- The Supreme Court directed that no train or bus fare be charged from migrant workers stranded across India and that they be provided food and water. Between the court's order and now, dozens of migrant workers died returning home. - The court said migrant workers waiting for transport must be provided food and water by states and UTs. Food and water should also be provided on trains and buses. - States must oversee registration of migrant workers and ensure they board trains and buses promptly. Complete information about transportation arrangements should be publicized.

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Ten days after it junked a PIL
on the plight of migrant
workers, the Supreme Court on
Thursday directed that no train
or bus fare be charged from the
migrant workers stranded
across the country and they be
provided food and water.
Between then and now,
dozens of migrant workers
were mowed down by trains
and buses or were found dead
inside trains while returning to
their home States.
The SC, which passed
interim directions, said all
migrant workers who are
stranded shall be provided
food by concerned States and
Union Territories (UTs) at
places which shall be publicised
and notified to them for the
period they are waiting for their
turn to board a train or a bus.
A Bench headed by Justice
Ashok Bhushan said the orig-
inating State shall provide
meals and water at the station
and during the journey while
the Railways would provide the
same to the migrant workers. It
said food and water be also
provided to them for travel in
buses.
The Bench, also compris-
ing Justices SK Kaul and MR
Shah, directed that States to
oversee the registration of
migrant workers and ensure
that they are made to board the
train or bus at the earliest.
The top court said com-
plete information in this regard
should be publicised to all
concerned.
The court observed that it
is presently concerned with
the miseries and difficulty
faced by the migrants workers
who are trying to get to their
native places. It said though
there is no doubt that State
Governments and UTs are tak-
ing steps, several lapses have
been issued in the process of
registration, transportation and
providing food water to the
migrants
Earlier, the apex court
asked some questions from
the Centre on the plight of
migrant workers ranging
from as to how long they will
have to wait before going to
their native places to who
will pay for their travel and
provide them food and shel-
ter.
The court asked Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta, appear-
ing for the Centre, about the
confusion over the payment of
travel fare of stranded migrant
workers and said that they
should not made to pay for
their journey back home.
“What is the normal time?
If a migrant is identified, there
must be some certainty that he
will be shifted out within one
week or ten days at most?
What is that time?
There had been instances
where one State sends migrants
but at the border another State
says we are not accepting the
migrants. We need a policy on
this,” the Bench told Mehta.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Aday after US President
Donald Trump offered to
mediate between India and
China in what he termed a
“raging border dispute,” New
Delhi on Thursday virtually
rejected the US proposal say-
ing it was “engaged” with
Beijing at diplomatic level to
resolve the issue “peacefully.”
Making the Indian stand
clear, External Affairs Ministry
Spokesperson Anurag
Srivastava said, “Our engage-
ment on the diplomatic front
continues both in Delhi as
well as in Beijing.”
India and China, he said,
have engagements both at the
military level as well as diplo-
matic levels. The two nations
have signed several protocols
on maintaining peace and
tranquility at the border. There
are many agreements on this
issue.
“Our troops have taken a
very responsible approach
towards border management.
They scrupulously follow the
guidance provided by our lead-
ership. At the same time, we
will defend our sovereignty
and territorial integrity,” he
added.
The US President in a
tweet message from
Washington had said, “We have
informed both India and China
that the United States is ready,
willing and able to mediate or
arbitrate their now raging bor-
der dispute.”
Besides indicating that the
LAC dispute was a bilateral
issue and there was no need for
third party interference, India
on Thursday also said the two
countries (India and China)
have established a mechanism
to resolve the situation peace-
fully through dialogue.
Sources also said talks at
the local military level between
commanders of the two armies
are also on. In fact, more than
seven rounds of talks were
held in the last fortnight but
could not achieve a break-
through.
The armies of India and
China are involved in face-offs
at four places for the last 25
days or so in Eastern Ladakh.
The Chinese army has also
intruded into the Hot Spring
area near Galwan valley and
reinforced its troop strength to
over 5,000 in total at all the
stand-off locations.
78C:0=370A8Q 90D
Ajoint team of security
forces, aided by intelli-
gence agencies, on Thursday
prevented a repeat of Pulwama
type “audacious” terror strike
on the convoy of security forces
by timely detecting a vehicle-
borne Improvised Explosive
Device (IED), fitted with at
least 40-45 kg of explosives, in
Ayengund area of Rajpora in
Pulwama district.
Police suspected involve-
ment of local commanders of
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),
Lashkar-e- Tayyaba (LeT)
along with Hizbul Mujahideen
behind the sinister plot to
avenge recent killings of their
top commanders, including
Riyaz Naiko and Junaid Sehrai,
in anti-terrorist operations in
the Kashmir valley.
According to official
sources, the explosive-laden
car, bearing a fake registra-
tion number JKO8B-1426,
was detonated by the Bomb
Disposal Squad causing
extensive damage to win-
dow panes of local houses in
the area early Thursday
morning.
Late on Wednesday, sever-
al residents were escorted to
safer places before detonating
the vehicle-borne IED.
A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78
Nearly 45-50 districts in six
States — Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya
Pradesh after Rajasthan and
Gujarat — are under attack of
crores of desert locusts that
entered from Pakistan last year.
It is estimated that crops on
10-15 lakh acres have been
affected across six States since
December last year while the
Government estimates around
one lakh acres of cotton, sum-
mer pulses and vegetables crops
have been affected so far.
The Ministry of
Agriculture estimates that not
much damage to crops is
reported as sowing has not
taken place in most of the areas
and harvest of winter crops is
over.
The Shivraj Singh
Chouhan Government in
Madhya Pradesh is planning to
declare the locust swarm
attacks as natural disaster, fol-
lowing a survey on the losses.
Haryana on Thursday issued
high alert in 10 districts for
farmers while Odisha and
Chhattisgarh also issued advi-
sories to farmers.
Delhi’s neighbouring
region Noida, Ghaziabad,
Gurugram have also issued
advisories to this effect.
?C8Q 14=60;DAD
The Karnataka Government
on Thursday pitched for
down scaling air travel from
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan, saying a large num-
ber of people arriving from
these States have tested positive
for Covid-19 and it would be
difficult to manage quarantine
if more arrived.
Karnataka Parliamentary
Affairs Minister JC
Madhuswamy said the
Government has decided to
“suspend” air traffic from these
States. “People are coming
from other States to
Karnataka.... We have decided
to suspend air traffic from five
States, as cases here
(Karnataka) may further
increase,” he said.
In the statement released
later, he clarified that the
Government has not sought a
ban on flights emanating from
these five States.
“Karnataka has appealed
to the Civil Aviation Ministry
to take steps to lessen the air
traffic to the State, with the
sacred intention that there
may not be adequate quaran-
tine facilities, if there is huge
turn out at a short span of
time, he said.
Domestic air travel
resumed in the country only on
Monday after nearly two
months of Covid-19 induced
lockdown with Karnataka stip-
ulating seven days institution-
al quarantine for passengers
coming from seven States,
including Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan
and MP.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Congress on Thursday
launched a massive social
media campaign — Speak Up
India movement — to draw
attention of the Centre to the
plight of migrant labourers
and raise public support for
their help.
Blaming the Centre for
turning a blind eye to the mis-
ery of millions of helpless
workers, Congress president
Sonia Gandhi said the
Congress has launched the
campaign to provide a platform
for the “voiceless”. The cam-
paign was simultaneously
launched on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram, etc.
In addition to Sonia, other
senior Congress leaders,
including Rahul Gandhi,
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and P
Chidambaram, posted their
messages on social media.
Sonia, in her video mes-
sage, charged that the Central
Government has failed to
address the immediate needs
and concerns of the labourers
and workers while many jobs
were lost, workplaces were
shut down, farmers were made
to struggle to sell their crops
due to the ill-conceived lock-
down.
She suggested the Centre to
directly transfer cash to
migrants and poor families
and financial relief to MSMEs.
“Put direct cash of C7,500
per month in the account of
every family for the next six
months and provide C10,000
immediately; ensure safe and
free travel of labourers back
home, employment opportu-
nity and rations; and also
increase the number of work-
days under MNREGA to 200
days to facilitate jobs in vil-
lages,” said Sonia.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Delhi, West Bengal and
Kerala reported their
biggest single day spike on
Thursday and with
Maharashtra recording yet
another day of huge surge in
number of cases and death it
was the second consecutive
day when the country record-
ed biggest spike of 7,220 cases.
Delhi reported 1,024 new
cases and 13 deaths on
Thursday and this is for the
first time that the national
Capital has reported more than
1,000 cases. Other than
Maharashtra, only Gujarat, and
now Delhi have reported 1,000
plus cases in a day. Delhi has
now 16,281 confirmed cases
with a death count of 316.
After the development in
Delhi, the Haryana
Government decided to seal its
borders with the national
Capital.
“We will keep our border
with Delhi completely sealed
due to increasing Covid-19
cases,” Haryana Minister Anil
Vij said.
After reporting between
2,000 and 2,200 cases for the
three days, Maharashtra logged
in 2,598 new Covid-19 cases on
Thursday, taking the total
number of coronavirus cases
almost to 60,000 in the State at
59,546. The toll in the State also
rose to 1,982 after 85 casualties
were reported in the last 24
hour.
Reports said 36 new cases
of coornavirus were reported in
Mumbai’s Dharavi in the last 24
hours. The total number of
cases rose to 1,675 on Thursday
in the densely-populated area.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Delhi Government on
Thursday issued an advi-
sory asking authorities con-
cerned to spray insecticides
and pesticides on standing
crops, vegetation, gardens and
orchards to prevent an immi-
nent attack by the swarm of
locusts, informed
Development Minister Gopal
Rai in a tweet.
“As the swarm of locusts
flies in daytime, and rests dur-
ing the night, it should not be
allowed to rest at night,” the
advisory read.
