www.theindianpanorama.news VOL 14 ISSUE 20 ● NEW YORK / DALLAS ● MAY 15 - 21, 2020 ● ENQUIRIES: 646-247-9458

# 1 Indian American Weekly: Since 2006

KEEP SAFE ● Follow President Trump's

Guidelines on Coronavirus● Observe Social Distancing ● Wash Hands Frequently ● No Panic Buying● No Price Gouging

KEEP AMERICA SAFE

AMERICA UNITED

AGAINSTCOVID-19

Narendra Modi announces 20 lakhcrore economic stimulus packageGives a call for being 'vocal for local' and for self-reliance

NEW DELHI (TIP) : Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday, May 12, saida new-look Lockdown 4.0 beyond May 17was in the offing, while announcing aneconomic stimulus package for ?20-lakh-crore (estimated at 10% of the GDP),with a clearly defined leap towardseconomic reforms that will, in his words,lead to Atmanirbhar Bharat, or a self-reliant, resilient India.

This amount includes packagesalready announced at the beginning ofthe lockdown incorporating a slew ofmeasures from the RBI and the payoutsunder the Pradhan Mantri Garib KalyanYojana. contd on page 32

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses thenation, May 12 Photo / Courtesy DD-PTI

China stealing US research on COVID-19: PompeoWASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. Secretary of

State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accusedChina of "stealing" U.S. intellectualproperty and data related to COVID-19research.

Mr. Pompeo's allegations came a day afterthe FBI and the Department of HomelandSecurity claimed that organizationsconducting research into COVID-19 may betargeted by computer hackers linked to theChinese government. The U.S. condemnsattempts by cyber actors and

contd on page 12U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

File picture

U.S. Senator Richard Burrsteps aside as committeechair in view of FBI stock

trades probe WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. Senator

Richard Burr will step aside as chairman ofthe powerful Senate Intelligence Committee,after the FBI seized his mobile telephone in amajor escalation of a probe of his stocktrades before the downturn caused by thecoronavirus pandemic.

contd on Page 12

Senator Burr has denied wrongdoing andsaid he relied solely on news reports to

guide decisions on stock sales, amidreports he and other senators sold sharesafter private briefings from intelligence on

the risks of the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of Indian NationalsReturn Home from USA in FirstPhase of Vande Bharat Mission

NEW YORK (TIP): The first Air Indiaspecial flight, which took off from SanFrancisco May 9 with 225 Indians onboard, landed in Mumbai on Monday,May 11th, under the Government ofIndia's Vande Bharat mission. Thepassengers departed from San FranciscoInternational Airport on Saturday underSupervision of India's Consul General inSan Francisco Sanjay Panda. "First AIspl flight from the US brings in 225

Indians from San Francisco to Mumbai.Thank @airindiain @MoCA_GoI andMaharashtra Govt for support andcoordination. Great work by CG SanjayPanda and Team @CGISFO," ExternalAffair Minister S Jaishankar tweeted.

The second evacuation flight forMumbai and Ahmedabad left on May10th, 2020 from EWR Airport, Newark,NJ.India's Consul General in New York

contd on Page 3

India's Consul Generalin New York SandeepChakravorty, Deputy

Consul GeneralShatrughna Sinha

supervising theboarding of

passengersat EWRAirport, Newark when

second evacuationflight for Mumbai and

Ahmedabad left onMay 10th

Visa, OCI cardsuspension prevents

several Indians in US from flying

back homeStory on Page 13

Global deaths linkedto the novelcoronavirus passed

300,000 on Thursday, whilereported cases of the virusare approaching 4.5million.

About half of thefatalities have beenreported by the UnitedStates, the United Kingdomand Italy.

The first death linked tothe disease was reported onJanuary 10 in Wuhan,China. It took 91 days forthe death toll to pass1,00,000 and a further 16days to reach 2,00,000,according to the Reuterstally of official reportsfrom governments. It took19 days to go from 200,000 to300,000 deaths.

Here’s a look at thecountries with highincidence of Covid-19deaths in the world:

United StatesWith over 1.3 million

total coronavirus cases, theUS leads the global Covid-19tally. According to theWorld Health organisation,the country has reported80,695 Covid-19 fatalitieswhich is the highest in theworld.

United KingdomMore than 33,000 people

(33,186 to be exact) havesuccumbed to death in theUnited Kingdom so far, theWorld Health organisationdata showed. Over 2.29 lakhcases of coronavirus havebeen reported in the UK tilldate.

ItalyThe country has the

third-highest number ofCovid-19 fatalities in theworld, and is just behindthe UK. Italy has recorded33,106 deaths due to Covid-19. Italy has more than 2.22lakh coronavirus cases.

SpainThe country has over 2.28

lakh Covid-19 infections.The country has seen 27,104deaths due to the deadlydisease.

FranceThe country has

witnessed over 27,029Covid-19 fatalities till date.With nearly 1.4 lakh totalcoronavirus cases, it isamong the top 10 worst hitnations in the world.

BrazilThe Latin American

country has emerged as thenew global hotspot of the

Covid-19 disease. It has seen1,77,589 cases and 12,400deaths due to coronavirusdisease.

BelgiumThe country has 53,981

Covid-19 cases and hasrecorded 8,843 deaths todate.

Germany

Germany has 1,72,239coronavirus cases andrecorded 7,723 deaths due tothe coronavirus disease.

IranIran is where one of the

early outbreaks of Covid-19

was reported. It has nowrecorded 1,12,725 cases ofcoronavirus disease and6,783 deaths.

CanadaCanada has recorded

71,486 cases of Covid-19 and5,209 deaths, according toWHO.

2 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

COVID-19 PANDEMICBECOMING CHILD RIGHTSCRISIS AS 6,000 CHILDRENCOULD DIE DAILY: UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS (TIP): The UN’s childrenagency has warned that an additional 6,000 childrencould die daily from preventable causes over the nextsix months as the COVID-19 pandemic weakens thehealth systems and disrupts routine services.

As the coronavirus outbreak enters its fifth month,the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) requested USD 1.6billion to support its humanitarian response forchildren impacted by the pandemic.

The health crisis is “quickly becoming a childrights crisis. And without urgent action, a further6,000 under-fives could die each day,” it said.

With a dramatic increase in the costs of supplies,shipment and care, the agency appeal is up from aUSD 651.6 million request made in late March –reflecting the devastating socioeconomicconsequences of the disease and families’ risingneeds.

“Schools are closed, parents are out of work andfamilies are under strain,” UNICEF ExecutiveDirector Henrietta Fore said on Tuesday.

“As we reimagine what a post-COVID world wouldlook like, these funds will help us respond to thecrisis, recover from its aftermath, and protectchildren from its knock-on effects.” The estimate ofthe 6,000 additional deaths from preventable causesover the next six months is based on an analysis byresearchers from the Johns Hopkins BloombergSchool of Public Health, published on Wednesday inthe Lancet Global Health Journal.

UNICEF said it was based on the worst of threescenarios analysing 118 low and middle-incomecountries, estimating that an additional 1.2 milliondeaths could occur in just the next six months, due toreductions in routine health coverage, and anincrease in so-called child wasting.

Around 56,700 more maternal deaths could alsooccur in just six months, in addition to the 144,000likely deaths across the same group of countries. Theworst case scenario, of children dying before theirfifth birthdays, would represent an increase “for thefirst time in decades,” Fore said.

“We must not let mothers and children becomecollateral damage in the fight against the virus. Andwe must not let decades of progress on reducingpreventable child and maternal deaths, be lost,” shesaid.

Access to essential services, like routineimmunisation, has already been compromised forhundreds of millions of children and threatens asignificant increase in child mortality.

According to a UNICEF analysis, some 77 per cent ofchildren under the age of 18 worldwide are living inone of 132 countries with COVID-19 movementrestrictions.

The UN agency also spotlighted that the mentalhealth and psychosocial impact of restrictedmovement, school closures and subsequent isolationare likely to intensify already high levels of stress,especially for vulnerable youth.

At the same time, they maintained that childrenliving under restricted movement and socio-economicdecline are in greater jeopardy of violence andneglect. Girls and women are at increased risk ofsexual and gender-based violence.

Countries with highestnumber of cases and fatalities

TRACKING THE VIRUSGLOBAL INDIA

Cases4,526,850

Cases81,970

Deaths3,03,405

Deaths2,649

LONDON (TIP): British researcherswill study the genes of thousands of illCOVID-19 patients to try to crack one ofthe most puzzling riddles of the novelcoronavirus: why does it kill somepeople but give others not even a mildheadache?

Researchers from across the UnitedKingdom will sequence the genetic codeof people who fell critically ill withCOVID-19 and compare their genomeswith those who were mildly ill or not illat all.

The hunt for the specific genes thatcould cause a predisposition to gettingill with COVID-19 will involve up to20,000 people currently or previously inhospital intensive care with COVID-19and about 15,000 people with mildsymptoms.

Scientists caution that theirknowledge of the novel coronavirus,which emerged in China last year, isstill modest though they say it isstriking how it can be so deadly forsome but so mild for others.

It is, as yet, unclear why.“We think that there will be clues in

the genome that will help us understandhow the disease is killing people,”

Kenneth Baillie, an intensive caredoctor who is leading the study at theUniversity of Edinburgh, told Reuters.

“I would bet my house on there beinga very strong genetic component toindividual risk,” Baillie said.

Health minister Matt Hancock calledon people to sign up to the programme.“If you’re asked to sign up to thegenomics trial which is being run byGenomics England, then please do,because then we can understand thegenetic links. It’s all part of building ascientific picture of this virus.”

The genome is an organism’scomplete set of deoxyribonucleic acid,or DNA, and in humans it containsabout 3 billion DNA base pairs.

UK RESEARCHERS TRY TO CRACK GENETICRIDDLE OF COVID-19

3THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 NY/NJ/CT

Thousands of Indian Nationals Return Homefrom USA in First Phase of Vande Bharat Mission

CONTD FROM PAGE 1

Sandeep Chakravorty, Deputy Consul GeneralShatrughna Sinha and other consular staff saw off thepassengers.Medical screening of passengers was donebefore boarding the flight and only asymptomatic

passengers were allowed to travel.The 3rd Special Flight from USA under

#MissionVandeBharat took off with 334 passengers onboard from Chicago to Mumbai and Chennai on 11 Mayaround mid-night. Consul General Amit Kumar saw offthe passengers, drawn mostly from jurisdictions ofIndian Consulates in Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.

On May 12 Vande Bharat Mission in the US moved toDay 4 with Indian citizens boarded Air India flightbound for Delhi-Hyderabad from Washington DullesInternational Airport.India's Ambassador to the USTaranjit Singh Sandhu took special initiative tofacilitate smooth return of the passengers."Wheels up On Day 4 of #VandeBharatMission in US.Relieved passengers depart for home to Delhi andHyderabad from DC. Thank you

@airindiain

. Team India

@IndianEmbassyUS

is proud to be part of this Mission.," AmbassadorTaranjit Singh Sandhu said in a tweet.

Government of India had announced on 4 May itsdecision to facilitate the return of stranded Indiannationals from different countries, who could not traveldue to COVID-19 related international travelrestrictions, in a phased manner. Under Mission VandeBharat, around 15,000 Indians are being repatriatedthrough 64 Special Flights from 12 countries in Europe,the North Americas, Gulf and South Asia.

In the first phase of Vande Bharat Mission, therewere 7 Air India flights to India with two flights eachfrom San Francisco, New York and Chicago, and oneflight from Washington DC. Priority was accorded tothose in distress/emergency cases, including workerswho have been laid off, short term visa holders facedwith expiry of visas, persons with medicalemergency/pregnant women/elderly, those required toreturn to India due to bereavement of a family member,and students.

'Vande Bharat Mission' is a unique and logisticallychallenging operation coordinated by Ministry ofExternal Affairs. Its implementation requiresflexibility and continuous adjustments to respond toevolving situation. In this endeavor, there is deepcooperation among the U.S. authorities, Air India, anumber of Ministries/Departments, StateGovernments and organizations in India.

India's Consul General in Chicago Amit Kumar saw off thepassengers, drawn mostly from jurisdictions of Indian

Consulates in Chicago, Atlanta and Houston

First Air India special flight took off from San Francisco May 9with 225 Indians on board

Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu interacting withpassengers bound for Delhi-Hyderabad flight at Washington

Dulles International Airport

India Center Foundation Launches 2nd Phase of South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund

NEW YORK (TIP): Twelve artists frommultiple disciplines, ethnic backgrounds andgeographic diversity will receive the first roundof The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund(SAARF), a grant program created by the IndiaCenter Foundation (ICF) for South Asian-American artists and arts workers who have beenimpacted by the economic fallout of COVID-19.From filmmakers to performance and visualartists to writers and musicians, the granteestrace their roots to South Asia (Pakistan,Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and India) andrepresent its culture through their art in the U.S.

Grantees are as diverse as the applicants andare chosen on the strengths of theircontributions. One such grantee is LA-based MCSeti X (aka Mandeep Sethi), whose politicallycharged verses have had GQ Magazine call him"India's booming hip hop scene's new voice."Other grantees include curator, painter, educatorand advocate Sadaf Padder, who is serving hercommunity of Brooklyn as an Artists-in-MasksResident with COPE NYC by designing PPE foressential workers along with NYC youth.Included also are tabla player Rajesh Bhanderi,whose 20-year career has seen him perform withthe likes of Ustad Zakir Hussain, Falu Shah and

Shakira and, finally, cartoonist SoumyaDhulekar, whose cartoons with themes of grief,memory and coming-of-age have been printed invarious anthologies and included in nationalexhibitions. More information can be found onthe ICF website, TheIndiaCenter.us.

"We've had 120 applicants from 19 states so farfor round one, and though their contributions toculture and society are invaluable, their reportedincome loss from this pandemic, collectively,hovers around $1.5 million," says RaoulBhavnani, one of ICF's Co-Founders. "Our goal isto provide $500,000 in grants to South Asian-American artists and arts workers of alldisciplines, in order to help them continuecreating work that embodies South Asianculture, while also supporting their livelihoods."

The deadline for Round Two of the grant isMay 15, with winners being announced May 25th.Although the Fund has reached $30,000 towardsits $500,000 goal, with ICF providing the initialseed money, "We have a long way to go," addsBhavnani. "This is very much a grassrootscampaign, and although we are gainingmomentum, we appreciate all donations nomatter how big or small they are."Twelve artists from multiple disciplines, ethnic backgrounds

and geographic diversity will receive the first round of TheSouth Asian Arts Resiliency Fund

4 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020INDIANS ABROAD

Indian Origin Chintan Mehta and Munish Kumar onWells Fargo Expanded Technology Leadership Team

CIOs named to support Corporate Strategy, Digital Platform & Innovation, and Wealth & InvestmentManagement businesses

SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Wells Fargo& Company (NYSE: WFC) announced,May 8, two new leaders joining theTechnology organization. ChintanMehta was named chief informationofficer (CIO) and head of DigitalTechnology & Innovation, and MunishKumar was named CIO and head ofWealth & Investment ManagementTechnology. Both will have a jointreporting relationship to Saul VanBeurden, head of Technology, and therelevant line of business leaders.Mehta's appointment is effectiveimmediately, and Kumar will join thecompany in August.

As CIOs, Mehta and Kumar will haveresponsibility for all technologyunderlying the company's CorporateStrategy, Digital Platform & Innovation,and Wealth & Investment Managementbusinesses. They will work withbusiness leaders to deliver the tools andmaintain the platforms needed to serveWells Fargo customers, whilecontributing to the company'stechnology transformation.

"Chintan and Munish bring extensivetechnology and business knowledge,making them both uniquely positionedfor these roles," said Van Beurden. "Inaddition, their demonstrated leadershipwill be an important addition to theorganization's ongoing technologytransformation. I am pleased to welcomeChintan and Munish to the Technologyleadership team."

Most recently, Mehta was CIO of Wells

Fargo's digital ecosystem, a position heheld since 2017. In this role, he wasresponsible for leading the delivery of alldigital experiences and capabilities forWells Fargo businesses and its 70 millioncustomers. Previously, he was globalchief technology officer at Walgreensfrom 2015 to 2017, where he wasresponsible for product management,design, engineering, and operationsacross retail, pharmacy, and health carebusinesses. He also held technologyleadership positions with increasinglevels of responsibility at AmericanExpress and Barclays Bank PLC inLondon. Mehta has an M.S. in Computer

Science from the University ofHertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

Kumar brings more than 20 years ofexperience and joins Wells Fargo fromJPMorgan Chase, where he wasmanaging director of digital sales,marketing and personalization, andanalytics technology, a position he heldsince 2015. In this role, he oversaw a teamof 400 technologists responsible forcreating personalized experiences forcustomers through technology. From2008 to 2014, Kumar held a technologyleadership role in the company's assetand wealth management business wherehe developed and managed the retail and

institutional trading platforms,including Institutional AllocationPlatform and Chase Online Trading.Previously, he held technologyleadership roles at Bear Stearns andCitigroup. Kumar has a Bachelor ofTechnology and Computer Science fromPunjabi University in India.

About Wells FargoWells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC)

is a diversified, community-basedfinancial services company with $1.98trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision isto satisfy our customers' financial needsand help them succeed financially.Founded in 1852 and headquartered inSan Francisco, Wells Fargo providesbanking, investment, and mortgageproducts and services, as well asconsumer and commercial finance,through 7,400 locations, more than 13,000ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com), andmobile banking, and has offices in 31countries and territories to supportcustomers who conduct business in theglobal economy. With approximately263,000 team members, Wells Fargoserves one in three households in theUnited States. Wells Fargo & Companywas ranked No. 29 on Fortune's 2019rankings of America's largestcorporations. News, insights andperspectives from Wells Fargo are alsoavailable at Wells Fargo Stories.Additional information may be found at

www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo.

Wells Fargo, on May 8, named Chintan Mehta as chief information officer (CIO) and head ofDigital Technology & Innovation, and Munish Kumar as CIO and head of Wealth & Investment

Management Technology

Indian American Yale Student BuildsTextbook Library for Needy Students

NEW YORK

(TIP): KushalDev, a second-year student atYale's SillimanCollege hasfounded theS i l l i m a nT e x t b o o kLibrary - acommunal spacehousing over1,000 textbooksthat can be used

by Yale students who can't afford them. Students can use themat any time for free.

After struggling to access an especially expensive economicstextbook himself, Dev decided to do something to help fellowstudents who found their textbooks financially prohibitive. Afriend, former Yale College Council president Peter Huang '18,had once touted the idea of a textbook library. Dev brought theidea to fruition by soliciting donations from fellow students,alumni, and others at Yale, receiving an initial donation ofsome 600 books. The books, initially kept in the Acorn -Silliman College's coffee shop - were moved this year to adedicated space in the residential college's library.

A political science major, Dev is interested in theintersection of technology, pop culture, and politics, as well asin racial and queer politics. (Courtesy: Yale)

A political science major, Kushal Dev has foundedthe Silliman Textbook Library - a communal

space housing over 1,000 textbooks

NEW YORK (TIP): Ruchi Shah was 15 years oldwhen she noticed a long line of people outside of atiny clinic waiting to get treatment for mosquito-transmitted diseases during a family trip to India.After returning to her Ronkonkoma, Long Islandhome, the driven teenager began working in herfamily's garage and a high school classroom todevelop an all-natural mosquito repellent.

In March, almost a decade after her dream began,she was named one of 10 winners of Victoria'sSecret PINK's second annual GRL PWR Project, aninitiative that provides funding for young female"leaders, trendsetters and go-getters." Ruchi's entrywas among those selected from nearly 4,000 videosubmissions from women across the country ages18 to 25, winning $25,000 to put toward her business.

Shah's company, Mosquitoes Be Gone LLC, is adirect descendent of her high school scienceproject, which followed her to Stony Brook, whereshe majored in biology. In 2015, her junior year asan undergrad, she entered a business plancompetition. To her surprise, she won, and acompany was born. Her younger sister Nidhi, thena high school senior, became the company's chiefoperating officer. Nidhi Shah would herself cometo Stony Brook the following year as a psychologymajor. Ruchi, after earning her BS in Biology,

continued her studies at the Renaissance School ofMedicine at Stony Brook.

A champion of helping empower others, Ruchialso created an internship program shortly afterfounding her company that is a collaborationbetween Stony Brook's Department of Biology, theCollege of Business and the WISE Honorsprogram, which offers educational andprofessional science, technology, engineering andmathematics (STEM) opportunities forundergraduate students.

(Courtesy:Stony Brook University)

Indian American Stony Brook Sisters use GRL PWR to fight disease

The Shah sisters present their mosquito repellent

5THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 INDIANS ABROAD

Indian AmericanHistorian Rohit DeNamed One of 27Carnegie Fellows

NEW YORK

(TIP): Rohit De,an associateprofessor ofhistory at YaleUniversity, hasbeen named a2020 AndrewCarnegie Fellow.He joins a classof 27 fellows,each of whomreceives up to$200,000 topursue a writing

and research project.De is a legal historian who studies

South Asia, postcolonialism, and therole of lawyers in politics. Amongother topics, his research has exploredthe significance of political trials inAsia and Africa in the 1950s, andconstitutions in South Asia.

Professor De's book A People'sConstitution: Law and Everyday Lifein the Indian Republic(PrincetonUniversity Press) explores how theIndian constitution, despite its eliteauthorship and alien antecedents,came to permeate everyday life andimagination in India during itstransition from a colonial state to ademocratic republic. Mapping the useand appropriation of constitutionallanguage and procedure by diversegroups such as butchers and sexworkers, street vendors and pettybusinessmen, journalists and womensocial workers, it offers aconstitutional history from below. Hecontinues to write on the social andintellectual foundations ofconstitutionalism in South Asia.

He is current research focusesaround two major strands: thehistories of political lawyering and thenature of the postcolonial state inSouth Asia.

Indian AmericanAttorney Shot Dead in

GeorgiaA T L A N T A

(TIP): An Indianorigin seniorstaff attorney atCobb CountyMagistrate wasshot and killedMay 9 morningw h i l econfronting agunman outsidea home in LocustGrove, a report inAtlanta JournalC o n s t i t u t i o n

reported.Rajesh Mehta, 45, was shot multiple

times by 29-year-old Terrance Scottoutside the home on Hansen Drive,said police.

(Read full story atwww.theindianpanorama.news)

Three Indian American StudentsWin Prestigious DOE Fellowship

NEW YORK (TIP): Three Indian American Students areamong 26 recipients nationwide of a Department of EnergyComputation Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF).They are Priya Donti from Carnegie Mellon University, andDipti Jasrasaria and Amaresh Sahu, both from Universityof California, Berkeley.

The program, established in 1991, trains top leaders incomputational science. As part of the program, fellowsreceive exceptional benefits including a yearly stipend; fullpayment of university tuition and required fees (during theappointment period); and an annual academic allowance.

Donti earned her B.S. degree in Computer Science andMathematics from Harvey Mudd College in 2015. Her workseeks to develop machine learning, optimization, andcontrol methods for robust, emissions-minimal energysystem management that are powerful enough to cope withthe system's large-scale nature.

Jasrasaria did M.Phil. Scientific Computing fromUniversity of Cambridge in 2017and B.A. Chemistry fromHarvard University in 2016.

Sahu did his B.S. Chemical and Biological Engineering,from Princeton University in 2013. His research focuses onusing a variety of techniques from statistical mechanics,continuum mechanics, and finite element methods todevelop models that better explains cell membranebehavior.

Priya Donti from Carnegie Mellon University, and Dipti Jasrasaria andAmaresh Sahu, both from University of California, Berkeleyare among

26 recipients nationwide of a Department of Energy ComputationScience Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF)

Rohit De is a legalhistorian who studies

South Asia,postcolonialism, andthe role of lawyers in

politics

Indian Origin TexasMan Admits Role in

Nearly $5 MillionHealth Care Fraud

SchemeHOUSTON (TIP): A 57-year-old

Houston man has entered a guilty pleain Corpus Christi federal court forconspiring to commit health carefraud, announced U.S. Attorney RyanPatrick.

Ravinder Syal admitted he engagedin a scheme that resulted in the falsebilling of $4,878,530.92 for servicesnever provided to patients. From Feb.1, 2018, until March 1, 2020, heacquired physicians' practicesthroughout Texas and assumedcontrol of their billing department.He then brought in a company locatedin India to bill false claims toMedicare, Medicaid and variousinsurance providers.

Syal would submit false claims forservices that were never performed,for nutritional servicers that werenever provided and even for officevisits that occurred over holidayswhen the clinics were actually closed.He would also bill for services thatcould not even be performed at theclinics he acquired due to lack ofequipment.

Syal altered the billing informationand added these fraudulent serviceswithout the knowledge of thephysicians at the respective practices.

As a result of his scheme, Medicare,Medicaid and various insuranceproviders were billed $4,878,530.92 forservices never performed. Syal wasoverpaid $553,068.65 on the fraudulentclaims.

