BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. | ESTABLISHED 1838 | HYDERABAD
00
Covid-19-afflicted UK PM Boris
Johnson is stable in ICU, doesn’t
require ventilator support & is in
‘good spirits’. Trump offers ‘help’
to treat his ailing ‘good friend’
PM LAUDS TOI’S
INITIATIVE
H ealth officials have
stressed the need to wear
non-medical masks to
prevent the spread of
coronavirus. Don’t think of it
as an alien habit, but an
ancient one, say textile
experts. Women have always
used their sarees and odhnis,
and men the ends of their
turbans, shoulder cloths or
gamchas to cover their faces
outdoors. It’s time to revive
some of these good Indian
habits to stay safe, and
flatten the curve. Make a
mask at home, then share a
picture on your social media
handles using #MaskIndia.
The best pictures will be
featured in TOI and on
maskindia.com
SEE REPORT ON PAGE 2
LOCKDOWN
DAY
14
Malaria drug to
other nations too
T he Centre has opened
up export of antimala-
rial drug hydroxychloroqu-
ine, depending upon availa-
bility and domestic requi-
rements, not just to the US
and other “badly affected
countries” but also to
neighbours dependent on
India. P7
WhatsApp puts
sharing limits
W hatsApp on Tuesday pl-
aced new limits on mes-
sage forwarding as part of
an effort to curb the spread of
misinformation about the
pandemic. The rule limits
users to forwarding certain
messages to one “chat” to
check fake news. TNN
Desi cos racing to
develop vaccines
A hmedabad-based Zydus
Cadila has ramped up
hydroxychloroquine produc-
tion. Its vaccine may hit the
market in January. Hydera-
bad-based Bharat Biotech is
also developing a nasal
vaccine & it may be ready in a
year. P2 & 10
Amid virus scare,
2 babies named
‘Corona’ in AP
T wo newborns in Vemula
mandal in Kadapa dis-
trict of Andhra Pradesh were
named after the novel corona-
virus on Tuesday.
A rural medical practitio-
ner, Dr SE Basha, who mana-
ges the Dr SE Basha Nursing
Home at Vemula in Puliven-
dula in Kadapa district, said
that two babies born at his ho-
spital amid the nationwide
lockdown were named Coro-
na Kumar and Corona Kuma-
ri. Speaking to TOI, the doc-
tor said two pregnant women
were brought to his nursing
home for delivery under
emergency circumstances by
their husbands. P4
Turn to Page 3
Centre may extend lockdown
as several states pitch for it
Containing
Covid Spread
Top Priority
Akhilesh.Singh @timesgroup.com
New Delhi: The Centre is con-
templating extending the
three-week national lock-
down beyond April 14 to com-
bat the Covid-19 pandemic. A
succession of state govern-
ments — such as Maharash-
tra, Telangana, Punjab, and
now Madhya Pradesh — have
FULL COVERAGE: P 2-14
in the past couple of days co-
me out in favour of retaining
all or most of the existing
curbs.
While a final decision is ex-
pected nearer the deadline,
the current thinking appears
inclined towards prolonging
most restrictions — especially
Cases cross 5,000; Avg age of India’s Covid deaths 60; T marks 100 hotspots
1-yr-old among dead diabetes, BP common co-ailments to check virus spread
DurgeshNandan.Jha
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Covid-19 cases
in India went past 5,000 on
Tuesday, having doubled in
the past five days, even as the
death toll from the virus
pandemic crossed 150 to end
the day at 165, as per the la-
test reports from states.
The total count of corona-
virus cases stood at 5,330 at
the time of going to press,
with 573 fresh ones reported
during the day. Cases have
more than doubled since
April 2, when the count was
Joblessness up 3-fold
since Mar 22: CMIE
TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT OVER 23%
35%
Rural Urban
30
25
20
15
9.1
10
7.7
5
7.0
8 March 15 March
Week
Ended
Atul.Thakur@timesgroup.com
T
he nationwide lockdown
saw the unemployment
rate nearly tripling in In-
dia and quadrupling in urban
areas, data just released by the
Centre for Monitoring the In-
dian Economy shows. This co-
uld explain the exodus of
lakhs of migrant workers
from cities, many being despe-
rate enough to try to walk
hundreds of kilometres.
The data shows that the
unemployment rate in urban
areas increased to 30% in the
week ending March 29, about
3.5 times the rate of 8.7% for
the week ending March 22. For
rural areas, the correspon-
ding figures were 21% and
Sensex soars record 2,476 pts on
global rally, lockdown easing talk
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: A strong market
rally across the globe on slo-
wing daily coronavirus in-
fection numbers, talk of a
phased exit from the nation-
wide lockdown in India, ex-
pectations of foreign fund
inflow aggregating $1.3 bil-
lion into the country after
MSCI rejigs its indices and
some short covering by spe-
culators combined to lift sen-
sex by 2,476 points on Tues-
day, its biggest-ever single-
session points gain, to close
at 30,067. The day’s gains ca-
me on the back of strong buy-
ing in heavyweights like
RIL, HDFC Bank, ICICI
Bank, Infosys and HUL, BSE
data showed.
The day’s 9% gain was the
China will open up Wuhan, the epicentre of the
pandemic, on Wednesday for outbound travel for the
first time since the January 23 lockdown,
after the country reported no new
Covid-19-related deaths on Tuesday
DISTRICT & STATE BORDERS, MASS TRANSIT Govt OKs fumigation
LIKELY TO REMAIN SHUT
➤ Several states, including ➤ District & state borders
MP, Punjab, Telangana, likely to remain sealed; trains,
Maharashtra appear in favour
of extension
➤ Many state govts & experts
believe infection rate, which is
stabilising, can shoot up with
free movement of people
Concerns of economy can wait for
another day, that of health can’t.
I appeal to people to abide by whatever
decision is taken... even if it means continuing
with some degree of hardship beyond April 14
—M VENKAIAH NAIDU Vice-President
those aimed at enforcing soci-
al distancing.
The likelihood of lifting
the lid on mass transit — tra-
ins, metros and flights — and
on inter-state movement of pe-
ople appears remote.
Official sources said that
the Centre is taking on board
2,580. Maharashtra alone re-
corded 150 new cases — the
highest single-day count for
any state — and its total num-
ber of infections crossed
1,000.
As many as 25 deaths were
reported on Tuesday. Among
them was a 14-month-old boy,
possibly the youngest Indian
victim of the virus, who died
at the state-run hospital in
Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Delhi has 576 cases and ni-
ne deaths, with two fatalities
recorded on Tuesday.
ICU support for 36: P8
Total
22 March 29 March
Figures in %; Source: CMIE
Govt says 84L poor
being fed daily
T he Centre informed the SC
on Tuesday that food & shel-
ter for migrants & poor were ta-
ken care of by governments
and NGOs, which had set up
26,000 shelters & 17,000 camps to
feed over 84 lakh people daily
while over 15 lakh migrants are
given food and shelter by emp-
loyers & industries. P7
8.3%. The overall unemploy-
ment rate increased from 8.4%
to 23.8%. The data for the week
ending April 5 estimates the
rate at 30.9% for urban areas,
20.2% for rural areas and
23.4% at the all-India level. P8
3 OF TOP 5 GAINS CAME AMID COVID-19
Biggest Sensex Gains (In Pts)
Apr 7, ’20 2,476
May 18, ’09
Sept 20, ’19
Mar 25, ’20
Mar 20, ’20
SBI CUTS DEPOSIT RATES BY 25 BPS TO 2.75, LOWEST EVER, P11
sensex's biggest percentage
rise since May 18, 2009 when
it had closed almost 20% hig-
her after Manmohan Singh
was re-elected to lead the
UPA-II government at the
Centre. Tuesday’s rally also
added about Rs 8 lakh crore
to investors’ wealth with
BSE’s market capitalisation
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020 | PAGES 14 | PRICE ` 4.
INCLUSIVE OF HYDERABAD TIMES (FOR METRO ONLY)
Over 75,000 dead worldwide. US
death toll nears 12,000, with New
York state recording 731 deaths on
Tuesday. But there are signs the
outbreak may be plateauing in US
booths; may be used
in offices and malls
Metro & flight services unlikely
to resume soon
➤ More amenities may be
opened; options like odd-even
and limit on people in vehicles
under consideration
inputs from states and public
health experts who believe
that while the infection rate
shows signs of stabilising,
there is a risk of resurgence
if the gains made so far in con-
taining the spread are not
locked in.
While there is a clear re-
Pushpa Narayan &
Rema Nagarajan TNN
T
he average age of 125 peo-
ple who had died in India
from Covid-19 till Mon-
day was 60 years, data collated
by TOI from states shows.
While this is significantly lo-
wer than in countries such as
Italy, where the average is clo-
ser to 80, this is because India’s
population is younger. Age-wi-
se case fatality rates (deaths as
a percentage of confirmed ca-
ses) worked out on the basis of
official data for 4,097 cases and
109 deaths put out on Monday
Infant among
40 new cases
in T; 1 more
death in AP
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
30.9
Hyderabad/Vijayawada: A
23.4 23-day-old baby is among the
40 fresh cases of COVID-19 re-
ported in Telangana on
20.2
Tuesday taking the total num-
ber of those infected in the
state to 348.
5 April
Altogether 17 new cases
were reported in Hyderabad,
10 in Nizamabad, nine in Jo-
gulamba-Gadwal
and three in Mahbubnagar
district
district.
The infant was among the
three COVID-19 cases repor-
ted from Mahbubnagar. Mah-
bubnagar district collector
Venkat Rao said the baby
contracted the disease from
his father, who attended the
mid-March Tablighi Jamaat
meet in Delhi.
In Andhra Pradesh, one
person died and 11tested posi-
tive for coronavirus on Tues-
day, taking the death toll to fo-
ur and the infections tally to
314 in the state. AP, which had
only 23 cases on March 30, wit-
nessed a near thirteen-fold in-
crease in the last few days bre-
aching the 300-mark of positi-
ve cases. P2
Tuesday’s Top Stocks (% Gain)
IndusInd Bank 22.6
2,111 Axis Bank 19.4
1,921 Mahindra 14.4
1,862 ICICI Bank 13.8
1,628 HUL 13.5
Source: ETIG
now at Rs 115.8 lakh crore.
On Monday, the Dow Jo-
nes and S&P500 indices on
Wall Street had rallied over
7% each after data showed
slowing growth of the spre-
ad of the pandemic across
the US and Europe.
Wall Street rally: P11
T he Centre has approved the
manufacturing of fumiga-
tion chambers — a gateway
that can be placed at the ent-
rance of offices, malls and edu-
cational institutions. These
use hydrogen peroxide to dis-
infect a person’s body and clot-
hes in five seconds. The go-
vernment has also given its
nod to booths equipped with
UV light which minimise doc-
tor-patient contact. P8
cognition in government of
the huge economic costs of a
lockdown, the over-riding con-
cern at the moment is to first
deal with the more immediate
danger, according to people fa-
miliar with the situation.
More exemptions likely: P8
MORTALITY RISK RISES WITH AGE
Cases Deaths
Below 40 1,911
40 to 60 1,383
Above 60 773
Male 3,091
Female 976
Total 4067
Source: Calculated from health ministry data released on Apr 6
confirm this.
Against an overall CFR of
2.7%, the figure for those below
40 years was 0.4%. It was 2.4%
for those between 50 and 60,
www.radiomirchi.com
THE CITY MAY HAVE
STOPPED.
BUT THE FUN IS STILL
NON-STOP.
Everything 's changed, except how you keep yourself entertained! Your favourite RJs
are here for you with the very best in entertainment. So, tune in for non-stop fun!
J/AA
INDIA’S LARGEST ENGLISH NEWSPAPER
Those involved in a mob attack on
cops enforcing lockdown in a
containment zone in Bhopal will be
booked under NSA, says MP chief
minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
3-tier classification
of hosps for diverse
levels of infection
Divided To Treat ‘1 Covid+ person can
Mild, Moderate & infect 406, can limit it
Critical Patients to 2.5 with distancing’
Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: To streamline
the treatment of Covid-19 pa-
tients, the government has
classified hospitals into
three categories — Covid Ca-
re Centres to treat very mild,
mild and suspect cases; Co-
vid Health Centres for clini-
cally moderate level serious
patients; and Dedicated Co-
vid Hospitals to provide
comprehensive care to seve-
re and critical patients.
On Tuesday, the health
ministry issued detailed gu-
idelines to states as well as
district administrations
putting in place a mecha-
nism for triaging and identi-
fication of appropriate, de-
Fatality rate
8 0.4
33 2.4
69 8.9
80 2.6
29 3.0
109 2.7
and 8.9% for those over 60. This
is in line with the trend in
other countries.
Pre-existing ailments: P8
Miss England
Bhasha Mukherjee
returns to work
as a doctor amid
pandemic
O ne person infected with
coronavirus can possib-
ly infect 406 others in just 30
days in the absence of a lock-
down and social distancing
measures, but this can dra-
matically come down to 2.5
people with a 75% reduction
in social exposure, an recent
study by the Indian Council of
Medical Research shows. P7
dicated facility for provi-
ding care to Covid-19 pati-
ents.
“The guidelines are app-
licable to central, state go-
vernment as well private ho-
spitals,” a senior govern-
ment official said.
Use of resources: P8
Koride.mahesh
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: The rapid incre-
ase in Covid-19 cases in dis-
tricts has forced the state he-
alth department to declare ne-
arly 100 villages and areas in
various districts as ‘hotspots’
(containment clusters) and
impose more restrictions on
movement of people.
People residing in these
hotspots would not be allowed
to come out of their houses for
14 days. All provisions, vege-
tables and medicines will be
given at their doorstep.
(rj
f% _
98. 3 & 95 FRi
'' RADIO MIR X
All-faith front
backs state’s
corona fight
U.Sudhakarreddy
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: Religious lea-
ders of various faiths ca-
me together to form a mul-
ti-religious forum in Hyde-
rabad and issued a joint ap-
peal to the people to adhere
to social distancing to com-
bat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new forum is called
‘Dharmik Jan Morcha’
(DJM) and it consists of Fe-
deration of Telugu Chur-
ches (comprising both Cat-
holics and Protestants),
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind,
Shankar Mutt, Satya Sai
Baba Trust, Chinna Jeeyar
Swamy followers and
others.
Forum co-ordinator
Anthony Raj Thumma sa-
id that DJM was mainly
constituted to instil confi-
dence among people in the
state and to fight and win
the war over the novel co-
ronavirus.
Social distancing key: P2
For all practical purposes,
these hotspots will not open
up even if the lockdown is lif-
ted on April 14 as the new14-
day restrictions started on
Monday or Tuesday in most of
these areas. The measures are
the same ones which helped
state control virus spread in
Karimnagar after 10 Indone-
sians were tested positive —
restrictions were imposed for
14 days in a radius of 3km
where the Indonesians had
stayed and it paid rich divi-
dends.
15 hotspots in NZB: P4
H!^
A
R
n
 2 TIMES CITY | Viral Worry THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
Chitti Babu

CITIZENS, BUSINESSES `1Cr `50L NSPIRA

DONATE LIBERALLY TO CMRF
➤ Hyderabad Archdiocese
Educational Society,
under Rev. Thumma Bala,
archbishop of Hyderabad,
has donated `50 lakh towards
CMRF. The archbishop
handed over the cheque to IT
Rev. Thumma Bala (L) with minister KT Rama Rao minister KT Rama Rao
Management
Sujana
Charitable Trust
➤ Telangana State
Bar Council chairman,
➤ Greater Nalgonda NRIs
group is working with district
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`50L Gemini Edi- Co-operative `25L Trendset Good Samaritains offer food to migrant workers
hospitals across Telangana intend to raise another $75,000
bles & Fats India Urban Bank builders donated at Balamrai on Tuesday

Covering our faces is not an A stitch in time... 3 race

alien habit, it’s an ancient one
Odhni and gamcha functioned like the
modern face mask, say textile experts
tice of carrying a cloth as a face
mask was especially prevalent
in agricultural communities
of the hot, humid and dusty
north. “In the Kutch district
Shobita.Dhar@timesgroup.com of Gujarat, it was common to
Textile expert see traders carrying a shoulder
against time to mask city
Given the scarcity of masks in the market, three women
have taken it upon themselves to make masks and distribute
them to those in need. Preeti Biswas catches up with them
JOINING THE MASK NO PLANS OF
INDIA MOVEMENT SELLING MASKS, SAYS
O n noticing that several
people did not have masks
HOMEMAKER
to protect themselves from cor-
onavirus, Van Fleming, wife of
UK deputy high commissioner
P lavachana Reddy, a resident of
Patancheru, is making masks for
those who cannot afford them. “I tried
to Andhra Pradesh and Telan- to purchase masks in the market, but
gana Andrew Fleming decided couldn’t find any. Considering I have
to make masks at home. learnt tailoring, I decided to stitch
“My wife has been busy mask at home,” said Reddy.
using left over Nigerian cloth Soon after she made the masks,
from her dresses to make many people from her locality ap-
masks for our security, policy proached her to make them in bulk.
and less fortunate members of That’s when she decided to make
the community in our area,” masks for the underprivileged. “I have
tweeted Andrew Fleming in no plans of selling them. I give them
a response to sand artist Su- away for free as I want people to ben-
darsan Pattnaik’s sand art on efit from my efforts,” said Reddy.

B
oth US and Indian health offi-
cials have recommended that
people wear “non-medical
cloth masks” to prevent the
spread of Covid-19. But it
won’t be an exaggeration to say that right
now the world is divided into two kinds of
people — those who wear masks in public,
and those who doubt its efficacy. In India,
however, the practice of covering the face
with a cloth is an age-old one, dictated by
the subcontinent’s tropical weather.
The dupatta is believed to
have evolved from the ancient
uttariya. We have the hijab and purdah
in some communities. The modern
versions are stoles and scarves which
young women sport
— SANDHYA RAMAN
Textile revivalist
T quarantined
he face mask may have
originated as a functional
item but in recent
times it has also become
a fashion accessory. The
trend started in China with
models sporting Vogmasks
on the ramp and spread
to the West. At the Paris
Fashion Week this February,
guests attending the
Chanel show came wearing
special masks designed
by the French luxury brand
and bearing its iconic
and veteran de-
signer Ritu Kumar
points out that Indians have always worn
three-piece costumes — an upper, lower
and a head garment that
functioned as a face mask.
“In Maharashtra’s Karle
caves, which date back to the
second century BC, there are
drawings of male and female
figures dressed in these three
pieces.” In fact, the practice
continues with urban wom-
en using their dupattas to
fashion a mask that protects
THE TIMES OF INDIA
them from heat and pollution while the
former use their odhnis when they go out-
doors. “For instance, while going to the
fields for ablutions, it kept odours, flies in some communities. The modern ver-
and dirt away. It’s similar to how women
in Japan used fans,” says Kumar.
Men too used the ends of their turban
and shoulder cloth or gamcha as cover for
face when outdoors. Swasti Singh
Ghai, discipline lead, textile de-
sign, National Institute of De-
sign, Ahmedabad, says the prac- the dust, infection or dirt out.”
interlocked Cs logo. As Covid-19
spread, the mask ventured further
from the first row to the
ramp during French
designer Marine
Serre’s show that had
models walking down
in masks (see image)
that at times covered
the entire face except
for the eyes. Although
the collection was
designed months
earlier when the virus
was just a lurking
cloth for this purpose. It would
also double up as a bag to carry
knick-knacks,” says Ghai.
Textile revivalist and costume design-
er Sandhya Raman says
early Sanskrit literature
has a wide vocabulary
of terms for the veils and
scarfs used by women
during the ancient peri-
od, such as avagunthana
meaning cloak-veil, utta-
riya meaning shoulder-
veil, mukha-pata mean-
ing face-veil, siro-vastra
meaning head-veil. “The dupatta is be-
lieved to have evolved from the ancient
uttariya. We have the hijab and purdah
sions are stoles and scarves which young
women sport,” says Raman, who also co-
founded Desmania Designs.
Raman adds that washing hands and
feet before entering the house or consum-
ing food also originated from the need to
disinfect. “It’s a very old practice to keep
threat in Chinese wet markets, it now
seems uncannily prescient.
Now, a number of fashion houses
and designers have started designing
masks for frontline health workers who
are facing shortage of protective gear.
New York-based designer Naeem Khan,
who counts Michelle Obama and Kate
Middleton as clients, is one of them. In an
Instagram post, Khan announced that he
and his team have “started sewing CDC
approved masks from medically approved
fabrics…” Christian Siriano, and clothing
brands Eileen Fisher and Rag and Bone
have also started making masks.
#MaskIndia movement.
“I had a mask which was
given by my mother when I
was in Nigeria. I used it as
a template to stitch more
masks. Now I intend to make
more masks for others such as
vegetable vendors,” said Van
Fleming.
FORMER NURSE GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS
W ith over 30 years of experi-
ence as a nursing professional,
Saraswathi Kaninnekanti, 60, un-
derstands the need to use masks and
how to make it. Kaninnekanti, who
has worked as a nurse in the middle
east, uses old vests and dupattas to
Infected
cop’s family,
6 colleagues
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: Along with the
colleagues of 55-year-old head
constable from Hyderabad
who tested positive for
Covid-19, police also quaranti-
ned eight of his family
members.
After the 55-year-old head
constable of Hyderabad com-
missionerate tested positive
for Covid-19 on Monday, his
eight family members inclu-
Van Fleming
stitch masks.“Since I have worked as
a nursing professional, I had a rough
idea of how to make a mask at home.
I took old vests and dupattas and
washed them thoroughly before using
them as raw material,” said Kaninne-
kanti. Plavachana Reddy
Infant among 40 new
Covid-19 cases in state
One dead, 11 test
Koride.Mahesh
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: A 23-day old in-
fant is among 40 new corona-
virus cases that were repor-
ted in the state on Tuesday,
+ve for virus in AP
raising the total number of Umamaheswara.Rao out on as many as 997 Delhi re-
positive cases to 404. @timesgroup.com turnees and their 2,400 con-
Altogether 17 new cases tacts. About 19,200 foreign re-
were reported in Hydera- Vijayawada: One person di- turnees have been put under
bad, 10 in Nizamabad, nine ed and 11others reported posi- home quarantine, even tho-
in Jogulamba-Gadwal dis- tive for coronavirus in Andh- ugh they had completed their
trict and three in Mahbub- ra Pradesh on Tuesday, taking isolation period. Another one
nagar district. the death toll to four and posi- lakh people have also been
Mahbubnagar district tive tally to 314 in the state. placed in home quarantine. In

Indian firm, Oz univ team up for vaccine

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: Human and ani-
mal vaccines manufacturer In-
dian Immunologicals Limited
(IIL) has joined hands with
Australia’s Griffith University
to conduct exploratory rese-
arch to develop a vaccine for
the dreaded Covid-19 virus.
The Hyderabad-based IIL
and Griffith University will be
working on developing a ‘Live
Attenuated SARS – CoV-2 vac-
cine’ (Covid-19 vaccine) using
the latest codon de-optimiza-
tion technology, which was ze-
roed in on after evaluating va-
rious options being followed
across the world, IIL said.
The Hyderabad-based vac-
cine maker said the technology
looks promising for developing
a vaccine for prophylactic, acti-
ve, single dose immunization
against coronavirus in hu-
mans and is expected to provi-
NO TIMELINE FOR HUMAN TRIALS YET
IIL and Griffith Uni-
versity will develop
a ‘Live Attenuated
SARS – CoV-2
vaccine’ using the
codon de-optimi-
zation technology
The vaccine will be
designed for prophylac-
tic, active, single dose immuni-
zation against the coronavirus
de long-lasting protection with
a single dose administration
with an anticipated safety pro-
file similar to other licensed
vaccines for active immuniza-
tion.
“Our live-attenuated vacci-
ne is expected to provide long
lasting immunity against
SARS – CoV-2 following a single
immunisation and cross-pro-
Upon completion
of the preliminary
research, the vac-
cine strain will be
transferred to IIL,
which will work
with the India’s
medical regula-
tor, CDSCO, to
conduct clinical
trials and file for approvals
tection against other coronavi-
ruses (e.g. MERS, SARS-CoV-1).
As this vaccine will be a live at-
tenuated vaccine, it is expected
to be highly effective by provi-
ding very strong cellular and
antibody immune responses
against the virus. The other be-
nefit of a live-attenuated vacci-
ne is a proven track record for
economical large-scale manu-
facturing and well-known re-
gulatory approval pathway,”
explained Prof Suresh Maha-
lingam, Menzies Health Insti-
tute Queensland, Griffith Uni-
versity, Australia.
IIL managing director Dr K
Anand Kumar said the rese-
arch will explore both, intra-
muscular and intranasal deli-
very mechanisms for the vacci-
ne and the company expects to
invest `15 crore-`
`20 crore in ani-
mal studies for the vaccine.
The animal studies, including
mice and monkeys, are plan-
ned to be conducted in labs in
US and France. He, however,
did not give a timeline on when
the vaccine could go into hu-
man trials.
The latest collaboration co-
mes even as IIL and Griffith
University are conducting re-
search and development of Zi-
ka virus vaccine, which is in
pre-clinical toxicology testing.
2nd +ve Cantt case
Secunderabad: A retired
policeman from Rasoolpura in
the Secunderabad Cantonment
jurisdiction tested positive for
Covid-19, becoming the second
case in Secunderabad
Cantonment limits. Telangana’s
first positive case (a software
professional) was reported from
Marredpally last month. TNN
ding wife, three sons, two-
daughters-in-law and two
grandsons have been placed
under quarantine.
Four cops of the police sta-
tion where the head constable
works and six traffic cops who
worked with him during the
lockdown duties, have also be-
en sent for quarantine.
On April 4, an ACP noticed
that the head constable posted
at Telugutally flyover check-
point was coughing continuo-
usly. He advised him to go for a
check immediately. is sample
tested positive for Covid-19 on
Monday.
collector Venkatrao said the
baby contracted the disease
from his father, who atten-
ded the mid-March Tablighi
Jamaat in Delhi. But his wi-
fe tested negative for the vi-
rus test. Two more cases we-
re also reported in Mahbub-
nagar, tallying to nine cases.
Gadwal district reported ni-
ne new cases and all were re-
lated to the Delhi meet.
“Of them, seven persons
hail from Gadwal town and
two more from Rajolu man-
dal. All have been shifted to
Hyderabad for treatment,”
the official said.
There has been a surge in
the Covid-19 cases in Niza-
mabad with 10 new cases on
Tuesday. The district mini-
ster Vemula Prashant Reddy
announced that among the
39 cases, 22 were from Niza-
mabad, five from Bodhan,
one each from Renjal, Nan-
dipet, Armoor, Bheemgal,
two each from Balkonda,
Makloor and four from Mos-
ra. Another district, Adila-
Health officials said a 45-
year-old man, who was admit-
ted to the government general
hospital in Kurnool on April1,
died on April 3. He was a dia-
betes patient and tested positi-
ve for Covid-19. He passed
away while receiving treat-
ment. The man had no travel
or contact history, leaving a
big question on the origin of
the disease.
Officials said 280 positive
cases out of the 304 are related
to the Delhi religious congre-
gation, including 84 Tablighi
contacts. Tests were carried
bad, also reported one case
which is also related to Mar-
kaz.
Health minister Eatala
Rajender and municipal mi-
nister KT Rama Rao visited
a private medical college at
Moinabad and Gachibowli
stadium to convert them in-
to a coronavirus hospital.
“The 1,500 bedded Gachi-
bowli stadium would be con-
all, about 3,850 people were
screened for Covid-19 so far in
AP, including 205 foreign re-
turnees and their 120 con-
tacts.
Guntur collector I Samuel
Anand Kumar said that they
have identified several red zo-
nes from where Covid cases
are reported in the district.
“We request the public to re-
frain from coming out of their
households in these areas.
Delhi returnees and other
persons having any symp-
toms should come forward for
testing,” said Kumar.
verted to a hospital and all
necessary arrangements
would be completed within a
week,” the ministers said.
They said 22 private me-
dical colleges would also be
utilized for isolation wards
with 12,000 beds if required.
Rajender said all the requi-
red equipment including
PPE kits and N95 masks we-
re procured.