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah spoke to all
Chief Ministers on Thursday,
and sought their views on
extension of the ongoing
nationwide lockdown beyond
May 31, officials said.
The telephonic conversa-
tions of the home minister
came just three days before the
end of the fourth phase of the
lockdown.
The nationwide curbs was
first imposed on March 25 to
contain the spread of the novel
coronavirus, and has been
extended thrice.
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For the next few months,
there has to be no group
lunch, entry to the offices
through multiple gates, no loi-
tering through the corridors of
Shastri Bhawan, Udyog
Bhawan, Rail Bhawan, Sena
Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, etc,
and above all no use of central
air conditioning system for
the Central Government
staffers. These guidelines of
Union Government will come
into force when the lockdown
imposed due to Covid-19 is
diluted or lifted and the
Government departments
work in full strength.
The Centre on Thursday
issued a new set of guidelines
which says centralised ACs
may not be used for time
being, if possible. While it has
suggested that employees
should take entry into the
building through different gates
in a staggered manner, it has
also advised people to take
stairs, or if using lifts, then
physical distance of six feet has
to be ensured. The rules also
say that only four people can
occupy lift for one travel and
that the occupants should face
the wall of the lift and avoid
talking.
While wearing of mask, use
of soap and sanitisers at every
interval is a must, the new
office memorandum notified
by the Health Ministry also
says that the movement of
“physical” receipts and files
should be discouraged so as to
avoid the infection through fre-
quent touching of papers. As
much as possible, employees
should avoid using other
employees’ phones, office para-
phernalia like desks and tools
and equipment.
The guidelines ask the
employees to avoid group
lunches. It says that the lunch
timing may be staggered as
much as possible and has pro-
hibited loitering and crowding
in the corridors of the office
premises.
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Aday after Himachal
Pradesh BJP president
Rajeev Bindal resigned over his
alleged role in a health scam,
the state Congress on Thursday
reiterated its demand of
entrusting a probe into the
scandal to a sitting high court
judge.
Meanwhile, Bindal, in a 5
minute-long video statement,
claimed that he would come
out as pure as gold in the
ordeal.
The state BJP president
had resigned from his post on
Wednesday within four-and-a-
half months of his appoint-
ment, saying he was doing so
to ensure a proper investigation
into the case of alleged cor-
ruption by a health department
official.
In a resignation letter sent
to BJP president J P Nadda,
Bindal said he was tendering
his resignation on high moral
grounds as some people were
dragging the party''s name in
the alleged corruption by the
health official.
Health Services Director
Ajay Kumar Gupta was arrest-
ed on May 20 by the State
Vigilance and Anti Corruption
Bureau after a 43-second audio
clip went viral, in which he pur-
portedly asks the other person
for a bribe of Rs 5 lakh.
In a statement issued here
on Thursday, veteran Congress
leader and former chief min-
ister Virbhadra Singh
demanded a thorough probe
into the scam by a sitting
judge and stated that “BJP''s
honesty” was exposed with the
scam, especially at a time
when the state was battling
coronavirus.
Talking to media, state
Congress president Kuldeep
Singh Rathore alleged that
raincoats were provided to
frontline COVID-19 warriors
instead of personal protection
equipment (PPEs) in Bilaspur
district and sanitisers were
purchased at much higher
prices for the state secretariat.
He claimed that some
chief medical officers pur-
chased a 500 ml sanitiser bot-
tle at Rs 700 instead of its actu-
al price of Rs 250 as purchased
by the state Ayurvedic depart-
ment.
Alleging a goof-up in send-
ing 15 COVID-19 positive
people to their homes in
Hamirpur, both the senior
Congress leaders flayed the
BJP-led state government for
showing negligence in handling
the coronavirus situation lead-
ing to a spurt in cases.
Expressing doubts over
the ongoing vigilance inquiry
in the case, Rathore said the
vigilance will “never go
against the bosses” as Chief
Minister Jai Ram Thakur also
holds additional charges of
home and health depart-
ments and the vigilance.
?=BQ 17D10=4BF0A
On Thursday, 67 coron-
avirus cases were reported,
increasing the total num-
ber of cases to 1,660 in the
State.
Ganjam district reported
the highest number of 26 cases.
It wasfollowed by Jajpur and
Khordha districts with 11 cases
each, Nayagarhdistrict seven,
Subarnapur district four,
Balangir district
two,Jagatsinghpur district two,
Sambalpuir district two and
Keonjhar andBargarh district
registered one each.
Out of the new cases, 65
cases belonged to quarantine
centres and twowere local.
However, for the consecu-
tive third day, the recoveries
outnumbered thenew coron-
avirus cases. A total of 75
patients recovered from thedis-
ease, taking the total number of
recoveries to 887 on Thursday.
Out of the 75 recoveries, 25
were from Jajpur district, 19
fromGanjam, nine from
Cuttack, eight from Puri, three
each from Nayagarhand
Kendrapada, two each from
Kandhamal and Balangir and
one each fromKeonjhar,
Boudh, Sambalpur and
Khordha.
.The current active cases
stand at 766.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab Chief Minister Capt.
Amarinder Singh, under
the Congress party’s nation-
wide ‘Speak Up’ online cam-
paign on Thursday, sought the
Centre's immediate interven-
tion for cash transfer to all
migrant workers and the poor,
providing greater employment
to rural poor under Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS), and
financial assistance from
MSMEs, other than loans.
In an appeal to the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi via a
video message, Capt
Amarinder said: “My appeal to
PM Narendra Modi, seeking
Government of India’s imme-
diate intervention for cash
transfer to all migrant workers
and poor, providing greater
employment to rural poor
under MGNREGS and finan-
cial assistance for MSMEs,
other than loans.”
Notably, amid mounting
economic woes, the Punjab
Cabinet on Wednesday decided
to seek a fiscal stimulus of Rs
51,102 crore from the Centre to
help the State tide over the
financial crisis triggered by the
COVID-19 pandemic and the
prolonged lockdown that
ensued. To contain the conta-
gionintheruralareas,assistance
of Rs 5,068 crore has been
sought by the state in a draft
memorandum for liquid and
solid waste management in the
villages, in addition to the
upward revision of capital out-
lay and targets under MGNRE-
GA.
For urban development,
the state has proposed a
National Urban Employment
Guarantee Act (NUEGA) to
guarantee employment in
urban areas, along with an
additional capital outlay of Rs
2,302 crore under schemes like
AMRUT, Smart City, PMAY
etc, with certain relaxations.
?=B=270=3860A7
Receiving accolades for his
selfless service to send the
stranded migrants back to their
home towns from Maharashtra,
Bollywood actor Sonu Sood’s
“charity work” won him the
praise of Punjab Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh.
Capt Amarinder on
Thursday took to Twitter to
praise Sood, “our Moga boy”
for going beyond the call of
duty amidst the coronavirus
pandemic to help the migrant
workers go back home. “Good
work Sonu!” he said.
“It fills me with immense
pride whenever I read about
my fellow Punjabis going
beyond their call of duty to help
those in need and this time it
is our Moga boy Sonu Sood
who has been actively helping
migrant workers by arranging
for their food and transporta-
tion,” he tweeted from his offi-
cial Twitter handle.
Replying to the Chief
Minister, Sood said that he has
always been an inspiration for
him. “Thank you so much for
your kind words sir. You have
always been an inspiration for
me. I promise to make our fel-
low Punjabis proud.”
Sood has arranged numer-
ous buses from Mumbai to
states like Karnataka, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala for
over two weeks now. He has
also been replying to those
tweeting to him, asking them
to send details, apart from
launching a helpline number.
Earlier, cricketers like
Shikhar Dhawan, actors like
Ajay Devgn, and politicians like
Smriti Irani, Maharastra
Governor Bhagat Singh
Koshiyari hailed Sonu’s efforts.
Even Union Minister Smriti
Irani has praised Sonu Sood's
efforts.
Last week, world renowned
Chef Vikas Khanna prepared a
special dish and named it
‘Moga’ after the town in Punjab
where actor Sonu Sood was
born. This is because Khanna
is impressed with Sonu’s char-
ity work amid the COVID-19
lockdown.
Khanna, who hailed from
Amritsar, shared a photo of the
special dish with a tweet mes-
sage: “Dear @SonuSood every-
day you are inspiring us. Can’t
cook for you right now in
appreciation of your work. So
sending you a dish. Im going to
name “MOGA” after your
birthplace. #Respect
#RealHero.”
Sonu was overjoyed natu-
rally, and he called Khanna the
“world’s best chef”.
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In a big jump, a total of 123
more people tested positive
for COVID-19 in Haryana on
Thursday, taking the state’s
tally to 1,504 cases. Of the 123
new cases reported today, 68
are from Gurugram alone.
18 new cases were report-
ed from Faridabad, six from
Sonepat, five new cases each
from Karnal, Kurukshetra and
Rohtak, four in Hisar, three
new cases in Sirsa, two from
Fatehabad district while one
new case each from Panipat,
Yamunanagar and Charkhi
Dadri, as per the official Covid
bulletin released by the
Haryana Health Department.
The bulletin reported one
more death due to COVID-19
in Gurugram on Thursday tak-
ing the total deaths in the state
to 19. With 881 patients dis-
charged from hospitals, the
total number of active cases in
Haryana as of Thursday is
604Karnal reported five new
cases of the deadly disease, tak-
ing the total in the district to 42.
Earlier, the previous single-
day highest jump in cases was
recorded in the state on May 26
when 94 infections were
reported and prior to that on
May 4 when 75 infections had
been reported. The State has a
recovery rate of 58.58 per cent,
fatality rate at 1.26 per cent
while tests per million being
conducted are 4,262, the bul-
letin said.
According to the bulletin,
Haryana has tested 1,08,031
people, out of which 1, 02, 260
were found negative while
reports of 4,267 samples were
awaited. As many as 43 patients
walked out of hospital from dif-
ferent districts of the State on
Thursday. So far, 881 patients
have been cured and dis-
charged from hospitals in
Haryana, including the 14
Italian nationals. According to
officials, a total of 43 Covid
patients were discharged from
various districts including 18 in
Faridabad, 15 in Sonepat, three
in Panipat, one in Fatehabad,
two in Hisar and four in
Kurukshetra.
