IN PG-08 India to operate 64 flights to MIGRANTS ARRIVE ......2020/05/06 · entrance examination...

VIOLATE SOCIAL DISTANCING NORMS

People violate social distancing norms as they stand in a queue to buy alcohol after authorities permitted opening of wine shops with certain restrictions, during the ongoing COVID-19 nationwidelockdown, at Jheel Khurenja in East Delhi, Tuesday.

MIGRANTS ARRIVE

Migrants arrive at Dankuni Station by a special train from Ajmer, during ongoing nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in Hooghly, Tuesday.

BRIEF

Petrol price hikedNNeeww DDeellhhii:: Petrol price inthe national capital washiked by Rs 1.67 a litre onTuesday and diesel by asteep Rs 7.10 per litreafter the Delhi govern-ment raised local salestax or value-added tax(VAT) on the twofuels.Petrol in Delhi nowcosts Rs 71.26 a litre asagainst Rs 69.59 previ-ously, oil industry sourcessaid. Diesel price hasbeen hiked to Rs 69.39per litre from Rs 62.29.

Tourism hit hard DDeehhrraadduunn:: A high-levelcommittee in Uttarakhandset up to suggest measuresto revive the economy hassaid the lockdown to fightCOVID-19 has hit thetourism sector badly in thestate and long and shortterm planning is needed toput it back on track.Submitting the panel'sinterim report to the gov-ernment at a meeting con-vened by Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat hereon Monday, its head InduKumar Pandey said long,short and medium termplanning is needed to off-set the impact of the lock-down on the state's econo-my, especially tourism.

Cong condemnsBBhhooppaall:: The Congress inMadhya Pradesh onTuesday heaped scorn onthe BJP government forallowing reopening ofliquor shops in the stateamidst the nationwidecoronavirus lockdownthat has caused financialdistress.The Oppositionparty suggested that thegovernment also allowreopening of jewelleryshops so that people lack-ing resources can pawnornaments of their wivesfor purchasing booze.

Prices hiked AAmmaarraavvaattii((AAPP)):: TheAndhra Pradesh govern-ment has enhanced pricesof liquor by another 50 percent on Tuesday, only aday after imposing a 25per cent hike as shopswere reopened in relax-ation of the ongoing lock-down. Special ChiefSecretary (Revenue) RajatBhargava said the abnor-mal increase in liquor rateswas to 'discourage' peoplefrom consumption andsafeguard health.

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SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURINGIN PG-07

Monkeys feed on bananas provided by passersby and

volunteers near DRDO office during the nationwide lockdown,

imposed in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi, Tuesday,

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CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNIN PG-08

Police return missing women

TO HER FAMILY IN PG-02

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New Delhi, May 5 (PTI)

The Central govern-ment is likely to operate64 flights from May 7 to 13to bring home around14,800 Indian nationalsstranded abroad becauseof the coronavirus lock-down, said senior govern-ment officials on Tuesday.

These special flightswould be operated by AirIndia and its subsidiaryAir India Express to repa-triate Indians from 12countries -- the UAE, theUK, the US, Qatar, SaudiArabia, Singapore,Malaysia, Philippines,Bangladesh, Bahrain,Kuwait and Oman, saidthe officials.

India has been under alockdown since March 25to curb the spread of the

coronavirus and it willcontinue till May 17. All

commercial passengerflights have been sus-

pended for thisperiod.Therefore, theMinistry of Home Affairsannounced on Monday itwill facilitate the returnof asymptomatic Indiannationals strandedabroad from May 7 on-wards, in a phased man-ner, through aircraft andnaval ships on a paymentbasis.

Between May 7 and 13,India is likely to conduct10 flights to the UAE,seven flights each to theUS and the UK, five toSaudi Arabia, five toSingapore and two flightsto Qatar, the officials toldPTI.It is also likely to con-duct seven flights each toMalaysia andBangladesh, five each toKuwait and Philippines,two each to Oman andBahrain, the officialsnoted.

Out of the 64 repatria-tion flights, 15 would befrom Kerala, 11 eachwould be from Delhi andTamil Nadu, seven eachwould be fromMaharashtra andTelangana, and remain-ing flights would be fromfive other states, the offi-cials said.

India to operate 64 flights torepatriate 14,800 nationals

These specialflights would be operated by Air India and itssubsidiary Air India Express torepatriate Indiansfrom 12 countries

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: The Centre Tuesday told the Supreme Court thatIndian citizens, who are stranded in foreign countries in thewake of lockdown and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 pan-demic, would be brought back from May 7 onwards.The govern-ment informed about the measures taken to address the issuesof stranded Indian citizens to a bench headed by Justice AshokBhushan whichwas hearing through video-conferencing a pleaseeking direction to the Centre to ensure safe passage tomigrant workers, who are hailing from Nepal and are strandedin Uttarakhand.

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharooron Tuesday said all registered expatriates fromKerala in the Gulf region who want to return shouldbe brought back and poor blue collar workers mustnot be charged by the government for the journey.The Thiruvananthapuram MP's remarks come a day after theHome Ministry said plans to bring back Indians stranded abroaddue the coronavirus pandemic have been chalked out by thegovernment and the process will begin from May 7.

‘Indian citizens stranded abroad to be brought back from May 7’

Kerala expats in Gulf must be brought back

Hyderabad, May 05 (PTI)

A special train carryingabout 1,200 migrant work-ers left for Khagaria inBihar from Ghatkesar nearhere on Tuesday.

"The Shramik SpecialTrain left for Khagaria inBihar this morning. All thepassengers were screenedbefore they were allowed toboard," a senior south cen-tral railway official said.This is the second trainarranged for the workers inTelangana.Similarly, anoth-

er train from Rayannapadunear Vijayawada in AndhraPradesh left for

Chandrapur inMaharashtra, the SCR offi-cial added.

Spl train with 1,200 migrant workersdeparts to Bihar from T’gana

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Watch out for the possibility of sectarian feuds andtroublemakers on board, and keep an eye on the behaviour ofpassengers these are some of the guidelines issued to the zonalrailways running 'Shramik Special' trains.

MMiiggrraanntt hhoolldd pprrootteesstt iinn KKeerraallaaKKoozzhhiikkooddee:: Atleast 100 migrant workersstaged a protest at nearbyMukkam on Tuesday demanding that immediate arrangements bemade for their return to their native states, police said. A messageposted on social media, which purportedly said that a demonstra-tion would help make their way back home easier, could haveprompted the workers to take out a march, they said.

Rly asks zones to watch out for troublemakers

JEE-Mains to beheld from July

18-23, NEET on 26NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Engineeringentrance examination JEE willbe held from July 18-23, whilemedical entrance exam NEETwill be conducted on July 26,Union HRD Minister RameshPokhriyal 'Nishank' announcedon Tuesday. The two crucialexams were postponed due tothe lockdown imposed in thecountry to combat COVID-19."JEE-Mains will be heldfrom July 18-23, while JEE-Advanced will be held inAugust. NEET will be conduct-ed on July 26," Nishank said."Adecision will soon be taken onthe pending CBSE Class 10, 12board exams," he added.


India has so far been ableto stave off communitytransmission of COVID-19,says Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan, expressingthe hope that behaviouralchanges" brought about bythe infection could becomethe new normal for a healthysociety after the pandemicabates. The nation in a post-

coronavirus future couldwell look back on the pan-demic period as a blessing indisguise if Indians imbibehand, respiratory and envi-ronmental hygiene and prac-tise it in their everyday lives,the ministersaid.Underlining the impor-

tance of the lockdown,which has been extended tillMay 17, the minister saidhealth should be on theradar just as much as theeconomy. The governmenthas to do a balancing act,Vardhan told PTI.OnTuesday, the number ofCOVID-19 cases shot up to46,433 from the 42,836 the daybefore, a sharp rise of 3,597cases, according to UnionHealth Ministry data. Thedeath toll has risen to 1,568from 1,389."Once the havoccaused by the virus subsidesand the crisis blows over,

people may remember it as ablessing in disguise,"Vardhan said.He added thatIndia has so far been able tokeep itself from slippinginto the stage of communitytransmission of the novelcoronavirus . "By now weknow that fighting coron-avirus is no rocket science. Ifbehavioural changes such ashand, environmental andrespiratory hygiene, whichare being practiced more rig-orously during this period,get imbibed in society it willbecome the new normal,"Vardhan said.


The Supreme CourtTuesday refused to enter-tain a plea seeking direc-tion for withdrawal of or-ders by some states whichproposed salary cut of po-lice personnel during theCovid-19 pandemic, sayingthese are "policy matters"and it is for the govern-ment to consider the issue.

A bench headed byJustice Ashok Bhushanwas hearing, throughvideo-conferencing, a pleawhich also sought person-al protection equipment(PPE) for all police person-

nel and their families onthe ground that cops areserving on the frontlinemaking them vulnerableto Covid-19 or coronavirus.

While observing that itwould not entertain theplea, the bench, also com-prising Justices S K Kauland B R Gavai, allowed thepetitioner to give a repre-sentation on the issue tothe appropriate authori-ty.The bench was hearinga plea filed by retiredAssistant Commissionerof Police BhanupratapBarge who had sought di-rections to the Centre andstates to make provisionsfor payment of 'risk andhardship' allowance, in-centives in the form ofbonus and additionalsalary to police officerswho are presently servingon the frontline during thelock down situation.

Sensex jumps over 500 pts MMuummbbaaii:: Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 500 points inopening trade on Tuesday led by gains in index-heavyweightsReliance Industries, HDFC duo and ICICI Bank amid thin trade inAsian markets.After hitting a high of 32,264, the 30-share indexwas trading 431.74 points or 1.36 per cent higher at 32,147.09,and the NSE Nifty rose 114.25 points, or 1.23 per cent, to9,407.75.ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallyingover 5 per cent, followed by M&M, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank,ICICI Bank, PowerGrid and Tech Mahindra.

SC refuses to entertainplea against salary cut ofpolicemen by some states

Saying these are‘policy matters’and it is for thegovernment toconsider the issue

No community transmission of COVID-19

‘Behavioural changes new ‘healthy’ normal’The governmenthas to do a balancing act


The COVID-19 curve hasremained relatively flat sofar but the continued rise ofcases at a steady rate is acause of concern, AIIMSDirector Randeep Guleriasaid on Tuesday.

Different modelling ex-perts have predicted that apeak in number of cases ofnovel coronavirus infectionmay occur in the next fourto six weeks, that is by theend of May or middle ofJune, Guleria said stressingon the need to be extra vigi-lant and to make efforts toreduce the number of casesin the hotspots.He also said,"The country may see a risein COVID-19 cases duringthe winter again but thattime will only tell." Theseremarks come amid several

state governments givingrelaxations and opening upliquor shops in accordanceto the guidelines issued bythe Home Ministry."Thecurve has remained rela-tively flat so far because ofthe implementation of thelockdown and other con-tainment measures and thishas given us time to prepareour health infrastructureand ramp up testing facili-ties in the country.

"However, the number ofcases continue to rise at asteady rate and this is acause of concern. Every cit-izen should understand hisresponsibility and sincerelyfollow the principles oflockdown and social dis-tancing, especially if theyare in hotspots or contain-ment areas," Guleria, a pul-monologist, said.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Curve remains flat but risein cases at steady rate acause of concern: AIIMS

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,568 and thenumber of cases climbed to 46,433 in the country on Tuesday,the Union Health Ministry said. The number of active casesstood at 32,138, while 12,726 people have recovered and onepatient has migrated, it said.The total number of cases alsoincludes 111 foreign nationals. A total 179 deaths deaths havebeen reported since Monday evening, of which 98 were fromWest Bengal, 35 from Maharashtra, 29 from Gujarat, six fromRajasthan, five from Uttar Pradesh, two from Punjab.

Death toll rises to 1,568 in IndiaNew Delhi, May 05 (PTI)

India should come outwith a large enough stimu-lus package to revive de-mand, Nobel laureateAbhijit Banerjee said onTuesday, asserting thatputting cash in the handsof people would be the bestway to boost the economypost lockdown.

Banerjee, while talkingto Congress leader RahulGandhi through video-conferencing, suggestedgiving money into thehands of the bottom 60 percent population to help re-vive demand.He was delib-erating on the economicimpact of the COVID-19pandemic with Gandhi aspart of a series of dia-

logues broadcast onCongress' social mediahandles.

Banerjee said it was im-portant for India to an-nounce a large enoughstimulus package to dealwith the crisis on the linesof what the US, Japan andthe Europe are doing."Wereally haven't decided on alarge enough stimulus

package. We are still talk-ing about 1% of GDP. TheUnited States has gone for10% of GDP," the notedeconomist said.

"We have done one thingthat I think is wise, whichis to kind of put a moratori-um on debt payments. Wecould do more than that.We could even say that thedebt payments for thisquarter will be cancelledand will be taken care of bythe government," hesaid.To Gandhi's questionas to whether some form ofthe Congress-proposedNYAY scheme or directcash transfer to people was

the need of the hour,Benerjee answered in theaffirmative saying it shouldnot be limited just to thepoorest.

"I would say bottom 60%of the population, we givethem some money, nothingbad will happen in my view.If we gave them money,well some of them mightnot need it. Fine they'llspend it. If they spend it, itwould have a stimulus ef-fect," he said.Banerjee alsosuggested that the govern-ment should hand out tem-porary ration cards to peo-ple to deal with the problemof food distribution.

‘India should put in large enough stimulus’ To revive demand-nobel laureate AbhijitBanerjee said We are still talking about 1% of GDP. TheUnited States has gone for 10% of GDP," the noted economist said

02BHILAI-36GARHCENTRAL CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

Kanhaiya Goel takes charge SECR DGM (G) Bilaspur: Kanhaiya Goel (IRSE) took charge as Deputy General Manager (G) replacingSaket Ranjan who is now CPRO SECR. Prior to the present post he was SeniorDivisional Engineer(N) Bilaspur division.

