrentyear.Asthepandemicishurting

economicactivity across sec-tors anddemographicprofileof thecountry,DK Joshi, chiefeconomist at Crisil said, “Wefeelthatafiscalstimulustothetuneof Rs3.5 lakhcrore is re-quired(includingwhathasal-readybeenannouncedbythefinanceministerearlier).Whilethegovernmenthasprovidedfor fooddistributionandcashtransfertobankaccountsoftheneedy,thefocusforthenextsetof stimulus shouldbearoundsmallandmediumenterprisessoas to support their survivalastheyarethebiggestjobcre-ators.Wewill need stimuluslaterduringthetimeofrecov-erytoo.”CrisilsaidIndiashouldpre-

paretobenefitfromanyglobalbusiness realignmentoppor-tunity.Asallmajoreconomiesare impacted by the pan-demic, Shaun Roache, chiefAsia –Pacific economist, S&PGlobalRatings,saidaglobalre-alignment of supply chain ison the cards and India couldbenefitfromit. Joshi,however,added domestic conditionshave to be made morefavourable to attract compa-niesmovingawayfromChina.StatingthatIndiawillhave

to grow at an average of 8.5per cent for threeyearsup toFY24 tomakeup for theper-manent loss of around 4 percent of its real GDP this year,

the report said high growthratesof8.5percentwouldre-quire, “extraordinaryandex-tended policy support, re-forms and facilitations tosupport domestic businessandsupplychains,andattractforeigninvestment.”While India Inchasseena

near halt in business activity,thereportprojectedadeclineinrevenuegrowthof8-10percent on a base case (GDPgrowth of 1.8 per cent). It,however, said on lowerGDPgrowth,revenuedeclinecouldbe 12-15 per cent. “Wehaveneverwitnessed such a sce-nario in our lifetime,” said,PrasadKoparkar,seniordirec-toratCrisilResearch.The impact is expected to

be severe for certain sectors.Whileconsumerdiscretionaryservicessuchasairline,hospi-tality,mediaandorganisedrealestatecouldseearevenuede-clinebetween20and30percent, auto and consumerdurables couldwitness ade-cline between12and22percent. On the other hand,pharma, FMCGand telecomareexpectedtodobetter. Thereport projects a revenuegrowthof 15-18per cent forthetelecomsector“onaccountof pricehike last year and in-creaseindataconsumption.”Profitabilityofcompanies

isalsosettocomeunderpres-sure and India Inc could see15-18 per cent decline inearnings before interest taxdepreciation and amortisa-tion(Ebitda)onthebasecaseGDP projection. In linewithdecline in revenue and prof-its, more companies are ex-pectedtobecomevulnerablefor degrade and default, thereportsaid.It statedwhile22percent

ofIndiancompanieswithtotaldebtofRs16lakhcrorehadin-terest coverage ratio of lessthan1tillMarch2020, it issettoriseto32percentbytheendofFY21.Asbanksturncautious,NPAsaresettoriseby150-200basispointsthisfiscal.Amongthesectors,aCrisil

metric onparameters of ero-sion in revenue growth andcredit risk, shows that autocomponents,realestate,gemsand jewellery, airline, con-struction, poultry andmeatand textiles are theweakestpositioned.

COVID-19 EFFECTECONOMY

‘Permanent loss of 4%to real GDP likely;revenue decline of upto 15% for India Inc’

Need to open up in a measuredway, but as fast as possible: Rajan

Core industries’output shrinks6.5% in March

Gold demand plunges36% in March quarter

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,APRIL30

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER onThursday reported a decline of3.93percentinconsolidatedprofitto Rs 1,512 crore for the fourthquarter, impactedby the coron-aviruscrisisfrommid-March.Thecompanyhadpostedanet

profit of Rs 1,574 crore in theJanuary-Marchperiodof thepre-viousfiscal.Salesduringthequarterunder

review stood at Rs 9,055 crore,down9.61percentfromRs10,018croreinthecorrespondingperiodayearago,HindustanUnileverLtd(HUL)saidinaregulatoryfiling.“The spreadof COVID-19 im-

pacted the business frommid-March,”saidHUL.

