First india rajasthan english news paper today 26 march 2020 edition

CORONA
ALERT
JAIPUR l THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 288
COVID-19
UPDATE
19°C - 33°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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WORLD
16,362
DEATHS
375,498
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
00
DEATH
38
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
13
DEATHS
628
CONFIRMED CASES
Ensure no soul goes hungry: CM urges people to share food with needy
Naresh Sharma
Jaipur: CM Ashok Ge-
hlot has invoked the
real ethos of Indian
culture and Ra-
jasthan in particular
by appealing the peo-
ple to share their food
with at least two
needy persons near
them. Gehlot reiter-
ated that the decision
to lock-down has been
taken to keep people
safe of the dreaded
infection which must
be strictly followed.
CM said that the govt
was committed to not
even a single soul go
hungry in the state.
Gehlot appealed to
the people that such a
herculean challenge
could only be met
with collective efforts
by all so all well off
should contribute
voluntarily as much
as they can.
CM Gehlot was chair-
ing a meeting of core
group and war rooms
through VC on Wednes-
day evening.
CM stressed on main-
tenance of the supply
chain to ensure regular
supply of the daily
needs. He said that the
grocery stores should
be open with maximum
door step delivery pos-
sible and the trucks
transporting fruits &
vegetables should be
given a clear passage as
there was no embargo
on sale purchase at ag-
riculture mandies.
Only the MSP pur-
chase and registration
by the govt has been
postponed. Gehlot
also had a sensitive
thought for voiceless
cattle and birds. He ap-
pealed people to keep
feeding them. He was
particularly worried for
the cows at the Gausha-
las and instructed easy
permits for the cattle
feed transportation. CM
instructed all the collec-
tors to brief media daily
to thwart any fake news
spread. Turn on P2
CM Ashok Gehlot in meeting with Raghu Sharma, DB Gupta, Kuldeep Ranka & Bhupendar Singh.
After First India News’ appeal to help feed
birds, a sensitive CM Gehlot tweeted an
appeal to NGOs & religious institutions to
take up the responsibility to feed them
628 &
COUNTING...
GLOBAL STATE OF AFFAIRS
CHINA
81,767
3,283
ITALY
63,927
6,077
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
42,164
471
SPAIN
33,089
2,182
IRAN
24,811
1,934
GERMANY
29,212
126
FRANCE
19,615
860
KOREA
9,037
120
SWITZERLAND
8,015
66
UNITED KINGDOM
6,654
335
NETHERLANDS
4,749
213
JAPAN
1,128
42
 CONFIRMED CASES  DEATHS
 In the backdrop of the coronavirus
outbreak, the first phase of Census
2021 and the updation of National
Population Register has been post-
poned until further orders, said Ministry
of Home Affairs on Wednesday.
 United Nations Resident Coordi-
nator in India, Renata Dessallien, on
Wednesday welcomed PM Narendra
Modi’s strategy of a 21-day nation-wide
lockdown to curtail the spread of the
coronavirus.
 Adhering to the 21-day nationwide
shutdown, Mata Vaishni Devi Trust has
decided to keep temple closed for pil-
grims to beat coronavirus, despite start
of auspicious period of Chaitra Navratri.
 In a letter to Secy, Health and Fam-
ily Welfare, ECI stated that following
extraordinary circumstances because
of COVID-19 pandemic, it has reviewed
its decision suo moto and has decided
to allow the use of indelible ink on
persons for stamping for homestay.
rime Minister
Narendra Modi
said that Ma-
habharata bat-
tle was won in
18 days while the war
against coronavirus
will take 21 days. He
was interacting with
the citizens of Varanasi
via video conferencing
on Wednesday.
“Mahabharat war
was won in 18 days, this
war the whole country
is fighting against #co-
rona will take 21 days.
Our aim is to win this
war in 21 days,” said
PM Modi. In his first
public engagement af-
ter the announcement
of the lockdown, the
Prime Minister ex-
pressed gratitude to-
wards people for taking
out time for the inter-
action.
“Today is the first
day of Navratri, you all
must be busy in per-
forming rituals and of-
fering prayers, but still
you took out time for
this interaction, I’m
grateful to all of you. I
pray to Goddess Shail-
putri to give us the
strength in the coun-
try’s fight against coro-
navirus,” said PM Modi
Turn on P2
P
MAHABHARATA WAS WON IN 18 DAYS, WAR
AGAINST CORONA WILL TAKE 21 DAYS: MODI
 PM SHARES WA HELPLINE NO.
9013151515 FOR CORONA INFO
Govt may unveil over `1.5L cr
economic stimulus package
New Delhi : The govern-
ment is likely to unveil
an economic stimulus
package as the country
battles to curb the
spread of coronavirus, a
source from Finance
Ministry. Sources say
govt may agree an eco-
nomic stimulus package
of more than Rs1.5 lakh
crore to fight a down-
turn in the country that
is currently locked down
to stem the spread of
coronavirus.
The package will be
focused on MSMEs and
daily wage workers be-
sides injecting liquidity
in the market, said the
source. The government
has been in consultation
with the Reserve Bank
of India, capital market
regulator SEBI. Official
said a task force has also
been formed to give sug-
gestions to Ministry and
top officials are inten-
sively working on the
plan, said the official.
An example of social distancing outside a grocery shop in a
village in Rajasthan. —PHOTO SOURCE TWITTER
Toll 13:TN, MP
& Gujarat report
one death each
New Delhi: Coronavi-
rus continues to wreak
havoc in the country as
87 new cases were re-
ported on Wednesday.
While the number of
infected reached 628 on
Wednesday, while 13
people have lost their
lives so far.
A 54-year-old patient
succumbed during
treatment in Madurai,
Tamil Nadu while a
65-year-old woman from
Ujjain in Madhya
Pradesh died in the
evening. A death was
reported in Ahmedabad
said sources.
PRINCE CHARLES TESTS
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
London: Prince Charles on Wednesday has tested posi-
tive for the novel coronavirus and is working from home
with mild symptoms, according to
UK media. As per medical advice,
the 71-year old heir to the British
throne and Camilla, the Duchess of
Cornwall, are now self-isolating at
their home in Scotland. Buckingham
Palace said Queen, who turns 94 next
month, “remains in good health.” She
sequestered herself in Windsor Castle last week with her
husband saying family would follow social distancing.
OPS SUSPENDED TILL APR
14: RLYS, INDIGO, SPICEJET
New Delhi: Indian Railways has suspension of all
passenger services will continue till April 14. How-
ever, freight movement will continue
to carry essential commodities
across the country, officials said.
Meanwhile, commercial airlines
IndiGo and SpiceJet on Wednesday
issued statements saying that all
their operations were cancelled
till 14 April, in view of the 21-day
complete lockdown ordered by the Centre to tackle
the spread of coronavirus.
Defying lockdown, a man cycles through
Walled City area on Wednesday evening after
Jaipur witnessed a thunderstorm and a brief
spell of rain. —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA
CM RELEASES `310 CR
RELIEF FOR BPL FAMILIES
As a result of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s
announcement to provide financial relief to poor
section of the society in the ongoing Corona virus
threat, on Wednesday the state government released
Rs310 crore towards immediate help of the families
falling in the poor section of the society. Families
falling under the Antodaya Yojna, BPL and state
BPL and whose none of the family members are
covered under the social security pension scheme
have been provided with the sum amount of one
thousand rupees each. The mount would provide
support to these families in making purchases of daily
requirement. Moreover, if any individual does not have
a bank account, in that case the district collector will
hand cash amount to such families. For the purpose
an amount of one crore rupees has been released
towards Jaipur Collector, seventy five lakh rupees
each of collectors of divisional headquarters and fifty
lakh rupees for the Collectors of remaining districts.

NEWSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
628 &...
“As the MP of Varanasi,
I should have been
amongst you in times
like these. But you are
aware of the things that
are going on in Delhi.
Despite being busy
here, I have been taking
regular updates on Va-
ranasi from my col-
leagues,” he said.
He also requested
people to not believe in
rumours and said,” At
times, people don’t pay
attention to things
which are important.
The same is happening
in India. I request peo-
ple to understand the
facts and not believe in
rumours. COVID-19
doesn’t discriminate
between the rich and
the poor. It will not
spare anyone just be-
cause they perform
yoga or exercise daily.”
On Tuesday, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi announced a 21-
day lockdown in the en-
tire country to deal
with the spread of coro-
navirus, saying that
“social distancing” is
the only option to deal
with the disease, which
spreads rapidly.
In a televised address
to the nation, Prime
Minister Modi said that
it is vital to break the
chain of the disease and
experts have said that at
least 21 days are needed
for it. —ANI
ENSURE NO...
CM cautioned about
people entering the
state from bordering
districts of Gujarat
and instructed proper
screening and isolation
of such people. The All
India Services Officers
and RAS officers com-
mitted their 5 day sala-
ry to the Covid-19 relief
fund. CM praised the
officers saying that
they had always helped
in times of need. So far
the fund has received
generous contribution
of Rs 26 crore. The high
level meeting was also
attended by Health
minister Dr Raghu
Sharma, CS DB Gupta,
ACS (Home) Rajeeva
Swarup, DGP Bhupen-
dra Singh, ACS
(Health) Rohit Kumar
Singh and Director
(DIPR) Mahendra Soni.
FROM PG 1
FACILITATE EVACUATION OF PILGRIMS STRANDED
AT NANDED SAHIB: PUNJAB CM URGES SHAHunjab Chief
Minister Cap-
tain Ama-
rinder Singh
on Wednes-
day said that
he has written to Home
Minister Amit Shah
and Maharashtra Chief
Minister Udhav Thack-
eray to facilitate the
evacuation of devotees
stranded at Nanded Sa-
hib Gurudwara amid
the 21-day nationwide
lockdown in the wake
of COVID-19 outbreak.
“I Have written to Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah and Maha-
rashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray to
facilitate the evacuation
of devotees stranded at
Nanded Sahib Gurud-
wara.Thepilgrimshave
been stranded there for
long and we owe them a
safe return to their
homes & families, “Sin-
gh said. A press state-
ment from Punjab CMO
said that Maharashtra
government had re-
sponded with assurance
that necessary action
would be taken to help
out stranded pilgrims.
According to an offi-
cial spokesperson, the
office of the Maharash-
tra Chief Minister had
conveyed to CMO Pun-
jab that all steps were
being taken in this re-
spect. Maharashtra
Tourism, Environment
and Protocol Minister
Aditya Thackeray re-
sponded to Captain
Amarinder’s tweet on
the issue with: “Thank
you sir @capt_ama-
rinder Ji. Will look into
it and do the needful.”
The Chief Minister
had tweeted: “Have
written to HM @Amit-
Shah Ji & Maharashtra
CM @OfficeofUT to fa-
cilitate the evacuation
of devotees stranded at
Nanded Sahib Gurd-
wara. The pilgrims
have been stranded
there for long & we owe
them a safe return to
their homes & fami-
lies” statement said.
“Captain Amarinder
wrote that owing to the
cancellation of trains
some days back and the
nationwide lockdown
imposed since midnight
yesterday, there is no
possibility to bring
them back to Punjab
without special approv-
al of the Government of
India amid COVID-19,”
statement added.
Punjab CM pointed
out that state govern-
ment had already taken
up the matter with the
Ministry of Railways to
allow plying of special
trains to evacuate these
stranded pilgrims.
“He further wrote
that the officers of Pun-
jab Government were in
constant touch with the
district administration
of Nanded for making
suitable arrangements
for their boarding and
lodging.” it added. —ANI
P
SPECIAL TRAINS
Home Minister Amit Shah with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. —FILE PHOTO
Continuation
of RoSCTL
from April 1
approved
New Delhi: The Union
Cabinet has approved
the continuation of Re-
bate of State and Cen-
tral Taxes and Levies
(RoSCTL) from April 1
onward until such time
that the scheme is
merged with the Remis-
sion of Duties and Tax-
es on Exported Prod-
ucts (RoDTEP), said
Union Minister
Prakash Javadekar
here on Wednesday.
