4]R^`fc W`c 4`gZU [RSd Z_ fcSR_ :_UZR - Daily Pioneer

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I ndia is the biggest producers of vaccines, but its own nationwide vaccination drive launched on January 16 seems to be faltering amid mismatch between the vaccine availabil- ity and the number of seekers in urban India with various States complaining about vac- cine shortage. So far, over 19 crore peo- ple have registered on CoWin — the Government’s portal — including around 6.42 crore who registered from May 1 to 7, as per the data available from the Union Health Ministry. There huge demand for vaccination is from urban areas mainly. However, so far, just 2.6 per cent of the total eligible popu- lation has been fully vaccinat- ed (two doses). On the other hand a country like the USA which was hit hard by the Covid-19 for better part of the last year has vaccinated at least 40 per cent of its population with both jabs. The Ministry has claimed that more than 1 crore Covid vaccine doses (1,04,30,063) are still available with the States/UTs and more than 9 lakh (9,24,910) vaccine doses will be provided in the next three days, but it is not enough even to cover 50 per cent of those (2.42 crore) who registered in the last week from May 1 to May 7. Realising that vaccines availability is going to take time, the Union Health Ministry last week asked the States to prioritise adminis- tering the second dose and use supplies from the Centre in a 70:30 ratio of second and first doses. Clearly, because of the shortage of the vaccines and the Government opening up the vaccination drive for those above 18 from May 1 (an estimated 59 crore people that become eligible to receive the shot, as per the affidavit filed by the Union Health Ministry in the SC, many from both the cate- gories who have registered on the Co-Win will have to wait for little more before they could get the jab. F rom Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to Nuh in Haryana, from Sampat Chak in Bihar to even Manjhawali in Faridabad, close to Delhi, the Covid-19 vacci- nation drive in India’s rural areas has taken a hit as the fear of an adverse reaction, super- stition, and a lack of informa- tion and awareness have made villagers either hesitant or com- pletely unwilling to take the jab. In fact, there have even been reports that vaccination centres have been destroyed and health workers beaten up in various part of the country. Villagers of Manjhawli in Faridabad damaged the vacci- nation centres at Gurukul school and beat up health workers a few days ago. The health workers were going to this village to disseminate information for Covid vacci- nations. In another case in Nuh, Haryana, villagers threat- ened to beat health workers if they insisted for vaccination. Besides the shortage of vaccines, the vaccination process slowed down in this district as the majority of peo- ple think the jab could cause infertility. Health workers are facing an uphill task to con- vince them for inoculation. In Bihar, most of the vac- cination centres are far away from the villages. For instance, vaccination centres for Bahuara, Kandap, Sohgi vil- lages are set up in Sampat Chak, which is five kilometres away from these villages. Most of the villagers are hesitant to walk and get a jab. “Even if counselled, vil- lagers are unable to travel 17- 20 km to the nearest centre just for vaccination. And if they eventually do reach, the inter- net is too slow and it takes hours to register and verify online,” said in-charge of vac- cination centre, Sampat Chak. “In Ballia’s Basdih Road vaccination centre in UP, there are over 20,000 population in five villages but only 800-1000 turned up for vaccination so far,” said a health worker on the condition of anonymity. The Pilana vaccination centre in Baghpat in Western UP witnessed a similar sce- nario. “There are about 200 houses with 1500-2000 people. Of this, about 500 people are aged above 50, but the cover- age in the past month would just be a third of the target group,” said an anganwadi worker who goes door-to- door explaining to villagers about the vaccine and the need for it. I ndian-origin renowned US- based public health expert Dr Ashish K Jha has said India’s data of Covid cases and deaths are far less than the actual numbers. Dr Jha has placed India’s daily fatalities count to close to 25,000. “Wrote about why India likely has 25K+ deaths daily. Pushback: we lack hard data on crematoriums so we can’t be sure. True. But we get 25K+ deaths no matter how you look. Another approach: 400,000 cases, 22% test posi- tivity. Likely means we’re miss- ing 90% of infections,” Dr Jha said in the first of a series of tweets. “Truth is, no one knows exactly how many Indians dying from Covid. We make estimates from cases, tests, IFR (Infection Fatality Rate). And look at real-world experiences: crematoriums, people’s homes. I don’t know the exact number but I know this. There is immense suffering. And it must be brought to an end,” said Jha. Dr Jha is a physician and researcher of the Brown University of Public Health in the United States. Dr Jha said the situation at crematoriums reveals that the official data is under-reporting the number of deaths from Covid-19. He based his con- clusion about death number going by the fact that scenes from the crematoriums sug- gested that they were handling “two to four times spike in business”. “About 27,000 Indians died on typical day. Crematoriums handle that level of deaths every day. Additional 4,000 deaths won’t knock them off their feet,” he claimed. Jha said he believes that Covid-19 is contributing 25-50 thousand deaths daily to India’s overall per day mortality numbers. “Crematoriums running 24×7 and running out of firewood suggest that the actual deaths are at least 25,000 a day,” he adds. S everal bodies, decomposed, bloated and suspected to be of people who succumbed to Covid 19, were on Monday found floating in Ganga River in a Bihar district. Officials in Chausa block of Buxar, which borders Uttar Pradesh, rushed to the spot of the unseemly sight upon hear- ing the news. “We were alerted by the local chowkidar that many bodies have been spotted floating from upstream. We have so far recovered 15 of these. None of the deceased happens to be a resident of the district,” Chausa BDO Ashok Kumar told PTI over phone. Ashok Kumar said the admin- istration has spotted 45 dead bodies at Mahadev Ghat. He said, “Many Uttar Pradesh districts are situated right across the river and the bodies may have been dumped in the Ganges for rea- sons not known to us. We can- not confirm whether the deceased were indeed Covid- 19 positive. The bodies have started decomposing. But we are taking all precautions while ensuring that these are disposed of in a decent man- ner”. Some news channels claimed the number of bodies to be as high as 100, but the BDO dismissed as “highly exaggerated”. Many local residents claimed the district adminis- tration is “in denial over many such unfortunate incidents involving residents of Buxar”. Buxar SDO KK Upadhyay said, “During preliminary investigation, it has appeared that the bodies are in decom- posed state and over 5 to 6 days old. We are interacting with our counterparts in Varanasi and Prayagraj to investigate the incident.” T he Congress on Monday once again deferred the election for the post of a new party chief due to the prevail- ing pandemic situation. The decision was taken at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) chaired by interim chief Sonia Gandhi. The election will be only after the Covid situation in the country improves. June 23 was the scheduled date for holding the election. This is the third time in a row the election for the Congress president has been postponed amid speculation that Rahul Gandhi will again take up the reins of the party. Addressing a Press confer- ence after the CWC meet, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal said the committee members felt that this was not the right time to conduct elec- tions. “All energy should be channelised to provide relief and support work. It was unan- imously decided to defer elec- tions further temporarily,” Venugopal said. The post of Congress pres- ident has remained vacant since party leader Rahul Gandhi resigned after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. When the discussion was initiated by Sonia Gandhi to hold the polls, senior leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma said there is no need for elec- tions at this time due to Covid- 19. By the time Sonia had informed the meeting that the party’s Central Election Authority chief Madhusudan Mistry had already worked out a schedule. The issue of leadership is crucial as the group of 23 Congress dissenters (G-23) had been pushing for a revamp of the party organisation. Some prominent G-23 members such as Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma are also mem- bers of the CWC. The grand old party has been waiting for a president for almost two years now. Rahul Gandhi, who had assumed the post in 2017, had resigned as the party president after Congress lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the party has been operating under the aegis of Sonia Gandhi as interim president. The CWC has post- poned the election for the Congress president thrice now. A request was made to the Delhi High Court on Monday to give an early hear- ing to a PIL seeking a stay on the construction of the Central Vista here amid the raging Covid pandemic. The request was men- tioned before a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh by senior advo- cate Sidharth Luthra, and the court said an early hearing application be filed first. Luthra told the bench that he was mentioning the matter as the Supreme Court on May 7 asked the petitioners to seek urgent hearing before the High Court on May 10. Petitioners — Anya Malhotra, who works as a translator, and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary filmmaker — had moved the apex court against the HC’s May 4 order adjourning their plea to May 17. The HC had adjourned the matter saying it first wants to study the SC’s January 5 judgement giving a go ahead to the Central Vista project. Jammu: The official Twitter handle of Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was suspended briefly due to an “automated systems error” and was restored later. A Twitter spokesperson, when approached, said, “The account was flagged by our automated systems in error. This action has been reversed, and access to the account has been reinstated.” The ‘@OfficeOfLGJandK’ handle with over 50,000 fol- lowers had an account sus- pension notice displayed with a line below reading “Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules” in the evening. Raj Bhawan officials said the matter was taken up with the authorities concerned for resolving the “technical error”. The handle was subse- quently restored but the num- ber of followers had been reset. PDP spokesman Mohit Bhan was among the first to flag the issue of suspension of twitter account of the Lieutenant Governor, saying “meanwhile @TwitterIndia sus- pends the account of Office Of LG J&K citing rules violation. What did they do by the way. Did I miss something??” A Delhi Court on Monday refused to grant any stay on coercive action against busi- nessman Navneet Kalra in con- nection with the seizure of oxygen concentrators from his restaurants ‘Khan Chacha’. Kalra, against whom the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has launched a manhunt, moved the Saket Court seeking anticipatory bail in the case. Special Judge Sumit Dass has directed the Investigating Officer (IO) to file the reply to the application by tomorrow. “No stay on Delhi Police’s coercive action,” the court said. The judge will take up the mat- ter at noon on Tuesday. During the course of pro- ceedings, Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastva opposed the pre-arrest bail application. N epal Prime Minister P Sharma Oli lost a trust vote in the House of Representatives on Monday, in a fresh setback to the embat- tled premier seeking to tight- en his grip on power after the CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Pushpakamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ withdrew support to his Government. Prime Minister Oli secured 93 votes in the Lower House of Parliament during a special session convened on the direc- tives of President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Oli, 69, required at least 136 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives to win the confidence motion as four members are currently under suspension. A total of 124 members voted against the confidence motion while 15 members stayed neutral, Speaker Agni Sapkota announced. The session was attended by 232 lawmakers. With this, Prime Minister Oli is automatically relieved from his post as per Article 100 (3). Detailed report on P8 D akiya dava laya. The van- ishing tribe of postmen who formed the inseparable part of our old world, linking loved ones with each other, have again proved to be a new lifeline in the time of crisis. Take the case of Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh. “Dakiya babu” in Muradabad is working overtime, even on Sundays, to deliver and recon- nect the needy and serious patients with their doctors and hospitals as far as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi. The online treatment of over 30 patients, including some suffering from cancer, has not stopped. The hospitals which used to despatch medi- cines by private couriers have switched to post office services following the current lock- down where most of the air and train services have been stopped. According to senior post office official Veer Singh, the moment patient informs that medicines have been dis- patched through postal couri- er, “We immediately check online and deliver medicine parcels to patients the moment they land here, even on Sundays or night.” Officials and postmen are contacted and offices are unlocked on holidays and packets are reached at patients’ doorsteps. A cancer patient in Majhola, who was prescribed medicines by a Mumbai hospital , kept receiving his special drugs as postmen ensured his life is not disrupted by coronavirus clamp down as it did to many in over last on year. The Government has issued a notification to exempt the postal service from the purview of the C o v i d lockdown. New Delhi: Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said Delhi has only one day’s Covaxin stock left and its Covishield doses will last for just three to four days. The Minister’s remarks came a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to direct manufacturers to increase vaccine supplies to the capital between May and July. A mid the deadly onslaught of Covid-19 across the country, unscrupulous ele- ments have not even spared the kafans (shroud of clothing for wrapping bod- ies of dead) and other offerings made to the dead before cremation. The Baghpat police on Sunday busted a gang of seven thieves, including a cloth shop owner and his family members besides others who used to steal kafans and other such clothes from the corpses in the dead of night when even those who perform last rites and the watchmen are asleep after cre- mating countless victims of the novel coronavirus. The police have arrested all the seven gang members, including the ring leader and cloth merchant Praveen Kumar Jai. The police recovered 520 kafans, 127 kurtas , 140 white shirts, 34 dhotis, 52 sarees, three packets of ribbon, a tape cutter, and 152 pieces of label/stickers of a Gwalior- based cloth brand from the shop-cum-residence of Jain at Baraut market. The stolen items were packed neatly with the labels and ribbons and subsequently sold to other unsuspecting cloth merchants. Prime accused Praveen Jain’s son Ashish Jain, nephew Rishabh Jain, Shravan Sharma, Raju Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, and Bablu Kashyap, all resi- dents of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh. The police have registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including theft, trespass, pub- lic nuisance, spreading an infectious disease, theft in a dwelling or house, forgery and forgery for cheating among others besides provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) relating to lock- down/curfew violations. According to Hindu tradi- tions and local customs, the rel- atives and friends of the deceased offer kafans and other clothes to the dead persons before cremation. Before the bodies are lit on the pyre, these offering are divid- ed among those performing cremation. Lucknow: Locals in Hamirpur spotted five bodies floating in the Yamuna, creating a scare that these were of Covid patients, an apprehension dis- missed by the authorities. The residents had spotted the bodies, including a half- burnt corpse, under a bridge on the Yamuna on May 6. “After speaking to people and looking at the bodies, prima facie, it can be said these were not of Covid-19 patients as these were draped in a traditional manner and no body was wrapped as done in the case of Covid-19 victims,” said the DM. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of 4]R^`fc W`c 4`gZU [RSd Z_ fcSR_ :_UZR - Daily Pioneer

Page 1: 4]R^`fc W`c 4`gZU [RSd Z_ fcSR_ :_UZR - Daily Pioneer

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India is the biggest producersof vaccines, but its own

nationwide vaccination drivelaunched on January 16 seemsto be faltering amid mismatchbetween the vaccine availabil-ity and the number of seekersin urban India with variousStates complaining about vac-cine shortage.

So far, over 19 crore peo-ple have registered on CoWin— the Government’s portal —including around 6.42 crorewho registered from May 1 to7, as per the data available fromthe Union Health Ministry.

There huge demand forvaccination is from urban areasmainly.

However, so far, just 2.6 percent of the total eligible popu-lation has been fully vaccinat-ed (two doses). On the otherhand a country like the USAwhich was hit hard by theCovid-19 for better part of thelast year has vaccinated at least40 per cent of its populationwith both jabs.

The Ministry has claimedthat more than 1 crore Covidvaccine doses (1,04,30,063) are

still available with theStates/UTs and more than 9lakh (9,24,910) vaccine doseswill be provided in the nextthree days, but it is notenough even to cover 50 percent of those (2.42 crore) whoregistered in the last weekfrom May 1 to May 7.

Realising that vaccinesavailability is going to taketime, the Union HealthMinistry last week asked theStates to prioritise adminis-tering the second dose anduse supplies from the Centrein a 70:30 ratio of second andfirst doses.

Clearly, because of theshortage of the vaccines andthe Government opening upthe vaccination drive forthose above 18 from May 1(an estimated 59 crore peoplethat become el ig ible toreceive the shot, as per the

affidavit filed by the UnionHealth Ministry in the SC,many from both the cate-gories who have registered onthe Co-Win will have to waitfor little more before theycould get the jab.

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From Ballia in Uttar Pradeshto Nuh in Haryana, from

Sampat Chak in Bihar to evenManjhawali in Faridabad, closeto Delhi, the Covid-19 vacci-nation drive in India’s ruralareas has taken a hit as the fearof an adverse reaction, super-stition, and a lack of informa-tion and awareness have madevillagers either hesitant or com-pletely unwilling to take the jab.

In fact, there have evenbeen reports that vaccinationcentres have been destroyedand health workers beaten upin various part of the country.

Villagers of Manjhawli inFaridabad damaged the vacci-nation centres at Gurukulschool and beat up healthworkers a few days ago. Thehealth workers were going tothis village to disseminateinformation for Covid vacci-nations. In another case inNuh, Haryana, villagers threat-ened to beat health workers ifthey insisted for vaccination.

Besides the shortage ofvaccines, the vaccinationprocess slowed down in thisdistrict as the majority of peo-ple think the jab could causeinfertility. Health workers arefacing an uphill task to con-vince them for inoculation.

In Bihar, most of the vac-cination centres are far awayfrom the villages. For instance,vaccination centres forBahuara, Kandap, Sohgi vil-lages are set up in Sampat

Chak, which is five kilometresaway from these villages. Mostof the villagers are hesitant towalk and get a jab.

“Even if counselled, vil-lagers are unable to travel 17-20 km to the nearest centre justfor vaccination. And if theyeventually do reach, the inter-net is too slow and it takeshours to register and verifyonline,” said in-charge of vac-cination centre, Sampat Chak.

“In Ballia’s Basdih Roadvaccination centre in UP, thereare over 20,000 population infive villages but only 800-1000turned up for vaccination sofar,” said a health worker on thecondition of anonymity.

The Pilana vaccinationcentre in Baghpat in WesternUP witnessed a similar sce-nario. “There are about 200houses with 1500-2000 people.Of this, about 500 people areaged above 50, but the cover-age in the past month wouldjust be a third of the target

group,” said an anganwadiworker who goes door-to-door explaining to villagersabout the vaccine and theneed for it.

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Indian-origin renowned US-based public health expert Dr

Ashish K Jha has said India’sdata of Covid cases and deathsare far less than the actualnumbers. Dr Jha has placedIndia’s daily fatalities count toclose to 25,000.

“Wrote about why Indialikely has 25K+ deaths daily.Pushback: we lack hard data oncrematoriums so we can’t besure. True. But we get 25K+deaths no matter how youlook. Another approach:400,000 cases, 22% test posi-tivity. Likely means we’re miss-ing 90% of infections,” Dr Jhasaid in the first of a series oftweets.

“Truth is, no one knowsexactly how many Indiansdying from Covid. We makeestimates from cases, tests, IFR(Infection Fatality Rate). Andlook at real-world experiences:crematoriums, people’s homes.I don’t know the exact numberbut I know this. There isimmense suffering. And itmust be brought to an end,”said Jha.

Dr Jha is a physician andresearcher of the BrownUniversity of Public Health inthe United States.

Dr Jha said the situation atcrematoriums reveals that theofficial data is under-reportingthe number of deaths from

Covid-19. He based his con-clusion about death numbergoing by the fact that scenesfrom the crematoriums sug-gested that they were handling“two to four times spike inbusiness”.

“About 27,000 Indians diedon typical day. Crematoriumshandle that level of deathsevery day. Additional 4,000deaths won’t knock them offtheir feet,” he claimed. Jha saidhe believes that Covid-19 iscontributing 25-50 thousanddeaths daily to India’s overallper day mortality numbers.“Crematoriums running 24×7and running out of firewoodsuggest that the actual deathsare at least 25,000 a day,” headds.

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Several bodies, decomposed,bloated and suspected to be

of people who succumbed toCovid 19, were on Mondayfound floating in Ganga Riverin a Bihar district.

Officials in Chausa blockof Buxar, which borders UttarPradesh, rushed to the spot ofthe unseemly sight upon hear-ing the news.

“We were alerted by thelocal chowkidar that manybodies have been spottedfloating from upstream. Wehave so far recovered 15 ofthese. None of the deceasedhappens to be a resident of thedistrict,” Chausa BDO AshokKumar told PTI over phone.Ashok Kumar said the admin-istration has spotted 45 deadbodies at Mahadev Ghat.

He said, “Many UttarPradesh districts are situatedright across the river and thebodies may have beendumped in the Ganges for rea-sons not known to us. We can-not confirm whether thedeceased were indeed Covid-19 positive. The bodies havestarted decomposing. But weare taking all precautions

while ensuring that these aredisposed of in a decent man-ner”.

Some news channelsclaimed the number of bodiesto be as high as 100, but theBDO dismissed as “highlyexaggerated”.

Many local residentsclaimed the district adminis-tration is “in denial over manysuch unfortunate incidentsinvolving residents of Buxar”.

Buxar SDO KK Upadhyaysaid, “During preliminaryinvestigation, it has appearedthat the bodies are in decom-posed state and over 5 to 6days old. We are interactingwith our counterparts inVaranasi and Prayagraj toinvestigate the incident.”

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The Congress on Mondayonce again deferred the

election for the post of a newparty chief due to the prevail-ing pandemic situation. Thedecision was taken at theCongress Working Committee(CWC) chaired by interimchief Sonia Gandhi.

The election will be onlyafter the Covid situation in thecountry improves. June 23 wasthe scheduled date for holdingthe election.

This is the third time in arow the election for theCongress president has beenpostponed amid speculationthat Rahul Gandhi will againtake up the reins of the party.

Addressing a Press confer-ence after the CWC meet,AICC General Secretary KCVenugopal said the committeemembers felt that this was notthe right time to conduct elec-tions. “All energy should bechannelised to provide reliefand support work. It was unan-imously decided to defer elec-tions further temporarily,”Venugopal said.

The post of Congress pres-ident has remained vacantsince party leader RahulGandhi resigned after the 2019

Lok Sabha polls.When the discussion was

initiated by Sonia Gandhi tohold the polls, senior leaderslike Ashok Gehlot, GhulamNabi Azad, Anand Sharmasaid there is no need for elec-tions at this time due to Covid-19.

By the time Sonia hadinformed the meeting that theparty’s Central ElectionAuthority chief MadhusudanMistry had already workedout a schedule.

The issue of leadership iscrucial as the group of 23Congress dissenters (G-23) hadbeen pushing for a revamp ofthe party organisation. Someprominent G-23 members suchas Ghulam Nabi Azad andAnand Sharma are also mem-bers of the CWC.

The grand old party hasbeen waiting for a president foralmost two years now. RahulGandhi, who had assumed thepost in 2017, had resigned asthe party president afterCongress lost the 2019 LokSabha elections.

Since then, the party hasbeen operating under the aegisof Sonia Gandhi as interimpresident. The CWC has post-poned the election for theCongress president thrice now.

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Arequest was made to theDelhi High Court on

Monday to give an early hear-ing to a PIL seeking a stay onthe construction of the CentralVista here amid the ragingCovid pandemic.

The request was men-tioned before a bench of ChiefJustice DN Patel and JusticeJasmeet Singh by senior advo-cate Sidharth Luthra, and thecourt said an early hearingapplication be filed first.

Luthra told the bench thathe was mentioning the matteras the Supreme Court on May7 asked the petitioners to seekurgent hearing before the HighCourt on May 10.

Petitioners — AnyaMalhotra, who works as atranslator, and Sohail Hashmi,a historian and documentaryfilmmaker — had moved theapex court against the HC’sMay 4 order adjourning theirplea to May 17.