PUNJAB REPORTS 19
FRESH CASES
Punjab on Thursday
reported 19 fresh cases taking
the state's tally to 2158.
Of the total, maximum
seven cases were reported from
Amritsar, followed by four
from Hoshiarpur, three each
from Jalandhar and Sangrur,
and one each from Ropar and
Mohali.
With the recovery of 28
more corona positive patients,
including nine from Amritsar,
13 from Jalandhar, three each
from Gurdaspur and Sangrur,
the state now have just 172
active cases. Till date, total of
1946 patients have recovered in
the State while 2985 results are
still awaited.
With seven new cases,
Amritsar’s tally now stands at
354 with 42 active cases.
Among the new cases, one is a
patient of Influenza Like Illness
(ILI), while remaining six were
the contacts of positive cases.
In Hoshiarpur, all four
fresh cases were the contacts of
the previously diagnosed case.
While Jalandhar reported all
new cases which have no trav-
el history or contacts, the three
new cases in Sangrur include
two of contacts of positive case
and another one with a travel
history to Kerala.
In Mohali, a 32-year-old
NRI, returned from the USA
on May 20, has tested positive.
He belonged to Dera Bassi’s
Humayunpur village. With
this, the state’s tally has reached
107 confirmed cases, with just
two active cases. While 102
have been cured, the district
has recorded three deaths.
The Vice-Chairperson of
Punjab Health Systems
Corporation, Bobby (Manik)
Sehgal, have also been tested
positive for coronavirus late on
Wednesday. It is not sure his
case would be counted in
which district. Sehgal’s broth-
er, too, have been tested posi-
tive for the contagion. Both
have been admitted at a private
facility set up on Jalandhar city’s
periphery at Malian in Shahkot.
As per the health bulletin,
so far, 40 people have suc-
cumbed to the infection in the
state. However, two deaths
were reported on Thursday—
Ludhiana and Amritsar — but
was not recorded in the official
tally.
In Ludhiana, a 49-year-
old Railway Protection Force
(RPF) jawan died of coron-
avirus. He was the RPF head
constable from Ludhiana unit
and hailed from Karol Bagh
area of Jalandhar, said
Ludhiana Deputy
Commissioner Pradeep Kumar
Agrawal in an official release.
A death of a 60-year-old
woman of Bunala village of
Baba Bakala town in Amritsar
was also reported. She had
tested positive for COVID-19
on May 27 and was admitted to
Amritsar hospital. The health
officials said that she was suf-
fering from hypertension and
was in critical condition, and
she was put on oxygen.
SEVEN FRESH CASES IN
CHANDIGARH
Seven fresh cases of
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) were
reported on Thursday in
Chandigarh taking the total
number to 289. A 91 years old
female resident of Sector 15
here is tested positive for
Coronavirus while other pos-
itive cases are reported from
Bapu Dham colony in Sector
26.Two positive cases were
declared cured and discharged
from GMSH-16. The active
cases stood at 96 till the evening
in Chandigarh.
With six more cases, the
Bapu Dham colony has till
now reported 216 positive per-
sons, accounts for 74 percent
out of the total cases in the city.
The colony in Sector 26 here
has an approximate population
of 60000 people.
“A 91 years old female res-
ident of Sector 15h has been
reported to be positive for
Coronavirus at Max Hospital,
Mohali. She had gone to
Hospital for treatment of frac-
ture neck of femur. Her three
family contacts and two com-
munity contacts are being sam-
pled,” stated Chandigarh
Health Department’s evening
bulletin.
“Six residents of Bapu
Dham colony belonging two
different households within
the same house have been
reported positive. They include
males aged 8, 16, 17, 53 years
and females aged 12 and 15
years. They are community
contacts of already positive
case of the same locality,” the
bulletin stated.
“The total cases stood at
289 while the active cases are
96 in Chandigarh. 189 patients
have so far being declared
cured of Coronavirus and dis-
charged from the hospital, the
bulletin said.
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At least 11 new cases of COVID-19 infection
surfaced in Jharkhand on Thursday, health
officials said. The findings took the total num-
ber of COVID-19 cases in State to 469, as per
a bulletin shared by the National Health Mission
(NHM) by the time this report was filed.
Out of the 11 patients, at least four were test-
ed in Ranchi, the NHM bulletin said. One each
of these four patients are from Gumla, Dhanbad,
Giridih and Ranchi, NHM officials said. Besides,
two patients who tested positive in Jamshedpur
had travelled to Mumbai, health officials said.
The four patients who tested positive in
Ranchi were admitted in Medica Superspecialty
Hospital near Booty More, sources said. “At least
11 suspects tested positive for COVID-19
today.
The count of migrants
who tested positive for the viral
infection has also increased,
said Health Secretary Nitin
Madan Kulkarni.
According to figures with
the National Health Mission
(NHM), at least 191 COVID-
19 patients have recovered in
Jharkhand so far. At least 21
patients recovered on
Wednesday. There are more
than 260 active cases in State
as reported on Thursday late
evening.
More than half of the 460
odd people infected by
COVID-19 virus so far in
Jharkhand are in the age
bracket of 11 to 30 years – a trend that high-
lights how young people were as prone to the
virus as their older counterparts, health offi-
cials said. Out of the 460 odd cases, 262 are in
the age bracket of 11 to 30 years and 160 in rhe
age bracket of 31 to 50 years, an NHM report
said.
According to NHM, more than 60 per cent
of the COVID-19 cases reported in Jharkhand
are that of migrant workers.
At least 300 migrant workers have tested
positive in Jharkhand since May 5, the NHM
bulletin said.
The Government has so far collected sam-
ples of 66,325 COVID-19 suspects from across
the State, and more than 460 of them have test-
ed positive. At least 57,250 of the 66,000 odd
samples collected have been tested so far, the
NHM report said.
?=BQ A0=278
After an Air Asia flight
brought home 180 migrant
labourers home from Mumbai
to Ranchi on Thursday, Chief
Minister Hemant Soren said
that if needed, more flights will
be used to bring back migrant
labourers. The CM had written
to the Centre and the Home
Minister seeking permission
for chartered flights and final-
ly the first flight in the coun-
try flew today for migrant
labourers.
Soren, on the occasion
thanked the erstwhile students
of Law School, Bangalore. He
said that on the one hand, the
spirit of humanity was
strengthened by the help of the
needy by coming to the help of
competent colleagues like them
in the struggle against Corona,
on the other hand, many other
individuals and institutions
will be inspired by their actions.
.The 180 labourers returned
home with the untiring efforts
of the erstwhile students of
National Law School,
Bangalore, officials of the
Government of Jharkhand and
Maharashtra.
Workers who arrived at
Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi
from Mumbai, underwent a
medical screening at the air-
port. They were also given
food packets and water bottles.
After screening the workers,
they were dispatched by hon-
ors chariot to their destination
with dignity.
Workers who reached
Ranchi from Mumbai include
05 from Bokaro, 09 from
Dhanbad, 10 from Deoghar, 02
from Jamtara, 01 from Godda,
29 from Giridih, 41 from
Hazaribagh, 11 from Koderma,
Chatra 05, Garhwa 02, Palamu
09 03 migrants from East
Singhbhum, 08 from West
Singhbhum, 01 from Gumla,
Simdega 28 and 16 from
Ranchi district.
The CM said that the sev-
eral strong steps need to be
taken for the betterment of the
State. He said that the govern-
ment was mulling gradual
relaxations to start industrial
activities and other business
activities in the State.
Meanwhile, several
organisations today handed
over donations to CM
Disaster Relief Fund. RU Vice
Chancellor Dr Ramesh
Kumar Pandey and Pro VC
Kamini Kumar handed over a
cheque of Rs 7 lakh to the
CM, while members of
Jharkhand Engineering
Service Association handed
over a cheque of Rs 10 Lakh
to the CM. General Secretary
of the Association Satyendra
Prasad Singh, Presdient
Surendra Kumar, Treasurer
Ashish Kumar Sinha were
present on the occasion. St
Thomas School, Dhurwa also
donated Rs 5 lakh to CM
relief fund.
Meanwhile the CM has
ordered that financial irregu-
larities, embezzlement and mis-
use of Jharkhand State
Cooperative Bank's Ranchi
branch and Seraikela branch
will be investigated by the
Anti-Corruption Bureau
(ACB).
He has ordered legal
action against the culprits in
this case of financial irregu-
larity. It may be noted that in
this case of irregularities in the
Ranchi branch of the bank, in
the special audit of the
Finance Department,
Rs.9,98,21,155 has been
reported as a recoverable
amount. At the same time,
financial embezzlement of Rs
522.27 lakh has been con-
firmed in the Seraikela branch
of the bank.
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The Municipal Corporation
of Dehradun (MCD) will
not resume property tax col-
lection from June 1.
The tax section of the cor-
poration was closed for the
public since the middle of
March due to Covid-19 pan-
demic due to which many
property tax payers of the city
have not submitted their prop-
erty tax.
In the recent executive
committee meeting of MCD,
Dehradun municipal commis-
sioner Vinay Shankar Pandey
had said that the corporation
will resume the tax collection
in MCD's premises from June
1. Pandey had stated at that
time that locals who could not
submit the tax due to Covid-19
lockdown would be able to sub-
mit it with 20 per cent rebate
till June 15. However, the num-
ber of positive cases of novel
coronavirus has escalated in the
state in the last few days and
resuming the tax collection in
MCD's compound can be risky
in the currently sensitive situ-
ation.
Pandey said that situations
are not favourable right now
and besides the public is not
allowed in the corporation's
building as per the guidelines
issued by the State
Government.