SC directs RBI to ensure itsmoratorium circular isimplemented in letter, spiritEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,APRIL30

THESUPREMECourtonThursdayexpressed doubts onwhetherbankswerepassingonthereliefsannouncedbytheRBItoborrow-ers in thewakeof theCOVID-19pandemic andnationwide lock-down,andaskedtheapexbanktoensurecompliance.ABenchheadedbyJusticeNV

Ramana,whichheardapleathatclaimed theMarch27 circular ofthe RBI has not been imple-mentedbybanks,said“inviewofthe above,wedirect theReserveBank of India to ensure imple-mentation of the Circular dated27.03.2020initsletterandspirit”.Thepleaurgedthecourttoset

asidethecircular.But theBench, also compris-

ingJusticesSKKaulandBRGavai,which heard a clutch of PILs re-latedtoRBIcircularviavideocon-ferencing, refusedto interfereaf-ternotingnoneof thepetitionerswerepersonallyaggrieved.Meanwhile,theRBIextended

regulatorybenefitstoallbanksin-cludingthosedeployingtheirownresourcestoextendliquiditysup-port to themutual funds underthe Special Liquidity Facility forMutual Funds (SLF-MF) scheme.Italsopermittedbankstofilereg-ulatoryreturnswithadelayofupto 30 days from the due date asseveralentitiesfacedifficulties intimely submission inviewof thedisruptionsonaccountoftheout-break.WITHPTI

25-30% flights may resumeafter lockdown; airlines,airports begin preparationsPRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,APRIL30

ASTHEgovernmentpreparestore-laxcertain restrictionsMay4on-wards, airlines andairportshavestartedtolaydownthegroundforresumptionofscheduledcommer-cialflightoperationsthathavebeenshutsinceMarch25.Theindicationfromgovernmentofficials, how-ever, isthatflightsareexpectedtoresumewith25-30percentcapac-itymid-Mayonwards.Inacommunicationtoairport

managersacross thecountry, theAirportsAuthorityof India (AAI)askedallairportstobeinprepared-ness tohandle flight operations.Issuingasetofstandardoperatingprocedures,AAI’sdirectorateofop-

erationssaid:“Oncethelockdownperiod isdeclared tobeover, air-ports shall be facilitating limiteddomestic/internationalscheduledflightsinphases,tostartwith,maybeat30percentcapacitytofacili-tate requiredsocialdistancing.” Itadded initially, airlineoperationsmaybe limitedtoTier-l citiesandmajorTier-llcities.Similarly,Air India’smanage-

menthaswrittentoitsstaff tobe-ginpreparing for resumptionofflightoperations.“Thereisaprob-ability to commence 25-30percentoperationspost-lockdowninmid-May2020,”acommunicationsenttooperationsstaffread.Governmentofficialshavesaid

airlines and customers will begiven10days forbookingsbeforeoperationsareallowedtoresume.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

GOLDSEEMS to be losing lustrewith the economic slowdownand the lockdown triggered bythecoronaviruspandemichittingthedemandfortheyellowmetal.As a result, demand for gold fell36 per cent to 101.9 tonnes dur-ingtheJanuary-Marchquarterof2020ascomparedto159tonnesinthesameperiodof lastyear.According to theWorldGold

Council, in value terms, gold de-mand value for the quarterwasRs37,580crore,adeclineof20percent in comparison with Rs47,000croreayearago. Totaljew-ellery demand in India forJanuary-Marchperiodwasdownby 41 per cent at 73.9 tonnes as

comparedto125.4 tonnes in thesameperiodof lastyear.The value of jewellery de-

manddeclinedby27per cent toRs 27,230 crore fromRs. 37,070croreayearago.Total investmentdemandfor

the January-March quarterwasdown by 17 per cent at 28.1tonnes as compared to 33.6tonnesayearago.However,invalueterms,gold

investment demand was Rs.10,350 crore, a rise of 4 per centfromRs9,940crorelastyear.

