First india jaipur edition-02 may 2020

HOLY
BLISS
INDIA: 77 DEATHS
IN LAST 24 HOURS
New Delhi: India on Friday reported
the maximum number of 77 deaths
due to COVID-19 in the last 24
hours as compared to 67 deaths on
Thursday. As many as 1,755 new
cases of COVID-19 were reported
in the last 24 hours taking the total
number of cases to 37,257, said the
Union Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare on Friday.
New Delhi: The armed forces will express their gratitude to all “corona war-
riors” by conducting fly-pasts, showering petals on hospitals treating COVID-19
patients and illuminating naval vessels, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin
Rawat said on Friday. Addressing a special press briefing along with the three
service chiefs, Gen Rawat said the nation stood together and showed resilience
in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. “We are expressing our gratitude to
all ‘corona warriors’ who are working hard to keep us safe,” he said. Indian Air
Force will carry out fly-pasts across the country on May 3 to display gratitude to
coronavirus warriors, the CDS said, Turn on P6
ARMED FORCES TO HONOR CORONA WARRIORS
Covered in a thick layer of snow, the majestic
Kedarnath Temple, decorated with 10 quintals
of marigold flowers, stands tall after the portals
were opened on Wednesday. Devotees are not
allowed for darshan in the temple, which opened
after a six-month-long winter break, due to
ongoing pan-India lockdown in place because of
coronavirus outbreak. First puja was performed
on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
1 GOAL, 2 WEEKS, LOCKDOWN 3.0
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Home Affairs
(MHA) on Friday issued
an order under the Dis-
aster Management Act,
2005 to further extend
the lockdown for a fur-
ther period of two
weeks beyond May 4.
Thecurrentlockdown
period is scheduled to
end on May 3. “After a
comprehensive review
and in view of the lock-
down measures having
led to significant gains,
the COVID-19 situation
in the country, Ministry
of Home Affairs issued
an order under the Dis-
aster Management Act,
2005, today, to further
extend the lockdown for
a further period of two
weeks beyond May 4,
2020,” read the order of
the Home Ministry.
In red zones and out-
side containment zones,
certain activities in-
cluding plying of cycle
rickshaws and auto-
rickshaws, taxis and
cab aggregators, intra-
district Turn on P6
Stay home till
atleast May 17! New Delhi: The Union
Health Ministry has list-
ed 130 districts across the
country in the red zone,
284 in orange zone and
319 in green zones based
on incidence of cases of
COVID-19, doubling rate,
extent of testing and sur-
veillance feedback.
This classification of
districts is to be followed
by states and UTs. Metro-
politan cities like Mum-
bai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hy-
derabad, Pune, Bengalu-
ru and Ahmedabad have
been designated as red
zones in the new classifi-
cation. The new classifi-
cation of districts was
announced following a
video conference chaired
by the Cabinet Secretary
on April 30 with the Chief
Secretaries and Health
secretaries of states.
“It is important to en-
surethatweidentifypock-
ets of critical interven-
tions for a focused man-
agement of COVID -19 at
the field level,” Union
HealthMinistrySecretary
Preeti Sudan said in a let-
ter to the Chief Secretar-
ies of all states and UTs.
She said the districts
were earlier designated
as hotspots/red-zones, or-
ange zones and green
zones Turn on P6
New Delhi: The Indian Railways began running spe-
cial “shramik” trains on Friday to ferry migrant
workers and others back home from various states
where they were stranded since the nationwide lock-
down began on March 25. It has already run the first
such train with 1,200 passengers from Hyderabad to
Jharkhand at 4:50 am on Friday. Full report P6
State-wise division
of red, green zones
Miles to go...
Rlys announces 6 ‘Shramik Special’ trains
to ferry stranded migrant workers, students
PROHIBITED
RED ZONE
Plying of cycle
rickshaws and auto
rickshaws, running of
taxis and cab aggre-
gators, intra-district
and inter-district ply-
ing of buses, barber
shops, spas and
saloons.
ORANGE ZONE
Taxis & cabs permit-
ted with 1 driver and
1 passenger only. In-
ter-district movement
of individuals and
vehicles for permitted
activities only. Four
wheelers with max 2
passengers besides
driver and pillion on
two-wheelers.
GREEN ZONE
All activities are permit-
ted except those pro-
hibited throughout the
country, irrespective of
the zonal division.
USA 11,11,510 64,884 +1028
SPAIN 242,988 24,824 +281
ITALY 207,428 28,236 +269
UK 177,454 27,510 +739
GERMANY 163,542 6,640 +17
TURKEY 122,392 3,258 +84
RUSSIA 114,431 1,169 +96
IRAN 95,646 6,091 +63
CHINA 82,874 4,633 +3
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: MAY 1, 2020, 11:00 PM
SAMPLE RECEIVED
SAMPLE NEGATIVE
5,600
UNDER EXAMINATION
1,08543
1,00277
CORONA IN RAJASTHAN
On Friday, 21 new Corona positive cases
were reported in Jaipur. While at the
same time, two persons, a 32-year-old
man from Shastri Nagar and a 62-year
resident of Khajana walon Ka Rasta
died due to Covid-19 in Jaipur on Friday.
CORONA
ALERT
JAIPUR l SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 325
28°C - 39°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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COVID-19
UPDATE
RAJASTHAN
62
DEATHS
2,666
CONFIRMED CASES
IN RAJASTHAN
DISTRICT TOTAL NEW TOTAL
CASES CASES DEATH
AJMER 161 +11 —
ALWAR 9 — 1
BANSWARA 66 — —
BARAN 1 — —
BARMER 2 — —
BHARATPUR 111 — 2
BHILWARA 37 — 2
BIKANER 37 — 1
CHITTORGARH 26 +7 1
CHURU 14 — —
DAUSA 21 — —
DHOLPUR 12 — —
DUNGARPUR 6 — —
HANUMANGARH 11 — —
JAIPUR 928 +21 34
JAISALMER 35 — —
JHALAWAR 40 — —
JHUNJHUNU 42 — —
JODHPUR 545 +35 8
KARAULI 3 — —
KOTA 204 +7 6
NAGAUR 118 — 2
PALI 12 — —
PRATAPGARH 2 — —
RAJSAMAND 1 +1 —
SWAI MADHOPUR 8 — —
SIKAR 6 — 2
TONK 134 — 1
UDAIPUR 8 — —
OTHER DIST. 2 — 2(UP)
TOTAL 2603 +82 62
OTHER (Italy) 2 — —
EVACUEES 61 — —
GRAND TOTAL 2666 +82 62
WORLD
2,37,466
DEATHS
33,64,220
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
37,257
CONFIRMED CASES
1,223
DEATHS
Centre starting trains due to our untiring efforts: Gehlot
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: With the Cen-
tral Government ac-
cepting Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot’s suggestion of
starting trains to fer-
ry stranded migrants
across the nation, Ge-
hlot has now started
working on the future
course of action.
As a result, on Friday,
the seasoned adminis-
trator instructed offi-
cials to ensure proper
facilities for those trav-
elling into Rajasthan by
establishing coordina-
tion. “Lists of regis-
tered migrants should
be prepared and shared
with concerned states,”
Gehlot instructed the
officials.
On Friday, Gehlot
chaired a high-level
meeting on lockdown
and travel related is-
sues of migrants. “Af-
ter our untiring ef-
forts raising the de-
mand for migrants the
Central Government
has given permission
to start special trains.
The state government
is in constant coordi-
nation with Central
and other state gov-
ernments and our aim
is that migrants
should not face any
problem,” the Chief
Minister said.
Stressing that it was
due to ruthless contain-
ment and social dis-
tancing that we have
been successful in con-
taining Corona, Gehlot
said, “lockdown proto-
col should be followed
strictly in the third
phase of lockdown also
with relief to the per-
mitted categories. The
guidelines issued by
Centre and State should
not be broken in any
form for which people
need to be informed.”
The Chief Minister
further added, “ Apart
from trains, roadways
and private buses
should be employed to
bring back the migrants
for which the officials
should establish proper
process. Additional of-
ficials should be de-
ployed in the places
where the special trains
Turn on P6
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a video conference where Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma, DB Gupta, Rajeeva Swarup
and Amit Dhaka were also present.
 Officials should ensure proper
travel facilities for migrants, labourers
 Guidelines to be strictly followed
even under Lockdown 3.0

NEWSJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
SILENCE IN THE STREETS
An almost deserted view of iconic Ghat Ki Guni Road, in Jaipur, at 1.50 PM on a hot Friday due to nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA
AFTER LOCKDOWN: RAJ TO GET
APARTMENT OWNERSHIP ACTAbhishek Shrivastav
Jaipur: Rajasthan will
soon implement Apart-
ment Ownership Act. It
has been pending for
nearly 15 years. The act
will provide huge re-
lief to thousands of flat
owners.
However, it will be im-
plemented only once
lockdownisoverandthe
state government is able
to function normally.
Town planning de-
partment has framed
rules and sub rules af-
ter taking into account
objections and sugges-
tions given by stake
holders in a workshop
organised by the UDH.
At present, flat own-
ers have no right over
the land. Under the
proposed act, the
builder will have to is-
sue sub lease in favour
of flat buyers to give
them right over the
land. Deed of apart-
ment will clearly spell
rights of flat buyers on
common area and oth-
er facilities. The build-
er will have to execute
it within six months of
allotment.
While, draft of rules
and sub rules is ready,
the town planning de-
partment will now have
to send it to UDH de-
partment for approval
who in turn will send it
to the finance and law
departments.—Pic for representational purpose only
Chandrashekhar: A power
centre in his own right
Aishwary Pradhan
Jaipur: In just three
years, BJP’s state gen-
eral secretary Chan-
drashekhar has a very
well grasped party’s in-
ternal politics. With his
calm and composed de-
meanour, he has proved
to be one of the success-
ful general secretaries
of party in Rajasthan.
Chandrashekhar has
a rare quality of a suc-
cessful politician, speak
less and listen more.
He came to this post
in August 2017. The
party needed someone
with organisational
skills in the run-up to
assembly polls. The
party may have lost the
election but it was his
hard work at booth lev-
el that ensured that the
party got a respectable
number of seats
against the widespread
belief of a rout.
Chandrashekhar has
now emerged as a power
center in his own right.
However, what works in
his favour is that he has
kept cordial relations
with everyone and bet-
ter understanding with
state presidents wheth-
er Ashok Parnami,
Madan Lal Saini and
now Satish Poonia. Sim-
ilarly, he has never had
argument or differences
with former chief min-
ister Vasundhara Raje,
LoP Gulab Chand Ka-
taria or deputy LoP Ra-
jendra Rathore.
Little surprise that to-
dayhegotbirthdaywish-
es from everyone. But,
themanhimself choseto
spent the day as yet an-
other normal day work-
ing as per his routine.
First India News
Nagaur: The migrant
workers employed in
the Ambuja cement
plant in Mundwa final-
ly are being sent to
their homes. 639 mi-
grant workers were
sent to Jaipur by buses
arranged from Nagaur
& Deedwana depots of
RSRTC. Despite the
presence of district ad-
ministration and Abu-
ja management, the
workers flouted the
guidelines openly. The
concept of social dis-
tancing was nowhere
in sight as the workers
boarded buses as mobs
on a raid. This was hap-
pening despite admin-
istration imposing sec-
tion 144 which prohib-
its assembly in such
large numbers. No le-
gal action was taken
against the workers
and they were sent to
Jaipur. Workers will be
boarding a special
train from Jaipur to
reach their native plac-
es in Bihar.
It is worth remind-
ing that a large num-
ber of migrant work-
ers had attacked the
plant security person-
nel and police de-
manding to be sent to
their native places.
Police & security per-
sonnel were seen run-
ning for cover help-
lessly when the work-
ers attacked. Police
had registered a case
of disrupting official
duty against 700-800
migrant workers just
to eyewash the inci-
dent.
