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New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XIX No. 18 n Price ₹6.00 /with Hindustan ₹ 10.50 (₹ 8.50 in Faridabad) n 14 Pages. Area specific pages extra.
Govt plans major agri
reforms post-corona
ONE NATION ONE MARKET APMC system being reviewed; PM holds high-level meet
Zia Haq
n zia.haq@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Outlining an ambi-
tious post-pandemic agenda for
agricultural reform, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on Satur-
day asked his top ministers and
bureaucrats to start working on
a new set of reforms to cut down
on archaic regulations, raise
farm-gate prices, unify domestic
markets as well as integrate the
farm economy into global value
chains.
These have been demands by
key farmer groups as well as a
range of economists and agricul-
tural experts over the years.
The PM suggested these
reforms at a high level review
meeting on the agricultural sec-
tor, which was also attended by
finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, home minster Amit
Shah, agriculture minister Nar-
endra Singh Tomar and senior
officials. The meeting was in a
series of reviews the PM is
undertaking on key sectors, in
the backdrop of the national
lockdown which has adversely
affected the economy.
The PM sought further
reforms in agricultural market-
ing, which is a reference to the
mandi system that controls buy-
ing and selling of farm produce,
among other issues. He said he
was not averse to bringing
CONTINUED ON P 12
Virus is ‘natural in
origin’, says WHO
GENEVA: World Health Organiza-
tion (WHO) reiterated that it
believes Covid-19 is “natural in
origin”, comments that come
after US President Donald Trump
said he has seen information that
the coronavirus may have
emerged from a virology institute
in China and launched a probe
into the role of WHO on the virus
while also temporarily suspend-
ing financial assistance to it.››P6
Delhi hospitals to
receive petals
NEW DELHI: Fighter jets will
perform a fly-past over Rajpath
and fly over Delhi and the
National Capital Region and
helicopters will shower petals
over several hospitals in the Capi-
tal on Sunday as part of an
elaborate military plan to show
gratitude to Covid warriors, IAF
said. ››P4
Liquor stores gear
up for business
NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre
on Friday allowed the sale
of liquor in stand-alone liquor
stores as well as the sale of
tobacco products from May 4,
stores are gearing up to resume
business with social distancing
norms and other guidelines in
place. ››P4
NO DOMESTIC, INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHTS TILL MAY 17: DGCA››P4
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n PM Narendra Modi flanked by Union home minister Amit Shah and minister of state for finance and
corporate affairs Anurag Thakur during a high-level meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday.
Modi, FM discuss States prepare to Migrants test +ve
economic situation adopt new rules on returning home
NEW DELHI: The second economic
stimulus package can be expected
“very soon”, chief economic
adviser Krishnamurthy Subra-
manian said, as Prime Minister
Modi met with finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman in the con-
text of a stimulus package. ››P4
Remdesivir given
US regulatory nod
for Covid-19 battle
Sanchita Sharma and
Yashwant Raj
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: The US
drug regulator, Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), has
allowed emergency use of experi-
mental antiviral drug remdesivir
for coronavirus disease (Cov-
id-19) treatment based on early
clinical data that shows it helps
Covid-19 patients recover faster.
The drug is made by Gilead Scien-
ces and is the first to be approved
globally as a treatment for the
viral pandemic which has killed
over 240,000 people worldwide.
The emergency-use authorisa-
tion allows products to be used for
treatment without full data on
their safety and efficacy, which
has to be still submitted as trials
continue.
FO RT I T U D E I N S O L I T U D E
When self-isolation led to great
works of science and literature
Prasun Sonwalkar
n letters@hindustantimes.com
LONDON: Quarantine and self
isolation need not be monot-
onous and stifling. They can
be the gateway to work, be it
in the arts or the sciences,
that define the history of the
world.
Isaac Newton, Charles
Darwin, John Milton and
Lord Byron used such time
to add to their formidable
body of work in science and
literature. It was not called
lockdown in their time, but
they spent long spells in iso-
lation, when medicine was
not as developed as it is now.
The University of Cam-
bridge, where all four stud-
n DOWNLOAD OUR iPAD APP
NEW DELHI: Starting on May 4,
most state governments propose
to do away with a rule that factory
owners will be booked if a worker
staying on the premises tests pos-
itive for Covid-19, as the authori-
ties seek to encourage industrial
plants to restart operations.››P5
Remdesivir, when adminis-
tered by an intravenous infusion,
helped patients recover on aver-
age in 11 days, compared to 15
days taken by those on placebo,
according to a study.
The emergency use will be lim-
ited to hospitalised Covid-19
patients with low blood-oxygen
levels or those who need breath-
ing support, the FDA said.
Patients on mechanical venti-
lator should be given the drug for
10 days, while those who are less
sick should get it for five days, Gil-
ead said.
Anti-malaria drugs hydroxy-
chloroquine and chloroquine
have got approved for use against
Covid-19 in India and the US, but
they have not undergone rigor-
ous clinical trials. ››P6
WHITE HOUSE BLOCKS FAUCI
FROM TESTIFYING ››P6
PRODUCTIVITY IN ADVERSITY
Isaac Newton: During the Great Plague of
1665-56, he returned from Cambridge and
spent two extended periods at his family home
in rural Lincolnshire. It was during this time that
he conducted his famous prism experiment
Charles Darwin: In Lord Byron: In 1811,
isolation due to his returning from a
health, he wrote: cholera-hit Greece,
“Ill-health…has he was forced to
saved me from the quarantine in
distractions of Malta, and wrote
society...” ‘Farewell to Malta’
ied, delved into its archives
to collate their activities dur-
ing such periods of isolation
centuries ago. It has also
asked its alumni to send
www.hindustantimes.com/iPad n OUR EDITION ON KINDLE http://read.ht/JS4
MAY 03, 2020
GUN BATTLE IN
HANDWARA AT
TERROR HIDEOUT
1mn tests done,
10k recoveries
41 from a building
test positive, Delhi
cases over 4,000
HTC and Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Security for-
ces were locked in an hours-long
firefight with militants holed up
reported so far
NEW DELHI: Forty-one people,
including a three-year-old, from
a double-storey building in south-
west Delhi’s Kapashera have
tested positive for Covid-19, offi-
cial said. According to district
in a house in north Kashmir’s
Handwara, officials said late on
Sanchita Sharma
n letters@hindustantimes.com
Mishra, secretary, environment,
and co-chair of the PM’s high-
officials, a woman living in a
building in Theke Wali Gali near
Saturday, suspecting the gun- level committee on preparedness the deputy commissioner’s office
men to be terrorists who NEWDELHI: The number of samples for a medical emergency in Kapashera previously tested
recently infiltrated into the Val- tested for the coronavirus disease The health ministry expects positive on April 18, and the
ley. (Covid-19) in India crossed a mil- testing to cross 100,000 tests a day densely populated building,
According to officials who lion on Saturday, up from 38,914 next week, up from 5,580 a day on which houses around 200 people,
asked not to be named, approxi- on April 1, which takes the num- April 1. “Positivity remains low was sealed. Delhi on Saturday
mately four terrorists are ber of tests to almost 783 per mil- except for the 20 cities, which are recorded 384 fresh cases, with the
believed to be involved in the lion of the population. And the still a cause of concern as the Cov- tally going up to 4,122. ››P2
encounter that began around number of recoveries crossed id-19 curve doesn’t appear to be
3:30pm in Chanjmulla area of 10,000. flattening there. The strategy for
Handwara, which falls in north
Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Two senior army officers, a
On Friday, India tested 74,507
samples. “We plan to ramp up
testing further to move towards a
the future will be ramping up sur-
veillance in these cities so we test
every case of influenza-like ill-
At least 16,500
state policeman and a soldier
were close to the site of the
situation where we can test
everyone who needs it. The num-
ness to inform the containment
response,” said a health ministry people gathered at
encounter and were out of com-
munication, news agency PTI
reported citing unnamed sour-
ber of labs doing Covid-19 tests
has gone up, with 406 labs -- of
which 105 are private ones -- now
official.
India has testing kits in stock
for another 11-12 days, said the
Nizamuddin: Police
CONTINUED ON P 12 testing for Covid-19,” said CK ministry official. ››P5 Prawesh Lama
n prawesh.lama@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: At least 16,500 people
TRACKING THE VIRUS visited Tablighi Jamaat’s head-
quarters in Nizamuddin around
WORLD INDIA DELHI the time it emerged as a Covid-19
DEATHS DEATHS DEATHS hot spot between March 13 and 24,
CASES 3,446,058 242,646 CASES 39,911 (+2,652) 1,319 (+98) CASES 4,122 (+384) 64 (+3) according to a Delhi Police report
ANI United States Rest of the world WORST-HIT STATES CASES LAST 5 DAYS that an officer said has been com-
1,139,263 2,306,795 4,122 piled after the biggest exercise the
Maharashtra 12,296
Gujarat
Delhi
MP
5,054
4,122
2,788
3,314 3,439 3,515
3,738 force has ever undertaken.
The police have estimated the
number of visitors in the report
Tamil Nadu 2,757
India data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies Apr 28 29 30 01 May 02
based on active cell phones inside
the six-storey headquarters.››P3
PATNA/RANCHI/BHUBANESWAR: At
least seven migrant workers,
who returned to UP, have tested
positive. In just one district of
Bihar, 13 migrant workers have
tested positive. In Odisha, 20
workers, who returned from
Bengal, tested positive. ››P4
More pilgrims back
from Nanded test
positive for virus
CHANDIGARH/MUMBAI: The Punjab
government is scrambling to test
and isolate 4,012 people who
returned from the Hazur Sahib
gurdwara in Nanded town after
504 pilgrims tested positive for
Covid-19, prompting authorities
in Maharashtra to seal one of
Sikhism’s holiest shrines. ››P10
Lokpal member
justice AK Tripathi
dies of Covid-19
NEW DELHI: Judicial member of
Lokpal and former judge of the
Chhattisgarh high court, justice
Ajay Kumar Tripathi, died of the
coronavirus late Saturday even-
ing aged 62. He had been admit-
ted to the AIIMS trauma centre
on April 3 where he was on venti-
lator support. ››P3
John Milton:
Spent some time
home in London,
after Cambridge
was hit by bubonic
plague, and wrote
his first Latin elegy
accounts of how they are
spending time in lockdown
during the coronavirus pan-
demic.
CONTINUED ON P 12
02 hindustantimes
p g
htspotlight
41 test Covid positive
DISPATCH in Kapashera building
45
Covid-19: What
you need to
know today
R Sukumar
M
TRACKING DEATHS
The number of deaths is an
appropriate metric of just how
India is handling the pandemic.
Most diseases are so well under-
stood that we can work backwards
from the number of deaths to find
the number of those infected.
Eventually, we will know enough
about Covid-19 to arrive at a range,
a narrow one, for the death rate
? ysis, the actual number of deaths from Covid-19
ARE NUMBERS know
ACCURATE?
The current global death should with a disease of as recent vintage as this.
rate is 7.02% of all infected In a column in The New York Times written in
people. That’s far too
high. The real number is
likely to be anything
between 1% and 3% (this
is a guess, not science).
But this would mean
that the actual number
of infected people is
much higher — which
is plausible
THE
TRAJECTORY have seen the number of deaths per day follow
Over the past forthright, what’s called a hockey-stick curve — gradual
the number of deaths has curve upwards, and then a steep rise. Which is
seen a steady increase
but the numbers are not deaths in India, especially over the next two
alarming — not yet. They weeks.
are closer to Germany’s
trajectory than they are
to, say, that of the US. We ead’s Remdesivir, a failed hepatitis and Ebola
need to watch the
number of daily deaths in the US found that it accelerated recovery rates,
India, especially over the although it didn’t have a huge impact on death
next two weeks
htweather
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY
Generally cloudy Thunderstorm Thunderstorm
sky with Light with hail with hail
rain
38°c I 25°c 37°c I 23°c 35°c I 24°c
• •
ANOTHER CLUSTER 15 cases reported from Tughlakabad Extn, retest sought
Ashish Mishra
n ashish.mishra2@htlive.com
NEWDELHI:Fifty-six people, includ-
ing a three-year-old, from two
clusters in Kapashera and Tugh-
lakabad Extension tested positive
for the coronavirus disease (Cov-
id-19) in two days, according to
the Delhi government.
Forty-one cases were reported
from a double-storey building in
southwest Delhi’s Kapashera.
The other 15 cases were reported
BURHAAN KINU/ HT
from across southeast district’s
Tughlakabad Extension area.
The government and civic
agencies have been at work in the
areas over the last two weeks to
contain the spread of the virus
after the first cases were detected
there. The respective areas were
also declared containment zones
when the positive cases came to
light. As of Saturday, Delhi has 95
containment zones.
The two, however, are not the
first clusters to report multiple
Covid-19 cases. On April 23, at
least 46 people had tested positive
for Covid-19 from two lanes of an
already-notified containment
ay 1: 69; April 30: 76; April 29: 69; April 28: 74; April zone in Jahangirpuri.
27: 58; April 26: 51; April 25: 46; April 24: 57; April
23: 38; April 22: 39. KAPASHERA
According to district administra-
These numbers are the death tolls of the coro-
navirus disease (Covid-19) in India on the 10 days tion officials, a woman living in a
between April 22 and May 1. building in Theke Wali Gali near
the deputy commissioner’s office
On May 2, the number was 98.
tested positive for the disease on
The total death toll in India was 1,319 on Sat-
April 18. Consequently, district
urday. administration sealed the
In some ways, this is the only number to densely populated building,
track. In the absence of a lockdown, the number which houses around 200 people,
of infections would have definitely soared, as and declared the lane a contain-
would have the death toll. ment zone on April 19.
I have written previously about how data The building has now been
from both Mumbai and Delhi shows that the become a Covid-19 hot spot.
number of non-Covid-19 deaths has Southwest district magistrate
reduced during the lockdown. I have also Rahul Singh said that though the
written about just how difficult it will be guidelines mandate sealing of an
area when three cases have been
to hide a death from that most omnipres-
reported, the district administra-
ent thing in India — a mobile phone
camera. This would suggest that the tion took the “proactive decision”
number of deaths is a good metric of just to seal the building with only one
how India is handling the pandemic. case reported, to ensure the virus
There’s another reason to keep track- did not spread any further.
Kapashera is also home to
ing this number. Most diseases are so well
thousands of migrant workers
understood that we can work backwards from
who work in different parts of the
the number of deaths to find the number of those national capital and share small
affected or infected. We don’t know enough about single rooms with other workers.
Covid-19 now, and the widely varying fatality “We conducted a survey and
rates around the world are of no help — not when, collected samples of 175 residents
as both The New York Times and Financial of the building on April 20 and
Times have pointed out, based on their own anal- April 22. Of these samples, sent to
was much higher than those attributed to the dis-
ease. India wasn’t covered by either.
the NIB laboratory in Noida, 67
Pregnant women left with no 15 workers from
But this ignorance won’t last. We already H O S P I TA L S O V E R W H E L M E D
more about the disease than we did a
month back, and every day seems to bring new
answers. It also brings new questions, as it
place to give birth or get care ambulance call
mid-April, Charlie Warzel asked some of these
questions. More have been added to that list since
(and some have been answered).
Eventually, we will know enough about the
disease to arrive at a range, a narrow one, for the
death rate. And then work backwards from that.
Anonna Dutt
n anonna.dutt@htlive.com
My guess is that the death rates are nowhere NEW DELHI : Last week, a 35-year-
close to what’s being reported. The current global old woman from north-east
death rate is 7.02% of all infected people. That’s
far too high. The real number is likely to be any-
Delhi’s Janta Mazdoor Colony
started frantically calling the
thing between 1% and 3% (again, this is a guess, ASHA (accredited social health
not science). But this would mean that the actual activist) when her labour pain
number of infected people is much higher — started. When she couldn’t get
which is plausible. through to any worker, she went
That’s actually another reason to track to the maternity clinic where her
deaths, not number of cases. antenatal check-up was done, but
The death tallies for the week before April 22 it had closed for the day by the
in India were as follows: April 21: 54; April 20: 32; time she got there. She was told to
April 19: 39; April 18: 32; April 17: 40; April 16: 24; go to Kasturba hospital, about
6km away.
April 15: 33.
“She did not know how to get
Over the past forthright, then, the number of
there and she was already in a lot
deaths has seen a steady increase but the num- of pain. So, she decided to call a
bers are not alarming — not yet. They are closer midwife home and gave birth to a
to Germany’s trajectory than they are to, say, baby boy, who died soon after,”
that of the US.
The worrying thing is that most countries
said Sulekha Singh, a health
activist, who helped the woman
take her baby to Chacha Nehru
Bal Chikitsalay afterwards.
Pregnant women, especially
why it makes sense to watch the number of daily those about to give birth, are the
worst hit by the ongoing lock-
down as well as overwhelmed
health care systems. With health
In more cheerful news, it turns out that Gil-
care workers in several hospitals
testing positive for Covid-19,
drug, may well be a cure for Covid-19. A study in
many women are no longer able
to visit hospitals that gave them
antenatal care. While some are
rates (it had some). Still, that promise was
forced to travel to far-off hospitals
enough for the US Food and Drug Administration
and brave the risk of a coronavi-
to allow the use of the drug on Covid-19 patients. rus infection, others have no
option but to birth at home.
Three days ago, a woman from
Jahangirpuri did not know where
to go when she thought she was
having labour pain because the
hospital she used to go to – Babu
Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital
– was closed after 75 health care
ALMANAC TEMPERATURE
Today is
workers contracted Covid-19.
3rd May 2020 IN FOUR METROS The police helped her reach
l 9 Ramadan 1441 Delhi Deep Chand Bandhu hospital
l Vaishakha,
Shukla Paksha, 10 38°c I 25°c where she was told there was still
l Samvat 2077 Mumbai time for her to go into labour and
Sunset: Sunday
at 06:57 p.m.
34°c I 28°c was asked to go home. “Doctors
Sunrise: Monday
Kolkata from Deep Chand Bandhu hospi-
at 05:37 a.m.
Moonrise: Monday 34°c I 24°c tal asked her to go to Ambedkar
at 03:37 p.m. Chennai hospital for the delivery, which is
Moonset: Tuesday 38°c I 29°c closer to her place. But, we had
at 04:12 a.m.
not taken her there earlier as the
n Delhi Police personnel stand guard outside a barricaded lane in Kapashera area, where 41 people of the
same building, sealed on April 19, tested positive for the coronavirus disease.
returned on Friday evening, and
41 were positive. We expect the
remaining test results to arrive in
a couple of days,” Singh said.
He said the test results were
delayed due to pendency of cases
at the Noida laboratory. “All the
individuals who tested positive
are asymptomatic, and fresh tests
will be conducted to assess their
present status,” he added.
According to former council-
lor Anil Yadav, the building has
entries in two lanes of the area.
The front of the plot houses a two-
storey building while the back
has makeshift rooms. Yadav said
there are 60-65 rooms in all. He
said vigilance and sanitisation
drives have been stepped up.
TUGHLAKABAD EXTN
As many as 15 residents of lanes
24 to 28, which were previously
declared containment zones, of
Tughlakabad Extension have
tested positive for Covid-19. The
tests were conducted on April 20
and the results returned on April
30 evening.
These tests were also sent to
the NIB lab in Noida. Govern-
ment officials said, 40 more
results from here were pending.
Lanes 26 and 27 of Tughlaka-
bad Extension were declared a
n A medical worker collects a swab sample from an infant to test for
Covid-19 in Nabi Karim on Saturday. VIPIN KUMAR/HT REPRESENTATIVE PIC
gynaecology department was
closed a day ago because someone
had tested positive for Covid-19.
The situation changes daily and
we have no idea where to take
pregnant women,” Singh said.
One of the city’s biggest mater-
nity centres -- Kasturba hospital
near Jama Masjid – does not
allow patients from containment
zones with fever, cough or sore
throat. “There are several con-
tainment areas around the hospi-
tal, but if anyone from these areas
comes to us with even a mild fever
or sore throat, we do not admit
them because they are likely to
have Covid-19. We refer them to
Covid-19 hospitals,” a doctor
from the hospital, on condition of
anonymity, said.
This problem was highlighted
when a 25-year-old woman from
Nizamuddin Basti was turned
away from Safdarjung. She was
referred to Lok Nayak hospital,
which denied her admission
because she was not Covid-19 pos-
itive. She visited at least six hospi-
tals and maternity clinics in 48
hours before finally giving birth
outside AIIMS.
This case was referred to in a
PIL by an organisation named
SAMA in the Delhi High Court.
Responding to the plea, the
HC had ordered, “The Union of
India and the Government of
containment zone on April 17,
after three people tested positive.
On April 19, 35 more people
tested positive from the same
area, after which three more
lanes — 24, 25 and 28 — were
added to the containment zone.
District administration offi-
cials said that during a door-to-
door survey, some people dis-
played symptoms, after which 87
residents were tested.
“Test reports of 47 people have
arrived, of which 15 have tested
positive,” an official said.
Administration officials said
they had ramped up surveillance
in all the lanes, and that the area
had been sealed completely.
Councillor of Tughlakabad
Extension, Poonam Bhati, said
disinfection exercises have been
stepped up and regular screen-
ings are being conducted. She,
however, said tests should be con-
ducted again since the initial
reports had been delayed by more
than a week. “More samples
should be collected,” she said.
Meanwhile, two policemen—
an assistant sub inspector and a
constable from Jahangirpuri
police station, who had earlier
tested positive for coronavirus—
returned on Saturday, said DCP
(northwest) Vijayanta Arya.
National Capital Territory of
Delhi shall work in tandem to
make sure that no barriers are
faced by pregnant ladies and their
families residing in hot spots dur-
ing the lockdown.”
The busiest gynaecology
department in Delhi, Safdarjung
hospital, which sees about 110
deliveries a day, is now creating a
separate space for Covid-19 posi-
tive deliveries in the super spe-
cialty block where it houses other
people with Covid-19.
“For now, our labour rooms
have been divided into non-Covid
and suspected Covid. But, yes,
women have been facing prob-
lems since the lockdown. Many
smaller nursing homes and
maternity hospitals are not func-
tioning now. Also, earlier, the big-
ger hospitals used to accommo-
date more than one patient on
each bed. That is not possible
now, because we have to follow
social distancing norms,” a doc-
tor from Safdarjung hospital’s
gynaecology department said.
All this flies in the face of Delhi
government orders directing all
clinics, hospitals and nursing
homes, including private ones, to
remain open for treatment of non-
Covid patients. They have been
threatened with cancellation of
licence if they do not comply.
(Inputs from Risha Chitlangia)
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: METRO
VIPIN KUMAR/HT PHOTO
DELHI SEES
HIGHEST
DAILY JUMP
NEW DELHI: With 384 new
cases of Covid-19
reported on Saturday,
the city reported a total
of 4,122 cases, according
to the daily health bulle-
tin shared by the Delhi
government. This is the
highest number of cases
reported in a single-day
in the city so far. The
second highest was 356
cases recorded on April
13, of which 325 were in
those evacuated from
Nizamuddin Markaz.
Another three deaths
due to the viral infection
was also recorded on
Saturday, taking the
city’s toll to 64. Over 51%
of these deaths were in
those 60 years or above.
Around 85% of those
who died had comorbidi-
ties. So far, 58,210 sam-
ples have been tested in
the city. HTC
centre get Covid
Anonna Dutt
anonna.dutt@htlive.com
n
NEWDELHI:At least 15 people work-
ing in the control room of Cen-
tralised Accident and Trauma
Services (CATS) Ambulance
have tested positive for Covid-19
infection in Delhi on Friday
night. The control room, how-
ever, continues to function, with
around 25 people responding to
calls for ambulances from across
the national capital.
The samples of the operators
were collected four days ago, and
the reports returned positive for
15 on Friday night.
“All operators working in one
shift at the call centre have tested
positive, the test reports of the
remaining staff are awaited,” an
official from East Delhi’s district
office said. Patients have been
admitted to Lok Nayak, Rajiv
Gandhi Superspeciality, AIIMS-
Jhajjar and RML hospitals.
Apart from the ‘102’ number
for ambulance services, the Delhi
government has issued four
other cellphone numbers on Fri-
day – 7291000071, 7291000078,
7291000093, 7291000094.
“One of the operators had fever
for a couple of days and his condi-
tion is serious. He has been
rushed to RML hospital, where he
has been put on ventilator sup-
port. Yet, this call centre office
hasn’t been sealed. Some offices
are being closed even if a single
Covid-19 case is reported. How do
we know that we would not get
the infection? We sit in the same
office, share the same computers,
there is always the possibility of
an infection,” one of the CATS
operators said, on condition of
anonymity.
Reports of 50 other employees
are still pending.
The modern control room in
Laxmi Nagar has around 151
ambulances across the city, with
60 being deputed for transporting
Covid-19 positive or suspected
At sealed Sirhaul
toll plaza, families
and friends meet
across the border
Leena Dhankhar and
Archana Mishra
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
GURUGRAM: Traffic at the Sirhaul
toll on the Gurugram-Delhi bor-
der was streamlined on Satur-
day, three days after the Guru-
gram district administration
restricted movement here.
Three lanes were dedicated for
ambulance, essential services
and central government
employees for smooth surveil-
lance and verification of docu-
ments.
Of 3,100 vehicles that arrived
at Sirhaul toll to move into
Gurugram on Saturday, 2,800
were barred as they failed to fur-
nish documents that could
establish valid reasons to enter
the city.
The decision to restrict move-
ment was taken by the state gov-
ernment after infection in at
least seven Covid-19 cases of
Gurugram were traced to Delhi.
However, those who were not
allowed to cross made do with
meeting at the border.
Over 200 people were seen
delivering medicines and other
important documents. Some
parents were seeing their chil-
dren after two months.
“The scene was like a
border between countries with
families on either side unable to
cross without a visa. I met my
parents after two months. Our
meeting lasted a few minutes. I
had tears as I wanted to return
with them, but due to the job I
have, I had to stay in Guru-
gram,” said Swati Singh, a bank
executive who is temporarily
staying at her colleague’s flat in
DLF Phase 2.
Another woman was seen
holding her newly born and
meeting her in-laws from Noida.
“I delivered the baby 15 days
prior to my due date. The emer-
gency forced me to move in to
one of my friend’s place in Guru-
gram as my treatment was going
on at a private hospital here. My
in-laws were so excited and
happy to see their grandson, but
they had to leave without us;
with just tears in their eyes,”
said Vinita.
Meanwhile, police personnel
distributed face masks to com-
muters who were seen moving
without them and the tempo-
rary office and all barricades
were sanitised to ensure safety.
Wearing a face mask when in
public is mandatory.
THE CONTROL ROOM
CONTINUES TO
FUNCTION WITH AROUND
25 PEOPLE RESPONDING
TO CALLS FOR
AMBULANCES FROM
ACROSS THE CITY
cases.
The infection has reached the
doors of front-line warriors in the
city with the staff at the office of
east district’s chief district medi-
cal officer being put under quar-
antine after one of them tested
positive three days ago.
The team is responsible for
surveillance of Covid-19 positive
and suspected cases in district.
Over 300 health care workers
and hospital staff have tested pos-
itive for Covid-19 in the city so far.
At Jahangirpuri’s Babu Jagjivan
Ram hospital, at least 75 hospital
staff tested positive for the infec-
tion, which led to the government
closing the 100-bed hospital.
Around 45 staff members at
Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital
also tested positive for Covid-19.
Delhi State Cancer Institute
reported its first cluster of infec-
tions in the beginning of April.
At least 26 hospital staff have
tested positive for the infection.
Four patients also tested positive
for Covid-19 and two of them suc-
cumbed to the illness.
Almost all health care workers
who tested positive were from
non-Covid hospitals or non-
Covid areas of hospitals.
The Delhi government sus-
pended a controversial order
soon after issuing it on Friday
in which it had demanded that
all health care workers who test
positive or come in contact with
positive cases give a written
explanation as to how that hap-
pened despite them following
guidelines.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
MAY 03, 2 02 0
spotlight
htspotlight
First breather for Delhi: Govt to
allow relaxations for red zones
LOCKDOWN 3.0 Govt to issue order today on new norms, including additional activities permitted
Sweta Goswami
n sweta.goswami@htlive.com
NEWDELHI: The Delhi government
will allow all relaxations listed by
the Union ministry of home
affairs for areas in the ‘red zones’,
health minister Satyendar Jain
said on Saturday, in a first cur-
tailment of lockdown rules in the
national capital since April 20
when the AAP government had
refused to allow lowering the bar
for containing Covid-19.
In addition, the government on
Saturday also started identifying
standalone liquor shops that
could be opened with social dis-
tancing norms.
On April 20, the Delhi govern-
ment had refused any relaxation
which was otherwise allowed by
the Central government from
April 20. It was only almost a
week later that it allowed opening
of standalone shops and opera-
tion of self-employed electricians,
plumbers and water purifier
repairmen.
A state-specific order on the
fresh lockdown rules, including
additional activities that will be
permitted, will be issued by the
Delhi government on Sunday. A
“limited” lockdown which
includes suspension of air, train
and inter-state road travel will
continue to remain in force for
two more weeks from May 4
across the country, but some
activities would be allowed after
classifications of districts into
red, orange and green zones
based on Covid-19 risk profiling,
the Centre had announced on Fri-
day.
Delhi health minister Satyen-
dar Jain said all 11 districts in
Delhi will be in the red zone till
May 17. However, Delhi chief
minister Arvind Kejriwal
requested the Centre on Saturday
to demarcate red, orange and
green zones on the basis of con-
tainment zones and not districts.
Officials explained that the
Union health ministry designates
any area as red, orange or green
Lokpal member
AK Tripathi dies
after month-long
battle with Covid
Anonna Dutt
n anonna.dutt@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Judicial member of
Lokpal and former judge of
Chhattisgarh high court Ajay
Kumar Tripathi, 62, who had
tested positive for Covid-19, died
late Saturday evening. He had
been admitted to the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences’
(AIIMS) trauma centre on April 3.
He had been on the ventilator
and was in a critical condition
when he was admitted.
“He had been on and off the
ventilator since his admission to
the intensive care unit last
month. He died with Covid-19 in
the evening,” said an official from
the hospital.
He also suffered from diabetes,
which increases the risk of severe
symptoms from Covid-19.
He was the second Covid-19
patient to be admitted to the Jai
Prakash Narayan Trauma Cen-
tre, which was converted into a
stand-alone Covid-19 centre, one
of the three government centres
in the city. The 240-bed facility is
meant for those with severe
symptoms of Covid-19.
The new private ward at the
main AIIMS campus is reserved
for suspected cases, whereas
those with mild symptoms are
sent to the AIIMS Jhajjar cam-
pus. All trauma cases have now
been diverted to the main AIIMS
campus where they are handled
in the emergency ward.
DOCTOR AT HINDU RAO
TESTS COVID POSITIVE
A doctor at North Delhi Munici-
pal Corporation’s Hindu Rao
Hospital in Malka Ganj tested
Covid-19 positive Saturday.
This is the third Covid-19 case
from the hospital. “The doctor
was asymptomatic but tested pos-
itive on Saturday. His contact
tracing is being done and he is
already in home quarantine,” a
north body spokesperson said.
On April 25, a nurse at the hos-
pital had also tested positive for
Covid-19. As part of her contact
tracing, samples of 78 people were
collected. “Reports of 67 people
have been released of which two
were found positive. The two
included one nurse, who had
tested positive on April 30 and a
doctor who tested positive on Sat-
urday,” the spokesperson said.
n A worker marks circles for social distancing at Okhla Mandi on Saturday.
zone on district level. Delhi has
only 11 districts and it is geo-
graphically different to other
states. Once the ward-level cate-
gorisation plan is ready, it will be
sent to the ministry for its
approval. If it gets approved,
Delhi, which is entirely in the red
zone, will have orange and green
zones as well, they said.
Till Saturday, the national cap-
ital had recorded 4,122 cases of the
coronavirus disease and 64 fatali-
ties. On Saturday, 384 new cases
were reported. With no new con-
tainment zone being identified on
Saturday, the total number of
such zones in Delhi was 95.
As per the MHA order, none of
the relaxations would be applica-
ble to the containment
zones.Operation of public trans-
port, taxi services, autorick-
Jamia students tell univ admin to rethink
order asking them to vacate hostel rooms
Fareeha Iftikhar
n fareeha.iftikhar@htdigital.in
NEW DELHI: The Jamia Millia Isla-
mia administration on Friday
asked students stranded in the
university hostels to vacate
rooms and leave for their homes,
saying several areas near the
campus had been declared Cov-
id-19 hot spots.
The university said hostel pro-
vosts would arrange transporta-
tion for them as per the protocol
of their respective home states.
The Union government had, on
Friday, allowed the railways to
run special trains to ferry stu-
dents, migrant workers stranded
in various parts of the country
due to the lockdown, which was
extended till May 17.
However, several students
wrote to Jamia’s vice-chancellor
Najma Akhtar, saying they
feared for their safety while trav-
L O C K E D A W AY F R O M H O M E
Stranded migrants face restless After 40 days of anxiety, 813 students
wait as Delhi draws travel plans stuck in Kota homeward bound at last
Vatsala Shrangi and
Anvit Srivastava
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: As the Delhi govern-
ment undertakes a survey of
migrant workers stranded in the
city before sending them back to
their respective states, officials
on Saturday said those housed in
schools and shelter homes are
likely to be sent back first.
“The numbers are being col-
lated. There are many who have
been left behind while their fami-
lies are in need back home.
Unlike other states, the number
of migrant workers living in
Delhi is high. We will have to pri-
oritise people in batches. Besides,
even the special trains, deployed
to ferry workers back home, can
take only around 1,000-1,200 peo-
ple at a time, keeping in mind
social distancing factors,” said a
senior official of the Delhi govern-
ment, requesting anonymity.
The official added that while