The HC had adjournedthe matter saying it first wantsto study the SC’s January 5judgement giving a go ahead tothe Central Vista project.

Jammu: The official Twitterhandle of Jammu & KashmirLieutenant Governor ManojSinha was suspended brieflydue to an “automated systemserror” and was restored later.

A Twitter spokesperson,when approached, said, “Theaccount was flagged by ourautomated systems in error.This action has been reversed,and access to the account hasbeen reinstated.”

The ‘@OfficeOfLGJandK’handle with over 50,000 fol-lowers had an account sus-pension notice displayed witha line below reading

“Twitter suspends accountswhich violate the Twitter Rules”in the evening.

Raj Bhawan officials saidthe matter was taken up withthe authorities concerned forresolving the “technical error”.

The handle was subse-quently restored but the num-ber of followers had been reset.

PDP spokesman MohitBhan was among the first toflag the issue of suspension oftwitter account of theLieutenant Governor, saying“meanwhile @TwitterIndia sus-pends the account of Office OfLG J&K citing rules violation.What did they do by the way.Did I miss something??”

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ADelhi Court on Mondayrefused to grant any stay on

coercive action against busi-nessman Navneet Kalra in con-nection with the seizure ofoxygen concentrators from hisrestaurants ‘Khan Chacha’.

Kalra, against whom theDelhi Police’s Crime Branchhas launched a manhunt,moved the Saket Court seekinganticipatory bail in the case.

Special Judge Sumit Dasshas directed the InvestigatingOfficer (IO) to file the reply tothe application by tomorrow.

“No stay on Delhi Police’scoercive action,” the court said.The judge will take up the mat-ter at noon on Tuesday.

During the course of pro-ceedings, Public ProsecutorAtul Shrivastva opposed thepre-arrest bail application.

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Nepal Prime Minister PSharma Oli lost a trust

vote in the House ofRepresentatives on Monday,in a fresh setback to the embat-tled premier seeking to tight-en his grip on power after theCPN (Maoist Centre) led byPushpakamal Dahal‘Prachanda’ withdrew supportto his Government.

Prime Minister Oli secured93 votes in the Lower House ofParliament during a specialsession convened on the direc-tives of President Bidya DeviBhandari.

Oli, 69, required at least136 votes in the 275-memberHouse of Representatives towin the confidence motion asfour members are currentlyunder suspension. A total of124 members voted againstthe confidence motion while 15members stayed neutral,Speaker Agni Sapkotaannounced. The session wasattended by 232 lawmakers.

With this, Prime MinisterOli is automatically relievedfrom his post as per Article 100(3).

Detailed report on P8

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Dakiya dava laya. The van-ishing tribe of postmen

who formed the inseparablepart of our old world, linkingloved ones with each other,have again proved to be a newlifeline in the time of crisis.

Take the case ofMuradabad in Uttar Pradesh.“Dakiya babu” in Muradabad isworking overtime, even onSundays, to deliver and recon-nect the needy and seriouspatients with their doctors andhospitals as far as Mumbai,Kolkata, and Delhi.

The online treatment ofover 30 patients, includingsome suffering from cancer, hasnot stopped. The hospitalswhich used to despatch medi-cines by private couriers have

switched to post office servicesfollowing the current lock-down where most of the air andtrain services have beenstopped.

According to senior postoffice official Veer Singh, themoment patient informs thatmedicines have been dis-patched through postal couri-er, “We immediately check

online and deliver medicineparcels to patients the momentthey land here, even onSundays or night.”

Officials and postmen arecontacted and offices areunlocked on holidays andpackets are reachedat patients’ doorsteps.

A cancer patientin Majhola, who wasprescribed medicinesby a Mumbai hospital , keptreceiving his special drugs aspostmen ensured his life isnot disrupted by coronavirusclamp down as it did to manyin over last on year.

The Government hasissued a notif icat ion toexempt the postal servicefrom the purview of theC o v i dlockdown.

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New Delhi: Health MinisterSatyendar Jain on Monday saidDelhi has only one day’sCovaxin stock left and itsCovishield doses will last forjust three to four days. TheMinister’s remarks came a dayafter Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal urged the Centre todirect manufacturers toincrease vaccine supplies to thecapital between May and July.

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Amid the deadly onslaughtof Covid-19 across the

country, unscrupulous ele-ments have not even spared thekafans (shroud of clothing for

wrapping bod-ies of dead) andother offeringsmade to thedead before

cremation.The Baghpat police on

Sunday busted a gang of seventhieves, including a cloth shopowner and his family membersbesides others who used to stealkafans and other such clothesfrom the corpses in the dead ofnight when even those whoperform last rites and thewatchmen are asleep after cre-mating countless victims of

the novel coronavirus.The police have arrested all

the seven gang members,including the ring leader andcloth merchant Praveen KumarJai. The police recovered 520kafans, 127 kurtas , 140 whiteshirts, 34 dhotis, 52 sarees,three packets of ribbon, a tapecutter, and 152 pieces oflabel/stickers of a Gwalior-based cloth brand from theshop-cum-residence of Jain atBaraut market.

The stolen items werepacked neatly with the labelsand ribbons and subsequentlysold to other unsuspectingcloth merchants.

Prime accused PraveenJain’s son Ashish Jain, nephewRishabh Jain, Shravan Sharma,Raju Sharma, Shahrukh Khan,and Bablu Kashyap, all resi-

dents of Baghpat district inUttar Pradesh.

The police have registereda case under various sections ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)including theft, trespass, pub-lic nuisance, spreading aninfectious disease, theft in adwelling or house, forgery andforgery for cheating amongothers besides provisions of theCriminal Procedure Code(CrPC) relating to lock-down/curfew violations.

According to Hindu tradi-tions and local customs, the rel-atives and friends of thedeceased offer kafans and otherclothes to the dead personsbefore cremation. Before the bodies are lit on thepyre, these offering are divid-ed among those performingcremation.

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Lucknow: Locals in Hamirpurspotted five bodies floating inthe Yamuna, creating a scarethat these were of Covidpatients, an apprehension dis-missed by the authorities.

The residents had spottedthe bodies, including a half-burnt corpse, under a bridge onthe Yamuna on May 6. “Afterspeaking to people and lookingat the bodies, prima facie, it canbe said these were not ofCovid-19 patients as these weredraped in a traditional mannerand no body was wrapped asdone in the case of Covid-19victims,” said the DM.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Monday virtually inauguratedanother new field hospital hav-ing a facility of 100 oxygen bedsin Karnal and 30 oxygen bedsfacility in two hospitals ofAssandh for treatment ofCovid-19 patients.

The Chief Minister alsolaunched the Karnal resourcelocator mobile app prepared bythe Karnal DistrictAdministration for Covid-19patients.

“Information about all nec-essary facilities related to hos-pitals, ambulances, medicalstores, plasma donors, vacci-nation centres can be obtainedon the mobile app in Karnal,the Chief Minister said. He alsoreviewed the Karnal District

Administration’s detailed planmade to tackle the expectedthird wave of Covid-19.

Khattar said that this time,the virus spread is not confinedto urban areas only as it is alsohitting rural areas hard. Forthis, everyone should ensurethat the necessary arrange-ments are made on a largescale, he directed.

The Chief Minister saidthat there is a need to providethe immediate facility of oxy-gen beds at every communityhealth centres. For this, hedirected the Additional ChiefSecretary Health and FamilyDepartment to ensure the avail-ability of oxygen beds alongwith other necessary arrange-ments at the health centresfunctional in rural areas at theearliest so that the villagers canimmediately get this facility.

He said that as many as1800 vaccination centres havebeen set up in the state and sofar 43 lakh vaccines have beenadministered. The vaccinationdrive in the state is being fur-ther intensified, he added.

He said that 3.50 lakh vac-cines will be made availablesoon and on a priority basis,the vaccination would beadministered to 8,000 teamswho are conducting survey inrural areas, frontline workers,government employees work-ing during this pandemic.

The Chief Minister saidthat there are 1.16 lakh activepatients in Haryana and 10,500beds are available in hospitals.Besides this, 1.5 lakh patientsare in home isolation, requir-ing 12,000 oxygen beds.Therefore an arrangement of1250 oxygen beds is beingmade.

Additional arrangement of500 beds each has also beenmade in the hospitals inPanipat and Hisar and in thepremises of Jindal school, hesaid.

Khattar further said, “Inthis way, the required action isbeing taken to increase beds inhospitals of every district. SGTMedical College and Medantaare also increasing beds inGurugram."

During the meeting, theChief Minister was apprisedthat out of the total activecases in Karnal, around 7 to 8per cent of patients are under-going treatment in hospitals,while the rest of the patients areeither in home quarantined orin are admitted Covid CareCentres. As many as 200MBBS students have beenimparted special training so asto provide supervised homecare facilities to these patients.

1000 APPLICATIONSRECEIVED FOR REFILL-ING OF OXYGEN CYLIN-DERS AT HOME

The Chief Minister saidthat a portal has been started toensure the supply of oxygen tothe patients living in home iso-lation. So far, nearly 1000applications have been receivedon this portal.

As many as 150 socialorganizations have been regis-tered on this portal to ensuredoor to door supply of oxygencylinders.

The Chief Minister furthersaid that Haryana’s oxygen

quota has increased from 156tonnes to 282 tonnes. Besidesthis, a request has been madeto the Centre to furtherincrease this quota so as toensure that in future if thenumber of patients increase, anuninterrupted supply of oxygenshould also be ensured, hesaid.

“10 to 40 percent of thepatients admitted in the hos-pitals located in NCR and GTroad hospitals are from Delhi.Presently, the state is also mak-ing adequate arrangements forensuring uninterrupted oxygensupply in these hospitals as eth-ically we cannot deny admis-sion to the patients comingfrom outside,” he said.

He also said that the teamsof various departments havestarted conducting door todoor village surveys. TheHealth Department team willreach out to every person andconduct a preliminary healthcheck and thereafter those whotest Covid-19 positive will beadmitted to hospitals, he added.

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To assist Chandigarh admin-istration in the fight against

coronavirus, Indian Army’sWestern Command on Mondayoperationalised a dedicated hos-pital at Panjab University’s Sector25 campus for civilian patients.

The 100-bed hospital, set upunder Operation Namaste, wasinaugurated by the Governor ofPunjab and Administrator ofChandigarh, VP Singh Badnore,who went around the facilitiesand discussed its functionalmodalities with the doctors andstaff.

Badnore thanked theWestern CommandChandimandir and officials con-cerned for setting up a 100bedded covid hospital inInternational Hostel, PanjabUniversity and assured that allpossible help from ChandigarhAdministration will be provid-ed to this hospital for covidtreatment. He advised the armyauthorities to arrange for oxygenconcentrators and ventilators.

The General OfficerC o m m a n d i n g - i n - C h i e f ,

Western Command, Lt Gen RPSingh, who was also present onthe occasion, highlighted theefforts put in by both, the IndianArmy as well as the civil admin-istration, in the early opera-tionalisation of these Hospitals.He assured the governments ofPunjab, Haryana andChandigarh of continued sup-port of the Armed Forces in thefight against Covid-19.

In addition to this, similar100-bed facilities will also beoperationalised by the Armyunder Operation Namaste at theShri Atal Bihari VajpayeeMedical College in Faridabadand the Rajindra GovernmentHospital in Patiala on May 11and May 12, respectively.

The three Covid care facil-ities, which will treat patientswith mild to moderate symp-toms, have been set up on a warfooting in coordination with thecivil administration of respectivestates and union territory. TheArmy has temporarily relocatedits field hospitals for the purpose.

According to officials, theArmy has deployed its doctors,nursing officers and paramedics

for holistic treatment to patientsas per ICMR guidelines, pro-vided service ambulances andtrained personnel for adminis-tration and management of thehospitals.

The civil administration,on the other hand, is facilitatingessential amenities, service man-agement, uninterrupted oxygensupply, patient admission anddischarge processes and ambu-lance services at these hospitals.

The hospitals will also caterfor basic laboratory, X-ray,pharmacy and catering forpatients. The admission tothese Hospitals is open for allaffected citizens and coordi-nated by the chief medicalofficers of the respective dis-tricts. On admission, ISO num-bers will be issued to patientsby the respective hospital man-agement and the discharge willbe on recommendation of theArmy medical officer treatingthe patient. Patients requiringhigher grade of treatment willbe shifted to other hospitals,coordinated by the CMO as peravailability of ICU facilities, headded.

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In a bid to curtail the spreadof Covid-19 infection, the

UT Administration on Mondaydecided to extend the presentcorona curfew in the city byanother week. The non-essen-tial shops will continue toremain closed and night curfewwill continue to be from 6:00pm to 5:00 am.

Administrator, UTChandigarh, VP Singh Badnoretook this decision while review-ing corona cases over a WarRoom meeting with the UTadministrative officers.

Adviser Manoj Parida saidthat it was decided that the daytime movement will beallowed, however, residentshave been advised to avoidnon-essential travel. Morningwalkers will be allowed from 6am to 9 am and crowded placeslike Sukhna Lake, Museums,

Libraries, Rock Garden willremain closed, he added.

Parida further said that amaximum of 20 guests will beallowed in wedding functionsand written permission fromthe Deputy Commissioner willbe needed. For funerals, thenumber will be restricted to 10and no separate permission willbe required.

Keeping in view the factthat corona is a new diseasewith unknown variants andmutations and its treatmentneeds to be updated daily, theAdministrator directed thatthe top doctors from all thethree medical institutions mustmeet in video conference everyday and analyze the medicaltreatment of critical patients.

The senior doctors ofPGIMER should guide all con-cerned regarding new medica-tion and upto date protocol for

the treatment of coronapatients.

Administrator also stressedthat there should be an audit ofeach fatality, so that the line ofmedical treatment could beimproved and lapses, if any,could be rectified.

In view of the directions ofthe High Court for setting upUnified Command Centre fortri-city, a meeting of all thethree Chief Secretaries will beheld on Tuesday so that a com-mon strategy could be chalkedout for fighting covid in the tri-city.

Badnore also inaugurateda temporary Covid hospital inSector 45, where an existingdispensary has been convertedinto a full-fledged covid hos-pital.

863 NEW CASES, 7DEATHS IN CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh on Monday

registered seven more deathsand 863 cases of coronavirus,taking the infection count to51,070. So far, 575 people havedied from the infection in theunion territory, according to amedical bulletin.

The city is witnessing analarming rise in Covid-19deaths as about 97 persons havesuccumbed to the virus in thelast 10 days, a sharp increase inthe toll over last month that saw99 deaths. The number ofactive cases stood at 8653. Thetotal number of samples testedin the last 24 hours was 3756.

While cases were reportedfrom all sectors, Manimajrareported 108 new cases. Atotal of 714 patients were dis-charged after they recoveredfrom the infection. A total of441,625 samples have beentaken for testing so far.

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After the state police filed anFIR against six persons in

connection with rape of a 25-year-old activist associated withthe farmers' agitation at theTikri border, Haryana HomeMinister Anil Vij on Mondaysaid that the all the six accusednamed in the FIR would bearrested soon and brought tojustice.

“Such crimes cannot beallowed on the pretext of farm-ers' agitation. It is really unfor-tunate,” Vij said while talkingto the mediapersons in Ambalaon the issue of alleged rapecase. The Minister said thateach and every accused wouldbe arrested.

The victim from WestBengal had died of Covid-19 ata hospital in Jhajjar’sBahadurgarh on April 30.

Notably, the state policehave registered a case againstsix people including twowomen on the complaint of thevictim's father, who alleged

that the accused, who wereassociated with the 'KisanSocial Army', travelled with herin a train from West Bengal onApril 10.

The deceased father saidthat the accused worked with‘Kisan Social Army’, the IT cellof farmers’ group protestingagainst the three central farmlaws passed in September lastyear. In his complaint, he saidthe woman was sexuallyharassed while travelling andon reaching the border she wasgang raped.

On the night of April 25, asper the police, she was admit-ted to a private hospital inBahadurgarh for treatment ofCOVID-19. She died there onApril 30.

In his complaint, the vic-tim's father alleged the mainaccused — Anil Malik andAnup Singh — also tried tokidnap her. The other accusedare Ankush Sangwan, JagdishBarad, Kavita Arya and YogitaSuhag.

A Special Investigation

Team (SIT), headed by theDCP (Bahadurgarh), has beenformed by the government toconduct a probe into the mat-ter. Anup Singh, who is one ofthe accused in the alleged rapecase has claimed that the alle-gations against him are a con-spiracy to defame farmers' agi-tation. In a video message,Singh said that there was anincident of assault on-board atrain, but the allegations of rapeat the Tikri border are false.

Culprits should be pun-ished. But rape accusations arewrong, he claimed.

A day before the SamyuktaKisan Morcha (SKM), thegroup of protesting farmersunions, had issued a statementstating that it “stands with thestruggle for justice for thedeceased woman colleague andis committed to taking thisfight for justice to its logicalconclusion.”

It said the tents and ban-ners, etc., of the so-called Kisansocial army have beenremoved.

“The accused were barredfrom participating in themovement and public appealwas issued for their social boy-cott. The SKM has made it clearthat the Kisan social army wasnever the authorized socialmedia voice of the SKM andnone of its handles have any-thing to do with the movement.In addition to these steps, fromday one the SKM has assuredthe family of the deceased col-league that it will extend themevery possible support in anylegal recourse that they prefer,”said its statement.

“The SKM will extend fullcooperation to the police inbringing out the truth of thismatter. No one shall be spared,”added the statement.

Hundreds of farmers fromnorthern states of Punjab andHaryana have been camping atHaryana's borders with Delhiat Singhu and Tikri for over sixmonths, demanding a repeal ofthe three agriculture reformlaws enacted by the Centre inSeptember last year.

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161 deaths were reported inHaryana as 12718 fresh

COVID-19 cases surfaced onMonday. The state, however,recorded more number ofrecoveries at 16192 than thefresh cases in the last 24 hours.

The death toll due toCOVID-19 has reached 5766while the state’s cumulativetally stood at 628615, as perHaryana’s health bulletin.There were 113,232 active casesin the state till the evening.

According to the bulletin,Rohtak reported the highestnumber of 17 fatalities in thelast 24 hours. 16 deaths eachwere reported in Hisar,Mahendragarh and Bhiwani, 12each in Gurugram and Jind, 10each in Faridabad, Ambalaand Panipat, eight in Kaithal,nine in Yamunanagar and Sirsa,five in Fatehabad, four inPanchkula, three inKurukshetra and two each inPalwal and Sonepat.

The worst affected

Gurugram district reportedthe highest number of 2749fresh infections followed by1347 cases in Faridabad and1185 cases in Hisar.

The cumulative positivityrate has increased to 7.97 per-cent while the recovery ratestood at 81 percent in Haryana.The fatality rate in the state wasrecorded at 0.92 percent. Thestate recorded a positivity rateof 25.30 percent on Monday.Till date, more than 79.19 lakhsamples have been tested inHaryana, the bulletin stated.

A day before, the StateGovernment had extendedlockdown till May 17. Home-cum-Health Minister Anil Vijon Monday said that'Mahamari Alert, SurakshitHaryana' has been declaredfor one week. A few rules havebeen added to the guidelinesimposed earlier during thefirst lockdown. Only 11 per-sons will be allowed to attendthe wedding and funeral, headded.

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With an aim to curb theCovid-19 spread that is

growing exponentially in therural areas, HaryanaGovernment has decided torelease funds up to Rs 50,000for all gram panchayats of thestate.

Isolation wards will be setup in the villages through thesefunds and other necessaryitems associated with Covidtreatment such as oximeters,steam machines, thermome-ters, blood pressure monitoringmachines will also be arrangedso that the fight against the sec-ond wave of Corona pandem-ic can be fought firmly at therural level, said Deputy ChiefMinister Dushyant Chautala onMonday.

Dushyant presided over ameeting with officers of thePanchayat Department here toreview the COVID-19 situationin the state.

He said that the StateGovernment will allocate fundsof Rs 30,000 to all the villageshaving population less than

10,000 and those with morethan 10,000 population, thegovernment will allocate Rs50,000.

Corona isolation centreswould be built in Chaupals,Government Schools,Anganwadi Centers of the vil-lages, he said.

The Deputy Chief Ministerinformed that a team will beformed to operate these cen-tres, which will include HealthStaff (ANM), AnganwadiWorkers and Gram PanchayatRepresentatives and theseteams will be monitored by theincharge of CHC and PHC.

Dushyant said that theincreasing cases of Covid in thevillages are a matter of concern.In order to prevent the spread,8,000 teams are being formedby the State Government toincrease Covid testing in ruralareas. He said that to curb theCovid infection in the ruralareas, it is mandatory to set upCorona treatment facilitieswithin the villages for whichthe State Government will pro-vide funds to the panchayatsimmediately.

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Monday (May 10) turnedout to be a deadliest day

since the coronavirus pan-demic broke out in Punjab. Asmany as 198 persons — thehighest-ever single-day figure— succumbed to the deadlycontagion in the past 24 hours,which means that on an aver-age, eight casualties werereported every hour.

With this, the state’s deathtoll currently stood at 10,704 atthe case fatality rate (CFR) of2.38 percent.

Breaking all previousrecords, Ludhiana district wit-nessed whopping 30 fatalities— highest ever reported by anydistrict in Punjab — alongwith 1,470 fresh cases.

Other than that, eight otherdistricts reported deaths intwo-digit figures — including19 deaths from Bathinda; 17from Sangrur; 14 each fromMohali and Patiala; 13 fromMuktsar and Ferozepur; and 10each from Ropar and Amritsar.Besides, nine deaths werereported from Hoshiarpur;eight each from Fazilka,

Jalandhar, andPathankot; fiveeach fromFaridkot; foureach fromG u r d a s p u r ,Kapurthala, andMansa; three eachfrom Nawanshahrand fatehgarhSahib; two fromBarnala; and oneeach from Mogaand Tarn Taran.

As many as8,625 more per-sons were testedpositive for theCOVID-19 in thepast 24 hours,pushing the state’s infectiontally to 4,50,674. The staterecorded the positivity rate of16.13 percent on Monday.

Mohali district, with 1,382fresh cases, reported highestpositivity rate of 33.85 percenton Monday. Besides, sevenother districts have higher pos-itivity rate than that of the state.