Central Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 05: Testinghas been started for thenewly constructed over-head tank in HousingBoard area which is to beused for storage and sup-ply of water throughpipelines under AmritMission Phase-II. Here itneeds a mention that theoverhead tank construct-ed in Housing Board ofBhilai MunicipalCorporation and thepipelines laid to executethe second phase of AmritMission, have beencleaned and the soon test-ing would begin so thatclean drinking water issupplied to the houses.Mayor and BhilainagarMLA Devendra Yadav andCommissioner RiturajRaghuvanshi have giveninstructions to the con-cerned officials to checkthe entire drinking watersystem. Giving details,Executive Engineer

Sanjay Sharma said thatthe overhead tank with astorage capacity of 32lakh litres of water hasbeen constructed to sup-

ply water to the areas ad-jacent to the HousingBoard, and a distributionpipeline has been laid forabout 35 km. Prior to test-

ing the necessary clean-ing has been done to re-move the filth prior to re-leasing water. From thiswater will be supplied toAmrapali, Fauji Nagar,three storey building and32 acres, Ghasidas Nagar,at some places near yel-low water tank, area nearGurudwara etc. Initiallyon release of water to getrid of the dirty water theend caps would be openedto drain the dirty water aswell as the pipeline wouldbe checked for any leak-age problem or to detectpossible miss in inter-con-nection, after which thework of connecting thepipeline and improvingthe leakage will be done.

Despite the condition oflockdown, the concernedofficers / employees con-tinued to work for supply-ing water so as to preventthe spread of jaundice.The corporation is testingwater received from vari-ous sources, samples are

being taken at least dailyfrom each zone and ac-cording to reports effortsare being made to im-prove the system. Watertesting is done three timesa day at the filter plant sothat the city can get puredrinking water. In wardno 26 Sample was takenafter filling the water tankand sending it throughdistribution pipeline. Itneeds a mention that al-ready there are red, yel-low and green tanks in thehousing board area, eachhaving a capacity of 1lakh liters. Water is cur-rently being supplied tothe houses from thesethree tanks. In order toend the use of watertankers for water supplyin Housing Board area,Ghasidas Nagar and ad-joining areas and to pro-vide pure drinking waterto each house, water sup-ply will be started soonfrom water tank inHousing Board.

Testing begins for overhead tank in Housing Board

Three injured in bloody clashes


Dongergaon, May 05: OnSunday afternoon inKariyatola ward of the

town reports came to foreof bloody clashes betweenthe members of two fami-lies. In this incident alongwith father-son one moreperson received serious in-juries and has been re-ferred to Medical College

for treatment. NayabTehsildar LiladharKanwar reached hospitaland took statements oftwo critically injured. Tillthe filing of this report po-lice are investigating theincident and two accusedhave been arrested.

The incident is of 1 pmon Sunday when this inci-dent took place betweenthe families of Chowaramand Premlal. Followingclashes Chowaram and histwo sons Rohit andYogendra received in-juries. The initial investi-gation reveals mutual ri-valry between both thefamilies. Meanwhile afterthe incident there is a situ-ation of tension and angerin the ward. It needs to bementioned here, duringHoli this year in this wardtwo real brothers werekilled in bloody clasheswhile two others receivedserious injuries.

Alertness of WCDstops child marriage


Kwardha, May 05: Theofficers of Woman andChild Development (WCD)department got an infor-mation that a marriage ofa minor boy is scheduledin village Sukhatal. The of-ficials took immediate ac-tion and reached the mar-riage venue. They checkedthe age and educationalcertificate of the boy to

find that he is not of mar-riageable age. The parentsof this boy also gave theirconcurrence to suspendthe marriage. The officialspresent on the occasionwere SatyanarayanRathore, District ChildProtection Officer, MtsViveka Haris, ChildMarriage ProhibitionOfficer and other officialsfrom both WCD and policedepartment.

Sarpanch’s husband openlyruns three illegal brick kilns


Korea, May 05: NagarPanchayat NagarSarpanch is reported to beinvolved in openly run-ning illegal 3 illegal brickkilns. It falls underB a i k u n t h p u r J a n p a dPanchayat but surprising-ly neither the mining northe police are taking anyaction. In this connectionsarpanch’s husbandclaimed to have high levelcontacts and nobody couldharm him.

Actually, sarpanch MrsBal Kunwar Biyar’s hus-band Tejilal is all in all inthis panchayat and all thework done here is con-trolled by him. Villagerssaid, sarpanch is only forname sake and all thethings are managed by his

husband Tejilal. Ward no1 sarpanch’s husband hasobtained NOC from thepanchayat and is runningthree illegal brick kilns.The revenue land of theward is dug to take out soilfor preparing bricks.Further coal is illegallymined from the hills atthat place and used inbrick kilns for heating itshearth. In this connectionvillage panchayat secre-tary Dinesh Kumar when

asked accepted that thebrick kilns are illegal butwhenever this issue comesout sarpanch’s husbandrules over other people. Asinformed, sarpanach’shusband is running thiskiln in partnership with arailway gangman Deepakposted in Chirmiri and hisfather and earning lakhsper month.

This type of brick kilnsis also running in otherplaces like Charcha,

M a n e n d r a g a r h ,Khongapani etc. The kilnowners cut wood from thenearby forest and at timestake out coal from insidethe forest. While extract-ing coal some mishaps hadalso happened. Many com-plaints in this regard areregistered with police sta-tionshere and on May 03,2020 Nagpur deputy teamseized many sacks of coaland three bicycles trans-porting illegal coal.

Liquor lovers make queuebefore shops opened


G a u r e l a - P e n d r a -Marwahi, May 05: Aftera period of one and halfmonths when the govern-ment took a decision toopen both foreign andcountry made liquorshops on Monday therewas huge rush of liquorlovers long before theshops could be opened at 9am. Police need to adoptharsh measures to makepeople maintain social dis-tancing while standing inqueue. Those standing inqueue preferred to keeptheir face covered to hidethemselves from thepasserby on the mainroad. In Pendra, foreign

liquor shop is located onthe Pendra to Bilaspurmain road. The bambooswere erected in front ofthe shop to control thecrowd and also to allowpeople come in a queue.

People criticize decisionto open liquor shop

Even when corona infec-tion is not under control

government's decision toopen liquor shops has in-vited wide spread criti-cism. In all forms of socialmedia all are criticizingopening of liquor shops asthey believe crowd due toliquor shops may enhanceinfection.

Timings fixed from 9am to 4 pm

As per the orders of col-lector Sikha RajputTiwari, all types of liquorshops will be opened at 9am and close at 4 pm. SPSooraj Singh as per thechalked out plan ensuredmaintaining social dis-tancing in front of liquorshops and accordingly suf-ficient police force was de-ployed at liquor shops.

Police find hardto maintain socialdistancing

Claims to havemanaged everyone

Between twofamilies

Police return missing women to her family


Daundi Lohara, May 05:Following the directives ofSP Jitendra Singh Meenaand under the guidance ofASP D R Porte, police teamgot success in returningmissing women who wentmissing on August 08, 2013from her home KoreKursel District Kanker.Missing woman MrsPawan Bai was returnedto her family and this actof police received praisefrom all corners.

PS in-charge R P Yadavsaid, it was formed thatthis woman was mentallyill and suddenly left homein 2013 without informinganybody. Her family mem-bers informed the police atthat time. Recently villageBharda sarpanch Dev

Narayan informed the po-lice that woman was foundat the passenger waitinghall of his village. SP or-dered his subordinates tofind out the whereaboutsof this woman. The photo-graph of this woman wascirculated to all the policestations in the state andfinding the photographKursel PS informed about

the complaint of missingwoman from their place in2013 to DaundiLohara po-lice. Both the police sta-tions called woman’s hus-band PuroshottamKewatwho in turn identified thephoto to be his wife. PS in-charge R P Yadav aftercompleting necessary for-malities handed over thewoman to her husband.

Between twofamilies

Arrival of e-rickshaws speed updoor-to-door garbage collection Central Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 05: Thespeed of door to door col-lection of garbage inBhilai MunicipalCorporation area has nowincreased with the arrivalof e-rickshaws for thetask. Now the e-rickshawsare moving deep into thelanes collecting dry andwet garbage separately.Ankit Saxena, SanitaryInspector, Zone No 1 saidthat earlier a sanitationworker used to collectgarbage from about 150-200 houses only but nowwith the arrival of e-rick-shaws, garbage collectionis being done from morethan 500 houses to furtherthis goal. The efforts ofMayor Shri DevendraYadav for improved sanita-tion activities in BhilaiMunicipal Corporationhas resulted in the arrivalof e-rickshaw which hasno doubt improved the

area being covered as wellas given deeper entry intothe lanes. For better per-formance, the sanitationworkers have been givenabout one and a halfmonths training on how toconduct e-rickshaws bet-ter. They have been given aseparate charger to chargethe rickshaw battery. Thisis a perfectly eco friendly

rickshaw which is pollu-tion free. Separate boxeshave been made for collec-tion of dry waste and wetwaste in this rickshaw, drywaste will be taken sepa-rately and wet waste willbe taken separately. Theoperation of e-rickshawshas added a new standardin cleanliness as well as itsaves time.

Amrit Mission Phase-II

Forest Department seizes large quantity of Arjun woodCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 05: ForestDepartment has seizedhuge quantity of illegallycut Arjun Wood from therural area of the district.1300 logs of Arjun Woodhave been recovered fromsome place betweenGhugasideeh toDhaurabhata in Patanarea. It appears that thetress have been illegallycut down and transportedhere. Forest Department isinvestigating over the mat-ter and is making effortsto find the owner of thiswood.

Forest Department offi-cials informed that underthe guidance of ShaliniRaina (Chief Conservatorof Forests, Durg Circle)

and KR Badhai (ForestRange Officer, Durg), theyare maintaining watch onthe illegal activities andare making efforts to pre-vent illegal cutting oftrees and illegal trans-portation of forest pro-duce. In this sequel, ForestDepartment personnel re-covered huge quantity ofArjun wood logs lying in

open ground on the roadconnecting Ghugasideehto Dhaurabhata. This areacomes under Utai Beet ofPatan circle. The woodwas lying near BajajCrusher and theMuktidham.

Prima facie it appearsthat the Arjun trees havebeen illegally cut fromsome place and have been

illegally transported tothis site. ForestDepartment officers triedto find the owner of thiswood but no person cameforward to claim the own-ership. Later, ForestDepartment lodged a caseagainst the unknownowner of this wood andthereafter investigationproceedings were institut-ed.

It needs to be mentionedhere that Arjuna trees arefound in large number onthe private land of farm-ers in Durg forest division.These trees are generallycut illegally by the farm-ers and are sent to localSaw Mills. This wood issold on high prices by theSaw Mills for the purposeof packaging.

St Thomas NSS Volunteers creatingawareness about Corona Pandemic


BBhhiillaaii,, MMaayy 0055: In this time ofPandemic Corona during lock-down NSS Volunteers of StThomas College are continuous-ly delivering their services totheir nearby locality. At present50 NSS volunteers of St ThomasCollege are working and creat-ing awareness by makingposters, slogans, videos and byother mediums. NSS volunteersare also in touch with local po-lice and on call they are ready to

work with local administrationalso. One NSS Volunteer TanuKurre of B Com (First Year) ismaking masks in home and sheis distributing those masks tonearby workers those who areworking in cleanliness of localarea. Principal Dr MG Roymonappreciated the fact that in thispandemic also volunteers areworking with full dedication andconcentration and added thatby this students are actually ful-filling their responsibilities to-wards society.

CITU raises industrial dispute over wage deduction


Bhilai, May 05:Hindustan SteelEmployees Union (CITU)has raised an IndustrialDispute before theRegional LabourCommissioner (Central),Raipur with a prayer to in-tervene over the matter ofsalary deduction of BSPemployees who were un-able to attend Duty duringMarch 27 to 31 in the lock-down period due to lack ofproper arrangements bydepartments during theCorona crisis.

It needs to be mentionedhere that Ministry ofLabour and Employment(GoI) had issued necessaryguidelines in view of the

Corona Virus pandemic. Itwas clearly stated in theguidelines that during thelock down period, no work-er should be removed fromhis job nor his salaryshould be cut in any situa-tion.

Ignoring the said order,Bhilai Steel Plant manage-ment had deducted thesalary of the workersthose who remained awayfrom workplace duringMarch 27 to 31, 2020 due tolack of arrangements attheir workplace to dealwith the Corona crisis.Management has markedthem absent and has de-ducted their wages whichis a clear violation of vari-ous guidelines issued inthis regard.

Shri Ravindra Sena, Jai GurudevSeva Samiti felicitate police staff

Central Chronicle NewsRRaaiippuurr,, AApprr 0055:: Shri RavindraSena and all members of JaiGurudev Seva Samiti felicitatedpolice in-charge of Khamtarai po-lice station Ramakant Sahu alongwith other police personnel bygiving them 'shawl' and 'Shrifal'for their restless service to the cit-izens. In this concern theConvenor of VashudevkutumbFoundation, Mr. Ravindra Singhand senior member of JaiGurudev Seva Samiti, Mr.Satyendra Gautam, jointly givinginformation, said that we havebeen raising the slogan and intro-duced the campaign for last 40days continuously of 'BhukMitao, Carona Bhagao' in whichwe got tremendous success. Thistime we have taught to felicitatepolice personnel who continouslyare doing their duty day and night

to keep the people safe. They con-tributions should be respected asthey have risked their life and lefttheir family at the time of Coronavirus infection. In today's scenariothe humanity aspect shown bythe Police Department is trulycommendable. Ravindra Singhwhile giving further informationsaid that we all members will goto all the police stations and thank

the police for their outstandingefforts in entire Chhattisgarh. It isnotable that in this epidemic, weare all one and always dedicatedto help each other, as there isunity in diversity. On the occasionMr. Manoj Singh, Santosh Singh,Rohit Tiranga, Ajit Singh, SarojSingh, Amlesh, Parmanand Singh,Bhola Dewangan, Ved Narayanand Dilip Singh were present.

