Pioneer Dehradun E paper 29 Apr 2020

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?=BQ =4F34;78
The Niti Aayog has identified
15 places, including Delhi,
Mumbai and Ahmedabad as
“high case load” and said India’s
success in battling coronavirus
pandemic is dependent on
them. Out of these 15, seven
districts show particularly high
case volumes. They are
Hyderabad (Telangana), Pune
(Maharashtra), Jaipur
(Rajasthan), Indore (Madhya
Pradesh), Ahmedabad
(Gujarat), Mumbai
(Maharashtra) and Delhi.
Other high case load places
that are “critical” in the battle
against Covid-19 include —
Vadodara (Gujarat), Kurnool
(Andhra Pradesh), Bhopal
(Madhya Pradesh), Jodhpur
(Rajasthan), Agra (Uttar
Pradesh), Thane
(Maharashtra), Chennai (Tamil
Nadu) and Surat (Gujarat).
“These 15 districts are crit-
ical in our battle against Covid-
19. Of them, 7 show particu-
larly high case volumes. India’s
success in battling Covid-19 is
dependent on them. We must
aggressively monitor, contain,
test, treat in these districts! We
must win here,” NITI Aayog
CEO Amitabh Kant said.
As per the report, Gujarat
and Maharashtra are the only
States where three districts in
each are in “critical” situation.
Gujarat’s Ahmedabad,
Vadodara and Surat districts
and Maharashtra’s Thane, Pune
and Mumbai are declared “crit-
ical”. Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan with two districts
each are mentioned in the list
with Bhopal and Indore, and
Jodhpur and Jaipur respective-
ly as critical hotspots.
Among the “high case vol-
ume districts”, Delhi with 100
per cent contribution to “State
case load” and 12.62 per cent
contribution to “India case
load” is passing through most
crucial phase in the fight
against the novel coronavirus
pandemic amid reports of 54
deaths and 3,108 confirmed
infected cases, the data said.
Ahmedabad in Gujarat is
second in terms of contribution
to State case load estimated
66.07 per cent and 9.43 per cent
to India case load; followed by
Hyderabad with 55.64 per cent
State case load and 2.41 India
case load and Indore with
49.57 per cent State case load
and 4.48 per cent India case
load contribution.
Jaipur with 36.98 per cent
State case load and 3.49 per
cent India case load is on the
fifth position in terms of “high
case volumes” followed by
Mumbai with 33.30 per cent
State case load and 11.62 per
cent India case load contribu-
tion; and Pune with 8.45 per
cent State case load and 2.95
per cent India case load.
Kant said if we carefully
observe the daily and weekly
case growth rates in high case-
load States in conjunction, it is
“encouraging” that Telangana is
showing noticeable improve-
ment. The Government had on
March 29 constituted 11
empowered groups to suggest
measures to ramp up health-
care and put the economy back
on track. Kant heads the
Empowered Group coordinat-
ing with private sector NGOs
and international bodies.
?=BQ =4F34;78
As the Covid-19 cases
breached 30,000 marks and
death surging to 1,000, India
moved up by two slots to the
15th position among the list of
20-worst Covid-19 affected
nations in the world in just a
week.
The total confirmed cases
in the country stood at 30,631
and 977 deaths, at 11 pm on
Tuesday on the basis of figures
reaching from States.
Experts said that the num-
ber could be on the higher side
given that India is yet to ramp
up the testing in the country.
Global data shows that as on
Tuesday, just 519 people per
million population are being
tested in India. This is quite low
when compared to other coun-
tries like Belgium and Canada
where the count is over 19,000
per million people.
Worldwide, over 31 lakh
people have been infected with
Covid-19 which has claimed
more than 2.1 lakh lives so far.
Maharashtra, Gujarat and
Delhi remained the worst
affected States, while Madhya
Pradesh stole march over
Rajasthan on Tuesday to occu-
py the fourth place. Rajasthan,
Tamil Nadu, UP and Andhra
Pradesh were ranked behind
them in that order.
Maharashtra has 8,590
cases. Gujarat reported anoth-
er big spike of 226 new cases,
raising total confirmed cases to
3,774 and 181 death, 19 of
them on Tuesday alone.
National Capital Delhi
reported 206 new cases to
reach a total of 3,314 and 54
deaths.
After recording 75 cases
cases on Monday, Madhya
Pradesh saw big leap adding
222 cases on Tuesday for a total
of 2,387 cases and 120 deaths.
It turned out to be a Black
Tuesday in Tamil Nadu as
121 persons tested positive for
coronavirus on a single say
taking the number of Covid-
19 patients in the State to
2,058.
The last few days have
been showing some kind of
fluctuations in the number of
persons tested positive for the
pandemic which encouraged
the government to loosen the
lockdown guidelines and this
could have played havoc,
according to medical experts.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
Just as plasma therapy offered
some hope for critical
Covid-19 patients, many of
who responded well to it, the
Union Health Ministry on
Tuesday tried to play down its
efficacy saying it is in experi-
mental stage and warned it can
cause life threatening compli-
cations if not used in proper
manner under proper guide-
lines.
The Ministry’s observa-
tion comes days after the
Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR), a health
research wing of the Ministry,
gave permission to a string of
States such as Rajasthan,
Maharashtra and Delhi to use
plasma of the Covid-19 cured
patient for the treatment of the
virus-infected person.
Ministry’s Joint Secretary
Lav Agarwal said currently
there are no approved therapies
for Covid-19 and there is not
enough evidence to claim that
plasma therapy can be used for
treatment of the disease.
“The ICMR has launched
a national-level study to assess
the efficacy of plasma therapy
in treatment of Covid-19,” he
said.
“Till ICMR concludes its
study and a robust scientific
proof is available, plasma ther-
apy should be used only for
research or trial purpose.
If plasma therapy is not
used in proper manner under
proper guidelines, then it can
also cause life threatening com-
plications. It’ll be harmful to
patient and illegal,” Agarwal
added.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
On a day when the Delhi
Government lifted lock-
down restrictions for electri-
cians, plumbers, and water
purifiers maintenance techni-
cians, the Capital crossed 3,314
coronavirus cases with no
deaths reported in last two
days, according to officials.
However, the relaxation
will not be applicable in con-
tainment zones.
Delhi has 99 containment
zones and 54 deaths have been
registered till Tuesday evening.
A CRPF man, who died due to
Covid-19 in Delhi, is a first
such case among CAPFs.
An official order issued by
Chief Secretary Vijay Dev late
on Monday after an empow-
ered group, constituted by the
Delhi Disaster Management
Authority, recommended that
a section of service rendering
persons must be allowed to
work even if the lockdown is
extended beyond May 3.
Other activities that have
been exempted are veterinary
hospitals, dispensaries, clinics,
pathology, and sale and supply
of vaccine and medicines.
Movement (inter and intra-
state, including by air) of all
medical and veterinary per-
sonnel, scientists, nurses, para-
medical staff, lab technicians,
mid-wives and other hospital
support services including
ambulances have also been
allowed.
The operation of shelter
homes for children, disabled,
mentally challenged, senior
citizens, destitute, women and
widows, shops of educational
books for students, shops sell-
ing electric fans have also been
allowed to open.
The Chief Secretary asked
the agencies concerned, includ-
ing the Delhi Police, to ensure
that “status quo” be main-
tained across the city with
regard to restrictions that will
continue until further orders.
The MHA had earlier
allowed these services.
?=BQ ;D2:=F
Days after the lynching of
two seers of Juna Akhara
in Palghar, Maharashtra, which
created a massive furore across
the country, two sadhus were
battered to death in
Bulundshahr late on Monday.
