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 29, 2020, MUMBAI, ,LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

THECITY

LESS THANHALFOF SHOPSOPENATAIRPORTSIXWARDSREPORTOVER 14,000CASESPAGE3

`̀ 135 per kilo

`̀ 164 per kilo

`̀ 204 per kilo

`̀ 50 per Dozen

Centre, state mustconsult, cooperate totackle Covid situation,says ThackerayEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

MAHARASHTRACHIEFministerUddhav Thackeray said onThursday that hewas not con-sulted either before the three-week national lockdown wasimposedonMarch25,orbeforethe announcement on the re-sumptionof flights.Thackeray underscored the

needforconsultationsandcoop-erationbetweentheCentreandstatesindealingwiththeCovid-19pandemic. “There is need forcooperationbetweentheCentreandstatetogoforward,”hesaid.“There should be dialogue

betweentheCentreandstatebe-foreplacingrestrictionsorgrant-ing relaxations from the lock-down. Initially, Iwasopposedtoresuming air services becausetheairport isnotjustaservice, itis an industry. Apart frompilotsandcabincrew,otherstaffarein-volved in it.With the lockdowninforceuntilMay31,therewereissuesof howtotransport themandpassengers to and from theairport.ThentheCentresaidthatthe state should allow at leastlimited services, stating thatMumbaiisanimportantcentre,”

Thackeraysaid.Thechiefminister,whocom-

pleted six months in office onWednesday,wasspeakingatthetheLoksatta interactivewebse-ries programme, SathichaGazhalMaharashtracha.

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MaharashtraCMwasguestatLoksattawebinar

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

AsofMay27,only2.25%needed ICU,1.91%oxygen, just3onventilators

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY28

QUESTIONING THE Centre andstates on the plight of strandedmigrant workers, the SupremeCourtThursdaydirectedthatnofare be charged from them fortheir journey home, and thatarrangements bemade to pro-vide themwith food.The bench of Justices Ashok

Bhushan,SKKaulandMRShah,whichtooksuomotucognizanceof theissueonTuesday,sayingithadalso receivedseveral lettersandrepresentationsfromdiffer-ent sections of society, and di-rected that states share the busor train fare of the strandedmi-grants returninghome.An earlier bench had de-

clined to entertain a PIL high-lighting problems of strandedmigrants.Granting more time to the

Centre and states to submit de-tailed responses, the bench or-deredthatthestrandedmigrantworkersbeprovidedfoodbythestates concernedat places tobepublicised and notified for the

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States tosharecostof train,bustravel;Rlys toprovide trainsasperstate request

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY28

AS RETURNINGmigrants andeasinglockdownpushthecoro-navirusfarandwide,ananalysisof statewise data shows thatwhenitcomestoCovidpatientsrequiring critical care, theirshare, even in high-burdenstates likeMaharashtra, Delhi,GujaratandTamilNadu,remainslow. So is thedemand for venti-lators.Similar is the case in states

like Bihar, Jharkhand,ChhattisgarhandOdishawherethemigrantinfluxispushingupCovidnumbers.Of the total 83,004 active

cases onMay27, less than3500neededanykindof intervention

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Glimmer in Covidsurge: Less than5% of all patientsrequire critical care

GIVENTHATcritical careinfra is lowoutsideur-banareas,pressurewillgrowonhospitals incitiesasnumbers rise. InDelhi, barelyeightCovidICUbedswerevacant inprivatehospitals asofMay27.Useof oxygen isbeingencouraged topreventpatients fromdeteriorating towheretheyneed ICU.

Keyto infra,treatment

States/UT ActiveCases InICU Ventilator OxygenTillMay27

Maharashtra 36,012 3.32% 0.006% 2.21%Delhi 6,954 1.31% 0.005% 3.56%M.P 3,030 6.44% 0.008% 7.85%WestBengal 2,240 10.34% 0.006% 5.8%Gujarat 6,767 0.58% 0.001% 1.03%UttarPradesh 2,680 2.28% 0.001% 1.4%TamilNadu#^ 8,259 0.24% 0% 0.37%Karnataka 1,491 1.21% 0.011% 1.21%Rajasthan 3,195 0.81% 0.001% 0.46%AndhraPradesh 1,105 1.4% 0.002% 1.2%INDIA 83,004 2.25% 0.004% 1.91%

KEYNUMBERS

LOCKDOWNDAY

65

CONCERNASSAM: Fastestgrowing state atthe moment, casesdoubling in fewerthan three days.

CAUTIONKERALA:Growthin cases faster insecond surge;

growing faster thannational average.

A GLIMMERRAJASTHAN: Likein Gujarat, growthrate of cases has

been slowing for thelast couple of weeks.

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

TOTALCASES56,94815,1951,00318,5753,0364,192

DOUBLINGRATE**13.2325.8711.9514.377.5716.40

SURGEIN24HRS2,1903664084768183

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

5.44%2.78%6.02%5.01%9.51%4.39%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:1,58,333

RECOVERED:67,691 |DEATHS:4,531TESTS:33,62,136 |DOUBLINGRATE: 14.34**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

EARLIERBENCHHADDECLINEDMIGRANTPIL

Migrants don’t have to pay to gohome,ensure they get food on theway: SC

Suman,26,was inNoidaExtensiononWednesdayafternoon,walkingtocatchabustoDadrirailwaystation, fromwhereshehopedtogeta traintoBihar. Suman,whowascarryingher15-month-oldchild, saidherhusband,aconstruction labourer,hadnoworkandthefamilyhadnomoneytostayon.GajendraYadav

SG Mehta invokes vultures, prophets ofdoom, Sibal says don’t make it personalANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY28

ARGUINGTHECentre’s casebe-fore a three-judge bench of theSupremeCourt,SolicitorGeneralTushar Mehta questioned thepersonal commitment of thosewhowere seeking to intervene

in thematter.Calling them prophets of

doom, he said they needed toprove their credentials.Soonafter finishinghis sub-

missions,Mehta told thebenchof Justices Ashok Bhushan, S KKaul and M R Shah: “I havesomething more to say as anofficer of the court. I have a

complaint”.“A large number of steps

were taken by the governmentandtheSupremeCourtwasfullysatisfied about it earlier. Butwehavesomethingcalledprophetsof doomwhoonlyspreadnega-tivity,negativity, andnegativity.All thesepeoplewritingon

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GARGIVERMARAIPUR,MAY28

THREEGIRLS, including two in-fants,diedoverthelast48hoursin three separate quarantinecentres across Chhattisgarh,with officials saying that twoofthe deaths were caused by as-phyxiation while the childrenwerebeing fed.The third child, a four-

month-oldwho died Thursday,hadbeenill forthelastfewdays,and her Covid test result isawaited. The other two died onWednesday, including an 18-month-old and three-month-oldwho, sources said, was “se-verelymalnourished”.Allthethreewerechildrenof

migrant workers who had re-turnedtothestateafterthelock-downwaseased.Officials attributed the

deaths toa combinationof heatandovercrowdingatquarantinecentres. State HealthMinister TS Singh Deo said “strict action”would be taken if any “lapses”were found at the centres butadded that “the system is over-burdened with the number of

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Chhattisgarh:3 children diein quarantinein last 48 hours

Industry chorus: Package not muchhelp, govt must do the heavy liftingANILSASI&PVAIDYANATHANIYERNEWDELHI,MAY28

AS COMPANIES gradually rampupcapacitiespostthelockdownandannouncementof theRs20lakh crore AtmaNirbhar Covideconomic package,many are ofthe view that the governmentneedstodoalotmoreheavylift-ing to generate demand given

the extraordinary circum-stances.Therecannotbeabetterway

than increased governmentspending,directcashtransferstoconsumers and deferment oftaxes, according to responses of100-pluscompanies toasurveycarried out by a national tradebody.The survey was conducted

after the latest round of easing,and the respondents included

large companies, regional tradebodies,andalsosomesmallandmedium enterprises across themanufacturingandservicessec-tors.Some broad trends that

emerge:■Bigger companies are op-

eratingathighercapacities;midand small-sized companies inthe same or related sectors areoperatingsub-optimally.

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ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

GLOBALINTERNETgiantGoogleis lookingtobuyupto5percentstake in debt-laden VodafoneIdea,theFinancialTimesreportedThursday.Google’s parent company

AlphabetIncisalsolookingtobuysomestakeinVodafoneIdea’sri-val Reliance Jio Infocomm, thenewspaper reported, withoutprovidingdetails.The report comes almost a

month after social media giantFacebookpickedup9.9percentstake for Rs 43,574 crore ($5.7billion) in Reliance IndustriesLimited’s (RIL) Jio Platforms. JioPlatforms,awholly-ownedsub-sidiary of RIL, has since seen

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Report: Googleconsideringtaking stake inVodafone Idea

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI,MAY28

AROUND 40 per cent of theShramikSpecialtrainssofarhaveset off from the states of Gujaratand Maharashtra, carryingroughly 20 lakhmigrants backhome. Until Thursday, 50 lakhstranded passengers had usedthesetrains,themajoritytogettotheirhomesinUttarPradeshandBihar,accordingtoofficialdata.Until Thursday, 3,736

Shramik trains had departedfrom stations across India, withthose in Gujarat accounting forthe largest number — 979 out-bound special trains.Maharashtra is fast catching up— with around 695 of theShramik trains carrying mi-grantsout thestate.Of the 3,736 trains, over 75

per cent were headed to desti-nations in Bihar and UttarPradesh, irrespective of wherethe trainsoriginated from.While UP has received

around 1,530 of these trains,Bihar has by now receivedaround1,296.Asperdata,UPre-ceived20,47,000migrants,whileBihar has received around17,34,000migrants so far.There are, however, signs

that the demand for ShramikSpecials couldbe finallyebbing.On Thursday, for instance,merely 35 Shramik Specialswere scheduled to depart fromvariouspartsof thecountry.Officials said that while

Gujaratwasplanningtosend80trains to Odisha, the statemayonlyneedtosendabout10moretrainstootherpartsof thecoun-try. Over the past few days,Maharashtra has seen cancella-tions with the state unable toutilise the capacity of the

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Most Shramiktrains: Gujarat,Maharashtra toUP and Bihar

Jamia: Delhi court saysprobe seems ‘targeted’ANANDMOHANJNEWDELHI,MAY28

ADELHIcourt,whilesendingar-rested Jamia student Asif IqbalTanhatojudicialcustody,hasre-marked that “the investigationseems to be targeted only to-wardsoneend”.Tanha (24) was arrested by

the Delhi Police Special Cell onMay 20 under Section 13 of theUnlawfulActivities(Prevention)

Act (UAPA) in connectionwiththe riots in Northeast Delhi inFebruary, and accused of al-legedly instigating crowds bygiving speeches in areaswhereanti-CAA protests were on. Hewas produced before the judgeonMay27.Additional Sessions Judge

Dharmender Rana, in his order,wrote:“It is informedbyinspec-torLokeshthattherewasacom-munal riot inDelhi andaccused

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VISHALMENONNEWDELHI,MAY28

JYOTI KUMARI Paswan has lostcount of themedia interviewsshe’s had to tackle over the lastweek — from 9 am to lateevening,almosteveryday.Then,there are the VVIP phone calls,including a video call from for-mer Bihar Chief Minister RabriDevi.Thestoryofthe15-year-old’s

decision to buy a second-handcyclewiththeRs2,000thatwasleft with the family, and pedalfrom Sikanderpur in Haryana’sGurgaon to her home in Bihar’s

Darbhanga to escape the lock-down distress, has touchedmany— frompoliticians to bu-reaucrats, business tycoons toNRIs.More so, since shewas tak-

ing her injured father along onthe 1,200-km journey — theywere lucky to get a ride on atruckforthelast70km,saysherfather,ane-rickshawdriverwhowas stuckwithoutwork after aroadaccident.Today,Jyotiandherfatherare

under home quarantine inSirhulli village,unnervedby themediaglare,andthankfulforthesurgeof support.“It getsdifficult sometimes...

They ask the same questions.Jyotigetsexhausted.Imagine,wearesupposedtobeinquarantinesince we reached onMay 15,”saysMohan, the father.“Butpeoplehavebeenkind,”

headds.The Bihar government will

provide free schooling for Jyoti,and has started work on con-structing a bathroom at herhome.FormerUPchiefministerAkhilesh Yadav has transferredRs 1 lakh to her account. AnandKumar, the founder of Patna-based Super 30 for underprivi-legedIITaspirants,hasofferedtosponsorherhighereducation.That’s not all. Union MoS

AshwiniKumarChoubeywantsto nominate Jyoti as the coun-try’s “health ambassador”. AndRabriDevihaspromisedtofundher education— andmarriage,“whenthatdaycomes”.There’salreadyapendingin-

vite from the national cyclingfederationfortrialsinNewDelhi.Jyoti was reluctant initially butnow says “cycle race jeetna hai,kyunki mein kuch banna chahtihoon(IhavetowinthecycleracebecauseIwanttoachievesome-thing)”.The federation’s chairman

Onkar Singh says the offer re-mainsopen.“Jyotiisconfusedbythe attention she’s receiving.

Once the frenzy subsides, wewill contact her.Wewould liketo conduct trials andmouldherintoa top-level cyclist,”hesays.Union Law Minister Ravi

Shankar Prasad posted onTwitter that he has spoken toSportsMinister Kiren Rijiju “foridentifyingher talent”.Butfornow,Jyotiisexcitedto

go to school. “I will resumemyeducation once the lockdownends. Due to financial con-straints, I had stopped going toschool twoyearsago,” shesays.Her father says the family is

not planning to return toSikanderpur, and Jyoti will at-tend thePindaruchHighSchool

near her village, where shegained admission following theinterventionof thedistrict edu-cationofficer.The family says every day

bringsasurprise,andbanknoti-ficationshavebeenpingingforawhilenow.Buthelp isn’t always incash.

“We didn’t have a bathroom.Seeingourplight,workers fromthe Bihar government came toconstructoneforus. Itshouldbeready in a couple of days,” saysMohan.But amidst the tumult,

Darbhanga’s one-timeMP andformerIndiacricketerKirtiAzad

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Jyotiwill jointhePindaruchHighSchoolnearhervillage inBihar’sDarbhangadistrict. Twitter

Help pours in but teen cyclist is happy to return to school

Not far from the LAC,satellite picks up Chinesearmour, artilleryMANAMANSINGHCHHINA,SUSHANTSINGH&ARUNSHARMACHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI,JAMMU,MAY28

AS DELHI and Beijing turn totheirworkingmechanismatthelevelofdiplomatstoreducemil-itary tensions along the Line ofActual Control (LAC) in easternLadakh, there’s evidence of theChinesehavingdeployedtowedartillery andmechanised ele-ments on their side of the LACopposite theGalwanvalley.HighlyplacedsourcestoldThe

Indian Express that a detailedanalysis of satellite images hasshownextensive deployment oftowed artillery andmechanisedelements on the Chinese side,bringing Indian deployments

withinstrikingdistance.Satellite images also show

thepresenceof at least16 tankswith amix of infantry combatvehicles, though camouflaged.

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P10

‘DIPLOMATICTALKSWITHCHINASTARTEDBEFORELASTWEEK’LTGEN S L NARASIMHANMEMBER, NSAB

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

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Todayon the3Things podcast,we lookat the threat that the current locustswarmspose to India andwhat canbedone about it

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IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

Delhi, BeijingFlatbed trucks, excavator

machines, dumper trucks toohave been identified in the im-agery, sources said, adding thatthese suggest permanent de-fencesarebeingpreparedbytheChinese in thearea.“Bunkers, troops on ground

and machine gun emplace-ments can also be seenwhichmayalsoshowthat theChinesehavebeenanticipatinganoffen-sive and havemade defensivepositions too,” sources said.“Suitable” counter-deploy-

ments, sources said, have alsobeendoneon the Indian sideoftheLACtoneutraliseanyadvan-tage that the Chinese may ac-crue due to the deploymentstheyhavedone indepth.At Pangong Tso, where

ChineseandIndiantroopscametoblowsonMay5-6, the Indianside,sourcessaid,hasbeencon-cernedabout theChineseoccu-pationof a place called FoxholePoint, the southern-most pointon the northern banks of thelake. This is located betweenFinger3andFinger4,givingtheChinese an advantage in areadomination.As reported by The Indian

Express, Chinese forces havemoved into Indian territory bycrossingtheLACatsomeplacesineastern Ladakh: in the PangongTsoarea,andatthreeseparatelo-cationsintheHotSpringssector.The perception of the two

sidesabouttheLAChasbeendif-ferentatPangongTso,leadingtotensionsanddisputesonthelakeand on the northern banks. Butthe locations that saw Chineseincursions in Hot Springs –Gogra,PatrollingPoint-14,PP-15–havenot beendisputed so far,and they have come in 2-3 kmaheadof theLAC.The Indian side is also con-

cerned about threat posed tostrategicDarbuk-Shyok-DaulatBeg Oldie (DSDBO) road byChinese deployment, oppositeGalwan river on its side of LAC.The 255-km road was inaugu-rated last year by DefenceMinisterRajnathSinghwhoin-augurated a 1400-feet bridgeon Shyok river to the north ofthis area.Ladakh Autonomous Hill

DevelopmentCouncil ExecutiveCouncillor (Education)KonchokStanzinsaid: “While it isdifficulttosayhowmanyChinesetroopshaveintrudedinsideIndianterri-toryinPangongTsoarea,theyarecampinginFourFingerandGreenTop areas also, apart fromPatrollingPoint14-15.’’Stanzin represents Chushul

constituencyinLeh.“Peopleinvil-lages likeMerak, Lukung,Urung,Man,SpangmikandKakstelalongthePangonglakeareworriedoverthe Chinese intrusions. I havecometoreassurepeopleinthevil-lages,’’hesaid.TheIndianArmyhasnotcom-

mented on the Chinese incur-sions,butforastatementdenyingreports thatan IndianpatrolhadbeendetainedbytheChinesesol-diers lastweek. It has, however,acknowledgedthatsoldiersfrombothsidesclashedonthenightofMay 5/6 in Pangong Tso and onMay9atNakuLainSikkim.OnWednesday, the Chinese

ForeignMinistry strucka concil-iatory tone, saying the “borderareasituationisoverallstableandcontrollable”. Sun Weidong,Beijing’senvoytoDelhi, toosaid:“Weshouldnever allowourdif-ferencestoshadowtheoverallde-velopmentofourrelations…Weshould gradually seek under-standing through communica-tionandconstantlyresolvediffer-ences.”TheIndianestablishmentisstillwaitingforsignsofanyde-escalationbytheChineseineast-ernLadakh.“Thenext72hoursarecrucial

inwhichwehavetowatchforanyreduction in the soldiers andequipmentfromtheChineseside.Sofar(asonThursdayafternoon),therehasbeennochangeintheir

deployment. Our side also re-mains onhigh alert,wehaven’tchangedanything either,” anof-ficialtoldTheIndianExpress.

Chhattisgarhreturningmigrants”.Thursday’sdeathoccurredin

Baloddistrict,andofficialsidenti-fied thevictim’s father asYuvrajNishad,whohad returned tohisvillage, Tenga, fromChandrapurinMaharashtraonMay14alongwithhiswife, three-year-oldsonandfour-month-olddaughter.“The girlwas unwell and lo-

cal healthworkerswere check-ing on her. On May 26, theyasked the family toget thechildto hospital. The family reachedthe hospital onMay 27, but noonecheckedthechildtheentireday,”YogeshwarNishad,Yuvraj’solder brother, claimed. “Mybrother informedmetodaythatthechildhaddied.”Localofficialssaidtheparents

refusedtopartwiththebodyun-tiltheywereassuredbypoliceof-ficersthatitwouldbereturnedtothem for the last rites. Finally, ahealthworker inPPEcarried thebodyout,asYuvrajwatchedwithhissonatthedoorof thecentre.“The family cameon a truck

fromMaharashtra.Wehad sentthechild’ssampleonMay25,butthetestresultshaven’tcomeyet,”saidadistrictofficial.The 18-month-old died at a

quarantine centre in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi onWednesday,threedaysaftershehadarrivedwithherfamilyfromBhopal. Officials said she dieddue to asphyxiation after foodgot stuck inher throat.“Thegirl’sfamily--herfather

isa22-year-oldmigrantworker--hadcometothecentreaweekago but then slipped out andwent home. After the villagersgot to know, they sent themback,” anofficial said.Thethree-month-olddiedon

thesamedayataquarantinecen-tre in Kabirdham distict’sBandhatola village.Officials saidthe child’s family had returnedfromNagpuronMay11.“Thegirlandher familywere kept at thevillage schoolwheremore than30otherpeople areunderquar-antine,”anofficialsaid.Accordingtosources,thechild

was“severelymalnourished”andhad been admitted to the localhospitalbeforeshediedduetoas-phyxiationwhilebeingfedmilk.Thelatestdeathsfollowase-

ries of at least 10 fatalities inquarantine centres across thestatesinceMay14,includingonedue to electrocution, two tosnakebite, two suicides and atleast threedue to illness.Thequarantinecentresarede-

centralised,andmonitoredbythedistrict administration. “In eachvillage,governmentbuildingsareusedasquarantinecentres.Thesebuildings are crowded and theheathasincreasedexponentially.Thiscan leadtodehydrationandrelated complications,” said ahealthofficial.Health Minister Deo said:

“The transit ofmigrants shouldhave been regulated. There arelimitstoallsystems.Asofnow,wehave a severe backlog in testingbecausetherearejustnotenoughlabs.Wearetryingtosetupnewlabs,butthatwilltakeweeks.Wearetryingtohelppeopleinquar-antinecentreswithallfacilities.Inlieuof the currentweather con-ditions,water andORS sachetsshouldbeprovided.”

Jamia studentwasactively involvedinthat.Myattentionhasbeendrawn to thestatementof awitness…wherethere are specific allegationsagainsttheaccused.Inviewofthematerial available on record, ac-cused be remanded to judicialcustodytill25/06/2020.”“Perusal of the casediary re-

vealsadisturbingfact.Theinves-tigationseemstobetargetedonlytowards one end. Upon inquiryfrominspectorsLokeshandAnil,theyhavefailedtopointoutwhat

investigationhasbeencarriedoutsofarregardingtheinvolvementof therival faction. Inviewof thesame,DCPconcernedisrequiredtomonitor the investigationandensurefair investigation,”theor-derstated.

UddhavThackeray also said had therebeenbetterCentre-stateco-ordi-nation,theproblemsfacedbymi-grantsworkers couldhavebeenavoided.“Beforeannouncementofthe

nationwide lockdown inMarch,migrant workers were seencrowdingsomerailwaystationsinMumbaiatatimewhenthegov-ernmentwas shuttingdownac-tivities in aphasedmanner. I re-alised that if we don’t allowmigrants to returnhome, itmaylead to lawandorder issues.Werequested the Centre to give ussometrainsoverthenextfewdaysandofferedtobearthecostoftheirtransportation.We saidwewillnot ask anyone to go to theirhomes, but thosewho feel inse-curecango.Hadthesetrainsbeenallowedthen, themigrantwork-ers couldhavegonehomeeasilyandthespreadofCovid-19couldhavebeencontrolled,”Thackeraysaid,alsostatingthatMaharashtrahascordialrelationswiththecen-tralgovernment.ThackerayrejectedtheBJP’sal-

legationthathewasa“non-play-ingcaptain”,anddismissedspec-ulation about a conflict in therulingMaha Vikas Aghadi, thethree-party coalitionof his ShivSena,theNCP,andtheCongress.OntheBJP’sallegationthathis

inexperiencehad led toover-de-pendenceonthebureaucracyandamarginalisationof thepoliticalleadership, Thackeray retorted:“Yes, I aminexperiencedandde-pendent on thebureaucracy. Sowhat? Show me one decisionwhichwasnot correct.My inex-perienceinadministrationhasal-lowedme toworkwithanopenmind. I listen to everybody, butthatdoesnotmeanIdon’ttakede-cisions.”Headdedcaustically, “I think

their (theBJP’s) over-experiencehasleftthemmoreconfused.”Askedwhyhewasnotseenas

assertinghimselfmoreandinac-tionas taking chargeof thegov-ernment,Thackeraysaid,“Iamnota Bollywoodherowhomust beseen in action.Why should I beseen everywhere? Letmyworkspeak.Letmyworkdeterminemyaction.”Hesaidhewasnot“someone

whowouldpushresponsibilitieson toothers. I accept challengesand Iwin. I can statewith confi-dence that Maharashtra willemerge stronger as a leading in-dustrialstateafterovercomingtheCovid-19pandemic.”Hewas “confident, not con-

fused,” the chiefminister said –and reiterated that his govern-menthadtakenmanyimportantpolicydecisionssincetakingofficesixmonthsago.“After becoming CM, I an-

nounceda loanwaiver for farm-ers.Maharashtrawasamongthestatesthatensuredtherewerenocommunal riots following theCentre’scontroversialdecisionontheCAA.Frommedicalcrisisman-

agement to migrants’ returnhome, Iammonitoringalldevel-opments,”hesaid.Thackeray saidpublic health

would requiregreaterbudgetal-locationandpriorityasithadbeena long neglected area of gover-nance.He saidMumbai initiallyhad just 900beds ,whichgradu-allyincreasedto4000.“Andnowwearereadywith15,000,”hesaid.

Glimmer in surge—oxygentherapy,ICUorventila-tors. A total of 1,868 patientsneeded ICU (2.25 per cent), ofwhomjust threewereonventi-latorswhile1585people(1.91percent)wereonoxygen.Thistrendhasremainedlargelyunchangedsincethefirstcasescamein.Until May15,18,855ventila-

torswereavailableinthecountryfor Covid care, this numberwouldhavegoneupsince.Inad-dition, 60,000 ventilators havebeenordered.These figuresassumesignifi-

cance given the apprehensionaboutmedical infrastructurebe-ing overwhelmed by the pan-demic as testing ramps up andmorecasespourin.On the way ahead during

Lockdown 4.0, Niti Aayog’s DrVinod Paul said: “Our goal is tocontrol the pandemic and thenrestorenormalcy so that life cangoon.Thatbalanceiskeytoallde-cisionsonrestrictions.Wehavetomakesurethatthesizeofthepan-demicremainsbelowourcapac-itytotreatpatients.”In Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand

and Biharwhere returningmi-grantsareacauseforconcern,so

farnopatientsareonventilators,oxygenorintheICU.Thereasonsaren’t clear: there is speculationthat the epidemicmay be in itsearlystagesinthesestatesorthatfewpatientsneedcritical careorthat thehealth infrastructure is-n’tuniformlydistributedinthesestates.Ofthe2,680activecasesinUttar Pradesh till May 27, 61needed ICUand38neededoxy-gen.Nopatientwasrequiredtobeputonaventilator.InMaharashtra, which has

seenthemostnumberofdeaths,thepercentageofpeopleonoxy-gen is just 2.21per cent. InDelhithepercentageis3.56butonMay27,when the number of activecasesinMaharashtrawas36012,therewere just 796 people onoxygenwhileinDelhi,ofthe6954activecases,248wereonoxygen.Overall,thepercentageofpeo-

ple onoxygen (1.91%of total ac-tivecasesinthecountry)isanim-portant metric because it hasoften been seen in Covid casesthatpatientsrecoverquicklyafterafewdaysonoxygen.However,iftimelyoxygen isnotgiven, thereare increased chances of organdamageandquickdeterioration.Until May 26, Delhi had 303deaths whileMaharashtra tillMay27had1897deaths.“Thedatasuggestlowlevelsof

needfor intensivecare,except inWestBengalandMP.Useofven-tilatorsappearstobeverylowandoxygen therapy has been usedmore thanmechanical ventila-tors.Overall, thedataare consis-tentwithgoodclinicaloutcomeswith avery limited requirementforadvancedintensivecare,”said

Dr K Srinath Reddy, presidentPublicHealthFoundationofIndiaandmemberoftheICMR’sCovid.Bengal has the highest per-

centage of people in the ICU:10.34%ofthe2240activecases--andalsoarelativelyhighpropor-tion (5.8%) onoxygen. The statesaw289deathstillMay27.Ofthe3030active cases inMP tillMay27, 7.85% were on oxygen and6.44%wereintheICU.Therewere313deathstillMay27.Meanwhile,thetotalnumber

of Covid cases in the countrytouched1,58,333with the addi-tionof6566casesand194deathsin the last 24 hours. A total of1,19,976 sampleswere tested inthelast24hourstakingthetotalto33.62lakh.

Industry chorus■Companies producing fast

movingconsumergoodsorthoseproducingessentialcommoditiesandfoodproductshavebeenableto scale up fast, andareworkingat even 80 per cent capacity ormore.

■Automobileunitsaredelib-erately slow in restarting opera-tionsduetolackofretaildemand,probablybecauseofstressoncon-sumersduetouncertaintyonthejobfront,andwagecuts.

■Autounitsinthenorthhavestarted earlier, while those insouthandeasttrail;thiscouldbebecause theManesar-Gurgaonbeltwas among the first hubs toopen up, while those in TamilNadu and Gujarat have beensloweroff theblockduetoCovidoverhang.Most companies said the

stimuluspackageof the govern-mentdidnotbenefitthem,manysaid itwas ineffective, and someothers said therewas little fiscalsupport either to the industryortothepoor.Suggestions varied fromRs

2,500direct cash transfer to thepoor,wagesupporttolabour,andGSTandincometaxwaivers.Within themanufacturing

sector, pharmaunits are operat-ing at over 85per cent capacity,while chemical companies arelaggingbehindincapacityutilisa-tion. In services, software andtechnology firmsareworking at90percentcapacity.A Mumbai-headquartered

software company reported 95per cent operating capacitypost-lockdown, while othersmall IT services firms, a mid-sized firm involved in artificialintelligence solutions and an-other working on unmannedsystemswereoperatingatmuchlower levelsof 50percent.Coresectorfirmsinindustries

suchasminingandsteelreportedoperationsevenduringthelock-down,primarilybecauserestart-ing smelters andboilers is a costandenergyintensiveprocess.Capitalgoodsandpowergen-

erationcompanies too,operatedthroughthelockdown,butatsig-nificantlylowercapacitylevels.Amajor Mumbai-based capitalgoods companypegged its cur-rentcapacityutilitsationatjust37per cent, but aBengaluru-basedstate-owned equipmentmajorreported amuchhigher operat-ingcapacityof75percent.

Teen cyclistpointstothelargerstory.“Thefundamentalissueisthat

there is this dailywageworkerwho is unemployed, pennilessandinsuchadirepositionthathewould die of poverty. So hisdaughter,whoisaminor,takesitupon herself to take her fatherbacktothevillageinacyclewith-outrealisingtheconsequencesofwhatmighthappen.Thisiswhatneedstobetalkedabout,”hesays.Mohan acknowledges that

the government should havelooked after the interests ofmi-grantworkerslikehimwhileim-plementingthelockdown.

Googleinvestments fromglobal privateequity players such as GeneralAtlantic, Silver Lake Partners,

SilverLakePartnersandKKR.“If you lookat thetiming, the

Google dealwithVodafone Ideais awin-win for both. NobodywantsVodafoneIdeatogobelly-up, and it is certainly not com-pletelyoutof thewoodsyet.Soitgetsthedesiredmoneytosurvive.Ontheotherhand,Googlegetsacheapentry into themarket andcanbring its expertise indata tobenefit fromagrowingwirelessuserbase,”saidatelecomanalyst,whodidnotwishtobeidentified.AdealwithGooglecouldbea

lifeline forVodafone Idea,whichowesasmuchasRs54,000crorein adjustedgross revenue (AGR)duestothegovernment.Following a SupremeCourt

judgmentonOctober24lastyear,VodafoneGroup’schiefexecutiveofficerNickReadhadsaidthatthecompany, which holds 49 percent stake in Vodafone Idea,wouldnotcommitanymoreeq-uityinIndiaasthe“countryeffec-tively contributed zero value tothecompany’sshareprice”.Vodafone Idea chairman

KumarMangalamBirlahad saidthat itmighthave toshut shop iftherewasnoAGRrelieffromgov-ernment,asitdidnotmakesenseto“putgoodmoneyafterbad”.A potential deal between

Google and Vodafone Ideawillheat up competition in one ofthe world’s largest and fastestgrowing data consumptionmarkets, experts said. As ofJanuary31,2020, Indiahadato-tal of 115.6 crorewireless tele-phone subscribers, with a netaddition of up to 50 lakh usersper month, according to datafrom Telecom RegulatoryAuthorityof India (TRAI).The three private players,

VodafoneIdea,BhartiAirtel,andRelianceJio,togetherheldnearly90percentshareof thedomes-tic telecommarket. Though ithas been losing subscribers foroversixquartersnow,VodafoneIdeahada28.4percentshareofthe domestic market as ofJanuary31,2020.

Shramik trainsShramiktrains.InTelangana,the36 trains that set off onMay 23and 24 ran at just about 59 percent capacity, sources said -- 17of thoseat less than50per centcapacity. “I amhappytosaythatin theCoronacrisis, the ShramikSpecial trains have so far trans-portedover50 lakh labourers tothehomestates in safe andcon-venient manner,” RailwayMinister PiyushGoyal tweetedThursday.Railwaysdata shows that af-

ter Gujarat and Maharashtra,Punjab has seen off 397 trains,263trainsoriginatedfromUPandasimilarnumberfromBihar.Among the Opposition

states,WestBengalhassofarre-ceived only about 75 trains.Three Shramik Specials, datashows, originated fromWestBengal — to Rajasthan, JammuandKashmirandBihar.Chhattisgarh received

around 53 trains, Rajasthan re-ceived around45 trainswhile itsent out around 119, of whicharound 18were fromKota, tak-ing awaymostly stranded stu-dents. Odisha received around159trainswhileitsentoutthree– one each to Uttar Pradesh,BiharandChhattisgarh.Kerala has received just nine

trains, three fromMaharashtra,two fromDelhi, and one eachfrom Punjab, Rajasthan,Karnataka andGujarat. It has sofar sent out around 50 trains,mostly to Bihar, Jharkhand,Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, butalso toWest Bengal, RajasthanandeventoManipur,TripuraandJammu.When the trains beganrunningonMay1,only1,200pas-sengers,accountingforsocialdis-tancing,travelledoneachtrip.Buttowardsthemiddleofthemonth,eachtraincarriedamaximumof1,600 passengers eachway. Anestimated50lakhpeoplehavesofar travelled on the trains as perticketsalefigurestillThursday.

FROMPAGEONE

Migrants don’t have to pay to go home: SC

SG invokes vultures, prophets of doom

period they have to wait fortheir turn tostart the journey.Whilethestatefromwhere

theysetoutshallprovidemealandwater at the bus station,theRailwaysshouldprovide itduring the journey, it said.Duringthehearing, Justice

Kaul asked Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta: “What is theestimated time required toshiftmigrants?Whatarrange-mentsarebeingmade?Whatisthemechanisminplace?Dothey know if they will beshifted on fifth day, seventhdayortenthday?...What’sbe-ing done to ensure they aregiven information?”Mehtasaidsincethestates

are the boarding points, theywould be able to explain thisbetter.“Butwhatisthenormaltime?Ifamigrantisidentified,theremust be some certaintythat he will be shifted outwithinoneweekortendaysatmost?What is that time?” thebenchasked.In itsorder later, thebench

directedstatesto“simplifyandspeed up the process of regis-trationofmigrantworkersand

alsoprovidehelpdesk forreg-istration at the places wheretheyarestranded”.It said states must “try to

endeavour that after registra-tion, the workers should beaskedtoboardthetrainorbusattheearliestandcompletein-formation should be publi-cized to all concerned regard-ingmodeof transport”.“We further direct that

those migrant workers whoarefoundwalkingonthehigh-ways or roads shall be imme-diately taken care by the con-cernedState/UnionTerritoriesand they shall be providedtransport to the destinationandall facilitiesincludingfoodandwaterbeprovidedtothosefound walking on the road,”thebenchsaid.On earlier occasions, the

courthadrefusedtointerveneinthematterofmigrantwork-ers who had begun walkinghome. On March 31, theSolicitor General had told thecourtthatasof11amthatday,nomigrantlabourerwaswalk-ingon foot to reachhome.Earlier this month, the

court declined to entertain aPIL seeking directions toDistrictMagistrates to imme-diately identify moving orstrandedmigrant labourers,shiftthentolabourcampsandprovide them food and “freetransport” to theirvillages.A different bench of the

court had, on that occasion,wonderedhowitcouldstopmi-grantsfromwalkingandthatitwasuptothestatestoact.ButthebenchonThursday

madeitclearthatitwouldtakea comprehensive view of theissueanddirectedthatallnec-essary details regarding thenumber of migrant workers,theplan to transport themetcbebroughtonrecord.It also asked the Railways

to provide trains as andwhenthe state governments put inrequests. Earlier, Mehtathanked the court for takingcognisance of thematter andsaid some isolated incidentshavetakenplaceandthesearebeingshownrepeatedly.He said he has filed a pre-

liminary report in response tothenotice issuedby the court.

