![?=BQ =4F34;78
As the stand-off between
India and China continues
at the Line of Actual Control
(LAC) in Ladakh, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday reviewed the situation
here with the top security
brass, including National
Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit
Doval, Chief of Defence Staff
(CDS) General Bipin Rawat
and the three Services Chiefs.
The high-level meetings
took place against the backdrop
of the Chinese Army adopting
an aggressive attitude at the
LAC and bolstering substan-
tially its troop strength besides
intruding more than three kms
into the Hot Springs area of
Eastern Ladakh. It has also
brought forward heavy vehicles
like armoured personnel carri-
ers while the Chinese heli-
copters have increased aerial
surveillance along the LAC.
With the LAC now “hot”
for nearly a month after the
Chinese transgressions and
four ongoing stand-offs,
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh too took stock of the
ongoing tension at the LAC
earlier in the day with the
defence top brass. The month-
long flashpoints will also be on
the top of the agenda of the
two-day Army Commanders
conference beginning here on
Wednesday.
With China coming into
the Hot Springs area and its sol-
diers pitching tents there
besides deploying more than
5,000 troops at the four face-off
sites spread over a frontage of
20 to 30 km, the Prime
Minister was also briefed about
the steps taken by India to meet
any challenge arising out of the
sensitive situation at the border.
The meeting between the
Defence Minister and the CDS
along with the three Chiefs last-
ed for more than an hour,
sources said.
The issue of Indian and
Chinese Armies coming to
blows in two face-offs at Naku
La, Sikkim and Pangong Tso,
Ladakh as well as increased
troops strength of China and
the Army’s operational readi-
ness to face the situation will
figure prominently during the
Army Commanders meet. It
comes at a time when at least
six rounds of talks between the
Brigadier-rank officers of
Indian and Chinese Armies to
resolve the confrontation have
not yielded any positive results.
Diplomatic efforts are also on
to defuse the situation.
The Commanders’
Conference is held twice a
year and was postponed from
its earlier scheduled dates in
April due to the coronavirus
pandemic and lockdown. The
second leg of the conclave will
be held in the last week of June,
officials said here on Tuesday.
The apex level leadership of
Indian Army will brainstorm
on current emerging security
and administrative challenges
and chart the future course for
Indian Army. To ensure due
diligence, decisions are taken
through collegiate system com-
prising Army commanders and
senior officers.
During the first phase,
which will be organised at
South Block, various aspects
pertaining to operational and
administrative issues, including
studies pertaining to logistics
and human resources, will be
discussed, they said.
As regards the LAC, even
though the focus is on Eastern
Ladakh due to ongoing face-
offs, the Indian forces have also
started reinforcing its posi-
tions in borders of Uttarakhand
which face China besides some
parts of Himachal Pradesh too
as a precautionary measure,
sources said.
On Ladakh, they said the
Indian defence forces are fully
geared to increase the troops
strength besides heavy weapon-
ry in case of any emergency. All
the advanced landing grounds
like Daulat Beg OIdie and oth-
ers in Ladakh region are ready
to accommodate extra work-
load of landings and take offs
of heavy transport planes car-
rying soldiers and weapons,
they added.
Moreover, the Indian Army
has enhanced vigil on the 250-
km long strategic road in the
Galwan valley where one of the
stand-offs is now on. The
Chinese Army is protesting
against the construction of a
bridge on this road running
parallel to the LAC. The road
provides vastly improved con-
nectivity to the Indian forces
for mobilisation, sources said,
adding the road is well within
the Indian region. The two
armies had fought a battle in
the Galwan valley during the
1962 war.
Meanwhile, the Defence
Minister also reviewed the
ongoing implementation of the
recommendations of the
Shekatkar Committee report.
The Lt General DB Shekatkar
(Retired) committee had made
a series of recommendations to
enhance combat capability and
rebalance defence expenditure
of the armed forces.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Aday after the WHO sus-
pended clinical trial of
Hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ)
on Covid-19 patients citing
safety concerns, India on
Tuesday said it will continue
using the drug as preventive
care for its healthcare and
frontline workers under strict
medical supervision.
Dr Balram Bhargava, the
Director General of Indian
Council of Medical Research
(ICMR), said the drug was rec-
ommended initially in March
based on in-vitro studies which
showed it had antiviral proper-
ties. “There have been observa-
tional studies and case control
studies that have not shown
many side-effects due to the use
of HCQ.
“We thought it might be
useful drug for prevention of
Covid-19 and taking the bio-
logical plausibility, the in-vitro
data, and taking the availabil-
ity and safety of this drug, we
recommended it as empiric
use under strict medical super-
vision,” Bhargava said at a
presser here.
“During the weeks since it
was recommended, we got
some data (on HCQ) which
showed there is no harm, but
benefit may be there,” he said.
“They were mainly obser-
vational studies in different
cohorts done at AIIMS and
case control study at ICMR and
studies were also done at three
Delhi public hospitals.
We found that it may be
working and there were no
major side effects, except nau-
sea, vomiting and some palpi-
tations occasionally. We have
clearly said it should be con-
tinued for prophylaxis,” he
said.
The ICMR DG said the
Government’s latest advisory
regarding expanding the use of
HCQ to frontline workers such
as paramilitary and police per-
sonnel is based on “risk-bene-
fit analysis”.
“We should not deny this
to our healthcare workers and
frontline workers who are deal-
ing with virus-hit patients. At
the same time, we have also
said they should follow medical
recommendations like not eat-
ing it on empty stomach and
that PPE use must be contin-
ued. Our study on HCQ will be
published soon,” Bhargava said.
344?0::D0A970Q =4F34;78
The migrant issue took a
political turn on Tuesday
with Congress, Left, Samajwadi
Party as well several trade
unions and labour front organ-
isations criticising Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath for decreeing that
States will have to take his
Government’s permission
before employing workers from
Uttar Pradesh.
Calling this is an “absurd”
and unconstitutional “move
which encroaches on the right
to individual to earn his liveli-
hood wherever he wants with-
in the country, they said the
CM’s move was an attempt to
divert attention from the plight
of the migrant workers.
Except for the Bharatiya
Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), top
labour union such as the
INTUC, AITUC, CITU and
other outfits are coordinating
to launch a countrywide protest
and move the court against the
proposed decision.
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi termed Yogi’s remark
as “unfortunate.”
“I think it’s unfortunate. I
think people are first Indian
and then they belong to their
States. The decision on whether
somebody goes to work from
Uttar Pradesh to the rest of the
country is not the Chief
Minister’s. It is of the people of
India and the people of Uttar
Pradesh,” Rahul said at a video
Press conference.
“If a citizen of Uttar
Pradesh wants to go and fulfil
his dreams in Maharashtra or
in Delhi or in Karnataka or
anywhere else, he should have
the right to do so,” he said.
“It is very unfortunate that
the Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh views India in such a
way. These people are not his
personal property. They are not
the personal property of Uttar
Pradesh.
These people are Indian
citizens and they have the right
to decide what they want to do
and they have the right to live
the life they want to live,” he
added.
Karnataka Congress pres-
ident DK Shivakumar in a
series of tweets also attacked
Yogi Adityanath saying UP
was not the private property of
his Government.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
After it allowed millions of
migrant workers to cross
the borders to reach their
native villages, Union Health
Ministry has now woken up to
the Covid-19 shadow looming
over their home States — par-
ticularly big five — UP, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and
Madhya Pradesh.
Anticipating huge surge in
these regions, the Centre has
asked the State Governments
to mobilise all resources like
setting set up temporary
health sub centres in the exist-
ing buildings, rope in volun-
teers from various streams
and enhance incentives to
ASHA and ANM workers to
identify the symptomatic cases
to check the spread of infec-
tions.
To keep up with the
increasing demand, the Indian
Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) too has ramped up its
testing facilities and capacities.
From a few thousands in
the beginning, India is now
testing up to 1.1 lakh samples
in a day, according to Dr
Balram Bhargava, Director
General, ICMR
?=BQ =4F34;78
Maharashtra on Tuesday
reported 2,091 fresh
cases, nearly 1,000 less than two
days ago and third day of
back-to-back decline in the
number, giving some respite to
the highly strung health work-
ers and officials as the total
number of cases in India
climbed to 1,50,739 and 4,334
deaths on Tuesday. The day saw
as many 170 deaths and the
number of fresh
cases stood at 5,789, far less
than 7,000-plus spike in cases
the country two days ago.
At this rate of increase,
India is likely to overtake
Turkey too, in a day or two if
the current pace remains.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
Delhi and Gujarat have report-
ed the highest number of cases
in the last 24 hours on Tuesday.
Maharashtra reported
2,091 fresh cases and 97 deaths
in the last 24 hours. The State
continued to be on top in the
list of coronavirus cases in the
country, taking the total num-
ber of cases in the State to
54,758 and deaths to 1,792.
Mumbai city alone accounted
for 39 deaths.
The worst-hit Thane divi-
sion, which includes Mumbai
and surrounding satellite
towns, has reported 41,886
cases and 1,226 deaths.
Mumbai has reported 1,002
new cases taking the total
number of cases in the city to
32,791 and 1,065 deaths.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Tuesday
slammed the Modi
Government’s decision to con-
tinue with the nationwide lock-
down and the strategy of han-
dling the coronavirus crisis.
Rahul said the nationwide lock-
down in India has failed as the
coronavirus cases have spiked
in this period.
“The lockdown in India
has failed. Four stages of lock-
down have not given the result
that the Prime Minister expect-
ed,” Rahul said at a live press
conference through his Twitter
account.
He also slammed the Modi
Government’s strategies of
relaxing the lockdown and
said, “India is the only country
in world which is removing
lockdown when the virus is
exponentially rising.”
“PM and his entire adviso-
ry staff claimed coronavirus
cases will come down, but this
has not happened,” said Rahul
Gandhi. “I want to ask PM
Modi, what is the strategy of
the Government,” Rahul said,
adding, “They are thinking
about curbing the disease, sup-
porting migrants and support-
ing MSMEs.”
“Now that the lockdown
has failed, we need to know the
Government’s strategy on the
next step. The Centre must
divulge its Plan B,” Rahul
Gandhi said.
“Congress is running some
States. We are giving direct cash
to the poor to help them sur-
vive in this crisis. We are not
getting the Central
Government’s support,” he said.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Denouncing Congress and
its leader Rahul Gandhi for
“double-faced politics” and
“telling lies” over coronavirus
situation, BJP on Tuesday
claimed success in containing
the pandemic in the country
saying the Modi-Government
has brought down the doubling
rate of the Covid-19 positive
cases and brought it to 12-13
days after March 25 lockdown
when the two-fold rise was tak-
ing place in two to three days.
The BJP said its
Government has provided
much more economic package
than the former Congress
President is demanding from
the Government.
Senior BJP leader and
information and Broadcasting
Minister Prakash Javadekar
accused Rahul of telling “lies”
and not knowing “facts” on
economic package granted by
the Centre to the poor follow-
ing the country-wide lock-
down on March 25. He said 80
crore people were receiving
25 kg wheat and five kg ‘dal’ for
five months and 10 crore
labourers receiving 10 kg grain
and two kg ‘dal’ for free for five
months.
He also maintained that 20
crore women have received
C500 per month and already
C500 deposited in the
accounts.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
With the Ghaziabad district
administration sealing its
border with the national
Capital again on May 26 amid
coronavirus spread, commuters
were stuck in heavy traffic at
the Ghaziabad border.
Hundreds of people were
stuck in the traffic jam at the
border even as the police
deployed at the check-post
stopped vehicles to check e-
passes before allowing anyone
to pass, which slowed down the
vehicular movement.
Both sides of the district
near Ghazipur mandi that con-
nects Delhi with Ghaziabad on
National Highway 24 witness-
es long traffic jam.
“In Ghaziabad district,
there is an increase in the
number of coronavirus cases in
the last few days.
A large chunk of these
cases are linked to those who
travel between Delhi and
Ghaziabad,” the district admin-
istration in an order on
Monday had said.
“The district administra-
tion has decided to seal the
Delhi-Ghaziabad border until
further orders on the recom-
mendations of the Chief
Medical Officer,” the order
read. The administration said
the people employed in essen-
tial services will be allowed.
Doctors, paramedical staff,
police, media personnel and
bank employees will not need
passes.
?C8Q =4F34;78
Taking cognizance of the
“unfortunate and miser-
able” plight of the migrant
labourers stranded across the
country due to the Covid-19
lockdown, the Supreme Court
Tuesday said they need “suc-
cour and help by the con-
cerned governments” with
regard to free food and shelter.
“The adequate transport
arrangement, food and shelters
are immediately to be provid-
ed by the Centre and State
Governments free of costs,”
the top court said.
Referring to various media
reports showing the “unfortu-
nate and miserable conditions”
of migrant labourers walking
on foot and riding cycles from
long distances, the top court
issued notices to the Centre,
States and Union Territories
and sought their replies by
May 28.
AeRVdde`T`W=24deR_U`WW
16$ '6 WKUHH PLOLWDU FKLHIV DWWHQG PHHWLQJ WR UHYLHZ VLWXDWLRQ SRVW KLQD¶V DJJUHVVLRQ
,QGLD WR VWLFN
WR +4 JXQV
5cfXe`SVfdVU
f_UVcdecZTeTRcV
UVdaZeVH9@¶d
dRWVejT`_TVc_d
RJL GUDZV IODN IRU GLUHFWLQJ
6WDWHV WR VHHN MRE RIIHU QRG
EcRUVf_Z`_da]R_
_ReZ`_hZUVdeZc
@aacRadFA 4
RYR]VRUdSfed]`hdU`h_
SjTRdVdd`U`Vd_ReZ`_
%-3 VODPV 5DKXO IRU
µOLH¶ VDV ORFNGRZQ
VORZHG RYLG VSUHDG
7UDIILF VQDUO LQ 'HOKL
DV *]E VHDOV ERUGHU
Ac`gZUVWcVVW``U
dYV]eVce`^ZXcR_e
h`cVcd D4Rdd
4V_ecVDeReVd
=`TU`h_WRZ]VUe`
jZV]UcVdf]ed+CRYf]
2WX]PX]cadSTScWT7^c
B_aX]VbPaTPP]SXcbb^[SXTab
_XcRWX]VcT]cbcWTaT
CWT?fPbQaXTUTSPQ^dccWT
bcT_bcPZT]Qh8]SXPc^TTc
P]hRWP[[T]VTPaXbX]V^dc^U
cWTbT]bXcXeTbXcdPcX^]PccWT
Q^aSTa
CWT^]cW[^]VU[PbW_^X]cb
fX[[P[b^QT^]cWTc^_^UcWT
PVT]SP^UcWTcf^SPh0ah
2^P]STabR^]UTaT]RT
QTVX]]X]VWTaT^]FTS]TbSPh
9@E=24
0aPX[fPhT_[^hTTaTUX[[bfPcTaQ^cc[Tb
^UXVaP]cbX]PcaPX]Pc9PQP[_da^]
CdTbSPh ?C8
0_^[XRTR^]bcPQ[Tbc^_bR^dcTabc^Ra^bbX]c^6WPiXPQPSUa^3T[WX^]
CdTbSPh ?C8
?C8Q 14898=6
Chinese President Xi Jinping
on Tuesday ordered the
military to scale up the battle
preparedness, visualising the
worst-case scenarios and asked
them to resolutely defend the
country’s sovereignty.