With effect from
April1,RoSCTLscheme
for apparel and made-
ups will be continued
without any change in
scheme guidelines and
rates as notified by the
Ministry of Textiles till
such time that the Ro-
SCTL is merged with
RoDTEP. —ANI
Sensex jumps 1,862 points,
Reliance gains by 13.8%
Mumbai: Equity
benchmark indices
closed nearly 7 per cent
higher on Wednesday
as Asian shares extend-
ed a rally after Wall
Street’s strong rebound
overnight.
Reports said the US
Senate leaders had
reached deal with the
White House on a two
trillion dollar coronavi-
rus stimulus package.
The BSE S&P Sensex
closed 1,862 points or
6.98 per cent higher at
28,536 while the Nifty 50
ticked up by 497 points
or 6.37 per cent to 8,298.
All sectoral indices at
the National Stock Ex-
change were in the
green with Nifty finan-
cial service gaining by
a whopping 9.7 per cent,
private bank by 8.4 per
cent, auto by 4.3 per
cent and realty by 3.2
per cent.
Among stocks, index
heavyweight Reliance
Industries rose by 13.84
per cent to Rs 1,074 per
share after reports indi-
cated that Facebook
may pick up stake in Jio.
HDFC Bank gained
by 12.4 per cent, Kotak
Mahindra Bank by 11.9
per cent and Axis Bank
by 9.3 per cent while au-
tomaker Maruti was up
by 10.5 per cent to Rs
4,960 per share.
Adani Ports, UPL,
Grasim and Bajaj Fin-
servtoowitnessedgains
of over 9 per cent each.
However, IndusInd
Bank lost by 3.3 per cent
while IndianOil Corpo-
ration, ONGC, GAIL,
ITC and HCL Technolo-
gies traded with a nega-
tive bias. —ANI
GOM reviews current status &
actions to manage Corona
New Delhi: A high lev-
el meeting of the Group
of Ministers (GoM) on
COVID-19 was held at
Nirman Bhawan, here
today under the chair-
personship of Dr. Harsh
Vardhan.
The Group of Minis-
ters (GoM) had detailed
deliberation on preven-
tion and management
of COVID-19 in the
meeting. The GOM also
discussed the actions
taken so far, current sta-
tus of social distancing
measures as a preven-
tive strategy and the
stringent actions to con-
tain the spread of COV-
ID-19 by the States so far.
The GOM discussed
about strengthening ca-
pacity of states, which
need to devote adequate
resources for creating
dedicatedCOVID-19hos-
pitals, equipping the
medical institutes with
PPEs, ventilators and
other essential equip-
ment etc. States have
been asked to ensure
that essential services
and supplies remain
open.Theseincludehos-
pitals, medical shops
and establishments en-
gaged in manufacturing
of medicines, vaccines,
sanitizers, masks and
medical devices.
GoM was also in-
formed that Gujarat,
Assam, Jharkhand, Ra-
jasthan, Goa, Karnata-
ka, MP and J&K are set-
ting up hospitals dedi-
cated for the manage-
ment of COVID-19. A
total of 118 laboratories
have been included in
the ICMR network of
COVID19 testing.
GoM was also ap-
prised that Cabinet Sec-
retary has also written
letters and conducted
Video Conference with
Chief Secretaries,
Health Secretaries and
DGs of Police and in-
structed them to enforce
implementation of lock-
down measures.
Vardhan reiterated
his appeal to all those
who have are in home
and facility quarantine
about observing it ac-
cording to the protocol
laid down by the Health
Ministry.
Hardeep S. Puri, Dr Harsh Vardhan and Dr S Jaishankar,
Nityananda Rai during the meeting.
PM extends Navratri greetings,
wishes for good health for all
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday extended
greetings to the nation
on the occasion of
Navratri and expressed
hope that the nine-day
festival will bring pros-
perity and good health
in everyone’s life.
“Best wishes to all
countrymen on the New
Year Vikram Samvat
2077. May this new year
bring prosperity and
good health in your
life,” Prime Minister
Modi tweeted. As
Navratri festival is cel-
ebrated across India in
various forms, Prime
Minister greeted coun-
trymen on Ugadi, Gudi
Padava, Navreh and Sa-
jibu Cheiraoba.
“We are celebrating
various festivals across
India and also the start
of a New Year as per
our traditional calen-
dar. Greetings on Ugadi,
Gudi Padava, Navreh
and Sajibu Cheiraoba.
May these auspicious
occasions bring good
health, happiness and
prosperity in our lives,”
he wrote.
“Sajibu Cheiraoba
greetings to my sisters
and brothers of Ma-
nipur. May everyone be
blessed with peace and
prosperity. Special
prayers for the good
health of the people,”
he added.
He highlighted that
the countrymen are
marking these festivals
at a time when the na-
tion is battling the COV-
ID-19 menace.
“We are marking
these festivals at a time
when our nation is bat-
tling the COVID-19 men-
ace. The celebrations
will not be like they are
usually but they will
strengthen our resolve
to overcome our cir-
cumstances. May we
keep working to fight
COVID-19 together,”
Modi said.
During Navratri, the
PM observe fast for
nine-days, a practice
that he has been follow-
ing for the past many
years. This year, he has
dedicated his fasting
practice for the best
health and safety of
nurses, doctors, medi-
cal staff, policemen and
media workers who are
engaged in the fight
against coronavirus.
“Navratri is starting
from today. Over the
years, I have been wor-
shiping Maa (Goddess).
This time, I dedicate
myself to the best
health, safety and ac-
complishment of all the
nurses, doctors, medi-
cal staff, policemen and
media workers who are
worshiping humanity
and engaged in the fight
against coronavirus,”
he said.
On Tuesday, Modi an-
nounced a 21-day lock-
down in the entire
country to deal with the
spread of coronavirus,
saying that “social dis-
tancing” is the only op-
tion to deal with the
disease.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers at a Navratri event.
—FILEPHOTO
‘Farmers may get 3-month extension on loans’
First India News
Gandhinagar:Withthe
nation under lockdown,
the state government
has taken up the issue
of farmers’ short-term
loanrepaymentwiththe
Central government to
bail out farmers from a
financial crisis.
Ashwani Kumar, Sec-
retary to the Chief Min-
ister, said that a core
group committee meet-
ing, chaired by Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
on Wednesday decided
to request the Centre to
extend the repayment
term by three months,
from March 31.
Kumar also assured
the people that there is
no shortage of food, veg-
etables and milk in the
state. He added that
threecrorelitresof milk
are collected every day,
of which 55 lakh litres
are packaged and sold.
So, there is no possibili-
ty of a milk shortage. A
district-level officer will
keep track of procure-
ment and sale so that
supply is not disrupted.
In addition, 75 Agri-
culture Produce Market
Cooperatives (APMCs)
will function around the
clock. Daily, 53 lakh kg
vegetables produced do-
mestically and supplied
fromotherstatesaresup-
plied in these markets. A
team led by the Coopera-
tives secretary is track-
ing vegetable supplies in
the wholesale market
andretailmarket. There
willbenoshortageof po-
tato and onion as they
are stocked in the cold
storage and other stor-
age units. Supply from
these storage units is
also under supervision,
Kumar added.
The government has assured the people that it is monitoring the supply of essentials including
vegetables, which are seen here sold at the Sabarmati Riverfront. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

RAJASTHANJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
First India News
Jodhpur: Inmates of
Jodhpur jail continued
their hunger strike for
the second consecutive
day on Wednesday. They
are demanding release
due to spread of corona-
virus. Jodhpur jail has
1359 inmates of which
1100 are on hunger
strike since Tuesday.
However, 150 inmates
have kept away them-
selves from the strike.
The administration is
trying to convince them
buttheyarefirmoncon-
tinuing till their de-
mand is fulfilled. They
had forewarned author-
ities about the strike. It
started when an inmate
released an audio in
which he alleged mis-
management in dealing
with coronavirus
threat. He had called
his relative from the jail
alleging that 90 prison-
ers are kept in one cell.
He reportedly told his
relative that he had fe-
ver and cough but was
not sent for medical
checkup. His nephew
then wrote a letter to
CJI for his release.
Prisoners also ac-
cused doctor of not im-
parting proper medical
checkup and of negli-
gence in treatment.
They also alleged lack
of sanitization in jail.
Jodh jail inmates continue hunger strike
lll
Prisoners also
accused doctor
of not imparting
proper medical
checkup and of
negligence in
treatment. They
also alleged lack
of sanitization
in jail
First India News
Jaipur: One more posi-
tive case has come to
light in Jodhpur. A
young girl who lives in
Shyam Nagar contact-
ed virus from a couple
in a train. The husband
and wife had been test-
ed positive two days be-
fore they embarked on
journey to Jodhpur
from Mumbai.
The girl is now be-
ing treaded in AIIMS
in Jodhpur. A man
from Pali has already
been receiving treat-
ment there. He was
first corona patient in
Jodhpur.
The husband and
wife from whom the girl
had contacted virus are
uncle and aunt of that
boy. The couple had re-
turned to Mumbai from
Turkey on March 15.
They boarded train for
Jodhpur on March 17.
The girl was in the same
first class compartment
with them. And, she got
the virus from them.
The girl was admit-
ted in the AIIMS on
Tuesday after showing
symptoms. Today, her
report came positive.
Now, she is being treat-
ed in the hospital
where the authorities
claim that her condi-
tion is stable.
The health depart-
ment has sealed the
girl’s house in Shyam
Nagar. Her family mem-
bers too have been iso-
lated in home. Since,
she lives in a large joint
family entire has been
sealed and fumigated.
Other people in that lo-
cality are also screened.
Though, it was not
clear how many people
came into her contact.
The authorities have
been taking details of
these people from her
and her family.
Meanwhile, four peo-
pleweresentbackhome
after their report came
negative and they ap-
peared normal. On the
other hand five new sus-
pected were admitted
though their reports
have come negative.
First India News
Jaipur: Congress is all
set to repeat its histori-
cal public relief initia-
tives. CM Ashok Ge-
hlot’s appeal has hit the
bull’s eye and every
Congress man is set to
play his role in fight
against Covid-19.
People of the state
still remember the
days, when Gehlot first
headed a Congress govt
in the state and Ra-
jasthan faced one of
the worst famines in its
history, Sitting MLA
Babu Lal Nagar was at
helm of Seva Dal or-
ganization then, who
took the initiative and
ran a Seva Dal v/s Fam-
ine campaign. Sonia
Gandhi had toured
many famine hit areas
of the state then and
saw the famine relief
work herself. Congress
MLAs have already re-
sponded to CM’s appeal
by contributing to the
CM Relief Fund.
This time, it’s a pan-
demic, where Congress-
men will have to keep
themselves safe as well.
PCC has come forward
and has issued instruc-
tions to all its office
bearers to contribute in
Corona awareness cam-
paign and keep commu-
nication channels open
with the masses so that
their problems can be
resolved quickly. PCC
Chief Sachin Pilot has
appealed to the existing
and former office bear-
ers to not only contrib-
ute to the relief fund,
but also to make the
lock-down a success. He
has asked all workers to
keep their social media
accounts active to posi-
tively contribute to the
awareness campaign
and also propagate the
steps taken by the govt.
First India News
Jaipur: Fire crews
sprayed sodium hy-
pochlorite in the city on
Wednesday afternoon.
A fire vehicle was sent
to each zone of the city.
Meanwhile, Transport
Minister in Gehlot’s
council of minister,
Pratap Singh Khachari-
yawas himself was pre-
sent during the sanita-
tion process in Civil
Lines area.