Sensex jumps997 points onCOVID-19 drug,lockdown easingENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,APRIL30

DOMESTICMARKETS Thursdaystagedastrongrallybuoyedbyre-portsofencouragingdrugtrialsintheUStotreatCOVID-19andprob-ableeasingoflockdownpostMay3insomeofthestates.TheSensexrallied997points,

or3.05per cent, to33,717.62andtheNSENifty Index spurted307pointsto9,859.90.Therupeealsoroseby57paiseat75.09perdol-laramidexpectationsofcapitalin-flowsandanothereconomicpack-age from the government.However,economicfundamentalsremainunchangedasofnow,andanypick-up inmacroaggregateswilltakesometime,asperexperts.

Fitch downgradesviability ratings ofSBI, BoB, ICICIand Axis BankNew Delhi: Fitch Ratings onThursday downgraded the via-bility ratings of SBI, ICICI BankandAxis Bank to ‘bb’ from ‘bb+’on account of deteriorating op-erating environment for banksamidtheCOVID-19pandemic.Theglobalratingagencyalso

downgradedBankofBaroda’sVRbyonenotchto ‘bb-’, from‘bb’.The agency affirmed the

long-termissuerdefault ratingsof SBI and BOB at ‘BBB-’ andthoseofICICIBankandAxisBankat ‘BB+’.PTI

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,APRIL30

THECOVID-19outbreakandsub-sequentlockdownhasledtoashiftinbuyingbehaviourof fastmov-ing consumergoods in favourofonlinepurchasesasregionsacrossthecountry,withhigherdepend-enceontraditionalretailers,sawafall involumesofsuchitems.Thisisdespite the fact that traditionalchannels continue to dominatethe contribution to India’s retailchannelsforFMCGsales.As per a study by Nielsen,

amongthefourzonesofIndia,eastzonewasundermaximumstressduringtheJanuary-Marchperiod,whilethesouthzonecontinuedtosee sustainedgrowth. The studynotedthattheeastzonerecorded0.4percenton-yearsalesvolumegrowthforFMCGproductsduringJanuary-Marchperiod this year,comparedto10.9percentgrowthlast year. Traditional trade con-tributed to 95 per cent of theFMCGsalesinthisregion.The south zone, whichwas

leastimpacted—recording6.4percentgrowthinJanuary-Marchthisyear, comparedwith8.7per centlastyear—hastheleastcontribu-tion from traditional trade in allfourzonesat84percent.PrasunBasu, southAsia zone

president,NielsenGlobalConnect,said theCOVID-19episode is ex-pectedtocausesignificantshiftinconsumerpatterns going aheadbutthemagnitudeofhowthebe-haviour gets alteredwill onlybeknownonce lockdown is lifted.“Therewillbeanewnormalforre-tailers for sure,” he saidduring a

webinaronThursday.AsurveybyCARERatingsob-

servedwhile sectors such as e-commerceandretailareexpectedtodowellintheongoingfinancialyear,with82per centof the sur-vey’srespondentsexpectingpos-itivegrowthinthesesectors,“itcanbeinferredthatthegrowthwillbesupported by the e-commercesectorratherthanretail”.Thepushtowardsonlinecom-

merceisalsoevidentfromthefactthat several large companies aretweakingstrategiestogivealegupto their e-commerceoperationsonbackofexpectationsthatcon-sumersmaynot immediatelyre-turntophysicalstores.“Whileweare takingallmeasures toensuresocial distancing andhave evenlaiddownSOPs toensure safety,there is anexpectation thatpeo-plemightbeafraid tovisit storesatleastimmediatelypostthelock-downis lifted,”saidaseniorsalesdepartment executive at a largefashionandlifestylebrand.