Xi made the remarks while
attending a plenary meeting of
the delegation of the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) and
People's Armed Police Force
during the current parliament
session being held here.
Xi ordered the military to
think about worst-case sce-
narios, scale up training and
battle preparedness, promptly
and effectively deal with all
sorts of complex situations and
resolutely safeguard national
sovereignty, security and devel-
opment interests, state-run
Xinhua news agency reported,
without mentioning any specif-
ic issues that posed a threat to
the country. His comments
came in the backdrop of the
continuing standoff between
the militaries of India and
China at the LAC. The US-
China military frictions were
also on the rise with the US
navy stepping its patrols in the
disputed South China Sea as
well as the Taiwan Straits.
IZe`A=2+ DTR]Vfa
SRee]VacVaRcVU_Vdd
FPah^UXVaP]cbRPaahX]V
2^eXS2T]caTPbZbBcPcTb
c^aP_d__aT_PaPcX^]b
4`gZU*
20B4B) $(
340C7B) ##
A42E4A43)
%#!!
CC0;
BC0C4B CC0;20B4B340C7BA42E4A43
PWPaPbWcaP $#$' (! %($#
CPX[=PSd !' !'(#!
6dYPaPc #'!( ( $%%'
3T[WX ##%$ !'' %($#
APYPbcWP] $% #!%
PSWhP?aPSTbW !# $%'(
DccPa?aPSTbW %!# '!#
FTbc1T]VP[ #( !' #'%
0]SWaP?PSTbW !(' $!
1XWPa !(%' #'
/CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa7`]]`hfd`_+
fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^
X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa
;PcT2Xch E^[ #8bbdT #$
0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T
?dQ[XbWTS5a^
34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A
A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7
347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030
4bcPQ[XbWTS '%#
51, 1R 5HJQ 877(1* 5(*' 1R 8$'2''1
347A03D=F43=4B30H0H!!!*?064B !C!
m
@A:?:@?'
A4B?42CC74
²BFA30A³
@?6J*
2A8B8;)8=380B63?;8:4;H
C2=CA02C$8=5H!
C19F121=1I
=1;53B93;5D
2?B97* CD1B3
!C@?BD m
2G6?F6D!
0:4020A44A8=
28E8;4=68=44A8=6](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/pioneer-dehradun-e-paper-27-05-2020-200527003718/85/Pioneer-dehradun-e-paper-27-05-2020-1-320.jpg)
![dccPaPZWP]S!347A03D=kF43=4B30H k0H !!!
$OWKRXJK HYHU SRVVLEOH FDUH DQG FDXWLRQ KDV EHHQ WDNHQ WR DYRLG HUURUV RU RPLVVLRQV WKLV SXEOLFDWLRQ LV EHLQJ VROG RQ WKH FRQGLWLRQ DQG XQGHUVWDQGLQJ WKDW LQIRUPDWLRQ JLYHQ LQ WKLV SXEOLFDWLRQ LV PHUHO IRU UHIHUHQFH DQG PXVW QRW EH WDNHQ DV KDYLQJ DXWKRULW RI RU ELQGLQJ LQ DQ ZD RQ WKH ZULWHUV HGLWRUV SXEOLVKHUV DQG SULQWHUV DQG VHOOHUV ZKR GR QRW RZH DQ UHVSRQVLELOLW IRU DQ
GDPDJH RU ORVV WR DQ SHUVRQ D SXUFKDVHU RI WKLV SXEOLFDWLRQ RU QRW IRU WKH UHVXOW RI DQ DFWLRQ WDNHQ RQ WKH EDVLV RI WKLV ZRUN $OO GLVSXWHV DUH VXEMHFW WR WKH H[FOXVLYH MXULVGLFWLRQ RI FRPSHWHQW FRXUW DQG IRUXPV LQ 'HOKL1HZ 'HOKL RQO 5HDGHUV DUH DGYLVHG DQG UHTXHVWHG WR YHULI DQG VHHN DSSURSULDWH DGYLFH WR VDWLVI WKHPVHOYHV DERXW WKH YHUDFLW RI DQ NLQG RI DGYHUWLVHPHQW EHIRUH
UHVSRQGLQJ WR DQ FRQWHQWV SXEOLVKHG LQ WKLV QHZVSDSHU 7KH SULQWHU SXEOLVKHU HGLWRU DQG DQ HPSORHH RI WKH 3LRQHHU *URXS·V ZLOO QRW EH KHOG UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI FODLP PDGH E WKH DGYHUWLVHUV RI WKH SURGXFWV VHUYLFHV DQG VKDOO QRW EH PDGH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI ORVV FRQVHTXHQFHV DQG IXUWKHU SURGXFWUHODWHG GDPDJHV RQ VXFK DGYHUWLVHPHQWV
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana on Tuesday report-
ed 94 new cases of corona
virus, taking the State's case
tally to 1305 even as 22 patients
recovered from various hospi-
tals of the State over the last 24
hours.
According to the State gov-
ernment’s health bulletin, 94
fresh cases were reported from
Gurugram, Faridabad,
Mahendragarh, Panipat,
Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal,
Bhiwani, Hisar, Rewari. Palwal,
Sirsa and Nuh.
Meanwhile, the total
number of active COVID-19
cases in Haryana is 464 while
the number patients who
have been discharged are 824.
The State has a recovery rate
of 63.14 per cent, fatality
rate at 1.32 per cent while
tests per million being con-
ducted are 4024. The dou-
bling rate in the State is 17
days. As per the bulletin, 17
deaths have been reported so
far in the State.
Gurugram continues to
dominate the Covid-19 spread
with 33 new cases on Tuesday,
out of total 94 new cases
reported across State.
The Statewide count of
Covid-19 cases stood at 1305
and 17 deaths. Faridabad spot-
ted new 22 cases, followed by
Mahendragarh (12 new cases),
Panipat (5), Ambala (5),
Kurukshetra (3), Karnal (3),
Bhiwani (3), Hisar (2), Rewari
(2). Palwal(2), Sirsa (1) and
Nuh(1),
Yamunanagar is corona
free district of the State as eight
persons tested positive for
COVID-19 in the district has
been discharged from the hos-
pitals, as per the state health
bulletin.
As many as 22 patients
walked out of hospital from dif-
ferent districts of the State on
Monday. So far, 824 patients
have been cured and dis-
charged from hospitals in
Haryana, including the 14
Italian nationals. According to
officials, a total of 22 Covid
patients were discharged from
various districts including 17 in
Gurugram, two in Palwal and
one each in Sirsa, Rohtak and
Kaithal,
PUNJAB GETS 25 FRESH
CASES, TALLY IS 2106
Punjab on Tuesday report-
ed 25 fresh cases of the novel
coronavirus, taking the state’s
COVID-19 infection tally to
2,106, of which just 148 are
active as over 91 percent have
recovered. The state has till
date recorded 40 COVID-19
deaths.
Out of the new cases,
Jalandhar has the maximum of
10 and all are the contacts of
already diagnosed cases.
Besides, Pathankot has report-
ed five new cases, four in
Hoshiarpur, two each in
Amritsar and Ludhiana, and
one each from Faridkot and
SBS Nagar.
Notably, Faridkot and SBS
Nagar (Nawanshahr) districts
had, only a day before, became
corona-free with all patients
recovering from the conta-
gion and sent back home.
Both districts reported new
case each.
With 10 more cases in
Jalandhar, the district tally has
reached 238. Four of 10 cases
were reported since Monday
night, including the healthcare
workers employed at the
Jalandhar Civil Hospital of
which two are Class IV work-
ers and two nurses.
The health workers who
tested positive had been given
duties in three wards at the hos-
pital — the emergency and
tuberculosis ward and flu cor-
ner — causing health authori-
ties to worry about the spread
of the virus. The health work-
ers were reportedly sympto-
matic.
The five cases reported in
Pathankot and four in
Hoshiarpur were also con-
tacts of already diagnosed
cases. The two casess report-
ed from Amritsar are new
cases and self reported, while
the Ludhiana's two cases were
people with a travel history to
West Bengal.
Among the districts,
Amritsar is topping the chart
with 331 cases followed by
Jalandhar at 230, Ludhiana at
175, Tarn Taran at 154,
Gurdaspur (132), Patiala (108),
Hoshiarpur (110), SBS Nagar
(106), SAS Nagar (103),
Sangrur (89), Muktsar (66),
Faridkot (62), Ropar (60),
Moga (59), Fatehgarh Sahib
(57), Ferozepur (46), Pathankot
(44), Fazilka (42), Bathinda
(42), Kapurthala (36), Mansa
(32) and Barnala (22).
Eight districts — Amritsar,
Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Tarn
Taran, Gurdaspur, Patiala,
Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, SAS
Nagar — that have over 100
cases account for 68 percent of
state’s cases. Meanwhile, seven
Railway Protection Force (RPF)
personnel deployed at
Ludhiana railway station have
tested positive for coronavirus
on Tuesday. The RPF Director-
General said: “Seven RPF per-
sonnel posted at Ludhiana rail-
way station have tested positive
for COVID-19 and around
100 personnel have been quar-
antined.”
These cases were not added
in the state’s official tally as the
earlier positive cases of RPF
personnel were also added in
the central pool.
FOUR NEW CASE IN
CHANDIGARH
Four more positive cases
including of a one-and-a-half-
year-old boy have been report-
ed from Bapu Dham colony
(BDC) till Tuesday evening
taking the total number to 279
in the city. The doubling rate of
Coronavirus cases stood at 15
days in Chandigarh as com-
pared to the current national
average of around 13 days.
12 family members includ-
ing parents of the three days old
baby girl, who succumbed to
Coronavirus on Sunday, have
been tested negative for the
virus. The family belongs to
Dadumajra here. The baby girl
was the youngest ever
Coronavirus fatality recorded
in the city. So far, four
Coronavirus related deaths
have been reported in
Chandigarh.
The total cases stood at 279
while the active cases are 88 in
Chandigarh, stated Chandigarh
Health Department’s evening
bulletin. 187 patients have so
far being declared cured of
Coronavirus and discharged
from the hospital, the bulletin
stated. The BDC, which has
been declared as containment
zone in Chandigarh has report-
ed more than 200 cases till now.
“32 samples have been collect-
ed on site in BDC, Sector-26 on
Tuesday. The Administration
had last week started onsite
sampling facility at a school in
BDC,” the bulletin stated.
“Among the fresh positive
cases reported included a male
child aged 1.5 years, 22 years,
60 years and 61 years from
BDC,” it added.
?=BQ B78;0
Ten more people tested pos-
itive for the novel coron-
avirus in Himachal Pradesh,
taking the number of cases to
234 on Tuesday, a Health
Department official said.
There are 161 active cases
of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) in the state and 61
people have recovered so far,
Additional Chief Secretary
(Health) R D Dhiman said.
Of the 10 new COVID-19
cases, eight were from
Hamirpur, and one each from
Shimla and Una districts,
Dhiman said, taking the total
confirmed cases to 234. In
Hamirpur, four of the eight
new patients had returned
from Maharashtra's Thane dis-
trict in a train and were at quar-
antine centres. They will be
sent to dedicated COVID-19
care centres for treatment,
Deputy Commissioner
Hairkesh Meena said.
A man who recently
returned to Rohru subdivision
in Shimla district from outside
the state has tested positive,
Superintendent of Police
Omapati Jamwal said.
In Una, a man who recent-
ly returned from Delhi has also
tested positive, a district official
said. Hamirpur has the highest
number of active COVID-19
cases at 64, followed by 42 in
Kangra, 14 in Una, 11 in Solan,
eight in Mandi, seven each in
Chamba and Bilaspur, five in
Shimla, two in Sirmaur and one
in Kullu, the Health
Department official said.
?=BQ 17D10=4BF0A
As many as 79 new Covid-
19 cases were reported in
the State on Tuesday. With
this, the total number rose to
1,517. Cuttack district regis-
tered the highest 16 cases.
It was followed by Balangir
district with 14, Keonjhar eight,
Kandhamal seven, Kendrapada
six, Ganjam five, Puri, Baleswar
and Khordha four each,
Nayagarh three, Jajpur, Angul
and Jharsuguda one each.The
virus spread to one more dis-
trict on the day when
Subarnapur reported a maiden
positive case. With this, the
number of affected districts
rose to 29. Rayagada is the only
district which has managed to
protect itself from the disease
spread till now.Of the 79 new
cases, 71 were reported from
various quarantine centres, the
Health and Family Welfare
Department said.
]Tf2E83 (RPbTbX]
7XPRWP[?aPSTbWcP[[h!#
(^aTcTbc
eT*SXbWP
c^cP[ $
7PahP]PaTR^aSb(#]Tf2^eXS (RPbTb
?=BQ 70A83F0A
Urban Development minis-
ter and local MLA Madan
Kaushik inaugurated a selfie-
point developed by a voluntary
group on Premnagar Ashram
bridge.
Kaushik appreciated efforts
of the volunteers working to
clean and beautify the city
using their own resources.
Members of Being
Bhagirath said that the motif
they have made on the bridge
to create a selfie-point is aimed
at encouraging positivity and
concern for the city.
They said that they want
people visiting Haridwar from
across the world to return with
images of a clean and beautiful
city.
The group’s convener
Shikhar Paliwal said that the
group had earlier set up a ver-
tical garden in the city using
plastic bottles for plants. For the
selfie-point on the bridge, a
motif has been made using
scrap metal with small potted
plants and the message “I love
Haridwar”.
RfdYZZ_RfXfcReVd
dV]WZVa`Z_e`_ScZUXV
?=BQ 347A03D=
The NHPC Limited Koti-
Bhel project officials dis-
tributed ration kids and other
items to families in need here
on Tuesday. Dehradun mayor
Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’, MLA
Khajan Das, NHPC indepen-
dent director BP Makwana
and project general manager
Satish Kumar Chauhan were
among those present on the
occasion. Chauhan informed
that the company was provid-
ing relief materials and assis-
tance to those in need during
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, NHPC had presented
Rs five lakh to the Tehri district
magistrate for purchasing nec-
essary equipment for the dis-
trict hospital. Gama and Das
also appreciated the efforts of
the corporation to assist peo-
ple in these difficult times.
=7?2_a^eXSTb
aPcX^]ZXcb
^cWTaXcTbc^
]TTShUPX[XTb CWTaTPaT %
PRcXeTRPbTb
^UR^a^]PeXadb
SXbTPbTX]cWT
BcPcTP]S%
_T^_[TWPeT
aTR^eTaTS
b^UPa
0=9:D0AQ
270=3860A7
Haryana Home Minister
Anil Vij on Monday said
that there has been mounting
pressure on State Government
to start different modes of
transportations. The resump-
tion of inter-state bus services,
train services and domestic
flight services would add many
unforeseen challenges for the
State Government in Covid-19
lockdown 4.0. The number of
Covid-19 cases would increase
swiftly after movement of pas-
sengers from red zone to green
and orange zones, he added.