Rural economy on track with MGNREGA


RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 0055:: The rural econo-my remains strong despite thenationwide lock-down imple-mented for control of Covid-19owing to the extensive works

started under MGNREGA(Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme)in Chhattisgarh. After the lock-down, in April alone, a total of Rs548 crore 41 lakhs of wages havebeen paid, including new and oldworks. Rs 210 crores have alsobeen released by the StateGovernment for payment of ma-terial head. Rs 76 crore 94 lakhrupees will also be released soonfor additional employment of 50days. A positive impact on therural economy has been wit-nessed as the workers have re-ceived their wages even in theadverse times of Covid-19.Thishas increased the purchasingpower of the villagers, besidesfreeing them from employmentconcerns. Chief Minister Mr.Bhupesh Baghel and Minister ofPanchayat and RuralDevelopment Shri T.S. Singhdev

had instructed to start a largenumber of MGNREGA works toprovide relief to the villages inthe present difficult conditions.Under the guidance ofDepartmental Principal SecretaryShri Gaurav Dwivedi, the MNRE-GA unit and Gram Panchayats ofthe state have created more thanone crore 23 lakh man days in themonth of April, working on mis-sion mode.

On 1st April of the new finan-cial year 2020-21, the number ofMGNREGA workers in the statewas only 57 thousand 536. Inview of the need of work in vil-lages in the current phase oflock-down, MGNREGA workswere started by the governmentin full swing. Due to the active-ness of field staff and sarpanchs,at the end of the month, on 30April this number reached 19 lakh

85 thousand 166. During this,more than one crore 23 lakh man-days of employment were provid-ed to 10 lakh 24 thousand fami-lies of MGNREGA job holders.Theprocess of payment of wageswas speedily completed and theworkers were also paid promptly.In the month of April, the workershave been paid wages of morethan 200 crores. All the measuresto avoid corona virus infectionand the guidelines of the Centraland State Government are beingfollowed in the ongoing MGNRE-GA works in the state. In all work-places, with the help of MGNRE-GA team and Panchayats, socialand physical distance is beingstrictly followed for covering theface with a mask or cloth andwashing hands with soap.Continuous inspection of theworkplaces is also being con-ducted by the officers.

Maintenance of filter plant and pipelines should be done on time: Dr. Daharia


RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 0055:: UrbanAdministration and LabourMinister Dr. ShivkumarDaharia reviewed the works ofMunicipal Corporation Raipurat his official residence office.Dr. Daharia instructed theurban bodies of the state to en-sure arrangements to stopdraining of drainage water tothe rivers and ponds.

He said that under theSewerage Treatment Plant and'Amrit Mission Scheme', theworks of providing tap fromdoor to door should be expedit-ed.

Dr. Daharia said that timely

cleanliness and maintenance ofwater treatment plant andpipelines should be ensured forthe prevention of jaundice andwaterborne diseases. The ac-countability of the officialsshould also be fixed for this.

Minister Dr. Daharia saidthat keeping in mind the out-break of jaundice at present,along with cleanliness, the em-phasis was also on providingclean drinking water for theurban dwellers.

He said that in every areawhere symptoms of jaundiceare seen, action should betaken to change the pipelineimmediately and instructed theofficials to arrange pure drink-ing water for the peoplethrough tanker.

Dr. Daharia said that workshould be done with prompt-ness for the treatment of jaun-dice affected patients in coor-dination with health depart-ment officials.

Urban AdministrationMinister Dr. Daharia has direct-

ed the officials to ensure thatthe drains of urban bodiesshould not drain water directlyto ponds and rivers. He alsoemphasized on the corona testof employees including clean-ing staff working in the urbanbodies of the state.

He also instructed the offi-cials to arrange masks, sanitiz-

ers for the workers. Officials ofthe Municipal CorporationRaipur said that under MissionAmrit Yojana, eight works havebeen approved for supply ofpure drinking water, out ofwhich two works have beencompleted, five works are inprogress.

Three works of sewerage

and septage management havebeen approved, out of whichtwo works have been complet-ed and one is in progress.Besides, 22 works of gardendevelopment have been ap-proved, out of which 15 workshave been completed and theremaining work is in progress.

Officials said that 35 kilome-ters of pipelines have beenchanged to provide pure drink-ing water to urban dwellers aswell as more than 5500 new tapconnections. Dr. Daharia alsoreviewed the works of RaipurSewerage Master Plan(Mission Clean Kharun) in themeeting.

He instructed the officials tocomplete the project workwithin the time limit. Secretaryof Urban AdministrationDepartment, Mrs.Alarmalmangai D., AdditionalDirector of Suda, Mr. SaumilChaubey, Commissioner ofMunicipal Corporation Raipur,Mr. Saurabh Kumar and seniorofficials were present.

GGSASA contributes Rs 2 lakh in Chief Minister Relief Fund


Raipur, May 05: GuruGhasidas Sahitya AvamSanskriti Akademi has do-nated Rs 2 lakh to ChiefMinister Relief Fund forrelief of corona victims,poor, labourers and peoplein need.

Urban AdministrationMinister Dr Shiv KumarDahariya handed over thecheque to Chief MinisterMr. Bhupesh Baghel on be-half of UrbanAdministration MinisterDr Shiv Kumar Dahariya.Chief Minister thanks theacademy for their support

and said that Satnamicommunity has alwayscome forward to extendhelping hand in the time ofcrisis, which is exemplary.

The delegation includedState Head of the academyKP Khande, Dr JR Soni,DS Patre and ChetanChandel.

SBI donates Rs 1 lakh toSamarth Charitable Trust


Raipur, May 05: StateBank of India is commit-ted to the society from coreof its heart. In the pres-ence scenario, when theentire nation is strugglingto get out of Corona VirusPandemic with all the citi-zens coming together tofight this war, State Bankof India, as token of its ef-fort, has donated Rs.1 lakhto Samarth CharitableTrust for distribution offood packets to nearly 300migrant families stayingin Shelter Home,Labhandi.

Essential food for fourpersons in a family for 5days have been given to allsuch families today 4thMay, 2020 in the presenceof Regional ManagerRajesh Kumar and Asstt.

General Manager SandeepPrakash and other seniorofficials of the Bank. Onthis occasion RajeshKumar said that Bank isstanding in the front lineto serve the citizens of na-tion and expressed hope

that soon, with the effortsbeing made by theGovernment and help ofall of us, we all will comeout of this pandemic. Theprogramme was coordi-nated by Amitabh Rakesh,Chief Manager.


Raipur, May 05:Students from KotaCoaching Centers whowere brought back toChhattisgarh would nowbe shifted from the quar-antine centers establishedto their respective resi-dence but would remainin Home Isolation.

State Government hastaken the above decisionfollowing the negative testof COVID 19 which wasconducted on nearly 2200students on their arrivalto Chhattisgarh. DistrictAdministrations havestarted exercise to shiftthe quarantine studentsto their home districts

from Tuesday.A batch of nearly 100

students of RaipurDistrict who were kept atquarantine centers ofBemetara and Kawardhareturned back here.However, the administra-tion has taken undertak-ing from the parents tostrictly follow the HomeIsolation guidelines fornext 14 days.

Parents were asked totake their children fromthe Indoor and OutdoorStadium near Budhaparafrom Tuesday evening.Similarly, nearly 700 stu-dents and parents ofKorba and other districtswho were kept at fivequarantine centers of

Raipur including thePrayas ResidentialHostels of Saddu andGudhiyari as well asHostels of Gyan GangaEducational Academyand Goel World School,were allowed to move toHome Isolation with theirParents.

Social Distancing andwearing of mask or facecovers too have beenmade mandatory for theKota returned students. Itis notable that state gov-ernment had deployed 100buses to bring back nearly2200 students from Kotawhere they had gone forcoaching for engineeringand medical entranceexams.

Expressway to be constructed from Bhatagaon to Kumhari


Raipur, May 05: To makeRaipur's lifeline KharunRiver pollution-free, ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelhas given instructions toconduct survey for con-struction of express-wayon both the riverbanksfrom Bhatagaon toKumhari and to chalk outproject for the same.

He also directed officialsconcerned to include beau-tification of the river anddevelopment of gardenson unused governmentlands at appropriate loca-tions on riverbanks in theplan of expressway con-struction.

This project will be exe-cuted under the joint aegisof Urban Administration,Water Resource and PWDalong with other depart-ments concerned.

In the meeting, ChiefMinister gave instructionsto Urban AdministrationMinister Dr Shiv KumarDaharia and ChiefSecretary RP Mandal toconduct spot inspectionwith concerned depart-ment officials and chalkout the preliminary out-line. Chief Minister wasreviewing the works ofUrban AdministrationDepartment, Revenue andCalamity ManagementDepartment at his resi-dence office here onTuesday.

The meeting was attend-ed by UrbanAdministration MinisterDr Shiv Kumar Dahariya,Revenue and Calamitymanagement MinisterJaisingh Agrawal, ChiefSecretary RP Mandal,Chief Minister'sAdditional ChiefSecretary Subrat Sahoo,Secretary UrbanAdministration Mrs.

Alermelmangai D,Registrar Commercial TaxMrs. P Sangeetha,Revenue Secretary MsReeta Sandilya, DirectorIndustry Anil Tuteja,Inspector GeneralRegistry and StampDharmesh Sahu, DirectorLand Record RameshSharma, Deputy SecretaryChief Minister'sSecretariat Ms SaumyaChaurasiya and senior of-ficials.

In the meeting, ChiefMinister appreciated thesteps being taken byUrban AdministrationDepartment to make the

city tanker-free. He saidthat ongoing works underAmrit Mission for improv-ing drinking water-supplyshould be completed at anaccelerated pace. ChiefMinister directed theUrban Administration of-ficials to now launch adrive to make the citiescattle-free. This driveshould be commencedfrom Raipur city.

At the appropriate loca-tions under MunicipalCorporation Raipur juris-diction, cowsheds shouldbe built in upcoming onemonth. Chief Ministersaid that soon after con-

struction of urban cow-sheds, the stray cattle onthe roads of Raipur cityshould be shifted to thesecowsheds. If despite theaforementioned meas-ures, cattle are foundroaming on the road, thenthe private owners ofthese cattle should befined.

In the meeting, effectiveimplementation of ChiefMinister Urban SlumHealth Scheme was dis-cussed in detail. MinisterDaharia informed thattotal 120 mobile medicalunits will be required toprovide doorstep health

facility in slum areas ofall the cities of the state.In the first phase, theprocess of conducting 60medical mobile units in 14Municipal areas is beinggiven the final shape. Hegave information aboutthe facilities available inthe mobile medical unit.Minister Dahariya in-formed that nearly onelakh 71 thousand familieswill be benefited by thescheme.

In the meeting, MinisterDahariya also informedabout houses constructedunder Mor Awas-MorChinhari and Mor

Zameen-Mor Makaanschemes. Chief Ministerdirected the departmentofficials to follow the nec-essary proceduce to en-sure allocation of housesbuilt under the schemes toeligible beneficiaries inneed.

Chief Minister directedthe department officials totake necessary actions asper the rules to conductauction of he land re-turned by SADA toMunicipal CorporationBhilai. He also directedthe officials concerned todo allotment of shops andcommercial assets built bymunicipal bodies as soonas possible so as to ensureits proper utilization.

In the meeting, ChiefMinister gave instruc-tions to utilize unusedgovernment land andbuildings available undermunicipal bodies for es-tablishing IndiraDiagnostics Centre. In themeeting, sanctioned andongoing works under theschemes such as ChiefMinister Ward Office,Pauni Pasari Yojana werealso reviewed. Chief

Minister Baghel empha-sized over the effective im-plementation ofMukhyamantri MitaanYojana saying that citi-zens should be providedbenefits of governmentservices at their doorstepunder this scheme. He di-rected officials concernedto development onlinemonitoring system for the same.

In the meeting, ChiefMinister gave instruc-tions to make at least onepond pollution-free ineach municipal area ofthe state and also ensureits beautification.

He directed that sewerwater should not be re-leased in ponds and riversand necessary measuresshould be taken to ensurethe same. Secretary UrbanA d m i n i s t r a t i o nAlermelmangai D in-formed that effective im-plementation of tanker-free city drive for lastthree years has resulted in38% decline in use oftankers for water-supplyin cities. In the meeting,Centre-funded schemeswere also reviewed.

03RAIPURCENTRAL CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

Tarring of road opposite RSUpment works in capital city starts with tarring of roadopposite Pt. RSU in lockdown 3.0 and relaxations in various works.

For the prevention ofjaundice and water-borne diseases,

Instructions given toexpedite the worksof sewerage treat-ment plant

1.23 crore man-daysof employment created in a month

Wage payment of Rs 548.41 cr in themonth of April alone,Rs 210 cr issued forpayment under thematerial head

Direct employment to19.85 lakh workers,purchasing power ofvillagers increased

Urban AdministrationMinister hands overcheque to ChiefMinister

Chief Minister gives instructions toprepare proposalafter survey

Cowsheds to be built in Raipur’surban areas

Drive to be conducted to makecity areas cattle-free

Kota returned students shifted fromQuarantine to Home Isolation

Nearly 100 students of Raipur return from the Quarantine Centers

RRaaiippuurr:: Raipur District Administration has declared six areasfalling under the Raipur West segment as Containment Zonefollowing the identification of a 24 year old youth as COVID 19patient from the Amanaka area. According to the order issuedfrom the office of District Collector, the Containment Zonewould start from Science College Hostel Road, Pt RavishankarShukla University Main Gate, Kukerbeda Road adjoining theHanuman Temple, Dumertalab Amanaka, Below theAmananaka Over bridge as well as Pt Deendayal UpadhayayaAuditorium Main Gate. As per the order issued, all the offices,shops and other commercial establishment would remainclose till further orders. In-charge Officer Joint CollectorRaipur Rajiv Kumar Choubey has been entrusted with the re-sponsibility to ensure supply of all essential goods throughHome Delivery system in the Containment Zone. Similarly, themovement of all types of vehicles in the Containment Zonewould remain prohibited whereas medical surveillance teamwould be active in the region to conduct essential health checkup in the region.