Municipal Corpora-
tion Commissioner Vi-
jay Singh informed that
the Municipal Corpora-
tion has formed 120
teams for sanitation
process, which are
spraying sodium hy-
pochlorite across the
city. According to the
commissioner, this san-
itation spray will be
sprayed daily across the
entire city, in which the
public areas, and hospi-
tals have been given the
priority.
Due to Coronavirus,
entire country has been
under lockdown until
April 14. The state gov-
ernmenthadalreadyput
alockdowninRajasthan.
The roads of the capital
Jaipur are listless and
empty medical stores,
milk and essential shops
are open. People are go-
ing out for shopping, but
are not crowded.
First India News
Bhilwara: Bhilwara
recorded three more
positive cases on
Wednesday. According
to sources, a middle
aged man from sabzi
mandi area was found
positive and his condi-
tion is serous. His fam-
ily was taken out of the
densely populated area
and quarantined.
So far 357 samples
were taken in Bhilwara
out of which 16 were
found to be positive, 331
negative and report in
10 cases are awaited.
Till the report was
compiled, 302 teams
surveyed 88275 homes
and 452528 persons in
the city. There were 2925
ILI patients who have
been kept in isolation
while 40 patients are in
isolation ward of the
district hospital.
Doctors screened
7541 patients in district
hospital’ OPD and treat-
ed 131 ILI patients. The
district has 149 suspects
in quarantine. In the ru-
ral area, 1948 teams
screened 249373 homes
and 1332258 people of
which 8904 were found
to be affected from cold
and flu. They have been
advised to stay in home
isolation.
The government has
acquired private hospi-
tals to enhance capacity.
First India News
Jaipur: ‘Hydroxychlo-
roquine’, recommend-
ed for coronavirus pa-
tients has vanished
from the market. As
soon as central govern-
ment released its guide-
line in which this medi-
cine was recommended
for treatment of corona-
virus, there was unu-
sual surge in its de-
mand even though this
drug can be given only
on recommendation of
doctor.
Drug controller or-
ganisation has been col-
lecting stock of this
medicine from the
stockists. However,
medical shop owners
have cited problem of
transportation. Follow-
ing this, they were is-
sued passes without
any delay.
Besides, there is also
a shortage of masks
and sanitizers.
CONGALLSETTOFIGHT
CORONAPANDEMIC
Public reps,fire dept sanitise city
Three more positive
cases in Bhilwara
Hydroxychloroquine,
masks out of stock
Alwar Central Jail prisoners make
masks for themselves & staff
Guidelines
for farmers
released
Health Min warns landlords
not to ask medicos to vacate
First India News
Jaipur: There are some
cases reported where
landlords asked their
tenants to vacate the
houses because the ten-
ant happened to be a
health worker actively
involvedinfightagainst
Covid-19. The govt. took
notice of it immediate-
ly and the Health minis-
ter Dr Raghu Sharma
warned all such land-
lords of legal action up
to jail in case of such
irresponsible behavior.
He said that these peo-
ple were distancing
themselves of the peo-
ple who were actually
fighting with death to
save the rest of us. He
said that on the contra-
ry the morale of doctors
and health workers
should be boosted for
their efforts. ACS
(Health) Rohit Kumar
Singh released an order
to this effect where such
behavior has been de-
clared punishable.
Meanwhile the health
department upped its
ante against coronavi-
rus.
The number of isola-
tion & ICU beds in all
medical colleges and
hospitals has been in-
creased. 1 lakh quaran-
tine beds have been pre-
pared. SMS alone has
500 beds distributed
over 3-4 wards. Charak
Bhawan has the new
OPD for Corona. The
govt has also ordered
more ventilators and
other equipment for
better treatment. SDM
offices, Tehsils and and
district HQs will have
control rooms for peo-
ple coming from out of
the state. The phone
numbers of the same
will be widely publi-
cized. All such arrivals
will have to be invaria-
bly reported to stop
community spreading.
A train trip that proved
costly for Jodhpur girl
Mahesh Joshi helps fire dept sanitise streets in Walled City.
A cop guards Walled City area on Wednesday.
Social distancing circles drawn
outside shops.
Lock down violators being warned by police officers.
First India News
Jaipur: Agriculture de-
partment released
guidelines, for farmers.
Agriculture minister
Lalchand Kataria ap-
pealed the farmers to
strictly follow the
guidelines and follow
social distancing for
keeping the dreaded in-
fection away. The guide-
lines instruct to use
machines for harvest-
ing and thrashing as
much as possible. If
unavoidable then sepa-
rate harvesting tools
should be used by every
farmer which along
with the farmers’ hands
should be least thrice a
day with water and
soap. It instructs keep-
ing at least 5 meter dis-
tance between each
farmer while working
on the farms while
wearing masks.
First India News
Alwar: As of Wednes-
day, 36 cases of corona
have been reported in
Rajasthan. Medical
workers, government
employees are all en-
gaged to prepare to fight
the virus. Meanwhile,
jail administration is
also taking complete se-
curity regarding the
prisoners, due to which
masks are being made
with cotton cloth by 20
detainees on 15 ma-
chines in Alwar’s Cen-
tral Jail. These masks
are being made for jail
staff, prisoners and
their visitingv relatives.
Jail Superintendent
Rajendra Kumar sad
that inmates in jail are
not allowed to go out
anywhere so it is neces-
sary to protect them.
Jail premises is being
regularly washed and
sanitized. Also, all de-
tainees have been ad-
vised to wash their
hands four or five times
a day. Prisnors are in-
structed not to hug or
shake hands with other
inmates, and to keep
distance while talking.
Instructions are an-
nounced multiple times
through loud speakers
installed in premises.
Masks being made
are two layered, accord-
ing to the criteria and
cloth length provided.
The fabric is washed be-
fore the making, and is
sanitized after the mask
is made.
ShecontractedvirusfromacouplewhilecomingfromMumbaitoJodhpur
PILOT SPREADS CORONA
AWARENESS VIA TWEETS
Jaipur: Deputy CM and PCC
Chief Sachin Pilot in a se-
ries of tweets on Wednes-
day also shared a valuable
recommendation regarding
corona. Pilot tweeted, “Use
your non-dominant hand
(left hand for right handed
people) for door-knobs,
handles and bathroom,
because it is much more difficult for you to touch
your face with that hand. In Korea they widely
spread this premise, and it worked.”
277 IN ISOLATION IN ARMY
FACILITY AT JODHPUR
Jodhpur: Indians stranded in Iran due to Covid-19 havoc,
for quite some time, now finally made it to their homeland
on Wednesday morning. Two special planes carrying 277
Indians landed at Jodhpur airport. All Indians who arrived
have been classified as corona negative. The passengers
of the two planes were taken to a special quarantine facility
developed in the local Army area. They will be quarantined
for the mandatory 14 day period at the Army Wellness
Centre. This is for the first time that Indians abroad are
being quarantined at a Jodhpur facility. All the passengers
went through a thorough medical checkup at Wellness
Centre on their arrival. They will be looked after by Army
trained doctors and nursing staff during their stay.
GUV SENDS RAJ BHAWAN MED
TEAM TO TREAT PATIENTS
Jaipur: Governor Kalraj Mishra on
Wednesday said that he has relieved
the medical team deployed at Raj Bha-
wan and sent them for public service
in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. “I
have relieved medical team deployed
at Raj Bhawan and sent them to SMS
Hospital for public service in the wake
of COVID-19. The people of Rajasthan need this medical
team more than me at this time,” he tweeted.
CMRF: DIPR’s PRASAR TO
DONATE 1 DAY SALARY
Jaipur: In response to CM Ashok Gehlot’s appeal to
people to contribute to CM relief fund to help provide
food to the poor and daily wage earners in the state
the officers of DIPR have come forward. The as-
sociation of DIPR
officers ‘PRASAR’
president Mustafa
Shekh gave CM
Ashok Gehlot a
letter declaring
their intention to
donate their one
day salary to the
‘Covid-19 Relief
Fund’ constituted
under CM Relief Fund. DIPR minister Dr Raghu
Sharma and Director DIPR Mahendra Soni were also
present at the occasion. CM Gehlot lauded the effort
made by the PRASAR members and appealed to the
people to come forward and contribute towards fulfill-
ing the needs of the poor in this hour of distress.
CMAshok Gehlot receiving a letter
from Mahendra Soni and Mustafa
Shekh in presence of Raghu Sharma
SANITISER PRODUCTION AT
GANGANAGAR SUGAR MILLS
Ganganagar: After the orders passed by Finance
Department, production of hand sanitisers has
been started in the five alcohol production units
of State Ganganagar Sugar Mills in Jhotwara
(Jaipur), Mandore (Jodhpur), Kota, Udaipur and
Hanumangarh. Also, a license for making sanitisers
has been issued to four private companies, Global
Spirit Ltd. Behror, Winter Distillers Ltd. Alwar, Agri
Biotech Industries Ajitgarh and ADS Agro Ltd.
Reengus. These would be distributed for free in govt
offices, police and other services employees.
DGP APPEALS PEOPLE TO
COOPERATE, PRAISES COPS
Jaipur: DGP Bhupendra Yadav
made an appeal to the public of
the state through an audio mes-
sage to cooperate and be patient
during corona crisis. DGP also
praised the police personnel
working for the public and said
the police are helping the needy
by making food and ration avail-
able for the population.
—PHOTOBYSUMANSARKAR

Lucknow: Less than 12
hours after Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
announced a 21-day na-
tional lockdown over
coronavirus fears, Ut-
tar Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
was in Ayodhya and
participated in an early
morning ritual to shift
the idol of Lord Ram
from a tin shed inside
the Ram Janmabhoomi
(birthplace) to a tempo-
rary structure made of
fibre.
The idol has been
moved and will remain
at the temporary struc-
ture till the temple is
built at the site.
He tweeted, calling
this ritual on the first
day of Navratri the be-
ginning of the first
phase of the construc-
tion of Ram temple in
Ayodhya. A meeting to
decide on the actual
date of construction
was to be held in the
first week of April at
the temple town, but it
is not clear whether
that will go ahead.
INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
New Delhi: Former Fi-
nance Minister and sen-
ior Congress leader P.
Chidambaram on
Wednesday welcomed
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s lockdown
decision for 21 days in
the wake of coronavi-
rus pandemic and sug-
gested 10 measures, in-
cluding cash transfer in
bank accounts of the
poor and vulnerable.
In a statement, the
former Minister said
Modi’s announcement
of a nationwide 21-day
lockdown is a “water-
shed moment” in the
battle against Covid-19
and that “we should put
behind the debates that
took place before March
24 and look upon as the
beginning of a new bat-
tle in which people are
foot soldier and the
Prime Minister is the
commander”.
“Stay home India is a
great rally cry, but to
stay at home people will
need money and food.
We must think and plan
not only for the next 21
days but for some weeks
beyond the lockdown
period,” Chidambaram
said.
He said the current
employment and wages
must be protected. Sug-
gesting 10 measures, he
said cash and food
should be immediately
put in the hands of the
poor and the vulnera
ble. The Congress lead-
er said, “Double the
amount paid to farmers
under the PM-KISAN to
Rs 12,000 and transfer
the additional amount
immediately to the
bank account of each
beneficiary.”
He also urged the gov-
ernment to transfer the
amount of Rs12,000 to
the tenant farmers in
two installments and
also transfer a sum of
Rs 3,000 in the bank ac-
counts of the MGNRE-
GA beneficiaries.
Chidambaram also
appealed to the govern-
ment to transfer an
amount of Rs 6,000 in
the urban poor Jan
Dhan bank account
holders.”Offer to every
ration card holder 10 kg
of rice or wheat abso-
lutely free as a one-time
measure in the next 21
days and also arrange
for home delivery,” he
said.
The government
must ask all the regis-
tered employers to
maintain current levels
of employment and
wages.”
