13 - castudyweb.com · chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has said his party backs the Punjab and Central governments in fight against the Covid. “In this hour of crisis, we are human beings

Tribune News Service

NewDelhi, March 22India on Sunday respondedoverwhelmingly to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’scall for people’s curfew tobattle the growing Covid-19pandemic, encouraging thegovernment to order anunprecedented lockdown inan attempt to break the chainof viral transmission.

While Janata Curfew wasunderway, the Centre askedstates to shut down all non-essential services in districtswith a Covid confirmed caseor death. By Sundayevening, the number of suchdistricts was 82.

Punjab, Delhi, Jammu andKashmir, West Bengal, Naga-land, Uttarakhand, Chandi-garh and Bihar ordered lock-downs until March 31, sayingonly essential services (med-ical, groceries, dairy items,fruits, vegetables, petrolpumps) would be available.

The move towards nearpan-India lockdown (23 statesnow have confirmed Covidcases) came on a day whenIndia saw three more deaths(one each in Mumbai, Patnaand Surat) due to the disease,taking the toll to seven andthe cases surged to 396 in thehighest 24-hour rise so far.

The decision to extend thevoluntary Janata Curfew into

a shutdown was taken toensure social distancingbetween people which, accord-ing to experts, is the only wayto flatten the growing curve ofvirus transmission. So far, thecases in India only involve

people with travel historyabroad or their direct contacts.

The executive actions theCentre and states took todayto quarantine most of thenation are primarily aimed athalting the virus from trans-mitting into the communityor to reduce its impact.

The lockdown decisions

were taken today at a high-lev-el meeting Cabinet SecretaryRajeev Gauba and PK Mishra,Principal Secretary to the PM,held with state Chief Secre-taries and Health Secretaries.The meeting agreed to sus-pend all non-essential passen-ger transport till March 31,including inter-state buses.

“The state governmentswere asked to issue appropri-ate orders; only essentialservices to operate in all dis-tricts which have reportedconfirmed cases or casualtiesdue to Covid-19,” a govern-ment statement said, addingthat the states could expandthe lockdown depending ontheir assessment of the situa-tion on the ground.

continued on page 7

13PUNJAB SINKING DEEPER INTO MORASS

INFOCUSTOMAR KEY CONTENDERFOR MP CM’S POST NATION

EX-ITALY STAR MALDINI ANDSON INFECTED SPORT

chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | jammu | srinagar | vol.4 no.81 | 16 pages | ~4.50 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881

Maruti, Honda,Mahindra suspend

operations

Janata Curfew beginning of a long battle.PM

New Delhi, March 22 the Union Government onSunday asked all states toready health facilities ear-marked exclusively for treat-ing Covid-19 patients.

Health Ministry officials saidthe country had the capacity toconduct 60,000-70,000 Covidtests per week, with privatelabs also roped in to conductsuch tests, provided they metthe defined criterion.

“States have pledged thatthey will earmark hospitalsexclusively to treat COVID-19patients,” ICMR Director Bal-ram Bhargava said. — PTI

NewDelhi, March 22 With the Centre deciding toput 82 districts on lock-down, almost all modes ofpublic transport have beenput on hold till March 31.

The Indian Railways hascancelled all passenger servic-es. Also, Metro services in thecountry have been asked toshut down. The Railways hadalready curtailed its serviceson Friday, cancelling a num-ber of trains. Only goodstrains will run up to March31 midnight to ensure unin-terrupted supplies, an offi-cial order said. NATION

New Delhi, March 22With a number of Chief Min-isters urging the Centre to putoff the Census-NPR exercisein view of the lockdown in sev-eral parts of the country, thegovernment is actively con-sidering postponing the com-mencement of the exercise.

Indicating a possible post-ponement of the exercisefrom April 1, sources in thegovernment said it hadactively been considered and

a final decision would be taken in due course.

They said Home MinisterAmit Shah was monitoringthe situation to decidewhether the Census 2021exercise should be post-poned or not.

“It is expected that theUnion Government willannounce its decision in thenext few days after consult-ing all stakeholders,” said asenior official. — TNS

Clampdown on 82 Covid-hit districts Exclusive facilitiesfor virus-affected

NPR drive may be put off

Rail services onhold till March 31

17 COPS FOUND DEAD INC’GARH AFTER ENCOUNTER Raipur: The bodies of 17 secu-rity personnel, missing afteran encounter with Naxals inSukma district of Chhattis-garh, were found on Sunday,the police said. In a majoroffensive, teams of 600 per-sonnel had launched an anti-Naxal operation on Saturday.The teams were ambushed.The gun battle lasted at leasttwo-and-a-half hours. PTI

COUNT

396DISCHARGED 23DEATHS 07

Groceries, fruit & veggie shops, milk booths

Cooking gas andpetrol stations

Telecom as well aspostal services

Hospitals & pharmacies;banks & ATMs

<<Policemen during JanataCurfew in Patiala. TRIBUNE

PHOTO: RAJESH SACHAR

WHAT ALL REMAINS OPEN

❝

PETROL BOMB HURLED AT JAMIA PROTEST SITENew Delhi: An unidentified manallegedly opened fire and hurleda petrol bomb at the emptyprotest site outside Jamia MilliaIslamia on Sunday, according toofficials and university students.The spot was inspected by ateam from the Forensic ScienceLaboratory and a case filed,Deputy Commissioner of Police(Southeast) RP Meena said. “Abroken bottle, a lighter and anempty cartridge were foundnear Gate No. 6 of Jamia MilliaIslamia,” he said. PTI

MORE REPORTS INSIDE

BUDGET SESSION HEADED FOR EARLY CLOSURE

AIR INDIA BRINGS 263 INDIANSTUDENTS FROM ITALY

SAARC DISASTER MGMT CENTRELAUNCHES WEBSITE

DEFENCE, PARAMILITARYFORCES ON STANDBY 7 MORE OF PUNJAB VICTIM’S

FAMILY, CONTACTS TEST POSITIVE

CHEERING FOR COVID WARRIORS

C VID-19PANDEMIC

/thetribunechd /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com monday, march 23,2020

UNDER LOCKDOWN TILL MARCH 31:Rajasthan, Punjab,Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, JK, Andhra Pradesh andJharkhand; in Nagaland, indefinite shutdown.

AIIMS JHAJJAR UNIT ONE OF THEM GOODS TRAINS TO CARRY SUPPLIES

Food home delivery and e-commerce

THE TRIBUNE02 CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020PUNJAB

The deserted Heritage Street in Amritsar and a national highway in Jalandhar on Sunday during the Janata curfew imposed against the spread of Covid . TRIBUNE PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR/SARABJIT SINGH

The Golden Temple saw just 500 visitors on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR


Amritsar, March 22The impact of Janata curfe tocombat the spread of Covid-19 witnessed a record declinein the footfall of devotees atthe Golden Temple.

In normal days, the shrinesees a footfall of nearly 1 lakhpeople daily from all over theglobe. SGPC chief secretaryDr Roop Singh said lessthan 500 devotees paid obei-sance at the shrine. Conse-quently, Sri Guru Ram DassJee Langar Hall catered toaround 100 devotees.

He said the devoteesshould refrain from comingout of their houses as a pre-cautionary measure. “Werequest all to stay indoors

as per the advisory of theHealth Department andgovernment. The live tele-cast of Gurbani kirtanfrom the sanctum sancto-rum of the shrine will con-tinue,” he said. Sourcessaid a majority of thosewho got stuck in the holycity due to disruption ofrail and bus services had

no option but to go to theshrine’s kitchen to par-take of langar.

Meanwhile, dedicatedteams of the SGPC-run SriGuru Ram Das CharitableHospital and local HealthDepartment were presentfor the thermo-screening ofevery devotee visiting theshrine. This was followed bysprinkling of sanitisers ontheir hands before theyentered the shrine.

Meanwhile, in the wake ofthe threat, the SGPCmulled postponing itsannual budget 2020-2021meeting scheduled for March28 at Teja Singh SamundriHall. Technically, the budgetsession is to be held beforeMarch 31 every year.

Golden Temple witnessesrecord decrease in footfall


Chandigarh, March 22Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)chief Sukhbir Singh Badalhas said his party backsthe Punjab and Centralgovernments in fightagainst the Covid.

“In this hour of crisis, we arehuman beings first andAkalis or Congress men later.Sikhism teaches us that weare all in it together. Akaliworkers offer their services toChief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh in thisfight,” he said in a statementon Sunday. The SAD chiefasked party workers “to fol-low guidelines announced byPrime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh. This is thetime to put politics on thebackburner and stand unitedin the fight against Covid”.

Sukhbir appealed to Pun-jabis to obey governmentinstructions on the lock-down and stay at home for as

long as they can. “Elderlypersons must get specialcare. This is payback timetowards our elders who havesacrificed so much for us.”

The SAD chief appealed toSGPC president JathedarGobind Singh Longowal toissue instructions to ensurethat all Sikh shrines andSGPC officials and“sewadars” lead the fightagainst the virus by observ-

ing all guidelines.The former Deputy CM also

issued directions to SADoffice-bearers and cadre incountries such as Canada,Italy, the US, the UK,Spain, Germany and theMiddle East to coordinateefforts to extend every pos-sible help to any needyPunjabi settled abroad.

Sukhbir and Union Minis-ter Harsimrat Kaur Badal,meanwhile, urged all MPsto release MPLAD fundsneeded by hospitals forpurchasing medical equip-ment to gear up for the bat-tle against Covid.

In a joint statement, the twoMPs said that as per reports,there was a shortage of med-ical equipment and testingkits in government hospitals.

They also appealed to allMPs in Punjab and acrossthe country to do their bitto fight the pandemic bycommitting much-neededfunds to government hospi-tals at the earliest.

SAD backs state, Centrein efforts against disease


Jalandhar, March 22 Four family members andthree close contacts of a 70-year-old man, who died ofCovid in the Banga CivilHospital on March 19, havetested positive for the virusin Nawanshahr.

One of them lives in Chik-ka village, two in Pathlawlaand four in Sujjon. All threevillages have been sealed.

Two of them travelled toGermany and Italy with the70-year-old man.

Nawanshahr alone hasreorted 14 cases to thetotal tally of 21 as of Sun-day. The police have beendeployed at Sujjon andPathlawa villages, restrict-ing the entry of residents.

The grandchildren of the70-year-old’s deceasedwere shifted to Sujjon vil-lage a few days ago whenthe rest of the family wasplaced under isolation. Ofthe 17 Pathlawla village res-idents (all related to thedeceased), whose sampleswere collected in Nawan-shahr until Saturday, 14have tested positive. As ofSunday, the Health Depart-

ment placed 88 people inisolation in Nawanshar.

Civil Surgeon Dr RajinderBhatia said, “Family mem-bers of those in isolationare stable. The work is on toidentify others as per thelists being provided to us.”

Nawanshahr DC VinayBublani said, “We have cor-doned off Sujjon and Chik-ka villages and a contain-ment plan is being set inplace. The corridors creat-ed are under strict moni-toring of the districtadministration.”

7 more contacts of70-yr-old man testpositive for virus

Aman SoodTribune News Service

Patiala, March 22In order to ensure liveli-hood for rural women inPunjab who are a part ofself-help groups (SHG), low-cost face masks and handsanitisers are all set to hitthe market. To be providedfree of cost to medicos, offi-cials on duty and the public,the masks will be providedfrom Monday as women areworking round the clock tomeet the urgent demand.

Following shortage andunavailability of masks in thecountry, especially across thecounters, the administrationin districts and even the stategovernments were facing ittough to meet the demand asChina, one of the biggest sup-pliers of the masks, was itselffacing the Covid threat.

Last week, the National

Pharmaceutical PricingAuthority (NPPA) asked man-ufacturers and importers ofsurgical and protectivemasks, gloves and hand sani-tisers to furnish informationregarding these items by theend of the day, failing whichit would have to take coer-cive action. Last week, theNPPA directed all manufac-

turers and importers of sur-gical and protective masks,gloves and hand sanitisersto furnish information onthese items by March 17.

The district administrationhas roped in 28 villages acrossPatiala with seven SHGs pervillage involved in theprocess to overcome shortageof masks. “Approximately 200

SHGs and 600 women andaround 50 men are trying tomanufacture these masks,”said ADC (Development),Patiala, Preeti Yadav.

Experts from the office ofpublic health and medicalexperts trained the membersof SHGs. The district admin-istration bought cloth usedfor manufacturing thesemasks and supplied thesame to these SHGs whichare working round the clockto meet the demand. “I amsitting at my home alongwith other members of ourgroup. Not only we are usingthe masks so stay safe, weare earning and also helpingthe administration get thesemasks at the earliest,” saidKulwant Kaur, one of themembers of the SHG.

“Masks are being sold byprovision stores, stationaryshops and other shopkeepers

for as high as Rs 250 to 350given the shortage in thewake of Covid. Even themedicos are facing shortagein hospitals, making themsusceptible to the virus,” saida nurse on emergency duty.Patiala Deputy Commission-er Kumar Amit said they wereable to get a supply of 1.5 lakhmasks by this week as 15,000masks were being produceddaily. “The cost to us would beRs 8 per mask and we willsoon start supplying the sameto ensure that black market-ing is curbed. Some extraworkforce is also deployed toget as many masks per day aswe can so that the same aresupplied to everyone in nextfew days,” he said, claimingthat “government officials aswell as private firms, NGOsand commercial establish-ments will soon be suppliedthese masks for free”.

Women rise to occasion, pitch in to make masks


Chandigarh, March 22With number of coron-avirus patients reaching 21in the state, the state gov-ernment on Sundayordered a lockdown tillMarch 31 as an emergencymeasure to prevent thespread of Covid.

However, the essentialservices will be exemptedfrom the shutdown whichwill be effective fromMonday at 6 am and willremain in force till 9 pmof March 31, a govern-ment statement said.

In an official notification,Chief Secretary KaranAvtar Singh ordered shut-down of all establishments

to break the transmissionchain of the highly conta-gious virus.

Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh warnedof tougher restrictions tocheck the spread of the

deadly infection.On Sunday, Punjab

reported seven moreCovid cases, taking thetotal number of con-firmed cases in the stateto 21, officials said.

The Chief Ministerappealed to people to avoidleaving their homes unlessthere is an acute emer-gency and asked everyoneto follow all health safe-guards. “You can play the

most vital role in prevent-ing further transmission ofthe disease by not steppingout,” he appealed to people.

The Chief Secretary saidthere would be no curfewduring the lockdown period,

but restrictions under Sec-tion 144 of the CrPC wouldremain imposed, preventinggathering of more than 10persons at any given time.

Director General of PoliceDinkar Gupta said extraforces would be deployed inall districts for strict imple-mentation of restrictions.

A government officialsaid only essential servicessuch as the police, health,power, emergency trans-port, and shops sellingmilk, food items and medi-cines, will remain open.Besides, eggs, poultryfeed, media, e-commerceand essential IT serviceshave been brought underthe category of essentialitems and services.

Covidcases rise to 21, state orders lockdown

Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 22The police in Sangria, 26km from Abohar distrcit inthe Hanumangarh region,arrested one Shekhar Bis-su on Saturday forallegedly spreading arumour that a Muslimwoman was infected withCovid. The said womanhad returned from Pak-istan last week.

Man arrested forspreading rumour

PATIENTS FROMAMRITSAR STABLE Amritsar: The conditionof two Covid positive per-sons admitted at Govern-ment Medical Collegehere is stable, theauthorities said on Sun-day. The second positivecase, who had returnedfrom Britain recently,was confirmed on Satur-day. Health officials saida total 48 persons hadbeen kept at the quaran-tined centre while 1,625other had been quaran-tined at their homes. TNS

PUNJAB COVID REPORTDEATH 1

SUSPECTED CASES 203

PATIENTS TESTED +VE 21

PATIENTS TESTED -VE 160

TEST RESULT AWAITED 22

CM HAILS CORPORATES■ Chief Minister Capt

Amarinder Singh has appreci-ated the decision of RajinderGupta, Chairman, TridentGroup, to close down his unitand offer full wages, housingand food to his employeesduring the lockdown

■ He appealed to other industri-alists in the state to followGupta's example. The Sonali-ka Tractors management alsoannounced to follow the suit

THE RESTRICTIONS…■ All shops, commercial

establishments, officesand factories, work-shops and godowns willremain closed

■ Any public gathering of more than 10 persons prohibited

■ All inter-state commer-cial transport closed

■ Home quarantine for thosewho returned from abroadon or after March 9

You can play themost vital role inpreventing furthertransmission of thedisease by not stepping out.Capt Amarinder

Singh, CM

❝

Akali workers mustfollow guidelinesannounced by PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand CM Capt AmarinderSingh. This is the time toput politics on thebackburner andstand unitedin the fightagainst Covid.Sukhbir Singh Badal,SAD CHIEF

❝

Sukhbir, Harsimrat urge MPs to release funds for equipmentPatiala, March 22Almost 1,000 wedding func-tions scheduled in March andApril have been cancelled,postponed or are being heldwith a handful of relativesever since Covid-19 startedspreading in the country.

The Marriage Palace Associ-ation said it had suffered loss-es due to cancellations or post-ponements in this weddingseason that would have lastedtill April-end. The outbreakhas sent ripples through theindustry, including vendors,wedding planners and own-ers of marriage palaces. WithSection 144 in force in manyparts of the northern states,there are restrictions ongatherings of more than fivepersons in public places. “Itis best to postpone weddings.Keep an eye for the direc-tives and advisories from thestate and exercise extra cau-tion to avoid last-minute can-cellations,” said JaideepNarula, a wedding planner.

With most courts now shut inIndia due to the global pan-demic, the registration ofcourt marriages and even tra-

ditional weddings will alsohave to wait. Nischint Kumar,whose sister was to wed inLudhiana on April 15, said thebridegroom who is a mer-chant navy officer was strand-ed in Egypt as had not got thepermit to travel back to India.

Another couple in Patiala,who had planned a destinationwedding in Kasauli, hasalready cancelled their wed-ding with a social media mes-sage for all relatives andfriends. “Keeping safety ofeveryone in mind, the wed-ding and related ceremoniesnow stand postponed till Sep-tember,” read a message bythe bride. — TNS

Several weddingspostponed in Patiala

‘NO LIQUOR LICENCE’Punjab Joint Commis-sioner (Excise) LK Jainsaid the departmentwould not issue any liquorlicence for weddings inPunjab till further orders.“Even the ones issued ear-lier will be null and void inwake of separate ordersby the respective districtmagistrates,” he said

We request all to stayindoors as per the advisoryof the Health Departmentand government. The livetelecast of Gurbani fromthe sanctum sanctorum ofthe shrine will continue.Roop Singh, SGPC CHIEF SECRETARY

❝

Volunteers manufacture masks in Patiala. TRIBUNE PHOTO

THE TRIBUNECHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 03PUNJAB


Chandigarh, March 22With three more privatelaboratories allowed to testsamples of suspectedCovid patients, the num-ber of testing facilities forCovid has reached five inthe state.

Earlier the Indian Councilof Medical Research(ICMR) had designated twolaboratories in GovernmentMedical College, Patiala,and Government MedicalCollege, Amritsar, asnational labs for Covid.

To contain the spread ofvirus, it has been decidedthat all notified nationallabs for Covid testingshall remain openthroughout the week. Thetest is free of cost.

As per a list issued bythe Federation of IndianChambers of Commerceand Industry, there arejust three laboratories inthe private sector whichqualifies the criteria laiddown by ICMR to conductCovid tests.

The private laboratoriesare located one each in For-tis Hospital in Amritsar,Ludhiana and Mohali.

As per ICMR guidelines,the private laboratoriescan’t charge more than~4,500 for the test. Thisincludes ~1,500 as a screen-ing test for suspect casesand an additional ~3,000 forconfirmation test.

113 Indians stranded at Amsterdam airportRequesting fellow country-men to maintain social dis-tancing and follow guide-lines in the wake of Covidoutbreak, Minister forSports, Youth Affairs andNRI Affairs Rana Gurmeet

Singh Sodhi on Sundayexpressed solidarity with113 Indians, who have beenstranded at Amsterdam’sSchipol Airport.

Expressing gratitude tothe Union Government andPM Narendra Modi for tak-ing prompt decision inbringing back the Indiannationals, Sodhi said CMCapt Amarinder Singh andhe took up the matter withthe Union Government andmet various ministers inthis regard, includingUnion Civil Aviation Minis-ter Hardeep Puri.

He said the Union Gov-ernment not only acknowl-edged their efforts in thisregard, but also promisedthem to bring back thestranded Indians.

Indians stranded at Ams-terdam’s airport hadurged the government torescue them. They allegedthat the authorities did notallow their flight to landwhen it was just two hoursaway from the New DelhiAirport, and reportedlytook a U-turn.

Now, Covid testingavailable at 5 facilities

Cops stand guard at Sujjon village in Nawanshahr district on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH

Aparna BanerjiTribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 22 The district administra-tions, health and policeteams are racing againsttime to carry out the task ofplacing in home isolationthousands of people whohave returned from abroadin the region known for itsNRI presence. In Jalandharand Nawanshar alone, it isanticipated that an estimat-ed over 16,000 people will betracked and placed underhome quarantine.

The administration inJalandhar is tracking a list of12,900 people. These are peo-ple under foreign travel his-tory who are being placed inhome quarantine as a pre-cautionary measure. Mean-while, at Nawanshahr, anestimated 4,000 will beplaced under home quaran-tine. Last evening alone, alist of 1,983 people had beenreceived which shall berevised this evening.

While the district adminis-trations also began stampingsuspects and stickingposters outside their homesyesterday, a list of thosebeing quarantined is alsobeing uploaded on the Nan-wanshahr district adminis-tration website.

In all, 25 mobile teams havebeen put on the job in Nawan-shahr who are tracking NRIsand placing them underhome quarantine. At present,there are 99 people under iso-lation, 88 in Nawanshahr and11 in Jalandhar.

Meanwhile, at Nawanshahr,entire populations of Path-lawa, Sujjon and Chikaka vil-lages have been cordoned off.

One of the runaway casesfrom isolation in Jalandhar –

a woman with travel historywho skipped isolation andwas traced by the police atLohgarh in Nawanshahr –has also been placed underisolation at Phillaur. DeputyCommisioner JalandharVarinder Sharma said, “Wehave a list of over 12,000 per-sons, of whom 75 per centhave been tracked. Thereare many revisions too. Therest shall be located soon.Everyday additional lists arecoming in.”

Nawanshahr DC VinayBublani said, “Until lastevening, we had received alist of 1,983 people. It is beingupdated daily. We believe itwill come to about 4,000 in thedistrict depending upon thecases we receive.”

Jalandhar SSP NavjotSingh Mahal said, “Teamsare visiting newer areas dailyas per the lists which arebeing updated. Violations arefew and largely citizens arecooperating with us.”

While three villages atNawanshahr have been cor-doned off, the contain-ment is also proving to bea help in restricting thespread of Covid.

In Jalandhar, uphilltask to place 16,000NRIs in isolation

Bathinda, March 22All markets in the district’scities and towns wore a desert-ed look in the wake of the Jan-ta Curfew on Sunday.

Officials could be seen sani-

tising the premises of the rail-way stations and bus stands,which would resume theiroperations from Monday.

Bathinda DC B Srinivasanordered closure of all markets

and shops in the city tillMarch 27. The likelihood ofthe DC issuing an order toextend the lockdown in thecity till March 31 is expectedsoon. — TNS

Bathinda markets closed till March 27


Amritsar, March 22As Covid threat has engulfedthe globe, Akal Takht offici-ating Jathedar GianiHarpreet Singh has directedall Sikh organisations andgurdwara management com-mittees to extend a helpinghand in this hour of need,irrespective of any discrimi-nation on the basis of caste,creed and race.

Giani Harpreet Singh hascalled on all gurdwaramanagements to preparequarantine wards in thesarais (inns) to meet anyemergent situation,arrange langar (food), med-ical aid and other things asper the situation arising intheir respective territories.

Sparing a thought for theIndian students studyingabroad who are stuck due todisruption of flights, heemphasised that ‘Gurughar’ funds could be utilisedto accommodate them as pertheir requirements.

He said for the welfare ofall, everyone shouldobserve self-quarantine and

follow the advisory issuedby the governments andhealth departments of theirrespective countries. Hecautioned that under theSikh principles, there couldbe no space for misconcep-tions and false notions, aswas being circulated onsocial media.

“Abiding by the Sikh phi-losophy and keeping faith,every devotee confined intheir homes should recitethe Gurbani Path and prayfor ‘Sarbat da bhalla’before Akal Purakh. Every-one should refrain fromrumours and fallacy. Covid-19 has affected the wholemankind and claimedmany lives in various coun-tries”, he said.

Help people in need:Akal Takht to outfits

ADMN ON ITS TOES■ The Jalandhar adminis-

tration is tracking 12,900people, who havereturned from abroad

■ These people are beingplaced under home quar-antine as a precaution-ary measure

■ In Nawanshahr, about4,000 will be placedunder home quarantine

■ The district administrationshave begun stamping sus-pects and sticking postersoutside their homes

.

COST OF THE TEST

~4,500Price cap imposed onprivate laboratories for Coivd test

This includes ~1,500 as ascreening test for suspectcases and an additional~3,000 for confirmation test.

All gurdwaramanagements must setup quarantine wards inthe serais to tackle anyemergency situation,arrange langar, medicalaid and other things.Giani Harpreet Singh, AKAL TAKHT OFFICIATING JATHEDAR

❝


Sangrur, March 22The police have booked anNRI from New Zealand formarrying on Sunday as heallegedly did not completethe quarantine period of 14days. He had reached Indiaon March 10.

The NRI, a native of thedistrict’s Bimbri village, isabsconding.

Ramandeep Singh, SHO,Bhawanigarh police sta-tion, said: “We had askedthe NRI to stay in quaran-tine for 14 days as per the

directions of the state gov-ernment. We had askedhim to get married at hishouse in Bimbri villageafter he expressed unwill-ingness to change the dateof his wedding.”

