Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-19 march 2020 edition

Mumbai: The Sensex
crashed below the
29,000-level while the
Nifty dived almost 500
points on Wednesday
as the coronavirus
pandemic maintained
its death grip on mar-
kets across the globe.
S&P lowering In-
dia’s growth forecast
and the Supreme
Court’s refusal to pro-
vide relief to telecom
firms on the AGR issue
further sapped risk ap-
petite, traders said.
After swinging over
2,488.72 points in a high-
ly volatile session, the
30-share BSE Sensex
closed 1,709.58 points or
5.59 per cent lower at
28,869.51.
The Sensex has
closed below the 29,000-
mark for the first time
since January 2017.
On similar lines, the
broader NSE Nifty
plummeted 498.25
points, or 5.56 per cent,
to end at 8,468.80.
Barring ONGC and
ITC, all Sensex constitu-
ents finished in the red.
IndusInd Bank was
the top loser, diving
23.90 per cent, followed
by PowerGrid (11.29 per
cent), Kotak Bank (11.23
per cent), Bajaj Finance
(11.11 per cent), HDFC
Bank (9.92 per cent) and
NTPC (8.08 per cent).
Earlier in the day,
S&P Global Ratings
lowered India’s eco-
nomic growth forecast
to 5.2 per cent for 2020,
Turn on P9
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday asked the
BJP how could the
court be sure that the
16 rebel Congress
MLAs from Madhya
Pradesh, staying at a
resort in Bengaluru,
had exercised their
choice to tender their
resignations from the
state Assembly freely?
A bench headed by
Justice DY Chandra-
chud and comprising
Justice Hemant Gupta
said these 16 could tilt
the balance this way or
that way.
“We are thinking as
to how we can ensure
an order....They must
have free unhindered
access to the Assembly.
They should be free to
exercise, do whatever
they want.”
Advocate Maninder
Singh, representing the
rebel MLAs, Turn on P9
SC asks BJP
if MP rebel
Cong MLAs
exercised
choice freely?
CORONA TAKES STOCK,
MARKET TANKS BELOW 29K
Sensex nosedives 1,709 points in
freefall Nifty gives up 8,500-mark
Barring ONGC,ITC, all Sensex
constituents finished in the red
GOVT, RBI MULL
RELAXING BAD
LOAN RULES FOR
CORONA
HIT SECTORS
Government and
central bank are
considering giving
relief to banks, aviation
and other hospital-
ity sectors hit by the
coronavirus outbreak
by relaxing bad loan
classification rules, a
source familiar with the
matter said. The gov-
ernment is discussing
increasing timeline by
30-60 days to classify a
loan as a bad loan, the
source said. Currently,
a debt not serviced for
90 days is classified as
a bad loan.
MIMI IN SELF QUARANTINE
AFTER LONDON VISIT
Justice Ranjan Gogoi to take oath
as Rajya Sabha member today
New Delhi: Former
Chief Justice of India
Ranjan Gogoi will take
oath as Rajya Sabha
member on Thursday,
sources said.
Rajya Sabha sources
said he will take oath at
11 am on Thursday.
The former CJI, who
gave landmark Ayod-
hya judgment, was
nominated to the Rajya
Sabha by President
Ram Nath Kovind on
March 16.
 Bengali film actress and Trinamool Con-
gress MP Mimi Chakraborty, who returned
from England on Tuesday, announced she
would remain in home isolation for the next
seven days and won’t even meet her parents
as a precautionary measure in view of the
coronavirus outbreak.
 Mimi, who touched down at the NSCBI
Airport in Kolkata from London where she
had been busy shooting for “Baazi”, went
through thermal screening.
 She appealed to people to abide by the
government directives to prevent spread of
disease.
 “I have returned from a place
like UK via Dubai. So all the pre-
cautions have been taken. My
father is above 65 years, I have
told parents not to meet me.”
JAIPUR l THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 281
17°C - 31°COUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
SECTION 144
IMPOSED IN RAJ
TILL MARCH 31Jaipur’s Amber Fort bears a deserted
look after all monuments were shut due
to coronavirus. —PHOTO BY NAIM KHAN
COMBATING COVID-19
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: Owing to the
threat of mass scale
spread of coronavirus
and three more coro-
na positive individu-
als being reported in
Jhunjhunu, which in-
clude husband-wife
and their two-and-a-
half-year-old child
who returned from
Italy eight days ago,
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot directed to im-
plement prohibitory
orders (section 144) in
the first phase across
the state by March 31
to save the lives of
people from coronavi-
rus infection.
The District Magis-
trate and Sub Division-
al Officers have been
authorised to issue nec-
essary guidelines in
this regard, as a meas-
ure to deter congrega-
tion of people, which is
one of the prime factors
of the virus’s spread.
Further, Gehlot also in-
structed officials to
sound a curfew in one
kilometre radius of the
affected family’s house
in Jhunjhunu.
On Wednesday, Ge-
hlot reviewed meas-
ures to prevent infec-
tion of COVID-19 in
the Chief Minister’s
Office. “It is the whole-
hearted effort of the
state government that
the citizens of the
state survive the infec-
tion of this epidemic.
People should not be
advised to gather
through loudspeakers
at other religious and
public places includ-
ingtemples,mosques,”
Gehlot instructed the
officials.
The Chief Minister
also directed that “Par-
ent and Teachers’ Meet-
ing (PTM) should be
stopped with immedi-
ate effect in all govern-
ment and private
schools in the state till
31 March and the pres-
ence of parents and
children should be
stopped from the pro-
cess of new admission
in schools.” He also in-
structed public and gov-
ernment libraries to be
closed by 31 March.
Moreover, Gehlot
alsoinstructedtoplace
curfew in Jhunjhunu
at the place where
three patients infected
with corona virus have
been found within a
kilometre radius of
the patients’ house for
the next two days to
prevent the spread of
infection to others.
The Chief Minister
has also directed to de-
velop testing facilities
at Ajmer, Kota, Bharat-
pur, Jhunjhunu and
other places and double
the testing capacity in
Jaipur.
“The safety of people
of Rajasthan stranded
abroad should be talked
to the Ministry of Exter-
nal Affairs. Full screen-
ing of passengers arriv-
ing by air from abroad
should be done at hotels
near the airport for
which three hotels have
been identified. Sus-
pects should be instruct-
ed to stay in home Isola-
tion completely for 14
days when symptoms
appear in the examina-
tion. Apart from this,
information should also
be pasted outside their
house so that the people
of theneighbourhooddo
not meet them and can
avoid infection,” Gehlot
instructed, further say-
ing, “Gehlot said that
therewillbenoshortage
of resources in the state
to deal with Corona. Iso-
lation facility, lab prepa-
ration Turn on P9
 State Government to
request Central Govern-
ment to send a special
team for Jhunjhunu
 Five senior officials
sent to Jhunjhunu from
head quarters
 350 teams formed
for special screening at
Jhunjhunu
 The positive patients
residence area has been
divided into three zones
in one, two and three
kilometer radius where
the screening will be
done
 WHO and UNICEF
teams to also visit
Jhunjhunu to take stock
of situation
THREE POSITIVE CASES IN JHUNJHUNU,
RETURNED FROM ITALY 8 DAYS AGO
PM MODI TO
ADDRESS NATION
TODAY AT 8 PM
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will
address the nation
at 8 pm on Thursday
evening regarding the
ongoing coronavirus
outbreak across the
world and the efforts
to combat it. The
address comes after a
high-level meeting PM
chaired on Wednesday
to review the efforts
to contain COVID-19.
The country has seen
151 cases of corona-
virus so far and three
patients have died. To
control the spread of
the virus, the govern-
ment has drawn up
a plan to sensitise
people and spread
awareness about
the issue.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot along with Raghu Sharma, DB Gupta, Kuldeep Ranka holding a review
meeting on the situation of coronavirus in state, on Wednesday.

First India News
Jaipur: BJP has made
Rajya Sabha elections
interesting by fielding
two candidates despite
numbers to ensure vic-
tory of any one candi-
date. The move has cre-
ated ripples in Con-
gress, who are already
been facing challenge
to keep its flock togeth-
er in Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat.
Notwithstanding re-
quest from Congress,
BJP leaders Rajendra
Gehlot and Omkar Sin-
gh Lakhawat have filed
nomination papers.
Three seats have fall-
en vacant in Rajasthan.
Bases on their strength
in the state assembly,
two seats would have
gone to the Congress
easily while BJP would
have got one seat.
However, BJP after
nominating Rajendra
Gehlot as first choice
suddenly fielded one
more candidate former
Rajya Sabha MP Omkar
Singh Lakhawat forcing
Congress to fortressing
of its legislators.
With four candidates
for two seats, Congress
will have to work hard
to avoid cross voting by
its own MLA in addi-
tion to secure support
of legislators from oth-
er parties and inde-
pendents.
Each candidate needs
51 votes on the basis of
house strength of 200
legislators. Congress
was hopeful of easy
win for two candidates
AICC general secretary
KC Venugopal and
Neeraj Dangi.
The ruling party has
107 MLAs including six
from BSP who merged
the party with Con-
gress. Besides it was
counting on 13 inde-
pendents, 2 CPM, 1
RLD and 2 BTP MLAs
that brings it total to
125 MLAs.
BJP has 74 votes in-
cluding 72 of its own
MLAs and two from
RLP. After 51 first pref-
erence votes it would
require cross voting of
at least by independents
as well as congress
members. The party is
hoping to win over dis-
sident Congress MLAs
as well as independents.
However, the Con-
gress has issued whip
hence its MLAs will
have to show their vote
before casting it but in-
dependents have no
such obligation. The
BJP has a wild hope on
mistake like using
wrong ink or absence if
not direct cross voting.
First India News
Alwar: A bus hit a bike
near Paladia turn in the
Tijara area on Wednes-
day. A mother-daughter
along with the son in
law, were riding on the
bike and died on the
spot. After the incident,
the bus driver fled from
the spot. Additional SP
Arun Macha, DSP
Kushal Singh, SHO Ji-
tendra Navariya also
reached the spot as soon
as they received the in-
formation.
The police sent the
three deceased dead
bodies at Tijara Hospi-
tal Mortuary, and in-
formed their family.
Police said the deceased
has been identified as
65-year-old Savetri, her
daughter Sushila and
son in law Surajbhan.
Police also said that
after the accident, the
bike was burnt to ashes
as it caught fire and the
bus has been seized. by
the officials.
‘Really tragic that an old
man was beaten to death’
First India News
Alwar: Family and vil-
lagers pelted stones at
police officials in
Raisarana village situ-
ated in Mandan police
station area when the
officials had gone to
capture a standing
warrantee from Pun-
jab. Due to which the
officials including the
station incharge got
injured. A case of ali-
mony was filed by the
wife of the accused
Omprakash Bawaria
in Punjab. In this case,
the police reached his
village to arrest the
accused. After the inci-
dent, all the family
members including
the accused fled away
and escaped from the
village.