trains are a better mode of trans-
port with respect to social dis-
tancing protocol in mind, private
buses will have to be hired for
workers who want to travel to
shorter distances. “We are coor-
shaws, barbershops, spas and
salons are also explicitly prohib-
ited in the red zones.
LIQUOR SHOPS
On Saturday, the government
also began identifying standal-
one liquor shops that could be
opened with social distancing
norms. Liquor is a major revenue
source for the government and
sale of liquor had been suspended
during the operation of the lock-
down till May 3.
“The Centre has laid its guide-
lines for the entire country on the
basis of districts and not contain-
ment zones. All the 11 districts of
Delhi are in the red zone. So,
whatever activities have been
permitted by the Centre, the
Delhi government will imple-
ment them in the city in toto,”
elling. They also argued that they
did not want get stuck at quaran-
tine centres after reaching their
respective states.
The home ministry’s guide-
lines for workers and students
going to their home states, how-
ever, mandate only home quar-
antine, unless an assessment by
local authorities deems that a
person be kept in institutional
quarantine.
Around 300 students are cur-
rently putting up in the univer-
sity’s seven hostels on campus.
The other students had vacated
their rooms when the lockdown
was announced in March.
In the order, Jamia registrar
AP Siddiqui said, “Students
stranded in the hostels who could
not go back to their homes earlier
and stayed back hereby directed
to vacate the hostels as per the
arrangements of transportation
and travel protocols of the state
dinating with the ministry of rail-
ways as well. This is a mammoth
exercise, given the large num-
bers, and will take a while. Going
by inputs received so far, an esti-
mated 20,000 migrants in the city
are from Bihar. Numbers of those
from other states are being accu-
mulated,” he said.
Tens and thousands of migrant
workers who could not return to
their home states because of the
national lockdown, are awaiting
government guidelines on trans-
portation. The Delhi government
had issued an order Friday
directing the police and the dis-
trict administrations to seal all
interstate borders and ensure
that there is no “unlawful assem-
bly” or “disorderly movement” of
people during the lockdown,
which was on Friday extended till
May 17 by the Union ministry of
home affairs (MHA).
The order, issued by Delhi
chief secretary Vijay Dev, is
aimed at preventing unorganised
movement of stranded people.
Mahesh Kumar, 36, housed in
a central Delhi shelter, said he is
desperate to go back home as his
mother is alone at home in
Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
said Satyendar Jain, who holds
health and home portfolios.
A senior government official
said not all liquor vends will be
allowed to open.
Firstly, they will have to be
stand-alone liquor shops (not
part of any market, shopping
complex or mall) or located in
neighbourhoods or residential
colonies. Secondly, only stores
having L6 and L8 licenses will be
permitted. L6 license for retail
vend of Indian liquor/beer is
granted only to selected under-
takings of the Delhi government
such as DTTDC, DSIDC, DSCSC
and DCCWS. L8 licenses are
given to retail vends selling coun-
try liquor.
“The number of such shops
(with L6 and L8 licences) is more
than 500, but that number is not
governments.”
The order said the university
will reopen in August for regular
students, and the new academic
session will begin in September.
“The exam schedule slated for
July 2020 will be notified in due
course,” said an official.
The varsity, in Delhi’s south
east revenue district is a red zone,
along with the city’s 10 other dis-
tricts. The Delhi government has
declared parts of surrounding
neighbourhoods such as Zakir
Nagar, Abul Fazal and Shaheen
Bagh ‘containment zones’.
A student at Jamia’s Allama
Iqbal Hostel said students are
apprehensive of the travel, and
fear they may contract the dis-
ease. “We are also afraid that
once we reach our states, we will
get stuck in quarantine facilities,
where there are no proper
arrangements of food and medi-
cation,” the student said.
Besides, he said the meals he gets
at the shelter are not enough for
his family of four.
“I don’t know what I will do or
eat once I get back, but I need to
see my mother. I have also run
out of balance in my mobile
phone and have not been able to
speak to her. A few days back, a
neighbour from my village had
helped me speak with her. My
mother asked me to come back
soon as she has no money left and
is dependent on our neighbours
to help her get food,” said Kumar,
who used to work at a scrap
dealer’s shop in Delhi.
Delhi Police officers said
migrant workers are mostly
lodged in shelter homes in cen-
tral, northern and south-eastern
parts of Delhi. However, neither
the police not the state govern-
ment wanted to go on record with
the exact number of migrant
workers lodged in shelters.
MS Randhawa, spokesperson
for the Delhi Police, said: “Senior
officers are being apprised of the
situation regularly and constant
monitoring is underway, as the
lockdown has been extended.
Other welfare measures , are also
going on simultaneously.”
VIPIN KUMAR/HT PHOTO
important as not all will be eligi-
ble to open because it has to be a
standalone shop. So, we have
asked our teams to identify such
standalone liquor shops across
the city,” an official in the excise
department said.
A second senior government
official said the usual revenue
mop up for April is around ₹3,500
crore. But, this year the govern-
ment could collect only over ₹320
crore in April. “If such a situation
persists then paying salaries to
Delhi government employees
could also become tougher,” the
official said on condition of ano-
nymity.
As per the MHA rules, individ-
uals and vehicles (with a maxi-
mum of three occupants in cars
and one occupant on two-wheel-
ers) will be allowed
A resident of J&K girls hostel
said, “Some Kashmiri women
were sent home by the Delhi gov-
ernment through buses that were
stopped at the Jammu border. We
do not want to get stranded like
that. Also, there are elderly peo-
ple back home. We can’t risk their
lives.”
“We do not have Wi-Fi at
home. I am preparing for compet-
itive exams, and I need the inter-
net for my studies,” said a third-
year student who hails from a
town in Jharkhand.
University officials said the
safety of students will be taken
care of while travelling. “We will
soon notify students about the
arrangements,” an official said,
but did not give further details.
No such order has been issued
to students in hostels of the two
other central universities in the
city — Delhi University and Jaw-
aharlal Nehru University.
Fareeha Iftikhar
n fareeha.iftikhar@htdigital.in
NEW DELHI: Sharka Uruz’s happi-
ness knew no bounds on Satur-
day evening when she finally
boarded a bus for her home in
Delhi from Kota in Rajasthan.
The 18-year-old medical aspi-
rant was among the 813 students
from the national Capital who
was stuck in different coaching
centres in Kota after the nation-
wide lockdown was enforced on
March 25.
The Delhi government on Sat-
urday sent a fleet of buses to bring
these students home. The stu-
dents boarded buses from their
coaching centres around 5.30 pm.
Uruz, a resident of east Delhi’s
Mandawali, said she was return-
ing home after six months. But for
her, and many others like her, the
past one month felt like a year liv-
ing away from home. “We have a
very tight schedule here. I was
supposed to go home after the
NEET exam on May 5. But then
the lockdown was announced
and the exam was postponed. The
majority of students later left for
their homes. We were only five
students in our hostel during the
last 40 days. It was really tough to
hindustantimes
Over 16k people visited
markaz from Mar 13-24
Prawesh Lama
n prawesh.lama@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: At least 16,500 people
visited Tablighi Jamaat’s head-
quarters in Nizamuddin around
the time it emerged as a Covid-19
hot spot between March 13 and
24, according to a Delhi police
report that an officer said has
been compiled after the biggest
exercise the force has ever
undertaken.
The mid-level police officer,
who did not wish to be named,
said the exercise involved con-
tact tracing using cell phone
data and physical verification of
those who had been to the
markaz (headquarters).
The police have estimated the
number of visitors in the report,
which has been submitted to the
state and central governments,
based on active cell phones
inside the six-storey headquar-
ters.
As of Friday, 4,122 people in
Delhi have been infected with
Covid-19. Of these, 64 have died,
and 1,256 have recovered.
A Delhi government official,
who did not wish to be named,
said around 1,000 people from
outside Delhi had come for the
gathering.
Over the last four weeks,
police have checked call details
and the locations of all the 16,500
people and found that they had
come in close contact with
around 15,000. While some
stayed at the markaz, others left
and visited different places of
Delhi.
These 15,000 persons were
contacted over the phone and
interviewed in person.
“All the units of the police
force were used in this exercise.
For example, Delhi traffic police
personnel were engaged in ana-
lysing those who had come in
contact with these 16,500.
Another team then contacted all
those vulnerable people from
the second group. Some units of
the armed police, which is
responsible for transporting
prisoners from jails to courts,
also took part in the exercise...
Even the security unit was
brought to help in contact trac-
ing,” the officer said.
The teams then informed the
health department about the
suspected cases and people were
accordingly advised to self-iso-
late, quarantine or were hospi-
talised.
Another police officer, who
n The Delhi government on Saturday sent a fleet of 45 buses to bring
the students home.
survive. We were sad, living away
from home as a pandemic raged
on. But now, finally, we are going
home,” she said on a phone call.
As many as 45 buses were sent
by the Delhi government to Kota
on Friday night to bring back 813
students back home. “The gov-
ernment had also sent a team of
nine social welfare officers, doc-
tors, officials from the transport
department and revenue depart-
ment in order to facilitate the
CORONAVIRUS: METRO
n The Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin had emerged as a
Covid-19 hot spot.
was part of the contact tracing
exercise, said they analysed
data of cell phones in the area in
the weeks before the curbs for
social distancing were put in
place.
“The data showed a massive
jump after March 13. The
markaz had a massive gathering
for their congregation,” the sec-
ond police officer said.
Police are probing the case
against the Jamaat functiona-
ries under stringent sections
that include those related to cul-
pable homicide not amounting
to murder.
The Jamaat has maintained
that people from outside were
stuck because of the lockdown
first announced by the Delhi
government on March 24 and
later due to the nationwide
curbs ordered from March 25.
Between March 29 and 31,
police and the health depart-
ment evacuated around 2,300
people from the markaz. Also, in
the first week of April, police
found around 200 Jamaat mem-
bers at different mosques across
the city, who had left the head-
quarters before the evacuation
SOURCED
thermal screening of students
and to ensure social distance is
maintained throughout the jour-
ney,” a government official said.
Officials said the buses
reached Kota between 10.30am
and 12.30pm on Saturday. The
vehicles were sanitised before the
students were allowed to board.
“One home guard and one Delhi
Police constable were deployed
on each bus. Personal Protection
Equipment (PPE) kits were pro-
03
SANJEEV VERMA/HT FILE
began.
The markaz has been the big-
gest source of Covid-19 infec-
tions in Delhi. Of the 3,515 Cov-
id-19 cases in Delhi, at least 1,080
(30.72%) have been linked to it,
according to union health min-
istry data.
Tablighi Jamaat head Mau-
lana Saad and six other func-
tionaries of the group have been
named in a First Information
Report for organising a reli-
gious gathering at the markaz
despite restrictions on such con-
gregations to check the Covid-19
spread.
The gathering was held even
as the Delhi government banned
all religious events on March 13.
Gatherings were restricted to
200 people on March 16 before a
four-person limit was put on
March 21 on them.
The data will also be used as
evidence against Saad and the
other accused of allegedly hav-
ing defied the orders.
The markaz has been linked
to infections in at least 17 states
and Union territories, accord-
ing to Union health ministry
data.
vided to the staff. Only 22 students
are allowed in one bus/coach,”
said Harish Sabharwal, general
secretary of Delhi contract bus
association.
All the buses later gathered at
a point from where they left for
Delhi together at around 8pm.
The students are expected to
reach Delhi by 5am on Sunday.
“We were allowed to board the
buses after thermal screening.
We were given masks, sanitisers
and packed food for the journey.
Only one student was allowed to
sit on a seat meant for two,” said
Himanshu Yadav, 20, another
medical aspirant and a resident of
north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri.
Chief minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on Saturday tweeted, “Hun-
dreds of our children studying in
Kota were stuck for more than a
month. We are arranging for
their return to Delhi. I am so
happy they will soon be reunited
with their families.”
Transport minister Kailash
Gehlot said the students would be
screened again on arrival.
The students in Kota had ear-
lier this week launched a Twitter
campaign demanding the Delhi
government make arrangements
to bring them back.
04 hindustantimes
p g
htspotlight
As migrants return, states
guard against Covid surge
CHALLENGE Seven labourers test positive after returning to UP, while 13 are found to be infected in neighbouring Bihar
Arun Kumar, Sanjoy Dey and
Debabrata Mohanty
n letters@hindustantimes.com
PATNA/RANCHI/BHUBANESHWAR:
States receiving migrant labou-
rers from across India are gear-
ing up for a massive challenge: a
spurt in coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) cases. And, some
states such as Bihar, Uttar Pra-
desh and Odisha, have already
unveiled unprecedented steps.
The Bihar government has
made a 21-day quarantine man-
datory for all workers and has
cancelled the leave of all doctors
and health workers. Odisha,
which will test all workers for
Covid-19 after a mandatory
14-day quarantine period, has
instructed all community centres
to remain open around the clock,
and has decided to create 4,200
new isolation beds.
Like most other states, Uttar
Pradesh has made a 14-day quar-
antine mandatory, after which
each family will get food grains
for 15 days. The state has created
special isolation wards at district
hospitals. Jharkhand will be pro-
viding cooked meals to workers
during the 15-day quarantine and
free rations for their families.
On Friday, railways ran spe-
cial trains, called Shramik, to
take migrant workers back to
their villages. More trains took
back workers from at least 10
states on Saturday. However, the
return of migrant workers has
created a fear of Covid-19 cases
increasing.
At least seven migrant work-
ers, who returned to Uttar Pra-
desh, have tested positive. In just
one district of Bihar, 13 migrant
workers have tested positive. In
Odisha, 20 workers, who
returned from Bengal, have
tested positive.
Between April 25 and May 1,
when many workers returned,
Bihar reported 243 new cases,
which is almost 50% of the 475
cases in the state. Officials said
many of the new cases reported in
the second phase of the lockdown
were migrants, who somehow
managed to reach Bihar, and
spread infections to new areas.
Many of the new cases have
been reported from districts,
such as Madhubani, Darbhanga,
Sitamarhi and Purnea, which
were previously free of Covid-19
cases. Madhubani district magis-
trate, Dr Nilesh Ramchandra
Deor, said all the 13 positive cases
are of migrants from Delhi, Mum-
bai and Lucknow, while the ori-
gin of the earlier five cases was
traced to a woman who came by
car from Delhi. “The emerging
trend of new cases shows the
challenging phase for the state
may have just begun with more
and more people returning to
their native places and we have to
be prepared for it,” said a senior
official of the government, who
was not willing to be named.
The state government has can-
Women Jan Dhan
account holders to
get ₹500 for May
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The government has
asked both private and public sec-
tor banks to keep their systems
and processes ready to disburse
₹500 to over 200 million women
Jan-Dhan account holders each
from Monday, which is part of the
₹1.7 lakh crore Prime Minister
Jan Kalyan Yojana package
announced by finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman on March
26, officials said.
To help the poor when liveli-
hoods of most of them are dis-
rupted, the Centre is giving an
ex-gratia of ₹500 per month for
next three months starting April.
The money will be released by
the ministry of rural develop-
ment (MoRD) directly in the bank
accounts of over 200 million
accounts, hence banks have been
asked to provide for enough cash
in their branches and ATMs so
that the beneficiaries should not
face any hassle and social dis-
tancing is maintained, the offi-
cials said requesting anonymity.
In order to avoid rush it is sug-
gested to disburse money on the
basis of last digit of individual
accounts in a particular day, they
said. The Monday is fixed for
account numbers ending with 0
and 1. Likewise 2-3 on Tuesday,
4-5 on Wednesday, 6-7 on Friday
and 8-9 ext Monday. Banks are
advised to inform account hold-
ers through SMS,
THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
Total confirmed cases including new cases added on May 2
UT J&K
666 27
Punjab
950 341 112
Haryana
376 19
DELHI
4122 384 1256
Rajasthan
2720 78
Gujarat
5054 333 896
Madhya Pradesh
2788 73
Chhattisgarh
43 0 36
Maharashtra
12296 790
Telangana
Goa
1061 17
7 0 7
Karnataka
601 12
*Data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies
celled leaves of doctors, health
officials and contractual workers
in the health department till May
31. All medical facilities have
been asked to remain prepared
for the admissions of a large num-
ber of cases, an official said.
In Uttar Pradesh, seven daily
wage workers, who returned
from Maharashtra, tested posi-
tive. They have been put in gov-
ernment quarantine in Basti dis-
trict. District magistrate, Ashut-
osh Niranjan, said that the
workers had travelled in state-
run buses from Maharashtra.
The state government officials
said about a million migrants,
who are expected to return, will
be kept at the district and pancha-
yat quarantine centres. The offi-
cials also said that additional iso-
Liquor, paan shop owners
gear up for contactless sales
Neeraj Chauhan
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI : A day after the Centre
on Friday allowed the sale of
liquor in standalone liquor stores
as well as the sale of paan/gutkha
and other tobacco products
across the country from May 4
except in Covid-19 containment
zones, stores are gearing up to
resume business with social dis-
tancing norms and other guide-
lines in place.
The government has catego-
rised all 733 districts across the
country in three zones: red (hot-
spots); orange (having a limited
number of Covid-19 cases); and
green (no cases). There are, how-
ever, strict social distancing
norms in place. People going to
such stores will have to maintain
at least six feet distance between
themselves and store owners will
have to ensure that no more than
five people are present at a shop
at any given time. Spitting in pub-
lic places remains punishable.
Liquor and paan shops inside
malls or marketplaces are not
allowed to operate yet. Neither
are such stores in containment
zones. Containment zones are
those areas in red and orange
zones that have been sealed due to
a high number of Covid-19 infec-
tions. Only essential activities
are permitted in these areas.
The government had prohib-
ited the sale of liquor and paan/
gutkha since March 24, when the
New cases
254
242
1121
I N D I A
624
2000
499
271
Kerala
499 2 400
lation beds have been created at
the district level, should there be
a spurt in cases. “Special atten-
tion is being paid to workers com-
ing back from Maharashtra,
which has the highest number of
cases in India,” said a senior UP
government official.
The state first Shramik train,
carrying 847 migrants, will reach
Lucknow’s Charbagh railway
station on Sunday morning from
Nashik. Divisional railway man-
ager (DRM), Lucknow division,
NR Sanjay Tripathi, said, “We
have also made arrangements at
the station to strictly ensure
social distancing.” The district
wise segregation will be done and
they will be taken to buses. “We
have arranged 65 buses,” said
Mukesh Meshram, divisional
‘NO FLIGHT SERVICES TILL MAY 17’
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI:A day after the
Modi government
announced extension of the
coronavirus-induced lock-
down till May 17, the DGCA
on Saturday said all com-
mercial passenger flights
will remain suspended till
midnight of May 17.
“It is reiterated that for-
first phase of lockdown was
announced by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Since then, sev-
eral states ,including Kerala,
West Bengal and Punjab, repeat-
edly urged the Centre to lift the
ban on sale of liquor citing deple-
tion of state revenues. Liquor is
one of the major contributors to
states’ coffers.
The International Spirits and
Wines Association of India
(ISWAI), which has Diageo India,
Pernod Ricard, Beam Suntory,
Bacardi and others as members,
had asked the union consumer
affairs ministry to allow shops to
sell alcoholic beverages for some
hours during the day. Another
body, the Confederation of Indian
Alcoholic Beverages Companies
(CIABC), had also asked the gov-
ernment to allow the sale of
liquor, citing huge losses.
Recovered cases
UT Ladakh
22 0 17
Himachal Pradesh
40 0 33
Chandigarh
94 6 19
Uttarakhand
59 2 39
Uttar Pradesh
2487 159 698
Bihar
481 15 107
Jharkhand
115 2 22
Odisha
156 7 55
Andhra Pradesh
1525 62 441
Puducherry
10 0 5
Tamil Nadu
2757 231 1341
commissioner, Lucknow.
In Odisha, about 20 workers
who returned from West Bengal,
tested positive in the past few
days in Ganjam and other dis-
tricts. “More than half of the 149
Covid-19 cases in Odisha have
travel history of hot spots in West
Bengal,” said Odisha chief secre-
tary, Asit Tripathy. On Friday,
two new cases were reported
from Bolangir district with a
travel history to Tamil Nadu.
About 325 workers from Surat
in Gujarat, who hired seven
buses to return, are in quaran-
tine. Around 1,200 workers from
Kerala, who reached Odisha on
Saturday morning, have been
sent to quarantine centres in
their respective districts, the
chief secretary said.
eign and domestic airlines
shall be suitably informed
about the opening of their
operations whether interna-
tional to/from India or
domestic, respectively, in
due course,” a circular of the
Directorate General of Civil
Aviation stated. However,
cargo flights, medical evacu-
ation flights and special
flights permitted by the
DGCA are allowed..
ISWAI chairman, Amrit Kiran
Singh, said, “We have committed
to the government that social dis-
tancing will be maintained at the
liquor vends. As soon as the latest
guidelines come into force, we
will begin a programme called
‘Safe Shield’, under which signs
will be put outside all shops about
social distancing. Sanitisers will
be placed outside shops. .”The
aim of the ‘Safe Shield’ is to use
services of online delivery plat-
forms, such as Swiggy and
Zomato, for delivery of bottles for
which, he said, ISWAI is trying to
convince the state governments.
A senior home ministry offi-
cial, who didn’t want to be named,
explained on Friday that “the
decision to reopen standalone
liquor stores across all three
zones has been taken as part of
resuming economic activity...”.
Arunachal
Pradesh
1 0 1 day in the context of a stimulus
Assam
43 0 33
Meghalaya
12 0 10
Manipur
2 0 2 with the matter said, asking not to
Mizoram
1 0 0
Tripura
4 1 2 He discussed interventions in the
West Bengal
886 91
199
Andaman
and Nicobar
33 0 16
39,911
Total number of
cases across India*
1,319
Deaths due to
Covid-19 across India
Four buses carrying more
than 120 workers left for West
Bengal from Dumka district on
Friday. These buses were sup-
posed to bring over 100 Jhark-
hand workers from 24-Pargana
South, Howrah, Kolkata and
Malda. “The buses were stopped
at Bengal border and the officials
there said that they have not
received any such order to allow
buses of other states. So, the
buses were asked to return,” said
Dumka deputy commissioner
Rajeshwari B. Dhanbad deputy
commissioner, Amit Kumar, said
the state is in talks with officials
of the Bengal government but
they are not allowing buses to
enter border. “So, we have
decided to send out buses to other
neighbouring states,” he said.
coronanotes
AFTER RAMAYAN,
SRI KRISHNA TO
BE RE-TELECAST
NEW DELHI : After the record-
breaking success of Ramanand
Sagar produced epic serial
Ramayan, public broadcaster
Prasar Bharati is now counting on
another epic production Sri
Krishna to maintain its high
viewership ratings. Information
and Broadcasting mianister
Prakash Javadekar said that from
Sunday at 9 M Doordarshan’s
national channel will start
telecasting Sri Krishna.
Forces to honour Covid warriors today
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
NEW DELHI: Fighter jets will per-
form a fly-past over Rajpath and
fly over Delhi and the National
Capital Region (NCR) and heli-
copters will shower petals over
several hospitals in the Capital on
Sunday morning as part of an
elaborate military plan to show
gratitude to the country’s Cov-
id-19 warriors, an Indian Air
Force (IAF) spokesperson said on
Saturday.
The plan, announced by chief
of defence staff, General Bipin
Rawat, on Friday, involves sev-
eral activities, such as illuminat-
ing warships and band perform-
ances outside Covid-19 hospitals
across the country. The fighter
jets featuring in the fly-past, or
what the IAF is calling an “aerial
2nd stimulus package
likely soon, says CEA
Sunetra Choudhury
and Rajeev Jayaswal
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The second economic
stimulus package can be expected
“very soon”, Chief Economic
Adviser Krishnamurthy V Sub-
ramanian said in an interview on
Saturday, although he declined to
put a time-frame or a magnitude
to it.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi met with home minister
Amit Shah and finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman on Satur-
package and an official familiar
with the matter said on condition
of anonymity that in a series of
meetings on this theme the PM
has, over the past few days
reviewed trade, commerce, coal
and mining, defence, aviation,
power, agriculture, and the edu-
cation sectors. The focus of the
package, when it is announced,
will be making the Indian econ-
omy self-reliant and turning the
current crisis into an opportu-
nity, a second person familiar
be identified.
The PM chaired a meet on
strengthening the micro, small
and medium enterprises
(MSME). “Chaired a meeting on
strengthening our MSME sector,
which plays a pivotal role in eco-
nomic development,” he tweeted.
financial sector and structural
reforms needed to spur growth.
At the meeting with the finance
minister and other officials, he
also discussed strategies and
interventions to support MSMEs
and farmers, enhance liquidity
and strengthen credit flows. The
PM discussed ways to ensure
financial stability and measures
Farmers go online to sell
their produce in lockdown
Zia Haq
n zia.haq@htlive.com
NEW DELHI : On Saturday, 200 new
agricultural markets or mandis
were added to the e-Nam e-com-
merce platform for agricultural
produce, almost a fourth of the
785 markets on the platform
which was launched in 2016 to
benefit farmers, but whose popu-
larity has surged in recent weeks
following the coronavirus dis-
ease pandemic and the lockdown
enforced to combat it.
At least 166000 registered farm-
ers across the country are now
selling their produce by transact-
ing from home and praticising
social distancing, with nearly
half of the country’s 1500 major
farm-end commodity markets
now going online on e-NAM, agri-
culture minister Narendra Sing
Tomar said.
This is the first time wholesale
food markets in large states, such
as Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka,
have joined the digital supply
TIRUPATI LAYS OFF
1,300 CONTRACT
EMPLOYEES
HYDERABAD: India’s richest
Hindu temple of Lord Venkatesh-
wara in Andhra Pradeshdecided
to let go off 1,300 contractual
workers citing the suspension of
work and inability to renew
contracts during the ongoing
lockdown. The discontinuation of
service was announced on Friday
by the Tirumala Tirupati Devast-
hanams. The 1300 workers were
employed in the sanitation and
hospitality departments.
A FLY-PAST IS PLANNED
BETWEEN 10AM AND
10.30AM. THE AIRCRAFT
WILL BE FLYING AT A
HEIGHT OF 500 TO 1,000M
salute,” over Delhi-NCR, will be
the Sukhoi-30s, MiG-29s and Jag-
uars. The fly-past is planned
between 10 and 10.30 am. The air-
craft will be flying at a height of
500 to 1,000 metre and will be visi-
ble to Delhi residents from their
rooftops, the spokesperson said.
The fly-past by the fighter jets
will be followed by the C-130J spe-
cial operations aircraft flying
over Delhi-NCR in formation.
The IAF spokesperson said
helicopters will shower petals
over the National Police Memo-
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: NATION
AT A MEETING, PM MODI
DISCUSSED STRATEGIES
AND INTERVENTIONS TO
SUPPORT MSMES AND
FARMERS, ENHANCE
LIQUIDITY AND BOOST
CREDIT FLOWS
taken to enable businesses to
recover quickly.
The ongoing Covid-19 pan-
demic and the lockdown enforced
to slow its progress have roiled
the economy. On Friday, the gov-
ernment announced a graded exit
from the lockdown over two
weeks starting May 4. However,
in red zones, the most affected or
most at-risk parts, many of the
restrictions will continue.
“We have to keep in mind, this
is not something that is specific to
India, but a global pandemic. This
is an extremely uncertain period,
so any projection we make will
have to be continually recali-
brated as things evolve. IMF has
said India will grow at 1.9% when
the global economy is going to
shrink at 3%... They put in several
caveats as they should. Even with
the Spanish Flu, there was a
V-shaped growth after. With that
in mind, overall, I would say
between 1-2% of GDP is some-
thing I would think,” Subrama-
nian said.
Meanwhile, the government
has already received specific pro-
posals of policy reforms and fiscal
incentives from various stake-
holders and industries but a final
decision will be taken after care-
ful assessment of various sectors
of the economy, the two officials
cited above said. Industry has
proposed a comprehensive stim-
chain. These mandis are the first
point of sale for farmers in a deli-
cate supply chain, and will help
connect them with more than
100,000 traders, who are also
wired in, through the e-NAM
mobile app. Wholesale markets,
which are usually crowded, could
be key hot spots. Farmers on the
e-NAM app can strike deals for
their harvests remotely by first
uploading pictures of their sam-
ples and then getting these sam-
ples scientifically checked for
quality by remote assayers, with-
out having to move entire truck
loads to physical markets.
The additional 200 markets
integrated into the platform
include 11 in Andhra Pradesh, 25
in Gujarat, 16 in Odisha, 94 in
Rajasthan, 27 in Tamil Nadu, 25 in
UP and two in Karnataka.
“This is the first milestone
achieved in the path of integrat-
ing 415 new markets across the
country. It is for the first time that
Karnataka state has been added
to the list of e-NAM States,”
LABOURER KILLS
DAUGHTER OVER
FINANCIAL ISSUES
SANGAREDDY (TELANGANA): A
daily wage labourer allegedly
killed his four-year-old daughter
and claimed he killed her due to
financial problems, police said on
Saturday. The 35-year-old man
was father of two daughters and
a son, police said. on Saturday. On
Thursday night, he woke up and
screamed that his elder girl was
missing, they said. During the
probe, he confessed to the crime
and was sent to judicial custody.
rial and Delhi hospitals. These
include Deen Dayal Upadhyay
Hospital, GTB Hospital, Ram
Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdar-
jung Hospital, Sri Ganga Ram
Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar
Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha
Hospital and the Army Hospital
(Research and Referral).
The IAF also plans to shower
petals over two hospitals in Kolk-
ata -- ID&BG hospital and the
Eastern Command Hospital-- on
Sunday IAF sources said.
Wreaths will be laid at the
police memorial on behalf of the
three service chiefs.
The Navy will illuminate its
warships at anchorage from 7.30
pm to midnight at Mumbai, Por-
bandar, Karwar, Vizag, Chennai,
Kochi and Port Blair, a navy
spokesperson said. He added that
naval helicopters will shower
ulus package worth ₹16 lakh
crore, which includes welfare
measures, policy reforms and fis-
cal concessions, to revive the
economy. The Centre has come in
for criticism over the delay in
announcing a stimulus package.
Subramanian said that the
delay was because of the Centre’s
desire to come up with a “compre-
hensive” one. “Primarily, the
work is on trying to make it very
comprehensive. Not just in terms
of the stimulus, but bringing in
some reform measures as well.
Policy-making is also about bal-
ancing different interests...”.
The primary focus was con-
taining the spread of the pan-
demic, and providing relief to the
poor, the two officials said. Now,
the next big agenda of the govern-
ment is to bring the economy
back on track. “A stimulus is
expected sooner than later...it
will neither be the first stimulus,
nor the last. The government will
provide relief to every sector in a
caliberated manner so that the
limited resource can be utilised
most effectively. The immediate
focus would be on rural economy,
informal sector, MSMEs (micro,
small and medium enterprises)
and those big industries that
would have rippling impact on
the three...,” the first official said.
Subramanian, however, did
not put a number to the possible
package. However, he added that
reports of a stimulus as much as
10% of the GDP in the US and 15%
in the UK are exaggerated.
He also said that India can’t
compare itself to the US .
“40-50% of the US population
pays taxes while in contrast the
number in India is less than 10%.
We cannot cherry-pick some of
these aspects...,’’ the CEA told
Hindustan Times.
Tomar said.
According to an official who
spoke on condition of anonymity,
the ministry has added two new
features in the e-NAM platform
last month so that famers can sell
their produce without bringing
them to physical markets. The
first, “FPO option” allows farmer
producer organisations to trade
on the app from their collection
centres. The second, called the
“warehouse module”, allows
farmers to sell their produce
stored in registered warehouses.
“What hold some these e-NAM
markets back is that in many pla-
ces, state governments have not
appointed adequate number of
food assayers...,” said Anil Sar-
dana, a consultant who worked
with the Karnataka to set up a
similar state-specific platform.
“It takes a little getting used
to,” says farmer Jaspal Singh
Nain of Haryana’s Kurukshetra
adding: “...sample examiners
(responsible for grading quality)
are not always available.”
MIGRANT WORKER
DIES AFTER BUS
OVERTURNS
BHUBANESWAR : A migrant
worker travelling from Surat to
Ganjam district in a bus carrying
65 workers died and another
person seriousy injured when the
vehicle overturned at a hilly road
in Odisha’s Kandhamal district
Saturday evening. Police officials
said the bus carrying the migrant
workers from Surat had started on
Thursday night and was about to
enter Ganjam district when the
driver lost control .
petals over Covid-19 hospitals in
Mumbai and Goa.
Also, 46 Indian Coast Guard
ships will be lit up at 25 locations
along the country’s eastern and
western seaboards, the defence
ministry said. Ten coast guard
helicopters will shower flower
petals over Covid-19 hospitals in
Daman, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai
and Port Blair.
The tributes being offered to
Covid-19 warriors will see army
bands perform outside several
hospitals and locations across the
country, including the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences, the
Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, the
Army’s RR Hospital and the Base
Hospital in Delhi Cantt, an army
spokesperson said. Dal Lake in
Srinagar is among the locations
where army bands will perform
to honour Covid-19 warriors.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
MAY 03, 2 02 0
p g
htspotlight
1mn tested for Covid in India; 10k recover
SURVEILLANCE Almost 783 per million of
the population tested; govt expects to cross
100,000 tests a day, up from 5,580 on April 1
Sanchita Sharma
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The number of tests
conducted for the coronavirus
disease in India crossed a million
on Saturday, up from 38,914 on
April 1, which takes the number
of tests to almost 783 per million of
the population. And the number
of recoveries crossed 10,000.
On Friday, India tested 74,507