Ludhiana reporting highest1470 cases in a single day at thepositivity rate of 15.73 percent;followed by Mohali with 1,382

fresh cases (33.85 percent);Patiala 676 (18.82 percent);Bathinda 629 (20.51 percent);Jalandhar 619 (13 percent);Amritsar 561 (12.10 percent);Muktsar 401 (28.77 percent);Pathankot 396 (22.07 percent);Hoshiarpur 385 (11.24 per-cent); Mansa 353 (27.99 per-cent); Fazilka 283 (24.21 per-cent); Sangrur 214 (10.17 per-cent); Gurdaspur 206 (8.08percent); Ferozepur 181 (14.81percent); Ropar 180 (16.35

percent); Kapurthala 171 (6.19percent); Moga 119 (18.95 per-cent); Faridkot 104 (12.94 per-cent); Tarn Taran 103 (11.76percent); among others.

The state’s active case loadsurpassed 75,000 figure whichaccounts for 16.82 percent ofthe total positive cases. Of thetotal 75,800 active cases, a totalof 9,376 patients are on oxygensupport; while 298 criticalpatients are on ventilator sup-port.

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Chief Minister HemantSoren inaugurated "Birsa

Jeevan Ayush Program" onlinefrom his residential office onMonday. The Chief Ministersaid, on the occasion, that theState government is working onmany new dimensions to over-come this global epidemic.Today another program isbeing inaugurated in thisepisode. Many lifesaving med-icines by homeopath methodhave been prepared by home-opathic experts to fight Covid-19 infection. These medicinesare useful in correcting oxygendeficiency in patients' bodyfrom infection.

The CM said that underthis program, ‘Birsa JeevanAayush Kit’ will be made avail-

able to the Coronavirus infect-ed patients. The ‘Birsa JeevanAayush Kit’ will have immuni-ty booster medicines toincrease immunity, which willbe useful in quick recovery ofcoronavirus infected patients.This kit will also be deliveredto the homes of patients livingin home isolation. Under thisprogramme, medicines willalso be given to the relatives ofcorona infected patients whohave come in contact withthem. Besides, medicines willalso be given to all the frontlineworkers working for control ofCovid-19. The CM said thatthis kit of medicines will bemade available to the infectedpatients in all the districts of theState. On the occasion, theChief Minister flagged off threevehicles plying under ‘Birsa

Jeevan Ayush Programme’.On this occasion, State

Health Minister Banna Gupta,Development Commissionercum Additional Chief SecretaryHealth Department ArunKumar Singh, UrbanDevelopment Secretary VinayKumar Choubey, AYUSHDirector Chand Prasad, TheHomeopathic MedicalAssociation of India RanchiSecretary Dr. Rajiv Kumar,Chairman Dr. Naresh Kumar,Members Dr. Mona Kumari,Dr. Ramji Yadav, Dr. AjaySingh and Ravi Kumar andothers were present.

The CM today, stated in aseparate message that Covidtesting and recovery fromCovid-19 is continuouslyincreasing in the State. “Theinfection rate has also

decreased in the last 10 days.The number of beds / generalbeds containing ICU / oxygenhas also been increased signif-icantly in the last one month.Due to the Amrit Vahini Appand the hospital circuit, noweveryone is relieved from get-ting all kinds of beds on time.We are constantly working onhow to ban oxygen and otheressential medicines' black mar-keting, and how to make themaccessible to you with ease,” hesaid.

“Through the CoronaRelief Kit, we are making everyeffort to deliver medicines ontime to every needy person.Your government is makingevery necessary effort to pro-tect you, but I apologize for anykind of trouble you may havesuffered due to lack of theseefforts. I would like to assureyou that in our limitedresources we will provide youall the best facilities. Now ournext priority is to provide freevaccines to all the people ofJharkhand, which we will def-initely fulfill.

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The Government ofJharkhand is putting every

effort to curb the spread of theCovid19 pandemic in the statewithout impacting the deliveryof essential services and ensur-ing benefits of governmentschemes reaches the benefi-ciaries. At the request of ChiefMinister the Banking ServicesSakhis are proving to be handyin making the banking servicesaccessible to all in the village attheir doorstep. These women,known as Bankwali Didi in thevillages, are proving to be thebackbone of the rural economy.With the help of these BCSakhis, along with other bank-ing facilities, services likewidow pension, old age pen-sion, wages of MGNREGAworkers are also being provid-

ed door to door. Bouyed by thetremendous success of thisarrangement, the ChiefMinister has also set a target ofappointing one BankingCorrespondent Sakhi in everypanchayat.

Anjum Ara is a BankingCorrespondent Sakhi ofMaganpur panchayat in theGola block of Ramgarh district.During the lockdown period,Anjum has completed transac-tions worth more than 46 lakhsthrough the service delivery tothe beneficiaries. Anjum says, "Iprovide banking services topeople in my panchayat as wellas other nearby panchayats.Even during the previous lock-down, I was offering bankingservices to the people of myarea. While delivering bankingservices to the people, I am con-stantly in contact with people.

This may expose me to the virusinfection. I take all precautionsand proper care while provid-ing banking facilities to thepeople.”

Similarly, Sonia Kansari ofKarra block of Khunti district isalso providing banking facilitiesto the people of her panchayatat this time of crisis. All the ser-vices ranging from moneydeposit, withdrawal and insur-ance are available to the peopleof Karra block at their doorstep.Sonia processes up to 25-30 lakhrupees of transaction everymonth.

Today, the entire country isfighting a war against the Covid-19 pandemic. In this hour of cri-sis, many banking correspon-dents like Anjum and Sonia arecontinuously providing bankingservices to the villagers evenduring the lockdown. Last year

too, during April-July 2020,when a strict lockdown wasimposed across the state, 1679Banking Correspondent Sakhishad processed transactions ofmore than Rs. 327 crores indoorstep delivery of essentialbanking services to the ruralpopulation. B.C. Sakhis active inthe state, making banking ser-vices available to the people oftheir village/panchayat, are con-tinuously running awarenessdrives related to Covid appro-priate behaviour in rural areas.They are playing importantrole as a frontline warrior andcontributing to the fight againstthe Covid19 pandemic.

The Jharkhand StateLivelihood Promotion Society,under the Rural DevelopmentDepartment, has 3383 BankingCorrespondent Sakhis work-ing across the state, who are pro-viding banking services to thevillagers. The sisters of SakhiMandal are being trained andposted as BankingCorrespondent Sakhi by linkingthem with various banks underNLM and NRETP.

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RAIPUR | TUESDAY | MAY 11, 2021

chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Health MinisterT.S. Singh Deo on Monday

told officials to step up vaccina-tion against Covid-19 and saidthe government has ordered 1.5crore doses of the vaccine.

Singh Deo was addressing ameeting of health officials. He also asked officials of theChhattisgarh Medical ServicesCorp (CMSC) to coordinatewith the vaccine suppliers andmanage to make available moreand more vaccines for the state.

He said the government hadordered 1.5 crore doses of vac-cine -- 75 lakh each fromBharat Biotech and SerumInstitute.It is expected that 9 lakh dosesof vaccine will arrive in May, hessid.

1.5 crore vaccine dosesordered: Singh Deo

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Atotal of 109,869 personshave been vaccinated

against Covid-19 in the 18-44age category in Chhattisgarh,and 50,105 of them are in theAntyodaya category. The vaccination is on in 483 cen-tres in the state, Dr SubashMishra, Director (Epidemic),told the media on Monday.He said that till May 9, the statehas vaccinated 59.36 lakh peoplein all. Out of the 3.39 lakh healthworkers, 3.02 lakh have beenvaccinated; against a target of2.93 lakh frontline workers, 2.99lakh have been vaccinated. In the 45-plus category, against atarget of 58.66 lakh citizens,43.31 lakh have been adminis-tered the vaccine. Thus, the coverage percentage inthe three categories is 89 per-cent, 102 percent and 74 percent

respectively. In the 18-44 agecategory, 1.09 lakh people havebeen vaccinated.The positivity rate inChhattisgarh has furtherdropped to 19 percent, he said. He said in a few districts likeSurguja, Gariaband, Sukma andNarayanpur, there has been anincrease in the number of posi-tive cases. But in 24 districts, the

positive cases were lower com-pared to other days.Dr Mishra said Chhattisgarh hasrecorded 1.3 percent wastage,which is lower than the nationalaverage of 6 percent. He said a directive has beengiven to the vaccination teams toopen a vial only when 10 peoplereach the centre. This will helpreduce the wastage further.

1.09 lakh vaccinatedin 18-44 age group

Children,staff of childcare homehealthy: GovtSTAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The condition of 45 children and 5employees in a child care home in Mana

in the outskirts of Chhattisgarh’s capitalwho tested positive for Corona is normalafter treatment, the government said onMonday.The District Programme Officer of Womenand Child Development Department heresaid there are 73 children in the child carehome whose rapid antigen and RTPCR testswere done on April 29.After 45 children and 5 staffers testedCovid-19 positive, immediate treatmentwas started, a press release said.Medicines were made available to all infect-ed children and staffers through the ChiefMunicipal Officer of Mana NagarPanchayat. A doctor and six nurses weredeployed for their treatment. The condition of the children is said to benormal, the release said.

Heavy concrete blocks supporting the under construction Expressway near Shankar Nagar in Raipur fell on Monday. These were lifted safely. No casualties were reported.Pioneer Photo

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The Covid positivity rate inChhattisgarh is declining steadily

over the last six days. On May 9, itwas 19 percent. Based on the results of 48,732 sam-ples tested on May 9, a total of 9,120individuals were found Covid infect-ed. The positivity rate has fallenbelow 20 percent for the first timeafter April 5, 2020 when it was 18percent.On May 4, 2021, the positivity rate inChhattisgarh was 28 percent. On May5, it slipped to 25 percent and to 23

percent on May 6. It was 20 percenton May 8 and 19 percent on May 9. In the previous week as well, a signif-icant decline was noticed in the posi-tivity rate of Raipur district, an offi-cial communication said on Monday.On May 2, the positivity rate ofRaipur district was 31 percent, whichhas gradually declined to 15 percentat present. On May 3 and 4, the positivity rate inRaipur was 25 percent. On May 5, itslid to 21 percent. On May 6 it fellfurther to 18 percent and on May 7and 8 to 16 percent. Positivity rate inRaipur on May 9 was 15 percent.

Covid positivity rate19%, steady decline

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Adelegation of the Chhattisgarh BJPcalled on the Chhattisgarh Governor

on Monday and sought her interventionin the Covid-19 situation in the state. The delegation urged her to issue direc-tives to the state government on issuesraised in a representation to counter the

pandemic in state.Addressing the media, former ChiefMinister Dr Raman Singh said: “Theopposition had taken an initiative tointeract with the Chief Minister and for-ward suggestions how to fight the pan-demic in the state, shoulder to shoulder.”State BJP President Vishnudeo Sai soughtone-on-one interaction with the Chief

Minister but only a virtual appointmentwas given. The state government is disrespecting theinitiative taken by the opposition, he said,adding that is why the Governor's inter-vention was sought.He asked the government to come up witha work plan for six months as 1.30 crorebeneficiaries have to be vaccinated.

BJP delegation seeks Governor’sintervention in Covid situation

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The District and Sessions Court inDurg on Monday sentenced to life

imprisonment two men on charges of

murdering of Abhishek Mishra, an edu-cation baron's son who allegedly hadillicit relations with a woman.District and Sessions Judge RajeshShrivastava pronounced Vikas Jain and

Ajit Singh guilty after a virtual hearinginto the matter. But he acquitted KimsiKamboj Jain, giving her the benefit ofdoubt.Senior advocate Rajkumar Tiwari toldThe Pioneer that Jain and Singh wereconvicted and sentenced for "imprison-ment till their last breath".Mishra was Vice President of ShriGangajali Education, a renowned educa-tional society in Chhattisgarh whichruns around a dozen colleges offeringcourses in engineering, pharmacy, nurs-ing and management.The murder was reportedly executed as

Kimsi Kamboj Jain was reluctant to con-tinue her relationship with Mishra afterher wedding.Kimsi Jain was said to have been intouch with Mishra after quitting her jobin a college. Mishra allegedly used toforce her to maintain contact with him. Kimsi Jain and Vikas Jain allegedlyplanned to kill Mishra with the help ofAjit Singh, a relative.Vikas Jain and Ajit Singh were arrestedfrom Bhilai after around one and a halfmonths after the murder on November9, 2015. Kimsi Jain was arrested in Delhi.On the fateful day, Kimsi Jain reportedly

called Mishra to her Chouhan Townhouse in Bhilai where Vikas Jain and AjitSingh attacked him with a heavy rod.After Mishra died, his body was buriedin the premises of Ajit Singh's rentedhouse at Smriti Nagar.To mislead the police, the accused aban-doned Mishra's car on VIP Road inRaipur and made a ransom call to hisparents.Police formed around 35 teams to traceMishra. Vikas Jain and Ajit Singh werearrested based on their call records andafter they reportedly confessed to com-mitting the crime.

Life term for two for murdering Abhishek Mishra

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S.Singh Deo on Monday made a sur-

prise inspection of Covid vaccinationcenters in Raipur and gave necessaryinstructions to the healthcare staff there.A sudden rush of mostly youths was wit-nessed at the centers in recent days as thevaccination resumed following a direc-

tive of the Chhattisgarh High Court.There were long queues in the APL andBPL vaccination counters but the coun-ters for Antyodaya card holders had fewtakers. In some centres, all APL and BPLcard holders could not be vaccinated dueto the number of vaccine doses available.The Minister turned up to see the condi-tion in some of the centres. He also tookfeedback from the beneficiaries.

Health Minister inspectsvaccination centres in capital

Applicationinvited forawards inBiodiversitySTAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Applications are invited from insti-tutions and individuals working

to protect, conserve and createawareness on biodiversity for ‘Bio-diversity Award’ given by theChhattisgarh State BiodiversityBoard.Every year on May 22, theInternational Day for Biodiversity isobserved, with the state governmentgiving away the award. In four sec-tors, a total of eight awards is given,said an official communication onMonday.Applicants can also send photo-graphs till May 20. The proposal forthe award can be sent in theChhattisgarh State BiodiversityBoard office email. The winners are given certificates,with individuals also getting Rs25,000 in cash and institutions Rs50,000.

“Senior advocate Rajkumar Tiwaritold The Pioneer that Jain and Singhwere convicted and sentenced for"imprisonment till their last breath”

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The Centre has justified inthe Supreme Court the

Covid-19 vaccination policysaying its response and strate-gy is completely driven byexpert medical and scientificopinion which leaves littleroom for judicial interferenceand emphasised that citizens ofall age groups will get free vac-cination throughout India.

In view of the unprece-dented and peculiar circum-stances under which vaccina-tion drive is devised as anexecutive policy, the “wisdomof the executive should betrusted”, it said. In a global pan-demic, where the response andstrategy of the nation is com-pletely driven by expert med-ical and scientific opinion, “anyoverzealous, though well-meaning judicial intervention,may lead to unforeseen andunintended consequences”, thegovernment said.

In 218-page affidavit filedlate Sunday night in the topcourt’s suo motu case onCovid-19 management, theCentre said, this policy “con-forms to mandate of Article 14and Article 21 of theConstitution of India and ismade after several rounds ofconsultation and discussionwith experts, state governmentand vaccine manufacturersrequiring no interference bythis Court as while dealing with

a pandemic of this magnitude,the executive does have a roomfor free play in the joints, inlarger public interest”.

The Government furthersaid, “It is also submitted thatcitizens of 18 to 44 years aregetting vaccination free of costas all the State Governmentshave announced free vaccina-tion for this population groupof 18-44 years. Thus, all citizensof all age groups will get freevaccination throughout thecountry.” States have also beenprovided the information of thetotal number of doses of bothvaccines available to them andthe UTs from “Government ofIndia channel” for the identi-fied priority groups (healthcare workers, frontline workersand population above 45 yearsof age) free of cost from May 1to 15 and this data would bereleased every fortnight, it said.

“It is most respectfully sub-mitted that in the times of suchgrave and unprecedented crisiswhich the nation is fighting thedisaster of an unprecedentedmagnitude, the executive func-tioning of the governmentneeds discretion to formulatepolicy in larger interest. It issubmitted that in view of theunprecedented and peculiarcircumstances under which

vaccination drive is devised asan executive policy, the wisdomof the executive should betrusted,” the affidavit said.

The Government said in aplethora of judgements, the SClaid down the parameters forjudicial review of executivepolicies, which can only bestruck down or interfered withon the grounds of manifestarbitrariness, allowing suffi-cient play in the joints to theexecutive, to function in accor-dance with its Constitutionalmandate.

“In the context of a globalpandemic, where the responseand strategy of the nation iscompletely driven by expertmedical and scientific opinion,there is even little room forjudicial interference. Anyoverzealous, though well-meaning judicial interventionmay lead to unforeseen andunintended consequences, inabsence of any expert advice oradministrative experience, leav-ing the doctors, scientists,experts and executive very lit-tle room to find innovativesolutions on the go”, it said.

It said the policy, strategyand steps taken, based onexpert scientific advice, have tobe appreciated in the context ofa medical crisis.

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The Organisation ofPharmaceutical Producers

of India) on Monday said waiv-ing intellectual property rightswill not lead to increased pro-duction of Covid-19 vaccines,as it is not the barrier to theiradequate availability in India.The industry body said it iscognizant that with the risingCovid-19 cases in India andother developing nations, thereis an urgency to rapidly-pro-duce greater quantities ofCovid-19 vaccine. Vaccinemanufacturing is a complexprocess and scaling up capac-ities involves the transfer ofcritical know-how, it added.The International Federation ofPharmaceutical Manufacturersand Associations (IFPMA) hasalready opposed the transfer ofIntellectual Property (IP) waiv-er saying a waiver is the simplebut the wrong answer to whatis a complex problem.

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In the ongoing national effortto augment supply of oxygen,

three Indian Navy warshipscarrying the gas from Kuwait,Qatar and Singapore reachedIndia on Monday. The Armyset up three hospitals inFaridabad, Chandigarh andPatiala for treating Covid-19patients.

Giving details about thenaval endeavour, officials saidthree ships including Kolkata,Trikand and Airavat reachedIndia with Liquid MedicalOxygen.

As part of the ongoingOperation ‘Samudra Setu II’ tosupport the nation’s fightagainst Covid-19, INS Kolkataarrived New Mangalore, INSTrikand entered Mumbai andINS Airavat arrived inVisakhapatnam.

These ships are part ofnine ships deployed for Covidrelief Operation ‘Samudra SetuII’ for shipment of LiquidMedical Oxygen and associat-ed medical equipment fromfriendly foreign countries inthe Persian Gulf and SouthEast Asia.

INS Airavat arrived inVisakhapatnam with eightcryogenic oxygen tanks and3,898 oxygen cylinders alongwith other critical medicalequipment from Singapore.

INS Trikand was deployedto augment shipment of LiquidMedical Oxygen (LMO) cryo-genic containers from HamadPort, Qatar to Mumbai. Theship arrived at Mumbai with 40Metric Tons(MT) of liquid

Oxygen. The consignment ispart of the French mission“Oxygen Solidarity Bridge” tosupport India’s fight againstCovid-19 pandemic, they said.

INS Kolkata arrived atNew Mangalore with 400 bot-tles of Oxygen, two 27 MTcontainers of Liquid MedicalOxygen and 47 concentratorsthat were embarked at Qatarand Kuwait.

While these ships enteredports to augment oxygen sup-ply in three different States,two more warships are enrouteto India from Kuwait and oneship is at Brunei to embarkmedical supplies.

As regards the Army’s role,they said the force has set upa 100-bed Covid care hospitalat the Shri Atal Bihari VajpayeeGovernment Medical College,Chhainsa, located 20 kms fromFaridabad town.

The Army and the CivilAdministration, FaridabadDistrict worked in close coor-dination on a war footing toensure that the hospital isfunctional from Tuesday toprovide Level 1 medical care tomild/ symptomatic patientssuffering from Covid-19.

In a related development,

Western Command chiefLieutenant General RP Singhon Monday announced theoperationalisation of WesternCommand Covid Hospitals atInternational Students Hostelof Panjab University, Sector 25Chandigarh and RajindraGovernment Hospital, Patialabesides the facility atFaridabad. The hospital atPatiala will start functioningfrom Tuesday.

The Army has deployed itsDoctors, Nursing Officers andParamedics for holistic treat-ment to patients as per theIndian Council for MedicalResearch(ICMR)guidelines,provided service ambulancesand trained personnel foradministration and manage-ment of the hospital.

The civil administration isfacilitating essential ameni-ties, service management,uninterrupted oxygen supply,patient admission and dis-charge and ambulance ser-vices at these hospitals.

The hospitals will alsocater for basic laboratory, X-Ray, Pharmacy and catering forpatients. The admission tothese Hospitals will be openedto all citizens.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Monday came

down heavily on the partycadre for the party’s debacle inthe just-concluded Assemblyelections.

Sources within the partysaid that an annoyed Soniasought an explanation for theelectoral losses from the gen-eral secretaries in charge of theStates that went to polls, shealso raked up the issue ofpending party’s President postand organisational electionsto be held by month of June.

During the party’sCongress Working Committee(CWC) meeting, Sonia talkedmore about the prevailing sit-uation within the party and dis-cussed measures to be taken to“pull up the socks” to strength-en the party base.

In a surprise move, Soniaasked Assam general secretaryJitender Singh, Kerala generalsecretary Tariq Anwar, WestBengal in-charge Jitin Prasada,Tamil Nadu & Puducherry in-charge Dinesh Gundurao tomake a presentation andexplain why the party lost inthese States.

“I expect them to brief usvery frankly on our perfor-mance in their respectiveStates. We want them to tell uswhy we performed well belowexpectation. These results tell

us clearly that we need to putour house in order,” she said.

“We have to take note ofour serious setbacks. To say thatwe are deeply disappointed is tomake an understatement. Iintend to set up a small groupto look at every aspect thatcaused such reverses and reportback very quickly. We need tocandidly understand why inKerala and Assam we failed todislodge the incumbent gov-ernments, and why in WestBengal we drew a completeblank. These will yield uncom-fortable lessons, but if we do notface reality, if we do not look thefacts in the face, we will notdraw the right lessons,” Soniasaid in the virtual meeting ofthe CWC which is the party’shighest decision-making body.

Sources said that WestBengal in charge Jitin Prasadain his presentation said thatalliance with ISF ruined theparty prospects in the state andmentioned that the ISF alliancewas finalized by the Left par-ties and not the Congress. Inthe midst of elections, seniorparty leader Anand Sharmahad raised the issue but wassnubbed West Bengal Congresschief Adhir RanjanChowdhury that the Left hadgiven its share of seats to ISF.

Jitin also blamed the com-mittee for delaying the seatsharing pact and also said bythe time campaigning for thelast phases began where the

Congress was strong, the elec-tion became bipolar betweenTMC and BJP, and the partycould not get any seat inMalda and Murshidabad,which are its strongholds.

