New Delhi, April 17

A list of retired Army Medical Corps officers and paramedic staff has been readied for any exigency while 50 military hospitals have been notified as dedicated Covid hospitals.

In case the need arises, retired personnel may be requested to volunteer for working in hospitals at their current home stations. Forty three officers and 990 paramedics have volunteered till date, the Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh was informed at review meeting today.

Meanwhile, to cater for isolation and treatment (including ICU-based care) for Covid-19 cases, a notification has been issued for 50 military hospitals to be dedicated as Covid and mixed Covid hospitals.

These hospitals have a combined bed capacity of 9,038 patients. Civilian Covid-19 cases would also be admitted in these hospitals to cater to any surge in cases.

Training activities have been suspended at AMC Centre & College, Lucknow, and Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Approximately, 650 medical officers undergoing postgraduate training at the AFMC will be reverted back to units for provision of medical cover depending on the evolving situation. — TNS

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 18

As many as 25 sailors of the Indian Navy have tested positive for Covid-19 at shore-based logistics hub INS Angre in Mumbai, the headquarters of the Western Naval Command. Naval officials said the 25 sailors were undergoing treatment at INHS Asvini, the naval hospital at Colaba in Mumbai.

Army doc tests +ve

The Indian Army on Saturday reported its ninth Covid case with a woman doctor posted at Dehradun testing positive. Her contacts are being traced. Separately, a batch of Army doctors in Lucknow are being tested and quarantined.

The infected personnel had shown no symptoms but were quarantined after a fellow sailor tested positive a few days back. INS Angre is tasked with supplying logistics to naval units.

“Most (cases) are asymptomatic and have been traced to a single sailor who tested positive on April 7. They all reside in the same accommodation block at INS Angre,” the Navy said. INS Angre has been put under total lockdown and the Navy is carrying out testing of all people staying in the residential accommodation that has been declared a containment zone.

These are the first en bloc cases in the Navy. The Western Naval Command is a strategic establishment as it takes care of India’s maritime interests in the Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.

The Navy has said it “remains combat-ready and mission-capable”. Navy warships continue to remain on patrol, covering a vast oceanic swath from the Straits of Malacca to Bab-el-Mandeb near Yemen. Besides, surveillance planes of the Navy are doing daily sorties.

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 19

The central government said on Sunday there was not considering any proposal for pension cuts, a development that comes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In an official release, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension said it had come to its notice that in the wake of the current coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic scenario, “many rumours are afloat that the Government is contemplating a reduction/stoppage of Pension which has become a source of worry for the Pensioner”.

It said: “As clarified earlier, it is being reiterated that there is no such proposal for reduction of pension and no action is contemplated by the Government in this respect. Instead, the Government is committed for the welfare and well being of the pensioners”.

Earlier taking note of reports suggesting 20 per cent cut in pensions to conserve cash during the Covid-19 lockdown, even Union Ministry of Finance in a Twitter post clarified saying: “This news is false. There will be no cut in pension disbursements. It is clarified that salaries and pensions will not be affected by government cash management instructions.”

The tweet came in response to a question by a social media user, who said he has come across a central government circular showing 20 per cent cut in pension disbursement on social media and TV channels.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 18

As part of its ongoing innovations to counter the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has come up with two products which can enhance safety at public places neutralising viral mircrobes.

Two laboratories at New Delhi, the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) and Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), have designed and developed an ultraviolet C-light based sanitisation box and hand-held device, which are good at destroying genetic material in COVID-19.

The radiation warps the structure RNA which prevents the viral particles from making more copies of them.  The C-light kills the microbes quickly. Sanitisation of the items by employing C-light avoids the harmful effects of the chemicals used for the disinfection. This is environment friendly and is a contact-free effective sanitisation method.

The C-light box is designed for disinfecting personal belongings like mobile phone, tablets, purse, currency, cover of office files, etc. By placing them in the box and exposing them to the ultraviolet light for about a minute.

The hand-held device having an 8 watt UV-C lamp disinfects office and household objects like chairs, files, postal delivered items and food packets with an exposure of 45 seconds. This measure can reduce the transmission of coronavirus in office and public environment which is required to work in all conditions.

The other product is an automatic mist-based sanitiser dispensing unit developed by the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi. It is a contactless sanitiser dispenser which sprays alcohol-based hand rub sanitiser solution for sanitisation of hands while entering the buildings and office complexes. It is based on water mist aerator technology, which was developed for water conservation.

