Current Events :
Jammu, March 20
In its efforts to connect and create awareness among the youth, the Army organised an inter-school quiz competition at Pinjrar region of Kishtwar district. Around 60 schoolchildren participated with zeal. Teachers also attended the competition. The children lauded the initiative of the Army for building confidence among them. — TNS
Tribune News Service
Anandpur Sahib, March 20
The district administration today locked down Anandpur Sahib and started a door-to-door survey to trace people showing symptoms of Covid.
The move comes following the death of a 70-year-old man, a resident of Nawanshahr, who tested positive and had attended Hola Mohalla functions in Anandpur Sahib 10 days ago. While all shops, barring medical and grocery stores, were ordered to shut down, the town’s borders were sealed by deploying heavy police force in the morning. Fifty teams of the Health Department have started a survey of 4,000 houses to trace suspected patients.
The number of devotees reaching Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib also dropped to a few 100. Nearly 10,000 people visit the gurdwara every day.
The staff at the gurdwara were also screened. Sub-divisional Magistrate Kanu Garg said the survey was conducted till 6 pm covering 1,800 houses. However, no suspected case of Covid was found. Ropar Civil Surgeon HN Sharma said a patient, who had returned from Dubai and showed symptoms of the virus, had tested negative.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 20
In key changes suggested to the defence procurement procedure (DPP), the Ministry of Defence wants to lease non-essential equipment, allow rapid update of software on projects, have more local content and give incentives to foreign companies to manufacture in India.
Launching the draft DPP today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Our aim is to make India self-reliant and a global manufacturing hub.”
The draft proposes increasing the indigenous content (IC) stipulated in various categories of procurement by about 10 per cent to support ‘Make in India’ and incentivising the use of local raw materials and special alloys.
The new DPP also has a new category to allow minimum 50 per cent indigenous content on cost basis of the total contract value. Only the minimum necessary will be bought from abroad, the rest will be manufactured in India.
This would be in preference to the ‘Buy Global’ category as manufacturing will happen in India and jobs created.
The DPP proposes to allow leasing as a new category for acquisition in addition to existing ‘Buy’ and ‘Make’ categories to substitute huge initial capital outlays with periodical rental payments.
Leasing will be allowed under two categories – from Indian company and also when a global entity is leasing equipment. A new chapter has been introduced for procurement of software and systems related projects.
With the highest number of corona-positive patients, Maharashtra is facing the enormity of the task with large-scale restrictions and directions — such as by BMC of shifting all stable patients to peripheral hospitals to ensure priority to Covid-19 patients, suspects and their contacts. Leading from the front are medical professionals, like at Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital
Shiv Kumar in Mumbai
Were it not for the Covid-19 pandemic, Mumbai’s swish set would have barely heard of the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Infectious Diseases, located in the working class suburb of Chinchpokli in Central Mumbai.
Typical of hospitals managed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Kasturba Hospital was a rundown building till it got a fresh coat of paint a few months ago. Unlike the five-star corporate hospitals which dot Mumbai, infrastructure at Kasturba is poor. The hospital lacks an Intensive Care Unit, essential for treatment of critically-ill patients. Essential equipment like ventilators, which were originally purchased for Kasturba, were diverted to other hospitals run by the Mumbai municipality.
Even the house-keeping at Kasturba is poor with patients initially quarantined here posting pictures of clogged toilets, soiled wash basins and stains of spit on corridors on social media. The only good thing Kasturba had going for it was its experienced team of doctors and nurses who enjoy a good reputation among medical professionals for tackling infectious diseases in Mumbai.
“Usually we do not receive so many patients. Those visiting here were often referred to by other hospitals. This is a very quiet place. But now, there are many people waiting in queue to get tested,” says Dr Chandrakant Pawar, Medical Superintendent, Kasturba Hospital.
The workload following the sudden influx of people waiting to be tested and those quarantined at the hospital has turned the lives of Dr Pawar and his colleagues topsy-turvy. Kasturba now has 30 doctors, 45 nurses and more than 45 support staff camping at the hospital round the clock.
According to Dr Pawar, many of them do not go home and have been staying put within the hospital premises. The official also pointed out that the facilities at Kasturba’s laboratory, where throat and nasal swabs are collected from suspected Covid-19 patients, are being revamped. “We have posted more people from other laboratories at Kasturba. Tests are now being conducted in two shifts,” he says. He adds that the laboratory may become operational 24×7 if required.
Officials point out that as many as 800 patients visit the Out Patient Department of Kasturba every day. However, not everyone is tested. According to Health Department officials of the BMC, who are also stationed at Kasturba, only those with a history of foreign travel or those who have come in contact with such a person are tested. The rest are simply asked to go home.