Prasada also said thatthere was no clarity whether toattack Chief Minister MamataBanerjee or not and request-ed the CWC to throw light onthe issue of alliance and howto move forward.

For Assam, according tosources, the general secretaryin-charge Jitendra Singh high-lighted that it was wrong tomake CAA as a poll issue,though the party was hopefulto wrest power from BJP andearly campaign at the grass-roots level by the local lead-ership would have been result-oriented. The incharge for theTamil Nadu conveyed that thewave was for DMK and inPuducherry the people waslooking for a change due to theallegations of misgovernanceby the Naranswamy govern-ment, according to thesources. While the Keralaincharge said that though theparty worker hard and a reg-ular campaigns by RahulGandhi was positive, but thecause of real loss is beingassessed and a report in thisregard will be shared soon.

Sonia further said therecent Assembly election wasa clear indication that theCongress needed to put its

house in order, She said calling the results

disappointing would be anunderstatement andannounced the setting up of asmall group to analyse theresults.

On the occasion Soniaalso slammed the NarendraModi government for ignoringexpert advice on Covid-19and allowing it become a “cat-astrophe”. She also targeted thegovernment for being “woe-fully short” on vaccination.

The meeting also saw pre-sentations by chief ministers ofCongress-ruled states on theCovid situation and chal-lenges. “The country is payinga horrendous price for the Modigovernment’s neglect of thepandemic, indeed its wilfulpatronage of super-spreaderevents that were allowed for par-tisan gains. A far deadlier sec-ond wave has now over-whelmed us. Some scientistshave now cautioned about athird wave overtaking us soon.Some States have alreadyannounced a complete lock-down. The public health systemacross the country has all butcollapsed,” she said.

A party colleague, andleader of Congress in Lok Sabha,Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,wrote a letter to theGovernment to convene a spe-cial session of the Parliament todiscuss and debate on the pan-demic which is taking a heavytoll on the health of the nationevery hour, every minute.

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Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra on

Monday attacked the NarendraModi-led Union Governmentover the Central Vista projectand questioned the expenditurebeing made on a new residencefor the Prime Minister whenthe amount could be utilisedfor providing Covid relatedmedical assistance.

“PM’s new residence &Central vista cost = Rs 20,000cr = 62 crore vaccine doses =22 crore Remdesvir vials = 3crore 10 litre oxygen cylinders= 13 AIIMS with a total of12,000 beds. WHY?,” Priyankatweeted.

The Government hasbrought the construction workfor the ambitious Central Vistaproject under the ambit of“essential services” to ensuresmooth movement of labour-ers during the ongoing lock-down in Delhi.

Both Priyanka and herbrother Rahul Gandhi havebeen critical of the CentralViata project, saying that itshouldn’t be continued at atime when the country is reel-ing under the Covid pandem-ic with many people com-plaining of not getting hospi-tal beds, Covod vaccines, oxy-gen cylinders and life-savingdrugs.

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Credited with BJP’s ‘polit-ical surge’ in the North-

East, Himanta Biswa Sarma,a non-tribal, was sworn in asthe 15th Chief Minister ofAssam on Monday by StateGovernor Jagdish Mukhi,replacing former ChiefMinister SarbanandaSonowal.

Sarma had joined theBJP from the Congress in2015 at the the residence ofsenior BJP leader Amit Shah’sand was then appointedConvener of the ElectionManagement Committee forthe upcoming AssemblyElections in Assam in 2016that catapulted Sonowal asthe State Chief Minister.

Five years down the line

Sarma, 52, expanded hisclout in the North-East asalso in the BJP and upstagedhis seven years seniorSonowal

An interesting commentof Sonowal reported locallyin March, this year, at a booklaunch function in Assamreflect that Sonowal was, ina way, still confident that‘democratic election’ wouldpave way for him for the sec-ond time.

Asked if one needsto be a non-Brahminfrom Upper Assam tobecome the chief min-ister candidate fromthe BJP party, Sonowalsaid “This is a veryvery…this is a questionthat should not beraised. Our party BJP

is a very democratic partyand we believe in people’sdemocracy.”

His fate was decided inDelhi before it was formallyannounced in BJP legislatureparty meet a day before atGauwhati.

Sarma, a Brahmin, andSonowal, a kachari-tribalhad began their politicalcareers and honed their political skills as leaders ofAll Assam Student Union(AASU) and then wentseperate ways for years beforejoining hands together inthe BJP.

Prime Minister who hadhand-picked Sonowal in2016, C ongratulatedHimanta and the otherMinisters who took oath.

“C ongratulat ions toHimanta Biswa Ji and theother Ministers who tookoath today,” tweeted Modi.

“I am confident this teamwill add momentum to thedevelopment journey ofAssam and fulfil aspirationsof the people,” the PrimeMinister added.

Modi a lso praisedSonowal for his “immensecontribution in strengthen-ing the party in the State”

“My valued colleague@sarbanandsonwal Ji was atthe helm of a pro-peopleand pro-development admin-istration over the last fiveyears . His contr ibut iontowards Assam’s progress andstrengthening the party inthe state is immense, “ primeMinister said to heal thehurt sentiments of the ex-CMand his loyalists.

Sarma took to Twitter toexpress his gratitude to thepeople of the state. “With fra-grance of Assam in my heart& love of my wonderful peo-ple in my veins, I offer mydeepest gratitude to you all.I would not have been whatI am had it not been for yourpious faith in me. On thisDay, I vow to work with & foreach one of you with greaterpassion Assam,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, hethanked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi saying, “Thisis the biggest day in my life,and I so fondly cherish yourgenerous affection. I assureyou we shall leave no stoneunturned to carry forwardyour vision of taking Assam,& NE to greater heights.”

Sarma has an LLB FromGovernment Law Collegeand a PhD from GauwhatiUniversity. Sarma practisedlaw at Gauhati High Courtfrom 1996 to 2001.

He has married RinikiBhuyan Sarma in 2001, withwhom he has a son and adaughter. In 2017, he waselected as the BadmintonAssociation of India presi-dent.

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The Centre on Monday ruledout the possibility of free

food grains distribution tomigrants saying there is nopanic situation and no com-plete national lockdown, unlikelast year. However, theGovernment has started dis-tributing additional free grainsagain under the PradhanMantri Garib Kalyan AnnaYojana (PMGKAY) for twomonths — May and June— to80 crore ration cardholders.

“Migrant crisis is not as bigas it was last year. ... It is not acomplete national lockdown. Itis a local lockdown, the indus-try is working. The completelockdown is not there. Thatpanic is also not there,” FoodSecretary Sudhanshu Pandeysaid in a virtual press meet. TheGovernment said there is noimpact on the prices of foodgrains in the open market dueto free grains distributionunder PMGKAY. Thosemigrants, who have gone backto their villages, are availingration supply either throughState or central ration cards, hesaid.

The Secretary wasresponding to a query why thegovernment has notannounced a free grainsscheme for migrants amid aresurgence of the Covid cases.

Last year, the governmenthad distributed 6.40 lakh tonneof foodgrains for free tomigrants and strandedmigrants.

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People who had Covid-19infections with mild or no

symptoms should heave a sighof relief as a team of scientistshas, for the first time, found thatvirus in such patients is unlike-ly to cause lasting damage to thestructure or function of theheart.

This should reassure thepublic, said the scientists giventhat it is a well known fact thatsevere hospitalised Covid-19infections are associated withblood clots, inflammation ofthe heart and heart damage,mild infections may causesimilar complications.

According to a study ledby UCL (University CollegeLondon) researchers andfunded by the British HeartFoundation (BHF) and BartsCharity until now, there hasbeen little information specif-ically looking at this group ofpeople and the effects on theheart further down the lineafter infection.

Published in JACC

Cardiovascular Imaging, thestudy of 149 healthcare work-ers recruited from BartsHealth and Royal Free LondonNHS Trusts is the largest andmost detailed study to dateinto mild Covid-19 infectionand its longer-term impacton the heart. Researchers iden-tified participants with mildCovid-19 from the Covid sor-tium, a study in three Londonhospitals where healthcareworkers had undergone week-ly samples of blood, saliva andnasal swabs for 16 weeks.

Six months after mildinfection, they looked at theheart structure and functionby analysing heart MRI scansof 74 healthcare workers withprior mild Covid-19 and com-pared them to the scans of 75healthy age, sex and ethnicitymatched controls who hadnot previously been infected.

They found no differencein the size or amount of mus-cle of the left ventricle - themain chamber of the heartresponsible for pumping bloodaround the body.

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Days after philanthropistBill Gates said that he was

against sharing intellectualproperty (IP) rights on Covid-19 vaccines with developingcountries, his NGO, the Billand Melinda GatesFoundation has issued astatement that no barriersshould stand in the way ofequitable access to vaccines,including intellectual proper-ty.

Bill Gates had said in aninterview said that he wouldnot be willing to share theCovid 19 vaccine patents or IPrights with developing coun-tries like India. The statementhad drawn flak from variousquarters

However, now the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation hasissued a statement that “nobarriers should stand in the

way of equitable access to vac-cines.”

Gates had cited vaccinesafety and security issues andshortage of vaccine factoriesjustifying his statement tomove a vaccine to developingcountries like India. His state-ment was slammed world-wide with reports highlightingthe profit-making aspect ofGates foundation and also thelack of an open distributionmodel for vaccine productionin the past.

Gates Foundation CEO,Mark Suzman, in a press state-ment this week noted, “Nobarriers should stand in theway of equitable access to vac-cines, including intellectualproperty, which is why we aresupportive of a narrow waiv-er during the pandemic. Thosenegotiations will occur viathe WTO process, led bycountry negotiators.”

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Citing the ongoing politicalviolence in West Bengal,

Union Home Ministry hasdecided to extend the centralsecurity cover to all those whocontested on BJP ticket in theAssembly polls.

The MHA provided cen-tral security cover to all BJPcandidates from Marchonward. Many of them aregetting X-category security,mainly from CRPF, CISF andBSF.

According to officials, therecent high-level securityappraisal meeting has analysedthe threat perception to BJPMLAs and those lost elections.Many BJP candidates haverequested MHA to continuetheir security for a while, citingthe ongoing political violencefacing from TMC cadres.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Sunday unveiled her thirdCabinet retaining almost herentire team of Ministers —from the previous Ministry —while at the same time draftingin a bevy of newfaces like crick-eter Manoj Tiwari, tribal actressBirbaha Hansda and Akhil Giria veteran MLA from EastMidnapore that housesNandigram.

Giri is known for his dag-gers-drawn chemistry withNandigram MLA SuvenduAdhikari a former pointsman ofthe Chief Minister who defect-ed to the BJP a few months agoand defeated Banerjee by awafer-thin margin.

Forty three Ministers weresworn in at a toned down cer-emony in the Throne Room ofRaj Bhavan. The rulingTrinamool Congress roaredback to power with two-thirdmajority leaving the BJP back bya huge margin.

While the Chief Ministerretained the crucial Home,Health, North Bengal andCultural Affairs departmentsshe did some reshuffling in theportfolios of her other seniorcolleagues bringing senior

Minister and TMC general sec-retary back as the IndustryMinister.

The TMC Government hadto digest massive criticism forfailing to bring in investment inits decade-long rule of Bengal.Another Minister Bratya Basu adramatist and a prominentintellectual has been redraftedas the Education Minister. Basuhad been removed from theministry several years ago. BothBasu who has been recuperat-ing from corona infection andFinance Minister Amit Mitra --- suffering from COPD) weresworn in virtually from theirresidences.

Veterans SubrataMukherjee, Firhad Hakim,Aroop Biswas, Sujit Bose,Chandrima Bhattacharya andShashi Panja are back as minis-

ters too with Mukherjee gettingthe Panchayat portfolio andHakim a former Kolkata Mayorgiven the Housing and UrbanDevelopment department.

Incidentally GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar who hasbeen quite critical of the newTMC Government for alleged-ly ignoring the ongoing post-poll violence in the State onSunday sanctioned the prose-cution of Mukherjee, Hakim,Madan Mitra a TMC MLAand former Minister and SovanChatterjee a former member ofMamata Banerjee Cabinet —who left the TMC to join theBJP before leaving the saffronparty too. The CBI had soughtthe Governor’s permission toprosecute them in the Naradapayoff case.

Sitting Rajya Sabha MPManas Bhuniya has also beendrafted as a Cabinet Ministeralongside Soumen Mahapatra,Jyotipriya Mullick and JavedKhan. Former IPS officerHumayun Kabir, GhulamRabbani, SiddiqullahChowdhury and Siuli Saha havealso been made ministers.

Soon after the swearing-inceremony the Chief Ministersaid that her Government’s firstpriority would be to fight thecorona crisis even as she hit out

at the Centre for ignoring thesituation. questioning the exportof vaccines at a time whenIndia did not have its ownquota Banerjee said that theCentre should make alterantivearrangements for doses imme-diately even if it meant allowingother concerns to manufacturethe medicines.

Attacking the Centre forsending central team to visit the

alleged violence-hit areas of theState Banerjee said “at a timewhen the country is fighting apandemic here are some peoplebusy doing politics sendingcentral teams to states.”

She wondered “why thiscentral team is going to BJPfamilies only and why they arenot going to other victims if any… this team has been sent tocreate violence in the State.”

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Amid speculation about whowould take charge as the

Leader of Opposition or forthat matter whether the postshould be given to a man withRSS background the BJP onMonday nominated SuvenduAdhikari on the post.

“Suvendu Adhikari waschosen unanimously as theLeader of the Opposition andhis name was proposed by oursenior leader Mukul Roy,” State party president DilipGhosh said. The selection ofAdhikari was done in the pres-

ence of Union Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad.

Appointment of Adhikari aTMC turncoat who left thatparty a few months before theelection to join the BJP anddefeated Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee fromNandigram seat took placeafter much inner rumblingsources said.

After being nominated tothe post Adhikari said, “I willact constitutionally,” addinghis first priority would be towork for the pandemic and save the lives ofthe victims of post-electoralviolence.

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CHENNAI: Chief MinisterMuthuvel Karunanidhi Stalinhas cracked the whip to flatten thecorona curve in Tamil Nadu. Tobegin with he has ordered theopening of 12 Sidha Covid CareCentres across the State follow-ing the findings of a Chennaibased scientist that a Sidhaaherbal preparation has the poten-tial to counter Covid-19 virus.

M Subramanian, Medicaland Family Welfare Ministerdedicated to the people a 240-bedexclusive Sidha Centre inChennai metropolis on Sunday.

The Chief Minister has askedhis council of ministers as well asbureaucrats not to leave anystones unturned in their searchfor a solution to check the spreadof the pandemic in its secondcoming.

Stalin took notice of the pos-itive signals from Ministry ofAyush which gave green signal tothe use of Kabasura Kudineer , aSidha poly herbal preparation inthe treatment of Covid-19.

“The Chief Minister is of theview that opening of Sidha hos-pitals would bring down thepressure on tertiary hospitals. Notall patients require oxygen sup-port,” said Subramanian.

The move to go for SidhaCare Centres comes at a timewhen a Chennai based scientistalong with his colleagues inSouth Korea and Ethiopia suc-

cessfully established the efficacyof Kabasura Kudineer in neu-tralising viral infections thatcause SARS or Covid.

Prof Savariar Vincent, formerdean of Research, Loyola College,Chennai, S Arokyaraj (SejongUniversity, Seoul), M Saravanan(Mekelle University, Ethiopia)and Manoj Dhanraj through apainstaking research found outthat Kabasura Kudineer is effec-tive against fever, cough, sore-throat and shortness of breath(similar to SARS-CoV2-likesymptoms).

“We established by a processknown as molecular dockingthat the main compounds fromKabasura Kudineer plants inhib-it Covid -19 giving the betterenergy score compared to syn-thetic drugs,” said Prof Vincentwho led and integrated theresearch operations that tookplace in laboratories spread acrossIndia, South Korea and Ethiopia.

He said that 145 phyto-com-pounds from Kabasura Kudineerwere subjected to research. “Thisstudy hypothesizes that a groupof compounds from KK mayexert its antiviral propertiesagainst novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by either blocking the hostcell receptor or inhibiting the keyviral protease required for itsreplication in the host cell,” ProfVincent told The Pioneer. PNS

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KOCHI: Three days of total lockdown has slightly improvedthe pandemic situation in Kerala. On Monday, the State diag-nosed 27,487 persons with Covid-19 while 65 deaths were report-ed during the period ending 6 pm. “But the number of peopletested on Monday was limited to 99,748 and this could be thereason for the small reduction in Test Positivity Rate to 27.56per cent,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his media brief-ing.

Vijayan said there were 4,19, 726 Covid-19 patients under-going treatment in the State as on Monday. He continued blam-ing the Centre for its reluctance to provide oxygen, vaccine andfinancial help to Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram had highest num-ber of Covid patients on Monday (3,494).

Severe shortage of medical professionals including doctorsis causing severe stress to the medical fraternity in Kerala, accord-ing to Kerala Government Medical Officers Association, theumbrella organization of all the Government doctors in the State.

The Association has sent an urgent communication to ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan listing the grievances faced byGovernment hospitals, first line covid treatment centers and pri-mary health centers in Kerala. The list of shortcomings high-lighted by the KGMOA is shocking and explains the danger-ous conditions under which the doctors, nurses and para med-ical staff in the State work.

“The Government should appoint doctors, nurses and othermedical professionals as per the nationally accepted doctors topatients ratio. If this is not done immediately, the public healthsystem in the State would break down,” said the memorandumsigned by the president and secretary of the Association.

The doctors demand the setting up of domiciliary care cen-ters and step down Covid First Line Treatment Centers in pan-chayat and block levels. “These centers could be manned byhealth professionals other than doctors and could be used toaccommodate the category-one patients who do not require thephysical presence of doctors,” said the doctors. Such centers couldmake use of tele consultation. The KGMOA also called for thesetting up of 24X7 call centers making use of the retiredGovernment doctors.

They pointed out that the number of health workers get-ting infected with Covid-19 is high in the State. PNS

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Edappadi Palaniswamy waselected as the leader of the

AIADMK legislature party in ameeting held at the party head-quarters at Chennai on Monday.Though there was no officialword about the mode of elec-tion, party sources said 55 outof the 66 MLAs supportedPalaniswamy while OPanneerselvam could managethe support of only a handful ofMLAs.

Though Panneerselvamhad proposed the name of PDhanapal, Speaker of the out-going legislature Assembly forthe post, he was shouted down.With his election as leader of theAIADMK legislature party,Palaniswamy became Leaderof the Opposition in the TamilNadu Legislative Assembly.Signals of resentment were vis-ible immediately after the elec-tion of Palaniswamy. A grimefaced Panneerselvam stormedout of the party headquartersand was seen speeding away inhis swanky limousine. The lookon the face of Panneerselvamgave enough indications of dis-contentment and Palaniswamyis in for troubles from variouscorners in the AIADMK.

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Jammu: Even though the pos-itivity rate across Jammu &Kashmir on Monday droppeddown marginally below 10 per-cent for the first time in therecent days but high mortalityrate,especially in Jammu dis-trict, remained one of thebiggest worries for healthadministrators pooling in allpossible resources to treatpatients.

The positivity rate onMonday stood at 9.8 percent.On Sunday the positivity raterecorded was 10.68 percent.

On Monday, 56 morepatients succumbed to thedeadly virus, 39 from Jammu

region and 17 from Kashmirwhile 3614 patients tested pos-itive for coronavirus takingthe tally of active positive casesto 49,951.

According to the mediabulletin, out of 3614 new pos-itive cases of novel Coronavirus(Covid-19), 1496 were report-ed from Jammu division and2118 from Kashmir division.

Moreover, 2855 moreCovid-19 patients have recov-ered and discharged from var-ious hospitals including 1070from Jammu Division and 1785from Kashmir Division.

According to the mediabulletin, out of 220546 positive

cases, 49951 are Active Positive,167813 have recovered and2782 have died; 1210 in Jammudivision and 1572 in Kashmirdivision.

Meanwhile, Principal &Dean Government MedicalCollege Jammu and AssociatedHospitals, Dr Shashi SudhanSharma Monday urged thepublic to cooperate with the

health system amidst the risingchallenge of Covid-19.

“The pandemic has comeas an unprecedented andunforeseen challenge for all ofus and especially the health fra-ternity. The prime need is tobuild trust between the publicand the health system”, theGMC Principal said. ‘With thenumber of Covid-19 patientsincreasing, the administrationis also ramping up facilities,equipment, infrastructurebesides increasing the numberof frontline workers.

The GMC Principalexpressed empathy for thepatients and their families fac-

ing hardship and said that theJammu Medical CollegeHospital has increased thenumber of critical care bedsand is treating more than 700critical Covid patients, whilepatients with mild and mod-erate symptoms are beinglooked after at Covid healthCentres and Covid CareCentres. She also expressedconcern over the high positiv-ity rate observed while testing,saying that the high positivityrate also underlines the greaterneed for adopting Covid appro-priate behaviour for savingoneself as well as saving thelives of our loved ones. PNS

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The CRPF has identifiedabout 8,500 personnel who

have not taken the first dose ofCovid-19 vaccine and sought toexpeditiously vaccinate them.The remaining over 3,15,000personnel have been given thejabs.

The details have emergedfollowing a review of the vacci-nations in the ranks of theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) earlier this month dur-ing which it was found that atotal of 8,441 personnel acrossthe formations have still notbeen administered the first doseof the Covid-19 vaccine.Another 16 persons of the CRPFDirectorate here have not beengiven the first dose and 57 per-sonnel have not taken the sec-ond dose of the vaccine.

Director General of CRPF,Kuldiep Singh has decided topersonally monitor the progressof the pending cases of vacci-nations.

Further, the Force has decid-ed to undertake a headcount ofall pending cases and trace all

the personnel who are away onleave/temporary duty attach-ments.

The paramilitary head-quarters has directed all the for-mations and medical direc-torates to personally contactthe personnel over telephoneand plans for vaccinating shouldbe made accordingly, officialssaid. It has also sought a breakup of pending cases in the areaof operations of various forma-tions and offices.

For those personnel whohave not received the vaccineshots on the ground of comor-bidity, they should be advised toundergo laboratory test CRP (C-reactive protein quantitative). Ifthe reports of CRP are on thehigher side in normal range orit is above normal range, vacci-nation of that comorbid personshould be avoided and thepatient should be treated vigor-ously for the illness so that theCRP test comes in normal range.

When the CRPF test read-ing comes in normal range aftertreatment, vaccination can becarried out in consultation withthe physician, they said. ‘

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For the first time in morethan a month, the “active

cases” in Pune – which is theworst Covid-19 affected city inMaharashtra – dropped belowone lakh mark on Monday,even as the daily deaths inMaharashtra dropped furtherto 549 and infections dipped to37,236.