If the situation gets bet-
ter around here and we get the
permission from state and dis-
trict administration, we will
resume the tax collection soon,
added Pandey.
He also informed that
MCD will ensure that everyone
follows the safety protocols
like social distancing, the use of
masks and sanitisers during the
operation of the tax section for
locals.
Besides, MCD tax super-
intendent informed that those
taxpayers who could not
deposit the property tax by
March will have to submit the
property tax of two years
because the financial year of
MCD has begun from April 1.
However, the rebate of 20 per
cent would still be applicable on
the tax of the current financial
year too, the tax superintendent
added.
It is pertinent to mention
here that MCD has collected
about C44 crore in property tax
from residential and non-res-
idential property taxpayers and
as mentioned by Pandey earli-
er, the rebate of 20 per cent
would be approved only for the
first 15 days for the remaining
taxpayers from the financial
year 2019-2020.
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The extended lockdown in
place to contain the spread
of Covid-19 has acted as a trig-
ger causing spike in number of
people experiencing stronger
forms of mental health issues
which were earlier mild.
According to experts, this is the
time when the government
should focus especially on the
youth in a manner that not
only capitalises on their skills
and aptitude for their own
well-being but also for the
welfare of society.
Talking to The Pioneer,
psychoanalyst Aditi Arora said
that the lockdown has acted
like a situational trigger. There
has been a spike in the number
of people who were earlier
mildly depressive or moody but
are now experiencing such
conditions in stronger forms.
“The lockdown has had varied
effects including mass anxiety.
Among the patients I counsel,
there has been a rise in middle
aged women in the 38-50 years
age group who are now delving
more on their own individual
issues. A homemaker plays so
many roles during the day but
the lockdown has reduced
some of these tasks especially
as the children are also staying
at home. This has given women
more time to think about
themselves and their situation.
Also, many people have turned
towards spirituality and pon-
dering on existential questions.
However, I believe it is the
youth the government needs to
focus the most on.”
Arora elaborated that since
youth are the biggest resource
of the nation, their skills and
aptitude can be put to good use
in these difficult times. “With
very basic training to spot
signs of mental health issues,
the youth can be organised to
interact with people in their
localities. Using social media
and other means, the youth can
remain in touch with people in
their neighbourhood, espe-
cially the senior citizens and
refer those with symptoms of
mental health issues to profes-
sionals. The youth need pur-
pose and such proactive activ-
ity will benefit both the youth
and society,” she said.
At the same time, the lock-
down has also caused major
change in the lives of the youth,
especially those who were
expecting job placements after
completing their higher edu-
cation. “These youth were on
the tarmac preparing for take-
off but then the pandemic and
lockdown happened. The gov-
ernment should set up websites
with specific vocational infor-
mation so that the youth can
choose options to work on
their future. The government
needs to take such measures
now otherwise the youth could
be experiencing more issues
after some months.”
On the role of social media
in causing mass anxiety in
these times, the psychoanalyst
opines that the government
should facilitate measures to
enable discernment among the
people to help them make
sense of the news.
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The migrants propelled
curve representing the
number of novel Coronavirus
(Covid-19) affected patients
in Uttarakhand hit the 500 fig-
ure mark on Thursday. On the
day 31 new patients of the dis-
ease were detected by the state
health department.
In Tehri district, 10 new
patients were reported while
nine patients surfaced in
Dehradun. In Haridwar, eight
patients were reported while
three new cases of the disease
were found in Almora dis-
trict. One case of the disease
was reported in Nanital district.
In Tehri, all the 10 patients
reported are from a quarantine
centre located in Dhalwala
near Rishikesh town.
All these were kept in
quarantine after their return
from Maharashtra.
It is learnt that 32 inmates
of this quarantine centre have
been reported positive so far.
In Dehradun, three vegetable
vendors of Nirajanpur sabji
mandi were found positive on
the day.
Death of a 19 years old
youth of Uttarkashi district at
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital on
Thursday sent the health
authorities in tizzy. The youth
was kept in quarantine at an
Anganwadi centre of his village
in Purola block of Uttarkashi
after his return from
Hyderabad.
On complaint of chest pain
he was admitted in district hos-
pital Uttarkashi and was sent to
GDMC Dehradun when his
condition deteriorated.
On Thursday he died in
Dehradun. The authorities
however were relieved when his
sample was tested negative for
Covid-19 later in the day. In
Haridwar all the eight patients
found on Thursday have a
travel history from
Maharashtra.
The additional secretary,
state health department, Yugal
Kishore Pant said that 417
migrants who recently returned
to the state have been found
positive for the disease. He
added that 84 percent of these
returnees found Covid-19 pos-
itive are from Maharashtra and
Delhi. He said that reports of
825 samples were found nega-
tive for the disease on
Thursday. He added that
reports of 4231 samples are still
awaited by the department.
On Thursday, a total of 1068
samples were collected for
COVID -19 testing.
The authorities have so far
taken swab samples of 25380
suspected patients for COVID-
19 test. Out of the total sam-
ples taken, 2.48 percent samples
have been found positive for
the disease. Uttarakhand now
has 414 active cases of the dis-
ease. The Nainital district is at
top of the table with 126 active
cases.
The Tehri district is at sec-
ond spot with 62 active cases.
Provisional state capital
Dehradun is at third position
with 51 active cases while
Udham Singh Nagar district
has 38 active cases. Pauri and
Almora districts now have 21
active cases each while
Pithoragarh has 20 active cases
of the disease. Chamoli has 11
active patients while Uttarkashi
has nine active cases.
Bageshwar and Champawat
districts have eight active cases
each while Rudrapryag dis-
trict has three active patients of
the disease.
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The Covid-19 patients of
Bageshwar district would
now be treated in the district
itself. In an order, the secretary
medical health and family
welfare, Amit Negi said that
district hospital (DH)
Bageshwar would now func-
tion as dedicated Covid hos-
pital. The trauma hospital of
the DH has been notified as
Covid health care hospital
level II.
It is worth mentioning
here that the Covid-19 patients
of the district would have to be
transported to Haldwani for
treatment in Sushila Tiwari
government hospital.
The district has so far
reported eight cases of the dis-
ease.
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In view of the increasing
load of the samples at the
existing testing facilities, the
state health department has
decided to start district level
screening and testing facility.
The mission director (MD) of
National Health Mission
(NHM),Yugal Kishore Pant,
said that ‘True Nat’ sample
testing technique would be
used in five centres of the
state.
He said that these
machines would be installed
at Government Mela Hospital
Haridwar, Joint hospital
Roorkee, district hospital
(DH) Rudrapur, DH
Uttarkashi and DH
Pithoragarh. Pant added that
that necessary training would
be provided to the staff in
these five centres and 80 to
100 samples per day would be
tested there which would
enhance the testing capacity
of the state. It is pertinent to
mention here that the sample
backlog at the testing facilities
in the state has gone beyond
4000 mark.
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The Uttarakhand High
Court has asked the State
government to explain the cir-
cumstances under which MLA
from Uttar Pradesh Aman
Mani Tripathi and his associ-
ates were issued special pass to
drive to Badrinath and
Kedarnath at a time when the
Government of India had
directed the state governments
to ensure effective enforce-
ment of the lockdown.
Asking this, the division
bench of chief justice
Ramesh Ranganathan and jus-
tice RC Khulbe also issued
notices to additional chief sec-
retary Om Prakash, four dis-
trict magistrates, Tripathi and
his associates. They have been
directed to respond within
three weeks.
Hearing on a PIL filed by
Dehradun resident Alok
Ghildiyal seeking a probe by
Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) into how the UP MLA
and 10 of his acquaintances
were able to travel upto
Karnprayag on their way to
Badrinath with an official pass
during the lockdown earlier
this month, the division bench
asked the State government to
explain the circumstances
under which the special pass
was issued.
Expressing its displeasure
at the issuance of such a pass,
the high court also issued
notices to the additional chief
secretary, district magistrates of
Dehradun, Rudraprayag,
Chamoli and Pauri along with
Tripathi and his nine acquain-
tances.
It will be recalled that
Ghildiyal had filed a PIL seek-
ing a probe by the CBI. During
the previous hearing, the state
government counsel had stat-
ed that the petition was worth
quashing as cases had been
lodged against the MLA and
his friends in Uttarakhand and
Uttar Pradesh.
Considering this, the mat-
ter does not merit a probe by
the CBI, the government rep-
resentative had said. On the
basis of a letter written by a
senior bureaucrat, the
Dehradun district administra-
tion had issued a pass to
Tripathi and his friends to
travel to Badrinath-Kedarnath
purportedly for conducting
rituals for the recently deceased
father of UP chief minister Yogi
Adityanath.
The pass had been issued
for the period from May 2 to 7.
After crossing various districts,
Tripathi and his friends were
stopped at Karnprayag in
Chamoli district where he
entered in a heated argument
with the team of the local
administration on May 3.
The Chamoli administra-
tion stood its ground and asked
him to turn back.
On the same night, the
MLA and his supporters were
booked under section 188 of
Indian Penal Code (IPC) and
Epidemic Diseases Act. After
hearing the matter, the division
bench had earlier directed the
petitioner to make the officials
concerned party in the case.
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On the call given by the
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and former party pres-
ident Rahul Gandhi under the
‘Speak up India’ programme
large number of Congressmen
went live on Thursday on var-
ious social media platforms and
raised many issues.
The Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) president
Pritam Singh went live on FB
and other platforms from
the Rajiv Bhawan on the day
and demanded that the
union Government should
transfer a sum of C10,000 in
the bank account of all
labourers, poor families and
every migrant.
He said that the
Uttarakhand has failed miser-
ably in making proper arrange-
ment for quarantine of
migrants.
He said that the Congress
party had suggested that the
government should set up
base camps at borders for the
migrants and when the num-
bers of migrants go
beyond the capacity of these
camps, arrangement for quar-
antine should have been
made at district and block
levels.