The unit operates without contact and is activated through an ultrasonic sensor. A single fluid nozzle using an atomiser, only 5-6 ml sanitiser is released for 12 seconds in one operation and it gives the full cone spray over both palms so that disinfection operation of hands is complete.

It is a very compact unit and the bulk fill option makes it economical and long lasting product. It is easy to install system as wall-mountable or on a platform. As an indication of operation an LED illuminates the spray.

The unit can be used for sanitisation of hands at entry and exit to hospitals, malls, office buildings, residential buildings, airports, metro stations, railway stations, bus stations and critical installations. The product is also expected to be very useful for entry/exit of isolation and quarantine centres.

It might be the undisputed food capital of North India today, but once upon a time, Holy City was a major textile trading centre

Jasvinder Kaur

Around 200 years ago, as Maharaja Ranjit Singh, aided by his legendary French generals, was consolidating his kingdom, the latter were introducing Europe to rich North Indian textiles. At the heart of this trade was Amritsar, the undisputed food capital of North India today, but a major centre for textiles in the distant past.

Amritsar, for many centuries, has in one way or the other been associated with textiles, either as a producer or as a trading centre. In fact, it became a centre of production of shawls and was at the forefront of exporting them to Europe during Ranjit Singh’s rule.

Kashmir became a part of the Sikh kingdom in 1819 after Ranjit Singh invaded it. Shortly afterwards, in 1822, Ranjit Singh hired men from Napoleon’s army — Jean-Francois Allard and Jean-Batiste Ventura — as his generals. By 1835, these generals were exporting shawls to Europe, and Amritsar had become the centre of the Kashmiri shawl trade.

Weavers and dyers from Kashmir settled in the plains and hills of Punjab during this period. One of the factors that pushed them to do so was famine. As a result, Kashmiri colonies were established in places like Amritsar and Ludhiana in present-day Punjab and Nurpur and Tiloknath in what is now Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.

Shawls made in Amritsar — jamavar or kani and amli — were of high quality. Writing in 1872, Baden Powell mentions that shawls from Amritsar were close in quality to Kashmiri shawls. The striped shawls were called jamavar or kitraz, and were popular in Iran and Turkey. These were made by the complicated kani technique. As these were used to make jamas, the word jamavar was also used for them. The amli shawls, on the other hand, were embroidered Kashmiri shawls.

A complex weave

Weaving of kani shawls in the early 19th-century Kashmir was a slow and laborious process. A single shawl could take up to 18 months or more. Owing to their high demand, a method was devised to weave the shawl in pieces on two or more looms. This way, the shawl was made in much less time. These pieces were then handed over to the rafugar or darner. He would join them with such precision that it was hard to tell. William Moorcroft, an English explorer, mentioned this in his writing in 1821 and called it a recent innovation. He undertook a detailed study of the shawl industry between 1820 and 1823, and wrote an account that has been preserved at the India Office Library, now part of the British Library, London.

Early 19th century saw the beginning of the amli or embroidered shawls. These were introduced in Kashmir at the instigation of Khwaja Yusaf, an Armenian, who came to Kashmir in 1803 as an agent of the Constantinople Trading Company. He saw a chance to produce the embroidered shawls in a much shorter time than kani or jamavar. Since these shawls didn’t fall into the category of woven shawls, he was also able to escape the duties levied on kani shawls. His company thus made huge profits and ushered in embroidered shawls. This also pushed the demand for plain pashmina shawls which were then used as a base for amli shawls.

By the third quarter of the 19th century, the important centres of weaving plain pashmina were not only in Kashmir but also in Ludhiana and Amritsar, the holy city being a formidable manufacturer. At an art exhibition held in Lahore in 1864, shawls — pashmina, amli, and kani or jamavar — from Kashmir, Amritsar and Delhi were exhibited.

Ever-expanding

With time, the shawl industry declined and the carpet industry came up to fill the gap. Trade in carpets rose partly on the ruins of the pashmina shawl trade. By 1911, Amritsar was exporting carpets worth Rs5 lakh; it picked up a steady pace after the Great Depression. Among other things made in Amritsar were different styles of embroideries. Powell, in 1872, writes about Lahore and Amritsar as the centres for gold embroidery or salma work. Amritsar was also producing some of the finest phulkaris, some of which were even exported to America.