He said the initial lockdownhad a two-fold purpose — tobreakthechainofthevirusandto enhance and strengthenhospitals andhealthcare.Justice Bhushan said: “We

are not disputing the fact thatCentrehasnottakensteps.Butwhoeverneedshelpisnotget-ting thathelp.”Mehtasaidthatthoughtini-

tially therewasmovement ofmigrants, it was sought to bestopped so that infectiondoesnotmovefromurbantoruralar-eas. But subsequently, theCentre,hesaid,decidedtoshiftthemigrants. He said the gov-ernmentwillnotstopitseffortsuntil every single migrant isshifted. He referred to theRailwaysplyingShramikspecialtrainsandsaidthatduetosomeunfortunateincidents,whatac-tually happenedhadnot beenplacedinthepublicdomain.He said3700special trains

wereoperatedbetweenMay1and 27 to transportmigrants,and91 lakhmigrants (50 lakhby train and 41 lakh via theroad transport) had alreadybeenshifted.

socialmedia,givinginterviews,cannot even acknowledgewhat is being done...They arenot showing any courtesy tothenation.”“State governments and

ministers are workingovernight.Noneofthesepeopleacknowledge,”Mehtasaid.“Therewas aphotographer

who went to Sudan in 1993.Therewasavultureandapanic-stricken child. Thevulturewaswaiting for the child to die. Hephotographed it and thephotowaspublished in TheNewYorkTimes and the photographerwasawardedthePulitzerPrize.Hecommittedsuicideafterfourmonths”,Mehtasaid.His referencewas to South

African photojournalist KevinCarter’s photowhich had be-comeasubjectof international

debate on the professional re-sponsibility versus personaldutyofajournalist.“Hewasnot an activist. He

was not running an NGO. Hewasamanwithaconscience...Ajournalisthadaskedhim,whathappenedtothechild?HesaidI don’t know, I had to returnhome.Then the reporteraskedhimhowmany vultureswerethere?Cartersaidone.No,thereweretwo--onewasholdingthecamera, said the journalist,”Mehtasaid.“Those who come before

yourLordships, let themestab-lishtheircredentials.Theyearnin crores. Have they spent apenny?Peoplearefeedingpeo-ple on the streets,” the SG said.“Allthesepeoplecritiquing,hadanyof themcared to comeoutof theirACofficestohelp?”

“For them, Lordships areneutralonlyifyouabusetheex-ecutive,” he said, adding thatfailing todo so invites compar-isonswith the ADM Jabalpurmoment (the landmark casewherethecourt iscriticised forgivingintothegovernment).“SomeHighCourts”,Mehta

said,“arerunningaparallelgov-ernment”, alluding to the factthat many High Courts hadquestionedthegovernmentsatthestateandtheCentreontheirhandlingof theCovidcrisis.Alittlelater,theSGobjected

as Senior Advocate Kapil Sibalrosetoargue.”Thiscourtcannotbemade a political platform”,Mehtasaid.Sibal responded: “Iwant to

participateinahumanitarianis-sue.” TheSGsaid Sibalmayar-gueifheisforastateandthathe

wouldopposehimifhewasap-pearing to argue some inter-locutoryapplication.Sibal,whowasappearingonbehalfoftwoorganisations, said itwas ahu-manitariancrisisthathadnoth-ing to dowith politics. “Don’tmakeitpersonal”,hetoldtheSG.Mehta askedSibal, “What’s

yourcontributioninthecrisis?”Sibalreplied:“Fourcrores.That’smy contribution,” adding thathewantedtoassistthecourtasa counsel. Sibal said thatundertheDisasterManagementAct,anational plan should be pre-paredbytheNationalExecutiveCommittee,which is then ap-provedbytheNDMA.Section 12 of the national

plan has guidelines formini-mumstandardsof reliefwhichthe National authority has torecommend,hesaid.

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheCity

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

THE BRIHANMUMBAIMunicipalCorporation's (BMC)data shows that six of the total24 wards in the city have re-ported14,007Covid-19cases–around 42 per cent of the totalcount — with each recordingover 2,000 infections.Till May 27,Mumbai has re-

ported 30,013 cases and over1,000deaths.Also, Mumbai's average

growth rate of cases has alsoseenadropfrom6.5percent to5.17per cent in last oneweek.According to the data, at

2,728, G North ward (Dharavi,Dadar and Mahim) has re-ported the maximum numberof cases as onMay27.It is followed by E ward

(Byculla) with 2,438 cases andF North ward (Matunga, Sion,Wadala)with 2,377 cases.Officialssaidwhile lastweek

only, G North had over 2,000coronavirus positive cases, KWest (Andheri West andJogeshwari West) had crossed2,000 cases recently.

City'scasegrowthrateaver-agehasdroppedto5.17percentfrom lastweek’s 6.5 per cent.“Itshowsthatthenumberof

newcases is decreasing slowly.Areas like Worli, Dharavi,Malabar Hill and Byculla ini-tiallyhadshownaspikeincasesand were worst hit, but nowthey have a growth rate be-tween3percentto5percent. It

is good sign, as it means thatcontainment strategy is work-ing,” said anofficial fromBMC.According to the data, N

(Ghatkopar), P North (Malad)andS(Bhandup)wardshavere-ported the highest growth rateof 9.6per cent, 8.5per cent and8.3 per cent, respectively.Ghatkopar has reported over1,500 cases.

ABHAGORADIAMUMBAI,MAY28

WITHFLIGHToperationsresum-ing, lessthanhalf theretailshopsand food outlets inside theMumbai airport have restartedtheirserviceswithlimitedstaff,al-beit intwoshiftsinsteadofthree.The Indian Express on

Thursday visited the airport andfoundmostshopsoperatingwithone or two employees. Eventhoughbusiness has beenbadlyhit, the footfall has beenencour-aging, said shopowners. The air-port, which has over 1,500 em-ployees on its payroll, has beencallinglessthan30percentofthestafferstowork,saidofficials.Sofar,theairporthasoperated

over190flights,includingarrivalsanddepartures,cateringto19,652passengers.Asperthestandardoperating

protocol laid out by MumbaiInternational Airport Limited(MIAL), no customer can touchanyproduct inashopandwillbehelpedbyastaffer.Theshopsneedtobe regularly sanitised, besidesfollowingsocial-distancingnormsandcontactlesstransactions.Theshopsareauditedeveryday.The lounge areas have also

beenopenedup, each equippedwiththermalscreeningmachines.

Here, tomaintainsocialdistance,signages have been put up sig-nallingpassengerstouseeveryal-ternateseat.Electronicmenuhasreplacedphysicalmenusandvis-itors areofferedonlypre-packedmeals.Thefoodcourt,whichusedtobethrongedbyover3,000pas-sengersearlierdaily,nowseeslessthan300passengersaday.“Somepassengers are scared to try outthefood.However,withoursafetyprotocols,wehavebegun seeingcustomers.Thenumberislowbutencouraging,”saidtheshopownerofapopularbeveragechain.Fromparking before the de-

parture gates to the arrival sec-tions and all across the airport,vinyl flower stickers have beenstuck to the floor, urgingpassen-gerstofollowsocialdistancing.

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,MAY28

ECHOINGTHEstategovernment,Municipal Commissioner IqbalSinghChahalhassaidtheCentreshouldstartlocaltrainservicesinMumbaiforworkers involvedinessentialservices.Railwayshadshuttrainserv-

ices since the lockdownwasan-nounced inMarch. Earlier thismonth, Chief Minister UddhavThackeray had requested PrimeMinisterNarendraModi to start

Mumbaisuburbanrailwayserv-ices for theuseof thoseworkinginessentialservices.“I amsure in thecoming few

days,wewill succeedinthis (re-suminglocaltrains).Wehavere-questedtheCentre,”Chahalsaidin avideopress conferenceheldonTuesday.He added, “Non-stop efforts

are beingmade to resume localtrain and Metro services inMumbai. Skeleton services canstart,onlyduringworkinghours–7amto10amand5pmto8pm– and only from a few stations

that have big hospitals in theirvicinity, so that paramedics,nurses andother staffmemberscantravel.”Severalhospitalshadreached

outtotheBMCclaimingthattheywereunabletorunroutineserv-icesofOPDandadmitpatientsasnurses, ward boys, securitystaffers and others could nottravel from far off suburbs likePanvel, Badlapur, Kalyan-DombivaliandVasai-Virar.InBMC, too,over50percent

of employees stay in satellitetownsofMumbai.“Wearefacing

asimilarproblem.Iamconfidentthatiflocaltrainsresume,wewillhave 100 per cent attendance.Privateclinicsandnursinghomeswill also be able towork at fullstrengthandtreatnon-Covidpa-tients,”saidChahal.Atpresent,staffersandessen-

tial serviceprovidersdependonBESTbusesortheirownvehiclesfor their daily commute. EvenBESTdriversarewaryofferryinghospital staff and BEST servicesdonot extend to far-off suburbslike Panvel, Badlapur, Kalyan-DombivaliandVasai-Virar.

“At present, the staffers arespending five to six hours of theday in commuting to and fromwork.Iftrainservicesresume,thetravel timewill reduce to twohours,”saidChahal.As a back-up plan, BMChas

assured that itwill increase thenumberofBESTbusesandserv-ices.Meanwhile, BMChasmade

biometricattendancemandatoryfor its health staffers. It has alsoraisedthemonthlystipendofin-terndoctorsfromRs11,000toRs50,000andofresidentdoctorsto

Rs60,000.PrivateMBBSdoctorsregisteringwiththeBMCwillbepaid Rs 80,000while specialistswillbepaidRs2lakhpermonth.Underthestategovernment's

'CovidYoddha' appeal toprivatedoctors, nurses and retired per-sonnel, 3,700 respondents haveregisteredwiththeBMC.Of them, 570 doctors and

nurses have been appointed atSevenHillshospitalandBKChos-pitalatMMRDAgrounds,aswellas at isolation facilities at NSCIdome and Race Course inMahalaxmi.

SAGARRAJPUTMUMBAI,MAY28

AFTER SERVING for more than30years, policepersonnel usu-ally lookforwardtotheir retire-ment ceremony in which theyget a chance to rub shoulderswithseniorofficers, as theysaygoodbye to the force. This year,toavoidthespreadofCovid-19,the department has decided tocancel this much anticipatedannual farewell ceremony inMumbai on Sunday, whichwould have been attended bynolessthan518retiringperson-nel.Instead, thedepartmentwill

send them “goodies” at theirhomes – a pair of watches,sweets, theirretirementIDcard,and their benefits.“As everyone is at risk, we

won’tbegatheringthematoneplace. Instead, we shall sendgoodies for them at their re-spectiveresidences,”saidasen-ior officer.But the retiring personnel

cannot hide their disappoint-ment. “At the start of the year, Ihadadiscussionwithmywifeon what she was planning towear at my retirement cere-mony. I had decided to get a

newuniform stitched. But thatdreamisover.Wecannotblameanyone,”saidonepolicemansetto retire.As there are five policemen

retiring fromhis police station,he saidhis colleagues are set tohold a small felicitation forthem.The ritual of having a cere-

mony for retiring officers andconstables from the MumbaiPolice at the hands of the com-missionerhasbeengoingonforyears.The ceremonies are usually

graced by the commissioner,jointcommissionerandseveralother senior IPS officers. Thecommissioner honours the re-tiring officer by handing over ashawl, a coconut, a badge of

honor, a retirement identitycardandawristwatchwith theinsignia of thepolice.“Retiringat thehandsof the

commissioner of police is anunforgettable moment in thelife of every police personnel.Along with the police, theirfamily members also eagerlywait for this moment becausethey get to greet and click pic-tures with the senior officers,”said a retiring officer.A meal is also arranged for

theattendees. “Itsnotaboutthefood but the honor that we getduring the ceremony. Duringthe lockdown, I have workedday and night to ensure thatpeoplestayindoors.Duringthiswhole time, I was looking for-wardtomyfarewellceremony,”said one inspector.Another inspector, set to re-

tire, added: “I believe I will bejust going to the police station,make a dairy entry after 12noonand returnhome.”Last year on May 31, the

farewell ceremony of the retir-ing policemenwas arranged atShanmukhanada Hall inMatunga.

Non-stop efforts being made to resume local train, Metro services: Chahal

Sixwards report over14,000Covid cases

■DatatillMay27■AveragegrowthrateofMumbai,whichhas33,013positivecases,over the lastweek is5.16percent

Ward Area Totalcases Growthratelastoneweek

GNorth Dadar,Dharavi 2,728 3.6%E Byculla 2,438 4%FNorth Matunga,Wadala 2,377 3.6%L Kurla 2,321 5.2%HEast BandraEast 2,094 4.9%

SantacruzEastKWest AndheriWest, 2,049 4%

JogeshwariWest

Report card

Less than half of shops,food outlets open at airport

FacilitiesatMumbaiairporthavebeenmodifiedtoensurecontact-less travel.GaneshShirsekar

Aseveryoneisatrisk,wewon’tbegatheringthematoneplace. Instead,weshallsendgoodiesforthemattheir respectiveresidences”

ASENIOROFFICER

518 police personnel to retireSunday, sans farewell ceremony

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

CORONAWATCH

ManarrestedforillegallysellingliquorMUMBAI: A 32-year-oldMalabarHill residentwasarrestedonWednesdayforallegedlysellingliquorille-gally.TheMalabarHillpo-lice, alongwith theExcisedepartmentofficials, con-ducted a raid at a shop inNepeanSeaRoadareaandseizedeightboxesofIndianand foreign liquor.Accordingtothepolice,theaccusedhadbeen sellingliquorsincethebeginningof the lockdown. “Therewere several attemptsmade to traphimbutwedidnotget success.Aswehad received complaintsfromresidents,we raidedthe shop again onWednesday evening andseized liquor worth Rs65,000,” said an officer,adding that the accusedwasarrestedandacasehasbeenregisteredatMalabarHillpolicestation.ENS

Mumbai:GovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari on Thursday an-nounced a series of austeritymeasures to reduce the ex-penses of Raj Bhavan to makemore resources available forCovid-19reliefwork.Accordingtoastatement,the

Governor gave instructions toRajBhavantoundertakecertainmeasures in the current finan-cial year to reduce its expenses.These included no new capitalworkstobeundertakenandtheIndependence Day Receptionthis year to be cancelled. Also,theproposal for thepurchaseofanewcarhasbeendeferredandthere will no new regular re-cruitmentatRajBhavan.Theothermeasuresincluded

discontinuation of the practiceof offering gifts andmementostoVVIPsandthepracticeofwel-coming VIP visitors with bou-quets. Further, the rooms thathouse guests at Raj Bhavanwillnotbedecoratedwithvasesandflower pots. Themeetings andinteractionswith vice-chancel-lors and various officialswill beconductedviavideoconferencetoavoidanyexpensesontravel.“It is estimated that these

measureswillsavenearly10to15per cent of thebudget of theRajBhavan in thecurrent fiscal,” thestatement said, adding that theGovernorhascontributedhisone-monthsalaryandpledged30percentofhissalaryforoneyeartothePMCARESFund.ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

FORMER CHIEFminister AshokChavan,who is recovering fromCovid-19 at aMumbai hospital,wasamong theseniorCongressleaders fromMaharashtrawhoshared a video message onThursday as part of the party’snationwide campaign to raisepublic support for those suffer-ingasa resultof the lockdown.Mounting pressure on the

NarendraModi government toprovide direct cash transfer to

the poor and vulnerable sec-tions and financial relief toMSMEs, theCongress launcheda nationwide ‘Speak Up India’campaignonThursday.In his videomessage circu-

latedbytheparty’smediateam,Chavan, who is also the statepublic works departmentmin-ister, said that he had logged infromthehospitalbedtoexpresssolidaritytowardsthecampaign.In avideomessage, Congress

president SoniaGandhi said thatdue to the lockdown,many jobswere lost,workplaceswere shutdown, farmershad to struggle toselltheircropsbutthegovernmentdidnottakecognisanceofthese.The party demanded direct

cashofRs7,500permonthintheaccountof everypoor family forthe next sixmonths. It also de-

manded that Rs 10,000 be de-posited immediately in the ac-count of labourers to ensuretheir safe and free travel backhomeanddoublingthenumberof work days to 200 under theMahatma Gandhi NationalEmployment GuaranteeScheme.Financialassistanceformicro,smallandmediumenter-priseswasalsodemanded.In Maharashtra, Congress

leaders shared videomessagesbetween 11 am to 2 pm. Stateparty president BalasahebThorat, who is also the revenueminister, said, “The initiative re-

ceived massive support. Thevoice of the people must havesurely reached the Union gov-ernment. At least now it shouldwake up from its deep slumberandhelp thedistressed.”The initiativewas launched

onallsocialmediaforums.Inhisvideo message, Thorat alsoshowed a 7-minute long docu-mentarymade on the plight ofmigrants returning home fromvarious parts of the country. Hesaid that theMaharashtra gov-ernment had spent Rs 67 croreso far in arranging safe travel ofthemigrants in thestate.

KAVITHAIYERMUMBAI,MAY28

ARRIVALSOFmajor agriculturalcommodities inmarkets acrossthecountryduringthelockdownperiodwereaslowas50to75percentof arrivalsduring thecorre-spondingperiodlastyear,indicat-ing thedifficulties facedby agri-culturists on account of severedisruptionof supplychains.A paper to be published in

theupcomingissueofReviewofAgrarian Studies — a peer-re-viewed journal of theFoundationforAgrarianStudies— shows that the arrivals werenot even50per centof the totalarrivals forwheat, barley, gram,potato, onion, peas andmango

in 2019. While they were be-tween50and75per centof thearrivalslastyearinthecaseofpi-geon pea, lentil, cabbage, cauli-flower, lady’sfingerandbanana.The paper is authored by RRamakumar,NABARDchairpro-fessor, School of DevelopmentStudies, Tata Institute of SocialSciences,Mumbai.Using data from the com-

moditiesdatabaseof theCentreforMonitoring IndianEconomy(CMIE), a compilation of datafrom 3,289markets across thecountry,thepaperanalysesmar-ket arrivals of 16 commoditiesbetweenMarch 15 andMay 15,and compares thesewithmar-ketarrivalsduringthesametwo-month period in 2019. The 16commodities represent all crop

groupsincludingcereals,pulses,fruits andvegetables.CMIE, a leading business in-

formation company, produceseconomic and business data-bases and develops specialisedanalytical tools to deliver theseto its customers for decisionmakingand for research.Withtheexceptionofmaize,

marketarrivalsforallcommodi-tieswere lower in 2020 than in2019. And only two commodi-ties, paddy and maize, saw atleast 75 per cent of market ar-rivalsascomparedto2019.Inthecaseofwheat,animportantrabicrop,market arrivals were only47percentascomparedto2019.Inthecaseofbarleyandgram,

arrivalswere 32.6 per cent and43.5 per cent of the correspon-

dingperiod in thepreviousyear.Arrivals of pigeon pea (arhar)were63.6percentwhilearrivalsof lentil (masoor)were 56.7 percent incomparisonwith2019.Arrivals of perishable com-

moditiesweresignificantlylower,too.Ascomparedto2019,tomatosaw74.5per centarrivals, potatosaw49percent,whileonionandpeaswere32.5percentand39.1percent,respectively.Inaddition,wheat, barley, gram, lentil, peasandmangoalsowitnessedalongstretchofdaysinMarchwhenar-rivalswerenegligible.According to the paper, the

numbers belie governmentclaims about the operations ofagriculturalmarkets during thelockdown.Thesizeablylowerar-rivals point to difficulties faced

by farmers due to breakdownsin government procurementsystems, lower private trade inrural areas, difficulties in trans-porting goods tomarket yards,mandi-specific requirementssuchasanappointmentslip,etc.Farmerswhoranintothesehur-dles at markets were forced totaketheirproducebackorselltomiddlemenat lowerprices.Whilefarmersdidindeedsell

produceoutsidethisnetworkofagriculturalmarkets during thelockdown period, the probabil-itythatsuchsaleswereatpriceslower thanmarket rates is high,prof R Ramakumar told TheIndian Express. “Some of thesesales outside themarkets mayhave been distress sales, someperishableswouldhavesuffered

spoilage or would have beendumped. A few states, such asPunjab, openedmore numbersof procurement centers, ad hocinstitutionstoincreaseprocure-ments, whichwould not reflectin this data of market arrivals.Buttheseareunlikelytoalterthenumbers significantly,”hesaid.Inthecaseofsomecommodi-

ties, price realisations also fellalongside the dip inmarket ar-rivals,indicatingmoredistressfortheproducersoftheseitems,suchas poultry andmilk, vegetablesand some fruits. “These areaswouldhave suffered significantlosses, though the extent of dis-tressthesefarmershavefacedcan-notbegaugedbythesupplyorde-mandshocksalone,moreprimarystudieswill be required toassess

thelevelofdistress,”hesaid.Thesedisruptions offer a les-

son onhowsupply chainsmustbe structured and secured,Ramakumaradded.“Iamnotsureif the recent steps taken by thegovernment, including theamendments to states’ APMCActs,areactuallygoingtoresolvethe problem.Wemust look atways inwhich theAPMCsystemcan be reformed and strength-ened,wemustidentifyproblemssuch as the predominance ofcommissionagentsinsomemar-kets. The extent of disruptioncaused by the closing down ofsome APMC markets such asMumbaiandPuneshowthattheyhave a significant role toplay, soreformisactuallyrequiredwithintheAPMCregime,”hesaid.

SANDEEPASHARMUMBAI,MAY28

MAHARASHTRA WANTS theCentretoallotit12-hourdailyairtime on national television forbroadcasting school lessons. Ithas also sought a two-hour sloton All India Radio (AIR) forcoachingstudents.In an official letter to the

Union Information to theInformation and BroadcastingMinistry on Thursday, state’sSchool Education MinisterVarsha Gaikwad wrote, “TheState Council of EducationalResearch and Training (SCERT),Maharashtra, has alreadyaccu-mulated1,000plushoursofdig-ital learningandinteractivecon-tent fromprimarytosecondaryclasses.Duringthecourseof theupcoming academic year, wewish to broadcast 12 hours ofdailyeducationcontentthrough

two channels that come undertheDoordarshan (DD) Channelfamily and two hours of dailycontent on All Indian Radio(AIR).”Gaikwad told The Indian

Express that the use of nationaltelevision to school childrenwill make remote learningmore accessible.While the prolonged lock-

down has forced schools andtutors to go virtual, concernshave prevailed regarding thelossof school timeandthecon-tinuity of education for theun-derprivileged children who donothaveaccesstosmartphonesand the internet.“Onlineclassesrequireade-

cent system or a smartphoneandagoodinternetfacility,allofwhich come at a cost. Studentsfrompoorerbackgrounds in ru-ral and tribal belts may not beable to afford it.We are keen toensurethatthecontinuityofed-

ucation for each and every stu-dentenrolledwithus,” shesaid.At the epicentre of coron-

avirus infections, Maharashtrahas, so far, seen 59,546 positivecasesand1,982deaths.A senior education depart-

mentofficialsaid,“Mosthouse-holds have a television. TheDDNationalhasafamilyof16chan-nels that are free-to-air on allplatforms.Wefeel thatutilisingit to impart school lessons willprove extremely beneficial tothestudentcommunityinthesedifficult times.”As per the latest statistics,

Maharashtra’s1.13lakhschools,including 84,590 in rural andtribal belts, collectively accountfor 25 crore students. Of these,1.18 crore students are enrolledin the rural and tribal schools.According to officials, themovetousenational television for re-mote learning is also aimed atstudents frommigrant families

who have returned to their na-tivevillagesamidthepandemic.Highlighting that not every-

onewhohasgonetotheirnativeplace will return immediately,Gaikwad said, “The use of na-tional television to impart les-sonswillhelpconnectwithstu-dents who cannot beaccommodated in schools intheir respectiveareas.”The state, which has plans

to use a mix of live, pre-recorded, and edutainmentprogrammesontelevision,hasfurther sought permission forbroadcasting live lessons inmock classroom settings. “Wehaveplannedvirtualclassroomstudies. It will be of great helpto thestudents if youalsoallowus to broadcast live,” Gaikwadstated in the letter.A senior state education de-

partment official said that thelivebroadcastsweremainlybe-ing planned for higher second-

aryclasses.While institutionsare trying

to adapt to online means ofteaching, the minister alsopointed out that some of themmay find it difficult to quicklyswitchtoonlineteaching.Asec-tionof activists intheeducationstream has also aired concernsregarding the impact spendinglonghoursonlinewouldhaveonthechildren.The Union Ministry of

HumanResourcesDevelopmenthadearlierofferedtocoordinatewith the Information andBroadcastingMinistry to facili-tatetheprovisionoftimeslotstostates for school childrenthrough national television.Gaikwad’s letter has also beencopied to theHRDminister.Sources said that the state

had plans to reserve dedicatedtime slots for showing lessonsfrom primary to secondaryclasses. Ithasalreadyappointed

the SCERT to aggregate digitallearning content grade-wise.“Digitalcontent inmultiple lan-guagesisbeingaggregatedforallclasses,” sources said.Exploring various ways to

support student learning amidthe pandemic, the state govern-ment has beenusingDIKSHA, afree android app developed bytheCentreforstudentsandteach-ers, to promote e-learning.RecognisedbytheHRDministryasa“champion”state inDIKSHAlearning,Maharashtrahas,sofar,made29,599piecesofe-learningcontent, including textbooks,videos, animation, and power-pointpresentations,fromClassesI toXavailableonthisapp.Ahalf-an-houredutainment

programme for little children,‘Gali Gali Sim Sim’, is also cur-rently airing on DD Sahyadri. Ithas also been making digitallearning content availablethroughaweb link.

Only 50-75 per cent market arrivals of major produce across country

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

NCP MLA from Deolali, SarojAhire, testedpositive forCovid-19 on Thursday, the day whenMaharashtra reported 2,598newcases, takingits totalcountto 59,546. The state also regis-tered 85 deaths, increasing itstoll to1,982.Ahire, a first-timeMLA, said

in a statement: “I, along withthree of my family members,have been infectedwith coron-avirus.” Said to have been in-fected at a funeral in Mumbai,Ahirehadbeeninquarantineforthe last fewdays.AhireisthethirdMLAtohave

beeninfectedinthestate.WhileHousingMinister andNCPMLAJitendraAwhadhasrecoveredaf-ter testing positive, PWDMinister and Congress MLAAshokChavaniscurrentlyunder-goingtreatmentfortheinfection.Mumbai on Thursday regis-

tered1,467newcases, taking itstotal count to35,485. Inall, 1,135peoplehavesuccumbedinthecity.Of the 85 deaths, Mumbai

reported 38; followed by Punecity at 10; Satara and Solapurcity at seven each; Akola city atfive; Vasai-Virar and Thane atfour each; Aurangabad andNanded at three each; NaviMumbai at twoandRaigadandJalgaonatoneeach.Of the new deaths, 37 oc-

curred in the last two days and

the rest are from the period be-tweenMay15andMay25.Amongthedeceased,60were

menand25women.While45ofthemwereagedover60years,31wereintheagegroupof40yearsto59years.Nineof thedeceasedwereagedlessthan40.Ofthe85,45patientshadhigh-riskcomor-bidities such as diabetes, hyper-tensionandheartdisease.Sofar,thestatehastaken4,19

lakh samples, of which 59,546have tested positive. There are2,816active containment zonesin the state currently.While therecoveryrateinthestateis31.26per cent, the mortality rate is3.32percent.Currently,6.12lakhpeople are in home quarantineand35,122ininstitutionalquar-antine.AsonThursday,thereare38,939activecases in thestate.

Numberofdeaths 1,982

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 18,616

Numberofpeopletested4.19 lakh

Totalnumberquarantined35,122

Numberofnewcases 2,598

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

59,546

NCP MLA testspositive, casesnear 60,000-mark

AWAITING TRAINMigrantworkerswait toboardaShramikSpecial traintoUttarPradesh,atThanerailwaystationonThursday. Deepak Joshi

Give 12-hour air timeonnational TV, 2-hourradio slot for school lessons: Govt toCentre

SUSHANTKULKARNIPUNE,MAY28

THENUMBERof police person-nelwhohave contracted coron-avirus disease (Covid-19) inMaharashtra crossed the 2000-markonThursday,when the to-talnumberofcasesreached2,095in the two lakh-strong policeforce.Theforcehadseenasmanyas131newcasesonWednesday.As per the numbers shared

by officials fromMaharashtraPoliceheadquartersonThursdayafternoon, among the 2,095cases,236areofficersand1,859are constables. Of these, 22 po-lice personnel have succumbedto the infection till datewhile atotalof897—75officersand822constables—haverecovered.Cases in the police force ac-

count for 3.6 per cent of totalcases inMaharashtra, which isnearly57,000asonThursday.The Indian Express had re-

ported that themajorityof thesecaseswereeitherlocalpersonnelfromMumbai,itssurroundingar-easandNashikdistrict’sMalegaoncity, or personnel of theMaharashtraStateReservePoliceForce(SRPF),whoweredeployedin thesehigh-riskareasand laterrepatriated to their homeunits.The SRPF units based inAurangabad,Hingoli,Jalna,DaundandPunehavebeentheworsthit.Of the total 2,095 infected

policepersonnel, over1,200arefromMumbai Police and over545 from various units of SRPF.Other thanMumbai, MalegaonandSRPF, significantnumberofcases have been found amongpolice personnel in Thane city,

Punecity,NaviMumbai,SolapurandMumbaiRailwayPolice.As a precautionarymeasure,

nearly 23,000 police personnelbetween50 and55 years of ageare being given low-risk policestation taskswhile 12,000more,who are above 55, have beenaskedtostayhome.Dutyhoursatcheck-pointshavealsobeenmadeshorter.Over6,000policeperson-nel,whoareprimary contacts ofthosewhohave tested positive,arecurrentlyquarantined, eitherathomeorinstitutionally.AseniorMaharashtraPoliceof-

ficersaidover11,000HomeGuardpersonnel are being deployedacrossthestatetoensurethatpo-licejurisdictionswithareasbadlyaffectedbyCovid-19haveenoughmanpower.OnMay13, the stategovernment asked the UnionHomeMinistrytodeploy20com-panies of Central Armed PoliceForces.Tencompaniescomprisingnearly1,200personnelhavebeendeployedinthestatesincethen.Whilepercentageofrecovered

personnelinoverallstatepoliceis42percent,thatamongSRPFper-sonnel is 70per cent because ofpersonnelbeing inayoungeragebracketandphysicallyfitter.Sincethebeginningofthena-

tionwidelockdown,MaharashtraPolicehasstartedcontacttracingofinfectedpersonsandmonitor-ingofhomeorinstitutionalquar-antine.Theirmostcrucialrolehasbeen implementing the lock-down, closure of containmentzones and district boundaries,andissuingtravelpermits.Lately,they alsohave the responsibilityoffacilitatingthehomewardjour-neys of stranded labourers, stu-dentsandothers.

MaharashtraSchoolEducationMinisterVarshaGaikwadsays theplanwillhelpstudents frommigrant families

SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS

Guv announcesmeasures toreduce expensesof Raj Bhavan

In hospital for Covid treatment, Chavan logs in for party’s campaign

AshokChavan

Over 2,000 cops inMaharashtra infected

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDEDMARCH 31, 2020

BALANCE SHEET AS ATMARCH 31, 2020

FORM L-1A-A-RA (₹ in Lakhs)REVENUE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2020 - Policyholders' Account (Technical Account)

Notes1)This disclosure is made in accordance with IRDAI Master Circular No. IRDAI/F&A/CIR/232/12/2013 dated December 11, 2013 and subsequent amendments/circular issued thereafter by the Authority.2)The audited annual accounts for the year endedMarch 31, 2020 have been taken on record in the meeting of the Board of Directors held onMay 26, 2020.3) Prior year figures have been reclassified/regrouped, wherever necessary, to conform to current year’s presentation.4) *Calculated as per IRDAI circular no. IRDA/ACT/CIR/MISC/035/01/2014 dated January 23, 2014. Persistency ratio for “For the Quarter” have been calculated using policies issued in December to February period,measured as onMarch 31 of the relevant years. Persistency ratios for “Upto the Quarter” have been calculated using policies issued inMarch to February period, measured as onMarch 31 of the relevant years.

