AROUND TAMIL NADU

09.05.2020

TN issues around 50K inter-state travel passes

The state government, in the past four days, has issued more than 50,000 inter-state passes for people to move between states in personal vehicles. Sources said more than 46,000 passes were for outbound travel. “Nearly 80% of the total passes issued were to people who had registered to travel to Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka,” said a source in the government. Around 4,600 were inbound (entry) passes. “There were 18,000 applications the day the portal was launched. It has reduced gradually. On Thursday, we received around 3,000 applications. Applications seeking e-pass have reduced drastically in the past two days,” said the official.

Two test positive in Puducherry

Puducherry recorded two Covid-19 infections on Friday - a lorry driver, from Kutchipalayam in Puducherry who visited the Koyambedu market, and a contact of a Covid-19 positive patient from Villupuram district. They have been admitted to Indira Gandhi medical college and research institute (IGMC & RI) and Jawaharlal institute of postgraduate medical education and research (Jipmer) in the Union territory. As on Friday, Puducherry recorded 15 Covid-19 positive cases.

Stir against Tasmac drags in bad PDS rice

The second batch of 1,136 patients and their caregivers from Jharkhand, who were stranded in Vellore after treatment at Christian Medical College hospital, left in a special train to Ranchi from Katpadi on Friday. The first train to Ranchi left on Monday. Vellore collector said 9,093 stranded patients and caregivers, mostly from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Manipur and Tripura, have been identified.

NEW FOCUS: People protesting against Tasmac outlets in Trichy also protested against the poor quality of PDS rice given to them

HC: Mad rush at Tasmac shops, shut them till lockdown is lifted

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  09.05.2020

Livid over the chaos at liquor shops across the state, the Madras high court on Friday indicted authorities for blatant violation of conditions laid down by it to resume liquor sale on May 7, and ordered immediate closure of all shops till end of the lockdown.

“The online sale recommended by this court was not even put to test. The social or physical distancing norms and wearing of masks were not followed. Number of bottles to be sold to each buyer, as restricted by this court, was also flouted. The selling conditions based on age, as mentioned in the guidelines, were also not followed. And the Supreme Court on Friday observed that sates should consider home delivery of liquor/indirect sale during lockdown,” said a division bench of Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana while passing interim orders on a batch of petitions through video-conferencing on Friday.

Welcoming the verdict, Makkal Neethi Maiyam chief and actor Kamal Haasan in a tweet attributed it to the voices of women in Tamil Nadu.

The judges, in their order, said it is open to the state government and Tasmac to homedeliver liquor during the lockdown, and the 30,000-odd contractual employees of the state vendor could be used for the purpose after due medical examination.

There is currently no legal provision for home-delivery of alcohol in the country, except in West Bengal and Punjab. Tamil Nadu can make appropriate amendments to rules to build a technology-based home delivery model to promote responsible consumption of alcohol.

“It is brought to the notice of this court that about 3,850 shops across the state were opened, and there was a record sale of ₹175 crore. The above scenario reported after day one of the reopening only go to show that the state machinery is out of control either in disciplining the crowd or even in the process of sales,” HC said.

SC: Booze can be home-delivered

The Supreme Court on Friday suggested that the Centre could look at home delivery or indirect sale of liquor to stop crowding and refused to entertain a PIL seeking a fresh ban on liquor sale. The petitioner, G Natarajan, told a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan a fresh ban on liquor should be enforced as the experience showed that people were ready to put their lives at risk by breaching social distancing norms. P7

‘Mad rush without following norms will lead to surge in new clusters’

The judges said they were startled by photos, videos and reports in the media, and added deploying police personnel to control crowded tipplers would also put police personnel’s lives at risk, besides preventing them from discharging their duties in places where their services are really required.

“Now what worries this court is this mad rush for liquor by thousands of people without following any norms prescribed by the state, Tasmac authorities or by this court, would only lead to witnessing the form of surge of new clusters as opined by epidemiologists and public health experts,” they said.

The judges took note of the mad rush of people at Koyambedu wholesale market that had to be closed after it emerged as a super-spreader of Covid-19 cases, and said Tasmac shops should not become similar clusters. They also referred to media reports on spike in domestic violence cases and death of four people after Tasmac shops were reopened.

The judges then adjourned the case to May 14 for further proceedings.

Centre says we must learn to live with virus for some time

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  09.05.20020

The health ministry on Friday said citizens will have to learn to live with coronavirus, indicating that there may be no early tapering off of the disease and people may have to adjust to a new normal of social distancing and sanitation that may become part of everyday life for some time to come.

Responding to questions over the trajectory of the Covid-19 curve and how many cases could be projected in the context of AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria’s comment that there could be a peak in June-July, health ministry spokesperson Lav Agarwal said community support was needed to fight the infection and to manage it at the current levels.

“When we are talking of relaxations and migrant workers coming back, we are faced with a major challenge. We have to learn to live with the virus, and to learn to live with the virus, we need to introduce certain behavioural changes, to implement social distancing practices to combat this virus. It is a difficult battle and we need everyone’s cooperation and community support,” Agarwal said.

The remarks pointed to a long drawn battle where prelockdown normalcy may not be feasible for some time. Rather, the possibility of containment strategies being a regular feature as the infection waxes and wanes, or erupts due to local outbreaks even if the curve flattens, seems to be a likely scenario with public and private interactions adjusting to the new rules of engagement.

Maha, Guj, Delhi, TN spikes worry Centre

Worrying spikes in cases in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi and gaps in contact tracing, quarantine and containment efforts that threaten to skew the national graph concern the Centre. Rise in cases in TN, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are also worrying, but to a lesser extent. P 7

ICMR to ascertain community spread

ICMR may start a study in 75 districts with maximum number of cases to check for onset of community transmission. The health ministry has also asked states to test 250 samples of people with severe acute respiratory illness and influenza-like illnesses from each district. P 7

Recovery rate has now improved to 29.36%, compared to April’s 13%

At the same time, the comments can be seen as an effort to “normalise” life to the best possible extent with many parts of the country showing improvement.