The Station House Officer(SHO) said that on Satur-day evening, the police hadtried to convince his familyto postpone the wedding.

“But on Saturday night,he and his relatives went toFazilika to solemnise hismarriage in violation ofgovernment directions,"the SHO said.

NRI booked forviolating norms

Vishav BhartiTribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22In the late 1920s, a young mancarrying a message from hissenior walks into a celebratededitor’s office in Lahore. Hepleads that his comradewants the editor to put fireinto his editorials. Amusedover the messenger’s blunt-ness, the editor remarked: “Itis not a party organ.”

The young man was carry-ing Bhagat Singh’s messagefor The Tribune’s legendaryeditor Kalinath Ray. Ray had

a love-hate relationship withthe revolutionaries. Throughhis editorials, he criticisedthem over violence manytimes, but when it came tojustice, under Kalinath Ray’sleadership, The Tribune notonly stood against the empirebut also wrote the ‘first draftof history’ by documentingdevelopments in Lahoreinch-by-inch.

Durga Das Khanna, wholater served as chairman ofthe Punjab Legislative Coun-cil, was the young man whocarried Bhagat Singh’s mes-sage to Ray. He recalled theincident in a memoir writtenfor a souvenir published dur-ing The Tribune’s centenarycelebrations in 1981. Hewrote that the young revolu-tionaries felt that an emotion-al or passionate touch to thegreat and historic struggle forfreedom was foreign to TheTribune’s columns… said itwould not be correct to sug-gest that it did not vigorous-ly espouse the people’s

cause. “It was, indeed, one ofthe best vehicles for the prop-aganda of the message offreedom among the people.”

But Kalinath Ray’s ‘mod-eration’ didn’t enthuse thelarge mass of young men,particularly students. SoBhagat Singh asked Khannato meet Ray and convey thisto him. “Bhagat Singh, thegreat hero, once asked me to

see Mr Ray and plead withhim to put fire into his edito-rials. Mr Ray, however, feltamused and remarked: ‘Yourfriends must realise that TheTribune is not a party organ.It espouses the longings andpassions of the people atlarge in an answerable way’.”

And with this, Khanna said,he thought he stood dis-missed from his presence.

But soon all presumptionsof the revolutionaries were togo wrong as The Tribunestood test of the hard times.

The magic of The Tribunein those days was such that itcaught the imagination ofyoung minds. The newspa-per’s former editor PremBhatia recalled those days inthe centenary souvenir: “Therecollection of the firstimpact made on me by TheTribune is the image of a page

in this newspaper in June1929, which carried BhagatSingh’s statement in courton the revolutionary coursehe and his colleagues hadchosen for themselves for theliberation of India. ‘Thebomb was necessary’, thestatement thundered, ‘toawaken England from herdreams… are sole purposewas to make the deaf hearand to give the heedless atimely warning…’”

“This historical declarationwas given in The Tribune aprominence which reflectedmuch courage as also, indi-rectly, the newspaper’s iden-tification with the movementfor freedom.”

The Tribune was the firstnewspaper to publish a splen-did photograph of BhagatSingh, taken at Lahore Cen-tral College in 1924, just daysafter his arrest.

Historian VN Datta noted inhis book “The Tribune: A Wit-ness to History”, the CentralAssembly Bomb Case for whichBhagat Singh and BatukeshwarDutt were sentenced to lifeimprisonment, began to figureprominently in The Tribunefrom May 1929 onwards.

The paper not only sup-ported revolutionaries’cause, but also employedcomrades of revolutionariessuch as Avinash ChanderBali, who later served as theNews Editor.

THE TRIBUNE04 JALANDHAR | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020PUNJAB

PUNJAB & SIND BANK(A GOVT. OF INDIA UNDERTAKING)ZONAL OFFICE, GURDASPUR

BANK INVITES OFFERS, UNDER TWO BID

SYSTEM, FOR PREMISES, MEASURING

CARPET AREA OF 1200-1500 SQ.FT. ON

GROUND FLOOR INCLUDING ATM ROOM,

ON LEASE BASIS FOR A MINIMUM PERIOD

OF 15 YEARS FOR SHIFTING OF OUR NEW

BRANCH ATPATHANKOT. THE SITE SHOULD

PREFERABLY BE NEAR EXISTING BRANCH

ON DALHOUSIE ROAD, PATHANKOT.

LAST DATE OF SUBMISSION OF TENDERS

IS 09.04.2020.

FOR DETAILS VISIT OUR WEBSITE

www.psbindia.com/tenders/

LAKHBIR SINGH,ZONAL MANAGER,PUNJAB & SIND BANK, CIVIL LINES, GURDASPUR. TEL: 01874-500391, 500371

¬Ë. ∞‚. ’Ë.

DI-183751

(From top) A deserted road in Patiala on Sunday in view of the Janata curfew imposed by PM Modi; women play conch shells and thepolice take a round in Jalandhar to ensure compliance with the government’s orders. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: RAJESH SACHAR AND SARABJIT SINGH

Janata Curfew


Jalandhar, March 22As the Banga MLA happensto be an ENT surgeon, hehas offered his services tothe administration in pro-viding relief to families.

Akali MLA DrSukhwinder Kumar Sukhisaid he had already beenattending all meetings withthe Civil Surgeon andteams of doctors and sug-gesting them various meas-ures for containment of therespiratory ailment. He saidas the past president of theNawanshahr IMA, he hadtold the Civil Surgeon thathe and his team were readyto join hands for free serv-ice round the clock in anyemergency-like situation.

Even today, the MLA took toFacebook to share informationregarding the private hospitalthat he is running at Nawan-shahr and his contact detailsand offered anyone to visit hishospital with symptoms relat-ed to fever, cough etc.

He said, “I already havebeen attending to allpatients with such symp-toms, wearing a mask andmaintaining 1-m distance.”

Doc by profession,Banga MLA offershelp to families

Ferozepur, March 22 A man attacked his pregnantwife and their two daughterswith a spade and batteredthem to death after somearguments with her in a vil-lage near here on Sunday.

The incident took place at avillage in Mamdot block ofthe district after accusedLakhwinder Singh picked upa fight with his wife andattacked her and their twodaughters with a spade, saidpolice, adding the accusedfled his home after the inci-dent. Following the attack,the accused’s wife Nirmalaand younger daughter Kajaldied on the spot while his eld-er daughter Amandeep Kaur,got critically injured and suc-cumbed to her injuries later.

Amandeep was referred toGovernment Medical Col-lege in Faridkot, where shesuccumbed to injuries, thepolice have said.

After the incident,Lakhwinder fled the spot.The police said that as per thepreliminary investigation,the accused had a marital dis-cord with his wife.

Ajay Raj Singh, SP (Opera-tions), said a case has beenregistered. — PTI

Man murderspregnant wife,daughters

Karam PrakashTribune News Service

Patiala, March 22Amid the growing risk ofcommunity transmission ofCovid, the state governmenthas asked its schoolteachersto go door to door this weekto create awareness.

The teachers, in some ofthe districts, have alreadystarted the awareness drive.The move to start house-to-house contact programmewas taken by the Health andFamily Welfare Department.

However, teachers saidthey lacked health expertiseand were at a high risk ofgetting infected with thedeadly disease by this exer-cise. An elementary schoolteacher said earlier, theywere conducting a survey toidentify people with Covidsymptoms but now, they

were asked to go house tohouse to create awareness.

The risk of communitytransmission will increase ifawareness was donethrough personal contactprogrammes, experts said,adding the exercise shouldbe done through digital orsome other means.

Moreover, ASHA workers,who are foot soldiers of the

Health Department, said inevery village, deployingteachers for such a drive ata crucial stage was not awell-thought out decisionby the department.

“Earlier, I was working as abooth-level officer, and now, Ihave been given this job forwhich I have been given notraining. They can makeannouncements in village gur-

dwaras or ask the sarpanch toreport about NRIs. Why wasthere a need to physically visitthe house to create aware-ness?” a teacher asked.

Davinder Punia, state chief,Democratic Teachers’ Front,said, “We don’t understandhow the government candeploy teachers to createawareness on issues for whichthey are not expert of?”

‘No safety kits’, teachers toldto go on door-to-door drive

Parvesh SharmaTribune News Service

Sangrur, March 22The vegetable market inMalerkotla, which suppliesvegetables to several states,suffered losses because ofJanata curfew, as neithercommission agents were ableto send their stock to otherstates nor they could sell veg-etables in the local market.

Commission agents haverequested the state govern-ment to make some arrange-ments to prevent losses inthe coming days.

“Usually, about 100 vehiclesloaded with vegetables leavefrom Malerkotla for otherstates. The local sale is also inlakhs of rupees. But becauseof Janata curfew, we wereunable to send out a singlevehicle. Even locals did notventure out to purchase veg-etables,” said MohhammadRamzan, a local agent.

Vegetables from theMalerkotla market are sup-plied to Jalandhar, Amritsar,Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Jam-mu, Srinagar, Udhampur,Haryana, Rajasthan, NewDelhi and Chandigarh.

“We suffered huge lossesbecause of Janata curfew. It’s

strange that in other cities,vegetables sellers increasedprices but, in Malerkotla, theprices of vegetables reducedon Sunday,” he said.

Some agents said after theannouncement of Janata cur-few, the prices of vegetablesdoubled on Friday and Satur-day and they had orders fromother districts, but they wereunable to meet the demand.

Malerkotla SDM VikramjitSingh Panthey said the stategovernment had allowed thesupply of essential items suchas vegetables, milk etc. “Wehave issued directions to allofficers that none should faceproblem while purchasingessential commodities. But ifanyone is facing a problem, hecould contact my office and Iwill take action,” he said.

Janata Curfew hitsMalerkotla arhtiyas

IN A VULNERABLE SPOT■ Teachers said they lacked health expertise

and were at a high risk of getting infectedwith Covid by this exercise

■ They complained they were not givenhealth kits or masks to protect themselves from the virus

■ ASHA workers said deploying teachers forsuch a drive at a crucial stage was not awell-thought out decision by the Healthand Family Welfare Department

We suffered hugelosses because of Janatacurfew. It’s strange that inother cities, vegetablessellers increased pricesbut, in Malerkotla, theprices of vegetablesreduced on Sunday.Mohhammad Ramzan, ARTHIYA

❝

When Bhagat Singh made anappeal to Editor Kalinath Ray

MARTYRDOM ANNIVERSARY

Kalinath Ray

MLA distributes masks, sanitisersQadian: After his constituentscomplained him of lack of masksand sanitisers in the markets,Qadian Congress MLA FatehJung Singh Bajwa came up witha novel idea. He asked YouthCongress volunteers to take outa motorcycle rally, wherein theywere asked to not only educateresidents on how to safeguardthemselves from the deadlyvirus, but also distribute masksamong them. The MLA had a few public meetingslined up, but he was quick to reschedule them. “I ama representative of the people and obviously it willgive a bad impression if I run away from my responsi-bilities. I am planning to take out another rally, thistime on cycles. I am also planning to open a specialcamp office at my residence where people can comeand take masks,” he said.

Leaders keeping off constituentsGurdaspur: Amid the Covid scare,Cabinet minister Tript RajinderSingh Bajwa had instructed his fol-lowers not to touch his feet. How-ever, an ASI in complete disregardto the minister's appeal touchedhis feet, following which he wassuspended. Now, Bajwa’s Gur-daspur ministerial colleagueSukhjinder Singh Randhawa hasissued written instructions, askinghis constituents not to come nearhim, let alone shaking hands with him. He has sent hisstaff at his native village of Dharowali on paid leave.Both Randhawa and Bajwa are considered to be the'political dons' of the district, where their writs run largenot only among the bureaucrats, but also among theirfollowers. The minister’s house, which is teeming withactivities on normal days, is desolate these days. It islearnt that a majority of Randhawa’s Cabinet colleagueshave suspended their operations for the time being.

Dubai businessman extends helpGurdaspur: At ~50 lakh per month, Dubai philanthropistSurinder Pal Singh Oberoi has provided 100 water tankers,fitted with wash basins, soap and sanitisers, to each districtof the state in its fight against the dreaded Covid. In somedistricts, keeping in view their population, four to sixtankers, each having a capacity of 6,000 litre, have beenstationed while in others there are two or four. Volunteers ofOberoi's charitable trust “Sarbat-Da-Bhala” are acting assupervisors and can be seen attending to people who cometo wash their hands. Oberoi said he had set apart a corpusof ~1.5 crore. “If the situation aggravates, I will place anorder of 100 more tankers,” he said.

Covid scare hits Anandpur Sahib Jalandhar: The spread of Covid in Anandpur Sahib is gainingtraction at an unprecedented rate. This was corroborated byAnandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari. He said in the firstphase of Covid, a majority of the cases were reported fromhis constituency. Among the most affected areas includeBanga, Garhshankar, Mohali and Balachaur. A Covid sus-pect from Balachaur who had committed suicide was fromthis constituency. Anandpur Sahib got sealed last week afterit was found that the 70-year-old deceased had attendedHola Mohalla, said Tiwari. “Unfortunately, I can’t visit theareas, but I am trying to check with doctors if there is any-thing that I can do for them. I had helped the family of theCovid suspect, who had committed suicide, by getting Delhidoctors to conduct post-mortem on their son,” the MP said.

Punjab Diary

CONTRIBUTED BY DEEPKAMAL KAUR, RAVI DHALIWAL

Fateh Jung Bajwa

Sukhjinder Randhawa

Businessman SPS Oberoi has provided 100 water tankers.

THE TRIBUNEGURUGRAM | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 05HARYANA

TENDER NOTICESAINIK SCHOOL KAPURTHALA (PUNJAB) — 144601

Phone No. 01822-232283 & 2301841. Sealed Tenders are invited on prescribed form from any interested party/agriculture firm for

undermentioned Lease of Agriculture Land of Sainik School, Kapurthala. Tender forms alongwith details can be obtained on payment of Rs. 500/- by hand from School on any workingday by the date of opening by 1100 hrs or can be demanded by post sending a DD for Rs.560/- or downloaded from School website www.sskapurthala.com. Downloaded forms willbe attached with Rs. 500/- DD otherwise Tender Forms will be rejected:-

Note: Site for assessment can be visited on working days only during 1000 hrs to 1330 hrs [No visit will be allowed after 03 Apr 2020].

2. Sealed Tender Forms to be submitted along with earnest money as mentioned against each(Refundable) for each tender, by DD in favour of “Principal Sainik School Kapurthala” payableat Kapurthala by the date of opening tender (1100 hrs) on dates stated against each item tobe opened by the Tender Opening Committee on the date of opening tender at 1100 hrs inthe presence of available bidders/tenderers.

3. The Principal reserves the right to accept or reject the tenders without assigning any reason.The tender of the persons/firms who have been blacklisted by the government or by the Schoolshall not be entertained. Arbitration/dispute, if any will be limited/confined to the KapurthalaDistrict Court jurisdiction only.

PRINCIPAL

Sr.No.

Item Name EarnestMoney(in Rs.)

SecurityDeposit(in Rs.)

Last date ofreceipt of

quotation andDate of opening

a.

Lease Agriculture Land-61 Acres with (Borewell) andOrchard. Duration of Lease - (One year 15 Apr 2020 to14 Apr 2021). 60% of the total amount (of one year) isrequired to be deposited at the time of agreement.

20,000/- 50,000/- 06 Apr 2020

DI-183833

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

Recruitment of Officers in Grade A (General, Legal, Information Technology, Engineering,

Research And Official Language Streams)

Corrigendum to Advertisement

dated March 07, 2020

Due to unforeseen prevailing circumstances, the

schedule of the recruitment process has been

changed, The revised schedule is as under:

*Paper 2 of Phase-II of Information Technology

Stream shall be held separately, the details of which

shall be available on SEBI website

(www.sebi.gov.in) in due course.

For the detailed advertisement and onlineapplication form, visit SEBI website at:https://www.sebi.gov.in/department/human-resources-department-37/career.html

davp 15204/11/0558/1920

Activity Earlier Rescheduled

Online Application

and Payment of

Fee

March 07, 2020

to March

23, 2020

March 07, 2020

to

April 30, 2020

Phase-I Online

Examination

April 12, 2020 July 04, 2020

Phase-II Online

Examination*

May 03, 2020 August 23, 2020

Phone No. 01762-288044

∑§ãº˝Ëÿ ÁfllÊ‹ÿ, flÊÿÈ ‚ŸÊ SÕ‹, „UÊß¸U ª˝Ê©¥U«˜U‚, ø¥«UËª…∏UKENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, AFS, HIGH GROUNDS, CHANDIGARH

¡Ë⁄U∑§¬È⁄U ¬Á≈UÿÊ‹Ê ⁄UÊ«U / Zirakpur Patiala Road — 160004

fl’‚ÊßU≈U / Website: afshighgrounds.kvs.ac.in

E-mail: [email protected]

The walk-in interview for teachers/staff on contractual basis for thesession 2020-21 which was scheduled to be held in this vidyalaya on28/03/2020 stands postponed due to administrative reason till furtherorder. Please check Vidyalaya website (afshighgrounds.kvs.ac.in)regularly for further updates.

¬˝ÊøÊÿÊ¸ (Principal)DI-183762

Geetanjali GayatriTribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar todayannounced extending theday-long “Janata Curfew” to apartial lockdown in the state.

This lockdown will be lim-ited to seven of the 22 dis-tricts of the state fromwhere Covid cases havebeen reported. Essentialservices, however, will con-tinue as usual in these rev-enue districts.

Khattar, in an address toapplaud the people of thestate for the success of theJanata Curfew, said that thelockdown would come intoeffect from 9 pm tonight inthe districts of Gurugram,Sonepat, Panchkula, Rohtak,Jhajjar, Faridabad andPanipat and will contin-ue till March 31.

The lockdown willentail suspension ofpublic transport servic-es including taxis and autoswith the exception of thosegoing to and from hospitalsor airports, railway stationsand bus terminals. All shopsand commercial establish-ment will remain closed oth-er than those engaged inproviding essential services.

The Chief Minister said thatthe supplies of grocery, milk,medicines would be ensuredduring the lockdown. “Therewill be no shortage of essen-tial commodities. We haveincluded farmers under thislist since their crop is readyfor harvest,” Khattar said. Heappealed to the ResidentsWelfare Associations and thenon-government organisa-tions to ensure social distanc-ing and even urged them totake the help of governmentmachinery wherever theyfaced a problem.

“The Janata Curfew hasbeen a public initiative eventhough it was implemented

following a governmentdirective and on the appealof the Prime Minister. We areextending the curfew to alockdown in seven districtsin the state and we expectthe same public disciplinethat was shown today. Thereis no reason for panic asessential services will con-tinue uninterrupted. Froman upward trend, we willbring in a downward trendbefore flattening its graph

completely,” Khattar said. Meanwhile, in the govern-

ment order passed by Addi-tional Chief Secretary(Health), Rajeev Arora, theessential services exemptedfrom suspending operationsinclude government officesopen as per the order of theChief Secretary, air services,electricity, water, sewerageand municipal services,banks and ATMs, print, elec-tronic and social media, tele-

com and internet services,postal services, supply chainsand related transportation,manufacturing units engagedin production of essentialcommodities, e-commercedelivery of food, pharmaceu-ticals and medical equip-ment. Hospitals, petrolpumps, LPG gas andgodowns, pharmaceuticalsunits manufacturing masksand sanitisers will be func-tional. The units which

require continuous processcan continue operations afterthe due permission of theDeputy Commissioner.

The order also mentionsthat all foreign returnees willremain under strict homequarantine. The order addsthat inter-state bus serviceswould remain suspendedthroughout the state andcontrol rooms be establishedby the Deputy Commission-ers for Covid outbreak.

Lockdown in 7 dists reporting Covid


Karnal, March 22The Health Departmenttoday issued notices of homequarantine to three families,restricting them from com-ing out of their house for atleast for 14 days. Notice hasalso been pasted outsideeach house, warning peopleto not visit the house for atleast 14-days. “We haveserved home quarantinenotices to three families. Themembers of these familieshad traveled abroad recent-ly,” said the Civil Surgeon Dr.Ashwani Ahuja.

Meanwhile, the HealthDepartment has collectedsample of one woman aftershe developed breathingproblem. So far, as many as17 samples have been takenby both KCGMC and CivilHospital. Of these 15 arenegative and the report oftwo is yet to come, he added.

The Civil Surgeon told thatthey had screened 298 personsin Karnal who had traveledabroad recently. They hadeither reported themselves or

had been traced by the depart-ment. Their doubts were alsocleared by the health authori-ties. “Every doubt is beingcleared regarding the pan-demic. Those who traveledabroad and reported symp-toms of flu have been broughtto health facility,” he added.

7 samples sent for test Ambala: The Health Depart-ment in Ambala has taken sev-en fresh samples to be testedfor Covid, on Sunday. Of theseseven, four persons hadreturned from England recent-ly. Two others used to work at amultinational company inGurugram. The samples alsoinclude those of a woman, whowas admitted at the heart cen-tre in Ambala Cantonmentand died on Sunday.

Chief Medical OfficerKuldeep Singh said, “Sevensamples have been taken

today. Samples of four youth,belonging to different families,who have returned from Eng-land recently, have been taken.Besides these, samples of twopersons who used to work withsome foreigners at a multina-tional company in Gurugramhave been taken after theyshowed some symptoms.While three, including one whoreturned from England andtwo who worked in Gurugram,have been isolated, the otherthree are home quarantined.” “The woman, who has died

today, was suffering fromsevere heart disease andhad pneumonia, too. Hersamples have been takenafter her family membersinsisted that these shouldbe checked as she used totravel frequently.”

Meanwhile, the three sam-ples taken on Saturday havebeen tested negative.

Home-quarantine noticesto three Karnal families15 of 17 samples come out negative, 2 results awaited

STATE TRACKERTotal persons under 7,733surveillanceCurrently under 7,117surveillanceHospitalised 67Persons completing 616surveillanceSamples for testing 256Negative samples 132Positive cases 12

■ Lockdown in seven dis-tricts till March 31

■ Only essential servicesincluding hospitals, gro-cery and medicine sup-plies, chemist shops,petrol pumps, banks,ATMs to be fully functional

■ Foreign returnees to be inquarantine in keeping with directions of localhealth officers

■ Congregation of more thanfive persons prohibited

■ DCs to set up controlrooms and finalise trans-port plans for essentialcommodities

■ RWAs to ensure social dis-tancing and maintainingessential supplies

■ Any violations to inviteaction under Section 188 IPC

Haryana has set up two control rooms tocoordinate and monitor all activities forprevention and control of Covid 19. Thecontrol room of the CS will have seniorIAS officer TC Gupta and SS Phuliabesides two HCS officers — SamwarthakSingh and Rohit Yadav. The other controlroom set up under Additional CS, Health,includes IAS officer Vikas Gupta. Thestate government has assigned the“lockdown” districts to senior IAS officersfor regular monitoring. VS Kundu hasbeen assigned Gurugram, Anand MohanSharan has been assigned Sonepat, PSVineet Garg gets Panipat. DeeptiUmashankar has been assignedPanchkula, D Suresh will look afterRohtak and Jhajjar, while Sanjay Joonhas been given Faridabad.

Haryana sets up two control roomsChandigarh: HaryanaChief Minister ManoharLal Khattar tweeted thathe is grateful to the peopleof the state for the suc-cess of Janata Curfew andfor supporting it. He hassaid through a tweet thathe expresses his heartfeltgratitude to the people forthe support of peoplemaintaining self-control.Appealing on the tweet, the Chief Minister said, “Iappeal to every citizen to stay at their homes andmotivate people to stay alert” He said to the peo-ple that the government is with them in this fightagainst Covid and that the fight is not over yetand that the people are requested to spend maxi-mum time at home. TNS

Grateful to people, says Khattar

The Civil Surgeon said that they hadscreened 298 persons in Karnal who had

travelled abroad recently

Sonepat, March 22The police have arrestedtwo senior representativesof private companies forviolating the orders forbanning the assembly of 20or more persons at onespot, issued by the DistrictMagistrate under Section144 of the CrPC and caseshave been registeredagainst them in Murthalpolice station.

Sumit Kumar, SHO,Murthal police station,said that on the report of

Sumit Kumar, Duty Mag-istrate-cum-Tehsildar,Sonepat, police teamsraided the godowns ofAmazon as well asGroofers companies nearMurthal and found morethan 100 persons gath-ered at the godown.

After preliminary inves-tigations, the police arrest-ed Amazon’s managerAmit Saini of Delhi and in-charge of Groofers AnkurGupta of tdi enclave nearMurthal. OC

2 firm in-charges heldfor violating Sec 144


chandigarh, March 22With a view to tackle theanticipated rush of sus-pected Covid cases, theHealth Department onSunday suspended certainOPDs in hospitals acrossHaryana till March 31.

Among the OPDs dis-continued are dermatol-ogy, eye, orthopaedic, sur-gery, physiotherapy,psychiatry and dental.However, gynaecology,paediatric, chest andmedicine OPDs would beamong the OPDs whichwould be operational, anorder issued by RajeshArora, Additional ChiefSecretary (Health), said.

The order asked the hos-pitals to put in place a sys-tem to check overcrowdingat the hospitals, includingqueue management sys-tem, one attendant perindoor patient and stag-

gered visiting hours.Thermal scanning of all

visitors and sanitisation ofhospitals were among oth-er advisories issued underthe Haryana EpidemicDiseases Covid-19 Regula-tions-2020.

General OPDs in stateclosed till March 31


chandigarh, March 22Haryana is likely to have a list ofapproved private labs for test-ing of Covid by tomorrow. TheHaryana Health Department isawaiting nod of the IndianCouncil of Medical Research.

When contacted, ACS(Health), Rajeev Arora, saidthat the civil surgeons of allthe districts had been con-veyed the ICMR’s willing-ness to grant approval toprivate labs for testing.