Particulars

For theYear EndedMarch 31, 2020 For theYear EndedMarch 31, 2019

TotalNon-linked Linked

TotalNon-linked Linked

IndividualGroup

IndividualGroup

IndividualGroup

IndividualGroup

Life Pension Life Pension Life Pension Life PensionPREMIUMS EARNED - Net

550,696 363,008 5,923 62,783 117,568 179 1,235 477,720 323,490 5,632 36,757 103,676 292 7,873

(15,886) (3,988) - (10,882) (1,016) - - (11,856) (3,019) - (7,697) (1,140) - -

(a) Premium(b) Reinsurance ceded(c) Reinsurance accepted - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SUB-TOTAL 534,810 359,020 5,923 51,901 116,552 179 1,235 465,864 320,471 5,632 29,060 102,536 292 7,873INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS

(a) Interest, dividends and rent - gross 128,380 104,777 1,444 4,463 16,506 127 1,063 108,181 84,369 1,006 3,334 18,203 244 1,025

52,800 7,457 - 8 44,507 716 112 51,565 2,655 - 192 47,206 1,297 215

(c) (Loss on sale / redemption of investments) (23,770) (9,444) - - (14,184) (107) (35) (10,489) (3) - (43) (10,100) (171) (172)

(d) Transfer/Gain on revaluation/ change in fair value (126,453) - - - (123,736) (1,929) (788) 5,012 - - - 5,191 (112) (67)

(e) Amortisation of premium/discount on investments 5,357 72 19 18 5,219 3 26 5,339 (275) 2 47 5,507 14 44

OTHER INCOMEContribution from the Shareholders' accountContribution from the Shareholders' account towards excess ofExpenses ofManagement (EOM)

SUB-TOTAL 42,451 104,940 1,521 7,978 (71,190) (1,178) 380 169,816 89,100 1,102 3,592 73,685 1,275 1,062TOTAL (A) 577,261 463,960 7,444 59,879 45,362 (999) 1,615 635,680 409,571 6,734 32,652 176,221 1,567 8,935COMMISSIONOPERATING EXPENSES RELATED TO INSURANCE BUSINESS

28,365 21,407 89 2,324 4,544 - 1 24,847 19,220 103 1,119 4,395 1 9

90,710 66,850 286 8,191 15,341 11 31 90,908 63,619 261 5,723 21,185 27 93

Goods and Services tax on Charges 4,556 - - - 4,532 2 22 4,309 6 - - 4,282 3 18

Provision for doubtful debts - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Provision for Income Tax 2,908 2,872 - 35 1 - - 1,913 1,848 - 65 - - -

Provisions (other than taxation)

(a) For diminution in the value of investments (net) - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(b) Advances & Recoveries 129 80 3 22 22 2 - (18) - 1 (14) (5) - -

TOTAL (B) 126,668 91,209 378 10,572 24,440 15 54 121,959 84,693 365 6,893 29,857 31 120BENEFIT PAID (Net)Interim Bonuses Paid

2,635 2,078 1 44 498 12 2 2,613 2,354 3 62 191 3 -

3,445 - - 3,445 - - - 7,564 - 60 - 7,487 - 17

57 - 57 - - - - 31 - 31 - - - -

233,508 69,562 633 15,405 143,991 2,397 1,520 193,633 50,714 290 13,023 117,974 4,540 7,092

302 294 8 - - - - 266 241 3 22 - - -

Change in valuation of liability in respect of life policies in force

(a) Gross 192,217 280,056 5,284 33,833 (123,446) (3,508) (2) 325,494 281,104 5,705 11,956 28,268 (3,262) 1,723

(b) Fund Reserve - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(c) Amount ceded in Re-insurance 2,423 2,648 - (153) (72) - - (32,343) (28,721) - (3,744) 122 - -

(d) Amount accepted in Re-insurance - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TOTAL (C) 428,450 352,560 5,925 49,085 20,473 (1,111) 1,518 487,050 303,338 5,998 21,257 146,364 1,278 8,815SURPLUS/ (DEFICIT ) (D) = (A) - (B) - (C) 22,143 20,191 1,141 222 449 97 43 26,671 21,540 371 4,502 - 258 -Balance of previous year - - - - - - - - - - - - - -APPROPRIATIONSReserve for lapsed unit linked policies unlikely to be revived - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Transfer to Shareholders' account 7,192 6,452 150 1 449 97 43 15,305 10,981 25 4,041 - 258 -

Balance being funds for future appropriations 14,951 13,739 991 221 - - - 11,366 10,559 346 461 - - -

TOTAL - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Particulars

For theYear EndedMarch 31,

2020

For theYear EndedMarch 31,

2019

Amounts transferred from/to the PolicyholdersAccount (Technical Account)

7,192 15,305

Income From Investments

(a) Interest, dividends and rent - Gross 9,447 8,451

222 12

(c) (Loss on sale/ redemption of investments) - (11)

(d)Amortisationofpremium/discountoninvestments (143) 116

Other Income - -

TOTAL (A) 16,718 23,873

Expense other than those directly related to theinsurance business

3,041 809

Contribution to Policyholders Account towardsexcess of Expenses of Management (EOM)

57 31

Contribution towards Remuneration of ManagingDirector

269 297

Transferred to Policyholders' Account - -

- -

Provisions (Other than taxation)

(a) Fordiminution in thevalueof investments (Net) - -

(b) Provision for doubtful debts - -

(c) Others 473 -

Contribution to Policyholder's Account 3,445 7,564

TOTAL (B) 7,285 8,701

Profit/ (Loss) before tax 9,433 15,172

Provision for Taxation 156 861

Profit / (Loss) after tax 9,277 14,311

APPROPRIATIONS

(79,454) (93,765)

- -

- -

- -

- -

Profit carried to the Balance Sheet (70,177) (79,454)

ParticularsAs at

March 31,2020

As atMarch 31,

2019

SOURCES OF FUNDSSHAREHOLDERS’ FUNDS:Share Capital 201,288 201,288

Reserves and Surplus - -

Credit/[Debit] Fair Value Change Account (384) 21

Sub-Total 200,904 201,309Borrowings - 472

POLICYHOLDERS’ FUNDS:Credit/[Debit] Fair Value Change Account (7,184) 3,940

Policy Liabilities 1,579,693 1,258,025

Insurance Reserves - -

Provision for Linked Liabilities-Non Unit 5,290 5,228

Provision for Linked Liabilities-Unit 470,308 591,067

Sub-Total 2,048,107 1,858,260Funds for discontinued policies

-Discontinuedonaccountofnon-paymentofpremium 56,584 62,915

- Others - -

Funds for Future Appropriation

- Linked Business - -

- Others 44,226 29,275

TOTAL 2,349,821 2,152,231APPLICATIONOF FUNDSINVESTMENTS

-Shareholders’ 122,486 112,051

-Policyholders’ 1,589,735 1,269,265

Assets Held to Cover Linked Liabilities 526,892 653,982

Loans 5,826 4,592

Fixed Assets 11,452 9,663

CURRENT ASSETS

- Cash and Bank Balances 32,941 27,238

- Advances and Other Assets 94,484 90,384

Sub-Total (A) 127,425 117,622CURRENT LIABILITIES 100,746 91,330PROVISIONS 3,426 3,068Sub-Total (B) 104,172 94,398NET CURRENT ASSETS (C) = (A – B) 23,253 23,224

MISCELLANEOUS EXPENDITURE (to the extent not - -

DEBIT BALANCE IN PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT(Shareholders’ Account) 70,177 79,454

DEBITBALANCE INREVENUEACCOUNT(Policyholders' Account) - -

TOTAL 2,349,821 2,152,231

Sl.No.

Particulars

For theQuarterMarch 31,

2020

Upto theQuarterMarch 31,

2020

For theQuarterMarch 31,

2019

Upto theQuarterMarch 31,

2019

1 New business premium income growth rate -segment wise

- Participating policies -24.9% 10.3% -26.8% -43.7%- Non-participating policies 4.6% 20.9% 48.6% 29.6%- Pension -24.7% -17.5% -18.2% -37.3%-Non-ParAnnuity -3.6% 8.5% -14.6% -7.7%- Non Par Pension 1961.9% 167.4% 0.2% 132.7%- Health -75.2% -57.1% -61.2% -77.9%- Group - linked -95.3% -82.3% 496.4% 558.2%- Individual Life - Linked -25.4% -9.6% 15.4% 95.7%- Pension - linked 0.0% -100.0% -100.0% -86.3%

2 Net Retention Ratio 97.1% 97.1% 97.7% 97.5%

3 Expense of Management to Gross DirectPremium Ratio 16.8% 21.6% 21.1% 24.2%

4 Commission Ratio (Gross commission paid toGross Premium) 4.8% 5.2% 5.1% 5.2%

5 Ratio of policyholders’ liabilities to shareholders’funds 1643.8% 1643.8% 1600.6% 1600.6%

6 Growth rate of Shareholders' Fund 7.3% 7.3% 13.3% 13.3%7 RatioofsurplustoPolicyholders'Liability 0.2% 1.0% 0.6% 1.4%8 Change in net worth (` in Lakhs) 8,872 8,872 14,333 14,3339 4.2% 1.6% 2.9% 2.2%

10 (Total real estate + loans)/(Cash & investedassets) 1.2% 1.2% 0.3% 0.3%

11 Total investments/(Capital + Surplus) 1707.8% 1707.8% 1670.5% 1670.5%12 1.9% 1.9% 2.1% 2.1%13 Investment Yield (Annualised)

A. With unrealised gainsShareholders' fund 15.6% 12.8% 11.1% 9.0%Policyholders' fund

Non linkedParticipating 13.6% 13.9% 9.9% 9.1%Non Participating 19.2% 15.7% 10.3% 9.4%

LinkedNon Participating -50.3% -13.2% 19.7% 9.8%

B. With realised gainsShareholders' fund 8.0% 8.3% 8.2% 8.2%Policyholders' fund

Non linkedParticipating 4.5% 7.9% 8.2% 8.3%Non Participating 7.6% 8.4% 11.1% 9.0%

LinkedNon Participating 7.1% 8.5% 7.8% 10.6%

14 ConservationRatio- Linked 70.8% 71.4% 69.0% 71.8%- Non Linked 89.1% 86.0% 83.5% 84.3%- Pension (both Linked and Non Linked) 79.6% 74.5% 88.3% 83.2%- Health 85.7% 88.0% 87.3% 85.8%

15 Persistency Ratio (policies)*For 13th month 82.2% 78.6% 69.5% 74.3%For 25th month 61.3% 64.3% 62.4% 63.4%For 37th month 54.4% 55.1% 50.3% 51.5%For 49th month 44.8% 46.3% 41.7% 40.7%For 61st month 33.3% 32.8% 30.5% 30.6%

16 Persistency Ratio (premium)*For 13th month 82.5% 79.7% 73.0% 78.5%For 25th month 62.8% 66.6% 65.2% 66.3%For 37th month 56.2% 56.6% 50.2% 50.8%For 49th month 44.3% 45.4% 41.3% 41.0%For 61st month 31.5% 31.5% 29.5% 29.8%

17 NPA RatioGross NPA Ratio 0.5% 0.5% 0.1% 0.1%

Net NPA Ratio 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1%

AUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDEDMARCH 31, 2020

AD-NF/2020-21/0012.

ANALYTICAL RATIOS

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY 29,20206

Sashastra Seema Bal fondly remembers and cherishes themartyrdom of its brave hearts, CT/GD S. Amongba Sangtam,CT/GD Thangkholian Vaiphai, CT/GD P. Robi Singh, CT/GD H.Lakshab Singh and CT/Cook Krishna Bahadur Chetry of 17thBattalion, SSB, Bhairabkunda (Assam), who made the supremesacrifice of their lives for the Nation in the line of their duty on thisday in the year 2006. They attained martyrdom on 29.05.2006when insurgents ambushed them while they were performingROP and convoy protection duty.We salute the supreme sacrifice of the brave soldiers of SSB.

SASHASTRA SEEMA BAL

S. AMONGBA

SANGTAM

CONSTABLE /GD

10.08.1975 TO

29.05.2006

THANGKHOLIAN

VAIPHAI

CONSTABLE/GD

01.03.1971 TO

29.05.2006

H. LAKSHAB

SINGH

CONSTABLE/GD

01.02.1977 TO

29.05.2006

KRISHNA BDR.

CHETRY

CONSTABLE/COOK

05.02.1967 TO

29.05.2006

P.ROBI SINGH

CONSTABLE/GD

29.04.1974 TO

29.05.2006

SSAALLUUTTEE TTHHEE SSOOLLDDIIEERR

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER WATERRESOURCES, ZONE, JODHPUR

Lal Sagar, Kishore Bagh Jodhpur (Rajasthan) 342304Tel. 0291-2570681 (O) Email :- acejdr.wr@rajasthan.gov.in, acejdr.wr@gmail.com

NOTICE INVITING BIDSNIB No. 01/2020-21 Date 18.05.2020 WBN : WRJ 2021 WLOB 00005Single Stage Two- Envelopes unconditional covered bids are invited electronically one-procurement portal, http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in on behalf of the Governor ofRajasthan for the procurement of Works as listed below, from enlisted bidders ofappropriate class of the department on e-procurement portal, latest upto 4:00 PM of23.06.2020 :-

The complete Bidding Document may be seen or downloaded from the State PublicProcurement Portal http://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in or e-procurement portalhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in or our website www.water.rajasthan.gov.in and itsnon-refundable price may be paid along with processing fee and bid security at thetime of submission of the bid by eGRAS.

Sd/-(R.K. Tepan)

Chief EngineerDIPR/C/3638/2020 Water Resources Zone, Jodhpur

S.No.

Name of Work and Site EstimatedCost ofWork(Lacs)

CompletionPeriod

Price ofBidding

Document(Rupees)

Amount ofBid

Security(Lacs)

1. Rehabilitation work ofEarthen Dam, SpillwayArrangements and BasicFacilities at Sukli SelwaraDam, Sirohi District UnderDRIP-II

2099.00 30 Months(including

rainyseason)

7500/- 42.00

Regd. Office.: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala-147001CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813; Website: www.pspcl.in

Mob: 096461-22955, 096461-11033 e-mail: po.pspcl@gmail.come-tendering page: https://eproc.punjab.gov.in

TENDER ENQUIRY NO. QQ-2309/PO-P

Short Description:- Design, Manufacture, Testing before dispatch & Delivery of 12.1KV, 3 Phase star connected with floating neutral 50 Hz All poly- propylene, impregnat-ed with non PCB, Outdoor Type, Manual Operative Switched Capacitors banks/sets(consisting of 3 single phase units) comply with IS 13925 (part I): 1998 and 13925 (partI): 2012 and IS 13925 (part II): 2002/ IEC-60871-1 & II: 2005 & 1999 RESP with latestamendments if any and PSPCL Tender Enquiry No. QQ-2309/PO-P.

NOTE:- 1) For detailed NIT & Tender specification please refer to https://eproc.pun-jab.gov.in 2) It is informed that in case tender process is not completed due to anyreason, no corrigendum will be published in newspaper. Details regarding corrigen-dum may be seen on official PSPCL website www.pspcl.in

Sd/- Chief Purchase Officer/MM,for CE/MM, PSPCL, Patiala

QUANTITY

Last date for downloading ofSpecification/tender documents fromhttps://eproc.punjab.gov.in

Last date for Bid Submission

Bid Opening date.

450 KVAR= 1628 SETS AND600 KVAR=955 SETS

30.06.2020 (upto 11.30 AM)

30.06.2020 (upto 11.30 AM)

09.07.2020 (at 11.30 AM)

C- 171/2020968-C/Pb

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

HEALTH DEPARTMENTTender Notice No. :- NMMC / Health/ 29 /2020

Details of Work :- Short Tender for Purchase of Medical Oxygen GasCylinder with Regulator Valve 1.320 Ltrs., F/A Value,Cylinders Trolley (COVID-19) for NMMC hospital.

Estimated Cost :- Rs.61,32,000/-Details regarding above mentioned tender is available on Navi

Mumbai Municipal Corporation web site www.nmmc.gov.in andwww.nmmc.maharashtra.etenders.in renderers are require to note thesame.

Tender submission would be online and the deadline tosubmit the proposals is date 04/06/2020 (11.00 am).

sign/Medical Officer of Health

जा नमुमंपा/जस/ंजा हरात/1791/2020 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,

NORTHERN (R&B) CIRCLE : SAMBALPURe-Procurement

BID IDENTIFICATION No SENC (R&B)/02/2020-21No. 1410 Dtd. 20.05.2020

1. The Superintending Engineer, Northern (R&B) Circle,Sambalpur on behalf of Governor of Odisha invites PercentageRate bids in double cover system in ONLINE MODE for theconstruction of Road works and Building works as detailed in theDTCN from the eligible class of contractors.

2. No of works = 13 (Thirteen) (Roads/Bridge-12 nos andBuildings-1 No).

3. Tender Cost: Rs. 10,000/-4. Class of contractor: “B’ Class, “A” Class, “Special” & “Super”

Class.5. Date & Time of available in web site & receipt of Bids From

04.06.2020 to 17.00 Hours of 18.06.2020.6. Date of opening of Technical Bid 20.06.2020 at 11.00 Hours.7. The Bidders have to participate in ONLINE bidding only. Further

details can be seen from the website www.tendersodisha.gov.in.8. Any corrigendum/ Addendum will be displayed in the website

www.tendersodisha.gov.in.Sd/-

Superintending EngineerNorthern (R&B) Circle, Sambalpur

OIPR- 34035/11/0002/2021

B-40

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PUNE(An Autonomous Institution under Ministry of HRD., Govt. of India)Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune - 411 008 l www.iiserpune.ac.in

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PUNE(An Autonomous Institution under Ministry of HRD., Govt. of India)Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune - 411 008 l www.iiserpune.ac.in

GOVERNMENT OF MEGHALAYA

STATE PROJECT MONITORING UNIT,NATIONAL HYDROLOGY PROJECTOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER,

WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENTMEGHALAYA, SHILLONG.

NO.SPMU(NHP)/PROCUREMENT/5/WQM/2020-21/4Dated Shillong, the 27th May, 2020

NOTICE INVITING E-BIDDINGThe Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department,Meghalaya invites online bids for The Supply ofPortable Multiparameter Water Quality Meters inMeghalaya under the World Bank funded ‘NationalHydrology Project’.

Details may be obtained from website :https://meghalayatenders.gov.in

Sd/-Chief Engineer (WR)

& Nodal Officer, SPMU, NHPMIPR No. 154 Date 27.05.2020 Meghalaya, Shillong.

Document publish date& time

: 5 June 2020; 14:00hours.

Bid Submission Closing : 10 July 2020; 14:00hours.

TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS

BUSINESSPOULTRY

VENCOBBVENCOBB Ex-FarmYesterday’s price inPune Rs. 135/-.Suggested Retail Priceis Rs. 153/-

0070701559

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

''IMPORTANT''

SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO -OP BANK LTD., SANGLI (MAHARASHTRA STATE)Head Office : Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Chowk, Sangli – 416416

Tel. Nos. : 0233-2324641 to 2324645, Fax 0233-2322107, Website : www.sanglidccbank.com email - sanglidcc@gmail.com

PUBLIC (TEND R) NOTICE FOR SALEEI the unders gned Authorised Officer (AO) of SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO-i

OPERATIVE BANK LTD.,SANGLI s a med with the powers vested U/S 13(12) ofi r"Securitisation And Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security InterestAct,2 2 (S RFAE I) and Rule 6 7 8 & 9 of Secur ty Interes E forcement) Rule 200200 A S " i t ( n ,, ,calling upon the said Borrower Khanapur Taluka Co-Op Spinning Mills Ltd. Vita( iB rr l i nneo ower),Guarantors and Publ c to tender sale offers to be he d n the following ma r andnow th s Property is in possession of Author sed Officeri i .

The Tenders are invited in sealed envelope to be submitted to Authorised Officer alongwith prescribed earnest money amount by Demand Draft drawn on SANGLI and along withKYC documents. The sealed envelope contained with remark ‘Tender application forproperties situated at Vita to be opened on 06/07/2020 at 2.00 p.m. The said tenders will beopened on said date and time, described herein below at Sangli Dist. Central Co-op. Bank Ltd;SangIi, Head Office, Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao PatilChowk, Sangli, Dist. Sangli.(MAHARASHTRA)

Brief Description of the PropertiesVita At. Post. Gardi Tal.: Khanapur, Dist.:Sangli (Maharashtra)Khanapur Taluka Co-Op Spinning Mills Ltd.

Particulars

Property belonging to Khanapur Taluka Co-OpSpinning Mills Ltd. Property situated at GardiVitaGat.No 75/76/1/77. Tal. Khanapur Dist. Sangli havingLand & Building.

Location

At. Post. GardiTal. Khanapur

Dist. Sangli(Maharashtra)

Land Area

13.44Hector

Sr.No.

1)

Property

Spinning Mill’sland & buildings

Reserve Price

Rs.2800.83Lakhs

Earnest MoneyDeposit (EMD)

Rs.280.08Lakhs

Last Date & Time ofSubmission of Bids.

03/07/2020 till3.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Day, Date& Timeof opening of BidsMonday Date06/07/2020

on 2.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Sr.No.

A)

Terms and Conditions:-(1) The bank intends to sell the assets detailed above“ AS IS WHERE IS, AS IS WHAT IS,ANDWHATEVER THERE IS BASIS WHICH IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, GUARANTEE,ASSURANCE, UNDERTAKING OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER” The AOdoes not take or assume any responsibility for any shortfall of the movable/immovable assetsfor procuring any permissions etc. or for any dues, statutory or otherwise of any authorityestablished by law, such dues if any will have to be borne/paid by the purchaser (2) TheTenders are acceptable and val d f they are received to Authorised Officer on or before till thei iopening of Tenders (3) The EMD amount as mentioned above should be paid by DD in favour.of “The Sangli District Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,” payable on Sangli on any Nationalised /Schedule Bank. The EMD shall be refunded to unsuccessful bidder on the same day. TheEMD will not carry any interest. (4) 25% amount shall be depos ted by D D or RTGS / NEFTi .on our BankAccount by h ghest b dder on the sa e day of opening of tenders. (5) 75% amounti i mof remaining h ghest bidding and stamp duty reg s rat on fee and other expens s for salei , i t i , edeed shall be deposited within 15 days from e date of open ng of tenders If not depositedth i .within stipulated period deposited amounts will be forfe ted and the said bidd r shall not have, i eany rights n s i properties Authorised Officer and B nk is not bound to pay interest ono a d aamounts deposited by tender applicants (6) After opening of tenders, he highest b dder s. t i iresponsible for financial and legal act v t es (7) Tender appl cant has a r ght o s bm t one ori i i i i t u i.more tenders He has to depos t earnest money for each tender applicat on separa ely (8). i i t .Authorised Officer has a r ght to ake dec s on in case of equal amount tenders (9) The Tenderi t i i .proper y w ll rema n open fo see ng after pr or perm ssion of Bank in office hours 11.00 am tot i i r i i i3.00 pm (except Holidays) from 11/06/2020 to 26/06/2020 (10)The bid document can beobtained from the undersigned during 12/06/2020 to 26/06/2020 on any working days (exceptHolidays ) between 10.00 am to 4.00 pm on payment of non-refundable fee of Rs. 5000/- (Rs.Five Thousand Only)+ GST by cash at Head Office, Sangli the bid documents are available atour Head Office, Sangli (11) The Authorised Officer reserves the right to retain the tender sale(12) Before opening of tenders or before 100 deposit amount rece ve fr m tenderer If the% i d o ,loan account closed the tend r procedu e w l be cancel ed and the amount d pos ted by the, r il l e ieh ghest tenderer w be returned back without any nterest thereon to said highest te dereri ill i n .(13) The m ximum bidding am u t i t satisfactory and not with expectation of Authoriseda o n s noOfficer, he s right to cancel/p p said Saleha ost one the . And he reserves the right toaccept/reject any/or all the bids without assigning any reason. (14) The said N tice isopublished on our b 's i (15) Right to alter and elaxationank webs te www.sanglidccbank.com ri rn terms and conditions is reserved byAuthorised Office .

The Borrower/Guarantors are hereby noticed to pay the total outstanding dues before thedate of opening of bid failing which the secured assets will be auctioned and balance if anywill be recovered with interest and cost from you.

STATUTORY 30 DAYS SALE NOTICE UNDER SARFAESI ACT 2002

For Sangli Dist Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,SangliSd/-

(P. Y. Suryavanshi)Auth rised Officer H.O.D. (Agro Ind. Loans)o and

Place : SANGLI.Date : 29/05/2020

MAHARASHTRA 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY28

AWRITpetitionhasbeenmovedbeforetheBombayHighCourtonWednesdayseekinganFIRbereg-istered against three MumbaiPolice crimebranchofficers, oneof whomwas transferred to a“sideposting”,inconnectionwithabriberycase.The petitioner has claimed

thathewasarrestedbythepoliceandthreatenedwiththird-degreetorture after he refused to paymoney to the threeofficers in analleged cheating case. Achargesheetwas subsequentlyfiledinAprilagainstthepetitioner,whoiscurrentlyoutonbail.AdvocateKHGiri, represent-

ingthepetitioner,toldTheIndianExpress, “WehavemovedawritpetitionbeforetheBombayHighCourt onWednesday seekingan

FIRberegisteredagainstthethreeofficers who demanded bribefrommyclient.Sincewehavenotbeen informedof any FIR beingregisteredagainsttheofficers,wehave decided to approach thecourt.”Joint Commissioner of Police

(crime)SantoshRastogi,however,saidthatanenquiryinthematterwas being conducted “expedi-tiously” under AdditionalCommissioner of Police (crime)SandeepKarnik.According to police sources,

Inspector SunilMane, oneof thethreeofficers accusedof seekingbribe, had been transferred toModus Operandi Bureau fromUnitXofthecrimebranch.Seniorofficers,however,hadmaintainedthatthetransferwasan“adminis-trativedecision”andhadnothingtodowiththebriberyallegationsagainstMane. Earlier,Manehaddenied the charges and said po-

lice have provided evidenceagainst thepetitioner in a cheat-ing case in the chargesheet filedagainsthim.In thewrit petition, thepeti-

tioner had claimed that onOctober27 lastyear, somepoliceinformers had approached himclaimingthatacrimebranchoffi-cer hadgot evidenceof thepeti-tioner’sinvolvementinanallegedcheating case. The petitionerclaimedthathepaidRs18.50lakhtothepolicetoavoidharassment.Heclaimedthatinthesecond

week of January, the police in-formers had again approachedhimstatingthatSenior InspectorSunilMane,thenpostedatcrimebranchUnitX,hadalsogotfurtherevidence against him in the al-legedcheatingcase.Thepetitionerclaimed thatwhenhe refused topay furthermoney to thepolice,hewaspickedup fromhis officeonFebruary25andtakentocrime

branchunitX.Heclaimedthatan-other crime branch officer hadtoldhimthathewouldbe let offfromthecaseifhepaidRs1crore.TheamountwaslaterloweredtoRs40lakhbyMane,thepetitionerhasallegedinthewritplea.The petitioner also claimed

that he was threatened withthird-degreetortureandhiswifetold to sell off her jewellery to aLokhandwala-based jeweller topaythemoney.Adayafterachargesheetwas

filed against him, the petitionerwas releasedonbail onApril 22,followingwhichhewrotetoChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray,stateHomeMinister Anil Deshmukh,Mumbai Police CommissionerandJointCommissionerofPolice(crime)inthematter.Helaterap-proached the Bombay HC andsoughtdirectionthatnocoerciveactionbetakenagainsthimpend-inghearing.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MUMBAI,MAY28

THEDELHIHigh Court has saidthat theNIA showed “inexplica-ble, frantic hurry” inmoving ac-tivistGautamNavlakha,whohasbeenchargedunder theUAPA inthe Elgaar Parishad Case, fromDelhi toMumbai when his in-terimbail pleawas pending forhearingbeforeit.Navlakhawas transferred to

MumbaionTuesday,adaybeforehis interimbail applicationwaslistedforhearing.“While ordinarily this court

wouldnotseetoomuchcauseforhurry in this case, in viewof theinexplicable,frantichurryshownby theNIA inmoving the appli-cantfromDelhitoMumbaiwhilethismatterwaspendingand theNIAhad itself sought time to filestatusreport,thiscourtdoesgetasense that all proceedings in thisjurisdictionwould be renderedutterly infructuous if anelementof urgency isnotbrought tobearon the present proceedings,”JusticeAnup JairamBhambhaniobserved.The court said, “Prima facie it

appears that while on the lastdate, this courthadgrantedade-quatetimetotheNIAtofileitssta-tus report in response to the in-terimbailplea;andwhiletheNIAhasfiledanaffidavitopposingthatplea, the NIA has acted in un-seemly haste to instead removetheapplicantoutoftheveryjuris-dictionofthiscourt;and,iftheap-plicant is right,without even in-forming the Special Judge (NIA),Mumbai or the Special Judge(NIA),Delhiofthependencyofthepresentproceedings.”The court had on May 22

sought NIA’s response onNavlakha’s plea seeking interimbailonthegroundthatduetohis“advanced age”, he is at “higherrisk” of being infectedbyCovid-19injail.Navlakha(67)contendedthat

hehasa“pre-existingunderlying”

medical condition and that hewouldnotbeable to “practiceorensuresufficientsocialdistancingandtakenecessaryprecautions”.Thematterwas fixed for furtherhearingonWednesday.Thecourt’sobservationscame

onWednesday,whenNavlakha’scounselNityaRamakrishnanap-prised it that,while theproceed-ings were pending before it,Navlakhawas put on a train onTuesdayandtakentoMumbai.HeispresentlystatedtobelodgedatTalojaJail inMumbai.Ramakrishnan said that the

“onlypurpose forwhich theNIAhastakensuchhastyactions is torender the present proceedingsinfructuousandtotaketheappli-cantoutof thejurisdictionof thiscourt”. She submitted that bymovingNavlakhatoMumbai,hehad been exposed to serioushealthrisk.Onthis,JusticeBhambhaniob-

served, “while at the hearing inthepresentproceedings onMay22, 2020 Mr. Tushar Mehta,Solicitor General had informedthe court that theNIAwasplan-ning to transfer the applicant toMumbai sometimesoon inviewof opening-up of air travel afterobtainingordersfromthecompe-tentcourt…”.“…considering the evident

hasteshownbytheNIAbymov-ing applications acrossMumbaiand Delhi over weekends andGazettedholidays andobtainingorders by e-mail, and ‘whiskingaway’theapplicanttoMumbaiasitwere,andtherebyrenderingthepresentproceedingsinfructuous,it is deemednecessary to call forthepresenceof the InvestigatingOfficer of the case from NIA,Mumbai by video-conferencingto answer certain factualqueries…,”itsaid.Additional Solicitor General

AmanLekhiappearedfortheNIA,as didVikramKhalate, the IO forNIAinMumbai.Thecourtrecordedinitsorder,

“Mr. Khalate explains that itwaslearnt that the lockdownwasre-

opening for inter-state flights onMay25,2020andbeingunsureofthefuturecourseofeventsinrela-tion to the lockdown, hemovedan application onMay23, 2020for issuance of productionwar-rants.”ThecourtdirectedKhalateto submit copies of related pro-ceedings inMumbai andDelhiandmedicalreportsofNavlakha.ThematterwillbeheardonJune3. Navlakha surrendered beforethe NIA on April 14 after theSupremeCourt refused to grantmoretime.HedidsoinDelhiduetothelockdown.

Courthearsbail pleaofSudhaBharadwaj

A special lockdown court inMumbaionThursdayheardargu-mentsontheinterimbailapplica-tion filed by activist SudhaBharadwaj,arrestedintheElgaarParishad case. Bharadwaj, cur-rentlylodgedinBycullawomen'sprison,had filedabailpleacitingthe coronavirus pandemic andhersusceptibilitytothevirusduetoother comorbidities includingdiabetesandhighbloodpressure.Herlawyer,WahabKhan,had

submittedthatthejailauthoritieshadinthemedicalreportsaidthatshewascurrentlysufferingfromafungal infection and since therehavebeeninstancesofthespreadof theinfectioninByculla jail thismonth,sheshouldbereleasedoninterimbail.Specialpublicprose-cutor, Prakash Shetty, had op-posed theplea citingBharadwajhas been charged under theUnlawfulActivitiesPreventionActandhencewasnoteligibleforbailunderthehigh-poweredcommit-tee’srecommendations.Thecourtwill decide on theplea Friday. Ithasalsodirectedjailauthoritiestosubmit themedical reports ofpoetandwriterVaravaraRaoandacademician Shoma Sen, whohavealsofiledforbail.

3 arrested forcyber fraudMumbai: Three persons havebeenarrestedinconnectionwitha cyber crime attack where asouthMumbai-basedmedicalequipment supplierwas target-ted. The accused – Santosh Jha(35),KadirAli(51)andMosesTula(54)–hadusedthe“man-in-the-middle attack”, also knownas ahijackattackwherescammersse-cretlyrelayandpossiblyalter thecommunication between twopartieswhobelievethat theyaredirectly communicating witheachother.AssistantInspectorLaxmikant

Salunke of the crime branch’spropertycellsaidthecomplainantreceived an email from aMumbai-based firmdemandingapaymentofRs15.8lakhthatwasowed to them. The email, how-ever, said the account numberwherethemoneywastobepaidwasdifferent fromearlier times.The complainant later found thecompanyhadnot sent the emailand itwasanattempt todefraudhim.He later registeredanFIRatLTMargpolicestation. ENS

Mumbai:Ateamof forestguardswere on Thursday attacked inKalwawhile trying toremoveanencroachmentinthereservefor-estarea.Theforestguardofficials,whosustainedminorinjuries,ap-proached the local Kalwapolicestation,where an FIRwas regis-teredagainstfourpersons.JitendraRamgaonkar,deputy

conservatorofforest,Thaneforestdivision, said, “Our teamwaspa-trolling in reserve forest area ofGholainagar, Kalwa. After theyspottedencroachment,theyweretrying to remove it. After a fewpeople started pelting stones atthem,theyleftthespot...Wehaveregisteredacomplaint.Forestandpolice authorities are taking ac-tion against the accused.Encroachmentwillberemovedina joint operation soon.” SeniorInspectorof Kalwapolice stationVijayDarekarsaidtheyhaveiden-tifiedfourpersonswhowerecar-rying out illegal constructionontheforestreservepropertyandat-tacked the forest guards andwouldarrestthemsoon. ENS

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,MAY28

THERULINGBJPandoppositionCongress in the NagpurMunicipal Corporation (NMC)havecometogethertodenouncethe“autocraticstyleof function-ing” of commissioner TukaramMundhe,andhavethreatenedtoinitiate a no-confidencemotionagainsthim.Addressingajointpresscon-

ference, BJP leader in NMCSandip Jadhav and Leader ofOpposition TanajiWanve said,“Mundhe is conducting himselfin an autocratic... fashion and isnot taking corporators into con-fidence.He ismetingout insult-ingtreatmenttothem.Ifhedoes-n’t mend his ways, we willinitiate a no-confidencemotionagainsthim”.“All corporatorsareco-oper-

atingwithhimbuthe isnot tak-ing anyone, including MayorSandipJoshi, intoconfidence.Hedoesn’t listen to the complaintsby corporators or take theirphone calls,” saidWanve. “Thecommissioner has nowgone totheextentofregisteringoffencesagainstcorporators,”hesaid, re-ferring to the case filed againstCongress’s Nitin Sathavne.Mundhemoved police againstSathavne after he allegedly pre-ventedtheNMC’sHealthOfficerfrom evacuating people enmassefromSatranjipuralocalityearlier thismonth.Jadhav said, “Those in NMC

quarantine facilities don’t getgood-qualityfood.Thestafftheredoesn’t treat themwith dignity.ButMundheclaimsall iswell.”District GuardianMinister

NitinRautdidn’trespondtocalls.Mundhe, too, didn’t respond tocallsandmessages.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

A DAY after Samajwadi Partystate president andMankhurdShivajiNagarlegislatorAbuAsimAzmiWednesdayheldaprotestatNagpadaallegingmismanage-mentbythepolice intransport-ingstrandedmigrantworkerstotheir hometowns, NagpadaSenior Police Inspector ShaliniSharma was transferred toChemburPoliceStation.Azmi had claimed that

Sharmawas “extremely rude”when told about the hardshipbeing faced by the migrantworkers due to the high-hand-ednessofpoliceofficialsandhaddemandedher suspension.“I questioned the Senior PI

her about themismanagementoftheNagpadaPolice,whichhasincreased the hardship of mi-grants who are waiting to gohome. Shewas extremely rudeand toldme that I could not tellher these things. I am a publicrepresentative andwell withinmy right to raise these issues,”Azmisaid.While the Samajwadi Party

workers continued to holdprotests against SharmaThursday,MumbaiPoliceissuedorders of her transfer toChembur police station later inthe day. Officials, however, saidthat the transfer was part of aroutine shuffling of officers inthecity.Azmi, who has extended

support to the Maha VikasAghadigovernmentinthestate,also raised concerns over thefunctioning of the governmentandsaid thevoiceof public rep-resentativeswasbeing“stifled”.Azmi also questioned the

functioningof the state govern-ment and said that he hadmetthe Home Minister, AnilDeshmukh, earlier thisweek topoint out how the police werebehavingwithmigrantworkers.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY28

THE BOMBAY High Court onWednesdayheardapetitionseek-ing to set aside the state govern-ment’sMay21notificationstipu-latingtakingover80percentbedsin private hospitals andnursinghomesacross the state. Thepeti-tionerhasalsosoughtfree-of-costCovid-19 treatment at all hospi-tals,includingprivateinstitutions,acrossMaharashtra.Theplea filedbyeducationist

andsocialworkerSagarJondhale,through advocate AnandJondhale,saidtheratesofprivatehospitalswould amount to abillof nearly Rs 1 lakh to aCovid-19patient admitted at a generalwardofanyhospital.Italsostatedthenotificationhadwronglyper-mittedprivatehospitalstochargeforpharmacyandpathologyserv-

icesseparately.“Evenifminimumratesarechargedasperthenotifi-cation, (the hospital) billwouldnot be less than Rs1 lakh toRs75,000 for a general ward.Takingadvantageofthesituation,theprivate hospitalswill chargeexorbitantlyandthegeneralhos-pitalswillbehavenodifferently,”Jondhale argued. Seeking to de-claretheMay21notificationnullandvoid, thepetitioner sought adirectiontothestategovernmentto provide free-of-cost Covid-19treatmenttoallcitizensinallhos-pitals, including private institu-tions,excepttothosewhoarecov-eredbyinsuranceschemes.Thehigh courtwill also hear

thestateandtheBMC’sresponseon a plea filed byKurla residentSarikaSingh,whoclaimedprivatehospitalsarenotadmittingCovid-19patients and charging exorbi-tant fee frompatients. The courtwillhearboththepleasFriday.