During the British Raj, the most important item of import were piece goods, and Amritsar was trading in silk and woollen cloth. Silk trade centre was located at Batti Hattan. It was later shifted to Katra Ahluwalia, which, in turn, became the centre of trading in piece goods. Sant Ram Reshamwala was one of the importers of silk from Europe.

The fabric imported in early 20th century did not just include pure silk, but also artificial silk from Japan, Italy and France. It was cheaper and came in attractive colours. In the 1930s, majority of silk was imported from Japan, so much so that many firms from Amritsar opened offices in Japan. From Europe, cottons with European motifs like roses were imported.

From Amritsar, the fabrics made inroads into other parts of Punjab. They became popular with women, who used them to make suits and dupattas. The designs, patterns and textures were different from what was available locally. Women here knew them by various names like Lady Minton (probably Lady Hamilton), Malaysia, Dil-ki-pyaas, Aap-ka-nasha, Do-ghorae-di-boski (probably from China), Shangai (probably from Shanghai). The most famous among these was the Do-ghorae-di-boski or double horse boski from China. The brand still sells on alibaba.com.

Fashion fabrics

In Punjab, another interesting fabric that came from abroad and became very popular among women was the one used for making parachutes. Known as ‘parachute cloth’, it was not sold as continuous yardage, but in pieces. The stitched parachute would probably be opened up and sold in triangular pieces or chattrian (umbrellas) about 6-7 feet wide and 10 feet long.

These were probably the surplus parachutes that were allowed to be sold after World War II got over in 1945. In the initial years of the war, the material used for making parachutes was silk. After America joined the war by the end of 1941, the Allies used parachutes made of nylon as they were unable to import silk from Japan.

In Britain, there are many stories of women making their wedding dresses, blouses, petticoats with the RAF parachute material. These were white, lime green and sometimes orange in colour. It was, however, not an easy material to get as it was illegal to obtain it while the war was on. Even the used parachute had to be turned in to the authorities for investigation. Women in England used any material available to them during the war for their wedding dresses, whether it was parachute silk or blackout material, which had been duly bleached.

Many of the fashion fabrics that were used by women in Punjab before India got Independence were used as a base for doing salma or gota work. Velvet, another popular fabric, was used not only for garments but also for palangposh (bedcover) or other household articles like cushions. All the fabrics sold during the British Raj were available at shops in big cities. And Amritsar, being a trading centre, played an important part in the textile trade and in distributing it to other parts of Punjab.

New Delhi, April 19

At a time when 14 COVID-19 deaths have been reported from Karnataka, the Indian Naval Hospital Ship (INHS) ‘Patanjali’ at Karwar in Uttara Kannada district has so far treated eight civilian patients affected with the deadly coronavirus.

The civilians were of the first group of COVID-19 positive patients who were admitted to the hospital on March 28 after the INHS Patanjali was prepared in every aspect within 24 hours acting on a request from the Karwar District administration upon announcement of the first phase of 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25.

Out of the nine patients admitted at the hospital, eight have been cured and discharged so far, said a statement issued by the Naval Base, the Indian Naval Hospital ‘Patanjali’.

A team of three doctors, nine medical staff along with nine support staff ensured round-the-clock care to the nine COVID-19 positive patients admitted thus far.

“With the discharge of these eight patients over the last few days, the hospital is now attending to a lone patient admitted on April 16 who is also responding favourably to the treatment,” the statement said.

In view of this additional responsibility, the statement said, INS ‘Patanjali’ has made alternate arrangements for routine medical attention to the large population of service personnel and families dependent on the hospital.

The hospital has been at the forefront of the fight against novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by treating the patients from the Uttara Kannada district.

A total of 14 people have died due to the COVID-19 disease in Karnataka and over 350 confirmed cases have been reported from the state so far. IANS

New Delhi, April 19

The income tax department on Sunday said it is revising the I-T return forms for the financial year 2019-20 to allow assessees to avail benefits of various timeline extension granted by the government following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new income tax returns forms for the financial year 2019-20 will be notified by the month-end and return filing utility would be available by May 31.

The government has extended various timelines under the Income Tax Act, 1961, through the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of certain provisions) Ordinance, 2020.

Accordingly, the time for making investment or payments for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of IT Act that include Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim) and 80G (Donations) for the financial year 2019-20 has also been extended to June 30, 2020.