Everyone seemed to
be on the back foot and
were forced to send the
workers to Bihar on
priority. Such was the
terror of the workers
that Addl. SP Ram Ku-
mar Kaswan, Tehsil-
dar Pemaram Chod-
hary, Nayab Tehsildar
Bhanwar Lal Sen, CO
Lokesh Meena, Mund-
wa SHO Baldevram
Chodhary, Bhawanda
SHO Puranmal Meena,
Unit head of Ambuja
Cement Rishi Kumar
Joshi, Dharmesh
Chodhary along with
RAC battalion and
QRT commandoes
were present to see the
workers off the plant.
AmbujaCementworkersfinallyhomewardbound!
Kolkata: Nearly 1,700
students returned to
West Bengal on Friday
from Rajasthan’s Kota
-- the coaching hub for
engineering and medi-
cal aspirants -- and have
been put up at different
camps for health check-
ups, an official said.
According to TMC
leader and Asansol
Mayor Jitendra Tiwari,
the students, following
their arrival in the
town, were provided re-
freshments and taken to
health camps, where
they would have to un-
dergo precautionary
medical check-up.
“The buses carrying
students (from Kota)
are coming to Asansol.
The students are then
being taken to health
camps for check-up. We
have arranged for 135
buses, which would fer-
ry the students to their
respective homes, fol-
lowing completion of
necessary formalities,”
Tiwari said.
At least 800 more
would be returning to
Bengal from Rajasthan
by the end of the day,
the TMC leader said.
CM Mamata Baner-
jee on Monday had said
that the process to bring
back students stuck in
Kota had been initiated
and they would soon
start journey back
home. Education Minis-
ter Partha Chatterjee
said the state has un-
dertaken a massive ex-
ercise to bring the stu-
dents home. —Agencies
Paytm First Games:
Now play and earn
Tourism Min highlights
irregularities to CM
Pilot sends message to
2 Lakh Cong workers
First India News
Jaipur: Paytm First
Games, the country’s
leading gaming desti-
nation now offers re-
wards and cash prizes
to its user every month.
With over one lakh peo-
ple joining this plat-
form every day, it has
emerged as the go-to
app to earn rewards by
playing games online.
Some of the rewards
can be directly credited
into the user’s Paytm
wallet or preferred
bank account within a
few minutes.
Paytm First games of-
fer more than 300
games including Ludo,
Rummy, Tic Tac Toe,
Break the Bake, Fanta-
sy Football, and Fanta-
sy Cricket and gives its
users the opportunity
to earn rewards and
real money while sit-
ting at home. The users
can also utilize the win-
ning points to buy dis-
count vouchers of the
leading brands on the
platform.
First India News
Jaipur: Tourism Min-
ister Vishvendra Singh
has become vocal once
again and written a let-
ter to Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot regard-
ing the irregularities
in the Tourism Corpo-
ration. In the letter,
Singh requested to
carry out the inquiry
by an independent or-
ganization so that the
zero-tolerance policy
of the government
could be established.
Moreover, the minis-
ter even suggested the
names of some agen-
cies for the job to CM
Gehlot, like KPMG,
PWC, Ernst & Young,
and Deloitte India. It
was mentioned in the
letter that due to COV-
ID-19, the tourism in-
dustry is suffering sig-
nificant losses, which
has resulted in a mas-
sive decrease in tour-
ism revenue of the
state government.
NEARLY 1,700 STUDENTS RETURN
TO WEST BENGAL FROM KOTA
SPECIAL TRAINS FROM
RAJ TO JHARKHAND
65 RAJ WORKERS
SENT FROM ANDHRA
Vishvendra Singh
First India News
Jaipur: PCC Chief and
Deputy CM Sachin Pi-
lot sent a message to
about 2 lakh Congress
workers of the state via
mobile. Pilot said, “I
hope that you will be
healthy and safe by fol-
lowing the instructions
of the government and
the rules of lockdown.
In the hour of this cri-
sis, our corona warri-
ors, including health
workers, policemen
and cleaning staff, are
risking their lives and
are engaged in public
service to keep us
healthy. It is our moral
responsibility to pro-
tect our health.”
He also congratulat-
ed workers on the occa-
sion of International
Labour Day and said
workers hold signifi-
cant importance in de-
velopment and growth
of the country.
Pilot has gone to Del-
hi and is expected to
return to the state by
Monday-Tuesday.
Workers protesting outside the Ambuja Cement plant
AFTER STAGING STIR

RAJASTHANJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
z Alwar: Two bike
riders died in an
accident between
their bike and a
tempo in Mundawar-
Harsauli-Bibirani road
in Khairthal police
station area of Alwar
on Friday. The tempo
driver fled from spot.
z Jaipur: Procure-
ment of mustard and
gram at support price
has started at 782
centres in state from
Friday. Mustard and
gram will be procured
for next 3 months.
z Jaipur: Due to the
efforts of Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla
government procure-
ment will be made of
dull and light moisture
wheat. FCI has passed
the order regarding
the procurement and
fixed the prices as Rs
4.81 per quintal less
than the MSP.
z Jaipur: BJP Na-
tional V-P Om Mathur
reached his ancestral
village by road on
Friday to meet the
corona warriors. He
will also pay a visit to
various places while
following social
distancing and take
information about
the relief works being
done in the area.
z Jaipur: Rajasthan
Bar Council has
extended date of
application for help to
needy advocates from
May 3 to May 7. It has
sought about 2,000
applications. Each ap-
plicant would be given
Rs 5,000 financial
assistance.
z Jaipur: Timings of
OPD in many hospi-
tals, including SMS
Medical College, have
been changed in view
of summers. Now,
OPD will take place
from 8 am to 2 pm
till September 30. On
Sunday and gazetted
holidays, OPD timings
will be from 9 am to
11 am. Every year,
OPD timings change
from April 1, but this
time it was delayed
due to coronavirus.
z Jaipur: With zero
revenue Aviation
industry is finding it
difficult to pay sala-
ries. Although Indigo
has promised its staff
full salary this month
but rest of the airlines
seem unable to do so.
Spicejet has stopped
paying its pilots while
Go Air hasn’t yet paid
the salary for of April.
Employees of ground
handling agency Indo
Thai are also facing
similar situation.
BRIEF
in
First India News
Udaipur: To create
awareness about COV-
ID 19 and establish
trust among people,
Udaipur police took out
a huge route march on
Friday. SP Kailash
Vishnoi led the march
that was attended by
senior officials.
The march began
from district collector’s
office. In the front was
mounted police fol-
lowed by women patrol-
ling team, traffic police
and senior police offi-
cials in 31 vehicles.
The march ended at
Chetak circle after
passing through one
dozen places. People
showered flowers on
them.
Cops spread awareness via march
First India News
Jaipur: Central govt
has extended the lock-
down for two more
weeks starting 4 May.
MHA released orders to
the effect on Friday. Be-
fore announcing the ex-
tension of the lockdown
the govt divided each
state in three zones, red,
orange and green, de-
pendingonthespreadof
virus in each zone. Ra-
jasthan has 8 districts
out its total 33 in red
zone. 19 have been put in
the orange category
while 6 districts are in
greenzone.Eachdistrict
will be entitled to vari-
ous relaxations depend-
ing upon its category.
Central govt has di-
vided the state in three
categories where 8 dis-
trictsareinRedzoneviz.
Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota,
Ajmer, Bharatpur, Na-
gaur, Banswara & Jhala-
war), 16 in Orange zone
viz. Tonk, Jaisalmer,
Dausa, Jhunjhunu, Ha-
numangarh, Bhilwara,
Sawai Madhopur, Chit-
torgarh, Dungarpur,
Udaipur, Dholpur, Sikar,
Alwar, Bikaner, Churu,
Pali, Barmer, Karauli &
Rajsamand and 6 dis-
tricts in Green zone viz.
Baran, Bundi, Gangana-
gar, Jalore, Sirohi &
Pratapgarh.
JAIPUR IN RAJ’S RED ZONE
WITH 7 OTHER DISTRICTSCentre has declared 19 dists to be in orange zone, and 6 in green
Four in state die of corona, 82
new cases reported in 24 hours
Central government gives nod to liquor
sale, relief in sight for excise department
First India News
Jaipur: Four corona
deaths were reported in
last 24 hours taking the
total to 62 along with 82
new corona positive
cases. Two of the deaths
were reported from
SMS hospital, Jaipur
while one death each
was reported from
Jodhpur and Nagaur. 21
new cases came from
Jaipur, 35 from Jodh-
pur,11 from Ajmer, 7
each from Chittorgarh
& Kota and one from Ra-
jasamnd were reported
on Friday. The state to-
tal for corona positives
stands at 2666. State has
tested 108543 samples so
far out of which 100277
have reported negative
while reports for 5600
samples is awaited.
Jaipur has 928 cases
followed by Jodhpur
545, Kota 204, Ajmer 161,
Tonk 134, Nagaur 118,
Bharatpur 111, Ban-
swara 66, Jhunjhunu 42,
Jhalawar 40, Bikaner &
Bhilwara 37 each, Jais-
almer 35, Chittorgarh
26, Dausa 21, Churu 14,
Pali & Dholpur 12 each,
Hanumangarh 11, Al-
war 9, Sawai Madhopur
& Udaipur 8 each, Dun-
garpur & Sikar 6 each,
Karauli 3, Barmer,
Pratapgarh & Ra-
jasamnd with 2 cases
each and Baran with
one case. Apart from
this 2 Italians, two from
other states and 61 Indi-
ans evacuated from
Iran also tested posi-
tive. 29 out of 33 dis-
tricts officially corona
infected now.
So far 1116 cases have
turned negative. 714 pa-
tients have been dis-
charged from hospitals.
First India News
Jaipur: In wake of re-
ports of death from con-
sumption of spurious
liquor in Bharatpur’s
Halena and some fall-
ing ill after drinking
sanitizer manufactured
by Ganganagar Sugar
Mills; Balwan Poonia of
CPM, Bharat Singh
Kundanpur of Con-
gress and former BJP
MLA Bhawani Singh
Rajawat have demand-
ed that liquor sale be
started.
They argued that
since liquor shops are
closed there is fear of
illegal liquor trade
flourishing, besides
there is fear of a fatal
tragedy from consump-
tion of spurious liquor.
Central government
has permitted opening
of liquor shops with
some riders. The move
could benefit the state
government if it allows
liquor sale as excise is
the second biggest
source of revenue for it.
Last year it had set a
target of Rs11000 crore
but due to lockdown fell
short by Rs 1500 crore. It
earned Rs 9500 crore at
the end of financial
year on March 31.
For the current finan-
cial the target had been
Rs 12500 crore. Howev-
er, due to lockdown gov-
ernment has been in-
curring Rs 3 crore loss
per day and in 40 days
of lockdown the loss is
Rs 120 crore. Govern-
ment on one side can
earn much needed rev-
enue but on the other
there is risk of conta-
gion as maintaining so-
cial distancing would
be difficult.
Three areas in
Malviya Nagar
under curfew
Mining workers
ask for rights
on DMFT fund
First India News
Jaipur: A curfew has
been imposed in three
places in Malviya Na-
gar, Brahmapuri and
Bhatta Basti police sta-
tions due to getting new
corona positive cases.
Now, there is a curfew
in 31 police station are-
as of the commissioner-
ate. Police are monitor-
ing the curfew areas
through drones and
CCTV cameras. Also,
Nirbhaya Squad, QRT,
ERT, STF, RAC and oth-
er teams are spreading
awarenessthrough flag
marches. A curfew has
also been imposed with-
in a 1 km radius in the
Raja Park area under
Adarsh Nagar police
station and Sodala area
after corona positive
cases were found there.
First India News
Jaipur: Mining is the
second largest employ-
ment provider with 25
lakh workers getting
jobs in 35000 mines
spread across the state.
This unorganized army
of workers has a dedi-
cated DMFT fund of Rs
2500 crore but they
haven’t received a sin-
gle penny. Since they
come under unorgan-
ized category of labour
they are not qualified to
benefit any welfare
scheme by govt. Mining
workers have been de-
manding a similar wel-
fare board for years.