“The message was sentout and the labs with equip-ment and infrastructure forthe test have applied. We

will know the list of labsapproved for the state bytomorrow,” Arora said.

According to the informa-tion available, four labs inHaryana have been shortlist-

ed by the ICMR for havingthe capacity to conduct Covidtests. These are: SRL Limit-ed, clinical reference lab,Udhyog Vihar, Sector 18,Gurugram; SRL Limited,FEHRC, Neelam Bata Road,NIT, Faridabad; Fortis Memo-rial Research Institute, Sec-tor 44, Gurugram; and SRLLimited, Ashoka Colony,opposite Kalpana ChawlaMedical College, Karnal.

The Health Department,however, maintained thatthe names of the labsapproved by the ICMR areyet to be conveyed to thestate government and areexpected tomorrow.

Pvt labs for testing tobe announced today

The message wassent out and the labswith equipment andinfrastructure for thetest have applied. Wewill know the list oflabs approved for thestate by tomorrow.Rajeev Arora, ACS (HEALTH)

TAKING ACTION

❝

New Delhi, March 22The country’s largest car maker Maruti SuzukiIndia (MSI) on Sunday said it would sus-pend production at itsmanufacturing facilitiesin Haryana due to theCovid outbreak.

“The company will shut production and officeoperations at its facilitiesin Gurugram and Manesar (Haryana) withimmediate effect till fur-ther notice,” MSI said in aregulatory filing.

The company’s researchand development centre atRohtak will also remainclosed, it added. The dura-tion of this shutdownwould depend upon gov-ernment policy, MarutiSuzuki India said.

The company’s twoplants in Haryana —Manesar and Gurgaon —churn out 15.5 lakh vehi-cles per annum. —PTI

Maruti suspendsproduction atG’gram, Manesar

Thermal scanning ofall visitors and

sanitisation of hospitalswere among otheradvisories issued

Gurugram residents applaud the efforts of medical personnel on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SUKH CHANDAN

THE TRIBUNE06 CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020HARYANA

(U/o 5 Rule 20 CPC)In the Court of

Sh. Lalit Kumar SinglaDistrict Judge (FC),

Barnala.Harwinder Kaur

VersusNirmal Singh

CNR No.:PBBR01-000185-2019Next Date: 20.04.2020

Publication issued to:Nirmal Singh:- s/o Pooran

Singh r/o Kalala, Distt.Barnala now posted NaikNirmal Singh No. 3397628Lto Commandant DSC CentreKannur Kerala 670002.

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s)could not be served. It isordered that defendant(s)/respondent(s) should appearin person or through counselon 20.04.2020 at 10.00 a.m.

For details logon tohttps://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=barnala

Dated, this day of18.03.2020.

Sd/- District Judge (FC),

CL19190965 Barnala.


Sh. Lalit Kumar SinglaDistrict Judge (FC),

Barnala.Balwant Kaur Dhaliwal

VersusBalwinder Singh Khosa

CNR No. PBBR01-003782-2018Next Date: 20.04.2020

Publication issued to: Balwinder Singh Khosa s/oChand Singh, r/o VillageBholuwala, PO Lalle, Tehsiland Distt. Ferozepur, now r/o12202, Skylark Road,Clarksburg Maryland 20981USA.

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s)could not be served. It isordered that defendant(s)/respondent(s) should appearin person or through counselon 20.04.2020 at 10:00 a.m.

For details logon tohttps://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=

barnalaDated, this day of 18.03.2020

Sd/-District Judge (FC),

CL19087257 Barnala.

COURT NOTICES

Wanted 5 year’s experienced ladydoctor MBBS, MD/ DGO forParbhatpuri Charitable Hospital,Mandi Gobindgarh. Free residencewith electricity & water provided.Contact Secretary: 98760-48600,President:9814015501,Treasurer98140-55922. Email:[email protected] (CL19183697)

Require Dot Net Developers atCreative Web Designers (India) Pvt.Ltd., SCF-32, Urban Estate-1,Jalandhar. Walk-in interview from10:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. (Monday toSaturday). Call us: 0181-5001190(freshers may also apply).(CL19182284)

Guru Nanak Public Sr Sec School,Khant-Manpur (FGS), requires thefollowing staff:- Commerce teacher M.Com., B.Ed.; M.A.(English), B.Ed.; M.Sc. (Physics),B.Ed. and M.A. (Hindi), B.Ed. Attend interview on 24 March 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Contact no. 94172-31411. Email: [email protected](CL19181698)

GTHS International Private Limited job openings for position of (1) Sales and Marketing Managerand Assistant Managers experiencerequired 1-2 years in Agriculturemachinery sales, qualification masters,salary 25000/- month + incentives (2) Sales Executive experience 2 years salary and incentives/ month,Qualification Graduation. Email id:[email protected]@gthsinternational.comContact: +917527014501.(CL19181334)

SITUATION VACANT

(U/O 5 Rule 20 CPC)In the Court of

Jinder Pal SinghCivil Judge

(Junior Division)-22,Jalandhar.Reshma

Vs.Punjab State through Collector

CNR No.: PBJL02-004787-2019Next Date: 28.04.2020

Publication issued to:2. Nirmala w/o Bimal Rai s/o

Sant Ram (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 8592)

3. Ram Ji Dass s/o Kanshi Rams/o Chhimbo Mal (Ownervide Sale Mutation No. 9082)

4. Manju Sharma w/o RajeshSharma (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 9083)

5. Rita Rani w/o Jasvir Kumar(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 9089)

6. Subedar Major Om Parkashs/o Gurdas Mal (Owner videSale Mutation No. 9269)

7. Jugal Kishore s/o KeshavDass (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 9269)

8. Kulwinder Singh s/o SurjitSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 9551)

9. Surjit Singh s/o JoginderSingh s/o Ganga Singh(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 9552)

10. M/s J.K. Toughened Glass(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 9566)

11. Gurvir Singh s/o GurdialSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 9639)

12. Waryan Singh s/o RanjitSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 9661)

13. Joginder Singh s/o CharanSingh s/o Bhagat Singh(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 9743)

14. Balwinder Kaur w/oHarjinder Singh (Owner videSale Mutation No. 9743)

15. Satya Devi w/o Gian Chand(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 10013)

16. Harbhajan Singh s/o AmarSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 10164)

17. Gurmej Kaur w/o GurdasSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 10164)

18. Vivek Kumar s/o SudershanKumar (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 10342 &10347)

19. Bhajan Singh s/o GurcharanSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 10348)

20. Rita w/o Ashok Kumar(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 10366)

21. Narinder Kumar s/oMohinder Nath (Owner videSale Mutation No. 10524)

22. Jaswinder Kaur w/o ParamjitSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 10604)

23. Yash Raj s/o Kashmiri Lal(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 10690)

24. Vijay Chopra s/o RamLubhaya (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 11071)

25. Vijay Kumar s/o Kharayti Lal(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 11111)

26. Suresh Kumar Sharma s/oShadi Ram s/o Bihari Lal(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 11475)

27. Mira Kohali w/o SushilKohali (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 11476)

28. Bindu Kohali w/o KamalKohali (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 11476)

29. Baldev Singh s/o KishanSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 15981)

30. Charanjit Singh s/o ButaSingh (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 15982)

31. Jagir Singh s/o Pritam Singhs/o Udham Singh (Owner videSale Mutation No. 17665)

32. Piara Singh s/o Pritam Singhs/o Udham Singh (Owner videSale Mutation No. 17665)

33. Sunil Sharma s/o Shambhu Lal(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 19039)

34. Munish Sharma s/o ShambhuLal (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 19040)

35. Harish Sharma s/o ShambhuLal (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 19041)

36. Anita Rani w/o Ashok Kumar(Owner vide Sale MutationNo. 19245)

37. Niranjan Dass s/o FaqirChand (Owner vide SaleMutation No. 8592)All rs/o Village ChakHussaina Lama Pind, Tehsil& District Jalandhar.In above titled case,

the defendant(s)/ respondent(s)could not be served. It is orderedthat defendant(s)/ respondent(s)should appear in person orthrough counsel on 28.04.2020 at10:00 a.m.

For details logon to:https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=jalandhar

Dated, this day of 19.03.2020.Sd/- Civil Judge

(Junior Division)-22,CL19183684 Jalandhar.

COURT NOTICES

I, Sohit S/o Anoop Singh, V.P. & O.:Jagsi, Gohana (Sonipat), have changed my name from Sohit to Sohit Sehrawat. Please know and call me by new name Sohit Sehrawat in future.(CL19183737)

I, Amerjeet Kaur w/o GurmeetSingh, r/o 340-D, Azad Nagar, Patiala, have changed my name to Amarjeet Kaur.(CL19182794)

PUBLIC NOTICES

In the Court ofBhupinder Mittal

Judicial MagistrateFirst Class-5,

Jalandhar.Partap Pharma

Vs.Tandan Herbal

CNR No.:PBJL03-004896-2019Next Date: 06.05.2020

Publication issued to:1. M/s Tandan Herbal2. Pankaj Singh PropLink Mandi, Dirba, Distt.Sangrur, through its Prop./Partner/ Authorised SignatoryPankaj Singh.

In above titled case, theaccused could not be served.It is ordered that accusedshould appear in person orthrough counsel on06.05.2020 at 10:00 a.m.

For details logon to:https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=jalandhar


Sd/-Judicial Magistrate

First Class-5,CL19183680 Jalandhar.

(U/o 5 Rule 20 CPC)In the Court ofManjinder Kaur

Additional Principal JudgeFamily Court-II, Jalandhar.

Sukhdev SinghVersus

General PublicCNR No.:

PBJL01-015753-2019Next Date: 30.07.2020

Petition for appointment ofpetitioner as Guardian for theminor children

Publication issued to:Harpreet Kaur w/o

Amardeep Singh House No.47, Bhai Lalo Ji Nagar, NearAlfa-1, Amritsar.

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s)could not be served. It isordered that defendant(s)/respondent(s) should appearin person or through counselon 30.07.2020 at 10.00 a.m.

For details logon tohttps://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=jalandhar


Sd/- Additional PrincipalJudge Family Court-II,

CL19183678 Jalandhar.


Sh. Karanvir Singh MajuCivil Judge,

(Junior Division),Jagraon.

Suit for DeclarationSandeep Kaur

VersusJaswinder Kaur

CNR No.:PBLDB0-000006-2020

Notice to Defendant No.:4. Harpreet Kaur d/o Swaranjit

Singh alias Kuldeep Singh.5. Akwinder Kaur d/o

Swaranjit Singh aliasKuldeep Singh all r/oVillage Bassian Bet, TehsilJagraon, Distt. Ludhiana.

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s)could not be served. It isordered that defendant(s)/respondent(s) should appear inperson or through counsel on16.04.2020 at 10.00 a.m.


ludhianaDated, this day of 18.03.2020.

Sd/-Civil Judge,

(Junior Division),CL19183668 Jagraon.

(U/O 5 Rule 20 CPC)In the Court of

Sh. Lalit Kumar Singla,District Judge (FC),

Barnala.Jasveer Singh

VersusGeneral Public

CNR No.PBBR01-004209-2019

Next Date: 23.04.2020Publication issued to:General Public: Barnala

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s)could not be served. It isordered that defendant(s)/respondent(s) should appearin person or through counselon 23.04.2020 at 10:00 a.m.

For details logon tohttps://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=district_notice&district=Barnala


Sd/-District Judge (FC),

CL19120266 Barnala.

COURT NOTICES

(U/o 5 Rule 20 CPC)In the Court ofChandna Bhatti

Civil Judge (Junior Division)-13,Jalandhar.

Darshan KaurVersus

Jagroop Singh EtcCNR No.

PBJL02-004635-2019Next Date: 30.04.2020

Publication issued to: 1) Jagroop Singh s/o NaranjanSingh, Address: H.No. 137, ToweEnclave, Jalandhar. 2) KulwinderKaur w/o Kharkirat Singh. 3)Bahadur Singh s/o Malkiat Singh.4) Daljinder Singh s/o Bir Singh.5) Piara Singh s/o Bir Singh allr/o Singh Colony Mithapur, Teh.and Distt. Jalandhar. 6) Jit Singhs/o Vasawa Singh r/o VPOMithapur, Teh. and Distt.Jalandhar.

In above titled case, thedefendant(s)/respondent(s) couldnot be served. It is ordered thatdefendant (s ) / respondent (s )should appear in person orthrough counsel on 30.04.2020 at10:00 a.m.


jalandharDated, this day of 20.03.2020

Sd/- Civil Judge(Junior Division)-13,

CL19183682 Jalandhar.

COURT NOTICE

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Khaps step in to check Covid spread Tribune News Service

Rohtak, March 22The khap panchayats ofHaryana, which are criti-cised by the intelligentsiaand usually hit the head-lines for the wrong reasons,have taken a commendableinitiative to check thespread of Covid pandemicin the state.

A meeting of the Sarv-Khap Panchayat wasorganised at Jat Bhawanin Rohtak before thebeginning of the ‘jantacurfew’ early this morn-ing. The meeting wasattended by representa-tives of several khaps fromdifferent districts.

The Sarv-Khap Panchay-at appealed to people tostay away from crowdedplaces, avoid travel andrefrain from attendingmarriage ceremonies,spiritual sessions, condo-lence meetings and othersocial gatherings in orderto protect themselvesfrom Covid.

“We have exhorted the

people that if they do notwant to get infected by thevirus, they should not go toany wedding ceremony,rasam-kriya (condolencemeeting), satsang, socialget-together, group assem-bly over playing-cards andhookah as the disease isextremely contagious,”said Sarv-Khap PanchayatConvener Mahender Singh

Nandal while talking toThe Tribune here today.

The Sarv-Khap Panchayatalso advised the residentsto avoid hand-shakes, main-tain personal hygiene andstay at home along withtheir family membersunder self-quarantine as faras possible.

Various voluntary socialbodies, spiritual organisa-

tions and traders’ associa-tions have also supportedthe home-quarantineregime and appealed to theresidents not to venture outunless direly necessary.

Meanwhile, terming coro-navirus as an enemy ofhumankind, CongressWorking Committee (CWC)member and Rajya SabhaMP from Haryana Deepen-

der Singh Hooda has givena call to rise above party pol-itics and launch a concertedfight against its spread.

In a statement issuedhere today, the MPexpressed hope that thegovernment would provideadequate screening andtesting facilities, besidesthe extension of emergencyand intensive-care servicesand ensure the provision ofsufficient ICU beds andventilators required to com-bat Covid.

The administrative offi-cials have appealed to thelocal residents to eitherpostpone the marriages intheir families or have sim-ple wedding ceremonieswith gatherings of less than20 persons.

SDM (Meham) AbhishekMeena said the sarpanchesand other prominent resi-dents of villages had beenasked to advise the local res-idents not to hold big mar-riage ceremonies and cur-tail the number of guests toless than 20 and report ifanybody violated this.

A khap mahapanchayat in Charkhi Dadri. FILE PHOTO

Exhort residents to avoid weddings, condolence meetings, hookah gatheringsCROWD OF 20 OKAY

■ The administrative offi-cials have appealed to thelocal residents to eitherpostpone the marriages intheir families or have sim-ple wedding ceremonieswith gatherings of lessthan 20 persons.

■ SDM (Meham) AbhishekMeena said thesarpanches and otherprominent residents ofvillages had been askedto advise the local resi-dents not to hold big mar-riage ceremonies andcurtail the number of guests to less than 20and report if anybody violated this.


Hisar, March 22The towns of Hisar and Bhi-wani district observed a com-plete lockdown during theJanata Curfew today. In Hisar,the health authorities homequarantined 118 persons whoare Covid suspected patientsand they have been asked to

stay in complete isolation forthe next 14 days.

The Health Departmentalso pasted caution noticesoutside their houses warn-ing the visitors against vis-

iting these residences. The deputy civil surgeon

Jaya Goyal said that theyhad identified 168 personswho had returned homerecently from foreign visits

and are keeping a closewatch on them.

Goyal added that they hadtaken samples of six per-sons but there had been nopositive case in the previous

reports from the district. Meanwhile, the daily

wagers and other workerslike barbers, cobblers,labourers, etc could not findany work today.

As many as 118 Covid suspected patients in Hisar have been told to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

Total lockdown in Hisar, Bhiwani

C VID-19PANDEMIC


Yamunanagr, March 22Yamunanagar district wit-nessed empty roads anddeserted public placesthroughout the day on Sun-day following the JanataCurfew proposed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tolimit the Covid spread.

Except hospitals and med-ical stores, all markets, shopsand showrooms of twin cities Yamunanagar andJagadhri and towns includ-ing Pratap Nagar,Chhachhrauli, Bilaspur, Sad-haura, Saraswati Nagar andRadaur remained closed.

Bus stands of Yamunana-gar and Jagadhri, railway

stations of Yamunanagarand Railway Workshop, allroads, streets and lanes of

twin city wore a desertedlook throughout the day.

Similarly, there was no

movement of vehicles onJagadhri-Paonta SahibNational Highway, Yamu-nanagar-Panchkula Nation-al Highway and other roadsof the district.

DP Singh, senior vice-president of Saraswati Sug-ar Mills, Yamunanagar, saidthat the operation of thesugar mill was kept non-functional between 7 amand 9 pm following theJanata Curfew.

According to information,other industrial units includ-ing plywood industry alsoremained non-functional.

Sources said that some wineshops were opened in themorning, but they were soonshut by the administration.

Empty roads, deserted public places in Y’nagarSample reports of four Covid suspects in district negative

TWIN CITIES SANITISEDDr Vijay Dahiya, CivilSurgeon, said that the foursamples of Covid suspectshad so far been sent fortesting from Yamunanagardistrict to BPS GovernmentMedical College forWomen, Khanpur ofSonepat district. “Thereports of all four samplesare negative,” said DrDahiya. He said thatsanitisation of sodiumhypochlorite solution wasdone in twin citiesYamunanagar andJagadhri on Sunday.

Karnal, March 22As residents were con-fined indoors due to JantaCurfew, employees of theKarnal Municipal Corpo-ration (KMC) were onroads to disinfect markets,roads, bus stand and rail-way station. The MCteams sterilised the publicplaces to negate the effectof coronavirus in the city.

Nishant Kumar Yadav,Deputy Commissioner-cum-Commissioner Kar-nal Municipal Corpora-tion, said they havecarried out sanitisingactivities in markets, busstand and railway station.

The staff members of theKMC took help of watertankers also. In someareas fogging was also carried out. This exercisewill continue in the com-ing days also, the DCinformed.

He appealed to the residents to stay indoorsand not venture out untiland unless it was avoidable. — TNS

Karnal MCteams sterilisemarkets,railway station

100-bed isolationward set up atcivil hospital

Parveen AroraTribune News Service

Karnal, March 22The outbreak of Covid invarious countries hasresulted in unease amongbasmati exporters.

They are afraid that theirpayment in crores may getstuck as due to the out-break. Courier service hasbeen suspended in severalcountries and hence, docu-ments of export consign-ments cannot be sent tobuyers. So, payments mayget held up.

Bank services have alsobeen suspended for sometime in some countries. Thatmay also lead to delay in pay-ment to Indian exporters.

India exports around 44lakh tonnes of basmati to

around 140 countries ofthe world. Of these, 33 percent goes to Iran, said theAll-India Rice ExportersAssociation (AIREA).Everything was going welltill the end of February.But as March started, theCovid outbreak resulted inslowdown in exports.

“Due to Covid, the couri-er service in some coun-tries has been suspended.Hence, essential docu-ments regarding theirrelease of payment havealso been stuck.

Bank services in somecountries are being sus-pended. That may lead toour payment — in crores –getting stuck,” said NathiRam Gupta, president,AIREA.

The exporters fear that ifships are stopped for 14days at seashores, then itmay further lead to loss tothe industry.

The exporters said thatdue to this scare, the rates ofrice have come down by 10per cent in the Indian mar-ket in the past three weeks.

Payment stuck abroad,basmati exporters edgy

India exports 44 lakh tonnesof basmati to as many as 140countries of the world.

Kaithal, March 22Not taking any chances inview of coronavirus, thelocal Health departmentauthorities have set up aseparate 100-bed isolationward at a local civil hospital.

Earlier, only 16 beds werearranged at an isolation ward.He said that medical superin-tendent Dr Om Parkash wasthe overall in-charge to keep awatch over the Covid patientsadmitted to the hospital.CMO Dr Rakesh Sehl saidthat till now 13 travellerswho had returned from vari-ous countries were admittedto government hospital hereout of which six had beendischarged already. Thisincludes three persons whohad returned from UK andtheir reports had been foundnegative. The reports of therest were awaited. — OC

THE TRIBUNECHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 07NATION


New Delhi, March 22With Covid-19 threat engulf-ing the country leading tovolatile capital market situa-tion and steep fall in prices ofglobal crude prices, the gov-ernment has indicated itsmajor disinvestment plans,including that of Air Indiaand Bharat Petroleum Cor-poration Ltd (BPCL), havetaken a beating and will notmeet the timelines fixed.

Sources in the governmentsaid there was fear of reces-sion in the aviation sectormainly on account of thevirus spread and thus it wasnot the best time to invitebids for Air India.

“Even large businessesare monitoring the impactof the epidemic closely. So,the government is thinkingof extending the deadlinefor submission of prelimi-nary bids for Air India fromApril 30 from June 1,” said

a senior official.A senior official in the disin-

vestment department of theMinistry of Finance said: “Asthe aviation is one the worstaffected sectors and interna-tional businesses have post-poned events till May 31,there are suggestions toextend the deadline for sub-mission of preliminary bidfrom April 30 to June 1.”

In 2018, the governmenthad attempted to sell Air

India and restarted theprocess in January. The gov-ernment later extended thedeadline for submission ofpreliminary bids for AirIndia to April 30 from March17. The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs hasallowed NRIs to own 100 percent stake in Air India.

Similarly, for divesting itsentire holding of 52.98 percent in Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL),the government had invit-ed expressions of interest(EoI) from prospective buy-ers by May 2. This wasannounced in the firstweek of March through thebid document issued by theDepartment of Investmentand Public Asset Manage-ment (DIPAM).

However, officials in theDIPAM indicated the datefor EoI might be extended,preferably on a later date inJune, as the world wouldgradually overcome the

Virus may force delayin BPCL,A-I stake sale

‘NOT BEST TIME’ TO INVITE BIDS

■ Amid recession fears in avi-ation sector, the govt mayextend deadline for prelim-inary bids for Air India fromApril 30 to June 1

■ Also, the May 2 dead-line for submission ofexpressions of interestby prospective buyersfor BPCL may beextended, say sources


NewDelhi, March 22Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment Minister NarendraSingh Tomar appears to becatching up with three-timeChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan in the race for thetop post in Madhya Pradesh.

After the fall of the Con-gress’ Kamal Nath govern-ment, several names fromthe BJP started doing therounds among whichChouhan was being seen asthe top contender.

However, Tomar, a leaderfrom the Gwalior-Chambalregion, is believed to be theCentral leadership’s choice.Along with this possibility,there is speculation thatScindia could step into hisshoes in the Centre. Scindiaalso belongs to the Gwalior-Chambal region.

Meanwhile, according toparty leaders here, the cen-tral leadership and the BJPLegislature Party in MPwill make the decision

along with observersappointed by the Centre.

Dismissing speculations of“several claimants” to thepost and “differences and fac-tionalism” in the party on theissue, they also debunkreports regarding Chouhan’s“history of rivalry with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi”being the reason for Tomaremerging as one of the fron-trunners. There are no prob-lems, the choice will be madeby MLAs, they insist.

Tomar key contenderfor post of MP CM

Raipur, March 22 Bodies of 17 security person-nel, who were missing afteran encounter with Naxals inSukma district of Chhattis-garh, were found on Sunday,the police said.

“Bodies of 17 security person-nel were recovered by a searchteam and were being evacuat-ed from forests,” InspectorGeneral of Police (Bastarrange) Sundarraj P said.

Earlier, in a major jointoffensive, separate teams ofnearly 600 personnel belong-ing to the District ReserveGuard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Com-mando Battalion for Res-olute Action (CoBRA) — anelite unit of CRPF, launchedan anti-Naxal operation fromthree sides towards Elma-gunda after getting inputsabout a huge gathering ofultras there on Saturday.

When the patrolling teamswere near Minpa villageforests, a group of around 250heavily armed ultrasambushed them, leaving 15

personnel injured, he said.The gun battle lasted for

about two-and-a-half hours,he said. “Later, 17 personnelwere found to be missingfor which a search operationwas launched. Today, their bodies have beenrecovered and the searchteam is on the way back, Sundarraj P said.

Earlier, the police in astatement said 14 policepersonnel were injured and13 were missing after thegunfight. The injured personnel were airlifted toRaipur and admitted to aprivate hospital where the condition of two of them isstated to be critical, hesaid.— PTI

Day after encounter with Naxals,bodies of 17 missing cops found

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel meets an injuredcop at Ramkrishna Care Hospital in Raipur on Sunday. PTI

PARTY’S TOP CHOICE?■ Agriculture and Rural

DevelopmentMinister Naren-dra SinghTomar, a leaderfrom the

Gwalior-Chambal region, isbelieved to be the Centralleadership’s choice

■ There is also speculationthat Scindia can step intoTomar’s shoes in the Cen-tre. Scindia also belongs tothe Gwalior-Chambal region

KV PrasadTribune News Service

NewDelhi, March 22In the wake of the growingconcern over Covid-19, theBudget session of Parliamentis headed for an early closure.In all probability, the Housescould adjourn on Mondayafter passing the Finance Billthat is listed for considerationin the Lok Sabha on March 23.

Sources in Parliamenttold The Tribune that oncethe Lok Sabha passes theBill, it would be sent to theRajya Sabha for considera-tion and return. The UpperHouse has no power to vote

on a Money Bill and at bestcan send it back with sug-gestions, which may or notbe accepted by the Lok Sab-ha. In any case a Money Billis deemed to have beenreturned after 14 days.