Singh said that the State
Government ignored the sug-
gestion and allowed the
migrants to go their villages
and loaded the responsibility of
quarantine over the Pradhans
who were ill equipped for the
task.
Former chief minister
Harish Rawat in his address
said that the large scale move-
ment of workers across the
country could not have
occurred had the union
Government transferred
money in the bank accounts of
poor after end of first phase of
lockdown.
He said that now with
migrant labourers returning
to their homes, challenge of
providing employment to
them and keeping the facto-
ries operational in absence of
labourers is before the
Government.
Rawat said that the
Congress leaders and the
experts had suggested that
cash should be transferred in
the pockets of the poor which
would generate demand and
keep the economy afloat.
He said that number of
minimum employment days in
the MNREGA scheme should
be increased from present 100
days to 200 days and an
amount of C10,000 should be
transferred in the bank
accounts of poor.
The former CM added that
instead of providing
loans, cash grants should be
provided to the small entre-
preneurs.
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To encourage commercial
activities, markets will be
allowed to remain open in the
state from 7 AM to 7 PM from
today. Till now, the market was
being allowed to open from 7
AM to 4 PM. This decision and
other directions to ensure
proper facilities in quarantine
centres were issued by the
chief minister Trivendra Singh
Rawat while chairing a meet-
ing late on Thursday evening to
review the condition in the
state resulting from the Covid-
19 pandemic.
The CM directed that for
inter-district travel, immediate
issuance of pass should be
ensured on the basis of the
information provided by the
applicant. Along with grant of
permission to labourers at the
local level for small construc-
tion works, relaxation should
be provided in the mandatory
requirement of quarantine for
those arriving for a limited time
for their work. The
CM also directed
the director general
of police Anil
Kumar Raturi to
ensure strict imple-
mentation of social
distancing in the
markets. On the
DGP’s request, the
CM directed that
provision be made
from disaster man-
agement and
departmental bud-
get to provide PPE
kits, masks and sani-
tisers as per the requirement to
police personnel on duty.
To dispel fear of Covid-19
and provide information about
measures for protection from
the virus, short videos of doc-
tors involved should be pre-
pared and made available till
the Gram Panchayat level, said
Rawat. The experiences of
those who recovered from
Covid-19 should also be
included in these videos to
inculcate a positive attitude
among the public. He also
directed the district magis-
trates to maintain effective
arrangements for containing
the spread of the virus while
ensuring proper treatment of
the afflicted citizens. The CM
further said that the spread of
the pandemic will be con-
tained by observing social dis-
tancing, using masks and sani-
tisers without fail. He stressed
on the need for public aware-
ness on these aspects.
The chief secretary Utpal
Kumar Singh, secretaries Amit
Singh Negi, Shailesh Bagauli,
Nitesh Jha, Radhika Jha, direc-
tor general (Law and Order)
Ashok Kumar, inspector gen-
erals Sanjay Gunjyal, Abhinav
Kumar and USDMA ACEO
Ridhim Agarwal were also
among those present in the
meeting.
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Alarge number of migrants
have refused to return to
their native States as various
works have resumed in the dis-
trict.
The Dehradun chief devel-
opment officer (CDO) Nitika
Khandelwal who is currently
supervising the operation of
sending thousands of migrants
home in different states
through trains said this while
talking to The Pioneer.
At present, sending the
migrants home amid the lock-
down to contain the spread of
Covid-19 is one of the major
challenges for the administra-
tion.
The news of several
migrants in some states leaving
on foot for their home states is
not unheard of in the current
scenario. However, such cases
are presently negligible in
Dehradun.
As stated by Khandelwal,
this is because state adminis-
tration commenced the oper-
ation of trains and buses on
time to send migrants back to
their native states.
Due to this, nobody was
compelled to choose any other
way. According to her, the
first train departed from
Dehradun on May 19 and till
now about 6,737 migrants
have been sent to their respec-
tive states by trains that
include some students from
Manipur too.
Explaining about the
procedure before the
migrants board the train,
Khandelwal said that before
boarding the train, migrants
go through thermal screen-
ing and a list including their
names and destination is
prepared.
All this data is then sent to
the railway station, stated
Khandelwal. She further
informed that the migrants
are also provided food packets
and dry snacks for their jour-
ney by the district administra-
tion.
On the question of how
many more migrants will be
sent to their respective States in
coming days, Khandelwal said
that the administration asked
for trains based on the data of
migrants who wanted to return
to their homes but many of
them backed out.
She added that there are
about 4,000 migrants in the dis-
tricts who refused to go back
stating that work has now
resumed here. Since most of
these migrants do not want to
go back yet, nothing is con-
firmed about their status of
staying here or leaving for
their native states yet, informed
Khandelwal.
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Chief Minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat inaugurated
the Mukhyamantri Swarozgar
Yojana here on Thursday. He
directed the officials to ensure
that information about this
scheme reaches every village so
that the youth can benefit from
it. The scheme should be pub-
licised widely through public
representatives and district-
level officials.
The district magistrates
should coordinate with
bankers to ensure that the ben-
eficiaries do not face any issues
in securing loans under this
scheme, said Rawat.
The Mukhyamantri
Swarozgar Yojana has been
started to provide self employ-
ment opportunities to enter-
prising youth and those return-
ing to the state due to Covid-
19. Applicants under this
scheme will be provided loans
through nationalised banks,
scheduled commercial banks
and cooperative banks.
Applicant should be aged
minimum 18 years with no
mandatory requirement for
educational qualification.
Finance will be made available
under the scheme for indus-
try, service and business sec-
tors. The applicant or his/her
family will be provided the
benefit under this scheme
only once. The selection of
beneficiaries, if more appli-
cations are received, will be
made on first come-first
served basis considering the
project viability. Those inter-
ested can apply online or
manually at the district indus-
try centres.
The industry directorate
will be the nodal department
for the execution of this
scheme.
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Thanks to a cyclonic circu-
lation, monsoon will keep
its date with India contrary to
the earlier forecast of a slight
delay. The southwest monsoon
is likely to make an onset over
Kerala on June 1, the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD) said on Thursday.
This is because conditions
are becoming favourable for
monsoon winds to advance as
a low pressure area is expect-
ed to develop over the Arabian
Sea between May 31 and June
4. The IMD had in its onset
date forecast on May 15 said
that the monsoon is likely to hit
the southern state on June 5,
four days after its normal onset
date. The normal onset of
monsoon over Kerala is June 1.
However, a cyclonic circu-
lation over the Bay of Bengal is
likely to help in the progress
of monsoon.
“A low pressure area is
likely to form over southeast
and adjoining east central
Arabian Sea during May 31 to
June 4. In view of this, condi-
tions are very likely to become
favourable from June 1 for
onset of southwest monsoon
over Kerala,” the IMD said.
It is also likely to intensify
into a cyclone but may
not impact India’s west coast,
IMD said. According to the
IMD, the country is likely to
receive normal monsoon this
year. “With the strengthening
of westerlies and increase in
convective clouds, the south-
west Monsoon has further
advanced into some parts of
Maldives-Comorin area, some
more parts of south Bay of
Bengal, remaining parts of
Andaman Sea and Andaman
Nicobar Islands,” it said.
Anotherlowpressureareais
likelytoformoversoutheastand
adjoining east-central Arabian
Sea, close to the Indian coast
between May 31 and 4 June.
“Scattered low and medium
clouds with embedded intense
to very intense convection lay
over southeast and west central
Arabian Sea,” IMD said in its
cyclone bulletin for Thursday.
?=B Q =4F34;78
Nearly 30 groups in India,
ranging from big industry
players to individual acade-
mics, are trying to develop vac-
cines to fight coronavirus,
Principal Scientific Adviser K
VijayRaghavan said on
Thursday.
Of these 30, 20 are work-
ing at a good pace, he said.
“About 30 groups in India,
big industry to individual aca-
demics are trying to develop
vaccines to fight COVID-19 of
which 20 are keeping a good
pace,” VijayRaghavan said at a
media briefing here.
He said vaccine develop-
ment currently takes nearly
10 years, but the aim the world
over is to find a vaccine for
coronavirus in a year even as he
added that “till today, we have
not observed any change in the
virus that alters its fundamen-
tal properties.”
He said designing new
drugs is a “very very big chal-
lenge” and just like a vaccine it
takes a very long time.
“Most attempts fail and
thus you have to try a lot,” said
VijayRaghavan.
He said start-ups and
acadamics have also got into
developing vaccines and spec-
ified that four categories of vac-
cines can be there.
For instance, MRNA vac-
cines, in which a component of
genetic material of the virus is
injected. Our body translates it
into viral protein and develops
immune system when the virus
attacks. Another is standard
vaccine in which weak version
of the virus is used while yet
another uses protein coding
region of the virus is attached to
the backbone of another virus
to develop vaccine, he said.
The scientist further elab-
orated that virus protein is
developed in the lab and is used
with another stimulant while
several companies are trying to
develop it on the backbone of
flu vaccine, it is in late pre-clin-
ical trial stage and may be by
October, pre-clinical trial
would conclude.
“Indian companies are col-
laborating with foreign com-
panies. Academics are also try-
ing to develop the vaccines.
The logistics of making the vac-
cine available to everyone will
be a big challenge,” said
About the drugs, he said,
drugs attack the virus chemi-
cally after it infects. This is a big
challenge, as the virus uses our
machinary to replicate. A drug
has to be designed to attack
only the virus.
“It has to attack the virus an
early stage. There are two broad
categories of drugs which can
be developed. It can be repur-
posed drugs or new drugs.
“Designing of new drugs is a
major channel.
“In India, in addition to
our science agencies, the CSIR
and AICTE have embarked on
drug discovery hackethon
where students are trained
with info on how to do com-
putational drug discovery, they
will get access to expensive
equipment.
“As for testing and diagno-
sis, a new kind of test is likely
to come up for testing of virus
particle presence. Several nucle-
ic acid tests have been devel-
oped, variations of RTPCR tests
have been developed. Then
there are antibody tests.