ASP Neemrana Sid-
dhant Sharma said,
Punjab Police along
with head constable
Ashok Yadav from
Mandan police station
had gone to Raisarana
to catch Omprakash.
Meanwhile, his family
members pelted stones
at the police officials.
Mandan police station
incharge Vikram Sin-
gh reached the spot as
soon as he received the
information. The fam-
ily members attacked
the police.
Several policemen
present on the spot, in-
cluding the police of-
ficer, were injured in
the attack. The injured
policemen are being
treated in the local
town hospital.
Familypeltstonesat
copsastheyarrest
alimonycaseaccused
Alwar: Bus
hits bike, three
die on the spot
BUILDER ON
DIVERSE ROADS
Abuilder from Jaipur real
estate market has an
interesting journey on. He
was already a successful
name in real estate with
one project after another
now he has another sector
tapped too. In last two
years he has constructed
two schools on the city.
One in Mansarovar and the
other on the Kalwar road.
Well that’s called smart
diversification.
GAMBLING SINKS ITS
CLAWS ON BUILDER
The Cricket batting has ruined many lives.
Now name of a builder has been added
to this list. The
builder had a
sound
real estate
business but
today owes
crores of rupees
to the market. His
projects too have
failed. His life is
shuttling between Jaipur and Goa trying to
save life from the gambling dons.
FIRST INDIA spreads
its vistas... we shall
now recount bytes
and buzz in the real
estate sector
Check
Realty
SHRI BALAJI DREAM DEVELOPERS SET WITH NEW PROJECT
Shri Balaji Dream Developers finalised a deal for 4 bigha land at Sikar for the construction of Matra
Chaya project. Vijay Sharma, Ravi Sharma are the director of the project. The land deal was worth
Rs 7 crores, but talk in the market suggests that the deal was worth Rs 11 crore. The property market is
buzzing with excitement over this project.
AMBER MERCANTILLES
ALL SET FOR JAIPUR
Amber Mercantilles Group signed a land
deal for 1780 square yards in Jaipur
for the construction of RERA registered
Shyam Dham Heights Project. Manoj
Poddar, Aarti Parasrampuria are the
directors of the group. The project has
been pitched for Rs 13.84 crore.
NEWSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
GUP
SHUP
CORONAVIRUS TRIGGERS THE
‘CLEANLINESS VIRUS’ IN SAHAB
Sahab from police commissionerate is really worked up
thinking about Coronavirus. He suspects, almost every
complainant coming to his office, of being infected. His fear
of getting infected is so high that he avoids sitting in his office
and is found touring the city in the name of inspection. Cops
tell each other that Sahab, before going to any police station,
calls up one of his known sub ordinates and inquires about
the cleanliness of the police station and the nearby areas. If
the need arises, a Gama rank officer is assigned, to get the
space clean. Sahab only reaches for inspection once desired
destination is clean enough for his visit. The ‘Cleanliness Virus’
of the sahab is on everybody’s discussion agenda.
GAMA POSTED IN CITY UNDER
PHQ OFFICERS’ RADAR
The Gama rank cops deputed at police stations
are being monitored by the officers in the PHQ.
The officers are busy preparing bio data of the
Gamas across the state. It is believed that a nexus
of ‘maal’ against posting followed by ‘monthlies’
is shamelessly on. PHQ officers have received
complaints from many police stations. So in phase
one all such Gamas will made non field which will
be followed by a departmental enquiry. Buzz is that
many Jaipur posted Gama are in this list.
Assumed to be Muslim,
man buried, later cremated
Tonk: Initially buried
as per Islamic tradi-
tions, an unidentified
man’s body was ex-
humed and later cre-
mated after he was
found to be a Hindu.
The family members
identified the body of
Mahaveer Sahu on
Tuesday, a day after the
burial, as they stum-
bled upon photos of the
deceased that had circu-
lated on social media.
The man was brought
to a government hospi-
tal in an unconscious
state on March 12 and
he died on March 13.
The man was said to
be a liquor addict and
was found unconscious
on the road, he added.
The body was kept at
the mortuary for three
days awaiting identifi-
cation. Despite efforts
to trace the next of kin,
the identity could not
be ascertained and
members of Hindu and
Muslim communities
were brought in to take
a decision.
The community lead-
ers presumed that he
was a Muslim after ex-
amining the body and
the burial took place.
Keen contest in the offing for 3
Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan2 candidates each for BJP & Congress are in fray after last day of taking back names on Wednesday
First India News
Jaipur: Congress MLA
and former DGP Harish
Meena cornered the
state government on
law & order issue.
Meena tweeted on the
death of Madan Lal
Meena after he was
beaten by some people
doubting him of mobile
phone theft in Sikar.
He said that it was re-
ally tragic that an old
person was severely
beaten to death by the
powerful. The poor,
young and farmers of
thiscommunitycontrib-
uted a lot to elect the
Congress government.
The incident oc-
curred on March 4
when Madan Lal was
blamed of mobile theft
in a Bhandara at Khatu
Shyam fair and was se-
verely beaten. He was
referred to SMS hospi-
tal in serious condition
where he died.
The family of the de-
ceased took his body to
Neem Ka Thana police
station and staged a
demonstrationdemand-
ing Rs 50 lakh as com-
pensation, government
job for dependents and
action against culprits.
The dead body was only
crematised after police
arrested the accused.
Rajendra Gehlot KC Venugopal Neeraj DangiOmkar Singh Lakhawat
HOW LONG WILL SIROHI’S
NEW COLLECTOR LAST?
Bureaucratic transfers and postings, specially
of collectors, matter for everybody at
different levels and in different contexts. But at
times certain districts become rather interesting
cases, take Sirohi for example. Sirohi has
had as many as five collectors in last thirty
months. What is more interesting is that out
of these five, four were 2011 batch young IAS
officers. Abhimamyu Kumar, Sandesh Nayak
and Anupama Jorwal have served as Collector,
Sirohi and Bhagwati Prasad Kalal was recently
transferred on the post. Still more interesting
that none of them was able to complete one
year on this post. Sample this...Abhimanyu
Kumar 6 months, Sandesh Nayak 11 months,
Anupama Jowal 6 months and Bhagwati Prasad
Kalal hasn’t yet fully unpacked as he was posted
at Sirohi recently on 1 March 2020. It will be
curious to see how much does he last? Sirohi
district assumes extra importance as it has
state’s only hill station Mt. Abu in its jurisdiction
area. There have been 36 collectors posted
to Sirohi since 1975. Sirohi was historically
famous for manufacturing ‘Double- Edged
Swords’ since 15th century days of Chuhan-
Deora rulers, explains well why it equally is
double edged to be a collector here.
OFF THE
RECORD
PANTHER NOT HAPPY WITH TIGERS
APanther posted in the range is more worried about two
Tigers in his range rather than the criminals of his area.
Panther has even complained to his senior officers regarding
these two prowling tigers and the buzz is that both the tigers are
on the radar now. These tigers rather than following Panther’s
directions are busy in fueling casteism leading to total disarray
among subordinates leading to an increased crime rate.
Harish Meena
NEW BEGINNINGS
Governor Kalraj Mishra inaugurated his renovated office at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. On
this occasion his granddaughters Aashi and Amishi were also present.
First India News
Ajmer: Five people
have died in a horrific
accident, when a gravel-
filled dumper and car
fiercely collided, on the
Jaipur Road Mega
Highway at Rupangarh
in Ajmer on Wednesday.
All the deceased people
were in the car were go-
ing to Nagaur.
Deputy Satish Yadav
reached at the spot as
soon as the accident
was reported. The acci-
dent was so gruesome
that the deceased got
trapped in the car. The
dead bodies from the
car with help of a crane.
Gravel-filled dumper collides
with car at highway, 5 dead

RAJASTHANJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
z Jaipur: DGP
Bhupendra Singh has
issued an advisory
to police personnel
asking them to take
precautions due to
rising coronavirus
cases in state. Use
of breath analysers
has been banned till
further orders and
now meetings would
be held through video
conferencing and cor-
respondence be done
by email if possible.
Additional Commis-
sioner Ashok Gupta
informed that the
advisory issued by the
PHQ is being taken
seriously.
z Jaipur: The wait
of Jaipur regarding
phase 1B of Jaipur
Metro is going to end
soon as the project is
set to begin from April
1. Now, Metro will
start operating from
Badi Chaupar to Man-
sarovar, said Railway
Safety Commissioner
of Metro RK Sharma.
z Jaipur: Congress
has welcomed the
decision of the High
Court regarding post-
poning the Municipal
Corporation elections.
PCC Organisation
General Secretary Dr
Mahesh Sharma said
we had written a letter
to EC regarding the
same and we welcome
HC decision.
z Jaipur: As a
precaution due to
coronavirus, a ban
has been imposed on
meeting prisoners in
Rajasthan jails. DG
Jail NRK Reddy issued
the orders. More than
100 relatives reach
Jaipur Jail daily to
meet the prisoners.
z Advocate Shubham
Modi has filed a PIL in
Rajasthan HC Jodhpur
making central & state
govts parties among
others while pointing
out non compliance of
the guidelines issued
by the govt.
z Health Minister
Raghu Sharma pre-
sided over a meeting
where all heads of
medical departments
were present. Sharma
reviewed corona-
virus related issue
including number
of positive patients,
people who are being
screened based on
the symptoms.
z ACS Rohit Kumar
Singh in a letter to
the airports author-
ity has given strict
instructions to sanitise
trollies on daily basis.
He also instructed use
of triple layer mask in
all hospitals and also
follow “Hand Hygiene”
Protocol.
BRIEF
in
Washington: Hundreds
of distressed Indian stu-
dents, stuck in the Phil-
ippines, are seeking
help through video mes-
sages as they are unable
to fly back home due to
the travel restrictions
imposed by India to con-
tain the spread of the
deadly novel coronavi-
rus, according to friends
and relatives of some of
these students in the US.
The Indian govern-
ment on Tuesday
banned the entry of
passengers from Af-
ghanistan, Philippines
and Malaysia to India
with immediate effect
amid stepped up efforts
against the spread of
COVID-19.
In a video message
by one of these stu-
dents Akhil Bala Nair,
around 200 Indian stu-
dents had booked their
flight tickets for India
in the next few days.
But all of them have
been cancelled due to
the new policy.
Most of the students,
she said, had booked
their flights for March
17 and rest were sched-
ule to travel to India on
March 19 and 20. But
the flights were can-
celled and scores of In-
dian students are now
stuck at the airport in
Manila, Nair said in the
video message sent to
Prem Bhandari, head
of the Jaipur Foot USA.
“It is need of the hour
that the Indian govern-
ment send a plane to
bring these Indian stu-
dents back home,”
Bhandari, who in the
past has worked for the
cause of the Indian di-
aspora, and who was ap-
proached by these stu-
dents told PTI.
According to these
students, some 100 of
them have been at the
airport since Tuesday.
They all have con-
firmed tickets but the
airport authorities are
not allowing them to
check in because of the
new travel regulations.
Meanwhile, the Indi-
an Embassy in Manila,
in a tweet, said that
they, along with the
Ministry of External
Affairs, are trying to
work out a solution.