Leaders call for Muslim body Case against foreign TJ 10 AP attendees in

donates PPE
social distancing
From P 1 spread of coronavirus must
continue. “It is a must, there-
to doctors
Hyderabad: The Jamaat-e-Is-
visitors for visa violation Lucknow, booked
Mahesh.Buddi TOI against nine Kyrgyzstan na-
TIMES NEWS NETWORK Tablighi Jamaat members
after a resident of Sangibeg

H H
e said, “We urge follo-
wers of all religions to
rigorously maintain
social distancing as it is an
essential preventive measu-
re to defeat the virus.” Invo-
king Ganga-Jamuni tehze-
eb, he said DJM would work
for re-establishment of hu-
manity and universal brot-
herhood in the society.
Among the signatories to the
public appeal were Moham-
med Sadiq Ahmed of Jama-
at-e-Islami Hind, I Krishna
Rao of Shankar Mutt and
Venkat Rao of Satya Sai Ba-
ba temples.
The religious leaders al-
so highlighted that measu-
res such as social distan-
cing, lockdown and curfew
in some areas to arrest the
fore, to stop all social and re-
ligious gatherings, any reli-
gious congregations, and
community and family func-
tions," they said in unison.
The leaders said Covid-19
had taken a heavy toll on eco-
nomy, industry, tourism, ho-
spitality and travel sectors.
“In these dark times, religio-
us groups and faith-based or-
ganisations are supporting
the impoverished communi-
ties by providing them with
food, water, face masks,
hand sanitisers and sanita-
ry kits,” they said. The mor-
cha leaders said they would
appreciate these efforts and
encourage networking of so-
cial and religious groups to
see that the marginalised
sections are not left out.
lami Hind, Hyderabad, dona-
ted a hundred personal pro-
tective equipment (PPE) to
doctors at Chest, Niloufer and
Fever hospitals on Tuesday.
The kits were handed over
to principal of Osmania Medi-
cal College P Shashikala Red-
dy by Hamed Mohammed
Khan, state president of Ja-
maat-e-Islami Hind (JIH).
JIH said the city chapter of
Doctors Association for Relief
and Education (DARE) ,
which was working closely
with resident doctors, identi-
fied and decided to fulfil PPE
requirements of medical staff
by approaching different or-
ganisations.
“Healthcare personnel in
the state must have adequate
PPE,” Khan said. TNN
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: Hyderabad poli-
ce have registered several ca-
ses against foreign nationals,
who were part of the Tablighi
Jamaat (TJ) congregation,
for violation of visa rules.
Managers of worship places
have also been booked for hos-
ting these foreign nationals.
Several foreigners, who
had attended the Nizamud-
din congregation in mid-
March, have been booked for
indulging in preaching acti-
vities across different parts
of the country. While 10 Indo-
nesians were booked by Ka-
rimnagar police on Monday,
Hyderabad police registered
10 cases against 84 persons.
The cases were booked under
Sanitation workers disinfect
Nizamuddin in Delhi after Jamaat
the Foreigners Act, Disaster
Management Act and rele-
vant sections of the Indian
Penal Code.
According to police sour-
ces, 64 foreign nationals, who
were part of the congrega-
tion and TJ’s activities in Te-
langana, have been placed un-
der quarantine at the Niza-
mia General Hospital. Panja-
gutta police booked a case
tionals, while Banjara Hills
police booked a case against
six Malaysians. Another
eight Indonesians were boo-
ked by Habeebnagar police,
while Asifnagar and Humay-
unnagar police have registe-
red cases against eight foreig-
ners and 11 Thai nationals re-
spectively.
In this regard, the Union
ministry of home affairs
(MHA) had issued orders to
DGPs asking them to take le-
gal action against foreigners
involved in such activities.
“Under the directions of
home minister Amit Shah,
MHA has blacklisted 960 fore-
igners, presently in India on
tourist visas, for their invol-
vement in TJ activities,” so-
urces said.
ours after a 50-year-old
resident of Bawarchi
locality in Chowk who
gave shelter to 10 Tablighi Ja-
maat members from Andhra
Pradesh tested positive for
coronavirus, the area was se-
aled on Tuesday.
Barring for medical
emergency, nobody will be
allowed to venture out of the-
ir homes, said police.
The Jamaat members
and a Chowk resident who
sheltered them were booked
by police. Their presence at
the Nizamuddin Markaz is
being probed.
Additional deputy com-
missioner of police (west zo-
ne) Vikas Chandra Tripathi
said, “An FIR was lodged aga-
inst 11 persons, including
locality in Bawarchi tested
positive for the virus.” They
were charged with negligen-
ce causing spread of disease,
disobedience of prohibitory
orders under Epidemic Dise-
ases Act, 1897, and Disaster
Management Act, 2005. “We
decided to seal the entire lo-
cality as a precaution. The
lab report of the Jamaat is
awaited, said Tripathi.
At least 100 policemen we-
re deployed at 13 entry and
exit points of the area to en-
force sealing. “During a me-
dical exigency, police need to
be informed for safe passa-
ge,” said assistant commis-
sioner of police, Chowk,
DP Tiwari. He also said those
who violate curbs will be
booked.
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
State records 56% drop in murders amid lockdown
Mahesh.Buddi@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: Thanks to the
lockdown, there has been a
significant drop in crime rate
in Telangana. There was a
56% drop in murder cases bet-
ween March 22 and April 5
when compared to the num-
ber of murder cases registe-
red between March 1 and 21.
In fact, a majority of the
crimes that took place during
this 15-day lockdown happe-
ned in the Hyderabad police
commissionerate. Narayan-
pet district saw the least num-
ber of cases reported.
Ten murder cases — two
T veering towards extending
lockdown, awaits Centre’s nod
Koride.Mahesh
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: As people wait
with bated breath, indications
are that the lockdown could be
extended for a longer duration
in Telangana. Dropping enough
hints in this regard, municipal
administration minister KT Ra-
ma Rao on Tuesday said lock-
down is the only way to contain
the spread of coronavirus and
reiterated that chief minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao is ready to
extend it to combat the virus.
The chief minister, who had
on Monday asked Prime Mini-
ster Narendra Modi to extend
the lockdown by at least two mo-
re weeks, is likely to continue
with the clampdown even if the
Centre relaxes the lockdown,
sources said. “However, the go-
vernment wants to wait till the
Centre announces its decision,”
sources said.
Officials recalled that the
state government had declared
a lockdown days before the
Centre announced a nationwi-
de lockdown on March 24. The
government had also sealed the
inter-state borders. “The CM
had even asked the Centre to
stop international flights. The
state government has powers to
impose restrictions and imple-
ment lockdown under the Epi-
demic Disease Act, 1897. But, is-
sues like allowing flight move-
ment does not come under the
state’s purview,” a senior go-
vernment official said.
“The lockdown should be lif-
ted only after ensuring that the-
re is no local transmission of
Covid-19,” KTR, who is also wor-
king president of TRS, told the
media on Tuesday.
He said it is not possible to
carry out tests for all the people
in a country which has a popula-
tion of 130 crore. “If the govern-
ment allows private hospitals
Courts to remain in lockdown
till April 30, skip summer break
SagarKumar.Mutha
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: All the courts in
Telangana will remain closed
till April 30 irrespective of the
lockdown. Another important
decision taken on Tuesday was
to cancel this year’s summer va-
cation. This means the high co-
urt and district courts will func-
tion from May 1to June 5, which
is the annual vacation period.
These decisions were taken
by a full court comprising jud-
ges of the Telangana high court
after they met through a video-
conference. They also interac-
ted with Bar leaders and medi-
cal experts to assess the Co-
This super cop guards our city, feeds
the hungry & raises Covid-19 awareness
Aditi.Mallick@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: Beyond his 15
hours of police duty every
day, Chandrayangutta’s in-
spector has been lending a
helping hand to the people in
his locality amid the lock-
down.
Inspector Rudra Bhaskar,
soon after the lockdown, con-
ducted awareness program-
mes among the people, espe-
#LOCKDOWN
HEROES
cially those living in slum
areas, about coronavirus.
The police officer says work
starts at 9am and can stretch
up to as late as 12am in case of
emergencies.
“The staff along with the
inspector went to a few locali-
ties to spread awareness abo-
ut coronavirus. He realised
that some people in those lo-
calities do not have ration
DAYS OF FEWER EVILS
FALL IN CRIME RATE (IN PERCENTAGE)
(Period of comparison:
Between March 1- 22 and March 22- April 5)
67% Theft cases | 80.6% Rioting | 62% Grievous hurt | 69% Cheating |
88% Criminal breach of trust | 61% Attempt to murder | 71.7% Fatal road
accidents | 82% Non-fatal road accidents | 57% Cases under Crpc |
9.37% Special and local law cases
each in Adilabad and Surya-
pet, one each in Nagarkurno-
ol, Rachakonda, Mahbuba-
bad, Nalgonda, Karimnagar
and Warangal — were registe-
red in this period. Before the
lockdown in March, 32 mur-
der cases — four in Kamared-
TIMES POLL
TOIHyderabad conducted
a poll on Twitter over
the extension of the
lockdown period
Old City
AYE TO EXTENSION OF LOCKDOWN
L L
ockdown is the best step to slow up Covid-19 despite the
challenges we have. Nothing is more precious than human lives
like our CM mentioned but ensuring essentials supply for common
man. This is precisely what China did for almost close to 2 months.
Now they are back on track —Robin Zaccheus, @RobinZaccheus
I n present
situation... the way F eel that least
10 days strict
number of cases curfew with
are increasing, we immediate effect,
strongly feel govt followed by lockout
should extend of 30 days in urban
lockdown...—Green area will show
Sainikpuri, @
greensainikpuri
result... —GSR Sai,
@gsrsai24
I t should be with proper
restrictions at least 2 to 3 days
no gatherings proper social
distance managing, and children
should not be allowed outside
in public places —MM Riyaz, @
MohammedMMohiu1
and diagnostic centres to con-
duct tests, it will lead to panic.
The government cannot allow
such mass screening except at
hotspots,” he said.
The government believes
that there will be clarity on the
vid-2019 situation.
With regard to the lock-
down, the full court meet presi-
ded over by Chief Justice Rag-
havendra Singh Chauhan inter-
acted with K Shankar, director
of Institute of Preventive
Medicine, who suggested
a phased lifting of the
lockdown instead of ope-
ning all the sectors in one
go which, he said, could
lead to overcrowding.
The court took into
confidence Bar Council chair-
man A Narasimha Reddy, Bar
Association president Suryaka-
ran Reddy and decided to ex-
tend the lockdown of courts till
April 30.
Inspector Rudra Bhaskar distributes
essential commodities to a family
(top), feeding a stray dog
cards and have no clue whom
to approach for help,” said
John Victor Paul, a constable
in Chandrayangutta police
station. The inspector bought
essential commodities such
as rice, dal and vegetables for
them with his money.
“We distributed over 150
kg of essential commodities
to some of the people who we-
re in dire need and couldn’t
TIMES CITY | Viral Worry
98.5% increase was seen
in cases filed under other IPC
sections. Many of these cas-
es were lockdown related
dy followed by Nagarkurnoo-
ol and Rachakonda with three
each — were registered.
“Due to lockdown, cases
like accidents, burglaries and
grave offences have come
down. Cases booked under
section 188 (disobedience to
@TelanganaCMO suggested
an extension of the lockdown
period today. Do you think, the
lockdown should be extended in
#Telangana? Respond on this
thread as to what measures
should be taken post-April 14
C ure the fear first.
Provide food,
water, fuel and
medicines... Identify
hostels, old age home
and orphanages.
Provisions for one
month… —Deepa
Shailendra, @
DeepaShailendra
number of Covid-19 positive ca-
ses, especially attendees of Tab-
lighi Jamaat and their primary
contacts, by April 10. “Their 14-
day incubation time will be
completed by April last week,”
sources said. KCR has instruc-
The full court would again
meet on April 25 to review the si-
tuation, said registrar general
A Venkateswara Reddy. The co-
urts, including HC, will conti-
nue to hear urgent cases in a vir-
tual mode, he said.
It is learnt that courts
in the coming weeks co-
uld take up final hearing
matters through virtual
mode if the lockdown is
extended. “As judicial
employees have come for-
ward to donate one-day’s salary
towards Chief Justice Relief
fund, the same will be deducted
from their April salaries and
forwarded to CM Relief Fund,”
the registrar general said.
afford anything. In the initial
days of the lockdown, there
was a huge shortage of masks
in medical stores. I sponsored
some 400 masks for vegetable
vendors and people in need of
it,” Bhaskar said.
As the area covered under
his jurisdiction is huge, the
inspector could only spread
awareness in selected locali-
ties. “However, there is a gre-
an order duly promulgated by
public servant) that fall under
other IPC category have gone
up due to lockdown rule viola-
tions. We have registered over
20,000 cases, including 3000
cases under the IPC in connec-
tion with lockdown related
Syed Omar
Yes 84% No 16%
1,380
Total
votes
ockdown was not
effective initially due
to crowd. Extend till
30th April…—Ramesh
Mathemsetti, @rameshxyz
Isupport extension but yes!
many daily wage migrant
workers are suffering.
Extensive testing needs to
be done... —Dr Vajja Swathi,
@vajjas
L ockdown should
continue. But night
curfew can start from
9pm-6am... —Vidyasagar
Jagadeesan, @jvidyasagar
L ock down should be
limited to identified
hot spots without any fear
or favour... —PM Rao, @
raopm9
ted party floor leaders — Nama
Nageswara Rao and K Keshava
Rao —to strongly express the
government’s view during the
video-conference with PM at
the all-party meet in Delhi on
Wednesday.
#LOCKDOWN
HEROES
F rom doctors, nurses,
bankers to milkmen
and security guards,
there are many frontline
warriors who are battling
it out daily to ensure we
are safe and taken care
of during the lockdown.
We salute all these real,
unsung heroes.
If you know of
#LockdownHeroes whose
stories you would like to
share please log on to
www.toilockdownheroes.
com. We will seek to get
in touch and feature
select stories in The
Times of India newspaper.
ater need for educating peo-
ple about the virus. There
should be a door-to-door awa-
reness programme carried
out covering small localiti-
es,” he said. The cop and his
staff have also been checking
on the elderly people.
“I found out about an 80-
year-old woman who has be-
en staying alone in a slum
area. Her son is not with her
here,” said the inspector.
Concerned about how the el-
derly woman would manage
during the lockdown, the in-
spector bought her grocery
for a month.
Colleagues also recall the
generous side of their boss.
“Last month, while we all we-
re on duty near a crossroad
and had to eat dinner on the
roadside, the inspector saw a
visibly weak dog. He fed the
dog. That was a very kind ges-
ture,” recalled John. “As all
the hotels are closed, stray
dogs are among the worst
hit,” said the inspector.
law enforcement,” additional
director general (law and or-
der) Jitender said.
Surprisingly, there were
no murder for gain cases du-
ring the lockdown and prior
to the lockdown in March, the-
re was only one case was re-
gistered in Nizamabad.
During the lockdown, day
burglaries’ percentage redu-
ced by 94% and night burgla-
ries by 75% There was an 80%
fall in kidnapping and 75%
drop in rape cases.
Missing cases reduced by
53% and other IPC cases ( pre-
dominantly lockdown-rela-
ted) increased by 98% .
10 fall ill after
trying TikTok
remedy in AP
Sandeep.Raghavan
@timesgroup.com
Tirupati: Taking a cue from
TikTok videos proffering cure
for coronavirus, 10 persons in
Chittoor district fell ill after
drinking a home-made remedy.
According to Byreddipalle SI
Muni Swamy, two families who
are neighbours in Alapalli vil-
lage, were alarmed over the
spread of coronavirus.
On Tuesday, the two far-
mers’ families led by the elders
Nagaraju (70) and Laxmiamma
(40) drank juice made of Um-
metha puvvu seeds (Datura, a
genus of nine species of poiso-
nous Vespertine flowering
plants belonging to the family
Solanaceae, which are also
known as devil’s trumpets) as a
measure to prevent catching
the virus.
All of them, including six-
year-old boy Hemanth, fell sick.
The neighbours shifted them to
Byreddipalle government ho-
spital. They were, however, dis-
charged in the evening. Doctors
asked people not to believe in
such messages.
451 bottles of IMFL
seized from bizman
Hyderabad: Police raided a
house in KPHB Colony and seized
451Indian Made Foreign Liquor
bottles stored without license
from a businessman and took
him into custody. The accused,
Gadichanda Vittal Rao, was
selling them at higher price. TNN
IIMES
INTERNET
Season 3 of Write India , the country 's largest short story writing
The women 's voice of Indian mythology, Kavita Kane , is our
'Author of the Month ' for April. Check her prompt and rules for
TO WWW.T O I.IN/WRITEINDIA TO PARTICIPATE
Salman :L
Clare Mackintosh
More buses for
sanitation staff
Sanitation workers travelling in the crowded bus
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: Following the
incident of GHMC sanita-
tion staff being transported
from one place to another in
a crowded bus, authorities
have increased the number
of buses to enable social dis-
tancing. Videos of the inci-
dent did the rounds on soci-
al media on Monday.
Many of the sanitation
workers were also travel-
ling without wearing masks
GHMC additional commis-
sioner Rahul Raj said, “We
have arranged for 25 buses
to transport workers co-
ming from long distances.
The facility has not been not
26k apply for 6k
posts in health dept
Amrita.Didyala
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: A recruit-
ment drive for filling up
6,000 posts for medical pro-
fessionals across districts,
has attracted a huge re-
sponse despite the ongo-
ing Covid-19 crisis. Nearly
26,000 applications have
been received for the cont-
ractual jobs. The staff will
be recruited as part of a
‘centralized pool’ of staff,
including ayurvedic doc-
tors and pharmacists
apart from doctors, nurses
and paramedics, who will
be available to health de-
partment for recruitment
anywhere in the state.
Seeing the overwhel-
ming response, the last da-
te for applications was ex-
tended from April 3 to
April 6 by the state govern-
WRITE FOR KAVITA KA1VE
A uthor of the Month, - Ap ril1
contest , is on.
the contest & start writing.
Amitav Ghosh Gu lzar
Jeet Thay il Vivek Shanbhag
WRITE INDIA
WRITE WITH THE WRITERS - SEASON
3
LOCKDOWN
VIOLATIONS
APRIL 7
1,443 | Disobedience of
order (double riding)
11 | Disobedience of
orders (no entry)
1 | Triple riding
2,482 | 31 | Pillion
Riding with- rider not
out helmet wearing helmet
166 | Restriction on
plying of vehicles
865 | Tempo- 977 |
arranged for all GHMC rarily vehicle Lack of
staff. This is only for people taken into safe required
custody documents
coming from long distances
like Shamirpet, Shasmaha-
bad and Ibrahimpatnam are
provided with transport .” 5,976 Total cases
on April 7
He added, “The local sa-
nitation workers forcibly
entered one of the bus that
was not allotted to them. We
have kept a sanitary field in-
spector to monitor each bus.
His duty is to ensure social
distancing in the buses.We
are running 36 buses.”
GHMC will take atten-
dance of sanitation workers
14,155
every day. “We have initia- Total
ted criminal action against number of
a local who forced everyone cases booked
to enter the bus,” Raj said.
HAPPYINES
A
Knowledge is Safety!
1
ment. “Within the first few
days itself, more than 6,000
Read the paper to enhance
your awareness and safety
applications were recei-
during these times.
ved and now it is touching
26,000,” said a source from Healthcare vouchers
to be won daily.
state health department.
While the state health
department has taken up
Convert points to
5X TIMESPOINTS
the exercise on war-foo-
for assured rewards.
ting to fill up vacancies in Weekly Points Bonanza!
view of the Covid-19 crisis, Weekly draws for 12000
this is probably the first ti-
me the notification to al-
low posting of the staff re-
TIMESPOINTS,every Sunday.
T&C pply Participatio n window: 71o 11AM
cruited in the drive in any
of the health facilities
across the state. “This new
notification issued direct-
ly by special secretary to
state health department,
will allow appointment of
staff recruited anywhere M w" >
required,” said the source.
The state has also at- I
tempted to attract in the
large pool of retired pro-
fessionals. .
Cover
Stay Safe Tip!
flexe d el b ow
THE TIMES OF INDL1
4h ab
R ay a , i t a r a Sahgal A m i s h Tripathi
C
Kavita Kane Upamanyu Chatterjee
3
 4 TIMES CITY | Viral Worry THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

Office space absorption hits Owaisi takes

Covid-19 bump, 50% dip feared
Rent Too REALTY BITES
Likely To Fall Hyderabad
The existing rate of leasing in
ranges between ` 55
and ` 65 per sft
By 10% to 15% According to The firm said
Sudipta.Sengupta
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: The city’s office
space absorption that had
crossed 10 million square feet
(sft) by the end of 2019, could
fall by over 50% this year, say
industry insiders.
With the lockdown put-
ting brakes on several busi-
nesses across the globe, they
said that companies will be
wary of leasing new space in
2020, particularly during the
next two quarters. The re-
sult– a dip in rentals of at le-
ast 10% to 15%.
The existing rate of lea-
sing in Hyderabad ranges bet-
ween `55 and `65 per sft with
some Grade A spaces attrac-
ting as much as `75 to `80 per
potshots at
IIIT starts series to guide
Modi, Trump
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
startups during lockdown
Nirupa.Vatyam der NanoHealth, who delive-
As part of the
mercial offices in emerging
economies.”
Hyderabad: AIMIM president
and Hyderabad MP Asadud-
@timesgroup.com
series, startup
red the first talk in the Star-
tup Gyan series, spoke about
However, expressing opti- din Owaisi to- Hyderabad: Apart from con- founders will talk about ‘Winning that first corporate
mism, realtor Shailender
Singh, director of Proppro,
ok a jibe at Pri-
me Minister
ducting virtual classes, the
International Institute of In-
their startup status and customer’.
Sharing his experience,
the journey so far through
who also foresees an initial
drop in pace in the industry,
Narendra Mo-
di and US Pre-
formation Technology, Hyde-
rabad (IIIT Hyderabad) has
conversation on specific he said the first corporate cli-
ent comes from the close pool
Savills India, an that office space said he feels office space will sident Donald started ‘Lockdown Talks’ and topics useful for other of references, but to gain the-
international leasing is likely remain a safer asset class for Trump over ‘Startup Gyan Series’ to guide Deeptech startups and the ir trust, startups need to be
property to slow down investors. “The projected relaxation of export norms for startups on how to operate, community at large thorough in understanding
consulting firm, due to tenants supply in Hyderabad was hydroxychloroquine. market, and develop their bu- the need and how they could
Ramesh Loganathan |
the office market reprogramming anyways coming in a phased Following the coronavirus sinesses during the present COO, CIE, IIIT HYDERABAD encourage corporates to take
will recover only their office manner over three to five ye- outbreak, hydroxychloroqui- crisis. up those extra steps which
in 2021 needs ars and many large compani- ne, a pharmaceutical compo- Initiated by the Centre for would be avoided otherwise.
There’ll also be a temporary es eyeing Hyderabad were lo- und, generally used in treating Innovation and Entreprene- startup founders will talk “The first 2-3 clients are the
pause on fresh supply oking at occupation starting malaria, is currently in huge urship (CIE) at IIIT Hydera- about their startup status and ones where startups need to
end of 2020 and over the next demand for its reported effica- bad, the lockdown talks were the journey so far through reiterate their problem state-
sft. “Office space leasing is months post Covid-19 for com- three to four years...There are cy in preventing and treating being organized once in two conversation on specific to- ments through quick identifi-
likely to slow down due to te- mercial real estate,” said Vis- clients who are already pro- many cases of Covid-19. “How- days, which will concentrate pics useful for other deep tech cation of needs and build data
nants reprogramming their hal Goel, partner, Cerestra gressing with their discus- dy @PMOIndia! This is not more on topics that are rele- startups and the community to back it up for subsequent
office needs. There’ll also be a Advisors, adding, “Startups sions on expansion or office from very long ago. Why is ‘In- vant to the current situation at large. The video will be abo- clients,” he added.
temporary pause on fresh and co-working spaces will space requirements,” he said. dia’s friend in the White House’ such as hiring practices, rai- ut 15-20 minutes long,” said The institute would also
supply,” stated a report by Sa- suffer most and big firms will Retail, on the other hand, talking of retaliation? Will you sing money, among other. The Ramesh Loganathan, chief start ‘Unpitch’, where star-
vills India, an international postpone leasing space till will see a slow down for sure tolerate this insult to Bharat?” Startup Gyan series, mean- operating officer, CIE, IIIT tups get an opportunity to
property consulting firm he- end of the year as their priori- as theatres, food courts and tweeted Owaisi. while, is a video blog that wo- Hyderabad, adding that by pitch virtually to seek fun-
adquartered in the UK. Ac- ty will change. Also, most of anchor stores that pull large Owaisi’s reaction comes af- uld be uploaded every day. the end of the series they wo- ding. “This will start on April
cording to the firm, the office the workforce has been trai- crowds will see customers ter India announced a partial “We have already started uld have videos on about 30 to- 20. The startups will get to
market will recover only in ned to work from home now. shying away for a while un- relaxation on the export of dif- uploading video blogs under pics which will be helpful to pitch to fulfil for one specific
2021. This will impact long-term less it’s a guaranteed safe en- ferent pharmaceutical formu- Startup Gyan Series from startups. need in their firm,” Loganat-
“It will be a tough 12 demand prospects of com- vironment, he added. lations. Monday. As part of this series, Manish Ranjan, co-foun- han added.

15 hotspots in Nizamabad dist Congress lashes out

Over 4,000 migrant
1 1 1

r 117-1711 M,777771r I , I at state, Centre

-P ROCUREMENT TENDER NOTICE Hyderabad: The Congress on

r3 :PM O
s
O
nt Tender Notce No. SE 0112020-21 Of : 06-04-2020 to 0312020.21 ,
. Name of the Division : Karimnagar (3) Construction of check dams.
.1779 .50 Lakhs. Receipt of Bids Last bate & Time : 15-04.2020 upto
ther details can be seen at e-procuremen t market place at
From P 1 In Suryapet, Wardhamanu
Kota village was sealed on
these colonies were identified
as hotspots.
Tuesday lashed out at CM K
Chandrasekhar Rao for criticising workers rehabilitated
T
hese steps are being ta- Monday as six positive cases With first case being repor- opposition parties during his
tender ,telangana .gov .in . Sri G. Ashok Kumar , B.E . SLC.e- e Engineer ,
Irri gation Circle Kar m-agar .
ken to prevent spread co- were reported . The six were ted in Khammam, collector R media briefing on Monday. TIMES NEWS NETWORK
R 0 No $ D PICL - AGENC Y IA DVT 2020-21 ronavirus by district infected when a Covid-19 pati- V Karnan declared Pedda Congress floor leader in assembly
authorities,” health director ent visited the family. Thirty- Thanda near Khammam as Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said PM Hyderabad: More than 4,000
Dr G Srinivas Rao told TOI. three from Wardhmanu Kota containment cluster. “Even in Narendra Modi and KCR should be migrant workers from Bihar,
ncrtcer..° NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION TRANSPORT CORPORATION LTD. The state is closely looking at and seven from Masireddypal- Khammam town we won’t al- blamed for failing to combat the Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand
(A JV of Govt. of India and participating State Govermnents)
Adilabad, Nizambaad, Surya- ly were shifted to isolation low people to come out after spread of the virus. “WHO had and Odisha, were rehabilita-
pet, Gadwal, Mahbubnagar, wards as they moved closely 11am except for medical emer- cautioned on February 11 itself. By ted and provided basic ameni-
NIT No. DM/CN/COR-0F1107 Tender ID : 2020 _ ADBNC_46695 Kamareddy and Khammam with positive cases. Energy gencies,” the collector said. the time Janata Curfew was ties in around 20 locations in
Online bids are invited for Package-17 Manufacturing, Supply, Installation , Testing districts which are getting mo- minister G Jagadish Reddy too Mahbubnagar district ad- imposed on March 22, the the city by a community-ba- Food being distributed to migrants
& Commissioning of Ballast-less / Ballasted Track from Sarai Kale Khan (in Delhi) to re cases every day. visited the village on Tuesday. ministration declared two are- damage was done,” he said. TNN sed NGO. Most of the workers
Modi Puram (in UP) including Jangpura Stabling Yard , Duhai and Modipuram Adilabad district health of- In Nizamabad, collector C as as hotspots with three new were picked up from Begum- ded them accommodation in
Depots for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor of NCRTC. ficials said 19 wards in Adila- Narayana Reddy on Tuesday cases on Tuesday. pet and Secunderabad. function halls. They have been
For detailed information and subsequent, addendum/conigendum (if any), please visit
NCRTC website www . ncrtc.in or CPP Portal https:/Ietenders.gov.inleprocurelapp
bad municipality, five villages
in Neradigonda and three in
announced 15 areas as hots-
pots after10 new cases took dis-
Meanwhile, Adilabad
town police booked case aga-
L&T rolls out “Around 800 people have
been attended to in Balamrai,
provided with basic groceries
and food items and they are co-
from 08.04.2020 to 21.05 .2020 ( upto 15:00 hrs). Shc- GGM/Procure ment Utnoor mandal are declared as trict total to 36. They include inst the doctor who attended AI-based systems Rasoolpura, and Begumpet oking their own food in the
7/6 . Si rif o r t Inst itutional Area , A u g u s t Kranti Marg , New Delhi-110049 hotspots. Of total10 positive ca- Malapally, Hymadpura, Habe- TJ meet and performed surge- Hyderabad: L&T Smart World and 900 workers have been temporary shelters erected
ses in the district, six are from ebnagar, Khilla Road, Bodhan, ries apart from attending duti- & Communication on Tuesday identified in Yapral, Nacha- for them,” he said.
4
1 Adilabad town, three from Ne- Bhimgal, Autonagar, Makloor es after returning. The comp- said it has rolled out smart ram and Uppal areas,” said With the help of city poli-
radigonda and one from Utno- and Nandipet. He said each laint was filed by Rajiv Gandhi technology solutions to enable Parmanand Sharma, presi- ce, around 400 workers have
rR le 1
or mandal. “Over 100 teams de- cluster covered about half to Institute of Medical Sciences’ local authorities combat dent of Janseva Sangh, a com- been provided shelter and fo-
'17
Al 1 D. ployed to survey each house in one kilometre from the homes director Balaram Naik and COVID-19 in over 20 cities munity-based NGO of around od in Kukatpally. “Currently,
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR EN G A G EMENT OF CONSULTANT FOR RE -D EVELOPMENT OF
contained localities,” Adila- of positive cases. doctor was booked under Sec- across India, including 400 people comprising doc- we are feeding around 2,000 to
RAILWAY COLONIES AT KAZIPET . ADILABAD AND KADAPA STATIONS OF SOUTH - CENTRAL RAILWAY
bad DMHO Thodasam Chan- In Kamareddy, five localiti- tions 176, 188, 270 and 271of Dis- Hyderabad, by setting up tors, IAS officials and IT pro- 3,000 people daily. District offi-
Esti mated for the work Rs . 25.05 Lakh
1011 du said. Seventy-three from es — Teachers’ Colony, Madi- aster Management Act and al- technology and helping them fessionals. cials have also been helpful in
Last date & me of submission of RFP documents : 28.04 .2020 upto 15 :00 hrs.
(1) For c o m p e t e detai s , visit website www . rlda.indi a nra i lways .gov.in or
district had attended TJ event na Colony, Arafat Colony — so relevant sections of Epide- manage command & control Sharma said that most of identifying areas and workers
www.tende rw izard . com/RLOA. in Delhi. and five other areas adjacent to mic Diseases Act. centres. In Telangana, L&T the workers used to work for in need,” said Srikanth Pan-
(2) Any Corrigendum/Addendum to this publication . if any, wou d be hosted on above helped police implement hotels. Since they have shut dey, secretary, Janseva Sangh,
mentioned websites only and will not be published in newspapers. AI-based vehicle movement down, these people have no- adding that they are aiming at
(RFP Notice No. RLDAIRFP/CT-52 of 2020 Dated 04.04.2020) . .. e restriction. TNN where to go. “We have provi- extending help to more areas.
DOM/ Tender (Mob: 7703918078)
t of Water S u p p l y & Sanitation , P u n j a b invites Manu-
DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI liers to indicate their interest in providing and installing
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WEST)-II
D-BLOCK MOTI NAGAR. NEW DELHI-110015
7t . .ogyh n
maintenance tree and gravity fed 'Domestic arsenic
s in individual households' based on Adsorption
r ground
ol water affected with arsenic in 65 villages of
General public is hereby informed that my
client Sri , Mohammed Ali , Rio , Somajiguda ,
Pandemic inspires parents
S. Name of Work
PRESS NIT No. 89/WEST-11/(2019-201
TENDER COST Earnest T, Fee Date release Last date/time
District Amritsar , Tam Taran and Gurdaspur of Punjab. Characteristics
of raw water and other details are as:
is intending to purchase open plots bearing
No.90 & 91 situated at survey No.403, Road
No. 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad , Through
to name newborns Corona
No Money of tender In of receipt of bander
Arsenic content in raw water : 50 ppb & above GPA holder Mr. K. Chadra shekar Redd y Tirupati: Two newborns in ies of both the babies were suc-
..j ocurement through 8- procuriament
solution solution Iron content in raw water : 1.0 to 1.5 ppm Kundur Resident of Jubilee Hills , Hyderabad, Vemula in Kadapa district cessful and when the parents
4. Replacement of existing 18" C.I. main by 35 ,80,239.00 72 ,000.00 500.00 -do- -do- Product water : Arsenic and Iron content within BIS norms If anybody has interest or claim or objections were named after the novel asked us to suggest memorable
450 mm dia 13.1 water main comes under drain Tentative No. of units to supplied : 15000 with regard to the above said property must coronavirus on Tuesday. names, we suggested they
to avoid contamination at Girdhari Lai Marg contact me or raise any objections within one
Capacity of raw & treated storage water unit : 10 litre each A rural medical practitio- name them after the novel cor-
Naraina Industrail Area Phase-1 Under EE(west)-I
2. Interested firms may see Terms of reference (TOR) available at week from today. ner, Dr SE Basha, who manag- onavirus, as they were born
AC-39. TENDER ID 2020 DJB 190129_ 4
SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY
Further details in this regard can be seen at httol/IdelhiAoYlprocurementcpat Department' s website: http://pbdwss.gov .in and can obtain further es the Dr SE Basha Clinic, said during the lockdown. Both
information at the address given below during office working hours All that land admeasuring 971 Sq.Yd forming two babies born at his clinic couples readily agreed,” said
ISSUED BY P.R .O. (WATER) Sd/- i.e. 10:00 to 17:00 hours on working days. part of Plot No' s 90 & 91 situated at survey
amid lockdown were named Dr Basha.
Advt. No.J.S.V. 01/2020-2021 EXECUTIV E ENGINEER (WEST) I No.403 , Shaikpet ,Road No.2 , Banjara Hills ,
3. Expression of Interest must be delivered in written form to the add- Hy derabad . North : Neighbour & MCH
Corona Kumar and Corona While a couple from Talla-
ress below (In person, or by post or by e-mail) by 17th April, 2020. Japanese Park , South: Road No.2 Banjara Kumari. palle named their daughter
DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI Superintending Engineer, Hills, East :By MCH Japanese Park, West: Speaking to TOI, the doc- Corona Kumari, a couple from
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SOUTH) II Water Supply & Sanitation Circle , Kotak Mahindra Bank & Dr. Reddy lab office. tor said two pregnant women Alireddipalli named their
JAL SADAN: LAJPAT NAGAR: NEW DELHI Amritsar (Punjab) Sd/- I, GOPAL SHARMA , Advocate , were brought to his nursing newborn son Corona Kumar.
NIT No. 661SaU2019-20 Near Ram Bagh Railway Crossing, Al, Samrat Residential Complex , home for delivery. The deliver- — Sandeep Raghavan
Press Tender Tele/fax : 0183-2 5433 91 Mob: 9815764200 Saifabad . Hyderabad. Cell: 9849655338
S. Name of Work Reserve price Date of release Last date Email: se_wss_asr@yahoo.co.in
No. of tender in and time for Website: httpJ/pbdwss.gov.in
e-procurement
solution
download
& RTGS
through
"Note: Any co rr igendum(s) to the Eol shall be published on the website only."
DPR/Pb.: 930-D 1 1 1 I'
Drones to combat spread
1, Shifting of damaged sewer line by P/L 1,90 ,91,690/- 2019_ DJB_ 190133_ 1
e-procurement
solution
21 .4.2020 REGIONAL OFFICE: TELANGANA
E-7 U ND E R NO I ICL
Tender Notice No: PCMM,CLW/
of Covid-19 in districts
630mm dia HDPE pipe at C.V. Raman 31.3.2020 upto 2.00 PM EMPLOYEES' STATE INSURANCE CORPORATION KOL/E - Procurement/ 19-20/75 Warangal:Municipal corporations of various dis-
Marg under EE(S ) I (AC-51 Kalkaji)
Re-invite 5.9-23,Hill Fort Road , Adarshnagar -HYDERABAD -500 063 Dated:21-03-2020. Principal Chief ' tricts in the state are deploying thermal imaging
Further details in this regard can be seen at oovtoroc ureenentdelri cov in Ph. Nos .040-23232356, 57, 58, 59; Fax No.040-23235048 Materials Manager on behalf of camera drowns manufactured by Binford Robotics
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Sd/-
Website : www.esic .nic .in - E-mail: rd-ap@esic .nic.in the President of India invites to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Advt No . J.S.V. 02/2020-2021 EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SOUTH) 11
electronic bids from established Drones were deployed for survelliance to iden-
EXTENSION OF LAST DATE FOR reliable manufacturer for supply tify Covid-19 hotspots and spray disinfectants in
SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST of the followings. The following Warangal. “Drones can spray disinfectants 50 ti-