“If sensitivity and speci-
ficity of antibody tests are high,
they can be used to test at indi-
vidual level. Otherwise, they
can be used for community
surveillance purpose,”
explained the scientist.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
With no letup in the coro-
navirus cases whose
numbers have crossed over
1.60 lakhs and with over 4,000
mortalities, Dr K
Vijayraghavan, Principal
Scientific Adviser on Thursday
suggested that five measures
should be taken to prevent
spread of Covid-19 , till the time
its vaccine is developed. These
are maintaining hygiene, sur-
face cleaning, physical distanc-
ing, tracking and testing in the
absence of drugs and vaccine,
he said at a Press briefing here.
“The disease spreads as
our immune response takes a
little longer and the virus by
that time overwhelmes us. The
vaccine is given to those who
are not infected, that’s why safe-
ty is important. It usually takes
10 to 15 years to develop vac-
cines at a cost of 200-300 mil-
lion dollars.
However, the five steps
suggested by the senior scien-
tist to keep the covid-19 at bay
elude densely populated coun-
tries like India which has most
of its people living below
poverty line, people have poor
hygiene habits because of many
reasons and have the lowest
Covid-19 testing rate per mil-
lion in the world.
The migration of workers
as well as arrivals of stranded
Indians from abroad coupled
with the easing of the lockdown
has just added to the mounting
tally of the cases.
In fact, experts say that the
cases are likely to witness sharp
spike in near future. Dr V
Ravi, Head of Neurovirology,
National Institute of Mental
Health Neuro Sciences
(NIMHANS) and nodal officer
in the Karnataka Health Task
Force for COVID-19 cautioned
that there will be a spike in
COVID-19 cases after
Lockdown 4.0 ends which is
after May 31, 2020.
“The country has not yet
witnessed the spike in cases.
The numbers will go up from
June onwards after Lockdown
4.0 ends on May 31, and there
will be community spread,” he
said as per a report.
Dr Ghanshyam Pangtey,
professor at the medicine
department at Lady Hardinge
Medical College had told a
news agency that once the
virus covers up to 30 per cent
of population, possibly in the
next four to five months, the
situation will become very dif-
ficult to handle with the limit-
ed resources.
According to the Union
Health Ministry, number of
cases under active medical
supervision is 86,110. So far, a
total of 67,691 people has been
cured. In the last 24 hours,
3,266 patients were found
cured. This takes our total
recovery rate to 42.75 per cent,
said a statement issued here by
the Ministry. Also, India’s fatal-
ity rate is much lower than the
world average of 6.36 per cent,
it said.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Principal Scientific Adviser
Dr K Vijayraghavan on
Thursday said the RT-PCR test
— the gold standard in India—
looks for viral genetic materi-
al but soon a test that detects
the viral particle’s presence is
on the anvil.
“As for testing and diagno-
sis, a new kind of test is likely
to come up for testing of virus
particle presence. Several
nucleic acid tests have been
developed, variations of RT-
PCR tests have been developed.
Then there are antibody tests.
“If sensitivity and speci-
ficity of antibody tests are high,
they can be used to test at indi-
vidual level. Otherwise, they
can be used for community
surveillance purpose,” said Dr
Vijayraghavan, at a media brief-
ing here.
Dr VK Paul, member of the
Niti Ayog and chairman of the
Empowered Group 1 said that
at least 20 Indian companies are
now producing diagnostic kits.
“India will be able to produce
5 lakh indigenous kits daily by
July,” he said, adding the man-
ufacturers will be able to export
after the domestic demands
are fully met.
Till last month, India had
been heavily dependent on
other countries as it had been
importing the testing kits.
However, now the local man-
ufacturers too have jumped in
the fray in a big way.
To bring the scientists and
laboratories in touch with pri-
vate firms to produce millions
of testing kits, including around
10 million rapid antibody tests
that offer quick results is being
done under the project called
Consortium for affordable and
rapid diagnostics (CARD),
spearheaded by the NITI
Aayog and the Central
Government’s Department of
Biotechnology.
The first goal of project
CARD will be to churn out at
least 10 million or 1 crore
rapid antibody tests for Covid-
19 by July 2020.
The final aim is to make
India a diagnostic export pow-
erhouse by the end of 2020. It
also seeks to bolster India’s
capabilities in manufacturing
reagents, probes, primers, and
other components needed for
diagnostics.
“The final frontier for the
fight against Covid-19 is sci-
ence and technology. The base
of our institutions of science
and technology, bio-tech and
pharma industry is strong. The
entire infrastructure is engaged
in the war against Covid-19,”
said Dr Paul.
?=BQ =4F34;78
HRD Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal Nishank on
Thursday interacted with
Heads of more than 45,000
Higher Educational Institutions
across the country through
Webinar hosted by National
Assessment and Accreditation
Council (NAAC), Bengaluru.
While lauding the initiatives
taken by NAAC at this time of
the pandemic, Pokhriyal called
upon the HEIs in the country to
treat the current situation as an
opportunity to overcome limi-
tations in the system.
He called upon the educa-
tionists, students, parents to
switch-over to the online
method and make the most of
the situation so that the acad-
emic session of the students
and the HEIs are not inter-
rupted. He said there is an
urgent need to improve and
enhance the Online ecosystem
in India educators should
contribute to enhance the reach
so that online education reach-
es even the rural areas.
The Minister addressed
and Interacted with a galaxy of
Academicians comprising par-
ticipation from Vice
Chancellors/Registrars/Profess
ors/IQAC heads/Principals/
Faculty from across the Nation.
In the hour long interaction
and address, the Union Minister
reflected on various issues and
concerns raised by educationists
related to Academic Calendar,
Online Education, examina-
tions, Fees, Mental health of stu-
dents, problems of students,
fellowships, NEET, entrance
examinations etc. He dwelt
upon at length on the initiatives
taken by the Government with
regard to Swayam Prabha,
Deeksharambh, Paramarsh and
a host of other special initiatives
taken during the pandemic
period.
He also urged all Higher
Educational Institutions to take
part in NAAC accreditation
process. He reiterated that the
Prime Minister of India Shri
Narendra Modi is very con-
cerned about the well being of
Higher Educational Institutions
and assured of all help in fur-
thering the academic activities
of student fraternity.
The Union Minister asked
all Universities to constitute a
special cell which will be
empowered to address the
issues of students related to aca-
demic calendar and examina-
tions arising out of special cir-
cumstances due to Covid 19.
He said that a task force has
been created in UGC and
NCERT to resolve the different
issues of students. Nishank
assured that Ministry is
committed to provide all
assistance to students in the
time of crisis.
During the interaction the
Union Minister highlighted
the process of how the new ses-
sion will be commenced, at the
same time he specified that the
priority will be given to the
safety of the students.
He called educational fra-
ternity as Corona Warriors
because in this extraordinary
situation they are working
round the clock to provide
quality education to students.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Aforensic team of National
Investigation Agency
(NIA) has reached Pulwama
where a car fitted with an IED
with an estimated 40-45 kg of
RDX was blasted in situ by the
bomb disposal squad early
on Thursday.
A Pulwama-like terror plot
is being touted to have been
averted by destroying the
explosives-laden vehicle and
the forensic team lifted various
samples from the incident site
for scientific testing and analy-
sis into the type of explosives
and detonators fitted into the
IED, sources said.
While the case has not
been handed over the NIA
officially, the investigation is
likely to be taken over by the
federal anti-terror probe agency
soon, they said.
According to preliminary
information gathered by the
agencies, the car was driven by
a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist
who escaped after initial fire-
fight with the security forces.
The Santro car had a fake
number plate and the registra-
tion number was that of a two
wheeler registered at Kathua of
Jammu zone.
Initial inputs suggest a
Pakistan-based terrorist of the
Jaish-e-Mohammad, Walid,
who is an expert in fabricating
IEDs, could have been involved
in developing the bomb for det-
onation by the occupants of the
now destructed car.
The pattern is similar to
Pulwama-I in which Pak ter-
rorist groups JeM and LeT
had planned and helped in fab-
rication of the IED which was
blasted by a local boy who
acted as a fidayeen and
rammed the Maruti Eeco car
packed with explosives on a
convoy of the CRPF in
February last year killing 40
paramilitary men and injuring
several others.
New Delhi: BJP national
spokesperson Sambit Patra has
been admitted to a private
hospital in Gurugram after he
showed symptoms of Covid-19,
sources said. He is admitted to
the Medanta hospital in
Gurgaon, hospital sources said.
The BJP leader has shown
symptoms of Covid-19, a
source said. Patra is one of the
most visible BJP faces on news
channels. He is also very active
on social media and posted
several tweets on Thursday as
well. PTI
New Delhi: The BJP on
Thursday accused the Congress
of “seeking benefit from chal-
lenges” the country is facing
currently, and said the opposi-
tion party is indulging in “polit-
ical slander” which is “unfor-
tunate but expected”.
Senior BJP leader and
Union Minister Smriti Irani’s
hard-hitting counter attack on
the Congress came after oppo-
sition party president Sonia
Gandhi took a swipe at the
Modi Government, saying the
entire country has heard the
cries of pain of migrants except
the Centre.
Gandhi also urged the
Centre to unlock its coffers to
help those affected by the coro-
navirus-induced lockdown.
Reacting strongly to Gandhi’s
remarks, Irani said, “It is unfor-
tunate that when the nation
needs to stand united against
the Covid-19 pandemic, certain
political parties are seeking
benefit from challenges the
country faces”.
The Union Minister assert-
ed that Governments across
States, including those ruled by
theCongress,are“witnesstoand
havebenefitted”fromtheRs1.76
lakh crore ‘PM Garib Kalyan
Yojna’. The scheme has support-
edsomeoftheweakestsegments
of our society, she added.
