CYCLONE TO HIT W BENGAL COAST TODAY

Cyclone Amphan (pronounced as um-pun) is moving north at a speed of 14 kmph

and according to the IMD's latest assessment is expected to make a landfall

between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to the

Sundarbans around afternoon/evening of May 20 with maximum sustained wind

speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph. Last evening it weakened a notch

from 'Super Cyclone' to 'Extreme Severe Cyclone'.

Fani, which was also an 'Extremely Severe Cyclone', had caused extensive

damage in Odisha last year in May, claiming several lives. However the lives

it claimed were far less due to the preparedness of the concerned agencies.

The IMD has warned West Bengal and Odisha to be prepared for extensive

damage. Amphan is likely to uproot communication and power poles, disrupt

rail and road links in many places and cause extensive damage to standing

crops, plantations and orchards in the two states, it said.

As many as 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground, 12 others are

ready in reserve while 24 are on standby in different parts of the country.

Experts say Amphan is among the rare 'Super Cyclones' to form in the Bay.

'Extremely Severe Cyclone' Phailin in 2013 was the most intense tropical

cyclone to make landfall in India after the 1999 Odisha 'Super Cyclone'.

HEALTH MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS INDIA'S LOW FATALITIES PER MILLION POPULATION

India has so far about 0.2 COVID-19 deaths per lakh population as against

the global figure of 4.1, the Union health ministry said yesterday. A record

number of 1,08,233 samples were tested for COVID-19 on Monday in the

country. So far a total of 24,25,742 samples have been tested, the ministry

said.

"The relatively low death figures (in India) represent timely case

identification and clinical management of the cases," the ministry said.

On testing, it said from one laboratory conducting COVID-19 test in January,

India has very rapidly increased its capacity by adding over 385 government

laboratories and 158 private laboratories. Through 14 AIIMS-like mentor

institutions, handholding of labs across the country is undertaken to ensure

adequate bio-safety standards and accreditation of the laboratories, the

ministry said.

CONGRESS CALLS OPPOSITION MEET ON MIGRANTS' PLIGHT, CHANGES IN LABOUR LAWS

The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties on

Friday to discuss the plight of migrants and the changes in labour laws

brought in by some states, sources said. Interim Congress President Sonia

Gandhi will chair the meeting. This is among several initiatives taken by

Gandhi since the Covid-19 crisis broke out.

So far, 17 parties have agreed to take part in the meeting via

video-conferencing, but the SP and the BSP are yet to confirm their

attendance.

Although the Congress had pledged support to the Narendra Modi government in

the face of the unprecedented health crisis the country was facing, a few

weeks ago, the party president set up a panel to critique the government's

handling of the crisis. Since then, the Congress has been scathing in its

criticism of the stimulus, the handling of the migrants issue, and the fine

print of the sectoral sops announced to deal with joblessness and

livelihood.

The opposition parties have attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled

states of UP, MP, and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors

and "to strip workers of their basic rights".

These changes include exempting industrial units from labour welfare

statutes, allowing them to take steps such as increasing daily and weekly

working hours, and depriving workers of their right to move court.

AMID BORDER ROW WITH INDIA, NEPAL APPROVES NEW MAP

Nepal's Cabinet has endorsed a new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani

and Limpiyadhura under its territory, amidst a border dispute with India.

The move announced by Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali came weeks

after he said that efforts were on to resolve the border issue with India

through diplomatic initiatives.

Nepal's ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmakers have also tabled a special

resolution in Parliament demanding return of Nepal's territory in Kalapani,

Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh.

The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border

area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an

integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's

Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.

Gyawali said that the official map of Nepal will soon be made public by the

Ministry of Land Management.

Gyawali last week summoned the Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and

handed over a diplomatic note to him to protest against the construction of

a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. India

has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district

in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 1,06,469 (+6,147) / 49,86,332 (+95,002)

Total Deaths 3,302 (+146) / 3,24,910 (+4,776)

Total Recovered 42,309 (+3,076) / 19,58,496 (+51,074)

Active Cases 60,858 (+2,925) / 27,02,926 (+39,152)

Serious / Critical Cases (Not Available) / 45,425 (+658)

Top impacted nations so far: (And some of India's Neighbours)

Country / Total Cases / Deaths / Total Deaths per 1M Pop.