Sentencing has been set for Aug. 10before U.S. District Judge David S.Morales. At that time, Syal faces up to10 years in federal prison and apossible $250,000 maximum fine.

Syal was permitted to remain onbond pending that hearing.

Indian American Engineer Chargedin Texas with COVID-Relief Fraud

HOUSTON (TIP): An Indian origin engineer has been charged in the EasternDistrict of Texas with allegedly filing bank loan applications fraudulently seekingmore than $10 million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security(CARES) Act. Shashank Rai, 30, of Beaumont, Texas, allegedly sought millions ofdollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the SBA from two different banks byclaiming to have 250 employees earning wages when, in fact, no employees workedfor his purported business. Rai is charged by way of a federal criminal complaintwith violations of wire fraud, bank fraud, false statements to a financial institution,and false statements to the SBA.

"As alleged, Rai fraudulently pursued millions of dollars in loans intended forlegitimate small businesses suffering the economic hardships of the COVID-19pandemic," said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the JusticeDepartment's Criminal Division. "The department and our law enforcement partnerswill remain vigilant in our efforts to protect critical CARES Act relief programs fromfraud and abuse." (Read full story at www.theindianpanorama.news)

Rajesh Mehta, 45,was shot multiple

times by 29-year-oldTerrance Scott

outside the home onHansen Drive

Indian Grocery Store Owner inCalifornia Faces Price Gouging Charges

NEW YORK (TIP): On May 7, Alameda County DA O'Malley and CaliforniaAttorney General Xavier Becerra announced that their offices have jointly filed anine-count misdemeanor complaint charging Apna Bazar, a large grocery store inPleasanton, and Rajvinder Singh, the store's owner, with price gouging.

This prosecution marks the first ever price gouging action in Alameda County.Customers began voicing complaints about the increase in prices of food items at

the Pleasanton store shortly after the state of emergency was declared in California.A chorus of complaints from shoppers reached the DA's Office through phone calls,e-mails and postings on social media platforms. "The law prevents businesses fromprofiteering when we are in a state of emergency. All businesses throughoutAlameda County must be on notice that we will not sit idly by and allow consumersto fall prey to price gouging. My office will ensure that businesses adhere to the lawand do not exploit consumers," says District Attorney O'Malley.

(Read full story at www.theindianpanorama.news)

A nine-count misdemeanor complaint has been filed against Apna Bazar, a large grocery storein Pleasanton, and Rajvinder Singh, the store's owner, with price gouging

6 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020NY/NJ/CT

Immigrants Donate Hand-Sewn Masks To Naacp & Nycha ResidentsSTATEN ISLAND, NY (TIP): As the coronavirus

spread throughout New York City, bringing with it strictrestrictions on local businesses, many Staten Islanderslost their jobs. Undocumented workers have been thehardest hit by the economic crisis that the COVID-19created. To compound the financial struggle,undocumented workers are ineligible for unemploymentbenefits or federal emergency relief because of their lackof citizenship status.

Nevertheless, undocumented immigrants have found away to keep a stable income for their families, while alsohelping others -- by sewing masks to sell and to donate tofirst responders. A few weeks ago, undocumented womenwho are making the masks donated to the New York CityPolice Department, nurses, and MTA bus drivers.

La Colmena and the immigrant women who aremaking the masks donated to the NAACP and publichousing residents at the Richmond Terraces Houses.Black and Latino city residents have died fromcoronavirus at twice the rate of white or Asian NewYorkers, data released by the New York City Departmentof health shows.

"We share a struggle for the right for dignity andrespect. If we can't rely on the government to watch outfor us, then we will support each other as neighbors andcommunities," said Yesenia Mata, executive director ofLa Colmena.

Cesar Vargas, immigration attorney, who was honoredby the NAACP for his work in the building bridges withcommunities assured that "our ongoing efforts to donatemasks, meals, and other essential is not just aboutproviding PPE but about showing solidarity with othercommunities who have been forgotten. We are here tosupport each other now and beyond."

"It doesn't matter whether you were born here or not.COVID-19 doesn't care. We are seeing thedisproportionate impact that this virus is having on blackand brown communities, exacerbated by the healthdisparities already present. That is why we are workingtogether to support each other during this crisis, as wesee that we are often forgotten and misunderstood. Theonly way for all of us is to move forward together", saidSarah Blas - NYCHA resident and Founder of StatenIsland Therapeutic Gardens.

All Nassau Essential Workers Can Get Rapid Coronavirus Tests NowMINEOLA, NY (TIP): Nassau County is

expanding testing for the new coronavirusand all essential workers can now get tested,officials announced Thursday.

At a news briefing outside a communityclinic in Westbury, Laura Curran, thecounty executive, encouraged anyone withsymptoms to get a diagnostic test at one ofthe clinics. Essential workers who are notsymptomatic can also get tested, she said.This includes first responders, health careworkers law enforcement personnel andgrocery store workers. "Anyone whointeracts with the public, who is out thereworking, can get a test," she said. "You don'thave to be symptomatic to have it done." Thetests can deliver results in five to 15minutes, she said.

The clinics will soon offer antibodytesting as well, Curran added. She warnedthat a lot remains unknown about those

who have the antibodies, but stressed eventhose who do have them can still spread thevirus, even if it gives them temporaryimmunity. The antibody tests will also giveofficials a better idea of how many peoplehave been infected.

"That will help us also in containment,"she said. To make an appointment at aclinicwhich are located in Hempstead,Elmont and Freeport - people should call516-396-7500. Same-day appointments areavailable, and tests are performed outside.The clinics are open Monday throughFriday.

Those who do not have insurance will notbe charged and workers will not ask aboutimmigration status, Curran said. "So pleasedon't let that stop or prevent you fromgetting a test," she said. Wednesday's datashowed a slight uptick in the number ofCOVID-19-related hospitalizations and

patients. An additional 15 patients testedpositive, bringing the total to 712. Threemore patients were placed on ventilators,bringing the total in the county to 193. Evenwith the slight uptick, Curran stressed thecounty has seen a downward trend. "Thechange, while it may seem dramatic, maynot be as dramatic as when you're talkingabout larger numbers," she said.The rate ofinfection continued to show signs ofslowing. While the percent of patientstesting positive had been at 50 percentduring the peak, that number has fallen toabout 6 percent. "That's the lowest we'veseen so far," Curran said.

The rate of infection continued to showsigns of slowing. While the percent ofpatients testing positive had been at 50percent during the peak, that number hasfallen to about 6 percent. (Read full story

at www.theindianpanorama.news)

Nassau County Executive LauraCurran said all essential workers -

symptomatic or not - areencouraged to get tested

New York Gov. Cuomo extends the state’s stay-at-home order until June 13

NEW YORK (TIP): In an executive order onThursday, May 14, Cuomo said the state would continuethe "New York State on PAUSE" policy put in place inMarch in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Thestatewide shutdown was set to expire on May 15.

Cuomo said in a tweet that some regions have met hiscriteria and can begin to reopen on Friday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced onThursday that the state's stay-at-home order would beextended until June 13.

In an executive order on Thursday, Cuomo said thestate would continue the "New York State on PAUSE"policy put in place in March in response to thecoronavirus outbreak. The statewide shutdown was setto expire on May 15.

"Both travel-related cases and community contacttransmission of COVID-19 have been documented inNew York State and are expected to continue," the orderstates.

"All enforcement mechanisms by state or local

governments shall continue to be in full force and effectuntil June 13, 2020, unless later extended or amended bya future Executive Order," he added.

On Wednesday, Cuomo said four New York regionsmeet his criteria to begin lifting lockdown. In his orderon Thursday, he said certain regions that meet publichealth and safety metrics will be eligible for reopening.

"The Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley,the North Country, and Central NY are ready to beginPhase 1 of reopening tomorrow," Cuomo said in a tweeton Thursday. "The others can be UN-PAUSED themoment they hit their benchmarks."

New York has been the state hit hardest by thecoronavirus pandemic. As of Thursday evening, thestate had confirmed more than 343,000 cases and morethan 27,000 deaths.

As part of the "New York State on PAUSE" policy, allnon-essential businesses statewide have been closed,and non-essential gatherings have been canceled. Thepolicy also states that individuals must maintain asocial distance of at least six feet apart and should limitoutdoor activity.

(Source: Business Standard)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday, May 14that the state's stay-at-home order would be extended until

June 13.

7THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 NY/NJ/CT

Rabindranath Tagore, BengaliRabindranath Thakur, (born May 7,1861, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India-died August 7, 1941, Calcutta),Bengali poet, short-story writer,song composer, playwright, essayist,and painter who introduced new

prose and verse forms and the useof colloquial language into Bengaliliterature, thereby freeing it fromtraditional models based onclassical Sanskrit. He was highlyinfluential in introducing Indianculture to the West and vice versa,

and he is generally regarded as theoutstanding creative artist of early20th-century India. In 1913 hebecame the first non-European toreceive the Nobel Prize forLiterature.(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Remembering Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on his 159th birth anniversary

A Poet’s Fight against EpidemicBetween 1897 and 1906, the plague in

India became huge. Its influencein Calcutta in particular became

severe. People started leaving theirhouse in groups. There was more fearthan infection. And at that crucial time, apoet came down on the streets of the cityto fight the disease - none other thanGurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore was keenly aware of deathfrom an early age, having lost his motherwhen he was young and, shortly after, hisbeloved sister-in-law Kadambari Devi.Moreover, epidemics like cholera andsmallpox recurred in his time.

In the 1860s and 70s, when the poet wasan adolescent, cholera and the plague,along with smallpox, were the mostaggressive killers. In undivided India,ruled by the colonial government, thehealthcare system was skewed in favor ofthe rich, like the Tagore family, theupper-castes, and the British. The poor,both in urban and rural areas, faced theire of epidemics like the bubonic plagueof 1896-98.

Tagore was acutely aware of thisinjustice. In his 1916 novel Chaturanga,an affluent man turns his home into aninfirmary for the destitute as the plaguebreaks out, and eventually succumbs tothe disease that he contracts whilenursing the sick.

'In the year when the first plagueappeared in the city of Calcutta, thepeople were busier than the plague forfear of the king-wearing chaprasi .... Theplague appeared in the neighborhood.People did not want to call a doctor lesthe be taken to the hospital. Jagmohan

himself came to see the plague-hospitaland said, "People have not committed acrime just because they have becomeparalyzed."

- In describing the death of Jagmohanin 'Chaturanga', Rabindranath hasnarrated about the horrors of theepidemic.

In this horror of the plague,Rabindranath did not stop at writingliterature, he came down to the streets.That time Sister Nivedita had justarrived in Calcutta and two had becomefriends. The two philanthropists set outtogether that day to deal with theepidemic.

Rabindranath's nephewAbanindranath Tagore wrote in his book'Jorasanko Dhare', "At that time therewas a plague in Calcutta. Epidemics aregoing on all around, people are dying in

every house. Rabikaka and I have allraised money and opened the PlagueHospital, distributing lime. Rabikakaand Sister Nivedita used to go todifferent neighborhoods for inspection.The nurse doctor were all kept."

Rabindranath also took initiative tomake the citizens of Calcutta aware.Almost all the members of Thakurbarijoined it. Nivedita writes in 'CalcuttaNotes', "A few great Hindu families,notably the Tagores, stood firm, in thehope of allaying the agitation." WhenThakurbari played an important role incuring the plague, AbanindranathTagore's nine- to ten-year-old daughterdied of the plague.

Not only plague but Rabindranath alsotook an active role to fight againstepidemics like cholera and influenza. In1915, cholera took a serious turn in

Bengal. Death attack also took place inThakurbari. Rabindranath's sonShamindranath died of cholera. Thepoet's writing became stronger. Hedetailed the spread of the disease indifferent countries in his article titled'Outbreak of Olautha'.

A few years later, when the influenzaepidemic took shape, Rabindranath wasalready alerted. He realized that the keyto fighting disease was to overcomesocial distances. It is impossible to fightan epidemic without humanintervention. The proper antidote to thedisease is the cooperative social mind.Rabindranath did a lot of research on thecooperative system in Denmark. He saidit was possible to run a cooperativesystem in Denmark because "the countryis not suffering from a huge burden ofarmaments." All its money can be usedfor the welfare of the people. It is up to usto release our revenue for tenants'education, health and other resources.'

In Rabindranath's thought, despair,hunger and epidemics are graduallydestroying the 'temple foundation' ofancient India. But these are not'accidental'. "Malaria-plague-famine isjust an occasion, they are just anoutward sign - the main disease hasentered the marrow of the country," hewrote in the article 'Deshnayak'. Thewhole world will be beautiful only if wecan find this root ailment and that wouldbe the befitting homage to one of thegreatest men on this earth.

(Acknowledgement: Anandabazar Patrika,Biswajit Roy, Soumen Rakshit, Somak Ghosal)

DEAR EDITOR:

Throughout the COVID-19pandemic, health experts haveagreed that robust testing will be

an essential component of our regionalstrategy for safely emerging from stay-at-home orders implemented to slow thespread of this virus.

That is why it is essential for residentsof Elmont, Valley Stream, Inwood andthe surrounding communities to takefull advantage of testing resources that

are available right in our own backyard.COVID-19 testing is availableby

appointment only at the Elmont HealthCenter, located at 161 HempsteadTurnpike. Appointments are availableon weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., andresidents can call 516-396-7500 toschedule a test. All are welcome andencouraged to call regardless of yourinsurance or immigration status.

If you or a member of your family areexperiencing common COVID-19

symptoms such as fever, cough, orshortness of breath, I urge you to gettested as soon as possible.

I am grateful to New York State andLong Island Family Health Centers forcommitting these life-saving resources toour community. Now that we have thesetools at our disposal, we must notsquander this opportunity. Get tested,remain vigilant, and stop the spread ofCOVID-19 so that we can begin writingour community's brighter next chapter

together.For additional information (available

in English, Spanish and Creole), visithttps://www.lifqhc.com and click on the"learn more" tab in the blue "COVID-19Information" box on the home page.

Carrié SolagesNassau County Legislator, Third

Legislative DistrictValley Stream

LETTER TO EDITOR

Take Advantage of Local COVID-19 Testing Resources

Machines do not have the capacity for emergence.Once built, their capabilities inevitably reducewith increasing entropy. On the other hand, living

systems evolve and acquire new capabilities over time.Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi point out in The SystemsView of Life: A Unifying Vision that among all livingspecies, humans have a special ability. Only humansconsciously develop new concepts, new scientific ideas, andnew language in their search for new visions. Institutionsof governance are human inventions for directing humanendeavors and for providing stability. Thomas S. Kuhnexplained in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions whynew ideas are invariably resisted by prevalent powerstructures in societies. The scientific establishmentdetermines which ideas are worthy of admission. TheKing's advisers do not want outsiders to dilute theirinfluence in the court. The Establishment resists change.Therefore, fundamental reforms of ideas and institutionsin human societies are always difficult, until a crisis.

CHALLENGING PRINCIPLES: The COVID-19catastrophe has challenged the tenets of economics thathave dominated public policy for the past 50 years. Here areseven radical ideas emerging as pathways to build a moreresilient economy and a more just society.

i) "De-Growth". The obsession with GDP as the supremegoal of progress has been challenged often, but itschallengers were dismissed as a loony fringe. Now, Nobellaureates in economics (Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen,Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and others) are calling upontheir profession to rethink the fundamentals of economics,especially the purpose of GDP. A five-point 'de-growth'manifesto by 170 Dutch academics has gone viral amidstthe heightened Internet buzz during the lockdown. Goalsfor human progress must be reset. What should we aspirefor? And how will we measure if we are getting there?

ii) Boundaries between countries are good. Boundary-lessness is a mantra for hyper-globalizers. Boundaries, theysay, impede flows of trade, finance, and people. Therefore,removing boundaries is good for global growth. However,since countries are at different stages of economicdevelopment, and have different compositions ofresources, they must follow different paths to progress.According to systems' theory, sub-systems within complexsystems must have boundaries around them, albeitappropriately permeable ones, so that the sub-systems canmaintain their own integrity and evolve. This is theexplanation from systems science for the breakdown of theWorld Trade Organization, in which all countries wereexpected to open their borders, which caused harm tocountries at different stages of development. Now COVID-19 has given another reason to maintain sufficientboundaries.

iii) Government is good. Ronald Reagan's dictum,"Government is not the solution... Government is theproblem", has been up-ended by COVID-19. Even capitalistcorporations who wanted governments out of the way tomake it easy for them to do business are lining up forgovernment bailouts.

iv) The "market" is not the best solution. Money is aconvenient currency for managing markets and forconducting transactions. Whenever goods and services areleft to markets, the dice is loaded against those who do nothave money to obtain what they need. Moreover, by aprocess of "cumulative causation", those who have moneyand power can acquire even more in markets. The"marketization" of economies has contributed to theincreasing inequalities in wealth over the last 50 years,which Thomas Piketty and others have documented.

JUSTICE AND DIGNITY:

v) "Citizen" welfare, not "consumer" welfare, must be theobjective of progress. In economies, human beings areconsumers and producers. In societies, they are citizens.Citizens have a broader set of needs than consumers.Citizens' needs cannot be fulfilled merely by enabling themto consume more goods and services. They value justice,dignity, and societal harmony too. Economists' evaluationsof the benefits of free trade, and competition policy too,which are based on consumer welfare alone, fail to accountfor negative impacts on what citizens value.

vi) Competition must be restrained: Collaboration isessential for progress. Faith in "Darwinian competition",with the survival of only the fittest, underlies manypathologies of modern societies and economies. Fromschool onwards, children are taught to compete.Companies must improve their competitive abilities.Nations too. Blind faith in competition misses the realitythat human capabilities have advanced more than otherspecies' have, by evolving institutions for collective action.Further progress, to achieve the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals for example, will require collaboration amongscientists in different disciplines, and among diversestakeholders, and collaboration among sovereigncountries. Improvement in abilities to share and governcommon resources have become essential for humansurvival in the 21st century.

vii) Intellectual property belongs to the public. Theearth's resources must be conserved. We are living in an eraof knowledge. Just as those who owned more land used tohave more power before, now those who own knowledgehave more power and wealth than the rest. Intellectualproperty monopolies are producing enormous wealth fortheir owners, though many were developed on the back ofhuge public investments. Moreover, powerful technologiescan be used for benign or malign purposes. It is imperativeto evolve new institutions for public ownership oftechnologies and for the regulation of their use.

PURPOSE OF ENTERPRISES: The paradigm shiftnecessary after the crisis will not be easy. There will beresistance to shifts in social, economic, and political powertowards those who have less from those who have morewithin the present paradigm.

The financial crisis of 2008 was a crisis of liquidity in thesystem. Recovery was achieved by putting more fuel intothe system. The system then moved on; in basically thesame shape it was before. COVID-19 has revealed structuralweaknesses in the global economy. Putting fuel in the tankwill not be sufficient. The vehicle must be redesigned too.While global attention understandably is focused on reliefand recovery, this is the time to design for resilience.

The economic system cannot be redesigned by domainexperts devising solutions within their silos. Such as, tradeexperts recommending new trade policies, intellectualproperty experts recommending reforms of intellectualproperty rights, and industry experts recommendingindustry policies. All the pieces must fit together. Most ofall, they must fit into the new paradigm, which will be verydifferent to the one in which the experts had developedtheir domain knowledge.

Innovations are required at many levels to create a moreresilient and just world. Innovation is essential in theoverall design of the economy. Innovations will be requiredin business models too, not just for business survival butalso to move businesses out of the 20th century paradigmthat "the business of business must be only business".Changes will also be necessary in our life patterns, ourwork and consumption habits, and in our personalpriorities. The redesign of economies, of businesses, andour lives, must begin with questions about purpose. Whatis the purpose of economic growth? What is the purpose ofbusinesses and other institutions? What is the purpose ofour lives? What needs, and whose needs, do institutions,and each of us, fulfil by our existence?

(The author isa Former Member, Planning Commission and theauthor of 'Redesigning the Aeroplane While Flying: Reforming

Institutions'

8 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020EDITORIAL

Anew slogan, 'Be vocal aboutlocal', has been added by thePrime Minister to his long list of

aspirational-inspirational repertoire.How far it goes in infusing the much-required dynamism in the Covid-hitbusiness and industry is the bigquestion. For long, the low share ofmanufacturing in India's GDP ascompared to China has been seen as ahuge weakness. So, while the countrywitnessed high growth numbers overthe years, the job opportunities createdas a result fell far short. The pandemic

has only accentuated the seriousproblem. Hence, PM Modi's strong pitchfor use of products manufactured in thecountry and self-reliance could not bemore timely.

In a mega stimulus package, theFinance Minister has announcedmeasures to restart the economy,including Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-freeautomatic loans for MSMEs, revisingupwards the investment limit,introducing an additional criteria ofturnover and no global tender forgovernment procurement up to Rs 200

crore. Clearance of all pendingpayments is another big takeaway. Thestatutory PF contribution has beenslashed by 2 per cent to increase thetake-home salary. The 25 per cent cut intax deducted at source for non-salarypayments is also a huge relief. A six-month extension has been given togovernment contractors to finishprojects.

It is an undeniable fact that the driveto push manufacturing has met withlimited success. The much-touted 'Makein India' has not lived up to potential.

Aware of the ground reality, PM Modihas made clear his commitment toremove all domestic hurdles beforemanufacturing units and attract fromChina the global value chain. The vigorand hope reflected in the speech have tobe translated into recognizable action.The first tranche of the package wouldsoothe frayed nerves, but the road aheadis long. Forget about adding, will itbring back jobs? Is it a booster shot or asurvival kit for the industry?

(Tribune, India)

Mega stimulus package: Self-reliance pitch timely, now for delivery

AS I SEE IT

By Arun Maira

GUEST COMMENT

Pathways to a more resilient economy

THE REDESIGN OF ECONOMIES, OF BUSINESSES,AND OUR LIVES, MUST BEGIN WITH QUESTIONS

ABOUT PURPOSE. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OFECONOMIC GROWTH? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OFBUSINESSES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS? WHATIS THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES? WHAT NEEDS,

AND WHOSE NEEDS, DO INSTITUTIONS, ANDEACH OF US, FULFIL BY OUR EXISTENCE?

WHEN COMPLEX SYSTEMS COME TOCATASTROPHES, I.E. CRITICAL POINTS OF

INSTABILITY, THEY RE-EMERGE IN DISTINCTLYNEW FORMS, ACCORDING TO THE SCIENCE OF

COMPLEX SYSTEMS. THE COVID-19 GLOBALPANDEMIC IS A CATASTROPHE, BOTH FOR HUMAN

LIVES AND FOR ECONOMIES. ECONOMISTSCANNOT PREDICT IN WHAT FORM THE ECONOMY

WILL EMERGE FROM IT.

There are clear, implementablesteps the Centre can take in fiscalterms to revive the economy and

support livelihoodsThe Prime Minister has just

announced Lockdown 4.0. Despite someresulting increase in economic activity,vast numbers of working people willremain without their regular incomes.He also announced a package of ?20 lakhcrore, but this includes already allocatedmoney of ?6-lakh crore and monetarypolicy directives to banks and non-banking financial companies. Theannouncements by the Finance Ministerthus far involve no additional publicspending, even though this is urgentlyrequired to revive the economy andprevent further contraction. Here wediscuss what the government should doimmediately in fiscal terms for revivingthe economy and supporting livelihoods.

Food and cash transfers firstThe immediate need is to provide free

food and cash transfers to those renderedincomeless. Providing every householdwith ?7,000 per month for a period ofthree months and every individual with10 kg of free food grains per month for aperiod of six months is likely to costaround 3% of our GDP (assuming 20%voluntary dropout). This could befinanced immediately through largerborrowing by the Centre from theReserve Bank of India. The requiredcash and food have to be handed over toState governments to make the actualtransfers, along with outstanding Goodsand Services Tax compensation.

This is easily doable for severalreasons. First, food grains are plentiful,as the Food Corporation of India had 77million tons, and rabi procurement couldadd 40 million tons. Second, because of

the lockdown restrictions, the multiplierrounds of such expenditure are heavilytruncated at present and would notgenerate as much demand as in normaltimes. Third, cash transfers in manyspheres will only enable current demandto continue (such as payment of houserent to continue occupancy) and notcreate any fresh demand. Fourth, whengreater normalcy finally allows pent-updemand to surface, output could alsoexpand because of resumed economicactivity. Finally, putting money in thehands of the poor is the best stimulus toeconomic revival, as it creates effectivedemand and in local markets. Hence, animmediate program of food and cashtransfers must command the highestpriority.

Revamp MGNREGA workBut the post-lockdown world will be

different for several reasons. First,millions of migrant workers haveendured immense hardships to trudgeback home, and are unlikely to return totowns in the foreseeable future.Employment has to be provided to themwhere they are, for which the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) must beexpanded greatly and revamped withwage arrears paid immediately. The 100-day limit per household has to go; workhas to be provided on demand withoutany limit to all adults. And permissiblework must include not just agriculturaland construction work, but work in ruralenterprises and in care activities too.