RISKSCALEVulnerability:■High ■Medium ■Low

Sector Workforcesize (crore)Agriculture 20.53Industry 11.53Miningandquarrying 0.19Manufacturing 5.64Electricityandwatersupply 0.27Construction 5.43Services 14.44Trade 4.69Transport 2.29Accommodationandfoodservices 0.87Otherservices 6.59

FormerCongressPresidentRahulGandhi (left) inaconversationwith formerRBIGovernorRaghuramRajanviaavideo link, inNewDelhi. Screenshotpostedby@RahulGandhiTwitterhandleviaPTI

Facebook aims toextend products,tech built with Jio

Salary deduction at RIL’shydrocarbon division,Ambani to forego salary

RILChairmanandMDMukeshAmbani. File

HUL net slips3.9% to `1,512 cron virus hit

EPFO allows firms to file PF returnswithout simultaneous payment of duesENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,APRIL30

INAmove thatwill ease compli-ance burden for employers, theEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO)haspermit-ted companies to file their elec-tronic challan cumreturn (ECR)withoutthesimultaneousrequire-menttopaytheirPFcontributions.Through thismove, the govern-mentisalsoexpectedtogetanes-timate of the companies underEPFOwhicharefacingcashcrunchandwagepaymentrelatedissues

owingtothelockdowntocountertheCOVID-19pandemic.Therewill benopenal action

onthosecompanieswhichfiletheECRontime,eveniftheirpaymentcontributions get delayed. “TheECRcannowonwardsbefiledbyanemployerwithout theneedofsimultaneouspaymentof contri-butions.Thecontributionsmaybepaid later by theemployer athisconvenience after filing theECR...filingof ECR shall establishemployer’s intent to complyandunwillingness to defaultwhichwill not attract penal conse-quences andemployees also get

assurance of their employmentandmembership,”theEPFOsaid.Thiswill also “help in policy

planninganddecision-makingre-gardingsupportingthebusinessesandEPFmembers inwagepay-mentorcontributionpaymentorotherwise”,itadded.Earlier thismonth, the EPFO

extended thedeadline for filingECR andmakingpayment of PFdues for themonthofMarch tillMay15.TheECRandPFduespay-mentsforMarchweredueonApril15.Thereafter,theemployerswereto get 10 days’ grace period forcompliancetillApril25.

Pandemic, lockdowngive shot in the armto e-comm adoption

AgroceryshopinNewDelhi.Regionswithhigherdependenceontraditionalretailers sawafall inFMCGvolumes.GajendraYadav

New Delhi: RelianceIndustries Ltd on Thursdaysaiditsboardhasapprovedhiving off its $75 billionworth oil-to-chemicalsbusiness intoaseparatedi-vision to enable the sale of20percentstakeintheunitto Saudi national oil com-panyAramco.PTI

$75-bn O2C bizto be hived off

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,APRIL30

THEOUTPUTof eight core infra-structure industries shrankby arecord6.5per cent inMarchduetosignificantdipinproductionofcrude oil, natural gas, fertiliser,steel,cementandelectricityamidthecoronaviruslockdown.Theeightcoresectorshadex-

pandedby5.8per cent inMarch2019.InFebruarythisyear,thesec-tors recorded a growth of 7 percent.Productionof crudeoil,nat-ural gas, refinery products, fer-tiliser, steel, cementandelectric-itycontractedby5.5percent,15.2percent,0.5percent,11.9percent,13per cent, 24.7per cent and7.2percent,respectively,inthemonthunderreview,accordingtodataofthe Commerce and IndustryMinistryreleasedonThursday.