In a relief to the state healthauthorities, the “active cases” inPune – which is the worstCovid-19 affected city inMaharashtra – dropped from1,00,316 to 97,593.

The development came ona day when Pune recorded 10new deaths and 4,685 newinfections. While the totaldeaths in Pune went up from10,049 to 10,059, the total case-load climbed from 9,26,124 to9,30,809.

Currently, Pune has thehighest caseload of 9,30,809,

while Mumbai's total numberof infections is 6,77,412, fol-lowed among other districts byThane (5,38,963), Nagpur(4,66,959), Nashik (3,53,279)nd Ahmednagar ( 2,06,629).

It may be recalled that onApril 9, the “active cases” inPune had breached a grimlandmark of one lakh, as analarming 10,083 cases werereported on that day to takecaseload in that city to 1,00,051.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19graph showed a downwardtrend in Maharashtra for thesecond consecutive day onMonday, as the daily deathscame down further from to 549while the infections dipped to37,236.

A day after the State record-ed 572 fatalities and 48,401 newcases, the deaths came down to549, while the infectionsdropped by 11,165 to register adaily caseload of 37,236.

With 549 new deaths, thetotal number of deaths in thestate climbed from 75,849 to76,398. Similarly, with 37,236new infections, the total num-ber of cases rose from 51,01,737to 51,38,973.

As 61,607 patients weredischarged from the hospitalsacross the State after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of Marchlast year went up from44,07,818 to 44,69,425. Therecovery rate in the state wentup from 86.04 per cent to 46.95per cent.

The total “active cases” inthe state dropped from 6,15,783to 5,90,818 cases. The fatalityrate in the state stood static at1.49 per cent.

With 74 fresh deaths, theCovid-19 toll in Mumbaiincreased from 13781 to 13,855,while the infected cases went upby 1732 to trigger a jump in the

infections from 6,75,630 to6,77,412.

While Pune accounted fora maximum 97,593 “activecases” in the State, Nagpurstood second 56,458, followedby Mumbai with 47,054, )Nashik (34,755), Thane(34,185), Ahmednagar(23,661), Solapur (23,028),Satara (22,463), Chandrapur(22,265), Beed (15,586),Jalgaon (13,711), Aurangabad(12594), Latur (12,085),Parbhani (11,010), Osmanabad(7568), Jalna (7015), Bhandara(6122), Buldhana (5687),Nanded (5487) and Nandurbar(3395).

Of the 2,96, 31,127 samplessent to laboratories, 51,38,973have tested positive (17.34 percent) for Covid-19 untilMonday.

Currently, 36,70,320 peopleare in home quarantine while26,664 people are in institu-tional quarantine.

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister PramodSawant on Monday expressed dis-pleasure after a village panchayat inNorth Goa refused to cremate theremains of a local resident who haddied of Covid-19 infection.

Speaking virtually to elected rep-resentatives of village panchayats andmunicipalities from across Goa,Sawant said the village panchayats andmunicipalities should cooperate withpeople during the pandemic crisis.

"I felt bad on Sunday. The Bastorasarpanch and villagers refused to cre-mate the body of a local resident.Where was he from? Was he not fromthe same panchayat (jurisdiction)?"Sawant added.

On Sunday, relatives of thedeceased victim Ashok Naik hadalleged that the Bastora village pan-chayat had refused permission to cre-mate him as he had died from Covid-19. The body was later taken toanother cremation ground where thefinal rites were performed.

According to Ranjit Usgaonkar,the panchayat was not involved in thedecision to refuse cremation of thedeceased Covid-19 patient.

"We do not know who has refusedto cremate Ashok Naik. The panchayatdoes not take such a decision. Thedecision is taken by the local templecommittee. There could be a misun-derstanding among the victim's rela-tives," Usgaonkar said. IANS

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Reduced testing during the preceding 24hours saw Andhra Pradesh report less-

er numbers on Monday. Compared toaround 1 lakh samples that are usually test-ed every day, only 60,124 samples weretested, and 14,986 new cases were detect-ed during the 24 hours, ending 9 amMonday.

For the past few days, the State hasbeen consistently reporting daily covid tal-lies above 20,000.

There was a relative dip in the num-ber of deaths reported on Monday, as 84people succumbed to the pandemic. Incomparison, the death toll on Sunday was93.

The fresh fatalities pushed the State'scumulative death toll to 8,791, while thecumulative tally of covid cases in the stateclimbed to 13,02,589.

On Monday, one district reportedcovid numbers in excess of 2,000, while sixdistricts reported above 1,000 cases each,and the remaining six districts had three-digit tallies.

East Godavari reported the highesttally of 2,352 cases. Other districts withhigh numbers include Visakhapatnam(1,618), Guntur (1575), Chittoor (1543),Nellore (1432), Srikakulam (1298), andYSR Kadapa (1224).

East Godavari and Guntur districtsaccounted for maximum deaths of 12deaths, while YSR Kadapa reported thelowest death toll of 2.

The State has so far conducted1,74,28,059 tests.

Monday also saw 16,167 people recov-ering from the virus. The cumulative num-ber of recoveries has gone up to 11,04,431.

The number of active cases in the Statenow stands at 1,89,367.

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Chennai: Puducherry Chief minister N Rangasamy tested Covid positive and has beenadmitted to a private hospital in Chennai according to Puducherry Lieutenant GovernorDr Tamilsai Soundararajan's office.

Rangasamy, who was sworn in as Chief minister of Puducherry on May 7 testedpositive on Sunday evening after a test at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical Collegehospital, Puducherry. He left for Chennai to get treatment and was admitted to a pri-vate hospital.

All the public programmes of the Chief minister stand cancelled.Rangasamy is the leader of the All India NR Congress( AINRC) and led the NDA

to victory in the recent elections. The AINRC won 10 seats while its coalition partnerBJP got 6 seats. Independents garnered 6 seats, DMK 6 seats and the Indian NationalCongress won 2 seats. IANS

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was seemingly unaware thateven in the tragedy that wasPartition, the fledglingGovernment of the timeutilised the military to estab-lish the Military EvacuationOrganisation to coordinatethe movement of all refugeesand helped them reach theirdestinations in relative safety.

In complete contrast,despite the grave nature of thethreat confronting theGovernment, the militaryremained a mere bystander,utilised for such “critical” tasksas serenading hospital staffand other frontline workers byshowering hospitals and policememorials with flowers fromhelicopters! Even now, there areallegations that the military hasbeen used to establish field hos-pitals in the constituencies ofa few VIP politicians.

Clearly, in hindsight, itwas not our systems andprocesses in place to deal withjust such a contingency thatwere found wanting, as Keralashowed us, but the lackadaisi-cal approach of most Ministersand bureaucrats whose respon-sibility it was to ensure theirimplementation. They, in theirwisdom, or rather the lack ofit, treated the NDMA’s detailedguidelines and SOPs with con-tempt, leaving it to their min-

ions to handle the problems.Inherent arrogance and a

belief that we had put the pan-demic behind us ensured thatthe Narendra ModiGovernment took its eyes offthe ball, even going so far as toignore advice, received in earlyMarch from its own advisorygroup, on the likelihood of asecond wave impacting us witheven more ferocity. As a result,it didn’t bother to make up forthe infrastructural and proce-dural deficiencies observedearlier but, worse, refused tohold accountable for acts ofomission and commissionthose responsible for the laps-es and delays that led to unnec-essary and avoidable deaths ofthousands. In short, it was aGovernment more focused ongarnering power and prestigethan ensuring the well-being ofits citizens. An uncaring civilsociety, a divided and defunctOpposition spearheaded by aparty in the death throes and apro-Government media pre-ferred to remain silent on theseissues. By doing so, we enabledthem to cover up their mis-deeds and perpetuate false nar-ratives and bold- faced lies.

While Modi may haveexcellent reasons for not ven-turing outside his bio-bubble atthe Race Course Road, prefer-

ring to lead from within, heshould note that leaders needto be seen, otherwise they areredundant. Interestingly, suchan absence in a war zone on thepart of a military leader wouldresult in his immediateremoval from command, prob-ably on grounds of incompe-tence, if not sheer cowardice.

Whatever the spin thisGovernment may attempt topush, Modi has been com-pletely shorn off all the glossand charisma he earlier pro-jected. His unwillingness totake responsibility for thedisaster implies that he lacksthe moral fibre. The questionthat arises is if he will do theright thing and fall upon hissword. One way or the other,we will know the answersoon. But let us be totally clearthat his reputation is done anddusted, forever connected tohis handling of the pandem-ic and what it has wrought. Asthe Bard, insightful as ever,wrote: “The evil that men dolives after them; the good isoft interred with their bones.”

(The writer is a militaryveteran, who is a Visiting Fellowwith the Observer ResearchFoundation and Senior VisitingFellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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Despite the darknessand the chaos thatcurrently engulf us,one can say with cer-

tainty that this, too, shall pass.Undoubtedly, the cost has beentragically unconscionable, andnothing could have prepared usfor the trauma and heartbreakthat confronts us on a daily basis.

The fact is that we hadexpected to be overwhelmed bythe pandemic’s impact duringthe first wave, given the state ofour health infrastructure and theGovernment’s apathy. Especially,since the latter’s complete focuswas on Donald Trump’s visit, theopposition to the Citizen’sAmendment Act and the Delhiriots. For reasons that we still donot fully understand, that didnot happen and we got awaylightly, believing for some reasonthat our generally poor standardof hygiene and prevalence of dis-ease had made us immune to thevirus. Clearly a combination ofinverse snobbery, arrogance andcomplacency gripped us, allow-ing us to forsake common senseand ignore basic science in aneffort to quickly regain our pre-pandemic lives.

Suffice it to say, the handlingof the first wave by those man-dated to do so was apathetic inthe initial stages and panic-stricken subsequently, especiallyafter they saw it decimate Europe,the US and South America. Welocked ourselves in, at a moment’snotice, without any considerationfor our less fortunate brethren,the daily wage earners, whoselivelihoods disappearedovernight. The inability of theState to anticipate the conse-quences or mitigate their suffer-ing resulted in the largest migra-tion of population seen sincePartition. The migrants attempt-ed to get back to the safety of theirvillages, treks on foot involvingthousands of kilometres for some.

To compound their misery,the Centre as well as most StateGovernments responded, as theGovernments here invariablydo, with inherent savagery, total-ly bereft of empathy or compas-sion. As a result, thousands diedby the wayside. The Government

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SOUNDBITE�������������� ������� ������� �����Sir — Prime Minister Narendra Modifaces growing criticism across the politicalspectrum for holding large election ralliesas the country’s health system reels underthe deadly wave of COVID-19, forcing thecitizens to beg for oxygen and hospital beds.Modi, at a campaign rally in West Bengal,said he has never seen such huge crowds atany event. Leaders of key States lashed outat Modi as the Congress and the Left calledoff campaigning in West Bengal due to thevirus surge. Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray, whose State includesIndia’s financial centre, tried calling Modito address the shortages of oxygen and thedrug Remdesivir but was told the PM wastoo busy addressing rallies. India now hasthe world’s fastest-growing COVID-19caseload, leaving it behind only the US interms of total numbers.

The growing gap between Modi’s opti-mism in fighting the virus and the realityon the ground is particularly evident inDelhi, among the worst hit in India.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

��������������������� ������������������Sir — Considering the COVID-19 pandem-ic, degree colleges and universities haveresorted to complete online methods of con-ducting semester examinations. They alsobelieve that online examinations are the wayforward because the pandemic has made itdifficult to conduct offline examinations. Inaddition, the use of advanced technologyand digital software has made it easier toconduct examinations virtually, do completeassessment and declare results faster. Tillnow, degree colleges conducted the last twosemester examinations online after theCOVID-19 pandemic hit India in March,2020. Currently, degree colleges, theUniversity of Mumbai (MU) and major uni-versities in Maharashtra are conducting thefinal-year last semester examinations online.

With the second wave of COVID-19lashing the country, the Government hasclosed the schools and colleges to containthe spread of the virus. Classes are suspend-ed and examinations are either cancelled or

postponed indefinitely. The new academicyear which began late, but with lots of hopesfor the students, was disrupted once again.The online education has once againacquired a new urgency during this period.

C K Subramaniam | Mumbai

���������������������������Sir — This refers to the editorial ‘Fair deal?’(May 10). The elevation of HimantaBiswa Sarma as the Chief Minister ofAssam has been an inevitable choice forthe BJP’s top brass. Ever since he crossedover to the BJP from the Congress in 2014,he has been instrumental in increasing theBJP’s footprint not just in Assam butthroughout the Northeast. As the conven-er of the North East Democratic Alliance,Sarma has been BJP’s main troubleshoot-er and strategist in the region. Even whenthe party in Assam was hit by anti-CAA

protests and COVID crisis last year, it wasSarma who was at the forefront of navi-gating the troubled waters for BJP.

With a huge political clout, Sarma hasplayed a big role in changing the politicalcalculus of Assam by engineering an unspo-ken electoral alliance between Assamese andBengali Hindu voters of the State. All of thishas seen Sarma achieve a bigger stature thanSonowal in Assam. And with most newMLAs in BJP supporting Sarma, it wouldhave been risky for the party central lead-ership to overlook him for the CM’s post.

However, Sarma takes over at a chal-lenging time for Assam. With the risingnumber of cases, Sarma clearly has his taskcut out and must hit the ground running.

N Sadhasiva Reddy | Bengaluru

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In yet another attempt to improve the power sec-tor, the Modi Government has come up witha new draft National Electricity Policy (NEP),

the major objectives being to promote clean ener-gy such as power based on renewable and gas with-out debunking coal; revitalise power distributioncompanies (discoms) and developing an efficientmarket for electricity distribution.

All the three objectives are laudable. These arecrucial to development of an efficient, competi-tive and sustainable power sector to meet the needsof the economy on a high growth trajectory whileat the same time, meeting the environment goals(especially India’s commitments under the ParisAgreement on Climate Change). What is beingdone on ground zero to achieve these goals?

At present, India has a total generation capac-ity of about 360 GW (one gigawatt equals 1000megawatts or MW) including 63 per cent basedon fossil fuels, of which coal alone accounts for 54per cent and nearly 22 per cent based on renew-able energy, viz., solar, wind, bio-mass, small hydro,etc. and gas-based capacity accounting for anoth-er seven per cent. However, only 50 per cent of thisinstalled capacity is currently utilised.

This has to do with indiscriminate setting upof capacity on coal (to some extent on gas) muchbefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi started giv-ing a boost to the renewable energy sector. Manyof those plants were set up without ascertainingwhether or not power produced by them wouldfind any takers (the promoters could not even signpower purchase agreements or PPAs) while oth-ers did not even have fuel supply tie-ups (severalgas-based plants fall in this category). Many coal-based plants have been impacted by availability ofmuch cheaper power, at about �2.4 per unit fromrenewable-based plants (against �5 to � 66 per unitfrom coal) prompting Discoms not to buy powerfrom the former. In turn, renewable-based plantsare affected as some State Governments (forinstance, Andhra Pradesh) are not honoringPPAs.

Meanwhile, Modi has more than doubled theoriginal goal of renewable-based power capacityfrom 175 GW by 2022 to 450 GW by 2030.

The current capacity being 80 GW, to reachthe scaled up target, the country will need to add370 GW. Plus an additional 50 GW from coal-based projects already under implementation, thetotal capacity will go up to 780 GW by 2030.Against this, the projected demand being about 320GW (on the basis of an average six per cent annu-al Gross Domestic Product growth), this wouldimply utilisation of mere 40 per cent.

The Government should avoid over-ambitioustargets which will result in gross under utilisationor even scrapping assets already created.

It overarching focus should be on ensuringoptimum utilisation of every megawatt of capac-ity created and viability of all efficiently run powergeneration plants. This brings us to the secondobjective, namely revitalising Discoms. In thisregard, the Modi Government has taken numer-ous steps, the latest being the �300,000 crore elec-tricity distribution reform program unveiled by theFinance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in theUnion Budget for 2021-22.

Christened ‘Reforms-Linked, Result-BasedScheme for Distribution’ (RLRBSD), the scheme

sets targets for losses and efficien-cy of Discoms. The aggregate tech-nical and commercial (AT&C) loss-es and shortfall in the average rev-enue realisation (ARR) from the saleof electricity vis-a-vis the averagecost of supply (ACS) or the ACS-ARR gap are major causes behindthe losses of Discoms and theirfinancial stress. Accordingly, thescheme aims at reducing AT&Closses to 12-15 per cent and ACS-ARR gap to ‘nil’ by 2025.

When viewed in the backdropof Ujwal DISCOM AssuranceYojana (UDAY), launched inNovember 2015, wherein the targetswere missed by a huge margin, thisscheme does not inspire. UnderUDAY, Discoms were required toreduce AT&C losses from 20.7 percent during 2015-16 to 15 per centby 2018-19. Further, they were toreduce the ACS-ARR gap from�0.59 per unit during 2015-16 to‘zero’ by 2018-19.

Simultaneously, theGovernment gave them a financialrestructuring package (FRP) underwhich their entire debt of about�400,000 crore

was condoned. This led to a dra-matic impact on their losses whichdeclined from �52,000 crore during2015-16 to a low of �17,000 croreduring 2017-18. However, Discomsdid little to set their house in order.

During 2019-20, their AT&Closses were 18.9 per cent against the15 per cent target for 2018-19. TheACS-ARR gap during 2019-20,stood at �0.42 per unit against tar-get of ‘zero’ for 2018-19.

During 2020-21, discomsreported a staggering loss of �58,000

crore.Correspondingly, their debt gal-

loped to about �450,000 crore by theend of 2020-21 and is estimated toreach �600,000 crore mark by theend of current fiscal. The collater-al damage is a pile-up of their duesto power generators to over�150,000 crore (current). This isdespite a special loan of �90,000crore promised by NirmalaSitharaman under ‘AtmanirbharBharat Abhiyan’ in May 2020 (theloan amount has since been raisedto �130,000 crore).

Against this backdrop, the lat-est talk, of achieving those targetswhich should have been achieved by2018-19 by March 2025 underRLRBSD, is laughable.

At the root of persistent andincreasing losses of Discoms are theorders issued by State Governmentsto sell electricity to some preferredconsumers viz., poor householdsand farmers, either at a fraction ofthe cost of purchase, transmissionand distribution, or even free. Onthe units sold to these groups, thesecompanies incur colossal under-recovery. This is aggravated byAT&C losses - most of it plain theft.

Inflated tariff allowed to gener-ators under purchase agreementsadds to the revenue shortfall. Unless,these three fundamental factors areaddressed, any other attempt to revi-talise Discoms - as intended in theNEP - will be a non-starter.

As for developing an efficientmarket for electricity distribution -as promised in the policy - it is eas-ier said than done. When an over-whelming share of power generat-ed in the country is procured by

Discoms under PPAs (mostly underlong-term contracts), distributedby them at tariff controlled byStates/owners of Discoms (regula-tory commissions merely approvewhat is proposed by them) and amere five per cent of the electricityis traded, it will take ages before onecan hope to see ‘efficient’ and ‘com-petitive’ markets.

Meanwhile, under the draftElectricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021,in sync with the intent to develop anefficient market under NEP, ModiGovernment proposes to de-licensethe distribution business, bring incompetition, and give the con-sumer power to choose supplier. Ifonly the States give subsidies direct-ly to farmers and households, reinin power theft and improve efficien-cies in purchase, wheeling and dis-tribution, will help in revitalisingthe Discoms.

In view of the entire distributionnetwork viz., transmission lines,feeder lines, transformers etc thatcaters to households, industries etcin an area being owned and con-trolled by the Discoms, any talk ofletting private license is a mis-nomer. Instead of indulging in suchrhetoric, Modi will do well to getStates resolve the basics.

If only the States give subsidiesdirectly to farmers and households(instead of riding piggy back onDiscoms), rein in power theft andimprove efficiencies in purchase,wheeling and distribution, this willhelp in revitalising the Discoms andalso give relief to industries whichare currently paying exorbitantcharges for cross-subsidising thepreferred customers.

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The recent Assembly elec-tion results reflect morethan politics. Indian vot-

ers have larger issues andeconomy is at the core oftheir concern. Tamil Nadu,Kerala and West Bengal haveseparately endorsed a neweconomic course for thenation.

The eastern State defi-nitely remains at the centre ofattention. A hawai-chappalwearing and white sari-cladMamata Banerjee has virtual-ly challenged the dazzlingdevelopment model that hasput India’s public sector on saleand is engaged in a visualextravaganza of over �30,000crore (in reality possibly over�50,000 crore) to changeDelhi’s central vista. Nobodyexplains why that should be apriority instead of creating astrong healthcare sector andhospitals capable of producingtheir own oxygen.

Populist largesse ofMamata for women, youthand Duare sarkar(Government at the doorstep),the Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK’s) welfarepolicies in Tamil Nadu or theLeft alliance in Kerala, whenstudied closely, virtuallyrefutes the “aggressive priva-tised development” model ofthe Centre. All these Stateshave voted against farm Billsthat seek to create large housemonopolies, junk scrappingpolicy of poor man’s vehicles,high fuel prices, fares, tolls,taxes and so-called usercharges. The vote endorsesthat the country has morepoverty to address than createcosmetic central vista thatserves none but a few, big cor-porate houses. They havetogether rejected‘Manmohanomics’ — thatended up in a political disas-ter for its proponent, the

Congress, and its follower, theBJP. The people are pittedagainst the disinvestment ofprime banks, LIC, financialinstitutions, defence establish-ments and others with a targetof �1.75 lakh crore in 2021-22. This is lower than �2.1 lakhcrore it hoped to garnerthrough divestment in 2020-21; an admission of failure ofthe Government bid. Thisfailed economic concept isrejected now by the voters.

While in Tamil Nadu thechange was inevitable, Keralanot very surprisingly voted forthe Left front, following peo-ple’s perception that theGovernment was delivering.The voters equally perceivedthat the Congress-led UDFwas incapable of opposing theBJP’s onslaught for privatisa-tion, now a national concern.So, the LDF has returned witha bigger mandate.

The massive vote surge in

West Bengal for the TrinamoolCongress was not possible ifthe people did not perceive theCentre’s economic policies asa grave threat. The Left-Congress, the TMC and evena section of the BJP voted foreconomic policy changes that,ironically, Mamata Banerjeesymbolises. The 47.93 per centvotes for TMC up from 43.3per cent in 2019 and reducednumbers of votes for BJP to38.13 per cent from 40.2 per

cent in 2019 says a lot. The lossof all other parties was a gainfor the TMC. It has also bust-ed the myth that West Bengalvotes along communal lines.The wash out of the Left andCongress for its alliance withthe highly communalised ISFis enough testimony. This alsoproves that West Bengal votesfor social and economic issuesand rejects any polarisation,barring some exceptions,either for Furfura or Ram.Another noticeable aspect isthe vote for Netaji SubhasChandra Bose whose anniver-sary the BJP celebrated asParakaram Diwas andMamata as Deshnayak Diwas.