“There are frayed tempers and people often shout at us. But there is little we can do about it. There is also fear among the people and among hospital staff about contracting infection. But it is part of our job,” says a civic official who has been deployed at Kasturba Hospital. “We have added beds and brought in additional equipment after people began to be admitted for qurantine,” says Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani. He refused to comment on reports that Kasturba had only four functional ventilators with 11 machines having been diverted elsewhere.
The media coverage of early patients admitted to Kasturba’s isolation ward running away due to its poor infrastructure, however, forced the administration to spruce up the facility. “We have hired a private housekeeping agency to keep Kasturba hospital clean. We have also brought in doctors, nurses and consultants from other civic hospitals,” Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner Pravin Pardeshi told reporters here.
Protection for staff
Leaders of the civic employees’ union pointed out that Kasturba Gandhi Hospital initially did not give out the N-95 masks to its doctors and nursing staff. “It was only in March when people were being quarantined in large numbers that these masks and the hazmat suits were provided,” says a union official.
So far, however, the medical personnel at Kasturba and Seven Hills, the other civic hospital in Mumbai where an isolation ward has been set up, have been lucky.
“No medical personnel from the BMC have tested positive for Covid-19,” says Dr Daksha Shah, Deputy Director, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. She, however, points out that personnel, including doctors and nurses, are under a lot of stress about getting infected.
Apart from medical personnel, security staff who have been hired from private agencies and police constables who have been posted at these two hospitals are also worried about contracting Covid-19 from patients coming here for testing.
“We are reading about a lot of things in the newspapers. But I have only this cloth mask. I do not know if it works,” says a security guard at the Seven Hills hospital in suburban Mumbai.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 20
The Punjab government on Friday has denied reports to shut down Internet services in the state.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has appealed to people not to believe in unsubstantiated information and has warned of strict action against rumour mongers and those spreading fake news.
Capt.Amarinder Singh✔@capt_amarinder
I request Punjabis not to share unsubstantiated news & information as it may create unnecessary panic. The following content that claims @PunjabGovtIndia is shutting down internet services is fake & action will be taken against anyone involved in spreading misleading information.
Earlier, Chandigarh UT administration has initiated steps to counter the scare triggered by the coronavirus, the authorities are also grappling with the “fake” information being dished out online. Officials have warned of stern action against those found behind such fake messages.
Also read: Fake coronavirus messages being circulated in Chandigarh, admn warns of action
The message being circulated on WhatsApp and other social media platforms triggered panic.
Chandigarh, March 20
To prevent the spread of Covid-19, the UT Administration has started pasting stickers outside the houses of suspected individuals, who have been quarantined in their homes, to tell people not to visit them.
Also, the list of persons, who have been home quarantined, will be uploaded on the Administration’s website, chd.gov.in. “There is apprehension that some people in home quarantine will not adhere to the guidelines. Any breach of this order will invite action under Section 188 of the IPC,” UT Adviser Manoj Parida said. District Magistrate (DM) Mandip Singh Brar ordered the implementation of Section 144, CrPC, so that the guidelines of home quarantine are strictly followed in the city. Anil Garg, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, has been appointed as nodal officer for contact tracing and enforcing home quarantine guidelines. The DM said a stamp would be put on the back of the right hand, along with relevant date, considering a 14-day quarantine period. —TNS
Srinagar: National Conference (NC) president and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore high-speed internet in Jammu & Kashmir in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter addressed to Modi, Abdullah cited the detection of Kashmir’s first COVID-19 case Wednesday and said high-speed internet was a necessity because authorities had locked down “large parts of the Valley”.
Internet speeds in the Valley have been restricted to 2G since connectivity was partially restored this January. The partial relief came after the Valley spent months without internet amid widespread restrictions imposed in August, when J&K’s special status was withdrawn and the erstwhile state bifurcated into two union territories.
“As you are aware, the first case of coronavirus has been detected in Kashmir yesterday which has resulted in authorities locking down large parts of the Valley,” Abdullah wrote.
“Businesses and students already hit hard by the shutdown after 5th of August are again suffering because of these restrictions,” he said. “The people are being advised to work/study from home, but this is impossible with 2G internet speed and limited fixed-line internet penetration. I would, therefore, request you to restore 4G internet services in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest to ease the suffering of the people.”
Abdullah was released last week after spending seven months in detention.