They rightly believe to
have the first right on
the use of DMFT fund.
Kashiram chaudhary
Jaipur: CM Ashok Ge-
hlot’s initiative has
borne fruit as centre has
decided to run special
train to bring people
back from other states.
A “Shramik Special”
train will ferry them
from Jaipur to Patna.
Railways on Friday an-
nounced six “Shramik
Special” trains that
would move migrant
workers, pilgrims, tour-
ists, students, and oth-
ers stranded at different
places. First train from
Jaipur left for Patna
with 1200 migrant work-
ers at 10 pm on Friday.
Rajasthan has got per-
mission to operate 5 spe-
cial trains, which would
bring about 6,000 mi-
grants to state daily. As
of now, 8 lakh people
have registered to come
back to Rajasthan.
First India News
Jaipur: JDA commis-
sioner T Ravikant has
asked officials to restart
projects stalled due to
lockdown. He said that
social distancing guide-
lines must be adhered
to during working.
Director engineering
(first) NC Mathur said
that work has com-
menced on Jhotwara
elevated road from
April 26. The JDA com-
missioner also directed
Director engineering
(second) V S Sunda to
start repair work.
He also discussed in-
creasing revenue collec-
tion by collecting lease
money, auctioning land,
identifying new proper-
ties for auction.
He gave instruction
for issuing tender for
plantation before mon-
soon begins.
Ravikant discussed
about services provided
by citizen service cent-
er when the lockdown
opens, besides prepara-
tions for making visitor
passes and starting of-
fice work.
First India News
Alwar: Former union
minister Jitendra Sin-
gh said that the central
government should en-
sure return of migrant
workers to their home.
According to him, In-
dia’s 65% population is
labour class. They are
backbone of the coun-
try’s economy. However,
he said that millions of
workers have been liv-
ing away from their
home for livelihood.
“These people now
want to go home but in
37 days of lockdown,
their savings have fin-
ished and they are
forced to walk back
home,” he said.
Singh said that it was
centre’s responsibility
to provide trains and
flights and food to them.
First India News
Jaipur: Speaking in a
meeting of RTOs
through video confer-
encing transport minis-
ter Pratap Singh
Khachariyawas said
that Centre should
monitor return of mi-
grant workers, students
and other people to
their home states.
He said that there is
no uniform policy and
every state has its own
understanding which is
creating hurdles. He in-
formed that buses that
went to West Bengal
and other states to
bring back people, had
to wait for permission.
Centre should ensure
that such requirements
are fulfilled immediate-
ly. He also reviewed de-
partment’s work during
lockdown and gave nec-
essary instructions.
He said that running
trains on CM’s demand
was good but more
trains are needed be-
cause road transporta-
tion is expensive and
inadequate considering
thenumberof migrants.
Cop instructing the sanitisation of Police Assistance Booth in front
of Hawa Mahal on Friday. —PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO
Udaipur police began the march from district collector’s office and ended at Chetak circle.
‘Shramik Special’
to get people home
‘Centre should monitor
movement of migrants’
JDA to restart projects
stalled by lockdown
‘Centre should ensure
workers’ safe return’
Raje hails centre’s guidelines
on bringing workers home
First India News
Jaipur: Former Chief
Minister Vasundhara
Raje has expressed hap-
piness over the guide-
lines issued by the cen-
tral government re-
gardingthelong-strand-
ed migrant Rajasthanis
in other states and
urged the state govern-
ment to provide all pos-
sible help when they
come to the state.
Raje said that a com-
plete plan should me
made to take these peo-
ple to their homes.
On the other hand,
Raje’s interaction con-
tinues in various dis-
tricts. In this episode,
she gave a message of
social distancing and
awareness to the resi-
dents of Karauli dis-
trict on Friday. From
the former CM, 3100
masks were also given
to the district adminis-
tration.
Vasundhara Raje
Shramik Special being prepared to be boarded at Jaipur Junction
—PHOTOBYSANTOSHSHARMA
Jitendra Singh
Pratap Singh Khachariyawas
DISTRICT-WISE ZONES AND POSITIVE CASES
Jaipur 917
Jodhpur 558
(47 evacuated
from Iran)
Kota 204
Ajmer 161
Bharatpur 111
Nagaur 118
Banswara 66
Jhalawar 40
RED ZONE
Tonk 134
Jaisalmer 49
(14 evacuated
from Iran)
Dausa 21
Jhunjhunu 42
Hanumangarh 11
Bhilwara 37
Sawai Madhopur 8
Chittorgarh 26
Dugarpur 6
Udaipur 8
Dholpur 12
Sikar 6
Alwar 9
Bikaner 37
Churu 14
Pali 12
Barmer 2
Karauli 3
Rajsamand 2
ORANGE ZONE GREEN ZONE
Baran 1
Bundi 0
Ganganagar 0
Jalore 0
Sirohi 0
Pratapgarh 1
* The numbers
denote positive
cases in each
district

PERSPECTIVEJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
G Vol 1 G Issue No. 325 G RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
A SWEETENED
DOSE OF
LOCKDOWN 3.0
f you’ve not had a hair cut ever
since the nation was locked down
since March 25, your wait just got
longer. On Friday the Union Home
Ministry announced lockdown ex-
tension for another two weeks beyond May 4
till May 17. But that’s a minor price to pay in
the bigger national interest of containing the
spread of coronavirus.
While restrictions will remain firmly in
place in the Red zones, the Orange and Green
zones, in which the 733 districts have been
divided, will importantly see the easing of
curbs for a lot of economic activities to re-
start. It is still a guarded response of the Cen-
tral government to concerns of the states
over the revenue losses they were incurring
but with the Covid-19 curve yet to flatten a
cautious approach was needed.
The first major decision has been to allow
movement of trains for ferrying migrant
workers as buses were considered logisti-
cally impractical for long journeys under the
circumstances. A train carrying the first
batch of 1200 workers started its journey
from Telangana for Jharkhand on Friday.
More such trains are likely to be introduced
to mitigate the problems of workers, stu-
dents, pilgrims and tourists stranded far
away from their homes.
The other significant decision for Lock-
down 03 is the permission to allow standalone
liquor and paan shops to open in the Green
zone (where there are no cases) with the ca-
veat that there shouldn’t be more than five
persons present at a time and a distance of
six feet is maintained. With excise being an
important source of revenue for several
states like Maharashtra, Punjab, and Kerala
the relaxation will be especially welcomed.
Movement of buses and taxis are now al-
lowed in these zones through with curbs.
It is not that economic activity has not been
allowed in the Red zones which have been
segregated into urban and rural areas. To
facilitate employment to rural workforce con-
struction activities under MNREGA have
been allowed. Also allowed are opening of
offices but with only 33 percent staff. The re-
maining will have to work from home.
What really matters most for the economy
is restarting industrial activity. Manufactur-
ing units of essential goods, including drugs,
pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw
materials, and intermediates; production
units, which require continuous process and
their supply chain have been allowed. Even
MSMEs in rural areas of Red zones will be
allowed to open. It has been left to the state
governments to decide on the extent of re-
laxations to be given. So, while Kerala may
consider liquor shops to do business, Uttar
Pradesh has already banned the sale of meat,
chicken, and liquor till May 30.
How far will these guidelines help in boost-
ing economic activity when Mumbai, Pune,
Delhi, Noida and Greater Noida, all falling in
Red zones, have too many hot spots is any-
body’s guess?
IN-DEPTH
I
n April 17th, RBI Governor an-
nounced a Special Refinance
Facility of Rs 15,000 crores for
SIDBI to be provided to banks
for onward lending to MSMEs.
Thereafter SIDBI vide circular
issued on 22 April, said: “In the
wake of COVID-19 pandemic,
the Reserve Bank of India has
provided a Special Liquidity Fa-
cility (SLF) of 15,000 crores to
Sidbi to enable it to provide li-
quidity support to micro, small
and medium enterprises
(MSME) sector and meet secto-
ral credit needs,”. While the cir-
cular did not specify the quan-
tum of these loans, it said this
support would be available to all
eligibleentitieswithinvestment-
grade ratings. Small businesses
shouldhavebeeninbusinessfor
at least three years and must
have an external rating of BBB-
or higher as on 31 March 2020.
A rating of BBB- is the low-
est investment-grade rating for
which banks are willing to
lend. Any adverse development
like the current Covid19 crisis
can seriously impact the enter-
prise with its rating downgrad-
ed. Any rating below BBB- is
considered junk rating and
banks avoid lending to such en-
tities or charge higher interest
rates with additional security.
CREDIT RATING
DOWNGRADES
With the Covid19 crisis and
lockdown, all businesses have
come to a halt, and MSMEs
have been the worst hit. In all
likelihood, the ratings of a
large number of MSMEs would
be reviewed by the Credit Rat-
ing Agencies(CRAs) and a ma-
jority of them would fall below
investment grade. Already a
large segment of the rated sec-
tor is of poor credit quality. For
instance, the mean rating of
the rating universe of Crisil is
BB i.e. below investment grade.
Also, of the bank loans rated by
Crisil almost over 70% are sub-
investment grade. The experi-
ence of the other CRAs may not
be materially different.
As a consequence of down-
grades, the lending banks will
jack up their interest rate on
loans as rating determines the
rate. This will be disastrous for
the rated entities, particularly
from the MSME sector. Their
cost of borrowing will immedi-
ately increase and access to the
financial market will be re-
stricted.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
A way needs to be found out
which will permit the CRAs to
perform their function of flag-
ging the risk level without com-
promising evaluation but with-
out placing additional interest
burden on the rated entity.
Towards that end, it may be
worthwhile that instead of
downgrading a rating, the con-
cerned CRA should put the pre-
vailing rating ‘under watch
with negative implications’.
This watch should hold good
for, say, nine months whereaf-
ter it can be reviewed and fresh
rating accorded. In such an ar-
rangement the concerned rat-
ing agency will be able to flag
the risk, the rated entity
(MSME unit) will not have to
pay higher interest (as its rat-
ing stands unchanged) and it
has sufficient time to take suit-
able measures. The govt of In-
dia would need to step in and
work out a solution in consulta-
tion with RBI, SEBI, and banks.
Thereafter SEBI can issue an
advisory in this regard.
PENDING PAYMENTS
Another help that can bring
some liquidity to the MSMEs
and keep them afloat is a re-
lease of all pending payments
to them by the Central Govern-
ment, State Governments, and
PSUs. In most cases authorities
will be, for good and justifiable
reasons, reluctant to release
full payment without due scru-
tiny which can be time-consum-
ing and litigious. A via media
can be found by releasing 75%
of the pending amount of the
accepted claim immediately as
“on account “ payment. The
balance amount can be released
in due course. Such a measure
will inject funds directly into
the hands of industry/suppli-
ers; thus kick-starting the eco-
nomic cycle. This will also not
add to the fiscal deficit.
A large portion of the pend-
ing payments would be on ac-
count of the supplies made to
the state power companies
which are in poor financial con-
dition. In case the State Govern-
ments can set apart an amount
to be used for making these pay-
ments it can be a big help to the
concerned MSME units.
RESTRUCTURING OF
EXISTING LOANS
A one-time restructuring of
loans to MSMEs that were in
default but ‘standard’ as on
January 1, 2019, was permitted
by RBI without an asset classi-
fication downgrade. Later RBI
extended restructuring of such
loans by one more year till
March 31, 2021. Now a new di-
mension of the Covid19 crisis
has been added which calls for
addressing the issue of restruc-
turing post-haste. Needless to
say, micro, small and medium
enterprises contribute more
than 30 percent to the total
GDP, more than 40 percent to
exports, and employ more than
11 crore people. In their growth
lies the country’s growth.