Admn declared six areas as Containment Zone in Amanaka region

04EDITCENTRAL CHRONICLE, RAIPUR, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has

taken out of me.

WWIINNSSTTOONN CCHHUURRCCHHIILLLL

ChronicleC E N T R A L

Established 1974 Volume 45 No. 211

Printed and Published by Sameer Maheshwari on behalf ofRamgopal Investments Pvt. Ltd. at Navbharat Press,Navbharat Bhawan, Press Complex, Raipur.Editor in Chief - Sameer Maheshwari.Editor: Sameer Shukla (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.)Phone: (0771) 4257700 Fax : (0771) 4257703 Postal Regn. No. C.G./RYPD.N./62/2019-21 Regd. No. 26172/74/RNI

Stop hate crimes againstNortheastern citizens

As the Central and state govern-ments struggle valiantly to tacklecovid-19, some social issuescause harm to our unity andpeaceful living. In recent times,there has been an increase in thenumber of crimes motivated byprejudice and religious hatred.Even though Indian Constitutiongives our country a secular, plu-ralistic and multiculturalistic sta-tus, these kinds of crimes haveseverely damaged the country’simage. In the time of a healthcrisis, people of a nation, irre-spective of caste or religion muststand united and work for a com-mon goal. Unfortunately, whatwe see is just the opposite. Theminorities, especially Muslimsfind themselves regarded as thecause of the negative conditionsthat others are experiencing.Muslims are blamed for the out-break of covid-19. Pre-conceivednotions and prejudices make peo-ple believe that Muslims arespreading covid-19 across India.Consequently, they are targetted.They are abused, harassed andattacked and discriminatedagainst. We are deeply dismayed,disturbed and demoralised by theshameless exhibition of anti-Muslim sentiments we have seen.A pandemic of global and historicproportion, a novel coronavirusthat is infecting people in almostevery country and territory onEarth, has been weaponised bythe far right to attack Islam andMuslims. The supporters of the farright claim that the pandemic is aconspiracy by Muslims to infectand poison Hindus. Any sensibleperson knows that covid-19 has noreligious connection and the dis-ease spreads regardless of colour,race, caste or religion. So it is il-logical to target a religious groupfor the spread of the disease.Hate crimes signal to the victimand all the members of his com-munity that they are not therightful members of society andcould be a target in the future.Since the outbreak of covid-19,there have been reports about at-tack on health care workers, es-pecially doctors. Ever since theoutbreak of covid-19, doctorshave been struggling valiantly totackle it and save the lives of peo-ple. If it were not for them, thou-sands would have died by thistime. It is ironic that the savioursare regarded as enemies and theyare ill treated and discriminatedagainst. India is amending itsemergency epidemic law to makeattacks on healthcare workerspunishable by upto seven years inprison, after a spate of incidentsinvolving violence towards thoseon the frontline of the country’scoronavirus response. In the wakeof covid-19 outbreak, manyNortheastern citizens have beensubjected to racism and discrimi-nation across the country. Asthey resemble the Chinese, sense-less people think that they are re-sponsible for the outbreak of thedisease. There needs to be a com-prehensive hate crime legislationapplicable across the country. Amultiple of factors needs to betaken into consideration for draft-ing a penal statute recognizingcrimes motivated by bias and pro-viding for punishment. Further,the law must recognize solitaryand group offences. Hate crimesare products of intolerance , ideo-logical dominance and prejudiceand they must not be tolerated.Given the ongoing incidents ofhate crimes, the parliament mustwake up to this pressing realityand do the needful.

VVeennuu GG.. SS..,, KKoollllaamm

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR✍

Central Chronicle welcomes, articles, write ups, comments on different issues foreditorial page (800-900 words), Letter to editor for this page. It can be sent by

e-mail at: [email protected] letters can be edited or rewritten for clarity of thoughts.

WHAT THEY TWEET!

RRaajjddeeeepp SSaarrddeessaaii@@ssaarrddeessaaiirraajjddeeeepp

So we increase petrolprices when crude atan all time low anddon’t universalise PDSrations when foodstocks at an all timehigh! Yeh hai India!

VViivveekk MMuurrtthhyy@@vviivveekk__mmuurrtthhyy

I can’t express how happy it mademe today to find my dad sitting inhis recliner, happily reading mynew book, Together. Since I was incollege, he has been urging me towrite a book. He waited 25 yearsbut never lost faith. It wouldn’t have

happened without him.

HHaarrsshh GGooeennkkaa@@hhvvggooeennkkaa

A parrot talks incessantly butcan’t fly high but an eagle issilent and has the power totouch the sky. Don’t be a parrotin life, be an eagle.

AAaarrttii TTiikkooooSSiinngghh@@AAaarrttiiTTiikkoooo

No Pulitzer for journalistswho captured pictures ofchildren whose parentswere massacred byPakistan-sponsored terror-ists. No Pulitzer because nojournos cared to take pics ofthe kids blown up due toIEDs planted by Hizb,Lashkar & Jaish. No Pulitzer

becoz no one lobbied.

VViijjaayy IIAASS@@VViijjaayykkuullaannggee

Today I saw this banian treeDeciduous tree it’s come throughChimney. Clicked in Berahampurware house.

IInnddiiaa iinn MMyyaannmmaarr@@IInnddiiaaiinnMMyyaannmmaarr

Together We Fight Against #COVID19 On behalf of the Government of India @AmbSaurabhKumarhanded over med-ical equipment, medicines, and other supplies to the Ministry of Health and Sports at Yangon Airport to supportMyanmar’s Healthcare System.

HHaarrrryy PPeettssaanniiss@@hhaarrrryyppeettssaanniiss

"Don't feel bad or guilty aboutsetting boundaries. We oftenallow people to knock us off trackand invade our space because wedon't want to appear rude orimpolite. Define who you are,what you'll tolerate, set bound-aries, and move forward."

T he blame game has begun.The number of Covid-19 vic-

tims is still unknown, but there is astream of hate and misinformationpervading timelines. The damage ofdisinformation and the virus itself tofamilies and communities is equal toour failure to ensure that science,not rhetoric, shapes policy. Studiesshow that it is more common forviruses to be transmitted from ani-mals to humans. Some erroneouslysay this is due to innocuous humanerrors. But there is proof that thepreservation and diversity ofbiotopes, or habitats, lessen human-animal contact and the likelihood ofnew pathogens appearing in hu-mans. Our failure to rely on scienceis a major factor underlying our cur-rent coronavirus crisis.

Illnesses transmitted from ani-mals are more prevalent than ever.A 2017 peer-reviewed study foundthat 75 per cent of emerging infec-tious diseases affecting humans,such as West Nile virus, Ebola, Sars,and Lyme disease, are zoonoses, orillnesses caused by pathogens thathave jumped from animals. Reportsof zoonoses have appeared through-out recorded human history. TheBook of Samuel in the OldTestament describes an epidemic ofbubonic plague long before it deci-mated one-third of Europe's popula-tion in the fourteenth century. In2,300 BC, rabies from hunting dogsravaged Mesopotamia. Researchersre-reading Plutarch found in 2003that Alexander the Great's death in323 BC was probably due to the

West Nile virus he contracted from aflock of ravens that fell dead at hisfeet as he entered Babylon. Studiesof the increase in zoonoses indicatethat such diseases can result fromhuman-induced changes to naturalhabitats: urban development, con-version of wetlands to agriculture,pollution, and deforestation are keyfactors. Research on Ebola haslinked the outbreak to agriculturalpractices. When forests werecleared to grow crops, insect-feed-ing bats disappeared, while fruit-eating, Ebola-hosting bats multi-plied.

Robust biodiversity buffers thespread of disease transmission tohumans. In a 2010 article publishedin Nature, Felicia Keesing and 12other researchers concluded thatpreserving and protecting intactecosystems and their endemic bio-diversity lessens human-animal con-tact, the onset of new pathogens,and the prevalence of infectious dis-eases. This is the result of a phe-nomenon called the dilution effect.Dangerous pathogens are progres-sively diminished each time they aretransmitted from a host animalspecies to a non-host species.According to French scientist SergeMorand, who studies the socio-eco-logical dimensions of infectious dis-eases, the more robust our biodiver-sity, the more microbes circulate at"low noise level," meaning they arenot transmitted easily from onespecies to another.

Factory farming is another aggra-vating factor. In 2012, RobertLawrence of Johns HopkinsUniversity pointed out that "our cur-rent model of food animal produc-tion factors heavily into viral evolu-tion and transmission. The system .poses grave threats to public health,including increased risk of pandemicinfluenza." As a "flexitarian," I willrefrain from militant rhetoric aboutthe sin of consuming meat, but thefigures are disturbing. Every year, 70billion farm animals worldwide arereared for food, and more than 150

million tonnes of seafood are pro-duced, nearly half from aquaculture.Producing such mass quantities is astress on our biodiversity, because itpollutes air, land, and waterways.And clearing the land needed toraise animals and grow standardisedfodder fuels deforestation. So, whenit comes to mitigating the spread ofinfectious diseases like Covid-19, weneed look no farther than our dinnerplate. Once the Covid-19 pandemicpasses, we cannot afford to return tobusiness as usual. Stockpiling venti-lators and masks will not protect usfrom the next pandemic. The onlypositive way to act collectively andresponsibly, for our own survival, isto ensure that our ecosystems arediverse. That means overhaulinghabits that encourage us to con-sume in ways that have proven to beunsustainable - and thus detrimen-tal to our own wellbeing.

In 2018, the French governmentadopted a policy to stop importingproducts linked to deforestation -such as palm oil, beef, and wood - by2030, and it has established a cap onbiofuels derived from raw materialsthat contribute to deforestation.Instead of the usual blame game,policymakers chose a collaborativeapproach with exporting countries,including the use of developmentaid, to encourage them to switch tobiodiversity-friendly productionmethods. The strategy also includesa plan for "zero deforestation" pub-lic procurement and labeling re-quirements to help consumers makebetter choices. If it wasn't obviousbefore Covid-19, it should be now:conservation of biotopes must behigh on national agendas. It is themost effective - and the most cost-effective - way to prevent futureoutbreaks that endanger our livesand threaten our livelihoods.Courtesy: www.khaleejtimes.comTudor Alexis, a diplomat at theFrench Ministry of Foreign Affairs, iscurrently serving as the French con-sul general in Toronto. -ProjectSyndicate.

French President Emmanuel Macron wearing a protective mask speaks with pupils during a visit at the Pierre Ronsard elementaryschool in Poissy, west of Paris, on Tuesday as the virus lockdown is set to ease with partial lifting of restrictions such as the opening ofprimary schools.

Reports of zoonoses have ap-peared throughout recordedhuman history. The Book of

Samuel in the Old Testament de-scribes an epidemic of bubonicplague long before it decimatedone-third of Europe's popula-tion in the fourteenth century. In2,300 BC, rabies from huntingdogs ravaged Mesopotamia.Researchers re-reading Plutarchfound in 2003 that Alexander the

Great's death in 323 BC was probably due to the West Nile virushe contracted from a flock of ravens that fell dead at his feet as heentered Babylon. Studies of the increase in zoonoses indicate thatsuch diseases can result from human-induced changes to naturalhabitats: urban development, conversion of wetlands to agricul-ture, pollution, and deforestation are key factors. Research onEbola has linked the outbreak to agricultural practices. Whenforests were cleared to grow crops, insect-feeding bats disap-peared, while fruit-eating, Ebola-hosting bats multiplied. Robustbiodiversity buffers the spread of disease transmission to hu-mans. In a 2010 article published in Nature, Felicia Keesing and12 other researchers concluded that preserving and protecting in-tact ecosystems and their endemic biodiversity lessens human-an-imal contact, the onset of new pathogens, and the prevalence ofinfectious diseases.This is the result of a phenomenon called thedilution effect. Dangerous pathogens are progressively dimin-ished each time they are transmitted from a host animal speciesto a non-host species. According to French scientist SergeMorand, who studies the socio-ecological dimensions of infec-tious diseases, the more robust our biodiversity, the more mi-crobes circulate at "low noise level," meaning they are not trans-mitted easily from one species to another.

Protect nature: Leave animals alone to prevent pandemics

PRESIDENTIAL INTERACTION

T he statements of Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan SabhaDharamlal Kaushik, in which he sees breach of election promis-

es in providing door delivery facility for liquor consumer, may have itsmerits on ideological basis, but the relevance of raising such issuemust demand the comprehensibility of the BJP government not pay-ing heed to its minister Nankiram Kanwar who advocated for ‘liquorban’ with an economic strategy to make good the loss to the excheq-uer of a dry state. The honesty of Kanwar could be understood, for itwas not out of any opportunism under any pretext as of corona fearnow it is. If Gandhi holding boozing, a sin equivalent does not work inthe country for seventy-three pretty years and even on the occasionof the centenary year of the Mahatma’s birth, how the percentage ofnon-drunkards can overcome the fancy of the lovers of Bacchusthough they are minorities numerically? Moreover, liquor shops arenot run or closed according to the wishes of teetotallers or abstainersbecause such wishes are economically loss incurring though the divi-dends of fulfilment of such wishes are hoped to bring peace andhealth – the kind of health which is not wealth in terms of the statecoffer! The first chief minister of the state Ajit Jogi need not go too fardown the memory lane to recall the expression of ‘no’ of the womenof Chhattisgarh or Madhya Pradesh to a call given by the then chiefminister Digvijay Singh in the backdrop of Bhansoj movement againstliquor, which had seen to it that there was a virtual lockdown formakers, sellers, buyers and consumers. Liquor sale cannot bestopped as per the wishes of fifty per cent of men and all women, butit can be by a major chunk of political will and administrative wishand when both have been truant when called to work. Liquor ban ispracticable without making corona an excuse for doing even whathad been considered good for long seventy-three years, but could notbe done. There is a lot of difference between the government thatdoes something as per a policy decision and that which sees a‘mouka’ for doing something that it cannot do out of its political will.War time strategies should aim at achieving direct objectives onlyand the direct objective in the present time corona period is to earnrevenue for meeting emergency expenses; ensure resumption ofwork in offices and trade and commerce and also to keep people in-doors as much as possible. The door to door delivery system of liquormay sound ‘madness’ to some but the madness is not withoutmethod. On one hand it will save the boozers from going amuck onthe roads and streets and making nuisance, while on the other, thegovernment may keep tabs on how many houses with women mem-bers or the ladies of the houses allow the delivery boy to have hiswork done smoothly. The government has allowed offices to run with33 percent of the total strength of offices, but such orders may notwork at liquor counters and the home department is under extrapressure. Central government is under pressure of the state govern-ments which demand money and the state governments are underthe pressure of opposition charges and insinuations. Both the rulingparty and the opposition are wide awake to the fact that liquor ban isa formidable step and that it can be taken by a most popular govern-ment –a government which is more popular than the demand forliquor and no less popular than the demand for closure of liquorshops forever. Hence pro and anti liquor talk is hypothetical and noth-ing official about it. Experiences of governments do not allow themto do experiments and similarly the suggestions and criticism of theopposition parties at critical times always end up as a bad try-out toprovoke the government into doing something which they could notdo when they were in power.