1 USA 15,70,583 / 93,533 / 283

2 Russia 2,99,941 / 2,837 / 19

3 Spain 2,78,803 / 27,778 / 594

4 Brazil 2,71,885 / 17,983 / 85

5 UK 2,48,818 / 35,341 / 521

6 Italy 2,26,699 / 32,169 / 532

7 France 1,80,809 / 28,022 / 429

8 Germany 1,77,827 / 8,193 /

98

9 Turkey 1,51,615 / 4,199 / 50

10 Iran 1,24,603 / 7,119 / 85

11 India 1,06,475 / 3,302 / 2.4

20 Pakistan 43,966 / 939 / 4.4

28 Bangladesh 25,121 / 370 / 2.3

102 Sri Lanka 1,027 / 9 / 0.4

Top 17 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 37,136 / 26,172 / 9,639 /

1,325

Tamil Nadu 12,448 / 7,468 / 4,895 /

85

Gujarat 12,141 / 6,379 / 5,043 / 719

Delhi 10,554 / 5,638 / 4,750 / 166

Rajasthan 5,845 / 2,365 / 3,337 /

143

Madhya Pradesh 5,465 / 2,576 / 2,631

/ 258

Uttar Pradesh 4,926 / 1,885 / 2,918 /

123

West Bengal 2,961 / 1,637 / 1,074 /

250

Andhra Pradesh 2,489 / 816 / 1,621

/ 52

Punjab 2,002 / 322 / 1,642 / 38

Telangana 1,634 / 585 / 1,011 /

38

Bihar 1,573 / 1,047 / 517 / 9

Karnataka 1,395 / 811 / 543 /

40

Jammu and Kashmir 1,317 / 653 / 647 /

17

Odisha 978 / 666 / 307 / 5

Haryana 964 / 323 / 627 /

14

Kerala 643 / 142 / 497 / 4

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

DONALD TRUMP SHOOTS LETTER TO WHO, THREATENS TO EXIT WORLD BODY

US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to pull America out of the

World Health Organization (WHO) and permanently stop US funding for the

world body if it did not "commit to major substantive improvements" in the

next 30 days.

Underlining Washington's escalating fight with Beijing, Trump said the WHO

needs to show "independence from China". He earlier labelled the WHO as a

"puppet of China".

In a letter to WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump

accused the organisation of "repeated missteps" in responding to the

pandemic.

Trump shared the letter on Twitter hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping

addressed the WHO's governing body, the World Health Assembly, by video

link. Xi promised to devote $2 billion towards fighting the pandemic over

the next two years.

WHO head Tedros later said that he would keep leading the global fight

against the pandemic.

Commenting on Trump's letter, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian

said it was "full of insinuations" and aimed "to mislead the public and

achieve the purpose of stigmatising China's epidemic control efforts while

shirking its own responsibility". He said the US has an obligation to pay

the full WHO membership fee.

TRUMP DEFENDS CRITICISED USE OF ANTIMALARIAL DRUG HCQ FOR COVID-19

President Donald Trump emphatically defended himself Tuesday against

criticism from medical experts that his announced use of a malaria drug

against the coronavirus could spark wide misuse by Americans of the unproven

treatment with potentially fatal side effects.

Trump's revelation a day earlier that he was taking hydroxychloroquine

caught many in his administration by surprise and set off an urgent effort

by officials to justify his action. But their attempt to address the

concerns of health professionals was undercut by the president himself.

He asserted without evidence that a study of veterans raising alarm about

the drug was "false" and an "enemy statement," even as his own government

warned that the drug should be administered for COVID-19 only in a hospital

or research setting.

"If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to

people that were in very bad shape," Trump said. That was an apparent

reference to a study of hundreds of patients treated by the Department of

Veterans Affairs in which more of those in a group who were administered

hydroxychloroquine died than among those who weren't.