The Home Minister said
that the fight against Covid-19
has to be more focused now to
reduce spread in lockdown
4.0. The situation of corona in
the State is largely under con-
trol. But about 70-80 percent of
the cases in Haryana are from
four districts adjoining Delhi.
As cases are increasing so there
is no chance of opening borders
with Delhi, he added.
In an exclusive interview
with ‘The Pioneer’ over the
phone, Vij shares his views
about the challenges before
the State Government during
ongoing nationwide lockdown
4.0 and steps being taken to
contain spread of Covid-19
earliest: Excerpts from the
interview:
What are the challenges
you see in lockdown 4.0 in
Haryana? Have you set any tar-
get to achieve in Covid-19?
We see multiple challenges
ahead for the State
Government in Covid-19 lock-
down 4.0. According to
Ministry of Home affairs
guidelines, we have given relax-
ation to start economic activi-
ties. Migrant labourers willing
to return to their home states
are being sent free of cost by the
State Government. But we see
emergence of more unfore-
seen challenges before the
States after the resumption of
inter-state bus services, train
services and domestic flight
services in the Country.
Rampant public movement in
the country would result into
rising Covid-19 cases. Thermal
screening is not appropriate to
judge Covid patients. Recently,
76 Haryana natives were
deported back from the USA
and were kept under quaran-
tine in Panchkula. But 22 of
them tested positive for coro-
na virus infection. The number
of Covid-19 cases would
increase swiftly after movement
of passengers from red zone to
green and orange zones.
Regarding setting up any target
in lockdown 4.0, we have no
discussion yet and no target has
been set. But our focus is to
contain it completely earliest.
The numbers of Covid-19
cases in Haryana are rising on
daily basis. Have you assessed
the situation in the State?
We need to prepare people
to live with corona virus till
vaccine is ready. There is a
global recognition for India’s
success in handling the pan-
demic and Government of
India appreciated the efforts
made by State government in
this regard. The situation of
corona in the State is largely
under control. We are in bet-
ter position in comparison to
neighbouring States including
national capital New Delhi. As
per Health bulletin reports,
the total number of active
COVID-19 cases in the State is
380 while the number patients
who have been discharged are
791. The State has a recovery
rate of 66.64 per cent, fatality
rate at 1.35 per cent while
tests per million being con-
ducted are 3,885. The doubling
rate in the State is 19 days. But
at the same time, about 70 per-
cent of the cases in Haryana are
from four districts adjoining
Delhi. The number of Covid -
19 cases would increase more
if people from all the directions
would start reaching the State
through different modes of
transportation. Haryana people
have better immune system.
But they should not fall into the
misconception that they cannot
be infected with the corona. It
is important for everyone to
take precaution.
India entered the 63-day
nationwide pandemic-induced
lockdown. How long it would
continue?
No one wants lockdown to
continue but it was enforced
when unprecedented situation
had arisen in the country in the
form of Covid-10 outbreak. We
should be hopeful to contain it
earliest. Opposition parties
especially Congress party
should not play politics at a
time of crisis.
Why do you want to bring
an ordinance enforcing people
to wear mask, maintain social
distancing and ban on spitting
in open? People should follow
social distancing norms by
observing ‘Do Gaj Doori’ (six-
feet distance). But reality on the
ground is not appreciable. To
stop spread of Covid-19 fur-
ther, we have planned to bring
in an ordinance to impose
penalties on those violating
instructions and instructions
have been issued to the depart-
ment concerned to come out
with a draft. The ordinance
would soon release in the State.
Congress leader says State
Government does not have a
lockdown exit plan. What
would you say? Now Congress
leaders are in touch with
astrologers. Congress leader
should tell the nation when
Covid-19 outbreak would com-
pletely vanish then we would be
able to tell lockdown exist plan.
5XVWcPVPX]bc2^eXSWPbc^QT^aTU^RdbTS]^fc^aTSdRTb_aTPSX][^RZS^f]#)7PahP]P7^TX]
3ULQWHG DQG SXEOLVKHG E $MLW 6LQKD IRU DQG RQ EHKDOI RI 0. 3ULQWHFK /WG SXEOLVKHG DW 8QLJDWH *HQHUDO 0HGLD 3YW /WG 2OG 1HKUX RORQ 2SS 8WWDUDNKDQG -DO 6DQVWKDQ 'KDUDPSXU 'HKUDGXQ 3K 0RE DQG SULQWHG DW $PDU 8MDOD 3XEOLFDWLRQV /WG 6KHG 1R 3DWHO 1DJDU R2SHUDWLYH ,QGXVWULDO $UHD
'HKUDGXQ 8WWDUDNKDQG (GLWRU KDQGDQ 0LWUD $,5 685+$5*( RI 5H (DVW DOFXWWD 5DQFKL %KXEDQHVZDU 1RUWK /HK :HVW 0XPEDL $KPHGDEDG 6RXWK %DQJDORUH KHQQDL HQWUDO .KDMXUDKR 'HOKL 2IILFH 1R %HKLQG *XODE %KDZDQ %DKDGXU 6KDK =DIDU 0DUJ 1HZ 'HOKL 3KRQH RPPXQLFDWLRQ 2IILFH ) 6HFWRU
12,'$ *DXWDP %XGK 1DJDU 83 3KRQH /XFNQRZ 2IILFH WK )ORRU 6DKDUD 6KRSSLQJ HQWUH )DL]DEDG 5RDG /XFNQRZ 7HOHSKRQHV](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Empfohlen
Empfohlen
Weitere ähnliche Inhalte
Ähnlich wie Pioneer dehradun-e-paper-27-05-2020
Ähnlich wie Pioneer dehradun-e-paper-27-05-2020 (20)
Mehr von DunEditorial
Mehr von DunEditorial (20)
Kürzlich hochgeladen
Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)
Pioneer dehradun-e-paper-27-05-2020
- 1. ?=BQ =4F34;78 As the stand-off between India and China continues at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reviewed the situation here with the top security brass, including National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and the three Services Chiefs. The high-level meetings took place against the backdrop of the Chinese Army adopting an aggressive attitude at the LAC and bolstering substan- tially its troop strength besides intruding more than three kms into the Hot Springs area of Eastern Ladakh. It has also brought forward heavy vehicles like armoured personnel carri- ers while the Chinese heli- copters have increased aerial surveillance along the LAC. With the LAC now “hot” for nearly a month after the Chinese transgressions and four ongoing stand-offs, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh too took stock of the ongoing tension at the LAC earlier in the day with the defence top brass. The month- long flashpoints will also be on the top of the agenda of the two-day Army Commanders conference beginning here on Wednesday. With China coming into the Hot Springs area and its sol- diers pitching tents there besides deploying more than 5,000 troops at the four face-off sites spread over a frontage of 20 to 30 km, the Prime Minister was also briefed about the steps taken by India to meet any challenge arising out of the sensitive situation at the border. The meeting between the Defence Minister and the CDS along with the three Chiefs last- ed for more than an hour, sources said. The issue of Indian and Chinese Armies coming to blows in two face-offs at Naku La, Sikkim and Pangong Tso, Ladakh as well as increased troops strength of China and the Army’s operational readi- ness to face the situation will figure prominently during the Army Commanders meet. It comes at a time when at least six rounds of talks between the Brigadier-rank officers of Indian and Chinese Armies to resolve the confrontation have not yielded any positive results. Diplomatic efforts are also on to defuse the situation. The Commanders’ Conference is held twice a year and was postponed from its earlier scheduled dates in April due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. The second leg of the conclave will be held in the last week of June, officials said here on Tuesday. The apex level leadership of Indian Army will brainstorm on current emerging security and administrative challenges and chart the future course for Indian Army. To ensure due diligence, decisions are taken through collegiate system com- prising Army commanders and senior officers. During the first phase, which will be organised at South Block, various aspects pertaining to operational and administrative issues, including studies pertaining to logistics and human resources, will be discussed, they said. As regards the LAC, even though the focus is on Eastern Ladakh due to ongoing face- offs, the Indian forces have also started reinforcing its posi- tions in borders of Uttarakhand which face China besides some parts of Himachal Pradesh too as a precautionary measure, sources said. On Ladakh, they said the Indian defence forces are fully geared to increase the troops strength besides heavy weapon- ry in case of any emergency. All the advanced landing grounds like Daulat Beg OIdie and oth- ers in Ladakh region are ready to accommodate extra work- load of landings and take offs of heavy transport planes car- rying soldiers and weapons, they added. Moreover, the Indian Army has enhanced vigil on the 250- km long strategic road in the Galwan valley where one of the stand-offs is now on. The Chinese Army is protesting against the construction of a bridge on this road running parallel to the LAC. The road provides vastly improved con- nectivity to the Indian forces for mobilisation, sources said, adding the road is well within the Indian region. The two armies had fought a battle in the Galwan valley during the 1962 war. Meanwhile, the Defence Minister also reviewed the ongoing implementation of the recommendations of the Shekatkar Committee report. The Lt General DB Shekatkar (Retired) committee had made a series of recommendations to enhance combat capability and rebalance defence expenditure of the armed forces. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Aday after the WHO sus- pended clinical trial of Hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ) on Covid-19 patients citing safety concerns, India on Tuesday said it will continue using the drug as preventive care for its healthcare and frontline workers under strict medical supervision. Dr Balram Bhargava, the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said the drug was rec- ommended initially in March based on in-vitro studies which showed it had antiviral proper- ties. “There have been observa- tional studies and case control studies that have not shown many side-effects due to the use of HCQ. “We thought it might be useful drug for prevention of Covid-19 and taking the bio- logical plausibility, the in-vitro data, and taking the availabil- ity and safety of this drug, we recommended it as empiric use under strict medical super- vision,” Bhargava said at a presser here. “During the weeks since it was recommended, we got some data (on HCQ) which showed there is no harm, but benefit may be there,” he said. “They were mainly obser- vational studies in different cohorts done at AIIMS and case control study at ICMR and studies were also done at three Delhi public hospitals. We found that it may be working and there were no major side effects, except nau- sea, vomiting and some palpi- tations occasionally. We have clearly said it should be con- tinued for prophylaxis,” he said. The ICMR DG said the Government’s latest advisory regarding expanding the use of HCQ to frontline workers such as paramilitary and police per- sonnel is based on “risk-bene- fit analysis”. “We should not deny this to our healthcare workers and frontline workers who are deal- ing with virus-hit patients. At the same time, we have also said they should follow medical recommendations like not eat- ing it on empty stomach and that PPE use must be contin- ued. Our study on HCQ will be published soon,” Bhargava said. 344?0::D0A970Q =4F34;78 The migrant issue took a political turn on Tuesday with Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party as well several trade unions and labour front organ- isations criticising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for decreeing that States will have to take his Government’s permission before employing workers from Uttar Pradesh. Calling this is an “absurd” and unconstitutional “move which encroaches on the right to individual to earn his liveli- hood wherever he wants with- in the country, they said the CM’s move was an attempt to divert attention from the plight of the migrant workers. Except for the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), top labour union such as the INTUC, AITUC, CITU and other outfits are coordinating to launch a countrywide protest and move the court against the proposed decision. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed Yogi’s remark as “unfortunate.” “I think it’s unfortunate. I think people are first Indian and then they belong to their States. The decision on whether somebody goes to work from Uttar Pradesh to the rest of the country is not the Chief Minister’s. It is of the people of India and the people of Uttar Pradesh,” Rahul said at a video Press conference. “If a citizen of Uttar Pradesh wants to go and fulfil his dreams in Maharashtra or in Delhi or in Karnataka or anywhere else, he should have the right to do so,” he said. “It is very unfortunate that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh views India in such a way. These people are not his personal property. They are not the personal property of Uttar Pradesh. These people are Indian citizens and they have the right to decide what they want to do and they have the right to live the life they want to live,” he added. Karnataka Congress pres- ident DK Shivakumar in a series of tweets also attacked Yogi Adityanath saying UP was not the private property of his Government. 0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78 After it allowed millions of migrant workers to cross the borders to reach their native villages, Union Health Ministry has now woken up to the Covid-19 shadow looming over their home States — par- ticularly big five — UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Anticipating huge surge in these regions, the Centre has asked the State Governments to mobilise all resources like setting set up temporary health sub centres in the exist- ing buildings, rope in volun- teers from various streams and enhance incentives to ASHA and ANM workers to identify the symptomatic cases to check the spread of infec- tions. To keep up with the increasing demand, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) too has ramped up its testing facilities and capacities. From a few thousands in the beginning, India is now testing up to 1.1 lakh samples in a day, according to Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR ?=BQ =4F34;78 Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 2,091 fresh cases, nearly 1,000 less than two days ago and third day of back-to-back decline in the number, giving some respite to the highly strung health work- ers and officials as the total number of cases in India climbed to 1,50,739 and 4,334 deaths on Tuesday. The day saw as many 170 deaths and the number of fresh cases stood at 5,789, far less than 7,000-plus spike in cases the country two days ago. At this rate of increase, India is likely to overtake Turkey too, in a day or two if the current pace remains. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat have report- ed the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours on Tuesday. Maharashtra reported 2,091 fresh cases and 97 deaths in the last 24 hours. The State continued to be on top in the list of coronavirus cases in the country, taking the total num- ber of cases in the State to 54,758 and deaths to 1,792. Mumbai city alone accounted for 39 deaths. The worst-hit Thane divi- sion, which includes Mumbai and surrounding satellite towns, has reported 41,886 cases and 1,226 deaths. Mumbai has reported 1,002 new cases taking the total number of cases in the city to 32,791 and 1,065 deaths. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the Modi Government’s decision to con- tinue with the nationwide lock- down and the strategy of han- dling the coronavirus crisis. Rahul said the nationwide lock- down in India has failed as the coronavirus cases have spiked in this period. “The lockdown in India has failed. Four stages of lock- down have not given the result that the Prime Minister expect- ed,” Rahul said at a live press conference through his Twitter account. He also slammed the Modi Government’s strategies of relaxing the lockdown and said, “India is the only country in world which is removing lockdown when the virus is exponentially rising.” “PM and his entire adviso- ry staff claimed coronavirus cases will come down, but this has not happened,” said Rahul Gandhi. “I want to ask PM Modi, what is the strategy of the Government,” Rahul said, adding, “They are thinking about curbing the disease, sup- porting migrants and support- ing MSMEs.” “Now that the lockdown has failed, we need to know the Government’s strategy on the next step. The Centre must divulge its Plan B,” Rahul Gandhi said. “Congress is running some States. We are giving direct cash to the poor to help them sur- vive in this crisis. We are not getting the Central Government’s support,” he said. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Denouncing Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi for “double-faced politics” and “telling lies” over coronavirus situation, BJP on Tuesday claimed success in containing the pandemic in the country saying the Modi-Government has brought down the doubling rate of the Covid-19 positive cases and brought it to 12-13 days after March 25 lockdown when the two-fold rise was tak- ing place in two to three days. The BJP said its Government has provided much more economic package than the former Congress President is demanding from the Government. Senior BJP leader and information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar accused Rahul of telling “lies” and not knowing “facts” on economic package granted by the Centre to the poor follow- ing the country-wide lock- down on March 25. He said 80 crore people were receiving 25 kg wheat and five kg ‘dal’ for five months and 10 crore labourers receiving 10 kg grain and two kg ‘dal’ for free for five months. He also maintained that 20 crore women have received C500 per month and already C500 deposited in the accounts. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 With the Ghaziabad district administration sealing its border with the national Capital again on May 26 amid coronavirus spread, commuters were stuck in heavy traffic at the Ghaziabad border. Hundreds of people were stuck in the traffic jam at the border even as the police deployed at the check-post stopped vehicles to check e- passes before allowing anyone to pass, which slowed down the vehicular movement. Both sides of the district near Ghazipur mandi that con- nects Delhi with Ghaziabad on National Highway 24 witness- es long traffic jam. “In Ghaziabad district, there is an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the last few days. A large chunk of these cases are linked to those who travel between Delhi and Ghaziabad,” the district admin- istration in an order on Monday had said. “The district administra- tion has decided to seal the Delhi-Ghaziabad border until further orders on the recom- mendations of the Chief Medical Officer,” the order read. The administration said the people employed in essen- tial services will be allowed. Doctors, paramedical staff, police, media personnel and bank employees will not need passes. ?C8Q =4F34;78 Taking cognizance of the “unfortunate and miser- able” plight of the migrant labourers stranded across the country due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the Supreme Court Tuesday said they need “suc- cour and help by the con- cerned governments” with regard to free food and shelter. “The adequate transport arrangement, food and shelters are immediately to be provid- ed by the Centre and State Governments free of costs,” the top court said. Referring to various media reports showing the “unfortu- nate and miserable conditions” of migrant labourers walking on foot and riding cycles from long distances, the top court issued notices to the Centre, States and Union Territories and sought their replies by May 28. AeRVdde`T`W=24deR_U`WW 16$ '6 WKUHH PLOLWDU FKLHIV DWWHQG PHHWLQJ WR UHYLHZ VLWXDWLRQ SRVW KLQD¶V DJJUHVVLRQ ,QGLD WR VWLFN WR +4 JXQV 5cfXe`SVfdVU f_UVcdecZTeTRcV UVdaZeVH9@¶d dRWVejT`_TVc_d RJL GUDZV IODN IRU GLUHFWLQJ 6WDWHV WR VHHN MRE RIIHU QRG EcRUVf_Z`_da]R_ _ReZ`_hZUVdeZc @aacRadFA 4 RYR]VRUdSfed]`hdU`h_ SjTRdVdd`U`Vd_ReZ`_ %-3 VODPV 5DKXO IRU µOLH¶ VDV ORFNGRZQ VORZHG RYLG VSUHDG 7UDIILF VQDUO LQ 'HOKL DV *]E VHDOV ERUGHU Ac`gZUVWcVVW``U dYV]eVce`^ZXcR_e h`cVcd D4Rdd 4V_ecVDeReVd =`TU`h_WRZ]VUe` jZV]UcVdf]ed+CRYf] 2WX]PX]cadSTScWT7^c B_aX]VbPaTPP]SXcbb^[SXTab _XcRWX]VcT]cbcWTaT CWT?fPbQaXTUTSPQ^dccWT bcT_bcPZT]Qh8]SXPc^TTc P]hRWP[[T]VTPaXbX]V^dc^U cWTbT]bXcXeTbXcdPcX^]PccWT Q^aSTa CWT^]cW[^]VU[PbW_^X]cb fX[[P[b^QT^]cWTc^_^UcWT PVT]SP^UcWTcf^SPh0ah 2^P]STabR^]UTaT]RT QTVX]]X]VWTaT^]FTS]TbSPh 9@E=24 0aPX[fPhT_[^hTTaTUX[[bfPcTaQ^cc[Tb ^UXVaP]cbX]PcaPX]Pc9PQP[_da^] CdTbSPh ?C8 0_^[XRTR^]bcPQ[Tbc^_bR^dcTabc^Ra^bbX]c^6WPiXPQPSUa^3T[WX^] CdTbSPh ?C8 ?C8Q 14898=6 Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday ordered the military to scale up the battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenarios and asked them to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty. Xi made the remarks while attending a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police Force during the current parliament session being held here. Xi ordered the military to think about worst-case sce- narios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and devel- opment interests, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, without mentioning any specif- ic issues that posed a threat to the country. His comments came in the backdrop of the continuing standoff between the militaries of India and China at the LAC. The US- China military frictions were also on the rise with the US navy stepping its patrols in the disputed South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Straits. IZe`A=2+ DTR]Vfa SRee]VacVaRcVU_Vdd FPah^UXVaP]cbRPaahX]V 2^eXS2T]caTPbZbBcPcTb c^aP_d__aT_PaPcX^]b 4`gZU* 20B4B) $( 340C7B) ## A42E4A43) %#!! CC0; BC0C4B CC0;20B4B340C7BA42E4A43 PWPaPbWcaP $#$' (! %($# CPX[=PSd !' !'(#! 6dYPaPc #'!( ( $%%' 3T[WX ##%$ !'' %($# APYPbcWP] $% #!% PSWhP?aPSTbW !# $%'( DccPa?aPSTbW %!# '!# FTbc1T]VP[ #( !' #'% 0]SWaP?PSTbW !(' $! 1XWPa !(%' #' /CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa7`]]`hfd`_+ fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^ X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa ;PcT2Xch E^[ #8bbdT #$ 0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T ?dQ[XbWTS5a^ 34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7 347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030 4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# 51, 1R 5HJQ 877(1* 5(*' 1R 8$'2''1 347A03D=F43=4B30H0H!!!*?064B !C! m @A:?:@?' A4B?42CC74 ²BFA30A³ @?6J* 2A8B8;)8=380B63?;8:4;H C2=CA02C$8=5H! C19F121=1I =1;53B93;5D 2?B97* CD1B3 !C@?BD m 2G6?F6D! 0:4020A44A8= 28E8;4=68=44A8=6
- 2. dccPaPZWP]S!347A03D=kF43=4B30H k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·V ZLOO QRW EH KHOG UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI FODLP PDGH E WKH DGYHUWLVHUV RI WKH SURGXFWV VHUYLFHV DQG VKDOO QRW EH PDGH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI ORVV FRQVHTXHQFHV DQG IXUWKHU SURGXFWUHODWHG GDPDJHV RQ VXFK DGYHUWLVHPHQWV ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Haryana on Tuesday report- ed 94 new cases of corona virus, taking the State's case tally to 1305 even as 22 patients recovered from various hospi- tals of the State over the last 24 hours. According to the State gov- ernment’s health bulletin, 94 fresh cases were reported from Gurugram, Faridabad, Mahendragarh, Panipat, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Bhiwani, Hisar, Rewari. Palwal, Sirsa and Nuh. Meanwhile, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Haryana is 464 while the number patients who have been discharged are 824. The State has a recovery rate of 63.14 per cent, fatality rate at 1.32 per cent while tests per million being con- ducted are 4024. The dou- bling rate in the State is 17 days. As per the bulletin, 17 deaths have been reported so far in the State. Gurugram continues to dominate the Covid-19 spread with 33 new cases on Tuesday, out of total 94 new cases reported across State. The Statewide count of Covid-19 cases stood at 1305 and 17 deaths. Faridabad spot- ted new 22 cases, followed by Mahendragarh (12 new cases), Panipat (5), Ambala (5), Kurukshetra (3), Karnal (3), Bhiwani (3), Hisar (2), Rewari (2). Palwal(2), Sirsa (1) and Nuh(1), Yamunanagar is corona free district of the State as eight persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the district has been discharged from the hos- pitals, as per the state health bulletin. As many as 22 patients walked out of hospital from dif- ferent districts of the State on Monday. So far, 824 patients have been cured and dis- charged from hospitals in Haryana, including the 14 Italian nationals. According to officials, a total of 22 Covid patients were discharged from various districts including 17 in Gurugram, two in Palwal and one each in Sirsa, Rohtak and Kaithal, PUNJAB GETS 25 FRESH CASES, TALLY IS 2106 Punjab on Tuesday report- ed 25 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus, taking the state’s COVID-19 infection tally to 2,106, of which just 148 are active as over 91 percent have recovered. The state has till date recorded 40 COVID-19 deaths. Out of the new cases, Jalandhar has the maximum of 10 and all are the contacts of already diagnosed cases. Besides, Pathankot has report- ed five new cases, four in Hoshiarpur, two each in Amritsar and Ludhiana, and one each from Faridkot and SBS Nagar. Notably, Faridkot and SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) districts had, only a day before, became corona-free with all patients recovering from the conta- gion and sent back home. Both districts reported new case each. With 10 more cases in Jalandhar, the district tally has reached 238. Four of 10 cases were reported since Monday night, including the healthcare workers employed at the Jalandhar Civil Hospital of which two are Class IV work- ers and two nurses. The health workers who tested positive had been given duties in three wards at the hos- pital — the emergency and tuberculosis ward and flu cor- ner — causing health authori- ties to worry about the spread of the virus. The health work- ers were reportedly sympto- matic. The five cases reported in Pathankot and four in Hoshiarpur were also con- tacts of already diagnosed cases. The two casess report- ed from Amritsar are new cases and self reported, while the Ludhiana's two cases were people with a travel history to West Bengal. Among the districts, Amritsar is topping the chart with 331 cases followed by Jalandhar at 230, Ludhiana at 175, Tarn Taran at 154, Gurdaspur (132), Patiala (108), Hoshiarpur (110), SBS Nagar (106), SAS Nagar (103), Sangrur (89), Muktsar (66), Faridkot (62), Ropar (60), Moga (59), Fatehgarh Sahib (57), Ferozepur (46), Pathankot (44), Fazilka (42), Bathinda (42), Kapurthala (36), Mansa (32) and Barnala (22). Eight districts — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, SAS Nagar — that have over 100 cases account for 68 percent of state’s cases. Meanwhile, seven Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel deployed at Ludhiana railway station have tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. The RPF Director- General said: “Seven RPF per- sonnel posted at Ludhiana rail- way station have tested positive for COVID-19 and around 100 personnel have been quar- antined.” These cases were not added in the state’s official tally as the earlier positive cases of RPF personnel were also added in the central pool. FOUR NEW CASE IN CHANDIGARH Four more positive cases including of a one-and-a-half- year-old boy have been report- ed from Bapu Dham colony (BDC) till Tuesday evening taking the total number to 279 in the city. The doubling rate of Coronavirus cases stood at 15 days in Chandigarh as com- pared to the current national average of around 13 days. 12 family members includ- ing parents of the three days old baby girl, who succumbed to Coronavirus on Sunday, have been tested negative for the virus. The family belongs to Dadumajra here. The baby girl was the youngest ever Coronavirus fatality recorded in the city. So far, four Coronavirus related deaths have been reported in Chandigarh. The total cases stood at 279 while the active cases are 88 in Chandigarh, stated Chandigarh Health Department’s evening bulletin. 187 patients have so far being declared cured of Coronavirus and discharged from the hospital, the bulletin stated. The BDC, which has been declared as containment zone in Chandigarh has report- ed more than 200 cases till now. “32 samples have been collect- ed on site in BDC, Sector-26 on Tuesday. The Administration had last week started onsite sampling facility at a school in BDC,” the bulletin stated. “Among the fresh positive cases reported included a male child aged 1.5 years, 22 years, 60 years and 61 years from BDC,” it added. ?=BQ B78;0 Ten more people tested pos- itive for the novel coron- avirus in Himachal Pradesh, taking the number of cases to 234 on Tuesday, a Health Department official said. There are 161 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the state and 61 people have recovered so far, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said. Of the 10 new COVID-19 cases, eight were from Hamirpur, and one each from Shimla and Una districts, Dhiman said, taking the total confirmed cases to 234. In Hamirpur, four of the eight new patients had returned from Maharashtra's Thane dis- trict in a train and were at quar- antine centres. They will be sent to dedicated COVID-19 care centres for treatment, Deputy Commissioner Hairkesh Meena said. A man who recently returned to Rohru subdivision in Shimla district from outside the state has tested positive, Superintendent of Police Omapati Jamwal said. In Una, a man who recent- ly returned from Delhi has also tested positive, a district official said. Hamirpur has the highest number of active COVID-19 cases at 64, followed by 42 in Kangra, 14 in Una, 11 in Solan, eight in Mandi, seven each in Chamba and Bilaspur, five in Shimla, two in Sirmaur and one in Kullu, the Health Department official said. ?=BQ 17D10=4BF0A As many as 79 new Covid- 19 cases were reported in the State on Tuesday. With this, the total number rose to 1,517. Cuttack district regis- tered the highest 16 cases. It was followed by Balangir district with 14, Keonjhar eight, Kandhamal seven, Kendrapada six, Ganjam five, Puri, Baleswar and Khordha four each, Nayagarh three, Jajpur, Angul and Jharsuguda one each.The virus spread to one more dis- trict on the day when Subarnapur reported a maiden positive case. With this, the number of affected districts rose to 29. Rayagada is the only district which has managed to protect itself from the disease spread till now.Of the 79 new cases, 71 were reported from various quarantine centres, the Health and Family Welfare Department said. ]Tf2E83 (RPbTbX] 7XPRWP[?aPSTbWcP[[h!# (^aTcTbc eT*SXbWP c^cP[ $ 7PahP]PaTR^aSb(#]Tf2^eXS (RPbTb ?=BQ 70A83F0A Urban Development minis- ter and local MLA Madan Kaushik inaugurated a selfie- point developed by a voluntary group on Premnagar Ashram bridge. Kaushik appreciated efforts of the volunteers working to clean and beautify the city using their own resources. Members of Being Bhagirath said that the motif they have made on the bridge to create a selfie-point is aimed at encouraging positivity and concern for the city. They said that they want people visiting Haridwar from across the world to return with images of a clean and beautiful city. The group’s convener Shikhar Paliwal said that the group had earlier set up a ver- tical garden in the city using plastic bottles for plants. For the selfie-point on the bridge, a motif has been made using scrap metal with small potted plants and the message “I love Haridwar”. RfdYZZ_RfXfcReVd dV]WZVa`Z_e`_ScZUXV ?=BQ 347A03D= The NHPC Limited Koti- Bhel project officials dis- tributed ration kids and other items to families in need here on Tuesday. Dehradun mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’, MLA Khajan Das, NHPC indepen- dent director BP Makwana and project general manager Satish Kumar Chauhan were among those present on the occasion. Chauhan informed that the company was provid- ing relief materials and assis- tance to those in need during the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier, NHPC had presented Rs five lakh to the Tehri district magistrate for purchasing nec- essary equipment for the dis- trict hospital. Gama and Das also appreciated the efforts of the corporation to assist peo- ple in these difficult times. =7?2_a^eXSTb aPcX^]ZXcb ^cWTaXcTbc^ ]TTShUPX[XTb CWTaTPaT % PRcXeTRPbTb ^UR^a^]PeXadb SXbTPbTX]cWT BcPcTP]S% _T^_[TWPeT aTR^eTaTS b^UPa 0=9:D0AQ 270=3860A7 Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that there has been mounting pressure on State Government to start different modes of transportations. The resump- tion of inter-state bus services, train services and domestic flight services would add many unforeseen challenges for the State Government in Covid-19 lockdown 4.0. The number of Covid-19 cases would increase swiftly after movement of pas- sengers from red zone to green and orange zones, he added. The Home Minister said that the fight against Covid-19 has to be more focused now to reduce spread in lockdown 4.0. The situation of corona in the State is largely under con- trol. But about 70-80 percent of the cases in Haryana are from four districts adjoining Delhi. As cases are increasing so there is no chance of opening borders with Delhi, he added. In an exclusive interview with ‘The Pioneer’ over the phone, Vij shares his views about the challenges before the State Government during ongoing nationwide lockdown 4.0 and steps being taken to contain spread of Covid-19 earliest: Excerpts from the interview: What are the challenges you see in lockdown 4.0 in Haryana? Have you set any tar- get to achieve in Covid-19? We see multiple challenges ahead for the State Government in Covid-19 lock- down 4.0. According to Ministry of Home affairs guidelines, we have given relax- ation to start economic activi- ties. Migrant labourers willing to return to their home states are being sent free of cost by the State Government. But we see emergence of more unfore- seen challenges before the States after the resumption of inter-state bus services, train services and domestic flight services in the Country. Rampant public movement in the country would result into rising Covid-19 cases. Thermal screening is not appropriate to judge Covid patients. Recently, 76 Haryana natives were deported back from the USA and were kept under quaran- tine in Panchkula. But 22 of them tested positive for coro- na virus infection. The number of Covid-19 cases would increase swiftly after movement of passengers from red zone to green and orange zones. Regarding setting up any target in lockdown 4.0, we have no discussion yet and no target has been set. But our focus is to contain it completely earliest. The numbers of Covid-19 cases in Haryana are rising on daily basis. Have you assessed the situation in the State? We need to prepare people to live with corona virus till vaccine is ready. There is a global recognition for India’s success in handling the pan- demic and Government of India appreciated the efforts made by State government in this regard. The situation of corona in the State is largely under control. We are in bet- ter position in comparison to neighbouring States including national capital New Delhi. As per Health bulletin reports, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the State is 380 while the number patients who have been discharged are 791. The State has a recovery rate of 66.64 per cent, fatality rate at 1.35 per cent while tests per million being con- ducted are 3,885. The doubling rate in the State is 19 days. But at the same time, about 70 per- cent of the cases in Haryana are from four districts adjoining Delhi. The number of Covid - 19 cases would increase more if people from all the directions would start reaching the State through different modes of transportation. Haryana people have better immune system. But they should not fall into the misconception that they cannot be infected with the corona. It is important for everyone to take precaution. India entered the 63-day nationwide pandemic-induced lockdown. How long it would continue? No one wants lockdown to continue but it was enforced when unprecedented situation had arisen in the country in the form of Covid-10 outbreak. We should be hopeful to contain it earliest. Opposition parties especially Congress party should not play politics at a time of crisis. Why do you want to bring an ordinance enforcing people to wear mask, maintain social distancing and ban on spitting in open? People should follow social distancing norms by observing ‘Do Gaj Doori’ (six- feet distance). But reality on the ground is not appreciable. To stop spread of Covid-19 fur- ther, we have planned to bring in an ordinance to impose penalties on those violating instructions and instructions have been issued to the depart- ment concerned to come out with a draft. The ordinance would soon release in the State. Congress leader says State Government does not have a lockdown exit plan. What would you say? Now Congress leaders are in touch with astrologers. Congress leader should tell the nation when Covid-19 outbreak would com- pletely vanish then we would be able to tell lockdown exist plan. 5XVWcPVPX]bc2^eXSWPbc^QT^aTU^RdbTS]^fc^aTSdRTb_aTPSX][^RZS^f]#)7Pah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