In 216 districts, no positive case has been detected. In 42 districts, no new case has been reported in the last 28 days, while 29 districts have had none in 21days. Besides, 36 districts have not reported any case for 14 days and 46 none for the last seven days, Agarwal said. As many as 3,390 new positive cases and 103 deaths were reported from across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total Covid-19 cases in India to 56,342.

Of this, 37,916 are active while 1,886 people have died, according to the ministry’s data. The comments came in the wake of worsening of the doubling rate over the last one week from 12 days to 10, led by a sharp rise in positive cases in some states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi where the Centre has pointed out major gaps in containment measures and contact tracing.

Similarly, there has been a catch up in the count in West Bengal.

Highlighting that collective effort was required to stop spread of infectious diseases, Agarwal said the disease moved in a certain way even if one state failed to implement 100% of containment measures and this impacted the national graph. The recovery rate from the disease has improved to 29.36%, as compared to around 13% in the middle of April. Data also showed less severity of the disease with 3.2% of the total active cases on oxygen support, 4.2% in ICUs and 1.1% on ventilator support.

Responding to a query on when India was likely to see a peak in Covid-19 cases, Agarwal said, “If we follow the required dos and don’ts, we may not reach the peak in number of cases and our curve may continue to remain flat.”

The comments came in the wake of worsening of the doubling rate over the last one week from 12 days to 10, led by a sharp rise in positive cases in some states

'ஜியோமீட்' அறிமுகம்

பதிவு செய்த நாள்07மே  2020   00:00

வீட்டிலிருந்தே வேலை பார்க்கும் நிலை உருவான பின், காணொலி மூலமாக உரையாடுவது அதிகரித்துவிட்டது. இதையடுத்து, 'ஜூம்' போன்ற பல நிறுவனங்கள் கொடிகட்டி பறக்க துவங்கியுள்ளன.

இந்நிலையில், ரிலையன்ஸின் ஜியோ நிறுவனமும் களத்தில் குதித்துள்ளது. 'ஜூம், கூகுள் மீட், ஹவுஸ்பார்ட்டி' போன்ற நிறுவனங்களுக்கு ஈடு கொடுக்கும் வகையில், 'ஜியோமீட்' எனும் செயலியை அறிமுகம் செய்துள்ளது.

இந்த செயலி மூலமாக, இலவச பிளானில், ஐந்து நபர்களுடன் உரையாடலாம். பிசினஸ் பிளான் எனில், 100 பேருடன் உரையாடலாம்.

'ஆண்ட்ராய்டு, ஐபோன் உள்ளிட்ட போன்களிலும், விண்டோஸ், மேக் மென்பொருள் கொண்ட கம்ப்யூட்டர்களிலும் இதை பயன்படுத்தலாம். மேலும், கூகுள் குரோம் மூலமாகவும் மீட்டிங்கில் இணையலாம்' என, ஜியோ தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

Reopening of Tasmac shops: Those who quit drinking will hit the bottle, say docs

TNN | May 6, 2020, 04.29 AM IST

Trichy: As Tasmac wine shops were scheduled to reopen on Thursday after more than 40 days, psychiatrists and psychologists are apprehensive about the possible return of alcoholism among those who quit drinking. They also suggested initiating psychological intervention to reduce the number of addicts in the state.

Since the beginning of the lockdown on March 25, there was a call for psychological intervention for addicts who suffer from withdrawal symptoms of pneumonia, violence, aggression, trembling, nausea, vomiting, headache, restlessness and agitation. In the past 40 plus days, some of the de-addiction centres have come across such cases. Psychologist S Muthukumar of Sunrise De-addiction Centre in Trichy said his centre received 40 such cases during the lockdown. “My apprehension is not about the alcohol addicts because they have high chances of taking alcohol again. The concern is that social drinkers may become addicts after the reopening of liquor shops,” he said.

Quoting surveys, Muthukumar said that the society has 40 % of social drinkers and 5% of dependants. “Social drinkers would have a craving for drinks,” he said.

Director of Athma Hospitals, Trichy, Dr K Ramakrishnan said that their centre witnessed very few number of alcohol dependants with withdrawal symptoms during the lockdown. He was of the view that the availability of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) in black market at exorbitant rate and the illicit arrack kept the alcohol dependants high even during the lockdown. “As a psychiatrist, I would prefer total prohibition. If they reopen it, they should restrict the consumption by rationing method,” said Dr Ramakrishnan.

Psychiatrist of district mental health program Dr PT Krishnamoorthy of Trichy said, “We have not seen new case of addicts showing withdrawal symptoms. It may be because of stocking up of liquor. Some may take over the counter medication,” he said. Stating that any habit can be overcome if it is controlled for 21 days, clinical psychologist D Randeep Rajkumar said that those with personality disorder would easily give up their willpower and again start drinking.

He also put the onus on the state government for the rehabilitation of the alcohol addicts. “While lifting the ban on liquor sale, the government should also give importance for psychological intervention to those on the brink of quitting their addiction. They should create the facility at government hospitals and encourage counsellors on rehabilitation activities,” said Randeep.

Sastra wants govt to bring back stranded students

TNN | May 7, 2020, 04.15 AM IST

Trichy: Sastra Deemed University, Thanjavur has sought help from the Union government to bring back 79 students who are stranded in various countries. 

The students are on short-term visas to countries like the US, UK, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Canada and Japan, as part of their research internship programme. In a letter to foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, vice-chancellor, S Vaidhyasubramaniam requested that steps be taken for the safe return of the students by ensuring flight availability.

All their visas are about to expire, and their academic sessions are coming to a close. Most of them are placed or having plans to pursue higher education, he said.

Marauding monkey kills 50 goats, Arumbavur villagers in panic

TNN | May 8, 2020, 04.43 AM IST

Trichy: The movement of a suspected rabies-infected monkey has kept residents of Arumbavur village in Perambalur district indoors.

