Online cabs resume ops but demand slips

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kochi:  07.05.2020

Online cab aggregators Uber and Ola resumed their services in Kochi which has been categorized as green zone but drivers said the number of rides hailed were quite low.

“I went online on my app early in the morning hoping that I would get a ride call. I got two requests and one of them turned out to be fake,” said Nijo Johny, an Uber driver.

Passengers and drivers have been asked to wash their hands with soap or use a sanitizer before and after every ride. It is also mandatory to wear a face mask. While in the cab windows should be open for ventilation as use of air-conditioner is not allowed. AC can only be used in fresh air mode. Not more than two riders are allowed to travel at a time, besides the driver, in green zone.

Kerala Online Drivers’ Union president Jackson Varghese said some of the requests they are getting is for transporting goods like LPG cylinders which cannot be permitted.

Travel agencies which operate cabs and tempo travellers in the district are currently operating services after obtaining special permission for essential services. “We are receiving several requests for trips outside the state but cannot accept them. The main issue faced by drivers is that they would have to go into quarantine once they undertake a trip outside,” said Travel Operators Association of Kerala general secretary Bajy Joseph. “Government should come out with proposals to help the sector,” he said.

The district administration with the help of an entrepreneur had prototyped a fibre glass partition that can be fitted on cabs to enhance the safety of drivers and passengers but this has not been made mandatory yet. “Though it could provide safety I don’t think drivers are in a position to invest on it right now,” said Varghese.

Ratheesh N R, an upholstery business owner who designed the partition said he had received several enquiries for the product. “The fibre glass model will cost Rs 2,500 per piece,” he said.

Vellore to Ranchi: A train filled with only patients & caregivers

Karal Marx TNN

Vellore:  7.5.2020

When the first train from Tamil Nadu after the Covid-19 lockdown chugged out of Katpadi railway station in Vellore on Wednesday night, carrying 1,130 patients and their caregivers, many from across India who throng the medical town saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

K Vikash Mahto, 22, and his brother Sandeep Mahto, 29, a chronic heart patient from Ranchi, reached Vellore on March 21 for a two-day treatment at Christian Medical College Hospital. They were to fly back home on March 23. But the Covid-19 outbreak and the ensuing lockdown stopped them.

“We planned to stay in Vellore for three days. By the 15th day after the lockdown, we could barely manage our daily needs,” said Vikash.

The 22-coach special train from Vellore with 1,130 patients and their caregivers will reach Hatia station in Ranchi early on Friday morning

‘Distancing norms followed on Vellore train’

The lodge owner harassed them for rent and they did not have enough money to buy food. “My brother had breathing problems because of his heart condition and needed a bed,” said K Vikash Mahto.

They got the district superintendent of police to persuade the lodge owner to allow them to stay on. With the help of district officials and volunteers, the brothers got their daily ration. As arrangements were made to them bring home by train from Vellore on Wednesday night, along with hundreds of other patients, the brothers finally had a smile on their face. The train, with 22 coaches, will reach Hatia station in Ranchi on Friday. Officials said the passengers were made to adhere to social distancing norms.

Full report on www.toi.in

Italian scientists say their vaccine neutralises virus, human trials soon

Rome:

Italian scientists claim to have developed a vaccine candidate that could neutralise coronavirus within human cells.

According to findings from the tests conducted at Spallanzani Hospital in Rome, the vaccine generated antibodies in mice that work on human cells. Takis Biotech is developing the coronavirus vaccine candidate. Italian news agency ANSA quoted Takis Biotech CEO Luigi Aurisicchio as saing: “This is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy. Human tests are expected after this summer.”

All of the vaccine candidates being developed are based on the genetic material of DNA protein ‘spike’, the molecular tip used by the coronavirus to enter human cells. The vaccine uses a technique called electroporation to help break into the cells and induce the immune system. This mechanism is expected to boost the vaccine’s effectiveness in producing antibodies against ‘spike’ protein in lung cells. AGENCIES

Double blow for infected family as rumours go viral on WhatsApp

Nithya.Mandyam@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: A 25-year-old analyst with an e-commerce firm and his family of four in southeast Bengaluru are aghast at being stigmatised and facing innuendoes after he, his father and mother tested positive for Covid-19.

The analyst’s father, a 45-year-old patient of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and resident of Mangammana Palya, tested positive on Tuesday and the mother and son were confirmed to have been infected. The daughter’s test result is awaited. Media reports inking lthem to the cluster Covid-19 cases in neighbouring Hongasandra were deeply disturbing. The first patient in Hongasandra is suspected to have contracted the coronavirus during a visit to a scrap dealer in Mangammana Palya and BBMP is searching for him.

“Once my father’s positive status was out, I was flooded with WhatsApp messages from friends and neighbours asking me whether he was the scrapdealer who had infected Hongasandra residents, ” the analyst told TOI. He added: “I’m not a scrap dealer. My father is a goods vehicle driver and had not stepped out of the house for a month. My mother is a homemaker. These people are spreading rumours about me and the family. Neither I nor anyone from my family have any connection with the Hongasandra cases except that we stay in the same Bommanahalli zone. My parents and I have not interacted with anyone from that area.”

