Chandigarh, March 20

In the wake of poor occupancy on account of Covid-19 scare, Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi has been cancelled. The Ambala Railway Division has cancelled 54 trains from March 20 to March 31. Saturday onwards, all three Shatabdi trains stand cancelled. A statement affirmed that the trains will not depart from Chandigarh to any destination. — TNS

List of trains cancelled

No train to Ramnagar

1. 12527 Ramnagar-Chandigarh Express

2. 12528 Chandigarh-Ramnagar Express

Shatabdi stopped, Delhi trail blocked

3. 12005 New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express

4. 12006 Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express

5. 12011 New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express

6. 12012 Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express

7. 12013 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express

8. 12014 Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express

9. 12017 New Delhi-Dehradun Shatabdi Express

10. 12018 Dehradun-New Delhi Shatabdi Express

11. 12029 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express

12. 12030 Amritsar-New Delhi Express

13. 12031 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express.

14. 12032 Amritsar-New Delhi Express

15. 12045 New Delhi-Chandigarh Express

16. 12046 Chandigarh-New Delhi Express

Haridwar disconnected

17. 12053 Haridwar-Amritsar Jan Shatabdi Express

18. 12054 Amritsar-Haridwar Jan Shatabdi Express

19. 12057 New Delhi-Una Himachal Jan Shatabdi Express

20. 12058 Una –Himachal- New Delhi Jan Shatabdi Express

21. 12063 Haridwar-Una Himachal Jan shatabdi Express

22. 12064 Una Himachal-Haridwar Jan shatabdi Express

No trains to Amritsar

23. 12241 Chandigarh-Amritsar Express

24. 12242 Amritsar-Chandigarh Express

25. 12411 Chandigarh –Amritsar Intercity Express

26. 12412 Amritsar-Chandigarh Intercity Express

27. 12459 New Delhi-Amritsar Express

28. 12460 Amritsar-New Delhi Express

Intercity trains blocked

29. 14095 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Kalka Himalaya Queen Express

30. 14096 Kalka-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Himalaya Queen Express

31. 14309 Ujjain-Dehradun Express

32. 14310 Dehradun-Ujjain Express

33. 14511 Prayag-Saharanpur Nauchandi Express

34. 14512 Saharanpur-Prayag Nauchandi Express

35. 14523 Barauni-Ambala Express

36. 14524 Ambala-Barauni Express

37. 14217 Prayag-Chandigarh Express

38. 14218 Chandigarh-Prayag Express

39. 14605 Haridwar-Jammu Tawi Express

40. 14606 Jammu Tawi-Haridwar Express

41. 14615 Lal kuan –Amritsar Express

42. 14616 Amritsar-Lal kuan Express

Himachal Pradesh blocked

43. 14625 Delhi Sarai Rohilla- Ferozepur Cantt Express

44. 14626 Ferozepur Cantt-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express

45. 14673 Jaynagar-Amritsar Express

46. 14674 Amritsar-Jaynagar Express

47. 14681 New Delhi-Jalandhar Express

48. 14682 Jalandhar-New Delhi Express

49. 22479 New Delhi-Lohian Khas Express

50. 22480 Lohian Khas-New Delhi Express

51. 22485 New Delhi-Moga Express

52. 22486 Moga-New Delhi Express

53. 22705 Tirupati-Jammu Tawi Express

54. 22706 Jammu Tawi-Tirupati Express

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 20

Nearly four years after two persons were murdered and two minor girls gang raped, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed an anticipatory bail plea filed by an Army man in the matter. The case was initially registered by the Haryana Police in Nuh district, but the investigation was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The accused Ravinder Yadav alias Fauji’s counsel had submitted that the petitioner was serving in the Indian Army and there was no possibility of his fleeing from the justice. Besides, he had no criminal antecedents. As such, he was entitled to anticipatory bail.

Referring to the challan submitted by the CBI, Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan of the high court asserted it indicated the petitioner was allegedly seen holding an unlicenced weapon in his hand at the time of incident. The fact was also corroborated by two prosecution witnesses in their statements given to the investigating agency.

“At this stage, it cannot be said that the petitioner is innocent and has not committed the heinous offence of double murder and gang rape, therefore, finding no ground to grant anticipatory bail to him, present petition is dismissed,” Justice Sangwan said.

The Haryana Police had on August 25, 2016, had registered the FIR for gang rape, murder and other offences under Sections 459, 460, 376-D, 302, 325, 326, 396, 397 of the IPC, the provisions of the POCSO Act and the Arms Act at Tauru police station in Nuh district. The CBI, subsequently, registered its FIR on December 5, 2016, after the probe was transferred to it. The CBI submitted the challan against four accused, after obtaining report from the Forensic Science Laboratory, which indicated matching of DNA profile of the accused persons.

The petitioner moved the High Court after CBI Special Judge dismissed his anticipatory bail application filed after he was summoned by the trial court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with chief ministers of states. The meeting was held via video conference. The conference with CMs held to review country’s effort to check coronavirus. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the meeting. Checking the spread of coronavirus was among the issues discussed in the meeting. Chief Ministers of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra among others attended the meeting.

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Tribune News Service
Solan, March 20

About 600 vehicles carrying tourists from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana have been sent back from the Parwanoo inter-state barrier since last evening, when the state government banned the entry of both foreign and domestic tourists into Himachal.

A joint team of policemen and health staff was monitoring the vehicles at all entry points in the district and even buses carrying groups of tourists were stopped and directed to go back.

Parwanoo DSP Yogesh Rolta said round-the-clock monitoring of vehicles was underway. “A large number of tourists were asked to return yesterday. Subsequently, their number declined steeply today,” he said, adding that the staff at the border checkpost had been provided masks, gloves and sanitiser for protection against Covid infection.

Hotels in Solan have also been directed to ensure that all tourists are sent back by 5 pm tomorrow and no new bookings are accepted till March 31.

We barely get enough water to cook and bathe once a day. How can we wash our hands every few hours?” asks a woman from the Ganpat Patil Nagar slum in Mumbai’s suburb of Dahisar.

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Slum lords who control the illegal sprawl along the Gorai creek ration out water to the residents for an hour every night after puncturing the municipal water line catering to the buildings nearby. Residents of the slum, including children preparing for Board exams, huddle around the pipeline to fill a few buckets which must last the entire day.

More than 40 per cent of Mumbai’s population — nearly 10 million people — lives in slums which dot the city from the posh neighbourhoods in the southern tip to the middle-class enclaves towards the north.

The hovels which pass for rooms in the city’s slums are as tiny as 100 square feet in area. Several members of the household cram into these tiny spaces every night to sleep, with men sometimes crashing out in the corridors outside.

“There are fewer people defecating outside as the government has deployed mobile toilets here,” says Akshay Shukla, an activist from the Ganpat Patil Nagar slum. “However, there are long queues of men and women every day and even if one person is afflicted by the coronavirus, it will spread quickly here,” says Shukla.

The slum clusters lack qualified doctors. People with degrees in ayurvedic medicine and work experience as intensivists in local hospitals manage clinics. In case patients require specialised care, they are referred to the already stretched public hospitals or to trust-run charitable hospitals where doctors show up on specified dates.

While the middle-class and upper-classes of the country’s financial capital smugly dip their fingers in expensive sanitisers, there is a lurking fear that they stand to be infected from street vendors, maids, drivers, sweepers, and other support staff from these slums who flit in and out of building complexes. —TNS

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.

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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.