The monkey, which came to the village in January, has claimed the lives of around 50 goats in the village and has also attacked and injured a few women. But, the administration is yet to take any steps to address the issue, the villagers said.N Krishnamurthy, 65, residing in the village said that they have to live in constant fear of the monkey, which has prevented their visits to shops to get essentials. The monkey was bitten by dogs and staff in the primary health centre in the village suspect that the monkey may be infected with rabies, he said. S Muthu, 40, another villager, said that it has claimed the lives of 50 goats in the village affecting their livelihood. They had tried to catch the monkey but failed.

The villagers have filed a petition to district collector seeking steps to capture the monkey that is posing a threat to their lives. A senior official from collector’s office said that complaint has been forwarded to the forest department for appropriate action. Honorary district animal welfare officer G Ramakrishnan from Animal welfare board of India (AWBI) said that it may not be a case of rabies as monkeys, if infected with rabies, would die in a week. It could be infected with some other disease, which may be reason for its violent behaviour, he said.

MKU registrar will continue: VC

TNN | May 8, 2020, 04.35 AM IST

Madurai: The Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) vice-chancellor M Krishnan on Thursday said the resignation of registrar (in-charge) N Sankar Natesan has not been accepted and he will continue to discharge his duties at least till the colleges reopen.

On May 1, after a five-month stint, Natesan submitted his resignation. “I have not accepted his resignation. Amid current situation, there needs to be no confusion. There is no violation of due process. Once colleges reopen, we will re-advertise for the post of permanent registrar,” Krishnan told TOI.

“I received information on Wednesday that my resignation was not accepted. The post of registrar is a key position and as per rule I have to continue to discharge my duties until someone else is appointed,” said Natesan.

Natesan, who is also professor and head, department of Genetic Engineering at MKU School of Biotechnology, had previously said that he wanted to focus on scientific research. However, his sudden resignation had stirred controversy in MKU circles.

The university is still yet to get a full-time permanent registrar since the post was last held by V Chinniah from 2017 to 2019. During the last MKU syndicate meeting held on January 29, it was decided to re-advertise to the post of permanent registrar as all candidates interviewed that day were found unsuitable.

HR&CE dept asks staff to return to work

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  0805.2020

The Hindu religious and charitable rndowments (HR&CE) department on Thursday asked 33% of its officials to rejoin duty in offices of joint commissioner, assistant commissioner as well as deputy commissioners. The department manages more than 38,000 temples in the state.

HR&CE commissioner Phanindra Reddy in an order said staff reporting for duty must wear masks, use sanitizer and follow social distancing. The staff have been split into two groups and will work for four days each for the eight days left this lockdown. Temples have remained closed to devotees since March 25. Priests perform pujas and important temple events are being live-streamed.

Tasmac queue tokens given out in govt school in Salem

Mayilvaganan.V@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:  08.05.2020

When crowd surged in front of a Tasmac outlet in a village in Salem district on Thursday, the official machinery thought it fit to shift token distribution for the tipplers to a government school about 500 metres away. The tipplers were asked to queue up inside the panchayat union primary school at Kamalapuram near Omalur, where Tasmac staff issued them tokens.

The official apathy, which resulted in the school being put to such use, irked the residents of Kamalapuram. A group of agitated villagers took up the issue with police and Tasmac staff, who stopped after issuing tokens to about 300 people.

“This is the height of government apathy. If authorities treat school as an extension of a Tasmac outlet, won’t tipplers be emboldened to enter the campus at night and consume alcohol,” asked K Selvakumar, district coordinator of Palli Kalvi Pathukappu Iyakkam. Selvakumar also questioned the education department authorities for agreeing to open the gates of the school for a nonacademic purpose like this.

Soon after the issue surfaced on social media, there was blame game among the officialdom. Senior Tasmac officials said they were not aware that the school was being used for token distribution and passed the bucks to local staff and police. “Tasmac staff were instructed only to issue tokens in front of the outlet. But it was local police who instructed them to shift token distribution to the school playground as a large number of people started gathering,” said G Vediyappan, district manager, Tasmac.

Salem collector S A Raman said he has ordered a probe into the incident. “I have sought an explanation from Tasmac as well as panchayat union officials. I have told education department officials to inquire and submit a report. Strict action will be taken based on the report.”

INQUIRY ON: Crowd at panchayat union primary school at Kamalapuram where the tokens were distributed to tipplers for the Tasmac outlet 500m away

Not wallet, fish out mobile to pay for bus ticket post lockdown

Ram Sundaram and Shanmugasundaram J TNN

Chennai:  08.05.2020

Government bus conductors have been told to avoid exchanges of currencies and opt for e-payment options like Google Pay, Paytm for issuing tickets after services resume.

An internal circular explaining standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed by all state-run transport corporations once lockdown was lifted has advised authorities to popularise monthly passes and day cards as an alternate to usage of currency notes, which might transmit virus.

This indicates that Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai might restart daily pass scheme, which was put on hold two years ago due to technical reasons.

Over 8 lakh people subscribed to seasonal passes when the scheme was active, says official data. This was almost one-fourth of MTC's total daily patronage. "So, it will be not a herculean task for MTC to expand this post-lockdown," said R Rengachari, a transportation activist.

A senior transport department official said, "We are working to migrate to the new mode of ticket selling methods and exploring the possibilities of using e-payment and mobile-based app ticket purchase options. It is in a primitive stage, but the corporation is trying its best to materialise it at the earliest".

The circular, issued by state transport secretary Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, has also barred entry of passengers, who don't cover their mouths with a cloth or mask. They can enter buses only through the back gate and exit through the front.

Conductors should act as 'crowd managers' at halts and inside the bus so that seat occupancy didn't exceed 50% at any point of time and distance between two standing passengers was at least 6 feet.

"This means only 5 to 6 people can stand inside a bus at a time. So, passengers who wait for long at bus stops will not listen and push us aside to get in. This will lead to more chaos," said A Arunagirinathan from Centre of Indian Trade Union, TNSTC Coimbatore.

