K erala’s joy over the “flat- tening” of the coronavirus curve on the 100th day of the reporting of the first case in the State received setback as two persons who landed in Kochi and Kozhikode airports from the Gulf tested positive for the pandemic on Saturday. This has happened despite all screening and checks of the evacuees before the repatriation. “A passenger who reached Kozhikode from Dubai and another person who arrived at Kochi from Abu Dhabi on March 7 by the Vande Bharat flights tested positive and both of them have been admitted to the nearest hospitals,” said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during his daily media briefing on Saturday. While the passenger who landed at Kochi, a 23-year-old male hailing from Malappuram district has been admitted for observation at Kalamassery Medical College near the air- port, the other person who test- ed positive had reached Kozhikode airport from Dubai. He too has been admitted a nearby specialty hospital for observation and treatment, said Vijayan. Otherwise the State retained its zero-Covid-19 sta- tus as there were no fresh cases detected on Saturday. “Though a person had been admitted to hospital in Idukki district on Friday, tests proved that he has no coronavirus infection and hence he was dis- charged,” said the Chief Minister. The Air India flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi which were deployed for bringing back the expatriates were led and managed by specially trained pilots and cabin crew. The pilots and cabin crew were given special training for a week at Kalamassery Medical College. Passengers who reached Kochi and Kozhikode air- ports have been quarantined at specially prepared hostel rooms. According to the details furnished by Vijayan, till Saturday 505 persons have been tested positive for coro- na virus. “There are 17 persons undergoing treatment in vari- ous hospitals in the State. We have put 23.930 persons under observation. Out of this 23,596 persons have been quaran- tined at their own homes and 334 persons have been admit- ted to hospitals,” said the Chief Minister. Vijayan cautioned the peo- ple that though the coron- avirus curve has been flat- tened in the State, utmost care has to be continued in the com- ing days as more and more people from West Asia as well as other north Indian States would be reaching Kerala. Meanwhile, the Air India on Saturday brought back 129 Indians stranded to Delhi from Dhaka. This was the second flight from Dhaka under the Vande Bharat Mission. Another flight with 177 passengers is expected to land in Kochi from Muscat. As many as 1,741 Indians, including 21 infants, have returned home in the past three days from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Singapore, Dhaka, Bahrain and Riyadh so far. The flights landed in on Saturday are from the UAE, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Oman and Malaysia. They are expected to touch down in New Delhi, Lucknow, Chennai, Hyderabad and Trichy. Till Friday, 1,441 Indians including eight infants, were brought back on two Air India and four flights of Air India Express. T he Centre and the West Bengal Government are engaged in a fresh face-off after Home Minister Amit Shah accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of red-flag- ging the special Shramik trains carrying migrant workers from entering her State. In a letter to the Chief Minister, Amit Shah said the Trinamool Government wasn’t allowing trains to reach Bengal and warned this would make life even harder for them. Hours after Shah’s letter, the Trinamool Congress exploded calling Shah a “ped- dler of lies.” “He is peddling bundles of lies,” said TMC MP and Chief Minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee asking the Home Minister to prove his allega- tions or seek apology. Saying that Bengal’s apa- thy towards its migrant work- ers will only aggravate their condition, Shah in his letter wrote that the Central Government was “facilitat- ing (the return of the migrant labourers) but we are not getting expected support from the State Government. This is injustice with the migrant labourers. This will create further hardship for them, as the workers are eager to return to their homes.” Within hours the junior Banerjee hit back wondering who was responsible for the current state of affairs and for whose lack of foresight the dreaded disease could enter India. Later he tweeted, “A HM failing to discharge his duties during this crisis speaks after weeks of silence, only to mislead people with bundle of lies!” adding “Ironically he’s talking about the very people who have been literally left to fate by his own Govt.” He said Shah should prove his charges or apologise. Prove your fake allegations or apolo- gise (sic),” he wrote. The TMC leadership also wondered how a letter written to the Chief Minister found its way to the media before reach- ing its actual destination. T here seems to be no respite for India from Covid-19 as cases mounted to 62,769 on Saturday with 2,101 deaths. Maharasthra remained the worst hit States with 20,228 cases and 779 deaths, while Gujarat occupied the second spot with 7,797 cases and 472 deaths. The health authorities in Maharashtra went into a tizzy on Saturday, as the State recorded highest-ever day’s fatality of 48 deaths and regis- tered a phenomenal 1,165 new cases. Gujarat chipped in 394 cases and 24 deaths. The day saw a record number of 115 deaths across India. Of the total deaths in Maharashtra, Mumbai accounted for 27 deaths, while there were nine deaths in Pune and eight in Malegaon. One death each was reported from Pune district, Akola, Nanded and Amravati. The eight deaths reported from Malegaon took place between the period of April 25 and May 8. With the new 27 deaths, the total number of deaths in Mumbai has risen to 489, while the total number of infected cases has jumped to 12,864. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in an advisory issued on Saturday urged the people not to panic and asked “all positive corona patients” who do not have symptoms not rush to the big hospitals for admission when the test result is positive. A s coronavirus cases in India crossed 61,000 on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry tweaked the guide- lines for discharge of Covid-19 patients subject to clinical con- dition, a move aimed to ease the burden on the medical facilities which are anticipated to gradually overwhelm with serious infections. The Government is already grappling with the safety of the healthcare workers who are also bearing the brunt of the deadly pandemic. As per the revised guide- lines, there will be no need for testing prior to discharge of the patients admitted with very mild, mild and pre-sympto- matic cases to a Covid Care Facility. As per the earlier guide- lines issued on April 28, 2020 when the reported cases were around 29,400, the patient had to test negative twice for Covid- 19 before being discharged. “They will undergo regu- lar temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring. The patient can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for 3 days. There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. The patient will be advised to follow the home isolation for further 7 days,” as per the policy. If they develop symptoms of fever, cough or breathing difficulty again, they must contact the Covid Care Centre State helpline or 1075. P utting an end the rumours about his health making rounds on social media, Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday declared that he is healthy and is not suffering from any disease. “I want to clarify today that I am perfectly healthy and I do not have any disease,” Shah said in a detailed note on Twitter. The Home Minister said for the past few days there have been rumours about his health on social media and “some even tweet- ed praying for my death.” Shah said he did not pay attention to these rumours as he was busy in the coron- avirus pandemic prevention and rehabilitation related works. C hief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Madhya Pradesh is reporting a constant fall in the number of active corona cases of total positive cases. The State is fast moving towards total control of corona crisis. Corona cases were 90 per cent compared to the positive cases on April 16, which has now come down to 51 on May 9. The number of corona active cases was 2,050 on April 30 and it has reduced to 1,767 as on May 9. The CM reviewed the sit- uation arising out of corona pandemic and the arrange- ments to tackle it, through videoconferencing at Mantra- laya here on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, DGP Vivek Johari and ACS Health Mohammad Suleman. During the review of Jabalpur district, the Chief Minister said that congested localities are more vulnerable to infections, therefore, special attention must be paid to them. People should be advised to maintain social distancing and not to gather anywhere. Turn to Page 4 New Delhi: The Indian Railways has operated 302 ‘Shramik Special’ trains since May 1 and ferried home about 3.4 lakh migrants stranded in various parts of the country amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, officials of the Railway Ministry said. H undreds of migrant work- ers came onto the streets and clashed with the police at a village in Surat district of Gujarat on Saturday to demand that they either be sent back to their home States or allowed to resume work at local industri- al units to earn money, police said. The police resorted to lath- icharge and fired tear gas to dis- perse the angry migrants work- ers. Over a 100 workers were detained in this connection, an official said. Noida: A 62-year-old man died due to coronavirus in Noida, becoming the second Covid-19 fatality in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district. C hief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said labourers of Madhya Pradesh stranded in various States are returning in large numbers through trains. Collectors must ensure that the labourers coming to their area are welcomed on their arrival. Food, tea, etc are made avail- able to them as soon as they land. So far, 1.55 lakh labour- ers have returned to Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan said labourers and other persons should not call the nodal officers for per- mission and arrangement to go from one place to another. They should call at the call cen- tre 0755-2411180 set up for this work. Chouhan issued instruc- tions that arrangements for screening on the borders should be made mandatory for the workers who come to Madhya Pradesh by road. Labourers coming by train should be screened where they reach. No labourers must be allowed to enter without screening. Also, their full details should also be noted. They should also be quarantined on their arrival at the destination. The CM said that labour- ers must not worry as every labourer will be brought back to the State. Additional Chief Secretary ICP Keshari informed that a demand for 56 trains has been sent to the Ministry of Railways to bring labourers back. The first train from Karnataka will leave for Madhya Pradesh tomorrow, which will halt at Jabalpur and Gwalior. Principal Secretary Sanjay Dubey said that so far 3 lakh 90 thousand persons have registered for return. RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008
Kerala’s joy over the “flat-tening” of the coronavirus
curve on the 100th day of thereporting of the first case in theState received setback as twopersons who landed in Kochiand Kozhikode airports fromthe Gulf tested positive for thepandemic on Saturday. This hashappened despite all screeningand checks of the evacueesbefore the repatriation.
“A passenger who reachedKozhikode from Dubai andanother person who arrived atKochi from Abu Dhabi onMarch 7 by the Vande Bharatflights tested positive and bothof them have been admitted tothe nearest hospitals,” saidKerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan during his daily mediabriefing on Saturday.
While the passenger wholanded at Kochi, a 23-year-oldmale hailing from Malappuramdistrict has been admitted forobservation at KalamasseryMedical College near the air-port, the other person who test-ed positive had reachedKozhikode airport from Dubai.He too has been admitted anearby specialty hospital forobservation and treatment,said Vijayan.
Otherwise the Stateretained its zero-Covid-19 sta-tus as there were no freshcases detected on Saturday.
“Though a person had beenadmitted to hospital in Idukkidistrict on Friday, tests provedthat he has no coronavirusinfection and hence he was dis-charged,” said the ChiefMinister.
The Air India flights fromDubai and Abu Dhabi whichwere deployed for bringingback the expatriates were ledand managed by speciallytrained pilots and cabin crew.The pilots and cabin crew weregiven special training for aweek at Kalamassery MedicalCollege.
Passengers who reachedKochi and Kozhikode air-ports have been quarantinedat specially prepared hostelrooms. According to thedetails furnished by Vijayan,till Saturday 505 persons havebeen tested positive for coro-na virus.
“There are 17 personsundergoing treatment in vari-ous hospitals in the State. Wehave put 23.930 persons underobservation. Out of this 23,596persons have been quaran-tined at their own homes and334 persons have been admit-ted to hospitals,” said the ChiefMinister.
Vijayan cautioned the peo-ple that though the coron-avirus curve has been flat-tened in the State, utmost carehas to be continued in the com-ing days as more and more
people from West Asia as wellas other north Indian Stateswould be reaching Kerala.
Meanwhile, the Air Indiaon Saturday brought back 129Indians stranded to Delhi fromDhaka. This was the secondflight from Dhaka under theVande Bharat Mission. Anotherflight with 177 passengers isexpected to land in Kochi fromMuscat.
As many as 1,741 Indians,including 21 infants, havereturned home in the past
three days from Abu Dhabi,Dubai, Singapore, Dhaka,Bahrain and Riyadh so far. Theflights landed in on Saturdayare from the UAE, Kuwait,Bangladesh, Oman andMalaysia. They are expected totouch down in New Delhi,Lucknow, Chennai, Hyderabadand Trichy.
Till Friday, 1,441 Indiansincluding eight infants, werebrought back on two Air Indiaand four flights of Air IndiaExpress.
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The Centre and the WestBengal Government are
engaged in a fresh face-offafter Home Minister AmitShah accused Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee of red-flag-ging the special Shramik trainscarrying migrant workers fromentering her State.
In a letter to the ChiefMinister, Amit Shah said theTrinamool Government wasn’tallowing trains to reach Bengaland warned this would makelife even harder for them.
Hours after Shah’s letter,the Trinamool Congressexploded calling Shah a “ped-dler of lies.”
“He is peddling bundles oflies,” said TMC MP and ChiefMinister’s nephew AbhishekBanerjee asking the HomeMinister to prove his allega-
tions or seek apology.Saying that Bengal’s apa-
thy towards its migrant work-ers will only aggravate theircondition, Shah in his letterwrote that the CentralGovernment was “facilitat-ing (the return of the migrantlabourers) but we are notgetting expected support fromthe State Government. This isinjustice with the migrantlabourers. This will createfurther hardship for them, asthe workers are eager toreturn to their homes.”
Within hours the juniorBanerjee hit back wonderingwho was responsible for thecurrent state of affairs and forwhose lack of foresight thedreaded disease could enterIndia. Later he tweeted, “AHM failing to discharge hisduties during this crisisspeaks after weeks of silence,only to mislead people withbundle of l ies!” adding“Ironically he’s talking aboutthe very people who havebeen literally left to fate by hisown Govt.”
He said Shah should provehis charges or apologise. Proveyour fake allegations or apolo-
gise (sic),” he wrote.The TMC leadership also
wondered how a letter writtento the Chief Minister found itsway to the media before reach-ing its actual destination.
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There seems to be no respitefor India from Covid-19 as
cases mounted to 62,769 onSaturday with 2,101 deaths.Maharasthra remained theworst hit States with 20,228cases and 779 deaths, whileGujarat occupied the secondspot with 7,797 cases and 472deaths.
The health authorities inMaharashtra went into a tizzyon Saturday, as the Staterecorded highest-ever day’sfatality of 48 deaths and regis-tered a phenomenal 1,165 newcases. Gujarat chipped in 394cases and 24 deaths. The daysaw a record number of 115deaths across India.
Of the total deaths inMaharashtra, Mumbaiaccounted for 27 deaths, whilethere were nine deaths in Puneand eight in Malegaon. Onedeath each was reported fromPune district, Akola, Nandedand Amravati.
The eight deaths reportedfrom Malegaon took placebetween the period of April 25and May 8. With the new 27deaths, the total number ofdeaths in Mumbai has risen to
489, while the total number ofinfected cases has jumped to12,864.
Me anw h i l e , t heBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) in anadvisory issued on Saturdayurged the people not topanic and asked “all positivecorona patients” who donot have symptoms not rushto the big hospitals foradmission when the testresult is positive.
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As coronavirus cases in Indiacrossed 61,000 on
Saturday, the Union HealthMinistry tweaked the guide-lines for discharge of Covid-19patients subject to clinical con-dition, a move aimed to easethe burden on the medicalfacilities which are anticipatedto gradually overwhelm withserious infections.
The Government is alreadygrappling with the safety of thehealthcare workers who arealso bearing the brunt of thedeadly pandemic.
As per the revised guide-lines, there will be no need fortesting prior to discharge of thepatients admitted with verymild, mild and pre-sympto-matic cases to a Covid CareFacility.
As per the earlier guide-lines issued on April 28, 2020
when the reported cases werearound 29,400, the patient hadto test negative twice for Covid-19 before being discharged.
“They will undergo regu-lar temperature and pulseoximetry monitoring. Thepatient can be discharged after10 days of symptom onsetand no fever for 3 days. There
will be no need for testingprior to discharge. The patientwill be advised to follow thehome isolation for further 7days,” as per the policy. If theydevelop symptoms of fever,cough or breathing difficultyagain, they must contact theCovid Care Centre Statehelpline or 1075.
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Putting an end the rumoursabout his health making
rounds on social media, HomeMinister Amit Shah onSaturday declared that he ishealthy and is not sufferingfrom any disease.
“I want to clarify todaythat I am perfectly healthy andI do not have any disease,”Shah said in a detailed note onTwitter. The Home Ministersaid for the past few daysthere have been rumoursabout his health on socialmedia and “some even tweet-ed praying for my death.”