The incident created ten-
sion in the area but swift action
by the police defused the situ-
ation. The police nabbed the
alleged killer about 2 kilome-
tres away from the spot. He was
allegedly under the influence of
cannabis.
The accused revealed that
after taking bhang on Monday
night he went to the temple and
killed the sadhus with a lathi.
He said that he carried out
God’s will, denying he had any
quarrel with the priests. The
senior official said the youth
will be interrogated at length
later as he was still under the
influence of the drug.
After the news spread
about the murder, tension ran
high in the area and people
assembled in large numbers
near the temple. Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
has assured strict action against
the accused.
Yogi, who was highly crit-
ical of the Palghar incident,
received a call from
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray who
requested him to take strict
action against the culprit.
?C8Q BDA0C
Hundreds of migrant work-
ers came out on roads
and vandalised the office of an
under-construction building
and some vehicles in an area of
Gujarat’s Surat district on
Tuesday while demanding that
they be sent back to their
native places, police said.
The workers were earlier
hired by contractors engaged in
the construction of the
Diamond Bourse Complex in
Khajod area of Surat, they said.
It all started when the
workers learnt that their con-
tractors have brought in more
labourers from other parts of
Gujarat to speed up the con-
struction work after getting
approval of the district collec-
tor, DCP (zone 3) Vidhi
Chaudhari said.
“They got angry after see-
ing labourers from outside at
the site. They claimed that
these outsiders may be carry-
ing coronavirus. These workers
then started demanding that if
permission can be granted to
bring outsiders here, then why
can’t they travel to their native
places. This demand triggered
the violence,” Chaudhari said.
The angry workers dam-
aged the administrative office
of the under-construction site
and two cars parked near the
office, she said.
“We have started the
process to lodge an FIR in this
connection,” the official said.
Earlier, in a separate inci-
dent in the morning, a
policeman was injured when
some locals threw stones at
the security personnel who
were trying to enforce lock-
down in Dindoli area of Surat
city, DCP (zone-1) RP Barot
said.
Five persons were detained
for the attack on the policemen,
he said.
?=BQ :278
The Kerala High Court on
Tuesday stayed for two
months the operationalisation
of the State Government’s order
to deduct a month’s salary of its
employees to tide over the
financial crisis caused by coro-
navirus pandemic. In its order,
the Government had said the
State Government employees’
salary for six days every month
would be deducted for the
next five months.
The HC made it clear,
“Payment of salary is certain-
ly not a matter of bounty. It is
a right vested in every indi-
vidual to receive the salary.”
The Government’s deci-
sion to defer the employees’
salary of six days every month
for the next five months had
upset the Government staff
who had voluntarily come for-
ward to donate a day’s salary to
the Chief Minister’s Disaster
Relief Fund immediately.
Detailed copy on P5
?C8Q =4F34;78
Outstanding loans amount-
ing to C68,607 crore of
top 50 wilful bank loan
defaulters in the country,
including firms of Mehul
Choksi and Vijay Mallya, have
been technically written off till
September 30, 2019, the
Reserve Bank of India said in
a RTI reply.
Absconding dimantaire
Choksi’s company Gitanjali
Gems tops the list of these
defaulters with a whopping
amount of C5,492 crore,
according to the list.
Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines
figures in the list at number 9,
with outstanding of C1943
crore which have been techni-
cally written off by the banks.
In his application, RTI
activist Saket Gokhale had
sought the list of defaulters as
on February 16, but the RBI
said the requested information
is not available.
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Washington: The US is car-
rying out a “very serious”
investigation against China,
President Donald Trump has
said, indicating that his
administration is looking at a
bigger compensation from
Beijing than the $140 billion
being sought by Germany
over the coronavirus pan-
demic.
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Noida: Five more people,
including two teenagers, tested
positive for coronavirus in
Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh
Nagar on Tuesday, taking the
district’s tally to 134, officials
said.
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Nagar administration has made
arrangements of free cab ser-
vice for people who need to
travel to Delhi for special med-
ications like dialysis or cancer
treatment amid the lockdown
imposed to control the spread
of coronavirus.
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The Haryana Police on
Tuesday arrested 30 people
for allegedly attacking police
party at the cremation ground
in Chandpura village of
Ambala Cantonment on
Monday evening.
Police on Monday had
asked the local residents to
allow the cremation of an 82-
year-old local woman, whom
they suspected to have died of
coronavirus but the residents of
the village threw stones at the
police and doctors at the cre-
mation ground. The police
had to open fire in the air to
disperse the mob when vil-
lagers repeatedly objected to
the cremation of the old
woman.
Talking to The Pioneer,
DSP, Ambala Cantt, Ram
Kumar said taking serious
note of it, a case under
appropriate sections of IPC
has been registered against
more than 150 people in the
Police Station concerned. So
far, 30 persons involved in
this incident have been
arrested.
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New Delhi: China on Tuesday said it was “deeply concerned”
over the evaluation result of the Covid-19 rapid testing kits sup-
plied by two Chinese firms and subsequent decision by the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to not use the equipment,
and hoped that India will resolve the issue “reasonably”.
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The Union Territory of
Chandigarh on Tuesday
recorded its biggest single-day
spike in COVID-19 cases, with
11 fresh cases reported from
affected pockets of Bapu Dham
colony and Sector 30-B in the
city.
With this, the doubling
rate of COVID-19
(Coronavirus) cases in the city
has dropped to 6.64 days on
Tuesday, as against the nation-
al average of 10.2 days.
Chandigarh, which is joint
capital of Punjab and Haryana
recorded 11 fresh cases includ-
ing five from Sector 30-B and
six from Bapu Dham colony,
taking the total number of
Coronavirus cases to 56 till
Tuesday evening.
In the past four days, 29
new positive cases have been
recorded in the city. Most of
these cases are from Bapu
Dham and Sector 30 B.
The active positive cases
now stood at 39 while 17 have
recovered so far. As a precau-
tionary measure, a total of
2625 residents have been put
under home quarantine, out of
which 1734 have completed the
quarantine period in
Chandigarh.
To contain the spread of
Coronavirus, Bapu Dham
colony, a part of Sector 30 B
and Kacchi colony, Dhanas in
Chandigarh have already been
declared as affected pockets
and are completely sealed.
In view of the surge of pos-
itive cases in affected pockets
of Bapu Dham colony and
Sector 30 B in the past four
days, the UT Administration
on Tuesday decided to install
CCTV cameras in these areas
and drones will also be pressed
into service to record videos
and keep a tab on people’s
movement and nab curfew
violators.
The Administration also
decided to intensify testing of
all those with Coronavirus
symptoms in the affected pock-
ets. Apart from this, direc-
tions have also been issued to
UT DGP to ensure that the
affected pockets are totally
cordoned off and the entry or
exit from the affected pocket is
strictly regulated. The
Municipal Corporation is also
directed to ensure proper san-
itization and cleaning of the
area.
Manoj Parida, Adviser to
UT Administrator said that
Coronavirus outbreak needs to
be contained and the
Administration is focusing its
resources in pockets like Bapu
Dham Colony in Sector 26 and
Sector 30-B. “With the help of
local volunteers and leaders, we
will make efforts to ensure
that the locals maintain social
distancing in these pockets.
CCTV cameras will be installed
and drone photography will be
used to nab persons, who are
violating the social distancing
norms in the area. The police
will also patrol the area regu-
larly so as to ensure that the
curfew orders are strictly fol-
lowed,” Parida said.
During his daily review
meeting, the Punjab Governor
and UT Administrator VP
Singh Bandore on Tuesday
also expressed concern regard-
ing the sudden spurt in
COVID-19 positive cases par-
ticularly in Bapu Dham colony,
which has so far reported 14
positive cases.