TIMES in ter
E-Tenderis is/are for supp l y of mes faster than conventional methods and can be
In reference to ESI Corporation , Regional Office - Hyderabad "Notices of materials for m a n u f a c t u r e of equipped with high resolution surveillance came-
To book your adve rt bement , call 9278817222 Inviting Expression of Interest for EMPANELMENT OF HCO' s FOR ras for crowd monitoring and identifying virus
E l e c t r i c L o c o m o t i v e . The
PROVIDING SUPER SPECIALITY TREATMENT & SECONDARY CARE Prospective' likely suppliers are hotspots,” said Greater Warangal Municipal Cor-
TREATMENT to beneficiaries of ESI Scheme in Telangana State, vide
Book your
poration (GWMC) mayor Gunda Prakash Rao.
requested to look up the website
advertisement published in this Newspaper on 21st March 2020. It is www.ireps .gov.in . For detailed
Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district collector Ab-
notified that the last date for submission of Expression of Interest (EOI) is dul Azeem deployed pilot bird drone for spraying of
Newspaper Ads
instructions please refer to website.
extended upto 05-05-2020, 5.00 PM. The other terms and conditions shall disinfectants. — Shiva Kumar Pinna
SI.;Tender No.; Description of
remain unchanged. Stores; Qty.; Due On; Cost of
in just 3 easy steps
For detailed information please visit www.esic.nic.in Tender : 12731; 25205004;
log on to
(offices> RO/SR O >Telangana >Announcements (1)Echocardiography with Colour Bizman injured in car crash
> Instructions/Circilars /Orders). Doppler Machine HSN Code: 9018 Hyderabad: A businessman was injured when
DIRECT jobs (m /f) ssc/inter
/ graduates/ mb a / b t e c h / d i p Specification No . MT'2267 Dt. he crashed his car into a footpath on Necklace Ro-
from your loma /iti / cnc/operator.040.007 0 2 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 M.S. P l a t e to IS ad near NTR Gardens on the intervening night of
CSIR-CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF MINNING
84732/040-40205313 9000801072
Desktop or Mobile 2062:2011 , Gr 1i-410, Quality- 13 R, Monday and Tuesday. Rounak Agarwal (25), a re-
companies call for manpower
FPORWN
I Size: 10x2500x9300mm. (2)
AND FUEL RESEARCH
sident of Himayatnagar, was allegedly speeding
Concomitant Accessories: Tenderer and lost control over the wheel while heading to-
Mr. Kevin Sujai must offer and quote the price of wards Somajiguda. Police found a liquor bottle
Kotikalapudi , (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research)
the entire specified concomitant inside his Volkswagen. “We are trying to ascerta-
holder of BARWA ROAD, DHANBAD(Jharkhand)- 826015 and any other accessories, which in if he was driving under the influence of alco-
Readers are recommended to make appropriate Indian Passport
enqures and seek appropriate advice before bearing No.R8206025 No : CIMFRIDDO/NABL-CONS/2020 Date : 08/04/2020 are considered essential for hol,” said Saifabad inspector Saidi Reddy. TNN
commissioning and utilisation of '
Trri T '"xs sending money, incurring any expenses , acting on
Garxm
issued at Abu Dhabi on
medical recommendations or entering into any
commitment in relation to any advertisement 27/08/2017 ,
NIT the m a c h i n e , in a n n e x u r e ALMANAC
published in this pubication . The Times Of India
Group doesn't vouch for any claims made by the
Advert isers of products and services . The Printer, SALE "Brand New Wire Mesh
and Name of work : NOTICE INVITING TENDER separatel y. The machine should be
fully equipped with Concomitant
08-04-2020 (WEDNESDAY)

Publisher, Editor, and Owners of The Times Of India

Group publicatons shall not be held liable for any
Welding Machine for SALE"
Machine Width - 8 Feet . Price .
Ms. Alisha Fernandes
holder of FOR ENGAGEMENT OF NABL accessories for independent service.
Ayanam: Uttaraayanam, Rutuvu: Vasantha,
Maasam:Chaitra, Paksham:Shukla, Tithi:
consequences in the event such cl ams are not
honored bytheAdv ert isers .
20 Lakhs( Negotiable ). Contact -
M rA r u n Kumar-9480834446
Indian Passport CONSULTANT FOR NABL ACCREDIATION Details as per Col .8 of Spec n .
Chaturdashi12-01, Nakshatram: Uttaraphal-
bearing No. Z2490295 No.MT/ 2267 , Dt.02' 1212019;
issued at Abu Dhabi on OF CIMFR LABORATORIES, DHANBAD As per tender ; 13.04.2020 At
guni 09-15, Yoga:Dhruva 18-35, Karanam:
Vanaji12-01, Varjam: 16-33 to 17-57, Rahu-
02/03/2014 , Date & Time for Pre-Bid conference: 30/04/2020 11.00 hrs.; 0.00.
Book your advertisement call intended getting married
at Abu Dhabi under the at 11.00 A.M. Principal Chief Mat erials Manager
( I N?I)nnku ii
kaalam: 15-23 to 16-56, Durmuhurtam:
08-35 to 09-24& 23-08 to 23-54, Amruthaka-
U '6 -uUG lam : 24-54 to 26-17
Indian Foreign
Marriage Act.
Last date and time for submission of bid is
Objections, if any, may
26/05/2020 upto 03:00 PM. Cops distribute

9278812222, Date and time of opening of technical bid is

be conveyed to the I I 1" 1 ' 1 food, groceries:
Embassy of India , NIT No.03: Short Tender Notice No.031SE(P-N&EZ), +GHMC/2020-2021 (Re-call)DC06-04-
Cyberabad Police &
Abu Dhabi within 02/06/2020 at 11:00 A .M. 2020; Name of the work : "Balance works for Improvement of Kalasi guda Nala in between traffic cops along
Ambedkar Nagar to Rani gunj Bus Depot' ; Estimate Amount / ECV: Rs.1 65.00 Lakhs; Start with volunteers
30 days on Detailed NIT is available on CIMFR website Date/Last Date & Time for Recei pts of Bids : Start date: 08-04-2020 04.00 PM; Last Date &

www.cimfr . nic.in and www.etender .gov.in

Telephone No. distributed 200
Time for Receipts of Bids: 18-04-2020 04.00 PM., Name & Adress officer Cell. No: 0/0.
pay through Credit/Debit Card, 00971 2 4492700 or Superintending Engineer (Projects-N & EZ) GHMG , 9989930408. Further details can be seen
e
at ' Procurement @ www.tender .telangana.gov.in. Or can be contact office of the
grocery bags and
22,000 food packets
Netbanking, Pavtm or DigitalWallet
by E-mail:
cons.abudhabi(ai
Sd/- Superintending Engineer (P-N&EZ), GHMC in office working hours. to the poor. TNN
-Oqq =OW mea.gov.in ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Superintending Engineer ,
R ,0 , No, 1)09-PP+CLAD'IT r1:2020-21 Date 07-04-2020 Pro acts - N&EZ GHMC
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020 TELANGANA/ANDHRA PRADESH | Viral Worry 5
Teachers of
Indonesians in Karimnagar Data security experts AP guv to donate 30%
salary to PM fund
tech colleges Vijayawada: AP governor

red flag Zoom app Biswabhusan Harichandan has

get half pay

Nirupa.Vatyam@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: Teachers working
in private technical colleges in
the state alleged that majority of
educational institutes paid only
50% salary for March. A few col-
sparked nationwide alert
decided to donate 30% of his
yearly salary to the PM CARES
U.Sudhakarreddy fund. In a letter to President
@timesgroup.com Citizens Lab has advised Ram Nath Kovind, the governor
governments, healthcare said he took the decision in
With 10 Testing AREA AT A GLANCE the Indonesian group after
they had attended the Niza-
Hyderabad: Data security re-
searchers claim there are huge
providers handling patient
information, lawyers,
response to the call given by
PM Modi to contribute in order
Karimnagar is one of the 30 muddin Markaz meet. security and privacy concerns to help the government in the
+Ve, Town Now Smart Cities being developed Stepping in, Karimna-
gar MP Bandi Sanjay of BJP
in video conferencing app Zo-
om. Citizens Lab, which had
journalists working on
sensitive topics to use
fight against the pandemic. TNN

leges assured to pay arrears of

March, April and May between
June and August, while others
did not give any time frame for
paying salaries of the faculty.
“I received only 50% salary.
Management just sent a messa-
ge saying the pending amount
will be released in due course,”
alecturer, working at an engine-
ering college told TOI. The Te-
langana Technical Institutions
Employees Association said at
least 80% of colleges paid only
50% salaries this month.Mean-
while, managements said they
were not in a position to pay as
fee reimbursement dues were
pending since 2018.
“Colleges/institutes are in-
formed to take care of the welfa-
re of the faculty during the lock-
down period with regard to pay-
ment of full salaries regularly
and not terminating them, fai-
ling which the university shall
initiate stern and stringent ac-
tion against the erring institu-
tes as per the university affilia-
tion norms,” JNTU-Hydera-
bad, to which technical colleges
were affiliated, said in a circu-
lar late on Tuesday.
A Red Zone
Sushil.Rao@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: It was in the
third week of March, Ka-
rimnagar, with a population
of around three lakh, woke
up to the realisation that co-
ronavirus had struck the
town. With 10 Indonesian
preachers testing positive,
alarm bells had started ring-
ing.The group of 10 Indone-
sians had arrived on March
14 from Delhi aboard the AP
Sampark Kranti Express.
They visited four mosques
in the town.
The next day, they went
to the Intelligence Special
Branch to register their pre-
sence. By then, the fact that a
IT professional who retur-
ned from Dubai had tested
positive had caused conster-
nation. “Since one of the In-
donesians had shown signs
of coronavirus, the SB per-
sonnel shifted them to the
hospital,” Karimnagar poli-
ce commissioner VB Kama-
lasan Reddy told TOI.
Shares borders with
Maharashtra in the north
and Chhattisgarh in the east
Has an industrial belt
that houses the Singareni
collieries
Initially, we supplied vegetables for free for four
days. Now the door delivery is taking place for
all essentials when the residents place an order
— Valluru Kranthi | MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER
On March 16, the group
was rushed to the Gandhi
Hospital where, subsequ-
ently, all 10 of them tested
positive along with four
others who were in contact
with them. As on April 7,
there are seven active positi-
ve cases from Karimnagar
alone. Police have also regis-
tered cases against the
Indonesians for violating
the Foreigners Act.
As many as 114 people are
now under quarantine in
hospitals and 625 under ho-
me quarantine in Karimna-
gar town. Interestingly, the
man, who hosted the Indo-
nesians, was not traceable
The group of Indonesians had
arrived Karimnagar on May 14.
Ten of them tested positive
but police caught him even-
tually and sent him for ex-
amination. He too tested po-
sitive. Two other contacts of
the Indonesians had also
tested positive.
With the Indonesians
testing positive, the Telang-
ana government informed
the central government.
The railways was alerted
about the coaches in which
the Indonesians had travel-
led and passengers were as-
ked to report for a check-up.
On March 21, the Union ho-
me ministry realised the
gravity of the pandemic af-
ter Telangana reported ca-
ses from Karimnagar about
urged all those associated
with the Markaz event to
submit themselves for a
check-up.
Even before the lock-
down was announced, Mu-
karampura and three other
places where the Indonesi-
ans had stayed were decla-
red ‘red zones’ and barrica-
ded. Municipal commissio-
ner Valluru Kranthi made
arrangements for door deli-
very of essentials to 4,000
houses. Medical tests were
conducted twice for everyo-
ne in each household. She al-
so said documentation was
being done on how the crisis
was being handled.
“Apart from monitoring
by drones, we have fixed
CCTV cameras in these are-
as so that no one comes out of
their houses,” Kamalasan
explained. Collector K Shas-
hanka said all protocols we-
re being followed to prevent
the spread of coronavirus in
the district.
Karimnagar town was
upgraded to a municipal
corporation in 2005.
earlier exposed lacunae in
messaging platform What-
sApp, identified a serious secu-
rity issue with Zoom’s ‘Wai-
ting Room’ feature. Union de-
fence minister Rajnath Singh
and ex-AP chief minister N
Chandrababu Naidu and seve-
ral other key departments we-
re using Zoom in the wake of
lockdown and coronavirus
pandemic.
High-stake business mee-
tings, political conferences, of-
ficial conferences were being
conducted over platforms like
Zoom and experts fear eaves-
dropping could be easy for in-
telligence networks, cyber cri-
minals as well as spies. “There
is a serious threat. Coronavi-
rus pandemic situation do-
esn’t mean you give up privacy,
there is increased attention on
Zoom, and its practices,” secu-
rity researcher Srinivas Koda-
li told TOI.
“Zoom calls are not end-to-
end encrypted, which means
your video calls could be recor-
ded or accessed by anyone with
access to their servers. Count-
ries like Taiwan are banning
alternative platforms
CITY WEATHER
government use of Zoom as TUESDAY’S TEMPERATURE
there are concerns over the
servers being in China. In this 37.7˚ 24˚
context, the Indian defence es- MAX MIN
tablishment using Zoom is a
security concern. With our
GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY
own infrastructure by NIC be-
ing used for videoconferen-
cing of the prime minister, it is
surprising the defence mini-
stry is using Zoom to discuss
national security,” he added. SUNRISE THU 06.04 AM
Citizen Lab investigation SUNSET WED 06.30 PM
found that Zoom claims the
MOONRISE WED 06.56 PM
app uses “advance encryption
standard-256” for meetings. MOONSET WED 06.17 AM
However, they found that in WEDNESDAY’S REPORT | Rain or
each Zoom meeting, a single thundershowers very likely to
AES-128 key was used in elec- occur in parts of city. Maximum
tronic codebook mode by parti- temperature to be around 36
cipants to encrypt and decrypt degree Celsius. Source: IMD
audio and video. “The use of AQI of Pollutant
ECB mode is not advisable as POLLUTION PM2.5. Reading as
patterns present in plaintext WATCH on April 7 (7pm)
are preserved during encryp- TUESDAY’S AVERAGE PPM
tion,” the Lab said. DATA | AVERAGE VALUE
Meanwhile, Zoom CEO
SANATH NAGAR NA
Eric Yuan assured users that
the company was working to IDA BOLLARAM 21.64
improve security and privacy
on the video-conferencing app. ZOO PARK NA
ICRISAT PATANCHERU 19.81
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY 16.86

99 US citizens given safe MLL drives in Incessant garbage dumping IDA PASHAMYLARAM 23.02

emergency in Rangareddy irks residents

GOOD RANGE

passage home from city cab service Garbage is being dumped

at an empty area beside
0-60μg/m3

Uttara.Varma@timesgroup.com TIMES NEWS NETWORK a residential complex

BE A SMART TOI in Sri Sai Narayana
Hyderabad: As many as 99 Hyderabad:Third-party logis- CITIZEN REPORTER Colony as people are not
United States citizens, inclu- tics solutions provider Ma- disposing of their trash AVERAGE AQI ACROSS (AQI-air
quality
ding 98 adults and one in- hindra Logistics Ltd (MLL) on Keep mobile FOUR MAJOR CITIES index)
properly. This can lead to
fant, stuck in Hyderabad left Tuesday said its enterprise mo- phone’s GPS on further spread of a new
(Data for 24hrs till 4pm on Tuesday)

the city aboard a special Air bility business venture, Alyte, while clicking and infection and puts every-
India flight to Mumbai. has rolled out a 24x7 free, non-
sending pictures

HYDERABAD
body’s health at risk. I

BENGALURU
They are among the 200 US medical emergency cab servi- 90
Describe exactly request the GHMC to

CHENNAI
nationals who were schedu- ces in Hyderabad to help those 47 48
where and when take action immediately 40

led to be flown back to the
United States from Mumbai
late on Tuesday night.
Earlier, Bureau of South
and Central Asian Affairs
acting assistant secretary
Alice Wells had said: “In In-
dia, we’re responding to re-
quests for assistance from
thousands of Americans lo-
cated in cities and villages
spread across a vast area.
And so far, we’ve supported
the repatriation of about
1,300 American citizens the-
re despite what are lock-
down conditions.” Flights
were being mobilised from
The US nationals were first taken to Mumbai from where they were
flown back to US. Thorough screening was conducted at the airport
said in a statement. It said
the flight was purely domes-
tic and operated from the
main passenger terminal
building of the airport. As
per the flight itinerary, the
passengers were to be furt-
her connected from Mumbai
to their destination in US.
In coordination with the
DELHI
affected by the pandemic.
The company said the ser- picture was taken, and clear the garbage
vice has been initially laun- —Darshan P
giving street names Source: Central Pollution Control Board
ched with a dedicated fleet of 10 and other locators A man was
vehicles, including electric ve- riding a bike
hicles, that can be ramped up as More photos, vid- without a hel-
per requirement. eos on timesofindia. met at Mozam-
NAMAZ TIMINGS
The servicewill focus on com jahi Market, ● Fajar | 05.04 am
dation in the city were stay- single mothers, disabled indi- Nampally. The (Thursday) to 05.35 am
ing at the Park Hyatt from viduals, senior citizens, among citizen is violat- ● Zohar | 12.28 pm
where they boarded buses to others, who are unable to secu- ing traffic rules to 04.39 pm
reach the airport. re transport for essential servi-
and should RIDING ● Asar | 04.38 pm
A team of GHMC offici- ces.It will also cater to doctors, to 06.25 pm
als were at the airport to car- nurses and others involved in
be penalized WITHOUT ● Maghrib | 06.36 pm
accordingly by HELMET
ry out a health screening. providing essential services. to 07.30 pm
the authorities
One passenger, who spoke to The 24x7 service will operate ● Isha | 07.44 pm
TOI on condition of anony- within the limits of Cybera- —Avinash I
to 04.30 am
mity, said: “My temperature bad, Hyderabad, Sangareddy

Mumbai and New Delhi.
“The special Air India
flight, an Airbus A-320 air-
craft landed at Hyderabad
International Airport on
Tuesday at 3.12pm from
Mumbai and departed with
the US-bound passengers at
US Consulate and Telanga-
na government, the passeng-
ers arrived at the airport at
around 1pm from various
parts of Hyderabad. They
were serviced through the
fully-sanitised main pas-
senger terminal building,
TIMES ascent
was checked twice. The pro- and Rachakonda in collabora-
cess took half an hour and tion with Rachakonda police www.timesaseent .eon
was fairly seamless.” At the commissionerate.
airport, besides temperatu- MLL managing director &
re and document check, pas- CEO Rampraveen Swaminat-
sengers were asked to sign a han said the service, which is Catapultyour career
promissory note by US offi- aimed at helping those who ha-
cials as payment is not being ve been struggling to find

Make an Impact as Liberal Arts faculty.

4.15pm to Mumbai,” GMR
Hyderabad International
Airport Limited (GHIAL)
Sania on a mission to
which has been kept ready
for evacuations. Those who
were left without accommo-
accepted from them current- transport during the lock-
ly, but will be collected once down, will be gradually exten-
they reach their destination. ded to other cities.
At KCLAS, you have an amazing opportunity to inspire and impact the students, faculty, researchers and the community in a
multi disciplinary path while pursuing your passion in your domain. You also have the opportunity to realise your personal goals,
find purpose in work, space to innovate and co-create , be recognized for your work and enjoy the unique value KCLAS can offer.
y, y
SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY
Follow us on V @SCRallwaylnd la Details of the Tender Notices of
S.C Railway can be seen on our website : www . scr .indianrailways .gov . in
Come grow with us!

Faculty O penings in following Majors:

feed those in need
Uttara.Varma
@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: With the lock-
down affecting thousands of
migrants and homeless peo-
ple, Hyderabadis are
doing their bit to lend
them a helping hand.
Leading from the front
is tennis star Sania
Mirza. She has helped
raise `2 crore since the
virus’ outbreak. The funds
have helped in procuring and
distributing 20,000 food pack-
ages to the poor, containing a
week’s ration for a family of
four. The pan-India effort is
On Tuesday, the tennis
player ensured more food
was distributed at LB stadi-
um. Each package included
essential commodities as
well as a box of Zinda Tilis-
math — a herbal
medicine, which is
used for treating
many common ail-
ments — and a strip
of crocin.
“Every day we
would have a few people turn
up at home and we would pro-
vide them food. I also began
seeing images of people go-
ing hungry, which hit me
hard. We are privileged to be
WALK IN INTERVIEW
Current Majors
o
Notice No.01/2020/Para -Medical , dt:07 .04.2020
For the post of Health & Malaria Inspector (on contract basis) New Launch
English Literature I Political Science
No. of Post : 04 (Four)
Sr. DPO/SC Office Notification No.01/2020/Para -Medical dt.07.04.2020
Date of Interview : 13.04.2020 (Monday)
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Place of Interview : O/o. Chief Medical Superintendent We invite you to join KCLAS to make a meaningful difference!
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS / NOMINATIONS
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being carried out in Mumbai,
Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai
and Hyderabad.
Now, a ‘corona car’
living in comfort, there are
many who are struggling to
get a meal,” Sania told TOI.
Raman Research Institute (RRI) is an autonomous research For Dr. B. C. Roy Technology Hospital
Extension of date for submission of Advertisement No.: R/05 /2020 , Dated: March 11, 2020
institute under the Department of Science and Technology, application for posts on contract basis in 1. Staff Nurse (Level-6 of Pay Matrix 635400 - 112400/-)
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current main areas of research at the Institute are : Astronomy & Due to COVID-19 situation in the countryand lockdown For Dr. B C Roy Institute of Medical
Astrophysics , Light & Matter Physics, Soft Condensed Matter and in the country, the last date for receipt of applications for Science & Research
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Advertisement No.: R/06/2020, Dated : March 13, 2020
1. Medical Superintendent
institute is available at its Website : www.rri.res.in (Level-14 of Pay Matrix .144200 - 218200/-)

to spread awareness RRI invites Applications / Nominations , from eminent

Sushil.Rao@timesgroup.com
Hyderabad: A ‘corona car’
has been designed by Kanya-
boyina Sudhakar of Sudha
Cars Museum in Bahadur-
pura for spreading aware-
ness about the pandemic-
.“The spread of Covid-19 has
to be contained. I have desig-
ned the car in the shape of
the virus which is depicted
popularly so that awareness
can be spread on social dis-
tancing by the public,” Sud-
hakar told TOI on Tuesday.
Chief secretary Somesh
Kumar is expected to unveil
the car on Wednesday. Sud-
hakar said that if govern-
ment agencies, including the
police, show interest, he wo-
THE CORONA MOBILE
uld want the car to be used so
that the message gets convey-
ed to the public. The car has
been designed and made
with a 100cc engine. A six-
wheeler, it has a single seat,
fibre body and can travel up
to a speed of 40 kmph. “It to-
ok 10 days for me to make it,”
Sudhakar said.
Academicians / Researchers with substantial experience and
GRID COMPANY LIMITED , advertised through
recruitment Notice dated 04.03.2020 is extended upto
2. Chief Administrative Off icer
(Leve l-12 of Pay Matrix .78800 - 209200/-)
31.05.2020 . All other terms and conditions of the said Last date of Online Application :15.05.2020
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Sr. GM (0 & M)
Director by Direct Recruitment or Deputation , The Director is the Chief http :/lwww.i itk gp.ac.in / non-teac h i ng-posit ions
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6 THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

Coding Whiteboarding CODING EXAMS They’re irrelevant They are an TECH I’D LIKE TO SEE
exams sessions
ARE IRRELEVANT, to the daily job effective way to
SAY SOFTWARE ENGINEERS test a candidate’s AI to shorten drug development, approval
aptitude
Before developers land their dream jobs
— or even get an initial offer — they have D uring a crisis like Covid-19,
AI application in R&D and
interactions like patient servic-
es, data from public sources
38 % to work their way through a variety of drug regulatory processes as- about regulatory submissions/

42 %
coding exams, whiteboarding sessions,
and behavioural interviews. So what do
66 %
sumes far greater importance.
Even though there is rapid
pathways). This will have
far reaching implications for
data explosion in R&D, pharma companies in areas including
12 %
developers actually think about these
interview methods? Only 31% think coding
31 %
companies have not been able
to leverage all of this new data
early approvals for new drugs,
identifying right disease
exams effectively test their aptitude, while
Which part of the interview two-thirds say most coding exams are What do you think to its potential for effective characteristics to streamline
Behavioural irrelevant to the daily job of an engineer about coding exams? decision making. The need of research and clinical trials, us-
process is the most stressful? interviews Source: Hired’s 2020 State of Software Engineers
the hour is to take advantage ing NLP for actionable insights
of the opportunities to gener- from patient perception and

Some old languages remain gold:

ate value by deriving
insights from this “dark”
data (eg, data from
real-world evidence
(RWE)/ real-world data
usage of drugs, develop-
ing a smart regulatory
intelligence platform and
developing an optimal
submission pathway for

New Jersey needs Cobol coders

(RWD), secondary re- drug approvals across vari-
search data, ous regulatory guide-
data from lines in different
patient countries.