Shah said he did not payattention to these rumours ashe was busy in the coron-avirus pandemic preventionand rehabilitation relatedworks.
Madhya Pradesh is reportinga constant fall in the numberof active corona cases of totalpositive cases. The State is fastmoving towards total controlof corona crisis. Corona caseswere 90 per cent compared tothe positive cases on April 16,which has now come down to51 on May 9. The number ofcorona active cases was 2,050on April 30 and it has reducedto 1,767 as on May 9.
The CM reviewed the sit-uation arising out of coronapandemic and the arrange-ments to tackle it, throughvideoconferencing at Mantra-laya here on Saturday. Themeeting was attended by ChiefSecretary Iqbal Singh Bains,DGP Vivek Johari and ACSHealth Mohammad Suleman.
During the review ofJabalpur district, the ChiefMinister said that congestedlocalities are more vulnerableto infections, therefore, specialattention must be paid tothem. People should beadvised to maintain socialdistancing and not to gatheranywhere.
Turn to Page 4
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New Delhi: The IndianRailways has operated 302‘Shramik Special’ trains sinceMay 1 and ferried home about3.4 lakh migrants stranded invarious parts of the countryamid the coronavirus-inducedlockdown, officials of theRailway Ministry said.
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Hundreds of migrant work-ers came onto the streets
and clashed with the police ata village in Surat district ofGujarat on Saturday to demandthat they either be sent back totheir home States or allowed toresume work at local industri-al units to earn money, policesaid.
The police resorted to lath-icharge and fired tear gas to dis-perse the angry migrants work-ers. Over a 100 workers weredetained in this connection, anofficial said.
Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan said labourers of
Madhya Pradesh stranded invarious States are returning inlarge numbers through trains.Collectors must ensure that thelabourers coming to their areaare welcomed on their arrival.Food, tea, etc are made avail-able to them as soon as theyland. So far, 1.55 lakh labour-ers have returned to MadhyaPradesh.
Chouhan said labourersand other persons should notcall the nodal officers for per-mission and arrangement to gofrom one place to another.They should call at the call cen-tre 0755-2411180 set up for thiswork.
Chouhan issued instruc-tions that arrangements forscreening on the borders shouldbe made mandatory for the
workers who come to MadhyaPradesh by road. Labourerscoming by train should bescreened where they reach. Nolabourers must be allowed toenter without screening. Also,their full details should also benoted. They should also bequarantined on their arrival atthe destination.
The CM said that labour-ers must not worry as everylabourer will be brought backto the State. Additional ChiefSecretary ICP Keshariinformed that a demand for 56trains has been sent to theMinistry of Railways to bringlabourers back. The first trainfrom Karnataka will leave forMadhya Pradesh tomorrow,which will halt at Jabalpurand Gwalior. PrincipalSecretary Sanjay Dubey saidthat so far 3 lakh 90 thousandpersons have registered forreturn.
� What is your role in Ek Thi Begum?This story is from the late 80s and the
early 90s when the underworld was at itspeak. I play Ashraf Bhatkar aka Sapna. Theentire story revolves around her as herjourney from a normal lady to one who isseeking for revenge is shown. Her husbandwas killed by an underworld don that iswhy she chose the path of revenge. � What all preparations did you have todo for the role?
I have never portrayed a character likethis before, so it was definitely exhausting.There are many shades in Ashraf ’scharacter and I had to explore the depthsof it. I had many discussions with SachinDarekar, the writer-director of the series.It was important for me and him to be onthe same page. I wanted to follow hisvision, we had lots of workshops and triedto take out all the things between the lines.It took a lot of homework actually andthat’s how we went ahead with the process.� Do you think there is a need to bringmore such stories at the forefront?
Definitely. What we have seen or heardis that underworld was man dominated.However, I believe that there are many suchwomen who in that era also became thepolice informers and came at the forefront.There was a lot of power to women evenback then. It is important that we showpeople that women were no less. We doneed such content. � What kind of rapport do you sharewith your co-actors?
I have worked with most of the actorson the sets. For Ankit Mohan, who playsmy husband. He is a friend but we nevergot a chance to work together. It was afantastic experience. Everybody has puttheir 100 per cent in the characters theyare playing. When you are working witha bunch of people, then it is more of a teamwork. It is no longer a story about aparticular person rather it is a compilationof everyone’s story. And Sachin, he has puta lot of efforts in the series. I have nevergot a chance to work with him, though hewas the writer of one of my shows. Theexperience if for a lifetime.� How was the environment on thesets?
It was always fun. Obviously notwhen we are shooting an emotionalsequence because it takes a little while toget out of that moment but otherwise it wasan extremely positive environment on thesets which is why our work became all themore fun.� From Radhabai to now AshrafBhatkar, you have played the roles of
women of substance. What attracts youto these roles?
It is the strength inside me may be. Ihave been fortunate that I have beengetting to do so much of work and suchkind of characters.
It is my inner strength that I like toportray such characters. I can connect withall the characters that I have playedbecause there was some common trait.Also all the roles have been different. Anyactor would die for such roles. Till now, Ihave never played a naive character orsomeone who don’t have a spine. I enjoydoing such type of characters.� How did your first show Tamannahappen with you?
I auditioned for it almost five times forthat show. Then I got a call from the team,but still it was not finalised. There was a
50-50 chance. I was hoping to get the role.And when it happened, I knew that it wasan opportunity where I have to provemyself to myself ki main yeh kar sakti hun.I am glad that it happened because itopened a lot of doors for me.� What kind of roles would you like toexperiment with?
I don’t mind playing similar kind ofcharacters as long as I am getting to showmy strength. Also, I would like to explorethe side of mine which I haven’t till nowlike I said I have never played a naive ora bichari character. But my inclination willcontinue to be towards strong characters.� What is there in the pipeline?
There are some projects but I am notallowed to talk about it right now. Onceeverything will fall in place, I will share thedetails.
Believe it or not, besides Mother’sDay, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Dayand a slew of other days, there is
a National Paranormal Day. It iscelebrated on May 3 and people areencouraged to come together and sharetheir eerie stories and or experiences.But given the present situation —COVID-19 lockdown — the gettogether is not be possible. So how thenext best thing? Watch ghosts come aliveon your small screen.
“There is a reason why we love tohear or see shows and films that relateto the paranormal. We have all grownup listening to bhoot ki kahanis from ourgrandparents: ‘Ki aisa usne dekha thha’.That fascinates us. Just like those whoare addicted to sci-fi movies and wantto believe in aliens, we have out ourhome-grown bhoots,” Mayank Mishrasays, who has been playing the ghost forthe last one year on the show. He tellsyou that he has forgotten how manydifferent ghosts he has played till nowsince one rolls into another.
He tells you that it was his dream toplay a ghost since he was a kid. “Whilegrowing up, we each dream of becomingor doing something. Since I had alwayswanted to be an actor my dream role wasto play ghost and today, I am living it.It is interesting to play a bhoot. It is unlikeplaying any other character. There is somuch more than just role play. Since eachepisode has a different ghost, I need togive it a different look, walk and voice.I do a lot of study and watch shows andfilms around the genre to try and seehow I can improve on the creature thatI have to play. Then there is the wholetime spent in getting the prosthetics andmake-up and wearing a costume thatweighs over 10 kg and spend the next12 hours in that get up and then shots.It is extremely challenging but I love it,”Mishra tells you.
Though Mishra may have playedover 25 so far and counting, there are twocreatures that he loved playing. One wasthe episode he which he played the iceman. “There was something sointeresting to play a creature that wascovered in white from top to bottom and
coming out of a fridge. The other wasChanda mama, the moon ghost. Thiswas nice since the kids loved what I havedone here,” Mishra tells you whosefavourite Bollywood ghost movies asRaaz, 1921 and IT (Hollywood).
Nitica Kanwar, one of the writerswho came on board for the show tellsyou that one of the biggest challenges thatcome with writing a monster story asopposed to any other story is how it isdifferent from what one has donebefore. “One has to be more creative,imaginative and think out of the box.Every story that you have has to bringin a new element, not seen before. So thatpeople, when they come back, have anew creature and a new ghost. It isdefinitely challenging and a lot morefun,” Kanwar says who came on boardwhen the show had more of creatures,monsters and bent towards fantasyrather than ghosts.
She tells you that when you write forsuch shows, a lot of research has to gointo studying if there was any folkloreassociated with what you are writing
about or if there was a mention inmythology. “One doesn’t want to createa monster or a creature that doesn’t existor impossible to imagine,” Kanwar says.While it may not always be possible togo out and create a Marvel on TV, whatis not lacking is the talent to write scaryfantasy stories. One has to see if what Ihave written can be executed. The firstconcern is that the creature doesn’tappear to be tacky. We have to see if onecan shoot it was the graphics and VFXlevel. Also, horror/fantasy as a genre hasnot been explored much and in theindustry and that brings in its ownchallenges. It involves a lot of work aswell,” Kanwar says. It takes her aroundtwo-three days to write story before theprocess of positive feedback from thechannel and the producer beings beforethe story is finalised.
Hemant R Prabhu, tells you thatworking with horror/fantasy genre is apassion for him and not only has heproduced 13 episodes of the show, hehas directed most o them. For him thereare two biggest challenges. First, to keep
the audience thrilled enough so that theydon’t surf. Second, revolves around thelook of the monster. “There is so muchsoftware out there. Every story has to bedifferent and new look,” Prabhu says.
Directing comes easy to him sincemost of back-end works in taken careof before the episode goes on the floor.“Most of the work is beforehand. A lotof homework is done. Pre-productionmeetings take care of any other wrinklesthat may come up,” Prabhu says.
Jitu Mhatre, the man behind theprosthetics and make-up who has givenface to 90 per cent of the monsters tellsyou that the biggest challenge he facesis to deliver things on time. “We aregiven only three-four days to come upwith the look that is finalised. This takesa lot of time and effort and a slew ofpeople. We also have to ensure that themonster even though scary is notyucky. People should be scared notrepulsed with the monster. This iswhat attracts people to horror genre; thefact that we have come up with a newlook that has not been seen before,”Mhatre explains.
Then there is the VFX and thechallenges that for a show on ghosts.Sarika who is behind the camera andensures that the ghost does all scary stufflike fly and appear and disappear in lessthan a fraction tells you that while themake-up artist will give the look, it is notalways possible to have a perfect lookingghost or a monster. This is where theVFX people step in and ensure that theghost does what it does best — scare thejeebies out of you.
“Even after the prosthetics artist hasdone his job, it has limitations. He can’tmake the eyes glow nor can he make thearms or the entire body twist and turnat a horrible angel that will scare you.That is where we step in. The CG cando so much more. Even if it a smallscene, it can create that scare quotient.This adds to the thrill factor for the fansof horror genre and they love it. Theyalso want to know what new we haveto offer to them that will add to thewhole experience of watching a reallyscary show,” Sarika says.
Girl Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis: This oneis so empowering and great that it will make youdouble down and start checking off every thing onyour 2020 goals list.
In this title she challenges women to stoptalking thermselves out of their goals and dreamsand live out their life instead of feeling traped intotheir mother/wife/best friend etc roles they havedefined for themselves.
Mom Up: Thriving with Grace in the chaos ofMotherhood by James, Kara-Kae: Being a momis hard and mothers every where know it. we allthink we are failing at this job, but we aren’t. Thebook aims yo help moms stop merely survivingtheir motherhood journey and start thriving. Thebook focuses on intentional motherhood,emphasises the importance of rest and how toembrace the chaos.
From the popcorn seller’seyes, the theatre lovers wit-
nessed the reality of society. Asolo act play ‘Popcorn’ was per-formed on Facebook LiveStream on Saturday.The playwas performed playwright andactor Balendra Singh. Admistlockdown, many artists arecoming up with unique ideasto showcase their creativity.One of them was the live play.
The play begins withshowcasing a railway station.The set of the play was hugeand really beautiful. It lookedlike a real railway station onstage. Now, here enters theprotagonist of the play the‘popcorn-seller’.
The entire play movesaround the popcorn seller andthe way he has witnessed thedifferent shades of society. He
marks questions about theevils prevailing and why arethey prevailing either.The storybegins with the popcorn-sell-er selling popcorns on a rail-way station. Every day he givessome popcorn to a mentallyimpaired woman, Tukia. Oneday, he gets to know that Tukiawas raped by a fruit-seller
whom he knows very well andwonders where this society isreally headed. As he came toknow this, he tries to reasonwhy a mentally sound manwould rape a mentally illwoman and concludes every-one is living to fulfill theirgreed not needs.
The actor who is wellknown for his fabulous per-formance in movies like Pikuand Raazi, Balendra Singhgave yet another applaudingperformance in Popcorn.
Though Balnedra Singh isa theatre person and hasdirected many plays whichhave been staged in MadhyaPradesh and other State aswell.One of his well knownperformances is in Piku. But,with an enchantment and car-rying a strong personality,Balendra Singh always createsmagic on stage.
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The Indian Army steppedin to assist the Hamidia
Hospital and the civil admin-istration at Bhopal during thelockdown due to COVID-19pandemic, wherein blooddonors are not available.
Indian Army’s SudarshanChakra Corps undertook a'Blood Donation Camp' atMilitary Hospital, Bhopal onMay 08, 2020 in collaborationwith Hamidia Hospital, one ofthe prominent Covid19 hos-pitals at Bhopal to meet itsurgent blood requirement.
About 110 Army person-nel donated blood in thisnoble drive which will helpthe local blood banks andadministration of HamidiaHospital to utilise this bloodand blood components for
emergency cases. An educa-tive lecture was also conduct-ed at the venue to draw atten-tion on the importance ofblood donation by Dr UMSharma, HOD, Department ofBlood Transfusion, GovtMedical College, Bhopal. Healso assisted in coordinating
the blood donation camp. Allpersonnel who volunteeredto donate blood were proper-ly screened as per guidelines.All safety precautions, includ-ing social distancing in viewof the ongoing COVID-19pandemic were strict lyobserved.
Kolar police have booked aman whose pet dog bit his
tenant’s five-year-old daughterwhen she was playing insidethe house at Rajharsh colonyon Thursday evening; girl sus-tained serious injuries.Policesaid that the victim Shivanyawas bitten by Ankesh Geminiwho is the owner of the house.
This is the second incidentwhen the pet dog has injuredone of the family members. Inthe initial investigation policefound the dog had bitten thegirl’s mother few weeksago.The incident occurred inRajharsh colony in Kolar. TheKolar police have registered a
case on Friday.During theinvestigation police found thatthe girl was playing in thehouse when the landlordunleashed the dog towardsher.
The dog attacked andinjured her.The parents of thevictim who inside the roomrushed to her rescue afterhearing her cries. She was res-cued and rushed her hospital.The girl was admitted thereand was discharged after vac-cination.
The complainant told thepolice that the accused AnkeshGemini had unleashed thedog on his wife a few weeksago but at the time,
he failed to understandthat it was intentional andafter the dog attacked hisdaughter he lodged complaintagainst owner of house. Policesaid the accused is yet to bearrested, but an FIR has beenregistered against the accused.
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Awebinar session was organ-ised under the aegis of
CRISP to discuss the effect ofcorona virus on fashion design-ing and interior industry. Inthe online webinar session,thesenior Architect AshishBhattacharya told the impor-tance of pencil in designing.
Afterwards, Venkatesh,Keni and Suyash Kulshreshtagave their opinion about thechanges in fashion and design-ing industry after COVID-19.
In the online webinar ses-sion, CEO of CRISP, MukeshSharma said, “Trainers ofCRISP are in constant touchwith their participants, withdifferent mediums.