POST COVID-19 LOCKDOWN
KEEPING MSMEs
INVESTMENT GRADEWith the Covid-19 crisis, all businesses have come to a halt, and MSMEs have been the worst hit
O
Needless to say,
micro, small
and medium
enterprises
contribute more
than 30 percent
to the total
GDP, more
than 40 percent
to exports, and
employ more
than 11 crore
people. In their
growth lies the
country’s
growth
The government of
India would need to
step in and work out a
solution in
consultation with RBI,
SEBI, and banks.
Thereafter SEBI can
issue an advisory in
this regard
ie-hard green
militants re-
gard it as obvi-
ous: the COV-
ID-19 crisis only
strengthens the urgent
need for climate action.
But die-hard industrialists
are equally convinced:
there should be no higher
priority than to repair a
ravaged economy, postpon-
ing stricter environmental
regulations if necessary.
The battle has started. Its
outcome will define the
post-pandemic world.
Both the public-health
crisis and the climate cri-
sis highlight the limits of
humanity’s power over na-
ture. Both remind us that
the Anthropocene epoch
may end badly. And both
teach us that benign every-
day behavior can result in
catastrophic outcomes.
Defying linear reason-
ing, the pandemic and cli-
mate change both force us
to adapt to situations
where a little more leeway
results in a lot more dam-
age. As the climate econo-
mist Gernot Wagner has
noted, the pandemic in a
sense replicates climate
change at warp speed. This
may explain why public
opinion overwhelmingly
considers global warming
as serious a threat as COV-
ID-19 and wants govern-
ments to emphasize cli-
mate action in the recov-
ery. The pandemic has also
provided a crash course on
the collective implications
of individual behavior.
Each of us has been com-
pelled to recognize that our
responsibilities vis-à-vis
the community are more
profound and cannot be
fulfilled merely by paying
taxes and making a few do-
nations. This “pay and for-
get” attitude is clearly in-
appropriate in a public-
health crisis – and in a cli-
mate crisis.
Moreover, the last few
weeks have highlighted the
narrowness of the state-
versus-markets perspec-
tive on the challenge we
face. As the economists
Samuel Bowles and Wendy
Carlin have argued, the so-
lution will not come from
some combination of gov-
ernment decrees and mar-
ket incentives. Communi-
ties whose members be-
have responsibly and
gratefully toward one an-
other are an indispensable
part of the response. Even
though the fundamental
contribution of social capi-
tal and norms is not re-
corded in national ac-
counts, we acknowledge it
every time we applaud
health-care and other es-
sential workers. But while
we must recognize these
strong commonalities, we
must also not overlook the
obstacles to a transforma-
tion of our economic mod-
el created by the COVID-19
crisis. If anything, impedi-
ments to climate action
will be even more formida-
ble in the post-pandemic
era than they were a few
weeks ago.
For starters, climate ac-
tion is inherently global,
whereas the fight against a
pandemic has a much more
local character. To burn a
ton of carbon has exactly
the same effect on Earth’s
temperature wherever it is
burned – which is why
fighting climate change re-
quires global agreements.
The same does not apply
to the pandemic. Prudent
individual behavior bene-
fits relatives more than
neighbors, neighbors more
than residents of the same
city, and compatriots more
than foreigners.
Climate protection and
public-health protection
thus tap fundamentally dif-
ferent impulses. One leads
us to regard ourselves as
responsible citizens of the
world, the other takes us
back to our local roots and
the shelter provided by na-
tional borders.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Building a post-pandemic world will not be easy
D
Climate action is
inherently global,
whereas the fight
against a
pandemic has a
much more local
character
Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen.
—Hebrews 11:1
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
Held a marathon meeting with
captains of the logistics industry
to transform freight operations of
the Railways.Discussed a host of
innovative suggestions from the
industry towards making freight
operations more efﬁcient
& scalable.
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
LPG for cooking under #PMUY has
ensured safety, security, health and
well-being of more than 8 crore poor
women in India. Free LPG cylinders
under the PMGKY is helping them
tackle the economic distress
resulting from #Covid19 crisis.
DR GS
SANDHU
The author is a retired
IAS, Rajasthan

New Delhi: Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on Friday said plas-
ma therapy was admin-
isteredtoafewCOVID-19
patients and the initial
results have been good.
“We were permitted
by Centre for the trial
of plasma therapy at
LNJP hospital. We ad-
ministered it to a few
patients. The first one
among them was dis-
charged after he made
recovery. He was criti-
cal and in ICU but was
discharged on Thurs-
day. Initial results of
the therapy are good,”
Kejriwal said. He fur-
ther stated that trails of
plasma therapy are go-
ing on in Delhi.
“I feel happy that
around 1,100 people who
have recovered in Delhi,
we are getting in touch
with them. Almost all of
them are ready to do-
nate plasma. I thank all
those who have recov-
ered and donating their
plasma,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal
also stated that around
40 buses are leaving
from Delhi to Kota, Ra-
jasthan to bring back
the students who are
stranded there due to
the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Today, around 40
buses from Delhi are
leaving for Kota, Ra-
jasthan. I am hoping
that by tomorrow these
buses will come back,”
Kejriwal said. Kejriwal
also urged the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
workers to help the
needy people in their
respective areas. —ANI
INDIAJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
Initial results of plasma
therapy are good: Kejri
Volunteers shower flower petals on cops & Corona warriors as a mark of gratitude for their services during lockdown in Bengaluru.
Mumbai: We will go
ahead with patience
and caution, said Maha-
rashtra CM Uddhav
Thackeray asserting
that the state govern-
ment will give relaxa-
tions in lockdown after
May 3 seeing the condi-
tion of specific areas.
“We will surely give
relaxations after May 3
seeing the condition of
specific areas but be
cautious and co-oper-
ate, else whatever we
have achieved in the
past few days will be
lost. So, we will go
ahead with patience
and caution,” Thacker-
ay said. “I want people
to not panic about COV-
ID-19. It's only about
starting the treatment
on time. From few days
old babies to 83 years
old people have recov-
ered and gone home.
People on ventilators
have also recovered
well,” he said.
The ongoing lock-
down, which was im-
posed to contain coro-
navirus is scheduled to
end on May 3. Maha-
rashtra as the highest
number of COVID-19
cases in the country
and the state's tally
stands at 10,498.
The CM said that
lockdown is working as
a “circuit breaker”.
“Yes cases are rising
but most of the cases
are of contacts. And
most are already in
quarantine. 75-80% peo-
ple are asymptomatic
of the disease so we are
putting them in quaran-
tine,” CM said. He also
wished the people of
the state on the occa-
sion of Maharashtra
Foundation Day and La-
bour Day. —ANI
‘Will decide on relaxation
after assessing situation’
Amritsar: As many as
76 people in Amritsar
district, who recently
returned from Nanded,
Maharashra's Takht Sri
Hazur Sahib, were test-
ed positive for Covid-19
on Thursday.
“Among the devotees
who have returned
from Hazur Sahib to
our district, around
300 have been tested,
out of which 76 are
positive,” said Om
Parkash Soni, Punjab's
Medical Education and
Research Minister. The
Sikh pilgrims were
stranded at Sri Hazur
Sahib Gurdwara in
Maharashtra due to
the sudden annunce-
ment of nationwide
lockdown. They start-
ed returning to Punjab
from April 22. —ANI
76 pilgrims
tested positive
after returning
from Maha
Kolkata: West Bengal
government wrote to
Centre to remove 6 dis-
tricts from its list of 10
Red Zones in state. This
move came hours after
Centre issued a list of
Green, Orange and Red
Zones for the whole
country after the na-
tionwide lockdown is
lifted on May 3.
Terming it an “erro-
neous assessment”,
Principal Secretary of
the West Bengal Health
Department Bibek Ku-
mar, in his letter to
Preeti Sudan, Secretary
in Union Ministry of
Health and Family Wel-
fare, Kumar said, “With
regards to the presenta-
tion made in the cabinet
secretary's video confer-
ence with the states on
April 30, as many as 10
districts of West Bengal
were shown in the Red
zone. This is an errone-
ous assessment.”
BengalGovtcallsCentre’sCOVID-19
categorisation list ‘erroneous’
PREPS ON TO OPEN BADRINATH
DHAM PORTALS ON MAY 15
Dehradun: Preparations
are in their final stage for
the opening of the portals
of Shri Badrinath Dham
on May 15. Snow has
been removed from the
temple premises. And the
water and power sys-
tem has been restored.
Special attention is also
being given to social
distancing and wearing
masks has been made
mandatory, informed
Uttarakhand Chardham
Devasthanam Board. The
media in-charge of Dev-
asthanam Board said that
the staff officers of the
Devasthanam Board had
reached Badrinath Dham
for preparations. Raman
Ravinath, the Garhwal
Commissioner and CEO of
Devasthanam Board, had
ordered the preparations.
‘AVAIL IR THERMAL SCANNERS
AT BENGALURU FEVER CLINICS’
Bengaluru: Karnataka Health and Family welfare
services Directorate on Friday instructed health
officers to ensure availability of fingertip pulse
oximeter and IR thermal scanners at every fever
clinic in Bengaluru. “The District Health officers
are hereby instructed to ensure availability of fin-
gertip pulse oximeter and IR thermal scanners at
every fever clinic of the district,” the Directorate
of Health services said. “All ILI and SARI cases
with SpO2 < 95 percent should be subjected
for a COVID-19 swab test,” the order said.
5 ITBP JAWANS TEST POSITIVE
IN DELHI IN LAST 48 HOURS
New Delhi: Five Jawans of the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP) have tested positive for
COVID-19 in the last 48 hours. “In the last 48
hours, five jawans of ITBP have tested COVID-19
positive in Delhi. Two of them were performing
law and order duty in Delhi with the police,” said
the ITBP. Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain had said that the people living in
coronavirus 'Red Zones' will be screened again
for COVID-19. He said that medical teams will
conduct door-to-door health checkups.
LT GEN MANOJ PANDE IS CHIEF OF
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR COMMAND
New Delhi: Lieutenant
General Manoj Pande has
been appointed
as the next chief
of Andaman and
Nicobar Com-
mand at Port
Blair. This is the
only tri-services
operational com-
mand and focus-
es mainly on amphibious
warfare. He is currently
posted at the Army
headquarters. Lt Gen Raj
Shukla appointed
as the new Army
training command
chief at Shimla.
He is presently
posted at the
Army headquar-
ters and would be
in charge of look-
ing after training aspects
of the force.
Hyderabad: Anabstract
painting by Sadhguru,
Founder, Isha Founda-
tion titled ‘To Live To-
tally!’ was sold out for Rs
4.14 crore for the 5 x 5 ft
canvas. The money will
fund Isha’s pandemic re-
lief efforts in rural Ta-
mil Nadu around Isha
Yoga Center.
Sadhguru announced
that “whoever donates
maximum amount for
#BeattheVirus fund,
will get the painting,”
adding that “smaller
copies of the painting”
will also be available for
buyers. #BeattheVirus
is Isha’s on-ground
campaign to prevent
the pandemic from en-
tering villages of
Thondamuthur block
which has over 2lakh
residents. —Agencies
Sadhguru’s painting
goes under hammer;
fetches Rs 4.14 crore
We conducted
2300 tests per 1
million people in
Delhi on Friday. Total
1,100 people have been
cured and discharged till
date. On the other hand,
the average of the entire
country is around 500.
—Arvind Kejriwal,
Delhi Chief Minister
583 NEW CASES
President of India
@rashtra bhvn
“On the occasion
of Labour Day, best
wishes to all our
labour brothers
and sisters who
work tirelessly. This
day is dedicated to
honoring the hard
work and dedication
of our crores of our
workers.”
—Ram Nath Kovind,
Pesident of India
CLOUDS OF HOPE...
Dark clouds hover over the sky on Ganga River during a nationwide lockdown imposed in
the state to curb the spread of coronavirus in Patna on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: The SC
sought a response
from the Delhi govern-
ment on a petition
filed by JNU student
Sharjeel Imam seek-
ing to tag all FIRs filed
against him and have
them investigated by a
single probe agency.