13 cases (family members
and community contacts) are
related to the GMCH-32 ward
boy (30), who is a resident of
Bapu Dham colony and was
tested Coronavirus positive
last week. Notably, Chandigarh
was declared a COVID-19
hotspot by Central
Government on April 15 fol-
lowing which the UT
Administration had declared
the entire city as “containment
zone” to stem the spread of
Coronavirus.
A curfew was imposed in
the city on March 24 to ensure
social distancing amid
Coronavirus pandemic and
will remain in force till May 3.
Till now, 924 samples have
been tested for Coronavirus in
the city. Report of 10 was
awaited till the filing of the
story. No Coronavirus related
death has been reported in the
city so far.
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Following a spate of cases in
which those employed in
Delhi were allegedly responsi-
ble for the spread of corona
virus in the NCR region of
Haryana, the borders with
Delhi have been “sealed” with
essential services allowed but
stricter restrictions imposed
on those coming in from the
national capital, State Home
Minister Anil Vij said on
Tuesday.
Haryana will be in a “com-
fortable position” as far as
COVID-19 cases are concerned
if the borders stay sealed for 15-
20 days, Vij, who is also the
Health Minister of Haryana,
added. The towns of Gurgaon,
Faridabad, Sonepat form part
of the National Capital Region.
Vij said, ”The State’s bor-
ders have been sealed. Essential
services will be allowed. If all
the borders of Haryana stay
sealed for 15-20 days, the State
will be in comfortable situation
(in terms of corona virus
threat).”
Essential services and peo-
ple connected with them will
be allowed to cross the borders
in accordance with the Union
Home Ministry guidelines, he
explained. Following the lock-
down on March 25, the state
government had already put in
place restrictions to cross the
border with vehicles and peo-
ple being checked.
“The restrictions will be
stricter,” he said. “Mostly those
people who work in Delhi and
stay in Haryana are getting
infected, and also those who
come into contact with them.
And the cases are rising in
Haryana because of them,” Vij
said. He said the Arvind
Kejriwal-led Delhi government
should make “proper arrange-
ments” for lodging employees
of the Delhi government who
work in the national capital but
stay in Haryana.
“It is the responsibility of
the Delhi government to make
arrangements for their stay
and food and also test them
and if they are positive, find a
cure for them,” he said. The
same holds true for Haryana
government employees coming
here from the neighbouring
state to work, he said. It is our
responsibility to make neces-
sary arrangements for their
lodging and food.
Asked whether the lock-
down should be lifted on May
3, he said his personal view was
that it should be extended.
The minister also underscored
that the COVID-19 situation in
the State is under control,
which has the country’s high-
est recovery rate of more than
71 per cent.
Vij who holds the portfo-
lios of health, home and local
bodies, which are at frontline in
the battle against the pandem-
ic, said, I salute all the work-
ers of these departments.
Nuh with 57 COVID-19
cases, Gurgaon with 51,
Faridabad with 46, Palwal with
34 and Sonipat with 22 are the
worst affected districts in
Haryana. Of these, Gurgaon,
Faridabad and Sonipat border
Delhi while the other are two
are in its vicinity. According to
the Union Health ministry on
Tuesday, Haryana has report-
ed 296 cases and three fatalities.
Of the 296, 183 have been
either cured, discharged or
migrated.
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With steep hike in coron-
avirus cases in State
Capital in last 72 hours, as
more and more areas getting
engulfed there is panic in State
Capital. Till few days the virus
was confined to only Hindpiri
area—hotspot of the pandem-
ic, but now entire State Capital
is infected with the virus.
The virus has moved away
from Hindpiri to new areas at
Kanta Toli, Chutia, Itki Road,
Kanke, Kadru, Harmu and
other areas. The Ranchi dis-
trict administration to check
the spread of virus in new
areas and to enforce lock-
down successfully has
deployed Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) at
Hindpiri and other areas.
Out of the 103 positive
cases reported in Jharkhand
till Monday, Ranchi alone has
reported 74 positive cases.
Sources say that three compa-
nies of CRPF are being
deployed in Ranchi, in order
to provide some relief to the
Jharkhand Police jawans,
which has been doing the job
continuously for the past 45
days.
A senior administrative
officer on condition of
anonymity said, “CRPF has
been deployed in Hindpiri
area as there were
reports that some nuisance
elements with ulterior motives
were sneaking out from
Hindpiri area through river
Harmu.
Also local police were find-
ing it helpless to enforce the
lockdown successfully we
decided to rope in the services
of para-military forces.”
The senior administrative
officer said that these central
reserved forces will be deployed
at entry and exits of Hindpiri.
The para military forces will
also be deployed at other areas
which have emerged as new
containment zones.
As per district administra-
tion directives entire Ranchi
district has been sealed. Entry
or exit from districts has been
banned. Only ambulances dur-
ing emergency conditions will
be allowed to pass.
Moreover, due to increase
in Covid 19 cases, tension and
fear was palpable on the faces
of residents.
The Naga Baba Khatal
local vegetable market in State
capital which used to witness
hustle and bustle with people
even in lockdown period was
deserted. Only handfuls of cus-
tomers were present at the
vegetable markets.
Mantu Sao a vegetable sell-
er at Naga Baba Khatal said,
“Today not only there has been
drop in customers but the
number of vegetable sellers
too is very less than few days
back. Many vegetable sellers
have stopped coming to mar-
ket fearing increase in corona
cases.”
Not only vegetable mar-
kets are affected, even there
has been drop in customers at
general stores. As general
stores selling food grains is
opened during lockdown
many food grains shops at
Upper bazaar are opened but
in past few days due to
increase in corona positive
cases, shopkeepers have
downed their shops shutters.
Vishal Jaiswal who owns a
grocery store at Upper Bazar
said, “As there has been steep
hike in corona positive cases
in State Capital with new
cases being reported from
new containment zones even
we are afraid of opening
shops. We open our shops
only for few hours in morn-
ing.”
Jaiswal further said that as
Hindpiri is adjacent to Upper
Bazar we are more cautious as
virus can easily transmit to
Upper Bazar which has
remained infection free till
date.
?=B Q A0=278
The Government has identi-
fied at least 15 containment
zones in Ranchi – the district
with highest number of
COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand,
Ranchi Deputy Commissioner
Rai Mahimapat Ray said on
Tuesday. Out of the 15 con-
tainment zones, Hindpiri is
the only 'large containment
zone', while the remaining 14
are micro containment zones,
he added. There are 15 con-
tainment zones in Ranchi.
Entry of outsiders in these
zones is not allowed.
All shops in these areas will
also remain closed, said Ray.
Out of the 15 containment
zones, one is in Bundu and the
remaining 14 are in urban areas.
More than 6980 people have
been home quarantined in
Ranchi so far, he added. The
district administration here has
also done 2653 contact tracing
in Ranchi since the Coronavirus
pandemic entered Jharkhand,
said Ray. A majority of the cases
in the State capital, he said, had
links with either Tablighi
Jamaat congregation in New
Delhi or Hindpiri locality – the
hotspot of COVID-19 in State.
However, he clarified that it
would be unwise to think that
all the cases from Hindpiri
were related to a particular
community.
Addressing media persons
in Ranchi on Monday, Ray
said also said that more tests
were conducted in Ranchi
when compared to other dis-
tricts, and therefore there were
higher number of asympto-
matic cases here.
There have been five ways
of transmission in Ranchi –
through Tablighi Jamaat, from
Hindpiri, and from three other
sources, he said. Senior
Superintendent of Police, Anish
Gupta said that violation of
lockdown may lead to up to five
years of imprisonment in the
current situation. We are lodg-
ingFIRs,andwehavetobestrict.