Every person of the societyis somehow connected with thefashion and interior designingindustry. Demand for clothes isdefinitely not going to end, butthe trend is definitely going to
change after COVID19 ledlockdown.” It is significant thatdespite of the lockdown, CRISPhas maintained online classesto continue the training oftheir students.
Hina Arshad shares heropinion on the opportunityprovided by the pandemic infashion industry. She alsoinformed about all the onlinesession which were taken byCRISP and have been uploadedon its official website.
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After a long wait of twomonths, the final dates
of Joint EnteranceExamination (JEE) Mainsand Advanced dates areannounced. The candidatesare sll geared up for theexams.
The JEE Mains will beheld from July 18 to 23.Besides, JEE Advanced 2020would be conducted onAugust 23. The dates forJEE Main 2020 wereannounced on May 5 by theHRD Minister during awebinar with the students.
The examinations ofJoint Entrance Examination(JEE) Mains were postponeddue to the serious outbreakof Coronavirus. The exami-
nations were scheduled to beheld on April 5, 7, 9 and 11.The new dates wi l l b eannounced till March 31.
Given the date of theJEE Advanced 2020,
it can be suggested thatthe results of JEE Main 2020are exp ec ted to b eannounced by August 10.The onl ine appl icat ionprocess for JEE Advanced2020 would begin only afterthe final results of JEE Main2020 are announced.
JEE Advanced 2020 isthe entrance/admission testfor the top technical insti-tiutes in the country.
The announcemnet ofthe dates would help lakhs ofstudents who are preparingfor the entrance examina-tion.
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In light of the coronaviruspandemic, Policybazaar
Group (Policybazaar.com,Paisabazaar.com) has extend-ed support to the NationalHealth Authority,Government of India (GoI) inefforts towards addressingpublic queries aroundCOVID-19 pandemic.
Policybazaar Group hascommitted 1,000 members ofits customer support centre tothe National Health Authority(NHA), Government of India,on a non-commercial basis, tobe utilized on a need basis byNHA. "This is an unprece-dented situation. While we arefacing a challenging time onsome of our business lines, wefeel a sense of responsibility insupporting the nation in com-
ing out of this unique crisis.We believe that the NHA isplaying a very important rolein addressing public healthqueries, and we feel proud tobe assisting the Authority indoing so," said, YashishDahiya, Co-founder & GroupCEO, Policybazaar.com,about this social support ini-tiative.
Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO,National Health Authoritysaid "The support byPolicyBazar to the COVID-19Helpline is praiseworthy andtheir team ensured quick rollout.
The helpline is playing acritical role in helping thegeneral public with advice,questions or assistance relat-ed to Coronavirus. We appre-ciate this gesture, whichstrengthens Indias f ight
against COVID-19.NHA hasincluded Policybazaar Groupas part of the primary callcentre for calls to the NationalCovid-19 Helpline 1075.Policybazaar staff have beensupporting the helpline fromthe last week of March, witheach of them working remote-ly on their tablets or smart-phones.
"A big salute to the NHAand our staff who have beenworking tirelessly on this pro-ject. The quick turnaround inwhich training of the staffhappened, creating a cus-tomized CRM platform andintegrating it with NHA's sys-tems and standard protocolsis commendable," Yashishadded.The Policybazaargroup remains committed tosupport various social initia-tives in the national interest.
Pushpa Apartment and recov-ered illegally transported 30liters of county-made liquor,IMFL and two boxes of beeron Friday.
According to the police,acting of a tip five personswere detained in Ratibad andrecovered from their posses-sion.
The two accused wereidentified as Nitin Ramani(35) of arera colony, RahulSharma (25) of Ratibad,Rupesh (29), Kamlesh Jathavof Khajuri and DineshMalviya (30).
Police said that thenabbed were carrying liquorand failed to produce licenseregarding the liquor and werenabbed. The source fromwhich the two have obtainedthe liquor and where it was
scheduled to be deliveredwould be investigated.
Based on the informa-tion of illegal transport ofliquor when the police start-ed to search for the miscre-ants of the provided descrip-tion the accused tried toescape the spot after thepolice personnel spotted thetwo accused.
After the preliminaryinvestigation a case undersection 34(2) of the Excise Actwas registered and furtherinvestigation has been start-ed.
The accused are residentsof different areas and policehave booked the nabbedaccused in the past. Crimerecord of the nabbed accusedwould be investigated.
The illegal transport ofliquor has been reported dur-ing the lockdown from thenearby areas like Sehore andother areas.
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The most awaited eventIndiemoons Art Festival has
been rescheduled. It will be heldin June at Ravindra Bhawanauditorium. The event wasscheduled in April and May, butfue yo outbreak of Coronavirusand lockdown, the festival ispostponed. But, the dates mayextend as per Government direc-tives. The fest was all aboutplays by big names of industryincluding Pankaj Kapoor andSharman Joshi.
Sharman Joshi will stage aplay Raju, Raja, Ram, Aur Main.The play is scheduled on June 6.This is revived Hindi version ofMarathi Play Sahi Re Sahi. RajuRaja Ram Aur Mein is a story ofmixed-up confusions.
It follows the life of MadanSukhnandani – an old but richindustrialist, his young wife andhis loyal yet disloyal personalassistant. Trouble ensues whenMadan discovers that his wife ishaving an affair with his pa. Aftermuch chaos, the wife accidentallyends up killing Madan.
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Weather conditions havestarted to turn extreme
hot as temperatures soared to44.5 degree Celsius in the stateand few regions have witnessedthundery activities in the past 24hours.
With few exceptions staterecorded day temperaturesaround 42 degree Celsius.Temperatures of Rewa, Shahdol,Sagar and Gwalior divisionsrecorded significant increasein the past 24 hours. Khargonerecorded highest day tempera-ture of the state at 44.5 degreeCelsius.
The state capital recordedhighest day temperature at 43degree Celsius which the high-est temperature of the seasonwhile night temperature wasrecorded at 25.8 degreeCelsius.Among the nearbyregions Raisen andHoshangabad regions recordedday temperature at 42 and 42.5degree Celsius.
Dhar, Ratlam, Gwalior,Khajuraho, Nowgong, Sagarand Sidhi recorded day tem-perature at 42 degreeCelsius.The forecast claims thatlight rainfall and thunder light-ening are likely to be witnessedin Hoshangabad division andBurhanpur, Khandwa,Khargone, Badwani, Neemuch,
Mandsaur, Dindori, Seoni andBalghat districts.Met depart-ment has issued warning ofthunder lightning and strongwinds Hoshangabad divisionand Burhanpur, Khandwa,Khargone, Badwani, Neemuch,Mandsaur, Dindori, Seoni andBalghat districts in the next 24hours.
In the past 24 hours Kewlarirecorded 3 cm and Nainpurrecorded 1 cm rainfall in thepast 24 hours.After the rainfallactivities have ceased tempera-tures have been recorded abovenormal temperatures.The sys-tem which are present wouldincrease the temperatures grad-ually in the next 2 days andafterwards temperatures arelikely to dip.
Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said that exten-
sive amendments and simplifica-tions have been made in the labourlaws in the state and various typesof facilities are being provided tothe industries. This has made estab-lishing and running of industries inthe state very easy.
Now we must not delay ininviting industries to the state asthis is a golden opportunity.Discussions should be held with allindustrial organizations, industri-al houses etc and efforts should bemade to establish maximum indus-tries here.
Chief Minister Chouhan washolding a discussion in Mantralayatoday on industrial land and poli-cy scenario in the state. ChiefSecretary Iqbal Singh Bains,
Principal Secretary IndustriesRajesh Rajoura, Principal SecretaryMSME Manu Srivastava, PrincipalSecretary Manish Rastogi, SecretaryScience and Technology MSelvendran etc were present in themeeting.Chouhan said that with
land pooling policy, sufficient landis available for industries in thestate. In the major cities of the stateincluding Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior,Jabalpur and Rewa, 2 thousand 902hectares of developed land and 10thousand 673 hectares of undevel-oped land is available for industries.The value of the land has also beenkept very low.
The Chief Minister said that wehave made such an industrial pol-icy so that children of our state canalso establish industries here.
The government is giving var-ious types of facilities for the estab-lishment of small, medium andmicro industries and is providingloans for setting up industries atvery low interest rates.
More possibilities for food pro-cessing and garmentindustryChouhan said that thegovernment is providing morefacilities and assistance for food andgarment industry in comparison toother states.
Therefore, there is more possi-bility of establishing industry inboth these areas. Industries relatedto rice, various types of pulses and
oil etc. can be established in thefood processing industry.
Electricity will be available forindustries at Rs 4 per unitIt wasinformed at the meeting that ascheme has been chalked out in thestate under which setting up of aseparate power company is beingconsidered for providing electric-ity to industries. In this case, we willbe able to provide electricity to theindustries at Rs 4 per unit insteadof Rs. 7.50 per unit.
Chief Minister Chouhan saidthat today there are huge employ-ment opportunities in the field ofinformation technology.
A plan should also be made toestablish an I.T. park in Bhopal. Itwas told that Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment is getting 600 acres of landof BHEL.
The Chief Minister said thatwith regard to the establishment ofindustries, we should also payattention to our shortcomings andsee how they can be overcome. Airconnectivity of the state is not verygood and it is a ‘land locked’ state.We have to improve our air con-nectivity.
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Governor Lalji Tandon has asked UniversityGrants Commission to extend the spon-
sored projects by six months. He said thatCovid-19 lockdown has affected activities ofuniversities.
In such circumstances, to follow thedetermined time limitations of the utilisationcertificate of the sponsored projects is not jus-tified. The commission should extend its timelimit of all sponsored projects by six months.
Secretary to Governor Shri ManoharDubey said that research projects, fellowship,chair and other developmental programmesare being run in various universities of thestate from the grant provided by UniversityGrants Commission.
Due to Covid-19 situation the last datesfor all the programmes can not be followed.In universities academic and developmentactivities are affected.
The Governor has thus asked the com-mission to extend the last date of the utilisa-tion certificate for various projects, fellowshipand schemes for at least six months. He hasalso asked UGC to give necessary instructionspertaining to this to all the universities.
has approved the lab set up atRatlam Medical College forcorona tests, around 50 sam-ples would be tested daily;after the user ID and passwordof the online portal will bechecked from Saturday thetest will take 7 to 8 hours.
According to MLAChaitanya Kashyap, now 50sample tests will be done dailyfrom this lab. Earlier reportswere coming from Bhopal inthree to four days. Suspiciouspositives were a major prob-lem, whose reports were tak-ing time but now administra-tion will start receiving reportswithin a lesser period of time.
The lab was approved bythe government on 31 Marchwith the efforts of MLAKashyap. The college receivedan RT-PCR (real-time poly-merase chain reaction)machine on 18 April. Routine
tests will start from Saturday.Along with Ratlam in the lab,samples of Mandsaur andNeemuch will also be exam-ined. Presently the medicalcollege has 150 test kits. Thiswill start testing from Saturdayand 200 kits and will arrive inthree to four days.
MLA Chetanya Kashyapsaid that starting the lab willhelp in preventing the spreadof virus as more samples willbe tested every day. Thereport will also be available in7 to 8 hours.
Menwhile in Ujjain 16new cases of corona infectionhave been reported in the dis-trict on Saturday, while 19 pos-itives were found on Friday thenumber of patients hasincreased to 235; the death tolldue to corona in the district is45.
At the same time, 69patients have recovered andreturned home. Most of thenew cases are from contain-ment areas.
after 28 people, including 16 inthe worst-affected Gurugramdistrict, tested positive, theHealth Department said.
The number of activecorona virus cases is 376 upfrom 358 until over a day ago,while 290 people have beendischarged so far, the depart-ment said in its bulletin. OnSaturday too, the majority ofthe new cases are from NCRdistricts of Gurugram andSonepat. Rewari in southHaryana, which had remainedfree from the pandemic,reported its first three cases onSaturday.
Haryana had so far report-ed eight corona virus-relateddeaths, added one more now,taking the tally to 9.
The worst affected dis-tricts of the State with maxi-mum number of positive casesare Gurugram (146), Sonepat(89), Faridabad (88), Jhajjar(74), Nuh (59), Ambala (41)and Palwal (36), Panipat (36).
According to the Stategovernment’s health bulletin,28 fresh cases were reportedfrom Gurugram, Sonepat,Panipat, Panchkula, Sirsa,Mahendragarh and Rewari.
While hard hit Gurugramreported 16 more case, takingthe total number of Covid-19cases in the district to 142,Sonepat district that had so farreported 86 cases over fewweeks ago, added three morenow, taking the tally to 89.Panipat reported one morecase, taking the tally to 36.
Panchkula reported twomore cases, taking the tally to20. One more cases reportedin Sirsa, taking the tally to 7.Mahendragarh reported twomore cases, taking the tally to4. Rewari reported three morecases.
Meanwhile, 51 Covidpatients have been dischargedin Gurugram while 55 inFaridabad, 57 in Nuh, 32 inPalwal, 17 in Panchkula, 11 inAmbala and 10 in Jhajjar.
Health bulletin’s reportsrevealed that there are noCovid patients in districts likeCharkhi Dadri, Kaithal,Bhiwani, Kurukshetra in theState. One patient who hadearlier tested positive inCharkhi Dadri has been dis-charged. All two patients whowere earlier tested positiveeach in Kaithal andKurukshetra have been dis-charged. All three patientswho were earlier tested posi-tive in Bhiwani have been dis-charged.
As many as 53, 282 sam-ples have been tested so far,out of which 48, 468 have test-ed negative. The report of4,139 samples is awaited.
31 FRESH CASES, 2DEATHS IN PUNJAB
Punjab reported twomore coronavirus deaths onSaturday, while 31 people test-ed positive for the infection,bringing the number of casesto 1,762 in the state, accordingto the state government's med-ical bulletin.
The fresh fatalities pushedcoronavirus-related death tollto 31 in Punjab. There are1,574 active cases in the state,according to the bulletin.
A 62-year-old Covid-19positive man from Hoshiarpurdied at the Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Educationand Research (PGIMER) here,said a health official. The manwas having respiratory prob-lems, the official added.A 56-year-old Covid-19 patient diedat a Ludhiana hospital, theofficial said.
Among fresh cases report-ed on Saturday, 17 were inJalandhar, five in FatehgarhSahib, four in Rupnagar, two inPathankot and one each inPatiala, Kapurthala andHoshiarpur, according to thebulletin.
Five coronavirus patientsfrom Jalandhar were dis-charged from hospital afterrecovering from the infection.So far, 157 Covid-19 patientshave been discharged fromhospitals in the state.
Amritsar continued to topthe Covid-19 tally in the statewith 287 cases, followed by175 in Jalandhar, 157 in TarnTaran, 125 in Ludhiana, 116 inGurdaspur, 103 in SBS Nagar,96 in Patiala, 95 in Mohali, 90in Hoshiarpur, 88 in Sangrur,65 in Muktsar, 56 in Moga, 45in Faridkot, 43 in Ferozepur,40 in Bathinda, 39 in Fazilka,29 in Pathankot, 28 in
Fatehgarh Sahib, 24 inKapurthala, 21 in Barnala, 20each in Mansa and Rupnagar,the bulletin said.
One patient is critical andis on ventilator support, itsaid. A total of 39,462 sampleshave been collected in thestate so far and 33,639 ofthem have come out negativeand reports of 4,061 are stillawaited.
-�����������1�*������� �.�������# �;+���������������� ���V��� ,��?������=����������-A� ���� ��Chandigarh: Union Territoryof Chandigarh saw a majorsurge in the number ofCoronavirus cases on Saturdaywith 23 reporting positive,including a four-month-old.Of the new cases, 21 have beenreported from Bapu Dhamcolony in Sector 26, which hasemerged as an epicentre of thevirus infection in the city.