NIAshowed inexplicable,frantic hurry inmovingNavlakha toMumbai: HC

SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO -OP BANK LTD., SANGLI (MAHARASHTRA STATE)Head Office : Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Chowk, Sangli – 416416

Tel. Nos. : 0233-2324641 to 2324645, Fax 0233-2322107, Website : www.sanglidccbank.com email - sanglidcc@gmail.com

PUBLIC (TEND R) NOTICE FOR SALEE

The Tenders are invited in sealed envelope to be submitted to Authorised Officer alongwith prescribed earnest money amount by Demand Draft drawn on SANGLI and along withKYC documents. The sealed envelope contained with remark ‘Tender application forproperties situated atRaigaon to be opened on 06/07/2020 at 2.00 p.m. The said tenders willbe opened on said date and time, described herein below at Sangli Dist. Central Co-op. BankLtd; SangIi, Head Office, Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao PatilChowk, Sangli, Dist. Sangli.(MAHARASHTRA)

I the unders gned Authorised Officer (AO) of SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO-iOPERATIVE BANK LTD.,SANGLI s a med with the powers vested U/S 13(12) ofi r"Securitisation And Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security InterestAct,2 2 (S RFAE I) and Rule 6 7 8 & 9 of Secur ty Interes E forcement) Rule 200200 A S " i t ( n ,, ,calling upon the said Borrower o ower), GuarantorsCane Agro Energy (I) Ltd Raigaon (B rrand Publ c to tender sale offers to be he d n the following ma r and now th s Property is ini l i nne ipossession of Author sed Officeri .

Brief Description of the PropertiesCane Agro Energy (I) Ltd Raigaon Tal.: Kadegaon, Dist.:Sangli (Maharashtra)

ParticularsProperty belonging to PropertyCane Agro Energy (I) Ltd Raigaonsituated at Raigaon Tal. KadegaonDist. Sangli. Gat.No 116 to 122,124 to 126, 134 to 143,145 to 153 & 187 to 189 & Hingangaon (Bk)Tal. Kadegaon Dist. Sangli Gat No. 900,901,903,909, 919, 923, 933,948,962 to 966, 973, 975, 976, 1255, 1256, 2158 & 2165 Land, Building,Sugar Factory & Distillery Plant & Machinery.

Land Area

37.18Hector

Sr.No.

1)

Property

Factoryland & buildings

Reserve Price

Rs.11433.86Lakhs

Earnest MoneyDeposit (EMD)

Rs.1143.38Lakhs

Last Date & Time ofSubmission of Bids.

03/07/2020 till3.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Day, Date& Timeof opening of BidsMonday Date06/07/2020

on 2.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Sr.No.

A)

B)

Terms and Conditions:-(1) The bank intends to sell the assets detailed above“ AS IS WHERE IS, AS IS WHAT IS,ANDWHATEVER THERE IS BASIS WHICH IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, GUARANTEE,ASSURANCE, UNDERTAKING OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER” The AOdoes not take or assume any responsibility for any shortfall of the movable/immovable assetsfor procuring any permissions etc. or for any dues, statutory or otherwise of any authorityestablished by law, such dues if any will have to be borne/paid by the purchaser (2) TheTenders are acceptable and val d f they are received to Authorised Officer on or before till thei iopening of Tenders (3) The EMD amount as mentioned above should be paid by DD in favour.of “The Sangli District Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,” payable on Sangli on any Nationalised /Schedule Bank. The EMD shall be refunded to unsuccessful bidder on the same day. TheEMD will not carry any interest. (4) 25% amount shall be depos ted by D D or RTGS / NEFTi .on our BankAccount by h ghest b dder on the sa e day of opening of tenders. (5) 75% amounti i mof remaining h ghest bidding and stamp duty reg s rat on fee Machinery GST and otheri , i t i ,expens s for sale deed shall be deposited within 15 days from e date of open ng of tenderse th i .If not deposited within stipulated period deposited amounts will be forfe ted and the said, ibidd r shall not have any rights n s i properties / machinery Authorised Officer and B nk ise o a d . anot bound to pay interest on amounts deposited by tender applicants (6) After opening of.tenders, he highest b dder s responsible for financial and legal act v t es (7) Tender appl cantt i i i i i i.has a r ght o s bm t one or more tenders He has to depos t earnest money for each tenderi t u i i.applicat on separa ely (8) Authorised Officer has a r ght to ake dec s on in case of equali t i t i i.amount tenders (9) The Tender proper y w ll rema n open fo see ng after pr or perm ssion of. t i i r i i iBank in office hours 11.00 am to 3.00 pm (except Holidays) from 11/06/2020 to 26/06/2020(10)The bid document can be obtained from the undersigned during 12/06/2020 to 26/06/2020on any working days (except Holidays ) between 10.00 am to 4.00 pm on payment of non-refundable fee of Rs. 5000/- (Rs. Five Thousand Only)+ GST by cash at Head Office, Sanglithe bid documents are available at our Head Office, Sangli (11) The Authorised Officerreserves the right to retain the tender sale (12) Before opening of tenders or before 100%deposit amount rece ve fr m tenderer If the loan account closed the tend r procedu e w l bei d o , r il, ecancel ed and the amount d pos ted by the h ghest tenderer w be returned back without anyl e i i illi n .nterest thereon to said highest te derer (13) The m ximum bidding am u t i t satisfactorya o n s noand not with expectation of Authorised Officer, he s right to cancel/p p said Saleha ost one the .And he reserves the right to accept/reject any/or all the bids without assigning any reason. (14)The said N tice is published on our b 's i (15) Right too ank webs te www.sanglidccbank.comalter and elaxation n terms and conditions is reserved byAuthorised Officer i r.

The Borrower/Guarantors are hereby noticed to pay the total outstanding dues before thedate of opening of bid failing which the secured assets will be auctioned and balance if anywill be recovered with interest and cost from you.

STATUTORY 30 DAYS SALE NOTICE UNDER SARFAESI ACT 2002

For Sangli Dist Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,SangliSd/-

(B. M. Ramdurg)Auth rised Officer General Manager (Admin-Agro Ind. Loans)o and

Place : SANGLI.Date : 29/05/2020

3500/4000 MT CapacitySugar Plant & 45/70KLPD Distillery Plont &Machinery

Congress, BJP leaders warnof no-confidence motionagainst Nagpur civic chief

After bribery allegations against cops,man moves writ petition in Bombay HC

After ‘tiff’ withSP legislator,senior inspectortransferredfrom Nagpada

Plea before HC challengingstate’s decision to take over80% beds in pvt hospitals

Forest guardsattacked, 4 booked

SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO -OP BANK LTD., SANGLI (MAHARASHTRA STATE)Head Office : Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Chowk, Sangli – 416416

Tel. Nos. : 0233-2324641 to 2324645, Fax 0233-2322107, Website : www.sanglidccbank.com email - sanglidcc@gmail.com

PUBLIC (TEND R) NOTICE FOR SALEEI the unders gned Authorised Officer (AO) of SANGLI DISTRICT CENTRAL CO-i

OPERATIVE BANK LTD.,SANGLI s a med with the powers vested U/S 13(12) ofi r"Securitisation And Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security InterestAct,2 2 (S RFAE I) and Rule 6 7 8 & 9 of Secur ty Interes E forcement) Rule 200200 A S " i t ( n ,, ,calling upon the said Borrower Swami Ramanand Bharati Sahakari Soot Girni Ltd.,Tasgaon ( iB rr l io ower), Guarantors and Publ c to tender sale offers to be he d n the followingma r and now th s Property is in possession of Author sed Officernne i i .

The Tenders are invited in sealed envelope to be submitted to Authorised Officer alongwith prescribed earnest money amount by Demand Draft drawn on SANGLI and along withKYC documents. The sealed envelope contained with remark ‘Tender application forproperties situated at Tasgaon to be opened on 06/07/2020 at 2.00 p.m. The said tenders willbe opened on said date and time, described herein below at Sangli Dist. Central Co-op. BankLtd; SangIi, Head Office, Padmabhushan Vasantdada Patil Marg, Karmaveer Bhaurao PatilChowk, Sangli, Dist. Sangli.(MAHARASHTRA)

Brief Description of the PropertiesSwami Ramanand Bharati Sahakari Soot Girni Ltd., Tasgaon Tal.: Tasgaon, Dist.:Sangli (Maharashtra)

Particulars

Property belonging to Swami Ramanand BharatiSahakari Soot Girni Ltd., Tasgaon Propertysituated at Tasgaon Gat.No 129/A/1/3 & 129/A/1/5.Tal. Tasgaon, Dist. Sangli having Building & Plantand Machinery.

Location

At. Post. TasgaonTal. Khanapur

Dist. Sangli(Maharashtra)

Land Area

13.90Hector

Sr.No.

1)

Property

Spinning Mill’sland & buildings

Reserve Price

Rs.5700.00Lakhs

Earnest MoneyDeposit (EMD)

Rs.570.00Lakhs

Last Date & Time ofSubmission of Bids.

03/07/2020 till3.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Day, Date& Timeof opening of BidsMonday Date06/07/2020

on 2.00 pm atHead office

Sangli

Sr.No.

A)

B)

Terms and Conditions:-(1) The bank intends to sell the assets detailed above“ AS IS WHERE IS, AS IS WHAT IS,ANDWHATEVER THERE IS BASIS WHICH IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, GUARANTEE,ASSURANCE, UNDERTAKING OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER” The AOdoes not take or assume any responsibility for any shortfall of the movable/immovable assetsfor procuring any permissions etc. or for any dues, statutory or otherwise of any authorityestablished by law, such dues if any will have to be borne/paid by the purchaser (2) TheTenders are acceptable and val d f they are received to Authorised Officer on or before till thei iopening of Tenders (3) The EMD amount as mentioned above should be paid by DD in favour.of “The Sangli District Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,” payable on Sangli on any Nationalised /Schedule Bank. The EMD shall be refunded to unsuccessful bidder on the same day. TheEMD will not carry any interest. (4) 25% amount shall be depos ted by D D or RTGS / NEFTi .on our BankAccount by h ghest b dder on the sa e day of opening of tenders. (5) 75% amounti i mof remaining h ghest bidding and stamp duty reg s rat on fee Machinery GST and otheri , i t i ,expens s for sale deed shall be deposited within 15 days from e date of open ng of tenderse th i .If not deposited within stipulated period deposited amounts will be forfe ted and the said, ibidd r shall not have any rights n s i properties / machinery Authorised Officer and B nk ise o a d . anot bound to pay interest on amounts deposited by tender applicants (6) After opening of.tenders, he highest b dder s responsible for financial and legal act v t es (7) Tender appl cantt i i i i i i.has a r ght o s bm t one or more tenders He has to depos t earnest money for each tenderi t u i i.applicat on separa ely (8) Authorised Officer has a r ght to ake dec s on in case of equali t i t i i.amount tenders (9) The Tender proper y w ll rema n open fo see ng after pr or perm ssion of. t i i r i i iBank in office hours 11.00 am to 3.00 pm (except Holidays) from 11/06/2020 to 26/06/2020(10)The bid document can be obtained from the undersigned during 12/06/2020 to 26/06/2020on any working days (except Holidays ) between 10.00 am to 4.00 pm on payment of non-refundable fee of Rs. 5000/- (Rs. Five Thousand Only)+ GST by cash at Head Office, Sanglithe bid documents are available at our Head Office, Sangli (11) The Authorised Officerreserves the right to retain the tender sale (12) Before opening of tenders or before 100%deposit amount rece ve fr m tenderer If the loan account closed the tend r procedu e w l bei d o , r il, ecancel ed and the amount d pos ted by the h ghest tenderer w be returned back without anyl e i i illi n .nterest thereon to said highest te derer (13) The m ximum bidding am u t i t satisfactorya o n s noand not with expectation of Authorised Officer, he s right to cancel/p p said Saleha ost one the .And he reserves the right to accept/reject any/or all the bids without assigning any reason. (14)The said N tice is published on our b 's i (15) Right too ank webs te www.sanglidccbank.comalter and elaxation n terms and conditions is reserved byAuthorised Officer i r.

The Borrower/Guarantors are hereby noticed to pay the total outstanding dues before thedate of opening of bid failing which the secured assets will be auctioned and balance if anywill be recovered with interest and cost from you.

STATUTORY 30 DAYS SALE NOTICE UNDER SARFAESI ACT 2002

For Sangli Dist Central Co Op Bank Ltd.,SangliSd/-

(P. Y. Suryavanshi)Auth rised Officer H.O.D. (Agro Ind. Loans)o and

Place : SANGLI.Date : 29/05/2020

Plont &Machinery

E-TENDER Notice no.-1) BSL/L/W/T/12/2020 &2) BSL/L/W/T/14/2020w h o s e c l o s i n g d a t e i s

27/05/2020 has been extended

to 09/06/2020, 15:00 Hrs

CCEENNTTRRAALL RRAAIILLWWAYAY

Corrigendum No.- 1, Dated -

27/05/2020

BHUSAVAL DIVISION

All India Passenger Helpline 138

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

THEOUTBREAK Nation

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,MAY28

BIHARHASbeenseeingasurgeinCovid-19 casesover the last fort-night,butisnotpressingthepanicbuttonjustyet—veryfewpatientsare being admitted to intensivecareorrequireventilatorsupport.Inalmostall districtsof thestate,thereishardlyanypatientadmit-ted to Level II hospitals, wheremoderateCovid-19patientswithsymptomsofpneumoniahavetobetreated.Of 3,106 cases reported till

May27,1,050patientshavebeendischarged.Tilldate,15Covid-19patientshavedied.But11ofthemwerecasesofmalignancyandonehadacuterenalcomplications.ThreededicatedCovid-19hos-

pitals in the state —NalandaMedical College and Hospital,Patna,AnugrahNarayanMedicalCollege andHospital, Gaya, andJawaharlalNehruMedicalCollegeandHospital,Bhagalpur,havelessthan150patientsatpresent.Noneof thesepatientsiscritical.NMCH, Patna, Principal VK

Gupta said: “Our recovery rate isamongthebestinthecountry.Wehave admitted209Covid-19pa-tients so far. At present,wehaveonly38patientsandnoneofthemiscritical.Of fiveCovid-19deathsreportedatNMCH,fourweread-vancedcaseofmalignancy.”Hemshankar Sharma, in-

chargeoftheisolationwardattheCovid-19 hospital at Bhagalpur,saidof199patients,132hadbeendischarged. “Wehave13ventila-torsandhaveplacedanorder for30more. But luckily, no patienthad to be put on ventilator. Nodeathhasbeenreportedsofar.”Biharhas tested70,275 sam-

plessofar.

Cases surgein Bihar, butmorbidityrate stays low

UTTARAKHANDCHIEFMinisterTRIVENDRA SINGH RAWATspeaks toLALMANIVERMAonthe fight against Covid-19, theeconomic challenge the statefaces and how it plans tomakemigrants stay. Excerpts:

Howhas theCovid-19pandemicaffectedUttarakhand’s economyandwhateffortshaveyouinitiated for revival?A single-window system

hasbeensetupsothat industri-alists can conveniently obtainpermissionstostart theirunits...The Prime Minister has an-nounced an economic packageofRs20lakhcroreinwhichma-jor relief has been given to theMSMEsector.Majorityof indus-tries in Uttarakhand are in theMSME sector that will benefitfromthis.As farasrevivalof theeconomy is concerned, a com-mittee headed by Indu KumarPandey (a retired IAS officer)has submitted an interim re-port. A work plan is being pre-pared as per its recommenda-tions.

What is the impactoflockdownonrevenuereceipts?Wheneconomicand indus-

trial activities are stopped, itcertainly affects revenue. Onone side, our revenue receiptshavedeclinedandontheother,we have given several types ofconcessions and rebates andhavetobeartheircost.ASpecialDevelopmentPlan isbeingpre-pared for increasing economicactivities.

Migrants are comingback toUttarakhandand this isleading toa spike inCovid-19

cases.Howprepared is themachinery for this?A huge number of people

fromUttarakhand live in otherstates. Many of them want tocomebackamidthepandemic.Morethan2.5 lakhpeoplehaveregistered so far. We cannotleave our people out on theroads.Wehave arrangedbusesand trains. The state govern-ment is bearing the expenses...We are bringing people butweare also following all protocolsandhealthnorms.

AnUttarakhandMigrationCommission report says thatmore than five lakhpeoplemigrated fromhills in thepast 10yearsdue tounavailabilityof jobs,

infrastructure, educationandmedical facilities.Youthsarenowcomingback.Howwill you retainthemafter the lockdownends?Weare seeing this as anop-

portunity to rehabilitate hillyareas... MukhyamantriSwarojgar Yojana has beenlaunched under which re-turneeswillbeable toget loanstoworkinserviceandconstruc-tion sectors... ThePMhas giventhecall tobecome“aatmanirb-har”(self-dependent).Wewantto motivate our people to be-comeself-dependentandcapa-ble tocontribute towardsmak-ing an “aatmanirbharUttarakhand”... This is the firsttime any government hasstartedworkforpreventingmi-grationaswellasforreversemi-gration in a plannedmanner...Hill areasare in focusundertheMSME sector. RuralDevelopment and MigrationCommissionhasbeenformed...A lot of improvement has beendone in thehealth sector...

Howmuchhas the statespentonCovid-19management so far?An amount of Rs 85 crore

has been released from theSDRFhead.Fromthat,Rs5crorehas been given to each districttomakepreparationsforCovid-19 prevention and Rs 20 croreto the medical education de-partment for strengtheningCovid-notified hospitals andprocurement of equipment. Rs10crorehasbeenreleasedfromChief Minister’s Relief Fund tothe Medical EducationDepartment for enhancing thecapacity of government med-ical colleges identified for pre-

vention of Covid-19. The statecabinet toohas approvedRs50crore...

Howmuchhas the statespentonbringingbackmigrants?Over 1.45 lakh people have

beenbroughtback...more thanRs 5 crore has been spent onbringing people back. The de-tails of the expenditure are be-ing collected...bringing thembackwill continue.

CharDhamYatraandtourismsector are thebackboneof theeconomyofUttarakhand’shills. Afterthis loss in lockdown,whatavenuesareyou lookingat torevive theeconomy?We have requested the

Centre toallowcertain tourismactivities in a controlled man-ner ingreenzones.Wearewait-ing for guidelines from theCentreonwhatwill happenaf-ter lockdown4.

Whatkindof financialsupportdoyouwant fromtheCentre?Haveyoudemandedany specialpackage?The entire world is facing

the pandemic and it has af-fected India, too, on a largescale. Revenue resources of allstateswell as theCentre are af-fected. We cannot fight thevirusseparately.ThePMhasan-nouncedapackageofRs20lakhcrore... Whether directly or in-directly, states get benefits ofstepstakenbytheCentre.As forUttarakhand,wehaveapprisedthe Centre about many things.We have been receiving coop-erationfromtheCentreandwillkeep receiving it in future, too.

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

TRIVENDRASINGHRAWATCHIEFMINISTER,UTTARAKHAND

‘Can’t leavepeopleon the roads…will continuebringingmigrants’

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,MAY28

UTTAR PRADESH is witnessing a steadyrevivalofeconomicactivitiesafteranearlytwo-month lockdown, power consump-tionfiguresbyindustryfeedersinthestateindicate.Thisweek,powerconsumptionby in-

dustries in UP crossed 90 per cent of theaverage consumption recorded inFebruary,when industrial activitieswereat thepre-pandemic levels.Theindexof industrypowerconsump-

tion in the state onMay27 rose to 92percent of what was the daily average inFebruary–upfrom58.08percent15daysago. In February, consumption from 518industry feeders in the state was 8.630million units per day. On May 11, itdroppedto58.08percentofthat,androseback up to 7. 246million unit onMay 21,whichis83.96percentoftheFebruaryde-mand.OnMay 26 (Tuesday), it reached 88.8

per cent of the average utility of normaltimes, and on Thursday reached 92 percent.With industrial activities picking up,

the state government has decided offermoresupport–tohelpnotjusttheindus-trialbeltsbutalsopromotevillages toex-plore self-employment opportunities.AccordingtostatePowerMinisterShrikantSharma, hisministry has tweaked somerulesforinitiativesalongthelinesofPrimeMinister Narendra Modi's call for'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India)and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's an-nouncementthatthestatewouldprovidejob opportunities for workers returningfromother states.Sources said nearly 25 lakh native

workers from the state have already re-turned, and the number is expected tocross30 lakh.Havingalreadyannouncedcreationof special expert groups, includ-

ing a migrationcommission to ex-plore options forwelfare of migrantlabourers, the stategovernment haspromised that itwouldprovidejobsfor20lakhof them.Havinginitiated

a skill-mappingsystem for the re-turning workers,initialdatacollectedby the UP govern-ment shows that

thoseworsthitarecontractworkers, car-penters, artisans, etc.Minister Sharma told The Indian

Express: “The governmentwants to pro-vide infrastructure for villages to startsmallventures. FromthePowerMinistry,wehavedecidedtoprovide24x7electric-itysupplyinurbancentresandinruralar-easwherelinelossislessthan15percent.”So, he explained, anyvillage that informsthePowerDepartment that its line loss—whichresultsmainly frompower theft—islessthan15percent,“hastobeprovided24x7powersupplywithin48hours”.Sharma said the state government is

also launching a massive campaign tomake village councils, pradhans andmembers on creating self-employmentopportunities, as also to increase publicparticipation for this. “Our purpose is toprovide the people opportunitieswithinthestate,”hesaid.Earlier thisweek, Adityanath had an-

nounced that Uttar Pradeshwould givejobs to all workers who have returnedfromotherstates,andifotherstateswantto engageworkers fromUP, theywouldhave to take permission from the stategovernment. The state government sub-sequently said it would not incorporatethepriorpermission clause in themigra-tioncommissionbylaws.

UPPowerMinisterShrikantSharma

UP sees power demandboost as industriesget back on their feet

RITUSHARMA,SOHINIGHOSH,ADITIRAJA&AVINASHNAIRAHMEDABAD,VADODARA,MAY28

DAYS AFTER the Vijay Rupanigovernment assured theGujarat High Court that proto-cols were in place to attend topatients and keep relatives in-formedaboutdevelopmentsatAhmedabad Civil Hospital, thestate’s largest Covid hospital,nothing seemed to havechangedonground.Hardik Valera, a resident of

Dani Limda, a containmentzoneinAhmedabad, losthis81-year-oldgrandmother12hoursafter she was taken to CivilHospital onTuesday evening.The octogenarian was put

on the ventilator around 2.30amonWednesday. “At7.30am,when the doctor decided toshift her to the ward on thethird floor, they cited shortageof staff andrefusedtomoveherwith the ventilator. They gavemeabagandaskedmetoman-ually keep pumping air. By thetimewereachedthe third floorwithheronastretcher, thedoc-tor on the floor said she wasdead,” Valera told The IndianExpress.He said, “The entire night

shewasintheemergencyroomandnotestswereconductedorsamples taken. We also askedher to be moved to the ward,but theydidnothing. They saidbeds were not empty and shewouldhave towait.”Officer on Special Duty at

thehospital,DrMMPrabhakar,said:“Wedidnotsendthesam-ples, as our first priority is tosave the life of the patient.” Hesaid as per his information,sampleswerenot taken.On Wednesday, a video

sharedwidely on social mediashowedawomanpatientwithblood draining out of nasaltubes and purportedly dead. Aperson in protective suit wasseen rebuking the doctor, ask-ing why he was not informedabout hismother being put onthe ventilator.Thevideo shows thedoctor

tellinghimhewasnot allowedin ICU and that he should seekinformation from the controlroom.Asked about the case, Dr

Prabhakar said, “The patientwas Covid-positive, diabeticandwasonbloodthinners. ShediedonMay24.Therelativeby-passedsecurityandenteredtheward illegally.”At Vadodara’s Gujarat

Medical Education andResearch Society (GMERS), a78-year-old Covid-19 patient,whowasonventilatorsupport,diedonTuesday– fourdays af-ter the hospital had allowedhis grandson to enter theward to change the patient's

diapers.Thevictim’s granddaughter

said, “My grandfather was re-ferred to the Covid hospital onMay19. They toldusaday laterthat he had tested positive butwewerenotgivenasoftcopyofthe report for our record.”Shesaid:“Weaskedthemto

assign a staff member for hispersonal care andwerewillingto pay, but no such facility wasavailable.Weheardstoriesfromother patients about apathy ofthe sanitation staff. After re-peated requests, the presidingdoctorallowedmybrothertogoin on May 23, wearing a PPEsuit.”“Yesterday, when my

brother went to see the body,he noticed that he was in thesame diaper that we hadchanged four days ago.”After repeated complaints,

OSDVinodRaodirectedtheau-thoritiestofileFIRsagainstsan-itation workers under theEpidemic Act if they refused todo their jobs.Vadodara Urban

Development Authority's CEOAshok Patel, administrator ofGMERS hospital, said, “After Itook charge, we increased thesanitation staff strength to en-sure that there are enough at-tendants.... But if we receivespecific complaints, we lookinto it. Sanitation workers areequipped with PPE kits andproper protection so there areno safety issues.”Presiding doctor at GMERS

confirmed that relatives of thepatient who died on Tuesdaywereallowedtochangehisdia-per once but refused tospeakonthe issueof sanitationworkers.

Pumping of air for dying patientto changing diapers: Familiesface ordeal in Gujarat hospitals

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIABHOPAL,MAY28

AHIGH-NETworth individual based inBhopalhireda180-seaterAirbusA320planefromaprivatecarrier,justsofourofhisfam-ilymemberscouldavoidthecrowdsatair-portsandinflightswhiletravellingtoDelhi.Thisperson,aliquorbaron,charteredthe

aircraft for his daughter, her twochildren,and theirmaid,whowere stuck inBhopal

forthelasttwomonthsduetothelockdown,sources said. The plane arrived in BhopalfromDelhionMondaywithonlythecrew—andflewbackwith the fourpassengers forwhom itwas specially hired, the sourcessaid. “TheplanearrivedhereonMay25. Itwas charteredby someoneand therewasnomedical emergency,” an airline officialsaid,refusingtodivulgemoredetails.According to aviation experts, it

costsaboutRs20lakhtohireanAirbusA320aircraft.

To ferry four of kin to Delhi, MPman hires 180-seater Airbus A320

Afterrepeatedcomplaints,OSDVinodRaodirectedtheauthorities tofileFIRsagainstsanitationworkersundertheEpidemicAct if theyrefusedtodotheir jobs

KrishnaKumarOjha(55)decidedtoreturntoSonipat.HecouldonlygetticketsforJune20togotoUP’sBallia.AbhinavSaha

Afamilywaits formedicalscreeningtoboardatrainfortheirhomeinUP’sGonda, inChandigarh. Jaipal Singh

TRAIN BIRTH

AnitaMishraarrives inLucknowfromMumbaiwithher family. ShedeliveredachildonboardatrainwithoutmedicalassistancewhilecrossingSurat.Thefamily,hailing fromGondainUP, spent fivedays inapark inMumbaibeforemanagingto findseatsonthetrain.Vishal Srivastav

DELHI:1.07PM

CHANDIGARH:6.59PM

RamanandChaurasia(26)hasbeenwaitingforticketstogotoBihar’sKaimuralongwithhisfamily,.GurmeetSingh

WorkerswaittoboardatrainfortheirhomeinJharkhand,attherailwaystationinPune.AshishKale

PUNE:12.48PM

LUDHIANA:2.27PM

LUCKNOW:1.15PM

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

THEOUTBREAK MigrantsOnTheRoad

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ABHISHEKANGADRANCHI,MAY28

SIXTYLABOURERS fromDumkawho had climbed up Kargil toblasthills andbuild roadswill beflown back home by theJharkhandgovernmentonFridayafterbeingstuck for twomonthsbattlinganxietiesandfears.ThegroupworkingforBorder

RoadsOrganisationincludesa26-year-oldwhohadhadenoughofdangerousterrainsandwildbears,menwhose relatives havedied,andfarmerswhowanttobebackhomebeforethepaddyseason.“TheywillbeairliftedfromLeh

on Friday toDelhi and the sameday toRanchi fromwherebuseswillbearrangedforonwardjour-ney. Jharkhandgovernmentwillpaythebill,whichwillbearoundRs 8 lakh,” said sources in theJharkhandChiefMinister’sOffice.ChiefMinisterHemantSoren

onThursdaysaid, “IhavespokentotheBorderRoadsOrganisationandweareplanning tobring thelabourersbackfromLadakh.”OnThursdaymorning,all the

60 boarded a bus to Leh. JohnPaulis Hansda, a labourer sub-contractedwith the BRO, said,“Wehadbeenstrandedheresincethelockdown.Andwehopedthatwewould be brought back andourprayerswereanswered.”

Hansda, who received Rs13,600asmonthlysalary, saidthepaywasgood,buttheterrainwasverydifficult.“WeusedtoworkinDras,Matiyanaareablasting thehills, clearing the ice formakingroads. Itwas full of dangers...weused to live in tents...sometimeswildbearsusedtotakeourblanketsaway.Itwasahellofanexperience,wewillnotcomebackagain.”On the way to Leh, Hansda

saidnotallweregoingbackhome.“Somestayedback to joinwhenworkrestarts.”Labourer Saul Tutu said he

owned10acresof land.“Wehavetobepresentthereduringthesow-ingseasonofpaddy.Theproducewillgiveusricetofeedourfamilyofsixforanentireyear,"hesaid.Another labourer wishing

anonymitysaid, “A fewofusalsolostourrelativesandwecouldnotgo.Mywife ranwithsomeothermanandleftmychildwithourrel-atives. I amextremelydistressedandIjustwanttoreachhomeandfindoutwhathashappened.”Hemant Soren througha let-

teronMay20informedtheUnionHomeMinisteroflabourersstuckin Ladakh. “Due to the terrain ofthese states it very difficult toevacuatethembybusesortrains,”thelettersaidseekingMHA’sper-missiontoallowtheflights.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

SOMYALAKHANINEWDELHI,MAY28

WHILENINE-YEAR-OLDKrishnaMandal was surprised thatMumbai’s tallestbuildingsweresuddenly as small as his fingers,his 12-year-old brother Surajwanted to catch the clouds andeat them. The duo squabbledover thewindow seat of an AirAsiaflighttheyhadboardedfromMumbai to Ranchi Thursdaymorning, recalled their fatherRajendra Tulsi Mandal (47), anauto-rickshawdriver.By afternoon, the father and

sons had reached their home atAtka village in Jharkhand’sBagodar block, threehours fromRanchiairport.Itwasthetrio’sfirstflight.Theywere part of a groupof

174labourers—dailywagers,autodriversandconstructionworkers— from Jharkhand, living in

Mumbai, who boarded a planethat was leased by a group ofalumniofNationalLawSchoolofIndiaUniversity(NLSIU).“Ihavenotseensuchsadness

inmy life, nor have Iwitnessedsuchhappiness as I did todayaf-ter sitting in the plane. I havefoundgod,” saidRajendra abouttheNLSIUalumniwhocollectedRs12 lakh for the flight that tookthelabourershome.Rajendra lived in a rented

roominMumbai’sGhatkopareastwithhis twoboys,whilehiswifeandtheirdaughter live in thevil-lage.“Therewasnoworkbecauseof the lockdown, I ran out ofmoney.Inthelasttwomonths,wesurvived on very little.Mywifewouldcryoverthephone,Iwouldworryabouthowtotakethechil-drenback.Manypeoplewalkedback home, some died, somefainted...Icouldn’tputmychildrenthroughthis,”hesaid.On the plane, the children

called up their motherDhaneshwariDevi (40) and toldhertheywouldbehomeinafewhours. “I saw the clouds fromabove,thewaterbodiesandbuild-ings.Ifeltcoldintheplane,butnofear,” saidKrishna.DhaneshwariDevi told The Indian Expressoverphone,“Thekidswon’tstoptalk-ing about the clouds, the planejourney. Iamgratefulthatwearealltogethernow.”Four days ago, Rajendra’s

phone rang. Itwas about return-inghomeona flight. “Thegroupalso droppedus to the airport. Ididn’t pay a rupee. FromRanchiairport, a bus arranged by theJharkhandChiefMinisterdroppedus off till Bagodar. From there Itook a rickshawhome. Can youbelieve I only spent Rs 150 fromMumbai to my village inJharkhand?”saidRajendra.Sincetheplanelanded,advo-

cate Shyel Trehan and her fourfriends,whoformthecoregroup

that raisedmoney for theplane,were inundatedwith calls fromthosewho had reached home.“Wearebowledoverbythecalls,andarekeentodothisagainonabiggerscale,”saidTrehan.It all started when the five

booked 45migrants,who livednear IIT-Bombay, ona scheduledflight which was to leave onWednesday. “We laterheard theflight hadbeen cancelled, sowedecidedtorentaplane,andraisedmoneyinthealumnigroup.PhonenumberswerecirculatedforNGOsandmigrant labourers to reachout. We coordinated withMumbaipolice,andtheJharkhandChiefMinisterassuredusthatthemigrantswouldbe lookedafter,”saidadvocateSuhaanMukerji.While 80NLSIUalumni con-

tributedmoney, the coremem-bers include lawyers Mukerji,Trehan, Arkaja Singh, ShuvaMandal,PriyankaRoyandIITPhDscholarPriyaSharma.

From Mumbai, workers fly to Jharkhandon plane rented by NLSIU alumni

‘Sometimes bears took blankets away’:Jharkhand airlifts 60 stuck in Kargil

The60workershadclimbedupKargil tobuildroads. Express

UTTARPRADESH8,334 184 106

Foreignentrants:None

TAMILNADU12,246 827 117

Foreignentrants:None

RAJASTHAN14,956 251 85

Foreignentrants:NA

KERALA1,819 84 48

Foreignentrants:31

ANDHRAPRADESH9,858 128 74

Foreignentrants:None

PUNJAB927 19 None

Foreignentrants: 1

HARYANA3,284 123 None

Foreignentrants: None

■Samplestested

■Positivecases■ Migrants

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

CASECOUNT: THECHANGINGPICTURE

States’ data for last 24hours, updatedup to9pmonMay28

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY28

DAYSAHEADof the fourth lock-downdrawing to a close, HomeMinisterAmitShahonThursdayspoke to Chief Ministers of allstates over the phone to discusstheroadahead.“TheHomeMinisterspoketo

allChiefMinistersandtookstockoftheCovidsituationinallstates.The discussions largely focusedon the road ahead. Also part ofthediscussionswererelaxationsthat would be required in thenext phase of the lockdown tofurther open the economy,” ahomeministryofficial said.Multiple states have sug-

gested further opening of theeconomy and social life.Karnatakahasalreadywrittentothe Centre for opening of mallsand multiplexes from June 1while Goa is planning to openrestaurants beginningMonday.ManystatesarealsonudgingtheCentre on relaxations for hold-ing religious events asmultiplefestivals are scheduled in Juneand July.Meanwhile, Cabinet

Secretary Rajiv Gauba held ameeting with all states onCovid-19 preparedness, with aspecial focuson13citieswhichconstitute about 70 per cent ofthe cases in the country. Beforethe fourth lockdown was im-posed, the government had fo-cused on 30 cities that had 79per cent of the total cases,whichhasseeminglynowbeenwhittled down to 13 cities thatrequire focus.These cities are Mumbai,

Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad,Thane,Pune,Hyderabad,Kolkata,Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur,Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur.Chiefs ofmunicipal corporationsanddistrict collectors fromthesecitieswerepresentatthemeetingalongwithChief Secretaries andseniorofficialsofstates.