The revamped MGNREGS could coverwage bills of rural enterprises started bypanchayats, along with those of existingrural enterprises, until they can stand ontheir own feet. This can be an alternativestrategy of development, recalling thesuccessful experience of China'sTownship and Village Enterprises(TVEs). Public banks could providecredit to such panchayat-ownedenterprises and also assume a nurturingrole vis-à-vis them.

The second change is the palpableunsustainability of the earlierglobalization, which means that growthin India in the coming days will have tobe sustained by the home market. Sincethe most important determinant ofgrowth of the home market isagricultural growth, this must beurgently boosted.

The MGNREGS can be used for this,paying wages for land development andfarm work for small and mediumfarmers; apart from government supportthrough remunerative procurementprices, subsidized institutional credit,other input subsidies, and redistributionof unused land with plantations.Agricultural growth in turn can promoterural enterprises, both by creating ademand for their products and by

providing inputs forthem to process; andboth these activitieswould generatesubstantial ruralemployment.

The urban focusIn urban areas, it is

absolutely essential torevive the Micro,Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs).Simultaneously, the vast numbers ofworkers who have stayed on in townshave to be provided with employmentand income after our proposed cashtransfers run out. The best way toovercome both problems would be tointroduce an Urban EmploymentGuarantee Program, to serve diversegroups of the urban unemployed,including the educated unemployed.Urban local bodies must take charge ofthis program and would need to berevamped for this purpose.

"Permissible" work under thisprogram should include, for the present,work in the MSMEs. This would ensurelabor supply for the MSMEs and alsocover their wage bills at the centralgovernment's expense until they re-acquire robustness. It shouldimaginatively also include care work,including of old, disabled and ailingpersons, educational activities, andensuring public services in slums.

These measures are in direct contrastto those that seek to entice privateinvestors by easing labor laws. Thehumanitarian crisis of the lockdownreveals the imperative for more, not lesslabor protection. Such measures, farfrom reviving investment oremployment, would also further reducedomestic demand.

The 'care' economyThe pandemic has underscored the

extreme importance of a public health-care system, and the folly ofprivatization of essential services. Thepost-pandemic period must seesignificant increases in publicexpenditure on education and health,especially primary and secondary healthincluding for the urban and rural poor.

The "care economy" provides immensescope for increasing employment.Vacancies in public employment,especially in such activities, must beimmediately filled. Anganwadi andAccredited Social HealthActivists/workers who provide essentialservices to the population, includingduring this pandemic, are paid a pittanceand treated with extreme unfairness. Wemust improve their status, treat them asregular government employees and givethem proper remuneration andassociated benefits, and greatly expand

their coverage in settlements of theurban poor.

These could easily come within thetotal package announced by the PrimeMinister, which could be financed byprinting money. But in the medium term,public revenues must be increased. Thisis not because there is a shortage of realresources which, therefore, has to betaken from other existing uses throughtaxation. Rather, since much unutilizedcapacity exists in the economy, theshortage is not of real resources; thegovernment has to just get commandover them.

A combination of wealth andinheritance taxation and gettingmultinational companies to pay the sameeffective rate as local companies througha system of unitary taxation will garnersubstantial public revenue. They willalso reduce wealth and incomeinequalities which have becomehorrendous. A 2% wealth tax on the top1% of the population, together with a33% inheritance tax on the wealth theybequeath every year to their progeny,could finance an increase in governmentexpenditure to the tune of 10% of GDP.

It would be argued that this mightcause large financial outflows, which thecountry can ill-afford. Contrarily, evenforeign capital is more likely to beattracted to a growing economy than onein sharp decline because of lack ofstimulus. Also, a fresh issue of specialdrawing rights by the InternationalMonetary Fund (which India hassurprisingly opposed along with theUnited States) would provide additionalexternal resources.

These additional resources, weestimate, would suffice to finance theinstitution of five universal, justiciable,fundamental economic rights: the rightto food, the right to employment, theright to free public health care, the rightto free public education and the right to aliving old-age pension and disabilitybenefits. The broken economy must berebuilt in ways to ensure a life of dignityto the most disadvantaged citizen.

(Prabhat Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Centrefor Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal

Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. JayatiGhosh is a professor of economics at JNU.Harsh Mander is a human rights worker,

writer and teacher)

9THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 PERSPECTIVE

By Harsh Mander Jayati GhoshPrabhat Patnaik

A plan to revive a broken economy

"A combination of wealth andinheritance taxation and gettingmultinational companies to paythe same effective rate as localcompanies through a system ofunitary taxation will garnersubstantial public revenue. Theywill also reduce wealth andincome inequalities which havebecome horrendous. A 2% wealthtax on the top 1% of thepopulation, together with a 33%inheritance tax on the wealththey bequeath every year to theirprogeny, could finance anincrease in governmentexpenditure to the tune of 10% ofGDP."

An estimated 12.2 crore Indians lost their jobs during the coronaviruslockdown in April: CMIE

96% migrant workers did not get rations from the government, 90% did notreceive wages during lockdown: survey

10 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020SOUTH ASIA

5 die in Talibansuicide attack

KABUL (TIP): A suicide bombing inAfghanistan's eastern Paktia provinceon Thursday that looked to target amilitary compound but explodedbefore its destination killed fivecivilians and wounded at least 29others, including civilians andmilitary personnel, Afghan officialssaid.

The Taliban took responsibility forthe bombing, calling it retaliation forstatements by President Ashraf Ghaniblaming it for an attack earlier thisweek against a maternity hospital thatkilled 24 people, including twonewborns as well as several mothersand nurses. The Taliban were quick todeny responsibility and condemn thatattack on Tuesday. The IS has nottaken responsibility for the maternityward attack but the hospital is locatedin the Shiite dominated Dasht-e-Barschi area of the Afghan capitalwhere the IS has carried out severalbloody attacks including one in 2018killing dozens of young studentstaking university entrance exams. —AP

Myanmar's armyinvestigating soldiersover video of abusesPONNAGYUN (TIP): Myanmar’s

army said on Wednesday it wasinvestigating soldiers filmed beatingand threatening to kill suspectedinsurgents in the western state ofRakhine, where dozens of people havebeen killed during an upsurge offighting in recent weeks.

“It is found out that some of thesecurity force members conductedunlawful interrogations,” the armysaid in a statement posted on itswebsite.

In footage shared widely on socialmedia since Saturday, five men can beseen slumped on the floor of a boat,blindfolded, hands tied behind theirbacks, as men in military fatiguesstamp on their chests and slap andkick their faces. The men whimper andplead that they are civilians.

“I am a civilian, sir,” one says,according to subtitles in the video.“What civilian? Why are you fightingagainst us?” a soldier shouts, grabbinghim by the hair and smacking hischeek. “Let them die, let them break,”says another. One man is hitrepeatedly in the face with a shoe.

Reuters could not determine whofilmed the video or independentlyverify its authenticity. The army saidthe video was shot on April 27 inRakhine state’s Ponnagyun township.

The military statement said the menwho were beaten had been arrested onsuspicion of belonging to the ArakanArmy, an insurgent group fighting forgreater autonomy for the westernregion. It said they were beingtransported to the state capital ofSittwe when the beatings happened.

Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, aspokesman for the armed forces,known as the Tatmadaw, told Reutersby phone a tribunal had been formedand soldiers had been detained. Reuter

Coronavirus cases in Pak cross over36,000; PM says country more

vulnerable to poverty, hungerISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan is more

vulnerable to poverty and hunger thanthe coronavirus-induced lockdown and itis important to keep a balance betweenhealth needs and financial problems ofthe people, Prime Minister Imran Khansaid on Thursday even as the number ofCOVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 36,717and the death toll to 788.

Khan chaired a meeting of NationalCommand and Operation Centre (NCOC)to discuss the latest pandemic situationin the country.

Addressing the meeting, Khan said itis important to keep a balance betweenhealth needs and financial problems ofthe people.

“Our population is more vulnerable topoverty and hunger than lockdown. Weshould take decisions by keeping inmind the ground reality about theproblems faced by the people,” he said.

Khan said adopting safety measureswas a key to fight the disease but insteadof forced implementation, the peopleshould be sensitised to adopt them. Themeeting also discussed the issue ofopening transport and shopping plazasbut no decision was taken on the twoissues.

Later, Khan tweeted that NCOCreviewed the country’s coronavirussituation during its 20th consecutivesession.

“The meeting took an in-depth reviewof existing beds, ventilators and othermedical facilities in hospitals, keeping inview the projections of possible spreadof #Covid-19 and present data. Purposeof thorough examination of existing

facilities was to gauge the capacity ofhospitals,” the Prime Minister’s Officesaid. The meeting also reviewed progresson implementing standard operatingprocedures and guidelines at aprovincial level.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Khanjoined world leaders in calling for a“people’s vaccine” to combat thecoronavirus.

The Prime Minister’s Office quoted thepremier as saying: “We must worktogether to beat this virus.”

Emphasising the need for poolingresources, he added that “no leader canrest easy until every individual in everynation is able to access a vaccine free ofcharge”.

The number of confirmed COVID-19cases in Pakistan rose to 36,717 onThursday. Punjab reported 13,561 cases,Sindh 14,099, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa5,423, Balochistan 2,239, Islamabad 822,Gilgit-Baltistan 482 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 91 cases.

Prime Minister Khan will participatein a meeting to be organised underCOVID Action Platform of WorldEconomic Forum (WEF), the RadioPakistan reported.

As lockdown was eased, Pakistanresumed trade activities with Iran atTaftan after two trade gateways werereopened, which were closed two-and-a-half months ago due to the coronavirusoutbreak. PTI

All-party meet onLanka polls

inconclusiveCOLOMBO (TIP): An all-

party meeting convened by SriLanka’s election commission todecide whether to holdParliamentary polls in Juneremained inconclusive, partymembers said on Wednesday.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksadissolved the opposition-controlled Parliament on March2, six months ahead of theschedule, and called a snapelection on April 25 to elect a new225-member House.

However, the electioncommission in mid-Aprilpostponed the parliamentarypolls by nearly two months toJune 20. The ElectionsCommission on Tuesdayconvened an all-party meeting todecide whether to holdparliamentary polls in June.However, the talks ended withoutan agreement, the participantsaid. —PTI

Bangladesh lifts curbs on mosqueprayers as lockdown eases

DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh onThursday allowed Muslims to attendprayer congregations in mosques as thegovernment continues to ease thelockdown restrictions amid thecoronavirus outbreak which has infected12,425 people in the country so far.

However, mosque leaders are notallowed to organise Iftar gatherings onthe mosque premises in line with thesocial distancing rules, theBdnews24.com reported.

The mosques and devotees have beenasked to comply with a set of safetyprotocols to hold prayer congregations,the Religious Affairs Ministry said.

Bangladesh announced a nationwidelockdown to enforce social and physicaldistancing norms on March 26 amid asurge in coronavirus cases and deaths.

The government subsequentlyrestricted congregations at mosques to amaximum of five worshippers for thedaily prayers, including the cleric andother officials, in an effort to bridle the

escalating coronavirus crisis.The Friday prayers were limited to 10

worshippers while only 12 devotees wereallowed to participate in the Taraweehprayers during Ramzan.

In keeping with the hygiene rules toreduce the risk of contagion, the newguidelines issued by the ministry saidmosques are not allowed to use commoncarpets for prayers while devotees arerequired to carry individual prayer matsfrom home, the news portal reported.

Places of worship must be cleaned withdisinfectants before every prayer session– five times a day.

Mosque must also install hand-washingfacilities equipped with soaps or providehand sanitisers at the entrances.Devotees must perform their ablutions athome and wash their hands with soap forat least 20 seconds. Worshippers mustwear masks to the mosques whilemaintaining a space of at least three feetbetween each other when they line up forthe prayers. PTI

11THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 ADVERTISEMENT1

Last week alone, 3million people filed new

claimsWASHINGTON (TIP): Nearly 3

million laid-off workers applied for U.S.unemployment benefits last week as theviral outbreak led more companies toslash jobs even though most states havebegun to let some businesses reopenunder certain restrictions.

Roughly 36 million people have nowfiled for jobless aid in the two monthssince the coronavirus first forcedmillions of businesses to close theirdoors and shrink their workforces, theLabor Department said Thursday.

Still, the number of first-timeapplications has now declined for sixstraight weeks, suggesting that a

dwindling number of companies arereducing their payrolls.

By historical standards, though, thelatest tally shows that the number ofweekly jobless claims remainsenormous, reflecting an economy that issinking into a severe downturn. Lastweek's pace of new applications for aid isstill four times the record high thatprevailed before the coronavirus struckhard in March.

Jobless workers in some states are stillreporting difficulty applying for orreceiving benefits. These includefreelance, gig and self-employed workers,who became newly eligible for jobless aidthis year.

The states that are now easinglockdowns are doing so in varied ways.Ohio has permitted warehouses, most

offices, factories and constructioncompanies to reopen, but restaurantsand bars remain closed for indoor sit-down service.

A few states have gone further,including Georgia, which has openedbarbershops, bowling alleys, tattooparlors and gyms. South Carolina hasreopened beach hotels, and Texas hasreopened shopping malls.

Data from private firms suggest thatsome previously laid-off workers havestarted to return to small businesses inthose states, though the number ofapplications for unemployment benefitsremains high.

The latest jobless claims follow adevastating job report last week. Thegovernment said the unemployment ratesoared to 14.7 percent in April, the

highest rate since the Great Depression,and employers shed a stunning 20.5million jobs. A decade's worth of jobgrowth was wiped out in a single month.

Even those figures failed to capture thefull scale of the damage. The governmentsaid many workers in April were countedas employed but absent from work butshould have been counted as temporarilyunemployed. Millions of other laid-offworkers didn't look for a new job inApril, likely discouraged by theirprospects in a mostly shuttered economy,and weren't included, either. If all thosepeople had been counted as unemployed,the jobless rate would have reachednearly 24 percent. (Read full story at

www.theindianpanorama.news)

12 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020US

CONTD FROM PAGE 1

China stealing US research onCOVID-19: Pompeo

non-traditional collectors affiliated with People'sRepublic of China (PRC) to steal U.S. intellectualproperty and data related to COVID-19 research, Mr.Pompeo said in a statement.

The United States calls on China to cease this maliciousactivity, Mr. Pompeo said, adding that the potential theftof this information jeopardizes the delivery of secure,effective, and efficient treatment options.

China on Thursday termed as slanderous the U.S.accusation that hackers backed by Beijing may beattempting to steal COVID-19 related research andvaccine materials and said that "smearing andscapegoating" others will not make the deadly virus goaway.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian saidU.S. officials are shifting the blame on Beijing as theystruggled to handle the coronavirus pandemic backhome.

The U.S. claims have added fuel to tensions between thetwo nations, which are engaged in a war of words overthe origin of the coronavirus that has killed over 300,000people globally. Mr. Pompeo alleged that China's behaviorin cyberspace is an extension of its counterproductiveactions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Pompeo in the strongly-worded statement saidwhile the U.S. and its allies and partners are coordinatinga collective, transparent response to save lives, "Chinacontinues to silence scientists, journalists, and citizens,and to spread disinformation, which has exacerbated thedangers of this health crisis.

The FBI said that it is "investigating the targeting andcompromise of U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by China-affiliated cyber actors and non-traditional collectors."

"These actors have been observed attempting toidentify and illicitly obtain valuable intellectual property(IP) and public health data related to vaccines,treatments, and testing from networks and personnelaffiliated with COVID-19-related research," the FBI said.

The potential theft of this information jeopardizes thedelivery of secure, effective, and efficient treatmentoptions, it said.

Meanwhile, President Trump, annoyed with China'shandling of the pandemic, has ruled out renegotiating atrade deal with China. "The Chinese said somewhere thatthey would like to renegotiate the (trade) deal. We are notgoing to renegotiate," Mr. Trump told Fox Business Newson Thursday, May 14.

"Look, I'm not happy about anything having to do with

that particular subject (China) right now. Everything Isaid turned out to be right. You look at other countriesthey charge us tariffs to do business and we are notallowed to charge them," he said.

Responding to a question, Mr. Trump said the Chinesehave always stolen Intellectual Property (IP) from the U.S."They were never called (out). Now they are being calledout," he said.

"We can stop them; they are going to try doing it. I meanyou could also stop doing business with them, that is onething. Look, we have lost a fortune dealing with China.We have rebuilt China," he said.

The President said he does not want to speak toChinese President Xi Jinping right now. "I have a verygood relationship, but I just - right now I don't want tospeak to him," he said. (Source: Agencies)

U.S. Senator Richard Burr stepsaside as committee chair in view of

FBI stock trades probe Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

said Burr contacted him on Thursday morning to informhim of his decision to move aside temporarily during theinvestigation.

"We agreed that this decision would be in the bestinterests of the committee and will be effective at the endof the day tomorrow," Mr. McConnell said in a statement.

Mr. Burr has denied wrongdoing and said he reliedsolely on news reports to guide decisions on stock sales,amid reports he and other senators sold shares afterprivate briefings on the risks of the coronavirus crisis.

He told reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, May14, he decided to step aside because he did not want theinvestigation to distract the intelligence committee fromits work.

"I thought this was the best thing to do," Mr. Burr said.Mr. Burr's attorney, Alice Fisher, said in a statement

that Mr. Burr was "actively cooperating" with thegovernment inquiry.

Known for bipartisanship, the Senate panel is soon torelease an extensive report led by Mr. Burr on Russia'sinvolvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. U.S.intelligence determined that Moscow sought to meddle inthe campaign to boost the Trump candidacy.

Moscow denies such actions. President Trumpdismisses the allegations as a hoax.

Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic committee vicechairman who has worked closely with Mr. Burr, toldreporters he thought Mr. Burr had made the right choicein temporarily stepping aside, and hoped the matterwould be resolved as quickly as possible.

The Republican senator turned over his phone to FBI

agents after they served a search warrant at hisWashington home.

The warrant marked a significant step-up in theinvestigation of Mr. Burr's stock sales in mid-February,when he and other lawmakers were receiving regularbriefings on the coronavirus outbreak and PresidentDonald Trump and some of his political allies weredownplaying the threat to the public.

Mr. Trump said he did not know anything about Mr.Burr's decision and had not discussed Mr. Burr'ssituation with anyone at the Department of Justice.

"I know nothing about it... That's too bad," he toldreporters.

A senior Justice Department official said the FBI didnot conduct a raid but paid a visit to Mr. Burr's home tocollect his cellphone. Approval of the warrant -significant because it was served on a sitting senator -was obtained at the "highest levels" of the JusticeDepartment, the official said.

The Intelligence Committee chairmanship is one of themost important positions in the Senate. The panelapproves the president's nominees to lead the country'sspy agencies and handles oversight of their operations,conducting most of its business behind closed doors.

It was not immediately clear who would step in aschairman. The three senators next in line for seniority onthe Republican-led intelligence committee - Jim Risch,Marco Rubio and Susan Collins - all chair othercommittees.

The Senate's Republican leadership will decide whowill take the position.

Other senators whose stock trades have beenscrutinized have denied trading on coronavirusinformation.

Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler has forwardeddocuments and information about stock trades by herand her husband to the Justice Department, theSecurities and Exchange Commission and the SenateEthics Committee, CNBC quoted a representative for Ms.Loeffler as saying on Thursday.

Ms. Loeffler has denied wrongdoing in connection withher sales of millions of dollars in shares in the weeksafter lawmakers were first briefed on the virus.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, an intelligence committeeDemocrat, has turned over documents to the FBI aboutstock trades by her husband that show she was notinvolved, a spokesperson for Ms. Feinstein said onThursday.

Mr. Burr's decision called to mind the decision ofDemocratic Senator Bob Menendez to step aside asranking member of the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee in 2015 as he faced corruption charges. Thosecharges were eventually dropped. (Source: Agencies)

36 Million Have SoughtUnemployment Aid Since Virus Hit

13THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 US

Visa, OCI card suspension prevents severalIndians in US from flying back home

NEW YORK (TIP): Several Indians inthe US, either on the H-1B work visa orGreen Card having children who areAmerican citizens by birth, are beingprevented from travelling to India aboardthe special repatriation flights being runby Air India amidst the coronavirus-linked global travel restrictions.

According to the regulations issued bythe Indian government last month andupdated last week, visas of foreignnationals and OCI cards, that providevisa-free travel privileges to the people ofIndian-origin, have been suspended aspart of the new international travelrestrictions.

For some of the Indian citizens like thePandey couple in New Jersey (name andplace changed at request), it's a doublewhammy. Having lost their H-1B job, theyhave to go back to India within thestipulated 60 days as required by law. Thecouple has two kids aged one and six, whoare American citizens.

In the wee hours of Monday, they had toreturn from Newark airport as Air Indiarefused to give their kids a ticket to fly toIndia along with them, despite themhaving a valid Indian visa. The youngmother and father are Indian citizens.

They said that the officials from AirIndia and (Indian) Consulate (in NewYork) were very cooperative.

But they could not do anything as theirhands were tied by the latest regulationissued by the Indian government, ashocked Ratna Pandey told PTI.

"I would like to urge the Indian

government to reconsider their decisionon humanitarian basis," said the Indiannational who has lost her job but couldnot leave the US within the stipulated 60days to avoid any future visacomplications.

She now plans to make an appeal to theUS Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) to extend their stay.

Last month, H-1B visa holders, mostlyIndians, launched a White House petitionurging US President Donald Trump toextend their permissible stay from 60 to180 days after job loss. However, there hasbeen no decision from the White House sofar. While there is no official statistics ofhow many Indian H-1B visa holders havelost their jobs, it is believed to besubstantial.

The US, due to the coronaviruspandemic, is experiencing anunprecedented unemployment rate andmore than 33 million Americans have losttheir jobs in the last two months. Giventhis massive job loss, Indians, who havelost their jobs, are unlikely to get one and

thus many would have no other option butto travel back home.

In the case of single mother Mamta(name changed), the situation is graver asher son is just three-month old. Only shewas given the ticket and the infant wasnot allowed to fly along with her becausehe carried an American passport.

"I would like to request the Indiangovernment to let us fly back home. I don'twant to stay in the US any longer," shetold PTI hours after being prevented fromboarding her hometown Ahmedabad-bound flight from Newark on Sunday.

"I am alone here. I don't have a relativehere. It's a difficult situation," she said.

"Vande Bharat Mission is ahumanitarian mission. But this iscertainly inhuman," said Rakesh Gupta(name changed) from Washington DC.

An H-1B professional, Gupta has losthis job and needs to return to India withinthe stipulated 60 days. He and his wife,Geeta (name changed) being Indiancitizens, received the confirmation oftheir seats in the flight but have been told

that their two-year-old daughter cannottravel with them as she carried an OCIcard.

"I don't believe this," he said.Unlike the Pandey couple and Mamta,

who had made the payment of USD 1,361per ticket for their flight back home,Rakesh has not made the payment. AirIndia has said that the money would berefunded.

All three Indian citizens requested theIndian government to help them travelback home by making necessary changesin the current regulations.

As per a recent governmentnotification, all existing Indian visaholders, and visa-free travel facility,granted to OCI card holders who are notin India, have been suspended tillrestrictions on international air travelremains.

New York-based community leaderPrem Bhandari said the May 5 traveladvisory had created multiple painfulissues for the OCI card holders in the USand also to Indian citizens who are eitheron Green Card or H-1B visas and want totravel back home, but cannot leave theirkids who are Americans by birth.

"We would like to express ourdisappointment with the discriminationbetween OCIs and citizens in respect ofentering India at this critical stage whenmany OCIs have lawfully built theirhomes, families and businesses in India,"Bhandari said in a letter to Union HomeSecretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Monday.(Source: PTI)

US immunologist warns of 'darkest winter' ifcoronavirus rebounds

WASHINGTON (TIP): America facesthe "darkest winter in modern history"unless leaders act decisively to prevent arebound of the coronavirus, says agovernment whistleblower who allegeshe was ousted from his job after warningthe Trump administration to prepare forthe pandemic.

Immunologist Dr. Rick Bright makeshis sobering prediction in testimonyprepared for his appearance onThursday, May 14 before the HouseEnergy and Commerce Committee.Aspects of his complaint about earlyadministration handling of the crisis areexpected to be backed up by testimonyfrom an executive of a company thatmanufactures, respirator masks.

A federal watchdog agency has found"reasonable grounds" that Bright wasremoved from his post as head of theBiomedical Advanced Research andDevelopment Authority after soundingthe alarm at the Department of Healthand Human Services. Bright alleged hebecame a target of criticism when heurged early efforts to invest in vaccinedevelopment and stock up on supplies.