A two-judge bench
of the apex court,
headed by Justice
Ashok Bhushan and
also comprising Jus-
tice Sanjiv Khanna
sought a detailed reply
from Delhi govt within
10 days. Justice Bhush-
an said that there is
nothing wrong with
registration of FIR
when they come to
know about some cog-
nizable offence. Delhi
Police recently slapped
sedition and UAPA
charges against Imam
and alleged that he gave
a speech that “promot-
ed enmity” between
people that led to riots
in and around Delhi's
JMI University on De-
cember 15. —Agencies
New Delhi: The Delhi HC refused
to entertain a petition seeking di-
rections to telecom firms and Inter-
net Service Providers (ISPs) for not
charging offices, shops or business
establishments which were “com-
pulsorily” closed due to the lock-
down amid the outbreak of the
deadly COVID-19.
A division bench of HC presided
over by Justices Vipin Sanghi &
Yogesh Khanna hearing the matter
via vc, observed that the SC has al-
ready dealt with a similar issue and
the High Court is not inclined to
entertain the plea. —Agencies
New Delhi: The SC protected law-
yer Prashant Bhushan from arrest
in an FIR lodged in
Gujarat by a retired
Army personnel
Jaydev Joshi for
hurting Hindu reli-
gious sentiment by
using “opium” with
Ramayana and Ma-
habharata. Prashant Bhushan had
tweeted that “as crores starve, our
heartless ministers celebrate con-
suming and feeding the opium of
Ramayana and Mahabharata to
the people.” —Agencies
Delhi HC refuses to
entertain plea on telcos
SC protects Bhushan
from arrest for tweets
SC seeks Delhi govt’s response
on Sharjeel Imam’s plea on FIRs
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: Commu-
nications and Elec-
tronics and IT Minis-
ter Ravi Shankar
Prasad emphasised on
the responsibility of
G20 nations to focus
on making inclusive
and sustainable econ-
omies and societies
that are more resilient
in the face of the ongo-
ing pandemic.
The Minister was
attending an extraor-
dinary virtual G20
Digital Economy Min-
isters meeting to dis-
cuss the challenges
posed by the pandemic
and to forge a global
coordinated response
harnessing Digital
Technologies.
Union Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad
highlighted the steps
taken by Indian Gov-
ernment to contain
the spread and of-
fered the roadmap for
the world to emulate.
The Minister also em-
phasized the impor-
tance to revive the
economy while con-
tinuing the fight
against COVID-19.
Union IT Minister
said that next phase
of digitalization is
about applications
that will impact live-
lihoods, accelerate
various sectors,
strengthen the supply
chain and build a cy-
ber safe world.
G20 Digital Ministers seeks digital response

INDIAJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
RAJIV KUMAR WAS TIPPED FOR CAG?
According to insiders, newly appointed Chairman
of the PESB Rajiv Kumar was tipped for CAG. He
is former 1984 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand
cadre. Meanwhile , he has taken over as Chair-
man of the PESB on Thursday.
NAGENDRA KUMAR TO
BE MEMBER CBIC?
Chances of becoming DP Nagendra Kumar as new
Member of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes
and Customs (CBIC) are rated high. IRS (C&CE)
officer of the 1985 batch, who is the youngest in
his batch, is presently posted in Bangalore.
SUNGITA SHARMA TO BE MEMBER CBIC?
If all goes well, Sungita Sharma will become new
Member of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes
and Customs (CBIC). She is a 1985 batch IRS
(C&CE) officer presently posted in Mumbai.
WILL PRAVEEN GUPTA BE
SENIOR ADVISOR BOB ?
Outgoing MD of the State Bank of India, Praveen
Gupta is likely to be appointed Senior Advisor in
the Bank of Baroda for a period of one year.
SURESH K REDDY TO BE NEXT
AMBASSADOR TO BRAZIL
Suresh K Reddy, presently Additional Secretary
in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been
appointed as the next Ambassador of India to
the Federative Republic of Brazil. He is an Indian
Foreign Service officer of the 1991 batch.
FIVE ADDL JUDGES APPOINTED
IN KARNATAKA HC
Shivashankar Amarannavar, Makkimane Ga-
neshaiah Uma, Vedavyasachar Srishananda,
Hanchate Sanjeev Kumar and Padmaraj Nemach-
andra Desai have been appointed as Additional
Judges of the Karnataka HC for a period of two
years with effect from the date, they assume
charge of their respective offices.
THREE ADDL JUDGES
ELEVATED AS PERMANENT
JUDGES IN CALCUTTA HC
Justices Bibek Chaudhuri, Subhasis Dasgupta
and Suvra Ghosh, Additional Judges of the Cal-
cutta High Court have been appointed as per-
manent Judges of the Calcutta High Court with
effect from the date, they assume charge of their
respective offices.
INDIA’S HIGH COMMISSIONER TO
UK, RUCHI GHANSHYAM RETIRES
India’s High Commissioner to UK, Ruchi Ghan-
shyam retired on April 30, 2020.She is the last
Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1982 batch
to have retired.
WILL KAUMUDI BE NEW DG OF ITBP?
Meeting of DG BPR&DVS Kaumudi with
Home Minister, Amit Shah has fuelled specu-
lations about his appointment as DG ITBP or
BSF. He is 1986 batch IPS officer of Andhra
Pradesh cadre.
AJAY TIRKEY JOINS AS SECRETARY,
WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Ajay Tirkey has taken over the charge as Secre-
tary, Ministry of Women and Child Development
(WCD) in Government of India. He is a 1987 batch
IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre. He succeed-
ed Rabindra Panwar retired on April 30, 2020.
BAJAJ TAKES OVER AS SECRETARY,
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Tarun Bajaj, Additional Secretary in Prime
Minister’s Office, has taken over the charge as
Secretary, Economic Affairs. He is a 1988 batch
IAS officer of Haryana cadre.
LT GEN RAJ SHUKLA APPOINTED
CHIEF OF ARTRAC
Lt Gen Raj Shukla presently posted at Army HQ,
has been appointed as GOC-in-C, Army Training
Command (ARTRAC).
POWERGallery
New Delhi: Priyanka
and Rahul Gandhi on
Friday, highlighted the
plight of migrants due
to continued lockdown
as they greeted labour-
ers on May Day, also
called Labour Day, and
said workers are the
backbone of the na-
tion, if they stopped,
India will come to a
standstill.
Rahul Gandhi tweet-
ed: “Greetings to crores
of sisters and brothers
on labour day. This
country has been build
on your struggle and
bravery. We salute and
support you at this time
of crisis.”
Congress General
Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi also tweeted:
“Lakhs of labourers
have to migrate as
crores of them are in
crisis. The labourrs are
backbone of this coun-
try if they stop the
country will stop.
Please help them.”
The Congress also
highlighted the plight
of the migrants, who
are stuck in different
parts of the country
and want to go home.
The party urged the
government to start ply-
ing trains immediately.
The Congress party
has been criticising PM
Narendra Modi on the
way the plight of the
migrants have been
handled by the govern-
ment. —ANI
Conghighlightsworkers’distress
MAY DAY Workers are the backbone of the nation, said party leaders Rahul Gandhi &Priyanka Gandhi
New Delhi: The Con-
gress on Friday
slammed the govern-
ment over interstate
movement of migrant
labourers, saying it's a
cruel joke that the Un-
ion government has
asked the migrants to
move by buses though
trains would have been
easier to move them to
their native places.
Congress spokesper-
son Abhishek Manu
Singhvi said that only
two days ago, a “tughla-
qi farmaan” was issued
by MHA,”which is very
quaint and funny”. “It
is as if it was issued by
an ignorant and uncar-
ing person.”
The government
should allow trains to
start from designated
points to send the mi-
grants back home.— PTI
Orderonmigrantsmovement
a Tughlaqi Farman: Singhvi
New Delhi: Congress
has attacked govern-
ment on the Central
Vista project which has
been given priority by
the Centre. It alleged
the government fast-
tracked the project dur-
ing the lockdown. Con-
gress said that the na-
tion is fighting the
COVID-19 pandemic
and the government is
in construction mode
and asked the govern-
ment to scrap the pro-
ject which is to cost
around Rs 20,000 crore.
A Govt of “Misplaced
Priorities” & “ill-con-
ceived Goals,” tweeted
Randeep Surjewala,
chief spokesperson of
the party. Govt wants to
go ahead with project
only to satisfy its ego,
the Congress said.
Cong attacks
govt on Central
Vista Project
New Delhi: The Indian
Newspaper Society
(INS) has urged the gov-
ernment to provide a
strong stimulus pack-
age to the newspaper
industry which it said
has lost over Rs 4,000
crore and is likely to
suffer further losses of
up to Rs 15,000 crore in
the next six to seven
months, if relief is not
provided.
In a letter to I&B Sec-
retary, INS said the
newspaper industry is
amongtheworstaffected
with hardly any reve-
nues coming in from ad-
vertising or circulation
during the pandemic.
‘Newspaper biz
could face losses of
up to Rs 15,000 cr’ New Delhi: The Centre
said the production ca-
pacity of personal pro-
tection equipment
(PPE) kits has increased
from around 3,300 per
day in March end to 1.8
lakh per day in one
month, and will soon be
above two lakh per day.
“From the production
capacity of around 3,300
PPE kits per day in the
March end, in one
month, we have in-
creased our capacity to
1.8 lakh PPE kits per
day. It will soon be above
two lakh per day. Our
PPE kit needs will sure-
ly be met with,” said P D
Vaghela, chairman, Em-
powered Group 3, which
hasbeenmandatedwith
the production and pro-
curement of medical
supplies in the nation's
fight against COVID-19.
Vaghela said, “The
demand for PPE kits has
been projected at 2.01
crore in India. We have
placed orders for 2.22
crore kits out of which
1.42 crore kits are being
procured in the domes-
tic market. —ANI
New Delhi/Hyderabad:
The Railways rolled out
non-stop “Shramik Spe-
cial” trains to ferry mi-
grant workers, students
from various states
where they were strand-
ed since the nationwide
lockdown began on
March 25. In a meticu-
lous pre-dawn opera-
tion that coincided with
the International La-
bour Day and planned
in virtual secrecy, the
first train with 1,200 mi-
grant workers departed
from Hyderabad in Tel-
angana to Hatia in
Jharkhand at 4:50 am.
After more than a
month of suspension of
passenger services, the
Railways announced
special trains for
stranded migrant work-
ers, students amid indi-
cations by officials that
more such services are
being planned in the
coming days with the
40-day lockdown due to
end on May 3 being ex-
tended for another two
weeks. —PTI
1st train with 1, 200 migrants
from TS, leaves for J’khand
PPEkitsproductionrisesto1.8lakhper
day,willgoupto2lakhsoon:Centre
1.87 Lakh PPE kits are being produced daily in the country.
Palghar: The five peo-
ple, who were arrested
in Palghar lynching
case, were remanded
to the custody of CID
till May 13. As many as
115 people, including
nine minors, have
been arrested in the
case. The case pertains
to two sadhus and
their driver, who were
travelling from Kandi-
vali in Mumbai to Gu-
jarat. They were beat-
en to death on April 16,
allegedly by
Gadchinchle villagers
in Palghar, after they
suspected them of be-
ing thieves. —ANI
New Delhi: 'Kamal
Sandesh', the national
mouthpiece of BJP is
now available in digital
medium, said party
president JP Nadda.
“In difficult times of
COVID-19, Hon'ble PM
has urged to adopt in-
novative and digital
ways of working. Fol-
lowing his ideas, BJP
has used new ways to
work effectively in lock-
down. Now @Kamal-
Sandesh has also gone
digital,” Nadda tweeted.
The ten-page long Ka-
malSandeshisavailable
in both Hindi and Eng-
lish. In the first digital
bulletin, the decisions
taken by PM Narendra
Modi for farmers amid
the outbreak of corona-
virus are mentioned.