- 3. dccPaPZWP]S347A03D=kF43=4B30H k0H !!! ?=BQ 347A03D= The salons and beauty par- lours have been allowed to operate in Dehradun in the fourth phase of lockdown but people are still avoiding such places. According to various bar- bers and salon owners, they are earning only about two per cent of what they used to earn before the lockdown. Some salon and beauty parlours own- ers have even stopped opening their shops due to lack of cus- tomers. A local salon owner Vasundhara Sharma said that she has earned only C500 since last week. She added, I pay C 600 per day to each of the hair- dressers in my salon which is more than what I earned last week. Initially, I thought that customers will increase this month because all the salons and beauty parlours have been closed for over two months. Obviously, the customers are still avoiding unnecessary vis- its to any place. Ashfaq Ahmed, a local bar- ber said that people are calling him for home visits to give them a haircut and other services rather than coming to his shop. “Customers say that they will pay me a few extra bucks to give them my services at home. I, obviously, do not go to everyone's house. If there are more than three to four hous- es in the same locality, I do visit them. Only a few people are vis- iting the shop these days and most of them include those who attempted DIY haircut during the complete lockdown and messed up their hair. The maximum number of cus- tomers I have been visited by since last week is five in a day but sometimes there are zero customers too, said Ahmad. The salon and beauty parlour owners said that they are using masks, gloves and sanitisers while providing services to customers besides regularly disinfecting their equipment but it is not possible in every part of work. We cannot do threading or give a specific haircut to cus- tomers while always wearing gloves. In some cases, we need our bare hands for precision, said a Raipur salon owner Tripti Tripathi. She added that they regu- larly sanitise their pieces of equipment the customers do not need to worry about viral infection but to ensure safety they still suggest customers to take a full body shower after reaching home. BP[^]QTPdch_Pa[^dabPfPXcRdbc^Tab_^bcPXSaT[PgPcX^]bX][^RZS^f] ?=BQ 347A03D= The Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC) is planning to cut five healthy trees near Indira Market for the construction of a complex under Redevelopment of Indira Market project. This elicited protest from concerned citizens under the banner of Citizens For Green Doon (CFGD). According to Himanshu Arora of CFGD, these trees that include Peepal and banyan tree among others are about 70 to 80 years old which makes them among the oldest trees in the city. He informed that MDDA is supposed to build a complex in the said area under the Indira Market redevelopment project. For this project, UFDC was planning to cut down 22 trees about four years ago. We pursued and con- vinced UFDC to not cut all these trees. Subsequently, it was decided by MDDA and the corporation that only five trees will be cut down while the remaining will get transplant- ed to other locations, said Arora. However, some employees from UFDC arrived at the site on Tuesday to cut down the five trees before transplanting 17 trees, added Arora. According to him, they requested the cor- poration to cut down the trees after they finish the transplan- tation of 17 trees. The employ- ees from UFDC kept refusing to transplant the trees first and said that they will cut down the five trees on Wednesday early morning around 5 AM. The manner of cutting these trees at this time is questionable, stated Arora. He said that there is no confirmation whether the con- struction of complex will begin right away or will take a few more months so why cut down the trees now because the tress can easily be cut within two days. As stated by Arora, it is also unclear as to who will bear the cost of transplantation as the agreement of complex con- struction is with a private party. This correspondent tried to contact the divisional forest officer for his views on the mat- ter but there was no response. LWL]HQV TXHVWLRQ SODQQHG FXWWLQJ RI WUHHV IRU ,QGLUD PDUNHW UHGHYHORSPHQW SURMHFW ?=BQ 27010 The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) suc- ceeded in joining the northern and southern portals of a tun- nel being constructed below Chamba town in Tehri district on the Rishikesh-Dharasu national highway number 94. Joining the two portals of the tunnel being built as part of the Char Dham road project was carried out with necessary pre- cautions during the lockdown in place to contain the spread of Covid-19. According to the BRO, the construction of this tunnel was especially challenging due to aspects like weak geology, constant water drainage and the risk of subsidence due to densely constructed area above the tunnel site. Speaking on the occasion through video link, the Union minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said that the BRO is playing an important role in the ambitious Char Dham road project. The completion of this tunnel will help in lending speed to move- ment of traffic. Latest Australian technol- ogy has been used in the con- struction of this tunnel which will be ready for traffic by October this year, about three months earlier than the sched- uled time of January 2021. This 440 metre long tunnel and 4.2 kilometre road is being constructed at a cost of C 87 crore. It is pertinent to mention here that the BRO is con- structing 249 kilometres of national highway as part of the C12,000 crore Char Dham road project. The roads being con- structed by the BRO are for Gangotri and Badrinath. Most of the works are running ahead of schedule and are expected to be completed by October this year. Gadkari congratulated the BRO director general, lieu- tenant general Harpal Singh, chief engineer Ashu Singh Rathor and the team for com- pleting various works of national importance during the past two years. Meanwhile, CM Trivendra Singh Rawat thanked Gadkari and congratulated the BRO on this development. He said that with the completion of the tunnel, not only will Chamba be free of traffic jam, the jour- ney to Gangotri and Yamunotri will also become more conve- nient. This tunnel will provide major relief to the locals and also boost economic activities in the area, added Rawat. 1APRWXTeTbX[Tbc^]TX]cd]]T[R^]bcadRcX^]QT[^f2WPQP ?=BQ 347A03D= Expressing grave concern over the mismanagement of the quarantine centres and problems faced by the people kept there, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Pritam Singh has held apathetic attitude of state government responsible for it. Singh said that situation of quarantine centres in the state is very pathetic and the death of a four year old girl from snake bite at quarantine centre of Betalghat in Nainital district exposes the system. He said that in Udham Singh Nagar, one security per- sonnel tried to sexually assault a woman at a quarantine cen- tre. Singh said that the admin- istration’s insensitivity could be gauged from the fact that dead body of a girl in Rudrapur was not cremated for three days as her Covid-19 report was awaited. The PCC chief alleged that quarantine centres are plagued with problems of drinking water and sanitation. He said that 900 bed sheets went missing from the quar- antine centre at Maharana Pratap Sports stadium, Raipur which shows gross misman- agement and corruption. Taking the government to the task for all these failures, the PCC chief said that such things happen when the government severs all communication with the opposition. He claimed that things could have been better man- aged had the government paid heed to the advice of the oppo- sition on time. Singh said that the Congress party had sug- gested that the returning migrants should have been quarantined at the borders of the state but the government failed to take cognizance. The government sent the returnees to their homes and offloaded its responsibilities on the Pradhans who were ill equipped to deal with the situation. Singh said that the carelessness of gov- ernment is now manifested in sudden spike in the number of patients of the disease and now no corner of the state is spared from the menace of the Covid-19. 7_fdbUc`_^cYRUV_b]YcUbi Y^aeQbQ^dY^USU^dbUc*3_^W ?2227845?A8C0B8=67B0HB @D0A0=C8=424=CA4B0A4 ?;06D43F8C7?A1;4B5 3A8=:8=6F0C4A0=3B0=8C0C8= ?=BQ 347A03D= People arriving from other states in Dehradun contin- ued to argue with the district administration officials over paid quarantine on Tuesday. This was stated by Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Doiwala, Laxmi Raj Chauhan who is supervising the arrival of passengers in the district by flights. According to him, despite being aware that peo- ple arriving here by flights have to stay under paid insti- tutional quarantine for seven days, people are raising ruckus on their arrival stating that they cannot pay to get quarantined in hotels. He stated that people are well informed about the Uttrakhand Government guidelines through different media and the airlines are also informing the passengers about this at airports. Chauhan informed that the minimum charges of paid quarantine in hotels start from Rs 900 and increase as per the hotel stan- dards. He further informed that there is only seven day quarantine period for people arriving by flights and the remaining seven days will be spent in home quarantine. The SDM also clarified that each person under paid quarantine is also paying for their own meals. According to district mag- istrate Ashish Kumar Shrivastav, 307 people were put under institutional quarantine in several hotels of Dehradun after their medical examination while 190 people departed to other states by flights on Tuesday. 0aaXeP[bR^]cX]dTc^WPVV[T ^eTa_PXS`dPaP]cX]T ?=BQ 347A03D= With the State health department reporting 52 new patients of the disease, the number of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Uttarakhand crossed 400 figure mark on Tuesday. The State now has 402 patients of the dis- ease with 330 active cases. On the day 14 new patients each were reported from Pithoragarh and Tehri districts while ten patients surfaced in Nainital district. In Haridwar, six more people were found infected with the disease on the day. Similarly three patients were reported from Almora district while two patients were found in Udham Singh Nagar district. The 14 new patients reported in Tehri district have a travel history from Mumbai. In Nainital, all ten persons found positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday had recently returned from Delhi while in Haridwar, a staff nurse deployed in gov- ernment hospital was found infected. In this district, a nine year old boy who had recently returned from Mumbai was also found infected with the virus. In Dehradun, six patients of the disease were discharged from the hospital after their recovery from the disease. The additional secretary, state health department, Yugal Kishore Pant said reports of 729 samples were found negative for the disease on Tuesday. He added that reports of 3530 samples are still awaited by the department. On Tuesday, a total of 749 samples were col- lected for COVID -19 testing. The authorities have so far taken swab samples of 23076 suspected patients for COVID- 19 test. Out of the total sam- ples taken, 2.14 percent sam- ples have been found positive for the disease. On Tuesday, the rate of recovery from the COVID-19 in the state dropped further to 16 percent. Thedoublingrateofthedis- ease now stands at 3.84 days for thestatewhichindicatesthatthe number of patients are getting double in less than four days now. A total of 1689784 people have so far downloaded the ‘Aaroggya Setu App’ on their smart phones. A total of 18228 people are in facility quarantine in different parts of the state. Uttarakhand now has 330 active cases of the disease. The Nainital district is at top of the table with 126 active cases. The Udham Singh Nagar districts is at second spot with 43 cases while Dehradun with 38 cases is on third position. Tehri district now has 25 active cases while Haridwar has 21 active cases. With 14 new cases on the day, Pithoragarh district has 17 active cases. Almora and Chamoli districts have 12 and 11 active cases respectively while Uttarkashi district has nine active cases. Bageshwar, Pauri and Champawat districts now have eight active patients each. Rudraprayag district has three active cases of the disease. 4`gZU*TRdVdTc`dd%!!^RcZ_FeeRcRYR_U ?=BQ 347A03D= Amid spike in the Covid-19 curve, the state health department apparently gal- vanised by change of guard at top has constituted an expert group for controlling the men- ace of the disease. The depart- ment has also set up five working groups for different aspects of the pandemic. The newly appointe0d secretary of the state health and family welfare department, Amit Negi has included the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the HNB Medical university, Dr Hem Chandra and representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, Himalayan Hospital Jollygrant, Mahant Indiresh Hospital, Max hospital, Medicity hos- pital Rudrapur and Brijlal hospital, Haldwani in the expert group. This group would suggest and assist in the policy deci- sions for control of Covid-19 in the state. The expert group would hold video conferenc- ing sessions as and when required. In another effort to streamline functioning in the department, Negi has also ordered for setting up of five working groups in the depart- ment. In the working group ‘Covid-19 testing’ would be headed by secretary, in charge , Pankaj Kumar Pandey while Mission Director (MD) of NHM, Yugal Kishore Pant and state nodal officer IDSP, Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh would be its members. Similarly Pant, additional secretary Health Arunendra Chauhan, Director General (DH) health services Dr Amita Upreti and Additional MD, NHM, Jharna Kamthan would be in the ‘Resoucre Management Facilitation Group’. In surveillance and quar- antine strengthening group, VC of HNB medical universi- ty Dr Hem Chandra and nodal officer IDSP Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh are included. In the fourth group, ‘ clin- ical management and strengthening’, the Principal Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) Dundan, Dr Ashutosh Sayana, Dr Anurag Agarwal of GDMC and rep- resentative of AIIMS Rishikesh are included. The ‘ training and capac- ity building’ group includes Additional Director Dr S K Gupta and officer in charge NHM, Dr Fardidurjaffar. 0=C82E83 (40BDA4B 4g_TacVa^d_c^VdXSTWTP[cWST_c ?=BQ 347A03D= The All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh has started remote monitored Covid-19 isolation wards with the help of a Banglore based startup. The set up aims to significantly reduce the risk of exposure to the healthcare workers while increasing patient safety and reduce the need for Personal Protective Equipment kits, which are in short supply. The AIIMS, Rishikesh authorities claim that they are the first autonomous institute in India to have deployed this tech- nology to combat COVID-19. The indigenous remote patient monitoring solution has been deployed for 38 beds in four designated Covid-19 Isolation Wards and ICUs of the institute. Doctors will have access to key non- invasive patient vitals data on their smart-phones with the Stasis app heart rate, oxygen satu- ration, electrocardiogram, res- piratory rate, blood pressure and skin temperature. A cen- tral dashboard has also been set up to monitor all patients by a remote clinical team with access to real-time data. The director of AIIMS Rishikesh, Professor Ravi Kant said, “In the current time of pandemic, it is important to rationally use PPE kits and protect all the front-line work- ers while giving the best clin- ical care from the team of spe- cialists at AIIMS, Rishikesh. Using the Stasis solution, we were able to get 38 Covid-19 ICU beds ready for remote monitoring to reduce unnec- essary exposure of staff and doctors and get real time data 088BAXbWXZTbWbTcbd_ aT^cT^]Xc^aTS2^eXS82D ?=BQ 347A03D= The nine mountainous districts of the State which were almost free from contagion of Covid-19 till second week of May, now constitute 27 per cent of the total patients of the disease. These districts now have 107 cases of Covid-19 which is an alarming situation for the state health authorities. As per the report of the state health department released on Tuesday, Tehri has 25, Pithoragarh 17, Almora 15, Chamoli 11, Pauri and Uttarkashi 10 each, Bageshwar and Champawat eight each and Rudraprayag three cases of the disease. !^Uc^cP[ RPbTbX] ^d]cPX]^db SXbcaXRcb $!=4F?0C84=CB A4?AC43= CD4B30H ?=BQ 70A83F0A Bathing in a canal to beat the summer heat proved fatal for a young man on Tuesday. Twenty year old Sharif drowned when he was taking a dip in the Bahadrabad canal. It is being stated that four of his companions were also bathing in the canal, but Sharif went deep towards the swifter flow which carried him away. Other people bathing in the canal informed the police. Apart from informing his fam- ily members, the police also began searching for Sharif though they had not succeed- ed till the time of this report being filed. Bahadrabad police station officer Govind Kumar told informed that the youth from Imlikheda came to the canal with his cousin when the incident occurred. The water police had begun search for his body on being informed about the incident. H^dcWSa^f]bfWX[T QPcWX]VX]RP]P[ ?=BQ 347A03D= Major general Rajendra SinghThakur,theGeneral Officer Commanding , UttarakhandSubAreavisitedthe NatrajBookshoponTuesday.He was accompanied by his staff officers, colonel S Shankar and colonel Sukhjit Singh. With the lockdown easing slowly in the city, booklovers are making use of the oppor- tunity to visit their favourite bookstores. On the occasion of the visit, a copy of the classic on Dehradun, the “Gazetteer of Dehra Dun” by HG Walton was presented to the GOC by the pro- prietor, Upendra Arora. The GOC enjoyed browsing through the various sections of the bookstore and appreciated the wide variety of books on display, especially those related to the his- tory and culture of Uttarakhand. During his visit, he interacted with veteran jour- nalist Raj Kanwar who briefed the general about the rich her- itage of the city. Kanwar also signed a copy of his new book “Dateline Dehra Dun” which was also purchased by the GOC for the reading pleasure of the sub area officers. Uttarkhand Sub Area is one of the largest sub areas of the Army in the country. It is worth mentioning here that the General is also a keen student of history and has a doctorate from the Jammu University. Eµ[XQ^TceRQbUQ7?3 fYcYdcQdbQZ2__[cX_`