As far as drivers were concerned, their cabin will be separated from the rest of the bus with the help of a transparent screen or curtain and they should ensure that buses were parked at 5-metres gap. "This was practically impossible in a crowded interchange point as it will need at least 100 feet," Arunagirinathan added.

The circular also mandates disinfection of buses, use of sanitisers and thermal screening of workers at the end of every trip.

FIGHTING COVID-19

WHY COVID TESTS AREN’T CONCLUSIVE

Issues With Sample Collection And Testing Kits, Inexperienced Staff Can Throw Up Wrong Results, Say Experts

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  08.05.2020

On Wednesday, 15 of the 25 samples tested by the lab at the Government Villupuram Medical College turned negative in the confirmatory test hours after the lab technicians had confirmed that the screening tests were positive. At the Covid-19 control room, officials were already suspecting technical errors when districts such as Chengalpet, Cuddalore and Ariyalur were reporting a sudden spike as a spill over from the Koyambedu cluster.

For instance, cases in Ariyalur went up from 34 on May 5 to 222 on Wednesday and 246 on Thursday. Cuddalore, where there were 39 cases on May 3, touched 356 cases and Villupuram, which had 53 cases, had 205 cases. “In some cases, positivity rate was higher than 70% of the samples tested,” said a public health official.

When the announcement about mismatch came in, there was a loud murmur. “It used to happen earlier but the numbers weren’t this large,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar. “We are now seeing a wave of new cases. Labs are also seeing variations. Yet, we told the lab not the declare sample negative, but to repeat the test for the second time,” he said. The department is planning to send a team of senior microbiologists and virologists to labs for standardisation of testing.

Senior virologists and doctors say a number of factors from sample collections, technical issues with the kit or machine and inexperienced staff can cause ‘errors’.

The RT-PCR test available in the market follows two methods -- one-step and two-step protocols. In the two-step testing kit used by government labs in Tamil Nadu, the first step called ‘screening’ looks for one antigen-coding gene envelope from the patient’s nasal or throat swab sample. If this turns out to be positive, the same sample is moved for a confirmatory test which looks for another antigen-coding gene - RdRp. If RdRp is also positive, the patient is declared positive. Else the virologist declares the sample negative.

“In our tests RdRp turned negative in several cases,”

said a senior doctor at Villupuram Medical College. “We were not able to conclusively declare them as negative because almost all patients are asymptomatic,” the doctor said.

Though rare, National Institute of Virology (NIV), an apex referral lab for Covid-19, says it has received such complaints. “If confirmatory tests are negative, after screening shows positive, we ask labs to collect the second specimen from the same individual and repeat the tests,” said the lab’s senior virologist. An internal control or ‘house-keeping gene’ plays a very decisive role in confirming the test results. “The gene RNAseP (RP) is like a host cell or house-keeping gene. This serves as an internal control in each test. PCR is valid only if this returns positive. Else test is declared inconclusive,” he said.

The problem, virologists say, may be due to combination of reasons. The simplest reason that doctors point to is the case of false negatives. “Sometimes healthcare workers may not have collected enough material (nasal or throat secretions) on the swab. If this happens, the machine may spin a false negative result at the time of discharge. There is up to 30% chance of false negative or missing out on detection of an infected patient due to error in drawing throat or nasal samples,” said infectious diseases expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan.

TN raises retirement age of staff to 59, puts off ₹5,000cr payment

Julie Mariappan & B Sivakumar TNN

Chennai: 08.05.2020

Call it Covid-19 effect, a cash-strapped TN government on Thursday increased the retirement age of its staff from 58 years to 59 years to defer an outgo of ₹5,000 crore towards retirement benefits for the current fiscal. More than 25,000 government employees were set to superannuate this financial year.

The order has come into immediate effect and will be applicable to all government employees, teaching and nonteaching staff in government and aided educational institutions, and employees of constitutional statutory bodies, PSUs, corporations, local bodies, boards, commissions and societies. Those who are due for retirement on May 31 this year will now retire on May 31, 2021. The move is also aimed at appeasing the 12 lakh-odd government employees and teachers, whose DA increase and leave surrender facility have been frozen for a year.

Increase in retirement age evokes mixed response from govt employees

The increase in retirement age has evoked mixed response from government employees. TN government officials’ union (TNGOU) and Tamil Nadu secretariat association have welcomed it. Secretariat association president Peter Anthonysamy said, “It is a welcome move, especially as it comes when a global pandemic is wreaking havoc.”

But joint action council of Tamil Nadu teachers’ organisations and government employees’ organisations strongly condemned the move, saying it would adversely affect job opportunity of youngsters and delay promotions of senior employees. “It is an indirect attempt to ban recruitment for a year, akin to the fiveyear ban on direct recruitment enforced in 2001,” Jactto-Geo state coordinator T Anbarasu said. Jactto-Geo fears that the government, going by the recent recommendations of staff rationalisation committee, would even outsource some work, instead of filling up vacancies. The ban on direct recruitment was lifted in 2006.

The Tamil Nadu government employees’ association has announced a state-wide protest on Friday in front of government offices seeking withdrawal of the order. Tamil Nadu cooperative department association president M Soundararajan, said, “The increase in age of superannuation will leave youngsters distressed. There were talks of giving one-year extension to employees in essential services. We never expected extension of service for all.”

The MGR government raised the age of superannuation from 55 to 58 years in Tamil Nadu in April 1979.

“We needed to cut expenditure drastically. By freezing dearness allowance and leave surrender facility and lowering PF interest rate (to 8%), we saved ₹7,850 crore annually, which is roughly 12% of the total salary bill of ₹64,208 crore for the current fiscal. As regards ₹5,000 crore retirement benefits (₹2,764 crore towards gratuity and ₹2,221 crore for leave surrender), of 25,000 people who were expected to retire this year, we are only deferring payment by a year. It gives us some breathing time. It is not savings,” said a senior official in the finance department.