In SC, Singhvi listssuggestions onmigrant workersEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY28

SENIOR ADVOCATE AbhishekManuSinghvionThursdayurgedthe SupremeCourt to direct thegovernmenttoidentifyandaccu-rately tally the number ofstrandedmigrantlabourersatthedistrict/villagelevel.Singhvi,who submitteda list

ofsixsuggestionstothecourt,alsocalled for settingupof receptioncentrestoreceivemigrantlabour-ersorfacilitatetheironwardjour-ney, to collect information fromthese committees ondifficultiesfacedbythemanduseittoformu-lateanationwideplan.Healsomooted the formula-

tion of a scheme for migrantlabourerstoensuresteadysupplyandaccesstomedicine, foodandshelterapartfromtheoneatrail-wayandbusstations.Singhvi called for the setting

upofahigh-poweredcommitteeto recommend within threeworkingdayshowmuchmoneycanbegiventhroughdirectbene-fit transfer to the labourers.

Schemestoprovidethemgainfulemploymentmust also be ex-plored,hesaid.Singhvi appeared before the

benchofJusticesAshokBhushan,SKKaul andMRShahonbehalfofCongressleaderRandeepSinghSurjewala,whohadfiledaninter-ventionapplication.Singhvi’sap-pearance for Surjewalawas op-posedbySolicitorGeneralTusharMehta,who said “let this not bepoliticised”.The bench then told Singhvi

thatitwillhearhimdehorsthepe-titionasanofficerofthecourt,fol-lowingwhich the senior counselcameupwiththesuggestions.Singhvisaidthataccordingto

the solicitor general, 100%of theticket is given by the state. Butstates now have nomoney, hesaid,andaskedifthereshouldnotbeacommitteetodealwiththis.Appearingformigrantlabour-

ers,senioradvocateIndiraJaisingsaidthenumberoftrainshastobeincreased. Senior advocateColinGonsalves,whotooappearedforamigrantlabourgroup,saidthereareseveraldifficultieswithregardtoregistration.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,MAY28

NINE PERSONS were arrestedand several others booked inGopiganj area of Bhadohi onThursday, a day after a group ofvillagersallegedlypeltedstonesandattackedhealthworkersandpolicemenwhentheyhadgoneto helpwith the cremation of amigrantworker.The 42-year-old had re-

turned from Surat in a truck onTuesday and died the samedayat a hospital after his familymembers took him there. HisCovid test report is awaited.BhadohiSPRamBadanSingh

said, “There were rumours inRampur Ghat that coronavirusmay spread in the area if thebody is cremated there. The at-tack happened around6pmonWednesday. Stones and brickswerepeltedatthepolicevehicleandambulance.”Thecremationwas,however,

completed thesameevening.Bhadohi Chief Medical

Officer, Dr Lakshmi Singh, said,“After the man returned fromSurat and reached home, hecomplainedofmildfever.So,hisfamilymemberstookhimtothedistrict hospital the same daywhere he collapsed and died...We are waiting for the (Covid)report.” The CMO said post-mortemwasnotconductedduetoCovid-19precautions.Accordingtopolice, thesitu-

ation flared upwhen the bodywas brought to the village forcremation.“WhenapoliceteamalongwithsomehealthworkersreachedRampurGhatalongtheGanga for the cremation, vil-lagerspeltedstonesat them.Anambulance and a police vanweredamagedandsomehealthworkersandpolicemensufferedminor injuries,” CircleOfficer ofGyanpur police station, KaluSingh, said.A case has been registered

against 35 people and 40unidentifiedpersons.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,MAY28

THE UTTAR Pradesh govern-ment on Thursday said that thedrive to bring home migrantworkers from other statesthrough Shramik Special trainshas come to an endwith the fi-nal batch of trains set to reachthestateinthenexttwotothreedays. The government said thedecisionwastakenduetolackofany fresh registrations in otherstatesbymigrantsseekingtore-turn toUP.Additional Chief Secretary

(Home)AwanishKumarAwasthisaid, “The governments ofGujarat,Delhi,Punjab,Telangana,Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryanaetc have all informed us thatthere are either nopeople com-ingtoUPorthereareveryfewofthose left. Therefore, there is noneed to run special trains orbusesfromthesestates.”Hesaidafewtrainscarryingmigrantsareset to arrive fromMaharashtra,Keralaandotherstates .Accordingtothegovernment,

1,411ShramikSpecialtrainshavebroughtover19.15lakhmigrantsfromacross thecountry toUP inthe last fewweeks.Awasthi said that the state

government had arranged for1,551 trains for bringing mi-grants,andinthenext twodays2 lakh more people will arrivethrough 140 more trains. TillThursday,hesaid,7.12lakhpeo-ple have been brought through490 trains from Gujarat, 4.55lakh through 327 trains fromMaharashtra, and about 2.67lakh through 228 trains fromPunjab.Meanwhile, Principal

Secretary (Health) AmitMohanPrasadsaidthatthegovernmentwould soon come out with aseparateprotocolforthosearriv-ing through regular train serv-ices being started by theRailways fromJune1.

Shah dialsCMs, discussesroad ahead;Cabinet Secymeets states

UP: Cops, healthworkers attackedduring cremationof migrant, 9 held

Drive to bring backmigrants toend, last trains in 2-3 days: UP

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,MAY28

THE KARNATAKA governmenthaswritten to the Centre seek-ing to restrict the number offlights arriving fromstateswithhigh prevalence of Covid-19,Chief Minister BS YediyurappasaidhereonThursday.“We have requested the

Central government to restrictthe number of flights arrivingfrom places with high preva-lenceofCovid-19.Thebanonen-trybyroadfromtheseplaceswillcontinue but train service willcontinue,” Yediyurappa said onsocialmedia.The CM’s statements came

following a Cabinet meetingwhereministers discussed ex-tending till June 15 the existingcurbs on arrivals by road from

three states — Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu and Gujarat — andmaking it applicable to flightstoo. The Cabinet also discussedincludingRajasthanandMadhyaPradesh among the states fromwhere arrivals could berestricted.After the Cabinet meeting,

Karnataka Law Minister JCMadhuswamy stated that thegovernmenthaddecidedtostoparrivals from Maharashtra,Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan till June15onaccountof high incidence

of Covid among returnees fromthesestates.Thebanwillextendto arrivals by flights as well, heindicated.The ChiefMinister later said

the state had written to theCentretorestrict flightsarrivingfromregionswithahighpreva-lenceof Covid-19.ThegovernmentonMay21

also made it mandatory forpeople arriving fromsix states— Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Delhi — to un-dergo Covid-19 test even ifthey are asymptomatic. “Wehave said earlier itself that ar-rivals by road from hotspotslike Maharashtra, Gujarat,TamilNadushouldbestopped.Now we have written to theCentre to stop flights,”Education Minister SureshKumar said.

KarnatakaCMBSYediyurappa

Restrict flights from hotspotstates: Karnataka to Centre

AScoutsandGuidescadetprovidesdrinkingwater tomigrants, atPrayagraj station. PTI

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

ABSENTEE CRITICISMCABINET SECRETARY Rajiv Gauba’s video conference onThursdaywasattendedbychiefsecretariesfromallstatesandmunicipalcommissionersfrom30citiesacrossstates,barone:WestBengal. Ever sinceWestBengalChiefMinisterMamataBanerjee spoke out angrily against the Centre in ameetingheldbythePrimeMinister,officials say ithasbecomeamat-terof interestwhatwillbesaidbetweentheCentreandWestBengal at thesemeetings.OnThursday,West Bengal didnothave the Chief Secretary or theMunicipal Commissioner ofKolkatapresent. Theone representative saidhewasmakingnotesandeverythingwouldbedulycommunicated.

RISKY WHISKYANERRONEOUSpostontheFacebookpageofMinistryofHomeAffairsonThursdaybecamecauseforagoodlaughonsocialme-dia evenas the topofficers expressed concern.While postingpicturesofreliefworkbeingcarriedbytheNDRFinWestBengalafterCycloneAmphan,apictureofatablefullofsnacksandtwobottlesofRoyalStagwhiskywasposted.Associalmediaburstoutlaughing,thepersonresponsibleforthepost,acontractualem-ployee,wasmadetoapologiseforthe“inadvertenterror”.

AWAITING DATESALTHOUGHTHEElectionCommissionhaspostponedtheRajyaSabhaelections,the37memberselectedunopposedhavebeenwaiting to take oath. The Rajya Sabha secretariat has finallyscheduled twodates— June 4 and June 5— for them to takeoath.Buttheymayhavemorehurdlesduetotheconfusionoverprotocolsforair/traintravelinmanystates.Sothesedatescouldbechangedagain.However,theelectedMPswouldbegivenanoption to come and take oath in the first twoweeks of June.TheywouldalsohavetheoptionoftakingoathwhentheHousesits insession.All37canavailallentitlementsasMPsbuttheyneedtotakeoathforattendingHouseproceedings.

In J&K, forces foil Pulwama-like car bombing plot

Day after Trump offer,India says engaged withChina for peaceful solution

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY28

ADAYafterUSPresidentDonaldTrumpwadedintotheborderten-sion between India and China,NewDelhionThursdaysaid thatit is engaged with Beijing to“peacefullyresolve”theissue.Responding to questions on

Trump’soffer,MinistryofExternalAffairs (MEA) spokespersonAnurag Srivastava said, “We areengagedwiththeChinesesidetopeacefullyresolvethisissue.”OnWednesday, Trump had

tweeted, “We have informedboth India and China that theUnitedStatesisready,willingandabletomediateorarbitratetheirnow raging border dispute.Thankyou!”Srivastava refrained fromad-

dressing Trump’s tweet, anddidnotrejectanythird-partymedia-tion,asithaddoneinthepast.Inthepast,Trumphadoffered

tomediate between India andPakistanoverKashmir,butthis isthefirsttimehehasmadesuchanoffertoIndiaandChina,referringtothesituationalongtheLACasa“ragingborderdispute”.On the incidents along LAC,

Srivastava said Indian troops

have taken a “very responsibleapproach”towardsborderman-agementand“strictly followtheprocedures”. He said India re-mains“firm” in its resolvetoen-sureits“sovereigntyandnationalsecurity”.ThisisthethirdtimeMEAhas

issuedastatementonthetensionalong the LAC, and has for thesecond time invoked “sover-eignty”and“nationalsecurity”inthe statement. In the May 21statement, the government hadsaid it is “deeply committed” toensuringIndia’s“sovereigntyandsecurity”.Srivastava said the two sides

have establishedmechanisms,bothat“militaryanddiplomatic”levels, to “resolve situations”whichmayarise in border areas“peacefully through dialogue”with the objective of “mainte-nanceof peaceandtranquility inborderareaswithChina”.He also said Indian forces

“scrupulously follow consensusreached by our leaders and theguidanceprovided”, referring todecisions at Wuhan andMahabalipuram summits be-tween PMNarendraModi andChinesePresidentXiJinping.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MAY28

ANYBUILD-UPfromtheChinesesidewillbematchedbybuildupofIndiantroopsaswell,andNewDelhi will continuewith infra-structure development in east-ern Ladakh, where Indian andChinese troops have been in-volved in a face-for over threeweeks, Lt General S LNarasimhan, member of theNational Security AdvisoryBoard(NSAB),saidonThursday.Without disclosing exactly

when diplomatic talks over theissue began, Narasimhan con-firmed that “talks startedmuchbefore lastweek”.Narasimhan also told The

IndianExpress that compared totheDoklamstandoffof2017,theChinesesideappearstobemoreaggressivethis time,evenasthestrengthof their troops isnot asmuch.He said: “There are two

things you need to look intowhenyoucomparethis(presentescalation)toDoklam.Oneisthe

strength --– that is (now) lessthanDoklam --– and theway ithaspannedoutsubsequently.Atthemoment,thestrengthseemsto be somewhere around lessthanaroundDoklam-level.”Hesaidit is“verydifficult”to

predict the number of ChinesetroopspositionedalongtheLineof Actual Control (LAC): “I haveheard variations from 500 to5,000 to 10,000. , it will be ex-tremelydifficult topredict.”But he emphasised that

Indian troop strength will bematched. “It is not required topredictthenumbers.... if thereisa build-up from Chinese side,therewill be an equal build-upfromourside.”Narasimhan,whowasIndia’s

defence attache to China be-tween 2002 and 2005, said thetrigger for the current crisis isthat “we don’t have an agreedboundary”. He said summer isthepatrollingseason,“therefore,when the patrols go up there isalways a problemof a face-off”.With more patrols coming upfrombothsides,“therearemorelikelihoodsof face-offs”,hesaid.

He said the improved infra-structure on both sides, whichhas paved the way for easiermovement, can be anothercauseof such face-offs.WhileChinahas“alreadyde-

veloped infrastructure”,Narasimhan said “they seem tobe upsetting the infrastructuredevelopment when it takesplaceonourside”.ButIndiawillnotbedeterred

toimprovetheinfrastructurede-velopment, he said. “We willcontinue to develop infrastruc-ture thewaywe have planned.Theinfrastructuredevelopmenthasbeentakingplaceinourter-ritoryand itwill continue.”Stating that Chinese troops

are not in Indian territory,Narasimhan, who had com-manded China-facing III Corpsof the Army in the EasternCommand and also com-mandedamountainbrigade inSikkim, said: “I think they aretrying to lay claim to their per-ception of LAC. I don’t think itshould be seen as if they wantto pick up territory or other-wise. It should be seen as they

are trying to lay claim to theirperceptionof the LAC.”Also, he said, the troops are

“separatedbysomedistance”.Playing down the tensions,

hesaid,“Otherthanthefirstday,when face-off took placewhenthingsweremoreaggressiveandsome injuries were suffered, Idon’t think there has been anymajor conflagration or heatingup in thatarea.”He said: “Dailymeetings are

taking place between the tacti-cal commanders. The higher-levelmilitarycommandermeet-ingshavetakenplaceonMay22and May 23, (and) more arelikelytocomeupinfuture.Inad-dition,diplomatictalkshavealsobeentakingplacebetweenNewDelhi and Beijing. So the com-municationhasbeenopen.”TheNSABisanagencyofex-

perts on national security, andserves inanadvisory role to theNational Security Council byproviding analysis and recom-mendations on issues of na-tional security.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR,MAY28

THE JAMMUandKashmirPoliceonThursday said security forcesin Kashmir have foiled a carbombing “similar to the 2019Pulwamaattack”by interceptingavehiclefittedwithatleast40kgofexplosivesinthesamedistrict.“It is a big success for police

and security forces today. Wefoiled anattackwhichwas simi-lar to the 2019 Pulwamaattack.The timely infogeneratedbypo-liceandjointactionavertedama-jor tragedy. I congratulate theforces for the success.” IGP,Kashmir, Vijay Kumar told TheIndiaExpress.In February 2019, an explo-

sive-ladenvehiclerammedintoabus thatwaspart of a CRPF con-voy,killing40personnel.Policeofficerssaidthatonthe

basis of an intelligence input,checkpointsweresetupatdiffer-entplacesinPulwamadistrictonWednesday night. Late in thenight,acardidn’tstopatacheck-pointintheRajporaarea.

“When the car did not stop,securitypersonnelfiredwarningshots on the Shajimarg-Rajporaaxis. The vehicle was latertracked to a nearby village andthe areawas cordoned by jointforcesforthewholenight,”asen-iorofficersaid.The officer said the car had a

fakeregistrationnumberandtheforces found an IED fitted in adruminsidethecar.OnThursdaymorning, sour-

ces said, a bombdisposal squaddestroyedtheexplosivesinthecarthroughacontrolledexplosion.Addressing the media,

Kashmir IGPKumar said Pulwa-maPolicehadreceivedinputsthatJaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) andHizbulMujahideen are going tocarryoutasuicideattackandhave“gotaSantrocarandfittedIED”.“…yesterday evening, nakas

were put…when the car didn’tstop, our forces openedwarningfire. Themilitant escaped. In thenextnaka,forcesagainopenedfireandsinceitwasdark,themilitantleft the car andescaped... our in-putwas that (a) JeMmilitant iscarrying (out) this activity. They

had plans to do this on Jang-e-Badr (during Ramzan), but thattimewe took a lot of preventivemeasuresandalotofcordonandsearchoperationswerelaunched.WesuspectAdil,who is aHizbulMujahideenmilitant and is alsowithJeM.APakistancommanderFoujiBhaiisalsoinvolvedinthis,”hesaid.Sayingthattheattackplanwas

similartothatofthePulwamaat-tack, he said, “Theywould havetargetedsecurityforcesorapolicevehicle…weare calling expertsfromoutside. Primary investiga-tion reveals that nitrate salt andnitroglycerin was used. In themorning,we said theweight (ofIED)couldbe25kg,butsincethedebriswentup in theair to50m(afterthecontrolledexplosion),itlooks like40-45kgof explosiveswerethere,”hesaid.AnArmyreleaseonThursday

said,“Neutralizationofthisvehiclebased IED has averted a majorPulwamastylefidayeenattackontheSecurityForces.Operationswillbe intensified in comingdays todenyanyopportunitytoterroristsforstagingsuchdastardlyattacks.”

TheIED-ladencarwasdestroyedbyacontrolledexplosion. PTI

Open toengage withNepal to solveborder row,indicates India

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY28

A DAY after the Nepal govern-ment’smovetobringinaconsti-tutionamendmentBilltogivele-gal sanctity to its newmapwasdeferredforthetimebeing,Indiaon Thursday said thismatter isreceiving“carefulconsideration”inNepaltakingits“seriousness”intoaccount.India also said it is “open to

engaging” with all its neigh-bours, and the process requires“constructive and positive ef-forts”.OnWednesday, the Nepal

government failed to table thescheduledBill, togivelegalsanc-tity to its newmap following aterritorial spat with India, inParliament.On Thursday, Ministry of

External Affairs spokespersonAnuragSrivastavasaid,“Wenotethatthismatterisreceivingcare-ful consideration in Nepal, tak-ing its seriousness intoaccount.Indiaisopentoengagingwithallits neighbours on the basis ofmutual sensitivity andmutualrespect, in an environment oftrust and confidence. This is acontinuousprocessandrequiresconstructive and positive ef-forts.”He also said India attaches

“great importance”tothedeep-rooted historical, cultural andfriendly relationswithNepal.India’s new road from

Dharchula toLipulekhaspartoftheMansarovar Yatra route an-geredtheOligovernment,whichcame out with a new map,addingtoitanareaof370sqkmatthetri-junctionofNepal, Indiaand China (Tibet) that Indiaclaims is its territory.A constitution amendment

Billwasnegotiatedto legitimisethe alteration or addition ofKalapani, Lipulekh andLimpiyadhura to thenewmap.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Pinarayi says Kerala on‘brink of communityspread’ as cases spike

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY28

WITHSWARMSof immaturelo-custs sweeping across 13 dis-tricts in fourstates, theMinistryof Agriculture & Farmers’Welfareisconsideringtheuseofaircraft forsprayinginsecticidestocontrolthespreadofthecrop-devouring insects.“Acommitteeunderthechair-

manship of the AdditionalSecretaryof theDepartmenthasbeenconstitutedtoprocureserv-icesandgoodsforsprayinginsec-ticides through drones and air-planes,” the ministry said in astatementonThursday.

The statement said: “Droneswillbeusedtospraypesticidesontall trees and inaccessible placesfor effective control of locusts,while plans are afoot to deployhelicoptersforaerialspray.”Two firms have been fi-

nalisedviatendersfortheuseofdrones.Meanwhile, Agriculture

Minister Narendra Singh Tomarreviewed locust control opera-tions alongwith senior officialsof hisministry onThursday andsaid the government is “dealingurgently”with the situation. Healsoassuredtheaffectedstatesofadditional resources and finan-cialaid, if required.According to theAgriculture

Ministry,asof Thursday, swarmsof immature locustswere activein six districts in Rajasthan—Barmer,Jodhpur,Nagaur,Bikaner,Suratgarh andDausa; four dis-tricts inMadhyaPradesh—Rewa,Morena,BetulandKhandwa;twoin Maharashtra—Nagpur andAmravati; and inUttar Pradesh’sJhansidistrict.“Today,thereisnoinformation

regardingentryofanynewlocustswarmfromtheIndo-Pakborderareas,whereas, on26.05.2020, alocust swarm entered from SriGanganagardistrict of Rajasthanandcontroloperationisgoingonagainst these swarms,” theministrysaid.Its statementadded that the

spreadhasbeencontrolledinanareaof about50,468hectares in334 locations in Rajasthan,Punjab, Gujarat and MadhyaPradesh.“The Centre is in close touch

with the affected States and anAdvisory has been issued. 15sprayerswill start arriving fromBritaininthenext15days.Besides,45moresprayerswillbeprocuredin a month or one-and-a-halfmonths,” itsaid.Several states and Union

Territories, including UttarPradeshandDelhi, havewarnedagainstpossiblelocustattacks.However,thereisnoimmedi-

atedangeroftheswarmsheadingtowardsDelhi.

Govt weighs use of drones, planes to bring down locust swarms

Several statesandUnionTerritories, includingUttarPradeshandDelhi,havewarnedagainstpossible locustattacks. PTI

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY28

KERALA,WHICH had flattenedtheCovid-19curve intheprevi-oustwobouts, isonthebrinkofcommunity spread with asteady spike in cases in the last20 days, mainly due to the re-turn of people fromMaharashtra andTamilNadu.KeralaonThursdayreported

84 fresh Covid-19 cases, takingthetotalto1,088.Thenumberofpositive cases has more thandoubledover the last 20days inthe state, which had reportedonly503casesfor100daysfromJanuary30 toMay8.After the review meeting,

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayantoldmediathatthestateisonthebrinkofcommunityoutbreakofinfection. “Atthisstage,wecan-notsaythat there iscommunityspreadofCovid-19inKerala.But,we are on the brink of commu-nityspread.Thenumberofpos-itivecaseshasgoneup.But,mostof themarefromoutsideandin-fected through contacts inKerala.Thatisapositivesignthatwecanstillcontainthespreadofinfection,’’ he said, adding thatallcaseswithcoldandfluwouldbesubjected toCovid-19 test.The data on daily cases over

the last oneweek showsmorepeoplecomingfromotherstates

aretestingpositiveinKeralathanthosecoming fromabroad.Health department officials

said there was hope becausepositivity rate is low. Of the10,000 persons who came toKeralafromabroadbyflightsandships till May 26, only 1% havetestedpositive.Nineoutof1,000persons who returned fromMaharashtra have tested posi-tive and the figure for TamilNadureturneesis3outof1,000,sources said.The state has also ramped

up daily testing, which is alsobeingcitedasareasonfor iden-tifyingmoreasymptomaticcar-riersof thevirus. TillMay2, thestate had only tested 31,183samplesaspart of regulardailytesting, to save test kits foremergency situation. But onMay28, the total tests inKeralajumpedto60,685,whichshowsthat 49% of the testing hap-pened in the last 26days.Apart from above, 8,599

samplesweretakenfromgroupslikehealthcareworkers,personswithhighsocialexposure,work-ers etc. as part of Sentinel sur-veillance, of which 6 samplestestedpositive.Asmanyas8,174samples tested negative, whileresultof 419areawaited.Whatworries officials is the

steady rise in cases of patientswho got infected as primary orsecondary contacts of personswith travelhistory.

GAGANDEEPSINGHDHILLONSHIMLA,MAY28

HIMACHALPRADESH’S suspen-deddirectorofhealthservices,DrAKGupta,allegedly“demandedabribe”followingthedeliveryofsixto seven consignments of per-sonalprotectionequipment(PPE)kits worth over Rs 1 crore by aDerabassi-basedmanufacturer,but did not actually receive themoney,aninvestigatortoldaspe-cialcourthereonThursday.Prithvi Singh,who allegedly

recordedtheaudioclip, inwhichhe can be heard discussing thepurportedhandoverofRs5 lakh,isaliasioningofficerofBioAid,thefirminDerabassi,investigatingof-ficer DSP Kailash Sharma andpublic prosecutor SandeepAttri

toldthecourtduringahearingofbailapplicationbytheaccused.AskedbySpecialJudge(forests)

ArvindMalhotra,thetwosaidthatnoexchangemoneyactuallytookplace. TheysaidBioAidhadsup-pliedkitsworth“Rs1croresome-thing”tothestategovernment.Thejudgeremarkedthatsincebriberyhadnotyettakenplace,itcouldnothappennow. “You cannot forcehimtotakeit,”thecourtobserved.Defence counsel K S Thakur

and Jagdish Thakur argued thatGuptawasnotdirectlyinvolvedinprocurement.When the coron-avirus outbreak occurred, thestate’s deputydirector (procure-ment)startedprocuringsuppliesbeforethegovernmentaskedthedirectorate to come up with aprocess forprocurement.Atech-nicalcommitteeandanaccountscommitteewereformedtoinvite

tenders, andGuptawas part ofneither,thcounselstoldthecourt.Beforetheaudioclipwasreco-

rdedinmid-April,thecommitteesinvited tenders twice, duringwhichtwoandsubsequentlyfivesuppliers qualified, the defencecounsel said. The defence andprosecutionbothsaidBioAidwasnot one of the qualifiers, and allsuppliesmadebyit–“aroundsix-sevenorders”–weremadebeforethetenderingprocessbegan.Theprosecutionsoughtmore

time for custodial interrogation,saying that Gupta’smedical ex-aminationduringhis police cus-todytooktoolong.Thecourtputupthematterfor

furtherhearingonSaturday,whenGupta’spolice custodyends, andcalledfora“fair,impartialandsci-entificinvestigation”whichis“notinfluencedbyAorB”.

HIMACHALPPESCAM

Top health official sought bribe,never got it, investigators tell court

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESHIMLA,MAY28

THEOPPOSITIONCongressThur-sdaydemandedaprobebya sit-tingHighCourt judgeintotheal-legedmedical purchase scam.Meanwhile,DrRajeevBindal,whoresignedasHimachalPradeshBJPchief on Thursday, said hewillcomeout as a “kundan”—puregold—afterthis“agni-pariksha”.Inhisresignationletter,Bindal

saidheresignedonmoralgroundsafter some people indirectlypointedtowardstheinvolvementofhispartyinthematter.StateCongress chief Kuldeep

RathoresaidthatasChiefMinisterJaiRamThakurholds theportfo-liosofhomeandhealth,theCong-resshasnotrustintheongoingin-vestigation. “The resignation ofstateBJPpresidentmeansthataninternal inquiry in their party

pointedtowardshisrole,”hesaid.He said it is likely thatmany

peopleareinvolvedinthematterandtherehasbeensub-standardsupplyofmedicalequipmentdur-ingthepandemic.Bindal, in a video address on

Facebook,saidhehas“fullfaithinthepoweroftruth”.“Truthhastoundergo several rounds of agnipareeksha. I amsure Iwill comeoutof this test likeakundan.Wehavenotmadeanymistake.Somepeople are trying to shine theirselfish politicswhile others arewashing theirhands in the flow-ingGanga.Irequestthemtothinkfour times before speaking any-thing,”hewrote.

Cong seeks probe, Bindalsays he will come out clean

DrRajeevBindal

FACE-OFFALONGLAC INLADAKH

Chinese build-upwill bematched, says NSABmember

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,MAY28

WITH THE number of coron-aviruscasesanddeathsgrowingalarmingly in Akola, the districtadministration has sent a pro-posal to Maharashtra ChiefSecretary AjoyMehta, seekingpermissiontoimplementacom-plete lockdown in the districtfromJune1 to June6.Akola saw 72 fresh cases on

Wednesday,thehighestone-dayspike inVidarbha, takingtheto-talnumberofcasesinthedistrictto over 500. The district has re-ported28deaths,withtwomore

reportedonWednesday.“Collector Jitendra Papalkar

has sent a proposal to ChiefSecretaryAjoyMehtaforallowingstricter lockdown in the districtfrom June1 to June6,”AmravatiDivisional Commissioner PiyushSinghtoldTheIndianExpress.“Therewas ameeting of all

party leaders chairedbyDistrictGuardian Minister BachchuKadu. The overwhelming opin-ionwasthatAkolaneedsstricterlockdown.Hence,aproposalwassent to the chief secretary, seek-ing a Janata Curfew from June 1to 6, duringwhich only agricul-tureinputshopsandmilkoutletswillremainopen,”saidPapalkar.

Akola admn seeks permission forcomplete lockdown from June 1 to 6

How locusts came, what nextSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Overthelast fewdays,swarmsofdesert locusthavereachedurbanareasofRajasthan,andpartsofMPandMaharashtra.A lookathowtheyarrived, theseriousnessof theproblem,andwaystosolve it

PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,MAY28

Whatare ‘desert locusts’doing innon-desert lands?Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria),

whichbelongtothefamilyofgrasshoppers,normally live and breed in semi-arid ordesertregions.Forlayingeggs,theyrequirebareground,which is rarely found inareaswith dense vegetation. So, they can breedin Rajasthan but not in the Indo-GangeticplainsorGodavari andCauverydelta.Butgreenvegetationisrequiredforhop-

per development. Hopper is the stage be-tween thenymph that is hatched fromtheeggs,andthewingedadultmoth.Suchcoverisn’t widespread enough in the deserts toallowgrowthof largepopulationsof locusts.As individuals, or in small isolated

groups, locustsarenotverydangerous.Butwhentheygrowintolargepopulationstheirbehaviour changes, they transform from‘solitaryphase’ into ‘gregariousphase’, andstart forming‘swarms’.Asingleswarmcancontain40to80millionadultsinonesquarekm,andthesecantravelupto150kmaday.Large-scalebreedinghappensonlywhen

conditionsturnveryfavourableintheirnat-uralhabitat,desertorsemi-aridregions.Goodrains can sometimes generate just enoughgreenvegetationthatisconducivetoegg-lay-ingaswellashopperdevelopment.This is what seems to have happened

thisyear.These locustsusuallybreedinthedryareasaroundEthiopia, Somalia, Eritreaalong the eastern coast of Africa, a regionknownastheHornofAfrica.Otherbreedinggrounds are the adjoiningAsian regions inYemen, Oman, southern Iran, and inPakistan's Balochistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwaprovinces.Manyof thesear-easreceivedunusuallygoodrainsinMarchand April, and that resulted in large-scalebreeding and hopper development. TheselocustsstartedarrivinginRajasthanaroundthe first fortnight of April, much ahead ofthenormal July-Octobernormal.TheLocustWarningOrganisation,aunit

undertheAgricultureMinistry,hadspottedthese and warned of their presence atJaisalmer and Suratgarh in Rajasthan, andFazilka in Punjab near the India-Pakistanborder.Subsequently,therehasbeenarrivalof severalswarmsfromthebreedingareas.

WhenJuly-October is thenormaltime,howdidtheyarrivesoearly?Theanswertothisquestionprobablylies

intheunusualcyclonicstormsof2018intheArabian Sea. Cyclonic stormsMekunu andLubanhadstruckOmanandYemenrespec-tively that year. Heavy rains had trans-formeduninhabiteddeserttractsintolargelakewhere the locust swarmsbreed. If leftuncontrolled, a single swarm can increase

20timesof itsoriginalpopulationinthefirstgeneration itself, and thenmultiply expo-nentially in subsequentgenerations.Scientists of LWOhadgot the firstwhiff

of impending problem in the 2019-20 rabiseasonwhenunusuallyactiveswarmswerereported in Rajasthan, Gujarat and someparts of Punjab. Control measures min-imiseddamageinIndiaduringthattime.Butfurtheractioncouldnotbetakenbecause ofthe lockdown around theworld, and theswarms remained active in Yemen, Oman,Sindh and Balochistan areas. The presentswarmsaretheirdirectdescendants,andarearriving in India insearchof food.

Butwhythefurthereastwardmovement?Thecurrent swarmscontain “immature

locusts”. These feed voraciously on vegeta-tion. They consume roughly their ownweight in fresh food every day, before theybecome ready formating. But right nowRajasthan does not offer enough to satisfytheirhunger.Withnocropsinthefield,theyhavebeen invadinggreen spaces, includingparks, in Jaipur and orange orchards nearNagpur.LWOestimatesthatatpresentthere

arethreeorfouractiveswarmsinRajasthanwhileMadhya Pradesh has two to three ofthem. A small group deviated intoMaharashtraaswell.Once they start breeding, the swarm

movement will cease or slow. Also, thebreedingwillhappenmainly inRajasthan.Apart from the search for food, their

movement has been aided by westerlywindsthatwere,thistime,furtherstrength-ened by the low pressure area created byCyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal.Locustsare knowntobepassiveflyers,andgenerally follow thewind. But they do nottakeoff inverystrongwindyconditions.

So,whatdamagehavetheycaused?So far, notmuch, since the rabi crophas

alreadybeenharvested,andfarmersareyetto really start kharif sowings. TheUNFoodand Agriculture Organization (FAO) has,however, predicted “several successivewaves of invasions until July in RajasthanwitheastwardsurgesacrossnorthernIndiarightuptoBiharandOdisha”.ButafterJuly,there would bewestwardmovements oftheswarmsthatwillreturntoRajasthanonthebackofchangingwindsassociatedwith

thesouthwestmonsoon.Thedangeriswhentheystartbreeding.A

singlegregariousfemalelocustcanlay60-80eggsthreetimesduringitsaveragelifecycleof90days.Iftheirbreedingiscoterminouswiththat of thekharif crop,wecouldwell haveasituationsimilartowhatmaize,sorghumandwheatfarmersofKenya,EthiopiaandSomaliaexperiencedinMarch-April.

Howcanthesepestsbecontrolled?Historically, locust control has involved

spraying of organo-phospate pesticides onthenightrestingplacesofthelocusts.OnMay26,theIndianInstituteofSugarcaneResearch,Lucknow,advisedfarmerstospraychemicalslike lambdacyhalothirn, deltamethrin,fipronil,chlorpyriphos,ormalathiontocontroltheswarms.However,theCentrehadonMay14 banned the use of chlorpyriphos anddeltamethrin.Malathionisalsoincludedinthe list of banned chemicals but has beensubsequentlyallowed for locust control.Specialmountedgunsareusedtospray

the chemicals on the resting places andIndiahas50suchguns,and60moreareex-pected to arrive fromUK by the first weekof June.Dronesarealsobeingusedthisyear.