The bulletin also
has details of video
conference meetings
conducted by Nadda
with various members
of society. —ANI
BJP’s ‘Kamal Sandesh’
bulletin now goes digital
New Delhi: The price
of non-subsidised LPG
or market-price cook-
ing gas was cut by over
Rs 160 per cylinder.
Non-subsidised LPG
price was cut by a re-
cord Rs 162.50 per cylin-
der in wake of a slump
in benchmark interna-
tional rates due to fall-
ing oil demand.
A 14.2 kg LPG cylin-
der will now cost Rs
581.50 in Delhi, down
from Rs 744 till Thurs-
day. In Mumbai, it will
now be available for
Rs 579 per cylinder,
compared to Rs 714.50
earlier.
This is the third
straight monthly reduc-
tion in rates of non-sub-
sidised LPG cylinders. It
isalsothesteepestreduc-
tion in non-subsidised
LPG price ever. —PTI
LPG price cut by ` 160
New Delhi: A Delhi
Court granted bail to
corporate lobbyist
D e e p a k
T a l w a r,
arrested
in a mon-
ey laun-
d e r i n g
case relat-
ed to re-
ceiving foreign funding
illegally, saying that
“further custody of the
accused will not serve
any purpose as the
charge sheet in the case
has already been filed.
The bail was granted
on a personal bond of
Rs 5 lakh. —PTI
Deepak Talwar
granted bail in
aviation case
Palghar lynching:
5 remanded to
CID custody
Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi
My heartiest congratulations to the
millions of laborers and brothers of
the country on International Workers'
Day. This country is made up of the
courage and struggle of the workers
like you. My condolences and support are with you
in this difficult time. We salute you. Jai Hind.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
@priyankagandhi
Workers are not only the power of
the country, they are the symbol of
our collective will. # Majdur_divs mil-
lions of workers salute the recent #
Mahaprsthan have suffered. Millions
of workers are in crisis today. These workers are
the axis of the country. If it stops then the country
will stop. Helping them is the biggest task today.
A fiscal injec-
tion especially
designed for
the migrant labourers
is the need of the hour.
Recent reports pub-
lished say that in the
duration of the lock-
down, we have had
an average 20 per
cent increase in pric-
es. Is this a double
whammy?
—Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Senior Congress leader
Centre starting...
willpass.Priorityshould
be given to send elders,
children and pregnant
women to the homes
safely.” Gehlot also said
that passes should be
provided to those who
want to travel in their
own vehicles while help
could be sought for vehi-
cles from people who are
willing to aid.
Interestingly, CS DB
Gupta informed that
labourers and migrants
could pay the general
ticket fee and travel in
the special trains. “We
are in constant touch
with railway officials
so that passengers can
reach their destination
without delay and safe-
ly. It is our effort to get
several trains ply
through Rajasthan so
that this challenging
task is completed
soon,” he said.
State-wise
division...
primarily based on the
cumulativecasesreport-
edandthedoublingrate.
“Since recovery rates
have gone up, the dis-
tricts are now being
designated across vari-
ous zones duly
broad-basing the crite-
ria. This classification
is multi-factorial and
takes into consider-
ation incidence of cas-
es, doubling rate, extent
of testing and surveil-
lance feedback to classi-
fy the districts,” Sudan
said in her letter.
A district will be con-
sidered under green
zone if there has been
no confirmed cases of
COVID-19 so far or there
is no reported case
since last 21 days in the
district, according to
the letter. —ANI
IAF to conduct...
flanked by Army chief
General M M Naravane,
Navy chief Admiral Ka-
rambir Singh and Chief
of Air Staff Air Chief
Marshal R K S Bhadau-
ria. Gen Rawat said the
Indian Air Force will
conduct fly-pasts from
Srinagar to Thiru-
vananthapuram, from
Dibrugarh to Kutch as
thanksgiving to the cor-
onavirus warriors.
Fixed wing and fight-
er aircraft of the IAF
will participate in the
fly-pasts on May 3 even-
ing, he said.
Also, Navy helicop-
ters will shower flower
petals on hospitals
treating COVID-19 pa-
tients, the CDS said.
Stay home...
and inter-district ply-
ing of buses and barber
shops, spas and salons
will be prohibited in ad-
dition to those prohibit-
ed throughout India.
Sale of liquor has
been allowed in all
zones. However, if the
shops are located in
malls, marketing com-
plexes and in contain-
ment areas, they cannot
open. A limited number
of activities will re-
main prohibited across
the country, irrespec-
tive of the zone, includ-
ing travel by air, rail,
metro and inter-state
movement by road, run-
ning of schools, col-
leges, and other educa-
tional and training/
coaching institutions,
the order said.
This came after PM
Modi’s meeting with
CMs of several states
last month where some
of them suggested ex-
tension of lockdown.
“No state/UT shall
stop the movement of
cargo for cross land-bor-
der trade under treaties
with neighbouring
countries. No separate
pass of any sort is need-
ed for such movement,
which is essential for
maintaining the supply
chain of goods and ser-
vices across the coun-
tryduringthelockdown
period,” the ministry
said. “All other activi-
ties will be permitted
activities, which are not
specifically prohibited,
or which are permitted
with restrictions in the
various zones under
these guidelines. How-
ever, states/ UTs, based
on their assessment of
the situation, and with
the primary objective
of keeping the spread
of COVID-19 in check,
may allow only select
activities from out of
the permitted activities
with such restrictions
as felt necessary,” it
added. MHA said no
separate/fresh permis-
sions will be required
from authorities for ac-
tivities already permit-
ted to operate under the
guidelines on lockdown
measures.
FROM PG 1

Places of worship -
cutting across reli-
gion, gods and saints
havebarredpublicentry
in totality post the Cov-
id-related lockdown an-
nounced by the Govern-
ment. While daily ritu-
als and prayers are con-
ducted by a select group
of priests and clerics,
devotees are desisted
from thronging in.
All major religious
institutions are open-
ing up online channels
to stay connected with
their devotees. Online
live darshans, dona-
tions and pooja booking
options are made avail-
able for public by many
many institutions. A
few cash-rich religious
trusts are also reaching
out to the lockdown-af-
flicted people with re-
lief materials and fi-
nancial assistance.
With COVID-19 glob-
al pandemic the gov-
erning body of ISK-
CON (GBC) has advised
all devotees across the
globe to support the
government body of
their country by follow-
ing due instructions.
All devotees have
been advised to observe
Isolation and not to
visit the temple or even
move out of their hous-
es all across the globe.
ISKCON (Interna-
tional Society for
Krishna Conscious-
ness) Spiritual leader
Radhanath Swami Ma-
haraj said, “All our lec-
tures and classes, Sun-
day programmes and
meditation continue in
full swing even now but
the difference is that
now everything is hap-
pening online and not
in person. We have re-
quested all devotees to
continue with their
sadhana bhakti from
their homes.”
“We have ensured
that all devotees are
connected with their
respective temples in
their city through on-
line classes, meetings
on zoom & hangouts
and they can take on-
line darshan of Radha
Krishna deities and
are advised to chant
extra round for the
benefit of mankind.
Online yoga classes
have been started for
adults and separate on-
line yoga classes for
kids through Govard-
han Eco Village. All
retreats, yoga classes,
conferences and Sun-
day feasts are all can-
celled,” he added.
The trustees of
Ajmer Sharif Dargah,
the shrine of revered
sufi saint Moinuddin
Chishti, is contemplat-
ing whether to live tel-
ecast the daily pro-
ceedings to their devo-
tees. On an average,
the shrine attracts
over 20,000 visitors; on
Fridays and other im-
portant days, the tally
counters cross 50,000
worshippers.
T
he COVID-19
pandemic has
forced reli-
gious congre-
gations to stay at home
after the doors have
been closed to their
churches, synagogues,
mosques, temples, and
gurdwaras across Aus-
tralia.
But religious life has
not stopped. Congrega-
tions are discovering
new ways to meet vir-
tually on plenty of on-
line video platforms.
Google searches for
the word “prayer”
have skyrocketed in
recent months, appar-
ently in response to
the coronavirus out-
break.
Prime Minister
Scott Morrison, for
one, said his “prayer
knees were getting a
good workout” as he
prayed for the nation
and for religious com-
munities facing the
closure of sacred meet-
ing spaces due to the
pandemic.
And it is not just tra-
ditional religious com-
munities that are com-
ing together in virtual
assembly.
Spiritual and thera-
peutic activities, such
as yoga, meditation,
martial arts and con-
scious dance classes,
are also moving online
for those Australians,
particularly younger
people, who identify as
spiritual but not reli-
gious.
A global meditation,
for example, was held
earlier this month via
YouTube to send heal-
ing and love to those
struggling to cope dur-
ing the pandemic.
Some yoga studios
have even offered
classes for free or via
donation, challenging
popular assumptions
about links between
spirituality and con-
sumerism.
The resilience of
these groups in the
face of adversity backs
up the argument of
scholars such as Bos-
ton University sociolo-
gist Nancy T. Ammer-
man, who argue the
spiritual and religious
are not so distinct from
one another as popular
opinion would have us
believe.
Religious and spir-
itual practices deliver
something special
when they are done so-
cially – a deep sense of
community and con-
nection with some-
thing larger than our-
selves.
TALKING POINTJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020
ALLMAJORRELIGIOUSINSTITUTIONSAREOPENINGUPONLINECHANNELSTOSTAYCONNECTEDWITHTHEIRDEVOTEES.ONLINE
LIVEDARSHANS,DONATIONS,ANDPOOJABOOKINGOPTIONSAREMADEAVAILABLEFORTHEPUBLICBYMANYINSTITUTIONS
RELIGIOUS GROUPS ARE EMBRACING
TECHNOLOGY DURING THE LOCKDOWN
INDIA CONNECTS WITH ITS SPIRITUAL SIDE VIRTUALLY
All religions are de-
pendent on their
cultural contexts.
Throughout history,
they have adapted to
changed circumstanc-
es and new technology.
This current move to
embrace live-stream-
ing and video-confer-
encing is no different.
In fact, in this rap-
idly developing crisis,
religious leaders have
at times been ahead of
political leaders.
For example, while
leaders in the UK were
debating whether to
embrace a “herd im-
munity” strategy for
the country, the arch-
bishop of Canterbury,
Justin Welby, made the
call to cancel in-person
church services and
move to live-streaming
instead.
Mega-churches in
Australia, such as Hill-
song and Gracepoint,
have also transitioned
to live-streaming their
services with relative
ease.Manyotherfaiths
are doing the same.
The Buddhist Society
of Victoria has been
live-streaming its Sun-
day talks for several
years now and has re-
cently shifted its guid-
ed meditations online.
The East Melbourne
Synagogue has simi-
larly made its Monday
lunchtime Jewish
classes virtual, while
many Hindu temples,
such as Melbourne’s
Durga and Interna-
tional Society for
Krishna Conscious-
ness, have moved their
weekly assemblies on-
line. Islamic leaders,
meanwhile, have
urged Muslims to stay
home for the holy
month of Ramadan,
whichbeganonThurs-
day, instead of break-
ing their fast in large
gatherings in the eve-
nings, as is customary.
For the 600,000 Mus-
lims in Australia – as
wellasthehundredsof
millions worldwide –
thiscomingmonthwill
be very challenging.
The grand mufti of
Australia has been of-
fering weekly lessons
following the Friday
prayer since the start
of the pandemic.
These lessons will be
expanded during
Ramadan.
However, the Eid al-
Fitr celebration at the
end of Ramadan in
late May will be a more
muted affair. Normal-
ly, millions return to
home towns and vil-
lages to celebrate with
family, but none of
this rich communal
activity will be possi-
ble during the pan-
demic.
While these tech-
nological chang-
es have shown prom-
ise in meeting people’s
more immediate spir-
itual concerns,
months of self-isola-
tion, rising unemploy-
ment, and mounting
death tolls will surely
present fresh chal-
lenges.
Especially worry-
ing is the fact religious
groups have long as-
sisted newly arrived
immigrants to settle
in Australia. With
many international
students and people on
temporary work visas
struggling to find
work and affordable
housing during the
pandemic, online com-
munity outreach by
religious groups will
likely not be enough.