An official statement said,the new cases include twoand six-year-old children.They all are already homequarantined as their familymembers had earlier tested
positive. With this, the totalcount of Covid cases inChandigarh has gone up to169. On Friday, the city hadrecorded its second death dueto Covid. The patient, a resi-dent of Hallo Majra, had diedat the ICU of the GMSH inSector 16, on May 6, but histest report came as positive forthe virus later on Friday.
The man was referredfrom the Civil Hospital inSector 45 to the GMSH lastSaturday with severe anaemia.He was also suffering fromacute respiratory illness.
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In a sign for resumption of eco-nomic activities amid the Covid-
led lockdown across the country,Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij onSaturday said over 1.5 lakh migrantworkers have applied on Governmentportal, expressing their willingness toreturn back to work in the State.
Most of these 1.5 lakh workers,who have registered themselves toreturn, belong to Bihar, Uttar Pradeshand Madhya Pradesh, Vij said, addingthat on the same portal nearly 8 lakhmigrant workers, however, have reg-istered themselves for leaving theState.
“Most of the 1.5 lakh who wantto come back are from Bihar, UP andMP. They want to come here as com-mercial activities have started andthey are hopeful that they can find ajob,” he said.
Asked how Haryana can facilitatethose migrants willing to come backduring the lockdown, Vij said, “We aretalking to the States to which theybelong.”Most of the migrants whowant to return have applied to cometo industrial towns of Gurgaon,Sonipat, Jhajjar, Rewari, Faridabadand Panipat, said officials. They saidthat most of these who have appliedto return may have left before thelockdown or during its initial fewdays.
Asked if the resumption of theState’s industry and economic activ-ities would not be affected due tomore workers seeking to leave the
State and than those willing toreturn, Vij said, “We and the rest ofthe country and the world is facinga situation that we are bound to facesome difficulties.
“But we cannot stop thosemigrant workers who want to go backwith their States too being ready tohave them back. We can only per-suade these workers and we arealready doing that. We are seeking toassure them that the Haryana gov-ernment will take care of all theirneeds, but we cannot force them tostay back,” he said.
Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar had onWednesday reiterated his appeal tomigrant workers not to leave the Stateand instead start working in manu-facturing units which have beenallowed to resume operations, sayingthe coronavirus situation in the statewas much better.
He had said migrants must com-pare the situation in their nativeplaces with that in Haryana beforetaking a decision.The Chief Minister,however, had said if anyone still want-ed to leave, the State Government hasalready made arrangements for theirreturn as per the Centre's guidelines.On Wednesday, the first special trainfrom Hisar carrying 1,200 migrantworkers left for Katihar in Bihar.
More such migrants wanting to goback will be sent back within the nextseven days through 5,000 buses and100 trains, with the state governmentbeing ready to bear the entire cost oftheir transportation.
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The Union Government willrun a special train from
Goa to carry strandedHimachalis back to state,Himachal chief minister JaiRam Thakur said on Saturday.
He said on the request ofthe state government, theUnion Government has agreedto run a special train fromThivim/Margao/Karamali(Goa) to Una to facilitatemovement of the people ofHimachal Pradesh strandedin Goa.
Interacting through videoconferencing from Shimla withthe people of State stranded invarious parts of Goa due to thecountrywide lockdown, theChief Minister said that he has
requested the Union RailwaysMinister Piyush Goyal to ply aspecial train from Goa to Unain Himachal Pradesh to facil-itate the people to reach theState.Thakur said a specialtrain would start from Goa onMay 13 or 14 to carry theHimachalis back home.
He said as many as 1204people of the State were strand-ed in Goa which includes 398
from Mandi district, 246 fromKullu district, 241 from Kangradistrict, 105 from Chambadistrict, 70 from Shimla districtand 43 from Solan district.Hesaid the Government would tryto fully utilize the skill andexpertise of the people comingback to their home, adding thatafter their homecoming theywill have to remain underhome quarantine.
CM URGES ANDHRAPRADESH GOVT TO PRO-VIDE ASSISTANCE TOSTRANDED HIMACHALIS
Chief Minister Jai RamThakur on Saturday urged theAndhra Pradesh Governmentto provide assistance to resi-dents of Himachal Pradesh
stuck in Sri Sayta Sai SevaOrganization, Prasanty Nilyamin Puttaparthy AndhraPradesh in wake of country-wide lockdown.
In a letter written to theChief Minister of AndhraPradesh YS Jagan MohanReddy, Thakur said that theState Government was receiv-ing several SOS calls ofHimachalis stranded there forextending necessary assistanceto them. He said that most ofthese people want to comeback to their native places.
Chief Minister also urgedhis Andhra Pradesh counter-part to take care of the strand-ed residents of HimachalPradesh and ensure properfood, shelter and medical careto them. He said that Himachal
Pradesh Government wasensuring all possible help to thepeople of other States strand-ed in the State.
PARTY WORKERS MUSTKEEP A CLOSE VIGIL ONRETURNEES, SAYSTHAKUR
Addressing BJP workersthrough video conferencing,the chief minister said eachand every party worker mustensure that they reach thehome of the person comingback from other States evenbefore the person actuallyarrives, so as to sensitise thefamily members regardingimportance of social distanc-ing and home quarantine tocheck spread of corona pan-demic.The Chief Minister said
that the State Government hasmade elaborate arrangementsto bring back the people ofHimachal Pradesh strandedin other States. He said thatState Governme
nt had already appointedadequate number of support-ing officers to the NodalAuthority to coordinate move-ment of the migrant workers,pilgrims, tourists, students andother persons both within andoutside the State.
He said that although thishas caused increase in numberof corona positives cases in theState, still it is the moralresponsibility of the StateGovernment to bring back thestudents, workers and otherpeople of the State stranded indifferent parts of the country.
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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on
Saturday those entrepreneurswho are willing to shift theirmanufacturing operations fromChina to India, would be givenpriority to invest in Haryana.
Interacting with the peopleof the State during a live pro-gramme, Khattar said investorsfrom Japan, US, Korea,Germany, Australia and Taiwanare now exploring possibilitiesto invest in India instead ofChina and from the geograph-ical perspective; Haryana isalready the first choice of for-eign investors.
He said in the last fiveyears, an industry friendlyatmosphere has been created inHaryana and the state is rankedfirst in Northern India in ‘Easeof Doing Business’. He said thattalks are underway with 60multi-national companies forinvestment in the state.
Khattar said that for indus-trial expansion throughout theState, a district-wise clusterscheme will be formulated forall the 22 districts. To boost theindustries sector, road and railnetwork or any other infra-structure would be developedin future as per requirement.He said that this cluster- wiseplan will not only give a bigboost to industries but will alsocreate ample employmentopportunities.
The Chief Minister saidthat industrial activities haveresumed in Haryana after cer-tain relaxation during the lock-down. He said those industrialunits whose electricity tariffs forthe months of March, Apriland May would be half of theaverage of January and February,would be entitled to get a 25 per-cent rebate in the fixed charge.The remaining 75 percentamount will have to be deposit-ed from July to December in 6equal installments.
He said that in order toenable MSMEs to pay theirworkers on time, the facility ofgetting loans from the bank forpayment of salaries upto Rs.20,000 per worker has beenmade available, for which theHaryana Government willgrant interest benefit upto 6months, which will amount to�250 crore. He said no collat-
eral or guarantee has to begiven for this loan and if infuture there is any such provi-sion the State Government willaddress the issue.
He said due to CoronaPandemic, the migration oflabourers had started in thepast but since the Governmentis planning to give a momen-tum to the MSMEs operations,this number has started todecline. He said that nowindustrial activities haveresumed in the state andpresently about 13 lakhemployees are engaged in dif-ferent works and it is expectedthat now the migrant labourerswill not return to their respec-tive states.
In another interaction withthe representatives of MSMEsalong with the members of theLaghu Udyog BharatiAssociation of all the districtsof the state through video con-ferencing, the Chief Ministersaid that during the nationwidelockdown period, the econom-ic activity of all the states wasaffected and now they are beingre-opened in a phased manner.
He said a new EnterprisePromotion Policy will be for-mulated from August 2020,for which suggestions will beinvited from all stakeholders.
Khattar said revenue col-lected in the last two monthshas been almost negligible.The revenue is mainly collect-ed from GST, Excise, StampDuty, VAT refund from CentralGovernment, and mining, headded. He said that these arenow being operationalised in aphased manner. He assuredthat a separate Nodal Officerwill be appointed for issuesrelated to HSIIDC. In addition,issues related to VAT refunds of2017 are being resolved in atimely manner.
During the lockdown peri-od, adequate arrangementswere made in Haryana inwhich the State Governmenthas spent an amount of Rs.1047 crore for the needy andvarious organizations have con-tributed �250 crore to theHaryana Corona Relief Fund,he said He said that 72,000 peo-ple had registered on theCovid-19 Sangharsh SenaniPortal and offered voluntarilyto fight against the Battle ofCorona.
patients in Ranchirecovered from thedeadly viral infec-tion and were dis-charged from hospi-tal on Saturday, offi-cials from the Ranchidistrict administra-tion said. The devel-opment takes the total countof Coronavirus survivors inRanchi to 53, which is morethan 50 per cent of the totalcases reported here, theyadded.
According to f iguresshared by the National HealthMission (NHM), as many as93 cases of COVID-19 caseshave been reported in Ranchiso far – the highest among allthe districts in Jharkhand.
By Friday evening, at least30 patients had already recov-ered from the infection. AfterSaturday's update, there areonly 38 active cases in Ranchi– a development that is beingseen as a major step towardsthe State capital's victory overCOVID-19 virus.
"The recovery of patientsfrom COVID-19 infection isa huge success for us. We willsoon fight back and bring lifeback on track, I am sure," saidRanchi DeputyCommissioner Rai
Mahimapat Ray. "I request allRanchi-ites to stay safe andfollow social distancing untilwe emerge victorious," headded.
The DC also requestedthe residents of Ranchi totreat the COVID-19 survivorsfairly, and not ostracise them.Amid the panic and pande-monium of Coronavirusinfection, the survivors mayget treated unfairly due to thegrowing fear among locals,sources said. "Please treat theCOVID-19 survivors fairly,"said Rai.
There are 33 COVID-19containment zones inJharkhand and 15 of them fallwithin the periphery ofRanchi – the only red zone inState, Health Secretary NitinMadan Kulakarni has said.
The remaining 18 con-tainment zones are spreadacross the nine districts thatfall in the category of orangezones here, he added.
The State Government is in theprocess of finalising the plan to
bring back migrants from the stateback to Uttarakhand by train. A sumof Rs 50 lakh has also been depositedas advance by the state with the rail-ways. However, reports published bysome media outlets listing specific datefor the train are incorrect as the dateshave not been finalised yet.Meanwhile, out of the 1,79,615migrants from Uttarakhand who haveregistered online for returning to thestate, 23,794 had been brought backfrom various states by Friday evening.Secretary Shailesh Bagauli said thiswhile addressing the media onSaturday.
He said that talks have been heldto bring back migrants by train fromSurat, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluruand other places. Talks are also under-way for train from Rajasthan. TheUttarakhand government is bearingthe train and bus expense to bringback natives to the state.
A sum of Rs 50 lakh has beendeposited with the railways as advance.So far, the state has discussed the oper-ation of eight special trains. The time-table for bringing back migrants bytrain will be finalised soon after talkswith the Railways ministry and thestates concerned. The migrants con-cerned will be informed by SMS assoon as the schedule is finalised, hesaid. Bagauli further informed that ofthe 1.79 lakh migrants who have reg-istered to return, 23,794 were brought
back by Friday evening. These include11,482 from Haryana, 4383 fromChandigarh, 3,526 from Uttar Pradesh,2,409 from Rajasthan, 482 from Delhi,327 from Punjab, 319 from Gujaratand 411 from other states. Apartfrom these, the number of personsgoing from one district to anotherwithin Uttarakhand is 34,886. Further,21,717 persons have registered onlineto travel to other states fromUttarakhand. Out of these, 6,378 per-
sons have been sent to other states sofar. Bagauli said that the process ofbringing back migrants toUttarakhand has to be planned prop-erly.
The time-table is drafted accord-ing to the number of persons forwhom arrangements can be made inone day in the districts. The State gov-ernment is making arrangements tobring back all those who have regis-tered for the same.
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The Union Railway ministerPiyush Goyal has agreed to
Uttarakhand’s request for operatingspecial trains to bring backUttarakhandis from Delhi.
Thanking him for this, chiefminister Trivendra Singh Rawatsaid that he had talked to Goyal onFriday night and informed himthat about 40,000 people want toreturn home to Uttarakhand fromDelhi.
Rawat said, “Since RailwayBoard had decided that specialtrains would run only for distanceslonger than 500 kilometres, I soughtrelaxation requesting that being amountain state, we do not have suchlong tracks. We thank the Railwayminister for understanding our sit-
uation and agreeing to our request.He told me to send the state’s planand assured that train will be pro-vided as required.” The CM said thatthere is a provision for such specialtrains to halt at only one station.
He told Goyal that consideringthe different situation inUttarakhand, the train should beallowed to stop at two stations. TheUnion minister talked to the RailwayBoard chairman and asked him toapprove the proposal to be sent byUttarakhand and do the needful.
The CM said that with this, thestate will be able to bring back 1,000to 1,200 migrants from Delhi in onetrain compared to about 30 personswho can be brought back in one bus.He assured that the State govern-ment will bear the cost of the railjourney.
India Private Limited, TSrinivas Rao, met ChiefMinister Hemant Soren, hereon Saturday and supportedthe State Government withone lakh washable and re-usable masks to combat theCoronavirus epidemic (Covid-19). On this occasion, the ChiefMinister said that in this hourof crisis arising out of Covid-19 infection, all people should
unite and play their part inmutual cooperation and har-mony to combat the global epi-demic.
The CM said that the roleof voluntary institutions is alsoimportant in combating thecoronavirus. “We will fightand win this battle of coronavirus together,” he said. Rao,Chairman, MythriInfrastructure and MiningIndia Private Limited, appreci-ated the work being done bythe State Government in pre-venting Covid-19 infection.
On this occasion, ProjectManager of MaitriInfrastructure and MiningIndia Private Limited, G.Srinivasa Rao, Project ManagerJ. Satish and others were pre-sent.
Meanwhile, the CM paidtribute to the death of themother of the Director Generalof Police of Jharkhand, MVRao. The Chief Minister saidthat God give peace to thedeparted soul and patience tothe bereaved families in thishour of grief.
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�������������������77From Page 1People should also be educated through religious leaders. During
the review of Sehore district, he said that the district has reportedonly a single case of Corona infection and directed to make effortsto check its further spread.
Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains directed that except forinfected areas, shops should be allowed to open gradually as tohelp restoration of normalcy. In rural areas all shops should openand in urban areas shops should open partially to avoid crowd-ing there.
has trained 1,500 people ashealthcare assistants and putthem in the anti-coronavirusservices in the hospitals andhealth centres, is planning totrain 2,000 more so that theycould also join the health ser-vices to contain the pandemicin the country.
Giving this information,Union Minister for MinorityAffairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvisaid on Saturday that a batch of2,000 would be trained thisyear under the Ministry’s skilldevelopment programme andjoin the anti-Covid-19 ser-vices. He said health assistantsare being trained by the well-established hospitals and healthorganisations in the country.
The Minister said 16 Hajhouses in the country havebeen handed over to the dif-ferent states to be used forquarantine and isolation pur-poses. The healthcare assis-tants, 50 per cent of whom arewomen, were trained under theministry’s skill developmentprogramme and are nowemployed in hospitals andhealthcare centres across thecountry.