Anand Kiran | CO FOUNDER AND EVP, INDEGENE

Applications on 240BN LINES OF COBOL says Kamesh Sampath, director of
developer experience at Red Hat.
mainframes are so There are 240 billion lines of Cobol Kamal Karanth, CEO of re-
cruiting company Xpheno, notes
in operation, and another 5 billion
robust, many don’t new lines are added each year
that there are over 0.6 million pub-
lished current openings globally
want to change. $3 trillion of commercial for legacy skillsets, and the num-
bers in India are close to 9% of the
transactions are processed by Cobol
It’s an opportunity applications each day total demand. “Even more impor-
tant to observe is that close to 60%
for Indian coders The average age of a Cobol of these openings have been pub-
programmer is 58, and roughly 10% lished or refreshed in the last 30
Avik Das & Shilpa Phadnis | TNN are retiring each year. There will be days worldwide and the openings

L
84,000 unfilled mainframe published in India over the last 30
ast week, New Jersey state positions by 2020 days account for over 52% of all
gover nor Phil Murphy Source: https://ibmsystemsmag.com/IBM-Z/10/2019/
openings,” he says.
desperately asked for help closing-cobol-programming-skills-gap The demand, he says, has
of volunteer coders who spiked in the last month, and one
92 of the top 100 banks and 71% of could relate it to “the emerging
still knew how to work in
Cobol, one of the oldest computer the Fortune 500 companies were using conditions of a global remote
languages. Many of the state’s mainframe computers, according to workforce.”
AmericanBanker.com in 2017

Learn some web

systems still use old mainframe
computers, running on Cobol, and
the demands on the systems have
soared during the coronavirus
pandemic. There was a 1,600%
Sidu Ponnappa, SVP-engineer-
5-10% of employees in major Indian ing in ride-hailing company Go-
A lot of the newer In India, a lot of the jek, says banks, airlines and re-
IT services companies are Cobol
systems today are core banking apps run tailers still run on mainframes
programmers, according to sources
and there are 40-50 years of code

increase in unemployment claims
in a single week, and the systems
couldn’t handle it.
It’s fascinating how some of
powered by old school
languages. And while these
are old school to begin with,
they have taken a
on Java; all Android apps are
Java-based as you cannot
write it in any
other language
in these companies
63% of respondents in a Micro Focus
2020 survey said they prefer to improve
frameworks, but
sitting in it. But he says new-age
companies don’t use these tech-
nologies and so languages like
Fortran and Cobol are fading

don’t do just that

the older languages are still so
valuable. Cobol, or Common Busi-
ness-Oriented Language, is more
than 50 years old and was once the
staple of software development
new avatar upon their existing Cobol systems over
– Kamesh Sampath | away slowly.
replacing and retiring the older systems.
– Kavita Viswanath DIRECTOR, DEVELOPER Since Indian IT companies are
92% felt their Cobol applications are
| GENERAL MANAGER - EXPERIENCE, involved in maintaining systems
strategic, in comparison to 84% in 2017 of customers in the US and else-
INDIA, JFROG RED HAT
where, the country has a good tal- Habeeba.Salim@timesgroup.com
Among older languages, C/ the form of the awesome modern ent pool in older languages. Sunil Each web framework

across industries and govern-
ment. While many new-age devel-
opers may not have worked with
these languages at all, it is still
widely used in financial institu-
tions, government agencies, air-
lines, retail and manufacturing.
“Applications that are bug-free
and work well in business sce-
narios are very difficult to replace
– the know-how has dwindled and
there may not be adequate docu-
mentation of the design of the old
system in order to redesign it,”
says Viral Shah, CEO of Julia
Computing. He says even if it is
redesigned accurately (using
modern technologies), it is going
to be no better than the old sys-
tem. “This is why companies will
pay very large sums of money for
maintaining old hardware (com-
panies still use IBM main-
frames!), old programming lan-
guages, and old applications,”
he says.
Manas Chakraborty, head of
enterprise services at Mindtree,
dittos that: “By virtue of their
robustness, stability and security
features, organisations world-
wide have been able to `keep the
lights on’ without the need of
enhancing or maintaining these
systems.” He says due to the re-
tirement of Cobol programmers
and lack of in-depth Cobol aware-
ness in modern day program-
mers, there is dearth of such
programmers in the industry.
C++ and R, both conceived in the
1970s, and Python (late 1980s) con-
tinue to be in huge demand, as
also Perl and DB2. Python skills
are today the gold standard in the
big data world, and are prized in
heavy data crunching businesses
like banking, logistics, travel
and telecom.
“C and C++ are the bases of
complex systems,” says Kavita
Viswanath, general manager for
India in JFrog, a company that
makes tools for software develop-
ers. “A lot of the newer systems
today are powered by old school
languages. And while these are
old school to begin with, they
have taken a new avatar, like in
WESENSE.AI: PROVIDING INSIGHTS FROM CCTV CAMERAS
C++. These languages find a lot
of application in the gaming in-
dustry, which is becoming big in
India, RPA (robotics process au-
tomation) and IoT devices. Even
a lot of new net banking features
need C++ programmers and de-
velopers,” she says.
Since a majority of the work
done by the IT companies in India
revolve around application devel-
opment, application maintenance
and infrastructure management
services, old skillsets remain ex-
tremely valuable.
“In India, a lot of the core bank-
ing apps run on Java; all Android
apps are Java-based, you cannot
write it in any other language,”
C, head of specialised staffing at
TeamLease Digital, says of
the total number of programmers,
about 5% would know Cobol and
10% C.
However, the interest among
youngsters to learn these languag-
es is declining. But given that de-
mand still exists for these pro-
grammes – as the New Jersey ex-
ample shows – salaries are good.
“Any junior level engineer with 3-6
years of experience would have a
salary of Rs 25-30 lakh. With an
experience of about 10 years, they
can command a salary of Rs 45-65
lakh,” says JFrog’s Viswanath.
(With inputs from Swati Rathor)
W
eb frameworks are cus-
tom-made pieces of soft-
ware that make it easy
for a developer to build an appli-
cation that can be accessed on
the internet. If not for these
tools, you would have to write a
lot more code, and you would be
duplicating what others have
done previously.
“Doing web development in
a core language is very hard.
That’s why we have these
frameworks,” says Manthaku-
mar Satani, a freelance front-
end web developer. He says
when developers choose a web
framework, they are looking for
a perfect combination of what
they want to build. “They are
trying to reduce the develop-
has unique
workarounds. If you want to
learn any web framework, you
must have basic knowledge of
a programming language. For
example, if I want
to learn React.js, I
should ideally
know JavaScript
Manthakumar
Satani | FREELANCE
WEB DEVELOPER
How many
frameworks and
languages should a beginner
need to know? You have to
undoubtedly know JavaScript,
and then you can pick one
framework. If you have already
learnt Angular, you need to

Allstate’s India engrs ment time and increase the learn only 30% of React. It’s an
maintainability of what they incremental learning model.
are building,” he says. Remember that frameworks are
Frameworks can be broadly like scripts (computer

make driving safer

languages with a series of

IGNITE YOUR CAREER commands within a file that is

WE’LL DO IT: Allstate team in Bengaluru
Akhil.George@timesgroup.com
classified into two – the front-
end and back-end frameworks.
In web development, front-end
helps create and design sites,
while back-end takes care of
things like data manipulation
and business logic.
A HackerRank comparative
study of various frameworks
over 2018-2020 shows that Angu-
lar topped the charts for
all the three years. The
Sankara Srinivasan Aiyyathurai, Alok Mishra, HOW THE PRODUCT WORKS front-end framework Re-
act (from Facebook) has
Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, and Debesh Kuanr’s It takes just 15 minutes to go been the second most
Wesense.ai makes existing CCTV cameras smarter to live with existing CCTV network popular since 2019. Back-
provide insights to retailers and enterprises end frameworks Spring
matic capabilities that help provide Uses a patented process to and Django occupy the third
Founded in 2017, the venture is part of Nasscom’s communicate between thousands of
executable), which are a lot
easier to learn than
programming languages
Naveen Srinivas| CONSULTANT, MAGE
oper to use less code,” says Vinay
Konanur, head of academic de-
livery at Manipal Global Educa-
tion Services (MaGE).
It is relatively easier to mas-
ter the front-end technolo-
gies, including the associ-
at e d f r a m ewo rk s.
“Back-end is the core
of web development,”
says Naveen Srinivas,
consultant at MaGE.
One of the biggest chal-
lenges in upskilling in back-
end, he says, is the belief that

A
uto insurance has tradition-
ally been an old-school busi-
ness based on demographics
and groups, with very little by way
of customisation. For example, a
60-year-old’s style of driving and
concomitant risk profile might be
much lower than a 25-year-old’s, but
the two still end up paying the same
premium for their car insurance.
This lack of flexibility in insurance
plans is what US-based insurance
giant Allstate set out to change.
“We looked at this problem state-
ment and decided to use telematic
CUTTING EDGE
MADE IN INDIA
software to capture driving behav-
iour – how fast they drive, the speed
and curve at which they take turns,
how hard they brake, etc – and de-
velop a risk profile to separate the
rash drivers from the safer ones,”
says Chetan Garga, managing di-
a myriad of services will most
likely be the norm.
“Telematics was a big improve-
ment we brought into the insurance
market years ago and our teams in
India helped develop and maintain
the technology,” Garga says.
Technology like telematics isn’t
just about abstract informational
data. In many cases, it literally
saves lives. “We had partnered with
a firm called Life360 (a location-
based app designed primarily to
enable friends and family members
to share their location with each
other). A few months ago, a teenage
customer of ours in the US was in-
volved in an accident. The family
was promptly alerted and able to
locate the crash site thanks to the
telemetric data coupled with the
Life360 app,” says Garga
The Indian team also helped de-
velop a feature for the company’s
mobile app called Drivewise that
alerts people and offers tips on how
to drive better. “The team here cap-
tures data such as how often drivers
and fourth places for 2020.
DeepTech Club edge devices and Wesense’s own servers
Django has climbed two ranks technolo g y is everything.
Has more using a low latency channel since 2018. HackerRank says “What we need to have is do-
than 20 Django’s lift in usage is linked to main expertise. Anybody who
The video frame decoding process is heavy,
enterprise the rise of Python, since Django wants to go to back-end needs
and is done using Intel’s recent edge is a Python-based framework. to have very good domain ex-
customers
optimisations when available on the device Skillsets like frameworks pertise, and only then think of
across three
The input data is then passed through cannot, however, be seen as a silo technology. Anyone who is pas-
countries,
multiple inference models on the edge since the application develop- sionate about commerce, elec-
including Dell, trical engineering, electronics,
ment environment is hugely
Xiaomi, Tata Multiple models have been built for different tilted towards full-stack develop- etc, can come into the computer
Group camera angles and heights for face detection, people ment. Besides, an application is science domain, but those in
detection, age gender classification, face recognition ultimately created to serve a computer science cannot go in
We run deep neural networks to extract business purpose, and hence there because the domain is
important customer features such as Models are trained on cloud GPU instances knowing where to apply what more complex. With perfor-
demographics, repeat visits, groups, path (taken and are deployed to the edge devices based on becomes very critical. “One can- mance engineering, databases
in store), time spent, executive attendance and the `senses’ enabled for that device not say that I’ll just learn the and so on, back-end develop-
many more. Retailers can now identify impact of
The output of the models are sent to the server
framework. Because a frame- ment calls for years of experi-
a marketing campaign, conversion rate, and
factors impacting lesser conversion —Wesense.ai for analysis using machine learning
work is just an extension of au-
tomation – it allows the devel-
ence with computer science,”
Srinivas says.
With 5% attendance, Mitali scored 89% in class 10
Arpita.Misra@timesgroup.com
INSPIRATION She, however, didn’t lose sight based, which adds intelligence to
the product. We use machine
extremely claustrophobic. Being
confined to a place scares me

rector of Allstate India.
Telematics is a general term
that refers to any device that merg-
es telecommunications and infor-
mation processing. In the auto in-
dustry, it refers to a small device
that is functionally similar to a
black box found in airplanes; it
connects your car to the inter-
net, allowing you to receive
and send information that
makes services like the ones
Allstate provides possible. All
the data collected from the ve-
hicle can be analysed using
machine learning and artificial
use their phone, late-night com-
mutes, and speeding, and based on
this data the team offers rewards
and discounts to our customers to
encourage them to pick up safer
driving habits,” says Garga.
Allstate has around 4,500
employees in India. The
work here needs the de-
velopment teams to be
proficient in software
development tools for
Android (Android SDK)
and macOS (Xcode) as
well as be comfortable
F
rom first to ninth grade, she
was the unbeaten class topper.
But In 10th standard, she
could just about manage 5% at-
tendance. A debilitating neuro-
logical condition brought an un-
expected bend to her journey.
Mitali Sodhi, lead data scientist
at HackerEarth, recalls how even
the cash prize she’d won over the
years for being a class topper went
into her treatment as the family’s
finances dried up.
“I wasn’t able to lift my head
from the bed. My father, who
the doctor and had no money,”
recalls the 30-year-old, a Punjabi
born and bred in Lucknow.
While doctors and her school
principal suggested she skip a
year, Mitali wasn’t the one to give
up. Even in that condition, she
prepared a timetable and studied
18 hours a day for a month, even-
tually notching up 89% in her
board exams.
Even as she gradually re-
gained her health, another trag-
edy befell the family. “A night be-
fore I was to write my JEE en-
of her goals. The spirited young-
ster completed her BTech in elec-
tronics & communication engi-
neering from Uttar Pradesh Tech-
nical University and followed it
up with an MTech from IIIT-Ban-
galore, where she specialised in
data science. All this she achieved
through scholarships.
HackerEarth is Mitali’s fifth
job. She heads the ‘differentiators’
team, responsible for building dif-
ferentiating features for the com-
pany’s developer assessment
product. The company specialises
in connecting developers around
learning, data analysis and deep now,” she says.
learning models on a day-to-day
basis,” she says. SHOWING THE WAY
With remote hiring catching I have mentored many
on, Mitali has helped build web budding data scientists.
proctoring features that build India has no shortage of talented
trust in recruiters while hiring engineers and scientists. With
candidates. “The feature takes right guidance and a positive
periodic snapshots of the candi- environment, they can
date (with consent) taking a test quickly adapt and
and detects if the person is miss- become world-
ing or if multiple people are pre- class.
sent or if there are mobile devices
being used,” she says. Mitali Sodhi |
While life’s thrown many cur- LEAD DATA

intelligence – to develop a reli- with programming worked in the Uttar Pradesh po- trance, my father suffered a mas- the globe with the right opportu- veballs at her, Mitali says setbacks SCIENTIST,

able risk profile for example. languages like lice department, exhausted all his sive heart attack. The next three nities through an AI-powered are temporary. But that one year HACKEREARTH

In the future, the need for Kotlin and savings on my treatment. There months went in hospital and ICU tech-hiring process. “Most of the of confinement many summers
connected cars with tele- Swift. was a time when we had to go to visits,” recalls Mitali. features we build are data science- ago still plays on her mind. “I’m
CHETAN GARGA