Talk of liquor ban, –a fairweather moralism !

T he Indian government's decision to evacuate its stranded citi-zens from the Gulf and other countries, though late, is welcome.

It comes as some relief for those Indian expats in the UAE who havelost jobs; the sick, the elderly, and those who have been strandedafter air links were cut in March after the lockdown took effect backhome. The extreme measures have been deemed necessary in Indiato prevent a surge in cases that have already crossed 40,000. Thereare close to three million Indians in the UAE. Distressed Indians in thecountry showing no symptoms of Covid-19 will be flown back on spe-cial flights or will sail on navy ships in what could be one of thelargest evacuation operations in modern history after World War II.Indian missions in the Gulf are coordinating the operation that isnothing short of a logistical challenge, the likes of which they havenever seen before. The deserving have to be filtered, while otherswould have to wait until conditions improve for their return.Registrations have opened and the UAE missions have said data on150,000 people have been collected. The number is expected to riseas May 7, the date for the start of the repatriation, approaches. Thiswill be an unprecedented, mammoth operation when a pandemic issweeping across the world. Social distancing on the modes of travelwould have to be maintained for the safety of travellers. This is amodern-day exodus across the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf ofOman, and Arabian Sea, fleeing from a coronavirus that the world isstruggling to contain. These expats hope to find refuge in their homecountry after months of struggle with dwindling finances and feweropportunities. Work has dried up and many will fly or sail into uncer-tainty in India where the coronavirus remains a threat and continuesto haunt daily lives. A majority will be blue-collar workers who willhave nothing to show for their efforts. Others will have to rebuildtheir lives and live off their savings. Quarantine awaits as they land onhome shores. This has been done for their safety and they will have tofollow health protocols to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.In 1990, India had airlifted 170,000 expats over two months fromKuwait during the Iraq War, a record civilian operation. This evacua-tion will be much bigger and conducted in phases. It will take greatercoordination between different agencies, countries and state govern-ments in India to ensure everything goes according to plan. It willtake grit and courage to sail the choppy waters and fly through theturbulence of life. The pandemic may have ruined livelihoods but op-erations like these show lives matter. A retreat to the safety of thehome destination is sometimes the best cure till the bad times pass.

Bringing relief to strandedIndian citizens

TUDOR ALEXIS

“Liquor sale cannot be stopped as per the wishes offifty per cent of men and all women, but it can be by amajor chunk of political will and administrative wish,and both have been truant when called to work.”

Wealth must to regain health

0536GARHCENTRAL CHRONICLE, RAIPUR, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

Pandaria: On Lormi road at Kapadah checkpost on Tuesday after-noon one jail staff B R Bhagat met with an accident when he dashedagainst the check-post pillar and was referred to Kawardha.

Jail staff injured in accident

SECRMC protests anti-labourpolicies of central govt


Dongergarh, May 05:SECRMC Dongergarhbranch observingInternational Labour Dayexpressed their gratitudetowards thousands ofrailway staff who haveturned corona warriors,and protested freeze ofDA and other perks ofcentral government em-ployees. In protest anearthen lamp was lit bythe union.

While protesting SE-CRMC members lit earth-en lamps while maintain-ing social distancing. Allthose members who couldnot come to the office litearthen lamps at their ownplace. All those present atthe office were branch sec-retary Anil Poddar, presi-dent V P Baranwal,Lakshmi Narayan, Sapan

Nayak, Heeraman, P SuryaRao, VijayUike, S R Gupta,

Nandkumar and othermembers.

‘PHD Chamber welcome Govt’s decision to providerelaxation of select economic activities in all zones’


Raipur, May 05: We ap-preciate the decision ofPrime Minister, NarendraModi to exit theNationwide lockdown in agraded manner by givingequal importance to livesand livlihood of Indian cit-izens, and allowing select-ed economic activities inall zones, Red (hotspots),Orange and Green, basedon the intensity of thespread of Covid -19 , saidDr D K Aggarwal,President PHD Chamberof Commerce andIndustry, in a press state-ment issued here onSaturday.

PHD Chamber ofCommerce and Industrywelcome Ministry ofHome Affairs decision tofurther extend the lock-down period till May 17,

2020. We appeal to all ourmember organisations tofully support the extendedlockdown period till May17, 2020 to eradicate thepandemic covid-19 fromthe country, said Dr D KAggarwal.

PHD Chamber stand incomplete solidarity withthe government and ishappy to extend a full-fledged support to the gov-

ernment and its country-men, said Dr Aggarwal.The lock down 3.0 willrestart economic activitiesin a staggered, yetplanned, way by grantingpermission for activitieseven in the Red Zones(hotspot), like construc-tion activities limited toin-situ construction(where workers are avail-able on site), private of-fices can operate with upto33% of strength, food pro-cessing units, all agricul-ture activities, all planta-tion activities, among oth-ers, will go a longway inuplifting the sentiments ofthe stricken IndianIndustry, helping the dailywagers, poor and theneedy earn their liveli-hood and also reviveIndia’s economic growthtrajectory, said DrAggarwal.

We support theGovernment in its initia-tive of directing the localauthorities to ensure 100%coverage of theAarogyasetu app amongthe residents of contain-ment zones, especially inthe Red zones, said DrAggarwal. The Chamber,through its member or-ganisations, pledges to en-lighten, educate and moti-vate each citizen to dili-gently and extensively usethe Aarogya Setu app, tosafeguard themselves andtheir families against theCovid- 19 virus, said DrAggarwal.

We urge the governmentto provide an increasedstimulus relief package ofRs 16 lakh crore which isaround 7% of GDP soonerthan later to mitigate theimpact of PandemicCOVID-19 on economy,

Raigarh police paste poster of Bollywood dialogue


Raigarh, May 05:Avoiding Covid-19 infec-tion is the only alternativeoption, and every possibleexercise is being done.There are continuous ef-forts to follow the lock-down, citizens should stayat home. For this, the po-lice are doing many exer-cises.

Raigarh Police has con-ducted a unique experi-ment, which is attractingattention and explainingthe serious message witha smile. The police havepasted posters at promi-

nent square intersectionsof the city by changing thewords of the famous andpopular dialogue of theBollywood film.

These words speak ofprotection from Covid-19and to be vigilant withcaution. But the interest-ing thing is that, when youread with the changedwords, you immediatelyunderstand what the dia-logue was originally.Along with this news,there are some posters as

a sample, which is obvi-ously giving a serious les-son and a smile too. In thisconnection SP SantoshSingh said, "This round isa mixed thing, followingself discipline is an optionand there is no option ..We did the rigor first, andwe succeeded too. Butawareness is constantlynecessary, so this thoughtcame. Time is a bit cum-bersome, citizens willlaugh and remember les-sons too.

Ahiwara VS constituency has been sanitizedthoroughly: Guru Rudra Kumar


Raipur, May 05: By facili-tating spraying of sodiumhydrochloride liquid andbleaching powder in allthe villages of his con-stituency, PHE andGramodyog Minister andMLA AhiwaraConstituency Guru RudraKumar has ensured thor-ough sanitization.

He informed thatAhiwara vidhan sabhaconstituency has beenthoroughly sanitized. Inthe same sequence,Minister Guru RudraKumar also participatedin the sanitization work.Besides, 72 villages includ-

ing Bhedsar, Anjora,Dandesara, Chikhli,Karanja Bhilai,Murmunda, Dhaba,Kandarka and Ravelidihhave also been sanitized.He informed that sanitiza-tion of villages is compar-atively less expensive.This work can be executedwith DMF funds.

It is noteworthy that onMinister Guru RudraKumar’s initiative, a teamof corona fighters has

been constituted inAhiwara constituencythat executed the entirework of sanitizationthrough spraying/sprin-kling of sodium hy-drochloride and bleachingpowder in all the villagesof the constituency. Thiscorona fighters team in-cludes Jayant Deshmukh,Amandeep Singh,Bhuvaneshwar Yadav,Prashant Gautam,Dharmesh Deshmukh and

other young volunteers,who are playing an impor-tant role during this lock-down. The team membershave been creating aware-ness among public repre-sentatives of gram pan-chayats and villagers re-garding the guidelines is-sued by state governmentsand the importance ofphysical distancing.During this sanitizationprocess, Minister GuruRudra Kumar also distrib-uted sanitizers, soaps andmasks to the villagers andensured distribution ofdry ration and essentialgoods to the people in needthrough public represen-tatives, NGOs and donors.PHE and GramodyogMinister Guru RudraKumar has appreciatedthe efforts of corona fight-ers team, saying that theirpatience, dedication anddiscipline is playing animportant role in the fightagainst corona.

For awarenessagainstCovid-19

So that citizens cansmile and understand

Minister participated inthe sanitization work

Sodium hydrochlorideand bleaching powdersprayed in all 72 vil-lages

DPS Rajnandgaon dedicatespoem to frontline soldiers

RRaajjnnaannddggaaoonn.. MMaayy 0055:: The Chairman of Delhi Public SchoolRajnandgaon Lalit Bhansali, Directors, Principal Mrs.Urmila Dixit ,teachers and other staff made an appeal to all to stay at homeand be safe, to fight against Covid 19. The school family dedicat-ed a small poem to the frontline soldiers.

Dr DK Aggarwal


Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi,May 05: On May 5 police re-ceived information that invillage Semra five girls whowere studying in GlejTrading India PrivateCompany and staying at arented accommodation ofFiroz Ali could not return totheir house due to lockdownwere locked from outside bythe house owner for not pay-ing his rent. As informed, inLockdown 3 after some re-laxations were given as

these girls started packing toleave for their homes, ac-cused Firoz came in thenight and locked the roomfrom outside on the pretextthat he will let them go afterrent is paid. On Tuesdaymorning at 6 am on receiv-ing the information villagekotwar along with panchreached the place to find theroom locked from outside.They broke open the lockand brought the girls out. SPon receiving the informationdirected PS in-chargeGaurela to register an of-fence against the accusedand accused Firoz Ali wasarrested.

Bleak future before people earninglivelihood from auspicious occasions


Birkoni, May 05: Withthe spread of corona in-fection total lockdownhas been enforced sinceMarch 22 and all kinds ofsocial gatherings whichinclude marriage, birth-day and other celebra-tions are banned.

The people who offertheir services in theseoccasions for earningtheir livelihood are fac-ing a bleak future ahead.This year there wasmore number of mar-riage days in May andthose were willing tomarry in this month haspostponed due to lock-down.

A few marriages whichtook place with SDM’spermission took placewithout any guests andalso maintaining socialdistancing. Earlier mar-riages scheduled on

April 25 and 26 ( AkshayTritya) were also can-celled due to the samereason. After PrimeMinister announcedlockdown till May 17 nomarriages are possibleon the other dates whichfall in this month.

After May there areseven marriage days inJune. After June 30 thereis one marriage day inNovember and four daysin December. More thanthe urban areas moremarriages take place inrural areas.

For marriages musicalband, light decorationsare a must and all thoseassociated with thesetrades are now with nowork. Further those as-sociated with tent, cater-ing are also without anywork. The most pitablesituation is of cooks andhelpers who prepare foodin these occasions.

Lightning strikeskill three


Jashpur, May 05: Threepersons, including twochildren, were killed bylightning strikes in seper-ate incidents in the north-ern part of Chhattisgarh,police said on Tuesday.While two boys werestruck by lightning inSurajpur district, a labour-er was killed by lightningat Jashpur on Monday, anofficial said.

Shivchandra (16) andhis 12-year-old brotherManoj were struck bylightning while they wereworking on their farm atShankarpur village inSurajpur district, an offi-cial from the local policesaid.

In a similar incident,Gorongo Gyaar, a native ofBabusajbahar village inJashpur, was struck by

lightning when he was onhis way to work, an officialsaid.

The labourer wasrushed to a local commu-nity health centre, wherehe was declared dead onarrival, he added.

About the incident While two boys were struck by

lightning in Surajpur district, a

labourer was killed by lightning

at Jashpur on Monday.

Shivchandra (16) and his 12-

year-old brother Manoj were

struck by lightning while they

were working on their farm at

Shankarpur village in Surajpur

district.In a similar incident,

Gorongo Gyaar, a native of

Babusajbahar village in Jashpur,

was struck by lightning when he

was on his way to work. The

labourer was rushed to a local

community health centre, where

he was declared dead on arrival.

VKS(F) protests ElectricityAmendment Bill


Raipur, May 05: VidyutKarmachari Sangh(Federation) through a re-lease has strongly protestedElectricity Amendment Bill2020 proposed by the centralgovernment and on April17, 2020 has asked all stategovernments to furnishtheir views within 21 days.VKS(F) president M AIqubal and general secre-tary Sudhir Nayak in a jointrelease mentioned that itproposes power distributionto private parties.

