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8 JAMMU Q MONDAY Q MAY 25, 2020 B A C K P A G E CMYK Owner/Printed/Publisher by: Sahil Mahajan and Published from 13-B/C, Gandhi Nagar Jammu Pin: 180004 and Printed from The Himalayan Mail Printing Press, Jeevan Nagar/Deeli, Jammu Editor:- Harinder Mahajan Phone: 0191-2438640, Fax: 0191-2438428, Phone Marketing: 0191 -2438640, 94191-19286, E-mail : [email protected] LUCKNOW, MAY 24: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned Corona patients from keeping mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospi- tals in the state. Patients admitted in dedicated L-2 and L-3 COVID-19 hospitals will no longer be allowed to take mobile phones along with them in the isola- tion wards in order to check the spread of the infection. According to an order issued by the state government late on Saturday night, two mobile phones will now be available with the ward in-charge of the COVID-19 care centres so that pa- tients and talk to their family mem- bers and administration if required. Further, the orders specify that the mobile numbers should be commu- nicated to the family members of the patients also. Director General Medical Educa- tion, K.K. Gupta, who issued the or- der, has informed all concerned offi- cials and directors of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. "To facilitate the communication between COVID-19 patients admitted in clinics, with their family members, or anyone else, ensure that two dedi- cated mobile phones while adhering to infection prevention norms, are kept with ward in-charge of COVID-19 care centre," the order said. According to the latest data avail- able on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh now has 5,735 cases of corona positive patients and the num- bers have been growing steadily since the past ten days. Questioning the Uttar Pradesh gov- ernment’s decision to prohibit coro- navirus patients from using mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the ban was put in place to hide the “poor condition” of hospitals in the state. In a tweet in hindi, the former Ut- tar Pradesh chief minister said: “If in- fection spreads through mobile phones, then they should be banned across the country. Mobile phones provide mental support and help cope with loneliness.” “In fact, the ban has been put in place, so that the truth about the poor condition of hospitals does reach the common public. The need is to sani- tise mobile phones and not impose a ban on them,” he said. Director General Medical Educa- tion K K Gupta has directed all the medical universities, institutes, pri- vate and government hospitals to ban the use of mobile phones by COVID-19 patients admitted in L-2 and L-3 COVID-19 hospitals. He also directed in-charge of COVID-19 hospitals be provided two mobile phones, so that patients ad- mitted there could speak to there family members and vice-versa. Agencies Mobile phones banned in UP's Covid-19 hospitals CUTTACK (ODISHA), MAY 24: In a significant observation, a judge of the Orissa High Court has ob- served that indulgence in sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage does not amount to rape. Justice S K Panigrahi also raised questions about whether rape laws should be used to regulate inti- mate relationships, espe- cially in cases where women enter into a rela- tionship by choice. Justice Panigrahi made the observations on Thurs- day while allowing the bail application of a rape ac- cused, setting aside a lower court order. The case related to the arrest of a student from Koraput district of Odisha under rape charges on a complaint by a 19-year-old tribal woman in November last year. According to the case records, the young man and the woman of the same village were in a physical relationship for about four years and she got pregnant twice during that period. The woman later lodged a police complaint alleging that the man had estab- lished physical relation with her taking advantage of her innocence and promising that he will marry her. The woman had claimed that she was coerced by the accused into terminating her pregnancies by con- suming abortion pills. Police registered a case and arrested the man, who was in jail for the last six months. The high court on Thursday allowed his bail application on the condi- tion that he will cooperate with the prosecution and shall not threaten the al- leged victim. In his 12-page order, Justice Panigrahi dis- cussed the rape laws in de- tail and observed that “a consensual relationship without even any assur- ance obviously will not at- tract the offence under Section 376 of the IPC (rape)”. Noting that there was a need to delve into the is- sue, Justice Panigrahi said questions are often raised as to how such cases are addressed by the statute and judicial pronounce- ments. He, however, also observed that the rape laws often fail to address the plight of socially-disadvan- taged and poor victims, who get lured into sex by men on false promise of marriage. Sex on false promise of marriage not rape: Orissa High Court NEW DELHI, MAY 24: Health infrastructure should be ramped up to en- sure preparedness for the next two months in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has conveyed to eleven mu- nicipal areas in the country that have accounted for 70 per cent of India’s coron- avirus case load. Eleven municipal areas from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Mad- hya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan account for 70 per cent of the active caseload, the Union health ministry said in a state- ment. The government has asked the eleven municipal areas to step up monitoring in old cities, urban slums and other high density pockets like camps and clusters for migrant work- ers for management of COVID-19 cases. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan, who held a high-level meeting on Sat- urday through video con- ferencing with principal health secretaries and mu- nicipal commissioners along with other officials from the 11 municipal ar- eas, urged them to focus on prevention through active screening of high risk and vulnerable population along with effective and sturdy clinical manage- ment of the admitted cases to reduce fatality rate. COVID-19 cases in India saw the biggest spike for the third consecutive day on Sunday with 6,767 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 1,31,868, while the death toll due to the disease rose to 3,867 after 147 more fa- talities, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. The active cases of the coronavirus disease rose to 73,560. While 54,440 peo- ple have recovered, one pa- tient has migrated to an- other country, according to the ministry’s bulletin. “Thus, around 41.28 per cent patients have recov- ered so far,” a Health Min- istry official said. During the meeting on Saturday, a presentation was made to highlight the trend in case trajectory with respect to total con- firmed cases, case fatality rate, doubling time, tests per million and confirma- tion percentage, the min- istry said. “It was told that a major challenge lies in those cor- porations having shorter doubling time, higher mor- tality rate and a higher con- firmation rate than the na- tional average,” the ministry said in its state- ment. The officials were briefed about the factors to be con- sidered while mapping the containment and buffer zones and the activities mandated in containment zones like perimeter con- trol, active search for cases through house to house surveillance, contact trac- ing, clinical management of the active cases. They were also asked to undertake surveillance ac- tivities in the buffer zone like monitoring of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and influenza like illness (ILI) cases and pro- moting social distancing and hand hygiene among others. It was pointed out that testing needs to be stepped up in some municipal areas to ensure early detection of cases, timely clinical man- agement and a reduction in fatality rate. “They also need to be mindful of ramping up the health infrastructure to en- sure preparedness for the next two months with spe- cial focus on isolation beds with oxygen, ventilators and ICU beds,” the health ministry statement said. Health infrastructure must be ramped up to ensure preparedness for next 2 months: Govt SEOUL, MAY 24: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un convened a key military meeting to discuss bolster- ing its nuclear arsenal and putting the country's strategic armed forces on a high alert, state media reported on Sunday, in his first known public appearance in about 20 days. In early May, Kim quelled intense rumours about his health by attending a ceremony marking the completion of a fertiliser factory in his first public activities in 20 days. But he hadn't again made any fol- low-up public appearance in about another 20 days until the state news agency on Sunday said that he led a meeting of the Central Military Com- mission of the ruling Workers' Party. "Set forth at the meeting were new policies for further increasing the nu- clear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation," the Korean Central News Agency said, without saying exactly when the meeting was held. The meeting also discussed increas- ing the capabilities for deterring "the threatening foreign forces", it said. It was held amid a prolonged dead- lock in negotiations with the United States over the North's nuclear pro- gramme. The two countries' diplo- macy faltered when a second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in February 2019 ended with- out any agreement due to disputes over US-led sanctions on North Ko- rea. Frustrated over the lack of progress, Kim later said he would un- veil "a new strategic weapon" and would no longer be bound by a self- imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. Kim hasn't still followed through with those threats though he con- ducted a slew of short-range missile tests. On Sunday, the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper released photos showing Kim clad in his trade- mark dark Mao suit and delivering a speech, writing down on a document and pointing his stick at a board on the podium. Elderly military generals wearing olive green uniforms were seen taking notes when Kim, 36, spoke — something that's typical in North Korean state media-distrib- uted photos. North Korea's Kim holds meeting to discuss bolstering nuke forces NEW DELHI, MAY 24: Nineteen-year-old Roshan Shrivastav was looking forward to finally being able to vote since he turned 18 a year ago, till en- during pain and suffering as a migrant during the lockdown shook his faith in the system. A native of Siwan district in Bihar, Roshan arrived in Delhi soon after Holi this year to find a job and sup- port his family. He is now desperate to return home, an endeavour that has turned out to be his biggest struggle in the city. On Friday evening, Roshan along with his nephew Shivam Shrivastav (19) and friend Prince Gupta (21) were turned back by the police when they attempted to cross the Delhi-UP border, near Ghazipur, in the hope of somehow reaching their homes in Bihar. The trio, who lived in a rented single-room flat in Baljeet Nagar, west Delhi, said their landlord was “kind” to them and did not ask for rent. “But politicians play games with us around elec- tion times with fake, hollow promises, sympathise with the poor and then forget us,” an anguished Roshan said. “The way villagers and poor migrants are literally dying in the streets, some on railway tracks, some in road accidents, as if their life does not matter to any- one, it has shaken me,” he said. Feeling that people like him have been “abandoned by the government” in this time of crisis and having “lost faith in the system”, Roshan said he has decided to either not cast his vote at all or choose the NOTA op- tion in the future elections. “I have just become eligi- ble to vote but I have vowed to not vote for any party or politician. Be it the coming Bihar polls, next general elections, or any other elec- tions in future. We feel cheated,” he said. While agreeing with Roshan, Shivam said he would not exercise his fran- chise at all in any election. Echoing similar feelings of hurt and discontent- ment, Prince said: “This COVID-19 crisis has ex- posed the government. I have decided to either not vote or choose NOTA from here on.” Roshan said when they would reach their homes, they would tell people in their hometown to “not waste their votes on schem- ing politicians and un- scrupulous political par- ties”. It