samples, of which around 85% of
the tests were done at govern-
ment labs using the Reverse
Transcription Polymerase Chain
Reaction (RT-PCR), which is the
only diagnostic test for Covid-19
approved by the World Health
Organization.
“We have made a quantum
jump in testing. We plan to ramp
it up further to move towards a
situation where we can test
everyone who needs it. The num-
ber of labs doing Covid-19 tests
has gone up, with 406 labs -- of
which 105 are private ones -- now
testing for Covid-19,” said C K
Mishra, secretary, environment,
and co-chair of the PM’s high-
level committee on preparedness
for a medical emergency.
The health ministry expects
testing to cross 100,000 tests a day
next week, up from 5,580 a day on
April 1. “Positivity remains low
except for the 20 cities, which are
still a cause of concern as the Cov-
id-19 curve doesn’t appear to be
flattening there. The strategy for
the future will be ramping up sur-
veillance in these cities so we test
every case of influenza-like ill-
ness to inform the containment
response,” said a health ministry
official, asking not to be named.
RT-PCR is used for qualitative
detection of genetic material
called nucleic acid (RNA) from
Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes
Covid-19, and is the most accurate
diagnostic test for infection,
while other tests, such as rapid
antibody tests, are surveillance
tools that cannot test for current
infection.
Among the 304 government
labs, 254 use Real-Time RT-PCR
systems, 42 use TrueNat
machines, and use Gene-Xpert
cartridge-based nucleic acid
amplification test (CBNAAT) for
States issue guidelines
for extended lockdown
HT Correspondents
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre
extended lockdown till May 17,
most states decided to follow the
home ministry’s guidelines
allowing several activities in the
green and orange zones to kick-
start economy and official work,
with a few exceptions.
Maharashtra decided to con-
tinue with a hard lockdown in
Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and
Thane, overlooking the exemp-
tions provided by the Centre for
red zones, from where the most
number of cases have been
reported, and allowed liquor
sales but not that of tobacco prod-
ucts. Neighbouring Gujarat
decided industries across the
state, except in containment
zones, can resume operations.
Kerala decided not to open
liquor shops or allow public
transport or restaurants. Andhra
will start liquor manufacturing
in rural areas from Monday to
boost state finances. Karnataka
decided to open liquor shops
across the state, except in con-
tainment zones.
Assam opened its border with
the neighbouring states for the
first time since the lockdown
came into force on March 25 to
allow stranded persons to return.
West Bengal on Sunday is
expected to announce its own
lockdown norms for only four red
zones as against 10 decided by the
Centre.
The Centre on Friday extended
the lockdown till May 17 , but
allowed almost all activities,
except opening of malls, educa-
tional institutions, restaurants
and hotels, running of public
transport , inter-state travel and
social, political and religious
gatherings, in about 370 green
districts.
The Maharashtra government
issued a state specific lockdown
notification similar to the Central
one but had more stringent provi-
sions for red zones including in
Mumbai and Pune, where the
number of cases is high.
While the Centre allowed stan-
dalone shops and offices to
resume work with 33% staff in
private firms red zones, Maha-
rashtra did not. Even the indus-
Covid-19. Truenat is a small bat-
tery-operated machine that can
run 32 to 48 samples and produces
results in one hour, while
CBNAAT machines are available
in rural settings, where it is used
to test for tuberculosis.
India has added two more high
throughput systems that are
capable of running 1,100-1,200
tests in one shift to the existing
two in Noida and Bhubhanesh-
war. “Labs in Noida and Bhuban-
eshwar already have high-
throughput systems, another one
has been added to Bangalore, and
a new one has arrived, which will
be installed in National Centres
of Disease Control in Delhi to
increase testing capacity fur-
ther,” said Mishra.
India has testing kits in stock
for another 11-12 days, and the
threat of interrupted supply of
RNA extraction kits from China
is being addressed by domestic
suppliers, who now provide
70,000-80,000 kits a day. “With
local suppliers coming into play,
shortages are no longer an over-
whelming concern,” said the
health ministry official.
The health ministry has taken
steps to address the pendency
issue, where labs were taking sev-
eral days to send back results.
An examination showed Mad-
hya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Delhi being identified as the
states with the highest pendency.
In Delhi, the National Institute of
Biologicals in Noida was identi-
fied as a bottleneck, with the lab’s
capacity to test 1,000-1,100 sam-
ples a day being stretched
because of the arrival of samples
from both Uttar Pradesh and
Delhi. “We asked Delhi to with-
draw its samples and send them
to private labs for testing, and
now the problem is sorted,” said
the official.
Public health experts hope
more people with symptoms will
come forward to get tested follow-
ing the health ministry order that
now allows for home quarantine
of mild cases.
According to HT’s dashboard,
the number of infections were
39,911 on Saturday night, with
1,319 deaths and 10,758 recover-
ies.
n CRPF personnel speak to commuters in Ranchi, Jharkhand,
on Saturday.
trial relaxations given by the
Centre such as allowing indus-
tries to function in non-munici-
pal areas in red zones has not
been allowed, except for essential
goods. The central guidelines
allow states to pass their own, as
long as they are tougher ; no dilu-
tion is allowed in the central
guidelines, though.
However, Maharashtra
allowed all pre-monsoon related
work including “protection of
building, shuttering, flood pro-
tection, structural repairs, demo-
lition of unsafe buildings’’ includ-
ing in red zones with social dis-
tancing norms. In non-red zones,
liquor shops will open as per Cen-
tre’s guidelines but tobacco and
pan shops will remain closed.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi
Vijayan said public transport will
not be allowed in any zones and
liquor outlets will remain closed
till May 17 throughout the state.
He also announced a series of
measures to protect aged and peo-
ple who have co-morbidities.
The CM said easing of some of
the norms will affect the advan-
tage the state achieved so far.
Karnataka excise minister H
Nagesh said standalone liquor
shops will open except in contain-
ment zones from Monday. The
state had been losing about ~1800
crore per month because of liquor
outlets being shut.
The state government allowed
reopening of the garment sector,
a big employer, and other indus-
tries with one-third staff. Karna-
HOW INDIA IS FIGHTING BACK AGAINST COVID
The number of tests conducted for Covid-19 in India crossed the 1-million mark on Saturday as the recoveries crossed 10,000 cases
1 million
1
Rising high on daily tests
The health ministry expects testing to cross 100,000 tests a day
by next week, up from 5,580 a day on April 1
India has steadily been increasing its testing numbers almost every day over the past
two weeks. It is currently among the countries that are conducting the highest number
of daily tests (of those nations that are publishing daily testing figures)
Japan Italy Switzerland
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0 316,891
Mar 25 New tests conducted daily; moving 5-day average
3
India’s
testing
numbers
against
the world
India tested 74,507 samples
on Friday, according to data
released by the government.
This is more than the
number of tests conducted
on the same date in any
other country in the world.
This is a marked improve-
ment from 38,914 tests on
April 1, and takes the number
of tests to almost 783 per
million of the population
DIWAKAR PRASAD/HT PHOTO
taka CM B S Yediyurappa wrote
to his Maharashtra counterpart
Uddhav Thackeray requesting
him to release 6 TMC of water for
drinking to North Karnataka.
Andhra Pradesh government
on Saturday allowed manufac-
turing of Indian Made Foreign
Liquor and beer in the state with
immediate effect. There are in all
21 big and small breweries and
distilleries in the state, said an
order issued by Commissioner of
Distilleries and Breweries, D
Vasudeva Reddy.
At a review meeting on Satur-
day, chief minister Y S Jagan
Mohan Reddy ordered the offi-
cials to identify the containment
zones. State government officials
added that after Monday at least
50% of industries will resume
operations. Telangana will
announce its lockdown norms
after a cabinet meeting Monday.
On Saturday, Assam health
minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
announced that the state will
open its borders with other states
in the northeast from Sunday to
allow return of residents in their
own vehicles and in buses.
The Uttarakhand government
is likely to allow pilgrims from
within the state to visit Kedar-
nath, Gangotri and Yamunotri
shrines, which were opened this
week, from May 4.
In Himachal, the government
allowed curfew relaxation from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and decided to
waive electricity bills of hotels.
(With state bureau inputs)
Samples tested
Turkey UK
In absolute numbers, India
fares better than many
In terms of total tests, India fares better than countries
such as Canada, UK, Iran and Brazil that have reported far
more cases. Size of circles denotes number of deaths
6m Total test
3m
Germany
1m
India
742k Canada
S. Korea
371k Peru
186k
Pakistan
Sweden
93k
Mexico
11k 23k 45k
SURVEILLANCE, LEGAL ISSUES FLAGGED
Experts raise concerns over Aarogya Setu
Neeraj Chauhan and
Amrita Madhukalya
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI:The government’s deci-
sion to make it mandatory for
people to install its Aarogya Setu
mobile app has inadequate legal
basis and exposes users to possi-
ble surveillance, according to
experts who are now appealing
for the directive to be rolled back
or stronger safeguards to be
introduced, even as the tool trig-
gered a political spat between the
government and the opposition
Congress on Saturday.
The main function of the app is
to keep a track of people who
come close to each other while
having the application on their
phones. Their contact history can
be pulled up if any one of these
persons tests positive for Cov-
id-19, for faster contact tracing.
The home ministry’s decision
on Friday to make it must for peo-
ple going to work from Monday to
install the application was criti-
cised by Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi, who said it was “intru-
sive” before Union minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad responded by
calling the claim “a lie”.
“The Aarogya Setu app is a
sophisticated surveillance sys-
tem, outsourced to a private oper-
ator, with no institutional over-
sight - raising serious data secu-
rity and privacy concerns...,”
K I R A N M A Z U M D A R S H A W S AY S
‘Can’t extrapolate Europe, US data for India projections’
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BENGALURU: India has a different
social structure and tackled the
coronavirus much better than
other countries, and projections
of possible Covid-19 scenario
going forward in this country
cannot be based on European
and US data, biotechnology
industry veteran Kiran Mazum-
dar Shaw said on Saturday.
In an interview to PTI, the
executive chairperson of bio-
pharmaceuticals major Biocon
Ltd suggested creating smaller
red zones instead of classifying
entire district as one so eco-
nomic activity picks up and sup-
ply chain is not cut-off. She
called for empowering district
hindustantimes 05
CORONAVIRUS: SCIENCE & NATION
2
How the states are
testing 10,758 recovered
from Covid-19 as of Saturday night
Maharashtra, which has reported more than 30% of all
cases in the country, accounts for the maximum share
4
of testing (16%). According to data released by state
governments, nearly half the tests in the country are
conducted in four states – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Recoveries in states
Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Testing data for Delhi, Recoveries crossed 10,000 on Saturday,
Madhya Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and Puducherry
was not released by the governments on May 1. meaning that nearly one in every four
cases has now been discharged
US India TOP TESTING STATES OF INDIA
161,092
2000 Maharashtra
Maharashtra
1341 Tamil Nadu
130,132
Tamil Nadu
1256 Delhi
113,934
Rajasthan
1121 Rajasthan
108,403
Andhra Pradesh 896 Gujarat
85,729
Uttar Pradesh 698 Uttar Pradesh
74,116
Gujarat 624 Madhya Pradesh
69,703
Karnataka 2822 Others
Remaining states
5
Apr 30
New cases vs recoveries
While recoveries have been going up, the
With population factored in number of daily new cases has been
Once we factor in the population of countries to look
at tests conducted per million residents, we see that
India leaves a lot of room for improvement
rising at a much faster rate
New cases New recovered
Tests per million 2500
Russia
Portugal
Italy
40,205
33,962
2000
US Spain
Switzerland
32,699
31,890
Italy Germany 30,400
United States 1500
Spain 20,241
France 16,856
United Kingdom 15,082
UK 1000
South Korea 12,153
Iran Saudi Arabia 9,392
Brazil Brazil 1,597 500
Pakistan 878
India 783
Mexico 707
0
Bangladesh 462
Total Cases Apr 7 May 1
91k 181k 363k 725k
Indonesia 395
SOURCE: STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS; WORLDOMETERS.COM
India permits 88
medical staffers to
tion leaders have raised concerns
on the app’s mandate. AIMIM
leader Assaduddin Owaisi on Fri-
day tweeted, “Now Delhi’s Sul-
tans have issued a farmaan that
visit UAE for care
Rezaul H Laskar
n letters@hindustantimes.com
people have no choice in the mat-
ter. They must share their private NEWDELHI:The Indian government
data with government.” on Saturday permitted 88 doctors
Reacting to it, I&B minister and health care professionals to
Prakash Javadekar said, “It travel to the United Arab Emir-
curbs false information and you ates (UAE) to support efforts to
also know if there is a Covid-19 fight the Covid-19 pandemic even
positive person in your vicinity.” as the West Asian state sent a
Around 45 organisations and plane with seven tonnes of medi-
more than 100 individuals on Sat- cal supplies to New Delhi.
urday wrote to Prime Minister The foreign ministers of sev-
Narendra Modi, home minister eral West Asian countries had
Amit Shah and electronics and IT raised the issue of the return of
n Policemen display the Aarogya Setu app in J&K’s Reasi. ANI minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Indian doctors employed in their
against the mandatory use of the healthcare facilities during
Gandhi said in a tweet Saturday. standable. “However, there is no Aarogya Setu app for workers. recent telephone conversations
To this, Prasad responded with law passed by the parliament “While the government ini- with external affairs minister S
two tweets: “Daily a new lie. Aar- authorizing the creation and tially claimed that the use of Aar- Jaishankar. They had also sought
ogya Setu is a powerful compan- making mandatory of this app ogya Setu would be purely volun- medicines such as hydroxychlo-
ion which protects people. It has a which is in contravention of the tary, downloading the app was roquine from India.
robust data security architec- Information Technology Act. So, soon made mandatory for all Cen- A statement from the UAE
ture. Those who indulged in sur- while it could be used as an emer- tral Armed Police Forces person- embassy said Indian authorities
veillance all their lives, won’t gency measure, it could open up a nel and employees of Prasar had allowed the first batch of 88
know how tech can be leveraged Pandora’s box of legal challenges Bharati,” the letter signed by the specialists, doctors and nurses to
for good!” for the government,” he said. groups stated. It could violate pri- travel to the UAE within a short
“Aarogya Setu is now being According to Duggal, when the vacy laws and the Puttaswamy period to support efforts to fight
appreciated globally. The App is application was launched, the privacy judgment, the letter says. Covid-19. It did not say when the
NOT outsourced to any private developers uploaded the terms A government representative, batch would leave for the UAE.
operator. Mr. Gandhi really high and conditions as well as privacy however, denied that there were In a separate development, the
time that you stop outsourcing policy, but the terms and condi- privacy issues. UAE sent a flight carrying seven
your tweets to your cronies who tions that stated that ‘govern- Abhishek Singh of MyGov tonnes of medical supplies to
do not understand India,” he said. ment won’t be responsible for any said, “...only those who are trav- India. UAE ambassador Ahmed
Cyber law expert Pavan Dug- unauthorized leakage of data’ elling to offices will have to down- Al Banna said: “The UAE is com-
gal said the need for a digital con- have been removed. load the app. Once the epidemic is mitted to extending critical sup-
tact tracing method was under- Privacy experts and opposi- over, a user can delete the app.” port to nations...”
administrations in manage- emptive measures that India the elderly, they have lot of
ment of the pandemic with a took in terms of quarantining, these. Look at the number of
mandate to test the population curfew, lockdown, surveillance deaths that have taken place in
and provide treatment for the and adhering strictly to lock- the home for aged in the western
needy. down protocols are something world, its huge...We don’t have
On some reports that Cov- which most countries have not such social structures in India.
id-19 would peak in India in done , she pointed out. We don’t have a large number
June-July, Mazumdar-Shaw She recalled how health offi- of old people dying at one time.
said: there are so many models cials were calling up travelers So, can you extrapolate from
doing the rounds projecting so who came from abroad for two that data and impose it on India?
many things and underlined weeks as part of strict surveil- No, because our social struc-
that one has to go with real data. n Kiran Mazumdar Shaw lance at an early stage. ture is so different, that’s why I
We are extrapolating too The kind of strict and pre- am skeptical of these predic-
much from other areas (Europe when the country had 500 posi- emptive measures that India tions and models which are
and the US) which have not done tive cases, while Italy had done has taken is standing the coun- based on western models, you
what we have done. I really so when it had 9,000 cases, and try in good stead and we should cannot extrapolate in Asia, she
don’t think we should extrapo- the UK 6,700 cases. not start preparing models said.
late data from European data, or So the burden of disease was based on European or western I would do local extrapolation
US data or western data , she much higher in those countries ones because those are very dif- of data, I would not try and build
said. when they enforced lockdown ferent, Mazumdar-Shaw said. mathematical model based on
Mazumdar-Shaw noted that when compared to what we did. Those (European and the US) European or US data, Mazum-
India had declared lockdown And by the way, the kind of pre- models depend a lot on home for dar-Shaw said.
06 hindustantimes
HTSPOTLIGHT
US okays remdesivir for US fatalities may
emergency Covid-19 use hit 100k: Trump
POSITIVE SIGN Early clinical data shows the drug helps patients recover faster
Sanchita Sharma
and Yashwant Raj
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI/ WASHINGTON: The US
drug regulator has allowed emer-
gency use of experimental antivi-
ral drug remdesivir for Covid-19
treatment based on early clinical
data that showed it helps corona-
virus patients recover faster. The
drug is made by Gilead Sciences
and is the first to be approved glo-
bally as a treatment for the viral
pandemic that has killed over
240,000 people worldwide.
The emergency authorisation
allows products to be used for
treatment without full data on
their safety and efficacy, which
has to be still submitted as trials
continue. “This was lightning
speed in terms of getting some-
thing approved. From clinical
trial to getting it authorised, it
12 was 90 days,” said US Food and
drug Administration (FDA) com-
missioner Stephen Hahn.
Remdesivir, when adminis-
tered by an intravenous infusion,
helped patients recover in 11 days
on average , compared to 15 days
taken by those on placebo,
according to a study sponsored by
the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases.
US President Donald Trump,
who announced the authorisa-
France extends
health emergency
until July 24
PARIS: The French government
said on Saturday it will extend a
health emergency imposed to
fight the coronavirus by two
months, allowing it to keep strin-
gent measures in place even after
a partial lifting of the lockdown.
Once approved by lawmakers,
the emergency period will last
until July 24, health minister
Olivier Veran said. The govern-
ment has announced the gradual
lifting of some lockdown meas-
ures from May 11, including the
reopening of primary schools.
Veran said that to lift the emer-
gency, which began on March 24,
at the same time would be prema-
ture and carry the risk of a resur-
gence of the outbreak.
Anyone arriving from abroad
and infected with the virus would
be obliged by law to be quaran-
tined. People will have to wear
masks when using public trans-
port. AFP
HTSPOTLIGHT
3 Indians in UAE
face action over
social media posts
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Three more Indian
expatriates in the United Arab
Emirates have either been sacked
or suspended from their jobs for
Islamophobic social media posts
days after the Indian ambassador
cautioned citizens against post-
ing inflammatory material.
Chef Rawat Rohit, storekeeper
Sachin Kinnigoli and a cash cus-
todian whose identity was with-
held by his employer are the lat-
est additions to a list of about 10
Indians who have faced action for
their social media posts, Gulf
News reported on Saturday.
On April 20, Indian ambassa-
dor Pavan Kapoor had warned
Indian expatriates against such
behaviour after the issue of
Islamophobic social media posts,
especially content showing Islam
in a poor light in conjunction with
the Covid-19 pandemic, was high-
lighted by people in several West
Asian countries.
“India and UAE share the
value of non-discrimination on
any grounds...,” Kapoor had
tweeted.
n Angry protesters hold banners during a demonstration demanding
the reopening of the US economy, in Chicago, Illinois.
tion at the White House on Friday
accompanied by top officials of
his coronavirus task force and
Gilead CEO Dan O’Day, called the
drug the “hot thing” and “an
important treatment for hospital-
ised coronavirus patients” and a
“promising situation”.
The emergency use will be lim-
ited to hospitalised Covid-19
patients with low blood-oxygen
levels or those who need breath-
ing support, the FDA said.
“It is reasonable to believe that
remdesivir may be effective in
treating Covid-19, and that, when
used under the conditions
W O R L D B O DY B A C K S C H I N A
WHO says virus is
‘natural in origin’
Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
GENEVA:The head of emergencies
at the WHO reiterated that the
international body believes the
coronavirus is “natural in ori-
gin”. Michael Ryan responded on
Friday to comments by US Presi-
dent Donald Trump, who said he
had seen information that the
virus may have emerged from a
virology lab in China.
Ryan said WHO teams have lis-
tened “again and again” to many
scientists who have looked at the
gene sequences and the virus,
“and we are assured that this
virus is natural in origin”.
The WHO praised China for its
handling of the pandemic, and
said other countries need to learn
from Wuhan on how it’s bringing
society back to normal. Noting
that there are zero Covid-19 cases
S C H O O L R E S U M P T I O N P L A N U N C E R TA I N
HRD charts course for education sector
Amandeep Shukla
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI:Last Monday, when top
officials of the human resource
development (HRD) ministry
returned to Shastri Bhavan for a
key meeting, two issues were on
the top of their mind.
The first was rescuing the aca-
demic calendar from the Covid
scourge, which had hit not just
one but two academic years.
At stake was the future of 10
million students who had written
their school-leaving examina-
tions and another few million
who were in their final year of col-
lege and preparing for jobs.
But with lockdown extended to
May 17, finishing exams and eval-
uating answer sheets appears
daunting. “Completing the exam
process is foremost on our minds.
But at this moment, it is just wait
and watch,” said a top official,
hinting using criteria like past
performance or internal assess-
ment was a real possibility now.
The second issue was even
more tangled: Fees. With schools
and colleges shut and the lock-
down battering incomes, the
demand for a fee waiver has
united political parties and civil
society alike. A second senior
HRD official admitted that the
issue was examined but added
that the ministry had to take into
account the concerns of educa-
tional institutions, who had peo-
ple on their payrolls.
NOT BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
March and April are always busy
months in the education calendar
with millions transitioning out of
school into college, and millions
more getting out of the education
system into jobs.
Moreover, for months, top offi-
cials were putting finishing
touches to two flagship pro-
grammes of the BJP-led govern-
ment, the New Education Policy
(NEP) that mooted sweeping
AFP
described in this authorisation,
the known and potential benefits
of remdesivir when used to treat
Covid-19 outweigh the known
and potential risks of such prod-
ucts,” the US regulator said.
“Remdesivir... will be used only
to treat adults and children with
suspected or laboratory con-
firmed Covid-19 and severe dis-
ease defined as SpO2 ≤ 94% on
room air, requiring supplemen-
tal oxygen, mechanical ventila-
tion, or extracorporeal mem-
brane oxygenation (ECMO).”
Hospitalised patients in need
of oxygen support account for
in Wuhan, Maria van Kerkhove,
the technical lead for the WHO’s
health emergencies, said, “That’s
very, very welcome news to hear
that there are no more severe
cases no more patients in
Wuhan.”
China on Saturday reported
just one new case. Hubei prov-
ince, where Wuhan is located, has
not reported cases for 28 consecu-
tive days since April 4.
‘ONCE UPON A VIRUS’
China has published a short ani-
mation titled Once Upon a Virus
mocking the US response to the
crisis using Lego-like figures to
represent the two countries.
In the animation posted online
by Xinhua news agency, red cur-
tains open to reveal a stage featur-
ing Lego-like figures in the form
of a terracotta warrior in a face
mask and the Statue of Liberty.
n Children at a school in Mumbai on March 13.
changes in the board examina-
tion format and the Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) cam-
paign to promote national unity.
But as the coronavirus ripped
its way through India in the first
week of March, minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and top offi-
cials realised that scheduled
meetings needed to be pushed on
the back burner. “This should
have been a time when we ought
to have rolled out the New Educa-
tion Policy. Instead we are look-
ing at reworking the upcoming
academic calendar. Now, every-
thing will have to be relooked at,”
said a third top ministry official.
“Wearing masks and looking
like surgeons in an operation the-
atre, the minister, higher educa-
tion secretary Amit Khare and a
dozen top officials have held
meetings to discover prescrip-
tions on the future of the upcom-
ing year. But given the multitude
of problems, there are no ready-
made prescriptions available,”
said a fourth top ministry official.
Many of those meetings have
discussed the politically sensitive
issue of fees. “Representations
have come not just from students
or parents but even from schools
and colleges. The AICTE [All
about 14% of Covid-19 patients,
according to early studies of the
outbreak. Patients on mechani-
cal ventilator or ECMO should be
given the drug for 10 days, while
those who are less sick should get
it for five days, Gilead said.
“The data shows that remdesi-
vir has a clear-cut, significant,
positive effect in diminishing the
time to recovery,” said Anthony
Fauci, a member of the White
House coronavirus task force.
Former Indian Council of Med-
ical Research director-general Dr
Nirmal K Ganguly said Gilead
plans to expand remdesivir trials
to many countries, excluding
India. “Since the supply (of rem-
desivir) is limited, according to
Gilead, India must consider ways
to make this drug available to its
population,” said Ganguly.
Public Health Foundation of
India president Dr K Srinath
Reddy said one trial compared
five days’ regimen with 10 days’
regimen and noted equal clinical
recovery time. “There was no
control group and effect on
deaths was not studied. Another
trial was randomised, had a con-
trol group of standard care, and
observed a benefit in the reduc-
tion of recovery time from severe
illness. The impact on death was,
however, not statistically signifi-
cant and hence unproven.”
MOSCOW MAYOR
SAYS 250,000 IN
CITY INFECTED
MOSCOW:About 2% of Moscow res-
idents, or over 250,000 people,
have the coronavirus, the mayor
of the Russian capital said on Sat-
urday, citing test results.
“According to screening tests
of various population groups, the
real number of the infected is
around 2% of Moscow’s total pop-
ulation,” Sergei Sobyanin wrote
on his blog. Moscow has a popula-
tion of 12.7 million people.
Russia reported 9,623 new
cases on Saturday, its highest
daily rise, taking the total to
124,054. The death toll nationwide
rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in
the previous 24 hours.
Sobyanin said the city has sig-
nificantly ramped up testing
capacity over the past few weeks,
adding the city has managed to
“contain the spread of the infec-
tion” due to the enforcement of
stay-at-home rules and other
measures. AGENCIES
SATISH BATE/HT PHOTO
India Council for Technical Edu-
cation], HRD, CBSE [Central
Board for Secondary Education],
and even the PMO [Prime Minis-
ter’s Office], people have written
to us,” said a fifth official.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The pandemic has seeded anxiety
and uncertainty in millions of
students, their parents and teach-
ers. Arsh Malik, a Class 12 stu-
dent at a government school in
north east Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar,
said that the wait for board exams
was exhausting. “There are so
many rumours on the internet
about board exams. Some say
they will happen, some say they
will get cancelled. I have five
exams pending.”
The uncertainty has left
schools in a fix. “Students and
parents are worried if exams will
be conducted and under what cir-
cumstances. Will they be con-
ducted if there is still a hot spot or
containment zone in the city? If
yes, how will students reach
there?” asked Ameeta Mulla Wat-
tal, principal of Delhi’s Springda-
les Public School.
There is a view within the min-
istry that the National Council for
Educational Research and Train-
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: WORLD
W H W O N ’ T L E T FA U C I T E S T I F Y
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
WASHINGTON: President Donald
Trump on Friday revised his
estimate of US fatalities from
Covid-19 to “hopefully” less
than 100,000, just days after
expressing fears it could go up
to 70,000. His initial estimate
based on projections by his cor-
onavirus task force was around
200,000 deaths.
Over the last 24 hours, the
country reported 1,947 new fatal-
ities and 34,037 new infections.
The American president, who
once dismissed the Covid-19 out-
break as something that will
“disappear” like a “miracle”, has
in recent weeks used projections
to take credit for taking action
and preventing more deaths.
“Through our aggressive
response and the remarkable
commitment and bravery of the
American people, we have saved
thousands and thousands of
lives,” Trump told reporters on
Friday before heading out to
Camp David, the presidential
retreat in Maryland.
He said, “People were think-
VIRUS TRACKER
3,446,058
GLOBAL CASES
242,646
GLOBAL DEATHS
WORST-HIT NATIONS
COUNTRY
1 US
2 SPAIN
3 ITALY
4 UK
5 FRANCE
6 GERMANY
7 TURKEY
8 RUSSIA
9 IRAN
10 BRAZIL
(AS OF 10:35 PM IST)
ing (NCERT) should reduce the
curriculum load on students in
the next session. “However, we
are in the midst of the crisis and
still don’t know how much time
would be lost,” said a senior
CBSE official.
A second challenge is reshap-
ing the college calendar.
“In addition to the pressure to
complete the unfinished aca-
demic tasks due to lockdown, stu-
dents face uncertain future tem-
porarily due to COVID-19 situa-
tion. Teachers should maintain a
positive and reassuring behav-
iour with students to draw their
attention away from scary
thoughts of future,” said M Jaga-
desh Kumar, vice-chancellor of
Jawaharlal Nehru University.
A panel of vice-chancellors
has given broad recommenda-
tions – online tests, assignment-
based or open book exams and a
six-day working week – but policy
makers fear a single or even a few
solutions may not meet the needs
of a diverse set of Indian varsities.
“There are varsities near hot
spots and in green zones. There
are big ones and small ones. One
set of instructions may not be
enough,” said a top UGC official.
ONLINE LEARNING
A section of the ministry is of the
opinion that campuses are not
opening anytime soon. Yet, they
have to remain prepared. “Online
is the apparent solution. How-
ever, not everyone is online
ready. There is lack of online con-
tent in regional languages,” said
a sixth ministry official.
Many have raised questions
about the digital divide. Internet
connectivity is not same across
India and many fear that students
from weaker sections may not
have the resources to spend extra
money for purchasing data or
internet services. “Three fourth
of students come from socially
and economically weaker sec-
tions, who are facing serious
ing in terms of 1.5 million lives
lost to 2.2 (million) without the
mitigation. Hopefully, we’re
going to come in below that...
100,000 lives lost, which is a hor-
rible number nevertheless.”
To apparently keep a tight
control on its narrative about the
handling of the outbreak, the
White House has blocked
Anthony Fauci, a top govern-
ment epidemiologist and mem-
ber of the US coronavirus task
force, from testifying before a
congressional committee next
week. The Trump administra-
tion argued that making key offi-
cials who fight the outbreak
appear at hearings will be “coun-
terproductive”.
States such as California and
Michigan are being very careful
with their curbs and have tight-
ened restrictions. Beaches and
some public parks in California
have been closed indefinitely,
while Michigan has extended the
lockdown to May 15.
In New York City, a nursing
home on Friday reported the
deaths of 98 inmates from Cov-
id-19. “It’s absolutely horrify-
ing,” mayor Bill de Blasio said.
(BY CASES)
CASES DEATHS
1,139,263 66,406
245,567 25,100
209,328 28,710
182,260 28,131
167,346 24,594
164,478 6,736
124,375 3,336
124,054 1,222
96,448 6,156
92,630 6,434
SOURCE: WORLDOMETER
challenges in terms of accessibil-
ity of network and availability of
hardware,” said Delhi University
executive council member
Rajesh Jha.
The ministry admits that no
clear course has been charted yet.
“These aspects have been dis-
cussed. There are no easy solu-
tions though,” admitted a sev-
enth ministry official.
The idea of conducting exami-
nations online has found few tak-
ers owing to problems of students
in vernacular medium and con-
cern over unfair practices.
“It seems universities can pro-
mote intermediate students
based on other evaluation crite-
ria than just exams. However, I
feel, for final year students, who
are passing out, an exam is desir-
able,” said Pankaj Mittal, the sec-
retary general of Association of
Indian Universities.
CHANGED SCENES
Within the ministry, the mood is
sombre. Every few days, news
that someone in an important
establishment -- even the AICTE
-- has tested positive for Covid-19
sends everyone into shock.
The day-to-day functioning
has also changed considerably.
The endless stream of tea and
water is gone, and so is the long
line of people outside the cham-
bers of top secretaries and the
minister. “The meetings are
fewer, attended by lesser number
of people, and even officials of
NCERT and CBSE, regulars in
normal circumstances, come in
fewer numbers,” the second offi-
cial added.
As education falls in the con-
current list of the Constitution,
the HRD ministry is planning to
hold a series of consultation with
states to brainstorm on issues.
But officials admit that the focus
is on firefighting and managing
the current crisis . “This is a time
when all planning has come to a
standstill,”the official added.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
MAY 03, 2 02 0 hindustantimes 07
IT’S QUITE IMPORTANT NOT JUST TO SEE THIS MERGER THROUGH A MAN’S EYES
AND TO BRING MORE WOMEN INTO THE DECISION-MAKING POSITIONS.
> ANDY MURRAY, British tennis star on calls for a merger between the ATP and WTA tours.