Surprisingly, nobodypointed out this incongruitywhich Mamata aptly encashedwith a heightened nationalis-tic presentation - a messagewent out strong that theCentre is not only disrespect-ful to Netaji, but is also blatant-

ly promoting some privatehouses. No wonder that somedays later the Rafael briberycharge revived as an issue fol-lowing a French Governmentexposure. India is not againstprivate companies. Many havecontributed significantly;many enjoy people’s trust andhave set standards. The nation,however, is against overt dom-ineering by any group. Thepresent elections have exposedthat. The country wants pri-vatisation neither at the cost ofthe public sector nor does itwant to get it enslaved to anyprivate player.

In the UP’s panchayat elec-tions, the BJP gets only 580against Samajwadi Party (SP)782, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)361, Congress’ 61 and 1266others. So, will this electionlead to an overt cry for eco-nomic changes? The rightistcentrist party is too inclinedtowards the corporates and

may not bring about thechanges. But the oppositionthough too has its corporateconnections and may try toforge an alliance to clinch apolitical change. Its leader-ship is not yet obvious.Mamata may emerge as onebut her all-India acceptabilitymay not be easy.

Some like Akhilesh Yadavhave spoken for her. Eitherway, a change of guard may beinevitable. The combine wouldhave to come out with a neweconomic policy - against pri-vatisation and for strengthen-ing the people’s economy; onemay call it socialist or by anyother name. It has to be con-trary to a centrist, aggressiveprivatisation that the presentrulers are trying to dispense.India is at the threshold of aneconomic and political change.It may gel before the UttarPradesh Assembly electionsnext year.

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Kathmandu: Nepal PrimeMinister K P Sharma Oli lost atrust vote in the House ofRepresentatives on Monday,in a fresh setback to the embat-tled premier seeking to tight-en his grip on power after theCPN (Maoist Centre) led byPushpakamal Dahal‘Prachanda' withdrew supportto his government.

Prime Minister Oli secured93 votes in the lower house ofparliament during a specialsession convened on the direc-tives of President Bidya DeviBhandari.

Oli, 69, required at least136 votes in the 275-memberHouse of Representatives towin the confidence motion asfour members are currentlyunder suspension.

A total of 124 membersvoted against the confidencemotion while 15 membersstayed neutral, Speaker AgniSapkota announced. The ses-sion was attended by 232 law-makers.

“As the votes cast in favourof the motion fell short to

achieve a majority of the exist-ing strength of the House ofRepresentatives, I herebydeclare that the prime minis-ter's motion to seek a vote ofconfidence has been rejected,”Sapkota announced beforeadjourning the House.

With this, Prime MinisterOli is automatically relievedfrom his post as per Article 100(3).

Some 28 Lawmakersbelonging to Oli's rival factionled by Madhav Nepal-JhalaNath Khanal abstained duringthe voting.

The main OppositionNepali Congress and theCommunist Party of Nepal(Maoist Centre), which control61 and 49 votes, respectively,voted against Oli's trustmotion.

The Janata SamajbadiParty, which has 32 votes, how-ever, was divided. TheMahantha Thakur-led factionstayed neutral while theUpendra Yadav-led groupvoted against Oli.

After its alliance Nepal

Communist Party MaoistCentre led by Prachanda with-drew its support to the gov-ernment last week, Oli's gov-ernment was reduced to aminority one.

After losing the Vote ofConfidence, the Prime Ministeris automatically removed fromhis post and now the newcoalition government will beformed as per the constitu-tional process, said seniorNepali Congress leader PrakashMan Singh.

Senior leader of CPN-Maoist Ganesh Shah said thatOli should immediately resignfrom the post and pave way forthe formation of an alternativegovernment.

The CPN-Maoist will joinhands with the NepaliCongress and other partieswho voted against Oli to forma coalition government at theearliest, he said.

Meanwhile, NepaliCongress president SherBahadur Deuba, CPN-MaoistCentre chairman PushpakamalDahal “Prachanda” andChairman of Janata SamajwadiParty Upendra Yadav haveissued a joint statement urgingPresident Bhandari to start theprocess of forming an alterna-tive government after Oli'sdefeat.

“We call upon PresidentBhandari to initiate the processof appointment of a new primeminister as per article 76 sub-clause 2 of the constitution,” thejoint statement said. There is aprovision in the Article 76sub-clause 2 of the constitutionto form a coalition governmentwith the help of two or morepolitical parties representing inthe House.

Nepal plunged into a polit-ical crisis on December 20 last

year after President Bhandaridissolved the House andannounced fresh elections onApril 30 and May 10 at the rec-ommendation of PrimeMinister

Oli, amidst a tussle forpower within the ruling NepalCommunist Party (NCP).

Oli's move to dissolve theHouse sparked protests from alarge section of the NCP led byhis rival 'Prachanda'.

In February, the apex courtreinstated the dissolved Houseof Representatives, in a setbackto Oli who was preparing forsnap polls.

Oli repeatedly defendedhis move to dissolve the Houseof Representatives, saying someleaders of his party wereattempting to form a “parallelgovernment”.

Oli, who joined politics asa student activist in his teenageand spent 14 years in jail foropposing the now-abolishedmonarchy, became Nepal'sPrime Minister for a secondtime in 2018 as a joint candi-date of the Left alliance. PTI

4����+�3���������������������+����&���Jerusalem: Israeli police firingtear gas, stun grenades and rub-ber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at a flash-point Jerusalem holy site onMonday, the latest in a series ofconfrontations that threatened topush the contested city towardwider conflict.

More than a dozen tear gascanisters and stun grenadeslanded in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,one of Islam's holiest sites, aspolice and protesters faced offinside the walled compound thatsurrounds it, said an AssociatedPress photographer at the scene.

Smoke rose in front of themosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine on the site, androcks littered the nearby plaza.Inside one area of the com-pound, shoes and debris lay scat-tered over ornate carpets.

More than 305 Palestinianswere hurt, including 228 whowent to hospitals and clinics fortreatment, according to thePalestinian Red Crescent. Sevenof the injured were in serious

condition. Police said 21 officerswere hurt, including three whowere hospitalized. Israeli para-medics said seven Israeli civilianswere also hurt.

The confrontation was thelatest after weeks of mountingtensions between Palestiniansand Israeli troops in the OldCity of Jerusalem, the emo-tional center of their conflict.There have been almost night-ly clashes during the Muslimholy month of Ramadan, alreadya time of heightened religioussensitivities.

Most recently, the tensionshave been fueled by the plannedeviction of dozens ofPalestinians from the SheikhJarrah neighbourhood of eastJerusalem where Israeli settlers

have waged a lengthy legal bat-tle to take over properties.

Monday was expected to beparticularly tense since Israelismark it as Jerusalem Day to cel-ebrate their capture of eastJerusalem in the 1967 Mideastwar.

On Monday, two anti-Arabmembers of Israel's parliament,surrounded by an entourageand police, pushed through aline of protesters in the SheikhJarrah neighbourhood.

Several Arab members ofparliament were among thosetrying to stop Betzalel Smotrichand Itamar Ben Gvir, amidshouting and jostling.

At one point during thescrum, the protesters poundedon the sides of a dumpster, andone man yelled at Smotrich inArabic, “Get out of here, youdog!”

Smotrich and Ben Gvireventually got to the other sideof a police barricade and entereda house already inhabited by set-tlers. AP

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Beijing: Accusing the US ofmaintaining “double standards”,China on Monday played downglobal concerns over its out-of-control rocket remnants re-entering the Earth's atmosphereand crashing into the IndianOcean near the Maldives.

The remnants of China'sbiggest rocket, Long March 5B,crashed into the Indian Oceannear the Maldives on Sundaywith no reports of damage, butBeijing was criticised by USspace agency NASA for its fail-ure to “meet responsible stan-dards” regarding its space debris.

Reacting to NASAAdministrator Senator BillNelson's criticism, ChineseForeign Ministry spokespersonHua Chunying at a media brief-ing here said some countries,including America, are hypingup the issue even though therocket debris was burnt on re-entry into the atmosphere.

China followed the debris“very closely” and there were noreports of any damage to theground caused by the debris, shesaid. “Any concerns or misgiv-ings in some media over thisissue are unnecessary,” Hua said,adding that there has never

been any instance of fallingdebris causing damage.

“So the likelihood isextremely low. The issue shouldbe left to professionals and it isunnecessary to hype up theissue to cause any panic,” shesaid. Hitting out at the US, Huasaid “American media usedromantic rhetoric like 'shootingstars lighting up the night sky'”about the debris of the US rock-ets in the past. “But when itcomes to the Chinese side, it's acompletely different approach.We are willing to work withother countries, including theUS, to strengthen cooperation inthe use of outer space, but wealso oppose double standards onthis issue.” The spokespersonsaid China is taking part in theinternational cooperation topredict the (crash) results and isalso cooperating with othercountries to deal with the debrisin outer space to make sure thatouter space activities are sus-tainable.

Responding to a questionon whether China has notifiedIndia and Maldives about thecrash, Hua said, “Our competentauthorities have made notifica-tions on multiple occasions and

we have international coopera-tion channels to share informa-tion on the final result of thespace debris.”

The bulk of the out-of-con-trol rocket, which had put intoorbit the core module of China'splanned space station on April29, was mostly destroyed as it re-entered the atmosphere, accord-ing to Chinese official media.

The space vehicle re-entered the atmosphere onSunday morning and the debrisfrom the 18-tonne rocket, one ofthe largest items in decades tohave an undirected dive into theatmosphere, landed in theIndian Ocean.

The uncontrolled fall of theChinese rocket sparked con-cerns among US officials, NASAand international astrophysi-cists that it could hit inhabitedareas. Harvard astrophysicistJonathan McDowell, whotracked the debris of the rocketpart for the past few days, saidthat it was a reckless gamble byChina.

“An ocean reentry wasalways statistically the likely. Itappears China won its gam-ble...But it was still reckless,” hetweeted. PTI

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Beijing: China's Governmentcriticised US Secretary of StateAntony Blinken on Monday forurging the World HealthOrganisation to invite Taiwan,the island democracy claimed byBeijing as part of its territory, toparticipate in a meeting thismonth.

Blinken's statement onFriday adds to a similar jointappeal by foreign ministers ofthe Group of Seven majoreconomies this month inLondon. That irked theCommunist Beijing govern-ment, which insists Taiwan hasno right to conduct foreignrelations or join global bodies.

Blinken's appeal seriouslyviolates the one-China principle'and joint US-Chinese declara-tions, said a Foreign Ministryspokesperson, Hua Chunying.China firmly deplores andrejects it.

Taiwan split with theChinese mainland in 1949 aftera civil war. The two sides haveextensive trade ties but no offi-cial relations.

The US and other major

governments have no official tieswith Taiwan, but Washingtonand some others have expressedgrowing support for Taiwanduring the coronavirus pan-demic and in response toBeijing's increasing assertive-ness abroad.

Blinken called Taiwan aforce for good in the world andsaid it should be invited as anobserver at the meeting of theWorld Health Assembly, theWHO decision-making body.He said it could make valuablecontributions as the world triesto end the pandemic.

Hua accused Washington ofmaking the appeal for politicalpurposes. She said it is detri-mental to future global responseto public health crises.

Hua said Taiwan is part ofChina's core interests, a termBeijing uses to describe issuesover which it might be willing togo to war.

China has no room forcompromise on this, she said.We advise individual countriesto immediately stop hypingTaiwan-related issues. AP

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ANKARA: Turkey's top envoyis traveling to Saudi Arabia asTurkey seeks to mend ties withthe kingdom that hit an all-time low over the 2018 killingin Istanbul of Saudi journalistJamal Khashoggi.

Foreign Minister MevlutCavusoglu will meet with hisSaudi counterpart, Prince Faisalbin Farhan Al Saud, to discussbilateral relations and region-al issues during his two-dayvisit, according to a TurkishForeign Ministry statement.

The visit is the first by ahigh-level Turkish official sincethe killing of Khashoggi bySaudi agents inside the king-dom’s consulate increased ten-sions between the two region-al powers.

The killing added to ten-sions over Turkey’s supportfor the Muslim Brotherhood,which is viewed by Riyadh asa terrorist group. The twocountries have also been atodds over Turkey’s support forQatar in a dispute among Gulfcountries as well as over the

conflict in Libya.Cavusoglu's visit is also

part of a wider effort by Turkeyto normalize ties with Arabnations as it finds itself isolat-ed internationally at a timewhen its economy is faltering.

Last week, a high-levelTurkish delegation traveled toCairo to improve relations withEgypt, which have beenstrained since the Egyptianmilitary’s 2013 ouster ofPresident Mohammed Morsi,an Islamist who hailed from theMuslim Brotherhood.

Khashoggi was killed onOctober 2, 2018, after heentered the consulate to getdocuments that would allowhim to marry his Turkishfiancee, who was waiting out-side. Turkish officials allegeKhashoggi, who had writtencritically about Saudi Arabia’scrown prince for TheWashington Post, was killed bya team of Saudi agents and thendismembered with a bone saw. AP

*����������������1��� � ������� �.������� ��)�� ��Wellington: A man began stab-

bing people at a New Zealandsupermarket on Monday,wounding five people, three ofthem critically, according toauthorities. Police said a suspecthad been arrested and taken intocustody after the incident at aCountdown supermarket in thecity of Dunedin. Two super-market staff members wereamong those wounded.

People in the store at thetime told local media that it wasa chaotic scene as people beganscreaming and running towardthe exits. They said some braveshoppers had tried to stop theman and pin him down.

Prime Minister JacindaArdern said the motivation forthe attack had not been estab-lished but police didn't have anyevidence to suggest it wasdomestic terrorism.

“Needless to say that suchan attack is hugely concerning,and I do want to acknowledgethe really early reports of coura-geous acts by bystanders whohave taken action in order toprotect those around them,”Ardern said. AP

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Cairo: At least five people,including a woman and a child,drowned when a boat carryingat least 45 Europe-boundmigrants capsized off Libya, aUN migration official said onMonday. The wreck was the lat-est disaster in the MediterraneanSea involving migrants seekinga better life in Europe.

Safa Msehli, a spokes-woman for the InternationalOrganisation for Migration, saidthe wreck took place on Sunday.She said fishermen rescued 40migrants and returned them tothe shore. Msehli said the boatwas among nine others carryingmore than 700 migrants inter-

cepted Sunday by the Libyancoast guard off the coast of theNorth African country.

The migrants were taken toovercrowded detention centres,where the UN migration agencyfears more threats to their livesand violations of their rights, shesaid.

Libya has in recent yearsemerged as the dominant tran-sit point for migrants fleeing warand poverty in Africa and theMiddle East. The oil-rich coun-try plunged into chaos followinga NATO-backed uprising thattoppled and killed longtimeruler Moammar Gadhafi in2011. AP

Islamabad: Pakistan, keen to exit from the grey list of the FATF,is set to introduce new rules relating to anti-money launder-ing cases and change the prosecution process to meet its remain-ing tough conditions, a media report said on Monday.

Pakistan was put on the grey list by the Paris-basedFinancial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog formoney laundering and terror financing in June 2018 and thecountry has been struggling to come out of it.

The Dawn newspaper reported that the changes being madealso include the transfer of investigations and prosecution ofanti-money laundering (AML) cases from police, provincialanti-corruption establishments (ACEs) and other similaragencies to specialised agencies.

This is part of two sets of rules including the AML (ForfeitedProperties Management) Rules 2021 and the AML (Referral)Rules 2021 under the National Policy Statement on Follow theMoney approved by the federal Cabinet meeting a few days ago,the report said.

These rules and related notifications for certain changesin the existing schedule of Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010(AMLA) would come into force immediately to be followedby the appointment of administrators and special public pros-ecutors for implementation.

Based on these measures, the FATF would conclude ifPakistan has complied with three outstanding benchmarks, outof 27, that blocked its exit from the grey list in February thisyear. Several review meetings of the FATF are scheduled to beginin the second week of June, culminating in the next FATF ple-nary on June 21-25.

The three outstanding action points (out of a total of 27)include (i) demonstrating that terrorist financing (TF) inves-tigations and prosecutions target persons and entities actingon behalf or at the directive of the designated persons or enti-ties.

Demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, pro-portionate, and dissuasive sanctions; and (iii) demonstratingeffective implementation of targeted financial sanctionsagainst all designated terrorists, particularly those acting forthem or on their behalf. PTI

Washington: The US will protectgay and transgender people againstsex discrimination in health care,the Biden administrationannounced on Monday, reversinga Trump-era policy that sought tonarrow the scope of legal rights insensitive situations involving med-ical care.

The action by the Departmentof Health and Human Servicesaffirms that federal laws forbiddingsex discrimination in health care

also protect gay and transgenderpeople.

The Trump administrationhad defined “sex” to mean genderassigned at birth, thereby exclud-ing transgender people from thelaw's umbrella of protection.

“Fear of discrimination canlead individuals to forgo care,which can have serious negativehealth consequences,” said HHSSecretary Xavier Becerra.

“Everyone — including

LGBTQ people — should be ableto access health care, free from dis-crimination or interference, peri-od.” Becerra said in a state-ment the Biden administrationpolicy will bring HHS into line witha landmark 6-3 Supreme Courtdecision last year in a workplacediscrimination case, which estab-lished that federal laws against sexdiscrimination on the job alsoprotect gay and transgender peo-ple. AP

Kuala Lumpur: All of Malaysia will beplaced under a near lockdown for about amonth to fight the coronavirus, but busi-nesses will be allowed to continue to oper-ate at reduced capacity, Prime MinisterMuhyiddin Yassin announced on Monday.

The lockdown, starting Wednesdayuntil June 7, took the nation by surprisebecause restrictions on movement arealready in place in many parts of the coun-try, including Kuala Lumpur and the rich-est State of Selangor.

Muhyiddin said drastic action wasneeded to battle a new aggressive outbreak

before it turns into a national catastrophe.He said the emergence of new virus vari-ants with higher infection rates, con-straints on the public health system andpublic failure to observe health measureswere worrying. AP

Colombo: Sri Lanka has recorded over 2,600 coronavirus cases,the highest-ever single-day count recorded so far in the islandnation since the pandemic began last year, authorities said onMonday.

Gen. Shavendra Silva, the head of the National OperationsCentre for the Prevention of Covid-19 (NOCPOC), said some2,672 cases were confirmed on Sunday, up from 1,896 a day ear-lier.

Sri Lanka on Sunday set a new record with the number ofdaily Covid-19 infections exceeding 2,500 for the first time sincethe epidemic began, the Colombo Gazette reported.

The coronavirus cases are surging as health authorities con-tinue to struggle to provide care for the confirmed cases. Thegovernment said action to create 10,000 care beds has been fasttracked. PTI

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The Government onMonday ruled out the pos-

sibility of free foodgrains dis-tribution to migrants sayingthere is no panic situation andno complete national lock-down unlike last year.

However, the Governmenthas started distributing addi-tional free grains again underthe Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana(PMGKAY) for two months -- May and June - to 80 croreration cardholders.

The Government saidthere is no impact on prices offoodgrains in the open marketdue to free grains distributionunder PMGKAY.

“Migrant crisis is notas big as it was last year. ... It isnot a complete national lock-down. It is a local lockdown,industry is working.

The complete lockdown isnot there. That panic is also notthere,” Food Secretary

Sudhanshu Pandey said in avirtual press meet. Thosemigrants, who have gone backto their villages, are availingration supply either throughstate or central ration cards, hesaid.

The Secretary wasresponding to a query why thegovernment has notannounced a free grainsscheme for migrants amidresurgence of the COVIDcases.

Last year, the governmenthad distributed 6.40 lakh tonneof foodgrains for free tomigrants and strandedmigrants.

Stating that there is anincrease in use of ration cardportability service during thepandemic year since April2020, Pandey said almost 18.3crore portable transactionshave taken place during theCOVID period, out of the total26.3 crore transaction eversince this service was launchedin August 2019.

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With the world’s worst out-break of Covid-19

severely straining the healthsystem in the country, the gov-ernment has made sweepingchanges in the way depart-ments procure medical sup-plies, including allowing pro-curement of the same item atdifferent rates.

Relaxing tenderingnorms, the Department ofExpenditure has allowed glob-al tenders to be floated for lessthan �200 crore as well.

The Department ofExpenditure, under theMinistry of Finance, on April24 issued special instructionsrelating to relief operations forCovid-19 pandemic and saidthat the prevailing health emer-gency on account of theunprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases across the countryrequires immediate procure-ment of certain items in quan-tities which may not be avail-able with a single supplier and/or within the time frame inwhich they are needed.

“The instruction in thisDepartment’s OM (OfficeMemorandum)... Dated May15, 2020... Specifying that noGlobal Tender Enquiries shallbe invited for tenders up to Rs200 crore shall stand relaxed

and hence it shall be permissi-ble to invite GTE where necessary,” said the instruc-tions, which have been put upon the ministry’s website onMonday.

As part of itsAatmanirbhar Bharat pack-age, the government in Maylast year notified amendmentsto General Financial Rules(GFR) to ensure that goodsand services valued less thanRs 200 crore will be procuredfrom domestic firms, a movewhich was aimed at benefittingsmall and medium enterpris-es.

Rule 149 of GFR providesthat procurement of goods andservices through theGovernment’s e-marketplace(GeM) will be mandatory foritems available on GeM por-tal.

“In the present situation,vendors under GeM, even iforders are placed, may notalways be able to effect deliv-eries of supplies on time anddesired locations, due to therapidly changing situation onaccount of the critical pan-demic situation which requiresextreme flexibility in makingavailable the critical life savinggoods to the medical care facil-ities,” as per the instructions,which would be in force tillMay 31.

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WhatsApp will not deleteany account for not

accepting its new privacyupdate, but users not agreeingto the controversial terms after“several weeks” will not beable to access their chat list, andeventually, will not be able toanswer incoming phone orvideo calls over the app.

Last week, the Facebook-owned company had said usersnot accepting its privacy poli-cy update by its May 15 dead-line will not face deletion orlose functionality of theiraccounts on the said date.

WhatsApp, on its website,said it is continuing to remindthose who haven’t had thechance to review and accept theterms, and after a period of sev-eral weeks, “the reminder (that)people receive will eventuallybecome persistent”.

It, however, did not divulgethe timelines set for thesereminders.