On Tuesday evening, they heard they were positive. He said: “Ammi and I immediately got admitted to Victoria Hosptial. People need to understand that anyone can contract the virus. The prejudice against a patient is disturbing. People look at patients like criminals or worse.”

The analyst’s family stays on the first floor of a building and another couple live on the ground floor. They confirmed the Mangammana Palya positive cases had no contacts other than the family staying on the ground floor. BBMP health officials said: “The scrapdealer may be healthy. Else, by now he would have gone to a hospital and we would have known.”

GUARDING AGAINST RISKS:

Many pockets in the city have been sealed in the past month

Online money transaction failure irks HDFC customers

Bank officials attribute it to technical glitch

07/05/2020, APPAJI REDDEM,VIJAYAWADA

Day-long disruptions in online money transfers was a cause of concern for HDFC Bank customers. The bank officials, however, brush them off and say that technical glitches and poor internet connectivity could be the reason.

According to a customer of the bank in the city , the site is shooting an error message when he tried to complete the online IMPS transfer to another bank. But it is interesting to note that the transfers to HDFC Bank from other banks are normal.

“We regret to inform you that we could not complete your transaction. Please contact your nearest HDFC Bank branch, or our PhoneBanking service,” was the transfer failure message from the bank, according to the customer who faced the problem.

“We attempted the transfer four times in the morning at regular intervals starting at 10.30 but they failed and shot the same message. We also tried in the evening by about 5.30 and it too failed and received the failure message. Bank officials say it’s a common problem but for us not being able to do an important transfer on a particular day is a major issue. It’s all the more important now given the lockdown and other related hassles,” added the customer.

The official concerned at the HDFC Bank branch in Vijayawada, after checking the failure of the transfer and subsequent message, said there were some server issues reported of late due to which such problems arise. “We have these issues and are escalating them to our technical teams. But there was nothing to panic about it as server issues are common,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Responding to the issue, an official spokesperson of the bank from Mumbai stated, “There have been no major disruptions on Wednesday. At best there have been isolated cases caused by connectivity issues.”

Migrant labourers hunt for cycles to go home

With bus fares showing no signs of reducing, and train schedules uncertain, walking or cycling are only options

07/05/2020, AJEET MAHALE,MUMBAI

Step by step: A migrant family walking on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway near Ghodbandar junction on Tuesday evening to reach its home town. Aadesh Choudhari

“With each passing day, the desperation to go home increases,” said Bamshankar Dewri, a labourer from Jharkhand, who lives with 10 others from his State in Kalyan.

For migrants like Mr. Dewri, the extension of the lockdown is only deepening the need to leave the city. With no income in recent weeks, uncertain train services and steeply priced bus options leave them little choice. There are just two options left: walk, or procure cycles to make the journey back home.

“We have barely been able to survive since the lockdown was announced. We have borrowed to make ends meet, but even that has its limit. A few people we know have already reached Jharkhand on cycles,” said Mr. Dewri.

On a cycle, he believes, he can reach home in 10 to 12 days. “We can cover around 100 km everyday by cycling in two shifts in the morning and evening. We were told that people along the way have helped with food. This is faster than walking home, which is the last resort,” he said.

Cycle shops are shut, but even those available in the black market were getting hard to find. “They were available in the interiors of Kalyan, but now even those places have shut,” he said.

Nearly 25 workers in Worli, who hail from Bihar, had contacted human rights activists asking for cycles. “This is a group we have been in touch with for the past one-and-a-half months to provide rations,” said activist Lara Jesani. “They were shattered when they were told by the local police station they would not be allowed to go and called us to ask for cycles, saying they might have to go on foot otherwise.” Hundreds had already started walking on highways, she said.

Bus operators have their own constraints and said fares could have reduced had the Centre passed on oil price cuts instead of raising taxes. “That would have helped more migrants take buses home,” said Harsh Kotak of the Mumbai Bus Malak Sanghatna. At least 115 buses had already left Mumbai for states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, and around 50 were scheduled to leave on Wednesday.

The lack of certainty and clarity on the running of trains is another reason migrants are looking for cycles.

Tulsi Yadav, who lives in Dharavi and is from Jharkhand, said trains were the only way to ensure the migrants could go back home, but they should run more frequently.

Till the authorities take cognisance of their struggle, the hard road may be the only way out.

Those leaving State pay for train ticket

06/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,BENGALURU

A train with over a thousand passengers — mostly migrant labourers — left for Lucknow from the city on Tuesday evening. They had to cough up ₹1,000 per ticket for the journey. The money was collected by the police officials and tickets booked. This is contrary to claims that the Centre and the State government would bear the ticket costs.

Maneesh Yadav, 26, a painter, was happy that he finally found a place on the train home. “I raised a loan from three of my friends for the ticket,” he said.

Indian Railways had also said the State governments can either pay the consolidated cost of the trip or collect it from passengers. The Karnataka government seems to have decided to collect the fares.

‘No decision’

“We neither have any directions from the Union government nor has there been a decision to this effect in the State government. In that scenario, the passengers have to pay,” said N. Manjunath Prasad, nodal officer for inter-State travel from Karnataka.

This comes days after the State government was forced to make intra-State travel for migrants free, after Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee offered to pay ₹1 crore towards the cost.