An Olympian looks for No training at SAI, NIS hurts athletes

Navneet Singh and Avishek Roy
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
and SAI. “The centre in Patiala is
a safe zone. Nobody is being

opponents at home
BIDING HIS TIME Boxer Vikas is taking help of family members to train during lockdown
Sandip Sikdar
n sandip.sikdar@htlive.com
NEWDELHI:To say that Vikas Kris-
han has a competitive bent of
mind would be an understate-
ment. The boxer cannot live with-
out an adversary, but to his dis-
may the lockdown has left him
with none. To tide over the situa-
tion, Krishan has found “oppo-
nents”, albeit on a different play-
ing field, at home to keep the mind
occupied. “I love playing chess so
I taught my parents during lock-
down; I thought why not make
some opponents at home,” says
the 28-year-old. “Tomorrow if the
lockdown is extended, I won’t
have opponents. What will I do
then? This will come in handy.”
Having secured an Olympic
berth for the third time, the 2018
Commonwealth Games cham-
pion was already in a two-week
self-quarantine period after
returning from the qualifiers in
Jordan when the government
announced a three-week lock-
down owing to the coronavirus
pandemic. Used to his routine, it
has left the 2010 Asian Games
champion exasperated. “Train in
the morning, rest, train again in
the evening, sleep—this is a
sportsman’s routine. I’ve been
following this regimen for 17-18
years, and if it suddenly stops,
you have this odd feeling inside,”
says Krishan, who won silver at
the Asia and Oceania Boxing
Olympic Qualification Tourna-
ment in Amman in early March.
“I am quite frustrated because
I am used to a schedule—training,
resting, and eating meals at a spe-
cific time. At home there’s no sys-
tem, so the schedule has gone
haywire. We don’t have an option
as we can’t step out.”
Not stepping out doesn’t mean
he hasn’t been training. For more
than six months, Krishan had
trained regularly before the pan-
demic stopped all sports around
the globe. To maintain rhythm,
n Vikas Krishan (R) trains with his father.
he is training at home in Bhiwani,
India’s boxing hub in Haryana,
and has roped in family members
to help him. “I have a skipping
rope, focus and punching pads,
dumbbells. My father is helping
me out. You have to find some
help during these times. I have
taught him how to hold the
punching pads, he helps me prac-
tice. Something is better than
nothing, right?” says the south-
paw. “I also swim with my kids in
the farmhouse pool.”
It wasn’t long ago that Krishan
was drawn into the cash-rich,
glitzy world of professional box-
ing after securing an Asian
Games bronze in 2018. But after
winning his first two bouts in the
pro world, including a bout at
New York’s hallowed Madison
Square Garden a year ago, the
lure of achieving Olympic suc-
cess drew him back to the ama-
HT PHOTO
teur fold. And he reckons the
about turn will benefit him
hugely. “Pro boxing is totally dif-
ferent—the training, harder
opponents have made me tough.
Earlier when I used to bleed (in a
bout) I’d think ‘okay, no prob-
lem’. Now I want to hit my oppo-
nent even harder and crush him,”
says Krishan, who feels the
Olympics next year gives him one
more year to train even better.
“Like during the qualifiers I got a
cut above the eye in the first min-
ute of Round 1. Three full rounds
were left and I won against a guy
who was a two-time World Cham-
pionship medallist.”
Having qualified for Tokyo,
Krishan intends to enter pro box-
ing once more before the Tokyo
Games. “I want to do 3-4 pro fights
before going to Olympics. It gives
you a lot of confidence.”
Some experts feel it could
prove a disadvantage in the ama-
teur code where scoring points
matter more than the weight of
the punch.
An Olympic medal will help
make amends for his controver-
sial exit at the 2012 London
Games. He was initially declared
a 13-11 winner in the 69kg pre-
quarterfinal against American
Errol Spence, but the result was
reversed and the US boxer
declared 15-13 winner following
an appeal. A protest by the Indian
camp was rejected. Krishan later
blamed his fitness for the bout
proving a close affair in the first
place. Krishan believes shifting
back to 69kg from 75kg gives him
a significant advantage over
opponents. “In 75kg I had asli
(real) power so in 69kg my power
is at another level. I don’t think
anyone has power like me in the
world,” says a confident Krishan.
“Coaches who have seen my
World Championship fights also
feel that if I hit my opponents
even once they will become care-
ful. Plus I have height and size
advantage in 69kg. In 75kg, most
are of my size but in 69kg there’s
hardly anyone bigger than me.”
Away from the ring for more
than a month, Krishan spends
this “rest period” with 15 family
members, teaching his two sons
and a daughter—aged six, five
and three—ludo. The last time he
had such a long break was in 2013
when he got married. “For the
first week my wife was very
happy I was home but not after
that,” he chuckles. “She has had
to change her routine because of
me. Earlier she would cook when
she wanted to but now has to pre-
pare a healthy diet for me, accord-
ing to my routine.”
His parents are polishing their
chess prowess all the time. Asked
if they have managed to beat him,
Krishan says: “Not yet. Nowa-
days they are playing against
each other. They don’t have the
experience to beat me.”
NEWDELHI: The latest extension of
the national lockdown (now until
May 17) by the Ministry of Home
Affairs has severely affected the
plans of the elite athletes at the
Sports Authority of India (SAI)
centres in Patiala and Bengaluru.
Despite having followed strict
isolation protocols inside these
two campuses since March 24—
where no outsider has been let in
and none of the athletes have
been let out—the athletes cannot
yet resume outdoor training.
Their wait to get back to working
on their fitness continues.
At the National Institute of
Sport, Patiala, more than 60 ath-
letes—including javelin thrower
Neeraj Chopra and members of
the national 4x400m relay team—
have been cooped since the start
of the first of three lockdowns was
announced by the Prime Minister
on March 24. Also confined
within the walls of NIS are nine
weightlifters, including Tokyo
Olympics hopefuls Mirabai
Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga.
The national men’s and women’s
hockey teams have spent the
lockdown period inside the SAI
centre in Bengaluru. Apart from
them, SAI Bengaluru houses
track and field athletes, including
Asian Games 1,500m champion
Jinson Johnson and national
race walker KT Irfan, who has
qualified for Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian Olympic Associa-
tion (IOA) president Narinder
Batra said training for those who
are inside the SAI campuses
should be allowed. “We have
requested government to allow
shortpasses
India to step up battle for
2032 Olympics: IOA chief
NEW DELHI: India will step up its
battle to win the 2032 Olympics
hosting rights when the coronavi-
rus pandemic eases, its top sports
leader Narinder Batra told AFP. “We
are serious and definitely pitching
for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games
and the 2032 Olympics,” he said
Friday. India may face competition
from Queensland, Shanghai and a
potential joint bid between Seoul
and Pyongyang for the Olympics.
n Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is currently stationed at the National
Institute of Sports, Patiala, but is not being able to train.
the players to train outdoors. We
are in touch with Ministry of
Home Affairs and something pos-
itive should happen soon,” said
Batra in his opening address dur-
ing the Athletics Federation of
India (AFI) special general meet-
ing held online on Saturday.
“Those who are staying at dif-
ferent venues of SAI due to
nationwide lockdown should be
allowed to train as the federation
is willing to follow the norms laid
down by the Home Ministry to
avoid the spread of Covid-19. The
norms that we are following in
day to day to life could also be fol-
lowed by athletes,” Batra added.
The athletics and weightlifting
federations have both submitted
plans of how they can go about
Judge rules against US
women in equal pay case
LOS ANGELES: A federal judge
dismissed the US women’s football
team’s bid for equal pay on Friday,
rejecting claims the players had
been underpaid in a crushing defeat
for the reigning world champions.
In a 32-page ruling, Judge Gary
Klausner said the equal pay claims
had been dismissed because there
was evidence the women had
turned down an offer to be paid
along the lines of US men’s team.
PTI
outdoor training in these two cen-
tres while taking necessary pre-
cautions. Weightlifters, espe-
cially, lose muscle mass rather
quickly when they are not train-
ing. And what makes matters
worse is that they are confined to
a space where equipment is easily
available. Because they do not
have permission to work out in
the gym, Chanu informed HT that
the lifters are doing some basic
exercises inside their hostel in
Patiala. “We can’t do any weight
training. We cannot venture out-
side the hostel and our coach is
staying in the other end of the
campus,” she said.
That coach is Vijay Sharma,
who added they have been in reg-
ular touch with the federation
Bundesliga restart blow as
3 test positive for Covid
BERLIN: Three people have tested
positive for coronavirus at Cologne
and will be placed into a 14-day
quarantine, the Bundesliga club
said in a potential blow to hopes of
restarting the German football
season this month. “Cologne had
the entire team and coaching staff,
along with the backroom staff,
tested on Thursday for Covid-19.
Three people tested positive, all are
symptom free,” the club said.
allowed inside and no one can go
outside. We have only nine lifters
and we can maintain enough dis-
tance when we train. We have
given all these plans but we are
yet to get a positive response,” he
said. The Athletics Federation of
India (AFI) president Adille
Sumariwalla said the federation
had sent a request for “isolation
training for those who are inside
the campus (Bengaluru and
Patiala) as they wouldn’t come in
contact with outsiders as coaches
and supporting staff are also
inside the campus. We are hope-
ful of a positive response from
SAI shortly.”
However, a senior SAI official
said that since the cases in India
haven’t dropped isn’t yet possible
to allow outdoor training. “If
something goes wrong then SAI
will be held responsible. Since
Tokyo Olympics has been post-
poned, its best to delay till the
time is conducive for outdoor
training,” the official said.
Punjab, incidentally, was the
first state to extend lockdown
restrictions till May 17, four days
before the countrywide lockdown
was to end. Patiala, where NIS
lies, has been declared a hotspot.
“Allowing outdoor sports activi-
ties is possible only when there is
no spike in cases,” said Patiala’s
District Commissioner, Kumar
Amit. Meanwhile, athletes and
coaches at the two SAI campuses
continue to await the green flag to
resume training. The lack of
training has forced the national
record holder Jinson Johnson in
both 800m and 1,500m to change
his diet.
Brown & Co. bring tennis
back to sound of silence
BERLIN: Dustin Brown donned a
mask and took centre stage. An
eight-man exhibition contest at the
Base Tennis Academy in the tiny
town of Hoehr-Grenzhausen, near
Koblenz, was the first tournament
to be played since coronavirus
brought tennis to a halt in mid-
March. Brown was the best-known
name in the field, all out of top 100,
thanks to his 2015 win over Rafael
Nadal at Wimbledon.

Government of India
Serious Fraud Investigation Office
2nd Floor, Pt. Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan
B3 Wing, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003
No. 02/01/2017-Admn/SFIO/Vol. III
NOTICE FOR EXTENSION OF LAST DATE
The closing date for receipt of applications in respect of following vacancies published in Employment News dated
29 February - 6 March 2020 to be filled on deputation (ISTC) basis in SFIO has further been extended up to 29.05.2020:
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2< 3 %$$%%$% NOTICE INVITING GLOBAL TENDER
(  +&)'$*#
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 & INTERNATIONAL COMPETITITVE BIDDING
%-  "  )' $. *  SHIMLA JAL PRABANDHAN NIGAM LIMITED
Online bids are invited by the Additional General Manager, Water Distribution, Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited, Shimla (H.P.) in electronic
tendering system in two envelopes for the under mentioned work from the experienced firms.
S. Description Estimated Capital Cost Bid Security Project Cost of Form
TRIPURA STATE ELECTRICITY No.
1. Performance Based Contract INR 485,00,00,000/- (Indian rupees four hundred INR 411,00,000/-
Duration
15 years 20,000/-
CORPORATION LIMITED (PBC) for Implementation of and eighty five crore only). (rupees four crore contract (Rupees twenty
Continuous Pressurized Water This cost reflects the construction cost of the eighty five lakh only) period thousand only)
(A Govt. of Tripura Enterprise) Supply in Shimla project and does not include the operations and
maintenance cost.
NOTICE INVITING e-TENDER 1. Tender documents and other instructions can be downloaded or viewed online free of cost from the portal http://hptenders.gov.in by the firms/
NIeT No. DGM/TD/AGT/2020-21/02 Dated: 02.05.2020 individuals on the website which is free of cost.
2. As the bids are to be submitted online are required to be encrypted and digitally signed, the bidders are advised to obtain Digital Signature
Dy. General Manager, Transmission Division, TSECL, 79 Tilla, Certificate (DSC) from suitable venders or from any authorized agency at the earliest.
Agartala, Tripura (w) invites the tender on behalf of TSECL for 3. KEY TENDER DATES AS UNDER:-
the following work from eligible and resourceful contractors/ S. No. Event Date/Location
firms having sufficient credential and financial capability 1. Issue of RFP [www.hptenders.gov.in]
30th April 2020 at 1700 Hrs
for execution of works of similar nature through electronic 2. Last date for receiving queries from Bidders 15th May, 2020 by 1800 Hrs
tendering (e-tendering) on Partial Turn-Key basis for the 3. Issue of responses to query 22nd May, 2020, 1800 Hrs
fallowing work: 4. Bid submission start date 29th May, 2020, 1800 Hrs
5. Bid Due Date 6th June, 2020 at 1700 Hrs
Re - conductoring of 132 KV Double Circuit Transmission
6. Opening of Qualification Proposals 8th June, 2020 at 1530 Hrs
Line from 132 KV Grid Sub-station, 79 tilla, Agartala to
7. Notification of qualified Bidders Within 14 days from the date of opening of Qualification Proposals
Rokhia (GTPP) by HTLS Conductor with allied accessories. 8. Opening of Financial Proposals Within 4 days from the date of notification of qualified Bidders
Tender will be available in the websites http://tripuratenders. 9. Signing of the Contract Within 45 days from the date of acceptance of LOA by Selected Bidder
gov.in & www.tsecl.in from 04.05.2020. Note:- Any enquiry regarding tender can be obtained at the e-mail address sjpnltd@gmail.com, agmwd.sjpnl4@gmail.com.
Deputy General Manager Additional General Manager
Water Distribution
Transmission Division Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited, Shimla-171001
TSECL, Agartala 0034 (e-mail: sjpnltd@gmail.com)
08 hindustantimes SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0

sundaycomment
WHAT THE PANDEMIC TELLS US ABOUT THE STATE
acute in the next two weeks — in the backdrop of
chanakya the Centre’s complex, graded plan for the end of
the lockdown. For the local district authorities,
and more crucially, the local policeman man-
ning the crossings, to distinguish between what
is allowed and what is prohibited and enable
activity accordingly will be a major challenge.

R
arely has the Indian State been put
to test as it is being now. The scale of
the coronavirus pandemic and the
ensuing 54-day lockdown — albeit
with relaxations that were
announced on Friday for the period
after May 3 — has been a test for the resilience,
integrity, efficiency, decision-making processes
and capabilities of the Indian State.
After 40 days of the lockdown, and over 35,000
cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), how
has the State fared? Here are the strengths.
One, the Indian State’s coercive arms are
extraordinarily strong and efficient. Locking
down an entire nation — of India’s population,
size, complexity, diversity — was no easy task.
But the fact that all the security arms of the
State came together, from the Centre to the
states, and enforced this lockdown is a testa-
ment to the fact that when the State wishes to
implement something, on a large scale, curtail-
ing the liberty of citizens for any purpose (in this
case for the noble objective of preserving public
health), it can do so.
In many cases, the enforcement has been
overzealous, leading to the harassment of citi-
zens who work in essential services. In other
cases, there have been instances where the
enforcement could have been more humane,
taking into account the needs of more vulnera-
ble segments. But the big picture that has
emerged from the lockdown is this. If there is a
clear directive from the Centre, and if the states
are on board with it, then the police force can
deliver.
This brings us to the second interrelated
strength. The lockdown could not have been as
successful without the cooperation and support
of citizens. People themselves were apprehen-
sive of Covid-19 and feared its spread. And,
therefore, they complied with the directive —
even when it so severely hurt their livelihoods.
But this became possible because of the ability
of the State to communicate its message well. In
this case, credit has to be given to Prime Minis-
ter (PM) Narendra Modi, a communicator par
excellence.
The PM has spoken to the people regularly on
the pandemic — he addressed the nation four
times, and devoted two of his monthly radio
addresses to the issue. He did not underplay the
scale of the challenge; he told citizens that deal-
ing with this was a difficult challenge for India,
with its resources; he used everyday phrases
which are easily understandable — such as do
gaz ki doori (keeping a distance of two yards),
jaan hai to jahaan hai (if there is life, there is a
world) — to both convey the precautions that
needed to be taken and the importance of saving
lives. All of this ensured that the danger posed
by the pandemic, and the steps which could
minimise its spread, percolated down to the
ground, in the remotest of corners.
The third strength of the State was in its deci-
siveness. Decision-making is difficult in a
democracy, which has to contend with multiple
interests and voices. Power is often fragmented.
But the government remained alert. Despite its
weaknesses (low testing in the initial stages,
denial of community transmission, the slow
n The State scores high on coercive power, communication, decisiveness and federalism. But its ability to
implement nuanced policies, treat the poor humanely, and manage the economy is weak
pace at which it provided personal protective
equipment for health workers), the State acted
decisively, took a route that it knew would have
high economic costs, and stayed the course —
largely allowing scientific inputs and data to
drive decision-making.
And the final strength of the State was reflect-
ed in the functioning of its federal structure. It is
difficult to imagine a scenario in which India
managed this crisis as a unitary, centralised
polity. The fact that there are state governments
in place — many of them led by able chief minis-
ters — who have their ear to the ground, who
can deploy local administrative machinery
quickly, and who can cater to hyper localised
requirements has been a big asset in this battle.
But if coercion, communication, decisive-
REUTERS
ness, and federalism have helped, this crisis has
also exposed weaknesses of the Indian State.
The first is the major gap between policy and
implementation. The fact that the ministry of
home affairs had to send repeated reminders to
the state governments and Union territories to
allow trucks is just one example of how the low-
er levels of the bureaucracy have just not been
trained enough in the art of nuanced policy
implementation. The fact that at many places,
local police force used excessive force to crack
down on the movement of people is yet another
example of its tendency to go overboard. It can
use a sledgehammer and enforce blanket
orders. But it struggles when it has to make
careful distinctions.
This challenge will become particularly
The second, more crucial, gap is in the way
the Indian State deals with its poorest citizens.
Yes, there is now a semblance of a welfare archi-
tecture in place. And schemes such as the Jan
Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, and Direct Benefits
Transfer helped in the more efficient delivery of
financial benefits in these times. But the plight
of the migrant workers — and the government’s
inexplicable delay in addressing their concerns
and finally allowing their movement — will
rank as a dark chapter in the history of the Indi-
an State. The lockdown will have huge econom-
ic costs for all segments, but particularly for the
poor — who will suffer a loss of livelihoods.
The third related gap in the Indian State’s
record is economic management. Growth had
slowed down even before the pandemic. But the
lockdown has dealt a blow to all economic sec-
tors; crippled supply chains; curtailed demand;
sharpened unemployment; made businesses
unviable; brought the entire micro, small and
medium enterprises sector to a grinding halt;
and made leading businesses — which are at the
centre of innovation, contribute to the tax kitty
and employ thousands of workers — rethink
their entire operational plans. It was the gov-
ernment’s job to anticipate this — and provide
measures to help. The fact that there has not yet
been any fiscal stimulus package speaks poorly
of the Indian State and makes it comes across as
both insensitive and irresponsible.
It is time to build on the strengths and remedy
the weaknesses.
n letters@hindustantimes.com

sundaysentiments to it for leadership. That’s why in

wars or pandemics, we automatically
engender
rally around the flag. In return, we
expect guidance. That’s not only what
KARAN THAPAR to do but, equally important, what
LALITA PANICKER
must never be done. This is where our

THE OTHER VIRUS THAT

government failed us. It merely hint-
ed. It did not advise and it certainly
did not admonish. It let us behave
VALUING NURSING CAN
HAS INFECTED INDIA abominably and gave me, at least, the
impression it had no problem with
that.
TRANSFORM HEALTH CARE
I
The other example of our wretch- n the critically-acclaimed comedy, spoke of the culture of silence in which

T
hey say a crisis can bring
out the best in us. Alas, it
can also do the opposite. I
can think of a couple of are-
as where, sadly, that’s prov-
en true. So this Sunday — as we await
tomorrow’s partial relaxation of the
lockdown even as it extends further
— is perhaps an opportunity to reflect
on the darker side of ourselves. If
things get better — and I hope they
will — we’ll soon forget how horrid
we can be. But, today, that’s precisely
what I want to write about. I know
many of you will disagree and quite a
few could be offended. So be it. That’s
a risk I’m willing to take. I hope you
will continue reading, but if you don’t
I accept it’s your right not to.
I’m deeply dismayed, actually dis-
turbed and demoralised, by the
shameless exhibition of anti-Muslim
sentiment we’ve seen. I had not real-
ised this prejudice lay just skin-deep
in so many of us, and how easily it can
surface. But when it exploded, there
was no hiding or disguising it. We tar-
geted and demonised Muslim vegeta-
ble vendors and milk sellers, vented
our rage on Muslim patients in hospi-
tals in Meerut and Ahmedabad, and
even ranted at the majority popula-
tion in the Gulf, forgetting we are
guests in their countries. In normal
times, people hide their dislikes.
They’re even embarrassed to admit
them. But over the last 40 days, we
brazenly displayed ours. Conse-
quently, we made tens of millions of
our fellow citizens feel hated and
unwanted, just because they are Mus-
lim.
I don’t want to name names or
point fingers because we all know
who are among the guilty. It includes
many who are powerful, several who
are rich, a large number whose val-
ues or intelligence I once admired
and, yes, a few who are dear to me.
This hateful prejudice has cut across
class, caste, creed, region and lan-
guage. It’s a bit like the virus in that
n While we are fighting the coronavirus
disease valiantly, we allowed vile
prejudice to vanquish us SATISH BATE/HT
respect. It infected many of us and we
did not resist. While we fought the
coronavirus disease valiantly, we
allowed vile prejudice to vanquish us.
I blame the media for fanning this
fire and I accuse the government of
letting the flames burn. For the last 40
days, we were scared, and fear can
make people behave erratically, even
irresponsibly. That’s why the media
has a duty to be wise and balanced. It
wasn’t. Instead, it scratched our scars
and made stories of the bleeding. A
few of our television anchors even
made us feel our prejudice was justi-
fied. As far as I’m concerned, they can
never redeem themselves.
However, it’s the government I feel
most let down by. In a crisis, you look
very quickly. They can become crip-
edness is the way we’ve treated doc-
tors, nurses, and health workers.
Frankly, this is inexplicable. They
are the only people who can keep us
safe and well, and yet, we turned on
them like ungrateful curs because we
feared they might infect us. Honestly,
I don’t know of any other country
where the hand that keeps us alive
has been bitten by the very people
who might need it the most.
At least in this instance, our gov-
ernment did act, forcefully and with
alacrity. But that only raises the dis-
turbing question: Why did it choose
not to similarly confront the anti-
Muslim sentiment raging in our
midst for weeks. Weeks, did I say?
Months. You and I know that’s the
truth. And it only makes the question
more pressing. It also makes the
answer more necessary.
Karan Thapar is the author of
Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story
The views expressed are personal
fear and pain.
Meet the Parents, the hero essayed
by Ben Stiller is an object of ridi-
cule in the eyes of his prospective
father-in-law played by a taciturn Rob-
ert de Niro on account of Stiller being a
male nurse. The word nurse is spoken
of with disbelief and contempt, as it is
not seen as a job for men. This attitude
is evident in India where the ratio of
male to female nurses is 20:80.
At a time when health workers are
being lauded, we need to look at why it
is seen as such an unattractive profes-
sion. The reason men stay away from
nursing, apart from the social oppro-
brium, is that it is so poorly paid. Sala-
ries for nurses range from ~13,000 to
~35,000. The private sector is niggardly
about revising salaries for nurses, the
average yearly increase is around 2%.
That nursing does not attract
enough people is seen from the poor
ratio of 1.7 nurses and auxiliary medi-
cal staff to 1,000 people in India, 43%
less than prescribed by the World
Health Organization (WHO). This
includes nurses, midwives, health visi-
tors and auxiliary nurse midwives.
Ironically, WHO has declared 2020 as
dedicated to the nurse and midwife.
the authorities did not want to offend
patients for fear of loss of profits. The
nurses live on small salaries, in largely
vegetarian hostels provided by the hos-
pital, and their only form of relaxation
was to visit a relative and, hopefully,
she told me, eat non-vegetarian food.
During the Covid-19 crisis, there
were reports of how they were given
lesser accommodation in far-off places
as part of their self-isolation and made
to take crowded transport to their pla-
ces of work, defeating the very concept
of isolation. Many nurses work in these
trying circumstances to gain enough
experience to get an infinitely better
paying job abroad. As European socie-
ties age, more opportunities have
opened up for health caregivers from
India, something Kerala has had the
foresight to anticipate. The state has
opened several nursing courses dedi-
cated entirely to geriatric care.
With substantial unemployment,
this should be a career option for more
men and women. But it isn’t. Men don’t
consider it a job which can bring in
enough money and it is also seen as a
demeaning job not suited to men.
The virus has highlighted the short-

IT IS TIME TO RETHINK THE pled under their own weight; they can
get heart attacks and have organ fail-
Maybe it is time to rethink how
chickens are bred, treated and eaten,
The nurse-patient ratio in India is 1:20
against the international norm of 1:4.
sightedness of these issues. The pres-
ence of male nurses in hospitals will

WAY HUMANS TREAT ANIMALS

lion, in an industry valued at close to
ROHINI $20 billion. The broiler and layer
NILEKANI industry that perfected itself in the
US has spread globally, and so have
all its practices, both good and bad. In
India, it has created economies of
scale, given livelihoods to thousands
of farmers, and become an important
source of protein.
ure. Many die because their baby-
sized hearts cannot keep up with
their adult-sized bodies. Sometimes,
they, especially the layer hens, can’t
even move; sometimes, their bodies
grow outside and around their tightly
packed wire cages.
Broiler babies are slaughtered at
around 42 days, though their natural
lifespan can be 10-15 years. When they
are ready to be killed, there is more
agony waiting for them. They are
roughly handled in small crates on the
too. There is a whole new generation
of people who care about where their
food comes from, and how it is grown.
More people are turning vegetarian.
There is also an increasing demand
world over, and now in India, for
humane meat, for free-range chick-
ens and organic eggs.
The recent pandemic has reminded
us once again, this time with deadly
urgency, about the threat of zoonotic
disease that spread from the animal
world to the human. People deserve
A lesson to learn from the coronavi-
rus disease (Covid-19) crisis is that the
working conditions and remuneration
for nurses should be drastically
revised. They work long hours and get
little by way of perks and pay.
Some time ago, while in hospital aft-
er a surgery, I got talking one night to
one of the many nurses in the private
hospital I was in. She was from the
north of Kerala — of the 2 million regis-
tered nurses in India, according to the
Indian Nursing Council, 1.8 million are
make the environment safer for wom-
en, and may even improve salary struc-
tures. The trying circumstances under
which nurses work was brought home
when the final words of a nurse who
died from the nipah virus in Kerala
were made public. She looked after
patients and in the process became
infected. “I don’t think I can meet you
again, sorry”, she said from isolation to
her husband and child. Today, nurses
on the frontline of the fight against Cov-
id-19 have tested positive. Hopefully, all

O
n May 4 each year, since 2005,
a non-profit in the United
States (US) called United
Poultry Concerns celebrates
International Respect for Chickens
Day. It spreads the message that we
need to rethink how we treat all food
animals, especially chickens, since
poultry is the most consumed meat in
the world.
The rest of the world needs to join
them in celebrating May 4 as Interna-
tional Chicken Day.
Astonishingly, 60 billion chickens
are reared for meat globally each
year. India produces about three bil-
thisweekthatera
But animal rights activists have
long tried to sensitise people that
chickens are arguably the most
abused animals on the planet. Broil-
ers and layers undergo a lot of suffer-
ing so that humans can get low-cost
protein. They also save other forms of
wildlife from being trapped and
slaughtered for food.
From the moment they are born,
these birds spend all their lives in
total confinement. Broiler chickens
are born in large incubators with
hundreds of others; crammed into
small, often filthy spaces. They are
fed and drugged to become very large
way to the slaughterhouse. Some-
times, they are immersed alive in hot
water to remove their feathers. Some-
times, when there is no market for
them, as during this pandemic, they
are just buried alive in mass trenches.
Yet, there is enough evidence to
show that chickens are inquisitive,
intelligent and highly social animals.
Mother hens spend a lot of time teach-
ing young ones and vocalising to
them. Some studies have shown they
could feel empathy and also jealousy.
In experiments, they have shown
they can count, and can even recog-
nise human faces. Certainly, they feel
MAY 03-09, 1971 >>FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE HINDUSTAN TIMES
to know more about the connection
between the industrial processes at
poultry farms and the spread of dis-
eases.
We now know exactly how much
our well-being is intertwined with
that of animals and birds. Maybe it is
time to honour the sacrifice that they,
and chickens especially, make for us
all, including vegetarians. Let’s mark
May 4 on our calendars, not just for
the partial end of the lockdown, but
for the end of misery for the animals
we depend on for food.
Rohini Nilekani is chairperson, Arghyam
The views expressed are personal
from Kerala. She told me she felt a of them will recover. But this is the
sense of safety that night as she was in a right time to look at the profession with
room with a woman. She told me of how a view to making it more attractive,
nurses are harassed by male patients safe, respected and gender-neutral.
and even their attendants when they do n lalita.panicker@hindustantimes.com
their nightly rounds. Most of all, she The views expressed are personal
sundayletters
THE CHALLENGE OF POLITICS AFTER THE PANDEMIC
This refers to Chanakya’s ‘How politics will change post the pandemic’ (April 26).
Mammoth public rallies are going to be a thing of the past. Political parties are
likely to rely on aggressive social media campaigns and connect with citizens
through video conferencing and other tools. A challenge that politicians will face
is how they will succeed in reaching out to India’s rural and remote millions.
SAMIUL HASSAN QUADRI, VIA EMAIL

PICTURE OF NEWS OF THE WEEK WILL LIVES CHANGE? WEED OUT RED TAPE
This refers to Karan Thapar’s’Lock- This refers to Mark Tully’s ‘Relax fiscal
THE WEEK JAN SANGH RETAINS CONTROL BIG FOUR MEET ON WEST ASIA down tales: What I learnt about norms and reform the bureaucracy’
MAY 5: India's skipper INDIA OF CIVIC BODY WORLD MAY 6: The Big Four chief UN myself’ (April 26). Earlier, in our (April 26). Covid has reinforced the
Ajit Wadekar, Bishen MAY 4: The Jan Sangh today delegates conferred for 2 hours everyday lives, we had many need for a welfare State, and why
Singh Bedi and Sunil retained its hold on the civic 30 minutes today in their 6th places to look for happiness. Now, India must weed out red tape for the
Gavaskar, of the administration when it bagged meeting on the West Asia we have to find ways to be happy bureaucracy to function effectively.
victorious Indian 52 of the 97 seats in the situation as part of a series on our own. Will the pandemic SURESH KUMAR, PATNA
Cricket team in the 100-ward Delhi Municipal started in April 1966. The change the way we look at the
West Indies, seen with Corporation. The Congress(N) meeting which was private, was
got 39 seats, Independents 4, world?
Prime Minister Indira held at the French mission in
the CPI 1 and the Congress(0) 1. SUBRAMANIAN GANPATHY ,VIA EMAIL
Gandhi New York