Guarantee to such
employers who do so
that the wages of the
employees will be reim-
bursed by the govern-
ment within 30 days of
payment,” Chidambar-
am said.
The Congress leader
also said the govern-
ment must open a regis-
ter in every ward or
block and invite per-
sons who have not re-
ceived payment under
any of the categories
listed to register their
names, address and
Aaddhar.” —Agencies
MP HC suspends
work for 3 weeks
New Delhi: Following
the three-week nation-
wide lockdown due to
coronavirus outbreak,
the Madhya Pradesh
High Court on Wednes-
day decided to suspend
work with immediate ef-
fect - till April 14 - at its
principal seat in Jabal-
pur and its benches at
Indore and Gwalior.
MP HC also gave the
go-ahead for video con-
ferencing for urgent
matters.“Due to the
threatof pandemiccoro-
navirusandimmobiliza-
tion of the public at
large,ithasbeendecided
to declare non-working
of the High Court of
Madhya Pradesh as well
as entire subordinate ju-
diciaryof thestate,”said
a circular issued by Reg-
istrar General Rajendra
Kumar Vani. —ANI
Adityanath shifts Ram idol
amid lockdown in Ayodhya
‘Celebrate Gudi Padwa after tackling corona’
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra Chief Minister Ud-
dhav Thackeray on
Wednesday extended
good wishes to people
on the occasion of
Gudi Padwa and said
the state will celebrate
the festival after win-
ning over the coronavi-
rus war.
“It is Gudi Padwa to-
day. I wish all of you on
Gudi Padwa. It is a war
like situation for each
of us. I am calling coro-
navirus a war as we are
not aware of the enemy.
We do not even know
from where the enemy
will attack us,” said
Thackeray.
“We will celebrate
Gudi Padwa once
we tackle this crisis,”
he said.
Stressing on the es-
sential needs of people
during the phase of 21-
day lockdown in the
country, he said there
is no need to panic as
all essential goods are
available in the market.
“We have sufficient
stock of essential com-
modities like vegeta-
bles, rice and other
items of daily use, so
there is no need to wor-
ry. All shops selling es-
sential goods are open
too,” he said. —ANI
CONG LEADER SUGGESTED TEN MEASURES TO THE MODI GOVT TO SOFTEN THE BLOW OF THE 21-DAY LOCK DOWN
Transfer cash in bank accounts
of poor during lock down: Chidu
Expand testing facilities,
give financial aid: RaGa
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
who raised the alarm
over Covid-19 in Feb-
ruary here on
Wednesday suggested
a dual strategy to
tackle the pandemic
and its impact.
“The question is
how can we minimise
casualties in this war.
I believe our strategy
should have 2 compo-
nents.Thegovtshould
give financial support
to prevent massive job
losses ; reassure busi-
ness owners,” Rahul
Gandhi tweeted.For
tackling Covid-19, the
Congress leader said,
“Isolate the virus and
block its escape
routes. Massively ex-
pand testing facilities
to identify and treat
those who are infect-
ed. Create massive
emergency field hos-
pitals, particularly in
urban areas with full
ICU capability to pro-
vide care to patients.”
The Congress lead-
er said the daily wa-
gers must be extended
immediate help
through direct cash
transfers into their
accounts and free ra-
tions.
“Delaying this will
cause widespread dev-
astation & chaos,” he
tweeted.
On economic im-
pact of Covid-19, he
said many industries
were struggling and
they should be helped.
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE:
PRIYANKA’S WISHES
New Delhi: Greeting citizens on the occassion
of Chaitra Navratri as the nation remains in a
21-day lockdown, Congress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi said, “Heartfelt greetings
to all of you on Chaitra Navratri, the festival
of worship of Mother Durga. Mother protect
everyone. A very Happy Ugadi, Gudi Padva,
Sajibu Cheiraoba to everyone! Please stay
home, stay safe and keep smiling!” As per the
Gregorian calendar, Chaitra Navratri typically
falls around March or April. Chaitra is the ﬁrst
month of Hindu lunar calendar and all nine
days during Navratri are dedicated to nine
forms of Goddess Shakti.
NO CELEBRATION
Residents offer prayers as they celebrate Marathi New Year (Gudi Padwa), during a
nationwide lockdown. —PHOTO BY PTI
Indians
balconies
come alive
New Delhi : As Netf-
lix streaming became
monotonous and Face-
book a dreadful exer-
cise, millions of Indi-
ans took to balconies
across cities on Day 1
of the21-dayCOVID-19
lockdown to stay fit,
read books, play Tam-
bola and finish home-
work in a community
session.Fitness train-
ers fixed smartphones
on tri-pods in balco-
nies early in the morn-
ing and began train-
ing sessions on Face-
book Live. —Agencies
No RSS shakhas during
lockdown: Bhagwat
New Delhi : In the
wake of the 21-day
lockdown announced
by PM Narendra
Modi, RSS has decid-
ed to call off its
shakhas - gathering
of volunteers - to help
curb the spread of
COVID-19. RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat has
asked the volunteers
to abide by the social
distancing norms and
hold prayers while re-
maining within their
homes. He said in this
grim situation the
RSS will continue in
its endeavour to edu-
cate people and char-
acter building of indi-
viBhagwat said, “The
country is in a 21-day
lockdown. This is a
war against the dead-
ly coronavirus. It is
the responsibility of
each individual to do
his bit now.”
Don’t resort to panic
buying: Javadekar
New Delhi : Union
Minister Prakash Ja-
vadekar on Wednesday
said the Centre and
state governments are
working in tandem to
prevent the spread of
coronavirus and asked
people not to panic
amid countrywide lock-
down.
The lockdown was
imposed in the country
from today and will be
in force till April 14.In a
cabinet briefing, Ja-
vadekar requested peo-
ple to stay at home,
maintain social dis-
tancing, wash hands
frequently and visit a
doctor if the symptoms
appear.
“The 21-day lock-
down is important.
Spend quality time with
your family and do not
resort to panic-buying.
Essential items will be
available throughout
the country,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi —FILE PHOTO
Uddhav Thackeray with Aditya Thackeray. —FILE PHOTO
Yogi Adityanath offers prayers at a temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday.
‘`1.80lakh cr
for subsidised
wheat, rice’
New Delhi: Centre has
earmarked Rs 1.80 lakh
crores for providing
wheat at Rs 2 per kg and
rice at Rs 3 per kg, Un-
ion Minister Sadanan-
da Gowda.
He said: “Union Cabi-
net has decided to pro-
vide wheat at Rs 2 per
kg which is worth Rs 27
per kg and rice at Rs 3
per kg which is worth
Rs 37 per kg. A total
amount of Rs 1 lakh 80
thousand crores is be-
ing spent for the cause.
The amount will be
given in advance to the
states for the coming 3
months.” —ANI
Census 2021, updation of
NPR postponed: MHA
New Delhi: In the back-
drop of the coronavirus
outbreak, the first
phase of Census 2021
and the updation of Na-
tional Population Regis-
ter (NPR) has been post-
poned until further or-
ders, said Ministry of
Home Affairs on
Wednesday.
The Census 2021 was
scheduled to be con-
ducted in two phases-
-Phase I i.e. House List-
ing and Housing Cen-
sus during April-Sep-
tember, 2020 and Phase
II i.e. Population Enu-
meration from Febru-
ary 9 to February 28,
2021. The updation of
NPR was also proposed
to be done along with
the Phase I of Census
2021 in all the States and
Union Territories, ex-
cept Assam.The deci-
sion was taken after
dra Modi on Tuesday
declared a nationwide
lockdown.
The Census 2021 was
scheduled to be con-
ducted in two phases,
with phase I to be con-
ducted during April-
September, 2020 and
phase II during Febru-
ary 9-28, 2021. —Agencies
‘Don’t take the drug
without prescription’
New Delhi: While
coronavirus panic
spreads across the
country, the Union
Health Ministry has
one strict advice -- do
not take hydroxychlo-
roquine without pre-
scription.
Union health min-
istry joint secretary
Lav Aggarwal said,
“Hydroxychloro-
quine is only for spe-
cific use for health
care workers. We ap-
peal to people not to
take it as it has side
effects.” The drug be-
came a talking point
across the world after
witnessing promis-
ing early studies in
France and China
that found the drugs
helped Corona pa-
tients. —ANI
We should put behind debates that took place
before March 24 and look upon as beginning
of a new battle in which people are foot soldier and
the Prime Minister is the commander. Stay home
India is a great rally cry, but to stay at home people
will need money and food. We must think and plan
not only for the next 21 days but
for some weeks beyond lockdown
period. Double the amount paid
to farmers under the PM-KISAN to
Rs 12,000 and transfer the additional
amount immediately to the bank ac-
count of each beneﬁciary. Offer to every
ration card holder 10 kg of rice or
wheat absolutely free as a one-time
measure in the next 21 days.
PM COMMANDER...
TTT
TWO PHASES OF CENSUS
P Chidambaram
Lav Aggarwal

IsoughttheLORD,andhe
heardme,anddeliveredme
fromallmyfears.
—Psalm34:4
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Along with senior officials of
@PetroleumMin took stock of LPG
operations to ensure uninterrupted
supply of LPG in the country. Also,
discussed measures undertaken to
safeguard employees from the risk of
coronavirus infection and ensuring
their safety while they serve the nation.
Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda
I strongly condemn the terror attack
on Gurudwara in Kabul and extend
my heartfelt condolences to the
bereaved families & wish speedy
recovery to injured. All public aid
will be provided by the Indian govt.
to the affected members of Hindu
and Sikh community of Afghanistan.
PERSPECTIVEJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
G Vol 1 G Issue No. 288 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
OVERCROWDING
MAKES PRISONS
COVID-19
HOT SPOTS
igh profile movie producer Har-
vey Weinstein, who is in a US jail
for rape and sexual assault and
has proved coronavirus positive,
may not be the only one when it
comes to jail inmates catching the virus. Pris-
oners catching Covid-19 is a cause for con-
cern not only in the United States and other
foreign countries but also India where jails
are heavily overcrowded and could negate the
entire effort to keep India safe and healthy.
Social distancing is an essential strategy
to defeat the coronavirus. The nation-wide
three-week lockdown announced by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi the other day is
meant to enforce social distancing and
check the march of the disease Covid-19.
Jails, however, are places where this social
distancing cannot be practiced due to over-
crowding leaving inmates vulnerable to
Covid-19.
Just how overburdened Indian prisons can
be gauged from a report of the National
Crime Records Bureau which said that they
have occupancy of 115.1 per cent, which is
15.1 per cent above the capacity. The 2017 re-
port stated, “Overcrowding is one of the big-
gest problems faced by prison inmates, re-
sulting in poor hygiene, lack of sleep etc.”
Official data said that the number of prison
inmates jumped from 3,85,135 in 2012 to
4,50,696 in 2017, an increase of 17 per cent.
A demand for decongesting of Indian jails
has been made from time to time but now
when Covid-19 threat is looming it has ac-
quired some urgency. Nowhere is the remis-
sion of prison terms needed more than in
Maharashtra which is leading the chart with
122 positive cases. Maharashtra’s Home de-
partment has filed an affidavit in the Su-
preme Court seeking early release of 5000
prisoners either on bail or medical grounds
in order to decongest the jails. Those propose
to be released are convicts facing three to five
year sentences for petty offences.
At present jails in the state have 50 per cent
moreinmatesthantheircapacity.Officialsaim
tobringdowntheprisonerpopulationto24,000.
Maharashtra is not alone. The Aam Admi
Party government has also informed the
Delhi High Court of it decision to provide the
options of special parole and furlough to the
convicts. In order to check the spread of cor-
onavirus in prisons, the Delhi government
was ready to amend its prison rules.
Tihar jail authorities also intend to release
around 3000 prisoners to ease overcrowding
in view of the Covid-19 threat. The benefit
will be extended to petty criminals only.