U’khand slaps bid-to-kill
charge on 2 Jamaat men
Gaurav.Talwar
@timesgroup.com
Dehradun: Uttarakhand di-
rector general (law and or-
der) Ashok Kumar on Tues-
day said that two members of
Tablighi Jamaat in Harid-
war district have been boo-
ked under IPC’s section 307
(attempt to murder) for hi-
ding travel history, mislea-
ding authorities and putting
lives of others at risk.
Both Jamaatis, one from
Haridwar city and the other
from Roorkee, took part in
a religious congregation
at Alwar, Rajasthan, in
March, police said.
“On the basis of their call
records, we found that they
attended Jamaat in Alwar
and returned in March. They
have been booked under sec-
tion 307 (attempt to murder)
for hiding their participation
and putting others at risk,”
said the DG, adding that both
have been quarantined.
The cases were registe-
red after the deadline given
by Uttarakhand DGP Anil
Raturi asking Jamaatis to
show up before the police, he-
alth and district authorities
ended on April 6.
Following the strict war-
ning, as many as 180 people,
including Jamaat returnees
and their contacts, from Ha-
ridwar, Dehradun, Pauri and
Nainital districts surrende-
red before the authorities.
Kumar added, “We have
already booked 41 people,
who were trying to enter Ut-
tarakhand clandestinely
between April 1 and 5, under
provisions of IPC and other
relevant sections of the Dis-
aster Management Act. In
Laksar, police registered ca-
ses against four people for gi-
ving shelter to Jamaatis.”
150 Jamaat attendees violate
quarantine in Mumbai, booked
Mumbai: An FIR has been
registered against 150 peo-
ple, associated with Delhi’s
Tablighi Jamaat, here at
Azad Maidan police station
for violating quarantine and
official preventive orders,
Mumbai police said.
The FIR has been lodged
under Sections 271 and 188 of
the Indian Penal Code. “FIR
registered against 150 people
of Tablighi Jamaat at Azad
Maidan police station for vi-
olating quarantine orders
(IPC Section 271) and violat-
NBA slams Sonia’s call for
ban on govt ads to media
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The News Bro-
adcasters Association (NBA)
on Tuesday said it “strongly de-
plored” Congress president So-
nia Gandhi’s suggestion to “im-
pose a complete ban on media
advertisements by the govern-
ment and PSUs” for two years.
The NBA said such a
move, at a time when the lock-
down has served a financial
blow to industry and busi-
nesses, will be not only “ill-
timed but also highly arbi-
trary”.
The NBA said media per-
sonnel were doing their na-
tional duty by disseminating
news on the pandemic and
such a statement from the Con-
gress president was highly de-
moralising. “On one hand,
there has been a slump in ad-
vertisement revenues of elec-
tronic media due to recession,
Containment plan gives govt hope
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: There is cautious
optimism in government that
the targeted strategies to man-
age Covid-19 hotspots and high-
risk zones are paying off with
the infection rate remaining
within bounds, barring inci-
dents like the Tablighi Jamaat
outbreak that could potentially
upset all calculations.
The efforts of the Centre,
along with states, to intensive-
ly track thousands of Tablighi
members and their contacts
are seen to have been effective
and there is guarded hope that
the worst of the incident may
have been addressed. There
CHHATTISGARH CHIEF MINISTER BHUPESH BAGHEL TAKES
STOCK OF MEASURES IN JAILS AMID CORONA SCARE
PTI
Civic officials disinfect a locality
in Srinagar’s Eidgah after it was
declared ‘red zone’ following
many positive cases on Tuesday
Man hides Delhi
visit, booked
T he city crime branch in
Ahmedabad filed an FIR on
Monday against a 68-year-old
resident , Mohammed Ilyas
Shaikh, charging him with
spreading an infectious
disease as he did not inform
the relevant agencies that he
had visited the Tablighi
Jamaat ma kaz (centre) in
Delhi last month. The FIR has
charged Shaikh under various
sections of the IPC. TNN
Full report on www.toi.in
Assam MLA in
sedition soup
A ssam MLA Haji Aminul
Islam was on Tuesday
arrested and booked for
sedition and trying to stoke
communal tension with his
allegedly inflammatory
remarks regarding the spread
of Covid-19 and calling
quarantine centres set up by
government “more dange-
rous than detention camps
for declared foreigners”,
reports Prabin Kalita.
According to the ministry of health and family
welfare, Maharashtra saw 23 fresh Covid-19
cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of
coronavirus cases in the state to 891
ing govt official preventive
order (IPC Section 188). FIR
also registered under IPC
Section 269, besides the earli-
er two sections of 271 and
188,” the police said.
Twenty-three more Co-
vid-19 cases were reported
from Maharashtra on Tues-
day, taking the total number
ANI
In India, the requirement for N-95
masks is estimated at around
2.5 crore units
on the other hand, it is suffer-
ing from financial blows due to
nationwide lockdown of all in-
dustries and businesses,” a
statement by the association
said. The NBA also called upon
Sonia to withdraw her sug-
gestion in the interest of a
“healthy and free media”.
On Tuesday, the Congress
SAFETY MEASURES
remain concerns, however,
that hidden infection zones
TIMES NATION
BJP neta calls
for death to
those refusing
to be tested
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bengaluru: Despite war-
nings from Karnataka chief
minister BS Yediyurappa, so-
me BJP members on Tuesday
continued to target members
of the Tablighi Jamaat over
the coronavirus pandemic,
with one going to the extent of
suggesting the government to
shoot a few of them.
In Davangere, Yediyurap-
pa’s political secretary, MP
Renukacharya, told repor-
ters the government should
“gun down Tablighi Jamaat
delegates” who refuse to un-
dergo tests or quarantine
themselves. “Despite repea-
ted appeals made by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
and the chief minister, they
are refusing to be medically
checked. We all will suffer
because of such anti-natio-
nal elements. The govern-
ment should not sit quiet. It
should gun down a few to en-
sure they follow lockdown
norms,” he said.
His comments came ba-
rely 24 hours after Yediyu-
rappa appealed to partymen
to avoid making divisive sta-
tements and to not target the
minority community.
Mahadevapura (Benga-
luru) MLA Arvind Limba-
vali, also state BJP general
secretary, said that Tablighi
Jamaat attendees who do
not turn up for tests on their
own should be jailed.
Full report on www.toi.in
of coronavirus cases in the
state to 891.With an increase
of 354 Covid-19 cases, India’s
tally of total positive cases
rose to 4,421, the ministry of
health and family welfare
said on Tuesday. Out of the
4,421 cases, 3,981 are active
cases while 325 cases have
been cured or discharged. ANI
chief welcomed the austerity
measures announced by the
government and suggested a
five-point formula, including
scrapping of all government
ads except those that sought to
inform and advise people
about coronavirus, suspend-
ing the Rs 20,000 crore Central
Vista beautification and con-
struction project, and foreign
travel of the President, PM,
Union ministers, chief minis-
ters, state ministers and bu-
reaucrats.
In a letter to PM Narendra
Modi, Sonia said the amount
freed up should be pooled to
fight coronavirus. She also
suggested the Centre should
make a 30% cut in its expen-
diture budget and use the
amount for establishing an
economic safety net for mi-
grant workers, labourers,
farmers, MSMEs and those
in the unorganised sector.
such as the Tablighi Markaz,
even on a smaller and scat-
tered scale, might prove a
challenge to health officials.
At the government briefing
on Tuesday, Lav Agarwal,
joint secretary in the health
ministry, said, “We have
adopted two strategies for Co-
vid-19 management. One is
cluster containment strategy
and when cases are higher in a
particular area, we imple-
ment strategy for ‘outbreak
which is amenable to manage-
ment’. We have also oriented
states and particularly dis-
trict collectors of specific dis-
tricts to implement these
strategies accordingly.”
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
Jamaat man
flees hospital,
caught after
13-hr manhunt
Sandeep.Rai@timesgroup.com
Meerut: A 65-year-old Co-
vid-19 positive man from Ne-
pal fled from the community
health centre in Baghpat af-
ter breaking a window pane
on the first floor and using
bedsheets as rope even as po-
licemen and health staff sto-
od guard at the gate. The pati-
ent, who had attended the
Tablighi Jamaat congrega-
tion in Delhi’s Nizamuddin,
was found with the help of lo-
cals at a brick kiln after 13 ho-
urs of a frantic manhunt.
Inspector general (Mee-
rut range) Praveen Kumar
told TOI, “Timely circulation
of the patient’s details on so-
cial media helped us catch
him. He was identified at the
brick kiln, 3km from the he-
alth facility, by locals, who im-
mediately informed us. Ini-
tially, he tried to run away
and it was a challenge to
convince him to turn himself
in as he could not be touched.
We managed to calm him
down and then the health
team took over. He was bro-
ught back to quarantine.”
ANTIVIRUS
COVID-19 HAS BECOME AN INFODEMIC OF FAKE NEWS ON
SOCIAL MEDIA. TOI HELPS YOU ZAP THE TRENDING LIES
Nothing wrong with buying
Chinese goods online
L ast Thursday, a man in
Odisha was put under 14-day
home quarantine when he
received his order of shoes from
China. Did the administration
show an “abundance of
caution” or the influence of
social media rumours?
Posts claiming it’s dangerous to
receive goods from China are
still rife on Twitter and
Facebook. They falsely claim
that if your goods came in
contact with an infected person
you could pick up the virus from
them up to 28 days later.
It’s true that the Covid-19
pandemic started in China, but
China is also the first country to
Activists urge govts
to ban wildlife trade
Vishwa.Mohan
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Terming the coro-
navirus spread as a ‘tipping po-
int’, over 200 animal protection
groups from across the world,
on the occasion of World Health
Day on Tuesday, urged govern-
ments all over to ban wildlife tra-
de and reduce risk of such pan-
demics in future.
Though the Indian Wildlife
Protection Act 1972 prohibits
hunting and trade in endemic
species, Indian animal protec-
tion groups claimed there are se-
veral live animal markets in the
country that keep “exotic speci-
es alongside domestic animals
under unhygienic conditions
which have the potential for
transfer of pathogens from one
species to another”. “Crawford
market in Mumbai, Russell
Market in Bangalore, Murgi
Chowk in Hyderabad and Mir
Shikar Toli in Patna are examp-
les of this,” said the Humane So-
ciety International/India in a
communication to PM Modi
and environment minister Pra-
kash Javadekar. It urged them to
ban all live animal markets
which are involved with sale of
exotic wildlife, regulate import
and export of exotic animals by
bringing in the much needed
Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora legisla-
We are not experts, can’t
impose views on govt: SC
Dhananjay.Mahapatra
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: The Centre in-
formed the Supreme Court on
Tuesday that food and shelter
for migrant labourers, poor
and destitute were taken care
of by governments and NGOs
which had set up 26,000 shel-
ters and 17,000 food camps
across the country during the
lockdown period.
Solicitor general Tushar
Mehta submitted a status re-
port to a bench of Chief Jus-
tice S A Bobde, and Justices S
RAJASTHAN GOVERNOR KALRAJ MISHRA TO CONTRIBUTE
30 PER CENT SALARY TO FUND FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19
2.5 vs 406 infected: Study
reveals lockdown’s benefit
Number Of People One Carrier Infects Explains Need For Isolation
Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: One person in-
fected with coronavirus can
possibly infect 406 others in
just 30 days in the absence of
a lockdown and social dis-
tancing measures, but this
can dramatically come down
to 2.5 people with a 75% re-
duction in social exposure, a
recent study conducted by
the Indian Council of Medi-
cal Research (ICMR) shows.
“If one person does not
follow lockdown and so-
cial distancing norms, he
can infect 406 people in 30
days. However, if social ex-
posure is reduced by 75%,
then the same infected per-
son can spread it to just 2.5
people,” Lav Agarwa, joint
secretary in the health mini-
stry, said on Tuesday.
“It is, therefore, our appe-
al to all of you to follow the
lockdown and social distan-
cing measures. We should
understand that this is a very
important intervention in
halt it. Had the shoes come from
Europe or the US, where the
disease is raging now, the
concern might have been more
reasonable, but still irrational. In
fact, India is importing masks
and other protective gear for
health staff from it. Will we
quarantine doctors and nurses
who use these?
The Odisha man’s shoes were
likely boxed in a factory weeks,
maybe months, ago before
making the long journey to his
home. WHO says it is safe to
receive a package from an area
where Covid-19 is reported.
While it’s good to be cautious,
it’s even better to be rational.
AP
A letter by the groups noted that
the Covid-19 outbreak is be-
lieved to have originated at
wildlife markets in China
tion and enforce strict adheren-
ce to pet shop rules (2018) for in-
dependent stores that sell live
animals. “Currently, animal
markets across the country
house exotic wildlife in lar-
ge numbers. A ban on large
live animal markets and re-
gulation of pet stores across
the country will help add-
ress this ticking time-bomb.
We urge the government to
take urgent action to ensure
India does not become the si-
te of the next pandemic,” sa-
id Sumanth Bindumadhav,
campaign manager at HSI-
India. The HSI on Tuesday
joined more than 200 organi-
sations, including many
such NGOs from India, that
wrote an open letter to World
Health Organisation (WHO)
calling for it to exclude the
use of wildlife in traditional
Chinese medicine.
K Bail and Deepak Gupta and
said while governments had
set up 22,567 shelter homes,
NGOs had pitched in with
3,909 more, which together
housed over 10.3 lakh people.
The 17,000 food camps fed
over 84 lakh people daily, the
government said.
The bench said, “We are
not experts and do not intent
to interfere without knowing
what it is all about. We do not
want to supplant the wisdom
of the government with
ours.”
Full report on www.toi.in
Rajtilak Naik
naging the infection.
However, recent reports
also suggest that the novel
coronavirus often infects
clusters of family members
and friends. In China, almost
80% of the transmission ap-
pears to have occurred wit-
hin families. A similar pat-
tern has been reported in the
United States, too.
These trends assume sig-
nificance in India where fami-
ly members often stay toget-
her and members comprise
different age groups, making
Around 48 migrant labourers stranded due to the lockdown are current-
social distancing a difficult
proposition. While the elderly
ly enjoying their days at a government youth hostel that has been
turned into a shelter home in Miramar, Goa. The migrants compulsorily
are at a higher risk of severe
illness from the disease, the
younger members of their fa-
undergo fitness training classes in the morning and evening. The
classes are conducted by a karate fitness trainer mily are more likely to be
asymptomatic carriers.
the management of Co- to whom an infected person With 354 new cases of Co-
vid-19,” Agarwal added, ci- can spread the disease is bet- vid-19 and eight deaths re-
ting the study to underline ween 1.5 to 4 for Covid-19, ported in the last 24 hours,
the importance of observing Agarwal said and added that the total count of coronavi-
the national lockdown. Union health minister rus positive cases in the co-
At present, the mathema- Harsh Vardhan was right in untry has gone up to 4,421,
tical component that repre- stating that “social distan- while total deaths stood at
sents the number of persons cing is social vaccine” in ma- 117, the health ministry said.
India allows drug exports,
says don’t politicise issue
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The government
has opened up export of anti-
malarial drug hydroxychloro-
quine, depending upon availa-
bility and domestic require-
ments, not just to the US and
other “badly affected coun-
tries” but also to neighbours de-
pendent on India.
TOI had reported on Tues-
day that India has partially
opened up exports of hydroxy-
chloroquine and paracetamol.
Responding to a global clamour
led by US President Donald
Trump.After his request for hy-
droxychloroquine, which he
claimed could help treat Co-
vid-19, in a conversation with
PM Narendra Modi on April 4,
Trump on Monday seemed to
follow it up with a threat when capabilities. We will also be sup- producers of the drug and the
he said that “if he doesn’t allow plying these essential drugs to government believes it has
it to come out, that would be some nations which have been enough stock for domestic
okay, but of course, there may be
retaliation, why wouldn’t there
be”?MEA spokesperson Anu-
particularly badly affected by
the pandemic. We would, there-
fore, discourage any specula-
use.The official said there had
been some attempts by sections
of the media to create “unneces-
rag Srivastava on Tuesday said, tion in this regard or any at- sary controversy’’ over the is-
that given the enormity of the tempts to politicise the matter.’’ sue of Covid-19 related drugs
Covid-19 pandemic, India had al- Srivastava said. and pharmaceuticals. “Like
ways maintained that the inter- The DGFT had notified lift- any responsible government,
national community must dis- ing curbs on 14 drugs on Mon- our first obligation is to ensure
play strong solidarity and coop- day. On paracetamol and hy- that there are adequate stocks of
eration and that this approach droxychloroquine, the govern- medicines for the requirement
also guided India’s evacuation ment has decided to keep these of our own people. In order to
of nationals of other countrie- in a licensed category and to ensure this, some temporary
s.“In view of the humanitarian continuously monitor their de- steps were taken to restrict ex-
aspects of the pandemic, it has mand position. However, Sri- ports of a number of medical
been decided that India will vastava said the stock position products. In the meanwhile, a
ould licence paracetamol and could allow Indian firms to comprehensive assessment
HCQ in appropriate quantities meet the export commitments was made of possible require-
to all our neighbouring coun- that they had contracted. ments under different scena-
tries who are dependent on our India is among the largest rios,’’ he said.
A
1 1 1" 1 ' t 1 GG
NOTICE For INVITING TENDER THROUGH ONLINE MODE
i.e. www .tenderwizard .com/SOUTHDMCETENDER
TOLL TAX DEPARTMENT
Notice Inviting Offer cum Request For Proposal (RFP) NIT No: ADC/TT/ HQ/ SDMC/2020/D-141 6 Dated 06.04.2020
ENGAGEMENT OF A CONTRACTOR BY SDMC (Lead Corporation on behalf of all the three Municipal Corporations
of Delhi ) FOR TOLL & ENVIRONMENT COMPENSATION CHARGE (ECC) COLLECTION AT BORDER POINTS FROM
SPECIFIED COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ENTERING DELHI
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) invites online technical and financial proposals throug h
www.tenderwizard.com/SOUTHDMCETENDER from interested developers/ toll plaza operators to collect toll tax from
specified commercial vehicles , upgrade/modify, operate , and maintain 124 toll plazas/posts/barriers locations bordering Delhi.
In addition to toll collection , the contractor shall also separatel y collect ECC as per actual basis and deposit the same on
weekly basis. Collection of Toll & ECC shall be throug h newly installed RFID System at 13 entry points and manually or likely to
be installed RFID system at remaining entry points of Delhi.
The work shall be granted for a period of 3 years extendable for further six month , if decided by Commissioner , SDMC with
provision of increase of 5% (five percent) in the existing awarded amount/ committed amount after two years.
Reserve Price': Rs. 636.00 crores annually (Rs. Six Hundred Thirty Six Crore only)
Earnest money deposit = Rs.13.00 crores through online payment mode available at www.tenderwizard.com l
SOUTHDMCETENDER. or in the form of BG.The bidder should upload the copy of BG online and submit original BG
in sealed envelop at meeting hall , Office of Commissioner, SDMC, at Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi Gate , Delhi on or
before 22.04.2020 upto 3:00 PM . The bidder who failed to submit original BG within prescribed time shall not be
considered for opening of technical bid.
AnApplicant Firm or Consortium of Firms may submit their proposal.
'This reserve price is for toll amount only.
For project background , Broad role of contractor , Eligibility Criteria and Selection Process-please visit
www.mcdonline.gov.in for copy of NIT and for RFP document please visit www.tenderwdzard.com/SOUTHDMCETEN DER.
NOTE-The Applicant / Firm / Member of a consortium of firms and their subsidiaries either wholly owned or subsidiaries with
percentage of any holding or step down subsidiaries with percentage of any holding or subsidiaries by control of composition of board /
associates/ consortium who has not cleared past dues of SDMC shall not be eligible to participate in the tender and such participation
will be rejected,summarily. The applicant/firm/Member of consortium has been black-listed byeitherSDMC or any Govt. organization
/Ministry /PS Us shall not be elig ible to partapate in the tender and such participation will be rejected , summarily.
RFP document shall be available on www .tenderwizard .com/SOUTHDMCETENDER for a non-refundable fee of Indian
Rupees 1,00, 000/- (Rupees One Lakh Only) payable through online mode available at www.tenderwizard.com/
SOUTHDMCETENDER.
Pre-bid conference - 16.04.2020 at 03:00 PM will be held at meeting hall, Office of Commissioner, SDMC, at Ambedkar
Stadium, Delhi Gate, Delhi. Prospective bidder may also join pre-bid meeting through video conference. For video
conference please contact to Sh. Khazan Bhardwaj, AO (TT), SDMC (Mobile No.: 8929143252).
Submission of Technical and Financial ProposallBid through Online mode available at www .tenderwizard.com/
SOUTHDMCETENDER
Last date of submission of Proposal 22.04.2020 on or before 03.00 P.M.(IST) Date of opening Technical Bids 22.04.2020 at
03.30 P.M. (IST)
MOST IMPORTANT
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For participation ,online registration is required by the prospective bidders to avail user ID and Password FordetaiI please visit the
facility available on above website at"Registerwith us". In case of any assistance regarding registration , please contact Sh. Irshad
Ahmed - 8800900129 and Sh. Mohd Kumar - 9560095958 & through email sdmceprochelpdesk@gmail.com. The prospective
bidders are also free to contact Sh. Khajan Bhardwaj, AO (TT) on his mobile no.8929143252 in caseofany difficulty.
This NIT issued subject to outcome of WP(C) No.12483/2019 and WP(C) 2241 of 2020 pending before Hon'ble High Court of
Delhi . -sd-
Ro No. 02/DPI/S/2020.21 For Commissioner (SDMC)
 8 TIMES SPECIAL | Virus Watch
Urban Unemployment Zooms To 31%: CMIE
Atul.Thakur@timesgroup.com
I
ndia’s salaried population is
only a small fraction of its
total work force — which
explains why so many migrants
had to move out of cities when
the lockdown was announced
on March 24. The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) es-
timates that only 22% of India’s
workforce falls under the cate-
gory of salaried employment
while 78% had no assured sal-
ary and hence was bound to
suffer during this period.
Among major economies,
India also ranks at the bottom
on another parameter with
more than 76% of workers cat-
egorised as being in vulnerable
employment. That is, people
classifying themselves as own-
account workers or contribut-
ing family workers. Such work-
ers are less likely to have formal
work ar rangements and
hence lack decent working con-
ditions and social security.
Also, in a lockdown, many such
people (like a cigarette shop
owner) would be rendered job-
less.
CMIE’s weekly unemploy-
ment data is collated by a sur-
vey. The survey for the last
week of March had to be ended
abruptly because of the lock-
down and is based on 2,289 ob-
servations evenly spread over
rural and urban areas, it said.
Doctors face hard choice: Who lives, who dies?
L
ast month, a video went
viral claiming doctors in
Madrid were removing
people aged over 65 from venti-
lators, to save lives of younger
Covid-19 patients. It turned out
to be fake news, but a situation
in which doctors have to choose
between patients is not unlike-
ly now, as the number of Cov-
id-19 cases continues to rise.
All over the world, hospitals
are under tremendous strain.
There aren’t enough ICU beds
and ventilators to save every
critical patient. On a routine
day, who gets attention first de-
pends on the severity of their
condition. You have an accident
victim with signs of internal
bleeding, and another with a
fractured arm: the haemor-
rhaging patient comes first.
The corona pandemic has
made the ordinary rules of ‘tri-
age’ or patient classification
Fumigation gate could greet
you at work after lockdown
Govt Approves Development Of Disinfection Chambers, LED Booths
Rohan.Dua@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Those returning
to offices when India lifts its
lockdown may be greeted by
fumigation chambers at the
door. The ministry of sci-
ence and technology has ap-
proved development of fumi-
gation chambers that use hy-
drogen peroxide to disinfect
a person’s body and clothes.
It has also given its nod to
booths equipped with ultra-
violet light which minimise
contact between doctors and
patients while also decon-
taminating surfaces.
While the fumigation
chamber is basically a gate-
way which will be placed in
educational institutions,
shopping malls, government
offices and apartments, the
booth is meant for use in hos-
IRCTC cancels 3 pvt ‘List of exemptions
trains till April 30 may be broadened’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Indian Rail-
ways’ subsidiary IRCTC on
Tuesday announced cancel-
lation of three passenger
trains it operates till April 30
in view of the Covid-19 situa-
tion in the country. However,
railway ministry sources
said this decision by IRCTC
should not be seen as any in-
dication of whether cancel-
lation of other passenger
trains will be extended be-
yond the 21-day lockdown.
IRCTC has full freedom
to take decisions on cancel-
lation or operation of Kashi
Mahakal Express (Varanasi
to Indore) and two Tejas
trains on Lucknow-New Del-
hi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai
routes. No decision has been
taken till now so far as other
passenger trains are con-
cerned. We still have a week.
It all depends on whether the
lockdown will be extended
or lifted,” said a source.
Meanwhile, the railway
ministry has been holding
1Weekly unemployment rate
quadruples In urban India
Recently released data by CMIE shows a massive jump in
weekly unemployment rate following the lockdown. This
may be the reason behind the exodus of migrant workforce
35
30
Week-wise
unemployment
25
rate (%)
20
Urban 7.35
15
Total 6.58
10
5 2
0
Rural 6.21 25 MARCH LOCKDOWN BEGINS
17 Feb 2019
weekend
Compared to others, India has
3 4 Majority of
small share of workers with contracts
Wage and salaried workers are those who have job contracts
that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly
dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.
In India, that’s only 22% of the workforce
Wage and salaried workers in other
countries (% of total employment)
India 22.1%
United States
Germany
Japan
France
United Kingdom
meaningless. Now, there is a
stream of critically ill patients.
Say, you are a doctor with one
remaining ventilator and three
new arrivals. Whom do you
save? Whom do you let die?
It’s an ethical dilemma that
no doctor wants thrust upon
them. That’s why general rules
to deal with such situations
have existed for a long time.
While military hospitals often
need to make use of them, this
is the first global medical crisis
in a long time that’s forced hos-
pitals to dust their manuals,
and medical ethicists to work
on improving the existing guid-
ance. They know that the allo-
cation of equipment and care
to patients will always be con-
tentious, but they need to make
it clear, ethical and equitable as
far as possible.
Take the situation above:
one hospital may decide to save
WALK OF SAFETY
pital settings.
Prototypes for both were
developed by Sree Chitra Ti-
runal Institute for Medical
Sciences and Technology
(SCTIMST), Thiruvanan-
thapuram. For commercial
use, fumigation chambers
Health a priority
over economy: V-P
V ice-President Venkaiah
Naidu on Tuesday said the
final week of the 21-day
lockdown will be “critical” in
devising an exit plan based on
the spread coronavirus cases
in the country before the
government decides on future
strategy to deal with the
pandemic. “While the
concerns of economy can wait,
that of health can’t,” Naidu
said in what was seen as a
possible hint that the restric-
tions may continue in some
form or the other to contain the
spread of the virus. TNN
Full report on www.toi.in
series of meetings to work
out strategies to run passen-
ger trains after the lock-
down is lifted. On its part,
IRCTC said there will be
full refund of booked tickets
during this extended cancel-
lation period.
Full story on www.toi.in
30.93
4X
23.38
20.21
JUMP
5 Apr 2020
weekend
93.8%
89.8%
89.7%
88.4%
84.7%
GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER: In a pandemic, doctors
focus on saving the maximum number of lives by allocating
resources to patients with the best chances of survival
the youngest of the three pa-
tients, arguing that they have
had the least time to live, and
an early death would be most
unfair to them. This is a per-
fectly valid philosophical posi-
are being developed by HLL
Infratech Services Limited
(HITES), a government of In-
dia undertaking, while the
booths will be manufactured
by Hindustan Machine Tools
in Kerala. “Both are likely to
cost less than Rs 25,000 for
each unit,” said a source,
adding that 50 units of the fu-
migation chamber were al-
ready under development.
The hydrogen peroxide fu-
migation chamber is five-feet-
wide and measures seven feet
in height. It takes five seconds
to decontaminate. Asha Kish-
ore, director of SCTIMST,
said the system is electronic.
“Sensors fitted in the cham-
ber detect entry and tubes
will emit puffs of hydrogen
peroxide. There is no odour or
dampness. When the person
exits, a UV system will decon-
 From P 1
T
here may be some scope
for reopening a few
more amenities and
conveniences apart from
chemist and grocery stores;
also, there could be a differ-
entiated approach towards
large cities and the virus hot-
spots on the one hand and the
less vulnerable parts of the
country on the other.
Significance is being read
into Vice-President Ven-
kaiah Naidu’s statement on
Tuesday: “Between the con-
siderations of the health of
the people and stabilisation
of our economy being debat-
ed, the former shall take
precedence over the later. In
my view, while the concerns
of economy can wait for an-
other day, that of health
can’t. I appeal to people to
abide by whatever decision is
ultimately taken by the lead-
ership and cooperate in the
ongoing national effort...
even if it means continuing
with some degree of hard-
2Unemployment rate of 8.74% for
March 2020 was highest in 43 months
Sluggish growth in pre Covid-2019 days meant the jobs scene
was already precarious and this sudden break in economic
activities may have further worsened the situation
14 Urban 10.44
12
All India 8.72 Month-wise
unemployment rate (%)
10
8 8.45
6
Rural 7.92
4
0 10%-plus unemployment
Jan
2016
Months
Vulnerable employment
Indian employment (% of total employment)
is considered
India
vulnerable contracts 76.2%
Another yardstick to measure
employment condition is the
assessment of vulnerable
employment. According to ILO
and UN, vulnerable employment
is when workers classify
themselves as own account
workers or contributing family
workers. They are less likely to
have formal work arrangements
Germany
and hence lack decent working
conditions
tion, but another hospital
might decide to save whoever
has the best chance of survival.
In Germany, for instance, triage
does not take a patient’s age
into consideration.
taminate the space.”
According to the depart-
ment of science and technol-
ogy, this was the safest proto-
type of a fumigation cham-
ber. Kishore explained, “An
individual will be exposed to
only 1/50th of the upper limit
of hydrogen peroxide pre-
scribed by the World Health
Organization guidelines”.
Their other design — a
booth — could help doctors
minimise contact with pa-
tients. “The booth has an en-
try tunnel on the side so a doc-
tor can use a stethoscope to ex-
amine a patient who sits in the
chamber. They can see each
other through a glass wall. Af-
ter examination is complete,
the patient leaves and the UV
light is turned on for three
minutes to decontaminate it,”
said a DST scientist.
ship still beyond April 14.” In-
puts from states and other
quarters were considered at
a meeting of the empowered
GoM headed by defence min-
ister Rajnath Singh on Tues-
day. Options such as odd-
even and limits on the num-
ber of people in passenger ve-
hicles are said to be on the ta-
ble. The list of exemptions
that includes activities relat-
ing to harvest and supply of
everyday needs could be ex-
panded.
Some district adminis-
trations have allowed repair-
men and caregivers to attend
to their duties. The focus of
the containment approach to
Covid-19 hotspots and high-
risk areas makes it difficult
to even consider inter-dis-
trict movement on any sig-
nificant scale, leave alone in-
ter-state movement apart
from categories like cargo
that have been allowed.
“There is no question of
opening state borders,” a top
government official said.
Full story on www.toi.in
9.35
8.74
Mar
2020
UK 12.9%
Japan 8.4%
France 7.4%
5.8%
US 3.7%
What if one of the patients
is 19, another is 40 but in good
health otherwise, and the most
likely to survive, and the third
is a nurse, whose recovery
could help many other patients
live. This time, many hospitals
would choose to save the nurse
for society’s good.
That’s the main difference
between triage in an emergen-
cy (accident victims) and a cri-
sis (stream of Covid-19 cases).
During an emergency, doctors
aim to do their best for the pa-
tient before them, but in a cri-
sis, the goal shifts to doing the
greatest good for the greatest
number. And this ordinarily
means taking steps to ensure
that the greatest number of
patients survive.
If you have advanced liver
disease or a serious heart con-
dition, saving you becomes less
important because you might
35 patients in
Delhi need
ICU support
 Continued from P 1
O
ne of the worrying facts
about Covid-19 situation
in Delhi is that as many as
35 patients admitted in various
hospitals currently require ICU
support. Another 27 are on ox-
ygen, which shows that their
lung function is compromised.
The 14-month-old child who
died in Jamnagar on Tuesday
night was on life support since
April 5, when he had tested posi-
tive. His parents, both labourers,
however, tested negative for the
virus. Health officials are yet to
ascertain the source of the ba-
by's infection.
In Telangana, a 23-day-old in-
fant is among 40 new coronavi-
rus cases reported on Tuesday,
taking the number of positive
cases to 404.
Gujarat recorded three other
deaths due to Covid-19 in the past
24 hours, taking the death toll to
16. With 12 deaths accounted for
on Tuesday, Maharashtra’s coro-
navirus toll rose to 64 — nearly
40% of all deaths from the virus
in the country. Six of the 12 are
from Mumbai, three from Pune
and one each from Nagpur, Sata-
ra and Mira-Bhayandar. The fa-
tality rate of the state as on Tues-
day was 6.2%, among the high-
est in the country, said govern-
ment officials.
After Maharashtra, where
150 new cases were recorded,
states reporting a high number
of fresh infections were Tamil
Nadu (69), Madhya Pradesh (63),
Delhi (51), Rajasthan (42), Telan-
gana (40) and Haryana (33).
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
INCREDIBLE
1,52,00,00,000
Coronavirus lockdowns have shut schools
Most migrant workers
in 165 countries. About 152 crore students
may have returned and 6 crore teachers are stuck at home.
to states with high Source: The Washington Post
unemployment
There are 12 states where
unemployment estimate for March
2020 is over 10% of labour force.
These are states that provide the
bulk of the migrant workforce.
Now, many such workers have
returned to these states, where it
will be hard to find work How will the
virus change our
rate in these states (Mar 2020) world? A startup
Tripura 29.9% investor peeps into
Haryana 25.1%
the future
Sikkim 23.6%
Uttarakhand 19.9%
Himachal 18.8% For the past fortnight, you have been working from
home, doing household chores and helping your
Delhi 17%
child adapt to online classes. How many of these
J&K 15.5% changes will last? How will corona change the world?
Myspace ex-CEO and startup investor Michael James
Bihar 15.4%
has some ideas:
Odisha 13.1%
Work-from- More
Rajasthan 11.8% home grows homeschooling,
as companies but poor kids go
Punjab 10.3%
fear another to work as parents
UP 10.1% corona wave are jobless
Source: CMIE, World Bank, ILO
Fewer flights Rentals crash as
and foreign remote work grows.
tours, more
road trips
within
country
People leave big cities.
Neighbourhoods
change as lockdown
cripples small shops
occupy a bed for three weeks
and still not make it while a fit- Drivers, store Authoritarian
ter patient would. Doctors call workers China’s firm
it ‘success-oriented’ allocation seek higher response to the
of resources. It means, in a cri- pay due to coronavirus crisis
sis, taking someone off the
virus risk. puts democracy
ventilator is not only justifiable
Big push for in the shade, for
but ‘just’ if the next patient has
better odds of survival. There’ll
automation a while
never be a perfect algorithm for
triage. Will you save a 30-year- Concerts and As more
old mother who has Covid-19 cinemas lose people
and breast cancer, or her bach- out to live work from
elor brother, aged 40, who has virtual events home, pet
only Covid-19? Will you save 10 and on-demand ownership
octogenarians (higher success movies grows
rate) or five teens (more years
to live)? Which choices serve
society best? Religious Bumbling
Sometimes, even ethics preaching response
and philosophy throw up and events to corona
their hands. Then, it’s time shift online pandemic hurts
for a lottery. due to America. It’s no
— Text: Abhilash Gaur fear of longer seen as a
For more: Undark, DW, Politico & contagion world leader
The New England Journal of Medicine Source: https://bit.ly/3awSXIl
Over 40% cases had 2
pre-existing diseases
Mehbooba
moved to official
bungalow, but
From P 1 CO-MORBIDITIES
OF THOSE WHO DIED
still in detention
T
he data collated by TOI Saleem.Pandit
Diabetes
also showed that the @timesgroup.com
most common co-mor- 56%
bidities among those who Srinagar: Former J&K chief
died of Covid-19 so far were Hypertension minister and PDP president
diabetes and hypertension, 47% Mehbooba Mufti, who has
and in a large number of been in detention under the
cases both conditions were
present together. This too is
Diabetes &
hypertension 35% Public Safety
Act (PSA),
not unlike the rest of the Cardiac was shifted
world though there are varia- disease from the VIP
tions. In China the death rate House sub-
was highest among people 16% jail near
Asthma/lung
with heart diseases or those Transport
disease
with lung diseases, followed Yard on Mau-
by diabetes and hyperten- 20% lana Azad Road to her official
sion. Gupkar Road bungalow in
Over half suffered from a
Information on co-mor- combination of two or the city called “Fairview”
bidities was available for 86 more conditions following a government or-
people who died. This Source: Data collated by TOI
der. This is just a shifting and
showed that more than half from state govts PSA will continue to remain
of them (56%) were diabetic invoked against her, as of
and almost half (47%) had hy- pertensive the person was or now.
pertension. Over a third of how serious the lung disease Many J&K politicians, in-
the 86 had both diabetes and was. It is not possible to say cluding Mehbooba and an-
hypertension. One in five suf- how much of a bearing the ex- other former CM and Nation-
fered from asthma or lung dis- tent of pre-existing morbidi- al Conference vice-president
ease. Only 16% had cardiac ties had on the probability of Omar Abdullah, were taken
disease along with diabetes death. More than 40% of the into preventive custody on
and/or hypertension. Renal cases examined had two pre- August 5 last year following
disease too was reported in existing disease conditions, the scrapping of special sta-
several of those who died. while over 17% had more than tus of the state and its reorga-
The data does not record three co-morbidities. nization into two Union Ter-
how severely diabetic or hy- Full report on www.toi.in ritories. Later, on February
6, PSA was slapped on both
‘Important to use
Mehbooba and Omar. Howev-
er, on March 24, Omar was re-
leased from Hari Niwas
guest house on Gupkar Road
after over eight months of de-
existing resources in tention.
Issuing an order on Tues-
judicious manner’
day, J&K principal secretary
(home) Shaleen Kabra said
PSA will continue to remain
invoked on Mehbooba. The
From P 1 cated block with proper order also debarred her from
triaging and separate en- meeting reporters or com-
T
he move is part of the try and exit to avoid a risk municating with any of her
government’s prepa- of infection. These facili- party colleagues. Police per-
redness measures as ties, which will monitor sonnel deployed at the gate
the number of cases are in- Covid-confirmed cases of her residence have been
creasing rapidly. “It would with moderate level of ill- instructed not to allow entry
be important to appropri- ness, will also need to have to anyone except her family
ately prepare the health beds with assured oxygen members.
systems and use the exist- support. Before shifting Mehboo-
ing resources judicially. A dedicated Covid Hos- ba, the government accorded
One among these is to iso- pital — which will treat on- status of sub-jail to her offi-
late all suspect and con- ly critically ill patients — cial residence with immedi-
firmed cases of Covid-19,” will also be a full hospital ate effect. Meanwhile, Omar
the official said. or a block fully equipped said that Mehbooba must be
The guidelines also with ICU, ventilators and released fully.
provide details of require- beds with oxygen support. Following the release of
ments for each category. These hospitals will have Omar, Mehbooba’s daughter
For instance, a Covid Care separate areas for suspect Iltija Mufti had written to
Centre can be a makeshift and confirmed cases. Sus- lieutenant governor Girish
arrangement or a hostel or pect and confirmed cases Chandra Murmu, seeking re-
school premises, whereas should not be allowed to lease of all detainees, includ-
a Covid Health Centre has mix under any circum- ing her mother, in view of the
to be a hospital or a dedi- stances, the guidelines say. Covid-19 pandemic.