"This is an individual decision to make," Trump told reporters during a

visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans. He later claimed,

"It's gotten a bad reputation only because I'm promoting it."

THE REST

========

RAILWAYS TO RUN 200 NON-AC PASSENGER TRAINS DAILY FROM JUNE 1

Providing huge relief to people, especially in the country's small towns and

cities, the railways will run 200 special passenger trains from June 1, the

national transporter said on Tuesday. These trains will have non-air

conditioned second class coaches and will run daily.

They will be plied in addition to the Shramik Special and the

air-conditioned special trains which are currently being operated on the

Rajdhani routes connecting 15 major cities to Delhi.

All categories of passengers will be allowed to book tickets which will be

available online.

While the railways is yet to state which routes these trains will run on,

officials said they could cater to the smaller towns and cities.

Meanwhile, the Centre yesterday did away with the need for the states/union

territories to permit movement of Shramik special trains to respective

destinations and the Railways will now be permitted by the Ministry of Home

Affairs. Revising the Standard Operating Procedures for such trains, the

Ministry of Home Affairs said the move is to facilitate movement of stranded

migrants in different states.

The issue of permission by states became political when the Railways said

certain state governments like West Bengal were not granting permission to

run these trains, a charge contested by the state.

MIGRANTS' BUS ROW: UP POLICE BOOKS STATE CONGRESS CHIEF

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu and Priyanka Gandhi

Vadra's secretary Sandeep Singh were booked by police Tuesday after the

state government said a list of 1,000 buses on which the party planned to

ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of autorickshaws, cars

and trucks.

Also, records showed that many of the buses in the list did not have valid

fitness certificates or insurance papers, the state government said,

accusing the opposition party of playing with the lives of workers.

The FIR against Lallu and Sing capped a day during which the party traded

charges with the Yogi Adityanath government and held a protest at the

Rajasthan-UP border. The FIR charged Lallu, Singh and others under Indian

Penal Code sections related to cheating and forging documents.

The Congress rejected the UP government claim on its list containing the

numbers of other vehicles, challenging it to conduct a physical verification

of the buses.

In a tweet in the evening, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi urged

that the state government should at least let the buses found fit by it to

enter the state. She said there were 879 such buses. UP government has

crossed the limit, she said, accusing it of creating hurdles in an effort to

help migrant workers stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown. She said if

the Yogi Adityanath government wishes the Congress can put BJP banners on

the buses, but they should be allowed to run.

The row erupted on May 16 when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi

Vadra offered to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers heading for their

homes in Uttar Pradesh. Even while accusing the Congress of playing politics

over the plight of migrant workers, the UP government on Monday formally

accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses and

their drivers and conductors.

Deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, accused the Congress of using migrant

workers as pawns .

The Congress accused the state govt. of indulging in "petty politics" and

warned legal action against those defaming the party.

JOURNALISTIC FREEDOM AT CORE OF RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, SAYS SUPREME COURT

Journalistic freedom lies at "the core" of the fundamental right to free

speech and India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak

to power without being "chilled by a threat of reprisal," the Supreme Court

said on Tuesday.

The top court made these strong comments on the media freedom in its

judgment on two petitions filed by Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-Chief of

Republic TV, seeking quashing of a criminal investigation into FIRs and

private complaints related to the news show on the Palghar mob-lynching

case.

The top court, in partial relief to him, quashed 14 FIRs or criminal

complaints except the initial one that is being probed by the Mumbai police.

It granted him protection from coercive actions for further three weeks from

today, but declined his plea that probe be transferred to CBI.

Holding that a journalist cannot be subjected to several criminal cases for

one incident, a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah dealt

with the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression of media

under the Constitution with that of other citizens' and the CrPC provisions

on criminal probe.

The court said though the freedom of speech and expression of a journalist

was "not higher" than the right of a citizen but "we must as a society never

forget that one cannot exist without the other. Free citizens cannot exist

when the news media is chained to adhere to one position". Quoting from a

recent book of Yuval Noah Harari, Justice Chandrachud said: "Questions you

cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot

question."