“It is requested to all
to kindly have pa-
tience,” the embassy
said. —PTI
Distressed Indian students in Philippines seek help to get back home
DISTRESS CALL
zzz
In the video
message sent to
Prem Bhandari,
head of the
Jaipur Foot USA
the stranded
students can be
seen seeking
help
Stranded students sought
Prem Bhandari’s (inset) help.
First India News
Jaipur: The Rajasthan
High Court on Wednes-
day deferred municipal
corporation polls in
state for six weeks on
grounds of coronavirus
outbreak.
The division bench of
Justices Sangeet Lodha
and Manoj Kumar Vyas
deferred the elections
on a plea by the state
government.
The court also dis-
posed of six PILs with
similar requests.
HC has also given lib-
erty to the state govern-
ment and petitioners
that in case situation
doesn’t improve, they
can again approach the
court for further relief
or if the situation im-
proves then they can
again file applications.
Advocate general MS
Singhvi and additional
advocate generals Ma-
jor RP Singh and Saty-
endra Singh Raghav ap-
peared on behalf of the
state government.
The advocate general
informed the court that
at a time when even
courts have been com-
plying with COVID 19
guidelines, there is no
need to conduct munici-
pal election in haste.
Accepting the argu-
ment, Justice Sangeet
Lodha said in his rul-
ing that Coronavirus
has been declared glob-
al pandemic by the
World Health Organisa-
tion (WHO) and the cen-
tral government too
has issued guidelines
regarding it, therefore
it would be wise to post-
pone the elections be-
cause thousands of peo-
ple would assemble at
one place to vote.
With that the court
deferred elections in
six municipal corpora-
tions of Jaipur, Jodh-
pur and Kota.
CORONAVIRUS
HC POSTPONES MUNICIPAL POLLS
PLATFORM TICKETS TO
COST `50 TO DETER CROWD
Jaipur: As a preventive measure against corona-
virus, Railways has increased prices of platform
tickets from `10 to `50. The objective is to stop
overcrowding at railway stations. The increased
price of platform tickets would be applicable on
10 railway stations including Jaipur junction. New
rates would come into effect from midnight and
will be applicable till March 31. On one hand, the
railway administration has been paying special
attention on cleanliness of trains and stations but
simultaneously to discourage people from unneces-
sarily coming to stations to see off passengers, it
has hiked platform ticket prices five times. Accord-
ing to railway sources, there is tendency of so many
people going to platform to see off just a single
passenger sometimes, hence this drastic step has
been taken to regulate the crowd.
TEMPLES REVISE
DARSHAN TIMINGS
Bikaner: Coronavirus scare has put district adminis-
tration on its toes. District administration is monitor-
ing the situation on day today basis and issuing neces-
sary instructions. Health department has ordered
closure of historic Junagarh Fort till further orders.
The world famous Karni Mata temple too will now
conduct necessary worship schedules and discourage
large gathering. The tourism department has asked all
hotels to cancel bookings of foreign tourists from 19
March and if they allow any foreign tourist then 14 day
isolation will be mandatory. All religious places in the
state are being either closed or open for only a small
amount of people. For the first time in 348 years,
Shrinath temple will only open for 4 slots instead of
8. Whereas, in Ajmer Dargah vaju would only be done
through tap water. Regular practise of vaju has been
suspended for the time being. Apart from this temple
in Chittorgarh would open from 12 to 2:30 pm and
Ram Devra temple in Jasilmer will open for darshan
in three slots. The Brahma temple of Pushkar has also
been closed for devotees till March 31. In Moti Dungri
Temple darshan are open from Mangla till 9.30 am.
195 EVACUATED FROM IRAN
REACH JAISALMER FACILITY
Jaipur: Air India has evacuated 195 Indians from Iran,
which is one of the worst affected countries from COVID
19 and brought them to Jaisalmer on Wednesday. Two
special AI planes landed in Jaisalmer with passengers who
had been stranded in Iran following virus outbreak. The
first plane had 105 pas-
sengers including 68 men
and 37 women while the
second had 41 men and 48
women. Prior to this, three
AI planes had brought 289
Indians to Jaisalmer. All
of them have been kept in
isolation at wellness centre developed by the Army. With
Wednesday’s 195 passengers, total number of people at
the facility has reached 484.They will be kept here for 14
days. So far none of them have been found positive of the
virus. Earlier, these 195 people were screened at Jaisalmer
Airport after which they were taken to the wellness centre.
The army has developed this modern wellness centre with
a capacity of 1,000 beds in just a month. Apart from excel-
lent medical facilities, people here also have arrangements
for games and entertainment.
FAMOUS KAILA MATA FAIR
POSTPONED TILL MARCH 31
Karauli: A day after CM Gehlot’s appeal for caution, the
Kaila Mata fair, famous across north India, has been
postponed till March 31. The fair which attracts lakhs of
devotees was to begin from 20 March. The temple trust
also announced closure of darshan after the morning
Aarti on Wednesday till 31 March. All the religious rituals
including the Aarti will continue but only in the presence of
temple priests. The disappointed devotees are leaving their
offerings outside the temple premises. Small traders look-
ing forward to the fair are disappointed due their financial
loss. Meanwhile the district administration is making all ef-
forts to make people aware of the corona threat and using
all means at disposal to educate people of keeping hygiene
through washing hands, using masks & sanitizers.
10 flights cancelled due to
virus scare, few passengers
First India News
Jaipur: As Coronavirus
flies high, the airline
flights seem to be taking
a beating. People had al-
ready cancelled their
recreational air travels
now they are also can-
celling any air travel
which can be avoided.
The airlines too are can-
celling flights due to re-
duced passenger load.
The awareness cam-
paign by Govt and me-
diareportstoohasmade
people vigil thus avoid-
ing air travel. GOI has
stopped issuing visas to
anybody except people
of Indian origin.
Jaipur Airport can-
celled 10 out of 61 on
Wednesday. Go Air was
forced to cancel five out
of its total six flights
from Jaipur due to in-
structions from their
headofficeobviouslydue
todrasticallylowpassen-
ger load. Indigo and Air
India cancelled their
Delhi flights. Air India
also cancelled its flights
to Udaipur and Bhopal.
Go Air cancelled its
flights to Mumbai, Ben-
gluru, Ahmedabad and
Kolkata. Talking about
International flights
OmanAironWednesday
cancelled its flight to
Muscat. Air Asia flights
to Bangkok and Kuala
Lumpur are already sus-
pended till 10 April.
The passenger load
has reduced to fifty per-
cent forcing airlines to
rather cancel flights
than fly at loss. This has
come as a big worry for
air travelers desiring to
take a flight for some ur-
gent work or medical
emergency. The aviation
sector, like other sectors
of economy, has been
forced into an unprece-
dented situation in re-
cent memory. The situa-
tion will completely im-
prove only after the
Coronavirus pandemic
is taken care of interna-
tionally which certainly
will take some time.
People told to avoid
visiting religious places
First India News
Jaipur: A group of re-
ligious leaders have
asked people to avoid
visiting places of wor-
ships and pray at home
for next few days.
Acting on CM Ashok
Gehlot’s suggestion, the
religious leaders in-
cludingMahantKailash
of Moti Dungri, Father
Vijaypal, Mahaman-
gleshwar Purushottam
Bharti, Manas Goswa-
mi of Govinddev ji tem-
ple, Rajasthan Waqf
Board Chairman
Khanu Khan Budhwali
and chief of Jama Mas-
jid Nadeem Qureshi
held a press conference.
CM had met religious
leaders to persuade
them to appeal to people
to avoid crowd at places
of worship.
POLLS IN SIX MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS DEFERRED FOR 6
WEEKS; JAIPUR AIRPORT CANCELS 10 OUT OF 61 FLIGHTS
YOUTH KEPT IN
ISOLATION
Rajsamand: A youth, who returned to
Asotia in Rajsamand from Poland on
March 11, has been kept in the isolation
home ward in view of coronavirus infec-
tion. The medical department team also
conducted medical tests of the youth as
well as his family members and instructed
them to remain in an isolation home for 28
days. Rajsamand District Medical Officer
JP Bunkar said that 18-year-old Vedant
Gaur was studying international law in
Poland and had returned to Rajsamand on
March 11. On receiving the information,
Health Department team examined his
health and he was found normal. Although
keeping the WHO guidelines in mind, he
has been kept in an isolation home ward.
TOURIST FOUND
DEAD IN HOTEL
Jaisalmer: A Mumbai resident Bharat
Panchal, 58, who had come to Jaisalmer
as a tourist, was found dead in his hotel
room on Wednesday. The tourist had a
fever when he reached Jaisalmer and
was also examined in a private hospital
on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning,
Panchal was found dead in a hotel
room. After getting the information, the
medical department team reached the
hotel and started the investigation. It is
being told that the deceased was already
BP and diabetes patient. The family of
the deceased has been informed and the
body has been kept in the mortuary. The
postmortem will be carried out after his
family reaches Jaisalmer.
—PHOTO BY NAIM KHAN

INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
New Delhi: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
on Wednesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s initiative to bring together the SAARC na-
tions to combat coronavirus by terming the move
as “humane and far-sighted step,” which will
serve as an example to the world. Pradhan said
the step taken by Prime Minister Modi indicates
India’s seriousness towards containing the viral
outbreak, which recognises no border, but also
the deep bonds of amity that New Delhi shares
with the subcontinent.
Jammu: After reviewing all aspects related
to yatra and the safety of pilgrims in wake of
coronavirus outbreak, Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine
Board on Tuesday appealed pilgrims to postpone
their visit to the temple till normalisation of the
situation. “In view of coronavirus, Ramesh Ku-
mar, Chief Executive Officer, Vaishno Devi Shrine
Board today reviewed all aspects related to yatra
and the safety of pilgrims. The CEO has appealed
pilgrims to postpone their visit to the Shrine,” the
shrine said in a statement.
PRADHAN HAILS PM MODI’S
SAARC OUTREACH INITIATIVE
POSTPONE VISIT TO VAISHNO
DEVI: SHRINE BOARD
PHRASE ‘URBAN NAXALITES’ IS
NOT USED BY GOVT : MHA IN RS
New Delhi: The govern-
ment does not use the
phrase ‘Urban Naxalites’,
Minister of State for Home
G Kishan Reddy informed
the RS on Wednesday.
Reddy, in a written reply
in the Upper House, said
that the Centre’s national
policy addresses Left-
wing extremism in all its
manifestation including
the urban activities. “The
phrase ‘Urban Naxal-
ites’ is not used by the
Ministry of Home Affairs.
However, government’s
national policy and action
plan addresses Left-wing
extremism in all its mani-
festation including urban
activities,” Reddy replied
on being asked ‘who are
urban Naxalites and what
legal action has been taken
against them’.