Thevalueof jewellerydemanddeclined27%to`27,230crorefrom`37,070croreayearago

Mumbai

Football’s return good foreveryone:Mourinho

TottenhammanagerJoseMourinhobelievesbringingfootballback,evenbehindcloseddoors,wouldbeamuch-neededmoraleboostforfansstarvedofactionduringthecoro-naviruscrisis.No

PremierLeaguegameshavebeenplayedsinceMarch9duetothepandemic,whichhasclaimedmorethan26,000Britishlives.DutchfootballchiefshavecalledanendtotheEredivisieseasonwhileFrenchsportsministerRoxanaMaracineanuonThursdaycalledfortheFrenchleaguetoendtheLigue1season.England'stop-flightclubsareduetomeetonFridaywith"ProjectRestart"atthetopof theiragenda.Theywilldiscusshowtheycancompletetheseasondespitethelogisticaldifficulties. AFP

MotoGP cancels racesTheMotoGPraces inGermany, theNetherlandsandFinland in Juneand Julyhavebeencancelled, the InternationalMotorcyclingFederation (FIM)andpro-moterDornaSportsannounced. “Theon-goingcoronavirusoutbreakhasobliged thecancellationof all threeevents," theysaidina joint statement. TheGermanGrandPrixwasscheduled fromJune19-21at theSachsenringandtheDutchMotoGPfromJune26-28atAssen, theonlycircuit tohavehostedamotorcyclegrandprixeveryyear since its inception in1949. AFP

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY1,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PARISSTGermainmovedwithinafingertipofbeingcrownedLigue1championswhentheFrenchleaguerecommendedtofreezethe2019-20standingsamidtheCOVID-19crisisonThursday,FrenchsportsdailyL'Equipereported.According to thenewspaper, the LFP's

boardwill ratify the recommendationonThursday afternoonandeffectively handPSG their seventh title in the last eightyears. Thedecisionwouldmean that sec-ond-placedOlympiquedeMarseille andthird-placed StadeRennaiswouldbe innext season's Champions Leaguewith

PSG. Lille, StadedeReims andNicewouldqualify for the Europa League. Amiens andToulousewouldbe relegatedwith Ligue2leaders Lorient, and second-placed Lend,promoted to the elite. “I thinkwehave toaccept thedecisions that havebeen taken,in all sports and in all countries,” said PSGdefender ThiloKehrer on the club'sweb-site earlier thisweek.“I thinktheteamsthatareatthetopof

their leaguesatthemomentdeservetobethere. If thedecisionistakentocallanendtotheseasonthenthetitlewillbedeservedtoo.”TheLFPdidnotcomment. REUTERS

PSG to be namedwinnersas standings remain frozen

Outbreakwill not affectwomen's sport: Perry

Amidstconcernsthatcash-strappedgovern-ingbodieswillgiveprioritytomen'seventsoverless-lucrativewomen'sfixturesoncethehealthcrisistriggeredbyCOVID-19pan-demicisover,starAustraliaall-rounderEllysePerrybelievesthatwomensportwillemergeunscathed.Sportingactivitiesaroundtheworldhavebeenbroughttoagrindinghaltbythecoronavirusoutbreak.BoardslikeCricketAustraliaarefacingafi-nancialcrisisandwereforcedtolayoffma-jorityof theirstaffbutPerrybelievesthatgoverningbodieswill lookfornewwaysofrevenuegeneration.“Sport ingeneral is resilientand I can't

actually see ithavinga long-lastingnega-tiveeffect,”Perry told theAustralianAssociatedPress." "It's certainlymadeor-ganisations rethinkhowtheyruntheirsportsandtheir codesandpotentially stripitback towhat is really important. PTI

Diamond League cancelledTheDiamondLeague trackmeet inLausanne, Switzerland,won'thappenasscheduledonAug.20.Organizersof theAthletissimasay theyarenowlookingat``alternativeoptionsand formats thatcouldstill beconsidered inorder toofferathletes thepossibility tocompete.''Switzerland'sgovernmenthasprohibitedgatheringsofmore than1,000peopleuntiltheendofAugust.Athletissimaorganiserssay “it is currently impossible toallowahighnumberof people togather inacon-finedarea.'' PTI