Some religious
groups and individu-
als are still helping the
most needy in person,
abiding by social-dis-
tancing measures. Fa-
ther Bob Maguire’s
Community Pantry
Warehouse in Mel-
bourne, for instance,
is still offering food
packages, though its
community meals in
parks have been tem-
porarily suspended.
And what about
death and dying, of
having to bid farewell
online, and not being
able to honour loved
ones in funeral rites?
The lack of these ritu-
als, which bring peo-
ple together, will sure-
ly affect the process of
grieving.
Being able to lever-
age the digital domain
to connect virtually is
a great blessing in this
crisis. But it is diffi-
cult to replace in-per-
son human connec-
tion when we are at
our most vulnerable.
Once we get
through this, Austral-
ia’s rich religious and
spiritual landscape
will be awash again
with colourful cele-
brations affirming
the sanctity of real-
world connection and
community.
Nonetheless, some
things will be forever
changed by the crisis.
And the new skills
and online practices
learned at this time
will impact the ways
Australians engage
with the religious and
spiritual into the fu-
ture.
Religious freedom
is just one of the basic
liberties which Euro-
pean states continue
to suspend as they
cede emergency pow-
ers to executive gov-
ernments in the name
of public health.
A TIME TO PRAY ONLINE NOT THE SAME PERSONAL TOUCH
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA

It is time to look within. Self
discipline is the only way
forward. Do not wait for the
government or society to enforce rules,
follow them voluntarily.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
JAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONTPOSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21
Dr Archana Sharma
Jaipur: The only
thing that is certain
in these times is un-
certainty. And when
certainty is out of grasp
for anyone, governance
becomes even more te-
dious. To seek the bare
minimum comfort, we
look towards our lead-
ers—the ones we chose,
who now have the onus
of evading the unprec-
edented threat that is
hovering above us and
in our psyche. With the
tumult that this virus
has assailed, it is highly
likely for anyone to
turn the numbers into
interpretations and in-
terpretations into criti-
cism with no better mo-
tive than pandering to
their political agenda.
Fortunately, we see a
semblance of unity in
our federal structure
with blame-game cur-
rently on the back foot.
During the last Vid-
eo Conference with
the Chief Ministers
of the states, PM Modi
deemed it apt to bring
to notice the com-
mendable work of
Chief Minister of Ra-
jasthan Ashok Gehlot
in containing the
community spread of
the virus in Bhilwara
district. It was a pleas-
ant change of pace in
the news which has
been taken over by
this morbid virus.
With BJP at the Centre
and Congress in the
state, either of the two
could have launched
into the rhetoric of
blame but for now, they
seem to work in tandem.
The said Bhilwara
Model has been lauded
all over the world and
comes as a silver lin-
ing of hope. It is a tes-
tament to the fact that
this virus is not as for-
midable as it seems
with all the vagueness
shrouding it. For the
time being, not much is
known, but two things
have become certain—
thiswarwiththeundead
entity can be won and
that strong leadership
can evade crisis, as seen
in Bhilwara and the
whole of Rajasthan.
From sanitization
to ration distribution,
CM Gehlot has left no
stone unturned with
each congress leader
working under his
command to ensure
the completion of all
measures in their re-
spective constituency.
The tenacity with
which CM Gehlot
works at evading the
crisis was once wit-
nessed before at the
time of drought dur-
ing his first regime in
Rajasthan with NDA
at the centre. When
no household in Ra-
jasthan was left with-
out an abundance of
provisions.
In his video confer-
ence with the Prime
Minister, he suggested
the measures to ease
the travel of migrants
across the states. As a
result of which myri-
ads of students who
were stuck in Kota are
now able to go back to
the familiar haven of
their homes. To ensure
the safety of resident
Doctors, our frontline
warriors, his govern-
ment has arranged for
their accommodation
in suitable hotels.
With so many lives
on stake and uncer-
tainty shrouding eve-
rything, CM Gehlot
never fails to address
people, who stuck in
deep apprehensions
need to know about
the status of the cur-
rent situation and fu-
ture measures. And
CM Gehlot without
any tactic of cult pol-
itics and mere token
tokenism addresses
the masses methodi-
cally, which is be-
hoved of a true lead-
er. In times of crisis,
the real merit of a
leader is tested, and it
is safe to say Ashok
Gehlot has stood the
test of these times.
A LEADER DESPITE CRISIS
Incoming workers will be
housed for 14 days: Raghu
RS polls before pol appointments in Raj?
Quarantined
in Raj school,
migrants get
‘akshar gyan’
Modified‘relief’forThackeray
First India News
New Delhi: Friday
could not have brought a
better news in Maha-
rashtra CM Uddhav
Thackeray’s political ca-
reer. While it appeared
that a sharp-edged
sword hung precari-
ously over the thread
that holds Uddhav to
his ‘power’ seat since
the time limit of him
being elected to the
legislature was run-
ning out, Election
Commission of India
announced the elec-
tion on 9 MLC seats on
Friday, thereby paving
the way for the Shiv
Sena supremo to be
elected and continue
as Chief Minister.Polls
for Maharashtra MLC
will be held on May 21.
This occurred after Ud-
dhav personally called
up CM Narendra Modi
for help in the process.
By now, Modi has far
established himself as a
statesman with strong
political acumen, and he
was not to be the one to
let go of a rare opportu-
nity. Displaying a large
hearted approach to-
wards another party
withwhomModihashad
personal connect (the
late Bal Thackeray used
tocallModiGujaratLion
while the then Gujarat
CM held Thackeray Sen-
ior in high regard and
esteem), and with hope
of ‘winning’ back the
Shiv Sena, yet again into
theNDAfoldthinkingof
future, PM indeed ‘bless-
ed’ Thackeray Junior.
On Friday, decision
to hold polls on May
21 was taken by “full
Commission” with
ECs Ashok Lavasa and
Sushil Chandra in Del-
hi being joined by CEC
Sunil Arora over vid-
eo from the US where
he is stuck up since
Corona pandemic
broke in US and wait-
ing for the first flight
home. While a notifi-
cation will be issued
on May 4, nomina-
tions can be filed till
May 11. The counting
of votes will be held on
May 21 evening, an hour
after the conclusion of
polls at 4 pm. Thackeray,
was sworn in on Novem-
ber 28, 2019 and has time
till May 27 to get elected
to state legislature, fail-
ingwhichhewillhaveto
vacate CM post.
On Thursday, Maha-
rashtraGovernorBSKo-
shyari had requested
Election Commission to
declare polls for nine va-
cant seats to MLC that
fell vacant on April 24.
“The Commission noted
that this has been the
consistentpracticeinthe
past,” a statement re-
leased by ECI said. Com-
missionalsotooknoteof
representations from
various political parties
requesting it to hold
polls. The poll panel also
decidedthatUnionHome
Secretary, who is chair-
person of National Ex-
ecutive Committee in
ex-officio capacity under
the Disaster Manage-
ment Act, 2005, should
depute an officer of suit-
able seniority to ensure
that preventive meas-
ures are put in place in
keeping with the provi-
sions of the Act for the
smooth conduct of the
electoral process.
Vikas Sharma
Jaipur: CM Ashok Ge-
hlot has paved the way
for the return of the
stranded workers of
the state with his con-
sistent efforts but
that’s just the begin-
ning of a humongous
task. There are almost
10 lakh migrants in the
queue to return to their
native state. Health min-
ister Dr Raghu Sharma
is keeping a hawk’s eye
on each development in
this regard.
CM Gehlot has in-
structed Dr Sharma of
strict compliance of
guidelines. Dr Sharma
is also very categorical
on the issue and says
that there will be no
compromise on guide-
lines and every incom-
ing worker will have to
remain quarantined
for 14 day period. The
healthdepartmentalong
with other agencies has
been alerted for the
same. Since there are a
lot of asymptomatic pa-
tients,screeningwillnot
solvetheproblem,hence
Dr Sharma has instruct-
ed all district collectors
to ensure to arrange for
quarantine.
Meanwhile, CS DB
Gupta is coordinating
with the railway offi-
cials for arranging
‘Destination to Desti-
nation’ special trains
for the migrant work-
ers. Centralgovernment
has divided the state in
three categories where 8
districts are in red zone
(Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota,
Ajmer, Bharatpur, Na-
gaur, Banswara & Jhala-
war), 16 in orange (Tonk,
Jaisalmer, Dausa, Jhun-
jhunu, Hanumangarh,
Bhilwara, Sawai Mad-
hopur,Chittorgarh,Dun-
garpur, Udaipur, Dhol-
pur, Sikar, Alwar, Bikan-
er, Churu, Pali, Barmer,
Karauli & Rajsamand)
and 6 districts in green
zone(Baran,Bundi,Gan-
ganagar, Jalore, Sirohi &
Pratapgarh). Health de-
partment is planning
accordingly as it was
already on alert mode
with curfew in most
infection prone zones.
Congress MLA from
Niwai Prashant Bairwa
has also written a letter
to CM requesting him to
bring back Rajasthanis
stuck in New Zealand.
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Withahand-
ful of political appoint-
ments being conducted
on Thursday, there was a
buzz that ‘winds of
change’ have indeed
started blowing and now
political appointments
would be done in full
swing. However, elation
of ‘hopeful’ individuals
turned to nought on Fri-
day when a fresh info
wassharedwithinpoliti-
cal circles. Reliable
sources have revealed
thatbigpoliticalappoint-
ments would not take
placeduetocoronacrisis
since all senior leaders,
including Sonia Gandhi,
Rahul Gandhi, Ashok
Gehlot, Avinash Pande
and Sachin Pilot are
busy tackling pandemic.
Now, appointments
may be postponed for at
least a couple of months.
However, important ap-
pointments are current-
ly being made in various
committees. In last two
days, about dozen ap-
pointments have been
announced, including
commissions & commit-
tees associated with So-
cial Welfare Authority
and Devasthan. Gehlot
supporters got priority
in making inroads in
these committees.
If sources are to be be-
lieved, high command
has given approval re-
garding appointments.
In first phase, constitu-
tional and necessary po-
litical appointments
would be made, in which
individuals with Cong
ideology would be pre-
ferred. Sonia, Pande and
Gehlot have reportedly
clearedmostof majorap-
pointments, which will
be announced at appro-
priate time. Few months
ago, Pilot had also given
a few names to Pande,
out of which some ‘sym-
bolic faces’ may be con-
sidered. While political
appointments may have
to wait for sometime,
sources reveal that be-
foreappointmentswould
be made, EC would an-
nounce Rajya Sabha
polls. Sources have di-
vulged that polls for RS
couldbeheldbyMayend
after which pol appoint-
ments would be made.
Jaipur: Teachers of a
government school in
Nagaur have set a prece-
dent amid the coronavi-
rus-triggered lockdown
by educating the strand-
ed and quarantined mi-
grant workers. About 19
migrants from Madhya
Pradesh and Baran,
quarantined in the Gov-
ernment Senior Higher
Secondary School, Dodi-
yana in Nagaur have
benefitted from daily
classes during the quar-
antine and they can now
read and write their
names and understand
counting from 0 to 10.
“Following lockdown,
workershadundertaken
long march to their
homes, but they were
stopped by authorities
andquarantined,andwe
thought of giving ‘ak-
shar gyan’,” teacher Su-
shil Kumar said. —PTI
Narendra Modi Sunil Arora Uddhav Thackeray
Health Min Dr Raghu Sharma
l Maharashtra
Legislative Council
polls to be held on
May 21: ECI
l Uddhav personally
spoke to PM Modi 3
days back for help in
conducting election
l Thackeray would have to step
down from the CM post at the
end of six month period failing
to be elected to MLC
Dr Rituraj Sharma
Jaipur: Rajasthan has
been at the forefront of
the arrangements for
Corona containment
and bringing back the
migrants through spe-
cial trains. The man
behind the swift and
smooth functioning of
the system is Chief
Secretary DB Gupta.