REPORT CARD OF UP GOVT FILLED
WITH LIES: PRIYANKA GANDHI
New Delhi: Congress
leader Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra on Wednesday said
that the report card of
Uttar Pradesh government
on the completion of its
three years is filled with
lies. “The BJP government
of UP is releasing its
report card. In this report
card filled with lies, big
claims have been made
about women’s safety. But
after the horrific Unnao
incident, the incident in
Lakhimpur today exposed
the claims of women’s
safety. When will the gov-
ernment wake up?” she
tweeted. Earlier today, CM
Yogi held a press confer-
ence on the occasion of
the BJP government com-
pleting three years and an-
nounced the achievement
of the government.
RebelCongMLAsdemand
security,writetoK’takaDGP
MP POLITICAL CRISIS Karnataka High Court has rejected the plea by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh seeking directions to the police
New Delhi: Congress
MP Rahul Gandhi on
Wednesday said quick
and aggressive action
was required to tackle
coronavirus, warning
India will pay “extreme-
ly heavy price” for the
Centre’’s inability to act
decisively.
“Quick aggressive ac-
tion is the answer to
tackling the coronavi-
rus. India is going to
pay an extremely heavy
price for our govern-
ment’’s inability to act
decisively,” Rahul Gan-
dhi said in a tweet.
Even on February 12,
he had made a similar
statement when he said
“coronavirus was an ex-
tremely serious threat
to the people and the
economy.” “My sense is
the government is not
taking this threat seri-
ously,” he said.
Bhopal: The rebel Con-
gress MLAs holed up at
a five star resort in Ben-
galuru have demanded
security from the Kar-
nataka Director Gener-
al of Police. They have
also refused to meet
Congress leader Digvi-
jaya Singh who had
gone on Wednesday
morning to meet them.
In a letter to the Kar-
nataka DGP, the MLAs
said, “Some Congress
leaders from Madhya
Pradesh have come to
Bengaluru. They are
putting pressure on us
and are trying to create
an atmosphere by which
they can misrepresent
the fact in the SC where
hearing is going on.”
In the letter, they
said that they have giv-
en an affidavit to the SC
in which they have put
forward facts and their
views.
“Kindly provide se-
curity to us so that our
life can be secured,”
said the letter to the
Karnataka DGP. Earli-
er, rebels Congress
MLAs from Madhya
Pradesh, who are camp-
ing in Bengaluru, is-
sued a video message,
refusing to meet Digvi-
jaya Singh and other
Congress leaders who
have gone to meet them
and reiterated that
they were there out of
their own choice.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Party MLAs leave after meeting Governor Lalji Tandon, to demand for the
release of their party MLAs from Bengaluru on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Bhopal: Madhya
Pradesh Chief
Minister Kamal
Nath on Wednes-
day accused theB-
JP of playing
‘dirty ‘politics and
suppressing the
democratic values
and rights much
like Hitler.
The CM was re-
acting after senior
Congress leaders,
including Digvi-
jaya Singh were
detained in Ben-
galuru when they
tried to meet the 16
rebel Congress
MLAs. Kamal
Nath said: “Con-
gress Rajya Sabha
candidate Digvi-
jaya Singh and
other Congress
ministers tried to
meet the Congress
MLAs who have
been held hostage
by the BJP in Ben-
galuru. The police
stopped them, mis-
behaved with them
anddetainedthem,
which was com-
pletely dictatorial
and Hitler like.”
New Delhi: BJP
has decided to not
organise or par-
ticipate in any
form of demon-
stration or agita-
tion for the next
one month. “The
Prime Minister in
the Parliamenta-
ry party meeting
yesterday, had de-
sired that we
should avoid any
type of agitation
or demonstration
because of the
coronavirus pan-
demic. The BJP
has decided that
the party will not
participate in any
agitation,” said
party president
JP Nadda.
Kamal Nath
accuses BJP
of behaving
like Hitler
BJP not to hold
protest for 1
month: Nadda
BJP destroying
democratic
principles: Cong
New Delhi: The BJP is
using force and might
to invariably destroy
democratic principles,
Advocate Dushyant
Dave appearing for the
Congress party told the
SC on Wednesday dur-
ing the hearing on the
former’s plea seeking
directions for conduct-
ing an immediate floor
test in the MP Assem-
bly. Dave told a two-
judge bench headed by
Justice Dr DY Chandra-
chud and also compris-
ing of Justice Hemant
Gupta that a very stable
government was func-
tioning in the state for
the past 18 months and
urged that the MLAs
who resigned from Con-
gress must go back to
the electorate and win
the election again.
Bhopal: Rebels Con-
gress MLAs from Mad-
hya Pradesh, who are
camping in Bengaluru,
issued a video message
on Wednesday, refusing
to meet former CM Dig-
vijaya Singh and other
Congress leaders who
have gone to meet them
and reiterated that they
were there out of their
own choice.
“Have come to Ben-
galuru on our own. For
the past one year, no
work has been done. We
have come here on our
own. Request Digvijaya
Singh and other leaders
that they go back be-
cause we don’’t want to
meet them,” the MLAs
said in the video mes-
sage. Sources say that
the rebel MLAs issued
the video message to
Digvijaya Singh after
he was detained by the
Bengaluru Police.
Singh reached Ben-
galuru on Wednesday
morning wanting to
meet the rebel MLAs.
Twenty-two Congress
MLAs have resigned
from the Assembly, the
resignation of six has
been accepted by the
Speaker.
Digvijaya Singh an-
nounced that he will
start hunger strike as
he was denied a meet-
ing with the MLAs.
New Delhi: A man sus-
pected to be infected
with coronavirus alleg-
edly committed suicide
by jumping off the sev-
enth floor of a bulding
of Delhi’s Safdarjung
Hospital on Wednesday,
soon after he was ad-
mitted to the facility by
airport authorities, po-
lice said.
“The Nodal Officer in-
formed us about the
35-year-old man who
was brought from Del-
hi’s Indira Gandhi air-
port as a suspected cor-
onavirus patient. He
committed suicide to-
day by jumping off the
Super Speciality Block
building,” police said in
a statement.
New Delhi: The coro-
navirus scare has
reached Tihar Jail as
well as other jails in
the national capital
and a total of 18 prison-
ers have been quaran-
tined so far.
The isolated prison-
ers include eight for-
eign nationals out of
which three are from
Afghanistan. They also
include four women.
Till three to four
days ago there were 12
Afghan nationals
among the quaran-
tined prisoners but the
number has come
down to three now.
They were all arrested
by the Customs De-
partment.
Rebel Congress MLAs
refuse to meet Digvijay
Man suspected to have
corona jumps off 7th floor
Coronavirus scare enters
‘most secured’ Tihar Jail
Digvijaya Singh
Senior BJP leader
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
on Wednesday dubbed
Digvijay Singh of
Congress as the “big-
gest dramatist”, hours
after the latter tried to
meet rebel MLAs of
his party in Bengaluru
but prevented by the
police. Shivraj Singh
Chouhan said even the
rebel MLAs are wary of
Singh and didn’t want
to meet him. “Digvijay
Singh is the biggest
dramatist in the coun-
try,” the former chief
minister told reporters
in Sehore district.
Karnataka Cong Presi-
dent DK Shivakumar
on Wednesday met the
DGP Praveen Sood in
Bengaluru and de-
manded police protec-
tion for MP Cong MLAs
and the removal of BJP
workers from the hotel
in Bengaluru, where the
legislators are currently
lodged. “The MP legis-
lators have requested
police protection, that
is all. Let the police give
them protection, our
candidate (Digvijaya
Singh) has come, let
him meet the legisla-
tors,” said Shivakumar.
DIGVIJAY BIGGEST
DRAMATIST IN
COUNTRY: SHIVRAJ A Congress delegation met Madhya
Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon at
1:45 pm on Wednesday. Earlier on
Tuesday, CM Kamal Nath wrote to
the Governor reiterating his demand
for the rebel Congress MLAs to
be brought back to Bhopal from
Bengaluru. This development comes
amid the political crisis in MP.
CONGRESS DELEGATION
LIKELY TO MEET MP GUV
MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath on
Wednesday dared the BJP to bring
a no-confidence motion in the
Assembly if they wanted a floor
test to be conducted. “A floor test
is done either due to trust vote or
due to no-confidence motion, ours
is a running government not a new
one,” Kamal Nath told reporters.
NATH DARES BJP TO BRING
NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION
Senior Cong leader Digvijaya Singh
and other leaders were taken out
of Amruthahalli Police Station in
Bengaluru. Singh said, “I don’t know
where am I being taken. I should
have been allowed to meet my
MLAs. I am a law-abiding citizen.” He
added, “We will defend our govern-
ment and will take back our MLAs.”
DIGVIJAYA TAKEN OUT OF
POLICE STATION IN B’LURU
Responding to Madhya Pradesh As-
sembly Speaker NP Prajapati’s letter,
state Governor Tandon said “Both of
us have been receiving letters from
the so-called missing MLAs. In their
letters, wherever they are at present,
they have not mentioned any difficul-
ties being faced by them,” Tandon
said in his letter on Tuesday.
GOVERNOR REPLIES TO
SPEAKER’S LETTER
DK SHIVAKUMAR
MEETS K’TAKA
DGP SOOD
Citing threat to their
life and security,
22 rebel Congress
MLAs from Madhya
Pradesh who are
lodged in Bengaluru,
wrote to Karnataka’s
DGP on Wednesday
requesting that no
Congress leader
should be allowed
to meet them. “I
am a Rajya Sabha
candidate from
Madhya Pradesh,
voting is scheduled
for March 26,” Singh
told reporters.
‘WE DON’T WANT
TO MEET ANY
PARTY LEADER’
India will pay heavy
price: Rahul Gandhi
‘GOGOI SHOULD
EXPLAIN ‘CLEAN CHIT’
ANOTHER 205 INDIANS ARRIVE FROM IRANNew Delhi: The govern-
ment on Wednesday
evacuatedanotherbatch
of 205IndiansfromIran,
where 988 people have
died due to the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
A flight of the Mahan
Air landed in New Del-
hi this morning with
Indian passengers,
mostly Shia pilgrims
from Ladakh who were
stranded in Iran, offi-
cial sources said.
Of those who re-
turned, 115 are male, 85
female, four children
and one infant. Some of
them are Non Resident
Indians as well.
So far 591 Indians
have been evacuated
from Iran. Over 16,000
people in Iran, includ-
ing around 250 Indian
pilgrims have tested
positive for coronavi-
rus. India has sent a
team of health profes-
sionals for their treat-
ment.
Tourists wear protective masks as a preventive measure against
coronavirus, at Lotus temple in New Delhi on Wednesday.
CASE FILED
AGAINST VARDHAN
FIRST POSITIVE
CASE IN WB

Strengthen me with
raisins, refresh me with
apples, for I am faint with
love. —Song of Songs 2:5
Spiritual
SPEAK
PERSPECTIVEJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
G Vol 1 G Issue No. 281 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
CONG ON
SLIPPERY SLOPE
IN RS POLLS
game of political one-upmanship
is on between the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party and the Congress for
supremacy in the Upper House
of parliament which has its bien-
nial polls on March 26. A rudderless Con-
gress finds itself buffeted by the BJP which
has upset the party’s calculations in Gujarat
and Madhya Pradesh by causing defections.