ECBsaysTheHundreddelayeduntil 2021

ThelaunchofTheHundredwaspostponeduntil2021onThursdayastheCOVID-19pan-demicforcedtheEnglandandWalesCricketBoard(ECB)toputitsnewflagshiptourna-mentonhold.Thefranchise-basedleague, includinganAmericansports-styledraftandfeaturingeightteamswithnamessuchasLondonSpirit,ManchesterOriginalsandTrentRockets,wasscheduledtorunfrommid-JulytoSeptember.TheannouncementthatthenewlimitedoversexperimentwillnotstartthisseasonseemedinevitableoncetheECBlastweekextendedthesuspensionof theprofessionalgameuntil July1. REUTERS

No need tochange salivarule: WarnerPRESSTRUSTOFINDIAMELBOURNE,APRIL30

STAR AUSTRALIAN opener DavidWarnerdoes not see the need to abolish the use ofsalivatoshinetheballwhencricketresumesin the post COVID-19world as he feels it isnomore or no less risky than sharing thechange roomwith fellow players. There isspeculationthatuseofsalivatoshinetheballwill be stopped to cut down the risk of thehighly contagious infectionwhen interna-tionalcricketrestarts. “You'resharingchangerooms and you're sharing everything else, Idon't see why you have to change that,”Warner told 'cricket.com.au'.“It's been going around for hundreds of

yearsnow,Ican'trecallanyonethat'sgotsickbydoing that. If you're going to contract a bug, Idon't think it'd necessarily be just fromthat.I'mnot too surebut it's notmyplace to com-mentonwhetherornotweshouldorshould-n't (use saliva to shine theball). It's up to theICCandthegoverningbodiestodecide.”However, former fast bowler Shaun Tait

believes it is important to be open aboutchangesand theuseof saliva couldbecomea thing of the past. “I've never been a hugefanof thesalivaontheball, it'snotverynicereally,” Tait said. “Wehave to open to somepossible changes there.”

Khawaja axed; Labuschangne,Burns land CA contractsSenior batsmen Usman Khawaja and

ShaunMarshmissedout but the fast-risingMarnusLabuschagneandJoeBurnswerere-warded for their performances in CricketAustralia's annual player contracts an-nounced on Thursday. The list, which hascome later than scheduled due to the up-heaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,features six new faces for the 2020-21 sea-son --Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Burns,Labuschagne,KaneRichardsonandMatthewWadeto the list.The 33-year-old Khawaja, who was

Australia’smost importantbatsmanduringWarnerandSteveSmith’ssuspension,hasn’tcomeclosetonationalselectionsincebeingdroppedandisseeminglyunlikely toaddtohis 44 Tests and 40 ODIs. “AsMitchMarshandMatthewWade have proven there arealwaysplentyofopportunitiesforthosewhohavemissed out to be re-selected by per-forming consistently at domestic level,”chairmanof selectorsTrevorHohnssaid.“And importantly tomake themost of

anyopportunity thatcomestheirwayat in-ternational level.As isalways thecase thereareunluckyomissionsbut,however,becauseyou are not on the list does not mean youcannotbeselected,”heexplained.

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We’ve lost oneof the leading lights ofIndian sport today.Not toomanycanboast of being top-notch in twodifferentsports. Youplayed your part to the fullest,restwell, Chuni sir.”

SUNILCHHETRI, INDIACAPTAIN

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,APRIL30

CHUNIGOSWAMIwas India’s greatest-everfootballer. His superioritywas beyond anydoubt.Hewasalso arguably India’s greatest-everall-roundsportsman,forheledBengaltoaRanjiTrophyfinal.HewasMrQuicksilverofIndiansport.Goswami, 82, breathed his last in