11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Whatneedstobespeciallydonetocontainthespreadof thedisease inMaharashtranow?Nothingvery special ordifferent from

whatwehavealreadybeendoing.Maybe,muchmorevigorouslyanddoggedly.Onethingthatdoesneedtohappenismorede-centralisation indecision-makingandal-locationofresources.Alockdown,thekindofwhichwesawatthenationallevel, isnolongersustainable.Suchstrategieswouldnowneed to be implemented at very lo-callevels,atthecommunitylevels,andtheauthorities who have to take these deci-sions need to be empowered suitably. InMumbai and Pune specifically, there arelotsofverycrowdedlocalitieswherephys-icaldistancingisverydifficulttomaintain.Therefore, home isolation is somethingthatmight not be very effective in theseenvironments. Weneedtoidentify,orcre-ate, isolationfacilities innearby localities,where relativelymilder patients can behoused, and these need to be equippedwiththings likeventilators, andalsowith

healthcare staff. Keeping people in quar-antine facilities that are nearer to theirhomesisnotjusteasierandfaster,butalsopsychologicallycomfortingforthepatientandthe family.Andthismaysoundboringandrepeti-

tive, butwemust continue tomake all ef-forts tokeepincreasingourtestingcapaci-ties, and our abilities to trace and isolatecontacts of confirmed positive cases.Weshouldtrytotraceandisolateeveryprimarycontact at least. I know tracing secondarycontactscanrequiremuchmoreenergyandeffort,andweareallalreadystretchedout.

Butwithtravelrestrictionsconsiderablyrelaxed,wouldthesecontainmentstrategiesstillwork?WesawcasesconsistentlyrisinginMaharashtraevenduringthelockdown.The lockdown restrictions had to be

eased.Itwasabsolutelynecessary,anditiswelcome.We did benefit from the lock-down to a certain extent. My concern isthatwestill don't seemtohavebeenableto create adequate healthcare infrastruc-ture in the time that the lockdown pro-videdus.Notthatwehaven'tbeenabletodo anything. There has been substantialscalingupofhealthresources,anda lotofwork has been done. But I am not surewhether it is still adequate for the enor-mity of the problem inMumbai.We arehearingthereisalreadyashortageofhos-pitalbeds in thecity.Another thing that the state govern-

mentprobablycandoisemploymoreand

moresurveillancestaff.Thesearethepeo-plewho have been going door to door tocollect health information from the peo-ple. Inmanycases, thesearethefirstonestoflagpossibilitiesof infectioninalocality.Currently, a lot of thesepeople are teach-ers or other employees who are nottrained for thispurpose.But this isan im-portant job thatwill help not just in con-tainmentofCovid-19butalso inother in-fectious diseases. At a timewhen severaljobsarebeing lost, this is alsoanemploy-mentopportunity that thestatecanoffer.

Butwill thenumberscontinuetorise,or is thereanypeakinsight?I don't thinkwe are at the peak right

now.Wedon'tevenknowwherethepeakis. Wearestillontheascendingcurve.Butwealsoneedtotakethefearoutofthepeo-ple.Politicalleaders,communityelders,andother influentialpeopleneedtokeeprein-forcingthismessagethataCoronavirusin-fectionisnottheendof theworld.Tomostpeople,itwouldnotmattermorethanafewdaysofsicknessandisolation.Butlotsoffearpersists.Attheotherextreme,wehaveseensome reckless behaviour aswell, whichdoes not care about physical distancingnorms.Boththesebehavioursareproblem-atic, andIdon't thinkthere isenoughhap-peningoncommunicationfront.

DrVineetaBal isan immunologistandavisitingprofessorat the Indian InstituteofScienceEducationandResearch (IISER) in

Pune. Shespoke toAmitabhSinha

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY28

IN 1993, as swarms of locusts started com-ing into Jaisalmer, Anil Sharma, a locustwarning officer, was asked by a senior offi-cial,“HowlocustcancometoIndiawhenwehave fencing on the (India-Pakistan) bor-der?” Sharma politely replied that locust isan insectandknowsnobarriers.As another locust swarm comes from

Pakistan, the spotlight is again on the India-Pakistandynamicthathascomeintoplay.TheMinistryofExternalAffairssaysithasreachedout toPakistan forcooperation,and isawait-ingtheirresponse.Despitetheupsanddownsin the bilateral relationship, cooperation onthe locustwarning systemhas survived thewars, terroristattacks,andpolitical turmoil.

History of outbreaksWhilelegendhasitthatlocustswerepart

oftheMahabharataduringKarna’sbattlewithArjuna, modern-day records suggest thatsincethebeginningofthe19thcentury,therehave been at least eight “outbreaks” in Indiafrom1812to1889,andaninthin1896-1897.According to history of the Locust

Warning Office published by the UN Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO), therewere “serious invasions” of locusts in Indiaevery few years during the 1900s. A “five-yearinvasion”from1926to1931isestimatedto have to have damaged cropsworth Rs 2crore (about$100millionat today’sprices).Theprincelystatesandprovinceshadtheir

ownstructurestodealwiththis,buttherewasnocoordination.Afterthe1926-32“invasion”,theBritishIndiangovernmentsponsoredare-searchscheme,starting1931,whichledtothepermanent LocustWarning Organization(LWO) in1939,with itsheadquarters inNewDelhiandasubstationinKarachi.In1941, a conferenceof princely states in

desertareasandprovincesaffectedbylocustswasheld.Itsrolewasexpandedin1942,andin1946abureaucraticstructurewasputinplace.

Beginning of cooperationIrantoosufferedlocustattacks,in1876,and

in1926-1932.“Apparentlythefirstcaseofcol-laborationbetweencountriesintheregionoc-curred in1942whenadelegation fromIndia

helpedwithlocustcontrolworkinsouthwestPersia. Over the next two years, Indianhelpwas also provided toOman andPersia. Thiswasfollowedbythefirstconferencewithintheregion onDesert Locust,whichwas held inTehranin1945andinvolvedIran, India,SaudiArabiaandEgypt…Asecondconferencetookplacein1950alsoinTehranwithPakistanpar-ticipating,”theFAOsays.In the 1950s, India and Iran cooperated

andPakistanprovidedtwoaircraftforlocustsurveys in Saudi Arabia. Following anotherattackduring1958-61,adecisionwas takentogroupIran,Afghanistan,PakistanandIndiatogetherandtheFAODesertLocustcommis-sionwas formed in 1964. The commissionheld annual sessions, skipped in 1965 and1999 but held in 1971. Even in the last sixyearswhen the relationship between Indiaand Pakistan has deteriorated, it has beenheld in2014,2016and2018.Themeetingsareattendedbylocustcon-

trol experts,withnodiplomats.

India and PakistanIn1977,thetwocountriesbegantomeet

on the border. From 1991 to 2003, specialborder surveys took place during the sum-mer,undertakenbylocustcontrolofficersintheir respectivecountries.Joint bordermeetings have taken place

every year since 2005 till 2019, except in2011.Thishasbeendespiteeverydiplomaticstrain, including the26/11Mumbaiattacks.MonthlymeetingsareheldbetweenJune

andOctober-November at Zero Point, westof Barmer, Rajasthan and east of Chor,Tharparkar. Three to fourofficers fromeachcountrynormallyattend.Eachcountrytakesturns at hosting themeeting on its respec-tive sideof theborder.Arrangements aremade in advance and

protocols are followed for crossing the bor-der. The meeting is held in the morning.“Fortnightly bulletins, FAO bulletins andmapsshowingsurveylocations,locustinfes-tations,greenvegetationandrainfall ineachcountry are exchanged and discussed,” thereporton their activities said.Whilepoliticsanddiplomacyiskeptoutof

the technical discussions, locust control au-thoritiesfeelthatoneofthemoredifficultchal-lengesfacedbythecommissionisthatof “in-securityandsensitivities”intheregion.

A joint fight by India andPakistan, over the years

Restrictions eased, whatMaharashtraneeds to do to control Covid spreadMaharashtraaccountsformorethanone-thirdof India’sCovidcases.Withrestrictionsrelaxedinmanyareas,animmunologist looksatthewayahead

ANEXPERTEXPLAINS

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 158,333 (4,531 DEATHS)

56,948Maharashtra

18,545Tamil Nadu

7,703Rajasthan

7,261MP

6,991 UP15,257 Delhi

15,195Gujarat

4,192West Bengal

3,061Bihar

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

3,171Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May28.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.67,692PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 2Assam 781Chandigarh 279Chhattisgarh 369DadarNagarHaveli 2Goa 68Haryana 1381HimachalPradesh 273JammuandKashmir 1921Jharkhand 448Karnataka 2418Kerala 1004Ladakh 53Manipur 44Meghalaya 20Mizoram 1Nagaland 4Odisha 1593Puducherry 46Punjab 2139Sikkim 1Telangana 2098Tripura 230Uttarakhand 469

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

163,120India

231,139Italy

181,918Germany

268,620United Kingdom

183,038France

236,769Spain

1,703,989US

411,821Brazil

159,797Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED:5,731,837 DEATHCOUNT:356,606Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay28. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

379,051Russia

DesertLocustGlobalforecastMay-July2020

DangerousSeriousThreatenedCaution

1Apr-14May2020■Swarms■Adultgroups

■Hopperbands■Hoppergroups

Themovementof locusts so far, andprojections. Source: FoodandAgricultureOrganizationof theUN

Springbreeding(Apr-Jun)

22//55//2200

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25/6/20

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

NON-ESSENTIAL surgeries have been sus-pended around the world because of theCovid-19pandemic.IntheUS,anewstudybyJohnsHopkinsUniversity researchers foundthatitmaytakebetweensevenand16monthsforsurgeonstocompletethebacklogofelec-tive orthopaedic surgeries. This accounts formore than amillion surgeries in the US forspinalfusionandkneeandhipreplacements.The study is published in The Journal of

Bone and Joint Surgery. Lead authorDr AmitJainsaidthatinfieldssuchasorthopaedicsur-gery,where procedures are frequently per-formed in an inpatient setting, the ramp-upmaybeslowerthansurgeriestypicallydoneinoutpatient facilities. “Wewill keepadding tothebacklogaslongaswearenotoperatingat100%capacity,” Jainsaidinastatement.Usinganationaldatabaseof hospital in-

patient data, Jain and colleaguesmodelledthenumberofcurrentandforecastspinalfu-sionandhipandkneereplacementsurgeriesintheUnitedStates.InanoptimisticscenariowheremostelectivesurgeriesarebacktofullcapacityinJune,itwouldtakeapproximatelysevenmonths to get through the backlog.Delays to theramp-upto full capacitycouldextendthebacklog to16months.To help ease the backlog, Jain has pro-

posedseveral strategies to increase surgicalthroughput, includingmoreuseof telemed-icine.Healsosuggestedmakingmoretimes-lots available in operating rooms for or-thopaedic surgeries.

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity

Surgeries heldup, how long toclear backlog?

Vineeta Bal

AlocustswarminJaipuronMonday.Theyarenotusuallyseen innon-dederturbanareas. PTI

12WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

STANDING ITS GROUNDEvenasitrepelsBeijing’s incursionsinLadakh,Delhimustguard

againstbeingovertakeninthewarofnarratives

THEINTERESTINGTHINGaboutUSPresidentDonaldTrump’sofferofmediationbetweenDelhiandBeijingisthatitwasmadeatall.ItislessaboutTrumpknock-ingtogethertheheadsofPrimeMinisterNarendraModiandPresidentXiJinpingthanabout signallingAmerican concerns about Sino-Indianmilitary tensions

thathavebecomefrequentandintense.ItcomesamidtheexpandingarcofconflictbetweentheUS andChina— from tradedisputes to coronavirus and fromHuawei toHongKong.DespitethemassiveandunprecedentedpolarisationintheUS,theUSpoliticalclasshascometogethertoprojecttheChinathreatandagreeontheneedforavigorouspush-back.Trump’sstatementmerelyextendstheargumentarticulatedafewdaysagobyAliceWells,aseniorofficialintheStateDepartment.WellswaslocatingChinesemuscle-flexingonthedisputedborderinthetrendofBeijing’saggressioninmanyareas, includingintheSouthChinaSea.Trump’soffer is bound to irritateChina. Beijing sees itself asWashington’s equalbut

hasconvinceditself thatChinaispoisedtoovertaketheUSasthepredominantpowerintheAsian theatre. It is especially galling for Beijing, since, not so long ago, Chinawasof-fering toworkwith theUS tomanage the conflicts betweenDelhi and Islamabad. IndiaandChinamighthavebeenequalswaybackinthe1990s;BeijingnolongerseesDelhi inthesameweightclass.ClubbingChinawithIndiawillbeseenasabigput-downinBeijing;andthat,probably,wasTrump’s intent.TherewasatimewhenDelhiusedto jumpatanyonetalkingabout“mediation”, es-

peciallyonKashmir.Butnowithas learnttheartof fendingoff thesebusy-bodieswithasmile. And then,Delhi discovered that it could, in fact, leverage international interest initsrelationswithIslamabadtoIndia’sadvantage. Inthelastfewyears, itmanagedtoredi-rect the international concerns onKashmir towards the sources of cross-border terror-ism in Pakistan. In fact, Delhi is actively “internationalising” the question of Pakistan’ssanctuaryandsupporttothosefomentingviolentextremisminKashmir.Similarly,DelhicanusetheglobalconcernsonaSino-IndianconflicttocounterthePLA'sforwardpolicy.InthenameofhandlingtheboundarydisputewithBeijinginapurelybilateralframework,Delhi has turned its China strategy into anopaqueprocess that neither thedomestic orinternationalpublicopinionunderstands.ThisisagoodmomentforIndiatopubliciseitscase for a reasonable boundary settlementwith China and contrast itwith Beijing’s in-satiable territorial greed. If winning thewar of narratives is important in today'sworld,standing one’s ground in amilitary standoff is absolutely critical. In a paradox, a Delhithat canrepelBeijing’smilitary incursionson itsownwill gainever-larger internationalpolitical anddiplomatic support for India's contestationwithChina.

UNSAFE JOURNEYSAsCourthasunderlined, safetyanddignityofmigrants is

responsibilityof states,Railways

AVIDEOCLIPof a toddler atMuzaffarpur railway station inBihar tugging at apieceofclothcoveringhisdeadmother,thatwentviralonWednesday,framesa continuing tragedy. In the firstweek ofMay, the IndianRailways startedShramikSpecialtrainstoferrybackhomemigrantworkers,whohavewaged

agrimstruggleforexistenceaftertheirlivelihoodsdriedupfollowingtheannouncementofthenationwidelockdownonMarch24.Forlargenumbersoftheseworkers,thesejourneyshasbeenarduous. Trainshavebeendelayed, and several havedeviated fromtheir routes.NinepeoplehavediedontheirwaybackhomeintheShramikSpecials.NowtheSupremeCourthas takencognisanceof thematter. Inan interimorderpassedonThursday,a three-judgebenchaskedthestateswherethejourneyoriginatestoprovidefoodandwatertopas-sengersatthestation. Itaskedtherailwaystoprovidethesameduringthejourney.Railwayofficialshaveclaimedthatthepeoplewhodiedonthespecialtrainshadbeen

“battlingmany illnesses”.But,byall accounts,most stategovernmentsandtherailwayshave given short shrift to arranging even the basic necessities on these special trains. Afirst-hand account published in this newspaper has highlighted the travails of the pas-sengerswhoboarded the Surat-Warangal Shramik Special onMay23. All norms of so-cial distancingwere floutedduring thebus ride to the railway station atUdhna.Duringthe10-hourtrain journeyinthesearingheat, foodandwaterwere inshortsupply,oftenleading to scuffles between the travellers. Thepassengershad to suffer the ignominyoffoodparcels andwaterbottlesbeinghurledat themfromacross theplatformwhenthetrainstoppedata station.The toiletswereunusable formostof the journey.ThestategovernmentsandtheIndianRailwaysmustrealisethatfacilitatingthemove-

mentof themigrants isnotanactof charity, it is theirdutyandresponsibility. Thework-ershavebeenforcedtoreturntotheirvillagesbecausetheurbanareasinwhichtheirwork-sitesarelocateddonotofferthemanysemblanceofsocialsecurity.Thejourneybackhomeshouldn’tbeacontinuationofthesagaof indignitythatbeganaftertheannouncementofthelockdown.Thehumanitarianimperativeofasafeanddignifiedjourneyfortheworkercannot be overstated. The authorities in the states and at the Centre should also realisethatthewaytheworkershavebeentreatedontheir journeycouldfurtherdiminishtheiralreadyshakenconfidenceinasystemtheyareanessentialpartof.Passengersinthespe-cial trainsmustbeprovidedwith foodandwaterandnormsof socialdistancingmustbeobserved—accountabilitymustbeenforced if this isnotdone.

NO SEX OR VIOLENCELights, camera, inaction. If theCOVID-19protocol suggestedbymovieproducers isextendedtoactors, itwouldruin theplot

THEPRODUCERSGUILDof India has developed a “newworking protocol” asfilmandTVcrewspreparetogoonsetafterthelockdownislifted. It isdread-fully sterile -- nohugging, kissingor sharingbadhabits, alwayswearmasksandgloves andkeep away fromanyone agedover 60. This iswhatwill hap-

pen behind the scenes. Butwhat if the sanitary and distancing normswe now live bywere tobeextendedto thecast?The immediateconsequencewouldbetheabolitionofsexandviolence,thetwoplotelementsonwhichtheentireedificeofpopularcinemarests.Forbothactivities,actorsmustgetreallycloseupandpersonal.Thecensorboardwouldsilently becomeextinct, too, but itwould not bemissed except by historians of cinemaand insecureneighbourhooduncles.However,masksandgloveswouldbe incharacter inboxing films, toanunsatisfying

degree. ImaginewatchingRagingBullwithonly the trainingbits— in realbouts, it’s justglovesandnopaddedheadgear.Superherofilmscouldprosper,too,sinceleadcharactersandtheirsidekicksaremaskedbydesign.Butitwouldbehardtotellthemapartfromstockcharacters like thugs, flatties, subhuman judges, corrupt politicians and innocent by-standersif they’realsomasked.Frustratingly, thesuperheroeswouldberobbedofphys-ical agencybydistancingnorms.Theplotwouldsuck.Themoviewouldbomb.Whatof love?Afterdecadesof struggletogetakisspast thecensors,mustweregress

tothecallowdeviceofdisplayingtwoluridlyTechnicolorflowerssuggestivelyintertwined,orbutterfliesflittingandsippinginrichlyflorescentgardens?Andtheinjunctiontospurnpeopleover60?Does itmeanthatanerahasendedwithoutourknowledge,becausewehadalreadyseenour lastAmitabhBachchanmovie,beforethe lockdown?

Trains on their mind

Pratap BhanuMehta

Bharati Puri

Deathof amotherata railwaystation,aconversation inHeaven

MY TEACHER, MY FRIENDOutstandingscholar,unforgettableteacher.RekhaJhanjiwassomuchmorethanthat

THESCENEIS,onceagain,Heaven.EminencesfromourHistoryarelazingaround,asalwaysboredoutof theirminds.Heaven is, afterall,in permanent Lockdown,withouthaving toworry about haircuts. Mohandas Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru, Hansa Mehta,Rabindranath Tagore, BhimRaoAmbedkar,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sri Aurobindo,Sarojini Naidu, Jayaprakash Narayan,Deendayal Upadhyaya aremilling around.Naradashowsuptoneedlethem.Narada: Hey, Jawahar! How come you

arestill inHeaven?Ithoughttheyweremov-ingyoutoHell.Didn’tyoudestroy Indiaandall that?Jawahar: Theywere trying to arrange a

third-classtraintickettoHellforme.Then,thelockdownhappened.SoIamstuck.Mohandas (admonishingly):While you

arestuck,readHindSwarajseriously,mydearJawahar.Remember, Iwrotetherethattrains“are the carriers of plague germs”. “TheRailwaystoohavespreadbubonicplague.”Jawahar (with apained expression): But

Bapu,youdiscoveredIndiathroughtrains.Kasturba: And Bapu, a train was your

moment of enlightenment. If you had notbeenthrownoff one, youwouldhaveneverwokenup.BhimRao:Gandhiji,didyounotalsowrite,

“OurleadingmentravelledIndiaeitheronfootoronbullockcarts.Theylearnedoneanother’slanguages and therewas no aloofness be-tweenthem.”Didyounotsaythatitwasaftertherailways“thatwebegantobelieveindis-tinctions?”Jinnah interjects: I toldyou, thisnewfel-

lowof yours, Narendra RanchoddasModi isjust likeMohan.Hemademillionsof Indianstravelonfootacrossthelengthandbreadthofthecountry.That tapasyawillmakethemallleadingmen, and Indiawill bewithout dis-tinctions.JustasMohansaid.Hehasmadeallof themShankaracharya(laughs).Sarojini: Er, Jinnah, I have caught you

watching an Indian film again. YoumeanNarendraDamodardasModi.Youshould re-specttheIndianPM.RanchoddasistheguyinThree Idiots,whohadissueswithhisdegree.Jinnah:Sorry,Sarojinibehn,alltheseHindi

rhyming names. Sometimes it is easy toconfuse.BhimsenJoshi:Adasisadas.(Breaksinto

Asavari Todi) “Main toh tumhro das, janamjanamse”.KMMunshi: Hey Jinnah,Narendra bhai

isbuildingabullet train.HansaMehta (whispers under her bre-

ath):Maybehegotmisledbythewordbullet.Mohandas (pained):MyGujarati broth-

ers alwaysmisunderstandme! I did tapasyamyself,neverbrutally imposeditonothers.BhimRaointerjects:Comehere,Vallabh-

bhai.Wearediscussingyourfavouritesubject,railways.TherealsteelframethatholdsIndiatogether.DisabuseMohanofhisnonsense.Vallabhbhai: I have fondmemories of

trains. In fact, I waited on a train for theprincelystatesofOrissatodelivertheirtreatiesofaccession.Goodthings, trains.VPMenon interjects: Sir, princely states

mayhavegiventheiraccessionontrains.Butsome states are now not accepting trains.Centre blames the states, states blame theCentre.Vallabhbhai:What?Can’t theCentreco-

ordinate?Weleft IndiaastrongCentre.Jayaprakash: Centre is strongwhenyou

want to lockdown,weakwhenyouwant toopenup.SameasinEmergency.Narada(looksatRabindranath):Whyare

yousosilent?Babu,kichubolo?Youwrotepo-emsonrailwaystations.DeenDayal (repeatingwith joy): Ihavea

railwaystationnamedafterme.Rabindranath (airily) recites his poem:

Somegetaboard/somestaybehind;succeedingboarding failingor remaining/Nothingbutpic-tureafterpicture/Whatevercatchestheeyeforamoment is erased the next moment after/Awhimsical game of self forgetting. (RailwayStation, translatedbyWilliamRadice).Sri Aurobindo: Sounds like “maya”. On

second thoughtsmore,more like socialme-dia—“whatevercatchestheeyeiserasedthenextmoment”.Bhim Rao snaps: Between Maya and

Tapasya,Indiaisdone.Peoplearedyingonrail-waytracks.Jawahar (turnstoRabindranath):Forget

thiswhimsical gameof self-forgetting.DidyounotseewhathappenedatMuzaffarpurstation? A toddler was pulling a cover offherdeadmother, imploringhertowakeup.Does not reality ever stare at you? I cannever think of a railway station withoutplayingthat imageinmymind.MaybeBapuis right: The railway station is the scene ofourmoral desolation. It spreads evil fasterthangoodness.Mohandas:Theyhaveforgottenmytalis-

man.Iwon’trepeatit.EvenIhaveforgottenit.

Somethingaboutthepoor.Someone (inaudibly)whispers: But did

thestationhavewi-fi?Vallabhbhai:Jawahar,youalwaysgetsen-

timental.Doyounot remember the trainsofdeathwedealtwithinPartition?Onetrainupwithdeadbodies,onetraindown.Godhraandtheaftermath.Ourtrainsarewhatwemakeofthem.Stopcrying.(Everyonelooksdown;sometrytosneak

alookat Jinnah’s face.)DeenDayal:Speakingof railwaytracks,

you all do know my body was found onone?Narada: Of course. Since you high-

mindedpeopleneverreadnovels,youneverpay attention to reality, let me tell you,Indians have always complained about dy-ing on railway tracks. Some guy calledRohintonMistry, in A Fine Balance, wroteabouttheEmergency,atimethatresemblesours in someways. One of his characters, apassengermiffed at a delayed train, com-plains, “Whydoes everyonehave to choosetherailwaytracksfordying?”Grumbledan-other: “No consideration for people like us.Murder,suicide,Naxalite-terroristkilling,po-lice custody death, everything ends up de-layingthetrains.Whatiswrongwithpoisonor tall buildingsorknives?”BhimRao: And nowhunger deaths on

tracks too…Wecomplainmore about howtheydiethanwhytheydie.Silencehangsintheair.SubhasBoseinterjects:Speakingoftrains

notrunningontime,Ioncehadbuddieswhomade the trains run on time.Mussolini rantrainsontime.Iamnotadvocatingit,butthinkaboutit.Maybeastoutdoseofdisciplineandthetrainswill runintime.BhimRao: In India, dictators cannot run

trainsontime.Andaswejustfoundout,theycannotevenensurethattrainsreachtherightdestination.Withthepassengersalive.Jawahar: I thinkIwill takeaflighttoHell.

Forgetthetrain.ToomuchdeHansaMehta: You can escape, butwhat

abouttheRepublic,Jawahar?Goatthespeedof a trainorwill it fly?Will itwalk to its des-tiny?Willitcollapseinthemiddle,exhausted?Andwe,likethetoddleratthestation,implor-ing themother towake up long after its lifehasbeeneviscerated.

Thewriter iscontributingeditor,TheIndianExpress

IN THIS PERIODof lockdownand inner tur-moil,whenthefearofdeathloomslargeandallof usare inconfinement, andwhenall famil-iar assumptions are called intoquestion, she—mybelovedteacher,ProfessorRekhaJhanji—leftquietlyonMay8.AsshelivedundertheruthlesswrathofAlzheimer’sforoveradecade,andastheworldaroundhernearlyforgother,she lived in aworld of her own. Aworld, Iwouldliketothink,ofreposeandequanimity.Andnowthatsheisgone,justasisitswont,

theworld iswaking up to the loss. They re-member her as an outstanding scholar andteacher of Indian aesthetics, existentialistthought,hermeneuticsandphenomenology,whotaughtseveralgenerationsofstudentsatPanjabUniversity, Chandigarh. Her accom-plishmentswere,indeed,many.Herbooksarewidelyreadandareonthereadinglistsofuni-versities and institutes in India and abroad.Herworkwaspublished in prominent jour-nals. She was president of the IndianPhilosophical Congress in 2009, consultingeditor for the IndianPhilosophicalQuarterly,fellow and executive editor at the IndianInstituteofAdvancedStudy,Shimla,andcoor-dinatoroftheCentreforSwamiVivekanandaStudies,2002-2005.Shewasanunforgettableteacher.Herlec-

tures,whether onwestern thinkers such as

Kant, Plotinus, Leo Strauss, Shaftesbury,Addison, Burke, Toynbee, Heidegger, Sartre,Camus,orontheIndian classicslikeBharata’sNatya Shastra, Sudraka’sMrichchhakatika,were deep and engrossing. I have not comeacrossmanywhowould straddle the twoparallel streams with such ease. In heryoungerdays, shehadearneda secondPhDfrom the University of Paris. She had gonetherewanting to study Sartre. Thiswas theperiod when the radicalism of the ParisSpringwas verymuch in the air, post ‘Mai1968’. Shewould tell us how she sat in CaféLesDeuxMagots,thecoffeehousewhichJeanPaul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir fre-quented—butsheneverwalkeduptoSartre’stabletotellhimshewaswritingherdisserta-tion onhim. She had the apprehension thatshewould lose themagicof a thinker. ItwasinParis,too,thattheinnercallingtostudyherowncultural-philosophicaltraditionsstirred,much before such a thing would becometrendyamongprofessional academicians inIndia.Shewasalreadyafull-blownprofessorwhen she decided to systematically learnSanskrit,andpedalledmanymilesonherbi-cycle toher teacher’shome.Butwhileshewasallthatinheracademic

persona, she was something else in heressence.Shewasafreespirityetaveryshyand

reclusiveperson,aromantic,anenigma.Manyof uswould seeherwalkingdown the corri-dor of thedepartment, absorbed in thought,her eyes deeply illuminated and friendly,somethingserenesurroundingher.Shenurtureddiverseinterests—painting,

music,gardening,travel,trekking.Shewalkedup to theMansarovar in her late 50s andpaintedexquisitewatercolours,an interplayofmyriadazures,captivatingandmeditative.She liked doing all this undetected, behindthe stage. Yet she kept an open house. Mythoughts turnback to thehomesheandherlifepartner,ProfessorBhupinderBrar,shared.Murli,theirhelp,cookedthemealsandRekhawould fuss over her grapefruit salad. Wewouldletourhairdownoverdinner,butthevery next day it was back to business andProfessor Jhanji would start her lecture asthoughwehadnever left theclassroom.Itwasintherefulgenceofherlifeandwork

thatwe,her students,werecraftingour lives.Eventually, someof usdisappointedher. Forlong, I felt Istoodtall inthatlist.PanjabUniversityhas lost adoyenneand

one of itsmost brilliant scholars. Goodbyebeloved teacher, friend andawonderful hu-manbeing.

ThewriterisanassociateprofessoratIIT,Delhi

BhimRao snaps: BetweenMaya and Tapasya, India isdone. People are dying onrailway tracks.Jawahar (turns toRabindranath): Forget thiswhimsical game of self-forgetting. Did you not seewhat happened atMuzaffarpur station? Atoddler was pulling a coveroff her dead mother,imploring her to wake up.Does not reality ever stare atyou? I can never think of arailway station withoutplaying that image in mymind. Maybe Bapu is right:The railway station is thescene of our moraldesolation. It spreads evilfaster than goodness.Mohandas: They haveforgotten my talisman. Iwon’t repeat it. Even I haveforgotten it. Somethingabout the poor.Someone (inaudibly)whispers: But did the stationhave wi-fi?

She would tell us how she satin Café Les Deux Magots,the coffee house which JeanPaul Sartre and Simone deBeauvoir frequented — butshe never walked up toSartre’s table to tell him shewas writing her dissertationon him. It was in Paris, too,that the inner calling tostudy her own cultural-philosophical traditionsstirred.

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,MAY29,2020WORDLYWISE

Cinema is a matter ofwhat's in the frameandwhat's out.

— MARTIN SCORSESETHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM VIOLENCEASTHESITUATIONinGoalpara,KamrupandNowgong, three trouble-torn districts ofLowerAssam,remainedunchanged,violencespread to new areas of Nowgong districtwherethearmywascalledyesterdaytoassistthe civil administration inmaintaining lawandorder. Police fired several rounds to dis-perse a violentmob inAthagonChapori vil-lageinNowgongdistrict.Tensionismountingin vast areas of the district and the panic-stricken people belonging to themajoritycommunity fled away to comparatively se-cureplaces inAuniatiSatra,BamungaonandVriangaon. At least 20 persons have beenkilledandmanyscores injured.

IMPHAL CURFEWAN INDEFINITE CURFEWwas clamped onImphal following the death of one of thewomen demonstrators protesting againstArmy operations inManipur. Immediatelyafter hearing of the death, hundreds ofwomenwhorunthefamousKhowalbazaarclosed down their shops andmarched to-wards the chief minister's house. The chiefminister,DorendraSingh,hasorderedajudi-cial inquiry into thedeath. In theafternoon,the All ManipurWomen’s Association andtheAllManipurGirlsOrganisation tookouta procession defying Section 144. They de-manded a concrete and clear decision fromthegovernmentnot tocall theArmy.

KHOMEINI’S MESSAGEIRAN’SNEWPARLIAMENT convenedwith awarning fromAyatollah Khomeini to be onguard against "plotters” and apublished ap-pealthatthe53UShostagesbehelduntiltheShahandhiswealtharereturnedandAmericapaysdamages.Khomeini’smessagemirroredthereligiousfervouroftheparliament,whichisdominatedbyhardlineclergymen.Themul-lahs, or priests,worewhite or black turbansin stark contrast to the red and gold hues oftheornatechamber."Maintainapolicyofnei-therEastnorWest inalldomesticaffairsandinternationalrelations",saidKhomeini'smes-sage, read to the opening session by theAyatollah'sson,Ahmad.

MAY 29, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY"The China-US ‘battle’ over Hong Kong is on. The US is free to play any cardsin its hand. Hong Kong is under China's sovereignty, and whatever actWashington passes is just wastepaper." — GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Both India and Japan share acommon interest in forging apartnership for Africa’sdevelopment. The COVID-19 crisis has nudged manycountries to engage in newformats. It is time for theQuad Plus, in which the US,India, Japan and Australiahave recently engaged othercountries such as the ROK,Vietnam, New Zealand,Israel and Brazil, to exchangeviews and proposecooperation with selectAfrican countries abuttingthe Indian Ocean.

Drawing closer in crisis Your LordshipsEditedexcerptsof a letter to justicesofSupremeCourt, fromseniormembersof theBaronthemigrantcrisis

IT ISWITHgreat anguish anddismay thatwewritetoyouasthecitizensof Indiaandseniormembers of the Bar. The SupremeCourt (SC)hasapivotalconstitutional roleinprotectingandsafeguarding the funda-mentalrightsandfreedomsof thecitizensof this country, and particularly the vastswathes of our populationwho eke out aliving near or below the poverty line orminimumwage. The SC’s constitutionalroleanddutyassumeevengreater impor-tance in the time of a crisis, such as thepresent when the entire country and itseconomywas “lockeddown” fromMarch24byanorder of the central government.Morethan75percentof the Indianwork-forceearntheir livelihoodsintheinformalorunorganisedsector,andforthem,astop-pageof economic activity in theMedium,SmallandMicrosectorshasresulted inanimmediatelossof livelihoodandthemeansof sustenance.The“lockdown”wasimposedonMarch

24withoutanyconsiderationbeingpaidtotheplightof thesepoor, especiallymigrantlabourearningtheirlivelihoodinthemajorcities, and forwhomsocial distancingwasand is a utopian impossibility. These poorcitizenswerefacedwiththeprospectofbe-ing cooped up in small cramped tene-ments/roomsoronthepavements,withoutanyemploymentorlivelihoodorevenadef-inite source of food andwere thus com-pelled to startwalking back to their homestates,oftenthousandsofkilometresaway,withlittlechildren,familymembersoreld-erlyparents.Theywereforcedtodosoasthecentral government's lockdownhad pre-cluded them from taking trains or busesbacktotheirhometowns.Whilehearingpublicinterestlitigation

ontheplightof themigrantworkers,AlakhAlokSrivastavav.UnionofIndia, theSCcon-sidered the Status Report filed by thelearnedSolicitorGeneral,representingtheUnion of India,which referred to the gov-ernment’s circular datedMarch 29, pro-hibitingmovement and transportation ofmigrant labourers and a direction to shiftthem to relief shelter homes and reliefcamps instead and the Solicitor General’sstatement before this Court that as ofMarch31,“nomigrantpersonwaswalkingontheroadsinanattempttoreachhis/herhome towns villages”. The SC, vide orderdated31.03.2020,expressedsatisfactionatthe steps taken by the Union of India tocombat COVID-19 and proceeded to ob-serve that “the migration of labourersworkinginthecitieswastriggeredbypaniccreated by fake news that the lockdownwouldcontinue formore than3months”.As a consequence of the Court’s failure tointervene, even though the number ofCOVIDcaseswasonlyafewhundredatthetime,themillionsofmigrantworkerswereunabletoproceedtotheirhometowns.Thisenforcedstayincrampedquartersonlyex-posed poorworkers to a higher risk of in-fection.Moreover,thegovernment’sstate-ment has been clearly shown to becontrary to the facts. Several reports sug-gestthatmorethan90percentofmigrantworkers did not receive government ra-tions in many states andwere sufferingfromdire foodshortages.TheSC’sfailuretointerveneinMarchre-

sultedinamassivemigrationofmillionsofworkers by earlyMay— theywere fed upwithbeingvirtuallyincarceratedforthepre-vioussixweeks.Bythistime,theCOVIDin-fections in thecountryhadcrossed50,000

andasignificantnumberofmigrantwork-erswerealsoinfected.Evenatthisstage,thegovernmentinitiallysoughttoobstructtheirtravel/movement on foot or by trucks.Subsequently, the government agreed totheirmovementbybusandtrains(ShramikSpecials).However,evenwhenthearrange-mentsweremade,onerousconditionsweresought tobe imposedonthem,suchasob-taining amedical certificate after gettingthemselves tested at great cost to them-selves.When arrangementsweremade totransportthembyroad,theywereoftenleftatthebordersofthereceivingstates,whichattimeswereunwillingtomakeanyfurtherarrangements for them to reach theirhomes,almostasifthiswasnotonecountrtywithacommoncitizenship.Therighttolife,libertyand freedomofmovementof thesehapless poormillionswas rendered virtu-allymeaningless.OnMay15, a three-judgebenchof the

SC dismissed an application seeking im-mediate directions to all the districtmag-istrates to identify themigrant workerswho arewalking on roads, provide themwith appropriate food and shelter facilityandfacilitatetheirtravelbacktotheirhomestates free of cost.Without going into themerits, thesaidapplicationwasdismissedanditwasleftforthestategovernmentstosort this out.We respectfully submit thatthis institutional deference to statementsmadeonbehalfof thegovernmentandtheCourt’sapparent indifferencetothisenor-moushumanitariancrisis,wouldifnotrec-tified immediately, amount to the Courthavingabdicateditsconstitutionalroleandduty to these teeming millions of poor,hungrymigrants.Amidtheexecutive-imposedCOVID-19

lockdowns, the Court cannot retreat intoself-effacing deference, leavingmillions ofIndian citizens, especially thosewho arepoorandvulnerable,tothemercyoftheex-ecutive, reminding us of ADM Jabalpurwhen detenues were left to the tendermercy of the executive with “DiamondbrightDiamondhard”hopethatsomethingwouldbedone.This Court has the power bestowedby

theConstitution of India underArticle 142to undertake anymeasure to do completejustice. The showof helplessness does nojusticetothemottoofthiscourt“Yatodhar-mastatojaya”.WebelievethatthesurvivalofIndiandemocracyandtheruleoflaw,partic-ularlyinthecurrentCOVID-19pandemic,isdependentontheCourtactivelyfulfillingitsconstitutionalobligation.Themigrantworkers' crisis is continu-

ing even today,withmillions still strandedon roads, at railway stations and state bor-ders.Weurge the SupremeCourt to inter-vene and ensure that adequate transportarrangements,foodandshelterareimmedi-atelyprovidedbytheCentralandstategov-ernmentsfreeofcost.Atthistime,werecallthewordsofMartinLutherKingJr.whosaid:“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justiceeverywhere”.