The TN government employees’ association has announced a state-wide protest on Friday in front of government offices seeking withdrawal of the order

‘Centre should allow States to devise their own economic strategies’

Former Finance Secretary advocates bottom-up approach

08/05/2020, MOHAMMED IQBAL

Former Union Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, who is now Economic Advisor to the Rajasthan Chief Minister, heads a task force for suggesting appropriate measures on restarting the economy in the State to mitigate the COVID-19 aftermath. In a written interview to The Hindu, Dr. Mayaram says the Centre should not issue detailed guidelines for the entire country. Edited excerpts:

How do you view the lockdown as a strategy to control the COVID-19 pandemic? Will it succeed in “flattening the curve”? Would you also correlate it with demonetisation of currency notes in 2016?

I do not believe there was any other option but to lock down to contain the contagion and flatten the curve. However, it could have been planned better and with better consultation between the Centre and the States. Lockdown with a four-hour notice heaped misery on the people, especially the poor. Lockdown has resulted in close to 65% of the economy grinding to a halt with manufacturing and the services sector severely hit. The economy would take a long while in recovering and in that sense the shock is even more severe than the one inflicted by demonetisation.

The task force headed by you has submitted its report with a comprehensive road map for restarting economic activities in Rajasthan. Has it dealt with the impact of unprecedented decline in the State’s revenue collection?

The task force had a limited remit to suggest the manner in which the State’s economy can be restarted. This would require massive efforts by both the Centre and the State and that would require huge resources. Unfortunately, with the economic activities down to zero, tax collections have plummeted. By closure of liquor shops alone, Rajasthan was losing ₹30 crore each day. Therefore, the report also recommends certain measures that the Central government should take to shore up State’s resources.

How will the most vulnerable sections of the society be able to get back their livelihood?

The first step has already been taken by the State government by ramping up the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Works have started all over the State and the number of persons reporting for work is touching 12 lakh per day. These are returning migrants, landless labourers, small and marginal farmers, artisans and even small shopkeepers. Rajasthan has been the perhaps the first State to ramp up MGNREGA works so quickly. Work at MGNREGA sites puts money in the hands of the poor and it is expected that the consumption cycle would slowly start from the bottom of the pyramid.

The division of districts in red, orange and green categories on the basis of spread of contagion, as recommended by you, has been accepted by the Centre as well. What should be an effective strategy to contain the virus within the hotspots without completely stopping the wheels of the economy?

The need is to intensify testing and isolate contagion in small but tight circles as it erupts. The norms for social distancing, wearing masks, use of sanitisers, etc., has to be strictly enforced. However, economic activities including retail must start, not just for sale of essential items but for things of general use. Supply chains should be aggressively restored, right down to the retail level. For quick start, it is very important to keep the instructions simple and easily understandable. The manner in which guidelines are issued with innumerable addendums and clarifications, even the most adroit administrator would find it difficult to follow.

I have consistently said that the Central government should not issue detailed guidelines for the entire country but allow the State governments to devise and implement economic strategy which reflects the State’s reality. Within the State too, the local administration must have enough autonomy to act according to the ground realities within an overall framework. The country would pay a very heavy economic price if we continue to work without an overall comprehensive strategy for restarting the economy or continue with an over-centralised control system.

other states

14-day quarantine for all NoRKs

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Non Resident Keralites (NoRKs) returning to the State with COVID-19 negative certificate will have to undergo seven-day institutional quarantine and seven-day home quarantine even if they test negative after institutional quarantine.

Revised orders

Those testing positive for COVID-19 after seven days will be shifted to a designated hospital as per the revised orders issued by the Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NoRKA) on Thursday.

To home district

Those being shifted to an institutional quarantine identified by the government will be sent to their home district from the four international airports where they arrive.

The District Collectors will arrange the transport facility to the district concerned, according to an official release issued here on Thursday.

NEET 2020

Aspirants for PG clinical courses shocked by fee hike

Information made public two days before exercising web options

08/05/2020, K SHIVA SHANKER,HYDERABAD

MBBS graduates who are aspiring for a post graduate seat (PG) in Telangana demanded that the hike in course fee at private medical colleges to be rolled back. Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) and Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), who are spearheading their cause, questioned the rationale behind increasing the fee by over 100% for clinical courses. Along with miscellaneous costs, the total fee for three years is up to ₹ 30 lakh for clinical courses under Competent Authority quota.

Vice Chancellor of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KRUHS) B. Karunakar Reddy said that Telangana Admission and Fee Regulation Committee (TAFRC) had taken into consideration the audited income and expenditure statements submitted by private medical colleges before deciding the fee structure.

While pursuing MBBS course, medicos take National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) to qualify for counselling for PG seats. There are 2044 PG seats in clinical and non-clinical courses in Telangana — 887 in government medical colleges and the rest in private medical colleges. Further, the seats are divided into Category A (Competent Authority quota), Category B (Management quota), and Category C (NRI quota).

The issue emerged when Telangana Health and Family Welfare Department issued a government order which states that fee under convenor seats for Clinical courses at private medical colleges would range between ₹ 7 lakh to ₹ 7.75 lakh per annum. It was only ₹ 3.5 lakh last year. This is over 100% increase. The new fee structure is approved based on recommendation by TAFRC.

“Many students, especially from poor and middle class backgrounds cannot afford this fee structure,” HRDA president K. Mahesh Kumar said.

The KNRUHS Vice Chancellor said that the private medical colleges agreed to abide by Medical Council of India (MCI) rules to pay stipend, which is around ₹ 6 lakh (due for revision) per annum.

‘Re-audit financials’

TJUDA president K. U. N. Vishnu requested authorities concerned to re-audit the financial data submitted by private medical colleges to TAFRC. They met State Health Minister Eatala Rajender with a request to revoke the order hiking the fee.

A few aspirants said that the Government Order dated April 14 was made public only on May 4 — two days before exercising web options for counselling. “All of us were prepared only for ₹ 3.5 lakh. Some worked hard, saved the money. But they were in for a rude shock on May 4 when they learnt that the fee was increased to ₹ 7 lakh. They are struggling to gather the additional amount,” said an aspirant.