KolkataonThursday.Hewassufferingfromage-relatedailments.His familyconfirmedthathewasadmitted toacityhospital ear-lier in the day,where he died of a heart at-tack around 5pm. He is survived by wifeBasanti and sonSudipto.Indiawon the1962AsianGames football

goldunderGoswami’s captaincy.Healso ledIndia to the1964AsianCupsilvermedal.Histop-flight football career spanned from1954to1968beforehemadeaseamlesstransitiontocricket.Goswami,however,wasa lotmorethanhis longevity as aplayer, thenumberofgoals he scored, the medals he won, thepostagestampinhishonourorthePadmaShriandtheArjunaAwardhewasconferredwith.FormerPresident SRadhakrishnanwasa

fan. Old-timers atMohunBagan still speakabouthowthegreatphilosopher and states-man loved towatchGoswami skippingpastdefenders during Durand Cupmatches inDelhi. Hewas so good that even TottenhamHotspurmadeanoffer. But as the storygoes,Goswami had just got a job at State Bank ofIndiaandthesafetynetweighedheavy.“Chuniwas a fantastic dribbler. His close

control was superb. But thoseweren’t thebiggest attributes of his game.His greatness

lay inhis brain.Great players playwith theirbrains,whichsetsthemapartwithregardstodecision-making. Anddecision-making (onthepitch) separates a great footballer fromagoodone,”TulsidasBalaram,Goswami’sIndiateammateandapartofIndianfootball’s‘ThreeMusketeers’–PKBanerjee,ChuniandBalaram–toldTheIndianExpress.“Iamdevastated.Pradip(Banerjee)passed

away lastmonthandnowChuni. Forme, thelossesareunbearable.Weplayedfordifferentclubs. Chuniwas a Baganman through andthrough(aMohunBaganRatna),whileIplayedfor East Bengal. Andyet,whenweplayed forBengalandIndia,ourunderstandingwastele-pathic. Chuni, PK and I played footballwith

their brains,” said Balaram. He agreed thattherewasahealthyrivalrywhentheyplayedclubfootball.“Yes,wewantedtooutshineeachother inBaganversusEastBengalmatches. Ithelpedusbecomebetterplayers.”SubimalGoswami,whobecame famous

byhisnickname,wasbornonJanuary15,1938atKishoreganjinerstwhileEastBengal.In1946,hejoinedtheBaganjuniorteamandwasnur-turedbyBalaidasChatterjee.In1954,hegrad-uatedtotheseniorteamandplayedforthemuntil he retired in 1968. As per AIFF stats,Goswami scored200goals forhis club–145in theCalcutta Football League, 25 in the IFAShield,18intheDurandCup,11intheRoversCupandoneintheDrHKMookerjeeShield.

Goswamimade his international debutagainst Burma (nowMyanmar) at the 1958Tokyo Asian Games and scored in his firstgame,asIndiaralliedtowin3-2.Hewentontorepresent India in36 internationals, captain-ing in 16 of them, andnetting 13 goals. The1962AsianGameswas his crowning glory;India beating SouthKorea 2-1 in the final towinthegoldmedal.ThelatePKBanerjeeoncerecalledhowtheentirestadiuminJakartawasbooingIndiaandbayingforblood,becauseanIndianofficialhadsupportedIsrael’sinclusionintheAsiad.Thefootball teamborethebruntbut the finalwas a triumphof the collectivewillof11Indians.Asacricketer,Goswamiwasanall-rounder

– a middle-order batsman and decentmedium-pace inswingbowler.Hemadehisfirst-classdebutin1962andforsixyearsplayedcricket and football at a high level. He ledBengaltothe1971-72RanjiTrophyfinalwherehisteamlosttoBombay.HealsoplayedforEastZone. In 46 first-classmatches, Goswamiscored1,592runsincludingacenturyandtook47wickets.Hewasalsoaverycapable tennisplayer,aregularontheSouthClubcourts.All India Football Federation president

Praful Patel condoledGoswami’s death. “It’ssadtohearthatChuni-da,oneofIndia’sgreat-estfootballers, isnomore.HiscontributiontoIndian Footballwill never be forgotten…Hewillstaysynonymouswiththegoldengener-ationof Indianfootball.”The BCCImourned his death through a

tweet.CricketAssociationofBengalpresidentAvishekDalmiya said: “His contribution tofootball would be cherished forever. In thesame vein, hewas not only the Captain ofBengalCricketTeambuthadalsoreceivedtheKartickBose LifetimeAchievementAwardofThe CAB in 2011-12 for his CricketingExcellence.” FormerBCCI secretaryNiranjanShahcalledGoswamia“rare” sporting talentanda“truelegend”.FormerIndiaspinnerandex-BengalcaptainDilipDoshisaid: “Hehadagreat sense of humourwhichhe timely ap-plied to release the tension in the dressingroom. India is poorerwithout such stalwartsandiconsofsport.”