“In order to enable income taxpayers to avail full benefits of various timeline extensions granted by the Government of India due to COVID-19 pandemic situations, the CBDT is revising the return forms for FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) which shall be notified by the end of this month,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

CBDT said in order to facilitate taxpayer to avail full benefits with various timeline extension up to June 30, 2020, granted by the government, it has initiated necessary changes in the return forms so that taxpayers could take benefits of their transactions carried out during the period from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, in the return forms for FY20.

“The necessary modifications in the return forms are being made to allow taxpayers to avail the benefits of their investments/transactions made for the April-to-June 2020 period,” the CBDT said.

Once the revised forms are notified, it will further necessitate the consequential changes in the software and return filing utility.

“Hence, the return filing utility after incorporating necessary changes shall be made available by May 31, 2020, to avail benefits for FY 2019-20,” it added.

Generally, the income tax return forms are notified in the first week of April. This year also, the e-filing utility for filing of return for Assessment Year 2020-21 was made available on April 1 2020, and the income tax return (ITR) Forms ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) for the FY 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) were also already notified on January 3, 2020.

“However, to ensure that the taxpayer is enabled to avail all benefits of the timeline extension due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Return Forms revision is being carried out,” CBDT said. — PTI

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 19

The Indian Army has taken over the responsibility of managing the Narela Quarantine Center in Delhi during the daytime. The centre is among the largest in India for housing those suspected of having COVID-19.

“The army has taken the initiative to manage the facility completely under its arrangement from morning 8 AM to evening 8 PM pm and relieving the civil doctors and medical staff who are now required to manage the facility only during the night,” a senior official from the Army’s Western Command, Chandimandir, said here on Sunday.

An Army team, comprising of 40 personnel, including six medical officers and 18 para-medical staff, have volunteered to stay within the centre’s premises. A small team of army doctors and nursing staff have been assisting the civil administration at the centre since April 1.

Presently, 932 members of Markaz Jamaat are being housed in the facility and 367 have tested COVID-19 positive, the official said.

The Army had received a request from the Home Ministry to take over the medical screening at the Narela quarantine camp.

The Narela Quarantine Center was established by the Delhi Government in mid-March. Initially, 250 foreign nationals, returning from foreign countries, were kept in this centre. Between March 31 and April 1, an additional strength of approximately 1,000 members of Tablighi Jamaat were brought here from Nizamuddin Markaz.

An Army medical team, including two doctors and two nursing assistants, was deployed at the Narela camp earlier. This was the first instance of Army doctors being deployed to help civil administration to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Narela, incidentally, happens to be the site of a battle that took place in January 1757 between the Maratha Army, led by Antaji Mankeshwar, and an advance column of Ahmad Shah Abdali’s army, in which the Maratha Army had won.

Apart from providing medical cover with the civilian centre at Narela, the Army is also running its quarantine centres for civilians at Jodhpur, Jaiselmer and Manesar. This is in addition to quarantine centres set up at military stations for defence personnel. The other two services are also running their camps.

To cater for isolation and treatment (Including ICU-based care) for COVID-19 cases, orders notifying 50 Armed Forces hospitals as dedicated COVID hospitals and mixed COVID hospitals have been issued.

These hospitals have a combined bed capacity of 9,038 patients. Also, 100 medical officers from recruiting organisations are being detailed to work in hospitals where COVID wards are being established.

A list of retired AMC officers and paramedical staff has been readied who may be requested to volunteer for working in military hospitals at their current home stations in case the need arises. Forty-three officers and 990 paramedics have volunteered till date.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 12

Three civilians were killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan on Sunday in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, police said.

The heavy shelling started on Sunday afternoon and the shells landed in different residential areas in the border district.

“Two civilians have died in Kupwara and one in Handwara,” said a senior police officer while claiming that Pakistan violated the ceasefire and fired at Indian posts and civilian areas that caused civilian casualties.

One of the slain is a woman from Tumina Chowkibal area. Many residential houses were also damaged in the shelling.

Two days ago India Army claimed that it targeted militant launch pads and gun positions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keran sector, Kupwara.

On Friday, Srinagar based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia had said Pakistan violated ceasefire agreement and it was retaliated effectively and strongly.

“..Own troops retaliated effectively and strongly. Precision targeting of gun areas, terrorist launch pads and ammunition dump carried out. Reports of heavy damage on enemy side,” Col Kalia had said.