However,Irequestthepeopleof
Ranchitostayindoorsandavoid
creatingasituationwherepolice
have to intervene, he said.
?=BQ 17D10=4BF0A
1703A0:ADA:4;0
Seven more people tested
positive for Covid-19 on
Tuesday, taking the total num-
ber of cases to 118 in the State.
Of the new cases, three
were reported from Bhadrak
district and four from Nala
Road in Rourkela of
Sundargarh district.
The three Bhadrak cases
included a 45-year-old man, a
25-year-old man and a 29-
year-old man, all having a
travel history to West Bengal
and being asymptomatic.
While two of them are resi-
dents of Basudevpur block,
the other hails from Bonth
block. With the fresh cases, the
total number of cases rose to 19
in the district out of which two
have recovered.
The four positive cases in
Nala Road included two
women aged 55 and 35 and two
men of 38 and 27 years. All are
residents under thecontain-
ment zone of the area.
They were admitted to the
Rourkela
Covid Hospital. The four
persons were infected after
coming incontact with the
sixth case. On Tuesday,
Rourkela Municipal
Corporation (RMC)
Commissioner Dibyajoti
Parida inspected the contain-
ment zone along with other
officials. Besides, surveillance
of the area is being carried out
by a drone. With the fresh
cases, the total number of cases
in Sundargarh district rose to
10.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
As many as 78 per cent
coronavirus patients in
Haryana are male and many of
the total cases fall in the young
age group bracket. Besides,
Tablighi Jamaat members
account for 46 per cent of the
cases, Health Minister Anil
Vij said on Tuesday while shar-
ing data from the state health
department.
As on April 25, data per-
taining to 273 positive cases in
the state revealed that 78 per
cent per cent patients were
male while 22 per cent were
female, he said.
As many as 74 cases were
of people in the 25-34 age
group, 53 cases were in the 15-
24 age group, 22 in the 65-74
age category while no patient
was above 85 years of age.
The Tablighi Jamaat peo-
ple accounted for 46 per cent
of the cases, international trav-
ellers 14.5 per cent, health staff
18.7 per cent, domestic trav-
ellers 6.2 per cent. Contacts of
positive cases accounted for
48.18 per cent cases, while
contacts of Tablighis were 20.7
per cent, vendor/shopkeepers
etc. accounted for 28.10 per
cent, he said.
Haryana saw the maxi-
mum weekly spike of 86 new
cases between April 7-13 when
majority of the cases related to
attendees of the Tablighi
Jamaat congregation were
detected.
?=BQ 70A83F0A
The India Reserve Battalion
(IRB) along with the
Government Railway Police
(GRP) is also doing its bit to
help the poor and needy citi-
zens amidst the lockdown.
Under the directions of IRB II
commandant and GRP SP,
Manjunath TC, personnel of
IRB and GRP are providing
cooked food to the needy in
Haridwar.
A community kitchen has
been functioning since March
24 to prepare food for the
needy, daily wagers and strand-
ed persons from other cities
during the lockdown. A num-
ber of personnel have also
donated funds to fuel this
activity. The community
kitchen started operating with
a target of 400 cooked food
packets daily. However, with
the contribution of other
organisations like Ramakrishna
Mission, Bharat Mata Mandir,
BHEL and SBI, this has
increased to 1,400 food pack-
ets per day. A team of 25 per-
sonnel including several
gazetted officers is working to
facilitate this service.
Commandant IRB Second
and Superintendent of
Manjunath TC said that all the
officers of Haridwar district
administration have given their
support for this service.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Unlike every holy month of
Ramzan in the past, this
time the festive mood is sub-
dued among the Muslim com-
munity in the city due to the
lockdown. Considering the
COVID-19, the locals are
observing Roza by staying in
their homes. According to
Jakhan resident Kehkasha
Qureshi, “I cook various meals
like naankhatai, pudding, mut-
ton and sherbet for my family
in every Roza for sehri (meal
before sunrise) and iftar (meal
after sunset) during Ramzan
but due to the lockdown, I
could not prepare all the dish-
es this time. We are also offer-
ing Namaz at home. Hopefully
this coronavirus pandemic will
not be in our area by Eid.
Visiting market and
mosques during Ramzan is
what gives festive vibes but the
clerics have advised everyone
to stay indoors and pray at
home. We are also avoiding
iftars with neighbours and
family members too. This
Ramzan all we are asking from
God is a coronavirus free coun-
try, said grocery store owner
Shahnawaz Ansari. Some locals
also state that they have asked
the old people in their com-
munity to not observe Roza,
especially those who suffer
from any kind of illness. My
father is 75 years old and he
never missed a single Roza. My
brother is a doctor and he
requested our father not to
observe Roza this time. My
brother told him to eat health-
ily and boost his immunity as
it is very important at present
for everyone to watch their
health. If possible, I suggest old
and sick people to skip observ-
ing Roza this Ramzan, said
Jannat Bano, a local teacher. “I
have also asked my grandpar-
ents to skip Roza this year. This
Ramzan, there are only young
Rozedars (people observing
Roza) in my family who are
observing Roza,” stated
Dalanwala resident
Mohammad Ali.
?=BQ 70;3F0=8
Like other protected areas in
the State, the Corbett
national park is also closed to
visitors due to the nation-wide
lockdown. However, the locals
are seeing more of elephant and
other wild animals on the
roads as the wildlife ventures
more frequently out of the
protected areas.
A video shot by some locals
of an elephant sauntering on
the road on Monday went viral
on the social media. The
Corbett national park warden
Ramakant Tiwari said that the
elephant in the video clip saun-
tered on the road near the new
Ramnagar-Haldwani bypass
bridge. After moving around
on the road for some time, the
pachyderm returned to the
jungle. He said that this area
has jungles without any
humans around
and that wildlife
coming out of the
woods here is a
normal feature.
However, the
Corbett adminis-
tration has stepped
up its monitoring
of elephant move-
ment.
It is pertinent
to mention here
that since the lock-
down was imposed
to contain the
spread of COVID-
19, sightings of
wildlife on desert-
ed motor roads
and outside pro-
tected areas have seen a rise in
various parts of the state. While
a leopard was spotted moving
along with its cubs in Almora,
leopards have also been spot-
ted on roads in Bhimtal area.
Though wild animals fre-
quently cross roads and stray
into human habitations,
wildlife lovers are wondering
about the repercussions of any
possible change in the behav-
iour of wild animals due to the
drastic drop in human activi-
ties due to the lockdown.
9dQ^bPd]cTab^]a^PS[T^_PaSbbXVWcTSc^^[SbXRZ_T^_[TRP]bZX_A^iP^_X]T[^RP[b
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Human Rights
Commission of
Uttarakhand has directed the
chief secretary (CS) of
Uttarakhand to make arrange-
ments for return of people of
Uttarakhand stranded in other
states in a phased manner.
Taking cognisance of the appli-
cation filed by senior Congress
leader Jot Singh Bisht, the
chairman of the commission,
Justice VK Bisht gave the order
to CS on Tuesday. In his appli-
cation to the commission, Jot
Singh Bisht had said that for
return of stranded people of
Uttarakhand in different states
he had written a letter to the
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh
Rawat on April 14. With this
letter a list of 630 people stuck
in different states was submit-
ted. Bisht wrote another letter
on April 19, this time with a list
of 1651 people.
In his application to com-
mission, Bisht further sub-
mitted that Uttarakhand gov-
ernment deployed Volvo buses
of Uttarakhand roadways to
send 1800 tourists of Gujarat
stranded in state due to lock-
down to their homes.
Similarly 200 foreign
nationals from Rishikesh were
allowed to go to Delhi and
more than 150 students were
brought back from Kota in
Rajasthan by the state govern-
ment.