"Our window of opportunity isclosing," Bright says in his preparedtestimony posted on the Housecommittee website. "If we fail to developa national coordinated response, basedin science, I fear the pandemic will getfar worse and be prolonged, causingunprecedented illness and fatalities."

Bright's testimony follows this week'swarning by Dr. Anthony Fauci, thegovernment's top infectious diseaseexpert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictionscould "turn back the clock," seedingmore suffering and death andcomplicating efforts to get the economyrolling again.

President Donald Trump hasdismissed Bright as "a disgruntled guy,"and some of the president's politicalallies have urged that Fauci be fired,although that seems unlikely.

More than 83,000 people have died inthe US, representing more than one-fourth of global deaths and the world'shighest toll. On the planet more than 4.3million have been infected and about2,95,000 have died.

Eager to restart the economy, Trumphas been urging states to lift restrictions,and many governors are doing sogradually, though consumers remainleery of going back to restaurants, socialevents and sporting competitions.

In his prepared testimony, Bright said,"The undeniable fact is there will be aresurgence of (COVID-19) this fall,greatly compounding the challenges ofseasonal influenza and putting anunprecedented strain on our health caresystem."

"Without clear planning andimplementation of the steps that I andother experts have outlined, 2020 will bedarkest winter in modern history,"Bright wrote.

Bright, who has a doctoral degree inimmunology, outlined a path forwardthat would be based on science, even asresearchers work to develop bettertreatments and an effective vaccine.

The steps include: Establishing anational testing strategy. The WhiteHouse has urged states to take the leadon testing, even as the federalgovernment pushes to make more tests

and better ones widely available.Trump says the US has "prevailed" on

testing through this strategy, but inCongress Democrats are demanding afederal framework to encompass thewhole nation.

(Agencies)

Immunologist Dr. Rick Bright who Trump firedhas warned that America will face the

"darkest winter" ever in case coronavirusrebounds.

14 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020INDIA

GOVT PREPARES FORSTAGGERED RESUMPTION OFFLIGHTS: STAMPING OFBOARDING PASSESSUSPENDED

NEW DELHI (TIP): The Central government hasstarted work to prepare for resumption ofcommercial domestic flights, something that mayhappen in a staggered manner over the next onemonth, senior government and industry officialssaid. To this effect, government agencies have beganlaying the groundwork in terms of safety and policymeasures required to start flight operations.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security issued acircular Wednesday doing away with securitypersonnel stamping boarding passes of flightpassengers at airports. “In view of the prevailingsituation of COVID-19 pandemic andcountermeasures being taken to contain its spreadby touch/contact, it has been decided to dispensewith the procedure of stamping the passengers’Boarding Pass…after completion of pre-embarkation security check of the concernedpassenger, till further orders,” the circular said.

Additionally, the government has also circulated aset of draft standard operating procedures withvarious stakeholders including airlines, airportsand ground handling companies seeking their viewson measures for ensuring social distancing andhealth safety of passengers and staff. These includedownloading of Aarogya Setu app, increasing ofpassenger reporting time at airports, mandatoryweb check-in, among other such procedures.

Deaths on roads: 14 migrantskilled in two accidents

NEW DELHI (TIP): Fourteen migrant labourerswere killed and at least 61 others injured in two roadaccidents on Wednesday and Thursday while theywere on the way to their homes in Uttar Pradesh andBihar, police said.

In the first case, a father and his son were amongsix people who were killed when an Agra-bound UProadways bus hit a group of migrant workers, whowere walking from Haryana to their home in Bihar’sGopalganj, near Rohna toll plaza along theSaharanpur-Muzaffarnagar state highway inMuzaffarnagar.

Four others were injured in the accident that tookplace late on Wednesday. Two of them are in acritical condition and have been taken to hospital inMeerut.

“These workers were walking along the statehighway when the driver of an Agra-bound bus, inan inebriated condition, hit them around midnighton Wednesday. Two died on the spot while foursuccumbed to their injuries at the district hospital.The accused, Abhishek Yadav, who had managed toescape from the spot has been arrested,” AnilKaparwan, in-charge of the Muzaffarnagar Kotwalipolice station said. Yadav hails from Firozabad andhas been booked for alleged rash driving and deathdue to negligence.

According to eye-witnesses and survivors, thegroup of labourers had set out from Kharera inHaryana on Sunday.

India tally crosses 80k mark,fresh cases in corona-free

Goa and ManipurNEW DELHI (TIP): With 3,967

new cases and 100 new deathsreported in the last 24 hours, theCOVID-19 tally in India reached81,970 on May 15, the Union HealthMinistry stated on Friday. And twostates, Goa and Manipur, whichwere declared COVID-19 free, havereported fresh corona positivecases.

Of the total cases, 51,401 areactive and 2,649 are fatalities so farwhile at least 27,919 people haverecovered from the disease.

After being COVID-19 free formany days, Goa reported sevenfresh cases, that took the totalnumber of cases here to 14.Similarly, in Manipur a fresh caseemerged after 26 days, taking thetotal tally in this Northeast state tothree so far.

In Maharashtra, the Covid-19cases climbed to 27,524 followed byTamil Nadu, which has reported9,674 and Gujarat has 9,591 cases sofar.

Maharashtra has also reportedthe highest number of deaths, 1,019,followed by 586 in Gujarat and 237 inMadhya Pradesh.

At least 8,470 people in thenational capital have been infectedwith the highly contagiouscoronavirus.

Other states which have reportedmore than 3,000 cases are Rajasthan(4,534), Madhya Pradesh (4,426) andUttar Pradesh (3,902).

Other major states and UnionTerritories that have reported morethan 1,000 cases are West Bengal(2,377), Andhra Pradesh (2,205),Punjab (1,935) and Telangana(1,414).

Among other major states and

UTs that have reported a significantnumber of cases are, Bihar (994),Haryana (818), Jammu and Kashmir(983), Karnataka (987), Kerala (560),Odisha (611), Tripura (156) andChandigarh (191).

States/UTs that have zerocoronavirus cases are ArunachalPradesh, Mizoram and Andaman

and Nicobar Islands.After being COVID-19 free for

many days, Goa reported sevenfresh cases, that took the totalnumber of cases here to 14.Similarly, in Manipur a fresh caseemerged after 26 days, taking thetotal tally in this Northeast state tothree so far.

World Bank approves $1 bn for India as socialsecurity fund for urban poor, migrants

NEW DELHI (TIP): The World Bank has approvedUS $1 billion for India as social security technologyfund for country’s urban poor and migrant workersduring the coronavirus crisis.

The focus will be to enable India to integrate all of its400-plus social security schemes at a technology level,the bank said.

“The project will be crucial to rebalance socialsecurity towards urban poor, as much as rural,” saidJunaid Ahmad, country director, World Bank.

“I think PMs ‘Atmanirbhar mission’ is veryimportant in terms of directions and India is notmaking distinction between life and livelihoods in theaftermath of Covid-19,” he added.

The World Bank said that this is the largest projectafter a similar package announced for health systemsearlier.

“The World Bank said the support in collaborationwith the government is aimed at integrating platformsso that people should not have to run around from oneplace to another to access a myriad of social schemes,”said Shrayana Bhattacharya, senior World Bankofficial.

Last month, the bank had approved a plan to roll outUS $160 billion in emergency aid over 15 months to helpcountries deal with the impact of the globalcoronavirus pandemic.

The board of the Washington-based developmentlender announced the first set of fast-track crisisfunding, with an initial $1.9 billion going to projects in25 countries, and operations moving forward in another40 nations.

Doubling time of COVID-19 cases slowsdown to 13.9 days in last 3 days: Vardhan

The doubling time ofcoronavirus infection caseshas slowed down to 13.9 days

in the last three days, UnionHealth Minister Harsh Vardhansaid on Thursday, as the COVID-19death toll rose to 2,549 and thenumber of cases to 78,003.

The minister, who visited theNational Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC) here anddedicated the COBAS 6800 testing

machine to the nation, said 14states and Union Territories havenot reported any case of COVID-19in last 24 hours.

These states and UTs areGujarat, Telangana, Jharkhand,Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, theAndaman and Nicobar Islands,Arunachal Pradesh, AndhraPradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli,Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya,Mizoram and Puducherry.

15THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 INDIA

LAST MOUNTED CAVALRYREGIMENT OF INDIAN ARMYTO LOSE HORSES, GET TANKS

NEW DELHI (TIP): The last mounted Cavalryregiment of the Indian Army and one of the few in theworld, 61 Cavalry, will soon lose its special tag and beequipped with tanks instead of horses.

Sources in the Army revealed that the wheels havebeen set in motion to mechanise the Jaipur-basedregiment and give it a more contemporary role.

“There are three independent armoured squadronslocated at various parts of the country and these willbe brought under 61 Cavalry to form an armouredregiment. This will entail virtually no extraexpenditure as the squadrons are already equippedwith tanks,”a senior officer said while confirming themove.

The transition of the regiment to a full-fledgedarmoured regiment will take around five months timeor even more, in view of the Covid-19 restrictions inplace. The regiment will be stationed at a new locationin an active field formation.

Sources say the horses of the regiment will belocated in Delhi where the unit already has a presencealong with the Army Polo and Riding Club. This horsesquadrons will have personnel who are trained inequitation and will fall under the purview of DirectorGeneral Mechanised Forces.

The proposal to change the regiment’s role to anactive armoured regiment is based on therecommendations of the Shekatkar Committee. Thecommittee, under the chairmanship of Lt. Gen DBShekatkar (retd), had been set up to suggest measuresto enhance combat capability and re-balance defenceexpenditure of the armed forces and had submittedits report in December 2016.

Lockdown To Stay In Mumbai:Maharashtra Minister As COVID-19 Cases Spike

MUMBAI (TIP): Mumbai, fighting a huge spurt incoronavirus cases, will extend the lockdown scheduledto end on May 17, a Maharashtra minister hasconfirmed. Mumbai has reported nearly 1,000 Covid19cases on Thursday, taking its total to over 16,500 cases.

Maharashtra's Industry Minister Subhash Desai toldNDTV after a meeting with Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Thursday that the lockdown will beextended in Mumbai and other major cities.

"Looking at the way cases have bene going up in bigcities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Malegaon,Aurangabad, it seems the lockdown may be extended. Itwill have to be done because of the situation. Thegovernment focus is on the health of the people. Thefirst focus is that. Then of course there is industry andeconomy," the minister said.

Maharashtra has demanded a special economicpackage for Mumbai from the centre. Several decisionshave been taken to get the economy on track, Desaisaid. The minister said Maharashtra is planning majorsops for industry to rejuvenate economic activity.

To tackle the problem of migrant labourers leavingthe city, which could slow the restart of economicactivities, Maharashtra will set up an employmentbureau. "We have decided to set up an employmentbureau for industrial and commercial workers. Andhere we will register all those job seekers in skilled,semi-skilled and unskilled categories and then we willinteract with the employers who want employees.

India signs navy chopper deal with US, weapons still

being negotiatedNEW DELHI (TIP): India has

started the process of acquiring 24state-of-the-art anti-submarinewarfare helicopters for the Navyfrom the US firm Lockheed Martinafter signing a $905 million deal.

The MH-60R helicopters -- whichwould replace obsolete Indian NavySea King helicopters, first acquiredfrom the UK in 1971 -- are meant todetect and, if necessary, engageChinese and Pakistani submarinesand warships in the Indian Oceanregion.

The overall value of the contractsigned is less than half the $2.6billion package which had beenannounced by the US StateDepartment in April 2019 whichincluded the cost of the choppers,their sensors and communicationsystems, and several weaponsystems including Hellfire missileswhich can targets ships, MK 54torpedoes and precision strikerocket systems.

These helicopters are alsodesigned to fire the Naval StrikeMissile (NSM) developed by theNorwegian company KongsbergDefence & Aerospace. The NSM canengage warships at a range of 185kilometers. The original packageIndia was looking at included theprovision of NSM training missiles,a precursor to a potential deal forthe missile system.

NDTV has learned that

negotiations for the full packagewhich was discussed is stillunderway with no closure at themoment on the exact weapons andsensor fit the Indian Navy willeventually receive with thehelicopters.

The deal itself is being handledthrough the US Navy which hasallowed Lockheed Martin to speedup the delivery process bytransferring three MH-60Rs fromthe US Navy's inventory ofundelivered MH-60R choppers toIndia. This will allow Indian Navypilots and engineers to train on the

chopper prior to full-scale inductionon board aircraft carriers,destroyers and frigates in the fleet.

For several years, the IndianNavy has been operating state ofthe art warships including themade-in-India Kolkata Classdestroyers without any modernanti-submarine helicopters onboard, the lack of which has beenconsidered a glaring operationaldeficiency at a time when China hasmarkedly stepped up its presence inthe Indian Ocean region byoperating a full-scale base inDjibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Badrinath shrine’s portals opened for summers,devotees not allowed due to Covid-19

NEW DELHI (TIP): The portalsof Badrinath Temple were openedearly on Friday in the presence ofonly 28 people, including the chiefpriest, due to the lockdown to stopthe spread of coronavirus disease(Covid-19), news agency ANIreported.

The doors of the famous shrine inUttarakhand’s Chamoli district,which was decorated with strings ofmarigold flowers, was opened at4:30am after a long winter break.

“Devotees will not be allowedentry into the temple during thattime. The decision has been taken inview of the guidelines issued by theCentre amid Covid-19 pandemic,”Anil Chanyal, Joshimath’s sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), hadsaid in a statement earlier.

Religious ceremonies were alsoheld on Wednesday at the Narsinghtemple in Joshimath ahead of thescheduled date for the opening ofthe portals of the Badrinath templededicated to Lord Vishnu.

Around 10,000 pilgrims hadvisited the shrine last year on thefirst day of its opening as per anestimated figure.

Manujendra Shah, the king of the

Tehri royal family who isconsidered the ‘Bolanda Badri’ ortalking Lord Badri, had on April 20changed the date of opening of theportals of Badrinath shrine as thechief priest was under thequarantine after returning fromKerala.

This is the first time in historythat the dates for the opening ofportals of the shrines have beenchanged.

The portals of Kedarnath templewere also opened on April 29 after a

six-month-long winter break.Pilgrims were prohibited fromvisiting the shrine because of thelockdown.

One of the most visitedpilgrimage centres of India,Badrinath is one of the Char Dhamsor the four main pilgrimage centresof the Hindus located in Garhwalhills.

The Badrinath Temple is alongthe banks of the Alaknanda River inChamoli district at a height of over10,000 feet.

16 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020FIGHTING COVID-19

RS 20 LAKH CRORE ECONOMIC PACKAGE

Nirmala Sitharaman announces EPF relief,TDS rate cut; ITR filing deadline extendedNEW DELHI (TIP): As announced by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May12, finance minister NirmalaSitharaman on May 13 announced thefirst tranche of the government'seconomic package to fight thecoronavirus pandemic. Aimed at allsections of the society, including themiddle-class, SMEs, labourers, farmersand the industry, the economic packageis themed around the 'Self-reliant Indiacampaign'. Over the next few days,Sitharaman will release more detailsabout the stimulus measures being takenby the Modi government.

Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 5.9 lakhcrore stimulus package which includesRs 3 lakh crore collateral-free loans tosmall businesses, Rs 75,000 croreliquidity infusion in non-bankingfinance companies (NBFCs), Rs 90,000crore financial support to power discomsand Rs 50,000 crore cash in the hands oftaxpayers.

The allocation is part of the Rs 20 lakhcrore 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan'(Self-Reliant India Movement)announced by Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday that combines policyreforms with fiscal and monetarymeasures.

While a finance ministry presentationnoted financial implications of theschemes announced on Wednesday at Rs5,94,250 crore, Sitharaman declined tocomment on the numbers immediately.She, however, said the governmentrecently raised its borrowing limits topart fund the measures. The governmenton Friday raised its market borrowingestimate by a staggering Rs 4.2 lakh croreto Rs 12 lakh crore in 2020-21 to make upfor an expected shortfall in revenuesbecause of prolonged lockdown sinceMarch 25 that has crippled the economy.

"Beginning today, for the next few days,I shall be coming here with the entireteam of the ministry of finance to detailthe Prime Minister's vision forAtmanirbhar Bharat laid out by thePrime Minister yesterday," Sitharamansaid.

The first package of Rs 1.7 lakh crorewas announced by the finance ministeron March 26, followed by monetarymeasures taken by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) to revive the economy, whichhas been battered by a prolongedlockdown since March 25 to check thespread of Covid-19 pandemic. Thelockdown will continue till May 17, andmay be extended in some parts of thecountry.

Sitharaman said the focus of themeasures announced on Wednesday is"getting back to work". The fiscal andpolicy support will enable employees andemployers, businesses, especially micro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),to get back to production and workersback to gainful employment, she said.

She said a Rs 3 lakh crore emergencyworking capital facility is provided tobusinesses in the form of term loans at aconcessional rate of interest. "This willbe available to units with up to Rs 25crore outstanding and turnover of up toRs 100 crore whose accounts arestandard. The units will not have to

provide any guarantee or collateral oftheir own," she said. The amount will be100% guaranteed by the federalgovernment benefiting more than 4.5million MSMEs, she added.

Besides, the government announcedfive other measures to support MSMEs -Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debt-basedscheme for stressed MSMEs, setting up aRs 50,000 crore 'fund of funds' with acorpus of Rs 10,000 crore, redefiningMSMEs to allow growth of units,disallowing global tenders up to Rs 200crore in all government purchases andproviding e-market linkage to boostsales.

In order to infuse liquidity in thesystem, particularly for small businessesand rural sector enterprises, thegovernment announced a Rs 30,000 crorespecial liquidity scheme for NBFCs,housing finance companies (HFC) andmicro-finance institutions (MFIs). Thescheme will allow investment in primaryand secondary market transactions ininvestment grade debt paper of NBFCs,HFCs and MFIs, which will be 100%

guaranteed by the Union government.Another, Rs 45,000 crore partial creditguarantee scheme is also planned tocover the borrowings of lower ratedNBFCs, HFCs and MFIs. Thegovernment will provide a 20% first losssovereign guarantee to public sectorbanks.

The MSME sector is, however, notenthused, said Vinod Kumar, thehonorary president at the India SMEForum. "There's nothing for unbankedMSMEs... Only 7% of MSMEs are usingbanking today. Those with no limits willclose down. All the guys who have limitshave already given collateral, so there'sno need for physical collateral guaranteeof the additional amount only. It's a nostarter. The fund of funds has alreadybeen around, the only hope is from theNPA [non-performing asset] and stressedfund... that too, lets see, how many banksroll that out."

Sitharaman also announced somereliefs to businesses and individualtaxpayers. Measures includedexpeditious refunds to charitable trusts,

non-corporate businesses,proprietorship, partnership, limitedliability partnership (LLP) andcooperatives.

She said the rates of tax deduction atsource (TDS) and tax collected at source(TCS) has now been reduced for all non-salaried payment by 25% of the specifiedrates for the remaining period of FY 2021,which will provide liquidity to the tune ofRs 50,000 crore. However, the tax liabilityremains the same.

In order to reduce tax complianceburdens, the due date of all returns forassessment year 2020-21 will be extendedto November 30, 2020, she said. The datefor making payment without additionalamount under the 'Vivad se Vishwas'scheme will be extended to December 31,2020.

Sitharaman extended the three-monthemployees provident fund (EPF) supportto small businesses and organisedworkers by another three months up toAugust 2020. The scheme provides forgovernment's contribution in 12% ofsalary each on behalf of both employerand employee to EPF in enterprisesemploying fewer than 100, with 90%earning less than Rs 15,000 a month. Thisinvolves 7.2 million employees and willbenefit them to the tune of about Rs 2,500crore.

Besides, she announced reduction instatutory provident fund contributions ofboth employers and employees (incompanies other than those benefitingfrom the other EPF incentive) to 10%each from 12% for all establishmentscovered by Employees Providend FundOrganisation (EPFO) for the next threemonths. "This will provide liquidity ofabout Rs 6,750 crore."

In order to provide relief to real estateprojects, state governments and realestate regulators are being advised toinvoke the force majeure clause, she said."The registration and completion date forall registered projects will be extended upto six months and may be furtherextended by another 3 months based onthe state's situation," she said.

Similarly, contractors involved inpublic sector projects have been givenadditional time. "All central agencies likeRailways, Ministry of Road Transportand Highways and CPWD will giveextension of up to 6 months forcompletion of contractual obligations,"she said.

DK Srivastava, chief policy adviser atconsultancy firm EY India, said, "Nearly30% of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimuluspackage envisaged in Prime Minister'sspeech, that is about Rs 6 lakh crores, hasbeen covered in today's FinanceMinister's briefing. The focus is largelyon the MSMEs who may be facingdifferent sets of issues."

"This package is based largely on creditguarantee provisions implying minimaldirect cost for the central exchequerwhich may be just a small fraction oftoday's package. Any additional costwould only be on account of defaults, theburden of which may arise only in futureyears. In the case of the power sector, theburden of bearing the default is in fact,on the state governments."

The five pillars of ‘AtmanirbharBharat’ are economy,infrastructure, system,demography and demand. Thespecial economic package thatwill serve as an important linkto the self-reliant IndiaCampaign. Nirmala Sitharaman, finance minister

17THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 FIGHTING COVID-19

RS 20 LAKH CRORE ECONOMIC PACKAGE

Rent, ration, free food for migrants inSitharaman’s 2nd economic package trancheNEW DELHI (TIP): In her second

press conference in as many days,Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanon Thursday (May 14) unveiled aneconomic package to help alleviate thedistress for small farmers, migrantworkers, small traders and self-employedpeople under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat(self-reliant)” campaign announced byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Moreover, migrant workers who do nothave either central or state PDS cardswould be given free food grain supply fornext two months at a cost of Rs 3,500crore, Sitharaman said. Sitharaman alsoannounced an affordable rental housingscheme for migrant workers besides a Rs5000 crore special credit facility fornearly 50 lakh street vendors even asCovid-19 push the nationwide tally closerto the 80,000 mark. The death toll crossed2,500, while more than 26,000 haverecovered so far.

Sitharaman on migrantworkers, urban poor

Maintaining that the governmentwas conscious of the plight ofmigrant workers, Sitharaman saidthe Centre would spend Rs 3,500crore on giving free food gain toeight crore migrant workers who donot have either central or state PDScards. “For non-card holders, theyshall be given 5 kg wheat/rice perperson and 1 kg chana perfamily/month for 2 months. PDSration cards to be made portable toallow migrant workers to use rationcards across states,” she said.Besides, Sitharaman alsoannounced the implementation of“One Nation One Ration Card”benefiting 67 crore people in 23states covering 83 per cent of PDSpopulation. “They will be coveredby national portability by August2020,” Sitharaman said.The Finance Minister also unveiledthe contours of a scheme foraffordable rental housing formigrant workers to provide ease ofliving by converting government-funded housing in cities intoAffordable Rental HousingComplexes (ARHC) under PPPmode through concessionaire .Maintaining that the governmentwas conscious of the plight ofmigrant workers, Sitharaman saidstates had been permitted to utiliseSDRF for setting up shelter formigrants and providing them foodand water. “We are conscious, weare attending to the migrants andgiving them in various differentways,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.The Finance Minister also said 7,200new self-help groups (SHGs) forurban poor had been formed duringthe last two months.

Sitharaman on farmers, tribalsUnderlining that there has been afocus on rural economy andfarmers since March-April inproviding liquidity, Sitharaman

said interest subvention andprompt repayment incentive oncrop loans due from March 1 hadbeen extended to May 31. “Today’sinitiatives focuses on migrantworkers, street vendors, smalltraders, the self-employed and smallfarmers. Three crore marginalfarmers have already availed Rs 4lakh crore of loans on concessionalrates,” Sitharaman said.Besides, Sitharaman said NABARDwould extend additional re-financesupport of Rs 30,000 crore for croploan requirement of Rural Co-operative banks and Regional RuralBanks. “This will help in post-harvest Rabi work and benefit 3crore farmers,” she said.For farmers not possessing a KisanCredit Card, the Finance Ministersaid Rs 2 lakh crore concessionalcredit for 2.5 crore farmers(fishermen, animal husbandryfarmers included) would beextended.To create job opportunities fortribals /adivasis, plans worth Rs6,000 crore to be approved shortlyunder Compensatory AfforestationManagement & Planning Authority

(CAMPA) Funds, Sitharaman said.

On middle income groupFor middle income group with Rs 6lakh to Rs 18 lakh annual income,Sitharaman announced anextension of the affordable housingscheme till March 2021. “For middleincome group with Rs 6 lakh to Rs18 lakh annual income. Creditlinked subsidy scheme foraffordable housing extended tillMarch 2021. Another 2.5 lakhfamilies will benefit. Expected togive a Rs 70,000 crore boost tohousing,” Sitharaman said.