- 4. ]PcX^]#347A03D=kF43=4B30H k0H !!! 2E83 (DC1A40: A0:4B7:B8=67Q =4F34;78 The medical wing of the CRPF, with a sanctioned strength of 3,083 personnel, has a vacancy of 43 per cent. This is when the sanctioned strength is already a little below just one per cent of the 3.25-lakh-strong CRPF. The figure of one per cent medical/paramedicalstaffinthe CRPFisalreadyonthelowerside in a Force which is continuous- ly deployed across various the- atresandthereisavacancyof43 percentofthemedicalandpara- medical staff, officials said. The details relating to the vacancy position in the medical rankswassharedbytheDirector (Medical)duringareviewmeet- ingheldbyparamilitaryDirector General AP Maheshwari earlier this month. The wing has been asked to hiredoctorsoncontractbasisfor the next three months as the Force has recorded 369 Covid- 19 positive cases which include two deaths and 226 recoveries. The Director (Medical) Dr HL Raskaran refused to visit quarantine centres and Covid CareCentresoftheCRPFciting healthconditions,seniorofficials said. During the meeting, the Director (Medical) presented thedetailedstatus/pathogenand the increasing number of cases of Covid-19in CRPF and status of Covid Care Centre, Covid Care Health Centre available in andoutsideDelhi.Availabilityof PPEs, trained doctors, para- medicalstaffinthesecentresand arrangements made and avail- able in the CRPF were also pre- sented by him during the meet- ing. While the DG directed to Raskaran to ensure periodical visitstoquarantinecentrewhere Covid-19 patients kept but the Director (Medical) expressed his inability to do so due to his age factor and other health con- ditionsbeing in high risk cate- gory. However, Raskaran said duringthemeetingthatallbasic facilities have been made avail- abletoCovid-19patientsandall instructions issued to Medical Officers on ground, officials saidquotingfromtheminutesof the meeting. Raskaran also told the top CRPF brass during the meeting that necessity to converse with patientsontelephonewasnotfelt by him but he, Director (Medical), was always available foradviceandguidance.Hefur- ther said that speaking to patients,visitingthemandmak- ingarrangementsforfoodarein the purview of administrative authorities. The CRPF DG directed the Director (Medical) to take the pandemic seriously and keep a close watch on Covid-19 cases and patients. The also directed that if there is need to acquire/hire additional land, building or hotel, the same may be worked out by Inspector General (Northern Sector). Maheshwari also expressed displeasurewithRaskaran’scon- tentions on the Covid infra- structure in the paramilitary as he had not even visited 31 Battalioncampusherewhichhad reported 139 positive cases out of which one Sub Inspector had succumbed to the coronavirus infection. Now, 134 from the 31 Battalion have recovered from the disease. Last month, as many as 200 CRPF personnel including the DG himself had to be quaran- tined after a medical officer of the paramilitary facility here hadtestedpositiveforCovid-19. There is a sanctioned strength of about 650 doctors includingtheveterinarydoctors, Group A paramedics/matron are required to be four in num- ber followed by about 45 Group Anon-gazettedparamedics,over 60 Group B paramedics, 450 other Group B paramedics like pharmacistsandphysiotherapists and veterinary personnel. In the Group C paramedics category intherankof Assistant Sub Inspector, about 640 per- sonnel are required but there is vacancy in all the ranks. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Churu in Rajasthan on Tuesday recorded 50 degrees Celsius, second high- est in the last 10 years, followed by Palam in Delhi with 47.6 degree Celsius. The northwest and central parts of the coun- try are reeling under severe heat wave conditions since May 23 this year while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued red warning for Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya from May 26 to 28 predicting very heavy rainfall in these two northeastern States. According to the IMD, Churu had recorded 50.2 degree Celsius in 2016. Heat wave conditions will persist over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, and Vidarbha till May 28. Hot weather conditions will also prevail in isolated pockets over Punjab, Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, interior Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, and Jharkhand for the next two to three days. “Due to prevailing dry northwesterly winds over plains, northwest, central and adjoining parts of the eastern India are reeling under the severe heat wave conditions,” the IMD said. Akola in Maharashtra recorded maxi- mum temperature of 47.4 degree Celsius. IMD director general Mrurunjay Mohapatra said that red-colour coded warning has been issued to Assam and Meghalaya for the next three days. Sathi Devi, head of the IMD's national weather fore- casting centre, said there is a strong flow of south-westerly winds from the Bay of Bengal, bringing a lot of moisture to these two States. This is aided by the orographic factors of these two states that will bring in very heavy rainfall, she added. Parts of Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya have been receiving extremely heavy rains since May 20 after super cyclone Amphan weakened. Cherrapunji has received 1,105 millimetres of rain in the last four days. The IMD said rainfall is likely at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected at isolated places. A few isolated will also receive extremely heavy falls, it added. Meanwhile, advancement of the monsoon which was hin- dered by super cyclonic storm Amphan will start from Wednesday, Devi said. She added that the mon- soon will start moving ahead in other parts of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago and Bay of Bengal from Wednesday. The water level of the Brahmaputra river is rising gradually due to continuous rainfall in the state. As per State Disaster Management Authority, five districts have been affected till now- Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Darrang and Goalpara. According to the IMD, the monsoon is likely to hit Kerala on June 5, four days after its normal onset date. A low pressure area is also building up in the Arabian Sea from May 30, Mohapatra said. A low pressure area is the first stage of any cyclone. However, it is not necessary that every low pressure area intensifies into a cyclone. The IMD has also cau- tioned fishermen along the coasts of Kerala, Karnataka not to venture out for deep sea fishing from May 30-June 4. ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre to treat with urgency the issue raised in the pleas challenging home ministry's March 29 notifica- tion asking private establish- ments to pay full wages to workers during the COVID-19 lockdown, saying lot of people are affected by it. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, conducting hearing through video-con- ferencing, asked the Government to file its response on the petitions and posted the matter for hearing next week. Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and M R Shah, that the Centre has issued a new notification on May 17 which supersedes the March 29 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order. Treat this with urgency. Lot of people are affected, the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was also appearing in the matter. The apex court had on May 15 observed that the March 29 notification, direct- ing companies to make pay- ment of full wages to workers even while not being in oper- ation during the lockdown period, was an omnibus order and there was a larger question involved which needs to be answered. It said there may be small industries which are affected due to the lockdown and if they cannot earn, how are they going to pay wages to their workers. It had also observed that if Government does not help these small com- panies, then they might not be able to pay their workers. The counsel appearing for one of the petitioners had argued that firms are going out of work as they do not have orders for production of goods and they are being prosecuted due to the government circu- lar. An association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has said in its plea before the apex court that the MHA order was passed with- out due care and deliberation on the financial implications for employers. The small industrial units have said that making full payments would lead to their closure, which, in turn, would cause permanent unemploy- ment and adversely affect the economy. The association has further contended that during this unprecedented situation, var- ious Governments across the globe have taken measures for the benefit of workers/ employ- ees, but the Centre without taking any such step has put the entire burden on the employers/ owners to pay full wages. ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre and the RBI to respond to a plea chal- lenging levy of interest on loans during the moratorium period, which has now been extended by another three months till August 31 due to the coronavirus pandemic. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, hearing the matter through video-confer- encing, issued notices to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India asking them to file their replies within a week. The counsel appearing for the petitioner informed the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and M R Shah, that earlier the moratorium period was for three months till May 31 but now it has been extend- ed by another three months. The counsel argued that borrowers should not be penalised like this and banks should not add interest on the loan amount during the mora- torium period. Counsel for the Reserve Bank of India prays for and is granted a week's time to file counter affidavit. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, also obtain instructions in the meantime, the bench said in its order and posted the matter for hearing next week. On March 27, RBI had issued a slew of measures to check financial impact of the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. It issued a circular giving liberty to all banks and financial institution to allow a moratorium of three months on payment of installments in respect of all term loans out- standing as on March 1, subject to the borrower making such a request. 4CA7^VUZTR]hZ_X YRd%$gRTR_Tj 2WdadQda]bPc$^2]^aT[XTU X]]^acWRT]caP[8]SXPcX[[CWdab BPcWX3TeXWTPS^UcWT 83b]PcX^]P[fTPcWTa U^aTRPbcX]VRT]caTbPXS cWTaTXbPbca^]VU[^f^U b^dcWfTbcTa[hfX]Sb Ua^cWT1Ph^U1T]VP[ QaX]VX]VP[^c^U ^XbcdaTc^cWTbTcf^ BcPcTb ?=BQ =4F34;78 While the country is strug- gling to get back on its feet amid the coronavirus lock- down, a locust infestation could cause further devastation to the agri-economy. After wreaking havoc in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, swarms of locusts have been spotted the eastern part of Maharashtra, in the Vidarbha region. There are also reports that swarms of locusts have invad- ed Madhya Pradesh and cov- ered areas of the Panna Tiger Reserve. Reports of crop dam- ages have been pouring in from these States as farmers try and get rid of locusts by smok- ing them out, scaring them away by making loud noises, beating drums and thalis or spraying chemicals. There are apprehensions that locusts may move towards the national Capital region (NCR) in the next few days if wind speeds and directions are favourable. Earlier in 1944, the northern sky in Delhi became completely black in the late afternoon due huge locust swarms. The locusts initially entered Rajasthan from Pakistan. From Rajasthan, locust swarms also entered Madhya Pradesh over the past few days. IFS officer Parveen Kaswan on Tuesday tweeted pictures of these desert locusts that had invaded the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The swarms has the potential of eating everything destroy the crops, he said in his tweet. The images posted by Kaswan can make anyone cringe as the swarm of desert locusts can be seen engulfing everything in their path, covering trees and fields. Officials of the ministry of agriculture said that the swarm of desert locusts entered in Maharashtra from Amravati district. It then went to Wardha and now it is in Nagpur's Katol tehsil. The authorities have advised people to beat drums, thalis and use crackers to keep them away. Besides, the process of spraying chemicals on crops is underway. BR Kadwa, Deputy Director of Agriculture Department, Rajasthan said that swarms of locusts are entering Rajasthan from adjoining areas in Pakistan every two-three days since a month. “As rabi crops has been harvested and kharif sowing season is yet to be started in the state, that’s why the reason of their fast movement,” he said. According to officials, locusts have spotted in 17 dis- tricts of Uttar Pradesh that is close to the national capital region and there is possibility of invading in Delhi and NCR areas during the onset of mon- soon. Farmers have been put high alert and deployed insec- ticide spraying devices through drones, SUVs and tractors. A huge Locusts was spot- ted in Karauli in Rajasthan, fol- lowing which an alert was issued for Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun and Auraiya and their adjoining districts like Hamirpur, Kannauj ,Etawah and Kanpur Dehat. Deputy Director Agriculture Kamal Katiyar said, “The swarm of locusts is mov- ing and is small in size. We have got news that nearly 2.5 km to 3 km long swarm of locusts has entered the country. A team has come from Kota (Rajasthan) to tackle the locusts.” The Mathura district administration has started early preparations in view of the growing locust threat and formed a task force. Mathura District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra said 200 litres of chloropyriphos has been kept as reserve and its sellers in the area have been advised not to supply the chemical outside the district. The Jhansi adminis- tration has also directed the fire department to keep its vehicle ready with chemicals to tackle a sudden movement by locust swarms. Jaipur’s residential area on Sunday also witnessed a huge swarms of locusts. The locust warning system falling under the Agriculture Ministry has blamed Pakistan for this year’s attack, saying it failed to conduct control oper- ations successfully. “Ecological conditions are not favourable for locust breeding in summer. However, the incursion locusts across the border is still con- tinuing. If Pakistan had taken proper control measures, the breeding of locusts could have been stopped, it said. The Ministry of External Affairs has taken up the issues with its counterparts in Pakistan and offered pesticides and other chemicals to get rid of swarms of locusts. ;^RdbcbfPaadQb bP[cX]c^f^d]S^U R^a^]PWXcPVaXTR^ B2XbbdTb]^cXRTc^2T]caT A18^]_[TPPVPX]bcX]cTaTbc ^][^P]bSdaX]V^aPc^aXd ?=BQ =4F34;78 Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday announced a new randomised, open-label study to test the combined efficacy of two antiviral drugs Favipiravir and Umifenovir as a potential Covid-19 treatment strategy. The two antiviral drugs have a different mechanism of action, and their combination may demonstrate improved treatment efficacy by effec- tively tackling high viral loads in patients during an early stage of the disease, said the pharma major in a statement. Monika Tandon, Vice President and Head for Clinical Development Global Specialty and Branded Portfolio, said combining antiviral agents that have a good safety profile and act on different stages of viral life- cycle is an effective treatment approach to rapidly suppress initial high viral load and lead to an overall improvement in clinical parameters. “We consider Glenmark’s study will be pivotal in leading to the identification of highly effective and safe treatments against COVID-19 in India,” she said. “Beyond its many potential patient treatment benefits, we also hope the combination therapy will reduce infection risk among medical profes- sionals and healthcare workers by reducing the duration of virus shedding from treated patients.” A total of 158 hospitalised patients of moderate Covid-19 infection will be enrolled in the combination study and ran- domised in two groups. Simultaneously, Glenmark is also conducting phase 3 clinical trials of Favipiravir as a COVID-19 monotherapy option with 150 patients, enrolled from nine leading government and private hos- pitals across the country. So far, 30 patients have been randomised, according to the global research-led com- pany which has presence across generics, speciality and OTC business with operations in over 50 countries. Its key therapy focus areas globally are respiratory, dermatology and oncology. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The IIIM, Jammu based lab- oratory of the CSIR has joined hands with Reliance Industries (RIL) to develop and scale-up a new Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT- LAMP) based Covid-19 diag- nostic kit. A memorandum of under- standing has been signed betweenCSIR-IIIM,Jammuand RIL on Tuesday. Covid-19 RT-LAMP test is a nucleic acid based test carried outfromnasal/throatswabsam- ple from patients. “The test recipe has been developed and successfully demonstrated using synthetic templates. It is rapid (45-60 min),costeffectiveandaccurate test. It has been tested with a small number of patients sam- ples and validating the kit on morenumberofpatientsamples is planned and will be done together with RIL,” said a state- ment here from the CSIR, a researchagencyundertheUnion Science and Technology Ministry. The advantage of this test is thattheRT-LAMPbasedCovid- 19 kit components are easily available and these can be com- pletelymanufacturedinIndia,it added. While the, the current Covid-19 testing is done by real-timePCR,theircomponents are mostly imported. Further thesetestsareexpensive;require highly trained manpower, cost- ly instruments and a relatively high-end lab and cannot be deployed at remote locations in quarantine centers, airports and railway stations, etc, said the CSIR. On the other hand, the RT- LAMP test can be done in a sin- gle tube with minimal expertise in a very basic lab setup like mobile units / kiosks for testing at airports, railway stations, bus stands and other public places. The end detection of the test is asimplecoloredreaction,which is easily visible in UV light, and nowisbeingmodifiedsuchthat itcanbedetectedinregularlight, the statement added. Aftertestingtheaccuracyof the kit, on a much larger num- ber of patients, CSIR-IIIM and RIL will jointly approach the ICMR for approval. With the formal launch of the RT-LAMP based diagnostic test,theCovid-19testingwillnot only be more rapid, cheap, easy andaccessiblebutalsowouldgo a long way quickly isolating the infected individuals and miti- gating the spread of virus, said the statement. Dr. Ram Vishwakarma, Director and Dr. Sumit Gandhi, Principal Scientist from CSIR- IIIMandDr.SantanuDasgupta, SeniorVicePresident,RDand Dr. Manish Shukla, General ManagerRDfromRILsideare monitoring this project, as per the statement. 6[T]PaZP[[bTcc^cTbc R^QX]TSTUUXRPRh^U 5PeX_XaPeXaDXUT]^eXa 2E83 (CA40C4=C 4D:C:::C:=e`UVgV]`a_Vh4@G:5UZRX_`deZTZe ²CaTPcfXcWdaVT]Rh³_[TPb PVPX]bc_PhT]c^UUd[[fPVTb SdaX]V[^RZS^f])B2c^6^ec
- 5. ]PcX^]$347A03D=kF43=4B30H k0H !!! 2E83 (DC1A40: :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 The total number of persons tested positive for coron- avirus in Tamil Nadu is inch- ing towards the 18,000 mark while reports came at the time of going to Press on Tuesday evening. The medical bulletin issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday said that 17, 728 persons have test- ed positive for coronavirus till Tuesday. A total of 9,342 persons have been discharged from various hospitals following treatment and this has put the number of active coronavirus patients in the State at 8,256. It is almost sure that the State would see the number of pos- itive cases crossing the 20,000 mark by this weekend itself. On Tuesday, a total of 646 persons were tested positive for covid-19 in the State. Out of this, 509 were tested positive in Chennai. A total of 54 persons who reached the State from other places in the country and foreign countries are also included in this 646 positive cases. Nine persons were report- ed dead on Tuesday and this took the total number of fatal- ities in the State to 127. Till Tuesday, 4,12, 357 persons have been tested for the pan- demic while 9,677 accounted for Tuesday alone. Chennai topped the table of districts with maximum number of coronavirus positive cases, 11,640. As there was no respite in the number of per- sons testing positive for the pandemic, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy held an urgent video conference with his Cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats and medical professionals to take stock of the situation. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 Kerala is all set to further tighten the lockdown laws to check the spread of coron- avirus in the State in the back- drop of the increase in the number of persons testing pos- itive, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Chief Minister lambasted the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for his efforts to derail the arrange- ments and upset the rhythm of the safety measures being fol- lowed by Kerala to fight the coronavirus pandemic. “The Railways tried to send two trains from Mumbai to Kerala without getting the concurrence of the State Government. We in Kerala have devised strategies to receive people reaching the State by air, train and roads. That’s why we insist that the State Government should be kept in the loop before sending trains or aircraft or other means of transport. What the Union Railway Minister has done is not befitting the stature of a person occupying that position. He should not have tried to interfere with the administra- tion of Kerala,” said Vijayan in his first press briefing after his 75th birthday on May 23. Vijayan said he has informed the Railway Minister and the Prime Minister about the faux pas committed by the Railways in sending the trains to Kerala without seeking the State’s permission. The Chief Minister, who se village is one of the hotspots of coronavirus warned the people in the State from taking tea or soft drinks from shops which have reopened after the lock- out. “The shops selling tea and soft drinks in the State are not cleaning the glassware proper- ly after it is used by con- sumers. This is a sure recipe to the spread of the covid-19 pandemic and this is being dis- closed as a warning to the peo- ple,” said Vijayan. Vijayan said as on Tuesday 415 patients were under treat- ment in various hospitals for covid-19. “Today 67 persons were tested positive in the State. Out of this 27 were from foreign countries while 33 were from other States in the coun- try. Till date 963 persons have been tested positive for coron- avirus in Kerala. We have put 1,04, 336 persons under obser- vation out of which 1, 03, 528 were under home/institution- al quarantine. On Tuesday, 186 persons have been admitted to various hospitals for coronavirus,” said the Chief Minister. He also disclosed that 56,000 samples have been test- ed in the State till date. There are 68 hotspots in the State as on Tuesday. GZ[RjR_d]R^d8`jR]W`c µUVcRZ]Z_X¶VcR]RdRWVej B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0 Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is miffed at the Centre’s decision to send 41 Shramik Special trains fer- rying migrant workers from Maharashtra which being the most affected State in India accounts for about one third of the total corona cases in the country. With the local infrastruc- ture already bursting at its seams following large-scale devastation left behind by super cyclone Amphan, an alarmed State administration has expressed its displeasure at the Indian Railways indifferent approach towards the plight of the State, Government sources said. The Government’s dis- pleasure was apparent from the language of State Home Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay who on Tuesday said that “several lakhs of migrant workers returning from severely infected States will be a big issue and a big problem… it will be a big con- cern for the public health.” The State Government has held the Railways and Maharastra Government joint- ly responsible for pushing back such large number of migrant workers from Maharashtra par- ticularly the Dharavi region of Mumbai which accounts for about 1,500 cases. Banerjee had earlier asked the Railways not send Bengal bound trains “as the district administrations are involved in relief and rehabilitation works, it will not be possible to receive special trains for the next few days. It is therefore requested that no train should be sent to West Bengal till May 26.” State Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha too had written to Chairman of Railway board V K Yadav asking him not to send in the shramik specials as the state had been severely impact- ed by the super cyclone caus- ing extensive damage to the infrastructure. Already Bengal has received 6 trains from Maharashtra. “Given the cur- rent infrastructural situation the State is not in a position to receive more workers… It will lead to large-scale proliferation once the trains start rolling in,” a senior official said adding “all the good effects of the two months lockdown will simply go down the drain.” Kolkata: With growing inci- dents of angry citizens spilling over to the streets — demand- ing restoration of basic infra- structure like power and water — six days after the severe cyclone Amphan hit and paral- ysed large parts of southern Bengal, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Chowdhury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for deployment of more Army per- sonnel as the State Government had failed to rise up to the occa- sion. Claiming that there was no “tangible” improvement of sit- uation post Amphan devasta- tion and that the distribution of food and other measures were “awfully inadequate” the Behrampore MP requested the Prime Minister to deploy more Army personneltodeal with the situation. He wrote “…there is no tan- gible improvement… of post Amphan devastation which has assumed catastrophic dimen- sion. Distribution of food and relief to those affected areas are awfully inadequate.” State Opposition leader and veteran Congress man Abdul Mannan who too sat on dhar- na at places in Hooghly said that the “aids sent in by the State Government are too little and too inadequate… let alone the relief the Government has not been able to bring back power and clear the roads by remov- ing trees.” PNS CPX[=PSdRPbTbX]RWX]V c^fPaSb 'PaZ 78C:0=370A8 Q 90D Ahead of the Army commanders conference on Wednesday, the Line of Control in Poonch sec- tor witnessed intense exchange of mortar shelling between the Armies of India and Pakistan in which at least three houses suffered extensive damages while livestock perished in Sandote village of Balakote sec- tor in Poonch on Tuesday. According to ground reports, the firing in the forward villages continued for over four hours in the area forcing the local residents to remain closeted inside their homes. Several residential structures bore the brunt of heavy shelling in Sandote village, falling in the direct line of fire. According to local villagers in the area, three houses suffered maximum damages and three animals perished while over half a dozen animals sus- tained injuries in heavy exchange of cross LoC fir- ing. Jammu based Defence PRO, Lt Col Devender Anand said, “ Pakistan initiated ' unprovoked' cease- fire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along LoC in Balakote sector of Poonch on Tuesday morning. He said, the Indian Army retaliated befittingly. ?=BQ 90D The total number of active cases in the Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir touched 902 as 91 fresh cases of coronavirus were detected on Tuesday while one more death was reported from Kashmir valley, taking the total death toll due to Covid-19 to 24. Out of 91 fresh cases, 54 cases were reported from Jammu division while 37 cases were detected from Kashmir division. Meanwhile, 24 patients were discharged from different hospitals taking the total tally of recovered cases to 833. In Jammu division, Ramban district reported highest number of 29 cases while Jammu district reported 10 fresh cases. According to official sources, majority of cases had a travel history to different loca- tions and were camping in quarantine cen- tres. Four cases each were detected from Kathua and Poonch districts while Udhampur and Samba reported two fresh cases each on Tuesday. Only Doda and Kishtwar districts reported zero case on Tuesday. 9: aT_^acb( UaTbW RPbTbc^cP[Pc(! $GKLU VHHNV PRUH $UP PHQ IRU FFORQHKLW :% Bic=QXQ`ecXY^WRQS[Y^VUSdUT g_b[UbcY^$!dbQY^c*2U^WQ 7_fd 7^dbTbSPPVTS Pb?PZeX^[PcTb RTPbTUXaTX]?^^]RW C=A067D=0C70Q D108 NCP chief Sharad Pawar made it clear on Tuesday that there was no threat to the Shiv Sena-led MVA Government in Maharashtra thus ending speculation sparked by his meetings with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday, even as his party came to the defence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the latter’s state- ment that his party was not a key decision maker in the State. On a day when former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis charged that Rahul was shirking responsibility by distancing himself from the decision-making process of the Uddhav Thackeray Government, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut that the MVA dispensation was “stable” and the efforts by the Opposition to “destabilise” the State Government had “boomeranged”. “Sharad Pawar and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray met on Monday night. The meeting lasted for half an hour. Some people are spreading rumours about the stability of our Government. These rumours are just sour grapes. Our Government is stable There’s no need to worry,” Raut tweeted. In another tweet, Raut said that the Opposition BJP was desperately trying to topple the MVA Government in the state. He said it was better that the Opposition remained in “quar- antine” because its efforts to bring down the Uddhav Thackeray had boomeranged. Pawar, who is considered the architect of the three-party government in the state, cate- gorically stated that there was no threat to the MVA Government, that he was “com- mitted to the alliance with the Shiv Sena and Congress and that not much should be read into his meetings with Governor Koshyari and Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. Pawar said in his interac- tion with NDTV that his meet- ing with the Governor was a “courtesy call” and that they “did not discuss politics or Covid”, while his meeting with Uddhav was “routine” in nature. He also took a potshot at Fadnavis by saying that the former Chief Minister was “getting impatient”. On his part, Fadnavis – at a news conference that he addressed through social media earlier in the day – charged that Rahul Gandhi through his statement that his party was not a decision maker in Maharashtra, was “shirking” his responsibility. “Given that the Coronavirus crisis is going out of control in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi shifting the blame on the Shiv Sena. The Congress cannot disown its responsibility and run away from the situation”. BWPaPS?PfPabR^cRWTbad^da^U cWaTPcc^DSSWPe[TSE06^ec C=A067D=0C70Q D108 In a development that caused anxious moments for the health and police officials in the metropolis, hundreds of labourers gather at Mumbai’s Dharavi locality to take special buses to reach three railway ter- minuses to board “Sharmik Special” trains leaving for their native states, even Asia’s largest slum recorded 38 new cases. The police were in for a surprise as huge crowds of migrants gathering at Dharavi slum since morning to take buses heading for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Dadar railway station, Mumbai Central and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus to board board “Sharmik Special” trains leaving for their native states, Given that Dharavi is a major Covid-19 hotspot in Mumbai, the presence of hun- dreds of migrant workers on roads sent the police and health officials into a tizzy. Before long, huge posse of police personnel rushed to Dharavi and requested the crowds to form queues to board the buses heading to var- ious railway terminuses in the metropolis. They had a trying time in managing the crowds that had gathered defying the social distancing norms. Meanwhile, Dharavi recorded 38 more infected cases, taking the total number of positive cases in this dense- ly populated slum to 1621. There have been 59 deaths in this slum so far. PWP)XVaP]cbVPcWTac^cPZT QdbTbU^aaTPRWX]Va[hbcPcX^]b :cPZP2^eXScP[[hb_XZTb PbS^TbcXRcaPeT[[Tabc^ cWaTTBcPcTbaTcda] 80=B Q 14=60;DAD Returnees from domestic travel to three Indian States led to a spike in Covid-19 cases in Karnataka with 101 new infections, raising the State's tally to 2,283, an official said on Tuesday. New cases reported from Monday 5 p.m. to Tuesday noon, 101, said a health official. In the past 19 hours, 81 people who returned from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand tested positive for the virus. On Tuesday, 46 per cent or 47 cases had an inter-state travel history to Maharashtra, India's COVID hotspot. Similarly, 21 per cent or 21 cases had inter- state travel history to southern state Tamil Nadu, a bigger COVID sufferer than Karnataka. Likewise, 13 returnees from Jharkhand have also tested positive. Incidentally, four new cases also had inter- national travel history to Qatar. Eighty four per cent of the new cases had travel history, dwarfing the number of people contracting the disease through contacts. Unlike before, most positive cases in the state nowadays are people with a travel histo- ry to Maharashtra, India's COVID hotspot. In the past 24 hours, only 12 contracted the virus from earlier positive cases, constituting just 12 per cent of the new cases.