took Adesh Singh and his wife Manju, along with their three small children, three days to reach their hometown Shahjahanpur in UP after they left their accommodation in south Delhi. “We work hard to earn our living. We don’t beg or steal. We may be poor, but we are also citizens of this country with equal rights granted to us. But perhaps, we are the lesser equals be- cause we are not rich,” said a teary-eyed Manju, her mouth covered with a du- patta, as the couple haggled with taxi drivers at the Delhi-UP border to take them home without charg- ing an exorbitant fare. “This government was talking about bringing peo- ple from foreign countries under the CAA, but it is clear they can’t handle their own population and are still trying to get more peo- ple into our country from abroad,” she said. “Why should we vote for any of these parties? All of them are of the same ilk. We don’t need sympathy, we need dignity,” rued Adesh, who worked in a factory in Delhi. “The purpose of a lock- down is understood, but poor people who have been left stranded with no jobs or money, should they just die of starvation?” he asked. After an arduous jour- ney, the family finally reached home on Saturday morning. Feeling ‘cheated’ by parties, govts, many returning migrants question why they cast votes NEW DELHI, MAY 24: Indian skies will open up for domestic passen- ger flights from Monday after a gap of two months but there was confusion following imposition of own set of con- ditions and rules by several states which are at odds with each other. Many states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were opposed to opening up of their airports in view of rising cases of the coronavirus infec- tion, making it difficult for the airlines as well as the civil aviation authorities to resume services. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are home to some of the busiest airports in terms of passenger traffic. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Twitter on Sunday that it is “extremely ill-advised” to re- open airports in red zones. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she will urge the Centre to postpone resumption of domestic flight services at Kolkata and Bagdo- gra airports by a few days. On Sunday afternoon, AirAsia India said on Twitter that all passengers must read the health protocols of the destination states and it would “not be responsible for repatriating or bearing any quarantine or related costs of any guests”. In the midst of uncertainty and con- fusion, representatives of airline and several states held multiple meetings with top officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry on Sunday covering a range of contentious issues like quarantine rules for flyers and standard operating procedures for leading airports, offi- cials said. The focus of the delibera- tions was to have uniform quarantine rules following announcement of sep- arate conditions by various state gov- ernments. However, it is not immedi- ately clear whether uniform quarantine rules as envisaged could be finalised in the meetings. The government last week an- nounced resumption of the domestic flight services from May under specific rules and guidelines like cap on ticket pricing, wearing of face masks by pas- sengers, no food served on board planes and making available details of medical conditions by travellers through Aarogya Setu app or by filling up of a self-declaration form. The government’s decision came as the aviation sector was reeling under severe stress triggered by the coron- avirus lockdown that began on March 25.\ However, many states expressed serious reservations to the Centre’s de- cision to start the flight services. Kar- nataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Punjab, Assam and Andhra Pradesh have announced their respective quar- antine measures for passengers arriv- ing at their airports. Some states decided to put passen- gers on mandatory institutional quar- antine while several others talked about putting them under home quar- antine. Civil Aviation Minister Hard- eep Singh Puri on Saturday questioned the need for quarantine if a passenger is shown green status in Aarogya Setu app. The green status signifies that a passenger is safe. However, as the states remained adamant on the mat- ter, the central government is trying to create coherence in quarantine rules for flyers, officials said. They said bookings have been opened for around 1,050 domestic flights that will operate on Monday. Several executives from a number of airlines said since Mumbai airport and Kolkata airport handle a significant share of domestic flights, the operators are expecting the Centre to clarify the “prevailing confusion” relating to quarantine. “Clarity is required on matters re- garding quarantine and flights to Mumbai and Kolkata as it is affecting our bookings. Passengers are reluctant to book in such an environment,” said an executive of a low cost carrier. The Jammu and Kashmir govern- ment said on Saturday that all incom- ing passengers will have to undergo 14 days of “administrative quarantine”. Similarly, the Kerala government said on Friday that all flyers will be put into 14 days’ home quarantine and that it has made an exception to those com- ing for business purpose or for a short duration. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said all incoming passen- gers will be put in home quarantine for 14 days while the Bihar government said that travellers will be put on “paid quarantine” for 14 days. Passengers coming to Andhra Pradesh would be put under home quarantine, said the state government, adding that once their test results for COVID-19 come negative, they will be relieved from quarantine. The Assam government on Friday said it will be putting flyers on a 14-day quarantine. The passengers might be distributed equally in home quaran- tine and government quarantine, it clarified. Karnataka government’s health ministry made it clear that anyone coming from states where there is “high prevalence” of COVID-19 will be kept in institutional quarantine for seven days and if tested COVID-nega- tive, the passenger will have to spend the next seven days in home quaran- tine. Domestic passenger flights to resume on Monday amid confusion www.himalayanmail.com The Himalayan Mail