On MNREGA, rural economyIn what signals the huge pent updemand and stress in rural India,Sitharaman said 2.33 crore wageseekers in 1,87 lakh grampanchayats had been enrolled underMGNREGA. “Rs 10,000 crore underMNREGA spent in just 43 days. Wehave already generated 14.62 croreperson-days of work till May 13,which is 40-50% more personsenrolled as compared to last May.Migrant workers going back to theirstates being actively enrolled,” she

said.Sitharaman also announced a 2 percent interest subvention on thesmallest category of loans givenunder the MUDRA scheme. “Asmuch as Rs 1,500 crore interestsubvention would be given forMUDRA-Shishu loans of up to Rs50,000,” she said.The main thrust of Wednesday’sannouncements was relief toMedium, Small and MicroEnterprises (MSMEs) in the form ofcredit guarantees to them.Sitharaman’s announcementsfollowed up on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s address onTuesday regarding a Rs 20-lakh-crore economic stimulus, almost 10per cent of the GDP, to cushion theimpact of Covid-19 and to beunveiled in a staggered manner.Besides MSMEs, the 16announcements in the first tranchecut across sectors that range fromNon Banking Finance Companies(NBFCs) to real estate and powerdistribution and the salaried, withthe overarching theme being ofliquidity infusion in an economythat has been battered by weeks-long lockdown to curb the spread ofnovel coronavirus.Apart from Sitharaman’s nearly Rs6 lakh crore worth of measuresannounced on Wednesday and thefiscal package of Rs 1.7 lakh crorein March, the Reserve Bank of Indiahas announced monetary stimulusmeasures totaling Rs 8.1 lakh crore.

Announces implementation of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ benefiting 67 cr people in 23 states covering 83% of PDS population

MAIN FEATURESSupport for migrants

For marginal labourers

Labour code changes Mudra-Sishuloans

For streetvendors’aid

Unveiling the measures,Sitharaman said the tranchehas total liquidity support ofRs 2.46-lakh crore andinvestment expectation of Rs 70,000 crore. She haddisclosed the first tranche onWednesday which providedsupport of Rs 5.94- lakhcrore for the economy.

18 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020BOLLYWOOD

Poonam Pandey booked forviolating lockdown norms

Model-actress Poonam Pandey was on Sundaybooked by Mumbai Police for violating thecoronavirus-induced lockdown norms, an

official said.An FIR was registered against Pandey and a person

accompanying her by the Marine Drive Police.She was found roaming in her high-end car at

Marine Drive without any reason, the police officialsaid.

“A case has been registered against Pandey and SamAhmad Bombay (46) under sections 269 (Negligent actlikely to spread infection of a disease dangerous tolife) and 188 (Disobedience of order duly promulgatedby public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) andunder provisions of the National Disaster Act,” seniorpolice inspector Mrityunjay Hiremath told PTI.

SUNNY LEONE FEELS LUCKY ASFANS SHOWER HER WITH

LOVE ON BIRTHDAYActor Sunny Leone turns a year

older today, and she isoverwhelmed with all the love

she has been getting from fans on herspecial day.

In a video message, Leone said, “Iwould like to thank everyone for all thebirthday wishes. I am such a lucky girlto get so much love from all of you. Iknow we are far apart and it is a reallytough time to be doing things. But, justknow that I love all of you and I hopeyou all get through this with a bigsmile.”

Sharing the video on Instagram, theRagini MMS 2 actor wrote, “Thank youso much for all the birthday wisheseveryone!! I am so lucky you are all apart of my life! Xoxo”.

Maniesh Paul shared a few photoswith Leone and wished her on herbirthday. “Happy birthday@sunnyleone ….you wonderfulsoul…stay blessed always… #mp #hdb#blessed,” he wrote along with thephotos. Sunny Leone is in the US withher family. A couple of days ago, the 39-year-old actor shared why she chose tofly to Los Angeles with her three kidsand husband Daniel Weber.

“I had the opportunity to take ourchildren where we felt they would besafer against this invisible killer‘corona virus’. Our home away fromhome and secret garden in LosAngeles,” Leone wrote in an Instagrampost.

KAREENA KAPOOR IS MISSING HERSHOPPING SPREES WITH SAIF

Actor Kareena Kapoor is diggingdeep into her style files forthrowback posts on Instagram.

On Saturday, she shared a stylishphoto of herself and husband Saif AliKhan from their time in Morocco.

The photo is from 11 years ago andshows Saif and Kareena struttingdown a sunny street in the Africancountry. "Saturday Mood: Morocco'09," she captioned the photo.Kareenais seen in a beige shirt dress with ahangbag on her arm and Saif lookshandsome in his purple shirt andwhite pants.

The two were in Morocco to shootfor their film Agent Vinod. Saif playsan R&AW agent in the film.

The couple's fans loved the stylishphoto. Kareena's sister and actorKarisma Kapoor wrote, "Love it." Afan wrote "SLAY ITTT."

On Friday, Kareena had sharedanother throwback photo of her team."The good old days... no socialdistancing only love. But for now... dogaj ki doori and stay home," she hadcaptioned the post.

Kareena, Saif and their son Taimurare currently in lockdown together attheir Mumbai home. Kareenarecently lost her uncle and veteran

actor Rishi Kapoor. She shared manythrowback photos of Rishi with thefamily.

Last week, she shared a childhood

photograph of her 'Chintu uncle'(Rishi) and also posted a video ofRishi with Saif, from their film HumTum.

URMILA MATONDKAR:THIS LOCKDOWN IS A

WAKE UP CALL

Everyone is adapting new ways to deal withthe Covid-19 situation. Actor UrmilaMatondkar, too, is indulging in whatever

keeps her in spirits high, however, she believesthat the lockdown must lead to a larger learningfor each and every person.

Matondkar, 46, along with her husband, MirMohsin Akhtar, is quarantining at their farmhouse near Mahabaleshwar. Apart from reading,the other things filling her heart are music,nature and yoga. “This is like a wake-up call to allof us. We’ve been exploiting nature every possibleway. Now it’s time to slow down,” says the actor,who has a huge library, and her pets for company.

The actor has even been trying to help those inneed. “The other day, a friend was worried abouther old parents who are in another part of the cityand urgently needed medicine. So, we took thehelp of police to ensure that medicine reachesthem on time. These things worry me. The plightof daily wagers, farmers, migrant workers…,”she adds.

Shirley is a fictional story based onthe novel of the same name bySusan Scarf Merrell, but it

features two real characters — famedhorror novelist Shirley Jackson andliterary critic husband Stanley EdgarHyman.

Jackson is best known for thecelebrated work of psychologicalhorror fiction, The Haunting of HillHouse, which has been adapted severaltimes and was recently adapted looselyby Mike Flanagan for a Netflix series.Stephen King called the novel one of thefinest horror novels of the late 20thcentury.

Elisabeth Moss plays the titularcharacter and Michael Stuhlbarg essaysthe role of Hyman. The film looks likean absolute blast. First off, Moss asJackson is pitch perfect casting. Shelooks the part, and she seems to bedoing a superlative job in bringing outthe author’s annoyance in a nuancedway despite the stolid exterior.

One thing is certain, this is notraditional biopic. The film had itsworld premiere at the Sundance FilmFestival in January and the reviews areglowing. It has scored a 97 per centrating at review aggregation site RottenTomatoes.

Josephine Decker has directed thefilm with a screenplay by SarahGubbins

Shirley will be out on June 5.

SHIRLEY TRAILER: ELISABETHMOSS LOOKS IMPECCABLE ASTHE CELEBRATED AUTHOR

AMERICA FERRERAGIVES BIRTH TOSECOND CHILD

Actor America Ferrera haswelcomed her second child, a babygirl, with director-husband Ryan

Piers Williams.The couple, who havenamed their little one Lucia, took toInstagram to share the news on Mother’sDay (May 10).

“LUCIA MARISOL WILLIAMS arrivedon May 4th to give me my Mother’s Dayhugs and kisses herself.

“Mama, Dada & Big Brother are overthe moon to welcome her bright light toour family,” Ferrera, 36, wrote alongside apicture of the newborn holding onto theactor’s hand.

Williams, 38, too shared the news,saying their daughter arrived just in timefor Mother’s Day.

“Everyone is healthy and happy!” hewrote. In her post, the Superstore star alsotalked about her Yes We Can MobileSchools initiative, which helps to provideeducation to pupils at the US-Mexicoborder. “Quarantine may have canceledher Baby Shower but it didn’t stop us fromcollecting and delivering essentialsupplies to #YesWeCanMobileSchools –spaces for moms and children at theborder to learn, play, and stay safethrough these hard times.,” she said.

Hollywood star Charlize Theron'smuch-awaited Netflix project, TheOld Guard will premiere on July

10. The 44-year-old actor shared the newsin a post on Twitter, sharing four stillsfrom the movie.

"@oldguardmovie @netflix July 10,"she wrote in the caption. Written anddirected by Gina Prince-Bythewood, thefilm is based on the comic book series ofthe same name by Greg Rucka.

The story is about on a small group ofimmortal soldiers, led by a womannamed Andy, who have been working asmercenaries for centuries. But the groupgets a shock when they find a newimmortal woman, not long after theydiscover an evil group has video evidenceof their immortality.

Besides Theron, The Old Guard alsofeatures Kiki Layne, Marwan Kenzari,Luca Marinelli, Harry Melling, VanVeronica Ngo, Matthias Schoenaerts, andChiwetel Ejiofor.

Theron has also produced the projectthrough her company Denver andDelilah, alongside Skydance’s DavidEllison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger.

19THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 HOLLYWOOD

THE OLD GUARD: CHARLIZETHERON’S NETFLIX FILM

GETS JULY 10 RELEASE DATE

BEN AFFLECK AND ANA DEARMAS WEAR MATCHING

HEART NECKLACESActors Ben Affleck

and girlfriend Anade Armas have

displayed their affection foreach other by wearingpendants in the shape ofhalf of a heart.

The 'Knives Out' actresswas photographed in Aprilwearing her heart necklacewhile out for a stroll withAffleck in Los Angeles. Asfor Affleck, his necklacewas visible when the'Batman' star arrived tomeet de Armas in Venice,California, on Friday.

It was confirmed in March that the couple are dating after the pair were seenvacationing together in Costa Rica and Cuba. A source had said in April that the twoare smitten with each other.

"Ben is very supportive of Ana and tells her how amazing she is," the source saidat the time.

"Ana's friends are constantly telling her how lucky she is to have Ben and think heis so charming, cool and fun. They're so happy for her."

The couple, who met while shooting for their movie "Deep Water" in 2019, havebeen enjoying their time together despite the coronavirus quarantine.

Affleck and the "No Time to Die" star have frequently been photographed takingwalks together throughout their neighbourhood.

"Ana and Ben are so in love and they are just enjoying the moment and arequarantined together and happy," the source added.

By Mabel Pais

"All of the world needs healingright now….'We Are One: A Global FilmFestival' unites curators, artistsand storytellers to entertain andprovide relief to audiencesworldwide."- Jane Rosenthal,Tribeca Enterprises & TribecaFilm Festival,Co-Founder - CEO.

"It's an event that's never beendone before and we're proud to bethe home for this fantasticcontent that is free to fans aroundthe world."- Robert Kyncl, ChiefBusiness Officer - YouTube"We Are One: A Global Film Festival"

May 29 - June 7

on YouTube.com/WeAreOne

"WE ARE ONE: A Global FilmFestival," a collaboration of TribecaEnterprises and YouTube, will presentan unprecedented 10-day digital filmfestival exclusively on YouTube,bringing together an international

community of storytellers to presentfestival programming free to audiencesaround the world.

Set to begin on May 29 onYouTube.com/WeAreOne, the festivalwill feature programming curated by theMumbai Film Festival (MAMI), TribecaFilm Festival, Annecy InternationalAnimation Film Festival, BerlinInternational Film Festival, BFI LondonFilm Festival, Cannes Film Festival, NewYork Film Festival, Sundance FilmFestival, Sydney Film Festival, TokyoInternational Film Festival, TorontoInternational Film Festival, and manymore, immersing audiences in storiesfrom around the world and providing avoice for filmmakers on a global stage.

At a time when the world needs it most,the belief that artists and creators havethe power to bring people together andcreate meaningful connections, is core tothe DNA of film festivals. Through "WeAre One: A Global Film Festival,"audiences will not only get a peek intodifferent cultures through a new lens,they'll be able to support localcommunities by directly donating toorganizations helping the relief effortsfor those affected by COVID-19. Thefestival will benefit the World HealthOrganization (WHO), as well as localrelief partners in each region.

"All of the world needs healing rightnow," said Tribeca Enterprises andTribeca Film Festival Co-Founder andCEO Jane Rosenthal. "'We Are One: AGlobal Film Festival' unites curators,artists and storytellers to entertain andprovide relief to audiences worldwide. Inworking with our extraordinary festivalpartners and YouTube we hope thateveryone gets a taste of what makes eachfestival so unique and appreciates the artand power of film."

"One of the most unique and inspiringaspects of the world staying home is ourability to come together and experiencean event as one, and 'We Are One: AGlobal Film Festival' is just that," saidRobert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer,YouTube. "Along with TribecaEnterprises and our incredible partners,we are bringing fans the opportunity toexperience the curated programmingeach of these festivals provides as part ofour ten-day long event. It's an event that'snever been done before and we're proudto be the home for this fantastic contentthat is free to fans around the world."

"WE ARE ONE: A Global FilmFestival" runs from May 29 - June 7 onYouTube.com/WeAreOne. Programmingwill be available for free, and will includefilms, shorts, documentaries, music,comedy, and conversations. A full

schedule will be available closer to thefestival start date.

About Tribeca EnterprisesTribeca Enterprises is a multi-

platform storytelling company,established in 2003 by Robert De Niro andJane Rosenthal. Tribeca provides artistswith unique platforms to expand theaudience for their work and broadensconsumer access to experiencestorytelling, independent film, andmedia. The company operates a networkof entertainment businesses includingthe Tribeca Film Festival; the TribecaTV Festival; and its brandedentertainment production arm, TribecaStudios.

About YouTubeLaunched in May 2005, YouTube allows

billions of people to discover, watch, andshare originally created videos. YouTubeprovides a forum for people to connect,inform, and inspire others across theglobe and acts as a distribution platformfor original content creators andadvertisers large and small. YouTube is aGoogle company.

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts andEntertainment, Social Issues, Health &

Wellness, and Spirituality)

20 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020FILM FESTIVAL

ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE MUNDHRA-KHAN FILM PREMIERS

By Mabel PaisACADEMY AWARD® Nominee "ST. LOUISSUPERMAN"premieres Monday, May 18 across MTV, VH1and MTV2 via MTV Documentary Films

Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan are co-directorsand co-producers of the Academy Award®nominated "St. Louis Superman." The film will

premiere on Monday, May 18th at 9PM ET/PT acrossMTV, VH1 and MTV2 via MTV Documentary Films. "St.Louis Superman" was 1st screened at the Tribeca FilmFestival 2019 (TFF2019).

The critically acclaimed film is now also co-producedby Al Jazeera Witness and Poh Si Teng.

The award-winning film directed by Smriti Mundhraand Sami Khan, tells the story of Representative BruceFranks Jr., a Ferguson activist and battle rapper whowas elected to the overwhelmingly white andRepublican Missouri House of Representatives.

Known as "Superman" to his constituents, Franks Jr.cuts a unique figure - an unorthodox politician who hasovercome a tremendous loss to become one of the mostdynamic and unapologetic young leaders in thecountry. Forced to deal with the trauma he's beencarrying for nearly 30 years after witnessing theshooting death of his nine-year-old brother, the filmchronicles his work toward overcoming both personaltrauma and political obstacles in an effort to pass a billthat is critical to his community. Only by confrontinghis pain can Franks Jr. find peace and truly fulfill his

destiny as a leader.The film won the jury prize for Best Documentary

Short at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, theAudience Award for Best Short at Hot Docs CanadianInternational Documentary Festival, the AudienceAward for Best Short at the American Film Institute(AFI) Docs and the Special Jury Mention at TribecaFilm Festival. "St. Louis Superman" is produced byMundhra, Khan and Poh Si Teng and executiveproduced by Sheila Nevins and Fiona Lawson-Baker.

About Bruce Franks Jr.Bruce Franks Jr. is an American politician and

community activist. He served in the Missouri Houseof Representatives representing the 78th District andserved as the Chairman of the Subcommittee onPolice/Community Relations before resigning in 2019.A St. Louis native, Franks Jr. is also a world-renownedbattle rapper known as "Ooops" as well as a small

business owner. Today, he works with the CommunityJustice Action Fund, which holds elected officials andcommunity leaders accountable for ending gunviolence in communities of color across the nation.

About MTV StudiosMusic Television (MTV) Studios is a unit of MTV

focused on developing content for Subscription Videoon Demand (SVOD) and linear distribution platforms.With access to one of the largest libraries of 200+ youthand music titles, MTV Studios was created to harnessthe power of MTV, create new franchises andreimagine its most iconic hits including "The RealWorld" for Facebook Watch as well as "Punk'd" and"Singled Out" for Quibi. Additionally, MTV Studioslaunched MTV Documentary Films to explore thesocial, political and cultural trends and storiesimportant to young people.

About Al Jazeera English (AJE) - Witness"St. Louis Superman" is an Al Jazeera original

documentary from AJE Witness, an award-winningdocumentary strand of Al Jazeera English. AJEWitness celebrates independent filmmaking andstories challenging dominant views that reflect thehuman experience. AJE provides international news,current affairs and documentaries that places people atthe heart of the story, rooted in the belief that everyonehas a story worth hearing. The AJE Witness team isproud to have the opportunity to work with filmprotagonist Bruce Franks Jr., and award-winningdirectors, Smriti Mundhra & Sami Khan.

Bruce Franks, Jr. with brother Photo / Courtesy TFF2019

Mumbai film fest immerses stay-at-homeaudiences in ‘we are one’

Fever, cough and shortness ofbreath are not the only warningsigns of a coronavirus infection,

even if they are the most common. Inrecent weeks, a growing number ofdoctors have documented a handful ofotherwise unexpected symptoms inpatients with COVID-19, the illnesscaused by the coronavirus.

Some are reporting red or purplelesions on patients' hands and feet;others are treating people withdiarrhea and severe appetite loss. Thereare also patients who have lost theirsense of taste and smell. Thesesymptoms, strange as they may seem,reinforce what experts around theworld have come to realize in recentweeks: The coronavirus is capable ofcausing more than a respiratory illness;it can launch a full-body attack.

"It takes a while for the full range ofsymptoms to kind of be known" whenyou're dealing with a new virus,explains Lisa Winston, M.D., anepidemiologist and professor of clinicalmedicine at the University ofCalifornia, San Francisco. At the startof the U.S. outbreak, the focus wasprimarily on treating the sickestpatients, many of whom experiencedclassic respiratory symptoms andneeded help breathing. "And then, astime went on and people saw morecases, they started to recognize some ofthe things that are a bit less typical,"Winston says.

Here are some uncommon signsof COVID-19 that fall outside thehallmark symptoms.'COVID toes'

If you had asked dermatologistEsther Freeman, M.D., last year whattype of skin ailment a future viralpandemic might bring about, she neverwould have predicted red- and purple-colored toes that swell, burn and itch.But that's exactly what she and otherexperts are seeing in patients withcoronavirus infections, leading thisunusual symptom to be dubbed "COVIDtoes."

"The good news is, they do go away,"says Freeman, director ofMassachusetts General Hospital GlobalHealth Dermatology and assistantprofessor of dermatology at HarvardMedical School, who is also overseeingan international registry that catalogsthe dermatological manifestations ofCOVID-19. "So, we're not seeing that thisis going to cause permanent damage."

Another plus: The majority of peoplewith COVID toes - which Freemanlikens to chilblains (also called pernio),an inflammatory skin condition thatoften occurs after exposure to very cold

temperatures - don't experience othersymptoms of a coronavirus infectionand don't require hospitalization forcare. "Many patients are developingthese toe lesions well after theirinfection, or they're otherwisecompletely asymptomatic, except forthe toes," she adds.

Though most cases of COVID toesoccur in the feet, the hands can beaffected, too. Rashes similar to thosethat result from hives and chicken poxhave also been reported in people whotest positive for the coronavirus.

As for how and why these skinconditions are happening, Freemansays, "Our knowledge on this is stillevolving." It could be an inflammatoryresponse to the virus, for example, oreven a result of small blood clots in theblood vessels of the skin. (Medicalexperts have reported concerningclotting issues in patients with COVID-19.) "I think that over the comingmonths, we're going to learn a lot moreabout why this is happening," Freemanadds.

If you notice a lesion like rash onyour hands or feet, contact your doctoror dermatologist about your symptoms,since it could signify a coronavirusinfection. That said, it's important tokeep in mind that "not everything onyour toes right now is from COVID,"Freeman says. "There's certainly lots ofother things that can appear on the feet,and there's things that can even looksimilar," which is why it's important totalk with an expert. There is no specifictreatment for COVID toes, but a high-potency topical steroid might reduceinflammation.

One thing to note, however, is that adoctor won't be able to tell if the virus isstill active in your body just by lookingat your skin. "So, the safest thing to dois to follow CDC guidelines for self-isolation and to discuss with yourboard-certified dermatologist or otherphysician whether COVID testingmight be right for you," Freemanadvises.

Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting andsevere appetite loss

COVID-19 is producing symptoms ofdiarrhea, nausea, vomiting andappetite loss in a number of patientsyoung and old. A recent study out ofStanford University School of Medicinefound that nearly one-third of 116patients infected with the coronavirusreported mild gastrointestinal (GI)symptoms. Earlier reports showed thatamong roughly 200 patients in China,more than half experienced diarrhea,nausea or vomiting. The Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC)has also acknowledged GI issues on itslist of COVID-19 warning signs.

"There's no question at this point thatGI symptoms can be a manifestation ofCOVID-19," says William Chey, M.D.,professor of gastroenterology andnutrition sciences at the University ofMichigan. And oftentimes thesesymptoms can come on even in the

absence of "the more typical andrecognized" markers of a coronavirusinfection, such as fever and cough, headds.

Experts point to a few explanationsfor the tummy trouble. Chey says thevirus can directly infect the cells thatline the GI tract, which is why somepatients can test positive for the viruswith a stool sample, even if results froma nasal swab come back negative. GIissues could also be an indirect result ofthe body's fight against infection.

If you don't have a history of GItrouble and experience a sudden onsetof diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or loss ofappetite - with or without other COVID-19 symptoms - check in with yourdoctor. Your symptoms might warrant acoronavirus test.

And if you are diagnosed withCOVID-19, consider confining yourselfto your own room and bathroom,separate from others in your house.Chey says it's not yet clear whether thevirus can be transmitted fecal-orally,but if that is the case, "you should notbe sharing a toilet with somebody thathas COVID-19 unless, obviously, youhave no other choice."

A few other tips: Disinfect bathroomsurfaces often, especially high-touchareas such as toilet and sink handles.Don't share toilet paper rolls withsomeone who has COVID-19, and alwaysflush with the cover closed, to minimizethe spread of germs. Finally, continueto be vigilant about personal hygiene."This whole issue about meticuloushand hygiene is so unbelievablyimportant," especially if the virus isspread by the fecal-oral route, Cheyemphasizes. "People need to wash theirhands and not touch their face."

Loss of taste or smellOn the CDC's recently expanded list

of common COVID-19 symptoms, onenewcomer stands out. In addition tofever, chills and a sore throat, the publichealth agency now recognizes new lossof taste or smell as evidence of acoronavirus infection.

"People who have colds, if they get areally stuffy nose, they may complain oflack of smell, but, you know, that's sortof an unusual [symptom] right now inthe absence of COVID," UCSF's Winstonsays. But it may be one of the bestindicators of a coronavirus infection.

A new study published in the journalNature Medicine tracked more than 2.5million participants who reported theirpotential symptoms of COVID-19 on asmartphone app. About 65 percent ofpeople who tested positive for COVID-19reported loss of taste and smell, makingit one of the strongest predictors of theillness among those studied. Similarly,researchers from the University ofCalifornia, San Diego, found that smelland taste loss were reported in 68 and 71percent of COVID-19-positive subjects,respectively.

"But we don't always ask thosequestions [about loss of taste or smell]when we are in the busy emergency

room," says XinQi Dong, M.D., directorof the Institute for Health, Health CarePolicy and Aging Research at RutgersUniversity-New Brunswick. Whentriaging patients, many health careworkers "have been focused on theprimary symptoms that they know toask."

Neurological effects complicatediagnosis in older victims

This is starting to change, though.Loss of taste and smell, which usuallyreturn after the virus runs its course,are two symptoms on a growing list ofneurological effects doctors are notingin COVID-19 patients. Other indicatorsof the illness include dizziness,headache and confusion. In fact, a studyin JAMA Neurology found that morethan 36 percent of 214 patients inWuhan, China, experiencedneurological symptoms during theirbout of COVID-19.