He said to create awarenessabout the social distancing andneed to adopt healthcare pro-tocols to prevent the spread ofthe coronavirus, the Ministrywill soon launch the “Jaan Bhi,Jahan Bhi” nationwide aware-ness campaign.
The Ministry is also tocreate quarantine facilities inStates to cater to workers from
India and abroad.Waqf boards across the
country have contributed Rs 51crore to the Prime Minister’sand Chief Ministers’ relieffunds for the pandemic withthe support of religious, socialand educational organisations.The Aligarh Muslim Universitycontributed Rs 1.4 crore to thePM-CARES fund and AMUMedical College arranged 100beds for treating coronaviruspatients, according to a state-ment by the Ministry.
AMU also arranged Covid-19 tests and more than 9,000tests have been done till now,Naqvi said.
The Ajmer DargahCommittee and associatedorganisations provided facilitiesworth about Rs 1 crore, whichincluded arrangements to sendpeople back to their states, hesaid. Nqvi said under Dargahcommittee “Khwaja modelschool” and “Kayad” rest househas been opened up for thecoronavirus affected peoplefrom across the country andbeing used for quarantine andisolation. He said 4,500 visitorsof all religions who werestranded on account of thelockdown were served withfood and medical services.
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The CRPF on Saturdayreported 62 fresh cases of
Covid-19 patients in its ranksfollowed by identification of 35new infected persons in theBSF, 13 in CISF and six inITBP, taking the tally of coro-navirus-hit personnel in theparamilitary ranks to 653.
On Saturday, 62 new casesof coronavirus infections werereported from Rapid ActionForce, an anti-riot Force underthe CRPF. All the 62 positivecases are from 194 Battalion ofRAF deployed in the nationalcapital. They have been isolat-ed at White Lee Public School,Bawana in the national capital,a senior CRPF official said.
Earlier, the CRPF hadreported 172 cases of Covid-19infections. Out of the 234 cases,
231 are active, two have recov-ered and a Sub Inspector haddied last week.
In the BSF, 25 corona virusinfected personnel were report-ed from Tripura and 10 per-sonnel in the national capitalcontracted the viral disease.
With 258 Covid-19 posi-tive cases in its ranks, theBorder Security Force (BSF) isthe worst-hit paramilitary interms of number of personnelinfected by the pandemic fol-lowed by 234 cases in theCentral Reserve Police Forceand 100 in the Indo TibetanBorder Police (ITBP).
With six fresh Covid-19positive cases on Saturday, theITBP has now 100 Coronavirusinfections in its ranks.
All cases of coronavirusinfections in ITBP have beenreported from Delhi.
Four personnel of ITBP areundergoing treatment atAIIMS, Jhajjar, Haryana andtwo personnel are admitted atSafdarjung Hospital here.
At the CAPF ReferralHospital, Greater Noida run byITBP, 94 ITBP personnel arelodged followed by 27 person-nel of BSF, two of CRPF and
one of CISF. Two family mem-bers of ITBP are also beingmanaged here. A total of 126patients are admitted at thereferral hospital and the con-dition of all patients is stable.
Till now, five paramilitarypersonnel have succumbed tothe viral disease — two each in BSF and CISF and one
case in CRPF. The Central Industrial
Security Force (CISF) onSaturday reported 13 freshcases of corona virus infectionstaking the total count of theviral infection to 48. Out of the48 cases, 31 were deployed atDelhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) and 13 at Mumbaiairport, three at Delhi airport,two at Ahmedabad and three atMumbai airport. The SashastraSeema Bal had contracted atleast 13 positive cases.
Officials said, all the pro-tocols of Covid-19 infectionmanagement are being scrupu-lously followed but the diseaseis being contracted by the per-sonnel as they are in the front-line of assisting the law enforce-ment agencies like the policefor ensuring lockdown mea-sures and social distancing.
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Recognising the efficacy ofIndian herbs in helping
boost immunity, theGovernment enterpriseNational ResearchDevelopment Corporation’s(NRDC) Compendium ofIndian Technologies forCombating Covid-19 has eval-uated herbal drug Fifatrol asimmunity enhancer being pre-pared from the extracts ofmedicinal plants.
Launched by Dr Shekhar CMande, Director General, CSIRhere, the Compendium is com-pilation of about 200 Covid-19-related Indian technologies,ongoing research activities,technologies available for com-mercialisation, initiatives andefforts taken by theGovernment to tackle thedeadly viral infection which hascaused havoc across the world.
The Compendium notesthat, “Researchers have sug-gested that Fifatrol, a naturalformulation providing fast relieffrom nasal congestion, sore
throat, body ache and headacheand is enriched with scientifi-cally validated botanicalextracts and micro-nutrientsacts a natural antibiotic andfights infection, flu and ache.”
The Compendium furtherpoints out various benefits ofthe herbal drug, stating that “Itis a rationale combination ofvital phytoconstituents,immune-modulators andantioxidants which justifies itsbeneficial effect for the treat-
ment of viral upper-respirato-ry infections.”
Developed by AIMILPharma, the key ingredients ofFifatrol includes well-knownimmunity enhancer herbs likeGuduchi, Daruharidra,Apamarga, Chirayata, Karanja,Kutaki, Tulsi a few others.
Dr Mande after releasingthe Compendium said thatmost of the technologies in thedocument are proof-of-con-cept (POC) tested and can
help the entrepreneurs to takethe product to market faster asthey do not have to reinvent thewheel. It is very timely andwould benefit the MSMEs,Startups and the public at large,he said.
Dr H Purushotham, CMD,NRDC, said that attempt hasbeen made to compile most rel-evant and emerging indige-nously developed technologicalinnovations, including thosewhich are at research stage, tofight Covid-19 for the benefitof all stakeholders.
As coronavirus is fastspreading its tentacles acrossthe country, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has been atvarious platforms urgingAYUSH practitioners to pitchin to tackle the coronaviruspandemic. He has also beenexhorting the people to looktowards traditional homeremedies during times of sucha global health crisis to boosttheir immunity. In India, over61,000 people are infected withthe virus which has claimedover 2,000 lives so far.
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Amid Covid-19 lockdown, anon-Government organi-
sation ‘Sahely’, has decided toprovide ration to 1,000 families.Shabana Khan, national pres-ident of Sahely NGO, said thather organisation has alreadyprovided ration to 500 familiesin Mewat, Saharanpur,Kashmir and Delhi. Khan saidthat rations are being provid-ed under ‘War AgainstCorruption’ campaign.
Marginalised people suchas migrant labourers, homelessdestitutes, scrap pickers, joblessdaily wagers, commercial sexworkers and others were thefocus of attention for the reliefwork.
She also expressed grati-tude towards Urdu poetsManjar Bhopali and PopularMeerathi for their appeal todonate her organisation.
Sahely is devoted towardthe empowerment of women inevery field.
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In view of the Covid-19 pan-demic and resultant lock-
down, examiners will evaluateover 1.5 crore answer sheets ofstudents, who took the CBSEClass X and XII Board exams,from their homes.
The Government onSaturday identified 3,000 CBSEschools in the country as thecentres from where the answersheets will be sent to the homesof the teachers. This processwill be completed in approxi-mately 50 days, HRD Ministryofficials said. The HRDMinistry’s move followed theMHA’s go-ahead in this regard.
Ministry officials said theCBSE paper evaluation will beresumed from Sunday andCBSE board examiners will beable to carry out the CBSEboard exam answer sheet eval-uation from their respectivehomes.
Union HRD MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’took to Twitter on Saturdayevening to announce the newsand said that around 1.5 croreCBSE board exam answersheets from around 3,000 examcentres across India will bedelivered to the homes of theboard examiners who will carryout the checking process.
After the paper evaluationis done, officials will comeand collect the answer sheets totake them back to the boardexam centres.
In a video statement onsocial media, Nishank thanked
the Home Ministry for givingthis permission in the lock-down so that students can getthe CBSE board exam results2020 as soon as possible.Pokhriyal said that the wholeprocess of CBSE answer sheetevaluation should be over with-in 50 days.
On Friday, the HRDMinister had announced onTwitter that the remainingCBSE board exams of Class XII(all over India) and of Class X(only students whose examswere postponed due to NorthDelhi violence) will be carriedout from July 1 to July 15.
The new CBSE board examdates for each of the 29 subjectsthat are still to be conducted orthe full CBSE board examschedule after lockdown will beannounced in 1-2 days he hadsaid on his Twitter webinar onFriday.
CBSE Secretary AnuragTripathy said due to the Covid-19 lockdown which has nowbeen extended for the thirdtime and is set to continue till
May 17, CBSE has been forcedto put a complete halt to paperevaluation.
“We will need 1.5 to 2months to carry out the paperevaluation. As soon as we getthe advisory from the CentralGovernment, we can start offthe paper evaluation processwhile maintaining social dis-tancing,” he said.
The CBSE paper evaluationhad started off around a weekafter the board exams started inFebruary.
But after the Covid-19 pan-demic started to spread, theprocess had to be stoppedcompletely after 15 days ofpaper evaluation.
Around 70 per cent ofCBSE answer sheets still needto be evaluated even thoughsome of them were done in the15 days of evaluation before theCovid-19 lockdown wasimposed, Tripathy said .
There are around 35 lakhstudents who appear for boardexams and 2 crore CBSE answer sheets need to bechecked, said the CBSE secretary.
In this regard and toexpdite teh process, Nishankhad met the education minis-ters through webinar later lastmonth of all the states andadvised them to start off withthe paper evaluation of stateboard exams.
He also asked the Ministersto make provisions for CBSE tocarry out their answer sheetevaluation in the respectiveStates as well.
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The Indian Navy warshipINS Jalashwa has started its
homeward-bound journeyafter evacuating 698 Indiannationals from Maldives andwas joined on Saturday bysome more Indian warshipmissions deployed in theIndian Ocean region, high-lighting India’s unwaveringcommitment to safeguardingher diaspora anywhere in theworld. The ship carryingIndians is expected to reachKochi, Kerala, late this evening.
This even as another war-ship INS Magar is about to enterMale, Maldives’ capital to bringout more Indians who want toreturn to their country in thewake of coronavirus pandemic.
The naval rescue effort is code-named Operation Samudra Setuwhich commenced on May 7when the 17,000 tonne landingplatform dock (LPD) oramphibious ship INS Jalashwaset sail along with the 10,000tonne INS Magar for Maldives.The two ships are expected tobring back more than 1,500stranded Indians, sources saidon Saturday.
India’s High Commissionerin the Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir,had earlier expressed his deepgratitude to the Indian Navy, theMaldives Government and itsagencies for extending completecooperation for the success ofthe operation. An Indian Navyspokesman said there were anumber of pregnant womenand children among the Indians
who are travelling to Kochi inKerala.
Officials said the secondwill leave for Tuticorin in TamilNadu on Sunday with 200Indians. He said the exercisewill be repeated next week bythe Indian Navy warships.
The deployment of war-ships in rescue effort is part ofthe repatriation missionlaunched by the Indian Navy tobring Indian citizens homefrom foreign shores, the IndianNavy said in a statement. Themassive repatriation effort istestimony to Maldives-Indiafriendship, the Indian HighCommission said in anothertweet. Several Indians who aretravelling by the warship laud-ed the exercise launched by theGovernment.
New Delhi: Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) haspartnered with Bharat BiotechInternational Limited (BBIL) todevelop a fully indigenous vac-cine for COVID-19, the apexhealth research body said onSaturday.
The vaccine will be devel-oped using the virus strain iso-lated at the ICMR’s NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV),Pune, a statement said. Thestrain has been successfullytransferred from NIV to BBIL,it added. “Work on vaccinedevelopment has been initiat-ed between the two partners.The ICMR-NIV will providecontinuous support to BBIL forvaccine development. ICMRand BBIL will seek fast-trackapprovals to expedite vaccinedevelopment, subsequent ani-mal studies and clinical evalu-ation of the candidate vac-cine,” the health research bodysaid in the statement. PTI
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The Tamil NaduGovernment on Saturday
moved the Supreme Courtchallenging a Madras HighCourt order for closure ofstate-run liquor outlets on theground that there was total violation of guidelines meant to contain the Covid-19pandemic.
The Madras High Courthad on Friday ordered closureof liquor outlets noting thatthere were huge crowds and nosocial distancing was beingmaintained by tipplers. It, how-ever, allowed doorstep deliveryof booze through online mode.
The top court too hadtaken note of crowding atliquor shops and asked stateson Friday to consider non-direct contact or online salesand home delivery of liquorduring the lockdown period toprevent the spread of the novelcoronavirus.
The appeal against the highcourt order has been filed by theTamil Nadu State MarketingCorporation (TASMAC), a gov-ernment firm which sells alco-holic beverages in the state,seeking permission to sell liquorthrough vends also.
The High Court orderrestraining counter-sale ofliquor was passed on a miscel-laneous petition filed by advo-cate G Rajesh, besides a plaintfrom the Kamal Haasan-ledMakkal Needhi Maiam(MNM). The HC had saidthere was total violation of itsinterim order issued onWednesday, when it declined tostay a government order allow-ing resumption of sale of liquorthrough outlets.
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India is nearing its daily test-ing target of 1 lakh with
95,000 tests conducted onSaturday even as theGovernment sought to allayCovid-19 fears saying it doesnot anticipate the worst kind ofsituation in India like otherdeveloped countries, which arebadly hit by the contagion.
To substantiate its claim,the Government cited thecountry’s fatality rate which ishovering around 3.3 per centwhile the recovery rate isclimbing up to 29.9 per cent.The total cases on Saturdaycrossed 60,000 while around2,000 deaths have been report-ed till date.
“We do not anticipate avery worst type of situation inour country like many otherdeveloped countries but still wehave prepared the whole coun-try for the worst situation,” saidUnion Health Minister HarshVardhan while interacting withHealth Ministers and seniorofficials of North-East State onthe current Covid-19 situa-tion via video conferencing.
“Our fatality rate in thecountry continues to be around3.3% and the recovery ratehas climbed up to 29.9%, theseare very good indicators. Thedoubling rate for the last 3 dayshas been about 11 days, for lastseven days it has been 9.9days,” he said.
Testing capacity for Covid-19 has been scaled up to 95,000per day and total 15,25,631 testshave been conducted so faracross 332 Government and121 private laboratories, said
the Health Minister.“We have dedicated 843
hospitals exclusively for Covid-19 patients’ treatment, whichhave about 1,65,991 beds in itfor the same. Across the coun-try, there are 1, 991 dedicatedCovid-19 health centres whichhave 1, 35, 643 beds. Thesebeds include isolation as well asICU beds,” he added. Vardhansaid that the Health Ministry iscontinuously coordinating withthe states and monitoring thedata on a daily basis.
“There are 7, 645 quaran-tine centres across the country.We have distributed 69 lakh N-
95 masks have been to variousState Governments. A total of32.76 lakhs PPEs have been dis-tributed to State Governmentsby the centre. We started fromone testing lab in Pune andnow we have over 453 labs inthe country,” he said.
“Yesterday evening weevaluated the data from variousstates and found that only 0.38per cent of the patients were onthe ventilators. 1.88 per centrequiring oxygen support and2.21 per cent were on ICUbeds,” he added.
During the detailed inter-action, the States highlightedvarious issues related to testingfacilities, health infrastructure,surveillance, contact tracingetc. and also shared their bestpractices, as per the statementissued here by the Ministry.
ly booked by the CBI forallegedly cheating a consortiumof six banks to the tune of � 411crore, have already fled thecountry before the State Bankof India reached the agencywith the complaint, officialssaid on Saturday.