The Supreme Court of India is also seized
of the matter. On March 23 it asked the states
to decongest prisons in view of the fear of
coronavirus spreading in prisons.
In US, according to a report, there are 2.3
million jail inmates “on any given day”.
Weinstein’s case has made demand for reduc-
ing the prisoner population shriller.
IN-DEPTH
H
enomic re-
search showing
that the COV-
ID-19 coronavi-
rus likely origi-
nated in bats has produced
heavy media coverage and
widespread concern.
There is now danger that
frightened people and
misguided officials will
try to curb the epidemic
by culling these remarka-
ble creatures, even though
this strategy has failed in
the past.
As an environmental
historian focusing on en-
dangered species and bio-
logical diversity, I know
that bats provide valuable
services to humans and
need protection. Instead
of blaming bats for the
coronavirus epidemic, I
believe it’s important to
know more about them.
Here’s some background
explaining why they car-
ry so many viruses, and
why these viruses only
jump infrequently to hu-
mans – typically, when
people hunt bats or in-
trude into places where
bats live.
DIVERSE AND UNIQUE
Humans are more closely
related to bats than we are
to dogs, cows or whales.
But bats seem more alien,
which can make it harder
for people to relate to them.
Bats are the most unusual
of the world’s 26 mammal
orders, or large groups,
such as rodents and carni-
vores. They are the only
land mammals that navi-
gate by echolocation, and
the only mammals capable
of true flight.
Bats carry a range of vi-
ruses that can sicken other
mammals when they jump
species. These include at
least 200 coronaviruses,
some of which cause hu-
man respiratory diseases
like SARS and MERS. Bats
also host several filovirus-
es, including some that in
humans manifest as deadly
hemorrhagic fevers like
Marburg and probably
even Ebola.
Normally, these viruses
remain hidden in bats’
bodies and ecosystems
without harming humans.
People raise the risk of
transmission between spe-
cies when they encroach
on bats’ habitats or har-
vest bats for medicine or
food. In particular, hu-
mans pack live bats into
unsanitary conditions
with other wild species
that may serve as interme-
diate hosts. This is what
happened at the Wuhan
wet market where many
experts believe COVID-19
emerged.With a few excep-
tions, such as rabies, bats
host their pathogens with-
out getting sick.
BATS AT RISK
Bats may not always be
around to eat insect pests,
pollinate fruit crops and
provide fertilizer. Accord-
ing to the International
Union for the Conserva-
tion of Nature and Bat
Conservation Internation-
al, at least 24 bat species
are critically endangered,
and 104 are vulnerable to
extinction. For at least 224
additional bat species, sci-
entists lack the data to
know their status.
Bats are extraordinary
creatures that benefit peo-
ple in myriad ways, and
our world would be a poor-
er, duller and more dan-
gerous place without
them. They need protec-
tion from the cruel treat-
ment and wasteful exploi-
tation that also threatens
human health.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Don’t blame the bats for cororonavirus
G
Bats need
protection from
cruel treatment
and wasteful
exploitation that
also threatens
human health
e know these are trying times.
We also know that prevention is
better than cure. Ofcourse, there
is no cure hence prevention is
the only answer for Corona. It
hasalreadyaffectedthemindsof
entire world population though
the physical spread of the pan-
demic is still controllable. It is
the unpredictability of spread,
duration and fatality, which has
put the world into panic mode
and sent it into self quarantine.
Human civilization has
weather many such storms
which threatened it’s very exist-
ence and I am sure “This shall
also pass.” I am fully in agree-
ment to be careful and take all
precautionstocheckthespread,
but my request to all humans is
notrptNOTtostopliving.“Let’s
not die before the death comes.”
Happiness springs from positiv-
ity. Positivity is more potent
than medicines. The effect of
medicines are enhanced multi-
fold, if we remain positive in
such life threatening times. It’s
aptly said-“Winning and losing
is all in the minds.” I have ob-
servedmanycasesof cancerand
other incurable diseases, suc-
cumbingonlybecausetheygave
up the will to live/fight, while
many others with strong will,
survived to live for another day.
World cycling champion, Lance
Armstrongsurvivedstage4can-
cer with only 03% chances of
survival and became world
champion again (Corona infect-
ed patients have 98% chances of
survival). As a psycho-oncology
consultant, I prescribe potions
of positivity as elixir of life for
thosehavingincurablediseases.
Presently, Corona panic has
overtaken logic and sense.
Entire buzz around us in
print, pictures and voice is
full of negative and scary
consequences in the name of
creating awareness. Let me
share some good news which
brings rainbow of hope and
smile on your faces:-
z Although the virus spreads
very fast, the fatality rate is
only 1.74%.
z Most of the people affected in
China have fully recovered.
z Research is already on in USA,
Canada and India, to find a
suitable vaccine. Chinese
scientists claim to produce a
vaccine in one month.
z Corona gives Nations with
strained relations, a chance
to rise above the man-made
borders and fight the epidemic
together.
z Air and water pollution has
drastically reduced due to self
quarantine.
z Families and relatives are bind-
ing together with additional
free time.
z There is new found bonhomie
as communities are helping
each other cutting across bar-
riers of racism, religion, caste
and languages.
Staying positive in such
times of doom and gloom is
easier said than done. How-
soever hard it may be, focus
on positivity will give you
energy and resolve needed
to weather this storm. Think
of the following methods to
develop a positive mindset:
GO TO YOUR
NATIVE VILLAGE
Get into retro mode of life with
pollution free environment and
away from overload of negative
news. Enjoy with families, rela-
tives and neighbors. Go for
long walks, connect with na-
ture and rekindle romance.
MEDIA FASTING
Limit your intake of news to
selected positive channels
and selected duration only.
MAKE YOUR OWN BED
Start the day with helping hand
in household work. De-clutter
houseandlife.Makeanewbegin-
ning in career, health and rela-
tionships.Innovateandfindnew
alternatives to stay relevant in
business. You may hit the Jack-
pot by challenging status quo.
Learntofaceadversitiesandif at
all, you fail, you return to your
nice bed to start all over again.
FIND JOY IN
SMALL THINGS
Enjoy a funny video/ movie/
corona jokes, play with your
toddler or break bread with
your parents or grandparents,
when you are told to work from
home. Change style of work-
ing/ business. Get online.
POSITIVITY AUDIT
Take a daily inventory of posi-
tivity. Before you sleep, list out
what you did today to bring
smile on the faces of millions.
If not, a new dawn awaits you
tomorrow, to start again.
FAITH AND PRAYERS
Have faith in the designs of
God and trust him to do
what is best for you. Find
peace and harmony in your
thoughts and do something
for larger good of mankind.
I am certain humanity will
survive but let’s limit the co-
rona effect to physical infec-
tion and not to adversely affect
our lives, our work, our busi-
ness and our relationships. I
am more worried for those who
will survive the current scare
but succumb to malnutrition,
hunger, unemployment, de-
pression, suicides, stress and
mental fatigue generated due
to the side effects of Corona,
like economic slowdown.
India is a DEVBHOOMI
(God’s own country). Inspite of
it’s diversity, oddities, paradox-
es and differences, it has re-
mained in prominence for cen-
turies and even today. Indians
work on faith and divine bless-
ings. Our belief system will
give us strength to fight corona
and win over this evil. Of
course, God helps those who
help themselves. Therefore,
while we have faith in God, we
must do our duty and take all
precautions but don’t let it
dominate our lives. Let Corona
also realise, it has selected a
wrong target, in India.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
STAYING POSITIVE
IN CORONA TIMESI prescribe potions of positivity as elixir of life for those having incurable diseases
W
Iamcertain
humanitywill
survivebutlet’s
limitthecorona
effecttophysical
infectionandnot
toadversely
affectourlives,
ourwork,our
businessandour
relationships
HOWSOEVER HARD
IT MAY BE, FOCUSING
ON POSITIVITY WILL
GIVE YOU ENERGY
AND RESOLVE
NEEDED TO WEATHER
THIS STORM
RETD MAJ GEN
C P SINGH
The author is an ex-service
man, social activist, career
consultant and motivational
speaker of repute

INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
New Delhi: Gunmen
stormed a religious
gathering of Afghani-
stan’s minority Sikhs in
their place of worship
(gurdwara) in the heart
of Kabul’s old city on
Wednesday, killing 25
people.
Within hours, the Is-
lamic State group
claimed responsibility
for the attack. Those
killed included a child
whose body was
brought to a Kabul hos-
pital, the emergency
services and the hospi-
tal said. At least 15 peo-
ple were injured.
The attackers target-
ed a ‘dharamshala’ in
Shor Bazar area of Ka-
bul, which has a sizea-
ble population of the
Hindu and Sikh minori-
ties. Some reports said
the attack began at 7.45
am Afghan time.
India strongly con-
demned the terror at-
tack, saying targeting
of a religious place in
the midst of the Cov-
id-19 outbreak reflects
the “diabolical mind-
set” of the perpetrators
and their backers.
“India stands ready
to extend all possible as-
sistance to the affected
families of the Hindu
and Sikh community of
Afghanistan,” it said.
Afghanistan’s Interi-
or Ministry said police
responded promptly to
the attack on gurdwara,
and shooting was still
underway. Afghanistan-
based Tolo News said
there were three attack-
ers - one of them has
been killed, the other
one escaped and the
third one shot.
Photos posted on so-
cial media by Afghan
journalists showed se-
curity forces and local
residents evacuating
the injured in ambu-
lances. —Agencies
Mufti’s daughter talks about
trauma of those in detention
New Delhi: Former
Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Me-
hbooba Mufti is hear-
ing “reports” of her im-
minent release, her
daughter Iltija Mufti
has tweeted a day after
the release of another
key leader from the
state, former Chief
Minister Omar Abdul-
lah. Both leaders were
put under detention in
August, along with
scores of other political
leaders, as the Centre
ended the special sta-
tus of Jammu and
Kashmir granted under
the constitution and bi-
furcated it into two un-
ion territories.
Iltija Mufti, who has
been running her moth-
er’s twitter account
since her detention,
posted: “My mother is
hearing reports of her
imminent release & is
grateful for the con-
cern. But she’s upset
about thousands of
young boys jailed out-
side J&K. The trauma
their families feel due
to COVID outbreak is
unimaginable”.
Abdullah, who like
Mufti, was charged un-
der the tough PSA, was
released on Tuesday.
‘Free Kashmir’ placard
girl gets bail after 1mth
Bengaluru: Ardra
Narayanan, the
young Bengaluru wom-
an who was arrested by
police last month for
holding a ‘Free Kash-
mir’ placard was grant-
ed bail by a sessions
court on Tuesday.
55th Additional City
CivilandSessionsjudge
K Narayana Prasad is-
sued the bail order to
Narayanan, who was
booked under sections
153 A (promoting en-
mity between different
groups on grounds of
religion, race, place of
birth, residence, lan-
guage etc) and 153 B
(imputations, asser-
tions prejudicial to na-
tional integration) of
IPC by SJ (Silver Jubi-
lee) Park Police Sta-
tion. On February 21,
Narayanan was de-
tained from Town Hall
for holding the placard
at a protest called by
pro-Hindu organisa-
tion. —Agencies
Rlys gets a boost!
MoU with Germany
New Delhi: The Union
Cabinet chaired by
dra Modi was on
Wednesday apprised
of a MoU signed be-
tween the Ministry of
Railways and the DB
Engineering and Con-
sulting GMBH of Ger-
many for technological
cooperation.
This MoU for techno-
logical cooperation in
the railway sector will
enable cooperation in
freight operations in-
cluding cross-border
transport, automotive
transport and logistics,
passenger operations
including high-speed
and cross-border traf-
fic. It will also help in
infrastructure building
and management in-
cluding dedicated
freight corridors and
development of passen-
ger stations; develop-
ment of a modern, com-
petitive railway organi-
sation including the
improvement of organi-
sational structures and
railway reformation.