Explaining the course ofaction after ‘persistent’reminders are sent to users,WhatsApp said: “At that time,you’ll encounter limited

functionality on WhatsAppuntil you accept the updates”.

“This will not happen toall users at the same time. Youwon’t be able to access yourchat list, but you can stillanswer incoming phone andvideo calls.

If you have notificationsenabled, you can tap on themto read or respond to a messageor call back a missed phone orvideo call,” it said.

The messaging platformsaid after a few weeks of limit-ed functionality, users, who stillwon’t accept the terms, “won’tbe able to receive incomingcalls or notifications andWhatsApp will stop sendingmessages and calls to your

phone”.WhatsApp said it won’t

delete the users’ accounts ifthey haven’t accepted theupdate but highlighted that itsexisting policy related to inac-tive users will apply.

WhatsApp accounts aregenerally deleted after 120 daysof inactivity, wherein inactivi-ty refers to users not connect-ing to the messaging platform.

While the company did notrespond to specific queriesaround these reminders, howlong they will run and othermodalities, a WhatsAppspokesperson said: “We’ll con-tinue to provide reminders tothose users within WhatsAppin the weeks to come”.

New Delhi:Investors’ wealthhas increased by �6,44,760.45crore in four trading sessionson the back of an equity mar-ket rally. In the last four trad-ing sessions, the 30-share BSEbenchmark has gained 1,248.90points or 2.58%. On Monday,the index jumped 295.94 pointsor 0.60 per cent to close at49,502.41. The market capital-isation of BSE-listed companieszoomed �6,44,760.45 crore to�2,13,28,658.05 crore in fourtrading days starting May 5.

“Domestic equities con-tinued to defy concerns of ris-ing Covid-19 cases and extend-ed mobility restrictions by sev-eral state by extending gains forthe fourth consecutive tradingday. “We note that favourableglobal cues, steady March quar-ter earnings along withfavourable commentary, liq-uidity support announced byRBI and absence of nationwidelockdown have aided domesticequities to shrug off risingCovid-19 cases in the country,”Binod Modi, Head Strategy atReliance Securities, said. PTI

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Equity gauges Sensex andNifty rallied for the fourth

straight session on Mondayon hectic buying in mainlypharma, power and bankingshares as investors brushedaside concerns over rising coro-navirus cases amid positiveglobal cues.

At the closing bell, the 30-share BSE index quoted 295.94points or 0.60 per cent higherat 49,502.41.

Over the last four sessions,the Sensex has gained 1,248.90points or 2.58 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty jumped 119.20 points or0.80 per cent to 14,942.35 –taking its total gains over thefour days to 445.85 points or3.07 per cent.

On Monday, L&T was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,rallying over 4 per cent, fol-lowed by Dr Reddy’s, SunPharma, NTPC, PowerGrid,IndusInd Bank, ONGC andM&M.

On the other hand,UltraTech Cement, Infosys,Reliance Industries, HCL Techand Axis Bank were five losersamong the 30 shares.

Sectorally, BSE metal, cap-ital goods, healthcare, power,utilities and industrials indicesrose up to 3.53 per cent, whileIT was in the red.

Broader midcap andsmallcap indices rallied up to0.97 per cent.

“Domestic equities con-tinued to defy concerns of ris-

ing COVID-19 cases andextended mobility restrictionsby several states by extendinggains for the fourth consecutivetrading day,” said Binod ModiHead-Strategy at RelianceSecurities.

Favourable global cues,steady March quarter earn-ings along with favourablecommentary, liquidity supportannounced by the RBI andabsence of nationwide lock-down have aided domesticequities to shrug off risingCOVID-19 cases in the coun-try, he further noted.

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The Centre on Mondayexpressed hope that retail

prices of edible oils wouldsoften following the release ofimported stock that was stuckat ports due to clearance issues.

According to the govern-ment data, retail prices of edi-ble oils have shot up by 55.55per cent in over a year and areadding to the woes of con-sumers already reeling underthe economic distress inducedby the Covid-19 pandemic.

Responding to a query onsteps taken to contain the risein edible oils prices, FoodSecretary Sudhanshu Pandeysaid the government monitorsedible prices closely.

The secretary said that theindustry mentioned recentlythere was some holding ofsome stock at Kandla andMundra ports because of clear-ances related to tests done byvarious agencies as part of the

general risk analysis inview of the COVID situation.

“That problem has been

addressed along with customsand FSSAI (Food Safety andStandards Authority of India).With that stock getting releasedin the market, we hope to seethe softening impact on the oilprices,” he told in a virtual pressconference.

The Secretary further saidthat India is dependent onimports to meet the shortagesof edible oil. Annually, thecountry imports edible oilsworth Rs 75,000 crore.

According to the govern-ment data, retail price of vanas-pati has increased by 55.55 percent to Rs 140 a kg on May 8this year, from Rs 90 per kg inthe year-ago period.

Similarly, retail price ofpalm oil has risen by 51.54 percent to Rs 132.6 per kg from Rs87.5 per kg.

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The finance ministry onMonday said provisioning

� 35,000 crore-expenditure forvaccines in the Union Budgetfor FY22 under the title‘Transfers to States’ does in noway inhibit the central gov-ernment from using the fundsto buy Covid-19 shots.

The amount of �35,000crore provided in the UnionBudget for fiscal year startingApril 1, 2021 (FY22) under theDemand for Grants No. 40,titled ‘Transfers to States’ hasbeen done for several admin-istrative advantages, includingexpenditure under such headbeing exempted from the quar-terly control restrictions.

Also, it allows the Uniongovernment to procure thevaccines and pass them on tothe states as grants in kind.

Refuting reports that noprovision for expenditure onCovid-19 vaccination has beendone by the central govern-ment, the finance ministrysaid, “vaccines have actuallybeen, and are being, procuredby and paid for by the Centrethrough this head of account(Demand for Grants No.40Transfers to States)”.

Since expenditure on vac-cine is one-off expenditureoutside the normal Centrally-Sponsored Schemes of thehealth ministry, separate fund-

ing ensures easy monitoringand management of thesefunds, the ministry noted.

The amount providedunder this head for vaccina-tions is operated by theMinistry of Health. Vaccinesare passed on to the states asgrants in kind and the actualadministration of vaccines isbeing done by states, it said.

Further, there is enoughadministrative flexibility tochange the nature of thescheme between grants in kindand other forms of grants, itsaid in a statement.

“The use of the Demandtitled ‘Transfers to States’ in noway implies that expenditurecannot be incurred by theCentre,” the ministry said.

Currently, COVID-19 vac-cines are being provided free of

cost by the Centre to those whoare 45 years of age and aboveand to all frontline workers.

The Centre has so far pro-vided more than 17.56 crorevaccine doses to states/ UTsfree of cost.

The Centre has placedtotal orders of 26.60 croredoses for Rs 3,639.67 crore withthe Serum Institute of Indiawhich is manufacturingCovishield vaccine while anorder for 8 crore doses involv-ing an amount of Rs 1,104.78crore has been placed withBharat Biotech for Covaxin.

India is facing the world’sworst outbreak of COVID-19cases with more than 3 lakhnew daily cases being reportedfor two weeks now and the newcases reached more than 4lakh daily over the weekend.

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Fitch Ratings on Mondaywarned that India’s slow

pace of vaccination could meanthat the country remains vul-nerable to further waves of thepandemic even once the cur-rent surge subsides.

Just 9.4 per cent of thepopulation had received atleast one vaccine dose as ofMay 5, according to figuresfrom Our World in Data, theagency said.

“India’s slow pace of vacci-nation means that the countrycould remain vulnerable tofurther waves of the pandem-ic even once the current surgesubsides,” Fitch added.

The Centre has alreadyprovided more than 17.56 crorevaccine doses to states/UTsfree of cost.

The cumulative number ofCovid-19 vaccine doses admin-istered in the country exceed-ed 16.94 crore on May 9.

The global rating agencysaid there are growing indica-tions that the latest wave ofcoronavirus infections will addto risks among financial insti-tutions (FIs).

It also anticipates that theRBI may introduce additionalmeasures to support the finan-cial sector if indications ofeconomic stress mount.

“We expect the shock toeconomic activity from thelatest wave

of the pandemic in India tobe less severe than in 2020,even though caseloads andfatalities are much higher.

“Nonetheless, indicatorsshow activity dropped in April-May, which is likely to delay thecountry’s recovery, and thenumber of newly recordedcases remains extremely high,”Fitch Ratings said in a report.

It said that currently,authorities are implementinglockdowns more narrowly, andcompanies and individualshave adjusted behaviour inways that cushion the effects.

“There is a risk that dis-ruption could persist longerand spread further than ourbaseline case assumes, partic-ularly if lockdowns are intro-duced in more regions, ornationwide,” it added.

India is facing the world’sworst outbreak of COVID-19cases with more than 3 lakhnew daily COVID-19 casesbeing reported for two weeksnow and the new cases reachedmore than 4 lakh new dailycases over the weekend.

More than 2.46 lakh peo-ple in India have died from thecoronavirus

infection. Public healthsystem is buckling under theweight of surging

infections and deaths withseveral parts of the countryreporting

shortage of hospital beds,medical oxygen, medicines andvaccines.

Last month, Fitch hadsaid the surge in COVID-19cases could add to headwindsfacing India’s banks and non-bank financial institutions(NBFIs) if it led to a resurgencein asset-quality pressures.

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The Reserve Bank onMonday came out with

modified guidelines that allowsound private sector banks toundertake Government busi-ness, whether at the Centre orin states.

According to the modifiednorms, scheduled private sec-tor banks, which are not underthe Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework of the RBI,can undertake governmentbusiness after executing anagreement with the centralbank.

“Scheduled private sectorbanks, not having agency bank-ing agreement with RBI, butintend to handle governmentagency business, may beappointed as agents of RBIupon execution of an agree-ment with RBI.

“This will be subject tothe condition that the con-cerned bank is not under PCAframework or moratorium at

the time of making the appli-cation or signing of the agree-ment with RBI,” the centralbank said in a notification.

It may be mentioned thatthe Finance Ministry inFebruary 2021 had lifted theembargo imposed inSeptember 2012 on furtherallocation of government busi-ness to private sector banks.

In view of the lifting of theembargo, the RBI has decidedto revise the framework forauthorising Scheduled PrivateSector Banks as agency banksof RBI for conduct of govern-ment business.

The notification furthersaid existing private Sectoragency bank with whom RBIalready has agency bankingagreement and who are autho-rised to do government agencybusiness may continue to dothese government agency busi-nesses for Central and/or StateGovernments without takingany fresh approval from thecentral bank.

Berlin:German biotechnolo-gy company BioNTech onMonday announced plans toexpand its global footprint toAsia by building its first mRNAmanufacturing facility inSingapore.

The Covid vaccine makerwill establish its regional head-quarters for Southeast Asia inSingapore, later this year, it saidin a statement. The facilitywill be operational as early as2023, it added.

The fully integrated mRNAmanufacturing facility will pro-vide regional and global supplycapacity of BioNTech’s growingpipeline of mRNA-based prod-uct candidates. It will beequipped to produce a range ofnovel mRNA vaccines andtherapeutics for infectious dis-eases and cancer.

IANS

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Mumbai:The rupee rose by16 paise to close at more thanone-month high of 73.35against the US dollar onMonday, marking its thirdstraight session of gains onthe back of positive domes-tic equities and weakAmerican currency.However,sharp gains were preventedon surge in crude oil pricesand FII outflows, analystssaid. At the interbank forexmarket, the rupee opened at73.34 and hit an intra-dayhigh of 73.33 and a low of73.48.

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����� While many of usmight not like the smell ofgarlic, and hence avoideating it, this herb is highlynutritious. It is low incalories and rich in VitaminC, vitamin B6 andmanganese. It also containstrace amounts of variousother nutrients. Hence, itmay help in boostingimmunity which isundoubtedly theneed of thehour.

G a r l i csupplementshelp preventand reducethe severity ofcommon ill-nesses like the fluand common cold. Not tomention, high doses of garlic

appear to improve blood pres-sure for those with knownhigh blood pressure (hyperten-sion). In some instances, sup-plements may be as effective asregular medications.

It also seem to reduce totaland LDL cholesterol, particu-larly in those who have highcholesterol.

As if the second wave ofCOVID-19 wasn’t enough tomake you shiver with fear, the

country is reporting a rash of casesinvolving a fungal infection.Mucormycosis (sometimes calledzygomycosis) is a serious but rarefungal infection caused by a groupof molds called mucormycetes.These molds live throughout theenvironment. When someonebreathes in these spores, infection inthe sinus or lung can occur.

Mucormycosis can also developon the skin after the fungus entersthe skin through a cut, scrape orother type of skin trauma.Mucormycosis primarily affects peo-ple who have health problems or takemedicines that lower the body’sability to fight germs and sickness.

“The symptoms associated withthe disease include one-sided facialswelling, headache, nasal or sinuscongestion, loss of vision or pain inthe eyes, swelling in cheeks and eyes,fever and black crusts in the nose.The US Centre for Diseases Controland Prevention (CDC) estimatesMucormycosis with an overall all-cause mortality rate of 54 per cent,”Dr Rahul Bhargava, Head ENT &Neck Surgeon, Bhargava ENT &Gynae Clinic and MedicalConsultant — ENTOD

International, tells you.Mucormycosis is affecting

COVID patients more because ofprolonged administration of steroidsand subsequent immunocompro-mised state.

“Diabetic patients are at muchhigher risk of mucormycosis ifaffected by COVID-19 becauseCovid-19 further impairs theirimmune system and second, they aregiven corticosteroids for their treat-ment. This leads to a rise in theirblood sugar level thus increasingtheir risk of mucormycosis. Thiscombination of Diabetes and Covid-19, therefore, becomes a dangerousand deadly challenge to manage.Some cases of mucormycosis havealso been observed in patients withan asymptomatic Covid-19 infectionwho were not even aware of theirdiagnosis,” Bhargava, who has comeacross three patients in past one weekwho have contracted this infectionafter recovering from COVID-19,explains.

A cause of worry is that present-ly, there are no feasible measures toprevent mucormycosis however,early detection is the best solution fornow.

“Some of the things which canbe done to prevent it are nasaldouching and gargles with Betadine

solution, proper control of Diabetesand using steroids only on prescrip-tion by a physician. Turmeric con-tains curcumin which is also goodfor fungal-infections,” he says.

Bhargava tells you that it is a seri-ous infection and needs to be treat-ed with prescription antifungal med-icine, usually posaconazole, ampho-tericin B or isavuconazole.

“These medicines are given

through a vein (amphotericin B,posaconazole, isavuconazole) or bymouth (posaconazole, isavucona-zole). Other medicines, includingvoriconazole, fluconazole andechinocandins, do not work againstthe fungi that cause mucormycosis.Often, mucormycosis requiressurgery to cut away the infected tis-sue,” he adds.

The correlation betweenCOVID-19 and Mucormycosis,Bhargava says, is not surprising at all.“Because the major risk factor forMucormycosis is uncontrolledDiabetes mellitus which is also ahigh-risk factor for COVID-19.Secondly, steroids — which areknown to suppress immunity — arethe only of treatment, , like I havementioned before, which has shownto decrease COVID-19 mortality. So,it is the combination of COVID-19,with decreased immunity and thesteroids which probably predisposea patient to Mucormycosis,” he says.

Since the association betweenthe deadly virus and mucormycosisis the state of weakened immuneresponses in patients, it dependsfrom patient to patient when one candevelop this infection. It may takedays or even weeks after one hasrecovered from COVID to get infect-ed with the fungus.

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Many studies have now found high association between VitaminD levels and COVID-19 severity and mortality. Such stud-

ies showed that patients with COVID-19 had significantly lowerVitamin D levels. In addition, fever was significantly higher inpatients who had deficient Vitamin D levels compared with patientswho had sufficient levels. Additionally, it has been found that olderadults with Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 had worse mor-bidity outcomes compared with those who were not deficient.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a number of crit-ical roles in body. This nutrient is especially important for immunesystem health. Since, it is a group of fat-soluble compounds respon-sible for intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phos-phate, and for a variety of additional biological effects; low levelsof Vitamin D can increase the likelihood of developing multipleacute and chronic ailments. A weaker immune system means body’sweak defence against infection and disease.

A prospective, interventional study found that a high dose ofcalcifediol reduced the need for intensive care stays in patientsinfected with COVID-19. Because Vitamin D deficiency has beenshown to potentially increase the risk of severe respiratory infec-tions, Vitamin D supplements are suggested for prevention andtreatment of COVID-19 complications, especially acute respira-

tory disease. Nowadays manybrands of Vitamin D supple-mentation are available in mar-ket like D3 Must, Caldikind,Calshine, etc.

It is noticed that thosereceiving Vitamin D supple-mentation have fewer respirato-ry tract infections.

According to the SHADEstudy published by BMJ and ledby Dr Rastogi and his team,greater proportion of vitamin D-deficient individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection turned SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative with a sig-nificant decrease in fibrinogenon high-dose cholecalciferolsupplementation.

We have seen that sevendays high dose of Vitamin D3 (60000 IU) supplementation helpsin Coronavirus clearance.

Given the evidence supporting the role of vitamin D in mod-ulating immune function, and the impact of vitamin D supple-mentation on vitamin D-deficient patients with COVID-19, prac-tical recommendations should be synthesised as follows:

�Current public health guidelines for optimising vitamin Dstatus should be followed always

�Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 should have baselineserum 25(OH)D concentrations measured and should be supple-mented to a level >30ng/mL (optimal 40-60ng/mL), especially whenthe baseline level is <10ng/mL

�In COVID-19 patients with 25(OH)D serum concentrationsunder 20ng/mL the recommended dose for correction of deficien-cy is 6000-7000 oral IU/ day for 6-8 weeks. For maintenance, thedose varies from 2000 to 3000 oral IU/day depending on the ageand clinical condition of the individual up to reach optimal con-centrations.

�When it is not possible to measure baseline 25(OH)D con-centrations in COVID-19 patients, it seems essential supplement-ing with 2000-3000 oral IU per day up to the suggested optimalserum concentrations (40-60ng/mL).

Though India is a subtropical country with adequate sunlight,Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent. Sunlight rapidly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces, suggesting that there may be an environmen-tal benefit associated with Vitamin D as a result of sun exposure.It is necessary for people to understand the importance of VitaminD so that they can take relevant medications.

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We can’t emphasiseenough on theimportance of oil-

ing long hair regularly. Onecan use coconut, almond,mustard or even olive oil.Massage it into the scalpand leave it overnight.Wash with a mildshampoo in them o r n i n g .However, ifyou havean oilyskin, oilyour hairand leave

it for anh o u rand thenwash off.One canwrap a hot towel

around the head for 10minutes to help in the bet-ter absorption of the oil.

If one reason why you

don’t want to sport longhair is because they fall, usealoe vera. It soothes thescalp and conditions hair. Itreduces dandruff andunblock hair follicles thatmay be blocked by excessoil. You can apply pure

aloe vera gel to yourscalp and hair a

few times aweek.

Apply am a s kmade ofegg; it is anexcel lentsource of

p r o t e i n ,which helps

your hairgrow longer. Just

crack open twoeggs, strain the yolks anduse the egg white on yourhair. Let it stay for 20 min-utes and wash off.

Long and silky hair are adream of many. But, many

of us end up cutting it shortbecause of the hair fall that

follows. ROSHANI DEVIshares easy to follow home

remedies that can help

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One cannot escape death, but can cer-tainly prevent old age. The funda-mental principle of a healthy, relaxed,

happy and stress free life is that one mustfollow a self-determined routine — self-dis-cipline in daily routine. Here are a few sug-gestions based upon my learning:

One, try to make the moment of gettingup in the morning, your happiest momentof the day. Smile at the world when you openyour eyes or even laugh loudly. This formsthe base of your feelings for the whole day.

Two, water regime. Drink at least fourlitres of water every day. Also, drink at leastthree glasses of warm water, first thing in themorning. Avoid drinking cold water. Itshould be at least room temperature.

Three, follow a good food regime. Takethree meals and nothing in between, unlessyou have been medically advised to take fivemeals or more. Breakfast should be ideallywithin four hours of waking up and shouldbe the heaviest. Fruits should be consumedin the first half of the day only. Avoid fruitsafter mid-day. Curd should be taken withthe breakfast, unless prohibited by doctor.Mattha with lunch. And no curd item in thedinner. Emphasis should be on quality offood rather than quantity. Consume thosefoods, which gives more energy and nutri-ents, in less quantity.

Four, work place regime. In case youhave long sitting job: Use straight back chair,keep your back straight, aligned with thechair back, get up after every 45 minutes andtake a stroll for five minutes and stretch yourneck backwards whenever you remember.

Caution: Whenever you stretch yourneck backwards, keep your eyes closed.

Five, post dinner regime. Dinner shouldbe taken ideally before 8 pm. There shouldbe about four hours of gap between dinnerand sleep. Brush your teeth after having themeal. Walk for at least 20 minutes. Takesteam and gargle with salt and haldi mixedin hot water. Switch off your mobile at leasthalf an hour before you go to bed, unlessyour profession demands to keep it on 24hours.

Six, after you go to bed put two dropsof mustard oil in your navel and rub it withyour finger tip, 40 times clockwise and 40times anti-clockwise. Put two drops of mus-tard oil in each nostril. Once on bed, closeyour eyes and remember each and everyevent that has happened since morning.Forgive those who have hurt you in any wayon that day. Ask forgiveness from thosewhom you have hurt in any way. This willrelax your mind and you will have a soundsleep with positive thought, and will wakeup smiling the next morning. Have at leastseven hours of sleep in the night. Try to fol-low the age old maxim — early to bed andearly to rise.

And last but not the least, follow a goodwork out regime. spend at least one hour inthe morning and half an hour in theevening on your personal exercise regime.Remember walking, jogging and breathingexercises have to be a part of your exerciseregime. %�������������������������&�������#���&�9�����

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At a time when Delhi’s medical infrastruc-ture is reeling under a menacing COVIDwave, leading Delhi-based dermatologist

Dr Chiranjiv Chhabra has launched a new ini-tiative to provide medical support and guidanceto patients by converting her skin and wellnessclinics into COVID tele-support centres.

The initiative aims to help provide medicalguidance, monitoring and support to patients withmild or moderate illness in a bid to bridge themedical care gap being experienced by a largenumber of patients.

Led by Dr Chhabra, her team of 12 doctorsand health educators have taken charge of the tele-support initiative with an objective to enable earlytreatment for as many patients as possible,thereby preventing complications and need forcritical care.