We had a chance to in-
teract with the CS,
here are the excerpts
from the interview.
l Let us know about
recent initiatives tak-
en to bring back mi-
grants, especially the
initiative to run spe-
cial trains for them?
We started a registra-
tion process from last
Monday to know how
many people are inter-
ested in going back to
their states from Ra-
jasthan and vice-versa.
And the situation now
is that all our 235 lines
areconstantlybusyand
we have crossed the fig-
ure of 10 lakh for regis-
tration of which more
than 8 lakh are of those
who want to come back
to Rajasthan, with over
2 lakh from Maharash-
tra. Now nodal officers
of our districts are in
contactwiththeircoun-
terpartsof otherstates.
Earlier, when this
started, it was left to
only two states and
we also didn’t have
any written consent.
Our CM constantly
asked centre to give
us a written consent,
which we eventually
got. As the number of
migrant was huge,
using buses seemed
pointless. So, we pres-
surised for special
trains.Ultimately, I got
a call from Home Min-
istry that they are al-
lowing special trains. 5
trains will be provided
daily with each train
having a capacity of
1200 passengers. As a
trial, two trains (from
Jaipur and Kota) have
been allotted. In the
first round, students
will go home followed
by the labours.
l By when do you
expect the phase to
bring back migrants
accomplished?
At present, 6000 people
wouldbegoingthrough
5 trains but, the num-
ber of trains may be
increased in future.
Our top priority are
the students and la-
bour followed by sep-
arated individuals,
pregnant women and
senior citizen. Anoth-
er important detail is
that passenger would
be charged according
to their route.
l Corona death toll
continues to rise
along with the num-
ber of positives, is it
because the number
of investigations
have gone up?
We are trying to in-
crease the count of in-
vestigations. And as
soon as we are able to
identify a positive, we
will be able to quaran-
tine and treat him/her.
However, limited test-
ing kits is a big bar-
rier in this mission.
Earlier, we used to
send reports to Pune
now we have certified
10 labs which can in-
vestigate and present
the report in quick
time. We started from
100 investigations per
day and have now
reached over 9,000
whichwillbeincreased
to 10,000-11,000 soon.
l PPE kit, ventila-
tors and other
equipment were
asked to buy with-
out tender, what is
the situation now?
PPE kit and masks are
used only once and dis-
posed. We get free kits
formICMRDelhiwhich
wetrytogetasmanyas
possible. Concerned of-
ficers already have
quotes of different
manufacturing compa-
nies, they keep order-
ing equipment when-
everrequiredfromlow-
est bidder. Formal ten-
der process is not fol-
lowed in emergency
situations.For ventila-
tors, we were earlier
concerned over how
this huge number
would be met. Thank-
fully, despite positive
case number crossing
2500, only 4-5 ventila-
tors have been used
till date.
l You also played a
key role in meeting
the demand of govt
employees to not to
deduct their April
pay. What was the
reason for accepting
this demand?
When the situation
grieved in March, even
state government em-
ployees also felt that
there was a need of
their participation in
lending financial as-
sistance to the govern-
ment. All national
associations took
resolution to devote
their 5-day salary to
the CM relief fund.
In April, we had got
enough liquidity and
there was no point in
deferring the salaries
so we decided to dis-
burse complete sala-
ries. Moreover, there
were complaints from
the fourth class and
LDC-level employees
that they were not able
to meet their liabilities
with the March salary
deferment. This was
another reason for the
complete salary ap-
proval for April.
Bringing students and workers
home on top priority: DB Gupta
CM Ashok Gehlot
DB Gupta

JAIPUR, SATURDAY
MAY 2, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
09
n ‘Too Hot to Han-
dle,’ the latest reality
show at Netflix, a
group of attention-
hungryyouthgather
together at a beach-
front Mexican villa
and attempt to forgo sexual
contact of any kind in a bid
for a $100,000 prize. Each vio-
lation of the rules, which, by
the way, also bar self-gratifi-
cation, brings a fine, starting
at $3,000 for a kiss.
Like ‘Love Is Blind,’ which
followed couples as they dat-
ed in “isolation pods” and got
engaged before meeting face
to face, ‘Too Hot to Handle’ is
strangely well-timed in an
era of social distancing and
involuntary celibacy for mil-
lions. But while ‘Love Is
Blind’ became a pop culture
sensation, couples talked
about the magic of “being
back in the pods” as if they’d
just returned from a honey-
moon in Tahiti, not a win-
dowless room on a sound-
stage in Atlanta, ‘Too Hot to
Handle’ puts a knowing twist
on the guilty pleasure of dat-
ing shows.
There’s no host, just a nar-
ration by comedian Desiree
Burch targeting the contest-
ant, an international crew of
inked-up, musclebound bros,
and Kardashian clones wear-
ing bikinis that look like fet-
ishwear Spanx, for being vap-
id, manipulative, excessively
libidinous or all of the above.
Along with the usual day
drinking and poolside loung-
ing, there are group challeng-
es designed to encourage per-
sonal growth and/or torment
the randy singles, such as a
session in Shibari, Japanese
rope bondage.
There’s also an Alexa-like
talking “robot” named Lana
that plays the role of referee,
announcing every time
someone has breached the
rules, taking what is the sub-
text in most other reality dat-
ing shows, slut-shaming, and
making it explicit. And no
one got in more trouble with
Lana than Francesca Fara-
go, a 27-year-old Canadian
who captured the
heart, or at least
hormonal long-
ings, of baby-
faced Austral-
ian Harry
Jowsey. The
Insta g ram
model man-
aged to rack
up $32,000 in
fines over
the course of
the produc-
tion, including
$20,000 in a sin-
gle night with
Jowsey.
When she
signed up to do
the show last
year, she was
“very single”
and had little
idea of what she
was in for; contestants
only learned the rules once
they’d arrived at the “re-
treat,” as they call it, but she
left in a relationship. She and
Jowsey briefly broke up after
leaving Mexico but have reu-
nited and are still very much
together, though currently
isolating in different coun-
tries. Farago spoke by phone
from Vancouver about her
unlikely journey to enlight-
enment.
On asking if she didn’t
know the rules of the compe-
tition before she signed on,
Francesca said, “I was
reached out to via Insta-
gram DM by someone in
production. ‘Hey we have
this new reality show on
Netflix, we thought
you’d be perfect for it.’
She was asking me
about my sex life, about
my previous relation-
ships. It was very sexu-
ally oriented. I was
telling my friends
aboutitandthey’re
like, ‘You’re not al-
lowed, you’re going
to get kidnapped.’ It
was very sketchy at
the beginning.”
I
HANDLE
THE SOCIAL
DISTANCE
‘Too Hot to
Handle’ is
strangely well-
timed in an era of
social distancing
and involuntary
celibacy for
millions
Source: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-04-30/too-hot-to-handle-netflix-harry-francesca-update

10
ETCJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
KHUSHBHU BIJAPARI, Model
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You will surely pay off all
your debt in coming times,
be rest assured about that.
On the professional front,
you have a strong bond with people in
your professional life. On the family
front, you must be able to open up
with your parents or your spouse
about your issues.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will get the chance to
renew old relationships in
some family function or a
gathering of some kind.
Some one of you may buy an office
or a shop. You must believe in
yourself before finding the right
partner. Your cards show profit from
your investment in stock market.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You must take care of the
words coming out of your
mouth, on work front
today. Try to keep up the
promises made with the people who
matter to you, on romantic front. On
the personal front, you are in a very
peaceful state of mind as only
harmony prevails at your place.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
On the career front, you are
good at sports and may
pursue it as your career to
earn a living. On the
personal front, you must sit and think
about all your savings, assets and
finances before stepping into a new
venture, so that you have everything
that it takes.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
A big opportunity is
waiting for you in real
estate business. You are
good at budgeting and
your finances are always under your
control. You are a smart person so
its not easy for other to fool you. You
must keep away from people have
talk negative.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
On the personal front, you
are a wise soul but
sometimes you go astray
from your path, so the
solution is to get in habit of meditating
regularly. On the financial front, all the
financial decision you will take today
will only make you more secure, so
think twice before any decision.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You will spend a lot of
money on comfort today.
You can expect decent
returns from your past
investments. Family will help you by
sharing some home burdens. On
professional front, you will live upto
the expectation of your boss and he
will reward you big time.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
There’s a good news for
you- you may get the
possession of your new
house today. On the family
front, you must pay heed to your
parents’s advice. Congratulations in
advance, as you will step into a new
business which will run out to be
successful in long run.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
On the personal front,
some of you may take to
initiative to organise some
event or a party. Looking at
your love life, your lover has
somewhat become your priority now,
and that’s how it should be. On the
personal front, someone close may
need your care and support.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You plan to acquire a new
property and don’t worry
things will go smoothly.
You are really in love. On
academic front, sometimes you feel
you are fully prepared and sometime
you feel vice versa so don’t pay
much attention to the feelings rather
concentrate on your preparation.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
On the professional front, a
huge profit from business
cannot be ruled out for
some. On a happy note,
you may meet your childhood friends
today.You must pay some heed to
you father or the fatherly figure in
your life as he give your the advice
worth million dollars.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Eating right and in
proportion is what you
need right now. Those who
have a wanderlust will
soon find themselves going on
frequents tours. You are famous in
your social circle but don’t let that
effect you in a way that you feel
forced to do things.
IT’S TIME TO COME
BACK HOME
mid corona crisis, the most af-
fected section of the society is
migrant labourers stranded in
various states. After the country-
wide lockdown announcement to
curb the spread of corona virus,
many of them started walking
towards home. With efforts of various
stakeholders like government’s continu-
ous assurances, public support and non-
governmental organizations, we were
able to contain a difficult situation for
sometime. Though, many voices were
raised meanwhile from different areas of
the country for their safe transportation
to home. As this time passes, we need to
think of solutions for current and future
situations both.
Let’s go to basics! Why do people mi-
grate? If I need to answer then the an-
swer is “Better livelihood opportunities”.
On 24 April, we celebrated “PANCHAYTI
RAJ DIWAS” to reiterate the power of
root democracy. This is the right time
when we should realise the fundamen-
tals of 73rd Constitutional Amendment
Act, 1993 and to make villages self reli-
ant autonomous entities. This is the
right time to enliven the ideas of Mahat-
ma Gandhi’s Gram swaraj and Dr APJ
Abul kalam’s PURA ( providing urban
amenities to rural areas) vision.
According to Mahatma Gandhi, Gram
swaraj meant making villages politically
and economicaly independent units of
democracy. Similar is the vision of Dr
Kalam to provide livelihood opportuni-
ties to the rural population and improve
the quality of life. He visualized four in-
gredients to make this vision successful;
physical connectivity, electronic connec-
tivity, knowledge connectivity leading to
Economic activity.
We need to think of a viable model of
Gram governance what we call it to-
day as “Smart village model” where
they are self sustainable and connected
to the rest of the world. Smart village
has the income generating opportu-
nites, health & education facilities,
roads, and access to energy. To achieve
these focus areas in a village, cluster ap-
proach is helpful where each cluster
should have its own plan, purpose and
way of development. It can be imple-
mented through coordinating with var-
ious stakeholders; Government & Non
Government. We can learn from the
experiences of successful villages in
the country. In Rajasthan, we have Tilo-
nia village in Ajmer district which is an
exampIe of economic and social devel-
opment for other villages. The Solar
mamas of this village were commended
by the United nations. I am sure, there
must be many such other examples but
now is the time to take GRAM GOVERN-
ANCE on mission mode and stop the
unnecessary migration to cities where
people lack basic sanitation, health,
education and proper livelihood oppor-
tunities as they are becoming over-
crowded. Afterall, The best journey
takes you home and home should be
worthwhile to stay.
DR KRITIKA YADAV
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
A
SMART VILLAGES

First india jaipur edition-02 may 2020

First india jaipur edition-02 may 2020

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First india jaipur edition-02 may 2020