“In this hour of crisis, the
Centre and States, including dis-
trict authorities, have converged
their efforts. And for the
Congress at this time to indulge
in political slander is unfortu-
nate but expected,” Irani said.
The Congress president in a
video message, posted as part of
her party’s ‘Speak Up India’
campaign launched on
Thursday, also demanded that
the Government should provide
Rs 7,500 to each needy family
for the next six months. PTI
?8=44A=4FBB4AE824Q
=4F34;78
Three days ahead of
Lockdown-4toend,Cabinet
Secretary Rajiv Gauba on
Thursday held a meeting with
Chief Secretaries of States, and
13 Municipal Commissioners
and District Magistrates of most
Covid-19-affected cities.
These 13 cities, including
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and
Kolkata, are having 70 per cent
of the positive cases in India.
The meeting is seen impor-
tant as Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will address the
nation on May 31, Sunday
through his radio talk Mann Ki
Baat. As Prime Minister’s
address is not fixed on other
days, it is widely expected that
he will announce the way for-
ward after May 31, the day the
Lockdown-4 regulations ends.
“The meeting bears signif-
icance as these 13 cities are con-
sidered to be the worst
Coronavirus-affected locations
and constitute about 70 per
cent of the positive cases in the
country. The 13 focus cities are
Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi / New
Delhi, Ahmedabad, Thane,
Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata /
Howrah, Indore (Madhya
Pradesh), Jaipur, Jodhpur,
Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur
(Tamil Nadu). The measures
taken by the officials and the
staff of the municipal corpo-
rations for the management of
Covid-19 cases were reviewed
in the meeting,” the Cabinet
Secretariat said in a statement.
Health Secretaries of the
States also attended the high-
level meeting chaired by
Gauba. The Cabinet Secretary
stressed for the containment of
zones and demarcating these
areas geographically for imple-
mentation of strict protocols to
prevent the pandemic. He also
urged the States to doubling of
the tests on people.
“Centre has stressed that
containmentzonesaretobegeo-
graphicallydefinedbasedonfac-
tors like mapping of cases and
contacts and their geographical
dispersion.Thiswouldenablein
demarcating a well defined
perimeter and enforcing the
strict protocol of lockdown.
Municipal corporations can
decide if residential colonies,
mohallas, municipal wards or
police-station areas, municipal
zones, towns can be designated
as containment zones, as
required.Thecitieswereadvised
that the area should be appro-
priately defined by the district
administration and local urban
body with technical inputs from
local level,” the Cabinet
Secretariat maintained.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Even as Italy, Belgium and
France have stopped usage
of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)
amid WHO’s concerns over its
safety aspects, India on
Thursday reiterated that it will
continue to use it as it has been
recommended as prophylaxis
with full responsibility, and as
per the clinical protocol the
drug might be used for thera-
peutics also.
“Several trials have been
done on the use of HCQ, it is
also being done in India. Our
experience so far is that as per
the current guidelines for its
use by frontline workers, its
benefits outweigh any risks.
More research will throw light
on new aspects, on the basis of
which further decisions will be
taken,” said Dr VK Paul, Niti
Aayog member, at a routine
Press briefing here.
Paul also mentioned a few
more medicines and therapies,
which are in advance stage of
trial for Covid-19 which has
infected over 1.60 lakhs and
killed over 4,000 people.
He said,”On the drug front,
we tried many medicines,
including oral medicine
Favipiravir, plant-based medi-
cine ACQH, Itolizumab (Also
used for arthritis) BCG vaccine
Micro-Bacterium W,
Convalescent Plasma, Arbidol,
and HCQ besides Ramdesivir.
Eight vaccine candidates are
being tried.”
ICMR Director General
Dr Balram Bhargava too had
said India would continue to
use HCQ as prophylaxis despite
its suspension from the soli-
darity trial of Covid-19.
Scientists are studying these
drugs and therapies, both in
and out of the solidarity trial.
On May 26, WHO
Director General Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus had
announced “a temporary
pause” in clinical trial of HCQ
on Covid-19 patients, while the
safety data of the anti-malaria
drug was being reviewed.
This had prompted the
three of the countries hardest
hit by coronavirus infections to
put a break on the large trial
of the drug .
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New Delhi: Dr K
Viijayraghavan said If we want
to develop vaccine in one
year, than parallel processing
has to be done. “Hundred vac-
cines are being tested, instead
of one. Simultaneously, we
have to go fast on the regula-
tory process without com-
promising quality. We have to
have manufacturing capabili-
ty without compromising our
standard immunising pro-
gramme.”
He added we have to have
a distribution system ready.
“This will require investment
of 2 to 3 billion dollars, which
is currently being done by the
world. Our vaccine manufac-
turing is top class, of the three
standard immunising vac-
cines, two are produced in
India.” PNS
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C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In an effort to make available
more resources available for
Covid-19 relief works,
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari on Thursday
announced a series of auster-
ity measures, including a freeze
on new capital works and can-
cellation of Independence Day
reception in Pune, to reduce
the expenses of Raj Bhavan.
The Governor issued
instructions to the staff at the
Raj Bhavan to undertake vari-
ous measures in the current
financial year to reduce the
expenditure.
Among other things, the
Governor has decided to put on
hold undertaking of capital
works on the Raj Bhavan
premises. “There will not be
any new major construction or
repairing works in Raj Bhavan.
Only ongoing works in
progress will be continued and
completed,” a Raj Bhavan
spokesperson said.
According to the
spokesperson, the
Independence Day Reception
to be held on August 15, 2020
at Raj Bhavan in Pune will be
cancelled.
Similarly, Raj Bhavan has
deferred the proposal to pur-
chase of new car for its use.
“There will be no new regular
recruitment in Raj Bhavan
until further orders,” the
spokesperson said.
In another austerity mea-
sure, the Raj Bhavan has decid-
ed to discontinue until further
order.the practice of offering
gifts and mementos to VVIPs.
“The practice of welcoming
VIP visitors with bouquets will
be discontinued. Guest house
rooms in Raj Bhavan should
not be decorated with vases and
flower-pots,” he said.
The Governor would
henceforth hold meetings and
interactions with Vice-
Chancellors and various offi-
cers via video conference to
avoid any expenses on travel.
“It is estimated that these
measures will save nearly 10 to
15 percent of the budget of the
Raj Bhavan in the current
financial year,” the spokesper-
son said.
“The Governor has already
contributed his one month
salary and further pledged 30%
of his salary for one year to the
PM CARES Fund for COVID
– 19,” the spokesperson said.
“In the Governor’s estima-
tion, these austerity measures
will be a small but significant
contribution to save resources
that can be used to reduce the
sufferings of the people in the
backdrop of the situation arisen
because of the Corona Virus
Disease,” Raj Bhavan said in a
statement issued here.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
There was no respite for Tamil Nadu or Chennai on Thursday
as the number of persons tested positive for coronavirus in
the State reached 19,372.
The State saw 827 persons testing positive for the pandem-
ic and 12 persons succumbing to the disease. The death tally in
Tamil Nadu due to coronavirus reached 145 with Chennai alone
recording 106 fatalities.
The medical bulletin issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu
said there were 8,679 active covid-19 afflicted persons in the State
as on Thursday. “Till date, 10, 548 persons have been cured of
the pandemic and discharged from hospitals. A total of 4,34 625
persons have been tested till Thursday,” said the bulletin.
Chennai with 12, 762 positive cases topped the table while
Chengalpattu (933), Thiruvallur (863), Cuddalore (443) close-
ly followed the capital city. Dr C V Krishnaswamy, south India’s
lead physician closely tracking the pandemic said that there was
no reason to be panic about the numbers. “Its when the death
rate exceeds the prescribed norms we have to be worried. As on
date, the death rate in India and tamil Nadu is well below the
mandatory figure. Though we are testing many persons positive
for the pandemic, we should note that the recovery rate is one
of the bests in the world,” said Dr Krishnaswamy.
Tamil Nadu Government despite the covid-19 pandemic suc-
ceeded in signing Memorandum of Understanding with some
of the global brands like Daimler, Vivid Solaire, Salcomp PLC
to set up manufacturing plants /expansion of ongoing operations
in the State.
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:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
Liquor outlets in Kerala
(except those in hotspots)
were reopened on Thursday
morning and started selling
spirits to tipplers who have
been without their daily quota
of drinks for the last two
months.
According to TP
Ramakrishnan, the State’s
Excise Minister, liquor is being
sold through 265 outlets of
Kerala State Beverages
Corporation (Bevcco), 36 out-
lets under the Consumerfed,
576 bar hotels, and 291 beer
parlours.
Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan told reporters that
2,25,000 persons made use of
the BevQ App which went
operational on Thursday
morning and purchased liquor
through on-line mode. “There
were some hiccups during ini-
tial hours but the Excise
Department told me that it has
been rectified. A complaint
regarding a fake App has been
registered and the State police
headquarters is probing the
allegation. If found genuine, we
will initiate legal proceedings
against those responsible for
such fake campaign,” said the
chief minister.
Customers were asked to
book their choice of drinks
through BevQ, an App devel-
oped by a Kochi-based start up
company to streamline and
regulate the sale of liquor. The
booking was opened from 6 am
on Thursday and saw hectic
activities, according to Faircode
Technologies Pvt Ltd which
developed the App.
The two-minutes long
trial-run of the BevQ app held
on Wednesday saw 20,000 cus-
tomers placing orders for the
drink of their choice. The
BevQ became operational at 6
am and would continue till 10
pm every night. The liquor
would be sold between 9 am
and 5 pm.
:4BCDAE0BD:8Q 14=60;DAD
As the face off continue
between Indian and
Chinese troops at four points
along the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) in Ladakh and
Sikkim, around hundred
Chinese students studying in
Mysore University at Southern
city of Mysuru will fly back to
China in June as the University
has decided to hold examina-
tions for them earlier than
scheduled to facilitate their
evacuation from India.
These Chinese students are
studying Information
Technology courses in Mysore
University, one of the oldest
universities in the country.