For older adults, in particular, theseneurological effects can be just asdevastating as the pulmonary impactsof a coronavirus infection, Dong says.They can also be easily overlooked ordismissed as dementia or other diseasescommon with aging.

Neal Sikka, M.D., an associateprofessor of emergency medicine atGeorge Washington University inWashington, D.C., says broadercoronavirus testing is key todistinguishing COVID-19 patients fromthose who are suffering from a stroke orexperiencing a complication from anunderlying health condition.

"We're trying to be very vigilant andbroad in our thinking" when a patientcomes into the emergency room withconfusion or change in mental status,Sikka says. "That could be some othertype of infection; it definitely could alsobe a presentation of COVID. And so, weare trying to do rapid testing on thosepatients to identify them early."

And this catchall approach is whatDong expects will become the normgoing forward, especially as health careproviders learn about the differentways a coronavirus infection can showup in the body.

"You know, we started by thinkingabout COVID as very similar to SARS[severe acute respiratory syndrome]and MERS [Middle East respiratorysyndrome]," which are two otherrespiratory illnesses caused bycoronaviruses. "But this - there'ssomething different about this virus,"Dong says. "We're catching up now, butif we had focused on not just fever,shortness of breath and dry cough, Ithink we might have caught morepotential symptoms much earlier,especially in vulnerable older adults."

(Rachel Nania is a reporter and editor,covering lifestyle, food, health, travel and

parenting)

(Courtesy AARP)

21THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 CORONAVIRUS

From nose to toes, doctors continue to discoveruncommon signs of coronavirus infection

By Rachel Nania, AARP

22 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020WORLD

Brazil registers record13,944 new

coronavirus casesRIO DE JANEIRO (TIP): Brazil

registered a daily record 13,944 newcases of the novel coronavirus onThursday and 844 additional deaths,according to health ministry data.

Brazil has now tallied 202,918confirmed cases of the virus since theoutbreak began and 13,933 deaths. —Reuters

Virus vaccine possiblein a year, says EU

agencyAMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS (TIP):

A vaccine to counter the newcoronavirus could be approved inabout a year in an "optimistic"scenario, an agency which approvesmedicines for the European Union saidon Thursday.

Britain is in talks with Swissdrugmaker Roche Holding AG to buyan accurate COVID-19 antibody test,following the lead of the EuropeanUnion and United States, which hadalready given preliminary approval tothe tests. Mass antibody testing withmillions of kits is being considered bymany countries as a way to speed thereopening of economies devastated bythe lockdowns and to introduce moresocial distancing measures. A PublicHealth England laboratory concludedon May 7 that the Roche test detectedthe exact antibodies prompted by thevirus, but the findings were madepublic on Wednesday.

As the world rushes to develop avaccine, the European Union, hard hitby Covid-19, fears it may not havesufficient supplies, especially if avaccine were developed in the US orChina.

The European Medicines Agency, incommunication with 33 developers,was doing all it could to speed up theapproval process, the EMA's head ofvaccines, Marco Cavaleri, said, but hewas sceptical of claims any could beready by September.

“For vaccines, since thedevelopment has to start fromscratch...we might look from anoptimistic side in a year from now, sobeginning of 2021,” he said.

He ruled out the possibility ofskipping the third phase of a vaccinetrial, which he said would be needed tobe sure a vaccine was safe andeffective.

The EMA is also looking at 115different therapeutics, or treatments,for the coronavirus. Cavaleri saidsome of those therapeutics could beapproved in Europe as early as thissummer.

“If a vaccine is first developedoutside Europe, we must do everythingpossible to ensure that the vaccine isactually available to all countries,"said Peter Liese, who is a prominentmember of Germany's ChristianDemocratic Union (CDU) party, thesame as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s.—Reuters

AMAZON COULD BE NEXTVIRUS HOT ZONE: SCIENTIST

SAO PAULO (TIP): The nextpandemic could come from the Amazonrainforest, warns Brazilian ecologistDavid Lapola, who says humanencroachment on animals' habitats — alikely culprit in the coronavirusoutbreak — is soaring there because oframpant deforestation.

Researchers say the urbanization ofonce-wild areas contributes to theemergence of zoonotic diseases — thosethat pass from animals to humans.

That includes the new coronavirus,which scientists believe originated inbats before passing to humans in China'srapidly urbanizing Hubei province,probably via a third species.

Lapola, 38, who studies how humanactivity will reshape the futureecosystems of tropical forests, says thesame processes are in play in theAmazon.

"The Amazon is a huge reservoir ofviruses," he told AFP in an interview.

"We'd better not try our luck."The world's biggest rainforest is

disappearing at an alarming rate.Last year, in far-right President Jair

Bolsonaro's first year in office,deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonsurged 85 percent, to more than 10,000square kilometers — an area nearly thesize of Lebanon.

The trend is continuing this year.From January to April, 1,202 squarekilometers were wiped out, setting a newrecord for the first four months of theyear, according to data based on satelliteimages from Brazil's National SpaceResearch Institute (INPE).

That is bad news, not just for the

planet but for human health, saidLapola, who holds a PhD in earth systemmodeling from the Max Planck Institutesin Germany and works at the Universityof Campinas in Brazil.

"When you create ecologicaldisequilibrium... that's when a virus canjump" from animals to humans, he said.

HIV, Ebola, dengueSimilar patterns can be seen with HIV,

Ebola and dengue fever — "all virusesthat emerged or spread on a huge scalebecause of ecological imbalances," hesaid.

So far, most such outbreaks have beenconcentrated in South Asia and Africa,often linked to certain species of bats.

But the Amazon's immensebiodiversity could make the region "theworld's biggest coronavirus pool," hesaid — referring to coronaviruses ingeneral, not the one behind the currentpandemic.

"That's one more reason not to use theAmazon irrationally, like we're doing

now," he said.And one more reason to be alarmed by

the surge in deforestation by illegalfarmers, miners and loggers, he added.

Bolsonaro, a climate-change skepticwho wants to open protected indigenouslands to mining and agriculture,deployed the army to the Amazon thisweek to fight deforestation, in a rareprotective move.

But Lapola said he would rather seethe government reinforce the existingenvironmental agency, IBAMA, whichhas faced staffing and budget cuts underBolsonaro.

"I hope under the next administrationwe'll pay more attention to protectingwhat may be the planet's greatestbiological treasure," Lapola said.

"We need to reinvent the relationshipbetween our society and the rainforest."

Otherwise, the world faces moreoutbreaks — "a very complex processthat is difficult to predict," he said.

"We'd better just play it safe." — AFP

Canada likely to extend travelrestrictions until June 21

OTTAWA/WASHINGTON (TIP):

Canada and the United States appearlikely to extend a ban on non-essentialtravel until June 21 amid the novelcoronavirus pandemic, a Canadiangovernment source and a top US officialsaid on Wednesday.

The two neighbours had agreed onApril 18 to extend border restrictionsuntil May 21 as cases of the diseasecontinued to rise in both nations. Canadais now pressing for the measures toremain for another month.

"It's too early to lift the restrictions, sowe're working toward an extension," saidone Canadian government source,describing the talks with Washington aspositive.

Chad Wolf, acting US Department ofHomeland Security secretary, said lateron Wednesday that restrictions acrossthe borders with Canada and Mexicowould likely be extended.

Speaking to reporters in San Diego,Wolf said officials from Canada andMexico were willing to continue the

measures “at least in the short term.”Separately, a Mexican government

source said an extension for a limitedperiod seemed likely.

On Tuesday, the chief Canadian publichealth officer said the United States —where cases are increasing steadily —presented a risk.

News of the request for a 30-dayextension was first reported by Canada'sGlobe and Mail newspaper.

The agreement allows the flow ofgoods across a border that stretches 5,525miles (8,891 km) and is a crossing pointfor one of the world's largest bilateral

trading relationships.The United States takes 75% of all

Canadian goods exports.The total Canadian death toll edged up

by just over 3% to 5,209 from 5,049 onTuesday, official data showed onWednesday.

The data are another sign the outbreakin Canada is slowing whereas thesituation in parts of the United States ismore challenging.

The Canadian provinces of Ontarioand Quebec neighbour the state of NewYork, a US epicenter of the disease.Canadian officials have been repeatedlypressed about the potential risk posed byarriving truck drivers.

Theresa Tam, Canada's chief publichealth officer, said on Tuesday thecoronavirus "could take off rapidly"unless extreme caution was exercisedabout relaxing the ban.

"The United States being one countrythat still has cases and is still trying tomanage outbreaks ... presents a risk toCanada from that perspective." Reuters

Prime Minister JustinTrudeau said talks aboutthe border "are going well

and we're confidentabout being able to

continue to keepCanadians safe."

23THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 WORLD

Japan expected to liftemergency in mostareas except Tokyo

TOKYO (TIP): Japan is expected tolift a state of emergency across a largepart of the country on Thursday butthe capital Tokyo will likely remainunder restrictions until there is aconvincing containment of thecoronavirus.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe isscheduled to hold a news conference at6 p.m. (0900 GMT) when he is expectedto announce the lifting of theemergency in 39 of Japan’s 47prefectures, but not in Tokyo.

The world’s third-largest economydeclared a nationwide state ofemergency a month ago, urgingcitizens to reduce person-to-personcontact by 80% in an effort to slow thepace of new coronavirus infectionsand ease the strain on medicalservices.

The government had said it wouldreassess the situation in mid-May.

Abe, like leaders everywhere, isstriving to strike a balance betweendamage to the economy fromprolonged shutdowns and the need tocontain the virus.

Economists said normalisationwould be gradual as the governmentkeeps a wary eye on the possibility of asecond wave of infections as seen incountries such as South Korea andChina.

“The focus is whether thegovernment will lift the emergency inthe big areas such as Tokyo and Osakabefore the end of May, as was initiallyplanned,” said Atsushi Takeda, chiefeconomist at Itochu ResearchInstitute.

“If it does, economic recovery willlikely be faster than previouslyestimated.”

The emergency gives governorsmore authority to tell people to stay athome and to close schools andbusinesses, but there is no penalty fornon-compliance.

Some non-essential businesses, evenin areas hit hard by the coronavirus,have started to reopen ahead of thegovernment’s review, and the scope ofrestrictions has varied across thecountry.

The emergency is also expected toremain in force in Osaka, Japan’ssecond-largest metropolis, but itsgovernor has announced criteria forgradually lifting some restraints onbusinesses including eateries andbars. The 39 prefectures in which theemergency is expected to be liftedaccount for 54% of Japan’s population.

The greater Tokyo area, where theemergency is expected to remain inforce, represents about a third of theeconomy.

“Tokyo is the heart of the Japaneseeconomy. It’s like driving a car withthree wheels,” said Jesper Koll, chiefexecutive of asset managerWisdomTree Japan. The governmentis set to add four economists to itsadvisory panel for combating theepidemic and another review will beconducted again in about a week.Reuters

New Zealand unveils NZ$50 billionCOVID-19 recovery plan

WELLINGTON (TIP): New Zealandunveiled a record NZ$50 billion ($30billion) spending package on Thursdayto revive an economy hit by thecoronavirus pandemic, but warned itmay not be enough to stop thousandsfrom losing jobs and businessesshutting.

The massive budget stimulus, whichincludes billions on infrastructure,healthcare, housing and wage subsidyschemes, sets the stage for PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern’s re-electioncampaign, as her centre-left governmentseeks to consolidate support ahead ofthe September poll.

Ardern said the priority was to stopmassive unemployment and describedthe package as a “jobs” budget.

The NZ$50 billion will be spent over afour-year forecast period and is morethan any New Zealand government hasever spent in one budget.

“Nothing about this time in ourhistory is usual and so neither shouldour response be,” Ardern toldlawmakers in a speech to parliament.

Economic forecasts released with thebudget cast a grim picture for the yearsahead, with unemployment seen spikingto nearly 10% by June from 4%currently.

The dark outlook comes asneighbouring Australia on Thursdayreported record monthly jobs losses ofabout 600,000 in April.

New Zealand’s spending means debtprojections balloon to NZ$200 billion for2024, from NZ$76 billion in December’sforecasts. The operating deficit for fiscalyear ending June 2020 is now expected tobe 9.6% of gross domestic product, wellup on the 0.3% forecast in December.The deficit is expected to average 9.3%over the next two years.

“There will be a sharp fall in economicactivity and a substantial rise inunemployment,” Finance Minister

Grant Robertson said in his speech.GDP for 2020 was seen shrinking 4.6%

but gradually recovering by 2022.“Today’s budget delivered an

economic support package that was evenmore massive than expected, anextraordinary response toextraordinary times,” said MichaelGordon, a Senior Economist at Westpac.

Recovery expectedRatings firm S&P said in a note the

budget indicated a significant hit to NewZealand’s finances in the next couple ofyears before slowly recovering.

“We expect New Zealand’s economy torecover faster than the budget assumes,aided by the quicker easing of lockdownrestrictions than assumed in thebudget,” the agency said.

Robertson said the measures willbring unemployment rate back to itscurrent level of 4.2% by June 2022. Heestimated the package would save140,000 jobs over two years.

Prime Minister Ardern has garneredglobal praise for her leadership amid thepandemic, with the country recordingonly 21 deaths from coronavirus, among

the lowest tolls in the world.But she faces a tough task rebooting

the $200 billion economy, which isdependent on trade and tourism, withgrowth expected to slow significantlyand hundreds of thousands of jobs to belost.

She eased some tough lockdownmeasures this week amid growingpressure from critics who said they werecrippling small businesses and hurtingthe economy. The main oppositionNational Party slammed the budget,saying it lacked any detail of how moneywould be spent and what it will achieve.

“Kiwis have sacrificed so muchthrough the restrictions of thelockdown, our collective efforts have sofar worked well, now we need to get oureconomy cranking again,” oppositionleader Simon Bridges said.

The government said it would build8,000 new homes to support theconstruction sector, and create 11,000jobs in environmental projects. It plansto spend NZ$4 billion on supportingbusinesses and extended its currentwage subsidy scheme for another eightweeks. Reuters

China reports 15 new COVID-19cases, Wuhan begins mass testing

BEIJING/WUHAN (TIP): China hasreported 15 new COVID-19 cases,including 12 asymptomatic infections,the health authorities said on Thursday,as the mass testing for the deadlycoronavirus began for the 11 millionpeople in the city of Wuhan, amidapprehensions about a second wave ofthe pandemic.

According to China’s National HealthCommission (NHC), the three new casesare domestically transmitted, with tworeported in Liaoning province and one inJilin province.

As of Wednesday, the overallconfirmed cases on the mainland hadreached 82,929, including 101 patientswho were still being treated. Overall, thedeath toll in China stood at 4,633, the

NHC said.Following a spike in cases, officials in

Jilin city of the northeast China’s Jilinprovince have adopted a number of morestringent measures to curb the spread ofCOVID-19.

Gai Dongping, vice-mayor of Jilin, toldreporters on Wednesday that the city hadreported a total of 21 community cases,with two asymptomatic patients, sincethe first cluster infection was reported aweek ago.

“The current outbreak is very seriousand complex and poses a major risk offurther spread. In order to prevent andstem the spread of the epidemic, theJilin epidemic prevention and controlgroup has decided to implement controlmeasures in the urban area of Jilin,” she

was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The NHC said that 712 people withasymptomatic infections were undermedical observation. This included 574in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan.

The local health commission in Wuhansaid no new confirmed case ofcoronavirus was reported on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Wuhan began a massivecampaign on Wednesday to test all of itsover 11 million people.

The tests to be completed by May 20began as a top health official warnedthat China’s risk of COVID-19 clusterinfections caused by the sporadic casescannot be ignored, although theepidemic is in a generally stable state inthe country at the moment. PTI

24 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020WOMEN

FACE PACKS TO GET RID OF SUN TAN

Lamb KoftaIngredients

Minced lamb - 250 gmsBreadcrumbs - 1/2 cupOnion - 1, small, finely choppedEgg - 1, beatenMint leaves - handful, finely choppedCoriander leaves - handful, finely choppedCinnamon powder - 1 tspCardamom powder - 1 tspCumin powder - 1 tspRed chilli powder - 1/2 tspTurmeric powder - 1 tspSalt as per tasteBlack pepper powder as per tasteWooden skewers - few, soaked in cold water for 30 minutesOlive oil - littleOptional ingredients:Ginger garlic aste - 1 tspRed chilli flakes - 1/4 tsp

Method1. Combine the minced lamb and breadcrumbs in a bowl.2. Mix well.3. Add the onions, mint leaves, coriander leaves,

cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, cumin powder,red chilli powder and turmeric powder.

4. Sprinkle some salt and pepper powder.5. Mix well.6. Add the egg and mix again until all ingredients are

evenly combined.7. Make small balls of the mixture and insert a skewer

into the center.8. Gently press the mixture around the skewer and keep

aside.9. Heat a grill pan over medium flame.10. Add some olive oil and grill the prepared koftas until

golden brown on all sides.11. Remove and serve with naan/parathas and lemon

wedges.

HOMEMADE TONICS FOR HAIR GROWTH

Our hair is our crown, andmost of us are very touchyabout it as well. Hair fall,

hair loss, white hair, dry hair, toooil, well all these are issues withdifferent people. If we are happywith our hair then too we have tomaintain it to keep them like that.Here, particularly if you have hairgrowth issues then there are sometonics as I call them or juices thatwill help majorly when it comes tothe hair problem.

Potato JuiceNot just for hair, but juice of

fruits and vegetables are good forthe overall human body. The juice ofpotatoes has vitamin C, zinc, betacarotene, iron and phosphorus,which keeps the hair healthy bynourishing the cells in our scalp.Potato also helps in keeping the pHlevel balanced and preventsdandruff. It also stops hair loss.

Method: Cut the peeled potato into

small slices and put them in ablender.

Now add some water to it andblend to make the juice.

Strain the potatoes in a glassand drink immediately.

Amla JuiceAmla juice is the best medicine

for your hair. It is excellent for yourscalp and hair. Indian gooseberryjuice is well known for being rich invitamin C and for being a naturalantioxidant. It fights free radicalsand can prevent hair loss quite fast.Not just this, it is very good for theprevention of premature greying.Have the juice every day as it alsohas anti-microbial properties thatprevent yeast infection anddandruff. Here we are telling youhow to make this juice.

Method Wash the amla properly and

chop into small pieces.

Blend the pieces in the blenderwith some water and thenstrain it into a glass.

You can add some honey toreduce the acidity.

Carrot JuiceCarrot juice is full of many

nutrients, which are crucial for hairgrowth. The juice of carrots havehigh amounts of antioxidantswhich are known as carotenoids.They reduce the oxidative damageof the cells of the head. Carrot juicehas vitamins present that preventshair loss by curing dry anddamaged hair. It hydrates the hairand makes it soft. The biotin in itprepares keratin to prevent hairloss.

Method Peel the carrots properly and

wash and cut into pieces.

Blend it in a jar and put somewater in it to make a juice.

Now filter the juice and drinkit.

FOOD CORNER

It's blazing hot in Chennai. Despite the heat we haveto step out for work and for other activities. It isnatural that our skin would get tanned when

exposed to this scorching heat. Apart from applyingsunscreen lotion you can also try out these face packs tohelp remove the tan. City-based skin care expertVasundhra Ravi gives us six homemade face packs thatwill keep your skin looking fresh this summer.

Barley packGrind 30 grams of barley with 20 grams of khus khus.

Mix this powder with five drops of lemon juice and afew drops of rose water to make a smooth paste. Applythis paste on the exposed areas. Leave the pack on forhalf-anhour and wash your face with cold water.

Dal packTake two tablespoon of tuvar dal, two tsp green gram

dal, two tsp cucumber seeds, two tsp channa dal. Grindall these into a fine powder. Add two pinches of kasturimanjal and two tsp cucumber juice to this powder andmake a paste. Apply this on the tanned areas. Leave it

for half-an hour and wash it.

Fruit packSoak 10 grams of dry raisins and two dates in 50 ml

tea decoction for two hours.Then grind this into asmooth paste.Add a tsp of papaya pulp, apply the mix onface, neck and other exposed areas. Rinse after 10minutes.

Orange packDry orange peel (mandarin orange) and powder it.

Take a tsp of this powder and add one tsp curd, a tspMultani mitti, and one tsp sandal paste. Add a littlewater and mix it into a fine paste. Apply the paste on thetanned areas and leave it on for 20 minutes.Wash offwith water.

Aloe vera packMix two tsp of aloe vera pulp, three tsp tomato juice,

one tsp Multani mitti and one tsp sandal paste. Apply ontanned areas. Leave on for 15 minutes, pat on cold milk.Leave on for five minutes and then wash off with water.

DR. SATISH AND GITANJLI ANAND DDRR.. SSAATTIISSHH AANNAANNDD

FFoorrmmeerr CChhaaiirrmmaann,, BBooaarrdd ooffTTrruusstteeeess,, AAAAPPII NNaattiioonnaall

EE--MMaaiill::ssaannaannddmmdd@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

GGIITTAANNJJLLII AANNAANNDD

FFoorrmmeerr PPrreessiiddeenntt,, IInnddiiaaAAssssoocciiaattiioonn ooff LLoonngg IIssllaanndd((IIAALLII))

EE--mmaaiill::ggiittaannjjlliiaannaanndd@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

PPAAGGEE SSPPOONNSSOORREEDD BBYY

GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP'CRUCIAL' FOR ASTHMASUFFERERS

Getting a good night's sleep is vital for asthmasufferers, researchers have reported. Expertsfrom the American College of Allergy, Asthma,

and Immunology have discovered that too little sleep,and occasionally too much sleep, could lead to agreater likelihood of an asthma attack, dry cough, andhospitalisation compared to normal sleepers.

The study involved 1,300 adults, aged 20 and over,who self-identified as having asthma.

More than 25 per cent of participants slept fivehours or less, while nearly two thirds slept between sixand eight hours, and just over eight per cent sleptmore than nine hours.

Short sleepers had an increased risk of having anasthma attack, and also had significantly worsehealth-related quality of life, such as poor mentalhealth and physical inactivity.

Long sleepers were also associated with having anincrease in wheezing compared to normal sleepers.

"Compared to normal sleepers, short and longsleepers had a higher proportion of people whoreported having an asthma attack in the past year, andhad more days with impaired health-related quality oflife," Faith Luyster, lead author of the study,explained.

While allergist Gailen D. Marshall noted thatdisturbed sleep in asthma patients can cause thecondition to become out of control, leading to poorhealth.

"This study adds solid evidence to the practice ofasthma patients discussing sleep issues with theirallergist to help determine if they need to change theirasthma plan to achieve adequate sleep as a componentof overall good asthma management," he added.

25THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 HEALTH

FOODS THAT ARE BESTSOURCES OF COPPER

For the proper functioning ofthe immune system andgrowth development of the

foetus, we require this essentialtrace mineral in the right amountand one can include copper-rich fooditems in their diet to get the same. Ifyou have copper deficiency then youmay experience bone weakness,muscles & joints pain among others.However, it is important to note thatyou should not get pass the dailyrecommended allowance.

Nuts and seedsNuts and seeds are two

superfoods that you should includein your diet as they provide a widerange of nutrients including copper.Almonds, cashews and sesameseeds are good sources of copperand that's why you should add themin your daily diet.

Seafood and liver Seafood especially oysters and

lobster are very rich in copper.Organ meats such as liver, you mustbe aware of, how nutritious theyare. The liver also provides othermicronutrients such as B12,vitamin A, riboflavin (B2), folate(B9), iron and choline.

MushroomsMushrooms, especially, Shiitake

Mushrooms are incredibly rich incopper. They also a great source ofselenium, manganese, zinc, folateand vitamins B1, B5, B6 and D

among others. 4 dried Shiitakemushrooms can give 89% of the RDIfor copper.

Green leafy vegetablesIt is no surprise to see their

mention in this list. Green leafyveggies are powerhouses of somany vitamins and mineralsincluding copper. For the unversed,cooked spinach can give you 33% ofthe RDI.

Dark chocolate

Chocolate lovers must begrinning from ear to ear. Darkchocolate which boasts severalnutrients includes health-boostingantioxidants is also rich in copper.A 100-gram bar of dark chocolatehas 200% of the RDI for copper.Make sure to not overeat darkchocolate as they are a high-caloriefood.

Here’s why your knees might hurtafter sitting still for a few hours

Thanks to a movie marathon,you haven't moved from thecouch in hours - but your

knees feel like you just ran an actualmarathon.

Since 26.2 miles never happened,you might be wondering why theseaches appeared.

TV binges are a fail-safe way tozone out, relax, and unwind, butsitting in one place for prolongedperiods of time doesn't always havethe same effect on your joints.

"Sitting in one position for a longperiod of time puts a lot of contactpressure on the patella (knee cap).This type of pain is especiallycommon in females who are morelikely to have soft or slightlydamaged cartilage in the front oftheir knee," Dr. Sabrina Strickland,an HSS orthopedic surgeon,explains.