He said that in context of
these examples, the demand of
non resident Uttarakhandis’
stranded in other states is jus-
tified. In his order, the chair-
man of Commission, Justice
Bisht said that due to closure of
hotels and factories, the prob-
lem of food and shelter has
arisen for many of these peo-
ple and necessary action is
needed to be taken on part of
the government. The
Commission also said that
measures like social distancing,
health related parameters
should be followed in home
coming of these people.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The union Human Resource
Development (HRD)
Ministry has decided that the
Mid Day Meal (MDM) would
be provided to the students
during the summer vacations
also. The money of the MDM
would be transferred in the
bank accounts of the students.
These orders were given by the
Union HRD Minister, Ramesh
Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ during a
video conferencing session
with the education ministers of
all the States and Union
Territories (UT) on Tuesday.
He said that the Central
Government has approved a
sum of C957 Crore for provid-
ing MDM during the summer
vacations. It is pertinent to
mention here that the MDM is
not provided during the vaca-
tions.
Participating in the session,
the education minister of
Uttarakhand Arvind Pandey
said that the classes of differ-
ent subjects are being tele-
casted in the Doordarshan for
the students so that their stud-
ies are not adversely affected by
the lockdown.
He suggested that the
union government should
direct the telecommunication
companies to improve con-
nectivity in the remote areas.
Pandey expressed gratitude of
the HRD minister for releasing
a four week special syllabus for
the students of classes I to VIII.
He said that the selective syl-
labus would be beneficial for
both the students and teachers.
After the video conferenc-
ing session, Pandey directed
the education secretary R
Meenakshi Sundaram that the
compulsion of National
Council of Education Research
and Training (NCERT) text-
books for all the schools should
be strictly enforced on the pri-
vate schools of Dehradun,
Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar
and Haridwar districts.
On a stern note the
Minister sought details of the
officers of education depart-
ment who have failed to imple-
ment the orders of compulsion
of NCERT textbooks in their
areas. He said that action
should be initiated against
such officers.
Pandey said that the
schools should not increase
their fees this year and direct-
ed that the authorities should
take strict action on such
schools that are charging more
fees or pressuring parents to
deposit fees.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The State has sought special permission
from the Centre to bring back skilled
labourers to Uttarakhand, facilitate trans-
port of some construction raw materials
from other States and a special package for
the transport department.
The State’s Urban Development and
Housing Minister Madan Kaushik said
this while interacting with the media after
attending a video conference held by the
Union minister of Road Transport and
Highways, Nitin Gadkari and the Union
minister of State for Road Transport and
Highways general (retd) VK Singh on
Tuesday. Gadkari had chaired the meeting
to review the situation in the states with
focus on boosting economic activities.
Kaushik said that the Union minister
was informed that works related to nation-
al highways and Char Dham had resumed
in the state. He said, “We have unskilled
labourers but the skilled labourers have
returned to their native states. We have
sought special permission from the Centre
to bring back the skilled labourers so that
work can be expedited.
Further, we also have some raw mate-
rials and have also permitted mining.
However, other construction raw materi-
als like steel, cement and iron are trans-
ported from other States. We are awaiting
permission from the centre for resumption
of the supply of these materials from other
states. Our Transport minister Yashpal
Arya, who was also present in the meet-
ing sought a special package from the cen-
tre citing the difficult conditions being
faced by the department.”Apart from these
points, stress was laid on observance of five
directions with focus on sanitation and
physical distancing. These five directions
include the mandatory wearing of masks,
use of sanitiser, proper food and safety
arrangements in labour camps, maintain-
ing one metre social distancing and also
maintaining social distancing during
transport of labourers. It was also decid-
ed that talks will be held with state trans-
porters association for encouraging eco-
nomic activities. A meeting will also be
held with officials to review the monitor-
ing system. Stress was laid in the meeting
on both winning the fight against novel
coronavirus and successfully facilitating
economic activities.
Apart from Kaushik and Arya, addi-
tional chief secretary Om Prakash, secre-
taries Shailesh Bagauli, Arvind Singh
Hyanki, mining director Meharban Singh
Bisht and other officials were also present
in the meeting.
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The Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) presi-
dent Pritam Singh has said that
the state government should
direct the private schools to
refrain from charging fees from
the parents for the period of
lockdown. Addressing media
persons at the state headquar-
ters of the Congress party on
Tuesday he said that many
private schools are asking the
parents to deposit three months
of fees. “Due to the lockdown
enforced to curb the infection
of COVID-19, large number of
people are finding it hard to
deposit the fee of their wards.
In such a circumstance, the
state government should issue
a clear order to the schools
which prohibits fee collection,’’
he said. Singh accused the
state government of dilly dal-
lying on the issue. He said that
the education minister is
changing his statements on
the issue of fee collection. The
PCC chief added that the state
government is hesitating to
take to any decision on the
issue of fees which is unfortu-
nate. The PCC chief also reit-
erated his demand that the cen-
tral government should provide
a special economic package to
Uttarakhand in the wake of
non operation of the Char
Dham Yatra this year. The for-
mer MLA, Rajkumar said that
the state government should
provide more free food grains
on all the types of ration cards.
“To the white ration card hold-
ers, 5 kg wheat and 3 kg rice is
being provided per ration card
which meagre. The govern-
ment should increase the ration
per card and also provide free
cooking oil and pulses,’’ he
said.
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More than 8500 people of
Uttarakhand stranded in
different parts of the country
in different districts of the state
have registered their prob-
lems in the ‘Devbhoomi Sewa’
App in only four days of its
launch, claimed the senior
Congress leader, Manish
Khanduri while addressing
media persons at Rajiv Bhawan
on Tuesday. He said that
almost all of these people want
that the state government
should make arrangements for
their return to homes without
any further delay. The
Congress leader had played a
major role in designing the
App. He claimed that most of
these people have submitted
that they have provision of
food for some days. Khanduri
added that an analysis of the
data shows that maximum
numbers of people who are
stranded are from Tehri and
Pauri districts. The PCC pres-
ident, Pritam Singh who
accompanied Khanduri said
that the party has sought time
from the chief minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat for a
meeting during which the list
of these people would be sub-
mitted to him.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The premier super speciality
hospital of Uttarakhand, All
India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh is fast turning
out to be a hotspot of novel
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the
State. After a nursing officer was
found positive for the disease on
April 26, three more cases surfaced
from the AIIMS on Tuesday. The
COVID-19 outbreak has almost
crippled the prestigious hospital
which is functioning as the treat-
ment and testing centre for
COVID-19 in the State. On
Tuesday three more people, a
critically ill female patient of
stroke, an attendant of a surgery
patient and a female nurse of
surgery department of AIIMS,
Rishikesh were found positive for
the disease. The hospital author-
ities are now planning to send
more than 200 staff members and
patients into quarantine.
The Public Relations Officer
(PRO) of AIIMS Rishikesh, Harish
Thapliyal told The Pioneer that the
surgery and Urology depart-
ments are nearby and share com-
mon area. He said that it is likely
that the attendant of a 56 year old
female patient admitted in
Urology ward carried the disease
to the nursing staff. The female
nurse found infected on Tuesday
works in general surgery depart-
ment and lives with a roommate
near AIIMS. The attendant found
positive is with a female patient
admitted in Urology department.
One female patient admitted in the
ICU of the hospital after suffering
from brain stroke too was found
suffering from COVID-19 on
Tuesday.
With three new cases, the
number of COVID-19 patients in
Uttarakhand increased to 54 on
Tuesday.