- 6. R eassurances of trust, confidence and power are naturally vested in the “sword arm” of the nation ie, the armed forces as part of a societal con- sciousness. This is especially true in a participative democracy like India, where the mandated “restraint” and “dignity” of the “uniform” is underpinned by its apolitical, external-facing, non- interfering and patriotic service, which is Constitutionally subor- dinate to the will of the people as manifested in a civilian Government. Odd aberrations and derelictions that are attribut- able to individuals or at worst a group of individuals aside, the “institution” retains its sheen as a shining and working example of the “idea of India.” The inherent composition of the armed forces seamlessly weaves soldiers and regimental denominations of India’s myriad ethnicities and diversities. They could theoretically have an Infantry Brigade in the sweltering deserts of western India, which is represented by a Naga battalion (from the North-east), Madras battalion (“Thambis” from South) and a Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry battalion (soldiers almost equally divided from the Kashmir Valley and Jammu plains). They operationally combine and defend India’s sovereignty from any hostile intent from across the border. The culture, training and ethos of this institu- tion are such that societal “divides,” that sweep just across the iron-clad cantonments, usually have no echo, tolerance or accep- tance within the barracks. Therefore, in every opinion poll after poll, the “Indian soldier” emerges as the most “revered” in the imagination of the citizenry. But this idyll comes under threat whenever the fundamental coordinates of the armed forces stray from the course. When increasingly internally committed, it is being accused of political leanings. It even gets involved in matters beyond its traditional roles, rectitude and traditions. Such optics and the accompany- ing murmurs weaken its institu- tional steel, which has survived various dissonances and uprisings like the Dravidian movement, North-eastern insurgencies or even the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio. Metaphorically defying the worst instincts of our societal regressions, distortions and perceptions, a 26-year-old sol- dier, Sepoy Aurangzeb from the Kashmir Valley, was abducted and killed by Pakistan-sup- ported terrorists. Poignantly, his father ensured that his brothers, too, would don the “uniform” of the Indian Army. Inadvertently, he slapped the wasted, misplaced and ignoble energies of conversations out- side garrison towns. Like all Government insti- tutions, the armed forces, too, have their own concerns that primarily involve two realms. First, the annual budgetary allocation and second, the non- financial and incalculable realm of izzat (honour) that encapsulates the soul of soldier- ing. Despite the uber-muscular political posturing of the dis- pensation that naturally posits the “Indian soldier” in an emo- tive context, cold statistics of the annual budgetary allocation towards the defence forces tell a different story and lay bare power preferences. It is true that salaries and pensions consume a sizeable component of the Budget. However, this is a matter of requirement in terms of boots- on-ground, given the fractured relationships across the border. Importantly, neither are the salaries, pensions, work-life balance or other material wherewithal for the soldiers better than those of other Governmental colleagues (the dishonoured spirit of incom- plete OROP as promised haunts till date). The point on modernisation need not be belaboured as it routinely faces delays or downsizing (take the example of Rafael) with brazen impunity. Much was made of the structural changes like theatre commands, two-front capabil- ity and jointmanship among others. But so far, the only notional change has been the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). This is potentially a game-changer as it can bring the much-needed security gravitas to the policy tables, raise institutional con- cerns and address the reckless invocation and requisitioning of the armed forces in internal strife. In parallel, it could also sensitise the armed forces to governmental constraints and requirements. So far, only the flow of uni- lateral governmental con- straints and requirements (to the discomfiture of traditional moorings) is visible. The more critical flow of the reverse, ie addressing defence concerns, is either invisible or inaudible. The so-called “reforms” also pertain to the domain of cost- cutting by way of experiments like a three-year short-commis- sion or lateral intake from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for a seven-year tenure. While this may statistical- ly fill the shortages in the staff and even expose many in the civil and CAPF to the “military experience,” it does not add specialisation, quality or seri- ousness in the officer as this intake comes with limited tenure. To use the armed forces as a “training school” may be a matter of pride for their unmatched standards to those who gain “limited” exposure but it adds limitedly to the institution itself. The calling of soldiering in the Indian armed forces has had its own élan, righteousness and flavour. It survived the Nehruvian neglect and the subsequent political penchant for postured frugality, region- al passions and social unrest as the cantonments brook no affliction. Today, literally, the canton- ment gates have been opened and the risk of societal and political passions infecting the able-bodied is a grim reality. Indeed, the slide in the institu- tional narrative ensued imme- diately after independence but the bare-all societal virus today threatens to infect the psycho- logical character of this institu- tion. Its “voiceless” nature is necessary but ironically, its undoing as the silent ramrod posture, irrespective of the challenges faced by it, is being taken for granted. It clearly seems to be par- taking and venturing into a lot of unmandated and undesir- able directions that seek to milk its historical equity and profes- sionalism. This without a sense of reciprocal duty to address the institution’s own concerns. Any political appropriation or leaning of the “uniform” will nail its fate akin to the policing forces. The national and insti- tutional leadership needs to vis- ibly maintain its preferred “dis- tance” and “concern” in the same enthusiasm as it invokes requisitions and explains gov- ernmental constraints. The proverbial “glint in the bayonet” has been retained for decades as the necessary “spit and polish.” Decorum and motivation have been ensured with no unnecessary drama or distractions. If the critically-required modernisa- tion, parities and promised guarantees are not possible, then condescending political shenanigans or creative misuse are even worse substitutes. (The writer, a military vet- eran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman Nicobar Islands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·W HQRXJK HYHQ WKRVH ZKR ZHUH OXFN HQRXJK WR EH DLUERUQH ZHUH XQDZDUH RI ZKDW OD DKHDG )RU H[DPSOH LQ %HQJDOXUX WUDQVLW SDV VHQJHUV ZKR ZHUH VXSSRVHG WR WDNH DQRWKHU IOLJKW DIWHU D ODRYHU RI D IHZ KRXUV UHPDLQHG DQ[LRXV DPLG UHSRUWV WKDW WKH ZRXOG KDYH WR TXDUDQWLQH WKHPVHOYHV IRU D ZHHN EHIRUH WKH XQGHUWRRN WKHLU RQZDUG MRXUQH 7KHUH ZDV QR FODULW LI WKLV UXOH DSSOLHG WR DOO DUULY LQJ SDVVHQJHUV RU RQO WKRVH ZKR ZRXOG EH FKHFNLQJ RXW RI WKH WHUPLQDO OHDUO DOO VXFK JRRIXSV FRXOG KDYH EHHQ DYRLGHG KDG D IXOOSURRI VVWHP EHHQ UHKHDUVHG LQ FRQ VXOWDWLRQ ZLWK 6WDWH *RYHUQPHQWV DQG WKH DYLDWLRQ PDMRUV ,W LV WUXH WKDW ZH QHHGHG WR RSHQ XS WKH VNLHV RU VHH WKH VHFWRU JR EDQNUXSW FRPSOHWHO WKURZLQJ DQ HQWLUH ZRUN IRUFH RXW RI MREV %XW D OLWWOH ELW RI FDXWLRQ SHUKDSV D FRXSOH RI GDV RI GU UXQ ZRXOG QRW KDYH KDUPHG DQRQH 7KH *RYHUQPHQW·V KDVW GHFLVLRQ FDPH HYHQ DV WKH FRXQWU·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·V QHHG IRU WDXWQHVV DQG FDXWLRQ ZH FDQQRW GURS JXDUG KLQD LV EHFRPLQJ DV YLQGLFWLYH DV WKH 86 LQ JHW WLQJ LWV ZD ZLWK WKH ZRUOG RU FRXQWULHV WKDW DUH GHSHQGHQW RQ LWV VWLOO YLDEOH IDFWRU IORRUV $QG LW KDV FKRVHQ WR JHW DJJUHVVLYH ZLWK ,QGLD DW D WLPH ZKHQ WKH ODWWHU LV VWUXJJOLQJ WR UHFRYHU IURP WKH RURQDYLUXV SDQGHPLF WKDW QRW RQO RULJLQDWHG LQ WKH IRUPHU EXW ZDV PDQLSXODWHG WR NHHS WKH ZRUOG LQ WKH GDUN 6R WKH ODW HVW IDFHRIIV EHWZHHQ ,QGLDQ DQG KLQHVH WURRSV DW /DGDNK WKH ZRUVW VLQFH 'RNODP WKH FRQVWDQW VWRNLQJ RI1HSDO·VEHOOLJHUHQFHRYHUDERUGHUURDGDQGRXUQHLJK ERXU·V GHFLVLRQ WR IO RXW LWV FLWL]HQV IURP ,QGLD RVWHQ VLEO WR VDYH WKHP IURP WKH YLUDO VSUHDG KHUH DUH FHU WDLQOPRUHWKDQMXVWQLJJOLQJPLVEHKDYLRXUWKHDUHDUP WZLVWLQJ DQG FRHUFLYH WDFWLFV WR JHW ,QGLD WR ERZ GRZQ $QG WKH FOHDUO VLJQDO WKDW WKH IDPHG :XKDQ VSLULW WKH LQIRUPDO GLDORJXH EHWZHHQ KLQHVH 3UHVLGHQW ;L -LQSLQJ DQG 3ULPH 0LQLVWHU 1DUHQGUD 0RGL KDV DOO EXW HYDSRUDWHG OHDUO WKH HFRQRPLF FRQFHUQV RI ERWK QDWLRQV DQG JHRSROLWLFV KDG PDGH WKHP WROHUDWH HDFK RWKHU RQ RSWLFV 7KH UHDVRQV IRU KLQD·V LPSDWLHQFH DUH QRW GLIILFXOW WR XQGHUVWDQG 2I FRXUVH WKHUH LV WKH DQJHU DERXW ,QGLD EHLQJ D VWXPEOLQJ EORFN LQ LWV LPSHULDOLVW %HOW DQG 5RDG ,QLWLDWLYH ZKLFK LV QRWKLQJ EXW EXLQJ RXW VPDOOHU RU ZHDNHU FRXQWULHV LQ WKH UHJLRQ E XQGHUWDNLQJ PDVVLYH SURMHFWV DQG VXFNLQJ WKHP LQWR HFRQRPLF VHUYLWXGH DV WKH IDOO LQWR D GHEW WUDS DQG FDQQRW UHSD ORDQV %XW UHFHQW WULJJHUV DUH PDQ )LUVW WKHUH LV WKH H[WUHPH GLVFRPIRUW RYHU WKH DEURJDWLRQ RI $UWLFOH DQG UHRUJDQLVDWLRQ RI -DPPX DQG .DVKPLU WKDW FRQYHUWHG /DGDNK LQWR D 8QLRQ 7HUULWRU 'LUHFW HQWUDO LQWHUYHQWLRQ LQ /DGDNK PHDQW WKDW 1HZ 'HOKL FRXOG QRW RQO PRQLWRU GHYHORSPHQW LQIUDVWUXFWXUH DQG URDG EXLOGLQJ KHUH EHWWHU EXW NHHS DQ HH RQ WKH VHQVLWLYH +LPDODDQ ERUGHU WKDW KLQD KDV EHHQ FKDOOHQJLQJ RYHU GHFDGHV ZLWK LQFXUVLRQV DQG VWDULQJ GRZQ DW RXU PHQ KLQD ORRNV DW ,QGLD·V UHFHQW FRQQHFWLYLW HIIRUWV SDUWLFX ODUO WKH 'DUEXN6KDRN'DXODW %HJ 2OGLH '6'%2
- 7. 5RDG ZLWK VRPH VXVSLFLRQ FRQVLG HULQJ WKH HDV DFFHVV LW FRXOG JLYH WR WKH .DUDNRUDP SDVV DQG HQKDQFH WKH VXSSO DQG UHSOHQLVKPHQW OLQNV WR WURRSV VWDWLRQHG KHUH $ ZHDNHQHG /DGDNK ZRXOG JLYH LW WKH VWUDWH JLF DGYDQWDJH DQG KHQFH NHHSLQJ LW KRW ZRXOG PHDQ FHVVDWLRQ RI GHYHORSPHQW DQG UHWDLQ LQJ WKH SUHSDUHGQHVV DGYDQWDJH RI WKH KLQHVH IRUFHV 6HFRQG WKHUH LV WKH JURZLQJ 86 ,QGLD VWUDWHJLF SDUWQHUVKLS RQH ZKLFK LV VWURQJDUPLQJ KLQD·V GRPLQDWLRQ RI WKH 6RXWK KLQD 6HD DQG RQH ZKLFK FRXOG VHH VRPH 86 EXVLQHVVHV VKLIW EDVHV KHUH IURP KLQD SRVWSDQGHPLF ,W ZLOO WKHUHIRUH GR HYHUWKLQJ WR FKDOOHQJH D QHZ DQG H[FOXVLRQDU SRZHU DOLJQPHQW LQ WKH UHJLRQ 7KLUG DV KLQD LV RQ DQ DFTXLVLWLRQ VSUHH RI EXVLQHVVHV DQG EDQNV LQ 29,'KLW HFRQRPLHV RI WKH ZRUOG ,QGLD VWDOOHG LW E DPHQGLQJ LWV IRUHLJQ GLUHFW LQYHVW PHQW )',