With 55 seats up for grabs, the Congress
finds itself on a slippery wicket. The party
could lose half of its 12 seats because of the
recent defections in which 22 Congress leg-
islators in Madhya Pradesh left the party in
support of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined
the BJP.
Five Congress legislators in Gujarat
also defected to the BJP, dashing the par-
ty’s hopes of winning two of the four
seats at stake. The party had been plan-
ning to field two candidates given its
strength of 73 in the 182-member assem-
bly and the support extended by Jignesh
Mevani, an independent MLA. To guard
its flock against further poaching, Con-
gress moved the remaining 68 legislators
to a luxury hotel in Jaipur. Although the
party high command sought their opinion
on the number of candidates to be fielded,
these lawmakers have unanimously au-
thorised party president Sonia Gandhi to
decide on the matter. Whatever the strat-
egy, the Congress appears to have already
lost one Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat
even before the votes have been cast as the
party is now six short of the number
needed to win two seats.
What we are witnessing is an action replay
from 2017 Rajya Sabha poll when Ahmed Pa-
tel barely managed to get past the line. Six
Congress legislators had then defected to BJP
and nine did not vote. Keeping the MLAs in a
luxury hotel is no guarantee of their loyalty.
In Madhya Pradesh Congress faces the
loss of one seat after the departure of
Scindia and the subsequent resignations
by his loyalists. Both parties were as-
sured of winning one seat each and the
fight was for the third seat. After the de-
fections, the third seat may also go the
BJP way. In case the government is top-
pled before March 26 and a few more Con-
gress MLAs cross over, then the party
could be left regretting Scindia’s humili-
ation at the hands of Digvijay Singh and
Kamal Nath.
Congress decision to field Neeraj Dangi, a
Dalit leader close to Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot, from Rajasthan has not gone down
well with party legislators. Will this opposi-
tion trip Dangi is difficult to say at this junc-
ture. KC Venugopal, the other candidate, is
expected to make it to the RS.
In all, 55 seats from 17 states will go to polls.
Of these, 51 are falling vacant in April due to
retirement of sitting MPs and four seats are
already vacant due to resignations. All five
Trinamool Congress candidates from Bengal
won unopposed.
IN-DEPTH
A
od has strange ways of teaching
mankind,it’slessons.Supported
by own advents and technology,
whenever humans or any crea-
ture has challenged nature, to
say‘AhhmBrahmasmi’(Iamthe
God), very subtly and clearly
God has conveyed that you are
farawayfromitandbetterknow
your place as mortals. Corona is
also one such nature’s fury or
god’s wrath that has shaken the
entire mankind on this planet.
We are all too busy fighting
with each other over man-
made boundaries of nations,
regions, languages, religions
and caste. The nature’s fury
has no such boundaries and
affectsalllivingbeings,across
all such divisions, without
any discrimination. ‘When
Corona virus does not differ-
entiate, why should we?’
SAARC is a regional alliance
formed in 1985 by India and its
neighbouring countries of
South Asia. The purpose was
friendly co-operation on vari-
ous issues keeping in mind mu-
tual benefits in trade and cul-
tural exchange. Another aim
plus was to build a healthy po-
litical clout in the emerging
multi-polar world order. How-
ever, due to bilateral differences
between the two biggest partici-
pating nations, India and Paki-
stan, the agenda got hijacked
and subsequently, SAARC was
put on the back burner.
It goes to the astute states-
man like Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi to again reunite
all the SAARC members to
fight the pandemic of Coro-
na. It’s a world calamity and
needs to be fought together.
Let’s say – “SABKI LADAI.”
PM Modi is an intelligent
leader with a vision to convert
threats into opportunities. In
the past, he has successfully
converted various jibes on him
like ‘Chaiwala’ or ‘Chaukidar’
into election winning slogans.
Also,heconvertedthePulwama
attack threat into national cre-
scendo by giving a befitting re-
ply in the form of the surgical
strikes. This clearly united the
nation more fiercely and gave
him another thumping victory.
In the threat from Corona
also, he found an opportunity
not just to help the people
globally but also to project
himself as world leader. He
moved swiftly to reunite
SAARCforacommoncauseto
serve the human race across
manmade frontiers. PM Modi
gave a call to all Head of the
Statestojoininavideoconfer-
ence and pledge a common
intent and collective method-
ology to fight the disease. All
Head of the States readily
agreed with exception of Pa-
kistan who reluctantly con-
firmed in the end. The Health
Minister of Pakistan, Zafar
Mirza, attended the confer-
encealongwithallotherHead
of the States, which was held
at 5 pm on March 15, 2020.
It is very unfortunate to find
Pakistan’sarroganceandbellig-
erent attitude at this hour of
regional crisis. Why would they
notwantasolutiontoapandem-
ic, even for their own country-
men? It is also a point of amuse-
mentthatnotonlydidthePrime
Minister refused to attend the
meeting, the Health Minister
used this meeting to again raise
the issue of Kashmir and prais-
ing China totally out of context.
China had failed miserably to
containtheCOVID-19whichhas
led to this present day situation
of severe urgency and panic in
the whole world.
Alarmingly, Pakistan’s
ministers, officials and media
are on record to say that they
do not have enough funds and
resources to fight the COV-
ID-19 but still, they refuse to
join hands with their very
neighbours. Have we really
gone that far apart even being
so close? And who exactly is
perpetuating this distance?
The uncompromising atti-
tude and their severe obses-
sion with Kashmir. This also
is one of the primary reasons
of decline of the stature of
Pakistan as a nation state in
the world standing.
The video conference was a
big hit, not just with all the par-
ticipants but has been ac-
claimed as a great move by the
world. Following were some of
thepointsflaggedattheSAARC
Video Conference and agreed
to by all the participants:-
z Formulate joint strategy to fight
the Corona pandemic together
and work towards finding an
antidote for it.
z COVID-19 Emergency Fund
with India pledging USD 10
million initially.
z Rapid Response Teams of
doctors and specialists in India
to be on standby and placed at
the disposal of SAARC.
z Share integrated disease
surveillance portal with SAARC
members to keep a close
watch on the spreading and
containment of the disease.
z Create a common research
platform to co-ordinate
research.
z Combined evacuation of citizens
from Corona-hit nations.
More important than the vid-
eo conference and joint dec-
laration is the spirit behind
such an initiative. PM Modi
has won hearts and shown
the kind of leadership that is
needed from Head of a ma-
ture and responsible Nation
like India, at such an hour of
crisis. Similar calls for joint
action amongst G-20 and oth-
er various international fo-
rums is the testimony to the
growing popularity of the
initiative. Pakistan is again
exposed to be on the verge of
intellectual bankruptcy, with
only bloated ego and attitude.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
CORONA GIVES SAARC
A CHANCE TO REUNITEPM Modi has won hearts and shown the kind of leadership that is needed
G
We are all too
busy fighting
with each other
over manmade
boundaries of
nations,regions,
languages,
religions and
caste. The
nature’s fury
has no such
boundaries
and affects all
living beings
MORE IMPORTANT
THAN THE VIDEO
CONFERENCE AND
JOINT DECLARATION
IS THE SPIRIT BEHIND
SUCH AN INITIATIVE
PRACHITA
SINGH SAXENA
The author is a is a scholar of
Strategic Affairs, and has been
associated with USI of India, a
Strategic Think Tank of GOI
ot to diminish
thesuperhuman
efforts of nurs-
es, doctors, and
h e a l t h - c a r e
workers worldwide, but
sometimes, no matter how
hard one tries, and no mat-
ter how selflessly one sacri-
fices, one stands no chance
against a more powerful en-
emy. The new coronavirus,
COVID-19, has proved to be
such a foe. Were it not for
technology, the battle
against it would have been
lost by now.
Math and technology, to
be more precise. I say math,
because understanding a
concept as basic as “expo-
nentialgrowth”provedcru-
cialforattackingtheenemy
head-on. The successful
containmentof theepidem-
ic in China, South Korea,
and Japan has been attrib-
uted to strong governments
and cultures that put soci-
ety’s good ahead of private
convenience. I would add
that these countries also
stand out for their students’
high math literacy. In the
2019 PISA rankings, pro-
duced by the OECD, China
ranks first in math with a
score of 591 out of 600, Ja-
pan ranks 6th, and South
Korea is 7th. By contrast,
Italy is in 31st place, Spain
places 34th, and the United
States ranks 37th.3
PISA scores may have
their shortcomings, but
they do provide a rough
idea of the math literacy of
the average citizen in the
countries that take part.
And the fact that the coun-
tries with the highest rank-
ings seem to have adopted
the most effective contain-
ment strategies serves as a
reminder that, ultimately,
the reason we want better
training in math and logic
is not to land more lucra-
tive jobs, but to make bet-
ter decisions regarding our
lives.
Technology has been the
true champion in the fight
against the spread of COV-
ID-19. Here, I don’t mean
the ICUs and respirators
without which severely ill
patients would not stand a
chance. I mean the new
data-driven technologies
that enabled responsible
governments to track the
infected, contact them, and
quarantine them early.
These technologies have
been the target of much
criticism in recent years.
Now, when they are help-
ing us save lives, they de-
serve our praise.
South Korea’s achieve-
ment is truly impressive.
As of March 17, the coun-
try has had 8,320 cases and
81 deaths, despite an early
bad start. Contrast this
with Italy, which at the
same time reports 27,980
cases and 2,158 deaths.
Technology’s contribu-
tion to pandemic manage-
ment goes beyond tracking
and quarantines. As the US
and countries in Europe
move toward near-com-
plete lockdown, with po-
tentially disastrous conse-
quences for the world econ-
omy, technology offers a
glimmer of hope.
Many firms, especially in
tech, have closed their of-
fices, mandated that em-
ployees telecommute, and
providedthemwithcomput-
ing and video technology to
work remotely. Not only
does this keep an important
part of the economy going,
butitalsohashadunintend-
ed positive consequences.
Vehicle congestion, for ex-
ample, has vanished. The
hours harried commuters
previouslylostintrafficcan
now be dedicated to work
andfamily.Corporatetravel
is disappearing, and video
conferences are the new
norm, with associated re-
ductions in airplane pollu-
tion and huge savings in
time.Likewise,educatorsat
nearlyeverylevelarescram-
bling to find online alterna-
tives to in-classroom in-
struction.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.ORG
A silent hero during the Coronavirus crisis
N
SOMETIMES, NO
MATTER HOW
HARD ONE TRIES,
ONE STANDS NO
CHANCE AGAINST
MORE POWERFUL
ENEMY
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
UP has emerged as a non-partisan,
non-appeasing, yet most inclusive
model of governance. Do read
this detailed peice,’Three years of
governance, trust and development’
by CM Shri @mYogiAdityanath ji on
completion of 3years in office.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Railways has been taking a series
of proactive measures to stop the
spread of #Coronavirus in India.
Measures include creation of
quarantine facilities & help desks,
improved sanitation of stations &
trains and regular announcements
to inform passengers.