The CBI had recentlybooked the company engagedin export of Basmati rice to theWest Asian and Europeancountries and its directorsNaresh Kumar, Suresh Kumarand Sangita on the basis ofcomplaint from the State Bank
of India (SBI), which sufferedthe loss of more than �173crore, they said.
The company had threerice milling plants, besideseight sorting and grading unitsin Karnal district with officesin Saudi Arabia and Dubai fortrading purposes, the SBI com-plaint said.Besides SBI, othermembers of consortium areCanara Bank, Union Bank ofIndia, IDBI, Central Bank ofIndia and Corporation Bank,they said. The Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) did notcarry out any searches in thematter because of the coron-avirus-induced lockdown, theofficials said.
The agency will start theprocess of summoning theaccused, incase they do not jointhe investigation, appropriatelegal action will be initiated,
they said.According to the com-
plaint filed by SBI, the accounthad become non-performingasset (NPA) on January 27,2016.
The banks conducted ajoint inspection of properties inAugust and October, nearly 7-9 months later only to findHaryana Police security guardsdeployed there, they said.
“On inquiry, it has come tonotice that borrowers areabsconding and have left thecountry,” according to thecomplaint filed on February 25,2020, over four years after theaccount had become NPA.
The complaint alleged thatborrowers had removed entiremachinery from old plant andfudged the balance sheets inorder to unlawfully gain at thecost of banks’ funds, it said.
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The rights issue of RelianceIndustries Limited (RIL) is
expected to open on May 22. Itwill be priced at �1,257 pershare with a share ratio at1:15. The issue amount is �53,125 crore.As per the pay-ment terms, 25 per cent of theamount will be on applicationand the balance on more calls.
Market sources said thereis a strong repositioning of RILas consumer/technology com-pany with Jio and retail plat-forms.
As new strategic investorsparticipate in growth engines,the rights issue will rewardexisting shareholders byenabling them to participate inconsumer/technology businessvalue creation.
The rights issue ensuresminority shareholders’ participate in next wave ofvalue creation.
The price of “Right” sharesto maintain the earnings pershare (EPS) is �1,077. At 8 percent discount on the marketprice of �1,427, the rights issuewill be at �1,314 with a total
size of �55,533 crore.If the discount is 10 per
cent, the price will be �1,284 ata total size of � 54,265 crore. Ifthe discount is 12 per cent, therights issue price will be � 1,257with a total issue size of Rs53,124 crore.
Market sources said thatRIL is well-positioned to nav-igate the macro headwindsand diversified earning streamsbut with conservative gearing.It has a robust and resilientbusiness model, as 35 per centof EBITDA is coming fromconsumer businesses.
In addition, the invest-ment cycle has been complet-ed and it has stronger cost posi-tions across products andreduced Capex intensity.Sources point out that newbusiness models create dispro-portionate value and the gold-en decade of value creation liesahead.
They point out that assetlight technology companieshave created more value overthe last decade than the aggre-gate market capital of energycompanies in the S&P.
They cite the examples of
Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, andGoogle.
The strategic investmentsin digital services and orga-nized retail platforms underpinRIL’s participation in the nextleg of value creation in India.
There has been a signifi-cant re-rating of the stock withthe launch of Jio in September2016, with growth in the con-sumer business visibility.Sources say the re-rating will continue with increasingshare of consumer businessesin earnings.
Giving the rationale forthe rights issue, market sourcessaid the global pandemic isreshaping the way the worldlives and works.
There is a visible accelera-tion in digital services, heightened need for robustsupply chain-led new com-merce model.
Market sources say this isa value accretive rights issueand the first rights issue by RILin three decades.
The rights issue will ensureall investors get to participateat the same level as promotersin upcoming opportunities.
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After announcing on Fridaythat it was reinstating pay
cuts of up to 25 per cent for itssenior employees, IndiGo air-lines said the reduction insalary would remain effectivethrough the 2020-21 financialyear. It said it would take a deci-sion on restoring original salary“closer to the end of this finan-cial year”.
The country’s largestdomestic airlines had on Fridayannounced pay cut rangingbetween 5 and 25 per cent, inaddition to its leave-without-pay programme for May, Juneand July, for senior employees.
The announcement, madethrough internal emails, cameafter a series of flip-flops on thematter as India’s largest domes-tic airline struggled to stayafloat amid grounding of allcommercial passenger flightsdue to the coronavirus-trig-gered lockdown.
In the emails accessed byPTI, the airline said the salarycut will be effected from May tillthe end of the 2020-21 financialyear. It has already paid fullsalary of April to its employ-ees.The airline had firstannounced its decision to cutsalaries on March 19 when theeconomic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic was apparent.
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India’s fuel demand dipped45.8 per cent in April from a
year earlier, as a nationwidelockdown and travel curbs tocombat the spread of novelcoronavirus (COVID-19)eroded economic activity.Consumption of fuel, a proxyfor oil demand, totalled 9.93million tonnes - its lowestsince 2007, Government datashowed on Saturday.
State fuel retailers in thecountry sold 50 per cent lessrefined fuel in the first twoweeks of April than the sametime a year earlier as the coun-try came to a standstill due tothe lockdown that was put inplace on March 24.
The Government last weekextended the lockdown untilMay 17, with some relaxationsin lower-risk areas, althoughtravel by air, rail and metro andinter-state movement of peopleby road was still banned.
The International EnergyAgency (IEA) in its latest reportsaid the country’s annual fuelconsumption will decline 5.6per cent in 2020 compared withgrowth of 2.4 per cent forecastin its March report.
Consumption of diesel,
which is widely used for trans-portation as well as for irriga-tion needs in the country, wasdown about 55.6 per cent year-over-year at 3.25 milliontonnes.
Sales of petrol dropped by60.6 per cent from a year ear-lier to 0.97 million tonnes.
Cooking gas or liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) sales roseabout 12.1 per cent to 2.13 mil-lion tonnes, while naphthasales fell 9.5 per cent to 0.86million tonnes.
State-retailers sold 21 percent more LPG in the first fortnight of April from a yearearlier.
The Government is pro-viding free cooking gas cylin-ders to the poor for threemonths to June to help them weather the impact of thelockdown.
Sales of bitumen, used formaking roads, slumped 71 percent, while fuel oil use dipped40 per cent in April.
However, the country’s fueldemand is set to recover witheasing restrictions on industrialactivity and transport in areasthat have contained the spreadof coronavirus, oil ministerDharmendra Pradhan said ear-lier this week.
Kolkata: Metro Railway,Kolkata has been carrying outvarious maintenance activities during lockdownperiod arising due to Covid-19pandemic.
During this period, varioussafety measures like sanitsation,disinfection activities are beingcarried out in the Carshed.
Dry and wet cleaning onboth outside and inside ofrolling stocks are also beingcarried out for proper disin-fection and sanitization main-taining social distancing andother specified safety norms. .
The communication sys-tem and display boards in eachof the six coaches of every rakeare being checked and kept inworking condition.
Cleaning of the escalatorsand lifts at all Metro stations isalso being carried out at 15 daysinterval and functional testingis being checked at 3 days
interval. Visual inspection ofthe third rail of the entire sec-tion is also being carried outand the battery sets at all thestations are kept in workingcondition.
Rolling out of rakes isbeing done inside the carshedpremises on alternate days andspeed trials on test track arebeing conducted fortnightlyto ensure healthiness of trac-tion system as well as to detectand rectify any abnormalities inany of the equipment.
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ICICI Bank on Saturdayreported a 6.91% growth in
March quarter net at �1,251crore on a consolidated basis,after setting aside over � 2,000crore in provisions for poten-tial impact of the COVID-19pandemic.On a standalonebasis, the second largest privatesector bank’s profit grew 26 %to �1,221 crore as against � 969crore in the year-ago period.For fiscal year 2019-20, itreported a 135% jump in stand-alone profit to � 7,930.81 crore.
From an asset quality per-spective, the bank reported animprovement in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratioto 5.53% as against 6.70% in theyear-ago period and 5.95% asof Dec 2019, despite over�5,300 crore in fresh slippagesduring the reporting quarter.
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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday
said �18,253 crore has been dis-bursed to 9.13 crore farmersunder the PM-KISAN schemeduring the ongoing nation-wide lockdown.
Under the PM-KISAN(Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi) scheme, eachfarmer gets � 6,000 in a year in
three equal installments direct-ly in bank account.
Front-loading the release ofthe first installment under thePM-KISAN scheme was part ofthe �1.70 lakh crore PradhanMantri Garib Kalyan Package(PMGKP) announced onMarch 26 to protect the poorfrom the impact of the coron-avirus lockdown. The lock-down was imposed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on
March 25 to curb the spread ofCOVID-19, and since then ithas been extended twice.
With regard to furtherassistance to farmers, theFinance Minister said that 3crore farm loan borrowers haveopted for a three-month mora-torium. “Since March 2020,9.13 crore farmers have beenpaid �18,253 crore under PM-KISAN during the #lockdown,”Sitharaman said in a tweet.
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Hyundai Motor India onSaturday said its Chennai-
based manufacturing facilityrolled out 200 cars on the firstday of resuming production.
The company re-startedmanufacturing activities at itsplant in Sriperumbudur (nearChennai) on May 8. The automajor has commenced pro-duction at the facility adheringto 100 per cent compliance ofsafety and social distancingnorms, Hyundai Motor Indiasaid in a statement. In line withthe government’s objectives ofreviving the economy andcompany’s global vision ofprogress for humanity.
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The Internet peak traffic saw40 per cent rise in March in
India and there was significantspike in downloads anduploads per user, owing to thehigh volume of work andstreaming content across allmajor cities including tier IImarkets, says a new report.
While the average down-loads increased by 66 per centper user per month, the aver-age uploads surged at 37 percent per user per month,according to ½State of InternetTraffic Trend’ report by ACTFibernet, one of India’s largestwired Internet Service Provider.
The data is based on over-all traffic data measured fromFebruary-April 2020 from 19cities.
One of the most interestingrevelations was that on a par-ticular day in March, 98.7 percent of entire ACT Fibernetsubscriber base was concur-rently online.
“In the last two months, wehave seen a significant shift indata consumption across citiesas people moved to workingfrom home, spending moretime streaming content,indulging in online gaming,taking online classes/course,video conferencing etc,” said
While there has been anoverall surge of 55 per cent instreaming traffic, there was nosignificant difference betweenweekday and weekend stream-ing and/or traffic now.
There was an overall traf-fic increase by 73 per cent onweekdays and 65 per centincrease on weekends, said thereport.
India now has 504 millionactive Internet users, out ofwhich about 14 per cent are inthe age bracket of 5-11 years,according to a new report fromthe Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI).
Based on data from theIndian Readership Survey(IRS) 2019, the research alsofound that nearly 70 per cent ofthe active Internet populationin India is daily users.
The time spent on theInternet continues to be high-er in urban India compared torural India.
Several companies across sec-tors ranging from textiles to
consumer electronics andliquor to pharma on Saturdayinformed that they have par-tially resumed operations aftergetting permission from localauthorities in the third phase ofthe lockdown. The manufac-turers have assured to adhere tosafety precautions mandated bythe Government and respectivelocal administrations. The Govthad last week permitted thecompanies to restore theirmanufacturing operations inred, green and organ zoneswith certain riders.
Auto parts and equipmentmaker Rane Holdings Ltd in aregulatory filing said it has par-tially resumed operations atmost of its plants and officeswith restricted manpower.It, however, said that the con-tinuance of operations in theseplaces depends on directivesfrom local authorities, issuedfrom time to time. Liquormaker IFB Agro Industries hasalso resumed operations at its distillery and select bot-tling plants.
“The company has par-tially resumed operations at itsdistillery and some of its IMILbottling plants wherein lockdown restrictions havebeen eased,” it said.
Rome: South Korea’s capitalclosed down more than 2,100bars and other nightspotsSaturday because of a new clus-ter of coronavirus infections,and Germany scrambled tocontain fresh outbreaks atslaughterhouses, underscoringthe dangers authorities face asthey try to reopen theireconomies.
Elsewhere, Belarus, whichhas not locked down despiteincreasing case numbers, sawtens of thousands of people turnout to mark Victory Day, theanniversary of Nazi Germany’sdefeat in 1945. That was in con-trast to Russia, where a mutedevent took place over an emptyRed Square.
Around the world, the USand other hard-hit countries arewrestling with how to easecurbs on business and publicactivity without touching off adeadly second wave of infection.
Germany and South Koreahave both carried out extensive
testing and contact tracing andhave been hailed for avoidingthe mass deaths that have over-whelmed other countries. Buteven there, authorities havestruggled with finding the bal-ance between saving lives andsaving jobs.
In South Korea, where adecline in new cases hadprompted the government toloosen up, Seoul shut downthousands of nightclubs, host-ess bars and discos after dozensof infections were linked toclubgoers who went out lastweekend as the country relaxedits social-distancing guidelines.
Many of the infections werelinked to a 29-year-old manwho visited three nightclubsbefore testing positive.
Health officials in Germanyfaced outbreaks at three slaugh-terhouses in what was seen asa test of the government’s strat-egy for dealing with any resur-gence of the virus as restrictionsare eased. Meanwhile, govern-
ments came under fresh scruti-ny over their handling of thecrisis. German Foreign MinisterHeiko Maas said Europe mustacknowledge that it “wasn’twell-prepared” for the out-break. In the US, internal gov-ernment emails obtained byThe Associated Press show thata decision to shelve detailedadvice from the nation’s top dis-ease control experts for reopen-ing communities during theepidemic came from the high-est levels of the White House.
Worldwide, the virus isconfirmed to have infectedover 3.9 million people andkilled more than 275,000,according to a tally by JohnsHopkins University based ondata reported by Governments.Hard-hit Italy saw people returnto the streets for their tradi-tional aperitivos and revel infine weather as restrictionsthere have eased. In some cases,people went too far for theauthorities. AP
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Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has approved
amendments to the country’sstate of emergency that granthim and security agencies addi-tional powers, which theGovernment says are needed tocombat the Covid-19 outbreak.
An international rightsgroup condemned the amend-ments, saying the governmenthas used the global pandemicto “expand, not reform, Egypt’sabusive Emergency Law.”
The new amendmentsallow the president to to takemeasures to contain the virus,such as suspending classes atschools and universities andquarantining those returningfrom abroad. But they alsoinclude expanded powers toban public and private meet-ings, protests, celebrations andother forms of assembly.
The government haswaged an unprecedentedcrackdown on dissent since2013, when el-Sissi rose to
power, and unauthorizedprotests have been banned foryears. The amendments, whichel-Sissi signed off on Friday,also allow military prosecutorsto investigate incidents whenarmy officers are tasked withlaw enforcement or when thepresident orders it. The coun-try’s chief civilian prosecutorwould have the final decisionon whether to bring matters totrial. The amended law wouldalso allow the president topostpone taxes and utility pay-ments as well as provide eco-nomic support for affectedsectors.
Parliament, which ispacked with el-Sissi supporters,approved the measure lastmonth.
Egypt has been under astate of emergency since April2017, and the governmentextended it late last month foranother three months.
The law was originallypassed to give the presidentbroader powers to combat ter-rorism and drug trafficking.
Karachi: At least six security personnel, includ-ing an Army major, were killed when a road-side bomb struck a patrol vehicle in south-western Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province,close to the border with Iran.
The Army on Friday said in a statement thata vehicle of paramilitary Frontier Corps was tar-geted through a remote-controlled improvisedexplosive device (IED) in Kech district’s Buledaarea, about 14 km from the Iran border.
“A major and five soldiers were killed whileone soldier was injured,” according to the Army.
No one took responsibility but Baloch mil-itants often target the security forces in theprovince.