The authorities in state have
so far taken swab samples of 5739
suspected patients for COVID-19
test. On Tuesday, samples of 269
suspected patients were taken and
sent to the lab for test. The author-
ities have so far provided psychi-
atric counselling to 21544
migrants labours kept in different
relief camps of the state. In the
state, 1002257 people have so far
downloaded the Arogya Setu App.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Since April 20, a total of 1,171
industrial units have been granted
permission to resume operations in the
state through the single window sys-
tem started to grant such permissions
following Central Government direc-
tions. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh
Rawat said this while participating in
the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) north India virtual conference
through video conferencing on
Tuesday.
Rawat said that the economy of the
whole world has been affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown
imposed in Uttarakhand from March
22 has been observed with patience by
the people and industry. Stating that
1,171 industrial units had been grant-
ed permission to resume operations
since April 20, he said that in view of
necessary measures for protection
from COVID-19, the units producing
essential items have been exempted
from the lockdown. In this category,
1,884 pharmaceutical and food pro-
duction related units have been per-
mitted to operate. Big industrial enter-
prises like ITC, Hindustan Unilever,
Nestle, Britannia and Dabur have
resumed production. In the auto sec-
tor, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp,
Ashok Leyland and Mahindra have
completed their preparations for
resuming production. The CM further
said that a committee had been formed
under retired IAS officer IK Pandey to
conduct a study and submit a report
with suggestions and alternatives to
tackle the economic loss and strength-
en the economy of the state. Further,
the last date for payment of lease/rent
in SIIDCUL industrial areas has been
extended from April 30 to June 30.
Similarly, last date for submission of
pending water connection and sewer
charge has been extended to May 31
while the last date for renewal of
approval under Water and Air
Pollution Control Act has been extend-
ed to June 30. In addition to this, Rs
2,000 each in financial assistance has
been provided to labourers in build-
ing and other construction works. For
industrial and commercial consumers
of electricity, from March to May
moratorium on payment of
fixed/demand charge and exemption
from late surcharge in delayed pay-
ment of bills has been provided while
orders have been issued to not cut the
electricity connection to those unable
to pay the electricity bill during the
lockdown. Industries principal secre-
tary Manisha Panwar and industries
director Sudhir Nautiyal were also pre-
sent on the occasion.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Dehradun district
administration will take
action against the slaughter-
houses operating illegally in the
district. Apart from this, over
3000 workers have been given
employment by the adminis-
tration in the district so far
under MGNREGA. According
to the officials, the admin has
received complaints about abat-
toirs slaughtering animals ille-
gally and selling meat.
The district magistrate
Ashish Kumar Shrivastava
informed that investigation will
be done against those accused of
illegalslaughterofanimals.Ifany
abattoir is found to be working
illegally, legal action will be
taken against it, said the DM.
Meanwhile, around 3612 work-
ers have been provided employ-
ment till now under MGNRE-
GA by Dehradun dist admin.
Under this programme,
403 construction works have
been commenced in the district
in which all the workers were
provided with sanitisers besides
maintaining the social distanc-
ing protocol on the site,
informed officials.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
In a major decision impacting
lakhs of students, the Centre
on Tuesday announced that the
pending CBSE Board exams for
Class 10 and Class 12, which
could not be conducted due to
the outbreak of coronavirus
pandemic, will not be held any
more and students should be
evaluated and promoted on the
basis of their internal exams.
However, it left to the States to
take a decision on the exams
conducted by their respective
State Boards.
The CBSE had postponed
the Class 10 and Class 12
examinations in March to pre-
vent the spread of coronavirus
in the country. Later, the Board
decided to conduct exams only
for about 30-odd subjects.
During a video conference
meeting with the State
Education Ministers and offi-
cers, Union HRD Minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank
apprised them of the decision
and hinted that the syllabus for
next year’s entrance test of
JEE, NEET, etc based on Class
12 qualification will be cut
down by 30 percent.
The HRD Minister also
appealed to all the States to start
the process of evaluation of
answer sheets of Board exams,
facilitate CBSE to evaluate
answer sheets of the students in
their respective States and
make preparations to declare
the results of board examina-
tions on scheduled time as
done every year.
A senior HRD ministry
official said that States will now
have to decide on the Minister’s
appeal regarding the evaluation
of board exams. “Since board
exams are part of the federal
structure, Centre can’t be
imposing but the States
acknowledged the ground sit-
uation and will do according-
ly. It was brought to the notice
of HRD Minister that most of
the education boards had done
with 80 per cent of their exam-
inations except for Kerala
which was hit with the Corona
scare much before the nation-
al lockdown was announced,”
said Ministry official.
The HRD Minister had
interacted with the parents on
Monday where issues like
exams, session etc were
brought to the notice of Centre.
“The HRD Minister was
convinced alongwith the
demands of several states that
since the academic session has
been hampered, though all the
best efforts of online education
have been put in, there are
pupils who have not been ris-
ing upto to the crisis due to var-
ious issues. Hence, syllabus
should be curtailed for acade-
mic and competitive examina-
tions in this academic session,”
said a Ministry source present
in the conference meeting.
Delhi Deputy Chief
Minister and Education
Minister Manish Sisodia took
to social media saying he had
asked to promote the CBSE
class 10 and class 12 students
without holding the pending
examinations based on the
internal marks.
Some of the states high-
lighted the issues like non-
availability of smart phones,
computers or where they are,
internet data is a problem or in
cases such things are not
affordable and in past candi-
dates of such areas have
secured good positions in
entrance test like that for IIT,
NDA, Medical etc.
Pokhriyal, alongwith HRD
Minister of State Sanjay Dhotre,
interacted with Education
Ministers and Education
Secretaries of all the States
through video conferencing.
Education Ministers of 22
States and secretaries from 14
States and Union Territories
attended the conference.
Pokhriyal informed them
on his Ministry’s request, the
MHA has relaxed the lock-
down rules to open bookstores
so that students can avail books
to continue their studies.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Despite lockdown, India has wit-
nessedarecordsaleoffertiliserseven
aswheatharvestingtoocontinuesbriskly.
As per the data provided by the Centre,
over 10.63 lakh metric tons of fertilisers
were sold in April which is 32 percent
higher than the last year sale of 8.02 lakh
MT.
And as reported by the States, about
98-99% of wheat crop has been harvest-
ed in Madhya Pradesh, 92-95% in
Rajasthan, 85-88% in Uttar Pradesh, 55-
60% in Haryana, 60-65% in Punjab and
87-88% in other States.
The agencies have also procured
102.37 lakh tons of wheat and 15.71 lakh
tons of rice so far.
Officials said the record fertilisers’
sale will ensure adequate availability of
crop nutrients to farmers for the sowing
operation of kharif (summer) crops.
On April 17, 41 fertiliser rakes
moved from plants and ports. This is the
highest movement of fertilisers during
lockdown period in a day. One rake car-
ries 3,000 tonnes of load at a time. The
Centre has allowed operation of fertilis-
er plants in the country.
For his part, Union Consumer
Affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on
Tuesday tweeted that as many as 102.37
lakh tons of wheat and 15.71 lakh tons
of rice have been procured so far. The
majorcontributorsarePunjab(48.27lakh
metric tons followed by Haryana (19.07
lakh metric tons. The Ministry has tar-
geted to procure 407 lakh metric tons of
wheat and 112 lakh metric tons of rice
this year.
“Going by the present pace of pro-
curement, the target of 407 LMT kept for
the season is likely to be achieved. The
procurement exercise is likely to contin-
ue till June 30. However, looking at
restrictions during lock down, period
may get extended by another 15 days,”
said a senior food ministry official.
Considering the looming threat of
spread of COVID-19 virus, procurement
is being undertaken after taking enough
pre-cautions and ensuring social dis-
tancing in the mandis,” officials added.