IN THE COURTYARD
INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
OVER 300 IAS OFFICERS YET
TO FILE IPR
Around 300 IAS officers from various cadres have
not filed Immovable Property Return (IPR).
GOVT GOING SLOW WITH SR LEVEL
TRANSFERS IN ARMY?
Whispers are that relieving orders on transfers of
senior officers in Army are not coming off easy
these days as Govt is reportedly going slow on
transfers of officers at Brigadier level and above.
PANKAJ SINGH TO MOVE KOLKATA?
Pankaj Singh is likely to move to Eastern Zone in
Kolkata as ADG BSF. He is 1988 batch IPS officer
of Rajasthan cadre.
IRS OFFICER REDDY TO
JOIN AP GOVT
Sadhu Narsimha Reddy will join the Andhra
Pradesh govt on deputation basis for three years.
He is a 2006 batch IRS (C&CE) officer presently
posted as Addl Commissioner, GST at Vizag Zone.
R S ARUN GOES ON ICD TO KERALA
R S Arun is going on inter cadre deputation (ICD)
to Kerala from Manipur for a period of three years.
He is 2009 batch IFS officer of Manipur cadre.
MS JACINTHA LAZARUS GOES ON
ICD TO KERALA
Ms Jacintha Lazarus is going on ICD to Tamil Nadu
from Manipur for a period of three years. She is
2005 batch IFS officer of Manipur cadre.
ANUP KUMAR SATPATHY RETURNS
TO PARENT CADRE
Anup Kumar Satpathy, Group General Manager
(Commercial & Operations), CONCOR at Central
region, Nagpur, is returning to parent cadre after
completing successful four years. During his ten-
ure, the container rakes in central region especially
at Mandideep (Bhopal) increased. He is a 1993
batch IRTS officer.
NILAYA MITASH IS PRINCIPAL
OPERATIONS COORDINATION
SPECIALIST, ADB
Nilaya Mitash has been appointed as Principal
Operations Coordination Specialist (Regional Co-
operation) IS 6 with the Asian Development Bank,
New Delhi for a period of three years. He is 1991
batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.
NO CLARITY ON HOW MD & CEOS
OF MERGING PSBS WILL BE
ACCOMMODATED
There is still no clarity yet on how the Govt would
accommodate MD & CEOs of merging public sec-
tor banks as there are virtually no vacancies right
now in other public sector banks.
VACANCY OF CMD, BEL NEXT
YEAR; ADVERTISEMENT SOON
The Government of India is expected to issue
advertisement in a couple of month for the post
of Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Bharat
electronics Limited falling vacant with the retire-
ment of present incumbent M V Gowtama next
year in June.
GOEL RELIEVED TO JOIN GOI
Aashish Kumar Goel has been relieved from UP
to join GoI in the Ministry of Rural Development
as JS on deputation. He is a 1995 batch UP cadre
IAS officer.
NAVEEN GULATI GETS TEMP
DEPUTATION TO RITES
Naveen Gulati presently posted with Northern
Railway has been selected for deputation to RITES
as CEO, REMCL at Gurgaon for a period of six
months till a regular incumbent is appointed. He is
an IRSEE officer of 1988 batch.
AIR FORCE & ITBP RECRUITMENT
POSTPONED DUE TO CORONA
OUTBREAK
IAF has postponed the Airmen Recruitment Ex-
ams, planned at 86 cities across the country from
March 19 to 23, 2020 has been postponed. Simi-
larly, ITBP also postponed Constables/Tradesmen
recruitment written exams, scheduled on March
23,2020, was to held at 11 centres.
POWERGallery
‘CENTRE’S DECISIONS ON J-K WILL
HAVE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES’
New Delhi: Congress
MP Manish Tewari on
Wednesday said the
decisions of the govern-
ment to abrogate Article
370 and bifurcate J&K
into two union territo-
ries will have long-term
consequences and called
upon the government to
listen to the voice of its
residents. Initiating the
debate on supplementary
demands for grants for
Jammu and Kashmir from
April 1, 2019 to Oct 30,
2019, he said the deci-
sions of the government
to abrogate Article 370
and bifurcate Jammu and
Kashmir into two union
territories had been taken
due to “narrow politics”
and “the country will have
to bear long-term conse-
quences”.
HANGMAN CONDUCTS DUMMY
EXECUTION AT TIHAR
New Delhi: The Tihar Jail officials will conduct
the dummy execution of the four death row
convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case
today. Hangman Pawan has reached Tihar
jail for the March 20 hanging of the convicts.
Meanwhile, Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the
four convicts, on Tuesday filed another curative
petition before the Supreme Court, claiming
that at the time of committing the offence, he
was a minor and thereby, his death sentence
should be commuted to life imprisonment.
CBSE BOARD EXAMS
POSTPONED OVER CORONAVIRUS
New Delhi: In view of the coronavirus outbreak,
the HRD ministry in a communication to various
educational regulators, asked to reschedule the
ongoing examinations including CBSE Board
and university examinations. Centre asked for all
school, university, engineering and technical en-
trance exams to be postponed and to be resched-
uled after March 31. After the directive, CBSE
announced that the examinations scheduled from
March 19 to 31 have been postponed for both
Class 10 and Class 12 students.
JUSTICE DHARMADHIKARI IS NEW
CHIEF JUSTICE OF BOMBAY HC
Mumbai: Acting Chief
Justice Bhushan
Pradyumna Dharma-
dhikari was on Wednes-
day appointed as the
new Chief Justice of the
Bombay HC, according to
an official announcement.
The senior most judge,
Justice Dharmadhikari
was appointed as acting
chief justice following
the retirement of Justice
Pradeep Nandrajog, the
Chief Justice of Bombay
High Court. A notifica-
tion issued by Law and
Justice ministry said on
Wednesday: “In exercise
of the power conferred
by Clause (I) Article 217
of the Constitution of
India, the President is
pleased to appoint Justice
Bhushan Pradyumna
Dharmadhikari”.
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS BASED ON
NEWSPAPER INFORMATION: OM BIRLA
Two days before hanging,
convicts move Delhi court
New Delhi: BJP member Sanjay Seth on
Wednesday demanded that the government
should enact a law on population control and
voting right should be denied to those having
more than two children. Raising the matter
during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Seth
said that the country will have to face long-term
consequences due to growth in population.
Seth, who is BJP MP from Ranchi, said India is
poised to overtake China as the most populous
country in 2027 and the population would touch
160 crore in the next 30 years. He said those
with more than two children should be denied
some government facilities and they should
be denied the voting right. “A Bill should be
brought to make the law,” he said. —ANI
Pune: The Koregaon Bhima Inquiry Commis-
sion has summoned NCP chief Sharad Pawar
todepose before it as a witness in the 2018
caste-violence case, the panel’’s lawyer Ash-
ish Satpute said here on Wednesday. Pawar
will have to appear before the commission in
Mumbai, as the scheduled hearing by the com-
mission was shifted there in view of coronavirus
outbreak. The hearing, which was scheduled to
be held in the last week of March, will now be
held between March 30 and April 4.
COURT PULLS UP LAWYER ON
NEW PLEA TO DEFER HANGING
In another manoeuvre to delay the ensu-
ing death sentence slated for Friday, the
death-row convicts, through their counsel
AP Singh, once again knocked on the
doors of the trial court seeking stay on
their hanging on the grounds that their
legal remedies are pending.
SC FURIOUS WITH TELECOS, CENTRE
FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT OF AGR DUES
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the
Central government which had filed a petition
seeking staggered payment of adjusted gross
revenues (AGR) dues by telecom companies.
“Self-assessment of AGR payments is a sheer
violation, sheer contempt,” observed the apex
court and said that it will consider the govern-
ment’s rescue plan on the next date of hearing.
‘ENACT LAW ON POPULATION CONTROL’
NCP CHIEF SHARAD PAWAR SUMMONED
Mumbai: Shiv Sena
has said that Goa’s Gov-
ernor Satya Pal Malik’s
recent comments about
governors that they do
not have much to do,
and the Governor of
Jammu and Kashmir
usually “drinks wine
and plays golf”, are a
blot on the prestige of
the constitutional post.
“Satya Pal Malik’s
comments are a blot on
the prestige of the Rajb-
havan (Governor’s
House),” Shiva Sena’s
mouthpiece Saamna
editorial read.
“The Goa Governor
says that the Governor
of Kashmir drinks
wine, which is an insult
to Jammu and Kash-
mir. Malik himself is a
former Governor of
Jammu and Kashmir
and what should we un-
derstand from his com-
ments about what he
used to do when he was
the Governor there,” it
added.
New Delhi: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla on
Wednesday cautioned
MPs not to ask ques-
tions based on what is
published in newspa-
pers and raise issues
only on the basis of
their own information.
Birla’s direction
came after A. Raja, a
Dravida Munnetra Ka-
zhagam leader and an
MP from Mayiladu-
thurai in Tamil Nadu,
referred to a newspa-
per article while ask-
ing a supplementary
question during Ques-
tion Hour.
“MPs should not ask
questions based on in-
formation published in
newspapers. This is in
the rule book that ques-
tions should not be
asked based on the in-
formation of newspa-
pers and television
channels. So, ask ques-
tions based on your
own information,” Bir-
la said while interrupt-
ing Raja.
“The newspapers car-
ried articles that the
Law Minister and the
Telecom Ministry suc-
ceeded in getting the
Supreme Court’s per-
mission to allow private
telecom operators like
Airtel, Vodafone and
Idea to pay statutory
dues totalling Rs one
lakh crore over 20 years.
You succeeded. Who
gave concession to the
operators.”
Congress MP K Suresh
on Wednesday moved an
adjournment motion no-
tice in the Lok Sabha over
the nomination of former
Chief Justice of India
(CJI) Ranjan Gogoi to the
Upper House of Parlia-
ment. President Ram
Nath Kovind on Monday
nominated former CJI
Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.
Gogoi served as the 46th
CJI from October 3, 2018,
to November 17, 2019.
The SC on Wednesday
refused to hear a plea filed
by the brother of MP Cong
MLA Manoj Choudhary
seeking his release claim-
ing that he, along with
other MLAs, was being
forcefully kept in captivity
by BJP members and Kar-
nataka police. “Today, we
are in a peculiar situation.
The public of the state
trusted the Congress party
(with 114 seats) while the
BJP had won 109 seats.
CONG MOVES
ADJOURNMENT
NOTICE IN LS
SUPREME COURT
REFUSES TO HEAR
CONG MLA’S HEAR
Union Minister for Communi-
cations Ravi Shankar Prasad
informed the LS on Wednes-
day that the govt has decided
to revive BSNL and MTNL,
and that it is also giving
packages to employees who
sought voluntary retirement.
“We strongly believe that the
existence of a Public Sector
Undertaking (PSU) like BSNL
is important both for public
service and also fairness in
the entire system of commu-
nication. BSNL had suffered
bad times. In 2014-15, 2015-
16 it became a bit positive,”
the Minister informed the
House. “Our government has
taken a conscious decision to
revive both BSNL and MTNL
because they do public ser-
vice in floods, earthquake etc.