Also Read: Farooq Abdullah meets Mehbooba Mufti’s family in Srinagar, party says it’s a courtesy visit
While Jammu has recorded three COVID-19 cases, Kashmir saw its first Wednesday. A woman in her 60s, who recently traveled from Saudi Arabia, was tested positive for the virus, prompting authorities to enforce restrictions in Srinagar.
“There will be restrictions on public transport, assembly of people and some other measures, in #Srinagar from tomorrow,” Srinagar deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary tweeted Wednesday night.
Shahid Choudhary✔@listenshahid
There will be restrictions on public transport, assembly of people and some other measures, in #Srinagar from tomorrow. Steps are being taken in view of a positive case detected. Further updates to follow. #Coronavirus
Although fixed-line internet services were restored in a phase-wise manner in Jammu and Ladakh by October, it was only restored in Kashmir, on phones, in January.
The government had initially allowed access to around 300 websites, but the number has now increased to 1,600. Social media was only restored earlier this month, when the government also lifted its bar on blacklisted websites and fixed-line internet.
However, the speed remains slow, a fact raised by several social media users, especially in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
NC spokesperson Imran Dar told ThePrint that Abdullah “is aware of how people suffered during the communication blackout”.
“The suffering continued even when internet was restored but only few hundred websites were made accessible on 2G speeds. Dr Abdullah has kept himself updated about the situation and was of the view that it has been going on for too long,” he said.
“Given the threat of the disease, people need high-speed internet to be updated, to continue with their work, studies and trade,” he added. “Low internet speed makes all of this difficult. We are hoping the government of India acts soon.”
Peoples Conference leader Imran Ansari had also requested PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to lift curbs on high-speed internet access on mobile phones. “It will certainly help people have better communication facility in present crisis,” Ansari tweeted last week.
A similar request was made from the Twitter handle of former chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who continues to be in detention, Tuesday. Her Twitter account is handled by her family.
Aditi Tandon in New Delhi
Seen in the backdrop of the human loss Covid-19 is causing across the world, especially the EU, the US and Iran, India’s national data signals a ray of hope. A mix of early preventive strategies on public health and administrative fronts has helped India restrict the virus to imported cases and their immediate contacts so far, which means the disease hasn’t begun transmitting in the community.
India has so far done well to contain the virus banking on the commitment of the public health cadre, robustness of disease detection and boldness of political decisions to lock down traffic from China when the whole world was still mulling hard decisions.
“We began screening passengers from China on January 21 much before WHO declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern on January 30. India’s first technical group meeting for Covid-19 containment happened on January 8. China reported the outbreak on December 31,” says Health Ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal.
Administrative decisions apart, everyone, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lead, believes that the Indian response to Covid-19 would not have been what it was but for the conviction of the healthcare workforce.
That explains why PM Modi will personally lead a national thanksgiving for corona warriors at 5 pm today as the country observes a people’s curfew to halt the virus by following government’s social distancing norms from 7 am to 9 pm. These warriors on their part have only one larger request — help us help you.
PK Dash, a 63-year-doctor with Delhi’s municipal corporation, says the system is doing the best it can. “But we can do better with people’s help. People’s arrogance is shocking. A young symptomatic male visited my clinic last week and said nothing can happen to him. WHO has said the youth are not invincible. Do people understand why social distancing is necessary? The answer is simple – when an infected person coughs, droplets fall well within the 1-3 metre diameter and anyone in that range can get infected. Hand washing is crucial because the virus lives on surfaces for 12 to 48 hours and anyone who touches is at risk. PM’s Janata Curfew call is crucial. People staying indoors will mean breaking the chain of virus transmission,” says Dash, who has not taken leave in two months.
Frontline workers say they are not looking for credit. But each one of them is aghast at reports of educated people returning from Covid-affected nations and ignoring isolation protocols to put others at risk. As many as 7,000 contacts of 258 Covid-positive Indians have been traced by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, India’s apex public health plan, led by the National Centre for Diseases Control.
“We are in stage 2 of virus transmission where we have only imported cases and their contacts among the infected. We are trying to keep the virus from entering the community. But what are we seeing? Educated foolish people are risking their lives and those of others. Kolkata’s first Covid-positive case is a Harvard student whose mother is a bureaucrat and father a doctor. The boy returned from Harvard, ignored the 14-day self-quarantine rule and roamed freely, infecting others. The result — an already strained health system had to spare resources to trace the people this boy met between landing in India and testing positive. This was avoidable. Wasn’t it?” says Kolkata-based Sanghamitra Ghosh, secretary general, Indian Public Health Association.