Apart from the lockdown,

the move to bring the ses-sion to an end gathered paceafter reports of some MPstaking to self-isolation after afew attended a party whereBollywood singer KanikaKapoor was present. She lat-er tested positive for Covid-

19. Since then Rajasthan MPDushyant Singh and formerUnion Minister AnupriyaPatel, who were at the party,have been into self-isolationas has Trinamoo’s DerekO’Brien for having spenttime with Dushyant.

The Budget session of Par-liament began on January 31with its first half ending onFebruary 11. The Houseswent into recess betweenFebruary 12 to March 1, a period when Parliamen-tary Standing Committees discussed the Demands-for-Grants of different ministries.

Budget session headed for early closure


NewDelhi, March 22 With the Centre deciding toput 75 districts on lockdownwith an aim to curb spreadof the deadly Covid-19,almost all modes of publictransport have been put onhold till March 31. The Indi-an Railways has cancelledall it passenger services,besides all Metro services inthe country have beenasked to shut down.

In an unprecedented movethe Indian Railways todayannounced suspension of allits passenger services fromMarch 22 midnight to March31 midnight and said onlygoods trains will run duringthe restricted period.

The railways had alreadycurtailed its services on Fri-day by cancelling a numberof trains. However, it hadallowed all trains that hadalready started the journey tocontinue. According to a neworder issued by the railways,

only goods trains will runfrom March 22 midnight toMarch 31 midnight to ensureuninterrupted supplies.

The trains, which begantheir journey prior to 4 amSunday, will be allowed tocontinue to complete their journey to their respec-tive destinations.

The Indian Railways,which operates suburbantrains and Kolkata Metrorail services, has directedtheir operational heads tokeep their operations to abare minimum level.

In a communication to allmanaging directors of Metrorails of different cities, Secre-tary, Housing, DS Mishrasaid it had now been decidedto “close down Metro railservices” on all operationalnetworks across the countrytill March 31. “The decisionhas been taken to help break-ing the chain of further infec-tion of Covid, which spreadsthrough inter-personal prox-imity,” he added.

Passenger trains,Metro suspended

Jaipur, March 22An ITI student allegedlystabbed two sisters to deathand injured the third whenthey were on their way to acomputer centre in Taledatown, Bundi district, on Sat-urday evening. The deceasedwere identified as PoojaGoswami, 24, and heryounger sister Priyanka, 22.

The Bundi SP Shiv RajMeena, said: “The girlswere attacked with a sharp-edged weapon at least 21times. Pooja died on thespot while Priyanka suc-cumbed to her injuries at aKota hospital.” — OC

Student attacks4 sisters, 2 die

from page 1Starting midnight Sundayto March 31 midnight, alltrains will remain suspend-ed except the goods trains.All suburban rail and metroservices, including DelhiMetro, will not operate. TheCentre said states couldissue orders to allow emer-gency metro services in thedistricts with confirmedCovid cases.The day also saw citizenscoming out in large num-bers across the country tothank corona warriors byclapping, ringing cymbals,clanging utensils to honourthe call given by PM Modito express gratitude toIndia’s first line of defenceagainst a dreaded virus.The PM’s mother Heer-aben also joined the nation-al thanksgiving by clanginga utensil today. The PM lat-er tweeted, “Mother, yourparticipation in this effortwill inspire lakhs of war-riors like doctors, nurses,sanitation workers, para-medics, police personneland mediapersons in this

fight against the pandemic.It will give them thestrength to carry on.”

Modi thanked everyonefor the successful self-isola-tion today: “Janata Curfewmay end at 9 pm today butthat does not mean we begincelebrations. This is thestart of a prolonged battle.Today Indians have shownthey are capable and withtheir resolve they can defeatthe gravest of challenges.”

The PM also asked peoplenot to venture out of theirhomes in the districts wherecurfew had been clampedand even otherwise stayhome until absolutely neces-sary to venture out.

THE execution of Nirb-haya’s killers has onceagain triggered a debate

on death penalty in Indiawith the United Nations call-ing on all nations to put amoratorium on it. More thanseven years after the 23-year-old paramedical student wasbrutally raped and mur-dered, the four convicts —Mukesh Singh (32), PawanGupta (25), Vinay Sharma(26) and Akshay KumarSingh (31) — were hanged todeath on Friday at 5.30 am atTihar Jail in the Capital.

The execution deviatesfrom the unwritten under-standing between the Execu-tive and the Judiciary inIndia that only terror con-victs would be sent to the gal-lows. There had not been anyexecution in India for a non-terror capital crime sinceAugust 14, 2004, whenDhananjoy Chatterjee was

hanged in Kolkata for therape and murder of a minorgirl. Ajmal Kasab’s execu-tion (2012) for 26/11 Mumbaiterror attacks in 2008, AfzalGuru’s hanging (2013) forthe 2001 Parliament attackand Yakub Memon’s execu-tion (2015) for the 2003 serial bomb blasts inMumbai — all fell in the cate-gory of terror crimes.

In many serious non-terrorcases, such as GrahamStaines, Jessica Lall andPriyadarshini Mattoo mur-ders, the Supreme Courtrefused to award death penal-ty on the ground that thesedid not fall within the catego-ry of “rarest of rare” — a doc-trine propounded by the topcourt in Bachan Singh’s case(1980) drawing from rationalebehind Section 354(3) of theCriminal Procedure Code(CrPC) that requires a judgeto record special reasons forawarding death sentence.

There is no statutory defini-tion of ‘rarest of rare’ and itdepends upon facts and cir-cumstances of a particularcase. Brutality of the crime,conduct of the offender, previ-ous history of his involvementin crime, chances of reformingand integrating him into soci-ety are taken into account.

The most basic and pro-found argument againstdeath penalty is that the Statecan’t give life so it can’t takeit away either. The deathpenalty is irreversible and if aconvict turns out to be inno-cent, his execution cannot beundone. Second, in a modernliberal democracy, punish-ment must not be retributive

and the State should try torehabilitate the criminal toenable him to live in societywith other human beings.

Third, in the US and othernations, which execute con-victs for capital crimes, seri-ous crimes have not dimin-ished. The abolitionist idea isbased on the commandment“thou shalt not kill”, which

also seeks to enjoin the Stateto refrain from killing.

Punishment is the mostnatural response to crime.The quantum punishmentawarded to offenders must becommensurate with thenature and gravity of crime soas to deter criminals from dis-turbing peaceful citizens andchallenging the authority ofthe State which is duty-bound to protect the life, lib-erty and property of citizens.

Keeping this basic ration-ale in mind, law prescribescapital punishment for mur-der, gang robbery with mur-der, abetting the suicide of achild or insane person, wag-ing war against the govern-ment and abetting mutinyby a member of the armedforces, terror crimes. TheProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (Amend-ment) Act, 2019, also pro-vides for death penalty foraggravated sexual assault.

But more than the statu-tory provisions, the IndianConstitution itself justifiesdeath penalty. Article 21says: “No person shall bedeprived of his life or per-sonal liberty except accord-ing to procedure estab-lished by law.”

Often described as a pro-

vision which “embodies aconstitutional value ofsupreme importance in ademocratic society”, Article21 can convey a completelydifferent meaning. If we flipit, Article 21 simply meansthe State can deprive anyperson of his right to life orpersonal liberty in accor-dance with procedure estab-lished by law. Even thecaveat added to it by theSupreme Court in ManekaGandhi’s case (1978) onlyrequires the procedure to befair, just and reasonable; anddoesn’t take away theState’s right to deprive aperson of his right to life andpersonal liberty.

It’s a bitter trade-offbetween citizens and theState where the former haveceded too much ground to thelatter in lieu of the protectionoffered. Abolishing deathpenalty requires altering thisbasic understanding betweenthe two sides. With India fac-ing grave security challengesboth on the internal andexternal fronts in terms ofleft-wing extremism, insur-gency and cross-border ter-rorism, it appears difficult tochange the dynamics of thisrelationship. Death penalty ishere to stay.

Capital punishment: A bitter trade-off between citizens, State

OBITER DICTABY SATYA PRAKASH

People gather outside Tihar Jail during the execution of four menconvicted in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case, in New Delhi. PTI FILE

Clampdown...

Patna, March 22With students across thecountry having to stayindoors during ‘JanataCurfew’ call given byPrime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday, ‘Super30’founder Anand Kumartried to engage them by giving them a Mathematicsproblem to solve.

Kumar uploaded the ques-tion on his Twitter and Face-book accounts for students ofclasses 6 to 12.

"Hundreds of replies havecome within hours. Manysolved the problem throughdifferent approaches. Aftergoing through the answers, I

will give them tips to solve amore complicated sum in aneasier way," Kumar told PTI.

The 'Super 30' founder saidthe students liked the sum somuch that they asked formore such problems.

While one student com-mented it was "mathemagic",another found it was

“absolute fun”, Kumar said."I wish to stay connected

with my students and theyalso should use this time in aproductively," he said.

The 'Super 30' founder saidwith schools and colleges shutin most parts of the country,he will upload some videos onMathematics on the socialmedia in the coming days.

Launched in 2002, Patna-based 'Super 30' has helpedmore than 500 students frompoor financial backgroundscrack competitive examina-tions. Kumar's biopic withactor Hrithik Roshan essay-ing his role hit the screens lastyear. — PTI

‘Super 30’ founder engages students

Kanpur, March 22 Eleven of the 56 people whohad come in close contactwith Kanika Kapoor at a par-ty in Kanpur days before theBollywood singer tested pos-itive for Covid-19 were foundto be not infected by thevirus, a senior official saidhere on Sunday.

Kanpur District MagistrateBrahma Deo Ram Tiwari saidthe 56 people had attended a“house warming party” host-ed by her maternal uncle Vip-ul Tandon on March 13.Chief Medical Officer AshokShukla said samples were col-

lected on Friday and Saturdayand the test results came outon Sunday. Eleven, includingTandon, have tested negativeand the results of the rest areawaited, Shukla said. Kapoorhad stayed at Tandon’s housefor nearly three hours, offi-cials said. — PTI

11 who attended Kanika’sparty test Covid negative

Surat, March 22 Coronavirus claimed itsfirst victim in Gujarat onSunday when a 67-year-oldman, who had tested posi-tive for the infection, died ata private hospital here, offi-cials said.

The man, with travel historyto Delhi and Jaipur, wasadmitted to a private hospitalhere on March 17 with severalcomplications related to kid-ney and asthma. He testedpositive for the coronaviruson March 21, officials said.

He did not have any travelhistory to a foreign country.

“The man, a coronaviruspositive patient, died at aprivate hospital here onSunday afternoon,” SuratCollector DhavalkumarPatel confirmed. “He wasadmitted to a private hospi-tal on March 17 with severalhealth complications likekidney problem and asth-ma. He died around 2.50 pmon Sunday,” Surat Munici-pal Commissioner B N Panisaid. — PTI

Surat man Gujarat’sfirst Covid victim

VIDEOS ON MATHS SOONThe ‘Super 30’ foundersaid with schools and col-leges shut in most parts ofthe country, he will uploadsome videos on Mathe-matics on the socialmedia in the coming days.

KANIKA KAPOOR

1,200 VENTILATORSORDERED: CENTREThe Health Ministry onSunday said it hadplaced an order for 1,200ventilators in preparationfor the progression ofCovid-19 pandemic, andstates had been told toramp up patient manage-ment preparedness.

THE TRIBUNE08 CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020OPINION

Women on the march in Pak

Janata CurfewThe observing of Janata Curfewon Sunday, an idea of the PrimeMinister, was good in intent. Itsimplementation will serve as asuccessful trial. More steps, simi-lar to it should be taken to savethe people from falling prey to it.The lockdown of sorts, withoutofficially declaring it to be so,may also create some inconven-ience for the people, but onehopes that this too shall pass.

JS JASSAL, PATIALA

PM’s public messageThe PM wields great influence, butit is a crucial time and he has tounderstand the urgency of the mat-ter and could’ve done it on moredays rather than just on Sunday.Obviously, very few go to the officeon Sundays. Is it a strategy to makeit look like he really does care?

PADMA DOLMA, LEH

Covid blues for singer Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoorreturned from London to Lucknowand was well aware of the safetyprotocols for coronavirus. Withdeveloping symptoms of coron-avirus, she attended three parties,met a former Rajasthan CM, herson and mingled with a large num-ber of people. Well aware of the sit-

uation, it was her duty to get diag-nosed and quarantine herself. Thisinsouciant behaviour from a liter-ate person was ironical and maylead to more cases of Covid-19.

RAJINDER SHARMA, CHANDIGARH

Check coronavirus In view of the alert over the spread of adisease like coronavirus, which hasambiguous symptoms and practicallyno known method of treatment, oneshould take precautionary measuresto prevent from falling prey to it andalso to stop it from spreading. Adherestrictly to the dos and don’ts. Stayhome if you can and avoid gatherings.Practise social distancing by keeping adistance of about six feet from others,if you must go out in public. Call yourdoctor for medical advice if you thinkyou have developed symptoms.

RITIKA CHUGH, SIRSA

Just desertsAsha Devi, the mother of Nirbhaya,the December 2012 gangrape vic-tim, saying ‘Justice at last’ (March20) indicates a kind of satisfactionon the hanging of the four convicts— so eagerly awaited by her allthese years. Yes, the perpetrators ofthe fiendish crime got what theydeserved. The sad end of the evil,however, reminds us of our socialmores. A woman is deemed to be

safe only when accompanied bymale members of her family orclose acquaintances. Otherwise, awoman fails to get enough respect,so necessary for her safety. Sufisaint Muhammad Bakhsh had said:Dushman maray te khushi nakariye, sajan ne bhi mar jana ein;Deegar te din gaya Muhammad,har ghadeech dub jaana aei. Itmeans that death is death, it shouldbe respected, not celebrated!

KL NOATAY, BY MAIL

Rape under-reportedThe public rage and revulsion thatfollowed the Nirbhaya gangrapewas unprecedented. It has takenmore than seven years for the deathsentence to be carried out- seen asan exemplary punishment for anextraordinary crime. However, raperemains a terrifyingly widespreadcrime in India. NCRB data show33,356 cases of rape reported in2018 — roughly 91 a day. This isdespite the fact that it is grosslyunder-reported. Victims are dis-couraged by the hostile investiga-tive system and tardy judicialprocess, and immense social sham-ing. It requires reform, for thepolice and courts to switch theirdefaults and keep the victim'sinterests first and foremost.

SANJAY CHOPRA, MOHALI

Flak for GogoiWhat a pity that the Chief Justice ofIndia, who is ranked sixth in thewarrant of precedence and admin-isters the oath of office to the Pres-ident of India, had no qualms inaccepting the Rajya Sabha seat.When Ranjan Gogoi stood up totake oath, Members of the Houseshouted ‘shame, shame’. As a mat-ter of fact, he cannot justify hisposition. As Arun Jaitley hadadvised, members of the judiciaryshould avoid accepting offers thatmight smack of a quid pro quo.

SUBHASH C TANEJA, GURUGRAM

Public concern over ex-CJI This refers to the editorial ‘Cries ofshame’ (March 21); all said and done,only ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi surrender-ing his Rajya Sabha membershipcan redeem the lost ground. Surely,being a public-spirited individual, hecannot remain oblivious of the voxpopuli. To nip all future controver-sies, the retirement age of judges inthe superior courts should beraised to 70 with no appointmentsfunded from public purse permissi-ble thereafter to pre-empt thenotion that pre-retirement judg-ments can be influenced by desirefor post-retirement assignments.

LALIT BHARADWAJ, PANCHKULA

JupinderjitSingh

EIGHTY-NINE years afterBhagat Singh attained mar-tyrdom at the hands of

India’s British rulers, his ideologyis even more relevant as Punjabisin general and the youth in particu-lar are mesmerised by gun cultureand songs that glorify violence.

The man who shook the BritishEmpire and took to the gallowssinging happily along with Rajguruand Sukhdev on March 23, 1931, isremembered mostly through hispistol-toting image on T-shirts andstickers pasted on vehicles, as if hiskilling of British police inspectorJP Saunders in Lahore on Decem-ber 17, 1928, gave youngsters the

licence to embrace the gun craze.They are the ones who are provid-ing millions of views/downloads toPunjabi singers hailing violenceand guns in their songs. The under-lining problem is that today’syouth have failed to read the mar-tyr’s mind on violence. True, hekilled Saunders, but the after-events showed the revolutionary’sinsight into violence and the ideol-ogy behind it. Posters by revolu-tionaries appeared in Lahore a dayafter Saunders’ murder, explain-ing the path of violence. The Hin-dustan Socialist Republican Army(HSRA) declared: “We are sorry tohave killed a man. But this man waspart of a cruel, despicable and unjustsystem and killing him was a neces-

sity… We aim to bring about a revo-lution which would end all exploita-tion of man by man.”

He was livid when the British gov-ernment branded him and other revo-lutionaries as dacoits. It is then thatthe idea of throwing a non-lethalsmoke bomb at Delhi Assembly toignite the fire of revolution was takenup. The pamphlets thrown immedi-ately after explained it all: “It takes aloud voice to make the deaf hear...”

In his statement to the court, Bha-gat Singh argued, “We hold humanlife sacred beyond words. Our prac-tical protest was against the institu-tion…It is not the cult of the bomband the pistol…”

He famously said, “Bombs andpistols do not make (a) revolution.

That is not our understanding. Thesword of revolution is sharpened onthe whetting stone of ideas.”

Bhagat Singh, in his last letter tothe youth of the country dated Feb-ruary 2, 1931, said, “Let meannounce with all my strength, thatI am not a terrorist and I never was,except perhaps at the beginning ofmy revolutionary career. And I amconvinced that we cannot gain any-thing through methods (a referenceto violence)…I do not mean thatbombs and pistols are useless,rather the contrary. But I mean tosay that mere bomb-throwing is notonly harmless but sometimesharmful... it should back the politi-cal work of the party. It cannot andshould not work independently.”

MEMBER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISORY BOARD

ON March 8, ‘Aurat March’was held in major cities inPakistan to observe theInternational Women’s

Day. Such a march was started in 2018in Karachi and extended to othercities in 2019. The 15-point manifestoof the march revolved around khud-mukhtari (independence) of women.Hence, the demands raised were equalrights, access to education, economicjustice, inclusion, justice for violenceagainst women, ending of forced con-versions etc. The women’s rightsmovement in Pakistan has come along way from the days of General Zia-ul-Haq when rape victims were oftenjailed for adultery if they could not pro-duce four male witnesses.

However, the slogan that becamethe focus of the media attention andcontroversy was Mera jism, merimarzi — my body, my choice. Accord-ing to the organisers, the slogan sim-ply referred to women’s autonomyover their bodies in terms of reproduc-tive health and consent of marriage.

The opponents thought otherwise.The march led to sustained hostilityand criticism from several quarterssince women demanding their rightsthreatened male privilege. The organ-isers faced online harassment,accused of ‘being western agents try-ing to sabotage Pakistan’s culture’,some were threatened and labelled‘bad women’. The Pakistan Electron-ic Media Regulatory Authority (PEM-RA), issued an advisory to televisionchannels, warning them against airing‘unethical slogans, play cards (plac-ards) with objectionable content.’

Appeals for restrictions on themarch were filed in the IslamabadHigh Court where the Chief Justice,rejecting the petitions, held that

words used in Aurat March slogans‘should not be given meaningsaccording to the mind-set of a cer-tain section of society... contrary tothe explanation given by the propo-nents of the march.’ In the LahoreHigh Court, the petition claimedthat the march was ‘anti-state’ andan ‘un-Islamic’ activity, against‘the very norms of Islam’ spread-ing vulgarity and hatred and the slo-gans intended to mislead women.

The right-wing religious partiescame out strongly in opposition,accusing women activists of spread-ing ‘obscenity’ and ‘vulgarity’.According to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), calling for women’sautonomy over their bodies was inopposition to the essence of Islamand thereby unacceptable in anIslamic republic. Its leader, MaulanaFazlur Rehman, openly threatenedparticipants and exhorted his sup-porters to stop the march regardlessof any ‘sacrifice’ that this mightentail. The Jamia Hafsa, a women’smadrasa affiliated with Islamabad’sinfamous Lal Masjid, defaced amural in Islamabad designed in con-nection with the rally and organisedtheir own Haya march.

To its credit, the Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) announced completesupport for the march with no stringsattached. Subsequently, the govern-ment and the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) also cameout in support for the march with thecaveat that the honour and dignity ofthe country should not be harmed.

Legally, Pakistan has enacted sever-al laws to bolster women’s rights.These include the National Policy forDevelopment and Empowerment ofWomen, Protection against Harass-ment of Women at Workplace Act,Gender Equality Policy Frameworksand Women Empowerment Packagesand Initiatives. Pakistan also has aNational Commission on the Status ofWomen to monitor the state’sresponse to the progress of women.Despite the legal framework, therecontinues to be a huge gap betweenlaws and their implementation.

The World Economic Forum (WEF)has ranked Pakistan 151st out of 153countries with 56 per cent gender gapon the Global Gender Gap Indexreport of 2020, compared to 112th outof 115 in 2006. The WEF placed Pak-istan at 150th in economic participa-tion and opportunities, 143rd in edu-

cational attainment, 149th in healthand survival and 93rd in politicalempowerment. According to a for-mer central bank governor, only 7per cent of women in Pakistan hadaccess to financial inclusion servic-es and just 1 per cent of the totaleconomic empowerment pro-grammes in Pakistan were forwomen. Less than half of thewomen are literate compared with70 per cent men. Over 70 rape caseswere reported in the first 60 days of2020 in Lahore alone.

Against this backdrop, empoweringwomen in Pakistan is clearly a longhaul. It would perhaps be optimisitcto view the march as creating aware-ness among women regarding theirrights as well as providing a platformto garner international attention fortheir struggle. Likewise, it is unlike-ly that a march on one day in a yearwould change much.

As The News put it editorially: “Wehave talked many times of the intensehypocrisy of a society that does notspeak out when a little girl is raped, awoman killed for so-called ‘honour’or a young girl’s face burnt with acid— but which has a huge issue everytime women try to assert their rights.That a woman’s right to have controlover herself, her body and her soul canlead to such violent thoughts andreactions from those who fancy them-selves their saviours should be causefor immense concern.”

However, the march is graduallybecoming the new face of the women’smovement in Pakistan. This is hugeconsidering the conservative societythat Pakistan is. The strong backlashagainst the movement is preciselybecause it mirrored the prevalant prej-udices against women in society.

The fact that within just threeyears, the march has attracted suchhostility would suggest that it hastouched a raw nerve of its opponents.If it continues to gather momentumin the years ahead, the Aurat Marchhas the potential of becoming astrong vehicle for the outpouring ofthe demand for justice and equalityfor women in Pakistan.

Views are personal

Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: [email protected]

thought for the dayI know now what countries do at summits has the power

to help girls in Pakistan, Nigeria or Afghanistan. — Malala Yousafzai

LONG HAUL: Empowering women in Pakistan is tough for fear of conservative backlash.

THE TRIBUNEestablished in 1881

Test, trace for coronaRamp up steps to prevent spread of disease

EVEN as more and more people with a foreign travel history aretesting positive for Covid-19 throughout the country, thecurve is spiking with a sharp northward trajectory. Stage 2 of

the epidemic is on us, with those affected by the virus havingpassed on the infection to some of those whom they have come incontact with locally. This has necessitated the contact-tracing pro-gramme, which follows the chain of the virus from one person to thenext and identifying and isolating those people before they canspread the virus further. This task is extremely challenging in acountry like ours where compliance with rules and advisories is nota strong point. While it is bad enough that some people escaped thescreening at the airport arrivals, the battle against the onslaught ofthe virus has become tougher as some incoming patients haveexhibited irresponsible behaviour in these trying times. Instead ofsubjecting themselves to self-quarantine and testing, they havebeen merrily socialising, oblivious to its dangers.

The man who succumbed to coronavirus in Punjab recently is said tohave interacted freely with many people after his return from Germany.While his contact-tracing has led to 150 of them across three districtsbeing home-quarantined and tested for the flu, tracking down each of thetwo lakh who attended the Anandpur Sahib Hola Mohalla festivities,which were also attended by him, is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.As the fear of an explosion of infected clusters stares at us, the govern-ment has tightened the noose around the offenders. A UK-returnedfamous singer has been booked in Lucknow for socialising in violation ofrules after she was found suffering from Covid-19. A Bengaluru-basedgovernment official whose son tested positive has been suspended for notdisclosing his travel from Germany via Spain.

In a ramp-up measure that has, hopefully, not come too late, the Cen-tre has directed both private and public hospitals to admit suspectedpatients and test all pneumonia cases for Covid-19. The South Koreanand Singaporean models show that mass testing makes all the difference.

Safety net for pandemicNeed to rejig economy to tide over the crisis

Afew days back, the European Central Bank launched a Pan-demic Emergency Purchase Programme to keep economiesafloat amid the Covid outbreak that has seen many countries

going for a lockdown, threatening livelihoods and shutting downbusinesses. Under the programme, the bank will buy governmentand company debt to soothe markets. The asset purchasing pro-gramme is in keeping with the demand for economic stimulus inthese countries. The demand made by the Punjab Chief Minister andhis MP wife for a comprehensive revival package to mitigate theadverse effects of the Covid outbreak needs to be seen in this light.While Captain Amarinder Singh sought additional wheat for peopleunder the food security mission, Preneet Kaur demanded that theCentral government intervene in the form of temporary aid orresource package for the poor and the daily-wage earners.

Countries across the globe have realised the need to rejig theireconomy as the world is not quite prepared to deal with the worst.China faced criticism for acting late so that its economy would notget affected. PM Modi assured there would be enough supplies andthat the nationwide voluntary lockdown would last only a day. Helater announced the formation of a financial task force to supportsectors affected by the pandemic like aviation, tourism and servic-es. Among the slew of measures proposed is the decision to givebanks the flexibility to schedule EMIs and cut GST in case thegrowth rate declines to below 4 per cent, besides ensuring adequatesupplies of medical kits and medicines.