GOVT HAS DECIDED TO
REVIVE BSNL AND
MTNL: RS PRASAD
Minister of State for Home
Affair, Nityanand Rai informed
that 26 detenues have died
in detention centers, due to
illness, during the last three
years in Assam. Speaking
in the Rajya Sabha on the
number of individuals who
died in detention centres in
Assam in last three years, Rai
said, “As per the information
provided by the government
of Assam, 799 detenues are
held in detention centers in
Assam as on February 27,
2020. Out of which 95 have
3 years or more in detention.
26 detenues have died during
detention period due to illness
during last three years.” “In
2017--six, 2018--nine, 2019-
-ten and 2020--one person
died,” he said.
‘26 DIED IN ASSAM
DETENTION CENTERS
IN LAST 3 YEARS’
New Delhi: RS Chairman M.
Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday
adjourned the House till 2 pm
after an uproar by opposition
Congress lawmakers over the
detention of sitting member
Digvijaya Singh by police in
Karnataka’’s Bengaluru earlier
in the day. While members
were discussing various issues
during Zero Hour, Cong mem-
ber MV Rajiv Gauda mentioned
Digvijaya Singh’’s detention
as an ‘’urgent matter’’. The
Chairman however did not
allow him to press ahead. “If
this is so urgent, why did you
not give a notice to the Chair?
You had enough time in the
morning. By doing so, you
are debarring other members
of the chance to speak in the
House,” Naidu said.
RS ADJOURNED AFTER
RUCKUS OVER
DIGVIJAYA’S DETENTION
New Delhi: The Union Home
Ministry on Wednesday said
in the RS that the Delhi Police
acted swiftly and promptly in
a professional manner during
the riots held in the national
capital last month, adding the
high population density of the
area and narrow lanes were
a challenge in the movement
of forces and vehicles. In a
written reply in RS, Minister of
State in the Ministry of Home
Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy said
as per reported by the Delhi
Police, until March 12, 763
cases including 51 cases under
Arms Act have been registered.
“A total of 3,304 persons have
been arrested or detained while
545 persons were injured and
52 died during the recent riots
in Delhi,” he said.
DELHI POLICE ACTED
SWIFTLY & PROMPTLY
DURING RIOTS
Shiv Sena
slams Malik’s
comments
New Delhi : In a new
twist to the Nirbhaya
gangrape and murder
case, AP Singh, the
counsel for the four con-
victs, moved Delhi’s Pa-
tiala House Court seek-
ing a stay on the death
warrant execution on
Wednesday.
With two days to go
for the execution of the
four accused, their law-
yer claimed that he has
filed a curative petition
on behalf of convict
Pawan Gupta in the Su-
preme Court and a mer-
cy petition on behalf of
Akshay Singh.
The curative petition
filed on behalf of
Pawan Gupta claims
that he was a juvenile at
the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, another
convict Akshay Kumar
Singh had written a sec-
ond mercy petition to
President Ram Nath Ko-
vind on Tuesday.
SC ADJOURNS
OMAR’S PETITION

TALKING POINTJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PANDEMIC, EPIDEMIC & OUTBREAK?
To illustrate, a sick traveler with COVID-19 who returns to the US from China doesn’t make a pandemic, but once
they infect a few family members or friends, there’s some debate. If new local outbreaks ensue, epidemiologists will
agree that efforts to control global spread have failed and refer to the emerging situation as a pandemic
I
n the most classical sense,
once an epidemic spreads
to multiple countries or
regions of the world, it is con-
sidered a pandemic. However,
some epidemiologists classify
a situation as a pandemic
only once the disease is sus-
tained in some of the newly
affected regions through local
transmission.
To illustrate, a sick traveler
with COVID-19 who returns
to the US from China doesn’t
make a pandemic, but once
they infect a few family mem-
bers or friends, there’s some
debate. If new local outbreaks
ensue, epidemiologists will
agree that efforts to control
global spread have failed and
refer to the emerging situa-
tion as a pandemic.
Terms are political, not
just medical
Epidemiologists are princi-
pally concerned with prevent-
ing disease, which may be
fundamentally different than
the broader concerns of gov-
ernments or international
health organizations.
The WHO has declared
only two pandemics in histo-
ry - for influenza in 1918 and
for influenza H1N1 in 2009.
For weeks, epidemiologists
like me have been calling the
coronavirus a pandemic.
From an epidemiological per-
spective, the WHO’s declara-
tion is overdue. As of March
11, the official numbers count
an excess of 120,000 cases in
at least 114 countries.
Pandemic is the highest
level of global health emer-
gency and signifies wide-
spread outbreaks affecting
multiple regions of the world.
However, the WHO state-
ments remain hopeful that
the pandemic can be con-
trolled and the damage mini-
mized by taking immediate
aggressive steps.
The formal declaration of
COVID-19 or any other infec-
tious disease as pandemic
tells governments, agencies
and aid organizations world-
wide to shift efforts from con-
tainment to mitigation. It has
economic, political and soci-
etal impacts on a global scale,
and the WHO takes extreme
care when making this deter-
mination.
This formal declaration
needn’t incite fear or cause
you to stockpile surgical
masks. It doesn’t mean the
virus has become more infec-
tious or more deadly, nor that
your personal risk of getting
the disease is greater. And it
doesn’t mean that efforts to
fight COVID-19 are being
abandoned. But it is an his-
torical event.
B
y tracking diseases
over time and geogra-
phy, epidemiologists
learn to predict how many
cases of an illness should
normally happen within a de-
fined period of time, place
and population. An outbreak
is a noticeable, often small,
increase over the expected
number of cases.
Imagine an unusual spike
in the number of children
with diarrhea at a daycare.
One or two sick kids might be
normal in a typical week, but
if 15 children in a daycare
come down with diarrhea all
at once, that is an outbreak.
When a new disease emerg-
es, outbreaks are more notice-
able since the anticipated
number of illnesses caused
by that disease was zero. An
example is the cluster of
pneumonia cases that sprung
up unexpectedly among mar-
ket-goers in Wuhan, China.
Public health officials now
know the spike in pneumonia
cases there constituted an
outbreak of a new type of
coronavirus, now named
SARS-CoV-2.
SMALL, BUT UNUSUALINTERNATIONAL AND OUT OF CONTROL
A
n epidemic is an out-
break over a larger
geographic area.
When people in places out-
side of Wuhan began testing
positive for infection with
SARS-CoV-2 (which causes
the disease known as COV-
ID-19), epidemiologists knew
the outbreak was spreading,
a likely sign that containment
efforts were insufficient or
came too late. This was not
unexpected, given that no
treatment or vaccine is yet
available. But widespread
cases of COVID-19 across Chi-
na meant that the Wuhan out-
break had grown to an epi-
demic.
BIGGER AND SPREADING
Thousands of employees interna-
tionally are already working from
home in COVID-19 self-isolation
because of their recent travel, re-
lated symptoms or immune system
vulnerability.
But to do so while habitually
checking the news on devices - and
allowing 24/7 news channels to
play non-stop in the background -
might erode your productivity and
increase stress and anxiety.
A foundational element of media
literacy in the digital era is striking
an appropriate balance between
news consumption and other
activities. Even before the current
crises, Australian research demon-
strated news avoidance had risen
among news consumers from 57%
in 2017 to 62% in 2019, driven by
a sense of news fatigue.
Self-help expert Rolf Dobelli
implores us to stop reading the
news. While he advocates going
cold turkey and abandoning all
packaged news consumption.
So too does philosopher Alain
de Botton in The News – A User’s
Manual, while proposing more
positive news and journalism’s
examination of life’s deeper issues,
emotions and aesthetics.
In journalism education there
has been a move towards “peace
journalism”, “mindful journalism”,
“constructive journalism” and
“solutions journalism”, where the
news should not merely report
what is wrong but suggest ways
to fix it. Of course, it would be a
mistake to abstain from all news
during the COVID-19 pandemic
and its unpredictable economic and
social consequences.
Often it is best to navigate a
middle path, so here are five sug-
gestions on how you can stay in
the loop at home while you get
your work done.
SWITCH OFF
Avoid the 24/7 news chan-
nels and feeds unless it is
your business to do so, or unless
the information is likely to impact
you directly. Try to develop a
routine of checking in on the main
headlines once, twice or three
times a day so you stay informed
about the most important events
without being sucked into the
vortex of click bait and news of
incremental changes in the number
of coronavirus cases or the ups
and downs of the stock markets.
DIVE DEEP
Look for long-form journalism and in-depth
commentary on the topics that most interest
you. Articles by experts (Editor’s note: like those
in The Conversation!) include the most important
facts you need to know, and are likely to have a
constructive angle presenting incisive analysis and
a pathway to a solution or best practice.
On radio and television, look for big picture
current affairs programs like the ABC’s AM and
7.30 – or on a lighter and more positive note Ten’s
The Project – so you don’t have to be assaulted
by a disturbing litany of petrol station hold-ups,
motorway chases and celebrity gossip in the pack-
aged morning and evening news.
CONNECT
Use social media wisely – for com-
municating with family and friends
when you might be physically isolated
and by following authoritative sources if
something in the news is affecting your life
directly, such as emergency services during
cyclones, fires and floods.
But avoid the suggested and sponsored
news feeds with dubious and unfiltered
information (often shared as spam by
social media illiterates). Keep your social
media commentary civil, empathetic and
supportive – mindful of everyone’s mental
health during a crisis.
INTERROGATE
Ask the key question: “What
is the best source of the
information I absolutely need to
know?” Go to primary sources
where possible. Subscribe to offi-
cial and authoritative information
feeds – for example, daily sum-
maries from the World Health
Organisation) and the Common-
wealth Department of Health on
COVID-19 and your preferred
bank’s summary reports on
the sharemarket and economic
indicators.
BE MINDFUL
Bear in mind the well being of any children in
your household with the timing and selec-
tion of your hard/live news consumption. Research
has shown more constructive news stories have
fewer negative mental health impacts on children,
particularly when combined with the opportunity to
discuss the contents with their peers.
Finally, you might also use these crises to build
your own media literacy – by pausing to reflect
carefully upon what news you really need in your
family’s life. For many of us it will mean a much
more critical diet of what we call “traditional hard
news”–allowing us the time to read and view mate-
rial that better contributes to the quality of our lives.
5 WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR NEWS
CONSUMPTION IN TIMES OF CRISIS
DIVYA
HEMNANI
Design: Abhishek Gupta
AFTERBEFORE
Municipal workers spray disinfectant on boats at Dal lake as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, in Srinagar on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

SPORTSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
New Delhi: Legend-
ary cricketer Sachin
Tendulkar on
Wednesday made an
appeal to fellow coun-
trymen to follow the
basic guidelines is-
sued by the health
ministry to keep cor-
onavirus at bay.