The MoU will also fa-
cilitate IT solutions for
railway operations,
marketing and sales as
well as administrative
purposes, etc. —ANI
Aligarh-Harduaganj flyover gets nodNew Delhi: The Cabi-
net Committee on Eco-
nomic Affairs, chaired
by Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi, on Wednes-
day gave its approval for
taking up construction
of Aligarh-Harduaganj
flyover by Ministry of
Railways.
The total length of
the Railway flyover will
be 22 kms. The project is
expected to be complet-
ed by 2024-25 at a cost of
over Rs 1,285 crore, said
UnionMinisterPrakash
Javadekar here. “At Ali-
garh Junction Station a
branch line Bareilly-
Aligarh terminates.
The trains coming from
Howrah side and going
to Harduaganj/Bareilly
cross Howrah-New Del-
hi main route, which is
busiest section of Indi-
an Railways,” read a
statement.
“Due to heavy traffic,
there is no path availa-
ble for surface crossing
of loaded goods trains
coming from Howrah
side and going to Hardu-
aganj/Bareilly. This re-
sults into heavy deten-
tion of trains at Aligarh
Junction. This location
has become a bottleneck
and is affecting the
train working badly
causing delays and de-
tentions and also reduc-
ing the wagon turn
round,” it added. —ANI
‘SD streaming
for a while’
New Delhi: With a
surge in mobile internet
consumption amid a
countrywide lockdown, all
companies in the digital
industry have decided to
“temporarily default High
Definition (HD) and ultra-
HD streaming to Standard
Definition (SD) content”
or offer only SD content
at bitrates no higher than
480p on cellular networks
until April 14, according
to public broadcaster
Prasar Bharati. The move
comes as there has been
an unprecedented rise in
mobile internet consump-
tion due to lock down.
Kerala stops
sale of liquor
for 21 days
Thiruvanan thapuram:
Kerala has decided to
suspend the sale of liq-
uor through retail out-
lets of the Kerala State
Beverages Corpora-
tion (BEVCO) for 21
days in accordance
with the three-week
national lockdown an-
nounced by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi Tuesday to stem
the spread of the coro-
navirus infection.
On Monday, when CM
Pinarayi Vijayan an-
nounced a statewide
lockdown, he had ruled
out shutting the 330 out-
lets of BEVCO. —Agencies
EMPANELMENT OF 1993 AND 1994
BATCH IAS OFFICERS IN MAY ?
Empanelment of 1993 and 1994 batch IAS
officers to the rank of Additional Secretary in
the Government of India is expected to take
place in May.
DAS LIKELY TO GET EXTENSION ?
Simanchal Das, Pr Special Director, ED is likely to
get two years extension in deputation tenure. He
is an IRS (IT) officer.
CADRE OF MS SANYA CHHABRA
TRANSFERRED TO UP
The cadre of Ms Sanya Chhabra has been
transferred from Tripura to Uttar Pradesh on the
grounds of to Ankur Kaushik, a 2019 batch IAS
officer. She is a 2019 batch IAS officer.
DR SUMEET JERATH TO JOIN AS
SECRETARY, OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
ON APR 1
Dr Sumeet Jerath, Special Secretary, Cabinet
Secretariat (SR), will be taking over as Secretary,
Department of Official Language on April 1, 2020.
He will succeed present incumbent Ms Anuradha
Mitra retiring in March.
SENIOR NAVY OFFICERS MAY HAVE
TO WAIT LONGER FOR PROMOTION
Senior officers in the Navy may have to wait
longer for promotion as there won’t be any
vacancy in 2020 for them since no Flag Officer
Commanding is retiring this year.
B M GUPTA’S TENURE AS WHOLE-
TIME DIRECTOR OF IFCI EXTENDED
The Board of Directors of Tourism Finance
Corporation of India have approved to extend the
tenure of B.M.Gupta as Whole-Time Director of
the Corporation upto December 31, 2020.
KHOSLA REPORTS BACK TO DOT
CONSEQUENT UPON REPATRIATION
FROM BSNL,
Deepika Khosla has reported back to her parent
DoT. She is a SAG officer of ITS. Three ITS
officers transferred DGFT has transferred three
Indian Trade Service (ITS) officers. Accordingly,
A K Chaudhary has been posted to the Ministry
of Textile as Trade Advisor, SA Chavan is going
to Ahmedabad RA as Jt DGFT. He will also hold
additional charge of SEZ, Dahej and Shah Suvidh
Prabodh Kumar has been transferred from Surat
to RA, Ludhiana as Jt DGFT.
20 IPS OFFICERS ASSIGNED
NEW DUTIES IN C’GARH
Chhattisgarh Govt has assigned new duties to
20 IPS officers. Accordingly, B S Dhruv has been
posted as Commandant, CTJW College, Kanker,
Jitendra Singh Meena, SP, Balod, Balaji Rao, SP
Kondagaon, Mrs Nitu Kamal, services shifted
to CBI, D Sharavn, SP, Mungeli, Kamlochan
Kashyap, SP, Bijapur, K L Dhruv, SP, Kabeerdham,
D Ravishankar, Commandant, 10th Battalion,
CAF, Surajpur, Abhishek Meena, SP, Korba, M L
Kotwani, ADG (Security) , Special Branch, PHQ,
Nava Raipur, M R Ahire, SP, Kanker, Jitendra
Shukla, SP, Rajnandgaon, Bhojram Patel, SP,
Gariyaband, Divyang Kumar Patel, SP, Bemetara,
Prashant Kumar Thakur, SP, Baloda Bazar
Bhatapara, Dr Lal Umed Singh, Commandant,
14th Battalion, CAF, Balod, Sujit Kumar,
Commandant, 15th Battalion, CAF, Bijapur, J
R Thakur, SP (Rail), Raipur, Chaindas Tandon,
Commandant, 17th Battalion, CAF, Kawardha and
Prafulla Thakur, SP Mahasamund.
THREE IAS OFFICERS GET NEW
ASSIGNMENTS IN BIHAR
Gorakhnath has been appointed as Additional
Secretary, Finance, while Balamurugan and
Aniruddh Kumar were appointed as Special Officers
in Disaster Management Department in Bihar.
POWERGallery
25 killed in Kabul gurdwara attackThe ISIS terrorist group, which has targeted Sikhs before in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility: Reports
‘REPREHENSIBLE’
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
on Wednesday condemned the
“extremely reprehensible” terror
attack at a gurdwara in Kabul in
which 27 people were killed. He
also extended condolences to the
families of those who lost their
lives in the attack. “The terrorist attack on a Sikh
Gurudwara in Kabul is extremely reprehensible.
My heart goes out to the families of those who
have lost their loved ones in this heinous act
against humanity. I also pray for the speedy
recovery of the injured,” Singh tweeted.
Family members cry after an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Capt.Amarinder Singh @capt_amarinder
Horrific news coming from
Kabul where a barbaric ter-
ror attack happened in the
Gurudwara Guru Har Rai. It’s
extremely tragic and unfor-
tunate. Request President @
AshrafGhani Ji to find out the perpetrators
and look after our people.
IN THE COURTYARD
AIIMS DIRECTED TO TREAT INFANT
SUFFERING FROM GAUCHER
New Delhi: HC has
directed AIIMS to treat
an 18-month-old girl
suffering from a rare dis-
ease called Gaucher. The
parents of Alisha Khan,
the toddler suffering from
the genetic disorder, had
approached HC seeking
funds for her treatment as
well as directions for treat-
ment to be given to her as
repeated representations
to various governmental
authorities had not been
fruitful. While directing
AIIMS, Justice Pratibha
M Singh also directed the
Union of India to file an
affidavit before the next
date of hearing as to the
current policy of the Gov-
ernment on rare diseases.
The next date of hearing in
the matter has been set as
April 17. Court also noted
that, though the Central
government had come
out with a National Policy
for Treatment of Rare
Diseases, in 2018, due to
objections by certain state
governments, the same
was reportedly scrapped
and a draft policy docu-
ment for rare diseases was
released on January 13
this year. —ANI
‘PROVIDE BASIC AMENITIES TO
THOSE AT KAZAKHSTAN AIRPORT’
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednes-
day directed the Ministry of External Affairs to
expeditiously provide basic amenities like food,
water, transportation, medical care and lodging
to Indian students stranded at the Almaty Airport
in Kazakhstan for the last few days. A division
bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice
Talwant Singh, while hearing the matter through
video conferencing, directed the Ministry of
External Affairs to ensure the welfare and safety
of the stranded students. The court also sought
a detailed response from the MEA on a plea filed
before it claiming that Indian students are strand-
ed at the Almaty Airport in Kazakhstan without
food, water, transportation, and medical aid for
the last two to three days. The matter was slated
for further hearing on April 28. —ANI
HC ALLOWS PLEA FOR NAME
CHANGE IN CBSE CERTIFICATES
New Delhi: Delhi High Court has allowed the plea
of orphan students, seeking correction in their
name and directedCBSE to delete ‘Udayan’ from
their names in Grade-X and Grade-XII certificates.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher on Monday had asked
the CBSE to delete the suffix ‘Udayan’ included
against the name of each of the petitioner as
appearing in their Grade-X and Grade-XII certifi-
cates, as also, in the mark sheets generated qua
the said grades. “I am of the view that this Court
while exercising powers under Article 226 of the
Constitution, is duty-bound to correct the wrong
done to the petitioners. The petitioners, in my
view, are entitled to reclaim their individuality and
identity by insisting on inclusion in their Grade-X
and Grade-XII certificates, the name by which
they wish to be known,” the court said.—ANI
HC DISMISSES PLEA AGAINST EX-
DIRECTORS OF BEVERAGE COMPANY
New Delhi: Delhi High
Court has dismissed
a plea filed by two
former directors of a
private beverage company
seeking to set aside a
trial court order, which
framed charges against
them under provisions of
Prevention of Food and
Adulteration Act. Justice
Suresh Kumar Kait, while
dismissing the plea said
that the directors were
also liable for prosecution
as they were in charge
of or were responsible
for the conduct of the
company’s business
affairs. HC observed that
there was no illegality or
perversity in the order
passed by trial court and
said there was no merit in
petitions filed by former
directors of the beverage
company. Former direc-
tors Raghav Gupta and
Deepak Kumar had filed a
petition seeking to quash
the trial court order dated
June 6, 2016, ordering
to frame charges against
them.The petitioners were
erstwhile Directors of the
company namely V & V
Beverages, importer of
Snapple Juice Drink.—ANI

TALKING POINTJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
T
his is a confus-
ing and, frankly,
scary time for a
lot of us. There’s so
much contradictory
information, and the
“right” thing to do
yesterday is now the
“wrong” thing to do
today.
If you’re feeling
edgy, having trouble
sitting still or concen-
trating, finding your-
self constantly or ob-
sessively checking for
updates, losing sleep,
or waking in the early
hours of the morning
feeling anxious –
you’re not alone.
These are complete-
ly normal, human re-
actions to a complete-
ly abnormal situation
such as what we are
facing today.
Worrying about
whether you’re doing
enough to protect
yourself and others,
whether you’re going
to lose income, and
what this will all
mean long-term is to
be expected.
You might be won-
dering whether this
worry and other feel-
ings of anxiety might
indicate a developing
some kind of mental
health problem.
Feeling this way
for a few days, or
even weeks, in the
context of a major
national emergency,
does not indicate that
you have a mental
disorder.
But some people
may need to access
support or talk to
their GP about deal-
ing with the ongoing
concerns.
S
ometimes what
you’re experiencing
will signal a more se-
rious problem that needs
some external support.
It’s time to seek help
if:
 symptoms of anxiety are
starting to affect your ability
to function in your daily life
 the symptoms are get-
ting worse
 the symptoms feel over-
whelming, or
 the symptoms persist
over time – more days
than not.