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SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
MAY 03, 2 02 0
htweekend
CORONAVIRUS:
FIGHT TO FINISH
How we develop immunity
The body’s adaptive immune system learns to recognise new, invading
pathogens, such as Sars-CoV-2, and acts to neutralise them
Sars-CoV-2 infection
1
The virus uses its surface
spike protein to lock on to Virus enters
ACE2 receptors on the
surface of human cells. Once
body
Human cell
inside, these cells translate
the virus’s RNA to produce
more viruses
2
Virus
enters
a cell
Vesicle
4
Virus
assembly
Immune response
Specialised antigen-presenting cells
engulf the virus and display portions of
it to activate T-helper cells T-helper cell
T-helper cells enable other immune
responses: B cells make antibodies that
can block the virus from infecting cells and
mark the virus for destruction. Cytotoxic T
cells identify and destroy virus-infected
cells for long-lasting immunity
B cell
Anti-coronavirus antibody
Prevents virus from binding,
or tags it for destruction
Long-lived ‘memory’ B and T
cells that recognise the virus
can patrol the body for
months or years, providing
long-lasting immunity
Always at the Movies
ANUPAMA CHOPRA
A gift that will keep on giving
The artistes who have left us have also left behind a sumptuous body of work
hen you’ve been in the Bollywood
W trenches for more than two decades,
everyone is at least a fleeting
acquaintance. You get to know gener-
ations of families. You become part of the
landscape. Professionally, I’ve always been
the proverbial Trishanku — in limbo
between being an insider and outsider. Many
members of my family are in the business but
I am a film critic and journalist, an observer
who bears witness and records the shifting
tides and tastes of a vastly unpredictable
business.
Sometimes the tangled wires cross. This
week, I struggled to make sense of the deaths
of Irrfan and Rishi Kapoor. At Film Compan-
ion, the platform I lead, we put obits together.
I wrote a piece about my memories of Rishi
Sir, but it was impossible to be removed and
dispassionate. My mother Kamna Chandra
wrote two of his best loved films — Chandni
and Prem Rog. Three years ago, my sister
Tanuja Chandra directed the film, Qarib
Qarib Singlle with Irrfan in the lead. I wasn’t
just mourning the passing of two of Hindi cin-
ema’s finest actors. The void I felt was far big-
ger than that.
I first met Rishi Sir when I was a teenager,
in the early ’80s, on the sets of Prem Rog at RK
Studio. He was a handsome, slightly intimi-
dating Bollywood star who was unfailingly
At least 90 vaccines are being developed
around the world against Sars-CoV-2, the
virus that causes coronavirus disease
(Covid-19). Many of these employ new
technologies that have not been used in a
licenced vaccine before. At least six vaccines
are in the human safety trial phase; others
have started testing on animals
Spike protein
M protein
RNA
ACE2 receptor
3
Virus fuses with
vesicle and its
RNA is released
Viral RNA translated
into proteins
5
Virus
release
Virus ingested by antigen
presenting cell (APC)
Viral peptide
Cytotoxic T cell
Destroys
infected cells
polite. I have distinct memories of watching
Raj Kapoor direct him in a scene in a haveli.
As a journalist, I interviewed him several
times over the years. One of my favourite
conversations was a panel discussion I con-
ducted for television, in which he partici-
pated along with Priyanka Chopra. At one
point, she referred to herself as a brand. He
immediately reprimanded her with: ‘My
dear, you are an actor. You are not a brand.’
Irrfan didn’t mince words either. He spoke
frankly about his long years of struggle in the
film industry, waiting for phone calls that
never came. In May 2015, we set up a conver-
sation between him and Kangana Ranaut. It
was a format without an interviewer in
which two artists speak directly to each other
as they might at a coffee shop. She told him
that she was mesmerised by his work. At one
point, he recollected how Mahesh Bhatt used
to tell him to do ‘gandi acting’ and ‘spoon-feed
the audience’. He said if he could change one
BOTH RISHI KAPOOR AND IRRFAN MADE
BETTER EVERY FILM THEY ACTED IN.
THEY VIGOROUSLY STRAINED
AGAINST THE BOUNDARIES OF
MAINSTREAM HINDI CINEMA,
TWEAKING AND PUSHING THE RULES
How
vaccines
work
All vaccines aim to expose the
body to an antigen that won’t
cause disease, but will provoke
an immune response that can
block or kill the virus if a person
becomes infected. Each type
relies on different viruses or
viral parts to trigger an immune
response
Major types
Virus vaccines
At least 7 teams are developing
vaccines using the virus itself, in a
weakened or inactivated form. Many
existing vaccines are made this way,
such as those against measles and polio,
but they require extensive safety
testing.
Nucleic acid vaccines
At least 20 teams are using genetic
instructions (DNA or RNA) for a
coronavirus protein that prompts an
immune response. The nucleic acid is
inserted into human cells, which then
churn out copies of the virus protein.
Most of these vaccines encode the
virus’s spike protein.
Viral-vector vaccines
Around 25 groups are working on
viral-vector vaccines. A virus, such as
measles or adenovirus, is genetically
engineered so that it produces
coronavirus proteins in the body. These
viruses are weakened so they cannot
cause disease.
Protein-based
vaccines
Many researchers want to inject coronavirus
proteins directly into the body.
Fragments of proteins or protein shells
that mimic the coronavirus’s outer
coat can also be used.
SOURCE: NATURE
Graphic: BISWENDU CHOWDHURY
thing about the industry, it would be the
moniker Bollywood. He found it regressive.
Both Rishi Sir and Irrfan made better
every film they acted in. They vigorously
strained against the boundaries of main-
stream Hindi cinema, tweaking and pushing
n As the writer’s
the rules. At the peak of his stardom as a lead-
ing man, Rishi Sir did films in which the hero-
ine propelled the action—Prem Rog,
Chandni and Damini. Irrfan’s presence was
enough to alter the alchemy of a film — think
of Piku without his wry gravitas or that
unforgettable entry he made as Roohdaar in
Haider.
In March, I watched Irrfan’s last film,
Angrezi Medium, at a packed preview show,
sitting next to his wife Sutapa Sikdar. We
spoke about our children, who were away at
university, and about travel restrictions and
Covid-19. I take notes as I watch and I felt a lit-
tle self-conscious doing it in her presence.
But she was, as usual, warm and smiling.
The film’s script was too mangled but I
said in my review that Irrfan is an actor to
treasure. I added: “Watching him, as Marie
Kondo would say, sparks joy and we can all
use some of that.”
This week has been one of peculiar joyless-
ness. But these artists leave behind a sump-
tuous body of work. And that is a gift that will
keep on giving. May they rest in peace.
hindustantimes 09
Word of the Week
A word for the
SHASHI THAROOR
spiritually wise
While the term has a very specific meaning, it can, by extension,
be applied to people who demonstrate the qualities of yogis
trained in yoga or meditative practices. I
remember describing my old boss, United
Yogi Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as
(noun) a practitioner of yoga, a person someone who was “anchored in himself like
who is an authority on yoga, has practised
a yogi”, immune to either pleasure or pres-
yoga and attained a higher level of con- sure, able to focus on the challenges before
sciousness.
him with serene detachment. To the best of
Usage: The Beatles became devotees of my knowledge he had never practised yoga,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who had trans- but was rather a Wise Man in the African
lated his knowledge of yogic practices into tradition, someone who practised these vir-
a new science of “Transcendental Medita- tues as hallmarks of personal character
tion”. rather than as the fruits of a spiritual or reli-
gious system.
Yogi Bear is a totally different phenome-
he English word yogi comes, of course, non, and I remain at a loss at to why his crea-
T
from the Hindi योगी (yogi), which in tors dreamt up his first name, since the avari-
turn is derived from the Sanskrit योिगन cious bear in question displays not a single
(yogin),which descends from the ver- yogic quality. Nor does the other famous
bal root yuj, coming from यनिक्त (yun- American “Yogi”, the baseball player Yogi
akti), to connect. In Hinduism, the god Berra, who no doubt acquired his moniker
Lord Shiva and his consort, the goddess Par- only because of the similarity of his Italian-
vati, are often depicted as an emblem- derived surname to that of the epony-
atic yogi–yogini pair. It must be mous Bear. Still, this has led
admitted, however, that in the many Americans to be
West, the word “yogi” bemused by the term, pre-
became popular from the cisely because they associ-
cartoon character, Yogi ate it with a cartoon bear
Bear, who was known and a baseballer rather
for conning tourists out
of their picnics – a far
than with any other-
worldly spiritual wis-
cry from the Indian
yogi’s meditative prac-
dom.
On the other hand, we
tices based on profound in India have the Chief
religious and spiritual Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
training. Ajay Bisht, who chooses to go
Though the earliest evidence by the name “Yogi Adityanath”.
of yogis and their spiritual tradi- From his sponsorship of a thuggish
tion is found in the Kesin hymn Illustration: AJAY THAKURI “Hindu Vahini” to his propensity
10.136 of the Rig Veda, which is as for proposing changes to the names
old a Hindu tradition as it is possible to get, of towns across the country, there seems
the term yogin also appears in the Katyay- nothing remotely Yogi-like about Mr Bisht.
ana Shrauta-sutra and in chapter 6 of the Still, it is one of the anomalies of the Hindu
Maitri Upanishad, where it means “a fol- faith that there is no single recognized spiri-
lower of the Yoga system , a contemplative tual body to award official certificates of
saint”. The term also sometimes refers to a Yogi-hood. Various bodies award the title of
person who belongs to the Natha tradition. Yogi, for people of varying qualifications and
While the term yogi clearly has a very spiritual merit. At the end of the day, all that
specific meaning, it can, by extension, be matters, if you want to be a Yogi, is the num-
applied to people who demonstrate the qual- ber of people who are prepared to take you at
ities of yogis without necessarily being your word, and accept you as one.
Life Hacks
CHARLES ASSISI
Kicking addiction
under a lockdown
Humans can choose to forget some of the bad habits we’ve learnt
embraced running a while ago, but even WHEN I NEXT FELT THE CRAVING,
I
after that healthy decision was made, I
couldn’t quit smoking. I know all about
INSTEAD OF DENYING IT, I CHOSE TO
TAKE A DEEP BREATH, SHUT MY EYES,
how terrible cigarettes are. But such is the
nature of addiction. AND ASK, WHERE DID IT APPEAR FROM?
I’ve lost count of the number of times my
rational mind has resolved to kick this nasty Part I of the course was an introduction to
habit. But after each so-called ‘Last Day’, the ‘Noting’. The intent there is to wrap one’s
emotional mind pleads for ‘one last cigarette’ head around the idea that there is a differ-
before calling it quits ‘once and for all’. And ence between what we think, what we feel,
things got to the point where I gave up on the and who we really are. I must explain that.
idea of giving up — until the lockdown, that We can think about absolutely anything. A
is. problem that must be solved, for instance.
It was then that I truly saw what a pathetic Then there are feelings such as joy or pain.
creature I had degenerated into. As news per- When meditating, we take the time to probe
colated that most stores would be shuttered where our thoughts originate and why some
and we’d all have to stay indoors, I was feelings occur.
among those stocking up on essentials. This isn’t very different from a scientist
Smokers such as I were all in overdrive. Ciga-
rettes had to be stocked up on as well. And to
exploring the nature of the world around
him. The only difference is that in this case,
that end, we were scrounging in all corners of the scientist’s subject is himself.
the city. As my stock of cigarettes neared depletion
But there are only so many sticks you can and the craving to smoke grew, while medi-
hoard. And vendors who hawk them are bru- tating on the cravings, I began to see that they
tal. They know addicts will pay any price to emerged from nowhere. They would last a
get their fix. It was inevitable then they while. And then disappear. Just like that.
would hike their rates. Most people, me How did that happen, I asked?
included, paid large premiums. But it was When I next felt the craving, instead of
inevitable that stocks would run out at some denying the feeling, I chose to take a deep
point. breath, shut my eyes, and ask, where ever did
stock of
cigarettes
Now, the thing with most addicts is that
they recognise other addicts. One smoker
can spot another in a single furtive glance. It
didn’t take too long for even introverts like
me to start exchanging notes with strangers.
it appear from? I noticed the discomfort
would last a minute or two and then disap-
pear, just as it had appeared. It didn’t take too
many days until the frequency of cravings
went down and now I don’t feel them at all.
neared And based on their tips, I was willing to talk What this proves is that we humans are
depletion and to people whom I would otherwise not imag- remarkably resilient creatures. But it is also
the craving to ine engaging with. I was desperate. true that we humans have a propensity to for-
smoke grew, Call it an epiphany if you will; call it provi- get, or choose to forget, some of the things we
he began to dence. But my daily fitness routine includes have learnt. I hope I retain the humility to
realise that it meditation with Waking Up, an app devel- remember I’m not immune to that either.
emerged from oped by neuroscientist, philosopher and The writer is co-founder at Founding Fuel & co-au-
nowhere. ISTOCK author Sam Harris. thor of The Aadhaar Effect
10 hindustantimes
HTSPOTLIGHT
Punjab to test over 4,000
Nanded pilgrims for virus
HAZUR SAHIB Maharashtra seals shrine as 504 test positive after returning from gurdwara
Ravinder Vasudeva and
Swapnil Rawal
n letters@hindustantimes.com
CHANDIGARH/MUMBAI: The Punjab
government is scrambling to test
and isolate 4,012 people who
returned from the Hazur Sahib
gurdwara in Nanded town after
504 pilgrims tested positive for
Covid-19, prompting authorities
in Maharashtra to seal one of
Sikhism’s holiest shrines.
On Saturday, people who
returned from the Nanded gurd-
wara made up roughly 52% of
Punjab’s 955 Covid-19 cases. The
spike in cases has now sparked a
blame-game between the two
governments even as the Sikh
community appealed to not politi-
cize the issue.
The pilgrims were stuck in
Nanded since March 25, when the
ongoing nationwide lockdown
was clamped. On April 23, the pil-
grims left the gurdwara in buses
provided by the gurdwara man-
agement and private vehicles. At
least 600 of them entered Punjab
on April 26, and were sent to
home quarantine after thermal
screening.
The next day, three residents
of Tarn Taran district tested posi-
tive for the virus, prompting the
government to order that all pil-
grims from Nanded be tested. Of
the 4,012 samples, 2,800 samples
have been tested and the rest are
pending.
Cong, BJP in tussle over Covid-19 strategy
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI : India’s plan to fight
Covid-19 triggered a political
blame game on Saturday with the
Congress asking Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to address the
nation on a lockdown exit plan
and the Centre calling the Oppo-
sition rudderless.
The Congress said the Union
home ministry’s order on the
extension of the curbs on Friday
left many queries unanswered.
“The order for the lockdown
3.0 did not come with an address
from the PM [Prime Minister],
and neither did the [Union] home
minister [Amit Shah] come for-
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n Some of the stranded pilgrims evacuated by Punjab government from
Nanded’s Hazur Sahib shrine, in Bathinda on Sunday. SANJEEV KUMAR/HT
In Nanded, 20 gurdwara’s staff-
ers have tested positive for Cov-
id-19 and the authorities have
sealed both the kitchen and the
shrine. District health officer Bal-
aji Shinde said the staffers were
involved in the langar and help-
ing the pilgrims at the shrine. “So
far 20 people have tested positive.
Test results of another 40 odd
staffers are awaited. We have cre-
ated a containment area there
and started massive contact trac-
ing as per procedure,” he added.
An official from the district col-
lector’s office said on condition of
anonymity that two bus drivers
and an attendant who drove the
pilgrims to Punjab have also
ward to make an announcement.
Not even a single officer of the
government chose to make an
appearance,” said Congress’s
chief spokesperson Randeep Sur-
jewala.
He said the government should
spell out the purpose, objective
and strategy behind the lock-
down, whether there will be more
lockdowns and the strategy to
deal with economic distress.
“What is the exit strategy, what is
the PM’s policy and what is the
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tested positive for the virus. “We
have traced close contacts of the
confirmed cases and put them
under isolation at health facili-
ties,” the official said.
The string of cases triggered a
political fight between the ruling
Congress and the opposition
Shiromani Akali Dal. Both par-
ties, which were earlier jostling
for credit for helping bring back
the pilgrims, now blame each
other for the rapidly spreading
disease.
The Punjab government
blamed its Maharashtra counter-
part.
“The Maharashtra govern-
ment did not clarify properly if
relief package for the 42.5 million
MSMEs [Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises]? These are
questions that need answers.”
He said the Congress has pro-
posed a financial exit plan and
recommended the government to
transfer ₹7,500 into Jan Dhan, PM
Kisan Yojana accounts and those
of Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee
labourers, senior citizen, widow,
and physically handicapped pen-
sioners. “In addition, 10 kg of food
grains, one kg pulses and half kg
of sugar be given per person per
family for sustenance. The gov-
ernment must also ensure free
travel in sanitised trains for the
stranded migrant workers,” he
these pilgrims were tested or not.
They kept telling us since Nanded
is a green zone, pilgrims are safe
and tests have been performed on
them,” Punjab health minister
Balbir Singh Sidhu said.
Nanded has seen 26 cases and
two deaths, of which 20 are
related to gurdwara.
A senior Punjab government
functionary said on condition of
anonymity that the state govern-
ment did not follow the standard
operating procedure in bringing
back the pilgrims and relied on
information provided by the
gurdwara management.
Authorities in Maharashtra
dismissed the allegations. “We
carried regular check-ups for all
the pilgrims; none showed any
symptoms such as cold, fever, etc.
The coronavirus test was not
done on them. They could have
contracted the disease on the way
to Punjab,” Shinde said.
The gurdwara management
echoed this stand and said none of
the 4,000 pilgrims exhibited any
symptoms of Covid-19 in Nanded.
“Some of the pilgrims con-
tracted the disease on the way.
They would have got off during
the journey for meals or other
breaks. We are all feeling bad that
such a thing has happened and
Nanded is now seen as a hot spot.
Our only appeal is politics should
be played over the incident,” said
Ravinder Singh Bungai, secre-
tary of the gurdwara board.
said.
Union minister Prakash Java-
dekar dismissed criticism over
the Centre’s efforts to check the
pandemic, saying the govern-
ment is more interested in saving
lives and livelihoods than indulg-
ing in verbal duels.
“As far as Opposition is con-
cerned, I think they are rudder-
less. They have no agenda or
issues,” he told news agency ANI.
“They have not said a single good
thing, nor given any good sugges-
tions. Now they are blaming the
government on points on which
they earlier agreed. There is a
complete bankruptcy of political
opponents.”
(With agency inputs)
Deaths cross 500 in Maha,
Mumbai now has 8k cases
Swapnil Rawal
n letters@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI : Maharashtra breached
the 500-mark for coronavirus dis-
ease (Covid-19) deaths on Satur-
day after it recorded its highest
single-day fatality figure of 36,
taking the toll to 521. The state
recorded 790 new cases — its
third-highest 24-hour jump —
taking the infection count to
12,296.
Of the deaths recorded on Sat-
urday, Mumbai reported 27, three
were in Pune city, two in Amra-
vati city and one each in Vasai-Vi-
rar, Amravati district and
Aurangabad city. Besides these,
Mumbai also recoded the death of
one person from West Bengal.
The mortality rate in the state
stands at 4.23%, but the fatality
count in the state has steadily
increased with 198 deaths
recorded since April 27 alone. The
country’s mortality rate hovers
around 3.25%.
Mumbai also crossed the 8,000
18 found hiding
inside cement
truck, quarantined
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BHOPAL: As many as 18 labourers
on their way to Lucknow from
Maharashtra were found hiding
inside a crammed cement-mix-
ture truck in Madhya Pradesh on
Saturday, the state police said.
The labourers were sent to a
quarantine centre while the
truck driver was booked in
Indore for violating the Covid-19
lockdown norms.
The truck was intercepted at
the Indore-Ujjain border and a
video of the labourers coming out
of the cement-mixture machine
went viral on social media.
Indore’s deputy police super-
intendent (traffic) Umakant
Chaudhary said the truck was
intercepted as part of a routine
checking about 35 kilometres
from the district headquarters.
“...we asked the driver to open the
cement-mixture machine and
then we found the labourers
inside.”
He said the truck was regis-
tered in Nashik in Maharashtra
and the driver, Saheb Husain,
belongs to the same place.
n Migrants line up to fill forms at Dharavi on Saturday.
Covid-19 cases mark with 547 new
infections. Its tally stands at 8,359.
The city, which had crossed the
4,000 mark on April 23, doubled its
count to 8,000 in nine days. As
cases continue to mount in Mum-
bai, Thane, Palghar, Pune and
Pimpri Chinchwad, Malegaon,
the state government, which
issued guidelines for extension of
lockdown on Saturday, imposed
restrictions in most on these
areas.
135 contract infection 20-DAY-OLD BOY
in CRPF, 400 isolated YOUNGEST COVID
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
NEW DELHI: As many as 135 jaw-
ans of the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) have tested
positive for the coronavirus dis-
ease (Covid-19) so far, officials
said on Saturday, adding that
the high number in the force
was a cause of concern.
The ministry of home affairs
has sought a reply from the par-
amilitary force on how the infec-
tion spread to so many person-
nel, an official familiar with the
matter said.
“The test results are gradu-
ally coming. So far, in almost
10-12 days, 135 personnel have
been tested positive. However,
most of them are asymptotic,”
said an official who didn’t wish
to be named.
The test results for 22 jawans
are awaited.
Meanwhile, a probe has
begun to find out if there is any
other carrier of the virus in the
battalion.
Over 400 troopers of this bat-
talion of the CRPF are currently
lodged at a Delhi government
isolation facility in Mandoli
ON SUNDAY
CONNECT YOUR
BUSINESS
SHOP N BUY
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: NATION
SATISH BATE/HT
Maharashtra has 14 districts in
the red zone, including Mumbai,
Mumbai suburban, Thane, and
Palghar districts, where the lock-
down will be strictly imple-
mented. Yavatmal, Satara,
Dhule, Akola and Jalgaon are
also in the red zone, but wo;; see
fewer restrictions as against the
hotpot areas in Mumbai, Mumbai
Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pune
Metropolitan Region and Male-
gaon in Nashik district.
OVER 400 TROOPERS OF
THIS BATTALION OF THE
CRPF ARE CURRENTLY
LODGED AT ISOLATION
FACILITY IN DELHI. MOST
OF THE 135 PATIENTS
ARE ASYMPTOMATIC
after a sub-inspector from
Assam died succumbed to the
viral infection on Tuesday.
He was being treated for the
disease at Delhi’s Safdarjung
Hospital.
It is suspected that the
deceased jawan and others in
the battalion contracted the
infection from a nursing assist-
ant.
The medical wing of the bat-
talion had earlier issued an
order allowing asymptotic offi-
cers to join work within five
days of travel.
This order was in violation of
government mandated 14 days
of quarantine period for every-
one.
On Saturday, there were 4,122
positive cases in Delhi.
Violating curbs to
invite ₹10k fine,
2­year jail in Raj
JAIPUR: To meet challenges
thrown up by easing of the lock-
down, the Rajasthan government
has promulgated an ordinance
giving wider powers to impose
restrictions given the Covid-19
outbreak. It provides for impris-
onment up to two years and a fine
of ₹10,000 in case of violations.
The ordinance empowers the
government to screen any person
arriving in the state, seal borders,
impose restrictions on public and
private transport and govern-
ment and private offices.
The Ordinance, called the
‘Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases
Ordinance, 2020’, has been signed
by governor Kalraj Mishra and
has come into effect from May 1.
With the ordinance coming into
effect, the earlier Rajasthan Epi-
demic Disease Act, 1957 stands
repealed. The ordinance empow-
ers the government to prevent
any gatherings, celebrations and
worship and to regulate govern-
ment and private offices and edu-
cational institutions. HTC
CASUALTY IN RAJ
Himanshu Vyas
n letters@hindustantimes.com
JAIPUR: A 20-day-old baby boy
tested positive for Covid-19, a
day after he died at a Jaipur hos-
pital on Saturday to become per-
haps the youngest to succumb to
the disease in the world, doctors
who treated him said.
“We know of a 45-day-old
from Jamnagar and one from
the US, who died of Covid-19 but
this [the Jaipur baby] was just
20-day-old,” said Dr. Ashok
Gupta, the superintendent of
Jaipur’s JK Lon children’s hos-
pital, where Suhan was being
treated for sepsis.
Gupta said the baby is
unlikely to have been infected
by his mother since no one in
their family has been tested for
Covid-19 yet. He said the baby
could have contracted the dis-
ease from someone asympto-
matic.
Doctors said the baby was
tested for Covid-19 when he was
hospitalised since he was
brought from an area that has
reported many cases of the dis-
ease.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
MAY 03, 2 02 0 hindustantimes 11

NEWS ‘Filing of cases in SC will Shramik Special

trains to ferry
Respite from water 2 soldiers injured
in Pak firing along undergo radical change’ 20,000 stranded
across country
LoC die in hospital Murali Krishnan The SC’s first major tryst with

woes in Chennai
n letters@hindustantimes.com technology happened on March
24 when the pandemic led to a Anisha Dutta
Mir Ehsan NEW DELHI : Filing of cases in the lockdown. Hearings since then n letters@hindustantimes.com
n letters@hindustantimes.com Supreme Court will undergo a have been happening through
radical change with the introduc- video conferencing but many NEWDELHI: Shramik Special trains
SRINAGAR: Two soldiers who were tion and operationalisation of issues have arisen. were scheduled to run Saturday
PLANNING Four lakes that feed the city nearly 14 times fuller this year injured in ceasefire violation in e-filing, chairperson of the e-com- “We were confronted with a to ferry stranded migrants to
Uri a day ago, died at the army mittee of Supreme Court (SC), situation almost overnight when Jharkhand, UP, Bihar from
TR Vivek
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEARLY 500,000 could barely supply half the city’s
daily demand of 1 billion litres.
hospital on Saturday. Four civil-
ians and three soldiers were
justice DY Chandrachud said.
The work towards this is at an
lockdown was announced and we
could not have court hearings. So
Rajashtan, Maharashtra, Guj-
arat and the five southern
HOUSEHOLDS MADE TO
n

BENGALURU: Amidst the dark Cov-
id-19 clouds, there may be a silver
lining for the 10.5 million citizens
of Chennai. The unprecedented
water crisis that crippled Chen-
nai last summer is unlikely to
revisit the city in 2020 — the four
lakes that feed the city are nearly
14 times fuller than last year; at
5.3 metres, the average ground
water level is 1.5m higher than it
was in March 2019.
“We are nowhere near the cri-
sis we faced last year. The inflow
into the lakes has been excellent
and we’ve managed to signifi-
cantly reduce the supply of fresh-
water to the industrial clusters by
providing them recycled water,”
said T Prabhushankar, executive
director, Chennai Metropolitan
Water Supply and Sewerage
Board (CMWSSB).
The city already has two desal-
ination plants with capacity of 210
million litres a day that service
the northern suburbs. A third 150
million litre plant costing nearly
~1300 crore would be ready next
year. Two new tertiary treatment
and reverse osmosis plants that
recycle sewage into 90 million
litres of potable water became
The deep groundwater aquifers
INSTALL RAINWATER too dried up in the face of exces-
sive extraction of water. Hotels,
HARVESTING SYSTEMS, factories and large IT parks had
SO GROUNDWATER to shut down for days.
Although Chennai had made
LEVELS ALSO ROSE rainwater harvesting (RWH)
SIGNIFICANTLY mandatory in 2003 to get con-
struction approvals and water
operational by October 2019. The connection, poor upkeep by citi-
CMWSSB has now stopped sup- zens had rendered these struc-
plying freshwater to the two big tures non-functional. “Over the
industrial clusters on the north- last nine months in collaboration
ern and western fringes of Chen- with Greater Chennai Corpora-
nai. Their requirements are met tion we have inspected nearly 15
by the two recycling plants built lakh households. We ordered
at a cost of ~630 crore. The capac- nearly 500,000 households install
ity of the plants would soon go up new RWH systems. As a result,
to 120 million litres a day. This the ground waters levels we
has freed up domestic drinking measure in the city have risen
water supplies and reduced the significantly,” said Prabhush-
reliance on the already stressed ankar. According to CMWSSB
ground water resources. Even nearly 370 large community wells
during the lockdown, the water have been recharged as part of
utility has maintained the usual the groundwater renewal drive.
daily supply of 650 million litres. “Those who carried out the
In 2019, the four reservoirs surveys were not trained to do it.
around Chennai — Poondi, Red It was an exercise to divert public
Hills, Chembarambakkam and attention in the midst of a crisis,”
Cholavaram— with a combined says Sekar Raghavan, a scientist
capacity of 11.3 billion cubic feet known as Chennai’s ‘rain man’
(BCft) had dried up by May lead- who through his NGO Rain Cen-
ing to one of the worst water cri- tre has been a RWH evangelist for
ses faced by the city. CMWSSB nearly three decades.
injured when shells fired from
across the LoC landed in Uri villa-
ges.
Some houses were also dam-
aged when shells and mortars
landed in Churunda village in
Haji peer sector.
Army spokesman Colonel
Rajesh Kalia confirmed that two
fo the injured soldiers had died.
The four civilians, including
4-year-old boy, were recuperat-
ing in two hospitals in Uri and
Baramulla. Locals said there
hasn’t been fresh shelling in the
area since Friday evening.
This is the second time in a
fortnight when Indian and Paki-
stani have exchanged fire in Uri .
Elsewhere, two unidentified
terrorists were killed in an
encounter in Pulwama district,
police said. Security forces
launched a cordon and search
operation in south Kashmir dis-
trict’s Dangerpora in the early
hours of Saturday on information
about the presence of terrorists.
During the searches, terrorists
opened fire and the forces retali-
ated. The official said the identity
and the group affiliation of the
slain men was being ascertained.
With Agency Inputs
advanced stage and the system is
expected to be rolled out soon, he
added in a telephonic interview
“We have been working on the
e-filing module for the past few
months. I utilized the lockdown
period to have our entire team of
the registrar and almost eleven
data programmers work continu-
ously on it. The module is now
being tested for its stability. We
are at an advanced stage and will
be commencing e-filing of all
cases in the Supreme Court in the
near future”, he said.
He added the concerns of all
stakeholders, especially lawyers,
will be taken into account and
their suggestions incorporated
before the system is rolled out.
“We are conversant of the need
to ensure we have the confidence
of all segments of the Bar. We will
not start any process until we
have created that understanding
at the bar and ensure that they
understand what we are doing.”
In order to ensure that the Bar
is taken on board, the court might
host a webinar for lawyers in
coming days to unveil the mod-
ule, understand their concerns
and consider their suggestions.
“Once that is done, the system
will be put through an audit
before it is finally rolled out”,
n Justice DY Chandrachud
as the fresh cases which will be
filed using that platform. We have
been able to streamline that.
Development of e-payment gate-
way for payment of court fees also
posed some challenges.”
The SC, in 2017, launched the
digitization and online filing initi-
ative but the project went into
cold storage after the retirement
of then Chief Justice, JS Khehar.
“Perhaps it all happened very
suddenly and was done without
the system being stabilized. We
cannot say overnight that we are
going to have e-filing, or that
everything is going to be digi-
tized. We cannot dump that on lit-
igants and lawyers. That is also
why I have not kept a cut-off date
(for launch) so as to obviate the
problems which arose in the past.
We will ensure that until lawyers
get familiar with the system and
their clerks are in a position to
take over the system we will do
the handholding at the Supreme
Court. We are making it as user-
friendly as possible,” added
Chandrachud
Some high courts have also
instead of barring access to jus-
tice completely, we thought that
the next best option was to have
hearings through video confer-
encing”, Chandrachud said.
One concern is regarding vio-
lation of open court hearing when
it comes to video conferencing.
Justice Chandrachud agreed
that open court hearing is one of
the fundamental precepts of our
system but said that crowd is reg-
ulated even in physical proceed-
ing in open courts.
“Open court proceedings are
open from two perspectives –
first, free access for reporting to
media, and second, that access to
court rooms should be available
to the members of the public who
have an interest in the proceed-
ings. We cannot have, say 5,000
people coming into a court room
because we have space con-
straints.” He said the objective
must be to ensure the court does
not detract from the fundamental
principles of an open court.
“That is not to say that any-
body who wants a link to the hear-
ing will be entitled to get it. Tech-
nology also has constraints. As
long there is no bar on media on
one hand and members of public
who would want to hear the mat-
ter of public interest, I think the
states—Tamil Nadu, Telangana,
Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra
Pradesh.
However, of the 20 scheduled
special trains, the Indian Rail-
ways said 10 special trains ran on
Saturday. “As per information
received, various zonal railways
have run around 10 Shramik Spe-
cial trains today (Saturday) on
the demand of various state gov-
ernments,” railway ministry
said.
The trains scheduled from the
respective railway zones were to
ferry nearly 20,000 passengers,
senior officials said. “Trains are
being planned at the request of
the states. The trains are sched-
uled to run today following all the
standard protocols,” Railway
Protection Force DG Arun
Kumar said.
Amid demands by states and a
recognition of the logistical chal-
lenges involved in transporting
millions of people back to their
home states, the Centre on Friday
decided to allow special trains—
called Shramik Specials — to ena-
ble stranded migrants to return
home. Five such trains operated
on Friday.
According to officials, the rail-
ways is unlikely to run trains
originating from containment

Ex-AAP councillor KIM MAKES PUBLIC APPEARANCE

Chandrachud added.
So what are the immediate
taken up initiatives for digitizing
their records. “Now that has to be
principle of open court room is
going to be facilitated.”
zones like Delhi, Mumbai and
Ahmedabad. Railways also

Tahir’s bail plea

denied in riots case
Richa Banka
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: A Delhi court on Satur-
day dismissed the bail applica-
tion of suspended Aam Aadmi
Party councillor Tahir Hussain,
who was arrested for the violence
in the Delhi riots. The court noted
that Hussain was charged with
serious offences and the investi-
gation was still underway.
Additional sessions judge
Tyagita Singh rejected the bail
application to Hussain who had
moved the court saying he was
falsely implicated in this case and
that arresting him was a part of a
well-thought out conspiracy.
Appearing for the Delhi police,
the additional public prosecutor
had opposed the bail application,
stating that the accused was the
“mastermind” of the riots in
north-east Delhi.
After hearing the arguments,
the court said, “Keeping in view
the fact that the accused (Hus-
sain) is charged with serious
offence of murder under section
307 IPC besides other sections and
investigation is still under proc-
ess, therefore, no ground for reg-
ular bail is made out.”
Hussain has also been booked
under the stringent Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act in
another case related to the riots.
He has also been arrested in the
murder case of Intelligence
Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma.
advantages of e-filing? coupled with e-filing so that both Justice Chandrachud was part announced it will charge to oper-
“With the introduction of e-fil- fresh cases, and disposed of and of the SC bench that passed an ate special trains amid the lock-
ing, people will be able to file pending cases are brought on the order on April 6 legalising use of down. The fare includes the price
cases in the Supreme Court 24x7
and it won’t be restricted to work-
same platform. But there should
be a standard operating proce-
video conferencing to hear cases
during Covid-19 lockdown.
of regular sleeper class tickets,
plus a superfast charge of ₹30 and
ing hours of the court. Curing of dure (SOP) for the benefit of all “We gave legal sanctity to an additional charge of ₹20, add-
defects in the petitions will also be high courts and the district judi- video conferencing by an over- ing that state can coordinate and
through electronic mode. It will ciary”. The e-committee at the arching judicial order which sort pay on the passengers’ behalf.
make life much easier for liti- Supreme Court will soon consti- of covered all high courts in the Jharkhand chief minister
gants, lawyers, law clerks and of tute a panel of experts from the country. But we left it to the dis- Hemant Soren Saturday tweeted
course for our registry staff also”, private sector and government cretion of every high court on the government should roll back
he said. The top court has begun agencies who will help draw up a various nuances because we did the fare, adding that it was an
the process of digitization of SOP for nationwide digitization. not want to handhold the high “injustice to our labourers who
pending cases. This did pose some “Once that is done, each high courts and foreclose their discre- are returning home.”
challenges, Chandrachud said. court can utilise that protocol and tion in adopting technology The ministry of railways had
“One of the technological do that process of digitsation. which they felt was best suited to clarified that the trains were
issues faced was to ensure that Once e-filing starts in Supreme their purpose.” However, he planned only for those registered
the digitized files of pending cases Court, it will catch up in a big way added that video conferencing by states. All passengers will
are brought on the same platform in high courts,” he said. can’t replace physical hearings. have to wear masks.
n North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre) visits a fertilizer factory in South Pyongan, North
Korea, on Friday. It was his first public appearance in 20 days, state media said on Saturday. AP
‘ I N V E S T I N H E A LT H C A R E ’
Shelve Central Vista project: Cong
Press Trust of India shelve the wasteful Central Vista in our healthcare system and a
n letters@hindustantimes.com project and proposed mega cen- “flawed” insurance-linked pri-
tral secretariats at 17 state capi- vate hospital over-dependence.
NEWDELHI: A day after the Centre tals. Spending over ~25,000 crore “Shocking that government
gave its approval to the Central on grand buildings at a time of hospitals have only 30% beds
Vista project, senior Congress unprecedented national crisis whereas private hospitals have
leader Anand Sharma on Satur- will be a criminal waste of public 70% of ICU beds and 80% of venti-
day urged the Prime Minister to money,” he said on Twitter. lators,” he said.
shelve it and the proposed mega The deputy leader of Congress “India must urgently invest
central secretariats in 17 states, in Rajya Sabha said facing a public money in public health-
saying it will be a “criminal resource crunch, the country is care and build well equipped pub-
waste” of public money, espe- accepting loans from the World lic hospitals. Let the pandemic
cially in times of a pandemic. Bank and the Asian Development crisis become an opportunity for
Instead, India should invest Bank. “India needs hospitals and course correction. That will be
this money in filling the “short- commit the resources there,” truly celebrating the corona war-
comings” in the public health- Sharma said. He said the pan- riors,” he said in a series of
care system. “Urging PM to demic has exposed shortcomings tweets.