PChidambaram,AnandGrover, IndiraJaising,MohanKatarki,SiddarthLuthra,SantoshPaul,MahalaxmiPavani,KapilSibal,ChanderUdaySingh,VikasSingh,PrashantBhushan, IqbalChagla,AspiChinoy,MihirDesai, JanakDwarkadas,Rajani Iyer,YusufMuchhala,RajivPatil,NavrozSeervai,GayatriSingh,Sanjay

Singhvi.Fullversionofthisarticle isavailableat indianexpress.com

AFRICADAY IS observed every year onMay25 to commemorate the founding of theOrganisation of African Unity (now knownastheAfricanUnion). Indiahasbeencloselyassociatedwith it on account of its sharedcolonialpastandrichcontemporaryties.TheManohar Parrikar Institute for DefenceStudies and Analyses has hosted an AfricaDay Round Table annually for the last fouryearsinordertocommemoratethisepochalevent.Thisyear,however,theCOVID-19pan-demichasmarred the celebrations in India.Africa,too,hascometoastandstillduetothecoronavirus.TheWorld Bank’s Africa’s Pulse, a bian-

nual analysis of the near-termmacroeco-nomicoutlookfortheregion,initsApril9re-port, assessed that the COVID-19 outbreakhassparkedoff theSub-SaharanAfrica(SSA)region’sfirstrecessionin25years.Growthisexpected toplummet tobetween -2.1 and -5.1 per cent in 2020, from amodest 2.4 percentin2019.WithhighratesofHIV,malaria,diabetes,hypertensionandmalnourishmentprevalent, a large number of Africanswerealready facedwith a health and economiccrisis.Thesteepdeclineincommoditypriceshas spelt disaster for the economies ofNigeria, ZambiaandAngola.Precariousfiscalpositionshaveruledout

anymajor governmental stimulus. Publicdebt hasmounted. According to theWorldBank,theSSAregionpaid$35.8billioninto-tal debt service in 2018, 2.1 per cent of re-gional gross domestic product (GDP).Together, African countries have sought a$100billionrescuepackage, includinga$44billion waiver of interest payment by theworld’s20largesteconomies.TheIMF’sdebtservicereliefof $500millionismeantfor25countries ofwhich 19 are inAfrica, but thatis a drop in the bucket. It is clear thatwith-out outside support, Africawill find it verydifficult tomeet thechallenge.Africa’srichnaturalresources, long-term

economic potential, youthful demographyand influence as a bloc of 54 countries inmulti-lateralorganisationsisapparent.Inre-centyears,severalextra-regionaleconomieshave strengthened their engagementwithAfricanstates,withaneyetorisingeconomicopportunities, including in energy,mining,infrastructure and connectivity. China’s en-gagementofAfrica,aselsewhere,ishugebutincreasingly regarded as predatory and ex-ploitative.ItsannualtradewithAfricain2019stood at $208 billion, in addition to invest-ments and loans worth $200 billion.Traditionally, China’s participation in infra-structure projects has been astonishing.Having famously built the 1,860 kmTanzania-Zambia railway line in 1975, andthe Addis Ababa-Djibouti andMombasa-Nairobi lines more recently, China is noweyeingtodevelopthevastEastAfricaMasterRailwayPlan.It is also developing the Trans-Maghreb

Highway, theMambilla Hydropower PlantinNigeria,theWalvisBayContainerTerminalin Windhoek and the Caculo CabacaHydropowerprojectinAngola.AttheForumfor China-Africa Cooperation (COCAC) in2018,Chinasetaside$60billion indevelop-mental assistance, followedby awhopping

$1billionBelt andRoad (BRI) InfrastructureFund forAfrica. Chinahas followedupwithrobusthealth sectordiplomacy in thewakeof thepandemic,but its imagehasbeentar-nishedbydefectivesuppliesofPPEgearanddiscriminatorybehaviouragainstAfricansinGuangzhou, leading to an embarrassingdiplomatic row.Japanhostedthe7thTokyoInternational

ConferenceforAfricanDevelopment(TICAD)inAugust 2019. Russia hosted the first-everRussia-AfricaSummitlastyear.Brazil,hometothelargestpopulationofpeopleofAfricandescentoutsideof Africa, hasalso sought todevelop closer ties. Cuba has sentmedicalteamstohelpAfrica.In the last few years, Prime Minister

NarendraModi has redefined India’s rela-tionswithAfrica. India-Africatradereached$62billion in2018compared to$39billionduring 2009-10. After South Asia, Africa isthesecond-largestrecipientof Indianover-seas assistance with Lines of Credit (LOC)worthnearly$10billion (42per centof thetotal) spread over 100 projects in 41 coun-tries. Ties were boosted at the India AfricaForum Summit (IAFS) in 2015. Forty percent of all training and capacity buildingslotsundertheITECprogrammehavetradi-tionally been reserved for Africa.Approximately6,000Indiansoldiersarede-ployed in UN peace-keeping missions infive conflict zones inAfrica. Bilateral coop-erationincludessolarenergydevelopment,information technology, cyber security,maritime security, disaster relief, counter-terrorism andmilitary training. India hasalso launchedseveral initiatives todevelopcloser relations, including the first-everIndia Africa DefenceMinisters conclave inFebruary this year on the margins of theDefence Expo 2020. India provides about50,000 scholarships to African studentseachyear.ThehugeIndiandiasporaisama-jor asset.India had planned to host the Fourth

India Africa Forum Summit in Septemberthisyear.However, theCOVID-19pandemicmaycauseittobedelayed. Indiahasalreadydespatchedmedicalassistanceto25AfricancountriesandPMModihashadatelephonictalk with President Cyril Ramaphosa ofSouthAfricawhoisthecurrentchairpersonof theAfricanUnion, and separately otherssuch as the presidents of Uganda andEthiopia. Minister of External Affairs SJaishankarhasalso reachedout tocounter-

parts inAfricatoreiterate India’ssupport inthefightagainstthecoronavirus. Indiacouldconsiderstructuringaseriesofvirtualsum-mits in zonal groups with African leadersacross the continent over the next fewmonths that couldbothprovide aplatformforacooperative response to thepandemicand also serve as a precursor to the actualsummit in the future.There are several other ideas that could

be pushed to deepen India’s engagementwithAfrica. TheMinistryof ExternalAffairshas already extended the e-ITEC course on“COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevention andManagement Guidelines for HealthcareProfessionals” to healthcare workers inAfrica.TheAarogyaSetuAppandtheE-GramSwaraj App for rural areas for mappingCOVID-19 are technological achievementsthat could be sharedwith Africa. Since themovement of African students to India forhigher education has been disrupted, Indiamay expand the e-VidyaBharti (tele educa-tion) project to establish an India-AfricaVirtual University. Agriculture and food se-curity can also be a fulcrum for deepeningties.WiththelocustscourgedevastatingtheHornofAfricaandthepandemicworseningthe food crisis, India could ramp up its col-laboration in this sector.India could also create a new fund for

Africa and adapt its grant-in-aid assistancetoreflectthecurrentpriorities.Thiscouldin-clude support for new investment projectsby Indian entrepreneurs especially in thepharmaceutical and healthcare sectors inAfrica.BothIndiaandJapanshareacommonin-

terestinforgingapartnershipforAfrica’sde-velopment.TheCOVID-19crisishasnudgedmanycountriestoengageinnewformats. Itis time for the Quad Plus, in which the US,India, Japan andAustralia have recently en-gaged other countries such as the ROK,Vietnam, NewZealand, Israel and Brazil, toexchange views and propose cooperationwith select African countries abutting theIndianOcean.Afterall,theIndo-Pacificstrad-dles theentiremaritimespaceof the IndianOcean.ThepandemicisacolossalchallengebutitmaycreatefreshopportunitiestobringIndiaandAfricacloser together.

Thewriter isa formerambassadorandcurrentlydirectorgeneralof theManoharParrikar Institute forDefenceStudiesandAnalyses,NewDelhi.Viewsarepersonal

SujanR. Chinoy

NEHRU’S WAY

THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘TrumpwadesintoIndia-Chinafirsttime,Beijingsays border situation controllable’ (IE,May 28). This is not the first time thattheUSpresident has tried to interveneinbilateralissuesbetweenIndiaandherneighbours.Earlier,heofferedtomedi-ate between India and Pakistan overKashmir issue. Jawaharlal Nehru, fol-lowing the policy of non-alignment,keptanequaldistancefromtheUSandUSSR . Indianshould revisit thatpolicy.Atthesametime,itshouldhavefriendlyrelationswithall itsneighbours.

AnilKumar Jain, Jaipur

SAVARKAR’S CONTEXTTHIS REFERS TO the article,'Misunderstoodrevolutionary'(IE,May28). The Unionminister does well topoint out the similarities betweenVDSavarkarandBRAmbedkar.Totakethebest out of everything is wise, yet wemust also remember the context ofSavarkar'slife.Thisisjusttoensurethatby normalising one aspect of Savarkar(patriotism)we don't end up normal-isingtheotherproblematicaspects(hisdivisivecommunal ideology).

AbhijeetYadav,Gurgaon

LOCKDOWN DRAMATHISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Losingtheplot’ (May, 28). The blatant use of the

pandemic for political gains inMaharashtra is deplorable. TheOpposition’scallforPresident'sruleisir-responsible. Equally irresponsiblewasthestategovernment’sknee-jerkbanoninter-districtmovement.

SBBhalerao,Mumbai

DON’T COMPARETHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Asoberingcomparison’(IE,May28).Itdoesn'ttakemuch effort to realise that all compar-isons of the COVID-19 response havepolitical overtones. Every country hasits own unique challenges. Our focusshouldbeonsharingstrategiestomin-imise the losseverywhere.

AnirudhParashar,Solan

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

ONMARCH25,despite fewernotifiedcasescomparedtoothercountries, Indiacloseditsinternational borders and enforced a lock-down. It adopted social distancing, testingandcitizenisolation,withaclarioncalltotheprivate sector and entrepreneur who spe-cialiseinlow-costinnovationstosupportthegovernmentinthishourofcrisis.Theeffortsof the Indian government are beingwidelyappreciatedacrosstheglobeandbyinterna-tionalorganisations like theWHO.Globaleffortstodevelopavaccineagainst

COVID-19 are progressing at an unprece-dented pace, but a quick-fix solution is notyetaroundthecornerandwehavetobepre-paredformyriadoutcomes.Evenifavaccineis developed before December, getting it toourlargepopulationwillcertainlytakesometime. This is a serious concern that the gov-ernment isgrapplingwith.Approximately70percentof thehealth-

careservicesinIndiaareprovidedbyprivateplayers.Ifprivatehealthcarecrumblesduetoeconomicconstraintsorotherfactors,India’sentirehealthcaresystemcancrumble.India has a doctor-to-population ratio

well below the level recommended by the

WHO—1:1,445,which addsup to a total ofroughly1,159,000doctors.TheWHOsaystheidealratiois1:1,000.ConsideringIndia’spop-ulation, the number of doctors needed tomeet this ratiowouldbe roughly1,674,800.If only government hospital doctors are in-cluded,Indiahasoneallopathicgovernmentdoctorforevery10,926people,accordingtothe National Health Profile 2019 of theCentralBureauofHealthIntelligence(CBHI).As per an estimate, India has a shortage ofabout6lakhdoctorsand20lakhnursesandanevengreaternumberofsupportingmed-ical staff.India has handled the COVID-19 pan-

demicexceptionallywell.However, consid-ering the rise in the number of infections,Indiaisindireneedofmoremedicalstaffandamenities.Accordingtothehealthministry,India has 9,50,000 active doctors. Since thehealthministryhaspredictedthenumberofcaseswouldpeakat8,26,000,thenumberofdoctors seems absurdly low. If the govern-mentwantstostaysuccessful infightingtheCOVID-19pandemic,itneedstorapidlybuildmedical institutions and increase thenum-berof doctors.

There seems to be a long battle ahead.Thepublichealthcaresystemcannotbeim-provedovernight.ThearmythatIndianeedsis a large private health sector that can sus-tainthebattleagainstthecoronavirusaswellasotherthreatsthatwemightfaceinthe21stcentury.Therearemultiplewaysforthegov-ernmenttoundothemistakesofthepastandcreateamedicalsystemadeptatfightinganyemergency.If Indiawantstoachievea1:1,000ratio, it

willneedanadditional2.07milliondoctorsby 2030. For this, the government needs toincrease its spendingonthehealthsector. Itneeds to aid attempts at constructing newmedical institutes. Thearrangement canbeasemi-privateorpublic-privatepartnership.Encouraging private parties to profit fromtheir institutes while providing India withdoctors will have two effects: The doctordeficit that India is facingwill beeradicatedand the economywill get amuch-neededboost fromanalmostuntappedmarket.If the government wants to achieve an

idealratioofhealthcareworkerstothecoun-try’spopulationandcreateadequatehealthinfrastructure, it is of utmost importance to

bringinFDItothesector.Weneedtofurtherstrengthen biomedical research and investincuttingedge“made in India”health tech-nologies.Wemustmake it easier for healthtechnologystart-upsbygivingthemtaxcuts.Scientific innovation is the key and the pri-vatesectorcancontributetothisarea.Ifafewof these stepsare takenby thegovernment,the Indian healthcare systemwill be re-gardedasoneof thebest in theworld.Mostimportantly, when, if ever, a similar kind ofsituation resurfaces, we will be well pre-pared.Only a healthy nation can grow. The

COVID-19 pandemic has presented Indiawith an opportunity. The Indian healthcaresystemcangothrougharadicaloverhauling,where it canbemore sustainable aswell asresponsive. The economic package an-nouncedby the PrimeMinister andofferedbythefinanceministrysetsthetone.Thepri-vate sector can be the flagbearer of thismovement towards ahealthy, fast-growingnation.

Thewriter isaBJPLokSabhaMPforGodda,Jharkhand.Viewsarepersonal

Asitrampsuppublichealthcare,Indiamustgivemoreroomtoprivatesector

A health partnership

NishikantDubey

IDEASONLINE

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14THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

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BANGLADESH

GovtoptsforrestrictedreopeningDhaka: Bangladesh onThursday issuedanorderallowing restricted re-openingof theofficesandtransport services fromMay 31as the countryrecorded2029newcases—thehighestinaday."Allgovernment/semi-gov-ernment, autonomousandprivateofficeswill re-main open in a limitedscale under their ownmanagement (fromMay31),”readtheCabinetdivi-sion order. But the orderexempted "vulnerablepeople, sick employeesand pregnant women"fromattendingofficesanddirected that allmeetingswouldbeheldthroughvir-tualmedia.

InMunshiganj.Reuters/File

PANDEMICWATCH

UNITEDKINGDOM

Borisaidemade‘minorbreach’ofcurbsLondon: British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson'stop aide, DominicCummings, might beguiltyofa“minorbreach”of the legal regulationwhen he took a journeyduring the coronavirusstay-at-home lockdownlast month, UK policeconcluded on Thursday.Downing Street said theUK PM considers thematter closed followingthe latest development."The primeminister hassaid he believes MrCummings behaved rea-sonablyandlegallygivenallthecircumstancesandhe regards this issue asclosed,"aDowningStreetspokesmansaid.

NEPAL

With156newcases,totalcrosses1,000Kathmandu: Nepal onThursday registered itshighest single-day surgein the coronavirus caseswith156newinfections,takingtheCOVID-19tallyin the Himalayan nationto1,042, thehealthmin-istrysaid.Amongthe156newlyinfectedpeople,12are women. The newlyconfirmedCOVID-19pa-tients were aged be-tween 2 and 70, accord-ing to the Ministry ofHealth and Population.Dhanusha, Jhapa andRautahat districts, bor-dering India, have re-ported29,25and20newcases respectively in thelast 24hours, it said.

RUSSIA

CasesseeupwardtrendMoscow:Russiaiscontin-uingtoseehighnumbersofnewcaseseventhoughits far-flung regions haveincreasinglymovedtore-open the economy. Thegovernment's anti-coro-navirus task force re-ported 8,371 new infec-tionsThursday,aboutthesame as in the previousday and lower than thepeak levels of more than11,000 cases earlier thismonth. Thetotalnumberof infections topped379,000, the world'sthird-largestcaseloadbe-hind the US and Brazil.Russianofficialsreported174 new deaths, repeat-ing the highest daily tollrecordedtwodaysago.

PROTESTERS INHONGKONGhadhitthestreets,defyingdistancingnorms

‘SUBVERSION’, ‘SECESSION’amongactsChinawillbeable tosuppress

U.S. CALLSSECURITYCOUNCILmeeting,Chinahitsback

KEITHBRADSHERBEIJING,MAY28

CHINAOFFICIALLYhasthebroadpower to quash unrest in HongKong,asthecountry’slegislatureonThursdaynearlyunanimouslyapprovedaplantosuppresssub-version,secession,terrorismandseemingly any acts that mightthreatennationalsecurity inthesemiautonomouscity.As Beijing hashes out the

specifics of thenational securitylegislation in the comingweeks,thefinalruleswillhelpdeterminethe fate of HongKong, includinghowmuchofthecity’sautonomywill be preserved or howmuchBeijingwill tightenitsgrip.Early signals from Chinese

authoritiespointtoacrackdownonce the lawtakeseffect,whichisexpectedbySeptember.Activist groups could be

banned. Courts could imposelong jail sentences for nationalsecurity violations. China’sfeared security agencies couldoperateopenly in thecity.EvenHongKong’schiefexec-

utivethisweekappearedtohintthat certain civil libertiesmightnot be an enduring feature ofHong Kong life. “We are a veryfree society, so for the time be-ing, peoplehave the freedomtosaywhatever theywant to say,”said the chief executive, CarrieLam, noting, “Rights and free-domsarenotabsolute.”China’s premier, Li Keqiang,

tried to strike anoptimistic noteabout thenational security law,sayingonThursday that itwouldprovideforthe“steadyimplemen-tationofthe‘onecountry,twosys-tems’” political framework thathas enshrinedHongKong’s rela-tiveautonomysince the territorywas reclaimedbyChina in1997.

Therules,thepremiersaid,wouldprotect “HongKong’s long-termprosperityandstability.”A protest on Sunday — the

city’sfirstlarge-scaledemonstra-tionsincetheoutbreak —under-scored the depth of many resi-dents’ outrage and fear aboutBeijing’s national security push.Theprotesters floutedsocialdis-tancingrulesandpolicewarningsagainst illegalassemblies.NYT

‘IF THEY INVESTED IN HEALTH SECTOR...THINGS WOULD LOOK VERY DIFFERENT’

‘It’s not the virus’: Mexico’s broken hospitals become killers, tooNATALIEKITROEFF&PAULINAVILLEGASMAY28

THESENSELESSdeathstormentdoctors and nurses the most:Themanwho died because aninexperiencednurseunpluggedhis ventilator. The patient whodied from septic shock becausenoonemonitoredhisvitalsigns.The people whose breathingtubes clogged after being aban-doned in their hospital beds forhoursonend.In Mexico, it’s not just the

coronavirusthatisclaiminglives.Thecountry’sbrokenhealthsys-temiskillingpeopleaswell.Years of neglect had already

hobbledMexico’shealthcaresys-

tem,leavingitdangerouslyshortofdoctors,nursesandequipmentto fight a virus that has over-whelmedfarrichernations.Now, the pandemic ismak-

ingmattersmuchworse,sicken-ingmore than 11,000Mexicanhealth workers — one of thehighestrates intheworld—anddepletingthealreadythinranksinhospitals.Somehospitalshavelosthalf their staff to illness andabsenteeism.Othersarerunninglow on basic equipment, likeheartmonitors.Patients die because they’re

giventhewrongmedications,orthewrongdose,healthworkerssay. The protective gloves atsome hospitals are so old thatthey crack themoment they’reslippedon,nursessay.Peopleare

oftennotsedatedproperly,thenwakeupandyankouttheirownbreathing tubes, hospital em-ployees say.

AdrianadelaCruz,anurseatDr. Belisario Domínguez hospi-tal in the southeast corner of

Mexico City, said the over-stretched and often under-trained work force has madeglaringerrors—atgreat cost.“Peoplehavediedbecauseof

a lack of medical attention andbecauseofnegligence,”saidMs.delaCruz.“Thesepatientswouldhaveabetterchanceofsurvivingifwecouldofferbetter care.”The Mexican government

spends less on health care as apercentofitseconomythanmostcountries in the WesternHemisphere, according to theWorld Bank, and PresidentAndrésManuel López Obradorpresidedoverspendingcutsevenafteracknowledginghiscountryhad 200,000 fewer health careworkers thanitneeded.When the epidemic hit

MexicoinMarch,manyhospitalssent front-lineworkers to con-frontthedelugeofcaseswithoutany protective equipment ortraining. Some nurses say theywere told not towearmasks toavoid causing panic. Many saythey were forced to buy faceshieldsandgoggles themselves.The fallout has been severe.

About one in five confirmedcasesinMexicoarehealthwork-ers—agreater share than in theUnitedStates, ItalyorChina.Mexico’soutbreakisgrowing

quickly and shows no signs ofslowing. Cases and deaths haveriseneveryweekforthelastcou-ple of months, hitting MexicoCityandBajaCalifornia,whichin-cludesTijuana,particularlyhard.The hospital has never had

enoughsupplies,said IvetteDíaz,anintensivecarenurse.Bandagesdon’t stick to patients becausethey’velosttheiradhesive.Butaf-terhercolleaguesblockedroadsleading into the hospital lastmonth,executivesbeganprovid-ingmore protective equipment.Still,themasksthattheygaveoutwere perforated, because of amanufacturingflaw,Díazsaid.“IfhereinMexicotheyinvested

inthehealthsector,ifwehadade-quatematerials,thingswouldlookverydifferent,”shesaid.Shespentherdayoffrecently

scouringthestreetsofherneigh-borhood until she found a localvendor to sell her a batch ofmasks. She paid $7 for each, asmall price for a mask free ofholes, shedecided. NYT

In Iztapalapa,astheoutbreakcontinues inMexicoCity.Reuters

Local residentswatchanewsshowabout thenewnational security legislation, inHongKongonThursday. NYT

YOSHITASINGHUNITEDNATIONS,MAY28

THEUS and China clashed overHong Kong at the UN SecurityCouncil,withWashingtoncallingameetingoverthecontroversialnationalsecuritylawintroducedbyBeijingtotightenitscontrolontheformerBritishcolony.TheUSMissiontotheUNon

Wednesday saidWashingtonwas "deeply concerned by ac-tions taken by the People'sRepublicofChina(PRC)NationalPeople's Congress that funda-

mentally undermine HongKong'shighdegreeofautonomyandfreedomsasguaranteedun-der the Sino-British JointDeclaration of 1984,whichwas

registered with the UN as alegally binding treaty and theBasic Law (of the Hong KongSpecialAdministrativeRegion).The USmission added that

theUnitedStateshadcalled foravirtualmeetingof theSecurityCouncil onWednesday to dis-cuss theseactsandChina'spro-posednationalsecurity lawthatwould threaten Hong Kong'sdemocratic institutions andcivil liberties.China's Ambassador to the

UNZhang Junhit backat theUS,sayingBeijingcategoricallyrejectsthebaselessrequestof theUSfor

aSecurityCouncilmeeting."Legislation on national se-

curity for Hong Kong is purelyChina's internal affairs. It hasnothingtodowiththemandateof the Security Council,” hetweeted.The Chinese envoy added

that"factsproveagainandagainthat theUS is the troublemakerof theworld." "It is the USwhohas violated its commitmentsunder the international law.China urges the US to immedi-ately stop its powerpolitics andbullying practices," the Chineseenvoysaid. PTI

REUTERS&PTIREUTERS,MAY28

THE US has surpassed the "sadmilestone"ofoveronelakhcoro-navirus-linkeddeaths,thehigh-est in the world, PresidentTrump acknowledged onThursday,somefourmonthsaf-ter he said the situation in thecountrywas"totallyundercon-trol"andassuredthenationthatitwas"going tobe just fine"."Wehavejustreachedavery

sadmilestonewith the coron-avirus pandemic deaths reach-ing 100,000," Trump tweeted,hours after the country regis-tered thegrimfigure."To all of the families &

friends of those who havepassed, I want to extend myheartfelt sympathy & love foreverythingthatthesegreatpeo-plestoodfor&represent.Godbewithyou!" thepresidentwrote.“We have it totally under

control,” Trump said on CNBCon January 22. “It's one personcoming in from China, and wehave it under control. It's goingtobe just fine.”Trump initially said "50 to

60,000"peoplecoulddieduringtheoutbreakbutthismonththe

president said he was hopefulthe toll would be lower than100,000.About1,400Americanshave

diedonaverageeachdayinMay,down from a peak of 2,000 inApril, aspera tally.In about threemonths,more

Americans have died fromCOVID-19thanduringtheKoreanWar, VietnamWar and the USconflict in Iraq from2003-2011combined. The disease has alsokilledmorepeoplethantheAIDSepidemicdid from1981through1989,anditisfardeadlierthantheseasonalfluhasbeenindecades.

ADITIKHANNALONDON,MAY28

A NEW test and trace serviceoperatedbytheNationalHealthService (NHS) got underway inEngland and Scotland onThursday as the next stage inthe fight against the coron-avirus pandemic and bringingtheUKoutof lockdowningrad-ual steps.TheUKgovernmentsaidthe

new service will help identify,containandcontrolcoronavirusand reduce the spread of thedeadlyvirus,whichhasclaimedover 37,000 lives inBritain.

Underthenewsystem,any-onewhotestspositive for coro-navirus will be contacted byNHS Test and Trace and willneedtoshareinformationabouttheir recent interactions. Thiscould includehouseholdmem-bers, people with whom theyhave been in direct contact, orwithin two metres for morethan15minutes.“As we move to the next

stage of our fight against coro-navirus, we will be able to re-place national lockdownswithindividual isolation and, if nec-essary, localactionwherethereare outbreaks,” said UK HealthSecretaryMattHancock.PTI

REUTERSSEOUL,MAY28

SOUTHKOREAreported79newcoronavirus cases on Thursday,themost in nearly eightweeks,triggering the returnof toughersocialdistancingcurbsamidthespectreof a secondwaveof dis-easeinacountrypraisedforcon-taining the firstoutbreak.At least 82 cases this week

have been linked to a cluster ofinfections at a logistics facilityrunbyCoupangCorp,oneof thecountry’s largest online shop-pingfirms,inBucheon,theKoreaCenters for Disease Control andPrevention (KCDC)said.Thenewcasesonathirdday

of rising infections took SouthKorea’s tally to 11,344with 269deathsbymidnightWednesday.Therisepromptedhealthof-

ficialstocallonThursdayforare-turntotoughersocialdistancingrules inmetropolitan areas, in-cluding closing public placessuch asmuseums, and gettingemployerstoadoptflexibleworkplans. Health officials said theywould perform on-site inspec-tions of logistics centres to de-velopbetterpreventionpolicies.

US, China lock horns over new security laws

IN BRIEF

OFFENDERSWON’TBE SENT TOCHINAFOR TRIAL: REPORTBeijing: Chinese officialshave clarified that thosefacingcharges foroffencescommitted in Hong Kongwillnotbesent toChinatofacetrialunderanewsecu-ritylaw.TheHongKongBarAssociation said China'sproposednewsecuritylawcouldrunintoproblemsincourts asBeijinghasno le-gal authority to enact itsnational security law forthe former British colony.The association also ex-pressed concernover sug-gestionsthatmainlandse-curity agencies would besetupwithin thecity.

U.S. TO EXPELSOMECHINESESTUDENTSWashington:TheTrumpad-ministrationplanstocancelthe visas of thousands ofChinese graduate studentsand researchers in the USwhohavedirect ties touni-versities affiliatedwith thePeople’sLiberationArmy,of-ficials said. Theplanwouldbe the first designed tobarthe access of a category ofChinese students, who,overall, form the singlelargestforeignstudentpop-ulationintheUS.Itportendspossiblefurtherrestrictions,and the Chinese govern-mentcouldretaliate.

US coronavirus deaths top100,000 as country reopens

Demonstrators,manywearingmasks,protest thedeathof ablackmaninpolicecustody inMinneapolis.AP

Xi Jinping inBeijing. AP

China approves plan to rein inHongKong

This is amatter of urgentglobal concern thatimplicates internationalpeace and security, andwarrants the immediateattention of theUNSecurityCouncil”

—U.S.MISSIONTOU.N.

ASSOCIATEDPRESSBLANTYRE,MAY28

MANHUNTSHAVE begun afterhundreds of people, somewiththecoronavirus, fledquarantinecenters in Zimbabwe andMalawiwhileauthoritiesworrythey will spread COVID-19 incountrieswhosehealthsystemscanberapidlyoverwhelmed.In Malawi, more than 400

people fledacenteratastadiuminBlantyre,jumpingoverafenceorstrollingoutthegatewhilepo-liceandhealthworkerswatched.Police and healthworkers saidtheywereunabletostopthemastheylackedprotectivegear.At least 46 escapees had

testedpositive for thevirus.And in Zimbabwe, police

spokesmanPaulNyathisaidoffi-cerswere“huntingdown”morethan 100 people who escapedfrom centers where a 21-dayquarantine is mandatory forthose returning fromabroad.“Theyescapeandsneak into

the villages…We arewarningpeople to stop sheltering them.These escapees are becoming aseriousdangertocommunities,”Nyathi said.

UK launches mass Covidtrace-and-test service

REUTERSPARIS,MAY28

PRIME MINISTER EdouardPhilippeonThursdaysaidFrancewasmoving to phase twoof re-laxing its lockdown and thegreater Paris region was nolonger deemed to be a “red”coronavirushot-spotzone.PhilippetoldFrance’s67mil-

lion people that danger still

lurked and the governmentwould pay particular attentionto public health indicators inParisanditssurroundingareaasthe restrictionsare relaxed.“Freedomwill become the

rule,banstheexception,”Philippesaid in a televised address. Thecoronavirushasclaimedthelivesof more than 28,500 people inFrance,butonWednesdaythetollroseby less than100for thesev-enthdayrunning.

41MNHAVE LOSTJOBSSINCE VIRUSHITROUGHLY2.1millionpeopleappliedfor joblessbenefits lastweek,asignthatcompaniesarestillslashing jobs inthefaceofadeeprecessionevenasmorebusinessesreopenandrehiresomelaid-offemployees.About41millionpeoplehavenowappliedforaidsincethevirusoutbreak intensified.

Manhunts afterhundreds fleequarantine inAfrican nations

Social distancingcrackdown inS Korea as casesurge continues

France moves to Phase 2 ofeasing coronavirus lockdown

MANYCOUNTRIESsuchastheUS, Australia, the UKandCanadahavecriticisedthe proposed laws instrong terms, calling it anerosionofHongKong’sau-tonomy. Similarly, the EUsaidBeijingwas“ignoring”global treaty obligations.So far, China has issued astrong defence,with oneofficial saying thingscould “change for theworse” if foreign nationspushhardonthe issue.