Security sources said the route where theexplosion took place was monitored round theclock because of suspected movement by smug-glers and insurgents in the border area.
A search operation was launched by thesecurity forces in the area to trace the elementsinvolved in the attack. PTI
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US Vice President MikePence’s press secretary has
the coronavirus, the WhiteHouse said on Friday, makingher the second person whoworks at the White Housecomplex known to test positivefor the virus this week.
President Donald Trump,who publicly identified theaffected Pence aide, said he was“not worried” about the virusspreading in the White House.Nonetheless, officials said theywere stepping up safety proto-cols for the complex.
Pence spokeswoman KatieMiller, who tested positive onFriday, had been in recent con-tact with Pence but not with thepresident. She is married toStephen Miller, a top Trumpadviser. The White House hadno immediate comment onwhether Stephen Miller hadbeen tested or if he was stillworking out of the WhiteHouse.
Katie Miller had testednegative on Thursday, a daybefore her positive result.
“This is why the wholeconcept of tests are not neces-sarily great,” Trump said. “Thetests are perfect but somethingcan happen between a testwhere it is good and thensomething happens.”
Houston: The U.S. Government has awarded a $275million border wall contract for construction thatwould begin in South Texas in January, at the startof President Donald Trump’s second term if he isre-elected.
Caddell Construction Company, based inMontgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build14 miles (22.5 kilometers) of barriers in and aroundLaredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 people on the RioGrande, the river that runs between Texas andMexico. US Customs and Border Protectionannounced the contract award Friday night usingfunds it had previously received from Congressrather than military funding re-directed to the wall.
The CBP said construction would begin inJanuary 2021 “pending availability of real estate.”There is little existing wall separating Laredo andits sister city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Much of theplanned construction would cut through privateland in neighborhoods close to the edge of the RioGrande, requiring the government to take proper-ty through its power of eminent domain. PTI
Washington: PresidentDonald Trump says he’s in “norush” to negotiate anotherfinancial rescue bill, even as the Government reported that more than 20 millionAmericans lost their jobs lastmonth due to economicupheaval caused by the coro-navirus.
The president’s low-keyapproach came Friday as theLabor Department reportedthe highest unemploymentrate since the Great Depressionand as Democrats prepared tounveil what Senate Democraticleader Chuck Schumer calls a“Rooseveltian-style” aid pack-age to shore up the economyand address the health crisis.
Some congressional con-servatives, meanwhile, whoset aside long-held oppositionto deficits to pass more thanUSD 2 trillion in relief so far,have expressed reservationsabout another massive spend-ing package.
“We’ve kind of paused asfar as formal negotiations go,”Larry Kudlow, the director ofthe National EconomicCouncil told reporters Friday.
He said the administrationwanted to let the last round ofrecovery funding kick in beforecommitting to hundreds of
billions or more in additionalspending.
“Let’s have a look at whatthe latest round produces, giveit a month or so to evaluatethat.” Kudlow added that talkswere in a “lull” and that admin-istration officials and legisla-tors would “regroup” in thenext several weeks.
Still, White House aidesare drawing up a wish-list for a future spending bill,including a payroll tax cut, lia-bility protection for business-es that reopen and potentiallybillions in infrastructurespending.
Kudlow added that theWhite House was also consid-ering allowing businesses toimmediately expense the costsof modifiying their facilities toaccommodate public safetymeasures necessary to reopen.The notion was brought up ona call with House membersadvising the White House onreopening plans Thursdayevening and drew bipartisansupport.
“We’re in no rush, we’re inno rush,” Trump told reportersFriday during an event withHouse Republicans. He calledon Democratic-controlledHouse to return toWashington, adding, “We want
to see what they have.”The emerging Democratic
bill is expected to include eye-popping sums, centered onnearly $1 trillion that states andcities are seeking to preventmass layoffs as governmentsreel from the one-two punch ofskyrocketing costs from the
pandemic and dismal taxreceipts in the shuttered econ-omy.
The package being com-piled by House Speaker NancyPelosi — the fifth fromCongress in a matter of weeks— draws on requests from gov-ernors for $500 billion, and
from cities and counties for upto $300 billion to preventwidespread layoffs of police,fire and other frontline work-ers during the pandemic.
“No one could look attoday’s jobs report, the highestunemployment since the GreatDepression, and say we should
hit the pause button on furthergovernment action,” Schumersaid in a statement.
He compared Trump andhis GOP allies in Congress toformer President HerbertHoover, who is often seen asfailing to respond adequately tothat crisis. “We need a big, bold
approach now to supportAmerican workers and fami-lies,” Schumer said.
But the package has hadlittle input from Republicansand is finding scant support,even as some in the partysupport certain provisions,including the local aid. PTI
New York: In a worrying devel-opment, a five-year old boy hasdied in New York from a rareinflammatory illness linked tothe coronavirus, while the deathof another seven-year-old boy isbeing investigated for possiblelinks to the mysterious pediatricsyndrome. The New York StateDepartment of Health is inves-tigating several cases of thesevere illness in children andchild deaths that may be linkedto the serious inflammatorydisease called “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory SyndromeAssociated with COVID-19.”There have been 73 reportedcases in New York where chil-dren are experiencing symptomssimilar to Kawasaki disease andtoxic shock-like syndrome pos-sibly due to COVID-19. PTI
Berlin: German ForeignMinister Heiko Maas saysEurope must acknowledge thatit “wasn’t well-prepared” for thecoronavirus pandemic.
In a statement markingEurope Day, Maas said that ini-tially most countries, includingGermany, were focused oncoping with the outbreak athome.
While defending the nation-al response as “necessary, inorder to safeguard our ability toact and then also help other,”Maas said the European Unionhad “grown in the crisis.” TheEU’s sluggish response has givenway to cross-border medicalaid, a massive financial supportpackage and coordinated scien-tific research programmes. AP
Colombo: Muslim theologistsin Sri Lanka have urged thegovernment to reconsider itsdecision on cremating theMuslims who died due to thecoronavirus, saying the revisedrule goes against the Islamictradition.
Sri Lanka has made cre-mations compulsory for coro-navirus victims, ignoringprotests from the country’sMuslims, who make up 10 percent of the 21 million popula-tion.
In a letter to the DirectorGeneral, Health Services, theAll Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama(ACJU) claimed that more
than 180 countries in line withthe guidelines of the WorldHealth Organisation haveallowed burials for Muslimswho die of COVID-19.
“It is our moral and ethicalduty to abide by the law of thecountry and to guide peopletowards it. But it does notimply that we endorse or giveconsent to this ruling as it isagainst our religious principles”,the letter said.
They urged the healthauthorities to reconsider thedecision. The Muslim clerics inSri Lanka had earlier also madean appeal regarding their oppo-sition to cremations. PTI
Beijing: China has reported 15new asymptomatic coronaviruscases, taking their total to 836while one new importedCOVID-19 infection was con-firmed, health officials said onSaturday.
According to China’sNational Health Commission(NHC), as for Friday 836asymptomatic cases, includ-ing 63 from overseas, werestill under medical observation.
The NHC said one import-ed case of coronavirus wasreported on Friday and 15new asymptomatic cases, alldomestic ones, were confirmedin the country.
Most of the asymptomaticcases were being reported fromfirst coronavirus epicentresHubei province and its capitalWuhan where no confirmedcases were reported for the 35days, the local health commis-sion said.
Normalcy is returning tothe province as the lockdown
has been lifted and offices,business and factories havebeen opened since last month.
The province still has 628asymptomatic cases undermedical observation, after 13new cases were reported onFriday, the commission said.
Death toll in Chinaremained at 4,633 as no newfatalities have been reported onFriday while the total numberof cases stood at 82,887,including 208 patients whowere still being treated, theNHC said. PTI
Bouda (Burkina Faso):Jihadists burst into the goldmine where Moussa Tamburaworked in Burkina Faso, for-bidding everyone from smokingand drinking. It wasn’t longbefore the men returned andleveled the place to the ground.
“They attacked the site,killed people and burned hous-es,” said Tambura, 29, clench-ing his fists.
He was able to find workagain after fleeing to Bouda,another town in country’s norththat still has small-scale mining.Still, he struggles to provide forhis family since his new job isn’tas lucrative as his old one.
Jihadists linked to al-Qaidaand the Islamic State organi-zation have been overrunninggold mines like Tambura’s one
by one as they try to gain con-trol of Burkina Faso’s mostlucrative industry.
The extremists are thencollecting a “protection tax”from communities livingaround the gold mines and alsoforcing the miners to sell themthe gold exclusively, which isthen smuggled and sold acrossthe border in places like Benin,Ghana or Togo.
The violence already hasshuttered many small minesacross the volatile north andthe government also has triedto shut down other small-scalemines in the east so that theycan’t be used by extremists tofinance more attacks.
Mining Minister OumarouIdani has called the measure anecessary step in the “fight
against terrorism.”But some of the remote
sites continue running anywayas they escape the reach of thenational government inOuagadougou, other officialsand analysts said.
Some are warning too thatthe government’s strategy to cutoff the flow of money from theeast may also backfire, asunemployed miners fallingdeeper into poverty couldbecome more sympathetic tothe jihads’ recruitment mes-sages of marginalization.
“You’re opening up thegates to push people to the ter-rorists,” said OumarouGanemtore, secretary for theNational Union of theArtisanal Miners Associationof Burkina Faso. AP
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Washington: DemocraticParty’s presumptive presiden-tial nominee and former USvice president Joe Biden allegedon Friday that PresidentDonald Trump utterly failed toprepare for the Covid-19 pan-demic and said his entire eco-nomic strategy is focussed onhelping the wealthy and bigcorporations.
Referring to the record2.05 crore jobs lost in Aprilalone, resulting in an unprece-dented unemployment rate of14.7 per cent now — the high-est since the Great Depression— Biden, in a major policyspeech, said it is an economicdisaster, worse than any in
decades, and it was made all themore worse because it did nothave to be this way.
“Donald Trump utterlyfailed to prepare for this pan-demic and delayed in takingthe necessary steps to safeguardour nation against the near-worst-case economic scenariowe are now living in,” he saidin his remarks on “Trump’sDisastrous Economy”.
Covid-19 caused a massiveeconomic challenge, but thecrisis hit the US harder and willlast longer because Trumpspent the last three years under-mining the core pillars of theAmerican economic strength,Biden alleged.
Many small businesseshave closed because of thestay-at-home orders. But a lotof them will not open again asthey do not have a cushion dueto three years of Trump’s poli-cies that reward the biggestcompanies, he rued.
“Trump’s economic agen-da has three unmistakable fail-ings, failings that have beenpresent since day one, but arecoming into sharp relief in thecurrent crisis: first, Trump’smain measure of economicprogress is the state of the stockmarket, second, his entire eco-nomic strategy is focussed onhelping the wealthy and bigcorporations. PTI
China continues to hide andobfuscate Covid-19 data
from the world, US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo has said,asserting that he has seen a sig-nificant amount of evidencesuggesting that a laboratory inthe Chinese city of Wuhanwas “underperforming” andthe virus may well haveemanated from there.
By Friday, more than78,000 Americans had diedand 13 lakh tested positive forthe coronavirus. Globally, morethan 2,74,000 people have diedand 39 lakh have tested positive
for the disease, according toJohns Hopkins University data.
“I have seen a significantamount of evidence that sug-gests that the lab was under-performing, that there weresecurity risks at the lab and thatthe virus could well haveemanated from there,” Pompeotold Ben Shapiro in an inter-view on Friday.
“But I am happy to sus-pend the decision about that.What we need are answers.There are still people dying,”he said.
The American economyand that of the rest of the worldhave come to a standstill.
Party of China, President XiJinping has said the Covid-19fight has once again shownthat the CPC leadership andthe country’s socialist politi-cal system can overcome anychallenge.
Xi’s comments came asChina faced global criticism forits initial inaction to act againstthe novel coronavirus, whichaccording to Chinese officialsemerged in the central Chinesecity of Wuhan in December lastyear.
Pressure is also mountingon Beijing to agree for aninternational probe on the ori-
gins of the vicious virus, includ-ing from the Wuhan Instituteof Virology (WIV), as claimedby the US leadership.
China curbed the spread ofthe coronavirus in over amonth and brought COVID-19 under control at its first epi-centre in Wuhan in aboutthree months, Xi, also theGeneral Secretary of the CPC,said at a symposium held onFriday to get suggestions fromnon-ruling Communist Partyof China (CPC) parties onCOVID-19 prevention andcontrol. He termed the curbingof the COVID-19 pandemic as“hard-won achievements” forthe world’s most populouscountry and the second-biggest economy.
The COVID-19 fight hasonce again shown that theCPC leadership, China’s social-ist system and its governancesystem can overcome any chal-lenge and make big contribu-tions to the progress of humancivilisation, he said.
Xi said China had basical-ly curbed the spread of thevirus in over one month, man-aged to bring the daily numberof new domestically-transmit-ted cases down to single digitsin about two months, andsecured decisive achievementsin protecting epicentres Wuhanand Hubei province in aboutthree months. “For a hugecountry with 1.4 billion people,these are hard-won achieve-ments,” he said. PTI
Moscow: Russian PresidentVladimir Putin marked VictoryDay, the anniversary of thedefeat of Nazi Germany inWorld War II, in a ceremonyshorn of its usual military paradeand pomp by the coronaviruspandemic.
In neighboring Belarus,however, the ceremonies wentahead in full, with tens of thou-sands of people in the sort ofproximity that has been almostunseen in the world for months.
Putin on Saturday laid flow-ers at the tomb of the unknownsoldier just outside the Kremlinwalls and gave a short addresshonoring the valor and suffer-ing of the Soviet army during the
war. Victory Day is Russia’smost important secular holidayand this year’s observance hadbeen expected to be especiallylarge because it is the 75thanniversary, but the Red Squaremilitary parade and a mass pro-cession called the ImmortalRegiment were postponed aspart of measures to stifle thespread of the virus. The only ves-tige of the conventional show ofmilitary might was a flyover ofcentral Moscow by 75 war-planes and helicopters.
The ceremony was the firstpublic appearance in about amonth for Putin, who hasworked remotely as the virustook hold. PTI
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India skipper Virat Kohli is in a goodframe of mind which gives him con-fidence of being able to pick up from
where he left as and when cricketresumes in the post Covid-19 world.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shut-down all cricketing activities across theglobe and Kohli said though he is keep-ing himself physically fit, his mainfocus has been working on the mentalaspect of the game.
“Well, fortunately I have all mygym equipment at home, so I amable to train and that’s not aproblem for me. As far as thegame goes, luckily, I amsomeone who has alwaysbeen very keen onimproving my mentalstate and not really focuson practising long hoursin the net over a periodof time,” Kohli said onStar Sport’s show CricketConnected.
“So I know, once Iam in good frame ofmind and I am keepingmyself positive andhappy, just looking for-ward in life, whenever Ireturn to the game, Iknow I will be in good posi-tion to start again from wherewe left.”
The health crisis, which hasso far killed nearly 2K people andinfected more than 59K in India,had forced the Government toenforce a national lockdown, whichwill end on May 17.
Kohli admitted it was not easy inthe initial days.
“It was a bit tough initially butyou start looking at things from adifferent point of view as the timegoes on more and more, becauseeventually you realise that nothingis in your control,” Kohli said.
“So what you can control to anextent is your own mindset and justlooking at things with positive frameof mind and the only good thing is
that I have been ableto train, practice wasnot such a big prob-lem for me evenbefore, so that is whatI am doing, I am
training, I am keepingfit.”
The highly conta-gious disease also sawthe indefinite post-ponement of the 13thIPL, which was set tostart in March.