Dr. Vishnu said that a few of them who were prepared for only ₹ 3.5 lakh per annum fee will be forced to let go of the seat under Category A quota if they don’t get more time, and they might end up losing a year. “We have requested our Health Minister to extend time for web options,” the TJUDA president said.

Train info

Seven more trains carry migrants

The trains are towards Bihar and Jharkhand

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

Migrants before boarding a train at the Ghatkesar railway station.arrangement

South Central Railway braced itself up to run five or more migrant special trains past midnight of Thursday or early Friday morning, having run seven more trains — four from Telangana and three from Andhra Pradesh — in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday towards Bihar and Jharkhand carrying more than 7,000 passengers overall.

All the travellers were registered by the TS and AP governments and thermally screened before being brought to the railway stations in buses amid tight security. Top railway officials, who have been refusing to come on record ever since the operations had begun, informed on Thursday that the special ‘Shramik’ specials of 24 non-AC sleeper class coaches were run with each carrying about 1,200 passengers each.

Two trains started their journey from Ghatkesar towards Chapra in Bihar and Katia in Uttarakhand; two more trains began their journey from Lingampalli towards Bhagalpur in Bihar and Dhanbhad in Jharkhand — both stations are located in the eastern and western suburbs of the twin cities.

From the AP side, the trains were run from Chittoor towards Saharsa, from Nellore towards Bharauni and from Nidadavolu towards Dharabanga, all in Bihar. All these migrant special trains will be running non-stop and could take up to 24 hours and more to reach their respective destinations.

Senior railway officials stated that the passengers were provided with food and drinking water by the States before start of the journey while the railways will take care of their needs during the trip. Halts for these trains will be only when crossing divisions or zones when the running railway staff including loco-pilots, travelling ticket examiners, sanitation personnel and security persons will be replaced.

Both State governments have paid up for the cost of travel, they added. It is also learnt that in the reverse direction, a train from Maharastra had arrived in Anantapur bringing labour from there, but this was arranged by the Western Railway. Otherwise, for now the SCR trains are returning empty in the return journey from States up North.

other uniuversities

UoH faculty, staff contribute one-day’s pay

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

Faculty and staff members of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) have contributed their one day’s salary of ₹30.74 lakh, while 204 pensioners of the university contributed an additional ₹3.59 lakh to the PM CARES Fund.

Around 1,050 persons together contributed their one day’s salary while some faculty and staff have contributed more than one day’s salary.

Meanwhile, assistant professor of School of Management Studies P. Murugan conducted an online workshop. The total fee of ₹50,500 was donated to PM CARES Fund.

Flight with Kenyans leaves RGI Airport

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

On Thursday, Hyderabad International Airport handled one more special passenger relief flight, this time to repatriate citizens of Kenya from the city.

The Indigo Airlines flight to repatriate those who arrived from Chennai via Bangalore landed at the airport at 9.20 a.m., and departed to Mumbai at 11.02 a.m. with 83 Kenyans, out of which, 32 boarded from Hyderabad and 51 transit passengers had joined from Chennai and Bangalore.

As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further airlifted by Kenyan Airways from Mumbai to their home land.

All the passengers passed through a fully-sanitised domestic terminal, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations. In coordination with the Kenyan consulate, Hyderabad and the Telangana government, Kenyan citizens started to arrive at the airport from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling as part of COVID precautionary steps that included thermal screening and special queuing at all passenger processing points.

The RGI Airport had handled 12 evacuation flights serving over 900 foreign nationals.

Covid=19

‘Give COVID-19 results in 48 hrs or face action’

City reports one death and 448 new cases, says government

08/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER ,NEW DELHI

A worker sprays disinfectant in Laxmi Nagar on Thursday.R.V. Moorthy

The Delhi government has warned action against all COVlD-19 testing labs if they do not give results of samples collected within a maximum of 48 hours.

The warning came on a day when the city reported one death and 448 new COVID-19 cases. This is the highest single-day jump so far, said government officials. The total number of deaths stands at 66 while cases at 5,980. Of the total cases, 1,931 people have recovered and there are 3,983 active cases.

The order read: “From May 7, 2020, reports of all samples collected must be given within 24 hours and not later than 48 hours, in any case… Non-compliance of the orders will be viewed seriously and action will be taken immediately as per the provisions of the Delhi Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19, regulations, 2020 and other Rules and regulation in this regard.”

On Wednesday, Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said “thousands of pending results are coming now”.

Mr. Jain on Thursday said they were in talks with other States to send back people, who were connected to a religious gathering in Nizamuddin here in March. He added that these people, who had tested negative for COVID-19, after they completed the quarantine period, were not sent back to their States because of the lockdown till May 3.

“Under the current lockdown, stranded people can be shifted. So we are shifting them. We have sent lists of people to other States,” Mr. Jain said, adding: “COVID-19 is going to be here for a long time; it is not going to end in one or two months. We have to learn to live with it.”

New containment zones

In a related development, four more areas in the city were delisted as “containment zone” by the Delhi government on Thursday.

other states

e-token system launched to buy liquor

People will receive token on their mobile phones after filling details on Web link

08/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

A policeman disperses a crowd outside a liquor shop during the nationwide lockdown, on Thursday. R.V. MoorthyR_V_Moorthy

In a bid to ensure social distancing and to stop overcrowding at liquor shops, the Delhi government on Thursday launched e-token system to buy liquor.

People can apply for an e-token through the link https://www.qtoken.in/. A person will have to enter his name and phone number and an e-coupon will be sent to her or his registered mobile number.

The person can then go to the nearby shop, show the e-token and buy liquor. The government said that this will help reduce overcrowding and ensure social distancing at liquor shops.

“Following the guidelines of the Central government, the Delhi government has given permission to open about 200 shops across the national capital from Monday. However, due to overcrowding and long queues in some areas, only 50 shops could be kept open. In order to curb violations of social distancing norms, crowding and law and order issues during the sale of liquor in the city, the Delhi government has decided to introduce the e-token system,” an official statement said.