DOOR OPEN FOR STIMULUS 6.0; GOVT WITH INDUSTRY: FM NIRMALA SITHARAMAN

Within days of announcing a series of measures to help businesses deal with

the lockdown impact, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an

interview to Business Standard that the government was with industry and

would do as much as possible to repair the damage when companies were going

through the most stressful time.

Replying to a specific question on whether there would be a stimulus package

6.0, after five days of back-to-back announcements last week, the FM said,

"As we go along, we will see. We cannot shut the doors."

Calling her stint as FM during the pandemic "the most challenging assignment

yet", Sitharaman said she was not upset with the criticism that the recent

stimulus package was too little and that it would cost the exchequer just 1

per cent of the GDP rather than the promised 10 per cent.

She believes the recent announcements on reforms, even as many of them have

been in the works for long, would yield results during the exceptionally

different time now. Will it be like the 1991 reforms following the balance

of payment crisis? "This time the crisis is much more intense and that

should help in pushing them (reforms) through,'' she said, while adding that

this government had learnt from the UPA mistakes.

"We have learnt lessons from 2008 to 2013. (We have) made sure that we would

not be repeating some mistakes. We have to be careful in the interests of

the country.''

SHOPS BEGIN TO OPEN BUT CUSTOMERS ARE YET TO RUSH IN

In Connaught place in New Delhi, mannequins and signboards were being

furiously dusted off on Tuesday as excited shopkeepers prepared to welcome

their long-lost customers on the first day after the lockdown restrictions

on retail were relaxed. Everything was ready - the display, the shining

windows, the petty cash. The only thing missing was the customer.

Retail life is slowly emerging from a coma as states relax their guidelines

in the fourth phase of the lockdown. Non-essential retail establishments

re-opened on Tuesday across the country, with as many as 4.5 crore shops

resuming operations, according to the Confederation of All India Traders

(CAIT).

17 PC DECLINE IN GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS DUE TO COVID-19 LOCKDOWN: STUDY

The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has led to a steep fall in global carbon

emissions by 17 per cent in early April as compared to 2019 levels with

India's emissions dropping by 26 per cent. An international study published

in the UK-based journal National Climate Change showed that the world

experienced a sharp decline in carbon emissions between January and April,

compared to average levels in 2019, and could decline anywhere between 4.4

per cent to 8 per cent by the end of this year.

The study confirmed that the impact of the confinement on annual emissions

in 2020 is likely to lead to the largest single annual decrease in absolute

emissions since the end of World War II.

INDICATORS

Sensex 30,196 (+167), Nifty 8,879 (+56), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

49,065

Nasdaq 9,185 (-50) Dow 24,207 (-391), S&P 2,923 (-31)

US$-Rs. 75.05 GBP-Rs. 91.84, Euro-Rs. 82.03, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.43, Can$-Rs.

53.90, Aus$- Rs. 49.10

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.91 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.63 /US$, Aus$ 1.52 /US$, Sing

1.41 /US$, Bang Taka 83.17 /US$, Can$ 1.39 /US$, Mal Ring 4.34 /US$,

Pak Re 159.63 /US$, Phil Peso 50.68 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.47 /US$, NZ$

1.64 /US$, Thai Baht 31.86 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.24 /US$, Norway NOK 9.98

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 9,724

Dollar Index 99.47 Brent Crude 34.77 BDI 427

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,749 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,756 / 4,656

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 48,510

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for

complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the

philosophy is kindness. - Dalai Lama

OFF TRACK

A seafarer quit sailing and started a business of his own. A few years

later, an old friend met him and asked about his business. The friend said

he'd heard that the first couple of years are the hardest for a new

business.

"Yeah, the first year was pretty rough, but we are doing pretty good now. In

fact, I'm getting to where I only have to work half a day," replied the

businessman.

"Wow, that's pretty nice. Maybe I should think about going into business for

myself."

"Yeah, and the nicest part of it is that it doesn't matter which twelve

hours you work."