It needs to be mentionedhere, former PrimeMinister Late Atal BehariVajpayee during his tenurein 2003 passed ElectricityAmendment Bill 2003 and

all the single entity electric-ity companies in the coun-try were divided in to fivecompanies ( Holding,Generation, Transmission,Distribution and Trading).After the bifurcation ofstate run power companiestheir financial health wasaffected and it showed fallin power availability.

VKS(F) leaders allegedthat with power distribu-tion going in private handspoor people will be worst af-fected as subsidy and other

relief measures offered bythe state government for itsconsumers will no longerexist. Further power tariffmay also go high in privatehands. It was informed thatBihar government has stri-ongly opposed this bill andsaid power is a concurrentsubject and central needs totake state government’sviews before taking any de-cision. The other state gov-ernments too have raisedobjection on this bill. Iqbalrequested Chhattisgarhgovernment to stronglyprotest this bill and countedthe loses which may come tofore after power distribu-tion goes to private hands.He counted that there willadverse affect on serviceconditions of the staff,forced retirement and irreg-ularities in GPF, pensionand gratuity funds of em-ployees.

Appeals state govtto reject this bill

Police register offence,accused arrested

House owner locks tenantsfor not paying rent

06NATIONCENTRAL CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

Goa CM Pramod Sawant has urged migrant labourers to stay

back as manpower for the economic revival needed once lock-

down is lifted, as 80,000 labourers registered to go back.

Goa CM urges migrants to stay back

‘Cong bearing travel cost ofmigrant workers ‘street play’

Bengaluru, May 05 (PTI):

Describing Congress' an-nouncement to bear the costof travel of migrant workersas "streetplay," KarnatakaMedical Education MinisterK Sudhakar on Tuesday ac-cused the party of 'playingpolitics' even on the issue ofCOVID-19 and compared itsmindset to Roman emperorNero.

He said the Congress in-stead of giving money to theconcerned as per rules, wasadvertising about it."Looking at Congress mov-ing around in the streetsand advertising about itswillingness to pay the busand train charges for thelabourers, it is clear that itis a big street play. Instead ofgiving money to the con-cerned as per rules, they aremaking loud claims about itin front of cameras,"Sudhakar said in a tweet."There is no difference be-tween your (Congress)mind set- looking at politics

and gaining mileage out ofit even on the issue of coro-na, and that of Nero, be-cause Nero was fiddlingwhen Rome was burning,"he said in another tweet.Karnataka Congress ChiefDK Shivakumar had an-nounced giving Rs 1 crorecheque to Karnataka StateRoad TransportCorporation from the partyfor ensuring free transportto working class and labour-ers, who were suffering toreach home because of highrates being charged.

Gujarat hospitals to join WHO’s‘Solidarity’ clinical trial

Ahmedabad, May 05 (PTI):

Hospitals from four citiesin Gujarat will participatein the World HealthOrganisation's 'Solidarity'international clinical trialto help find an effectivetreatment for COVID-19, asenior state health officialsaid.

The trial, to be conduct-ed by the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR)at hospitals inAhmedabad, Vadodara,Surat and Rajkot, will com-pare the effectiveness offour drugs and standardcare on coronavirus pa-tients, principal secretary(health) Jayanti Ravi toldreporters. The four drugregimes to be tested on pa-tients are - Remdesivir,L o p i n a v i r ,Hydroxychloroquine orChloroquine andInterferon, she said. Theother aspects to be as-

sessed in such patients in-clude improvement ofhealth condition, mortali-ty rate, need for ventilatorsupport and severe drugreactions, she said. Themedical facilities selectedfor the trial are - BJMedical College and andSardar Vallabhbhai PatelHospital in Ahmedabad,Gujarat MedicalEducation & ResearchSociety (GMERS) MedicalCollege in Vadodara, NewCivil Hospital in Surat,and Pandit DeendayalUpadhyay Medical College

in Rajkot, the official said.Nearly 100 countriesacross the globe are partic-ipating in the exercise, shesaid. According to theWorld HealthOrganisation (WHO), fourtreatment options will becompared under the trialto assess their relative ef-fectiveness against COVID-19. "By enrolling patientsin multiple countries, thesolidarity trial aims to rap-idly discover whether anyof the (four) drugs slowdisease progression or im-prove survival.

Up to Rs 1,000 fine for spittingin public places in Noida

Noida, May 05 (PTI):

To contain the spread ofcoronavirus, spitting sali-va, gutka or tobacco inpublic places in Noida hasbeen prohibited and viola-tion of this can attract apenalty of Rs 500 for firsttime offenders and Rs1,000 for repeat offenders,according to a new order.

The order was issued bythe Noida Authority onMonday, a day after theUttar Pradesh govern-ment passed a similarorder to prohibit spittingin public places amid theCOVID-19 outbreak.

"With an objective tocontain the spread ofCOVID-19, it is directedthat spitting, or spitting

gutka or tobacco in publicplaces is prohibited.

"Any violation of theorder will attract a penal-ty of Rs 500 for first-timeoffenders and Rs 1,000 forrepeat offenders," NoidaAuthority ChiefExecutive Officer RituMaheshwari stated in theorder.

The officer noted in theorder that some germs

found in spit can surviveup to 24 hours and the sali-va of any ill person cantherefore infect otherswith COVID-19.

Besides the virus, suchgerms can also cause in-fections like influenza, tu-berculosis, hepatitis,pneumonia, Maheshwarinoted.

Around three dozen offi-cials of the NoidaAuthority, including thosefrom the HealthDepartment, have beenauthorised to issue chal-lans to the offenders, ac-cording to the order.

"The directive wouldcontinue to be in forceuntil there are clear in-structions for its with-drawal," the officer said.

DST evolving as architectof profound science

New Delhi, May 05 (PIB):

The Department of Scienceand Technology (DST), hasundergone tremendouschange in recent timesevolving into an architect ofprofound science as againstincremental science andthe coronavirus crisis is anopportunity to escalate theprocess, ProfessorAshutosh Sharma,Secretary, DST said in a livewebinar conversation withElets Technomedia on‘Fighting Corona -Leveraging ScientificResearch & Innovation’ onthe occasion of its50thFoundation Day. We arenow designing pro-grammes such that scien-tists can take risks in doingtheir science and produce

results that would be im-pactful and can bring aboutchange. Some of these pro-grammes are the Scientificand Useful ProfoundResearch and Advancement(SUPRA) andIntensification of Researchin High Priority Areas(IRHPA).

BRO perseveres with Atal Tunnel work through lockdownCentral Chronicle News

New Delhi, May 05(PIB): Proactive measuresare being taken by BorderRoads Organisation (BRO)to complete the work onstrategic Atal Tunnel inthe Pir Panjal ranges ofHimachal Pradesh, whichis at the crucial stage ofconstruction.

Road surface works, in-stallation of electro-me-chanic fittings includinglighting, ventilation andintelligent traffic controlsystems are being execut-ed. One steel super struc-ture bridge of 100 meterlength across riverChandra on the NorthPortal of the tunnel is alsounder construction. Thework was halted for 10days due to the COVID-19pandemic outbreak.Director General Border

Roads Lt Gen HarpalSingh had taken up thematter with Himachal

Chief Minister Shri JaiRam Thakur. This resultedin resumption of work on

April 05, 2020 with on-sitelabour in active coordina-tion with the State

Government. Works inAtal Tunnel are being exe-cuted with all necessaryCOVID-19 precautions inplace to ensure its comple-tion in September 2020 asplanned.

Atal Tunnel is beingconstructed since Manali-Sarchu-Leh road remainsclosed for six months everyyear due to Rohtang Passbeing completely snowbound between Novemberand May. The tunnel willconnect Manali to LahaulValley throughout the yearand will reduce the roadlength of Manali-RohtangPass Sarchu-Leh road by46 kilometres. Besides con-necting the people ofLahual to rest of Indiathrough the year the tun-nel will aid the forwardconnectivity offering thesecurity forces a majorstrategic advantage.

Thousands of migrant workersstranded in western MP

Indore, May 05 (PTI):

Amid the nationwide lock-down, thousands of mi-grant labourers who leftfor their native places havegot stranded in westernMadhya Pradesh and aregetting impatient becauseof loss of jobs, misery ofbeing displaced and uncer-tainty over return tohome. Among the strand-ed labourers, the biggestnumber is of those wholeft from neighbouringMaharashtra to go to theirhome states, officials said.

Most of these workershad taken the NationalHighway No.3 connectingMumbai to Agra, but afterentering Madhya Pradesh,they were stopped fromproceeding further.Majority of these strandedlabourers are natives ofUttar Pradesh, a MadhyaPradesh administrationofficial said. Some of theselabourers had left for theirnative places by somehowmanaging to get into four-

wheelers, while many setoff for home on motorcy-cles and bicycles, he said.

Many of them alsomarched on foot alongwith their families forhundreds of kilometres inthe summer heat. Afterthey were stopped atBijasan Ghat in Barwanidistrict, some of the angrymigrant workers indulgedin stone-pelting and stagedroad blockades on the

National Highway No.3 inlast five days, a police offi-cial said. This moun-taineous area locatedalong the Maharashtraborder is witnessing ahuge gathering of migrantlabourers every day.According to eyewitness-es, hundreds of suchstranded migrants can beseen on the 170-km stretchfrom Bijasan Ghat toIndore.

Constable held New Delhi: A Delhi

Police constable al-legedly opened firefrom his service re-volver following analtercation with hisneighbours in MeetNagar area ofNortheast Delhi. Theconstable is posted inSeelampur police sta-tion, they said. Intotal, five people sus-tained injuries.While three of themsustained gun shotinjuries, two includ-ing the policemansustained blunt in-juries, police said.The incident tookplace at around 8 pm,they said.

Quacks practising New Delhi: The

Delhi MedicalAssociation saidquacks are practisingin the national capi-tal during the coron-avirus pandemic,"playing with thelives of people". In astatement, the DMAsaid that during avisit by a nodal offi-cer of New Delhi dis-trict to Budh Nagararea of Inderpuri, itwas found that "aclinic was operatedby a quack who wasgiving medicines tothe patients". "He hadno degree with him.He was giving tabletderiphyline -- a medi-cine used for breath-ing difficulty -- whichis a main symptom ofCovid-19 patients. Hewas giving steroidsas well," it said.

Guard dead Gwalior: A 24-year-

old forest guard wasshot dead by a poach-er in Gwalior inMadhya Pradesh, po-lice said. The inci-dent took place in aforest nearGhatigaon village,some 40 kilometresfrom here, and ac-cused Ramkisan ofRampura is on therun, Sub DivisionalOfficer of Police(SDOP) PraveenAshtana said. "Forestguard Deepu Ranawas patrollingSunken beat of theforest in Ghatigaonwhen he heard gun-fire.

Drugs seized Muzaffarnagar:

Three persons were ar-rested after over 1 kg ofdrugs worth Rs 1 crorewas seized in UttarPradesh's Shamli dis-trict, police said. Actingon a tip-off, a policeteam intercepted atruck near Kandhlatown and found thedrugs. Three suspectedinterstate drug smug-glers were arrested,while another is on therun, Circle OfficerPradeep Singh told PTI.The narcotic is valuedat Rs 1 crore in the in-ternational market, theofficer said. A case hasbeen registered underthe Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropicSubstances Act, Singhadded.

Found dead New Delhi: A 23-year-

old woman was founddead inside a factory innorth Delhi's Narelaarea. The owner of thefactory informed thepolice that the factorywas locked and alabourer named Anil(26), who was a residentof Punarwas Colony inNarela and used to livethere during to lock-down, had gone miss-ing. "The police reachedthe spot and entered thefactory by breaking itsdoor. When theysearched the premises,they found the body ofa woman lying on theground in a room onthe second floor.

BRIEF

1000

(1) Effeminate (2) Sheryl Crow (3) GNAT Compiler, AdaCore Technologies (4) John Hanning Speke (5)Blenheim Palace, London (6) Skype

Courtesy- Ramaquiz

Answers

1. What is a man of womanly manners called?

2. During the ‘Bad World tour of 1987-89’ which singertoured along with Michael Jackson as a backup vocal-ist?

3. What is a high level computer programming languageused chiefly in real-time computerized control sys-tems (e.g. for aircraft navigation) called?

4. X was an English explorer and officer in the BritishIndian Army who made three exploratory expeditions toAfrica. X is most associated with the search for thesource of the Nile and was the first European to reachLake Victoria. Name the X.

5. Name this palace?

6. Originally acquired by eBay in 2005, X communica-tions tool was bought by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5bn.Name the X?

KENDU LEAF COLLECTION

Kendu leaf collection and field preparation for drying started in Deogaon Block of Balangir, in Odisha amidLockdown3 to provide livelihood assistance to rural people & tribals (PIB).

Stranded labourers in Madhya Pradesh.

Atal Tunnel work continues.

Ashutosh Sharma

ESSENTIAL SERVICE

Indiapost reaching letters and goods to their customers for essential services in Hyderabad (PIB).

K Sudhakar

BRIEF

Leaves ISA

New Delhi: TataSteel Ltd has with-drawn its member-ship from the IndianSteel Association(ISA), an apex steelindustry body.Subsequent to it, thecompany's CEO andManaging Director(MD) TV Narendranhas also steppeddown from thePresidentship of theAssociation.

Expand access Washington: An

American financialorganisation hasagreed to sanctionUSD 15 million loanto an Indian educa-tion start-up to ex-pand the access toquality education byproviding critical fi-nancing to schoolsthat serve low-incomestudents in India. Thefinancing will helpBengaluru-basedVarthana to reachmore schools by meet-ing its need for long-term capital that isunavailable in theIndian market, USInternationalDevelopment FinanceCorporation (DFC)said in a statement.