One solution is fairly simple andprobably pretty obvious - makemovement a priority.

Dr. Strickland suggests setting atimer to move every 30 minutes, aswell as completing quad andhamstring stretches a few times aday.

"For the quads, try reaching back

and pulling your heel toward yourbuttock," Dr. Strickland says. "Foryour hamstrings, prop your heel onan ottoman and lean over your leg -you should feel the stretch fromyour buttock down to the back ofyour knee."

If you plan on being seated for awhile, Dr. Strickland suggests

propping up your foot for periods oftime so that the knee isn't rested inone position all day.

Knee pain can be caused by morethan just sitting still, so if youregularly deal with this type of pain- especially after exercise - reach outto your doctor for a specificdiagnosis and set of instructions.

26 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020SCIENCE & TECH

ALEXA, IS THIS A SCAM?AMAZON CRACKS DOWN ONTECH SUPPORT SITES

Amazon is suing two companies for “widespreadtech support fraud,” alleging that they trickednew users of Echo speakers and other Alexa

devices into paying for purported technical support through an elaborate ruse designed toconvince them they had encountered frustratingtechnical glitches.

The formal complaint follows a series of earlierlegal actions by Amazon against the companies,resulting in the shutdown of most of their apps andsites.

In one example cited in the suit, a purportedsupport technician — speaking on the phone with auser who was actually an Amazon investigator —used a remote connection to the investigator’scomputer in a creative attempt to make it look likethere was a problem installing Alexa.

“The technician opened the command function,and prompted a simple directory search,” lawyers forAmazon write in the suit. “The perpetrator statedthis task would identify the problem. At theconclusion of the search, the perpetrator wrote at thebottom of the dialogue box: ‘Foreign AddressDetected . . . IP is not secure . . . Unable to connectAlexa.’ ”

That’s one of several tactics alleged by Amazon inthe lawsuit against Robojap Technologies LLC ofCovington, Wash., and Quatic Software Solutions Pvt.Ltd. of Punjab, India, and their respective principals.

You can now have your very owndigital avatar on FB, Messenger

Facebook is rolling out its own version of bitmoji– personalized avatars – for U.S. users, Facebooktold USA TODAY exclusively.

Designed to infuse a bit of playfulness into a socialnetwork that many young people eschew forInstagram or Snapchat, these cartoon versions ofourselves are clones of Snapchat's Bitmoji andApple's Memoji stickers, tapping into a popular formof expression in text messages and on social media.

On Facebook, the avatars will be used to sharefeelings and interact with friends in comments, onMessenger and in Stories and, shortly, in text postswith backgrounds, too, says Fidji Simo, head of theFacebook app. You can also use your personal avataron your gaming profile.

Facebook avatars were first introduced last year inAustralia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom andIreland and expanded this year to Europe andCanada.

From skin tone and complexion to facial featuresand hairstyles to outfits and accessories, you canpersonalize your avatar to reflect who you are,Facebook says.

"Avatars enable you to share a range of emotionsand expressions via a digital persona that’s uniquelyrepresentative of you," Simo says.

The social network, which tends to cherry-pickgood ideas like this one from competitors, says it tookits time building the feature for Facebook to makesure the avatars represented the diversity of itsbillions of users. It says it has no plans to monetizethe avatars at this time.

RESEARCHERS DEVELOPINGFACE MASK THAT LIGHTS UP

WHEN IT DETECTS VIRUSPandemics were top of mind for

Jim Collins years before thenew coronavirus emerged.

In 2014, his bioengineeringlaboratory at MIT began developingsensors that could detect the Ebolavirus when it was freeze-dried ontoa piece of paper. The small team ofscientists from MIT and Harvardfirst published their research in2016; by then, they'd tailored thetechnology to address the growingZika virus threat.

Now, they're adjusting their toolagain to identify coronavirus cases.

The team is developing a facemask that produces a fluorescentsignal when a person with thecoronavirus breathes, coughs, orsneezes.

If the technology provessuccessful, it could address flawsassociated with other screeningmethods like temperature checks.

"As we open up our transitsystem, you could envision it beingused in airports as we go throughsecurity, as we wait to get on aplane," Collins told BusinessInsider. "You or I could use it on theway to and from work. Hospitalscould use it for patients as theycome in or wait in the waiting roomas a pre-screen of who's infected."

Doctors could even use them todiagnose patients on the spot,without having to send samples to alaboratory. At a time when testingsnafus and delays have hampered

many countries' ability to controloutbreaks, tools that quicklyidentify patients are critical.

Fluorescent signal could showwhether coronavirus is in saliva

Collins said his lab's currentproject is in the "very early stages,"but the results have been promising.For the last few weeks, his team hasbeen testing the sensors' ability todetect coronavirus in a small salivasample.

They're also experimenting withdesign: Right now, the lab isdebating whether to embed sensorson the inside of a mask or develop amodule that can be attached to anyover-the-counter mask.

The team hopes to demonstratethat the concept actually workswithin the next few weeks.

"Once we're in that stage, then itwould be a matter setting up trialswith individuals expected to beinfected to see if it would work in areal-world setting," Collins said.

The virus-identifying technologymore generally, however, hasalready been proven. By 2018, thelab's sensors could detect SARS,measles, influenza, hepatitis C,West Nile, and other viruses.

"We initially did this on paper tocreate inexpensive paper-baseddiagnostics," Collins said. "We'veshown it can work on plastic,quartz, as well as cloth."

GOOGLE CHROME WILL NOW ALLOWUSERS TO GROUP THEIR TABS TOGETHER

We've all been there: 27 browsertabs open and struggling to findthe one we need. Google wants

to help.The tech giant is rolling out a new tool

to organize tabs in its Chrome browserand group them together, it announcedWednesday.

Users can right click on tabs to addthem to groups and then label thosegroups with a custom name, color, emojior a combination of the three, Chromeengineer Edward Jung said in a blogpost. Google's initial research showedsome popular ways that people tend togroup their tabs — by topic, by urgency("ASAP," "this week" or "later") or byprogress ("haven't started," "in progress"or "completed").

"Tab groups are customizable so youcan decide how to use them," Jung said.

(This writer's trick is to open a newbrowser window for each story he isworking on or when he hits a certainthreshold of tabs, which means insteadof having 36 tabs open he has threewindows with 12 tabs each). (The editorof this story has 18 tabs open in onewindow right now).

While tab organizers aren't a newconcept — services such as OneTab,Cluster and Toby offer Chromeextensions for this purpose, for example

— this is the first time Google is offeringits own.

The feature, which Google has beentesting for months, is currently onlyavailable on Chrome's beta version. Thecompany will add it to the new version ofChrome starting next week, rolling it outgradually to avoid impacting thebrowser's "stability and performance."

One thing that won't change no matterwhat Google does, however, is the joy ofclosing dozens of tabs when you're doneworking on something.

Scientists makefastest softrobots based onbiomechanics ofa cheetah

Taking inspirationfrom cheetahs,researchers from

North Carolina StateUniversity have developeda new type of soft robotthat is capable of movingmore quickly thanprevious generations. Thepaper “Leveraging Elasticinstabilities for AmplifiedPerformance (LEAP):spine-inspired high-speedand high-force soft robots”published in the journalScience Advances claimsthat the new soft roboticsbased on the biomechanicsof a cheetah is alsocapable of grabbingobjects delicately and withsufficient strength.

Soft robots haveattracted researchersbecause of their safe andadaptive interaction withhumans in harshenvironments.

LONDON (TIP): Fugitive Indian businessmanVijay Mallya today lost his application seeking leaveto appeal in the UK Supreme Court, news agenciesreported. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will nowtake a final call to formally certify the court orderfor Vijay Mallya to be extradited to India within 28days.

The 64-year-old businessman had 14 days to filethis application to seek permission to move thehigher court on the High Court judgment from April20, which dismissed his appeal against aWestminster Magistrates' Court's extradition ordercertified by the UK Home Secretary.

The latest ruling will now go back for re-certification and the process of extradition shouldbe triggered within 28 days.

Earlier, Mallya had urged the government tounconditionally accept his offer of bank loanrepayment and close the case against him."Congratulations to the government for a Covid-19relief package. They can print as much currency asthey want BUT should a small contributor like mewho offers 100 per cent payback of state-owned bankloans be constantly ignored? Please take my moneyunconditionally and close," Mallya had tweeted.

Vijay Mallya, promoter of the defunct KingfisherAirlines is wanted in India over alleged fraud andmoney laundering charges amounting to estimated?9,000 crore. He was arrested by the UK authoritieson April 20, 2017 on the request of the Indianinvestigative agencies.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Vijay Mallya lost his appeal in the London High

Court against an extradition order to India onalleged charges of money launderingEarlier, Mallya had urged the government tounconditionally accept his offer of bank loanrepayment

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will now take afinal call to formally certify the court order

ASIAN SHARES STRUGGLE AS CORONAVIRUS STRAINSUS-CHINA RELATIONS

TOKYO (TIP): Asian stocks struggled to extendgains on Friday and were on course to end the weeklower as deteriorating US-China relations undercutoptimism over the reopening of major economies.

Worries about confrontations between the twolargest economies in the world eclipsed Chineseeconomic data, which showed it economy is graduallyrecovering from the shock of the coronavirusoutbreak.

With China the first to relax lockdowns, globalinvestors are closely watching it for clues on how longdemand will take to bounce back, as other countriesbegin to ease their own anti-virus measures.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific sharesoutside Japan were little changed, with gains inAustralia offset by falls in Hong Kong.

Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.3% while mainland Chineseshares also ticked lower.

US S&P500 futures dipped 0.15% after the indexgained 1.15% the previous day, recovering from athree-week low.

While many analysts regarded the drop as a naturalcorrection after a fast rally since mid-March, they arealso increasingly worried about US-China relations asUS President Donald Trump blames China for thedisease that killed more than 85,000 Americans.

US MORTGAGE RATES HOVERNEAR ALL-TIME LOW

WASHINGTON (TIP): Long-term US mortgagerates were mostly steady this week, hovering near all-time lows.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursdaythat the average rate on the benchmark 30-year homeloan edged up to 3.28% from 3.26% last week. A yearago, the rate stood at 4.07%.

The average rate on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgageeased to 2.72% from 2.73% last week.

Mortgage applications for home purchases reacheda new low in April as the economy and housing marketreeled from the shutdown spurred by the coronaviruspandemic. The normally busy spring homebuyingseason has been upended. At the same time, however,home prices have been rising.

Grim data, meanwhile, continues to pour in showingthe economic damage from the virus that shut downwide swaths of business and social life. Thegovernment reported Thursday that the number ofAmericans filing for unemployment benefits becauseof the pandemic has soared to 36 million in twomonths.

The spike of nearly 3 million laid off workersapplying for US unemployment benefits last weekcame despite most states having begun letting somebusinesses reopen under certain restrictions.

27THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 BIZ & FINANCE

Vijay Mallya faces extradition,loses appeal in UK court

Oil prices inch higher on USstockpile drop, but bleak

outlook caps gainsSEOL (TIP): Oil prices were lifted on Thursday by an

unexpected drop in US crude stocks, but gains were cappedby both a bleak outlook for the world’s no. 1 economy as thecoronavirus pandemic crushes fuel demand and concernover a potential second wave of cases.

Brent crude futures were up 6 cents, or 0.2%, at $29.25 perbarrel at 0401 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crudefutures were up 18 cents, or 0.7%, to $25.47 a barrel.

Prices have risen in the past two weeks as some countriesrelaxed coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns to allowfactories and shops to open again. But new cases haveemerged in South Korea and China, raising concerns over apossible second wave of infections which would weigh oneconomic recovery and fuel demand.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned onWednesday of an “extended period” of weak economicgrowth and called for additional fiscal spending to stave offthe fallout from the virus.

“It is hard to get excited about a steady rebound for crudedemand when the world’s largest economy has significantuncertainty about the outlook and big downside risks,” saidEdward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

A drop in US crude inventories provided some support toprices early in the trading session, but Moya said muchbigger drawdowns over the next few weeks would be neededto boost prices. US crude inventories fell by 745,000 barrels to531.5 million barrels in the week to May 8, marking the firstdecline since January, the Energy InformationAdministration said on Wednesday. Analysts in a Reuterspoll had forecast a 4.1 million barrel increase.

Amid the slump in fuel use, the Organization of PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday it expects2020 global oil demand to shrink by 9.07 million bpd, worsethan its previous contraction forecast of 6.85 million bpd. Itsaid it also expected the second quarter to see the steepestdecline in demand. ING Economics said in a note thelowering of demand forecasts made for “bearing reading”.

“(Second-quarter) demand for OPEC oil is just 16.77million bpd, well below OPEC output levels, even when fullcompliance of OPEC+ cuts are taken into consideration,”ING added.

Cost of Coronavirus pandemiccould reach almost 10% ofworld’s GDP: Report

The cost of the coronavirus pandemic couldreach as much as $8.8 trillion, or almost 10%of global gross domestic product, depending

on how long the outbreak continues and thestrength of government responses, according tothe Asian Development Bank.

A shorter containment period of three monthscoupled with strong policy measures could limitthe impact to $4.1 trillion, or 4.5% of world output,the Manila-based lender said in a report Friday.The Asia Pacific region is expected to account forabout 30% of the overall decline in global output, itsaid.

The analysis “highlights the important rolepolicy interventions can play to help mitigatedamage to economies,” ADB Chief EconomistYasuyuki Sawada said in a statement.

The new cost estimates are more than twice therange of $2 trillion to $4.1 trillion the developmentbank gave April 3. There are now more than 4million confirmed cases of coronavirus globallywith deaths exceeding 300,000.

The lender suggests boosting health systems, aswell as income and employment protections, toavoid an even more difficult recovery. Sustainedmeasures from governments could soften theeconomic impact of the virus by as much as 40%,ADB said.

28 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020ASTROLOGY

ARIES: Ganesha says money will be importantfor you and you will look at making someimportant financial transactions. Matters relatedto legacy, joint-finance, insurance, real estate,buying / selling / shopping / investing / capitalformation take on an extra dimension andimportance. This is a pivotal period astrologically.There will be better health and more opportunitiesto job-switch, start a business, get a promotion orhave a spin at games of chance.

TAURUS: Quick gains are more than likely, saysGanesha. There will be many new developments asyour money worries get resolved. There is passionand deep bonding as you soar with the ecstasy ofthe moment. You will also indulge in strangeesoteric pursuits, to flights of fancy, thesupernatural, interest in spirits, witches, life-after-death, and occult phenomena. You also meet oldfriends and spend great moments in fondmemories of wonderful times gone by.

GEMINI: There are many expenses as you loveto splurge on the good life. You may look at a newhome or even expansion of the office, at renovationor redevelopment. The trend of loans and funds,investment and buying / selling of the last periodcontinues. Ganesha says it will also ensure a hecticsocial whirl as well as professional and businessinteractions that could prove very good.

CANCER: Ganesha says you manifest thecharm, social skills and charisma of your sign inplenty and could feel on top of the world. You willbe a human dynamo, a powerhouse of energy,ready to attain targets. There is a renewed zest forlife, lots of vigour and energy, as you workexceptionally hard. Your success will be the envy ofall. Children bring joy and you will spend a lot oftime with them.

LEO: Ganesha says there is personalevolution and you grow in credibility,popularity and authority. This is a period ofachievement and consolidation. This is a goodperiod to achieve, that's for sure. But what youneed to think about, warns Ganesha, is themanner in which you go about it. It will impactyou personally and individually. But,definitely, you will catapult to new heights ofexcellence.

VIRGO: Ganesha says do not do anythingthat you don't believe in and do not look for aquick buck, however tempting the offers. Youwill have the necessary money to go ahead withplans, projects, assignments and commitments.Prestige, status, position, power will be theattributes which will concern you very deeplythis period. The gains of this period will belong-lasting, pleasing, profound and deep-routed.

LIBRA: Ganesha says you find the time todelve into the spiritual and meditative aspectsof life. You are oozing with confidence by midof this period. You push ahead in all areas ofwork and make money and also powerfulprofessional links. You are filled with self-belief and hope for the future. As the periodends, the intensity of the phase increases.

SCORPIO: Ganesha says there is love inyour life and you could be torched by it as itmay not be just a fleeting romance. Love andentertainment bring welcome relief frommoney and professional concerns. There is achance that you may even lose all reason andlogic. Friends, sweethearts and fraternizinglead to great happiness, especially in thesecond half of the period.

SAGITTARIUS: This period Ganesha decidesgenerously to give you several things you havelong been craving for. There are rewards,returns, recognition and romance. This periodis powerful and your sexuality and charisma areexpressed easily. You look pleasing to the eye tooand may win beauty contests if you enter any.You also fall prey to indulgences and the goodlife.

CAPRICORN: Ganesha says those in films,fashion and media do well for themselves andwin rewards and awards. There is grand successand accomplishment waiting for you. Work andplay will be enhanced in this period. Your life ismoving the way you want it to, and this pleasesyou no end. This is the time for expansion inthought processes and a new focus.

AQUARIUS: Ganesha says this period youmanage to do exceedingly well. However, youcould find yourself falling prey to moods ofangst, depression or ennui all of a sudden. Itcould well be caused by a desire to assess, takestock of your life, aspirations and orientation.You will seek deeper insight, greater meaning orjust plain consolation, as you feel that there is acertain futility in your life.

PISCES: Ganesha says, you could be intohealing, nursing, helping people. A certainrestlessness caused by anxiety or evennervousness is a distinct possibility. This is acommon occurrence, astrologically. You arelooking at genuine, physical, mental andemotional expansion. You need wider horizonsand a broader canvas for your ambitions. Thereare many sources of income and inspiration asyou grow financially, emotionally andspiritually.

Shree Ganeshaya Namah

Bejan Daruwalla is world's most famousastrologertoday. He appears regularly onworld wide TV shows. Bejan who has been aprofessor in English, hasauthored a numberof books on astrology. India'sPrime MinisterNarendra Modi , on March 29, 2012,lunchedone of Bejan's books, '2012- End oftheWorld? Bejan contributes to a number ofjournals andnewspapers in many parts of theworld which includeBerkley Communications(London) Times of India(Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Chennai) and The IndianPanorama (New York and Texas). Bejan'spredictionshave mostly been correct andpeople the world overrely on his predictions.

Bejan Daruwalla is available for astrological

consultations. He can be reached at

info@bejandaruwalla.com and on phone

91-8141234275www.bejandaruwalla.com

Weekly Horoscope May 18 - May 24, 2020

The Indian Panorama brings you Weekly and Birthday Horoscope from the World's mosttrusted astrologer Bejan Daruwalla. Latest correct prediction: Modi's historic victory

May 18:Ganesha says a public allianceamplifies power. If you struggle for control,others hold it over you. If you combineinfluence, you'll be transformed into anunbreakable united force. Either way, you'llwant to bolt.

May 19:If you chose yesterday to join forcesrather than struggle for dominance, todaysolidifies the union with joint benefits thatcould include funding or create long-termstability and trust.

May 20:Someone's in a roustabout mood,taking an edgy stand for independence andwasting away yesterday's happy communityanticipation. If money's in the mix, watch forlunch - bill anger.

May 21:If you've got a pal in high places, youcan count on support or special influence.Talks or local connections throughout the dayreinforce positive connections and congenialaccord.

May 22:You have an original, progressive,

positive turn of mind and swim in happyapproval. Others rally round with their ownjovial good news and views.

May 23:Get started early since yesterday'shigh communications vibe motors the morninginto activity. Take the rest of the day to chill ormake notes.

May 24:An insecure moodiness sets everyoneon defensive edge, but you'll find a way toenjoy your freedom amidst exciting communalties.

Birthday Horoscope May 18 - May 24, 2020

From Sanskrit, Shakti translates topower or energy in common terms.This energy belongs to the domain

of “Prakriti” or the female aspect ofcreation. She is the Mother Goddess andis worshiped in various occasions allaround the Hindu customs.

How does it work?First of all, you should know that God

is an undivided consciousness. In otherwords, he is nothingness, if you want tolook it from a perceptual perspective. Inthis devoid form, he is the NirgunaBrahman, that is devoid of anydistinguished features or appearance. Inhim, the division of time and space, andother forms of ego consciousness do notexist. But for some reasons, he awakensand sets in motion with Prakriti. Heenters into the universal energy, andfrom this amalgamation, what we knowas “reality” is created. And thus, there isa Big Bang with the latent energy hiddenin the cosmic egg (Hiranyagarbha), andit is pretty much in cohesion with themodern theory of Big Bang too.

Everything in the world, tangible,sensible, unstable, anything within theaspect of the sensory world, can betransformed from one state to anotherand is a part of Prakriti only. Law ofConservation of Energy?

Matter possesses energy at any time.Even the human body and the mind andother constituents are a manifestation ofenergy in one way the other of thePrakriti but at the higher form. Thedivine energy is way higher than thehumans, in terms of the evolutionaryscale. The Holy Trinity – Brahma,Vishnu, and Maheshwar – are indeedabove the rest, and at the highest levelcan be the combination of distinguishedenergy sources. This energy is theenergy of Mother Goddess acting as theShakti of Isvara. When Brahman isawakened, Isvara arises. Brahman is thefield of play for Shakti. This is howShakti is structured and this is howShakti originates.

The Manifestation of Things and Beings

According to Hindu Dharma, whenPure Self, Purusha, combines with thematter or energy, Prakriti, then there issome sort of creation. What happens isthe Pure Self-enters into the matter andawakens the various energies in thematter, thus, leading to the formation of afalse self, known as ego. All of thishappens over a period of time, throughdifferentiation and combination of fiveMahabhutas (the five gross elements),Panchendiryas (the five sense organs),the Karmendriyas (the five organs ofaction), the Tanmantras (the five subtleelements), manas (mind), ahamkara(deluded self) and buddhi (discriminatingintelligence). With this, individual beingscome into the world and then movetowards liberation. The same happens inthe most macro of a level, resulting in thecreation of the world and higherdivinities.

Ego is formed as part of the process,and it is an important tool in an armory.This ego is driven by three Gunas: Sattva,rajas, and tamas, which is nourished bythe activity of senses and motivated bythe force of desires. These are nothingbut the false sense of identity, developedthrough the formation of mind andmind’s awareness of the body.

The Bondage and Delusion in Prakriti

A mind is only a field in space and time

for the ego to distinguish from the rest ofthe creation. It acts as if it is the onlyreal self, and separates from the rest ofthe creation. This is ignorance at itshighest form, and it leads to the beliefthat the real self that the ego createdexists in reality when it does not. TheReal Self-exists, losing its own buddhiand higher intelligence, keeping thebody, the mind and the false ego tickingand breathing.

This leads to the bondage of the self.Mind you that this doesn’t mean the soulsuffers, and you should also know thatthe soul cannot suffer since it is pureconsciousness. Nothing can touch it orpunish it. But we do say it suffersbecause it goes through the same cycle ofbirth and death, stopping it from goingback to the source. From our“conscious”, “self-ego” point of view, thesoul suffers, but not from the “soul”point of view. Wherever it is – in heavensor in any other loka – the soul is thesame: eternal, unchanging and pure blissconsciousness.

But what suffers then? It is the falseself or the ego that suffers. But thissuffering doesn’t stop the self fromindulging in its desire-driven action,until one point, when this sufferingbecomes unbearable too. And this iswhen the ego turns into spiritualism.Otherwise, this ego would not mind toexist in the “reality” for even thousandsof years if it could, considering thephysical limitations.

When life ends, the ego is frustratedwith itself because it leaves behind a lotof tasks unfinished, dreams unrealizedand fruits of the past actions untasted.Nature also limits itself from escapingthe clutches and perpetuation of thedelusion is the chief design of nature.

Thus, there is a compromise between

nature and ego by which each createdego is permitted to return to the“reality” for another rebirth andcontinue the unfinished work. Evenwhen a being dies, the ego does not diecompletely.

A small portion of it survivescontaining the basic tendencies, desires,and impulses, which then becomesattached to the soul as a kind of programfile, and passes through the door ofdeath, heaven or hell, as the body isreborn again. This is the cycle ofPrakriti. For us, the Prakriti will alwayskeep us in delusion by the use ofelements and interplay of triple Gunas.For the highest levels, Prakriti acts inthe same way by combining with Shaktiof various worlds and divinities.However, she cannot delude theawakened soul. She, instead, becomes aforce in their consciousness to help themin their assigned responsibilities.

In the world of Brahma, she is the

Saraswati who helps Brahma in hisresponsibility for creation. In the worldof Vishnu, she is the Laxmi, whomanages the world through wealth andresources. In the world of Shiva, she isthe yogini or Siddhi, who helps indestroying the illusions.

Is Shakti female?The simple answer is no. Shakti is

neither male or female. Theinterpretation is only human, andshould not be taken literally. One shouldnever consider energy to be female whilethe self in the male. The Purusha existsin both male and female, and so doesPrakriti. They are two sides of the sametruth and is difficult to impose who issuperior to whom. But consider this:without energy, self cannot move, andwithout self, the energy does not haveany field for its move. It can be said,“Prakriti is undivided consciousness(Purusha).”