On Friday, Himachal Pradesh sent back about 600 vehicles carry-ing tourists from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. Rail and bus services,along with flights, have been suspended across the country. The con-sequent loss of revenue could be colossal. The nation has to gear upto avoid slipping into the recession zone.

Amid hostility, the initiative is raising the pitch for gender equality

TILAK DEVASHER

on this day...100 years ago

The Khilafat Day. JUDGING from the accounts that have reached us so far, the celebration ofthe Khilafat Day passed off with great enthusiasm, but without any hitch, allover the country. Hartal, fasting and prayer were among the general featuresof the celebration everywhere, while at most places, public meetings wereheld and resolutions passed, calling upon the British Government to doeverything in their power to secure a settlement of the Turkish question inconsonance with Muslim sentiments and ideals, and impressing upon themthe seriousness of the situation that would arise in the event of thesettlement of the Turkish question in consonance with Muslim sentimentsand ideals, and impressing upon them the seriousness of the situation thatwould arise in the event of the settlement not being satisfactory to IndianMuslims. At only a few places, besides Calcutta itself, was the Calcuttaresolution passed, while at a few other places, the resolution was passed in adiluted form. In all cases, however, the strength, the genuineness and theunanimity of Muslim opinion and feeling in this matter were expressed inlanguage which left no room for misapprehension. This circumstance, aswell as the customary signs of pubic mourning that attended the celebrationin all parts of the country, are a sure indication of the intensity of Muslimfeeling and of the deep sympathy of non-Muslims with this feeling, and wefeel certain that the Government of India will not fail to take due note of it.They have done much in this matter already, but more clearly remains to bedone, and we sincerely hope they will be unwearied in their effort, and willnot cease to represent the Mahomedan cause with fidelity as well as forceuntil that cause has won, as it is bound to win in the long run.

lahore,tuesday, march 23, 1920

❝ ❞letters to the editor

Bhagat Singh’s idea of non-violence

During the days of Gen Zia, rape victims were often jailedfor adultery if they could not produce 4 male witnesses.

THE TRIBUNECHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 09OPED

IN a world ridden with sectarianviolence, uncontrolled terroristkillings and widespread dema-goguery, a moral abyss, dark and

deep, emerges in which pervasiverepression and an upsurge of lawless-ness against those considered dispos-able become the defining feature ofour times. We realise that we haveentered an age of uncertainty, anduncertainty breeds fear. There is analarm of decline, alarm of theunknown, a kind of fear of strangers,fear of adjustment that is wearingaway the trust and interdependenceon which civil society rests. The spec-tre of terrorism, climate change andruthless economics haunts peoplearound the globe. Open societies rap-idly take precautions against peopleon the move by closing their borders,sacrificing freedom and security. Butwhat about the scourge of Covid-19,the unassailable invader?

In a world split by religion and hatecrimes against ethnic minorities, theonly reason that unites nations is thecollective battle against one commonenemy: the virus on the rampage. Thecivilisational aphorism is apparent:‘Exterminate in the name of religion,

but come together against the wrathof a stubborn antagonist.’ It is a his-torical fact that this strategy is alsosalient to nations where differentreligious and ethnic groups cometogether to throw the aggressor out.The anti-colonial wars are a strikingexample of the diverse forces unit-ing against the aggressor. Thefences, thus, stand symbolically dis-mantled. And yet, though you wantto be together, you fixate on self-quarantine or non-contact in humanrelations, which is your onlydefence at this dark moment.

Interestingly, the anger of the oppo-nent’s ‘bigotry’ or ‘racism’ is againstthe entire human race, irrespective ofrace, gender or class. The microorgan-ism respects no boundaries or reli-gions, treating the world as onenation. Like the predatory forces ofcapitalism, it is everywhere. It has asingle adversary which calls itself‘humans’ but that stands dividedunnaturally into varied nations andreligions. Using Machiavellian tacticsof remaining latent and deceptive fordays, as in the parallel of the Greekmyth of the Trojan Horse, the virussilently spreads its snake-like venominto the enemy camp deceived by itsoblivious existence within.

Like the Trojan Horse computervirus, it maliciously damages andinflicts paralysis on the humans. Ini-tially seeming mild, it surreptitiouslyturns lethal, ready to mutate to keepthe epidemiologists on tenterhooks.Labs around the globe scramble tomeet the insurmountable challengeand virologists set to work to developdiagnostic tests for the new enemy.

The triumph of modern medicalscience that the human race hasbeen so arrogant about now embar-rassingly flounders.

The united armies of nations are at a

loss, with no sophisticated fighterplanes or nuclear missiles potentenough to obliterate it. Though thistime around, there are again seeming-ly only two superpowers: the humans

and the novel coronavirus, nowknown as SARS-CoV-2. It is thehumans who remain outdone andmortified with their superciliousnessflattened by the indomitable forces ofnature. Brought to its knees by a pow-er unheard of before, it struggles towage a fight against an enemy it can-not see. The target is there on thescreen, but no bullet is there in ourarsenal, lethal enough against itsinvincibility. It remains as unde-tectable as the US bombers, cold-bloodedly targeting their enemies ontheir computer screens from 30,000feet above the earth. A face-to-faceconfrontation, as in the times of Home-ric wars, is indeed, unheard of inadvanced technological warfare thatlooks more of a masquerade than a war.Jean Baudrillard, the French sociolo-gist, had similarly argued in his bookThe Gulf War did not take place that theIraq war was conducted as a mediaspectacle. The real violence was sys-tematically overwritten by a videogame or an electronic narrative of sim-ulation far from being an ethical war.

Correspondingly, the creepy-crawlyremains evasive and imperceptible,attacking its victims on the sly, andwithout a war cry. And we humans onthe receiving end remain helpless andfrail in the face of a fully-programmedassault. Donald Trump’s nuclear arse-nal, or the armoured vehicles of theRevolutionary Islamic Guard in Irancarrying the banners declaring ‘Oper-ation Crackdown on the Coronavirus’,or PM Narendra Modi’s ‘56-inchchest’ are of no consequence. Thedominant nations of the world areindeed caught flatfooted for once in

the face of the speed of the spread ofthe enemy that is unheard of in thehistory of modern combat warfare.

Deeply ideological and aestheticquestions arise from such a belliger-ence. One thing is loud and clear; theethics of war are apparently missing inthe history of our civilisation except inthe Hellenic period. If humanity has noethics in confronting its enemies, whyshould the Covid-19? Maybe, it is a les-son at this juncture to change the waysin which the other is looked upon, theway we turn away the homeless exilesfrom our borders and the way we soheartlessly engage in merciless vio-lence, leaving many in pain for theirlost dear ones. Moreover, when thevirus has struck in the ‘wet markets’of meat-eating people, the question ofthe ethics of animal rights foregroundsnot only the value of animals, but alsoof what it is to be human.

Thanks to this Armageddon, weurgently need to strategise continual-ly to defend ourselves through somesemblance of principled behaviourtowards those we inhumanly considerour enemies. Maybe, we need to learnto keep our environment clean withabsolute respect for nature as well asfor human and animal rights. Thehuman crisis we face should some-what blunt our racist or carnivorousappetite, a manifestation of our apa-thetic concern for the world we livein. Our nemesis lies in our assault notonly on nature, but also on our veryown species. For too long we haveconsidered the scales enormously onour side, allowing great harm to theworld around us for the sake of bene-fits. It is now payback time.

COVID-19: The only reason that unites nations is the collective battle against the virus.

If humanity has no ethics in confronting its enemies, whyshould Covid-19? Maybe, it’s a lesson at this juncture to

change the ways in which the other is looked upon, the waywe turn away the homeless exiles from our borders and theway we engage in merciless violence, leaving many in pain

for their lost dear ones. Moreover, when the virus hasstruck in the ‘wet markets’ of meat-eating people, the

question of the ethics of animal rights foregrounds not onlythe value of animals, but also of what it is to be human.

EVERY March 23, leaders of thenation pay homage to the threesupreme martyrs of the free-dom struggle: Bhagat Singh,

Rajguru and Sukhdev. Eighty-nineyears after their martyrdom, BhagatSingh, who became an icon of the rev-olutionary movement even during hislifetime, continues to be one of themost popular icons of the nation, alongwith Mahatma Gandhi and, perhaps,Subhas Chandra Bose. But has thenation really honoured Bhagat Singhin the 73 years of Independence or justmade it ritualistic by paying lip serviceto the martyred ones?

Since Bhagat Singh is the most pop-ular youth icon, has any universitybeen named after him? Have histhoughts and beliefs — in the form ofhis writings — been made part ofschool/college/university syllabuses?Even the youth day of the country isnot named after him. SwamiVivekananda’s birth anniversary —January 12 — was declared the Nation-al Youth Day in 1984 by the Govern-ment of India. Would the Punjab Gov-ernment dare to declare September 28as the Punjab Youth Day, especially inthe light of its drug-infected youth whocould look towards the alternative inthe inspiring vision of Bhagat Singh?

This very powerful icon of the free-dom struggle does not even find a placein the gallery of portraits in the CentralHall of Parliament, where even lesserknown revolutionaries, like martyrHemu Kalani, find a place. Since HemuKalani was from Sindh, then DeputyPM LK Advani saw to it that his portraitis displayed in the Central Hall’s por-trait gallery. Bhagat Singh’s statue hasbeen put up along with those of Mahat-

ma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas ChandraBose and others outside Parliament.However, their portraits are also dis-played in the gallery, but not that ofBhagat Singh. Ironically, the portrait ofVD Savarkar, accused in the MahatmaGandhi murder case, is displayed rightopposite Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait!

There are scores of colleges in Indiaand hundreds of schools and youthclubs named after Bhagat Singh notonly in Punjab but also throughoutIndia. But why not a university? TheUniversity Grants Commission (UGC)website shows a number of universitiesare named after freedom fighters. As onFebruary 1 this year, the UGC has listed935 universities in the country. Theseinclude 50 Central universities, 409 stateuniversities and 127 deemed-to-be uni-versities. Then there is a spurt in privateuniversities — 349 at present — andtheir numbers are increasing rapidly.

A lot many universities are namedafter the states or cities where theywere set up, like Delhi University, Cal-

cutta University, or Panjab University,and after eminent national leaders orscholars. A perusal of only Central andstate universities shows interestingdata. The maximum number of publicsector universities is named after BRAmbedkar — 14 in total. And exactlyhalf — seven — are named afterMahatma Gandhi. The most vilifiednational leader in the present regime— Jawaharlal Nehru — also has sevennamed after him, whereas his daugh-ter Indira Gandhi has six, and IndiraGandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi has eightuniversities in his name! Netaji Sub-has Chandra Bose and Sardar Patelhave three each named after them.

The fast-growing name is that ofDeen Dayal Upadhyaya, who alreadyhas four universities in his name andmay cross the mark of Gandhi andNehru soon. Even APJ Abdul Kalamhas four universities in his name,while Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, thefirst Education Minister of India, hasjust one. Four universities are named

after Swami Vivekananda. One pleas-ant surprise is that of scientist CVRaman, who has three universities inhis name. Atal Bihari Vajpayee andRabindranath Tagore have two each.

Among the revolutionaries, BirsaMunda, Sidhu-Kanhu — tribal revolu-tionaries — have two universities intheir names. Tilka Manjhi, anothertribal revolutionary, has one. Of all thewell-known revolutionary icons, onlyone university — in Kanpur — isnamed after Chandra Shekhar Azad.There is none named after BhagatSingh or any other well-known revolu-tionary, like Master Surya Sen.

States mostly have universitiesnamed after their local heroes orsaints. Bhagat Singh’s name was notthought of either by Punjab or Left-ruled states like Kerala, West Bengaland Tripura that own Bhagat Singh asthe icon of their youth and studentorganisations. When the Central Uni-versity of Punjab (CUP) was set up inBathinda in 2009, I wrote to the thenHRD Minister, Arjun Singh, and hissuccessor Kapil Sibal to name it afterBhagat Singh, but I received noresponse. Punjab MPs in Parliamentshould pressure the Central govern-ment to rename the Central Universityat Bathinda after Bhagat Singh. If theCentral University of ArunachalPradesh in Itanagar can be namedafter Rajiv Gandhi, why can the CUPnot be named after Bhagat Singh?

Despite Bhagat Singh’s 130 writingsbeing now fully available in many lan-guages — Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Englishand Marathi — and in lesser numbers inmany more languages, despite his seri-ous and relevant political writings, likeReligion and our freedom struggle, Com-

munalism and its resolution, The prob-lem of untouchability, Letter to youngpolitical workers and Why I am an athe-ist, no state or Central university orschool board of any state has includedhis writings in its curricula.

The naming of the Chandigarh inter-national airport after Shaheed BhagatSingh is being held up indefinitely,despite the Punjab and HaryanaAssemblies passing resolutions to thiseffect in 2009-10. On the other hand,there is a spree of naming railway sta-tions/airports/universities in the nameof Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

Mass organisations of workers, peas-ants, students, youth and employeeslove to have Bhagat Singh’s photo-graphs, songs and slogans as part oftheir mass struggle/processions, as isvisible in the Shaheen Bagh dharnaand other protests all over the country.Bhagat Singh’s favourite sloganInquilab Zindabad reverberates in allShaheen Bagh dharnas and in strug-gles of mass organisations. They are,thus, honouring Bhagat Singh at anon-official level.

Meanwhile, in the time of the coron-avirus lockdown, when even temples,gurdwaras, masjids and churches arebeing closed for the public, the words ofBhagat Singh from his classic essayWhy I am an Atheist come to mind: Heposes the question — I ask why youromnipotent God; Why did he not killwarlords or the fury of war in them andthus avoid the catastrophe hurled downon the head of humanity by the GreatWar? Perhaps, he would have posed thisquestion today: Why does he (God) notkill coronavirus, which is causing sucha catastrophe in the whole world thateven his places of worship are closed?

CHAMAN LALHONORARY ADVISER, BHAGAT SINGH ARCHIVES

& RESOURCE CENTRE, NEW DELHI

Tribal revolutionaries Birsa Munda, Sidhu-Kanhu

and Tilka Manjhi haveuniversities named afterthem. There is none thatcarries Bhagat Singh’s

name. States mostly haveuniversities named after

their local heroes or saints.Bhagat Singh’s name was

not thought of by Punjab orLeft-ruled states like

Kerala, West Bengal andTripura, which own him asthe icon of their youth and

student organisations.

Bhagat Singh martyrdom day reduced to a ritual

YOUTH ICON: Ironically, Bhagat Singh’s writings are missing from curricula.

SHELLEY WALIAPROFESSOR AND FELLOW, ENGLISH AND CULTURAL STUDIES, PANJAB UNIVERSITY

Politics of border-crossing in times of corona

su do ku calendar forecastMARCH 23, 2020, MONDAY

■ Vikrami Samvat 2076

■ Shaka Samvat 1942

■ Chaitra Shaka 3

■ Chaitra Parvishte 10

■ Hijari 1441

■ Krishna Paksha Tithi 14, up to 12.31 pm

■ Shubha Yoga up to 1:51 pm

■ Puvabhadrapad Nakshatra up to 1:02 am

■ Moon enters Pisces sign 6:37 pm.

ACROSS1 Equivocal and unclear (9)8 Abnormally fat (5)9 Grant of public money (7)10 Hostility (6)11 Stock of wine (6)12 Breed of retriever (8)15 Advance (8)18 Go (6)20 Smother (6)21 To baffle (7)22 Part of horse’s harness (5)23 Rendered powerless (9)

DOWN2 Small rodent (5)3 Offensive remark (6)4 Be basis of (8)5 In preference (6)6 West Atlantic islands

group (7)7 Unhurried (9)11 Self-possession (9)13 Unfounded (8)14 Supplement to a will (7)16 Enjoy (6)17 Mood (6)19 Inexperienced (5)

quick crossword

SATURDAY’S SOLUTIONAcross: 1 Hapless, 4 Pound, 7 Mean, 8 Sporadic, 10 Referendum, 12 Former, 13 Asylum,15 Hoitytoity, 18 Initiate, 19 Warm, 20 Gaffe, 21 Concern.Down: 1 Homer, 2 Platform, 3 Supine, 4 Perquisite, 5 Undo, 6 Decorum, 9 True tolife, 11 Ultimate, 12 Fawning, 14 Static, 16 Yemen, 17 Tiff.

SATURDAY’S SOLUTION

MEDIUM

5 7 2 4 8 1 9 6 3

6 4 1 9 7 3 8 5 2

8 3 9 5 6 2 4 1 7

4 6 5 8 3 7 2 9 1

3 2 8 1 9 6 5 7 4

1 9 7 2 4 5 3 8 6

2 5 3 7 1 9 6 4 8

7 8 6 3 5 4 1 2 9

9 1 4 6 2 8 7 3 5

2 5

4 6

7 9 4 1

2 6 5 7

4 5 9 1

9 5 6 8

6 1 8 4

3 7

5 7

Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy Rainy Foggy

CITY MAX MINChandigarh 28 16

New Delhi 31 17

Amritsar 24 15

Bathinda 27 17

Jalandhar 25 15

Ludhiana 28 15

Bhiwani 27 17

Hisar 28 17

Sirsa 29 17

Dharamsala 17 08

Manali 14 01

Shimla 18 07Srinagar 17 06

Jammu 26 15

Kargil 05 --01

Leh 11 --03

Dehradun 29 11

Mussoorie 18 08

SUNSET: MONDAY 18:36 HRSSUNRISE: TUESDAY 06:21 HRS

TEMPERATURE IN OC

THE TRIBUNE10 CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020J&K/LADAKH/HP


Shimla/Dharamsala, March 22In the wake of two Covidpositive cases at the Tandamedical college, the govern-ment has ordered lockdownin Kangra district till March31. The final reports of bothpatients from the Pune labare, however, still awaited.

As per orders issued bythe Chief Secretary AnilKhachi, all public transportservices will remain sus-pended in the district. Localresidents can ply their vehi-cles only if they have someemergency or are going tolocal markets for purchases.

The order further statesthat strict home quarantineshould be observed by allforeign returnees who land-ed in India on or afterMarch 9. They will also pro-vide information to theirrespective district surveil-lance officials and registerthemselves for home quar-antine, failing which theywill be liable for legal action.

The order states that peopleare required to stay at homeand come out only for buying

grocery, vegetables and med-icines, and for permittedwork-related travel. Under no

circumstances any social, cul-tural, sports, political and reli-gious gathering would be per-

mitted at any place in the dis-trict. The functioning of allgovernment offices will be

governed under the earlierorder (50 per cent staff)issued by the government.

Lockdown in Kangra till March 31Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 22The Kangra administration ishaving tough time tracingnearly 500 local residents whohave returned from WestAsian countries in the lastthree days. Sources saidmost of these residents wereyouths who worked there asskilled labourers. Since theMinistry of External Affairshas not provided any data onsuch immigrants, the author-ities here are relying oninformation from sources totrack these people.

When contacted, KangraDeputy Commissioner RakeshPrajapati said as per their esti-mates, at least 500 persons hadreturned from Middle Eastcountries following the out-break of deadly Covid.

He said it was unfortunatethat these people were notcoming forward themselvesfor testing and examination atthe Tanda medical college.

“We are relying on informa-tion from our sources to tracethese people. We have request-ed villagers and other residentsof the district to provide infor-mation at emergency number

1077 if they have any knowl-edge about people who haverecently returned from a for-eign trip. At present, there aretwo positive cases at the Tan-da medical college. Theyhave been kept in isolation.Five persons whose sampleswere taken yesterday havetested negative. Others whohave returned from foreigncountries, but are yet asymp-tomatic have been asked toself-quarantine for a period of28 days,” said the DeputyCommissioner.

500 Kangra residents backfrom West Asia untraced


Shimla, March 22 As many as 19 persons, whocame to Shimla district fromforeign countries on March20, are under surveillance.

The district administrationhas received a list of 55 pas-sengers, including 54 Indiansand a foreigner, out of which19 are from Shimla district,who have returned fromCovid-affected countries.

The list was sent to all Dis-trict Magistrates by theAdditional Chief Secretarywith directions to get thesepersons medically examinedand screened; and take

action as per the guidelinesissued by the government.Out of 19 persons, 12 aremen and seven women.

“The list of passengershailing from Shimla hasbeen sent to the Chief Med-ical Officer and surveillanceofficer along with theiraddresses for necessaryaction,” said Shimla DCAmit Kashyap, adding thatall these passengers hadarrived on March 20.

Surveillance teams at theblock level have been toldto check these people forsymptoms and examinethem in hospital if need be.“A patient showing symp-toms will be put in isolationat the IGMC, while otherswill be directed to homequarantine themselves,”he added.

Back fromoverseas, 19under watch

Palampur, March 22Residents of Bir-Billing arescared following the stay ofa number of foreigners inBir-Billing and Tibetancolony. They belonged todifferent countries and stay-ing in homestays, hotels andwith Tibetans.

During a visit to Bir-Billingyesterday, a number of resi-dents said the governmentmust tell foreigners for thevirus test since many werefrequent visitors to their

home lands. Besides, the gov-ernment should also checktheir travel documents.

SDM Baijnath Chavvi Nan-ta said the administrationwas well-versed with the sit-uation and all foreignerswere under surveillanceand their travel documentswere being scrutinised.

She appealed to the resi-dents of Baijnath to stayinside and follow the guide-lines to protect themselvesfrom the disease.

Foreigners in Billingunder surveillance Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 22Even as efforts are on toenhance health facilities andpreparedness in wake ofcoronavirus, the fact remainsthat Himachal has testingfacilities only at Indira Gand-hi Medical College (IGMC)and Tanda in Kangra.

RD Dhiman, AdditionalChief Secretary (Health andTourism) today said of the 31samples sent for testing, 24had tested negative whilethe report of seven persons

were still awaited. Two per-sons, a 63-year-old womanand a youth from Shahpurarea of Kangra, have alreadytested positive and are underquarantine at Tanda MedicalCollege in Kangra.

“We have written to theGovernment of India andIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) to includethe Central Research Insti-tute (CRI), Kasauli, and ZonalHospital, Mandi, as a testingfacility for Covid,” revealedDhiman. Since the outbreakof the dreaded virus, 1,030

persons were put under sur-veillance in Himachal. Out ofthis figure, a majority ofwhom have returned aftertravelling abroad, 387 havecompleted the mandatory 28days self-quarantine. Besides,115 persons have left the stateand 575 are still under surveil-lance. “I admit that there isstill a lot of gap in trackingthose who have arrived fromabroad. The district authori-ties have been directed todeal firmly with people whoare not adhering to self-quarantine,” said Dhiman.

HP has testing facility onlyat IGMC, Tanda hospital

A market wears a deserted look during Janata Curfew in Dharamsala on Sunday. PHOTO: KAMALJEET

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES LIKE MILK, VEGETABLES AVAILABLE■ Stores selling groceries, milk, bread,

fruits, vegetables and other uncookedfood items and their transportation-related activity and warehousing

■ Media, hospitals and chemiststores, optical stores, pharmaceuti-cals, soap manufacturing units and

their ancillary units■ Petrol pumps, LPG gas and oil

agencies, their godowns and trans-port-related activities; e-commercedelivery of all essential goods,including food, pharmaceuticalsand medical equipment

■ Units manufacturing alcohol formedicine and sanitisers, subject tofollowing all precautions prescribedby the health department

■ Manufacturing units engaged in theproduction of essential commodi-ties are also open

GIVE INFO ON 1077We are relying on

information from oursources to trace thesepeople. We haverequested villagers andother residents of thedistrict to provideinformation atemergency number 1077if they have anyknowledge about peoplewho have recentlyreturned from a foreigntrip. At present, there aretwo positive cases at theTanda medical college.— Rakesh Prajapati, KANGRA DC

❝

List of passengershailing from Shimla

sent to CMO

Tanda medical college in Kangra. TRIBUNE PHOTO

Dinesh ManhotraTribune News Service

JAMMU, MARCH 22As the Centre on Sundayannounced a lockdown in75 districts including, Jam-mu and Srinagar, adminis-tration of the Union Territo-ry (UT) of J&K directed alldeputy commissioners(DCs) to ensure shutdownof all establishments andservices, except essentialcommodities and services,till March 31.

The order was issued byChief Secretary BVR Sub-ramanayam.

Till Sunday, 3,938 trav-ellers and persons in con-tact with suspected caseshave been put under sur-veillance. As of now, onlyfour cases have tested posi-tive.

As a large number of stu-dents and travellers arereturning to their homes

after the increasing Coron-avirsus cases worldwide,authorities have requestedthem give correct travel his-tory in self-declaration for-mats, provided at designat-ed help desk counters whenthey arrive in the UT by air,rail or road. This wouldsafeguard their own health,that of their families andpublic in large.

Meanwhile, in view of thesituation arising due to

Covid, Simrandeep Singh,Secretary of Food, Civil Sup-plies and Consumer Affairs,issued an order declaring 16services as essential servic-es and commodities.

According to the order,the essential services willinclude supply of groceries(wholesalers and retailers),supply of fresh fruits andvegetables (mandis andretailers), dispensing ofpetrol/diesel at pumps, milk

shops and dairies and relat-ed products, supply of cattlefeed and fodder, medicinesand other pharmaceuticals(retailers, wholesalers andmanufacturing), banks andATMs, supply of LPG(domestic and commercial),health services (includingmovement of staff thereof),manufacturing of healthand medical equipment,telecom operators and theirdesignated agencies, news-papers, post offices, loadingand unloading of wheat andrice at FCI and state fooddepots, transportation ofessential commoditiesthrough national and statehighways (petrol, diesel,kerosene, milk, vegetables,fruits, groceries, FCI sup-plies etc) and provision ofelectricity, water supply andmunicipal and sanitaryservices (including move-ment of staff thereof).

FROM Wuhan toKashmir, coron-avirus has played

out in two sets of stories.One, China suppressedthe news of the origin andthe devastating potentialof this fatal disease. And,added to this was our col-lective failure to wake upto the threat in time else-where in the world,including our country.