Epidemic Diseases Act
Maharashtra, West Bengal and many other states have now invoked the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act to penalise people who spread infection. States are also using Section 144 of the CrPC to crack down on large gatherings against overcrowding. Frequency of metros and buses has been significantly reduced. But people’s wholehearted support in this fight is still awaited.
In Lucknow, a case has been registered against singer Kanika Kapoor, who returned from London last week and ignored her symptoms to party across the city. At least 500 of her contacts, including several politicians, are now being traced and isolated.
Three Kashmir-based youth, PhD students at Aligarh, escaped quarantine this week and landed back home, meeting several people along the way. They were later found and put back in isolation.
Ghosh points to another Kolkata-based doctor couple who returned from Dubai and came to work without complying with the 14-day home isolation rule meant to cover the incubation period of the virus. They were later isolated. As health cadres deliver with limited supplies of protective equipment, a section of doctors and nurses were isolated in Lucknow this week after a junior resident at King George Medical University tested positive — India’s first case of healthcare workers’ isolation from contact with a Covid-19 patient.
Across OPDs in hospitals, symptomatic persons continue to visit seeking medical services or simply to ask doctors if they are Covid-positive.
“We have been in hard situations and have done the best we could for protection. But people need to understand that everyone does not need to be tested. Also if the disease explodes in the community, testing, isolation beds and ventilators won’t help. We have to condition ourselves to think about protection rather than testing and hospitalisation because there is no treatment for Covid-19 and going forward, management for every patient will not be possible,” says Anil Gurtoo of Lady Hardinge Medical Hospital, Delhi, a sample collection centre for Covid-19 in the capital.
Gurtoo says people are obsessing about testing when they should be obsessing about social distancing.
“Even today our ventilator support system is strained. If we pool in all public and private sector resources of Delhi, we can manage a few thousand. No country can prepare enough for this kind of a pandemic. So, people must stay indoors for some weeks and help the country break the chain of viral transmission,” Gurtoo says.
“We stay at work for you. You stay at home for us,” was the message AIIMS senior resident Amarinder Singh Malhi, originally from Amritsar, posted on Twitter. PM Modi backed it. Malhi says doctors are working round the clock to help patients and reduce hospital infection but they cannot achieve much without people’s support.
“All hospitals must now close down OPDs. Only emergency services should run. The next eight weeks are crucial to halt the chain of Covid transmission and social distancing is the key. People should stay home if they want to applaud us,” says Malhi. Doctors also stress the need to not panic and say this is the flu season and many people will experience general symptoms. Not all of that would need testing.
A whole team of virologists, epidemiologists and lab technicians are currently involved in detection and management efforts to contain Covid-19 with testing capacity increased from 52 labs under ICMR to an additional 49. Private labs are being gradually roped in to build testing capacities that would be needed should India see community transmission.
Asked how the disease has been contained so far, Tanzin Dikid, NCDC Joint Director, says the integrated disease surveillance programme of NCDC is very robust.
“IDSP network now exists in 700 of India’s 712 districts. National, state and district surveillance officers are constantly monitoring disease trends and clusters to watch out for community transmission if any. NCDC is constantly guiding state health departments with contact tracing. It’s a mammoth task and is key to blocking the chain of viral transmission. Our challenge is a weak public health cadre in most states. Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka with strong cadres are doing better,” says Dikid.
India has traced nearly 7,000 contacts of Covid-positive persons.
On the successful Indian response to the pandemic so far, VK Paul, Member, Health, NITI Aayog, says, “We imposed travel and visa restrictions, enforced universal screening of air passengers much earlier than most nations and kept enlarging the scope of restrictions. NCDC led from the front in robust detection and contact tracing. The strategies kept the virus under check.”
But experts are wary of how the virus will behave. Nothing is known of the Covid-19 strain, and global research is underway to find a vaccine or a drug that works against it. “Our best case scenario is the onset of summer and the hope high temperatures will blunt the virus. Till that happens, social distancing is the answer. We must remember there is no treatment. The PM has already spelt out the way forward — protect yourself, protect the country, protect the world.”
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government Thursday announced a slew of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in India as cases soar to 173, with four deaths having been reported so far.
The Press Information Bureau released a six-point note issued by the government to curb the movement of people aiming to prevent the spread of the virus.
The central government, according to the notice, has requested states to enforce work from home for private sector employees, barring those rendering emergency or essential services.
“No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020 for one week,” the note said.
Also read: No new cases in China to clean Venice waters — the latest on COVID-19
The government has instructed that all children below 10 years of age should be advised to stay at home. “State government shall issue appropriate directions so that all citizens above 65 (except for public representatives, government servants, medical professionals) are advised to stay at home.”
They can go out for medical assistance, it adds.