HARRY & MEGHAN UNVEIL NEW CHARITY NAME AS ARCHEWELL,
SAY THEY WILL LAUNCH FOUNDATION WHEN ‘THE TIME IS RIGHT’
Wuhan Reopens After 76 Days, World Is Watching
China Also Marks A Milestone: No New Virus Deaths British PM ‘stable’ in ICU; UK
Raymond Zhong and Vivian Wang
C
hina on Wednesday en-
ded its lockdown of Wu-
han, the city where the
coronavirus first emerged
and a potent symbol in a pan-
demic that has killed tens of
thousands of people, shaken
the global economy and
thrown daily life into uphea-
val across the planet. But the
city that has reopened after
more than 10 weeks (76 days)
is a profoundly damaged one,
a place whose recovery will
be watched worldwide for les-
sons on how populations mo-
ve past pain and calamity of
such staggering magnitude.
Wednesday’s reopening ca-
me after only three new virus
cases were reported in the city
in the previous three weeks,
and a day after China reported
no new deaths for the first time
since January. China listed no
new cases on Tuesday, though
the country’s figures are regar-
ded with some suspicion.
The Chinese authorities se-
aled off Wuhan, an industrial
hub of 11million people, in late
January, in a frantic attempt to
limit the outbreak’s spread. At
the time, many outsiders saw it
as an extreme step, one that co-
uld be tried only in an authori-
tarian system like China’s. But
A BEAUTIFUL MIND: Bhasha
Mukherjee, who was crowned Miss
England in 2019, returned to the UK
to resume her duty as a doctor
amid coronavirus crisis. Mukherjee,
who moved to England from
Kolkata at the age of nine, had
taken a career break as a junior
doctor after she participated in the
Miss World pageant in December
2019. The 24-year-old had been in
India on behalf of a charity for
which she is an ambassador
Israel makes
masks in public
compulsory
T he Israeli government issued
orders on Tuesday making
the wearing of masks in public
compulsory to try to stem the
spread of the coronavirus. It also
approved a timeline for tightened
travel restrictions for the
Passover holiday, which begins
on Wednesday when Jewish
families gather for a festive meal
commemorating the Biblical
exodus from slavery in Egypt. PM
Netanyahu had last week urged
Israelis to wear masks while in
public, a measure the govern-
ment said would become compu-
lsory as of Sunday. REUTERS
Ex-B’desh army officer
convicted of killing
Mujibur Rahman held
Dhaka: A former Bangla-
deshi military captain, who
was convicted for killing the
country’s founder Banga-
bandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, was arrested by po-
lice in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Home minister Asaduzza-
man Khan Kamal confirmed
ex-captain Abdul Majed’s ar-
rest and said he had been sent
to court to “exhaust legal op-
tions”. Majed was one of the
six absconding ex-army offi-
cers who were handed down
capital punishment after the-
ir trial in absentia.
Kamal said previous re-
ports indicated Majed was hi-
ding in India and he was ar-
rested from Dhaka upon his
return. The minister said Ma-
jed, a “self-confessed killer”,
was not only involved in
Bangabandhu’s killing on
August 15, 1975, at his private
residence but was also invol-
ved in the subsequent mur-
der of four national politici-
ans in high security Dhaka ja-
il on November 3 in 1975.
Majed’s predawn arrest
was led by the Counter Ter-
Workers in protective overalls walk past the Hankou railway station on the
eve of its resuming outbound traffic in Wuhan. China’s national rail
operator estimated that over 55,000 people would leave Wuhan by train on
Wednesday. Within the city, however, tough rules on individuals and
businesses are still in place to prevent the virus from regaining a foothold
as the epidemic has worsened,
governments around the
world have enacted a variety of
stringent restrictions on their
citizens’ movements.
The full measure of the sa-
crifice that such policies enta-
il — in jobs and income lost, in
lives disrupted — might first
be taken in Wuhan. People can
now leave after presenting to
the authorities a government-
sanctioned phone app that in-
dicates, based on their home
New York’s daily toll is highest
yet, but signs of hope emerge
Chidanand.Rajghatta
@timesgroup.com
Washington: Helped by miti-
gation steps such as social
distancing and isolation/qu-
arantine of infected and po-
tentially infected, the corona-
virus pandemic appears to be
ebbing. Although New York
reported its deadliest day in
the coronavirus pandemic
with 731 new deaths, there is
an overall sense that the pan-
demic is not out of control,
and it is being reigned in.
While critics of the go-
vernment approach of shut-
ting down the economy to
contain the pandemic allege
that the infection and death
projections were exaggera-
ted or inflated and such a
lockdown was not necessary,
those who persuaded the ad-
ministration to adopt the po-
licy say mitigation is what ap-
pears to be working – for now.
In fact, Dr Anthony Fauci, the
infectious disease specialist
who has become the face of
war on the pandemic, says
the world will never get back
to the pre-coronavirus nor-
mal because the threat will
remain even after vaccines
and therapies are approved,
including the prospect of a se-
asonal return of the virus.
But on the positive side, at
least one US model revised its
estimates of infections and ne-
eds downwards, saying the co-
untry may need fewer hospital
AP
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was
killed in 1975. Police arrested the
fugitive killer nearly 45 years
after the brutal assassination
rorism and Transnational
Crime ( unit of police in Mir-
pur based on a tip-off. “Ma-
jed was near a shrine in Mir-
pur when policemen arres-
ted him,” an official said.
Majed was not allowed to
give any statement as accor-
ding to the law convicts do
not have the right to do so at
this stage of legal procee-
dings. “The stipulated time
for appeal against death pe-
nalty expired long ago. Majed
now can just seek presidenti-
al mercy unless the Supreme
Court decides to consider any
plea on his part,” a Supreme
Court lawyer said. PTI
TIMES GLOBAL
AP
address, recent travels and
medical history, whether they
are a contagion risk.
Footage from state-run
news outlets early Wednesday
showed a rush of cars travel-
ling through toll stations on
the outskirts of Wuhan imme-
diately after the restrictions
were lifted. China’s national
rail operator estimated that
more than 55,000 people would
leave Wuhan by train on Wed-
nesday. Within the city, howe-
TRACKING OUTBREAK
Countries Infected
United States 3,80,749
Spain
Italy
1,40,511
1,35,586
Germany 1,05,604
France 98,984
China 82,718
Iran 62,589
United Kingdom 55,940
Turkey 34,109
Switzerland 22,253
beds, ventilators and other equ-
ipment than previously projec-
ted and that some states may re-
ach their peak of Covid-19 de-
aths sooner than expected. At
the time of writing this report,
the US stock market was exten-
ding its gains for a second day
in a row on news that US may be
getting a grip on the virus.
The overall death toll in the
US though is nearing 12,000
Body of Maeve
Kennedy found,
search for her
son to continue
T A
he body of Maeve Kenne-
dy Townsend, the grand-
daughter of the late Ro-
bert F Kennedy,
was recovered
on Monday and
the search for
her son will
continue, poli-
ce in Maryland
said. The daughter of former
Maryland lieutenant governor
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend,
40, and her son, Gideon McKe-
an, 8, went missing on Friday
after drifting out into the Che-
sapeake Bay on a canoe.
Charles County dive and
rescue, one of the agencies se-
arching for them, located
Townsend’s body about 4km f
her mother’s residence in
Shady Side, Maryland, where
the canoe was launched.
Police said it would resume
the operation on Tuesday to se-
arch for Townsend’s son. The
Anne Arundel County fire de-
partment had received a call
last Thursday at about 4.30pm
(local time) reporting that two
people in a canoe were drifting
into Chesapeake Bay. REUTERS
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
Doctors in Pak held
for protests over
lack of safety gear
D octors in Pakistan’s Baloch-
istan province went on strike
on Tuesday against the arrests
and manhandling of their collea-
gues by police in Quetta. On Mo-
nday, police had beaten up and
arrested nearly 100 doctors who
came out in protest against the
lack of protective equipment for
health staff against the pande-
mic. Their release orders had be-
en issued, but the doctors refus-
ed to leave police stations after
spending a night in detention. At
least 20 doctors have been infec-
ted in Balochistan. Pakistan’s
Covid tally rose to 4,005 with 54
deaths. Omer Farooq Khan TNN
ver, tough rules on individuals
and businesses are still in pla-
ce to prevent the virus from re-
gaining a foothold. Officials
continue to urge everyone to
stay at home as much as possib-
le. Schools are still closed.
Many people in Wuhan do
not need to be told to keep isola-
ting themselves. The experien-
ce of death and near-death has
left psychic wounds. Of Chi-
na’s over 82,000 reported cases
of the virus, nearly two-thirds
Death
184
11,931 countries/
13,897 regions hit
17,127
1,390,511+
1,905 infected globally
8,911
3,335
79,091+
have died
3,872
6,159 295,696+
725 have recovered
821
Source: Johns Hopkins
University
with the projected peak per day
deaths of about 3000 still some
10 days away. New York on Tu-
esday reported 731 new deaths
in the state to a total of 5,489 fa-
talities. The death count for
April 6 marked an increase
from the prior day’s 599 new de-
aths. In fact, New York City’s
toll of 3,202 eclipsed the num-
ber of those killed on 9/11. But
governor Andrew Cuomo said
Vatican ex-treasurer
acquitted in sex abuse
case, leaves prison
ustralia’s highest co-
urt acquitted former
Vatican treasurer Ge-
orge Pell on Tuesday of sex-
ually assaulting two teena-
ged choirboys in the 1990s,
freeing the 78-year-old car-
dinal after 404 days in jail.
The Vatican welcomed
the decision and praised Pell
for having “waited for the
truth to be ascertained”.
The seven judges of the
high court agreed unani-
mously that the jury in the
cardinal’s trial “ought to
have entertained a doubt”
about his guilt. Pell, who
has maintained his inno-
cence throughout the leng-
thy court process, cannot
be retried on the charges.
“I hold no ill will toward
my accuser, I do not want
my acquittal to add to the
hurt and bitterness so ma-
ny feel; there is certainly
hurt and bitterness eno-
ugh,” Pell said before he
was driven away from the
prison near Melbourne.
The father of one the
victims, who is pursuing a
DWAYNE JOHNSON, WRESTLER-TURNED-ACTOR, SAYS AS A
TEEN HE DREAMT OF BECOMING A COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER
have been in Wuhan.
Wuhan is already not the
same metropolis where, not so
long ago, the passage of time se-
emed to have ground to a halt.
In recent days, more shops have
reopened, often setting up stre-
et-front counters so that custo-
mers can buy vegetables, alco-
hol, cigarettes and other goods
without entering. Public buses
and the subway system have
restarted, although they often
seem to have few passengers.
Companies in Wuhan have
been cautiously calling their
employees back to work.
Across Wuhan, nearly 94% of
businesses — almost 11,000 of
them in total — have resumed
operations, said Hu Yabo, the
city’s deputy mayor, at a recent
news briefing. It is unclear
how much business they are
actually doing, however. At in-
dustrial companies in Wuhan,
only 60% of employees are on
the job, and electricity con-
sumption is one-fifth less than
what it was this time last year,
said Dang Zhen, another city
official, at the same briefing.
Gloom about the local eco-
nomy is widespread. “The
whole world is in a bad state,
and as far as the future goes,
nobody has much confidence,”
said Helen Ding, 47, who works
at a design company. NYT
that hospitalisations appeared
to be reaching a plateau.
President Trump, mean-
while, continued to feud with
the media over his handling of
the crisis and his prescriptions,
with a new report that he had
ignored his own acolytes’ war-
ning about the gravity of the
upcoming crisis as early as Ja-
nuary. It now turns out that the
White House trade adviser Pe-
ter Navarro had warned of a
“full-blown pandemic, imperi-
ling the lives of millions of
Americans” from the coronavi-
rus. “The lack of immune pro-
tection or an existing cure or
vaccine would leave Ameri-
cans defenceless in the case of a
full-blown coronavirus outbre-
ak on US soil,” Navarro had re-
corded in a memo, adding that
more than 500,000 Americans
could die in a worst-case scena-
rio. But Trump continued to
downplay the pandemic well in-
to February. On Tuesday,
Trump continued to shift the
blame by accusing the WHO of
being too focused on China and
issuing bad advice during the
outbreak. “The WHO really
blew it. For some reason, fun-
ded largely by the US, yet very
China centric. We will be giving
that a good look,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin con-
troversially held its presidenti-
al primary a despite a state-wi-
de stay-at-home order. Democr-
atic officials had sought to post-
pone the election but were ov-
erruled by the top state court.
Reuters
Cardinal George Pell
Pope talks of
‘unjust sentences’
in morning mass
J ust hours after the
acquittal of the vatican’s
ex-treasurer, Pope Francis
offered his morning mass for
all those who suffer from
unjust sentences, which he
compared to the persecution
of Jesus. “I would like to pray
today for all those people
who suffer unjust sentences
resulting from intran-
sigence,” he said REUTERS
civil case against Pell, said
through his lawyer Lisa
Flynn he was “in shock”
and “furious”. REUTERS
IT IS NOT LOVE THAT
SHOULD BE DEPICTED AS
BLIND, BUT SELF-LOVE
— VOLTAIRE
sees biggest daily toll of 786
AP
B
ritish foreign minister Dominic Raab said
on Tuesday he was confident that PM Bo-
ris Johnson, in intensive care with a coro-
navirus infection, would pull through because
“he’s a fighter”. “He remained stable overnight.
He’s receiving standard oxygen treatment and
breathing without any assistance. He has not re-
quired any mechanical ventilation or non-inva-
sive respiratory support,” Raab said.
Johnson’s personal battle with the virus
has shaken the government just as the UK, now
in its third week of virtual lockdown, enters
what scientists say will be the deadliest phase
of its coronavirus epidemic, which has alrea-
dy killed at least 6,200 people. Johnson, 55, was
admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital, late on Sun-
day after suffering symptoms, including a fe-
ver and a cough, for more than 10 days. But his
condition rapidly deteriorated, and he was mo-
ved on Monday to an intensive care unit. Anot-
her cabinet office minister Michael Gove went
into self-isolation on Tuesday after a family
member displayed coronavirus symptoms.
Government scientists see Britain’s daily
death toll rising until at least April 12, and the A cyclist in London with a #PrayforBoris banner
government is due to decide early next week
whether to start easing a near-total economic In Italy, the hardest-hit country of all, with
and social lockdown. Some ministers have over 16,500 deaths, authorities appealed to peo-
suggested it should be extended, after seeing ple ahead of Easter weekend not to lower their
some people using sunny spring weather as an guard and to abide by a lockdown now in its fifth
excuse to flout the rules. Tuesday’s daily death week, even as new cases dropped to a level not
toll of 786 was the biggest to date. seen since the early weeks of the outbreak.
Elsewhere around the world, there were New cases were also slowing in France and
contrasting developments. In Japan, PM Shin- Portugal. To keep up social distancing, Paris
zo Abe declared a month-long state of emergen- banned daytime jogging just as warm spring.
cy in Tokyo and six other prefectures because of The total virus cases in Iran has risen to
a spike of infections in the country with the over 62,000 and the toll is nearing 4,000, according
world's oldest population. The order will close to health ministry data on Tuesday. However, a
hostess bars and other night entertainment. member of Iran’s National Coronavirus Combat
In Spain, new deaths on Tuesday rose to 743 Taskforce, Hamid Souri, has put the number of
and infections climbed by 5,400 after five days of cases in the nation of 83 million at “around
declines, but the increases were believed to re-
flect a weekend backlog. Authorities said they
were confident in the downward trend.
500,000”, the state news agency IRNA reported.
Worldwide, nearly 1.4 million people have be-
en infected and nearly 80,000 have died. AGENCIES
‘Two S Koreans In NZ, Easter bunny
recover from
Covid-19 after and tooth fairy are
‘essential workers’
plasma therapy’
Seoul: Two elderly South Ko-
rean coronavirus patients
Sandra E Garcia
NZ demotes minister
for lockdown breach,
A
recovered from severe pneum- round the world, billions
onia after being treated with
plasma from survivors, resear-
are staying home to curb
the spread of the corona- extends emergency
chers said on Tuesday. Scien- virus, except for medical pers-
tists have pointed to the poten-
tial benefits of plasma — a
blood fluid — from recovered
onnel, police
officers, phar-
macists, groce-
N ew Zealand PM Jacinda Ard-
ern said on Tuesday she had
rejected her health minister’s of-
individuals who have devel- ry store wor- fer to resign for breaching natio-
oped antibodies to the virus en- kers and others nwide lockdown rules as doing
abling the body’s defences to at- who have been
so would jeopardise plans to sl-
tack it. Plasma therapy could
become “an alternative treat-
deemed essen-
tial workers in many places.
ow the spread of the coronavir-
us. Health minister David Clark
ment for patients in critical In New Zealand, that list drove his family to the beach in
condition who do not respond grew by two after PM Jacinda the early stages of the lockdown,
to antiviral drugs,” said Choi Ardern announced on Monday flouting social distancing rules. “I
Jun-yong, a doctor at Severance
Hospital in Seoul, where both
patients were treated.
that the Easter bunny and the
tooth fairy were considered es-
sential workers, too. “As you
expect better, and so does New
Zealand,” Ardern said. Clark said
that he had been “an idiot, and I
Both did not respond to ini- can imagine, at this time, of co-
understand why people will be
tial treatments, including ma- urse, they are going to be parti- angry with me”. New Zealand on
laria, HIV drugs, and oxygen cularly quite busy at home March 24 started a four-week
therapy. They began to recov- with their family as well and national lockdown and on Tues-
er only after receiving plasma their own bunnies,” Ardern sa- day, it was extended for a second
therapy and steroids at the sa- id, injecting levity into a serio- time for seven more days. New
me time, researchers said. us situation and seeking to so- Zealand has reported 1,160 cases
Kwon Jun-wook, an offi- othe anxious children. and one death. REUTERS
cial at Seoul’s Central Disease Ardern had a suggestion for
Control Headquarters, said parents to celebrate Easter front window and help children
plasma therapy was “impor- (April 12) with children while in your neighbourhood with
tant” when there was “cur- observing the rules of social the Easter egg hunt, because
rently no vaccine or treatme- distancing. “Maybe draw an the Easter bunny might not ma-
nt available” for the virus. AFP Easter egg and prop it into your ke it everywhere this year.” NYT
Taliban to end AROUND THE WORLD
Reuters
‘fruitless’
meetings over
prisoner swap
Kabul: The Taliban will no
longer participate in “fruit-
less” discussions with the
Afghan government over a
prisoner swap that had for-
med a key part of a deal with
the US, the insurgents said.
In a tweet sent around mid-
night on Tuesday Afghanistan
time, the Taliban’s political
DEGREE OF CONTROL: Spring graduation ceremonies in Japan have
spokesman Suhail Shaheen
blamed the administration of
been cancelled because of the pandemic, but students at one school
were able to attend remotely by controlling avatar robots while logged
President Ashraf Ghani for de-
laying the prisoner release “un-
on at home. The robots were dressed in graduation caps and gowns
for the ceremony at the Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo
der one pretext or another”.
“Our technical team will
Finally, privacy: After 2007 and attempts at natural
not participate in fruitless mee-
tings with relevant sides star-
ting from tomorrow,” Shaheen 10 yrs, pandas mate
mating since 2010, they unfort-
unately have yet to succeed
until this year,” said an official
said in a tweet in English. The
two foes have been holding in shuttered zoo of Ocean Park conservation.
talks in Kabul since last week to
Mexico zoo cheers birth
try to finalise the prisoner swap
that was originally supposed to S tuck in their enclosure with
no visitors and not much
else to do, a pair of pandas at a
of Bengal tiger Covid
He is small and ferocious with
have happened by March 10.
Hong Kong conservation finally a deadly name, but a Bengal
Matin Bek, a member of
decided to give mating a go tiger called Covid has given
the government’s negotiating
after a decade of dodging the hope to a zoo in Mexico. The
team, said the release had be-
issue. Ying Ying and Le Le have cub was born last month at a
en delayed because the Tali-
only really had each other for zoo in Veracruz. “The birth of
ban are demanding the relea-
company since coronavirus Covid was a gift for us, it was a
se of 15 “top commanders”.
lockdown. “Since Ying Ying and bit of hope in the current
“We cannot release the killers
Le Le’s arrival in Hong Kong in situation,” a vet said.
of our people,” he said. AFP
10 AN EPIPHANY OF IDEAS THE TIMES OF INDIA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

A thought for today

For he who has health has hope;
and he who has hope, has everything
OWEN ARTHUR, Barbados politician
Science Alone Triumphs
Providing a true picture of the world, only science can help India against coronavirus

What Corona Shows Jayant Sinha

As the coronavirus
continues its deadly
what our real heroes are doing on the
frontiers of human knowledge.
Even our start-up culture tends to
value the business celebrity, not so much
Investments in public health will pay spread around the world,
it is only science that
the tech nerd. In fact, the most exceptional
entrepreneurs are those who combine
for themselves many times over protects us. Many diffe- deep technical knowledge with great
rent scientists and business acumen. Billions of dollars of

T
he Covid-19 global pandemic has reinforced the importance of experts are responding to the global wealth has been created by writing great
public health as a top governance priority. In the absence of a challenge: geneticists, emergency care code, developing insanely good products,
robust public health infrastructure India has had to settle for a physicians, epidemiologists, immunolo- creating clever new financial solutions,
prohibitively expensive, massively disruptive alternative strategy of gists, virologists, transportation experts, and establishing entirely new scientific
operations researchers, economists, approaches. As a society, we must find
a nationwide lockdown though cases here were relatively few. The supply chain specialists, public finance ways of rewarding our top innovators
possibility of cases skyrocketing like Italy, Spain or the United States experts, central bankers, the list goes on. and ensure that they are feted as the
in a poorer, more populous nation was reason enough to embark on Their deep technical expertise, honed genuine superstars of our country.
this course. But our sacrifices may still not suffice: Covid-19 could still through years of education and practice, Finally, we must massively strengthen
slip through a leaky public health system. After decades of under- keeps us from falling into the abyss. our scientific institutions. This includes
funding healthcare, the consequences are coming home to roost. Ultimately, it is the practice of science our top universities, engineering
– developing new ideas, testing them institutes, research labs and centres,
It is time now to let go of penny wise, pound foolish approaches. against hard evidence, replicating them and start-ups. The hard work of science
At around 1.1% of GDP, government’s spending on healthcare successfully, scaling them up, and then gets done in these places and they must
has remained stagnant for over two decades. The corresponding further improving them through honest be among the best in the world. There is
expenditure was 4% for Brazil, 2.9% feedback – that drives all of them. This is no other way.
for China, 4.4% for Iran and 8.6% for the quintessential scientific method, the To date, our scientific institutes
the US in 2017. India is like Pakistan unrelenting search for truth. are still underfunded, stifled through

What science tells us about corona-
in this respect, which devotes virus infections has reached everyone.
0.9% of GDP to healthcare. Central People are wearing masks, washing their
government accounts for a quarter hands, and avoiding crowds. Yet most
of India’s measly healthcare people I meet are stumped by questions
such as: What is a virus? How does it
spending. Not surprisingly, the
recent pan-India survey of IAS actually spread? How does your body
fight the coronavirus? Why do some
officers from 410 districts to assess people die from the virus? This indeed is
Covid-19 preparedness revealed the great paradox of our times. Even as
many requests for more critical care facilities, life support science becomes more vital, fewer and
systems, ambulances and beds in district and taluk hospitals. fewer people understand and appreciate
There are other systemic infirmities too. Medical education in it. As a child who loved science, as a
India has been skewed largely towards urban areas. New medical and young man trained in engineering,
nursing colleges must now open in underserved districts. Expenditure
and as a technocrat who believes in
analytical reasoning and hard evidence,
on preventive healthcare – involving activities like immunisation, I find this hard to accept.
nutrition monitoring, disease screening and related capacity building To change this state of affairs, we must
– is just 7% while treatment and cure accounts for 80% of spending. focus on four key areas. First, science
Ending the lockdown will require intensification of labour intensive must be given its due importance. We are
contact tracing, household visits by health workers for disease afflicted by too much quackery and
superstition. Too many people believe in
surveillance and rigorous aggregation of data they collect. mumbo-jumbo and meaningless rituals.
Without adequate manpower and resources such activities are Of course, mythology has immense power
difficult at grassroots. Other public health areas like maternal and to shape people’s beliefs, but it must be
child health, legacy infectious and lifestyle diseases, and other acknowledged that it is only science that
government services cannot be neglected just to combat Covid-19. can solve our material problems.
The confidence displayed by some states in managing the outbreak While there is certainly much wisdom
in age-old practices, it is primarily
stems from long-term investments made in public health. While because there is a genuine scientifically
health is a state subject a national thrust can produce results, as seen
in the dramatic improvement in toilet coverage after the Swachh
Bharat scheme. Central funding for a decentralised public healthcare
system can be the Modi government’s next big national mission. ‘We hope to get the vaccine into the market in 12-18
Wet Market Villains months ... rollout will depend on the regulatory nod’
The most durable protection against the
On ending wildlife trade, China owes novel coronavirus is a vaccine. WHO said
recently that over 30 vaccines to treat the
it to the world to lead by example virus were under development. Hyderabad
based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech
proven cause-and-effect relationship
that underlies these practices. For
instance, quarantining was practised in
the medieval ages as well, but we now
know that it works by preventing the
spread of infectious viruses and
bacteria. In short, we would all be much
better off if we shifted some of our time
and resources away from blind faith
and towards a better scientific under-
standing of the world.
Second, our children must learn
honestly about science. There is no
‘Western’ concept of science taught in
schools which should then be negated at
home. Science is universal – just look up
the path-breaking research conducted
by SN Bose, or CV Raman, or S Chandra-
sekhar. The pure scientific truth that
they discovered holds true everywhere,
even in the deep cosmos.
Teachers and parents must tell
children that science is the pursuit of
truth and provides a true picture of the
world. Believing in science may well
lead children to question the belief
systems of their elders. So be it. We
response against the flu. Kawaoka’s
lab will insert gene sequences from
SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that
causes Covid-19, into M2SR so that the
new vaccine will also induce immunity
Uday Deb
Our scientific institutes are
still underfunded, stifled
through bureaucratic
controls, and poorly
governed. Top scientific
institutions must be granted
the autonomy to govern
themselves, hire the best
should not demand obedience from our
children, rather we should encourage
them to probe all that we do. After all,
they are going to inherit the world and
they have a right to discover the truth.
Third, we must revere our scientists
and technologists. It is through their
efforts that we flourish today. Unfort-
unately, we seem to believe that we need
to constantly worship celebrities. So
much social media time and attention is
devoted to inane chattering about
celebrities’ clothings, wanderings and
musings. In all this noise, we lose track of
to get the vaccine into the market in the
next 12-18 months. Our immediate goal is
to begin human trials in the next three to
six months. Once we establish the safety
and efficacy of the vaccine, we will
bureaucratic controls, and poorly gover-
ned. Sufficient funding must be directed
to top institutions through an external,
objective panel of top global scientists.
Our best diaspora scientists should be
provided generous support to come back
to India and set up their research labs. Top
scientific institutions must be granted the
autonomy to govern themselves, hire the
best faculty, attract great students from
around the world, and pursue the best
research. To that end, I have introduced a
private members bill to grant IIM-level
autonomy to the IITs that have been
selected as institutions of eminence.
Our civilisation is marked by its
unending quest for knowledge, starting
with the Nasadiya Sukta in the Rig Veda
itself. The Mundaka Upanishad enligh-
tens us: Satyameva Jayate – Truth alone
triumphs. Our republic is based on this
eternal principle. We can only win the
war against coronavirus disease, against
all the challenges that menace us, when
we reject falsehood and embrace the
truth that science represents.
The writer is chairman of the standing
committee on finance in Parliament and Lok
Sabha member from Hazaribagh. Views are
personal
ment to support us with the reagent,
which is not available here and has to
be imported. The government can also
extend support to fund clinical develop-
ment.

T
he speed and scale of emission reductions during the corona- International Ltd (BBIL) is one of the against the coronavirus. reach out for regulatory approvals. The ■ If your vaccine will be ready much
virus lockdown, seen in city after city, are an indication that many companies on the job. Krishna Ella, ■ When will human trials start? vaccine rollout will depend on how soon before others, will you also export
if we get global behaviour on the right side of Mother a molecular biologist and CMD of the While the flu vaccine is in clinical we can get the regulatory nod. them to the worst affected countries?
Nature she will also go the extra mile to help us. On the other hand, company, spoke to Surendra Singh on trials, the safety and efficacy of CoroFlu ■ The US, China, Australia and BBIL will produce the vaccine
the progress made so far: must still be assessed in animal models Germany are also working on for global distribution as it has
continuing current practices unreformed will be an open invitation at UWM’s Influenza Research Institute vaccines. Will CoroFlu be more the capability to produce almost
to further pandemics – hard as it is to imagine they might even be ■ When did you start work on a new before it can be produced and clinically effective than other vaccines 300 million doses per year.
worse. For the first port of reform look no further than how Covid-19 vaccine and what is the status of the tested by BBIL. Refinement of the CoroFlu under development? ■ What are the other vaccines
originated in a wet market in Wuhan. Putting the brakes on wildlife research? vaccine concept and testing in laboratory What makes our vaccine stand apart you make?
trade and consumption is a necessity now and China owes it to a We began work on the new vaccine, animal models at UWM is expected to take from other candidates is that it’s built on a Apart from 16 routine vaccines
world gasping for air, to lead by example. CoroFlu, in February this year. CoroFlu three to six months. flu vaccine backbone that has already manufactured by BBIL, the company
builds on cutting-edge technology from an BBIL will then start been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in had developed and licensed a vaccine for
Unfortunately, just as China’s heft has blocked influenza vaccine already being develo- safety and efficacy humans in phase I and phase II clinical H1N1 [or swine flu] in 2009 within
UNSC from discussing the pandemic that has taken ped by US company FluGen, and based on testing in hu- trials. CoroFlu, like M2SR, will be delivered 14 months of its outbreak in India. This
over 76,000 lives and growing, it has also resisted research at the University of Wisconsin, mans. CoroFlu intranasally. This route of administration is primarily due to BBIL’s large viral
pressure to truly end wildlife trade and consump- Madison (UWM). Because CoroFlu is could be in mimics the natural route of infection by vaccine facility located in Genome
tion. The ban it announced in February left plenty based on a flu vaccine, our team hopes to human clinical coronavirus and influenza and activates Valley in Hyderabad. Our company has
of loopholes – including a gaping exemption for protect patients from both the flu virus and trials by the several modes of the immune system. successfully developed 10 viral vaccines
the novel coronavirus at the same time. fall of 2020. Intranasal delivery is more effective at and delivered over 5 billion doses of
medicinal use. Since then there have been reports ■ Who are you collaborating with? ■ When will inducing multiple types of immune viral vaccines, including anti-rabies
of reactivated wet markets. This is akin to rubbing BBIL is working in collaboration the vaccine be responses than the intramuscular shots vaccines. At least 80% of polio vaccine
salt in the wounds of countries where the case with an international team of virologists available for that deliver most flu vaccines. supply for the government’s national
count continues to grow exponentially. and vaccine manufacturers from UWM people? ■ Do you seek any government immunisation programme is supplied
Disrupting ecosystems, industrial farming and other human and FluGen for the development of We are help in research and commercial by BBIL and thus it serves as a major
practices also shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. In this CoroFlu. The vaccine will build on hopeful production of the vaccine? player in eradicating polio from the
the backbone of FluGen’s flu vaccine We want the govern- country. Besides being the world’s
sense there is need for course correction in several countries. But not candidate known as M2SR. Based on an ment to give us access to largest rotavirus vaccine manufacturer,
only has China repeatedly been the site of zoonotic transfer, it has also invention by UWM virologists and Flu- animal testing facilities, BBIL is also the first company to identify,
repeatedly demonstrated the state capacity to radically reshape social Gen co-founders Yoshihiro Kawaoka which is a big hindrance purify and sequence chikungunya
behaviour. And experts have been accenting for years that China can and Gabriele Neumann, M2SR is a to speedy vaccine during the 2006 epidemic in Kerala and
stop pandemics by cleaning up its wet markets for good. The craving self-limiting version of the influenza development. We also Tamil Nadu. The chikungunya vaccine
for exotic animals in China cannot be extinguished by fiat but their virus that induces an immune urge our govern- is in final clinical trials.
availability can and must. Because when it comes to infectious diseases,
one country’s problem so easily and terribly infects the entire world. dilbert Sacredspace
Time To Heal
Mask in India The world is not a problem
to be solved; it is a living being to
To protect against coronavirus, wear facial protection which we belong. The world is
– even if it makes you look like Darth Vader part of us and we are a part of its
suffering wholeness. Until we
Jug Suraiya go to the root of our image
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, PM Narendra Modi’s of separateness, there can be
Make in India initiative ought to be amplified to Mask in India. no healing.
There is an ongoing debate – which is actually a non-debate
– whether wearing face masks is one of the measures which Thich Nhat Hanh
can help to prevent the spread of the pathogen.
According to some authorities – initially including WHO,
which has now done a U-turn – masks should be worn only by doctors and health
workers who come into constant contact with infected patients, and are at the grea-
test risk. Going by this view, the public at large needn’t wear such protective gear.
However, some claim that WHO’s original stand had been prompted by
Ramayana Has Both Literary And Spiritual Value
apprehensions that a pro-mask advisory would lead to a mass buying of these Swami Tapasyananda from the purely literary or narrative renunciation and spiritual gested that it is sundara, because it
items, leading to a possible shortage of them where they are most needed, in point of view. Sages like Valmiki and enlightenment. Those who desire relieved Sita of her sorrow. Sundara can