The link was not working on Thursday evening and the government said that it was due to “heavy rush”. The link will start working soon. the government said.

Jamia Millia announces reworked schedules for academic session

Last date for submission of online application is May 31

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Jamia Millia Islamia on Thursday announced that the Academic Council of the university has reworked the schedules for admissions for the session 2020-21. The last date for submission of online application forms for the session 2020-21 has been extended to May 31 and the entrance tests will start from August 1.

The new academic session, it said, will begin from September 1. The decision was taken in an online meeting of the council.

The university said that the online classes will be held till May 30 and students will have to submit all assignments by June 5.

“Examination for only final semester/year students will be held offline between July 1 and July 31 at the the university. Summer vacations, the university said, have been scheduled between June 15 and June 30.

The university will reopen and classes for regular students will start from August 1.

10 COVID-19 patients discharged in Salem

08/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,SALEM

Ten persons, who were undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital here, were discharged on Thursday.

The discharged patients include four women from Salem, four from Namakkal and one from Dharmapuri.

District Collector S.A.Raman, Hospital Dean R.Balajinathan, Medical Superintendent P.V.Dhanapal, Deputy Director of health services J.Nirmalson and other senior officials cheered the patients on their discharge. The patients were advised to be under quarantine for 14 days.

Mr.Raman said that strict measures were being taken to prevent the spread of the disease in the district. The major challenge now was to identify inter-State migrant workers and quarantine them, he said and added that close to 500 workers returned from Maharashtra on Wednesday night. “They were checked at the Thevettipatti check post. The workers were from 30 districts in the State and they were sent to their respective districts. The Collectors have been alerted,” he said.

Dr.Balajinathan said that so far, 29 patients from Salem had recovered from the disease. At present, six patients from Salem and one from Dharmapuri were undergoing treatment at the hospital.

A beeline for the bottle on Day One

08/05/2020, BUREAU

Police on duty to manage crowd at a Tasmac outlet in Salem on Thursday.

Two Spain nationals who stay in a hotel in Coimbatore were the first to grab bottles of liquor from a Tasmac on Siddhapudur Road on Thursday. M. PeriasamyM_PERIASAMY

Serpentine queues marked the reopening on Thursday of liquor vending outlets of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), after these remained shut for over 40 days owing to the lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While most of the outlets across the western region opened, those in the containment zones remained shut.

The queues extended well beyond the barricades put up in front of the outlets. Umbrellas and footwear served to book spots in the queues that formed well before the scheduled opening of the shops at 10 a.m.

In Coimbatore, Tasmac officials said 206 out of 295 liquor outlets functioned in Coimbatore district on Thursday. The rest 89 remained closed as they fell in the COVID-19 containment zones. The elite air-conditioned outlets also did not function. No untoward incident was reported till the close of sale at 5 p.m., the officials said.

Spaniards, the early birds

Two Spain nationals were the first to buy liquor bottles at a Tasmac outlet on Siddhapudur Road in Coimbatore city, when it reopened on Thursday morning. The duo stood in the queue from 9.15 a.m., and left the counter with four bottles of liquor.

They went to the Tasmac outlet as the hotel they stayed in Coimbatore did not serve liquor owing to lockdown restrictions. Two other Spain nationals, staying in the same hotel, also joined the queue for their quota of spirits. The lockdown had forced the four to stay on in Coimbatore.

Though Tasmac officials initially mandated that Aadhaar must be produced to buy liquor, this was given up later owing to heavy rush. Wearing of mask was made mandatory to line up at the outlets.

In Tiruppur, the re-opening of the outlets was largely incident-free. Out of the 238 outlets in the district, 217 were opened, a senior Tasmac official said. Some shops identified as potential overcrowding points were not opened.

Umbrellas were used to reserve spots in the queue much before the shops opened. On Tuesday, Tiruppur Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan announced that customers must use umbrellas to ensure physical distancing in the queues.

Many roadside shops in Tiruppur city sold umbrellas and masks since Wednesday near the Tasmac outlets. According to local sources, umbrellas that were usually priced at ₹100 were allegedly sold for ₹180.

A senior officer with the Tiruppur City Police said nearly 950 police personnel were deployed across the city.

Another officer with Tiruppur District Police said that the police were deployed at every outlet based on the crowd expected.

Three arrested

Tiruppur North police arrested three persons on charges of bursting crackers and distributing cakes near Tasmac outlet no. 1953 in M.S. Nagar on Thursday. S. Chellavelu (55), T. Arun (29) and S. Saravanan (29) allegedly burst crackers during a birthday celebration, police said. They were booked under Sections 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code and remanded in judicial custody.

In Salem, 163 out of 216 outlets reopened, with police, home guards and volunteers managing the crowd. The outlets in the containment zones remained closed. As many as 600 police personnel were deployed across 153 outlets that functioned in Namakkal District.

In Salem, each customer was given only up to 750 ml of liquor of any variety and the Aadhar details were collected to ensure that liquor was sold to only persons within the district.

Hand washing facilities were arranged at many places and some customers even held umbrellas to ensure physical distancing. But, the distancing norms went for a toss at many places though the staff at the shops kept insisting on it through the public address system.

Near the new bus stand in Salem, one-way traffic had to be followed owing the crowd at two Tasmac outlets located close to each other. To control the crowd, tokens were distributed at a government school near Kandhampatti. But, this was shelved as the local people protested.

In Namakkal, there was no rush at the outlets as the district administration had not suspended the colour-coded card system for people to venture out on particular days. District Collector K. Megraj visited outlets on Salem Road here and reviewed arrangements.

In Erode, the scorching sun did not deter the forming of long queues from 8 a.m. at the Tasmac outlets. Of the 203 shops in the district, 143 reopened. Those in the containment zones and near bus stand and railway station remained shut.

Disinfectant was sprayed around the shops and hand sanitisers were given to all the customers, after which they were allowed to purchase liquor.

A minimum of five policemen were posted at each Tasmac shops in Erode city, and no untoward incident was reported at any of the shops.