On the other hand, the Ministry of
Agriculture has procured 72,415.82 met-
ric tons of Gram (Chana) from Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan,
MaharashtraandUttarPradesh.Similarly,
1,20,023.29 metric tons Toor Dal has
been procured from Tamil Nadu,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and
Odisha. 1.83 lakh tons mustard has been
procured from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
and Haryana.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Citing an RTI reply by the
RBI, the Congress on
Tuesday alleged the Modi
Government has waived off
C68,607 crore of the top 50
bank loan defaulters, including
Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi.
Several leaders, including
former Congress chief Rahul
Gandhi, also alleged that the
Government waived off loans
worth C6.66 lakh crore between
2014 and September 2019.
“I had asked a question in
the Parliament the names of the
top50bankloandefaultersinthe
country, but the Finance
Minister did not answer,” Rahul
said.
“Now the RBI has given the
names of Nirav Modi, Mehul
Choksi and many of BJP’s
‘friends’inthelistofbankfrauds.
That is why this truth was held
back from Parliament,” Rahul
said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congresschiefspokesperson
RandeepSurjewalaalsoreleased
thelistofthetoploandefaulters,
as per the RTI reply, and
demanded answers from the
PM. “This is a classic case of
promoting ‘dupe, deceive and
depart’ policy of the Modi
Government, which can no
longer be accepted and the PM
has to answer,” he told reporters
through video conference.
Surjewala also said “this reflects
the dishonest intentions of the
Modi Government”.
Hesaidtheentirecountryis
fighting the coronavirus and
the Government has no money
to pay to States, but has the
moneytocondoneandwriteoff
C68,307 crore of bank loan
defaulters.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Government-enforced social
isolation may help relative-
ly affluent populations limit the
spread of deadly Covid-19, but
these steps can be devasting for
the nearly 1 billion people
around the globe currently
dwelling in urban slums, where
physical space is scarce, and
many rely on daily wage labour
forsurvival,accordingto aglob-
al study.
Published in the Journal of
UrbanHealth,thestudyempha-
sised on the need to prioritise
providing basic needs such as
potable water, sanitation and a
moratoriumonevictionsbesides
supporting existing communi-
tyleadershipindeliveringhealth
care and emergency prepared-
ness to help the poor urban to
sail through the Covid-19 pan-
demic.
The study is important in
the Indian context having the
densely population which is
hometoseveralurbanslumslike
DharaviinMumbaiwherenear-
ly 8.5 lakh people are living in
cramped conditions in an area
that spans about 0.83 square
miles.
The report has been
authored by a team of public
health experts and epidemiolo-
gists working in collaboration
with community leaders and
non-governmental organisa-
tions (NGOs) fromurban slums
around the world.
While noting that Covid-19
became a pandemic because of
the global spread of the virus by
those people who can afford to
travel on airplanes and cruise
ships, the report noted that the
disease has ended up in vulner-
able communities of the world.
Ithassuggestedeighturgent
recommendations for reducing
theimpactofthedeadlyviruson
people living in poverty.
These recommendations
are crucial not just for people
living in urban slums in the
global south, but for other vul-
nerable populations, such as
migrant farm workers and
those living in refugee camps
and homeless encampments
and on Native American reser-
vations in the United States, the
authors say.
Evidence now suggests that
the coronavirus is dispropor-
tionately affecting black
Americans in some US cities,
possiblyduetosimilarstructural
factors, such as the inability to
take time off of work.
“The political and econom-
ic shocks and instability that are
happening now and are likely to
follow from this epidemic will
likely kill more and lead to
more disability in this popula-
tion than the coronavirus itself,”
said Jason Corburn, a professor
of public health and of city and
regional planning at the
University of California,
Berkeley, and lead author of the
paper. “We felt we needed a
strategy that recognized the
unique needs of the urban poor
at the front.”
Close living conditions and
lack of basic sanitation make
urban slum dwellers particular-
ly vulnerable to contracting and
spreading the coronavirus, said
study’s co-author Lee Riley, a
professor of epidemiology and
infectious diseases at UC
Berkeley.
Many also have pre-existing
medical conditions and lack
access to health care, putting
them at high risk of dying or
developing serious complica-
tions if they do get sick with the
virus.
Simply staying home is
rarely an option for them, as it
often means giving up work and
even basic necessities like food,
water and sanitation.
“Shelter-in-place is a luxu-
ry of the wealthy,” Riley said.
“In many slums, people need to
walk a long distance to collect
water to use at home. Most
people living in slums also
have no choice but to partici-
pate in the informal economy,
which will disappear under
lockdowns.”
A0:4B7:B8=67Q =4F34;78
In the first casualty due to
Covid-19 in the paramilitary
forces, a CRPF Sub Inspector
Md Ikram Hussain of 31
Battalion on Tuesday suc-
cumbed to the fatal disease.
This even as 12 more CRPF
jawans tested positive for
Covid-19 in Delhi taking the
total tally to 47 cases in the
force, including the deceased.
Hussain, 55, had on Friday
reported at the DG Staff Camp
Hospital at RK Puram with the
symptomatic issues at 10.40
AM complaining of running
nose, difficulty in breathing,
fever and headache.
Keeping in view his symp-
toms, Hussain was immediate-
ly referred to Safdarjung
Hospital for further investiga-
tion /treatment. The test report
had confirmed his condition as
Covid-19 positive on Friday.
On Tuesday, Hussain suc-
cumbed due to Covid-19 at
3.30 PM at Safdarjung Hospital.
He had underlying conditions
for the viral disease in the form
heart condition, officials said.
Hussain hails from Barbari
village under Sarupeta post of
Barpeta district in Assam.
After Hussain testing pos-
itive, all the medical and para-
medical staff of the DG Staff
Camp Hospital were quaran-
tined at the CRPF Quarantine
Centre at Narela here and a few
others were advised home
quarantine for 14 days. The DG
Staff Camp Hospital was also
temporarily closed and the
patients have been asked to
report at Detachment
Composite Hospital of
Northern Sector at RK Puram.
While 17 personnel who
came in direct contact with
Hussain were earlier quaran-
tined at Narela, a Chief Medical
Officer and a Nursing Assistant
were home quarantined.
Earlier, 47personnel of 31
Battalion were quarantined at
Narela after a
Constable/Nursing Assistant
had tested positive for the viral
disease last week. As many as
25 persons out of this group of
47, including a private person
(plumber) have been diag-
nosed so far to be Covid-19
positive, officials said.
Besides this, a CMO had
tested positive for the disease
earlier this month and a Head
ConstableofRapidActionForce
deployed in Ahmedabad had
beendiagnosedwiththedisease.
The paramilitary has
launched a detailed survey of
personnel deployed in Covid-
19 related duties in the hotspots
and other operational areas
and if positive cases have been
reported from such locations in
order to take preventive steps,
officials added.
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah took to Twitter to
express his condolences fol-
lowing the death of Hussain. “I
am deeply saddened by demise
of Sub Inspector Mohammad
Ikram Hussain was battling
corona infection. He (Hussain)
bravely fought the epidemic till
his last breath. His contributions
to national service and internal
security will continue to inspire
the countrymen,” Shah tweeted.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Those who have been clini-
cally declared as a very
mild/pre-symptomatic case by
the treating medical officer
can opt for home isolation
provided they have the facili-
ty at their home to do so, the
Government said in its home
isolation guidelines issued on
Tuesday.
But, before opting for such
option, the person will have to
fill in an undertaking on self-
isolation agreement as well as
keep the Arogya Setu app, a
software that alerts the user
about the health status of the
user as well as people in his/her
vicinity.
As per existing guidelines,
during the containment phase,
the patients should be identi-
fied as very mild, mild, mod-
erate or severe and according-
ly admitted to Covid Care
Centre or dedicated Covid
hospital.