V
hospitals and among medical personnel. almiki’s Ramayana has a direct Vyasa, who have gained penetrating devotion to Krishna, should always hear mean a messenger, and the kanda
Those who argue in favour of masks point out that the coronavirus is and indirect meaning. Some see vision through their spiritual develop- such accounts dealing with the deeds includes the message sent by Rama to
spread through droplets released by an infected person sneezing, coughing or in it only a great literary work ment, could see in them a wealth of and attributes of the Lord.” Sita. Sundara is also a name for an
simply exhaling. The virus, which apparently is a very large one, can remain dealing with the heroic exploits of meaning. In the course of their attempt So don’t look for historical intermediary who establishes a mutual
suspended on dust particles in the air for several Rama. But following the tradition, that to interpret them and share the same to authenticity or factual accuracy, for contact between a hero and a heroine, as
minutes. Which means that you could get infected scriptural texts convey something more a greater number of people, they may epics like the Ramayana and the Mahab- Hanuman did in the case of Rama and
secondopinion by breathing in the pathogen long after the than just story, and that this forms their use the poetical method and the harata are narratives and stories of Sita. Sundara is said to be one of the
infected person who left it behind is no longer essence, scholars of the epic have found Pauranika way of depiction. men and women with spiritual names for a monkey and this chapter is
present. A mask can help to protect you from such time-delayed infections. deep spiritual meanings in it, and they The intention of such insight, who could see far so called because it deals with the achie-
So the question: To mask, or not to mask? is really a non-question. By not have interpreted it as an account of writings of sages is not to deeper into the nature and vements of the monkey-god Hanuman.
wearing a mask you run the risk not only of catching but also of spreading the man’s ethical and spiritual progress. teach history or geography purpose of life than others The recovery of something lost is
disease, which you certainly don’t want to do. Incarnations are both human and but to impress on people could with their limited sometimes described as sundara, and in
By wearing a mask the only risk you run is that of looking like Darth Vader divine, so they are open to either the mystery of divine understanding. this section the topic dealt with is the
in Star Wars, or one of those guys in Western movies who hold up banks and interpretation. Where a cursory existence and the spiritual The Sundara Kanda – as discovery of the abducted Sita. The
stagecoaches. What’s better? Looking corny, or getting Covid-19? understanding reveals only an inter- destiny of man. For also the whole of the Ramay- study of the Sundara Kanda is
The PM should turn mask-making into a nationwide cottage industry, esting narrative, a sage with insight can example, the Bhagavada ana – has many spiritual as considered as being equivalent to the
which would also act as a booster shot to the grievous economic health of the find deep spiritual meanings. Indeed, Purana, after giving a long account of also literary and narrative aspects. In study of the whole of the Ramayana as
country, which has been further undermined by the pandemic. A special task both views could coexist. great devotee kings, finally says, “I have the great epic poem of Ramayana, this far as gaining of spiritual merit is
force should be set up to implement the policy as speedily and effectively as The stories and achievements of narrated the life stories of all these chapter marks the acme of Valmiki’s concerned. Just as the Upanishads are
possible. Or, better still, a mask force. divine incarnations may look like great men who have departed, leaving literary and poetic excellence, and so it said to contain the supreme purport of
secondopinion@timesgroup.com literary fiction or mere poetical behind their memories. The object of all is sundara, that is, beautiful. There are the Vedas, the Sundara Kanda is supposed
blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi narratives to a man who studies them this literary effort is only to navigate other interpretations as well. It is sug- to be the heart of the Ramayana.
 Foreign Investors Shun
Banks, NBFCs, Energy, IT
Foreign investors have sold equities worth over
$7.5bn in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first half of the month, sectors like banks,
non-banking financial cos, energy, industrials
and IT saw heavy selling. While, media,
consumer discretionary and chemical
materials saw minor buying
Source: ICICI Securities
Auto parts cos face late payments Kirana stores come to
Outstandings To 200 Suppliers May Total `500-1,000Cr, Cos Cite Lack Of Biz
Pankaj.Doval@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Payments to over
200 component suppliers in
the auto industry will be parti-
al and delayed as car makers
Renault and Nissan, top two-
wheeler seller Hero Moto-
Corp, and the homegrown Ei-
cher group have decided to go
for ‘force majeure’ due to rest-
rictions resulting from the 21-
day corona-induced lockdown
that has shut factories and re-
tail sales outlets. Force majeu-
re is a term used to describe
unforeseeable circumstances
that prevent someone from ful-
filling a contract.
The decision, sources say,
may well mean delays in ove-
rall payments running betwe-
en Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 cro-
re. In letters to vendors, the
companies have cited lack of
business, while assuring that
they have all the intentions of
paying back as soon as the situ-
ation normalises.
In a letter , the country’s top
two-wheeler maker said, “Hero
MotoCorp (HMCL) in the cur-
rent situation has no visibility
of receivables, have stock of
BS4 & BS6 vehicles in the field,
SBI reduces
savings rates
to 2.75% on
all deposits
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: The country’s lar-
gest lender State Bank of India
on Tuesday cut its interest rate
on savings by 25 basis points
(100bps = 1 percentage point) to
2.75% on all deposits. This is
the second such reduction in
recent weeks. Earlier on
March 11, the bank reduced in-
terest rate on its savings acco-
unt to 3% across the board.
The bank has attributed the
reduction in rates to surplus li-
quidity in the system. SBI has
been a beneficiary of the flight
of deposits to safety in recent
weeks following the Yes Bank
crisis. Also, the RBI has made
available liquidity equivalent to
3.5% of the gross domestic pro-
duct (GDP) to banks in order to
bring stability to financial mar-
kets in the wake of the coronavi-
rus crisis. Until earlier this
month, SBI was offering 3.25%
on deposits up to Rs 1 lakh and
3% on higher balances.
SBI had cut rates in March
after waiving all charges for
not maintaining minimum ba-
lance. The bank has 44.5 crore
savings accounts. “In view of
adequate liquidity in the sy-
stem, SBI has realigned its in-
terest rates on savings bank de-
posits, with effect from April
15, 2020,” the lender said.
In a parallel move, the bank
also reduced its marginal cost
of funds-based lending rate
(MCLR) by 35bps across all te-
nors. The MCLR is the bench-
mark rate for large businesses.
Home loans that were availed
before October 2020 have also
been linked to MCLR. Most re-
tail loans are now linked to an
external benchmark. In this
case, most banks opted for the
RBI’s repo rate as the anchor.
Following Tuesday’s rate
cut, the one-year MCLR comes
down to 7.4% per annum from
7.75% with effect from April 10,
2020, SBI said in the statement.
IT SEZs seek
extension of
tax holiday
Shilpa.Phadnis@timesgroup.com
Bengaluru: With the IT/ITeS
sector reeling under the impact
of the coronavirus outbreak, IT
industry body Nasscom has
asked the government to extend
the tax holiday to IT SEZs for the
2020-21fiscal. The direct tax ben-
efits under the sunset clause ex-
pired on March 31.
“The Covid-19 crisis has had
global ramifications and even
planned investments from enti-
ties based in India, the EU, the
US, etc, will take some time to be
operationalised. Hence, it is im-
portant to extend the scheme,”
Nasscom said in response to a
TOI query.The scheme for IT
SEZs allows for100% income-tax
exemption on export income for
the first five years, 50% for the
next five years, and 50% of the
ploughed back export profit for
the following five years.
7,500
TIMES BUSINESS
Top sold
sectors by FIIs
(Mar 1-15) Banks
rescue of consumers
WHAT COMPANIES HAVE TO SAY
Lack of sales due to the lockdown is restricting ability to
generate receivables, companies invoking force majeure argue
We request ... constrained
your to inform you
understanding & that the payment
solicit your cycles are disturbed,
support in this and you may kindly
unprecedented expect delays in
situation payments
— HERO MOTOCORP — VE COMM VEHICLES
and dealership pan-India are
now shut for 21days. In this situ-
ation, we are left with no other
option but to invoke force maje-
ure and regret to inform that
HMCL will not be in a position
to meet all its obligations.”
It added, “Hero MotoCorp
made payment on March 22 as
per the regular cycle but will
not be able to keep up the unble-
mished track record of timely
payment effective today.”
A senior company official
said while announcing emer-
gency measures, the company
has decided to fully protect the
smaller suppliers. “We have
Price hike by Chinese
suppliers hits desi cos
Sidhartha & Surojit Gupta TNN
New Delhi: Chinese suppli-
ers have raised prices of com-
ponents by 2% and TV panels
by 15%, piling more misery on
the domestic consumer du-
rables sector, India Inc has sa-
id in a presentation to the go-
vernment and has sought a Rs
9-10 lakh crore stimulus to
combat the impact of the Co-
vid-19 pandemic and emerge
from the 21-day lockdown that
has sent the economy in a de-
ep freeze.
The suggestions come
against the backdrop of in-
dustry’s preparations for re-
suming operations after the
lockdown and ensuring that
economic activity gathers pa-
ce without any further road-
blocks with handholding by
the government to repair bru-
ising impact of the shutdown.
India imports 45% of
completely built units of con-
sumer durables from China
and it also imports nearly 70%
Aurobindo slapped with US lawsuit for
concealing drug contained carcinogen
TNN & Agencies
Hyderabad: In a major set-
back for Hyderabad-based Au-
robindo Pharma, the company
and its subsidiaries have been
slapped with a class action suit
in a US court for allegedly con-
cealing information about the
presence of carcinogenic sub-
stance NDMA (N-nitrosodi-
methylamine) in generic dia-
betes drug metformin.
The petition was filed by
MSP Recovery Claims LLC
(MSPRC) on April 3, 2020, in the
US District Court for the Sout-
hern District of Florida on be-
half of similarly-situated he-
althcare insurers (healthcare
benefit providers) to recover
payments unlawfully induced
by Aurobindo Pharma and its
subsidiaries Aurobindo Phar-
ma USA and Aurolife Pharma
LLC along with Heritage Phar-
maceuticals LLC and Pune-ba-
sed Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
The petition was filed on
the basis of the independent
Mkts jittery over rising state bond yields Asian markets’ opening
Partha.Sinha@timesgroup.com
Mumbai: The bond market is
factoring in higher costs on
states due to the pandemic,
which could stretch their fi-
nances in the next few years.
In Tuesday’s state loan
auction, state government
bonds with a 10-year tenure
were sold at yields as high as
8%, up from about 7.15-7.20%
at the start of the year. This
spike in yields came despite a
75-basis-points (100bps = 1
percentage point) cut in rates
by the RBI late last month.
Interestingly, on Tuesday,
19 state governments toget-
her raised Rs 32,500 crore in
4,400
Energy
Renault Nissan
Automotive is
no longer in a position
to fulfil its obligations
under the contracts
due to these force
majeure events
— RENAULT NISSAN
made full payments to all our
small vendors and MSMEs as
per the due date on a top priori-
ty basis. We are releasing the pa-
yments to other supply chain
partners in a phase-wise man-
ner, we have already made 50%
payments to them.”
Renault Nissan Automoti-
ve India (RNAIPL)also said
the situation affects the equ-
ipment purchasing contracts
and orders already issued.
“As you would have expected,
RNAIPL is no longer in a posi-
tion to fulfil its obligations
under the contracts due to
these force majeure events…
of the components for televi-
sion, and other consumer du-
rable products. The price in-
crease by suppliers at a time
when demand is drastically
down has hit the sector hard,
said the presentation by Ficci
to the government.
MORE MISERY
Similarly, active pharma-
ceutical ingredients’ imports
from China have seen a 40-
50% increase in prices in spe-
cific cases. But the bigger pro-
blem that confronts the phar-
ma sector is the availability of
labour.
The 21-day lockdown and
stalling of economic activity is
piling on losses across sectors.
The Indian Association of To-
ur Operators estimated a com-
bined loss of $1.1billion in hotel,
aviation & tourism, according
to the presentation. The media
and entertainment has also be-
en hit hard. Advertising expen-
diture on television is expected
to decline 50-55% in April-June,
drug tests conducted by Valisu-
re, an online pharmacy. On
March 2, 2020, Valisure alerted
the US drug regulator, US Food
& Drug Administration (USF-
DA), that it had detected the
presence of NDMA in the met-
formin made by Aurobindo
Pharma and Heritage during
its independent testing of the
drug. Valisure, which used tes-
ting methods similar to those
followed by the USFDA, infor-
med USFDA through a citizen
petition that the metformin
manufactured by Aurobindo
Pharma and Heritage was con-
taminated with NDMA with le-
vels between 37 and 266 ng per
tablet.
While posting the results
on its website Valisure, howe-
Wall Street rally boosts
ver, indicated that Aurobindo
passed the FDA test for the
one weekly auction, compa-
red to about Rs 27,000 crore
that all the states had borro-
wed from the market in one
whole year in FY2007, just be-
fore the global financial cri-
sis set in. According to the in-
dicative calendar, states are
expected to borrow Rs 1.3
lakh crore etween April and
June this year.
Due to the current lock-
down, most of the major reve-
nue streams of the states are
getting seriously impacted,
bond dealers pointed out.
These revenue channels in-
clude taxes and duties on li-
quor, entertainment, regi-
stration of vehicles and pro-
3,900
THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
2,600 2,100
Financial IT Industrials
services
Component
makers are in
a dire situation. The
argument of force
majeure does not
hold any water
— DEEPAK JAIN,
ACMA PRESIDENT
RNAIPL shall not be respon-
sible for its failure to perform
any obligation required under
the Master Purchase Agree-
ment as a result of the pande-
mic, preventive steps, on our
compliance with the relevant
government orders, instruc-
tions and directives.”
VE Commercial Vehicles, a
JV between Eicher and Volvo,
told its suppliers that the “un-
precedented force majeure situ-
ation has created a profound
impact on the receivables”, re-
sulting in adverse cash flow si-
tuation. “I am therefore const-
rained to inform you that the pa-
FY21 — if the lockdown conti-
nues, the presentation showed.
It said that IPL cancellation has
resulted in a revenue loss of
$332.4-398.3 million.
The real estate sector,
which has been in the throes of
a slowdown, is expected to furt-
her take a massive hit and labo-
ur shortage is seen to emerge as
a major challenge after Co-
vid-19. Up to 10-20% downsizing
is expected in housekeeping,
merchandising and mainte-
nance of facilities, while resi-
dential real estate sale to regis-
ter an annual decline of 25-35%,
according to the presentation.
The lobby group called for a
major dose of fiscal stimulus
across sectors and emerge
stronger after the Covid-19 im-
pact, which experts say is ex-
pected to last for months. “This
money to be injected for relief
across all levels of the economy
including people at the bottom
of the pyramid, MSMEs and
large corporates,” the industry
group said.
NDMA presence. Officials of
Aurobindo Pharma could not
be reached for a comment.
“Metformin is the most
prescribed oral pharmaceuti-
cal drug for patients with type 2
diabetes, especially overwe-
ight patients...since its intro-
duction in the United States in
1995...The defendants kno-
wingly and with an intent to de-
fraud, concealed…the materi-
al facts concerning their perva-
sive cGMP violations, and ma-
de express and implied
representations…that their
metformin drugs conformed
to applicable standards of qua-
lity, purity, identity and
strength, were not adulterated,
and were merchantable, fit for
human consumption and fit
for their intended purpose
when, in truth...the metformin
drugs were contaminated with
a probable human carcino-
gen,” the suit said.
The MSPRC petition said
the defendants manufactured
and distributed generic met-
perties. The states’ fiscal situ-
ation could aggravate if the
GST dues from the Centre, ag-
gregating about Rs 50,000 cro-
re now, is not paid to them qu-
ickly, they said.
A note on government fi-
nances by SBI said that states
require more support from
the Centre as their finances
are significantly stressed, gi-
ven that they are the last mile
of Covid-19 deliveries. Addi-
tionally, the possibility of a
large slippage in central go-
vernment finances is now a re-
ality.
As a result of the rising yi-
eld on state government
bonds, the spread between
Sell-off (in ` cr)
1,500 1,100
Consumer Auto
staples
yment cycles are disturbed, and
you may kindly expect delays in
payments,” Pradeep Mishra,
senior VP (purchasing and
supply Chain), said.
Vinod Aggarwal, MD &
CEO of VECV, however, said
not too much should be read in
the statement and rather “the
company will go out of its way
to bail out suppliers” who are
in dire straits. “We are even re-
ady to pay advance to the ven-
dors if they have a problem.
We will do whatever is requi-
red to make sure that suppli-
ers meet their obligations, be
it paying their salaries, or ta-
king care of their fixed costs.
We have to take care of them.”
Deepak Jain, president of
the Automotive Component
Manufacturers Association,
said the grouping has taken up
the matter with the compani-
es. “We first wrote to auto in-
dustry body, Siam. They assu-
red us that they will write to all
the manufacturers on an indi-
vidual basis. We need to bear
in mind that there are severe
working-capital issues for
suppliers, and requisite cash-
flow is not there. We are in ne-
ed of support at this time.”
‘Resume eco
activities in
400 districts’
Prabhakar.Sinha
@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: PHD Chamber of
Commerce and Industry
(PHDCCI) has suggested the
government to allow resu-
ming of economic activities
in 400 unaffected districts out
of 700 districts in the country
after the 21-day lockdown pe-
riod ends on April 14.
PHDCCI president D K
Aggarwal said export units
should be allowed to move go-
ods that are ready for ship-
ment from factories to inland
container depots (ICDs) and
ports, or the orders will get
cancelled, leading to huge
losses.
Sanjay Chadha, additio-
nal secretary, ministry of
commerce and industry, took
note of all the issues and
challenges faced by the trade
and industry bodies and as-
sured full-fledged support by
the government for resuming
economic activities and revi-
talise trade and industry.
formin drugs, including those
contaminated with NDMA,
throughout the US, for which
the plaintiff’s assignors paid
approximately USD 124 million
since 2012 and similarly situa-
ted class members paid mil-
lions more.
The lawsuit also cited
“chronic cGMP failures” at Au-
robindo Pharma’s facilities
that were uncovered by the US
drug regulators in their inspec-
tions from June-July 2016.
“...Instead of protecting
against the potential forma-
tion of mutagenic impurities
in its metformin manufactu-
ring processes, Aurobindo’s re-
peated violations of cGMPs
and utter lack of disregard for
quality control and assurance
measures encouraged the pro-
liferation of NDMA…As a re-
sult, Aurobindo willfully and
recklessly introduced conta-
minated, adulterated and/or
misbranded metformin conta-
ining products into the US mar-
ket,” the suit said.
these papers and the gilts of
a comparable tenure is also
widening. From a normal
spread of 65-80bps, the
spread on Tuesday was
about 160bps.
A debt fund manager
said that the higher spread
is likely to continue as the
market is skeptical about
the quantum of state
bonds’ issuances this year
owing to lockdown-related
revenue disruptions. Ac-
cording to estimates, Tues-
day’s state bond auction
worth Rs 32,560 crore was
probably the highest ever
in terms of any single auc-
tion for these bonds.
Purchase (in ` cr)
+100 +100 +300
Materials Media Consumer
discretionary
E-Tailers Struggle To Keep Pace With Demand
John Sarkar, Namrata Singh & grocery items. Ramesh Lahoti, a wholesaler
Udit Prasanna Mukherji TNN “We do not have passes and and distributor in Bengaluru.
we are facing a lot of issues, but It’s not that the kirana sto-
New Delhi/ Mumbai/ Kol- we want to make sure no consu- res are not facing the same
kata: Consumers are at their mer returns empty handed. We hurdles. Kesoram Chaudhary,
wits’ end. They wholehearted- have taken it upon ourselves as who runs a kirana store in
ly endorsed e-commerce as a asocial service. I have personal- Bhandup, an eastern Mumbai
new medium of ordering ly come here to a wholesale suburb which is also the land-
anything and everything in- market to pick up stocks. But, mark for Dream mall and Nep-
cluding grocery in the pre-Co- we get stopped at every other tune mall, says he is caught in a
vid days, and now when they- place. During these tough ti- red-tape of sorts between go-
’ve got used to a new digital li- mes, we are doing it as a service vernment departments for a
festyle, the new medium is to the nation,” said Gupta. pass that can help him go long
struggling to keep pace with Lalji Singh, the owner of distances for stock.
deliveries. Bhavani Kirana store in the Hari Menon of BigBasket
On the other hand, the fri- western suburbs of Mumbai, is said the online grocery giant is
endly neighbourhood kirana- happy that fresh stock has arri- delivering around one lakh or-
walla has come to the rescue of ved at his store from the Vashi ders a day compared to 1.4 lakh
many. Not only are the local ki- wholesale market. He said kira- during pre-Covid-19 days with
rana store owners going the na stores buy stock on 12-day 50% manpower. “How much
extra mile to ensure consu-
mers get their daily essenti- HOLDING THEIR GROUND
als, they are also turning out
to be more innovative than Traditional kirana Given that kirana stores are
their digital counterparts. Ta- stores are delivering, family-run, there’s a lot of
ke the case of Naren Das, a despite the fact ownership among
small kirana shop owner in that they run relatives who work
Kolkata’s Shyambazar area, on credit, while together. The
who has adopted a primitive e-commerce bonhomie extends to
yet useful way of maintaining biggies have the consumer, a key
supply chain during the lock- deeper pockets stakeholder, as well
down.
Das and family members Online players need manpower for packaging and
run the shop, so there is no de- delivery. Their warehouses are scattered. There is
arth of manpower. For logis- problem in movement everywhere. But we are locals and know
tics, he is relying on cycle and every alley and backroads therefore we can manage to deliver
hand-pulled rickshaws. “I am
not facing any problem. I do
goods to consumers. They got trapped in their own processes,”
says Ramesh Lahoti, a wholesaler and distributor in
not have e-pass but I keep my
trade licence while going to
distributors or wholesalers
Bengaluru…on why e-commerce companies failing the
consumer in a lockdown
and show it to the police, as
well,” said Das.
Ankit Goel, a wholesaler of
credit and if they fail to pay on
time, wholesalers charge 2%
interest. Singh is putting rest-
better can we plan? How does
one get people to come and
work in such situations, despi-
grocery items in Beliaghata rictions on how much a consu- te us taking all precautions for
corroborated Das. “Yes, they mer buys from his store. He sa- employee safety? We currently
are coming by cycle, hand-pul- id he will not allow any one con- need over 10,000 people,” he told
led rickshaws and cycle vans sumer family to hoard so that TOI.
to my godown,” he said. “every family gets to partake in Albinder Dhindsa, co-foun-
In Delhi’s Kalkaji area, ki- the stock and sustain”. der of Grofers, said 95% of reta-
rana shop owner Suresh Ku- So why have e-commerce il in India is traditional brick-
mar is following the same prin- firms, following the best prac- and-mortar small stores and
ciple. He rides his scooter to tices on CRM (customer rela- that pressure won’t get trans-
wholesalers to replenish stock. tionship management), failed ferred overnight to the organi-
“People have bought enough the consumer in a lockdown? sed sector. “We are serving over
supplies to last them through “Online players need man- 60,000 households everyday but
the lockdown. Let’s see what power for packaging and deli- getting over 10 lakh requests a
happens when it lifts.” Marat- very. Their warehouses are day,” he said. An Amazon spo-
ha Stores, which caters to a scattered. There is a problem in kesperson said, “Amazon Pant-
large section of consumers in movement everywhere. But we ry has begun accepting new or-
South Mumbai’s Colaba area, are locals and know every alley ders in Bengaluru, Hyderabad,
is well stocked, but its mana- and backroads, therefore we Pune, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR,
ger Santosh Gupta told TOI can manage to deliver goods to Kolkata, Chennai, Vijayawada
they face a lot of hurdles in en- consumers. They got trapped and Visakhapatnam to name a
suring they do not run out of in their own processes,” said few.”
EXECUTIVE DIGEST Longer curbs
WeWork sues SoftBank over $3bn deal won’t impact
T he special committee on the board of The We Company,
which operates WeWork, has filed a lawsuit against its
largest shareholder SoftBank Group, challenging its payment ops
decision to terminate a $3-billion tender offer. Earlier in
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
April 2019, SoftBank said it had terminated the tender
offer for additional WeWork shares agreed last year with
shareholders, plunging the office sharing company furt- Mumbai: The country’s pay-
her into crisis. REUTERS ment systems would not be im-
pacted even if the
lockdown were to
Eco to shrink 4.5% in Q1FY21: ICRA be extended as
Mumbai: ICRA said early indicators point to economic growth NPCI has built in
slowing to 2.4% in Q4FY20 and to a 4.5% contraction in Q1FY21. redundancy even if
“The concerns on account of Covid-19 have morphed from the the situation wor-
impact of imports from China on domestic supply chains, into a sens.
domestic and external demand shock, with social distancing NPCI MD & CEO Dilip Asbe
and lockdowns leading to production shutdowns and job losses told TOI, “We have made a plan
in some sectors,” said ICRA principal economist Aditi Nayar. TNN factoring in a possibility that a
lockdown may be reintroduced.
The objective is to keep employe-
MEP gets HC relief on pledged shares es safe. If they are safe, the opera-
Mumbai: The Bombay high court came to the rescue of MEP tions can be managed. There are
Infrastructure Developers director Anuya Jayant Mhaiskar and things we cannot disclose, but
toll collection company Ideal Toll & Infrastructure. In an interim there is enough redundancy in
relief, the HC restrained ICICI Home Finance from selling case something goes wrong”.
shares of MEP pledged by them against two pending loans. NPCI is the reason why amid
The relief came after Ideal Toll and Mhaiskar offered to pay the a lockdown the government is
roughly Rs 5-crore dues to ICICI Home Finance in May. TNN able to transfer relief money to
crores of bank accounts. The pa-
yments corporation also provi-
New rules for changing DoB in EPFO des the backbone for UPI pay-
I n a move aimed at extending the reach of online services,
EPFO has issued revised instructions to facilitate PF mem-
ments, interoperable ATM net-
bers to rectify their date of birth, thus ensuring that their UAN
is KYC-compliant. The date of birth recorded in ‘Aadhaar’ will
works, online bill payments and
RuPay cards. According to Asbe,
NPCI has stationed 5% staff in
now be accepted as valid proof of date of birth. AGENCIES office.
 From P 1 ly in Dow Jones and S&P500
indices continued with Eu-
T
his led to a strong ope- ropean markets too joining
ning for Asian markets in. According to a note by
on Tuesday with Dalal Angel Broking, the Nifty,
Street getting an additional which closed at 8,792 points,
boost from indications from is now most likely to head to-
the government that it may pot countries like Italy and wards the 9,000-9,050 level
partially relax lockdown ru- Spain. and then if the strong buy-
les for districts where the vi- “Along with this, the we- ing continues, could break
rus has not spread. ightage of India in the MSCI above that mark. “Looking
According to Gaurav Emerging Market index is at today’s sharp broad-based
Dua, senior VP, head — capi- expected to increase by 55 ba- move, we will not be surpri-
tal market strategy & invest- sis points (100 basis points=1 sed to see the Nifty marching
ments, Sharekhan, the daily percentage point), which towards 9,200–9,400 levels.
addition has dropped to be- means possible inflows of $7 On the flipside, 8,550-8,360 le-
low 10% levels in the last cou- billion into some large-cap vel now becomes a sacro-
ple of days and is showing companies,” Dua said. On sanct support for a while,”
flattening of curve in hots- Tuesday evening too, the ral- the note said.
 TIMES SPORT THE TIMES OF INDIA, HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

SWIMMING LEGEND PHELPS URGES ATHLETES HOME ALONE IN LOCKDOWN, SQUASH STAR
TO SEEK HELP FOR STRESS FROM GAMES DELAY JOSHNA ON ROAD TO SELF DISCOVERY

GALLERY

Sachin, Viru in Warne’s

greatest world ODI XI
‘OZ STARS SCARED TO SLEDGE
Former Australian spinner Shane Warne on
Tuesday included Sachin Tendulkar and
Virender Sehwag in his greatest world ODI
XI. He picked the XI during an Instagram
session and only chose the players with or
against whom he played during his career.
Warne’s greatest ODI XI: Virender
KOHLI BECAUSE OF IPL DEALS’ TOI

Clarke Shocker: Aussie Cricketers Went

Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Ten-
dulkar, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar
Sangakkara (wk), Andrew Flintoff, Wasim
Akram, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Akhtar,
Curtly Ambrose.
Cricketers hurt national interest due
to easy T20 money, says Waqar:
Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis
feels the “easy money” on offer at mush-
rooming T20 leagues is, at times, making
cricketers inconsiderate towards national
interest. “These leagues offer easy money
for players who can remain in comfort as
they have to bowl just four overs,” Waqar
said. “But at times, while thinking about
their comfort zone players don’t think how
much damage they can do to national
interest. They don’t think about the broa-
der picture,” he added.
SA’s Paterson negotiating English
county deal: Dane Paterson, a fast bowler
who played in South Africa’s most recent
two Test matches, is negotiating a Kolpak
deal to play county cricket in England,
according to Ashwell Prince, his franchise
coach. Former Test batsman Prince said
Paterson, 31, was in the final stages of
concluding a deal with the unnamed
county.
Gavaskar contributes Rs 59 lakh: The
legendary Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday
donated Rs 59 lakh, while Test regular
Cheteshwar Pujara also made an unspeci-
fied contribution to the-CARES fund,
joining the fight against the Covid-19
pandemic. Pujara joined skipper Virat
Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, and
Kedar Jadhav, who are among the current
set of cricketers to make significant
contributions. Among former players,
Sachin Tendulkar is among the most
notable contributors. Gavaskar did not
reveal the contribution himself but a
source close to him confirmed after for-
mer Mumbai skipper Amol Mujumdar
tweeted the same.
Harbhajan fine with IPL in empty
stadiums: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan
Singh says he won’t mind an IPL played in
empty stadiums but the event should go
ahead when the Covid-19 pandemic is
brought under control as several liveliho-
ods are dependent on the it. “Spectators
are important, but if the situation arises, I
don’t mind playing without them,” Harb-
Soft, Protecting Contract Was Paramount
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: In a sensational revelation,
former Australia captain Michael Clarke
has said his country’s top cricketers were
at one point loath to sledge Indian captain
Virat Kohli and other top Team India play-
ers for fear for losing their lucrative In-
dian Premier League (IPL) contracts.
“Everybody knows how powerful India
are in regards to the financial part of the
game, internationally or domestically with
the IPL,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast.
“Australian cricket, and probably every
other team over a little period, went the
opposite and actually sucked up to India.
They were too scared to sledge Kohli or the
other Indian players because they had to
play with them in April,” Clarke said.
Clarke said the situation arose be-
cause a number of Indian superstars like
Kohli and Rohit Sharma were also cap-
tains of IPL franchises and therefore
WHO’S CALLING THE SHOTS? Michael part of the bidding process.
Clarke (left) feels the involvement “Name a list of 10 (Indian) players and
of Virat Kohli and other Indian stars they are bidding for these Australian players
in the IPL bidding process made to get into their IPL teams,” Clarke said. “The
Australian players ‘suck up’ to them players were like: ‘I’m not going to sledge
Kohli, I want him to pick me for Bangalore
so I can make my US $1 million for six weeks.”
Clarke’s disclosure has stirred debate
and raised issues of propriety and conflict
Getty Images
Pandemic is like a war,
cricket can wait: Pujara
Vivek.Krishnan@timesgroup.com
Chennai: Cheteshwar Pujara is putting his
biggest virtues as a batsman, patience and
discipline, to good use in the fight against
the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when
self-isolation and social distancing are es-
sential, Pujara is leading by example.
“During the lockdown, the most impor-
SANJU SAMSON PUJARA tant thing is to make sure that you are at
home. Everyone should understand the dan-
ger and stay indoors, though it can be frus-
trating. But this is like a battle that we are
of interest in Australian cricket, which in
some ways is still trying to recover from
the ‘SandpaperGate’ ball-tampering scan-
dal which led to bans on then-captain
Steve Smith and opener David Warner.
Clarke also went a step further, blaming
the IPL situation for a general weakening
of Australia’s usual hard-as-nails approach
on the field. “That’s where Australia went
through a phase where our cricket became
a little softer and not as hard as we’re ac-
customed to seeing,” he said.
This was around the time Australian
cricket was going through a huge crisis of
confidence regarding their manner of play.
Post-SanderpaperGate, the administrators
even moved to ensure the cricketers played
more fair and within the rules and dis-
played more sportsman spirit.
India and Australia have been bitter
on-field rivals over the last few decades,
with the 2008 ‘Monkeygate’ episode in-
volving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew
Symonds even threatening to balloon
into a diplomatic pow-wow.
As recently in 2017, India’s home series
against Australia saw fiery exchanges be-
tween the two sides. India captain Kohli
began the series saying Australian cricket-
ers were “really good friends” and ended
by expressing his regret. “You won’t hear
me say that again,” was his comment.
that. We don’t know when the game will
restart. So we are in a tough situation.
“But if we look at the problems other
people are facing, then we can’t really think
about the game. The virus is so dangerous
that we have to fight this together. It is like
a war. We have to make sure everything
becomes normal first. And then we can
think about the game,” Pujara said.
The 32-year-old admits he is not much
of a cricket watcher, which means he is
spending all his time with his wife and
daughter. When things do return to nor-