Supports are available
where and when you need
them. The Lifeline phone
line is open 24 hours on 13
11 14.
Beyondblue has online
information and resourc-
es such as the beyond-
blue web chat.
For children, teens and
young adults, KidsHel-
pline has supports availa-
ble by phone at 1800 55
1800, web chat or email.
Your GP can help you
to identify whether your
symptoms meet the crite-
ria for an anxiety disor-
der. They can also write
a mental health care
plan, if appropriate, and
refer you to professional
services in your local
community.
COPING WITH
STRESS OF
PANDEMICIT IS OKAY TO FEEL A LITTLE BLUE
CONSIDERING THE SITUATION OF
THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. IF YOU
ARE SCARED, ANXIOUS AND IN NEED
OF SUPPORT, IT WOULD BE
ADVISABLE TO REACH OUT, AND
HELP YOURSELF EVEN FROM THE
CONFINES OF YOUR OWN HOME
COVID-19
I
n times of trouble, Austral-
ians usually band together
to support each other with
hugs, a helping hand and a nice
hot cuppa. We raise money,
have benefit concerts, and get
to work so we can feel we’re do-
ing something. We build be-
longing in our community, and
feel a sense of accomplishment
when we pull through together.
This time it’s different, and
our normal ways of coping
with disasters are not going to
work. For many of us, social
distancing means we are not
able to use most of our day to
day coping strategies either,
such as going to the gym or
hanging out with friends.
But there are things we can
do to buffer against the impact
of uncertain and traumatic
times. Having a strong sense of
belonging, along with a regular
sense of accomplishment,
are key to our mental well-be-
ing. They’re linked with lower
levels of depression and anxi-
ety symptoms, and higher lev-
els of mental well-being.
S
ocial distancing does not
require social isolation.
There are safe ways to
connect with people that don’t
involve putting yourself at risk
of COVID-19 exposure.
Staying connected is not just
a nice thing to do – it’s actually
important for our health. Some
theorists have suggested that
belonging is a fundamental hu-
man motivation, just as compel-
ling as the need for food.Don’t
wait for people to connect with
you – reach out to them. There’s
a good chance that they’re feel-
ing isolated and afraid as well.
I
t’s important to find ways
in your day to day life to
feel a regular sense of ac-
complishment, and it might
be a matter of re-framing
what you consider to be an ac-
complishment.
If you have kids in the
background, dogs barking
to be taken for a walk, and
all the other wonderful
interruptions that may
come with working from
home, it’s likely that just
reading and responding to
emails is an accomplishment
in itself.
If you’re not working at
the moment and funds are
tight think about what else
you can accomplish. Spring
clean. Plant capsicum, straw-
berry or tomato seeds saved
from your lunch and see if
they will grow. Or learn
something new, like robotics,
knitting or crochet.
COPING MECHANISMS WHILE
SOCIAL DISTANCING
BELONGING
ACCOMPLISHMENT
WHEN TO GET HELP?
N
ormal fear re-
sponses are
part of a
healthy, adaptive pro-
cess that allows us to
get away from or deal
with something we
perceive as danger-
ous.
Normal anxiety:
 is situation speciﬁc
– related to a particular
event of circumstance
 is limited in time
 does not have a
long-term impact
on your ability to go
about your day-to-day
life (although there
may be short periods
where it can feel over-
whelming).
However, some-
times our fear can
become overwhelm-
ing and start to im-
pact on our ability to
function in our daily
lives.
Some anxie-
ty symptoms to be
aware of are exces-
sive worry which is
difficult to control,
restlessness, feeling
easily fatigued, hav-
ing difficulty concen-
trating, irritability,
muscle tension or
sleep disturbance.
IT IS NORMAL
Content: Rakshita Pareek,
Design: CP Sharma

SPORTSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
New Delhi: Confined to
their homes owing to
the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, India’s marksmen
and women will soon be
provided with shooting
range simulators --
SIUS Ascor’s electronic
target systems -- which
will allow them to prac-
tice indoors efficiently.
Work is already un-
derway but it could still
take a month’s time for
the equipment to be de-
livered to the shooters.
The Swiss company
is the world’s largest
manufacturer of elec-
tronic scoring system
for the precision sport
and is associated with
ISSF.
At a time when the
world is grappling with
the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, leading to enforce-
ment of lockdowns and
social distancing, such
products will help the
shooters continue their
practice.
Former shooting ace
and national pistol
coach Jaspal Rana said
they are trying to get it
at the earliest.
“We are already on
working on getting it
but it can still take one
month. SIUS Ascor’s
range will help the
shooters to at least prac-
tice indoors,” multiple-
time Asian Games gold
medallist Rana said.
The COVID-19 pan-
demic has led to the
cancellation or post-
ponement of all sports
events with the biggest
blow being dealt on
Tuesday when the To-
kyo Olympic Games
was postponed by IOC
to next year.
This is a “massive
setback” for all the as-
piring medal hopefuls
in the world’s biggest
sporting extravaganza,
which was earlier
scheduled to be held in
July-August.
“This is going to
make a big difference
for sure. The last three
years they have been
tirelessly working on
their game, hoping to
perform at the biggest
stage,” Rana said. —PTI
RangesimulatorstohelpIndianshooterspracticeindoorsefficiently
COVID-19 PANDEMIC

It could take a
month’s time for
the shooting
range
simulators -
SIUS Ascor’s
electronic target
systems - to be
delivered to the
shooters
New Delhi: Indian
boxer Mary Kom on
Wednesday said the In-
ternational Olympic
Committee (IOC) took a
'really good decision' to
postpone the 2020 To-
kyo Olympics until
next year due to coro-
navirus pandemic. "It's
a really good decision
because of the spread
of coronavirus, they
have postponed the
Olympic for 2021. I
think it's good for each
and every one. Apart
from the games, health
is very important and
everyone should be
aware of it," Kom said.
The six-time world
champion also said
that the COVID-19 is
not a small thing and
urged citizens to stay at
home.
"They have to under-
stand that this virus is
not a small thing, there
is a threat to life. This
virus can infect anyone
and that is why organ-
isers have decided to
delay it for the sake of
one and all," she said.
"Our training will
not be affected, we will
continue as we always
do it. All events from
small to international
have been cancelled.
Postponing Olym-
pics is a good deci-
sion. Also, I want to
request citizens of
our country to take
necessary precau-
tions and be safe
and stay home,"
Kom added.
The decision
to postpone
was con-
firmed by
IOC, after
the organis-
ing body for
the event
and Japan's
PM agreed to
reschedule the
games in view of the
pandemic. —ANI
New Delhi: If Leander
Paes's (Atlanta 1996)
and Karnam
Malleswari's (Sydney
2000) Olympic bronze
medals broke the Olym-
pic glass ceiling for In-
dia, former Sports Min-
ister and shotgun
shooter Rajyavardhan
Singh Rathore's silver
medal at the 2004 Ath-
ens Olympics added
conviction to the belief
that Indian athletes too
can excel on the biggest
sports stage of them all.
On Wednesday,
Rathore went live on
hisInstagramaccount,
chatting with Indian
batsman Suresh
Raina on life dur-
ing the times of
the Coronavi-
rus pandemic,
as India began
a 21-day lock-
down to fight
against the vi-
rus that has
turned the world
upside down.
From Wuhan, Chi-
na, in December last
year, the virus has
spread throughout the
world, wreaking havoc.
Rathore and Raina be-
gan their three-week
lockdown from home
talking to each other on
Instagram, with the for-
mer saying India is for-
tunate to have a Prime
Minister like Narendra
Modi leading the fight
against a pandemic that
has made the situation
almost like a third
World War. "We have
heard and read about
World War I and II, but
this is like World War
III," said Rathore. "We
have seen catastrophes
like the plague and the
Spanish flu (but) today,
the advantage we have
is that the whole world
is connected and we can
learn from each other's
mistakes." "Thankfully,
in today's crisis, we
have a strong leader
like PM Modi. He is a
visionary. I have always
seen him being alert, at
all times" said the for-
mer shooter. Raina,
who was part of India's
2011 World Cup-win-
ning team, recently be-
came a father again,
welcoming a baby boy
into his family. "Con-
gratulations on your
son," Rathore greeted
Raina. —Agencies
Barcelona: Lionel
Messi has donated one
million euros to a hospi-
tal in Barcelona to help
combat the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic.
According to a re-
port, Messi made the
donation to Hospital
Clinic, a public hospital
in Barcelona with the
hospital confirming
about the same on their
official Twitter handle.
Messi's former Barce-
lona manager Guardio-
la has also given one
million euros towards
the production of medi-
cal supplies and equip-
ment with another Bar-
celona-based campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo
and agent JorgeMendes
have also donated one
million euros to fund
intensive care units in
hospitals in Lisbon and
Porto. Messi has been
picked by FIFA along
with 28 past and present
football icons to spread
an awareness campaign
to combat the coronavi-
rus pandemic. —Agencies
New Delhi: Olympic
bound athletes including
star javelin thrower
NeerajChoprahashailed
the decision to postpone
Tokyo Olympics due to
the outbreak of corona-
virus, saying the envi-
ronment wouldn't have
been appropriate for the
mega event to take place
this year.
Japan PM Abe said
on Tuesday that he has
reached an agreement
with IOC to hold the
Games in 2021. The IOC
and the Tokyo 2020 Or-
ganising Committee
later said in a joint
statement that the com-
mittee's president
Thomas Bach and Abe
agreed that the Games
have to be "rescheduled
to a date beyond 2020
but not later than sum-
mer 2021."
"I think this was a
welcome decision for us
athletes in the circum-
stances and not some-
thing that came as a sur-
prise,” Neeraj said. —PTI
Guwahati: Former In-
dian football player and
1970 Asian Games
bronze medallist Abdul
Latif has died. Latif, 73,
breathed his last in
Guwahati on Monday.
His funeral was per-
formed on Tuesday in
the presence of family
and friends. Members
of the sports fraternity
and representatives of
the district administra-
tion were also present.
New Delhi: The
Board of Control for
Cricket in India
(BCCI) has decided to
"wait and watch" how
the current situation
amid coronavirus cri-
sis evolves and will
accordingly take ac-
tion regarding the up-
coming season of the
Indian Premier
League (IPL), a BCCI
source told ANI on
Wednesday.
"See IPL is already
postponed till April 15
and we are watching
the situation very
closely. We will see
how the situation de-
velops and will take a
decision accordingly.
Currently, we are not
thinking about all
those things. Let
these things settle
down and then only
we can start working
on it. So, till April 15,
we will wait and
watch," the source
said. The source also
confirmed that there
is no conference call
scheduled to discuss
further course of ac-
tion as there is no
clarity.
"See there is no
point of having a con-
ference call or to dis-
cuss because there is
no clarity. Once every-
thing is clear only
then can we make a
call about what is the
further course of ac-
tion. There is nothing
which can be sorted
out as of now due to
the current situation,"
the source stated.
The 13th edition of
the IPL was sched-
uled to commence on
March 29, however,
the spread of corona-
virus forced the post-
ponement of the
league until April 15.
—ANI
BCCI to ‘wait and watch’ before taking decision on IPL
POSTPONING THE
OLYMPICS IS THE
‘RIGHT DECISION’
Lockdown may produce
many sports stars: Rathore
FocusshouldbeonCovid-19:NeerajFormer Indian
footballer Latif
passes away
Messidonates1meuros
toBarcelonahospital
I can’t say anything
at the moment as
we are at the same
place where we were
on the day we post-
poned; nothing has
changed in the last
10 days.
—Sourav Ganguly,
BCCI president
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Mary Kom

Explore the possibilities of
change, for yourself and for
society, stagnancy is death.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
JAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
10
2NDFRONTPOSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21
First India News
Gandhina-
gar: Veteran
C o n g r e s s
leader Ahmed
Patel dashed
off a letter to
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
urging him to
create a National
Corona Re-
lief Fund and to sup-
ply food to the poor
free of cost through
the Public Distribu-
tion System.