New CFO

Bengaluru: Flipkarton Tuesday an-nounced the appoint-ment of SriramVenkataraman asChief FinancialOfficer (CFO) forFlipkart Commerce(Flipkart andMyntra), effective im-mediately.Venkataraman wouldbe responsible for keyfinance operationsand functions atFlipkart.

Partially resumes New Delhi: Auto

component majorBharat Forge said ithas partially resumedoperations at itsBaramati facilityafter obtaining ap-proval from the gov-ernment. The compa-ny plans to com-mence operations atthe facility with im-mediate effect afterobtaining permissionfrom the local districtauthority (MIDC,Baramati), BharatForge said in a state-ment.

07BUSINESSCENTRAL CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

Tata Consultancy Services announced on Tuesday launch AI cloud solution WaferWise, todetect wafer anomaly in semiconductor manufacturing, Global head V Rajanna told.

AI solution to detect wafer anomaly in semiconductor manufacturing

Mumbai, May 05 (PTI):

State-owned banks' non-performing loans are like-ly to rise by 2-4 percentagepoints, which will put upto USD 15 billion recapital-isation pressure on thegovernment in FY21, a for-eign brokerage firm saidon Tuesday.

The consolidated fiscaldeficit target is likely tooverrun by 2 percentagepoints due to stimulusspends, lower tax receiptsand dip in divestments,and will have to look fordifferent ways of raisingresources for recapitalisa-tion, analysts at Bank ofAmerica said.

The government canissue recapitalisationbonds, or the RBI's hugereserves of over USD 127billion can also be dipped

into to help the state-owned bank's recapitalisa-tion needs, it said.

There is a near-unanim-ity among analysts thatthe ongoing COVID-19 pan-demic will lead to an in-crease in bank's gross nonperforming assets withsome reports pegging thestock to double as well.

The brokerage said theincrease in non-perform-ing assets by 2-4 percent-age points will need a gov-ernment recapitalisationrequirement by USD 7-15billion.

It said the recap bonds isa tried and tested instru-ment which has helped thebanks in the past.

"The government willinfuse capital into PSUbanks and fund it by issu-ing recapitalisation bondsto them. PSU banks will

invest the capital receivedin recapitalisation bonds,"Bank of America said.

Asserting that such amove does not entail amoral hazard, it elaborat-ed saying PSU banks canheal their broken balancesheets and meet adequatecapital requirementsthrough the bonds andonce growth recovers, thegovernment can gradually

convert these recap bondsinto normal G-secs andsell them to the market.

The interest cost on thebonds will impact theCenter's fiscal deficit, al-though that will also bepartly moderated by profittransfers from PSU banksholding recap bonds, itsaid.

Recapitalisation bondsenter the fiscal deficit inthe year of their maturityand it is because of thisthis that the bonds were is-sued without any fixedmaturity in the past in-stances, it added.

Apart from the bonds,the RBI's revaluation re-serves of USD 127 billioncan also be deployed, itsuggested, adding thatsuch a move will be neu-tral from a fiscal deficitperspective.

PSB NPAs likely to rise 2-4% points,

may push Govt to recapitalise Mumbai, May 05 (PTI):

Non-banking financialcompanies (NBFCs) haveasked the Reserve Bank ofIndia to allow them one-time restructuring of allloans till March 2021, astheir borrowers are facingfunding issues amid thecoronavirus pandemic andthe subsequent lockdown.

NBFCs have also de-manded for extension ofthe Reserve Bank of India'smoratorium to them, relax-ation on provisioningnorms and additional fund-ing from Small industrialDevelopment Bank of India(SIDBI) and National Bankfor Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD)through refinance mecha-nism. These suggestionswere made by the industryplayers in their meetingwith the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) held on Monday,according to the FinanceIndustry Development

Council (FIDC), a represen-tative body of lendingNBFCs. The industry bodysaid all their customers arefacing disruptions in cashflow cycles, which is likelyto be there for the majorpart of this fiscal. The mostaffected segments includetransport operators, con-tractors and Micro, Small &Medium Enterprises(MSMEs). "A one-time re-structuring window shouldbe allowed till March 2021for amending the loan re-payment schedules and/orextending loan tenures orrestructuring the EMIs,without affecting the asset

classification, in line withthe revised expectation ofcash flows of our cus-tomers," FIDC said in astatement. Currently, RBIhas allowed banks andNBFCs for a one-time re-structuring of existingloans to MSMEs tillDecember 2020. NBFCswant that the one-time re-structuring should be al-lowed for all other borrow-ers as well. While the three-months moratorium hasprovided some relief to bor-rowers, they may not be in aposition to commence loanservicing from the fourthmonth on account of thedisruption, FIDC said.

It said the experience oftargeted long term repo op-erations (TLTRO 2.0) clear-ly indicates risk aversionon the part of banks. In thefirst auction of TLTRO 2.0,RBI had received Rs 12,850crore worth of bids, asagainst the notified amountof Rs 25,000 crore.

NBFCs ask RBI for one-time restructuringof all loans till Mar 2021

New Delhi, May 05 (PTI):

The commerce ministryhas recommended for con-tinuation of anti-dumpingduty on a Chinese chemi-cal used in food and phar-ma industry with a view toguard domestic playersfrom cheap imports.

In a notification, theministry's investigationarm Directorate Generalof Trade Remedies(DGTR) has said there is a"positive" evidence of like-lihood of dumping ofSodium Citrate and injuryto the domestic industry ifthe existing anti-dumpingduty would be removed.

"The designated author-ity considers it appropri-ate to recommend continu-ation of definitive anti-dumping duty" on thechemical, it has said.

The directorate has rec-ommended two dutiesUSD 96.05 per tonne andUSD 152.78 per tonne. Thefinance ministry takes thefinal decision to imposethis duty.

In its probe, the direc-torate has concluded thereis a continued dumping of

the product from Chinaand "the imports are likelyto enter the Indian marketat dumped prices in theevent of expiry of duty".

The revenue depart-ment had imposed theduty in May 2015 for fiveyears. It ends on May 19this year.

"Before the expiry of thesaid duty, PosyPharmachem Pvt Ltd, con-stituting the domestic in-dustry has filed a duly sub-stantiated application be-fore the authority...for ini-tiation of sunset reviewinvestigation concerningimports of Sodium Citrateoriginating in or exportedfrom China, alleging likeli-hood of continuation orrecurrence of dumpingand consequent injury tothe domestic industry incase of cessation of exist-ing anti-dumping duties,"it added.

Anti-dumping duty onChinese chemical to continue


The Department forPromotion of Industryand and Internal Trade(DPIIT) has asked the tele-com department and state-owned BSNL to put onhold the tender for settingup 4G network, valued atRs 9,000 crore, after allega-tions emerged that the ten-der favoured foreign com-panies, according to a com-munication.

The move comes follow-ing a complaint filed byTEPC, the governmentbody for promotion of do-mestic telecom products,equipment and services.

The tender was floatedby BSNL in March underthe new management forsetting up 4G network.This was the first tenderissued by the telecomPSU after the governmentannounced Rs 68,751crore relief package forBSNL and MTNL inOctober 2019. The

Telecom Equipment andServices ExportPromotion Council(TEPC) has filed a com-plaint against BSNL withthe Department ofTelecom (DoT) and DPIITalleging that the tenderviolates norms for pro-curement and favours for-eign companies.

"BSNL and MTNL areignoring PublicProcurement (Make inIndia) Order of the gov-ernment and tender float-ed has no provision for

compliance of the govern-ment order," TEPC al-leged.

The tender floated byBSNL included the re-quirement of MTNL. "Itwas decided that MTNLwill use the core networkof BSNL for 4G services.MTNL had shared re-quirements of towers etcwith BSNL for purchase.The total tender is valuedat around Rs 9,000 crore,"a BSNL official said oncondition of anonymity.

In September 2018, thegovernment came outwith rules that had provi-sions to take actionagainst erring officialsfound responsible for in-cluding restrictive or dis-criminatory normsagainst domestic suppli-ers in bid documents.

The Public Procurement(Preference to Make inIndia) Order 2017 man-dates preference for do-mestic products in all pub-lic-funded projects.

DPIIT asks to hold Rs 9,000 cr 4G tender

which favoured foreign cos

New Delhi, May 05 (PIB):

Amid lockdown manyPradhan MantriBharatiya JanaushadhiKendras (PMBJK) underthe Union Ministry ofChemicals and Fertilizersare accepting the ordersfor medicines onWhatsApp and e-mail,where on the basis of up-loaded prescriptions medi-cines are delivered at thedoorsteps of the patients.This novel move is ensur-ing use of technology forfacilitating easier procure-ment of medicines by theusers. ComplementingPMBJKs for this initiativeUnion Minister ofChemicals and FertilizersDV Sadananda Gowdasaid, " it is heartening to

note that many PMBJKsare using modern commu-nication tools includingsocial media plataformslike Whatsapp to providebetter services in effectingfaster delivery of essentialmedicines to the needy."

PMBJKs are workingunder the Pradhan MantriBhartiya JanaushadhiPariyojana ( PMBJP). At

present threre are over6300 PMBJKs functioningin 726 districts of the coun-try ensuring supply ofquality medicines at af-fordable prices. Thesemedicine are cheaper byabout 50% to 90% on an av-erage. In April 2020 around52,crore Rupees worth ofmedicine have been sup-plied throught the country.

In addition, supplyarrangements with IndiaPost has also been madefor supply to remotely lo-cated stores.

Moreover Bureau ofPharma PSUs of India(BPPI) under Departmentof Pharmaceuticals,Union Ministry ofChemicals & Fertilizers,has paid its vendors with-in due date for solvingtheir working capital is-sues for raw material & lo-gistics. Dedicated Teamhas been created of BPPIOfficers for every State tosort out bottlenecks insupply due to lockdown.Jan Aushadhi warehousesare working at full capaci-ty and inhouse residentialarrangements have beenmade for staff.

PMBJKs taking orders on WhatsApp,e-mail for home medicine delivery

PMBJK stock of medicines for home delivery.

Mumbai, May 05 (PTI):

Amazon.in announced thelaunch of ‘Local Shops onAmazon’ The program brings thebenefits of ecommerce to localshopkeepers and retailers of allsizes. It helps supplement theexisting footfalls with a digitalpresence and expands theirreach beyond their normalcatchment. As part of the pro-gram, Amazon will use its tech-nology, training and enablementcapabilities to power local shopsand retailers of all sizes fromacross India to sellonline.Shopkeepers joining“Local Shops on Amazon” usetheir existing delivery setups todeliver faster within the city andcan choose to expand their serv-iceable areas by using Amazon’sfulfilment services. Additionally,these shops can sign up forAmazon’s other programs thatinclude I Have Space to act asdelivery and pickup points, and‘Amazon Easy’ to offer expandedselection to their walk-in cus-tomers to earn additionalincome.Over 5000 local shopsand retailers from across Indiahave already enrolled for thisprogram and hundreds of themare selling products that areessential to customers during

these challenging times.Bringing the best of online andoffline shopping experiencetogether, the program isdesigned to help customers shopfrom their favourite local shopsnear them from the comfort oftheir homes; benefit from awider selection, faster deliveriesas well as in-built value-addedservices like demo and installa-tion, contact transfer from oldphone to new amongst others.However, due to the current pre-vailing situation, customer canonly shop for essential itemsfrom the local shops and retail-ers under this program. For thelast 6 months, Amazon has beenrunning a pilot for this programwith over 5000+local shops andoffline retailers. These retailersare from top metros as well astier 1 and tier 2 cities likeBangalore, Mumbai, Delhi,Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur,Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Surat,Indore Lucknow, Saharanpur,Faridabad, Kota, Varanasiamongst others. Shops from thepilot are from different productcategories like Kitchen, Home,Furniture, Apparel, Automotive,Beauty, Electronics, Sports,Grocery, Lawn & Garden, Books,Toys, Jewellery, LargeAppliances etc.

Amazon launches the ‘LocalShops on Amazon’ program


Technological solutions thatallow for contactless func-tioning are gaining promi-nence amidst the COVID-19lockdown and social distanc-ing. Vehant Technologies, apioneer in ArtificialIntelligence /MachineLearning- based PhysicalSecurity, SurveillanceSolutions today launchedCOVID ANALYTICS- an AI-based intelligent analyticssolution.Covid Analytics is an AI andComputer Vision-driven imageanalytics solution that catersto the Covid-19 related viola-tions. Its artificial intelligenceprogram detects violations

like Face Mask Detection,Social Distance Detection, andVehicle Movement Detectionthrough Automatic NumberPlate Recognition (ANPR) dur-ing movement restrictionsimposed by the administrativeauthorities. This system canbe deployed on the shopfloors, construction sites,manufacturing units, trafficlights/junctions, airports, andbusiness parks among others.Automated camera basedFace mask and social distach-ing are an important tools toprevent spread of COVIDwhen the lockdown relaxesand has been emphasized byGovernments across the worldand by WHO to be strictly fol-lowed.

Vehant Technologieslaunches ‘Covid Analytics’

Tbilisi, May 05 (Reuters):

Coronavirus lockdownsmean poor people withoutinternet access are beingfurther marginalised, re-searchers and rights groupssaid on Tuesday, urginggovernments and telecom-munications companies todo more to get them online.

From schooling to look-ing for jobs and applying forstate aid, lockdown meas-ures have shifted many keyactivities online while alsomaking it harder for peopleon low incomes to get con-nected, according to Frenchtech consultancy

Capgemini.The internet has become

a basic need. It's no longer anice-to-have, Capgeminichief operating officer,Aiman Ezzat, told. “Thelack of it prevents peoplefrom having access to pub-lic services, to education, toa chance in life. It just lim-

its what you can do.” Nearlyone in two people world-wide do not use the inter-net, according to the UnitedNations’ internet and tele-coms agency (ITU).

Even before COVID-19,campaigners say they facedbleaker life prospects due tosocial isolation and reducedemployment and educationopportunities.