Significantglobaloutcry

IN COLD NUMBERS

14MILLIONThe number of people who could go hungry in LatinAmerica as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shutteringpeople in their homes, drying up work and crippling theeconomy, as per the UN World Food Programme

15SENSEX: 32,200.59 ▲ 595.37 NIFTY: 9,490.10 ▲ 175.15 NIKKEI: 21,916.31 ▲ 497.08 HANG SENG: 23,132.76 ▼ 168.60 FTSE: 6,213.23▲ 68.98 DAX: 11,724.66 ▲ 66.97

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

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OIL$35.00

Brentcrudeasof2000IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

THE FINANCIAL Stability andDevelopmentCouncil (FSDC), atitsmeeting chaired by FinanceMinisterNirmala SitharamanonThursday, noted that theCOVID-19pandemicposesaseriousthreattothestabilityoftheglobalfinan-cialsystem,astheultimateimpactof the crisis and the timingof re-covery remainsuncertain at thispointoftime.Ithighlightedtheneedforthe

governmentandregulatorstore-mainvigilanton financial condi-tions that couldexpose systemicvulnerabilities. The Councilstressedthatthegovernmentandregulatorswouldcontinuetopro-vide liquidityandcapital supporttodomesticfinancialinstitutions.“Whiledecisivemonetaryand

fiscalpolicyactionsaimedatcon-taining the fallout fromthepan-demichavestabilisedinvestorsen-timent in theshort run, there is aneedtokeepacontinuousvigilbygovernmentandallregulatorsonthefinancialconditionsthatcouldexposefinancialvulnerabilitiesinthemediumand long-term. Theeffortsofthegovernmentandreg-

ulators are focusedonavoidingaprolongedperiodofdislocationinfinancialmarkets,”accordingtoaFinanceMinistrystatement.TheFSDC,whichisacouncilof

thecountry’sfinancialsectorreg-ulators, also reviewed the liquid-ityandsolvencypositionof non-banking financial companies,housing finance companies andmicro-finance institutions. Theseinstitutionshavebeenseverelyhitby the economic lockdownen-forcedto tacklespreadofCOVID-19.Moratoriumonloanpaymentshaveputapressureon inflowsof

these companies while bankshaveturnedriskaverseinlendingto them.NBFCshave sought thattheyshouldalsobeallowedmora-toriumontheirduestobanks.The22ndmeetingoftheFSDC,

whichwas held through videoconferencing,reviewedissuesre-latingtomarketvolatility,domes-ticresourcemobilisationandcap-ital flows. Stock markets fellsharply inMarchonexpectationofCOVID-19spreadingacrossthecountryandthenation-widelock-down imposed to contain it.Markets subsequently recovered

partofthelossesinAprilandMay.Thebanking sector has been

particularlyaffectedasuncertaintyin the economypushed peopleandcompaniestooptformorato-rium in loan payments. Whilemuchof theAtmanirbharBharatpackage is dependent upon ag-gressive lendingbybanksand fi-nancial institutions, RBI datashowsanearcollapseof industrydemandforbankcreditsince2016.Whilethebankcreditoutstandingtotheindustrygrewmarginallyby0.7percenttoRs29.05lakhcrorein the year endedMarch 2020,over last four years, credit out-standing to the industryhas ex-pandedby justRs1,74,451crore,orataCAGRof1.56percent.Thegovernmentexpectscredit

deploymenttopickuppacewhenfirms come forward to takedis-bursementofsanctionedloansasthe lockdowneases. Apart fromtopFinanceMinistryandregula-toryofficials, themeetingwasat-tendedbyAjayTyagi,Chairperson,Sebi; SubhashChandraKhuntia,Chairperson, Irdai; SupratimBandyopadhyay, Chairperson,Pension Fund Regulatory andDevelopmentAuthority and MSSahoo, Chairperson, InsolvencyandBankruptcyBoardof India.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY28

THESENSEXonThursday ralliedanother1.88percentonthebackof strongglobalcuestriggeredbythe European Union stimuluspackageandsustainedbuyingbyforeignportfolio investors (FPIs)aheadof thederivative contractexpiry. The Sensex gained 595points at 32,200.59 and theNSENifty Indexshotupby175pointsto 9,490.10 amid short coveringandexpectationsofrelaxationsinlockdown and more stimulusmeasures.With this, the Sensex has

gained1,591pointsinthelasttwodays despite reports about theshrinking economy and risingCOVIDinfections.Foreignportfolioinvestors (FPIs) bought stocksworthRs2,354croreonThursday,taking totalFPI investments toRs7,136 crore in twodays. The EUWednesdayunveileda $826bil-lion coronavirus recovery pro-grammeastheregionattemptstoclaw itswayback from itsworsteconomiccrisisindecades.VinodNair,Headof Research

atGeojit Financial Services, said,“theproposedhugeEUstimulusplanprovidedaboosttoEuropeanshareswhileAsianshareswereaf-fectedbytheUS-Chinadiplomaticissues.Indianmarketsarebanking

oncontinuedresumptionof eco-nomicactivities,inspiteofstillhighnumberofnewinfections.Furtherstimulusmeasures are also ex-pected to boost demand in theeconomyandhelp themost im-pactedsectorstorecover.Themar-ketisrisingonthebackofexpecta-tionswhile there has been littlechangeonthegroundrealities.”Ahead of derivative expiry,

traderswereseencoveringshortpositions in technology,bankingand auto stocks, pushing up themarket for the second consecu-tive day. “High-net worth-in-vestorswere seenbargainhunt-inginselectbeaten-downstocks.Attheendof thetradingsession,we believemost long-positionswere rolled over by traders toJune2020 contracts,” saidRahulSharma,ResearchHead,Equity99Advisors.

‘PANDEMICATHREATTOSTABILITYOFFINANCIALSYSTEM’

A reviewofliquidity, solvencyin the system

ACOUNCILoffinancialsectorregulatorsstressedtheneedtoremainextremelyvigilantinthewakeoftheCOVID-19pandemic’simpactonfinancialmarkets.Itreviewedthepainpointsinthefinancialsystem,includingliquidityandsolvencylevelsoffinancialsectorentities.TheCouncil’scommitmentthatthegovernmentandregulatorswouldstandreadytoprovideliquidityandcapitalsupporttofinancialinstitutionswillprovidecomforttothemarkets,whicharerattledbytheextremevolatilitysinceMarch.

BRIEFLYS&P,CareRatingsonGDPoutlookNew Delhi: S&P GlobalRatings has said the econ-omywillshrinkby5percentin this fiscal.GDP is likely tobeat3.6percentinJanuary-March 2020, says a CareRatingsreport.

E-PANbasedonAadhaarNewDelhi: FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharaman onThursdaylaunchedafacilityfor instant allotmentof on-line PAN on furnishing ofAadhaardetails.

MSILpartnersHDFCBankNew Delhi:Maruti SuzukiIndia on Thursday said ithas partnered with HDFCBankLtdtoofferflexiblefi-nanceschemesfornewcarbuyers.

SBIcutsratesonfixeddepositsMumbai:SBIhascutratesonretailtermdepositsbyupto40bpsacrosstenors.PTI

RBIslapsfineon3banksMumbai: The RBI has im-posedfinedBankofIndiaRs5 crore, KarnatakaBankRs1.20croreandSaraswatCo-operativeBank Rs30 lakhfornon-complianceof cer-tainprovisionsofthecentralbank’sguidelines.ENS

PRANAVMUKUL&AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,MAY28

THEHOTEL and airline seg-mentsofthetourismindustry,whicharetypicallyhighfixed-cost sectors andhave forgonerevenueforalmostafullquar-terduetotheimpactofCovid-19 and the subsequent lock-down, are now accessingfuturerevenuestotideovertheshort-termworking capitaldeficit.Whileallairlines,whichhadtocancelflightsonaccountofthelockdown,issuedcreditshells to passengers tomakefuturebookings, somehotelsare offeringdiscounts for fu-turebookings.Evenastheairlines indus-

trywas completely shut fortwomonths,with theexcep-tionof sporadic cargo flights,the hotel industry, too, hasbeenoperatingat10-15%oc-cupancy,with losses forboththese segmentsmountingonaccount of incurring fixed-costs. According to experts, atypical 200-roompremiumhotelneedstooperateatanoc-cupancyof38-40%torecordacashbreakeven.Furthermore,unlike goods, which can beconsumed later, a deferredservice, like that in thehospi-talityindustry,cannotbecon-sumedlater.Togeneratecashforkeep-

ingthemselvesafloat,compa-niesinthesesegmentsarenotonly finding new revenuestreamsbutalsoholdingontothecashtheyhave.A4-starho-telinShimla,forinstance,isof-fering a flat 45% discountthroughgift voucherswhichwouldbevalidforbookingstillone year. Such a measurewouldprovidesomefundsforthe hotels towade throughcashcrunchas theycontinuetokeep their staff engaged tomaintain the premises andkeepthemsanitised.In addition to stockingup

of liquidity, othermeasuressuch as “drastic costcontrol…preliminaryreopen-ingplansandasharpreductionin future supplyaddition”arein theoffing. “Thepandemicand the containmentmeas-ures introduced by govern-mentsgloballyandinIndiare-sulted in a severe drop inforeign and domestic travelacross theworld, in both thebusinessandleisuretravelseg-ment. Thiswill leavea lastingimpactonthecreditprofileofairlines andhospitality com-panies. Globally, airlines andhotelshaveacknowledgedthedepthof thisdeclinewith re-covery stated two to threeyearsfromnow,” saidPavethraPonniah, Vice President andSectorHead,ICRA.For airlines, the govern-

menthas announceda set ofadvisoriestorefunddomesticand international ticketsbooked for the flights sus-pended due to lockdown.However,aspertheadvisories,airlines arebound toprovidefull refundsonlytothosepas-

sengerswhohavebookeddur-ing the lockdownperiod fortravelduringthelockdownpe-riod.Globally,theInternationalAir Transport Association(IATA)hasestimatedthatticketrefundstothetuneof$35bil-lionmayworsenthefinancialsituationofcash-crunchedair-linesduringApril-June2020.However, for airlines,

whichhavepointedout thatthelackofanydirectrelieffromthegovernmentmay lead todownsizingor even shuttingdownof operations, the sup-plycanbe reducedgiven thatmost airlines lease their air-craft. Thehotels industry, ontheotherhand, areboundbypermanentsupply.“Unlikeair-lines,hotelsarelargelyperma-nentsupplyandtheonlywayto reduce supply is toconvertthemintoapartmentsandof-fice spaces, but Indiahasnotwitnessed this trend in thepast.Withlimitedscopetofixthesupplysideoftheequationintheimmediateterm,almostallpreviousdowncyclesinre-callable history have led todeep discounting. The frag-mentednatureoftheindustrydefeats cohesive action,” rat-ingsagencyICRAsaid.Inabidtopartiallyholdon

tolostrevenues,hotelcompa-nies are also looking at alter-nate revenuestreamssuchasfooddelivery,inthesamewaythat airlines operated cargoflightson theirpassengerair-craft.Anumberofhotelcom-paniesacrossthecountryvol-unteered foroffering servicesasquarantinecentresforthosepeople. The AhmedabadMunicipalCorporation(AMC)requisitionedtakingoverof60hotelswith3,000bedsundertheEpidemicsDiseasesActtoprovideair-conditionedfacili-tieswithout anycharge frompatients. Thecost for this is tobebornebytheAMC.Aspersomehotelindustry

executives,most hotels haveremainedoperationalwithatleast20-25%of thestaffbeingasked to turn up for duty tohandleminimalloadsthatarebeingwitnessed. For a futurescenario, evenas theyare re-ceivingqueriesforroomavail-ability,theyarenottranslatinginto bookings and subse-quentlyhotelsareconsideringdiscountedofferingstoattractconsumersatfuturedates.A surveyof generalman-

agers inthehospitality indus-try byHVS-Anarockpointedoutwhilemostgeneralman-agersdidnotplantodiscounttheir ratesbymore than20%,higherdiscountinglevelswereexpected in economy andmidscalehotels,whileupper-upscaleandluxuryhotelswerelikelytodiscounttheleast.

COVID-19WATCHHOSPITALITY SECTOR

Hotels, airlines look fornew revenue streams,hold on to cash to tideover liquidity crunch

Othersteps likedrasticcostcontrolandasharpreductioninfuturesupplyadditionarealso intheoffing

FMtakesstockofeconomyin1stFSDCmeetafterCOVIDoutbreak

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

THEGOVERNMENT could haveput the direct benefit transfer(DBT)architectureand itsmuch-touted Jan Dhan, Aadhaar andMobile solution to better use tosendmoney intoaccountsof theneedy migrant workers, saidRathin Roy, director atNationalInstitute of Public Finance andPolicy. The government’smainstrategy to tackle the economicconsequences of the COVID-19pandemichasbeenenablingcom-paniesandpeopletoborrowmoreliberally, using the largely thecreditpolicyoptionswithoutrely-ingmuchonfiscalsupport,Roy,aformer member of the PrimeMinister’s Economic AdvisoryCouncil, said at an E-XPLAINEDwebinarconductedbyThe IndianExpressTuesday.To a query on whether the

government could have ex-pandedcashtransferstomigrantsstranded across the country, us-

ing the vast dataset available inthe form of Jan Dhan accountsandNREGApaymentdetails,Roysaid:“Either Ihavetobelievethegovernment when it has beensayingverydramatically, includ-ing the Principal EconomicAdviser, that they have the (sys-tem) tomake cashtransfersandtheverysuc-cess of thisgovernmentis its abilityto make di-rectcashtransfers.Ifatthesekindofcrisis,thegovernmentgetsintoa sulk, because people are actu-allygoingbackhomeand…thensays let’s start an all India rationcard, then thatmeans that theprogrammeto reachout topop-ulationofIndiausingAadhaar,JanDhanandmobile—thathasbeentouted tomeas themajor archi-tectural success of this govern-

ment—isnotfit forpurpose.”Themigrantsworkerssuchas

taxi drivers andwaiterswho re-turn fromcities (likeMumbai) totheirvillagesareunlikelytocomebacktocitiesevenwheneconomicconditionsnormalise,hesaid,ne-cessitating greater use ofworks

underNationalRuralEmployeeGuaranteeAct(NREGA).Roy, re-sponding to

a query, said the governmentneeded tocoordinatewith statesto providebetter cash transfers.“The obvious way to transfermoneywouldnotbe to sit in theheadquartersoftheempireintheCapitalanddecidehowthemoneywill be transferredbut toask thestatesand the local governmentsto identify governments peoplewhoneed the transfers and then

todoso…andforthatyouneedapolicy announcement that in-cometransferswouldcomewhatmayandmobilise thecountry tomakethosetransferwiththesamealacrity as theyet gloriouslyun-spentPMCARESwasmobilised,”hesaid.Roy also spoke on how the

economywhichhasalreadybeenina slowdownmodegot furtherhit as consumption—oneof thefourenginesofgrowthwhichwasfiring—stoppedworkingdue tothe lockdown. “If you consumeless, if youproduce less; then theeconomybeginstodecline.”The services sectorwill be far

morehamperedinthecurrentsit-uation,becauseitrequiresgreaterphysicalcontactwhencomparedwith agriculture. State govern-ments havemanaged tomakesurethatagricultureharvestingoftheRabicropislargelysuccessful,and farmers toable to sowkharifcrop, then that sector will be

largelyunaffectedsupportingcon-sumptioninruralareas,hesaid.Onthemanufacturing front, compa-nieswillfirstneedtoclearinvento-riesbeforesteppingupproduction.On the debate overmoneti-

sation of the fiscal deficit, Roysaidthisshouldbethelastresortbecauseif themoneysoraisedisnotwell spent then thatwill bean extremelyundesirably situa-tion.Deficitmonetisationsimplymeans that the Reserve Bank ofIndia directly funds the Centralgovernment’sdeficit.Until1997,the government used to sell se-curities— ad hoc Treasury-Bills— directly to the RBI, and not tofinancial market participants.This allowed thegovernment totechnically print equivalentamount of currency tomeet itsbudgetdeficit.Thewebinarwasmoderated

byPVaidyanathanIyer,ExecutiveEditor, National Affairs andAnilSasi,NationalBusinessEditor.

RathinRoy,directoratNational InstituteofPublicFinanceandPolicyandex-memberof theEAC-PM,duringthe E-XPLAINEDwebinar.

Petition to PMfor transport,rehabilitation ofmigrant workers

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

ANONLINE petition signed byover4,000persons including re-tired judges, bureaucrats, econo-mists and activists has urgedPrimeMinisterNarendraModitoensuresafetransportationandre-habilitation ofmigrantworkersacrossthecountry.The petition, started by

Working People’s Charter andAajeevikaBureau,hasaskedforfa-cilitationof dignifiedmovementofmillionsofmigrantworkersus-ingcentralforces,facilities,andre-sources.Thesignatoriesincludeformer

PlanningCommissionmembers,Abhijit Sen and SyedaHameed,former Delhi Lieutenant-GovernorNajeebJungandformerUGCChairmanSukhadeoThorat.

16 passengers onflights of IndiGo,2 other airlinestest positive

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY28

ATOTALof16asymptomaticpas-sengersonsevendifferentflightsincluding 13 of themwho trav-elledby IndiGohave testedposi-tive for COVID-19 since the re-sumptionofdomesticairservicesonMonday, according toairlinesdata.Two of the three asympto-

maticpassengerswhotestedpos-itivefortheinfectionhadtravelledbySpiceJetwhileonetookaflightofAirIndiasubsidiaryAllianceAir.Aircarriersinthecountryhave

operatedover1,500flightscarry-ingover1lakhpassengersduringthefirstfourdaysofoperations.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

TOTALFOREIGNdirectinvestment(FDI)intoIndiajumped18percentto$73.46billioninthe2019-20fi-nancialyear—thehighest infouryears, according todata releasedbytheDepartmentforPromotionof Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) Thursday.Of this FDI eq-uity inflows through theForeignInvestment Promotion Board(FIPB), RBI’s automatic route ofthroughacquisition rose13per-centtoaround$49.98billion.Investments by Foreign

Institutional Investorswas $247million. Commerce ministerPiyushGoyal attributed the totalinflows toa“strongvoteof confi-dence”in theNarendraModigov-ernment’s flagshipMake in Indiaprogramme.“Total FDI has doubled from

13-14whenitwasonly$36billion.This long term investmentwillspurjobcreation,”tweetedGoyalonThursday.The sectors that attracted the

mostforeigninflowsduring2019-20 included services ($ 7.85 bil-lion), computer software andhardware($7.67billion),telecom-munications($4.44billion),trad-ing ($ 4.57billion) and automo-biles ($2.82billion).However, ofthis, investment in services, con-structionandchemicalswaslowerthanthepreviousfinancialyear.Singapore once again

emergedasthelargestequityFDIsource,contributingtoinflowsof$14.67 billion. However, this is adrop from the $16.22 billionSingapore contributed in 2018-19. Total FDI inflows, which in-cludeinvestmentthroughtheeq-uity, reinvested earnings andothercapital routes, stoodat$62billioninApril-March2018-19.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

THE DIRECTORATE General ofForeignTrade(DGFT)onThursdaylifted restrictions imposedovertwomonthsagoonexportsofac-tive pharmaceutical ingredient(API)ofpainkillerandfevermed-icationparacetamolduringtheon-going COVID-19 outbreak. Themovewasdoneafter thegovern-ment reviewedtheavailabilityoftheAPI and its formulations andwasabletoensurethattherewassufficient stock tomeetdomesticaswell as international demand,TheIndianExpresshaslearnt.Therestrictionswerefirst im-

plemented onMarch3due to a

shutdown in Covid-19 affectedHubei,fromwheretheingredientsweremostlyimported.“Therewas a thought to re-

move the restrictions earlier, butthegovernmentwantedtobeverysurethattherewassufficientsup-ply of theAPI in India.Now thatthere is enough production inIndiaanddataon theavailabilityof the APIs, this was recom-mendedand the restrictions re-moved,”saidaseniorgovernmentofficialonconditionofanonymity.WhileDGFTremovedcurbson

shipmentsofparacetamolformu-lation shipmentsonApril 17, theingredient had remained re-stricteduntil now,whichmeantthatexporterswouldneedno-ob-jectioncertificates(NOC).

VIRUSHITSUSECONOMY,SHRINKS5%INQ1

Macy’s store inSantaAna,California.TheUS CommerceDepartmentreportedthatGDPfellatanannual rateof5%inthefirstquarter, abiggerdeclinethanthe4.8percentdropfirstestimatedamonthago. Itwasthebiggestquarterlydeclinesincean8.4percent fall in thefourthquarterof 2008duringthedepthsof the financial crisis.AP file

CBDTnotifiesnewForm26AS;tohaveshare,propertytransactions

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY28

TAXPAYERSWILLnowhaveade-tailed annual information state-mentlistingoutfinancialtransac-tionssuchasthoseofmutualfundsandpropertytransactionsbeyondthedetailsof taxdeductedorcol-lectedatsource.TheCBDTnotifiedthenewan-

nual information statement inForm26AS,whichwillhavedetailsregarding financial transactions,demandandrefundandpendingandcompletedproceedings.Itwill come into effect from

June1.

FDI rises 18% to$73.46 bn in FY20

DGFT lifts export curbson paracetamol APIs

THE IMPACTOF forcedlending on banks’ impaired-loan ratios can be anywherebetween200and600basispoints (bps), depending on theseverity of stress and banks’

individual risk exposures andthe higher regulatoryprovisions

NOBREAK-UP: The agency,however, did not offer a break-

up of theNPAsbetween thestate-run and private sectorbanks

THE STIMULUSMEASURESinclude extension of the90-daymoratoriumon recognitionof impaired loans to 180days,in addition to severalrelaxations in bank lendinglimits, including allowingbanks to fund interest onworking capital loans

IMPACT: Thesemeasureswillput a heavy onus particularlyon state-run bankswhichalready have veryweakbalance sheets to bail out theaffected sectors, due to theirquasi-policy role, consideringthatmuch of the so-calledstimulusmeasures is in theformof new loans

Source:Fitch

Ratings/PTI

NPApain points: The report said impaired-loans recognitionwill now take longer,and themore relaxed and forced lending normsmeans rising balance-sheet risks,despite their heightened risk aversion and the state-run banks aremore at risk

‘Forced lending to hurt banks: NPAsto soar up to 600 bps in 2 years’Lenders face significant asset quality challengeswhich canincrease their dud loan ratios by up to 6 percentage pointsover the next two years, as per a Fitch Ratings report

FPIs invest `7,136 cr in 2 days,Sensex jumps 595 points togain for 2nd straight session

TheBSE inMumbai.TheSensexhasgained1,591points intwodays.Express file

‘Govt could have put to better use DBT architecture to transfer money to migrants’

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MAY29,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Treadmill world champion

Vol. LXIVNo.126 Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208,TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&AdministrativeOffices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)

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

National Games postponed indefinitelyThe much-delayed 36th National Games, scheduled for October-November in Goa,was on Thursday postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TheIndian Olympic Association recently asked the Goa government to host theNational Games as scheduled from October 20 to November 4 this year. However,a spurt in the number of novel coronavirus cases has led to the postponement.

Withalloutdooreventspostponed,Americanultra runnerZachBitter tookto the fitnessmachinetobreak100-mile record

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI, MAY 28

ANAIR-CONDITIONERhummingnon-stop,a fanwhirling foroverhalf aday, twotread-millsplacedside-by-sidewithonerunningconstantly at any given time, two camerasforstreaming, litresofhydrating fluid,abagof potato chips for a quick snack, classicrock playing almost continuously. ZachBitter needed all this and loads ofwillpower to break a ‘world record’ in hisliving roomwhensportingactivityaroundtheworld had come to a standstill.A fortnight ago, ultramarathon runner

Zach, 34,wasona treadmill for12hours, 9minutes and 15 seconds - the fastest anyhumanbeinghascovered100milesonthefitness machine - to set one of the lesser-known, but gruelling,marks in endurancerunning. Whentracksandtrailsaroundtheworld cancelled ultra running competi-tions because of the Covid-19 pandemic,Zach decided to go for an unconventionaldistance record.At the ‘finish line’, he touched a ‘tape’

madeoutof toiletpaperbywifeNicole, theonly bit of improvisation in an otherwiseexhausting day on which he started run-ning at 7 am.He had woken up two hours earlier,

drankacupof coffeeandhadaproteinbarbefore jumping onto the treadmill.Likemostothersaroundtheworld,Zach

was stuck at home for a fewmonths.Mid-March’s Ultra London, an event he had sethis sightson,waspostponed,butZachwasin the shape of his life. Rather than lettingthe hard work fritter away, he decided tomake the best of his predicament.“My events that I originally started

training forwerecancelled.Theultraeventwasona400metre trackandthetreadmilldidn’t feel too far away fromamechanicalstandpoint. In termsof thetreadmill recordbeing on mymind, I was kind of aware ofitbut I justdidn’thavea reallygoodspot toput it in my schedule. There are so manyevents nowadays, it almost seems con-trived to do a treadmill event. But theCovid-19 pandemic made it a little more

palatable Iwouldsay,”ZachtoldThe IndianExpress fromPhoenix, Arizona.Hehas completedover 50ultra events,

yet going long distances on the treadmillwas uncharted territory for the experi-encedenduranceathlete. Themosthehadclockedonthebeltwas30milesand in thebuild-up to the attempt, he ran 22 milesone evening and 21miles the next morn-ing. He drew confidence from being theholder of the ratified world record for the100-miles, which he achieved in Augustlast year on a 442-metre track inMilwaukee where he completed 363 lapsaround an ice-hockey rink.It tookhim11hours 19minutes and13

seconds. The average temperature therewas 15 degree Celsius. Zach expected it tobeascool inhis roomathomewhenheat-tempted tobreak the treadmill record.Buthewas in for a surprise.

Rising temperatureAn unexpected rise in temperature

meantZachneededmore fluidswhenrun-ning on the treadmill than when on thetrack, something he didn’t foresee.“I basically underestimatedhowmuch

water Iwas going to need relative towhatIhave inotherevents. InAugust, Iwas tak-ing about 25 ounces (730 ml) an hourwhereas on the treadmill I was goingthrough40to50ouncesperhour (1.1 litresto1.4),”Zachsays. For someonewhoneverranona treadmill regularlyor for too long,thereweremanyhurdles.“It (heat)was a product of running in a

stationarymotion and not creating a littlebit of breeze like when you are runningaround the track. So, Iwas kindof runningwith the body heat stagnant around me.Therewas also heat coming off themotorof the treadmill. So it created a micro cli-mate around you, which is warmer thanthe rest of the room.”At one point, the air-conditioner

stopped working and the display on thetreadmill blanked out briefly because theroomwas drawing too much power withmultiple appliances anddevices running -treadmills, fan, AC, camera set-up.Fortunately, using an extension chord to

connect to another room solved the issue.Zach took 50 minutes more to complete100miles on themachine thanhe took onthe track.He feels itwasdownto thenum-berof breaksandthemiscalculationwhenitcametofluidrequirements. “Inthisevent,I made a mistake early on with hydrationand I had to catch up on that and I spendquiteabit... likehours threeandfourcatch-ing up on a lot of water.”On May 16, he switched treadmills 10

times,eachchangecostinghim20seconds,to ensure themachines didn’t burn out. Inaddition to this, he took five bathroombreaks, including one at 87 miles duringwhich he ate potato chips for energy. InAugust lastyear,whenhebroke therecordon track, Zach took just three breaks for a

total of fourminutes.

Monotony of a machineBeing on a machine for hours can be

mentallyexhausting, Zachsays. Switchingtreadmills helped him take micro-breaksandallowedhismind to switchoff andon.“Fora lotof peoplewhoaredoingmore

ultra marathons on trails, the lack ofscenery and change will be a huge chal-lengetogetover.But Ihavedonesixeventson a track now, and the lack of visualchangingwasn’t a hurdle. But the hardestpart mentally was that on the treadmill,you are kind of responding on a machineand it is following a pace. When you arerunningonatrack,youhaveslightchangesin pace and you seem a littlemore in con-trol,whereasona treadmill you feel a littleless incontrol, andthatkindof eatsawayatyou after awhile,” Zach explains.To set a rhythm of his own, the en-

durance runner altered the speed on thetreadmill unlike on a track where he runsalmost consistently at one pace.“I tried to go back and forth so that

there was change in pace. It gave me asenseof control. The fastest Iwentwas9.5miles per hour and the slowest was 8miles perhour. The average speedwas8.2miles per hour.”

Whatkepthimgoing,apart fromhis re-serves of mental strength and endurance,was the ‘live streaming’ hosted by 30 dif-ferent people. At times when he wasn’ttuned intothe livestreaming,Zach listenedto classic rock tokeep the tediousness andfatigue at bay.By the end of the successful attempt,

Zachkickedoffhisshoestoreveal thephys-ical toll. “Theballs ofmy feetwerebruisedcompletely. I don’t get thatwhen I runonatrail or a track.”Zach is now waiting for the world to

open up and races to start around theworld. He wants to have a go at loweringhis own 100-mile record on the tracksometime. Will he attempt to break hisown treadmill record?“The psychology of being able to stay

on the machine for long periods was thehardest part. I feel if I could do it a fewmore times, I would get better at that butit seemstomethat Ineededtohavebreaksin order tomake it feasible from amentalstandpoint. I don’t think Iwill get back ona treadmill againanytimesoon,but I thinkitwill beuseful in futureevents forgettinga little tougher mentally. And thankfully,it is going to make the next race I do (ontrack or trail) a little more palatable,” heconcludes.

UltrarunnerZachBitterduringhissuccessfulattempttobreakthe100-miletreadmill record.

India poised toplay first overseasD/N Test atAdelaide OvalSHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,MAY 28

ADELAIDEOVALwillhostaday-night,pink-ball Testmatchwhen India tourAustralia inDecember-January. On Thursday, CricketAustralia (CA) released the 2020-21men’sandwomen’sinternationalschedule,whichhas four Tests, three T20 internationals andthreeODIsagainst India.CA confirmed that the second Test from

December11-15wouldbeaday-nightaffair.“The Test at the SCG is the traditional JaneMcGrathFoundationPinkTestwhichisadayTest.Adelaideisaday-nightTestwithapinkball,” a CA spokesperson communicated inane-mail. If thingsgo toplan, thiswouldbeIndia’s firstoverseasday-nightTest.Asper the itinerary, theTest series starts

attheGabba,BrisbaneonDecember3,whileMelbournewillhost theBoxingDayTestonDecember26 followedby the fourthTest atSydney fromJanuary3.TheBCCIhasagreedtotourAustralia for

the Test series, butwith the Covid-19 pan-demic providing the backdrop, the Indianboardwill goby theGovernmentof India’sdirectivewith regards to foreign travel. CAchief executive Kevin Roberts, also, admit-tedthat the“finalschedulepotentiallymaylookdifferent”.CAwants to host India for a Test series

which is reportedlyworth $300million in-cludingbroadcastrights.Withtheirfinancestaking a Covid-induced hit, the India seriesisconsideredtobeAustraliancricket’smon-etary redemption.The threeT20Is against India, atBrisbane,

CanberraandAdelaideonOctober11, 14and17respectively,appeartobeaprecursortotheT20 World Cup, scheduled to be held inAustralia in October-November. There’s,though,aseriousquestionmarkoverthetour-nament’sfuture.Today,theICCBoarddeferredits all agenda items, including theT20WorldCup’s future, until June10. India’s threeODIsarescheduledatPerth,MelbourneandSydneyonJanuary12,15and17respectively.TheIndianwomen’steam,too, isscheduledtoplaythreeODIsinAustraliainJanuarynextyear.

CROSSWORD4130

ACROSS1 Exactspayment for those inone’s care (7)

5 Memento frommorelicentious times (5)

8 Deficiency thatshouldbreaknobones (9)

9 Unmarriedsister (3)10 Uninspiringcall forhelpcomestonothing(2-2)

12 Stoporstartplayingsnooker(5,3)

14 It’s said tobearticulated(6)15 Moreeager tobeamourner(6)

17 Drinkto theendof therooster? (8)

18 Sortof sawforpine (4)21 Asucker forhoney?(3)22 Wild lamenting-whatarow!(9)

24 Xisabout rightasasign(5)

25 Wittysayinghassomepointwith farmanimals (7)

DOWN1 Thepriceof asuit (5)2 Apartyactivity (3)3 Entrance forspectators (4)4 Steps inside? (6)5 Allowedsomebodytogetawaywitha further tenancy?(8)

6 AcapitalistworldAnnesawdifferently (9)

7 Treeyieldinga fir cone(7)11 Randominspectiontoseewhohasmeasles? (4,5)

13 Holidaydownpourandwhat itmaydotoone’sactivities?(8)

14 Old instrument formakingwinenevertheless (7)

16 Sixannoy inamasculineway(6)

19 Symbol reverenced inShintotemples (5)

20 It turnsupafteranopponent(4)

23 Onehasn’tbeentaught toplayby it (3)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)There is still timetopickupthepiecesandcarryonas ifnothinghas

happened.However, is thatwhatyoureallywant?Someonewhohasbehavedunfairlymaybeput in theirplace,butyouwillhavetochooseyourmomentwithcare—anduseallyourcharmstotheirbesteffect.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Yourposition is stillstrong, so Ihaveeveryconfidencethatacurrent

challenge isabout tobeovercome.At thevery leastyouwill acquire respectandputyourself onabetter footingtosucceednext timeround.Thelongeryouwait, thebetteryourpositionshouldbecome—intheory,

GEMINI (May22- June21)The emphasis stillfalls onmonetaryaffairs, but thepsychological

picture shows thedeepersituation. In particular,anything that happensnowwill be deeply tied in toyour viewof your ownspiritualworth. Youneed toknow that partners valueyou for your real,underlying qualities.

CANCER(June22- July23)Youmaybea littlesurprisedbywhatsomeonehassaidordone,andagood

thingtoo. It isalwaysuseful tobermindedthatyoucan’t takeotherpeople forgranted, justastheyneedtounderstandhowmuchtheyrelyonyoursoundemotional sustenance.

LEO(July24-Aug23)This looks likeabusyday, although itwillbeveryannoyingindeed if all your

efforts aredirected intocompensating for someoneelse’smistakesor inefficiency.Youmay justhave to shrugyour shouldersandgetonwithit, butkeepaneyeopen forshort-cuts.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Quite aside fromthe fact that anyyounger people inyour care still seem

to be rather demanding, this isa fine time to enjoy yourself.The emphasis is on the arts aswell as simple pleasures, sotake your pick. Activitieswhich elevate your spiritwillbe desirable.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Changesathomeorinthefamilyseemtobeof fargreaterlong-termsignificance

thanthoseatwork.However,it isverydifficulttoestablishexactlywhereyourprioritiestrulylieintermsoftheavailableresources.Giveittime.Infact,giveitallthetimeyouneed.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Adiscussionmayhavecreatedmoreconfusionthanitresolved.Youstill

havetwenty-fourhourstogettothenubofthematter,andyourfirststepmightbetocheckuponwhetheryouwereright—orwrong.Andifyouseethatyoumadeamistake,you’llgaincreditbymakingaspeedyconfession.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Controloverdomesticspendingmayhavebeentakenoutofyourhandsby

eventsbeyondyourcontrol.However, therestill seemstobeanexcellentchanceof rationaldialoguewithpeoplewhoknowbest—likebankmanagers. Inmattersof theheart,you’llbemostattractedtopeople frombackgroundsandplacesverydifferent fromyours.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Youmayhavestampedtoohardonsomeoneelse’saspirations. If this is

thecase, try re-runningthescript,offeringthemall thehelpandencouragement theyneed.Leave financial complicationsuntil tomorrow,andpostponeanemotionaldemanduntileveryone isgoodandready.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Youstilldon’tknowwhat’sgoingon,atleastnotintherealworld.Whereyou

scoreovertherestofusis inmattersof thespirit,andanyonewhohasanysensewill turntoyoutoanswerthoseultimatequestions—likewhoamI?andwhyamIhere?Oh,anddon’thavequalmsaboutacceptingalovedone’sgenerosity.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Devoteagreatdealmore thought todevelopingyourcreative talents,

especially if youdidn’t receivetheencouragementyoudeservedwhenyouwereyounger.You’ll feelmoreconfidentasoneof agroupof like-mindedpeople, readyto takeadecisive leap intothe future.

SUDOKU4123

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4122

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Foolish____and____arecreatedforeachother.-HoraceWalpole (7,.,7)

SOLUTION:LEVEE,ARRAS,RIOTER,SHADOWAnswer:Foolishwritersandreadersarecreatedforeachother.-HoraceWalpole

LVEEE EOIRRT

ASARR AHODSW

SolutionsCrossword4129:Across: 1Chancery,5Alas,9Fatal,10Mahatma,11Takesthelead,13Treats,14Slogan,17Perambulator,20Against,21Evoke,22Site,23Presides.Down:1Cuff,2Actuate,3Calledtomind,4Remote,6Lathe,7Standing,8Cheerleaders,12Stopgaps,15Growold,16Butter,18React,19Pets.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

The100-mile treadmill record is listed in theGuinessBookofWorldRecords, while the 100-mile track record which Zach Bitter brokelast August is ratified by USA Track and Field (USATF), the govern-ing body for the sport in the country. World Athletics recognises

the 100-kilometre world championship winners and records. Longer distanceswell over amarathoncourse (42.195km) falls in theultra runningcategory.Ultrarunning isheldeitherover aparticulardistance, like50milesor100milesor100kilometres, or for a pre-set time like 12 hours or 24 hours or even multi-dayevents. These races are organised either on the track, most of the time 400me-tresones,whereathletes go roundand round, or over trails through forest tracksorevenonthe road. Someevents combine thecourses - trackandroador trail androad - and also conduct the event over stages.The International Association of Ultra Runners was recognised by the IAAF (oldname ofWorld Athletics) in 1988.

Is100milesanofficial record?E●EXPLAINED