We woke up to the dangersand its possible catastroph-ic effects weeks after theWorld Health Organisationdeclared it a pandemic.

The virus did not takefirst available flight fromWuhan to Europe or Indiato cast its deadly shadowall over. It took its time,but the world slept overthe matter for all theseweeks. Consequently, it isnow paying huge price forfailure in the field of pub-lic health.

China failed in recognis-ing the fact that despite itshigh-level progress intechnologies, there wassomething more powerfuland speedier than itsaccomplishments. In thisworld of hundreds offlights every secondacross the world chokingthe sky lines andeconomies running oncomputers, the virus couldcause incalculable crash.That’s what it did.

The virus trotted theglobe free of cost, knowingthat it had no barriers. Thevirus reminded us that itwas deeply aware of themaxim of world being aglobal village, as seen andunderstood in the 20th cen-tury. It broke all the barriersof protectionism and ultra-nationalism tempering sev-eral parts of the world.

The virus didn’t have apassport, nor did it recog-nise any of these formalities.

But it did land in J&Kwith many passport hold-ers, who thought that theirhiding the travel historywould immune them-selves from the deadlyeffects. They skipped pro-tocols at airports, ranaway from hospitals inJammu and Srinagar. Thatwas an act of cowardice,and the worse was thatthis act might result in anunforeseen catastrophe.

This is happening in J&Kalmost every day since thenatives have started com-ing from abroad, some ofthem from the worst-affected countries. Whatdid they want to achieve by

doing all this? No oneknows. They should haveknown that it is because ofthem that the paradise isreeling under an unprece-dented lockdown, as ifKashmir has not hadenough of it already.

The fault also lies withthe system. There is no orlittle awareness aboutpublic health. The systemhas to answer questionswhy public health doesn’tfigure on its priority list,and for that matter, hospi-tals are confirming it withfrightening frequencythat they are understaffedand ill-equipped to meetany crisis . The moneythat should have gone toimprove the health carewent somewhere else.Only those who have beenin power for years togeth-er can answer this. But,given their clout, answerswill never be out.

J&K has perhaps the bestdoctors in the world, whocan treat worst-to worsttrauma cases. They are ded-icated, but with bare hands,without basic requirementsof gloves, gear and masks ,how can they handle such aserious situation?

The worst problem inJ&K is the low prioritythat public health receiveshere. And, now it is payingthe price. It has toldtourists not to visit Kash-mir – the “paradise”,Vaishno Devi shrine hasbeen shut for devotees forthe first time in history.

J&K is plagued withshortage of public healthexperts. The communitymedicine is not given theimportance and resourcesthat it deserves. Theprice is being paid and itwould be heavier in thedays to come. The virus isthreatening to come outof the closets.

In J&K, coronavirus camewith passports too

ON THE FRONTLINEARUN JOSHI

Virus sans barriers The virus trotted theglobe free of cost, know-ing that it had no barri-ers. The virus remindedus that it was deeplyaware of the maxim ofworld being a global vil-lage, as seen and under-stood in the 20th century.It broke all the barriers ofprotectionism and ultra-nationalism temperingseveral parts of the world

Students, travellers fromabroad under radar: Govt

■ 3,939 persons enlisted forobservation till March 22

■ 2,727 persons kept underhome quarantine

■ 59 persons kept underhospital quarantine

■ Surveillance of 462 per-sons completed

■ 690 persons are underhome surveillance

The threat in numbers How UT fared

240Samples collected

229tested negative

4 tested positive7 Reports stillawaited


SRINAGAR, MARCH 22The administration in theValley is now tracking downpeople who are hiding theirtravel histories and are evad-ing mandatory quarantineperiod of two weeks. Theauthorities have appealed tosuch people that they couldbe potential carriers of Coro-navirus that has created ahavoc across the globe.

Srinagar Deputy Commis-sioner Shahid Choudharysaid many passengers, whohad travelled to a Covid-affected country were hid-ing their travel histories.

“Four passengers reachedfrom Mauritius, Dubai andKazakhstan on Sunday butdeclined to declare theirtravel history. A girl comingfrom the US posed as a stu-dent returning fromBangladesh. When she wasasked to provide her pass-port while allotting a room,it was found she had trav-elled to the US, where thethird highest Covid caseshave been found,” saidChoudhary, who is spear-heading the government’sefforts to contain spread ofCoronavirus in the Valley.

He said a man comingfrom Italy reached NewDelhi and made anattempt to escape screen-ing before entering J&K.The latter has also beentraced and shifted to aquarantine facility.

“He took a train to Jam-mu and a cab home in Sri-nagar, just to hide travelhistory. He has beentraced,” the DC said.

The administration haslaunched an initiative totrace such people andshift them to quarantinefacilities. Nearly 65 build-ings, mostly hotels, havebeen turned into suchfacilities in Srinagar andother districts.

Admn trackingthose evadingquarantine

THE TRIBUNEGURUGRAM | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 11DELHI

BATTLING PANDEMIC

1. Stranded passengers at ISBT Kashmiri Gate during Janata curfew in New Delhi on Sunday. 2. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek Bachchan (R), daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (2R) and granddaughters cheer for essential service providers at hisresidence in Mumbai. 3. A man rides a bike on a deserted road in Chennai. 4. Quarantined passengers display the stamps on their hands in Mumbai. 5. Boats are docked at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi. 5. Firefighters disinfect road in Ahmedabad. PTI/AFP/REUTERS

1

5 6

2

3 4

TAX ADVICESC VASUDEVA

Q) My son, an NRI, acquired a res-idential property and funds forthe acquisition of the propertywere provided by me. My son isshowing the property and rentalincome in his I-T return. I havegone through your clarification inThe Tribune dated March 16,2020, on one of the queries onsimilar lines. Please guide me:1. Whether the property and rentalincome should reflect in my ITR.2. Whether from this year I canshow that in my I-T return. 3. Whether anything in writing isrequired from my son in my favour.

— JS MultaniThe amount paid by you forthe acquisition of property inthe name of your son wouldbe treated as a gift to him. Thegift so made is not taxable inview of the provisions of Sec-tion 56 of the Income Tax Act1961 (The Act). It would beadvisable to make out a letterof gift by you for the totalamount spent on the acquisi-tion and construction of theproperty as well as an accept-ance letter from your son inrespect of such gift. The let-ters should contain completeaddress, PAN as well as pass-port number and date of issueso as to provide completedetails with regard to your sta-tus as well as of your son.These papers should be keptready so that these can be pro-duced before the tax authori-ties as and when sought bysuch authorities. This proce-dure would obviate the neces-sity of filing return by you inrespect of rental income. Thesubsequent matters raised inthe query would not arise.

Q) If a mother wants to present ahouse/flat to a daughter as agift then what all formalities areto be completed and also if tax-es are to be paid by any party?

— Ranjana AgarwalThe mother can gift thehouse/plot to her daughter.For such purpose, a gift deedwill have to be executed andduly registered with the Sub-Registrar. The gift deed is tobe executed on a stamp paper,the value of which would bebased on the market value ofthe property. After the regis-tration of such gift deed, thedaughter can take steps forgetting the house mutated inher name in the municipal aswell as revenue records. Nogift tax or income tax is levi-able on such a gift.

Q) a) Can a daughter give moneyas gift to her mother when herown (daughter’s) yearly incomehas been ~1,75,000? What is theamount that can be given as giftas token of love and affection?b) Can a son-in-law give money asgift to his mother-in-law as tokenof love and affection? If so what

is the amount if:(i) The donor is a taxpayer(ii) The donor is non taxpayerc) Can a person give gift for theamount he can afford as per hisbank balance? — MonicaA) Your queries are replied asunder:a) There is no monetary limiton gift given by a daughter toher mother. The amount ofgift depends upon her capaci-ty to make such a gift.b) There is no prohibitionunder the Act for son-in-law togift any amount to his mother-in-law, even if the donee is nota taxpayer.c) A gift received by an indi-vidual for an aggregateamount of Rs 50,000 on orafter first day of April 2017would be exempt from tax,provided the gift has beenreceived(i) from any relative; or(ii) on the occasion of the mar-riage of the individual; or(iii) in contemplation of deathof the payer or donor, as thecase may be.The term relative for thispurpose has been defined as under:(i) spouse of the individual;(ii) brother or sister of theindividual;(iii) brother or sister of thespouse of the individual;(iv) brother or sister of either ofthe parents of the individual;(v) any lineal ascendant ordescendant of the individual.(vi) any lineal ascendant ordescendant of the spouse ofthe individual;(vii) spouse of the personreferred to in clauses (ii) to (vi).

Amount paid to buy property in son’s name not taxableTribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22Delhi today joined the list ofcities across the country toannounce lockdown to checkthe rapid spread of Covid-19as it prohibited inter-statetravel from neighbouringdistricts of Haryana andUttar Pradesh with which itshares the border.

Drawing a lesson from themanner in which countriessuch as Italy, Iran and China,where it spread swiftly, ornations where early lock-down resulted in preventingthe spread, Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal announcedlockdown from 6 am on Mon-day till March 31.

Flanked by LieutenantGovernor Anil Baijal at apress conference thisevening, the Chief Ministersaid if the city governmentdid not take tough steps andif the numbers of affectedleapt to thousands, the

health infrastructure wouldnot be able to deal with it.

The government orderedclosure of public transport,including taxis, private bus-es, auto-rickshaws, whileallowing plying of Delhi

Transport Corporation busesat 25 per cent strength tocater to the requirement ofthose on exemption list.

Besides closure of all reli-gious places, the govern-ment ordered shutting of pri-

vate institution or enter-prise, while directing pay-ment of salary/wages for theperiod to employees, perma-nent or contractual.

Those exempt includepolice, fire, law and order

agencies, hospitals, medicalservices, magisterial servic-es, stores selling food, milk,groceries, vegetables, serv-ice providers such as elec-tricity, water, sanitation, tele-com, posts, media, homedelivery services by e-com-merce platforms, etc.

Restaurants will beallowed to cater to takeawayor delivery services, whileconstruction activity will bebanned during the period.The order prohibitingassembly of five or morepersons will remain in force.

As for reports of blackmarket/hoarding of masksand sanitisers, the CM saidwhile those indulging insuch activities were notonly doing an illegal actbut also working againsthumanity in this hour ofgrave crisis.

The city government, hesaid, had so far conducted327 raids and taken actionagainst 437 individuals.

Delhi to be locked down till March 31Borders with Haryana, UP sealed I Kejriwal says raids on against black marketeers

A deserted road during Janata Curfew in New Delhi on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MANAS RANJAN BHUI

New Delhi, March 22The country’s paramili-tary forces comprising 10lakh personnel haveordered immediate sus-pension of movement oftroops for any kind of trav-el, including leave or rou-tine work, and directedthem to ‘’be where theyare’’ till April 5 to checkCovid-19 outbreak in their

ranks, officials said onSunday.

The forces have alsoasked all jawans and offi-cers to fill a declarationform to state that none oftheir family members havetravelled to any foreign des-tination in the recent pastand in case someone has,they need to be tested orput into isolation on a case-

to-case basis.Officials said the directionhas been issued by theheadquarters of the CRPF,BSF, CISF, ITBP, SashastraSeema Bal and NationalSecurity Guard to ensureprevention of a mass out-break of the pandemic inthese forces that are the“backbone” of country’sinternal security. — PTI

New Delhi, March 22 The air reverberated with amedley of sounds on Sundayevening as people across thecountry rang bells, blewconches and clapped toexpress appreciation formedical and other staff whoare on the frontline of thebattle against the Covid.

From children to the eld-erly, common people toVIPs, all came out in bal-

conies, lawns and terrace oftheir homes as the clockstruck five, following anappeal by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to showgratitude to doctors, para-medics, police and otherpersonnel associated withessential services when thecountry was observing anunprecedented 'Janta Cur-few' on Sunday to check thespread of the virus. — PTI

In Delhi, sounds ofbells, conches fill air

Paramilitary forces suspendtroop movement till April 5

Vishav Bharti

UNJAB is extracting water from theground at the highest speed in thecountry. If the practice goes on unabat-ed, the state will be rendered a desert inthe next two decades. Numerous stud-ies in the past three decades havewarned of such a disaster, but it seemsnothing has roused successive govern-ments to take decisive action. TheComptroller and Auditor General’s(CAG) report on Punjab’s groundwateris the latest addition to a series of damn-ing reports on the subject.

Groundwater extraction hasincreased from 149 per cent of the totalrecharge in 2013 to 165 per cent in2018. Just 60 per cent of Punjab’sgroundwater is fit for use and around85 per cent of the area falls in the over-exploited or critical category. A report,‘Groundwater Resources of Punjab’,prepared by the Central GroundwaterBoard and the state’s Water Resources& Environment Directorate, found thatof the 138 blocks assessed, 109 (79 percent) were overexploited; 3 per centcritical; 2 per cent semi-critical. Just 16per cent were in the safe category. In1989, just 52 per cent of the blocks werecategorised as overexploited.

The depletion of the water table is not anew phenomenon. It started in the 1970swith the cultivation of paddy in the state.It was the time when the state startedshifting to tubewell irrigation from canalirrigation. Now, 71 per cent of the net irri-gated area is under tubewell irrigation,using groundwater, and in only 29 percent canal water is being used.

As per the report, between June 1984and June 2016, 37 per cent of the area inPunjab witnessed a fall of up to 10metres in the groundwater table. Duringthis period, groundwater in 48 per centof the area fell by more than 10 metres.In the remaining about 15 per cent ofthe area, the groundwater level hadrisen. The report has noted that the con-tinuous practice of monoculture of sow-ing paddy, along with free power forextracting groundwater to irrigate pad-dy fields, leads to a decrease in ground-water availability in the state.

The CAG has noted that paddy sowingis the main culprit. As per CAG, 97 percent of the extracted groundwater wasbeing used for irrigation purposes andthe rest for domestic and industrial use.

With a view to regulate and controlthe extraction and management ofgroundwater, the Centre, from time totime, came up with a Model Bill. Butthe CAG observed that no effort was

made by the state to enact an Act tocontrol the use of groundwater.

The CAG noted that Punjab has themaximum percentage of wells showingdepletion in groundwater among the top10 worst-affected states in the pre-mon-soon water level data 2018 when com-pared with the decadal average (2008-2017). Punjab tops the chart with 84 percent of the wells showing depletion.

Parveen Arora

STRUGGLING to cope with thedeclining water table due to over-exploitation of groundwater,Haryana is set to implement the

Atal Bhujal Yojana, which is aimed at themanagement of groundwater resourceswith community participation in water-stressed blocks, besides curbing overex-ploitation of groundwater resources.

In Haryana, the Central scheme will beimplemented by the Agriculture andFarmer Welfare Department with a budg-etary provision of Rs 723 crore to help inconserving water bodies and strengthen-ing the organisations concerned from2020-21 to 2024-25 with 50 per cent finan-cial assistance of the World Bank.

Pankaj Mehla, Water Development Spe-cialist, Groundwater Cell, Agriculture andFarmer Welfare Department, Haryana,says the state government has madearrangements to launch the scheme fromApril, under which 36 blocks of 13 districtshave been identified, which fall in theoverexploited/critical category. The focuswould be on stabilising the water table inthese blocks, he says.

The government will promote micro irri-gation to save on water used in agriculture.It will provide subsidy to farmers for adopt-ing micro irrigation. Rainwater harvestingsystem will also be developed and checkdams will be constructed in Morni andYamunanagar to save water, he adds.

Mehla says a water monitoring systemwill be established in 1,895 panchayats byinstalling digital water recorders, helpingthe residents to determine the watertable of any village. Besides, a watersecurity system will be established at thevillage level, he says.

Under the project, funds will be pro-vided to conserve water bodies in vil-lages through panchayats. Besides,incentives will be given for cropdiversification to farmers to savewater. Presently, the state govern-ment is offering incentives to farmersswitching from non-basmati paddy toless water-intensive crops such asmaize, pulses and oilseed under JalHi Jiwan crop diversification scheme,says Dr Suresh Gahlawat, AdditionalDirector, Agriculture and Farmer Wel-fare Department.

The scheme looks to contribute

towards the goal of doubling farmers’incomes, promoting participatorygroundwater management, improvingwater use efficiency on a mass scale,improving the cropping pattern andpromoting efficient and equitable use ofgroundwater resources and behaviouralchange at the community level, he adds.

Send your feedback to [email protected]

THE TRIBUNE CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020

BaldevSingh Dhillon & Raj Kumar

I T is a paradox that Punjab, which isacutely affected by groundwaterdepletion and facing the spectre ofdesertification, is cultivating long-

duration varieties of paddy and consis-tently pleading for their early transplant-ing. This is happening in spite of the factthat this region is having higher produc-tivity and income from crop cultivationas compared to others having compara-ble area (about 90 per cent) under paddyand wheat cultivation.

Punjab is facing an alarming situationwith respect to groundwater resources.The report, ‘Groundwater Resourcesof Punjab — as on March 31, 2017’, bythe Central Groundwater Board andWater Resources & EnvironmentDirectorate of Punjab, says: “If thepresent rate of extraction continues,the available groundwater resourcesmay exhaust in 20 to 25 years.”

India faced severe food shortage dur-ing the 1950s and 1960s. In the secondhalf of the 1960s, high-yielding vari-eties of wheat and paddy and their com-plementary production-protectiontechnology packages became available.The government formulated a policy offixing the MSP and the procurement ofthe produce, besides other initiativesfor national food security. These devel-opments gave an impetus to paddy cul-tivation in Punjab. From 1965-66 to2017-18, the area under paddyincreased 10.5 times (2.93 to 30.65 lakhhectares) and the production 45.5 times(4.39 to 199.72 lakh tonnes) in Punjab.During the same period, the number oftubewells increased from 26,000 to14.76 lakh and the cropping intensityfrom 129 to 204 per cent as a result ofintensive agriculture. With these devel-opments, Punjab became the food bowlof the country and helped the nationnot only to become food-secure butalso an exporter. This was, however,accompanied by some challenges, ofwhich depletion of groundwaterresources is the most serious.

To tackle this situation, short-dura-

tion paddy varieties and water-savingtechnologies have been developed.The state government issued/passedan ordinance/Act in 2008-09 to ensurethe transplanting of paddy after a noti-fied date. These interventions, accom-panied by campaigns on groundwaterconservation, did slow down the rateof water depletion but did not fullycheck it. Thus, there is an urgent needto create more awareness among themasses in this regard. With this objec-tive, economic returns from the crop-ping system in two regions of the statehaving a similar cropping system butcontrasting groundwater table sce-nario are being presented.

During 2018, the lowest groundwatertable was observed in Sangrur district(32.4 metres) followed by neighbouringBarnala (29.7 metres). These districtswere also on top in terms of the rate offall of the groundwater table from 1998to 2018. These districts, having paddyas the main kharif crop occupyingabout 90 per cent of the area, wereselected to represent the most threat-ened region as far as the annual fall ofthe groundwater level and its depth areconcerned and designated as Region I(R-I). For comparison, two other con-tiguous districts identified are Amrit-sar and Tarn Taran, representing aregion contrasting with R-I withregard to the groundwater scenariobut with a similar cropping system (92per cent area under paddy) and agro-ecology. The duo is designated asRegion II (R-II). The average annualrate of water table fall in R-II (1998 to2018) was almost half (43-57 cm) thanthat in R-I (103-107 cm).

Paddy and wheat account for about 90per cent of the cultivated area in bothregions. Basmati was cultivated inabout 8 and 61 per cent of the kharifarea in R-I and R-II, respectively. Thevarietal pattern of wheat and basmati issimilar in both regions, but in the caseof parmal, there is a contrast. In R-I,long-duration paddy varieties (Pusa 44,Peeli Pusa) were cultivated on about 58per cent of the parmal area and the

short-duration varieties (PR1 21, PR126 and PR 124) on only 19 per centarea. In R-II, the short-duration vari-eties occupied 69 per cent area andPusa 44 merely 0.4 per cent.

Pusa 44 matures in about 160 days afterseeding and Peeli Pusa takes even oneweek more. On the other hand, PR 121and PR 126, the most popular amongshort-duration varieties, mature in 140and 123 days, respectively and PR 124matures in 135 days. These short-dura-tion varieties need 15-25 per cent lesserirrigations than Pusa 44. There is also sav-ing on pesticides and labour.

Farmers in R-I are probably attractedby the higher yield of long-durationvarieties. Though the yields of PR 121,PR 126 and PR 124 are marginally low-er than Pusa 44, the net income fromshorter and longer-duration varieties

is comparable. Paddy straw manage-ment of short-duration varieties is eas-ier as they produce lesser biomass. Byvacating the field earlier, they alsowiden the window between paddy har-vesting and wheat sowing. Further,farmers cultivating long-duration vari-eties are also incurring additionalexpenditure on deepening andinstalling submersible pumps. Thefarmers do not pay for electricity asthe state bears the huge expenses.Above all, the underground waterreservoir is being depleted which can-not be easily replenished.

Wheat and paddy yields are higher by576-758 kg per hectare in R-I than in R-II. Thus, evidently, the net income isalso higher in R-I. The annual returnsare higher by more than Rs 20,000 perhectare in R-I than R-II. One may be

tempted to attribute the higher yield ofparmal in R-I to long-duration vari-eties. The yields of wheat and basmatiare also higher in R-I, although there isno appreciable difference in varietalpattern in both regions. So, the higheryields must be due to the favourableendowments in R-I. Therefore, byadopting short-duration varieties, thereturns will continue to be higher in R-I than those in R-II.

The conservation of undergroundwater resources is more badly neededin R-I than in R-II. Thus, it is beyondcomprehension and common sensethat the farmers in R-I are persistingwith cultivating long-duration vari-eties and there is greater demand inthis region than in other areas of thestate for earlier transplantation of par-mal than the dates presently notified.The people of Punjab, particularly theopinion-makers, must realise thatthere is a need to resort to every prac-tice of water conservation as thisregion is most dangerously placed. Forthis, awareness campaigns need to beorganised regularly; otherwise, we areinviting desertification. Even the inci-dence of farmers’ suicides is higher inR-I than in other regions. There is aneed to analyse the socio-economicfactors responsible for this crisis.

No one has right to spoil the rich,inherited natural resource base, ratherit is the duty of all to conserve it. It isan investment for the survival of thefarming system not only for futuregenerations but also for the presentone. If we persist with present prac-tices of groundwater extraction, theavailable groundwater resources ofPunjab may barely last two decades.Let us join hands to meet the challengeof conserving water resources by theirjudicious use. ‘Sanu apna ghar aap hisambhalna paoo’ (We have to set ourhouse in order ourselves).

Baldev Dhillon is Vice-Chancellor, PAU, Ludhiana. Raj Kumar is

Principal Extension Scientist, Dept of Economics & Sociology, PAU.

Use resources judiciously to ward off desertification

Haryana gears upfor Bhujal Yojana

P

12|INF CUS AGRICULTUREGROUNDWATER CRISIS

Punjab sinkingdeeper into morass

CAG has red-flagged the state’s woes on the water front

The depletion of the water table in Punjab started back in the 1970s.

■ During 2012-16, the net annualgroundwater recharge decreased by 8 per cent as compared to 2008-12

■ Groundwater extraction increased by 3 per cent in the same period

■ The number of electricity-operatedtubewells increased by 84 per centfrom 7.5 lakh in 1996-97 to 13.36 lakh in 2017-18

■ Subsidy to meet the expense for providing free power to agriculture in2017-18 was ~6,578 crore — 94 per centof total subsidies and 11 per cent ofstate’s total revenue expenditure

■ 10 per cent of the groundwater was unsafe for any purpose and 30 per cent was marginally to moderatelysaline/alkaline

Figure it out

Overexploited zoneAs per the report of the Ground WaterCell, Agriculture and Farmer WelfareDepartment, Haryana, the water tableof the state is declining at an averageof 0.5 to 1 metre every year in paddy-sowing districts of the state.Haryana’s water table, which was at adepth of 10.44 metres in 1974 wentdown to 20.71 metres in 2019, a fall of10.27 metres in 45 years. Of the 129blocks, 78 are in the overexploited category, three critical, 21 semi-criticaland 26 in the safe category. Of the 78 in the overexploited category, thegovernment has chosen 36 blocksunder the Atal Bhujal Yojana.

BLOCK BY BLOCK

78 Overexploited (Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Fatehabad,

Gurugram, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal,Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Mewat,Palwal, Panipat, Rewari, Sirsa,Sonepat and Yamunanagar districts)

3 Critical (Ambala, Fatehabad and Hisar)

21 Semi-critical (Ambala, Bhiwani,Charkhi Dadri, Hisar, Jind,

Karnal, Mahendragarh, Mewat,Panchkula, Rewari, Sonepat, andYamunanagar districts)

26 Safe (Ambala, Bhiwani, CharkhiDadri, Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind,

Mahendragarh, Mewat, Panchkula,Rewari, Rohtak, and Sonepat)

Average yield of paddy and wheat (triennium ending 2018-19)Crop Weighted average yield (kg/hectare)

Region I Region II

Parmal 7,440 6,688

Basmati 4,867 4,291

Wheat 5,589 4,831SOURCE: STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF PUNJAB

Water-guzzling paddyThe CAG report found that despite enactment of The Punjab Preservation of Sub Soil Water Act, 2009, toprohibit sowing nursery of paddy and transplantationpaddy before notified dates, agriculture continued to bedominated by paddy (a water-intensive crop) and wheatmonoculture in Punjab, leading to overexploitation ofwater resources. In addition to the surface water fedthrough the canal system, there was an increasing pressure on the groundwater resources which are being overexploited to meet needs of intensive irrigation.

If we persist with the present practices of extraction, Punjab’s available groundwaterresources may get exhausted in 20-25 years, according to an official report.

Rome, March 22From Italy to the US, gov-ernments rolled outtougher measures to haltthe rapid spread of the coro-navirus pandemic as globalcases surged past 3,00,000on Sunday and Asia bracedfor a possible second waveof infections.