SANJAY DUTT:
FIRST COMES SAFETY
OF AUDIENCES
Check out today’s HT City

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12 hindustantimes
LIFEINTHETIMEOFCOVID-19
Catch the videos on www.Instagram.com/hindustantimes
www.twitter.com/htTweets For more details, go to http://blog.juggernaut.in
The HT-Juggernaut readathon concludes, with the final set of daily readings from...
The Kabuliwallah by Rabindranath Tagore
one story
one nation
Narrated by
RAHUL DRAVID
Former India cricket captain
he Kabuliwallah was
T taken aback when he saw before. Blushing at Rahmat’s
her. Unable to revive their question, she stood with her
old banter, he said nothing for face averted. I remembered
a while. Finally, he said with a the day Mini and the Kabuli-
smile, ‘Khnokhi, tomi
sasurbaari jaabis?’
EPISODE
Mini knew now what
the words meant, she
could not respond as
Narrated by
MOHINI GUPTA
A reader from New Delhi
ho knew what might
W have happened to her
over these past eight
years? The shehnai kept playing
in the calming sunlight of the
autumn morning, but inside a
This translation of The Kabuliwallah is by Arunava Sinha and is part of The Greatest Bengali Stories Ever Told (Aleph)
PREVENTIVE ACTION
BCG vaccine may help
health workers: Study
Anonna Dutt
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
NEWDELHI:The Bacillus Calmette-
Guérin (BCG) vaccine to prevent
tuberculosis must be adminis-
tered to health care workers and
the elderly as prophylaxis (pre-
ventive action) for Covid-19,
according to a paper published in
Indian Journal of Orthopaedics.
“BCG vaccine is known to
confer a broad-spectrum immu-
nity not just against tuberculosis
but other diseases. Indians are
already administered BCG as
part of our immunisation pro-
gramme, but other countries,
where it has been stopped, might
use BCG vaccine prophylaxis
along with chloroquine that is
now being used. It is already
tested in humans and widely
available,” said Dr Ajay Gupta,
the author of the article and
orthopaedic surgeon from Mau-
lana Azad Medical College.
Immunity conferred through
BCG vaccine may be effective in
preventing a cytokine storm, the
article suggests.
A cytokine storm is when the
immune system goes into an
overdrive and starts attacking
the body’s own cells and tissues
other than fighting off an infec-
tion.
“Viral-specific CD8 T cells (of
key importance to the immune
system) were seen to have spe-
cial affinity towards BCG-in-
duced granulomas (a collection
of immune cells) resulting in
substantial accumulation of
Bengal CM, guv spar
over Covid figures
Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
n letters@hindustantimes.com
KOLKATA: Amid a raging contro-
versy over mismatch in the
state’s data of Covid-19 infec-
tions, the West Bengal govern-
ment on Saturday changed the
format of its daily bulletin.
The day also saw chief minis-
ter Mamata Banerjee sending a
13-page letter to Governor Jagd-
eep Dhankhar in response to his
letters, accusing him of “dream-
ing of a dyarchy in the state”.
Referring to the data discrep-
ancy, Governor Jagdeep Dhank-
har took to social media on Satur-
day to ask the state government
to maintain transparency. “Give
up ‘Covid-19 data cover up opera-
tion’ @MamataOfficial and share
it transparently,” Dhankhar
tweeted.
Banerjee, in her letter, listed a
series of phrases from the two let-
ters that the governor wrote her,
and said, “Such words and such
communications of such content,
tenor and tone from a Governor
to an elected CM are unprece-
dented in the annals of Indian
constitutional and political his-
tory.” Dhankhar was quick to
respond on Twitter. “There are
no sane takers for this unseemly
scenario. I have held enough
close to my chest -- looks like
revealing is becoming unavoida-
ble. Reply will be sent as her letter
has content to which I cannot sub-
scribe as it eclipses essence of
Constitution,” he tweeted.
www.facebook.com/hindustantimes
n Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore (1861-1941). GETTY IMAGES
wallah had met for the
first time, and felt a
twinge of sadness.
17After Mini left, Rah-
mat slumped to the floor
house in a Calcutta lane all that
Rahmat could see were the from the celebrations. The elec-
mountains and cold deserts of tric lights display was not as lav-
Afghanistan.
I gave him some money.
‘Go back home to your
daughter, Rahmat,’ I told
him. ‘Let the happiness of
your reunion with her be a
EPISODE
blessing for my Mini.’
Giving Rahmat the money
IMMUNITY THROUGH
BCG VACCINE MAY BE
EFFECTIVE IN CHECKING
CYTOKINE STORM WHICH
IS WHEN THE IMMUNE
SYSTEM ATTACKS THE
BODY’S OWN CELLS AND
TISSUES, SAYS STUDY
viral-specific CD8 T cells there.
Such an affinity can be made to
be used in patients with Covid-19
to divert and subvert its overact-
ive immune response towards
BCG granulomas,” the study
reads.
“This basically means that
BCG-induced immune response
might reduce the chances of
cytokine storms, which is what
leads to deaths in such viral
infections,” said Dr Gupta.
“There is no concrete evi-
dence to suggest that BCG-vac-
cine will protect against the viral
infection, but it is a hypothesis
that needs to be studied...BCG-
vaccine is a known immune-
modulator,” said Dr Shobha
Broor, former head of depart-
ment of microbiology at the All
India Institute of Medical Scien-
ces.
The article also suggests that
natural exposure to mycobacte-
rium (tuberculosis), Salmonella
(Typhoid), and influenza can
boost the immune system result-
ing in less severe infections and
deaths due to Covid-19.
The controversy over data
mismatch was triggered by state
health secretary Vivek Kumar’s
letter to union health secretary
Preeti Sudan on April 30, putting
the total number of persons test-
ing positive for Covid-19 in the
state at 931. However, the figure
given by the state during press
briefings and in bulletins added
up to 816.
Even as the discrepancy snow-
balled into a raging political con-
troversy by evening, the govern-
ment skipped the press briefing
altogether. Bulletins for May 1
and May 2 were published
together at about 9 pm on Satur-
day. The state reported 127 new
cases, 15 deaths and 60 recoveries.
Neither chief secretary Rajiva
Sinha nor health secretary Vivek
Kumar responded to HT’s calls.
Meanwhile, in Murshidabad,
alleged irregularities in disburse-
ment of free ration from a govern-
ment authorized fair price ration
shop in the Salar area led to ran-
sacking and arson in the morn-
ing. Hundreds of villagers at Pun-
isha village in Salar as ransacked
the home of Halim Sheikh, the
ration dealer, and set furniture
on fire. They alleged that they
were getting lesser rice than their
share. Senior officers from the
district administration assured
the villagers that action would be
taken against Sheikh.
In a similar incident, villagers
staged a dharna outside the local
ration dealer’s home at Jashoit-
ala village of Murshidabad.
with a sigh. He had suddenly
realised that his own daughter
must have grown up and that
he would have to get to know
her all over again—she would
no longer be the way he remem-
bered her.
“In a time when communication
and connection are so impor-
tant, I feel what better way to
do that than through stories...
and they’re fun as well.”
meant pruning one or two things
ish as I had wanted it to be, nor
were the musical
arrangements as elabo-
18
rate as planned. The
ladies as usual objected
strongly but, for me, the
festivities were brightened by
the blessings of a father’s love.
frompageone
Govt plans
major agri
reforms post-
corona
“appropriate” new laws or
changing old ones to firmly inte-
grate farm markets across the
country so that cultivators and
traders can transact without
restrictions. “Essentially, he
wanted one nation, one market,”
said a top official familiar with
the deliberations of the meeting.
The PM also held a “general
discussion” on genetically modi-
fied crops, a tricky subject given
the widespread opposition to
transgenics in the country. “It
was a discussion that evaluated
the various advantages and dis-
advantages of transgenics. The
PM wanted updates on options to
raise productivity, while lower-
ing farming costs,” said the offi-
cial quoted above. The PM
stressed last-mile dissemination
of technologies developed by
agricultural research bodies.
The Covid pandemic has pres-
sured farm incomes, upending
the farm-to-fork supply chain,
despite full exemptions to the
farm sector. A nationwide cur-
few caught farmers by surprise
on March 24. During its the ini-
tial days, labour shortage and
empty wholesale markets led
farmers to dump new harvest,
especially perishables.
Although agriculture
accounts for 16.5% of India’s
gross domestic product (GDP),
nearly half the population in the
country depends on a farm-
based income, underscoring the
sector’s importance for liveli-
hoods.
The big focus on Saturday was
on new ideas to intervene in the
agriculture marketing system so
as to make them freer, a second
official said. Despite several
model laws at the federal level —
which serve as guidance for
states — trade in agricultural
commodities remains fettered
by state-specific legislations,
which prevent farmers from
freely accessing food markets.
The discussions are a nod to a
renewed farm agenda, which
may, in all likelihood, see fresh
legislations being moved in Par-
liament. “The honourable prime
minister wants integrated mar-
kets. One state should be agreea-
ble with another state as far as
agricultural policies go,” the sec-
ond official said.
The Indian agricultural mar-
ket is fragmented. Each state has
distinct regulations. Restric-
tions on where farmers can sell
and to whom, as mandated by the
Agricultural Produce Market
Committee Acts, in various
states, continue to thwart farm
trade.
The second official said a new
legal framework governing
investment and technology in
agrarian economy could be nec-
essary and the “PM acknowl-
edged that”.
“The focus was on making
strategic interventions in the
existing marketing ecosystem
and bringing appropriate
reforms in the context of rapid
agricultural development,” an
official statement said.
K. Mani, an economist with
the Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, said the first step for
these ideas to be successful was
to have an interstate council
such as the one for the Goods and
Services Tax.
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s looking for something... you can try and find your lockdown escape among the websites offering virtual travel experiences
online. Take a walk around the Colosseum, a trip to Rio, dive into a reef system, or journey to the International Space Station
Go on field trips
Go on safaris and treks via live cam
around the world
If you have a VR headset,
Google’s free Expeditions app
will take you around the
world and into space. The app
has over 800 destinations. It
was originally built for
students, as a virtual
substitute for field trips, but
has since been opened up to
the public. You can explore
saved tours, go on solo
adventures or take a group trip
with others hooked up to the
same wifi network.
Make your own VR headset
If you’re trying out virtual travel during this lockdown, crafting a VR
headset from scraps around the house could be time well spent. Don’t
expect Oculus-level output, but the
DIY section on YouTube has a
number of videos with
recipes of varying levels of
difficulty, including
how to make the
lens out of pet
bottles and water. If
nothing else, it’s a fun craft
project to do with the kids.
Under a decades-old system,
each state has scores of tight
market zones to serve as exclu-
sive buyer-seller platforms for
an area. This system of ‘mandis’
or markets is both a physical and
at times fiscal barrier, prevent-
ing seamless transactions of
goods.
The second official cited above
said the prime minister wanted a
massive scaling up of a federal
e-commerce platform for farm-
ers and traders, known as the
Electronic National Agricul-
tural Markets or the e-NAM app.
The PM’s push for the app came
in the backdrop of agriculture
minister Tomar saying, sepa-
rately, that more than 166000 reg-
istered farmers across the coun-
try are now selling their produce
by transacting from home and
praticising social distancing,
with nearly half of the country’s
1500 major farm-end commodity
markets now going online. This
is the first time wholesale food
markets in large states, such as
Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka,
have joined the digital supply
chain.
Farmers on the e-NAM app
can strike deals for their har-
vests remotely by first uploading
pictures of their samples and
then getting these samples scien-
tifically checked for quality by
remote assayers, without having
to move entire truck loads to
physical markets. The e-NAM
platform now has a total of 785
markets online.
Saturday’s review was pre-
ceded by recommendations ear-
lier this year from a committee of
secretaries tasked with review-
ing the agriculture sector. It
identified persistent trade barri-
ers within the mandi system that
continue to hurt producers.
The government could con-
sider a “single mandi tax for the
country” and “removal of levies”
charged to traders and farmers
when farm goods are sold from
one state to another, known as
interstate mandi tax, a third offi-
cial said.
“Making farm marketing
reforms work is similar to open-
ing FDI in manufacturing. That’s
how big it is. It’s after all about
prices for producers,” said S
Mahendra Dev, director and
vice-chancellor of the Mumbai-
based Indira Gandhi Institute of
Development Research. Dev for-
merly headed the Commission
for Agricultural Costs and Pri-
ces, the federal body that fixes
minimum support prices.
Ushered in during the 1960s,
most Agricultural Produce Mar-
ket Committee Acts – each state
has its own law — require farm-
ers to only sell to licensed mid-
dlemen in notified markets, usu-
ally in the same area as the
farmer, rather than directly to
buyers elsewhere. These rules
were meant to protect farmers
from being forced into distress
selling. But over time, they have
spawned layers of intermedia-
ries, spanning the farm-to-fork
supply chain. This results in a
large “price spread” or the frag-
mentation of profit shares due to
the presence of many middle-
men.
Saturday’s meet also dis-
cussed possible model land ten-
ancy laws. Outdated land ten-
ancy laws in many states mean
that tenant farmers don’t get
access to farm loans because
they don’t own land. Tenancy
reforms can lead to more con-
tract and organised farming
without affecting “adverse pos-
session” or ownership of land.
“One reason why agriculture
has suffered is that we have not
liberated the sector like we have
done for industry. Without com-
promising food security, you
have to open up. The govern-
ment cannot assume it knows
everything. I think that’s what
the government has realised
now,” said Manoj Kumar Panda,
the RBI chair professor at the
Institute of Economic Growth,
University of Delhi.
Bureaucrats suggested crea-
tion of commodity-specific
administrative bodies and pro-
motion of agriculture clusters as
well as contract farming to boost
exports.
Gun battle in
Handwara
ces. According to the sources, a
hunt was underway to trace the
missing personnel, while the
operation to neutralise the mili-
tants was also on, PTI reported.
The encounter began in the
afternoon after Army and police
launched a joint operation in the
forests of Rajwar following a tip-
off about the presence of mili-
tants in the area. The militants
emerged and hid inside a house.
Teams of the Special Opera-
tion Group of police surrounded
the house and lights had been
erected around the area where
the encounter was underway, a
senior security official said, ask-
ing not to be named. Since the
gunfight was underway, this per-
son added, more details about
the operation were not immedi-
ately available from the unit that
was engaged in the encounter.
Defense spokesman Rajesh
Kalia didn’t respond to phone
calls made by HT.
When self-
isolation led to
great works
ISAAC NEWTON (TRINITY
COLLEGE):
Considered Trinity’s most
accomplished alumni, he exem-
plified productivity during a
pandemic. Like many in Cam-
bridge during the Great Plague
of 1665-56, he retreated to the
countryside to escape the dis-
ease-ridden city and spent two
extended periods at his family
home, Woolsthorpe Manor, in
rural Lincolnshire.
Newton thrived in isolation,
and later described it as one of
the most productive times in his
life, finding the space to reflect
on and develop his theories on
optics, calculus, and the laws of
motion and gravity.
It was during this time that he
conducted his famous prism
experiment.
“Probably to his parents’ dis-
pleasure, he bored a hole
through his window shutters to
produce a single, thin beam of
light to pass through two prisms,
proving for the first time that
prisms did not create colours,
but merely separated colours
that were already there,” the
university’s researcher, Alisha
Matthewson-Grand, wrote.
“Indeed, Newton was so intel-
lectually transformed by his
period of isolation that later
commentators have referred to
his time away from Cambridge
as his annus mirabilis, or his
‘year of wonders’.”
CHARLES DARWIN
(CHRIST’S COLLEGE):
Explore.org runs a large
network of 24-hour live
cam and cam trap feeds
from sanctuaries, nation-
al parks, aquariums and
zoos around the world.
These include a reef
aquarium in California, a
reserve in Kenya, as well
as a camera trained on
the Northern Lights in
Manitoba, Canada. You can see
lions, tigers, manatees, jellyfish and
great whites, among others, as they
go about their business. Each feed
also tells you about the place, and
when to visit for a good sighting.
Travel with NASA
Virtual tours on the website of
America’s National Aeronautics
and Space Administration let
you take a trip to the Interna-
tional Space Station or visit the
pyramids over breakfast. The
Exoplanet Excursions app takes
you even further, by several
light years, on a guided tour
through the TRAPPIST-1 star
system, where seven Earth-like
planets orbit a star a bit larger
than Jupiter. The 3D visuals are
based on data collected by the
Spitzer Space Telescope laun-
ched into space in 2003 and
retired in January this year.
Many do resemble our planet.
thecrosswords
CRYPTIC CLUES
ACROSS
1 Disc jockey goes to a pub for
spirits (5)
4 The detachment’s not in position (7)
8 Name written in italics (3)
9 Usual courts may have to be changed
round (9)
10 They want a good deal (7)
11 Breakfast food firm breaks an
embargo (5)
13 The number increases in
emergencies (6)
15 When to tell all? (6)
18 Wash resin out (5)
19 Exit to the open air? (7)
21 The drilling outside is annoying (9)
23 Nothing we fail to settle (3)
24 Extend a term of imprisonment (7)
25 Not a long extract, but one could get
hooked on it (5)
DOWN
1 Shuffling cards, it is necessary to be
vigorous (7)
2 The impression one gives is not
genuine (9)
3 A comfortable recess? (5)
4 Harass the bosses in difficulty (6)
5 A butler upset about nothing leads to
difficulty (7)
6 Eggs, not quite oval (3)
7 Fittingly test (3,2)
12 Specific car tool is made wrongly (6,3)
14 Component that defies analysis (7)
16 Wave on a doctor (7)
17 Not French apparently, but it could be
(6)
18 Unusually sober attire (5)
20 Very close to being drunk (5)
22 A hill to the right (3)
FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS (15592)
CRYPTIC
QUICK
Darwin’s experience with isola-
tion was not the result of a pan-
demic but his own chronic ill
health. He suffered from a myr-
iad of unexplained symptoms,
including vertigo, vomiting,
cramps, fatigue, anxiety and
visual disturbances.
He noted in his autobiography
of 1876 that “few persons can
have lived a more retired life
than we [Darwin and his wife
Emma] have done. Besides short
visits to the houses of relations,
and occasionally to the seaside
or elsewhere, we have gone
nowhere.”
Darwin believed that periods
of isolation and ill health helped
his career. At home, he was free
from the demands placed on
other scientists (teaching,
administrative work), and thus
able to devote himself entirely to
research; he wrote: “Ill-health,
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
MAY 03, 2 02 0
Try a GPS treasure hunt
The Geoguessr game is another
way of exploring the world. You
will be dropped anywhere on
earth, virtually, or in a general
area of your choosing. You can
walk around the place with a
360-degree Street View of your
surroundings, and you have to
guess where you are on the
map. The language on the
signboards, statues, the types of
trees and other landmarks serve
Head to Rio de Janeiro’s favelas
Google Arts & Culture has a travel
section that lets you scroll
through nooks and crannies
around the world – the favelas of
Rio de Janeiro, the stone steps of
thousand-year-old temples in
India and fort ruins out in the
middle of the Indian Ocean are
among the options. Videos give
you 360-degree views and, while
they don’t take you far, they do
let you get a really good look at
PUZZLE 15593 © Gemini Crosswords 2012 All rights reserved
QUICK CLUES
ACROSS
1 Cry of a horse (5)
4 Win back from the wild
(7)
8 To spoil (3)
9 Number left after
subtraction (9)
10 Discoloured (7)
11 Display (5)
13 Disturbance (6)
15 Robbery at gunpoint
(4-2)
18 Constant (5)
19 Unfathomable (7)
21 Done as a trial (9)
23 Prefix meaning new (3)
24 Vacation (7)
25 Swarthy (5)
htsudoku
Fill in all the squares in the
grid so that each row,
column and each of the 9X9
squares contains all the
digits from 1 to 9.
SUDOKU>> SCAN THIS SUDOKU UNIT FOR
THE SOLUTION AND MANY MORE PUZZLES
though it has annihilated several
years of my life, has saved me
from the distractions of society
and amusement.”
LORD BYRON (TRINITY
COLLEGE):
In 1811, Lord Byron was forced to
quarantine in Malta after
returning from a cholera-rav-
aged Greece. He was furious at
the prospect of spending 40 days
in lockdown, a measure he con-
sidered to be draconian and
unnecessary.
While confined, he wrote
‘Farewell to Malta’, a satirical
poem attacking the island for
(among other things) ‘”ts smoky
towns and cloudy sky” and its
“cursed street of stairs”.
He references his quarantine
explicitly in the first verse
“Adieu, thou damned’st quaran-
tine / That gave me fever, and the
as clues. The game lets you
explore how much you actually
know about the world, and
you won’t even notice how
much you’re learning.
where you’re virtually standing.
There’s even an eight-part
immersive documentary tour of
Rio’s favelas or slums. Beyond The
Map lets viewer experience the
sights and sounds, meet some of
the people who live here, and
learn about the social architecture
of the place. Best experienced
through a VR or virtual reality
headset, or the mobile app.
TEXT BY NATASHA REGO
DOWN
1 Retributive justice (7)
2 Actually (2,7)
3 One of the Great Lakes
(5)
4 Cure (6)
5 The Windy City (7)
6 Go on to say (3)
7 Cheerful (5)
12 Basic principles (9)
14 Unimaginative
person (7)
16 Expose to public
scorn (7)
17 Conceit (6)
18 Door fastener (5)
20 Give way (5)
22 Zero (3)
DIFFICULTY
LEVEL
DIFFICULDIFFICUL
DIFFICUL
spleen!’.
JOHN MILTON (CHRIST’S
COLLEGE):
The author of ‘Paradise Lost’ and
‘Aeropagitica’ spent some time
away from Cambridge as a first
year undergraduate in 1626,
when the town was hit by
bubonic plague. He was home in
London when he wrote Elegia
Prima, his first Latin elegy. The
work is an early example of his
aptitude for verse composition,
as well as his impressive flair for
comedy.
A letter in verse form, the
elegy was written for his closest
friend, Charles Diodati, and nar-
rates how Milton was enjoying
his unexpected period away
from Cambridge while also
anticipating his return to “the
reedy fens of the Cam” and “the
hum of the noisy school”.
 HIN DU STA N T IM ES , N EW DE LHI
SUN DAY, M AY 03 , 2020 TIME OUT htcity 13
TAROT ARIES With your intelligent mind you handle professional
matters online efficiently. You display practical wisdom LEO The appearance of celestial phenomena suggests
surprises and unexpected happenings in professional SAGITTARIUS Three special people share some wonderful moments
and feelings with you. Quality time is spent with
(MAR 21 - APR 20) in making decisions and dealing with associates during (JUL 23 - AUG 23) and personal affairs. Business picks up and it’s time to (NOV 23 - DEC 23) parents, people you admire and those you care about.

POWER a tricky confrontation. Beware of destructive logic and

negative attitudes when stressed in personal or
professional aspects. You can get stuck in a head-trip if
MAY 03-MAY 09, 2020 you are not aware! Endless thoughts, ideas, dreams and
plans, cloud your vision, emotional clarity and spiritual
perception. Professional aspects and online business
routines move smoothly. You are likely to work with
young people. It’s time to breakthrough old mindsets
and emotional blocks as opportunities are passing by.
Reese Witherspoon Lucky Number: 17 Good Colour: Emerald Green
take a gamble or quantum leap as Lady Luck is with
you. Your focus and thinking change and you update
systems and machinery to compete with rivals. There
is love and passion in your personal relationship.
Spending time in sport or physical activity within the
confines of social distancing is therapeutic. Beware of
splurging online when you are in an expansive mood.
You come to an important realization that change is
constant and the only unchanging thing in the world.
Jennifer Lawrence Lucky Number: 10 Good Colour: Sea Blue
An established personal relationship flowers as you
find freedom and balance therein. A prestigious
professional assignment is allotted to you. You are
likely to specialise and gain success in your field. You
bring abundance in creative projects and meaningful
relationships with your gift of communication,
expertise and special skills. Be ready to welcome new
experiences and opportunities this week. Meditation
and spiritual pursuit are insightful and rejuvenating.
Janelle Monae Lucky Number: 3 Good Colour: Cherry Red

TAURUS This is a good time to re-evaluate your investments

MA PREM
RITAMBHARA
SPIRTUAL MESSAGE:
Let-go means no
competition, no struggle, no
fight… just relaxing with
existence, wherever it leads.
Not trying to control
consequences, but allowing
them to happen…not even
thinking about them. And
let-go is such a delightful
experience, a total
relaxation, a deep
synchronicity with
existence, says Osho, the
Zen master.
Ma Prem Ritambhara has
been reading Tarot cards
professionally in Mumbai,
Pune, Zurich and New Delhi,
for the last 15 years and
continues to do so from her
studio at home in New
Delhi. Her clientele is from
all over the world, from all
walks of life, and she reads
cards, predicts, counsels and
heals professionals, business
people, men, women,
children, students and
couples. She conducts
individual as well as group
readings. Contact her at
ritambhara7@gmail.com.
and financial portfolio. Health problems can be
(APR 21 - MAY 21) resolved now and personal relationships sealed with
love. A young man or son needs your advice and
support - be available. You may be slow to anger but
implacable when aroused, be aware. You indulge in
busy schedules while being aware of social distancing.
You are able to resolve conflicts in personal and
professional situations and bring about balance and
harmony therein. This fills you with a sense of
freedom and strength, which you share and bestow
on the not so strong or centered people around you.
Gal Gadot Lucky Number: 18 Good Colours: Earthy Browns
GEMINI You must aim for the highest and not make
compromises, as achievement of the highest degree is
(MAY 22 - JUN 21) possible. A professional opportunity that comes out of
the blue is hard to resist as it promises name and gain.
A transforming personal experience changes your
attitudes and the way you look at love and
commitment! Respond rather than react to people
and situations. Look for inspiration deep within your
being. You are able to touch deep inner spaces of
silence and meditation this week that are like a
healing balm to your tortured mind. You feel renewed
with energy for the new adventure life now offers.
Nicole Kidman Lucky Number: 1 Good Colours: Reds
CANCER Situations are likely to turn round in a positive
direction as breakthroughs are possible this week. A
(JUN 22 - JUL 22) business opportunity emerges from nowhere and
helps you make a change that you have been looking
for. You develop new business connections online that
prove to be lucrative. A professional collaboration
comes together just when you give up hope or
expectation for it to materialize. You receive some
tender, loving care from a special friend. A mystical
happening is on the cards! You feel that all is well in
your world and you are motivated to surge ahead
with a newfound vitality and energy like never before.
Selena Gomez Lucky Number: 7 Good Colours: Reds
VIRGO Step by step, surefooted and enduring, you make your
way through towering amounts of online work, files,
(AUG 24 - SEP 23) engagements, business projects and people. It is
important to not always look at the earthy, practical
aspects of life but sometimes listen to your heart and
be spontaneous! Health and fitness routines become
significant. A father figure earns your respect and
confidence. You make an impact in creative or earthy
fields. Your good heart and positive approach brings
you peace inside and friendship outside. You can trust
your intuition about people and situations when
called upon to mediate in conflicts and collaborations.
Ava DuVernay Lucky Number: 5 Good Colour: Chocolate Brown
LIBRA You may feel professionally unstable and emotionally
insecure for a short while. A prize job or relationship is
(SEP 24 - OCT 23) finished and it is time to let go and make a new
beginning as something greater is waiting for you.
Recognize the inner nature of a person, and do not be
impressed by external differences of rank. Drop
impossible goals and ambitions but flower as yourself
with your abilities. A restless feeling passes when you
meditate in silence and centre within. You learn
valuable lessons about love, family, friendship and
your inner search for peace. This brings about a
transformation in the way you look at life.
Lena Headey Lucky Number: 8 Good Colour: Soft Pink
SCORPIO Personal relationships are strong and committed but
go through a temporary period of stress and
(OCT 24 - NOV 22) sensitivity, be patient and loving. Beware of getting
into old addictions or emotional patterns, as you are
vulnerable at this point. Avoid torturing yourself with
negative thinking and destructive attitudes in
relationships. Interesting communications are on the
cards! Maintaining balance in all aspects of life is
important as things go up and down and you feel
vulnerable! It’s time to lighten up and get in touch
with old friends. Personal relationships are just the
way you want them to be, by the end of the week.
Julia Roberts Lucky Number: 7 Good Colours: Sea Greens
CAPRICORN Business ventures take off, and you look towards
expansion and further gain this week. You find
(DEC 24 - JAN 20) answers to most problems with your intelligent mind.
Rather than holding suggestions, ideas and feelings,
express them, as they are received well. Your personal
relationship is wonderful and you can expect more
understanding, sharing and acceptance therein. With
your gift of communication, your online social circle
widens, attracting a variety of interesting people.
Since there’s a lot happening around you, go within
and connect with your centre. Be clear about who and
what you want, as you’re likely to get it!
Diane Keaton Lucky Number: 1 Good Colour: Royal Blue
AQUARIUS You tend to worry about health, finances and details,
and only stress yourself. It’s therapeutic to spend time
(JAN 21 - FEB 19) by yourself and indulge in relaxing or creative activity.
Health problems need to be resolved at this point or
they linger in a chronic manner. End of the week
brings clarity and positive changes in work situations
and personal relationships. Creative pastimes and
relaxed attitudes are therapeutic for you. Clarity and
totality is needed when making significant changes
and commitments at this point. A calm, meditative
and silent space inside helps you put things in correct
perspective and bring harmony around you.
Jennifer Aniston Lucky Number: 7 Good Colour: Steel Grey
PISCES You are patient, laborious and clever in material aspects
and manage finances and business ventures online with
(FEB 20 - MAR 20) ingenuity. Health problems for you or family members
can be solved with natural healing and alternate
therapy. Parents may need support and attention while
children need your guidance and love. You network
electronically with friends or family. Sporty pastimes
and physical activity while socially distancing keeps
you fit and energetic. You make mature decisions.
Looking at life from a realistic point of view will save
you from disappointment. Stay in touch with your
sense of humour in every situation. Celebration is key!
Ellen Page Lucky Number: 17 Good Colours: Browns

SCRAMBLE - 3433 CALVIN AND HOBBES Bill Watterson

AMOUNT Solve the four anagrams and move one letter to each square to
form four ordinary words

DOESN’T FWAE R

MATTER WHEN LNYOO

NUUGOT
IT COMES TO AC IRBF
CHARITY, FEELS Now arrange the letters marked with an asterisk (*) to form the
answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing words as indicated.
If you scatter thorns, don’t go __ _____
MIKA SINGH - Italian proverb (2, 8)
ANSWER: If you scatter thorns, don’t go barefoot - Italian proverb
SCRAMBLE SOLUTION: Wafer, loony, outgun, fabric

that’s your capacity,” says the HT PHOTO

Shreya Mukherjee singer, whose NGO has been doing, Singh says, “Agar aap
providing rations to hundreds dikhawe ke liye kar rahe ho,
‘THE LOCKDOWN BATTLING A Sanchita Kalra Mittal reveals that she was

T
he Covid-19 crisis has of people in Mumbai with the phir bhi kar rahe ho na. Woh asked to perform online

people from different
walks of life helping each
other, something which singer
Mika Singh feels is the biggest
takeaway at this point.
“Kitna kar rahe ho uska
hisaab nahi rakhna, bus ek
dusre ke liye karte jaana hai.
The amount of money doesn’t
matter. You can help people
with just ₹100 or buy someone
a packet of biscuits for ₹5 if
help of Mumbai Police.
Expressing gratitude towards
police personnel, Singh says,
“They’re out there day and
night, helping those in need
and also providing food to so
many people.”
Reflecting on the discussion
that some people are doing
charity for publicity, by
putting up posts on social
media to show what they’re
kaafi hai. At least this would
inspire people to do the same.
Let’s focus on positives.”
He shares that the lockdown
has made him understand life
better. “My heart is filled with
gratitude that I’ve so many
comforts in life. Then why
should I complain about
anything else?” Singh ends
with something to mull over.
n shreya.mukherjee@htlive.com
HAS MADE C
omedians are now without a fee, in the pretext of
STRAINED performing for a virtual
audience, owing to the
“cheering up people”. “So while
you build your brand and I
PEOPLE MORE LAUGH lockdown, but online gigs are
not as easy as they sound. With
cheer up people, what do I get?”
she asks.
COMPASSIONATE’ DURING
paid shows, contractual gigs,
city and world tours on hold, it
surely isn’t a cakewalk for them.
Comedian Harsh Gujral
feels the issue with online
shows is that it has compelled
Prerna Gauba Sibbal Comedians,
including Harsh DIRE Today, on the occasion of
World Laughter Day, some
them to decrease the fee.
For comedian Amit Tandon,
T
he lockdown has instilled
a sense of compassion in
people, feels actor Daisy
Gujral and (inset)
Aditi Mittal, feel
that they are in a
TIMES disclose the financial struggles
faced by them while others
grieve about being approached
the cancellation of his world
tour didn’t stop him from
engaging with his fans. He
Shah. She observes, “I’ve seen situation wherein by big brands to do online shows decided to go for online shows
people have become kind; their fee is being for free, or with a considerable at a cost of ₹250 per ticket, down

Landlords, tenants strike

basically they are better compromised cut in the fees. from ₹1500-2000.
humans now. I see a lot less Comedian and writer Aditi n sanchita.kalra@htlive.com
selfishness. It’s a huge thing
the lockdown has taught each

a fair deal amid crisis

one of us, including me.”
For Shah, feeding strays has
become a daily chore. “It’s just
the love for animals I have in
me,” she explains, adding,
Aprajita Sharad off rents for their tenants! “We are going through a
“How can they pay me difficult situation right now