Erode Collector C. Kathiravan said customers must wait in the queue under their umbrellas to ensure physical distancing from Friday.

IN BRIEF

08/05/2020,COIMBATORE

HCL donates protection equipment

HCL has joined hands with the district administration in their effort to contain spread of COVID-19. It has provided protection equipment such as masks, personal protective gear, hand sanitisers, and hands free wash basins to safeguard the lives of frontline health workers in the district.

According to a press release, HCL has provided protection equipment, including 7,000 PPE kits, complying to the SITRA and HLL specifications, 20,000 masks, 55 litres of sanitiser and two hands-free wash basins to the district administration. These are being routed to the frontline workers of Coimbatore district working in the ESI Hospital, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, District Health Centres and conservancy workers across the district.

Salem railway division earns ₹ 99.69 lakh

08/05/2020, R. AKILEISH,COIMBATORE

Salem division of Southern Railway has earned ₹ 99,69,733 in April, amid the lockdown, through its parcel cargo services and the daily parcel express trains.

According to a data, the earnings of the daily parcel express special train between Shoranur and Chennai earned ₹ 17,30,978 and the earnings of other Parcel Cargo Express Trains (PCET) in April was ₹ 82,38,755.

The daily parcel express special trains are operated till Chennai to facilitate the transport of essential commodities during the lockdown.

Services of daily parcel express special trains have been extended till May 15, according to the sources. For parcel bookings, commercial inspectors of Salem Division shall be contacted at 90039 56955 (Coimbatore), 96009 56238 (Tiruppur), 96009 56231 (Erode) and 90039 56957 (Salem).

6 Thai nationals get interim bail

08/05/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to six Thai nationals arrested by the Erode police on April 9 on charges of having spread COVID-19 to many people by indulging in a religious propagation, though they had visited the country only on a tourist visa.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan granted bail to them for eight weeks on condition that they should stay in Chennai till further orders and their place of stay should be informed to the Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation so that they remain under monitoring. According to the prosecution, an FIR was registered against the six persons after the complainant, tahsildar Parimaladevi, informed the police that the accused had come to India with another person in March. They had stayed in some of the mosques in Erode town and indulged in propagating their religion. Though two of them tested positive, they continued their activities.

Karnataka to restart trains for migrants

08/05/2020

N. Manjunath Prasad, nodal officer for inter-State travel, has written to the Railways and the governments of nine States — Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Odisha — requisitioning at least one train to these destinations every day from May 8 to 15.

Two trains sought

Karnataka has sought two special trains every day to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, as most of the migrant workers come from these States and make up the bulk of those registered on Seva Sindhu, a portal for travel out of the State. Bihar has approved only one train per day.

“The State is ready to run as many trains as needed. But trains can be organised only after receiving consent from the States. There are logistics issues in these States owing to return of so many migrants,” he said.

Gasping villagers rush out at dawn

08/05/2020

“There was thick fog on the road. Some people fell unconscious on the road while running. We were frightened and locked ourselves in the house. Many police personnel also fell sick,” said Mani Kumar, a mechanical engineer from the area.

People came running till the Simhachalam-Pendurthi road. Locals in the surrounding areas of Pendurthi, Gopalapatnam provided them with water.

“We had breathing problems and were unable to see the road properly due to fog. I heard few fell in the drains while running,” said Ramana, another resident of RR Venkatapuram.

Man falls off terrace

A man went up to the terrace of his house to see what exactly happened. But, he fell off the terrace and sustained severe injuries. He was shifted to a hospital.

Around 20 animals including cattle and stray dogs reportedly died.

Many villagers also went to the LG Polymers plant site and staged a protest demanding stringent action against the authorities.

India registers 3,561 new cases, 89 deaths in a day

08/05/2020

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said that in comparison to other countries, India was in a better condition as the fatality rate was 3.3% and recovery rate was 28.83%.

Testing increased

“Currently there are 4.8% patients in ICU, 1.1% on ventilators and 3.3% on oxygen support of the active cases. The testing capacity has increased in the country and it is now standing at 95,000 tests per day with 327 government laboratories and 118 private laboratories. Cumulatively 13,57,442 tests have been done so far for COVID-19,” he said.

The Minister said that currently there were 180 districts with no new cases in the past week, 180 districts with no new cases in 7-13 days, 164 districts which had not had any new case in 14-20 days and 136 districts with no new cases since the last 21-28 days.

“There are 13 States/Union Territories — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir UT, Kerala, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Odisha — which have not reported any case in the last 24 hours. While Daman and Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported a single case till date,” Dr. Vardhan said.

Dr. Vardhan on Thursday launched the ‘Sanjivani’ App and two AYUSH-based studies related to COVID-19. The Minister said COVID-19 management had provided a potent platform for alliance between the Health Ministry, the AYUSH Ministry and other scientific bodies.

‘India taking all possible steps’

Country is also fulfilling global obligations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, says PM

08/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India was taking all possible steps to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as responding to calls for help from other countries.

“Today, India is making every effort to save the life of every Indian and is also fulfilling its global obligations equally seriously,” he said.

Mr. Modi was delivering the keynote address during a virtual Buddha Purnima celebration organised by the Culture Ministry and the International Buddhist Confederation.

He said the teachings of Buddha were more relevant today as the world went through an upheaval.

“The message and resolve to remove the difficulty of every life have always shown direction to India’s civilisation and culture. Lord Buddha has further enriched this culture of India...Buddha is synonymous with service and dedication...And look at the good fortune of all of us, at this time we are seeing many people around us who serve others, treat a patient, feed a poor person, clean a hospital, maintain law and order on a road... they are all working round the clock. In India, outside India, every such person deserves a salute, a tribute.”

Buddha’s teachings were “even more relevant” today when there was “turmoil in the world”, he noted and and cited those related to mercy, compassion and acceptance.

“... Beyond the profit and loss, able and unable, for us, this hour of crisis is to help others as much as possible to forward the hand of help,” he said.