Kohli said he“absolutely loves” to play
in the IPL because it is dif-ferent from other ICC events
in terms of the camaraderie thatcricketers of different nationalitiesshare and the connect that the play-ers have with their fans.
“You do play all your tourna-ments, which is one team versus
another, ICC tournaments come everynow and then, but even in ICC tour-naments, you don’t really interact withthe other team players or you see the
other teams so often every now andthen,” Kohli said.
“But in the IPL, you are just prob-ably meeting another team every secondor third day and that's the beauty of theIPL, you are playing in a differentmahol (atmosphere).
“I absolutely love that tournamentand also for the camaraderie which youshare with so many new players that youplay with, so many players that you haveknown for a long time now, not fromyour own country, those who you don'tsee often, and there is one reason whyeveryone loves the IPL too, there is a con-nect, of players and fans and of viewers.”
Asked about his favourite matchapart from 2011 World Cup, Kohli said:“It’s a very difficult question because somany matches happen but I think fromthe point of atmosphere and importanceof match, the quarterfinal match againstAustralia in 2016 T20 World Cup inMohali, that was my most favouritematch.
“Because that day, we won from adifficult situation and I realized manythings about myself.”
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Usman Khawaja has addedhis voice to those calling for
a re-think to the way pitches areprepared at domestic level,warning that a lack of spin-bowl-ing options behind Nathan Lyoncould leave Australia exposedlike it was when Shane Warneretired from the game almost 15years ago.
Khawaja rates hisQueensland teammate MitchellSwepson as the best spinner inAustralia apart from Lyon, butsays he’s reluctant to bowl himat domestic level because con-ditions often don’t suit spinners.
A month after former Testtweaker Steve O’Keefe said thelack of exposure to spin bowlingat domestic level was “a matterof urgency”, Khawaja has joinedcalls for more spin-friendlypitches to be produced in theMarsh Sheffield Shield.
“It’s really hard, even for meas a captain, to get (Swepson)into the game when the ball ishooping around corners andyou’re playing on really greendecks,” Khawaja told Fox Sports
News.“He’s always been a part of
our team and he’s always thereno matter what the wicket isbecause he’s such a good bowler.But it’s really hard to get him inthe game sometimes because thewickets weren’t really favouringspin.
“I feel for spinners inAustralia and we need to becareful here because we have anabsolute genius in Nathan Lyon… but who’s coming after him?”
O'Keefe, who announcedhis retirement last month, fin-ished the truncated 2019-20Shield summer as the most suc-cessful spin bowler with 16wickets at an average of 22.25,with the top 20 places among theleading wicket-takers filled byswing and seam bowlers.
Both O’Keefe and Khawajasay the effectiveness of spinnersis reduced even further in thesecond half of the Shield seasonwhen Dukes brand balls areused, a move introduced to helpAustralian players become bet-ter accustomed to the type ofseam bowling they encounter inEngland.
But with Australia not dueto play Tests in England until2023, and with away seriesagainst India, Pakistan, Sri Lankaand Afghanistan scheduled inthe interim as well as a resched-uled tour of Bangladesh, O’Keefesays time is running out to pro-mote spin bowling at Shieldlevel.
And he has even suggestedradical measures, such as scar-ifying pitches to make themmore spin-friendly, should beconsidered.
Lyon is just 32 years old andis expected to lead Australia’sspin attack for many years tocome, but Khawaja is concernedabout the Warne-sized gulfforming behind the off-spinner.
Australia tried 14 differentspinners in the decade follow-ing Warne’s retirement beforethey finally settled on Lyon, andKhawaja says the seam-friend-ly pitches that were a feature atdomestic level immediately afterWarne farewelled the game arebeing replicated now.
“Tasmania was a greenmonster (last season) ... theGabba was tough work especial-ly in the back end of the seasonwhen the Dukes balls came intoit,” he said.
“Spinners just went out ofthe game.
“Unless we have spinnersplaying day in and day out, get-ting involved in those matchscenarios across the country,we're going to suffer.
“Just like we suffered whenWarnie (Shane Warne) left. Ithink we had a similar situationwhere Tassie (Tasmania) wasreally green, they were trying tomake really green wickets.
“These guys need to bowl sohopefully this year we’ve gotwickets that are favourable foreveryone.”
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Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latifhas lavished praise on Virender
Sehwag, saying the former Indian open-er was a fearless cricketer who had a greatinfluence in the team.
“He used to play to dominate. We areused to openers who were a bit circum-spect at the beginning, gauging how thepitch is, who the bowler is whether(Glenn) McGrath, Brett Lee, WasimAkram or Shoaib Akhtar,” Latif said in aYouTube show called Caught Behind.
“But Sehwag was someone whofeared none. He was an impactful play-er, had a great influence in his team andplayers like him succeed in world crick-et,” he added.
Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166ODIs for Pakistan, further said that con-trary to popular belief that Sehwag did nothave a good foot movement, the formerIndian opener had a unique techniquewhich helped him dominate the bowlers.
“It’s wrong to say his feet didn’t move.He had unique technique with a very
strong base. He was superb on the back-foot, used to cut, pull, hook with ease,” saidLatif.
“He had beautiful balance. People saythat he had limited feet movement butthat was perhaps the reason why he wasso successful. And coaches nowadays havestarted to say that keep your balance withminimum foot movement,” he added.
Sehwag represented India in 104Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is in whichhe scored 8586, 8273 and 394 runsrespectively.
According to Latif, Sehwag playedwith batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar andRahul Dravid and remained under theirshadow.
“He played with Sachin, played withRahul and remained under their shadow.If he was playing for any other countrythen he would’ve easily crossed 10 thou-sand runs, only one and a half thousandruns were remaining,” said Latif.
“Maybe his team had bigger names,bigger players but opponents were alwayswary of the impact that Sehwag couldhave on a game,” he added.
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Umar Akmal did not seem pre-pared to show remorse nor did
he seek an apology for failing toreport corrupt approaches, chairmanof the Pakistan Cricket Board’s dis-ciplinary panel has observed in hisdetailed judgement after imposing athree-year ban on the temperamen-tal batsman.
Justice (retired) Fazal-e-MiranChauhan submitted his detailedjudgement to the Pakistan CricketBoard, which made it public onFriday on its official website.
Akmal was found guilty of twocharges under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, rendering himineligible for cricket activities tillFebruary 19, 2023. The 29-year-oldhas 14 days to appeal against thepunishment of two three-year banswhich will run concurrently and thePCB will appoint an independentadjudicator to hear it.
“It appears that he (UmarAkmal) is not prepared to showremorse and seek apology, makeadmission that he failed to fulfill hisresponsibility under Anti-Corruption Code...,” Justice Chauhansaid in the judgement.
“...Rather he tried to take refugeunder the pretext that in the pastwhenever any such approaches weremade, the matter was reported byhim,” he said.
Akmal was provisionally sus-pended on the eve of the PakistanSuper League. He was charged withtwo breaches of Article 2.4.4 of thePCB Anti-Corruption Code in twounrelated incidents on March 17.
On April 9, the PCB referred thematter to the disciplinary commit-
tee after the batsman opted not torequest for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.
“The charge as framed is provedand the participant (Umar Akmal)has rendered himself liable to bepunished for breach of Article 2.4.4,”Justice Chauhan said.
“"It is also admitted by him(Umar Akmal) that he failed toreport the approaches and invitationto the PCB Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Department, as requiredby the PCB Code, Article 2.4.4.
“In view of the above charge asframed, stood proven and participanthas rendered himself to be punishedunder Article 6.2 of the PCB Code,”he added. Akmal is the youngerbrother of former Pakistan wicket-keeper-batsman Kamran Akmal,who played 53 Tests, 58 T20s, and157 ODIs for Pakistan, and cousinof current captain Babar Azam.
The right-hander, who lastplayed for Pakistan in October, hasfeatured in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs and84 T20s, scoring 1003, 3194 and 1690runs respectively.
�� )� D England all-rounder Moeen Ali feelshe can play at the high-est level for 2-3 moreyears and that is why hewants to play as much aspossible.
Moeen expressedhis desire to play allthree formats for theThree Lions consideringhe doesn’t have toomuch time left on theinternational arena.
“Since the wholepandemic thing I wantto play as much as I can,”Moeen said during aDoosra podcast.
“Cricket at the high-est level will probablyfinish for me in two orthree years.
“I want to make themost of it and play asmuch as I can. I only did
it (stepping away frominternational cricket) fora bit of a break, and I'vehad that now.”
Moeen also spokeabout being part of theEngland team that liftedthe ICC World Cup lastyear. He gave an insightinto the minds of play-ers who were under
immense pressure toend their trophy droughtin front of home sup-port.
“It was an amazingtime,” Moeen said aboutEngland historic victorylast year.
“I think the wholeemotion of four yearsbuild up to it and somuch went into it... somuch pressure for us towin it at home.
“It took us couple ofseconds to think wehave won the game(final). I wasn’t playingthe game but it didn’tfeel like I wasn’t playing.
“I can’t describe thefeeling but just to see allthe guys celebrating andto be part of that journeywas simply unbeliev-able,” he said. IANS
)���D Bangladesh wicket-keeperMushfiqur Rahim feels his team ismore than capable of entering the top-six in the longest format. He also ruedthe fact that despite having talentedplayers in the team they somehowunder-achieved in the last two decades.
Mushfiqur also raised concernsover Bangladesh’s form in foreignconditions. He expressed his satisfac-tion over the team’s show at home buturged the team to produce similar levelof performances overseas as well.
“I truly believe that there is muchmore to be achieved as a team. Despitehaving talented players, we have notbeen able to achieve that in the last 20years. But our performance have beengoing up on home soil” Mushfiqur wasquoted as saying by bdcrictime.com.
“Our main concern is to do welloutside the country. There are manybig challenges ahead. The TestChampionship is also a big challenge
for us. We have the ability to come inthe top-six in Tests.”
Bangladesh are currently placed atthe last spot in the World TestChampionship table. They have playedtwo series so far and lost all threematches to be rock-bottom in thenine-team championship.
Bangladesh, alongwith WestIndies, are the only two teams who areyet to open their Test championshipaccount. IANS
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The Mongoose batwas made famous
by Chennai Super Kingsopener Mathew Haydenduring the IndianPremier League, but theformer Australia bats-man has revealed thatCSK skipper MS Dhonihad pleaded with himnot to use the bat.
In a chat with CSKon their official Twitterhandle, Haydenrevealed the same. “Iwill (MS Dhoni)give you any-thing youwant in life,to not usethis bat.Please donot usethis bat,”
the opener recalled.CSK tweeted the
video which read:“#Thala Dhoni toHaydos: “I’ll give youanything you want inlife, to not use this bat!Please do not use thisbat!”@HaydosTweets
#AnbuDenLions@RuphaRamani”
)�'�� D World Cup winning-Australia captain Meg Lanninghas used the extra time inhand amid the Covid-19 pan-demic to provide a virtual bat-ting class to Ireland women’scricket squad.
Lanning was joined by for-mer Ireland skipper Isobel Joycein the initiative that took placethis week to help the playerskeep their skills sharp duringthe forced break from cricket.
The duo touched upon anumber of topics, includingthe mental preparation goinginto a big game, shot selection
and an analysis of theAustralian captain’s T20I centu-ry against England last year.
The session was chaired byIrish women’s team head coachEd Joyce and also featuredAustralia boss Matthew Mott.
“Any time you can pick thebrains of experienced cricketerssuch as Meg and Isobel is valu-able, and I know that our entiresquad enjoyed this uniqueopportunity,” Ireland skipperLaura Delany said.
“People often underesti-mate the mental aspect of thegame, and both players spoke
about the importance of men-tal preparation before a gameand how to keep a clear mindand focus when on the field,”she said in a Cricket Irelandstatement.
“It’s frustrating for all of usto be not playing, but the unex-pected opportunity of this ses-sion is a great offset,” she added.
“It was exceptionally gener-ous of Meg to contribute hertime to the session, particular-ly given that it was the eveningin Australia when she joined themasterclass,” said coach EdJoyce. IANS
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Australia’s World Cupwinner Megan Schutt
has said she is ready to playless games this season if ithelps cricket get past thefinancial uncertainty creat-ed by the Covid-19 pan-demic.
“There’s obviouslygoing to be reductionssomewhere, there kind ofhas to be,” she was quotedas saying by cricket.com.au.
“As long as we’re nottaking too big a hit, women
specifically, I’m okay withit.
“It’s about finding abalance in terms of howwe can get cricket goingagain on the nationalscene and the internation-al scene.
“Cricket around theglobe is going to be affect-ed by this and I have nodoubt that women’s crick-et is also going to suffer.Whatever kind of seasonthey can muster together,I’m going to be happyenough with.”
Former India captain and coach AnilKumble compared the fight against the
dreaded Covid-19 pandemic to the “secondinnings” of an intense Test match where peo-
ple can’t afford to let their guard down.The coronavirus outbreak has
wreaked havoc, claiming over2,76,000 lives so far while
infecting more than fourmillion people.
Among other things,the unprecedented healthcrisis has also broughtsport to a standstill,leading to cancellationand postponement
of several events, including the TokyoOlympics and European FootballChampionships and the Indian PremierLeague.
“If we have to fight this coronavirus pan-demic, we need to be in this together. It’s likea Test match. Cricket Test matches are of fivedays but this has been longer,” Kumble saidin a video posted on his Twitter account.
“Cricket Test matches are only twoinnings each, but this can be even more. Sodon’t be complacent that we had a slenderlead in the first innings because the secondinnings can be really rough.”
“We have to win this battle, it cannot bewon just by a first-innings lead, we need towin this battle by registering an outright vic-tory,” he added.
that playing India behindclosed doors at the end of theyear might end up working infavour of the hosts. India are setto tour Australia for threeODIs and four Tests inDecember and January.
“It’s definitely an advan-tage,” he told Fox Sports News.“I remember the last time theycame over for a one-day series,the roar for India was muchbigger.”
“Especially in Melbourne,the amount of expats they haveover there, they flock in. Andwhen India’s on top they real-ly let you know it,” saidKhawaja.
“It’s a really weird feeling.When you’re in India, youexpect to be outnumberedmassively but you can be out-
numbered in Melbourne, aswell as Sydney to some extentalso.”
Australia were without tal-ismanic duo David Warnerand Steve Smith in that seriesand were still in the process ofrecovering from the 2018 balltampering scandal. Khawajaadmitted that India were thebetter team in the series.
“They were clearly the bet-ter team last time, we hung inthere but (Cheteshwar) Pujarawas outstanding and Kohli ledfrom the front as a captain,” hesaid.
“Their bowling unit was asgood as I’ve ever seen an Indianbowling unit, they really wenttoe-to-toe with our bowlers.
“Our bowlers are still ingreat form, though, and thistime Steve Smith and DavyWarner will be in the side too,so a little bit of difference in thebatting line-up.”7�� �� ��� ���������������� ��� �����
Singh Dhoni remains invery good shape andcan still play for TeamIndia. He also statedthat the final decisionregarding his futurerests with Dhoni andthere is no point inconstant speculations.
Rumours havebeen doing the roundsregarding Dhoni’sfuture, however,Kuldeep believes theformer India captaincan still turn out for theteam as he makesthings easy for othersaround him.
“I am of coursemissing MS Dhoni.Whenever you playwith a senior player,you become fond ofthem and start missingthem and their pres-ence,” Kuldeep said dur-ing a Live video sessionwith Sportskeeda.
“As far as his retire-ment is concerned, it isMS Dhoni’s decisionand it should be left tohim. There is no pointfor us to debate on that.
“He is very fit andI personally feel heshould play for India.As a fan, I absolutelylove him. If he plays, itwould be easier for us,”he added.