Nearly one billion peopleare already confined totheir homes around theworld as countries race tocontain the ballooning out-break by imposing unprece-dented lockdown measures,shutting shops and busi-nesses and sealing borders.

The pandemic has sparkedfears of a global recession,prompting governments tounleash gigantic emergencymeasures to avoid an eco-nomic meltdown.

More than 13,000 personshave died from the virusworldwide, with the situa-tion increasingly grim inItaly, the new epicentre ofthe disease which firstemerged in central Chinalate last year before march-ing across the globe.

Countries in Asia now wor-ry infections could onceagain mount on their shoresas travellers return frombadly-hit parts of Europe, acontinent under siege by thepandemic, with more than1,50,000 declared cases.

Italy has now reportedmore deaths than mainlandChina and third-placed Irancombined, and it has a deathrate of 8.6 per cent amongconfirmed COVID-19 infec-tions — significantly higherthan in most other countries.

The death toll in the Mediter-

ranean nation of 60 millionspiked to more than 4,800 —over a third of the global total.

Lockdown measures havedone little to stem new infec-tions and deaths and the gov-

ernment announced the clo-sure of all non-essential facto-ries in a late-night TV address.

Police patrolled thedeserted streets of Rome onSunday, while checks were

also carried out on beachesafter local officials com-plained people were defy-ing orders to catch sometime in the sun.

In his weekly prayer —

now being streamed live toavoid crowds gathering —the Pope urged all Italians tofollow isolation measures.

Similar shut-in measureshave been rolled out in bad-

ly-hit Spain and France,where helicopters anddrones were being deployedto ensure crowds do notgather in parks or along riv-er banks. — AFP

Restrictions ramped up as cases cross 3 lakh

BANGLADESH PLEDGES $1.5 MILLION Dhaka: Bangladesh on Sunday pledged to con-tribute $1.5 million to the SAARC Corona EmergencyFund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modiwith an initial offer of $10 million from India to helpcombat the fast-spreading Covid-19 pandemic in theregion. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved theamount in favour of the SAARC Secretariat to com-bat the coronavirus in South Asia, Foreign MinisterAK Abdul Momen told PTI. He said Dhaka has com-municated with the SAARC Secretariat as the fundtransfer process was underway and sent a verbalnote to New Delhi about the contribution. PTI

LOCKDOWN NOT ENOUGH: WHO EXPERTLondon: Countries can’t simply lock down theirsocieties to defeat coronavirus, the World HealthOrganisation’s top emergency expert said on Sun-day, adding that there need to be public healthmeasures to avoid a resurgence of the virus lateron. “What we really need to focus on is finding thosewho are sick, those who have the virus, and isolatethem, find their contacts and isolate them,” MikeRyan said. “The danger right now with the lock-downs. If we don’t put in place strong public healthmeasures now, when these lockdowns are lifted,the danger is the disease will jump back up.” REUTERS

THE TRIBUNECHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 13WORLD

GLOBE TROT

Prince William, Kate Middleton share Mother’s Day card LONDON: The UK’s Prince William and his wife Kate Mid-dleton have shared a card their youngest son PrinceGeorge made for the Duchess of Cambridge to celebrateMother’s Day, it was reported on Sunday. The Duke andDuchess of Cambridge posted a selection of photos,including the handmade efforts of the young royal, six,which features a yellow vase with a bunch of red flow-ers on the Kensington Palace Royal Instagram account,reports the Daily Mail newspaper. IANS

Nepal mountaineering assn calls for cleaning up EverestKATHMANDU: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA)has urged asked the government to clean up mountains inthe country where tourism has been suspended due to thecoronavirus outbreak. In his proposal, NMA presidentSanta Bir said the current partial-lockdown period in thecountry was the right time to clean up the peaks, includ-ing Mt Everest. Nepal has imposed a partial lockdownwith the suspension of international flights, long-distancetransport services and closure of education institutes. PTI

HK matchmaking firm accused of cheating customersHONG KONG: The Hong Kong authorities have received 22complaints involving against a city-based matchmakingfirm, alleging that the firm made false service descriptionsto con customers of more than HK$200,000 ($26,000), anaccusation the firms owner has denied, a media reportsaid on Sunday. Exaggerating the number of membersand asking an employee to pose as a potential date wereamong the deceptive tactics used by Loveaholic, thematchmaking agency, the South China Morning Postquoted Ramon Yuen, a member of the Democratic Party,as saying on Saturday. IANS

CUTE GESTURE: The Mother’s Day card that PrinceGeorge gave to the Duchess of Cambridge. TWITTER

Nearly 1 billion people already confined to their homes | Pandemic sparks fears of global recession

GLOBAL TOLL

13,699FRENCH HOSPITALDOCTOR DIES OF COVID Paris: France on Sundayreported its first death of ahospital doctor fromcoronavirus. Health MinisterOlivier Veran said as far as heknew the man — who died onSaturday — was the “firsthospital doctor to be hit”. Theaccident and emergencypractitioner worked at a hospitalin Compiegne, north of Paris. AFP

QUEEN’S AIDE TESTSPOSITIVE: REPORTS London: A royal aide at Buck-ingham Palace has reportedlytested positive for the virus whileQueen Elizabeth II was still at herLondon residence. Themonarch (93) shifted out of thepalace to Windsor Castle indefi-nitely on Thursday as a “precau-tion” after all her engagementswere cancelled and reports arethat she is healthy. PTI

A florist hands a bouquet of flowers to a health worker outside Burgos Hospital in northern Spain on Saturday. AFP

A man protects his face with aplastic bag in Paris. AFP

A volunteer sews handmadeface masks in Spain. AFP

Washington, March 22US President DonaldTrump gave a clarion call tofellow Americans to “stayhome and save lives” as thenumber of people infectedby the deadly coronaviruscontinues to soar from coastto coast and has crossed3,00,000 mark globally.

As of Saturday, there wereat least 26,574 confirmedcases of the deadly coron-avirus in the US, anincrease of more than 7,000in a day alone.

The number of Americanswho have died so far are340, with as many as 80have lost their lives in thelast 24 hours.

“We say, ‘stay at home andsave lives’. This is a time ofshared national sacrifice, butit’s also a time to treasureour loved ones and to takestock of what is most impor-tant: our faith, our families,our neighbours, and ourgreat country,” Trump toldreporters at a White Housenews conference.

With states and local gov-ernments issuing orders tostay at home, about 75 mil-lion residents in California,Illinois, New York and Con-necticut have been directedto sequester. Connecticuthas even said people wouldbe imposed fine in case ofany violation.

There has been no suchnotification by the federalgovernment, but Trumphimself made a clarion callto his fellow citizens to

stay indoors.“We are going to have a great

victory. We’re going to be cele-brating a great victory in thenot-too-distant future,” hesaid. Joining the fight againstthe novel coronavirus, almostall temples and gurudwarasin the US have announcedthat they have closed for pub-lic services. Almost all theIndian-American communityevents across America havebeen cancelled.

“The American people arecoming together. They’re

responding with commonsense, compassion, and gen-erosity,” Vice President MikePence told reporters at theWhite House news briefing.

Several Indian-Americannon-profit bodies have beenrunning 24X7 helpline andproviding food to the needy.

“People are heeding theadvice of state and localauthorities, and tens of mil-lions of Americans are put-ting into practice the ‘15 Daysto Slow the Spread’,” Pencesaid. — PTI

Stay home, save lives: Trump

President Donald Trump calls on a reporter during a coronavirustask force briefing at the White House on Saturday. AP/PTI

Washington, March 22The US Food and DrugAdministration on Satur-day approved a coronavirusdiagnostic test that can beconducted entirely at thepoint-of-care and can deliv-er results in 45 minutes.

The approval of such a diag-nostics test developed by Cal-ifornia-based Cephid wouldhelp in fast identification ofinfected people and quicklystart treating them and theirquarantine. The test willbegin shipping next week.

“The test we’re authorisingtoday will be able to provideAmericans with results withinhours, rather than days like theexisting tests, and the companyplans to roll it out by March 30,which is an incredibly rapidtimeline for such an effort,”Health and Human ServicesSecretary Alex Azar said.

Cepheid said the test hasbeen designed to operate onany of its more than 23,000automated GeneXpert® Sys-tems worldwide, with a detec-tion time of 45 minutes.

“During this time ofincreased demand for hospitalservices, clinicians urgentlyneed an on-demand diagnostictest for realtime managementof patients being evaluated foradmission to healthcare facili-ties. An accurate test deliveredclose to the patient can be

transformative — and helpalleviate the pressure that theemergence of the 2019-nCoVoutbreak has put on healthcarefacilities that need to properlyallocate their respiratory isola-tion resources,” said Dr DavidPersing, Chief Medical andTechnology Officer at Cepheid.

Cepheid currently has near-ly 5,000 GeneXpert® Systemsin the US capable of point-of-care testing and for use inhospitals, said Cepheid Presi-dent Warren Kocmond.

“Our automated systems donot require users to have spe-cialty training to perform test-ing — they are capable of run-ning 24/7, with many systemsalready doing so today,” he said.

FDA CommissionerStephen Hann said thismarks an important step inexpanding the availabilityof testing and rapid results.

“Point-of-care testing meansthat results are delivered topatients in the patient care set-tings, like hospitals, urgentcare centres and emergencyrooms, instead of samplesbeing sent to a laboratory,” hesaid. — PTI

US FDA approvestest that diagnosesCovid in 45 minutes

Beijing, March 22China will redirect all arriv-ing international flights fromits capital Beijing to 12 othercities from Monday to controlthe surge of imported coron-avirus cases as the countryreported its first domesticallytransmitted Covid-19 caseafter a gap of three days, offi-cials said on Sunday.

The country’s NationalHealth Commission (NHC)said 46 new confirmed caseswere reported on the main-land on Saturday, includingone domestic infectiontransmitted by imported cas-es in Guangzhou.

The NHC said on Sundaysix deaths were reported

from China on Saturday,including five from Hubeiprovince, taking the coun-try’s death toll to 3,261.

Coronavirus epicentreWuhan, however, has notreported any new case forthe fourth consecutive day,the health officials said.

The overall confirmed cas-es on the mainland reached81,054 by the end of Satur-day, including 3,261 peoplewho died of the disease, 5,549patients still being treatedand 72,244 patients dis-charged after recovery.

As the country saw a surgein imported infections with45 new cases, China initiat-ed stricter measures to pre-

vent COVID-19 from resur-facing and creating a secondwave of infections, thehealth officials said.

On Sunday, the govern-ment announced that allinternational flights sched-uled to arrive in its capitalBeijing will be redirected toairports in 12 other Chinesecities from Monday.

International passengersflying to Beijing willinstead land in airports in12 cities including Shang-hai, Tianjin, Nanjing andShenyang as their firstpoints of entry, the CivilAviation Administration ofChina (CAAC) said in astatement. — PTI

China reports 1st local case after 3days, Beijing to divert all int’l flights

Zagreb, March 22A strong earthquake shookCroatia and its capital onSunday, causing panic, theevacuation of hospitals andwidespread damage —including to the city’s iconiccathedral — all amid a par-tial coronavirus lockdown.

A 15-year-old was reportedin critical condition andseveral others were injured,news outlets reported.

The European seismologi-cal agency, EMSC, said theearthquake measured 5.3and struck a wide area north

of the capital, Zagreb, at 6.23am. (0523 GMT) Sunday. Theepicenter was 7 km (4 miles)north of Zagreb at a depth of10 kilometers (6 miles).

Prime Minister AndrejPlenkovic said earthquakewas the biggest in Zagreb inthe past 140 years.

Many buildings in thecapital cracked and wallsand rooftops were dam-aged. Downtown streetswere littered with debris.Concrete slabs fell on carsand chimneys landed infront of entrances.

Footage from the sceneshowed mothers dressed innightgowns hugging their

newborn babies in a parkinglot as they evacuated a dam-aged maternity hospital

amid freezing temperatures.The women, newborn babiesand incubators were beingmoved to a new location withthe help of the army.

Zagreb’s iconic cathedralwas also damaged, with thetop of one of its two spirescollapsing. The cathedralwas rebuilt after it toppledin the 1880 earthquake.

Power was cut as people ranout of their homes. Severalfires were also reported. Atleast two other tremors wererecorded later. Residentsshared photos of belongings

falling off shelves, broken bot-tles and glass inside homes.

Officials first said a 15-year-old was killed, but doctors lat-er said that she is in criticalcondition and that they arefighting for her life. Theygave no immediate details onthe extent of other injuries.

The earthquake struck amida partial lockdown of the capitalbecause of the spread of thecoronavirus. People were toldto avoid public areas, such asparks and public squares, buthad little choice as they fledtheir residences. — AP

Strong quake shakes Croatia, damaging buildings in capital

A woman, wearing a face mask amid concerns over the spread of Covid-19, takes a video of otherwomen while they run dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes at Century Park in Shanghai on Sunday. AFP

Washington, March 22Acting Homeland SecuritySecretary Chad Wolf saysillegal border crossingshave dropped by 50 per centafter restrictions due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administra-tion is turning back anyonecrossing illegally, amongother restrictions.

Wolf says becausemigrants often come with-out identification paper-

work it’s unclear how totrace their medical historyand to determine if they arearriving from an area hard-hit by the virus.

But the Trump adminis-tration has also maderestriction immigration atop priority, regardless ofthe pandemic and hadalready been sending thou-sands of asylum seekersback to Mexico to wait outtheir cases. — AP

Illegal border crossinginto US down 50 pc

A destroyed car is seen following an earthquake in Croatia. REUTERS

The test developed byCalifornia-based

Cephid will help in fastidentification of infected

Says China was very secretive on coronavirusPresident Donald Trump has hit out at China for being “verysecretive” in sharing information on its coronavirus outbreak thathas claimed over 13,000 lives globally, asserting that the US andthe world would have been better prepared if Beijing gave an“advance warning” about the impending crisis. Speaking at apress briefing here on Saturday, Trump denied reports that the USintelligence reports in January and February had warned of acoming pandemic, saying America did not know about theoutbreak until it started coming out publicly. PTI

THE TRIBUNE14 JALANDHAR | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020SPORT

PORT OF SPAINPlayers should use thisbreak to stay fit: PollardWest Indies’ limited-oversskipper Kieron Pollardbelieves the break broughtupon them by the coronaviruspandemic is a good time to“introspect” about theircareers and players shoulduse it to “stay mentally andphysically fit”. “It is a goodtime for introspection, a goodtime for reflection, a goodtime to look at where you areas an individual in your careerand what you want to achievegoing forward,” he said. Pol-lard said it is time to work onhis fitness and prepare for theseason ahead. “You have totake this time in order to dothat and also keep yourself ingood physical shape, andmentally as well, becausewhen the bell rings and theysay ‘ok, everything is back tonormal and we need to go ontour’, it might not be enoughtime to be prepared. You asan individual have to be pre-pared mentally in order toperform at your best,” hesaid.

MUMBAILooks like Janata Curfew isbeing followed: HessonFormer New Zealand cricketteam coach Mike Hessontweeted a video of an emptyBandra-Worli sealink in Mum-bai, saying that the JanataCurfew seems to be a successin the city. “Have seen thisview many a times from myhotel room over the years butnot with less than 1,000 carson it........#India is having acurfew today for 14 hours tofight #covid_19 it looks likeit’s being followed,” said Hes-son, who has also coachedIPL team Royal ChallengersBangalore. “Unbelievablestart to the #JantaCurfew, pindrop silence as they used tosay in school. Hope this isextended beyond this day andsocial distancing can beadhered to in the days tocome,” said Ashwin in histweet. — AGENCIES

BRIEFLY

Haris Gulrej is waitingnear the media room,hoping to catch a

glimpse of Real KashmirFC’s Scottish coach DavidRobertson. The 14-year-oldGulrej, a Class XI student, isa budding full back with theReal Kashmir U-14 team. Hehad spotted the angry Scotbriefly after the team crashedto a 0-1 loss against Kolkatagiants East Bengal.

Despite the defeat, Gulrej,who also doubles as theteam’s volunteer to managethe fans on match days, wasbacking his team to get backto winning ways. He believesthe part-time association withthe team is the best thing thathas happened to him growingup. And obviously, he wants tograduate to wearing the firstteam jersey. But his family —his father, to be precise — wanthim to discontinue playingfootball and take up studiesseriously as “that is the onlyway forward”, in their view.

“I want to play football, butthey want me to concentrateon studies,” Gulrej said.When quizzed further on howhe would make his familyunderstand that football ishis calling, he retorted: “Idon’t know how.”

Suhail Ahmed, who origi-nally hails from Gurez,some125km away from Sri-nagar, has a similar story totell. “Football is lovely towatch. It is the getting bighere,” he said.

All-round supportLovely scenes have become aregular feature at the TRCGround in Srinagar, the hometurf of Real Kashmir. Not onlyare the young men back, enjoy-ing a great game, women, kidsand even young girls can beseen supporting their team and

hooting the opposition.The scenario was far from

ideal when Robertson joinedthe team. Apart from the non-descript facilities, he recalledthat the team comprisingonly Kashmiri players in 2017showed up wearing Manches-ter United jerseys and jack-ets, and brought their ownfootballs. “There was no netin the goalposts. Then we hadour first home game and Ithink there were only 200-oddpeople in the stadium and allwere men. I remember ask-ing Shamim (Shamim Meraj,co-owner): ‘It’s funny, whyaren’t the women or kidshere?’ He answered: ‘That’sthe way things are here’.”

At that time, Lone StarKashmir was the biggest foot-ball club of the state. Threeyears later, it’s RKFC and itsfamous Snow Leopard badgethat rules the roost in this partof the world. As for atten-dance, the club is now forcedto restrict entry of fans.

Robertson knew he hadtaken in more than a respon-sibility of managing this newclub when around 20,000came to watch them playMohun Bagan.

“I know most came to thestadium to watch Churchilland not us. But then suddenlyafter that there was so muchenthusiasm and passion forthe club. I think in one of thegames, think it was againstMohun Bagan, we had 20,000people and they were hangingon the mosque, the buildings.You had never see anythinglike that,” he recalled.

“But now it doesn’t matterwho we play. This season wehad to restrict the crowd. Thething which is most pleasingis that suddenly now you seewomen, kids, grandparents,and the police all inside. It is

like two hours of happiness. Idon’t know whether it is anescape for them, but Srinagaris now a place full of happypeople,” the Scot said.

New confidenceAnd this new confidence inthe team has come to theirrescue a number of times,most recently when the statewas put under a lockdown inAugust last year. Severalporters, fans of the team,helped out the Real Kashmirteam, which was in a bindwhile trying to catch a flight toKolkata to participate in theDurand Cup, only days beforethe abrogation of Article 370.

Many of the contingent,comprising foreign anddomestic players plus themanaging staff, had alreadyreached Kalyani, nearHowrah in Bengal. The Kash-miri boys and the administra-tive staff had to join the teama day later. But they werestopped by the airline staff asthey had excess baggage ofaround 80kg. To their horror,they could not pay extra feesfor it as the credit/debit cardswere not working. But for alucky call from co-ownerSandeep Chattoo, the teamwould have been stranded.

“I had left a day earlier. NowI was coordinating every-thing from Delhi. It is crazy,you can make a movie out ofthis! So they are at the air-port, the flight is gettingdelayed because nothing isworking,” Chattoo said.“There was only one phonenumber working at the air-port, with Indigo Airline. Irandomly dialled the numberand asked about my team.They told me not to worry asall the porters and staff, whohad the curfew passes thatday, pooled in the money topay the arrears (for excess

baggage). So they boardedthe flight. Of course we paidthem back, but it has beencrazy. Had that call notmatured, they would nothave boarded the flight,” theco-owner added.

On the funny side, Chattoo

disclosed that he has lost 8kgwhile trying to manage theclub amidst all the restric-tions. “But all these hardshipshave brought us together.”

‘It is a brand now’The Real Kashmir FC has

covered a long journey in aspace of three years. Now ithas become a brand. Adidashas joined hands with theclub and is selling club mer-chandise at select stores. It isa far cry from the timeswhen the team had to make

a 36-hours train journey toPune for the play-offs oranother 20-hour bus journeyto Bengaluru for the all-important final matchagainst Hindustan FC thatthey won 3-2 to earn promo-tion to the I-League.

How football made it a winter of joy in KashmirVinayak Padmadeo in Srinagar

Football brought back smiles to the peopleafter abrogation of Article 370, internet ban

The club is a brand now, and with it comes pressure: Coach Robertson

SAI centres tobe used asquarantinefacilitiesNew Delhi, March 22The Sports Authority of India(SAI) centres that have beenshut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be used asquarantine facilities, theSports Ministry has said.

The decision to allow allSAI regional centres, stadi-ums and hostels to be used asquarantine facilities was tak-en following a request fromthe Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare. “Yes, we havedecided to allow all our cen-tres to be used as quarantinefacilities after the HealthMinistry asked for it. It is apandemic and all the SAIcentres are public proper-ties,” sports secretary Rad-hey Shyam Julaniya said.

“This is a crisis situation

and whatever support thegovernment needs, we areready to provide that,” headded. Julaniya, however, didnot specify exactly whenthese centres will be put touse by the Health Ministry.SAI has 10 regional centresand five stadiums in theNational Capital Region.These can be used to createquarantine facilities for atleast 2,000 people, accordingto an official estimate. In thewake of the deadly coron-avirus outbreak, all the train-ing camps at the SAI centres,barring for those preparingfor the Olympics, were can-celled and athletes wereadvised to return home bythe Sports Ministry. — PTI

New Delhi, March 22Amidst growing pressureon the InternationalOlympics Committee, Indi-an athletes have also joinedthe clamour for the TokyoOlympics to be postponed,because they have noaccess to training facilities,which are under lockdownto arrest the spread of thecoronavirus pandemic.

However, there are otherIndian athletes who arewilling to go by whateverdecision the IOC takes.There are those who feelthe Olympics should beheld on time, arguing that alot of hard work has gone into prepare for the Games.

Not right time butprepared for Oly: ManuPostponement of tourna-ments, cancellation of trialsand camps hardly matter atthis point to top shooterManu Bhaker, who is hop-ing to see the world win thebattle against the Covid-19pandemic soon. The 18-year-old is not thinkingabout things that arebeyond her control. “Trials,events should be postponedin current situation as thereare other very importantthings for the world to dealwith,” Manu said.

Manu said the shootersare following the protocolsand guidelines issued bythe concerned authorities.The pistol ace was one of thefew shooters who participat-ed in a trial organised lastweek by the National RifleAssociation of India (NRAI)in New Delhi. The trial wasarranged to allow the shoot-ers register their scoresafter the postponement ofthe Delhi World Cup and theIndian team’s pull-out fromthe Cyprus World Cupowing to the coronavirusoutbreak.

“Camp situation was fineas only a few shooters werethere, there was no largegathering and it was forthree days,” she added.

Asked about the OlympicGames that are shrouded inuncertainty, Bhaker said

she will look to carry onwith her routine that is partof her preparation. “I amrelaxed at home. The cur-rent situation does notaffect my preparation andmindset. I am continuingwith my yoga sessions,

meditation and things thathelp me stay calm and com-posed,” she said. “TheOlympics, whenever it hap-pens, is huge, so we need tobe prepared. I am preparingfor the Olympics asplanned.”

All efforts will go waste ifOlys cancelled, MirabaiA wary Mirabai Chanu hasonly one prayer on her lips— that the Tokyo Olympicsmay go as per the scheduledespite Covid-19 pandemic.Otherwise, all her efforts

towards winning anOlympics medal will godown the drain. For the lastfour years, Mirabai haslaboured for a successfulOlympics outing but all shecan think right now is aboutthe fate of the TokyoGames. “If the Olympics donot happen, all our effortsfor the last four years willgo waste. I don’t want it tocancel, I am praying to Godeveryday. I just wanted aget an Olympics medal formyself,” Mirabai said.

Mirabai’s maidenOlympics campaign fouryears ago had ended in dis-appointment as she failedin all of her three attemptsin the clean & jerk section.

Calls for postponing theTokyo Games until thecoronavirus is containedare also increasing but thetwo-time CommonwealthGames gold medallist, whohas already sealed anOlympics quota, wants thequadrennial event to go asplanned. “The pressure ofwinning a medal haschanged me to think thatthe Olympics should not becancelled,” Mirabai said.“That’s all I’m thinking.The rest, training etc. I amnot tense about it right now.Even if it’s postponed,there will be a lot of prob-lem because a lot canchange in a short period oftime for us.”