W
ith the lockdown in
place, it has become
difficult for most
students and working
professionals to pay their
house rents on time.
However, in times like these,
some landlords in Delhi-NCR
have come forward as good
samaritans, and have either
reduced or completely waived
if they themselves don’t
have money? I have
asked them to give
whatever they can,”
shares Vijay Rawal, who has
rented out a property in West
Patel Nagar.
Some like Rakesh Sinha
have even asked their tenants
to reach out to them if they
don’t have sufficient rations.
“If we don’t come together to
help each other during this
pandemic, we won’t survive
or come out of this without
regrets,” he adds.
n aprajita.sharad@hindustantimes.com
and people are not stepping
out of their houses. Those who
used to feed strays earlier are
not doing it anymore because
of the fear of the virus…I urge
all readers, who can step out,
to go and feed three or four
dogs in their area…I promise it
will make you feel good.”
n prerna.gauba@htlive.com

Chicken: To eat or not to eat is the woe

Ruchika Garg Covid-19 has affected
consumption of meat

I
have been completely
avoiding chicken for the
past one-and-a-half months,”
says Naman Khare, a resident
of Greater Kailash. Many like
Khare, even though reading up
on chicken being safe for
consumption, are unable to
explain the same to their
family members.
Ishi Khosla, a Delhi-based
nutritionist, says, “Chicken is
100% safe for consumption. It’s
not a medium for transmission
of Covid-19. It’s a myth that
eating chicken can affect you.
One of the things is it should
preferably be cooked well
PHOTO: ISTOCK
Daisy
Shah is
feeding strays
PHOTO: YOGEN
SHAH
before consumption, like the the Poultry Federation
older way of eating it.” of India, who is also a part
Of late, an advocacy of the advocacy, says,
‘Chicken Hai Safe’ is also “Myths around chicken
doing the rounds, aiming are breaking now, and
to disband misinformation we are hoping for a
around chicken. brighter time.”
Ramesh Khatri, president of n ruchika.garg@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI, SUNDAY, MAY 03, 2020 I Entertainment & Promotional Features
SIXSHOTSOFLIFE
There’s negativity all around, but we will focus on the
positivity. Our editor picks shots of life that bring a smile
THE LITTLE WARRIOR!
Remember this nine-year-old
from Madhya Pradesh, who
was diagnosed with
Covid-19? He went to a
quarantine facility
alone in an ambulance.
The good news is that
he has defeated the
deadly virus in just 18
days! Akarshan Soni
came out of the isolation
ward with a winning smile.
He got a roaring welcome as
people saluted his courage.
E!
ES BACK HOM
A HERO COM showered flower petals on Ra
iends
Family and fr looking after Covid-19
, a nu rse
Kanade
m e af te r 20 days of
ho
returned
odi shared th
Narendra M w ith ha pp iness. This is
ar t
this fill the he
RT IS
ERE THE HEA
HOME IS WH labourers st
uck across In
migrant
In a relief to
ilway s st ar ted the Shra
Ra . Th e fi rs t le
states
their home H at ia in Jh
Hyderabad,
to reach
ch tr ai ns fo r stranded pi
start more su
Bharti
Singh
WORLD
LAUGHTER
DAY
‘It’s tougher to make
people laugh today’
Rishabh Suri
S
he has been making India
laugh for a decade now,
but Bharti Singh still finds
comedy a very difficult task. On
World Laughter Day, today, we
ask the comedienne, 35, how
important a role does laughter
play in our lives, especially
during the current crisis. Pat
comes her reply, “There’s this
situation in India, what do I say
about laughter amid all this?
There are those who worry
about what to eat tomorrow or
even in the next hour. There’s
no laughter in their lives. But I
get messages from people with
cable connections… Agar
hamari chhoti baat pe yeh log
hans dete hain, toh humein
bahut duayein milengi... We’ll
try our best to make people
laugh.” Singh adds that though
NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid
for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does or shall appear in
any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers.
jshree
s as she
patient
ital. PM
ty at a Pune hosp
du
ag ra m : “M oments like
st
e video on In India...”
the spirit of
YOU CAN’T OUT-THINK US, CORONA!
In these unusual times, people have unusual ideas to
tackle Covid-19. A school in Taiwan uses yellow dividers
on desks during lunch time. And in China, school kids
wear winged hats measuring 1 meter, to maintain social
distancing. Closer home in Kerala, people use bright
umbrellas to observe social distancing.
dia, Indian
ove them to
train to m
mik Special rb of
ft Li ng am pally, a subu
e Ra ilw ay s will
arkhand. Th
st ud ents.
lgrims and
Ravi
Kishann
100 Hours 100 Stars: A non-stop
tribute to Covid-19 warriors
F
ever Network, home to
radio stations Fever FM,
Radio Nasha and Radio
One, has kicked off a one-of-
its-kind digital carnival, ‘100
Hours, 100 Stars – A Non-
Stop Tribute to COVID
warriors’, the largest such
initiative by any FM radio
station in the world. The
event, which began
yesterday, features
performances by and
interviews with 100 celebs –
which includes global
artistes, Bollywood stars,
she has been doing comedy for
10 years, it didn’t start off as
anything serious. “Earlier, I
used to do it just for fun... But,
today, it’s tougher to make
people laugh. Our lives are so
stressful,” she says.
Meanwhile, Singh and her
husband, writer Haarsh
Limbachiyaa, are trying to add
some laughter to people’s lives
during the lockdown with a
show shot entirely at home.
From the script to the camera
work, everything is done by the
duo. She shares, “People are
loving Hum, Tum Aur
Quarantine... We had just
shifted into a new house and
don’t have any house help.
Shooting, editing, sab karna
padta hai! During meal times,
we contemplate whether to eat
or shoot. The work starts in the
morning, and goes on till the
next day. It’s a small effort to
help people forget their stress.”
n rishabh.suri@htlive.com
THE POWER OF FAITH
Two priests flew over Santo
Domingo, capital of the
archbishop. Let’s keep the
faith alive that we will come
out as winners.
sports personalities,
politicians, authors, stand-
up comics, indie artistes,
renowned chefs and spiritual
leaders of India, along with
Covid-19 warriors and
survivors.
As the name suggests, it
offers 100 hours of
continuous content, to laud
the frontline workers who
are risking their lives for
others in the fight against the
disease.
Aimed at generating
donations to the PM CARES
Sanchita Kalra
T
he announcement of
lockdown extension
came with some relief in
the form of a few relaxations
in the green, orange and red
zones. As news broke about
the opening of liquor stores
and paan shops as part of
relaxations, the confused
public tried to figure out their
SANJAY DUTT:
www.hindustantimes.com
www.facebook.com/HTcity
twitter.com/htshowbiz
FIRST COMES
instagram.com/htcity
www.youtube.com/user/ht
HAPPINESCAN
SS WFOR
PREVAIL!SHARE
MORE
celebrated ma
birthday am
ILL
OR
Anushka ShSTORIES
ar
her 32nd
SAFETY OF
AUDIENCES
idst the
lockdown
with her
family. Thro
ugh an
Instagram
message,
wished fo she
r this sadn
and suffer ess
ing to end
She ackno .
wled
fact that su ged the
ffering is a
part of life,
we
endure it w have to
ith
patience. O
nce it’s
over, we’ll
be wiser,
more carin
g and
compassio
nate,
she hoped
.
PHOTO:
INSTAGRAM
Sanjay Dutt and (inset) his wife
Maanayata Dutt with their twins Iqra
Dominican Republic, in a
and Shahraan (9) PHOTOS: PTI/INSTAGRAM
helicopter, praying for the
end of the pandemic.
They carried the Blessed
Sacrament over the The actor, whose family is in Dubai, hopes things will be normal soon
Dominican capital in an
activity organised by the
Juhi Chakraborty things but the lockdown is for bringing some exciting family of four for two weeks.
military diocese of the
everyone’s safety,” he says, projects to the audience. Now is the time when we need
T
he Covid-19 pandemic adding, “I feel the primary There are some interesting to be there for each other!” he
has engulfed the global thing is to focus on everyone’s characters I’ll be playing and wrote on social media.
economy, affecting well-being and the safety of the line-up definitely looks Dutt has also been sharing
every industry our audiences, then comes the good,” he says. videos on the importance of
including films. Shoots have entertainment part. It will Meanwhile, the actor staying at home. Talking
been halted, releases delay projects, but that is recently shared how the about how he and his family
postponed and there is no reasonable for the nation’s Nargis Dutt Foundation, are coping, he says he misses
clarity on when things will get best interest.” established by his late father, his wife, Maanayata and twin
back to normal. Actor Sanjay Dutt, 60, believes things actor Sunil Dutt, has been kids Iqra and Shahraan (9),
Dutt’s schedule, too, has gone will return to normal soon carrying out Covid-19 relief who are stuck in Dubai.
for a toss, but he feels there and audiences will get to efforts across Mumbai. “Let’s “I am definitely taking all
are “far bigger worries” than watch the bouquet of films all do our bit and make sure the necessary precautions. I
just work. that he has in store for them. no one sleeps hungry. A small am staying at home, although
“The pandemic has affected “I’m looking forward to contribution of ₹600 can feed a I miss my family. Thanks to
technology, I can see them
whenever I want to. I am
(L-R) thankful that I have them safe
Bhaichung with me, virtually,” he shares.
Bhutia, Talking of how his kids are
Asha Bhosle abreast with what’s
and PHOTO:
PRAMOD
happening around them, Dutt
Sonakshi adds, “Today’s generation is
PHOTO: AFP THAKUR/HT
Sinha much smarter, you know! It’s
not difficult to make them
PHOTO:MANOJ
understand this situation. I’m
VERMA/HT
just happy they are safe with
my wife. Even though
away, those smiles
and all the hustle
keeps me going.”
n juhi.chakraborty@htlive.com
PHOTO:
VIRAL
BHAYANI
FUND, the non-stop activity Amish Tripathi, Rana chance to spend
will also have RJs from all Daggubati and Bhaichung quality time with my
the three radio stations in Bhutia. The star-studded family.”
conversations with the line-up promises a riot of While singer Benny
global and Indian stars, from entertainment for the Dayal misses “human
their respective homes. audience, a much-needed interaction” the most,
The celebs include names respite in these times. Shaan wants to do a RIDING THE AIR WAVES
such as Sonakshi Sinha, Ganguly, happy to be part live performance post n Prime Minister Fever FM, Radio
Shashi Tharoor, Kiran of the initiative, says he lockdown, “even if Narendra Modi Nasha and Radio
Mazumdar Shaw, Kiran didn’t mind the lockdown it’s just for four himself has One.
Bedi, Bhuvan Bam, Asha initially. “I don’t usually get people”. But, he lauded Fever’s
Bhosle, Raja Kumari, Sourav to spend a lot of time at notes, “A storm n The digital fest is
initiatives on also simulcasted
Ganguly, Rajdeep Sardesai, home…for many years, I’ve has hit us, and at social media. Sourav
Prosenjit Chatterjee, Shaan, been travelling very often it is only safe across the social Ganguly
Javed Akhtar, Amit Trivedi, due to work commitments. indoors.” n Radio listeners
can tune into
handles of the
three brands.
PHOTO: PTI
Vishwanathan Anand, These days have given me a HTC
PHOTO: BEN
Substituted
STANSALL/
AFP
running with
MADONNA TO
stair-climbing: ‘BREATHE IN
Tippy-
Milind
COVID-19 AIR’
tippy-tap, which
S inger Madonna, 61, has
tested positive for novel
coronavirus antibodies,
colour is your
Milind Soman PHOTO: INSTAGRAM
reports people.com. “I took
a test the other day, and I
found out that I have the
Gayathri Menon positive post-lockdown antibodies. Tomorrow I’m
zone? F
itness enthusiast Milind
Soman has trained
himself to never crave for
scenarios.”
His wife and mother also
join him in exercising indoor.
“We work out on the terrace
going to go for a long drive
in the car, roll down the
window and I’m going to
breathe in the Covid-19 air,”
a cheat day. However, the and do basic movements such she said in an Instagram
zones. A resident of central due to the restrictions.” actor-model, 54, says that as push-ups, skipping, video, captioned,
Delhi, Archit Juneja says, This also sparked a meme staying fit during the hopping, etc. Engaging in “Quarantine diary #14...
#staysafe #staysane.”
“The news came as a big sigh fest among netizens. While pandemic is challenging and positive activities with family
of relief only till I realised one tweeted, “Green, Red, required adjustments to his is also good for your mental
that entire Delhi was in red Orange ke saath ek Brown regular routine. He says, “I health,” he says. It’s tempting
zone. It is so disheartening!” Zone bhi declare kar dete prefer exercising in open to binge-eat when stuck at
Gurugram-based Anurag jahan Alcohol dikhya jaata, spaces. However, I have home, but Soman has a way When asked about the first
Verma, who is currently in lekin peene nahi dia jaata taken up stair-climbing to out. He suggests substituting thing he will do once the
Kanpur, jokes, “Even if (sic)”, another wrote, “Green substitute for running. I keep unwholesome foods with lockdown ends, he says, “I’d
Kanpur were in green zone, zone kitne hai bhai?” Here myself occupied by learning healthy snacking options love to go for a very long run
my house is a complete red are some hilarious memes. something new, such as such as fruits or nuts. “My go- as running gives me the
zone when it comes alcohol n sanchita.kalra@htlive.com cooking, or imagining to snack is almonds,” he adds. utmost satisfaction.”
 MAY 3, 2020
Free with your copy of Sunday Hindustan Times

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YEARS OF
2004-2020

FOCUS TECH
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APPINESS!
5 APPS TO KEEP
BOREDOM AT BAY
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FASHION FOCUS
THE PAKISTANI
DESIGNER
INDIANS ARE
RAVING ABOUT!
PAGE 14

HEARTTHROB DU JOUR
ERR… WHEN DID KARTIK AARYAN GET SO COOL?
#KartikCool
 BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS 3

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Stuff You Said

APP IT UP!
5 cool new apps to beat boredom with innovation
YEARS OF
2004-2020
Last Sunday
APRIL 26, 2020
Free with your copy of Sunday Hindustan Times

By Roobina Mongia
+
YEARS OF
2004-2020

AAPTIV What I like least: Only eight people can NOTES FROM
THE BEERLIN
AMITABH
BACHCHAN:
FAME THAT
LASTS

WORK IT OUT play at a time

FILM FES
STIVAL FOREVER!
BY SANJE
EEV BIJLI BY VIR SANGHVI
PAGE
E 14 PAGE 10

Other options for you to try: Ludoking, Zoom

FASHION FOCUS
POST-PANDEMIC,

Missing your gym? Not WHO’LL WEAR

WHAT WHEN?
BY SUJATA ASSOMULL

One incident that left me surprised when

PAGE 18

anymore! Aaptiv puts

a personal trainer in I was using the app was that I started to
your ear, who talks you play and interact with my long lost friends “The Bhagavad Gita took

across the globe.

me to universes inside
myself, universes that I

through every activity.

have not seen”

It also features licensed

music, enabling you to KOBO DANCE OF THE GODS
make your own playlist READ AND REPEAT ONE OF INDIA’S
INDIA S GREATEST PERFORMERS
PERFORMERS, MALAVIKA SARUKKAI ON
HOW SHE GAVE A SACRED SCRIPTURE THE PHYSICALITY OF DANCE
BY SHOBA NARAYAN

within the app. If you are a book #DanceOfTheGods

What I like best: The variety of workouts lover, you will

What I like least: One of the expensive apps love Kobo. It is
Other options for you to try: Peloton, an app with over
FitON, Nike training club five million titles
One incident that left me surprised when which includes the
I was using the app is that it motivated me world’s best e-books,
Graphic novels, etishakohli Strong cover
to take care of myself by reminding me to good one
drink water and eat my greens! audiobooks and
children’s books. anuragchauhanofficial
HEADSPACE What I like best: Good collection of free books Stunning !!
GOOD VIBES ONLY What I like least: Boring interface
Just Breathe! We all Other options for you to try: Kindle,
Vir, your writing
are going through Google playbooks, Scribd has a quality which
a stressful time and One incident that left me surprised is very addictive.
Headspace offers when I was using the app was that I No one can write
guided meditation could always remember where I left off, a more flattering
so I can keep reading across all article about
sessions to get
your devices. Sr Bachchan than
you through. you without tilting
What I like best: to either extreme.
Easy to navigate MARIOKART Kudos!!!
What I like least: Not enough variety GAMES PEOPLE PLAY @oletisridhar
Other options for you to try: Calm, Playtime! Nintendo’s
Buddhify, Aware racing game, Mariokart eatwithbik
One incident that left me surprised tour lets you compete
when I was using the app was that I started against seven other
to sleep better. players, whether they’re
in-game friends, nearby,

Note: Some tweets have been edited to correct spelling and grammar
HOUSEPARTY or around the world.
WHY SO SERIOUS! What I like best:
Houseparty has become Multiplayer addition
the trending social What I like least: Slightly sluggish
distancing app across Other options for you to try: Tetris,
the globe. While it is a Tales from the borderland, Minecraft,
video chat app, it also and a special mention to the Possessions
has integrated games app, which is the first Indian game
like trivia, quick draw on the Apple Arcade made by a
like Pictionary, Chips developer in Noida.
and Guac, which is word
association, and Heads Up! You can have up Roobina Mongia is a technology reporter and
to eight people to party with at once. producer, a journalist with the flair for writing
What I like best: It’s simple and fun about all things tech
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MAY 3, 2020
4 HUMOUR
THE LURE OF THE MAKEOVER
Self-grooming is one of the lockdown’s many challenges and dangers
S
achin Tendulkar giving
himself a haircut and
Kareena Kapoor offering
a close-up view of a skin
eruption: now we’ve seen it all.
One of the many indignities that
the lockdown has heaped on us
is the insatiable need of celebs to
spin “content” out of everyday
life. Much of this behind-the-
scenes material is so banal and/
or glib that it makes me ache for
the less disturbing superficiality
of airport looks and fashion galas.
It is also an inescapable fact that
we ordinary mortals are as rattled
by the removal of grooming salons
from our routines as the Khans and
the Jonases. In fact, I’m looking
longingly at the salon outside my
window as we speak.
THE TORMENTS OF
THE SALON
Well, my reasons aren’t strictly
appearance-related. As the poster
girl for migraine, I tend to take
things a bit far when the chemicals
in the brain behave as coarsely
as Virat Kohli at the fall of an
Australian wicket. Like walking
into the salon and asking the
receptionist for the strongest man
available. Now it’s obvious to me
that I need a masseur, but often
MAY 3, 2020
By Rehana Munir
have I endured reprimanding looks
over my licentious demands. For
about 45 minutes, the excruciating
pain of a hereditary and incurable
disease (and let us just end the
matter there, oh ye well-meaning
health advisors) is thus alleviated.
I’d take one massage over a hundred
beauty treatments right now.
Usually, salons do the opposite
of alleviate pain. The roster of
their torments is long and well-
known. The abject horror of having
FACIAL FOLIAGE THESE DAYS IS A
GOOD BAROMETER FOR GLEANING
HOW FAR OVER THE EDGE THE
MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN!
someone pierce your cuticles in the
name of relaxation, for instance.
Or the inhuman yanking off of hair
using wax strips (which makes me
want to join a group of committed
anti-waxers). And then there’s
the less brutal but very stressful
threading process, which elicits
facial contortions reminiscent of
SRK’s early career.
FROM HIPSTERS
TO HERMITS
I’ve recently seen social media
posts “challenging” women to post
pictures with untended eyebrows.
Together with Sachin’s hair and
Kareena’s zit, this was too much
to take. Our relationship with our
bodies is complicated at the best
of times. But now, at a time of
deprivation and isolation, the fault
lines on our faces just won’t let us
forget. Perhaps, when this is over,
we’ll all have a healthier relationship
with our mirrors. But until then, I’m
sure there’ll be a TikTok video that
shows us just how to shape those
brows using nothing but a Madhuri
Dixit song and good intentions.
If anything, it’s heartening
to see the boys lose their grip,
too. Scissors have been inching
perilously close to locks. The hipster
look has turned into the hermit look,
bringing introspection in its wake.
Facial foliage these days is a good
barometer for gleaning how far over
the edge the mighty have fallen.
DIY BEAUTY
Of course, the masters of home
remedies are laughing their way
MIRROR IMAGE
Perhaps, when
this is over,
we’ll all have
a healthier
relationship with
our mirrors
Photo imaging: PARTH GARG
to the fridge. Cucumbers are being
sliced equally for sandwiches
as tired eyes. Hideous-tasting
tonics for better skin are being
invented in mixers, invariably
featuring beetroot. And dried rose
petals are being freed from the
yellowing pages of old books to
add fragrance to face packs. Ah,
the pain of chasing pleasure.
If I’ve come across as
supercilious and above the wiles
of the beauty factory, let me
now implicate myself. There is
an unopened box of hair colour
lying on the lower shelf of my
bedside table. I’ve been trying to
muster the courage to master its
contents for days now. I dream
of applying the cream with the
chilling confidence of all those
women in the movies who give
themselves a hair makeover
before they can chase murderers
or kidnap criminals. My
background music will be AC/
DC. I’ve even chosen the perfectly
cinematic shade – burgundy.
And now for a TikTok video that
explains how to achieve the feat
without needing either a brush or
even a moderate amount of skill.
rehanamunir@gmail.com
Follow @rehana_munir on Twitter and Instagram
 PEOPLE 5

TERMS OF
ENGAGEMENT
The Two Popes director Fernando Meirelles takes
stock of the changing dynamics of filmmaking
By Ananya Ghosh

F
or the first time in Academy
Award history, the studio
with the most nominations
(22 to be precise!) was a
streaming service. And with some
of the most renowned filmmakers
across the globe embracing
streaming media, movie-making
and movie-viewing are at the cusp
of a tectonic shift.
For Brazilian auteur Fernando
Meirelles, whose 2019 Anthony
Hopkins-Jonathan Pryce starrer
The Two Popes earned three
nominations at the 2020 Oscars, it
is a logical progression. “We have
to make films that will fit the big
screens of the movie theatres as
well as the smaller screens of the
mobile phones; that is how it will
be whether you like it or not. It is
not an option but an evolution,”
says Meirelles.
WE ARE THE WORLD
The viewing experience is not
the same. “Watching a beautiful
landscape on your phone while
walking in the subway is of course
not the same as watching it on a big
screen inside a movie theatre,” he
says. “The image isn’t the same, the
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
Meirelles’ The Two Popes, a film on the
Catholic Church, could get the funding it
required because it is on Netflix, which
reaches Catholics across the globe
soundscape isn’t the same, and it is
definitely not the same experience.
But at least the guy watching on
a phone is still watching the film.
That is always better than him not
watching it at all!”
The number of theatre goers
is dwindling and now filmmakers
must reach to the homes of the
audiences instead, points out the
City of God director. “Today, maybe
40 million people go to theatres,
but the audiences you get on these
platforms are in billions. And this
also translates in funds,” he says.
Meirelles’s The Two Popes
“WE HAVE TO MAKE FILMS THAT
WILL FIT THE BIG SCREENS OF
THE MOVIE THEATRES AS WELL
AS THE SMALLER SCREENS OF
THE MOBILE PHONES. IT IS NOT AN
OPTION BUT AN EVOLUTION.”
–FERNANDO MEIRELLES
could get the funding it required
because it is on Netflix. “In a
conventional production system
this film would have a budget of
say, $12 million. But Netflix can
MAKING THE CUT
Brazilian auteur Fernando Meirelles was nominated for
an Oscar this year for his Anthony Hopkins-Jonathan
Pryce starrer The Two Popes (2019)
afford a much bigger production
cost because it reaches Catholics in
170 countries,” says Meirelles. The
Two Popes reportedly had a budget
of $40 million.
CLOSE FOCUS
On the flip side though, Meirelles
adds, it is easy to be swayed by the
budget and lose focus. “You are
often tempted to go grand and in
the process, sacrifice the soul of
the story,” he points out. “I could
have shown the grandeur of the
architecture of the Vatican since we
had spent so much on the sets, but
my story was about these two people.
I was working with two brilliant
actors and I wanted to focus on
their expressions. So, we restricted
ourselves mostly to close-ups.”
EXPANDING VISION
But Meirelles didn’t tweak
his approach as a director.
“Sometimes, when I framed a
scene, a thought would come to
mind that someone would probably
watch the film on his/her phone!
But I shot the film just as I would
shoot any film for the big screen,”
says the auteur.
Now, however, most films
made by OTT platforms get
theatrical releases as well. In
2018, Netflix released just four
films in theatres, including Roma
that bagged three Oscars. In
2019, it released 10 of its originals
at theatres, including Martin
Scorsese’s The Irishman and Noah
Baumbach’s Marriage Story, while
the Amazon Prime originals that
got theatrical releases included
Aeronauts, The Report and Ritesh
Batra’s Photograph. This might
have something to do with the OTT
platforms’ Academy aspirations
because to qualify for the Oscars,
a film must run for at least seven
days in an LA county theatre.
“This platform gives the best of
two worlds. My film got a theatrical
release and did the festival rounds,
so it has the life of a proper film
and then immediately it was
available on the platform to stream
at home. What else can I ask for,”
chuckles Meirelles.
ananya.ghosh@htlive.com
Follow @ananya1281 on Twitter

MAY 3, 2020
6 COVER STORY

GH HIS FIRST FILM WAS A SL EEPER HIT, IT TOOK

THOU
KARTIK AARYAN EIGHT YEARS TO FINALLY BREAK
IT TAKE THIS LONG?
INTO THE COOL GANG. WHY DID

Text by Dinesh Raheja

Photos shot exclusively for HT Brunch by Shivamm Paathak
Styling by Aki Narula

MAY 3, 2020
 YEARS OF
2004-2020
Location courtesy:
JW Marriott Hotel
Chandigarh

Art direction: Amit Malik

Make-up: Vicky Salvi
Hair: Milan Thapa
“My appeal: 10
per cent looks, 30
per cent talent,
JOIN IN THE 30 per cent luck
CONVERSATION and 30 per cent
USING #KartikCool perseverance!”

Jacket, Philipp Plein;

demins, H & M
12
8
I
ask Kartik Aaryan if he is
clairvoyant. After all, while
answering my first question,
the actor had answered
the second as well! He laughs
uproariously. “I have placed a secret
camera in your house,” he quips,
and, in a burst of self analysis, adds:
“I am a chameleon, I adapt myself to
the person I am with.”
The heartthrob du jour is as
quick-witted as any of his onscreen
characters in the string of successful
comedies that have established
him among the new wave of actors
(Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao,
Ayushmann Khurrana) currently
engulfing the Hindi film industry.
And he is not off the mark when
he characterises himself as a
chameleon. Known for his good
MAY 3, 2020
“ am a hameleon
a a mysel o he
erson am i h”
- i
looks and luxuriant hair, he can also
change hues.
In one of his recent films, Pati
Patni Aur Woh (2019), he is the very
personification of the Everyman
with his neatly combed hair, pencil-
thin moustache and wardrobe of
staid office wear. He reveals, “Since
I was playing a PWD employee and
a married man, I added weight till
I developed a slight paunch, grew
a moustache and sported a very
plain, very everyday hairstyle. If I
am offered a sufficiently interesting
character, I am even
willing to wear only
“Problem yeh hai ki
humein kisi ki sunn
ni hi nahin hai!”
a a’
ri aryya
, &M;
u mel
one costume throughout the film.
My USP lies in my ability to play
relatable characters.”
GOVINDA AALA RE?
That may well be the secret
sauce, which makes him so dishy
to Bollywood right now. Asked
to deconstruct his appeal, the
engineering graduate spontaneously
responds with mathematical
calibration: “Ten per cent looks, 30
per cent talent, 30 per cent luck and
30 per cent perseverance.”
He is a conventionally good-
MONOLOGUE MOTIVATION
Famous for his monologue delivery,
Aaryan put out one encouraging
people to stay home to fight
Covid-19. As expected, it went viral
on Instagram.
looking dude, and one assumes that
has been a factor in his success. Kartik,
however, insists, “Good looks can be
a minus in today’s character-driven
films; I would rather be in the actor’s
slot than the good-looking slot. Good
looks sans talent is a bad combination.
I rely on my acting chops.”
Standing testimony to his talent
are Aaryan’s two long, rapid-fire
monologues in Pyar Ka Panchnama
(2011)and its sequel. “I shot the
monologues in a single take,”
Aaryan claims. “Okay, to be totally
factual, in Pyar Ka Panchnama
we required a second take because
the camera ran out of film. For
the sequel, my second monologue
was shot in a 12-minute-long take
without cuts. It was edited to seven-
and-a-half minutes.”
“I WAS ASKED
TO AUDITION
FOR FILMS EVEN
AFTER MY FIRST
HIT, BUT I NEVER
LOST HEART, I
HAD DRIVE”
During the current lockdown
too, Aaryan posted on social
media a monologue wherein
he advises people to stay safe
indoors. Monologues don’t make
him nervous.
“For the sequel, I was given the
monologue lines four days earlier,
so I would shoot other portions of
the film in the day and ratto the
monologue at night!” he recalls.
Many viewers feel Aaryan
has a Govinda-like appeal. Aaryan
says, “Govinda sir is a legend. I am
not in a position to be compared to
such legendary stars. I want to be
recognised as Kartik Aaryan and I
want to make entertaining films.” He
sounds assured when he proclaims,
“I have universal appeal; I am liked
by both the masses and the classes.”
THE COMPANY
OF WOMEN
But his onscreen angst expressed
from the male point of view has led
to some of his films being termed
misogynist. Aaryan counters
the accusation. “Our audience
is intelligent, it recognises the
intention behind the film. I have
visited girls’ colleges and have been
asked to recite my monologue from
Pyar Ka Punchnama,” he says.
Far from hating women Aaryan
is quite the ladies’ man. He recalls

COOLER ANSWERS
TO COOL QUESTIONS
Kartik Aaryan’s fun side!
On an island, you’d want to
be marooned with...
Kareena Kapoor. Woh meri
favourite hai.
If you woke up one day
and found that you are bald,
you would...
Rush to Sanjay Leela Bhansali
sir and request him to remake
Bajirao Mastani with me!
A quote by a star you wish
you had shared...
Shah Rukh Khan’s quote:
“Don’t become a philosopher
before you become rich.” I
can relate to Shah Rukh sir’s
journey. He made a niche
for himself despite being an
outsider. He is also one of the
wittiest, smartest and most
charming actors.
Describe your relationship
with your smartphone.
We are mutually addicted to
each other!
Would you rather be world
famous and die young or be
anonymous and live long?
I would rather be anonymous
and live long. Travelling the
world is my passion. I need
time to travel.
“I’m flattered
with the female
adulation, but guys
love me too, as the
theme of most of my
films is friendship”
Jacket, Balmain;
denims, H&M
with a laugh, “In school the girls
were made to sit separately from the
boys. Once, when I was in the eighth
standard, I was told to share a desk
with a girl for a day as a punishment.
I’d have liked that punishment for
the year.”
Are girls chasing you now? I
ask. After a moment’s hesitation, he
admits, “I am flattered with all the
female adulation I get.” He qualifies
it with, “But I get a lot of male
adulation too. Guys love my films as
friendship is often the core theme.”
I remind him of when Sara Ali
Khan had gushed over him on the
TV show, Koffee With Karan and
Aaryan’s diplomatic side comes into
play. “Ananya, Sara, and another
actor too spoke highly about me on
the show. All I want to say is I’m
flattered.” I try to engage him in a
conversation about Sara and say it
must be a double bonus to work with
her and director Imtiaz Ali in Love
Aaj Kal (2020). But he shifts focus and
lavishes praise on Imtiaz Ali: “He has
changed my thinking process both in
terms of acting and philosophy. I love
him; he is just amazing.”
Aaryan maintains that he is a
one-woman man. “I don’t believe in
infidelity,” he says. His loyalty to friends
in his bromance films has been intense
and he says he is also a very steadfast
friend, emphasising, “Loyalty in
friendship is integral to my personality.”
THE BROMANCE
BOND
Aaryan is extremely friendly with
director Luv Ranjan with whom he
“I’VE GROWN
WINGS, BUT IN
PRIVATE. APNE
MEIN KHUSH HOTA
REHTA HOON.”
has done four films. He chuckles,
“We are Sonu-Titu in each other’s
lives. If we hear a song somewhere
that carries an emotion akin to
‘Tera yaar hoon main,’ we call
each other and listen to the song
together.” Ranjan has moved onto
Ranbir Kapoor for his next film, but
Aaryan just shrugs. “It depends on
the demands of the script,” he says.
“If we don’t do a project together
it doesn’t mean there is a strained
relationship. He has given me a lot
and we have created marvellous
work together. I’m sure we’ll do a lot
of work together in the future too.”
If Ranjan has expanded his
horizons, so has Aaryan. The actor
has several major films backed by
established filmmakers on hand.
Aaryan’s had a long apprenticeship
in the Bollywood celebrity industrial
complex. Despite his debut film
Pyar Ka Punchnama being a sleeper
hit, he didn’t become a household
name. It took him eight years before
he finally emerged a star with
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018). He
surmounted the difficult phases
with self possession and self belief.
“From the onset of my career I had
the attitude that if the audience is
not able to comprehend my talent,
it’s their loss. I know I have it in me
to make it as an actor. I was asked to
MAY 3, 2020
“I’d rather be put
in the actor’s slot
than the good-
looking slot. Good
looks sans talent
are no good!”
audition for films even after
my first hit but I never lost heart, I
had drive. And my passion overrode
my doubts.”
BALANCE SHEET
ANALYSIS
In 2019, two more of his outings have
been money-spinners. But Aaryan
maintains that living the high thread-
count life has not unhinged him. “I
speak and behave as I did earlier,” he
avers. That’s not possible, I reason.
He offers a telling insight: “I’ve
grown wings, but in private. Apne
mein khush hota rehta hoon.”
Enjoy your success, I exhort. He
is cautious. “I don’t want to lose my
balance. I don’t want to get carried
away because all I had dreamed of is
happening to me. I love acting, I love
dancing. I love playing characters.
I value my success because I have
achieved it after a long time and after
a lot of hard work. Now that I have
come so far, I am going to do my best
to hold onto it.”
Aaryan’s voice pulses with
fervour. For now, he’s in a happy place.
brunchletters@htlive.com
Follow @htbrunch on Twitter
Dinesh Raheja is a
reputed film historian,
columnist and TV scriptwriter
who has been writing on
cinema for over
three decades.
Aki Narula is a senior fashion
designer and stylist, who has
worked with the biggest names in
the industry. He styled this shoot
for HT Brunch at a day’s notice,
before the lockdown, of course.
 indulge
10

rude ffood ir sanghvi

Quarantine Conversations
With The Connoisseurs
From hygiene to delivery and branding,
restaurants will have to redesign it all to
be back in business

F
or the duration of the lockdown, I have been doing
an Insta Live conversation every day with chefs and
experts in the food business. While we have talked
about their lives and careers we have also focused on
the future: what do they think will happen to the restaurant
business once the lockdown is over?
Here are the some of the things that emerged during those
conversations plus some of the conclusions I came to myself.