Patel also wrote to
Gujarat Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani
with his suggestions
to tackle COVID-19.
In his letter to Ru-
pani, the Rajya Sab-
ha member pointed
out that when he dis-
cussed providing
funds from the MP’s
local area grants
for some equipment,
the local District Col-
lector told him there
is no provision for
the purpose.
He stated, “I am tak-
ing up this matter at
the central level but I
request you to pass
the instructions to the
administration.” he
stated.
Patel then wrote to
Vice-President and
Rajya Sabha Speaker
M Venkaiah Naidu
about this. “Given
the situation over
COVID-19, I desire to
contribute Rs1 crore
from MPLAD fund
allocated to me to the
Prime Minister’s Re-
lief Fund. Unfortu-
nately, there is no
mechanism at the
moment to do so,
hence I would re-
quest your kind in-
tervention to issue
necessary instruc-
tions,” he stated.
He wrote, “The
downtrodden and be-
low poverty line people
should not bear the re-
sult of the collateral
damage of this pan-
demic and they should
be provided rations,
sugar, oil and other
daily essentials via a
public distribution
system. I am request-
ing you to take neces-
sary steps to avail
these commodities to
the needy free of cost.”
He also asked Ru-
pani to increase the
number of laborato-
ries to conduct coro-
navirus tests. “Be-
fore the condition
worsens, there
should be adequate
laboratories. Facili-
ties like primary
tests, sanitizers and
masks must be
availed to the public
free of cost,” Patel
appealed.
He also advocated
the need to keep ade-
quate number of beds
ready. “If in case,
there is a rise in the
number of patients,
they must get timely
treatment. There
should be sufficient
number of beds, ven-
tilators, medicines,
doctors, para-medical
staff and isolation
wards in government-
run hospitals,” the
letter said.
Patel assured that
the Congress party
and its workers will
be with the govern-
ment to fight against
the calamity.
Ahmed Patel urges PM to create National Corona Fund
Ahmedabad: In the
wake of the coronavi-
rus outbreak and the
21-day nationwide
lockdown, thousands
of migrant workers
from Rajasthan work-
ing in different parts
of Gujarat have start-
ed walking back to
their native places in
the absence of any
transport facility.
Gujarat Police have
been trying to convince
them to abide by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s appeal to avoid
travelling.
A Congress leader
from Ahmedabad has
asked the party- led
government in Ra-
jasthan to arrange
some transportation
after these workers
reach the Gujarat-
Rajasthan border
near Shamlaji town
of Arvalli district,
also known as the Ra-
tanpur border.
Radheshyam Patel, a
native of Rajasthan’s
Dungarpur district and
workinginAhmedabad,
said there is no point in
staying here without
any income.
“Most of us work
here at tea stalls or
food joints. Since eve-
rything is shut, our
employers have asked
us to come back only
after things get nor-
mal, as they don’t
have money to pay us.
Since buses and other
modes of transport
are not available, we
have decided to walk
to reach home,” he
said.
Patel was part of a
50-member group that
started its journey on
foot on Tuesday night
from city’s Naranpura
area to reach the Ratan-
pur border, around 150
km from here. —Agencies
Haridwar-bound Pak
nat’ls stranded in Raj
First India News
Sriganganagar: A
large group of Paki-
stani nationals got
stuck in SriVijay-
nagar in Sriganga-
nagar district due to
nationwide lockdown.
They were supposed
to go to Haridwar.
The group members
have now petitioned for
Indian citizenship.
They said that their pa-
pers have been submit-
ted in Jodhpur court.
According to sourc-
es, 16 members of the
group had arrived on
March 8. They had ob-
tained a visa to visit
Haridwar. Remaining
5 members got per-
mission for Haridwar
on March 13 for 25
days. They are staying
with their relatives in
chak 23GB of gram
panchayat 24GB.
The local administra-
tion and health depart-
ment have provided
them medicines for cold
and flu after conducting
medical checkups. They
have been advised to re-
main in isolation.
These Pakistani na-
tionals were over-
whelmed by arrange-
ments in India. They
said that they want to
stay in India. They said
that they have applied
for citizenship and
submitted documents
in Jodhpur court.
Milestogo:RajworkerswalkhomefromGuj
Migrant workers on their way home from Gujarat.
Homestay:ECI nod for use of
indelible ink to wipe out corona
New Delhi: The Elec-
tion Commission of
India (ECI) on
Wednesday reviewed
its decision to allow
the use of indelible
ink for stamping posi-
tive persons, who are
home quarantined.
In a letter to Secretary,
Health and Family Wel-
fare Ministry, the ECI
has stated that following
the extraordinary cir-
cumstances because of
COVID-19 pandemic, the
Commission has re-
viewed its decision suo
moto and has decided to
allow the use of indeli-
ble ink on persons for
stamping for homestay.
However, ECI has
set forth certain con-
ditions that are to be
followed as far the us-
age indelible ink is
concerned on the per-
son’s body.
The Health Ministry
must fix an area on the
body where the quaran-
tine mark is to be made
along with maintaining
the record of the person
on whom this mark is
made. As the left fore-
finger of electors is re-
quired to be marked
with indelible ink at
the polling stations be-
fore the elector is al-
lowed to vote, the con-
cerned authorities
shall be instructed not
to use the indelible ink
on any finger on the
left hand of any per-
sons under quarantine.
The mark of indelible
ink lasts for three days
when applied on the skin
unlike on nails where it
lasts for a few weeks.—PTI
CEC Sunil Arora
More trouble for Kamal,Diggi?
First India News
New Delhi: The former
MP Chief Minister Ka-
mal Nath has gone into
self-isolation. The trig-
ger which started the en-
tire saga in which Migla-
ni, Kamal Nath’s right
hand and political advi-
sor tested positive for
Covid 19 on March 25, is
the already unforgetta-
ble Press conference on
March 20, where he an-
nounced his resignation.
Kamal Nath has
rightfully quarantined
himself on Wednesday
and since Digvijay Sin-
gh was also present at
the same PC, such an
announcement is ex-
pected from him too.
KK Srivastava, the
father of the first Coro-
na positive patient of
Bhopal attended this
PC. Also present were
all the Congress MLAs,
senior officials and
about 200 journalists.
Sources say that Sriv-
astava met Miglani and
it is a well known fact
that Miglani is like a
shadow to Kamal Nath.
However, Kamal Nath
has no problems right
now and the self quaran-
tine decision is as per
Corona virus precation-
ary norms. Miglani’s
health deteriorated
slightly on March 21 and
he was admitted to Smart
City hospital on March
23, his report came posi-
tive on Wednesday.
The other journalists
have been asked to self-
isolate themselves in
order to avoid possible
transmission.
Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath. —FILE PHOTO
Nath goes into isolation as journo present at his last presser tests Covid-19 positive
Rajendra Chhabra
Jaipur: State govern-
ment under a sensi-
tive and visionary
leadership of CM
Ashok Gehlot is try-
ing to thwart the
dreaded menace of
Covid-19 with all its
‘might’. This ‘might’
majorly comprises of
lakhs of people both
from govt and private
capacity who are ex-
ecuting govt orders to
the best of their ca-
pacity. But it also has
one man working
with complete dedica-
tion and hard work
ensuring that the or-
ders and aim of the
leadership are exe-
cuted in the letter and
spirit. This man is
ACS (Health) Rohit
Kumar Singh.
Singh has demon-
strated a rare combina-
tion of talent, efficien-
cy, allegiance, and spe-
cialization in disaster
management in the face
of coronavirus threat.
In his present role as a
troubleshooter, he has
established himself as a
deserving, dependable
and responsible bu-
reaucrat.
Actually Rohit Ku-
mar Singh started
preparing for the co-
rona threat since Jan-
uary when he first
came across news of
infection crossing the
Chinese borders. So
when the first corona
positive case of Ital-
ian tourist came to
light in the state in
late February, it took
him no time to simply
rise and start per-
forming and since
then he has been
working on it from 7
am to 1 am every day.
Since he heads the de-
partment which is the
nodal department to
deal with this unprece-
dented health and life
threat, he has to multi-
task in more than one
way. Just imagine the
wide spectrum of re-
sponsibilities like for-
mulating, coordination,
monitoring, reporting,
leading and implemen-
tation all in a day’s
work and day after day.
The best part is,
Singh is doing it with
professional deftness
and responsibly.
While most of us find
it cumbersome even
to switch between Tv
channels or OTT web
series Rohit Kumar
Singh has a wider
agenda to be strictly
followed daily. He has
to update central
health secretary Priti
Sood and ICMR DG
Dr Balram Bhargava
daily on the situation
in the state and mind
you it’s not simple
submitting a report
but a to-the-point pro-
fessional discussion.
Then he gets on with
getting feedback from
all district collectors
specially Bhilwara,
Pratapgarh and Jhunj-
hunu and then giving
everybody necessary
instructions. Being on a
24x7 call for the CM and
CS goes without men-
tioning.
Before one thought
that his job was over
wait, he also has to
take an update of the
quarantined Indians
who have been
brought from Iran
and are placed at the
Army Wellness Cent-
er in Jaisalmer. Singh
then checks all the 6
Covid-19 testing labs
for the latest reports
about positive and
negative patients.
Focus then shifts to
take an update from all
the hospital superinten-
dents of the state. In
between, he also keeps
a tab on the availability
of sanitizers and masks
in the state and if the
need is to talk to the
manufacturers to en-
sure smooth supply
chain.
Now to coordinate
the functioning of the
control room at SI-
PHU is also his re-
sponsibility. Apart
from all the above
ACS (Health) has to
invariably be present
in all the health meet-
ings at CMO or CMR
which may last for
long hours. Last but
not least he also finds
time to boost the mo-
rale of his team who
is performing really
well and working
tirelessly under his
supervision. Rohit
Singh says that while
handling so much of
work he seldom real-
izes about the sunrise
or sunset. But a super
confident Singh says
that he and his team
will never lose the
courage to face the
challenges ahead and
he is also sure of win-
ning the war against
the virus.
Wednesday brought
him a new challenge in
the form of settling two
planeloads of Indian
passengers, arriving
from Iran, in the well-
ness center in Jodhpur.
CORONAVIRUS WARRIORS... ROHIT SINGH STANDS TALL!
ACS (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh.
Bot to ensure social distancing at SMS Hosp
Vikash Sharma
Jaipur: The health de-
partment is leaving no
stone unturned to con-
tain the spread of Cov-
id-19. Soon SMS hospi-
tal may have a robot
distributing medicine
and food to the corona-
virus positive patients.
The services of a ro-
bot will reduce repeated
physical contact of any
health worker with the
virus-positive patient
and reduce the inci-
dence of infection. Cur-
rently, the demonstra-
tion of the robot servic-
es is being monitored.
The standout aspect
of the whole up-grada-
tion episode is that the
funds for the robotic
technology have been ar-
ranged by SMS manage-
ment without govt aid
said hospital superin-
tendent Dr DS Meena.
He informed that a pri-
vate donor has given
NOC for three robots out
of which one has been
already delivered. Cur-
rently, the robot is dem-
onstrating its skills in
the isolation ward and
by Thursday it may be
pressed into regular ser-
vice. Robotic services
will make it an ideal iso-
lation facility where the
time & energy consumed
in the health worker
changing into the PP kit
on every visit inside the
isolation ward will be
done away. The use of
the robot will also dras-
tically reduce any
chances of infection.
After the robotic
practices start being
used only doctors and
nursing staff will be al-
lowed inside the isola-
tion ward. The robot
will also rule out any
human error instants
in the care of an isolat-
ed patients.

First india rajasthan english news paper today 26 march 2020 edition

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First india rajasthan english news paper today 26 march 2020 edition