THE ROLE OF SHAKTIIN CREATION

ARISH K. SAHANI SSeerrvviinngg SSiinnccee 11997722

Please Call or Write for Your Insurance Needs

Arish K Sahani (Father)

Shiv Sahani (Son)

Priya Sahani Sood (Daughter)

7 1 8 - 2 7 1 - 1 9 0 6arish.sahani@gmail.com

PPAAGGEE SSPPOONNSSOORREEDD BBYY

““IIff HHiinndduuss ddoonn’’tt mmaaiinnttaaiinn HHiinndduuiissmm,, wwhhoo sshhaallll ssaavvee iitt??””

““IIff IInnddiiaa’’ss oowwnn cchhiillddrreenn ddoonn''tt cclliinngg ttoo tthheeiirr ffaaiitthh,, wwhhoo sshhaallll gguuaarrdd iitt??””

““IInnddiiaannss aalloonnee ccaann ssaavvee IInnddiiaa,, aanndd IInnddiiaa aanndd HHiinndduuiissmm aarree oonnee..””

29THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 SPIRITUALITY

30 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020CLASSIFIEDS

31THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 ADVERTISEMENT

32 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020TURN PAGE

THE INDIAN PANORAMA PPRREESSIIDDEENNTT//PPUUBBLLIISSHHEERR: Prof. Indrajit S. SalujaVVIICCEE PPRREESSIIDDEENNTT:: Chitagam SalujaCCHHIIEEFF EEDDIITTOORR:: Prof Indrajit S. SalujaAASSSSIISSTTAANNTT EEDDIITTOORR:: Bidisha RoyCCOONNSSUULLTTIINNGG EEDDIITTOORR: Deepak Dwivedi GGRRAAPPHHIICCSS DDIIRREECCTTOORR:: Om Parkash MalikDDIIRREECCTTOORR AADDMMIINNIISSTTRRAATTIIOONN:: Gauri BeriCCOONNTTRRIIBBUUTTIINNGG PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHEERRSS:: Baldev Singh / BJ VideosGunjesh Desai / Masala JunctionJay Mandal, Mohammad Jaffer/ SnapsIndia

Mohammad Shahzad, Zia Khan , Nisha RaniVaaho Photographers, Vijay Shah -Photo Journalist.DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTOORR :: Sukhwinder SinghCCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTSS : SSAACCRRAAMMEENNTTOO:: Parminder S. AujlaNNEEWW YYOORRKK : Chitagam FFRREESSNNOO:: Tarlochan Singh DDAALLLLAASS:: Harjit Dhesi, Amarjit Dhillon OOVVEERRSSEEAASS CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTSSDDEELLHHII BBUURREEAAUU CCHHIIEEFF:: Ashishpal Singh

CCHHAANNDDIIGGAARRHH:: Manjit Sidhu LLUUDDHHIIAANNAA:: A.S. Arora, R.P.Sharma

TThhee IInnddiiaann PPaannoorraammaaP.O. Box No. 190067, South Richmond Hill, NY 11419,

Tel: 646-247-9458 Email: editor@theindianpanorama.com

DDAALLLLAASS EEDDIITTIIOONNP.O. BOX 121695, ARLINGTON, TX 76012

LLoovvlllliieenn KKaauurrrr, VP & Bureau Chief Bureau Chief Phone: 972-330-3139

E-mail tipdallas01@gmail.com; Phone: 646-247-9458www.theindianpanorama.news

PPuubblliisshheedd bbyy PPrrooff.. IInnddrraajjiitt SSaalluujjaa

DISCLAIMERThe Indian Panorama assumes no responsibility for the

claims made in advertisements. We only sell space. Viewspublished in the newspaper are those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. All rights

are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part withoutpermission in writing from The Indian Panorama is prohibited.

contd from page 1Narendra Modi announces 20....

Addressing the nation on television, Prime MinisterModi said the whole world was reeling from the crisisengendered by the COVID-19 pandemic, as was India. Inthis crisis, however, India had had an opportunity tolook at systems and institutions that were in existencebefore the crisis hit and how they crumbled. "We havebeen hearing for many years that the 21st century willbe India's century, and this crisis is, I believe one thatcarries a message, that we have to move forward not justto combat the crisis but to prevail," Mr. Modi said. "Thatcan happen when we are self-reliant."

He gave the example of India's ramped-up capacity inproducing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kitsand N-95 masks required by medical personnel andfrontline health workers to illustrate his point that Indiacould achieve this.

"When the first case hit us, we didn't produce either ofthese things. Now, within weeks we have the capacity toproduce 2 lakh of PPE and 2 lakh of N95 masks everyday," Mr. Modi said.

Clarifying that by self-reliance he did not meaninsularity and suspicion of the world as in the past butembracing the world in the spirit of VasudhaivaKutumbakam (the world is one family).

"Self-reliance in this sense is neither exclusionary norisolationist, it is for helping the world, with our actions.In the past whenever we have acted it has impacted theworld in a positive way - be it solving the Y2K riddle in1999, or our campaigns against open defecation,tuberculosis and polio," Mr. Modi said.

He said that the new edifice of this self-reliant Indiawould be based on the five pillars of the economy,infrastructure, demography, technologically drivensystems and to strengthen demand and supply chains,with the supply chains being based on local sourcing.

"In the past few days we have seen how local supplychains and shops are the only things that have helped,"he said.

The Prime Minister said the economic package wouldnot be based on incremental changes, but a quantumleap in bold reforms with regard to land, labor, law andliquidity.

"In the last few days we have seen the suffering of ourworkers, migrant labor, street vendors and daily wagersand farmers. This package will be aimed at them. It willbe aimed at the honest taxpayer, at our industry thatmakes its capital work," he said.

Mr. Modi signed off on a strong note to buy local, andto be vocal about it. "Local production helped us in thiscrisis, and when you look at several global brands, theybegan as local but were marketed and raised to a globallevel. We have to do the same with our produce. We needto be vocal about local," he said. "We must and will makeIndia self-reliant," he said.

A day after PM Modi made the announcement, theFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on May 13,announced a ?3 lakh crore collateral free loan schemefor businesses, especially micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs), as part of a ?20-lakh-croreeconomic stimulus package to deal with the COVID-19pandemic.

For salaried workers and taxpayers, some relief wasprovided in the form of an extended deadline for incometax returns for financial year 2019-20, with the due datenow pushed to November 30, 2020. The rates of taxdeduction at source (TDS) and tax collection at source(TCS) have been cut by 25% for the next year, whilestatutory provident fund (PF) payments have beenreduced from 12% to 10% for both employers and

employees for the next three months.Apart from MSMEs, other stressed business sectors

which got attention were non-banking financecompanies (NBFCs), power distribution companies,contractors and the real estate industry.

MSMEs will get the bulk of the funding. The ?3 lakhcrore emergency credit line will ensure that 45 lakhunits will have access to working capital to resumebusiness activity and safeguard jobs, Ms. Sitharamansaid. For two lakh MSMEs which are stressed orconsidered non-performing assets, the Centre willfacilitate provision of ?20,000 crore as subordinate debt.A ?50,000 crore equity infusion is also planned, throughan MSME fund of funds with a corpus of ?10,000 crore.

NBFCs, housing finance companies and microfinanceinstitutions - many of which serve the MSME sector -will be supported through a ?30,000 crore investmentscheme fully guaranteed by the Centre, and an expandedpartial credit guarantee scheme worth ?45,000 crore, ofwhich the first 20% of losses will be borne by the Centre.

Power distribution companies, which are facing anunprecedented cash flow crisis, will receive a ?90,000crore liquidity injection. Contractors will get a six-month extension from all Central agencies, and also getpartial bank guarantees to ease their cash flows.Registered real estate projects will get a six-monthextension, with COVID-19 to be treated as a "forcemajeure" event.

On May 14, the Finance Minister announced anotherround of stimulus.

The Centre will help create affordable rental housingfor the urban poor and provide relief worth ?1,500 croreto small businesses through an interest subventionscheme, apart from extending credit for street vendors,farmers, and middle-class housing.

Apart from free food for migrant workers, these arethe major highlights of the second tranche of theAtmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package,announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanon Thursday, May 14.

Noting that migrant workers and other urban poorface difficulties in finding affordable housing, theFinance Minister said a scheme to build rental housingcomplexes through public private partnership modewould be launched under the existing Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (PMAY) scheme. Both public and privateagencies will be incentivized to build rental housing ongovernment and private land, while existinggovernment housing will be converted into rental units.

The credit linked subsidy scheme for lower middle

class housing under PMAY will also be extended by oneyear to March 2021, and is likely to benefit 2.2 lakh morefamilies, said Ms. Sitharaman, expressing the hope thatthis would also create jobs and stimulate demand for thesteel, cement and construction industries.

Street vendors who have been hit hard by thelockdown will be given access to easy credit through a?5,000 crore scheme, which will offer ?10,000 loans forinitial working capital.

The scheme will be launched within a month and willbenefit 50 lakh vendors, said the Finance Minister.

Small businesses who have taken loans under theMUDRA-Shishu scheme, meant for loans worth ?50,000or less, will receive a 2% interest subvention relief forthe next year, which will cost the government ?1,500crore.

The Centre plans a drive to enroll 2.5 crore farmerswho are not yet part of the Kisan Credit Cards scheme,along with fish workers and livestock farmers, andprovide them with ?2 lakh crore worth of concessionalcredit. NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture andRural Development) will also extend additionalrefinance support worth ?30,000 crore to rural banks forcrop loans, Ms. Sitharaman said.

"The only fiscal outlay in today's announcements arethe ?3,500 crore for food grains to migrants and ?1,500crore for the MUDRA loanees. So only ?5,000 crore isactually coming from government coffers, while the restare credit-based measures," said Himanshu, aneconomist at Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre forEconomic Studies and Planning.

Terming the government's approach as "stingy andhalf-hearted", he noted that at a time when demand isdown, any moves to provide liquidity are not going tohelp, adding that putting cash in people's pockets wouldhave been a better approach.

"Banks are parking money with the RBI (ReserveBank of India), so the problem is not liquidity, but ratherthe appetite of people to take credit at this time," he said."Effectively, the burden of revival has been passed on tothe people most affected by the lockdown," he added.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesman said Govt's 'jumlapackage' fell way short of what PM Modi had promised.

A senior spokesperson of the party, Anand Sharma,said the country believed that Prime Minister NarendraModi was serious when he made the "dramatic"announcement of giving 10 per cent of the GDP as apackage to revive the economy and support workers andmigrant laborers, and that expectations had soared.

"The Finance Minister's announcement dashed allhopes," he said.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala saidFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman'sannouncements were nothing but a "jumla package".

Senior party leader Ahmed Patel said: "It is not aneconomic package. It is an empty package wrapped withspeeches since the last three days."

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari pointed outthat Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman articulatedthe second tranche of the bailout or economic packagethat this government had conceptualized.

"It is unfortunate that the entire press conference (ofSitharaman) was a classic display of arrogance,ignorance and insensitivity," he said addressingreporters via a video link.

"We expected that the Finance Minister would comeout with what the government is doing to ferry themigrants who are walking on the roads back to theirhomes safely. But nothing like that happened," Tewarisaid.

(With inputs from agencies)

Nirmala Sitharaman with MoS Anurag Thakur outlines stimulusplans at a news conference on Thursday, May 14.

Photo Credit/ Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

33THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 TRAVEL

The gem of Uttarakhand - Nainitalis a charming hill station that sitsprettily at the green foothills of the

Kumaon ranges in the Himalayas.Located at an elevation of around 1938metres, the epicentre of the town’spopularity and beauty lies within thegorgeous Naini Lake, after which thetown is named. Founded by the Britishdue to its resemblance to the CumbrianLake district, Nainital brims withelegant colonial structures that amplifythe beauty of this place. It is a perfectweekend getaway from the Indian capitalof Delhi.

This quaint little town experiences apleasant climate throughout the year,making it a tourist getaway, especiallypreferred by families andhoneymooners. The Naini Lake, alongwith the other lakes in the area, hasearned this town the title of ‘City ofLakes’. Whether you want to go boatingon the beautiful Naini Lake or any of theother lakes, relish some local delicacies,shop at the Tibetan Market and MallRoad, or take a ropeway ride to soak inthe beauty of the Himalayas from SnowView Point, Nainital is sure to leave animprint on you that will last a lifetime.

Top Places to VisitEco Cave Gardens

Famous for its interconnected rockycaves, hanging gardens and the musicalfountain, the Eco Garden are a set of sixsmall caves in the shape of variousanimals. Located in the Mallital area ofNainital, you need to crawl your way in.In the evenings, you can see the spectacleof the musical fountain with variousaudio video effects.

The Eco Cave Garden is set up to givetourists a glimpse of the natural habitatof the Himalayan Wildlife byconstructing different caves for differentanimals, similar to their natural home.Lit with petroleum lamps, the mostpopular caves are Tiger Cave, PantherCave, Apes Cave, Bat Cave and FlyingFox Cave. Visiting Eco Cave Garden isnot recommended for old people andtoddlers.

Nainital LakeNestled amidst the township of

Nainital, Naini Lake (short for NainitalLake) is a beautiful natural fresh bodylake. The lake is in crescent or kidneyshape and is one of the most famouslakes of the Kumaon region. Bounded byNaini Peak on North West, Tiffin Pointon the South West and snow-cappedpeaks on the north, the Nainital Lakeoffers a breathtaking view, especiallyduring early morning and sunset. Themesmerising lake is most famous for itswonderful scenic beauty which is ahotspot for family picnics. Boating, longevening walks and endearinginteractions with ducks are some of thethings that are a must do whilst visitingthis glittering lake. You can also seek theblessings of Goddess Naina Devi at theNaina Devi temple which is also situatednear the Naini Lake.

The Nainital Lake is a charmingbeauty that is surrounded by seven

different peaks namely Ayarpata,Deopata, Handi Bandi, Cheena Peak,Alma, Laria Kanta and Sher Ka Danda.The lake itself can be divided into twodistinct sections, the northern partcalled Mallital and southern regioncalled Tallital. Coniferous trees thatcover the hillside add charm to the rawbeauty of the place. You can also visitNaini Temple on the shores of the lake. Apretty lake that once a European man fellin love with, Naini Lake today serves as amajor tourist spot for people from allover the country.

Naina Devi TempleRegarded and revered as one of the

fifty-one Shakti Peeths that are locatedall across India, the Naina Devi Templeis a holy site that is situated on thenorthern shore of Naini Lake, in theNainital district of Uttarakhand, India.This temple is one of the most renownedplaces of Hindu worship all over thecountry. Dedicated to Devi Sati's eyes,devotees from all parts of India flock tothis region in huge numbers all yearround.

The presiding deity of the Naina DeviTemple is Maa Naina Devi or Mata Sati.According to Hindu mythology, the

temple is built on the exact spot whereGoddess Sati's eyes fell on the Earth afterLord Shiva carried her charred bodyafter taking it out from the fire of theyagna that was performed by Sati'sfather- Daksha. Inside the Naina DeviTemple, you will find the two eyes on theroof, depicting Goddess Naina Devi,placed in the centre; with the statues ofGoddess Kali and Lord Ganeshasurrounding it. It would be interesting tonote that the city of Nainital got its namefrom the temple of Naina Devi only. Asyou climb the hill to reach the temple,various shops selling prasad and otheressential puja items will greet you on theway. Considered to be extremely pristineand sacred by the devotees, the veneratedNaina Devi Temple is a must visit onyour next trip to Nainital.

Snow View PointSnow View Point in Nainital stands at

a dizzying altitude of 2270 meters abovesea level and is one of the most attractivetourist spots of the area. As the namesuggests, Snow View Point offers apanoramic view of the mightyHimalayas draped in a blanket of milky-white snow. One can see a picturesqueview of all three important peaks- Nanda

Devi, Trishul and Nanda Kot peakstogether from this point.

A huge pair of binoculars has beeninstalled at the Snow View Point thatallows you to take a closer look at theHimalayan range and its magical peaks.If you look closer, you will find a smalltemple housing the images of Ram, Sita,Laxman, Hanuman with Durga andShiva. An aerial cable car connects youto the Snow View Point directly from theMall Road of Mallital and shows you aspectacular view of the beautiful town.

Dorothy's SeatLocated in Ayarpatta Hill of Himachal

Pradesh, Tiffin Top is a very famoustourist attraction in Nainital, alsopopularly called as Dorothy's Seat. Afantastic picnic spot in its own right, onegets a complete view of the town ofNainital and its surrounding hills in theKumaon region from this location. Theserene and peaceful environment ofTiffin Top makes it irresistible to thephotographers. Those who love nature'sbeauty must not miss out on thisvacation spot. Adventure activities suchas rappelling and rock climbing areconducted at Tiffin Top as well.

NAINITAL: THE LAND OF MISTYLAKES AND MOUNTAINS

Football-starved world awaits the ‘most

important’ contestBABAR IS PAKISTAN’S ODISKIPPER, AZHAR TOCONTINUE AS TEST CAPTAIN

KARACHI (TIP): Star batsman Babar Azam onWednesday took over the reins of Pakistan’s white-ball cricket after being appointed as the ODI skipper.

Azar Ali will continue to lead in Tests, the PakistanCricket Board announced.

Babar, who was one of the world’s leading batsmenacross formats last year and already the T20 skipper,replaced wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed asthe ODI captain for the 2020-21 season. Pakistan isscheduled to play six ODIs and 20 T20Is, besides theAsia Cup and the T20 World Cup this season.

“I want to congratulate Azhar Ali and Babar Azamfor getting captaincy extensions,” chief selector andhead coach Misbah-ul-Haq said in a PCB statement.

“This is absolutely the right decision as they alsorequire certainty and clarity on their future roles. Iam sure they will now start looking to the future andstart planning so that they can build sides that canperform at the expected levels.”

Pakistan also announced an 18-player men’scentral contract list for the 2020-21 season, which willcome into effect from July 1.

Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riazmissed out, while Imam-ul-Haq, Sarfaraz Ahmed andYasir Shah slipped one category each.

“The selectors have made the tough decisions toleave out Amir, Hasan and Wahab but consideringHasan missed most of the season due to an injuryand Amir and Wahab decided to focus on white-ballcricket, this was the right move,” Misbah said.

“However, Amir and Wahab are senior andexperienced bowlers and they remain in contentionas we believe they can still contribute to the Pakistanmen’s cricket team and also mentor our youngbattery of fast bowlers.” Naseem Shah andIftikhar Ahmad are the two new faces in the contractlist.

34 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020SPORTS

PARIS (TIP): German football will find itself in anunaccustomed global spotlight this weekend asaudiences starved of live football turn to the only majorEuropean league back in action. With the PremierLeague, Spain’s La Liga and Serie A in Italy all stillsidelined by the pandemic, the Bundesliga will takecentre stage on Saturday.

Even in Brazil, media coverage has switched fromdomestic football stories to what TV viewers can expectto see when Borussia Dortmund meet Schalke in thebiggest match of the opening day, albeit it withoutspectators in the stadium.

Cable channel Fox Sports, which holds exclusiverights to show the Bundesliga in Brazil, will be showingthe Ruhr Derby at 9:30 am local time. Its website alreadyfeatures a lengthy article about the games entitled “Thewait will soon be over”.

Even Brazil’s biggest media group, Globo, is gettingin on the act with interviews with four Brazilians whoplay for Bundesliga clubs, including Wolfsburgmidfielder William, who admitted players were “a littlebit scared” about the implications for their health.

In India, foreign football leagues have found a marketin India’s urban youth who keenly follow the PremierLeague and support clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool andManchester United. But a few of these fans also watchLa Liga and Bundesliga. “I am desperately waiting forthe Bundesliga to start this weekend. I am thirsty forlive football in this lockdown,” Amjad Rehan Ibrahim, astudent of Delhi University, told AFP.

Indian international forward Jeje Lalpekhlua said hewould also be tuning in to the coverage on Indianbroadcasters Star Sports and Hotstar: “It’s difficultwithout football for so long. I am surely going to watchit.” In Japan, rightsholder Sky Perfect is going to showtwo Bundesliga matches this weekend free of charge. InEurope too, the matches in Germany will provide amuch-needed fix of live sport. Adolfo Barbero, whocommentates on Bundesliga games for the Spanishchannel Movistar+, said: “I can assure you that I

haven’t seen this level of interest in the Bundesliga in20 years. Normally people support Bayern Munich,Dortmund or even Bayer Leverkusen and that’s it.

“But now they are also looking forward to seeingFortuna Duesseldorf and Paderborn. It’s crazy.” InMexico, football journalists are grateful for somethingto cover—and the sorely-missed revenue live sportgenerates. “For those of us who make a living fromfootball the fact there hasn’t been any activity reallyaffects us. A weekend without football is reallydifficult,” said Emilio Fernando Alonso, a Mexicanreporter for ESPN.

In China, where the Super League might not beginuntil June, German football’s meticulously plannedreturn is being closely watched. Writing in the OrientalSports Daily, columnist Ji Yuyang said the biggestchallenge for the Bundesliga was not restarting duringthe pandemic, but being able to outlast it because offinancial pressures that clubs were facing due to thehealth crisis. “So for many German clubs, whether itwas better to wait for failure or risk restarting, theychose the latter.”

SERENA WILLIAMS EAGER TO RETURN TOTENNIS AFTER LOCKDOWN BREAK

LOS ANGELES (TIP): US superstar SerenaWilliams says she's ready to play "real tennis" afterthe enforced rest of coronavirus quarantine.

"I really look forward to getting back on thecourt," the 23-time Grand Slam champion said in achat with elder sister Venus during an Instagramlive workout on Tuesday.

"It's what I do best. I absolutely love playing."Tennis is on hiatus until at least mid-July thanks

to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the French Openpostponed until autumn and Wimbledon cancelledfor the first time since World War II.

Serena said she'd come to see the break as "anecessary evil."

"I felt like my body needed it, even though I didn'twant it," said the 38-year-old, who last won a GrandSlam title at the 2017 Australian Open.

"And now I'm feeling better than ever. I'm feelingmore relaxed, more fit. Now I can go out and playreal tennis."

Elder sister Venus, a seven-time Grand Slamwinner, began posting workouts on Instagram eightweeks ago and this week she invited Serena, "thegreatest tennis player to ever exist — my littlesister" to share a yoga-inspired stretching session.

Serena said the exercises, which took about halfan hour, served as a warm-up for her, even thoughthey were "a little intense."

"Do not injure yourself doing this," sheadmonished during one lunge, while advising atanother point: "If you have bad knees, like me, use apad."

Dortmund meet Schalke in Bundesliga on Saturday as Europe’s top flight returns to action

GAYLE LIKELY TO BE PENALISEDFOR OUTBURST AGAINST SARWAN

KINGSTON (TIP): Chris Gayle is likely to be penalised forhis recent outburst against Ramnaresh Sarwan, said CricketWest Indies (CWI) chief Ricky Skerritt and hoped that itdoesn't end the maverick big-hitter's "outstanding career".

The 40-year-old Gayle, who was signed by St Lucia Zouks forthe 2020 season of the Caribbean Premier League, called hisformer teammate "worse than coronavirus", accusing theGuyanese of plotting his exit from CPL outfit JamaicaTallawahs.

Skerritt said though it is an "interpersonal battle", hedoesn't expect the controversy to die down so easily.

"I'm sure there is some kind of discussion taking place atthe moment between Chris and the CPL because the CPL hasrules which will come into view here because Chris is signedinto a franchise team," Skerrit was quoted as saying by'Jamaica-Gleaner'.

"I hope it doesn't become a world matter in terms of thecareer of Mr Gayle, because it's been a very outstandingcareer and I really wouldn't want to see it brought to an end bythis event," he added.

The opener had claimed that Sarwan was behind his ousteras the former middle-order batsman wanted to take control ofthe franchise.

"Sarwan, you are worse than the coronavirus right now,"Gayle had said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

"What transpired with the Tallawahs, you have a big part toplay because you and the owner are like this (very close)."

35THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 ADVERTISEMENT

36 THE INDIAN PANORAMAFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020ADVERTISEMENT

CORONAVIRUS HELPLINEDr. VK Raju and Dr. Leela Raju of the Eye Foundation of America willbe glad to answer any eye related concerns of the readers of The Indian

Panorama during this difficult period of Coronavirus onslaughtDR. VK RAJU IS A

CLINICALPROFESSOR OF

OPHTHALMOLOGYAT WEST VIRGINIA

UNIVERSITY

DR. LEELA RAJU ISAN ASSOCIATEPROFESSOR OF

OPHTHALMOLOGYAT NYU LANGONEMEDICAL CENTER

They can be reached ateyefoundationofamerica.org@gmail.com