Since lockdowns began,libraries and internet cafesthat many use to get onlinehave closed, said HelenMilner, who heads the GoodThings Foundation, aBritish charity working ondigital inclusion.

Lockdown taking heavy tollon people without internet

08SPORTSCENTRAL CHRONICLE, RAIPUR, WEDNESDAY, MAY 06, 2020

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 0055 ((PPTTII)):: The out of favour Suresh Raina might have felt hard done by the national selection committee but itsformer chairman MSK Prasad made it clear that it was poor form during the 2018-19 domestic season that became his undo-ing.”See VVS Laxman, when he was dropped from the Indian Test squad in 1999, he forced himself back by scoring over 1400runs in domestic cricket. This is what is expected from senior players when they are dropped,” Prasad told PTI. “Unfortunately,we didn’t see that form here in Raina’s case in domestic cricket while other youngsters emerged at the big stage with their bril-liant performances in domestic cricket and India A,” Prasad, who had an eventful four-year tenure, said.

Raina didn’t show form in domestic cricket for national comeback: MSK Prasad

Cricket behind closed door will be strangebut it’s also game’s purest form: Buttler

London, May 05 (PTI):

England batsman JosButtler says cricket’s pos-sible return behind closeddoors in the post COVID-19world will be “strange”but it will also take thegame back to its “mostpurest form” when no onewatched the players com-pete.

With the coronavirusoutbreak forcing a cricketshutdown across theworld, there is speculationthat the sport might ini-tially return without fans.

“An interesting thoughtabout when cricket re-turns, if it comes behindclosed doors and there isno fans and stuffs, I knowthat will be really strangefor professional cricketersbut in a funny sort of wayit will take you back towhat it was like when youfirst started,” Buttler saidin an interview toLancashire Cricket.

“There is no one watch-ing you and you are play-ing because you love thegame. I know it will be dif-

ferent because you haveexperienced the other sideof it but that is the mostpurest form of cricket,isn’t it?.” The global healthcrisis has forced Englandand Wales Cricket Boardto suspend all professionalsport till July 1 in thecountry and also put indoubt the upcoming T20World Cup in Australia.

Buttler said he is hopingfor some form of cricket toreturn this year.

“...one thing that sportsdoes is it brings people to-gether, give people hope.So hope there can be someform of cricket whether itis behind closed doors, orwe play the Blasts, just alittle bit of something, itwould be great to see the

boys on field again even ifit is for TV, and get that en-joyment from sportagain,” he said.

“But sports is not on thetop of tree with howthings going on. But fin-gers crossed, things canturn in the positive way asquickly as they went theother way.”

Buttler, who plays forRajasthan Royals in theIPL, also praised formerIndia skipper and ChennaiSuper Kings captainMahendra Singh Dhoni,saying he has learnt a lotby just watching him dur-ing the IPL. “MS Dhonihas always been a big idolof mine and chaos is al-ways going around him,people wanting a bit ofhim, the cricket and thenoise “....it is such a greatlesson to just watch himand see first hand how tomanage all that thing ifyou have to perform at thetop level and perform inthose crunch moment,that certainly has beenone of the massive plus-es,” he said.

England have to make do with limited chancesto prepare for T20 World Cup: Eoin Morgan


England’s white-ballcaptain Eoin Morgan sayshis team will have to makedo with limited opportuni-ties that come its way toprepare for this year’s T20World Cup after theCOVID-19 pandemicforced a cricket shutdownin the country.

The coronaviorus out-break has forced theEngland and WalesCricket Board (ECB) tosuspend professionalgames in the country tillJuly 1 and has put in doubtAustralia’s ODI and T20Itour of England in July.

Morgan feels convertingEngland’s three-ODI seriesagainst Ireland into a T20rubber in September willbe their best chance of get-ting some practice aheadof T20 World Cup.

“For the last month,everybody has struggled toget a sense of what’s possi-ble and what might ormight not happen,” he toldreporters via Zoom duringthe launch of the AbuDhabi T10.

“We may have to makedo. If tests were going on,there would be ways andmeans we could havemeaningful practicegames in and aroundthose Ireland games in asimilar environment.

“We could have properopposition and maybe usethe England Lions theretoo to make it as highly

competitive as possible.”The global health crisis

has also put under threatthe T20 World Cup, whichis scheduled to be heldfrom October 18 toNovember 15 in Australia.

“If the T20 World Cupgoes ahead in the slot thatit’s been allocated at themoment, we’ll have cer-tainly played a limited

amount of cricket beforethen,” Morgan said.

“Given the circum-stances we’ll have to seehow much cricket we playand the opportunities thatland on guys’ laps. They’llhave to make the most ofthem.”

Talking about AlexHales, who was droppedfrom last year’s World Cupafter failing a second testfor recreational drug use,Morgan said the “door isstill open” for him to getinto the T20 World Cupsquad, provided he re-builds the trust that helost.

“What happened was ac-tually quite considerablyharmful to the environ-ment, which obviously ledto the breakdown in trustbetween Alex and ourplayers, so to say,” he said.

“How long that will taketo regain, we don’t know,but certainly the door isstill open for that trust tobe built back up...that’s notjust with me, that’s withevery member of thesquad, the backroom staff,the selectors.

MMiillaann,, MMaayy 0055 ((AAFFPP))::Juventus star CristianoRonaldo flew back to Italyafter almost two months incoronavirus lockdown in hisnative Portugal.Ronaldo and his familylanded in Turin Airport justafter 10.20pm local time onMonday, according tomedia reports in Italy.The five-time Ballon d’Orwinner arrived by privatejet from the Portuguese

island of Madeira and willspend two weeks in quar-antine.The 35-year-old playedJuventus’s last Serie Agame, a 2-0 win over InterMilan behind closed doorsat the Allianz Stadium onMarch 8, before the Italianfootball season was sus-pended amid the COVID-19pandemic which has killedover 29,000 people in thecountry.

Ronaldo returned toMadeira after the InterMilan match to be close tohis mother Dolores whohad suffered a stroke.Juventus have recalledtheir 10 overseas playersas Serie A clubs were giventhe green light to return toindividual training onMonday.The Italian interior min-istry’s go-ahead for playersto return to club trainingfacilities two weeks aheadof schedule has offeredfans hope that the 2019-20season might yet be sal-vaged.Juventus are leading SerieA, one point ahead ofLazio, as they target aninth consecutiveScudetto.The club has not yet givenan official date for a returnto training.Juventus began carryingout tests on their players atthe club’s medical centre inTurin on Monday.The first to arrive wereFederico Bernardeschi,Juan Cuadrado, CarloPinsoglio, LeonardoBonucci and AaronRamsey, all wearing facemasks.

Juventus are also waitingthe return to Turin of Dutchcentre-back Matthijs deLigt and midfielder BlaiseMatuidi, who returned toFrance after recoveringfrom the virus.Gonzalo Higuain remains inArgentina where hereturned to be with his sickmother.

Ronaldo returns to Turinafter coronavirus lockdown

I’m still keen and motivated to play in all three formats: Du PlessisJohannesburg, May 05 (PTI):

He might have relin-quished captaincy afterone of the “toughest” sea-sons of his career but Fafdu Plessis believes he stillhas the “hunger and moti-vation” to play all threeformats of the game forSouth Africa.

The 35-year-old battingmainstay has committedto continue playing for theProteas in all formats inthe 2020-21 season.

“I think I have a lot ofvalue to add. I still loveplaying for the Proteas andI still see myself addinghuge value. I am still ex-tremely motivated andkeen to play for theProteas in all three for-mats, that doesn’t change,”Du Plessis said in a audiointerview released by

Cricket South Africa onMonday.

“The time away fromthe game has made surethat the hunger for thegame is still there. The bigthing for players is to real-

ly love what they do,” headded.

Du Plessis handed overthe captaincy in the limit-ed overs format toQuinton de Kock beforestepping down as Test

skipper.The South African stal-

wart said lack of cricketduring the COVID-19 pan-demic has helped him re-alise how much he missedthe game.

“Like all I am not beingallowed to go out but I didget time to get couple ofthings in my garage beforethe lockdown, which haskept me busy but lookingforward to go out and dosome training outsideonce the restrictions relax-es a bit,” he said.

“The biggest reflectionfor me in this time of lock-down is grateful and grati-tude of what I have.”

Du Plessis last featuredin an ODI during SouthAfrica’s disastrous 2019World Cup campaign inEngland, where they exit-ed in the league stages.

He termed the seasongone by as one of thetoughest in his overall ca-reer.

“The season gone bywas one of the toughestof my career because ithad different elementsthat was just not aboutcricket. We started withthe World Cup which wasa really tough and emo-tional roller-coaster.Having to deal with fromfront of the team,” hesaid.

“From there we went toIndia which I knew wouldbe really tough as a teamand for me as a leader aswell. But I was really opti-mistic and was up for thefight. I knew the teamneeded me to be strong inthat series. But the tourdidn’t go as well as wewould have liked.”


Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesdayrejected the perception that he is jealous ofRavinchandran Ashwin, saying the Tamil Nadu bowleris a “legend in making”. Ashwin, who had replacedHarbhajan in the Indian team, is among the leading off-spinners in the world alongside Australia’s NathanLyon. Harbhajan is not yet retired but last played forIndia in 2016. The 39-year-old has played 103 Tests withhis final game coming in 2015. Ashwin, on the otherhand, has played 71 Tests since making his debut in 2011.

“A lot of people think I am jealous, this and that. Theycan think whatever they want to. I just want to say thatyou are the best off-spinner presently playing the game,”said Harbhajan during an Instagram live chat withAshwin.

“Of course I Like Nathan Lyon as well. I always puthim right up there because he plays in Australia and it isa tough place to bowl (for spinners). You (Ashwin) areone of those legends in the making. I wish you the verybest and lots and lots of wickets.”

The chat was focused on India’s remarkable comebackin the 2001 home Test series against Australia.

Stokes to run half marathon toraise funds for health workers


England’s World Cup-winning all-rounder BenStokes will run his maidenhalf marathon on Tuesdayto raise funds for a charityand hospitals battling theCOVID-19 pandemic.

In a video message postedon Instagram, Stokes saidhe was inspired by threemen calling themselves the‘Cricket Garden MarathonTeam’, who ran fullmarathons in their ownbackyards, to run and raisefunds for Britain’s NationalHealth Services (NHS) andthe Chance to Shine founda-tion. “(A half marathon) isalways been something thatI’ve thought about doing a

but never really got aroundto ever doing it,” Stokessaid. “Obviously we’ve beenin lockdown so I thoughtwhat a great opportunity to

go out and if I’m going to doit I might as well try andraise some funds,” headded. Admitting that thefurthest he has ever run is8km, the 28-year-old hopeshis effort will encouragepeople to donate to the pageset up by the CricketGarden Marathon team.

“I will be hopefully in-spiring people to makesome donations towards theCricket Garden Marathon,I’m just trying to add somemore funds to what they’vemanaged to do.Stokes addedthat the Chance to Shinefoundation is very close tohis heart as it works to pro-vide all children the oppor-tunity to play, learn and de-velop through cricket.

I am not jealous of you:Harbhajan tells Ashwin

Akhtar keen on becoming India bowling coach;says can groom faster, more aggressive pacers


Former Pakistan speed-ster Shoaib Akhtar says heis interested in becomingIndia’s bowling coach ifthere is an offer, assertingthat he is capable ofgrooming “more aggres-sive, fast and talkative”pacers.

Akhtar expressed hiswillingness in an inter-view on social networkingapp ‘Helo’.

Asked if he would liketo be associated with theIndian bowling unit in fu-ture, he responded in thepositive. India’s currentbowling is Bharat Arun.

“I will definitely. My jobis to spread knowledge.What I have learned isknowledge and I willspread it,” Akhtar said.

One of the fastest

bowlers to have played thegame, he added, “I willproduce more aggressive,fast and more talkativebowlers than the currentones who will tell-off the

batsmen in a way that youwill enjoy a lot.”

He said he has alwayswanted to share his knowl-edge among buddingcricketers and that he is

looking to produce moreaggressive bowlers.

He also added that hewould like to “coach” IPLfranchise Kolkata KnightRiders, for whom he hasplayed in the cash-rich T20league’s inaugural edition.

The former pacer alsospoke about his early in-teractions with Indian bat-ting great SachinTendulkar in the 1998 se-ries.

“I had seen him but did-n’t know how big a namehe was in India. InChennai, I got to knowthat he was known as agod in India.

“Mind you, he is a verygood friend of mine. In1998, when I bowled as fastas I could, Indian publiccelebrated with me. I havea big fan following inIndia,” Akhtar said.

It is important to focus on learningnew skills during lockdown: Paes


Indian tennis greatLeander Paes stressed onthe need to focus on learn-ing new skills during thecoronavirus-forced lock-down to keep oneself men-tally and physically fit.

Speaking at anEducation Webinar forcoaches, jointly organisedby the All India TennisAssociation (AITA) andthe Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI), Paes touchedupon various topics in-cluding his junior days,transition to men’s circuit,the role mental fitnessplays in tennis, dealingwith pressure, nutritionalknowledge and coachingtips.

“It is important to focuson learning new skills dur-

ing the lockdown,” Paessaid on how to best utilisethe time away from tennisaction and keep oneselfactive and mentally fit.

India has been under

lockdown for more than amonth now to contain thehighly contagious disease,raising concerns aboutmental health of athletes.

Talking about what

keeps him going even atthe age of 46, Paes said:“For me, the relationshipsthat I have had throughtennis are the things that Icherish the most.

“Those relationshipsover generations arewhat’s special,” the 18-time Grand Slam champi-on was quoted as saying byAITA’s official website.

The Atlanta Olympicbronze medallist also wentdown memory lane andsingled out RK Khannaand Anil Khanna for spe-cial mention.

“When I started playingtennis, R.K Khanna wasthe president of the AITA.I would not be who I amtoday without Khanna be-cause he actually helpedme in the juniors, as a 14or 15 year-old,” he said.

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