GOALSANDGLORY:Goswaminetted200goalsforBagan, besideswinningnineleaguetitles,fiveIFAShieldsandDurandCupseachandthreeRoversCups;(left)hemetidolPeletoo. AIFF

CHUNIGOSWAMI, 1938-2020

Swerve, dribble, shoot... repeatLeaderDESPITEBEINGaprodigious talent, SyedAbdul Rahim—India’smost successfulcoach—ignored Goswami for theMelbourneOlympicsin1956.He,however,wasnamedasCalcuttaUniversity’scaptainand led themtoAll India Inter-UniversityChampionship title, himself scoring thewinning goal against BombayUniversityin the final. His reputation, domestically,keptonincreasingsincethenandin1958,hewaschosenfortheTokyoAsianGames,where hemade his international debutagainstBurma(nowMyanmar).Thatmo-menton,hewasaregularwiththenationalteamuntilheretiredin1965havingscored13goals in 36 international appearancesandcaptainingin16of them.Asmuchashisgoals,Goswamiwillbe

rememberedforleadingthenationalteamtounmatchedheights. Thegoldmedal at1962AsianGamesremainshisgreatesttri-umph–hescoredabraceinthesemifinalsagainstSouthVietnamthathadeightplay-erswithFrenchLeagueexperience.Healsocaptainedtheteamtoarunner-upfinishinthe1964AsianCupinIsrael.

DribblerGOSWAMIBELONGED toagenerationofgreats.Whatseparatedhimfromtherest,though,was his body swerves anddrib-bling abilities. Olympian SSHakeem re-called a Santosh Trophymatch betweenServicesandBengal,whenGoswamiwastrappednearthecornerflag.Hakeem,whoplayedforServices,thoughthecouldstealtheballawayfromGoswamiwithaslidingtackle. But doing that to India’s best drib-blerwasn’tgoingtobeeasy.BeforeHakeemcouldevenmove,Goswamiwriggledpastthedefenderfromthetiniestofspacesandchargedtowardsthebox.Hisabilitieswiththeballmadehimin-

comparabletoanyotherplayerofthatgen-eration aswell as the ones that have fol-lowed.Hehadanaura,somuchsothatde-spitenotbeingthemostdisciplinedplayer,hewasoftenforgiven.Goswamihadarep-utationof turningup late for thenationalcamps–once, in fact,he turnedupa fort-night late for the 1960 RomeOlympicspreparatorycampinHyderabad.According tohistorianNovyKapadia,

when someplayers raised voices againstthe preferential treatment given to him,Rahim–thecoach–retorted:“Uskamaafikballcontrolkarlo, tumbhifir lateaana.”

LoyalistGoswamiwas eightwhen he joined

MohunBagan.Andheneverleftthem.Notwhenarch-rivalEastBengal’sgeneralsec-retaryJyotishGuha,accordingtothebookBarefoottoBoots,triedtolurehimbyoffer-ingtobuythelatestFiatcar.Notevenwhenhe received an invitation to trainwithTottenham Hotspur, who—under BillNicholson—had justwon the EuropeanCupWinnersCup.Notexposedtointerna-tional club football, Goswami saidhedidnottaketheofferseriouslybecausehedid-n'twanttoforsakethestabilityhisemploy-ers,SBI,guaranteed. MIHIRVASAVDA

Quick feet, sharp mindGoswamiwasinarguablyIndia’sfinestfootballerever,andarguablythecountry’sfinesteverall-roundsportsman

Mumbai

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