‘Felt good team trusted

hajan told Star Sports’ Cricket Connected.
“We will have to be cautious about everyt-
hing and should prioritise players’ safety
by ensuring that the match venues, team
hotels, flights are properly sanitized. A lot
of lives are on line so we should organise
IPL when everything is fine,” he added.
‘Hope there is way to schedule IPL
later in the year’: IPL is “massive” in
terms of stature and it is a “big shame”
that it cannot be held at the moment, said
star England batsman Jos Buttler, who is
expecting the cash-rich event to be slotted
later in the year. “I don’t know any more
than you know about when IPL would be
played or people talking about whether it
can be pushed back. At the moment,
everything is quite indefinite as no one
knows how long it will last. So it can’t be
decided at the moment when it could or
could not happen,” Buttler was quoted as
saying by ESPNcricinfo. “As for the stature
of the tournament, it’s a massive, massive
tournament.”
TT Worlds provisionally scheduled
for Sept-Oct: The Table Tennis World
Championships, which was postponed due
to concerns over the coronavirus pande-
mic, has been provisionally scheduled to
be held in South Korea between Sept. 27
and Oct. 4, the sport’s governing body said
on Tuesday. The International Table Tennis
Federation (ITTF) had decided earlier this
year that the event, which was originally
scheduled to be held in March in Busan,
would be shifted to June due to the out-
break of Covid-19.
‘Testing gap a gift to cheats’: Reduced
drug testing during the Covid-19 pandemic
is like a “gift” for those unscrupulous
athletes who will go to any lengths to win
and make money, British race walker Tom
Bosworth has told The Times newspaper.
“It is such a blatantly obvious advantage
— to those who see sport just as a way of
winning at all costs and making money,
this is a gift,” Bosworth said.
Real Kashmir signs Siddiqui: I-League
team Real Kashmir FC has signed former
Arsenal youth and Northampton Town
player Kashif Siddiqi on loan from Oxford
me in the Super Over’
Narayanan.S@timesgroup.com
Kochi: Sanju Samson, India’s 25-year-
old wicketkeeper-batsman, talked
about his recent stint with the team
from his home in Thiruvanan-
thapuram. Excerpts...
You have spent a lot of team with Team
India sitting on the bench…
I looked at the brighter side of things.
I got to share the dressing room with
legends like Virat bhai and Rohit bhai
and there is a lot to learn from them even
if we just observe the way they handle
themselves on and off the ground. And
Liverpool make U-turn
over furlough scheme
London: Liverpool were forced to apolo-
gise as the Premier League club ditched
their controversial plan to furlough
non-playing staff during the coronavi-
rus on Monday. Liverpool faced stinging
criticism from fans and former players
after revealing over the weekend that
they wanted to use the UK government's
furlough scheme. Fenway Sports Group,
Liverpool’s US-based owners, wanted to
put around 200 staff on enforced leave
during the pandemic while the govern-
ment paid 80 percent of their wages.
Table-toppers Liverpool — with pre-tax
profits of £42 million for the 2018-19 sea-
son — came in for the most criticism, in
part due to their reputation as a club
with a strong bond to Merseyside's wor-
king-class community.
Premier League stars will 'play
part', says union chief: The head of
the union representing Premier Lea-
gue players says they have “agreed to
play their part” during the coronavi-
then to be a part of the world’s best crick-
et team is not a small thing.
How was the New Zealand tour?
One of the best times of my life. It
is true I could not perform with the bat
the way I would have wanted. But I
believe the change of style that I have
adopted in my batting recently will
sometimes lead to failures.
I have started to accept that fact and
I wait and prepare for my next big suc-
cessful innings. In fact, I was sent in
to bat in the Super Over against New
Zealand in a tight match (fourth T20I
in Wellington), that too with Virat
certainly win it -- theoretically, they
still haven’t earned the title but they
almost certainly will,” Ceferin told
Slovenian sports daily Ekipa.
Mueller extends Bayern deal until
2023: Thomas Mueller looks set to
spend his entire career
at Bayern Munich,
who he describes as his
‘passion’, after signing
a contract extension
until 2023, the reigning
Bundesliga cham-
pions announced on Tuesday. The 30-
year-old joined the club as a schoolboy
in 2000, making his debut for the Bava-
rians eight years later and has since
racked up more than 500 appearances.
The 2014 World Cup winner said: “This
club is not just an employer for me - it
is a passion.”
Kohli. So, you can figure out the trust
the Indian team had in me. That mo-
ment (Super Over) was a huge achieve-
ment in my career.
How disappointing is the postponement of
the Indian Premier League?
The priority is health and safety of
the citizens. First this situation has to
calm down. Then the people responsi-
ble will take a call on the IPL.
You had to wait a long time to play again for
India following your debut in 2015...
I always like to look at the positives.
After my debut at the age of 20, there
were a lots of ups and downs. I was
challenged mentally a lot of times.
I saw myself sitting on the bench
for even my state team. I was no-
where in the picture for India ‘A’
teams too. But those were the tough
times that I used to fuel my motiva-
tion to play for India again.
Lobera back
with Mumbai
Marcus.Mergulhao
@timesgroup.com
Panaji: Mumbai City FC have
settled for Sergio Lobera as the-
ir new coach .
Lobera and FC Goa parted
ways towards the business
end of the Indian Super Lea-
gue (ISL) this season, and gi-
ven his stellar record with the
Goan franchise, there was ne-
ver any doubt that he would
find enough suitors here in In-
dia itself. Kerala Blasters ini-
tially approached but opted
out of the fray. There was so-
me interest from Jamshedpur
FC as well. But Mumbai and
Lobera ooks tailor-made for
each other.
fighting. Those qualities of patience and malcy, though, one of the first things on
discipline do come in handy. The qualities I Pujara’s mind is to visit his own cricket
have as a cricketer are helping me deal with academy. “It is in Rajkot, around 16-17
this period effectively. I have that mental kilometres away from my house.”
strength. So it does help,” Pujara, who was
among the sportspersons who had a video
interaction with Prime Minister Narendra
While Pujara is not currently part of
any IPL teams, he has been playing coun-
ty cricket in England for the last few years.
Modi last week, told TOI from Rajkot. With the situation in the UK worsening
Pujara, of course, remains innately with each passing day, the whole English
obsessed with the game and loves hear- cricket season has been affected.
ing the sound of bat on ball. For the time “Something like this can’t be con-
being, though, cricket is very far from trolled. It has happened for the first time
his mind. Having been involved in a long in our lives and I hope it won’t happen
season which culminated with the Test again. We can’t think about the game right
series against New Zealand and Saurash- now. I am sure things will be under control
tra’s triumph in the Ranji Trophy, Pu- in a few months’ time. Then, we can think
jara does not mind either. about county cricket and everything else.
“At times, you need to stay away from “Every major sporting event has been
the game. Fortunately, this has come at the affected. Even if the county season
end of the season. Once the Ranji Trophy doesn’t happen, one shouldn’t worry
ended, I was supposed to take a break for much because human lives are more im-
a week or two. This has been longer than portant than any sport,” he said.
Only three want to host events
K.ShriniwasRao
@timesgroup.com
members and their respecti-
ve governments in hosting
ICC events for the next rights
inviting EOIs but hasn’t fina-
lised the draft of its next Fu-
ture Tours Programme
Mumbai: Pakistan, Malay- cycle. Among the many (FTP) yet, a process that will
sia and a consortium invol- things that annexures in see the governing body fa-
ving the West Indies and the Sawhney’s letter included cing multiple challenges be-
United States are the only was receiving a guarantee cause of growing differences
three interested full and as- that there would be tax ex- with some leading full mem-
sociate members of the In- emptions granted by the hos- bers. Sawhney’s office had
ternational Cricket Council made it clear that the process
(ICC) who have come for- ICC UPDATE of awarding hosting rights
ward with an Expression of ting nations. “England and for ICC events will be open to
Interest (EOI) to host the go- Australia have refused to par- all members.
verning body’s events for the ticipate. India did not even “It doesn’t augur well for
period 2023 to 2031. bother responding. Even the ICC when you have 12 full
In February this year, ICC New Zealand has told the ICC and 92 associate members
CEO Manu Sawhney had very clearly that there won’t and you ask for an EOI to host
written to all its full and asso- be any EOIs until the ICC events and get just three re-
ciate members suggesting chalks its international ca- sponses. If women’s rights is
that the EOIs would help sha- lendar for the 2023-31 rights uncoupled from men’s
pe the RFP process and gauge cycle,” say those in the know. rights, there won’t be any ta-
the initial interest of the The ICC has gone about kers,” add sources.

Serie A clubs agree players’ pay cuts:

United. British citizen Siddiqi, who can
operate as full-back or in midfield, was
due to join at the start of the season but
suffered an Achilles tendon rupture whilst
training with Oxford United FC. AGENCIES
LENDING A HAND: V Srinivas Goud, sports
minister, distributes provisions to the needy.
SATS chairman A Venkateshwar Reddy and
shooter Esha Singh are also seen
rus pandemic as pressure mounts to
find a collective pay deal. PFA chief
executive Gordon Taylor told BBC ra-
dio on Tuesday that the players had
“all agreed to play their part”, adding
they were “responsible enough” to
know wages were a factor in any club’s
expenditure.
Ceferin says Liverpool should be
awarded title: UEFA president
Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday
that there is “no way” Liverpool sho-
uld finish the season without the Pre-
mier League title, even if the campa-
ign is cancelled due to the coronavirus
pandemic. “There is no way Liverpool
could end without the title. If the mat-
ches are played, then they will almost
Italian top-flight clubs have reached ag-
reement to cut the salaries of players,
coaches and staff as a result of the coro-
navirus crisis, the Lega Serie A anno-
unced on Monday. Players’ salaries will
be reduced by a third of their gross an-
nual earnings if the season should be
cancelled, and a sixth if it resumes. The
decision was unanimously approved by
Serie A clubs, with the exception of Ju-
ventus, who had already hammered out
a deal with its own players, said Lega
Serie A.
Former Atletico, Real and Barca
coach Antic dies: Serbian coach Ra-
domir Antic, the only person to mana-
ge Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and
Barcelona, died on Monday at the age
of 71 following a long illness. AGENCIES
Marijne happy to stay back with team
Arnab.Seal @timesgroup.com
Kolkata: With social distancing being the norm, the nation-wide
lockdown has become a challenging period for the Indian wo-
men’s hockey team members who are stuck at SAI Bengaluru sin-
ce the beginning of the 21-day lockdown. “We are not allowed to
train on the pitch and in the gym. We also have to follow the
rules set by the government,” said women’s chief coach
Sjoerd Marijne. Instead the coach is making the girls do
everything individually to make sure their training isn’t
compromised. “We do individual meetings, individual
running and strength and conditioning exercises and bo-
dyweight training. Besides, they are doing a lot of analy-
sing. They are watching videos of other countries with
our analysing software,” added the Dutchman. To keep the girls
psychologically fit, the coach has even chalked out mental exerci-
ses for the players. “We are also watching documentaries toget-
her, especially those which are motivational,” said Marijne.
Personally, the coach is keeping himself occupied by spea-
king to his family, working out and watching series on OTT plat-
forms. “I am currently watching Money Heist and Ozark. I also
watched The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team. Apart from
that I analyse other countries and make programmes for coming
days, when we can start playing,” he added.
Eager to take a break when the situation improves, Marijne,
however, isn’t sure when that will become a possibility. “I
just have to wait like all the girls. It’s too premature to say
something about this. The only thing we know now is that
we have to stay here till April 15. Everybody will need a
mental break after this because it’s been a long time in
camp but we have to see when that will be,” said the coach.
Despite not knowing when he can fly home, Marijne is
glad that he decided to stay back in Bengaluru with the te-
am. “We had a very good camp between February and March and
I was looking forward to see my family after four weeks but I had
to decide not to travel and I am glad I did that. I could not have af-
forded to be stuck in the Netherlands away from the team for so
many weeks due to the travel ban,” said Marijne.

Vol. XX Issue No.168 Registration No. APENG/2000/03128 Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd. by Manikantan, at "Times House", 8-2-351, Road No 3, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500 034, and printed by him at "Times Press" Plot No 5A, Road No 1, IDA, Nacharam, Hyderabad 500 076, Ranga Reddy Dist Tel No : (040) 23254000, Fax No (040)
23254300. Registered Office: Dr. D. N. Road, Mumbai 400 001. Editor (Hyderabad Market): Robin David- responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.
WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL 2020 I ADVERTORIAL, ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
LEISURE / HYDERABAD TIMES HYDERABAD TIMES, THE TIMES OF INDIA
13
Pics: iStock

#CORONASUTRA
The best of locked-down creativity
Games and journals can help you
stay calm amid #CoronaPandemic ith all of us forced to stay air, which can take a toll on you,
TAKE A
BREAK
W inside our homes because of
the coronavirus lockdown,
feeling stressed and anxious is only
making you feel anxious, worried and
constantly on the edge. What can help
are distractions and calming exercises
normal. While you may be getting bet- to keep their minds fresh and
While it may ter sleep and spending time with your engaged. Here are some of them:
seem like you’re family (or roommate), there’s still a — Anushka.Goel
on a break since certain stress and uncertainty in the @timesgroup.com
you’re at home,
what this essen-
tially means is MAINTAIN A GRATITUDE JOURNAL PICK UP
taking a break
WE from social
Now is a great SOME NEW
time to start
DIDN’T
TELLYOU
media. Says Dr
maintaining a
ACTIVITY
Rachna Khanna Instead of thinking that
THIS! Singh, a lifestyle
journal. At
night, write you’re stuck at home,
PEARLS and relationship think about the extra
OF down what
expert and psy- time you have to pursue
WISDOM you’re feeling,
chologist, “Take a your hobbies, says Alka.
and focus on
break from “Organise yourself,
at least one
media, consoli- and in the process, you
good thing
date your time to will do something
that happened
consume news in constructive. Start
throughout the
the evening and
morning. Do not
PLAY SOME GAMES day — if you planning, but don’t be
Games like Sudoku, puzzles and crosswords spoke to your too harsh on yourself
keep the TV on challenge the brain, diverting attention from while doing so – pick up
friends,
the whole time, anxiety, stress and the potential ‘coronabrain’ to an activity and work
cooked a meal
and mute news more productive activities. Alka Kumar, a school on it, and be sure to
or simply
alerts on your counsellor, says, “You can also play board games, anot set unrealistic goals
THE phone.”
heard birds chirping. Doing this will help focus your thoughts on the
LAST cards etc with your family. It’s fun, and it helps positive side of things, and you’ll be much calmer overall. for yourself.”
WORD you bond with your family more.”

Stop panic-buying; opt

TIMES HITORI LOOP THE LOOP
How to play Rules
1. A number ■ Connect adjacent dots with vertical or horizontal
may appear lines, creating a single loop (Fig A).
just once in ■ Crossovers or branches are not allowed
each row or (As shown by dotted lines in Fig B).

for smart rationing

column. ■ Numbers in the puzzle indicate the number of
lines that should surround it, while empty cells may (Fig A) Not allowed
Eliminate (Fig B)
ENGINEERING | MANAGEMENT | MEDIA | LAW repeat
numbers by
be surrounded by
any number of
lines.
SUDOKU CHALLENGE darkening
cells. (see ■ You can’t draw iStock
HOW TO PLAY example) lines around
2. Darkened zeroes.
Fill in the grid cells must ■ Each puzzle has
so that every never be just one unique
horizontal row, adjacent in solution.
every vertical a row or How to begin:
column and column. Example (Fig A) -
every 3x3 box 3. Unmarked Begin with the zero
contains the cells must create 5. Any cell next to 3. Since no
digits 1-9, a single ‘sandwiched’ lines can be drawn
without continuous area, between around zero, mark
repeating the undivided by neighbours of crosses around it,
numbers in darkened cells. the same value as shown. Now
the same row, 4. Every time you can be circled. there is a cross in
column or darken a (e.g. 6 4 6 ) one space around
box.You can’t cell, you can 6. A “triple” is a 3. So we know the three lines of 3 can only be drawn in the remaining three
change the automatically special case of spaces. Next, these lines can only be extended in one direction each. Continue,
digits already circle its vertical sandwich. Circle using the same logic.
given in the and horizontal the centre cells,
Hints: Keep eliminating possibilities by marking crosses in spaces
grid. Every neighbours, which and darken the
between dots where a line isn’t possible, i.e., if you have already
puzzle has means they cannot ends.
completed required lines or where a line extension may create a
Saptaparna.Biswas@timesgroup.com
Level: Medium
one solution. be eliminated. (e.g. 6 6 6 )
branch or cause a deadend (Fig B) SMART HACKS
he Covid-19 pandemic has FOR RATIONING:
T caused widespread panic
across the world and this has  Plan a week’s meal
ANIMAL CRACKERS

resulted in people stocking up way chart and shop only

more essential supplies than they
once a week
GARFIELD

need.So,instead of panic buying and

hoarding stuff. Here are things that  Stick to the list, don’t
will help you plan well. over shop
 Find local substitutes to
BUY SEASONAL VEGGIES staples that are out of
If you hoard stuff and it isn’t used,
it will go waste. Chef Amandeep stock
Singh shares, “According to the  Buy slightly unripe
average Indian dietary requirement, vegetables and fruits to
one meal needs 30% fruits or veg- make them last longer
etables. So, there’s no point stocking.
If you believe perishable items like
BEAU PEEP

BIG NATE

tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, etc. advisable to do our essential shop-

need to be stocked, buy unripe ones. ping once in 7-10 days. Buy grocery
Opt for fruits like chikoo, guava, mud with a mix of items with long shelf
apples, kairi, etc.” life and perishables.”

SHOP ONCE A WEEK FINDING SUBSTITUTES

Avoid stepping out every day for gro- The supply of groceries has suf-
cery. Plan the meals. Nutritionist fered and some items might not be
Pallavi Dhoot Jalan says, “It is available in stores. So, nutrition-
ist Dr Avanti Deshpande
LOCKDOWN RATION SUBSTITUTES recommends finding
MANDRAKE THE

STAPLES SUBSITUTES substitutes for meals.

MAGICIAN

She says, “Get items like

Atta and rice Millets, millet flour, sattu atta
dals, atta and rice, first.
B.C.

Vegetables Soya nuggets, rajma, chhole, In case there is a limit

pulses, legumes on the amount you can
Fruits Dry fruits – almonds, anjeer, buy, or if it’s out of
raisins, desiccated apricots, berries stock, opt for millets,
ragi, etc that are easily
Milk Black tea, lemon tea, green tea
available.”

THE BETTER HALF HEALTH CAPSULE SOLUTIONS TO GAMES/PUZZLES

MUTT & JEFF

TIMES SUDOKU LOOP THE LOOP TIMES HITORI

SPELLATHON SCRAMBLE MINDBENDER SPELLATHON

Rearrange the letters in the four word jumbles, one letter
Today’s Ratings: to each square/circle, to make four ordinary words What expression is hidden source
09-average 10-good 12-outstanding HOW TO here?
U TAEER PLAY
SCURE, score, scour, scrub,

Discover something new.

cure, curse, ecru, OB-
O R How many words of four or more letters can you make EGIIN Now arrange the
letters in the
time+time you core, course, cube, curb,

C from the letters shown in today’s puzzle ? In making a

word, each letter may be used once only. Each word EGIIN
circles to form
the answer to the
dough manipulation
take take pets take take SCRAMBLE
AH day. Every day.
E B must contain the central letter. There should be at least riddle or to fill in
the missing word step step wit h
AEIBGG
F. Scott Fitzgerald
one seven letter word. Plurals, foreign words and as indicated.
S danger is not depressing. -

proper names are not allowed. British English
Dictionary is used as reference.
BIRTHDAY TODAY
You have strong control over your own life and you
also like the direction it is taking.
Tip: Your lucky colours are red and blue. Your lucky
To a profound pessimist about life, ___ _ ____ is not
depressing. - F. Scott Fitzgerald (5,2,6)
especially if you are involved in
some form of creative work. You
are likely to conceive something
quite ingenious and profitable in
the long run. Be patient.
TAURUS April 19 - May 19 Your
perfect timing, so essential to your
success in life, will come through
once again. When you spot a
window of opportunity, you will
give it everything you have, even if
it means hard work, long hours
and dedication.
GEMINI May 20 - June 20
Regardless of how eager you are to
TIMESPR/ME
simist about life, being in
Answer: To a profound pes-
baggie
Words: Eater, genii, inland,
talk about it. load considerably and make you feel groundwork first. There is still time to take
CANCER June 21 - July 21 If you want to productive. the decision.
be more successful in life, you better start LIBRA September 22 - October 22 CAPRICORN December 21 - January 19 MINDBENDER
relying more on yourself and less upon Engage in some fun activities, if you can There is likely to be more than one channel wards twice
others to carry the load. Regardless of how find time, because you might not be able to available to you at this time, which offers 6 months
C5
step = step written for-
new something is to you, you can do a find time for leisure activities for the next personal gains of some kind. Be alert, so two steps forwards: step worth 2599
better job. Keep at it and be patient to see two days. Life can get a bit hectic that you can at least get a foot in the door to take: as above
once
o 12 months
results. afterwards. when given the chance. = step written backwards
ff f
worth 2999
LEO July 22 - August 21 Use this day SCORPIO October 23 - November 20 An AQUARIUS January 20 - February 18 one step backwards: pets
for advancing serious endeavours that opportunity that will allow you to profit and This is the time to look within and make
TOI wor
take or ‘to take’
hold promise of larger rewards, both learn will present itself. Make last-minute contact with your deeper feelings and to take: take take = two th z5OO
of tangible and intangible nature. Your changes, if it will ease your mind and emotions. You may feel more relaxed. As = knead or ‘need’
mind is sharper than usual and you will secure your position. Domestic problems you go ahead, the work responsibilities will need: dough manipulation
"y 3 months
easily spot several opportunities that
others will miss.
will surface; stay calm and let this storm
pass.
lessen and life may have an easy pace.
PISCES February 19 - March 19 Today
you
sum times or ‘sometimes’
Sometimes: time+time =
FITPASS' worth 21279

gems are turquoise and moonstone. share some news with friends and VIRGO August 22 - September 21 Make SAGITTARIUS November 21-December offers a unique but brief time frame Explanation (if needed): plus exclusiv e offers to let you
You share your birthday with: Robin Wright associates about something an outline or a basic plan before diving into 20 An idea for an interesting joint that is likely to expose you to a greater to take two steps forwards save up to 360 ,000 in a ye a r
secretive you have been working your work, and chances are that you will endeavour could develop, one that you will array of beneficial opportunities. Be alert take one step backwards
ARIES March 20 - April 18 Do not put any on, it is better to remain close-mouthed find yourself being far more logical and find yourself considering very seriously. If and capitalise on as many as you can Sometimes you need to
sort of limitations on your imagination, about it. Especially, when given a chance to methodical. It could actually lighten your you can’t reach a conclusion, do a little handle.

MAKE
A
YOUR OWN MASK, FIGHT THE #CORONAPANDEMIC
re you thinking of stepping out to stock
up on your essentials without a mask?
Stop! In the past few months, health
agencies around the world did not stress on the
need to wear a mask unless you were unwell,
but now, as research suggests, they are telling
everyone that wearing a mask is critical to fight
coronavirus.
But do all of us need gear like N-95 and surgical
masks? No, leave those for the healthcare workers,
who definitely need them while treating the Covid-
19 patients daily. Make your own masks at home, it’s
simple and effective. Use scarves, tees, dupattas, hand-
kerchiefs, bandanas — get creative with it. The celebs
are doing it, too. So, protect yourself and others, mask
up and be a part of the TOI’s #MaskIndia movement.
WHAT FABRIC SHOULD
YOU USE FOR MASKS?
A 2010 study analysed
different fabrics that can be
used as masks
PARTICLES BLOCKED
TOWELS 40%
SWEATSHIRT 20-40%
SCARF 10-20%
T-SHIRT 10%
Join the #MaskIndia movement
to help India battle coronavirus.
To spread awareness about the
importance of wearing a mask
every time you step out, click a
selfie wearing a homemade
face cover and post it on social
media with the
hashtag
#MaskIndia. The
best pictures will
be featured in
The Times of
India and
maskindia.com
DID YOU
KNOW P masks, are said to lower the chances of
tem through droplets that are present in the air.
Karim Morani’s daughter Zoa Purab Kohli and family overcome Covid-19 in London
tests positive for coronavirus
A vealed on Tuesday
Chennai Express producer’s daughter Zoa tests positive,
while her sibling Shaza’s second test results are awaited
Zoa
Morani
Onkar.Kulkarni@timesgroup.com
e were the first to speak with actress
W Zoa Morani after she was admitted
to a private hospital in Andheri,
Mumbai, on Monday morning. At that point, Zoa,
who is the daughter of Bollywood producer Karim
Morani, had told us, “We were shocked that my
sister Shaza had tested positive, while I tested
negative despite showing more symptoms
of COVID-19.”
But by Monday evening, when the results of
her second round of tests arrived, it showed that
Zoa had tested positive. In a telephonic conver-
sation with us, she revealed, “Yes, I have tested
positive. I have been moved to COVID-19 positive
patient’s isolation ICU.”
Both Shaza and Zoa had travelled outside
Mumbai. While the former had gone to Sri
Lanka, the latter had been to Rajasthan. Zoa said,
“I was the one showing symptoms and that’s why
Shaza and I decided to do the test. As a precau-
tion, the doctors asked me to repeat the test. I was
only allowed to carry limited stuff. I have got some
books with me for company as nobody is allowed
to meet us.”
Currently, both the sisters are under treatment
in separate private hospitals in Mumbai.
Follow us on: twitter.com/HydTimes
facebook.com/HyderabadTimesTOI
instagram.com/hyderabad_times
SONU SOOD Actor
A mask made using a handkerchief can
act as a protective wall, which can keep
the coronavirus away from you.
Remember to cover your face every time
you step out of your house.
SUDHEER BABU Actor
Not all superheroes where capes but all
superheroes wear masks. So I decided
to make my own mask. You can too or
get someone else to make it for you, but
make sure you too become a
superhero with a mask.
rotective masks, including homemade
coronavirus entering our respiratory sys-
Shaza
Morani
DIDN’T HAVE ANY
CONTACT WITH
SHAZA AND ZOA:
KARIM MORANI
Zoa and Shaza’s father, producer
Karim Morani, said, “We did not have
any contact with Shaza and Zoa, as
they were isolated in their rooms.
Even then, we’ve already done the
test and have informed the police &
Municipal Corporation of Greater
Mumbai. We will get to know the
results in 48 hours.”
Zoa’s uncle Mohomed Morani said,
“A few days after Zoa and Shaza
returned from Rajasthan and Sri
Lanka, respectively, they complained
of headache and fever. They immedi-
ately isolated themselves from the
rest of the family. While Shaza recov-
ered, Zoa was still unwell and hence,
they went for the tests. It’s shocking
that Zoa, who initially tested
negative, has tested positive now.
Shaza is under observation and will
undergo another round of tests.”
– Neha Maheshwri
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
ADVERTORIAL, ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
ADLINE CASTELINO
LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020
A simple, clean cloth that is
available at home will
ensure that we do not run
out of the masks for the
healthcare workers. This is
not the time to panic buy
and create a shortage of
these essentials masks.
NEETA LULLA
Fashion Designer
The best thing about creating
your own mask is that you
can keep it broad and long
enough to cover your entire
face. People should
understand that masks are
the best protective gear we
have right now.
Purab Kohli
with wife Lucy
and daugher
Inaya
Purab Kohli took to his social media page to reveal that
he and his family are recovering from Covid-19
SRK, PEECEE TO JOIN LADY
GAGA’S STARRY BENEFIT
WORLDWIDE TELECAST
SHAH RUKH KHAN AND PRIYANKA
CHOPRA JONAS will join stars like Paul
McCartney, Lizzo, and Billie Eilish for a
worldwide telecast supporting
healthcare workers responding to the
global coronavirus outbreak, Lady
Gaga announced on Monday. The event,
called One World: Together At Home, will
be shown on multiple television and
digital networks around the world on
April 18. It will be hosted by late-night
television comedians Jimmy
Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen
Colbert. Agencies
#MaskIndia
PM MODI TWEETS IN SUPPORT OF
TOI’S #MASKINDIA CAMPAIGN
DEEPA MALIK
Paralympic Athlete
Taking precaution after the lockdown
is important to break the chain of the
virus spreading. Wearing a mask will
help protect us as well as others from
this pandemic.
SUMAN RAO
Miss World 2019 - 2nd Runner-up MEHREEN PIRZADA
and Miss World Asia 2019 Actor
#MaskIndia is a very good If you have to go out to buy
initiative. As responsible essentials, please ensure
citizens, it’s our duty to you’re wearing a homemade
use homemade masks to mask. We can wear a
protect ourselves. In fact, handkerchief, dupatta or a
you can get creative to scarf. Best part is that it’s
make your homemade reusable. We can wash and
masks fashionable! use it all over again.
JONITA GANDHI
Singer GAUTAM GAMBHIR
Even after the lockdown is MP and former cricketer
over, we should take
precautions and wear Masks have become essential for
human survival, at least for the time
masks. Wear one that’s
made from a piece of clean
cloth or a scarf, and refrain
from using medical supplies!
being. The need of the hour is to avoid
using N95 masks, and instead, use the
ones that can be made at home. Let
those be used by our medical warriors.
ctor Purab Kohli re-
that he and his fami-
ly were recently diagnosed
with the novel coronavirus
and are now recovering. In a
social media post, the Rock
On! actor, who is based in
London, revealed that his
family had contracted a mild Purab Kohli with kids,
case of Covid-19, but assured Inaya and Osian at their
his followers that he and home in London
his family have been under
home quarantine and are ‘Self isolate, consult your doc, take care’
“not contagious anymore.” With hospitals in London overwhelmed, Purab and his family,
Inaya, the couple’s four- on the advise of their GP, decided to self-isolate first and take
year-old daughter is said to care of themselves at home. Sharing what helped them ease
have shown the first the discomfort while in quarantine, he wrote, “We were
symptoms, which were constantly in touch with our GP. We were doing 4 to 5 steams
very mild and could be
mistaken for a common
and salt water gargles a day, ginger haldi honey mixtures to
cold and flu. Lucy Payton, sooth the throat helped. Also warm water bottles on the chest
Purab’s wife took ill next. really helped relax the chest. Hot baths helped the fluie
“...Lucy got it more in the feelings. And of course lots of rest... (sic)” However, if you have
chest, quite similar to the symptoms, seek medical advice, he warned, as “the intensity
cough symptom everyone of each case is different as was in my household alone.”
has been talking about,”
(sic) wrote Purab. The actor himself got it a little to know someone who has had it and is
next as he endured “a solid cold for one day fine. I hope none of you get it and even if you
and an irritating cough that set in for 3 days”, do, know that your body is strong enough to
while Osian, the couple’s one-year-old son, fight it. Seek proper advice from doctors as
got it last and ran a high fever for three intensity of each case is different. And please
nights. “I am sharing our experience with stay home and rest the body as much as
you because it might help to reduce the panic possible,” Purab wrote.
BUZZSTOP
MY FAMILY DOES
NOT HAVE COVID-19,
SAYS SHEFALI SHAH
ACTRESS SHEFALI SHAH on Tuesday said
her Facebook account has been hacked and
BRUCE WILLIS, DEMI MOORE that details of “her family getting
coronavirus”, are absolutely false. “I want to
say that I’m absolutely fine. And dealing with
ARE QUARANTINING TOGETHER
BRUCE WILLIS AND DEMI MOORE are quarantining together. The exes
this entire situation as well as everyone else
is dealing with it. dealing. I’m fine and I
would never think of something so
— who were married to each other from 1987 to 2000,and have three drastically negative. All of us at home are
children together — posed for a pic in matching pyajamas,posted by fine and safe... we are not corona positive as
their daughter Tallulah on Instagram. Bruce is now married to Emma was one of the things that was written in my
Heming and they are parents to two daughters. post. (By god knows who.),” Shefali wrote.