The government’s direc-tives have led many toleave the National Instituteof Sports campus inPatiala, but the core groupof weightlifters are stilltraining. “The institute hasalso become quite empty asonly the athletes trainingfor the Olympics are left.Only the core group ofweightlifters is training. Weare scared of going outalso,” she said. — Agencies

Football fans cheer for Real Kashmir during an I-league match at the TRC Ground in Srinagar. FILE

Tokyo 2020 or not? What Indians think

It is a pandemic andall the SAI centres arepublic properties. This is acrisis situation andwhatever support thegovernment needs, we areready to provide that— Radheshyam Jhulaniya, SPORTS SECRETARY

❝I am continuing withmy yoga sessions,meditation and thingsthat help me stay calmand composed. TheOlympics, whenever ithappens, is huge, so weneed to be prepared. I ampreparing for theOlympics as planned— Manu Bhaker, PISTOL SHOOTER

Coronavirus hasalready been controlled inChina, where it was massive,and we are confident thingswill come under control in thenext two months. We will goby what the IOC decides. Ifthe IOC says the Olympics willgo on, we will have toparticipate—Rajeev Mehta, IOA SECRETARY GENERAL

Opinion divided on whether the July-August Olympics should be postponed

Mumbai: Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi feels delaying the Olympicsis the only option in the present scenario. “Olympics is all about hav-ing the best of the best competing for the highest prize in sport andin today’s scenario where the world is locked down and the trainingfacilities are all shut, that cannot be a reality,” the 45-year-old said.“So in my opinion pushing it to next summer is the only solution.While it’s not ideal for all parties, it’s probably the only logical solu-tion in the current scenario.” Sania Mirza (in pic) said she wouldabide by the IOC’s decision on the fate of the Games. — REUTERS

BHUPATHI WANTS IT POSTPONED, SANIA TO ABIDE BY IOC DECISION

Former world No. 1 Mirabai Chanu feels if the Olympics are postponed there will be a lot ofproblems because a lot can change in a short period of time for weightlifters. FILE

VIRUS HAS NOTHAMPERED OUR OLYPREPARATION: REIDNew Delhi: The Indianmen’s hockey team chiefcoach Graham Reid believesIndia are better-placed thantheir opponents when itcomes to preparation for theTokyo Olympics, as unlike oth-er nations, the deadly Covid-19 hasn’t hampered theirtraining programme. Indiawon’t be able to travel to Ger-many and England for theirFIH Pro League matches afterthe competition was put off tillMay due to the spread of thedisease, but Reid tried to lookat the positives in these tryingtimes. “The authorities werequick to take action and iso-late the SAI South Centre inBengaluru. We are isolatedbut we can carry out our nor-mal schedule. Things are verysmooth. We cannot controlthe virus but we can controlour environment,” Reid said.“Things are changing on a dai-ly basis but one of the greatthings is our ability to contin-ue training which other coun-tries don’t have. Australianplayers are based with theirfamilies and train in Perth,” headded. “Argentines have acentralised programme but Idon’t think they are training atthe moment whereas ourentire group is together. Wehave 32 campers here andwe can play competitive hock-ey against each other. We areplaying internal games ininternational tempo. We areplaying different styles ofhockey every day. One day,we are playing like Germany,the next day like Australia,”Reid added. — PTI

The pace of development hasbrought pressure as well. CoachDavid Robertson and team arethrilled that they have brought thesmiles and passion out from theyouth but then there is this constantpressure from the fans to win.“See, no one expected us to win theSecond Division. Again, no oneexpected us to finish third in our firstI-League season but now suddenlythere is pressure. People think youfinished third, now you have got to dobetter than that. So I think it’s diffi-cult for some of our players,” Robert-son said. “I think we are getting a lotmore respect from teams coming toplay us here. I remember the firsttime we played TRAU this season, itwas bit weird. That was the firstgame ever we were pegged as

favourite to win. Even at home wefound a bit of pressure. It is great tohave crowd supporting you, but nowwe owe it to them a result. You sawwhat happened yesterday, the pas-sion ran wild. It is a new team, with

times you lose 2-3 games, you don’tknow what will happen,” he added.Thankfully, the Scot says he has play-ers in the team, including skipperLoveday Okechukwu and BazieArmand, who just get on with thegame. “We have got Loveday, Baziewho have played in the Indianleagues. They say once you put thatbadge on you it feels different,”Robertson said. “When you go to anyrestaurant you see these kids andfamilies on their phones and they arenot talking, but you come down herewe have people talking. Even whenthere was no internet, even now theycome down without their phones. Soyou get to know people well. Whenthings go against us, the travel, therestrictions, it made us mentallytough. It brought us together.”

David Robertson

SRINAGAR, CITYOF PEACEPlans are afoot to announceSrinagar as City for Peaceand to hold a celebrity foot-ball match very soon, includ-ing the likes of Mesut Ozil ofArsenal and Paul Pogba, theWorld Cup winner for France.And Sandeep Chattoo is rel-ishing this added responsi-bility. “I am more than justhappy. This (running theclub) is madness but it isalright. Kashmir has givenme so much of love. There isthis talk of Hindu, Muslimand Pandits but I have beenhere for 20 years. I owesomething to them,” hesaid. “I have seen the youthsuffer here. I have seenthem misunderstood. I haveseen them killed on thestreets. But all that wasbecause frustrations, wrong-doing of others. They need-ed a direction. I am not amessiah. But it was anexperiment and it hasproved right for me.”“Did you hear any sloga-neering? Did you find any-body who was there to cre-ate a mischief? They werejust having fun, this is inspi-ration for them. They think‘It’s OK, forget Article 370,statehood... This is football,enjoy’. This is what footballcan do,” Chattoo added.Chattoo says the nextphase will be enormous.“What we are going to do isto first get Srinagardeclared as a city of peace.Then we are going to getinto community. We willform 3000 peace-leaders,mostly young children, whowill go to kids in their locali-ty and talk to them aboutfootball and make thisgroup wider,” he said. “It isa huge thing but is doable.Ultimately it will comedown to making smallclubs and have matcheslike Indra Nagar vs Shivpo-ra, identify the groundsnearby and give them foot-ball and let them play,” headded.

❝❝

THE TRIBUNECHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020 15SPORT

LONDONEnglish Premier Leagueeyes June returnThe English Premier Leagueis tentatively targeting aresumption on June 1 with aview to completing the sea-son over six weeks beforemaking an August start to the2020-21 campaign, the Sun-day Telegraph reported today.The report said the sketchyplan was a "best-case sce-nario" aimed at mitigatingthe heavy losses clubs aresustaining as they continueto pay wages while footballremains shut down becauseof the coronavirus pandemic.On March 13, all elite levelsoccer matches in England,including the PremierLeague, were suspendeduntil April 4 with that stop-page subsequently extendeduntil April 30.

SYDNEYAustralian rules season suspended after lockdownThe Australian FootballLeague's (AFL) attempt toforge on with the seasondespite the coronavirus out-break lasted just one roundbefore it was shut downtoday in the wake of a gov-ernment crackdown on non-essential travel. The AFL,which runs the top flight Aus-tralian rules league, theNational Rugby League (NRL)and soccer's A-League haddecided to press on withtheir seasons behind closeddoors last week after banson gatherings of more than500 people.

SHANGHAIFellaini is 1st Covid case in Chinese Super League Marouane Fellaini has testedpositive for the coronavirus,his club Shandong Lunengsaid today, the former Man-chester United player becom-ing the first known case inthe Chinese Super League(CSL). He is the first con-firmed case in the CSL, deal-ing a blow to the league'shopes of starting the seasonas early as next month.

CAPE TOWNSwimmer Le Clos facesuncertain training futureOlympics swimming goldmedallist Chad le Clos had toleave his Turkish base in arush after his training sched-ule for the Tokyo 2020Games was thrown into dis-array, and has doubts overwhether the event will goahead. Le Clos had set up inTurkey after an earlier campin Italy had been cancelleddue to the coronavirus out-break, but is now at home inCape Town and uncertain ofhis immediate future plans."There's no real plan goingforward. I have no coach, notraining partners. I could bestuck here until theOlympics," he told SouthAfrica’s Sunday Times news-paper.

BRUSSELSCovid claims financial victimas Anderlecht fire coach Belgian giant Anderlecht havefired assistant coach ParZetterberg to save money asthe coronavirus football lock-down starts to bite. The Brus-sels club say they fired the 49-year-old Swede due to majorrevenue losses since thechampionship was suspendedbecause of coronavirus.

LONDONF1 drivers race online, Buren wins virtual Indy!Red Bull Formula One driverMax Verstappen pulled out ofthe second All-Star EsportsBattle on Saturday but RudyVan Buren, the ‘World’sFastest Gamer’ in 2017, madesure there was a Dutch winneranyway. The 20-lap race on avirtual Indianapolis roadcourse featured a cast of topdrivers and gamers, compet-ing remotely, after the fast-spreading coronavirus out-break brought motorsport to astandstill. Van Buren, a formersimulator driver for McLaren,finished third in last weekend’sfirst All-Star race and this timewon from third on the grid.McLaren Shadow esports rac-er Kevin Siggy was secondwith Portuguese gamer NunoPinto third. AGENCIES

BRIEFLY

Zurich, March 22Tennis great Roger Federerhas appealed to his legion offans to take the threat ofcoronavirus seriously, failingwhich everyone could endup in quarantine pretty soon.

The 38-year-old tennissuperstar, who is currentlynursing a knee injury, saidthat he and his family are inself-isolation at their homein Switzerland and will con-tinue to remain so till thecrisis tides off.

“I’m also staying home,and I haven’t been shakinganybody’s hands for quitesome time now,” Federersaid in an Instagram mes-sage to his 7 million-plusfollowers.

Over 300,000 people haveso far tested positive for thevirus with over 13,000deaths across the globe.

“I wash my hands veryfrequently as we’re sup-posed to. I believe helpingeach other is more impor-tant now than ever, espe-cially because we want tohelp the older generation,”Federer added.

“They’re the ones at high-est risk, and we need to helpthem by keeping a distanceof two metres and not shakehands. It’s really importantto take these rules seriously.

Very, very seriously. Even-tually, we could all be inquarantine and not be ableto leave the house anymore,so I really hope all of us takeit very seriously,” he added.

Earlier, 23-time GrandSlam champion SerenaWilliams had also sharedher experience of self isola-tion due to coronavirus andhow the experience hasbeen distressing. Williamsrevealed that she is now onthe edge because of thepandemic.

She said, “I wanted to takea minute and talk about myexperience with coron-avirus. It started out withme feeling like: ‘Oh it can’treally affect me.’ And thensuddenly Indian Wells wascancelled and I was like:‘Oh, Ok, that’s weird but Ihave a little time off andI’m going to enjoy that timeoff.’ And then one cancella-tion led to another and thenled to another and led to allthis anxiety that I’m feel-ing.” — Reuters

For the love of Roger,follow his advice!Fed’s Order: ‘Wash hands, maintain distance’

Milan, March 22Former AC Milan defend-er Paolo Maldini and hisson Daniel, a current play-er for the same club, haveboth contracted the coron-avirus, the club said in astatement on Saturday.

Paolo Maldini, 51, a one-club player and currenttechnical director at theclub, is regarded as one ofthe best defenders Italyhas ever produced andmade a joint-record 647Serie A appearances.Daniel, 18, made his ACMilan debut this season.

“Paolo Maldini learnedthat he had contact with aperson who tested posi-tive and was sufferingfrom symptoms of thevirus. He was tested yes-terday and found positivefor the coronavirus,” theclub said in a statement.“The same goes for hisson Daniel.”

The statement added:“Paolo and Daniel are ingood condition and... willextend the quarantinefor the time necessaryfor a complete clinicalrecovery.”

Meanwhile, Former RealMadrid president LorenzoSanz, who was hospi-talised with coronavirus,died on Saturday at theage of 76, his sonannounced. Sanz was incharge of the Spanishgiants from 1995-2000,overseeing two ChampionsLeague titles. — Agencies

Ex-Italy starMaldini andson infected

Tokyo, March 22Tokyo Olympics organisershave started drafting possi-ble alternatives to holdingthe Olympics this summer,two sources familiar withthe talks said, in contrast tothe Japanese government’sstance that postponementis not an option.

While the coronavirusoutbreak has disruptedsports events around theworld, Japan has beensteadfast in saying that theGames will go on. The topgovernment spokesmansaid on Wednesday saidTokyo wasn’t preparing forpostponement.

Prime Minister ShinzoAbe has staked his legacyas Japan’s longest-servingpremier on the Games andis hoping for a boom intourism and consumerspending. At risk is morethan $3 billion in domesticsponsorship, an Olympicsrecord, and some $12 billionspent on preparations.

Simulation of postponement“Finally, we have been askedto make a simulation in caseof a postponement,” said oneof the sources, an officialclose to the organising com-mittee who is involved indrafting the scenarios. Bothsources spoke on the condi-tion of anonymity becausethey were not authorised tospeak to the media.

“We are making alternativeplans — Plan B, C, D — look-ing at different postpone-ment time-frames,” addedthe official, adding the sce-narios included cost esti-mates for different delays.The options, which include

scaling back the Games orholding them without specta-tors, would be debated by theorganising committee at theend of March, the official said.Neither Tokyo 2020 organis-ers nor the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC)immediately responded to arequest for comment. Thegovernment of Japan couldnot be reached for comment.

1-2 year delay discussedThe second source, who isalso close to the Tokyo 2020organising committee, con-firmed that postponementwas being discussed, includ-ing delays of one or two years.Some organising staff wereholding out hope for a delayof a month or 45 days, saidthe official involved in draft-ing the scenarios. A final

decision on postponementwill have to come from theIOC but Japan’s stance alsomatters. The IOC and itspowerful chief, ThomasBach, say the Games will goahead as planned, drawingfire from athletes who saythat could be a health risk.

Two other insiders, bothsenior members of theTokyo 2020 organising com-mittee, echoed those con-cerns. One of them, a boardmember of the organisingcommittee, said the deci-sion to postpone should bemade quickly. “The morethey push the decision away... more and more prepara-tions have to be made... Thiswill cause cancellation feesto go through the roof,” theboard member said.

Bach recently appeared toshift his tone, saying theIOC was “considering dif-ferent scenarios”.

Japan’s Nikkei newspapersaid in a report on its websitetoday that IOC will hold aboard meeting this week, ascalls from sporting organisa-tions for the event to be post-poned gathered pace.

The official involved indrafting scenarios said a longdelay could spark complaintsfrom older athletes andrequire keeping sponsors onboard for longer. Anotherheadache is the Olympics vil-lage, due to be converted toflats after the Games.

In Tokyo, there is a sensethat delay may be inevitable.Finance Minister Taro Asohas compared Tokyo 2020 tothe 1940 Olympics cancelledby World War II, and the boy-cott of the 1980 MoscowGames. — Reuters

Tokyo quietly plans for delayPrime Minister, IOC say Olympic Games are on schedule, but organisers already on ‘Plan B, C, D’

SPONSORS BRACING FOR POSTPONEMENTSponsors are nervous,company representa-tives said privately.Major sponsors includeToyota Motor Corp andPanasonic Corp. “Ofcourse companies areindividually discussingwhat to do,” said a rep-resentative of one ofthe 60-plus sponsors.

“No one wants to bethe first to say anythingabout the possibility ofa postponement.”Japan Airlines Co dis-

cussed that there wasan 80% chance theOlympics would not beheld as scheduled on a recent internal conference call.

London, March 22Liverpool stewards are vol-unteering to help withcrowd control and assistingthe elderly with their shop-ping at supermarkets.

The club’s chief execu-tive Peter Moore has saidthat the club’s stewardswere on hand to help man-age the situation.

“Message to supermarketmanagers here on Mersey-side. Our stadium stewardshere LFC are offering theirtime and expertise in volun-teering to help with crowdcontrol, queue management,parking control, assisting theelderly and infirm taking

their groceries to their cars,etc,” Moore wrote on Twitter.

Moore added: “They aretruly the best in the businessand would be delighted tohelp in whatever way youwould deem appropriate.”

Earlier, Manchester Unitedand Manchester City donateda combined £100,000 to localfood banks in a joint initiativebetween the clubs to fight thethreat of coronavirus to those

most vulnerable. In a joint statement, City

and United said: “We areproud of the role our support-ers play in helping local foodbanks and recognise theincreased strain likely to beplaced on these charities bythe impact of coronavirus. Weare pleased to come togetherwith our fans to help vulner-able members of society in aCity United.” — Agencies

Liverpool offers help to shoppers

A woman wearing a protective face mask passes by the Olympics rings in front of the Japan Olympic Museum in Tokyo. REUTERS/FILE

Roger Federer posted a video message on Instagram, askingpeople to take the coronavirus very seriously.

Milan, march 22 Juventus and Argentina foot-ball forward Paulo Dybalahas tested positive for coron-

avirus but has no symptoms,the Italian Serie A club said,making him one of the mosthigh-profile players to be

infected so far. “The player, in voluntary

home isolation since March11, will continue to be moni-

tored,” the Turin club said ina statement. He is the thirdplayer at the club to test posi-tive. — Reuters

Juventus star Dybala tests positive for coronavirusUNITED EFFORTS

■ Liverpool has offered to help in crowd control, queuemanagement, parking control, and to old and infirm■ Manchester United and Manchester City donated acombined £100,000 to local food banks

Aditi TandonTribune News Service

NewDelhi, March 22The government today saiddedicated hospitals would beset up to manage Covid-19positive patients so that theinfected people in need ofcare do not mix up with thelarger population.

The Centre took the lead inthis direction on Sunday, ear-marking New Delhi AIIMS’National Cancer Institute’sJhajjar campus as a Covidhospital. It has 800 beds.

ICMR chief Balram Bhar-gava said all states hadagreed to set up dedicatedhospitals to ensure infectioncontrol and the process wasunderway. Bhargava also cat-egorically stated that the dis-ease pattern in India waschanging and cases were ris-ing due to more and more

entering the country fromthe US, UK and other affect-ed nations.

“All these passengers haveto be compulsorily isolatedto break the chain of trans-mission of the virus which istoday our biggest challenge.As we know the virus is norairborne and spreadsthrough droplets of infected

persons. The virus has ahigh infection rate. There-fore, all incoming passen-gers have to be isolated. Themost vital decision to breakthe chain of transmissionwhich we are trying is thelockdown ordered fromtoday,” Bhargava said.

The transmission is so farrestricted to people with trav-

el history abroad and theircontacts. The ICMR saidincoming passengers shouldeither be sent to a govern-ment isolation facility orhome-quarantined depend-ing on their risk profile.

The chief of India’s med-ical research body, Bhargavaalso defended the Indianstrategy of low testing say-ing “isolation, isolation, iso-lation” was the key to pre-venting the virus fromspreading further.

Bhargava was replying toquestions on WHO DG’sstress on “testing, testing,testing” being the best solu-tion. “Even the ones cominginto India who are put inhome quarantine do not needtesting. They need testingonly if they show symptoms –fever and respiratory dis-tress,” the ICMR chief said.

THE TRIBUNE16 GURUGRAM | MONDAY | 23 MARCH 2020BACK PAGE

Printed and published by Rajesh Ramachandran for The Tribune Trust Printed at The Tribune Press, Plot No. 123, Sector 37, Pace City-1, Gurugram.Published at The Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh.RNI No. CHAENG/2017/72605. Copyright © The Tribune Trust. All rights reserved.Telephones: 0124-2210033,2210044Circulation: 0172-2670419, Advertisement: 0172-2670256, 257Editor: Rajesh Ramachandran**Editor for purpose of PRB Act, 1867


NewDelhi, March 22A fresh batch of 263 Indians,who have been brought backfrom Rome, Italy, in an AirIndia plane today, has beenshifted to an Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) quaran-tine facility here at Chhawla.

As soon as all evacueescame out of the aircraft, theyunderwent a proper medicalcheck-up and then they wereshifted to the ITBP’sChhawla quarantine facilityin west Delhi, officialsinvolved in the exercise said.

Of the 263, 208 are malewhile 55 female. Most of themare students aged between 25and 30 years, an ITBPspokesperson said.

“The evacuees were sent tothe Chhawla camp in differentITBP buses after thermalscanning and immigration for-malities at the airport,” thespokesperson said, adding thattheir preliminary Covid test inItaly was found negative.

“All 263 evacuees will bekept for a minimum of 14 daysat the ITBP quarantine facili-ty under close observation,”the spokesperson said, adding

that with the current batch,the total number of occupantsat the ITBP facility has goneup to 478. This is the fifthbatch of evacuees which hasbeen shifted to the ITBP cen-tre in Chhawla so far, he said.

“A batch of 215 evacueesfrom Milan in Italy is stillthere. They are part of the 218,who were shifted to the campon March 15 after their evacu-ation from Milan. Two of themhave been shifted to the Saf-darjung hospital after theydisplayed symptoms of coron-avirus, while one has beenallowed to go home as he wasfound negative. Others alsotested negative,” thespokesperson said.

Accordingly, Air India hadsent a Boeing 777 aircraft toRome-Fiumicino Interna-tional Airport in Italy onSaturday to bring backstranded Indians amid theoutbreak which has claimedthe lives of over 10,000 peo-ple across the globe.

Air India brings 263students from Italy


Chandigarh, March 22As the government enforcesa lockdown in the districtsthat have reported Covid-infected cases in their respec-tive jurisdictions, the ArmedForces and Central ArmedPolice Forces have beenplaced on standby for assist-ing the civil administration incases of any exigency.

According to sources,while there has been no for-mal requisition of defenceforces or paramilitray forcesin this regard so far, theseforces could be deployed ifthe need so arises.

“We have placed ear-marked formations on thealert which would be movedto assist the civil authoritiesif called for,” an officer said.“This could be for reinforc-ing the local police for main-taining law and order, posi-tioning additional medicalteams and quarantine facili-ties, crowd control, provid-ing emergency evacuationof patients or provisioningessential commodities inremote areas,” he added.

An officer, however, clari-fied that placing defence andhome ministry forces onstandby did not mean thatthe situation would get out ofhand. “Such actions arestandard procedures so thatno time is lost if any emer-gency situation is to be dealtwith,” he said. “We regularlyliaise with local civilianauthorities as well as carryout mock drills in thisregard,” he added.

Sources point out thatsince localities where con-firmed coronavirus casesare detected have to besealed and people prevent-

ed from moving around, themanpower requirement forenforcing such directives ishuge. In addition to dealingwith the fallout of coron-avirus, regular law enforce-ment and security dutiesalso have to be undertaken.

Security in some areas hasalso been stepped up asessential services are not tobe disrupted. The IAF is alsoon standby to airlift person-nel or essential supplies,sources said. Since railwayand public transport serviceshave also been suspended,the forces could assist thecivil population in emer-gency movement.

The Armed Forces andparamilitary organisationsare already running quar-antine camps for travellerswho are returning fromabroad. They have alsoissued extensive guidelineto in their rank and file formeasure to mitigate thespread of coronavirus.

The militaries of manycountries affected by Covidare actively engaged incombating the pandemic intheir respective countries.

Defence, paramilitary forces on standby as lockdown begins

New Delhi, March 22 The SAARC Disaster Man-agement Centre haslaunched a website for infor-mation related to the coron-avirus pandemic in the regionas proposed by Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi during therecent video conference withleaders and representatives ofthe member states.

The website shows thenumber of coronavirus casesin the member states, updat-ing the numbers regularly.

It shows that at least 960coronavirus cases have beenreported in the SAARCregion with the maximumfrom Pakistan (495), followedby India (324), Sri Lanka (77),Afghanistan (24),Bangladesh (24), Maldives(13), Bhutan (2) and Nepal (1).The website says that at leastfive people have lost theirlives due to Covid in India,three in Pakistan and twohave died in Bangladesh.

“From regional plan toregional action! SAARC Disas-ter Management Centrelaunches a website for infor-mation related to Covid-19pandemic in the SAARCregion, as announced by PMNarendra Modi during thevideo conference with SAARCleaders,” Ministry of ExternalAffairs spokesperson RaveeshKumar tweeted. During thevideo conference last Sunday,Modi had called for using exist-ing facilities, like the SAARCDisaster Management Centre,

to pool in the best practicesamong all member states tocombat coronavirus.

“Looking ahead, we couldcreate a common researchplatform, to coordinateresearch on controlling epi-demic diseases within ourSouth Asian region. TheIndian Council of MedicalResearch can offer help coor-dinating such an exercise,”the Prime Minister had said.

Modi had also proposed anemergency fund with an ini-tial offer of $10 million fromIndia. Apart from Modi,Bhutanese Prime MinisterLotay Tshering, Bangladeshpremier Sheikh Hasina, SriLankan President GotabayaRajapaksa, Maldivian Presi-dent Ibrahim MohamedSolih, Nepalese PM KPSharma Oli, AfghanistanPresident Ashraf Ghani andPakistan’s Zafar Mirza, hadparticipated in the confer-ence. — PTI

SAARC launches websiteto share virus-related info

New Delhi, March 22 A 35-year-old student whowas evacuated from the pan-demic-affected Italy lastweek had a cruel twist of fatewhen he was informed aboutthe death of his father evenas he was in quarantine at anITBP facility in Delhi.

The man, who is asympto-matic to the coronavirus tillnow, has been allowed totravel to his home state andperform the last rites of hisfather after a specialexemption was made forhim by the Central govern-ment health authorities.

He was made to undergotwo tests in a span of fivedays and he is under obser-vation of the state authori-ties, officials said.

Officials said the man wasallowed to leave the ITBPquarantine facility on March20 and his identity and othervitals had been shared withthe respective state govern-ment for monitoring.

The man was part of thegroup of 218 Indians whowere evacuated by a spe-cial Air India flight fromMilan that landed at theIndira Gandhi Interna-tional (IGI) Airport hereon March 15.

“The man was allowed toleave the quarantine as aspecial compassionate caseconsidered by the UnionHealth Ministry and theDGHS. However, he isunder observation,” a sen-ior official said. — PTI

Man at quarantinefacility releasedfor kin’s last rites

London, March 22A group of 19 Indian studentshas sought refuge within thepremises of the Indian HighCommission in Londonovernight on Saturday,demanding that they be puton a flight to India despite thetravel restrictions in place fol-lowing the outbreak of theCovid-19 pandemic.

The group of students,mostly from Telangana, haverefused offers of alternateaccommodation arrangedwith the help of Indian dias-pora groups as India's ban ontravellers from the UK andEurope remains in placeuntil the end of this month.

“The Indian communityhas tried to help them andinitially it was a group of59 students, 40 of whomhave been allocated alter-native accommodationbut the remaining 19 arebeing completely unrea-sonable and refuse tomove,” said a communityleader. — PTI

Indian studentsseek refuge in UK mission

A security man checks passengersat Kolkata airport on Sunday. PTI

Will be kept underobservation at ITBP’s

quarantine facility

960 cases in Pak The website shows thatat least 960 coronaviruscases have been report-ed in the SAARC regionwith the maximum fromPakistan (495), followedby India (324), Sri Lanka(77), Afghanistan (24),Bangladesh (24), Mal-dives (13), Bhutan (2)and Nepal (1).

Stranded workers wait outside the railway station in Chennai. AFP

AIIMS’ Jhajjar unit to serve asdedicated centre for Covid-hitAll states to earmark special hospitals for treatment of coronavirus

13 - castudyweb.com · chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has said his party backs the Punjab and Central governments in fight against the Covid. “In this hour of crisis, we are human beings

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