“Over the past few weeks, we have been wit-nessing an alarming situation where healthcareis crumbling under the weight of the pandemicand patients are running from pillar to post to beable to find a doctor. We have seen a number ofpeople experience severe complications becauseof delay in treatment as doctors are heavily occu-pied treating critically ill patients. This is a gapwe want to bridge through our tele-support ini-tiative. Our main objective is to treat mild andmoderately ill patients early so that we can savethem from reaching a stage where they wouldneed hospitalisation or oxygen support,” said DrChiranjiv Chhabra, leading dermatologist andfounder of Alive Wellness Clinics.

To undertake this initiative, Alive WellnessClincs has tied up with general physicians andchest specialists to facilitate tele-consultation ofpatients under the guidance of the team.

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Public health experts and socialactivists on May 10, 2021 rooted for

a more sustained communication forbehaviour change in the realm of hand-washing in India, not only to save peo-ple from the COVID-19 pandemic but fora longer-term prevention. Speaking at theHand Hygiene Summit, organised by theIntegrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW)Council, supported by Dettol, on WorldHand Hygiene Day, they also emphasisedthe need of inter-ministerial coordinationand collaboration for holistic communi-cation.

“There is a lot of diversity in needsand inequity in India when it comes tohandwashing practices. Behaviour changein people has remained unaddressed fora long time. We need a localised, multi-channel, sustained communication tonudge behaviour change, starting withchildren and schools — people them-

selves can come up with innovativelocalised solutions for their needs,” saysUrvashi Prasad, Senior Public PolicySpecialist in the Office of Vice Chairman,NITI Aayog.

Highlighting that the better hand-washing practice in the past one year isa fear-driven adoption, ArundatiMuralidharan, Manager Policy (WASH inHealth & Nutrition, and Schools),WaterAid India, says, “We need to makehand hygiene a social norm because fear-driven adoption of hygiene practises canremain active for a limited time. Hygieneshould be a part of a group of protectivebehaviours, but there are mindset barri-ers for which raising awareness is impor-tant. We have not made enough invest-ment on hygiene in the community set-ting or public space; inter-ministerialinvolvement is important to achieve thatgoal.”

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Hygiene is an important aspect oftoday’s lives, especially with the

ongoing pandemic. Inadequate sanita-tion and poor hygiene practices are thecause of death for lakhs of people everyyear, majority of them being children.Provision of clean water is one of themost effective methods of saving lives.

However, clean water is a noveltyin the current world as we are usingtons of it every day to drink, bathe andcook. But it is not available around theworld on an equitable basis. Hence, weall should make sure that water is con-served.

Benefits associated with waterlessformulations include reduction in plas-tic waste, reduction in costs and aid-ing the creation of effective products.Along with reduce-reuse-recycleprocesses, a sustainable life can beachieved with the use of waterless per-sonal care products wherein technolog-ical advancements play a key role.

Waterless technology can now beused in every aspect of personalhygiene in these ways:

Hand hygieneHand hygiene could be easily man-

aged with waterless soaps which requireno or less water to rinse off the foam.Such waterless products can comehandy on a long trip and in distantplaces with less water availability.

Bodily hygieneA daily shower is necessary to

maintain personal hygiene and healthyliving. A well-showered body reducesthe odour produced by perspiration,and get rid of most germs. In situationswith no water availability or inabilityto take a shower, use a waterless bodybath and shampoo to maintain a show-er routine.

Oral hygieneThe use of a toothbrush for clean-

ing after all meals is essential for theprevention of oral cavities and infec-tions. Food and drinks leave residue inthe teeth that grow.

Newer technology like waterlesstoothpastes could be a new addition toyour personal care kit where youwould require no water to rinse off the

residue. A safe to swallow formulationmakes it easy to use and effective fordental hygiene.

Intimate hygieneAvoiding infections, fungus or itch-

ing is essential. Women should washtheir genitals more than twice a day toavoid bacterial infections such as byE.coli. This can be done by using water-less intimate hygiene products as person-al care. For men, it is advised to keephygienic with waterless products.

Head hygieneHair should be washed two or three

times a week. Waterless shampoo isanother addition to personal care formaintaining hygiene with no water. It is

an easy to use spray formulation rinsedoff with a towel or a tissue.

Another feature of waterless prod-ucts is that they are free from parabensand preservatives. That concludes tothem being extremely safe for all skintypes. A transition to waterless productsis a road taken by lesser people but oncethe move has been made it would leadto a lesser carbon footprint.

The products are sold in more con-centrated, compact packages, they cansignificantly decrease the number ofmaterials needed to house them. And,shipping waterless formulas requires lessspace and therefore, less fuel. It’s theseseemingly small benefits that actuallyhave the potential to make a real impact.

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Sacred Games’ actor KubbraSait says that in her sixties or

seventies, she would like a tinyhome with a little garden prob-ably growing cabbages. “Ohyeah, if it faces the beach, thenthat will be amazing,” quipsKubbra.

The performer, who leftbehind a successful corporatecareer for acting, recently fea-tured on the My 3 Secrets ToSuccess audio series on AudibleSuno.

Answering a question onwhat her 60s or 70s should looklike, she adds, “So, some cleanair to breathe, a book to readand probably my fingersentwined with someone I love.I think that would be an ideal60s-70s to me. We’re not chas-ing every day. I don’t think I’mchasing today either. I’m think-ing of the opportunities thatcome to me at the moment butthere isn’t a chase anymore,and I think if you stop chasingthings, you automatically reacha point of calmness and that’svery different from being numbfrom the chase.”

On the work front, Kubbrashared her excitement about

Foundation, that’s about torelease this year. “It’s I think onesole project that I have put inabout a year and a half of mine,and that feels extremely valu-able,” says she.

“I don’t think today yourcurrency is money. Your curren-cy is time. So if I have been ableto break out of that mental blockand invest time in a project thatI believe in, I think it’s going topay off pretty well and I’m quiteexcited about it. Apart from that,I’ve got three work projects inprocess and when they come torealisation, I’ll share them withyou. But otherwise I can saythat, I’ve got a book coming, I’vegot a show coming out, I’ve beenon this Audible podcast,” addsshe.

Finally, speaking about herZen mode: “I’m being in a stateof solitude in a state of Zen. I ambeing that person. And it’s justallowing you to recognise thepast, the present and the futureas it’s going to be. I think it’s veryimportant to be in a state of Zenso that you can allow the futureto unfold. It’s exciting. So, what’skeeping me busy, my Zen iskeeping me busy.” =�!��

Actor Rashmika Mandanna will soonbe seen in her Bollywood debut

opposite actor Sidharth Malhotra.Mission Majnu is her first foray into a spythriller yet the team unanimously feltthat she was their first and best choicefor the film.

“We were looking for a formidableactor with a fresh face when wechanced upon some of Rashmika’swork. I was especially impressedby her nuanced performance inDear Comrade. We felt she hadthe right mixture of innocenceand beauty required for the cru-cial role, which needed a sen-sitive interpretation of thecharacter. I think there’s avery good chance theIndian audience will dis-cover another film starfrom the South,” saidShantanu Baagchi, thedirector of MissionMajnu. Theprominent adfilmmaker ismaking hisd i r e c t o r i a ldebut with thefor thcomingfilm.

P ro d u c e rAmar Butalaalso expressedhis admirationfor Rashmika,“My first interac-tion with her wasover a zoom callduring the lock-down when wenarrated thescript of

Mission Majnu. It was remarkable tosee how she picked up every nuanceof her character even though we wereon a video call. It’s been a pleasureworking with her because not onlyshe brings a solid experience and con-

fidence of a big film star with her, butalso has the sincere energy of a new-

comer.”Producer Garima Mehta

chimed in, “The first thingyou see in Rashmika is herdazzling smile, the sheerenergy and charm that sheexudes. Since her debut filmKirik Party, later Geetha

Govindham and DearComrade, she has grown into

an exceptional actor. Wewere sure she would bringalive her role in the film.

Rashmika and Sidharth sharegreat on-screen chemistryin Mission Majnu andwould surely be loved byher fan base.”

The actress’ impec-cable work has notonly left the audiencein awe but a team ofproducers and direc-tors as well who wast-ed no time to bring heron board for the film.Besides MissionMajnu, Rashmika hasanother Bollywoodfilm in the pipeline,Goodbye with AmitabhBachchan. She wouldalso be starring in theTelugu action thriller

titled Pushpa, along withAllu Arjun later this year.

The education industry hasundergone a revolutionarychange in recent times.

Although these were ushered in by achain of unfortunate events, theresults have been astounding, espe-cially for the Edtech industry wherestart-ups that had received $553 mil-lion worth of investment in 2019.These have shot up to nearly $2.22 bil-lion now. A report by RedSeer andOmidyar Network India states thatIndia’s EdTech industry is expected totouch $3.5 billion by 2022. Almost allthe companies in this sector havefared well and are looking forward toexpanding themselves in the comingquarters. But that was not the casebefore the pandemic.

Until some years ago, the conceptof an online classroom was frownedupon and not considered with anyseriousness. The only role that tech-nology was thought to play in chil-dren’s lives was that of a distraction,making them stray away from theiractual goals. Though it hasn’t beensmooth sailing, times are changing. InIndia, accessibility is a major road-

block, with only 20 per cent of stu-dents having access to both laptopsand smartphones, whereas 20 per centhave access to just smartphones, 30per cent have access to only featurephones, while the remaining 30 percent don’t have any devices. Such ascenario does bring forward lots ofchallenges along with a myriad ofopportunities for the Edtech industry.To understand the opportunities andto gauge its growth, one has to returnto the time when the pandemic hadjust hit the country.

The nationwide lockdown inMarch 2020 had sent our 250 millionstudent population into a state of dis-array. Given that the country was stillgrappling even to understand the sit-uation, the hardships faced by stu-dents were barely considered.

While some urban institutes andstudent populace did turn to theonline medium without a fuss, theirstrength was still numbered. It has tobe duly noted that in rural areas wherethe technological infrastructure is lim-ited, such solutions are out of reach.

Returning to the brick and mor-

tar classroom was unlikely and in faceof such a crisis, edtech companiesproved to be godsent for students aswell as parents.

The technology used by theseplatforms is well-researched as are theteaching methods. Combining cut-ting-edge technology with a person-

alised learning methodology,arguably, these are delivering muchbetter results than conventionalteaching methods.

Now, if you are wondering howEdtech can reach out to rural mass-es and the disadvantaged, you onlyhave to look at the innovations

brought on by some of the leadingcompanies. Using the impetus of thegovernment for Digital India alongwith the increased internet penetra-tion, these firms are ensuring thattheir resources are available at thelowest possible cost.

The fact that these apps can bedownloaded easily with most ofthe content being free for usersimplies edtech companies are strik-ing the right balance between prof-it and the cause of imparting qual-ity education.

With the pandemic showing nosigns of abating, analysts have pre-dicted that the these companies’ pos-itive growth trend will sustain in theforthcoming quarters. However,even after the situation changes,these platforms are here to stay.What is likely to change is rather theconventional attitude to education.The time is not far when almost allconventional classrooms will dependon edtech solutions for a morewholesome learning experience.

(The writer is the founder of anedtech firm - AAS Vidyalaya.)

The emergence of edtechK�������������������� �� ������������� ��������#�����#������������� ���������#�����������������Q��#��������������� ��� �������� �����5���������� $ $ &$,�

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Alexander Zverev recoveredfrom a set down to defeat

Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 6-3 and win the MadridOpen for a second time onSunday as he clinched a fourthMasters 1000 title.

The German fifth seedrecorded his third consecutivetop-10 victory this week, havingeliminated five-time Madridchampion Rafael Nadal andDominic Thiem to reach thefinal.

Zverev, last year’s US Openrunner-up, added to his 2018Madrid triumph as he deniedBerrettini successive titles fol-lowing the Italian’s win inBelgrade last month.

“It is great (to win this

title), especially after losing mylast three finals I played atMasters 1000 events,” Zverevsaid. “This is definitely specialand I just want to enjoy this one.”

Zverev is now targeting asecond Rome title at the ForoItalico this week. He captured hisfirst Masters there in 2017 beforealso winning in Montreal laterthat year.

“Rome is also an event I likeand enjoy, so I hope I can per-form in the same way as I didhere and we will see how it goesthere. I feel awesome,” saidZverev.

After Rome, the Germanstar will target a maiden GrandSlam title at Roland Garros.However, he has yet to getbeyond the quarter-finals inParis.

“To play well at RolandGarros, you have to play wellduring the season on clay. In thatsense, it’s (Sunday’s win) impor-tant to me,” said Zverev.

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New Zealand all-rounderJimmy Neesham doesn’tthink that there is any chance

of the remaining 31 matches ofIndian Premier League happening inIndia this year, after the tournamentgot postponed due to Covid-19cases inside the bio-bubble.

He also has serious doubtswhether India would be able to hostthe 16-team T20 World Cup laterthis year.

Both IPL and T20 World Cupare set to be re-scheduled to theUnited Arab Emirates.

“If it did start up again, I doubtthe IPL would be in India again,”said Neesham told Newshub.

“I think we’ve already seenplans for the T20 World Cup tomove out of India later in the yearand they’re going to be ultra-cau-tious about that sort of thing,” saidNeesham, who was playing forMumbai Indians in the now sus-pended league.

Neesham feels the bio-securitylapses could be due to the fact thatthe teams were travelling across thecountry.

“Even though we were flying onchartered planes, we have to gothrough customs, hand your detailsover to people, walk through termi-nals, so there were always going tobe pinch-points there,” he said.

Neesham said that it is difficultto comprehend how the bubble wasbreached.

“We obviously don’t know yetexactly how teams were infiltrated,but... It’s such a difficult prospect to

keep everything perfect and whenyou’ve got so many guys that areclose to each other, there are goingto be social interactions after games.

“Once one team has it, you startlooking back through your lastweek at who you talked to and whoyou shook hands with. It certainly

gets your mind racing.”However Neesham isn’t averse

to the idea of going back to Indiaagain and playing the IPL if itresumes.

“For me, I signed up for the IPLknowing what it might be like. I feltlike it was an obligation — I made

the commitment to go and neverhad any thoughts of pulling outindividually before the tournamentfinished,” he said,

“Guys will have different opin-ions on that, but it’s my job, I’m aprofessional and you have plenty oftimes you tour countries you’re notthat keen on going to, but it’s aboutgetting on the field and getting thejob done.

“I would sign up again, especial-ly once vaccinations start rolling out.I don’t think anyone really predict-ed how quickly it would all comecrashing down over there and howquickly we would be on the firstplane out.”

The IPL was suspended lastTuesday after four players and twocoaches from four different teamstested positive for the dreaded dis-ease within a space of 48 hours.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expect-ing it to get called off. I think, whenyou’ve got so many teams in differ-ent bubbles, the expectation was thatthere would always be some casesat some point during the tourna-ment,” Neesham said.

“We thought teams might haveto lock down and miss a couple ofgames, like we’ve seen in otherorganisations, like the NBA. Theshow must go on.

“The thing that was so shock-ing was how quickly it came up inso many different teams at thesame time and we didn’t really havean option in the end.”

Neesham said they were “notout of the woods yet” and maydevelop symptoms in the comingdays.

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Team director Ashley Giles saysEngland have no plans to “rush”their IPL stars back for nextmonth’s Test series against NewZealand and could introduce newfaces to cope with a packed sched-ule.

The suspension of the IPLbecause of the devastating coro-navirus outbreak in India has leftEngland with a potentially largerplayer pool than they envisagedfor the two-Test series againstNew Zealand.

Among those currently serv-ing quarantine periodsare Jos Buttler, ChrisWoakes and SamCurran, all of whomhave Test contractswith England.

They could beavailable for CountyChampionship matchesstarting on May 20before joining theEngland ‘bubble’ahead of the firstTest against NewZealand atLord’s, whichbegins on June2.

But even ifthe trio are in

contention, England may have tocall up fresh reinforcements givenBen Stokes and Dom Sibley arecurrently injured, while fastbowler Jofra Archer has onlyrecently returned to action withSussex’s 2nd XI.

“All these guys (returningfrom the IPL) are currently inquarantine and have had a num-ber of spells in quarantine andbubbles,” Giles said on Monday.

“We need to look after them,with the amount of cricket they’vegot coming up. We’re not going torush or force them back intocricket.

“Chris Silverwood (theEngland coach) will work with

each and every one of them,as will our medical teams onwhat’s best for their progress.”

After the New Zealandseries, England have five

Tests at home to Indiabefore travelling to

Australia later thisyear in a bid toregain the Ashes.England alsohave numerouswhite-ball com-m i t m e n t s ,including the

planned T20World Cupin India.

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Pakistan quickly took the one wicket it needed onMonday for another innings victory over struggling

Zimbabwe in the second Test and a 2-0 series sweep.It took only five overs on Day 4 for Shaheen Shah

Afridi to end it by having Luke Jongwe caught behind bywicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan for 37.

Pakistan won by an innings and 147 runs at HarareSports Club to go with the innings and 116-run win inthe first Test at the same venue.

Pakistan also claimed a slice of history with Afridi’s5-52 making him the third Pakistan bowler in the Test totake a five-wicket haul. He and Nauman Ali (5-86) tookfive each in the second innings after Hasan Ali’s five inthe first.

It’s the first time Pakistan has had three bowlers withfive wickets in a match, and the first time it has happenedin Tests since 1993.

Zimbabwe continued on 220-9 in its second innings,on the brink of defeat and still 158 runs short of makingPakistan bat again. The home team added only 11 moreruns to be all out for 231.

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Left-arm pacer ArzanNagwaswalla, who will fly to

the UK with the Indian team asa stand-by player, says shuttingdown comparisons, stayingpatient and focussing on routineplayed a key role in yielding thedesired outcome for him.

Only a few Parsi cricketershave made the cut for thenational team and Nagwaswallais hoping to join the list after hisstellar performance for Gujarathas placed him at the doorstepof the Indian team.

“The grind in domesticcricket has helped me under-stand the importance of routine.How to practice, how to bowlduring practice and how tofocus on the process and keepfollowing the same, without

thinking too much about theresult,” Nagwaswalla told bcci.tv.

“If you follow the processcorrectly, you will surely get thedesired outcome. In addition tothat, it is important to be patient.There is no point comparingyourself with anyone and pon-der over why someone else isselected and not me,” the 23-year-old added.

The left-arm pacer wasGujarat’s leading wicket-takerwith 41 scalps in the 2019-20season when his side made theRanji Trophy semifinals.

The youngster said he wasmighty impressed with the waythe Indian team played andwon in Australia and he just can’twait to see the senior players inflesh and bone, whom he has sofar watched only on TV.

“I am excited to meet and

see all the cricketers jinko abheetak bass TV par India ke liyeachha karte hue dekhaa hai.They have secured some bigwins against Australia andEngland recently. So, I am look-ing forward to learning as muchas I can from all of them.”

“I am very excited to meetthis team. Despite the injuries,we went on to win the series inAustralia. I just can’t wait to wit-ness the team which has such astrong self-belief,” Nagwaswallasaid.

He is also a big fan of theteam’s bowling coach BharatArun.

“Under Bharat Arun sir,our fast bowling has seen a greattransformation. We have asuperb bench strength. I am sureI will get to learn a lot fromBharat Arun sir.”

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AC Milan pushed Juventusout of the Serie A top four

with a 3-0 win at AllianzStadium on Sunday whichincreases their hopes ofChampions League footballfor the first time since 2014.

Brahim Diaz put Milanahead just before the breakwith Ante Rebic and FikayoTomori adding two more inthe second half after FranckKessie had missed a penalty.

Milan move up to third,equal on 72 points with sec-ond-placed Atalanta, withNapoli a further two pointsbehind in fourth and the finalChampions League berth.

Juventus are now fifth,one point behind the top fourwith three games left to play,including next weekend’s clashwith newly-crowned champi-ons Inter Milan.

“We had a great game, avictory over a direct rival atthis moment in the champi-

onship is very important,”said Milan coach Stefano Pioliwhose side lost 3-1 to Juve inthe San Siro in January.

“We still have to fight. ButI have a very young team, thatis maturing as this eveningproved.”

PSG HOPES DENTEDNeymar was on target the

day after signing his contractextension but Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1draw at Rennes on Sunday thatleaves Lille a step closer to aremarkable Ligue 1 title tri-umph.

PSG led at half-time afterNeymar converted a contro-versial penalty award, but theywere pegged back in the sec-ond half as Serhou Guirassyheaded in the equaliser.

Presnel Kimpembe waslater sent off for MauricioPochettino’s side, who couldnot get back to winning wayson their return to domesticaction following theirChampions League semi-finalexit against Manchester City.

PSG are now three pointsadrift of Ligue 1 leaders Lille,who know they will be cham-pions for the first time since2011 by taking four pointsfrom their remaining twomatches of the season.

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���������� �����������������>Madrid: Eden Hazard’s 94th-minute equaliser salvaged RealMadrid a dramatic 2-2 drawagainst Sevilla on Sunday as anextraordinary penalty decisionswung La Liga’s title race back inAtletico Madrid’s favour.

Zidane’s side had levelledthrough Marco Asensio midwaythrough the second half andthought they had a penaltywhen Karim Benzema wasbrought down after roundingSevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bono.

But VAR prompted refereeto check an Eder Militao hand-ball a few seconds before, witha huge decision seeing Madrid’spenalty cancelled and a spot-kick awarded to Sevilla instead.

Ivan Rakitic converted andwhile Madrid still managed tohit back in injury time, ToniKroos’ shot deflecting in offEden Hazard’s foot, the drawhands the advantage back toAtletico at the end of anotherdramatic weekend in theSpanish title race. AFP

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=������ ����������������&����E2(Kandy: Sri Lanka fast bowlerLasith Malinga could return tothe national team for the T20World Cup, said the nationalselection committee chair-man PramodyaWickramasinghe.

“We will talk to Lasithsoon. He is in our plans for theforthcoming T20 tours,including the T20 World Cupcoming up in October,” saidWickramasinghe.

With back-to-back T20World Cups scheduled in 2021and 2022, Sri Lanka wouldneed an experienced bowlerlike Malinga to marshal theattack.

“Lasith is in our plans. Wealways should not forget thathe is one of the greatestbowlers in our country even in

his present form. His recordsspeak for that. There are twoback-to-back T20 World Cupsthat are coming up, this yearand next year. We are going todiscuss our plans with himwhen we meet him in the nextcouple of days,”Wickramasinghe added.

Malinga said he is “look-ing forward” to meeting theselectors.

“I have retired from bothTest and ODI cricket but notfrom T20s. I am keen to knowhow the selection committeeis going to get the services ofa senior player like me for thenational side. In my career, Ihave proved on many occa-sions that I can come backafter a long break and performwell for my country,” he said.


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