“However, very mild/
presymptomatic patients hav-
ing the requisite facility at
his/her residence for self-iso-
lation will have the option for
home isolation,” the govern-
ment said in a statement.
The guidelines say that
they should have the required
facility for self-isolation at
home and also for quarantining
the family contacts while a
caregiver should be appointed
on 24 x7 basis, who will have
to maintain communication
with the hospital for the entire
duration of home isolation.
Also, the caregiver and all
close contacts of such cases
should take
Hydroxychloroquine prophy-
laxis as per protocol. During
the self-isolation period, the
patient will have to monitor his
health and regularly inform the
District Surveillance Officer
of his health status for further
follow up by the surveillance
teams.
“Those in home isolation
are also advised to seek imme-
diate medical attention if there
are serious signs or symptoms
like difficulty in breathing,
persistent pain/ pressure in
the chest, mental confusion or
inability to arouse, developing
bluish discolorations of
lips/face,” says the guidelines.
The caregivers are adviced
to wear a mask, practice hand
hygiene rigorously before and
after removing gloves and use
alcohol based hand rub.
They have also been told to
“avoid direct contact with body
fluids of the patient, particu-
larly oral or respiratory secre-
tions. Use disposable gloves
while handling the patient,” it
stated.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Centre on Tuesday called
forurgentactiontofacilitate
inter-State border movement of
trucksandlorriescarryingessen-
tialgoodstoeasepubliclifedur-
ing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Road and Transport
Minister Nitin Gadkari also
urged the States/UTs through a
video conference meeting with
the Chief Ministers to expedite
landacquisitionandutilisefunds
worthC25,000croreallocatedfor
the purpose to help regain
momentuminroadconstruction
through land acquisition.
The Union Minister pulled
up State Governments for cre-
ating delays in clearance of
goods transport adding that
nearly 3.5 lakh trucks were
strandedatpresentduetodelays
in inter-state clearance and
screening, officials aware of the
development said adding that
therewasnodiscussiononinter-
state public transport.
“States also reiterated that
decision on public transport
will be taken following the
Ministry of home affairs’ order
post May 3,” said official.
Gadkariremindedtoadhere
to health advisories like proper
distance, wearing of masks, use
of sanitisers, both by the dri-
ver/cleaners.
The meeting was also
attended by the Chief Ministers
of Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh
and Arunachal Pradesh.
“There were several issues
on movement of goods and
transportationthatneededtobe
resolved. There is delay in sup-
ply movement and hence the
meetingwascalledtodiscussthe
hurdles.Therewasnodiscussion
on public transport yet, that will
only take place on May 3,”
Himachal Pradesh transport
minister, Govind Thakur said.
Gadkari also told States to
providetransportationforlabour
tofactoriesandensurefoodand
shelter for labourers.
Transportassociationshave
demanded an economic relief
from the Centre.
“Acrosssegmentsthereisan
issue of shortage of drivers,
money and load. Lack of labour
has already led to shortage of
supplies. Movement of vehicles
is still a major issue despite
MHA advisories. E-pass system
is not working properly and
movement of staff apart from
drivers is still a tedious task.
Local restrictions are not help-
ing the transport fraternity as
thereisnofreshload,nounload-
ing at the factories, go-downs or
warehousesandtheourvehicles
getstuckfordaystogether,apart
fromharassmentbylocaladmin-
istration,” said All India Motor
Transport Congress president
Kultaran Singh Atwal.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh on Tuesday directed
the defence public sector
undertakings(DPSU) and
Ordnance Factory
Board(OFB)to be ready with
contingency plans to ramp up
production and contribute
extensively to the economic
recovery.
Taking stock of the overall
preparedness of the PSUs to
compensate for the lost work-
ing time due to lockdown,
Singh referred to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s plans
to revive the economy post-
lockdown and said the defence
production units along with
private defence industry could
play a major role in the eco-
nomic revival. The minister
conveyed this message during
video-conference meeting with
the PSUs and OFB.
“Several Units of OFB and
DPSUs which are located in
non-red zones have already
started operations. Almost all
DPSUs have made contingency
plans to ramp up production
after the lockdown is lifted by
drawing up plans to work in
three shifts and extending the
work days from five to six days
a week,” defence ministry offi-
cials said after the meeting.
They also said work will be car-
ried out in the defence factories
by observing social distancing
and other relevant health
guidelines.
During the conference,
OFB conveyed that it has man-
ufactured 12,800 overalls,
developed specialised machines
for testing Personal Protection
Equipment (PPE), supplied
6.35 lakh masks to local author-
ities and 340 specialised tents
to Arunachal Pradesh for
COVID 19 patients. The OFB
is more than 100 years old and
has 41 factories across the
country manufacturing mis-
siles, tanks, guns, ammunition
and other weapons for the
armed forces.
The Bharat Electronics Ltd
(BEL) has made arrangements
to manufacture 12,000 ventila-
tors in the month of May 2020
and another 18,000 in June
2020, the defence ministry
statement said adding, around
3,000 engineers will also par-
ticipate in training health pro-
fessionals in operationalising
these ventilators.
The Department of
Defence Production (DDP),
defence ministry, OFB and
DPSUs made a contribution of
?77 crore to the PM CARES
fund generated from Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR)
funds and one day salary con-
tribution, the statement said.
Separately, the Defence
Research and Development
Services (DRDS), the main
cadre of Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) to which about 7,000
scientists belong, made a con-
tribution of ?10 lakh to PM
CARES fund in addition to one
day salary. The demand draft of
?10 lakhs was handed over to
Minister of State for Defence
Shripad Naik by All India
DRDS Association (AIDA) last
week.
During the conference, the
OFB also reported that there
was no COVID 19 positive case
in any of its 41 manufacturing
locations. Moreover, in its
fight against the coronavirus
pandemic, the OFB distributed
one lakh litres of hand sanitiz-
er and earmarked 280 isolation
beds at its hospitals in 10 loca-
tions.
The aviation conglomerate
Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited(HAL)has also ear-
marked 93 isolation beds in
Bengaluru for COVID-19
patients. The HAL has manu-
factured 300 aerosol cabinets
and supplied them to various
hospitals. It has also distributed
56,000 masks and extended
support to migrant labour.
The Bharat Dynamics Ltd
(BDL) is also working with
eminent scientists for finalisa-
tion of design for ventilators
and to make the prototype.
The
Mazagon Dock
Shipbuilders Limited (MDL)
provided PPE and medicines
worth Rs Five lakh to Naval
Quarantine Centre, Mumbai
and distributed 4,000 litres of
sanitiser.
Secretary, (Department of
Defence Production) Raj
Kumar, senior officials of
Department of Defence
Production, senior officials of
OFB, BEL, HAL, MDL, Bharat
Earth Movers Ltd (BEML),
Garden Reach Shipbuilders
Engineers Ltd (GRSE), BDL,
Hindustan Shipyard Ltd.
(HSL), Midhani Mishradhatu
Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI) and
Goa Shipyard Ltd participated
in the video conference.
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New Delhi: In view of the
ongoing coronvirus crisis, the
Centre on Tuesday
announced approval for pro-
viding Mid-Day Meal (MDM)
to schoolchildren during sum-
mer holidays too, on which an
additional expenditure of
about C1,600 crores will be
made.
In addition, under the
MDM Scheme, while an ad-
hoc grant of C2,500 crore is
being issued for the first quar-
ter, the annual central alloca-
tion of cooking cost (for pro-
curement of pulses, vegetable,
oil, spices and fuel) under the
scheme has been enhanced to
C81,00 crore from C7,300
crore (an increment of
10.99%).` PNS
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