They are set to leave India fol-
lowing China’s appeal to its cit-
izens to return to their home-
land.
In response to an appeal
from the collaborative univer-
sity in Central China for hold-
ing examinations early in view
of special fights arranged for the
evacuation of Chinese citizens
from India, the University,
which had earlier scheduled the
examination from June 10 to
15, agreed to hold it from June
1 to 6. These students are from
Central China and studying
MS (Information Technology)
and MS (Software Engineering)
courses specially designed for
them as per an MoU and being
run since past 10 years.
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0
The City of Joy may get
transformed into a “hot
city” in the coming decades not
because of any ‘page three’ fac-
tor but because of
the large-scale destruction of
Kolkata’s green cover, experts
say.
With about 5,500 trees
felled by the super cyclone
that his the city after 283 years
Kolkata may witness a climate
change of sorts getting robbed
of about more than 5 lakh kilos
of oxygen, experts at Jadavpur
University say.
While Kolkata lost about
5,500 trees the iconic Botanical
Gardens in Howrah saw about
1,000 trees getting damaged.
The Pagla Gaach (Mad tree)
and the Kalpa Brisksha— the
only surviving species of their
kind in the world — at
Botanical Gardens too have
suffered some damage, sources
said.
“It is irreparable loss con-
sidering as well the fact that
Sunderbans — 100 miles down
south near the sea — has lost
about 1.5 lakh trees meaning
thereby that Kolkata will get
that much less protection in the
next cyclones,” said Partho
Bhowmick an expert.
The double whammy is
the “loss of trees coupled with
carbon emission creating a
condition for the cyclones to
visit the city more regularly and
the loss of green cover in
Sunderbans (on the
verge of the sea) denying the
region the natural speed break-
er for the cyclones,” said DP
Mitra an environmental
expert.
“Even if you plant trees at
a brisk pace which is unlikely
to happen understanding the
bureaucratic velocity of work
the trees that will be planted
now will take at least 10 years
— if we plant some fast grow-
ing trees — to grow to a level
that can at least half-mange the
situation,” said a Sutapa Saha a
green cover expert.
Normally it takes 15 to 20
years for a tree to reach a state
where it is able to absorb a good
amount of carbon dioxide
besides providing oxygen. A
full-grown tree absorbs about
20-25 kg of CO2 which is a
huge amount.
Considering the fact that
an individual requires about
750 kg of oxygen one should be
surrounded by about 10
trees.
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0
The Bengal Government
wants the lockdown to be
extended by two weeks beyond
May 31, sources at the State sec-
retariat Nabanna said quoting
the office of the Chief Secretary.
According to sources the
State Government has already
communicated its views to the
Centre notwithstanding the
fact that most establishments
save malls, cinema halls, restu-
raunts and educational insti-
tutions have been fully or par-
tially functioning in the State.
The State Government had
already allowed resumption of
bus and auto-rickshaw ser-
vices with limited passengers
from Wednesday.
Meanwhile even as train
loads of migrant workers rolled
in at various stations in Bengal
Congress leader in Lok Sabha
Adhir Chowdhury on
Thursday slammed the
Mamata Banerjee Government
for lackluster handling of the
migrant workers issue failing to
realise the plight of those stuck
in other states for months.
“Why the State is cold-
shouldering the issue of
migrant workers who are lan-
guishing in other States with-
out food and shelter… Why the
State Government has not cre-
ated facilities for the migrant
workers who are coming in
hordes from other States…
How the state can be so insen-
sitive towards its own citi-
zens?” Chowdhury a five-time
MP from Behrampore asked
wondering why the Chief
Minister was so worried about
‘shramik trains’ coming to
Bengal when already
the workers are returning to
this State in hordes by buses
and trucks.
“The workers are coming
back in hordes in buses and
trucks, paying for the fare by
selling whatever they had and
here the State Government is
simply looking the other way.
Why this Government is so
insensitive towards the plight of
these poor and hapless people
suffering for the past several
months?” he asked wondering
“where is a difference between
people coming in trains and
those coming buses.”
Chowdhury’s comments
came on a day when about 25
trains entered Bengal bringing
back several thousand workers
to Burdwan, Malda, Dankuni,
Purulia, Birbhum and Bankura.
Elsewhere another instance
of alleged “insensitivity” raised
many an eyebrow when Bengal
BJP president Dilip Ghosh
termed the incident of a toddler
playing besides its dead moth-
er’s body at Muzaffarpur rail-
way station a “minor event.”
The Bengal opposition par-
ties have pulled up Ghosh for
his “insensitive comments” say-
ing he was only reflecting the
views of his party which was
only an “attendant of the rich.”
Condemning Ghosh for
his alleged cavalier ways senior
Trinamool Congress MP
Saugato Roy said “less said
about this man is the better. He
is foul in his mouth and insen-
sitive too. He is better suited as
a wood-cutter.”
CPI(M) politburo member
and former MP Md Salim said
“one can only express sympa-
thy for the ruthless person
who calls the heart-rending
scene of a toddler trying to
awaken its dead mother in a
Railway Station --- particular-
ly at a time when the migrant
workers are dying a hundred
death every day --- a ‘minor
incident’.”
He said, “the rest of the BJP
leadership think that Modi is
the only God and Ambanis and
Adanis are the only human
beings … and the remaining
people are animals. What can
you expect from them… The
Modi Government with the
help of the leaders like Dilip
Ghosh has failed to save
humankind but successes in
killing humanity.”
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The Union Territory of Jammu
Kashmir has now joined the club
of States with over 2,000 plus cases of
coronavirus.
On Thursday, a total number of
115 cases were detected while one
more patient died due to covid-19 in
Kashmir valley, taking the death toll
to 27.
According to media bulletin, out
of 115 fresh cases, 101 were report-
ed from Kashmir division while 14
cases were reported from Jammu divi-
sion. The final tally of coronavirus
cases stood at 2,036.
Out of these, 1,150 are active
cases. A total number of 301 cases are
active in Jammu and 849 in Kashmir
division. A total number of 859
patients have recovered so far.
According to the media bulletin,
the highest number of 45 cases were
reported from North Kashmir district
of Kupwara followed by 16 cases from
Baramulla, 11 each from Srinagar and
Budgam in Kashmir valley. Majority
of these positive cases were returnees
arriving in Jammu Kashmir via dif-
ferent modes of transport. A total
number of 228 active cases in Kulgam
district and 167 in Kupwara contin-
ue to remain a cause of worry for
health administrators in Kashmir
valley.
On the other hand, Jammu divi-
sion reported a total number of 14
cases on Thursday. Five travelers
and three locals tested positive in
Jammu while three travelers in
Kathua tested positive. One case
each was reported from Reasi,
Poonch and Udhampur districts of
Jammu division.
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C=A067D=0C70Q D108
Even four days after the resumption of domestic
air-operations and that too truncated manner, the
flights are being operated in and out of the GVK
MIAL-managed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai at half
the capacity, if the flights-passengers ratio is going
by. As many as 52 scheduled flights — involving 26
departures and 26 arrivals— flew in and out of the
Mumbai airport – catered to a total of 5,583 pas-
sengers — comprising 4,255 departed passengers and
1,328 passengers who arrived in Mumbai.
“CSMIA today saw a total of 52 scheduled flights
which include 26 departures and 26 arrivals. CSMIA
connected to 16 sectors which were operated by 05
airlines. CSMIA connected to 16 sectors which were
operated by 05 airlines. Today, CSMIA catered to a
total of 5,583 passengers which include 4,255 pas-
sengers at departures and 1,328 at arrivals,” a CSMIA
spokesperson said.
“The highest passenger load capacity was seen
on the Bhubaneshwar route departing out of
CSMIA. The first flight departed to Ranchi at 6:00hrs
while the first flight arrived at 8:10hrs from
Lucknow which was operated by Air Asia India and
IndiGo, respectively,” the CSMIA spokesperson
added.
An analysis of the flights-passenger load ration
on Thursday revealed that on an average 107 pas-
sengers flew in and out of Mumbai — in 52 flights
(26 flights each to and from Mumbai). In 26 flights
that departed from Mumbai, there were an average
of 163 passengers, while mere 51 passengers arrived
in Mumbai on Thursday from other destinations in
the country.
On the first day of resumptions of flight oper-
ations at CSMIA on Monday, as many as 47 flights
belonging to seven airlines had flown in and out of
the Mumbai airport catering to 4852 passengers.
While 3852 had departed from Mumbai (an approx-
imate 150 passengers), 1100 (an approximate 47 pas-
sengers) had arrived in Mumbai.
On the second of resumption of flight operations
on Tuesday, 44 flights operated with 4,224 passen-
gers from the CSMIA on Tuesday. While 3114 pas-
sengers (124 passengers per flight) departed from
Mumbai, 1110 passengers ( 58 passengers per
flight) arrived in Mumbai.
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Amaravati: Despite
intensive containment
measures, fresh Covid-
19 cases continue to
surface in Andhra
Pradesh with unfailing
regularity. On Thursday
the state reported 54
positive cases, which
includes four persons
that had travel histories
to the Koyambedu mar-
ket in Chennai.
With the addition
of 54 new cases over the
past 24 hours, the state's
tally jumped to 2,841,
the state nodal officer
reported at 10 a.m., on
Thursday. While there
has been a decrease in
the proportion of cases
with a Koyambedu con-
nection, the number of
cases related to
returnees from other
states are continuing to
some extent.
On Thursday, only
4 of the 54 positive cases
were found to have a
Koyambedu connec-
tion. While Nellore dis-
trict reported two cases,
1 case was reported
from Chittoor and
Guntur districts respec-
tively.
The Koyambedu
market which has since
been closed, was identi-
fied as one of the biggest
spreaders of Covid-19
cases in neighbouring
Tamil Nadu, where pos-
itive cases tally has long
crossed the 18,000-
mark. IANS
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