Stressing on the im-
portance of hygiene,
theMasterBlasteralso
advised everyone to
wash hands regularly
and practice social dis-
tancing for a few days
tofightthedisease.“As
citizens, we have to act
responsibly.Wecould
followsimplestepsto
keep the Corona Vi-
rus at bay. It is my
request to everyone
to follow basic guide-
linestotryourbestto
ensure we all stay
safe,”Tendulkartweet-
ed. “We all are wor-
ried due to coronavi-
rus. But there are
some points that we
should keep in mind
like not going to
crowded places,” Ten-
dulkar said in a video
posted on Twitter. “If
you are coughing or
not feeling well, then
you must visit the
nearest doctor.” he
added. —ANI
New Delhi: Indian women’s hockey team
skipper Rani Rampal on Wednesday advised
fans to wash hands regularly to help keep
coronavirus infection at bay.
Accepting the Safe Hands Challenge from
ace athlete Hima Das and sand-artist Sudar-
san Pattnaik, Rampal posted a video showing
a tutorial on how to wash hands properly. “I
accept #SafeHandsChallenge from @sudar-
sansand @HimaDas8 I request everyone to
take precautions and #StaySafe. I further
challenge @SjoerdMarijne @waynelombard
@boxervijender @KarmanThandi @geeta_
phogat @BabitaPhogat @Sangram_Sanjeet
to make sure people around you stay safe,”
Rampal tweeted.
She further challenged women’s team head
coach Sjoerd Marijne, boxer Vijender Singh,
wrestler Geeta Phogat, Babita Phogat, and
three more to take the Safe Hands Challenge.
Rampal had said that the team has been
training like before, but the players are strict-
ly following all the preventive measures ad-
vised by the doctors and the coaching staff.
—ANI
New Delhi: The
cricketing world has
come to a standstill
due to the coronavi-
rus outbreak which
means that the mem-
bers of the Indian
cricket team have got
a break from their un-
relenting schedule.
Away from the crick-
et field, the players
have been posting
messages and up-
dates on social media.
Captain Virat Koh-
li said, “Let’s stay
strong and fight the
#COVID19 outbreak
by taking
all precau-
t i o n a r y
measures.
Stay safe, be
vigilant and most im-
portantly remember,
prevention is better
than cure. Please
take care everyone.”
Rohit Sharma also
posted a video of
himself in which he
asked people to be “a
little smart, a little
proactive” and in-
form the nearest
medical authorities
as soon as they get
any symptoms. He
also lauded the ef-
forts of medical pro-
fessionals who have
been in the frontline
of the bat-
tle against
the virus.
—ANI
New Delhi: “We are so grateful for the brav-
ery of our medical workers at these difficult
times. I am committed to helping my country
and have decided to donate medical equip-
ment,” Halep said in a tweet.
“This is the perfect opportunity to show
that we know how to be supportive and re-
sponsible with our lives and those around us,”
Halep told fans in a video message posted on
her official Facebook page.“While we are at
home, doctors and medical personnel make
huge efforts to treat and save each life by ex-
posing themselves for the general good...” “I
decided to donate a sum of money for the pur-
chase of the necessary equipment and materi-
als in such situations, the amount that will be
directed immediately to the medical authori-
ties in Bucharest and Constanta,” she added.
“I encourage everyone who can to contribute
to the joint efforts to combat this virus. In the
meantime, let us all take care of ourselves, be
responsible and stay positive!” Apart from
Halep, Bianca Andreescu and Caty McNally
both have donated their signed tennis rac-
quets to benefit ‘Athletes For Relief’.—Agencies
Act responsibly to keep
COVID-19 at bay: Sachin
Rani Rampal advises fans
to wash hands regularly
Kohli and co. spread
awareness to battle virus
Halep donates equipment to
help corona fight in Romania
KEEP YOUR COOL IN THE CORONA CRISIS
After the cancellation of major events due to the corona pandemic, many players have started
posting messages and updates on social media to share their mantra to battle tough times
New Delhi: Wimbledon
organisers are still
planning to play the
Grand Slam this year,
despite the coronavirus
chaos that led the
French Open to be
pushed back until Sep-
tember.
Wimbledon is sched-
uled to run from June 29
to July 12, but All Eng-
land Club chiefs are
aware the sporting sched-
ule has been decimated
by the deadly pandemic.
French Open bosses
on Tuesday revealed
the clay-court event will
move from its sched-
uled spring slot to Sep-
tember. The year’s sec-
ond Grand Slam was
due to begin on May 24,
but will now run from
September 20 to Octo-
ber 4. A roof has been
installed over Roland
Garros’ centre court,
Philippe Chatrier, with
floodlights on the three
other main courts, ena-
bling play to go on later.
Wimbledon remain
hopeful that play at the
grass-court tournament
will be able to go ahead
if the spread of the vi-
rus is slowed. —Agencies
Section 144...
and other facilities
should be developed
through SDRF at the dis-
trict level.”
Speaking to First In-
dia after the meeting,
health minister Raghu
Sharma said, “People
coming to Jaiour from
outside will be kept at
HotelLalit,ClarksAmer
and Marriot for tests.
Only after their test re-
ports are found to be
negative will they be al-
lowed to head home,
however even then they
will be kept in home iso-
lation. The prohibitory
orders have been issued
keeping in mind the rise
in cases.”
Additional Chief Sec-
retary Medical and
Health Rohit Kumar
Singh said that three
people of Jhunjhunun
havebeenfoundpositive
in the investigation con-
ducted in SMS Hospital.
They are kept in isola-
tion at Jhunjhunu’s hos-
pital. The cases found in
Jhunjhunu will be
brought to Jaipur for
further treatment fol-
lowing complete medi-
cal protocols.
Meanwhile, in view
of rising road accidents
in the state, a state level
road safety committee
has been formed in the
chairmanship of Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The committee also con-
sists of 7 ministers, in-
cluding CS DB Gupta
and about half a dozen
IAS officers. The com-
mittee has been formed
to review the efforts be-
ing made for reducing
road accidents in the
state. The committee ad-
ministeredbytheTrans-
port Department would
hold 2 meetings in a
year.
Corona takes...
saying the global econo-
my is entering a reces-
sion amid the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
The agency had earli-
er projected a growth
rate of 5.7 per cent
duringthe2020calendar
year. Asia-Pacific eco-
nomic growth in 2020
will more than halve to
less than 3 per cent as
the “global economy en-
ters a recession”, S&P
said in a statement.
Banking and telecom
stocks came under
heavy selling pressure
after the Supreme Court
pulled up the telecom
companies for doing
self-assessment of the
AdjustedGrossRevenue
(AGR) dues fixed by the
apex court in its verdict
on October 24 last year.
The telecom compa-
nies have to clear all
dues mentioned in the
judgement, the court
said. “Indian markets
endedatthreeyearlows,
with Nifty below the
8,500 mark, in tandem
with Asian and Europe-
an markets after global
agencies warned of a
global recession follow-
ing the impact of
Covid-19. At the same
time, rising infections
in India and associated
disruption in business-
es led to India’s GDP
growth forecasts also
being downgraded. This
will also affect the gov-
ernment’s fiscal maths,
whichwasalreadytight.
The rupee depreciat-
ed 12 paise to 74.36
against the US dollar
(intra-day).
Meanwhile, global oil
benchmark Brent crude
futures slipped over 3.48
per cent to USD 27.73 per
barrel.
SC asks...
submitted before the
court that it is wrong
that MLAs were kid-
napped or abducted and
all allegations of coer-
cion are rubbish. “They
resigned out of their
own free will. A direc-
tion be issued to the
Speaker to accept their
resignations,” insisted
Singh. BJP insisted that
it can bring the 16 rebel
Congress MLAs and
presentthembeforeJus-
tices Chandrachud and
Gupta in chamber and
the judges can ascertain
the views of MLAs.
Justice Chandrachud
referred to the affidavit
filed by the rebel MLAs.
The court noted that
how does it ensure that
there is a free exercise
of choice? “And, as a
constitutional court, we
also have to discharge
our duties. What can be
the modalities to ensure
it? “said Justice Chand-
rachud.
FROM PG 1
Wimbledon still planning for
play despite virus mayhem
JDCA polls postponed
due to coronavirus
Manager suspended
for misbehaving with
Sports Secretary
Mumbai: The BCCI has
postponed the IPL 2020
until April 15 but there
is no real clarity or cer-
tainty whether the tour-
namentcouldtakeplace
even after that date be-
cause there is no news
of any drastic improve-
ment in health condi-
tions because of still
prevailing coronavirus.
There have been re-
ports about BCCI ex-
ploring the April-May
window to hold the IPL
2020 but a report in an
english daily stated
that the governing body
could be looking seri-
ously at a more practi-
cal July-September
2020 window. powered
by Rubicon Project A
section in BCCI feels
that the April-May win-
dow could be too tricky
because there is no as-
surance of the Corona-
virus peaking out in
this timespan and if
they explore the July-
September window
there is the possibility
of the pandemic’s effect
waning. —Agencies
IPL 2020:
BCCI explores
July-Sept
window for IPL
Naresh Sharma
Jaipur: In view of the
spread of coronavirus in
the state and compliance
with the order issued by
the state government,
elections of the Jaipur
District Cricket Associa-
tion (JDCA) have been
postponed. The JDCA
election was to be held
on March 22 and its nom-
ination process was go-
ing on, but on Wednes-
day, the election officer
Loknath Soni issued an
order all of a sudden and
halted the election pro-
cess. Soni postponed the
elections until further
orders.
However, many clubs
are not satisfied with
the decision of the elec-
tion officer, as the nomi-
nation process started
on Tuesday only. A total
of 134 clubs are partici-
pating in the election.
While quoting the govt
order, the election offic-
er said that more than 50
people cannot gather at
a place, hence the elec-
tionhasbeenpostponed.
Earlier, on Wednes-
day morning, some club
officials gathered at the
residence of Chief
Whip Mahesh Joshi and
appealed to him to post-
pone the election. After
that, Joshi spoke to the
election officer and in-
formed him about the
opinion of these clubs.
Interestingly, the elec-
tion has been post-
poned, considering the
134 club office bearers
as a crowd. On the other
hand, the Rajya Sabha
elections are due on
March 26, in which 200
MLAs will participate.
Naresh Sharma
Jaipur: Misbehaving
with the Sports Coun-
cil (RSSC) Secretary
Mahendra Meena did
not go well for Sports
Manager Shamim
Ahmed as the council
suspended Shamim
with immediate effect
due to indiscipline.
Shamim’s headquar-
ters will be Bharatpur
during the suspension
period.
Meena issued the
suspension orders.
During the suspension
period, subsistence al-
lowance will be paya-
ble to Shamim as per
rulesandachargesheet
will be issued sepa-
rately to him.
Shamim had the
charge of the grant
branch, which has now
been given to Sports
Manager Anirudh Jag-
dhari. According to the
information, Meena
had called Shamim in
his office on Wednes-
day and instructed to
release the grant mon-
ey of the players.
Meanwhile, an argu-
ment started between
the two and Shamim
misbehaved with the
Sports Council Secre-
tary.
Officials of sports
associations were also
present at that time.
Actually, the players
were extremely wor-
ried about their
grants.

Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-19 march 2020 edition

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Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-19 march 2020 edition