All concessional travel by rail and air will be suspended except for students, patients and people belonging to Divyang category.
The note further instructs to reduce crowding among all Group B and C central government employees. They will be asked to attend offices on alternate week, and the government has also advised staggered timings for all employees.
More measures are likely to be announced as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm today to talk about issues relating to COVID-19 and the efforts to combat it.
Captain Rajiv Joon
Col Dilbag Singh Dabas (Retd)
Captain Rajiv Joon was born at Gaddhi Kheri village in Rohtak district on December 5, 1969. His father Ch Dharam Singh died when Rajiv was not even in his teens. His mother Shanti Devi single-handedly raised him and his four siblings. While studying at Sir Chhotu Ram Memorial Public School, Rohtak, the adolescent Rajiv saw his maternal uncle (mausa ji) — Brigadier Kaptan Singh Kataria — in uniform and was fascinated by his soldierly aura and got infatuated with his olive greens and the glittering medals and ribbons on his left breast pocket.
After primary, Rajiv joined Sainik School, Kunjpura (Karnal), where his love for the olive greens blossomed. After senior secondary, he went on to join the prestigious National Defense Academy, the best tri-services academy in the world and was commissioned into the 22 Grenadiers on June 8, 1991. The 22 Grenadiers, also referred to as ‘Ashok Chakra’ battalion, is among the very few battalions in the Indian Army that have two or more Ashok Chakra (the highest peace-time gallantry award) winners on their roll of honour.
While in the battalion, Rajiv was quick at uptake and soon learned the nuances of counter-insurgency operations. Even as company officer, he always volunteered to lead cordon and search operations to nab militants.
Militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was at its peak, when the 22 Grenadiers was inducted into the Kashmir valley. The battalion was tasked to operate in Pulwama district. Incidentally, Pulwama district, east of Pir Panjal in the Kashmir valley, despite being nowhere near the Line of Control (LOC), had been engulfed in militancy since the time it raised its ugly head in the Valley in the late ’80s. Having taken the heaviest toll on the security forces on February 14, last year, Pulwama district still remains the hot bed of militancy in the Valley.
Within a short period after its induction, the 22 Grenadiers made its presense felt in Pulwama district by a series of successful cordon and search operations. During its entire tenure in Jammu and Kashmir, the 22 Grenadiers remained thickly involved in successfully raiding militants’ hideouts one after another forcing them either to surrender or remain in hiding till frustration. During one such search and destroy operation, Captain Rajiv Kumar Joon of the 22 Grenadiers, for his exemplary courage and gallantry of a high order, was awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
Brigadier Randhir Singh, who commanded the 22 Grenadiers during its counter-insurgency operations in the Valley recalls: “Rajiv was unassuming and a man of few words. But during operations, he was a live wire wherein his actions spoke volumes. He always volunteered to encounter militants and his jawans followed him blindly.” Haryanvis are like that, faujis in particular.
The account of his bravery reads…
“On April 16, 1994, a reliable civilian informer brought the news to the battalion headquarters that after crossing over the Pir Panjal the previous night, some militants were hiding in Thiarin village. After dusk, they would leave the village and head towards Srinagar. Immediately, Captain Rajiv Kumar Joon, the officiating company commander of B Company of the 22 Grenadiers, was tasked to raid the suspected hideouts in Thiarin village in Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir to nab or eliminate militants. As the raiding party approached the hideout, two militants fired and tried to escape taking advantage of thick vegetation. Capt Joon, with disregard to his safety, outflanked and sealed off the route of escape of militants. As a result, militants got trapped in a nearby nullah but took cover of the boulders and started firing. Undeterred, Capt Joon further closed in and finally charged at and killed both militants and recovered one rifle along with ammunition. During the second phase of the same operation, Capt Rajiv Kumar Joon combed Thiarin village in seven prongs. Having seen some suspicious movements, he ordered his support group to give him covering fire and along with his buddy, he dashed towards thick jungle. Despite grave danger to himself, Capt Joon, along with his buddy, chased the group of militants. Though badly hit on the thigh, he did not abandon the chase and despite a volley of fire from militants, finally assaulted the militants’ group and killed three more hardcore militants and injured one. Captain Joon with serious wound on his thigh got himself evacuated to the hospital only after the successful raid, in which five hardcore militants including a dreaded self-styled Company Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed and one injured. During the operation, Captain Rajiv Kumar Joon displayed bravery, courage and devotion to duty of a high order, for which he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra.”
About the award
Recipient of Ashok Chakra too
(The writer is a veteran Gunner, 6 Field Regiment)