HYGIENE
This should have occurred to me earlier but I only focused
on it after Sameer Sain of the Everstone group, which
(in addition to its many other businesses) runs over 1,000
restaurants over the world, came up with it.

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

Covid has been a health crisis. So when people are
sufficiently relaxed to go out, it is health they will focus on.
In restaurant terms, that means hygiene.
Restaurants will have to pay more attention than ever
before to convince finicky guests that their restaurants are
safe. In real terms, this means testing staff regularly in a VALUE ADDED
transparent manner, making it clear that there is physical Restaurateurs will have to try harder than ever before to convince
distancing in the kitchen, that employees wear masks finicky guests that their restaurants are safe
(gloves, too, I think), etc. Swati. Both made their reputations serving street food made
Guests should be allowed to visit the kitchen if they to the highest standards of hygiene.
like. Open kitchens will be more reassuring to guests. And I imagine that anyone who opens chaat places elsewhere
tables and all surfaces should be wiped clean with sanitiser in India, which serve street food with the hygiene standards
after each use. (and of course, food quality) of Soam, will find huge success.
All this will cost money but it will be worth it. People love street food. And if they feel it is unsafe on
Restaurants that are not hygiene-conscious will suffer. the streets, they will cheerfully go to restaurants that serve
Sadly, this is bad news for street food vendors who safe and delicious versions of street dishes.
will have to shell out much more than they can afford to
convince customers that they are hygiene-focused. DELIVERY
And even if they I have long argued that delivery is a bigger threat to
do, there will always be restaurants than is usually perceived. My feeling is that
people who will shun during the lockdown, when restaurants have been shut and
them on safety grounds delivery services have been running, many more of us have
as long as the Covid scare got hooked on delivery.
continues. Delivery has many advantages. It is safer than going
There is a business to a restaurant because you need to have physical contact
opportunity in all this, of with fewer strangers. And it can be much cheaper than
course. Among the most restaurant food because it does not need all the things that
popular restaurants in restaurants are about (service, décor, air conditioning,
Mumbai are Soam and rent etc.). Also, in those areas where delivery is strong
(say, pizzas or Punjabi food like Butter Chicken or Chicken
DELIVERING WITH CARE Manchurian) the quality of home-delivered dishes is no
Delivery is safer than going to worse than restaurant versions of those dishes. These are
a restaurant because physical idiot-proof dishes that anyone can make. (Yes, some people
contact is with fewer strangers can make exceptional versions but most restaurants don’t

MAY 3, 2020
 AT A SAFE DISTANCE TRUTH BE TOLD
Restaurants will have to make it clear that there is Sagar in Delhi’s Defence Colony urges guests not
physical distancing in the kitchen to order the paper dosa as it does not travel well
employ these people anyway.)
Delivery, I believe, is set to grow.
How can restaurants compete? Well, I argue, that they
must also get into the delivery business – as many were
forced to in the second half of the lockdown.
The problem is that most restaurants don’t understand
delivery. They don’t know how to adapt their menus, they
are reluctant to match the prices charged by delivery-only
operations, which makes them too expensive and they are too
reliant on delivery services like Zomato, Swiggy and the rest.
First of all, they have to adapt their menus. Some
dishes travel. Some don’t. I order a lot from Sagar in Delhi’s
Defence Colony and they always urge me not to order the
paper dosa. It does not travel well, they say. Stick to other
dishes, they add.
Most restaurants will have to offer well-designed delivery
menus, full of dishes that are still good enough to eat half an
hour after they are made. They need to also follow the Sagar
Photos: GETTY IMAGES
formula of doing their own delivery – that is the only reliable
way of forging a direct link with your customer.
Next, chefs need to bury their egos, I spoke to two of Asia’s
best chefs, Julien Royer in Singapore and Gaggan Anand in
Bangkok. (Gaggan was Asia’s best chef, four years in a row;
Julien has held the title for the last two.) Both have created
delivery menus.
Gaggan has had no ego hassles. He knows that the food at
his flagship restaurant does not always travel so he has relied on
a second restaurant brand (Miss Maria and Mr Singh ), which
serves Mexican-influenced Indian food. He has no hesitation in
making keema rolls (with Mexican influences) in his own kitchen
and sending them out for guests to eat at home. He is a chef, he
says, and he is happy to cook whatever the circumstances require.
I have seen the lockdown delivery menus of many
restaurants and five-star hotels in India. There has been no
attempt to adapt the food or to re-adjust the menu. That will
have to change in the weeks ahead.
BRANDING
Even if restaurants cannot expand – and for the foreseeable
future, I think people will adopt a wait-and-watch attitude,
they still have an asset they can capitalise on to increase
their revenues.
The brand names of restaurants are now worth more
than they ever were. Most big restaurants chains have
expanded into what we used to once call ‘B’ or ‘C’ class
centres because their brands are so well known. Somehow,
however, they have not fully recognised the value of their
brands in the delivery market.
Delivery is much more brand based than we realise –
and it will get even more so. Something like Biryani By Kilo
is a nationally recognised brand and its owners have taken it
to this level purely on the basis of delivery. Sagar is as well
COSTLY AFFAIR Street food vendors will have
to shell out much more than they can afford to
convince customers that they are hygiene-focused
CLEAN SOLUTION Sameer SMART MOVES
Sain of Everstone group Gaggan Anand (above) in Bangkok and Julien Royer in
feels restaurants need to Singapore have created delivery menus
focus on hygiene
known for its restaurants as it is for delivery. Domino’s more
or less invented the pizza delivery market in every territory
it entered. So the market for branded delivery food is there
for the taking.
But the big Indian restaurant brands will have to
focus on creating delivery spin-offs. I can understand a
big restaurant brand not wanting to lower prices or tinker
with its menus when it does delivery. Why would you go
to say, Farzi Café, if you could get the same food at a lower
For cost at home?
So (and I’ll stick with the Farzi hypothetical) it will have
established to create a brand like say, Farzi Express for delivery only.
restaurants This brand could serve tweaked versions of the chain’s most
famous dishes plus others created only for delivery.
and hotels, Eventually, I think, even hotels will have to look at that
delivery market. If you were ordering Chinese food for home delivery
need not and were faced with a bewildering array of options, wouldn’t
you rather order from somewhere like China Kitchen (in
necessarily Delhi) because of its reputation for quality?
be a threat. The beauty of this model is that once you have tweaked
It can be an the menu (say China Kitchen-At-Home or China Home
Kitchen), you don’t actually have to cook all the food in the
opportunity. restaurant’s kitchen. You can open a kitchen anywhere (say,
four kitchens in four corners of Delhi) and make the food
there without having to pay restaurant-level rents.
For established restaurants and hotels, delivery need not
necessarily be a threat. It can be an opportunity.
All this, of course, is based on a world that is still
worried about Corona. But what happens when a vaccine is
made available?
Some scientists say they are confident that we could
have a vaccine in wide circulation by next summer. A
ON THE consortium of drug manufacturers has already begun
web production of a vaccine based on research from Oxford
university. (Their calculation is that the vaccine could be
For more columns by
Vir Sanghvi, log on to approved by the end of the year so they are stockpiling it.)
hindustantimes.com/ Then, is it back to square one for the restaurant business?
brunch. Follow Vir on
Twitter at twitter.com/ That is another column for another time!
virsanghvi
Disclaimer: The promoters of Dominos are related to the promoters of HT Media but
The views expressed by there are no cross holdings. Gaggan Anand and Sameer Sain are co founders with
the columnist are personal Vir Sanghvi for a not-for-profit platform to promote Indian chefs.
MAY 3, 2020
 indulge
12
spectator
Comfort Reading
Trust me, it’s the best way of keeping calm and carrying on in the midst of a lockdown
W
henever I am going
through a period of stress
– and it will surprise
precisely no one that this
lockdown period has been a unique
stressor – I always seek succor in my
comfort reads.
You know what I mean, right?
Comfort reads are those books that
transport me to better worlds, minutely
imagined parallel universes, where all
problems have resolutions, and every
loose end can be niftily tied at the end
of the narrative. These are books I have
re-read so often that I know some of the
dialogue by heart and yet the punchlines
leave me chuckling each time. And these
are the books that I have been turning
to, to keep my spirits up, during this
enforced stay-at-home period.
I am happy to report that they have
done the trick quite nicely. I usually
spend about an hour or so with them in the late afternoon
after I have done my writing for the day and need to
decompress. And I turn to them last thing at night, when I
read myself to sleep. And they soothe and calm me much
more than actual meditation ever does.
So, on the off chance that you may benefit from this
remedy too, here’s my list of go-to books and authors. I hope
they bring you the same comfort they do to me.
 I have always been a fan of Margaret Atwood, but it
had been a long time since I read her seminal work, The
Handmaid’s Tale. But after bingeing on the three seasons of
the TV show on Amazon Prime, I had this irresistible urge
to go back and re-read the book the series was based on.
And I am ever so glad that I did. The sparse prose, the easy
cadences, and the effortless grace of Atwood’s writing left
me in awe yet again. To read this book is to see the author
at the height of her powers. And marvel once more at the
imagination from which the dystopian world of Gilead
sprung, fully-formed and full of horror.
 The other TV series that sent me scurrying back to
the book it was based on was Little Fires Everywhere on
Hotstar. I had read Celeste Ng’s bestseller when it was first
published but given that my memory is like a sieve these
days, going back to it was like reading a new book. So, I
could appreciate afresh the universe that Ng had created,
with two intertwined families at the centre of the narrative,
which spooled in a direction that was entirely unexpected.
The show has deviated at many seminal points from the
book, so even if you have seen the series, the book will still
provide you with many surprises.
 I had mentioned in my last column that I intended to
explore the entire oeuvre of Elizabeth George, to chart the
progress of Inspector Lynley and Barbara Havers’ careers
as they went about solving murders across the decades.
MAY 3, 2020
seema goswami
I have since begun reading A Great
Deliverance, the very first Inspector
Lynley mystery, which came out way
back in 1988, and I am astonished to
see just how much the characters have
evolved since then. In this book, for
instance, Lynley is portrayed as a dashing
ladies man, who has slept with most of
the women in his department, and Lady
Helen Clyde is described as his ‘longest-
running mistress’. As someone who
rejoiced at their wedding and (spoiler
alert coming up!) and cried tears at
Helen’s passing, this throwback was
startling to say the least.
 As regular readers will know,
whenever I need cheering up, my go-to
Participate in the
#BrunchBookChallenge
Visit online: read.ht/yrz
SOUL SOOTHERS
Your favourite books author is Georgette Heyer. Her Regency romances have
can soothe you much been a staple of my comfort reading list ever since my
more than actual teenage years – and that hasn’t changed even though I
meditation does am now well into my middle age. This time round, I first
sought refuge in Venetia, in which the heroine of the title
falls prey to the charms of a well-practiced rake, only to
win his heart – and his hand – in the end. And then, I dived
right into The Grand Sophy, in which the redoubtable
heroine re-arranges the lives of all those around her, much
Comfort reads to their consternation and my delight.
transport  Now that I am cooking more than ever, given that
there is no other way to put food on the table, I keep
you to better dipping into food books to find inspiration (not recipe
worlds where books, I am afraid, because I like to make things up as I
go along, rather than follow in well-trodden paths). Some
every loose of the books that have provided food for thought in this
end can be period are Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat (she has
niftily tied at a show by the same name on Netflix, which you could
check out), Pasta Pane Vino by Matt Goulding, and closer
the end of home, The Flavour of Spice by my old friend Marryam H.
the narrative Reshii. I like to think that the information I have gleaned
from these worthy tomes has made me a better cook – the
botched experiments, needless to say, are entirely of my
own making.
If you too want to read yourself out of a lockdown-
ON THE induced depression, then I can’t recommend comfort
web reading enough. Start with some of the books I have
For more SPECTATOR recommended, or find your own. But do read for a couple
columns by Seema of hours every day – and no peeking at your phone while
Goswami, log on to
hindustantimes.com/ you do it. Believe me, it will make a world of difference to
brunch. Follow her on your day.
Twitter at twitter.com/
seemagoswami
The views expressed by
Journalist and author Seema Goswami has been a columnist with HT Brunch since 2004
the columnist are personal Spectator appears every fortnight

sunday drive
Meet The May
Queen (Hopefully)
When the lockdown ends, there will
be an expensive but fun-to-drive
SUV waiting to whisk us away
T
here are a bunch of cars waiting to be ‘unlocked,’ their
launch plans scuppered by the Covid crisis and entire
countries caged with strict lockdowns. So whilst these new
cars are ready to hit the showrooms they have to just wait
till the world starts rotating again. One such car is the Skoda Karoq,
which I managed to drive in mid-March, just before the brakes were
slammed on life as we know it.
VIRAL DELAY
The original plan was to launch the Skoda Karoq in mid-April, soon
after its public unveiling at the Auto Expo earlier this year. The plan
for now is to get it on the road sometime in mid-May if (and that’s a
big if) lockdown restrictions are sufficiently relaxed. What’s for sure
is that social distancing isn’t going away soon, so there won’t be a
big-bang media launch in a five-star hotel, no scrum of photographers
jostling to get a shot of the car as it emerges onto the stage from a
smoke-filled backdrop and no photo ops with the top management.
The Karoq will be launched digitally and that means a message
from the Skoda India brand head announcing the one thing everyone
wants to know, which is the price. Our guess is that being an import,
the Karoq is unlikely to be priced under ~24 lakh. So, is that a good deal
for an SUV that’s significantly smaller than the pricier Skoda Kodiaq?
BOOTING UP
For starters it looks like a baby
Kodiaq with all the design elements
suitably scaled down. The large
squared off wheel arches add the
requisite muscle, the sharply-cut
headlights and tail lights are typically
Skoda. In fact, it’s the origami-like
folds and creases in the bodywork that
SHEER LUXURY
The seats are nicely sculpted and
everything in the cabin is lined with
premium-quality chrome
indulge
13
hormazd sorabjee
SHARP STYLE give the Karoq so much character and the glints of the sharply-cut
The origami-like folds lines give a nice interplay between light and shade.
and creases in the Skoda’s marketing tag line of ‘Simply Clever’ is also what
bodywork give this SUV comes to mind when you look inside the boot of the Karoq. There’s
a lot of character stuff here you don’t find anywhere else, all of which is genuinely
useful. There’s the magnet-equipped, rechargeable LED torch, there
are Velcro-coated angled brackets you can fix on the boot floor to
prevent luggage from flying around, and another nice touch are
boot rails and sliding hooks, which help you secure luggage even
more. Boot space, at 521 litres, is also plenty, and then there’s the
The engine fact that the rear seats can be folded if you need more space.
doesn’t like The seats themselves are nicely sculpted, if on the firm side,
and the rear seat space is pretty good too for a car that is just 4.4
being revved metres long. For the asking price, which is north of ~24 lakh,
too hard and owners may expect more room especially when vehicles like the MG
Hector and Tata Harrier are more spacious and cost less.
gets a bit boomy But the reason to buy the Karoq is the sheer quality it offers,
the harder you which is leagues ahead of locally-built SUVs. All the materials have
push it, so it’s a premium feel. Skoda designers have added to the appeal of the
cabin with a liberal dose of high-quality chrome.
best driven
in a more ALL CHILLED OUT
relaxed manner And now to the driving. With a 150hp TSI petrol under the hood
and a 7-speed twin-clutch automatic, the Karoq has enough torque.
Flooring the accelerator pedal delivers a stronger shove and the
Karoq takes a swift 10 seconds to reach 100 kph. However, this
engine doesn’t like being revved too hard and gets a bit boomy the
harder you push it, so it’s best driven in a more relaxed manner.
ON THE The beefy suspension makes light work of bad roads without
web upsetting the passengers. It’s a really easy and stress-free SUV to
SUNDAY DRIVE by drive with its combination of compact dimensions, a responsive
Hormazd Sorabjee
can also be read on engine and easy handling. What it misses is some key equipment
hindustantimes.com/ like wireless charging and cooled seats, but if you are looking for a
brunch. Follow Hormazd
on Twitter at twitter.com/ fun-to-drive, high quality SUV, the Karoq fits that bill perfectly.
hormazdsorabjee Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most senior and
The views expressed by the much loved auto journalists in India, and is editor of Autocar India
columnist are personal Sunday Drive appears every fortnight
MAY 3, 2020
14 FASHION
A MAN FOR
ALL REGIONS
Winning hearts on both sides of the border, Pakistani couturier Faraz Manan
believes that the subcontinent is his strength
R
emember Kareena Kapoor
Khan setting the ramp
ablaze in a stunning off-
shoulder pink ensemble at
a popular awards do in Dubai? Or
those photos of her in lawn suits
that broke the Internet? Paki-
stani designer Faraz Manan has
established himself as one of the
favourites of timeless Bollywood
beauties like Kareena Kapoor Khan,
Madhuri Dixit Nene, Karisma
Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra
Jonas. Even Jacqueline Fernandez
and Shraddha Kapoor have turned
heads in his glamorous creations.
“INDIAN FABRICS PROVIDEE SO
MUCH INSPIRATION...NO ONE
DOES COLOUR BETTER TH HAN
INDIAN DESIGNERS!”
—FARAZ MANAN
He has also become popula ar
with Indian brides and guests at
a Khan, the woman he calls his
Indian weddings, the Al-Thani
royal family of Qatar, and the
families of Saudi Sheikhs. In hiis
home country, Mahira Khan,
amongst many others, car-
ries his outfits with adaa, or
elegance. But Kareena is Faraz
Manan’s favourite, and India,
he says, is his inspiration.
INDIAN MUSINGS
As a couturier from across the
border, Faraz is excited by the
sheer variety and volume of
fabrics that are available in
India. “They provide so much
inspiration; the amount of
crafts and fabrics in the coun-
try is a designer’s delight,” he
M
By Sarah Mirza
gushes. “There are beautiful cuts
and traditions, and if there is one
word to sum up Indian fabrics,
it’s ‘colour’! No one does colour
better than Indian designers.”
His favourites are Lucknowi
chikankari, Benarasi fabrics, Ra-
jasthani gota work and even band-
hani. Since his style leans towards
modern fusion, he mostly uses
zardozi, but Faraz wishes he could
use all of India’s fabric crafts. “I
also love jamavar and kimkhaab
(brocade). There is nothing more
timeless than kimkhaab,” he says
wistfully. “It is handwoven, has
sheen and yet is controlled.
For casual wear, I love mulmul PASTELS FOR
(pure cotton).” EVERYONE
Faraz visits India every year,
Light skin: Stick to mid-
and the food interests him just
as much as the fabrics. “I am a
range hues like blush pink
big foodie and absolutely love the and powder blue. Avoid
street food in Mumbai,” he laughs. white, bright yellow, orange,
“I love the chaat in Mumbai, and and nudes.
nihari and kebabs in Delhi.” His
Medium skin: Ivory and tea
best Delhi food memories are of
kulchas and nihari from Dilli Ni-
pink work wonders.
hari and from a place near Jama Dusky skin: Rose gold,
Masjid. “I also love Haldiram’s blush pink and red
chhole bhature!” he chuckles. are beautiful.
Though India’s two big cities
are always on his travel list, Faraz Dark skin: All pastels look
confesses to being mesme erised perfect, except grey.
by Rajasthan. “There is sso much
inspiration there, from th he archi-
manship or jewels,” he sa
e crafts-
tecture, to the food, to the
ays.
us. We like each other’s crafts, but
because we are friends, it’s been
a natural process, rather than a
A TIMELESS M
MUSE typical commercial Bollywood
Mostly though, what Fa araz loves brand association.”
about India is Kareenaa Kapoor It isn’t just brand shoots
and fashion shows. Faraz and
muse. “Kareena and Karisma Kareena have several common
are like family,” he says. “I interests. “We connect on fam-
was friends with K Karisma, ily values, history and food,”
who was my brrand am- he says. “That’s perhaps why
bassador, annd then she is my muse. But more than
it was a nnatural anything else, I think she truly
transittion to represents the subcontinent. She
Karee ena. It’s is a modern working mother, and
never been she and Saif (Ali Khan) are the
usiness
a bu kind of couple the entire region
ationship
rela can look up to for the kind of
bettween philosophy they carry.”
PLAYING DRESS UP
Kareena Kapoor Khan in a heavily
embellished choli paired with voluminous
skirt and Jacqueline Fernandez (far left) in an
embroidered sari and a modern blouse with
gold detailing designed by Faraz Manan
 “With Kareena and
Karisma (Kapoor),
it’s more friendship
than a commercial
Bollywood brand
association”

ALL THINGS DESI

Apart from the fabrics of
the country, Faraz is in
love with the food in
different cities of India
 As a designer, Faraz views the
subcontinent as one whole, rather
than as composed of several
countries. “For instance, fashion
in the north of India and Pakistan
is similar,” he points out. “Our
fashion is owned jointly by our
history. The culture, traditions
and craftsmanship belongs to the
whole subcontinent.”
There are some differences,
he adds, such as the use of colour
– “generally, the style of Pakistani
women is controlled and elegant,
whereas Indian women are
experimental and open to colour.
Aesthetically the Indian side is
more bold, bright and cheerful”
– but by and large, the overall
aesthetic is the same.
“Designers and buyers from
the subcontinent should see our
work as from the same area,”
he says. “For instance, we don’t
perceive fashion houses in Europe
as French or Italian, we perceive
them as European. In the same
way, we should all perceive
ourselves as subcontinental. I
am great friends with Indian
senior designers. They love my
work, I love theirs, and we share a
clientele whether it’s from India or
Pakistan. So I’m in a happy spot.”
Given the political relations
between India and Pakistan, his
designs cannot be sold here at this
time. “But I am still happy to be
where I am as of now,” he says. “I
am contributing to the growth of
fashion from the subcontinent.”
MAY 3, 2020
“WE DON’T SEE FASHION HOUSES
AS FRENCH OR ITALIAN, WE SEE
THEM AS EUROPEAN. IN THE SAME
WAY, WE SHOULD ALL PERCEIVE
OURSELVES AS SUBCONTINENTAL.”
THE FASHION
GUIDE FOR THE
MODERN BRIDE
Know your favourite
colour and communi-
cate your choices to a
designer correctly.
Less is more. Instead
of 10, there should be
two or three functions
at best. Wear only one
outfit per event and have
fun in it.
Avoid lots of jewellery on
a heavy outfit. Too much
ornamentation takes
away from the bride’s
personality. With a heavy
outfit, just a pair of ear-
rings can look really nice.
Or, with a heavy choker,
wear little solitaires or
small earrings.
Use soft make-up only. It
enhances natural beauty.
QUINTESSENTIAL
COUTURIER
Faraz’s interest in designing
comes from the way his parents
groomed themselves – both his
mother, an artist, and his father,
an economist, have always paid
attention to what they wear.
This inspired his design aes-
thetic – contemporary takes on
classic designs. “I love fusion and
working around anything that is
classic,” he says. “This is my sig-
nature style. It could be a classic
fusion of the east and West, old
and new. A classic outfit can al-
ways be repeated. I have done red
on red for the last three or four
years, and emerald green with
emerald green.” Balance is an
important part of his aesthetic.
“When I do colour, I like to let
the colour speak for itself, rather
than add on more gaudy bling.
On pastels, I like to do gold and
silver work,” explains Faraz.
His collections always tell a
story that blends together two
different cultures, time zones or
eras. His line Alhambra, for in-
stance, is inspired by the palace
in Spain, is a fusion of the east
and the West.
COLOUR THERAPY
Faraz’s creations are high on peaches,
ivories and pastels, and are detailed with
resham work and other embroideries
Fusion really works, he says.
“Europeans are now wearing my
bridals done in ivory and with
resham work or other subconti-
nental embroidery techniques,”
says Faraz. “They love this fusion.
The subcontinent’s embroideries
are the best in the world. It is our
strength, and I am playing on that.”
Faraz’s creations are high
on peaches, ivories, powder
blues, shades of dusty rose and
onion pinks on flowy garments
with fine details and ruffled
sleeves or fringes.
“When I do bling or
heavier work, I do it on pastels
because I believe it complements
the skin,” explains Faraz. “The
weather of the subcontinent and
Dubai is hot most of the year,
making pastels easier on the
eye. You can highlight them with
jewellery or tone them down.
There is scope for a lot of play
and wearability, whereas strong
colours can’t be worn often.”
He anticipates no change
in his signature style for the
future, and in fact, hopes to
strengthen his case for classic fu-
sion “Now let’s see how things go
forward,” says Faraz.
brunchletters@hindustantimes.com
Follow @HTBrunch on Twitter

THE MANY, MANY
FACETS OF SRIDEVI
As the author of her biography discovered, the late
actor was a multiverse in herself
I
met Sridevi, the diva with the
sea-foam eyes, in the autumn
of 2012. Five years later, I was
sitting opposite her husband
Boney Kapoor, proposing a book
that captured the legend’s five-
decade long cinematic odyssey.
Sri was game for it, but Janhvi
had just signed Dhadak and the
superstar sent word that we could do
the book after her daughter’s debut
was done. Then February 24, 2018
happened and Sri suddenly left us
alone. So I deleted the ‘Sridevi Book’
folder from my laptop. Then a friend
SUCH WAS SRIDEVI’S STAR-POWER
THAT DESPITE BEING CALLED THE
FEMALE AMITABH, SHE REFUSED FILMS
WITH MR BACHCHAN UNLESS SHE HAD
EQUALLY SOLID RIKES
texted me. I owed her this book, she
said. I must still write it and the only
difference from my original plan
would be that the book would have
a last chapter. So I embarked on the
journey and discovered that Sridevi
was a multiverse in herself.
CAREER CRAFT
I had no idea that as a child star,
her repertoire numbered 60 odd
By Satyarth Nayak
films across five languages. Acting
since the age of four, Baby Sridevi
had shared screen space with
stalwarts like Sivaji Ganesan,
Jayalalitha, ANR and NTR and yet
held her own. She had watched
another child actor drown during
a shoot and had suddenly matured.
She had watched her director
worship her on his sets because
she was portraying Lord Murugan
and realised that there was
something sacrosanct about being
an artiste. A girl could play boy
roles. A human could play a god.
More such dichotomies would soon
abound for Sridevi. She would be
a woman who remained a child; a
heroine who would become a hero.
At the age of 12, Sridevi
became a leading lady. At 13, she
played stepmother to Rajinikanth.
While a Bharathiraja classic
enshrined her as Mayil in Tamil
cinema, a Raghavendra Rao
blockbuster immortalised her as
Athiloka Sundari for
Telugu audiences. If
nuanced Tamil roles
refined her art, masala
Telugu fare converted
her into a matinee idol.
No wonder Ram Gopal
Varma reminisces that
Sridevi’s arrival on his
sets would be heralded
by a dramatic column of
dust in the sky caused
by hundreds of
Participate in the
frenzied fans
sprinting behind #BrunchBookChallenge
her car. “She
Visit online: read.ht/yrz
made me realise
what stardom truly was,” he says.
THE ACTOR AND
THE STAR
This stardom magnified when
Sridevi emerged as the only actor in
the history of Indian cinema to be
No. 1 in the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu
industries simultaneously. The only
Bollywood queen-bee to remain No.
1 for over a decade. While the media
hailed her as India’s first female
superstar, industry-wallahs
reverentially addressed her
as ‘Mai.’ Such was Sridevi’s
star-power that despite being
called the female Amitabh,
MAY 3, 2020
BOOKS 17
BORN TO RULE
Baby Sridevi’s repertoire numbered 60
odd films across five languages;
(Far left) She became a messiah for
many actors because she had the
courage to be irreverent on screen
she refused films with Mr Bachchan
unless she had equally solid rikes.
Bachchan had to woo her with a
truckload of flowers to sign Khuda
Gawah (1992). Her stardom was
bigger than that of the heroes. Her
paycheck was fatter. She had taken
the status of the Indian heroine to
a whole new dimension. Bollywood
still remains patriarchal and
misogynistic but back then, Sridevi
had tamed it.
She became a messiah for many
actors because she had the courage to
be irreverent on screen. She made silly
faces in Mr India (1987) and conveyed
the message that it was cool to be
un-ladylike. She crooned the Chandni
(1989) chartbuster in that shrill tone
and taught us that it was fine to be
flawed. She wore campy costumes in
Chaalbaaz (1989) and hammered home
the point that one must embrace one’s
true self. She portrayed a mythological
hero trouncing toxic masculinity in
Nagina (1986) and became an LGBT
icon. Constantly playing the iconoclast
on screen, Sridevi
empowered a whole
generation.
STRENGTH OF
A WOMAN
And she remained the
quintessential child-
woman. She easily fell
for Kamal Haasan’s
pranks. She mimicked
Bollywood actresses
for her friends in
Chennai and left
them in splits.
At the peak of
her career, she
admitted to a sense of personal
inadequacy in finding a husband.
She coped with her father’s sudden
death and mother’s botched-up
brain surgery. She took a 15-year
long break to focus on her husband
and daughters and then made a
historic comeback.
It will remain forever ironic that
the last words she spoke on celluloid
were, “Next time!”
brunchletters@htlive.com
Follow @htbrunch on Twitter
Satyarth Nayak is an author and a
screenwriter. A former journalist, Mumbai-
based Satyarth’s debut novel The Emperor’s
Riddles became a best-selling thriller.
 18

The Break-up Song singer

Jonita Gandhi
DATE OF BIRTH SUN SIGN PLACE OF BIRTH
October 23 Cusp of Libra and Scorpio New Delhi
SCHOOL/COLLEGE FIRST BREAK
University of Western Ontario, Canada Chennai Express / Sonu Nigam live tour
HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFE LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE
Getting discovered by A.R. Rahman Moving away from my family in Canada

Describe yourself in a hashtag.

Photo: Amey Ghatge, Styling: Henna Akhtar Make-up and hair: Mallika Jolly

#Cray

And your alter ego in a hashtag...?

#Savage

Tell us a poem or a quote that describes you best.

This quote by Venus Williams resonates with me: “I don’t focus on what
I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.”

What is your favourite Hindi word to use in a song?

May be maahi.

What’s the last thing you googled?

How to make an avocado ripen faster!

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Shah Rukh Khan.

What is the most over-the-top Bollywood thing you have

done in real life?
I went on a scavenger hunt for a note left by a guy I like around the
Eiffel Tower in Paris.

What’s the most challenging part about playback singing?

You don’t have the final say, and there are too many cooks in the kitchen,
so you have to satisfy someone else.

And, the most challenging part about a live gig?

While it’s great to have a live interaction with the audience, you only have
one chance to nail each song.

Share your funniest memory of singing at a

private event.
My drummer’s drum kit never arrived, so he had to beatbox!

And the funniest memory while recording a song...?

I had to yell at the top of my lungs for a recording with A.R. Rahman sir
for a song from the film Mom. Once when the studio door was left open,
an engineer napping outside woke up in the biggest panic after hearing
me scream. It was hilarious.

If you could time travel, what era you would you pick?
II’d
d like to trav
travel back five years and I would like to take all the
knowled dge I have now of how social media works with me.

Listt three things that nobody knows about you.

ON MY PHONE
MOST USED APP: Instagram
ON SPEED DIAL: My mom
FIRST SONG ON SPOTIFY: Taajub Hai
MOST USED FILTER ON INSTAGRAM:
Paris / Sierra
LEAST USED APP: JetAirways App
(Why do I still have it?!)
MAY 3, 2020
M
My natural hair is super frizzy and wavy. I can
jjuggle and I love hamsters.
What should the title of your
biography be, if you ever wrote one?
Chameleon.
Interviewed by Ananya Ghosh
 INDIA’S MOST
BEAUTIFUL IN BRUNCH
JANUARY 6, 2019
i your Free with your copy of Sunday Hindustan
d t Ti Timess

YEARS OF
2004-2019

“My Prince
Charming must
have a sense of
humour combined
with a kind
heart!”
— Ananya Raje
Scindia, 16

“Indianness to
me is making
“I’d love to manage everyone feel like
an international family. There’s
fashion house no you and I,
one day…” or me and you;
—Aria Mehta, 17 there’s us!”
—Shloka Birla, 18

EX
KING OF HEARTS
HE MAY HAVE INHERITED HIS TITLE, BUT HAS MADE HIS OWN LIFE CHOICES THEREA
EXACTLY
X A YEA
EAR
A AFTER PADMANABH SINGH,
EAFT
AFTER.
T
, MAHARAJA OF JAIPUR, BROKE INTO
PRINCESS’S
C DIARIES
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THREE INDIAN GIRLS WERE INVITED TO THE PRESTIGIOUS
LE BAL DES DÉBUTANTES IN PARIS IN THE SAME YEAR. ACCESSORISING THEIR
HAUTE COUTURE WAS AN INDIANNESS THAT EACH OF THEM WORE WITH PRIDE
THE FASHION LIMELIGHT, HE TAKES STOCK: WHAT’S WORKED, WHAT HASN’T ING: ANANYA RAJE SCINDIA, ARIA MEHTA & SHLOKA BIRLA
AN HT BRUNCH EXCLUSIVE!
EX
X
#PrincessDiaires

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